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Brainstorming Ways to Solve Environmental Problems? 5 Simple Ways You Can Help

June 1, 2019

Home  /  News  /  Brainstorming Ways to Solve Environmental Problems? 5 Simple Ways You Can Help

We are currently facing the most critical environmental issues in human history. Our climate, planet, lives, and future as a civilization are all at risk. While the magnitude of that thought can be extremely overwhelming, don’t allow yourself to feel helpless, not knowing where to begin. Making small steps and adjustments in your daily routine will give you a sense of success and a yearning to attempt more.

Here are 5 simple ways you can help the environment and spark others to become more environmentally aware.

1. Replace disposable items with reusable

Anything you use and throw away can potentially spend centuries in a landfill. See below for simple adjustments you can make to decrease the amount of disposable items in your daily life.

  • Carry your own reusable cup or water bottle
  • Use airtight, reusable food containers instead of sandwich bags and plastic wrap
  • Pack a waste-free lunch: carry your utensils, cloth napkin, and containers in a reusable lunch bag
  • Bring your own bags to the grocery store
  • Consider buying bulk containers of your preferred beverages and refilling a reusable bottle, instead of buying individually packaged drinks
  • Use rechargeable batteries

2. Pass on paper

We are living in the Digital Era, but think about all the paper products you use in your daily life. These actions still align with reusing and repurposing, though may take a little more time for transition.

  • Join a library instead of buying books or buy a Kindle
  • Print as little as possible; and if you must, print on both sides
  • Wrap gifts in fabric and tie with ribbon; both are reusable and prettier than paper and sticky-tape
  • Stop using paper towels and incorporate washable cloths
  • Look at labels to make sure you only use FSC-certified wood and paper products
  • Cut out products made by palm oil companies that contribute to deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia

3. Conserve water & electricity

The tips you see below will seem like no-brainers; however, it may take to become more aware of your unconscious habits.

  • Turn the sink water off when brushing your teeth
  • Water the lawn in the morning or evening; cooler air causes less evaporation
  • Switch off anything that uses electricity when not in use (lights, televisions, computers, printers, etc.)
  • Unplug devices when possible; even when an appliance is turned off, it may still use power
  • Remove chemicals inside of the house; research companies that use plant-derived ingredients for their household cleaning products
  • Remove chemicals outside of the house; use eco-friendly pesticides and herbicides that won’t contaminate groundwater
  • Consider signing up for a renewable energy producer that uses 100% renewable energy to power homes

4. Support local & environmentally friendly

Here are a few reasons to start buying local:

  • Reduces plastic and paper waste
  • Boosts cost-efficiency
  • Enables bulk purchasing
  • Helps support your neighbors
  • Retains farmland within the community
  • Builds up the local economy
  • Uses fewer chemicals for both for growing and transporting

5. Recycle (& then recycle properly)

Implementing recycling habits into your daily life is one of the most effective ways to help lessen landfill waste, conserve natural resources, save habitats, reduce pollution, cut down on energy consumption, and slow down global warming.

  • Confirm you are using the proper separation containers for your household per the local recycling services
  • Remember to make sure your trash bags are recycled or biodegradable, and always cut up the plastic rings from packs of beer or soda to prevent wildlife from getting caught
  • Educate yourself about what can and cannot be recycled, as not all plastic and cardboard is acceptable (like pizza boxes for example, due to the grease) ( click here for a simple 101 )
  • Learn how to identify and dispose of hazardous waste properly ( click here to learn more )

Taking the time to simply read this article for ways to solve environmental problems is a step forward to becoming more aware of the needs of your environment. You are now taking action, and every change–big or small–will create an impact.

If you’re already taking action on the suggestions above, see below for additional tips and ideas:

  • Add these simple lists to your digital checklist and pick one at a time to tackle. After a week or so, check it off the list and move on to the next. Remember to pat yourself on the back! You just created a change in your lifestyle!
  • Find a comfortable compromise for your life. Purchase a pack of affordable, reusable rags and give them a specific purpose. For example, perhaps you always clean your countertops with paper towels; try wiping them down with cloth towels instead.
  • Remember to highlight your successes and share them with others! #savetheplanet
  • Calculate your environmental footprint to see how much impact just one person has on the world’s resources and adjust accordingly.
  • Consider an environmentally-focused career like one of the top four environmental jobs of the future.

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6 global environmental issues and ways you can help

1. loss of biodiversity .

In 2019, the United Nations published a groundbreaking report stating that more than one million animal and plant species are at risk of becoming extinct in the upcoming decades. Conservationists have been urging us to protect wildlife for years, and now it’s a race against the clock. The world needs biodiversity. Birds transport seeds across rainforests, sharks balance ocean food webs, mangroves hold important nutrients in wetlands… without diverse species and their unique ecological roles, our planet would suffer greatly. 

What you can do: 

Habitat loss and fragmentation is one of the fastest growing threats against species’ survival. From shrinking elephant corridors in India to bulldozed koala eucalyptus groves in Australia , animals are losing their habitats at a startling rate. Help make a difference by respecting natural landscapes and participating in habitat restoration projects. Like all environmental issues, we also need large scale government action to help save endangered species. Support international and local wildlife protection legislation like the Endangered Species Act, and vote for candidates who advocate for conservation.  

2. Human-wildlife conflict 

Today’s human-dominated landscapes can make it difficult for animals to find abundant habitat and resources. Conflict — real or perceived — between people and wildlife looks different all around the world. For people in Malawi, conflict may include unexpected encounters with large animals like leopards, crocodiles, and hippos that cause serious injury - sometimes leading to retaliatory killing of wildlife. In India, community members face conflict with elephants who graze on crops and cause great economic loss. Across Canada and the United States, government programs kill thousands of wolves, beavers, bobcats, and bears through unscientific poisoning and cull initiatives. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, closed cities and quieter communities led to more accounts of wildlife sightings as animals came out of hiding. In this ever-changing world, it’s important that we understand the role of wildlife and learn how to respect all species so we can better coexist.  

Human wellbeing and wildlife protection are interconnected. When animals are treated with respect and able to play their natural role in the environment, humans benefit greatly. Ecosystems heal, lifestyles improve, eco-tourism thrives, and we get to appreciate the intrinsic beauty of wildlife. 

  • In urban areas and neighborhoods, approaches to human-wildlife coexistence can be as simple as using animal-proof trash cans and walking pets on leashes. 
  • In rural areas, sustainable measures may include installing fencing around crops, training wildlife rangers, and securing wildlife corridors where animals can safely migrate without human encounters. 

Coexistence is possible and there are countless innovative solutions that promote the wellbeing of animals and humans.   

3. Ocean noise and vessel strikes  

These days, most of us can order an item online with the click of a button—but what comes as a convenience to us is a danger to wildlife. The majority of the world’s products are transported by large cargo ships, and unfortunately, they are threatening the lives of marine animals. Ships and other industrial activity produce sound waves known as ocean noise pollution that create a maze of noise and disorient marine animals. Ocean noise pollution can prevent animals like dolphins and whales from communicating, hunting, and finding mates. In some cases, it can even lead to immense stress and death. Another issue facing marine animals is ship strikes and collisions of all sizes. Blunt trauma from propeller strikes and ship collisions can cause internal injury, sliced fluke tails, and a slow death for whales. For the case of the North Atlantic right whale , ship strikes are pushing the species to extinction. 

  • Local consumerism is key to minimizing ocean noise and reliance on ships. Instead of purchasing items online which require shipping and plastic packaging, shop at local stores. 
  • If you do have to make an online purchase, skip the fast shipment option and choose consolidated packaging if you have more than one item. 
  • Reducing ship speeds is also a critical act for protecting marine mammals from ocean noise pollution and ship strikes. When ships operate at slower speeds, ocean noise reduces and the chance of vessel strikes drops drastically.

4. Plastic pollution 

An estimated eight million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year , threatening the health of ecosystems, marine animals, and humans. Plastic debris can entangle marine animals , causing deep lacerations, starvation, and strangulation. Turtles are known to consume floating plastic bags (mistaking them for jellyfish) and 90% of all seabirds have consumed plastic. When plastics break down into microplastics, they are even more dangerous. Species lower on the food chain like fish, plankton, and oysters consume microplastics when filtering water. Toxins from the microplastics then get passed through the food web, reaching their way to large marine animals and humans. 

  • Choose a day to track all of the disposable plastic that you use from morning to night. 
  • After you’ve written a list, research and choose sustainable alternatives made out of material like wood, glass, or natural fibers. 
  • Replacement items could include reusable produce bags for bulk shopping, travel utensils to keep in your car, or reusable snack baggies - the list is endless. 
  • For times when you do purchase plastic, always recycle and do it correctly. Make sure you wash containers before throwing them in the bin and familiarize yourself with local recycling protocols. 

5. Intensive farming of animals   

Intensive farming—also known as factory farming—involves industrialized facilities utilizing confinement systems with high stocking densities. Not only does intensive farming cause immense suffering to millions of animals, but it also has a devastating environmental impact. The Food and Agriculture Organization report, Livestock's Long Shadow, found that 37% of the world's methane emissions come from factory farming. Untreated animal waste full of highly concentrated chemicals and bacteria is stored in giant manure lagoons that emit gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia. When overflow occurs from broken infrastructure or rain, the waste leaches into soil and causes dangerous threats to environmental and human health. This includes harmful algae blooms, contamination of drinking water, ammonia pollution, and pathogen outbreaks.  

 What you can do:  

  • Reduce your meat consumption by incorporating more vegetarian and vegan meals into your diet. Use it as an opportunity to explore new plant-based ingredients and recipes. 
  • Buy local produce and support local farms where animal welfare and environmental impact are prioritized. 
  • Educate yourself on the meanings of certifications and labeling , and advocate for better protection for farmed animals through new legislation propositions.   

6. Food waste  

Food waste and loss occurs along every step of food production, from farms to factories, to grocery stores and consumers. During production, waste happens when production exceeds demand, manufacturing damages product, and food spoils during transportation. On the consumer end, food waste occurs mainly from over-purchasing and throwing out blemished produce. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that 30-40% of food in the United States goes to waste . All food has an ecological footprint. When we waste food, we waste the energy and natural resources that went into production, and contribute to landfills that produce greenhouse gases. 

  • Vegetables don’t need to be perfect. As long as the food isn't spoiled, blemishes and imperfections are safe to consume. 
  • Remember to take what you need and eat what you take. If you have a habit of over-purchasing food, try to actively buy less or donate to local food banks. 
  • Learn how to properly store and freeze food to make it last longer and save money. 
  • Consider starting a compost bin where leftover food scraps can turn into nutritious soil for your garden. Don’t have a garden of your own? Donate your compost soil to a nearby farm, urban garden, or school. 

Animals with the strongest bite: 9 jaw-dropping mammals, sharks, and reptiles

20 of the most endangered animals and wildlife in Africa

10 of the most endangered animals in Australia

every problem has a solution, every solution needs support.

The problems we face are urgent, complicated, and resistant to change. Real solutions demand creativity, hard work, and involvement from people like you.

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What You Can Do About Pollution Prevention

P2 resources for concerned citizens, technical assistance where you live.

Find EPA regional contact information, and state and local P2 technical assistance resources.

Pollution prevention is not just the responsibility of businesses and government agencies. Citizens can help solve environmental problems by reducing pollution at the source, before it is created. 

We can all apply pollution prevention in our daily lives. Whether in the home and garden, at the supermarket or on the road, we can make pollution prevention choices every day in order to protect the environment, save money and conserve natural resources. 

The resources below can help you be more aware of the many ways to prevent pollution:

Home: Use reusable shopping bags; Install a programmable thermostat. State or Tribal Program or University: Apply for EPA Pollution Prevention grant. Industry: Switch to low-carbon energy supply and materials; Reduce or eliminate use of hazardous chemicals. School or Business: Reduce or eliminate use of single use cups, plates and utensils in cafeteria; Look for products with Safer Choice label; Establish sustainable purchasing program. Commute: Carpool, walk, bike, or take transit; Keep car tires inflated.

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Are there real ways to fight climate change? Yes.

Humans have the solutions to fight a global environmental crisis. Do we have the will?

The evidence that humans are causing climate change, with drastic consequences for life on the planet, is overwhelming .

Experts began raising the alarm about global warming in 1979 , a change now referred to under the broader term climate change , preferred by scientists to describe the complex shifts now affecting our planet’s weather and climate systems. Climate change encompasses not only rising average temperatures but also extreme weather events, shifting wildlife populations and habitats, rising seas , and a range of other impacts. 

Over 200 countries—193 countries plus the 27 members of the European Union—have signed the Paris Climate Agreement , a treaty created in 2015 to fight climate change on a global scale. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which synthesizes the scientific consensus on the issue, has set a goal of keeping warming under 2°C (3.6°F) and pursuing an even lower warming cap of 1.5 °C (2.7° F).

But no country has created policies that will keep the world below 1.5 °C, according to the Climate Action Tracker . Current emissions have the world on track to warm 2.8°C by the end of this century. 

Addressing climate change will require many solutions —there's no magic bullet. Yet nearly all of these solutions exist today. They range from worldwide changes to where we source our electricity to protecting forests from deforestation. 

The promise of new technology

Better technology will help reduce emissions from activities like manufacturing and driving. 

Scientists are working on ways to sustainably produce hydrogen, most of which is currently derived from natural gas, to feed zero-emission fuel cells for transportation and electricity. 

Renewable energy is growing, and in the U.S., a combination of wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable sources provide 20 percen t of the nation’s electricity. 

New technological developments promise to build better batteries to store that renewable energy, engineer a smarter electric grid, and capture carbon dioxide from power plants and store it underground or turn it into valuable products such as gasoline . Some argue that nuclear power—despite concerns over safety, water use, and toxic waste—should also be part of the solution, because nuclear plants don't contribute any direct air pollution while operating.

Should we turn to geoengineering?

While halting new greenhouse gas emissions is critical, scientists say we need to extract existing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, effectively sucking it out of the sky. 

Pulling carbon out of the atmosphere is a type of geoengineering , a science that interferes with the Earth’s natural systems, and it’s a controversial approach to fighting climate change.

Other types of geoengineering involve spraying sunlight-reflecting aerosols into the air or blocking the sun with a giant space mirror. Studies suggest we don’t know enough about the potential dangers of geoengineering to deploy it.

An iceberg melts in the waters off Antarctica. Climate change has accelerated the rate of ice loss across the continent.

Restoring nature to protect the planet 

Planting trees, restoring seagrasses, and boosting the use of agricultural cover crops could help clean up significant amounts of carbon dioxide . 

The Amazon rainforest is an important reservoir of the Earth’s carbon, but a study published in 2021, showed deforestation was transforming this reservoir into a source of pollution. 

Restoring and protecting nature may provide as much as  37 percent of the climate mitigation needed to reach the Paris Agreement’s 203o targets. Protecting these ecosystems can also benefit biodiversity, providing a win-win for nature .

Adapt—or else

Communities around the world are already recognizing that adaptation must also be part of the response to climate change . From flood-prone coastal towns to regions facing increased droughts and fires, a new wave of initiatives focuses on boosting resilience . Those include managing or preventing land erosion, building microgrids and other energy systems built to withstand disruptions, and designing buildings with rising sea levels in mind.

Last year, the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law and was a historic investment in fighting and adapting to climate change.

( Read more about how the bill will dramatically reduce emissions. )

Recent books such as Drawdown and Designing Climate Solutions have proposed bold yet simple plans for reversing our current course. The ideas vary, but the message is consistent: We already have many of the tools needed to address climate change. Some of the concepts are broad ones that governments and businesses must implement, but many other ideas involve changes that anyone can make— eating less  meat , for example, or rethinking your modes of transport .

"We have the technology today to rapidly move to a clean energy system," write the authors of Designing Climate Solutions . "And the price of that future, without counting environmental benefits, is about the same as that of a carbon-intensive future."

Sarah Gibbens contributed reporting to this article.

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November 26, 2007

10 Solutions for Climate Change

Ten possibilities for staving off catastrophic climate change

By David Biello

how we can solve environmental problems by

Mark Garlick Getty Images

The enormity of global warming can be daunting and dispiriting. What can one person, or even one nation, do on their own to slow and reverse climate change ? But just as ecologist Stephen Pacala and physicist Robert Socolow, both at Princeton University, came up with 15 so-called " wedges " for nations to utilize toward this goal—each of which is challenging but feasible and, in some combination, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions to safer levels —there are personal lifestyle changes that you can make too that, in some combination, can help reduce your carbon impact. Not all are right for everybody. Some you may already be doing or absolutely abhor. But implementing just a few of them could make a difference.

Forego Fossil Fuels —The first challenge is eliminating the burning of coal , oil and, eventually, natural gas. This is perhaps the most daunting challenge as denizens of richer nations literally eat, wear, work, play and even sleep on the products made from such fossilized sunshine. And citizens of developing nations want and arguably deserve the same comforts, which are largely thanks to the energy stored in such fuels.

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Oil is the lubricant of the global economy, hidden inside such ubiquitous items as plastic and corn, and fundamental to the transportation of both consumers and goods. Coal is the substrate, supplying roughly half of the electricity used in the U.S. and nearly that much worldwide—a percentage that is likely to grow, according to the International Energy Agency. There are no perfect solutions for reducing dependence on fossil fuels (for example, carbon neutral biofuels can drive up the price of food and lead to forest destruction, and while nuclear power does not emit greenhouse gases, it does produce radioactive waste), but every bit counts.

So try to employ alternatives when possible—plant-derived plastics, biodiesel, wind power—and to invest in the change, be it by divesting from oil stocks or investing in companies practicing carbon capture and storage.

Infrastructure Upgrade —Buildings worldwide contribute around one third of all greenhouse gas emissions (43 percent in the U.S. alone), even though investing in thicker insulation and other cost-effective, temperature-regulating steps can save money in the long run. Electric grids are at capacity or overloaded, but power demands continue to rise. And bad roads can lower the fuel economy of even the most efficient vehicle. Investing in new infrastructure, or radically upgrading existing highways and transmission lines, would help cut greenhouse gas emissions and drive economic growth in developing countries.

Of course, it takes a lot of cement, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, to construct new buildings and roads. The U.S. alone contributed 50.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2005 from cement production, which requires heating limestone and other ingredients to 1,450 degrees Celsius (2,642 degrees Fahrenheit). Mining copper and other elements needed for electrical wiring and transmission also causes globe-warming pollution.

But energy-efficient buildings and improved cement-making processes (such as using alternative fuels to fire up the kiln) could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the developed world and prevent them in the developing world.

Move Closer to Work —Transportation is the second leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. (burning a single gallon of gasoline produces 20 pounds of CO 2 ). But it doesn't have to be that way.

One way to dramatically curtail transportation fuel needs is to move closer to work, use mass transit, or switch to walking, cycling or some other mode of transport that does not require anything other than human energy. There is also the option of working from home and telecommuting several days a week.

Cutting down on long-distance travel would also help, most notably airplane flights, which are one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and a source that arguably releases such emissions in the worst possible spot (higher in the atmosphere). Flights are also one of the few sources of globe-warming pollution for which there isn't already a viable alternative: jets rely on kerosene, because it packs the most energy per pound, allowing them to travel far and fast, yet it takes roughly 10 gallons of oil to make one gallon of JetA fuel. Restricting flying to only critical, long-distance trips—in many parts of the world, trains can replace planes for short- to medium-distance trips—would help curb airplane emissions.

Consume Less —The easiest way to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions is simply to buy less stuff. Whether by forgoing an automobile or employing a reusable grocery sack, cutting back on consumption results in fewer fossil fuels being burned to extract, produce and ship products around the globe.

Think green when making purchases. For instance, if you are in the market for a new car, buy one that will last the longest and have the least impact on the environment. Thus, a used vehicle with a hybrid engine offers superior fuel efficiency over the long haul while saving the environmental impact of new car manufacture.

Paradoxically, when purchasing essentials, such as groceries, buying in bulk can reduce the amount of packaging—plastic wrapping, cardboard boxes and other unnecessary materials. Sometimes buying more means consuming less.

Be Efficient —A potentially simpler and even bigger impact can be made by doing more with less. Citizens of many developed countries are profligate wasters of energy, whether by speeding in a gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicle or leaving the lights on when not in a room.

Good driving—and good car maintenance, such as making sure tires are properly inflated—can limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from a vehicle and, perhaps more importantly, lower the frequency of payment at the pump.

Similarly, employing more efficient refrigerators, air conditioners and other appliances, such as those rated highly under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program, can cut electric bills while something as simple as weatherproofing the windows of a home can reduce heating and cooling bills. Such efforts can also be usefully employed at work, whether that means installing more efficient turbines at the power plant or turning the lights off when you leave the office .

Eat Smart, Go Vegetarian? —Corn grown in the U.S. requires barrels of oil for the fertilizer to grow it and the diesel fuel to harvest and transport it. Some grocery stores stock organic produce that do not require such fertilizers, but it is often shipped from halfway across the globe. And meat, whether beef, chicken or pork, requires pounds of feed to produce a pound of protein.

Choosing food items that balance nutrition, taste and ecological impact is no easy task. Foodstuffs often bear some nutritional information, but there is little to reveal how far a head of lettuce, for example, has traveled.

University of Chicago researchers estimate that each meat-eating American produces 1.5 tons more greenhouse gases through their food choice than do their vegetarian peers. It would also take far less land to grow the crops necessary to feed humans than livestock, allowing more room for planting trees.

Stop Cutting Down Trees —Every year, 33 million acres of forests are cut down . Timber harvesting in the tropics alone contributes 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere. That represents 20 percent of human-made greenhouse gas emissions and a source that could be avoided relatively easily.

Improved agricultural practices along with paper recycling and forest management—balancing the amount of wood taken out with the amount of new trees growing—could quickly eliminate this significant chunk of emissions.

And when purchasing wood products, such as furniture or flooring, buy used goods or, failing that, wood certified to have been sustainably harvested. The Amazon and other forests are not just the lungs of the earth, they may also be humanity's best short-term hope for limiting climate change.

Unplug —Believe it or not, U.S. citizens spend more money on electricity to power devices when off than when on. Televisions, stereo equipment, computers, battery chargers and a host of other gadgets and appliances consume more energy when seemingly switched off, so unplug them instead.

