The Elephant
A resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
The ElephantA resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
Visit: sciencedirect.com
Finance, climate-change and radical uncertainty: Towards a precautionary approach to financial policy
2024-06-11 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comClimate-related financial risks (CRFR) are now recognised by central banks and supervisors as material to their financial stability mandates. But whil…
Yield gap between organic and conventional farming systems across climate types and sub-types: A meta-analysis
2024-06-10 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comOrganic farming is a fast-growing system considered a holistic approach that benefits the environment. However, previous studies have reported varying…
Long-term macroeconomic effects of climate change: A cross-country analysis
2024-05-03 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comWe study the long-term impact of climate change on economic activity across countries, using a stochastic growth model where productivity is affected …
The political economy of car dependence: A systems of provision approach
2024-04-23 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comResearch on car dependence exposes the difficulty of moving away from a car-dominated, high-carbon transport system, but neglects the political-econom…
“I'll take the easiest option please”. Carbon reduction preferences of the public
2024-04-10 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe depth and breadth of the climate crisis is well known, all sectors, industry, government and the individual have the potential to reduce emissions…
Opening a can of worms: Can the availability of soil invertebrates be indicated by birds?
2024-04-08 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comRecently detected invertebrate population declines are likely to have far-reaching impacts for ecosystem function. However, very little large-scale mo…
A horizon scan of global biological conservation issues for 2024
2024-04-08 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comWe present the results of our 15th horizon scan of novel issues that could influence biological conservation in the future. From an initial list of 96…
The effectiveness of cocoa agroforests depends on shade-tree canopy height
2024-03-29 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comAgroforestry is often proposed as a ‘climate smart’ strategy for allowing agriculture to both adapt to and mitigate climate change and sustainably inc…
Effectiveness of water-related adaptation decreases with increasing warming
2024-03-23 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comAdaptation is central to address climate impacts. At present, we have a limited understanding of the effectiveness of adaptation to reduce risks in a …
The open veins of Latin America: Long-term physical trade flows (1900–2016)
2024-03-17 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comLatin America has long played a key role in the global provision of natural resources. Most of the continent's economies are net exporters of low-valu…
Estimating the global waste heat potential
2024-03-16 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe process chain of energy conversion from primary energy carriers to final energy use is subject to several losses. Especially in end use, vast amou…
An estimation of the European industrial heat pump market potential
2024-03-16 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThis paper presents an estimation of the European (EU28) industrial heat pump market potential in terms of magnitude, sizing and number of units. This…
The impact factor of engaged research: Metrics for conservation outcomes
2024-03-09 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comWill this paper lead to any measurable impact on biodiversity conservation? In this essay, we examine the relevance of scientific publications for con…
Tagged under: Conservation | Science
Measuring the Doughnut: A good life for all is possible within planetary boundaries
2024-03-05 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comHumanity is continuing a path towards ecological instability. While resource consumption is unprecedented, significant parts of the human population a…
Tagged under: Climate Justice | Economics
Global environmental cost of using rare earth elements in green energy technologies
2024-01-20 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comDecarbonization of economy is intended to reduce the consumption of non-renewable energy sources and emissions from them. One of the major components …
Tagged under: Renewable Energy
Environmental Kuznets Curve - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
2024-01-15 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTargeting socioeconomic transformations to achieve global sustainability
2023-12-22 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comGreen growth and post-growth are alternative concepts for transformative change. I investigated the amount of support each enjoys among sustainability…
Tagged under: Sustainability
Labour and the ecological crisis: The eco-modernist dilemma in western Marxism(s) (1970s-2000s)
2023-12-13 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe article offers an intellectual critique of Marxist political ecology as developed in western Europe between the 1970s and 2000s, focusing on the l…
Reinventing energy efficiency for net zero
2023-10-14 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comEnergy efficiency has delivered the largest share of historic greenhouse gas mitigation. A significant part of this relied on replacing fossil fuel te…
