monitoring

Polar bear population decline

March 13, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Researchers from the University of Toronto have directly linked the population decline in polar bears living in Canada’s Western Hudson Bay to climate change. Between 1979 and 2021, the polar bear population in this region has declined by nearly 50%.

The monitoring data over this period shows that the average size of polar bears has declined, the size of cub litters has dropped, and cub survival rates are reduced.

The primary factor is the declining amount and duration of sea ice. When there is less ice, bears have less feeding time and less energy overall. The loss of sea ice means that bears spend less time hunting seals and more time fasting on land. The lack of food leads to reduced reproduction, cub survival, and, ultimately, population decline.

The average body mass of adult females has dropped by 86 pounds and of cubs by 47 pounds. With shorter hunting periods and less food, mothers produce less milk. Not only have cub litter sizes dropped over the monitoring period, but mothers are keeping their cubs longer because they are not strong enough to live on their own. The bottom line is that the survival of cubs directly impacts the survival of the population.

Western Hudson Bay is considered to be a bellwether for polar bear populations globally. It is one of the southernmost populations of polar bears and it has been monitored for a long time. With the Arctic warming at a rate four times faster than the global average, polar bear populations in other Arctic regions are likely to be experiencing similar declines.

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Polar bear population decline the direct result of extended ‘energy deficit’ due to lack of food

Photo, posted October 23, 2015, courtesy of Anita Ritenour via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Rivers are drying up

November 4, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new U.N. report, the world’s rivers had their driest year in at least three decades. Record heat and droughts in many places contributed to low levels of water in many of the world’s rivers.

The world faces problems of either too much or too little water. The warming climate has fueled both powerful storms with heavy rainfall and intense droughts around the globe.

Last year was the hottest year on record, and it’s a record that is unlikely to last long. The Mississippi River and Amazon River basins were at all-time lows. Major rivers with headwaters in the Himalayas – the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong Rivers – were all unusually dry.

According to the World Meteorological Organizations State of Global Water Resources Report, nearly half of the nearly 1,000 rivers tracked around the world had below-normal levels of water. Only 17% had above-average levels. Over the past 32 years, on average only a quarter of the rivers monitored had below-normal water levels and last-year’s 45% was the largest ever.

Last year’s severe heat shrank glaciers that are a crucial source of meltwater that feeds rivers. Glaciers lost more ice last year than they have in at least 50 years.

More than half of the world’s population lives within a couple of miles of a body of fresh water. The places with the highest population densities around the world are almost all near large rivers. Rivers provide freshwater for irrigation, consumption, and transportation and are an important source of energy. Historically, they have played an important role in the development of human society. The shrinking of rivers is a big deal.

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World’s Rivers Are Driest They Have Been in Decades

Photo, posted August 22, 2023, courtesy of Radek Kucharski via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Declining pollinator populations

June 28, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Scientists have been sounding the alarm on the global struggle of pollinators for decades. Many recent studies have highlighted alarming declines in pollinator populations, sparking concern about the potential negative impacts on ecosystems and agriculture. Habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change are some of the factors linked to the population declines. But most pollinator research has focused on well-studied species in easily-accessible regions.

In a new study recently published in the journal PLOS One, a research team led by Northern Arizona University compiled data on four major families of bees and butterflies to create species distribution models, allowing them to assess changes over time and space across North America.

The researchers confirmed that bee and butterfly populations are declining in major regions of North America due to ongoing environmental changes, and found that significant gaps in pollinator research limit the ability to protect these species.

The highest species richness was found along North America’s West Coast – especially in California. But the models showed a decline in species richness over the past century in western North America. In contrast, the research team found disproportionate increases in eastern North America.

Comparisons with climate data indicate that the pollinator population changes are at least partly due to the impacts of climate change, including prolonged drought and habitat degradation.

The study identifies regions of declining populations where officials can prioritize conservation efforts, and highlights how improved monitoring methods could address the knowledge gaps on pollinator populations.

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Bee and butterfly records indicate diversity losses in western and southern North America, but extensive knowledge gaps remain

Bees and butterflies on the decline in western and southern North America

Photo, posted April 3, 2017, courtesy of Tracie Hall via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Palm oil and water quality

June 3, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Palm oil is the world’s cheapest and most widely used vegetable oil. In fact, more than 86 million tons of palm oil was consumed last year alone. Even though few of us cook with it, palm oil can be found in approximately half of all packaged grocery items – everything from ice creams and pizzas to detergents and cosmetics.

