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The Upper Atmosphere Is Cooling | Earth Wise

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The part of the atmosphere closest to the Earth’s surface has been warming since the Industrial Revolution.  This warming is associated with increasing amounts of carbon dioxide as well as other human-made chemicals that have been changing the makeup of the atmosphere. Climate change is generally thought about in terms of the lowest regions of the atmosphere – known as the troposphere – where our weather happens.

But climate models also predict that another result of the changes to the makeup of the atmosphere is that most of the atmosphere up higher will get dramatically colder.  The same gases that are warming the bottom few miles of air are cooling the much greater expanses above that extend to the edge of space.

Recent satellite data has confirmed the accuracy of these models and provide further confirmation of the human fingerprint of climate change. The natural variability of weather that complicates climate models does not play a role in the upper atmosphere.

In the higher levels of the atmosphere, the effects of increasing levels of carbon dioxide are quite different.  In the thinner air up there, the heat trapped and re-emitted by CO2 does not bump into other molecules creating warming.  Instead, it escapes to space.  Combined with the trapping of heat at lower levels, the result is a rapid cooling of the upper atmosphere.

There are potential problems associated with the cooling upper atmosphere including that it is contracting.  The result is that the crowd of manmade objects in low orbit remains there longer, and there is a potential increased degradation of the ozone layer. 

The changes we are making to the atmosphere are having significant effects from the surface of the earth to the edge of space.

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The Upper Atmosphere Is Cooling, Prompting New Climate Concerns

Photo, posted August 18, 2021, courtesy of Arek Socha via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Removing Carbon Dioxide Won’t Get the Job Done | Earth Wise

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Limiting global warming to no more than 1.5-2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is a crucial goal for humankind.  Countries, companies, and other organizations around the world have committed to achieving ‘net zero’ emissions.  This is distinct from zero emissions in that it includes removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to offset the amounts we are putting into it.  Carbon dioxide removal is increasingly touted as the way to achieve emission goals.  But it is a realistic strategy?  According to a recent paper by a leading climate scientist in the journal Nature, the answer in the short term is decidedly no.

In 2022, the world emitted 45 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Last year’s bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarked $3.5 billion for developing four direct air capture hubs in the US.  Each of these is expected to eventually be able to extract a little over a million tons of CO2 from the air each year. These hubs combined would therefore remove about 52 minutes’ worth of the year’s emissions over the course of the year. 

The bottom line is that unless we drastically reduce emissions, all the carbon dioxide removal strategies combined will scarcely make a dent in the problem.

We will never be able to eliminate all sources of emissions, particularly from certain industries, and carbon dioxide removal will be a very important technology to address those emissions, but in the big picture, it is essential that the world decarbonizes as much as possible and as soon as possible.

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Carbon dioxide removal is not a current climate solution — we need to change the narrative

Photo, posted January 19, 2009, courtesy of Wladimir Labeikovsky via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Methane And Wildfires | Earth Wise

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Methane is a colorless and odorless gas that occurs abundantly in nature and is also a product of certain human activities.  It’s also a potent greenhouse gas, meaning it affects climate change by contributing to increased warming.  In fact, methane gas is known to warm the planet 86 times more effectively than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.

According to the U.S. EPA, up to 65% of total methane emissions around the world come from the following human activities: raising livestock, leaks from natural gas systems, and waste from landfills. 

Scientists from the University of California, Riverside have discovered that wildfires are releasing a massive amount of methane gas into the atmosphere.  According to the research team, this source of methane is not currently being tracked by air quality managers in California.  And this omission could have significant implications for climate change mitigation efforts in the state. 

Methane from wildfires is nothing new.  But what is new is just how much of the stuff is being emitted.  According to the findings, which were recently detailed in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, the amount of methane from the top 20 fires in 2020 was more than seven times greater than the average from wildfires in the previous 19 years.  Wildfires were the third largest source of methane emissions in California in 2020. 

In 2016, California passed a law requiring a 40% reduction in air pollutants contributing to global warming by 2030.  But as wildfires continue to get bigger and more intense, achieving those reduction targets will get increasingly difficult.

