Understand the most urgent environmental challenges
Hover or click on an environmental challenge to view details and explore major causes.
Then, click on causes to see more information, and explore local causes underneath.
This is an MVP for demonstration purposes.
Help people intuitively see the challenges affecting our world.
Enable people to model our world, across time and different possibilities, to tinker with possible futures and learn about the future they want to live in -- as well as what it takes to get there.
Until recently, the Amazon sequestered 2 billion tons of CO2 every year -- almost half the USA's annual carbon footprint. Due to deforestation, the Amazon now only sequesters 1.1 billion tons of CO2 per year, and ~20% of the rainforest is actively emitting carbon.
Most of the deforestation comes from destructive supply chains (e.g. beef, soy, wood, palm oil) and Brazilian national policy under leader Jair Bolsanaro.
By replacing destructive supply chains with sustainable logging practices, we can help the rainforest continue supporting local livelihoods, while remaining an important source of high-quality wood for the rest of the world.
Beef and soy production are two of the main drivers of Amazon deforestation. China (and Hong Kong) purchases 55% of all beef from the Amazon, and China purchases 82% of all soybeans from the Amazon.
Shanghai Corp is one of the companies which buy the majority of Brazilian beef products.
Hong Kong Corp Corp is one of the companies which buy the majority of Brazilian beef products.
Jiangsu Corp is one of the companies which buy the majority of Brazilian logging products.
President Jair Bolsanaro has made it a national policy to extract value from the Amazon at the expense of the rainforest's future.
Logging is one of the main drivers of Amazon deforestation, and the United States purchases about 1/3rd of all of Brazil's wood products.
Amazon is one of the companies which buy the majority of Brazilian logging products.
Home Depot is one of the companies which buy the majority of Brazilian logging products.
Acme is one of the companies which buy the majority of Brazilian logging products.
Beef is one of the main drivers of Amazon deforestation, and Italy purchases about ~3.5% of all of Brazil's beef products.
Soy is one of the main drivers of Amazon deforestation, and Spain purchases ~2% of all of Brazil's soy products.
Palm oil is one of the main drivers of Amazon deforestation, and Germany purchases ~30.1% of all Brazil's palm oil products.
Palm oil is one of the main drivers of Amazon deforestation, and Colombia purchases ~44% of all Brazil's palm oil products.
Soy is one of the main drivers of Amazon deforestation, and India purchases ~52% of all of Brazil's soybean oil.
The 2020 US Election will influence environmental outcomes for the entire world.
The current administration put fossil fuel lobbyists in charge of the EPA, gutted critical environmental protections, and denied the reality of man-made climate change.
Conversely, candidate Joe Biden has a $2 trillion Climate Infrastructure plan, putting the US on a path to reach net-zero by 2035.
Florida is one of the most important swing states, with 29 electoral votes of the ~137 electoral votes most up for grabs.
Tampa Bay is one of the most important swing cities in the Florida state election.
Orlando is one of the most important swing cities in the Florida state election.
Michigan is one of the most important swing states, with 16 electoral votes of the ~137 electoral votes most up for grabs.
Detroit is one of the most important swing cities in the Michigan state election.
East Lansing is one of the most important swing cities in the Michigan state election.
Wisconsin is one of the most important swing states, with 10 electoral votes of the ~137 electoral votes most up for grabs.
Pennsylvania is one of the most important swing states, with 20 electoral votes of the ~137 electoral votes most up for grabs.
Arizona is one of the most important swing states, with 11 electoral votes of the ~137 electoral votes most up for grabs.
North Carolina is one of the most important swing states, with 15 electoral votes of the ~137 electoral votes most up for grabs.
Increasing global temperatures make it more difficult for oceans to support marine life, for forests to support biodiversity, and for weather patterns (such as ocean currents and seasonal trends) to keep natural systems in balance.
As natural systems lose their ability to support marine life and forest life, they also lose the ability to support human life.
As these ecosystems degrade, they start releasing more GHG emissions than they sequester, accelerating the loop of atmospheric warming, environmental degradation, and risks for all life on Earth.
