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The dangers of deep sea mining

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The White House is considering an executive order that would fast-track permitting for deep-sea mining in international waters and allow mining companies to bypass a United Nations-backed review process.

Deep sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the seabed in the deep ocean.  Most of the interest is in what are known as polymetallic nodules, which are potato-sized mineral deposits that have built up in layers over thousands of years. They are located several miles below the surface, primarily in what is called the Clarion-Clipperton zone, which is an environmental management area of the Pacific Ocean about halfway between Mexico and Hawaii.

A new multiyear study led by UK’s National Oceanography Center and published in the journal Nature found that the site of a deep-sea mining test in 1979 still showed lower levels of biodiversity than in neighboring undisturbed sites 44 years later.

Much is not known about the undersea nodules.  We know that they produce oxygen.  If the nodules are removed, will that reduce the amount of oxygen in the deep sea and affect the organisms that live there?  If mining occurs, what effect will the metal-containing sediment plumes churned up by the mining process have? 

The nodule fields sustain highly specialized animal and microbial communities.  More than 20 billion tons of nodules are estimated to lie on the seabed of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.  If large-scale mining takes place, and there is much interest in that happening, it is important to find out what the impact will be on the ocean and its ecosystems because it is likely to be largely irreversible.

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Deep sea mining for rare metals impacts marine life for decades, scientists say

Photo, posted September 4, 2014, courtesy of James St. John via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The UN Carbon Market

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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

Limiting global warming

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A pressing question from the recently concluded 29th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan is how to transition away from fossil fuels and speed up climate mitigation in line with the 1.5 °C global warming target.

Keeping global average temperatures below 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels is crucial to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, including extreme weather, rising seas, biodiversity loss, and disruptions to food and water security. 

According to a new study by researchers from Stockholm University, Chalmers University of Technology, and Uppsala University in Sweden, it is still possible to limit global warming to 1.5 °C.  But the study found that the United States, the European Union, and 16 other countries will have to exceed their own current targets in order to achieve this global goal.  

The study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Communications, introduced an “additional carbon accountability” indicator, which quantifies countries’ responsibility for mitigation and carbon dioxide removal in addition to achieving their own targets.

The study identified 18 countries that should be accountable for increasing their ambitions to stay within their equal per capita share of the global carbon budget for 1.5 °C.  Additional carbon accountability is highest for the United States and China, and highest per capita for the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S.

Failure to limit global warming risks catastrophic impacts of climate change.

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COP29: Possible to limit climate change to 1.5°C – if EU and 17 other countries go beyond their own targets

Photo, posted December 27, 2015, courtesy of Gerry Machen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Forest crimes

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Wildlife trafficking is the world’s fourth largest form of organized crime, behind only drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and human trafficking.  When we hear about wildlife trafficking, we think of elephant ivory, rhino horns, tiger parts, and the like.  But so-called forest crimes, which includes poaching protected trees and illegal logging added up to somewhere between $30 billion and $100 billion during the period 2014-2018.  A 2020 report by the United Nations estimated that illegal trade just in rosewoods comprised more than 40% of the value of all trafficked species – animal and plant – during that time.

Even though rosewood comprises multiple tree species, world stocks of nearly all of them have been depleted through overexploitation. Rosewood is now protected worldwide, and some 300 species are under trade restrictions.

With a value of as much as $1.5 million per cubic meter, rosewood is at the center of a great deal of illegal activity, government corruption, and controversy.  A shipment of 30,000 illegally felled rosewood logs from Madagascar was seized at a port in Singapore in 2014. Those rosewood logs, worth at least $50 million, have been hung up in multiple legal proceedings and disputes ever since and remain in Singapore.

With huge financial stakes, it is perhaps not surprising that the U.N. estimates that as much as a third of the supposedly legal global timber trade involves illegally harvested wood.

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How Traffickers Got Away with the Biggest Rosewood Heist in History

Photo, posted April 19, 2010, courtesy of Dinesh Valke via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Rivers are drying up

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According to a new U.N. report, the world’s rivers had their driest year in at least three decades.  Record heat and droughts in many places contributed to low levels of water in many of the world’s rivers.

The world faces problems of either too much or too little water. The warming climate has fueled both powerful storms with heavy rainfall and intense droughts around the globe. 