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Methane from megafires: more spew than we knew

Detecting Methane

Photo, posted November 30, 2015, courtesy of Daria Devyatkina via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Greenhouse Gases Continue To Rise | Earth Wise

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Despite all the focus on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, there continues to be little progress toward actually accomplishing reductions.  A combination of growing populations, increasing industrialization in the developing world, and just plain reluctance on the part of many sectors of society to act, have all contributed to the continuing buildup of climate-altering gases in the atmosphere.

Levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – the three greenhouse gases produced by human activity that are the major contributors to climate change – all continued historically high rates of growth in 2022.

CO2 levels rose by 2.13 parts per million last year, roughly the same rate observed during the past decade.  The current level of 417 ppm is 50% higher than pre-industrial levels.  Increases of more than 2 ppm have occurred for 11 consecutive years.  Prior to 2013, there had never even been 3 years in row with increases of that size.

Methane levels increased by 14 parts per billion, the fourth largest increase over the past 40 years.  Methane levels in the atmosphere are now two-and-a-half times greater than their pre-industrial level. 

The third most significant greenhouse gas – nitrous oxide – also saw a large increase, reaching 24% above pre-industrial levels.

Carbon dioxide emissions are by far the most important contributor to climate change and the continuing widespread burning of fossil fuels is the primary source.  There are widespread intentions to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but those intentions have not yet resulted in sufficient actions.

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Greenhouse gases continued to increase rapidly in 2022

Photo, posted May 16, 2014, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Banning Gas-Powered Cars | Earth Wise

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The European Union has banned the sale of new gas-powered cars starting in 2035.  The vote came after weeks of negotiations related to possible exemptions to the rule.

Germany lobbied for an exemption to be made for cars powered by e-fuels.  These are made by combining hydrogen with carbon dioxide that has been removed from the atmosphere using processes powered by renewable energy.  Because of this source of the carbon dioxide, such fuels are considered to be carbon neutral.  The EU agreed to grant this exemption, so there can be cars that run only on e-fuels after 2035.

About a quarter of carbon emissions in the EU come from transportation.  The new law requires a 55% drop in carbon emissions from new cars by 2030.  Poland voted against the new law, while Bulgaria, Romania, and Italy abstained.  (Italy wanted an exemption for biofuels, but it was not granted).

Here in the US, seven states have adopted rules banning the sale of new gas-powered cars in 2035.  These are California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington. 

California has committed to having 35% of new car sales being zero-emission vehicles by 2026, and the number rising to 68% by 2030.

As these policies proliferate around the world, the auto industry is moving ahead to keep up with them.  Most automakers are planning to have substantial parts of their product line be electric by 2030.  Given the financial and physical inertia involved in shifting to electric vehicle production, regardless of what happens with policies around the world, there is little possibility of turning back from the electric vehicle transition.

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EU Approves 2035 Ban on Sales of Gas-Powered Cars

Photo, posted May 31, 2012, courtesy of Mike Norton via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Storing Carbon Dioxide In The Ocean | Earth Wise

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Reducing the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere means either shutting down emission sources (primarily curbing the use of fossil fuels) or capturing the CO2 as it is emitted.  Capturing carbon dioxide from smokestacks and other point sources with high concentrations is relatively efficient and can make economic sense.  Removing it from the air, which even at today’s dangerously high levels contains only 400 parts per million, is difficult and energy intensive.  And even when it is removed, it then must be stored somewhere.

Researchers at Lehigh University have developed a novel way to capture carbon dioxide from the air and store it in what is effectively the infinite sink of the ocean.  The approach uses an innovative copper-containing filter that essentially converts CO2 into sodium bicarbonate (better known as baking soda.)  The bicarbonate can be released harmlessly into the ocean.

This technique has produced a 300 percent increase in the amount of carbon dioxide captured compared with existing direct air capture methods.   It does not require any specific level of carbon dioxide to work.  The filter becomes saturated with the gas molecules as air is blown through it.  Once this occurs, seawater is passed through the filter and the CO2 is converted to dissolved bicarbonate.  Dumping it into the ocean has no adverse effect on the ocean.  It doesn’t change the salinity at all, and the stuff is slightly alkaline, which will help reduce ocean acidification.

