“The United States has experienced a wide variety of extreme weather over the last 125 years, impacting people, communities, and geographies. Track monthly data on how counties experience severe weather, including precipitation and temperature. USAFacts, a not-for-profit, nonpartisan civic initiative that makes it easy for all Americans to access and understand government data, today launched… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Environmental Law
Study: Climate change is disproportionately affecting children
PhysOrg: “International research led by Prof. Wim Thiery of the VUB research group BCLIMATE shows that children are to face disproportional increases in lifetime extreme event exposure—especially in low-income countries. Under current climate policy, newborns across the globe will on average face seven times more scorching heatwaves during their lives than their grandparents. In addition,… Continue Reading
How to make your laptop last longer so you don’t have to buy a new one now
CNET – “Whether you need to delay a new laptop purchase because of uncertain finances (to put it mildly), want to reduce your contribution to the e-waste problem or simply have more important things to think about, there’s a lot you can do to stretch the lifespan of your existing system. The longevity horizon of… Continue Reading
New study shows that drought could shut down the biggest US Hydro Plants in the next few years
“According to newly-released projections from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamations, there’s a significant chance that both Lake Powell and Lake Mead — the largest hydroelectric power sources in the country — will stop working in the next few years.” “Five-year projections of future conditions, currently through 2026, in the Colorado River system are typically updated… Continue Reading
EPA Envirofacts
“The preliminary 2020 TRI dataset is now available. The dataset is approximately 99% complete, and will be updated several times in response to data quality analyses and revisions submitted by facilities. For more information, visit https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-preliminary-dataset. The Envirofacts database is now RESTful service-enabled. See the services tab below for documentation and examples, or visit: Envirofacts… Continue Reading
8 important and overlooked questions to ask before buying a home
Washington Post: “…A Flood Factor score, which assesses the likelihood of a flood on a scale of one to 10, is available on Redfin listings and directly from First Street Foundation, which produced the score. Consumers can check Free Home Risk for an assessment of both natural and manmade property risks or a free Home… Continue Reading
Lockdown made cities friendlier for some birds
PopSci: “When much of the world went into lockdown in the spring of 2020, traffic disappeared and pollution levels dropped. Under these conditions, dozens of bird species across North America seem to have flourished, scientists reported this week. The researchers analyzed observations from experienced bird watchers of more than 4.3 million birds representing 82 species… Continue Reading
Spain plans to ban the sale of fruit and vegetables in plastic wrapping by 2023.
El Pais: “The sale of fruit and vegetables in plastic wrapping will be prohibited in Spain’s supermarkets and grocery stores starting in 2023. This is one of the measures in a decree being drafted by the Ministry for Ecological Transition, according to sources familiar with the initiative. The new regulation also contains measures to encourage… Continue Reading
NOAA Drought Task Force Report on the 2020–2021 Southwestern U.S
Mankin JS, Simpson I, Hoell A, Fu R, Lisonbee J, Sheffield A, Barrie D. (2021) NOAA Drought Task Force Report on the 2020–2021 Southwestern U.S. Drought. NOAA Drought Task Force, MAPP, and NIDIS. Using the state-of-science and the collective expertise of the NOAA Drought Task Force, this report addresses three questions about the period of… Continue Reading
Regeneration Banking & Finance Fossil Fuels
Banking on Climate Chaos – Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2021: “This report analyzes fossil fuel financing from the world’s 60 largest commercial and investment banks — aggregating their leading roles in lending and underwriting of debt and equity issuances — and finds that these banks poured a total of $3.8 trillion into fossil fuels from… Continue Reading
We Need Software Updates Forever
IEEE Spectrum: “Manufacturers should maintain their software and firmware indefinitely. Consumers have relied on the good graces of device makers to keep our gadget firmware and software secure and up-to-date. Doing so costs the manufacturer some of its profits. As a result, many of them are apt to drop support for old gadgets faster than… Continue Reading
This book explains actually helpful actions you can take to fight climate change
Fast Company: “In a new book, Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation, and a website called Regeneration, Paul Hawken lays out solutions. The book is a sequel to Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, which looked at how existing technologies and approaches could be used to achieve “drawdown,”… Continue Reading
