When the goods were shipped and accepted, the parties had a contract—after all, the goods weren’t shipped as a gift.

But if the seller proceeded to ship and the buyer accepted the goods—which was common—the buyer was deemed to have accepted both the goods and the seller’s counteroffer since the seller fired the last shot. Not surprisingly, this was called the last shot rule.7

Revenue among the giants leapt 16% in 2021, thanks in large part to escalating sales prices across all housing market segments caused by high demand and overall economic inflation.

Land, labor, and materials continue to be the biggest costs among Housing Giants, at the logical expense of sales and marketing investments. Despite cost increases, average net profit leapt to 9.1% in 2021 from 7.8% the year before.

n the five years following the commencement of the ban (2013–2017), the average number of lightweight plastic bags counted in the KABNLI surveys fell by more than 60 %, dropping from the 2009–2011 average of 0.17 to 0.06 bags per 1,000 m2. In contrast, the average number of heavier glossy plastic bags increased by 27 %, rising from the 2009–2011 average of 0.013 to 0.016 per 1,000 m2 (Fig. 3). This equates to 13 fewer lightweight bags and 0.3 more heavier glossy bags counted across the ACT KABNLI survey area each year.

In the absence of the ban, it was estimated that, over the period November 2011 to 30 June 2018, 2601 tonnes of single-use conventional HDPE bags would have been consumed. The ban reduced the consumption of these bags to a mere 2.4 tonnes over this period. However, there was significant substitution of reusable conventional HDPE bags and reusable conventional LDPE bags that offset these reductions.

The results suggest the ban resulted in only a temporary decline in relevant plastic bag consumption (Fig. 1). Estimated consumption of the seven bag types was 924 tonnes in the financial year in which the ban was introduced (2011-12). Four years later, in 2015-16, it surpassed these levels, reaching 960 tonnes. In the final year of the study period, 2017-18, consumption is estimated to have reached 1030 tonnes. Ongoing population and household consumption growth are likely to lead to continued growth in plastic bag consumption, unless there is a marked shift in retailer and/or consumer behaviour. This is likely to require further government intervention.

The usage of reusable bags has seen an increase of 36%, while that value for old plastic bags surprisingly reaches 117%

Worse still, to naturally degrade, plastic bags need 500–1000 years, but their use time is simply 12 min on average

Facing tougher measures, the consumers reduce their purchasing of charged carrier bags by almost 46%.

The well-known levy policy from Ireland has been proven to be effective in reducing people’s usage of plastic bags by 94% when introduced in 2002

China was the main importing country of plastic waste6 and the largest plastic producer in the world4. Before the ban, Chinese annual imports of plastic waste reached 8.88 million tons, with as much as 70.6% buried or even mismanaged, triggering a series of environmental problems8,12. To mitigate this situation, on July 27, 2017, China issued a new ban named Prohibition of Foreign Garbage Imports: the Reform Plan on Solid Waste Import Management (herein referred to as “the China ban”), banning its import of 24 types of solid waste which included plastic waste. This abrupt ban prompted changes in both the short and long run in global plastic waste trade flow patterns as well as plastic waste treatment systems and mechanisms in many countries. From a global sustainability perspective, the resulting environmental impacts do not only require serious attention but also need to be quantitatively assessed.

The cumulative global production of plastics has been approximately 8.3 billion tons since 1950, half of which was produced in the past 13 years (more than 300 million tons annually in recent years)2,3,4. However, the recycling rate of plastic varies widely between countries and is still about 9% globally. Most plastic ends up in landfills, incineration plants, or is mismanaged2,5.

Here, through the life cycle assessment (LCA) method, we quantified the environmental impacts of changes in the flow patterns and treatment methods of 6 types of plastic waste in 18 countries subsequent to the ban. In the short term, the ban significantly improved four midpoint indicators of environmental impact, albeit contributed to global warming. An annual saving of about 2.35 billion euros of eco-cost was realized, which is equivalent to 56% of plastic waste global trade value in 2017. To achieve global environmental sustainability in the long run, countries should gradually realize the transition from export to domestic management, and from landfill to recycling, which would realize eco-costs savings of about 1.54–3.20 billion euros.

