What civil engineers are reading this week

• Integrated sustainable design: How can we improve health and the human experience?

  Sustainability expert Duncan Griffin says technology advances resulting from the AI revolution enhance possibilities for human healing and comfort. He addresses the issues in a new ASCE Plot Points podcast.

• Scientists uncover how a melting Arctic is driving droughts and extreme weather

  New research reveals that Arctic sea ice loss can disrupt weather worldwide, making California drier while increasing winter humidity in parts of Europe.

• Megacity project reportedly turning into a financial disaster as costs soar to $8.8T

  Currently under construction in the Saudi desert, highly ambitious megacity Neom has hit financial troubles, according to a Wall Street Journal report

• Earth from space: Erupting ‘sharkcano’ spits out a giant underwater plume in Oceania

  A satellite photo shows a large plume of discolored water rising from an undersea volcano during an eruption that likely scattered the sharks that normally dwell there.

• Only 7 countries worldwide meet WHO’s dirty air guidelines, study shows

  An annual survey, based on tiny toxic particles known as PM2.5, reveals progress in notoriously polluted India and China. But only a handful of nations meet the World Health Organization’s guidelines.

• Old wind turbine blades will hit slopes as skis

  The skis will be reinforced with carbon extracted from blades from a decommissioned Dutch wind farm.