Oregon Outback Is now the largest Dark Sky Sanctuary in the world & more environmental news.

[View this email in your browser]( Wednesday, March 20, 2024 “It’s surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us but for all life on Earth.”— David Attenborough Just Seven Countries Met WHO Air Quality Standards in 2023, Data Shows Swiss [air quality]( monitoring company IQAir has released its sixth [World Air Quality Report]( detailing 2023’s most polluted countries and territories in the world. In compiling the report, more than 30,000 monitoring stations in 134 nations, territories and regions were examined by IQAir scientists, a press release from [IQAir]( said. Of these, 124 — 92.5 percent — exceeded the annual guideline set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for fine [particulate matter]( (PM2.5). [Read More]( Related: [Air Pollution in Classrooms Could Be Reduced by Up to 36% With Simple Method, UK Researchers Say]( First-of-Its-Kind Handbook Helps Protect Endangered Asian Elephants From Roads and Railways At the beginning of the 20th century, more than [100,000 Asian elephants]( were living in the wild. Now, it is estimated that just 52,000 remain. Among the reasons for their decline — in addition to [poaching]( and human-elephant conflict — is the boom of newly built [roads]( and [railways]( which lead to collisions, [habitat loss]( and fragmentation and the blocking of [migration]( routes. To help with this crisis, an international team of experts has created the first handbook on how to protect endangered [Asian elephants]( from this widespread hazard. [Read More]( Related: [Bangladesh Bans Capture and Exploitation of Wild Asian Elephants]( Researchers Develop Self-Heating Concrete to Deice Sidewalks Without Salt Researchers at Drexel University have shared promising findings on the development of a self-heating concrete, which could not only save people the hassle of shoveling out the sidewalk on a snowy day, but it could also reduce the use of salt to deice walkways. [Read More]( Related: [8 Sustainable Alternatives to Sidewalk and Road Salts]( Oregon Outback Is Now the Largest Dark Sky Sanctuary in the World The Oregon Outback, an area of southeastern Oregon, has earned a new designation as the largest of the Dark Sky Sanctuaries not just in the U.S., but internationally. DarkSky International, a nonprofit organization with a mission to educate on and minimize light pollution, has certified that Phase 1 of the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary (OOIDSS) is now a International Dark Sky Sanctuary. With this certification, the Oregon Outback sanctuary is the [largest of the 19]( certified International Dark Sky Sanctuary sites in the world, The Guardian reported. [Read More]( Related: [The Best Apps for Stargazing]( Impossible Foods Rebrands to Attract More Meat Eaters Impossible Foods, a company that makes plant-based meat substitutes, is rolling out a rebrand of its iconic green packaging. In hopes of persuading more carnivores to try its meat alternatives made from plants, the company has switched to red packaging designed to evoke the “craveability of meat,” according to a [press release](. [Read More]( Related: [Impossible Foods Announces Plant-Based Hot Dogs]( 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](