The United Nations' Environmental Program has released a new report with yet more dire news about our odds of avoiding climate disaster caused by greenhouse gas emissions. According to this assessment, the current trajectory of international commitments will see the planet's temperature increasing 2.6 degrees Celsius or more over the course of this century. That amount of temperature change would lead to more catastrophic and life-threatening weather events.
UN members are due to submit their latest Nationally Determined Contributions ahead of the COP30 conference in Brazil next year. The NDCs lay out each country's plan for reduced greenhouse gas emissions. One part of the NDCs are to reach the goal set by the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and one part targets keeping global temperature increases to within a less ideal 2 degrees Celsius. While the report says it is technically possible to reach the Paris Agreement goal, much larger actions will be required to cut emissions by the necessary amount.
"Increased deployment of solar photovoltaic technologies and wind energy could deliver 27 percent of the total emission reduction potential in 2030 and 38 percent in 2035," the report gives as an example of what's still needed. "Action on forests could deliver around 20 percent of the potential in both years."
"Every fraction of a degree avoided counts in terms of lives saved, economies protected, damages avoided, biodiversity conserved and the ability to rapidly bring down any temperature overshoot," UN Environment Program Executive Director Inger Andersen wrote in the report's forward.
International collaboration, government commitments and financial contributions will also be essential for getting back on track to either the 2-degree or 1.5-degree goals. "G20 nations, particularly the largest-emitting members, would need to do the heavy lifting," the report reads.
If all of this sounds familiar, that's probably because the UN has issued the same stark warnings in each of its annual reports on emissions for several years now. And other reports have echoed their calls, such as damning findings earlier this year that just 57 companies are responsible for 80 percent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/latest-un-report-demands-unprecedented-emissions-cuts-to-salvage-climate-goals-223450262.html?src=rss
Recent UN reports indicate that 55% of the global urban population lives in cities, and this is expected to rise to 68% by 2030. While cities drive 80% of the world’s GDP, they also significantly contribute to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions. Key challenges include climate change impacts, high carbon footprints, waste management, depleting water tables, and air and water pollution, all requiring urgent action.
Cities are combating climate change, largely driven by fossil fuels, by promoting public transport, electric cars, and cycling. Efforts also include designing green urban spaces and creating urban forests to cool cities and act as carbon sinks. Recent flooding in desert cities like Dubai and Saudi Arabia highlights the need for resilient infrastructure. Solutions involve robust infrastructure, effective drainage, sustainable stormwater management, and green urban planning to reduce flooding risks.
Paris Agreement: In 2015, nearly 200 countries signed the Paris Agreement at COP21, aiming to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It calls for localizing climate initiatives in cities and improving local climate governance.
Casa Jardin, designed by architect Rodolfo Tinoco near Costa Rica’s Tamarindo Beach, is a fully self-sustaining, off-grid home showcasing modern sustainability. Featuring lush gardens, solar panels, and a recycled water system, it offers privacy and environmental efficiency with a vertical garden that regulates temperature and grows edible greens. Elevated on V-shaped stilts to address rising sea levels, it includes a leaf-shaped photovoltaic roof for solar energy and integrates rainwater harvesting and sewage treatment for irrigation. Inside, a neutral palette and teak wood accents create a naturally lit, beach-inspired space, emphasizing luxury and sustainability in tropical living.
Global warming has been ongoing for years, with its most pronounced effects felt in the Arctic, where rapid ice melting disrupts climate patterns worldwide. Project ARCSTAR proposes a biocomposite structure made from biowaste materials to cool Arctic waters and support ice formation. This initiative aims to mitigate ice loss by lowering water temperatures and using sustainable materials like sulfur-free lignin and calcium carbonate. While promising as a short-term measure, ARCSTAR highlights the need for broader, systemic shifts toward sustainability to address the root causes of climate change effectively.
Coastal communities are on the front lines of climate change, facing rising sea levels. In response, architects are pioneering solutions like the Maldives Floating City (MFC), a sustainable urban project planned near Male. Designed by Dutch Docklands, MFC features a modular, floating layout inspired by Brain coral, anchored to barrier islands to mitigate sea-level rise impacts. This innovative city aims to blend green technology with residential and commercial spaces, setting a precedent for future climate-resilient urban development worldwide.
