economic

Renewables’ Growing Share | Earth Wise

March 15, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Not long ago, many states across the country were setting goals to obtain 20% of their electricity from renewable sources. For a few states, like New York and Washington, ample amounts of hydropower made 20% an easy target. But for many others, 20% seemed like a very ambitious objective.

Things have certainly changed. According to the latest monthly Short Term Energy Outlook, a report from the federal government, the combination of wind, solar, and other renewable sources will exceed one-quarter of the country’s generation by 2024.

Renewables are already at 24% of U.S. electricity generation and are expected to rise to 26% by next year. Coal, which used to be the largest source of electricity, will continue to drop from its current 18% to 17% by next year. Overall, renewables passed coal for the first full year in 2020. Coal staged a bit of a comeback in 2021, but has once again resumed its decline. Many coal-fired power plants continue to close, and there are not new ones being built because of diminishing economic benefits as well as concerns about emissions.

The largest source of electricity generation continues to be natural gas at 38%, but that number is also expected to slowly decrease over time. The growth in renewable energy is coming from wind and solar power. Two-thirds of that growth is from solar and one-third is from wind.

Together, wind and solar power will add up to 18% of the country’s electricity supply. The government still tracks them lumped together as renewables, but both are so large and growing so quickly that the Energy Information Agency is likely to soon start tracking them as separate categories.

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Renewables Projected to Soon Be One-Fourth of US Electricity Generation. Really Soon

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Driving Electric Is Cheaper For Almost Everyone | Earth Wise

February 24, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A study by University of Michigan researchers found that about 90% of U.S. households would save money on fuel costs by owning an electric car rather than a gas-powered car. So apart from the environmental benefits of electric cars, there are real economic benefits as well.

Both the price of gasoline and the price of electricity vary considerably across the country, so there are differences by location. The study found that 71% of U.S. drivers would see their fuel expenses cut at least in half by driving an electric car.

Drivers in California, Washington, and New York would see the largest fuel savings as well as the biggest emissions reductions from a new electric car. Those states have cleaner electric grids and a bigger gap between the cost of electricity and the cost of gas.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, only looked at fuel costs and did not take into account the purchase cost of new cars. Generally speaking, plug-in cars have higher sticker prices than gas-powered cars but multiple studies have shown that over their lifetimes, electric vehicles end up being cheaper to own than comparable gas-powered vehicles because of lower maintenance costs on top of the fuel savings. The price gap between equivalent gas and electric cars continues to narrow in any case as the cost of batteries continues to decline. On top of that, the recent expansion of federal tax credits on electric cars is making the vehicles cost-competitive right at the point of purchase.

Gasoline prices have come down considerably from their peak a year ago, but for almost everyone, it is still much cheaper to drive on electricity.

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Seven in 10 U.S. Drivers Could Halve Their Fuel Costs by Going Electric, Study Finds

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Bitcoin Mining And The Environment | Earth Wise

November 7, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Bitcoin mining, the process by which the prominent cryptocurrency is created, is well-known to be energy intensive, but the environmental impact of it has not been extensively studied. People have described Bitcoin as ‘digital gold.’ A new analysis by researchers at the University of New Mexico has found that Bitcoin mining shouldn’t be compared to gold mining. It is more appropriately compared to the creation of much more energy-intensive products such as beef, natural gas, and crude oil.

Furthermore, the study found that rather than becoming more sustainable over time, Bitcoin mining is becoming dirtier and more damaging to the climate as long as it relies upon fossil-fuel generated electricity. Estimates are that in 2020, Bitcoin mining used 75.4 terawatt hours of electricity, which is more electricity than the entire country of Austria, as well as 150 other nations around the world.

The study looked at the economic cost of the air pollution and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining and found that in many instances, the negative economic impact of creating a single Bitcoin is more than what the resultant coin is worth.

Based on the market value of Bitcoins, the cost of climate damage for that value is a little less that that of electricity produced by natural gas and gasoline produced from crude oil, but actually more than that of beef production.

