mortality

Deadly Heatwaves On The Rise | Earth Wise

September 20, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The European heatwave in the summer of 2003 resulted in at least 30,000 deaths with more than 14,000 in France alone. At the time, such a heatwave was considered to be a once-in-a-hundred-year event. But the warming climate is dramatically changing the odds for deadly heatwaves.

A new study by the ETH Institute in Zurich has found that the risk of fatal heatwaves has risen sharply over the past 20 years, and in the future, such extreme weather will become more frequent and heat-related excess mortality will increase, particularly in Europe. According to a paper published in Nature Medicine, more than 61,000 deaths in Europe could be blamed on the heat during the summer of 2022, which was the hottest summer on record for the continent. When the readings from this summer are analyzed, that record is likely to be surpassed.

Heatwaves lead to excess deaths due to dehydration, heat stroke, and cardiovascular collapse. They are particularly deadly for the elderly, the sick, and the poor. The ETH researchers analyzed comprehensive data from 748 cities and communities in 47 countries. They determined the relationship between increased temperature and excess mortality. Their models look at how excess mortality would develop with an average global temperature increase of 0.7 degrees Celsius (the value in 2000), 1.2 degrees (the value in 2020), and both 1.5 degrees (the limit sought by the Paris Agreement) and 2 degrees.

Even with the current global temperature, heatwaves that were a once-in-a-century event are now expected to occur every 10 years. With 2 degrees of warming, such heatwaves could happen every 2 to 5 years.

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Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more deadly

Photo, posted July 22, 2009, courtesy of Matt McGee via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Saving Florida’s Corals | Earth Wise

September 6, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

When corals are exposed to extended periods of excess heat, they are subject to bleaching, which occurs when they expel the algae that live within their structure. Bleaching can lead to coral death.

This summer, temperatures in the Florida Keys crossed the bleaching threshold in mid-June and remained above it for extended periods of time. This cumulative heat exposure leads to widespread bleaching and significant die-offs. The last major mass bleaching event in the Florida Keys occurred in 2014 and 2015.

The Coral Restoration Foundation has been receiving reports ranging from partial bleaching to mass coral mortality throughout the keys. Several coral restoration sites in the lower Keys have been totally lost already.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its state agency, university, and non-profit partners have initiated actions to try to save Florida’s corals.

They have halted all restoration-related planting and are evacuating some of their nursery-grown stock to climate-controlled labs. They are considering interventions such as shading coral nurseries or even high-value reef sites. They are also considering feeding nursery and wild corals until the waters cool off enough for algae to return.

Modeling indicates that there is a 70-100% chance that the extreme heat in the North Atlantic will persist through September-October. NOAA and its partners will continue to do what they can to save Florida’s Coral Reef for the marine and human communities that depend on them.

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NOAA and partners race to rescue remaining Florida corals from historic ocean heat wave

Photo, posted April 19, 2012, courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region 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

A Hot Year In Europe | Earth Wise

January 5, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

This past summer was marked by some devastating heat waves in Europe. Through November, the UK, Germany, and France have experienced their hottest year on record.

The UK has experienced its warmest year since 1884 and, in fact, all the top ten warmest years on record have occurred since 2002.

In France, the average temperature for the year is a few tenths of a degree higher than the previous record, which was set in 2020.

In Germany, the first 11 months of the year saw a record for average temperature. Its previous record was also set in 2020.

All three countries saw a spike in heat-related mortality as result of the summer heatwaves. England and Wales reported 3,271 excess deaths during the summer. France reported 2,816 excess deaths during its three heat waves. In Germany, an estimated 4,500 people died as a result of extreme heat.

There are multiple effects of climate change which include more frequent heat waves in Europe. A recent study showed that European summers are warming twice as fast as the global average. In fact, summer temperatures across much of the European continent have already risen by 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celsius, which is the feared level of global climate increase that nations around the world are trying to stave off.

Worldwide, 2022 will rank among the top ten warmest years on record but will most likely not be the warmest. That being said, the past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest years on record. The US will also see one of its ten warmest years, although not the warmest.

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UK, Germany, France on Pace for Their Hottest Year on Record

Photo, posted April 23, 2022, courtesy of Jose A. via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Assessing Human-Caused Wildlife Mortality | Earth Wise

May 31, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Bycatch is the fishing industry term used to describe the deaths of non-target fish and ocean wildlife during the fishing process. Some bycatch species are thrown away because regulations prohibit them from being kept. Others are thrown out because they won’t fetch high enough prices. According to some estimates, global bycatch amounts to about 10% of the world’s total catch.

