Sat.May 22, 2021 - Fri.May 28, 2021

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The Time Has Come to Rein In the Global Scourge of Palm Oil

Yale E360

The cultivation of palm oil, found in roughly half of U.S. grocery products, has devastated tropical ecosystems, released vast amounts of C02 into the atmosphere, and impoverished rural communities. But efforts are underway that could curb the abuses of this powerful industry. Read more on E360 ?.

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What Does My State Treasurer Have to Do with Climate Change?

Union of Concerned Scientists

State treasurers manage their state's investments, which means they're making big decisions about where big budget items, like public pensions, are being held. Treasurers are seeing that demands for climate action can’t wait, and they're in a position to pressure fossil fuel company investors to finally vote for serious climate leaders and all-important climate risk disclosure.

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The Central California Town That Keeps Sinking

Circle of Blue

The Central California Town That Keeps Sinking The very ground upon which Corcoran, Calif., was built has been slowly. but steadily collapsing, a situation caused primarily not by nature but agriculture. The Cross Creek Levee in Corcoran, CA was rebuilt in 2017 after having sunk seven feet since 1983. The levee is now at least twice the size of the previous one and protects the town from flood water coming from the south and west.

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VILLE DE KISANGANI

Cleannovate

Kasongo made his way towards the water front. The place was as usually crowded with people waiting to board their boats for different destinations. It resembled an open air market. People had assembled with all sorts of wares. This was not just a voyage along the Congo River…it would also be an opportunity to make a living. The journey would take at least 2 weeks from Kinshasa to Kisangani.

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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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Net-Zero Emissions: Winning Strategy or Destined for Failure?

Yale E360

Net-zero emissions — balancing emissions by absorbing equivalent amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere — is the defining approach of international climate efforts. But some scientists are arguing that this strategy simply allows the perpetuation of the status quo and is certain to fail. Read more on E360 ?.

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Climate Change Threatens Africa’s Cultural Heritage

Union of Concerned Scientists

Africa Day celebrates independence, freedom from colonialism, and looking forwards to a peacful and thriving future in the 55 African Union nations. This year’s theme is “Arts, Culture and Heritage” and UCS is helping to raise up climate change in that context. Climate change is probably the fastest-growing threat to African cultural heritage, much of which was left in a parlous position because of the legacies and structural inequalities of past colonial rule.

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The Test For Injunctive Relief Was Not Developed By a Risk Assessor

Law and Environment

Earlier this Month, Judge James Boasberg, who had previously ruled that the easement allowing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline must be vacated due to a failure to comply with NEPA, nonetheless declined to issue an injunction requiring that the pipeline cease operations. The Court’s rationale was clear and straightforward. The Court of Appeals ruled that Judge Boasberg could not enjoin use of the pipeline without finding that all elements of the four-factor test for an injunction had

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US West Enters Fire Season Facing Extremely Dry Conditions

Yale E360

With much of the western United States experiencing drought conditions not seen in 125 years, scientists and wildfire managers are concerned that the region is entering the fire season in worse shape than last year, when 15,800 square miles burned in the U.S., mainly in the West. Read more on E360 ?.

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ExxonMobil Shareholders Must Vote for New Leadership—Here’s Why

Union of Concerned Scientists

The Union of Concerned Scientists is urging BlackRock, Vanguard, state treasurers, and other major investors to vote for climate-critical shareholder proposals and against laggard corporate leadership at ExxonMobil. Here are four reasons why.

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The Stream, May 28, 2021: Australian Coal Mine’s Water Withdrawals Need Deeper Analysis, Court Says

Circle of Blue

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN. Australia’s government should have conducted a more thorough analysis of the impacts of water withdrawals for the controversial Carmichael coal mine, a court rules. Study shows fish farms in British Columbia can transmit a virus to wild salmon. An outburst of mucus-like marine algae is blanketing Turkey’s Sea of Marmara. The African Development Bank approves a new water policy that will shape the bank’s lending.

