Global Modeling of Nature's Contributions to People
Natural Capital Project scientist Becky Chaplin Kramer talks about new work out in Science Magazine on modeling nature's contributions to people at a global scale.
Modeling Nature's Contributions to People on a Global Scale
When Rivers Stop Flowing
When rivers stop flowing, so do crucial natural benefits
Skip to content Skip to navigation | Posted in: News Release By Sarah Cafasso Researchers evaluate hydropower planning and the meaning of "sustainable" in the Mekong The Mekong Delta supports 17 million livelihoods and the largest freshwater fishery on earth. The Mekong delta supports 17 million livelihoods in southeast Asia.
High Mountain “Water Towers” Are in Trouble
The world's supply of fresh water is in trouble as mountain ice vanishes
This article was supported by Rolex, which is partnering with the National Geographic Society to shine a light on the challenges facing the Earth's critical life-support systems through science, exploration, and storytelling. High in the Himalaya, near the base of the Gangotri glacier, water burbles along a narrow river.
Rising Seas Could Affect Three Times More People by 2050 Than Previously Thought
Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050, New Research Shows
Rising seas could affect three times more people by 2050 than previously thought, according to new research, threatening to all but erase some of the world's great coastal cities.
Duke University’s Environmental Sustainability Offsets Projects
Duke's Carbon Offset Projects
OverviewThe Duke Carbon Offset Initiative (DCOI) operates within the academic environment to generate high-quality offset projects that provide community co-benefits and create educational opportunities. The DCOI performs project accounting in-house, and gathers implementation partners and interested professors to produce high-value offsets that facilitate real-world research
PITT Commits to Global Pledge That Supports Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Pitt Commits to Global Pledge That Supports Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The University of Pittsburgh is among the first signatories - and one of the first universities worldwide - to join in the Cool Food Pledge, a global initiative led by the World Resources Institute to cut food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030. The institute announced Pitt's membership Sept.
How Penn State is Cutting Greenhouse Emissions in Half and Saving Money
How Penn State Is Cutting Greenhouse Emissions In Half - And Saving Money
In the struggle to end global warming, one community in central Pennsylvania is having remarkable success. It's growing, with tens of thousands of people, yet its greenhouse emissions have been dropping dramatically. Perhaps most amazing: Those reductions have paid for themselves. This is not your typical town - it's Penn State University.
Legislation to Undercut Science Education in Public Schools
Science Education Is Under Legislative Attack
Nearly a quarter of a million science teachers are hard at work in public schools in the United States, helping to ensure that today's students are equipped with the theoretical knowledge and the practical knowhow they will need to flourish in tomorrow's world.
This BBC Report is Something You Really Should Watch!
Why we're heading for a 'climate catastrophe' - BBC Newsnight
Scientists say the world is completely off track. Subscribe to our channel here: https://goo.gl/31Q53F A damning report from the the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has put the world on the path to a 'climate catastrophe' as global warming nears 3C.
Orange County (NC) Ramping Up Climate Change Actions
Column: Orange County ramping up climate change actions
On June 6, 2017, the Board of Orange County Commissioners passed a resolution to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 26 and 28 percent by 2025 as compared to 2005 levels. On Sept. 5, 2017, the board adopted a resolution to transition to a 100 percent renewable energy-based economy by 2050.
Podcast Featuring Southerners Who Are Stewards of the Environment
Broken Ground Podcast
The Broken Ground team is dedicated to telling the stories of people from all walks of life. We are looking for the stories of Southerners who are stewards of the environment, truth-tellers, and on the front lines fighting to protect our precious water, air, and land. Do you have a story to tell?
Water: The Weirdest Molecule Known to Humanity
Water: The Weirdest Molecule Known to Humanity.
One of the most essential components to solving the world's water crisis lies in understanding the many complex issues surrounding it. This is a key reason Current has created our
A Model: Storytelling Fueling Climate Conversations and Actions
Storytelling is fueling climate conversations at Appalachian State University " Yale Climate Connections
How do we respond with our full selves to the enormity of the climate crisis? Educator. Ecologist. Mom. All three of these roles - essential threads woven into who I am in the world - drive me to constantly monitor the latest research and news on climate change.
Chatham County Farmer Sees Climate Changing
A North Carolina farmer sees the climate changing
Tandy Jones I have lived and farmed in Chatham County for 36 years and come from a continuous line of farming families. With that background, I've always known that a farmer's livelihood is susceptible to the weather, that's nothing new.
How Will Chatham County's Infrastructure Support Chatham Park?
Curious Chatham: How will our infrastructure support Chatham Park?
