Category: 9. Environment
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As extreme downpours trigger flooding around the world, global warming’s intensifying impact becomes more clear
Torrential downpours flooded the New York City region in September 2023, following extreme storms that sent muddy water racing through streets in Libya, Greece, Spain and Hong Kong. Thousands of people died in the city of Derna, Libya. Zagora, Greece, saw a record 30 inches of rain, the equivalent of a year and a half…
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Intense Heatwaves Persist Far Longer in The Deep Ocean, Scientists Find : ScienceAlert
Marine heatwaves may last longer and be more intense in deeper water, potentially threatening sensitive species as climate change makes the extreme events more frequent, researchers said on Monday. Oceans have absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat produced by the carbon pollution from human activity since the dawn of the industrial age. Marine heatwaves…
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Massachusetts will be the first state to stop buying plastic, governor says
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Massachusetts will no longer buy single-use plastic products, the governor announced to start the week. Speaking Monday in New York at an early morning session of the Clinton Global Initiative, Gov. Maura Healey used her brief time at the podium to announce she will issue two executive orders in the coming…
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Scientists call for a tree planting drive to help tackle heat waves
Graphical abstract. Credit: Environment International (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108187 Adding more natural areas across our towns and cities could cool them by up to 6°C during heat waves, according to new research from the University of Surrey’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE). After a year of monitoring temperatures in four distinct areas of Guildford,…
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Gauging the key role animals can play in monitoring climate change
Credit: Max Planck Institute The world’s scientists rely on an elaborate network of satellites, ocean buoys, weather stations, balloons, and other technologies to help predict the weather and assess the global effects of climate change on terrestrial landscapes, oceans, and the atmosphere. But they are overlooking some of the most sensitive and informative instruments of…
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Remote work can slash your carbon footprint, if done right
Methodology to investigate the climate change mitigation effects of remote and hybrid work in the United States. Residential energy use, non-commute-related travel, commuting, office energy use, and ICT services are included in the system boundary. Acronyms: natural gas (NG), remote work/remote worker (RW), onsite work/onsite worker (OW). Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…
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Entire Branches on Tree of Life Are Dying, Scientists Warn : ScienceAlert
Like the comet striking the dinosaurs – in slower motion, but just as deadly – human activity is hacking off entire branches from the tree of life, a new study confirms. “It is changing the trajectory of evolution globally and destroying the conditions that make human life possible,” ecologists warn in their new paper. “It…
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A call for less talk and more action on luxury emissions
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain News reports of the world’s worst polluters often point to a specific handful of countries at fault. However, the focus on sovereign states as the underlying cause of carbon emissions and climate change misses an important class-based dynamic at work, says Shelley Welton, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Law and Energy Policy…
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Worried about heat and fire this summer? Here’s how to to prepare
Credit: Shutterstock The Northern Hemisphere summer brought catastrophic fires and floods to many countries. Down south, the winter was the hottest ever recorded in Australia, fueled by record ocean temperatures. Small wonder many Australians are worried about what summer will bring, as a likely El Niño threatens hot and dry fire weather. In the early…
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How weather ‘blocks’ have triggered more extreme heat waves and floods across Europe
On several occasions this summer, Europe’s weather seemed to get itself stuck, leading to prolonged heat waves and floods. In the UK, a long hot and dry spell throughout May and June gave way to a similarly persistent cool and wet period. In September, Europe saw widespread flooding in southern Europe while the UK basked…