Purchasing energy-efficient gadgets can also save both energy and money—and thus prevent more greenhouse gas emissions. To take but one example, efficient battery chargers could save more than one billion kilowatt-hours of electricity—$100 million at today's electricity prices—and thus prevent the release of more than one million metric tons of greenhouse gases.

Swapping old incandescent lightbulbs for more efficient replacements, such as compact fluorescents (warning: these lightbulbs contain mercury and must be properly disposed of at the end of their long life), would save billions of kilowatt-hours. In fact, according to the EPA, replacing just one incandescent lightbulb in every American home would save enough energy to provide electricity to three million American homes.

One Child —There are at least 6.6 billion people living today, a number that is predicted by the United Nations to grow to at least nine billion by mid-century. The U.N. Environmental Program estimates that it requires 54 acres to sustain an average human being today—food, clothing and other resources extracted from the planet. Continuing such population growth seems unsustainable.

Falling birth rates in some developed and developing countries (a significant portion of which are due to government-imposed limits on the number of children a couple can have) have begun to reduce or reverse the population explosion. It remains unclear how many people the planet can comfortably sustain, but it is clear that per capita energy consumption must go down if climate change is to be controlled.

Ultimately, a one child per couple rule is not sustainable either and there is no perfect number for human population. But it is clear that more humans means more greenhouse gas emissions.

Future Fuels —Replacing fossil fuels may prove the great challenge of the 21st century. Many contenders exist, ranging from ethanol derived from crops to hydrogen electrolyzed out of water, but all of them have some drawbacks, too, and none are immediately available at the scale needed.

Biofuels can have a host of negative impacts, from driving up food prices to sucking up more energy than they produce. Hydrogen must be created, requiring either reforming natural gas or electricity to crack water molecules. Biodiesel hybrid electric vehicles (that can plug into the grid overnight) may offer the best transportation solution in the short term, given the energy density of diesel and the carbon neutral ramifications of fuel from plants as well as the emissions of electric engines. A recent study found that the present amount of electricity generation in the U.S. could provide enough energy for the country's entire fleet of automobiles to switch to plug-in hybrids , reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the process.

But plug-in hybrids would still rely on electricity, now predominantly generated by burning dirty coal. Massive investment in low-emission energy generation, whether solar-thermal power or nuclear fission , would be required to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And even more speculative energy sources—hyperefficient photovoltaic cells, solar energy stations in orbit or even fusion—may ultimately be required.

The solutions above offer the outline of a plan to personally avoid contributing to global warming. But should such individual and national efforts fail, there is another, potentially desperate solution:

Experiment Earth —Climate change represents humanity's first planetwide experiment. But, if all else fails, it may not be the last. So-called geoengineering , radical interventions to either block sunlight or reduce greenhouse gases, is a potential last resort for addressing the challenge of climate change.

Among the ideas: releasing sulfate particles in the air to mimic the cooling effects of a massive volcanic eruption; placing millions of small mirrors or lenses in space to deflect sunlight; covering portions of the planet with reflective films to bounce sunlight back into space; fertilizing the oceans with iron or other nutrients to enable plankton to absorb more carbon; and increasing cloud cover or the reflectivity of clouds that already form.

All may have unintended consequences, making the solution worse than the original problem. But it is clear that at least some form of geoengineering will likely be required: capturing carbon dioxide before it is released and storing it in some fashion, either deep beneath the earth, at the bottom of the ocean or in carbonate minerals. Such carbon capture and storage is critical to any serious effort to combat climate change.

Additional reporting by Larry Greenemeier and Nikhil Swaminathan .

What Are the Solutions to Climate Change?

Some solutions are big and will require billions in investment. Some are small and free. All are achievable.

A woman holds a lantern that is connected by a wire to a small solar panel held by a man to her left.

Bundei Hidreka (left), a member of the Orissa Tribal Women's Barefoot Solar Engineers Association, holds up a solar lantern in Tinginaput, India.

Abbie Trayler-Smith/DFID, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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Thinking about climate change can be overwhelming. We’ve been aware of its causes for decades now, and all around us, we bear witness to its devastating effects on our communities and ecosystems.

But the good news is that we now know exactly what it will take to win the fight against climate change, and we’re making measurable, meaningful progress. Game-changing developments in clean energy, electric vehicle technology, and energy efficiency are emerging every single day. And countries—including Canada , China , India , and the United States —are coordinating and cooperating at levels never seen before in order to tackle the most pressing issue of our time.

The bottom line: If the causes and effects of our climate crisis are clearer than ever, so are the solutions.

Ending Our Reliance on Fossil Fuels

Greater energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable transportation, sustainable buildings, better forestry management and sustainable agriculture, conservation-based solutions, industrial solutions, technological solutions, our choices.

The single-most important thing that we can do to combat climate change is to drastically reduce our consumption of fossil fuels . The burning of coal, oil, and natural gas in our buildings, industrial processes, and transportation is responsible for the vast majority of emissions that are warming the planet —more than 75 percent . In addition to altering the climate , dirty energy also comes with unacceptable ecological and human health impacts.

We must replace coal, oil, and gas with renewable and efficient energy sources. Thankfully, with each passing year, clean energy is making gains as technology improves and production costs go down. But in order to meet the goal of reducing global carbon emissions by at least 45 percent below 2010 levels before 2030—which scientists tell us we must do if we’re to avoid the worst, deadliest impacts of climate change—we must act faster.

There are promising signs. Wind and solar continue to account for ever-larger shares of electricity generation. In 2021, wind and solar generated a record 10 percent of electricity worldwide. And modeling by NRDC has found that wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear could account for as much as 80 percent of U.S. electricity by the end of this decade . (We can also fully realize our clean energy potential if we invest in repairing our aging grid infrastructure and installing new transmission lines.) While this transformation is taking place, automakers—as well as governments—are preparing for a future when the majority of vehicles on the road will produce zero emissions.

A man stands on a green lawn in front of a white house, spraying water from a hose onto a metal panel on the grass in front of him.

Technicians from Solaris Energy carry out the first-annual servicing and cleaning on a heat pump that was installed into a house originally built in the 1930s, in Folkestone, United Kingdom.

Andrew Aitchison / In pictures via Getty Images

Energy efficiency has been referred to as “the first fuel”; after all, the more energy efficient our systems are, the less actual fuel we have to consume, whether rooftop solar energy or gas power. Considered this way, efficiency is our largest energy resource. As the technology harnessing it has advanced over the past 40 years, efficiency has contributed more to the United States’s energy needs than oil, coal, gas, or nuclear power.

What’s more, energy efficiency strategies can be applied across multiple sectors: in our power plants, electrical grids, factories, vehicles, buildings, home appliances, and more. Some of these climate-friendly strategies can be enormously complex, such as helping utility companies adopt performance-based regulation systems , in which they no longer make more money simply by selling more energy but rather by improving the services they provide. Other strategies are extraordinarily simple. For example, weatherproofing buildings, installing cool roofs , replacing boilers and air conditioners with super-efficient heat pumps , and yes, switching out light bulbs from incandescent to LED can all make a big dent in our energy consumption.

Transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy is the key to winning the fight against climate change. Here are the most common sources of renewable energy —and one source of decidedly nonrenewable energy that often gets included (falsely) in the list.

A worker in a hard hat stands in front of a building with rooftop solar panels.

Engineer Steve Marchi and his team perform a final review of rooftop solar panels as part of the solar expansion project at the Wayne National Forest Welcome Center, in Ohio.

Alex Snyder/Wayne National Forest

Solar energy

Solar energy is produced when light from the sun is absorbed by photovoltaic cells and turned directly into electricity. The solar panels that you may have seen on rooftops or at ground level are made up of many of these cells working together. By 2030, at least one in seven U.S. homes is projected to have rooftop solar panels, which emit no greenhouse gases or other pollutants, and which generate electricity year-round ( in hot or cold weather ) so long as the sun is shining. Solar energy currently accounts for just under 3 percent of the electricity generated in the United States—enough to power 18 million homes —but is growing at a faster rate than any other source. By 2035, it could account for as much as 40 percent of electricity generation. From 2020 through 2026, solar will account for more than half of new electricity generation worldwide.

What to do when the sun doesn’t shine, you might ask. Alongside the boom in solar has been a surge in companion battery storage: More than 93 percent of U.S. battery capacity added in 2021 was paired with solar power plants. Battery storage is key to the clean energy revolution—and adapting to a warming world. Not only are batteries important at night when the sun isn’t out, but on hot days when homes draw a lot of electricity to power air conditioners, battery storage can help manage the energy demand and control the threat of power failures.

Three wind turbines stand in rough seas with a wave cresting in front of them.

Turbines on Block Island Wind Farm, located 3.8 miles from Block Island, Rhode Island, in the Atlantic Ocean

Dennis Schroeder/NREL, 40481

Wind energy

Unlike solar panels, which convert the sun’s energy directly into electricity, wind turbines produce electricity more conventionally: wind turns the blades of a turbine, which spin a generator. Currently, wind accounts for just above 9 percent of U.S. electricity generation, but it, like solar, is growing fast as more states and utilities come to recognize its ability to produce 100 percent clean energy at a remarkably low cost. Unsurprisingly, states with plenty of wide-open space—including Kansas , Oklahoma , and Texas —have huge capacity when it comes to wind power, but many analysts believe that some of the greatest potential for wind energy exists just off our coasts. Offshore wind even tends to ramp up in the evenings when home electricity use jumps, and it can produce energy during the rainy and cloudy times when solar energy is less available. Smart planning and protective measures , meanwhile, can ensure we harness the massive promise of offshore wind while limiting or eliminating potential impacts on wildlife.

Steam rises off blue water in front of a power plant with four stacks

Svartsengi geothermal power plant in Iceland

Daniel Snaer Ragnarsson/iStock

Geothermal and hydroelectric energy

Along with sunlight and wind, water—under certain conditions—can also be a source of renewable energy. For instance, geothermal energy works by drilling deep underground and pumping extremely hot water up to the earth’s surface, where it is then converted to steam that, once pressurized, spins a generator to create electricity. Hydroelectric energy uses gravity to “pull” water downward through a pipe at high speeds and pressures; the force of this moving water is used to spin a generator’s rotor.

Humans have been harnessing heat energy from below the earth’s surface for eons—just think of the hot springs that provided warmth for the people of ancient Rome. Today’s geothermal plants are considered clean and renewable so long as the water and steam they bring up to the surface is redeposited underground after use. Proper siting of geothermal projects is also important, as recent science has linked some innovative approaches to geothermal to an increased risk of earthquakes .

Hydroelectric plants, when small-scale and carefully managed, represent a safe and renewable source of energy. Larger plants known as mega-dams, however, are highly problematic . Their massive footprint can disrupt the rivers on which people and wildlife depend .

Biomass energy

With very few exceptions, generating electricity through the burning of organic material like wood (sourced largely from pine and hardwood forests in the United States), agricultural products, or animal waste—collectively referred to as biomass —does little to reduce carbon emissions, and in fact, does far more environmental harm than good. Unfortunately, despite numerous studies that have revealed the true toll of this form of bioenergy , some countries continue to buy the biomass industry’s false narrative and subsidize these projects. Attitudes are changing but, given the recent wood pellet boom, there is a lot more work to be done.

A bus drives down a city street with high rise buildings in the background

A new electric bus on King Street in Honolulu, on June 16, 2021

Marco Garcia for NRDC

Transportation is a top source of greenhouse gases (GHG), so eliminating pollution from the billions of vehicles driving across the planet is essential to achieving net-zero global emissions by 2050, a goal laid out in the 2015 Paris climate agreement .

In 2021, electric vehicles (EVs) accounted for less than 8 percent of vehicle sales globally; by 2035 , however, it’s estimated that they’ll account for more than half of all new sales. Governments around the world aren’t just anticipating an all-electric future; they’re bringing it into fruition by setting goals and binding requirements to phase out the sale of gas-powered internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. That year, 2035, is expected to mark a turning point in the adoption of EVs and in the fight against climate change as countries around the world—as well as numerous automakers—have announced goals to phase out gas-powered cars and light trucks . This shift will also benefit our grid: EVs are like a “ battery on wheels ” and have the potential to supply electricity back to the network when demand peaks, helping to prevent blackouts.

It’s also critical that we consider all of the different ways we get around and build sustainability into each of them. By increasing access to public transportation—such as buses, ride-sharing services, subways, and streetcars—as well as embracing congestion pricing , we can cut down on car trips and keep millions of tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year. And by encouraging zero-emission forms of transportation, such as walking and biking, we can reduce emissions even more. Boosting these alternate forms of transportation will require more than just talk. They require funding , planning, and the building out of supportive infrastructure by leaders across the local, state, and national levels.

To address the full set of impacts of the transportation sector, we need holistic and community-led solutions around things like land-use policies and the way we move consumer goods. Communities closest to ports , truck corridors, rail yards, and warehouses are exposed to toxic diesel emissions and face a high risk of developing acute and chronic public health diseases. Like all climate solutions, long-lasting change in the transportation sector requires building the power of historically marginalized communities.

A worker stands at a window in a room with plastic sheeting hanging from the ceiling and covering furniture

An Association for Energy Affordability (AEA) worker installs a new energy-efficient window at an apartment in the South Bronx, New York City.

Natalie Keyssar for NRDC

The energy used in our buildings—to keep the lights on and appliances running; to warm them and cool them; to cook and to heat water—makes them the single-largest source of carbon pollution in most cities across the United States. Making buildings more energy efficient, by upgrading windows and adding insulation to attics and walls, for example, will bring these numbers down. That’s why it’s all the more important that we raise public awareness of cost- and carbon-saving changes that individuals can make in their homes and workplaces, and make it easier for people to purchase and install energy-efficient technology, such as heat pumps (which can both heat and cool spaces) and certified appliances through programs like Energy Star in the United States or EnerGuide in Canada.

Beyond the measures that can be taken by individuals, we need to see a dedication from private businesses and governments to further building decarbonization , which simply means making buildings more efficient and replacing fossil fuel–burning systems and appliances with clean-powered ones. Policy tools can help get us there, including city and state mandates that all newly constructed homes, offices, and other buildings be outfitted with efficient all-electric systems for heating, cooling, and hot water; requirements that municipalities and states meet the latest and most stringent energy conservation standards when adopting or updating their building codes would also be impactful. Indeed, many places around the world are implementing building performance standards , which require existing buildings to reduce their energy use or carbon emissions over time. Most important, if these changes are going to reach the scale needed, we must invest in the affordable housing sector so that efficient and decarbonized homes are accessible to homeowners and renters of all incomes .

A young man stands on a rocky shore holding a rope attached to a red canoe on the water in front of him

Nicolas Mainville joins a canoe trip with youth from the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi on a river in Waswanipi Quebec, Canada, which is part of the boreal forest.

Nicolas Mainville/Greenpeace

Some of our strongest allies in the fight against climate change are the trees, plants, and soil that store massive amounts of carbon at ground level or underground. Without the aid of these carbon sinks , life on earth would be impossible, as atmospheric temperatures would rise to levels more like those found on Venus .

But whenever we clearcut forests for timber or rip out wetlands for development, we release that climate-warming carbon into the air. Similarly, the widespread overuse of nitrogen-based fertilizers (a fossil fuel product) on cropland and generations of industrial-scale livestock farming practices have led to the release of unprecedented amounts of nitrous oxide and methane, powerful greenhouse gases, into our atmosphere.

We can’t plant new trees fast enough to replace the ones we clearcut in carbon-storing forests like the Canadian boreal or the Amazon rainforest —nor can rows of spindly young pines serve the same function as old-growth trees. We need a combination of responsible forestry policies, international pressure, and changes in consumer behavior to put an end to deforestation practices that not only accelerate climate change but also destroy wildlife habitat and threaten the health and culture of Indigenous communities that live sustainably in these verdant spaces. At the same time, we need to treat our managed landscapes with as much care as we treat wild ones. For instance, adopting practices associated with organic and regenerative agriculture —cover crops, pesticide use reduction, rotational grazing, and compost instead of synthetic fertilizers—will help nurture the soil, yield healthier foods, and pay a climate dividend too.

Many small fish swim in clear waters near a large tree with roots extending below the water's surface

A school of fish swimming through a mangrove forest in the Caribbean Sea, off Belize

Intact ecosystems suck up and store vast amounts of carbon: Coastal ecosystems like wetlands and mangroves accumulate and store carbon in their roots; our forests soak up about a third of annual fossil fuel emissions; and freshwater wetlands hold between 20 and 30 percent of all the carbon found in the world’s soil. It’s clear we’re not going to be able to address climate change if we don’t preserve nature.

This is one reason why, along with preserving biodiversity, climate experts are calling on global leaders to fully protect and restore at least 30 percent of land, inland waters, and oceans by 2030 , a strategy endorsed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. To help us reach that goal, we must limit industrial impacts on our public lands and waters, continue to protect natural landscapes, support the creation of marine protected areas, uphold bedrock environmental laws, and follow the lead of Indigenous Peoples, many of whom have been faithfully and sustainably stewarding lands and waters for millennia .

Gray and black smoke rise out of stacks on an industrial facility, with homes visible in the background.

Emissions rise from the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, a steel mill in the Braddock and North Braddock communities near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Getty Images

Heavy industry—the factories and facilities that produce our goods—is responsible for a quarter of GHG emissions in the United States and 40 percent globally. Most industrial emissions come from making a small set of carbon-intensive products: basic chemicals, iron and steel, cement, aluminum, glass, and paper. (Industrial plants are also often major sources of air and water pollutants that directly affect human health.)

Complicating matters is the fact that many industrial plants will stay in operation for decades, so emissions goals for 2050 are really just one investment cycle away. Given these long horizons for building and retrofitting industrial sites, starting investments and plans now is critical. What would successfully decarbonized industrial processes look like? They should sharply reduce heavy industry’s climate emissions , as well as local pollution. They should be scalable and widely available in the next decade, especially so that less developed nations can adopt these cleaner processes and grow without increasing emissions. And they should bolster manufacturing in a way that creates good jobs.

Technology alone won’t save us from climate change (especially not some of these risky geoengineering proposals ). But at the same time, we won’t be able to solve the climate crisis without researching and developing things like longer-lasting EV batteries , nonpolluting hydrogen-based solutions , and reliable, safe, and equitable methods for capturing and sequestering carbon . Because, while these tools hold promise, we have to make sure we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. For instance, we can take actions to reduce local harms from mining lithium (a critical component of electric vehicle batteries), improve recycling opportunities for solar cells, and not use carbon capture as an excuse to pollute. To accelerate research and development, funding is the critical third leg of the stool: Governments must make investing in clean energy technologies a priority and spur innovation through grants, subsidies, tax incentives, and other rewards.

A group of protesters hold signs in front of a large banner reading "Charmin: Stop Flushing Our Forests"

A protester rings a bell in front of P&G’s headquarters in Cincinnati; the company’s toilet paper brand, Charmin, uses wood pulp from virgin trees in Canada's boreal forest.

Finally, it should go without saying that we, as individuals, are key to solving the climate crisis—not just by continuing to lobby our legislators and speak up in our communities but also by taking climate actions in our daily lives . By switching off fossil fuels in our homes and being more mindful of the climate footprint of the food we eat, our shopping habits, how we get around, our use of plastics and fossil fuels, and what businesses we choose to support (or not to support), we can move the needle.

But it’s when we act collectively that real change happens—and we can do even more than cut down on carbon pollution. Communities banding together have fought back fracking , pipelines , and oil drilling in people’s backyards . These local wins aren’t just good news for our global climate but they also protect the right to clean air and clean water for everyone. After all, climate change may be a global crisis but climate action starts in your own hometown .

We have a responsibility to consider the implications of our choices—and to make sure that these choices are actually helping to reduce the burdens of climate change, not merely shifting them somewhere else. It’s important to remember that the impacts of climate change —which intersect with and intensify so many other environmental, economic, and social issues—fall disproportionately on certain communities, namely low-income communities and communities of color. That’s why our leaders have a responsibility to prioritize the needs of these communities when crafting climate policies. If those on the frontlines aren’t a part of conversations around climate solutions, or do not feel the benefits of things like cleaner air and better job opportunities, then we are not addressing the roots of the climate crisis.

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10 Environmental Problems and Solutions

If you’re searching for answers to the 10 biggest environmental problems and solutions, you might be concerned with the state of the planet today. If you’re worried, I want you to know that although the world faces major environmental problems, there are solutions. The solutions aren’t simple, and there are no magic bullets, but they exist.

There are also a lot of voices and opinions about environmental issues. So along with basic information about environmental problems and solutions, I also offer different perspectives and further reading so you can form your own opinions. Because there are many possible environmental solutions, and not even the “experts” have all the answers. So I encourage you to keep an open mind to every option. Let’s look for progress, not perfection.

I’ll write more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals below but wanted to mention these goals up-front. If you’re reading this article because you’re concerned about the environment (or maybe you’re feeling stressed or anxious about climate change) learn about the Global Goals first. The Global Goals offer a solid framework for solving environmental problems. Now, on to the 10 biggest environmental problems we face today.

10 environmental problems

These are the 10 biggest environmental problems in no particular order. Climate change is a hot topic right now so I include it first. It’s also first on the list simply because so many of the problems related to climate change are also connected to other environmental problems. Environmental problems like oil spills, deforestation, and poverty need to be solved in and of themselves. But solving these problems indirectly helps solve the problem of climate change.

There are also environmental problems like fluorinated gases that have a large impact on the climate, but not directly on our health or wealth. These problems are extra tricky because they’re expensive to solve and they get little media coverage. That’s why international laws and cooperation are especially important for solving the hardest problems.

Climate change

Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates.” – NASA

Climate change happens when greenhouse gases are released and trapped in the atmosphere, causing the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect creates a layer around the earth’s atmosphere that traps heat from the sun, making our atmosphere warmer, similar to a greenhouse.

The following greenhouse gases contribute to climate change.

  • Carbon dioxide (CO2) – Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere when fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas are burned. Carbon dioxide is also released when trees and other plants are burned or cut down and through manufacturing cement. Carbon dioxide made up 81% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions from the United States in 2018 according to the Environmental Protection Agency .
  • Methane (CH4) – Methane is released from fossil fuels (natural gas in particular), agriculture (cow farts and manure), and landfills. Methane made up 10% of greenhouse gases in the US in 2018.
  • Nitrous oxide (N2O) – Nitrous oxide is emitted from agriculture, fossil fuels, industry, and waste-water treatment. Nitrous oxide made up 7% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018.
  • Fluorinated gases – Fluorinated gases are hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and nitrogen trifluoride. They are man-made gases commonly used in refrigerants used for cooling air conditioners and refrigerators. These gases have a high Global Warming Potential and makeup 3% of greenhouse gases emitted in the United States according to the EPA.

