governments

Strawberries and climate change

August 12, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The demand for strawberries continues to climb around the world. According to data from World Population Review, China remains the global leader in strawberry production, a spot it’s held since 1994. Last year, China produced 3.3 million tons of strawberries, followed by the United States at 1.05 million tons, Egypt at 597,000 tons, and Mexico at 557,000 tons.

While strawberries are grown coast to coast in the U.S., California and Florida are the top two strawberry-producing states due to their favorable climate conditions. In fact, California produces more than 90% of the domestic strawberry crop. But Florida plays a key role in domestic strawberry production as well by growing the majority of the winter crop.

A new study by researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada has examined the effect of climate change on California’s strawberry crop. According to the research team, strawberries could be fewer and more expensive because of the higher temperatures caused by climate change. The report, which was recently published in the journal Sustainability, found that a 3° Fahrenheit rise in temperature could reduce strawberry yields by up to 40%.

According to the researchers, the impact of climate change on strawberry production could be mitigated by implementing certain sustainable farming practices. These include optimizing irrigation to ensure adequate water supply during heat waves and using shading plants and shade structures to mitigate heat stress.

Understanding how rising temperatures affect crop yields should encourage farmers and governments to develop sustainable agriculture responses to global warming.

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Influence of Regional Temperature Anomalies on Strawberry Yield: A Study Using Multivariate Copula Analysis

Strawberry Production by Country 2024

Researchers predict fewer, pricier strawberries as temperatures warm

Photo, posted June 3, 2007, courtesy of David Slack via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Are we really serious about eliminating fossil fuels?

December 15, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Almost all the countries around the world have pledged to take action to reduce planet-warming emissions by expanding the use of renewable energy sources and phasing out fossil fuels. But very few countries seem to be taking the fossil fuel phase-out seriously.

Almost all the top 20 fossil-fuel producing countries plan to produce more oil, gas, and coal in 2030 than they do today. Countries are doubling down on fossil fuel production, which will make it virtually impossible to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

Despite having an administration that takes climate issues very seriously, the United States is now the world’s biggest crude oil producer and is ramping up exports of natural gas. Brazil, under its environmental champion President da Silva, plans to increase oil production by 63% and more than double its gas output over the next decade. India, which has promised to expand renewable energy production, will more than double its production of coal by 2030. Canada, which has a net-zero commitment enacted as law, will boost its oil output by 25% in the next 12 years. Meanwhile, countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia aren’t even pretending to make the transition away from fossil fuels.

Governments and citizens around the world may be serious about the climate crisis and are taking various actions. But the world cannot address climate change without tackling its root cause. The overwhelming force of greed and the power wielded by the fossil fuel industry has created a dynamic that is making real progress nearly impossible as fossil fuels continue to power the world.

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Coming Soon: More Oil, Gas and Coal

Photo, posted June 22, 2020, courtesy of John Morton via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Protecting The Amazon Rainforest | Earth Wise

September 5, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Amazon rainforest absorbs one-fourth of all the carbon dioxide absorbed by the land of the Earth. It is by far the world’s largest rainforest, bigger than the next two largest – in the Congo Basin and Indonesia – combined. Nearly two-thirds of it is found in Brazil but the more than 2 million square miles of rainforest includes portions in 8 countries.

The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the Amazon rainforest is 30% less today than it was in the 1990s as a result of deforestation, to a great extent driven by cattle ranching as well as other agricultural activities.

In early August, the leaders of the eight countries that are home to the Amazon River basin agreed to work together to conserve the rainforest. The agreement, called the Belém Declaration, provides a roadmap to stave off the rampant deforestation.

The agreement provides coordination between the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela to establish law enforcement to combat illegal mining and logging as well as to pool development funds for conservation and sustainable employment. Despite the unity portrayed at the meeting, many of the governments in South America are in a precarious position because of various economic and political struggles

Apart from its critical climate impact, the Amazon rainforest is a haven for biodiversity and further deforestation would be disastrous for tens of thousands of species and could transform it into a net emitter rather than absorber of greenhouse gases. Some parts of the region have already reached that point.

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Amazon Countries, Led by Brazil, Sign a Rainforest Pact

Photo, posted October 17, 2016, courtesy of Yeoboya via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric Cars Are Coming Sooner Than Expected | Earth Wise

September 30, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It is widely believed that electrification is the future for vehicles. The only question is how long the transition will take. Predictions are all over the map, but the recent trend is to revise those predictions to say it will happen sooner than previously thought.

A recent report from the international accounting firm Ernst & Young predicts that EV sales in the US, China, and Europe will surpass those of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles five years sooner than previously expected. The report forecasts that fossil-fueled vehicles will represent less than 1% of global sales by 2045, taking their place among other historical but essentially abandoned technologies.

Europe is expected to be the leader in EV adoption. The forecast is that EVs will surpass legacy vehicles by 2028. China is expected to follow by 2033. The US is lagging behind, but even here, electrics are expected to achieve a majority of car sales by 2036.

Plug-in vehicle sales have surpassed a 10% market share in California and Tesla now has a 1.7% share of the total US car market. Norway is the global EV leader with 3 out of 4 car buyers choosing electrics. In that country, Tesla’s Model 3 is the top-selling vehicle of any kind. In Switzerland, 40% of car sales are EVs or hybrids.

There are many variables that will affect the timetable for the EV transition. Among them are the timetable for widespread use of autonomous vehicle technology, the effects of policy initiatives by governments around the world, the development of charging infrastructure, and the evolution of electricity generation and energy storage.

In any case, looking at the product roadmap for virtually every automobile manufacturer makes it clear that electric cars are the future.

