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A New Deep-Sea Reef In The Galapagos | Earth Wise

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Like in many other places around the world, ocean warming has mostly destroyed the shallow-water reefs in the Galapagos Islands.  The islands are some of the most carefully protected places in the world, but they can’t escape the effects of a warming planet.

Recently, however, scientists have discovered a healthy, sprawling coral reef hidden deep under the sea in the Galapagos.  More than 1,300 feet underwater, the reef extends for several miles along the ridge of a previously unknown volcano in the Galapagos Marine Preserve.

The reef is pristine and is teeming with all sorts of marine life including pink octopus, batfish, squat lobsters, and a variety of deep-sea fish, sharks, and rays.

The expedition that discovered the new reef was led by the University of Essex in the UK.  Prior to this discovery, scientists thought that coral reefs were all but gone from the Galapagos.  A period of ocean warming in 1982 through 1983 wiped out more than 95% of the corals in the archipelago.  Only a few reefs in shallow waters remained.  The newly discovered reefs are sheltered deep under the sea and would have been protected from the deadly heat.

According to the scientists from the expedition, the newly discovered reef potentially has global significance because it represents a site that can be monitored over time to see how such a pristine habitat evolves with the ongoing climate crisis.  Reefs like this are clearly very old because coral reefs take a long time to grow. Finding this one means that it is likely that there are more healthy reefs across different depths that are waiting to be discovered.

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Pristine Deep-Sea Reef Discovered in the Galápagos

Photo, posted March 28, 2009, courtesy of Derek Keats via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

California Storms And The Megadrought | Earth Wise

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California experienced its wettest 10-day period in 25 years as a result of a series of storms driven by atmospheric rivers in January.  The Rocky Mountains got buried in snow from the same weather pattern.   For the drought-stricken West, the storms were good news.  But they are not the cure for what’s been ailing the region.

In California, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains has been greatly enhanced, containing twice as much snow as is considered average for this time of year.  Without a doubt, it will reduce the impact of the drought that has plagued the state for 23 years.  But one big storm or even a series of them is not enough to undo years of minimal precipitation and rising temperatures.  Many of the states’ largest reservoirs remain well below historical averages despite the record-breaking rain.  It would take several wet years to really allow the state to recover from the drought.

The snowfall in the Rockies is crucial because it is the source of more than two-thirds of the water in the Colorado River.  The Colorado River is the water lifeline for 40 million people from Wyoming to Mexico.

The ongoing shrinking of the Colorado River is a crisis that has created massive problems for the multibillion-dollar agriculture industry and for many large cities, including Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.  Two of the nation’s largest reservoirs – Lake Mead and Lake Powell – are filled by the Colorado River.  The historic low levels of these reservoirs have threatened the functioning of hydropower facilities that provide electricity to millions of people.

The January storms were good news for the West, but its problems are not over.

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This Winter’s Rain and Snow Won’t be Enough to Pull the West Out of Drought

Photo, posted September 18, 2022, courtesy of Sarah Stierch via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fusion Power And The Climate Crisis | Earth Wise

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In December, the Department of Energy announced that scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California had achieved a breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology.  Fusion is the process by which the sun generates energy.  If we had the means to produce nuclear fusion in a controlled fashion, it would be an almost limitless source of clean energy.

Scientists have been trying to develop controllable fusion since the advent of the hydrogen bomb in the 1950s.  H-Bombs are basically uncontrollable fusion.

There are massive experiments under development around the work seeking the means to create and control fusion.  There are multi-billion-dollar projects such as the ITER tokamak project in southern France, that have been ongoing for decades.  Colossal equipment is required to produce the temperatures of millions of degrees needed to fuse hydrogen atoms into helium atoms.

The Livermore project uses 192 powerful laser beams to vaporize a tiny pellet and provide the energy required to initiate fusion. The breakthrough is that the experiment released more energy than the lasers put in.  This was the first time a fusion experiment produced a net gain of energy.

