Aug
3
In 2015, a heat wave killed thousands of people in Pakistan
If the global warming continues, heat waves will make parts of South Asia in a hell by the end of this century.
A combination of extreme heat and high humidity will take dangerous forms for residents in dense populations in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
This is predicted by American scientists in the scientific magazine Science Advances. Read More
Jun
22
Tiny holes called nanopores, is specially designed to let high volumes of water through but keep salt and other contaminates out
MoS2 Nanopores, developed by the University of Illinois, seems to be an energy-efficient technique for removing salt from seawater. The material, a nanometer-thick sheet of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) riddled with tiny holes called nanopores, is specially designed to let high volumes of water through but keep salt and other contaminates out, a process called desalination. Read More
Mar
16
We install LED lights in our house and then we step with a clear conscience in the aircraft for a holiday in Thailand.
Our brains and hearts are the biggest obstacles towards more sustainability. Technology is not the issue.
That concludes Scientias in an interview with the Norwegian psychologist Per Espen Stoknes. Read More
Mar
15
According to climate researchers, more rain than snow will fall in the Arctic. Moreover, oceans are getting hotter, and they’re also losing oxygen
According to climate researchers in the Netherlands, at the end of this century more rain than snow will fall in the Arctic. It was already known that, due to global warming, up to 60% more precipitation would fall in the Arctic.
The researchers now argue that it mainly involves rain, while scientists always presuppose the precipitation would be snow. Read More
Feb
28
In 1989, the organization changed the design of a drilling platform in order to take account of extreme weather and rising sea levels.
Shell produced a report on global warming called ‘Climate of Concern’ in 1986. In 1991 they made the video documentary for the public. It warned that trends in global temperatures raised serious risks of famines, floods and climate refugees.
But in the quarter century since, Shell has continued to invest heavily in fossil fuels.
Already in the eighties, Shell understood that climate change would affect its own operations. In 1989, the organization changed the design of a drilling platform in order to take account of extreme weather and rising sea levels.
Feb
10
Between the years 1986 and 2006, Toronto experienced not one but eight storms of the magnitude that had been predicted to occur no more than once in a quarter-century. The Finch Avenue Washout was the capper, a one-in-100-years storm for which the city’s infrastructure was woefully under-designed.
The Netherlands is to host a new Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaption (GCEA), set up by the Dutch and Japanese governments in collaboration with the UN environment programme (UNEP).
The centre will advise countries, businesses and organizations on how to adapt their practices to comply with the Paris climate change agreement, which comprises measures designed to keep the global temperature increase below 2 degrees.
Last year it was ratified by 193 countries.
Jan
24
Please mail us your score.
Do you understand global warming? This quiz from the Guardian is a real challenge. What do you know about climate change?
According to a new analysis, which country has the most ambitious pledge at COP21? In this Quiz, you will find the answers. Please share in your network. Read More
Jan
10
Working of the capacity down pipe (1, empty; 2, filling-up; 3, over-flowing; 4; full; 5, drained)
A case study in Manchester with different solutions for water infiltration and retention systems, showed that soak-aways and infiltration trenches are generally less preferred than capacity down pipes, ponds and filter strips.
And this wateringpipe – the capacity downpipe (CDP) – works even better.
It has a very low footprint, can be integrated in water storage systems and retention. And … it is inexpensive. Read More
Jan
6
With Hyperloop One, we will create a new means of transportation, keeping our region at the forefront of transportation technology and innovation
Hyperloop One has signed an agreement with the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority that could see the firm’s technology applied in the UAE in a new feasibility study.
The Hyperloop concept is based on the idea of people traveling in autonomous pods from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in just 12 minutes (typically a ~2 hour drive). Read More
Jan
5
Oil Search Yemen Field Flare
Flared gas is a bigger problem than thought. Contrary to what has been agreed with the oil industry, worldwide the industry flared not less, but more gas.
In 2015, about 147 billion cubic meters which is a CO2 footprint of around 350 million tonnes!
The world bank published the figures in a report. Globally, over 16,000 oil wells are flaring gas.
The amount of wasted gas corresponds to the gas consumption of the UK, Germany and Switzerland together. If the gas was burned in a power plant, it could supply the whole of Africa with electricity. Read More
Dec
15
COP climate pledges global warming
COP 21 report overview
Dec
5
The next few decades will be the most rapid period of urban growth in human history, with 2.6 billion additional urban dwellers expected by 2050 (UNPD, 2011). All pleople will need water, but surprisingly little is known globally about where large cities obtain their water or the implication of this infrastructure for the global hydrologic cycle.
More than 2.5 billion people don’t have access to basic levels of fresh water for at least one month each year – a situation growing ever more critical as urban populations expand rapidly
Traditionally, cities, facing increased demand for water, along with variable supply, have relied on large-scale, supply-side infrastructural projects such as dams and reservoirs.
This is termed ‘supply-side’ management. According to Robert Brears in his blog, this supply-side management is out dated.