By Ari Sen and Adrianne Cleven This week's featured question comes from Ann Herndon, who wonders "How will our infrastructure support Chatham Park?" Good question, Ann, particularly after a recent town meeting suggested sewer lines were quite weak in many spots. Infrastructure can refer to a lot of different systems, including everything from wastewater treatment [...]
Sustained Greenland Ice Sheet-Ocean Observing System
The Case for a Sustained Greenland Ice Sheet-Ocean Observing System (GrIOOS)
Rapid mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet is affecting sea level and, through increased freshwater discharge, ocean circulation, sea-ice, biogeochemistry, and marine ecosystems around Greenland. Key to interpreting ongoing and projecting future ice loss, and its impact on the ocean, is understanding exchanges of heat, freshwater, and nutrients that occur at Greenland's marine margins.
U.S. Soldiers Falling Ill, Dying in Heat as the Climate Warms
U.S. Soldiers Falling Ill, Dying in the Heat as Climate Warms
The medics loaded Sgt. Sylvester Cline into an ambulance with the air conditioning running at full blast. It was 4:20 p.m., 20 minutes after he'd been helped off a live-fire training range at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas, where the heat index had reached 103.
The Science of Cleaning Water
Membrane Mindfulness
Humans have been filtering liquids for centuries. But as anyone in the water industry knows, the science of clean water is anything but static. New technologies continue to push the boundaries of what membranes can achieve in separating liquids from contaminants. At the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Oleo Sponge Named a Finalist for the (International) INDEX AWARD
Argonne National Laboratory on LinkedIn: "Oleo Sponge named an Index Project Finalist - http://bit.ly/2JUHYMO"
July 25, 2019: Argonne National Laboratory posted images on LinkedIn
The Index Project, formerly INDEX: Design to Improve Life, is a Danish nonprofit organisation that promotes designs aimed at the improvement of life worldwide, both in developed and developing countries. The organisation is behind the biennial Index Award, the world's biggest design award.
Country Most Vulnerable to Climate Change Fights Back
The Country Most Vulnerable to Climate Change Fights Back
This OZY original series takes you to the New Frontiers of Climate Change, where some of the most vulnerable nations are coming up with the most innovative solutions. Think of movies about climate change, and you likely imagine giant waves sweeping coastal metropolises from New York to Shanghai.
Diagnosing the Health and Mental Toll of Climate Change
Tomorrow's Doctors Will Diagnose the Mental Toll of Climate Change
First-year medical student Anna Goshua was interviewing an emergency room physician in March to learn more about the job when she heard about a patient who had come all the way from Puerto Rico to that ER in Massachusetts for health care. Hurricane Maria had wiped out all prospects of the patient seeking care at home.
New Frontiers of Climate Change
Special Briefing: The New Frontiers of Climate Change
This is an OZY Special Briefing, an extension of the Presidential Daily Brief. The Special Briefing tells you what you need to know about an important issue, individual or story that is making news. Each one serves up an interesting selection of facts, opinions, images and videos in order to catch you up and vault you ahead.
Just How Hot Will Climate Change Make Your City
Visualizing Just How Much Hotter Climate Change Will Make Your City
The world is getting hotter. July is off to a extremely warm start, while June was the hottest June on record: While the change might seem small (about 1 degree Celsius over the last century), the day-to-day effects will be felt in summer heat, with hotter days and hotter nights.
How the Lawn Took Over American Life and Created An Environmental Nightmare
American Green
Ted Steinberg | American Green | W. W. Norton & Company | March 2006 | 43 minutes (7,070 words) Although there are plenty of irrational aspects to life in modern America, few rival the odd fixation on lawns. Fertilizing, mowing, watering - these are all-American activities that, on their face, seem reasonable enough.
Could Mussels Teach Us How to Clean Up Oil Spills?
Featuring research by Dr. Seth Darling at Argonne National Labs.Could Mussels Teach Us How To Clean Up Oil Spills?
Mussels may be popular among seafood lovers, but many boaters consider them pests. They colonize ship bottoms, clog water pipes and stick to motors. To chemical engineers, though, those very same properties make mussels marvelous. They can stick to just about any surface, and underwater, no less.
Building People Power for Energy & Climate Justice
Home | NC WARN
It is already devastating millions of people, especially low-wealth communities who are least responsible for causing it. NC WARN tackles this crisis by vigorously pressing Duke Energy to join - or at least stop impeding - the clean energy revolution. Because North Carolina deserves better than pollution and cronyism.
New Solar + Battery Price Crushes Fossil Fuels & Nuclear
New Solar + Battery Price Crushes Fossil Fuels, Buries Nuclear
Los Angeles Power and Water officials have struck a deal on the largest and cheapest solar + battery-storage project in the world, at prices that leave fossil fuels in the dust and may relegate nuclear power to the dustbin.
