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Carbon Dioxide Levels Higher Again | Earth Wise

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that carbon dioxide levels measured in May at the Mauna Loa Observatory reached a value of 421 parts per million.  This is 50% greater than pre-industrial levels and is in a range not seen on earth for millions of years.

Before the Industrial Revolution, CO2 levels fairly steadily measured around 280 parts per million, pretty much for all 6,000 years of human civilization.  Since the Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century, humans have generated an estimated 1.5 trillion tons of CO2 pollution, much of which will continue to warm the atmosphere for thousands of years.

The present levels of carbon dioxide are comparable to those of an era known as the Pliocene Climatic Optimum, which took place over 4 million years ago. 

The bulk of the human-generated carbon dioxide comes from burning fossil fuels for transportation and electrical generation, from cement and steel manufacturing, and from the depletion of natural carbon sinks caused by deforestation, agriculture, and other human impacts on the natural environment.

Humans are altering the climate in ways that are dramatically affecting the economy, infrastructure, and ecosystems across the planet.  By trapping heat that would otherwise escape into space, greenhouse gases are causing the atmosphere to warm steadily, leading to increasingly erratic weather episodes ranging from extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires, to heavier precipitation, flooding, and tropical storm activity.

The relentless increase of carbon dioxide measured at Mauna Loa is a sober reminder that we need to take serious steps to try to mitigate the effects of climate change.

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Carbon dioxide now more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels

Photo, posted December 20, 2016, courtesy of Kevin Casey Fleming via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A New Kind Of Antibiotic | Earth Wise

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Antimicrobial resistance is a serious and growing problem for public health.  Over time, more and more types of bacteria have become resistant to known antibiotics making it very difficult to treat various kinds of infections. 

A new group of antibiotics with a unique approach to attacking bacteria has been discovered at McMaster University in Canada, representing a promising new clinical approach in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. 

The newly found corbomycin and the lesser-known complestatin have a never-before-seen way to kill bacteria, namely, breaking the function of the bacterial cell wall. Bacteria have a wall around the outside of their cells that gives them shape and is a source of strength.  Antibiotics like penicillin kill bacteria by preventing building of the wall, but the new antibiotics work by doing the opposite – they prevent the wall from being broken down. Breaking down the cell wall is critical for cells to divide. In order for bacteria to grow and spread, they need to expand and divide. By completely blocking the breakdown of the wall, it is as if the bacterium is trapped in a prison and can’t expand or grow. 

The researchers demonstrated in mice that these new antibiotics can block infections caused by the drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus which is a group of bacteria that can cause many serious infections. 

The researchers believe this new approach can be applied to other antibiotics and lead to the discovery of new ones with different mechanisms of action. This study found one completely new antibiotic, but since then, they have found a few others in the same family that have this same new mechanism. 

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Antibiotics discovered that kill bacteria in a new way

Photo, posted March 15, 2012, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Cooling The Earth With A Warmer Arctic | Climate Change | Earth Wise

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Researchers are considering a wide range of approaches to mitigate the effects of global climate change.  Among these are various strategies of geoengineering, which must be viewed with enormous caution, given the high likelihood of unintended consequences from almost anything we might do.

Researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis have investigated potential strategies for cooling the planet in the absence of Arctic sea ice.

The Arctic region is heating up faster than any other place on earth and its sea ice is rapidly disappearing.  Estimates are that summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean will be largely gone within a generation.  Arctic ice and snow reflect the sun’s energy into space, which helps to keep the planet cool.  What happens if that ice is gone?

The researchers explored the fact that the Arctic Ocean ice actually insulates the Arctic atmosphere from the warmer water under the ice.  Without the ice layer, the surface water would actually increase air temperatures by 20 degrees C during the winter.  That in turn would increase the heat irradiated into space and thereby cool down the planet.

The Arctic sea ice is in part maintained because the upper regions of the Arctic Ocean have lower salinity than the Atlantic Ocean.  This stops Atlantic water from flowing above the cold Arctic waters.  So, if we were to somehow deliberately increase the salinity of the Arctic Ocean surface water, warmer, less salty Atlantic Ocean water would flow in, increase the temperature of the Arctic atmosphere, and release heat trapped in the ocean into space.

It all sounds pretty crazy, but the researchers say that given the seriousness of climate change, all options should be considered when dealing with it.

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Could we cool the Earth with an ice-free Arctic?

Photo, posted August 19, 2016, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

One Million Extinctions

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A group of 145 expert authors from 50 countries has produced a report based upon a review of 15,000 scientific and government sources that is the first comprehensive look at the state of the planet’s biodiversity in 15 years.  The conclusions are alarming.

Thanks to human pressures, one million species may be pushed to extinction in the next few years, something with serious consequences for human beings as well as the rest of life on earth.

Based upon scientific studies as well as indigenous and local knowledge, the evidence is overwhelming that human activities are the primary cause of nature’s decline.  The report ranked the major drivers of species decline as land conversion, including deforestation; overfishing; bush meat hunting and poaching; climate change; pollution; and invasive alien species.

The tremendous variety of living species on our plant which number at least 8.7 million and perhaps many more – biodiversity – constitutes a life-supporting safety net that provides our food, clean water, air, energy, and more.

In parts of the ocean, little life remains but green slime.  Some remote tropical forests are nearly silent because insects have vanished.  Many grasslands are becoming deserts.  Human activity has severely altered more than 75% of Earth’s land areas and has impacted 66% of the oceans.  The world’s oceans increasingly are characterized by plastics, dead zones, overfishing, and acidification.

The main message of the 1,500-page report is that transformative change is urgently needed.  In order to safeguard a healthy planet, society needs to shift from a sole focus on chasing economic growth.  This won’t be easy, but we must come to the understanding that nature is the foundation for development before it is too late.

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One million species at risk of extinction, UN report warns

Photo, posted January 1, 2014, courtesy of Eric Kilby via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Weird Answer To A Serious Problem

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Resistance to antibiotics is a rising problem that costs an estimated 700,000 lives each year.  Some experts predict that if the problem can’t be solved, that number could grow to 10 million deaths annually by 2050.  As a result, researchers around the world are investigating multiple ways to help fight antibiotic resistance.

[Read more…] about A Weird Answer To A Serious Problem

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