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Europe Is Warming Very Quickly | Earth Wise

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According to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization, Europe is warming faster than any other inhabited continent.  The result of the rising temperatures has been increasingly severe heat waves, flood, and wildfires.

The Paris Climate Agreement has set a goal of limiting warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and, if at all possible, to no more than 1.5 degrees.  To date, the planet has warmed by 1.2 degrees and, with greenhouse gas emissions continuing at record levels, the temperature keeps going up.

These numbers refer to the global average.  Some places have warmed more and others less.  The Arctic has been warming four times quicker than the rest of the world.  In terms of direct impact on large populations, Europe has already surpassed the 2-degree mark, having reached 2.3 degrees last year.  In 2022, many countries in western and southwestern Europe had their warmest year on record. Weather-related economic damages totaled $2 billion, mostly as a result of storms and floods.

Europe is trying to do its part in mitigating climate change by making major gains on clean energy.  Wind and solar generated 22% of Europe’s power in 2022, which is more than either natural gas or coal produced.  Europe is trying to do its share, but the warming climate is a global phenomenon and will require a global effort to mitigate its effects.

The record-breaking heat stress experienced by Europeans last year cannot be considered a one-off occurrence.  It is part of a pattern that will make weather extremes more frequent and more intense over time.

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The Fastest-Warming Continent, Europe Has Already Heated by More Than 2 Degrees C

Photo, posted September 26, 2011, courtesy of Ben Ramirez via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric Cars And Apartments | Earth Wise

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The transition to electric cars is underway.  People are increasingly buying them, carmakers are switching over to making them, and governments are providing incentives as well as legislating the changeover.  More and more consumers want to lower their carbon footprints and stop burning fossil fuels.  But one very large group of consumers faces an uphill battle in switching to electric cars:  people who rent their dwellings.

About one third of our country lives in rented apartments or houses.  These nearly 110 million Americans are more likely to be in the bottom half of income and net worth and are more likely to be people of color.  These people are less likely to have the spare cash to make upgrades to their property such as car chargers and may not be able to get permission from their landlords to do it anyway.

Renters face what is known as the “split-incentive problem” or the “landlord-tenant problem.”  Three-quarters of tenants in the US pay their own utility bills, so they have a strong incentive to conserve electricity, water, and gas.  Their landlords, on the other hand, have little incentive to upgrade appliances and systems to be more environmentally responsible.  Studies have shown that on average renters use 3% more energy than homeowners for this reason.

There are some landlords who are being proactive and installing facilities for charging cars on their properties.   This will undoubtedly become an increasingly sought-after feature for renters.  But in the meantime, millions of them have a more difficult time driving electric cars.  They can charge at public chargers or perhaps at work.  But at the moment, homeowners are three times more likely than renters to own an electric car.

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The coming battle between Americans who want to go electric and their landlords

Photo, posted July 22, 2022, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Liquid Fuel From Sunshine | Earth Wise

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A key goal of artificial photosynthesis research is to be able to produce a useful liquid fuel using only carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight in a single step.  Such a so-called solar fuel would produce net zero carbon emissions and would be completely renewable.

Bioethanol has long been touted as a green alternative to fossil fuels, since it is made from plants rather than petroleum.  But producing it takes up agricultural land that could be used to grow food instead and there are emissions associated with many aspects of the process by which plant mass becomes fuel.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK have developed a so-called artificial leaf that produces ethanol or propanol – usable liquid fuels – in a single step.  They developed a copper and palladium-based catalyst that allows the artificial leaf to directly produce multicarbon complex chemicals.  Earlier versions of artificial leaves could make simple chemicals, such as syngas, which would then require additional processing to turn into high-density fuels.

The new device produces liquid fuel from carbon dioxide and water simply by shining sunlight on it.

At present, the artificial leaf is a proof-of-concept device that exhibits only modest efficiency.  The researchers are working to optimize the device’s light absorbers so that they can better make use of sunlight and to optimize the catalyst so that it can convert more of the sunlight into fuel.  In addition, the device needs to be scaled up so that it can produce large volumes of fuel.