This massive global demand for palm oil is driving tropical deforestation around the world. While many studies have shown how converting rainforests to oil palm plantations causes biodiversity loss, researchers from UMass Amherst are the first to demonstrate how these plantations also cause wide-ranging disturbances to nearby watersheds.

In the study, which was recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, the research team focused on the Kais River watershed of West Papua, a province in the far east of Indonesia. Approximately 25% of the watershed has been turned into oil palm plantations. The watershed is also one of the oldest continually inhabited homes for different groups of Indigenous Papuans.

The researchers found that the conversion of tropical rainforest to oil palm plantation has increased precipitation, runoff, and soil moisture. Water quality in the watershed has also gotten dramatically worse: sedimentation has increased by 16.9%, nitrogen by 78.1%, and phosphorus by 144%.

The research team hopes regulators will work to limit the use of pesticides, conduct continuous water quality monitoring, and ensure that downstream communities have access to water quality information.

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Oil Palm Plantations Are Driving Massive Downstream Impact to Watershed

Photo, posted December 13, 2008, courtesy of Fitri Agung via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Forever chemicals in water

April 23, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

So-called forever chemicals are pervasive in a wide range of products. These are man-made substances called per- and polyfluoroalkyls or PFAS. They get their unfortunate nickname because the chemical bonds in them are so strong that the compounds don’t break down for hundreds or even thousands of years.

PFAS compounds are used in makeup, dental floss, nonstick pans, food wrappers, pesticides, stain-resistant fabrics and carpets, firefighting foams, and more. High level exposure to some of these chemicals has been linked to a variety of health problems include high cholesterol, liver and immune system damage, pregnancy problems, and kidney and testicular cancer.

A recent study published in the journal Nature Geoscience has found that PFAS chemicals are showing up in water around the world. The study looked at more than 45,000 water samples and found that about 31% of ground water tested that wasn’t even near any obvious source of PFAS contamination had levels of the chemicals that are considered harmful to human health by the EPA. About 16% of surface water samples – streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes – also not near any known source, had similar hazardous PFAS levels.

The EPA has now imposed strict new drinking water limits for six types of PFAS. Going forward, water systems are required to monitor for these chemicals and remove them if they are found above allowable levels. The new rules make the United States one of the strictest countries in the world in terms of regulating PFAS in water.

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EPA puts limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

Photo, posted May 5, 2020, courtesy of Brandon Shaw via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Brownfields and solar power

December 19, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Brownfields are blighted lands that have suffered environmental contamination, making it very difficult to redevelop them or make good use of them. Generally, they are previously used lands that have the presence or at least the potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or other contaminants at levels exceeding health-based or environmental standards. There are nearly half a million brownfields in the U.S. that are ripe for repurposing.

One very attractive use for brownfields is to convert them to “brightfields,” which is the colloquial term for brownfields redeveloped into solar projects. Estimates are that nearly 200,000 U.S. brownfield sites are eligible for brightfield conversion, which could provide hundreds of gigawatts of energy production. Over 10,000 of these sites are inactive landfills, which alone could power 8 million homes. Many of these sites have sat unused for decades.

A recent success story took place in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey where an abandoned waste site – designated a Superfund site by the EPA for decades – has now become a solar project that will generate more than $1.2 million a year for the township and will provide reduced-cost electricity for 400 homes, half of which are low- and moderate-income residents.

The site was on the EPA list of Superfund National Priorities , meaning it was considered one of the most serious abandoned hazardous waste sites. Such sites required continuous monitoring, modifications, and cleanup.

Projects like the Old Bridge solar project are likely to become increasingly common in the future, as legacy liabilities can be turned into valuable assets.

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How solar installations give new life to blighted brownfields

Photo, posted November 11, 2015, courtesy of Martin Malec via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Lots of female turtles

November 3, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Green sea turtles were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1978. Since that time, there have been conservation measures put in place in many locations. One such place is Florida, where restrictions on beachfront development and careful monitoring of turtle nests has helped to get hatchlings safely into the water. A gill net ban in 1995 sharply reduced the number of young turtles killed by fishing gear.

All of this has resulted in what is described as an explosion in turtle populations in Florida. Volunteers monitoring the 2023 nesting season on Florida’s beaches have counted more than 74,000 nests. That beats the previous record – set in 2017 – by an incredible 40%.

Unfortunately, this does not represent a guaranteed great future for the species. Sea turtles are particularly sensitive to the warming climate. The sex of a baby sea turtle is not determined by DNA, but rather by the temperature of the sand in which its egg develops. Cooler temperatures mean more males; warmer ones mean more females.

