Articles include: A climate-change-inspired video road-trip across the U.S.; Key readings on IEA’s ‘Net Zero by 2050’ report; Tips: How to weatherize your home; Talking climate with those holding different worldviews; New Mexico imposes strict rule to prevent venting, flaring of natural gas; Can fossil-fuel-dependent Wyoming build a more diverse economy?; Swiss utilities used a simple tactic to get customers to buy renewable energy; Foresters use fire and goats to care for Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest; Youth-led Sunrise Movement calls for national job guarantee
Tag: Sustainability
Yale Climate Connections, May 7, 2021
Articles include: ‘Which climate change jobs will be in high demand in the future?’; Most newspaper editorials mum on Biden 50% by 2030 pledge; Revitalized U.S. urgency on climate change and national security; Empire State Realty Trust agrees to buy 300 million kilowatt hours of wind energy; Affordable housing could be hit hard as sea levels rise; Environmental engineer launches group for Latinos in sustainability; New tool called ‘Vulcan’ could help cities better estimate their carbon dioxide emissions; Women scientists launch ‘Science Moms,’ a climate campaign aimed at mothers.
Studies: Farming, Insects, and Soil – 4 articles
CBC: How regenerative farming could help Canada meet its new carbon emission targets. Unconventional techniques can sequester carbon while improving soil.
Science Alert: ‘Wolf Packs’ of Predatory Bacteria Lurk in Our Soil, And They Play a Crucial Role. You might not have given much thought to predatory bacteria before, but a new study reveals that the behavior of these microorganisms plays a crucial part in the balance of nutrients and carbon capture in soil. The research has been published in mBio.
The Conversation: To help insects, make them welcome in your garden – here’s how. As a scientist whose research involves insects and as a gardener, I know that many beneficial insect species are declining and need humans’ help. If you’re a gardener looking for a new challenge this year, consider revamping all or part of your yard to support beneficial insects. Some gardeners choose native plants to attract and support helpful insects. Often, however, those native plants are surrounded by vast expanses of lawn.
Popular Science: Understanding plant biological clocks could boost future agriculture. Plants have their cycles, too—and knowing them could bring down how much water, fertilizer, and herbicide we use. But people aren’t the only living things with an internal clock—plants have them, too. And understanding their rhythms could make our food systems more sustainable and productive in the long run, according to a new study by British and Belgian researchers. As our climate changes, the population grows, and more resilient and sustainable food is needed, rethinking the way agriculture works is absolutely crucial for a sustainable and hunger-free world.
What’s Your Sustainability Strategy?
Forbes: What’s Your Sustainability Strategy? Just over a year after the global pandemic began, Earth Day is upon us again. The reason this year feels different is because it is. Empowered consumers demand sustainability transformation, and a record number of brands have responded in a big way by announcing net-zero or carbon-neutral commitments, establishing targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and investing in climate action. Today, environmental sustainability strategy is about much more than corporate social responsibility (CSR); it’s about technology and business innovation, systemic risk mitigation and sustainable growth. It is about transformation. Why is this year different?
Study: Climate Crisis & Food Production
The Hill: Effective and profitable climate solutions are within the nation’s farms and forests. America’s farmers, ranchers and forest managers work with the earth every day, not on just Earth Day. And natural and working lands underpin our national economy — sustaining our food supply, generating timber and providing wildlife habitat, recreation resources and environmental benefits. But we also believe these stewards of our lands and forests can — and must — find better, more productive ways to address the risks that climate change poses to our future. More innovative federal farm, forest and climate policies must help in that process. Right now, climate change poses significant risks for farmers and our forests. These include warmer temperatures and extreme weather events that can directly increase the frequency and severity of many types of disturbances, including drought, wildfire and blowdowns, as well as exacerbate pests, diseases and other agents that further increase stress on ecosystems.