USA is the #2 emitting country in the world, responsible for 14% of world emissions. Within the United States, transportation accounts for 28% of emissions, electricity accounts for 27% of emissions, industry accounts for 22% of emissions, commercial/residential accounts for 12% of emissions, and agriculture accounts for 10% of emissions.
NYC is the #1 emitting city in the USA, and #3 in the world. Within NYC, 24% of emissions come from electricity, 25% come from gasoline, and 35% come from natural gas.
Chicago is the #3 emitting city in the USA, and #8 in the world. Within Chicago, 27% of emissions come from residential buildings, 25% come from commercial and institutional buildings, 17% come from manufacturing industries and construction, 15% come from on-road transportation, 6% come from solid waste, 5% come from aviation, 3% come from offroad transportation, and 2% of emissions comes from railways, fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas systems, energy industries, biogas flare, wastewater, biological waste, and waterborne navigation.
Los Angeles is the #2 emitting city in the USA, and #5 in the world. Within Los Angeles, 41% of emissions come from transportation, 24% come from industry, 9% come from electricity (generated in-state), 8% come from agriculture, 7% come from residential, 6% come from electricity (generated out-of-state), and 5% come from commercial.
China is the #1 emitting country in the world, responsible for 26% of global emissions. Within China, the main drivers of emissions include exports (e.g. consumer exports to USA), electricity generation, the manufacturing of iron and steel for exports (a coal-intensive process), cement plants, and petroleum refineries.
Guangzhou is the #1 emitting city in China, and #2 in the world.
Hong Kong is the #4 highest emitting city in the world..
Shanghai is the #2 emitting city in China, and #6 in the world.
India is the #3 emitting country in the world, responsible for 7% of global emissions. Within India, 68.7% of emissions come from the energy sector, 19.6% come from agriculture, 6% come from industrial processes, 3.8% come from land use changes, and 1.9% come from forestry.
Indonesia is one of the highest emitting countries in the world, responsible for 4.8% of global emissions. Within Indonesia, 65.5% of emissions come from land-use change and forestry, 22.6% come from energy, 7.4% come from agriculture, 3% come from waste, and 1.4% come from industrial processes.
Russia is one of the highest emitting country in the world, responsible for 4.5% of global emissions. Within Russia, 80% of emissions come from the energy sector, 11% come from industrial processes, 5.5% come from agriculture, and 3.5% come from waste management.
The Adani Group is currently pursuing development of an international coal mine, planned to sit between the Galilee Basin and the Great Barrier Reef.
If realized, this project will destroy the ancestral lands of Indigenous people, threaten 270 billion liters of Queensland groundwater, add 4.6 billion tons of CO2 to the atmosphere over the next 60 years, and pave the way for at least 8 more coal mines in the Galille Basin.
Many insurers, contractors, and project partners have stepped away from the project because of these problems -- but several corporate entities are still involved in the project.
www.stopadani.com is leading an effort to call on all partners and facilitators to reject this project, and other fossil fuel projects in the future.
Based in South Korea, the Industrial Bank of Korea is one of the major remaining project funders/partners on the Adani Carmichael coal mine. Two other project partners from South Korea - Samsung and Hanwha - publicly backed out of the project after learning about mine's environmental impact.
One of Adani's major project partners/funders is the insurer Marsh Global, which has decided (as of now) to continue supporting the project despite sustainability pledges.
The Carmichael coal mine is being pushed forward by the Adani Group, led by CEO Gautam Adani
Ocean pollution has collected in large patches in the every major ocean.
Most famous is the Great Pacfic Garbage Patch, which actually exists in two clumps -- one patch near California, and another patch near Japan.
The majority of global plastic waste is exported from the West to nations in Southeast Asia. However, these nations are not equipped to deal with the volume of plastic they recieve. As a result, about 2/3rds of ocean plastic comes from overburned rivers in Asia, and other sources include Africa and South America.
The Yangtze River, running East and West across China, accounts for almost 1/3rd of all plastic waste in the ocean.
The Nile River, spilling out into the Mediterranean Sea, is the 4th-highest plastic polluting river in the world.
The Amazon river is the 7th-highest polluting river in the world.