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Building better blackberries

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The Human Genome Project is one of the greatest scientific feats in history.  It was launched in 1990 and completed in 2003.  The international group of researchers wanted to comprehensively study all of the DNA – the genome – from a select set of organisms, foremost of which being that of human beings.  The results accelerated the study of human biology and has led to improvements in the practice of medicine.

Every living thing – animal, plant, fungus, and various single-celled organisms – has a genome – a genetic blueprint.  A recent study by researchers at the University of Florida has done genome sequencing of blackberries with the hope of being able to achieve more efficient and targeted breeding.

Over the past 20 years, consumer demand for blackberries has increased leading to farmers growing more of the fruit in the United States.  The U.S. produces 37 million pounds of processed blackberries and almost 3 million pounds of fresh berries each year.

The Florida researchers made use of a large collection of DNA sequences to computationally piece together the entire genome of the blackberry variety in the study.  The genome study uncovered the secrets behind key traits that could lead to growing blackberry plants with no thorns and increasing the production of anthocyanin, which affects the color and health benefits of the fruit. 

For Florida, the southeastern United States and regions with similar climates, the genetic research holds the promise of accelerating the process to create blackberry varieties that are better suited to local growing conditions, enhancing both the yield and the quality of the increasingly popular fruit.

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Decoding blackberry DNA: UF study paves way for enhanced breeding strategies

Photo, posted September 18, 2016, courtesy of Theo Crazzolara via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A biostimulant for wheat

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Feeding a global population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by mid-century is a massive challenge.  Wheat provides a fifth of the calories in the global human diet and is a significant source of protein, minerals, vitamins, and fiber.  Finding ways to increase the yield of wheat crops has great value.  However, wheat has complex genetics, which makes it difficult to improve yields by traditional breeding methods or even by genetic engineering.

Researchers at Oxford University and the nearby Rosalind Franklin Institute have developed a biostimulant that can deliver increased wheat yields of up to 12%.  It is applied as a spray and a four-year study in Argentina and Mexico demonstrated that it delivers major yield improvements irrespective of weather conditions.

The biostimulant is based on trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P), which is a natural molecule that regulates the plant equivalent of blood sugar.  T6P prompts plants to produce more starch and increases the rate of photosynthesis.

Naturally occurring T6P cannot be applied topically because it cannot cross cell membranes.  The researchers developed a membrane-permeable precursor of T6P that releases T6P into a plant in the presence of sunlight.

The biostimulant can be manufactured on an industrial scale and would be inexpensive to use. 

The researchers have created SugaROx, a spinout company whose mission is “to increase the productivity, resilience, sustainability, and profitability of crop production” using active ingredients inspired by powerful natural plant molecules.

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New biostimulant treatment significantly boosts wheat yields, field studies confirm

Photo, posted July 28, 2014, courtesy of Brad Higham via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Almost a dire wolf

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Researchers around the world are working on what some call the ‘de-extinction’ of iconic animals of the past such as the wooly mammoth, the dodo, and the Tasmanian tiger.  The idea is to decipher the genome from DNA of preserved specimens and, using the tools of modern genetic engineering and cloning technology, alter the DNA of closely related modern species to recreate the extinct species.

A company called Colossal Biosciences recently announced that it has brought back the dire wolf, a species that has been extinct for 10,000 years.  Dire wolves have white coats and are larger than modern wolves, have more powerful shoulders, a wider head, and larger teeth and jaws.  Colossal is now raising three wolves they have engineered at a 2,000-acre site at an undisclosed location.

 The wolves were created by taking the DNA of modern grey wolves and editing 14 genes substituting ones from ancient dire wolf specimens.  Wolves have about 19,000 genes, so the changes from the grey wolf genome are very minor but enough to produce an animal that looks just like a dire wolf.  But is it a dire wolf?

It really isn’t.  Ancient DNA is always greatly damaged.  Only parts of it survive.  We don’t actually have the complete genome of the dire wolf.  What we have is bits and pieces that, thanks to modern technology, allow us to produce a phenotype of a dire wolf; that is, an animal with the same observable features. 

Whether this accomplishment is a worthwhile and appropriate thing to do is a question that continues to be debated.

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The Return of the Dire Wolf

Photo courtesy of Colossal Laboratories & Biosciences.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Bad news for birds

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The 2025 U.S. State of the Birds report was released recently.   The report is produced by a coalition of leading science and conservation organizations.  The bottom line is that there have been continued widespread declines in American bird populations across all mainland and marine habitats. 