Last year was the hottest year on record, and it’s a record that is unlikely to last long.  The Mississippi River and Amazon River basins were at all-time lows.  Major rivers with headwaters in the Himalayas – the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong Rivers – were all unusually dry.

According to the World Meteorological Organizations State of Global Water Resources Report, nearly half of the nearly 1,000 rivers tracked around the world had below-normal levels of water.  Only 17% had above-average levels.  Over the past 32 years, on average only a quarter of the rivers monitored had below-normal water levels and last-year’s 45% was the largest ever.

Last year’s severe heat shrank glaciers that are a crucial source of meltwater that feeds rivers.  Glaciers lost more ice last year than they have in at least 50 years.

More than half of the world’s population lives within a couple of miles of a body of fresh water.  The places with the highest population densities around the world are almost all near large rivers.  Rivers provide freshwater for irrigation, consumption, and transportation and are an important source of energy. Historically, they have played an important role in the development of human society.  The shrinking of rivers is a big deal.

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World’s Rivers Are Driest They Have Been in Decades

Photo, posted August 22, 2023, courtesy of Radek Kucharski 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

How will we know if the world is 1.5 degrees warmer?

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The Paris Climate Agreement has a goal of limiting global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.  How do we know if we are succeeding and, more importantly, how would we know if we have failed?

This may seem like something fairly obvious, but it isn’t.  Global temperatures are definitely creeping upward.  This past year has been the warmest on record.  In fact, the global average temperature was more than 1.4 degrees above pre-industrial levels.  November was 1.75 degrees above pre-industrial levels.  So, does that mean that our climate goals have already failed?  Not really.

On a monthly scale there have already been individual months where warming has exceeded 1.5 degrees in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2023.  Would an entire year above the target constitute failure?  Not necessarily.  There really isn’t an agreed-upon answer and that in itself represents something that could undermine global efforts to tackle climate change.

If we don’t know whether we are succeeding or failing, it is more difficult to pursue success.  The United Nations IPCC says the threshold will be surpassed when average warming exceeds 1.5 degrees for 20 years.  But that seems like a building a mountain highway with no guardrails and hoping to be safe.

Scientists are calling for new approaches to defining a universally agreed-upon measure of global warming that could trigger urgent action to avoid further rises.  What we really don’t need are justifications and excuses for continued inaction.  Clearly the climate is not waiting for us to debate the issue.

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Why We Won’t Know When We’ve Passed the 1.5-Degree Threshold

Photo, posted August 2, 2018, courtesy of J Bartlett Team Rubicon/BLM for USFS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Uncounted emissions

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Most countries around the world have pledged to cut their carbon emissions to try to reduce the effects of climate change.  The extent to which countries are meeting their emission reduction goals has been the primary way of keeping score on their efforts.  But there is a major problem with this scorekeeping system: exporting fossil fuels does not count as part of a country’s contributions to emissions.

Exports of fossil fuel are the driving force of fossil fuel expansion around the world and a significant fraction of those exports come from powerful and wealthy nations that are essential to the effort to reduce carbon emissions.

Our own country is a prime example.  The U.S. is working to cut back its carbon emissions.  The Inflation Reduction Act is driving the reduction of domestic use of oil, gas, and coal and is providing subsidies for the use of heat pumps and the buildout of EV charging networks.  However, at the same time, U.S. production of fossil fuels is booming, driving substantial profits for that industry.  The result is that much of the expanding supply of fossil fuels is headed overseas.

American liquified natural gas exports are growing rapidly.  Estimates are that by 2030, United States LNG exports will be responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than every house, car, and factory in the European Union.  And, according to the UN emissions accounting system, none of those emissions will be attributed to the United States. 

The situation is rather disastrous.  Countries use this loophole to claim they are doing their part to reduce emissions, but the world is continuing to suffer the consequences.

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Uncounted Emissions: The Hidden Cost of Fossil Fuel Exports

Photo, posted January 9, 2015, courtesy of Bernard Spragg via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fungus And Carbon Storage | Earth Wise

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It is well-known that plants and trees store enormous amounts of carbon.  What has not been common knowledge is that the vast underground network of fungi across the world’s lands stores billions of tons carbon, roughly equivalent to 36% of yearly global fossil fuel emissions.

These mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with almost all land plants.  The fungi transport carbon, converted by sugars and fats by plants, into soil.  They have been supporting life on land for at least 450 million years and form sprawling underground networks everywhere – even beneath roads, gardens, and houses – on every continent on earth.

An international team of scientists analyzed hundreds of studies looking at plant-soil processes to understand how much carbon is being stored by fungi on a global scale.  The findings, published in the journal Current Biology, revealed that over 13 billion tons of CO2 is transferred from plants to fungi each year, more than China emits annually.  This process transforms the soil beneath our feet to a massive carbon pool and constitutes the most effective carbon storage activity in the world.

Given that fungi have such a crucial role in mitigating carbon emissions, the researchers are recommending that fungi should be considered in biodiversity and conservation policies. More needs to be done in protecting the underground networks of mycorrhizal fungi. The UN has warned that human activities are degrading soils and that 90% of the world’s soils could be degraded by 2050.  Not only would this obviously be very bad for the productivity of crops and plants, but we now know this could be catastrophic for curbing climate change and rising temperatures.

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Fungi stores a third of carbon from fossil fuel emissions and could be essential to reaching net zero

Photo, posted May 28, 2023, courtesy of Geoff McKay via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Sea Level Rise And Global Security | Earth Wise

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Recently, United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres addressed the U.N. Security Council on the issue of the security threats created by rising sea levels. In the past, some members of the Security Council – notably Brazil, China, Russia, and at times, India – have argued that the U.N.’s climate program should address such issues and that the Security Council doesn’t have a mandate or the expertise to consider the issue.   The underlying problem is that by addressing the security issues created by rising seas, other sensitive geopolitical issues might come to the forefront.

Guterres’ speech focused on the real possibility that rising seas could disrupt and destabilize global societies unless there is an organized international effort to get ahead of the problem.  Major cities facing serious impacts from rising seas include Cairo, Lagos, Bangkok, Jakarta, Mumbai, Shanghai, Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, New York, and Buenos Aires, among others.

In all, Guterres said that the danger is most acute for about 900 million people living in low-lying coastal areas.  Some countries, particularly small island developing countries, could disappear entirely.

The world is already facing refugee crises related to politics, warfare, and extreme weather.  The flood of refugees created by rising seas could be biblical in magnitude.

The confluence of climate change and global security is growing steadily.  As the global body primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security, the U.N. Security Council cannot duck this issue much longer.  It has a critical role to play in building the political will required to address the security challenges looming from rising seas.

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Sea Level Rise Could Drive 1 in 10 People from Their Homes, with Dangerous Implications for International Peace, UN Secretary General Warns

Photo, posted July 19, 2021, courtesy of Face of the World via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

City Greenery And Carbon Emissions | Earth Wise

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According to the United Nations, more than half of the world’s population currently lives in cities.  Projections show that the combination of urbanization and global population growth could add another 2.5 billion people to cities by 2050. 

Unsurprisingly, cities are a major contributor to climate change.  According to U.N. estimates, cities are responsible for 75% of global carbon dioxide emissions, with transportation and buildings being among the largest contributors. 

According to a new study of vegetation across New York City and some adjoining urban areas, photosynthesis by trees and grasses on many summer days absorbs all the carbon emissions produced by cars, trucks and buses, and then some.  In fact, on many summer days, the total carbon uptake in the region equaled up to 40% of a summer afternoon’s total emissions from all sources in the City. The results, which were recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, further highlights the critical importance of urban greenery.

Most previous studies have analyzed the carbon uptake of vegetation by looking at the contiguous tracts of green spaces, but this only comprises about 10% of metro areas.  Using detailed aerial radar imagery of New York City that mapped vegetation in unprecedented 6-inch grids, the researchers were able to include the other 90% of the metro area typically left out in most models. 

Since carbon uptake by vegetation only occurs during the growing season, green spaces in cities situated in warmer climates likely play a larger role in carbon uptake. 

As city populations swell around the world, every bit of urban greenery is critical in the fight against climate change. 

