When FABRIC, Tempe's fashion incubator, learned of the urgent PPE shortage, they stepped up and to date have sewn over 200,000 reusable isolation gowns that meet FDA regulations. Join us Sept. 15 (1-2 p.m.) for a virtual talk with 2 business & fashion innovators from FABRIC. More information and to register.

ASU faculty, staff and students are invited to register for the livestream of the 2020 Global Governance Forum, Sept 16-18. The event features a session, Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century, moderated by GFL’s Amanda Ellis at 9am AZ time on Sept 18. In connection with the world body’s 75th anniversary, the UN75 Global Governance Forum seeks to promote a more inclusive and effective United Nations through dialogue and recommendations that better harness the ideas, capabilities, and networks of both state and non-state actors for achieving the UN’s commitment to peace, sustainable development, human rights, and a stable climate. More info and register.

The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory has signed on as a host institution for this year’s Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education. As a host institution, we have unlimited registration passes for the ASU community. Sign up using the instructions below to gain free access to this great event.

1. Click here to register. If you are a Presenter or Student Presenter, use the Presenter link provided in your acceptance email and add the Discount Code to receive a free registration.
2. Fill out all the relevant fields. Be sure to use your institutional email address only (@asu.edu or @thunderbird.edu).
3. On the Submit Payment page, enter the following Discount Code: ASUEDU091020. This will drop your total to $0.00.
4. Complete your registration.

GCSHE is a virtual conference taking place on October 20-22 that offers 3 full days of live content and networking, plus thirty days of on-demand access (through November 22). Explore the session types and tracks, and view the schedule.

Roughly 1.6 billion people across the world live in inadequate, unsafe, and overcrowded shelter. In this episode, Stephen Elser (@stephen_elser) interviews Alan Marcus, the Chief Digital Strategy Officer of Planet Smart City, about what his company is doing to address the global housing crisis by building smart and affordable communities across the world. For Planet Smart City, "smart" is all about thinking in terms of services and how people engage at the community level. By optimizing their use of space, they are able to create more communal areas and other amenities while keeping costs down. We also learn about their process of building trust with the communities where they build, how they incorporate knowledge about climate change, and some details about some of their new developments in Brazil. 

Listen on iTunes, StitcherGoogle Podcasts, Spotify, or Buzzsprout.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, e-mail us at futurecitiespodcast@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @FutureCitiesPod. Learn more about the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network (UREx SRN) at www.sustainability.asu.edu/urbanresilience.

Arizona recently received a drought one-two punch: The state will receive another reduction of Colorado River water and the Farmer’s Almanac has predicted a dry winter in the Southwest.

Last year the state received its first-ever cutback of Colorado River water under the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan. The cuts are a plan to keep Lake Mead, a reservoir at the Arizona-Nevada boundary, functional. Water levels for both Lake Mead and Lake Powell have precipitously dropped as a result of historic overallocation and a drought that started in 2000.

Read the ASU Now Q&A with Sarah Porter of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at the Morrison Institute on how these new developments will impact the Copper State and its residents.

New outbreaks of the African Migratory Locust (Locusta migratoria migratorioides) and the Yellow-spined Bamboo Locust (Ceracris kiangsu) are causing concern in addition to the ongoing outbreaks of the Desert Locust and South American Locust.

Southern African countries have launched an emergency response to outbreaks of the African Migratory Locust which, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is threatening the food security and livelihoods of millions of people in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These outbreaks are smaller and separate from the Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria) emergency in eastern Africa and southwest Asia. Compounding effects of a 2019 drought and the COVID-19 pandemic are reported to make the food and nutrition security issues more acute.

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Our September 2020 newsletter features inspiring articles (such as Absolut's paper bottle prototype) and relevant opportunities (such as free courses and professional certificate programs). Learn how Walmart is eliminating 1 billion metric tons of emissions from its supply chain, the story of a fashion incubator turned frontline supplier, as well as some great upcoming events and job opportunities.

View the full newsletter in your browser.

“Yes, the laws of thermodynamics cannot be circumvented. One must pay the energy cost to recover the waste CO2 we produced. In short, we skimped on some of the cost while consuming energy in the past, and now we will have to pay it back. Cleaning up will not be free, but it will not break the bank either.” Dr. K S Lackner March, 2019

Statement of the Problem:

The world’s energy infrastructure is largely built around combustion of fossil carbon. Carbon, liberated from underground, combusted and released as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere where it is the dominant driver of climate change.

The facts are clear. Scientific measurement tells us the earth is heating up. There is some minor disagreement as to the speed of the change, but let’s get real, CO2 and related greenhouse gases are warming the world at an ever-accelerating pace. The CO2 concentration in the air is now 415+ ppm (parts per million) vs. the ~280 ppm it was during the warm periods of the least one million years; during the ice ages it would be expected to drop to 180 ppm. If we continue on the current path, we reach 500 ppm before 2050, which translates to a much hotter world. The change started gradually, which has allowed us to put off dealing with the cause. However, with today’s higher temperatures, stronger storms, lower crop yields and rising water the procrastination needs to end.

1. Can we tackle the problem?

This paper takes a look at how climate change might be “fixed”, including through the capture of CO2 which is our focus at the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions at Arizona State University. The discussion is intentionally centered on the release of fossil carbon. This is not to ignore or diminish the host of other greenhouse gases impacting climate, but to keep the discussion on the dominant and most damaging player - CO2. The strategy and tactics required to bring greenhouse gas releases under control will be one of the consuming international challenges of the 21st century. Yet, two decades into this new century, we have yet to determine the structure and technologies that will lead to a structured reversal.

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American cities represent part of the nation’s long and grim history of discrimination and oppression against Black people. They can also be part of the recovery from all that harm.

Thus begins a new essay in The Conversation penned by sustainability scientists Mark Roseland, director and professor in the School of Community Resources and Development, Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, and Christopher Boone, dean of the College of Global Futures.

The piece, published Sept. 10, addresses how cities can partner with community land trusts to provide affordable housing and help low-income and historically oppressed families.

School of Sustainability 2020 alum Jasmine Bolich is passionate about film production, and wants to make a positive impact in the industry through being an advocate for sustainability practices. In her Q&A below, Bolich explains how she came to study sustainability (hint: sustainability degrees are flexible and can be applied to any field!), her capstone project, and how her degree is opening up opportunities for her.

Question: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?