There are multiple cryptocurrencies. Ether is one that voluntarily switched away from so-called proof-of-work mining. Whether Bitcoin or others will act similarly absent potential regulation remains to be seen. Until such time, Bitcoin mining remains an increasingly dirty and damaging business.

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Technology: UNM researchers find Bitcoin mining is environmentally unsustainable

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Removing Carbon With The Oceans | Earth Wise

January 26, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There is increasing concern that reducing carbon emissions alone will not be sufficient to stabilize the climate and that technologies that actively remove carbon dioxide from the air will be needed. There has been a fair amount of analysis of the efficacy of storing carbon in agricultural soil and in forests, but there has not been comparable studies of the risks, benefits, and trade-offs of ocean-based strategies.

The oceans currently absorb about a quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. There are multiple ways in which oceans could be induced to store much more. A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine looks at several ocean carbon dioxide removal strategies in terms of efficacy, potential costs, and potential environmental risks.

One approach involves adding nutrients to the ocean surface to increase photosynthesis by phytoplankton. The approach has a medium to high chance of being effective and has medium environmental risks.

Another approach is large-scale seaweed farming that transports carbon to the deep ocean or into sediments. It has medium efficacy chances but higher environmental risks.

Protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems including marine wildlife would have the lowest environmental risk but only low to medium efficacy.

Chemically altering ocean water to increase its alkalinity in order to enhance reactions that take up carbon dioxide would be highly effective but a medium environmental risk.

The report describes some other approaches as well. It recommends a $125 million research program to better understand the technological challenges as well as the potential economic, social, and environmental impacts of increasing the oceans’ absorption of carbon dioxide.

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Oceans Could Be Harnessed to Remove Carbon From Air, Say U.S. Science Leaders

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Hydropower And Floating Solar | Earth Wise

October 30, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, hybrid systems of floating solar panels and hydroelectric plants have the potential to produce a significant portion of the world’s electricity.

According to their estimates, adding floating solar panels to bodies of water that host hydropower stations could produce up to 7.6 terawatts of power a year from the solar systems, resulting in about 10,600 terawatt-hours of energy. The total global electricity consumption in 2018 was 22,300 terawatt-hours. So, the potential in terms of the global appetite for electricity is very large.

This estimate is certainly optimistic. It does not take into account economic feasibility or specific market demand. What it does represent is an estimate of the technical and performance potential of floating photovoltaics at hydroelectric facilities.

Floating solar is just starting to be used in the U.S., but it has already caught on overseas where space for ground-mounted systems is at a greater premium.

According to the NREL study, nearly 400,000 freshwater hydropower reservoirs across the globe could host floating PV sites that could be used in conjunction with the existing hydroelectric plants. One important advantage of this approach is that the hybrid system would reduce transmission costs by linking to a common substation. In addition, the two technologies could balance each other, with solar power taking up the slack in dry seasons and hydropower working well in rainy seasons. In some places, pumped storage hydropower could be used to store excess solar generation.

There is great potential in hybrid floating solar/hydroelectric power.

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Untapped potential exists for blending hydropower, floating solar panels

Photo, posted April 12, 2009, courtesy of Alexis Nyal via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar On Commercial Buildings | Earth Wise

September 17, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The United States installed 3.6 gigawatts of photovoltaic solar capacity in the first quarter of this year to reach a total installed capacity of 81.4 GW. That is enough to power about 16 million American homes. More than 2/3 of that capacity has been installed during the past five years.

There has been a boom in solar installations in recent years and, until the Covid-19 pandemic stuck, 2020 was expected to be the biggest year yet. Now the unprecedented health, social, and economic conditions in our country creates great uncertainty in such forecasts.

Nevertheless, the opportunities for growth in solar power continue to be substantial. A new report from the energy research firm Wood Mackenzie looked at the prospects for using the roof space of commercial buildings for solar power.

Currently, just 3.5% of commercial buildings in the U.S. have solar panels on their roofs. Another 1% of those buildings are attached to solar projects located off-site. The report looked at how many buildings are potential targets for solar projects.