Panel A of Table 1 reports results from the three questions that measured respondent levels of financial literacy. Although 79% of respondents answered the interest rate question correctly, only 54% answered the inflation question correctly and 15% responded that they did not know the answer to the inflation question. Only 47% answered the risk diversification question correctly and 37% responded that they did not know the answer. The large "do not know" response rate was particularly troubling, as in previous research "do not know" answers identified respondents with very low levels of financial knowledge (Lusardi and Mitchell 2006, 2007a; Lusardi and Tufano 2009; van Rooij, Lusardi, and Alessie 2007). In any case, the low correct response rates, particularly to the inflation and risk diversification questions, indicated that many young people lack knowledge of basic financial concepts. Moreover, only 27% of respondents answered all three questions correctly, and only about 46% got the first two questions right. Thus, our findings show that lack of financial knowledge is widespread among the young.

In a 2009 survey on credit card usage among undergraduate students, 84% of students said they needed more education on financial management topics, 64% would have liked to receive information about financial management topics in high school and 40% would have liked to receive such information as college freshmen (Sallie Mae 2009).

These high levels of debt also may prevent young workers from taking advantage of employer-provided pensions, tax-favored assets or building a buffer to insure against shocks: 55% of young adults report they are not saving in either an individual retirement account (IRA) or a 401(k) account and 40% do not have a savings account that they contribute to regularly (USA Today/NEFE 2006).

A 2006 USA Today/National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) poll of young adults aged 22-29 found that, of those with debt, 30% said they worried about it frequently; 29% had put off or decided against furthering their education because of debt; and 22% had taken a job they would not have taken otherwise because of debt.

The financial situation of today's youth is characterized increasingly by high levels of debt. Between 1997 and 2007, average undergraduate student loan debt rose from $9,250 to $19,200--a 58% increase after accounting for inflation; average debt for college students graduating with loans rose 6% in just one year between 2006 and 2007, from $18,976 to $20,098 (Reed 2008). In addition, median credit card debt among college students grew from $946 in 2004 to $1,645 in 2009 (both figures in 2004 dollars), a 74% increase (Sallie Mae 2009)

The redesign of society is totally at odds with Americans’ stated willingness to spend to limit global warming.  As Bjorn Lomborg notes, “while more than three-quarters of all Americans think climate change is a crisis or enormous problem, a majority was unwilling to spend even $24 a year on fixing it.”  If we do not want to end modern life to combat global warming, now is the time to tell our elected officials.

Halting global warming also means ending growth: “Abandoning the pursuit of economic growth beyond moderate levels of affluence appears ecologically necessary.”  I find this profoundly immoral.  People work and sacrifice so their children and grandchildren can have a better life.  Economic growth enables this better life.Modern prosperity enables a high quality of life.  Consider life expectancy, which has increased in the U.S. from less than 50 years in 1900 to nearly 80 today.  Medical research eliminated premature deaths from causes like pneumonia and heart disease.  We could afford to train enough doctors that some could specialize in studying diseases.  Prosperity gave medical researchers the needed tools, facilities, and resources.Medical research will further improve health if economic growth continues.  Researchers’ ability to analyze DNA is yielding tremendous advances.  Gene editing has cured a case sickle-cell disease.  Researchers have only recently begun studying the aging process to see if it can be prevented.

A family of four could have a residence of not more than 650 square feet illuminated for 6 hours a day.  People could have 9 pounds of new clothes and less than 200 pounds of clothes washing annually.  (The clothes people typically wear weigh about 2 pounds.)  Each family would be allowed one laptop computer and one refrigerator; everyone 10 years or older would get a cell phone.

Since adequately performing economies use too much energy, other research has formulated low energy consumption levels satisfying human needs.  What would low energy life be like?  For starters, an end to private transportation, not just switching to electric vehicles.  People will have to rely on public transit and “active” transport (e.g., walking).