All that being said, it is an important step towards people being able to do what plants have been doing for millions of years.

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Driving on sunshine: clean, usable liquid fuels made from solar power

Photo, posted March 23, 2015, courtesy of Astro via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Keeping The Colorado River Flowing | Earth Wise

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The Colorado River supplies drinking water to 40 million Americans in seven states as well as to many Mexicans and provides irrigation to 5.5 million acres of farmland.  Electricity generated by dams on the Colorado powers millions of homes and businesses in the West.

A combination of drought, population growth, and climate change has reduced the river’s flows by a third in recent years compared with historical averages.  Further reductions could trigger a water and power catastrophe across the Western states.

California, Arizona, and Nevada all get water from Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by the Colorado at Hoover Dam.  The Interior Department determines how much water each of these three states receives.  The other states that use Colorado River water get it directly from the river and its tributaries.  Last summer, water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell fell enough that officials feared that the hydroelectric turbines at the Colorado’s dams would soon cease functioning.

The three states have recently struck an agreement with the federal government to take less water from the Colorado.  The reductions amount to about 13% of the total water use in the lower Colorado.  The government will pay about $1.2 billion to irrigation districts, cities, and Native American tribes for temporarily using less water.  The states have also agreed to make additional cuts to generate the total reductions needed to prevent the collapse of the river.

The agreement runs only through the end of 2026.  At that point, all seven states that rely on the river – which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming – may well be facing a deeper reckoning.  The forces driving the decline of the Colorado are not going away.

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A Breakthrough Deal to Keep the Colorado River From Going Dry, for Now

Photo, posted June 16, 2017, courtesy Karen and Brad Emerson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Airplane Turbulence And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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If you’ve ever been on an airplane, chances are pretty good that you’ve experienced turbulence.  As the busy summer travel season kicks off, travelers are being encouraged to brace themselves for a bumpier-than-usual ride. 

There has been a major increase in the number of severe turbulence cases on both domestic and international flights.  According to a new study by researchers from the University of Reading in the U.K., climate change is leading to this increase in turbulence, driving up costs (via wear and tear on aircrafts), and increasing the risks for passengers and flight attendants.  In the United States alone, turbulence costs the airline industry $150-$500 million annually. 

The study, which was recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that warmer air, caused by carbon emissions, is creating bumpier flights around the world.  In fact, the study found that severe turbulence in the North Atlantic is up by 55% since 1979. 

The changing climate is affecting air travel in other ways as well.  A faster jet stream across the Atlantic is altering travel times.  Rising temperatures are reducing the weight that aircraft can carry.  Rising seas are threatening low-lying coastal airports around the world. 

But carbon emissions from aviation are also a significant driver of the climate crisis.  Air travel accounts for approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and is one of the fastest growing sources of emissions. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, emissions from international air travel are expected to triple by 2050.

The future is shaping up to be a bumpy ride.

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Climate crisis leading to more turbulence during flights, says study

Evidence for Large Increases in Clear-Air Turbulence Over the Past Four Decades

Climate Scientist Explains Increase In Airplane Turbulence

Airports and Rising Seas

Photo, posted May 9, 2018, courtesy of Steve Lynes via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

An Unwanted Temperature Threshold Is Approaching | Earth Wise

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According to the World Meteorological Organization, there is a 66% chance over the next five years that the Earth’s global temperature will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.

A combination of the continued accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere along with a looming El Niño condition will contribute to surging temperatures.  The WMO also reports that there is a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years will be the warmest on record and that the five-year period as a whole will be the warmest on record.

Reaching or surpassing the 1.5-degree threshold may only be temporary but would be the strongest indication yet of how quickly climate change is accelerating.   The 1.5-degree point is considered by many scientists to be a key tipping point, beyond which the chances of extreme flooding, drought, wildfires, heatwaves, and food shortages could increase dramatically.