More than one-third of U.S. bird species are of high or moderate conservation concern.  Among these, 112 are tipping point species that have lost more than 50% of their populations over the last 50 years. 

Protecting bird species is not just about biodiversity and stewardship of nature.  Wild birds have surprisingly large economic impact.  Nearly 100 million Americans are engaged in birding activities which contribute substantially to local and state economies.  The 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation estimated that the total economic output related to bird watching activities was an amazing $279 billion and birding-related activities support 1.4 million jobs.  Bird watching and other encounters with nature are beneficial for human well-being, including reducing stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms.

The rapid declines in birds are related to habitat loss, environmental degradation, and extreme weather events.  Moreover, if conditions are not healthy for birds, they are unlikely to be healthy for people as well.  Fortunately, many actions that are good for birds are good for us, so conservation efforts going forward are important.

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State of America’s birds: Population declines continue

Photo, posted October 30, 2018, courtesy of Shenandoah National Park via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Tigers in India

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The Anthropocene is the term that describes the current era in Earth’s history when human activities are having a significant impact on the planet.  It is an epoch filled with species extinction and species attrition in both numbers and range.  The population of large carnivores are among the most affected species and recovering these animals that play important roles in ecosystems is a formidable challenge.

Tigers in Asia are a prime example of extirpation – removal of a species from a specific area.  They have been eliminated in more than 90% of their historic Asian range over the past century.  A new study, published in Science has found that tigers in India are making a comeback.

India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority estimates that between 2010 and 2022, India’s tiger population grew from 1,706 to 3,682.  Tigers are thriving not only on protected lands but also near some human communities.

Tigers are gone from poorer areas where poaching was prevalent and from areas affected by the violent conflict associated with India’s Maoist rebellion.  On the other hand, the big cats can be found near some prosperous communities where poaching is rare.  Farmers keep cattle in enclosures to protect them from tigers.  

The success in protecting tigers in India could provide some insights for Europe where wolves are making a comeback, and perhaps even in the American West where the resurgence of wolf populations is triggering a violent backlash.

Large predators can survive in the modern world with creative thinking and willingness to find a balance between protection and coexistence.

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India Doubled its Tiger Population in a Little More Than a Decade

Photo, posted January 8, 2014, courtesy of Roderick Eime via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Rats and climate change

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Human activity has made rats one of the most prolific mammals on the planet. Our waste, buildings, and ships provide food, shelter, and transport.  In the United States alone, rats cost the country approximately $27 billion each year in damage to infrastructure, crops, and contaminated food supplies. Additionally, rats carry and spread over 50 zoonotic pathogens and parasites, impacting public health around the world.

Now, climate change is adding to the problem. According to a new study recently published in the journal Science Advances, urban rat populations are exploding as global temperatures rise.  The researchers found that Washington DC, San Francisco, Toronto, New York City, and Amsterdam had the greatest population increases.  In fact, over the past decade, rats increased by a whopping 390% in Washington DC, 300% in San Francisco, 186% in Toronto, and 162% in New York City.  The study, which examined data from 16 cities globally, found that 11 of them showed significant increases in rat numbers.

Only Tokyo, Louisville, and New Orleans bucked the trend with declining rat numbers.

According to the researchers, the best pest management strategies involve making the urban environment less rat-friendly as opposed to removing rodents that are already there.  An example would be putting trash in containers instead of bags on the street. 

There aren’t many perks to the changing climate – unless, of course, you’re a rat. 

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Increasing rat numbers in cities are linked to climate warming, urbanization, and human population

‘Perfect rat storm’: urban rodent numbers soar as the climate heats, study finds

Photo, posted September 25, 2018, courtesy of Tim Felce via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Making hydrogen using bioengineering

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Hydrogen has great potential for helping society to reach net-zero emissions.  The problem is that the most economical and established production methods for hydrogen depend heavily on fossil fuels and result in roughly a dozen kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions for every kilogram of hydrogen produced.

The carbon-free way to produce hydrogen is by splitting water into its component elements.  This process generally requires the use of catalysts and lots of energy.

Researchers at the University of Oxford are developing a synthetic biology approach to the production of so-called green hydrogen.  The idea is to replace expensive, exotic metal-based catalysts with a highly-efficient, stable, and cost-effective catalyst based on genetically-engineered bacteria.