2. Greenhouse Emissions
Strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions include promoting renewable energy, low-carbon fuels, and LEED-certified green buildings that save 20-30% more energy than conventional ones. Oslo a leading green city in Norway, leads in recycling, public transport, clean air, and renewable energy. Singapore uses smart planning to harness solar energy for housing and integrates artificial wetlands to maintain ecological balance.
Stanford University researchers have developed innovative, eco-friendly paints that regulate indoor temperatures by reflecting sunlight and infrared radiation. These paints, including colors like orange, yellow, blue, and white, reduce the need for air conditioning by managing heat absorption and retention. Their dual-layer design utilizes infrared-reflective aluminum flakes and infrared-transparent nanoparticles to achieve significant energy savings—36% less heating in cold conditions and 21% less cooling in warm conditions—compared to traditional methods. This breakthrough addresses the substantial energy consumption and environmental impact of heating and cooling systems, offering a sustainable solution for buildings and urban environments worldwide.
3. Air and Water Pollution
Increased vehicles and traffic cause air pollution, while untreated factory sewage leads to water contamination. Beijing combats air pollution with strict vehicle quotas and reduced coal use to lower harmful PM2.5 levels. In the UK, the Broads Waterways face phosphorus pollution, damaging water plants. Cleanup methods like phosphate stripping and suction dredging are being explored.
Pure Bubble offers an innovative solution to urban air pollution with its outdoor air purification concept, resembling dandelion-inspired bubbles equipped to detect, analyze, and clean polluted air. Each bubble features three layers: a helium-filled outer layer for mobility, a reusable filtering layer using patented TPA technology, and a wind-powered recharging motor. These self-illuminating bubbles purify air as they float, extracting minerals from pollutants and contributing to improved air and water quality in urban environments. Positioned strategically, Pure Bubble aims to mitigate the health impacts of air pollution and support global efforts in environmental sustainability.
Designers Lucy Zakharova and Ted Lu propose ‘En·cap·su·lat·ing’, a revolutionary project aimed at addressing ocean pollution. This initiative involves deploying a network of five dynamic capsules made from plastic waste sourced from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, spanning 1.6 million square kilometers. Each capsule operates at different ocean depths, moving cyclically with floating plastic islands to evenly distribute their cleaning efforts. Beyond pollution mitigation, these capsules serve as research hubs, monitoring deep-sea conditions and biodiversity impacts, emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable environmental solutions to safeguard marine ecosystems.
4. Depleting Water Table
Rapid urbanization strains city infrastructure and depletes water tables. Cities respond with alternative water sourcing, rainwater harvesting, and vertical farming, alongside public education to change water usage habits. Comprehensive water management integrates fresh water, rain, storm, and wastewater. China’s Sponge Cities use permeable surfaces and green spaces to capture, filter, and store water, reducing floods and promoting reuse, enhancing climate resilience.
Hydraloop is a compact water recycling system that fits seamlessly into any home or building and its technology recycles up to 95% of shower and bath water, reducing reliance on fresh water and lowering sewage emissions. Designed for ease of installation and operation, Hydraloop systems clean and disinfect water using a six-step process without chemicals, making it safe for non-potable uses like toilet flushing and irrigation. By conserving water and lowering energy costs, Hydraloop supports sustainable living and contributes to global efforts in water conservation and climate action.
5. Plastic and Waste Disposal
Cities combatting plastic pollution emphasize waste reduction through recycling and composting. Urban areas contribute significantly to marine plastic debris, threatening ecosystems and human health. Quezon City, Philippines, innovates with a “cash for trash” program exchanging recyclables for environmental credits. The Maldives transitions to a circular economy, enhancing waste management with sustainable infrastructure and optimized collection systems to create valuable products from recycled plastics.
The Soft Plastic Compactor (SPC) is designed for homes and small buildings to address the accumulation of plastic bags and other soft plastics. Resembling a kitchen appliance, it compresses these plastics into bricks for easy transportation to recycling centers. Simple to use, it turns plastic waste into solid cubes bound by melted plastic, facilitating their handling and recycling. Clear Drop, the manufacturer, ensures collaboration with recycling facilities to safely break down these bricks without emitting harmful fumes, making the SPC a practical solution for sustainable waste management at home.
