Group items tagged

DRIVER-POLITICS Many political factors impacted the development of the Colorado River Compact (now known as the Colorado River Basin Water Agreement, or CRBWA). These political factors included politicians, political agencies, legislation, and political pressure groups/lobbyists. This paper will present an in-depth administrative analysis of the impact of politics on the CRBWA. It will include historical and theoretical research, as well as interviews with present-day politicians in order to answer questions relating to the impact of politics on the original agreement. Some of the major questions asked were: What politics impacted the CRBWA and how did they affect its creation? Has the agreement achieved its goals and mission? Why or why not? What changes could be made to the CRBWA to help achieve the agreement's mission and goals?

More on the impact of climate change and sea ports and the cascading effect on the economy. Nature of ports makes them more susceptible to environment changes as a result of climate change--increased intense events and rising sea levels. Author calls for change now .

"Developments That May Impact the Ability to Effect an Attack Using a Synthetic Biology-Enabled Weapon"

"Corrosion has a huge economic, environmental and sustainability impact on virtually all facets of constructional materials, from highways, bridges, and buildings to oil and gas, chemical processing, desalination, nuclear, power facilities, water, and wastewater systems. In addition to causing severe environmental damage and threats to public safety, corrosion disrupts operations and requires extensive repair and replacement of failed assets. The annual cost of corrosion worldwide was estimated to exceed $U.S.2.5 trillion in 2016, which translates to 3 to 4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of industrialized countries according to NACE IMPACT study report. (...) To reduce the huge cost and the environmental impact of corrosion and enhance the sustainability of materials used for construction, available corrosion control practices such as proper material design and selection, the use of corrosion inhibitors, coatings, cathodic protection etc., are recommended and could lead to savings of between 15 and 35% of the cost of corrosion. This translates to between US$375 and $875 billion annually"

Gates Foundation report on the impact of Mobile Money on Poverty. Good stats and evolution.

"Texas became the latest state to implement permitless carry, or Constitutional Carry, on September 1, 2021. There are now a total of 21 states with permitless carry laws on the books. Texas was one of three states to implement this kind of law in 2021 alone."

The COVID-19 pandemic and killing of George Floyd along with other recent deaths of Black people at the hands of police have laid bare stark structural and systemic racial inequities and their impacts on the health and well-being of individuals and communities. While these events have brought health and health care disparities into sharp focus for the media and public, they are not new. These longstanding and persistent health disparities are symptoms of broader social and economic challenges that are rooted in structural and systemic barriers across sectors - including housing, education, employment, and the justice system - as well as underlying racism and discrimination. Amid this difficult time for our nation, the increased recognition and understanding of disparities could provide a catalyst for the challenging work required to address them.

Article about the less fortunate suffering at the hands of big business as climate crisis severly impacts the environments where people live. It talks about basic life support needs that are more difficult to come by as a result of climate change.

A majority of Americans continue to say they see the effects of climate change in their own communities and believe that the federal government falls short in its efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. At a time when partisanship colors most views of policy, broad majorities of the public - including more than half of Republicans and overwhelming shares of Democrats - say they would favor a range of initiatives to reduce the impacts of climate change

The article discusses emissions at ports around the world and focuses on a measurement of a port's affects on the environment through a measurement called Port Environmental Index (PEI). The PEI consists of standards that will allow the tracking of emissions and effects on the environment for the port over time. The internet of things (IOT) will allow real time monitoring. (alterenate link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20308888)

DRIVER-SCARCITY The Industrial Revolutions improved living standards for people in most nations where technology proliferated.[1] Populations in modern societies are not overly concerned with accessing food or water on a daily basis. In particular, the availability of clean, freshwater is a reasonable expectation throughout the modern world. However, a growing lack of water ("water scarcity"), propelled by continued technological advancement and high demand, is creating a global crisis. This resource scarcity will change long-held expectations and demonstrate the capacity to disrupt the security and stability of entire regions. This Article examines the global state of freshwater scarcity[2] and the often-neglected linkages of water scarcity to economic, social, political, legal, and security consequences arising from disruptions, failures, or attacks on water access and distribution systems.[3] Our research concentrates on examples of the impacts of water scarcity from past and present utilizing selected examples from North America, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. We contend that poorly understood links between access to adequate water and national stability pose severe global security risks, especially if technological and policy correctives are not implemented to increase water resiliency and ensure availability and access.

"Despite the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the vulnerable in the United States, the percentage of Americans in food-insecure households held steady in 2020 at 10.5%, figures released on Sept. 8, 2021, show...That food insecurity stayed stable was due to various government actions."

This report outlines the true cost of food, which includes the impacts on our health, the environment, biodiversity, livelihoods, and much more. With this new analysis, governments, advocates, corporations, and individuals are better equipped to catalyze the change needed to develop a truly nourishing, equitable, and sustainable food system in the United States.

"The way Americans eat and produce food costs nearly $2 trillion in health and environmental expenditures alone-and that cost disproportionately burdens communities of color." the statistics they provide are very alarming !

"The smart homes market was valued at USD 79.13 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 313.95 billion by 2026 and register a CAGR of 25.3% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). Across real estate companies and the architect ecosystem, the 'new normal' defined through the social distancing results in a requirement to go back to the redesign basics and reinvent the residential real estate product by factoring in new-age designing, efficiency, and innovation. As the redesign happens, the need for a totally new set of amenities has resurfaced and gained prominence. What the customer will need in the 'new normal' has undergone a revolution in the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is leading to a paradigm shift in residential spaces."

"The public hearings showed sharp differences of opinion about SpaceX's plans to conduct orbital launches from Boca Chica. Many attendees were strong advocates for the company and the proposed launch site, calling it critical to the nation's future in space. They also played down the environmental impact, often comparing it to the launch sites at Cape Canaveral in Florida, which are embedded within a wildlife refuge." This hit resonates because it hits on lots of areas - environmental, political, technological, geopolitical, demography... There will always be people for and people against. I feels like Space X did a nice job of stacking the room in their favor.

Here, we assess the lasting impact of the pandemic on labor demand, the mix of occupations, and the workforce skills required in eight countries with diverse economic and labor market models: China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Together, these eight countries account for almost half the global population and 62 percent of GDP. Another study that shows how unhappy workers are and that they're squarely in the drivers seat.

Treasury's just-released Climate Action Plan establishes five priority actions to strengthen and build upon Treasury's climate resilience and adaptive capabilities: (1) rebuilding programs and capabilities that may have atrophied or stagnated in recent years; (2) addressing climate change impacts and vulnerabilities across the range of Departmental operations, including administrative, manufacturing, and law enforcement activities; (3) ensuring a climate-focused approach to managing Treasury's real property portfolio footprint; (4) enabling procurement management to fully consider climate change realities; and (5) providing, measuring, and accounting for a financial investment approach appropriate to the Department's climate objectives.

A new survey-based study explains how automation is reshaping the workplace in unexpected ways. Robots can improve efficiency and quality, reduce costs, and even help create more jobs for their human counterparts. But more robots can also reduce the need for managers. What if more robots = a better quality of life. We always seem to go negative. What if we could work less, not more?