There are specific microorganisms that can naturally induce the chemical reaction that reduces protons to hydrogen by the use of hydrogenase enzymes.  While these reactions do occur naturally, they are limited to low hydrogen yields.

The Oxford researchers genetically engineered the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis by inserting a light activated electron pump called Gloeobacter rhodopsin as well as adding nanoparticles of graphene oxide and ferric sulfate.  All of this tinkering with the bacterium resulted in a ten-fold increase in hydrogen yield.

The researchers believe that their system, based entirely on biological methods rather than traditional chemical approaches, could be scaled up to produce ‘artificial leaves’ that, when exposed to sunlight, would immediately begin producing hydrogen.  The Oxford work was published last summer in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

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A green fuels breakthrough: bio-engineering bacteria to become ‘hydrogen nanoreactors’

Photo, posted July 27, 2016, courtesy of Blondinrikard Froberg via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Native plants and road salt pollution

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Applying salt to roadways lowers the freezing point of water and prevents slippery surfaces, which makes it safer for people to drive in wintry conditions.  In the U.S., more than 22 million tons of road salt is spread every year. 

But road salt harms infrastructure and the environment.   In fact, road salt damages cars and metal infrastructure by accelerating rust and corrosion.  Road salt can also leach into soil and waterways, disrupting ecosystems, degrading soil, contaminating water, and damaging vegetation. 

In cities and towns, road salts often wash into stormwater systems, posing health concerns and challenges for infrastructure.

A new study led by researchers from Virginia Tech looked at how salt affects plants and whether certain plants could mitigate salt pollution. The research team studied stormwater detention basins in Northern Virginia, examining the impacts of road salt on plants, soils, and water quality in green infrastructure systems.

The findings, which were recently published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, found that the amount of salt present in green infrastructure systems does reach levels that threaten plant communities.  However, the researchers found that relying on salt-tolerant plants for mitigation is unlikely to be effective because they simply don’t take in enough salt.

Certain plants, particularly cattails, absorbed substantial amounts of salt.  But even in a basin densely planted with salt-tolerant cattails, only up to 6% of the road salt applied during winter could be removed. 

Plants alone cannot solve our salt pollution problem.

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Researcher studies the power of native plants to combat road salt pollution

Photo, posted January 22, 2025, courtesy of the City of Greenville, North Carolina via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Growing safer potatoes

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We are often advised to avoid eating green areas on potatoes.  The green comes from chlorophyll that occurs naturally when potatoes are exposed to light.  It is harmless but when it is there, it can be accompanied by a natural toxin – a substance called solanine, which is a steroidal glycoalkaloid or SGA.  Sunlight can produce solanine as well as chlorophyll.  Solanine is produced by plants to protect them from insects. 

Solanine is bitter tasting so one is unlikely to consume much of it.  But consuming enough of it can lead to gastrointestinal complications like diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and sweating. 

Researchers at the University of California Riverside have discovered a way to eliminate toxic compounds from potatoes, making them safer to eat and easier to store.  They have identified a key genetic mechanism in the production of SGAs.  They found a specific protein that controls the production and believe it will be possible to control where and when SGAs are produced.  Thus, it may be possible to have SGAs present in the leaves of potato plants, thereby protecting them from insects, while having none in the potatoes themselves.  By limiting SGAs to non-edible parts of plants, they can be safer and more versatile plants.  For example, modified potatoes could be stored in sunny places without worry and would always be safe to eat.

Plants have evolved ingenious ways to balance growth, reproduction, and defense.  Our growing understanding of these mechanisms can allow people to redesign crops to meet modern needs, increase food safety, and reduce food waste.

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Growing safer spuds: Removing toxins from potatoes

Photo, posted October 14, 2013, courtesy of Elton Morris via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The battle over wolves

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Thirty years ago, wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park.  Grey wolves had almost disappeared entirely throughout the northern Rockies.  They were listed as endangered by the federal government since 1974.  The reintroduction was hailed as a wildly successful effort yielding significant benefits to Yellowstone’s ecosystems.

Since then, wolf populations have increased greatly across the West.  There are at least 7,000 or 8,000 wolves living in Western States.  But this conservation triumph is considered a plague by some residents of those states.   Wolves kill livestock, game animals, and sometimes pets.

Because of this backlash, federal protections have been lifted in some states, leaving wolf management up to state agencies.  Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and parts of Utah have no federal protections and hunting wolves is legal.  Initial, careful hunting quotas in some states have given way to widespread killing driven by anti-wolf sentiment. 

