April, 2022

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Why Are Nature-Based Solutions on Climate Being Overlooked?

Yale E360

Nature-based initiatives, such as planting mangroves and revitalizing wetlands, have proven effective in making communities more resilient to climate change. But international funding has shortchanged such solutions in favor of more costly and less efficient engineering projects. Read more on E360 ?.

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A 100% Renewable Energy Future is Possible, and We Need It

Union of Concerned Scientists

We’re living in a time of high volatility in the price of gas that has hit close to all sectors of our economy. We’re also living in a time plagued with costly ”this is not normal” weather events. Indeed, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has just warned us of the decisive fate that this decade represents to act on climate for us and all the species that we depend on.

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Blurring the Lines Between Art and Activism ????

Circle of Blue

Greg Mort painting “Circle of Blue” in 2007. Photo © Greg and Nadine Mort. Greg Mort didn’t intend to devote his career as an artist to the preservation of the environment. Indeed, his art has always reflected his fascination with science. “As a young person,” he said of growing up in the original space age, “I marveled at the idea of all of that adventure.” Even now, he said, he’s more interested in talking to scientists than other artists. “

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Evrnu Launches Recyclable Lyocell Material Made from Cotton Textile Waste

Environment + Energy Leader

Textile company Evrnu is launching the world’s first high performance, recyclable lyocell material made entirely from cotton textile waste. Doing this allows a way to replace plastic-based materials. The post Evrnu Launches Recyclable Lyocell Material Made from Cotton Textile Waste appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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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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Meet the Blue Dragon

Ocean Conservancy

Earlier this month a man in Texas took a video of a curious creature he found on the beach. Not knowing what it was, he took a video and uploaded it to Reddit where it was immediately identified as a cute but venomous creature: Glaucus atlanticus. This creature goes by many common names including sea swallow, blue ocean slug, blue angel and our personal favorite, blue dragon.

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Physics is something that girls fancy

Physics World

Physics opens doors to extraordinary careers in research, engineering and industry. It teaches people to think critically, to solve complex problems and to design solutions to the world’s biggest challenges. But not all young people are welcomed to physics equally. Some are discouraged by out-of-date opinions and widespread misconceptions about what physics is, and some are put off by lazy stereotypes and bias.

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Remembering Our Nation’s Fallen Workers

Union of Concerned Scientists

Wednesday is “hump day” for many working people with Monday to Friday jobs. As Thursday dawns, their work week is more than half over and some respite may be in sight. For others with different schedules, shifts, multiple jobs, or work that spills over into their so-called off-time, Thursday is just another day. But this upcoming week, Thursday, April 28, is not just another day.

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Perspective | Water is the New Carbon

Circle of Blue

Global water security is increasingly threatened. Accounting for water use and risk ought to have the same urgency with which we address carbon. Cargo ships on the Rhine River, in Germany. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue. By Jay Famiglietti, Jose Ignacio Galindo, Palash Sanyal, and Li Xu – April 7, 2022. Provocative? Perhaps. But true. When it comes to acknowledging society’s impact on climate, environment, and human security, water is the next frontier for comprehensive accounting and ada

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Coca-Cola, General Mills Join Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition

Environment + Energy Leader

Nine global brands have been added to the Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition (Supplier LoCT), a consortium created to accelerate action throughout the supply chain in the march toward net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The post Coca-Cola, General Mills Join Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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Stunning photograph shows a flower as an insect might see it

New Scientist

Debora Lombardi's image, shortlisted for the 2022 Sony World Photography Awards, uses a photography technique to show the fluorescence of flowers under UV light, revealing them as insects might see them

2022 145
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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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W boson mass measurement surprises physicists

Physics World

The most precise measurement to date of the mass of the W boson has yielded a result seven standard deviations away from that predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. The stunning result was obtained by a painstaking analysis of data taken at the Fermilab Tevatron collider in the US before it closed in 2011. The particle physics community must now study the results carefully to work out whether it is an incredible statistical fluke, an unknown experimental error, a flaw in the Standa

2011 145
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Microplastics Found In Lungs of Humans Undergoing Surgery

Yale E360

A new study has found tiny plastic particles no bigger than sesame seeds buried throughout human lungs, indicating that people are inhaling microplastics lingering in the air. Read more on E360 ?.