Estimates put the level of energy use “compatible with avoiding 1.5ºC of global warming without relying on negative emissions technology” at around 7,500 kilowatt-hours per person per year.  Americans currently use more than ten times this level, so our energy use would need to decline drastically

Many INDCs lack necessary details, such as clarity on sectors and gases covered, details on the impact of listed mitigation actions, different metrics to aggregate gases, details on base year or reference values from which reductions or improvements would be measured, or accounting practices related to land use and the use of specific market mechanisms (

About two thirds of the available budget for keeping warming to below 2[degrees]C have already been emitted

The INDCs collectively lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to where current policies stand, but still imply a median warming of 2.6-3.1 degrees Celsius by 2100. More can be achieved, because the agreement stipulates that targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are strengthened over time, both in ambition and scope

On the other hand, emissions from the building sector are expected to rise from 9 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2004 to 11 to 16 Gt in 2030, mainly due to economic growth in developing countries (IPCC 2007). Given climate change as a global constraint to future use of fossil fuels, it is the responsibility of the industrialized nations to develop an energy efficient building stock in order to facilitate economic development elsewhere in the world. Recent policy proposals (European Commision 2011; Kelly 2009) make similar arguments and suggest sectoral reduction targets of 80% or more for developed regions.

As heat losses of buildings are minimized during transformation, energy for hot water and appliances becomes the dominant contributor to sectoral energy demand. Reducing the sectoral carbon footprint by at least 50%, as required to limit global warming to 2°C, cannot be achieved by transforming the stock alone; additional measures such as lowering consumption from hot water generation or appliances and changes that impact lifestyle, such as smaller dwellings and more people per dwelling, are required.

A recent study on the historic development of energy consumption in the Norwegian dwelling stock (Sandberg et al. 2011), based on the building stock model developed in the work of Bergsdal and colleagues (2007), showed that direct energy consumption doubled between 1960 and 1995 and has remained rather constant at about 45 terawatt-hours per year (TWh/yr) since. Using the Norwegian electricity mix, Sandberg and colleagues (2011) found a significant decrease of the sectoral carbon footprint of about 40% mainly due to the phasing out of oil and coal as heating fuels.

Despite an expected population growth of almost 50% between 2000 and 2050, sectoral carbon emissions in that period may drop between 30% and 40% for scenarios where the stock is completely transformed by either reconstruction or renovation to the passive house standard. Due to its lower upstream impact, renovation leads to a lower sectoral carbon footprint than reconstruction.

Despite significant strides made regarding the creation of foster youth protections and rights, they are not consistently implemented nor regulated

At the same time, foster youth become more at risk when social workers are poorly trained, endure poor working conditions, and are more focused on the bureaucracy of paperwork rather than working with clients

For example, foster children that are separated from their siblings are more likely to experience placement disruption (by 56 percent) than children kept with their siblings (36 percent; Leathers 2005).

They suggest that the system needs to provide more autonomy for foster youth in placement decisions and the need for caregivers to be more genuine, transparent, and supportive of the youth in their homes

The analysis of key community members including bacteria, fungi, and nematodes revealed a surprisingly diverse microbial community composition within the contaminated soil

These physical and chemical changes result in reduced growth of microorganisms and plant life within the soil

Among the most famous of these victories was the Bolivian uprising against the Bechtel Corporation, the fifth largest privately-owned company in the US,[28] which had taken over the Cochabamba region’s water supply in 1999. The company raised rates by 300 percent,[29]cutting off service to people who could no longer afford water—and even prevented residents from collecting rainwater unless they obtained a legal permit

That is, US consumers purchase about 28 billion bottles of water every year

About 90 percent of the world’s freshwater stocks currently remain under public control

The claim to a human right to water rests on shaky legal ground: no explicit right to water is expressed in the most relevant international treaty,4 although the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights5 issued a comment in 2002, asserting that every person has a right to “sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water”

Proponents of market environmentalism in the water sector argue that water is an increasingly scarce resource, which must be priced at full economic and environmental cost if it is to be allocated to its highest-value uses, and managed profitably by private companies whose accountability to customers and shareholders is more direct and effective than attenuated political accountability exercised by citizens via political representatives

over 20% the world's population was without access to sufficient supplies of potable water necessary for basic daily needs

Privatisation can cause serious problems, even in developing countries, due to a lack in institutional development and to corruption.