Emotions run high with regard to wolves, and unlike that of other protected species, the fate of wolves is a matter of politics rather than science or law.  State legislatures have gotten involved, often trying to prove that they hate wolves more than the next guy. 

Wolves are resilient animals and are likely to survive unless there is an organized government strategy like what took place in the 1900s with unlimited poisoning and shooting.  But experts note that wolf populations must persist at a high enough level in order to play important ecological roles.

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As Wolf Populations Rebound, an Angry Backlash Intensifies

Photo, posted March 7, 2023, courtesy of Eric Kilby via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Corals and climate change

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Climate change is a major threat to coral reefs around the world.  Ocean warming triggers coral bleaching – a stress response where corals expel the symbiotic algae essential for their survival.  If coral bleaching is severe, it can lead to coral death.

A new study led by scientists from Newcastle University in England suggests that corals are unlikely to adapt to ocean warming quickly enough to keep pace with global warming, unless there are rapid reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions.

The study, which was recently published in the journal Science, found that coral heat tolerance adaptation via natural selection could keep pace with ocean warming, but only if the climate goals of the Paris Agreement are realized.  In the Paris Agreement, countries agreed to limit global warming by the end of the century to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.  

However, current climate policies around the world have the globe on track to warm by three degrees Celsius.  According to the research team, this could lead to significant reductions in reef health, elevated risks of local coral extinctions, and considerable uncertainty in the so-called “evolvability” of corals. 

Coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth.  They are often referred to as the “rainforests of the sea” because they support an incredible variety of marine life.  They provide essential ecosystem services, such as protecting coastlines from erosion and storm surges, supporting fisheries, and serving as a source of income through tourism. Coral reef health is vital for the health of the planet.

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Coral adaptation unlikely to keep pace with global warming

Photo, posted June 9, 2012, courtesy of Bokissa Private Island Resort via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

PFAS and groundwater

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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, more commonly known as PFAS, are a family of human-made chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries since the 1940s.  They provide water-resistance, oil-resistance, dirt-resistance, and corrosion-resistance to a wide range of products, including food wrappers and packaging, clothing, dental floss, nonstick cookware, textiles, and electronics.

Exposure to PFAS has been linked to birth defects, thyroid disease, liver disease, kidney disease, and cancer.  These chemicals do not break down in the environment and therefore, over time, become concentrated in plants, animals, and people. 

According to a new first-of-its kind study by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, more than 20% of the U.S. population could be drinking groundwater contaminated with PFAS.  The study, which was recently published in the journal Science, found that those living in the Eastern U.S. are particularly likely to be exposed.

The study is the first to report national estimates of PFAS in untreated groundwater that supplies drinking water to private and public wells. The USGS research also provides the first estimate of the total number of Americans – anywhere from 71 to 95 million – who might be exposed to this contamination.

The researchers note that their estimates merely measure the existence of PFAS – before the water has undergone any treatment or filtering – meaning that, while they may be present, they may be at very low levels. 

To find a link to the detailed USGS map showing the probability of PFAS groundwater contamination in your region, visit our website: EarthWiseRadio.org.

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PFAS in US Groundwater Interactive Dashboard

Predictions of groundwater PFAS occurrence at drinking water supply depths in the United States

Photo, posted January 12, 2008, courtesy of Andrew Kraker via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The bloated carbon footprint of LNG

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According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States is the world’s largest producer of natural gas.  In fact, natural gas supplies approximately one third of the United States’ primary energy consumption, most of which is used to heat buildings and to generate electricity.  While most natural gas is delivered in its gaseous form in this country, the demand for natural gas in international markets has given rise to the use of natural gas in a liquified form. 

Liquified natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid state, at about -260° Fahrenheit, for easier storage and transportation.  The volume of natural gas in its liquid state is about 600 times smaller than its volume in its gaseous state, which makes it possible to transport it to places pipelines do not reach.

Liquified natural gas is considered a clean fossil fuel because burning it produces less emissions than coal and oil.  However, according to a new study by researchers from Cornell University, LNG imported from the U.S. actually has a larger climate impact than any other fossil fuel—including coal – once processing and shipping are taken into account. 

The study, which was recently published in the journal Energy Science & Engineering, found that LNG leaves a greenhouse gas footprint that is 33% worse than coal when emissions are analyzed over a 20-year time frame. 