Is fusion the solution to de-carbonizing the energy system?  Perhaps someday it might be.  However, even the most optimistic fusion researchers believe it will be at least another decade before even the experimental fusion systems around the world can reliably produce energy and the efforts will cost untold billions of dollars. 

The world cannot wait for fusion power to save the day.  The focus must remain on currently available renewable energy technologies if we are to achieve the necessary emission reductions in time to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

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Can Fusion Solve the Climate Crisis?

Photo, posted July 29, 2010, courtesy of Steve Jurvetson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The State Of The Birds | Earth Wise

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The U.S. Committee of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative has published the State of the Birds 2022, an assessment of bird populations in North America. The news is not good.  The report identifies 70 Tipping Point species, which are those that have lost half or more of their breeding population since 1970 and are on track to lose another half or more in the next 50 years. According to research published in Science in 2019, the United States and Canada have lost 3 billion breeding birds since 1970, which is about a quarter of the total population.

More than half of the bird species in the United States are in decline. According to the Conservation Initiative, the tipping point species in particular require proactive conservation protections to avoid becoming endangered.  Species that inhabit grasslands are declining more rapidly, while waterfowl like ducks and geese are actually increasing.  That increase is most likely a result of the investments in conservation funded by the hunting industry.

Those waterfowl gains demonstrate that when there are concerted efforts to protect and promote bird populations, positve changes can happen.  Some say that protecting birds is not a high priority given all the other crises in the world, but what is good for birds is also good for people.  For example, planting trees and other vegetation to enhance bird habitat also helps to sequester carbon, protect coastlines from storm surges, increase groundwater recharge, and reduce urban heating effects.

The loss of 3 billion birds is a major biodiversity crisis and requires action.  Bird conservation benefits wildlife, people, entire ecosystems, and our planet.

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What’s Good for Birds Is Good for People and the Planet. But More Than Half of Bird Species in the U.S. Are in Decline

Photo, posted November 4, 2020, courtesy of Tom Koerner/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Living Planet Index | Earth Wise

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The World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London recently published the latest Living Planet Index, which is designed to measure how animal populations are changing through time.  The purpose is to provide an assessment of the health of ecosystems and the state of biodiversity.

The LPI only looks at the population of vertebrates:  birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.  The latest survey looked at how populations have changed between 1970 and 2018.  The results are that populations of these animal groups have declined by an average of 69% over that 48-year period.

This result highlights a very real and very severe crisis of biodiversity loss.  However, it does not mean that there are 2/3 fewer animals today than 48 years ago.  The way the index is calculated is to look at the changes in individual populations of over 5,000 different species.  Then these individual relative declines are averaged to get the result.  

There are shortcomings in the LPI.  For example, individual species that have seen massive population declines will bring the average down.  But even removing the outliers both of a negative and a positive impact does not dramatically change the result.

There is no perfect indicator for biodiversity and ecosystem health.  The Living Planet Index is nonetheless a useful metric and indicates that many species around the world are in decline.  Policymakers and environmental advocates need to make decisions about conservation and protection measures and this index is one tool they can use.

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There’s a frightening new report about wildlife declines. But many are getting the story wrong.

Photo, posted October 12, 2019, courtesy of Visit Rwanda via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Rewilding The American West | Earth Wise

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Oregon State University scientists have proposed a series of management changes for western federal lands aimed at re-establishing ecosystems there.  Their proposal would result in more gray wolves and beavers in nearly 200,000 square miles of federal lands in 11 states.

In each of those states, the researchers identified areas containing prime wolf habitat.  Gray wolves were hunted to near extinction in the West but have been gradually reintroduced in some areas starting in the 1990s.  Wolf restoration offers significant ecological benefits by helping to naturally control the population of grazing animals such as elk.  This in turn facilitates the regrowth of vegetation species such as aspen, which ultimately supports diverse plant and animal communities.

Beaver populations, which used to be robust across the West, declined roughly 90% after settler colonialism and are now nonexistent in many areas.  By felling trees and shrubs and constructing dams, beavers enrich fish habitat, increase water and settlement retention, maintain water flows during droughts, and increase carbon sequestration.

