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Rats and climate change

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Human activity has made rats one of the most prolific mammals on the planet. Our waste, buildings, and ships provide food, shelter, and transport.  In the United States alone, rats cost the country approximately $27 billion each year in damage to infrastructure, crops, and contaminated food supplies. Additionally, rats carry and spread over 50 zoonotic pathogens and parasites, impacting public health around the world.

Now, climate change is adding to the problem. According to a new study recently published in the journal Science Advances, urban rat populations are exploding as global temperatures rise.  The researchers found that Washington DC, San Francisco, Toronto, New York City, and Amsterdam had the greatest population increases.  In fact, over the past decade, rats increased by a whopping 390% in Washington DC, 300% in San Francisco, 186% in Toronto, and 162% in New York City.  The study, which examined data from 16 cities globally, found that 11 of them showed significant increases in rat numbers.

Only Tokyo, Louisville, and New Orleans bucked the trend with declining rat numbers.

According to the researchers, the best pest management strategies involve making the urban environment less rat-friendly as opposed to removing rodents that are already there.  An example would be putting trash in containers instead of bags on the street. 

There aren’t many perks to the changing climate – unless, of course, you’re a rat. 

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Increasing rat numbers in cities are linked to climate warming, urbanization, and human population

‘Perfect rat storm’: urban rodent numbers soar as the climate heats, study finds

Photo, posted September 25, 2018, courtesy of Tim Felce via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Mining with plants

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Plants absorb nutrients and minerals from the soil as they grow and incorporate them into their leaves and stems.  Such plants can be used to remove toxic elements from soil.  Cleaning soil in this way is called phytoremediation. 

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are trying to go beyond phytoremediation and do phytomining, in which hyperaccumulated minerals from the soil can be harvested from plants for use in industrial or manufacturing applications.

One mineral that is critically needed for modern technology is nickel.  There are trace amounts of nickel in nearly one million acres of topsoil in the US, making the soil inhospitable for most crops, but the economics and environmental impact of extracting it make doing it impractical. 

A common plant, Alyssum murale, is a nickel hyperaccumulator; in fact, up to 3% of the plant’s biomass can be made up of nickel.  But the plant is slow-growing and difficult to manage and is also considered an invasive species

Another common plant, Camelina sativa, does not have the downsides associated with Alyssum and is also a rich source of valuable biofuel.  The Amherst researchers are working to determine which genes and proteins are responsible for Alyssum’s nickel hyperaccumulation and hope to genetically engineer Camelina sativa to have the same ability.

The researchers believe there is enough nickel in barren soil in the US to supply 50 years of phytomining.  It wouldn’t supply all the nickel the economy needs, but it could account for 20 to 30 percent of the projected demand.

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Scientists at UMass Amherst Engineer Plant-based Method of ‘Precious’ Mineral Mining

Photo, posted July 10, 2017, courtesy of Matt Lavin via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Engineering plants to consume more carbon dioxide

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The most abundant protein on the planet is an enzyme called ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, better known as RuBisCO.  Its critical role in photosynthesis makes life as we know it on earth possible.  What it does is convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the organic matter contained in plants.

Getting plants to take up more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is a key strategy for mitigating climate change.  Planting lots of trees is one way to do it.  Another is to get individual plants to capture more carbon dioxide.

Scientists at the University of Illinois have focused on getting plants to produce more RuBisCO which allows them to grow faster, consuming more carbon dioxide in the process.

Some plants are better than others at taking advantage of the earth’s rising carbon dioxide levels.  Among these are food crops like corn, sugarcane, and sorghum.  Such plants’ growth is not primarily limited by how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere but rather by how much RuBisCO is in their leaves.  The Illinois scientists tweaked genes in corn and sorghum to produce plants containing more RuBisCO.  Laboratory experiments on corn demonstrated faster corn growth.  Recent outdoor field experiments on sorghum demonstrated a 16% boost in its growth rate. 

Improving photosynthesis in this way is not only a potential strategy for increasing plants’ ability to combat climate change.  It is also a way to cope with the world’s increasing demand for food by producing crops that can grow larger and more quickly.

