Each week, we review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted at the “indispensable” RFF Library Blog, curated by RFF Librarian Chris Clotworthy. Check out this week’s highlights below:
Damages from Pollution and Biodiversity Loss Have Cost India Almost 6% of GDP: World Bank
First study of its kind warns Indian growth is unsustainable unless urgent steps are taken to tackle air and water pollution. Environmental degradation is seriously restricting India’s economic growth, costing it around Rs. 3.75tr ($80bn) or 5.7 per cent of GDP each year. That is the stark conclusion of a major new report from the World Bank... — via World Bank
The Quality of Our Nation’s Waters: Ecological Health in the Nation’s Streams, 1993—2005
A new USGS report describes how the health of our Nation’s streams is being degraded by streamflow modifications and elevated levels of nutrients and pesticides. The national assessment of stream health was unprecedented in the breadth of the measurements—including assessments of multiple biological communities as well as streamflow modifications and measurements of over 100 chemical constituents in water and streambed sediments... — via US Geological Survey
Technology Roadmap: Carbon Capture and Storage
This carbon capture and storage (CCS) roadmap aims at assisting governments and industry in integrating CCS in their emissions reduction strategies and in creating the conditions for scaled-up deployment of all three components of the CCS chain: CO2 capture, transport and storage. To get us onto the right pathway, this roadmap highlights seven key actions needed in the next seven years to create a solid foundation for deployment of CCS starting by 2020... — via International Energy Agency
Benefits of Rebuilding Global Marine Fisheries Outweigh Costs
It could cost up to $292 billion and take almost three decades, but University of B.C. experts have a proposal to save the world’s fisheries. In a study released Friday in the online journal of the Public Library of Science, a team of American and Canadian economists and ecologists... — via PLOS ONE
Sea Level May Rise 2 Meters (6.6 Feet) for Each Degree Celsius of Warming
Sea levels may rise by more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) for each degree Celsius of global warming the planet experiences over the next 2,000 years, according to a study by researchers in five nations. The research, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, attempts to iron out the impact of short-term fluctuations in sea levels... — via Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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