Sentient Media: Climate Groups Finally Recognize the Link Between Factory Farming and Climate Change. We’re celebrating our second Earth Day in the midst of a global pandemic, which, in just one year, has redefined the word “normal” for us all. Yet COVID-19’s disruption has also afforded us an opportunity to hit the reset button and establish a resilient, sustainable new normal. We’ve long counted on environmental groups to model what this sustainable future looks like—one where single-use plastics are rare and electric vehicles are business as usual. But what about our fragile food system, which has all but crumbled under the pandemic’s weight? Does the way the climate movement eats line up with its own sustainable values?
Crucially, a global shift away from meat, eggs, and dairy isn’t just a nice gesture to the planet; it’s essential for a livable future. The EAT-Lancet Commission warns that even if net-zero carbon is achieved for every other industry by 2050 if the food system remains unchanged, we will still fail to achieve the Paris Agreement. Fortunately, a new study in Nature revealed that a worldwide plant-forward food system could likely keep us within a 1.5 ºC temperature rise because of increased “carbon sequestration through ecosystem restoration.”
Studies: Humanity’s greatest ally against climate change is the Earth itself
Washington Post: Humanity’s greatest ally against climate change is the Earth itself. Ecosystems can draw down carbon and buffer us from the worst effects of climate change — but only if we protect them.
A 2020 analysis in the journal Nature Sustainability found that better soil stewardship could reduce emissions by at least 5.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year — about 15 percent of current annual emissions.
In a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they concluded natural climate systems are capable of storing almost 24 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year — roughly two thirds of what people emit. About half of that sequestration would be cost-effective, meaning enacting the necessary protections would cost less than the consequences of keeping that carbon in the air.
11 Simple Steps To Take For A More Sustainable Life
Bustle: 11 Simple Steps To Take For A More Sustainable Life. This year’s Earth Day is a great reminder that everyone collectively has a part to play in looking after the planet.
Finding ways to live more sustainably is an ongoing conversation and, despite the fact that news headlines have been dominated by COVID-19 over the past year, the problem of climate change isn’t going anywhere any time soon. This year’s Earth Day is a great reminder that every individual has a part to play in looking after the planet but sometimes it’s tricky to know what to do in our day-to-day lives beyond recycling to help out with this urgent issue.
Why Is Fashion Talking About Regenerative Farming?
New York Times: Why Is Fashion Talking About Regenerative Farming? Brands like North Face, Allbirds and Patagonia, as well as the Kering luxury group, are all about agriculture these days. Here’s the dirt.
Fashion, like politics, loves a buzzword — especially when it comes to the environment. Sustainability! Circularity! They just tripped off the tongue. And now there’s a new favorite in town: regenerative.
In January, the luxury group Kering, owner of Gucci and Saint Laurent (among other brands), was a co-founder of the Regenerative Fund for Nature, aimed at converting one million hectares (2.47 million acres) of land producing raw materials for fashion from regular farmland to regenerative agriculture in five years.
In February, the New Zealand Merino Company announced that it has joined with Allbirds, Icebreaker and Smartwool to create the first platform dedicated to regenerative wool.
The Daily Climate, April 6, 2021
Articles include: Orphan oil wells & climate change; lightning, wildfires, and the Arctic; farmland restoration; wage gap; alternatives for coal country; carbon flooding; O&G jobs disappearing; Texas winter energy disaster; diseases in Alaska; drought in Michigan and Arizona; fossil fuel subsidies.
How Regenerative Agriculture Could Revolutionize Farming
GreenMatters: How Regenerative Agriculture Could Revolutionize Farming. Among the many human activities that contribute to climate change, agriculture is one of the leading forces — commercial farming requires massive amounts of water, land, and unless it’s an all-organic farm, pesticides. Per the USDA, the U.S. agriculture industry emitted 698 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2018 alone. But scientists are currently looking to a much cleaner farming technique called regenerative agriculture, to sequester more of the planet’s carbon, which will (hopefully) help curb global warming.
What is exactly is regenerative farming?
The concept of regenerative farming is relatively easy to understand — according to The Climate Reality Project, it’s an agricultural technique that essentially focuses on the health of the soil more than other types of agriculture tend to do. Obviously, soil is effectively the base of any farm, and surprisingly, it can sequester quite a bit of our planet’s CO2. Therefore, treating it organically, with natural products and less human disturbance, is key.