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Bananas and climate change

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Bananas are one of the most widely produced fruits globally, with more than 100 million tons grown every year.  They are a key export crop worth approximately $11 billion annually. Bananas are also a staple food in many tropical countries, playing a vital role in both the economies of these nations and in global food security.

The Cavendish variety of banana dominates commercial exports, accounting for nearly 47% of global production. However, the Cavendish banana is highly susceptible to diseases like Panama disease, prompting ongoing efforts to develop disease-resistant alternatives. The spread of these diseases is exacerbated by climate change, which alters growing conditions and weakens banana plants. Additionally, climate change poses further threats to the banana industry by impacting crop yields and distribution patterns.

In fact, a new study led by researchers from the University of Exeter in the U.K. has found that by 2080, rising temperatures will make growing bananas for export economically unsustainable in many regions of Latin America and the Caribbean.  Colombia and Costa Rica will be among the countries most negatively impacted as they are expected to become too hot for optimal banana cultivation. 

The study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Food, found that 60% of the regions currently producing bananas around the world will struggle to grow the fruit unless there are urgent interventions to tackle climate change.  The researchers propose several adaptation strategies, including expanding irrigation systems, developing heat- and drought-resistant banana varieties, and helping banana producers manage climate-related risks.

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Climate change threatens future of banana export industry

Photo, posted June 26, 2024, courtesy of JJ Musgrove via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

La Niña has arrived

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After seven months of waiting following the end of the recent El Niño condition, La Niña finally showed up in the eastern Pacific Ocean in early December.

El Niño and La Niña are climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that can affect weather worldwide.  Normally, trade winds in the Pacific blow west along the equator, taking warm water from South America towards Asia.  To replace the warm water, cold water rises from the depths.  During El Niño, trade winds weaken and warm water is pushed back east, toward the west coast of the Americas.  As a result, areas in the northern U.S. and Canada are dryer and warmer than usual.

During La Niña, trade winds are stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia.  This results in more upwelling of cooler water from the depths.  This tends to lead to drought in the southern U.S. and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada.  During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the South and cooler than normal in the North.

According to the report published in January by NOAA, the La Niña that has arrived is not a particularly strong one.  Sea surface temperatures are only about 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit below average in the tropical Pacific.  The report also suggests that the La Niña condition may not stick around very long.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon adds a natural source of year-to-year variability in global temperatures.  The presence of La Niña for at least part of this year may temporarily keep the lid on rapidly climbing global temperatures.

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La Niña Is Here

Photo, posted November 23, 2011, courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Megadroughts

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A new study by Swiss and Austrian scientists has found that persistent multi-year droughts have become increasingly common since 1980 and will continue to proliferate as the climate warms.

There are multiple examples in recent years in places ranging from California to Mongolia to Australia.  Fifteen years of persistent megadrought in Chile have nearly dried out the country’s water reserves and even affected Chile’s vital mining output.  These multi-year droughts have triggered acute water crises in vulnerable regions around the world.

Droughts tend to only be noticed when they damage agriculture or visibly affect forests.  An issue explored by the new study is whether megadroughts can be consistently identified and their impact on ecosystems understood.

The researchers analyzed global meteorological data and modeled droughts over a forty-year period beginning in 1980.  They found that multi-year droughts have become longer, more frequent, and more extreme, covering more land.  Every year since 1980, drought-stricken areas have spread by an additional fifty thousand square kilometers on average, an area the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. 

The trend of intensifying megadroughts is clearly leading to drier and browner ecosystems.  Tropical forests can offset the effects of drought as long as they have enough water reserves.  However, the long-term effects on the planet and its ecosystems remain largely unknown.  Ultimately, long-term extreme water shortages will result in trees in tropical and boreal regions dying, causing long-term and possibly irreversible damage to these ecosystems.

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The Megadroughts Are upon Us

Photo, posted January 7, 2018, courtesy of Kathleen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Drying rivers and hydropower

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A decade ago, Ecuador began a major transition to using hydroelectric power.  Like in many other South American countries, the presence of abundant rivers could supply large amounts of energy and drive economic expansion and lead to a new era of prosperity.

