Sat.Jul 31, 2021 - Fri.Aug 06, 2021

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UN Climate Panel Contends With Models Showing Implausibly Fast Warming

Yale E360

Next week, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will unveil its latest scientific assessment, widely considered the most authoritative review of climate research. But ahead of its release, scientists have had to grapple with the fact that several next-generation models used in the assessment project that the Earth will warm far faster than previous estimates, Science reported.

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Realclimate redesign

Real Climate

After more than 15 years with basically the same layout, the Realclimate website – while still functional – has become increasing anachronistic both in appearance and ‘under the hood’ In order to take advantage of more up to date web-site designs and new features that have been developed since the early 2000s (!), we need to upgrade the site, and while we are at it, update the theme and design, while maintaining an aesthetic link to the original.

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Waste-To-Energy Tech Could Slash U.S. Water Sector Carbon Emissions, But Its Potential Remains Underdeveloped

Circle of Blue

U.S. utilities have been slower to adopt the energy- and emissions-saving technologies than those in other parts of the world. Wastewater-to-energy systems start with a process called anaerobic digestion, which treatment plants have been using for ages to reduce the volume of sewage waste. Photo © Richard Webb / Wikimedia Commons. Despite the economic advantages of these technologies and their potential environmental benefits, U.S. utilities have been slower than those in other parts of the worl

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Carrots and Sticks for Utilities

Legal Planet

Investor-owned utilities supply almost three-quarters of U.S. electricity. With some notable exceptions, they’ve tended to drag their feet on the energy transition. In order to push the transition forward, we need to get them on board. This post will try to diagnose the problem and sketch some possible remedies. The proposed Clean Energy Standard is one effort to deal with this problem.

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How to Drive Cost Savings, Efficiency Gains, and Sustainability Wins with MES

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.

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A Vast South American Wilderness Is Under Siege From Illegal Mining

Yale E360

The third-place winner of the 2021 Yale Environment 360 Video Contest vividly depicts how, as the Venezuelan state collapses, the nation’s corrupt leaders are controlling — and profiting from — a flood of illegal mining in what was once one of South America’s wildest regions. Read more on E360 ?.

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Loved to Death? The Risks of Simplistic Campaigning for Wildlife Conservation

Union of Concerned Scientists

A conservationist writes about how many anti-trophy hunting conservation efforts miss the real needs of the people, environment, and animals most affected.

More Trending

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Blue Skies and Wildfire in California

Legal Planet

There’s a lot of news coverage about the wildfires on the West Coast right now, and rightly so. But with that news coverage comes a lot of commentary, some of which might lead us down the wrong policy path. I want to highlight an example from the New York Times opinion page, not because it is the most egregious example, but because the Times is particularly influential with a range of policy and intellectual elites who might take what the piece says seriously.

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Wildfires Had a Bigger Climate Impact Than the Pandemic in 2020

Yale E360

While pandemic-related lockdowns led to a dramatic drop in greenhouse gas emissions last year, the event that had the biggest impact on the climate in 2020 was actually a series of devastating bushfires in Australia, according to a new study. Using computer modeling, researchers compared the effect of both the drop in vehicle emissions and industrial activity during the pandemic with smoke released by the Australia wildfires.

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Let’s Make Fossil Fuel Polluters Pay—Five Ways to Thwart Their Smokescreen

Union of Concerned Scientists

A new proposed bill would finally set a precedent for fossil fuel companies to pay for the pollution they cause–which means they'll fight it with everything they've got.

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HotSpots H2O: Indigenous Communities, Biodiversity Along Brazil-Peru Border Threatened by Highway Construction

Circle of Blue

Rio Acre © Arison Jardim/Secom. Christian Thorsberg, Circle of Blue. Canopied by rubber trees and sprawling vines with apple-sized nuts, Acre state in northwest Brazil frames earth’s portrait of natural beauty. To the north and west, montane forests sweep atop the Andes, the mountain home of thousands of endemic animal species, not least endangered tapirs and giant armadillos.

