May, 2023

article thumbnail

The Upper Atmosphere Is Cooling, Prompting New Climate Concerns

Yale E360

A new study reaffirming that global climate change is human-made also found the upper atmosphere is cooling dramatically because of rising CO2 levels. Scientists are worried about the effect this cooling could have on orbiting satellites, the ozone layer, and Earth’s weather.

article thumbnail

ABB Partners to Build an Offshore Wind Farm to Create Green Hydrogen

Environment + Energy Leader

The ABB Energy Industries is driving the move toward renewable hydrogen with an offshore wind project: SoutH2Port – a project that has two key hurdles, which include the cost of making hydrogen from wind and solar and building offshore wind farms.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

James Hansen Warns of a Short-Term Climate Shock Bringing 2 Degrees of Warming by 2050

Inside Climate News

The famed researcher publicly released a preliminary version of a paper-in-progress with grim predictions of short- and long-term warming, but not all climate scientists agree with its conclusions. By Bob Berwyn A team of scientists led by former NASA climate researcher James Hansen, who formally raised the alarm about climate change to U.S. government leaders in his 1988 testimony to Congress , is working on a new study that warns of a possible short-term spike of planetary heating 2 degrees Ce

article thumbnail

An A to Z of Fossil Fuel Industry Deception

Union of Concerned Scientists

This year has brought new evidence of what major fossil fuel companies knew and when about the role their products play in climate change, as well as what they did in spite of what they knew. The evidence builds on revelations from the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s investigation during the last Congress into Big Oil’s climate disinformation.

article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

Louisiana Becomes First State to Issue Drinking Water Report Cards

Circle of Blue

Move aims for transparency and to identify struggling water systems. The water tower in Sunset, Louisiana. The town’s water system received a D grade in the state’s first report card. Photo courtesy of Patrick under Creative Commons license BY-NC-SA 2.0 By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue – May 11, 2023 In an effort to improve public communication, the Louisiana Department of Health published its inaugural water system report cards last week, becoming the first state in the country to us

Law 299
article thumbnail

The role of regulatory relationships in wastewater innovation

Legal Planet

Read our recent article. Public water and wastewater utilities are increasingly struggling to meet society’s expectations. Their basic infrastructure is aging, budgets are tight, and they face a barrage of stressors, from population growth to climate change and shifting regulatory expectations. What’s more, in addition to performing their traditional function of protecting human health and water quality, many wastewater utilities are being asked to contribute to meeting other goals.

More Trending

article thumbnail

Expect $264B of Investment in Electric Vehicle Charging by 2030

Environment + Energy Leader

Global technology company Siemens predicts that the market for wireless EV charging in Europe and North America will reach $2 billion by 2028. The post Expect $264B of Investment in Electric Vehicle Charging by 2030 appeared first on Environment+Energy Leader.

2030 363
article thumbnail

CMIP6: Not-so-sudden stratospheric cooling

Real Climate

As predicted in 1967 by Manabe and Wetherald , the stratosphere has been cooling. A new paper by Ben Santer and colleagues has appeared in PNAS where they extend their previous work on the detection and attribution of anthropogenic climate change to include the upper stratosphere, using observations from the Stratospheric Sounding Units (SSUs) (and their successors, the AMSU instruments) that have flown since 1979.

Cooling 306
article thumbnail

California Legislature Could Make Overdue Changes to Water Rights if These Three Bills Pass

Union of Concerned Scientists

For the first time in several decades , policy makers in Sacramento seem poised to actually do something about California’s dysfunctional water rights systems. There are three promising policies winding their way through the Legislature this session. All three bills just made it out of the committee review process, and are slated to be voted on by June 2.

article thumbnail

In Iowa, a Tale of Politics, Power, and Contaminated Water

Circle of Blue

In Iowa, a Tale of Politics, Power, and Contaminated Water Lawmakers silence Chris Jones, a prominent University of Iowa water quality researcher. By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue – May 25, 2023 IOWA CITY, IOWA – Here in the heart of US farm country, the wretched quality of Iowa waterways is a well-known lament. Farm fields laden with synthetic fertilizers and manure produce bounties of over 2 billion bushels of corn each year, but those same fields also produce a torrent of run-off that

Politics 364
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

On the Perils of Hasty Drafting

Legal Planet

Someone asked me how the new bill defines what kinds of projects have enough federal involvement to require an environmental assessment. I thought I knew the answer. But when I looked carefully at the bill’s language, I realized that it actually can’t mean what I thought it did. In fact, it’s so badly written that it may not actually mean anything at all.

article thumbnail

As Ocean Oxygen Levels Dip, Fish Face an Uncertain Future

Yale E360

Global warming not only increases ocean temperatures, it triggers a cascade of effects that are stripping the seas of oxygen. Fish are already moving to new waters in search of oxygen, and scientists are warning of the long-term threat to fish species and marine ecosystems.