The world has already seen about 1.2 degrees of warming as we continue to burn fossil fuels and produce enormous quantities of greenhouse gas emissions.  As recently as 2015, the WMO put the chance of breaching the 1.5-degree threshold as close to zero.

It is important to understand that the 1.5-degree temperature increase is an average for the entire planet.  Many individual locations around the world have been experiencing tremendously greater amounts of warming with record-breaking temperatures.

The 1.5-degree threshold is important, but it is not itself a tipping point.  There is still time to reduce global warming by moving away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy.  But the clock is ticking and so far, the world is not showing any urgency.

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‘Sounding the alarm’: World on track to breach a critical warming threshold in the next five years

Photo, posted May 20, 2015, courtesy of Kevin Gill via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

New York Is Sinking | Earth Wise

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The rising seas represent a threat to coastal cities across the globe.  Increasing that threat is the fact that most global cities are slowly sinking as the earth beneath them settles and groundwater is removed.   Another factor that has seldom been considered is that in major metropolises, the weight of large, concrete-and-steel skyscrapers may be hastening the sinking.

A new study by the U.S. Geological Survey published in the journal Earth’s Future estimated the weight of every building in New York City – 1.085 million of them – which they determined to add up to 1.68 trillion pounds – and estimated the downward force of those structures across the city.

The study found that buildings have a greater effect in areas that are rich in clay compared with those areas where sand or bedrock predominate.  The softer the soil, the more compression there is from buildings.  It wasn’t a mistake to build large buildings in New York, but it is important to understand that doing so pushes down the ground more and more.

The study determined that New York is sinking by around 1 to 2 millimeters each year, although some areas are sinking much faster.  The researchers say that cities must plan for future sinking, which will exacerbate the impact of rising seas. Sea levels are rising 1 to 2 millimeter each year, so the subsidence caused by the weight of buildings is equivalent to moving a year ahead in time with regard to rising ocean levels.  This is not a cause for immediate panic, but it is important to understand that this ongoing process only increases the risk of inundation from flooding.

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New York City Sinking Under Weight of Skyscrapers

Photo, posted January 29, 2016, courtesy of Always Shooting via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Upper Atmosphere Is Cooling | Earth Wise

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Upper Atmosphere Is Cooling, Prompting New Climate Concerns

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Energy From Fruit Waste | Earth Wise

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In the Back to the Future films, Doc Brown ran his DeLorean time machine on food scraps.  It was a fun bit of science fiction.  But researchers at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Canada are investigating the potential for using food waste to generate power.

Food waste is not a candidate to replace solar or wind power, but it could be a source of energy for powering fuel cells.  As it is, food waste represents a sustainability challenge because of its detrimental impacts on the economy and the environment.  Organic waste represents a significant fraction of the material in landfills and contributes to methane production, air pollution, and other harmful pollutants.

The UBC researchers focused on fruit waste, which is abundantly available in agricultural regions.  They have devised microbial fuel cells that convert fruit waste into electrical energy using an anaerobic anode compartment.  That is a chamber in which anaerobic microbes – ones that don’t need oxygen – utilize the organic matter to convert it into energy.  The microbes consume the fruit waste and produce water while generating bioelectricity.

It is not like the Back to the Future time machine where you can just toss in scraps of whatever is on hand.  Different types of fruits provide different results when used in the microbial fuel cell. The process works best when the food waste is separated and ground into small particles.  There is a long way to go before the technology could produce bioenergy on a commercial scale, but there is considerable potential for doing something useful with something that is currently worthless.

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UBCO researchers aim to energize fruit waste

Photo, posted July 24, 2011, courtesy of Andrew Girdwood via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Chatbots Are Thirsty | Earth Wise

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We hear a lot about artificial intelligence these days.  ChatGPT has found its way into education, technology, and many other aspects of life.  It and its brethren are a source of fascination, enthusiasm, and even fear.  Many of us have given queries to the bot to see what kind of results we can obtain.  But a recent study has found out something about AI systems that we probably didn’t know – they use up lots of fresh water.