After accounting for buildings that are too small or that use too little electricity to make solar power a worthwhile investment, the report estimated that 70% of commercial buildings in the U.S. – amounting to some 600,000 sites – are candidates for solar installations. Doing this would provide 145 GW of new solar capacity, which is nearly twice as much as currently exists in this country.

Commercial solar installations have their own unique logistical and financial challenges. While utility solar can scale to lower costs and residential solar has financing opportunities, commercial solar has neither. But ultimately, it represents an important opportunity for our future energy system.

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U.S. Commercial Rooftops Hold 145 Gigawatts of Untapped Solar Potential

Photo, posted June 25, 2014, courtesy of Rob Baxter via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewable Energy And The Post-COVID World | Earth Wise

June 2, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

As is the case for virtually all sectors of the global economy, the short-term prospects for wind and solar power look pretty grim. Lockdowns, social distancing requirements, and financial upheavals have put many new projects on ice and have halted production at factories making solar panels and wind turbines. Sales of home solar have struggled as people have put off spending during the economic slowdown.

Ironically, the shutdowns aimed at reducing the spread of the Coronavirus have led to renewable sources accounting for an increased share of power generation. Global energy demand has plummeted and, because of the low cost of solar and wind power, sources like coal and nuclear power have been curtailed in favor of the renewables. The dramatically reduced demand has pushed oil and gas prices to historic lows and has left fossil fuel companies struggling to find storage space for the glut of product.

When the world emerges from the pandemic, the question is whether renewable energy will end up on a faster track than before or will end up in a long-term slowdown. The answer will depend to large extent on the choices political leaders make.

Leaders will unquestionably be designing economic recovery packages. Such packages could accelerate the shift towards wind and solar power, or they could prop up the fossil fuel economy. Unfortunately, leaders are prone to be motivated by lobbyists more than by the greater needs of society. The global economic upheaval represents a real opportunity to change the pace of efforts to address climate change. Whether that change is a positive one or a negative one is just another looming question facing society when we emerge from the pandemic.

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How Renewable Energy Could Emerge on Top After the Pandemic

Photo, posted April 12, 2020, courtesy of Jeremy Segrott via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Largest U.S. Solar Project | Earth Wise

May 28, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The largest solar project to date in the U.S. has received final approval from the Department of the Interior. A $1 billion, 690-megawatt solar array will be built on federal land in the Mojave Desert in Nevada. The project includes battery energy storage and is expected to produce enough electricity to power more than a quarter million homes. It will also offset the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to about 83,000 cars a year.

The current largest U.S. installation, the Solar Star Farm in Southern California, completed in 2015, generates 579 megawatts of power.

Construction of the Gemini Solar Array is expected to start sometime this year and be completed by 2022 or 2023. The first phase of the project will cover 11 square miles of desert land about 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Some conservation groups have fought against the project, saying that it will destroy thousands of acres of habitat for endangered desert tortoises as well as other rare plant and animal species. The groups agree that solar energy is a good thing but are convinced that the location selected is the wrong one.

Interior Department representatives note that the Gemini Project will provide jobs and economic growth at a time when many Americans in general and Nevada citizens in particular are struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project is projected to generate $713 million in economic activity and employ about 2,000 people during construction. However, once it is up and running, it will employ just 19 full-time workers.

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The Largest Solar Project in the U.S. Gets Green Light

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Plants Paying For Biofuels | Earth Wise

May 7, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Biofuels are an important element in broader strategies to replace petroleum in transportation fuels like gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. The idea is that biofuels recycle carbon by getting it from growing plants rather than from fossil sources. The biggest problem with biofuels is that they cost more than conventional petroleum fuels, so there is economic incentive to keep burning the fossil fuels.

One strategy to make biofuels cost competitive is to have the plants provide additional economic benefits beyond being a feedstock for fuel. This in principle can be done by engineering plants to produce valuable chemical compounds, or bioproducts, as they grow. Bioproducts include such things as flavoring agents and fragrances as well as biodegradable plastic. These bioproducts can be extracted from the plants and then the remaining plant material can be converted to fuel.

