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The biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the United States is no longer the power sector. It’s something all of us make choices about every day – transportation. There’s a big difference in emissions between driving a pickup truck that gets 17 miles per gallon and an electric vehicle with zero emissions, or skipping the car altogether and taking public transit or walking.
A major report released Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, involving scientists from around the world, gauges the world’s progress so far at stopping climate change. The results are sobering, but the report also points to innovations that have the potential to transform the world for a safer future. Alan Jenn, a transportation specialist at the University of California, Davis, who contributed to the IPCC report, explains four powerful trends in transportation that could greatly reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions – three of them involving human choices and behavior.
Also today:
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Electric vehicle sales are growing quickly.
Michael Fousert/Unsplash
Alan Jenn, University of California, Davis
A new international report on climate change finds rapid changes could cut emissions from transportation by 80% to 90%. Three behavior change trends could bring big improvements.
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Science + Technology
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Robert Peacock, Florida International University
Russian hackers have been attacking Ukraine for years, but with help from US government agencies, businesses and universities Ukraine's cyber defenses have grown stronger.
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Sahotra Sarkar, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts
Khorana rose from humble beginnings in India to decipher the genetic code. But his enormous contribution to science has been largely overlooked.
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Politics + Society
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Bev-Freda Jackson, American University School of Public Affairs
President Joe Biden’s nominee for the US Supreme Court withstood four days of hearings and stands ready to become the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
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Amy Lieberman, The Conversation
President Biden said that Vladimir Putin had committed war crimes, after news emerged of mass civilian murders in Bucha, Ukraine. Three stories from our archive explain what this means.
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Juris Pupcenoks, Marist College; Graig Klein, Leiden University
Putin’s rationale for invading Ukraine wasn’t built over just a few months in 2021. Putin and high-level Russia government staff have been trash-talking Ukraine for more than a decade.
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Monica Duffy Toft, Tufts University
Sanctions take time to bite, and Putin has time on his side.
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Environment + Energy
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Hamutahl Cohen, University of Florida
Huge single-crop fields attract bees in such numbers that they spread parasites to one another. Planting diverse mixes of flowers around fields helps spread out pollinators and keep them healthy.
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Health + Medicine
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Matt Motta, Oklahoma State University; Timothy Callaghan, Texas A&M University
Many COVID-19 vaccination campaigns encourage doctors to serve as a trusted source of vaccine information. But certain vaccine-hesitant providers may stymie these efforts.
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C. Michael White, University of Connecticut; Adrian V. Hernandez, University of Connecticut
Earlier detection and treatment of COVID-19 by health care providers in pharmacies could help prevent surges in infection rates and severe illness.
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Economy + Business
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Anne Hamby, Boise State University
People may be more willing to boycott a retailer over an act of injustice that takes place at the store if the source of the story was Black – even if the incident happened to a white person.
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