Mon.Oct 04, 2021

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HotSpots H2O: Years-Long Drought Pushes Brazil to the Brink

Circle of Blue

The country’s worst drought in nearly a century is choking commerce, threatening ecosystems, and diminishing hydroelectric power generation. Scientists estimate that Brazil hasn’t seen a normal period of rainfall since 2010. Photo courtesy of João Felipe C.S. / Wikimedia Commons. After a decade of dry conditions, a drought in Brazil is straining the country’s economy, energy systems, and environment.

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Africa in 2050

Legal Planet

Take explosive population growth, acute vulnerability to future climate change, and social vulnerability. Stir well and bake. That’s a recipe for trouble. It’s also Africa in 2050. Overcoming the resulting problems is among humanity’s greatest challenges. Currently, 490 million Africans live below the extreme poverty level ($2/day per person). The number is rising but the percentage is going down, because the overall population is growing faster than the number of the extremely poor.

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Federal Water Tap, October 4: Supreme Court Starts October Term with Groundwater Case

Circle of Blue

The Rundown. For the first time, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over a groundwater dispute , in this case between Mississippi and Tennessee. Congress adds $28.6 billion in disaster aid , plus money for drought response and California water projects , to a bill that keeps the federal government operating through December 3. The U.S. Geological Survey develops a screening tool for harmful algal blooms in the eastern United States.

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DIY Solar Now To Pocket Profits From Solar Energy

Earth 911

The U.S. Department of Energy recently released a study showing how America could decarbonize its. The post DIY Solar Now To Pocket Profits From Solar Energy appeared first on Earth911.

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Implementing D.E.J.I. Strategies in Energy, Environment, and Transportation

Speaker: Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition

Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) policies, programs, and initiatives are critically important as we move forward with public and private sector climate and sustainability goals and plans. Underserved and socially, economically, and racially disadvantaged communities bear the burden of pollution, higher energy costs, limited resources, and limited investments in the clean energy and transportation sectors.

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Green jobs for physics graduates: decarbonizing energy sources

Physics World

Ann Davies , chief operations officer, Lightsource BP. Taking advantage of new technologies will be essential if the world is to achieve its net-zero goals. Renewable energy sources are perhaps the most obvious of these, and the transition to them is already under way. “I don’t think there’s ever been a more exciting time to join the energy sector,” says Ann Davies , who is chief operations officer at Lightsource BP , a firm that has been developing solar projects since 2010, and now employs nea

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Opinion: To Meet Ambitious Green Building Goals, Prefabrication is Key

Yale E360

Read more on E360 ?.

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Lubricating arthritic knees with synthetic fluid may help tissue heal

New Scientist

Painful knee arthritis may occur when cartilage breaks down and increases friction in joints, but tests in rats suggest a synthetic lubricating fluid helps cartilage regenerate

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Carbon fibres have directional electrical properties

Physics World

The electrical properties of a carbon fibre are very different when measured across its width or along its length, according to a new study by Satoshi Matsuo and Nancy Sottos at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US. Using a technique designed to probe the electrical resistivity of 2D materials, the duo has showed for the first time that fibres are significantly less conductive in the transverse direction.

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App Helps Cold Storage Facilities Improve Energy Use

Environmental Leader

The UK's Star Refrigeration has developed an app to help the cold storage industry improve energy efficiency. The post App Helps Cold Storage Facilities Improve Energy Use appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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High-resolution independent VMAT/IMRT patient QA: Clinical implementation and results

Physics World

Want to take part in this webinar? Join the audience. This presentation has been accredited 1 MPCEC hour by CAMPEP and submitted for approval by EBAMP as a CPD event for Medical Physicists at EQF Level 7. Learn about the clinical implementation and routine use of the MatriXX Resolution detector array. Discover the latest features in the myQA software that allow for accurate measurement of volumetric modulated plans, as well as static IMRT, or any dose delivery method used by your clinic.

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Shaping a Resilient Future: Climate Impact on Vulnerable Populations

Speaker: Laurie Schoeman Director, Climate & Sustainability, Capital

As households and communities across the nation face challenges such as hurricanes, wildfires, drought, extreme heat and cold, and thawing permafrost and flooding, we are increasingly searching for ways to mitigate and prevent climate impacts. During this event, national climate and housing expert Laurie Schoeman will discuss topics including: The two paths for climate action: decarbonization and adaptation.

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September Monthly Round Up

National Law Center

As September ends, staff at the National Agricultural Law Center continue to bring trusted research and information in agricultural and food. The post September Monthly Round Up appeared first on National Agricultural Law Center.

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People reached remote Atlantic islands 700 years earlier than thought

New Scientist

The Azores, some 1400 kilometres off the west coast of Europe, were settled by the Portuguese in the 1400s, but now there’s evidence people had lived there 700 years earlier

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What Chili Peppers Can Teach Us about Pain

Scientific American

U.C. San Francisco researcher and Breakthrough Prize–winner David Julius talks about capsaicin, opioids and snake vision. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Ag & Food Law Daily Update: October 4, 2021

National Law Center

A comprehensive summary of today’s judicial, legislative, and regulatory developments in agriculture and food. Email important additions HERE. REGULATORY: AMS, The post Ag & Food Law Daily Update: October 4, 2021 appeared first on National Agricultural Law Center.

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Sustainability at Retail

Sustainability impacts every nation, company, and person around the world. So much so that, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) issued a call for action by all countries to work toward sustainable development. In response to this and as part of a global Sustainability at Retail initiative, Shop! worked collaboratively with its global affiliates to address these critical issues in this white paper.