Resource: Drilled Podcast: The origins of climate denial

Poverty is indirectly linked to environmental problems. When you solve issues related to poverty you also solve environmental problems such as deforestation[cm_simple_footnote id=1], population growth, gender inequality, and climate change.

The world has been making steady progress toward ending extreme poverty for years according to the UN. The COVID-19 crisis has reversed some of the progress. But before the virus, life was better for many people around the world than ever before in history. Now, we need to deal with the crisis and get back to making progress.

Related: Population growth explained with IKEA boxes

Gender inequality

Although gender inequality is also not a direct environmental problem, solving problems like inadequate access to birth control, health services, and education has a positive impact on the economy and environment.

Education lays a foundation for vibrant lives for girls and women, their families, and their communities. It also is one of the most powerful levers available for avoiding emissions by curbing population growth. Women with more years of education have fewer and healthier children, and actively manage their reproductive health. Gender inequality is indirectly linked to environmental problems.” – Drawdown.org

Related: Melinda Gates: Why equality can’t wait

Fluorinated gases used in refrigerants

Fluorinated gases, like the hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used in refrigerators and air conditioners, are considered major contributors to climate change according to Drawdown.org. The most commonly used refrigerants have a high Global Warming Potential. The Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol offers a timeline for phasing out refrigerants with high Global Warming Potential, but it’s essential for companies and governments to maintain their commitments.

To minimize your personal impact, make sure to properly recycle refrigerators and air conditioning units. If you’re not sure how to recycle an appliance contact your local waste management company.

Fluorinated gases have a potent greenhouse effect and are widely used as refrigerants. Managing leaks and disposal of these chemicals can avoid emissions in buildings and landfills.” – Drawdown

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank in the Gulf of Mexico, making it one of the most environmentally damaging oil spills in history. The spill covered over 43,300 square miles. It killed and harmed dolphins, sea turtles, fish, and a variety of organisms ( source ).

The environmental problems associated with oil have many layers. Not only does an oil spill kill wildlife and fishing industries, but oil is also a fossil fuel that contributes to climate change. Although oil is a necessary source of energy in every developed and developing country today, it comes with dire environmental problems.

Wasted natural resources

267.8 million tons of municipal solid waste went to landfills instead of being recycled, upcycled, composted, or used for something else in 2017, according to the EPA . That’s a lot of wasted natural resources that originally came from nature, in one form or another. In a circular economy , these natural resources would not be wasted. Instead, they could be upcycled, recycled, or used to regenerate other materials.

Total Municipal Solid Waste Generated by Material, 2017 image from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Plastic pollution

You’ve probably seen images of marine life drowning in plastic pollution. Maybe you’re aware of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which is about twice the size of Texas. The people and countries with the highest income generate the most plastic waste. That’s because we can afford to buy more stuff wrapped in plastic.

Plastic pollution is a major environmental problem. Plastic comes from fossil fuels, which we need to phase out, so using less plastic is important. But ultimately solving the problem of plastic pollution may come down to improving waste management technology and creating a more circular economy for plastics.

Related: The world’s plastic pollution crisis explained

The pathway by which plastic enters the world's oceans from Our World in Data.

Food waste[cm_simple_footnote id=2] is a big environmental problem. Up to 40% of food is wasted from farm to fork to landfill according to the National Resources Defense Council . There’s a lot of media coverage about how diet is related to the environment. But the majority of that coverage has to do with how individuals should eat, not how agriculture and waste management services should improve.

Instead of focusing on how individuals should change their eating habits (which is so darned hard) the answers just might lie in improving technology and holding companies to higher environmental standards. This leads me to deforestation, which is closely related to agriculture.

Deforestation

Deforestation is linked to many environmental problems, and the biggest problem is agriculture according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States .

Agri-businesses should meet their commitments to deforestation-free commodity chains and companies that have not made zero deforestation commitments should do so. Commodity investors should adopt business models that are environmentally and socially responsible. These actions will, in many cases, require a revision of current policies and financial incentives. – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Related: Can planting billions of trees save the planet?

Ocean acidification

Ocean acidification is one of the main problems associated with climate change. It doesn’t get as much attention as other environmental problems, but it can have a major impact on ocean ecosystems.

The ocean absorbs about 30% of the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) that is released in the atmosphere. As levels of atmospheric CO 2  increase from human activity such as burning fossil fuels (e.g., car emissions) and changing land use (e.g., deforestation), the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean also increases.  When CO 2  is absorbed by seawater, a series of chemical reactions occur resulting in the increased concentration of hydrogen ions. This process has far reaching implications for the ocean and the creatures that live there. – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Man on boat and coral below on the ocean floor.

10 environmental solutions

Now that you understand the environmental problems we face today, it’s time to understand the potential environmental solutions. I say potential solutions because the cause and effect from environmental problem to environmental solution is complex. There’s a word for this, it’s called dynamic complexity.

The below environmental solutions have the potential to solve different problems within a complex, dynamic, and interconnected system. But there is no magic bullet for environmental problems. So I encourage anyone interested in environmental solutions to think big-picture. Each solution is simply one piece of a giant puzzle. Again, look for progress rather than perfection.

Related: Climate solutions 101 by Project Drawdown

  • UN Sustainable Development Goals

The UN Sustainable Development Goals offer the best possible framework for dealing with most of the problems listed above. These are the 17 goals that almost all countries have agreed to.

  • Zero hunger
  • Good health and well-being
  • Quality education
  • Gender equality
  • Clean water and sanitation

Affordable and clean energy

  • Decent work and economic growth
  • Industry, innovation, and infrastructure
  • Reduced inequality
  • Sustainable cities and communities
  • Responsible consumption and production
  • Climate action
  • Life below water
  • Life on Land
  • Peace, justice, and strong institutions
  • Partnerships and Goals

Green innovation

Green innovation may be the most important environmental solution. People around the world are working on new technologies and solutions that could revolutionize the way we look at energy and waste. We haven’t scratched the surface yet on how humanity will solve these problems. But there’s no time to waste, and we need governments and companies to invest in research and development.

One step is to lay the foundation for innovation by drastically increasing government funding for research on clean energy solutions. Right now, the world spends only a few billion dollars a year on researching early-stage ideas for zero-carbon energy. It should be investing two or three times that much.” – Bill Gates

Read: We need clean-energy innovation and lots of it

There are several different forms of clean and renewable energy. Solar, wind, and hydro energy are considered renewable energy sources. Nuclear energy, a non-renewable source of energy that contributes little to climate change, is an example of clean energy.

U.S. primary energy consumption by energy source, 2019 image from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Electrify everything

How to make energy clean and affordable for everyone is not an easy solution to implement. However, the phrase “electrify everything” is a concept that’s fairly easy to understand. Here’s a paragraph that helped me understand how we can truly get clean and affordable energy for everyone on the planet.

“We know, or at least have a pretty good idea, how to get electricity down to zero carbon. There are options: wind, solar, nuclear, hydro, geothermal, and coal or natural gas with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). There are plenty of disagreements about exactly what mix of those sources will be needed to get us to a carbon-free grid, and what mix of centralized versus distributed resources, and what mix of supply-side versus demand-side solutions — but there’s broad consensus that pathways to fully clean electricity exist.” – The key to tackling climate change: electrify everything by David Roberts for Vox

Related: The Rewiring America Handbook : A Guide to Winning the Climate Fight.

Carbon taxes

You may have read statements from economists like former Federal Reserve Chairmen Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan, Janet Yellen, and Paul Volcker in support of a carbon tax. That’s because pollution and emissions are considered negative externalities.

By correcting a well-known market failure, a carbon tax will send a powerful price signal that harnesses the invisible hand of the marketplace to steer economic actors towards a low-carbon future.” – Statement by economists posted in the Wall Street Journal

Related: Why Put a Price on Carbon? by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Conservation of natural resources

Conserving the natural resources we already have is one important environmental solution. The strategies below help individuals and companies conserve resources:

  • Zero waste – Zero-waste is a way for individuals to reduce their own environmental impact by contributing less to landfills by using reusable containers and less plastic.
  • Circular economy – “A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems,” according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
  • Sustainable living – Sustainable living is a general term used to describe lifestyle choices that contribute less to environmental problems.
  • Upcycling – Creating a product of higher value from a product or material that would otherwise be thrown away. The clothes and accessories made by ZeroWasteDaniel.com is an excellent example of upcycling.
  • Dematerialization – Designing products to use less materials while still creating the same value for the customer. This reduces shipping, natural resources, waste and pollution. A good example of dematerialization is TruEarth’s eco-strips laundry detergent.

Carbon capture and sequestration

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it in the soil, trees, plants, or underground. CCS is considered one way to mitigate climate change.

The simplest way to capture carbon is through photosynthesis. Trees and plants take atmospheric carbon dioxide and store that carbon in healthy soil and plants using photosynthesis. But there are more high-tech ways to capture and sequester carbon as well. One way is through geoengineering.

Geoengineering is the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth’s natural systems to counteract climate change. – Oxford Geoengineering Program

There are also companies that will sequester carbon for you.

Sustainable business and investing

Some businesses, like Patagonia, Interface, and IKEA, have built sustainability and resilience into the core of their companies. Others have fought against sustainability by lawyering up, using loopholes, and lying about the damage their businesses create. If we want environmental solutions, we need to support companies with sustainable business models that support progress. If you’re interested in learning more about what businesses and consumers can do, here are a few places to start:

  • Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist
  • Genuine progress indicator
  • Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing
  • Dow Jones Sustainability Index
  • Green bonds

Improved food production

The environmental problems associated with food production get a lot of attention in the media. Some environmentalists and journalists advocate for plant-based diets and veganism as a solution to the problems associated with food. Changing our eating habits may have a small impact on the environment, but there’s a much larger movement underfoot lead by farmers and entrepreneurs. Below is a shortlist of potential environmental solutions to problems associated with food production and water shortages:

  • Regenerative agriculture
  • Lab-grown meat
  • Plant-based meat
  • Verticle farms
  • Precision agriculture
  • Anaerobic digestion
  • Water desalination

Sustainable homes

Our homes use a lot of energy to run our dishwashers, washer and dryers, and HVAC systems. And let’s not forget about all the energy we use charging our computers and watching TV. It adds up. But instead of turning off our devices, it’s possible to build more efficient homes that waste less energy and use cleaner energy sources. Although we have a long way toward making most homes sustainable, here are a few environmental solutions related to homes.

  • Net Zero homes
  • Home electrification
  • Living Buildings
  • LEED-certified buildings
  • Energy star appliances

Read: The ultimate guide to solar homes

Home with solar panels on the roof.

Environmental frameworks and certifications

As mentioned earlier, the UN Sustainable Development Goals offer a framework for solving most environmental problems. If you’re interested in learning more about the environmental movement, here are a few places to start.

  • Future Fit Business – Free tools to help businesses and investors make better decisions.
  • The Natural Step (TNS)

If you’re interested in buying better products, consider looking for products with these certifications.

  • B Corporation
  • Cradle to Cradle certified
  • Design for the environment
  • EWG verified

1 thought on “10 Environmental Problems and Solutions”

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Wow this a great work. I have learned a lot. At least I can solve some environmental problems and encourage sustainable environmental conservation.

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Ten solutions to climate change that will actually make a difference

Jun 20, 2022

Man inspecting his papaya fruits on his farm (seeds provided by Concern).

At this point we need solutions bigger than any one person. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

There are a lot of differing opinions on whether it's too late to climate change — and, if it's not the best way of going about it. Some say recycling is useless and that individual action means nothing against the larger policy reforms that need to happen. This is, in part, true — although you should absolutely still be recycling. But it doesn’t tell the whole story, and it doesn’t help those who are currently on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Here, we break down 10 solutions to climate change that will actually make a difference — and how you can help make them all a reality.

Stand with the people most affected by climate change

1. shift to renewable energy sources in all key sectors.

The United Nations identified a six-sector solution to climate change, focusing on actions that can be taken by the energy, industry, agriculture, transportation, nature-based solutions, and urban planning. If all of these actions are completed, the UN Environment Programme estimates we could reduce global carbon emissions by 29 to 32 gigatonnes, thereby limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5º C.

One key element of this plan is shifting to renewable energy sources, both at home and at work. “We have the necessary technology to make this reduction by shifting to renewable energy and using less energy,” the UNEP writes of our personal energy consumption (generally, fossil fuels power our homes, keeping the lights on, our rooms warm, and Netflix streaming). But the energy usage of the industrial sector also plays a key role: Addressing issues like methane leaks and switching at large scale to passive or renewable energy-based heating and cooling systems could reduce industrial carbon emissions by 7.3 gigatonnes every year.

Graphic of the United Nations Environment Program's Six Sector Solution to Climate Change

2. Reduce food loss and waste and shift to more sustainable diets

There are a few different ways that climate change and hunger go hand-in-hand. Whether it’s kale or Kobe beef, producing food accounts for some measure of greenhouse gasses. In 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated we consumed more meat than ever before . By 2050 this will, by some estimates, increase greenhouse gas emissions from food production by 60%. Likewise, many farmers use nitrous-based fertilizers to grow more crops, more quickly to meet demand.

It’s important to reduce food waste at every step of the food system . For us as consumers, we can commit to eating what we buy and composting what we don’t get to in time. We can also switch our focus to plant-based and other sustainable diets, supporting farms that use organic fertilizers and making beef and other meat products the exception rather than the rule at the dinner table.

Woman and her vegetables for sale at the central market of the town of Manono, Tanganyika Province.

3. Halt deforestation and commit to rebuilding damaged ecosystems

The rapid deforestation of the Earth, especially over the last 60 years, has contributed to climate change, creating “heat islands” out of land that would normally be protected by trees and other flora from overheating. Simply put, this has to stop. There are actions each of us can take as individuals to help halt this—going paperless and buying recycled paper products, planting trees or supporting organizations that do this (like Concern ), and recycling.

But change has to happen at a larger scale here. Illegal logging happens both in the United States and abroad. Last year, world leaders committed to halting this and other harmful practices by 2030 as part of COP26. You can help by holding your own elected leaders to account.

A tree nursery in Bangladesh

4. Embrace electric vehicles, public transport, and other non-motorized options for getting around

The carbon savings on junking your current car in favor of an electric model are basically nullified if you aren’t seriously in the market for a new vehicle. However, mass adoption of electric vehicles and public transport — along with walking, biking, skating, and scooting — is key to cutting the greenhouse gas emissions from fuel-based motor vehicles.

Woman riding a bicycle with a man standing behind her

This is another issue you can raise with elected officials. Earlier this year, for example, you may remember hearing that President Biden had been encouraging the US Postal System to adopt electric vans as part of its new fleet. This didn’t come to pass , but it’s changes like these — changes beyond any one person’s transportation method — that need to happen. You can call on your representatives to support these switchovers for delivery vehicles, cab and taxi fleets, ambulances, and other auto-centric services. Or, if your city or town lacks decent public transportation or enough bike lanes or sidewalks to make those alternatives to driving, lobby for those.

5. Subsidize low-carbon alternatives for urban planning

In tandem with low-carbon alternatives for public transportation, governments need to commit to similar measures with our growing cities. New buildings mean a new opportunity to reward green design methods that help to decrease the strain on urban resources, whether they’re apartments or entertainment venues. (Fun fact: The Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center in Athens runs almost entirely off of solar panels during the bright and sunny summer months. ) In cities like New York, we’ve seen the toll that excessive power use can take through rolling blackouts and brown-outs, especially in the summer months. Changes to public infrastructure that reduce our reliance on the power grid will help to keep the system from becoming untenably overloaded.

A solar-powered water point in Marsabit, Kenya

6. Strengthen resilience and climate adaptation methods in MAPA communities

So far, we’ve looked at solutions to climate change that can take place within our own homes and communities. However, these only go so far to mitigate the damage that the climate crisis has already inflicted on a large portion of the world. The most affected people and areas (MAPAs) are largely in the Global South. Many are located in low-income countries without the resources or infrastructure to respond and adapt to climate disasters, even as they become more frequent and destructive.

Countries like the United States and organizations responding to the climate crisis must support MAPA communities, particularly the most vulnerable, in developing and carrying out strategies specific to context and designed to bolster resilience where it’s needed most. Often these communities know what needs to be done to mitigate the effects of climate change, and they simply need to be supported with access to additional research and meteorological data, new technologies, and funding.

how we can solve environmental problems by

What we talk about when we talk about resilience

The word “resilience” has taken on new meanings and contexts in recent years, but at Concern it still has a specific definition relating to our emergency and climate response. Here’s what we mean when we use it.

7. Address poverty and other inequalities that increase vulnerability

The tem MAPA can also apply to individuals within a community. Women, disabled people, children, the elderly, people living in poverty, indigenous peoples, and LGBTQIA+ people are among those who are most likely to be hit harder by climate change because of preexisting societal marginalization. This is why it’s critical that they also have a seat at the decision-making table when it comes to solutions to climate change within their own communities. Ending poverty and the other systemic inequalities that give some people greater access to resources than others will help to offset some of the greatest threats posed by the climate crisis.

Esime Jenaia, a Lead Farmer for conservation Agriculture, at her plot in Chituke village, Mangochi, Malawi, with neighbor Esnart Kasimu. Concern has been carrying out Conservation Agriculture and livelihoods programming in Malawi since 2012, with the assistance of Accenture Ireland.

8. Invest in disaster risk reduction (DRR)

Disaster Risk Reduction (otherwise known as DRR) protects the lives and livelihoods of communities and individuals who are most vulnerable to disasters or emergencies. Whether the crisis is caused by nature or humans (or a combination of both), DRR limits its negative impact on those who stand to lose the most.

We can’t undo much of climate change’s impact so far, but we can help the communities who are hit hardest by these impacts to prepare for and respond to these emergencies once they strike.

9. Commit to fair financing and climate justice

Of course, DRR strategies and other resilience, adaptation, and mitigation practices cost money. Money that the countries most affected by climate change often lack. As part of a global commitment to climate justice , countries with the highest carbon footprints should be making restitution to those countries with lower footprints, countries that tend to be more vulnerable to global warming.

Countries like the United States must increase investments in disaster prevention and DRR strategies, such as early warning and response systems, forecast-based financing mechanisms, and adapted infrastructure. What’s more, these funds need to be made rapidly dispersible and flexible so that when emergency strikes, they can be accessed more quickly. Additional investment to prevent conflicts over the use of natural resources will also help countries facing both fragile political systems and a high risk for climate-related disasters.

how we can solve environmental problems by

Project Profile

Responding to Pakistan's Internally Displaced (RAPID)

RAPID is a funding program that allows Concern to quickly and efficiently deliver aid to people displaced by conflict or natural disaster.

10. Guarantee these changes in the long-term via policy reform

Few of the solutions listed above are not sustainable without policy reform. You can help by encouraging your elected officials to consider the above points, and to support bills that incorporate one or more of these solutions to climate change, many of which are currently being written and shared at the local and national levels.

Smart climate policy will prioritize people over corporations, consider the framework of climate justice — including land and water rights of indigenous peoples and rural communities, address the intersectional effects of climate change on hunger, poverty, and gender equality, and enforce regulatory frameworks and standards that commit people and institutions to honoring these new standards. Bold and aggressive action must be taken if we’re to reach the goal of not exceeding 1.5º C and mitigating the current effects of climate change by 2030. But it’s not a lost cause yet. It’s on all of us to now support those actions that are needed most.

Support Concern's climate response

Solutions to Climate Change in Action

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Ten countries with water stress and scarcity — and how we're helping

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Climate Smart Agriculture: Back to the basics to fight climate change and hunger

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Ten of the countries most affected by climate change

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What can we do to slow or stop global warming?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to stopping or slowing global warming, and each individual, business, municipal, state, tribal, and federal entity must weigh their options in light of their own unique set of circumstances.  Experts say  it is likely many strategies working together will be needed. Generally speaking, here are some examples of mitigation strategies we can use to slow or stop the human-caused global warming ( learn more ):

  • Where possible, we can switch to renewable sources of energy (such as solar and wind energy) to power our homes and buildings, thus emitting far less heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
  • Where feasible, we can drive electric vehicles instead of those that burn fossil fuels; or we can use mass transit instead of driving our own cars.
  • Where affordable, we can conserve energy by better insulating our homes and buildings, and by replacing old, failing appliances with more energy-efficient models.
  • Where practicable, we can counterbalance our annual carbon dioxide emissions by investing in commercial services that draw down an equal amount of carbon out of the atmosphere, such as through planting trees or  carbon capture and storage  techniques.
  • Where practical, we can support more local businesses that use and promote sustainable, climate-smart practices such as those listed above.
  • We can consider placing an upper limit on the amount of carbon dioxide we will allow ourselves to emit into the atmosphere within a given timeframe.

Note that NOAA doesn’t advocate for or against particular climate policies. Instead, NOAA’s role is to provide data and scientific information about climate, including how it has changed and is likely to change in the future depending on different climate policies or actions society may or may not take. More guidance on courses of action can be found in the National Academy of Sciences' 2010 report, titled  Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change . Also learn more  here,   here,  and  here .

Photo of Amtrak train sitting on tracks

Thanks to low friction between train wheels and tracks, and level train tracks with gradual turns, trains have high energy efficiency. Photo from National Park Service Amtrak Trails and Rails .

Stabilizing global temperature near its current level requires eliminating all emissions of heat-trapping gases or, equivalently, achieving a carbon-neutral society in which people remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as they emit. Achieving this goal will require substantial societal changes in energy technologies and infrastructure that go beyond the collective actions of individuals and households to reduce emissions.

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Three Environmental Issues and Ways to Combat Them

For years now, humans have mistreated and contaminated the very environment that sustains them. But the broad concern for the environment can be so overwhelming that people don’t know what to do or where to start making a difference.

  • By Erich Lawson
  • Nov 25, 2019

For years now, humans have mistreated and contaminated the very environment that sustains them. But the broad concern for the environment can be so overwhelming that people don’t know what to do or where to start making a difference.

The list of issues surrounding our environment go on, but there are three major ones that affect the majority of them overall: global warming and climate change; water pollution and ocean acidification; and loss of biodiversity. These three issues need immediate attention and proactive action on our part to ensure conservation of the only habitable planet which we call our home. And, focusing attention on these three major topics will have a ripple effect on a number of smaller environmental issues like inefficient recycling systems and food waste.

Let’s look at three major environmental issues and some solutions which can help combat them:

Global Warming and Climate Change Human activities have made global warming and climate change a global threat. The rising levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases have caused an increase in average global temperatures, extreme weather events, rising sea levels and other negative changes. These changes are directly and indirectly affecting all life forms. Pollution of air, land and water through excessive deforestation, industrialization and overfilling landfills which emits CO2 and adds to greenhouse gas emissions are all topmost causes of these environmental issues. Here are some effective solutions to these problems:

  • Invest in and encourage production of sustainable technology
  • Commercial and residential buildings should aim to achieve zero-emission or zero-waste
  • Improve waste compaction in landfills with smart technology like stationary compactors which helps free up space for other constructive uses. It comes in varying capacities and configurations for handling different volumes of trash
  • Increase forest cover, restore sea grasses and boost use of agricultural cover crops to reduce the amount of CO2 in atmosphere.

Water Pollution and Ocean Acidification Rapid urban development, improper sewage disposal by industries, oil spills, disposal of chemical and radioactive wastes, and plastic pollution are some of the major causes of water pollution. Today, water scarcity and polluted water are posing a big threat to the human existence across many nations of the world.

Ocean waters absorb around 30 percent of the carbon dioxide that is released in the atmosphere. Ocean acidification occurs when the CO2 absorbed by the seawater undergoes a series of chemical reactions which leads to increased concentration of hydrogen ions, thus making the seawater more acidic. This decreases the carbonate ions in the seawater which makes it difficult for clams, deep sea corals, oysters etc. to build and maintain their shells and other calcium carbonate structures. These changes in the ocean water chemistry can affect the behavior of other organisms also. This puts the entire ocean food web at risk. Listed below are some measures which can help prevent water pollution and ocean acidification :

  • Practice more effective measures to contain spills
  • Curtail storm water runoff and plant trees near water bodies to reduce soil erosion
  • Expand the network which monitors the measuring of acidity levels to provide researchers and shellfish farmers with long-term and real-time pH data
  • Incorporate ocean acidification threats into the coastal zone management plans of states
  • Increase marine protection measures

Loss of Biodiversity Biodiversity helps maintain the balance of the ecosystem and provides biological resources which are crucial for our existence. Habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, secondary extinction and introduced species are a few ways in which humans are wreaking havoc on the biodiversity of this planet. Loss of biodiversity can be countered in a number of ways:

  • Government should create and implement stricter policies and laws related to conservation of biodiversity
  • Stop habitat destruction and encourage its restoration
  • Practice sustainable living
  • Reduce invasive species
  • Research innovative ways to preserve biodiversity and educate the populace about it

Awareness and adaption are two key steps towards conserving this boon called environment. Each one of us can and should do their bit to curb the effects of these environmental issues and ensure that our future generations have a healthy planet to live.

About the Author

Erich Lawson is very passionate about the environment and is an advocate of effective recycling. He writes on a wide array of topics to inform readers on how modern recycling equipment can be used by industries to reduce monthly wastage bills and increase recycling revenue. You can learn more about environment saving techniques by visiting his blog on Compactor Management Company.

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Harvard students share thoughts, fears, plans to meet environmental challenges

For many, thinking about the world’s environmental future brings concern, even outright alarm.

There have been, after all, decades of increasingly strident warnings by experts and growing, ever-more-obvious signs of the Earth’s shifting climate. Couple this with a perception that past actions to address the problem have been tantamount to baby steps made by a generation of leaders who are still arguing about what to do, and even whether there really is a problem.

It’s no surprise, then, that the next generation of global environmental leaders are preparing for their chance to begin work on the problem in government, business, public health, engineering, and other fields with a real sense of mission and urgency.

The Gazette spoke to students engaged in environmental action in a variety of ways on campus to get their views of the problem today and thoughts on how their activities and work may help us meet the challenge.

Eric Fell and Eliza Spear

Fell is president and Spear is vice president of Harvard Energy Journal Club. Fell is a graduate student at the Harvard John H. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Spear is a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

FELL:   For the past three centuries, fossil fuels have enabled massive growth of our civilization to where we are today. But it is now time for a new generation of cleaner-energy technologies to fuel the next chapter of humanity’s story. We’re not too late to solve this environmental challenge, but we definitely shouldn’t procrastinate as much as we have been. I don’t worry about if we’ll get it done, it’s the when. Our survival depends on it. At Harvard, I’ve been interested in the energy-storage problem and have been focusing on developing a grid-scale solution utilizing flow batteries based on organic molecules in the lab of Mike Aziz . We’ll need significant deployment of batteries to enable massive penetration of renewables into the electrical grid.

SPEAR: Processes leading to greenhouse-gas emissions are so deeply entrenched in our way of life that change continues to be incredibly slow. We need to be making dramatic structural changes, and we should all be very worried about that. In the Harvard Energy Journal Club, our focus is energy, so we strive to learn as much as we can about the diverse options for clean-energy generation in various sectors. A really important aspect of that is understanding how much of an impact those technologies, like solar, hydro, and wind, can really have on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. It’s not always as much as you’d like to believe, and there are still a lot of technical and policy challenges to overcome.

I can’t imagine working on anything else, but the question of what I’ll be working on specifically is on my mind a lot. The photovoltaics field is at a really exciting point where a new technology is just starting to break out onto the market, so there are a lot of opportunities for optimization in terms of performance, safety, and environmental impact. That’s what I’m working on now [in Roy Gordon’s lab ] and I’m really enjoying it. I’ll definitely be in the renewable-energy technology realm. The specifics will depend on where I see the greatest opportunity to make an impact.

Photo (left) courtesy of Kritika Kharbanda; photo by Tiera Satchebell.

Kritika Kharbanda ’23 and Laier-Rayshon Smith ’21

Kharbanda is with the Harvard Student Climate Change Conference, Harvard Circular Economy Symposium. Smith is a member of Climate Leaders Program for Professional Students at Harvard. Both are students at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

KHARBANDA: I come from a country where the most pressing issues are, and will be for a long time, poverty, food shortage, and unemployment born out of corruption, illiteracy, and rapid gentrification. India was the seventh-most-affected country by climate change in 2019. With two-thirds of the population living in rural areas with no access to electricity, even the notion of climate change is unimaginable.

I strongly believe that the answer lies in the conjugality of research and industry. In my field, achieving circularity in the building material processes is the burning concern. The building industry currently contributes to 40 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, of which 38 percent is contributed by the embedded or embodied energy used for the manufacturing of materials. A part of the Harvard i-lab, I am a co-founder of Cardinal LCA, an early stage life-cycle assessment tool that helps architects and designers visualize this embedded energy in building materials, saving up to 46 percent of the energy from the current workflow. This venture has a strong foundation as a research project for a seminar class I took at the GSD in fall 2020, instructed by Jonathan Grinham. I am currently working as a sustainability engineer at Henning Larsen architects in Copenhagen while on a leave of absence from GSD. In the decades to come, I aspire to continue working on the embodied carbon aspect of the building industry. Devising an avant garde strategy to record the embedded carbon is the key. In the end, whose carbon is it, anyway?

SMITH: The biggest challenges are areas where the threat of climate change intersects with environmental justice. It is important that we ensure that climate-change mitigation and adaptation strategies are equitable, whether it is sea-level rise or the increase in urban heat islands. We should seek to address the threats faced by the most vulnerable communities — the communities least able to resolve the threat themselves. These often tend to be low-income communities and communities of color that for decades have been burdened with bearing the brunt of environmental health hazards.

During my time at Harvard, I have come to understand how urban planning and design can seek to address this challenge. Planners and designers can develop strategies to prioritize communities that are facing a significant climate-change risk, but because of other structural injustices may not be able to access the resources to mitigate the risk. I also learned about climate gentrification: a phenomenon in which people in wealthier communities move to areas with lower risks of climate-change threats that are/were previously lower-income communities. I expect to work on many of these issues, as many are connected and are threats to communities across the country. From disinvestment and economic extraction to the struggle to find quality affordable housing, these injustices allow for significant disparities in life outcomes and dealing with risk.

Lucy Shaw ’21

Shaw is co-president of the HBS Energy and Environment Club. She is a joint-degree student at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.

SHAW: I want to see a world where climate change is averted and the environment preserved, without it being at the expense of the development and prosperity of lower-income countries. We have, or are on the cusp of having, many of the financial and technological tools we need to reduce emissions and environmental damage from a wide array of industries, such as agriculture, energy, and transport. The challenge I am most worried about is how we balance economic growth and opportunity with reducing humanity’s environmental impact and share this burden equitably across countries.

I came to Harvard as a joint degree student at the Kennedy School and Business School to be able to see this challenge from two different angles. In my policy-oriented classes, we learned about the opportunities and challenges of global coordination among national governments — the difficulty in enforcing climate agreements, and in allocating and agreeing on who bears the responsibility and the costs of change, but also the huge potential that an international framework with nationally binding laws on environmental protection and carbon-emission reduction could have on changing the behavior of people and businesses. In my business-oriented classes, we learned about the power of business to create change, if there is a driven leadership. We also learned that people and businesses respond to incentives, and the importance of reducing cost of technologies or increasing the cost of not switching to more sustainable technologies — for example, through a tax. After graduate school, I plan to join a leading private equity investor in their growing infrastructure team, which will equip me with tools to understand what makes a good investment in infrastructure and what are the opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of infrastructure while enhancing its value. I hope to one day be involved in shaping environmental and development policy, whether it is on a national or international level.

Photo (left) by Tabitha Soren.

Quinn Lewis ’23 and Suhaas Bhat ’24

Both are with the Student Climate Change Conference, Harvard College.

LEWIS:   When I was a kid, I imagined being an adult as a future with a stable house, a fun job, and happy kids. That future didn’t include wildfires that obscured the sun for months, global water shortages, or billionaires escaping to terrariums on Mars. The threats are so great and so assured by inaction that it’s very hard for me to justify doing anything else with my time and attention because very little will matter if there’s 1 billion climate refugees and significant portions of the continental United States become uninhabitable for human life.

For whatever reason, I still feel a great deal of hope around giving it a shot. I can’t imagine not working to mitigate the climate crisis. Media and journalism will play a huge role in raising awareness, as they generate public pressure that can sway those in power. Another route for change is to cut directly to those in power and try to convince them of the urgency of the situation. Given that I am 22 years old, it is much easier to raise public awareness or work in media and journalism than it is to sit down with some of the most powerful people on the planet, who tend to be rather busy. At school, I’m on a team that runs the University-wide Student Climate Change Conference at Harvard, which is a platform for speakers from diverse backgrounds to discuss the climate crisis and ways students and educators can take immediate and effective action. Also, I write about and research challenges and solutions to the climate crisis through the lenses of geopolitics and the global economy, both as a student at the College and as a case writer at the Harvard Business School. Outside of Harvard, I have worked in investigative journalism and at Crooked Media, as well as on political campaigns to indirectly and directly drive urgency around the climate crisis.

BHAT:   The failure to act on climate change in the last few decades, despite mountains of scientific evidence, is a consequence of political and institutional cowardice. Fossil fuel companies have obfuscated, misinformed, and lobbied for decades, and governments have failed to act in the best interests of their citizens. Of course, the fight against climate change is complex and multidimensional, requiring scientific, technical, and entrepreneurial expertise, but it will ultimately require systemic change to allow these talents to shine.

At Harvard, my work on climate has been focused on running the Harvard Student Climate Conference, as well as organizing for Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard. My hope for the Climate Conference is to provide students access to speakers who have dedicated their careers to all aspects of the fight against climate change, so that students interested in working on climate have more direction and inspiration for what to do with their careers. We’ve featured Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, members of the Sunrise Movement, and the CEO of Impossible Foods as some examples of inspiring and impactful people who are working against climate change today.

I organize for FFDH because I believe that serious institutional change is necessary for solving the climate crisis and also because of a sort of patriotism I have for Harvard. I deeply respect and care for this institution, and genuinely believe it is an incredible force for good in the world. At the same time, I believe Harvard has a moral duty to stand against the corporations whose misdeeds and falsification of science have enabled the climate crisis.

Libby Dimenstein ’22

Dimenstein is co-president of Harvard Law School Environmental Law Society.

DIMENSTEIN:   Climate change is the one truly existential threat that my generation has had to face. What’s most scary is that we know it’s happening. We know how bad it will be; we know people are already dying from it; and we still have done so little relative to the magnitude of the problem. I also worry that people don’t see climate change as an “everyone problem,” and more as a problem for people who have the time and money to worry about it, when in reality it will harm people who are already disadvantaged the most.

I want to recognize Professor Wendy Jacobs, who recently passed away. Wendy founded HLS’s fantastic Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, and she also created an interdisciplinary class called the Climate Solutions Living Lab. In the lab, groups of students drawn from throughout the University would conduct real-world projects to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The class was hard, because actually reducing greenhouse gases is hard, but it taught us about the work that needs to be done. This summer I’m interning with the Environmental Defense Fund’s U.S. Clean Air Team, and I anticipate a lot of my work will revolve around the climate. After graduating, I’m hoping to do environmental litigation, either with a governmental division or a nonprofit, but I also have an interest in policy work: Impact litigation is fascinating and important, but what we need most is sweeping policy change.

Candice Chen ’22 and Noah Secondo ’22

Chen and Secondo are co-directors of the Harvard Environmental Action Committee. Both attend Harvard College.

SECONDO: The environment is fundamental to rural Americans’ identity, but they do not believe — as much as urban Americans — that the government can solve environmental problems. Without the whole country mobilized and enthusiastic, from New Hampshire to Nebraska, we will fail to confront the climate crisis. I have no doubt that we can solve this problem. To rebuild trust between the U.S. government and rural communities, federal departments and agencies need to speak with rural stakeholders, partner with state and local leaders, and foreground rural voices. Through the Harvard College Democrats and the Environmental Action Committee, I have contributed to local advocacy efforts and creative projects, including an environmental art publication.

I hope to work in government to keep the policy development and implementation processes receptive to rural perspectives, including in the environmental arena. At every level of government, if we work with each other in good faith, we will tackle the climate crisis and be better for it.

CHEN: I’m passionate about promoting more sustainable, plant-based diets. As individual consumers, we have very little control over the actions of the largest emitters, massive corporations, but we can all collectively make dietary decisions that can avoid a lot of environmental degradation. Our food system is currently very wasteful, and our overreliance on animal agriculture devastates natural ecosystems, produces lots of potent greenhouse gases, and creates many human health hazards from poor animal-waste disposal. I feel like the climate conversation is often focused around the clean energy transition, and while it is certainly the largest component of how we can avoid the worst effects of global warming, the dietary conversation is too often overlooked. A more sustainable future also requires us to rethink agriculture, and especially what types of agriculture our government subsidizes. In the coming years, I hope that more will consider the outsized environmental impact of animal agriculture and will consider making more plant-based food swaps.

To raise awareness of the environmental benefits of adopting a more plant-based diet, I’ve been involved with running a campaign through the Environmental Action Committee called Veguary. Veguary encourages participants to try going vegetarian or vegan for the month of February, and participants receive estimates for how much their carbon/water/land use footprints have changed based on their pledged dietary changes for the month.

Photo (left) courtesy of Cristina Su Liu.

Cristina Su Liu ’22 and James Healy ’21

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Spirituality, social justice, and climate change meet at the crossroads

Liu is with Harvard Climate Leaders Program for Professional Students. Healy is with the Harvard Student Climate Change Conference. Both are students at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

HEALY:   As a public health student I see so many environmental challenges, be it the 90 percent of the world who breathe unhealthy air, or the disproportionate effects of extreme heat on communities of color, or the environmental disruptions to the natural world and the zoonotic disease that humans are increasingly being exposed to. But the central commonality at the heart of all these crises is the climate crisis. Climate change, from the greenhouse-gas emissions to the physical heating of the Earth, is worsening all of these environmental crises. That’s why I call the climate crisis the great exacerbator. While we will all feel the effects of climate change, it will not be felt equally. Whether it’s racial inequity or wealth inequality, the climate crisis is widening these already gaping divides.

Solutions may have to be outside of our current road maps for confronting crises. I have seen the success of individual efforts and private innovation in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, from individuals wearing masks and social distancing to the huge advances in vaccine development. But for climate change, individual efforts and innovation won’t be enough. I would be in favor of policy reform and coalition-building between new actors. As an overseer of the Harvard Student Climate Change Conference and the Harvard Climate Leaders Program, I’ve aimed to help mobilize Harvard’s diverse community to tackle climate change. I am also researching how climate change makes U.S. temperatures more variable, and how that’s reducing the life expectancies of Medicare recipients. The goal of this research, with Professor Joel Schwartz, will be to understand the effects of climate change on vulnerable communities. I certainly hope to expand on these themes in my future work.

SU LIU:  A climate solution will need to be a joint effort from the whole society, not just people inside the environmental or climate circles. In addition to cross-sectoral cooperation, solving climate change will require much stronger international cooperation so that technologies, projects, and resources can be developed and shared globally. As a Chinese-Brazilian student currently studying in the United States, I find it very valuable to learn about the climate challenges and solutions of each of these countries, and how these can or cannot be applied in other settings. China-U.S. relations are tense right now, but I hope that climate talks can still go ahead since we have much to learn from each other.

Personally, as a student in environmental health at [the Harvard Chan School], I feel that my contribution to addressing this challenge until now has been in doing research, learning more about the health impacts of climate change, and most importantly, learning how to communicate climate issues to people outside climate circles. Every week there are several climate-change events at Harvard, where a different perspective on climate change is addressed. It has been very inspiring for me, and I feel that I could learn about climate change in a more holistic way.

Recently, I started an internship at FXB Village, where I am working on developing and integrating climate resilience indicators into their poverty-alleviation program in rural communities in Puebla, Mexico. It has been very rewarding to introduce climate-change and climate-resilience topics to people working on poverty alleviation and see how everything is interconnected. When we address climate resilience, we are also addressing access to basic services, livelihoods, health, equity, and quality of life in general. This is where climate justice is addressed, and that is a very powerful idea.

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Speak Up For Nature: Your Guide to Environmental Issues in 2022

Follow this guide on conservation issues and act for your planet.

October 04, 2020

How to Use This Guide

The past couple of years have been a difficult and humbling reminder that no matter where you live, your life is connected to the health of the natural world. When we degrade our planet, we make it more difficult for nature to provide the food, water and air we all rely on.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There are better, smarter paths rooted in science and in nature’s resilience. The more we speak up about these paths to our leaders, the more positive change we can make.

The first step is to start building your understanding of top environmental and conservation issues. No, you don’t need to be able to recite the Clean Water Act by heart.

Dig into the topics in this guide until you’re comfortable with them. Then, take one (or more) of these actions...

5 Things You Can Do

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  • Talk About These Issues

Let your friends and family know what's important to you and why...maybe they'll join you in speaking up next time! Here's how to talk about climate change.

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  • Contact Your Local Leaders

Local, state and federal, ask your elected leaders to support the things you care about. They are there to represent you, and they can't do it if you don't talk to them. Learn who's representing you in your state.

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  • Contact Congress

Weigh in on critical, timely issues. You can call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or send messages on a range of issues through our Action Center.

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  • Take Our Pledge

Your voice can make a difference. Every single action you take in your community can have a real impact on how we meet the needs of our Earth and everyone on it. Add your voice.

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Share Your Thoughts

Use this guide to inform your social network and encourage them to speak up with us. There's power in numbers! You can start by sharing this message!

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Climate Change

The science is clear: the more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the warmer it gets. The warmer it gets, the higher our seas, the more intense our storms, the less ice in our Arctic and the more stresses on wildlife. Worse, we're running out of time.

The good news? We know what we need to do and how to do it.

It comes down to switching to cleaner energy like solar, protecting and restoring natural places that can store more carbon, updating our electric grid (which is older than the TV) , and inventing the next great technology.

We put people on the moon. We made supercomputers that fit in your pocket. We are fully capable of doing all of these things, and doing them in time.

5 Ways to Speak Up

  • Share this Guide on Twitter

We can do these things if we make it known that we believe in the promise of clean energy, not only to lessen the impacts of climate change but to support jobs and economic growth.

Take action and speak up for climate solutions today. Start with these 5 actions.

Want to Dig Deeper?

Smart climate policy : Reinventing how we generate, transport and use energy resources.

Choosing Clean Energy : New technologies, better choices and lower costs.

Natural Climate Solutions : Conservation, restoration and management of natural lands to reduce emissions.

Grid modernization : Improve reliability and efficiency of our power and reduce costs.

Climate Change FAQs : The best information at hand about climate change's challenges and solutions, from scientists at The Nature Conservancy.

Black and white photo of three bison walking through steam at the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park.

Protecting Our Nation's Land & Water

Back in 1977, conservation and recreation made up 2.5% of the federal government's total budget. Today, it's less than 1%. This doesn't make any sense given that our need for healthy land, clean water and open spaces has dramatically increased as our population has grown. 

We’ve had some policy wins (thank you, Great American Outdoors Act) , but our usage demands of lands far outpace the resources coming into them. National and state parks alone host around 1 billion visits each year.

That's hikers, hunters and anglers, but also people going to weddings, reunions and summer camp. Throw in city parks with the baseball games and soccer tournaments and visitor numbers go through the roof. 

Outside of being awe-inspiring, public lands clean our water and our air, and they protect us from coastal storms and heavy rains. They also have a massive positive impact on our economy . Outdoor recreation (often on public lands) generates $887 billion in annual consumer spending, directly supporting 7.6 million jobs.

It’s time to better care for the lands that care for us…but how?

There are plenty of ways to put money back into our lands and waters, if we make the right choices today. There's infrastructure investments that include wetlands and trees, not just levees and seawalls .  There's tax reforms that incentivize private investment in restoring wetlands and forests or donating land for conservation. But, we need to let our elected officials know this is where we want our money to go. 

Take action and speak up for our protecting our lands and waters today. Start with these 5 actions.

