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A wet January

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For the first time in a while, the monthly report on the US climate did not feature record-setting heat.  The average January temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 1.6 degrees above the average, but that only ranked it in the middle third of the climate record.  The diminishing El Niño probably helped.  On the other hand, the global average temperature in January was again the warmest on record – the 8th consecutive record-setting month.

But January still managed to be atypical weatherwise in the U.S. in that the nation’s average precipitation across the country was 3.18 inches – nearly an inch above average – which made it the 10th wettest January in NOAA’s 130-year climate record.  Thirteen states experienced top-ten rainfall amounts.  In late January, record rainfall and flooding hit the southern plains, especially in parts of Texas and Louisiana.  Meanwhile, early February brought historic rainfall and mountain snow to California with a second round later in the month.

All of the rainfall in January has made some difference to drought conditions across the country.  On January 30th, about 23.5% of the contiguous U.S. was In drought, which was 9.5% lower than the beginning of the month.  However, drought conditions expanded or intensified across northern parts of the Rockies and Plains among a few other places.

Outside of the lower-48, Alaska continued to experience historic snowfall conditions.  Between October and the end of January, Anchorage had over 100 inches of snow.

We are living in an era of weather extremes.

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The nation just saw its 10th-wettest January on record

Photo, posted February 8, 2017, courtesy of Paxson Woelber via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Record energy transition investments

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Global investment in the energy transition – that is, the transition away from fossil fuels – increased by 17% in 2023, reaching a new high of $1.8 trillion dollars.  That number includes spending on electric vehicles and their associated infrastructure, electrification of the power grid, and various other changes to the energy system.

Electrified transport was the largest sector for spending, accounting for $634 billion dollars.  This figure includes spending on electric cars, trucks, buses, two- and three-wheeler, and commercial vehicles, as well as charging stations and other associated infrastructure.

The renewable energy sector – including wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuel power plants – accounted for $623 billion.  The third largest investment was $310 billion in power grid investments.

China spent the most of any country by a large margin, investing $676 billion. The EU, U.S., and UK combined accounted for $718 billion. 

These numbers reflect the rapid growth of clean energy across the globe and are obviously quite large.  However, the pace at which clean energy technology is growing is not fast enough to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by mid-century that most countries have set.  By many accounts, energy transition investments would need to average $4.8 trillion per year for the rest of the decade to be on track.  This is about 5.6% of the global gross domestic product that is currently about $85 trillion per year.  By comparison, the U.S. currently spends about 5.7% of its GDP on energy.

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Energy transition investments hit record $1.8 trillion in 2023

Photo, posted November 22, 2008, courtesy of Oregon Department of Transportation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Global groundwater depletion

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Groundwater is found underground in aquifers and it bubbles up naturally into springs, streams, and rivers.  It’s also often pumped out for use by people. 

Researchers from UC Santa Barbara have conducted the largest assessment of groundwater levels across the globe, spanning 170,000 wells and nearly 1,700 aquifers across more than 40 countries. The team compiled and analyzed data, including 300 million water level measurements taken over the past 100 years.

In the study, which was recently published in the journal Nature, the researchers found that groundwater is rapidly declining across the globe, often at accelerating rates.  In fact, they found that groundwater is dropping in 71% of the aquifers studied.  The rates of groundwater decline observed in the 1980s and ’90s sped up from 2000 to the present, highlighting how a bad problem became even worse. 

But there are some reasons to be optimistic.  That’s because in 16% of the aquifers studied, the researchers found that the rate at which groundwater levels are falling in the 21st century had slowed down compared to the 1980s and ‘90s.  The research team highlighted specific success stories in Thailand, Arizona, and New Mexico, where groundwater has begun to recover after interventions to better regulate water use or redirect water to replenish depleted aquifers.

While groundwater depletion isn’t inevitable, the researchers stress that aquifer recovery will require interventions.  They hope this study will help scientists, policy makers, and resource managers better understand the global dynamics of groundwater. 

