June, 2022

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Will a Nile Canal Project Dry Up Africa’s Largest Wetland?

Yale E360

South Sudan is moving ahead with plans for a 240-mile canal to divert water from the White Nile and send it to Egypt. But critics warn the megaproject would desiccate the world’s second largest wetland, impacting its rich wildlife and the rains on which the region depends. Read more on E360 ?.

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5 Powerful Facts for Global Wind Day

Union of Concerned Scientists

We at the Union of Concerned Scientists think a lot about wind power. In honor of Global Wind Day , here’s a roundup of what we’re seeing and what we’ve been thinking—five facts about wind energy to keep in mind as you celebrate, or at least make note, on June 15. 1. Wind power is big, and getting bigger. Wind is impressive. I’ve felt that most explicitly when sidling up to an offshore wind turbine in a boat, or when standing on top of a land-based one, hundreds of feet in the air.

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HotSpots H2O: “Day Zero” Looms for South African Province

Circle of Blue

Government dysfunction has multiplied drought risks. Steenbras Dam, east of Cape Town. Photo © Brett Walton / Circle of Blue. By Laura Gersony, Circle of Blue — June 20, 2022. South Africa’s Eastern Cape province is scrambling to avoid a “Day Zero” scenario in which taps run dry. Water levels behind Impofu Dam — which forms the second-largest reservoir in Nelson Mandela Bay district — dropped too low for extraction on June 13, according to data released by the local government.

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Mmm-k scale climate models

Real Climate

Ocean eddy visualization ( Karsten Schnieder ). Two opinion pieces ( Slingo et al. , and Hewitt et al. ) and a supportive Nature Climate Change editorial were published this week, extolling the prospects for what they call “k-scale” climate modeling. These are models that would have grid boxes around 1 to 2 km in the horizontal – some 50 times smaller than what was used in the CMIP6 models.

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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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DHL Is Investing $7.5 Billion to Ensure Climate Goals Are Met

Environment + Energy Leader

When DHL first set its GoGreen target in 2007-2008, the goal was to become 30% more efficient by 2020. But it blew past that threshold in 2016, prompting the company to set even more ambitious targets — to reduce all transport-related emissions to zero by 2050. . The post DHL Is Investing $7.5 Billion to Ensure Climate Goals Are Met appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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A Beautiful Day for Bumblefish?

Legal Planet

A California appeals court ruled last week that bumblebees are fish and are therefore protected by the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). That may sound ridiculous, but there’s actually a convoluted legal argument to support the court. That argument does justify giving the CESA some extra coverage beyond what we would ordinarily classify as fish.

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We’re Naming Summer “Danger Season” in the US. Here’s Why.

Union of Concerned Scientists

Every year, as the calendar flips from May to June, I feel a sense of dread sink into my chest. By June 1 each year, the West’s rainy season is long over, hurricane season is likely to have kicked off, and the grim annual parade of heatwaves has begun. While summer is still summer and we on the climate team at UCS look forward to ice cream and late sunsets as much as anyone, there’s something we need to tell you: Climate change has transformed summer into our country’s Danger Season, and we’d be

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What Happens If Glen Canyon Dam’s Power Shuts Off?

Circle of Blue

Lake Powell is drying behind one of the Southwest’s largest hydropower plants. Glen Canyon Dam forms the massive reservoir of Lake Powell. Water in Powell is released through turbines in the dam, generating power that electrifies homes, businesses, rural coops, and irrigation pumps across six states and more than 50 Native American tribes. Photo © J.

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Meet the Idiomysis Shrimp, the Social Butterfly of the Ocean

Ocean Conservancy

Recently, while looking at underwater macro photography, I stumbled across an adorable type of shrimp that I had never seen before. Their bulging eyes and tiny, colorful bodies were simply too cute to handle. I wanted to learn more. Surprisingly, a Google (and even Bing!) search showed me that there is very little written about these interesting critters.

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Study Highlights Methods to Reduce Ad Campaign Emissions

Environment + Energy Leader

A study addresses the emissions created by advertising campaigns and ways companies can make improvements. The post Study Highlights Methods to Reduce Ad Campaign Emissions appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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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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Deep learning identifies head-on collisions in LHC data

Physics World

Deep learning could hold the key to making sense of proton collisions generated in the world’s premier particle accelerator. That is the message from physicists in Europe and the US who have shown how an algorithm developed for language translation can efficiently filter out noise from data taken by detectors at at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.

