March 2020

The coronavirus lockdown hasn’t just slowed the march of COVID-19, it has reduced lethal air pollution and the associated mortality risks we usually take for granted. But when the lockdown lifts, those risks of the status quo might not just return to…

As much as 96 percent of personal movement in the world’s major cities vanished as mayors imposed lockdowns this month to slow the spread of COVID-19, according to data from Citymapper, an urban mobility app.
Citymapper serves users in 41…

Scientists have been warning that deforestation may be creating an accidental laboratory for the emergence of new viruses in environments that have been disturbed by humans.
In the wake of HIV, Ebola and SARS, scientists documented a potential path…

China’s coronavirus lockdown likely saved tens of thousands of lives by slashing air pollution from factories and vehicles, according to a new analysis by a Stanford University scientist.
Earth Systems Professor Marshall Burke used data from U.S.…

Even if all 50 states achieve 50 percent carbon-free energy generation by 2050, emissions of the greenhouse gas will drop only slightly over business as usual, according to a new projection by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
In a recent…

The global lockdown inspired by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has shuttered factories and reduced travel, slashing lethal pollution including the greenhouse gases that are heating the climate.
The lockdown may save more lives from pollution…

When the Center for Climate and Security released its threat assessment last week in Washington, D.C., its director asked the experts what keeps them up at night. What emerged was a list of nightmare scenarios most striking because many are already…