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Global groundwater depletion is accelerating, but is not inevitable

Photo, posted October 4, 2016, courtesy of Deborah Lee Soltesz / Coconino National Forest via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fusion energy

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Nuclear fusion is the process that powers the sun.  Two atoms of hydrogen unite to form one helium atom and release energy in the process.  Hydrogen bombs work in this way and since their development in the 1950s, scientists have sought a way to use fusion to generate electricity.  Many scientists believe that the key to a fully decarbonized future is a combination of solar, wind, and fusion power.

Nuclear fusion does not involve radioactivity and thus does not have the dangers associated with the nuclear fission used in existing power plants.  Over the decades, billions of dollars have gone into fusion research, but the challenges faced in peacefully triggering a fusion reaction have made success always seem to be extremely far off in the future.

The world’s largest fusion project – the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor or ITER – was initiated in 1985.  The project involves 35 countries, and the reactor, still under construction in France, has yet to deliver any tangible results.

In the past couple of years, there have been important demonstrations of new and different ways to create nuclear fusion.  A system using laser fusion achieved fusion ignition, in which a reaction briefly became self-sustaining.  A system using magnetic confinement fusion produced a plasma that generated 11 megawatts of power for a world-record five seconds.

There are more than 30 companies competing in the race to deliver fusion energy.  Governments and private investors are funding efforts around the world.  Whether any of them will succeed remains to be seen.  The challenges are immense but so are the potential rewards.

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Will Tech Breakthroughs Bring Fusion Energy Closer to Reality?

Photo, posted July 31, 2010, courtesy of Steve Jurvetson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Hope for white rhinos

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There are only two northern white rhinos left in the world, and both of them are female.  The last male died in 2018. Northern white rhinos live to about 40 and one of the two remaining is 35 and the other 24.  The clock is ticking for the species.

Recently, scientists with the BioRescue consortium successfully used in vitro fertilization to impregnate a southern white rhino.  It was the world’s first IVF rhino pregnancy.

There is now some hope that IVF could be used to produce more northern white rhinos.  For various medical reasons, neither of the remaining two female rhinos can serve as a surrogate mother.  But there is a plan B.

For a number of years, BioRescue has been creating northern white rhino embryos with eggs from the remaining females and sperm that was collected from males before they died.  There are now 30 northern white rhino embryos in cold storage, and they are continuing to produce more.

The recent success with the southern white rhino IVF provides hope that southern white rhino females can act as surrogate mothers with implanted northern white rhino embryos.  The species are similar enough that it should work.

The plan is to select surrogates and implant them.  This should happen this year.  A rhino pregnancy lasts 16 months.  If this is successful, there could be northern white rhino babies in two or three years.  The scientists want the offspring to live with the surviving northern whites for years to learn the social behavior of its kind.

It is possible that these gentle, hulking creatures may get a new lease on life.

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Just two northern white rhinos are left on Earth. A new breakthrough offers hope

Photo, posted September 16, 2017, courtesy of San Diego Zoo Safari Park via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Protecting wine grapes from wildfire smoke

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In recent years, wildfires have become a major threat to the wine industry because of the effects of smoke on wine grapes.  Smoke taint from the California fires of September 2020 significantly impacted the quality of wine grapes.  In total, smoke taint cost the wine industry in Western states more than $3 billion in losses from the hundreds of thousands of tons of wine grapes that could not be harvested because of the off flavors imparted by the smoke.  The California wine industry alone is a $43 billion a year business and the state’s frequent wildfires are a major threat to it.

Researchers at Oregon State University have developed techniques for eliminating the effects of three volatile chemical compounds that contribute to smoke taint in grapes.  The compounds are guaicol, syringol, and meta-cresol.

The researchers developed cellulose nanofiber-based coatings that can be applied to grapes in the vineyard.  The coatings can block guaicol and syringol and capture meta-cresol.

