Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

You are here: Home / Archives for environment

environment

The Collapse of Northern California Kelp Forests | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

For thousands of years, thick canopies of kelp formed an underwater forest spanning the coast of Northern California.  Kelp is the cornerstone of a rich subtidal community, providing food and habitat for all sorts of marine creatures.  But in recent years, a shocking transformation has occurred.  Satellite imagery reveals that the area covered by kelp forests off the coast of Northern California has declined by more than 95%.  Only a few small, isolated patches remain.  

In a new study, researchers at the University of California Santa Cruz found that the kelp forest decline was an abrupt collapse as opposed to a gradual decline. 

According to the study, which was recently published in the journal Communications Biology, kelp forests north of San Francisco were resilient to warming events in the past, like El Niños and marine heatwaves. But the decline of a key sea urchin predator – the sunflower sea star – from sea star wasting disease caused the kelp forests’ resiliency to plummet.  Sea urchins are voracious consumers of kelp.     

But it was a series of events – not just the sea urchins – that combined to decimate the Northern California kelp forest.   A marine heatwave that became known as “the blob” developed in 2014 and moved down the West Coast in 2015.  Around the same time, a strong El Niño event developed and brought warmer water up the coast from the south.  The warming ocean waters combined with the ravenous sea urchin population resulted in the dramatic decline of kelp. 

According to researchers, the prospects for a Northern California kelp forest recovery remain poor unless sea urchin predators return to the ecosystem. 

********** 

Web Links

The collapse of Northern California kelp forests will be hard to reverse

Photo, posted August 13, 2019, courtesy of Sara Hamilton of OSU College of Science via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

30 Million Solar Homes | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

A national coalition made up of more than 230 organizations has launched an initiative called the 30 Million Solar Homes campaign.  The goal is to add enough rooftop and community solar energy to power 30 million homes across the U.S. over the next five years.  That would be the equivalent of one in four American households.

The major focus of the 30 Million Solar Homes initiative is to rapidly and massively scale programs that help low-income families benefit from solar power.  The coalition lists 15 federal policy initiatives including making solar tax incentives more equitable, providing more reliable low-income energy assistance through solar energy, supplementing low-income weatherization assistance with solar energy, and specifically funding solar projects in marginalized communities.

The federal government spends billions of dollars every year to help families to pay their energy costs, but these efforts only serve less than a fifth of the eligible population.  Funding rooftop and community solar access for these households would provide long-term financial relief and reduce the need for annual energy bill assistance.

The more than 230 organizations in the coalition represent organizations focused on energy equity, climate, business, environment, faith, and public health.  The coalition estimates that executing the plan would create three million good-paying jobs, lower energy bills by at least $20 billion a year, and reduce total annual greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5%.

Over the coming months, the campaign will seek to educate lawmakers and the Biden-Harris Administration about the benefits of distributed solar energy.  The vision outlined by the coalition is an ambitious one to say the least.

**********

Web Links

30 Million Solar Homes

Supporters of 30MSH

Photo, posted May 20, 2009, courtesy of Solar Trade Association via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Is U.S. Offshore Wind Finally Happening? | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Offshore wind capacity has been growing rapidly in recent years, especially in Europe and China.  Globally, there is now more than 30 GW of offshore wind and industry experts predict that there will be well over 200 GW of installed capacity by 2030.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has only two small pilot projects, one with five turbines off Rhode Island and another with two turbines off Virginia.  But after many years of battles with determined opponents, false starts, regulatory struggles, and other hurdles, the U.S. offshore wind industry appears to be poised to take off.

A combination of significant commitments by power companies to purchase offshore wind power, strong support by the Biden administration, and billions of dollars in investments is creating the new-found momentum.

New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland have collectively committed to buying 30 GW of offshore electricity by 2035.  (That’s enough to power roughly 20 million homes).

Among the first major offshore installations to be completed in the next few years in the U.S. will be Vineyard Wind, 15 miles off of Martha’s Vineyard, another wind farm 60 miles east of New York’s Montauk Point, a third fifteen miles off Atlantic City, New Jersey, and a fourth off the Virginia Coast.

