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CRS – Plastic Pollution and Policy Considerations: Frequently Asked Questions, December 5, 2024. “Global and domestic plastic production has increased substantially since the mid-20th century—doubling in the last two decades. The durability, moldability, and versatility of plastic have led to its ubiquitous use, benefiting many aspects of society, including the food, medical, technology, textile, and …
The Hill: “More than 75 percent of the globe became permanently drier over the past three decades, according to a report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The report, published Monday, found that about 77.6 percent of the globe became drier from 1990 to 2020, more than it did over the preceding …
“The year 2024 saw contrasting wildfire activity across the globe. North and South America were the most affected continents according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS*) data, going back to 2003. Bolivia recorded its highest wildfire carbon emissions in CAMS Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) dataset by a huge margin, and Venezuela also saw the …
Citation: Pacific Institute (2024) Water Conflict Chronology. Pacific Institute, Oakland, CA. https://www.worldwater.org/water-conflict/ – “In an ongoing effort to understand the connections between water resources, water systems, and international security and conflict, the Pacific Institute initiated a project in the late 1980s to track and categorize events related to water and conflict, which has been continuously …
MIT News: “Visualizing the potential impacts of a hurricane on people’s homes before it hits can help residents prepare and decide whether to evacuate. MIT scientists have developed a method that generates satellite imagery from the future to depict how a region would look after a potential flooding event. The method combines a generative artificial …
PHYS.org: “An international team of scientists using observations from NASA-German satellites found evidence that Earth’s total amount of freshwater dropped abruptly starting in May 2014 and has remained low ever since. Reporting in Surveys in Geophysics, the researchers suggested the shift could indicate Earth’s continents have entered a persistently drier phase. From 2015 through 2023, …
Entomology Today [h/t Barclay Walsh]: “Early detection is critical to the eradication and management of invasive species, and curious members of the public play a key role by sharing observations on platforms such as iNaturalist. Integrating these sightings from a bug-curious public into ongoing biosecurity surveillance is an increasingly valuable approach for invasive species management. …
Open Culture – The Greatest Botanical Illustrator of All Time: “Pierre-Joseph Redouté made his name by painting flowers, an achievement impossible without a meticulousness that exceeds all bounds of normality. He published his three-volume collection Les Roses and his eight-volume collection Les Liliacées between 1802 and 1824, and a glance at their pages today vividly suggests the …
“Poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality: The world faces many great and terrifying problems. It is these large problems that our work at Our World in Data focuses on. Thanks to the work of thousands of researchers around the world who dedicate their lives to it, we often have a good …
Tom’s Guide – “Today, Google announced the arrival of several new features meant to help with your holiday plans. The features cover everything from traveling on public transit to planning trips with your electric vehicle or a trailer. Most of the features are built around making travel easier and to help you get around without …
Because this is beautiful – “The Mushroom Color Atlas is a resource and reference for everyone curious about mushrooms and the beautiful and subtle colors derived from dyeing with mushrooms. But it is also the start of a journey and a point of departure, introducing you to the kaleidoscopic fungi kingdom and our connection to …
YouTube: “A mysterious landscape known as Crowberry Bog on the Olympic Peninsula is like no other place in Washington. It’s a bog that sits like an inflated bladder, rising higher than the surrounding forest. To walk here is like walking on a waterbed chock full of rare and surprising life.”…Ecology is Amazing!