Its costly in economic, environmental and political terms. Read More
Nov
25
Smart Grid projects Europe including investments 2014
Investing in renewables is increasingly interesting. The rise of renewable energy seems unstoppable.
In 2015, 50% of all energy was already renewable energy. Worldwide! And figures are growing. investment dollars are starting to move to renewable energy.
Even the Rockefeller family sells out of fossil fuels and invests in clean energy. Read More
Nov
24
Trump may disrupt the transition towards renewables, but he can not reverse it. The revolution to clean energy is irreversible.
With Trump as the new president, the world is worrying about the climate damage, he will cause.
Still we hear an increasingly interviews with relativizations.
Jan Rotmans, professor transition science and international authority in the field of transition and sustainability, gave his reaction. Read More
Nov
1
Zurich leads the ranking sustainable cities top100 2016
Zurich leads the list of the Arcadis’ Sustainable Cities Index 2016 top 100. Second in the 2016 list is Singapore.
The third place, which isn’t bad at all, is for Stockholm.
The new ARCADIS Sustainable Cities Index explores the three demands of social (People), environmental (Planet) and economic (Profit) to develop an indicative ranking of 100 of the world’s major cities. Read More
Oct
14
The US President has declared a federal disaster for the storms and floods that struck 8 counties of Iowa during late August 2016.
Storming Water costs lives and a lot of money. Last winter, more than 15,000 homes and businesses in just eight council areas in the USA were flooded, a survey has revealed.
In October, the US President has declared a federal disaster for storming water and floods that struck 8 countries during late August 2016
The research for the Local Government Association found that councils were still helping flood-hit homes recover.
Councils are encouraging people to check if they are at risk of flooding this year, to sign up to flood warnings and make sure their homes are prepared. Read More
Sep
1
geopolitical instability is exposing businesses to cancelled projects, revoked licenses, interrupted production, damaged assets and restricted movement of funds across borders.
Failure of tackling climate change is the biggest risk to the global economy.
This is the conclusion of the World Economic Forum in its Global Risk Report 2016.
Aug
30
Circular building is more than reusing the existing structure. All added materials, such as the concrete tiles, furniture and the insulation material, are recycled products and materials.
How do you give four dated bunched offices a second life without wasting material? Simple: build circular.
Energy Company Liander did it.
We have seen it. And it’s an amazing ‘new’ future proof and circular building. Read More
Aug
23
Even if global warming is capped at 2C, 20% of the world’s population will have to migrate away from coasts swamped by rising oceans.
Even if global warming is capped at governments’ target of 2C, 20% of the world’s population will be to migrate to higher area’s because of rising sea levels.
Countries like the Netherlands and Bangladesh and cities including New York, London, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo, Calcutta, Jakarta and Shanghai would all be submerged because of melting polar ice caps and sea-level rise. Read More
Jul
26
Using robots to lay down concrete made from moon soil around the entirety of the moon’s equator — 400 km wide by 11,000 km long — the power generated through the solar array would then be transferred along power cables to microwave power transmission antennas which would then beam the electricity to receiving stations located around the Pacific Rim.
LSP – Lunar Solar Power – can provide an unlimited power supply sent back to the earth in microwaves.
Why are international politicians the big holdout on this unlimited green power resource?
Could it be because the oil industry keeps paying off all the politicians? Read More
Jul
19
Why anticipate? The world will not change that fast.
The Amsterdam Port Authority is taking big risks. The harbor still relies entirely on fossils.
As soon as it turns out that the Port Authority were sleeping, the municipality has to pay all the costs.
Drs. Rens van Tilburg, an economist and member of the Sustainable Finance Lab Utrecht University, has warned the City of Amsterdam. Read More
Jul
7
SF doesn’t know which neighborhoods will be worst hit after a given storm, but they do know sea levels are rising, and that with climate change, those hurricanes off Mexico’s Pacific Coast could come north some day. They don’t know when or how severe, but we could get a 25 foot storm surge at some point.
In San Francisco (SF), where the waterfront has been a political battleground for decades, sea-level rise is too easy to ignore.
While SF is less vulnerable to rising sea levels than other parts of the Bay Area, portions of areas bordering the bay would be at risk.
The challenge is to accommodate the bay’s impending expansion as it rises because of our warming planet. And to accomplish that in a way that won’t put our human and environmental resources at risk. Read More
Jul
5
The Hellisheidi power plant is the world’s largest geothermal facility. It provides the energy for Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, plus power for industry, by pumping up volcanically heated water to run turbines
Iceland has done it again. No, its not football. It’s even better. They successfully turned CO2 into stone!
In Iceland, scientists and engineers are fighting climate change by injecting CO2 deep into volcanic rocks. Read More
Jul
5
Our climate continues to act in new and frightening ways. We have never seen this before. Welcome to the climate chaos. We must declare a global climate emergency
Last week, Siberia recorded a temperature of 33.2 degrees Celcius.
That’s 91.8 in Fahrenheit and about 20 degrees or 68°F too high!
Weather goes crazy in Siberia – with record high temperatures. Then July snow.
Scientists warn of increasing extreme weathers. Read More
