Earth Wise

Biodiversity is declining rapidly throughout the world and people are mostly the reason.  Species are disappearing because of changes in land and sea use, the direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species resulting from globalization.  The challenges of conserving the world’s species are many and difficult.  Among these challenges are determining which species are endangered and how and when to protect them.

What constitutes an endangered species is not necessarily obvious. 

Extinction risk increases as a species is driven to extinction from

portions of its natural range.  Most

mammal species have already been driven to extinction from half or more of

their historic ranges because of human activities.

According to a recent survey of ordinary Americans, three-quarters of

participants said that a species deserves special protections if it had been

driven to extinction from any more than 30% of its historic range.  This compares with the language of the U.S.

Endangered Species Act that defines an endangered species as one that is “in

danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.”

Experts and decision-makers are more accepting of risks and losses

because they believe greater protection would be impossibly expensive.  Decision-makers tend to be influenced by

special interest groups with a vested interest in not instituting protections.

Before human activities began elevating extinction risk, a typical

vertebrate species would have experienced an extinction risk of 1% over a

10,000-year period.  Current policies

consider a 5% risk over 100 years to be acceptable.  Policies consider whether we can afford to

protect species.  Given the dangers of

declining biodiversity, we should ask whether we can afford not to.

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What Is An Endangered Species?

Photo, posted July 29, 2018, courtesy of Sergio Boscaino via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

International shipping is a large and growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.  Maritime transport produces about a billion tons of CO2 annually, accounting for about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.  The environmental impact of shipping includes air pollution, water pollution, and even acoustic pollution.  In many coastal areas, ships are responsible for more than 18% of some air pollutants.  Overall, there are more than 100,000 transport ships at sea, of which about 6,000 are large container ships.

In recent years, the shipping sector has had both internal willingness

and external pressure to reduce emissions, but shipping is a tough, competitive

business and it isn’t easy to stay competitive and help protect the

environment.

A recent study at Abo Akademi University in Finland has found that

improved ship utilization rates and investments in environmentally sustainable

technologies for enhanced energy efficiency would significantly reduce carbon

dioxide emissions.  Of equal importance,

those same measures would contribute to lowering of freight costs.

If the same cargo volume can be shipped using less fuel, shipping

companies will gain major savings in terms of fuel costs.  Digitalization can provide valuable

benefits.  For example, new digital

planning and booking systems would enable smarter use of routes while also

diminishing traffic with half-empty vessels or even ones with no cargo

aboard.  Reducing such underutilization would

improve the capacity utilization rate and eliminate emissions caused by

so-called ballast traffic.

Global shipping continues to grow. 

It is essential that it becomes smarter and more efficient to protect

the environment and improve its economics.

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Environmentally friendly shipping helps to reduce freight costs

Photo, posted February 18, 2016, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Wearable technology is an ever-increasing part of our world.  Fitness trackers have become commonplace for people of all ages.  Smart watches perform a growing range of functions.   There are wearable health monitoring systems of many types for assisted living, elderly patients, and people with specific health problems.  Virtual reality headsets are increasingly popular and there is now even smart technology footwear that is integrated with smartphones and mapping software.

The adoption of wearable electronics has so far been limited by their

need to derive power from relatively bulky, rigid batteries that reduce comfort

and even may present safety hazards related to chemical leakage or

combustion.  To date, there has not been

a power source that can stretch and bend the way our bodies do, which would

enable electronic designs that people can comfortably wear.

Researchers at Stanford have recently announced the development of a

soft and stretchable battery that relies on a special type of plastic to store

power more safely than the flammable formulations used in conventional

batteries today.

The lithium ion batteries in our phones, computers, cameras and

electric cars already make use of plastic electrolytes.  These polymer electrolytes are in the form of

flowable gels.  The Stanford researchers

developed a new polymer that is solid and stretchable rather than gooey and

potentially leaky.  But it still carries

an electric charge and maintains a constant power output even when squeezed,

folded or stretched to nearly twice its original length.

The prototype battery is thumbnail-sized and stores only about half as much energy for its size as a conventional battery.  But the researchers are working to increase both the size and the energy density of the battery. 

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A new stretchable battery can power wearable electronics

Photo, posted November 28, 2016, courtesy of Timo Newton-Syms via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

For decades, conservation biology has characterized the movement of species into new habitats as potential invasions of alien species that pose serious dangers to local ecosystems and resident species.  Wild species are classified as either native or alien.  But this way of looking at the natural world is becoming increasingly controversial.

As the world warms, a mass exodus of tens of thousands of species is

transforming the distribution of biodiversity. 

Scientists have documented countless species shifting their ranges

towards the poles, higher up into the mountains, and deeper into the oceans in

response to the changing climate.

Deciduous shrubs have spread into the Arctic tundra.  Tropical fish have arrived in the kelp forests of the eastern Mediterranean. 