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The Vanishing Rio Grande: Warming Takes a Toll on a Legendary River

Yale E360

The Rio Grande, which flows out of the Rockies and later forms the U.S.-Mexico border, has long been impacted by withdrawals for agriculture and other uses. Now, rising temperatures and an unprecedented drought pose a grave and growing peril to the river and its ecosystems. Read more on E360 ?.

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Biden Administration Moves to Unblock Solar Power

Union of Concerned Scientists

For months, the US solar industry has been frozen by a pending trade case and the uncertainty it has brought. A new move by the Biden administration proposes to fix that. The solar trade case. In February, a small California-based solar panel manufacturer filed a complaint with the Department of Commerce alleging that China, the subject of other US trade tariffs for solar, was illegally bypassing tariffs by channeling solar products through a few neighboring countries.

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What Does Water Want?: A Conversation with Author Erica Gies

Circle of Blue

In February 2017, the Mokelumne River broke through a levee and flooded this farm near Walnut Grove, California. Photo © Eric Gies. By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue – June 7, 2022. Modern societies have dramatically disrupted the water cycle. We have paved wetlands, diverted rivers, overpumped groundwater, and built levees that allow no room for streams to ebb and flow.

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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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Solar storms may cause up to 5500 heart-related deaths in a given year

New Scientist

In an approximate 11-year cycle, the sun blasts out charged particles and magnetised plasma that can distort Earth’s magnetic field, which may disrupt our body clock and ultimately affect the heart

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Pennsylvania County Implementing Energy Performance Program to Save Millions

Environment + Energy Leader

Greene County in Pennsylvania is using a program to improve efficiencies with its lighting, HVAC, and water systems to save millions over the next 20 years. The post Pennsylvania County Implementing Energy Performance Program to Save Millions appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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Gravitational waves from merging black-hole ‘atom’ could reveal new particles

Physics World

Evidence for a new type of subatomic particle could be lurking within the gravitational waves produced by some merging black holes, according to calculations by physicists in the US and the Netherlands. John Stout at Harvard University and colleagues have studied a process whereby a cloud of hypothetical ultralight bosons could form around a black hole, creating a “gravitational atom”.

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The Living City: Weaving Nature Back Into the Urban Fabric

Yale E360

Urban ecologist Eric Sanderson focuses on the natural history of cities. In an interview with Yale Environment 360 , he explains why recovering and restoring streams, salt marshes, and woodlands should be a vital part of how cities adapt to climate change in the 21st century. Read more on E360 ?.

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Reducing Gun Violence: What Role for the CDC?

Union of Concerned Scientists

With another horrific spate of mass shootings in the United States, fueled as they too often are by racism and hate, the nation’s attention has once again turned to asking ourselves and our policymakers how to reduce gun violence in our society. Among developed democracies, the United States stands alone in tolerating a seemingly unending, near-daily death toll from guns in the hands of our people.

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Drought’s Spillover Effect in the American West

Circle of Blue

In a region latticed with pipelines and canals, the consequences of dry conditions in one basin are exported to neighboring watersheds. The Buena Vista Pumping Plant, in southern Kern County, lifts water in the California Aqueduct. Part of the State Water Project, the aqueduct spans hundreds of miles, transferring water from northern watersheds to farms and cities in the south.

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Guest Post: Climate Litigation in Japan: Citizens’ Attempts for the Coal Phase-Out

Law Columbia

By Yumeno Grace Nishikawa, LLM*. The Supreme Court of Japan may soon weigh in on a growing field of climate litigation in Japan against coal-fired power plants. On May 6, 2022, the Citizens’ Committee on the Kobe Coal-Fired Power Plant filed an appeal to Japan’s Supreme Court in Citizens’ Committee on the Kobe Coal-Fired Power Plant v. Japan , their case challenging the legality of a governmental approval that allows for the construction and operation of new coal-fired power plants.

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Steel Dynamics, Aymium to Reduce Steel Emissions with Biocarbon

Environment + Energy Leader

A joint venture by Steel Dynamics and Aymium is expected to significantly lower the emissions in the steelmaking process. The post Steel Dynamics, Aymium to Reduce Steel Emissions with Biocarbon appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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Weather satellite sheds light on ‘Great Dimming’ of Betelgeuse star

Physics World

A weather satellite has helped explain why the red supergiant star Betelgeuse experienced an unprecedented dimming in 2019–20. Its findings corroborate earlier studies that concluded the dimming was the consequence of a lower-temperature spot on the star, which reduced the heat going to a nearby gas cloud. This, astronomers believe, allowed the cloud to cool and condense into dust that blocked some of Betelgeuse’s light.