Ocean 349
article thumbnail

WWF Proposes Global Ban on ‘High-Risk, Unnecessary’ Single-Use Plastics

Environment + Energy Leader

Research on plastic pollution done by WWF and Eunomia will present the feasibility of banning certain plastics from circulation at the UN plastic pollution treaty talks later this month.

Waste 342
article thumbnail

Lab-grown meat could be 25 times worse for the climate than beef

New Scientist

Analysis finds the carbon footprint of cultivated meat is likely to be higher than beef if current production methods are scaled up because they are still highly energy-intensive

145
145
article thumbnail

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.

article thumbnail

Why Congress Should Pass the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act

Union of Concerned Scientists

In March, one of the most comprehensive bills for advancing environmental justice was reintroduced in the US House and Senate: the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act (EJ for All Act). The bill, introduced in the House by Reps. Raúl Grijalva and Barbara Lee, and Sens. Cory Booker and Tammy Duckworth on the Senate side, is named in honor of the late Rep.

article thumbnail

HotSpots H2O: Trouble Areas Emerge as Summer Looms

Circle of Blue

Eqypt and its cities like Cairo rely almost exclusively on the Nile for water supplies, yet experts say any unrest upriver in Sudan will have repercussions on Egypt’s water security. J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue Sun-baked fields and dusty reservoirs dot the landscape of southern Spain. Travel east in the Mediterranean and Tunisia is cutting urban water service at night to conserve supplies amid a harsh, multi-year drought.

article thumbnail

The Winding Path of Australian Climate Policy

Legal Planet

On a per capita basis, Australia’s carbon emissions are even higher than the United States. A decade ago, Australia had a climate tax. That was repealed in 2014, and the ensuing period saw little progress. In the past two years, however, the things have started trending upward after years of inaction by conservative governments. More is needed, but hopefully the tide has turned.

2030 252
article thumbnail

Finland Drained Its Peatlands. He’s Helping Bring Them Back

Yale E360

Tero Mustonen has led a successful effort to restore roughly 80 areas of ecologically critical peatlands across his native Finland. In an interview, he talks about the importance of bringing Indigenous knowledge to rewilding initiatives in far northern regions and beyond.

321
321
article thumbnail

DOW on Route to Making Chemicals Using Small Modular Reactors

Environment + Energy Leader

When Dow and X-energy inked an agreement to develop an advanced nuclear reactor at one of Dow’s sites along the Gulf Coast, it was a big deal – a technology the two will license to other industrial customers.

article thumbnail

Who Said Recycling Was Green? It Makes Microplastics By the Ton

Inside Climate News

A study finds one plastics recycling plant in the U.K. produces as much as 3 million pounds of microplastics a year—and that’s with filtering. By James Bruggers Research out of Scotland suggests that the chopping, shredding and washing of plastic in recycling facilities may turn as much as six to 13 percent of incoming waste into microplastics—tiny, toxic particles that are an emerging and ubiquitous environmental health concern for the planet and people.

Recycling 145
article thumbnail

California’s Water Rights System is Inequitable, Inadequate, and Possibly, About to Change

Union of Concerned Scientists

During a California State Assembly informational hearing earlier this year, there seemed to be consensus that California’s 19 th century water rights system is not well suited to the social context and climate of the 21st century. Change is necessary and may be coming.  This outdated water rights system is based on historic and continued disenfranchisement and dispossession.

article thumbnail

HOTSPOTS H2O: Failing Rains in Darfur Foster Conflict and Displacement

Circle of Blue

Mahmoud, a Darfurian farmer displaced by violence over scarce arable land, sits on a beach in Ventimiglia, Italy. HOTSPOTS H2O: Failing Rains in Darfur Foster Conflict and Displacement By Zara Gounden & Fraser Byers, Circle of Blue – May 31, 2023 Two decades after the onset of the war in Darfur, an enduring water crisis continues to inflict tension between crop farmers and herders in the embattled territory.