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Scientists Engineer Crops to Consume More Carbon Dioxide

Photo, posted April 12, 2016, courtesy of K-State Research and Extension via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Climate change and the global food supply

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One of the most troubling aspects of global climate change is its potential to severely disrupt the production, distribution, and quality of food. While food security is already challenged by many factors, including population growth, poverty, and changing eating habits, climate change intensifies these issues by altering weather patterns, causing more frequent droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures that damage crops and reduce yields. 

These shifts not only threaten agricultural productivity and increase food prices, but they also impact water resources, pests, and disease dynamics, further destabilizing food systems and exacerbating vulnerabilities, particularly in regions already facing food insecurity.

According to a new paper, which was co-authored by 21 scientists from 9 different countries, climate change will cause widespread food shortages, leading to famine, mass migration, and global instability, unless swift action is taken to develop climate-resilient crops.

Adding to the urgency is the fact that agriculture itself also contributes approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, creating a vicious feedback loop that threatens to further accelerate global climate change.

The research, which was recently published in the journal Trends in Plant Science, outlines five key recommendations to address this crisis: Study plants in real-world conditions, strengthen partnerships with farmers, streamline regulations for faster innovation, build public trust in new technologies, and create global research initiatives that unite scientists from developed and developing nations to share resources and expertise.

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Climate Change Threatens Global Food Supply: Scientists Call for Urgent Action

Photo, posted September 21, 2014, courtesy of Peter via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Unexplained heat wave hotspots

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2023 and 2024 have been the hottest years since records have been kept.  But above and beyond the upward march of average temperatures around the globe, there has been the phenomenon of distinct regions across the globe experiencing repeated heatwaves that are so extreme that they cannot be accounted for in any models of global warming.

A new study by Columbia University’s Climate School has provided the first worldwide map of such regions, which have emerged on every continent except Antarctica.  Heatwaves in these regions have killed thousands of people, withered crops and forests, and triggered devastating wildfires.

These recent regional-scale record-breaking temperature extremes have raised questions about whether current climate models can provide adequate estimates of the relationship between global mean temperature changes and regional climate risks.

Some of these regional events in recent years include a nine-day heatwave in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and southwestern Canada in June 2021 that broke daily records in some places by 54 degrees Fahrenheit.  Across Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, and other countries, the hottest days of the year are warming twice as fast as the summer mean temperatures. 

There is yet little understanding of the phenomenon.  Some theories related to destabilization of the jet stream don’t really explain all the temperature extremes observed.  But regardless of the underlying causes, the health impacts of these heat waves are severe, as are the effects on agriculture, vegetation, and infrastructure.  Society is not built to quickly adapt to them.

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Unexplained Heat Wave ‘Hotspots’ Are Popping Up Across the Globe

Photo, posted August 16, 2022, courtesy of Alisdare Hickson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Reducing farm nutrient pollution

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When farmers add nutrients to their fields in excess of their crops’ ability to utilize them, these excess nutrients can enter the surrounding environments and create environmental problems.  The primary culprits are nitrogen and phosphorous.  These fertilizer components emerge from fields and enter local waterways in surface runoff.

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a form of designer biochar that can provide phosphorous in a time-released fashion and reduce the amount that escapes into the environment.

The researchers used sawdust and lime sludge, which are byproducts from milling and water treatment plants, respectively.  They mixed the two ingredients and formed pellets which were then slow-burned in low-oxygen conditions to create phosphorous-laden designer biochar.  Once the pellets bind all the phosphorous they can hold, they can be spread onto fields where the nutrient is slowly released over time.

They tested the pellets in working field conditions.  The pellets are used to remove phosphorous from drainage water and then can be reused in the field to provide the nutrient to the plants.   

The results were very encouraging.  The biochar proved to be a very effective way to provide phosphorous to crops and then reduce how much phosphorous enters the environment.  The cost of producing the biochar pellets was less than half that of alternative substances for phosphorous removal. 

There is currently no regulation that requires farmers to remove phosphorous from drainage water but there are a growing number of conservation-minded farmers who want to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous losses from their fields.  The idea that the recyclable pellets can both provide and control phosphorous is an attractive one.