Cities tackling global challenges require cooperation among governments, businesses, civil society, and residents for sustainable development. Effective climate change adaptation includes increasing tree cover and preserving green spaces to enhance the quality of life, absorb carbon emissions, mitigate urban heat islands, and provide natural flood protection.
As extreme weather events become ever more common, climate risks are playing a role in many people's long-term decision-making. And few things are more long-term than buying real estate. In response, Zillow has announced a new partnership to bring climate risk information to its for-sale listings.
Property listing pages in the US will include data about flood, wildfire, wind, heat and air quality risks at that location. This section will also list any climate-related insurance requirements for that property. The information is being provided by First Street, a specialist in climate risk financial modeling. The climate data is rolling out this year to the Zillow website and iOS app, while Android is expected to get the update early next year. Some locations have already been updated to show climate data on the web.
Those five risk categories are also being applied to Zillow's interactive map search view. Each of the different climate concerns has a color-coded visualization to show the risk levels across the country or in a smaller region. It's valuable information for anybody in a position to make that big homebuying leap. For everybody else, it may add simply a touch of gloomy reality to the gleeful experience of scrolling through absurd and/or overpriced houses.
Zillow also introduced improvements to its AI search feature earlier this month.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/zillow-is-adding-climate-risk-data-to-all-us-for-sale-listings-220038971.html?src=rss
The website lets you check how much sea levels have risen in a given region, and even has predictions of how much the sea level will rise in the future. According to the home page, the data is federally supported and has “explanations and science education to help communities prepare for challenges that will affect our coastal environments.”
We tested the sea level explorer and selected Pennsylvania as our target state. It showed that the sea level in PA is nine inches higher than in 1970, and from 2020 to 2050, it's expected to rise by 11 inches. Following these statistics are explanations and charts.
The site is a project from the Interagency Task Force on Sea Level Change, which is comprised of representatives from the Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and NASA, among others. The site itself, besides showing specific sea level numbers, contains a variety of information for kids and adults on the causes of climate change (hint: it's people).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/new-government-website-shows-how-much-sea-levels-have-risen-173042808.html?src=rss
Google announced that it has entered a partnership with Holocene to support its direct-air capture technology for collecting and removing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Under this $10 million deal, Google will purchase carbon removal credits from Holocene at a rate of $100 per metric ton. This is the price the US Department of Energy set as a goal for direct-air capture technology to make it a viable part of efforts to reduce the rate at which we emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
As the name implies, direct-air capture can collect carbon dioxide out of the air, then concentrate the gas to be stored in underground reservoirs. It sounds great in theory, but the technology has proven expensive and difficult to scale. Google said its support should allow Holocene to capture and store 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the early 2030s, in addition to helping the company further refine its DAC technology. Holocene has a more detailed explanation of its DAC approach on its website.
Sustainability has become an important talking point for a lot of big tech. Google has made a big investment in buying carbon offsets, enough that it claims to have eliminated its entire "carbon legacy," and it aims to be carbon neutral by 2030. But its greenhouse gas emissions have risen almost 50 percent in the past five years thanks to the intensive data center demands of AI usage.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-announces-deal-with-direct-air-capture-startup-to-remove-carbon-emissions-225627149.html?src=rss
Google announced that it has entered a partnership with Holocene to support its direct-air capture technology for collecting and removing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Under this $10 million deal, Google will purchase carbon removal credits from Holocene at a rate of $100 per metric ton. This is the price the US Department of Energy set as a goal for direct-air capture technology to make it a viable part of efforts to reduce the rate at which we emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
As the name implies, direct-air capture can collect carbon dioxide out of the air, then concentrate the gas to be stored in underground reservoirs. It sounds great in theory, but the technology has proven expensive and difficult to scale. Google said its support should allow Holocene to capture and store 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the early 2030s, in addition to helping the company further refine its DAC technology. Holocene has a more detailed explanation of its DAC approach on its website.
Sustainability has become an important talking point for a lot of big tech. Google has made a big investment in buying carbon offsets, enough that it claims to have eliminated its entire "carbon legacy," and it aims to be carbon neutral by 2030. But its greenhouse gas emissions have risen almost 50 percent in the past five years thanks to the intensive data center demands of AI usage.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-announces-deal-with-direct-air-capture-startup-to-remove-carbon-emissions-225627149.html?src=rss
New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention.
