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La Niña has arrived

February 26, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

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

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La Niña Is Here

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Mississippi River Running Dry | Earth Wise

October 27, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Water levels in the lower Mississippi River are running very low. During September, the readings in Memphis, Tennessee were within inches of the all-time low. The situation is causing real problems for the grain export industry.

The water levels of the lower Mississippi are determined by the amount of rainfall in the upper Midwest. At the point where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers come together, about 90% of the water headed for the lower Mississippi has been accumulated.

Almost 400 miles of the Mississippi have experienced water levels at or below critical levels for shipping. During September, parts of the Mississippi have been closed to ship traffic more than 20 times. At least 36 vessels were reported to have run aground.

The low water levels on the river have caused shippers of soybean and corn exports to lighten their loads to keep the vessels from running aground. They have also reduced how many barges they pull at once in order to be able to navigate shipping channels that have narrowed because of the reduced water levels.

Fall is the busiest grain export season for the region. About 60% of grain exports from the Midwest leave the U.S. through terminals on the Gulf Coast. The low levels of the Mississippi River threaten gridlock for this vital industry. It has caused freight costs to be the highest since historic river lows last year caused U.S. grain to be less competitive globally.

Unfortunately, October is not normally a strong precipitation month, but the hope is that the El Niño now underway may lead to increased precipitation in the Southern U.S.

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Mississippi River Nears Historic Lows, Putting Grain Exports at Risk

Photo, posted March 8, 2023, courtesy of Errol Sandler via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Phoenix Is Frying | Earth Wise

August 15, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The mythical Phoenix is a bird that repeatedly dies in a fire of its own making. During July, the five million inhabitants of greater Phoenix Arizona may have felt like they were reliving that myth as multiple temperature records were shattered in a massive heatwave.

On June 30, the high temperature in Phoenix was 110 degrees. From then on, the daily highs were relentlessly at or above 110 degrees, topping out at 119 on July 20. The previous record for consecutive days at or above 110 was 18 set in June 1974. The streak continued all the way until July 31, when incoming desert monsoons resulted in the high temperature dropping to 107 degrees – ending the streak at 31 days. Along the way, there were 16 days with temperatures at or above 115 degrees.

During the month, there were 17 consecutive days when the lowest temperature in Phoenix was at least 90 degrees. The previous record for that was 7 days, set in 2020. Because of these lofty low temperatures, July was also the hottest month in terms of average temperature with a reading well above 102 degrees. It was the first time that the average temperature has ever been in three digits. The previous record was 99.1 degrees in 2020.

Phoenix is an extreme case, but it was not alone in having a hot July. Globally, it was the hottest July on record that included major heat waves in the U.S., Mexico, China, southern Europe, and elsewhere. The daily record for the hottest average temperature on Earth ever measured was also broken several times during the month.

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Phoenix heat wave is shattering temperature records

Photo, posted September 22, 2022, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fewer Farms In The World | Earth Wise

June 30, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new study by the University of Colorado Boulder looked at the trends in the number and size of farms around the world starting from the 1960s and projecting through the end of the 21st century.

The analysis shows that the number of farms globally will shrink in half while the size of the average existing farms doubles.

The study used data from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization on agricultural area, GDP per capita, and rural population size of more than 180 countries. The analysis found that the number of farms around the world would drop from 616 million in 2020 to 272 million in 2100. A key reason for the trend is that as a country’s economy grows, more people migrate to urban areas, leaving fewer people in rural areas to tend the land.

This decline has been ongoing in the US and Europe for decades. For example, in the US, there were 200,000 fewer farms in 2022 than in 2007.

This trend has troubling consequences. Larger farms typically have less biodiversity and more monocultures. The greater biodiversity and crop diversity of smaller farms makes them more resilient to pest outbreaks and climate shocks.

Currently, 600 million farms provide for 8 billion people. By the end of the century, it is likely that half the number of farmers will be feeding even more people. That is a weighty responsibility for agricultural workers. Support systems and education for farmers becomes ever more important.

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The number of farms in the world is declining, here’s why it matters to you

Photo, posted January 18, 2011, courtesy of 2010 CIAT / Neil Palmer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Explosive Growth Of Electric Vehicles | Earth Wise

May 25, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

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

Global Light Pollution

October 14, 2021 By EarthWise 1 Comment

Light pollution is excessive or obtrusive artificial light. It’s a consequence of industrial civilization. Too much artificial light can cause a host of problems, including disrupting ecosystems, causing adverse health effects, and wasting energy.

