For decades, engineers and planners have not been properly integrating the dynamic effects of climate change in their risk simulations, says Stanford Earth's Noah Diffenbaugh.
China's COVID-19 countermeasures have slashed toxic air pollution. Between 50,000 and 75,000 lives have been saved due to the decreasing air pollution in China, according to Marshall Burke.
"The reductions in air pollution in China caused by this economic disruption likely saved 20 times more lives in China than have currently been lost due to infection with the virus in that country," Marshall Burke said.
Stanford Earth's Marshall Burke says a preliminary estimate of premature deaths avoided due to cleaner air in China offers "a useful reminder of the often-hidden health consequences of the status quo.”
“The lives saved due to the pollution reductions are roughly 20x the number of lives that have been directly lost to the virus," says Stanford Earth professor Marshall Burke.
"If the global economy crashes, emissions will drop short term as we produce fewer goods, but climate action will slow. Employment trumps environment in politics," says Stanford Earth's Rob Jackson.
Stanford Earth professor Marshall Burke's calculation of how the coronavirus affects air quality is cited in the context of a discussion of the "political, financial and economic storm" facing climate change advocates.
It's estimated that water utilities are losing 20%-50% of water being delivered to customers due to leaky supply pipes. Daniel Tartakovsky proposes a new method for detecting these leaks.
A tweet went viral after claiming that a single volcano produced more CO2 than all cars in history. "The statement is pants-on-fire false," says Stanford Earth's Rob Jackson.
“There is an entire ecosystem that lives within sea ice in polar regions that might be an analog for what’s happening on other [worlds],” says Kevin Arrigo in an article about how extraterrestrial oceans could support life.
Amazon's CEO pledged to give $10 billion to fight climate change. Stanford professor Rob Jackson's reaction? "Gratitude and excitement, whether I see a penny of it or not."
A new study says that natural sources, or "seeps," account for much less of the global methane output than previously thought. “If it's not coming from seeps, then it's coming from fossil-fuel operations,” says Rob Jackson.
"It's not a surprise that no one would support Yucca," says Stanford's Rodney Ewing, who led a 2018 study that recommended moving responsibility for disposing of nuclear waste to an independent nonprofit corporation.
"We know that when human activity initiates an earthquake it grows in magnitude," says Stanford Earth's Bill Ellsworth. "As with natural earthquakes, most end up small, but a few grow large."
