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Turn Down the Heat: A New Report on the Effects of Climate Change
By The Editors In a previous post, “Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map”, we have mentioned the 4-for-2°C scenario – a concept from a World Energy Outlook Special Report released on June 10 by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Governments around the world have agreed to limit the long-term rise in the average global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius (°C). However, according to…
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Autism and Air Pollution Go Together
By The Editors Autism, a severe developmental disorder that begins within the first three years after conception, is considered a global concern. The causes of autism are not well understood. Now, results from a study published online today, June 18, in the scientific journal “Environmental Health Perspectives” show that women exposed to air pollutants during pregnancy are up to twice as likely to…
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2013 World Day to Combat Desertification: Today, June 17
By The Editors The theme of the 2013 World Day to Combat Desertification is drought and water scarcity. Freshwater is valuable. Of all the water on Earth, only 2.5 per cent is freshwater. And of all this freshwater, the total usable supply for ecosystems and humans is less than 1 per cent. When demand for water exceeds available supply, it results in water…
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Global High Tech Hubs, Applied Sciences and Net-Zero Energy Buildings
By The Editors At this time, it only offers a beta class (a one-year Masters of Engineering degree in Computer Science from Cornell University), with a handful of students housed in space donated by Google – in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. In the next few years, it will be a major global research and academic program that will confer graduate…
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A New Home for Marine Debris: The Deep Seafloor
By The Editors Plastic bags are everywhere, and when they get somewhere (we’re talking sea), they’re there to stay. As we mentioned in a previous post, plastic pollution is a major global threat. Plastics are durable, degrade very slowly and may persist in the environment for hundreds or even thousands of years, resulting in the increasing accumulation of plastic debris in…
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Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map
By The Editors The energy sector is the single largest source of climate-changing greenhouse-gas emissions. Limiting these emissions is an essential focus of global action. A new World Energy Outlook Special Report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that the world is not on track to meet one of the targets agreed by governments. This target is to limit the…
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Nail Polish, Painter Syndrome and Hazardous Waste
By The Editors In a previous post, we talked about the toxic substances that may be present in lipstick. Now, let’s take a look at nail polish. Nail polish may contain toxic chemicals potentially able to cause poisoning and Painter Syndrome. According to MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the poisonous ingredients that may be found in…
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World Oceans Day: Today, June 8
By The Editors June 8th is World Oceans Day, the United Nations-designated day for the global community to celebrate and take action for our shared ocean. In previous posts, we have seen how plastic pollution harms our ocean by discussing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the Plastic Footprint. Although plastic pollution represents a major challenge for our ocean, it’s not the only one. The…
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Reducing Food Loss and Waste – A New Working Paper
By The Editors As we have seen in the previous post, this year the theme of World Environment Day (June 5) is ‘Think.Eat.Save’. The theme connects to the “Think.Eat.Save – Reduce Your Foodprint’ campaign. Accordingly, a new working paper has been released yesterday (June 5). The title of this working paper is ‘Reducing Food Loss and Waste”. It was produced by…
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World Environment Day 2013: Today, June 5
By The Editors Today we go back to the foodprint: The World Environment Day (WED) 2013 theme is Think.Eat.Save. Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, concluded her WED 2013 message by saying: “From production, transport and storage to sales and consumption, we need to stop food waste at every step of the way. Each of us must rethink our eating habits…
