There are some simple steps you can take to minimize the amount of pesticides on your fruits and vegetables
To avoid pesticides, consider buying the fruits and vegetables that pose the least risk in a new analysis by Consumer Reports, and buying organic for those that pose the most. Below are answers to common questions about what other steps you can take.
Read more from this pesticide investigation:
We found unhealthy pesticide levels in 20% of US produce – here’s what you need to know
Kale, watermelon and even some organic foods pose high pesticide risk, analysis finds
Blueberries and bell peppers: six fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide risk
What’s safe to eat? Here is the pesticide risk level for each fruit and vegetable
This story was amended on 18 April 2024 to correct the name of the illustrator, whose name is Israel Vargas.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
04/18/2024 - 05:00
04/18/2024 - 05:00
Even organic produce can contain unhealthy amounts of pesticide – see which fruits and vegetables rank best and worst
After reviewing the results of thousands of tests on fruits and vegetables, Consumer Reports has found unhealthy levels of pesticides in about 20% of US produce.
This chart, in alphabetical order, shows the risk from pesticides in conventional and organic produce, as well as whether the fruits and vegetables are domestically grown or imported. Consumer Reports “recommends those rated as very low, low or moderate risk. When possible, replace a food rated high or very high with a lower-risk one, or choose organic. Keep in mind that the risk comes from repeated servings over time.”
Can you wash pesticides off your food? A guide to eating fewer toxic chemicals
Kale, watermelon and even some organic foods pose high pesticide risk, analysis finds
Blueberries and bell peppers: six fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide risk
What’s safe to eat? Here is the pesticide risk level for each fruit and vegetable
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04/18/2024 - 04:40
Climate campaigners complain of short-termism as country abandons target to cut carbon emissions by 75% by 2030
Climate campaigners have accused Scottish ministers of being “inept” and “short-termist” after they scrapped Scotland’s target to cut carbon emissions by 75% by 2030.
Màiri McAllan, the Scottish net zero secretary, confirmed her government had abandoned that target and would also drop legally binding annual targets on reducing carbon emissions, after damning criticism from a UK advisory committee.
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04/18/2024 - 03:45
As nature falls silent in most cities around the world, New Zealand’s capital has been transformed by the sound of native birds returning to the dawn chorus
Read more: No birdsong, no water in the creek, no beating wings: how a haven for nature fell silent
Some time in the pre-dawn darkness, the commotion starts. From her bed, Danae Mossman hears the noise building: loud romantic liaisons, vomiting, squeals, the sound of bodies hitting the pool at full tilt.
Things get particularly loud between midnight and 4am, Mossman says, “when they are getting busy”.
A kororā, or little penguin, colony live under Danae Mossman’s house – and show no signs of wanting to leave
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04/18/2024 - 01:00
In the first of a new series, we look at why people reject so much of the bountiful catches from our seas in favour of the same few species, mostly imported – and how to change that
Perched on a quay in the Cornish port of Falmouth is Pysk fishmongers, where Giles and Sarah Gilbert started out with a dream to supply locally caught seafood to the town. Their catch comes mainly from small boats that deliver a glittering array of local fish: gleaming red mullets, iridescent mackerels, spotted dabs and bright white scallops, still snapping in their shells.
Occasionally, they will get a treasured haul of local common prawns – stripy, smaller and sweeter than the frozen, imported varieties in UK supermarkets. So, when customers come into the shop asking for prawns, Giles Gilbert presents “these bouncing jack-in-a-boxes” with a flourish, hoping to tempt buyers with the fresh, live shellfish.
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04/17/2024 - 23:19
Passengers report being stranded in the desert city as the international hub struggles in the wake of unusually heavy rain
Don’t blame cloud seeding for the Dubai floods
Dubai is wrestling with the aftermath of extraordinary torrential rains that flooded the desert city, with people describing harrowing stories of spending the night in their cars, and air passengers enduring chaotic scenes at airports.
Up to 259.5mm (10.2in) of rain fell on the usually arid country of the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, the most since records began 75 years ago. The state-run WAM news agency called the rains on Tuesday “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949”.
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04/17/2024 - 23:01
Deaths from record temperatures in Mali reportedly led to full morgues turning away bodies this month
The deadly protracted heatwave that filled hospitals and mortuaries in the Sahel region of Africa earlier this month would have been impossible without human-caused climate disruption, a new analysis has revealed.
Mali registered the hottest day in its history on 3 April as temperatures hit 48.5C in the south-western city of Kayes. Intense heat continued across a wide area of the country for more than five days and nights, giving vulnerable people no time for recovery.
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04/17/2024 - 23:00
Foreign minister warns of environmental catastrophe in Baltic Sea as he accuses Moscow of using unseaworthy vessels
Russia appears prepared to create “environmental havoc” by sailing unseaworthy oil tankers through the Baltic Sea in breach of all maritime rules, the Swedish foreign minister has said.
Speaking to the Guardian during his first visit to London since Sweden became a Nato member, Tobias Billström called for new rules and enforcement mechanisms to prevent the ageing and uninsured Russian shadow fleet causing an environmental catastrophe. About half of all Russian oil transported by sea passes through the Baltic Sea and Danish waters, often operating under opaque ownership, and using international waters to try to avoid scrutiny.
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04/17/2024 - 14:33
Farm region near Tulare Lake has been put on ‘probation’ as overpumping of water has caused faster sinking of ground
Even after two back-to-back wet years, California’s water wars are far from over. On Tuesday, state water officials took an unprecedented step to intervene in the destructive pumping of depleted groundwater in the state’s sprawling agricultural heartland.
The decision puts a farming region known as the Tulare Lake groundwater subbasin, which includes roughly 837 sq miles in the rural San Joaquin valley, on “probation” in accordance with a sustainable groundwater use law passed a decade ago. Large water users will face fees and state oversight of their pumping.
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04/17/2024 - 13:00
Experts believe remains belong to a type of ichthyosaur that roamed the seas about 202m years ago
Fossils discovered by an 11-year-old girl on a beach in Somerset may have come from the largest marine reptile ever to have lived, according to experts.
The fossils are thought to be from a type of ichthyosaur, a prehistoric marine reptile that lived in the time of dinosaurs. The newly discovered species is believed to have roamed the seas towards the end of the Triassic, about 202m years ago.
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