protecting

Abandoned farmland and the environment

September 4, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Abandoned farmland has been increasing dramatically in recent decades. Estimates are that a billion acres – an area half the size of Australia – have been relinquished from cultivation globally. While more and more of the tropics have been cultivated in recent times, the global amount of land used for agriculture has been in decline since 2001. In the past 30 years, arable land in the United States has declined by almost a sixth. The situation in Europe is similar. Huge amounts of the former Soviet Union now lie abandoned.

Farmland is abandoned for various reasons. It may suffer from damaged soil so that crop yields are too low to be worth the effort. Farm owners may become too old or be physically unable to continue farming. Many younger people head for jobs in the cities and more attractive opportunities. Wars, natural and man-made disasters, and political turmoil have all contributed.

Another form of largely ignored lands are so-called degraded forests. These are forests that were logged in the past but are no longer productive and aren’t protected either. These places also represent unused land with great potential value.

Ecologists point to the potential of these lands as neglected resources for rewilding efforts, improving biodiversity, and for increasing natural ways to capture carbon. Left to its own devices, nature will usually reclaim abandoned places. This generally provides benefits for biodiversity and climate. But mapping, studying, managing, and protecting the increasingly vast tracts of abandoned land could increase their potential to contribute to climate change mitigation and the restoration of species and their habitats.

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Abandoned Lands: A Hidden Resource for Restoring Biodiversity

Photo, posted January 26, 2023, courtesy of Larry Syverson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Natural solutions for disappearing islands

June 12, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Atoll islands are made from sediment produced by corals, clams, snails, and varieties of algae that secrete carbonate. Under the right conditions, over time, fragments of coral skeletons, shells, and other sediments made by marine life are piled up by waves. Eventually, islands are formed – some large and some small. Atoll islands are home to a diversity of human cultures and are important refuges for a quarter of the world’s seabirds as well as numerous nesting sea turtles and tropical plants.

Rising sea levels – the rate of which has more than doubled over the past 30 years – are a mounting challenge for atoll islands. And by the end of this century, sea level is projected to rise between 11 and 40 inches, depending on the world’s actions with regard to greenhouse gas emissions.

The ability of atoll islands to persist depends on the health of their ecosystems and the extent to which their natural processes have been disrupted by human activity. To protect the most vulnerable islands, some researchers now propose using nature-based solutions – like restoring and protecting coral reefs and native forests.

Reclaiming seabird habitat can help reefs persist and restore the resilience of atoll islands. Seabird guano washes off islands and into reefs, providing nutrients that boost coral growth and fish populations.

Nature-based solutions cannot help the most urbanized atoll islands. These islands have already irreversibly lost their natural adaptive capacity. For those places, engineered approaches such as concrete seawalls are needed.

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How Natural Solutions Can Help Islands Survive Sea Level Rise

Photo, posted July 3, 2014, courtesy of Roderick Eime / MG Media via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Nature: An important climate ally

June 10, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Nature is often seen as a victim of climate change, but it’s also one of the most powerful tools we have to fight it. Natural ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, oceans, and soils, absorb and store massive amounts of carbon dioxide. These ecosystems not only help reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but they also regulate temperatures and provide buffers against extreme weather.

One of the most effective strategies for mitigating climate change is simply protecting and restoring these natural areas. For example, mangrove forests – those coastal wetlands filled with tangled, salt-tolerant trees – sequester carbon at high rates and help protect coastal communities from storm surges and rising seas. Peatlands – another type of wetland – store more carbon than all the world’s forests combined – despite only covering 3% of Earth’s land surface. Global restoration efforts are underway, from replanting mangroves in Southeast Asia to rewetting degraded peatlands in Europe.

Creating urban green spaces like parks and community gardens, restoring forests through native tree plantings, and adopting sustainable agricultural practices like cover cropping and agroforestry are all proven to be low-cost, high-impact climate solutions.

While nature-based solutions are gaining recognition, they remain critically underfunded, according to a recent United Nations report. Closing this gap is essential to unlocking nature’s full climate potential.

Investing in nature isn’t just about preserving Earth’s natural beauty. It’s a practical strategy for building a more resilient and sustainable future.

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Mangrove forests and rising seas

Financing Nature-based Solutions for a better future

Finding peatlands

The Importance Of Urban Green Spaces

Photo, posted October 23, 2011, courtesy of the Everglades National Park / NPS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The UN Carbon Market

January 13, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The UN climate conference in November approved an official market for large-scale trading of carbon credits. This will allow industrial countries to help meet their emission reduction targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement by paying other nations to protect and restore forests and carbon-rich peatlands.

The first major participant in this multi-billion-dollar enterprise is Indonesia. That country is home to the world’s third largest expanse of tropical rainforests and more than a third of the world’s carbon-storing peatlands. Indonesia’s government plans to raise up to $65 billion by 2028 by selling carbon credits accrued by restoring and protecting its forests and peatlands.

The problem with carbon trading is that it can be filled with loopholes ranging from inaccurate carbon accounting to outright fraud. Carbon trading with both individual companies and other countries can result in double- and even triple-counting of the same carbon.

For example, carbon credits are assigned when forests earmarked for agricultural or other development are preserved instead of being felled. But what if that forest destruction wasn’t going to happen even without selling carbon credits?

There are organizations in the business of verifying carbon accounting, but independent analysis of their methodologies has revealed serious shortcomings, and in many cases, the verifications have been deemed to be worthless.

There are real problems with carbon accounting and setting correct baselines for the carbon emission reductions associated with carbon credits. Nevertheless, the existence of a global carbon market can be an important tool in the world’s efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.

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Will UN Carbon Market Work? Indonesia Will Provide First Test

Photo, posted June 12, 2017, courtesy of Runa S. Lindebjerg via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Protecting Reefs Of Hope

June 4, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

One of the most harmful effects of the changing climate is what is happening to coral reefs. Warmer ocean temperatures and acidification are causing widespread bleaching of coral. Stressed corals expel the algae living in their tissue, turning the corals white and robbing them of nutrients. When bleaching events persist, the corals starve and die. Reefs everywhere have been experiencing mass bleaching events in recent years with over 70% of the coral reefs around the world being damaged.