Want to dig deeper?

Land and Water Conservation Fund : Standing up for America’s premier conservation program.

Tropical Forest Conservation Act : Protecting tropical forests and biodiversity.

Water management systems : Ensuring sustainable water supplies during drought.

Modernizing fishing data : Using technology to build sustainable fisheries.

Investments in nature : Supporting strong conservation funding and policies.

International conservation funding : Protecting natural resources abroad through U.S. programs.

Tax incentives : Reforming tax policy to incentivize investments in conservation.

Black and white photo of a doorway with multiple hurricane flood levels marked: Matthew 2016, Arthur 2014, Dorian 2019.

Reduce Risks to Communities from Natural Disasters

Stay up to date.

Sign up for our monthly Nature News newsletter:

For the past several years, we've seen more frequent, more intense natural disasters ravage communities across the globe. How many “once-in-a-lifetime” disasters must we encounter…in our lifetimes? And what can we do about it?

Because climate change has made these disasters more intense, we have to prevent the worst warming from happening. And, we have to better protect our communities. To do both of those things, we can turn to nature as a part of the solution. Yes, nature!

Healthy forests filter water and can reduce the risk of megafires. Sand dunes, marshes and reefs naturally protect our coasts from the storm surge that arrives with a hurricane. You might be thinking, I see forests and sand dunes all the time, don't we have enough? 

One key word with forests is "healthy." We’ve suppressed natural fires in some forests, making them unhealthy tinderboxes. And while we may have some sandy coastlines, we’ve bulldozed our natural sand dunes and oyster reefs that were our first line of defense for our coasts. 

Nature can bounce back if we give it the chance. Just like we must invest in bridges and roads, we must invest in restoring forests and sand dunes. Nature IS infrastructure. Nature IS investment. Nature IS a solution.

And the best part is while nature reduces risk for us, it also cleans our water and air, gives wildlife a home and gives us great parks to visit. We need to ensure consideration of nature and nature-based solutions in community infrastructure projects. 

Take action and speak up for our natural infrastructure today. To get started, follow our 5 Ways to Speak Up. 

Transportation bill : Advancing nature-based solutions to infrastructure challenges

Natural infrastructure : Protecting communities from storms

Disaster relief funding : Increasing resilience when rebuilding after disasters

National Flood Insurance Program : Planning for floods to reduce risk

Water Resources Development Act : Managing waterways to benefit people and nature

Black and white photo of the Escalante River winding through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Safeguarding Core Environmental Laws

Before Congress passed environmental laws in the 1960s and 1970s, our air was more polluted than ever and rivers had so many pollutants that they actually caught fire.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle decided that our health and the health of our natural places were basic values. They worked together to create laws like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and others.

Air and water in this country dramatically improved. Species came back from the brink. And generations of Americans have benefited.

Our country’s successful, bipartisan environmental laws are increasingly under attack. Many proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Clean Water Act have no basis in science and would erode the laws’ fundamental protections. 

Take action and speak up for core environmental protections today. To get started, follow our 5 Ways to Speak Up. 

Foundational environmental laws : Protecting critical conservation policies that keep our water clean and our lands healthy.

Greater sage grouse :   Actions to save an iconic Western bird would also reduce threats for people

Sign Our Pledge :  Contact your elected officials and speak up for nature.  

Black and white aerial photo of a mountaintop coal mine in West Virginia, showing degraded land surrounded by forest.

Advancing Clean Energy

Humanity has been burning fossil fuels (coal, petroleum and natural gas) at an accelerated rate for around 140 years. Scientists have known for many decades that these forms of energy emit greenhouse gases that are unnaturally warming the planet. In 2018, fossil fuels were responsible for 93% of human-caused carbon emissions in the U.S.

Transitioning to clean energies like wind and solar would make an enormous difference in helping the planet avoid the worst effects of climate change, such as extreme droughts, stronger storms and crippling coastal flooding. And yet, renewables make up less than 10% of the nation's energy mix. 

Over the last decade, the cost of solar has dropped 92% and wind turbines by nearly 50%.  In most parts of the U.S., new renewable energy costs less than coal. The time is right to make the switch.

To quicken and ease this transition, we need to make our power system more reliable by modernizing our century-old electric grid and advancing energy storage. And we need to put those turbines and panels in smart places. We don't need to knock down more forest and prairie; there's enough land already developed to meet our clean energy needs 17 times over.

The benefits of a clean energy shift go way beyond stopping climate change. The shift gives us cleaner air, more consumer choices and more jobs.

Take action and speak up for clean energy today. Start with these 5 actions.

Smart Climate Change Policy : Creating a low-carbon future that benefits everyone.

Black and white photo looking up at a power line tower from the bottom center.

Modernizing Our Electrical Grid

Our electric grid is the physical network that sends power to our homes and businesses by connecting them in real time to energy plants scattered around the country. This network, much of which is over 75 years old, wasn't built for the technologies our climate-threatened future depends on, like scattered wind turbines and rooftop solar panels. 

It's also not efficient or reliable enough for our needs. It doesn’t take a natural disaster to shut the power off. Currently, something as small as a squirrel can cause an outage that ripples into a larger blackout. 

Technological advances like the internet allow utilities and consumers to relay real time info about energy supply, demand and cost. This is a trove of useful information but its value is held back by infrastructure older than the television. We can build a modernized electrical grid that turns that information into smarter, more efficient choices that let cleaner energy sources shine.

Small changes to how and when we use energy can save us money and make a huge dent in the carbon emissions that cause climate change. 

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates they need an additional $100 billion to fully modernize the grid. That's a lot of money, but those upgrades would save consumers $2 trillion over the next 20 years.

With the current grid causing economic losses of roughly $150 billion a year, there’s never been a better time to start. Let’s bring cutting-edge technology to the grid so it pollutes less, lowers costs for customers and creates jobs.

Take action and speak up for smarter energy today. To get started, follow our 5 Ways to Speak Up. 

We no longer need to choose between abundant energy and a cleaner environment. A renewable energy revolution is happening across the United States. Learn what this means.

Your Voice is Critical

If you have a voice, you have a choice. And together, our voices are powerful. Speak up for nature, and for us all.

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10 environmental problems and their solutions 2023.

  • 5 minute read
  • May 24, 2023

Last Updated on May 31, 2023 by Ecologica Life

The world is facing numerous environmental challenges that demand urgent attention and action. From climate change to deforestation, these problems pose significant threats to our planet’s ecosystems and the well-being of future generations.

However, with concerted efforts and innovative solutions, we can mitigate and address these issues effectively.

In this article we will give you a brief overview of 10 environmental problems and potential solutions that can pave the way to a more sustainable future. It should be noted that these 10 problems are not separate but as you will see, very much interrelated.

Table of Contents

1. climate change.

Climate change is arguably one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time.

To tackle this issue, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning to renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency, promoting sustainable transportation, and adopting more environmentally friendly agricultural practices.

In addition, reforestation efforts and the preservation of carbon sinks, such as wetlands and forests, are crucial for capturing and storing carbon dioxide.

2. Deforestation

Deforestation destroys critical habitats, contributes to climate change, and threatens biodiversity.

To combat deforestation, governments and organisations should enforce strict regulations against illegal logging, promote sustainable forestry practices, and support initiatives that encourage reforestation and afforestation.

Public awareness campaigns can also play an important role in educating communities about the importance of preserving forests. It is particularly important to educate the younger generations about the importance of preserving trees, as they will be the ones to ensure that the trees live out their lifespan, whether that be 50 years, 100 years or more.

3. Water Pollution

Water pollution is a major threat to aquatic ecosystems and human health.

To address this issue, we need to implement robust water treatment systems, reduce the use of harmful chemicals in agriculture and industry, and improve waste management practices.

Promoting sustainable agricultural practices, implementing stricter regulations on industrial waste disposal, and encouraging community involvement in water protection are key steps towards cleaner water.

4. Air Pollution

Air pollution has a significant impact on human health, our economy and climate change.

To tackle the problem, governments and industry need to invest in cleaner technologies and renewable energy sources.

Implementing stricter emission standards for vehicles and industrial plants, promoting public transport and cycling infrastructure, and encouraging the use of electric vehicles can significantly reduce air pollution.

5. Plastic & Microplastic Pollution

Plastic pollution has become a global crisis, endangering marine life and polluting ecosystems. What’s more, plastic breaks down into microplastics and nanoplastics over time.

In a previous article, we suggested that microplastics could be the end of the world no one is talking about . This is because microplastics are now everywhere, from marine animals to our blood . Millions of microplastics leak from infant baby bottles and our tea bags . The scary thing is that we have little understanding of how they affect us, and research suggests that they can cross the blood-brain barrier , which is certainly not good!

We need to end our plastic addiction and go plastic free where possible; ditch bottled water for tap water , buy natural fibre clothes and don’t throw them away after a few uses , use reusable bags (such as tote bags ), and use reusable alternatives where possible (for example, consider buying your fruit in a reusable cotton/linen bag rather than a plastic one).

Governments can adopt policies that ban or tax single-use plastics and invest in infrastructure to properly recycle plastics and remove microplastics from the environment. Individuals can make conscious choices to minimise their plastic consumption and dispose of plastic waste properly.

We recommend that you don’t buy recycled plastic food and drink containers as they can leach hazardous chemicals into your food . We also recommend that you do not microwave or cook in plastic, as this can also release microplastics and chemicals into your food.

If you are concerned about microplastics you can read our tips on how to avoid microplastics .

6. Loss of Biodiversity

Biodiversity loss threatens the stability and resilience of ecosystems. We don’t often think about it, but all life on Earth is intricately connected in ecological communities, a web. Protecting biodiversity is protecting life, it is protecting us.

To protect biodiversity, we need to establish and expand protected areas, promote sustainable land management practices, and combat wildlife trafficking.

Cooperation between governments, conservation organisations, and local communities is essential to protect endangered species and their habitats.

7. Soil Degradation

Soil degradation, caused by factors such as erosion, deforestation, and unsustainable agricultural practices, leads to reduced crop productivity and food security.

To address this issue, we need to adopt sustainable farming techniques, such as organic farming and agroforestry, which improve soil health and fertility.

In addition, land restoration programmes and reforestation efforts can help combat soil erosion and degradation.

8. Overfishing

Overfishing depletes fish populations, disrupts marine biodiversity and ecosystems, and threatens the livelihoods of millions of people.

To tackle this problem, governments and fisheries need to enforce strict fishing regulations, establish marine protected areas, and promote sustainable fishing practices. It is important that these fishing regulations are fair, to support smaller fishing businesses.

Consumer awareness and support for sustainable seafood choices can also drive positive change in the fishing industry.

As a consumer, you should look for eco-certifications. Various organisations and programmes certify seafood products as sustainable. Look for labels such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification or the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification on packaging. These certifications ensure that the seafood has been responsibly sourced and meets certain environmental standards.

9. Energy Transition

Over-dependence on fossil fuels contributes to climate change and air pollution.

Transitioning to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, is essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Governments should also consider investing in nuclear power during this transition period. Nuclear energy has some drawbacks, but it does not release emissions or contribute to climate change.

Governments and businesses need to invest in renewable energy infrastructure, provide incentives for the use of renewable energy and prioritise research and development of clean energy technologies.

Many big and small companies are now committed to the 1.5ºC pledge set out in the Paris Agreement as well as net zero pledges. For more information on how your business can go green, read the 1.5ºC business playbook .

10. Waste Management

This problem goes hand in hand with plastic and microplastic pollution. Inefficient waste management systems lead to pollution, habitat destruction, and health hazards.

To address this issue, we need to prioritise waste reduction, recycling, and proper disposal. Governments should invest in waste management infrastructure, implement recycling programmes, and encourage sustainable consumption patterns.

Education and awareness campaigns can help individuals make informed choices about waste reduction and recycling.

Addressing these environmental challenges requires a concerted effort by governments, businesses, communities, and individuals. By adopting sustainable practices, investing in clean technologies, and promoting environmental stewardship, we can pave the way for a healthier and more sustainable planet for future generations.

The time for action is now, and it is vital that we work together to preserve and protect our precious natural resources and achieve true harmony with nature.

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How Can Science Help Solve Environmental Problems

Table of Contents:

Can science solve climate change? . The planet needs a backup plan. Investing in geoengineering research may offer some answers.

In this Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, file photo a plume of smoke billows from the coal-fired Merrimack Station in Bow, N.H. (Jim Cole/AP) WHAT HAPPENS if humans fail to cut carbon dioxide emissions enough to prevent worsening climate change? A new report from the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences contemplates some very unattractive — but potentially necessary — backup plans. Ending deforestation seems like an obvious answer. But, the report found, planting more trees won’t do enough to suck CO2 out of the air. Instead, humans might have to use decidedly less natural methods to counteract global warming. The report discusses two options. Scientists could try to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Or they could reflect more sunlight back into space. This is called climate intervention or geoengineering, and it’s very controversial in scientific and environmental circles. Geoengineering poses all kinds of problems. Directly removing carbon dioxide from the air is a very slow process, and the removed gas would need to be stored somewhere.

Video advice: How can I get help with an environmental problem? – BBC Learning English

Humans have been polluting the world for a long time. So, how can you take action about something like climate change? Who would you blame? It’s not any one person, company, country, or government’s fault… or is it? Watch the video to find out.

How Can Science Help Solve Environmental Problems

The Clean Air Act: Solving Air Pollution Problems with Science and Technology

The Act calls for states and EPA to solve multiple air pollution problems through programs based on the latest science and technology information.

Under the Act, EPA and states (depending on the program) set emissions limits for motor vehicles and industrial facilities. In most programs, these limits are set using data on the emissions performance and costs of available technologies.

  • Setting air quality standards for common air pollutants based on protection of public health and welfare
  • Technical tools for policy analysis
  • Emissions and air quality data

National Air Emissions Standards Are Based on Technology Performance

EPA maintains AirData, which provides access to outdoor air quality data collected from state, local and tribal monitoring agencies across the United States. EPA publishes air emissions factors and compiles emissions inventories submitted by states every three years. This shows which sources emit how much pollution and support air quality modeling efforts. EPA publishes electronic reporting tool that sources can use to report stationary source emissions sampling test data to regulatory agencies. States and EPA conduct air pollution deposition monitoring to assess progress under the Clean Air Act. EPA’s periodic air trends reports on air quality and emissions in the United States represent one of the best and longest-running environmental trends assessments in the world. For greenhouse gases, EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program will help us better understand where greenhouse gas emissions come from and will improve our ability to make informed policy, business, and regulatory decisions.

Save the Environment with technology

How can technology helpt to save the environment? Find out more about the innovations that may be useful to create a sustainable human existance.

Agriculture, biofuels and energy – Additionally to increasing the efficiency of straight line production processes, the circular economy aims to reuse factors that are typically considered waste. The aim of this sustainable development technique is to create products or services while reducing recycleables, water and consumption and waste. Taking care of may be the bioeconomy, by which either living microorganisms or their parts are utilized to assist the atmosphere – which could lead to the growth. Based on Eu calculations, every euro committed to R&D&I within the bioeconomy, funded at community level, will generate ten euros of added value in 2025. This data supports scientific and technical strategies that won’t only improve employment figures, but tend to also aid save the atmosphere.

Environmental science

“Environmental research” redirects here. For the Elsevier journal, see Environmental Research.

Ecological chemistry is study regarding chemical modifications in the atmosphere. Principal regions of study include soil contamination and water quality. The themes of research include chemical degradation within the atmosphere, multi-phase transport of chemicals (for instance, evaporation of the solvent that contains lake to yield solvent being an air pollutant), and chemical effects upon biota.

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical, biological, and geography (including ecology, biology, physics, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geography, and atmospheric science) to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems. Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment. Today it provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems.

Cutting Through Environmental Issues: Technology as a double-edged sword

Brookings Review article by David Austin and Molly K. Macauley (Winter 2022)

Video advice: Studying vs Solving Environmental Problems Science Environmental Management

How Can Science Help Solve Environmental Problems

Adopting such technologies may not be a perfect solution, however, particularly in power generation. Some fuel cell technologies release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. In addition, small-scale plants serving only residential areas or small businesses may be less able to balance the peaks in demand than are larger plants serving both types of customers.

Slack covers everything. It sifts in everywhere. Slack is what doesn’t melt in the mountains of red ore-a metal particle, powdered ore, powdered metal. It silts down all growing things. You can see the tiny bits of ore gleaming in your hands. The shining ore dusts your coat. It gets in your hair. On certain days they blow the slack out. Mighty currents of air blow the choking slack out of the costly mill chimneys onto the cheap human life outside. Those days the sun is darkened, and the steel workers returning home hide their faces as from a sand storm. They duck along, jackets over heads, under the fury of the falling slack. You find it everywhere. . . . Nothing, between soot and slack, can be clean long in the steel towns.

How chemistry is helping to improve the environment around us

As we strive towards a better world, we work to ensure chemistry’s contributions are realised. Chemistry can help us to understand, monitor, protect and improve the environment around us.

In 2013 we introduced together atmospheric chemists to go over the function of aerosols within the atmosphere at our Faraday Discussion: Tropospheric Aerosol – Formation, Transformation, Fate and Impacts. Read the papers printed plus the discussion within the Faraday Discussions journal.

  • How chemistry helps
  • Chemistry of air pollution
  • Monitoring air pollution
  • Tackling air pollution
  • UK science communiqué on climate change
  • Our statement on climate change

Our environment is a hugely complex system that includes the air we breathe, the land we live on, the water we drink and the climate around us. We must work to ensure that our developments in some areas do not adversely affect our environment whilst also ensuring that we mitigate any damage that has occurred. Work by some researchers has shown that we are already at a tipping point that might lead to “non-linear, abrupt environmental change within continental- to planetary-scale systems”.

The Use of Science in Environmental Decision Making

We need to do a better job of integrating scientific knowledge into management decision making. The world is too complicated, interconnected and dangerous to act without real scientific observations and analysis.

The amount of scientific literacy within the U . s . States is low by a lot of measures there isn’t grounds to rollout the information on science education within the U . s . States to help make the point. Having a determined effort, we’re able to overcome our science literacy problem, however i see no manifestation of deep worry about the condition of science education. The outcome in our insufficient science literacy are visible in making decisions within the White-colored House as well as in regulatory agencies like Environmental protection agency which are strongly fighting off science. Ecological science is viewed as biased as well as anti-capitalist. I’m certain this is actually the consequence of climate along with other ecological scientists expressing their alarm concerning the impact of pollution in the world as well as their effort to speak that threat. Rather of debating the validity of scientific findings on scientific grounds, many people reject ecological science entirely. This exacerbates our science literacy problem and it is profoundly troubling.

8 ways sensors helped solve environmental problems

Sophisticated, inexpensive sensors – combined with powerful data analytics have the potential to solve some of our greatest environmental challenges.

Mom’s Climate Pressure is really a network of 500,000 parents which are fighting for polluting of the environment limits. Let’s suppose these parents had data within their hands that directly connected bronchial asthma attacks to polluting of the environment in metropolitan areas over the U.S. once they met with Environmental protection agency managers and lobbied on Capitol Hill. The requirement for clearing up our air could be difficult to refute.

2022: Mapping air pollution with mobile sensors

When the Texas Advanced Computing Center analyzed this data, the center discovered a simple change to the direction of solar panel installation would increase efficiency. In the summer, electricity demand peaks in the late afternoon as people return home and turn up the air conditioning. Even though south-facing solar panels produce more total energy, their energy output drops in the afternoon. West-facing panels better match supply with peak demand.

How can science solve all of our problems?

Science can not solve all of our problems. While scientific understanding can help battle things like disease, hunger, and poverty when applied properly, it does not do so completely and automatically. Furthermore, there are many areas of life where science can have little impact. Let us look at some of the reasons why this is so.

To begin with, there’s a significant difference between knowing something and functioning on it. Science is worried with accumulating and understanding observations from the physical world. That understanding alone solves no problems. Individual individuals have to do something with that understanding for this to assist solve problems. For example, science finds that physical exercise can decrease your chance of cardiovascular disease. Knowing this truth is interesting, but it’ll do nothing at all for use on your heath unless of course you act upon it and really exercise. And that is hard part. Studying articles about being active is easy. Stepping into a real routine of standard being active is harder. Within this sense, science really solves no problems whatsoever. Troubles are only solved when individuals go ahead and take understanding (or tool, or pill, or whatever) supplied by science and employ it. Actually, a lot of humanity’s greatest problems come from insufficient action, and never insufficient understanding.

Video advice: Beyond the Science: Environmental Problems…Cultural Solutions

Science is the endeavor that allows us to describe our natural world and how it works. Science gives us the power and knowledge to understand our environment, recognize problems, and quantify threats. But science doesn’t tell us how to use that knowledge. Our planet’s most pressing environmental problems won’t be solved by science. Preserving water resources, facing the immediate and measurable threats from global climate change, reducing waste generation, and solving the myriad environmental challenges facing humans can only be achieved by cultural change. A society represents a collection of individual behaviors…every one of us is responsible for behavioral change. But do we have the personal and political wherewithal to make those changes before we must manage crises? Paul K. Doss is Professor of Geology at the University of Southern Indiana, where he teaches courses on environmental geology, environmental science, geology of national parks, and water resources. Doss directs student research on environmental problems, such as impacts of humans on water resources, natural resources management and geological hazards. He has previously held positions with Yellowstone National Park, Indiana Dunes and Everglades National Park. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

How Can Science Help Solve Environmental Problems

How is science helping the environment?

Research, as well as scientific and technical innovation, will be critical to saving the environment , reducing the impact of global warming, helping in adapting to climate change, cleaning up polluted areas and taking care of our own health.

How can science help us understand environmental problems?

The scientific method begins with observations of a natural occurrence and then leads to the generation of questions based on the initial observations. ... In the case of the yellow grass, the scientific method was a valuable tool in solving the environmental problem and bringing awareness to the cause of the issue.

How can environmental problems be solved?

Recycle (& then recycle properly) Implementing recycling habits into your daily life is one of the most effective ways to help lessen landfill waste, conserve natural resources, save habitats, reduce pollution, cut down on energy consumption, and slow down global warming.

How does science affect the environment?

Environmental Science affects Earth by fostering an understanding of interconnectivity between nature and human activity , which can help us find ways of reducing our impact on the planet.