Offshore wind projects will create nearly 40,000 jobs just in the New York-New Jersey area over the next ten years.  There is still some opposition from elements of the commercial fishing industry and from some coastal residents.  However, with state and federal governments committed to reducing carbon emissions and rapidly reducing regulatory barriers, and with the price of offshore wind continuing to get lower and lower, most observers agree that the U.S. offshore wind industry is finally on the verge of really getting going.

**********

Web Links

On U.S. East Coast, Has Offshore Wind’s Moment Finally Arrived?

Photo, posted August 9, 2016, courtesy of Lars Plougmann via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Paving With Plastic | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

The country of Ghana has an ambitious plan to recycle and reuse as much plastic waste as it produces each year (which is over a million tons) by 2030.  As part of this plan, they have started to pave roads in Accra, the capital city, with asphalt containing a slurry of used plastics – shredded and melted bags, bottles, and snack wraps.  Only a quarter of Ghana’s roads are currently paved, so waste plastic has many opportunities for use in paving.

Plastic roads first appeared in India two decades ago.  There are now over 60,000 miles of them in that country.  Several countries have only recently built their first plastic roads including South Africa, Vietnam, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States.

Studies have shown that roads containing waste plastic have the potential to perform as well or better than traditional roads.  They can last longer, can tolerate wide temperature swings better, are stronger and more durable, and are more resistant to water damage, cracking, and potholes.

Ordinarily, asphalt for roads consists of 90 to 95% aggregate – typically some mixture of gravel, sand, and limestone – and 5 to 10% bitumen, which is a black gooey substance extracted from crude oil that binds the aggregate together.  Plastic-enhanced roads replace varying amounts of the bitumen (often as little as 4-10%, but sometimes much more), with plastic that is actually a stronger binding agent.

Plastic roads reduce the amount of bitumen in roads, thereby reducing carbon emissions.  The plastics are not heated enough to release gases and the roads do not appear to shed microplastics.  Plastic roads will not solve the world’s plastic waste problem, but they can help by diverting lots of plastic from landfills.

**********

Web Links

How Paving with Plastic Could Make a Dent in the Global Waste Problem

Photo, posted June 4, 2010, courtesy of Sustainable Initiatives Fund Trust via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Not All Trees Cool The Planet | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

A new study from Clark University has found that deforestation does not always contribute to planetary warming, as is generally assumed.  The researchers have found that there can be places where removing trees actually cools the planet.

Forests soak up carbon dioxide from the air and store it in the trees themselves and in the soil.   This process is important for slowing the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The new research focuses on a different effect that forests have on climate.  They are darker than other surfaces, which causes them to absorb more sunlight and retain heat.  This is known as the albedo effect.

In most places, the absorption of carbon outweighs the albedo effect and forests help cool the planet.  But there are some locations, including the Intermountain and Rocky Mountain West, where more forest actually leads to a hotter planet when both processes are taken into account.  State-of-the-art satellite remote sensing allowed the researchers to quantify the effects of forest loss in the United States.

The upshot of this research is that large-scale tree-planting initiatives, such as Canada’s 2Billion Trees Initiative and the Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign need to make sure to put the right trees in the right places.

Every year, about a million acres of forest are being converted to non-forest across the lower 48 states as a result of suburban and exurban expansion and development.   It is important to take into account the albedo effect in trying to replace the climate-cooling capabilities of these disappearing forests by planting more trees.

**********

Web Links

Clark geographer Christopher Williams: More trees do not always create a cooler planet

Photo, posted June 5, 2017, courtesy of Todd Petrie via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And Allergies | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an addition to the many hardships that climate change is causing around the world is the fact that it is making allergy season worse.

Researchers have found that there is a strong link between planetary warming and pollen seasons.  The combination of warming air and higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has caused North American pollen seasons since 1990 to start some 20 days earlier, on average, and to have 21% more pollen.

The most pronounced effects were seen in Texas, the Midwest, and the Southeast.  The effects were less obvious in the northern United States, including New England and the Great Lakes states.  The greatest pollen increases came from trees, as opposed to grasses and weeds.