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Scientists tackle farm nutrient pollution with sustainable, affordable designer biochar pellets

Photo, posted July 16, 2016, courtesy of Rick Obst via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A sustainable and climate-friendly food

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Researchers predict that climate change will negatively impact the yield and nutritional quality of most staple food crops, including rice, corn, and soybeans, due to factors like extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and altered precipitation patterns, potentially leading to reduced food security globally.   

As a result, many experts contend that alternative food sources – like insect farming and seaweed aquaculture – are part of the solution.  Additionally, expanding production of climate resilient food crops will also have an important role to play in global food security.

According to a new international study led by researchers from University of Vienna in Austria, chickpeas – also known as garbanzo beans – are a drought-resistant legume plant with a high protein content that can help combat food insecurity amid climate change.

In the study, which was recently published in the journal Plant Biotechnology, the researchers investigated the natural variations of different chickpea genotypes and their resistance to drought stress and achieved promising results.  The research team managed to grow many different chickpea varieties under drought stress in a field experiment outside of Vienna. The results demonstrate that chickpeas are a great alternative legume plant that can complement grain farming systems in urban areas.

The study highlights how the decline of plant genetic diversity poses a major threat to plant productivity and harvests.  In fact, while there are approximately 7,000 edible crops, two-thirds of global food production is based on just nine crop species. 

According to the research team, highly nutritious and drought-resistant legumes such as chickpeas are a “food of the future.”

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Chickpeas – sustainable and climate-friendly foods of the future

Photo, posted March 21, 2020, courtesy of Ajay Suresh via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

South American drought

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Vast areas of South America have been gripped in drought conditions for months.  Rivers in the Amazon basin fell to record-low levels in October.  The drought has amplified wildfires, parched crops, disrupted transportation networks, and interrupted hydroelectric power generation in parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

The drought is related to the impact of the El Niño that was present for the latter part of 2023 and the first half of this year.  El Niño typically shifts rainfall patterns in such a way that there is reduced rainfall in the Amazon.  This is especially true during the dry season months of July, August, and September.

Forecasts earlier in the year warned that there would be extreme fire conditions during the dry season.  Indeed, the Pantanal region that spans parts of southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia has experienced one of its worst fire seasons in decades.  The lack of rainfall, low soil moisture, and drawdowns of groundwater helped to amplify fires and caused them to spread faster and farther.

The drought has strained power supplies in Brazil and Ecuador because hydroelectric power stations are producing less electricity.   Snarled transportation networks with impassible rivers have left some communities struggling to get supplies. 

Brazil’s National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters has called the current drought the most intense and widespread Brazil has ever experienced.  Late October saw 293 Brazilian municipalities facing extreme drought.

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Intense, Widespread Drought Grips South America

Photo, posted August 13, 2010, courtesy of Colm Britton via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Big Food and greenhouse gas emissions

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The global food system is responsible for as much as 40% of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. The investor advocacy group Ceres has tracked whether the 50 largest North American food and agriculture companies have set targets to lower their emissions and whether doing so has actually resulted in lower emissions.

The emissions from food and agriculture companies are grouped into three so-called scopes.  Scope 1 are emissions from a company’s direct operations.  Scope 2 are emissions from its energy use.  Scope 3 are emissions from a company’s supply chain:  from the farmers who grow crops, raise cattle, and otherwise provide necessary items for a company’s final products.  In the food industry, the scope 3 category is responsible for about 90% of overall emissions.

Of the 50 food companies studied, 23 reduced their scope 1 and scope 2 emissions over the past 2 years, but only 12 reduced their scope 3 emissions.  Companies have more control over their scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. 

Reducing scope 3 emissions is more difficult.  And most companies haven’t set scope 3 reduction targets. 

The findings of the study suggest that reducing scope 3 emissions is especially difficult for companies whose supply chains are linked to carbon-intensive commodities, like meat, or crops linked to deforestation or land-use change, both of which result in increased emissions.

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission finalized rules requiring companies to disclose their climate risk to regulators, increasing the visibility of the food industry emissions issue.

