"Doing nothing to improve the financial outlook of Social Security and Medicare is not 'standing up for seniors.' It is political cowardice and fiscal malfeasance," said Concord Coalition executive director Robert L. Bixby.

"These two programs are enormously important for millions of American families who rely on them for current or future retirement income, disability benefits, and healthcare needs. Under current law, however, the only thing anyone can rely on is the certainty that Social Security and Medicare face sudden cuts if Congress and the president fail to act. It is deeply disappointing that lawmakers of both parties routinely ignore the trustees' warnings. With insolvency moving closer, they should make it a priority this year to find solutions that are both fiscally and generationally responsible," Bixby said.

As detailed in the reports, both programs contribute to steadily rising budget deficits while at the same time neither program can pay the full amount of scheduled benefits under current law. Ignoring the warnings in these reports will leave the public unprepared for changes that must inevitably be made to put these vital programs on a sustainable trajectory.

The new "Cleanversations" ads — entitled "Smoking Bus" and "Game Show" — will run through Earth Day on platforms like YouTube, Hulu, TikTok, Instagram, Out of Home, and several local TV and radio stations. This campaign is part of a consistent multi-million dollar media spend from Science Moms over the past two years to get moms off the sidelines and demand from their leaders a bold plan to stop big polluters. "Smoking Bus" dramatizes the connection between the toxic fumes found in diesel school buses and the same ones found in cigarettes, while "Game Show" taps into the over-the-top excitement a mom will feel when she discovers how huge the savings and health benefits of clean energy are for her children.

"Clean energy laws are good for our kids and the climate," said Dr. Lisa Patel, a pediatrician, the Executive Director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and the newest member of Science Moms. "Kids are not just little adults — they consume higher quantities of food, water, and air per pound of body weight, making them uniquely vulnerable to pollution and extreme weather events. Thankfully, there is an army of moms who have shown, time and again, that they are able to move mountains in the name of protecting our children's future. Who is more motivated to get school boards to switch from toxic diesel buses to clean electric vehicles than moms?"

Based on qualitative and quantitative research conducted between June 2022 and January 2023, the interactive Green Future Index 2023 measures the extent to which countries and territories are moving toward a green future by reducing carbon emissions, developing clean energy, innovating in green sectors, and preserving the environment, as well as the degree to which governments are implementing effective climate policies.

The key findings of the Green Future Index 2023 report are as follows:

Owing to global warming effects, the Tibetan Plateau (TP) region has experienced drastic changes in its land surface, characterized by melting glaciers, loss of snow cover, and vegetation greening. These, in turn, have led to a darkening of the land surface, characterized by a lower surface albedo and higher absorption of shortwave radiation. This has resulted in increased surface temperatures, contributing to the surface darkening. However, the climatic and glaciological effects of such darkening over the TP have not been assessed or quantified.

Against this backdrop, an international team of researchers, led by Prof. Shilong Piao from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the new Third Pole Environment (TPE) leader, set out to investigate how surface darkening over the TP would impact regional as well as remote climates in Asia. Their study was made available online on January 03, 2023, and published in Volume 14 of the journal Nature Communications. "Given that the darkening trend of the TP is likely to continue in a warmer future, it is critical to close the knowledge gap on how it will influence the climate and glacier volume in the TP as well as in other remote regions," explains Prof. Piao.

The team adopted a high-resolution land-atmosphere global climate model (LMDZOR) and an open global glacier model (OGGM) to study the impact of TP surface darkening under a high-emission scenario. With this setup, they conducted two "experiments" to track the changes. The first was a control experiment with the present albedo values, while the second was a scenario experiment with future albedo values over the TP. Furthermore, they used LMDZOR-simulated near-surface precipitation and air temperatures to drive the OGGM for predicting the albedo-induced glacier melting by the end of the century.

The report specifically examines embodied and operational carbon and greenhouse gases in existing buildings and new construction, providing realistic and effective carbon-reducing recommendations directly to President Joe Biden and policymakers, as well as to industry stakeholders.

"Human-induced climate change is a threat to human life and society, and steps must be taken across economic sectors to reduce the adverse impact of carbon and other harmful greenhouse gas emissions," said AC Powell, JD, CPS, President and CEO of NIBS. "Progress has been made, but there is still far to go."

The building sector is a significant contributor to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, both in the U.S. and globally. These GHG emissions contribute to the widespread and worsening impacts of human-induced climate change, and can have adverse effects on local environments and populations by compromising indoor air quality and exacerbating outdoor air pollution. Mitigating these effects by decarbonizing the building sector will take an economy-wide effort, but the need to achieve near- and long-term emissions reductions is critically important.

