Nature Sustainability

New MIT Sloan research: AI-generated visuals of reimagined sustainable cities enhanced Americans' willingness to support green transportation policies

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Climate change, Princeton University, Research, Policy, Transport, AI, Management, Doctor of Philosophy, Republican, Life, I-35, Psychology, City, Imagination, Marketing, Nature Sustainability

The research paper, AI-generated visuals of car-free US cities help improve support for sustainable policies , published in Nature Sustainability combines insights from behavioral science with recent advances in AI.

Key Points: 
  • The research paper, AI-generated visuals of car-free US cities help improve support for sustainable policies , published in Nature Sustainability combines insights from behavioral science with recent advances in AI.
  • The study was led by Rachit Dubey, a postdoctoral research fellow at MIT’s Sloan School of Management in collaboration with Rahul Bhui, assistant professor of marketing at MIT Sloan.
  • “America’s infrastructure is extremely car-centric, so using more sustainable modes of transportation is currently inconvenient or unavailable to many people,” said Dubey.
  • “We need to show people how much better their life will be if a green or a sustainable policy were passed.”

Ultra-processed foods are not only bad for our bodies, their production damages our environments

Retrieved on: 
Monday, September 25, 2023
Pressure, Obesity, Food, Palm oil, Diabetes, UPF, Public, Hydrogenation, Carbon, Forest, Natural Resources, Biodiversity, Man, Soil, Nature, Water, Economic development, Ultra, First Nations, United Kingdom, Efficiency, Health, Environment, Nature Sustainability, Bread, Fast food, Convenience food, Soft drink, Agriculture, Recycling

Even just a casual glance at supermarket shelves reveals a plethora of UPF offerings in all their elaborate and enticing packaging.

Key Points: 
  • Even just a casual glance at supermarket shelves reveals a plethora of UPF offerings in all their elaborate and enticing packaging.
  • Besides their affordability, UPF not only offer time-saving convenience but also momentary satisfaction drenched in saturated fat, sugar, salt and additives.

What are ultra-processed foods?

    • In Europe, processed products on an industrial scale have been widely consumed since the late 18th and 19th centuries.
    • The consumption of UPF in Canada is largely associated with men, youth, those struggling with low income and those with obesity.
    • However, consuming UPF comes at a high cost not just to our health but to our environment as well.

Cutting costs, raising emissions

    • UPFs rely on energy-intensive manufacturing processes and long supply chains, leading to substantial greenhouse gas emissions.
    • The most substantial environmental impacts of UPF-rich diets predominantly stem from the post-farm stages, specifically the final product creation and packaging processes.
    • Their plastic packaging doesn’t degrade in landfills or in nature, and has a dramatic impact on soil health and marine life.

The path to sustainability

    • Embracing sustainable agricultural practices that prioritize regenerative farming, waste reduction and local sourcing of ingredients can effectively lower the carbon impact of UPF.
    • In addition, companies should adopt water-efficient technologies and support initiatives that restore natural habitats, as these are essential steps towards water conservation and biodiversity preservation.
    • Advancements in agricultural technology could play a pivotal role in mitigating the environmental impact of food additives.
    • High rates of UPF consumption indicates an essential failure of our food system to provide universal access to affordable, wholesome food.

The UK is still not prepared for extreme temperatures – here's what it should do

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 21, 2023
National Planning Policy Framework, Environment Agency, Climate, Climate Change Committee, Heat, Climate Change Act 2008, Overheating, Atmosphere, Policy, Tree, Risk assessment, Food, Climate change, Progress, Water supply, Government, Ventilation, CCC, Hospital, Flood, Risk, Air conditioning, City, Health, Air pollution, Nature Sustainability, Agriculture, Risk management, Renewable energy, Thames Barrier

But that doesn’t mean there’s no risk of intense heat: on this exact week last year, the UK broke 40°C for the first time.

Key Points: 
  • But that doesn’t mean there’s no risk of intense heat: on this exact week last year, the UK broke 40°C for the first time.
  • For the UK, the new reality is that 40°C temperatures are possible and eventually will be commonplace, and the country must adapt urgently.
  • For example, creating green space in urban areas to provide a cooling effect that reduces the intensity of extreme heat.
  • Even before the Paris agreement required adaptation plans, the UK had already started to plan adaptation actions under the Climate Change Act 2008.

