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Research in Details
Research #1
ENVIRONMENT- Rationing: a fairer way to fight climate change?
Author (s): Maximilian Kotz, Anders Levermann, & Leonie Wenz
Date of publication: January, 2022.
Summary
World War II-style rationing could be an effective way to reduce carbon emissions, according to new research from the University of Leeds. In a paper published in the journal ‘Ethics, Policy and Environment’, academics argue that rationing could help states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rapidly and fairly. Policymakers have considered other schemes to reduce emissions, including carbon taxes and personal carbon trading schemes, but the researchers say these favour the wealthy, who could buy the right to pollute if trading were allowed. The authors argue that carbon rationing would instead allow people to receive an equitable portion of resources based on their needs, therefore sharing out the effort to protect the planet.
Research #2
EDUCATION - Nightly sleep is key to student success.
Author(s): J. David Creswella, Michael J. Tumminiab, Stephen Pricea, Yasaman Sefidgarc, Sheldon Cohena, Yiyi Rend, Jennifer Brownc, Anind K. Deyd, Janine M. Dutchera, Daniella Villalbaa, Jennifer Mankoffc, Xuhai Xud, Kasey Creswella, Afsaneh Doryabe, Stephen Mattinglyf, Aaron Striegelf, David Hacheng, Gonzalo Martinezf, & Marsha C. Lovett
Date of publication: January, 2023
SUMMARY
A new study shows the impact of nightly sleep on a student's academic performance. A multi-institutional team of researchers conducted the first study to evaluate how the duration of nightly sleep early in the semester affects first year college students’ end-of-semester grade point average (GPA). According to the researchers, the less nightly sleep a first year college student gets at the beginning of the school term predicts lower GPA at the end of the term. Having evaluated more than 600 first-year students across five studies at three universities, the authors found that students in the study who sleep on average 6.5 hours a night, has higher GPA, while students who receive less than six hours of sleep experienced a pronounced decline in academic performance. In addition, each hour of sleep lost corresponded to a 0.07 decrease in end-of-term GPA.
Research #3
ENERGY - The single oil spill that can disrupt the global energy supply.
Author(s): Thomas Anselain, Essam Heggy, Thomas Dobbelaere & Emmanuel Hanert
Date of publication: June, 2022
SUMMARY
A maritime area three times the size of the city of London holds the highest risk for oil spills in the Gulf which can have devastating consequences locally and globally. In this new study by a team of researchers at the University of Louvain, the University of Southern California (USC), Viterbi School of Engineering, and the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, pinpoints the location of what the authors call a "high vulnerability zone," where an oil spill could cause liquified natural gas export facilities and desalination plants on the coast to be completely shut down for several days. This shutdown, the researchers explain, could cause significant disruption in the global gas supply and cause an unprecedented water shortage for inhabitants of the Qatari Peninsula, while simultaneously compromising containment efforts.
Research #4
ECONOMICS - The cost of climate change on economic growth.
Author: B A Bastien-Olvera, F Granella & F C Moore
Date of publication: August, 2022
SUMMARY
This study analyzes the effect of global rising temperatures and climate change on Gross Domestic Product, finding nearly a quarter of the countries studied are sensitive to such impacts. The research used an empirical approach to revisit the effect of rising global temperatures and climate change on Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It found that economies are sensitive to persistent temperature shocks over at least a 10-year time frame and impacts economic growth in about 22% percent of the countries analyzed. Though there exist limitations in the study, however, the research constitutes a new piece of evidence in this puzzle and provides a novel tool to answer this still unresolved question - " whether a country’s economy can bounce back each year from these impacts or if global temperature increases cause permanent and cumulative impacts on the market economy"?
Research #5
EQUITY - Plastic pollution in the oceans is an equity issue.
Author(s): Krisda H. Chaiyachati, MD, MPH, MSHP, Rinad S. Beidas, PhD, Meghan B. Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, Katharine A. Rendle, PhD, MSW, MPH, Rachel C. Shelton, ScD, MPH, & Elinore J. Kaufman, MD, MSHP
Date of publication November, 2022
SUMMARY
A new report and upcoming international virtual event addresses the unequal burden of marine plastics on different communities. The illustrated report includes case studies from around the world and recommends future changes. According to the authors, many people are aware of plastic pollution in the oceans. Photos of turtles or seabirds entangled in plastic garbage first went viral in the 1990s, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now the focus of highly publicized cleanup efforts. 'We all benefit from plastics, but some people are paying more of the external costs. Increasingly, the greenhouse gases causing climate change are seen as an issue in which some countries produce most of the pollution while other countries or groups are more at risk from the long-term consequences. Plastic pollution, this report argues, is a similar issue for coastal communities'.