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Sea Level Rise And Global Security | Earth Wise

March 22, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Recently, United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres addressed the U.N. Security Council on the issue of the security threats created by rising sea levels. In the past, some members of the Security Council – notably Brazil, China, Russia, and at times, India – have argued that the U.N.’s climate program should address such issues and that the Security Council doesn’t have a mandate or the expertise to consider the issue. The underlying problem is that by addressing the security issues created by rising seas, other sensitive geopolitical issues might come to the forefront.

Guterres’ speech focused on the real possibility that rising seas could disrupt and destabilize global societies unless there is an organized international effort to get ahead of the problem. Major cities facing serious impacts from rising seas include Cairo, Lagos, Bangkok, Jakarta, Mumbai, Shanghai, Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, New York, and Buenos Aires, among others.

In all, Guterres said that the danger is most acute for about 900 million people living in low-lying coastal areas. Some countries, particularly small island developing countries, could disappear entirely.

The world is already facing refugee crises related to politics, warfare, and extreme weather. The flood of refugees created by rising seas could be biblical in magnitude.

The confluence of climate change and global security is growing steadily. As the global body primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security, the U.N. Security Council cannot duck this issue much longer. It has a critical role to play in building the political will required to address the security challenges looming from rising seas.

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Sea Level Rise Could Drive 1 in 10 People from Their Homes, with Dangerous Implications for International Peace, UN Secretary General Warns

Photo, posted July 19, 2021, courtesy of Face of the World via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Keeping Trash Out Of The Ocean | Earth Wise

February 23, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization, founded in 2013 by Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, to develop and scale technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. It is an organization that proudly declares that its primary aim is to put itself out of business by successfully cleaning up the oceans.

A major activity of The Ocean Cleanup is efforts to clean the ocean garbage patches that have accumulated in several places, best-known of which is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The effort involves use of large U-shaped floating barriers that act as an artificial coastline to trap garbage which is then funneled into a barge for disposal. Ten full-sized systems will be needed to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

A second activity of The Ocean Cleanup is preventing garbage in rivers from making its way into the oceans. Rivers are the main source of ocean plastic pollution. The Ocean Cleanup has developed river machines called Interceptors that capture garbage for disposal. Last fall, they installed a machine called Interceptor 007 in Ballona Creek, a waterway in the Los Angeles area. In the first rainfall after installation, the Interceptor managed to stop 35,000 pounds of waste from entering the ocean in just a few days.

The original Interceptor models have been deployed in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Dominican Republic, and Vietnam. A different type called the Interceptor Trashfence is being tested in Guatemala.

The Ocean Cleanup states that if fleets of its barrier systems are installed in all the garbage patches and Interceptors in the 1000 most significant rivers, 90% of floating ocean plastic can be removed by 2040.

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The Interceptor 007 Stops 35,000 Pounds Of Trash From Entering Ocean

The Ocean Cleanup

Photo, posted February 23, 2015, courtesy of Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

California Storms And The Megadrought | Earth Wise

February 22, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

California experienced its wettest 10-day period in 25 years as a result of a series of storms driven by atmospheric rivers in January. The Rocky Mountains got buried in snow from the same weather pattern. For the drought-stricken West, the storms were good news. But they are not the cure for what’s been ailing the region.

In California, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains has been greatly enhanced, containing twice as much snow as is considered average for this time of year. Without a doubt, it will reduce the impact of the drought that has plagued the state for 23 years. But one big storm or even a series of them is not enough to undo years of minimal precipitation and rising temperatures. Many of the states’ largest reservoirs remain well below historical averages despite the record-breaking rain. It would take several wet years to really allow the state to recover from the drought.

The snowfall in the Rockies is crucial because it is the source of more than two-thirds of the water in the Colorado River. The Colorado River is the water lifeline for 40 million people from Wyoming to Mexico.

The ongoing shrinking of the Colorado River is a crisis that has created massive problems for the multibillion-dollar agriculture industry and for many large cities, including Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Two of the nation’s largest reservoirs – Lake Mead and Lake Powell – are filled by the Colorado River. The historic low levels of these reservoirs have threatened the functioning of hydropower facilities that provide electricity to millions of people.

The January storms were good news for the West, but its problems are not over.

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This Winter’s Rain and Snow Won’t be Enough to Pull the West Out of Drought

Photo, posted September 18, 2022, courtesy of Sarah Stierch via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric Cars And Cleaner Air | Earth Wise

January 20, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Cities are awash in microscopic soot and other pollutants from the tailpipes of vehicles. Apart from contributing substantially to the warming of the planet, these emissions have a significant impact on human health. Research at Cornell University has determined that the continued growth of electric cars will lead to cleaner air and reduced human mortality in most if not all U.S. metropolitan areas.