According to the research team, there is no need for LNG as an interim energy source because the transition requires massive infrastructure expenditures.  Instead, those financial resources should be used to “build a fossil-fuel-free future as rapidly as possible.”

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Liquefied natural gas carbon footprint is worse than coal

Photo, posted November 17, 2017, courtesy of Colin Baird via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Renegade geoengineering

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As the dangers of climate change continue to grow, so has interest in geoengineering – deliberate tinkering with the earth’s climate system.  In particular, stratospheric solar geoengineering – releasing aerosols into the stratosphere to reduce the amount of heat from the sun reaching the Earth – is attracting increasing interest.  Scientists at Harvard, Cornell, Colorado State, Princeton, and the University of Chicago are all researching the topic.

Actually doing it on a scale that matters is fraught with peril from unintended consequences of disrupting the delicate interactions between the Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, land, and sea ice. 

Meanwhile, a tiny start-up company in Silicon Valley has raised more than a million dollars in venture capital and is busy releasing balloons full of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere in the name of combatting global warming.  Furthermore, they are selling so-called “cooling credits” to customers who want to offset their personal carbon emissions.

The aerosol being released is on such a small scale that it can’t possibly have a meaningful effect on temperatures.  There really isn’t scientific analysis guiding or accompanying the work. 

There are no laws prohibiting the dispersal of small amounts of sulfur dioxide in California.  Even if there were, these people could go offshore or elsewhere to do their work.  But this renegade geoengineering highlights a serious issue; namely, that there doesn’t have to be scientific, political, or any other kind of consensus for someone to undertake a potentially catastrophic attempt to alter the climate.  It’s a real worry.

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Silicon Valley Renegades Pollute the Sky to Save the Planet

Photo, posted September 24, 2006, courtesy of Doc Searls via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The impact of climate change on agriculture

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Agriculture is a major part of the climate problem and remains one of the hardest human activities to decarbonize.  Agriculture is responsible for approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

On farms around the world, excess fertilizer gets broken down by microbes in the soil, releasing nitrous oxide into the atmosphere.  Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

According to a sweeping global research review recently published in the journal Science, greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture are now 18 times higher than they were in the 1960s. 

The research, which was co-written by professors at the University of Minnesota with more than 20 experts around the world, also reveals the likelihood of an emergent feedback loop between climate and agriculture.  As the changing climate puts more pressure on the global food supply, agriculture will, out of necessity, adopt practices that may exacerbate its environmental impact. Without changes in agriculture, this feedback loop could make it impossible to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. 

The research identifies several agricultural practices that could improve efficiency and stabilize our food supply in the decades to come, including precision farming, perennial crop integration, agrivoltaics, nitrogen fixation, and novel genome editing. 

Finding ways to reduce the warming impact of agriculture while maintaining high crop yields are essential to both mitigating climate change and protecting our food supply from its impacts.

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Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture Suggests Even Greater Challenges to the Environment, Global Food Supply and Public Health

Photo, posted October 16, 2010, courtesy of Timlewisnm via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Nearly everyone wants climate action

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A global survey of 75,000 people revealed that 80% of participants want their governments’ climate action commitments to be stronger.  The poll, conducted by the United Nations Development Program, GeoPoll, and Oxford University, asked 15 questions in telephone calls to residents of 77 countries representing 87% of the global population.

According to the survey, 89% of poorer countries favored increasing efforts to curb global emission, while 76% of wealthy G20 nations supported tougher climate action.

The two biggest greenhouse emitters in the world were less enthusiastic:  Chinese participants were 73% in favor of stronger action and Americans were 66% in favor of greater efforts to combat global warming. 

Other demographic differences included that in the big emitting countries of Canada, France, Germany, Australia, and the U.S., women were 10 to 17% more in support of stronger climate action than men.

Overall, only 7% of those polled globally thought their government should not transition away from fossil fuels at all.  More than half of those polled said that they were more worried about climate change this year than last year.  A worldwide majority of 72% support a fast fossil fuel phaseout, including those in nations that are among the top ten coal, oil, and gas producers.

As is the case across the board with respect to climate issues, the more influential factor continues to be economic as opposed to scientific or humanitarian.  Those who stand to lose the most money from the transition away from fossil fuels continue to hold sway over those who will lose in many other ways.

