Sarah DeWeerdt

2 weeks ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt

Older companies are more environmentally sustainable than younger ones, according to a new analysis. The findings upend popular assumptions of old organizations as hidebound and incapable of change, and younger ones as having a “greenness” native to their era of environmental concern. “Lasting organizations have learned to adapt, again and again, across changing environments, including those in the natural world.

3 weeks ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt |Emma Bryce |Warren Cornwall

We use around 30 billion tonnes of concrete every year. That gigantic number bears an equally gigantic carbon footprint. Producing cement, the glue that holds concrete together, is responsible for more than 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. So a team of engineers at MIT put artificial intelligence to the task of finding cement alternatives in order to reduce the cost and emissions of concrete.

3 weeks ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt

U.S. states can decarbonize on their own for about the same price as a federal-led effort to reduce emissions by the same amount, according to a new study. The findings underline that a “coalition of the willing” could not bring the country to net-zero emissions on its own. But they also represent a hopeful vision of how climate action in the U.S. could continue despite Trump Administration rollbacks.

1 month ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt

Getting people to think more about the future, especially their own and that of people they care about, is the most effective way to motivate climate action, according to a new study. The findings come from a head-to-head test of a 17 different strategies to inspire people to fight climate change, ranging from viewing information about carbon footprints to brainstorming the personal benefits of environmentally friendly actions.

1 month ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt |Emma Bryce

Boosting iron intake to fight weakness and increase energy is not just for humans, new research shows. A team of scientists and engineers have found that injecting iron and other minerals into wood makes it stronger without making it heavier. By making wood more competitive with steel and cement, the finding presented in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces offers a route to make modern construction more sustainable.