Blocking is ideal because the coating doesn’t absorb the wildfire smoke compounds.  Therefore, it doesn’t have to be washed off.  Capturing means the coating absorbs the compounds and would need to be washed off.  Ideally, a coating that doesn’t need to be washed off would save time, money, and water.

Two years of studies at Oregon State found that the coatings do not impact the growth and quality of wine grapes.  In an era when wildfires are increasingly common and extensive, growers need something they can spray on their vines to protect their grapes.  If the Oregon State technology can be commercialized, it would be a game-changer for the Western U.S. wine industry.

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Spray coating for grapes shows promise in battle between wildfire smoke and wine

Photo, posted October 3, 2006, courtesy of Naotake Murayama via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Natural hydrogen

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Hydrogen is considered to be a potential substitute for conventional fossil fuels in applications where electricity cannot easily be used such as in blast furnaces, cement works, industrial heating, long-distance aviation, and shipping.  But most hydrogen is manufactured by separating it from methane, which is energy-intensive and produces carbon dioxide.  So-called green hydrogen is made by splitting water using electricity.  It is a carbon-free process if the electricity is from renewable sources, but it is pretty expensive.

A small community in Mali gets its electricity by burning natural hydrogen, which bubbles up from underground into a village well.  It has long been known that processes in the Earth’s crust can make hydrogen gas from water under certain circumstances.  But conventional wisdom has been that this occurrence is rare and that the hydrogen produced is either inaccessible or seeps away.

An increasing number of geoscientists now are convinced that there is actually an enormous quantity of hydrogen beneath the planet’s surface and that we just haven’t been looking for it in the right places, or at all, for that matter.  Some say that there could be trillions of tons of hydrogen, and more is being generated all the time.

Prospectors have recently been drilling for hydrogen in France, Australia, Morocco, Brazil, and in the United States, in Nebraska, Arizona, and Kansas.  Will extracting natural hydrogen be practical at the scale required and will it be economical?  The jury is still out on all of this, but if it turns out as proponents claim, natural hydrogen could be a very big deal.

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Natural Hydrogen: A Potential Clean Energy Source Beneath Our Feet

Photo, posted November 4, 2012, courtesy of Heather Paul via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Otters to the rescue

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California sea otters were hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century.  Only a small number survived along California’s central coast.  But over time, the otters recovered and increasingly recolonized their former habitats.

Sea otters are playing an important role in safeguarding California’s kelp forests and marshlands against the harmful effects of climate change.

Over much of the 20th century, increasing ocean heat had devastated underwater kelp forests by driving a population explosion of sea urchins that devour kelp.  But sea otters eat urchins and as the sea otter population has grown, kelp has flourished.  According to a new study published in PLOS Climate, the underwater kelp canopy along the central coast increased by 56% since 2016.  Kelp forests have become more extensive and resilient to climate change wherever sea otters have reoccupied the California coastline.

At the same time, sea otters started recolonizing their former habitat in a central California estuary several decades ago and erosion has slowed by as much as 90%.  The main reason is that otters love to eat the marsh crabs that were devouring the plants in this coastal ecosystem.  The marsh plants establish dense root systems that can withstand waves and flooding.  It would cost millions of dollars for humans to rebuild creekbanks and restore these coastal marshes.  Instead, sea otters have been stabilizing them for free in exchange for a crab feast.

Sea otters are playful creatures that people enjoy watching.  It turns out that they are also very valuable ecosystem engineers that are helping to mitigate the effects of the warming climate.

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How Sea Otters Are Protecting the California Coast Against Climate Change

Photo, posted May 17, 2021, courtesy of Michael L. Baird via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Red mud and steel

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Most of us have never heard of red mud.  Otherwise known as bauxite residue, it is an industrial waste product generated by the most common process by which aluminum is made and the world produces 200 million tons of red mud each year.  The stuff is a significant environmental hazard being extremely alkaline and corrosive. Most of it ends up in large landfills and the costs associated with disposing of red mud are substantial.