This ambitious plan has run into the impacts of climate change.  An extraordinary drought has engulfed much of South America, drying rivers and reservoirs, and has put Ecuador’s power grid on the brink of collapse. 

Since September, daily energy cuts in Ecuador have lasted as long as 14 hours.  An industry group says that the nation is losing $12 million in productivity and sales for every hour the power is out.  Just a few years ago, Ecuador was making great strides in reducing poverty.  Now, as the energy crisis has increased its grip on the country, much of what was achieved is being lost.

Ecuador’s situation is not unique.  In recent years, abnormally dry weather in multiple places has resulted in extreme low water levels in rivers, reducing hydropower resources in Norway, Canada, Turkey, and even rainforest-rich Costa Rica.

Overall, more than one billion people live in countries where more than half of their energy comes from hydroelectric plants.  With a warming climate and increasing incidence of extreme weather events like drought, it is likely that hydropower will become a less reliable energy source.  More than a quarter of all hydroelectric dams are in places with a medium to high risk of water scarcity by 2050. 

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The Rivers Run Dry and the Lights Go Out: A Warming Nation’s Doom Loop

Photo, posted January 15, 2020, courtesy of Pedro Szekely via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Hydroclimate whiplash

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Hydroclimate whiplash is a term that describes rapid swings between intensely wet and dangerously dry weather.  Global weather records show that the occurrence of hydroclimate whiplash has increased by 31% or as much as 66% since the mid-20th century. 

California’s experience is a prime example of this phenomenon.  After years of severe drought, dozens of atmospheric rivers subjected the state to record-breaking amounts of precipitation in the winter of 2022-23.  A second extremely wet winter in the southern parts of the state the following year resulted in the growth of abundant amounts of grass and brush. 2024 saw a record-hot summer which was then followed by a record-dry start to the 2025 rainy season.  The result was the catastrophic wildfires in the Los Angeles area in January.

Research by UCLA climate scientists explains that the primary driver for the increasing occurrence of hydroclimate whiplash is the expansion of the atmospheric sponge – that is, the growing ability of the atmosphere to evaporate, absorb and release water.  Every degree Celsius that the planet warms increases this ability by 7%. 

The global consequences of hydroclimate whiplash include not only floods and droughts but also the increased danger of whipsawing between the two, leading to the bloom and burn cycle that California recently faced. The risk of wildfire is twofold:  first by increasing the growth of flammable grass and brush in the months before the fire season, and then by drying it out to dangerous levels with extremely warm and dry weather.

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Floods, droughts, then fires: Hydroclimate whiplash is speeding up globally

Photo, posted January 13, 2025, courtesy of Victor Guillen / USDA Forest Service via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Saving the Great Salt Lake

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For many years, scientists have warned that the Great Salt Lake in Utah is headed toward a catastrophic decline.  While the size of the Great Salt Lake fluctuates naturally with seasonal and long-term weather patterns, the lake has been experiencing significant and steady declines for decades.  In fact, the Great Salt Lake has lost more than 15 billion cubic yards of water over the past three decades, and it’s getting shallower at the rate of four inches a year. 

This reduction is primarily due to excessive water diversions from rivers and streams that feed into the lake for agricultural, industrial, and municipal use. These diversions, combined with prolonged drought and rising temperatures due to climate change, have significantly reduced the lake’s water level. 

According to a new study led by researchers from Oregon State University, 62% of the river water bound for the Great Salt Lake is diverted for human use, with agricultural activities responsible for nearly three-quarters of that percentage.  The analysis, which was recently published in the journal Environmental Challenges, found that reducing irrigation is necessary to save the lake. 

In order to stabilize and begin refilling the lake, the research team proposes cutting human water consumption in the Great Salt Lake’s watershed by 35%.  The researchers emphasize that farmers and ranchers facing income losses from using less water would require taxpayer-funded compensation.