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Ernst & Young: Electric Cars Are Coming Sooner Than Expected

Photo, posted April 25, 2021, courtesy of Rutger van der Maar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

COVID-19 And The Wildlife Trade | Earth Wise

December 17, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Historically, many diseases have jumped from animals to people with serious consequences for the human host. In fact, coronaviruses alone have caused outbreaks in humans three times in the past 20 years: SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. The majority of human pathogens that caused substantial damage to human health and economies during the past three decades have originated from wildlife or livestock.

According to a team of researchers from the University of Göttingen and other international institutions, more epidemics from animal hosts are inevitable unless urgent action is taken. In order to help protect against future pandemics, which could be even more severe than the current one, the researchers published a series of suggestions for governments to consider in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

The research team calls for governments around the world to establish effective legislation to do three things: address the wildlife trade, protect habitats, and reduce the interaction between people, wildlife, and livestock.

The wildlife trade and habitat fragmentation both facilitate disease outbreaks by increasing the potential for contact between humans and animals. Animals in wildlife markets are often kept in crowded and unsanitary conditions, which creates fertile breeding grounds for pathogens to jump to humans. Animals and humans are also forced closer together when natural habitats are cleared or otherwise fragmented in order to meet the various needs of a growing global population.

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, China, Vietnam, and South Korea have introduced regulations to better manage the wildlife trade as well as support wildlife conservation. According to the researchers, these actions serve as examples for other countries to consider. The status quo isn’t good enough.

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COVID-19 highlights risks of wildlife trade

Photo, posted August 23, 2010, courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region via Flickr. Photo credit: Rosie Walunas/USFWS.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Displaced By Extreme Weather

November 11, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre is the world’s authoritative source of data and analysis on internal displacement. Internal displacement refers to people being forced to flee their homes or places of habitual residence but who remain within their country’s borders. Such displacements can be the result of conflict, violence, development projects, natural disasters, or climate change. As of the end of 2018, over 41 million people were living in internal displacement because of conflict and violence alone.

This year, natural disasters are causing a record number of internal displacements. In the first half of the year, 7 million people were displaced by disasters, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all the internal displacements worldwide. The IDMC estimates that this number could hit 22 million by the end of the year.

The vast majority of displacement has been associated with storms and floods. Cyclone Fani alone in May displaced more than 3.4 million people in India and Bangladesh. In March, Cyclone Idai displaced 617,000 people in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. In total, 950 extreme weather events in 102 countries and territories displaced 7 million people from January to June.

Technically speaking, internally displaced people are not considered to be refugees because they remain in their home countries. But the growing millions of people represent a global crisis that continues to worsen with the changing climate. The international community cannot ignore the plight of these people. Governments around the world have to redouble their efforts to protect and assist their displaced citizens as well as to invest in sustainable development and climate change adaptation.

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Extreme Weather Displaced 7 Million People in First Half of 2019

Photo, posted August 5, 2012, courtesy of the U.S. Embassy, Jakarta via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Pesticides In The Great Barrier Reef

November 7, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the greatest natural wonders in the world and it has been under siege by warming waters and ocean acidification. Widespread coral bleaching has damaged or destroyed large portions of the 1,400-mile long coral reef system. But the effects of climate change are not the only threat to the reef. Pesticides found in waterways that flow into the Great Barrier Reef are another serious problem.

According to a new study by the University of Queensland, the combined toxicity of 22 of the most common pesticides that flow into the Reef are not meeting pollution reduction targets.

Different pesticides affect different organisms. Herbicides affect organisms that photosynthesize such as seagrass, corals, mangroves, and algae. Insecticides affect insect larvae in freshwater, and crustaceans such as crabs, prawns, and lobsters. Previous assessments have only examined individual pesticides and only for limited times. The new study has utilized a methodology that estimates the combined toxicity of multiple pesticides found in the waterways that discharge into the Reef and does it for the entire wet season.

The research revealed that the pesticide reduction target set in the Australian Government’s Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan is not being met. Only one natural resource management region – the Cape York region – was found to be meeting its target.

By having estimates of the risk posed by pesticides in the various regions and individual waterways, governments, farmers, and conservationists can see which areas pose the greatest risk and where to maximize efforts. Stakeholders have to come together to reduce pesticide concentrations through better management practices and by using less toxic pesticides.

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High pesticide concentrations continue to enter Great Barrier Reef

Photo, posted July 29, 2010, courtesy of Kyle Taylor via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Japan And Whaling

January 10, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The commercial hunting of whales nearly drove the giant mammals to extinction. By the 1960s, as hunting technologies improved and ships began to resemble floating factories, it became clear that whaling could not continue unchecked.

But despite all this, commercial whaling was never actually banned. Instead, in 1986, members of the International Whaling Committee (IWC) agreed to a whaling moratorium in order to allow whale stocks to recover. Pro-whaling nations like Japan, Iceland, and Norway expected the moratorium to be temporary until the whales stocks recovered, and a consensus on catch quotas could be established. But the temporary moratorium became a quasi-permanent ban, much to the delight of conservationists and to the dismay of whaling nations.

As a result, Japan recently announced it is leaving the international agreement and plans to resume commercial whaling. The agreement though never really stopped Japanese whaling in the first place, because it allowed the country to kill whales for scientific research. Japan has had an annual Antarctic catch quota of 333 minke whales, producing notoriously little in terms of whale science while producing lots of whale meat. As part of its withdrawal from the IWC, Japan will cease its Antarctic hunts and limit whalers to its own waters. Commercial Japanese whaling will resume in July.

Once popular in Japan, whale meat consumption has plummeted, falling 98% between 1962 and 2016. The industry employs fewer than 1,000 people and is dependent on government subsidies.

Many governments and conservationist groups condemned Japan’s withdrawal, declaring the move out of step with the international community. They argue that, rather than hunting whales, urgent action is needed to conserve marine ecosystems.

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