#Copyright#IP#CircularEconomy#Upcycling#Environment#Sustainability#HumanRights: "As the environmental crisis escalates due to overproduction and overconsumption, there is an increasing recognition of the urgent need for environmental consciousness and a shift towards a sustainable, circular economy (see, in the intellectual property context, Pihlajarinne & Ballardini (2020), Senftleben (2023), Calboli (2024)). Upcycling, notably, which involves reworking old items or their parts into new ones, has emerged as a tangible effort to address the negative impacts of this crisis. However, copyright protection may unexpectedly clash with this sustainable practice, as certain upcycled items could include copyrighted prints, ornaments, or design patterns from the original materials, such as new clothing items made out of old bed sheets, curtains, or tablecloths, or jewellery made from broken porcelain." https://copyrightblog.kluweriplaw.com/2024/05/30/copyright-upcycling-and-the-human-right-to-environmental-protection/
As voters across India cast their ballots in the general election on issues ranging from the cost of living to jobs and religion, the residents of a tiny, ecologically sensitive island have only one concern: Survival. As voters across India cast their ballots in the general election on issues ranging from the cost of living to...
#Environment#Ecology#Waste#SupplyChains: "Material World is one of a spate of recent books that aim to reconnect readers with the physical reality that underpins the global economy. Conway’s mission is shared by Wasteland: The Secret World of Waste and the Urgent Search for a Cleaner Future, by Oliver Franklin-Wallis, and Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives, by Siddharth Kara. Each one fills in dark secrets about the places, processes, and lived realities that make the economy tick.
Conway aims to disprove “perhaps the most dangerous of all the myths” that guide our lives today: “the idea that we humans are weaning ourselves off physical materials.” It is easy to convince ourselves that we now live in a dematerialized “ethereal world,” he says, ruled by digital startups, artificial intelligence, and financial services. Yet there is little evidence that we have decoupled our economy from its churning hunger for resources. “For every ton of fossil fuels,” he writes, “we exploit six tons of other materials—mostly sand and stone, but also metals, salts, and chemicals. Even as we citizens of the ethereal world pare back our consumption of fossil fuels, we have redoubled our consumption of everything else. But, somehow, we have deluded ourselves into believing precisely the opposite.”"
The Aral Sea, once the lifeblood of peoples in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, is parched, shrouded in a layer of toxic salt and dust.
Officials from both countries are working with locals to plant a new forest of drought-resistant plants in the dried-out lakebed, to prevent sandstorms and mitigate the health impacts of breathing in the toxic dust.
Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday Glacier’ Is Melting Even Faster Than Scientists Thought
Warming waters are reaching several miles into Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier—nicknamed the “doomsday glacier” because of its potential impact on sea-level rise
A 23-year study found that barley grown under organic farming conditions developed unique genetic adaptations, enhancing resilience to nutrient and water deficiencies.
Unlike conventionally farmed barley, which became genetically uniform, organic barley maintained genetic diversity, aiding adaptation to environmental changes.
"In 2018...the 5bn YouTube hits for the viral song Despacito used the same amount of energy it would take to heat 40,000 US homes annually.
This is a hugely environmentally destructive side to the tech industry. While it has played a big role in reaching net zero, giving us smart meters and efficient solar, it’s critical that we turn the spotlight on its environmental footprint"
Mariana Mazzucato
Germany to construct massive power cable linking to England
Planned with a capacity of 1.4 gigawatts, the electric cable is expected to provide electricity to up to 1.5 million households. Its completion is slated for 2028. NeuConnect is predicted to elevate the security of electricity supply and positively impact prices
A risky path to meeting climate targets for Stockholm
The Swedish capital Stockholm aims to capture more carbon dioxide than is emitted by 2030. Therefore, the city is investing in new technology at a combined heat and power plant. But it is a strategy that has been adopted without sufficient discussion of the risks, say researchers at Linköping university, Sweden
"Latin America is experiencing its worst dengue fever outbreak on record. Case numbers in the first 4 ½ months of 2024 are already 238% higher than they were by this time last year, which itself ended with a record 4.1 million cases, according to the Pan American Health Organization. Cases are more than 400% higher than the five-year average."
Scottish Literature, Borders & the Environmental Imagination
By Julia Ditter
Examining the relationship between #borders & the #environment in #Scottish#literature from the 19th century to the present. For a preview, see Julia Ditter’s article “Reading Scotland’s Borders Through the Environment” – part of the DEBATABLE LANDS issue of THE BOTTLE IMP, May 2022
A new study has found that chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) like to feed on antelope poop, especially during drier months when vegetation might be sparse.
Researchers deployed collar cameras attached to four baboons in South Africa as part of a documentary film in 2017; they later analyzed footage from two of them.
UK Climate Deniers & Fossil Fuel Sector Have Donated £8.4M to Tories
As the UK gears up for another election, an investigation shows the Conservative Party has accrued £8.4M in donations from fossil fuel interests and climate deniers since winning the last election in 2019
Wealthy white men from rural areas are the UK’s biggest emitters of climate-heating gases from transport, according to a study by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
The richest 0.1% in Britain emit 22 times more from transport than low earners & 12 times more than average. Income is directly linked to levels of mobility.
In the UK, transport is now the largest source of emissions.
@MarvinFreeman The great medals collecting is getting out of hand. Large amounts of cheap, difficult to recycle metal is being left to hang around in cupboards and drawers. At least some events are providing something in wood - maybe with a heat etched design…
Mass adoption of clean energy requires massive energy storage, and we’re getting closer! 👇🏼
Thanks to a MIT spin-off company, we have thermal ceramic bricks capable of storing heat for DAYS 👀.
These ceramic bricks can store heat — at temperatures up to 1800 degrees Celsius — for DAYS that can then be used to convert the energy back to electricity when needed.
For Ghoramara islanders, India election is about climate change and survival (www.reuters.com)
As voters across India cast their ballots in the general election on issues ranging from the cost of living to jobs and religion, the residents of a tiny, ecologically sensitive island have only one concern: Survival. As voters across India cast their ballots in the general election on issues ranging from the cost of living to...