Sat.Sep 11, 2021 - Fri.Sep 17, 2021

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‘The Opportunity Is Now’: Water Advocates View Upcoming UN Climate Conference as Moment of Relevance

Circle of Blue

Water was overlooked in past global climate talks. Advocates are focusing on the Glasgow meeting to highlight water’s indispensable climate role. Demonstrators took to the streets at the 2009 global climate convention in Copenhagen. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue. Adaptation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and accounting for climate damages will be prominent topics at the UN climate convention in November.

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Why Saving World’s Peatlands Can Help Stabilize the Climate

Yale E360

Peatlands make up 3 percent of the earth’s landscape, yet absorb large amounts of carbon and harbor surprising biodiversity. Although peat bogs and fens are under increasing environmental threat, efforts to protect and restore these ecosystems are gathering momentum. Read more on E360 ?.

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Ask a Scientist: Tyson’s Near Monopoly is Bad for Workers, Farmers and Communities

Union of Concerned Scientists

Rebecca Boehm, an economist with the UCS Food and Environment Program, looked at Arkansas and the biggest poultry producer in the state, Tyson Foods, as a case study and published her findings in August in conjunction with a Guardian investigative story. I recently spoke with Dr. Boehm about her report.

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Citations for environmental and energy law scholars 2021

Legal Planet

Brian Leiter at Chicago is once again doing his occasional series identifying the top cited legal scholars in the United States in a range of substantive areas. As I did the last time Leiter posted these totals, I thought it might be helpful to our readers to have a list that is focused on US scholars who work substantially or primarily on environmental and energy law.

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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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The Town that Flood-Proofed Itself

Circle of Blue

Ottawa, Illinois learned how to keep its residents out of harm’s way. But on the river’s edge, safety has often required sacrifice. Flooding has long been part of life in Ottawa, Illinois. Photo © Laura Gersony / Circle of Blue. Climate change and upstream development made the riverfront town of Ottawa, Illinois even more prone to flooding.

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They Knew: How the U.S. Government Helped Cause the Climate Crisis

Yale E360

James Gustave Speth has been calling for action on climate since serving in the White House in the 1970s. In an e360 interview, he talks about his new book, which chronicles how successive U.S. administrations repeatedly failed to act in response to scientists’ increasingly dire warnings. Read more on E360 ?.

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Is the ‘Vaccine Mandate’ Legal?

Legal Planet

Incensed critics are calling Biden’s proposed “vaccine mandate” an outrageous usurpation of power. They need to take a deep breath. It’s not really a vaccine mandate, the only statutory issue is procedural, and there’s no constitutional problem. Calling Biden’s order a vaccine mandate is misleading. It could just as well be considered a testing mandate with a vaccination opt-out.

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HotSpots H2O: ‘Global Indigenous Agenda’ Calls for Water, Land, and Resource Governance at 2021 IUCN World Congress

Circle of Blue

Photo © Ak’ Tenamit / IUCN. Christian Thorsberg, Circle of Blue. Indigenous activists and organizations from around the world met virtually this week for the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Zoom-based World Conservation Congress, an event that gathers world leaders once every four years to discuss the global challenge of sustainability, environmental leadership, and nature conservation.

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Young People Are Experiencing Widespread Anxiety About Climate Inaction, Study Finds

Yale E360

Young people around the globe are profoundly worried about climate change, according to a new study , which found that those who feel governments are doing too little to address the crisis are most prone to climate anxiety. Read more on E360 ?.

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Driving Away Dirty Air

Union of Concerned Scientists

Emissions from diesel trucks and buses don’t just release higher levels of air pollution, they are also local in their effects and in Oregon disproportionately impact low-income individuals.

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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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UN says global carbon emissions set to rise 16 per cent by 2030

New Scientist

A UN analysis of countries' latest plans to cut carbon emissions shows they will actually rise 16 per cent on 2010 levels by 2030, leaving only a small window to limit global warming to 1.