What risks has the UK identified?

    • Climate change projections indicate that the UK will experience hotter drier summers and warmer wetter winters.
    • These projections have been used by the government to develop the climate change risk assessment, on which national adaptation plans are based.
    • In order to deal with these risks the UK has planned key actions to protect against extreme heat and flooding from sea level rise and rainfall.

UK adaptation plans

    • The NAP3 will provide further structure, compared to previous plans, and delivery will be via an existing governance process.
    • The UK, like many countries, has numerous frameworks and plans, such as the Heatwave Plan, Green Infrastructure Framework, and National Infrastructure Delivery Plans.
    • Adaptation is complex, involving numerous parties at numerous scales from the huge Thames Barrier to a few trees on the road outside your home.
    • One analysis of adaptation plans for European cities identified Sofia (Bulgaria) and Galway and Dublin (Ireland) as the best quality.
    • National adaptation plans have improved, but those that are actually coordinated at a national level, like in Ireland, are rare.

Ecological doom-loops: why ecosystem collapses may occur much sooner than expected – new research

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, June 22, 2023
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Indeed, scientific studies have now recorded “regime shifts” like these in more than 20 different types of ecosystem where tipping points have been passed.

Key Points: 
  • Indeed, scientific studies have now recorded “regime shifts” like these in more than 20 different types of ecosystem where tipping points have been passed.
  • Across the world, more than 20% of ecosystems are in danger of shifting or collapsing into something different.
  • This means one collapsing ecosystem could have a knock-on effect on neighbouring ecosystems through successive feedback loops: an “ecological doom-loop” scenario, with catastrophic consequences.

How long until a collapse?

    • We did this using models – computer programs that simulate how an ecosystem will work in future, and how it will react to changes in circumstance.
    • These latter two models both explicitly include interactions between human activities and the natural environment.
    • For example, fishers on Lake Chilika tend to prefer catching adult fish while the fish stock is abundant.
    • So long as enough adults are left to breed, this can be stable.

There are no ecological bailouts

    • We found the speed at which stress is applied is vital to understanding system collapse, which is probably relevant to non-ecological systems too.
    • Indeed, the increased speed of both news coverage and mobile banking processes has recently been invoked as raising the risk of bank collapse.
    • But there the comparison between ecological and economic systems runs out.
    • Banks can be saved as long as governments provide sufficient financial capital in bailouts.
    • There are no ecological bailouts.

CGTN: 'Desertification miracle': The northern border forest project that builds up China's ecological foundation

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Xi, Communist party, Yellow River, CPC, Agriculture, Hoxhaism, Gobi Desert, Forest, Biodiversity, Soil, NASA, Water, Growth, Erosion, Grassland, Water resources, Nature Sustainability, Forestry

Over the past four decades, the program has increased the forest area by 30.14 million hectares, according to 2018 data.

Key Points: 
  • Over the past four decades, the program has increased the forest area by 30.14 million hectares, according to 2018 data.
  • China's "three-North," the northwest, north and northeast regions, is home to deserts, including the Gobi, and a lot of desertification.
  • The country launched the "three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program" project in 1978.
  • "The conservation of Ulan Suhai Lake has important implications for the preservation of ecological security of China's northern region," he said.

CGTN: 'Desertification miracle': The northern border forest project that builds up China's ecological foundation

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Xi, Communist party, Yellow River, CPC, Agriculture, Hoxhaism, Gobi Desert, Forest, Biodiversity, Soil, NASA, Water, Growth, Erosion, Grassland, Water resources, Nature Sustainability, Forestry

Over the past four decades, the program has increased the forest area by 30.14 million hectares, according to 2018 data.

Key Points: 
  • Over the past four decades, the program has increased the forest area by 30.14 million hectares, according to 2018 data.
  • China's "three-North," the northwest, north and northeast regions, is home to deserts, including the Gobi, and a lot of desertification.
  • The country launched the "three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program" project in 1978.
  • "The conservation of Ulan Suhai Lake has important implications for the preservation of ecological security of China's northern region," he said.