2003 259
article thumbnail

New York Adopts Cap and Trade

Legal Planet

Last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed major climate legislation. Press coverage focused on one small piece of the legislation: a partial ban on natural gas use in new buildings. That’s controversial and easily grasped by the public. But a much bigger part of the new law went almost unnoticed: the legislature’s endorsement of an economy-wide “cap and invest” law, a variant of cap and trade.

article thumbnail

El Niño to Return This Year, Boosting Warming Trend

Yale E360

El Niño, a phase marked by warm waters in the eastern Pacific, will likely return this year, driving up global temperatures, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

266
266
article thumbnail

Rubicon Partners with Atlanta for Sustainable, Efficient Public Works Operations

Environment + Energy Leader

The company's cloud-based smarty city technology will help Atlanta's Department of Public Works implement sustainable operations for its existing fleet.

article thumbnail

Canada’s Top Seven Climate Villains Fueling Climate Catastrophe

Enviromental Defense

What do the CEO of Imperial Oil, the head of RBC bank and the head of Big Oil’s biggest lobby association, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, all have in common? They’re all committed to using their power to block climate action in order to profit personally from more oil and gas production. And they’re preventing efforts to build a healthy, equitable world beyond fossil fuels.

article thumbnail

Illinois Dust Storm Disaster Is a Warning for Agriculture

Union of Concerned Scientists

On a stretch of interstate highway in central Illinois last week, a freak dust storm caused a series of massive vehicle pileups that killed seven people and injured dozens more. The cause of the tragedy, according to Illinois State Police , was “excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway leading to zero visibility.” News reports noted that dust storms are rare in Illinois, but drier, hotter conditions in many farming communities could make such events more frequ

article thumbnail

The Stream, May 17, 2023: Morocco Boosts Funding, Ambitions for 30-Year Water Plan

Circle of Blue

Restoration projects in the Kissimmee River Basin north of Lake Okeechobee are part of larger efforts to reduce nutrient pollution and send clean water south to the Everglades. Photo courtesy Brent Anderson / South Florida Water Management District via Flickr Creative Commons YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN Public hiking paths have opened along the Han River, a biodiverse estuary which flows through the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

2023 246
article thumbnail

Can Fish Breathe Air?

Ocean Conservancy

All animals—whether fish, dog, snail or human—need to breathe. We take in oxygen and process it through tiny mitochondria (also known as the power houses of the cell) and expel carbon dioxide—a method that powers the rest of our bodies and gets rid of waste. How exactly animals take in that oxygen can vary, though. (Side note—scientists recently discovered the first animal that doesn’t breathe oxygen at all, a parasitic “blob” called Henneguya salmincola.

Ocean 138
article thumbnail

Beyond Factory Farms: A New Look at the Rights of Animals

Yale E360

Philosopher Peter Singer’s book, Animal Liberation , helped launch the animal rights movement nearly 50 years ago. He talks with Yale E360 about the evolution of our understanding of how animals feel pain and how humans are not so different from other species as we once thought.

263
263
article thumbnail

Can European Industry Wean Itself From Russian Natural Gas?

Environment + Energy Leader

McKinsey & Company says European industrials reduced their demand by 25 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But it adds that China and India could replace that by consuming 35 billion cubic meters, which they get at a discount.

article thumbnail

The Tragedy on the Financial Horizon is Closer Than You Think

Law Columbia

Credit: Ilmi Granoff In September 2015, then Bank of England Governor Mark Carney gave a landmark speech on the “ Tragedy of the Horizon.” The concept was simple: climate change creates tremendous risk for financial markets, but these mounting risks are ignored by investors due to the market’s tendency towards myopia. The speech marked a significant turning point in finance: the starting gun in the race to internalize climate-related financial risks.

article thumbnail

More Federal Funding Can Close the Rural Water Gap. Will Congress and the USDA Step Up?

Union of Concerned Scientists

This week is Drinking Water Week , but not everyone in America has the same access to safe, reliable running water, or a system for removing and treating wastewater when flushing toilets. Rural communities and communities of color are more at risk of unsafe water and inadequate sanitation due to historical disinvestment, regulatory failures, and structural racism.

2010 304
article thumbnail

Triangle T Water District and the Absurdities of CA Water

NRDC

While it may not be an outlier, the absurdity of the Triangle T Water District is a great example of why people say that in California, water flows uphill towards money.

140
140