According to researchers at the University of California, Riverside, running a few dozen queries on ChatGPT uses up about half a quart of fresh water from already overtaxed reservoirs.

Running artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT relies on cloud computations done in racks of servers in warehouse-sized data processing centers.  Google’s data centers in the U.S. alone consumed nearly 3.5 billion gallons of fresh water in 2021 in order to keep their servers cool.

Data processing centers consume water in two ways.  They often draw much of their electricity from power plants that use large cooling towers that convert water into steam emitted into the atmosphere.  In addition, the servers themselves need to be cooled to keep running and are typically connected to cooling towers as well.

It isn’t going to be easy for AI systems to reduce their water use.  The study’s authors noted that people make use of AI at all hours of the day and night.  But a significant amount of AI activity is actually the training of the systems.  That could be scheduled for the cooler hours, when less water is lost to evaporation.

In an era of scarce fresh water and droughts, it is important to make AI less thirsty.

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AI programs consume large volumes of scarce water

Photo, posted May 22, 2023, courtesy of Jernej Furman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Offshore Wind In Maine | Earth Wise

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There are currently only two small offshore wind farms operating in the United States, but there are now several more under construction or in the permitting process.  Substantial wind farms are expected to come online over the next five years off the coasts of Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts. North Carolina, Delaware, Rhode Island, and New York.   There has been a recent auction for offshore wind sites off the California coast as well.

In April, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued its Gulf of Maine Call for Information and Nominations, inviting public comment and assessing the interest in areas offshore of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.  This is the first official step in the lengthy process that leads to offshore wind development in new areas.  Last year, the Department of the Interior defined an area of about 13.7 million acres in the Gulf of Maine that could end up providing energy leases for windfarm development.

The Biden administration has set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind electricity generation by 2030, which is enough to power more than 10 million homes. It would also create thousands of jobs across manufacturing, shipbuilding, port operations, construction, and other industrial sectors.  Existing offshore wind projects have been structured to develop American-based supply chains for the offshore wind industry.

The European Union currently has over 15 gigawatts of installed offshore wind, has a target of 60 gigawatts by 2030, and 300 gigawatts by 2050.  The EU has five substantial sea basins which have tremendous potential for wind energy generation.  As a result, offshore wind is the centerpiece of the ambitious European Green Deal.

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U.S. moves to develop offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine

Photo, posted August 31, 2022, courtesy of Nina Ali via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Reducing Cattle-Driven Deforestation | Earth Wise

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The Amazon rainforest is the biggest rainforest in the world, larger than the next two biggest combined.  It covers more than three million square miles, roughly the size of the lower 48 states.  The Amazon functions as a critical sink for carbon in the atmosphere.

However, human activity has removed more than 10% of the vegetation from the Amazon rainforest since the 1960s.  Cattle ranching accounts for roughly 70% of Amazon deforestation – much of which is illegal.   

According to a study recently published in the journal Global Environmental Change, companies’ ‘zero-deforestation’ commitments could reduce cattle-driven deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 50%.   Better adoption and implementation of company supply chain policies for Brazilian beef and leather could significantly reduce carbon emissions. 

Between 2010 and 2018, some of the world’s largest slaughterhouses reduced cattle-driven deforestation by 15% through their commitment to zero-deforestation policies.  If these policies were fully implemented and adopted across all cattle companies operating in the Amazon, more than 9,200 square miles of forest could have been spared over the same time period, effectively halving the cattle-driven deforestation in Brazil.  

Zero-deforestation commitments currently cover 82% of beef exported from the Brazilian Amazon for trade internationally.  However, a large amount of beef production destined for Brazil’s domestic markets is not covered.

The researchers say a mix of interventions by both the private and public sector is needed to improve cattle-rearing practices and help reduce deforestation in countries like Brazil.