Red mud is red because it contains large amounts of iron oxide, often as much as 60% of it.  Scientists at the Max-Planck Institute in Germany have developed a method for producing steel from red mud that is much less carbon intensive than traditional steel production and that is economically viable.

The scientists melt the red mud in an electric furnace powered in part by green hydrogen.  Running the furnace this way, even when using electricity from only partially renewable sources, results in far fewer greenhouse gas emissions as well as economic benefits.  In the furnace, liquid iron separates from the other liquid oxides and can be extracted easily.  The resultant iron is so pure that it can processed directly into steel.  The remaining metal oxides are no longer corrosive, and they solidify into a glass-like material that can have practical uses in construction.

There are 4 billion tons of red mud that have accumulated worldwide to date.  According to the researchers, their process could produce over 700 million tons of green steel from it, potentially saving 1.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. 

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Green steel from toxic red mud

Photo, posted September 7, 2021, courtesy of Healthy Gulf via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Pollinator-friendly solar power

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Global insect biodiversity has been in decline as a result of habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change.  Restoring insect habitat is a way to reverse that trend.  Expanded use of solar energy is a critical part of mitigating climate change.  In order to meet the grid decarbonization goals the U.S. has set, approximately 10 million acres of land will be needed for large-scale solar development.  According to a new study by Argonne National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, these two efforts are complementary.

Disturbed lands such as former agricultural fields are ideal locations to install solar panels.  These lands can also be established as excellent habitats for insect pollinators and other wildlife that provide important ecosystem services.

A five-year study looked at two solar sites in southern Minnesota that were built on retired agricultural land.  The sites were planted with native grasses and flowering plants in early 2018.  Over a five-year period, the researchers conducted hundreds of observational surveys for flowering vegetation and insect communities, evaluating changes in plant and insect abundance and diversity.

The team observed increases for all habitat and biodiversity metrics.  The total insect abundance tripled, while native bees showed a 20-fold increase in numbers. 

The research highlights the relatively rapid insect community responses to habitat restoration at solar energy sites.  If properly sited, the solar sites can offset the losses of natural areas created by solar farms and actually make prime farmland more productive through the pollination services provided by habitat-friendly solar energy.

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Insect populations flourish in the restored habitats of solar energy facilities

Photo, posted February 28, 2014, courtesy of Tom Koerner/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Adirondack lakes becoming inhospitable for trout

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A combination of the warming climate and the phenomenon of lake browning are making the bottom of most lakes in New York’s Adirondack Mountains unlivable for cold water fish – such as trout, salmon, and whitefish – in the summer.

Lake browning occurs when dissolved organic matter from forests turns the water tea-brown.  Browning is the legacy of a century of acid rain and subsequently the fact that forest soils have suffered reduced capacity to absorb weak organic acids, leading to more dissolved plant matter flowing into lakes.  Climate change has increased the frequency of extreme precipitation events and the length of growing seasons, leading to more runoff of organic matter.

Browner water traps more of the sun’s heat at the top of the lake and blocks the sun’s rays from reaching deeper.  The result of the browning is lakes that are either too warm or too deoxygenated to support trout populations.

A study of 1,467 Adirondack lakes by Cornell University researchers found that only about 5% of them may continue to maintain water that is cold and oxygenated enough to support cold-water fish.

Deeper lakes fare much better because they have so much water that their oxygen is hard to deplete, but only 1% of all Adirondack lakes are deeper than 30 meters.  Another 4% are very clear because the influx of cold water outpaces the expansion of low-oxygen zones and limits the effects of browning.

The study urges the protection of as many lakes as possible from species invasions, nutrient and salt pollution, and other forms of environmental degradation. 

