Global Environment Facility

About: Global Environment Facility is a other organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Sustainable development & Global environmental analysis. The organization has 85 authors who have published 122 publications receiving 7484 citations. The organization is also known as: GEF.

The status of the world's land and marine mammals: diversity, threat, and knowledge

Abstract: Knowledge of mammalian diversity is still surprisingly disparate, both regionally and taxonomically. Here, we present a comprehensive assessment of the conservation status and distribution of the world's mammals. Data, compiled by 1700+ experts, cover all 5487 species, including marine mammals. Global macroecological patterns are very different for land and marine species but suggest common mechanisms driving diversity and endemism across systems. Compared with land species, threat levels are higher among marine mammals, driven by different processes (accidental mortality and pollution, rather than habitat loss), and are spatially distinct (peaking in northern oceans, rather than in Southeast Asia). Marine mammals are also disproportionately poorly known. These data are made freely available to support further scientific developments and conservation action.

The Global Burden of Disease Due to Outdoor Air Pollution

Abstract: As part of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Burden of Disease Comparative Risk Assessment, the burden of disease attributable to urban ambient air pollution was estimated in terms of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Air pollution is associated with a broad spectrum of acute and chronic health effects, the nature of which may vary with the pollutant constituents. Particulate air pollution is consistently and independently related to the most serious effects, including lung cancer and other cardiopulmonary mortality. The analyses on which this report is based estimate that ambient air pollution, in terms of fine particulate air pollution (PM(2.5)), causes about 3% of mortality from cardiopulmonary disease, about 5% of mortality from cancer of the trachea, bronchus, and lung, and about 1% of mortality from acute respiratory infections in children under 5 yr, worldwide. This amounts to about 0.8 million (1.2%) premature deaths and 6.4 million (0.5%) years of life lost (YLL). This burden occurs predominantly in developing countries; 65% in Asia alone. These estimates consider only the impact of air pollution on mortality (i.e., years of life lost) and not morbidity (i.e., years lived with disability), due to limitations in the epidemiologic database. If air pollution multiplies both incidence and mortality to the same extent (i.e., the same relative risk), then the DALYs for cardiopulmonary disease increase by 20% worldwide.

Renewable Energy Policies and Barriers

Abstract: The 1990s saw an explosion of energy policy changes around the globe Driven by economic, environmental, security, and social concerns, energy regulation has been in great flux Many of the changes are having a profound influence on renewable energy, both from policies explicitly designed to promote renewable energy and from other policies that indirectly influence incentives and barriers for renewable energy This article considers six different types of policies that affect renewable energy development, both directly or indirectly: renewable energy promotion policies, transport biofuels policies, emissions reduction policies, electric power restructuring policies, distributed generation policies, and rural electrification policies Each policy reduces one or more key barriers that impede development of renewable energy These barriers are discussed first In general, most renewable energy policies address cost-related barriers in some manner Many policies address the requirements for utilities to purchase renewable energy from power producers Most policies also address the perceived risks of renewable energy in one form or another (ie, technical, financial, legal) Still others primarily address regulatory and institutional barriers Some related policies may heighten barriers to renewable energy rather than reduce them Table 1 summarizes the key renewable energy policies and barriers presented