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Companies’ zero-deforestation commitments have potential to halve cattle-driven deforestation in Brazilian Amazon

Photo, posted January 17, 2011, courtesy of Kelly Sato via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric Cars In Norway | Earth Wise

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We are at a relatively early stage of the electric car revolution.  EV sales are increasing rapidly, but they still comprise only a small fraction of the cars on American roads.  So, there is still lots of speculation and argument about how things will actually work when a large fraction of cars are electric.  But there is at least one place where one doesn’t have to speculate:  Norway.

Last year, 80% of new-car sales in Norway were EVs.  That country is essentially an observatory for figuring out what the electrification of vehicles will mean for the environment, workers, and life in general.  In fact, sales of internal combustion cars in Norway will end in 2025.

Based on Norway’s experience, electric vehicles bring benefits and none of the dire consequences that some critics predict.  The transition isn’t problem-free.  There have been unreliable chargers and long waits during periods of high demand.  Auto dealers and retailers have had to adapt to the changes in their businesses.  The pecking order of car brands has changed dramatically making Tesla the best-selling brand and marginalizing long-established carmakers like Renault and Fiat.

But in the bigger picture, the air in Oslo, the capital of Norway, is measurably cleaner.  The city is quieter as noisy gasoline and diesel vehicles gradually disappear.  Oslo’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 30% since 2009.  Meanwhile, there hasn’t been mass unemployment among gas station workers, and the electrical grid has not collapsed.

Norway is perhaps 10 years ahead of us with respect to electric cars.  There are still problems to solve, and difficulties to overcome, but so far, it looks like it will all turn out well.

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In Norway, the Electric Vehicle Future Has Already Arrived

Photo, posted October 15, 2018, courtesy of Mario Duran-Ortiz via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Carbon-Negative Concrete | Earth Wise

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Concrete is a mainstay of modern civilization.  The world produces more than 4 billion tons of it each year and the process requires high temperatures, mostly obtained by burning fossil fuels.  The chemical reactions that produce concrete also produce large amounts of carbon dioxide.  In all, cement production is responsible for about 8% of total global carbon emissions by human activities.

This situation is the impetus for a wide range of research activities aimed at reducing the environmental impact of concrete production.  Researchers at Washington State University have recently developed a way of making carbon-negative concrete: a recipe for concrete that absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide.

There have been attempts in the past to add biochar to concrete.  Biochar is a type of charcoal made from organic waste that sucks up carbon dioxide from the air.  In earlier attempts, even adding 3% of biochar would dramatically reduce the strength of the concrete.

The WSU researchers found that treating biochar with concrete washout wastewater makes it possible to add much more biochar to concrete without reducing its strength.  Mixing it with biochar adds calcium, which induces the formation of the mineral calcite, which in turn strengthens the concrete.

The researchers were able to add up to 30% biochar to their cement mixture.  Within a month, the resultant concrete was comparable in strength to ordinary concrete.  But at the same time, the biochar was able to absorb up to 23% of its weight in carbon dioxide from the air.  The new concrete is potentially the most environmentally friendly concrete ever developed.

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Researchers develop carbon-negative concrete

Photo, posted January 31, 2012, courtesy of Michael J. Nevins / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Wildfire Smoke And Global Weather | Earth Wise

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In 2019 and 2020, wildfires burned 72,000 square miles in Australia, roughly the same area as the entire country of Syria. During the nine months when the fires raged, persistent and widespread plumes of smoke filled the atmosphere.

These aerosols brightened a vast area of clouds above the subtropical Pacific Ocean.  Beneath these clouds, the surface of the ocean and the atmosphere cooled.  The effect of this was an unexpected and long-lasting cool phase of the Pacific’s La Niña-El Niño cycle.

A new modeling study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado quantified the extent to which aerosols from the Australian wildfires made clouds over the tropical Pacific reflect more sunlight back towards space.  The resultant cooling shifted the cloud and rain belt known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone northward.  These effects may have helped trigger the unusual three-year-long La Niña, which lasted from late 2019 through 2022.