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently published a study to determine what quantities of bioproducts plants need to produce to result in cost-effective biofuel production.

The study looked at a compound called limonene, which is used for flavoring and fragrance. They calculated that if this compound was accumulated at 0.6% of the biomass dry weight, it would offer net economic benefits to biorefineries. This corresponds to recovering 130 pounds of limonene from 10 tons of sorghum on an acre of land.

Such quantities are completely practical but, on the other hand, none of these substances are needed in huge quantities. Just six refineries could supply the world with limonene. So, fuel crops would need to be engineered to produce a broad range of bioproducts to enable a viable cost-effective biofuel industry.

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Making Biofuels Cheaper by Putting Plants to Work

Photo, posted September 28, 2019, courtesy of Michele Dorsey Walfred via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Cost Of Air Pollution | Earth Wise

March 12, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

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.

Jet Fuel From Acetone | Earth Wise

February 25, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Acetone is a common organic solvent. It is used to make plastic, fibers, drugs, and other chemicals. It is commonly used by consumers as nail polish remover. Acetone is a manufactured chemical, but it is also found naturally in the environment in plants, among other places. There are now companies that produce acetone entirely by fermentation of plant feedstocks, such as corn.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have now developed a process by which acetone can be converted into a fuel additive that can improve the performance of petroleum-based jet fuel, providing both environmental and economic benefits.

The process takes biomass-derived acetone and converts it to isophorone, which they produce by a process called photochemical cycloaddition that creates more complex hydrocarbons. They then use ultraviolet light to convert the isophorone into cyclobutane, which is a type of hydrocarbon with high energy density that is suitable for aviation fuel applications.

Acetone itself is quite volatile and is unsuitable for fuel applications. It also cannot be added directly to any fuel supply since it can dissolve engine parts and o-rings. Cyclobutane, on the other hand, is a safer and more energy-dense fuel that can be a replacement for additives that require high-pressure hydrogen treatment in their synthesis. Currently, most hydrogen is produced by a process that generates carbon dioxide. The new conversion process does not result in carbon emissions.

According to the Los Alamos researchers, their process can result in a domestically generated product that will provide environmental benefits, create domestic jobs, improve U.S. energy security, and further U.S. global leadership in bioenergy technologies.

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Acetone plus light creates a green jet fuel additive

Photo, posted December 18, 2007, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Value Of Abandoned Agricultural Lands | Earth Wise

February 18, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It is perhaps surprising to learn that more land is now being abandoned by farming than converted to it. In fact, abandonment of rural lands has become one of the most dramatic planet-wide changes of the modern era, affecting millions of square miles of land.

In part, it is due to rural flight driven by the economic, social, and educational appeal of cities. It is also a result of climate change and the globalization of the food supply chain. The global footprint of agriculture has been decreasing over the past twenty years but the global food supply isn’t shrinking. The lost land has generally been marginal and farming elsewhere has become more productive.

Many researchers see abandoned agricultural lands as a huge opportunity for ecological restoration and strengthening of biodiversity. Others see these lands as an opportunity for a massive program to plant trees to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A recent study published in Science estimated that planting trees on abandoned agricultural lands could remove 25% of the carbon dioxide humans have added to the atmosphere.

There are strong criticisms to all of these ideas. In most cases, the studies don’t incorporate the social context of why these lands are in transition, the potential effects on local populations, whether the lands are publicly or privately owned, and whether lands now suitable for regeneration will remain so as climate change advances.

Current government initiatives on degraded lands typically lack even rudimentary planning. There are real opportunities presented by the vast amounts of abandoned agricultural lands, but there are many caveats and many issues to confront. As a society, we have barely begun to even think about what to do.

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Could Abandoned Agricultural Lands Help Save the Planet?

Photo, posted May 9, 2010. courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Detecting Methane

December 23, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Natural gas has become a huge industry in the United States, increasingly replacing coal in power plants, and otherwise contributing to energy independence. Unfortunately, it also contributes to climate change. Methane – the primary component of natural gas – is a powerful greenhouse gas that is estimated to be responsible for as much as a quarter of atmospheric warming.