In recent years, the proportion of male green sea turtles has dwindled substantially. In the past few seasons, between 87 percent and 100 percent of the hatchlings tested in Florida have been female.

In the short term, the skewed sex ratio might be a boon for the species. Lots of females laying lots of eggs means lots of turtles. Sea turtles don’t reach sexual maturity until their twenties or thirties. So, for the next few decades, there are likely to be growing numbers of turtle nests. But down the line, there is going to be a real problem. Where will for all the female turtles find the mates to populate the species in the future?

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Florida Turtle Nests Are Recovering. When They Hatch, Expect Mostly Girls.

Photo, posted October 5, 2011, courtesy of Keenan Adams / USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Banning Neonicotinoid Pesticides | Earth Wise

October 19, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

New York’s Birds and Bees Protection Act contains a targeted restriction on neonicotinoid pesticides. These widely-used insecticides are absorbed by plants and can be present in pollen and nectar, making them toxic to bees and other pollinators.

Among the largest applications of neonics (as they are called) has been in the form of coatings on crop seeds, such as corn and soybeans. In 2019, Canada’s Quebec province strongly limited neonic use to protect pollinators and the environment. The chemical industry vigorously protested the regulations and claimed that the restrictions would cause the collapse of the grain sector in Quebec.

Seed suppliers began supplying uncoated seeds in 2019 and now there is scarcely any use of coated seeds in the province. Monitoring of over 1,000 agricultural sites has shown that there have been no crop failures related to the pesticide restrictions. In fact, use of the neonics had no economic benefits.

Naysayers warned that even more harmful pesticides or other farming practices would be used instead. But that hasn’t happened either. Some farmers switched to much safer insecticides and others abandoned insecticide treatments altogether.

New York has faced similar opposition by farmers and chemical manufacturers to the Birds and Bees Protection Act and all of the same arguments that have been proven to be invalid in Quebec are being made in New York. Most major environmental advocates in the state support the measures embodied in the legislation. As usual, it boils down to a battle between economic interests and the health of the environment.

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Québec’s experience with pesticide ban offers a glimpse of what New York can expect

Photo, posted August 29, 2013, courtesy of the United Soybean Board / the Soybean Checkoff via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Record Polar Ice Melting | Earth Wise

May 30, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Sea levels are rising and ocean warming is responsible for the bulk of that rise. As water heats up, it expands, which drives up sea levels. But on top of that, global warming is melting the polar ice sheets, and that is leading to about a quarter of the world’s sea level rise. So far, polar melting has fueled about an inch of sea level rise, two-thirds from Greenland and one third from Antarctica. According to scientists, by the end of this century, melting polar ice caps could raise sea levels between 6 and 10 inches.

The seven worst years for polar ice sheet melting have occurred during the past decade. The worst year on record was 2019. The loss in 2019 was driven by an Arctic summer heatwave, which resulted in record melting from Greenland, amounting to nearly 500 billion tons melted that year. Antarctica lost 180 billion tons of ice that year, mostly due to melting glaciers and record melting from the Antarctic Peninsula.

Ice losses from Greenland and Antarctica can now be reliably measured by satellites in space. A team of researchers led by Northumbria University in the UK has combined 50 satellite surveys taken between 1992 and 2020.

They have found that the Earth’s polar ice sheets have lost over 8,000 billion tons of ice over that time period. That much ice corresponds to an ice cube roughly 12 miles high.

The satellite technology is now at the stage where the ice sheet status can be continuously updated. Such monitoring is critical to predict the future behavior of the ice sheets and provide risk warnings of the dangers that coastal communities around the world will face.

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Polar ice sheet melting records have toppled during the past decade

Photo, posted December 19, 2017, courtesy of Jasmine Nears 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.

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

Climate Resilient Microalgae | Earth Wise

July 21, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The plight of the world’s coral reefs has been a growing environmental crisis for many years. Coral reefs provide sustenance and income to half a billion people, are major tourist attractions, protect coastlines, and are important centers of biodiversity. And because of the warming climate as well as other effects of human activity, more than half of the world’s coral reefs are under stress.

The primary threat is coral bleaching, which is the disruption of the symbiotic relationship between coral polyps (which are tiny animals) and the heavily pigmented microalgae that live within the coral structures and provide most of the energy for the polyps. When corals are stressed, often because water temperatures are too high, they expel the microalgae within them. The structures then become transparent, leaving only the white skeletal corals. Bleached corals aren’t dead, but they are at great risk of starvation and disease until and unless new symbiont algae are acquired.

