“A new study from the University shines a light on the enormous scale of uncollected rubbish and open burning of plastic waste in the first ever global plastics pollution inventory. Researchers used A.I. to model waste management in more than 50,000 municipalities around the world. This model allowed the team to predict how much waste… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Environmental Law
Update to U.S. precipitation frequency standards now accounts for climate trends
“A key scientific NOAA resource on extreme precipitation that is widely used by floodplain managers, city planners, civil engineers, developers and communities across the nation will soon include climate trend data. NOAA’s Precipitation Frequency Atlas of the United States (Atlas) provides the statistical likelihood of an extreme precipitation event at a particular location in any… Continue Reading
Researchers use AI to map drought-prone regions in Canada
National Drought Mitigation Center: “Drought is a significant threat to Canada’s agriculture, water resources and ecosystems. A recent study by the University of Ottawa and Laval University uses Artificial Intelligence to map drought-prone regions in the country. By using deep-learning techniques and data from the Canadian Drought Monitor and ERA5-Land, the study provides an analysis… Continue Reading
Climate change: IPCC report is ‘code red for humanity’
“Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. Scientists are also observing changes across the whole of Earth’s climate system; in the atmosphere, in the oceans, ice floes, and on land. Many of these changes are unprecedented, and some of the shifts are in motion now,… Continue Reading
Canada’s Record-breaking 2023 Wildfires
World Resources Institute – Released Nearly 4 Times More Carbon than Global Aviation– “Canada’s 2023 wildfires made international headlines, causing billions of dollars in property damage, displacing thousands of people from their homes, and spewing air pollution that traveled as far as Europe and China. A new analysis shows that the wildfires also had a… Continue Reading
New ocean acidification maps of U.S. waters
NOAA Research – “Online dashboard makes it easy to see how chemical changes differ in various location. Researchers from NOAA have produced a new online dashboard on the National Marine Ecosystem Status website that shows how ocean acidification is impacting eleven different marine ecosystems in the U.S. These graphs, charts and mapped products, which were… Continue Reading
Advanced Recycling: Does Big Plastic’s Idea Work?
CBS Reports – “As America grapples with an escalating plastic crisis, the city of Houston, ExxonMobil, and other partners announced a new program that promised to recycle nearly all of the city’s plastic waste. However, after two years, the program has yet to fully materialize. Critics argue that the evidence suggests it never will. And… Continue Reading
A 27-country test of communicating the scientific consensus on climate change
Većkalov, B., Geiger, S.J., Bartoš, F. et al. A 27-country test of communicating the scientific consensus on climate change. Nat Hum Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01928-2 “Communicating the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is real increases climate change beliefs, worry and support for public action in the United States. In this preregistered experiment, we tested two… Continue Reading
Canadian interagency fire fighting site
ciffc.net Canadian interagency fire fighting site – Track wildland fire activity within one or more jurisdictions. Home Situation Reports Current Fires Summary National Fires List Wildfire Graphs Continue Reading
Scientists Made a List of Lost Birds and Now They Want Us to Find Them
The New York Times [unpaywalled]: “Some 144 bird species had not been seen in at least a decade, but a project by conservation organizations proposes they all may still be hidden somewhere in the wild…A major goal of the list is to persuade bird watchers and others to look for these birds as they go… Continue Reading
Library of Congress Geospatial Applications Hub site
“The Geography and Map Division is excited to support the newly launched “Library of Congress Geospatial Applications” Hub site! Hosted in ArcGIS Online, a web-based platform created by Esri, “the Hub” provides online users with a new way to explore the Library’s wide range of StoryMaps and web map applications in one site. Conveniently located… Continue Reading
An interactive ecological time machine takes you to New York City in 1609
BoingBoing: “Eric W. Sanderson is a landscape ecologist, and Vice President for Urban Conservation Strategy at the New York Botanical Garden, who has embarked on a project to digitally recreate all of New York City as it existed in 1609, the year Henry Hudson sailed into New York harbor. He has already successfully completed the… Continue Reading
