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The Daily EQCCo

“a patch of mangroves could absorb as much as 10 times the carbon of a similarly sized patch of terrestrial forest” Conservation International

“More than one in six mangrove species worldwide are in danger of extinction due to coastal development and other factors, including climate change, logging, and agriculture” Conservation International

Resources on Mangrove conservation and restoration from UNEP

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On 5 November, 1965, the group now known as the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) cautioned President Lyndon B. Johnson that continued accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide resulting from fossil-fuel burning would “almost certainly cause significant changes” and “could be deleterious from the point of view of human beings.”

AAAS.org

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Albert Einstein, Holograms and Quantum Gravity

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we have, trapped in Arctic permafrost, twice as much carbon as is currently wrecking the atmosphere of the planet, all of it scheduled to be released at a date that keeps getting moved up, partially in the form of a gas that multiplies its warming power 86 times over

David Wallace-Wells

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Sign Up!

We have some workshops you may find interesting, if you want to learn more about climate change, the future of security in a warming world, CSR and the environment and how to make your house safe and eco-friendly.

head over to eqcco.com

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(via The Uninhabitable Earth (Audio Version))

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Workshops

We have workshops this March!

Join us  for topics like climate change, green homes, CSR or climate security.

Workshops are open to all with no prerequisites other than your curiosity and concern. 

Photo Credit: Nasser Almutairi / Unsplash

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Is it possible to be haunted by the future as well as the past? The precise and intimate term for this feeling is “solastalgia,” the desolation caused by an assault on the beloved place one resides; a feeling of dislocation one gets at home

Climate Signs by Emily Raboteau NYRB

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The Daily EQCCo

Fungal diseases are on the rise. Is environmental change to blame? 

“A major factor protecting us from fungal disease is the difference in temperature between the human body and the outside environment. As fungi adapt to living at higher temperatures, we may begin to lose some of that natural protection,” 

https://ensia.com/features/19036/

Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal. - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

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The first oil had been drilled 1859, in Pennsylvania, only a few years before the Civil War

The Carbon War by Jeremy Leggett

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While climate change alone does not cause conflict, it may act as an accelerant of instability or conflict, placing a burden to respond on civilian institutions and militaries around the world. In addition, extreme weather events may lead to increased demands for defense support to civil authorities for humanitarian assistance or disaster response both within the United States and overseas.

U.S. Department of Defense, 2010:85

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Quote of the Day

“In 2015, governments took two urgent steps to transform the nature of development so that it meets the Brundtland standard of sustainability. One was the Paris climate change agreement31, which set out an agenda and timetable for nations to make the structural shift to low-carbon economies. It aims to keep the world well below two degrees of global warming and to help the most vulnerable communities to adapt. The other step was governments’ agreement to achieve 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development by 2030.”

Better Business, Better World

UN Global Compact Report

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Understanding Blockchain

In ‘blockchain’ technology, a futuristic solution to conservation’s greatest challenges

by JENNIFER MORRIS

“the technology of blockchain has been compared to the creation of the internet for the extraordinary impact it could have on how we transfer things of value to each other”

A Curious Plan To Save The Environment With The Blockchain - Wired

“Enthusiasts believe these decentralized, cryptographically sealed databases could starve inefficient middlemen from virtually any system. And today in Nature, conservation biologist Guillaume Chapron argues that blockchains can even save the planet”

How Blockchain Technology is Helping to Clean the Niger River - Bitcoin Magazine

“By allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied, blockchain technology created the backbone of a new type of internet” BlockGeeks

Bitcoin & Blockchain Explained:

BLOCKCHAIN, EXPLAINED

An MIT Expert on why Distributed Ledgers and Cryptocurrencies have the potential to affect every industry.

Just What the Heck Is Blockchain? Watch This Explainer Video:

5 Essential Blockchain Predictions That Will Define 2018

“Blockchain-focused financial services startups raised $240 million in venture funding during the first half of the year. However, its potential was beginning to be recognized across other sectors and industries”

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Opinions on the life/death of New Urbanism

The ‘New Urbanism’ Movement Might Be Dead

City revival has ceased to be a radical idea, and that’s a good thing.

In the October issue of the magazine Governing, William Fulton director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University wrote a short opinion piece suggesting the possible death of New Urbanism. Being a short opinion piece it was low on numbers and facts but high on anecdotal personal thoughts. 

In response are two articles for you:

1- The death of New Urbanism is greatly exaggerated

Restoring the human-scale to the modern built environment is a long-term task, key to human health and welfare, that has barely begun.

This response argues that rather than proving that New Urbanism is in decline, Fulton has shown how necessary it is. The response suggests that the challenges facing cities and towns today require doubling of efforts by New Urbanists. 

2- New Urbanism isn’t dead – but thanks to climate change, it is evolving

Here is how we got drawn into this little back and forth. City Metric suggests that Climate Change is a main factor in reviving and reinvigorating the New Urbanists. This article is interesting because it provides you with a wealth of references from the leading lights in the field now to studies and examples.

Happy reading and hope you come up with a position on the topic after reading the articles and digging deeper on the issues.

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If I just explain the facts, they'll get it, right?

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These uncertainties must not be used as an excuse to avoid adopting policies that would help achieve the targets identified here. Rather, the uncertainties should be used as a reason to regularly review and adjust targets.

Targets and Indicators of Climatic Change

The Stockholm Environment Institute 1990

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West Africa: Rising Tides Threaten Livelihoods along the Coastline