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A Miracle Tree | Earth Wise

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The world needs to be fed without destroying the environment.   We need to grow more trees to store more carbon on earth and reduce the amount in the atmosphere.  But meanwhile, we decimate rainforests to produce palm oil and grow soybeans.

A startup company in California called Terviva thinks they have a solution.  It’s called pongamia, which is an ordinary looking tropical tree.  It produces beans packed with protein and oil, much like soybeans.  However, it has the potential to produce much more nutrition per acre than soybeans and it is hardy enough to grow on pretty much any kind of land without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, or irrigation.  In short, it is a miracle crop for a hot and hungry planet that is running out of fertile farmland and fresh water.

Pongamia is not a new or rare tree.  It is common in India but grows all over the world.  It is often planted as an ornamental here in the U.S.

The initial idea for making use of the hardy tree was to use its oil as a biofuel.  The seeds of pongamia are known to have a bitter taste and disagreeable odor, which is why the seeds or oil were never used for human or animal feed.  However, Terviva has developed a way to de-bitter pongamia oil.  Once this is done, it becomes a golden-colored substitute for olive oil. It also has enormous potential as a protein for plant-based milks and meats, since it contains all nine essential amino acids.

Terviva has raised more than $100 million to further develop pongamia and is now partnering with Danone, a $25 billion multinational food company, to develop pongamia as a climate-friendly, climate-resilient, non-GMO alternative to soy and palm oil.

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This super-tree could help feed the world and fight climate change

Photo, posted December 15, 2015, courtesy of Lauren Gutierrez via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Saving Lives With Air Conditioning | Earth Wise

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This summer, extreme heatwaves struck the United States, Europe, and Africa.  Thousands of people died as a result.  In July, the impact of extreme heat in places ill-prepared for it was evident.  In the U.K., where air conditioning is uncommon, public transportation shut down, schools and offices closed, and hospitals cancelled non-emergency procedures.

Air conditioning, which we mostly take for granted in this country, is a life-saving tool during extreme heat waves.  However, only about 8% of the 2.8 billion people living in the hottest – and often poorest – parts of the world have AC in their homes.

A new study at Harvard modeled the future demand for air conditioning as the number of days with extreme heat continues to increase across the globe.  The researchers identified a massive gap between current AC capacity and what will be needed by 2050 to save lives, particularly in low-income and developing countries.

If the rate of greenhouse gas emissions continues on its present course, the study concluded that that at least 70% of the population in several countries will require air conditioning by 2050.  The number will be even higher in equatorial countries like India and Indonesia.  At this point, even if the goals of the Paris Climate Accords are met, an average of 40-50% of the population in many of the world’s warmest countries will still require AC.

The research looked at various scenarios.  One in which emissions continue to increase leads to widespread need for air conditioning even in temperate countries.  In Germany, 92% of the population would need it, and here in the U.S., 96% would need it.

Planning for future power systems must take into account the essential needs of a warming world.

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In a hotter world, air conditioning isn’t a luxury, it’s a lifesaver

Photo, posted July 24, 2021, courtesy of Phyxter Home Services via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Making Cotton More Sustainable | Earth Wise

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In the United States, cotton is a $7 billion annual crop grown in 17 states.  Cotton plants in the largest producing countries in the world – India, China, and the U.S. – are genetically very similar and, like other crops that lack diversity, can be at risk.

Cultivated cotton around the world has been bred to look and act very similar.  It is high yielding and easy to harvest using machines.  But it is also wildly unprepared to fight disease, drought, or insect-borne pathogens.

Researchers are looking beyond breeding for ways to combat the low genetic diversity of cultivated cotton.  There are new approaches that combine breeding with elements of genetic modification.  Most cotton in the U.S. has already been genetically modified to resist caterpillar pests.  But as new problems emerge, new solutions will be needed that may require complicated changes to the cotton genome.  Getting regulatory approval for a genetically modified crop is a long and expensive process.