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Most Adirondack lakes will likely become unsuitable for trout

Photo, posted July 17, 2011, courtesy of Lida via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

One in five cars will be electric this year

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There has been lots of turbulence in the electric car industry of late.  Part of it is aggressive publicity campaigns spreading misinformation and part of it is the natural fits and starts associated with major change.  But apart from the ups and downs of individual companies and countries, analysts are projecting another record year for the sales of electric vehicles and are expecting that plug-in cars will account for 20% of all car sales globally.  Much of the growth will be driven by China, where 38% of new car sales will be electric cars.

Global sales of plug-in cars are expected to grow by 21% this year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.  Total projected sales are 16.7 million cars, including 1.9 million in the U.S., 3.4 million in Europe, and 9.7 million in China.  Because of the rapid adoption of electric cars in China, that country is expected to reach peak gasoline demand this year.  In other words, the use of gasoline in China will be diminishing from now on.

The auto industry is in flux.  The traditional big automakers are currently slowing down EV manufacturing as they work to come up to speed with the technology and market demand.  Meanwhile, EV-only carmakers such as Tesla in the U.S. and BYD in China are ratcheting up production. BYD is focusing on emerging economies with its lower-priced offerings.

In the U.S., EV adoption has been slowed somewhat by high interest rates and the slow rollout of EVs by the Big Three automakers.  But many new vehicles by a growing list of automakers will provide customers with more and more choices of EVs to suit diverse tastes and needs.

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This Year One in Five Cars Sold Globally Will Be an EV

Photo, posted November 18, 2023, courtesy of RL 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

Lower carbon emissions in the U.S.

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American greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 fell by 1.9%.  In total, U.S. emissions have now fallen by over 17% since 2005.  The largest factor in the decline has been the reduction in the burning of coal to produce electricity.  Coal-fired generation has fallen to its lowest level in half a century.

There was a huge drop in emissions at the start of the covid pandemic when large segments of the economy shut down.  But then there was a sharp rebound in emissions in the following two years when economic activity resumed.  But over the long term, American emissions have been trending downward as both cars and power plants have become cleaner and greener.

The decline in emissions is a good thing but hasn’t been nearly enough to meet the nation’s goals for trying to slow down global warming.  The U.S. has a goal of reducing emissions by 2030 to half of the 2005 level.  To achieve that goal, annual emissions would have to fall more than three times faster than they did last year for the rest of the decade.

The emissions data used for the current assessment included those from transportation, electricity generation, industry, and buildings.  It did not include pollution from agriculture, which accounts for about 10% of the nation’s greenhouse gases.

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act provided record amounts of money for low-emissions technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, nuclear reactors, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuels.  The full impact of these federal investments has yet to be seen, since many companies are still ramping up their efforts in clean energy.  How quickly emissions will fall as these efforts come to fruition remains to be seen.

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U.S. Carbon Emissions Fell in 2023 as Coal Use Tumbled to New Lows

Photo, posted May 17, 2020, courtesy of Frans Berkelaar via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A giant underground battery

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Two up-and-coming energy technologies are coming together near a tiny town in central Utah.  Outside of the town of Delta, population 3,600, two caverns, each as deep as the Empire State Building, are being created from an underground salt formation to be used to store hydrogen gas.  The gas will be used as a fuel in a new electricity generation plant.

The plant will replace an aging local coal-fired power plant.  The new plant will burn a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen – green hydrogen produced without emitting greenhouse gases. To produce the hydrogen, the facility will operate 40 giant electrolyzers that will use excess solar and wind power generated at times of low demand to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

The caverns were created by a process called solution mining in which high-pressure water is pumped down into salt deposits that are dissolved. The resulting caverns are 200 feet in diameter and 1,200 deep and lie 3,000 to 4,000 feet below the surface.  Hydrogen cannot escape through the thick salt layers.

The amount of energy that can be stored in the form of hydrogen fuel in these caverns is massive – far more than all the battery storage installed in the U.S. to date.  Chevron has a majority stake in one of the projects and will supply the natural gas.  The facility is expected to go online in 2025.

