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The Climate Impact Of Diets | Earth Wise

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The food system is responsible for 70% of the world’s freshwater use and almost 80% of freshwater pollution.  About three-quarters of the ice-free land area of the planet has been affected by human use, primarily for agriculture.  Land-use change such as deforestation is a major source of biodiversity loss.  What we choose to eat has a major effect on how the food system impacts the environment.

A comprehensive study by researchers at several UK universities has found that a plant-based diet yields one-fourth as much greenhouse gases as a diet rich in meat.  Vegan diets produce 75% less heat-trapping gas, generate 75% less water pollution, and use 75% less land than meat-rich diets.

Just going to a low-meat diet cuts the environmental cost of a high-meat diet in half.  Pescatarian diets perform better than low-meat diets, and vegetarian diets do even a little better than that.

There are a variety of reasons why many people won’t, can’t, or even shouldn’t become vegans.  What should be learned from this study is that our dietary choices have a major environmental impact.  So, taking actions like cutting down the amount of meat and dairy – which most people can do with relative ease – can be valuable.

There are many choices with respect to where we live, how we get from place to place, where we get our food, and, yes, what food we eat, that impact the environment.  We are not all going to do the best possible thing in all these cases, but if we each make some choices that at least help, it can make a big difference.

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Vegan Diets Have One-Fourth the Climate Impact of Meat-Heavy Diets, Study Finds

Photo, posted November 5, 2017, courtesy of Stephanie Kraus via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Biosurfactants And Oil Spills | Earth Wise

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About 400 million gallons of oil leaks into the ocean every year.  This is a major source of environmental pollution.  Oil contains many hazardous compounds that are toxic or mutagenic for marine organisms. 

When oil spill incidents occur, large quantities of chemical dispersants, sometimes as much as millions of gallons, are applied to dissolve oil slicks, prevent oil from reaching coastlines, and enhance the dispersion of the oil in the water.  The hope for doing this is that microbial oil degradation will be enhanced as a result.  Certain microorganisms present in the water can feed on crude oil components and break them down into harmless substances.

A study at the University of Stuttgart in Germany in 2015 showed that chemical dispersants in fact can slow down microbial oil degradation and therefore inhibit water purification.  The oil components need to be broken down sufficiently for them to be bioavailable to microorganisms.  The study found that dispersants were not accomplishing this.

A new study by the same group along with researchers from the University of Tubingen in Germany and the University of Georgia has found that using biosurfactants rather than chemical dispersants stimulates different microbial oil degraders with respect to their growth and activity and can enhance our ability to deal with oil spills.   Treating the water with the biosurfactant rhamnolipid rather than any of the generally-used dispersants provided much higher rates of microbial breakdown of oil components.

The hope is that this work can lead to the development of effective and environmentally friendly approaches to combatting oil spills.

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Biosurfactants might offer an environmentally friendly solution for tackling oil spills

Photo, posted June 11, 2010, courtesy of Deepwater Horizon Response via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Beaver Believers | Earth Wise

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Beavers are ecosystem engineers based on their ability to construct dams and create ponds.  By doing so, they create wetland habitat for other species.  They create biodiversity by allowing plant species to emerge in new places as they clear out existing trees and other plants.  Beavers improve water quality and their dams store water during droughts.  Their handiwork minimizes flood risk and mitigates flooding impacts.

Before beavers were widely trapped, there were beaver dams just about everywhere in the American west.  Now beaver rewilding is trying to restore many western ecosystems. In places like Idaho, ranchers have gone from seeing beavers as a nuisance to actually recruiting them onto their land.  One cattle rancher began stream restoration on his land with beaver rewilding in 2014.  By 2022, he was a firm “beaver believer”.  There are now over 200 beaver dams along Birch Creek near Preston, Idaho, and the stream now flows 40 days longer into the year.

NASA has established a team to investigate the extent to which beavers can have an outsized and positive impact on local ecosystems.  The team is using NASA’s Earth Observation satellites to observe the effects beavers are having.  Satellites can collect data from large areas and can pass over the same areas regularly and across seasons.  The goal is to support people on the ground who are implementing beaver rewilding efforts to increase water availability and to increase habits for fish and other species.  NASA’s project will run through 2025 and it plans to expand it to other states with similar terrain and water management strategies.