However, ordinary genetic modification is not the only possibility.  Modern genetic sequencing technology can allow researchers to examine various wild cotton varieties and identify the genetic markers for desirable traits.  Once valuable genes in wild species have been identified, traditional plant breeding techniques could be used to produce cultivated cotton varieties that are more resistant to disease and drought.

Climate change is raising average global temperatures and some important cotton-producing regions such as the U.S. Southwest are becoming drier.  Researchers are hoping to produce cultivated cotton that can tolerate drought at the seedling stage.  The ultimate goal is to create more sustainable and genetically diverse cotton that can thrive in a changing world.

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Cotton Breeders Are Using Genetic Insights To Make This Global Crop More Sustainable

Photo, posted November 9, 2008, courtesy of BP Takoma via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Red Pandas And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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Red pandas are small mammals native to the mountainous forests of China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar.  Unlike their name suggests, they are not related to giant pandas.  In fact, red pandas are distant relatives of raccoons. Renowned for their tree-climbing abilities, red pandas live at moderately high elevations in the Himalayas where they forage widely for bamboo shoots and various fruits.

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, red pandas are endangered.  Scientists estimate that there are less than 10,000 red pandas remaining in the wild today, and these numbers are continuing to fall. 

Habitat loss is the main threat to red panda’s survival.  Human expansion into the area, combined with the effects of climate change, has led to the fragmentation and loss of livable land.  Red pandas also face dangers from hunting and poaching.

According to new research recently published in the journal Landscape Ecology, human impacts are driving red pandas closer to extinction than previously thought.  Using GPS telemetry, a research team from the University of Queensland in Australia tracked red pandas in Nepal over a 12-month period.  The researchers found that human activities, such as infrastructure development, were causing red pandas to restrict their movements, which is further fragmenting their habitat and interfering with natural interactions between the animals. 

As the amount of wild forest dwindles, red pandas are being forced into situations where they must decide whether to live closer to predators or adapt to co-exist with humans.

The research team recommends minimizing human-induced disturbances in red panda habitats and to maintain habitat continuity in ecologically sensitive areas. 

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Red pandas face a fractured future

IUCN: Red Panda

Photo, posted November 27, 2016, courtesy of Mathias Appel via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And Forest Loss | Earth Wise

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India is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.  An estimated 47,000 plant species and 89,000 animal species can be found in India, with more than 10% of each thought to be on the list of threatened species. 

India is also among the top ten countries in the world in terms of total forest coverage.  According to Indian government data, the total forest and tree cover in India is 312,000 square miles, which is 24.62% of the geographical area of the country.

However, forest loss in India has been a problem for many decades driven largely (researchers thought) by land use change.  But it turns out that climate change may also have been contributing to forest loss, and its impact is projected to become an even bigger problem in the coming years. 

In the first ever national-scale study of the relationship between forest loss and rainfall and temperature trends in India, researchers from the University of Reading in the U.K. found that climate change may have contributed to large declines in forest since the turn of the century.

The study, which was recently published in the journal Global Change Biology, found far greater forest losses were observed where and when the climate was changing most rapidly.  Decreases in rainfall had the strongest impact on forest loss. 

These findings exacerbate concerns about the already-worrying levels of deforestation in the country, and contradict official reports that have shown relatively small decreases in forest coverage in recent years. 

The research team warns that rapid changes to the climate in some regions will require targeted preservation action to reduce the risk to biodiversity in India. 

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Indian forest loss ‘worse than feared’ due to climate change

Photo, posted January 20, 2013, courtesy of Dicky Broadhurst / Frontier Official via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Getting Rid Of Single-Use Plastics | Earth Wise

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Single-use plastics are used only once before they are recycled – or more likely – simply thrown away.  These are things like plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles, and most food packaging.  They are primarily made from fossil fuel-based chemicals.