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New York City’s greenery absorbs a surprising amount of its carbon emissions

68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN

Photo, posted October 5, 2009, courtesy of David Orban via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

An Agreement To Protect Biodiversity | Earth Wise

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The UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal in December concluded with a historic deal aimed at stemming the rising tide of extinctions.  Nearly 200 countries signed on to the agreement to protect 30% of the Earth’s land and sea by the end of this decade.

Part of the agreement also pledges that countries will reduce fertilizer runoff from farms by 50%, reduce the use of harmful pesticides by 50%, and stem the flow of invasive species. 

Of course, all of these promises are only words unless they are backed up by actions and actions cost money.  The agreement promises to direct $200 billion a year towards biodiversity by the end of this decade.  Wealthy countries were urged to provide $100 billion a year to fund the actions of poorer countries, but they resisted the pressure.  Eventually, they did agree to send $30 billion a year to developing countries by 2030.

It is a significant step forward to establish clear targets for stopping biodiversity loss.  However, the ultimate success of the pact will depend on the willingness of countries to cooperate and compromise.

According to UN estimates, about a million species across the globe face extinction as a result of rising temperatures, air and water pollution, invasive species, and habitat loss due to development.   At present, only 16% of land and 8% of the oceans are within protected areas. 

The UN Environment Program stated that “for far too long humanity has paved over, fragmented, over-extracted, and destroyed the natural world on which we all depend.  Now is our chance to shore up and strengthen the web of life, so it can carry the full weight of generations to come.”

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In Historic Deal, Countries Agree to Protect 30 Percent of Earth to Halt Biodiversity Loss

Photo, posted August 13, 2015, courtesy of Andrew H via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Climate Promises | Earth Wise

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The United Nations climate change conference that recently took place in Egypt is an annual event.  Last year, the conference was in Glasgow, Scotland, and the participants – heads of state and business leaders – produced a long list of promises aimed at fighting global warming.  How have the countries and companies making those promises done so far?  Unfortunately, not very well.

Participants made pledges for progress in several major areas.

Countries promised to cut greenhouse gas emissions faster, but only 24 countries out of the 140 participants have actually done so.

Countries agreed to expedite the deployment of clean energy and the phasing out of government subsidies for fossil fuels.  There has been considerable progress on green power, but coal use actually reached record highs this year primarily because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused natural gas prices to spike.

Countries pledged $100 billion a year to help poorer countries shift to cleaner energy sources.  There has been lots of effort in this area, but the target has not been met and it isn’t clear that all the money is going where it is supposed to.

More than 100 countries pledged to slash methane emissions, but most nations are only getting started.

More than 130 countries pledged to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.  Deforestation is slowly declining, but not fast enough to meet the goals of the pledge.

An important goal for this year’s climate conference was to try to find a way to not just set admirable and valuable climate goals, but to actually accomplish them.  It isn’t easy, but it is essential.

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Countries Made Bold Climate Promises Last Year. How Are They Doing?

Photo, posted July 25, 2009, courtesy of Wagner T. Cassimiro via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Building Resilient Food Systems | Earth Wise

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According to the United Nations and The World Bank, global hunger levels in 2021 surpassed the previous record set in 2020.  The organizations also found that acute food insecurity – defined as when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger – could continue to worsen this year in many countries around the world. 

According to a new study led by researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder, increased demand for water will be the biggest threat to food security during the next 20 years, followed closely by heat waves, droughts, income inequality, and political instability.  

The report, which was recently published in the journal One Earth, calls for increased collaboration to build a more resilient global food supply.  The impacts of conflict and climate change are already measured and studied around the world.  While these pressing threats are not new, the researchers found that better collaboration between these areas of research could fortify and strengthen global food security. 

In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers surveyed 69 experts in various fields related to food security.  They found that many effects of climate change – such as unpredictable weather changes – could have the greatest negative impacts on food security.  The researchers also found that threats to food security from income inequality, global price shocks, and political instability and migration are highly likely during the next two decades.  More than half of the world’s food insecure populations also live in conflict-prone regions.

According to the research team, food security has never been a problem of production.  It’s a problem of distribution, access, and poverty, and can be exacerbated by conflict.   

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Amid climate change and conflict, more resilient food systems a must, report shows

Photo, posted July 19, 2009, courtesy of Danumurthi Mahendra via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Wildfires And Cancer Risk | Earth Wise

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Hotter and drier conditions are leading to an increasing number of wildfires in North America and elsewhere around the globe.  Scientists have linked the severe heat and drought that fuel these wildfires to climate change. As the climate continues to change, wildfires are projected to become more prevalent, more severe, and longer in duration. 