Approximately half of global bycatch is a result of trawling. Trawling is a method of commercial fishing that involves pulling or dragging a fishing net – called a trawl – through the water or across the seabed in hopes of catching fish. Commercial fishing companies favor towing trawl nets because large quantities of fish can be caught. But the method is destructive to the seafloor and leads to the indiscriminate catch of all sorts of species, including whales, dolphins, porpoises, sharks, seals, rays, turtles, and seabirds.

Researchers have developed a new method to assess the sustainable levels of human-caused wildlife mortality. When this method is applied to a trawl fishery in Australia, it shows that the dolphin capture is not sustainable. The study, led by scientists at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and United Arab Emirates University, modeled different levels of dolphin capture, including those reported in logbooks and those reported by independent observers. According to the findings, which were recently published in the journal Conservation Biology, even the lowest recorded dolphin capture rates are not sustainable.

The new approach is extremely adept at assessing human-caused mortality to wildlife, and can be applied to fisheries bycatch, hunting, lethal control measures, or even wind turbine collisions.

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Wasted Catch

Dolphin bycatch from fishing practices unsustainable, study finds

Photo, posted May 18, 2011, courtesy of Pete Markham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Costs Of Mislabeled Seafood | Earth Wise

January 27, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Seafood is the world’s most highly traded food commodity and reports of seafood mislabeling have become increasingly common over time. A new study by Arizona State University looked at the environmental effects of mislabeled seafood.

What is mislabeled seafood? Sometimes the snapper you were served was really Pacific Ocean Perch. Maybe grouper was really whitefin weakfish. Many times white leg shrimp are actually giant tiger prawns.

Approximately 190,000 to 250,000 tons of mislabeled seafood are sold in the U.S. each year, or 3.4 to 4.3% of consumed seafood. Previous studies focused on the economic aspects of getting cheaper fish when paying for more expensive fish. The new research looks at the environmental costs associated with mislabeled seafood.

Substituted seafood is 28% more likely to be imported from other countries, which may have weaker environmental laws than the U.S. In the United States, fishery management is pretty good. There is strong monitoring and enforcement to support limits on fishing. Metrics like fish abundance, fishing mortality, bycatch, and discards are all monitored. In many other places, this is not the case.

To really evaluate the overall effects of seafood mislabeling, one has to take into account both the rates of substitution and the levels of consumption.

Consuming fish from a well-managed fishery should not have a negative impact in terms of the population now or in the future. But even inadvertently consuming fish from poorly managed fisheries in not sustainable. It is good to get your seafood from a trusted source.

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ASU Study Looks At The Environmental Effects Of Purchasing, Consuming Mislabeled Fish

Photo, posted August 1, 2014, courtesy of Ralph Daily via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Fitness Trackers For Lobsters | Earth Wise

October 20, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The lobster industry is somewhat unique, at least in this country, in that it involves an animal food that is kept alive until it has reached the destination where it will be consumed or used. As a result, the industry has to deal with a problem they call “shrink”, which is the mortality lobsters experience as they change hands from capture to kitchen.

Maine’s lobster industry has reached out to the University of Maine Lobster Institute along with collaborators at other institutions to help quantify and mitigate stress points in the lobster supply chain that reduce survival and profitability.

A 2-year project was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to create miniature sensory devices – crustacean heart and activity trackers (called C-HATs). These are essentially Fitbits for lobsters. The noninvasive devices strapped on a lobster monitor its heart rate and movement as it passes from trap to on-board live tank to live storage crate to truck to wholesaler to retailer or processor.

A separate sensor-equipped device called the MockLobster travels along with the lobsters to log environmental conditions experienced, including temperature, light and dissolved oxygen levels.

The hope is to be able to get a good handle on the conditions lobsters experience from trap to market and learn where problems are likely to arise. The researchers are also working to develop economical, standardized protocols to monitor water quality and the heath of lobsters during their movement through the supply chain.

The goal is to produce big improvements in the bottom lines of everyone along the supply chain along with big improvements in the health of the lobsters destined for market.

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Fitness trackers, environmental sensors prototyped to improve survival in the lobster supply chain

Photo, posted August 29, 2015, courtesy of Adam Grimes via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Cleaner Air Saves Lives

September 25, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new study by Columbia University has concluded that lower air pollution levels saved an estimated 5,660 lives in New York State in 2012, compared to 2002 mortality levels.

The study looked at New York State levels of the specific type of pollution known as fine particulate matter, referred to as PM2.5. These microscopic particulates are a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets that either come from burning fuel or are formed in the atmosphere as a result of complex reactions of chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from power plants, industries, and automobiles.

