“Global temperatures are likely to surge to record levels in the next five years, fuelled by heat-trapping greenhouse gases and a naturally occurring El Niño event, according to a new update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). There is a 66% likelihood that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Environmental Law
Casey Tree Report – DC
“Last year Casey Trees reported that DC lost 550 acres of canopy—an area roughly the size of the National Mall—largely to development. While we recognize that a growing DC is a healthy DC, development that does not preserve existing trees and replace those that are lost makes neighborhoods hot, unhealthy, and unsustainable. In response, this… Continue Reading
Climate Policy Radar and Grantham Research Institute launch revamped research and policy resource
“We’re delighted to launch our upgraded version of the Climate Change Laws of the World database, offering new tools and features to make it easier to understand and analyse the global climate law and policy landscape. Climate Policy Radar and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE have partnered to… Continue Reading
Climate-juiced heat waves topple records around the globe
ClimateWire: “A record-breaking heat wave in the western Mediterranean last month would have been nearly impossible without the influence of climate change, new research [Extreme April heat in Spain, Portugal, Morocco & Algeria almost impossible without climate change] finds. And even with the help of global warming, it was an extraordinary event. Statistically speaking, a… Continue Reading
Yet Another Problem With Recycling: It Spews Microplastics
Wired – “Recycling was already a mess. Now a study finds that one facility may emit 3 million pounds of microplastics a year. The plastics industry has long hyped recycling, even though it is well aware that it’s been a failure. Worldwide, only 9 percent of plastic waste actually gets recycled. In the United States, the rate… Continue Reading
CRISK: Measuring the Climate Risk Exposure of the Financial System
New York Fed – Liberty Street Economics, Hyeyoon Jung: “A growing number of climate-related policies have been adopted globally in the past thirty years (see chart below). The risk to economic activity from changes in policies in response to climate risks, such as carbon taxes and green subsidies, is often referred to as transition risk.… Continue Reading
eBird Status and Trends
“High-resolution data, visualizations, and tools describing where bird populations occur and how they change through time—powered by eBird data and updated annually, providing you with the best available science. The eBird Science team uses state-of-the-art statistical models and machine learning to build visualizations and tools to help decision makers, scientists, and birders alike to better… Continue Reading
The Municipal Drinking Water Database
Hughes S, Kirchhoff CJ, Conedera K, Friedman M (2023) The Municipal Drinking Water Database. PLOS Water 2(4): e0000081. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000081 “Drinking water services in the U.S. are critical for public health and economic development but face technical, political, and administrative challenges. Understanding the root cause of these challenges and how to overcome them is hindered by… Continue Reading
DOE Launches New Consumer Energy Savings Hub
“The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today launched the Energy Savings Hub — an online one-stop shop for American families and consumers to access the savings tools that President Biden’s Investing in America agenda has made available to drastically cut energy costs. The new website—Energy.gov/Save—puts President Biden’s clean energy tax credits and forthcoming rebates right at… Continue Reading
BirdCast
BirdCast: “Showcasing the spectacle of bird migration When, where, and how far will birds migrate? How many birds passed last night? Our tools help you explore the answers to these and many other questions about bird migration. BirdCast proposed to provide real-time predictions of bird migrations: when they migrate, where they migrate, and how far… Continue Reading
How to Responsibly Dispose of Your Electronics
Wired: “Whether you have an old phone languishing in a desk drawer or a broken laptop gathering dust in the back of a closet, there will never be a better time to dispose of it. There’s a good chance your unwanted gadget can return to useful service, and it may even make you a little… Continue Reading
WHO releases the largest global collection of health inequality data
“Today, WHO is launching the Health Inequality Data Repository, the most comprehensive global collection of publicly available disaggregated data and evidence on population health and its determinants. The repository allows for tracking health inequalities across population groups and over time, by breaking down data according to group characteristics, ranging from education level to ethnicity. The… Continue Reading