A new study by scientists at Uppsala University in Sweden investigated how different species of coral symbiont algae react to temperature stress. They discovered differences among symbiont cells that enable the prediction of how temperature stress tolerant the cells are. Such predictive ability could provide the means to identify and select more temperature-tolerant coral symbionts that could conceivably be introduced into coral host larvae in order to make corals more robust against climate change.

The research has a ways to go, but the new tools may help coral reef monitoring and increase the speed at which reef restoring efforts can create stocks of climate-resistant symbionts.

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Climate resilient microalgae could help restore coral reefs

Photo, posted September 28, 2009, courtesy of Matt Kieffer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Marine Debris | Earth Wise

July 8, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Marine debris is a troubling issue around the world. For most people, it is unsightly and perhaps inconvenient, but for many it is a critical problem that has serious impacts on many aspects of life. This is especially the case for indigenous communities for whom the natural environment around the ocean is central to subsistence, recreation, culture, and economic opportunities.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sponsors a Marine Debris Program that supports multiple projects. In Alaska’s Pribilof Islands, the indigenous communities of St. George and St. Paul Islands conduct regular cleanups to protect and steward the natural resources that they depend on. They make use of unmanned aircraft system surveys to target removal and monitoring efforts.

Another NOAA-sponsored program works to clean up the Maybeso Estuary in Alaska’s Prince of Wales Islands. The project has removed 35,000 pounds of debris, freeing the flow of the salmon stream and restoring the area as a prime hotspot for fishing, boating, and outdoor recreation.

In Washington State’s Olympic Coast, the Makah Tribe has a project to locate and remove derelict crab pots and fishing lines from 80 miles of fishing area and marine sanctuary. Derelict fishing gear can trap and entangle animals, degrade habitat, imperil navigation, and interfere with fishing. The project team is working with tribal stakeholders on promoting marine debris awareness.

All of these communities have cared for the environment for generations, but marine debris poses perilous threats to their territories and community action is needed to preserve and protect these remarkable places.

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Lives and Livelihoods Disrupted by Marine Debris

Photo, posted September 11, 2015, courtesy of NOAA’s National Ocean Service via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Radar Satellites And Hazard Mitigation | Earth Wise

May 26, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Scientists have concluded that the changing climate is primarily the result of increased human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Some of the effects of global climate change include melting glaciers, warming oceans, intensifying storms, and rising seas.

Another consequence of global climate change is natural disasters like floods and wildfires. Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires and increasing the odds of record-breaking floods in many parts of the United States and all around the world.

As a result, scientists in Australia have turned to technology for better assistance in keeping tabs on these climate change-driven natural disasters. Researchers from Curtin University in Perth, Australia have found that satellites can improve the ability to detect, monitor, prepare for, and withstand natural disasters, including floods, wildfires, and earthquakes.

The research team used Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, which was acquired by the European Space Agency Sentinel-1 satellite. The researchers also used data acquired by other satellites to evaluate these Australia-specific case studies.

According to the researchers, SAR data provides remote monitoring capabilities of Earth’s surface around the clock and in all weather, which is something that traditional optical Earth Observation (EO) imagery cannot do. The ability to function through fog, clouds, rainfall, and smoke is what makes SAR so valuable.

The research team says that the data can be used to improve how people track and respond to natural disasters, by precisely mapping topography, tracking movements of the ground, and mapping damage to infrastructure.

As the climate continues to change, the ability to mitigate hazards like floods and wildfires will be increasingly important.

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Radar satellites can better protect against bushfires and floods

Photo, posted May 11, 2007, courtesy of Bert Knottenbeld via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Giant Breakaway Iceberg | Earth Wise

April 7, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Scientists have been closely monitoring multiple cracks and chasms that have formed in the 500-foot-thick Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica over the past few years. In late 2019, a new crack was spotted in a portion of the shelf north of an area known as the McDonald Ice Rumples. The rift was monitored by satellite imaging and was seen by February as moving about 15 feet a day.

In the early hours of February 26th, the crack widened rapidly before finally breaking free from the rest of the floating ice shelf. News reports around the world have described the massive 500-square-mile iceberg by comparing it to the size of well-known cities: 1.5 times the size of greater Paris, 10 times the size of San Francisco, twice the size of Chicago, nearly the size of Greater London, and so on.

Antarctica is known for churning out some enormous bergs. The new iceberg, which has been named A-74, is huge, but doesn’t compare to the iceberg A-68 that calved from the Larson C Ice Shelf in 2017. That one was almost five times larger.

