Category: 9. Environment
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Climate change has made dangerous wildfire smoke a more common threat
Even as the thick clouds of smoke from wildfires raging in eastern Canada, which blanketed the U.S. East Coast in a dangerous orange haze, begin to dissipate, researchers are warning it’s a sign of the times. Canada’s fire outlook will remain higher than normal for June. And on a larger scale, climate change is projected […]
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Indigenous groups turn to Brazil’s highest court to stop police violence
Brazil’s largest coalition of Indigenous groups has filed a motion with the country’s highest court in response to escalating police brutality against Indigenous peoples in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. In the first seven months of 2022, 759 violent incidents with police were recorded, involving a total of 113,654 families and 33 killings […]
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An El Niño looms over Australia’s stressed electricity system, and the nation must plan for the worst
Scatterplot of New South Wales demand and temperature, example based on 2017 calendar year. Credit: AEMO The Bureau of Meteorology this week declared a 70% chance of an El Niño developing this year. It’s bad timing for the electricity sector, and means Australians may face supply disruptions and more volatile energy prices. El Niño events […]
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Harnessing people power to help with plastic pollution in Portsmouth
Data classifications by survey. Credit: Marine Pollution Bulletin (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115116 A UK city has become the first in the world to use city wide surveys to track plastic waste, in an effort to tackle plastic pollution. The research, published this week in Marine Pollution Bulletin relied on the help of local people and businesses […]
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Conceptualizing and studying infrastructure junctions and the power geometries of low-carbon place-making
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A research article about where, how, when, and for whom low-carbon places are made. The making of low-carbon places is a critical component of responses to climate change and can help in achieving decarbonization. The making of low-carbon places is crucial for achieving decarbonization, but where are such places made? In […]
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Researchers map the blind spots for achieving a low-carbon transition in the Global South
The High-Level Research Agenda explained in graphics. Credit: University of Gothenburg A network of over 60 international researchers has collaborated intensely over 18 months to identify knowledge gaps and opportunities needed to achieve a low-carbon transition in the Global South. They have developed an actionable research agenda to guide funders and scholars to where they […]
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More than 50 chemicals discovered in water off Hampshire and West Sussex coasts
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain An ongoing study looking at water quality in and around Chichester and Langstone harbors has revealed high levels of potentially harmful chemicals. In a novel collaboration between local interest groups and Portsmouth and Brunel Universities, hundreds of samples were gathered off the coasts of Hampshire and West Sussex by the Clean […]
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Toxic smoke dissipates over northeastern US
A cyclist rides under a blanket of haze partially obscuring the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 8, 2023. Residents of the northeastern United States were breathing more easily Friday as smoke from Canadian fires gradually cleared after blanketing several cities in a noxious haze this week. In New York and Washington air quality […]
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Rising groundwater threatens to spread toxic pollution on U.S. coastlines
Hidden flows of water are poised to flush toxic contamination into U.S. coastal communities. Sea level rise from climate change won’t just force shorelines to retreat — in inland areas, it will guilefully lift groundwater into shallower soils. That rising water could infiltrate hundreds of U.S. Superfund sites — severely polluted locations identified by the […]
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Europe’s top science panel supports call for moratorium on deep-sea mining
The European Academies’ Science Advisory Council has announced its support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. In a new report, the council conveys its skepticism that deep-sea mining is necessary to meet the needs of critical minerals for renewable technologies. It also points out that deep-sea mining would cause irreparable harm to marine ecosystems, and […]