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How Does Transit Help the Climate?

Union of Concerned Scientists

We’ve heard it a lot. Riding transit is good for the climate. And the climate needs our help now more than ever. Is this true? Yes. Can we really make a difference by changing our transportation system? Also yes. Here’s how. Transit lowers emissions, brings convenience. Transportation is about getting where we need to go—to where we live, where we play, where we work, where we pray.

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An encroaching desert intensifies Nigeria’s farmer-herder crisis

Circle of Blue

14. How climate change and human activity are driving violence between farming and pastoralist communities. By Kunle Adebajo and Murtala Abdullahi, CCIJ — April 14, 2022. A bare-chested old man lies in the emergency room of a government hospital in northeast Nigeria. An intravenous line sticks out from his right arm and an arrow from his left shoulder.

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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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Intel Commits to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2040

Environment + Energy Leader

Today, Intel Corporation pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its global operations by 2040. The post Intel Commits to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2040 appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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We are more satisfied with life as we age, thanks to this neurochemical

Frontiers

By Tania Fitzgeorge-balfour, science writer. Image: Robert Kneschke. A new study has linked life satisfaction to the chemistry in our brains. People that release more of the neurochemical oxytocin are kinder to others and tend to be more satisfied with their lives. In addition, oxytocin release increases with age, showing why, on average, people are more caring as they get older.

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Lia Merminga becomes first woman to head Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Physics World

The particle physicist Lia Merminga has been appointed the first female director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory based in Batavia, Illinois. She will become the seventh director of the US particle-physics lab and succeeds Nigel Lockyer, who has headed Fermilab since 2013. Merminga will begin her term on 18 April. Born in Greece, Merminga earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Athens in 1983 and then began a PhD in physics at the University of Michigan, Ann Habo

2028 144
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U.S. May Have Hit Peak Natural Gas Power Generation, Report Says

Yale E360

In the U.S., electricity generation using natural gas likely hit its peak in 2020, according to a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Finance (IEEFA), which finds that cheaper wind and solar are edging gas off the power grid. Read more on E360 ?.

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Michigan Can Transition to 100-Percent Renewable Energy by 2035, Save Lives, and Create Jobs

Union of Concerned Scientists

Imagine: It’s spring in the year 2040. On a warm, windy day in Southwest Detroit, you pause under a magnolia tree. Its buds are full to bursting with pink and white blossoms. The air smells like rain, and—compared to what you grew up with—feels cleaner in your nose and lungs. From this 2040 perspective, Michigan’s 100-percent renewable energy standard took full effect five years ago, and—along with accelerated closures of coal plants, like the one in Monroe, and a ban on new gas plant constructi

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HotSpots H2O: ‘We Have Nowhere Left To Go’: Durban’s Affordability Crisis Pushed Development into Flood Zones

Circle of Blue

Homes in high-risk flood zones are the only affordable option for Durban’s poorest residents. April’s downpour delivered months worth of rain in a 48-hour period, killing over 450 people and displacing 40,000 more. Photo © Catherine Sutherland. Laura Gersony, Circle of Blue — April 25, 2022. The rain in Durban was just starting to ease when Catherine Sutherland, an urban geographer at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, decided to return home.

2019 336
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NHTSA Announces New Fuel Economy Standards

Environment + Energy Leader

The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced new fuel economy standards for fleets. The new standards will make vehicle miles per gallon more efficient and reduce transportation emissions. The post NHTSA Announces New Fuel Economy Standards appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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Three Shady Minister’s Zoning Orders in Ontario

Enviromental Defense

In the last few years, you’ve probably been hearing a lot of news about MZOs – Minister’s Zoning Orders. While MZOs are occasionally useful for urgent or unusual projects, the current government has been handing them out like candy – and the examples below are downright shady. What’s an MZO? Map of MZOs approved or requested under the current Ontario government.

