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The bloated carbon footprint of LNG

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

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

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

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

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

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Liquefied natural gas carbon footprint is worse than coal

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

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Global coral bleaching

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The world’s coral reefs are in the midst of a global bleaching event being driven by extraordinarily high ocean temperatures.  This is the fourth such global event on record and is predicted to be the largest one ever.  Coral bleaching occurs when corals are stressed by heat and eject the symbiotic algae within them that they need to survive.  Bleached corals can recover if water temperatures cool soon enough.  Otherwise, they die.

Each of the three previous coral bleaching events has been worse than the last.  The first, in 1998, affected 20% of the world’s reefs.  The second, in 2010, affected 35%.  The third, from 2014 to 2017, affected 56% of reefs.

The current bleaching event was confirmed by satellite observations early in April and was already seen to be affecting more than half of the world’s coral areas across the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans.  The ongoing event is expected to be the worst bleaching ever experienced by Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.  A small saving grace is that the current bleaching event is not expected to be of extremely long duration because the El Niño in the Pacific has abated.

Coral bleaching events are becoming more severe and frequent due to increased marine heat waves driven by climate change.  Last year was particularly difficult for corals as global sea temperatures reached record high levels for several months.

Widespread coral bleaching impacts economies, livelihoods, food security, and more.  Coral reefs provide ecosystem services essential to marine life and human populations as well.  Global action will be needed for coral interventions and restorations.

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Satellites watch as 4th global coral bleaching event unfolds

Photo, posted March 23, 2012, courtesy of Oregon State University via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Plastic In Lakes | Earth Wise

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We are always talking about the millions of tons of waste plastic that finds its way into the oceans and about the challenges of trying to remove it.  A new multinational study has found that the concentration of plastics and microplastics in some lakes is even worse than in the so-called garbage patches in the oceans and some of these lakes are even in remote places around the world

Scientists from institutes in multiple countries collected water samples from 38 lakes and reservoirs in 23 countries across six continents.  The samples were then all analyzed by the University of Milan to assess the presence of plastic particles more than a quarter millimeter in size.

The study found that two types of lakes are particularly vulnerable to plastic contamination:  lakes and reservoirs in densely populated and urbanized areas and large lakes with elevated deposition areas, long water-retention times, and high levels of human influence.

Lakes found to have the highest concentration of plastic included some of the main sources of drinking water for communities and were also important to local economies.  These included Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, Lake Maggiore in Italy, and Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border.  Not all the lakes studied contained large amounts of plastic.  For example, Windermere, the largest lake in England, had very low concentrations of plastic in surface water.

This was the first global survey of the abundance and type of plastic pollution in lakes and reservoirs and the scale of freshwater plastic pollution is sobering indeed.  There is widespread concern that plastic debris is having harmful effects on aquatic species and ecosystem function and clearly is not limited to marine ecosystems.

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Plastic pollution is higher in some lakes than oceans

Photo, posted May 27, 2019, courtesy of Jonathan Cook-Fisher 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.

Electric Cars And The Environment | Earth Wise

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There are articles in the media all the time questioning whether electric cars are really better for the environment than those powered by fossil fuels.  The usual argument is that once emissions from vehicle production and electricity generation are taken into account, electric cars are no greener than gas cars, or even worse for the environment.  Of course, these arguments tend to be made by oil companies and their supporters.

A new study by three European universities looked at this very issue in detail. They carried out a life-cycle assessment in which they not only calculated greenhouse gas emissions generated when using cars, but also in the production chain and waste processing.

Their conclusions are that under current conditions, driving an electric car is better for the climate than conventional gasoline cars in 95% of the world.  The only exceptions are places like Poland, where almost all electricity comes from coal-fired plants.

Average lifetime emissions associated with electric cars are up to 70% lower than gas cars in countries like Sweden and France and about 30% lower in England.

It is important to note than in a few years, even inefficient electric cars will be less emission-intensive than gas cars because electricity generation is becoming less carbon-intensive all the time.  The study projects that by 2050, half of the world’s cars will be electric resulting in carbon dioxide emission reductions of 1.5 billion tons.

The study states that the idea that electric cars could increase emissions is a myth.  The detailed study has run the numbers for all around the world and even in the worst-case scenario, there would be a reduction in emissions in almost all cases.

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Electric cars better for climate in 95% of the world

Photo, posted February 13, 2019, courtesy of Guillaume Vachey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

More Trouble For Monarchs | Earth Wise

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Monarch butterflies have been in trouble for quite a while and now it seems like their prospects are worse than ever.  Multiple surveys of butterfly populations are reporting plummeting numbers.

Western monarch butterflies spend their winters on the central California coast.  Months later, they breed in California’s Central Valley and as far north and east as Idaho.  But in recent years, it has become harder and harder to find them in their breeding sites.

The Western monarch population was in the millions in the 1980s.  In 2017, an annual survey found 200,000 butterflies.  In 2018 and 2019, only about 30,000 butterflies were tallied.  The loss of Western butterflies in general has come about from a variety of factors, including development, climate change, farming practices and the widespread use of pesticides by farmers and on home and business lawns.

Scientists use the area of land that migrating Monarchs occupy in Mexico to gauge populations.  This year, they covered about 7 acres, down from 15 acres in 2019.

Meanwhile, there are also far fewer Eastern monarch butterflies on the opposite side of the country.  According to a new population survey, the Eastern monarch has passed the extinction threshold.  Its population in 2020 dropped 53% from its already low 2019 numbers.  Scientists were expecting lower numbers this year, but they were staggered by their findings.

Butterfly populations are quite variable, so it is possible that the drastic declines this year are not necessarily irreversible, but the news is not good.   Researchers and environmental advocates continue to point out that mitigating the climate crisis, reducing pesticide use and planting pollinator gardens could help the butterflies to recover.

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Monarch Butterfly Populations Are Plummeting

Photo, posted September 7, 2017, courtesy of C. Watts via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Frogs Are In Big Trouble

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Scientists first noticed in the 1970s that some frog populations were declining rapidly.  By the 1980s, some species appeared to be extinct.  The loss of frog species was mysterious because many were actually living in pristine habitats that did not face pollution or deforestation.

By the late 1990s, researchers had identified that frogs in widely different places around the world were infected with a deadly fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis – or Bd for short.  The fungus originated on the Korean peninsula, but the pathogen spread throughout the world, probably via the international trade in pet amphibians.  By 2007, researchers speculated that Bd might be responsible for all known declines of frogs that had no other apparent cause – about 200 species.

Recently, a group of 41 scientists published the first worldwide analysis of the fungal outbreak and the devastation turns out to be far worse than anyone had previously realized.  Populations of more than 500 species of amphibians have declined significantly because of the outbreak, including at least 90 species presumed to have gone extinct.  These figures are more than twice as large as earlier estimates.

According to biologists, Bd is now considered to be the deadliest pathogen known to science.  But the decimation of frogs peaked in the 1980s.  Today, although 39% of the species that suffered population declines in the past are still declining, 12% are showing signs of recovery, possibly because natural selection is favoring resistant animals.

There is cautious optimism for the surviving amphibian species, but scientists worry that another strain of Bd or some different species of fungus altogether may prove even deadlier.  The best we can do is not participate in moving pathogens around the world.

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The Plague Killing Frogs Everywhere Is Far Worse Than Scientists Thought

Photo, posted June 19, 2010, courtesy of Chris Luczkow 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...)