According to the researchers, the biggest threat to these western lands is livestock grazing, which has degraded ecosystems to a great extent.  They recommend the removal of grazing on about 30% of the federal lands being used for that purpose and instead would have rewilding efforts go on. 

The American West is going through a period of converging crises including extended drought and water scarcity, extreme heat waves, massive fires, and loss of biodiversity.  Rewilding is a way to reestablish long-standing ecosystems.

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More wolves, beavers needed as part of improving western United States habitats, scientists say

Photo, posted October 1, 2020, courtesy of Tina DaPuglet via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Resilient Microalgae | Earth Wise

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The plight of the world’s coral reefs has been a growing environmental crisis for many years.  Coral reefs provide sustenance and income to half a billion people, are major tourist attractions, protect coastlines, and are important centers of biodiversity.   And because of the warming climate as well as other effects of human activity, more than half of the world’s coral reefs are under stress.

The primary threat is coral bleaching, which is the disruption of the symbiotic relationship between coral polyps (which are tiny animals) and the heavily pigmented microalgae that live within the coral structures and provide most of the energy for the polyps. When corals are stressed, often because water temperatures are too high, they expel the microalgae within them.  The structures then become transparent, leaving only the white skeletal corals.  Bleached corals aren’t dead, but they are at great risk of starvation and disease until and unless new symbiont algae are acquired.

A new study by scientists at Uppsala University in Sweden investigated how different species of coral symbiont algae react to temperature stress.  They discovered differences among symbiont cells that enable the prediction of how temperature stress tolerant the cells are.  Such predictive ability could provide the means to identify and select more temperature-tolerant coral symbionts that could conceivably be introduced into coral host larvae in order to make corals more robust against climate change.

The research has a ways to go, but the new tools may help coral reef monitoring and increase the speed at which reef restoring efforts can create stocks of climate-resistant symbionts.

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Climate resilient microalgae could help restore coral reefs

Photo, posted September 28, 2009, courtesy of Matt Kieffer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Reshaping Our Planet | Earth Wise

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Human activity – especially agriculture – has altered 70% of the land on our planet.  According to a new report from the United Nations, damage to the Earth’s lands has put the planet on “crisis footing”.

Our health, our economy, and our well-being depend on land.  The food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe all rely on status of the land to at least some extent.

According to the report, up to 40% of the planet’s land is already degraded, affecting half of the people alive today.  At current rates, an additional area nearly the size of South America will be degraded by 2050.

Degradation of land occurs in various ways, including deforestation, desertification, and the loss of wetlands or grasslands.  All of these things are caused by human activities.  As forests, savannas, wetlands, and mangrove swamps are converted to agriculture or are lost to urban expansion, greenhouse gas emissions rapidly increase, adding to the effects of climate change.  The climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and land degradation are integrally linked.

Much of the blame for degraded landscapes is on humanity’s ever-expanding need for food and the modern farming systems that produce it.  The global food system is responsible for 80% of the world’s deforestation, 70% of freshwater use, and is the greatest driver of land-based biodiversity loss.  Modern agriculture has altered the face of the planet more than any other human activity.

The report urges efforts at restoration of land.  Restoration can take multiple forms, including planting forests and shrubs or grazing livestock and growing crops between trees instead of clearing existing forests.

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UN Report Says Humanity Has Altered 70 Percent of the Earth’s Land, Putting the Planet on a ‘Crisis Footing’

Photo, posted June 20, 2010, courtesy of Nicholas A. Tonelli via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Permafrost Thaw | Earth Wise

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We’ve talked about permafrost before.  It is the frozen soil, rock, or sediment piled up in the Arctic that has been there at least for two years but, for the most part, for millennia or even over a million years.  Permafrost holds the carbon-filled remains of vegetation and animals that froze before they could start decomposing.   Estimates are that there are nearly 2,000 billion tons of carbon trapped in Arctic permafrost.  To put that in perspective, annual global carbon emissions are less than 40 billion tons.

