Climate threatGlobal challenges

The oil giant scraps promise of plastic recycling

The oil company Shell has quietly scrapped a promise to convert one million tonnes of plastic waste into synthetic fuel each year, The Guardian reports.

The technology is called "advanced recycling" and is based on so-called pyrolysis. It has been part of the company's strategy to reduce its emissions since 2019.

Several other major plastic producers have promised to invest in advanced recycling, but increasingly there are indications that the technology is not developing as they might have hoped, according to the newspaper.

- I have never said this before, but Shell has made a wise decision here, says Judith Enck, chairman of the interest association Beyond Plastic and continues:

- Advanced recycling leads to emissions and is not a reliable method for dealing with our growing plastic problems.
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The climate threat The summer weather
After the downpour: Canceled vacations for insurance professionals

Insurance personnel in Östergötland are forced to cancel their vacations due to the pressure after the torrential rains of the past few days, reports SVT Nyheter Öst.

Hundreds of households have suffered severe flood damage, writes Corren.

- Unfortunately, it may take a couple of days before the customers actually get help, says Länsförsäkringar Östgöta's claims manager Katarina Leander.

The companies that carry out dehumidification and sanitation also have a lot of staff on holiday.

Damage after floods is becoming more and more common and is due to climate change, says injury prevention specialist Bertil Jansson to DN.

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Study: The climate crisis is making the days longer

The melting polar ice caps slow the Earth's rotation and make the days longer by redistributing water to the equatorial oceans and changing the shape of the planet. This is shown by a new study according to The Guardian.

It's about milliseconds, but can still affect internet traffic, financial transactions and GPS navigation, all of which depend on accurate time measurements.

- We can see man's impact on the earth, not only locally such as with temperature changes, but on a fundamental level such as how the planet moves and rotates in space, says co-author Benedikt Soja at ETH Zurich.

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.