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Researchers Become “Beaver Believers” After Measuring the Impacts of Rewilding

Photo, posted February 23, 2021, courtesy of Deborah Freeman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Marine Heat Waves | Earth Wise

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In late July, the ocean temperature measured in Florida Bay, between the southern end of the Florida mainland and the Florida Keys, was 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit, a possible world record for sea surface temperature.  There is no official record keeping for ocean temperatures, but the highest previous reading ever reported was 99.7 degrees in the middle of Kuwait Bay in 2020. 

What is going on is a marine heat wave and marine heat waves can last for weeks, months, or even years.  The current Gulf of Mexico marine heat wave has been present for several months, beginning in February or March.  Experimental forecasts by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the extreme ocean temperatures in the area may persist through at least October.

The ocean absorbs 90% of the excess heat associated with global warming.  Therefore, marine heat waves all over the planet are becoming warmer over time.  The current marine heat wave would likely have occurred even without climate change, but because of it, the event is extraordinarily warm.

Marine heat waves cause stress to corals and other marine ecosystems.  Exposure to extreme temperatures for long periods of time causes corals to eject the algae that live inside of them, resulting in white or pale coral.  This coral bleaching leaves the coral without food and will ultimately kill it.

In general, extreme heat can be destructive and deadly for marine ecosystems.  A massive marine heat wave known as “the Blob” took hold in 2013-2016 in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and led to an ecological cascade of fishery collapses, toxic algal blooms, and record numbers of humpback whale entanglements.

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The ongoing marine heat waves in U.S. waters, explained

Photo, posted December 25, 2016, courtesy of Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Floating Solar And Hydropower | Earth Wise

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Installing solar panels on the surface of reservoirs is an up-and-coming trend.  The arrays of solar panels produce renewable energy while at the same time shielding significant expanses of water from the sun’s heat, thereby reducing evaporation.  The panels also help to inhibit the growth of algae.

Two recent floating solar installations are demonstrating the synergy between solar power and hydroelectric power.

The Lazer floating solar plant in France comprises over 50,000 solar panels and is capable of producing 30 MW of power.  The reservoir serves a 16.5 MW hydropower plant.  During the summer, the water from Lazer Reservoir is used primarily for crop irrigation and the solar plant supplements power generation as the reservoir water level experiences variations.  This is the first facility of its kind to be installed in France.  The company that built it – the EDF Group – had already built four floating solar power plants in Israel and the US. 

In Colombia, the Aquasol solar project is installed at the 340 MW Urrá hydropower plant.  Its 2,800 solar panels produce enough power to offset the amount of energy it takes to operate the dam.  The floating solar system is designed to withstand water-level fluctuations of up to 120 feet.

Floating solar systems can help keep power flowing when low water levels or other adverse conditions reduce hydroelectric output.  About 60% of the world’s renewable energy comes from hydropower.  Given this fact, there are countless opportunities to deploy floating solar that maximizes zero-emission energy generation as well as diversifying clean energy sources.

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Floating solar and hydropower: A match made in renewable energy heaven

Photo, posted October 25, 2010, courtesy of Martin Abegglen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Harvesting Water From The Air | Earth Wise

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Engineers at MIT have created a superabsorbent material that can soak up significant amounts of moisture from the air, even in desert-like conditions.

The material is a transparent, rubbery substance made from hydrogel, which is a naturally absorbent material that is already widely used in disposable diapers.  The MIT researchers enhanced the absorbency of hydrogel by infusing it with lithium chloride, which is a type of salt that is a powerful desiccant.

They found that they could infuse hydrogel with more salt than was possible in previous studies.  Earlier studies soaked hydrogels in salty water and waited 24 to 48 hours for the salt to infuse into the gels.  Not much salt ended up in the gels and the material’s ability to absorb water vapor didn’t change much.  In contrast, the MIT researchers let the hydrogels soak up the salt for 30 days and found that far more salt was absorbed into the gel.  The result was that the salt-laden gel could then absorb and retain unprecedented amounts of moisture, even under very dry conditions.

Under very dry conditions of 30% relative humidity, the gels captured 1.79 grams of water per gram of material.  Deserts at night have those levels of relative humidity, so the material is capable of generating water in the desert.

