Minuscule pieces of plastic lodged in the fatty deposits that line human arteries may be linked with higher risks for heart disease, strokes, and death, Italian researchers reported on Wednesday.
Among 304 patients who underwent procedures to clear a major artery in the neck, 58% were found to have microscopic and nanoscopic "jagged-edged" pieces of plastic in the plaque lining the blood vessel, including polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride containing chlorine, Dr. Raffaele Marfella at the University of Campania in Naples and colleagues reported.
At the same time he announced $2.2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for rural electric cooperatives, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack acknowledged on Wednesday fears that U.S. farmland will be covered by wind turbines and solar collectors. “We know that there are some concerns out there about whether renewable energy will overtake prime farmland,” he said.
More than half of large U.S. farmers say they have been offered at least $1,000 an acre during discussions about planting solar panels instead of crops on their land, said a Purdue University poll released on Tuesday. Bids have climbed rapidly since 2021, when the most common offer was less than $750 an acre.
In May 2021, the IEA published its landmark report Net Zero Emissions by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. The report set out a narrow but feasible pathway for the global energy sector to contribute to the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. The Net Zero Roadmap quickly became an important benchmark for policy makers, industry, the financial sector and civil society.
During my lifetime, I’ve used and thrown away about 200 toothbrushes (around four per year, like my dentist has always advised). Each one, made entirely of plastic, is still sitting in a landfill somewhere. I imagine them buried like corpses in a graveyard family plot alongside all the brushes my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents used, because they’re all still there, too. Plastic toothbrushes take 500 or more years to decompose.
People rely on 24/7 access to reliable electricity to power our homes, businesses, and communities. There is a lot of planning and operations to ensure the lights stay on.
At NREL, we have learned a lot about a renewable-based power grid, and there is no inherent reason why renewables cannot help keep the lights on. We have already demonstrated the ability of the grid to maintain reliable operation with high levels of variable renewable energy.
BRUSSELS/DUBAI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Countries at the U.N.'s COP28 climate summit opening on Thursday hope to clinch an early deal on a new fund to pay for climate-caused damage, aiming to muster some political goodwill before talks turn to divisive topics including the future of fossil fuels.
Executives will join world leaders in calling for rapid climate action to avert a catastrophic outcome at the United Nations’ annual Climate Change Conference in Dubai from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12.
However, a new report shows the world’s largest corporations continue to lag behind their own climate commitments, in part because of the lack of regulation governing risk disclosures.
A new analysis from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that, coupled with building envelope improvements, installing geothermal heat pumps in around 70% of U.S. buildings could save as much as 593 terawatt-hours of electricity generation annually and avoid seven gigatons of carbon-equivalent emissions by 2050.
In 2024 (as of March 8), there has been 1 confirmed weather/climate disaster event with losses exceeding $1 billion to affect United States. This was 1 severe storm event. This event resulted in the deaths of 3 people and had significant economic effects on the areas impacted. The 1980–2023 annual average is 8.5 events (CPI-adjusted); the annual average for the most recent 5 years (2019–2023) is 20.4 events (CPI-adjusted).