Sat.Jan 27, 2024 - Fri.Feb 02, 2024

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No Free Parking: An Urban Reform Movement Takes Hold

Yale E360

In cities across the U.S., planners are pushing to eliminate mandates requiring parking spaces in new buildings. The reforms, along with adding street parking meters, reduce car dependency, create public spaces, cut down on heat-island effects, and lower housing costs.

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Spencer’s Shenanigans

Real Climate

A recent sensible-sounding piece by Roy Spencer for the Heritage foundation is full of misrepresentations. Let’s play spot the fallacy. Comparing climate models to observations is usually a great idea, but there are some obvious pitfalls to avoid if you want to be taken seriously. The most obvious one is to neglect the impacts of internal variability – which is not synchronized across the models or with the observations.

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A Cap on Vegetable Oil-Based Fuels Will Stabilize and Strengthen California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard

Union of Concerned Scientists

I have long been a supporter of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The LCFS is the leading example of a Clean Fuel Standard , an approach to transportation fuel policy that holds oil refiners accountable to reduce the carbon intensity (CI) of transportation fuels. The CI is determined through a lifecycle analysis of the global warming pollution associated with the production and use of gasoline, diesel, biofuels, electricity, or other alternative fuels.

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Modern humans were already in northern Europe 45,000 years ago

New Scientist

DNA from bones found in a cave in Germany has been identified as from Homo sapiens, showing that our species endured frigid conditions there as they expanded across the continent

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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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Warming Could Devastate Older Elephants, Sending Ripples Through Herds

Yale E360

The loss of older African elephants to worsening heat and drought poses a grave threat to younger members of their herds, a new study warns.

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With the World Stumbling Past 1.5 Degrees of Warming, Scientists Warn Climate Shocks Could Trigger Unrest and Authoritarian Backlash

Inside Climate News

Most of the public seems unaware that global temperatures will soon push past the target to which the U.N. hoped to limit warming, but researchers see social and psychological crises brewing. By Bob Berwyn As Earth’s annual average temperature pushes against the 1.5 degree Celsius limit beyond which climatologists expect the impacts of global warming to intensify, social scientists warn that humanity may be about to sleepwalk into a dangerous new era in human history.

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Microplastics in Protein Products Concerns All Consumers

Ocean Conservancy

This blog was written by Hannah De Frond, Ocean Conservancy Consultant and International Trash Trap Network Coordinator and Madeleine Milne, Ocean Conservancy Consultant and University of Toronto Graduate Student. Factors like price, packaging and health value often influence what products people choose when walking down the aisle of a grocery store.

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How Sea Otters Are Protecting the California Coast Against Climate Change

Yale E360

California sea otters were nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century, with only a small number surviving along the central coast. As otters rebounded, a natural experiment unfolded. Scientists could study how otters safeguard California's underwater kelp forests and marshland, even in the face of worsening climate change.

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Neuralink: What do brain implants do and why is Elon Musk making them?

New Scientist

Elon Musk's Neuralink company is conducting its first human trials, implanting a tiny chip into the surface of a person's brain to allow them to talk directly with computers

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Public Pressure on ExxonMobil Works. Little Else Does.

Union of Concerned Scientists

ExxonMobil, the world’s largest non-state oil company, is a member of hundreds of trade associations around the globe working to promote the interests of the oil and gas industry. So why did its recent departure from a single trade association make news? The answer concerns the history of disinformation shared by many oil and gas trade associations, and shareholders’ recent success in exposing—and pushing back against—their tactics.

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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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We Can’t Afford to Lose Any More Wetlands to Sprawl

Enviromental Defense

Wetlands are essential for the health of Ontario’s environment. They provide habitats for so many species like the Northern Map turtle and Least Bittern, and are one of the most productive and biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Wetlands also offer a long list of imperative climate mitigation services like flood prevention and carbon storage. We need wetlands.

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As a Swiss Glacier Melts, a Trove of Invaluable Climate Data Is Being Lost

Yale E360

By analyzing ice collected from glaciers, scientists can study the past composition of the atmosphere and better understand how humans have altered the climate. But the rapid melting of ice may be compromising this critical data, according to a study of the Corbassière glacier in Switzerland.

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Record broken for the coldest temperature reached by large molecules

New Scientist

Four-atom molecules glued together by microwaves have broken the record for being the most complicated molecule to reach temperatures just billionths of a degree away from absolute zero

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Our Satellite Database Reaches a Milestone. We’ve Learned Much Along the Way

Union of Concerned Scientists

This month, the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists released the last UCS Satellite Database to be produced by our incredible longtime colleague, Teri Grimwood. This update, current with launches through May 1, 2023, collects 28 pieces of data on 7,560 actively-operating satellites. Over the last 18 years, Teri has produced 45 updated versions of our database.