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Dam Battles Converge on Cambodia’s 3S Rivers

Circle of Blue

A fishing community along the Sesan River in northeastern Cambodia. The construction of a giant dam has flooded large parts of the surrounding area. © Wonders of the Mekong. The rivers are an ecological bounty in the Mekong watershed. But technical reviews pay little attention to environmental costs of dam building. By Stefan Lovgren – September 15, 2021.

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The Rate of Global Warming During Next 25 Years Could Be Double What it Was In The Previous 50, a Renowned Climate Scientist Warns

Inside Climate News

Former NASA climate scientist James Hansen urged Congress decades ago to act on climate change. Now he says he expects reduced aerosol pollution to lead to a steep temperature rise. By Bob Berwyn James Hansen, a climate scientist who shook Washington when he told Congress 33 years ago that human emissions of greenhouse gases were cooking the planet, is now warning that he expects the rate of global warming to double in the next 20 years.

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Illinois Secures a Major Climate and Equity Victory

Union of Concerned Scientists

The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) has just been passed by the Illinois legislature. Lead energy policy analyst Jessica Collingsworth breaks down why this is such a big win.

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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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Masks Protect Schoolkids from COVID despite What Antiscience Politicians Claim

Scientific American

Florida governor Ron DeSantis and politicians in Texas say research does not support mask mandates. Many studies show they are wrong. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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What’s Up With Water – September 13, 2021

Circle of Blue

t. Transcript. Welcome to “What’s Up With Water,” your need-to-know news of the world’s water from Circle of Blue. I’m Eileen Wray-McCann. In the United Kingdom, regulators have temporarily given water utilities permission to treat wastewater to a lower standard. The waiver is due to utilities not having enough treatment chemicals. The BBC reports that the shortfall is not because of an inadequate national supply.

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Florida’s Majestic Manatees Are Starving to Death

Inside Climate News

Deprived of once plentiful seagrass, more than 900 have died this year. Some experts contend they were taken off the endangered species list prematurely. By Amy Green ORLANDO, Fla.—The manatee was too weak to swim.

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New Study Finds Climate Change Exacerbates Neighborhood Smog

Union of Concerned Scientists

This groundbreaking report is important for three main reasons: impact, scale, and attribution.

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Solar 'Superflares' Rocked Earth Less Than 10,000 Years Ago--and Could Strike Again

Scientific American

Although our sun is considered a quiet star, it is now thought to have repeatedly pelted our planet with enormous eruptions in the not too distant past. Could another occur in the near future? -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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The Stream, September 14, 2021: Could Rainwater Harvesting Solve Water Scarcity in Mexico City?

Circle of Blue

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN. Sustainable urban planning may solve Mexico City’s water woes. Environmental activists in Benton Harbor, Michigan , are urging the EPA to replace thousands of lead service lines throughout the city. Lebanon’s water crisis is worsening as its economy crumbles. Lawyers with a conservation group filed a complaint with the UK’s environmental watchdog say the country is failing to stop water companies from discharging raw sewage into rivers.

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Magnetic beads inside the body could improve control of bionic limbs

Physics World

In recent years, health and fitness wearables have gained popularity as platforms to wirelessly track daily physical activities, by counting steps, for example, or recording heartbeats directly from the wrist. To achieve this, inertial sensors in contact with the skin capture the relevant motion and physiological signals originating from the body. As wearable technology evolves, researchers strive to understand not just how to track the body’s dynamic signals, but also how to simulate them to co

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API Jams on the Brakes As Momentum For Methane Action Grows

Union of Concerned Scientists

The top oil and gas industry trade association will do all it can to delay meaningful government action.

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About

PBS Nature

Taking refuge from the coronavirus pandemic, wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn set out to record all the bees he could find in his tiny urban garden in Bristol, England, filming them with one-of-a-kind lenses he forged on his kitchen table. See his surprising discoveries in My Garden of a Thousand Bees , premiering nationwide Wednesday, October 20 at 8 p.m.