Keeping all that carbon frozen plays a critical role in preventing the planet from rapidly heating. The ongoing warming of the Arctic is causing the subsurface ground to thaw and release long-held carbon to the atmosphere.

Scientists from Europe and the US are working together to better track permafrost carbon dynamics.  They are trying to understand the mechanisms that lead to abrupt thaws in the permafrost that have taken place in some locations.  These rapid thawing events are not well understood.  Researchers are also studying the effects of the increasingly frequent wildfires in the Arctic on the permafrost.

Researchers are using satellites to better understand the effects climate change is having on the Arctic environment and how these changes, in turn, are adding to the climate crisis.  Permafrost cannot be directly observed from space, so that its presence has to be inferred from measurements like land-surface temperature and soil moisture readings.  Terrestrial observations are also necessary for understanding how greenhouse gases – both CO2 and methane – are being emitted from the Arctic.

Thawing permafrost is a ticking timebomb for the environment that demands the growing attention of the scientific community.

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Permafrost thaw: it’s complicated

Photo, posted January 24, 2014, courtesy of Brandt Meixell / USGS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climbing To Escape The Heat | Earth Wise

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Colorado has warmed by nearly 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1980s because of human-caused climate change.   As a result, many mammal species have shifted uphill to escape the heat.

The golden-mantled ground squirrel is a popular sight among tourists in the Rocky Mountains.  It is one of the most photographed animals there as they pose on rocks near roadsides and in campgrounds.  According to University of Colorado research recently published in the journal Ecology, these squirrels have shifted their range upward by 659 feet.  The new study looked at the ground squirrels along with 46 other small mammals.  On average, these animals have shifted their range upward by more than 400 feet since the 1980s.

The researchers visited multiple sites in Colorado’s Front Range and San Juan mountains over the course of several years to collect records of the current ranges of these 47 animals. They then compared the findings from their surveys to over 4,000 historic records from collections dating back to the 1980s.

The researchers expected to see some changes, but not of the magnitude they observed.  For example, before 1980, the pygmy shrew was never detected above about 9,800 feet in elevation.  Today, its maximum extent is more than 11,800 feet.

Montane mammals – which are those who already live at higher elevations – have moved up an additional 1,100 feet on average.  If this trend continues, some animals and even entire communities may be pushed to the tops of mountains with nowhere else to go.  According to the researchers, the study paints a stark picture of a mountain range in crisis.

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Small mammals climb higher to flee warming temperatures in the Rockies

Photo, posted September 6, 2002, courtesy of Franco Folini via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Not Enough Buzz For Bees | Earth Wise

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The dramatic worldwide decline in bees and other pollinating insects represents a serious threat to the global food supply, but it isn’t really getting much attention in the mainstream news.  Close to 75% of the world’s crops for human consumption depend, at least in part, on pollinators for sustained production, yield, and quality.

A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looked at nearly 25 million news items from six prominent sources, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, as well as three overseas English-language news services.  The study found “vanishingly low levels of attention to pollinator population topics”, even compared with what many people consider to be the limited coverage of climate change.

The study made use of the Global News Index, which is a unique database of millions of news items from thousands of global sources published over decades.  It may be the largest academic study of the evolving nature of news coverage ever performed.

Even though the entomological community is highly focused on the impending pollinator crisis, the public is not paying much attention.  It is not even indifference; it is just that people don’t even know about it.

The majority of studies on pollinator decline have been done in Europe and North America, which means we don’t even know how serious the problem is given that most insect biodiversity is in the tropics.

Public awareness is important because individuals can make a difference by their decisions about what flowers to plant in their gardens, which weeds to tolerate in their yards, and how to manage insect pests.

The loss of pollinators is a very serious problem, and it is not likely to get enough attention if people don’t know about it.