A growing number of scientists now say that continuing to base

conservation policy on the native-alien dichotomy may actually endanger

biodiversity.  The climate-driven range

shifts may be the only way for many species to survive.  Furthermore, only a small fraction of new

arrivals may actually endanger resident species and ecosystems.

There are real distinctions between climate-displaced species and

disruptive alien species introduced through global trade and travel.  Among other things, climate-displaced species

tend to shift their ranges alongside other species they have co-evolved with.

There is talk of establishing a Climate Change Redistribution Treaty

that would create a transnational system to manage species shifting across

geopolitical and biogeographical borders. 

The assumptions traditionally made as to which species to protect, which

to leave to their own devices,  and which

to eradicate are no longer valid and the time has come to base conservation

policies on the new reality.

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Native Species or Invasive? The Distinction Blurs as the World Warms

Photo, posted March 21, 2011, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Arctic is warming faster than any region on Earth and mostly we’ve been hearing about the rapid disappearance of Arctic sea ice.  But the land in the Arctic is also undergoing major changes, especially to the permafrost that has been there for millennia.

Permafrost occurs in areas where the temperature of the ground remains below freezing for two years or more.  About a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere’s landscape meets this criterion.  Most of the world’s permafrost is found in northern Russia, Canada, Alaska, Iceland, and Scandinavia.

Permafrost regions previously carpeted in cranberries, blueberries, shrubs, sedges, and lichen are now being transformed into nothing but mud, silt, and peat.  So-called regressive thaw slumps – essentially landslides – are creating large craters in the landscape.  (The Batagaika Crater in the Yana River Basin of Siberia is a kilometer long and 100 meters deep).

Apart from the violence being done to the Arctic landscape, the

greatest concern is that the permafrost has locked in huge stores of greenhouse

gases, including methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide.  It is estimated that the permafrost contains

twice as much carbon as is currently contained in the atmosphere.  As the permafrost thaws, these gases will be

released.  With them will be pathogens

from bygone millennia whose impact cannot be predicted.  Climatologists estimate that 40% of the

permafrost could be gone by the end of the century.

As the permafrost thaws, the region’s ecosystems are changing, making

it increasingly difficult for subsistence indigenous people and Arctic animals

to find food.  Landslides are causing

stream flows to change, lakes to suddenly drain, seashores to collapse, and

water chemistry to be altered.

The warming Arctic is about much more than disappearing sea ice.

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How Thawing Permafrost Is Beginning to Transform the Arctic

Photo, posted February 9, 2017, courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Acetone is a common organic solvent.  It is used to make plastic, fibers, drugs, and other chemicals.  It is commonly used by consumers as nail polish remover.  Acetone is a manufactured chemical, but it is also found naturally in the environment in plants, among other places. There are now companies that produce acetone entirely by fermentation of plant feedstocks, such as corn.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have now developed a

process by which acetone can be converted into a fuel additive that can improve

the performance of petroleum-based jet fuel, providing both environmental and

economic benefits.

The process takes biomass-derived acetone and converts it to isophorone, which they produce by a process called photochemical cycloaddition that creates more complex hydrocarbons.  They then use ultraviolet light to convert the isophorone into cyclobutane, which is a type of hydrocarbon with high energy density that is suitable for aviation fuel applications.

Acetone itself is quite volatile and is unsuitable for fuel

applications.  It also cannot be added

directly to any fuel supply since it can dissolve engine parts and

o-rings.  Cyclobutane, on the other hand,

is a safer and more energy-dense fuel that can be a replacement for additives

that require high-pressure hydrogen treatment in their synthesis.  Currently, most hydrogen is produced by a

process that generates carbon dioxide. 

The new conversion process does not result in carbon emissions.

According to the Los Alamos researchers, their process can result in a domestically generated product that will provide environmental benefits, create domestic jobs, improve U.S. energy security, and further U.S. global leadership in bioenergy technologies.

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Acetone plus light creates a green jet fuel additive

Photo, posted December 18, 2007, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The oil and gas sector is the largest ocean industry.  It’s responsible for about one third of the value of the ocean economy.  Sand and gravel, destined for the construction industry, are the most mined minerals in the ocean.  And during the past 50 years, approximately 16,000 desalination plants have popped up around the world to help supply people with an increasingly scarce commodity: freshwater. 

As a result of these and other human pressures, the world’s oceans have suffered a lot over time.  But according to a comprehensive new analysis on the state of the ocean, human pressure on the world’s oceans, driven by a combination of technological progress and declining land-based resources, sharply accelerated at the start of the 21st century.  Scientists have dubbed this dramatic increase, which shows no signs of slowing down, the “Blue Acceleration.”

A  research team from Stockholm

University analyzed 50 years of data from aquaculture, bioprospecting,

shipping, drilling, deep-sea mining, and more. 

Their findings were recently published in the journal One Earth.

While claiming ocean resources and space is not new, lead author

Jean-Baptiste Jouffray from the Stockholm Resilience Centre says “the extent,

intensity, and diversity of today’s aspirations are unprecedented.”