The impacts of that La Niña included intensifying drought and famine in Eastern Africa and priming the Atlantic Ocean for hurricanes.  2020 was the most active tropical storm season on record, with 31 storm systems, including 11 that made landfall in the U.S.

The study highlights widespread multi-year climate impacts caused by an unprecedented wildfire season.  The wildfires set off a chain of events that influenced weather far from where the fires occurred.  In the future, climate experts will need to include the potential effects of wildfires in their forecasts.

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How Wildfire Smoke from Australia Affected Climate Events Around the World

Photo, posted December 19, 2019, courtesy of Simon Rumi via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Methane And Wildfires | Earth Wise

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

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

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

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

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

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Methane from megafires: more spew than we knew

Detecting Methane

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Plastic Eating Fungus | Earth Wise

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More than five billion tons of plastic have accumulated on land and sea including the most remote regions of the planet as well as in the bodies of animals and humans.  There is a compelling need to recycle as much plastic as possible but doing so is a major challenge. Plastic comes in many varieties and breaking it down for reuse requires different methods for each.

Polypropylene is one of the biggest challenges for recycling.  It is a very common plastic used for all sorts of products including food containers, coat hangers, plastic wrap, toys, and much more. It accounts for roughly 28% of the world’s plastic waste, but only 1% of it is recycled.

Polypropylene is seldom recycled because it generally has a short life as a packaging material, and it often becomes contaminated by other materials and plastics.  Thus, it generally ends up in landfills.

Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia have discovered that two common strains of fungi were able to successfully biodegrade polypropylene.  The fungi species – with unavoidable Latin names of Aspergillus terreus and Engyodontium album – are typically found in soil and plants.

The researchers found that the fungi were able to break down polypropylene after it had been pre-treated with either UV light or heat, by 21% over 30 days, and by 25-27% over 90 days.  This seems rather slow but compared with the nearly endless life of polypropylene in landfills, it is a major improvement.

The hope is that methods like this could ultimately reduce the amount of plastic polluting the environment by encouraging plastic to biodegrade naturally under the appropriate conditions.

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Fungi makes meal of hard to recycle plastic

Photo, posted March 5, 2010, courtesy of Kevin Krejci via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Explosive Growth Of Electric Vehicles | Earth Wise

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Not long ago, electric cars were a rarity.  Ten years ago, annual global sales of EVs were only a few hundred thousand.  As of today, globally, still less than one percent of all the cars on the road are electric.  But that is changing rapidly.

In fact, electric vehicles are expected to capture nearly 20% of the global market this year.  Global sales of EVs were 3 million in 2020 and 6.6 million in 2021.  Last year, sales of electric vehicles hit 10 million and are expected to reach 14 million this year according to the International Energy Agency.

Analysts at the IEA have had to repeatedly revise their projections for future EV sales as the numbers keep going up faster than predicted.  Last year, they projected that EVs would account for 21% of global sales by 2030.  Now, they expect that EVs will reach 35% of sales by that year.

In the US, the EU, and China, policy efforts are in place to boost EV sales.  In the US, the Inflation Reduction Act both supports the EV industry and subsidizes consumer purchases with tax credits. As a result of such policies, the IEA expects electric vehicles to account for 60% of sales across these three large markets by 2030.

Part of what is driving the boom in EV sales is that prices continue to come down for the vehicles.  When operating and maintenance costs are figured in, the EVs come out considerably cheaper to own.  In addition, there are starting to be price wars in the EV industry as competition heats up in the sector.

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EVs to Capture One-Fifth of Global Market This Year Amid ‘Explosive Growth’

Photo, posted May 7, 2022, courtesy of Sharon Hahn Darlin via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Greenhouse Gases Continue To Rise | Earth Wise

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Greenhouse gases continued to increase rapidly in 2022

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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