The study, published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, estimated the health impact and consequential economic impact of cleaner air in American cities as a result of the transition to electric vehicles.

For example, by 2050, Los Angeles will have 1,163 fewer premature deaths annually, corresponding to $12.6 billion in economic health benefits. Greater New York City could see 574 fewer deaths a year leading to $6.24 billion in associated economic gains.

Global sales of electric cars have grown steadily. In 2016, they accounted for less than 1% of the market. That share grew to 2.2% in 2018, 4.1% in 2020, and 6.6% in 2021.

In the U.S., electric cars accounted for 4.5% of sales in 2021, but in many cities, the numbers were much higher.

These trends are likely to accelerate as a combination of government policies and major decisions by automakers drive a rapid transition to electrification. While mitigating the effects of climate change continues to be the main driving force for that transition, the human health benefits will be a very significant reward for doing the right thing for the planet.

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Electric car sales drive toward cleaner air, less mortality

Photo, posted May 11, 2021, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Forests And Water | Earth Wise

June 15, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

We hear a great deal about the environmental services provided by forests. Deforestation is one of the major factors contributing to increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And, of course, forests – most notably rainforests – are major contributors to biodiversity. A new study by the U.S. Forest Service looked at the role forests play in providing water for Americans.

According to the study, published in the journal Water Resources Research, forested lands across the U.S. provide 83 million Americans with at least half of their water. 125 million people – well over a third of the country – receive at least 10% of their water from forests. Notably, in the drought-stricken western U.S., nearly 40 million people get more than half of their drinking water from forests that are increasingly threatened by wildfires.

The study looked at surface water sources for more than 5,000 public water systems. It provides a critical update to the map of where our water comes from. The study focused on surface waters such as lakes, rivers, and streams because it is too difficult to trace sources of groundwater on a national scale. Included is a new database of inter-basin water transfers, which are how surface water moves from places where it is plentiful to where it is not. Examples are the California Aqueduct and the Central Arizona Project which respectively supply Los Angeles and Phoenix with drinking water.

In Los Angeles, 69% of the water coming in through inter-basin transfers originated in forested lands. In Phoenix, the figure is 82%. There are many urban communities that obtain more than half of their drinking water from inter-basin transfers. Even far from forests, water from forests is essential for millions of Americans.

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U.S. Forests Provide 83 Million People with Half Their Water

Photo, posted September 26, 2016, courtesy of Don Graham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Oil Drilling In Los Angeles | Earth Wise

February 24, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Movies were not the first industry to boom in Los Angeles. Oil was. There was a lot of it, and it flowed close to the surface triggering rampant drilling all over the area. By the 1920s, Los Angeles was one of the largest oil-exporting regions in the world.

A century later, there are over 20,000 active, idle, or abandoned wells spread across LA county, home to 10 million people. Some are hidden behind facades; others are plainly visible, pumping away day and night. About a third of Angelenos live less than a mile from an active well site. In the last 20 years, improved oil extraction technology has actually led to a resurgence of oil drilling in Los Angeles.

Studies of the health impact of LA’s oil wells found that asthma is significantly more common among people living near oil wells than elsewhere in the county. Surveys of residents’ lung functions revealed lower function on average when people live near wells. Measurements of toxins in the air – such as benzene, toluene, and n-hexane – showed that levels of these substances were significantly reduced when oil production at a site stopped.

This issue has finally come to the forefront after a nearly a decade of community organizing and studies of adverse health effects. In a unanimous vote on January 26, the Los Angeles City Council took the first step toward phasing out all oil and gas extraction in the city by declaring oil extraction a nonconforming land use. The LA County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to phase out oil extraction in unincorporated county areas. Los Angeles’ long, troubled history with urban oil drilling appears to be nearing an end.

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Los Angeles’ long, troubled history with urban oil drilling is nearing an end after years of health concerns

Photo, posted March 26, 2016, courtesy of Giuseppe Milo via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A New Low For Lake Powell | Earth Wise

November 2, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Lake Powell is the second largest reservoir by capacity in the United States. It straddles the border of southeastern Utah and northeastern Arizona and was created by the Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1963. The reservoir serves as a bank account of water that is drawn upon in times of drought and has made it possible to weather extended droughts by sustaining the needs of cities, industries, and agriculture in western states. Hydroelectric power by the dam’s eight generators provides electricity to seven states.

As a result of the protracted drought in the west, the water levels in Lake Powell have reached the lowest point since 1969. As of September 20, the lake held only 30% of its capacity and federal managers started releasing water from upstream reservoirs to help keep Lake Powell from dropping below the so-called minimum power threshold which is the water elevation that must be maintained to keep the dam’s hydropower turbines working properly.

