Environmental Policy News

May 1, 2024

Top Headlines

Big Data Reveals True Climate Impact of Worldwide Air Travel

Apr. 30, 2024 — A new study that looked at nearly 40 million flights in 2019 calculated the greenhouse gas emissions from air travel for essentially every country on the planet. At 911 million tons, the total emissions from aviation are 50 per cent higher than the ...

E-Bike Incentives Prove to Be Worth the Investment

Apr. 30, 2024 — Electric bicycle rebates have exploded in popularity in North America as transportation planners try to get people out of their cars and into healthier, more climate-friendly alternatives. However, questions remain: Are new cycling habits ...

Mobile Device Location Data Is Already Used by Private Companies, So Why Not for Studying Human-Wildlife Interactions

Apr. 26, 2024 — When did you last go anywhere without your cell phone? From maps and weather apps to social media platforms, we give consent for our phones to trace our footsteps and behavior. These curated mobility ...

Warming Arctic Reduces Dust Levels in Parts of the Planet

Apr. 25, 2024 — Dust can have a huge impact on local air quality, food security, energy supply and public health. Previous studies have found that dust levels are decreasing across India, particularly northern India, the Persian Gulf Coast and much of the Middle ...

Latest Headlines

updated 3:26pm EDT

Securing Competitiveness of Energy-Intensive Industries Through Relocation: The Pulling Power of Renewables

Apr. 24, 2024 — Countries with limited potential for renewables could save up to 20 percent of costs for green steel and up to 40 percent for green chemicals from ...

Diversity and Productivity Go Branch-in-Branch

Apr. 24, 2024 — Researchers found that forests with higher trait diversity not only adapt better to climate change but may also thrive. The study unveiled how tree functional trait diversity plays a pivotal role in ...

Voluntary Corporate Emissions Targets Not Enough to Create Real Climate Action

Apr. 25, 2024 — Companies' emissions reduction targets should not be the sole measure of corporate climate ambition, according to a new perspective ...

Climate Change Could Become the Main Driver of Biodiversity Decline by Mid-Century

Apr. 25, 2024 — Global biodiversity has declined between 2% and 11% during the 20th century due to land-use change alone, according to a large multi-model study. ...

No Bull: How Creating Less-Gassy Cows Could Help Fight Climate Change

Apr. 23, 2024 — A new study has revealed breeding less-flatulent cows and restoring agricultural land could significantly reduce rising methane emission levels, which play a considerable role in climate ...

Climate Change Will Increase Value of Residential Rooftop Solar Panels Across US, Study Shows

Apr. 19, 2024 — Climate change will increase the future value of residential rooftop solar panels across the United States by up to 19% by the end of the century, ...

More Sustainability in Global Agricultural Trade

Apr. 18, 2024 — The EU wants to ensure greater sustainability in agricultural trade with the Global South -- with the aim of minimizing the environmental and climate-damaging effects of importing crops such as soya, ...

Scientists Develop Framework to Measure Plastic Emissions and Bolster U.N. Efforts to Reduce Pollution

Apr. 16, 2024 — Scientists have developed a framework for measuring plastic emissions akin to the global standard for measuring greenhouse gas emissions. The ...

Global North Energy Outsourcing Demands More Attention

Apr. 15, 2024 — Manufacturing nations in the Global North are stockpiling energy and emission problems by outsourcing energy-intensive industrial processes to countries in the Global ...

38 Trillion Dollars in Damages Each Year: World Economy Already Committed to Income Reduction of 19 % Due to Climate Change

Apr. 17, 2024 — Even if CO2 emissions were to be drastically cut down starting today, the world economy is already committed to an income reduction of 19% until 2050 ...

Low-Intensity Grazing Is Locally Better for Biodiversity but Challenging for Land Users, a New Study Shows

Apr. 30, 2024 — A team of researchers has investigated the motivation and potential incentives for and challenges of low-intensity grazing among farmers and land users in ...

The Biggest Barrier to a Vibrant Second-Hand EV Market? Price

Apr. 19, 2024 — As early adopters of electric vehicles (EVs) trade up for the latest models, the used EV market is beginning to mature in the United States. Yet many potential buyers, particularly low-income ...

Substantial Global Cost of Climate Inaction

Apr. 17, 2024 — Pioneering study reveals that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could reduce the global economic costs of climate change by two thirds. If warming continues to 3 degrees Celsius, global ...