Reusing the filter requires cleaning it with a sodium hydroxide solution, which can be created from seawater using electricity generated by waves, wind, or sun.

The filter, called DeCarbonHIX, is attracting interest from companies based in countries around the world.

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Path to net-zero carbon capture and storage may lead to ocean

Photo, posted March 10, 2007, courtesy of Gail via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Concrete And Carbon | Earth Wise

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After water, concrete is the world’s second most consumed material.  It is the cornerstone of modern infrastructure.  Its production accounts for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.  The carbon dioxide is a result of chemical reactions in its manufacture and from the energy required to fuel the reactions.

About half of the emissions associated with concrete come from burning fossil fuels to heat up the mixture of limestone and clay that ultimately becomes ordinary Portland cement.  These emissions could eventually be eliminated by using renewable-generated electricity to provide the necessary heat.  However, the other half of the emissions is inherent in the chemical process.

When the minerals are heated to temperatures above 2500 degrees Fahrenheit, a chemical reaction occurs producing a substance called clinker (which is mostly calcium silicates) and carbon dioxide.  The carbon dioxide escapes into the air.

Portland cement is then mixed with water, sand, and gravel to produce concrete.  The concrete is somewhat alkaline and naturally absorbs carbon dioxide albeit slowly.  Over time, these reactions weaken the concrete and corrode reinforcing rebar.

Researchers at MIT have discovered that the simple addition of sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda) to the concrete mixture accelerates the early-stage mineralization of carbon dioxide, enough to make a real dent in concrete’s carbon footprint.  In addition, the resulting concrete sets much more quickly.  It forms a new composite phase that doubles the mechanical performance of early-stage concrete.

The goal is to provide much greener, and possibly even carbon-negative construction materials, turning concrete from being a problem to part of a solution.

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New additives could turn concrete into an effective carbon sink

Photo, posted April 4, 2009, courtesy of PSNH via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Pulling Carbon Dioxide Out Of Seawater | Earth Wise

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The world’s largest sink for carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is the ocean.  The world’s oceans soak up 30-40% of all the gas produced by human activities.  Dissolving carbon dioxide in water produces carbonic acid.   This is the reason that oceans are becoming increasingly acidic, which is causing serious damage to ocean ecosystems.

There are many efforts underway aimed at directly removing carbon dioxide from the air as a way to mitigate the effects of ongoing emissions.  But another possibility is to remove CO2 directly from ocean water.  Existing methods for doing it involve the use of expensive membranes and complex chemicals. The economics of such methods are quite unfavorable.

Recently, a team of researchers at MIT has identified what they claim is a truly efficient and inexpensive removal mechanism. It involves a reversible process based on membrane-free electrochemical cells.  Electrodes in the cells release protons that are introduced to seawater which drive the release of carbon dioxide dissolved in the water. The carbon dioxide can be collected and the processed water ends up being alkaline.

Running this process at a site that is already collecting seawater – such as at a desalination plant – would be an effective way to collect carbon dioxide as well as help mitigate ocean acidification.

Once the carbon dioxide is removed from the water, it still needs to be disposed of, just as is the case for other carbon removal processes.  It could be turned into useful chemicals or it could be stored in underground caverns.  But this approach is fairly unique in that the carbon dioxide has already been captured by the ocean.  The issue remains what to do with it.

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How to pull carbon dioxide out of seawater

Photo, posted January 19, 2016, courtesy of Judy Dean via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Counting Trees | Earth Wise

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Scientists estimate that there are about 3 trillion trees on the earth.  A huge number but probably half as many as there were before people entered the picture.  And we’re losing about 10 billion trees a year to toilet paper, timber, farmland expansion, and other human activity.  Trees play a crucial role in taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it away.  For this reason, trees have become an integral part of the effort to mitigate climate change.

There are major initiatives underway around the world to plant more trees.  Part of this is driven by the increasing use of carbon credits by companies trying to offset their carbon emissions.   These credits are earned by either planting new trees or paying farmers or other landowners not to cut down existing trees.  But how many trees are actually planted and how many survive over time?

Whether these efforts are really resulting in more trees and more carbon storage is not easy to determine.  Current international inventories of global tree-sequestered carbon are subject to great uncertainty.

