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Yale Environment 360
After Two Years of War, Ukraine Sees Deepening Environmental Wound
In the two years since Russia launched its invasion, Ukraine has seen much of its forests burned, its rivers polluted, and its farmland littered with mines, all of which “reverses many years of efforts towards sustainable development,” said Ukrainian environment minister Ruslan Strilets. In total, the war has...
What Will It Take to Save Our Cities from a Scorching Future?
In 2022, a year in which 70,000 Europeans died of heat-related causes, the United Nations named Eleni “Lenio” Myrivili the world’s first-ever global chief heat officer. A former deputy mayor of her hometown of Athens, Greece, Myrivili had overseen a multimillion-dollar budget and a staff of 500 and was largely responsible for establishing that city’s reputation as a leader in climate-change adaptation.
Europe Sees Natural Gas Demand Hit 10-Year Low
In the two years since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, European demand for natural gas has dropped by 20 percent. European gas demand is now at its lowest point in a decade, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, as Germany, Italy, and other countries ramp up renewable power and cut energy use to cope with a shrinking supply of Russian gas. Last year, pipeline imports from Russian dropped in half, as Europe, for the first time, drew more power from wind than from natural gas.
Rain Comes to the Arctic, With a Cascade of Troubling Changes
In August of 2021, rain fell atop the 10,551-foot summit of the Greenland ice cap, triggering an epic meltdown and a more-than-2,000-foot retreat of the snowline. The unprecedented event reminded Joel Harper, a University of Montana glaciologist who works on the Greenland ice sheet, of a strange anomaly in his data, one that suggested that in 2008 it might have rained much later in the season — in the fall, when the region is typically in deep freeze and dark for almost 24 hours a day.
Return of Trees to Eastern U.S. Kept Region Cool as Planet Warmed
Over the 20th century, the U.S. as a whole warmed by 1.2 degrees F (0.7 degrees C), but across much the East, temperatures dropped by 0.5 degrees F (0.3 degrees C). A new study posits that the restoration of lost forest countered warming, keeping the region cool. “This widespread history...
Deep in Death Valley, a Sprawling Lake Takes Form
Repeated bouts of heavy rain have filled Badwater Basin in Death Valley, the driest spot in North America. The lake first formed in August after Hurricane Hilary pounded the California desert, and while water levels dropped through the fall, an early February downpour filled the lake once again. Satellite imagery from NASA captured the basin before the hurricane and after, and again following the recent rainstorm.
Plastics Reckoning: PVC Is Ubiquitous, But Maybe Not for Long
The word “vinyl” might sound innocuous, bringing to mind everyday items like LP records, flooring, pipes, or shiny plastic pants. The plastic this name refers to — polyvinyl chloride (PVC) — is the world’s third-most widely produced synthetic polymer, with more than 50 million tons cranked out each year for everything from window frames to food wrap, fake leather car seats to medical products. It’s everywhere.
In Icy Greenland, the Area Covered by Vegetation Has More Than Doubled in Size
In Greenland, where temperatures are rising twice as fast as across the rest of the world, the icy, rocky landscape is turning increasingly green, a new study finds. An analysis of satellite records shows that, over the last three decades, Greenland has lost 11,000 square miles of ice, an area roughly the size of Massachusetts. As melting gains pace, ice is increasingly giving way to tundra and shrubland. “At the same time, water released from the melting ice is moving sediment and silt, and that eventually forms wetlands and fenlands,” said Jonathan Carrivick, a scientist at the University of Leeds and coauthor of the study.
How a Legal Loophole Allows Gas Leaks to Keep on Flowing
In the rolling hills of Washington County, west of Pittsburgh, natural gas infrastructure dots the formerly agricultural landscape, which is surrounded by fencing and signs that warn the public to keep out. The sites were built starting in the mid-2000s to extract an abundance of natural gas from the Marcellus...
Nearly Half of Migratory Species in Decline, Report Finds
A sweeping new report, unveiled at the start of a major United Nations conference on the conservation of wildlife, held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, finds that nearly half of migratory species are in decline, from Egyptian vultures to steppe eagles to wild camels. The report is the first comprehensive assessment of...