Massive Forest Restoration Could Greatly Slow Global Warming
Massive Forest Restoration Could Greatly Slow Global Warming
We have heard for years that planting trees can help save the world from global warming. That mantra was mostly a statement of faith, however. Now the data finally exist to show that if the right species of trees are planted in the right soil types across the planet, the emerging forests could capture 205 gigatons of carbon dioxide in the next 40 to 100 years.
A Growing Campaign of Huge investment Portfolios Divesting From Fossil Fuels
National Trust to divest £1bn portfolio from fossil fuels
The National Trust is divesting its £1bn portfolio from fossil fuels in an attempt to help tackle the escalating climate crisis. The organisation, which looks after 780 miles (1,250km) of coastline, 248,000 hectares (612,000 acres) of land and more than 500 historic houses, castles, monuments and parks, said it would withdraw the vast majority of its investments from fossil fuels within 12 months, and the entirety within three years.
Study: U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending
Study: U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending
The world would be richer and healthier if the full costs of fossil fuels were paid, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund
The World is Running Out of Sand and Why it Matters
The World is running out for sand
What links the building you live in, the glass you drink from and the computer you work on? Sand. It is a key ingredient of modern life and yet, astonishingly, no-one knows how much sand there is or how much is being mined.
Asheville Co-Working Space Funding Breakthrough Solutions to Adapt to Impacts of Climate Change
The Collider
The Collider develops, trains, and funds next-generation entrepreneurs creating breakthrough solutions to help humanity adapt to climate change impacts.
What You Need to Know About Organic Broadleaf Weed Control
What You Need to Know About Organic Broadleaf Weed Control
If you want a chemical-free landscape and also want to defeat lawn weeds, the best defense is prevention. But weed prevention can take some time and, on occasion, you may need herbicides. Organic herbicides are a viable option for weed removal today, with more than 30 on the U.S. market.
Summit Focuses on Climate Risks, Response
Summit Focuses on Climate Risks, Response | Coastal Review Online
HAVELOCK - Adapting to living with rising seas, larger, slower, rain-dumping coastal storms, flooding and extreme heat is going to take forward thinking, collaboration and money. "The planning for resilience, there's no right way to do it," said Jessica Whitehead, chief resilience officer of the recently formed North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resilience.
A 15-Trillion Opportunity for Farmers to Fight Climate Change
This is a $15 trillion opportunity for farmers to fight climate change
Indigo Agriculture believes capturing carbon dioxide from agricultural soil is an effective way to reduce global warming on a massive scale. On Wednesday it launched the Terraton Initiative that includes a carbon market that gives farmers incentives to implement regenerative practices that remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Southeast.Climate Adaptation Resource Center at NCSU
The Department of the Interior Southeast Climate Science Center (SE CSC) has recently been renamed the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (SE CASC). SE CASC is part of a federal network of eight Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) managed by the U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC), formerly the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC).
The mission of NCASC and regional CASCs is to work with natural and cultural resource managers to gather the scientific information and build the tools needed to help fish, wildlife, and ecosystems adapt to the impacts of changing climate and land use. The CASCs and NCASC focus on the delivery of science, data, and decision-support tools that are practical and relevant to resource management.
North Carolina State University acts as the host institution for the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, providing organizational leadership to implement the CASC mission through capacity building, project management, communications, partnership development, and connections with scientific capabilities in the region. The mission is implemented through collaborative partnerships among USGS, natural resource management organizations, and academic institutions.The mission of NCASC and regional CASCs is to work with natural and cultural resource managers to gather the scientific information and build the tools needed to help fish, wildlife, and ecosystems adapt to the impacts of changing climate and land use. The CASCs and NCASC focus on the delivery of science, data, and decision-support tools that are practical and relevant to resource management.
NC State is the lead university for a consortium of academic institutions across the Southeast, bringing together a breadth of expertise and capacity in natural, physical, and social sciences and management of natural and cultural resources.
See their GLOBAL CHANGE FORUM for their latest Climate Newsletter.
Duke Energy's Puny Investments in Renewable Energy
Public Energy Enemy No. 1 -- News Release from NC WARN and EWG | NC WARN
Duke Energy is the largest investor-owned electric utility in the U.S. But a new report by Environmental Working Group reveals another distinction: Its puny investments in renewable energy, schemes to penalize customers who want to go solar, and environmental record make Duke public energy enemy No. 1.