The Great Salt Lake is a biodiversity hotspot, sustaining more than 10 million migratory birds.  The lake also directly supports 9,000 jobs and fuels $2.5 billion in economic activity annually. 

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Reducing irrigation for livestock feed crops is needed to save Great Salt Lake, study argues

Photo, posted January 14, 2024, courtesy of Olaf Zerbock via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

When is a heat wave just a heat wave?

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There are lots of extreme weather events of all kinds these days.  But there have always been extreme weather events.  Climate change results in more extreme weather but not all extreme weather should be attributed to climate change.  So, how do we know if an extreme weather event is a result of the changing climate?  Communities that are affected by extreme weather events need to know whether they are likely to see more such events in the future, or if they are anomalies like a “500-year storm” or such.

Researchers at North Carolina State University, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Princeton University developed a routine process for evaluating extreme weather events.

The test case was an extreme heat wave that affected Texas and Louisiana in 2023.  This notable heat wave lasted almost the entire summer. The scientists used a two-step process to determine whether the heat wave was an anomaly or part of a new pattern.  They took historical data from the past 100 years to see how unusual 2023 was.  Then they compared that data with both past and present predictive computer models.  Comparing the predictive models can indicate whether climate change was a factor in the event.

In this case, a similar drought would not have been as hot 50 years earlier, which indicates that the heat wave is related to climate change and that even more intense heat waves are likely to occur in the future.

This sort of information is important for communities to prepare for future events.

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When is a Heat Wave Just a Heat Wave, and When is it Climate Change?

Photo, posted July 22, 2006, courtesy of Saturnism 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

Rivers are drying up

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According to a new U.N. report, the world’s rivers had their driest year in at least three decades.  Record heat and droughts in many places contributed to low levels of water in many of the world’s rivers.

The world faces problems of either too much or too little water. The warming climate has fueled both powerful storms with heavy rainfall and intense droughts around the globe. 

Last year was the hottest year on record, and it’s a record that is unlikely to last long.  The Mississippi River and Amazon River basins were at all-time lows.  Major rivers with headwaters in the Himalayas – the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong Rivers – were all unusually dry.

According to the World Meteorological Organizations State of Global Water Resources Report, nearly half of the nearly 1,000 rivers tracked around the world had below-normal levels of water.  Only 17% had above-average levels.  Over the past 32 years, on average only a quarter of the rivers monitored had below-normal water levels and last-year’s 45% was the largest ever.

Last year’s severe heat shrank glaciers that are a crucial source of meltwater that feeds rivers.  Glaciers lost more ice last year than they have in at least 50 years.

More than half of the world’s population lives within a couple of miles of a body of fresh water.  The places with the highest population densities around the world are almost all near large rivers.  Rivers provide freshwater for irrigation, consumption, and transportation and are an important source of energy. Historically, they have played an important role in the development of human society.  The shrinking of rivers is a big deal.

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World’s Rivers Are Driest They Have Been in Decades

Photo, posted August 22, 2023, courtesy of Radek Kucharski via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Megafires and orchard health

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The frequent and massive megafires in places like Canada and the American west have led to a lot of research on the impact of smoke on humans but there has been less study of the effects of smoke on plant health.  Researchers at the University of California, Davis have found that trees are just as vulnerable as humans are to the harmful effects of long-term exposure to smoke.

The Davis researchers studied almond, pistachio, and walnut trees at 467 orchard sites in California’s Central Valley from 2018 to 2022.  In 2022, so-called megafires burned more than 4.2 million acres in California, pouring ash and smoke into the sky.  The researchers had been studying how trees store carbohydrates to cope with heat and drought. 

With the onset of the fires, they saw an opportunity to study how smoke affects carbohydrate levels.  Trees use stored carbohydrates to sustain them through winter dormancy and spring growth.  Trees produce carbohydrates via photosynthesis and thick smoke blocks the amount of light reaching the trees.  Beyond that, there are other aspects of wildfire smoke, such as particulate matter and ozone that appear to affect photosynthesis.

