The foundations of today’s societies are provided by manufactured capital accumulation driven by investment decisions through time. Reconceiving how the manufactured assets are harnessed in the... Show moreThe foundations of today’s societies are provided by manufactured capital accumulation driven by investment decisions through time. Reconceiving how the manufactured assets are harnessed in the production–consumption system is at the heart of the paradigm shifts necessary for long-term sustainability. Our research integrates 50 years of economic and environmental data to provide the global legacy environmental footprint (LEF) and unveil the historical material extractions, greenhouse gas emissions, and health impacts accrued in today’s manufactured capital. We show that between 1995 and 2019, global LEF growth outpaced GDP and population growth, and the current high level of national capital stocks has been heavily relying on global supply chains in metals. The LEF shows a larger or growing gap between developed economies (DEs) and less-developed economies (LDEs) while economic returns from global asset supply chains disproportionately flow to DEs, resulting in a double burden for LDEs. Our results show that ensuring best practice in asset production while prioritizing well-being outcomes is essential in addressing global inequalities and protecting the environment. Achieving this requires a paradigm shift in sustainability science and policy, as well as in green finance decision-making, to move beyond the focus on the resource use and emissions of daily operations of the assets and instead take into account the long-term environmental footprints of capital accumulation. Show less
Dumont, M.; Wang, R.; Wenzke, D.; Blok, K.; Heijungs, R. 2023
Soil viral ecology is a growing research field; however, the state of knowledge still lags behind that of aquatic systems. Therefore, to facilitate progress, the first Soil Viral Workshop was held... Show moreSoil viral ecology is a growing research field; however, the state of knowledge still lags behind that of aquatic systems. Therefore, to facilitate progress, the first Soil Viral Workshop was held to encourage international scientific discussion and collaboration, suggest guidelines for future research, and establish soil viral research as a concrete research area. The workshop took place at Søminestationen, Denmark, between 15 and 17th of June 2022. The meeting was primarily held in person, but the sessions were also streamed online. The workshop was attended by 23 researchers from ten different countries and from a wide range of subfields and career stages. Eleven talks were presented, followed by discussions revolving around three major topics: viral genomics, virus-host interactions, and viruses in the soil food web. The main take-home messages and suggestions from the discussions are summarized in this report. Show less
Arithmetic geometry concerns the number-theoretic properties of geometric objects defined by polynomials. Mathematicians are interested in the rational solutions to these geometric objects. However... Show moreArithmetic geometry concerns the number-theoretic properties of geometric objects defined by polynomials. Mathematicians are interested in the rational solutions to these geometric objects. However, it is usually very difficult to answer questions like this.A. Beilinson and S. Bloch conjectured a very general height theory in 1980s, which was used by B. Gross and R. Schoen in their study of the Gross-Schoen cycles. The height of canonical Gross-Schoen cycles is conjectured to be non-negative. This was verified when the curve is an elliptic or hyperelliptic curve, while very few are known in the non-hyperelliptic case.During my PhD study, I study the Beilinson-Bloch height of canonical Gross-Schoen cycles on curves with an emphasis on the genus 3 case (almost all genus 3 curves are non-hyperelliptic). I studied its unboundedness and singular properties, and did explicit computation for the height of the canonical Gross-Schoen cycle of a specific plane quartic curve.The method used in my thesis should be helpful for verifications. Show less
The global popularity of green roofs (GRs) rises as urban runoff becomes a primary environmental concern in both developed and developing countries. Although a growing number of studies have... Show moreThe global popularity of green roofs (GRs) rises as urban runoff becomes a primary environmental concern in both developed and developing countries. Although a growing number of studies have measured the runoff retention (RR) performance of GRs and investigated the underpinning factors, a systematic and quantitative understanding is lacking. This study applies a statistical approach on a dataset of 2375 original experimental samples associated with the RR performance of GRs observed across 21 countries, consolidated from 75 internationally peer-reviewed studies published in 2005–2020. The results show that the sampled RR rates (i.e., the proportion of rainfall retained on a per-event basis) range widely (0–100%), with an average of 62%. Rainfall intensity, substrate depth, GR surface coverage, climate type, vegetation type, and season type partially explain the variances in retention performance. Moreover, the effects of some factors (e.g., rainfall intensity) are not isolated but contingent on other factors (e.g., vegetative cover). This global synthesis shows few samples emanate from Africa, Central America, and Central Asia, highlighting the need of more GR research and applications in these regions. The average GR RR rate appears lower than some specified in green building standards, which implies the need to further improve the RR performance of GRs or combine GRs with other RR measures. Contingent effects of GR RR influencing factors demonstrate the need to leverage design parameters and to account for local weather and climate characteristics in the optimization of GR performance. Show less
Integrating the social and natural sciences to effectively tackle the intertwined challenges represented by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been advocated for years. However, the... Show moreIntegrating the social and natural sciences to effectively tackle the intertwined challenges represented by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been advocated for years. However, the practice is challenging, especially with respect to the beliefs, morals, and practices of individuals and groups or, more succinctly put, culture, which, despite attracting growing awareness, remains understated in sustainability. Here, we examine how and to what extent cultural values are linked to the achievement of the SDGs. Synthesizing knowledge from more than 300 publications, we show that cultural traits are linked to the achievement of all 17 SDGs and 79% of SDG targets. Further, empirical understanding obtained from a panel data analysis highlights that cultural values explain as much as 26% of the variations in the SDG achievements, yet the links are strikingly divergent across cultural traits and indicators. Our findings imply the need to consider more cultural contexts and nuances in sustainability science communications and policy design and to develop new cross-disciplinary solutions to sustainability challenges. Show less
