A group of researchers, led by a University of New South Wales (UNSW) sustainability scientist, have reviewed existing academic discussions on the link between wealth, economy and associated impacts, reaching a clear conclusion: technology will only get us so far when working towards sustainability – we need far-reaching lifestyle changes and different economic paradigms. In...
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When Planting Trees Threatens the Forest
Campaigns to plant huge numbers of trees could backfire, according to a new study that is the first to rigorously analyze the potential effects of subsidies in such schemes. The analysis, published on June 22 in Nature Sustainability, reveals how efforts such as the global Trillion Trees campaign and a related initiative (H. R. 5859)...
Planting New Forests Is Part of but Not the Whole Solution to Climate Change
The large-scale planting of new forests in previously tree-free areas, a practice known as afforestation, is hailed as an efficient way to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – a so-called natural climate solution. But a new study led by a Colorado State University biology researcher finds that the carbon-capture potential of afforestation may...
Helping to Protect the Most Illegally Trafficked Mammals in the World
As China upgrades pangolins to the highest protected status level, an alternative approach to using long standing forensic methods is helping wildlife crime investigators disrupt poachers and animal traffickers in an effort to bring them to justice. A team of scientists and experienced investigators from the University of Portsmouth have joined the battle to stop...
Ancient Societies Hold Lessons for Modern Cities
Today’s modern cities, from Denver to Dubai, could learn a thing or two from the ancient Pueblo communities that once stretched across the southwestern United States. For starters, the more people live together, the better the living standards. That finding comes from a study published in the journal Science Advances and led by Scott Ortman, an archaeologist at...
Adolescents from Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Show Gene Regulation Differences
The neighborhood a child grows up in may influence their health for years to come in previously invisible ways. A long-term study of 2,000 children born in England and Wales and followed to age 18 found that young adults raised in communities marked by more economic deprivation, physical dilapidation, social disconnection and danger display differences...
Survey Finds U.S. Adults Largely Supported Measures to Limit Spread of COVID-19 in May
No mass gatherings. Stay-at-home orders. Nonessential business closures. Use of cloth face coverings. In April, these and other measures were adopted by states to try to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. and across the globe. A new study published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report...
Heat May Kill More People in U.S. Than Previously Reported
Death records point to hundreds of U.S. deaths from heat each year, but even moderately hot weather may actually be killing thousands. This summer, COVID-19 may make it harder to stay cool. As temperatures rise this summer, a new study by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and the University of British Columbia School...
Higher Rates of Severe COVID-19 in BAME Populations Remain Unexplained
Higher rates of severe COVID-19 infections in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) populations are not explained by socioeconomic or behavioral factors, cardiovascular disease risk, or by vitamin D status, according to new research led by Queen Mary University of London. The findings, published in the Journal of Public Health, suggest that the relationship between COVID-19...
Environmental Conditions Found to Affect Stability of Virus That Causes COVID-19
A new study led by Marshall University researcher M. Jeremiah Matson found that environmental conditions affect the stability of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in human nasal mucus and sputum. Matson, the lead author on a study published earlier this month as an early release in Emerging Infectious Diseases, the journal of the...