This article talks about automated cars and how they are our future. This article highlights the problems of traffic jams and how they affect our environment and increase the levels of CO2. There is a lot of traffic now because few cars are automated and can prevent accidents. As stated in the article, by 2030, every vehicle will have some type of automatic feature, which would potentially help get rid of this problem because the goal of automated vehicles is to keep cars flowing safely, which would decrease the amount of CO2 released by cars and benefit the environment.

This article has to do with environmental science because it shows the significant impacts of cars now and what the future might look like with automated vehicles. I was shocked that traffic releases so much CO2, which was one of the significant ways cars cast a carbon footprint. This article taught me that this problem of traffic jams could potentially be solved in a few years because of the automated vehicles and how they work, and how it would get rid of some or a lot of the cars’ carbon footprint. 

This article talks about when people build infrastructure, they think about the most sustainable way to do it. They include ways they could maybe restore nature and still be able to create things but not destroy nature because that is essential in our world. It talks about the shift from just creating infrastructure to making it more than just an amenity. The article talks about the many benefits of this: “more natural shorelines, filled with plants and natural beaches instead of concrete bulkheads, will resist water and wave damage better.” Ultimately this article highlights the benefits of creating infrastructures with people who care about the environment because they do not only care, but they want to restore it.

This article is related to environmental science because it shows how future infrastructures the government or people build they think of it as more than an amenity; they think of it as a way to restore nature. This is very beneficial to the world because it could help the carbon footprint of infrastructures become slightly less harmful. This article shines a light on the future and shows how much people do care for the environment while still moving forward and creating new things.

This article talks about how India banned the use of plastic bags. The article states, “Tamil Nadu’s ban is far from an absolute success.” This is because many people thought not using plastic bags was way too expensive and just straight-up inconvenient. Continually the articles talk about how bad plastic bags are for the environment, and the process of getting rid of them is a long process, and it doesn’t just happen overnight. It states, “Any government-led program can only be successful if it becomes a people’s movement,” which shows how everyone needs to chip in. It also talks explicitly about how authorities are going to take this ban more seriously, and local authorities will become more strict because this is a severe issue in our world and without taking it seriously.

This article is related to environmental science because it discusses the pros and cons of getting rid of plastic bags. We ultimately need to find a solution to getting rid of plastic bags because it’s so harmful to the environment and society. This article doesn’t shock me because it isn’t going to be easy to get rid of plastic bags. After all, they are used so much, but this article does highlight the effects of not using plastic bags and what we need to do to get rid of them. I learned that it takes not only authorities but it takes the public as a whole to get rid of plastic bags.

This article talks about the generalizations made about wine bottles and how most people think glass bottles or wine bottles don’t harm the environment when in fact, they are very harmful. This article also talks about the problems we have in the American system with recycling glass bottles. After a bottle of wine is finished, the bottle is thrown out. Making a glass bottle takes a lot of heat and energy, which leaves behind a giant carbon footprint, therefor not recycling the bottle or throwing it out after using it adds a larger carbon footprint. The article, in the end, talks about ways we can try to recycle these bottles, like giving people incentives for returning them. People are trying different ways to use reusable containers to reduce the carbon footprint of wine bottles.

This article is related to environmental science because it shines a light on how one small thing in our world adds so much to the carbon footprint and pollution in our world. This honestly shocked me. This article shows a lot how not only not recycling a bottle is harmful, but even the production is very harmful. The transportation, making the glass bottles, and then not being able to reuse bottles. The ending of the article shows the way we can change wine bottles, and instead of making them harmful to the world, we could even ultimately benefit from them.

 This article which includes a video talks about the goals of 2022  with sustainable developments and the adverse effects and setbacks the world has encountered. This article tracks the latest data and estimates to create progress in saving the world. The article/video specifically talks about the significant setbacks that have happened due to Covid 19, including the alarming fact that “4 years of progress in alleviating poverty has been erased by COVID – 19”. The article also talks about what things are being affected, which includes not only us people economically but our environment. Our oceans are endangered, temperatures are rising significantly, and species are becoming more extinct. Other current events like the war in Ukraine also play a significant role in setbacks.