Allergies do not just trigger sniffles and sneezes; they have serious effects on public health in the form of asthma and other respiratory conditions.  Studies have shown that students do less well in school during peak pollen season.  Of special concern at the moment is that high-pollen periods have been associated with greater susceptibility to respiratory viruses.  The U.S. has nearly 25 million people with asthma and 19 million adults reported hay fever in the past 12 months.  Research suggests that the early onset of pollen season correlates with a higher risk of hospitalization for asthma.

There are far fewer pollen monitoring stations than those measuring particle pollutants and air quality.  As the climate warms, we need to pay more attention to pollen as an airborne pollutant.

**********

Web Links

Achoo! Climate Change Lengthening Pollen Season in U.S., Study Shows

Photo, posted May 18, 2012, courtesy of Forest Wander via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

New Records For U.S. Wind Power | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Wind-powered electricity has been increasing its contribution to the American energy mix for years as the number of installed turbines has rapidly grown.  In the final months of 2020, wind power set a number of new records.  Strong wind conditions in November and December, especially in the central states, led to record output from wind turbines.

On April 10, 2019, the U.S. set a record for daily electricity generation from wind turbines in the lower 48 states by producing 1.42 million megawatthours.  That record stood until several different days during November and December.  The newest record was set on December 23 when wind generation reached 1.76 million MWh.  That constituted 17% of total electricity generation in the U.S.   For the entire year of 2020, wind power accounted for 9% of U.S. electricity generation.

Late 2020 also saw new records set for hourly dispatch of wind resources.  On December 22, between 9 and 10 pm Eastern Time, 82 gigawatts of electricity sourced from wind power was dispatched across the U.S., breaking the one-month-old previous record of 73.4 GW.  Wind power varies considerably over the course of a day.  During December, wind power across the country varied between that record of 82 GW to a low of 14.6 GW.

The contributions from wind power are expected to continue to grow.  The U.S. currently has over 112 GW of installed wind capacity.  Project developers and grid operators plan to add another 12.2 GW of new wind capacity to the U.S. grid by the end of 2021.  More than half of that new capacity will be in Texas and Oklahoma.

**********

Web Links

U.S. wind generation sets new daily and hourly records at end of 2020

Photo, posted July 12, 2010, courtesy of Tom Shockey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And The Coronavirus | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that our planet is heating up.  Scientists have concluded that the changing climate is primarily the result of increased human-caused (or anthropogenic) greenhouse gas emissions.  Some of the effects of global climate change include thawing permafrost, warming oceans, intensifying storms and wildfires, and rising seas.     

In southern China, the surge in greenhouse gas emissions over the past century has driven the growth of forest habitat favored by bats, leading to the creation of a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses in that region. 

According to a new study by researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK, climate change could have played a direct role in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study, which was recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, revealed large-scale changes in the type of vegetation in the southern Chinese Yunnan province over the last century, as well as in the adjacent regions of Myanmar and Laos.  Increases in temperature, sunlight, atmospheric carbon dioxide and other climatic changes have transformed natural habitats from tropical shrubland to tropical savannah and deciduous woodland.  These changes have created ideal habitats for many bat species that predominantly live in forests.

According to the study, an additional 40 bat species moved into Yunnan province over the past century.  This is the region where genetic data suggests SARS-CoV-2 may have arisen.  Each bat species harbors an average of 2.7 coronaviruses. 

The researchers urge policymakers to acknowledge the role that climate change plays in outbreaks of viral diseases and to work together to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. 

**********

Web Links

Climate change may have driven the emergence of SARS-CoV-2

Photo, posted July 21, 2013, courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Ann Froschauer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climbing To Escape The Heat | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

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

**********

Web Links

Small mammals climb higher to flee warming temperatures in the Rockies

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Even The Common House Sparrow Is Declining | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

According to the first-ever comprehensive assessment of net bird populations published in 2019, nearly three billion birds have disappeared in the United States and Canada since 1970.  The study, by researchers from the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, found that North American bird populations have lost 2.9 billion breeding adults during that timespan.  Forests lost one billion birds, and grassland birds declined 53%. 

