Earth911 is honoring the 52 years of Earth Day with 52 Actions for the Earth….
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Earth911 is honoring the 52 years of Earth Day with 52 Actions for the Earth….
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Let’s venture into the history of trees, wood, and the axe. Everywhere humans have gone…
The post Earth911 Podcast: Author John Perlin Explores the Role of Trees in the Rise & Fate of Civilization appeared first on Earth911.
Let’s venture into the history of trees, wood, and the axe. Everywhere humans have gone…
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This week’s inspiration comes from Anne Frank: “I’ve found that there is always some beauty…
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This week’s inspiration comes from Anne Frank: “I’ve found that there is always some beauty…
The post Earth911 Inspiration: There Is Always Some Beauty Left appeared first on Earth911.
Composting is a natural way to recycle organic waste, enriching the soil in your garden…
The post Scrap That Smell: 5 Tips for a Pleasant Backyard Compost Pile appeared first on Earth911.
Composting is a natural way to recycle organic waste, enriching the soil in your garden…
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When in the kitchen whipping up salads, soups, and stews, you typically pile up random…
The post Q&A With Author: ‘No-Waste Kitchen Gardening’ appeared first on Earth911.
When in the kitchen whipping up salads, soups, and stews, you typically pile up random…
The post Q&A With Author: ‘No-Waste Kitchen Gardening’ appeared first on Earth911.
Coffee is important to the economies of coffee producing regions. A study published in PLOS Climate by Doug Richardson at CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and colleagues suggests that climate change may significantly affect land where coffee is cultivated.
Coffee plants are sensitive to climate variability and change. However, the impact of synchronous climate hazards occurring in multiple areas important for coffee production is unknown. In order to better understand how large-scale climate modes such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) may lead to simultaneous coffee crop failures in multiple countries, researchers conducted a systematic analysis of climate hazards and compound events in coffee producing regions from 1980-2020. They identified 12 climate hazards that threaten coffee crops in the top 12 coffee-producing countries, for example, exceeding daily maximum temperature that coffee plants can tolerate.
The researchers found that the number of climate hazards and compound events has increased in every coffee-growing region between 1980 and 2020. Additionally, the type of hazards have shifted from overly cool conditions to overly warm. More research is needed, however, to understand what kind of adaptations might mitigate global coffee crop failures.
According to the authors, “Our results suggest that El Niño is the primary mode in explaining compound climate event variability, both globally and regionally. Region-level hazards are therefore indicative of systemic risk to coffee production, rather than local risk. As with other crops, a systemic risk to the global coffee trade is posed by synchronized crop failures. With climate change projections showing a continued rise in temperatures in the tropics is likely, we posit that coffee production can expect ongoing systemic shocks in response to spatially compounding climate hazards.”
The authors add: “Since 1980, global coffee production has become increasingly at risk of synchronised crop failures, which can be driven by climate hazards that affect multiple key coffee-producing areas simultaneously.”
A NASA Earth-observing satellite has helped researchers track carbon dioxide emissions for more than 100 countries around the world. The pilot project offers a powerful new look at the carbon dioxide being emitted in these countries and how much of it is removed from the atmosphere by forests and other carbon-absorbing “sinks” within their borders. The findings demonstrate how space-based tools can support insights on Earth as nations work to achieve climate goals.
The international study, conducted by more than 60 researchers, used measurements made by NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission, as well as a network of surface-based observations, to quantify increases and decreases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from 2015 to 2020. Using this measurement-based (or “top-down”) approach, the researchers were then able to infer the balance of how much carbon dioxide was emitted and removed.
Although the OCO-2 mission was not specifically designed to estimate emissions from individual nations, the findings from the 100-plus countries come at an opportune time. The first Global Stocktake – a process to assess the world’s collective progress toward limiting global warming, as specified in the 2015 Paris Agreement – takes place in 2023.
“NASA is focused on delivering Earth science data that addresses real-world climate challenges – like helping governments around the world measure the impact of their carbon mitigation efforts,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This is one example of how NASA is developing and enhancing efforts to measure carbon emissions in a way that meets user needs.”
Traditional activity-based (or “bottom-up”) approaches to carbon measurement rely on tallying and estimating how much carbon dioxide is being emitted across all sectors of an economy, such as transportation and agriculture. Bottom-up carbon inventories are critical for assessing progress toward emission-reduction efforts, but compiling them requires considerable resources, expertise, and knowledge of the extent of the relevant activities.
This is why developing a database of emissions and removals via a top-down approach could be especially helpful for nations that lack traditional resources for inventory development, the study authors assert. In fact, the scientists’ findings include data for more than 50 countries that have not reported emissions for at least the past 10 years.
The study provides a new perspective by tracking both fossil fuel emissions and the total carbon “stock” changes in ecosystems, including trees, shrubs, and soils. The data is particularly useful for tracking carbon dioxide fluctuations related to land cover change. Emissions from deforestation alone make up a disproportionate amount of total carbon output in the Global South, which encompasses regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. In other parts of the world, the findings indicate some reductions in atmospheric carbon concentrations via improved land stewardship and reforestation.