While this will produce far fewer emissions than existing coal plants, it is not carbon-free.  Currently, turbine technology cannot operate with pure hydrogen fuel.  The Delta plant will run on only 30% hydrogen.  The hope is that turbine technology will improve in the future and permit operation on pure hydrogen.

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A Huge Underground Battery Is Coming to a Tiny Utah Town

Photo, posted September 9, 2013, courtesy of Scott via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Why was 2023 so hot?

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Five separate weather-tracking organizations have proclaimed 2023 as the hottest year on record. They all agreed that 2023 beat the previous record-holder – 2016 – by a wide margin.  Organizations that use a pre-industrial baseline of 1850-1900 found that 2023 was 1.45 to 1.48 degrees Celsius above the baseline.  But what caused 2023 – especially the second half of it – to be so hot?

Scientists believe that there were multiple factors that contributed to the record-breaking heat.

First and foremost is the long-term rise in greenhouse gases.  Over 100 years of burning fossil fuels along with major changes in land use (particularly deforestation) have led to a significant rise in the heat-trapping blanket of the gases in the atmosphere.

On top of this long-term trend, the return of the El Niño condition in the Pacific in May helped temperatures rise further.

At the same time, the tropical Pacific was not the only ocean that was hotter than normal.  The global sea surface temperature set new records in 2023 and there were multiple marine heat waves.  Heat trapped by the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans, raising their temperatures.

Another factor is the quantity of aerosols in the atmosphere.  Many of these aerosols actually cool the atmosphere by reflecting the sun’s light back into space.  Society’s efforts to reduce air pollution and improve air quality have led to decreasing levels of aerosols.

2024 started with some seriously cold weather in some places but predictions are that this year will be roughly as warm as 2023 and possibly warmer given that the dynamics driving last year’s weather are all still in place.

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Five Factors to Explain the Record Heat in 2023

Photo, posted February 22, 2016, courtesy of Jasmin Toubi via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Offshore wind in Massachusetts

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On January 2nd, the first large offshore wind farm in New England started producing electricity when its first turbine came online.  The Vineyard Wind project, located off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, will by the end of the year have a total of 62 turbines with a capacity of 800 megawatts, enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.

Power finally flowing from Vineyard Wind is an important milestone for an industry that has struggled to get going.  It is the second utility-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. to begin generating electricity.  The South Fork Wind project off the coast of New York began producing power in December.  That project will eventually produce 132 megawatts of electric power.

The offshore wind industry in the U.S. has faced some difficulties in recent times.  A combination of rising costs, high interest rates, supply chain delays, and incidents of local opposition have created headwinds.  Developers for several large planned windfarms in the northeast have terminated contracts because of inflation and high interest rates.  The second phase of Empire Wind, located southeast of Long Island, has been at least temporarily shelved awaiting more favorable contract terms.

To fight climate change, many Eastern states are hoping to install dozens of large wind farms in the Atlantic that can generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gases.  But as a result of the recent project cancellations, analysts are now projecting that U.S. offshore wind capacity in 2030 will likely be about a third less than previously predicted.

So far, the United States remains far behind Europe, which has already installed more than 32,000 megawatts of wind capacity in its waters.

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Massachusetts Switches On Its First Large Offshore Wind Farm

Photo, posted August 31, 2022, courtesy of Nina Ali via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Bio-based products on the rise

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There is a growing global movement working towards replacing conventional synthetic products – ones that are toxic to make or use, difficult to recycle, and have large carbon footprints – with products made from plants, trees, or fungi that can be safely returned to the earth at the end of their useful life.  This so-called bioeconomy is in its infant stages, but there is increasing interest in turning successful research into manufactured products.

One example is nylon.  Nylon was created in the 1930s by DuPont.  It has been used and continues to be used in a wide range of products.  The problem with it is that it is made from petroleum, it doesn’t biodegrade, and producing it generates nitrous oxide, which is a problematic greenhouse gas.

