In a scientific breakthrough, researchers have engineered a new strain of bacteria that consumes carbon dioxide for energy instead of compounds like sugar or other organic molecules. Published in the journal&nbsp;Cell, the study effectively reprogrammed the E. coli&nbsp;bacterium's diet over generations. The scientists said that 'teaching a gut bacterium to do tricks that plants are renowned for was a real long shot,' but this may prove to be very healthy for the planet.&nbsp;

In a scientific breakthrough, researchers have engineered a new strain of bacteria that consumes carbon dioxide for energy instead of compounds like sugar or other organic molecules. Published in the journal Cell, the study effectively reprogrammed the E. coli bacterium's diet over generations. The scientists said that 'teaching a gut bacterium to do tricks that plants are renowned for was a real long shot,' but this may prove to be very healthy for the planet.

The Malaysian Environment Minister warned on Monday that those who wish to make the Southeast Asian nation the 'rubbish dump of the world' can dream on. Malaysia has sent back almost 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 countries since the third quarter of 2019. Most of the containers came from&nbsp;France, the United Kingdom and the United States. After China banned the import of plastic waste in 2018, shipments of the rubbish have been rerouted to Malaysia. Yeo Bee Yin also stated that another 110 containers will be sent back by mid 2020.&nbsp;

Researchers from the&nbsp;&nbsp;University of Washington have found that a giant &ldquo;blob&rdquo; of hot ocean in the Pacific killed almost one million seabirds between 2015 and 2016. Called&nbsp;common murres, the birds most probably died as a result of starvation.The heat blob was formed due to severe marine heatwave. Food grew scarce amid intense competition from other marine animals, causing a fight for survival. Other reasons for the deaths include a vast bloom of harmful algae along&nbsp;North America&rsquo;s Pacific coast. The seabird has not replenished ever since.&nbsp;

One of the biggest consumers of plastic in the world, China now aims to ban single-use in most of its cities by the end of 2020. Single-use straws, plastic utensils and packaging will be phased out. The policy was issued by the&nbsp;&nbsp;Ministry of Ecology and Environment along with the&nbsp;national development and reform commission. China's largest rubbish dump has reached its full capacity 25 years ahead of its schedule.

Microsoft has announced its commitment to become carbon negative by 2030, adding that the company will remove all the carbon it has emitted either directly or via electricity consumption since it was founded in 1975 by 2050. The tech giant will create a $1 billion climate innovation fund to accelerate the development of carbon reduction and removal technologies. As a part of this goal, Microsoft will reduce its emissions by more than half by 2030 , extending across its entire business and supply chain.

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on Friday addressed hundreds of people at a climate march in Switzerland's Lausanne, days before the start of the World Economic Forum at Davos. The 17-year-old eco warrior in a strong message told world leaders that, so far in this decade there has been no sign that real climate action is coming. Greta is due to address the Davos summit next week to call on governments and financial institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels.

In a welcoming initiative, a special firefighting team was able to save a group of pre-historic pine trees from the deadly wildfires in Australia. The efforts to save the Wollemi Pines forest included establishing irrigation systems and aircrafts dropping fire retardants. The environment Minister of New South Wales described it as a 'military-style' operation and claimed that the trees have outlived dinosaurs!

The rise in global temperatures could lead to extreme weather conditions in 2020, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The Australian bushfires&nbsp;are the kind of disasters the world should be ready to witness if global warming continues at the present rate, the experts said. Record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could fuel extreme weather conditions throughout 2020. Experts warn for a need for urgent action to reverse current trends.&nbsp;

The smoke from Australia&rsquo;s devastating bushfires will make a round-the-world trip, Space agency Nasa has warned. The bushfire smoke has impacted air quality as far away as South America. Nasa said that by January 8, the smoke had made its way halfway around the world and will make at least one full circuit. New Zealand experienced severe air quality issues, while hazy skies and colorful sunsets and sunrises were seen in parts of Chile and Argentina. Australian bushfires have burned across an area twice the size of Switzerland causing at least 28 deaths and destroying thousands of homes

361 elephants have died in Sri&nbsp;Lanka over the last year, making it the highest death toll ever recorded&nbsp;since Sri Lanka became independent in 1948. According to a BBC report, most of the elephants died due to human activity. Electric fences, poison and explosives were used to kill the endangered animals. The expansion of villages and farms in the country has also lead to dwindling supply of water and food for the elephants.&nbsp;

A new draft by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity has set a 2030 deadline for the conservation and restoration of ecosystems and wildlife that perform crucial services for humans. Almost a third of the world&rsquo;s oceans and land should be protected by the end of the decade to stop the sixth mass extinction event in Earth&rsquo;s history, according to the Paris-style UN agreement on nature. The proposal is expected to be adopted by governments in October at a crucial UN summit in the Chinese city of Kunming. It comes after countries largely failed to meet their targets for the previous decade.&nbsp;

The air quality in Melbourne deteriorated to the "worst in the world" on Tuesday as smoke from the massive bushfires engulfed Australia's second-biggest city. Authorities have issued health warnings advising people to stay indoors and take precautionary measures. The raging Australian bushfires, one of the worst in its history, has killed at least 26 people, burned over 10 million hectares of land, destroyed over 2,000 homes and pushed many species towards extinction. According to reports, 16 fires are still burning and 1.4 million hectares have been destroyed across Victoria alone.&nbsp;Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology has forecast rains through the week, bringing some relief to the bushfire affected communities and the firefighters.

