What we're reading this week | The #FridayFive

Boston Mayor Walsh Releases Plan to Accelerate Carbon Emissions Goal
NECN, October 8, Philip Marcelo
Investing in energy-saving improvements to city-owned buildings and developing new guidelines for major building projects are among the ways Boston will become carbon-neutral by 2050, according to a plan released Tuesday by Mayor Marty Walsh. The update to the city's Climate Action Plan, which was last revised in 2014, will significantly cut carbon emissions from buildings, which account for about 70% of citywide emissions, he said. [READ MORE]

Why Everything Is Getting Louder
The Atlantic, November 2019 Issue, Bianca Bosker
Scientists have known for decades that noise—even at the seemingly innocuous volume of car traffic—is bad for us. “Calling noise a nuisance is like calling smog an inconvenience,” former U.S. Surgeon General William Stewart said in 1978. The National Park Service’s Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, which sends researchers to measure the acoustics of the American outdoors, estimates that noise pollution doubles or triples every 30 years. [READ MORE]

City parks piggyback on infrastructure
Boston Business Journal, October 9, Jane Margolies
Salesforce Park is a lush landscape that stretches four city blocks atop a transit center in San Francisco. With lawns, hillocks, lavender beds, leafy trees and a walking path, it gives commuters a relaxing place to wait for their bus and attracts people who live and work nearby looking for respite in the middle of a busy city. Despite its presence as a calming oasis, Salesforce Park faced stressful startup challenges. [READ MORE]

Living near a coast is linked with better mental health, study suggests
MNN, October 7, Russell McLendon
Research shows our spirits are also buoyed by "blue space" — natural water features like rivers, lakes, wetlands and seashores, plus the ecosystems around them. As with green space, the benefits of blue space are typically available to anyone who visits, but they may be stronger for people who live nearby. And according to a new study, published Oct. 1 in the journal Health & Place, living near the ocean is significantly linked with better mental health among urban adults in England, specifically those with the lowest incomes. [READ MORE]

New England winters are on the decline due to climate change, study says
Boston Globe, October 7, Maria Lovato
Alexandra Contosta, assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire’s Earth Systems Research Center, and her team looked at 100 years of weather station data from forests in the northern United States and Canada, and found that milder winters are having widespread impacts, she said. “Our study found two key things: One, we’re losing the cold … and secondly we’re losing snow. And I think this research is really important because it helps us understand how winter conditions are changing on the ground right now,” Contosta said. [READ MORE]