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The Key to Sustainable Energy Optimization: A Data-Driven Approach for Manufacturing

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. ♻️ Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets. 📊 Join us for a practical webinar hosted by Kevin Kai Wong of Emergent Ene

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The unsung theory: why thermodynamics is as important as quantum mechanics and general relativity

Physics World

Like many science writers, I have often adopted the conceit that quantum mechanics and general relativity are our two principal (if incompatible) theories of the physical world. With his superb new book Einstein’s Fridge: the Science of Fire, Ice and the Universe , documentary filmmaker Paul Sen has made me doubt that this is the right way to express it.

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An Endangered Snake Thrives at San Francisco Airport

Yale E360

During a typical year, some 55 million people pass through San Francisco International (SFO), the nation’s seventh-busiest airport. At some point during their journey to or from the terminal, each one of them will travel by a seemingly unremarkable 180-acre parcel of land, soggy and spartan, bounded by highways and train tracks, bisected by rows of power lines.

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EPA Breathes New Life Into Science Advisory Committees At Pivotal Time

Union of Concerned Scientists

Yesterday, EPA announced a new roster of 47 Science Advisory Board (SAB) members which includes qualified experts, including a third who identify as people of color, with a rich assortment of backgrounds. The majority of members (roughly three-quarters) are university researchers, with three affiliated with consulting firms, five from government agencies or Tribes, and four […].

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The Stream, August 6, 2021: The Drought Edition

Circle of Blue

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN. In the American West, drought and wildfire are threatening California’s power grid and Nestle will continue bottling water in a drought-stricken Colorado county. Drought in Hawaii results in the state’s largest wildfire on record. Ranch cattle are starving to death in Mexico amid a historic drought. In South America, snowfall on the Andes Mountain range is at a historic low.

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Implementing D.E.J.I. Strategies in Energy, Environment, and Transportation

Speaker: Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition

Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) policies, programs, and initiatives are critically important as we move forward with public and private sector climate and sustainability goals and plans. Underserved and socially, economically, and racially disadvantaged communities bear the burden of pollution, higher energy costs, limited resources, and limited investments in the clean energy and transportation sectors.

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Neutron-science pioneer John Enderby dies aged 90

Physics World

The British physicist John Enderby has died aged 90. He is best known scientifically for his development of new techniques using neutrons to study the structure of liquids. Knighted for his services to physics in 2004, Enderby had a long association with Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP) in Bristol, where he served for many years as scientific advisor.

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Myocarditis is more common after covid-19 infection than vaccination

New Scientist

A preliminary study suggests that, among those most likely to develop myocarditis, the heart condition is six times more likely to occur after having covid-19 than after getting vaccinated

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How the Science Perspective Can Help Us Understand What the 2020 Census Means for Fair Representation

Union of Concerned Scientists

As a PhD candidate in biostatistics who works on problems of data quality, my concerns related to under-counting in the 2020 Census are significant, particularly in regards to political representation and accountability. Beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic, Census deadlines were shuffled due to the rapidly changing public health crisis, with multiple recommended timeline changes to […].

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Space Travel's Most Surprising Future Ingredient: Mushrooms

Scientific American

The mycologist Paul Stamets discusses the potential extraterrestrial uses of fungi, including terraforming planets, building human habitats—and providing psilocybin therapy to astronauts. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Shaping a Resilient Future: Climate Impact on Vulnerable Populations

Speaker: Laurie Schoeman Director, Climate & Sustainability, Capital

As households and communities across the nation face challenges such as hurricanes, wildfires, drought, extreme heat and cold, and thawing permafrost and flooding, we are increasingly searching for ways to mitigate and prevent climate impacts. During this event, national climate and housing expert Laurie Schoeman will discuss topics including: The two paths for climate action: decarbonization and adaptation.

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Think before you ‘speak’: brain–computer interface restores speech in paralysed man

Physics World

“Hello, World!” is a simple and commonly used code to introduce people to a programming language. Pronouncing “Hello, World!” out loud, however, while instinctive for most adults, involves a complex series of respiratory, phonetic and resonance tasks to produce sound and articulate the correct words. Speech originates in the brain, with neural signals fired from the brain cortex effortlessly coordinating vocal tract muscles to communicate.

