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It's Called Science.

🌎📰 Climate Economics: The Math Isn't Mathing

Nov 6, 2023

•

9 min read

Willow Beck
By Willow Beck

Welcome to the week.

And thank you to everyone who participated in our podcast giveaway. Winners will be contacted later today!

This week:

  • 🌊 Offshore wind setbacks

  • 🧑‍🍼 Increasing mother & baby mortality rates

  • 🍎 Climate resilient apples

  • 📝 The A.I. Executive Order

  • And more

Have a great week,

— Willow

This is science for people who give a shit.

Every week, we help 25,000+ humans understand and unfuck the rapidly changing world around us. It feels great, and we’d love for you to join us.

Subscribe For Free

New Shit Giver Stacy wants to help solve “clean water as it would drive most cancer conversations, climate, and food waste. “

We can’t say enough about co-benefits. Welcome, Stacy!

Together With Bookshop

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Want to read what the people working on the frontlines of the future are reading?

Every week, I ask our podcast guest, "What’s a book you’ve read this year that’s opened your mind to a topic you haven’t considered before, or that’s changed your thinking in some way?"

And every week, we add their picks to a list on Bookshop, where every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores.

Get their picks here

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⚡️ Climate change:

  • The economic models underlying climate mitigation proposals don’t consider the extreme risk or uncertainty of climate change

  • As Danish company, Orsted, pulls the plug on two offshore wind projects in New Jersey, Biden has approved the largest offshore wind farm in the US off the coast of Virginia

  • The Israel-Hamas War complicates climate action

  • NASA’s new solid-state battery could be a new frontier for air travel

  • Here’s the current status of a direct air capture facility, 2 years in

🦠 Health & Bio:

  • Maternal and infant mortality rates are increasing, signaling the dire need to invest in maternal health

  • Gene therapy can restore hearing in children, and China wants to lead the race

  • A possible key to preventing dementia? Improving deep sleep

  • Distributed solar is keeping Kenya’s hospitals open during its longest nationwide power blackout

  • The viruses that might catalyze the next pandemic

💦 Food & Water:

  • The heat-resistant apples of the future

  • The Farm Bill is essential to helping companies form sustainable supply chains

  • Tribal nations are working with Feeding America to build food sovereignty

  • The EU is slashing pesticide use by 50% by 2030

  • El Niño puts global food security at risk

👩‍💻 Beep Boop:

  • Biden’s A.I. Executive Order appears to be good news for A.I. openness, but it’s complicated

  • Why isn’t Congress doing more to protect kids online?

  • The U.K. A.I. Summit warns of catastrophic consequences for humanity

  • New evidence that YouTube “rabbit holes” driving polarization may be less prevalent than originally thought

  • The National Weather Service is experimenting with A.I., and it could save lives

Want more news every week? Become a Member.

Last week’s most popular Action Step was learning what products are free from forever chemicals using this list from PFAS Central.

  • Donate to Girls Who Code to help close the gender gap in computer science.

  • Volunteer for research studies and clinical trials to advance Alzheimer’s research to find better treatments and a cure.

  • Get educated about electric bike rebate and tax rebates in your area with this worldwide list from Ride Review.

  • Be heard about climate policy at your company with resources from ClimateVoice.

  • Invest and bank with ATMOS to allocate more capital to climate solutions.

What is immunotherapy?

A relatively new field with limited research, immunotherapy is a promising treatment for cancer that has way less terrible side effects than chemotherapy.

But it only works for a small number of patients, and there’s still a lot to learn. Understand the basics with our immunotherapy explainer 👇

Learn about Immunotherapy


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This newsletter is free, but to support our work, get my popular “Not Important” book, music, and tool recommendations, connect with other Shit Givers, and attend exclusive monthly live events, please consider becoming a paid Member.

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Scientists Create 'Super Melanin' That Speeds Healing, Stops Sunburn, and More

Researchers developed a synthetic melanin that can prevent blistering and potentially act as an anti-ager.

gizmodo.com/super-melanin-synthetic-skin-cream-healing-anti-aging-1850982204

🙋‍♀️ Today’s Poll

Last week, 33% of you said you would try cell-cultivated meat, and you eat real meat. An additional 9% of you said you would eat it, and you don’t eat real meat.

Do you know how your business affects ecosystems?

(it's ok if you don't -- yet)
  • Yes
  • Kind of
  • Not really
  • No

Login or Subscribe to participate

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