Economy on EARTH Magazine

After hurricanes, U.S. beach homes are rebuilt bigger

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 16:03:17 -0400

Debris from a damaged house in Hatteras, N.C., lies strewn on the ground after Hurricane Isabel hit the area in September 2003. Credit: Cynthia Hunter/FEMA.

When it comes to houses in the U.S., bigger is often seen as better. A new study looking at the recovery of real estate after major hurricanes has found that this trend also applies to beach houses rebuilt in vulnerable locations after damaging storms.

Geologic Column: My China syndrome

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 10:01:05 -0400

Satellite photo of the Sichuan Basin — in Sichuan Province, north-central China. The pollution from the urban and industrial centers of the Sichuan Basin in Sichuan is visible at the bottom of the image. Credit: NASA, public domain.

My obsession with China began when our son Jeffrey moved there 10 years ago. Since then, we have visited him a half dozen times, and the change that we have witnessed in the country in that time has been staggering.

The energy-water nexus: Managing water in an energy-constrained world

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:06:16 -0400

Global water resource availability: The majority of Earth's water is in a form that is not convenient for human use. Only about 3 percent of it is freshwater, and nearly two-thirds of that exists as ice and permanent snow cover. The vast majority of the remaining freshwater exists in groundwater aquifers, much of which cannot be practically extracted. Kathleen Cantner, AGI

Water can be tricky. With too little, crops die, industries move away, power plants fail, ecosystems suffer and people go thirsty. With too much, floods ruin infrastructure, destroy crops, spread waterborne diseases, and disrupt flows of clean water, wastewater, power and transportation. We want water at the right time and in the right place because moving and storing water require effort. We also want it at the right quality and the right temperature. Saline water, brackish water and polluted water are abundant but costly to treat. Water that’s too warm won’t cool power plants effectively and can damage ecosystems, while water that’s too cold can burst pipes and damage infrastructure.

A Dirty Secret - China's greatest import: Carbon emissions

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

A factory along the Yangtze River in China. High Contrast, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Germany

The U.S. and much of the Western world have a dirty secret.

Crystal Ball EARTH: Agriculture: The future will have a different face than the past

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

U.S. Geological Survey

Tomorrow’s agriculture is facing an immense challenge. By 2050, the world’s population will reach somewhere between 9 billion and 10 billion people, and a greater proportion of those people will be enjoying a richer diet than today’s population. That means farmers will have to grow twice as much food. The world has already witnessed a preview of what might happen if large populations don’t receive an adequate supply of food: They do not accept their fates passively.

Voices: Greening the Gross Domestic Product

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

When measured in terms of annual Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, the United States is the richest country in the world, followed at a distance by China and Japan, and then several European countries, including Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The GDP — the value of all final goods and services produced in a country during a given year — is a simple computation that allows a direct comparison of wealth between countries. But if you take into account a country’s carbon dioxide emissions, its pollution, its depletion of ecological assets and/or its deteriorating infrastructure, would the total GDP remain the same? Probably not. Because these issues are not accounted for in the GDP indicator, using GDP to measure a country’s true wealth is remarkably poor at best and highly damaging at worst.

Voices: Humans at high temperatures

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

Reconsidering the economic implications of climate change

How much will it cost to implement plans to mitigate climate change? And if we don’t implement changes, what will the cost of climate change be?

Economists tend to examine questions like these with cost-benefit analyses. For example, in the climate change debate, if a climate change policy will produce more gains to society than it will cost to implement, a cost-benefit analysis might suggest we should embrace the policy. To date, virtually all cost-benefit analyses of greenhouse gas reductions have suggested that mitigation policies cost more than the benefits they produce, at least in the short run. But most of these analyses have probably dramatically underestimated the economic impacts of a warming climate by not factoring in an important process: what happens to humans when temperatures rise.

Pelosi: Science first for economic recovery

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Blogging on EARTH

According to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, there are four words to describe the economic recovery package that Congress will consider this spring: “science, science, science and science.” Pelosi told National Public Radio today that science has to be first and foremost in this bill: “[We need] the science, technology and engineering to build the infrastructure for the future, the science for the innovation to keep us competitive and number one in the world markets,” she said.

Restarting U.S. rare earth production?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Rare earth minerals experts testified in front of the House Subcommittee on Science and Technology in March. Left to right: Stephen Freiman, Freiman Consulting, representing the National Research Council's Committee on Earth Resources; Steven Ducos, GE Global Research; Karl Gschneidner Jr., Ames National Laboratory and Iowa State University; Mark Smith, CEO of Molycorp Minerals; and Terence Stewart, Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart. Courtesy of the House Committee on Science and Technology

Rare earth minerals are not actually rare, but if China has anything to say about it, they may become scarce in the near future, experts say. And that could pose real problems for the U.S.’ high-tech industries that rely on the metals, including everything from hybrid cars to renewable energy to computers and mobile phones. But in March, rare earth experts testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives said that there is a way to avoid this potential shortage: Reopen a long-idle U.S. mine.

The Changing Face of Sudan

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

To say that things are changing in Sudan would be an understatement. With a referendum on secession set for Jan. 9, and expected to pass, and many issues to be negotiated between now and July 9 when the country’s peace agreement ends, a lot will change over the coming months. And everything hinges on Sudan’s most valuable product: oil.