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Pollinators not getting the ‘buzz’ they need in news coverage

Photo, posted December 28, 2006, courtesy of Alpha via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Large Drop In U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions | Earth Wise

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Greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. in 2020 are on track to be at their lowest level in nearly 30 years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  U.S. emissions haven’t been this low since 1983, when the economy was not even 40% of its current size.

According to a new study by the research group BloombergNEF, U.S. emissions for the year will be 9% lower than they were in 2019, which will be the largest yearly drop on record.  The report also anticipates that whatever happens in the pandemic, 2021 emissions will be well below pre-COVID levels as well.

The pandemic has inadvertently put the U.S. back on track to meet its original commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement, despite the fact that we have pulled out the agreement.  The incoming administration plans to return the U.S. to the pact.

Overall, U.S. emissions have been trending downward since 2008, primarily as a result of the lower dependence of the power sector on coal.  The report estimates that in the absence of the pandemic, 2020 emissions would have been 1% lower than last year’s.

The dramatic drop in emissions is not really a great cause for celebration.  Achieving significant emission reductions through massive economic hardship and societal disruption does not point the way towards making progress on climate change.  The economic upturn that will undoubtedly occur when the pandemic loses its grip on the world will lead to rebounding levels of greenhouse gas emissions.  But as is the case with all major crises, the current situation does present a chance to turn this temporary downturn in emissions into a more permanent one by making appropriate investments and policy changes.

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Due to COVID-19, 2020 greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. are predicted to drop to lowest level in three decades

Photo, posted January 13, 2013, courtesy of Onnola via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Boutique Hotels For Birds | Earth Wise

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The changing Arctic climate has had a drastic effect on its seabirds.  In fact, seabirds worldwide are in crisis, with global populations plummeting nearly 70% over the past 70 years as a result of climate change, over-fishing, habitat loss, and other human impacts on their environment.

Above the Arctic circle in Norway, seabird behavior has changed dramatically.  Black-legged kittiwakes – which are the most seafaring member of the gull family – used to nest in cliffs over the ocean and seldom ventured inland.  But in recent years, that has changed.  Because of a warming ocean, increased storminess and other changes that are decimating chick populations in their normal habitat, the birds have been setting up housekeeping in places like shopping centers and office buildings in Tromsø and other towns along Norway’s north coast.

Tromsø, Hammerfest and other towns at the very north end of Norway have become very popular with tourists seeking the Northern Lights and wanting to see glaciers before they disappear.  The booming tourism has been put on hold for the moment as it has elsewhere, but when it returns, the regions growing hotels and shopping areas are facing a problem.

The birds taking up residence on these buildings are unpleasant neighbors.  They are especially noisy during the breeding season and people are having to put up nets or spikes on buildings to discourage the kittiwakes from settling there.

Local ecologists are now building boutique hotels just for kittiwakes. Using abandoned buildings on piers, they are adding ledges for nesting, materials for nest-building, and electronic speakers that croon kittiwake songs.  The hope is that the birds will stay in their own hotels and leave the other ones for the human tourists.

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Norwegians are building boutique hotels for threatened Arctic birds

Photo, posted April 14, 2018, courtesy of Charlie Jackson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Foods of the Future? | Earth Wise

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In a world where many go hungry in the context of rapidly changing environments, many experts contend that alternative food sources will be necessary to solve global food security problems.  So-called novel food sources are central to this conversation, defined as foods with no history of consumption in a region – or perhaps anywhere.

Three popular examples are lab-grown meat, insect farming, and seaweed aquaculture.  Each of these offer opportunities as well as challenges.

Lab-grown meat can refer to actual animal tissues raised in vats as well as the increasingly common cultured plant products made to resemble meat.  Lab-grown meat faces push back from the livestock industry that contends it should not be labeled as any kind of meat. While results to date are positive, barriers still remain including concerns over product taste, healthiness, and cost.  And while less land- and water-intensive than conventional livestock, cultured meat production is still energy intensive.