The new material can be made quickly and at large scale.  It could be used as a passive water harvester, particularly in desert and drought-prone regions.  It could continuously absorb water vapor from the air which could then be condensed into drinking water.  The material could also be used in air conditioners as an energy-saving, dehumidifying element.

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This salty gel could harvest water from desert air

Photo, posted July 26, 2021, courtesy of Ivan Radic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Global Aquaculture And Environmental Change | Earth Wise

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Blue foods are fish, invertebrates, algae, and aquatic plants that are captured or cultured in freshwater and marine ecosystems.  They include approximately 2,200 species of fish, shellfish, plants and algae as well as more than 500 species farmed in freshwater.  Blue foods play a central role in food and nutrition security for billions of people, and are a cornerstone of the livelihoods, economies, and cultures of many communities around the world.

But many of the world’s largest aquatic food producers are highly vulnerable to human-induced environmental change.  According to a new paper recently published in the journal Nature Sustainability, more than 90% of global blue food production is at risk from environmental changes, with top producers like the United States, Norway, and China facing the biggest threat.  Alarmingly, the research also found that some of the highest-risk countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa demonstrate the lowest capacity for adaptation. 

The paper is the first-ever global analysis of environmental stressors impacting the production quantity and safety of blue foods. A total of 17 anthropogenic stressors were surveyed, including rising seas and temperatures, ocean acidification, changes in rainfall, algal blooms, pollution, and pesticides. 

The research is one of seven scientific papers published by the Blue Food Assessment as part of a global effort to inform future aquatic food sustainability. 

The report calls for more transboundary collaboration and for a diversification of blue food production in high-risk countries to cope with the impact of environmental change. 

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Vulnerability of blue foods to human-induced environmental change

New research finds that more than 90% of global aquaculture faces substantial risk from environmental change

Photo, posted December 30, 2014, courtesy of NOAA’s National Ocean Service via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar Power And Water | Earth Wise

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Solar power is a prime example of clean energy, but it does not come without complications and potential problems.  One problem that has arisen in the Californian desert is the effect on scarce water supplies.  Solar farms don’t use up water when they are operating but they consume it when they are being built.

One of the densest areas of solar development in North America is in a corridor along Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, California.  Multiple utility-scale solar projects are underway near the small town of Desert Center.  The projects are being built on public land overseen by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management.  The location is ideal for solar power projects:  endless sunshine, nearby transmission lines to distribute power, and a major highway for easy transportation of construction materials.

The problem is that during construction of the solar farms, the law requires developers to reduce the amount of dust being generated that can otherwise spread health problems like Valley Fever.  Preventing dust from flying requires water and lots of it.

The water comes from groundwater and building the solar farms is drying up local wells and emptying the aquifer that is part of the Chuckwalla Valley Groundwater Basin.  For the people who live in Desert Center and adjacent areas, this is a serious problem. It is also a problem for the desert ecosystem that supports palo verde and ironwood trees as well as endangered desert tortoises.

This isn’t an easy problem to solve. Seven approved new utility-scale solar projects in the area will provide enough electricity to power 2 million homes. But having enough water to build those projects won’t be easy.

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Solar Is Booming in the California Desert, if Water Issues Don’t Get in the Way

Photo, posted October 16, 2017, courtesy of UC Davis College of Engineering via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Value Of Seagrass | Earth Wise

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Seagrasses are found in shallow salty and brackish waters in many places around the world, from the tropics to the Arctic Circle.  They get their name from their long green, grass-like leaves.  They are not seaweeds at all but are more closely related to flowering plants on land. 

We hear a lot about threatened ocean ecosystems and most of the attention is on coral reefs and coastal mangrove forests.  Seagrass meadows get much less press, but they in fact provide wide-ranging services to society and store a great deal of carbon.

A new study by the University of Michigan demonstrates that seagrass ecosystems should be high up on the global conservation agenda.  The study puts a dollar value on the many services – which include storm protection, fish habitat, and carbon storage – provided by seagrasses in the Caribbean.  The numbers are enormous.