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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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I Love It When SCOTUS Reminds Me How Clear and Unambiguous CERCLA Is

Law and Environment

Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that only settlements that explicitly resolve liability under CERCLA trigger the contribution provisions of section 113 of CERCLA. I have previously commented on the Court’s tendency to treat CERCLA as much more straightforward and unambiguous than practitioners have understood it to be. The Court’s approach to section 113 in yesterday’s decision followed this now well-worn path.

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What is “Willful Misconduct” in Texas and Louisiana?

Energy & the Law

CORRECTED. Co-author Ashley Atwood*. Apache Corporation v. Castex Offshore Inc. et al, answers the question, What constitutes willful misconduct in oil field operations? This was a breach of contract suit involving operator Apache and non-operator Castex. In the exculpatory clause of the model form JOA, the operator can be liable only in the event of gross negligence or willful misconduct.

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Biden Administration is Building Back Science and Equity to Title X Health Program

Union of Concerned Scientists

In a move we applaud, the Biden administration is working to undo a harmful action that prevented low-income individuals from obtaining comprehensive scientific information from their doctors on family planning options.

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The Stream, May 25, 2021: Mining Denver’s Sewers for Energy

Circle of Blue

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN. The largest project in North America to tap the heat in sewer pipes is under construction in Denver. Leaders in Iran blame rolling blackouts on drought, heat, and cryptocurrency mining. South African scientists confront challenges in monitoring wastewater for SARS-CoV-2. Water systems in West Virginia report losing large volumes of water to leaks and pipe breaks.

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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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Frozen detonation could enable hypersonic flight

Physics World

Scientists in the US have produced a detonation that is fixed in space for the first time. This standing wave detonation was created in a prototype engine and the researchers say that such a system could one day power aircraft at up to 17 times the speed of sound. Most fires are deflagrations. This form of combustion creates a subsonic reaction wave and powers much of our transport technology.

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Meet the Argonaut, The World’s Weirdest Octopus

Cool Green Science

Octopuses are awesome. These eight-legged oddballs of the ocean have always had a dedicated fanclub, and the recent documentary My Octopus Teacher helped millions more people fall in love with them. And yet, I’d argue that anyone but the most… The post Meet the Argonaut, The World’s Weirdest Octopus appeared first on Cool Green Science.

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Climate Denialism Has No Place at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Union of Concerned Scientists

I choose to remain loyal to the climate science we have performed at LLNL for over three decades.

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Climate Change for Landmen and Lawyers – Part 5

Energy & the Law

In the fifth and final installment on the climate change debate, Gray Reed energy partner Paul Yale considers (and responds to) another criticism of Bjorn Lomborg’s False Alarm: How Climate Panic Costs Us Billions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet. Joseph Stiglitz in the New York Times negatively reviewed False Alarm …. Stiglitz, well-qualified as a professor of economics at Columbia University and a Nobel Prize laureate, accuses Lomborg of being simple and simplistic and implies tha

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MRI reveals deterioration of brain’s reward circuitry in younger-onset dementia

Physics World

MR images show that anhedonia, a distinct clinical feature of frontotemporal dementia, is correlated with decreased grey matter intensity in different brain regions (the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula and striatum) to those seen in apathy or depression. (Courtesy: S R Shaw et al Brain 10.1093/brain/awab032). Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a brain disorder that most commonly affects those under the age of 60.

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Hannah Ritchie interview: The woman giving covid-19 data to the world

New Scientist

In the first of a new series of pandemic profiles, New Scientist talks to Hannah Ritchie, who reveals what it's like to provide presidents and the public with vital covid-19 data and what the trends suggest the virus has in store for us next

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There’s No Compromising on Science When it Comes to Protecting Water Quality in the Nation’s Rivers and Streams

Union of Concerned Scientists

Science and water quality should be prioritized over the demands of big industry.

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Solar Panels and Electric Vehicles: a Match Made in Heaven

Earth 911

Solar energy and electric vehicles (EVs) are a winning combination. If you drive an EV, The post Solar Panels and Electric Vehicles: a Match Made in Heaven appeared first on Earth911.