Insects do form a significant part of diets across the globe but have yet to be embraced in any substantial way in western cultures.  Nutritionally, numerous species of insects are rich in key proteins, micronutrients, and minerals.  But the “yuck factor” is a big barrier to cross.

Seaweed is a long-established part of many East Asian diets and has many potential dietary uses.  Several selectively bred varieties of seaweed supply a range of valuable nutrients.  Growing seaweed does not tax freshwater and terrestrial resources.  But intensively cultivated seaweeds would have potential negative effects on local marine ecosystems.

There is no single solution to complex issues like food security.  Novel foods may very well form part of the solution to a growing food crisis.

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Insects, seaweed and lab-grown meat could be the foods of the future

Photo, posted March 12, 2009, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Cost Of Air Pollution | Earth Wise

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The environmental consequences of burning fossil fuels are a dominant topic.  The increasing changes in the climate have far-reaching effects across the globe and are a growing geopolitical crisis.  But the climate effects of fossil fuel emissions are by no means the only problem they cause.  

A new report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clear Air has, for the first time, attempted to quantify the global economic and health impacts of fossil fuel-caused air pollution.  In total, the estimate is that the economic and health costs of air pollution from burning fossil fuels totaled $2.9 trillion in 2018, calculated in the form of work absences, years of life lost, and premature deaths. The cost represents 3.3 percent of global GDP, or about $8 billion per day. 

The study focused on the health impacts of three specific types of pollutants:  nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and fine particulate matter, which has the greater impact.  Collectively, these pollutants cause about 1.8 billion days of missed work due to disease and $2.2 trillion in air pollution costs every year. Together, air pollution from these three pollutants is responsible for 4.5 million premature deaths around the world each year.

According to the report, the most premature deaths from fossil fuel-related air pollution in 2018 were in mainland China (1.8 million), India (1 million), and the United States (230,000). As a result, those three countries also faced the highest annual costs: $900 billion in China, $600 billion in the U.S., and $150 billion in India. 

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Toxic Air: The Price of Fossil Fuels (Full Report)

Photo, posted November 17, 2019, courtesy of Kristoffer Trolle via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Rising Seas Will Erase Cities

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According to new research, climate-driven sea level rise could affect three times more people by 2050 than previously thought.  This sobering assessment means some of the world’s great coastal cities, including Bangkok, Shanghai, Mumbai, Basra, Alexandria, and Ho Chi Minh City, could be in big trouble.   

Scientists have always relied on land elevation data to determine the effects of sea level rise over large areas.  But standard elevation measurements using satellites struggle to differentiate the true ground level from the tops of trees or buildings.  The authors of the paper developed a more accurate way to calculate land elevation by using artificial intelligence to determine the error rate and to correct for it.  The new findings revealed that 150 million people – three times more than previously thought – are now living on land that is projected to be below the high-tide line by the middle of this century. 

Eight Asian nations – China, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan – account for about 70% of the people living on at-risk land. 

More than 20 million people in Vietnam, including much of Ho Chi Minh City, live on land that will be inundated by 2050.  In Thailand, more than 10% of its citizens, including much of Bangkok, currently live on land imperiled by projected sea level rise. 

This new research was produced by Climate Central, a New Jersey-based science organization, and was recently published in the journal Nature Communications. 

Sea level rise is clearly not just an environmental problem.  It’s a humanitarian crisis.

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New elevation data triple estimates of global vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding

Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050, New Research Shows

Photo, posted December 18, 2009, courtesy of Misko via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Beavers And Biodiversity

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Beavers are large, semi-aquatic rodents known best for their ability to construct dams, canals, and lodges (their homes).  They are among the largest rodents in the world.  With powerful jaws and strong teeth, beavers fell trees to use as building materials, often changing their environment in ways few other animals can. But in a good way.  As it turns out, beavers are important for biodiversity. 

According to new research from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Stirling in Scotland, reintroducing beavers to their native habitats is an important step towards solving the freshwater biodiversity crisis. 

