Category «Climate Change»

Temperature and humidity based projections of rapid rise in global heat stress exposure during 21st century

Temperature and humidity based projections of a rapid rise in global heat stress exposure during the 21st century. Ethan D Coffel. Radley M Horton, and Alex de Sherbinin. Published 22 December 2017. Environmental Research Letters, Volume 13, Number 1. “As a result of global increases in both temperature and specific humidity, heat stress is projected …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

2017 Was a Big Year for Scrubbing Science from Government Websites

MotherJones: 2017 Was a Big Year for Scrubbing Science from Government Websites. Here’s the List. Are the changes routine, rebranding, or censorship? “Moments after President Donald Trump took the oath of office last January, nearly all references to climate change disappeared from the White House official website. A page detailing former President Barack Obama’s plans to …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, E-Government, Energy, Environmental Law, Freedom of Information, Government Documents

Study – deploying solar energy dev across non traditional sites

Land-Sparing Opportunities for Solar Energy Development in Agricultural Landscapes: A Case Study of the Great Central Valley, CA, United States. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2017, 51 (24), pp 14472–14482. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b05110. Publication Date (Web): December 19, 2017. “Land-cover change from energy development, including solar energy, presents trade-offs for land used for the production of food and …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Food and Nutrition

The new ice free Arctic?

Let it go: The Arctic will never be frozen again By Eric Holthaus on Dec 18, 2017: “Last week, at a New Orleans conference center that once doubled as a storm shelter for thousands during Hurricane Katrina, a group of polar scientists made a startling declaration: The Arctic as we once knew it is no …

Subjects: Climate Change

Report – A big year for fact-checking, but not for new U.S. fact-checkers

Duke Reporter’s Lab – Following a historic pattern, the number of American media outlets verifying political statements dropped after last year’s presidential campaign. “All the talk about political lies and misinformation since last year’s election has been good for the fact-checking business in the United States — but it has not meant an increase in …

Subjects: Climate Change, Congress, Internet, Knowledge Management

Arctic saw 2nd warmest year, smallest winter sea ice coverage on record in 2017

“A NOAA-sponsored report shows that the warming trend transforming the Arctic persisted in 2017, resulting in the second warmest air temperatures, above average ocean temperatures, loss of sea ice, and a range of human, ocean and ecosystem effects. Now in its 12th year, the Arctic Report Card, released today at the annual American Geophysical Union …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Government Documents

Study – Greater future global warming inferred from Earth’s recent energy budget

Washington Post: “The climate change simulations that best capture current planetary conditions are also the ones that predict the most dire levels of human-driven warming, according to a statistical study released in the journal Nature Wednesday. The study, by Patrick Brown and Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, Calif., examined the high-powered climate change …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law

Moody’s: Climate change is forecast to heighten US exposure to economic loss placing short-and long-term credit pressure on US states and local governments

News release: New York, November 28, 2017 – “The growing effects of climate change, including climbing global temperatures, and rising sea levels, are forecast to have an increasing economic impact on US state and local issuers. This will be a growing negative credit factor for issuers without sufficient adaptation and mitigation strategies, Moody’s Investors Service …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Legal Research

World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice

World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice. WILLIAM J. RIPPLE, CHRISTOPHER WOLF, THOMAS M. NEWSOME, MAURO GALETTI, MOHAMMED ALAMGIR, EILEEN CRIST, MAHMOUD I. MAHMOUD, WILLIAM F. LAURANCE, and 15,364 scientist signatories from 184 countries. November 13, 2017. Vol. XX, No. X BioScience. [Alliance of World Scientists] “Twenty-five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law

UK environment secretary will back total ban on bee-harming pesticides

theguardian: Research leads environment secretary to overturn government’s previous opposition, making total EU ban much more likely – “The UK will back a total ban on insect-harming pesticides in fields across Europe, the environment secretary, Michael Gove, has revealed. The decision reverses the government’s previous position and is justified by recent new evidence showing neonicotinoids …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Government Documents

Google partners with Aclima in mapping out air pollution levels on Google Earth

TNW: “Google has undertaken yet another initiative that aims to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the environment. The company has teamed up with envirotech firm Aclima to measure air pollution levels in California and map out the findings on its Earth platform. The effort will see the two companies release hyperlocal air quality …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Search Engines, Transportation

2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year Contest, Part II

Alan Taylor via The Atlantic – “National Geographic’s annual photo competition is still open, with the deadline for submissions coming up on November 17. The Grand Prize Winner will receive $7,500, publication in National Geographic Magazine, and a feature on National Geographic’s Instagram account. Contest runners have allowed me to choose a few more of …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law