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First results from UK tokamak offers a STEP towards commercial fusion

Physics World

The prospect of commercially viable, fusion-power plants based on the spherical tokamak has moved closer after a major experiment in the UK released its first results. Using a novel kind of exhaust, researchers at the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST-U) at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire were able to cut the waste heat load on the reactor walls ten-fold.

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The Best Environmental Sustainability Jobs Boards and Sites

Environmental Leader

With 8.1 million job openings and 9.8 million unemployed Americans looking for work, according to Kenan Institute, a partner of University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, there is a lot of career movement in the workplace. Sustainability is an especially hot hiring space right now, and likely will remain. Read more ». The post The Best Environmental Sustainability Jobs Boards and Sites appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader.

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For Nutrition Security, USDA Must Support Sustainable Food Systems

Union of Concerned Scientists

What’s the difference between food security and nutrition security—and how might this difference affect food policy decisions for years to come?

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Greenland’s ice sheet is releasing huge amounts of mercury into rivers

New Scientist

As Greenland’s ice grinds up underlying rocks it frees up the toxic mercury they contain, potentially contaminating the aquatic life that Indigenous communities rely on for food

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Organic thin-film devices show promise as proton dosimeters

Physics World

Researchers in Italy have developed organic detectors that can quantitatively and reliably measure proton radiation dose, both in real time and integration mode. The organic devices, based on semiconductor thin films, demonstrated direct detection of 5 MeV protons. The team suggest that this new class of material has the potential to create flexible, portable and tissue-equivalent proton detectors for use in applications such as proton therapy.

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Fighting Attacks on Inconvenient Science—and Scientists

Inside Climate News

The atrazine wars offer a cautionary tale for scientists whose work triggers blowback by regulated industries, and lessons for protecting scientific integrity. By Liza Gross Any scientist whose research might conceivably threaten the bottom line of powerful corporate interests risks facing an orchestrated campaign to destroy their reputation.

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Analysis: Floating solar ready for take-off

A Greener Life

The world’s largest array of floating solar panels in China’s Anhui province. Photo credit: Alamy. By Fred Pearce. Whether floating or hanging, solar panels have the potential to both provide electricity and reduce evaporation from reservoirs. It is an idea that may have found its moment. Droughts are crippling power supplies from many hydroelectric dams across Africa, with dwindling reservoirs evaporating in the hot sun.

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Stepped platforms in Mesopotamia were the oldest known war memorial

New Scientist

More than 4300 years ago, people living in what is now Syria built an earthen monument filled with human remains, which were seemingly grouped into foot soldiers and charioteers.

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Ultracold circuits for quantum computing, graphene boosts sustainability, secrets of supercooled water

Physics World

Creating a quantum computer that integrates a large number of components is a huge challenge for many reasons. One is that most quantum bits (qubits) used today must be chilled to near absolute zero and therefore isolated from the room-temperature electronic components used to control them. This makes it extremely difficult to have large numbers of qubits and controllers packed into a small space.

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United Nations Suspends Partnership with GeoPark in Colombia After Siona Tribe Protests

Corp Watch

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) suspended a partnership with GeoPark, a Chilean oil drilling company, barely a week after signing the agreement, handing an important victory to the Siona indigenous community who oppose the company's prospecting for oil on their lands along the Putumayo river in southern Colombia.

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Publishing with Frontiers: A look behind the scenes!

Frontiers

Author: Anna Mazzon, senior review operations specialist. For the last three years I have worked in Frontiers’ Review Operations team. I have seen the company grow significantly and incorporate important structural changes, which enabled a successful scale-up, combined with a consistent focus on maintaining our rigorous quality standards. I have a clear understanding of the different teams that make up the publishing department, and of the ways they interact and divide responsibilities, all driv

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Monkeys can change their accent to communicate with another species

New Scientist

Red-handed tamarins change their calls to sound more like pied tamarins where the two species share the same patches of forest, and doing so may help the two species understand each other

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