A Growing Majority of Americans Think Global Warming is Happening and are Worried - Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

FYI. Not where public opinion should be and far away from other countries but it is getting better…

Data from our Climate Change in the American Mind surveys show that, over the past five years, the proportion of Americans who think global warming is happening and who worry about it has increased sharply. During this time, Americans have become increasingly convinced that global warming is happening (+11 percentage points), is human-caused (+15), and that most scientists agree it is happening (+15). The proportion of Americans who say they have personally experienced the effects of global warming has also increased (+13).



A Growing Majority of Americans Think Global Warming is Happening and are Worried - Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Warmer world + more hungry people = BIG challenges » Yale Climate Connections

Feed the world and reduce the climate crisis? Yes, it is possible.

Feeding the world’s rapidly expanding population – currently at 7.6 billion and expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050 – without exacerbating climate change will require the closing of three significant gaps, according to a new report, “Creating a Sustainable Food Future.”
The gaps highlighted in a recent World Resources Institute (WRI) report involve:
food supply, simply producing enough to meet rising demand;
land for food production: The report estimates that if current production rates continue with the same yields, an additional area almost twice the size of India would be required to produce enough food; and
mitigating increased greenhouse gas emissions likely to be produced by the additional food production needed by 2050.



Warmer world + more hungry people = BIG challenges » Yale Climate Connections

World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity

Plants, insects and organisms crucial to food production in steep decline, says UN
The world’s capacity to produce food is being undermined by humanity’s failure to protect biodiversity, according to the first UN study of the plants, animals and micro-organisms that help to put meals on our plates.

The stark warning was issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation after scientists found evidence the natural support systems that underpin the human diet are deteriorating around the world as farms, cities and factories gobble up land and pump out chemicals.

 Organic carrot harvest in Germany. Organic agriculture makes up just 1% of global farmland. Photograph: Julian Stratenschulte/EPA

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/21/worlds-food-supply-under-severe-threat-from-loss-of-biodiversity

Greta Thunberg tells EU: your climate targets need doubling | Environment | The Guardian

A 16-years old Swedish school kid organizes school strikes and tells politicians and business leaders what to do about the Climate Crisis.
Check out this great video – and story – makes me feel hopeful:

Swede, 16, says EU cannot just ‘wait for us to grow up and become the ones in charge’

The EU should double its climate change reduction targets to do its fair share in keeping the planet below a dangerous level of global warming, the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has told political and business leaders in Brussels.

Flanked by students from the Belgian and German school strike movements, the Swedish teenager said it was not enough to hope that young people were going to save the world.


(The Associated Press) Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, center, speaks during an event at the EU Charlemagne building in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019.

Full story and video:

Greta Thunberg tells EU: your climate targets need doubling | Environment | The Guardian

Press release: Breakthrough for Indonesia's rainforests

After 9 years of support from Norway, deforestation in Indonesia has now begun to decline, and for the first time Indonesia can receive payments from Norway for reduced emissions from deforestation.

Photo: Rainforest Foundation Norway

Press release: Breakthrough for Indonesia's rainforests

Tonight Environmental Documentary Series on Climate Crisis

Environmental Documentary Series: Tonight - Anote’s Ark (Public Screening of yet unreleased award-winning film) and A Climate for Conflict. SHU, Science Building 131, 7pm

http://www.anotesark.com/

http://viiphoto.com/vii-stories/a-climate-for-conflict-by-nichole-sobecki/

Fast fashion is harming the planet, MPs say - BBC News

Young people's love of fast fashion is coming under the scrutiny of Britain's law-makers.

MPs say the fashion industry is a major source of the greenhouse gases that are overheating the planet.

Discarded clothes are also piling up in landfill sites and fibre fragments are flowing into the sea when clothes are washed.

The retailers admit more needs to be done, but say they are already working to reduce the impact of their products.



Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Image captionDoes my environmental impact look big in this?

Fast fashion is harming the planet, MPs say - BBC News

Your Pesticide Levels Can Drop Dramatically by Eating All Organic - Cornucopia Institute

 In a new study, 16 children and adults who ate only organic food for six days experienced a 60.5% reduction in the levels of common pesticides in their bodies.

Source: Larry Grubbs, Flickr

Your Pesticide Levels Can Drop Dramatically by Eating All Organic - Cornucopia Institute



Open Access Science article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935119300246

Weedkiller 'raises risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41%' | Business | The Guardian

A broad new scientific analysis of the cancer-causing potential of glyphosate herbicides, the most widely used weedkilling products in the world, has found that people with high exposures to the popular pesticides have a 41% increased risk of developing a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

 Bottles of Roundup herbicide, a product of Monsanto. Findings come as regulators in several countries consider limiting the use of glyphosate-based products in farming. Photograph: Jeff Roberson/AP

Weedkiller 'raises risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41%' | Business | The Guardian

Open access science article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1383574218300887

Climate risk missing in polar vortex reporting » Yale Climate Connections

Needed: Reporting on climate risks from polar vortex The late January deep freeze across much of the U.S. offers a valuable 'teachable moment' for media: Polar vortex heightens risks from climate change.



Americans watched toward the end of January as winter storm Jayden plunged much of the country (including parts of the Midwest where I live) to record-breaking low temperatures.

The extreme cold upended daily life, closed schools and universities, and disrupted mail service in 10 states and air travel around the country. Meanwhile, Australia experienced its hottest January on record.

NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captures a polar vortex moving from Central Canada into the U.S. Midwest from January 20 through January 29. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech AIRS Project)

Climate risk missing in polar vortex reporting » Yale Climate Connections

Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' | Environment | The Guardian

The world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems”, according to the first global scientific review.



More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.

 The rate of insect extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. Photograph: Courtesy of Entomologisher Verein Krefeld

Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' | Environment | The Guardian

Adrian is Back on the Map to Monitor Air Pollution from Particulate Matter PM2.5

Adrian is back on the map to monitor air pollution from particulate matter PM2.5.
https://www.purpleair.com/map#7.19/42.453/-84.267

Tonight’s Show at the Environmental Documentary Series is “Eating Animals”

Tonight’s Show is “Eating Animals”.

http://sustainability.sienaheights.edu/environmental-documentaries.html

Animated Map: The Heartbeat of Nature's Productivity

Even the most ferocious predator must rely on simple plants for vitality. That’s because without the conversion of carbon dioxide to organic compounds, entire food chains would cease to exist.



Photosynthesis is quite the catalyst for life, yet it’s easy to overlook this humble chemical process. But what if you could see its results scaled across the globe?



THE PULSE OF NATURE







Animated Map: The Heartbeat of Nature's Productivity