Jonathan Lambert
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Each year, humanity produces over a billion tons of plastic.
Much of that plastic ends up as trash.
A study in the journal Nature Communications reveals that many households in low-income countries are burning that plastic trash to heat their homes or cook their food.
Across more than two dozen countries, nearly one in three people surveyed by researchers reported being aware of households burning plastic.
Sixteen percent said they'd done it themselves, either as a cheap source of fuel or just as a way of dealing with all that excess waste.
Burning plastic can create toxic fumes that harm health and contaminate food.
With plastic waste on track to triple by 2060, the problem will likely get much worse.
Chikungunya disease is caused by a virus spread through mosquito bites.
While it's much less prevalent than dengue, which sickens hundreds of millions of people each year, it's still a major risk.
It can cause severe joint pain, fever, and rash that can become chronic.
By early December of this past year, 41 countries and territories had reported a case.
186 people died from the disease.
More than half of all cases were in the Americas, with Brazil accounting for the vast majority.
But researchers worry that climate change could be pushing the mosquitoes that carry chikungunya into new areas, including the U.S.
Last October, someone in Long Island, New York, got infected by a mosquito.
Sexual violence against children has been increasing in the country for several years.
In 2024, more than 45,000 cases were reported, a number that will likely be surpassed in 2025.