Environmental Policy News

May 16, 2024

Top Headlines

Copper Can't Be Mined Fast Enough to Electrify the US

May 15, 2024 — Copper cannot be mined quickly enough to keep up with current U.S. policy guidelines to transition the country's electricity and vehicle infrastructure to renewable energy, according to a new ...

Climate Change Is Most Prominent Threat to Pollinators

May 15, 2024 — A new article has found that climate change is the most prominent threat to pollinators -- such as bumblebees, wasps, and butterflies -- who are essential for biodiversity conservation, crop yields and food security. The research suggests that many ...

Penalties for Dropping out of Ecosystem Services Incentive Programs Should Equal Lost Environmental Benefits

May 15, 2024 — PES programs are currently structured in ways that could limit their participation or create incentives to drop out before the full environmental benefits are ...

What Is the Carbon Footprint of a House in Japan?

May 15, 2024 — Researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis on the carbon footprint of constructing a wooden house in Japan. The team found that the estimated carbon footprint of a house in Japan is 38 tons of CO2, with the largest share coming from the electric ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:59pm EDT

The Case for Sharing Carbon Storage Risk

May 14, 2024 — Even the most optimistic projections for the rapid build-out of solar, wind, and other low-carbon resources acknowledge that coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels will dominate the world's energy ...

90% of Floridians Believe Climate Change Is Happening

May 14, 2024 — The latest 'Florida Climate Resilience Survey' found that 90% of Floridians believe that climate change is happening. Belief in human-caused climate change has surged among Florida Independents while ...

The Price Tag of Phasing-out Coal

May 13, 2024 — Coal phase-out is necessary to solve climate change, but can have negative impacts on workers and local communities dependent on coal for their livelihoods. Researchers have studied government plans ...

Net Zero Plans Show Limited Climate Ambition on 'Residual' Emissions

May 9, 2024 — New research reveals what countries think will be their most difficult to decarbonize sectors when they reach net zero, with agriculture expected to be responsible for the largest remaining ...

How Climate Change Will Affect Malaria Transmission

May 9, 2024 — A new model for predicting the effects of climate change on malaria transmission in Africa could lead to more targeted interventions to control the disease according to a new study. Previous methods ...

Transformation of Ocean Management Is Underway

May 9, 2024 — Despite its benefits and recognition as a keystone practice of ocean stewardship and conservation, adoption of ecosystem-based management has been slow to take hold. To support this change in ocean ...

Ocean Biodiversity Work Needs Improvement

May 9, 2024 — An international collaboration says the world's largest marine protected areas aren't collectively delivering the biodiversity benefits they could be because of slow implementation of management ...

Liberals and Conservatives Differ on Climate Change Beliefs -- But Are Relatively United in Taking Action

May 9, 2024 — The division between liberals and conservatives on both climate-change beliefs and related policy support is long-standing. However, the results of a ...

Saturated Soils Could Impact Survival of Young Trees Planted to Address Climate Change

May 9, 2024 — New research has looked into the potential effects of increased rainfall in regions being earmarked for expansion of temperate rainforests. Amid ...

Millions in Costs Due to Discharge of Scrubber Water Into the Baltic Sea

May 7, 2024 — Discharge from ships with so-called scrubbers cause great damage to the Baltic Sea. A new study shows that these emissions caused pollution corresponding to socio-economic costs of more than EUR 680 ...

Sister Cities Can Help Communities Better Navigate the Climate Crisis

May 3, 2024 — Anthropologists suggest in a new study that establishing networks of 'sister cities' dedicated to addressing the impact of natural disasters can mitigate the devastation wrought by climate ...

'Gap' in Carbon Removal: Countries' Plans to Remove CO2 Not Enough

May 3, 2024 — New research suggests that countries' current plans to remove CO2 from the atmosphere will not be enough to comply with the 1.5 C warming limit set out under the Paris ...

To Bend the Curve of Biodiversity Loss, Nature Recovery Must Be Integrated Across All Sectors

May 2, 2024 — The alarming rates of biodiversity loss worldwide have made clear that the classical way of governing biodiversity recovery based on protected areas and programs for the protection of endangered ...

EPA Underestimates Methane Emissions from Landfills, Urban Areas

May 1, 2024 — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is underestimating methane emissions from landfills, urban areas and U.S. states, according to a new study. The researchers combined 2019 satellite ...

New Computer Algorithm Supercharges Climate Models and Could Lead to Better Predictions of Future Climate Change

May 1, 2024 — A study describes a new computer algorithm which can be applied to Earth System Models to drastically reduce the time needed to prepare these in order to make accurate predictions of future climate ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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. Projections show climate change could become the main ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 green hydrogen if they relocated their ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, according to a new ...

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, ...

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 due to climate change, a new study finds. These ...

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 ...