According to a new study led by researchers from the University of Exeter in the U.K., global light pollution has increased by at least 49% over 25 years. But this figure only includes light visible via satellites. Scientists estimate that the true increase may be significantly higher – up to 270% more globally.

That’s because there is a hidden impact of LED technology that isn’t accounted for in the satellite data. LEDs emit more blue light than previous lighting technologies, but satellite sensors fail to pick up this blue light. This leads to a large underestimate of global light pollution.

The researchers examined light pollution from 1992 to 2017. They found persistently increasing light pollution in Asia, South America, Oceania and Africa. In Europe, detected light increased until around 2010, after which it leveled off. In North America, artificial light appears to be on the decline. However, the researchers point out that the satellites inability to detect blue light of LEDs means that light pollution has likely actually increased in most locations.

Light pollution has widespread impacts on both animals and plants. For example, light pollution can confuse the migratory patterns of animals and change predator-prey relationships. It’s also been shown to cause trees to bud earlier in spring.

While there’s no off switch for the planet, there are ways that we could reduce the amount of light drastically with little impact on our lives.

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Rapid increase in global light pollution

Photo, posted November 2, 2008, courtesy of Timothy Tsui via Flickr.

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More Plastic Pollution From The United States | Earth Wise

December 7, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new study published in the journal Science Advances has revealed that the United States is contributing far more to coastal plastic pollution than was previously believed. A previous study using 2010 data ranked the US 20th globally, in its contribution to ocean plastic pollution from mismanaged waste. The new study ranks the U.S. third among the world’s countries.

The largest contributor to the discrepancy is that the earlier study did not account for plastic scrap exports. Using plastic waste generation data from 2016 – which is the most recent global data available – the study’s authors calculated that more than half of all plastics collected for recycling in the US were shipped abroad. This amounts to over 2 million tons. Of this amount, some 88% went to countries struggling to effectively manage, recycle, or dispose of plastics, and between 15-25% was, in fact, low-value or contaminated, meaning that it was effectively unrecyclable. When all of these factors were taken into account, the researchers estimated that a million tons of US-generated plastic waste ended up polluting the environment. It just occurred beyond our own borders.

Overall, 2-3% of all plastic waste generated in the US – about a million tons – is either littered or illegally dumped into the domestic environment. When this is combined with the exported waste, the US is responsible for more than 2 million tons of plastic waste being dumped into the environment. About two-thirds of that ends up in coastal environments, where it is likely to enter the ocean by wind or through waterways.

The United States generates the most plastic waste of any country in the world. Unfortunately, we have been operating under the illusion that we were doing a pretty good job of dealing with it.

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New Study Reveals United States a Top Source of Plastic Pollution in Coastal Environments

Photo, posted April 3, 2015, courtesy of Vaidehi Shah via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Crop Diversity

March 22, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A study at the University of Toronto suggests that on a global scale, we are growing more of the same kinds of crops, and this diminishing diversity presents major challenges for agricultural sustainability.

In some places, for example here in North America, crop diversity has actually increased. Back in the 1960s, North Americans grew about 80 crops. Now there are 93.

But on a global scale, more of the same kinds of crops are being grown on much larger scales. Just four crops – soybeans, wheat, rice and corn – occupy nearly 50% of the world’s entire agricultural lands. The remaining 152 crops cover the rest. Large industrial farms often grow one crop species – usually just a single genotype – across thousands of acres of land.

This decline in global crop diversity is problematic in several ways. On a cultural level, it threatens regional food sovereignty. If regional crop diversity is threatened, it makes it more difficult for people to eat or afford foods that are culturally significant to them.

On an ecological level, the dominance by a few genetic lineages of crops makes the agricultural system increasingly susceptible to pests or diseases. The deadly fungus that is threatening the world’s banana plantations is a prime current example. The Irish potato famine in the 19^th century is a tragic historical example.

As large industrial-sized farms in Asia, Europe and the Americas start to look more and more alike, the dangers of large monocultures of crops that are commercially valuable will only increase. It will be important for global governments to consider the impact of policies that affect the diversity of the agricultural system and its sustainability in an increasingly hungry world.

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A small number of crops are dominating globally. And that’s bad news for sustainable agriculture

Photo, posted August 13, 2012, courtesy of Alasdair McKenzie via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Record Drop In Coal Consumption

August 2, 2017 By EarthWise

Global consumption of coal dropped by 1.7% last year. This is a major change considering that it had increased by an average of 1.9% per year from 2005 to 2015. China, which accounts for about half of the coal burned in the world, used 1.6% less in 2016, as compared to an increase of 3.7% per year over the previous 11 years.