environment

Clare Press, fashion writer and editor, described this as her "canary in the coalmine moment" — the point at which she decided to become a passionate advocate of slow fashion.

She cites a study from 2006 that found British women were consuming four times as many clothes as their 1980 counterparts, and sending 30kg of textiles and clothing to landfill annually.

The sands at Dooagh on County Mayo's Achill Island vanished in the winter of 1984, leaving nothing but bare rock and rock pools.

But over the course of a few days in April 2017 the Atlantic returned what it had stolen, depositing thousands of tons of sand and creating a brand new 300-meter golden strand.

The storms of 1984 "completely took every last grain of sand off the beach," Sean Molloy of Achill Tourism tells CNN.

But last month, "in the space of about eight or 10 days, these very strong winds came from the north," he explains.

The Earth Day event on the United States' Pacific island territory also served as an opportunity to protest against President Donald Trump's position on climate change.

One of the organisers of the Guam march, the wildlife biologist, Isha Alexander, said Mr Trump is defunding the scientists who demonstrate the climate is changing.

"There are enough statistics out there about green energies and the jobs they create, just like you can create some jobs with oil," Ms Alexander said.

The causes include unsafe water, lack of sanitation, poor hygiene practices and indoor and outdoor pollution, as well as injuries.

The new numbers equate to these pollutants being the cause of one in four deaths of children 1 month to 5 years old.

One new report highlights that the most common causes of child death are preventable through interventions already available to the communities most affected. These causes are diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia, which can be prevented using insecticide-treated bed nets, clean cooking fuels and improved access to clean water.

The rock arch featured in films and the popular Game of Thrones television series, and was also notorious for tourists' cliff-jumping into the clear blue waters below.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted of the "heartbreaking" loss of one of Gozo's main tourist attractions.

Mr Muscat said in a tweet that the famous Mediterranean landmark had always faced destruction because of natural corrosion.

"That sad day has arrived," he wrote.

And with many questioning the sustainability of importing so much food from so far away, we are beginning to ask if switching to a vegetarian diet to cut emissions caused by meat production is as sustainable as one might think.

The influence of the global trade of food on local diets and cultural choices has exploded over recent years.

Sports development officers representing multiple sports including archery, hockey, basketball, Aussie rules football (AFL), athletics, table tennis, cricket, swimming, beach volleyball and netball came together to take part in VASANOC's outreach program.

The Vanuatu Basketball Federation (VBF) joined VASANOC's program to help push environmental awareness and sports exposure.

Malielegaoi was adamant on his remarks towards the efforts by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in combating climate change.

“In celebrating National Environment week, we should all take part in the action taken. For years the government has been singing the same song of warning and advisory, to take care of the environment,” he said.

“Your actions today will ensure a better future for your children and grandchildren. It will ensure a future at least,” he said.

The paper, published in the international journal Science, said changes in global temperatures were affecting the diversity and distribution of living species worldwide - but not enough is known about how to protect them.

The paper called for research to be done so outcomes for every species affected by climate change could be forecast.

Lincoln University researcher Dr William Godsoe, who was involved in writing the paper, said climate change was already affecting some of New Zealand's beloved native species.

Almost 20 students and teachers were given a presentation on Climate Change by Salesa Nihmei, SPREP's Meteorology and Climate Officer, and Christina Leala-Gale, Project Manager for the Finland Pacific Project.