Not all of the emissions from natural gas come from its use. In the United States, so-called fugitive emissions from the oil and gas industry total an estimated 13 million metric tons per year. These emissions basically consist of leakage of various types from the extraction, transportation, and processing of natural gas and cost the industry $2 billion in lost revenue each year. Globally, that figure is estimated to be $30 billion.

Research labs and startup companies are working on developing and deploying novel technologies to address the growing issue of methane leaks across the fossil fuel supply chain.

One company called LongPath Technologies – a spinout from the University of Colorado – uses frequency comb laser technology that can pinpoint a leak to about a 50 square-foot area from half a mile away. Other companies use different variations on laser absorption technology to be able to measure methane concentrations from a distance.

Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but it stays in the atmosphere for much less time. As a result, reducing methane emissions can pay off much more quickly than reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

The current EPA is trying to eliminate emissions regulations on the natural gas industry, but it is in the industry’s economic interest to curb those emissions even if they were unconcerned about the environment.

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Methane Detectives: Can a Wave of New Technology Slash Natural Gas Leaks?

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Meeting Climate Goals With Current Energy Infrastructure

September 2, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Paris Climate Agreement set forth a goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius as well as a more optimistic (and preferable) goal of keeping the temperature rise to less than 1.5 degrees. Reaching either of these goals requires getting to net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.

A new paper, published in Nature, looks at the issue of whether existing power plants and other fossil-fuel-burning equipment (including vehicles) can continue to operate until they age out of functionality, or whether they need to be retired early.

The results of the study are that future emissions from existing facilities would take up the entire carbon budget needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and almost 2/3 of the budget needed to keep warming below 2 degrees over the next 30 years.

So, the good news is that we can still avoid a 2-degree rise without having to shut down all the existing power plants early. But we would definitely have to stop building new things with smokestacks and tailpipes that dump CO₂ into the atmosphere.

That good news is tempered by the fact that the number of fossil fuel-burning power plants and vehicles in the world has increased dramatically over the past decade, spurred by rapid economic and industrial development in China and India. In fact, China is predicted to produce more than 40% of all the carbon emissions over the next 30 years.

The 2-degree climate goal is not at all the most desirable result. The 1.5-degree target would be far better for the climate. But if the world is to achieve it, there will be dramatic changes needed in the existing infrastructure – either shutting it down or retrofitting it to drastically reduce emissions.

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Two-Degree Climate Goal Attainable Without Early Infrastructure Retirement

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Lots Of Renewable Energy Jobs

August 16, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, there were 11 million people employed in renewable energy worldwide in 2018. This compares with 10.3 million in 2017. So roughly three-quarters of a million new jobs were added last year. As more and more countries manufacture, trade and install renewable energy technologies, renewables jobs continue to reach new high levels.

The geographic footprint of renewable energy jobs is changing. Until now, renewable energy industries have remained relatively concentrated in a handful of major markets such as China, the US, and the European Union. But more recently, East and Southeast Asian countries have emerged alongside China as key exporters of solar technology. Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam were responsible for a greater share of growth in renewables last year. Overall, Asia has a 60% share of renewable energy jobs worldwide.

Beyond climate goals, low-carbon economic growth has become a driver for renewables technology. Renewables deliver on all the major elements of sustainable development: environmental, economic and social.

The solar photovoltaic industry continues to be the most dynamic renewable enterprise. It accounts for a third of the renewable energy workforce with more than three million jobs.

Biofuel jobs were up by 6% to over 2 million. Wind power supports 1.2 million jobs, with onshore projects predominant. But the offshore wind segment is gaining traction. Hydropower is still the largest installed capacity of all renewables but is now only expanding slowly. The hydropower sector employs 2.1 million people directly, three-quarters in operations and maintenance.