Since the 1950s, over 9 billion tons of plastics have been produced, and half of that has been in the past 15 years.  There are uses for plastic that are not only reasonable, but are even important, such as for surgical gloves.  But for the most part, single-use plastic is the poster child of our throwaway culture that is bad for the environment, for wildlife, and even for human health.

Many cities, states, and even countries are moving toward greatly limiting or outright banning single-use plastics.  A recent global survey indicates that the great majority of people around the world are with the program.

According to a 28-country survey from marketing firm Ipsos and the activist group Plastic Free July, three out of four people around the world agree with a ban on single-use plastics.  The poll of more than 20,000 people showed that in Latin America, China, and India, more than 80% agree that a ban should happen as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, Canada, the United States, and Japan were the least supportive countries.  In particular, only 40% of Japanese respondents favored a ban.

Ninety percent of respondents globally support an international treaty to combat plastic pollution and eighty percent said they personally want to buy products with as little plastic packaging as possible.  Unfortunately, people in wealthy countries, which produce the most plastic waste, are less likely to support a ban.  Those countries typically export their waste to the developing world.

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Three in Four People Worldwide Support a Ban on Single-Use Plastics

Photo, posted April 13, 2006, courtesy of Leonard J Matthews via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Crops Threatened With Extinction | Earth Wise

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Crop variety and diversity are critically important for global food security as well as for the livelihoods of millions of people.  This diversity entails both the different species of food crops as well as the so-called farmer varieties of crops that in many cases have been cultivated and safeguarded for millennia.

It is well-known that many of these crops and varieties have been rapidly disappearing, but data has been scarce on just how many have been lost, how many we are losing, and which ones are the most threatened going forward.

A new study utilizes a methodology known as the Varietal Threat Index, which was developed by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.  The study assessed about 600 farmers from seven Indian states, covering five different agroecological areas.  The farmers were selected based on their knowledge of crops and varieties across the 17 study sites.

The farmers listed the crops and varieties grown in their households, noted their uses, and indicated their spread and abundance, including information on varieties grown during the previous ten years which were no longer grown.

The results of the study showed that while there is a significant diversity of landraces – which are local varieties of species developed over time – more than 50% are threatened.  The trend is that crops and varieties mostly used for consumption are most often under threat, whereas varieties with multiple uses are less likely to be threatened.

Studies of this type can aid the development of targets and indicators to monitor the global status of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and help inform urgent priority conservation actions.

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More than half of surveyed crop varieties are under threat of extinction, according to study in India

Photo, posted February 21, 2014, courtesy of Atibordee Kongprepan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Busting Electric Vehicle Myths | Earth Wise

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From the early days of hybrid vehicles right on through the current booming market for electric cars, there has been the contention by some people that these cars are responsible for comparable or even greater amounts of greenhouse gas emissions over their product lifetimes.  The arguments generally centered around the carbon costs of creating batteries for the cars as well as the emissions associated with generating the electricity used to charge them.

A new study published by the International Council for Clean Transportation reports a life cycle assessment (or LCA) that considers every source of carbon generated from the cradle to the grave of the vehicle.

Included in the assessment are the mining costs of the lithium to make batteries, the transportation of batteries across the world by container ship, the end-of-life burden, the mix of energy generation in various places around the world, and so on.

The results of the analysis are that even in India and China, which are the biggest burners of coal and oil on earth, it still results in lower emissions to drive an EV instead of an internal combustion vehicle.

Lifetime emissions of today’s average medium-size EVs are lower than comparable gasoline cars by 66-69% in Europe, 60-68% in the US, 37-45% in China, and 19-34% in India.  As electricity generation continues to further decarbonize, all these numbers will only get better.  While it is somewhat more carbon-intensive to manufacture an EV, it doesn’t take very long in the car’s life to come out ahead owning one.

Early skeptics of EVs and hybrids had more legitimate concerns a decade or so ago, but the advantages of these vehicles are now unambiguous.

