EcoUniv Weekend Reads #47
3 Jan 2021
Pollution: From a book that talks about the public health emergency due to air pollution in India.
Technology: What does the termination of an AI researcher from Google have to do with the environment? Think of carbon footprint of large AI models.
A more in-depth article on related data: https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/06/06/239031/training-a-single-ai-model-can-emit-as-much-carbon-as-five-cars-in-their-lifetimes/
Man & Wildlife: We are getting Covid-19 under control after it caused severe damage to our ‘advanced’ civilization. But what were the root causes and what’s the guarantee that zoonotic diseases won’t recur?
Environmental Education: In the “Understanding the Learner” series, this week we focus on eleven-year olds (sixth grade).
EcoUniv Weekend Reads #48
11 Jan 2021
Climate Change: Uttarakhand may see forest fires last through the year.
Research – Pollution: Air pollution in S. Asia is causing increased risk of pregnancy loss, miscarriage, and stillbirth.
Energy: The changing dynamic of drilling for fossil fuels in the Alaska region.
EcoUniv Weekend Reads #49
18 Jan 2021
Animal Behavior: ICARUS, a technology-based project to track animal movements in great detail.
Research – Climate: Most land-based ecosystems are becoming less and less efficient in absorbing atmospheric CO2.
EcoUniv Weekend Reads #50
26 Jan 2021
Today is Republic Day in India and this is a special on the concept of nation-states and environment.
Nation-States and the environment in the 20th century
Paper 1: This article reviews the global institutional process led by nation-states in the 20th century to respond to environmental challenges. However it acknowledges the crisis is far from over.
Paper 2: This article points out that while the concept of a nation-state is not threatened by the environmental crisis, it is certainly being stress-tested, and this will continue.
Collapsing nation states: A book chapter exploring the failure of nation-states. Most thought so far has seen collapse of nation-states in binary terms. However I feel more nuanced, multi-dimensional yardsticks are needed. A nation-state may do well on some parameters (e.g. technology or lack of corruption) while fail on some others (equity or care of natural resources).
EcoUniv Weekend Reads #51
31 Jan 2021
Environmental education: An urgency for environmental action sweeps across elite college campuses in France…and new ideas emerge.
Green business: Tesla, whose market value is more than the 12 largest car companies combined, does not make profits selling electric cars. It makes more money selling regulatory credits to other companies.
Environmental justice: Plenty of environmental injustice exists even in a developed nation like the US, and things can change for the better with Biden as president.
Climate and species: How whales impact the carbon cycle and keep the earth cool.