With the entire Lower Colorado River water system below 40% of capacity, Bureau of Reclamation recently announced that water allocations in the U.S. Southwest would be cut over the next year. The Colorado River basin is managed to provide water to millions of people including those in San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.

Successive dry winter seasons over the past two years along with a failed 2020 summer southwestern monsoon, have led to the lowest precipitation levels on record in the Southwest going at least as far back as 1895. With warm temperatures, reduced snowpack, and increased evaporation of soil moisture, most of the American West suffers from persistent and widespread drought.

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Lake Powell Reaches New Low

Photo, posted June 28, 2021, courtesy of the USFWS – Mountain Prairie via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Deep Learning And Dirty Air | Earth Wise

May 6, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Poor air quality is a major global problem. According to the World Health Organization, exposure to air pollution is linked to the premature deaths of an estimated seven million people every year. In fact, 9 out of 10 people breathe air that contains more pollutants than what the WHO considers safe. Air pollution is the fourth largest threat to human health, trailing only high blood pressure, dietary risks, and smoking.

But predicting pollution levels at a given place and time remains challenging. According to a new study recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, scientists are turning to deep learning to improve air quality estimates.

According to researchers, satellite observations and ground observations both measure air pollution, but both have major limitations. For example, satellites may collect data at the same time and at the same location each day, but they miss how emissions may vary throughout the day. Ground-based observations from weather stations do continuously collect data, but they only do so in a limited number of locations.

As a result, scientists have turned to deep learning – a type of machine learning – to analyze the relationship between satellite and ground-based observations of nitrogen dioxide around Los Angeles. Nitrogen dioxide is associated with emissions from traffic and power plants. The researchers were able to rely on the learned relationship to take daily satellite observations and create hourly estimates of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide levels in approximately three mile grids.

According to the research team, this study could be repeated for other greenhouse gases, and applied to different cities and regions – or even whole continents.

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Scientists turn to deep learning to improve air quality forecasts

Air Pollution

Photo, posted November 4, 2019, courtesy of Ninara via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

California’s Silent Health Hazard | Earth Wise

April 23, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

For people in the Los Angeles area, it is a familiar sight to see oil wells pumping away on hillsides, in residential neighborhoods, and other places. In fancier parts of town, oil wells are hidden behind facades located next door to dry cleaners and lamp stores.

Every year, more than 140 million barrels of oil are extracted from the state of California, coming from a vast subterranean formation that spans nearly the entire state along the coast and spreading inland as well. About 30% of the state’s oil comes from the Los Angeles area.

The oilfields are mostly old, and their wells played out. As a result, high-tech drilling and a slew of toxic chemicals are needed to extract the last dregs of crude oil.

Unlike more rural oil-producing states, where oilfields might be uninhabited except for the people who work on them, drilling in California happens to a large degree in residential settings. Over the years, it has become increasingly clear that certain chemical byproducts of oil extraction, among them benzene and hydrogen sulfate, can cause a variety of health problems. For example, recent research has found connections between exposure to oil and gas well sites and spontaneous pre-term births, low-birthweight babies, and other adverse birth outcomes.

Statewide, little is being done to protect residents and schoolchildren from any of the suspected consequences of living near an oil or gas well. Regulations are weak and spottily enforced because the oil industry still wields a lot of political power in the state. Environmental groups and justice advocates are actively seeking to create new protections for California citizens, but it remains an uphill battle.

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The Oil Well Next Door: California’s Silent Health Hazard

Photo, posted July 11, 2017, courtesy of John Ciccarelli / Bureau of Land Management California via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Coronavirus Shutdowns And The Environment | Earth Wise

May 11, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Our stories often discuss how human activities change the natural environment. With most of us confined to our homes, the lack of human activities is having profound effects on the environment. We are talking about some of these this week.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global catastrophe, but it has ironically been a boon for the environment. By taking billions of people off the streets around the globe and slashing all forms of travel, the global environment has seen dramatic changes.

Sea turtles in many countries are prospering by not having to compete with humans for precious beach space. Animals everywhere have more freedom to roam and are taking advantage of the opportunity. The Himalayas are visible from parts of India for the first time in decades.

Satellite imagery has shown dramatic drops in nitrogen dioxide emissions in China, where pollution from vehicles is a serious public health problem. Similar reductions in air pollution are evident in India, Italy and even in Los Angeles. The city that is notorious for its smog suddenly has pristine air.

In Venice, water in the canals has become clear in the absence of heavy boat traffic stirring up sediments from the bottom. Wildlife that normally is invisible such as jellyfish are being spotted.