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and NASA have developed a method for mapping large numbers of trees and determining their carbon content.  Using artificial intelligence techniques to analyze ultra-high-resolution satellite images, they can count trees, determine their individual species, and measure their carbon content.

A study of images from Africa’s Sahel region found that it is home to nearly 10 billion trees that are currently storing 840 million tons of carbon.

Now that the groundwork for this new methodology is complete, it is ready to be deployed by public agencies, NGOs, and other interested in monitoring the numbers of trees and their carbon content.

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The counting of nine billion trees could help manage climate credits and nature restoration

Photo, posted October 27, 2018, courtesy of Ian Dick via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Plastic From Sunlight | Earth Wise

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Photosynthesis is the process that plants use to turn water, carbon dioxide, and energy from sunlight into plant biomass.  It provides humans and much of animal life with food.  Photosynthesis is also nature’s way of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.  The CO2 is not directly stored in plants but rather is combined into organic compounds.

Researchers across the globe are trying to find effective ways to mimic photosynthesis.  One version of artificial photosynthesis seeks to take carbon dioxide and combine it into organic compounds that can be used as raw materials for various kinds of manufacturing. 

A research team in Japan has found a way to synthesize fumaric acid from carbon dioxide using sunlight to power the process.  Fumaric acid is a chemical typically synthesized from petroleum and is used as a raw material for making biodegradable plastics such as polybutylene succinate. 

Much of artificial photosynthesis research is aimed at using solar energy to convert carbon dioxide directly into a fuel rather than a raw material.  Such solar fuels can be produced by a variety of means including thermochemical (using the sun’s heat to drive chemical reactions), photochemical (using the sun’s light to drive chemical reactions), and electrochemical (using solar-generated electricity to drive chemical reactions.)   These approaches generally involve the use of specialized catalysts to drive the desired chemical reactions. 

One way or another, what techniques for artificial photosynthesis have in common is trying to imitate what plant life on Earth has been doing for millions of years. 

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Artificial photosynthesis uses sunlight to make biodegradable plastic

Photo, posted June 14, 2017, courtesy of Alex Holyake via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Cheaper Carbon Capture | Earth Wise

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As the years roll by without sufficient progress in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the need for technologies that can capture CO2 from its sources or remove it from the air becomes stronger and stronger.  People have developed various ways to capture carbon dioxide, but to date, they generally suffer from some combination of being too costly or not being able to scale up to the necessary magnitude.

Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington recently announced the creation of a new system that they claim is the least costly to date that captures carbon dioxide and turns it into a widely-used chemical: methanol.

Technologies that simply capture carbon dioxide that then needs to be stored in some secure location are difficult to implement from a cost perspective.  The PNNL researchers believe that turning CO2 into methanol can provide the financial incentive for widespread implementation.   Methanol can be used as a fuel, a solvent, or an important ingredient in plastics, paint, construction materials, and car parts.

The system is designed to be installed in fossil fuel-fired power plants as well as cement and steel plants.  Using a capture solvent developed by PNNL, the system grabs carbon dioxide molecules before they are emitted and converts them into methanol. Creating methanol from CO2 is nothing new, but capturing the carbon dioxide and converting into methanol in one continuously flowing system is new.

More work is needed to optimize and scale the process and it may be several years before it is ready for commercial deployment.

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Scientists Unveil Least Costly Carbon Capture System to Date

Photo, posted November 25, 2022, courtesy of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Conservation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fuel From Wind And Water | Earth Wise

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Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe and it can be used as a fuel to run cars, trains, and even airplanes.  Using it produces no harmful emissions.  However, to date, the way it is economically produced is not clean and green.  It is made from natural gas and leaves behind lots of carbon dioxide.

Around the world there are many projects working on so-called green hydrogen.  Producing hydrogen by splitting water into its component elements is called electrolysis and produces only oxygen as a waste product.  The problem with electrolysis is that it takes prodigious amounts of energy and therefore is very expensive.

A new project taking place in north Texas hopes to create the country’s first large-scale producer of green hydrogen.  The project is building a 900-megawatt wind farm along with a 500-megawatt solar farm.  The 1.4 gigawatts of total production capacity is more energy than the city of Austin consumes.  That energy will be used to produce 200,000 kilograms of hydrogen a day.