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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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Ancient Jewelry Shows Ice Age Europe Had 9 Distinct Cultures

Scientific American

Prehistoric artifacts used in jewelry, such as beads made from shells, amber and ivory, have shed light on the cultural groups that were present in Europe tens of thousands of years ago

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Scotland's Renewable Output More Than 100 Percent of Demand

Yale E360

For the first time, in 2022, Scottish renewables generated more power than the country used, new government figures show.

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Ukraine will spoof GPS across the country to stop Russian drones

New Scientist

A nationwide electronic warfare system called Pokrova can disrupt satellite navigation – Ukraine may already be using it to prevent strikes by Russian drones and missiles, but doing so will also affect satnavs in the country

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Five Types of Plankton

Ocean Conservancy

When I’m out in the ocean, I’m obsessed by everything I see. I’m the woman in the boat who’s got her fish guide out to look up the names of any unknown fish while throwing out fun facts about the creatures I’ve already identified. Yet so much ocean life is so small, I might miss them entirely. I’m talking about plankton—the tiny plants and animals that make up 90% of the mass of all marine life in the ocean and play an extremely important role in the health of our planet.

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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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A Camera-Wearing Baby Taught an AI to Learn Words

Scientific American

Most machine-learning models rely on mountains of data to replicate human text, but new research suggests the recipe for learning language might be simpler

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Key Concepts in Ecology: Populations

The Applied Ecologist

This blog post on ‘Populations’ is part of the BES ‘Key Concepts in Ecology’ series, designed to help ecologists in learning the key topics in ecology!

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Mathematicians have finally proved that Bach was a great composer

New Scientist

Converting hundreds of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach into mathematical networks reveals that they store lots of information and convey it very effectively

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After Another Year of Record-Breaking Heat, a Heightened Focus on Public Health

Inside Climate News

With heat deaths surging in Texas, Arizona and across the nation, researchers model a myriad of heat effects on the human body and focus on the disproportionate impacts suffered by the elderly and people of color. By Victoria St. Martin He noticed the light-headedness first.

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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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People Have Very Different Understandings of Even the Simplest Words

Scientific American

Distinctive meanings for a word like “risk” can have a big impact on public messaging, especially when it comes to issues like climate change

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My immersive experience at the BES Annual Meeting as an applied ecologist

The Applied Ecologist

Karen Castillioni is an Associate Editor mentee for Journal of Applied Ecology. She is also a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Minnesota, USA. She is passionate about understanding the complex relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the context of global change. In this blog post, she shares her experience of the 2023 BES Annual Meeting.

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Strange virus-like replicators discovered in the human gut

New Scientist

A previously unknown type of replicating agent named "obelisks” has been found in genomic data from stool samples – but we know little about what these entities do

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Converging Climate Risks Interact to Cause More Harm, Hitting Disadvantaged Californians Hardest

Inside Climate News

Exposure to extreme heat and wildfire smoke together leads to far more cardiac and respiratory hospitalizations than either hazard alone, new research shows. California’s marginalized communities face the highest risks. By Liza Gross “The future happens in California first” long referred to the state’s reputation as an environmental leader. It’s come to describe the Golden State’s front row seat to a rotating list of overlapping extreme events that are appearing with ever more frequency and fero

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Glacier Meltwater Destroys Precious Climate Data in the Alps

Scientific American

Rising temperatures are melting an area of the Swiss Alps where scientists have been working to collect centuries-old ice cores that contain evidence of past environmental conditions

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The 4-Second Nap: Unusual Sleep Habits of Animals

Cool Green Science

From dozing with half a brain to napping seconds at a time, these animals evolved unique ways to catch z’s. The post The 4-Second Nap: Unusual Sleep Habits of Animals appeared first on Cool Green Science.

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Why bioabundance is just as important as biodiversity

New Scientist

The abundance of wild birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects has drastically declined over the past 50 years, but the scale and seriousness of this loss is often lost when we focus on the number of species in an area

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Q&A: How YouTube Climate Denialism Is Morphing

Inside Climate News

The message may be evolving, but the company and YouTubers are still making millions off of it. Interview by Steve Curwood, Living on Earth From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine , an interview by host Steve Curwood and with Imran Ahmed, the CEO and founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

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First Space-Based Gravitational Wave Detector Gets Go-Ahead

Scientific American

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna could discover gigantic ripples in spacetime from merging supermassive black holes and more

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World Wetlands Day: A Call to Action for U.S. Wetlands Preservation

NRDC

Today marks World Wetlands Day, a day to celebrate wetlands' vital role in our lives. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of Sackett v. EPA , wetlands are now at risk.

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