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North America’s Biggest Food Companies Are Struggling to Lower Their Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Photo, posted October 13, 2011, courtesy of the United Soybean Board via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Food, timber, and climate change

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The sights of coffee plantations in California and vineyards in Britain are becoming more common as the climate changes. But behind what sounds like a success story is a sobering one: climate change is shifting the regions suitable for growing food all around the world. 

According to a new study by researchers from the University of Cambridge, as crop growing shifts northwards, a squeeze will be put on the land needed to produce timber.  The timber these trees produce is used to make everything from paper and cardboard to furniture and buildings.

According to the study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Climate Change, more than 25% of existing forestry land – an area equivalent in size to India – will become more suitable for agriculture by the end of the century if climate change continues unabated.  Approximately 90% of this current forestry land is located in Canada, China, Russia, and the United States.    

Global timber production is worth more than $1.5 trillion every year.  Recent heat waves and wildfires have caused huge losses of timber forests around the world. 

According to the World Bank, the value of the global food system is estimated to be roughly $8 trillion annually.  Scientists expect climate change to cause some areas to become too hot for growing food, particularly in the tropics and southern Europe. 

With the global demand for food and the global demand for wood both projected to double by 2050, the increasing climate change-driven competition between the two is set to be an emerging issue in the coming decades. 

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Global timber supply threatened as climate change pushes cropland northwards

Do the costs of the global food system outweigh its monetary value?

Photo, posted October 24, 2018, courtesy of Bill Smith via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Climate-smart coffee

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Do you crave that morning cup of coffee?  You’re not alone, and not by a long shot.  In fact, more than 2.2 billion cups of coffee are consumed globally every day. 

The existing coffee market is dominated by two species: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (the latter commonly called robusta).  Historically, coffee drinkers have preferred Arabica beans for their specific flavor and aroma. 

But climate change is threatening many crops around the world, and maybe none more so than coffee.  In fact, an alarming 50% of suitable coffee-growing land is projected to be lost by 2050.  As a result, scientists see two alternatives to supplement Arabica: either adapt coffee farming practices to new environments, or focus on coffee species that are more resilient.

According to a new study led by researchers from the University of Florida, Robusta coffee might be a good candidate to augment Arabica.   The researchers evaluated Robusta and Arabica for multiple traits in three high-altitude locations in Brazil over five years.

The study, which was recently published in the journal Crop Science, found that Robusta is highly adaptable and grows in high-altitude regions, which means it combines good production and flavor scores.  According to the researchers, Robusta can combine the following three elements for coffee cultivars: Sustainability (produce more with fewer inputs), quality (good flavor to meet consumer demand), and plasticity (capacity to adapt to new production systems).

Following these favorable findings with Robusta in Brazil, the scientists will test whether the species can grow in Florida.

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Robust and smart: Inference on phenotypic plasticity of Coffea canephora reveals adaptation to alternative environments

UF scientists study how to bring you ‘climate-smart coffee’

Photo, posted May 23, 2013, courtesy of McKay Savage via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Greenhouses and the environment

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The use of greenhouses around the world has been growing dramatically.  A new satellite mapping exercise estimated the total land area covered with permanent greenhouses at 3.2 million acres, which is an area the size of Connecticut.  More than half of this is in China, where the growth of greenhouses has been driven by the rapid urbanization of the country and by a more prosperous population increasingly consuming produce like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplants.

The intensive agricultural methods employed within greenhouses can be harmful to local environments because of overtaxing water supplies and by polluting rivers and soils with nutrients, pesticides, and plastic waste.  But the effects of vast areas of plastic coverings on local temperatures can be even more dramatic, and often beneficial.

There are so many plastic and glass roofs in many areas that they are reflecting sufficient amounts of solar radiation to cool local temperatures.  Greenhouse roofs increase the albedo – the reflectivity – of the land surface typically by a tenth.

All these greenhouses are just the tip of the albedo iceberg.  Many farms now temporarily cover crops with reflective plastic sheets.  If these coverings are included in the satellite survey, the total reflective area would be about ten times greater – roughly the size of New York State.

A study in Almeria, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, which grows about 3 million tons of fruit and vegetables annually, determined the cooling effects of greenhouses.  Weather stations amid the greenhouses showed an average cooling of 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit compared with the surrounding area.