To Nurture Nature, Neglect Your Lawn
Opinion | To Nurture Nature, Neglect Your Lawn
Why poison the earth when you can have wildflowers at your feet and songbirds in your trees without even trying? NASHVILLE - "Nothing is so beautiful as Spring," the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, "When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush."
Central American Farmers Head to the U.S., Fleeing Climate Change
Central American Farmers Head to the U.S., Fleeing Climate Change
CORQUÍN, Honduras - The farmer stood in his patch of forlorn coffee plants, their leaves sick and wilted, the next harvest in doubt. Last year, two of his brothers and a sister, desperate to find a better way to survive, abandoned their small coffee farms in this mountainous part of Honduras and migrated north, eventually sneaking into the United States.
Submit public comment on Duke Energy’s Integrated Resources Plan by April 15
Duke Energy’s Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), a proposal now before the NC Utilities Commission, sets forth how the company will use various energy sources in the next 15 years. While the plan lays out a (slow) roadmap away from coal, it relies heavily on new natural gas facilities (which emit methane) rather than clean, renewable power sources
The NC Utilities Commission is currently accepting public comments on Duke’s plan until April 15 , and NC Warn is calling on us to oppose it and to demand an evidentiary hearing.
For more information, check out these talking points from the environmental policy team at Neighbors On Call.
Submit your public comment to https://www.ncuc.net/
2019 Jordan Lake Nutrient Management Symposium at NC Botanical Garden April 03, 2019
UNC's Steve Wall will present the 2019 Jordan Lake Nutrient Management Study Research Symposium. The purpose of this year’s symposium is to share the breadth of research happening as part of the Jordan Lake Nutrient Management Study and facilitate dialogue among various stakeholders within the Jordan Lake watershed. The symposium is free and open to the public, and coffee and lunch will be provided. Specific details are below:
Jordan Lake Nutrient Management Study Research Symposium
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
North Carolina Botanical Garden
100 Old Mason Farm Rd
Chapel Hill, NCThe symposium is free, but registration is required. Register by clicking here.
Retired General Frames Climate Change Risks as a National Security Risk
Retired General Frames Climate Change Risks | Coastal Review Online
WILMINGTON - Retired Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney does not sugarcoat it. "Climate change is a national security threat," he said. His message aboard the Battleship North Carolina Tuesday took his audience on a verbal tour that spanned the globe and circled back to Wilmington, a city facing the effects of sea level rise and more frequent, stronger hurricanes.
Our Planet's Level of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere Reached a New, Jarring Record in February 2019
Our planet just set a scary new carbon dioxide record
Our planet's level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached a new, jarring record last month. Scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography announced on Tuesday that February's average carbon dioxide measurement was 411.66 parts per million as measured in Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
Tree Protection for Chatham Park, a Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan, and More
Chatham this week: Tree protection for Chatham Park, a bicycle & pedestrian plan, and more
Notes from the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners meeting on Feb. 25, 2019 Citizens' Matters Seventeen individuals spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, and each person spoke out on the proposed 10 percent tree coverage plan for the future Chatham Park development. Mayor Cindy Perry said she's never received as many emails about [...]
12 Years Left to Survive the Severe Threats of Climate Change. Here's How to Win
Climate Change: How to Win - North Carolina Climate Solutions Coalition
February 25, 2019 Posted By Joel Segal According to the recent IPCC Report, we have about 12 years to survive civilization-threatening climate change. In short, in order to avoid the earth's temperature rising above 1.5 degrees centigrade, we must rapidly transition to 100% clean renewable energy in all energy sectors as fast as we can.
Highly Unusual Upward Trends Rapidly Intensifying Atlantic Hurricanes
Highly Unusual Upward Trends in Rapidly Intensifying Atlantic Hurricanes Blamed on Global Warming by Dr. Jeff Masters | Category 6
Above: One of the most rapidly-intensifying hurricanes in recorded history: Hurricane Maria, as seen approaching the Caribbean island of Dominica at 5:17 pm EDT September 18, 2017. Maria intensified a remarkable 70 mph in 18 hours as it approached the Leeward islands, hitting Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds.
Chatham County North Carolina Earns National Recognition for Advancing Solar Energy
Chatham County News | Chatham County, NC
In January, Chatham County recently received notice that it earned the highest designation, a Gold Award, from the national SolSmart Program for making it faster, easier, and more affordable for homes and businesses to use solar energy. Chatham joins Asheville and Carrboro as the only local governments in the state that currently have earned the Gold Award.
Climate Change Could Leave Thousands of Lakes Ice-Free
Climate Change Could Leave Thousands of Lakes Ice-Free
Lakes that reliably freeze every winter Lakes that no longer freeze every winter Each dot represents one lake. Global warming is melting glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica, but for millions of people, ice is vanishing closer to home as lakes lose their winter cover.