Toward Eternity by Anton Hur
Toward Eternity does not waste any time in getting to the drama. The novel by Anton Hur begins in the not-so-far-off future, and opens with a moment of crisis: a patient in a nanotherapy research clinic has seemingly vanished into thin air. This patient had been undergoing a new type of treatment that uses android cells (dubbed “nanites”) to cure cancer by replacing the body’s own cells. In doing so, however, it transforms the body entirely into a nanodroid, giving rise to “nano humans” that are no longer subjected to mortality.
The story jumps through time and different perspectives, exploring what it means “to be human in a world where technology is quickly catching up to biology.” From the second I started reading this one, I did not want to put it down.
Into the Clear Blue Sky: The Path to Restoring Our Atmosphere by Rob Jackson
It can be hard not to get swept up in the doom and gloom of climate change, especially amid reports marking Earth’s hottest years on record and still-rising emissions from fossil fuels. Stanford climate scientist Rob Jackson’s new book Into the Clear Blue Sky: The Path to Restoring Our Atmosphere aims to foster a more optimistic outlook by calling attention to the courses of action that could lead us to a better future for our planet and its inhabitants.
“I view my book as a home repair manual for the planet,” Jackson said in a recent interview published by the scientific journal ACS Central Science. “It highlights the people and the ideas needed to solve the climate crisis. I want most of all to give people hope, a sense of optimism. Yes, climate change is already bad, but we can still fix this problem.”
Epitaphs from the Abyss #1
Legendary comic book publisher EC Comics, which brought us series like Tales from the Crypt and Weird Science more than 70 years ago, is making a comeback with its first new series in decades: Epitaphs from the Abyss. The first issue of the horror series was released at the end of July and features four tales — which are introduced by a ghoulish narrator dubbed The Grave-Digger.
Epitaphs from the Abyss #1 has stories by Brian Azzarello, J. Holtham, Stephanie Phillips and Chris Condon, with art by Lee Bermejo, Phil Hester, Peter Krause and Jorge Fornés. There’s something about those old EC Comics that just hits different, and Epitaphs faithfully slips back into that vibe to deliver spooky new stories that have a classic feel.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-to-read-books-existential-sci-fi-ai-technology-climate-crisis-solutions-ec-comics-horror-183058573.html?src=rss
When I first saw the Rabbit R1, it was more appealing than the Humane AI Pin. The R1 had an actual screen, not a dim projector, and it had a twee scrolling wheel, all wrapped up in a glossy, fiery orange-red shell.
Alas, as our review explains, it doesn’t work as well as promised. It doesn’t do much and is, at launch, riddled with bugs and issues. Devindra Hardawar, who reviewed it, even took issue with the scrolling wheel. Nooooo.
New research conducted by the University of East Anglia (UEA) suggests current carbon removal plans will not be enough to comply with Paris treaty goals to limit global warming to 1.5C. There’s a gap of up to 3.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) between current global plans to remove carbon from the atmosphere and what’s needed to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. The study says a rapid reduction in emissions is far more important than where to stuff the CO2 already around.
Google has updated its Inappropriate Content Policy to expressly prohibit advertisers from promoting websites and services that generate deepfake pornography. There are already restrictions in place for ads that feature some types of sexual content, but this aims squarely at “synthetic content that has been altered or generated to be sexually explicit or contain nudityThe company will start implementing the rule on May 30, giving advertisers the chance to remove any ad in violation of the new policy.
Nintendo sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice for over 8,000 GitHub repositories hosting code from the Yuzu Switch emulator. You might recall the games maker said Yuzu was enabling “piracy at a colossal scale.” Redacted entities representing Nintendo assert the Yuzu source code “illegally circumvents Nintendo’s technological protection measures and runs illegal copies of Switch games.” This is all happening as game emulators enjoy a resurgence. Last month, Apple loosened its restrictions on retro game players in the App Store. However, the more earnest reasons for emulation (archiving a history of gaming that could otherwise be lost; playing games no longer in circulation) evaporate when you’re doing it for a free copy of Tears of the Kingdom.