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Four Out of Five People Want Increased Climate Action, UN Poll Says

Photo, posted July 31, 2020, courtesy of School Strike 4 Climate via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Research on solar geoengineering

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Ideas for potential technologies that could artificially cool the planet as a countermeasure against global warming have been considered radical and dangerous for a long time.  But as climate change continues to become increasingly apparent, ideas like solar geoengineering are gaining increasing attention.

Most environmental organizations are at best skeptical about such ideas and oppose them.  Their opposition is in part based on the assertion that there are no quick fixes for climate change and that not addressing its root causes is a dangerous path to take.  But an even greater concern is that intentionally manipulating global temperatures is likely to have a host of unintended consequences that could prove disastrous.

One of the world’s largest environmental organizations, the Environmental Defense Fund, has decided to fund research into solar geoengineering.  The EDF cautions that is in not in favor of deploying such technology.  Its position is that the discussion about ways to cool the planet is not going away and cannot be ignored.  The lack of proper research can promote unfounded optimism about such technology  So, they are going to fund research that can provide information based on solid, well-formulated science.

A major focus will be what other effects technologies like cloud brightening and injecting aerosols into the atmosphere might have apart from providing cooling. 

The EDF’s own position is that deliberate climate interventions present serious ecological, moral, and geopolitical concerns.  However, they believe that policymakers need to be informed by the most accurate information possible.

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Environmental Group to Study Effects of Artificially Cooling Earth

Photo, posted February 3, 2008, courtesy of Camilla Cannarsa via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Palm oil and water quality

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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

Climate change and Antarctic meteorites

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Researchers from Switzerland and Belgium have investigated the effects of the warming climate on access to meteorites in Antarctica.  Meteorites are of great scientific interest because they provide unique information about the makeup of our solar system.  Of all the meteorites that people have found, 62.6% of them were found in Antarctica.

Why is this?  It is not because more meteorites land in Antarctica.  Statistically, they can land anywhere on earth.  Most end up in the ocean since the world’s oceans cover 70% of the planet. 

Meteorites in Antarctica are more visible because environmental conditions are favorable for their preservation and their visibility.  The arid and cold Antarctic environment helps to preserve meteorites and the lack of rocks and contrast with ice makes spotting meteorites much easier.  The flow of ice sheets tends to concentrate meteorites in so-called meteorite stranding zones where the dark colored space rocks can be easily detected.

There are an estimated 300,000 to 800,000 meteorites in Antarctica.  When meteorites warm up, they can transfer heat to the ice, which locally melts.  Eventually, the meteorites sink beneath the surface.  A recent study using satellite imagery, climate model projections, and AI predicts that for every tenth of a degree of increase in global air temperature, an average of 9,000 meteorites in Antarctica will disappear from the surface and will no longer be able to be found. 

The study estimates that a quarter of Antarctic meteorites will be lost to glacial melt by 2050.  If warming continues to accelerate, closer to three-quarters of the meteorites on the continent will be lost. 

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Climate change threatens Antarctic meteorites

Photo, posted April 21, 2005, courtesy of Kevin Walsh via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Confusion about monarch butterflies

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For years, we have heard that the iconic monarch butterfly is in great peril.  Monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains undertake a 4-generation, 3,000-mile migration in late summer to their winter home in central Mexico.  Since the 1990s, the overwintering monarch colonies began a steep decline causing scientists to fear for the sustainability of the species.  Trying to help, ordinary citizens have been planting milkweed – the food for the caterpillars – and have been rearing eggs and caterpillars on their porches and releasing adult butterflies.

A number of recent studies have rocked the world of monarch science.  A growing group of scientists now believe that monarchs are not in fact imperiled and that the home rearing and commercial breeding of monarchs is actually a major threat to the butterfly.

According to a comprehensive 2022 study, there has been no sharp decline in Eastern monarch populations across their summer breeding range.  The long-term declines in winter colony sizes are real but do not appear to be affecting the collective breeding population of Eastern monarchs. 

An undisputed major threat to monarchs is a parasite known as OE, which weakens butterflies and also makes it unlikely for them to complete migrations.  It turns out that overcrowding of butterflies resulting from the efforts of backyard and commercial breeders is increasing the spread of the disease.  The butterflies are in need of social distancing.

Monarch scientists are split into two camps.  One group calls for the protection of the butterfly under the Endangered Species Act.  The other says that what monarchs most need is for us to leave them alone.  It is a confusing situation.

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Rethinking Monarchs: Does the Beloved Butterfly Need Our Help?

Photo, posted October 1, 2021, courtesy of Renee Grayson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

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