The researchers estimate that the Caribbean holds up to half of the world’s seagrass meadows by surface area, and it contains about a third of the global carbon storage by seagrasses.  They calculated that the Caribbean seagrasses provide about $255 billion in services to society each year, which includes $88 billion in carbon storage.

In the Bahamas alone, ecosystems services provided by seagrasses are valued at more than 15 times the country’s 2020 gross domestic product.

Blue carbon is the name used to describe carbon stored in coastal and open-ocean ecosystems.  The idea of selling blue carbon offset credits, which monetize the carbon stored in this way, is gaining traction.  For many Caribbean nations, this is likely to provide impetus for protecting seagrass ecosystems from human impacts, including nutrient pollution and overfishing.

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Caribbean seagrasses provide services worth $255B annually, including vast carbon storage, study shows

Photo, posted June 27, 2023, courtesy of Daniel Eidsmoe via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Shrinking Glaciers And Methane | Earth Wise

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The Arctic region is warming much faster than the rest of the planet.  In fact, according to a study published last year in the journal Nature, the Arctic has been warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the globe during the last 43 years.  This rapid warming is leading to substantial reductions in sea ice, thawing of permafrost, shifts in wildlife populations, and changes in ocean circulation patterns, among other changes. 

According to new research recently published in the journal Nature Geoscience, shrinking glaciers in the warming Arctic are exposing bubbling groundwater springs, which could provide an underestimated source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.  Methane is more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

The study, which was led by researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University Centre in Svalbard, Norway, found large sources of methane gas leaking from groundwater springs unveiled by melting glaciers. 

As glaciers retreat in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and leave behind newly exposed land, groundwater beneath the Earth seeps upward and forms springs. In 122 out of the 123 springs studied, the research team found that the water was highly concentrated with dissolved methane.  When the spring water reaches the surface, the excess methane can escape to the atmosphere. 

Researchers are concerned that additional methane emissions released by the Arctic thaw could dramatically increase human-induced global warming.  If this phenomenon in the Svalbard archipelago is found to be more widespread across the Arctic — where temperatures are quickly rising and glaciers melting — the methane emissions could have global implications. 

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The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979

Shrinking Arctic glaciers are unearthing a new source of methane

Photo, posted October 22, 2022, courtesy of David Stanley via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

An Electric Cruise Ship | Earth Wise

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The shipping industry accounts for about 3% of global manmade greenhouse gas emissions.  In 2018, the International Maritime Organization, the UN body that regulates global shipping, set a target to cut the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2050.

This goal has led to a variety of designs for eco-friendly ships, including car carriers, superyachts, and cargo ships with retractable sails.  But most of the designs still rely to at least some extent on engines that run on fossil fuels.

The Norwegian cruise ship company Hurtigruten has announced that it will build a zero-emissions electric cruise ship with retractable sails covered in solar panels.  The ship is expected to set sail in 2030.  Hurtigruten is a relatively small company, with a fleet of eight ships, each with a capacity of 500 passengers.  But the company hopes that its innovative plan will inspire the entire maritime industry.

The ship will predominantly run off of electric motors powered by 60 megawatt batteries that can be charged in port with renewable energy.  To reduce reliance on the battery, when it is windy, three retractable sails will rise out of the deck, reaching a maximum height of 164 feet.  The sails will be covered in solar panels that will generate energy to top off the batteries while sailing.

The ship will have 270 cabins to hold 500 passengers and 99 crew members.  The streamlined shape of the ship will result in less air resistance to further reduce energy use.

Hurtigruten already has a hybrid, battery-supported cruise ship and is currently in the process of converting its entire fleet to hybrid battery power.

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An electric cruise ship with gigantic solar sails is set to launch in 2030

Photo, posted January 15, 2023, courtesy of Bernard Spragg via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Decontaminating Drinking Water | Earth Wise

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At least two billion people around the world often drink water that is contaminated with disease-causing microbes.  Waterborne diseases are responsible for two million deaths each year, mostly among children under the age of five.

There are various ways to decontaminate water, including chemicals that can themselves produce toxic byproducts as well as using ultraviolet light, which takes fairly long to disinfect the water and requires a source of electricity. 