How is science helping improve the sustainability of the world?

Science is critical to tackle complex challenges for humanity such as climate change , biodiversity loss, pollution and poverty reduction, as it lays the foundation for new approaches and solutions. ... These concerns have led to a new approach: sustainability science.

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10 Environmental Problems and Solutions in 2023

September 6, 2022

Graham Sawrey

There are so many environmental problems we face today, and they all have to be addressed. But which environmental issues demand our attention now?

We’ll discuss 10 environmental problems and solutions that we can work on now to change our collective future for the better!

10 Environmental Problems and Solutions

Want to know even more? Check out our List of Environmental Issues Examples where we discuss the 30 biggest threats earth faces today for a more in-depth understanding of environmental problems.

Here are the top 10 environmental issues that require immediate attention for the health of our planet and our own survival.

  • Climate Change
  • Water Pollution
  • Air Pollution
  • Natural Resource Depletion
  • Waste Management
  • Urban Sprawl
  • Energy Consumption
  • Environmental Degradation
  • Deforestation
  • Recycling Inefficiencies

We’ll discuss these top 10 environmental problems in detail and offer some real-world solutions to each one.

There is no magic bullet solution for the environmental issues we face. The real solution will come when individuals choose to make decisions in favor of the earth’s welfare .

When billions of us combine a lot of small actions they add up to a big impact on the earth.

1. Climate Change

A sign from a protestor saying there is no Planet B trying to fight Climate change

Climate change is a massive topic. Inside this topic are all the subtopics and environmental problems that add up to climate change.

Climate change is the term we use to refer to the changing atmospheric conditions that affect life on earth.

  • Global warming
  • The greenhouse effect
  • Increased saturation of atmospheric carbon dioxide
  • Polar ice melt
  • Rising seawater levels
  • Ozone layer depletion

These things are intertwined and many of them have the same root cause – the main one is the burning of fossil fuels.

However, along with increased carbon dioxide output from fossil fuels, there are mainly CFCs and halons though other substances also destroy ozone molecules.

These substances are found in aerosols, refrigerants (like air conditioners) and other machinery. CFCs are banned, but other ozone-destroying chemicals are still in use.

Depletion of the ozone layer allows more UVB rays to get through the atmosphere which has a warming effect in the atmosphere of the globe. This changes weather patterns and climate expectations everywhere.

Climate Change Solutions

The solutions to climate change involve viewing the world differently than we currently do as a global culture.

We view the world as something to use. We want to get as much as we can while it’s available. This is causing us to use things we don’t need, create waste, and deplete our resources too fast.

Here are a few things we can do to help combat climate change.

  • Drive less often and less far. If there is an option to walk, ride a bike, carpool, or use public transportation then use those options first to help decrease your carbon footprint.
  • Reuse things instead of throwing them away. Americans seem to view recyclables as the way forward but they have limitations. They help us to reuse existing resources, but an even better choice is to choose reusable items every chance we get.
  • Aim for zero waste. Think about it before you buy. Choose to invest your money in things that will last a long time and can be reused or upcycled instead of thrown away. The world is awash in used cheap clothing, single-use plastics, and cheap appliances that are recyclable yet sit in filthy heaps.
  • Get involved. Too many people like to talk about climate change and even yell about climate change but don’t do anything to solve it. Work to increase recycling facilities in your area, educate your community about reusables, and plant native species in your town.
  • Get Renewable Energy. Renewable energy is a must. Buying an EV car isn’t enough because plugging into a fossil fuel electric grid just perpetuates the problem. Investigate your own chain of energy and opt for the cleanest energy you can afford.

Climate change is a real environmental issue and it’s full of uncertainties. One thing we know is that the decisions we make today can have a major impact on the quality of life on planet earth in the future.

2. Water Pollution

A stream with garbage in it showing Water pollution

Water pollution includes marine pollution and freshwater pollution. Let’s take a look at both.

Marine pollution is largely caused by nitrogen that washes away from inland soils and drains into the ocean water.

The excess nitrogen creates algae blooms that prevent sunlight and oxygen from penetrating into the ocean water.

This creates a hypoxic environment called a “dead zone” where fish, crustaceans, and sea mammals can’t live. Mobile marine animals leave the area. Immobile marine life dies.

This is the primary cause of our loss of coral reefs around the globe.

Marine pollution also takes the form of trash and recyclables that wash into the ocean and form massive flotillas of rubbish .

Freshwater pollution refers to the pollution of inland water like rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. We rely on these bodies of water for our drinking water, but they are quickly becoming too polluted to drink.

Freshwater pollution also happens due to nitrogen in the water , but it can also be the result of things people do.

  • Trash that ends up in the water
  • Sewer treatment plant releases (treated and untreated)
  • Dirty stormwater runoff
  • Pharmaceuticals, detergents, and other things people put in the water system
  • Heavy metals like lead and mercury

Some of these things we can’t avoid, but a lot of it is preventable.

Water Pollution Solutions

The effects of pollution could be minimized and possibly healed if we began to consciously make decisions that will protect our watershed instead of polluting it.

  • Farmers can use cover crops to fix nitrogen in the soil . It’s an investment, not an overnight fix, but it will make the biggest impact on the health of the oceans and will eventually eliminate dead zones.
  • Homeowners can use as little culinary water as possible for watering outdoor plants. Try xeriscaping to save water. Install rain barrels to collect free water to use on outdoor plants and trees.
  • Dispose of medicines, motor oil, household chemicals, and paint in the proper facilities so they stay out of the watershed.
  • Eat organic as much as you can. This isn’t fail-proof, but most organic farms rely on natural sources of nitrogen rather than synthetic nitrogen to increase crop yields.
  • Be happy with imperfect produce. There is a massive global cost to get those perfect fruits and vegetables. They’re treated with pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers to make them lovely. Go natural to encourage farmers who want to save the planet.
  • Enjoy water sports without a motor. You can greatly reduce your own impact on inland water supplies by enjoying muscle-powered water sports that don’t introduce oils, gasoline, and exhaust particulates into the water supply.

Think about how you’re using our precious water resources. Clean water is so easy to get in developed countries that we tend to forget the watershed it comes from.

That watershed needs our protection to continue to provide us with the clean water we need to survive.

3. Air Pollution

Industrial area with smoke and air pollution

Air pollution is what we call the suspended particulates that become part of the atmospheric gases that we breathe.

We’re not running out of oxygen. The earth has plenty of oxygen. The problem is that the concentration of carbon dioxide is increasing disproportionately and it’s pretty much all our fault.

There is a natural carbon dioxide cycle that we have with all of the plants on the planet. We naturally produce carbon dioxide, and they breathe it in and convert it to oxygen.

In a natural state, this would be in perfect balance.

However, when we burn fossil fuels we pump massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that can’t be offset by the plants in the world.

Furthermore, the carbon dioxide is mixed with a slurry of carcinogens and toxins like methane, formaldehyde, phosphorus, styrene, and more.

Curious to see the full list? The EPA has a list of 188 air pollutants . Nobody benefits from breathing in these compounds.

Air pollution affects everything – us, plants, animals, all water on the planet, and marine fish and mammals.

Air pollution causes and effects have to be clearly understood to really grasp the solutions that we have to implement to clear the air.

Air Pollution Solutions

The biggest solution we can implement is the switch to clean alternative energy sources because fossil fuels are the biggest polluters on the planet.

However, we have to be clear that there isn’t a totally clean energy solution .

  • Solar panels are made with coal and require toxic waste disposal when they’re decommissioned.
  • Wind turbines have some recyclable parts but the huge fiberglass parts end up in landfills. One of the pros of wind energy is that wind turbines produce zero-cost electricity for about 10 years.
  • Nuclear energy pros and cons are hotly debated. It’s a dependable and safe energy source that produces zero carbon emissions . However, uranium mining and disposal cause major environmental hazards.
  • One of the advantages of biomass electricity that it creates fewer carbons than fossil fuels. However, biomass production is resulting in deforestation .

Having said all that, we still have to choose these alternative energy sources over straight-up fossil fuel consumption.

Fossil fuels are the dirtiest sources of energy that we have and they contribute the most to the dirty air that we suffer from around the world.

  • Limit your time on the road. Vehicle emissions are responsible for most of the dirty air that’s found in cities and communities around the world.
  • Turn off the lights and turn down the heat. Electricity usage is directly tied to fossil fuel consumption for powering the electrical grid in many areas.
  • Help plant trees. You can plant native tree species in your own town to help clean the air.
  • Contribute to rainforest reforestation projects that aim to help strengthen the world’s clean air and biodiversity.
  • Choose reusable items and avoid using plastics as much as possible. Manufacturing single-use items contribute a lot to air pollution.

Reducing dependence on fossil fuels will go the farthest in clearing the air around the world.

4. Natural Resource Depletion

A closed dam showing how we can use natural resources effectively.

The world is full of natural resources. A natural resource is anything that we can use to live or make something from.

Some natural resources examples include:

  • Fossil fuels

The world is full of natural resources that we use to enable life as we know it. Natural resources feed us, give us electricity, wire our laptops, and keep us hydrated.

The problem is not all natural resources are renewable . Coal, natural gas, uranium, gold, and even salt are natural resources we depend on but once they’re used up we have no more.

This is why we have to focus on stewarding our renewable natural resources.

  • Keeping our water clean
  • Collecting sunlight for energy
  • Ensuring that fisheries are not over-harvested
  • Keeping soil as clean as possible – avoiding the use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers
  • Managing timber stands wisely so that we aren’t using more trees than we can replenish in several decades.

When we overuse our natural resources we get a short-term payoff but a long-term loss.

For example, establishing reservoirs in the southwest was a good idea 90 years ago. It allowed the development of desert areas.

However, as communities expand across arid areas under the assumption that established water sources will be reliable, the water sources are being used faster than they can naturally replenish.

Natural Resource Depletion Solutions

One of the main natural resources that we’re depleting is fossil fuel. It is not only going away, but it’s also ruining our planet as we use it for fuel and energy.

Switching to cleaner energy sources is a non-negotiable for solving our climate crisis, but we also have to focus on decreasing our need for energy .

Here are some good ways to decrease your own energy demand so we use fewer natural resources to produce electricity.

  • Use less air conditioning in the summer. Willingness to be a little warm will go a long way toward decreasing your contribution to air pollution.
  • Use less heat in the winter. Wear a sweater and some slippers instead of cranking up the heat.
  • Get up and go to bed with the sun. This is harder in the winter, but by adjusting your waking and sleeping schedule to be more in tune with the sun you’ll feel better and use less electricity in the morning and at night.
  • Help to plant trees. Again, replenishing the world’s forests help ensure that our air is healthy and that we have timber stands ready to harvest in the future.
  • Waste less food. This doesn’t mean cleaning your plate. This means putting less on it in the first place. Food waste begins at the store and it can end there too.
  • Eat whole foods. Whole, natural foods don’t require processing. This means that there isn’t a ton of electricity and fossil fuels going into the production of what you eat. Whole foods are better for the environment and better for your body.
  • Refill your water bottle. The majority of single-use plastics that are wandering around in the environment are plastic water bottles. Get a sturdy reusable bottle and refill it. You can keep thousands of water bottles out of the waste stream in your lifetime.

By focusing on sustainability we can help to reduce our dependence on non-renewable resources and help to conserve the resources that we have so they last longer.

5. Waste Management

A woman sorting her recyclables and garbage so she can help avoid causing environmental problems

Waste management has come a long way in the last decade, but it has a long way to go in certain areas of the United States.

According to the EPA, the total waste production in the United States averages out to 4.9 pounds per person per day . This includes all sorts of trash that is binned and collected.

  • Recyclables (plastic, paper, glass)
  • Landfill items that can’t be recycled
  • Grass clippings
  • Electronics
  • Appliances, etc.

50% of the waste stream goes into landfills .

About 32% of the waste collected in the United States gets recycled or composted .

Nearly 12% gets burned as “biomass” to generate electricity.

Around 6% of the waste is food waste that gets treated in other ways. It might be used in animal feed, turned into fertilizer, used in the creation of biochemicals, or other methods of disposal or reuse.

It’s clear that the US has made a concerted effort to deal with waste streams. The problem is that the amount of waste generated per person is growing drastically.

In 1980 each person generated about 3.66 pounds per day. In 2018 that figure had risen to 4.9 pounds per day. This is the trend that we must change.

Worldwide waste production equals about 1.63 pounds per person with the bulk of that waste being generated in highly developed countries.

Though developing countries don’t tend to generate nearly as much waste per person, they don’t have any safe waste disposal infrastructure which leads to the creation of massive open dumps .

All landfills emit tons of greenhouse gases – mostly methane and carbon dioxide. This is another major contributor to global warming.

While recycling efforts in the United States and elsewhere have produced great results, the recycling waste stream produces much more material than can be currently recycled – ending in waste.

Waste Management Solutions

Waste management must be solved worldwide, but the only thing we can affect is our own consumption and waste patterns.

If each of us becomes wiser consumers we can have a dramatic impact on the waste streams and the carbon emissions from them.

  • Waste stops at the store. We can’t impact how much production waste there is unless we stop supporting it with our money. Less demand equals less production.
  • Choose reusables. The best purchases are things that can be used hundreds of times before they’re broken or used up.
  • Choose recyclables. The recycling stream is quickly outpacing available recycling facilities, so this still isn’t the best choice, though it’s better than throwing things in the landfill.
  • Don’t buy more food than you can eat. Some areas have food composting programs, but when food is thrown away it also releases greenhouse gases. Don’t fill your garbage can with food. Reduce your waste and compost food waste if you can. That will also help increase soil health.
  • Lobby for recycling. There are billions of dollars being spent on United States “infrastructure.” Citizens need to raise awareness of the need for more and bigger recycling centers so the United States can process its own rubbish.
  • Lobby for action. Certain landfills are known as “super emitters.” If local authorities and national politicians will focus on cleaning up the emissions from these sites it will make a huge difference.

In the case of waste streams, part of the responsibility lies with municipal governments to handle waste more cleanly.

The other part of the responsibility lies with the citizens. We are the ones generating the waste. We can all do our part to cut down on our own waste as much as possible.

6. Urban Sprawl

Los Angeles is a prime example of environmental problems caused by urban sprawl

Urban sprawl is the term used to describe the way that cities spread from an urban center into widening suburban neighborhoods. Dwellings go from high-density to low-density, taking up more land.

Urban sprawl is characterized by land use and natural resource consumption .

Undeveloped land that was farmland, ranchland, native plants and soil, or forest is paved over for low-density housing and new strip malls, grocery stores, and restaurant chains.

Here are key takeaways you should know about Urban Sprawl.

  • These sprawling areas greatly tax the water supply in the area because the new parks, city strips, lawns, and gardens have to be watered continuously to keep their nice appearance.
  • Urban sprawl is a major contributor to the carbon emissions from vehicles . People must commute from sprawling areas into the downtown area for work and school. This increases time on the road. In the worst cases, these vehicles idle while they’re stuck in traffic.
  • Urban sprawl creates a need for additional garbage processing resources, greenspace planning, freshwater wells, water treatment plants, waste treatment plants, power plants, substations, and more.

Many of these things aren’t bad, and urban sprawl is often the natural outflow of living in a prosperous area .

It can also be a sign that the municipal government is not keeping the urban areas clean and safe.

Regardless, it is a style of living that uses many more resources than a high-density urban lifestyle.

Some cities including the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and Los Angeles are experiencing increasing urban density as more residents refurbish downtown areas to make them desirable neighborhoods.

Urban Sprawl Solutions

There aren’t any surefire solutions to urban sprawl. The fact is that people move away from urban areas for many reasons – not all of which can be solved.

Here are a few things that local governments can do to encourage people to adopt a high-density housing lifestyle in urban areas.

  • Keep residents safe. When people and businesses don’t feel safe in an area they move. Most of the time they choose to move into a suburban or rural area that feels safer. When cities put the safety of residents first they enjoy the prosperity that a thriving urban core brings.
  • Focus on key infrastructure. Garbage services, stormwater runoff, sewage treatment, and traffic controls make a big difference in the quality of life in urban areas. When the urban areas feel dirty and congested people move out of the city.
  • Encourage community spirit. Cities that find ways to involve citizens in city life enjoy a much higher sense of community pride. This benefits everyone because people who take pride in their community work harder to keep it clean and safe.
  • Keep taxes fair. Many people choose to live outside of municipal boundaries because property taxes are much lower in unincorporated areas. Cities that cut fiscal waste can also keep property taxes lower while providing excellent city services.

Over time cities can turn urban life into a desirable living situation for many, diminishing the exodus to outlying areas and helping to curb the rapidity of urban sprawl.

7. Energy Consumption

High voltage transmission lines bring electricity to homes and businesses.

Our overall high energy consumption is the main contributor to climate change because 61% of the electricity generated in the United States is from burning fossil fuels.

So, on top of burning fossil fuels to commute from sprawling communities, we are also burning fossil fuels to charge our EV cars , keep the air conditioners running, and keep the lights on.

There is no denying the negative impact that our high energy consumption has on the planet, but we also rely on it for our highly technological way of life.

For example, let’s take a look at data centers . The world relies on data centers.

They serve all of your cloud storage, social media content, online shopping, virtual worlds, game streaming, on-demand entertainment, and remote workflows.

Right now, data centers alone consume about 2% of all the energy generated in the United States, and that number is growing as data centers pop up everywhere to handle cloud storage needs.

We can’t just stop feeding data centers because we rely on them for work, data storage, and socialization. Younger generations are more dependent on data center capacity and speed than ever before .

That’s just one example of an energy consumer that we can’t just shut down to save the planet. So we have to look at home to decrease energy consumption .

Energy Consumption Solutions

As with most solutions to our global environmental crisis, the answer begins at home.

  • Shut off the lights and opt for sunshine. Even small amounts of wattage saved add up to big savings for the planet.
  • Keep appliances clean. Did you know that vacuuming your refrigerator condenser will help it to run less often and cool more efficiently? Keep the dryer clean too so it can dry clothing faster and use less energy.
  • Accept a little discomfort. Instead of running the heat and air conditioning to keep yourself at the ideal temperature, let it fluctuate up and down to save energy.
  • Reduce energy use during peak hours. 7am to 10pm are peak energy hours for most of the country during most of the year. It’s hard to cut down on energy usage during waking hours, but if you can you’ll save a lot of energy and cut down on your bill too.
  • Invest in solar panels. Even a couple of solar panels can really help offset your energy usage. Many utility companies around the United States are taking advantage of government incentives and may be able to install your solar system for free!
  • Buy into renewable energy. Many energy companies offer programs where subscribers can buy into renewable energy projects. The electricity from renewables costs a bit more, but by buying in you allow your energy provider to buy into renewable and burn fewer fossil fuels.

There are dozens of ways we can all think of to save a little energy here and there. From riding a bike to eating fresh foods we can help decrease the amount of energy it takes to power our lives.

8. Environmental Degradation

Garbage floating in a waterway in India - a land suffering from the effects of air, soil, and water pollution.

Environmental degradation occurs when human activities change the environment for the worse.

Environmental Degradation Definition

Environmental degradation is the destruction or deterioration of the quality of natural resources and habitats including soil, water, air, and wildlife .

Degradation primarily happens through pollution, over-harvesting, and erosion.

Here are some examples of environmental degradation .

  • Strip mining
  • Urban sprawl
  • Overfishing
  • Marine pollution
  • Air pollution

Environmental degradation is inevitable because we have to use the land for food production, energy production, and dwellings, but we can do a lot to help preserve the quality of the land.

Environmental Degradation Solutions

There are a number of thing we can do to help reduce the amount of environmental degradation that happens as a result of our own needs and wants.

  • Replant native trees and plants . Much environmental degradation occurs because native plants are stripped away for development. Replanting exposed soil helps to replenish minerals, nitrogen, habitats, and stop erosion.
  • Curb energy consumption. Again we come back to energy use. The majority of the air pollution in the United States is caused by energy consumption and transportation.
  • Plan travel wisely. Instead of making lots of small trips, try to consolidate trips in the car to cut down on air pollution.
  • Invest in alternative energy. Alternative energy sources also cause soil degradation because of the raw materials that have to be mined to make them and soil disruption from placement. However, it is much less pollutive to the air than fossil fuels.
  • Eat whole foods. Responsible farming and ranching helps to replenish soils through crop rotation and the use of nitrogen-fixing cover crops. However, America’s insatiable appetite for snack foods creates a high demand for irresponsibly grown crops. Eating whole foods is much better for the earth.
  • Invest in urban revitalization. If you’re a renter it can be hard to find an urban dwelling. However, if you’re an invester, consider revitalizing downtown industrial areas for housing instead of developing low-density suburban housing.

Humans aren’t responsible for all types of environmental degradation, but we contribute a lot to it. We can also help clean up our habits and use fewer resources that result in habitat destruction.

9. Deforestation

A biomass power plant that burns chipped trees to generate electricity - causing deforestation.

Deforestation happens when trees are stripped away or burned away. It can be human-caused or the result of a natural disaster.

Sometimes humans and nature work together to create deforestation. Examples include when a hydroelectric dam bursts due to catastrophic rainfall, or a volcano like Mt. Saint Helens flattens a forest.

Human-caused deforestation is two-fold. Sometimes managed forests owned by timber companies are stripped and then replanted. This happens for lumber and to create biomass for power plants.

While habitat loss and environmental degradation are heartbreaking, the trees will regrow within a few decades. However, the animals and birds must shift from place to place to survive.

On the other hand, forest fires caused by human activity will deforest an area that may not ever recover. Habitat loss is sometimes permanent .

Deforestation Solutions

The most obvious solution to deforestation is to replant trees in areas that are logged or burned for any reason. Replanting with native species is a must.

The second solution to deforestation is to decrease the demand for paper products and lumber. Choose things that are reusable as much as possible.

The alternative to lumber is steel which creates a different problem because it requires mining and uses non-renewable resources .

However, steel can be recycled forever. One of the benefits of recycling steel is that the recycled steel is just as strong and pure as virgin steel.

So while the recycled steel industry can’t keep up with the need for new steel, as more steel is recycled for construction purposes we should see it gradually relieve some of the need for lumber.

10. Recycling Inefficiencies

Bales of recyclable paper waiting to be processed into new paper products.

The final huge environmental problem that we must solve domestically is our recycling inefficiencies.