Greenhouses are an accidental and benign form of climate engineering. The cooling provided by greenhouses is similar to the effect of white roofs in urban areas. 

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Could the Global Boom in Greenhouses Help Cool the Planet?

Photo, posted September 6, 2017, courtesy of Lance Cheung / USDA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Another ban on neonics

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There have been ominous declines in many insect populations.  Chief among them have been declines in pollinators, which have severe consequences for our food supply.  There are multiple possible causes of these declines and undoubtedly several have been involved simultaneously.

A new study on butterfly populations in the Midwest indicates that agricultural insecticides exerted the biggest impact on the diversity of butterfly populations in the Midwest during the period 1998 to 2014.  The biggest culprits were the widely used insecticides called neonicotinoids that are absorbed into the tissues of plants.

Neonics are meant for targeted pesticide use but are often used more broadly, including for corn crops.

Neonics are already well-known to be especially harmful to bees and are gradually being restricted in various places.  Quebec province passed restrictions on neonic-treated seeds in 2019.  Last December, New York signed into law a phase-out of neonic-treated seeds and a ban on non-agricultural uses of them.

Vermont has now become the second state to ban the use of neonicotinoids by virtue of its state legislature overriding a veto from Governor Phil Scott.  The law minimizes the use of neonics by requiring potential users to obtain written exemptions. 

Opponents to neonic restrictions claim that slashing their use will greatly reduce crop yields.  The experience in Quebec over the past five years is that the Canadian neonic restrictions have reduced corn and soybean crop yields by about 0.5%.  As a result of this tiny reduction, there has been a strong reduction in the amount of neonics contaminating waterways.

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Vermont Becomes Second State to Ban Bee-Killing Neonic Pesticides

New ‘Detective Work’ on Butterfly Declines Reveals a Prime Suspect

Photo, posted September 7, 2017, courtesy of Watts via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The global chocolate supply is threatened

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The world is facing the biggest deficit of cocoa in decades. Most cocoa beans are grown in West Africa, where climate change-induced drought has ravaged crops.  Harvests are forecasted to fall short for the third consecutive year. 

The harvest shortfall has triggered a steep rise in cocoa prices.  In fact, cocoa prices have more than doubled in the first four months of this year, and have more than tripled in the past 12 months.

But drought isn’t the only threat:  A rapidly spreading virus is also threatening the future of chocolate.   

Approximately half of the world’s chocolate originates from cacao trees in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.  The Cacao Swollen Shoot Virus Disease is spread by small insects called mealybugs, which eat the leaves, buds, and flowers of cacao trees.  The virus is attacking cacao trees in Ghana, resulting in harvest losses of 15-50%. 

Pesticides don’t work well against mealybugs.  Farmers can vaccinate trees to inoculate them from the virus.  But the vaccines are expensive, and the vaccinated trees produce a smaller harvest of cacao.

According to a new paper recently published in the journal PLOS ONE, an international team of researchers has developed a new strategy to combat these pests: using mathematical data to determine how far apart vaccinated trees need to be planted in order to stop mealybugs from hopping from tree to tree.  The researchers developed two models that allow farmers to create a defensive ring of vaccinated trees around unvaccinated trees

The research team hopes its models will help farmers protect their crops and achieve better harvests in the future. 

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Cacao sustainability: The case of cacao swollen-shoot virus co-infection

Will rising cocoa prices trigger a chocolate crisis?

Photo, posted April 1, 2019, courtesy of Konrad Lembcke via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Colorado River crisis

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The Colorado River serves nearly 40 million people in seven U.S. states and Mexico.  It provides water for 5 million acres of farmland.  Increasing demand from growing populations, damming, diversion, and drought have been draining the Colorado at alarming rates.  This critical resource supports countless economies, communities, and ecologies stretching from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California.  The Colorado River essentially has made the cities of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, and Phoenix possible.

How the water of the Colorado is distributed is determined by an agreement that is over 100 years old:  the Colorado River Compact.  It was made at a time when people thought there was more water than really was there.  And at the time, no one thought that the seven states would need to use the water they were allocated down to the last drop.

