• Are you ready for a huge list of cool technological leaps in the world of sustainability and more? Well even if you aren’t, here we go! 😊
  This plastic is made from carbon dioxide and wood waste.
  Gold can be made into single-atom layers with unique properties.
  This crystal alloy resists extreme temperatures making it a prospect for jet planes.
  Simple approach to harvesting wave energy.
  New membrane to harvest energy from saline differences.
  Highly re-usable circuit boards.
  This low-cost system absorbs carbon dioxide to generate electricity.
  These adhesives are reusable.
  Efficient method to extract lithium from used batteries and mines.
  These highly-efficient, low-cost solar cells are printed.
  This sugar-based catalyst can take carbon dioxide out of the air.
  2D perovskites could open up new electronic applications and solar cells.
  While 2D gold could improve carbon dioxide conversion.
  A step towards sustainable organic semiconductors.

In April 2024, the snow cover across the northern hemisphere was the lowest on record and the Arctic had its sixth warmest January-April on record. North America had its second warmest April on record while South America had its warmest April on record. (Image Credit: March 2024 NOAA Global Climate Report)

• The Global Climate Report for April 2024 has been released by the NOAA and reveals further proof that global Climate Change remains a concern. Temperatures were above average across much of the globe and April 2024 was the warmest April on record for the globe in NOAA’s 175-year record. Temperatures were above average to record warm throughout much of South America, Africa, central and southern Europe, southwestern Russia and Turkey, as well as much of Asia’s Far East. Temperatures were also much warmer-than-average across large parts of the northeast U.S. and much of northern Canada. Record warm April temperatures in Southeast Asia were due in part to a heatwave in late April. April temperatures in 2024 were cooler than the 1991–2020 average in areas that included much of mainland Australia, southern parts of South America, much of Iceland, Scandinavia and northwest Russia, eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as well as parts of East Africa including Sudan and South Sudan. Global precipitation was below average in April in areas that included a large region stretching across southern and central Europe from Portugal and Spain to Turkey and Ukraine. Drier-than-average conditions also occurred in much of western Iran, Nepal, Southeast Asia and much of mainland Australia. Large parts of Mexico and the western United States and eastern Alaska were drier-than-average in April. It also was wetter than average in April in areas that included much of Argentina, southern and eastern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, much of the central and northeast United States as well as western Alaska, northern Europe, much of Pakistan, parts of central and eastern China, and much of Russia.

• Juneteenth – short for June Nineteenth – marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came 2.5 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. A federal holiday as of June 17, 2021, Juneteenth honors the end of slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday, according to History. Our Google search of the month, “GIS and Mother’s Day,” yielded interesting results. One website has compiled numerous resources to help inform, educate, and map inequalities using geographic information systems (GIS) technology. The data shows where people “can and must do better.” There is also a story map using GIS that walks individuals through the events that led to Juneteenth. The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, had established that all enslaved people in Confederate states in rebellion against the Union, “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” However, the Emancipation Proclamation only applied to places under Confederate control. As Northern troops advanced into the Confederate South, many enslaved people fled behind Union lines, however.

• We took a look at the online GIS resources for Cranston, Rhode Island, last month. This month, we’re heading over to North Charleston, South Carolina, the third most populous city in the state that spans three counties. From the 17th Century until the Civil War, plantations dotted the horizon of North Charleston, which produced crops like rice and indigo. In September 1989, Hurricane Hugo hit the area, causing more than $2.8 billion in damage to the South Carolina Lowcountry. The Charleston Navy Base used to be the city’s largest employer until its closure. Eventually Boeing set up shop for its 787 Dreamliner aircraft assembly and delivery prep center in North Charleston. We found an easy-to-navigate GIS website (minus GIS downloads) linked below for you to check out:
  North Charleston, SC GIS Website
  North Charleston, SC GIS Contacts
  North Charleston, SC GIS Web App
  North Charleston, SC GIS Map Collection
  North Charleston, SC GIS Direct Downloads – none available

Brock Adam McCarty
Map Wizard
(720) 470-7988
brock@apollomapping.com