International Environmental Scientists Award

  STARKVILLE, Miss.—Scientists from Mississippi State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, along with other federal and academic organizations, met recently to solidify plans for a new MSU/USDA-ARS partnership focused on geospatial and environmental epidemiology. The USDA Agricultural Research Service is starting a new research collaborative, the ARS Geospatial and Environmental Epidemiology Research Unit, in partnership with MSU’s Geosystems Research Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The new unit builds on long-standing partnerships between MSU and USDA-ARS, the USDA’s principal in-house research agency. The mission of the new unit is to harness advanced geospatial analysis, artificial intelligence and machine learning to focus on new approaches to cropping practices, predictive biology and disease epidemiology. The new unit brings together MSU and USDA-ARS scientis...

  Climate anxiety is very real, but these good news stories from 2024 prove there is hope for our planet. Eco-anxiety, climate doom, environmental existential dread - as green journalists, we see these terms used a lot - and often feel them ourselves. While there's a lot to be worried about when it comes to the climate and nature crises, we must not lose hope - because hopelessness breeds apathy. The media has an important role to play in combatting climate doom. It's our job to be truthful and accurate in our reporting, not trying to downplay or greenwash the situation. But it's also our job to show that there is hope. In 2023, as part of our ongoing effort to tackle eco-anxiety (both that of our readers and our own), we kept track of all the positive environmental news throughout the year. We racked up over 200 stories of eco-innovation, green breakthroughs and climate wins - more than double the number in 2022 and a sure sign of momentum. In 2024, we're confident the...

  India has seen an increase in environmental tech funding in the last five years, according to a report on Friday. The report by Tracxn, a leading market intelligence platform, comes in light of World Environment Day. It highlights key trends and emerging areas that are poised to make a significant impact in the fight against climate change. “India’s funding jumped from $225 million in 2018 to $1.5 billion in 2023, marking a compounded annual growth rate of 140 per cent,” the report said. While funding for environmental tech increased from Europe and India, contributions from the US saw a decline from 60 per cent in 2018 to 40 per cent in 2023. India is also seeing a significant rise in startups for solar energy technology, hydrogen production and storage, and electric vehicles, among others, the report said. There has also been a lot of funding for Indian startups tackling drought resilience through wastewater management. “Over $35 million worth of funding has been made to date, ...

 The environmental pillar of ESG focuses on how an organization performs with regards to the physical environment, taking areas into account such as energy use, pollution, natural resource utilization, conservation record, the treatment of animals and so on. Given the magnitude of the multitude of crises facing the planet and the increasing severity of environmental risks for companies, the E element of ESG has become more and more relevant.

  Millions of people across the globe are gathering to mark Earth Day and celebrate the environmental movement. The event began in 1970 in the United States, and is now marked around the world. What is Earth Day and when is it? Earth Day is a global event which aims to highlight the importance of protecting the environment. It takes place every year on 22 April. It was set up in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a US senator and environmentalist, and Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard University. Both had growing concerns about environmental damage in the US, such as that caused by a large oil spill in 1969 in Santa Barbara, California. They came up with Earth Day as a way to engage the public and push green issues to the national agenda. The first Earth Day saw 20 million people across the US take to the streets. It became a global event in 1990, and now involves over one billion people of all ages in nearly 200 countries, according to organisers.

  Social media has been a connector of people near and far, but it has also fueled political conflict, threatened democratic processes, contributed to the spread of public health misinformation, and likely damaged the mental health of some teenagers. Given what’s come to light about these platforms over the last several years, it is increasingly clear that current guardrails—both government regulations and the companies’ internal policies—aren’t sufficient to address the issues plaguing the information environment. But for democracies and their citizens to thrive, a healthy virtual ecosystem is necessary. To get there, experts need an international effort to link policymakers to research by gathering, summarizing, and distilling relevant research streams. Two such initiatives, the International Panel on the Information Environment and the proposed International Observatory on Information and Democracy, have begun working towards that goal. Both are inspired by the Intergovernmental...

  The global average sea level increased by 0.76 centimeter's in just a year between 2022 and 2023, which experts call a relatively larger jump. n ShortNasa analysis reveals a significant rise in global sea levels Sea levels fluctuate due to seasonal climate phenomena Researchers use radar altimeters to measure sea level While several parts of the world including India reel under heatwaves, worsened by the El Nino phenomenon, oceans are not untouched. Analysis of the dataset has revealed how ocean surface heights continue to rise at faster and faster rates. The global average sea level increased by 0.76 centimeters in just a year between 2022 and 2023, which experts call a relatively larger jump. The jump is being attributed to a warming climate and the development of a strong El Nino.

  In a promising development for the environment, a new study released June 11, 2024 has reported the first significant decrease in atmospheric concentrations of potent ozone-depleting substances (ODS) known as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). This reduction has occurred five years before the target year, signifying a crucial step forward in efforts to mend the ozone layer. HCFC emissions peaked in 2021, five years sooner than the anticipated year 2026 and are heading in the right direction, the research published in journal Nature Climate Change said. The paper by lead author Luke Western and his colleagues at the University of Bristol found that reducing HCFCs, which are harmful greenhouse gases, could help mitigate climate change.

Despite its tenure being over on January 10, 2024, the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) gave Environment Clearance (EC) to 105 projects across Maharashtra in February. Most of these projects are in Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, and Mumbai. This information was procured under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Speaking to Pune Times Mirror, environment activist and advocate Tanaji Gambhire said, “SEIAA was not functioning as its tenure of three years was over on January 1, this year. These orders were approved in February. We procured this information under the Right to Information Act. “This vigilant citizen would like to bring the illegal activities of SEIAA member secretary Pravin Darade, who despite knowing did not prevent these activities of abuse of the process of law and the arbitrariness of former members of SEIAA.” While Gambhire filed a complaint against the Union of India, the secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), state...

