ideal

Sea turtles and climate change

March 24, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Life is a struggle for survival from the moment a sea turtle hatches. In fact, only one sea turtle out of every 1,000 typically reaches adulthood as a result of natural predators and other challenges. Those fortunate enough to make it to adulthood face serious threats from humans. For example, sea turtles are hunted for their meat, eggs, and shells in some regions. Their beach habitats get developed. Harmful marine debris and oil spills pollute their waters and beaches.

Now, climate change is exposing sea turtles to even greater threats. Rising sea levels and stronger storms threaten to erode and destroy their nesting beaches. Warming oceans disrupt currents, potentially exposing sea turtles to new predators, and damaging the coral reefs that some depend on to survive.

As these environmental challenges intensify, sea turtles are beginning to adapt in surprising ways. According to a new study by researchers from the University of Exeter in England and the Society for the Protection of Turtles in Cyprus, sea turtles are responding to climate change by nesting earlier. Researchers monitoring nesting green and loggerhead turtles in Cyprus have discovered they are returning to their regular nesting spots earlier each year to compensate for rising temperatures.

Temperature plays a crucial role in determining the biological sex of sea turtles. Warmer nest temperatures produce more female hatchlings than males.

But at least for now, sea turtles seem to be doing enough to ensure their eggs continue to hatch by nesting earlier in more ideal temperatures. While this is good news, there’s no guarantee that it will continue.

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Turtles change nesting patterns in response to climate change

Photo, posted December 20, 2021, courtesy of Cape Hatteras National Seashore via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Barley plastic

July 24, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The durability, malleability, and low cost of plastics have made them ubiquitous. Plastics are everywhere: in packaging, clothing, and an endless variety of products. As a result, they are everywhere in the environment and they tend to stay there, contaminating land and sea. They are tough to recycle, and their production emits more carbon dioxide than all air traffic combined. The search for viable substitutes for plastic is global and intensive.

Most common bioplastics are not an ideal solution. They don’t break down that easily when tossed into the natural environment. The process can take years.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have invented a new material made from modified starch that can completely decompose in nature and can do so in only two months. The material is made using natural plant material from crops and could be used for food packaging as well as many other things.

The new material is a biocomposite composed of several substances that decompose naturally. The main ingredients are amylose and cellulose, common in many plants. Amylose is extracted from crops like corn, potatoes, wheat, and barley.

The Danish researchers have developed a barley variety that produces pure amylose in its kernels. Pure amylose is ideal because it is less likely to turn into a paste when it interacts with water.

Combining the amylose with cellulose forms long, strong molecular chains, resulting in a durable, flexible material that can replace plastic in many applications. The research team has founded a spinoff company and have applied for a patent for the new material. It is unclear when the biofriendly barley-based plastic might be commercialized, but its potential is quite good.

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Researchers invent one hundred percent biodegradable “barley plastic”

Photo, posted May 20, 2010, courtesy of Frederick Lang Jr. via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Mauna Loa Eruption And Climate Tracking | Earth Wise

January 9, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, erupted for the first time in nearly 40 years in late November. A 124-foot aluminum tower at the top of the volcano has been the site of carbon dioxide measurements for over 60 years but the eruption cut off power to the site, stopping the monitoring.

Carbon dioxide measurements on Mauna Loa began in 1958. The project was started by geochemist Charles Keeling and eventually taken over by his son Ralph Keeling upon his father’s death in 2005. It is the longest continuous record of the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the world.

Mauna Loa is an ideal location for carbon dioxide monitoring because it is a remote location away from both carbon dioxide sources like dense population centers and roads, and carbon sinks like areas of heavy vegetation.

There are hundreds of carbon dioxide monitoring stations around the world, including more than 70 operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, so the interruption will not stop global recordkeeping. But Mauna Loa holds significant symbolism as the first and most frequently sited source of carbon dioxide data.

There have been other interruptions in the measurements. Federal budget cuts in 1964 paused them for about 3 months. A 1984 eruption also cut off power to the facility and shut it down for about a month.

When the facility first started operating, the average carbon dioxide concentration was measured at 313 parts per million. Most recently, levels have peaked at around 421 parts per million, the greatest concentration in at least 4 million years.

Power will be restored to the Mauna Loa facility and its measurements will resume.

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Mauna Loa Eruption Threatens a Famous Climate Record

Photo, posted November 29, 2022, courtesy of L. Gallant / USGS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Living In Extreme Heat | Earth Wise

June 3, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Global climate change has already left observable effects on the planet. Glaciers have shrunk, trees are flowering sooner, plant and animal ranges have shifted, and so on. Many effects of climate change that scientists had predicted in the past are now occurring. The loss of sea ice, intensifying heat waves, and accelerating sea level rise are some examples.

According to a new study recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, climate change is going to affect humans earlier, harder, and more widely than previously projected. The research team found that one billion people will be either displaced or endure insufferable heat for every one degree Celsius rise in global temperatures.

Under a worst case climate scenario, land that one third of the world’s population currently calls home will be as hot as the hottest parts of the Sahara desert within 50 years. Even under a more optimistic climate outlook, 1.2 billion people will still be exposed to temperatures outside the climate niche in which humans have thrived for at least 6,000 years.

The majority of the human population has always lived in regions where the average annual temperatures were between 43 degrees Fahrenheit and 82 degrees Fahrenheit. These are ideal temperatures for human health and for food production. But this temperature range is shrinking and shifting as a result of climate change.

The study’s authors predict there will be more change in the next 50 years than there has been in the past 6,000 years. They hope their findings will convince policymakers to accelerate their plans for emissions reductions and other climate mitigation strategies.

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Future of the human climate niche

One billion people will live in insufferable heat within 50 years – study

Photo, posted November 22, 2008, courtesy of Ronnie Finger via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Water-Based Battery

January 3, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The transition from fossil fuel-based power plants to clean, renewable energy sources is accelerating as both wind and solar power get cheaper and increasingly become cost-competitive with traditional power sources. The biggest stumbling block both energy sources face is that they cannot always supply power on demand but require the sun to shine and the wind to blow.