Pittsboro, NC Residents Asked to Speak for the Trees
The Assembly is also asking residents to attend the Town Board meetings on Monday, February 11th and Monday, February 25th and to speak on the importance of saving more trees as Chatham Park is built.
Sign up to speak during "Citizens' Matters" and be brief and from the heart. Pittsboro Town Board meetings usually begin at 7 pm and are held at Town Hall. Agendas are posted by the Friday afternoon before the meetings at https://pittsboronc.gov/.
For more information read the Haw River Assembly's "Chatham Park - Where are the Trees" handout.
Why Trees Are Important:
- Provide shade and heat reduction and help with energy conservation
- Provide oxygen and absorb CO2
- Reduce wind, noise and glare
- Reduce water pollution, soil erosion
- Reduce stormwater runoff - and increase groundwater recharge.
- Provide wildlife habitat and food
- Provide refuge and beauty for humans
Over 100 People Packed the February 04, 2019 NC Utilities Commission to Speak Strongly Against Duke's Dirty-Energy Plans
A Message from NC WARN
50 Speakers and Prominent Officials Urged Utilities Commission Monday to Reject Duke's 15-Year Plan for More Climate Destruction. Please Add Your Voice!
Over 100 people packed the Utilities Commission public hearing Monday night on the 15-year plan by Duke Energy to greatly expand its use of climate-wrecking fracked gas and become only 8 percent renewable.
Thank you to the 50 eloquent speakers who testified about the disastrous climate, economic and health impacts of Duke's plan.
Send a short email on Duke's plan: statements@ncuc.net
Tell the Commissioners to reject Duke's 15-year plan and force Duke Energy to stop blocking consideration of NC WARN's Clean Path 2025 strategy
Dale Evarts, former director of the Climate and International Group at the Environmental Protection Agency, testified about the harmful climate, health and agricultural impacts of methane (fracked gas), and urged the Commission to send Duke back to the drawing board. Read his testimony or watch the video.
The Commission provided only this one public hearing on Duke's IRP, and has failed to rule on NC WARN's motion for an evidentiary hearing at which we and other intervenors could provide expert testimony and cross-examine Duke officials under oath.
Duke Energy has fought against such a hearing and against consideration of our Clean Path 2025 strategy for quickly replacing all coal and "natural" gas. Urge the Utilities Commission to at least hold an evidentiary hearing that makes Duke Energy openly justify its climate-wrecking plans.
The Disarming Case to Act Right Now on Climate Change
Greta Thunberg: The disarming case to act right now on climate change
In this passionate call to action, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg explains why, in August 2018, she walked out of school and organized a strike to raise awareness of global warming, protesting outside the Swedish parliament and grabbing the world's attention. "The climate crisis has already been solved.
US Citizens Science Association to Meet In Raleigh, NC March 13-17, 2019: Assessments of Next Giant Leaps for Earth & Mankind
CitSci2019 Conference Information - Citizen Science Association
Join us March 13-19th in Raleigh, NC - the City of Oaks - to connect with other leaders and learners from many backgrounds. We deepen our own work as we share our diverse perspectives and practices - no matter what we investigate or what we call our efforts.
Duke Energy Should Boost Its Solar Rebates (Opinion)
A bigger rebate pool would increase home solar power in NC | Raleigh News & Observer
Many homeowner want solar power, but delay after Duke Energy rebates run out
How Self-Driving Tractors, AI, and Precision Agriculture Will Save Us from the Impending Food Crisis
How self-driving tractors, AI, and precision agriculture will save us from the impending food crisis | ZDNet
This article was originally published as a TechRepublic cover story. Marcus Hall was nine years old when he first drove a tractor on his family's sprawling Iowa farm, eschewing Tonka trucks and Matchbox cars for long rides on heavy machinery.
Public Badly Needs Clarity on Climate Urgency and Options in 2019
Public Badly Needs Clarity on Climate Urgency and Options in 2019 -- News Release from NC WARN | NC WARN
If another year passes without the public learning that the U.S. fracking boom is a key driver of the climate crisis - especially in the critical short term - humanity's chances of averting runaway climate and social chaos could shrink to nil.
Big Data Helping Farmers Fight Climate Change
How Big Data Helps Taiwan's Farmers Fight Climate Change
When the rice farmers in the Rift Valley in eastern Taiwan plant again after the summer harvest in July, they count on the typhoons that lash the island in late summer and early autumn, bringing lots of rain in the early growth phase of the crop.
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