The team found that the smoke not only reduced the amount of carbohydrates in trees but also caused losses that continued even after the fires were extinguished.  This led to nut yield decreases of 15% up to 50% in some orchards.  The researchers expected to see some impact on the trees during periods when smoke was really dense but were not expecting the smoke to have such a lingering effect and result in a significant drop in yield.

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Smoke From Megafires Puts Orchard Trees at Risk

Photo, posted October 1, 2008, courtesy of Suzi Rosenberg via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

2023: A year of extreme climate

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There have already been all sorts of extreme weather this year in many parts of the world and undoubtedly there will be more to talk about in the coming months.  But the American Meteorological Society has recently published its State of the Climate report for 2023 and it was a year for the record books.

In 2023, the Earth’s layers of heat-reflecting clouds had the lowest extent ever measured.  That means that skies were clearer around the world than on average, a situation that amplifies the warming of the planet.  Since 1980, clouds have decreased by more than half a percent per decade. 

The most dramatic climate effect last year occurred in the world’s oceans.  About 94% of all ocean surfaces experienced a marine heatwave during the year.  The global average annual sea surface temperature anomaly was 0.13 degrees Celsius above the previous record set in 2016.  This is a huge variation for the ocean.  Ocean heatwave conditions stayed in place for at least 10 months in 2023 in vast reaches of the world’s oceans.  Ocean heat was so remarkable that climate scientists are now using the term “super-marine heatwaves” to describe what is going on. 

There were many other ways in which 2023 experienced weather extremes.  July experienced a record-high 7.9% of the world’s land areas in severe drought conditions.  During the year, most of the world experienced much warmer-than-average conditions, especially in the higher northern latitudes.  These unprecedented changes to the climate are unlikely to be one-time occurrences; 2024 is likely to be another one for the record books.  

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New Federal Report Details More of 2023’s Extreme Climate Conditions

Photo, posted May 27, 2021, courtesy of Wendy Cover/NOAA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Threats to the Amazon Rainforest

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Brazil has made great progress in reducing deforestation in its Amazon Rainforest.  In 2023, the rate of deforestation in Brazil dropped by 50% over the previous year. This was the result of the efforts by conservation-minded President Luiz da Silva, who replaced Jair Bolsonaro, a big proponent of deforestation.  Da Silva’s government has cracked down on land clearing by farmers and ranchers.

In the first quarter of this year, deforestation decreased by 40% over the previous year’s quarter.   Deforestation levels are the lowest they’ve been in six years, although the amount of forest cleared in the period was still nearly 200 square miles.

Unfortunately, the Amazon Rainforest is facing another growing threat:  climate change.  Because of pervasive drought and increasing temperatures, the number of wildfires in the region have hit a 20-year high.

According to satellite data from the national space agency, from January through June, Brazil recorded 13,489 wildfires in the Amazon.  That is 61% more fires than during the same period last year.  And the wildfire season has yet to reach its peak, which usually is in August or September.

Many of these fires begin in pastures or recently cleared rainforest, but then spread into the surrounding rainforest areas.  Many are huge fires.  Hundreds of square miles of rainforest have been consumed by fire, comparable in size to the areas deforested by farmers and ranchers.

Going forward, worsening wildfires could reverse the gains being made by the government’s deforestation policies.  This could not only threaten forest protection, but also weaken public support for the government’s commitment to protecting the region.

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Brazil Is Seeing a Record Number of Wildfires This Year

Photo, posted January 26, 2018, courtesy of Chris Parker via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Declining pollinator populations

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Scientists have been sounding the alarm on the global struggle of pollinators for decades.  Many recent studies have highlighted alarming declines in pollinator populations, sparking concern about the potential negative impacts on ecosystems and agriculture.  Habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change are some of the factors linked to the population declines. But most pollinator research has focused on well-studied species in easily-accessible regions.

In a new study recently published in the journal PLOS One, a research team led by Northern Arizona University compiled data on four major families of bees and butterflies to create species distribution models, allowing them to assess changes over time and space across North America.

The researchers confirmed that bee and butterfly populations are declining in major regions of North America due to ongoing environmental changes, and found that significant gaps in pollinator research limit the ability to protect these species. 