After Long Stretch of Record Heat, El Niño Begins to Wane
El Niño, when warm waters in the eastern Pacific fuel hotter weather globally, is beginning to recede, scientists say. El Niño took shape last summer, boosting the overall warming trend. Each of the last eight months set a temperature record, with January a staggering 1.66 degrees C warmer than the preindustrial average, according to an analysis from the E.U. Copernicus Climate Change Service. Over the past 12 months, the planet measured 1.52 degrees C hotter than preindustrial times.
Flying Green: The Pursuit of Carbon-Neutral Aviation Revs Up
Last September, a small white aircraft with an unusual design took off from Maribor Airport, in Slovenia. The two pilots were not seated front and center; instead, they steered the plane in a capsule attached far out on the right wing. The plane had some other unusual features. On the far-left wing, another slender capsule contained a tank of so-called cryogenic hydrogen, cooled to minus 253 degrees Celsius, or minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit. A fuel cell inside the plane caused the liquid hydrogen to react with oxygen, producing water and enough electricity to power an electric motor with the propeller attached. The plane flew not with fossil fuel, but with hydrogen.
Amid Record Drop in Fossil Power, Europe Sees Wind Overtake Natural Gas
Europe saw a record drop in fossil power last year, according to a new analysis that found that, for the first time, wind supplied more power than natural gas. The E.U. power sector is undergoing a “monumental shift,” said Sarah Brown, an analyst at the energy think tank Ember, which undertook the analysis. “Fossil fuels are playing a smaller role than ever as a system with wind and solar as its backbone comes into view.”
As Use of AI Soars, So Does the Energy and Water It Requires
Two months after its release in November 2022, OpenAI’s ChatGPT had 100 million active users, and suddenly tech corporations were racing to offer the public more “generative A.I.” Pundits compared the new technology’s impact to the Internet, or electrification, or the Industrial Revolution — or the discovery of fire.
UN Carbon Removal Estimates “By No Means Feasible,” Scientists Warn
U.N. estimates of the amount of carbon that humans can remove from the atmosphere are deeply unrealistic, warns a new paper, which offers more plausible carbon removal targets. Modeling from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds the world could draw down 11.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide...
Warming Could Devastate Older Elephants, Sending Ripples Through Herds
The loss of older African elephants to worsening heat and drought poses a grave threat to younger members of their herds, a new study warns. The forest elephants of Central Africa are critically endangered, having been driven to the edge of extinction by poaching, forest loss, and, increasingly, drought. For the new study, scientists modeled the impact of future warming on both young and old forest elephants.
How Sea Otters Are Protecting the California Coast Against Climate Change
California sea otters were nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century, with only a small number surviving along the central coast. As otters rebounded, a natural experiment unfolded. Scientists could study how otters safeguard California’s underwater kelp forests and marshland, even in the face of worsening climate change.
No Free Parking: An Urban Reform Movement Takes Hold
In 2015, Chris Meyer was working the night shift at a Minneapolis apartment building when he decided to assign some light reading to the city council. He bought each of its members a copy of an 800-page textbook he had read — unassigned — in college. The High Cost of Free Parking, by UCLA planning professor Donald Shoup, lays out how America’s expectation of abundant and cheap parking has distorted our architecture, housing costs, transportation patterns, and environment.
Scotland’s Renewable Output More Than 100 Percent of Demand
For the first time, in 2022, Scottish renewables generated more power than the country used, new government figures show. The growth of wind power, coupled with a small drop in electricity consumption, meant that the volume of electricity produced by renewables in Scotland was equal to 113 percent of demand. While fossil fuels also supplied electricity, helping to smooth over gaps in renewable power, the high volume of renewable electricity is a “significant milestone,” Scottish Energy Secretary Neil Gray said in a statement.
As a Swiss Glacier Melts, a Trove of Invaluable Climate Data Is Being Lost
By analyzing ice collected from glaciers, scientists can study the past composition of the atmosphere and better understand how humans have altered the climate. But the rapid melting of ice may be compromising this critical data, according to a study of the Corbassière glacier in Switzerland. The Corbassière glacier...
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Yale Environment 360 is an online magazine offering opinion, analysis, reporting, and debate on global environmental issues.
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