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Renewable energy market employs 11 million in 2018 – IRENA

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And Economic Inequality

June 3, 2019 By EarthWise 1 Comment

A new study by Stanford University looked at the effects of climate change on global economic inequality. The study found that the gap between the economic output of the world’s richest and poorest countries is larger today than it would have been without global warming.

The warming climate has enriched cooler countries like Norway and Sweden while dragging down economic growth in warm countries such as India and Nigeria. The results of the study showed that most of the poorest countries on Earth are considerably poorer than they would have been in the absence of rising temperatures. At the same time, the majority of rich countries are richer than they would have otherwise been.

Detailed analysis of 50 years of annual temperature and GDP measurements for 165 countries demonstrated that growth during warmer than average years has accelerated in cool nations and slowed in warm nations. Historical data clearly show that crops are more productive, people are healthier, and they are more productive at work when temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold. That means that in cold countries, a little bit of warming can help but the opposite is true in places that are already hot.

For most counties, whether global warming has helped or hurt economic growth is pretty certain. Tropical countries in particular tend to have temperatures far outside the ideal for economic growth and they are already among the poorest countries. It is less clear how warming has influenced growth in countries in the middle latitudes, such as here in the United States. Some of the largest economies are near the perfect temperature for economic output but continued warming in the future is likely to push them away from the temperature optimum.

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Climate change has worsened global economic inequality

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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Shipping And Invasive Species

May 7, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The increasing numbers of invasive species around the world are a major driver of biodiversity change and cause billions of dollars in economic damages annually. Climate change is a major factor in the spread of invasive species, but a new study by McGill University suggests that global shipping growth will far outweigh climate change in the spread of non-indigenous pests to new environments in the coming decades.

One of the most significant ways in which the disparate regions of the world are interconnected is via transportation networks. The global shipping network is the primary means by which materials and goods are moved worldwide, accounting for over 80% of world trade. And for this reason, the global shipping network is responsible for much of the introduction of non-indigenous species across the planet.

Living organisms are often transported through ballast water, which is taken up to stabilize cargo vessels. Other species are transported by biofouling, whereby they attach to the hulls of ships. Taken together, these two pathways account for anywhere between 60 and 90% of marine bioinvasions. (Terrestrial invaders are generally moved as a byproduct of shipping, for example by infesting wood packaging material).

The McGill study looked at trends in global shipping and how socioeconomic factors are driving change. For example, China’s share of global container throughput has gone from 1.4% in 1990 to 20.1% in 2013. So, the distribution and patterns of shipping have been changing dramatically and with it the spread of non-indigenous species.

Awareness of this issue is increasing. For example, there have been policy initiatives such as the International Ballast Water Management Convention that is an effort to control bio-invasions through measures such as ballast exchange. We need to take measures to limit the unintentional spread of species.

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Global forecasts of shipping traffic and biological invasions to 2050

Photo, posted December 3, 2009, courtesy of Roger W via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Endangered Language Species

January 14, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There are approximately 7,000 languages spoken in the world today but only about half of them are expected to survive this century. There are many factors contributing to the decline in languages. Perhaps the most significant is globalization, which pushes countries and individuals to shift to national or international languages for economic reasons. Other factors include the lack of support for regional languages in educational systems and mass media, persecution of minority linguistic groups by governments, and disruption of communities during war and emigration.

Predicting which languages will survive and which won’t is difficult. A potential tipping point for languages is the same one affecting the survival of species: climate change. Many small linguistic communities are located on islands and coastlines that are vulnerable to hurricanes and rising sea levels. Other communities live in places where increases in temperatures and erratic rainfall threaten traditional farming and fishing economies.

These climate-related changes will force communities to relocate,creating climate change refugees. Dispersing these people will lead to the splintering of linguistic communities and the need for the use of other languages. Such changes will place additional pressures on languages that are already struggling to survive.

There are endangered languages in many places around the world. Some are exotic such as the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, which is home to dozens of distinct languages spoken by no more than a few thousand people. Others are much closer to home, such as in indigenous communities in Canada.

The rich tapestry of human language is just another of many things threatened by the changing climate.

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