Tagged under: Net Zero | Climate Change Mitigation
Inconsistent definitions of GDP: Implications for estimates of decoupling
2023-10-04 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comEfforts to assess the possibilities for decoupling economic growth from resource use and negative environmental impacts have examined their historical…
Tagged under: Economic Growth
A comprehensive continental-scale analysis of carbon footprint of food production: Comparing continents around the world
2023-09-30 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comFood production is an important source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Quantifying the carbon footprint of all the major food categor…
Tagged under: Food Production and Consumption
Global mortality from outdoor fine particle pollution generated by fossil fuel combustion: Results from GEOS-Chem
2023-09-06 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe burning of fossil fuels – especially coal, petrol, and diesel – is a major source of airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and a key contribut…
Tagged under: Air Pollution | Fossil Fuels
Association between glyphosate exposure and cognitive function, depression, and neurological diseases in a representative sample of US adults: NHANES 2013–2014 analysis
2023-09-05 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comGlyphosate, the most widely used herbicide globally, has been linked to neurological impairments in some occupational studies. However, the potential …
Wind farms dry surface soil in temporal and spatial variation
2023-08-27 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comWind farms have been proved to have potential impact on the ecology. As an important ecological factor, soil moisture has a great impact on the ecosys…
Tagged under: Wind Power
The better to fool you with: Deception and self-deception
2023-07-24 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comDeception is used by plants, animals, and humans to increase their fitness by persuading others of false beliefs that benefit the self, thereby creati…
On the human appropriation of wetland primary production
2023-07-09 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comHumans are changing the Earth's surface at an accelerating pace, with significant consequences for ecosystems and their biodiversity. Landscape transf…
Tagged under: Wetlands
Can the mode, time, and expense of commuting to work affect our mental health?
2023-06-21 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comCommuting to work is an important part of many people's daily life, with travel times increasing constantly and becoming a growing problem. The aim of…
Tagged under: Health
Banning boilers: An analysis of existing regulations to phase out fossil fuel heating in the EU
2023-06-18 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comIn view of the current geopolitical situation, the EU and its Member States are accelerating efforts to reduce their dependency on fossil fuel imports…
The potential for a plastic recycling facility to release microplastic pollution and possible filtration remediation effectiveness
2023-05-28 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comWith current plastic production and the growing problem of global plastic pollution, an increase and improvement in plastic recycling is needed. There…
Tagged under: Microplastics and Nanoplastics
Enabling a just energy transition through solidarity in research
2023-05-18 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comA just energy transition is as much about acknowledging and acting on the socio-material needs of marginalised classes and groups as about informing i…
The unbearable heaviness of climate coloniality
2023-05-16 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe extremely uneven and inequitable impacts of climate change mean that differently-located people experience, respond to, and cope with the climate …
Tagged under: Climate Change | Climate Change Impacts
Increasing risks of multiple breadbasket failure under 1.5 and 2 °C global warming
2023-04-26 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe increasingly inter-connected global food system is becoming more vulnerable to production shocks owing to increasing global mean temperatures and …
Tagged under: Food Production and Consumption | Climate Change Impacts | Climate Change
Net zero and the unexplored politics of residual emissions
2023-04-07 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comIn this perspective article, we call for more engagement with the unexplored politics of residual emissions. Residual emissions are those emissions th…
Tagged under: Net Zero
Fossil fuel companies' climate communication strategies: Industry messaging on renewables and natural gas
2023-03-29 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comResearch shows that multinational oil and gas companies have recently made a strategic shift away from outright climate denial to more nuanced discour…
Tagged under: Renewable Energy
Fossil extraction bans and carbon taxes: Assessing their interplay through multiple models
2023-03-19 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comGiven concerns about the ambition and effectiveness of current climate policies, a case has been made for the combination of demand side policies such…
Beyond ecology: ecosystem restoration as a process for social-ecological transformation
2023-03-16 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comEcosystem restoration conventionally focuses on ecological targets. However, while ecological targets are crucial to mobilizing political, social, and…
Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions
2023-02-26 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comMuch evidence suggests that the wealthiest individuals contribute disproportionally to climate change. Here we study the implications of a continued g…
Tagged under: Climate Change
Building a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty: Key elements
2023-02-09 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comAmid growing recognition of the need for supply-side policies which set limits on the further expansion of fossil fuel extraction and use, in this art…
Wind energy is not sustainable when balanced by fossil energy
2023-02-08 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comEnsuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. Some countries have theref…
Tagged under: Wind Power
Post-growth transition, working time reduction, and the question of profits
2023-01-30 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe ecological macroeconomics literature has developed models, which outline the transition from today's growth-dependent economies to post-growth sys…
Future demand for electricity generation materials under different climate mitigation scenarios
2023-01-28 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comAchieving global climate goals will require prodigious increases in low-carbon electricity generation, raising concerns about the scale of materials n…
Tagged under: Electricity | Climate Change Mitigation
Assessing U.S. consumers' carbon footprints reveals outsized impact of the top 1%
2023-01-14 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comUnsustainable environmental degradation and extreme economic inequality are two of humanity's most pressing challenges. They are intimately linked. Cl…
Social outcomes of energy use in the United Kingdom: Household energy footprints and their links to well-being
2022-12-09 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comHow energy relates to human need satisfaction, for whom, and with what wellbeing outcomes has remained under-researched. We address this gap by invest…
Social tipping processes towards climate action: A conceptual framework
2022-11-15 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comSocietal transformations are necessary to address critical global challenges, such as mitigation of anthropogenic climate change and reaching UN susta…
Tagged under: Climate Change | Climate Change Mitigation | Tipping Points
Beyond science and policy: Typologizing and harnessing social movements for transformational social change
2022-11-04 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comSocial movements refer to collective groups of actors banding together to achieve desirable social change through common agendas and tactics. This stu…
Balance as bias: global warming and the US prestige press
2022-11-01 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThis paper demonstrates that US prestige-press coverage of global warming from 1988 to 2002 has contributed to a significant divergence of popular dis…
Messaging matters: A systematic review of the conservation messaging literature
2022-10-28 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comChanging human behavior and attitudes are key to conserving global biodiversity. Despite evidence from other disciplines that strategic messaging can …
Implications of shrinking household sizes for meeting the 1.5 °C climate targets
2022-10-11 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comUnderstanding social trends such as shrinking household sizes plays an important role for designing effective policies to limit global warming to 1.5 …
Banning super short-haul flights: Environmental evidence or political turbulence?
2022-10-04 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comSeveral countries have considered banning or even decided to ban or tax super short-haul flights, arguing that the availability of rail alternatives m…
Tagged under: Trains
Capitalism and extreme poverty: A global analysis of real wages, human height, and mortality since the long 16th century
2022-09-20 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThis paper assesses claims that, prior to the 19th century, around 90% of the human population lived in extreme poverty (defined as the inability to a…
Tagged under: Capitalism
The connection between subjective wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour: Individual and cross-national characteristics in a seven-country study
2022-09-15 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comA positive and reciprocal relationship between subjective wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) has been observed across a range of countrie…
“We don't want to be the bad guys”: Oil industry's sensemaking of the sustainability transition paradox
2022-09-10 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe operating model of the global oil industry is not compatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement. For the industry, there is a fundamental tensi…
Tagged under: Sustainability
A cautionary note about messages of hope: Focusing on progress in reducing carbon emissions weakens mitigation motivation
2022-08-26 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comFor the first time this millennium, growth in carbon emissions has slowed. Indeed, the year 2014 was the first time in 40 years that the planet saw ze…
Tagged under: Climate Change Mitigation
Cumulative carbon emissions and economic policy: In search of general principles
2022-08-26 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comWe exploit recent advances in climate science to develop a physically consistent, yet surprisingly simple, model of climate policy. It seems that key …