 This article relates to environmental science because it shows how current events like Covid 19, the war with Ukraine, and our emissions affect the world. Many would think it only affects one category, but that’s not the case; these things affect multiple parts of the world, including the environment. These things have a domino effect as many people become homeless due to a pandemic and war; this affects the environment because people are really poor people turn to cheap options that don’t help the environment and don’t support sustainable developments. This is shocking to me and sheds a lot of light on how these events have hurt us.

Johns, T. (2022, January 2). California’s New Composting Law in effect: Here’s what you need to know. ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://abc7news.com/ca-composting-law-compost-how-to-california-new/11416032/ 

In ABC 7’s article about a recent California law that makes it a requirement for residential and commercial trash to be separated between trash and food waste, also called composting. This law was enacted on January 1st, 2022. Robert Reed, who works for the California Waste Management Company called Recolocy says, that “it’s the biggest change to trash in decades.”. The process of composting and separating trash, prevents the extra food to be put in landfills which creates methane.Instead the food will be turned into recycled materials.

To be honest when this law was enacted I thought it was annoying because I had to do an extra step when I was doing dishes. However this article made me realize how everytime I fail to make this extra step, I am contributing to methane in the atmosphere and could also make my parents be fined. While a composting program like the one in California is costly, the benefits such as utilization and recycling waste products, and lowering methane emissions outweigh the bad. I think that this article gave me a reason for why it is so critical to compost and how effective composting can be.

UNEP (2021, December 23). New guidance aims to significantly reduce environmental impact of newly established UN offices. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.greeningtheblue.org/stories/new-guidance-aims-significantly-reduce-environmental-impact-newly-established-un-offices 

As a global leader, the United Nations serves as a fundamental pillar in leading action against climate change. With progress towards more sustainable development, the UN has adopted the initiative ‘IDEAs’: Important and Desirable Environmental Actions, which they hope to put to use to establish eco-friendly office spaces. Recognizing that the majority of the UN’s environmental impacts come from their office spaces, new guidance and objectives are now in place to maintain performance benchmarks in areas including GHG emissions, waste management, environmental health, water and wastewater management, and sustainable procurement. 

This new guidance plan is part of the larger United Nations progress towards “Greening the Blue” to engage and support the UN system in greater environmental sustainability in its management. It is imperative that global leaders make commitments to sustainable development and actually carry out these regulations. Too often, we see large entities make sustainable promises but fail to carry out the bulk of the impact. While I believe that the United Nations Environment Programme is correct and helpful in creating this initiative, I think progress needs to be carried out more rapidly. The recognition of environmental impact in existing developments and the cause to change course is extremely important for the UN and other global leaders to follow. This relates to environmental science in that it displays progress, though slight, to create more sustainable spaces and revise existing developments. UNEP is a leader of environmental policy, and internal action to create sustainability is incredibly important. 

Nature. (2021, December 21). Sustainability at the crossroads. Retrieved February 5, 2022, from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03781-z  

An evaluation of 2021’s response to the Sustainable Development Goals outlined in 2015, the article focuses on global response in various areas. It describes COP26, the 26th Climate Change Conference, and its focus on phasing down coal power and reducing fossil fuel subsidies. Yet, globally, we continue to see rising emissions, temperatures, and effects. The article continues by explaining biodiversity protection in 2021, going hand in hand with land and water management, as well as the idea of sustainable development. Conversations about revamping food systems rose as hunger was exacerbated by the pandemic, leaving questions about sustainability and production. Overall, strong movement from the UN’s center has allowed policy to expand globally as collaboration becomes more and more essential. 

The article provides an important perspective in that it examines the progress of the sustainable development goals and where they fell short. Climate summit after climate summit we see nations commit themselves to reduce emissions without full mobilization of resources to truly slow down climate change. The article concludes that “global problems need diverse teams to help navigate social and geopolitical problems,” clarifying its purpose in pointing out the progress we have made, but ultimately how we need to move forward. International research is inhibited by tensions between nations, and it is no longer excusable to delay action because another nation or entity is refusing to move forward with fighting climate change. Sustainability needs to be at the forefront of global focus and ignoring the pillars of sustainable progress that have been outlined is damaging to international action.