According to a United Nations report released earlier this year, the Western U.S., northern Siberia, central India, and eastern Australia have already seen an uptick in wildfires.  The likelihood of catastrophic wildfires globally could increase by a third by 2050 and more than 50% by the turn of the century. 

According to a new study by researchers from McGill University, living near regions prone to wildfires may boost the risk of developing serious health issues.  The study, which tracked more than two million Canadians over a period of 20 years, found a higher incidence of lung cancer and brain tumors in people exposed to wildfires.  People living within 50 kilometers of wildfires during the past 10 years had a 10% higher incidence of brain tumors and a 4.9% higher incidence of lung cancer when compared to people living further away. 

This study, which was recently published in The Lancet Planetary Health, is the first to examine how proximity to forest fires may influence cancer risk.

In addition to the impacts on air quality, wildfires also pollute aquatic, soil, and indoor environments.  While some pollutants return to normal levels shortly after the fire, many others persist in the environment for long periods of time. 

The research team notes that additional work is needed to develop more long-term estimates of the chronic health effects of wildfires.

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Exposure to wildfires increases risk of cancer

Climate change is causing more wildfires and governments are unprepared, says U.N.

Photo, posted August 17, 2020, courtesy of USFS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

More Extreme Weather | Earth Wise

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If it seems like natural disasters happen more frequently than they used to, that is because they do.  A new report from the United Nations entitled “The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019” provides the facts.  From 2000 to 2019, there were 7,348 natural disasters around the world, compared with 4,212 natural disasters from 1980-1999. 

The culprit is the climate.  Climate-related disasters increased from 3,556 events during the 1980-1999 period to 6,681 in the past 20 years, again an increase of more than 3,000.

The global economic losses associated with natural disasters have been staggering.  The earlier 20-year period saw $1.63 trillion in losses while the recent period resulted in $2.97 trillion in losses.   Disasters killed 1.19 million people in the earlier period and 1.23 million in the recent period.  It is a testimonial to the skills and efforts of disaster management agencies, civil protection departments, fire brigades, public health authorities, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and many NGOs that the cost in human lives was not much greater over the past 20 years.

According to a statement from the UN, human society is being willfully destructive.  They draw that conclusion in light of reviewing the disaster events over the past 20 years and seeing the failure of society to act on science and early warnings to invest in prevention, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction.  

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Extreme Weather Events Have Increased Significantly in the Last 20 Years

Photo, posted September 18, 2020, courtesy of the National Guard via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Decline Of Pollinators Threatens Food Security | Earth Wise

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Scientists have been sounding the alarm on the global struggle of pollinators for many years.  According to a United Nations-sponsored report, 40% of invertebrate pollinator species, including bees and butterflies, are facing extinction.  Approximately 80% of all flowering plant species, which are responsible for 35% of global food production, depend on pollination. 

According to new research led by Rutgers University, crop yields for apples, blueberries, and cherries in the United States are being reduced by a lack of pollinators.  The study, the most comprehensive of its kind to date, found that crop production would be increased if crop flowers received more pollination.  In the U.S., the production of crops that depend on pollinators generates more than $50 billion a year.    

For the study, which was recently published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers collected data on insect pollination of crop flowers and yield of apples, highbush blueberries, sweet cherries, tart cherries, almonds, watermelons, and pumpkins at 131 farms across the United States and British Columbia, Canada.  Four of those seven crops – apples, blueberries, sweet cherries, and tart cherries – showed evidence of being limited by pollination, meaning that their yields are lower than they would be with full pollination. 

The researchers observed that honey bees and wild bees provided similar amounts of overall pollination, so managing habitat for native bee species or stocking more honey bees would boost pollination levels and, in turn, crop production.

Bees and other pollinators play a critical role in food production, and their continued decline could have devastating consequences.

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Decline of bees, other pollinators threatens US crop yields

Photo, posted April 22, 2012, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

More Extreme Wildfire Seasons | Earth Wise

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According to a new study led by researchers at Stanford University, autumn in California feels more like summer now as a result of climate change, and this hotter and drier weather increases the risk of longer and more dangerous wildfire seasons.

