The Environmental Engineering Hub

Do you remember when people said we had "12 years to save the planet"? Now, however, there is a growing consensus that the next 18 months will be paramount in dealing with the global warming and climate change crisis, among other environmental challenges. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that to keep global average temperatures below 1.5°C by the end of this century, carbon dioxide emissions would have to be reduced by 45% by 2030. But today, scientists recognize that the decisive political steps to allow carbon cuts to actually occur will have to be taken before the end of next year. The idea that 2020 is an important deadline was addressed by one of the world's leading climate scientists in 2017. "Climate mathematics is brutally clear: although the world cannot be cured in the coming years, it could be fatally injured by negligence by 2020," said Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder and current director emeritus of the

Surprisingly, even the videos we watch on the Internet have an impact on the environment. A new report indicates that the internet is one of the top "villains" in the digital sector's carbon footprint, which now accounts for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This share could double by 2025, leaving the digital sector on a par with road transport, as energy consumption in this sector is increasing at the rate of 9% per year. Published by the French research website The Shift Project, the report "Climate Crisis: The Unsustainable Use of Online Video" quantifies the impact of Internet video (VoD, "tubes", pornography, social networks and others) on the environment and the global climate. The study shows that, within all Internet data, online videos account for about 60 percent of the stream, or the largest volume of greenhouse gas emissions in the industry, with about 300 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). Of this total emission,

In a short space of time, the Amazon Fund became a turning point in the Bolsonaro government. Announced by Brazil during the COP-13 (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) on the Indonesian island of Bali, in 2007, and created the following year under the Lula administration, the program emerged as a pioneering initiative in the world to collect financial resources from developed countries to keep the world's largest rainforest standing - and thus help in combating climate change. The Fund has already received more than R$ 3.4 billion in donations and has become the main national instrument for funding actions to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation, in addition to promoting the conservation and sustainable use of the Amazon biome. Its resources currently support 103 projects by state governments and civil society to protect the forest, including the Amazon Protected Areas program (Arpa). Aimed at the creation and management of Conservation Units (UCs),

In recent years, plastic straw has entered the target of environmental awareness campaigns around the world. Several establishments and cities have created alternatives to the use of the utensil as a solution to encourage the population to reduce the number of plastics in the oceans. Teresina joined the attempt and established, in law, the prohibition of the use of the item in establishments. But there are those who do, daily, also common attitudes, even more to reduce the impact of their actions on the environment. The reuse of food, choice of non-polluting transportation and selective garbage collection are among the decisions of Teresinos to contribute to a healthier world. Iara Gomes is one of those who is fully aware that much of what is considered garbage can be reused in a very positive way. The backyard of her house is the concrete proof of what she thinks: fruits, medicinal plants, flowers and ornamental plants spread through the ecosystem cared for and nourished from t