Last year changed the world as we know it. We switched to working remotely, and many of us continue to make big life changes. On a more global scale, a microscope is now focused on the climate crisis, our roles in that crisis, and what we can, and should do about it. Governments, regional and city leadership, the private sector, and individuals are scrambling to plan for the future—most immediately how to not only survive, but thrive post-COVID; and more long-term, how to b

Sir David Attenborough Still Has Hope for Our Future Sir David Attenborough is a legend, and a British national treasure. For those of us who grew up watching his BBC nature documentaries, he is a voice of calm, wisdom. He has been on the ground, reporting the effect of climate change on the natural world for decades. In this New York Times article promoting his new series “A Perfect Planet,” he offers us hope. He explains that “what this pandemic has done, in a very stra

Say Goodbye to the Gasoline(Petrol)-Powered Car There have been big announcements in the car industry in recent weeks. General Motors (GM) has committed to an all-electric future, pledging to make 30 new global electric vehicles available by 2025. GM also plans to be carbon neutral by 2024 in its global products and operations, and to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035. Meanwhile, Nissan has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality across its oper

Less than a month into the Biden-Harris Administration, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine have published a technical blueprint and manual identifying critical policies the United States must implement in the next 10 years to reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Key messages are that energy transformation is central to mitigating climate change; and that deep decarbonization is technically feasible, but this requires significant investment in innovat

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has published its 2021 SECURE Water Act Report, analyzing climate change impacts and projected risks to water supplies in the American West. This is the third 5-year report published by the Bureau, updating findings reported in 2011 and 2016. The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency tasked with overseeing water resource management throughout the American West. The Bureau is the largest wholesaler of water in the U.S., delivering water for

New Study Shows that Remote Working Has an Environmental Footprint that Must Not be Overlooked Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit early last year, our working lives have changed enormously. One clear example of this is the switch to all-remote video conferencing with the help of applications such as Zoom. This has opened up a new world of connectivity and opportunities, but a new study has found that this is at a cost—we are all underestimating our environmental footprints. Th

We’ve updated our Transboundary Water Map to show interstate compacts and U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning the allocation of interstate waters between U.S. States. The red lines on this map are the USGS-designated boundaries of all interstate water basins in the continental United States. To use the interactive map: Click on any water drop to access that water basin’s freshwater-related interstate compacts and U.S. Supreme Court decisions: · Magenta water drops indicate wa