Scientists at Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have recently invented a low-cost, recyclable powder that kills thousands of waterborne bacteria every second when the water containing it is exposed to ordinary sunlight.  The discovery of this ultrafast disinfectant could be a tremendous benefit to the nearly 30% of the world’s population with no reliable access to safe drinking water.

The new disinfectant is a harmless metallic powder that works by absorbing both ultraviolet and high-energy visible light from the sun.  It consists of nano-sized flakes of aluminum oxide, molybdenum sulfide, copper, and iron oxide.  The key innovation is that when these four metallic ingredients are immersed in water, they all function together by reacting with the surrounding water and generating chemicals that quickly kill bacteria. The chemicals themselves don’t last long.  They quickly break down in the water leaving completely safe drinking water.

The nontoxic powder is recyclable.  It can be removed from water with a magnet.  It can also be reused at least 30 times.  Apart from its uses in less developed parts of the world, it could be valuable for hikers and backpackers who want to drink water from natural sources of unknown quality.

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New nontoxic powder uses sunlight to quickly disinfect contaminated drinking water

Photo, posted February 27, 2013, courtesy of Petras Gagilas via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Below-Average Dead Zone In The Gulf of Mexico | Earth Wise

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The Gulf of Mexico dead zone, or hypoxic area, is an area of low oxygen content that can kill fish and other marine life.  It occurs every summer and is mostly a result of excess nutrient pollution from human activities in cities and farms throughout the Mississippi River watershed.  The nutrients carried by the river into the gulf stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which eventually die and decompose, which depletes oxygen in the water as the algae sink to the bottom.

The resultant low oxygen levels near the bottom of the gulf cannot support most marine life.  Fish and shrimp often leave the area seeking better places to be.  Animals that can’t swim away – like mussels and crabs – can be stressed by the low oxygen level or even killed.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration produces a dead zone forecast each year based on a suite of models developed by NOAA and partners at multiple universities. 

The latest forecast, completed in May, found that the discharge of nutrients in the rivers was about one-third below the long-term average between 1980 and 2022.  Nitrate loads were down 42% and phosphorous levels down 5%.

Based on these measurements, the scientists forecast a summer dead zone that will cover an estimated 4,155 square miles, which is 22% lower than the 36-year average of 5,364 square miles.  Ongoing efforts by the Interagency Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force to reduce nutrient levels seem to be paying off.

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NOAA forecasts below-average summer ‘dead zone’ in Gulf of Mexico

Photo, posted September 6, 2013, courtesy of NOAA Photo Library via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Water For Arizona | Earth Wise

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The Phoenix area is the fastest growing region in the country.  Arizona’s two major sources of water – groundwater and the Colorado River – are dwindling from drought, climate change, and overuse.  Officials in the state are considering a radical plan to construct a desalination plant off the Mexican coast that will take the salt out of seawater, and then pipe that water hundreds of miles, much of it uphill, to Phoenix.

The project is the brainchild of the Israeli company, IDE, which is one of the world’s largest desalination companies.  IDE has asked Arizona to sign a 100-year contract to buy water from the project. 

There are multiple complications surrounding the plan.  Desalination plants are common in California, Texas, and Florida, and in more than 100 other countries.  But the Arizona project is unusual because of the distance involved and because the state is landlocked.  The water would have to travel 200 miles and climb 2,000 feet along the way.

There is also the issue of waste brine, which is a major output of desalination plants.  In this case, the brine would flood the northern Gulf of California, potentially threatening a productive fishery.  In addition, the pipeline, as well as electrical transmission lines, would have to go through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

The plant would be located in Puerto Peñasco, a struggling town with its own water problems.

With booming home construction going on in the Phoenix area, the need for more water continues to grow.  Whether this plan will be approved by Arizona and by Mexico remains to be seen.

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Arizona, Low on Water, Weighs Taking It From the Sea. In Mexico.

Photo, posted September 26, 2008, courtesy of Dan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Rain Gardens And Residential Pollution | Earth Wise

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Stormwater runoff has become the largest source of residential pollution for waterways.  As rainwater runs down roofs, over driveways and patios, and off other hard surfaces, it can pick up pollutants as it flows directly into streams, wetlands, lakes, and groundwater aquifers.  That water is typically routed directly through stormwater pipes and ditches with little filtering or treatment.  The main emphasis is on getting the water off of people‘s property as quickly and efficiently as possible to avoid flooding.

