WThe 2017 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23) was an international meeting of political leaders, non-state actors and activists to discuss environmental issues. It was held at UN Campus in Bonn (Germany) from 6–17 November 2017. The conference incorporated the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the thirteenth meeting of the parties for the Kyoto Protocol (CMP13), and the second session of the first meeting of the parties for the Paris Agreement.
WThe 2014–17 Brazilian drought is a severe drought affecting the southeast of Brazil including the metropolitan areas of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In São Paulo, it has been described as the worst drought in 100 years. The metropolis of São Paulo appeared to be affected the most and by the beginning of February many of its residents were subjected to sporadic water cutoffs. Rain at the end of 2015 and in early 2016 brought relief, however, long term problems in water supply remain in São Paulo state.
WThe California Field Atlas is a 2017 book written and illustrated by Obi Kaufmann. It was published by Heyday Books, a Berkeley-based nonprofit small press. Through passages of nature writing and hundreds of watercolor paintings, the book details California's ecology and geography. Kaufmann, an artist and outdoorsman, was born in California and currently resides in Oakland. He prepared the book over the course of a year, drawing from a lifetime of experience hiking thousands of miles of California wilderness. With the California Field Atlas, he intended to foster geological literacy and conservation of the state's natural environment.
WChasing Coral is a 2017 American documentary film about a team of divers, scientists and photographers around the world who document the disappearance of coral reefs. Chasing Coral was produced by Exposure Labs and directed by Jeff Orlowski. It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released globally on Netflix as a Netflix Original Documentary in July 2017. Jeff Orlowski has previously directed the movie Chasing Ice in 2012 which share a similar plot to Chasing Coral.
WClimate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens can Save the Planet is an environmental science book by Carl Pope and Michael Bloomberg.
WThe Dorado Ground Water Contamination Site is one of 18 sites listed on the EPA’s National Priorities List in Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, identified as posing a risk to human health and/or the environment because of a contamination plume in the underlying karst aquifer. Located in north-central Puerto Rico, 20 mi (32 km) to the west of the capital city, San Juan, the Dorado Ground Water Contamination site is located within the Maguayo and Dorado Urbano public water systems, and is the source of drinking water for more than 67,000 people. This site first came under scrutiny by officials in the 1980s and it was officially added to the EPA's Superfund list on September 9, 2016. The EPA is in the process of examining the precise extent and location of this contaminated groundwater plume and, at this time, the contaminants cannot be attributed to any specific source. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, the site has come under increased scrutiny because locals desperate for a source of safe drinking water have been using wells on the superfund site.
WDrawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming is a 2017 book created, written, and edited by Paul Hawken about climate change mitigation. Other writers include Katharine Wilkinson, and the foreword was written by Tom Steyer and (paperback) Prince Charles.
WEnde Gelände 2017 was a large civil disobedience protest movement in Germany to limit global warming through fossil fuel phase-out.
WThe environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration represented a shift from the policy priorities and goals of the preceding Barack Obama administration. Where President Obama's environmental agenda prioritized the reduction of carbon emissions through the use of renewable energy with the goal of conserving the environment for future generations, the Trump administration policy was for the US to attain energy independence based on fossil fuel use and to rescind many environmental regulations. By the end of Trump's term, his administration had rolled back 98 environmental rules and regulations, leaving an additional 14 rollbacks still in progress. As of early 2021, the Biden administration was making a public accounting of regulatory decisions under the Trump administration that had been influenced by politics rather than science.
WThe Flint water crisis was a public health crisis that started in 2014 and lasted until 2019, after the drinking water for the city of Flint, Michigan was contaminated with lead and possibly Legionella bacteria. In April 2014, during a budget crisis, Flint changed its water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water to the Flint River. Residents complained about the taste, smell, and appearance of the water. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water, which resulted in lead from aging pipes leaching into the water supply, exposing around 100,000 residents to elevated lead levels. A pair of scientific studies confirmed that lead contamination was present in the water supply. The city switched back to the Detroit water system on October 16, 2015. It later signed a 30-year contract with the new Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) on November 22, 2017.
WAn Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power: Your Action Handbook to Learn the Science, Find Your Voice, and Help Solve the Climate Crisis is a book by former Vice President and environmental activist Al Gore, written in conjunction with his 2017 documentary film, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. The book is a sequel to his 2006 book An Inconvenient Truth, published concurrently with his documentary of the same name. It was published on July 25, 2017 by Rodale Books.
WAn Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is a 2017 American concert film/documentary film, directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, about former United States Vice President Albert A. Gore Jr.'s continuing mission to battle climate change. The sequel to An Inconvenient Truth (2006), the film addresses the progress made to tackle the problem and Gore's global efforts to persuade governmental leaders to invest in renewable energy, culminating in the landmark signing of 2016's Paris Agreement. The film was released on July 28, 2017, by Paramount Pictures, and grossed over $5 million worldwide. It received a nomination for Best Documentary at the 71st British Academy Film Awards.
WThe March for Science is an international series of rallies and marches held on Earth Day. The inaugural march was held on April 22, 2017, in Washington, D.C., and more than 600 other cities across the world. According to organizers, the march is a non-partisan movement to celebrate science and the role it plays in everyday lives. The goals of the marches and rallies were to emphasize that science upholds the common good and to call for evidence-based policy in the public's best interest. The March for Science organizers, using crowd science techniques, estimated global attendance at 1.07 million, with 100,000 participants estimated for the main March in Washington, D.C., 70,000 in Boston, 60,000 in Chicago, 50,000 in Los Angeles, 50,000 in San Francisco, 20,000 in Seattle, 14,000 in Phoenix, and 11,000 in Berlin.
WThe March for Science Portland was a protest held in Portland, Oregon. This local protest was part of the March for Science, a series of rallies and marches in Washington, D.C. and over 600 cities across the world on April 22, 2017. Portland Science Advocates organized the march in support of science and to protest President Donald Trump's plan to cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health. Funding for the event, which cost approximately $30,000, was crowdsourced.
WThe People's Climate March was a protest which took place on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall, and among 1million locations throughout the United States, and locations outside the U.S., on April 29, 2017. The organizers, People's Climate Movement, announced the demonstration in January 2017 to protest the environmental policies of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration. The protests were held at the end of his first 100 days as president, during stormy weather across the U.S. There were an estimated 200,000 participating in the D.C. march.
WThe 2017 United Nations Ocean Conference was a United Nations conference that took place on 5-9 June 2017 which sought to mobilize action for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.
WOn June 1, 2017, United States President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would cease all participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, contending that the agreement would "undermine" the U.S. economy, and put the U.S. "at a permanent disadvantage."