12 News It’s no surprise that climate-related legislation isn’t a priority at the Arizona State Legislature. The GOP-led body has historically favored a limited approach to environmental regulations and even went out of its way in 2015 to pass a law preventing cities from passing their own plastic bag bans. Out of 275 bills passed during […]
azcentral If you’re sick of being made to feel like climate change is your fault and that you should be riding your bike to work to stop it, then you should have been in southern California last weekend. At the inaugural West Coast Climate Crisis Symposium, panels of experts discussed topics ranging from how rising temperatures will alter the oceans […]
Commercial businesses in Phoenix can help conserve water by implementing cooling water treatment systems using a program that was recently approved by the city. Through the grant program, eligible companies will be able to incorporate cooling tower projects into their own buildings and campuses, which could help lower the amount of water needed to cool facilities.
At their briefing on Friday, May 6, officials with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Arizona Department of Water Resources, and Central Arizona Project delivered a stark assessment of the Colorado River. As impacts of climate change persist, more significant Colorado River cuts are likely to occur. Those reductions will impact the amount of Colorado River water available to Phoenix and other central Arizona municipalities, farmers, and tribes. Central Arizona is currently experiencing the first-ever declared shortage on the Colorado River.
Tackling climate action in the building industry starts with making conscious decisions about the materials with which we build. Today, the production, maintenance and disposal of the materials used in building construction are responsible for 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This accounts for roughly a quarter of annual building sector emissions, a percentage which is growing.
Arizona State University is taking a new step to combat climate change by installing its first “mechanical tree” in Tempe that removes carbon dioxide from the air, just as real trees do. The trees, which are actually shaped like large tubes, remove carbon dioxide by catching carbon molecules on a unique sorbent material. The tree technology is also passive, meaning it does not need energy-consuming fans to direct air into its capture process.
Footprint, a global materials science technology company focused on creating a healthy planet, today released the results of a multi-country research study examining consumer attitudes toward single-use plastics and the expectations they have of brands and retailers to provide more sustainable options. The study, which was conducted by Wunderman Thompson Intelligence on behalf of Footprint, dove into attitudes among consumers in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands, and looked at how COVID-19 played a role in those sentiments.
Sometimes science becomes too hot to handle. That’s what researchers at the University of Arizona found recently when they tried to test a new air pollution monitoring system around Tucson. The scientists set out to install new equipment and implement a standardized protocol for monitoring levels of NO2, NOx, PM-2.5 and PM-10, four common air pollutants, that is already being used in 16 European countries. By adopting the same method of air quality evaluation used in ongoing studies elsewhere, they hoped to be able to improve comparisons of Tucson’s air pollution with levels in other environments and to test the accuracy of data from existing instruments around Tucson that are operated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Things are changing here in Arizona – and not for the better. Our climate is becoming more extreme, oscillating between historic droughts and monsoons. Wildfire season is starting earlier, ending later, and causing more destruction. Temperatures are warming, electricity bills are rising, and public health is taking a hit due to pollution. The effects of climate change are harming many aspects of our daily lives, but thankfully, we have an opportunity to fight back and turn things around.
Is it time for a reconciliation resurrection? There have been signs recently that Sen. Joe Manchin is ready to resume negotiations on the massive climate and social spending package he torpedoed late last year, according to people knowledgeable on the matter.