Researchers surveyed water plants and beetles in 20 wetlands in Sweden – 10 created by beavers and 10 that were not – in order to understand what impact beavers might have on the variety of plant and animal life around them. 

The research team’s findings build on previous work that has shown that beavers have an important impact on biodiversity.  This latest study discovered that the number of species found only in beaver-built ponds was 50% higher than in other non beaver-built wetlands in the same region. 

Beavers are known to be profound engineers of the environment. They use wood to build dams across rivers in order to form ponds behind them.  They do this to raise the water level in order to avoid predators, like bears and wolves. But it turns out many other plants and animals, like water plants and beetles, also benefit from their work.

According to the research team, reintroducing beavers to their native habitats should benefit the wider biodiversity and be seen as an important step towards solving the freshwater biodiversity crisis. 

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Beaver reintroduction key to solving freshwater biodiversity crisis

Photo, posted October 2, 2014, courtesy of USFWS Midwest Region via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Glaciers And Water Supply

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The world has roughly 150,000 glaciers covering about 200,000 square miles of the earth’s surface.  Over the last 40 years they’ve lost the equivalent of a layer of ice 70 feet thick.  Most of them are getting shorter as well.  Some have shrunk to nothing; many smaller glaciers in places like the Rockies and the Andes have disappeared entirely.

Glaciers represent the snows of centuries, compressed over time to form flowing rivers of ice.  They always change over time, accumulating snow in winter and losing ice to melting in summer.  But in recent times, the warming climate has allowed the melting to outpace the accumulation.

Much of the discussion about the retreating glaciers relates to sea level rise, catastrophic floods, debris flow, and the effects on rivers and ecosystems.

But in some places, the biggest impact of the loss of glaciers is on the supply of water for people and agriculture.  In Kazakhstan, Almaty, the country’s largest city depends on glacier-fed rivers for drinking water for its 2 million people and for irrigation water for crops.  All across the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayan and Karakmoram mountain ranges, hundreds of millions of people rely on glacier-fed rivers for their water supplies. 

A melting glacier can at first increase stream flow but eventually reaches a tipping point and meltwater begins to taper.  In the short term, the melting glaciers may provide increased amounts of water coming down from the mountains, but eventually the flow in the rivers will begin to decline and populations will face a crisis.

It will be essential for people in many places to carefully plan for their future water needs in a changing world.

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Glaciers Are Retreating. Millions Rely on Their Water.

Photo, posted September 16, 2011, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Saved By The Trees

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The island of Kokota, part of the Zanzibar Archipelago off the coast of Tanzania, is tiny – only one square kilometer and home to just 500 people.  For centuries, its residents subsisted by harvesting the islet’s natural resources, including its trees.

By the early 21st century, the deforestation had become unsustainable and the islanders faced a crisis.  Fisheries were depleted, and rivers ran dry.  The changing climate brought rising sea levels, more erratic rainfall, and coral bleaching in the surrounding waters.  The situation looked hopeless.

But in recent years, the island has come back from the brink of ruin.  Reforestation efforts began in 2008 on the larger island of Pemba and on Kokota itself, led by a Pemba local and a Canadian tree planter who formed the non-profit Community Forests International.  Since then, nearly 2 million trees have been planted on the two islands.  Enthusiastic volunteers on Kokota usually help plant trees during the rainy season, when water is plentiful.

Community Forests International, along with spearheading the tree planting effort, also built Kokota’s first school, and installed rainwater storage tanks for the community.

The conservation group is now devising ways for Kokota to make more money by diversifying its agriculture with crops that grow well in its climate including spices like cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  They are also helping locals to grow more and different vegetables in their gardens.

Small, poor communities are often the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as drought, powerful storms, and depleted fisheries.  Tiny Kokota provides an example of an environmental comeback.  Fighting climate change requires economic solutions along with environmental solutions.  For this one tiny island, it  appears to have been saved by the trees.

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This island was on the brink of disaster. Then, they planted thousands of trees.

Photo, posted July 18, 2015, courtesy of Marco Zanferrari via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

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