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One of the Biggest Myths About EVs is Busted in New Study

Photo, posted December 30, 2020, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Coal In The UK And Asia | Earth Wise

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Coal was the driving force of the British industrial revolution beginning in the 18th century.  Coal was used for manufacturing iron, heating buildings, driving locomotives, and more.  Annual coal production in the UK peaked in the year 1913 at 316 million tons.  Until the late 1960s, coal was the main source of energy produced in the UK.

Recently, Britain announced that it plans to phase out coal power entirely by October 2024, one year earlier than its previous target date.  This is on the heels of a dramatic decline in coal usage over the past decade.  In 2012, coal accounted for 40% of the UK’s power generation.  By 2020, that number was 1.8%.

In both Europe and the United States, coal power is generally significantly more expensive than renewable power from the sun and wind.  As a result, market forces have driven the demise of coal power in those places.

The situation is different across much of Asia where coal power remains cost competitive.  Five Asian countries – China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Vietnam – still have plans to build more than 600 new coal-fired power plants, which is bad news for the environment.  In 2020, China produced more than half of the world’s coal power, which reflects both the growth of coal in Asia and its decline in the U.S. and Europe.

Despite all this, experts predict that it will be more expensive to run almost all coal plants globally than to build new renewable energy projects by the year 2026.  Sooner or later, coal power will no longer make its unfortunate contributions to the world.

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UK Aims to Dump Coal Early, While Asia Stays the Course

Photo, posted March 8, 2021, courtesy of Stanze via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Promising Malaria Vaccine | Earth Wise

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Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted through the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes.  Although the disease is both preventable and treatable, an estimated 435,000 people die of it each year, with the majority being children younger than five.  Over 90% of all malaria cases and deaths occur in Africa.

The battle against malaria has mostly centered around the use of bed nets, insecticide spraying and antimalarial drugs.  To date, there has not been an effective malaria vaccine available.

That may finally be changing.  The first vaccinations have begun in Mali in a phase III trial of a malaria vaccine developed by the University of Oxford.  The Oxford vaccine showed an efficacy of 77% over 12 months in a phase IIb trial and the hope is that the phase III trial will lead to the licensing of the vaccine in 2023. 

Oxford is partnering with the Serum Institute of India for the manufacturing of the vaccine in order to be able to produce high volumes of low-cost vaccine and provide access to countries where it is required the most.  The Serum Institute has committed to the production of more than 200 million doses per year once the vaccine is licensed for use, which will be an adequate supply for children most at risk of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.

The World Health Organization Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap has a goal of a malaria vaccine with at least 75% efficacy.  Such a vaccine is needed in order to reach the WHO’s goal of reducing malaria deaths by at least 90% by 2030.

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Promising malaria vaccine enters final stage of clinical testing in West Africa

Photo, posted June 9, 2018, courtesy of Mario Yordanov via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Rising Seas In The Maldives | Earth Wise

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The Republic of Maldives is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India and about 400 miles from the Asian mainland.  It is one of the world’s most geographically dispersed sovereign states, the smallest Asian country by land area, and, with a little over 500,000 inhabitants, the second least populous country in Asia.  With its spectacular scenic beauty, it is also a premier tourist attraction.

With more than 80% of its 1,190 coral islands standing less than 1 meter above sea level, the Maldives has the lowest terrain of any country in the world.  As a result, the Maldives is particularly vulnerable to the sea level rise associated with climate change.

Some studies predict a grim future for the Maldives as well as other low-lying islands.  One study concluded that the islands could become uninhabitable by 2050 as wave-driven flooding becomes more common and freshwater becomes limited.

The Maldives government has explored plans to purchase land on higher ground in other countries.  Planners are also working to enhance the resilience of the country’s current islands.   An example is Hulhumalé, a newly constructed artificial island northeast of the country’s capital, Malé.

