Data is Plural: Western water rights. Matthew D. Lisk et al. have compiled and standardized a dataset of water rights records — key documents in the allocation of the scarce resource — in the Western United States. Drawing on raw data collected from 11 states, the harmonized dataset “provides consistent unique identifiers for each spatial… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Energy
Washing clothes with synthetic materials is the single greatest contributor to ocean microplastics
Washington Post – Sustainability experts say to avoid fabrics that blend natural and synthetic materials. [unpatwalled] “…Compared to 100% natural fibers or other biodegradable materials such as viscose, or rayon, which is made from a wood-like fiber, blended synthetic fabrics can be more durable and withstand more stress. They can also feel softer and smoother,… Continue Reading
Mainframes Find New Life in AI Era
WSJ via MSN: “Banks, insurance providers and airlines still find uses, including artificial intelligence, for the large computers that have been around for decades The industrial-strength mainframe computer, invented decades ago for heavy-duty data processing, is proving its staying power even as next-generation artificial intelligence takes center stage. The two are interconnected: Banks, insurance providers… Continue Reading
How Does Your State Make Electricity?
The New York Times [unpaywalled] America isn’t making electricity the way it did two decades ago. Visualization details How the United States made electricity from 2001 to 2023 – Percentage of power produced from each energy source. Fossil fuels still generate the majority of America’s electricity, but the shift from coal to natural gas and… Continue Reading
All-night streetlights make leaves inedible to insects
Frontiers.org – Threatening the food chain: “In many cities, the streetlights run all night — but what does this mean for the plants and animals that live there? Scientists tested Japanese pagoda trees and green ash trees in Beijing to see what effect round-the-clock light has on them. They found that the leaves were tougher… Continue Reading
Climate Deniers of the 118th Congress
“The Center for American Progress has periodically analyzed statements by sitting members of Congress to determine whether they deny the existence of human-caused climate change. This analysis of the 118th U.S. Congress found that 123 elected officials are climate deniers—23 percent of 535 total members. These 100 representatives and 23 senators wield significant influence on… Continue Reading
Snow Belt to Sun Belt Migration: End of an Era?
Leduc, Sylvain, and Daniel J. Wilson. 2024. “Snow Belt to Sun Belt Migration: End of an Era?” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper July 18, 2024-21. https://doi.org/10.24148/wp2024-21 -“Internal migration has been cited as a key channel by which societies will adapt to climate change. We show in this paper that this process has… Continue Reading
Country Overshoot Days 2024
Country Overshoot Day Calendar & Calculations – “A country’s overshoot day is the date on which Earth Overshoot Day would fall if all of humanity consumed like the people in that country. Country overshoot days are published on January 1st of each year, using the latest year of the most recent National Footprint and Biocapacity… Continue Reading
DOE Public Database Featuring Intellectual Property from DOE National Labs and Sites
“Thousands of the treasures developed by scientists working for the Department of Energy—ideas, methods and software created to address some of the world’s biggest challenges—are now available in one place for entrepreneurs, researchers and others interested in learning more and developing them for commercialization. DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) has created the Visual Intellectual… Continue Reading
You put stuff out for recycling. What happens next might surprise you.
Christian Science Monitor: “Recycling is one of the most recognized forms of environmental conservation in the United States. But differing standards for curbside recycling programs across the country and changes in the recycling industry can confuse consumers: What really happens after they toss items into a blue or green bin? Before and during World War… Continue Reading
Our World in Data
Research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems – “Poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality: The world faces many great and terrifying problems. It is these large problems that our work at Our World in Data focuses on. Thanks to the work of thousands of researchers around the… Continue Reading
UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat
“The UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat brings together the diverse expertise and perspectives of ten specialized UN entities (FAO, ILO, OCHA, UNDRR, UNEP, UNESCO, UN-Habitat, UNICEF, WHO, WMO) in a first-of-its-kind joint product, underscoring the multi-sectoral impacts of extreme heat. Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere. Billions of… Continue Reading
