The Problem with Universal Benchmarks

🌎 Air conditioning already accounts for 7% of global electricity demand, and is projected to grow to nearly 6 billion units by 2050, creating a vicious cycle as climate change increases cooling needs while also contributing to further warming (MIT Technology Review)

A critical climate adaptation program (BRIC), that saved $6 for every $1 spent helping vulnerable communities prepare for climate disasters, has been scrapped (Capital B)

Repealing the clean energy tax credits provided through the IRA could significantly increase utility bills in several states — we’re talking billions in collective costs by 2030 (Canary Media)

Despite backlash to ESG, pension funds are maintaining their climate commitments while other financial institutions have been backing away from their climate pledges (The New York Times)

🌍 Forest restoration efforts often fail to deliver promised biodiversity benefits because they prioritize carbon sequestration and use monoculture plantations instead of methods that would better support threatened ecosystems (Mongabay)

🌎 Air pollution kills 8 million people annually (yep). Understand it’s sources, and how the transitioning to clean energy and plant-based diets could simultaneously reduce multiple pollutants (Our World in Data)

People who received the shingles vaccine were found to be 20 percent less likely to develop dementia over the following seven years, providing strong evidence that preventing viral infections may help stave off cognitive decline (The New York Times)

NIH research repositories containing vital cancer, COVID, and Alzheimer’s data have been marked for “review” under Trump, and researchers are warning this irreplaceable data could be permanently lost due to specialized agreements required for archiving (404 Media)

Vermont is tackling its childcare crisis with a 0.44% payroll tax split between employers and employees that has led to 90 new childcare program, 1000 new childcare spots, and has allowed more parents to enter the workforce (Fast Company)

The NIH, the CDC, the FDA and other essential public health institutions have been gutted, which will ultimately cost more in healthcare expenses than they save (Your Local Epidemiologist)

California has hit the snowpack trifecta for the first time in 25 years, with the third consecutive year of above-average snow levels despite a dry start to the season (thank God) (LA Times)

Despite the promotion of meat eating as a healthier choices in certain circles, science research consistently shows that reducing meat intake and eating more plants results in better public health outcomes and reduces the risk of chronic disease. Just saying (Vox)

🌍 Water models used for lithium mining in South America’s Lithium Triangle overestimate available water resources, potentially creating severe water scarcity issues as global lithium demand is expected to increase by nearly 500% in the coming decades (Mongabay)

🌎 Industrial chicken farms in Britain are polluting rivers, resulting in a legal battle and court ruling that local authorities can use planning laws to control agricultural waste (The Conversation)

🌎 Coffee farmers in Columbia are switching to cacao due to rising temperatures, increasing pest pressure, and record-high cacao prices, with production expanding into higher elevations that were traditionally coffee territory (Mongabay)

🌍 An AI-powered wildfire forecasting model used by Europe’s top weather center is outperforming traditional weather models (Bloomberg)

AI companies scarping Wikipedia for training data have caused a 50% increase in it’s bandwidth costs, posing a significant threat to the platform’s sustainability (Platformer)

Generative AI like ChatGPT primarily threatens high-wage, technical positions in industries like healthcare and computing, while low-wage occupations remain less vulnerable to this specific type of AI (American Inequality)

🌍 Chinese companies circumvent US chip export restrictions all sorts of ways, from smuggling advanced chips via human couriers and intermediary countries to innovating solutions that optimize older, unrestricted chips for AI development (Rest of World)

🌎 An earthquake in Myanmar has killed over 3000 people, and the military junta’s internet blackouts in affected areas are hampering rescue efforts (Rest of World)