Simply converting a public sector monopoly to a private one is not a solution, especially if the profit is only in the water supply of large municipal areas and then is of interest to a TNC not present in the irrigation or water supply of dense populated areas.

nd two and three fire events increased the diversity of fungal saprotrophs but reduced the diversity of bacteria and total microbial diversity.

Soil fertility was significantly influenced by disturbance history type, and declined with increasing number of disturbances across both soil depths, with the exception of an increase with three fires

Total microbial diversity, and fungal and archaeal diversity were not significantly influenced by disturbance history type at either soil depth (Figure 1), however, bacterial diversity in the 0–10 cm depth of soil was significantly influenced by disturbance history type

One, two, and three fire events reduced the diversity of bacteria (predicted decrease of 0.96, 1.08 and 1.20, respectively) and total microbial diversity (predicted decrease of 2.46, 2.92 and 3.25, respectively) in the 0–10 cm depth of soil (p < .01), relative to least disturbed (long unburnt and unlogged sites).

Soils were sampled along 200 m long transects within the footprint of eddy-covariance towers that were measuring CO2 exchange (Manies et al. 2004; Liu et al. 2005). Soils were described according to Soil Survey Staff and Canadian classifications of organic soils (Canadian Agricultural Services Coordinating Committee 1988; Soil Survey Staff 1998). Soil horizons were sampled for both bulk density and chemical analysis (see details in USGS Open File Report by Manies et al. 2004). Bulk density, SOM, C, and nutrient contents were measured on eight replicate profiles on the unburned (control) site and six profiles on the burned site.

The two sites are referred to as "recently burned site" and "unburned" through the remainder of the manuscript, though it should be understood that the "unburned" site would have burned at some point over the last 100 years.

The fire intensity was moderate to severe, leaving about 1-2 cm of an organic layer in some areas and burning down to the mineral soil surface in other areas

increasing noncombustible elemental and nutrient abundance (

With every 22 km increase in mean distance to town, forest loss decreased by 16%, but protected areas were 36% less likely to lose forest than non-protected forests when closer to towns.

In this study, we analyzed landscape-scale correlates of forest loss in the Western Ghats of India—among the most threatened of global Biodiversity Hotspots

Tropical forests hold nearly half of Earth's biodiversity and provide ecosystem services to millions of humans. Despite a slowing of the tropical deforestation trends from 1990 to 2000 (Butler and Laurance, 2008; Wright and Muller-Landau, 2006), recent global analyses of forest-cover change indicate that forests continue to be lost at nearly 3% annually (Asner et al., 2009; Hansen et al., 2013; Margono et al., 2014). Meanwhile, global agreements to stem climate change and biodiversity losses mandate that 17% forest cover be maintained as biodiversity habitats

In India's Western Ghats, the habitat value of PAs declined 32 % as local human population densities increased

The area covered by the rewilding project stretches along the Missouri River, containing much intact prairie and great plant and animal diversity. One of the project's focus species is the iconic American bison (Bison bison). In an area where the American Prairie Reserve organization reintroduced bison a decade ago, plant species richness and compositional heterogeneity of plant communities have increased

