Landscape shows earliest effects of modern humans using fire to shape ecosystem
| news.psu.edu
New archaeological and paleoenvironmental evidence from Lake Malawi, Africa, shows that early modern humans used fire in a way that prevented regrowth of the region’s forests and created the sprawling bushland that exists today, according to researchers.
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Early humans used fire to permanently change the landscape tens of thousands of years ago in Stone Age Africa
| theconversation.com
Combining evidence from archaeology, geochronology and paleoenvironmental science, researchers identified how ancient humans by Lake Malawi were the first to substantially modify their environment.
Authors
Growing Impact: Wind energy's dirty secret
Stephen Chmely and Chris Costello discuss how wind energy has a dirty secret surrounding the wind turbine blades and their disposal. The research team is exploring materials to reduce the waste associated with the blades.
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Seed Grant Projects
Homes in flood-prone areas should be getting cheaper. They're not.
| popsci.com
The cost of insurance for houses on floodplains should make them cheaper, but instead they cost the same. Here's why.
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Penn State announces 2021 University-wide faculty and staff awards
| psu.edu
Each year, Penn State recognizes outstanding faculty and staff with annual awards in teaching and excellence. These awards highlight many of the faculty and staff who go above and beyond.
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Six faculty members receive 2021 Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching
| psu.edu
Six Penn State faculty members have received the 2021 George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching.
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EESI EarthTalks panel to discuss how to avoid a global hothouse
| news.psu.edu
A panel of experts from Penn State will review solutions for minimizing global warming and discuss the pros and cons of each at a talk at 4 p.m. on April 26.
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How many trees are needed to take up the carbon dioxide I release every day?
Breathe in, and you consume oxygen. Breathe out, and you release carbon dioxide into the air. We know that burning fuels releases carbon dioxide, and our own “fuel,” or the food we eat, is no different. We capture the energy from the food we eat and then release the carbon from that food into the environment. On average, we eat about 2,000 calories a day and release about 2 pounds of carbon dioxide a day. Plants and trees use the energy in sunlight to take up carbon dioxide through their leaves and grow more biomass.
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Webinar to explore sustainability, carbon emissions of buildings
| news.psu.edu
The Global Building Network will hold a webinar on sustainable buildings, titled “Operational Carbon vs. Embodied Carbon in Buildings,” from 4 to 5 p.m. on Monday, April 19. The speaker, Rahman Azari, is an associate professor of architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture and a co-funded faculty member of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment.
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Climate dynamics seminar to discuss university role in combating climate change
| news.psu.edu
Erica Smithwick, distinguished professor of geography at Penn State, will discuss a vision for a university-wide climate consortium and Penn State’s role in combating climate change during a seminar on April 21.
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Growing Impact: Green stormwater infrastructure
Green stormwater infrastructure uses the power of plants and soils to improve water quality. More than that, Lauren McPhillips discusses how making stormwater infrastructure green is saving cities money, impacting environmental justice, and cooling urban heat islands with aesthetically pleasing gardens.
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What’s the hype about 5.8%? I’m worried about the other 94.2%
A recent analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) concluded that annual carbon emissions declined by 5.8% in 2020 because of the COVID-19 global pandemic. From a historical perspective, a 5.8% reduction is huge—nothing like it has occurred in our lifetimes. But from a COVID-19 perspective, how can it be so small?
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