During his first moments in the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Biden returned the United States to the Paris climate accord and directed federal agencies to begin unraveling Donald Trump’s environmental policies. The Washington Post reports: Biden’s executive order recommitting the United States to the international struggle to slow global warming fulfilled a campaign promise and represented a stark repudiation of…
Tag: EPA
EPA Finalizes Rule Limiting Research Used for Public Health, Environmental Policy
The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a rule that limits scientific research used in the crafting of public health and environmental policy. From a report: Researchers argue the rule that prioritizes studies with all data available publicly “essentially blocks” research that uses personal information and confidential medical records that can’t be released because of privacy conditions, per the New York Times,…
Are Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles the Future of Autos?
Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 shared this article from ABC News: What if your electric vehicle could be refueled in less than 5 minutes? No plug, no outlet required. The range anxiety that’s stymied sales of EVs? Forget about it. Three EVs can meet these demands and allay concerns about owning an emissions-free vehicle. There’s just one drawback. You can only find…
Illegal Tampering By Diesel Pickup Owners Is Worsening Pollution, EPA Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: The owners and operators of more than half a million diesel pickup trucks have been illegally disabling their vehicles’ emissions control technology over the past decade, allowing excess emissions equivalent to 9 million extra trucks on the road, a new federal report has concluded. The practice, described in a report…
Emissions From US Industrial Facilities Fell Nearly 5% In 2019
Greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants, manufacturing sites and other large facilities declined nearly 5% from 2018 to 2019, according to data released Monday. Bloomberg reports: The drop is consistent with a decade-long downward trend in greenhouse gas releases from large stationary sources, partly propelled by the power sector’s ongoing shift away from coal to renewable sources and cleaner-burning natural…
Covid-19 will probably become endemic. Here’s what that means
Rather than completely disappear – even when vaccines become available- it’s likely that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 will be added to the family of infectious diseases known as “endemic” in the human population. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/covid-19-coronavirus-will-probably-become-endemic-defintion…
Is Iceland’s most active volcano about to erupt?
The ice-covered Grímsvötn volcano produced an unusually large and powerful eruption in 2011. Now, says this volcanologist, there are clear signs that Grímsvötn is getting ready to erupt again. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/grimsvotn-iceland-volcano-about-to-erupt…
Northern Hemisphere just had its hottest summer on record
Not only was August 2020 the 2nd-warmest August on record, but the Northern Hemisphere had its warmest summer on record, and the globe as a whole had its 3rd-hottest 3-month season. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/northern-hemisphere-2020-hottest-summer-on-record…
What’s in wildfire smoke and why it’s so bad for your lungs
The health impact of wildfire exposure depends in part on the fire itself and how much smoke a person breathes in, how often and for how long. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/what-is-in-wildfire-smoke…
How Tesla Improves the Range of Its Electric Cars
Car and Driver magazine explores what gives Tesla’s vehicles their comparatively long range. And apparently one factor is just “big batteries.
This may be obvious, but a battery that holds more energy should translate to more range, and Tesla has the largest battery packs out there… What isn’t always obvious is how much of a battery pack’s energy is usable versus its…