Many municipalities are dealing with the problem by installing rain gardens, which are a type of green infrastructure in commercial spaces that slow down and treat water before it enters streams, wetlands, and other bodies of waters.  When designed and installed properly with appropriate plants, rain gardens are like miniature water treatment facilities   Water gathers in the rain garden, soaks into the soil, and is taken up by plants.  The plants filter nutrients, sediments, and toxic materials from the runoff before excess water ever gets to waterways.

Homeowners are being encouraged to build their own rain gardens.  They need to familiarize themselves with how runoff from their roof, driveway, sidewalk, and roads is currently being routed and treated.  The idea is to try to incorporate that runoff into a rain garden design with sufficient area and infiltration rates.  The runoff would ultimately flow out from a safe, designated location into storm drains at a slower rate than from the previous impervious surfaces.  Homeowners would need to work with their local jurisdictions to find out the requirements for re-routing water in their area and make sure any modifications prevent erosion and protect nearby homes, roads, and other infrastructure.

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Rain gardens help keep pollutants out of waterways

Photo, posted March 3, 2017, courtesy of Jeremy Jeziorski / Oregon Convention Center via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Orcas Versus Boats | Earth Wise

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Over the past three years, orcas (also known as killer whales) have been attacking boats off the coasts of Portugal and Spain.  The subpopulation of orcas in this region has been harassing boats, most often by biting at their rudders.

There have been over 500 reported instances of orcas reacting to boats.  Sometimes they simply approach the vessels, but some of the time they actually attack.  Almost 20% of the attacks have caused enough damage to disable the vessels.  In three cases, including one in May in the Strait of Gibraltar, the animals damaged a boat so badly that it sank.  To date, no one has been injured during these attacks.

Orca researchers have observed several different killer whales during these attacks.  They seem to come from two separate groups: a trio of juveniles occasionally joined by a fourth, as well as a mixed-age group consisting of an adult female, two of her offspring, and two of her sisters.  The attacks typically last less than 30 minutes but can go on for up to 2 hours.

Researchers don’t really know why orcas are going after watercraft.  This behavior has not been observed anywhere else in the world.  One theory is that the orcas have invented a new fad.  That’s actually something that they are known to do.  Much as with people, orca fads are often spearheaded by juveniles.  An alternative theory is that the attacks may be a response to a bad past experience involving a boat.  The fact that nobody has been injured in any of these attacks, even when the boats sank, suggests that only the boats themselves are the target of the attacks and not the people on them.

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Why Has a Group of Orcas Suddenly Started Attacking Boats?

Photo, posted May 24, 2023, courtesy of Pedro Szekely via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Electric Cars And Apartments | Earth Wise

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The transition to electric cars is underway.  People are increasingly buying them, carmakers are switching over to making them, and governments are providing incentives as well as legislating the changeover.  More and more consumers want to lower their carbon footprints and stop burning fossil fuels.  But one very large group of consumers faces an uphill battle in switching to electric cars:  people who rent their dwellings.

About one third of our country lives in rented apartments or houses.  These nearly 110 million Americans are more likely to be in the bottom half of income and net worth and are more likely to be people of color.  These people are less likely to have the spare cash to make upgrades to their property such as car chargers and may not be able to get permission from their landlords to do it anyway.

Renters face what is known as the “split-incentive problem” or the “landlord-tenant problem.”  Three-quarters of tenants in the US pay their own utility bills, so they have a strong incentive to conserve electricity, water, and gas.  Their landlords, on the other hand, have little incentive to upgrade appliances and systems to be more environmentally responsible.  Studies have shown that on average renters use 3% more energy than homeowners for this reason.

There are some landlords who are being proactive and installing facilities for charging cars on their properties.   This will undoubtedly become an increasingly sought-after feature for renters.  But in the meantime, millions of them have a more difficult time driving electric cars.  They can charge at public chargers or perhaps at work.  But at the moment, homeowners are three times more likely than renters to own an electric car.

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The coming battle between Americans who want to go electric and their landlords

Photo, posted July 22, 2022, courtesy of Chris Yarzab via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Liquid Fuel From Sunshine | Earth Wise

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A key goal of artificial photosynthesis research is to be able to produce a useful liquid fuel using only carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight in a single step.  Such a so-called solar fuel would produce net zero carbon emissions and would be completely renewable.