New research conducted by the University of East Anglia (UEA) suggests that current carbon removal plans will not be enough to comply with Paris treaty goals to limit global warming to 1.5C, as reported in a study published by Nature. Scientists came to this conclusion by measuring the “emissions gap” between various national climate protection plans and what is actually needed to reach that goal.
Since 2010, the United Nations environmental organization UNEP has taken similar measurements of this emissions gap. UEA’s research, which focuses primarily on CO2 removal, indicates that climate policy requires a more ambitious scope if we are to, well, survive as a species.
This means a more nuanced and robust approach that still keeps current carbon removal practices in place, but with a renewed focus on cutting emissions, renewable energy and minimizing deforestation. There are also novel carbon removal options that many nations have been slow to discuss, let alone implement.
These include advanced air filters systems and enhanced rock weathering. The latter is a technique in which carbon is removed from the atmosphere and stored in rocks. These techniques account for the removal of just 0.002 billion tons of C02 per year, compared to 3 billion tons through conventional options. The research indicates that these novel options must become more prevalent in the coming years to help meet that 1.5C threshold.
“The calculation should certainly be refined,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. William Lamb, of the MCC Applied Sustainability Science working group. “This much is clear: without a rapid reduction in emissions towards zero, across all sectors, the 1.5C limit will not be met under any circumstances.”
Co-author Dr. Naomi Vaughan, of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at UEA, added that “countries need more awareness, ambition and action on scaling up carbon dioxide removal methods together with deep emissions reductions to achieve the aspirations of the Paris Agreement."
To that end, even if every country sticks to promises regarding carbon removal targets, the amount of carbon removed would likely increase by a maximum of 0.5 billion tons by 2030 and 1.9 billion tons by 2050. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that it would take a removal increase of 5.1 billion tons to avoid the worst effects of climate change. So, yeah, there’s that gap of 3.2 billion tons.
We aren’t doomed, at least not yet anyways. The IPCC suggests an alternative scenario in which the world’s governments work together to reduce global energy demand, hastened by “politically initiated behavior.” In this scenario, carbon removal would increase by 2.5 billion tons by 2050 and alternative methods would help tighten the emissions gap to just 400 million tons. So we basically have to shift our entire society from one of self interest to one of global cooperation. It never hurts to dream and, hey, maybe AI will swoop in and save us.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/research-indicates-that-carbon-dioxide-removal-plans-will-not-be-enough-to-meet-paris-treaty-goals-161113129.html?src=rss
Last year was the hottest on record and the Earth is headed towards a global warming of 2.7 degrees, yet top fossil fuel and cement producers show a disregard for climate change and actively make things worse. A new Carbon Majors Database report found that just 57 companies were responsible for 80 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions between 2016 and 2022. Thirty-eight percent of total emissions during this period came from nation-states, 37 percent from state-owned entities and 25 percent from investor-owned companies.
Nearly 200 parties adopted the 2015 Paris Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, 58 of the 100 state- and investor-owned companies in the Carbon Majors Database have increased their production in the years since (The Climate Accountability Institute launched Carbon Majors in 2013 to hold fossil fuel producers accountable and is hosted by InfluenceMap). This number represents producers worldwide, including 87 percent of those assessed in Asia, 57 percent in Europe and 43 percent in North America.
It's not a clear case of things slowly turning around, either. The International Energy Agency found coal consumption increased by eight percent over the seven years to 8.3 billion tons — a record high. The report names state-owned Coal India as one of the top three carbon dioxide producers. Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom and state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco rounded out the trio of worst offenders.
Exxon Mobil topped the list of United States companies, contributing 1.4 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. "These companies have made billions of dollars in profits while denying the problem and delaying and obstructing climate policy. They are spending millions on advertising campaigns about being part of a sustainable solution, all the while continuing to invest in more fossil fuel extraction," Tzeporah Berman, International Program Director at Stand.earth and Chair at Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, said in a statement. "These findings emphasize that, more than ever, we need our governments to stand up to these companies, and we need new international cooperation through a Fossil Fuel Treaty to end the expansion of fossil fuels and ensure a truly just transition."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/only-57-companies-produced-80-percent-of-global-carbon-dioxide-130752291.html?src=rss
