FT.com: “By its own account, Amazon is a green business leader. The world’s most visited online marketplace and leading cloud services provider says it hit its 100 per cent renewable energy goal seven years ahead of a self-imposed target. But by another, Amazon is a heavy polluter, emitting much more climate-warming greenhouse gases through its… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Environmental Law
Western Water Rights
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
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
How Close Are the Planet’s Climate Tipping Points?
The New York Times – article and visualizations [unpaywalled]: “Earth’s warming could trigger sweeping changes in the natural world that would be hard, if not impossible, to reverse. Right now, every moment of every day, we humans are reconfiguring Earth’s climate bit by bit. Hotter summers and wetter storms. Higher seas and fiercer wildfires. The… Continue Reading
Stay Safe From Wildfires When Seconds Count
Watch Duty, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, alerts you of nearby wildfires and firefighting efforts in real-time. Real-time Wildfire Map & Alerts. Receive notifications about the status and conditions on the ground as they change. Monitor Wildfires and Prescribed Burns. Know if that smoke in the distance is a fire you need to be worried about. Flight… Continue Reading
More than a billion birds could be dying from flying into buildings each year in US
PopSci: “Glass windows are a marvel of human engineering–clear, nearly invisible sheets of sturdy material that let us bring natural light into closed structures. Yet beyond the walls of bright and airy buildings, windows become something else: A threat to wildlife. Birds don’t understand glass. They haven’t been taught to recognize the structural cues indicating… 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
Climate and health data website launched
“A new website of data resources, tools, and training materials that can aid researchers in studying the consequences of climate change on the health of communities nationwide is now available. At the end of July, NIEHS launched the Climate and Health Outcomes Research Data Systems (CHORDS) website, which includes a catalog of environmental and health… 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
The Quiet Power of Car-Free Neighborhoods
Bloomberg: Restricting or banning vehicles in congested city centers pays off with cleaner air and safer streets. “We need to talk more about the other big benefit — less noise. Although still rare in North America, car-free and car-light neighborhoods have grown common in Europe, established in cities like Paris, Brussels and Pontevedra, Spain. Boosters… Continue Reading