Back in the 1990s, scientists observed that Greenland's Ice Sheet loses 25 billion tons of ice per year. Now, a team of 89 scientists from 50 institutions have assessed the current rate of ice loss by combining 26 satellite datasets from 1992 through 2018 to track global warming's effect on Greenland.&nbsp;The results of this study, published in journal Nature, indicate that&nbsp;Greenland&rsquo;s current rate of ice loss has accelerated from 25 billion to 234 billion tons per year, a whopping nine times increase in faster melt rate.&nbsp;Warmer air at the surface of the ice sheet is responsible for about half of the ice that Greenland is losing each year, says the study.

The sails of the iconic Sydney Opera House were illuminated over the weekend to show support for fire fighters and wildfires-affected communities.&nbsp;The display included messages and photographs of fire fighters who were fighting wildfires over the past few months.

Paving way for a greener future, fashion magazine Vogue Italia, just released its January 2020 issue and it doesn't feature the typical glossy photograph that usually graces&nbsp;the cover of the magazine. Instead, the fashion publication switched to art illustrations and fashion imagery that does not require expenses on travelling, shipping,&nbsp;clothing or production. The money saved will be donated for the restoration of&nbsp;Fondazione Querini Stampalia&nbsp;hit by the devastating floods in Venice.&nbsp;Italian Vogue will be one of the first of Cond&eacute; Nast&rsquo;s international publications to use 100% compostable plastic wrapping in 2020.

The Australian government has pledged 50 million AUD&nbsp;(approx. 34 million US dollars) to help restore and protect the country's wildlife which has been devastated by wildfires.&nbsp;Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Monday that the fires have been an "ecological disaster".&nbsp;The conservation group WWF-Australia estimates that 1.25 billion wild animals have died during the fires.&nbsp;Estimated koala losses in the current emergency include 25,000 on Kangaroo Island off southern Australia and 8,000 in northwest New South Wales.

Just off the coast of Helsinki, lies a tiny sustainable cabin created to offer travellers a 'zero emission' holiday. Nolla&nbsp;Cabin been designed by&nbsp;Finnish designer Robin Falck, The moveable&nbsp;cabin is made of plywood and local pine and is the size of a small bedroom and is powered through solar panels. Interestingly, the profit earned through the accommodation&nbsp;goes towards 'The Ocean Cleanup' project that aims to rid world's oceans off plastic.&nbsp;

The Goa&nbsp;carnival&nbsp;is going to be a plastic-free affair&nbsp;this year.&nbsp;Panaji Mayor Uday Madkaikar&nbsp;broke the news, adding that the festival will be held on February 22.&nbsp;Carnival processions are symbolic of Goa's colonial Portuguese legacy and include gaily coloured floats, masqueraded dancers. The parade is led by King Momo or king of the carnival, who is a locally chosen celebrity.

Air travel passing through Sweden's airports has seen a rare four per cent drop going down from 42 million people flying in 2018 to 40 million in 2019. Further, there has been a nine per cent drop in domestic air travel within the country as per Sweden's airport operator&nbsp;Swedavia's data. The numbers seem to be a result of the ongoing 'flight shaming' movement gaining momentum&nbsp;in its origin country. The term&nbsp;flygskam&nbsp;or flight shame was first entered our language&nbsp;thanks to a letter posted by famous Swedes including teen activist Greta Thunberg's mother, all of whom gave up flying in 2017.&nbsp;

Parent company of luxury fashion brands like Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, Kering has announced a donation of one million AUD towards relief efforts for Australian wildfires. The climate calamity has been estimated to have taken at least 25 lives and killed over half a billion animals in the region as 18 million acres of forestland went up in flames. Kering&nbsp;also added that the conglomerate will invest in environment protection efforts like reforestation and biodiversity programs.

More plants are often good news but not in this case. Scientists say that shrubs and&nbsp;grass are increasing around the Mount Everest and the Himalayas thanks to global climate warming. Study images from NASA's Landsat&nbsp;satellites taken between&nbsp;&nbsp;1993 to 2018, Exeter&nbsp;University researchers believe that the increase in vegetation could result in flooding&nbsp;in the enormous Hindu Kush Himalayan region that feeds the ten largest Asian river systems. While the exact impact of more plants around Everest is not known, oncreased&nbsp;vegetation in the Arctic did cause a warming effect in the surrounding landscape, as the plants absorbed more light and warmed up the soil.&nbsp;

E. coli's new diet? Scientists develop bacteria that 'eats CO2'

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