Envirographs - EnviroGraphs

Another graph from Theda Skocpol's analysis of why the 2009 Cap and Trade bill failed, this one looking at increasing political polarization between the Democrats and the GOP from the 1970s on.

*The LCV (League of Conservation Voters) average reflects LCV scores given to lawmwakers, which are based on their votes on important environmental legislation. The higher the score the more "pro-environment" the lawmaker.

Everglades (and south Florida, including Miami) with 5ft of sea level rise

Pollution-related mortality in Europe

Stanford scholar Mark Z. Jacobson lays out how the US could get to 100% renewable energy by 2050. David Roberts describes his ambitious blueprint and the challenges it would face here.

While coal companies claim prohibition of or restrictions on mountaintop removal mining (MTR) will hurt rural Appalachian economies, this figure suggests MTR is failing to lift rural communities out of poverty. Considering MTR destroys the land, degrading property values and tourism, and imposes health costs on nearby residents, it is more likely MTR is hurting rural Appalachian economies far more than any attempts to stop it.

A recent study looked at the demographics of an elephant population in Samburu, Kenya, and the impact of poaching. This graph shows the annual PIKE, or Proportion of Illegally Killed Elephants. PIKE is calculated as the number of illegally killed (poached) elephant carcasses divided by the total number of elephant carcasses discovered that year. The graph shows a recent dramatic increase in poaching.

The authors state:

Illegal human killing caused over half the recorded mortality in the Samburu elephants over the age of 9 (and indirectly caused the deaths of all victim’s dependent calves under 2 years). The high illegal killing in the latter part of the study had serious ramifications for the structure and organization of the population... the illegal killing appeared to select adult individuals in Samburu and particularly males resulting in increasing skew in the sex ratio over the course of the fourteen year study. Social disruption also resulted, with numerous well known and stable family groups being completely lost (i.e. no surviving breeding females) causing increased numbers of unaffiliated juveniles (orphans)

According to the New York Times, the recent spike in poaching, the greatest in decades, is driven by rising demand for ivory in Asia.

Accessibility remoteness index of Australia

From Bloomberg:

Coal, the most polluting fuel that was once the world’s fastest growing energy source, has been a target of countries and companies alike as the world begins to work toward the goals of the Paris climate agreement. Consumption is falling as the world’s biggest energy companies promote cleaner-burning natural gas, China’s economy evolves to focus more on services than heavy manufacturing and renewable energy like wind and solar becomes cheaper.

Global consumption dropped 1.7 percent last year compared with an average 1.9 percent yearly increase from 2005 to 2015, according to BP. China, which accounted for about half of the coal burned in the world, used 1.6 percent less of the fuel, compared with an average 3.7 percent annual expansion in the 11 preceding years.

Based on a survey of 144 climate change economists performed by the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law, response to: "Placing a “price on carbon” through a tax or cap‐and‐trade system will increase incentives for energy efficiency and the development of lower carbon energy production."

Other interesting results:

84% agreed or strongly agreed that “the environmental effects of greenhouse gas emissions... create significant risks to important sectors of the United States and global economies.”

91.6% preferred or strongly preferred “market‐based mechanisms, such as a carbon tax or cap‐and‐trade system” over command‐and‐control regulation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.