Long-term exposure to PM2.5 can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

The study looked at extensive amounts of data to analyze trends in PM2.5 levels across New York State. The data showed that PM2.5 levels dropped by 28 to 37% between 2002 and 2012. This was a result of continued progress in cleaner vehicles, the reduction of high sulfur-dioxide emitting coal-burning power plants, and other air pollution reduction programs. They calculated that this amount of reduction in PM2.5 reduced the air pollution mortality burden for New York State residents by 67% – from 8,410 premature deaths in 2002 to 2,750 deaths in 2012.

The study provides evidence that emission controls on air pollutants – which were initiated by the Clean Air Act of 1970 and later expanded in 1990 – have improved public health across New York State. According to the researchers, the study is a key step to documenting the health benefits from cleaner air.

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Air Pollution Cuts Are Saving Lives in New York State

Photo, posted June 29, 2014, courtesy of Paul Comstock via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Dangerous Cities For Migrating Birds

May 14, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Billions of birds migrate north in the spring and south in the fall. The majority of them fly at night. But as they pass over large cities, the birds can become disoriented by bright artificial light – so-called light pollution, causing them to crash into buildings or windows.

Researchers estimate that 600 million birds die from building collisions in the United States every year. Now, a new paper from researchers at Cornell University reveals which metropolitan areas are most dangerous for birds and why.

The researchers ranked cities where, as a result of geography and exposure to light pollution, birds are at the greatest risk of becoming attracted to and disoriented by lights and crashing into buildings. They combined light pollution levels with bird density data in order to make their calculations. Their paper was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Chicago, Houston, and Dallas finished as the three most dangerous cities for migrating birds. While migration routes vary depending on the season, these three cities still topped all others during both the spring and fall migrations due to their size and geographic positioning in the heart of North America’s most trafficked aerial corridors.

Audubon’s Lights Out program is one of several national efforts encouraging cities to reduce light pollution, particularly on heavy migration nights, in order to reduce bird mortality.

But homeowners need to do their part as well since an estimated quarter-million birds die from collisions with residential houses every year. The suggestion to cities and homeowners alike is the same: If you don’t need the lights, turn them off.

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Chicago tops list of most dangerous cities for migrating birds

Photo, posted May 18, 2017, courtesy of Pedro Szekely via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Humans And Vertebrate Mortality

April 9, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new study, more than one-quarter of the planet’s land vertebrates die because of humans. This is a “disproportionately huge effect” on the other land vertebrates that share planet’s surface with us.

Researchers from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture reviewed 1,114 published studies in which nearly 43,000 animals had perished. Their study, which was recently published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography, found that 28% of the animals’ deaths were directly attributable to humans. The other 72% died from natural sources.

Mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians that died between 1970 and 2018 in the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania were the foundation of the study. All of these vertebrates had been either collared or tagged as part of other research projects.

The researchers point out that humans are only one among more than 35,000 species of terrestrial vertebrates globally. The fact that humans are responsible for more than one-quarter of their deaths illustrates the profound magnitude of the problem. And that statistic is just the direct causes. According to the researchers, when urban growth and other land use changes that erode habitat are considered, the human impact is likely even greater.

The study found that the impact of humans across all the different species was not equal. In fact, larger animals were more likely to be killed by humans than smaller animals. Adult animals were more likely to be killed by humans than juveniles.

The researchers conclude that humans are such a major contributor to terrestrial vertebrate mortality that they could potentially impact both evolutionary processes and ecosystem functioning.

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On the land, one-quarter of vertebrates die because of humans

Photo, posted March 6, 2019, courtesy of USFWS Midwest Region via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Balloons And Seabirds

March 19, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that there is a ton of plastic in the ocean – millions of tons, in fact. Scientists estimate that there is more 165 million tons of plastics swirling about in our oceans today, with an additional 8.8 million tons flowing in every year. As the oceans swell with plastic debris, many marine species wind up ingesting the stuff – often with dire consequences.

All this plastic trash winds up affecting more than just aquatic species, too. According to researchers from the University of Tasmania, a seabird that ingested a single piece of plastic has a 20% chance of mortality. This statistic jumps to 50% if the seabird consumes nine pieces of plastic.

The study, which was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, also found that while hard plastics account for the majority of plastic debris ingested, it’s far less likely to prove fatal than soft plastics, such as balloons.

In fact, the researchers found that balloons or balloon fragments were the number one marine debris risk of mortality for seabirds, killing almost one in five of the seabirds that ingested them.

The leading cause of death among the seabirds studied was blockage of the gastrointestinal tract. While soft plastics only accounted for 5% of the ingested plastics, they were responsible for more than 40% of seabird mortality. But the researchers make clear that hard plastics were still responsible for more than half of the study’s seabird deaths.

If we want to reduce the number of marine species dying from plastic ingestion, we need to reduce the volume of plastic going into the ocean and do what we can to remove what’s already there.

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