Fewer people have also facilitated rewilding in northeastern Portugal's Côa Valley. The region has experienced some of the highest rural abandonment rates in Europe (Rewilding Europe, 2021c), with the population decreasing since the 1990s (Almeida, 2007). Since creation of the Côa Valley Rewilding Area in 2011 and establishment of the Faia Brava Reserve, the area's wildlife has started to recover. Populations of rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) have increased, both important prey of the endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) (Rewilding Europe, 2021c). Recovery of the lynx population has been facilitated by breeding centers in southern Spain and Portugal (Iberian Lynx Ex situ Conservation Programme, 2021); other endangered animals are reappearing naturally, such as the wolf (Canis lupus) and Iberian imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti), which had almost disappeared due to human persecution and displacement. Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) have expanded in the Côa Valley, important prey species for wolves (Rewilding Europe, 2021c). These successes show that through a combination of demographic decrease and favorable restoration efforts, long-settled landscapes can, over time, become largely self-sustaining ecosystems with high biodiversity values. Portugal's national population has been decreasing since 2009 and its fertility rate was around 1.37 in 2017 (OECD, 2020), so this decrease is likely to continue. Under status quo fertility and immigration levels, Portugal's population would decline from 10.2 million to 6.9 million by 2100 (Cafaro and Dérer, 2019), greatly aiding rewilding efforts

On the border between Ukraine and Romania, the Danube Delta is Europe's largest remaining natural wetland complex (World Wildlife Fund, 2020a) (Fig. 1). The delta harbors the greatest number of fish species in Europe, including four species of endangered sturgeon, supports innumerable water birds, and provides irreplaceable resting grounds on the great Palearctic-African migration flyway connecting northern Europe and Africa (Rewilding Europe, 2021b). Partially developed for industrial agriculture during the second half of the twentieth century, the regions surrounding the delta experienced decreasing populations during the past three decades, on both the Romanian (Eurostat, 2020) and Ukrainian sides (Brinkhoff, 2021). Large areas of agricultural land were abandoned, often in a deteriorated state but with excellent opportunities to revive the natural landscape. Dikes have been removed, low-lying areas reflooded, and spawning areas restored, greatly increasing fish and waterfowl numbers (World Wildlife Fund, 2020b). Many species have been actively reintroduced, including the Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) and the iconic Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), wild konik horses (Equus ferus caballus) and water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), and the kulan (wild ass, Equus hemionus kulan) in adjacent upland steppes (Endangered Landscapes Programme, 2020a). Because fertility rates remain low in Romania and Ukraine (United Nations, 2019), future human population decreases are likely to facilitate even more rewilding in the Danube delta, designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

Europe's overall population has stabilized in recent years and its rural population has declined 20 % since 1960, contributing to extensive abandonment of less productive farmland (Keenleyside and Tucker, 2010; United Nations, 2019). Within the past two decades, up to 7.6 million hectares of agricultural land have gone out of production in Eastern Europe, southern Scandinavia and Europe's mountainous regions, as have 10–20 % of the agricultural lands in the Baltic states (Leal Filho et al., 2017). Overall, these trends have been valuable for wildlife, particularly larger herbivores and carnivores, which have naturally recolonized many former agricultural areas

But PAs may be “downgraded, downsized, or degazetted” (PADDD), leading to habitat loss. Symes et al. (2016) found that one important cause of PADDD is increased population densities within or near PAs.

The hope that increased efficiency and management improvements will lead to “land sparing” in the face of future large increases in agricultural demands is belied by history: from 1850 to 1995, the proportion of global land area in cropland and pasture increased from about 10 % to 40 %, despite impressive productivity increases

Agriculture is a leading cause of terrestrial habitat loss: growing human populations need to be fed and expanding markets provide incentives to convert natural forests or grasslands to agricultural fields or livestock pasture

At least one-fifth of anthropogenic greenhouse gases are attributed to the food system

Such large-scale protection of nature from intensified agriculture, industrial fishing, road building, and other high-impact development—if embraced—would imply limits to how many people, at an equitable standard of living, a biodiverse Earth can support.