There have been various measures over the years to conserve water from the Colorado River, including the Colorado River Interim Guidelines in 2007.  Those guidelines will expire in 2026 and negotiations are beginning to take place among the many stakeholders scrambling for water rights.  Apart from the seven U.S. states and Mexico, there are 30 tribal nations involved.  Collaborative governance is complicated when it crosses multiple jurisdictions with their own laws and legal precedents.  The goal is to put in place a new agreement to protect the Colorado River.

Rapidly-growing populations in major cities, a 20-year megadrought, and historically low water levels in America’s two largest reservoirs have put enormous pressure on the Colorado River.  Creating a plan to protect the lifeblood of the American West is essential.

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Addressing the Colorado River crisis

Photo, posted June 18, 2022, courtesy of Jeff Hollett via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The East Coast is sinking

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Most of the world’s largest cities are located in coastal regions and coastal regions are on the front lines of the climate crisis.  Human populations continue to migrate towards low-elevation coastal areas at the same time that sea level rise is accelerating.  Coastal communities worldwide are increasingly vulnerable to the dangers of flooding and erosion.  With these hazards occupying a great deal of attention, there has been less attention paid to the dangers of land subsidence.

A recent study by researchers at Virginia Tech and the US Geological Survey using satellite data shows that parts of America’s east coast are sinking, and the culprit is the withdrawal of too much water from the aquifers beneath these coastal areas.

A series of overlapping aquifers extends all the way from New Jersey to Florida along the coast, providing a reliable source of water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial uses.  Even though these areas get regular rainfall, the deeper aquifers can take hundreds or even thousands of years to refill once water is pumped out.  Once water is removed, soils can compress and collapse, causing the land surface to sink.

Cities that were built on drained marshland or on fill soil are especially vulnerable to compaction. 

Seal level rise is slow, but it is insidious and continuous.  Add land subsidence to the mix and effects multiply.  Places like Boston, New York, Washington DC, Roanoke, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Miami, among others, all are increasingly vulnerable to these coastal hazards.  The combined effects of sea level rise and subsidence may even triple the prospects for flooding areas over the next few decades.

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As Aquifers Are Depleted, Areas Along The East Coast Of The US Are Sinking

Photo, posted August 7, 2015, courtesy of Tracy Robillard / NRCS Oregon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Protecting wine grapes from wildfire smoke

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In recent years, wildfires have become a major threat to the wine industry because of the effects of smoke on wine grapes.  Smoke taint from the California fires of September 2020 significantly impacted the quality of wine grapes.  In total, smoke taint cost the wine industry in Western states more than $3 billion in losses from the hundreds of thousands of tons of wine grapes that could not be harvested because of the off flavors imparted by the smoke.  The California wine industry alone is a $43 billion a year business and the state’s frequent wildfires are a major threat to it.

Researchers at Oregon State University have developed techniques for eliminating the effects of three volatile chemical compounds that contribute to smoke taint in grapes.  The compounds are guaicol, syringol, and meta-cresol.

The researchers developed cellulose nanofiber-based coatings that can be applied to grapes in the vineyard.  The coatings can block guaicol and syringol and capture meta-cresol.

Blocking is ideal because the coating doesn’t absorb the wildfire smoke compounds.  Therefore, it doesn’t have to be washed off.  Capturing means the coating absorbs the compounds and would need to be washed off.  Ideally, a coating that doesn’t need to be washed off would save time, money, and water.

Two years of studies at Oregon State found that the coatings do not impact the growth and quality of wine grapes.  In an era when wildfires are increasingly common and extensive, growers need something they can spray on their vines to protect their grapes.  If the Oregon State technology can be commercialized, it would be a game-changer for the Western U.S. wine industry.

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Spray coating for grapes shows promise in battle between wildfire smoke and wine

Photo, posted October 3, 2006, courtesy of Naotake Murayama via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Groundwater and climate change

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Groundwater is the vast reserve of water beneath Earth’s surface.  It’s an essential resource for humans, plants, animals, and other living organisms.  According to the United States Geological Survey, about 30% of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater.  In areas lacking sufficient surface water supply from rivers and reservoirs,  groundwater is critical for meeting the region’s drinking water and food production needs.