Bioethanol has long been touted as a green alternative to fossil fuels, since it is made from plants rather than petroleum.  But producing it takes up agricultural land that could be used to grow food instead and there are emissions associated with many aspects of the process by which plant mass becomes fuel.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK have developed a so-called artificial leaf that produces ethanol or propanol – usable liquid fuels – in a single step.  They developed a copper and palladium-based catalyst that allows the artificial leaf to directly produce multicarbon complex chemicals.  Earlier versions of artificial leaves could make simple chemicals, such as syngas, which would then require additional processing to turn into high-density fuels.

The new device produces liquid fuel from carbon dioxide and water simply by shining sunlight on it.

At present, the artificial leaf is a proof-of-concept device that exhibits only modest efficiency.  The researchers are working to optimize the device’s light absorbers so that they can better make use of sunlight and to optimize the catalyst so that it can convert more of the sunlight into fuel.  In addition, the device needs to be scaled up so that it can produce large volumes of fuel.

All that being said, it is an important step towards people being able to do what plants have been doing for millions of years.

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Driving on sunshine: clean, usable liquid fuels made from solar power

Photo, posted March 23, 2015, courtesy of Astro via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Keeping The Colorado River Flowing | Earth Wise

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The Colorado River supplies drinking water to 40 million Americans in seven states as well as to many Mexicans and provides irrigation to 5.5 million acres of farmland.  Electricity generated by dams on the Colorado powers millions of homes and businesses in the West.

A combination of drought, population growth, and climate change has reduced the river’s flows by a third in recent years compared with historical averages.  Further reductions could trigger a water and power catastrophe across the Western states.

California, Arizona, and Nevada all get water from Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by the Colorado at Hoover Dam.  The Interior Department determines how much water each of these three states receives.  The other states that use Colorado River water get it directly from the river and its tributaries.  Last summer, water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell fell enough that officials feared that the hydroelectric turbines at the Colorado’s dams would soon cease functioning.

The three states have recently struck an agreement with the federal government to take less water from the Colorado.  The reductions amount to about 13% of the total water use in the lower Colorado.  The government will pay about $1.2 billion to irrigation districts, cities, and Native American tribes for temporarily using less water.  The states have also agreed to make additional cuts to generate the total reductions needed to prevent the collapse of the river.

The agreement runs only through the end of 2026.  At that point, all seven states that rely on the river – which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming – may well be facing a deeper reckoning.  The forces driving the decline of the Colorado are not going away.

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A Breakthrough Deal to Keep the Colorado River From Going Dry, for Now

Photo, posted June 16, 2017, courtesy Karen and Brad Emerson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

New York Is Sinking | Earth Wise

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The rising seas represent a threat to coastal cities across the globe.  Increasing that threat is the fact that most global cities are slowly sinking as the earth beneath them settles and groundwater is removed.   Another factor that has seldom been considered is that in major metropolises, the weight of large, concrete-and-steel skyscrapers may be hastening the sinking.

A new study by the U.S. Geological Survey published in the journal Earth’s Future estimated the weight of every building in New York City – 1.085 million of them – which they determined to add up to 1.68 trillion pounds – and estimated the downward force of those structures across the city.

The study found that buildings have a greater effect in areas that are rich in clay compared with those areas where sand or bedrock predominate.  The softer the soil, the more compression there is from buildings.  It wasn’t a mistake to build large buildings in New York, but it is important to understand that doing so pushes down the ground more and more.

The study determined that New York is sinking by around 1 to 2 millimeters each year, although some areas are sinking much faster.  The researchers say that cities must plan for future sinking, which will exacerbate the impact of rising seas. Sea levels are rising 1 to 2 millimeter each year, so the subsidence caused by the weight of buildings is equivalent to moving a year ahead in time with regard to rising ocean levels.  This is not a cause for immediate panic, but it is important to understand that this ongoing process only increases the risk of inundation from flooding.

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New York City Sinking Under Weight of Skyscrapers

Photo, posted January 29, 2016, courtesy of Always Shooting via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)