Agriculture is also largely responsible for the world’s 400 dead zones, which have been increasing in number and extent since the 1960s

For example, the transformation of the American plains for food production wiped out 99% of the grasslands biome along with the great diversity of plants, animals, and other organisms that constituted it

a projected 55% increase in demand for water by 2050

Land for agriculture and animal grazing has come to occupy about 40% of the planet’s ice-free land

The production and trade of soybeans and palm oil serve to illustrate the point. Chinese soybean imports, for example, grew from $75 million in 1995 to $38 billion in 2013. On the basis of present trends, one agribusiness study estimated that by 2024, Chinese soybean demand could outstrip the current soybean production of the United States, Brazil, and Argentina combined (41, 42). How such demand, reflecting growing meat consumption in only one developing nation, can be met without conversion of more forested or other uncultivated lands is unclear. Growing demand for soybeans (and other feed grains) will likely be perceived as an economic opportunity by constituencies unconcerned with the need for sustainable intensification (42). Another trend has been the expansion of oil palm plantations replacing tropical forests (43). Palm oil has become a major ingredient in processed foods (and nonfood commodities). The lucrative prospect of increasing palm oil production might also override the mandate to avoid additional biodiversity destruction.

The United Nations projects, as a median scenario, a population of 9.7 billion by midcentury and 11.2 billion by century’s end (34) (Fig. 2). Food production will need to increase by roughly 70% by 2050 and double or triple by 2100

by Jessica R. Miesel 1,2,*, P. Charles Goebel 1,2, R. Gregory Corace III 1,3, David M. Hix 1,4, Randall Kolka 1,5, Brian Palik 1,5 and David Mladenoff 6

2012

The results of our review indicate that the major gaps in knowledge of fire effects on soils include: (1) information on fire temperature and behavior information that would enhance interpretation of fire effects; (2) underrepresentation of the variety of forest types in the Lake States region; (3) information on nutrient fluxes and ecosystem processes, and (4) fire effects on soil organisms.

Most of the studies of fire effects on Lake States forest soils were relatively short-term (<5 years) investigations, clearly indicating a need for longer-term research.

Understanding differences in fire effects among geographic or ecological regions—as well as among contrasting forest types—within the eastern United States is critical for implementing appropriate forest management activities and for evaluating past and current effects in light of changing climate patterns.

In general, fire increases soil cations, pools of extractable P, and nitrification rates, and decreases litter decomposition, N mineralization, and soil exoenzyme activities

Fire decreased soil microbial biomass C and the density of vascular plant seeds in pine-dominated forests

Fire had an overall negative effect (−9%) on soil exoenzyme activities, although arylsulfatase and proteolytic enzyme activities showed negative as well as positive responses

In general, fire decreased soil biological processes (Table 6). Fire decreased litter decomposition (mass loss) in deciduous and boreal mixedwood forests by <10%, and the positive effect in pine-dominated forests was minimal

Effects on organic soil in pine-dominated forests ranged from −89% to 67%, whereas effects on deciduous forest organic soil were consistently negative

On average, fire decreased total C in organic soil by 19%, whereas a 6% increase occurred in mineral soil (Table 3).

Prescribed fire causes 71% greater losses of forest floor N pools in western forests than in forests of the southeastern United States

For example, severe fire may consume a large proportion of soil organic matter—thereby reducing critical nutrient pools—or may sterilize the soil environment

Understanding fire effects on soil processes and patterns is critical for long-term forest planning and management. In particular, knowledge of fire impacts on sandy, organic matter-poor soils typical of fire-prone forests is important because of the potential for persistent negative effects on soil fertility and site productivity, especially when fires occur with a frequency or severity outside of the historic range of variation. Similarly, effects on the more organic matter-rich soils of forests in which fire occurs relatively infrequently (such as peatlands) or is an uncharacteristic disturbance (such as northern hardwood forests) may be greater or more persistent than in forests where recurrent fire is common.

Fire is an important mineralizing agent in nutrient cycles of moisture-limited ecosystems but may also contribute to decreased nutrient availability in the longer term by consuming soil organic matter and decreasing microbial processes responsible for nutrient turnover

The major gaps in knowledge we identified include: (1) information on fire temperature and behavior information that would enhance interpretation of fire effects; (2) underrepresentation of the variety of forest types in the Lake States region; (3) information on nutrient fluxes and ecosystem processes; and (4) fire effects on soil organisms. Resolving these knowledge gaps via future research will provide for a more comprehensive understanding of fire effects in Lake States forest soils.