This project is among the largest proposed green hydrogen projects in the U.S.   There are green hydrogen proposals in Europe, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East that range from 10 GW to 67 GW. 

The Texas project, being developed in partnership by Air Products and AES, has been enabled by government support from the Inflation Reduction Act.    

There are a few thousand hydrogen-powered cars, boats, and trains but without substantial, cost-effective hydrogen infrastructure, the market is very limited.   Subsidizing the development of the necessary infrastructure is essential if there is any real chance to create the long-imagined hydrogen economy.

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Texas Project Will Use Wind to Make Fuel Out of Water

Photo, posted June 5, 2005, courtesy of City Transport Info via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

City Greenery And Carbon Emissions | Earth Wise

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According to the United Nations, more than half of the world’s population currently lives in cities.  Projections show that the combination of urbanization and global population growth could add another 2.5 billion people to cities by 2050. 

Unsurprisingly, cities are a major contributor to climate change.  According to U.N. estimates, cities are responsible for 75% of global carbon dioxide emissions, with transportation and buildings being among the largest contributors. 

According to a new study of vegetation across New York City and some adjoining urban areas, photosynthesis by trees and grasses on many summer days absorbs all the carbon emissions produced by cars, trucks and buses, and then some.  In fact, on many summer days, the total carbon uptake in the region equaled up to 40% of a summer afternoon’s total emissions from all sources in the City. The results, which were recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, further highlights the critical importance of urban greenery.

Most previous studies have analyzed the carbon uptake of vegetation by looking at the contiguous tracts of green spaces, but this only comprises about 10% of metro areas.  Using detailed aerial radar imagery of New York City that mapped vegetation in unprecedented 6-inch grids, the researchers were able to include the other 90% of the metro area typically left out in most models. 

Since carbon uptake by vegetation only occurs during the growing season, green spaces in cities situated in warmer climates likely play a larger role in carbon uptake. 

As city populations swell around the world, every bit of urban greenery is critical in the fight against climate change. 

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New York City’s greenery absorbs a surprising amount of its carbon emissions

68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN

Photo, posted October 5, 2009, courtesy of David Orban via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Turning Carbon Into Stone | Earth Wise

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A start-up company in Oman called 44.01 was recently awarded a $1.2 million Earthshot Prize by Prince William of the U.K.  The company, whose name corresponds to the molecular weight of carbon dioxide, is working on speeding up natural chemical reactions that take carbon from the air and lock it into solid mineral form.

The company’s location in Oman is no random occurrence.  The mountains of northern Oman and along the coast of the United Arab Emirates are the site of a huge block of oceanic crust and upper mantle that was thrust upward some 96 million years ago.  The tilted mass of rock is over 200 miles long and is the largest surface exposure of the Earth’s mantle in the world.

This type of rock, called peridotite, is rich in olivine and pyroxene, which react with water and carbon dioxide to form calcium-based minerals like serpentine and calcite that permanently lock in carbon. Other kinds of rock also are capable of carbon-storing mineralization, but this mantle rock is the most effective for the purpose. It only exists at the Earth’s surface in a few places, including Papua New Guinea and some spots in California and Oregon.

The 44.1 company is planning to use solar-powered direct air capture devices to remove CO2 from the air, use it to produce carbonated water, and inject the water into the reactive rocks.  The company will operate a couple of pilot systems during 2023.  Ultimately, the company believes it can scale up the process to be able to permanently sequester as much as a billion tons of CO2 a year by the year 2040 without needing to inject the gas into deep caverns or find other places to store it.

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With Major Prize, a Project to Turn Carbon Emissions to Stone Gains Momentum

Photo, posted August 10, 2018, courtesy of JM McBeth via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fertilizing The Ocean | Earth Wise

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There are a variety of schemes for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  Some require advanced and generally not-very-well developed technology.  Others, such as planting vast numbers of trees, are nature-based but are daunting with respect to the scale to which they need to take place in order to be truly effective.

Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington have been examining the scientific evidence for seeding the oceans with iron-rich engineered fertilizer in order to feed phytoplankton.  Phytoplankton are microscopic plants that are a key part of the ocean ecosystem.

Phytoplankton take up carbon dioxide as they grow.  In nature, nutrients from the land end up in the ocean through rivers and from blowing dust.  These nutrients fertilize the plankton.  The idea is to augment these existing processes to increase the growth of phytoplankton.  As they eventually die, they sink deep into the ocean, taking the excess carbon with them.


The researchers argue that engineered nanoparticles could provide highly controlled nutrition that is specifically tuned for different ocean environments.  Surface coatings could help the particles attach to plankton.  Some could be engineered with light-absorbing properties, allowing plankton to consume and use more carbon dioxide.

Analysis of over 100 published studies showed that numerous non-toxic, abundant, and easy-to-create metal-oxygen materials could safely enhance plankton growth.  According to the researchers, the proposed fertilization would simply speed up a natural process that already sequesters carbon in a form that could remove it from the atmosphere for thousands of years.  They argue that given the current trends in the climate, time is of the essence for taking action.

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Fertilizing the Ocean to Store Carbon Dioxide

Photo, posted August 2, 2007, courtesy of Kevin McCarthy via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Mauna Loa Eruption And Climate Tracking | Earth Wise

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Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, erupted for the first time in nearly 40 years in late November.  A 124-foot aluminum tower at the top of the volcano has been the site of carbon dioxide measurements for over 60 years but the eruption cut off power to the site, stopping the monitoring.

Carbon dioxide measurements on Mauna Loa began in 1958.  The project was started by geochemist Charles Keeling and eventually taken over by his son Ralph Keeling upon his father’s death in 2005.  It is the longest continuous record of the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the world.

Mauna Loa is an ideal location for carbon dioxide monitoring because it is a remote location away from both carbon dioxide sources like dense population centers and roads, and carbon sinks like areas of heavy vegetation.

There are hundreds of carbon dioxide monitoring stations around the world, including more than 70 operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, so the interruption will not stop global recordkeeping.  But Mauna Loa holds significant symbolism as the first and most frequently sited source of carbon dioxide data.

There have been other interruptions in the measurements.  Federal budget cuts in 1964 paused them for about 3 months.  A 1984 eruption also cut off power to the facility and shut it down for about a month.

When the facility first started operating, the average carbon dioxide concentration was measured at 313 parts per million.   Most recently, levels have peaked at around 421 parts per million, the greatest concentration in at least 4 million years. 

Power will be restored to the Mauna Loa facility and its measurements will resume.

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Mauna Loa Eruption Threatens a Famous Climate Record

Photo, posted November 29, 2022, courtesy of L. Gallant / USGS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Europe Is Warming Faster Than The Rest Of The Planet | Earth Wise

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A new study by researchers at Stockholm University has found that the warming during the summer months in Europe has been much faster than the global average.  The findings, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, are that the climate across the European continent has become drier, particularly in southern Europe, leading to worse heat waves and an increased risk of fires.

Warming over land areas occurs much faster than over oceans.  The global average warming to date is 1.6 degrees Celsius over land and 0.9 degrees over oceans.   This means that the global emissions budget to keep warming below 1.5 degrees has already been used up over land.  The new study in fact shows that the emissions budget to avoid 2 degrees of warming has already been exceeded over large parts of Europe during the summer half-year (April to September).

This accelerated warming in Europe has led to more frequent heat waves.  These, in turn, increase the risk of fires, such as the devastating fires in southern Europe this past summer.

Southern Europe has been experiencing a positive feedback situation in which the ongoing warming has been amplified because of drier soil and decreased evaporation.  Added to that, there has been less cloud coverage over large parts of Europe, probably as a result of less water vapor in the air.

The study also looked at the impact of aerosol particles on temperatures in Europe.  As the amount of relatively short-lived aerosol particles has decreased with the reduction of coal-fired power plants, the temporary cooling effects of those particles partially masking the underlying warming trend have diminished.  In contrast, carbon dioxide emissions stay in the atmosphere for centuries.