Construction of Hulhumalé began in 1997 and it now covers 1.5 square miles, making it the fourth largest island in the Maldives.  Its population is now more than 50,000, with more than 200,000 expected to eventually move there.  The new island, built by pumping sand from the seafloor onto a coral platform, rises about 2 meters above sea level.  The extra height could make the new island a refuge for Maldivians driven off lower-lying islands by the rising seas.

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Preparing for Rising Seas in the Maldives

Photo, posted June 15, 2009, courtesy of Elena N via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Paving With Plastic | Earth Wise

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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.

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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.

The Largest Renewable Energy Project In The World | Earth Wise

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India has broken ground on what is planned to be the largest renewable energy project in the world:  a 30-gigawatt wind and solar power project in the state of Gujarat.

The renewable energy park will have two zones:  a 122,000-acre hybrid park zone that will accommodate 25 gigawatts of wind and solar power plants and a 57,000-acre zone entirely dedicated to wind power.  Multiple developers will be building the power plants in the hybrid zone.  A single company has been allotted the wind power zone.  The selected developers have to develop 50% of the total generation capacity in the next 3 years and finish the project in five years. The project is expected to create jobs for 100,000 people. Total investment in the project will be about $20 billion.

This is not technically a single standalone project but is rather an aggregation of multiple projects in a single general area.  Nonetheless, it represents the largest renewable energy development ever.  By comparison, the entire United States has a total of 50 gigawatts of installed solar power in large plants – which does not include any rooftop solar.  Total wind power capacity in the U.S. is a little over 100 gigawatts.  So, the 30-gigawatt Indian project is huge by any measure.

India already gets over 30% of its electricity from renewable sources, making it one of the largest renewable energy markets in the world.  The country has a goal of 60% renewable energy by 2030, amounting to 450 gigawatts of capacity.  This will require the country to double its already substantial renewable capacity in less than 10 years.  The Gujarat energy park will represent substantial progress towards that goal.

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Largest Renewable Energy Project In World Will Be 30 Gigawatt Solar–Wind Project In India

Photo, posted October 16, 2019, courtesy of Jonathan Cutrer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Dust And Himalayan Glaciers | Earth Wise

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Glaciers in the Himalayas have been melting and retreating, as have glaciers around the world.  As is the case elsewhere, human-driven climate change is a major factor.  But at the lofty heights of the Himalayas, warming temperatures are not the biggest culprit.  Black carbon – released into the air by burning fossil fuels or biomass such as plants, trees, and shrubs – darkens the snow and causes it to absorb more of the sun’s heat.  A recent study by an international team of scientist has identified another important factor:  dust.

An estimated 5 billion tons of desert dust enters the Earth’s atmosphere every year.  Dust from places like Saudi Arabia gets picked up by spring winds and gets deposited on the western sides of mountains, where it can make the air 10 times more polluted than most European cities.  Dust blows across industrial and desert areas in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East and lands in the Himalayas.  According to the new study, this dust is often the dominant cause of snow melt in those areas.

Desert dust causes snow melt in the same way that black carbon does.   Dirty snow absorbs sunlight more easily than clean snow.

Desert dust is a natural part of Earth’s systems, but the amount of it in the atmosphere has steadily increased since the Industrial Revolution, when humans greatly expanded into desert areas and broke through surface crust that held large amounts of dust in place.

There is not much we can do about desert dust, short of eliminating deserts.  But the disappearance of the Himalayan ice pack – which sustains over a billion people – can be mitigated by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change .

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Himalayan glaciers melting because of high-altitude dust

Photo, posted March 13, 2018, courtesy of Sarunas Burdulis via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Nitrous Oxide Is No Laughing Matter | Earth Wise

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Carbon dioxide is the most well-known of greenhouse gases.  But there are others deserving of their own spotlight.  Nitrous oxide is one of them.  It turns out that the same “laughing gas” once used by dentists as an anesthetic is pretty bad for the environment.  In fact, it’s more than 300 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and it can remain in the atmosphere for more than 100 years.

