millions

Planting Millions Of Trees Isn’t So Easy | Earth Wise

November 11, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There are initiatives around the world to plant millions of trees as a way to fight climate change. Unfortunately, scientists have observed that many of these projects are ill-conceived and poorly managed. Some have failed to grow any forests at all.

One such project was an attempt to plant a million mangrove seedlings in coastal mud on the Filipino island of Luzon in 2012. Ten years later, less than 2% of the trees have survived. The other 98% have died or have washed away. The problem was that the site of the project was ecologically unsuited to mangroves because it is too waterlogged and there is no oxygen available except in a few sheltered spots.

In 2019, the Turkish government managed the planting of 11 million trees in 2,000 sites across the country. A later survey found that 90% had died, although the government denies that assertion.

Many other projects have also had dismal results. The causes of failure vary but include planting single species of trees that become vulnerable to disease, competing demands for land, changing climate, planting in areas not previously forested, and lack of ongoing care for the saplings including watering them.

Nobody is opposed to mass tree planting. There is no anti-tree lobby. But tree planting is sometimes a form of greenwashing. It is great for public relations but unless it is done properly with appropriate planning, it can be a waste of effort and money. The result can be a phantom forest that does nothing for the climate.

Forest planting can work if the social and environmental conditions are right, and if planting is followed by long-term monitoring and care of the trees.

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Phantom Forests: Why Ambitious Tree Planting Projects Are Failing

Photo, posted April 20, 2016, courtesy of the U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John Benson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Cleaning Up Abandoned Wells | Earth Wise

March 3, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There are 130,000 documented abandoned oil and gas wells in the US, according to the Department of the Interior. The key word is documented. According to an EPA study in 2018, the actual number of abandoned wells could be as high as two or three million. According to an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund and McGill University, about nine million people in the United States live within a mile of one of these wells.

Some of these wells might be fairly harmless, and others might be quite dangerous. Wells can emit a variety of gasses, including methane, which is a far stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Leaking wells are a major source of air and groundwater pollution. Apart from methane, substances such as arsenic can continue to leak from wells even after they are no longer operational.

At the end of January, the Biden Administration announced a series of new actions to tackle methane pollution. Among these measures is $1.15 billion in funds from the Department of the Interior that states can use to seal up abandoned oil and gas wells. That funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in November, which sets aside $4.7 billion for a federal program dedicated to orphaned wells.

Addressing the largely ignored problem of abandoned wells is important from the standpoint of climate pollution as well as human health. Efforts to plug the wells will also provide high-paying jobs

Other methane-reduction measures include increased enforcement from the Department of Transportation on reducing pipelines leaks, research funding for limiting methane emissions from beef and dairy farming, and technical assistance from the Department of Energy on well-plugging efforts.

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Photo, posted March 23, 2011, courtesy of David Stone via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

More Trouble For Monarchs | Earth Wise

April 14, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Monarch butterflies have been in trouble for quite a while and now it seems like their prospects are worse than ever. Multiple surveys of butterfly populations are reporting plummeting numbers.

Western monarch butterflies spend their winters on the central California coast. Months later, they breed in California’s Central Valley and as far north and east as Idaho. But in recent years, it has become harder and harder to find them in their breeding sites.

The Western monarch population was in the millions in the 1980s. In 2017, an annual survey found 200,000 butterflies. In 2018 and 2019, only about 30,000 butterflies were tallied. The loss of Western butterflies in general has come about from a variety of factors, including development, climate change, farming practices and the widespread use of pesticides by farmers and on home and business lawns.

Scientists use the area of land that migrating Monarchs occupy in Mexico to gauge populations. This year, they covered about 7 acres, down from 15 acres in 2019.

Meanwhile, there are also far fewer Eastern monarch butterflies on the opposite side of the country. According to a new population survey, the Eastern monarch has passed the extinction threshold. Its population in 2020 dropped 53% from its already low 2019 numbers. Scientists were expecting lower numbers this year, but they were staggered by their findings.

Butterfly populations are quite variable, so it is possible that the drastic declines this year are not necessarily irreversible, but the news is not good. Researchers and environmental advocates continue to point out that mitigating the climate crisis, reducing pesticide use and planting pollinator gardens could help the butterflies to recover.

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Monarch Butterfly Populations Are Plummeting

Photo, posted September 7, 2017, courtesy of C. Watts via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Your Children’s Yellowstone

January 25, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the US and according to some sources, the first in the world. It is the home of charismatic megafauna and stunning geysers that attract over four million visitors a year. It is the only place in the United States where bison and wolves can be seen in great numbers. And it is changing.

Over the next few decades of climate change, Yellowstone will quite likely see increased fire, less forest, expanding grasslands, shallower, warmer waterways, and more invasive plants. All these things will alter how and how many animals move through the landscape. Ecosystems are always changing, but climate change is transforming habitats so quickly that many plants and animals may not be able to make the transition at all.

Since 1948, the average annual temperature in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem has gone up by 2 degrees Fahrenheit. On balance, winter is 10 days shorter and less cold. The Northern Rockies snowpack has fallen to its lowest level in eight centuries. Summers in the park are warmer, drier, and increasingly prone to fire.

Non-nutritious invasive plants like cheatgrass and desert madwort have replaced nutritious native plants. When plants like these take over, they suck moisture out of the ground early so that bison and elk cannot be sustained throughout the summer.

The behavior of elk and other animals is already changing, with many staying outside the park to nibble lawns and alfalfa fields. In turn, wolves go where the elk go. Forests and waterways are changing as well.

The rapid changes going on at Yellowstone mean that the park that our children and grandchildren will visit in the future is likely to be a very different one from the Yellowstone we remember.

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In Yellowstone National Park, warming has brought rapid changes.

Photo, posted September 7, 2016, courtesy of Mike Yang via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Nile Crocodiles In Florida

June 15, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Nobody really knows how many alligators live in Florida. It’s estimated that there are anywhere from 1.3 million to 2 million alligators in the Sunshine State, which means there’s one gator for every 10-15 Floridians. It’s this ratio that makes it just about impossible for someone living in Florida not to encounter an alligator at some point. And if you have seen one recently and thought it looked a little bigger, you may be onto something.