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Large parts of Europe are warming twice as fast as the planet on average

Photo, posted April 18, 2020, courtesy of Roman Ranniew via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

It Really Is Greenhouse Gases | Earth Wise

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The scientific consensus that human-generated carbon dioxide is changing the climate began to form in the 1980s. 

For a long time, the changes to the climate were simply denied.  After a while, as those changes became increasingly hard to ignore, the argument shifted to the changes being real but not caused by anything people are doing.  The multi-trillion-dollar fossil fuel industry was strongly motivated to focus attention away from the association between carbon dioxide and climate change.

The greenhouse gas effect has been known since the 19th century.  It isn’t just real; it is essential to life on earth.  Without sufficient levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to trap some of the sun’s heat, the earth would be an ice planet incapable of supporting much in the way of life.  But there can be too much of a good thing.

Naysayers continue to grasp at alternative explanations for the warming planet rather than the inconvenient truth.  Some people try to claim that it is the release of heat from all our energy-generating activities -power plants, heaters and air conditioners, vehicles, and so on – that is warming the planet.

That issue has been studied in detail.  Human activity does generate a lot of heat and, technically speaking, that heat does help warm the planet.  However, the sun dumps 10,000 times more heat on the earth than all of human energy production added together.  Just the normal fluctuations in solar energy are 10 times larger than everything we do put together.

What is increasingly warming the planet is not the continuing energy striking the earth; it is primarily the fact that growing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are trapping more and more of that heat and preventing it from escaping into space.

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Integrating anthropogenic heat flux with global climate models

Photo, posted August 25, 2009, courtesy of Gerald Simmons via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Carbon In The Congo Peatlands | Earth Wise

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The Congo peatlands in central Africa are the world’s largest tropical peatlands complex, occupying an area of 65,000 square miles, about the size of the entire state of Florida. Peatlands represent a huge store of carbon and therefore are important to the stability of the climate.

A study by scientists at the University of Leeds and University College London found that around the time that Stonehenge was built – about 5,000 years ago – there was an extended drying period in central Congo and the peatlands started emitting carbon dioxide rather than storing it.  Over the course of time, the climate in the area got wetter again and over the past 2,000 years, the Congo peatlands have been a place that takes large amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere.

The study utilized peat samples taken from beneath remote swamp forests to build a record of the vegetation and rainfall in the central Congo Basin over the past 17,500 years.

In a paper published in Nature, the researchers warn that if modern-day global warming produces extended droughts in the Congo region, history could repeat itself and the peatlands could once again become carbon emitters.  If that were to happen, over 30 billion tons of carbon could be released into the atmosphere.  That is the equivalent to the total global emissions from fossil fuel burning over a three-year period.

There is some evidence that dry seasons are lengthening in the Congo Basin, but it is unknown if these will continue.  In any case, the study reveals that peatlands are more vulnerable than previously thought and need to be protected.  They are some of the most wildlife and carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth.

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Congo peatlands could release billions of tonnes of carbon

Photo, posted November 5, 2016, courtesy of Roni Ziade / Forest Service via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Renewable Energy Booming in India | Earth Wise

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India is the country with the second largest population in the world – over 1.4 billion people – second only to China – and will undoubtedly pass China soon based on population trends in the two countries.   India is the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide, after China and the U.S.  With its rapidly growing population and an economy heavily dependent on coal and oil, emissions in India are on a steep upward trajectory.  Currently, fossil fuels account for about 60% of India’s installed energy capacity.  It is essential that actions are taken to curb its rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

To that end, India’s renewables sector is booming.  The country is projected to add 35 to 40 gigawatts of renewable energy each year until 2030.  That’s enough energy to power up 30 million more homes each year.  The country has established a target of producing 50% of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by the end of this decade.

 India is expected to reach over 400 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030

according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and Climate Energy Finance.  The Indian government’s own projections estimate that the country will reach 500 gigawatts of renewable capacity in that timeframe.

As is the case with China, a country with an enormous population undergoing major economic growth and modernization has vast energy needs.  While it is imperative for the entire world that India puts a cap on its growing greenhouse gas emissions, it is a difficult challenge for an energy-hungry country.

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Renewable energy booms in India

Photo, posted November 14, 2011, courtesy of Amaury Laporte via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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