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Astronomers see star enter a ‘Maunder Minimum’ for the first time

Physics World

For the first time, astronomers have observed a star that has entered a state of low, or flat, activity – analogous to the famous Maunder Minimum that gripped the Sun during the latter half of the seventeenth century. Anna Baum , of Penn State University and Lehigh University, led a survey of 59 approximately Sun-like stars, combining over 50 years’ worth of observations drawn from the likes of the Mount Wilson Observatory HK Project that ran from 1966 until 2003 (though Baum’s team did not have

2004 143
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Bringing Back Fire: How Burning Can Help Restore Eastern Lands

Yale E360

For millennia, North American ecosystems benefited from fire, mostly set by Indigenous people. Now, a movement is growing, particularly in the eastern U.S., to reintroduce controlled burns to forests and grasslands and restore the role of fire in creating biodiverse landscapes. Read more on E360 ?.

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ExxonMobil Shows Its Lobbying Hand, But Hides Some Cards

Union of Concerned Scientists

A funny thing happened just as people started turning off their laptops and gearing up for the long President’s Day weekend last month. At 2 p.m. on Friday, with no news alert, press statement or announcement, ExxonMobil for the first time revealed who received its lobbying money and how much. The world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company didn’t lay its cards on the table without a push.

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Great Lakes News Collaborative Examines Water’s True Cost

Circle of Blue

Throughout the Great Lakes region and across the U.S., water systems are aging. In some communities, this means water bills that residents can’t afford or water that’s unsafe to drink. It means that vulnerable systems are even more at risk in a changing climate. From shrinking cities and small towns to the comparatively thriving suburbs, the true cost of water has been deferred for decades.

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Winning Patterns in Sustainability and ESG

Environment + Energy Leader

Winning Patterns in Sustainability and ESG: How can corporate leaders adopt a more strategic approach towards ESG and ensure growth, agility, and good risk management. The post Winning Patterns in Sustainability and ESG appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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Mystery outbreak of hepatitis in children investigated in the UK

New Scientist

There has been a cluster of cases of hepatitis, or liver inflammation, among young children in the UK, which could be linked to an unknown infection

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The laser physicist unlocking navigation technology

Physics World

When exploring an unfamiliar place, many of us default to a rather modern method of navigation: watching a blue dot move around a map, on a screen, and course-correcting to keep it on the right track. We owe this convenient technology to global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) – such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo and BeiDou – which regularly broadcast radio-waves from their orbits around the Earth.

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Amid Hopes and Fears, a Plastics Boom in Appalachia Is On Hold

Yale E360

The rise of fracking in Appalachia has fed visions of turning the Ohio River Valley into a petrochemical and plastics hub. But overproduction of plastic, opposition to natural gas pipelines, and public concern about rampant plastic waste are threatening those plans. Read more on E360 ?.

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Miriam Rengel – Women in space

Frontiers

Author: Leticia Nani Silva. Space has always been a massive curiosity of mine as a scientist. Despite my interests in biology and human behavior shining brighter in my career, my interest in space and astronomy has always lived in the background. This is why when I got the chance to speak to one of the leading researchers in the field of planetary science and astronomy, my enthusiastic and curiosities knew no boundaries.

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Inflation Weighs On U.S. Water Utilities

Circle of Blue

Water leaders worry that rising prices — for everything from lead pipe replacements to treatment plant repairs — will cause a historic federal infrastructure investment to fall short of lofty expectations. Along with other goods and services, inflation is pushing up the cost of water infrastructure projects. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue.

2021 299
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Alphabet, Meta, Stripe, Shopify, McKinsey Launch $925M Carbon Removal Effort

Environment + Energy Leader

Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta and McKinsey Sustainability launch a carbon removal organization called Frontier. The post Alphabet, Meta, Stripe, Shopify, McKinsey Launch $925M Carbon Removal Effort appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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China is building more than half of the world's new coal power plants

New Scientist

China accounted for 52 per cent of the 176 gigawatts of coal capacity under construction in 20 countries last year, according to the Global Energy Monitor

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