The authors said that bottom-up methods for estimating carbon dioxide emissions and removals from ecosystems are essential. However, those methods are vulnerable to uncertainty when data is lacking or the net effects of specific activities, such as logging, aren’t fully known.
“Our top-down estimates provide an independent estimate of these emissions and removals, so although they cannot replace the detailed process understanding of traditional bottom-up methods, we can check both approaches for consistency,” said Philippe Ciais, a study author and research director at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement in France.
The study offers a complex picture of carbon moving through Earth’s land, ocean, and atmosphere.
In addition to direct human impacts accounted for by national inventories, unmanaged ecosystems like some tropical and boreal forests – where humans have a minimal footprint – can sequester carbon from the atmosphere, thus reducing potential global warming.
“National inventories are intended to track how management policies impact emissions and removals of CO2,” said study author Noel Cressie, a professor at the University of Wollongong in Australia. “However, the atmosphere doesn’t care whether CO2 is being emitted from deforestation in the Amazon or wildfires in the Canadian Arctic. Both processes will increase the concentration of atmospheric CO2 and drive climate change. Therefore, it is critical to monitor the carbon balance of unmanaged ecosystems and identify any changes in carbon uptake.”
Looking forward, the researchers said their pilot project can be further refined to understand how emissions from individual nations are changing.
“Sustained, high-quality observations are critical for these top-down estimates,” said lead author Brendan Byrne, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Continued observations from OCO-2 and surface sites will allow us to track how these emissions and removals change as the Paris Agreement is implemented. Future international missions that provide expanded mapping of CO2 concentrations across the globe will allow us to refine these top-down estimates and give more precise estimates of countries’ emissions and removals.”
Launched in 2014, the OCO-2 satellite maps natural and human-made carbon dioxide concentrations with the help of three camera-like spectrometers. These devices are tuned to detect the unique spectra, or light signature, of carbon dioxide. They measure the gas indirectly by how much reflected sunlight it absorbs in a given column of air.
The OCO-2 project is managed by JPL. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. To read more about the mission, go to:
Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874
[email protected] / [email protected]
Researchers have been using drones to map large areas of Antarctica this summer in efforts to monitor the effects on vegetation due to climate change with the support of the Federal Government’s Australian Antarctic Division.
The drone-derived imagery is being used by researchers from QUT and Auckland University of Technology — with assistance from University of Wollongong — to evaluate the fragile ecosystem, particularly moss beds, and changes in the extreme environment.
For almost two months, the field team was based in Antarctica, with indications the drones they piloted captured unprecedented high-resolution imagery of vegetation and biodiversity in protected areas.
The vision taken from Australian Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs 135 and 136), not far from the scientists’ base settlement of Casey Station, identified areas with moss and lichen not previously picked up by satellite.
QUT Centre for Robotics researcher Dr Juan Sandino, who specialises in mechatronics and automated remote sensing systems, helped develop and deploy the drones, classifying Antarctic vegetation at low altitude.
“Piloting these flights was at times challenging; however all the systems performed well under extreme cold conditions,” he said.
He said working in Antarctica demanded rigorous physical preparation and had additional logistical pressure of ensuring the heavy equipment was operational.
The seven-year $3.57 million project is co-led by QUT Professor Felipe Gonzalez and Auckland University of Technology Professor Barbara Bollard.
The project’s key aims included monitoring the vegetation through smart sensors and artificial intelligence, modelling microclimates, and producing accurate maps of protected areas and other ice-free regions.
“Few plants can survive in Antarctica and mosses are the largest and oldest plants to grow there with beds up to 50 metres wide and plants as old as 500 years,” Professor Bollard said.
“The moss is sensitive to variations of temperature and moisture in Antarctica and is an important indicator of climate change.”
Professor Gonzalez said mapping and monitoring the moss beds over time will help to understand the health of mosses and other vegetation.
The research is conducted as part of Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), a $36 million research program funded by the Australian Research Council as a special research initiative.
Further drone-derived imagery as well as AI for other Antarctic regions may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of area-based conservation interventions in more parts of the icy continent.
QUT research, published recently in Conservation Biology, presented a case and a research agenda evaluating the conservation impact of Antarctica’s protected areas.
PhD researcher Joanna Burrows and supervisor Professor Kerrie Wilson, who are also part of SAEF, identified a gap in the research regarding the effectiveness of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs).
Ms Burrows said that drones can provide new and more detailed information to evaluate the performance of ASPAs.
“Drones could increase the likelihood of successful data collection by allowing remote and fragile ecosystems to be surveyed with low impact and can mitigate some accessibility issues,” Ms Burrows said.
Sea level rise this century may disproportionately affect certain Asian megacities as well as western tropical Pacific islands and the western Indian Ocean, according to new research that looks at the effects of natural sea level fluctuations on the projected rise due to climate change.