Thermal tolerance of zooplankton
2022-07-19 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comFirst immature instar Daphnia pulex Leydig acclimated at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30°C, and Daphnia magna Straus acclimated at 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30°C, w…
The moral psychology of misinformation: Why we excuse dishonesty in a post-truth world
2022-07-10 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comCommentators say we have entered a “post-truth” era. As political lies and “fake news” flourish, citizens appear not only to believe misinformation, b…
Tagged under: Disinformation and Misinformation
Existing climate mitigation scenarios perpetuate colonial inequalities
2022-07-07 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe challenge of climate mitigation is made more difficult by high rates of energy use in wealthy countries, mostly in the Global North, which far exc…
Tagged under: Climate Change Mitigation
Closing the high seas to fishing: A club approach
2022-06-20 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe world’s fisheries are governed by a vast, and largely ineffective, set of international and regional institutions. If we are to preserve and manag…
Tagged under: Fish
Global fisheries subsidies: An updated estimate
2022-06-20 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe aim of this paper is to provide an updated estimate of global fisheries subsidies. It builds on earlier estimates and methodologies to re-estimate…
Tagged under: Fish
Plastitar: A new threat for coastal environments
2022-06-13 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comOil residues have been frequently found on the coasts all over the world as a result of different accidental releases. Their partial evaporation and s…
A systematic review of the psychological distance of climate change: Towards the development of an evidence-based construct
2022-05-19 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe construct of psychological distance has gained traction as an explanation of why climate change is difficult to act on; it often feels far removed…
Tagged under: Climate Change
“Carbon Bombs” - Mapping key fossil fuel projects
2022-05-15 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comMeeting the Paris targets requires reducing both fossil fuel demand and supply, and closing the “production gap” between climate targets and energy po…
Discovery and quantification of plastic particle pollution in human blood
2022-04-29 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comPlastic particles are ubiquitous pollutants in the living environment and food chain but no study to date has reported on the internal exposure of pla…
Production and harvesting of microalgae for wastewater treatment, biofuels, and bioproducts
2022-03-11 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe integration of microalgae-based biofuel and bioproducts production with wastewater treatment has major advantages for both industries. However, ma…
Imperialist appropriation in the world economy: Drain from the global South through unequal exchange, 1990–2015
2022-02-15 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comUnequal exchange theory posits that economic growth in the “advanced economies” of the global North relies on a large net appropriation of resources a…
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Far from optimal? Exploring the normative premises and politics of carbon pricing - ScienceDirect
2022-01-12 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Carbon Pricing
How science makes environmental controversies worse - ScienceDirect
2021-12-27 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comClimate change prediction: Erring on the side of least drama?
2021-12-21 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comOver the past two decades, skeptics of the reality and significance of anthropogenic climate change have frequently accused climate scientists of “ala…
Tagged under: Predictions | Climate Change
Trees, forests and water: Cool insights for a hot world
2021-12-18 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comForest-driven water and energy cycles are poorly integrated into regional, national, continental and global decision-making on climate change adaptati…
Tagged under: Climate Change | Trees
Investment and production dynamics of conventional oil and unconventional tight oil: Implications for oil markets and climate strategies - ScienceDirect
2021-10-22 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comEarly warnings and emerging accountability: Total’s responses to global warming, 1971–2021
2021-10-20 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comBuilding upon recent work on other major fossil fuel companies, we report new archival research and primary source interviews describing how Total res…
Tagged under: TotalEnergies
From elite folk science to the policy legend of the circular economy - ScienceDirect
2021-09-23 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTransport poverty and car dependence: A European perspective
2021-09-01 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comIn the Global North, and increasingly in emerging countries, car use can be essential to access services, opportunities and social networks that are i…
The anti-colonial politics of degrowth - ScienceDirect
2021-08-20 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Degrowth
Quantifying national responsibility for climate breakdown: an equality-based attribution approach for carbon dioxide emissions in excess of the planetary boundary - ScienceDirect