The calving of A-74 does not pose a threat to the presently unmanned British Antarctic Survey’s Halley VI Research Station, which was repositioned in 2017 to a more secure location after the ice shelf was deemed to be unsafe. The section where the station now sits is still holding on, but when it eventually breaks, it will likely create a berg nearly 700 square miles in size.

It remains to be seen what will become of the new iceberg. Most likely, it will eventually get caught up in the Weddell Gyre, a clockwise-rotating ocean flow in the Southern Ocean that covers an area more than half the size of the US.

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Breakup at Brunt

Photo, posted October 27, 2016, courtesy of NASA/Nathan Kurtz via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And Allergies | Earth Wise

March 23, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an addition to the many hardships that climate change is causing around the world is the fact that it is making allergy season worse.

Researchers have found that there is a strong link between planetary warming and pollen seasons. The combination of warming air and higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has caused North American pollen seasons since 1990 to start some 20 days earlier, on average, and to have 21% more pollen.

The most pronounced effects were seen in Texas, the Midwest, and the Southeast. The effects were less obvious in the northern United States, including New England and the Great Lakes states. The greatest pollen increases came from trees, as opposed to grasses and weeds.

Allergies do not just trigger sniffles and sneezes; they have serious effects on public health in the form of asthma and other respiratory conditions. Studies have shown that students do less well in school during peak pollen season. Of special concern at the moment is that high-pollen periods have been associated with greater susceptibility to respiratory viruses. The U.S. has nearly 25 million people with asthma and 19 million adults reported hay fever in the past 12 months. Research suggests that the early onset of pollen season correlates with a higher risk of hospitalization for asthma.

There are far fewer pollen monitoring stations than those measuring particle pollutants and air quality. As the climate warms, we need to pay more attention to pollen as an airborne pollutant.

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Achoo! Climate Change Lengthening Pollen Season in U.S., Study Shows

Photo, posted May 18, 2012, courtesy of Forest Wander via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Monitoring Wildlife For Warning Signs of the Next Pandemic | Earth Wise

July 29, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to the World Health Organization, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 likely originated in wild bats near Wuhan, China, and may have been passed to a second animal species before infecting people. Since then, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 13 million people around the world have been infected by COVID-19 and about 600,000 have died.

But despite the ever-present threat of a new virus sparking the next pandemic, there is currently no global system to screen for viruses in wild animals that could eventually spill over to humans.

In an article recently published in the journal Science, a group of scientists is calling for the creation of a decentralized global system of wildlife surveillance. The establishment of this global system could help identify viruses in wild animals that have the potential to infect and sicken people before another global disease outbreak begins.

According to the scientists, coronaviruses alone have caused outbreaks in humans three times in the last 20 years: SARS (or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), MERS (or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), and COVID-19.

While it’s impossible to know today how often viruses jump from animals to humans, human activity is making such spillover events more and more likely. For instance, many continue to develop wild animal habitat to build new homes or businesses. Some catch wild animals and re-sell them either for consumption or as exotic pets. Parts from these wild animals are often shipped around the world as trinkets or as ingredients for traditional medicines.

A global system that could identify potentially harmful viruses before they jump to humans is technologically feasible, affordable, and clearly necessary.

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COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

Global wildlife surveillance could provide early warning for next pandemic

Photo, posted January 15, 2008, courtesy of Doug Beckers via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Lake George Health Report

December 26, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Offshore Chemistry Program, run by the Darrin Fresh Water Institute at RPI, has been monitoring the deep waters of Lake George in New York for 40 years. Lake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes, is famed for the transparency of its water and a new report on the health of the lake reveals that it is doing rather well.

According to the report, although concentrations of chemicals and pollutants like salt and nutrients have increased in the deep waters of Lake George, they are still too low to harm the ecosystem at those depths.

The Offshore Chemistry Program studies the lake as part of a collaboration between RPI, IBM Research, and the FUND for Lake George that is called the Jefferson Project. This long-term commitment provides a wealth of information over time matched by few lake studies in the world.

The recent results show that levels of salt, the nutrient orthophosphate, and chlorophyll have increased substantially over time, but none are yet at a level that will cause harm.

Orthophosphate occurs naturally, but most likely the higher levels are due to improperly functioning septic systems, failing wastewater treatment systems, and stormwater runoff. The orthophosphate most likely triggered the increase in chlorophyll, which probably is associated with increased density of chlorophyll in individual algal cells, rather than an increase in total algal mass in the lake.

Overall, the results demonstrate the continuing resilience of Lake George to a growing array of stressors. In nearly 40 years of human activities, the lake has changed in a number of ways, but the changes have so far been relatively small. With such careful monitoring, we can hope to keep them that way.

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