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US Forest Fires Threaten Carbon Offsets as Company-Linked Trees Burn

Inside Climate News

At least two forestry projects used by businesses including BP and Microsoft to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions are burning in Oregon and Washington. By Camilla Hodgson, Financial Times Forests in the United States that generate the carbon offsets bought by companies including BP and Microsoft are on fire as summer blazes rage in North America.

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Bringing Reusable Cups Back to Starbucks

Ocean Conservancy

By now, we all know the damage single-use items can do to our ocean and the creatures that call it home. That’s why thousands of people have taken Ocean Conservancy’s pledges to reduce waste in their daily lives by skipping the straw and quitting the cutlery. With more than 11 million metric tons of plastic entering our ocean every year, we need a sea change in our relationship with single-use items.

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New Climate Report Will Detail Grim Future of Hotter, Extreme Weather and Rising Seas

Scientific American

The first assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change in eight years will sound the alarm on soaring temperatures and other effects of unchecked carbon pollution. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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Sustainability at Retail

Sustainability impacts every nation, company, and person around the world. So much so that, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) issued a call for action by all countries to work toward sustainable development. In response to this and as part of a global Sustainability at Retail initiative, Shop! worked collaboratively with its global affiliates to address these critical issues in this white paper.

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Introducing the non-radiating antenna

Physics World

An international team of physicists has created what might seem like a contradiction in terms: a non-radiating source of electromagnetism. By placing antennas inside a hollow dielectric disc, the researchers exploited interference phenomena to create a non-radiative “meta-atom” that could have applications in several areas, including sensing and wireless power transfer.

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Ford, VW, Tesla Lean In To LFP Battery Technology For EVs

Environmental Leader

Major automakers including Ford, VW and Tesla are increasingly leveraging lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, substituting for the more commonly used nickel or cobalt formulations, to capitalize on lower costs. Thus far, VW’s CEO Herbert Diess has committed to using LFP in the company’s entry-level EVs to bring. Read more ».

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Baby marine turtles’ stomachs are full of harmful plastic debris, suggests new study

Frontiers

By Suzanna Burgelman, Frontiers science writer. Image: Isabelle Kuehn/Shutterstock. Small juvenile sea turtles from the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean have a very high occurrence of ingested plastic, a new study shows. Of the studied species, green turtles had the highest incidence of ingested plastics, whereas hawksbill turtles showed no ingestion.

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From Interstellar to Hidden Figures: 12 of the best space movies

New Scientist

Interstellar, Moon, Proxima, Alien, Hidden Figures. From science fiction to biographical drama, does your favourite movie about space make our list?

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Protons combine with photons to optimize cancer treatments

Physics World

Combining proton and photon beams provides the optimal dose distribution for a head-and-neck cancer treatment. (Courtesy: Jan Unkelbach). Proton therapy offers precision tumour targeting with low integral dose to normal tissue. But for certain situations, photon-based radiotherapy may hold the advantage. In some cases, the penumbra of a photon beam may be sharper, for example, while proton treatments of lung or breast cancer can suffer from robustness problems.

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Meet the New Yorkers Mapping the City's Heat Islands

Scientific American

Similar work in San Francisco, Atlanta and other locations is revealing which parts of a city get hottest and why. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.

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How Do Wildfires Start & Can We Predict Them?

Breezometer

As climate change makes annual wildfire seasons longer and more devastating, predicting when and where these disastrous blazes will spread has become crucial. But is it actually possible to do this? How Weather Conditions Feed the Combustion Triangle. In order to start, a wildfire needs fuel, oxygen, and something to ignite it. In many cases, certain weather and climate conditions combine to make wildfire events more likely - affecting how they spread and how much land they burn through within s

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Babylonians calculated with triangles centuries before Pythagoras

New Scientist

Over a millennium before the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, Babylonian surveyors were using Pythagorean triangles to accurately share out farmland

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Newly discovered planetary nebulae could improve cosmic distance measurements

Physics World

Planetary nebulae as far away as 40 Mpc (about 130 million light–years) have been observed by astronomers for the first time. The objects had been too distant to see until an international team of astronomers used a new filter on data from the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument – which operates on European Space Agency’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).

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The Computer Scientist Training AI to Think With Analogies

Scientific American

Melanie Mitchell says digital minds will never truly be like ours until they can make analogies. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com.