Florida Wildlife Corridor Eases Worst Impacts of Climate Change

Apr. 16, 2024 — Florida is projected to lose 3.5 million acres of land to development by 2070. A new study highlights how Florida can buffer itself against both climate change and population pressures by conserving ...

Most Countries Struggle to Meet Climate Pledges from 2009

Apr. 16, 2024 — Nineteen out of 34 countries surveyed failed to fully meet their 2020 climate commitments set 15 years ago in Copenhagen, according to a new study by UCL ...

Switch to Green Wastewater Infrastructure Could Reduce Emissions and Provide Huge Savings According to New Research

Apr. 15, 2024 — Researchers have shown that a transition to green wastewater-treatment approaches in the U.S. that leverages the potential of carbon-financing could save a staggering $15.6 billion and just under 30 ...

Food Security in Developed Countries Shows Resilience to Climate Change

Apr. 11, 2024 — A study has found that market forces have provided good food price stability over the past half century, despite extreme weather ...

New Report 'Braids' Indigenous and Western Knowledge for Forest Adaptation Strategies Against Climate Change

Apr. 10, 2024 — Forests could also be potential bulwarks against climate change. But, increasingly severe droughts and wildfires, invasive species, and large insect outbreaks -- all intensified by climate change -- ...

Research Examines Tweets During Hurricane María to Analyze Social Media Use During Disasters

Apr. 9, 2024 — Understanding how social media is used during a disaster can help with disaster preparedness and recovery for future ...

A Natural Touch for Coastal Defense

Apr. 9, 2024 — Common 'hard' coastal defenses, like concrete sea walls, might struggle to keep up with increasing climate risks. A new study shows that combining them with nature-based solutions could, in ...

Atmospheric and Economic Drivers of Global Air Pollution

Apr. 8, 2024 — Carbon monoxide emissions from industrial production have serious consequences for human health and are a strong indicator of overall air pollution levels. Many countries aim to reduce their ...

How Climate Change Will Impact Food Production and Financial Institutions

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers have developed a new method to predict the financial impacts climate change will have on agriculture, which can help support food security and financial stability for countries ...

PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Above Drinking Water Guidelines in Global Source Water

Apr. 8, 2024 — PFAS (aka 'forever chemicals') are notoriously difficult to destroy. They've been linked to environmental and health issues, including some cancers, but a lot remains unknown about the ...

Boreal Forest and Tundra Regions Worst Hit Over Next 500 Years of Climate Change, Study Shows

Apr. 8, 2024 — Modelling climate change over a 500 year period shows that much of the boreal forest, the Earth's northernmost forests and most significant provider of carbon storage and clean water, could be ...

Researchers Envision Sci-Fi Worlds Involving Changes to Atmospheric Water Cycle

Apr. 4, 2024 — Human activity is changing the way water flows between the Earth and atmosphere in complex ways and with likely long-lasting consequences that are hard to picture. Researchers enlisted water ...

With the Planet Facing a 'Polycrisis', Biodiversity Researchers Uncover Major Knowledge Gaps

Apr. 4, 2024 — Connecting the study of infectious disease spread, biodiversity loss and climate change could offer win-win-win solutions for planetary health, but a new analysis has uncovered almost no research ...

Climate Change Impacts Terrorist Activity

Apr. 4, 2024 — Changing weather patterns induced by climate change are contributing to shifts in the location of terrorist activity, according to new ...

Fish Species That Move Rapidly Toward the Poles Due to Global Warming Decline in Abundance, Study Finds

Apr. 4, 2024 — A new study has found a decline in the abundance of marine fish species that move rapidly toward the poles to escape rising sea temperatures. The researchers explain that many animal species are ...

Out of the Park: New Research Tallies Total Carbon Impact of Tourism at Yellowstone

Apr. 3, 2024 — New research makes a case study of Yellowstone National Park -- calculating surplus carbon that visitors from across the world add to the atmosphere each year as a direct result of a park ...

Experiencing Extreme Weather Predicts Support for Policies to Mitigate Effects of Climate Change

Apr. 3, 2024 — Most Americans report having personally experienced the effects of extreme weather, according to new survey data. An analysis finds that a reported exposure to extreme weather is associated with ...