Not all the changes to animal behavior are desirable. Some wildlife that have become dependent on humans as a source of food are becoming aggressive and are taking to the streets of cities to look for food. Monkeys in Thailand are mobbing towns and brawling, hunting for things to eat. Rats in New York City are fighting over suddenly meager food supplies.

In many ways, the natural world is reacting to much of humanity sheltering in place.

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On Earth Day 2020, coronavirus shutdowns are a gift to the environment

Photo, posted April 2, 2020, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Shutting Down Pollution | Earth Wise

April 8, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

With much of the country shut down as the coronavirus forces people to stay at home, there has naturally been a drastic reduction of traffic on roads and highways. And with that decrease, there has been a dramatic reduction in pollution as well.

A satellite that detects emissions in the atmosphere linked to cars and trucks has observed huge declines in pollution in major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Los Angeles is infamous for its rush-hour traffic but that has pretty much ceased to exist. Similar changes can be seen in the San Francisco Bay Area, where nearly 7 million residents have been ordered to shelter in place. New York City is less dependent on car travel than in other metro areas, but the shutdown of office buildings, schools, and restaurants has nonetheless resulted in a substantial reduction of traffic on the streets of the city.

While this sudden decline in air pollution over U.S. cities has some near-term health benefits, those benefits are likely to be fairly minor in the big picture. When the coronavirus outbreak subsides and people are allowed to leave their homes and go back to their normal lives, air pollution will most certainly rebound to previous levels. In any event, studies have shown that long-term exposure to air pollution has a larger impact on public health than any transient events.

Having much cleaner air for a while is certainly a good thing, but this shutdown is not a sustainable way to reduce air pollution and the long-term effects of the coronavirus crisis will certainly not be positive.

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Traffic and Pollution Plummet as U.S. Cities Shut Down for Coronavirus

Photo, posted March 15, 2020, courtesy of Tom Collins via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Making Cities Cooler

September 5, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Cities are particularly miserable during heatwaves. With lots of concrete and asphalt surfaces, they soak up lots of heat and re-radiate it. Lots of tall buildings block cooling breezes. Factor in car exhaust and heat from air conditioners and it all adds up to the urban heat island effect. Cities can be several degrees warmer during the day and as much as 20 degrees warmer at night. All of this extra heat is not just a comfort issue, it is a serious health problem.

[Read more…] about Making Cities Cooler

Urban Darwinism

May 31, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Scientists refer to the time in which we now live as the Anthropocene epoch – one in which humans are exerting a tremendous influence upon the natural world. One of the ways in which we are doing that is in our cities and suburbs where creatures are evolving through fast-paced natural selection to deal with our presence.

[Read more…] about Urban Darwinism

Cooling Cities With White Roofs

April 16, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The phenomenon of urban heat islands has been well known since the 19th century. The materials from which city buildings and roads are made reflect much less solar radiation and absorb more of it than the vegetation they have replaced. The absorbed energy is then radiated in the form of heat into the surrounding air making cities warmer.

Spring Is Springing Earlier

April 9, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A comprehensive study has confirmed what has been widely believed in the scientific community and in popular reports for years: spring is arriving earlier and the further north you go, the more pronounced is the effect.

The Changing Face Of Air Pollution

March 21, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Air pollution in cities is a global problem that has reached crisis proportions in places like China and India. In our country, since the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, there has been a great deal of effort exerted in controlling pollution from vehicles. A combination of pollution-limiting changes to engines, fuels, and pollution control systems has significantly reduced the amount of air pollution associated with the transportation sector.

Making Room For Wildlife

February 28, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Protecting biodiversity is a critical challenge facing humanity. Global vertebrate populations – from elephants to amphibians – declined by 58% from 1970 to 2012 and losses are expected to reach 67% in the next two years. Think about it: at least two-thirds of all vertebrate animals on earth have vanished over the lifetime of anyone fifty years old or over.

Geothermal Power For LA

February 1, 2018 By EarthWise 1 Comment

Los Angeles has a tremendous thirst for electric power and is always trying to find new sources. On December 1, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began buying all the power generated by the brand-new 24 MW Tungsten Mountain geothermal power plant located in Churchill County in Nevada’s Great Basin region.

Safer Places For Bus Riders

December 22, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Taking the bus in crowded cities is a good way to reduce overall traffic, save money on gas, and do a good turn for the environment. Unfortunately, bus riders often are exposed to large amounts of pollution in the process.

American Cities Fighting Climate Change

April 24, 2017 By EarthWise

The federal government now appears to be headed down the path of not honoring America’s commitments to tackle global warming, but many of the country’s cities and states as well as its corporations have no intention of breaking our promises to the world.