According to a newer study from Cornell University, it appears that even the common house sparrow is declining.  In parts of its native range in Europe, house sparrow numbers are down nearly 60%.  Researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology sought to clarify the status of the species in the U.S. and Canada by using 21 years of citizen science data collected through its Project Feederwatch program. 

Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales. For the study, which was recently published in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology, the research team reviewed recorded observations of house sparrows during their non-breeding season.  These sightings from nearly 12,500 sites were used and cross-referenced with the National Land Cover database to determine whether the U.S. sightings came from rural or urban locations.  

From 1995 to 2016, researchers found that Feederwatch sites reporting house sparrows declined 7.5%, and the mean flock sizes declined 22%.  House sparrow populations declined in urban areas, but actually remained stable in rural areas. 

The researchers say a lack of green space and nesting sites in urban areas are likely factors in the population declines. 

**********

Web Links

Study finds even the common house sparrow is declining

Nearly 3 Billion Birds Gone

Photo, posted May 14, 2014, courtesy of Jacob Spinks via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Ozone Recovery Back On Track | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

In 2019, we reported that new emissions of chlorofluorocarbons from eastern Asia were threatening the recovery of the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere.  An unexpected spike in CFC emissions was threatening to undo the progress made under the Montreal Protocol, the international treaty under which every country in the world agreed to phase out the production and use of the ozone-eating chemicals by 2010.

In 2018, a team of scientists reported the spike in emissions of the particular formulation CFC-11 that began in 2013.  By 2019, a second team reported that a significant portion of the emissions could be traced to the Shandong and Hebie provinces in China where there were small factories using the chemical to manufacture foam insulation used in refrigerators and buildings.

Recently, in two papers published in Nature, the same two research teams reported that the global annual emissions of CFC-11 into the atmosphere have declined sharply.   They traced a substantial fraction of the global emission reductions to the very same regions of eastern China where they had previously reported the original spike. 

The results are very encouraging.   If CFC-11 emissions had continued to rise, or even just level off, there would have been real problems with ozone depletion.  Two independent global monitoring networks – one operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and one led by MIT called the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment – are doing a good job of detecting threats to the world’s protective ozone layer.  However, the Chinese sources only accounted for about half of the CFC-11 entering the atmosphere.  We still don’t know where the rest of it is coming from.

**********

Web Links

Reductions in CFC-11 emissions put ozone recovery back on track

Return of an Old Threat

Photo, posted July 29, 2015, courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Pandemic And Global Temperatures | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

The early months of the Covid-19 pandemic last year saw dramatic reductions in travel and many forms of commerce.  With much of human activity greatly curtailed, greenhouse gas emissions were greatly reduced.   And yet, all of that did not slow down global warming: 2020 ended up tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record and atmospheric greenhouse gas levels reached a new high.

In order to understand how this came about, it is necessary to understand the complex climate influences of different types of emissions from power plants, motor vehicles, industrial facilities, and other sources.  The fact is that some types of pollution actually have a cooling effect rather than contributing to global warming.

Tiny industrial pollution particles called aerosols actually make clouds brighter, causing them to reflect away more solar heat from the surface of the planet.   During the drastic shutdown last year, the biggest emissions decline was from the most polluting industries.  The reduction of aerosols had immediate, short-term effects on temperatures.  These types of pollutants are very bad for human health, but when they are present, they do have the effect of reducing temperatures.

It is important to keep in mind that carbon dioxide spreads through the Earth’s atmosphere and stays there for a century or more, trapping heat on a global scale.  Industrial aerosols stay relatively concentrated in the region where they are emitted and are often removed by rain and winds within a few weeks.  So, their cooling effect doesn’t spread very far or last very long.

Overall, the initial pandemic slowdown probably didn’t have any real long-term impact on the climate but over the short term, the effects were not as simple as one might expect.

