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UN Environment and Google announce ground-breaking partnership to protect our planet

UN Environment and Google announce strategic partnership to protect our planet

Combining environmental science, big data and unprecedented accessibility, this joint effort aims to expand what the world knows about the impacts of human activity on global ecosystems. The partnership will start with an initial focus on fresh-water ecosystems, such as mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes, aiming in the long-term to establish a platform for open-source data and analysis of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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Arctic tourism: how the Great North is becoming the new exotic

The killing of a polar bear by a cruise guard in the Svalbard islands in late July has sparked global criticism of Arctic tourism. Insights from the author of the “The Battle for the Great White North” about a new and increasing trend affecting the Arctic Circle.

Can Behavioural Economics save the Planet?

Can Behavioural Economics save the Planet?

While traditional economic models consider human beings as rational agents that maximize their pleasure (or “utility”), Behavioural Economics questions the rationality of people’s decisions. How can governments promote environmental policies more efficiently? We selected four policy insights from the Behavioural Economics literature.

Cities are laboratories - Climate Foresight - CMCC

Cities as climate laboratories for ecological research

A new study attempts to verify if and in which cases cities can constitute proxies to study the effects of long-term climate impacts on plants and animal species. Some peculiar conditions of urban centres, such as high CO2 concentrations, are hard to replicate experimentally; on the other hand, urban variables and characteristics could be misleading for the ecological research.

Why-scientists-should-communicate-Hubble-Celestial-Snow-Globe-NASA

Why scientists should communicate

In this excerpt from the recently published  ‘Handbook for Scientists’, the science journalist Elisabetta Tola explains why we need more scientists on board to develop accessible scientific knowledge. The Handbook is part of the Lookout Station project, a science-media initiative designed by Rina Tsubaki to foster public engagement of climate change by connecting science and journalism. Repost courtesy of the European Forest Institute.