The research team, whose work was recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found that the frequency of extreme fire weather conditions in the fall in California has doubled since the early 1980s.  Average temperatures during the season have increased by more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit, and rainfall has fallen by approximately 30%.  The most pronounced warming has occurred in the late summer and early fall.  That finding means that tinder-dry conditions coincide with the strong “Diablo” and “Santa Ana” winds that are typical in California at this time of year.     

In recent years, these conditions have fed large and fast-moving wildfires across California.  The state’s two largest wildfires, two most destructive wildfires, and the most deadly wildfire all occurred during 2017 and 2018, resulting in more than 150 deaths and $50 billion in damage.

Because summertime has typically been peak fire season, the recent spate of autumn fires is putting a strain on firefighting resources and funding.  The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could further strain emergency resources.  Since fire-prone regions have historically shared  wildfire-fighting resources throughout the year, the consequences of California’s extended wildfire season could have a global impact.  (For example, California’s recent autumn wildfires have coincided with the beginning of wildfires in Australia). 

The researchers highlight some opportunities to manage the intensifying wildfire risk in California, including limiting the trajectory of global warming in keeping with the targets identified in the United Nations’ Paris agreement.

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Researchers forecast longer, more extreme wildfire seasons

Photo, posted September 12, 2019, courtesy of the California National Guard via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

American Households and Food Waste | Earth Wise

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Food waste is a big problem.  According to the United Nations, approximately one-third of the food produced globally – more than 1.4 billion tons – goes to waste.  If food waste was a country adding carbon to the atmosphere, it would be the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases – behind only the U.S. and China.  All of this food waste takes place in a world where 815 million people – more than 10% of the people on the planet – are chronically undernourished.

A new study recently published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics has analyzed the level of food waste for individual American households. It found that American households waste, on average, nearly one-third of all the food they acquire.  This wasted food has an estimated aggregate value of $240 billion annually.  Divided by the number of U.S. households, this food waste could be costing the average household about $1,866 per year. 

According to researchers, the households with higher household incomes generate more food waste.  Those with healthier diets, which include more perishable fruits and vegetables, also waste more food.  

Meanwhile, households with greater food insecurity, especially those that participate in the federal SNAP food assistance program, as well as those households with a larger number of members, were associated with less food waste.  Households that use shopping lists and those that travel further to reach the grocery store were also associated with lower levels of food waste. 

When food is wasted, the resources used to produce food, including land, energy, water and labor, are wasted as well.  We have to do better. 

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SAVE FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction

US households waste nearly a third of the food they acquire

Photo, posted March 22, 2009, courtesy of Nick Saltmarsh via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Fish And Ships

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Solutions to overfishing of certain tuna and shark populations have been hindered by some significant unknowns:  where the fishing is happening, and where the fish are.  But researchers from Stanford University have recently shed some light on this mystery. 

According to a paper recently published in the journal Science Advances, the researchers have developed a map of shark, tuna, and ship movements that could help ocean managers identify regions of the sea where vulnerable species may be at risk. 

The researchers’ work builds on a 2018 study in which four years of satellite vessel movement data was used to develop a machine learning algorithm that mapped the footprint of 70,000 different fishing vessels around the world.  In their paper, the researchers zeroed in on the activities of 900 vessels from 12 countries in the northeast Pacific Ocean to figure out to what degree fishing fleets, sharks, and tunas overlapped. 

The researchers combined the vessel data with the ocean habitat preferences of sharks and tunas obtained from a decade-long tracking program called Tagging of Pacific Predators (or TOPP).  According to the IUCN, most of the 876 individuals tagged in TOPP belong to species that are either threatened or near-threatened.

By synthesizing this data, researchers were able to map where sharks and tunas would have the highest overlap with commercial fishing vessels.  Increasing the transparency of where fish meets fleets will allow ocean managers to determine where international protections may be needed. 

The United Nations is currently developing the world’s first legally binding treaty to protect international waters.  The Stanford University researchers hope their findings can help with this treaty’s formulation. 

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Tunas, sharks and ships at sea

Photo, posted June 20, 2011, courtesy of Mike Baird via Flickr.

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