**********

Web Links

Covid-19 Cut Gases That Warm the Globe But a Drop in Other Pollution Boosted Regional Temperatures

Photo, posted July 7, 2020, courtesy of Joey Zanotti via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Assisting Evolution | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

As plants and animals around the world grapple with climate change, invasive species, disease, and other threats, conservationists grapple with the issue of what it means to protect what is natural and how far to go to prevent extinctions.

Australia is where many of these issues have risen to the forefront.  Imported mammals – particularly cats and foxes – have decimated many of Australia’s indigenous marsupials.  Much of the focus for decades has been on killing off the invaders and cordoning off protected animals.  In recent years, however, there have been efforts to expose prey animals to limited numbers of predators to develop prey populations that are better equipped to survive among predators.  Getting rid of all the predators is not realistic.  Saving species may require helping them to adapt.

On the Great Barrier Reef, where half its coral populations have perished because of rising water temperatures, scientists are breeding corals that are more heat tolerant.  They are even considering the use of gene editing technology to “assist evolution” in developing corals that can survive in a changing world.

At SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York, researchers have produced a genetically modified American chestnut tree that is resistant to chestnut blight, the fungal pathogen that killed off nearly every chestnut tree in North America in the early 20th century.

The idea of conservation is to protect what is natural in our world.  However, at a time when there are unprecedented threats to so many species, the distinction between what is natural and what is artificial may no longer provide a sound guide to what should be done to protect life on earth.

**********

Web Links

Assisting Evolution: How Far Should We Go to Help Species Adapt?

Photo, posted November, 2000, courtesy of Bernard Dupont via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar Energy And Agriculture | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

According to a new study by Oregon State University researchers, co-developing land for both solar voltaic power and agriculture could provide 20% of total electricity generation in the United States with an investment of less than 1% of the annual U.S. budget.

The concept is known as agrivoltaics – using the same land for both growing crops and generating solar energy.  The proponents of agrivoltaics say that it provides more food, more energy, lower water demand, lower carbon emissions, and more prosperous rural communities.

According to the study, wide-scale installation of agrivoltaic systems could lead to an annual reduction of 330,000 tons of carbon dioxide emission in the U.S. – the equivalent of taking 75,000 cars off the road – and the creation of more than 100,000 jobs in rural communities.  All of this could be achieved with minimal effects on crop yields.

The study finds that an area about the size of Maryland would be needed for agrivoltaics to produce 20% of U.S. electricity generation.  That area of 13,000 square miles constitutes about 1% of current U.S. farmland.

The cost of the solar installations would be $1.1 trillion over 35 years and they would pay for themselves from the electricity generated within 17 years.  Installing the arrays would create the equivalent of 117,000 jobs lasting 20 years.

The researchers are going to install a fully functional solar farm on 5 acres of university owned land to demonstrate to the agricultural community and potential future funders how the study’s findings can be applied in real world agricultural systems.

*********

Web Links

Combining solar energy and agriculture to mitigate climate change, assist rural communities

Photo, posted October 11, 2011, courtesy of Michael Coghlan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Short-Lived Climate Forcing Pollutants | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

When talking about the causes of climate warming, it is common practice to bundle together various pollutants and express their effects in terms of “CO2 equivalence.”  This involves comparing climate effects of the pollutants on a 100-year timescale.  Recent research from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Germany points out the problems with this approach.

One of the worst qualities of carbon dioxide is that it accumulates in the atmosphere.  Once it gets there, it stays there for anywhere from decades to millennia.  On the other hand, short-lived climate forcing pollutants – or SLCPs – stay in the atmosphere for significantly shorter periods.  However, some of these are far more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere.  As a result, the atmosphere and climate system react much more quickly to reductions in the emission of these pollutants.

The IASS research study determined that reducing SLCP emissions is an important way to slow near-term climate warming as well as having other positive benefits such as reducing air pollution and improving crop yields.  A number of studies indicate that a rapid reduction in SLCP emissions could slow the rate of climate change and reduce the risk of triggering dangerous and potentially irreversible climate tipping points.