Most Americans don’t realize that our recycling system is strained and largely broken because we don’t recycle our trash at home.

The story of US recycling is a long one that’s full of problems, even from the beginning. China used to handle the bulk of our recycling, but it is so polluted that they banned it in 2018.

Now America’s recycling waste is shipped to developing countries like Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia where it is piled waiting to be sorted and recycled into usable materials.

The problem is that anywhere from 20 to 70% of our recyclables end up in a landfill overseas or are burned. This is an outrage that has sparked a lot of discussions but it needs to be addressed at home.

Here are the reasons our recycling is not being recycled.

  • People are putting contaminated items into recycling bins. Dirty recyclables can cause an entire load of recyclables – several tons – to be dumped in a landfill.
  • People include non-recyclables in recycling bins. This wishful recycling is a major cause for discarding entire loads of recyclables. It’s too expensive to go through and sort it all back out, so it all gets put in the dump.
  • The United States isn’t processing recyclables. The United States doesn’t have a federal recycling program and has been dependent on other countries to handle our waste. Now they don’t want it, so we’re stuck with it. We have to implement a recycling program and do it ourselves to succeed.
  • Recycling is expensive. Cities used to sell their recycling as a type of raw material and make money from it. Now that global market has dried up and cities are having to pay to get rid of recyclables. That means tons of it are going into the landfill instead of being recycled.
  • There are too many types of plastic. Plastic is a particular problem because there are so many types and not all are recyclable. Even though there is a number and a recycling symbol on the bottom doesn’t mean it’s accepted for recycling.

All of this is discouraging because those of us who recycle carefully realize that in spite of us our clean, sorted recyclables might still be ending in a landfill.

Recycling Solutions

The keys to our recycling disaster are expensive, and we have to play the long game to win.

  • Education. Educate the public about what’s happening to recyclables and why. When people understand why they can’t throw grocery bags or plastic wrap in with clean water bottles they’ll stop doing it.
  • Federal Investment. The federal government needs to invest in recycling centers that can turn US recyclable waste into clean, usable materials. It’s an expensive solution but the only one that can turn the situation around long-term.
  • Business Investment. One of the major recycling benefits is that businesses can create packaging and goods with recycled materials. This will help to create a circular market for recyclables in the US economy.
  • Reduction. The US must turn away from consumerism and focus on sustainability. As long as we buy into the consumerist culture of getting as much as possible, the waste problem will continue to grow.

We can help at home by ensuring that our recyclables are clean and generating less of a need for recycling by decreasing our dependence on single-use items.

It would also be helpful to limit plastic production to only types that are safe to use and can be recycled.

The benefits of recycling clothes and textiles can’t be overstated. Engaging in this circular economy saves money, eliminates fabric waste, and turns fabric into a renewable resource!

Causes of Environmental Problems

The causes of environmental problems usually come back to excess consumption . As the human population expands we are also collectively demanding more resources per person.

Humans want to use more energy, more precious metals, more water, more food, and more luxurious items like fashionable clothing and multiple vehicles.

All of these demands can be met, but only by expending more of the earth’s natural resources. Metals and fossil fuels are non-renewable so as demand increases the price goes up and the supply goes down.

The key to so many of our major environmental problems is to decrease personal consumption.

Why are environmental problems common in developing countries?

Good question and the answer comes back to excess consumption . Many developing countries receive our excess clothing, recyclables, and used goods.

They develop a market around these used goods, but there is simply too much. It ends up in massive waste piles because many of the goods we discard are low-quality and non-recyclable.

Developing countries lack the infrastructure to deal with polluted water, overflowing landfills, and piles of unused recyclables so they stay in the environment creating health and environmental hazards.

One example is electronics recycling. While we all want to reap the benefits of recycling electronics , when they’re sent overseas for recycling the results are dangerous.

“Informal” recyclers are exposed to extremely high levels of neurotoxins and carcinogens as they break down e-waste by hand to recover gold, silver, copper, and other precious metals.

Instead of exposing the poor to these hazardous materials we should be doing the recycling at home and helping to develop a clean recycling industry abroad.

Final Thoughts

We’ve discussed 10 global environmental problems, and most of them center around the demands of the economically developed world.

The problems we face on planet earth can seem overwhelming, but they aren’t. We can solve them beginning with our own buying and consumption habits .

We can become involved in clean-up efforts in our own communities. We can lobby for domestic recycling plants.

We can help educate our own community members about why recycling is important and why it’s vital to do it right.

What do you think about these environmental problems and solutions? Do you have more ideas for how we can help to solve these environmental problems? Let us know in the comments below!

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Economists can solve environmental problems (with the help of everyone else).

by  Bishal Chalise  (ELP 2016) | Founder, Artha Foundation, Nepal (in Australia)

Economics and biology (and respective related disciplines) are often presented as if they are in opposite poles of an environment continuum. ELP 2016 was no exception. While we can debate endlessly on differences and/or similarity of approaches an economist or a biologist takes on solving an environmental problem, my takeaway from all the sessions so far is that they are definitely not binary propositions and that both disciplines can work together to bring about desired solutions. Here I present one such case in which the solution requires a collaborative effort of environmentalists, economists, sociologists and so forth. My apologies for the long read but it should be informative.

This case is about transboundary haze pollution (THP) which has become a major environmental policy challenge in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia. The dense smoke released from peat and forest fires mostly in Kalimantan and South Sumatra in Indonesia badly affects countries in the region, mainly Singapore and Malaysia. Despite this transboundary nature of the problem, inadequate coordination and distrust among affected countries act as a major impediment to resolving the crisis. Corruption and poor governance structure in Indonesia further exacerbates the problem. Based on my case analysis, I suggest that strengthening ASEAN’s agreement on transboundary haze problem (ATHP), in particular better financing and monitoring mechanisms, can address the problem to a large extent. 

Costs and Causes of THP

The haze brings about massive socio-economic and environmental damages at the national, regional and global level. The World Bank estimates the total economic costs of 2015 fires in Indonesia to be nearly $16 billion in direct damage to crops and losses on trade, industry and tourism. Businesses, schools and key infrastructure like airports remained closed for several weeks. Moreover, Greenpeace suggests nearly 110,000 people died and millions were affected from illness arising from haze related pollution over the years, which has soared-up the annual health costs by as much as $1 billion in the region. 

The haze also causes immense environment damages. The fire releases huge amounts of CO2, which expedites the accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Additionally, the haze is responsible for loss of rainforest and biodiversity, damage to wildlife and their habitat, soil erosion and loss of productivity in Indonesia. 

Peatland fires for clearing lands are the main source of the haze although traditional 'slash-and-burn' method also contributes significantly to the haze. Large scale deforestation for commercial logging and palm plantation coupled with drainage of water quickly convert swampy peatlands into open drylands which is highly susceptible to fire. While up to 80 percent of fires occur in big land concessions held by plantation companies, individuals and smallholders also resort to such techniques. Clearing lands by burning is 3-4 times cheaper than alternative mechanical methods, thus provides clear incentive for companies to continue with it over the years.

Analyzing the problem

While fires are a proximate cause to the haze, there are many other deep determinants. On the domestic front , the weak governance, the rampant corruption and patronage network particularly at the district level, is considered guilty of promoting fire. The rapid decentralization of political and economic rights post-2000 put local governments at the helm of natural resource management, among other things. The  bupatis  and bureaucrats have a free-reign to distribute concession land to logging and palm plantation companies in return for economic and political favor. This has created blurred land boundaries and conflicting and overlappingg rights of communities, smallholders and big plantation companies over concession lands. As a result, attribution of fire events on these lands and subsequent prosecution of the perpetrators has become challenging, which is reinforcing the corruption.

Although THP has local origins, its transboundary nature adds regional and global dimension to the problem which is analyzed here using the game theory framework. THP is a unidirectional negative externality in which haze originates from economic activities in Indonesia, mostly related to palm plantations, that imposes costs to other countries. However, other countries also benefit from the economic activities that produce haze to a certain extent. For example, many plantation companies are registered and based in Singapore and Malaysia. Similarly, several multinationals source Indonesian palm oil to produce consumer goods for the world market.

This scenario gives rise to a 'strategic behavior' between Indonesia and other countries. On the one hand, other countries blame Indonesia for not taking 'definitive action' to stop fire. Indonesia is accused of failing to improve the governance and curbing corruption and not cooperating in sharing data on fire hotspots and maps of land ownership concession lands. On the other hand, Indonesia claims, sometimes with a nationalistic posture, that Singapore and Malaysia cannot shirk their responsibility in taking action against the plantation companies based in respective countries for their role in the fire. It also perceives that the 'financial aid' coming from ASEAN and Singapore is rather too little to combat the THP.

The blame-game has led to 'non-cooperation' between Indonesia and other countries despite the fact that both parties know resolving nthe issue is in their best interest. Singapore fears that even after receiving the monetary benefits, Indonesia might be unwilling to curb the pollution whereas Indonesia is skeptical that it would bear unfairly larger costs of stopping the haze on which other countries would free-ride. In other words, each party benefits more if other stop haze, while it did nothing.

The most pertinent cause of such a conundrum is the lack of 'an international body' to govern the action of the parties towards collective action to maximize the common good and to credibly establish the benefits of cooperation. However, there can be a mutually agreed 'treaty' that can create a set of rules and mechanism that binds the parties to credibly commit to a solution.

Improved ATHP as a solution

THP doesn't have 'prescriptive, simplistic solutions.' However, we can provide a  better  probability of solving the THP by improving the financing and monitoring mechanism under ATHP to prevent peat fires by incentivizing and monitoring plantation companies.

We have discussed cost is the prime motive for using fires to clear lands by the plantation companies. So, they would be financially indifferent if provided with the subsidy to clear the land by the mechanical method, which is 'clean' by expensive. In such cases, big companies are likely to switch to the new way and comply with the zero-burning policy of the government.

Subsidizing alternative methods of land clearing would require external assistance as the cost of the huge resources goes well beyond the capacity of Indonesia. The 'ATHP Control Fund' established under the ATHP (article 20) can be used to fund such programs. However, the fund has just $0.5 million in voluntary contributions by the member countries, which is way below the estimated sum. Hence, ASEAN should encourage other 'rich' countries and global agencies to contribute to the Fund. For example, a part of Norway's $1 billion pedge on helping Indonesia reduce carbon emission can be channeled through the Fund. The UNFCCC's Clan Development Mechanism (CDM) can be another financing source.

Paying to stop haze is based on the 'victim pay' principle, a Coasian solution where affected parties pay polluters to stop polluting. For THP, victim countries, say Singapore, would find it cheaper to make such payments when compared to the cost imposed by the haze. However, eelings of loss of national sovereignty held by a section of Indonesian society might make acceptance of external funding politically challenging. The other challenge would be to address the deficit of trust among countries as discussed earlier.

Other countries would be ready to share the burden of haze mitigation only when they believe such action would lead to effective work on the ground. In other words, the compensation would be based on measurable outcomes and not just efforts, which requires effective monitoring mechanisms. The ATHP also encourages monitoring (article 7) and technical cooperation (article 16) among countries.

A cooperative mechanism is required to upgrade the monitoring and information sharing infrastructure that are currently in place. Although satellite images showing hotspot and fire areavailable, Indonesia's reluctance to share plantation concession maps hinders the identification and then prosecution of the actual perpetrators (Tan 2016). The different maps and concession rights allocation produced by different government agencies and departments have added to the complexity (Lee et al. 2016, Tan 2016). One alternative is a remote sensing platform that integrate the field and satellite data on fires and help share the information on multiple platforms on real-time. The technology was widely and successfully used in monitoring deforestation prevention projects in Brazil.

To make the monitoring effective, Indonesia has to produce a unified map that clearly shows the land concession and distribution as fires occur int he land that falls under its jurisdiction. This would help in tracing the real owner and/or use of the land where the fire was started or occurring. Additionally, such platforms should be accessible to all parties including the plantation companies and NGOs. This would make the monitoring process transparent and more effective. For example, organizations like 'Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil' (RSPO) can access the data on the platform to certify the palm oil companies based on their progress in preventing fires on their concession land. This would put pressure on companies to act fairly and take proactive measures to stop fires.

We can expect some resistance and 'uncooperative' behavior from local authorities, as the increased monitoring and transparency would increase the costs of corruption and dis-incentivize the companies to get involved in such practices. Moreover, producing the accurate land ownership requires Indonesia to have clear land tenure and establish clear land rights which might require a long time horizon. However, it should be a logical step for Indonesia, if it wants to solve the crisis once and for all.

THP is a multi-dimensional environment problem and solution requires concerted effort at the global, regional and local level. The improved ATHP can be a widely accepted way forward and Indonesia ratifying the treaty in 2015 is an important positive step in that direction.

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Reduce, reuse, redirect outrage: How plastic makers used recycling as a fig leaf

Michael Copley

how we can solve environmental problems by

A registered scavenger, who mainly collects plastic waste to sell, walking in a landfill in Indonesia. Yasuyoshi Chiba /AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A registered scavenger, who mainly collects plastic waste to sell, walking in a landfill in Indonesia.

The plastics industry has worked for decades to convince people and policymakers that recycling would keep waste out of landfills and the environment. Consumers sort their trash so plastic packaging can be repurposed, and local governments use taxpayer money to gather and process the material. Yet from the early days of recycling, plastic makers, including oil and gas companies, knew that it wasn't a viable solution to deal with increasing amounts of waste, according to documents uncovered by the Center for Climate Integrity .

Around the time the plastics industry launched its recycling campaign, the head of a trade group called the Vinyl Institute acknowledged at a 1989 conference that "recycling cannot go on indefinitely, and does not solve the solid waste problem."

One of the biggest challenges is that making new plastic is relatively cheap. But recycling generally costs as much as or more than the material is worth, a director of environmental solutions at B.F. Goodrich explained at another industry meeting in 1992 . The "basic issue," he said, "is economics."

How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

Investigations

How big oil misled the public into believing plastic would be recycled.

But the industry appears to have championed recycling mainly for its public relations value, rather than as a tool for avoiding environmental damage, the documents suggest. "We are committed to the activities, but not committed to the results," a vice president at Exxon Chemical said during a meeting in 1994 with staff for the American Plastics Council, a trade group.

Ross Eisenberg, president of an industry group called America's Plastic Makers, said in a statement that the report from the Center for Climate Integrity "cites outdated, decades-old technologies, and works against our goals to be more sustainable by mischaracterizing the industry and the state of today's recycling technologies. This undermines the essential benefits of plastics and the important work underway to improve the way plastics are used and reused to meet society's needs."

America's Plastic Makers has set a goal for all plastic packaging in the U.S. to be "reused, recycled, recovered by 2040," Eisenberg said.

The Center for Climate Integrity compiled the documents in a report titled " The Fraud of Plastic Recycling: How Big Oil and the plastics industry deceived the public for decades and caused the plastic waste crisis ." It builds on earlier investigations, including by NPR , that have shown the plastics industry promoted recycling even though its officials have long known that the activity would probably never be effective on a large scale.

The world is awash in plastic. Oil producers want a say in how it's cleaned up

The world is awash in plastic. Oil producers want a say in how it's cleaned up

Former industry officials have said the goal was to avoid regulations and ensure that demand for plastics, which are made from fossil fuels, kept growing. Despite years of recycling campaigns, less than 10% of plastic waste gets recycled globally , and the amount of plastic waste that's dumped in the environment continues to soar .

The idea that recycling can solve the problem of plastic waste "has always been a fraud, and it's always been a way for the industry to sell more plastic," says Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, which says it is working to hold oil and gas companies accountable for their role in fueling climate change.

how we can solve environmental problems by

A pile of plastic waste and other garbage next to children playing on a bridge in the Philippines. George Calvelo /AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A pile of plastic waste and other garbage next to children playing on a bridge in the Philippines.

The U.N. is leading negotiations for a global plastics treaty

The Center for Climate Integrity published its report two months before the next round of United Nations talks is held in Canada for a legally binding global agreement on plastic waste. Negotiators from around 150 countries are expected to attend, as well as public health advocates, human rights activists, environmentalists and the oil and gas industry.

There's recently been growing concern among those who want deep cuts in plastic waste that plastic producers — corporations as well as countries such as China, Russia and Saudi Arabia — could weaken a global treaty by prioritizing recycling and other forms of waste management, rather than substantial cuts in new plastic production.

Global talks to cut plastic waste stall as industry and environmental groups clash

Global talks to cut plastic waste stall as industry and environmental groups clash

For fossil fuel producers, the petrochemical sector, which includes plastics, is crucial to business. As technologies like electric vehicles grow more popular, demand for products such as gasoline and diesel fuel is expected to decline . But oil and gas demand for petrochemicals is projected to continue rising for years . That's why the fossil fuel industry has a big stake in the outcome of the U.N. talks. If countries agree to reduce plastic manufacturing, it could hurt the industry's future profits.

Some experts say that creates a conflict of interest. Reducing how much new plastic gets made in the first place is a "prerequisite" to getting pollution under control, Carsten Wachholz, who works at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and co-leads the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, said late last year. But "if your businesses depend on extracting more oil and gas, and plastics is the fastest growing market for fossil fuels, it's hard to imagine that you would be a credible voice to say we need to limit plastic production," he said.

Global shift to clean energy means fossil fuel demand will peak soon, IEA says

Global shift to clean energy means fossil fuel demand will peak soon, IEA says

After the last round of negotiations ended in Kenya in November 2023, environmental groups complained that oil and gas producers blocked a final decision on how to advance the deliberations.

An industry advocacy group called American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers has said that restricting fossil fuel production and plastic manufacturing are not good solutions. Instead, it said the goals of the treaty can be achieved "if waste is recyclable, properly managed and kept out of the environment."

An ExxonMobil spokesperson said in a statement in November 2023 that the company is "launching real solutions to address plastic waste and improve recycling rates." The company has previously said the problem of plastic waste can be solved without cutting how much plastic society uses.

Exxon is among a group of companies that have been investing in what the industry calls "advanced recycling" plants. The facilities are designed to turn plastic waste, including material that can't be processed through traditional mechanical recycling, into liquids and gasses that can then be used to make new plastics and other chemical products.

"Advanced recycling is a real, proven solution that can help address plastic waste and improve recycling rates," Exxon said in a statement to NPR.

However, critics say the technology is ineffective and harmful to the environment and human health.

The economics of plastic recycling "haven't changed at all. Not at all. And if virgin [plastic] was always cheaper and of higher quality, that's still the case today," says Wiles of the Center for Climate Integrity.

He says the plastics industry continues to mislead the public and needs to be held responsible for it.

"And from there, you can begin to have a conversation about how we're going to solve the problem," Wiles says. "But without accountability, you just can't get to solutions."

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Plastic bag bans have spread across the country. Sometimes they backfire.

how we can solve environmental problems by

The idea is simple: Reduce plastic waste by requiring shoppers to bring their own reusable bags.

The reality is messy. Plastic bag bans have spread across the nation, but some data suggests that switching to more durable, multi-use bags creates some new problems – and in some cases means more, not less, plastic being used.

Given how few single-use plastic bags are recycled – just 13% – cutting plastic bag use could have a big environmental impact.

Now the nation is split on what to do: Strengthen bans or oppose them entirely. Some areas are closing loopholes and making rules stricter — Last week legislation was introduced in California to double down on bans. Meanwhile, 20 states have banned the bans.

What prompted plastic bag bans in the first place?

It’s all about a fight over plastic pollution , a problem that’s grown to epic proportions since the 1950s.

Thin, single-use plastic bags were first developed in the 1960s in Europe. They only appeared in U.S. grocery stores in 1979 , edging out paper bags because they were significantly cheaper for grocers. By the 2000s they were everywhere, including in the landscape, harming marine animals when they got in waterways.

Every material has an environmental impact but plastic is especially problematic, said Shelie Miller, professor of sustainable systems at the School for Environment Sustainability at the University of Michigan.

“It doesn’t break down in the environment and can cause significant ecological damage,” she said.

“When a plastic bag escapes into the environment, animals can see it as a food source and ingest it, it can cause entrapment and entanglement and there’s lots of questions about microplastics in the environment,” she said.

Concerned about the growing plastic pollution problem, the first non-compostable plastic bag ban went into effect in San Francisco in 2007 . A California-wide law followed in 2016 .

By 2023, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington all had some form of statewide ban on single-use plastic bags. Colorado and Rhode Island were added to the list this year. About 500 cities and towns also have ordinances.

But there has been a backlash as well. As many as 20 states have passed laws banning any plastic bag bans at all, under the argument that they preempt local control. The conservative American Legislative Exchange Council created a model bill for preemptively banning such bans in 2015 .

Bans work, but not perfectly

Where they’re in place, the bans typically help but aren’t as successful as proponents had hoped, in part because of compromises written into the laws to make them palatable to shoppers and the plastics industry.

Which isn’t to say they don’t work. Areas with bans can eliminate almost 300 single-use plastic bags per person per year according to a study released last month by Environment America .

According to the report, bans in five states and cities covering 12 million people have cut single-use plastic bag consumption by about 6 billion bags per year.

In the six months after California passed its bag ban, which ended handing out thin plastic bags for free and required grocers to charge for paper and thicker plastic bags, there was an 85% reduction in the number of plastic bags to customers and 61% in paper bags, according to a 2019 report to the legislature on the program.

But the bans haven’t entirely dealt with the problem. In some places with bans, the amount of plastic bag waste is actually increasing.

In California for example, this happens because of what politicians are calling a "loophole" in the original bill, which allowed the sale of thicker, reusable plastic bags at the checkout stand.

“The plastics industry has figured out a way of producing and selling bags in places where there are these bans,” said Celeste Meiffren-Swango. She is co-author of an Environment America report on plastic bag bans published last month.

What seems to happen is that many consumers simply treat the thicker bags, which were designed to be reused, as just as disposable as the thin film bags that were available before.

A bag that’s double the weight “has double the impact, unless it is reused more times or used to carry more goods,” a major United Nations environmental report on plastic bags noted.

In New Jersey, a study funded by plastic bag manufacturers found that while the number of single-use plastic bags sold declined by 60% after a bag ban went into effect in 2015, the number of alternative plastic bags, including the stiffer rectangular kind with handles that are often sold at grocery stores at checkout now, increased.

The same thing has happened in California. The year its bag ban was passed, Californians threw away 157,385 tons of plastic bags. In 2022 that had increased to 231,072 tons, according to the report.

