[GWSG] Insects in trouble; what architects want; interactive problems; a surprising moment; dealing with buildings' emissions

[Tilley, Al]

1. The “current worldwide annihilation of wildlife” from human action emphatically includes insects. Chemically-supported agriculture and climate change are among the main causes. “So demanding political action, eating fewer intensively farmed meat and dairy products, and flying less could all help.”  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/why-are-insects-in-decline-and-can-we-do-anything-about-it

<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/why-are-insects-in-decline-and-can-we-do-anything-about-it>A new study documents the decline in insects, who themselves support us other life forms. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/plummeting-insect-numbers-threaten-collapse-of-nature

<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/10/why-are-insects-in-decline-and-can-we-do-anything-about-it>


2. Architects were asked what they would like to see from the Green New Deal. Among the stated desires were support for multifamily housing, racial and social equity, efficient transportation, and employment security. https://archpaper.com/2019/02/architects-green-new-deal/?trk_msg=F2G78NKD3K3KB4LMEO5RG14I0O&trk_contact=PRLDMSQ3ARR6JO25O7L872SE7G&trk_module=new&trk_sid=1HP1F62QM9MVFKPKCETI9BJD4O&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=What+do+architects+want+from+a+Green+New+Deal%3f&utm_campaign=We+profile+eight+emerging+firms%2c+NYC+tries+to+fill+its+empty+lots%2c+architects+talk+the+GND%2c+and+more


3. A metastudy by a British think tank warns that interacting environmental and social problems are threatening to create a global breakdown. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/12/climate-and-economic-risks-threaten-2008-style-systemic-collapse


4. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources was encouragingly receptive to the project of decarbonizing our energy supply. https://grist.org/article/a-bipartisan-group-of-senators-just-agreed-we-need-to-break-our-addiction-to-carbon/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily


5. In the US buildings account for 40% of greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of transportation with 30%. Electrification and improved power efficiency in buildings is picking up steam through such programs as Massachusetts’ incentives for conversion from oil and gas to electric heat pumps and for passive house construction, and California’s Building Decarbonization Initiative. https://cleantechnica.com/2019/02/12/fossil-fuel-to-electricity-conversion-field-suddenly-blows-up-cleantechnica-exclusive-interview/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.unf.edu/pipermail/gwsg/attachments/20190213/0e0a2418/attachment.html>