Category «Environmental Law»

2013 Toxic Release Inventory National Analysis

“Tens of thousands of chemicals are used by industries and businesses in the United States to make the products on which our society depends, such as pharmaceuticals, clothing, and automobiles. Many of the chemicals needed to create these products are toxic, and while the majority of toxic chemicals are managed so that they are not …

Subjects: Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

New Research Paper: How Uncertainty in Climate Science Turns Good News Bad

News release: “Can good news actually be bad news when it comes to the effects of global climate change?  That is the question Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Professor Richard Zeckhauser and his co-authors are attempting to answer in a new HKS Faculty Research Working Paper.  Their report, titled Climate Sensitivity Uncertainty: When is Good News …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Government Documents

Report – Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean

Science 13 February 2015: Vol. 347 no. 6223 pp. 768-771  DOI: 10.1126/science.1260352 [subscription req’d]: “Plastic debris in the marine environment is widely documented, but the quantity of plastic entering the ocean from waste generated on land is unknown. By linking worldwide data on solid waste, population density, and economic status, we estimated the mass of …

Subjects: Environmental Law

Report – 12 Risks that threaten human civilisation

“This report [via Global Challenges Foundation] has, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, created the first list of global risks with impacts that for all practical purposes can be called infinite. It is also the first structured overview of key events related to such risks and has tried to provide initial rough quantifications for …

Subjects: Climate Change, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Defense, Environmental Law, Health Care

Untested unregulated chemicals in consumer products are hazardous to your health

“GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals is a method for comparative chemical hazard assessment. It is used by a wide range of professionals, governmental bodies, non-profits, businesses, formulators, and product developers, and anybody interested in assessing the inherent hazards of chemicals and their potential effect on human health and the environment.” “Diseases of our modern age are …

Subjects: Congress, Environmental Law, Health Care, Legal Research, Legislation

Final Assessment: What We Have Learned From Our Inspections of Incinerators and Use of Burn Pits in Afghanistan

“This report presents SIGAR’s final assessment of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) use of incinerators and open-air burn pits to dispose of solid waste in Afghanistan. The facts and concluding observations contained in this report are based on inspections conducted by SIGAR between October 2012and June 2014 at Camp Leatherneck, Forward Operating Base Salerno, Forward …

Subjects: Defense, Energy, Environmental Law, Government Documents

Unprecedented 21st century drought risk in the American Southwest and Central Plains

Benjamin I. Cook, Toby R. Ault, Jason E. Smerdon. Science Advances 01 Feb 2015: Vol. 1 no. 1 e1400082. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1400082.  “In the Southwest and Central Plains of Western North America, climate change is expected to increase drought severity in the coming decades. These regions nevertheless experienced extended Medieval-era droughts that were more persistent than …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law

Presidential Task Force Releases Implementation Plan for National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking

“Recognizing that wildlife trafficking is an urgent conservation and national security threat, the Departments of State, Justice, and the Interior today unveiled the Implementation Plan for the U.S. National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking. The agencies are Co-Chairs of the President’s Task Force on Combating Wildlife Trafficking, which comprises 17 federal agencies and offices. The …

Subjects: Economy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research

Exposure to mercury, seafood associated with risk factor for autoimmune disease

Emily C. Somers, Martha A. Ganser, Jeffrey S. Warren, Niladri Basu, Lu Wang, Suzanna M. Zick, Sung Kyun Park. Mercury Exposure and Antinuclear Antibodies among Females of Reproductive Age in the United States: NHANES. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2015; DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1408751 Science Daily: “One of the greatest risk factors for autoimmunity among women of childbearing age …

Subjects: Environmental Law, Health Care, Medicine