Earth Day 2025

TESTING

Climate change is accepted as the biggest challenge for the European Union (EU) and for this reason being a climate-neutral continent by 2050 is a priority for Europe. Deploying more renewables, increasing energy efficiency and electrification are the most important tools serving to this policy. With the support of innovation, renewable energy sectors could be more effective in climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. In this study, the two most mature renewable energy sectors; solar photovoltaic and wind energy in European countries are examined.

From a global standpoint, the interplay between air quality and climate change represents a critical environmental issue, with profound implications for health, ecosystems, and economies across the planet. This chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the complex interplay between air pollution and climate change, examining their sources, impacts, and strategies for mitigation. It delves into the direct and indirect health effects of air pollutants and greenhouse gases, emphasizing the vulnerabilities of different populations.

This chapter includes a brief overview of the historical development of public health and the emergence of the planetary health movement. Since the 1960s, human behavior has been central to public health concerns and functions.

This chapter intends to systematize the trends and approaches that will inspire local policymaking in response to climate change challenges and to meet European guidelines and recommendations for sustainable development and quality of life improvement. The analysis explores relevant components for promoting health and sustainable behavior, namely smart living, smart health (as a part of the smart economy), and smart governance (i.e., participatory, anticipatory, and innovative).

As indicated by various scientific organizations—the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the World Health Organization, and World Wide Fund for Nature, among others, the earth is in an accelerated process of socio-environmental degradation. This is due to the enormous quantity of greenhouse gases that humanity has poured into the atmosphere for more than two centuries which has resulted in anthropogenic global warming, the sixth mass extinction of the species, and a generalized contamination of air, water, and soil.

In recent years the use of plastics has increased exponentially. Due to their low capacity for degradation and low recycling (approximately 9%) plastic compounds have accumulated in the marine environment where erosion processes fragment and break them into microparticles that contaminate the water, harm marine fauna, and are ultimately ingested by humans. Various studies have reported the presence of microplastics in different components of marine ecosystems such as sediments, water, organisms, and even air.

Rising human populations and energy demands have triggered the scientific community to explore renewable and sustainable energy sources, along with enhancing technologies associated with energy storage and electrocatalytic applications. Nanoclay has gained significant attention in recent years for various applications, of which energy storage and electrocatalytic applications are the most significant domains.

Solar panels are a good alternative to fossil fuels. However, despite their numerous advantages, their most important limitation is dependence on environmental conditions. To solve this problem, energy storage systems are used with solar panels. To set a fixed output voltage requires designing a strong switching system to use stored energy when solar energy drops below the required value due to environmental conditions, and to store it in a storage system when there is a surplus of solar energy.

This chapter will discuss new developments in photovoltaics leading to new methods of cell manufacturing. Contrary to the conventional cells introduced in the previous chapters, these photovoltaic cells are different novel designs used in solar power plants. The section of this chapter will examine the different methods of constructing a floating photovoltaic power plant on water and discuss its features. Tapping the heat received from the sun will also be discussed despite the subject being a complete departure from this book, which is focused on photovoltaics.

Nanomaterials have become an important area of research for scientists worldwide for their application in energy generation, energy conversion, and energy storage, self-powered devices, etc. It is in high need to find alternate energy sources to the traditional ones for a sustainable environment. Therefore it is important to work on using the excellent properties of nanomaterials to conquer the limitations in selecting materials and fabrication techniques for efficient energy generation instruments to substitute conventional energy storage and energy sources.

Algal biodiesels have emerged as a promising renewable energy source with numerous advantages over conventional fossil fuels. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of diverse production processes, drawbacks, and benefits of the algal biofuel production process while also critically assessing the potential gaps in the field. With a plethora of advantages like cost-effectiveness, nutrient cycling, yield benefits, sustainability, and versatility required for commercial usage, several challenges are yet to be addressed for effective implementation.

This article covers a novel restoration strategy to minimize trade-offs between hydropower and fish habitat disruptions.

Seawater is an important CO2 sink and a promising avenue for removing CO2 from the environment. Here, an economically viable alternative to existing CO2 capture technologies is proposed, based on a reversible pH-shifting sweater process.

Ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) arrays have proliferated worldwide as a cost-effective renewable energy source. Their large footprint, however, conflicts with alternative land uses. In response, dual-use approaches that combine solar with agriculture (agrivoltaics) or ecosystem services more broadly (ecovoltaics) have been proposed. Ecovoltaic arrays, designed to incorporate ecological principles and co-prioritize ecosystem services with energy generation, are conceptually appealing, but examples of how ecological understanding can modify utility-scale PV designs are lacking.

The contribution of non-PAs to climate-driven species migration is important for long-term biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptationan. This article reveals that non-PAs provide transient refugia for species within PAs during climate-driven migrations in China and acts as steppingstones to facilitate species range shifts.

This article maps out the magnitude of conflicts between land use and renewable energy.

No net biodiversity loss is a key goal of many green energy projects. The authors argue that indirect benefits to biodiversity should not be included in no-net-loss calculations.

This article demonstrates a cost-effective way to leverage green hydrogen to decarbonize the global energy system.

Renewable electricity can facilitate climate change mitigation in the buildings, industry and transport sector via direct electrification or indirect electrification, that is, converting electricity to hydrogen-based fuels. While direct electrification is generally energy efficient, indirect electrification can partially build upon existing applications and infrastructure. However, their roles and relative importance have not been well researched in mitigation scenarios. Here, we derive plausible ranges for both strategies based on EU climate neutrality scenarios using the REMIND model.

Reaching the Paris Agreement temperature targets requires a substantial increase in individual countries’ ambition to reduce GHG emissions. Research on the macroeconomic implications of global decarbonization pathways is limited, often focuses on the energy sector, and ignores shifts toward non-energy sectors, leading to concerns regarding unemployment and economic losses. We aim to analyze the mitigation options to bring emissions in line with ambitious climate targets and evaluate the macroeconomic consequences of this energy transition to investigate these concerns.

This study on treating food waste to produce biogas demonstrates a sustainable way to manage waste and generate clean energy, which directly supports responsible consumption and production. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions and offering renewable energy options, this process also contributes to climate action, helping us work toward a healthier planet.

Coupling of social, economic, and environmental systems are important for achieving the sustainable development. This article examined the impact of China’s Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) strategy on the sustainable development in the poor areas of China (PAC) and found that both the economic and social systems have developed rapidly in the PAC during the TPA period and the implementation of TPA facilitates the couplings among the three subsystems in the PAC and improves their coordination degree, turning from imbalanced to coordinated development.

Emerging pollutants (EPs), such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (particularly antibiotics) and microplastics, pose significant threats to global water quality and human health, leading to increased interest in the use of constructed wetlands (CWs) for their purification. This paper reviews the literature from 2014 to 2024 on CWs' effectiveness in removing various EPs.

This review investigates the emerging market for Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, which is crucial for mitigating climate change by actively removing $\text{CO}_2$ from the atmosphere. By detailing the technologies used by over 50 DAC startups and identifying their potential customers, this work aims to accelerate the worldwide commercial deployment of a technology necessary to meet global temperature limits.

Daytime radiative cooling and photovoltaic energy generation are poorly compatible, as they have competing physical demands. Here, a transmission-based radiative cooling system is integrated with solar cells, allowing simultaneous cooling and photovoltaic power generation in sunny weather.

Radiative cooling reduces the need to actively cool buildings in hot climates. This paper reports the use of droplets and wrinkles on a surface to increase the performance of radiative cooling coatings, which can be generated using a commercial spray gun.

Plastic waste is a mounting environmental problem, and heterogeneous catalysts offer a promising route to upcycling such waste into useful products. This article reviews the chemistry underlying such processes.

To further understand asthma with recurrent exacerbations (ARE) and its potential influential factors, Dr. Rachel Miller and Dr. Christine Cole Johnson and colleagues leveraged the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)’s nationwide platform with data collected across 60 cohorts. The overall incidence rate for ARE among children was 6.1 per 1000 person-years and was highest for children aged 2-4 years, self-identified Black children, children born from 2000-2009 vs. the previous or subsequent decades, and for those with a parental history of asthma. The importance of these factors suggests substantial impacts of environmental exposures that may change over time in the development of ARE.

