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Category Archives: Climate Change

A Zero-Carbon Grid Could Prevent Future Blackouts, Study Finds

Yale Environment 360: “A year after a severe winter storm caused widespread blackouts in Texas, the state’s power grid remains vulnerable to extreme cold. But recent research suggests that moving to 100 percent renewable electricity could help prevent future outages, in Texas and elsewhere. For the study, Stanford researchers modeled grid stability in 2050 in… Continue Reading

Protecting Nature by Reforming Environmentally Harmful Subsidies:The Role of Business

“Today marks the release of a new Earth Track analysis, Protecting Nature by Reforming Environmentally Harmful Subsidies: The Role of Business, written by Ronald Steenblik and myself. Ron and I have worked together on subsidy transparency, valuation and reform for more than a quarter century at this point, and his expertise has always been hugely… Continue Reading

Study – World’s Rivers Rife with Drugs

The Scientist: “Levels of pharmaceuticals considered unsafe for aquatic organisms were found at more than one-quarter of sampling sites. A study of more than 1,000 sites in 258 rivers on all seven continents finds that pharmaceutical pollution is a pervasive problem worldwide. The work, published today (February 15) in PNAS, surveyed sites in 104 countries,… Continue Reading

NOAA – 2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report

“The Sea Level Rise Technical Report provides the most up-to-date sea level rise projections available for all U.S. states and territories; decision-makers will look to it for information. This multi-agency effort, representing the first update since 2017, offers projections out to the year 2150 and information to help communities assess potential changes in average tide… Continue Reading

The Nature Conservancy releases map to help site renewables

PV Magazine: “With up to 75% of the nation’s large renewable energy projects expected to be developed in the central region of the US by 2050, the Site Renewables Right map, released today by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), is intended to help companies, state agencies, and communities quickly plan, permit, and purchase renewable energy in… Continue Reading

Drought in the United States: Science, Policy, and Selected Federal Authorities

CRS Report – Drought in the United States: Science, Policy, and Selected Federal Authorities, Updated February 8, 2022: “Drought―a deficiency of moisture that results in adverse effects―occurs to some extent almost every year in areas of the United States. Droughts can simultaneously reduce available water supplies and increase demands for water. Drought has the potential… Continue Reading

Poorest people bear growing burden of heat waves as temperatures rise

American Geophysical Union: “People with lower incomes are exposed to heat waves for longer periods of time compared to their higher income counterparts due to a combination of location and access to heat adaptations like air conditioning. This inequality is expected to rise as temperatures increase, according to new research. Lower income populations currently face… Continue Reading

New study: “An environmental justice analysis of distribution-level natural gas leaks in Massachusetts, USA”

“A peer-reviewed paper by HEET Director Dominic Nicholas and Salem State University Professor Marcos Luna, was released last week in the journal Energy Policy. Read our update here and coverage by WBUR here. Marcos and Nicholas examined over 26,000 utility-reported leaks in relation to demographic groups. Their findings show that low-income and communities of color,… Continue Reading

Plastics production is skyrocketing. A new U.N. treaty effort could cap it.

Washington Post: “Negotiators from around the world will start work this month on a treaty to reduce plastic pollution, in what diplomats say is the most ambitious round of climate diplomacy since the 2015 Paris agreement that focuses on global warming. The discussions, which have the backing of the Biden administration, could reshape a world… Continue Reading

GIJN’s Guide to Investigating Methane – A Key to Fighting Climate Change

Global Investigative Journalism Network: “Journalism about methane sources is increasingly urgent. Reducing methane emissions is the single fastest way to fight climate change, according to climate scientists. Emissions of methane, the second most abundant greenhouse gas (behind carbon dioxide), are rising rapidly and reaching new highs. The full guide to investigating methane emissions can be found… Continue Reading

Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2022

“The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor evaluates the transparency and integrity of companies’ climate pledges.Companies around the world are increasing alert to the climate emergency. They face calls from a growing range of stakeholders to take responsibility for the impact of their activities. Most large companies now have public climate strategies and targets, many of which… Continue Reading