The study, led by scientists at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and University of La Rochelle in France and co-authored by a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), mapped sea level hotspots around the globe. The research team identified several Asian megacities that may face especially significant risks by 2100 if society emits high levels of greenhouse gases: Chennai, Kolkata, Yangon, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila.
Scientists have long known that sea levels will rise with increasing ocean temperatures, largely because water expands when it warms and melting ice sheets release more water into the oceans. Studies have also indicated that sea level rise will vary regionally because shifts in ocean currents will likely direct more water to certain coastlines, including the northeastern United States.
What’s notable about the new study is the way it incorporates naturally occurring sea level fluctuations caused by such events as El Niño or changes in the water cycle (a process known as internal climate variability). By using both a computer model of global climate and a specialized statistical model, the scientists could determine the extent to which these natural fluctuations can amplify or reduce the impact of climate change on sea level rise along certain coastlines.
The study showed that internal climate variability could increase sea level rise in some locations by 20-30% more than what would result from climate change alone, exponentially increasing extreme flooding events. In Manila, for example, coastal flooding events are predicted to occur 18 times more often by 2100 than in 2006, based solely on climate change. But, in a worst-case scenario, they could occur 96 times more often based on a combination of climate change and internal climate variability.
Internal climate variability will also increase sea level rise along the west coasts of the United States and Australia.
The study drew on a set of simulations conducted with the NCAR-based Community Earth System Model that assume society this century emits greenhouse gases at a high rate. The simulations were run at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center.
The paper stressed that the estimates of sea level rise come with considerable uncertainties because of the complex and unpredictable interactions in Earth’s climate system. But the authors said it’s critical for society to be aware of the potential of extreme sea level rise in order to develop effective adaptation strategies.
“The internal climate variability can greatly reinforce or suppress the sea level rise caused by climate change,” said NCAR scientist Aixue Hu, who co-authored the paper. “In a worst-case scenario, the combined effect of climate change and internal climate variability could result in local sea levels rising by more than 50% of what is due to climate change alone, thus posing significant risks of more severe flooding to coastal megacities and threatening millions of people.”
The study was published in Nature Climate Change. It was supported by the French Research Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. National Science Foundation, which is NCAR’s sponsor.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a major facility sponsored by the National Science Foundation and managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
The UK’s fruit trees are under threat as a result of the climate crisis because plant diseases that thrive in warm weather are becoming more common.
Each year, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) compiles a list of the most common plant diseases identified by its almost half a million members. Gardeners take pictures or samples of afflicted trees, crops or flowers and send them in to the plant pathologists, who can identify the disease.
This year, seven of 2022’s 10 most prevalent garden diseases relate to fruit, which the RHS says is the highest it has seen. Apple and pear canker also entered the top 10 for the first time in recent years.
Dr Liz Beal, a plant pathologist at the RHS, said: “This is a direct result of last year’s extreme summer heat, which caused many plants to become stressed and therefore more susceptible to problems when rain, coupled with continuing mild temperatures in the autumn, provided the perfect breeding ground for diseases to spread. Spores of most fungi need warm, wet weather to spread and infect plants.”
While many of these diseases simply cause fruit to rot or give an unsightly appearance, others can be deadly. Particularly worrying is a rise in silverleaf, which can destroy blossoming cherry trees.
She explained: “With warm weather predicted again this year, gardeners can act now to minimise the risks by pruning apples and pear that are still dormant and avoiding pruning Prunus – flowering cherry – until the summer. This is as Prunus is susceptible to silver leaf and the fungi is less active during the summer months.”
Horticulturalists are keeping a keen eye out for new diseases and invasive species, as warming weather combined with the international plant trade means that it is becoming more likely the UK will experience new outbreaks.
Dr Beal said that she is concerned about blueberry rust becoming more prevalent, as people grow the “superfood” at home.
She said: “With gardeners keen to dabble with ever more exotic fruit and vegetables it is likely that we could see more blueberry growers, well regarded as a super food and boasting spring flowers and autumn colour, succumbing to a new rust already prevalent in many parts of the world. People should take care to purchase blueberry plants from reputable suppliers and monitor plants for signs of the rust – yellow – orange pustules on underside of leaves.”
As well as climate impacts, establishing orchards has become an increasingly popular gardening pastime, as they have biodiversity benefits and produce delicious fruit.
Dr Beal explained: “Another factor in the prevalence of these diseases is the growing popularity of fruit tree planting, particularly heritage varieties that may be less resistant to the likes of apple and pear scab, apple canker and apple powdery mildew. This doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t grow them but that they should take additional plant health precautions such as ensuring the tree is planted in the right place, for example in well-drained soil, prune correctly in the winter months to remove issues early and clear fallen fruit that shows evidence of rot to minimise the chances of spores harbouring at the foot of the tree.”
1 Honey fungus
after newsletter promotion
2 Phytophthora root rots
3 Powdery mildew of prunus
4 Rose black spot
5 Peach leaf curl
6 Brown rot of fruit
7 Silver leaf
8 Apple and pear scab
9 (equal) Pear rust, and apple and pear canker.
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