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Is York Region about to Hit the Accelerator on Car-Dependent Sprawl?

Enviromental Defense

Bowing to months of behind-the-scenes manipulation by politically-connected landowners and their allies at Queen’s Park, York Region Council is set to vote September 16th on a plan that would commit it for the next 30 years to the paving of countryside at more than double the rate it has since 2001. . In contrast to peers like Hamilton and Halton Region, which “hit the brakes” to allow well-publicized and relatively successful public consultations on fleshed out zero-sprawl options.

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Exciton ‘surfing’ could boost the efficiency of organic solar cells

Physics World

Organic solar cells (OSCs) are fascinating devices where layers of organic molecules or polymers carry out light absorption and subsequent transport of energy – the tasks that make a solar cell work. Until now, the efficiency of OSCs has been thought to be constrained by the speed at which energy carriers called excitons move between localized sites in the organic material layer of the device.

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So You Want to Buy an EV – What Incentive Can You Get Next Year?

Union of Concerned Scientists

What incentives can you get next year for buying an EV?

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How You Can Help Stop Invasive Spotted Lanternflies

Scientific American

Scientists are collecting photographs of the insects’ eggs to train an algorithm and curtail their rapid spread. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets could be decoded by an AI

New Scientist

The 4500-year-old written tablets that shine a light on life in ancient Mesopotamia are often damaged, but a predictive AI trained on 104 languages can help fill in the gaps

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Microwave imaging could provide safer, more comfortable breast cancer screening

Physics World

Microwave breast imaging (MBI) represents a promising non-invasive technology for detection of breast tumours. It does not utilize ionizing radiation nor require breast compression, potentially offering a safer and more comfortable method for breast cancer screening. As of 2020, 10 MBI prototypes had been clinically tested. Researchers at Galway University Hospital and the National University of Ireland Galway have now performed first-in-human testing of an eleventh: the Wavelia system developed

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Top 20 Leading Weather & Climate Voices to Follow in 2021

Breezometer

This year we've seen extreme weather events - hurricanes, flooding, record-breaking heatwaves, and wildfires - cause chaos and devastation across the globe. A new IPCC report also has climate experts calling out for the world to take notice. To help you stay informed, we’ve put together some of our favorite voices in the weather and climate space, to help you know where to turn to for expert insights, commentary, and advice.

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Stop Torturing Animals in the Name of Science

Scientific American

Four centuries after Descartes declared them to be mere machines that didn’t feel fear or pain, we’re still acting as though we don’t know better. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Big Reefs in Big Trouble: New Research Tracks a 50 Percent Decline in Living Coral Since the 1950s

Inside Climate News

Climate change, overfishing, ocean acidification and pollution are driving reefs’ demise, along with the fisheries communities depend upon for nutrition. By Bob Berwyn Gathered together, the world’s coral reef systems would cover an area somewhere between the size of Oregon and Texas. Scattered about the globe like species-rich ocean rainforests, they help nurture about half the world’s marine life, a bounty that sustains millions of reef fishers and their communities in the Global South, in a f

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Music inspired by black holes, book encourages children to listen to the universe

Physics World

Have you ever wondered what a black hole “sounds” like? The Belgian mathematician, lecturer, and electronic musician Valery Vermeulen has created an album of electronic music that was composed using data associated with black holes. Collaborating with the cosmologist Thomas Hertog and physicist Matthias Kaminski , Vermeulen selected data from simulation models of astrophysical black holes as well as gravitational-wave observations of the objects.

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The JISC UK National Open Access Agreement with Frontiers – Two Years in.

Frontiers

In 2019, Frontiers signed a three year national open access agreement in the UK with JISC Collections. Thanks to this landmark deal, UK universities now benefit from a simplified and streamlined route to open access publishing for researchers in the UK. As we approach the second anniversary of the agreement, we are pleased to announce an overwhelmingly positive response from UK universities.

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