2021-08-11 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comWhen starting with the most expensive option makes sense: Optimal timing, cost and sectoral allocation of abatement investment - ScienceDirect
2021-07-28 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comSocio-economic conditions for satisfying human needs at low energy use: An international analysis of social provisioning
2021-07-27 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comMeeting human needs at sustainable levels of energy use is fundamental for avoiding catastrophic climate change and securing the well-being of all peo…
Tagged under: Climate Change
Attributing Extreme Events to Climate Change: A New Frontier in a Warming World - ScienceDirect
2021-07-27 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Global Warming | Extreme Weather | Climate Change
Prices and quantities: Unsustainable consumption and the global economy
2021-07-11 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe ecological unsustainability of current consumption patterns is now well documented. One aspect of this problem which has not been sufficiently add…
Influencing climate change attitudes in the United States: A systematic review and meta-analysis - ScienceDirect
2021-05-14 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Climate Change
Climate injustice, criminalisation of land protection and anti-colonial solidarity: Courtroom ethnography in an age of fossil fuel violence - ScienceDirect
2021-05-05 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comUrgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (SDG 13): transforming agriculture and food systems
2021-04-18 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comActions on climate change (SDG 13), including in the food system, are crucial. SDG 13 needs to align with the Paris Agreement, given that UNFCCC negot…
Tagged under: Climate Change | Sustainable Development Goals | Climate Change Impacts
White knights, or horsemen of the apocalypse? Prospects for Big Oil to align emissions with a 1.5 °C pathway - ScienceDirect
2021-04-17 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe material foundations of a low-carbon economy
2021-03-19 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe transition to a low-carbon environment is rapidly accelerating and with it the potential for severe environmental and social degradation. The extr…
Cryptodamages: Monetary value estimates of the air pollution and human health impacts of cryptocurrency mining
2021-03-07 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comCryptocurrency mining uses significant amounts of energy as part of the proof-of-work time-stamping scheme to add new blocks to the chain. Expanding u…
Tagged under: Health
Global patterns of ecologically unequal exchange: Implications for sustainability in the 21st century
2021-02-21 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comEcologically unequal exchange theory posits asymmetric net flows of biophysical resources from poorer to richer countries. To date, empirical evidence…
Tagged under: Sustainability
Shifts in global bat diversity suggest a possible role of climate change in the emergence of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 - ScienceDirect
2021-02-20 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Climate Change
From anger to action: Differential impacts of eco-anxiety, eco-depression, and eco-anger on climate action and wellbeing
2021-02-14 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comResearch documents the experiences of depression and anxiety evoked by climate change, but little attention has been given to frustration and anger, o…
Tagged under: Climate Change | Activism | Climate Anxiety and Grief | Climate Change Impacts
Challenging social norms to recraft practices: A Living Lab approach to reducing household energy use in eight European countries
2021-02-11 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comENERGISE is the first large-scale European effort to reduce household energy use through a change initiative that adopted a ‘living lab’ approach info…
Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario
2020-10-21 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comIt is increasingly clear that averting ecological breakdown will require drastic changes to contemporary human society and the global economy embedded…
Global patterns of ecologically unequal exchange: Implications for sustainability in the 21st century - ScienceDirect
2020-09-08 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Sustainability
Scientists' warning to humanity on insect extinctions
2020-02-20 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comHere we build on the manifesto ‘World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity, issued by the Alliance of World Scientists. As a group of conservation biologis…
Tagged under: Insects
Gone with the wind: effects of wind on honey bee visit rate and foraging behaviour - ScienceDirect
2020-02-18 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comThe Underestimated Potential of Battery Electric Vehicles to Reduce Emissions - ScienceDirect
2019-11-25 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Batteries
Addressing climate change through price and non-price interventions - ScienceDirect
2019-11-24 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Climate Change
Can we sustain success in reducing deaths to extreme weather in a hotter world? - ScienceDirect
2019-11-14 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Extreme Weather
Over a century of data reveal more than 80% decline in butterflies in the Netherlands - ScienceDirect
2019-04-01 (or before) in ScienceDirect.comTagged under: Butterflies and Moths
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