International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

Switching from using fuelwood to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking would provide modest climate benefits, but the extent of these depend on whether the wood is renewably sourced, and if the short-lived emissions from burning wood are taken into account, according to a new analysis focused on India. --- About 3 billion people around the world cook with polluting and inefficient solid fuels like fuelwood, resulting in 4 million premature deaths annually. Several governments, including India’s, have implemented policies that encourage p…

Efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture and forestry sectors could lead to increased food prices—but new research identifies strategies that could help mitigate climate change while avoiding steep hikes in food prices. --- Climate policies that target agriculture and forests could lead to increased food prices, but reducing deforestation and increasing soil carbon sequestration in agriculture could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while avoiding risk to food security, according to new research published i…

FotoQuest GO—a citizen science campaign aimed at collecting observations of land use and land cover across Austria—launches this week. Researchers hope it will bring a leap forward in community-based land-use change monitoring. --- Today IIASA researchers launched their latest citizen science campaign, Fotoquest GO. The aim of the campaign, which will run for around three months, is to collect an updated comprehensive data set of land use and land cover in Austria. Participants are asked to go to specific locations and take photographs using…

Excess emissions from diesel cars cause about 5,000 premature deaths annually across Europe, a new study shows. ? Higher exposure to secondary particles and ozone can be traced back to excess NOx emissions from diesel cars, vans and light commercial vehicles. ? With the EU’s vehicle emission limits achieved on the road about 5,000 premature deaths could be avoided annually. ? If diesel cars emitted as little NOx as petrol cars, about 7,500 premature deaths could be avoided annually. --- Diesel excess emissions Since the late 1990s the s…

More targeted efforts are needed from both the public and private insurance sectors in order to encourage people to take action to reduce their risk of flood damage, according to a new study of three European countries. --- A new study across Austria, England, and Romania finds room for improvement in both public and private schemes that could help encourage risk reduction behaviors and reduce losses in future disasters. “Currently neither insurance nor governments successfully encourage risk reduction. Increased and more targeted efforts p…