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RAND energy and environmental analyses examine the implications of existing and proposed energy policies on the environment. Building on a long history of policy research, RAND helps balance the need for environmental protections and economic development.

Report

What Are the Geopolitical Risks of Geoengineering?

May 25, 2021

Geoengineering is the intentional manipulation of an environmental process on Earth to counteract the effects of climate change. Geoengineering implementation could introduce geopolitical risks. This raises the question of whether existing international governance mechanisms can manage these risks.
Commentary

Micromobility: How Will We Know When It's Working?

May 18, 2021

Micromobility was positioned as a solution for every urban problem from traffic congestion to air pollution to transit deserts and inequality. Is there a way to know if micromobility can fulfill these ambitious goals?

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Journal Article

Arctic Shipping Guidance from the CMIP6 Ensemble on Operational and Infrastructural Timescales

The expectation of a seasonally ice-free Arctic by mid-century has sparked interest in Arctic opportunities and risks. This paper presents a framework for obtaining more timely and salient information to guide decisions relevant to operational and infrastructural horizons.

Jul 30, 2021
Journal Article

Data-driven Decision Support Tools for Assessing the Vulnerability of Community Water Systems to Groundwater Contamination in Los Angeles County

This research aims to develop an easy to deploy, data-driven method to identify community water systems that are vulnerable to drinking water quality degradation from groundwater contamination.

Jul 28, 2021
Report

Exploring Gaps in Arctic Governance

Conditions in the Arctic region are evolving, driven by such factors as climate change, economics, and geopolitics. What are the risks that come with these changes—and how could governance in the Arctic adapt to mitigate them?

Jul 27, 2021
Commentary

As Fire Season Heats Up, Burnout Looms

Increasingly intense fire seasons are taking a physical and mental toll on wildland firefighters. Without more direct attention paid to firefighters' mental health, burnout could decimate the ranks of those who protect lives and property across the West.

Jul 21, 2021
Journal Article

Gaps in Toxic Industrial Chemical Model Systems: Improvements and Changes Over Past 10 Years

To assess the hazards of the releases of toxic chemicals to the atmosphere, comprehensive model systems are often used. This paper reviews knowledge gaps that were resolved in the past ten years by new theoretical and experimental research.

Jul 21, 2021
Report

Indonesian Fires and Haze: Measuring the Health Consequences of Smoke Exposure

Fire activity in Indonesia contributes to severe air pollution, or haze, that causes public health, environmental, and economic degradation. The authors present preliminary analysis of health consequences of fire and future research directions.

Jul 20, 2021
Blog

Paying College Athletes, Preventing Suicide, Planning for Heatwaves: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on a potential step toward paying college athletes, helping college freshmen overcome COVID-19 learning loss, the effects of U.S. sanctions in Syria, more.

Jul 16, 2021
Journal Article

Risk Technopolitics in Freetown Slums: Why Community-Based Disaster Management Is No Silver Bullet

Chapter from "Critical Disaster Studies" (Penn Press, 2021) detailing a study of Sierra Leone and proposing that community-based disaster risk management actually distracts from larger social and political root causes of vulnerability.

Jul 16, 2021
Report

A Scoping Literature Review on Indicators and Metrics for Assessing Racial Equity in Disaster Preparation, Response, and Recovery

In this report, researchers provide recommendations for assessing racial equity in U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster preparation, response, or recovery programs.

Jul 15, 2021
Report

Factors influencing domestic tourism in the UK and abroad and the role of publicly funded domestic tourism marketing: A rapid evidence assessment

This research, commissioned by the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), was undertaken to identify factors that influence people's decisions to take domestic holidays and the impact of publicly funded domestic tourism marketing.

Jul 15, 2021
Journal Article

Decarbonising UK Transport: Final Report and Technology Roadmaps

The report sets out a series of 7 technological roadmaps to reduce and remove direct emissions from the UK's domestic transport by 2050.

Jul 15, 2021
Report

Incentivizing Solar: Catalyzing Solar Energy Technology Adoption to Address the Challenge of Climate Change

The authors provide an overview of the U.S. solar energy market and identify federal incentives that can help decarbonize the U.S. economy. They also explore solar reliability, job benefits, and availability to disadvantaged communities.

Jul 14, 2021
Tool

Developing Future Projected Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves: A Technical Report on Data, Methods, and IDF Curves for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and Virginia

To support entities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and Virginia in adapting to climate change, this study updated intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves, a common tool used for stormwater infrastructure design, to reflect future climate changes.

Jul 9, 2021
Commentary

Arming the Department of Defense's Environmental Liabilities Program

With a new emphasis on sustainable environmental conditions coming to the fore just as budget pressures are increasing, the Department of Defense (DoD) might want to use this renewed focus as an opportunity to develop a systematic approach to addressing its environmental liabilities.

Jun 23, 2021
Report

The Globalization of Mass Civil Litigation: Lessons from the Volkswagen "Clean Diesel" Case

This report describes the Volkswagen "clean diesel" emission fraud litigation to illustrate the features of global mass litigation and the problems that arise in the resolution of these types of claims across transnational jurisdictions.

Jun 22, 2021
Tool

Mid-Atlantic Regional Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook: Spring 2021

This climate summary aims to inform Mid-Atlantic policymakers and practitioners about spring 2021, regional climate trends, and the upcoming summer season. A tool shows flooding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania under historic and future climate.

Jun 21, 2021
Commentary

Depoliticizing Russian Gas in Europe

At their June 16 Summit in Geneva, Presidents Biden and Putin might consider how to reduce the sharp tensions over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. Cooperation among governments and companies may offer potential.

Jun 11, 2021
Multimedia

Crisis Response in a Changing Climate

In this audio conversation, Senior Analyst Lucia Retter is joined by Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, the non-executive director for climate change and sustainability for UK Defence, to discuss a study on the implications of climate change for UK defence logistics in crisis response situations.

Jun 4, 2021
Blog

Reopening the U.S. Economy, Geoengineering, 5G: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the potential effects of reopening the economy before the White House's vaccination goal is met, students' learning experiences during the pandemic, competition in the 5G era, and more.

May 28, 2021
Journal Article

The Impact of Black Carbon Emissions from Projected Arctic Shipping on Regional Ice Transport

Diverting shipping emissions from the Suez Canal to the Arctic will influence regional evolution of sea ice cover with regional differences in future sea ice retreat. These results are likely to have policy implications with expansion of industrial activities into the Arctic.

May 26, 2021

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