The highest species richness was found along North America’s West Coast –  especially in California. But the models showed a decline in species richness over the past century in western North America.  In contrast, the research team found disproportionate increases in eastern North America.

Comparisons with climate data indicate that the pollinator population changes are at least partly due to the impacts of climate change, including prolonged drought and habitat degradation. 

The study identifies regions of declining populations where officials can prioritize conservation efforts, and highlights how improved monitoring methods could address the knowledge gaps on pollinator populations.

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Bee and butterfly records indicate diversity losses in western and southern North America, but extensive knowledge gaps remain

Bees and butterflies on the decline in western and southern North America

Photo, posted April 3, 2017, courtesy of Tracie Hall 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

Winegrowing regions and climate change

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Grapes grown to make wine are sensitive to climate conditions including temperatures and amount of rainfall.  The warming climate is already having visible effects on yields, grape composition, and the quality of wine.  This has significant consequences on the geography of wine production and is of major concern for the $350 billion global industry.

Winegrowing regions are mostly at the mid-latitudes where temperatures are warm enough to allow grapes to ripen but not excessively hot.  The climates are relatively dry so that fungal diseases are not rampant.

Because of the warming climate, harvesting in most vineyards now begins two or three weeks earlier than it did 40 years ago and this affects the grapes and the resultant wines.  Temperature changes affect acidity, wine alcohol, and aromatic signatures.

If global temperature rise crosses the 2-degree level, 90% of all traditional winegrowing areas throughout Spain, Italy, Greece, and southern California may become unable to produce high-quality wines.  Conversely, areas of northern France, the states of Washington and Oregon, British Columbia, and Tasmania will see improved conditions for producing quality wines. 

As the climate warms, winegrowers face new challenges such as the emergence of new diseases and pests as well as an increasing number of extreme weather events.  Wine producers are using more drought-resistant grape varieties and are adopting management methods that better preserve soil water.

The changing climate poses many threats to the quality of wines produced in traditional vineyards.  In the future, the wine industry may look very different in terms of where and how the best wines are produced. 

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A global map of how climate change is changing winegrowing regions

Photo, posted November 14, 2008, courtesy of Curtis Foreman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Canadian zombie fires

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Canada’s 2023 wildfire season was the most destructive ever recorded.  Over 6,000 fires burned nearly 71,000 square miles of land from the West Coast to the Atlantic provinces.  The burned areas are roughly the size of the entire country of Finland and represent almost triple the amount burned in the previous year, which itself was a lot. Smoke from Canadian fires, particularly those in Quebec, blanketed many cities in the United States and made its way as far south as Florida.

An alarming aspect of the Canadian fire season is that it didn’t ever really end.  Late in the winter, 149 active wildfires are still burning across Canada.  92 are in British Columbia, 56 in Alberta, and one in New Brunswick.  In these places, the wildfire season is yearlong.

These overwintering fires have come to be known as zombie fires.  They burn slowly below the surface during the winter.  Many areas in the north contain porous peat and moss ground cover and these act as underground fuel for smoldering fires.

Wildfires have become more prevalent in Canada because the changing climate has brought about increases in the hot, dry, and gusty conditions that lead to drought.

Many of the zombie fires don’t pose an increased threat of triggering wildfires in the spring because they are in places that are already so charred that there is nothing left to burn.  But others are in drought areas that are basically tinder boxes ready to burst into flame once spring arrives.

Overall, Canadian government officials are warning that this year’s wildfire season is likely to be even worse than last year’s, particularly in the Western provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.

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As ‘Zombie Fires’ Smolder, Canada Braces for Another Season of Flames

Photo, posted June 30, 2023, courtesy of P. McCabe / EU via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A surprising drop in renewable power

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Renewable power – which includes wind farms, solar farms, and hydroelectric dams – constitutes over 21% of the country’s utility-scale electricity generation, behind only natural gas power plants at 43%.  Nuclear power provides nearly 19% of our electricity and coal, which is gradually diminishing, is at 16%.

