places

Why Was the Summer So Hot? | Earth Wise

September 4, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Many places around the world have experienced extraordinary heat waves this summer. The 31 days of high temperatures 110 degrees or more in Phoenix is a prime example but many other places suffered from extreme and relentless heat. Why did this happen?

The overarching reason is climate change, which has warmed the Earth by 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit since the preindustrial era. This change on a global level is enough to make heatwaves far more likely. For example, the concurrent heatwaves in Europe and North America were 1000 times more likely to have occurred because of climate change.

But there hasn’t been a sudden increase in global temperature that would make this summer so much hotter. Instead, what really has happened is three other factors all came into play at the same time.

The first is the 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha-apai, which is an underwater volcano in the South Pacific. That eruption did not produce much in the way of planet-cooling aerosols in the atmosphere. Instead, it vaporized huge amounts of seawater, sending water vapor into the atmosphere, which helps trap heat.

The second is a change in the amount of energy radiating from the sun. That actually rises and falls a small amount every 11 years. Currently, it is in the upswing and will reach its next peak in 2025.

Finally, there is the arrival of the El Niño in the Pacific, whose balmy ocean waters radiate heat into the air.

The combination of all these factors when added to the already warming climate is a recipe for temperatures to soar to uncharted highs. We can expect more heat waves, forest fires, flash floods, and other sorts of extreme weather.

**********

Web Links

It’s Not Just Climate Change: Three Other Factors Driving This Summer’s Extreme Heat

Photo, posted February 27, 2017, courtesy of Giuseppe Milo via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Plastic In Lakes | Earth Wise

August 28, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

We are always talking about the millions of tons of waste plastic that finds its way into the oceans and about the challenges of trying to remove it. A new multinational study has found that the concentration of plastics and microplastics in some lakes is even worse than in the so-called garbage patches in the oceans and some of these lakes are even in remote places around the world

Scientists from institutes in multiple countries collected water samples from 38 lakes and reservoirs in 23 countries across six continents. The samples were then all analyzed by the University of Milan to assess the presence of plastic particles more than a quarter millimeter in size.

The study found that two types of lakes are particularly vulnerable to plastic contamination: lakes and reservoirs in densely populated and urbanized areas and large lakes with elevated deposition areas, long water-retention times, and high levels of human influence.

Lakes found to have the highest concentration of plastic included some of the main sources of drinking water for communities and were also important to local economies. These included Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, Lake Maggiore in Italy, and Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border. Not all the lakes studied contained large amounts of plastic. For example, Windermere, the largest lake in England, had very low concentrations of plastic in surface water.

This was the first global survey of the abundance and type of plastic pollution in lakes and reservoirs and the scale of freshwater plastic pollution is sobering indeed. There is widespread concern that plastic debris is having harmful effects on aquatic species and ecosystem function and clearly is not limited to marine ecosystems.

**********

Web Links

Plastic pollution is higher in some lakes than oceans

Photo, posted May 27, 2019, courtesy of Jonathan Cook-Fisher via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Europe Is Warming Very Quickly | Earth Wise

July 13, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization, Europe is warming faster than any other inhabited continent. The result of the rising temperatures has been increasingly severe heat waves, flood, and wildfires.

The Paris Climate Agreement has set a goal of limiting warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and, if at all possible, to no more than 1.5 degrees. To date, the planet has warmed by 1.2 degrees and, with greenhouse gas emissions continuing at record levels, the temperature keeps going up.

These numbers refer to the global average. Some places have warmed more and others less. The Arctic has been warming four times quicker than the rest of the world. In terms of direct impact on large populations, Europe has already surpassed the 2-degree mark, having reached 2.3 degrees last year. In 2022, many countries in western and southwestern Europe had their warmest year on record. Weather-related economic damages totaled $2 billion, mostly as a result of storms and floods.

Europe is trying to do its part in mitigating climate change by making major gains on clean energy. Wind and solar generated 22% of Europe’s power in 2022, which is more than either natural gas or coal produced. Europe is trying to do its share, but the warming climate is a global phenomenon and will require a global effort to mitigate its effects.

The record-breaking heat stress experienced by Europeans last year cannot be considered a one-off occurrence. It is part of a pattern that will make weather extremes more frequent and more intense over time.

**********

Web Links

The Fastest-Warming Continent, Europe Has Already Heated by More Than 2 Degrees C

Photo, posted September 26, 2011, courtesy of Ben Ramirez via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A New Deep-Sea Reef In The Galapagos | Earth Wise

June 2, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Like in many other places around the world, ocean warming has mostly destroyed the shallow-water reefs in the Galapagos Islands. The islands are some of the most carefully protected places in the world, but they can’t escape the effects of a warming planet.

Recently, however, scientists have discovered a healthy, sprawling coral reef hidden deep under the sea in the Galapagos. More than 1,300 feet underwater, the reef extends for several miles along the ridge of a previously unknown volcano in the Galapagos Marine Preserve.

The reef is pristine and is teeming with all sorts of marine life including pink octopus, batfish, squat lobsters, and a variety of deep-sea fish, sharks, and rays.

The expedition that discovered the new reef was led by the University of Essex in the UK. Prior to this discovery, scientists thought that coral reefs were all but gone from the Galapagos. A period of ocean warming in 1982 through 1983 wiped out more than 95% of the corals in the archipelago. Only a few reefs in shallow waters remained. The newly discovered reefs are sheltered deep under the sea and would have been protected from the deadly heat.

According to the scientists from the expedition, the newly discovered reef potentially has global significance because it represents a site that can be monitored over time to see how such a pristine habitat evolves with the ongoing climate crisis. Reefs like this are clearly very old because coral reefs take a long time to grow. Finding this one means that it is likely that there are more healthy reefs across different depths that are waiting to be discovered.

**********

Web Links

Pristine Deep-Sea Reef Discovered in the Galápagos

Photo, posted March 28, 2009, courtesy of Derek Keats via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio