The New York Times – “Several large-scale, human-driven changes to the planet — including climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the spread of invasive species — are making infectious diseases more dangerous to people, animals and plants, according to a new study.” Nature, Published 8 May 2024 – A meta-analysis on global change drivers… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Environmental Law
Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks
“EPA develops an annual report called the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (Inventory), that tracks U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks by source, economic sector, and greenhouse gas going back to 1990. EPA has prepared the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks since the early 1990s. This annual report, provides a… Continue Reading
State of the Air 2024 report
“The State of the Air 2024 report finds that despite decades of progress cleaning up air pollution, 39% of people living in America—131.2 million people—still live in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. This is 11.7 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s report. Nearly 4… Continue Reading
The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
“The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit is a website designed to help people find and use tools, information, and subject matter expertise to build climate resilience. The Toolkit offers information from all across the U.S. federal government in one easy-to-use location.” Continue Reading
Remarkable graphic from study on deep history of flowering plants
Zuntini, A.R., Carruthers, T., Maurin, O. et al. Phylogenomics and the rise of the angiosperms. Nature (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07324-0 – “Flowering plants (angiosperms) represent about 90% of all terrestrial plant species but, despite their remarkable diversity and ecological importance underpinning almost all main terrestrial ecosystems, their evolutionary history remains incompletely known. Since their Mesozoic origins, angiosperms… Continue Reading
Where seas are rising at alarming speed
Washington Post: “One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found. At more than a dozen tide gauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than… Continue Reading
We Are in the Golden Age of Bird-Watching
Scientific American [unpaywalled]: “It’s springtime in the Northern Hemisphere, and one of nature’s greatest spectacles is unfolding: the migration of billions of birds to their breeding grounds. They’ve spent the winter in balmier locales to the south, getting fat on insects, seeds, fruits and aquatic plants and prey. Now they’re winging their way north to… Continue Reading
The reckless policies that helped fill our streets with ridiculously large cars
Vox – Dangerous, polluting SUVs and pickups took over America. Lawmakers are partly to blame. Cars, you might have noticed, have grown enormous. Low-slung station wagons are all but extinct on American roads, and even sedans have become an endangered species. (Ford, producer of the iconic Model T a century ago, no longer sells any… Continue Reading
‘World’s Largest Wildlife Crossing’ Will Help Animals Walk Safely Over 8 Lanes of California Traffic
Smithsonian Magazine: “When freeways are built through their natural habitats, animals often end up suffering—and so do humans on the road. Every year, more than one million wildlife-vehicle collisions occur across America, resulting in 200 deaths and 26,000 injuries to drivers and passengers. Now, an ambitious project in California aims to help address this problem. Crews are… Continue Reading
New government heat risk tool sets magenta as most dangerous level
AP: “…Heat is by far the No. 1 weather cause of death in the United States, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Rick Spinrad, citing CDC data of 1,200 deaths per year. Last year was the hottest year on record globally. Both the weather service and CDC will put versions of the tool on… Continue Reading
Global study revealed world’s biggest known plastic polluters
Washington Post: “Every year, companies produce more than 400 million metric tons of plastic. Some of that plastic spills onto waterways or beaches, clogging streams or floating in huge gyres in the ocean. Some of it breaks down into tiny microplastics or nanoplastics that float in the air and enter human lungs, blood and organs.… Continue Reading
NOAA expands availability of new heat forecast tool ahead of summer
“NOAA is expanding the availability of a new experimental heat tool called HeatRisk ahead of the hot summer months. A collaboration with NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HeatRisk provides information and guidance for those who are particularly vulnerable to heat and may need to take extra… Continue Reading
