United States
Wine And The Changing Climate
Drinking wine is getting increasingly popular, notably among millennials. According to some accounts, that generation now imbibes half of all the wine consumed in this country. The California wine industry alone sold over $34 billion worth of wine last year.
China And Electric Cars
While American politicians were voting on eliminating tax credits for buyers of electric vehicles, auto executives from around the world were gathering to make ambitious plans to sell more electric cars in China.
CO2 Emissions Stalled
For the third year in a row, global emissions of carbon dioxide have remained unchanged. This indicates that efforts to reduce emissions have had an effect, but that there is much more to be done. It is essential to reduce emissions, not just cap them.
An Internal Price On Carbon
As the world looks to reduce carbon emissions, many companies are dealing with paying for their carbon emissions as part of the cost of doing business. But apart from the situations in which companies already are required to pay for their carbon emissions, a growing number of companies now build carbon pricing into their business plans even if they are not yet directly paying for their emissions. This practice is known as putting an internal price of carbon into their business plan.
Corporate Fleets And Electric Cars
A group of 10 major transnational corporations has launched a new global initiative to slash vehicle emissions by increasing the number of electric vehicles in their corporate fleets. Known as EV100, the initiative commits companies to integrate EVs in their owned or leased fleets and install charging stations for customers and employees.
More Fake Fish News
There has been quite a bit of news in recent years about the mislabeling of fish sold in markets and restaurants. One study a few years ago concluded that 1/3 of fish sold is not what it is labeled to be. Much of the practice is economic fraud: substituting cheaper, easier-to-find fish for rarer, more valuable types. For example, the study found that fish sold as red snapper was almost always not what it claimed to be. But cheating paying customers is not the only problem associated with the misidentification of fish.
Winter Outlook
Each year around this time, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, releases its U.S. Winter Outlook that predicts overall weather trends around the country for the upcoming winter. They produce these seasonal outlooks to help communities prepare for the weather that is likely to be forthcoming.
The End Of British Coal
In the 19th century, Britain produced 80% of the world’s coal. Britain was the dominant global power in the industrial revolution with its giant blast furnaces, steam locomotives and steam ships. And with advent of the electric age, coal once again was the power source of choice. Even as late as the 1970s, Britain got 80% of its electricity from burning coal.
Greening Halloween
According to the National Retail Federation, 179 million Americans are expected to spend $9.1 billion – or nearly $84 per person – on Halloween festivities this year, reaching a new record high. But it’s not just our wallets that take a beating. The planet also pays quite a price.
Lawnmower Pollution
Over 50 million Americans mow their lawns each week, which uses 800 million gallons of gas per year and produces tons of air pollutants. Garden equipment engines were completely unregulated with respect to emissions until the late 1990s and still emit high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides. In fact, gas mowers and their relatives like leaf blowers and edgers produce 5% of the air pollution in this country.
Dioxane And Drinking Water
A byproduct of plastics production, dioxane is a clear, synthetic, liquid solvent that easily mixes with water. It’s frequently used in paint strippers, dyes, and varnishes, as well as shampoos and body washes – particularly those that are sudsy. Dioxane doesn’t really biodegrade and is widely regarded as a contaminant.
Spreading Like Wildfire
Last July 7th, 140 wildfires started up in British Columbia, triggering a state of emergency. By the end of the summer, more than 1,000 fires had been triggered across the Canadian province, burning nearly 3 million acres of forest, about 10 times more than the average over the past decade.
A New Twist On Electricity
In a study published in the journal Science, researchers from institutions in the United States, South Korea, and China described the development of “twistron” yarns, which are essentially pieces of yarn that produce electricity when they are twisted or stretched.
Earthquake Warning System
The destructive power of both hurricanes and earthquakes has made headlines in recent times. The slow development of the hurricanes in the Atlantic was monitored for days before they wreaked havoc on Caribbean islands and Florida cities. Earthquakes, on the other hand, occur suddenly and without warning. Except, that isn’t entirely true.
Climate Change And Hurricanes
No single weather event can be attributed to climate change. Storms, floods and droughts have always happened and some of them have always been severe. However, two centuries of people burning fossil fuels has altered temperatures just enough that some of the storms we have seen in recent times have been much worse than they otherwise would have been.
The Tiny Country That Feeds The World
The Netherlands is a small, densely populated country with more than 1,300 inhabitants per square mile. It lacks almost every resource one associates with large-scale agriculture. Nevertheless, it is the number two exporter of food in the world, second only to the United States, which is almost 300 times bigger. The Dutch lead the world in exporting tomatoes, potatoes and onions and produce many other crops as well.
Ozone Treaty And Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Montreal Protocol, the international treaty adopted to restore the earth’s protective ozone layer almost thirty years ago, turns out to also have had a major impact on climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions.
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