Examples of SLCPs are the methane gas emitted from landfills and hydrofluorocarbons that are still widely used as coolants. HFCs only persist in the atmosphere for 15 years but are nearly 4,000 times more effective in trapping heat over a 20-year period.

In order to mitigate the most harmful consequences of climate change, we need to minimize both the near-term climate impacts of SLCPs and the long-term climate impacts of carbon dioxide.

**********

Web Links

More Than Just CO2: It’s Time To Tackle Short-Lived Climate-Forcing Pollutants

Photo, posted March 10, 2020, courtesy of Jonathan Cutrer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Path To Net Zero | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Reaching net zero emissions is both feasible and affordable, according to researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of San Francisco, and consulting firm Evolved Energy Research.   The researchers created a detailed model of the entire U.S. energy and industrial system to produce the first detailed, peer-reviewed study of how to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The study analyzed multiple feasible technology pathways based on very different assumptions of remaining fossil fuel use, land use, consumer adoption, nuclear energy, and biofuel use.  What they had in common was increasing energy efficiency, transitioning to electric technologies, utilizing clean electricity (especially wind and solar power), and deploying small amounts of carbon capture technology.

The decarbonization of the U.S. energy system is an infrastructure transformation.  Getting to net zero by 2050 means adding many gigawatts of wind and solar power plants, new transmission lines, a fleet of electric cars and light trucks, millions of heat pumps to replace conventional furnaces and water heaters, and more energy-efficient buildings.

The various pathways studied have net costs between 0.2% and 1.2% of GDP, which is as little as $1 per person per day.  The cost variations come from various tradeoffs such as the amount of land given to solar and wind farms as well as the amount of new transmission infrastructure required. 

A key result of the study is that the actions required over the next 10 years are similar among all the pathways.   We need to increase the use of renewable energy and make sure that all new infrastructure, such as cars and buildings are low carbon.

**********

Web Links

Getting to Net Zero – and Even Net Negative – is Surprisingly Feasible, and Affordable

Photo, posted July 12, 2010, courtesy of Tom Shockey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Superstrong Nanofibers | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Self-assembly is a ubiquitous process in the natural world that leads to the formation of the DNA double helix, the creation of cell membranes, and to many other structures.   Scientists and engineers have been working to design new molecules that assemble themselves in water for the purpose of making nanostructures for biomedical applications such as drug delivery or tissue engineering.  For the most part, the materials created in this way have been chemically unstable and tended to degrade rapidly, especially when the water is removed.

A team at MIT recently published a paper describing a new class of small molecules they have designed that spontaneously assemble into nanoribbons with unprecedented strength and that retain their structure outside of water.

The material is modeled after a cell membrane.  Its outer part is hydrophilic (it likes to be in water) and its inner part is hydrophobic (it tries to avoid water.)  This configuration drives the self-assembly to create a specific nanostructure and by choosing the appropriate chemicals to form the structures, the result was nanoribbons in the form of long threads that could be dried and handled.  The resultant material in many ways resembles Kevlar.   In particular, the threads could hold 200 times their own weight and have extraordinarily high surface areas.  The fibers are stronger than steel and the high surface-to-mass ratio offers promise for miniaturizing technologies for such applications as pulling heavy-metal contaminants out of water and for use in electronic devices and batteries.

The goal of the research is to tune the internal state of matter to create exceptionally strong molecular nanostructures.  The potential for important new applications is considerable and exciting.

**********

Web Links

Researchers construct molecular nanofibers that are stronger than steel

Photo, posted June 19, 2007, courtesy of Andrew Hitchcock via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Tracking Endangered Species From Space | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Scientists at the University of Bath and the University of Oxford in the UK have developed a technique for remotely surveying elephants and other wildlife using satellite images and deep learning.  The technique has the same accuracy as human counts done on the ground or from low-flying airplanes.

The new computer algorithm can analyze high-resolution satellite images and detect African elephants in both grasslands and forests.  Previous techniques for monitoring wildlife from space were limited to homogenous habitats, such as the case of tracking whales in the open ocean.

