Massachusetts state Senate passes plastics ban & more environmental news.

[View this email in your browser]( Monday, June 24, 2024 "In nature, nothing exists alone." — Rachel Carson [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [X]( Massachusetts State Senate Passes Plastics Ban A ban on single-use plastic items like bags and straws is closer to becoming reality in Massachusetts after the state Senate approved a broad bill addressing plastics last Thursday. The Senate passed the bill by 38-2. [Read More]( Related: [Vermont Becomes Second State to Ban Bee-Killing Neonic Pesticides]( At Least 1,301 People Die During Mecca Hajj Pilgrimage in Intense Heat According to Saudi Arabia, at least 1,301 people lost their lives due to [intense heat]( during the Hajj pilgrimage. Most of those making the pilgrimage did not have permits and were left exposed to the scorching elements. [Read More]( Related: [Heat at Paris Olympic Games Could Put Athletes at Risk, New Report Warns]( Wild Bumblebees Capable of Logical Reasoning, Study Finds A new [study]( by a psychologist at University of Stirling in [Scotland]( has found that, like humans, wild [bumblebees]( are capable of logical reasoning. In the study, the bees were tasked with spontaneously locating strips of sugar-coated paper in various colors and positions. In both circumstances, the analysis showed they looked in the correct location well above chance, a press release from [University of Stirling]( said. [Read More]( Related: [Elephants Call Each Other by Name, Like Humans Do, Study Finds]( The Next Great Human Migration: Abrahm Lustgarten on America’s Future Climate A 2022 [report]( from the International Panel on Climate Change observed that more than 3.3 billion people around the world are “highly vulnerable to climate change.” And more than one billion people could be exposed to “coastal-specific climate hazards by 2050.” Investigative reporter at Politico Abrahm Lustgarten delved into the topic of U.S. climate migration in his new book, On The Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America. Seeking to understand what climate migration might look like over the next few decades, Lustgarten used data and reporting from places across the country such as New York City, California, Arizona, Chicago, Texas and the Gulf Coast, the Isle de Jean Charles in Louisiana, and from abroad in places like Guatemala and Africa. Here are excerpts from a recent interview with Lustgarten. [Read More]( Related: [‘It’s Got to Be a Fight’: Author Adam Welz on Surviving Climate Breakdown and Saving Species of a ‘Tarnished Eden’]( Bioremediation 101: Everything You Need to Know [Bioremediation]( is a process by which plants and microbes that are already present in the environment — like fungi, algae and bacteria — have the power to remove or reduce environmental pollution — even plastic pollution. While natural bioremediation has been around since the dawn of time (microbes were the [earliest known life forms]( modern bioremediation offers techniques that stimulate and augment these processes. [Read More]( Related: [Rewilding 101: Everything You Need to Know]( Do you get this newsletter daily? If not, [sign up here]( or forward to a friend. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Website]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2024 EcoWatch, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for EcoWatch Top News of The Day Our mailing address is: EcoWatch 1122 Oberlin RoadRaleigh, NC 27605 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. [Mailchimp Email Marketing](