According to a new study by a team of international scientists, rising nitrous oxide emissions around the world are jeopardizing the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.  The growing use of nitrogen fertilizers in global food production is increasing atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide.

The study, which was led by Auburn University and recently published in the journal Nature, finds that nitrous oxide emissions are increasing faster than any emission scenario developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  The current trajectory would lead to global mean temperature increases well above 3°C from pre-industrial levels.  The Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to less than 2°C.    

According to the study, nitrous oxide levels have risen 20% from pre-industrial levels, with the fastest growth observed in the last 50 years due to emissions from human activities.  The largest contributors to nitrous oxide emissions come from East Asia, South Asia, South America, and Africa.  The United States, China, and India dominate nitrous oxide emissions from synthetic fertilizers, while Africa and South America dominate releases of nitrous oxide from natural sources, like livestock manure. 

Nitrous oxide emissions pose an increasing threat to the climate.  

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Nitrous oxide emissions pose an increasing climate threat, study finds

Photo, posted April 22, 2012, courtesy of Bill Meier via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Cost Of Air Pollution | Earth Wise

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The environmental consequences of burning fossil fuels are a dominant topic.  The increasing changes in the climate have far-reaching effects across the globe and are a growing geopolitical crisis.  But the climate effects of fossil fuel emissions are by no means the only problem they cause.  

A new report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clear Air has, for the first time, attempted to quantify the global economic and health impacts of fossil fuel-caused air pollution.  In total, the estimate is that the economic and health costs of air pollution from burning fossil fuels totaled $2.9 trillion in 2018, calculated in the form of work absences, years of life lost, and premature deaths. The cost represents 3.3 percent of global GDP, or about $8 billion per day. 

The study focused on the health impacts of three specific types of pollutants:  nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and fine particulate matter, which has the greater impact.  Collectively, these pollutants cause about 1.8 billion days of missed work due to disease and $2.2 trillion in air pollution costs every year. Together, air pollution from these three pollutants is responsible for 4.5 million premature deaths around the world each year.

According to the report, the most premature deaths from fossil fuel-related air pollution in 2018 were in mainland China (1.8 million), India (1 million), and the United States (230,000). As a result, those three countries also faced the highest annual costs: $900 billion in China, $600 billion in the U.S., and $150 billion in India. 

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Toxic Air: The Price of Fossil Fuels (Full Report)

Photo, posted November 17, 2019, courtesy of Kristoffer Trolle via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Air Pollution And Bone Health | Earth Wise

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Many of the negative effects of air pollution are well documented.  Studies have shown that exposure to air pollution is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, stroke, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and so on. 

Now, according to a new study in India led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), exposure to air pollution is also associated with a higher risk of developing osteoporosis.  Osteoporosis, which literally means porous bone, is a disease in which the density and quality of bone is reduced. As bones become more porous and fragile, the risk of fracture is greatly increased. 

The study, which surveyed 3,700 people from 28 villages in southern India, was recently published in the medical journal Jama Network Open.     

The researchers used a model to estimate air pollution by fine particulate matter (commonly referred to as PM2.5) and black carbon at each participant’s residence.  The research team then assessed bone health using a special type of radiography (called dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) that measures bone density.  They measured bone mass of the participants’ left hip and at the lumbar spine.

The results showed that exposure to air pollution, particularly fine particulate matter, was associated with lower levels of bone mass.  Annual average exposure to PM2.5 was 32.8 micrograms per cubic meter, well above the maximum levels recommended by the World Health Organization (10 micrograms per cubic meter) and the U.S. EPA (12 micrograms per cubic meter).   

The researchers say their findings add to a growing body of evidence that indicates that particulate air pollution is relevant for bone health. 

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Air pollution can worsen bone health

Photo, posted November 15, 2019, courtesy of Ninara via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Rising Seas Will Erase Cities

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According to new research, climate-driven sea level rise could affect three times more people by 2050 than previously thought.  This sobering assessment means some of the world’s great coastal cities, including Bangkok, Shanghai, Mumbai, Basra, Alexandria, and Ho Chi Minh City, could be in big trouble.   

