Academia should go beyond carbon accounting and take action on ... - Nature.com
Academia should go beyond carbon accounting and take action on climate | Nature Reviews Physics
Gathering evidence is key to science, so it is not surprising that scientific institutions have started to report their carbon emissions. However, it is critical to go beyond reporting, and act. Even without a perfect evidence base there are actions scientists and institutions can take that will lead to lasting change, argues Astrid Eichhorn, physicist and chair of the ALLEA Working Group on Climate Sustainability in the Academic System.
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Eichhorn, A. Academia should go beyond carbon accounting and take action on climate. Nat Rev Phys (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-023-00625-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-023-00625-9
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
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On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”