Category «Environmental Law»

Measuring the Life-Saving Effects of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the U.S.

Climate Impact Lab: “As we face the punishing impacts of global climate change it can be easy to wonder, do efforts to reduce emissions by individual countries, states or cities really make a difference? Research by the Climate Impact Lab, which measures the economic and social costs of climate change, can help answer this question. …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Health Care

Short-and Long-Term Solutions to Extreme Drought in the Western United States

CRS – Statement of Charles V. Stern, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy, Before Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate Hearing on “Short-and Long-Term Solutions to Extreme Drought in the Western United States” June 14, 2022: “Chairman Manchin, Ranking Member Barrasso, and Members of the committee, thank you for inviting the Congressional Research Service …

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

Net Zero Stocktake 2022

“Assessing the status and trends of net zero target setting across countries, sub-national governments and companies. Net zero is the dominant lens through which countries, states and regions, cities and companies approach decarbonisation. With global coverage of net zero nearly universal at the national level now, the big question is whether a sufficient proportion of …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Financial System

How Fashion Giants Recast Plastic as Good for the Planet

The New York Times: “An influential system overseen by retailers and clothing makers ranks petroleum-based synthetics like “vegan leather” as more environmentally sound than natural fibers. It’s soft. It’s vegan. It looks just like leather. It’s also made from fossil fuels. An explosion in the use of inexpensive, petroleum-based materials has transformed the fashion industry, …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law

Google Earth Engine is taking its closest look yet at how landscapes are changing

Popular Science, June 9, 2022: “Today, Google Earth is launching a project called Dynamic World, a new endeavor that creates maps that come paired with a novel deep learning AI model. It’s able to classify land cover by type (water, urban, forest, crops) at a resolution of 10 meters, or 32 feet. That means each …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Internet, Knowledge Management, Search Engines

The State of the World’s Forests 2022

FAO. 2022. The State of the World’s Forests 2022. Forest pathways for green recovery and building inclusive, resilient and sustainable economies. Rome, FAO. “There will be no healthy economy on an unhealthy planet. Environmental deterioration is contributing to climate change, biodiversity loss and the emergence of new diseases. Forests and trees can play crucial roles …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Food and Nutrition, Health Care

Secretary Haaland Issues Order to Phase Out Single-Use Plastics, Protect Public Lands and Waters

“On World Ocean Day today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued Secretary’s Order 3407, which aims to reduce the procurement, sale and distribution of single-use plastic products and packaging with a goal of phasing out single-use plastic products on Department-managed lands by 2032. The Order is part of the implementation of President Biden’s Executive …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Government Documents

New tool from Google shows how the planet is changing in near real time

Fast Company: “A new tool from Google Earth Engine and the nonprofit World Resources Institute pulls from satellite data to build detailed maps in near real time. Called Dynamic World, it zooms in on the planet in 10-by-10-meter squares from satellite images collected every two to five days. The program uses artificial intelligence to classify …

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

Carbon dioxide now more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels, June 3, 2022

“Carbon dioxide measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory peaked for 2022 at 421 parts per million in May, pushing the atmosphere further into territory not seen for millions of years, scientists from NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography offsite link at the University of California San Diego announced [June 3, 3033]. NOAA’s measurements of …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law

800% increase in UN appeal needs for extreme weather-related emergencies over last 20 years

Oxfam: “The amount of money needed for UN humanitarian appeals involving extreme weather events like floods or drought is now eight times higher than 20 years ago — and donors are failing to keep up, reveals a new Oxfam brief today. For every $2 needed for UN weather-related appeals, donor countries are only providing $1. …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Food and Nutrition

Russia in the Age of Climate Change

Klimat – Russia in the Age of Climate Change, Thane Gustafson: “A discerning analysis of the future effects of climate change on Russia, the major power most dependent on the fossil fuel economy. Russia will be one of the countries most affected by climate change. No major power is more economically dependent on the export …

Subjects: Climate Change, Defense, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Food and Nutrition, Recommended Books