Scientists have always relied on land elevation data to determine the effects of sea level rise over large areas.  But standard elevation measurements using satellites struggle to differentiate the true ground level from the tops of trees or buildings.  The authors of the paper developed a more accurate way to calculate land elevation by using artificial intelligence to determine the error rate and to correct for it.  The new findings revealed that 150 million people – three times more than previously thought – are now living on land that is projected to be below the high-tide line by the middle of this century. 

Eight Asian nations – China, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan – account for about 70% of the people living on at-risk land. 

More than 20 million people in Vietnam, including much of Ho Chi Minh City, live on land that will be inundated by 2050.  In Thailand, more than 10% of its citizens, including much of Bangkok, currently live on land imperiled by projected sea level rise. 

This new research was produced by Climate Central, a New Jersey-based science organization, and was recently published in the journal Nature Communications. 

Sea level rise is clearly not just an environmental problem.  It’s a humanitarian crisis.

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New elevation data triple estimates of global vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding

Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050, New Research Shows

Photo, posted December 18, 2009, courtesy of Misko via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Potential For Offshore Wind

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According to a new report from the International Energy Agency, offshore wind technology has vast potential for meeting our energy needs.  In total, offshore wind has the potential to generate more than 420,000 terawatt-hours of electricity each year, which is more than 18 times the global electricity demand that exists today.

Based on current policy targets and plummeting technology costs, offshore wind could increase 15-fold by 2040, becoming a $1 trillion industry and eliminating 5 to 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Offshore wind today generates just 0.3% of the world’s electricity, but its’ use is growing rapidly.  The industry has grown nearly 30% a year since 2010, and 150 new offshore projects are currently in development around the world.  The leading countries are in Europe – especially in the UK, Germany, and Denmark – but China is greatly expanding its offshore capacity and the US, India, Korea, Japan, and Canada are also expected to make large investments in offshore wind going forward.

Offshore wind is in a category of its own because it is considered a variable baseload power generation technology.  This is because the hourly variability of offshore wind is much lower than solar power or onshore wind.  Offshore wind typically fluctuates far less from hour-to-hour than the other variable energy sources.

Technology improvements and industry growth are driving steep cost reductions for offshore wind.  The cost of offshore wind is expected to be cut in half in the next five years, dropping to $60 per megawatt-hour, which is on par with solar and onshore wind and cheaper than new natural gas-fired capacity in Europe.

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Web Links

Offshore Wind Has the Potential to Fulfill Global Electricity Demand 18 Times Over

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And El Niño

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The term El Niño refers to a large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperature across the central and east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean.  Amazingly, the phenomenon was originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America in the 1600s, with the appearance of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean.

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme El Niño events, leading to intensifying droughts, worsening floods, and shifting hurricane patterns.

The study, led by scientists in China and the US, looked at data from 33 El Niños dating back to 1901.  Since the 1970s, El Niños have been forming farther to the west in the Pacific Ocean, where temperatures are warmer.  Strong El Niños can cause severe drought in dry climates such as Australia and India, intense flooding in wetter climates such as the US Pacific Northwest and Peru, and more hurricanes to form in the Pacific and fewer in the Atlantic.

Before 1978, 12 out of 14 El Niños formed east of the International Dateline.  Since 1978, all 11 have formed in the central or western Pacific Ocean a shift of hundreds of miles.  There have been three so-called super El Niños since the shift – in 1982, 1997, and 2015.  These have set new average temperature records and triggered catastrophic natural disasters.

With rising global temperatures, El Niños are likely to continue to intensify, with major impacts on human societies around the world.

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Web Links

Climate Change is Making El Niños More Intense, Study Finds

Photo, posted January 20, 2016, courtesy of Los Angeles District 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...)