"The transportation sector has one of the biggest global opportunities to truly impact the climate crisis. At Geotab, we are learning from our own efforts and feel privileged to share this knowledge, supporting our customers and partners with their sustainability goals through connected transportation solutions and data insights," said Neil Cawse, CEO and founder of Geotab. "This report demonstrates our commitment to continuously improving our sustainability practices to make a positive impact on the planet."

With over 3.2 million connected vehicles around the world, Geotab is uniquely positioned to help accelerate decarbonisation in the transportation sector by providing a full suite of data-driven tools and insights to support fleets on their sustainability journeys (including the EV Suitability Assessment (EVSA) and Green Fleet Dashboard), scaling electrification and technology innovation through education (such as the Geotab EV Drivers Handbook), and collaborating on research projects.

In addition to the 2022 results, the report includes some of the company's most ambitious plans for 2023, including supporting a circular economy, promoting the consumption of responsibly sourced seafood and improving the coastal health of the ecosystems surrounding its hotels.

"The 2022 results are proof of our commitment to responsible tourism, generating value in our operations while maintaining quality and customer service, a commitment that is proving to be profitable," said Gloria Fluxa, Vice-Chairman and Chief Sustainability Officer, Iberostar Group. "Our progress towards achieving our 2030 Agenda is evidence of our commitment to real and tangible change in how we understand and enjoy tourism."

Characteristics of Family Physicians Practicing Collaboratively With Behavioral Health Professionals 

Research led by Sebastian Tong, MD, MPH, of the University of Washington Department of Family Medicine, scanned questionnaire responses to determine the characteristics of family physicians who work collaboratively with behavioral health professionals. The team cited prior research showing that integrated behavioral health can improve mental health and overall health outcomes, patient care experience, and clinician satisfaction, while reducing health care use and costs.

More than 60% of the 25,222 family practitioners who responded to the questionnaire reported that they did not work collaboratively with behavioral health professionals. Physician characteristics that were significantly associated with increased odds of working with a behavioral health professional included being female and working as core/salaried faculty at an academic institution.

MIDSS polled over 3000 Gen Zers to learn how this generation will shape the future of the food and health industry. Surprisingly, the majority are in favor of a vegan diet. And while they might not all want to be vegan themselves, it's clear that the vegan trend is going to continue to convert meat-eaters to a more plant-based diet. 

Gen Z is the population born between 1997 and 2012. Right now, they're in their pre-teens up to about 28 years old. They're the digital natives of the world; the first ones born into a fully digital era. They're also the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in U.S. History.

BluFlow Study Design & Results

The BluFlow, double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial focused on healthy older men and women, ages 65 to 80. Participants were divided into two groups with one receiving a beverage made with 26 grams of freeze dried whole wild blueberry powder (equivalent to about ¾ cup whole berries, or 178 grams of fresh blueberries) and the other, a placebo matched for macro and micronutrients, as well as fiber, color, and taste. Both groups consumed their beverages daily at the same time over the course of 12 weeks.

Scientists found that daily wild blueberry supplementation for 12 weeks led to improvements in cognitive and vascular function. Specifically, those who consumed the wild blueberry beverage daily exhibited:

• Improved episodic memory (AVLT immediate word recall)
• Improved accuracy and quicker reaction time on switch task (executive function)
• Improved peripheral vascular function (flow mediated dilation (FMD) and lower systolic blood pressure)

"In terms of vascular function, our results reinforce what we've found before in younger populations—that consuming wild blueberries improves blood vessel function as well as lowers blood pressure. We think the effects are driven by the blue pigments in blueberries, the anthocyanins, and we found increases in their metabolites in the blood and urine of the volunteers consuming wild blueberry. This study also documented increases in some beneficial bacteria in the gut that seem to be driven by wild blueberry consumption, although larger studies are needed to confirm the role of the gut microbiota on the beneficial effects seen here," explains Dr Rodriguez-Mateos.

Mesoscale eddies are high-energy rotating water masses that are widely present in the upper ocean, with spatial scales ranging from 10s-100s km and typically lasting for weeks even years. The complex physical processes caused by mesoscale eddies, such as trapping, stirring, pumping, and mixing, dominate local biogeochemical processes. Generally, cyclonic eddies are considered to be regions of high primary productivity and conversely, anticyclonic eddies are thought to be impoverished "ocean deserts". Due to the changes in local environmental and foraging conditions caused by eddies, the distribution of high trophic organisms, such as fish species, are expected to be significantly affected, which in turn affects human fishing activities.

Clarifying the effects of mesoscale eddies on these high trophic organisms is key to the comprehensive understanding of the biophysical interactions in the ocean as well as the fishermen decision-making behaviors.