Both solar and wind power capacity have been growing rapidly in recent years and will be providing an increasing percentage of our electricity.  That being said, it turns out that utility-scale renewable electricity generation actually decreased slightly in 2023 as a result of weather-related issues.

Utility-scale renewables generated about 894,000 gigawatt hours of energy last year, which was 0.8% less than the record amount generated in 2022.

The reasons?  The biggest factor was slower wind speeds in the Midwest during the warmer weather months.  In 2023, there were fewer warm fronts and cold fronts passing through the region.  The passage of fronts is often associated with wind and precipitation. 

The other factor affecting renewable generation was a 5.9% drop in hydropower in 2023.  The main reason for the decrease was a drop in water levels at many hydroelectric dams in areas experiencing drought.

Experts explain that there is no reason to overreact to a one-year blip in renewables generation.  All three major sources of power – sun, wind, and hydroelectric – are tied to natural forces and all of them fluctuate over time.  Putting aside minor variations year-over-year, renewable electricity is on pace to more than double by the end of this decade.

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Federal Data Reveals a Surprising Drop in Renewable Power in 2023, as Slow Winds and Drought Took a Toll

Photo, posted July 5, 2014, courtesy of Patrick Finnegan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Sponging up a river

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During the first week of February, an atmospheric river dumped enormous amounts of rain on Southern California.  Over the course of four days, Los Angeles received 9 inches of rain.  The average annual rainfall in the city is only 14 inches.

But Los Angeles was not the site of a flooding disaster because the city has spent years preparing for this type of deluge by becoming a “sponge city.”   By installing lots of green spaces and shallow basins with porous soil, Los Angeles was able to soak up 8.6 billion gallons of water during the storm, enough to meet the water needs of 100,000 people for a year.

Cities covered with impermeable concrete sidewalks and paved areas make storm-related flooding worse because they are unable to absorb water.  Instead, the water flows into drains and overwhelms infrastructure.

Natural materials like dirt and plants take in water from storms and can filter it into underground aquifer that cities can then tap into, especially during droughts.  Adding green spaces to cities has many other benefits beyond the ability to absorb large amounts of rainwater.

The so-called sponge-city movement is catching on in many other places.  Philadelphia is revamping its water systems in a 25-year project that includes green spaces to absorb stormwater runoff.  In China, the government has spent more than a decade adding spongy elements to dozens of cities around the country.

Sponge cities are part of a broader effort to combine modern engineering techniques with natural systems.  This is known as green-gray infrastructure.  Nature knows what it is doing when it comes to flood control as well as to pollution control.

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‘Spongy’ LA Soaked Up Tons of Water From Atmospheric River

Photo, posted December 28, 2011, courtesy of Ron Reiring via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A wet January

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For the first time in a while, the monthly report on the US climate did not feature record-setting heat.  The average January temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 1.6 degrees above the average, but that only ranked it in the middle third of the climate record.  The diminishing El Niño probably helped.  On the other hand, the global average temperature in January was again the warmest on record – the 8th consecutive record-setting month.

But January still managed to be atypical weatherwise in the U.S. in that the nation’s average precipitation across the country was 3.18 inches – nearly an inch above average – which made it the 10th wettest January in NOAA’s 130-year climate record.  Thirteen states experienced top-ten rainfall amounts.  In late January, record rainfall and flooding hit the southern plains, especially in parts of Texas and Louisiana.  Meanwhile, early February brought historic rainfall and mountain snow to California with a second round later in the month.

All of the rainfall in January has made some difference to drought conditions across the country.  On January 30th, about 23.5% of the contiguous U.S. was In drought, which was 9.5% lower than the beginning of the month.  However, drought conditions expanded or intensified across northern parts of the Rockies and Plains among a few other places.

Outside of the lower-48, Alaska continued to experience historic snowfall conditions.  Between October and the end of January, Anchorage had over 100 inches of snow.

We are living in an era of weather extremes.

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The nation just saw its 10th-wettest January on record

Photo, posted February 8, 2017, courtesy of Paxson Woelber via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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