After more than 300 years of effort, scientists have documented fewer than one-third of Australia’s species. The remaining 70% are unknown, and essentially invisible, to science.
The priceless view over Loch Lomond, Scotland.
Gary_Ellis_Photography / shutterstock
Roman Hoffmann, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Changing climatic conditions and ecological hazards are an important migration driver in sub-Saharan Africa.
Wind turbines are slowly replacing coal plants in Germany, an industrial powerhouse with a conservative government and a strong climate agenda.
Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski
Jason Scorse, Middlebury Institute of International Studies
Conservatives worldwide favor carbon pricing, cap-and-trade systems and other innovative environmental plans – just not in the United States.
Government negligence, rampant development and illegal land clearing spark wildfires in Indonesia that annually ravage thousands of acres of forest.
AP Photo
July 29, 2019 is ‘Earth Overshoot Day,’ a date coined by the nonprofit Global Footprint Network to publicize overuse of Earth’s resources. But their estimates may actually understate the problem.
President George H.W. Bush (right) fishing on the Kennebunk River in Maine, Aug. 27, 1990.
AP Photo/Doug Mills
Matthew E. Kahn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
George H.W. Bush, who pledged to be ‘the environmental president,’ took a market-based approach to pollution control that helped clear the air. Now some experts think it could work on climate change.
Purse seiner fishing in the Indian Ocean. Footprint estimates do not assess how sustainably resources such as fisheries are managed.
Jiri Rezac
August 1, 2018 is ‘Earth Overshoot Day,’ a date coined by the nonprofit Global Footprint Network to publicize overuse of Earth’s resources. But their estimates actually understate the problem.
How much would you pay to make this disappear?
Emilian Robert Vicol
What would you pay to keep trash off your favorite beach, or pollution away from a national park? Economists can tease these values out of our travel choices and use the numbers to help make policy.
Solar panels being installed in new housing under construction in Sacramento, Calif.
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
Environmentalists and climate hawks are cheering, but many experts aren’t excited about the state making rooftop solar panels mandatory on most new homes beginning in 2020.
A full valuation of the Great Barrier Reef leads to a number so high it is essentially not worth considering in economic terms.
Coal train in Missouri. Assigning a social cost to carbon emissions puts a price on activities that generate them, such as burning fossil fuels.
Scott Granneman/Flickr
To weigh the economic impact of climate change policies, we need to estimate the social cost of carbon. An economist explains how it’s done and why the Trump administration shouldn’t end the practice.
New water policies could cause even more harm to the already damaged Tukituki River.
Phillip Capper/Wikimedia Commons
Offshore drilling debates boil down to “Drill, baby, drill” versus “spill, baby, spill.” But economists say the right question is when we know enough to drill safely – and often that means waiting.
WikiHouse is one example of the technology-driven new economy, which focuses on people rather than profits.
WikiHouse
Two visions of the ‘new economy’, one based on environmental and social justice values, the other on disruptive technologies, are coming together to challenge the status quo.
Not the aisle for happiness.
consumer via www shutterstock com
A lifestyle based on aggressive consumption stresses the Earth’s resources and, beyond a certain point of comfort, does not actually foster human fulfillment or happiness.
We bailed out the banks – our food is worth even more, but working out exactly how much more is tricky.
Louise Docker/Wikimedia Commons
Is it worth trying to put a price on the natural world, when things like water and food are priceless? Yes, says Paul Sutton - without knowing the value of the environment, we might not value it at all.
The price of growth? Ebola management in Guinea.
European Commission DG ECHO
If ever we wanted a reminder of how global capitalism has got things wrong, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa serves the purpose well. Our assumption that economic growth is essential is not only a feature…
Blurred lines. Costs and benefits of the TDF are hard to define.
oneshotimages
When the world’s greatest cycling race starts in Yorkshire, England on July 5, some 2-3m visitors are expected to turn out to watch a spectacle which will cost an estimated £10m to host. If the organisers…
A reform silver lining lurking behind the clouds?
Arnold Paul
Luca Taschini, London School of Economics and Political Science and Josh Gregory, Imperial College London
In 2008, the European carbon market crashed. Carbon emission allowances in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) plunged from €30 per tonne of C02 in June 2008 to €7 at the beginning of 2009. Prices have…