A San Diego-based company called Genomatica has developed a plant-based nylon using biosynthesis, a process in which a genetically engineered microorganism ferments plant sugars to create a chemical intermediate that can be turned into the nylon-6 polymer, and then into textiles. 

The impetus for developing bio-based products includes the growing public disgust at the mounting environmental toll of plastic, not the least of which is that people and animals are increasingly ingesting it.  Coupled with this, there is a rapidly-growing torrent of funding, especially in the US and Europe, aimed at accelerating the transition away from products that are non-biodegradable, toxic, and that produce carbon emissions.   Last September saw the launch of the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative which will support research and development on such topics as the use of sustainable biomass and waste resources to make non-toxic, bio-based fuels, chemicals, and fertilizers.

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From Lab to Market: Bio-Based Products Are Gaining Momentum

Photo, posted May 27, 2010, courtesy of André C via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Positive tipping points and climate

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We often hear about tipping points and climate change.  Tipping points are critical thresholds that, when crossed, lead to large, accelerating, and often irreversible changes.  Some of the ones of concern with the climate are thawing permafrost, melting glaciers and ice sheets, and global temperatures reaching certain levels.  These are all tipping points that are essential to avoid.

A study published in the journal One Earth by researchers at the University of Exeter in the UK contends that in order to avoid the severe consequences of climate change, we need to trigger some positive tipping points.

Many climate-friendly changes are happening too slowly.  Triggering positive tipping points is a way to rapidly reach the high levels of decarbonization required to avoid triggering the negative tipping points of great concern.

Reaching a positive tipping point is a way that beneficial changes can rapidly gain momentum.  One example is the adoption of electric vehicles.  It has clearly reached a tipping point across Scandinavia and has happened rapidly.  Norway has managed to transition the market share of electric vehicles from under 10% to nearly 90% in less than 10 years.  At some point, everybody wanted an electric car.  This is evidence that positive tipping points can happen.

Many of the other forms of decarbonization need to move from their current level of adoption to rapid expansion.  A combination of affordability, attractiveness, availability, and political will are needed to trigger tipping points.  Exactly what those tipping point are is not necessarily known, but unless something accelerates the current pace of change, it will be very difficult to prevent negative climate tipping points from changing the world in destructive ways.

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Positive tipping points must be triggered to solve climate crisis

Photo, posted July 8, 2023, courtesy of Michael Swan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

More mosquitoes in a warming climate

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Over millions of years, Earth’s climate has warmed up and cooled down many times. However, today the planet is warming much faster than it ever has over human history.  According to scientists, the warming is primarily the result of increased anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.  In fact, human activities are responsible for nearly all of the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions over the last 150 years. 

According to a new study published in the journal Ecology, the warming climate may soon mean more mosquitoes.  A research team, led by scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University, found that rising temperatures, often linked to climate change, can make predators of mosquito larvae less effective at controlling mosquito populations.  According to researchers, these warmer temperatures accelerate the development time of larvae, which leads to a smaller window of time in which predators like dragonflies could eat them.  As a result, twice as many mosquito larvae could make it to adulthood in the study area. 

Predators help stabilize ecosystems and food webs.  The study looked at predator-prey interactions between dragonfly nymphs and mosquito larvae.  In the study of Belle Isle along the James River in Richmond, Virginia, the research team found that warmer pools had more aquatic rock pool mosquito larvae – even when their predators that naturally control the populations were present.

While this species of mosquito is not an important disease vector, the researchers emphasize that these findings likely apply to other mosquito species that do act as vectors for diseases, such as West Nile or Zika virus.

The changing climate is creating the perfect environment for mosquitoes to thrive. 

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Hotter weather caused by climate change could mean more mosquitos, according to VCU-led study

Photo, posted June 20, 2014, courtesy of John Tann via Flickr.

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