A new California law, proposed last week, would eliminate the option of getting the thicker, theoretically renewable, bags at stores. Instead, stores can sell 100% recycled plastic bags or let consumers use reusable bags.

Is that reusable bag good for the planet? Depends on how many times you reuse it.

Research by the United Nations Environment Program shows that simply reusing bags enough times significantly lowers their environmental impact.

It doesn’t take a lot. “If a bag is used for shopping twice instead of once, it has only half the environmental impact per shopping round,” the UN report said.

  • 4-8 times for paper bags
  • 5-10 times for thicker plastic bags made of high-density polyethylene
  • 10-20 times for durable “tote” style bags sold at grocery stores
  • 50-150 times for cotton bags

“We want customers to buy a set of reusable bags and just use them until they fall apart," said Miller.

Sometimes you don’t need a bag at all, said Meiffren-Swango.

“If I stop in at the grocery store and forgot my reusable bags, which I’ll admit happens relatively often, and I’m just grabbing a few things, I’ll say no bag for me and just carry my groceries to my car,” she said. “I’ve even heard of people who take their grocery cart to their car and put them in the trunk.”

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AAAS Announces 2024 Award Recipients

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has announced the 2024 winners of seven awards that recognize scientists, engineers, innovators and public servants for their contributions to science and society. This year’s awards recognize a broad span of accomplishments, from mentoring the next, more diverse cohort of chemical scientists, to using cutting-edge science to advance human rights, to connecting with faith communities about climate change. 

The 2024 recipients are:

  • AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize: Joel R. Primack
  • AAAS Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science: Katharine Hayhoe
  • AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science: Ana Maria Porras
  • AAAS David and Betty Hamburg Award for Science Diplomacy: Tareq Abu Hamed
  • AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility: Eric Stover
  • AAAS Lifetime Mentor Award: Luis A. Colón
  • AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize: “Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and Northern Rockies”

The winners will be recognized at the 2024 AAAS Annual Meeting, to be held in Denver from Feb. 15-17, where they will be honored with a tribute video and special reception.

Five of the awards include a prize of $5,000, while the AAAS David and Betty Hamburg Award for Science Diplomacy awards the winning individual or team $10,000 and the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize awards the winning individual or team $25,000.

Learn more about the awards’ history, criteria and selection processes at the AAAS awards page . Read on to learn more about the accomplished individuals and teams honored by AAAS this year.

AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize

Joel R. Primack is the recipient of the 2024 AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize, which since 1985 has honored an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement of science in the United States through their research, policy work or public service.

Joel Primack

Primack, distinguished professor of physics emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz, receives the award for his many contributions to the scientific community, the science policy world and society writ large. He has created opportunities for scientists to engage in policy, supported policymakers in their evidence-informed decision-making, advanced scientific knowledge in the field of physics and cosmology, and improved public understanding of science.

Primack originated the first congressional fellowship program for scientists. The program, which grew out of a series of workshops he launched as a graduate student in Stanford University, grew into the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellows Program. In more than 50 years, STPF has brought the expertise of thousands of scientists and engineers into the federal government. 

Primack was also instrumental in the creation of other key forces in science policy engagement. He is a founder of the Union of Concerned Scientists, helped to create the American Physical Society Forum on Physics and Society, proposed the APS program of studies on public policy issues, contributed to the founding of the NSF Science for Citizens program, and created and provided initial leadership for the AAAS Program on Science and Human Rights. Primack has also used science engagement as an opportunity for improving international relations, serving as a U.S. delegate to several Pugwash Conferences.

Primack’s scientific research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies and the nature of dark matter. A leader in the emergence of the field of particle astrophysics, Primack has been named a fellow of APS for his scientific work. Primack continues to teach undergraduate and graduate students and advise doctoral candidates at UCSC, where he has been a faculty member since 1973. He has publicly communicated the importance of science, working with leading planetariums and writing about cosmology for popular audiences.

“As a young scientist, I was often advised that spending time on social and political issues would be career suicide, and that I should focus solely on research,” said Primack. “But I take seriously the social responsibility of scientists — it was even the topic of my bar mitzvah speech! — and I deeply appreciate being recognized both for my scientific contributions and for my efforts to broaden the opportunities for scientists and scientific societies to help solve the challenges facing our world.” 

AAAS Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science

Climate scientist and science communicator Katharine Hayhoe is the recipient of the 2024 Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science. The award, which recognizes scientists and engineers who demonstrate excellence in their contribution to public engagement with science, was established in 1987. Since 2019, it has been endowed by quantum physicist Mani L. Bhaumik, whose support of the award has placed renewed emphasis on recognizing meaningful dialogue and exchange between the recipient and various publics.

Katharine Hayhoe

Hayhoe, whose research focuses on the development and application of climate projections to evaluate the future impacts of climate change, is the chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy and the Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor and Endowed Chair in Public Policy and Public Law in Public Administration at Texas Tech University. 

She has also demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to communicating about climate change, particularly with religious communities, and to encouraging other scientists to engage in dialogue with their own communities, with a focus on shared values and beliefs.

“Who you are is unique, and that means you can reach a unique audience. The corollary is that we are most effective when we’re talking to people who we share the most with,” Hayhoe told AAAS in 2020. “Starting our conversation with what we have in common is the most important thing we can do.

Her TED Talk, “The Most Important Thing You Can Do About Climate Change: Talk About It,” has garnered more than 4 million views. She is the author of “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World” and co-author of “A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decision” alongside her husband, a pastor. Her digital series, “Global Weirding: Climate, Politics, and Religion with Katharine Hayhoe,” is distributed by PBS Digital Studios.

Among Hayhoe’s many awards and recognitions is being named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People and a United Natons Champion of the Earth in Science and Innovation. 

AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science

Ana Maria Porras is the recipient of the 2024 Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science, which recognizes early-career scientists and engineers — those who are within seven years of completing their terminal degree — who demonstrate excellence in their activities that engage the public with science.

Ana Maria Porras

Porras, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Florida, has combined arts and crafts, advocacy for Spanish speakers and multilingualism in science, and online and in-person engagement to highlight diverse voices in science and build bridges between scientists, future scientists and the broader public.

In 2018, Porras found a new way to combine her interest in art and science: crocheting stuffed microbes. She shared her work, along with stories about the importance of microorganisms in our world, on Instagram, launching #MicrobeMondays and later #MicroMartes to share content in Spanish. Through her crafting and social media engagement, Porras reached groups historically underrepresented in microbiology – women and U.S.-based Spanish speakers. Her platform also became a space for her audience to learn more about COVID during the 2020 pandemic, with Porras answering questions and hosting interviews with other scientists.

Her social media engagement has led to other outreach, including writing an article about the importance of science communication in multiple languages, serving on the organizing committee for the InclusiveSciComm symposium, and working with the podcast Story Collider to produce their first “Stories of Science” show in Spanish. Porras has also worked directly with young people as a volunteer with Science Clubs Colombia, an organization in her home country that puts on project-oriented, STEM-focused workshops for children.

Said Porras, “Historically, the AAAS Early Career Award in Public Engagement with Science has recognized outstanding work by innovative leaders who also center the community in their work. I am deeply honored to have my work recognized next to theirs and thankful for the many collaborators and communities I have had the privilege to collaborate with during the last six years. In particular, I am excited that, through my work, the AAAS is recognizing the importance of multilingual public engagement, both nationally and globally.”

AAAS David and Betty Hamburg Award for Science Diplomacy

Tareq Abu Hamed, executive director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel, receives the 2024 AAAS David and Betty Hamburg Award for Science Diplomacy for his leadership in using science to build relationships across the Middle East, particularly between Israelis and Palestinians, to work together to address mutual environmental concerns.

Tareq Abu Hamed

The award recognizes an individual or a small group working together in the scientific, engineering or foreign affairs communities making an outstanding contribution to furthering science diplomacy. First established in 1992 as the International Scientific Cooperation Award, AAAS renamed its Award for Science Diplomacy in 2021 for David and Betty Hamburg, who championed science diplomacy throughout their careers in science and medicine as a means of advancing science, human rights, peace and cooperation. 

Abu Hamed is a graduate of universities in Turkey and Israel, holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and is the first Palestinian to head an academic institute in Israel. As the executive director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Abu Hamed builds trust and fosters cooperation to address the effects of the climate crisis on vulnerable communities. His career at AIES has also seen him lead the Transboundary Renewable Energy Working Group, through which he brought together experts from Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and Jordan to work on socially impactful renewable technology projects. As the director of the Center for Renewable Energy, he was involved in small-scale renewable energy projects in the region. He has mentored students as the academic director for AIES, which is a key pathway for Palestinian and Jordanian students into Israel postgraduate programs. As AIES leader, a role he has held since 2021, Abu Hamed launched the Center for Climate Change Policy and Research. 

Outside of his work at AIES, Abu Hamed was the highest-ranking Palestinian in the Israeli government when he served first as deputy chief scientist, then acting chief scientist of Israel’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Space in 2015 and 2016. He co-chairs the Regional Cooperation and Security Task Force of Israel’s Climate Forum to promote regional and international collaboration on climate change. Abu Hamed served as a member of the Israeli government delegation to COP26: the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and led a delegation to COP27 that featured an Israeli, a Palestinian and a Jordanian.

“I am genuinely honored to receive the 2024 AAAS David and Betty Hamburg Award,” said Abu Hamed. “This recognition reinforces my belief that we must hold onto hope in the face of incredibly difficult circumstances. The Arava Institute remains unwavering in our commitment to advance peace and sustainability through science diplomacy and cross-border environmental cooperation. It is this approach that will allow us to rise above conflict and ultimately deliver a better future for the region and the world.”

AAAS Lifetime Mentor Award

For his longstanding commitment to advancing diversity in the chemical sciences through recruitment and mentoring of students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science, Luis A. Colón is the recipient of the 2024 AAAS Lifetime Mentor Award.

Luis A. Colon

The Lifetime Mentor Award honors an individual with more than 25 years of experience who has mentored significant numbers of underrepresented students: women of all backgrounds, men from underrepresented minority groups (African American, Native American and Hispanic) and people with disabilities. Winners also must have demonstrated scholarship, activism and community-building on behalf of underrepresented groups in STEM.

Since 1995, Colón has worked to recruit students from his undergraduate alma mater – the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey – to conduct research at the University at Buffalo. By building relationships with Hispanic-serving institutions, hosting recruitment visits, tailoring research projects to students’ own interests and a deep level of personal mentoring, Colón has created a diverse research community in a department that previously had no Hispanic representation. Since the program’s inception, more than 100 students have taken part in his summer internships, and a number of other institutions have replicated Colón’s model.

He has also been instrumental in creating an inclusive institutional culture at University at Buffalo, where he serves as SUNY Distinguished Professor, A. Conger Goodyear Professor of Chemistry and associate dean for inclusive excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences. In 2013, he founded the Institute for Strategic Enhancement of Educational Diversity to create an inclusive community for students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and staff.

Colón has directly mentored 51 graduate students, the majority of whom hail from underrepresented groups, but his impacts are even more widely felt. One peer who nominated Colón for the Lifetime Mentor Award estimated that more than one-third of faculty members from underrepresented groups hired in chemistry departments in recent years have a connection to Colón’s program or those it inspired.

“This award reaffirms my conviction that providing opportunity, guidance, and sharing knowledge in a supportive environment can be reassuring and empowering to advance science,” said Colón. “It also gives me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that former students and professional colleagues recognize the importance of the lifetime commitment of a mentor.”

AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

Eric Stover is the recipient of the 2024 AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility. Stover, the faculty director of the Human Rights Center at the University of California Berkeley School of Law and adjunct professor of law and public health, is honored for his work that combines pioneering scientific methods and technology with a commitment to human rights to hold accountable perpetrators of mass human rights violations and advance justice for their victims.

Eric Stover

The award honors scientists, engineers or their organizations whose exemplary actions have demonstrated scientific freedom and/or responsibility in challenging circumstances. Actions worthy of the award can include acting to protect public health or safety, focusing public attention on potential impacts of science and technology, or defending the professional freedom of scientists and engineers. The award can honor a lifetime of service or a particular act that demonstrates the value of scientific freedom and responsibility. 

Stover has led forensic investigations of mass graves in Argentina, Guatemala, Honduras, Chile, Brazil, Iraq, El Salvador, Bosnia, Croatia and Rwanda. Stover is also a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines, the organization that received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. His work in the Balkans helped lead to the conviction of the perpetrators of the Srebrenica massacre. His work in Uganda has led to the establishment of a school for girls and women who were victims of the Lord’s Resistance Army. Early in his career, he headed the AAAS Science and Human Rights program. While that portion of his career cannot be considered for the award, his nominators noted the impact and illustriousness of the many other activities advancing human rights through science.

“I am deeply honored and grateful for this award,” said Stover. “Back in the 1980s, it was a privilege working at the AAAS with forensic scientists, geneticists, and health professionals worldwide to introduce scientific methods and procedures into war crimes and human rights investigations. These collaborations helped families of the disappeared find their missing loved ones and pursue justice and accountability for these crimes.”

AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize

An interdisciplinary team of more than 80 researchers led by Indigenous scholars has received the 2024 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize for an article that showcased findings about the rapid spread of horses through Indigenous societies in North America.

Cover of the March 31, 2023 issue of Science magazine

The AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize, supported by The Fodor Family Trust, was established in 1923 and is awarded annually to the author or authors of an outstanding paper published in the Research Articles or Reports sections of  Science . Recipients of the award, the oldest awarded by AAAS, collectively receive $25,000.

“ Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and Northern Rockies ” was published in the March 31, 2023, issue of Science .

Horses originated in North America more than 4 million years ago before evolving and dispersing into Eurasia. Study results show that horses were quickly integrated into Indigenous lifeways upon their reintroduction .

A team composed of Indigenous and Western scientists investigated this history through an interdisciplinary study of historic archaeological horse remains that integrated genomic, isotopic, radiocarbon, and paleopathological evidence. They found that horses quickly spread from Spanish settlements in the Southwest into the Northern Rockies and Great Plains by at least the early 1600s via Indigenous trading networks, and they were well-integrated into Indigenous societies and their beliefs, trade and transport networks before the arrival of Europeans in the region in the 18 th century. The researchers found that horses were integrated into Indigenous life many decades earlier than was previously understood by the Western scientific community – findings that align with the oral histories of multiple Indigenous groups. 

Said Antonia Loretta Afraid of Bear-Cook, co-author and knowledge keeper for the Oglala Lakota, "Together with our horses, we have always understood what it means to be free. What is done to us, is done to them. Their story is our story. In granting this award, you heard us with your hearts. Your award honors our traditional sciences, knowledge and this deep ancestral relationship."

Judges praised the paper not only for its significant breadth of scientific methods and authorship but also for the leadership of Indigenous scientists and knowledge keepers.

“Walking the earth as Lakota is to protect, sustain and advocate for all life. This global collaboration and those to come are what is necessary for ourselves and all Peoples to protect their traditional lands, relations and life ways for the sustainability of Grandmother Earth and all life. The time is upon us,” said Chief Joe American Horse, co-author, Oceti Sakowin knowledge keeper and Indigenous scientist.

The findings can serve as a model for further research informed by both Indigenous and Western scientific systems.

“This award creates a global platform of recognition demonstrating the strength inherent in combining Indigenous and Western scientific systems, methods and methodologies to create a powerful new path forward in the sciences,” said Yvette Running Horse Collin, an Oglala Lakota scientist and geneticist .

Said Ludovic Orlando, senior author and study coordinator, Director of the Centre for Anthropobiology and Genomics of Toulouse, France, “Following the horse brought together research systems built on totally different foundations. This award first and foremost goes to horses for their capacity to help us navigate between different worlds and reconnect them.”

Comanche Tribal Elder and Historian Jimmy Arterberry said, “This award represents the honor of our oral traditions, affirmed through science.”

Added corresponding author William Taylor, assistant professor and curator of archaeology at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and director of the CU Archaeozoology Laboratory, “Winning this prize is a tremendous honor for each of us, and it feels like recognition of an important shift in the way we approach both science and the study of our past. I know that for the folks on this diverse team and for our university, though, it's just a starting point - and I can't wait to see where we can build outwards to from here.”

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The thirst for Stanley cups raises questions on how green stainless steel water bottles really are

Image of Stanley Cup and white outlines of Stanley Cup on top of jungle background

The reusable water bottle industry has had many darlings. Exactly how many depends on how far back people want to sift in their shelves or junk drawers.

Millennials will remember the ubiquity of wide-mouthed Nalgene bottles. Then, stainless steel containers made by Hydro Flask, S’well and Yeti all enjoyed their time as the status symbols du jour. Now, the juggernaut of the moment is a hulking 40 oz. tumbler made by Stanley that comes in a kaleidoscope of colors to match people’s style and vibes.

Somewhat implicit in the design of these products is that they offer a “green” solution, an environmentally friendly alternative to far-more-wasteful single-use plastic bottles. Now though, as the revolving door of trends has settled on a new “it” accessory, and as a Stanley cup collectors market has taken hold, the craze is causing some to confront whether these reusable tumblers are becoming part of the very problem they sought to address.

Reusable tumblers are hardly the only product that provokes such debate. And at the heart of these discussions is a central conflict of the environmental movement: How much of a difference can one individual make compared to emissions from the fossil fuel industry or policies at the global, national or local level? 

“We are dealing with these huge, unsustainable systems, and one person’s contribution can feel a little bit like a drop in the bucket,” said Christie Manning, a cognitive psychologist and associate professor of environmental studies at Macalester College in Minnesota. But she added that even small changes to personal habits and behaviors can be empowering in a situation that feels hopeless.

While various brands have seen their popularity skyrocket (and taper off) with the trends, America’s recent obsession with the 40 oz. Stanley Quencher H2.0 Flowstate tumbler, in particular, has few parallels. 

The cup is a favorite among social media influencers. An entire category of content on TikTok has emerged around the beverage containers, with some collectors flaunting entire walls adorned with shelf after shelf of the colorful cups . New releases of colors or exclusive collaborations with other brands have incited the kind of frenzied chaos normally reserved for Black Friday shoppers on the hunt for the cheapest TV deals. 

It’s the kind of explosion in popularity that helped catapult a 110-year-old company from $70 million in annual sales before 2020 to $750 million in 2023.

On its face, the Stanley tumbler does make good on its environmental promise. The cups are known for their durability, with the company touting that its products are “built for life” and “never need to be thrown away.” One viral post on TikTok seemed to prove that claim, with a woman showing that her Stanley cup survived a car fire intact — with ice still in it.

But the cups have also become symbols of overconsumption, products whose green benefits no longer outweigh their environmental footprint. 

“You might have a really great product that is more sustainable, but what good is it if it sits in a person’s home and collects dust,” said Nicole Darnall, director and co-founder of the Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative at Arizona State University.

Even if a product is eco-friendly — whether it be a stainless steel tumbler, a reusable shopping bag or a metal straw — any trend that promotes consumerism invariably has a downside, Darnall added.

“Without question, it can lead to unsustainable outcomes,” she said.

Experts agreed that the environmental benefits of dozens or even hundreds of stainless steel tumblers are difficult to justify, but reusable water bottles are, in fact, a green solution if they are used properly.

One of the best ways is to have just one or two tumblers, and actually use them. A lot. 

Gregory Norris, an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the Sustainability and Health Initiative for NetPositive Enterprise at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, focuses his research on what are known as life cycle assessments. These comprehensive reports assess the full scope of environmental impacts “from the cradle to the grave” for products and services.

Life cycle assessments take into account, for instance, the environmental toll of obtaining raw materials, the energy required and pollution created by the manufacturing process, the various costs involved with transporting a product to stores or consumers, and the product’s eventual disposal. 

“These models sort of go on forever because every process has a supply chain and all of those inputs have their own inputs, and so you just keep going,” Norris said.

He added that he has not done a specific life cycle assessment for Stanley cups or other brands of stainless steel water bottles, but said it would likely take consistent use for years in order to make up for the impacts across the container’s entire life cycle, compared to 100 plastic water bottles, for instance.

“You really have to use that water bottle quite a few times before it’s environmentally better,” Norris said.

The potential impacts are numerous, spiderwebbing out like branches on a tree to include greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, land use issues, pollution and consequences for human health. 

Overconsumption contributes to climate change and environmental degradation by exacerbating each of these impact categories, Manning said.

Manning’s research examines how people make decisions, along with the biases and imperfections that are part of human nature. She found that with green products, people’s thinking can be colored by “motivated cognition.”

“If this pretty, shiny object is supposed to help the Earth, then we let ourselves be lulled into not thinking about the resources that go into mining and extracting the materials, the resources that go into creating it,” she said. “If we thought more critically about that, we might say, ‘No, I’m going to stick with last year’s model because that’s far more green than buying something new.’”

But it’s not only consumers who should be accountable for patterns of consumption. Companies have a vested interest in selling more products, even if that runs counter to the environmental values they promote at the same time.

Norris said there are ways for hydration companies to make improvements, including using recycled stainless steel to manufacture tumblers, taking advantage of renewable energy and providing ways for consumers to recycle their containers.

Stanley has said it is committed to making at least 50% of the company’s stainless steel products from recycled materials by 2025. 

And while stainless steel is recyclable, not all local facilities accept the items because the colorful coatings on the tumblers often require additional layers of processing. Some companies, like Hydro Flask, allow customers to trade in old products, but similar recycling programs have not yet been widely adopted in the industry.

Manning said the Stanley cup craze has sparked important debates about overconsumption, but understanding what drives decision-making can be helpful even for those who don’t go to collecting extremes.

“Most people want to do the right thing and be good stewards of natural resources and want to protect our ecosystems, but often when our desires or social pressures conflict with what might really be the greener thing, motivated cognition steps in and allows us to not think very critically about it,” she said.

For those who are genuinely trying to make a difference, it’s also important for people to feel some sort of agency, Norris said, particularly with something that seems as daunting and out-of-one’s-control as global warming.

“We don’t want to reach the point of complete discouragement on climate change,” he said. “I think we have to sort out our real choices from the minutiae. We can look at our own choices and then find ways to help or encourage other people, but I don’t think shaming and blaming gets us anywhere.”

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Denise Chow is a reporter for NBC News Science focused on general science and climate change.

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