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State Auditor General Begins Audit Of PennVEST Nonpoint Source Project Funding Prompted By $51 Million Loan To Purchase Forest Land

PA Environment Daily

Responding to a resolution authored more than three years ago by Rep. Martin Causer (R-Cameron), state Auditor General Tim DeFoor has launched an audit of nonpoint source management transactions authorized by the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority. House Resolution 948 was introduced in 2018 in response to concerns raised about PennVEST’s approval of two low-interest loans totaling nearly $51 million for a New Hampshire-based company to purchase more than 60,000 acres of private fo

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2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Awarded for Discoveries in Sensing Temperature and Touch

Scientific American

David Julius’s and Ardem Patapoutian’s research revealed the molecular basis of these basic senses. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Quantum computers can now fix their own mistakes without making more

New Scientist

The first demonstration of error correction on a quantum computer that doesn't lead to more mistakes is a step towards genuinely useful computation

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Biosphere 2: The Once Infamous Live-In Terrarium Is Transforming Climate Research

Scientific American

Despite its controversial past, the quirky desert facility is becoming increasingly relevant as it turns 30. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Reduce Energy Use At Home

Academy of Natural Sciences

When seasons change, so do indoor temperatures. Whether we’re turning down the AC to cool off, or turning up the heat to get cozy, we use a lot of energy. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2015 more than 76 million American households (64%) used a central air-conditioning system, an increase from less than 66 million households (59%) in 2005.

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Covid-19 news: New Zealand plans to phase out elimination strategy

New Scientist

The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic

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Clean solar light right in your pocket

Inhabitant

Namene Solar are the makers behind Occa, a portable solar light and headlamp, striving to put a clean source of light in everyone's hands. That's why when you buy one of these lamps, the company will donate one of them to families who live off the grid and have to rely on kerosene lamps.

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Woman’s depression treated by an implant responding to brain patterns

New Scientist

A treatment for depression that involves putting electrodes into the brain to respond to unique neural patterns has seen success for a 36-year-old woman

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Experimental Brain Implant Could Personalize Depression Therapy

Scientific American

Symptoms subsided for one woman after a carefully targeted neural circuit was stimulated. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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People in cities have faced huge increase in heat exposure since 1983

New Scientist

The world’s city dwellers collectively experienced 119 billion days above 30°C in 2016 – a 199 per cent increase on the equivalent 1983 figure of 40 billion days

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Conservationists continue fighting despite Line 3's completion

Inhabitant

On Thursday last week, Enbridge, the Canadian oil company in charge of the Line 3 project, announced that work on the pipeline was complete. The pipeline is expected to start ferrying oil across Minnesota this Monday.

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Medicine Nobel awarded for explaining how we sense heat and touch

New Scientist

The 2021 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine has been won by two researchers who discovered how our nerves detect temperature and touch

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Chesapeake Bay Journal Film: Water's Way - Thinking Like A Watershed

PA Environment Daily

By Tom Horton, Chesapeake Bay Journal Faithful readers know that I have become a beaver believer. For most of the time that the Chesapeake Bay has existed, beavers by the millions inhabited every nook and cranny of the six-state watershed (and most of North America). By damming, digging and ponding, the rodents controlled the continent’s hydrology and shaped the landscape in ways that delivered profoundly cleaner, clearer water to streams and rivers and estuaries.

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EPA Exposed

Environmental News Bits

The Intercept has a four part series about whistleblowers who are speaking out about the Environmental Protection Agency’s practice of routinely approving dangerous chemicals.

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Statement from Michelle Woodhouse, Water Program Manager, on Canada’s move to invoke 1977 Pipeline Treaty 

Enviromental Defense

Statement from Michelle Woodhouse, Water Program Manager, on Canada’s move to invoke 1977 Pipeline Treaty . Treaty to be used to argue that Line 5 must stay open, despite the fact that the pipeline poses an unacceptable threat to the Great Lakes. Toronto, Ont. – We are dismayed by Canada’s decision to invoke the 1977 Pipeline Treaty and intervene in the hearing between Michigan and Enbridge.

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Save bats from becoming extinct

Inhabitant

Thanks to the horror movies, books and rabid headlines, bats are not only a victim of natural dangers, but also of human misunderstanding and fear.

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Americans may soon pay more for milk, cheese as rising heat stresses livestock

Environmental News Bits

Read the full story from PBS News Hour. Farmers across the U.S. are struggling to keep their livestock cool enough amid rising temperatures and dangerous heat caused by climate change. As Illinois Public Media’s Dana Cronin reports, livestock producers are searching for ways to keep their animals safe.

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Mercury Dazzles in New Close-up from BepiColombo Mission

Scientific American

The European and Japanese spacecraft performed the first of six slingshot maneuvers around the planet. It will ultimately insert two probes into orbit in 2025. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Role of the social factors in success of solar photovoltaic reuse and recycle programmes

Environmental News Bits

Walzberg, J., Carpenter, A. & Heath, G.A. “Role of the social factors in success of solar photovoltaic reuse and recycle programmes.” Nature Energy 6, 913–924 (2021). [link] [open access] Abstract: By 2050, the cumulative mass of end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) modules may reach 80?Mt globally.

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Los Angeles apparel headquarter has an eco-conscious design

Inhabitant

The apparel industry has long been in the spotlight for its negative impacts to the environment. In addition to the toxic chemicals, water consumption and synthetic materials that go into fashion pieces, the footprint of the retail apparel stores and offices are also in the crosshairs.

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