The researchers also highlight how not all human impacts on the ocean

are negative.  For example, offshore wind

farm technology has reached commercial viability allowing the world to reduce

reliance on fossil fuels.

But how can the Blue Acceleration be slowed?  Since only a handful of multinational

companies dominate sectors like the seafood industry, oil and gas exploitation,

and bioprospecting, one idea is to have banks and other investors adopt more

stringent sustainability criteria for making ocean investments. 

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Human pressure on world’s ocean shows no sign of slowing

Photo, posted October 29, 2008, courtesy of Silke Baron via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Tropical regions grapple with the spread of diseases – such as dengue, yellow fever, zika, chikungunya, and malaria – by mosquitoes.  A fairly successful strategy has been the Sterile Insect Technique, which is essentially insect birth control. The process involves rearing large quantities of sterilized male mosquitoes in dedicated facilities, and then releasing them to mate with females in the wild. As they do not produce any offspring, the insect population declines over time.

A problem with this approach is that while mosquitoes create health problems for people, they also play important roles in various ecosystems, such as providing food for bats and other animals.  Eliminating mosquito populations on a large scale can trigger major changes in ecosystems.

Recently, an international team of scientists has synthetically engineered mosquitoes that halt the transmission of the dengue virus.  They genetically engineered mosquitoes with an antibody “cargo” that gets expressed in the female mosquitoes that spread the dengue virus.  Once the female mosquito takes in blood, the antibody is activated which hinders the replication of the virus and prevents its dissemination throughout the mosquito, thereby preventing its transmission to humans. Essentially, what the researchers have done is transfer genes from the human immune system to confer immunity to mosquitoes.  The researchers are testing methods to neutralize mosquitoes against other viruses they spread.

This opens up a whole new approach to interrupt mosquito-borne human diseases.  Mosquitoes are among the deadliest killers on the planet because they are the messengers that transmit deadly diseases.  Until now, the only real solution has been to kill the messenger.  The new approach may be a better way to deal with a serious problem.

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Mosquitoes engineered to repel dengue virus

Photo, posted June 20, 2014, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

There is a growing body of research that shows that getting outdoors in nature can be good for people’s health and well-being. There are so many studies supporting this idea that policymakers, employers, and healthcare providers are increasingly considering this need for nature in how they plan and operate.

A new study of 20,000 people by researchers at the University of

Exeter in the UK actually looked at how much exposure to nature was enough to

make people say they feel healthy and have a sense of well-being.   The answer turned out to be 2 hours a

week.  And the correlation was

strong.  People who didn’t meet that

threshold did not report the benefits.

Studies have shown that time in nature – as long as people feel safe

where they are – is an antidote for stress. 

It can lower blood pressure and stress hormone levels, reduce nervous

system arousal, enhance immune system function, increase self-esteem, reduce

anxiety, and improve mood.  Most of these

studies are correlational rather than causal, but the results tend to be

robust.

Given all this, cities are adding or enhancing parks, and schools and

other institutions are being designed with large windows and access to trees

and green space.  The Scandinavian

tradition of “forest schools” – where learning takes place in natural settings

outdoors -.is finding a home in the US.   Japanese researchers study the effects of

“forest bathing”, a poetic term for walking in the woods.

With two-thirds of humanity projected to be living in cities by 2050, we are awakening to the idea that we need to be able to spend time in nature for our own wellbeing, even if it’s just a walk in a park.

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Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health

Photo, posted November 6, 2011, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Capturing the carbon dioxide emitted from power plants and factories and safely storing it so it can’t enter the atmosphere has long been an attractive and desirable goal.  Even though the use of renewable energy sources has been expanding rapidly, it will still be a long time before fossil fuel plants go away entirely.

The most widely considered method of carbon capture and storage is underground storage.  The idea is to send the carbon dioxide through a pipeline to a place where underground rock formations can store it safely and permanently.  Typically, it would be pumped deep underground – often more than half a mile down – and the site would be monitored to make sure the CO2 doesn’t leak back up to the atmosphere or into the water table.

A new study looked at how much carbon dioxide the suitable geological formations on Earth can store.  The conclusion of the study is that drilling about 12,000 carbon storage wells globally could provide enough capacity to store 6 to 7 billion tons of CO2 a year by 2050.  That is about 13% of global emissions.

Drilling 12,000 wells is equivalent to the amount of oil and gas

drilling that has taken place just in the Gulf of Mexico over the last 70

years.  The study identified locations

worldwide that could handle the pressures associated with storing injected

carbon dioxide.

So far, less than two dozen projects exist that capture and store

carbon dioxide from fossil fuel plants. 

In total, these plants can capture about 36 million tons a year, which

is far less than what is needed.  But the

new study at least shows that finding places to put captured carbon is not a

problem.

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Ample Geological Capacity Exists to Store Large Quantities of Captured CO2

Photo courtesy of Equinor.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.