Climate change is significantly altering the air we breathe by increasing both harmful pollutants and allergens that affect human health. Rising temperatures and elevated CO2 levels are creating longer, more intense pollen seasons while also increasing ground-level ozone, particulate matter, and other respiratory irritants. These changes disproportionately impact vulnerable populations worldwide, leading to increased respiratory infections, asthma exacerbations, and allergic diseases, making climate change not just an environmental issue but a direct threat to public health .

Outlining how vehicle electrification in low-income countries can help EVs achieve the goals of sustainable mobility.

This study explores how humanitarian health workers are adapting to the impacts of climate change in vulnerable contexts. 

The study developed a Heatwave Health Risk Index for Karnataka (India), identifying northern and central districts as most hazard-prone, with Bidar, Kalaburagi, Gadag, and Dharwad classified as 'very high risk'. The findings aim to guide policymakers in prioritizing targeted adaptation strategies to mitigate heatwave impacts across the state.

This article examines the differences in heat-related illness (HRI) outcomes between urban and rural areas in the United States using data from the National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) from 2021 to 2023.

This study proposes a “Climate-Smart Siting” framework for addressing potential conflicts between renewable energy expansion and biodiversity conservation.

Wind and solar energy in Small Island Developing States for mitigating global climate change This perspective highlights the benefits of developing onshore-offshore wind and solar power for addressing climate change in Small Island Developing States.

An analysis of the cost, benefits and potential disadvantages of strenuous requirements for "green" hydrogen production in the EU and US.

This study projects the energy cneeds and carbon footprints of energy centres in Germany by 2030 and maps the pathway towards zero emissions.

Community-company collaborations advance renewable energy access through developing and sharing open source technologies for sustainable development.

This paper probed the potential of using vegetation cover as an ecological barometer to gauge the level of environmental damage and restoration in mining areas.

This study reports physiological stress in restored corals, highlighting the importance of coral microbiomes for conservation and restoration.

This study evaluates a 14-week training aimed for Syrian teachers, aimed at Environmental and Health Education awareness.

This review examines the current depth of knowledge in research and the escalating concern of microplastics, identifying significant gaps in research and understanding.

This review explores the reciprocal relationship between climate change and its impact on health, as well as the environment.

The model detailed in this article can be used to compute the climate effects of global aviation emissions under different conditions and provide the methodological guidance for researchers to analyze the effects of different climate change control measures.

This article describes how to make variables exogenous within International Futures integrated model to understand how forecasts created by others may interact with a broader set of outcome indicators like Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs).

This article provides an uncertainty analysis framework for assessing the impact of climate policies on economic growth and economic growth inequality.

Agriculture faces the increasing demands of a growing global population amid simultaneous challenges to soils from climate change and human-induced contamination. Cover plants are vital in sustainable agriculture, contributing to soil health improvement, erosion prevention, and enhanced climate resilience, but their role in contaminant management is underexplored. Herein we review the utilization of cover plants for remediating contaminants such as metals, organic pollutants, nitrate, antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance genes, plastics, and salts.

World-class universities (WCUs) are key players in promoting global sustainability. This study shows that WCU's contributions to global sustainability can be seen in five different dimensions: education and research, outreach and engagement, campus operation and transportation, landscapes and ecosystems, and global leadership and impact evaluation.

This study seeks the view of ten school principals on the pathways of incorporating environmental education into the school curriculum in South Africa.

This article analyses how land-based pedagogy can contribute to a transformative learning experience for sixth graders through disrupting the dominant ways of knowing and relating to the land.

This article focuses on numerous plot, field, and regional scale studies conducted in the Critical Zone Observatories (CZO) facilities distributed across the China Loess Plateau (CLP). The CLP CZO features the world's largest and deepest loess deposits, highly disturbed by human activities, and consists of a longitudinal series of monitoring sites.

This study enhances our understanding of groundwater recharge in arid regions, offering new insights for sustainable groundwater management.

This piece demonstrates the extent to which switching to clean electricity can create co-benefits for climate and human health. Right timing given Trump's love of coal.

Identified the magntiude of green job transition challenges in terms of skill and geographical matching in China. Novel angle and interesting findings. Align with the People aspect.

This study on treating food waste to produce biogas demonstrates a sustainable way to manage waste and generate clean energy, which directly supports responsible consumption and production. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions and offering renewable energy options, this process also contributes to climate action, helping us work toward a healthier planet.