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Solution or Band-Aid? Carbon Capture Projects Are Moving Ahead

Yale E360

Long discussed but rarely used, carbon capture and storage projects — which bury waste CO2 underground — are on the rise globally. Some analysts see the technology as a necessary tool in reducing emissions, but others say it simply perpetuates the burning of fossil fuels. Read more on E360 ?.

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Guitarfish Rock–Here’s Why

Ocean Conservancy

Here at Ocean Conservancy, we think that all marine wildlife rock. But there’s one animal in particular that I’ve been a superfan of ever since I laid eyes on it: the guitarfish. The name “guitarfish” applies to all rays in the family Rhinobatidae, which is a combination of Latin and Greek words for “nose” and “ray”. Although these rays do look similar to stereotypical rays, they swim with their tails like sharks instead of flapping their fins to move like other rays.

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The Stream, June 15, 2022: Scientists Call on Global Leaders to Reduce Phosphorus Contamination by 2050

Circle of Blue

Phosphorus and nitrates are just a two of many contaminants plaguing the Pine River that runs through Michigan’s Gratiot County. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue. YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN. Scientists call for action on global phosphorus contamination in a new report. Parts of Yellowstone National Park are underwater as heavy rain and melting snow cause rivers to overflow.

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Colorful urban environments, even if just in virtual reality, promote wellbeing

Frontiers

By Conn Hasting, science writer. Colorful virtual reality cityscape. Image credit: A. Batistatou, F. Vandeville, and Y.N. Delevoye-Turrell. Urban environments can be drab and stressful, but introducing vegetation or colorful designs could improve the wellbeing of city dwellers. A new study investigated the potential of these simple interventions using a virtual reality simulation.

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Carlsberg Group Reveals Trial of a New Plant-Based Bottle and Sustainably Brewed Beer

Environment + Energy Leader

Carlsberg Group has today revealed the trial of its new plant-based Fibre Bottle. With a continued focus on evolving technology and sustainable practices, the bottle also contains beer brewed with organic and regenerative barley. The post Carlsberg Group Reveals Trial of a New Plant-Based Bottle and Sustainably Brewed Beer appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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Early adopters position themselves for quantum advantage

Physics World

The first practical demonstrators of quantum computers have fuelled speculation about the future impact this emerging technology will have for both scientific discovery and commercial exploitation. Large-scale machines that can correct for the errors in quantum systems certainly have the potential to disrupt business models and drive innovation, but such fault-tolerant quantum computers are not likely to be realized at scale for at least another decade.

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In World First, Netherlands Caps Flights at Major Airport to Cut Pollution

Yale E360

The Dutch government is capping the number of flights from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at 440,000, a 12 percent cut from pre-pandemic levels. The new policy, set to take effect at the end of 2023, is the world's first to limit flights for environmental reasons. Read more on E360 ?.

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York Region set to debate illegal land grab

Enviromental Defense

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE, STOP SPRAWL YORK REGION. Ambush in the Greenbelt: York Region set to debate illegal Official Plan land grab. Toronto | Traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation – Premier Doug Ford’s promise that his government “won’t touch the Greenbelt, we won’t build on the Greenbelt” may soon be put to its first post-election challenge.

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FRESH, June 14, 2022: Research Highlights Gaps in Federal Air Pollution Data

Circle of Blue

June 14, 2022. Fresh is a biweekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing , straight to your inbox, every other Tuesday. — Laura Gersony, Fresh Editor. This Week’s Watersheds. Researchers find that federal data does not capture local variations in Ohio ’s air pollution.

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Every heatwave occurring today is more intense due to climate change

New Scientist

It's no longer important to use modelling to determine whether a heatwave was made more likely by climate change, say scientists, because all heatwaves today are climate change-related

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FedEx Receives First 150 Electric Delivery Vehicles, Marks Milestone

Environment + Energy Leader

FedEx Corp. announced it has received its first 150 electric delivery vehicles from BrightDrop, the technology startup from General Motors (GM) aimed at decarbonizing last-mile delivery. The post FedEx Receives First 150 Electric Delivery Vehicles, Marks Milestone appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.