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The Verge: “Extreme heat is in store for communities across the US this week, and the CDC and National Weather Service (NWS) have new tools to help people prepare for the health risks. Heat is the top weather-related killer in the US, a threat that’s growing worse with climate change. But even though heatwaves kill …
“Even when data is at your fingertips it can sometimes still be hard to find what you’re looking for – especially when it comes to climate information. USDA’s Climate Hubs and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are helping to meet that need by providing Climate Quick Reference Guides for agricultural producers and landowners seeking basic …
Patrick Rérat, Aurélie Schmassmann, Build it and they will come? The effects of a new infrastructure on cycling practices and experiences, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Volume 25, 2024, 101121, ISSN 2590-1982, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2024.101121. Abstract: What are the effects of cycling infrastructure? This question is crucial as cities begin to give more space to cycling. In this …
Washington Post [unpaywalled]: “Microplastics have popped up in rivers, oceans, soil, food, tea and even Antarctic snow — and now these tiny plastic particles are showing up in clouds. A group of researchers from Waseda University in Tokyo recently found microplastics in the clouds above Mount Fuji. In a paper published in Environmental Chemistry Letters, …
The Guardian: “From brown trout becoming “addicted” to methamphetamine to European perch losing their fear of predators due to depression medication, scientists warn that modern pharmaceutical and illegal drug pollution is becoming a growing threat to wildlife. Drug exposure is causing significant, unexpected changes to some animals’ behaviour and anatomy. Female starlings dosed with antidepressants …
Grist: “These climate-driven impacts are taking a serious toll on human health. Cases of disease linked to mosquitos, ticks, and fleas tripled in the U.S. between 2004 and 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The threat extends beyond commonly recognized vector-borne diseases. Research shows more than half of all the pathogens …
“Today, on National Heat Awareness Day, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a new tool to help communities prepare for extreme heat and prevent heat-related illness, especially among those most at risk. The Heat and Health Index (HHI) is the first nationwide tool to provide heat-health outcome information at the …
IEA: “The large, heavy passenger vehicles were responsible for over 20% of the growth in global energy-related CO2 emissions last year SUVs accounted for 48% of global car sales in 2023, reaching a new record and further strengthening the defining automobile trend of the early 21st century – the shift towards ever larger and heavier …
BBC: “A sophisticated joint European-Japanese satellite has launched to measure how clouds influence the climate. Some low-level clouds are known to cool the planet, others at high altitude will act as a blanket. The Earthcare mission will use a laser and a radar to probe the atmosphere to see precisely where the balance lies. It’s …
“AirNow is your one-stop source for air quality data. Our recently redesigned site highlights air quality in your local area first, while still providing air quality information at state, national, and world views. A new interactive map even lets you zoom out to get the big picture or drill down to see data for a …
New York Intelligencer [no paywall]: “…In 1904, Herman W. Merkel, a forester at the Bronx Zoo, noticed chestnuts near the park’s perimeter were speckled with a strange orange fungus. Merkel called in William A. Murrill, a mycologist at the New York Botanical Garden, and the two men spent the next year identifying a fungus now …
The Guardian: “Retailers are being urged to stop making everyday products such as drinks bottles, outdoor furniture and toys out of brightly coloured plastic after researchers found it degrades into microplastics faster than plainer colours. Red, blue and green plastic became “very brittle and fragmented”, while black, white and silver samples were “largely unaffected” over …