  Every year on June 05, the world celebrates Environment Day. On this day, schools, colleges, universities, and research institutions organize programs regarding its importance. In these programs, students, teachers, scholars, professors, and even experts in the concerned field deliver lectures about environmental significance. Overall, these programs create consciousness among all those who are connected with these institutions. This year, the program was celebrated under the theme of “Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience,” hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.The biggest challenge and problem in this present era is “Saving the Environment,” as identified by scientists and experts in the concerned field. In general, this issue emerges as a problem for the whole society and needs a solution at the community level as well. From a sociological perspective, any problem in society cannot be eliminated but can be minimized to a significant level. Problems can be a...

  Experts have used artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as Google Street View (GSV) that offer 360-degree views of streets, to determine key environmental elements impacting car-related collisions, and cyclist & pedestrian-related accidents. In the study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) of Injury Prevention, experts used GSV to find the link between car accidents and the built environment in locations where crashes occur. Using virtual mapping, experts examined specific road features — streetlights or greenery.                                                              Advertisement According to Dr Quynh Nguyen, an epidemiologist and statistician at the US-based University of Maryland, car crashes are the leading cause of death for young people aged 5 to 29 years old, so it’s important to understand how th...

 For the fifth time since December, a volcanic eruption is underway in southwest Iceland. The Icelandic Met Office said that the eruption started Wednesday after hundreds of earthquakes were recorded in recent days, with the eruption quickly becoming "explosive." As of Thursday morning, the latest eruption had resulted in a nearly two-mile-long fissure that was spewing "considerable lava fountaining." The Met Office said that lava has been flowing "vigorously" from the fissure and has gone over roads towards the volcanic Þorbjörn. That mountain sits outside the small fishing village of Grindavík that has seen evacuations, cracked roads and homes swallowed up by lava flows in previous eruptions in the past half-year.

  New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) India has seen an increase in environmental tech funding in the last five years, according to a report on Friday. The report by Tracxn, a leading market intelligence platform, comes in light of World Environment Day. It highlights key trends and emerging areas that are poised to make a significant impact in the fight against climate change. The report showed that carbon capture ($42 million+) and offset and solar energy technology ($161million+) have attracted the most funding in the last 5 years. "India's funding jumped from $225 million in 2018 to $1.5 billion in 2023, marking a compounded annual growth rate of 140 per cent," the report said. While funding for environmental tech increased from Europe and India, contributions from the US saw a decline from 60 per cent in 2018 to 40 per cent in 2023. India is also seeing a significant rise in startups for solar energy technology, hydrogen production and storage, and electric vehicles, among othe...

International researchers led by the University of Birmingham in the UK and artists have joined forces to ‘paint with light’ – making invisible air pollution visible and demonstrating the health risks posed to people living and working in Ethiopia, India, and the UK. Combining digital light painting and low-cost air pollution sensors, the team produced photographic evidence of pollution levels in cities across the three countries – sparking debate among local communities and illustrating: #Painting with light #Photo evidence #Air pollution #Illumination #Environmental photography Website Links: Award-nomination: https://x-i.me/evmnt7 Award-registration: https://x-i.me/regstn8👈👈👈👇

  t's also likely that at least one of the next five years will set a new temperature record, the World Meteorological Organization has said. There is an 80 per cent chance that average global temperatures will surpass the 1.5C target laid out in the landmark Paris climate accord for at least one of the next five years, according to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) predictions. It is also likely - an 86 per cent chance - that at least one of these years will set a new temperature record, beating 2023 which is currently the warmest year. A new report from the UN weather agency released on Wednesday says that the global mean near-surface temperature for each year from 2024 to 2028 is expected to range between 1.1C and 1.9C hotter than at the start of the industrial era. It also estimated that there’s nearly a one-in-two chance 47 per cent that the average global temperatures over that entire five-year span could top 1.5C. This is an increase from just under a one-in-three chan...

  Today is the World Environment Day, a day observed to encourage worldwide awareness and action for the protection of environment. It is important to realise the importance of mother nature and understand how beautiful it is. The Earth have an inherent capacity to fulfill all needs of the mankind. Mahatma Gandhi once said that there is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed. With the same spirit, the World Environment Day was observed in India. To mark the occasion, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar launched “Selfie with Sapling” campaign. Celebrities including the likes of Jackie Shroff, Randeep Hooda, and folk singer Malini Awasthi joined the Union Minister at the event in New Delhi. They, too, planted saplings and took a selfie along with it. The planting of saplings at the Paryavaran Bhawan gave out a clear message that if there is a desire to keep the planet safe and secure, there is also a need to plant mo...

 In 2014, marine scientists at the University of St Andrews in Scotland undertook a pioneering study to examine the behavior of gray and harbor seals in the North Sea’s sprawling wind parks. From onshore laboratories, the researchers followed seals marked with GPS tags in the vicinity of wind farms off the Dutch and British coasts. Their findings astounded them: within the parks, seals swam in grid-like patterns from turbine to turbine, stopping regularly to feed around the masts. One of the scientists, Dr. Deborah Russell of the Sea Mammal Research Unit of St Andrews, says, “This was the first evidence that marine mammals preferentially used an offshore manmade structure to forage.” The Scottish team’s discovery that some sea life gravitates to wind-park waters to feed turned on its head the orthodoxy about offshore wind parks’ singularly deleterious impact on nature. For years, conservationists had accused sea-based wind turbines of killing birds, confusing dolphins, and crushing...