But climate change, as well as global population growth, is stressing groundwater resources.  As precipitation becomes less reliable due to climate change, surface water bodies can drop too low to provide the needed water.  As a result, people turn to groundwater. Depletion of groundwater is already a significant problem, and over-pumping will only increase further as climate change makes traditional sources of water less reliable.

According to a new study led by researchers from the University of Michigan, farmers in India have adapted to warming temperatures by intensifying the withdrawal of groundwater used for irrigation.  The study, which was published in the journal Science Advances, found that the rate of groundwater loss could triple by 2080 if this trend continues, further threatening India’s food and water security. 

India is the second-largest global producer of common cereal grains such as rice and wheat, and recently passed China as the world’s most populous nation. Without interventions to conserve groundwater, the research team finds that warming temperatures will likely amplify India’s groundwater depletion problem, further threatening the country’s food and water security.  

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Groundwater depletion rates in India could triple in coming decades as climate warms, study shows

Where is Earth’s Water?

Photo, posted August 2, 2013, courtesy of Rajarshi MITRA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Does vertically-grown food taste different?

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Vertical farming is a method of producing crops in vertically stacked layers or surfaces typically in a skyscraper, used warehouse, or shipping container.  Modern vertical farming uses indoor farming techniques and controlled-environment agriculture technology. 

Vertical farming has the potential to be one of the solutions to food insecurity in parts of the world where crop production is limited by climate change or other environmental factors.  Vertical farming reduces water and land use, reduces nutrient emissions, and could eliminate the need for pesticides.  It also allows more food to be grown locally and with higher yields.

But some critics of vertically-grown veggies say they look pale, artificial, and taste bland.  In the first study of its kind, a research team led by scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark sought to investigate whether these consumer prejudices hold true.

The research team asked 190 participants to blind taste test arugula, baby spinach, pea shoots, basil, and parsley grown in vertical farming and compare the taste and appearance to those same leafy greens grown organically in soil. 

Overall, the organic greens grown traditionally narrowly beat out the vertically-grown ones in the study, but it was very close.  For example, when asked to rate arugula on a scale of 1-9 with 9 being best, the participants gave both types a 6.6.  There was no clear winner between basil, baby spinach, and pea shoots.  The only clear winner was organically-grown parsley. 

The study debunks some myths about vertically-grown food and should help pave the way for more widespread adoption of this efficient method to grow tasty and nutritious food. 

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A delicious surprise: Vertically farmed greens taste as good as organic ones

Photo, posted May 11, 2009, courtesy of Cliff Johnson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A fern-based insecticide

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A spore-producing bacterium is the source of various crystal toxins (known as Cry proteins) that are widely used in modern agriculture to combat insect pests – generally caterpillars and other larvae – that attack important crops.  Pest control in corn, soybean, and cotton use these insecticidal proteins for protection against major insect pests.  The pesticides are obtained from Bacillus thringiensis (Bt) bacteria to produce the proteins.

Bt Cry proteins are secreted by the bacteria but are harmless to the bacteria.  They are harmless until ingested by insects and are then activated by the alkaline environment in the gut of insects which is entirely different from the acidic environment of our own digestive systems.  In the insect’s gut, the proteins become a powerful feeding inhibitor by breaking down the insect’s gut lining.  Bt Cry proteins are considered safe for humans.

Researchers continue to seek alternative solutions because there are concerns that insect pests could develop resistance to these toxic proteins.

Researchers from two Australian universities have analyzed the structure of a novel insecticidal protein that could be effective in protecting essential crops.  The protein is naturally produced by ferns including common houseplants like brake ferns.

The newly discovered proteins offer a different mode of action from the Cry proteins and therefore are a potential solution to the problem of pest resistance to existing insecticides.  The new family of insecticidal proteins is designated as iPD113 and has been shown to be very effective against caterpillar pests of corn and soybeans.

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Discovery: ferns produce crop-saving insecticide

Photo, posted October 5, 2015, courtesy of Marianne Serra via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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