On-the-ground or airplane surveys to monitor animal numbers are expensive and time-consuming.  Satellites can collect nearly 2,000 square miles of imagery in a few minutes thereby eliminating the risk of double counting and reducing a process that previously took weeks to just a few days.  The use of satellites also eliminates the logistical problems of monitoring species populations that cross international borders.

Accurate monitoring is important for efforts to save endangered species.  There are only 40,000 – 50,000 African elephants left in the wild.  It is essential to know where the animals are and how many there are in various locations. The new method is able to count elephants in mixed ecosystems, such as savannah and forests, where tree cover would previously have made satellite tracking difficult.

With satellite imagery resolution increasing every few years, it should be possible to see ever-smaller things in greater detail.  The new algorithm works well for elephants; it may eventually become practical to track animals as small as an albatross from space.

**********

Web Links

A New Way to Track Endangered Wildlife Populations from Space

Photo, posted March 15, 2008, courtesy of Michelle Gadd/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Turning Food Waste Back Into Food | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Scientists at the University of California Riverside have discovered that fermented food waste can boost bacteria that increase crop growth, make plants more resistant to pathogens, and reduce the carbon emissions resulting from farming.

Food waste is a serious problem from multiple perspectives.  As much as 50% of food is thrown away in the United States and most of that simply ends up in landfills, taking up more than 20% of America’s landfill volume.  Food waste is a huge economic loss as well as a significant waste of freshwater resources used to produce food.

The researchers studied byproducts from two kinds of food waste readily available in Southern California:  beer mash – a byproduct of beer production – and mixed food waste discarded by grocery stores.

Both types of waste were fermented and then added to the irrigation system watering citrus plants in a greenhouse.  Within 24 hours, the average population of beneficial bacteria was two to three orders of magnitude greater than in plants that did not receive the treatments. This led to improvements in the carbon to nitrogen ratio in crops.  When there are enough so-called good bacteria in plants, they produce antimicrobial compounds and metabolites that help plants grow better and faster.

The results of the study suggest that the use of food waste products in agriculture is beneficial and could complement the use of synthetic chemical additives by farmers, perhaps eliminating it entirely.  Crops would in turn become less expensive.

Making use of food waste in agriculture is a step towards a more circular economy in which we use something and then find a new purpose for it.

**********

Web Links

Turning food waste back into food

Photo, posted October 28, 2012, courtesy of Daniel Lobo via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Not All Eggs In One Basket | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Sea turtles lay their eggs in burrows on sandy beaches.  Many species lay their eggs on the exact same beach year after year.  On average, sea turtles lay over 100 eggs in a nest and produce between 2 and 8 nests per season.

Animals that produce such large numbers of eggs have this reproductive strategy because so few survive to adulthood.   Sea turtle eggs and hatchlings face numerous threats including powerful storms, poachers, marauding birds, and more.  Estimates are that only one in thousand sea turtle eggs leads to an adult turtle.

A recent study by the University of South Florida looked at the reproductive strategy of loggerhead sea turtles nesting on Keewaydin Island off the southwestern Gulf coast of Florida.  The researchers found that individual females lay numerous clutches of eggs in locations as much as six miles apart from each other to increase the chance that some of their offspring will survive.

As the saying goes, nesting loggerhead turtles don’t lay all their eggs in one basket.  The researchers compare the turtles’ strategy to investing in a mutual fund.  The female turtles divide their resources among many stocks rather than investing everything in a single stock.

During their 50-year lifetime, a single female loggerhead will produce over 4,000 eggs and scatter them at 40 different sites.  This strategy helps reduce the risk of complete reproductive failure caused by hurricanes and thunderstorms that could wash out or flood all their clutches.  The combination of unpredictable patterns of nests over time and space results in nearly two-thirds of loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings making it into the Gulf of Mexico.  The species still faces significant challenges but it is doing its part to try to survive.

**********

Web Links

Not all in one basket: Loggerhead sea turtles lay eggs in multiple locations to improve reproductive success

Photo, posted January 27, 2012, courtesy of Jeroen Looye via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)