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April 30, 2018
A new study has found that certain species of birds, including the zebra finch, may be adapting to warmer temperatures by limiting their overall size. Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.
On April 23, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt declared that burning biomass for energy production will be categorized as a carbon neutral practice by the agency. The argument is based on the idea that after trees are cut and burned, a forest's regrowth removes the carbon dioxide emitted from the prior crops' combustion. However, this notion is challenged by many scientists, who argue that such a calculation may be dependent on numerous factors. EPA Science Advisory Board member William Schlesinger said, "The big problem is you're cutting old-growth forests and expecting them to regrow. That's totally unrealistic in 20 years and not guaranteed over 100 years." EPA's Science Advisory Board had not yet completed its examination of the issue before Pruitt's policy announcement, but the agency's own policy memo quoted a 2012 determination by the Board that "it is not scientifically valid to assume that all biogenic feedstocks are carbon neutral." On the other side of the debate, many forestry scientists maintain that woody biomass utilization creates important markets to keep working forests from being developed for other uses, which provides significant carbon benefit. The forest product industry and private forest holders welcomed the announcement, recognizing that this could ease the industry's competition with fossil fuels and set the stage for further deregulation of biomass greenhouse gas emissions.
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Washington Post, EESI
President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a meeting on April 27 ahead of a United Nations climate meeting in Bonn scheduled for April 30 through May 10. Merkel is expected to lobby the U.S. president on the benefits of staying in the Paris Climate Agreement, much as French President Emmanuel Macron did during a recent state visit to Washington. During the visit, Macron said, "I am sure, one day, the United States will come back and join the Paris Agreement. Let us face it: There is no Planet B.” Even if the U.S. government refuses to engage in climate talks, the rest of the world has shown a willingness to work with American state and local leaders and the private sector to advance the agreement's emission reduction targets. There are concerns that a U.S. withdrawal would only make reaching those goals more difficult though, since many participating countries have not exhibited enough ambition in their mitigation actions to date.
Washington Examiner
A new study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Defense found that by midcentury, waves will begin washing over a key Pacific Island with enough frequency to contaminate groundwater supplies, damage crops, and impair infrastructure. The study combines climate projections with weather and wave modeling to analyze the impacts of rising seas on Kwajalein, an island that houses the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Site, which has been used to test U.S. defenses against a nuclear attack. The study explains that without global efforts to reduce emissions and costly adaptation projects, facilities on islands like Kwajalein may come under threat as soon as 2030. In the meantime, building seawalls and shipping in water would allow operations to continue, but this is not a sustainable, long-term solution. John Conger, director of the Center for Climate and Security, explained, “A lot of people have asked me in the past about how much the [Defense Department] is going to invest in dealing with climate change, and I think it's the wrong question to ask. I think climate change is an important factor to study to save money.”
InsideClimate News
Thousands of farmworkers in Texas are among the most vulnerable to climate change as its impacts intensify. Dangerous heat conditions have curtailed work hours for farmworkers in Hidalgo County and damaged crops before they can be harvested. Many farmworkers also live in substandard houses and face a range of problems, such as a lack of running water, disease-carrying mosquitoes, and flooding. More than 500,000 people live in unplanned neighborhoods, called colonias, along the Texas-Mexico border with more than 40 percent of those residents living below the poverty line. Besides working in the fields, working in crop packing sheds without air conditioning can also endanger the health of laborers. Nevertheless, some are wary about taking a rest from the heat because this would cut into their wages. During peak harvest season in July, low temperatures tend to be in the 80s with highs above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Homes offer little opportunity to bring body temperatures down during sleep, since the multiple families that occupy them take turns cooking on the stove, which heats the home for extended periods.
Scientific American
Tim Ma, chef at the popular DC-based restaurant Kyrisian, recycles food parts that are usually discarded as trash to create new dishes, fighting food waste while saving money and increasing revenues. For instance carrot tops are used as an ingredient in pesto, and sea bass heads are deep fried and served as an off-menu delicacy. Ma’s vision follows the recent trend of fighting food waste as a chic choice in high-end eateries. But it is not only about creativity and environmental ethics, it is an economic choice. Ma argues that cutting down food waste “is a business decision,” adding that “you do this as a function of saving every penny that you can, because the restaurant margins are so slim right now.” The business case is confirmed by a new report by the World Resources Institute. By using data from 42 hotel sites in 15 countries that have implemented food waste-reduction strategies, the study found that for every dollar used to reduce food waste, the restaurants made an average return of seven dollars.
NPR
After extreme weather events, houses in coastal cities are often replaced with more resilient, more costly houses, which attract wealthier residents and displace others. Such a phenomenon is described as “climate gentrification.” Many factors lead to higher housing prices after extreme weather events, including higher construction costs as a result of stricter building codes, rising premiums for federal flood insurance, and increased taxes as local governments spend more money on coastal defenses. In addition, without federal requirements, coastal local governments seldom replace or repair damaged public housing. Without a low-income workforce that can afford housing, the tourism economy in coastal cities tends to suffer. However, “climate gentrification” is not a universal phenomenon. USC Economics Professor Matthew Kahn describes this difference as an “amenity gradient,” meaning climate gentrification tends to occur in coastal areas already attractive to the rich, since the wealthier residents have the means of staying in the area despite the elevated risk of climate change. Research also suggests that climate gentrification is occurring inland. Houses along the coastlines are not able to meet the growing demand for higher-elevation properties, making houses further inland more attractive to real estate developers.
Bloomberg
According to a new study by UC-Los Angeles researchers, California may be destined to suffer more from weather volatility and extreme shifts between wet and dry periods. The study found that even though the state's long-term average annual precipitation will not change much, there is going to be an increase in extremes. “We expect to see more really wet years and also more really dry years,” said lead author Daniel Swain. The study projected a 25 to 100 percent increase in extreme dry-to-wet precipitation events. These predictions seem to hint at the possibility that major cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco could be hit by a series of storms in the coming decades similar to those that led to the 19th century's “Great Flood.” The study shows that the frequency of storms similar to that 1862 event could increase by 300 to 400 percent, but it also argues that the rainy season is set to shorten due to a decrease in precipitation in autumn and spring. In addition, climate change is affecting California’s water reserves by shrinking the state’s snowpack.
Reuters, Los Angeles Times
Distinctive geologic formations in Oman and elsewhere have attracted the attention of scientists hoping to advance carbon sequestration methods. The rocks of interest convert carbon dioxide into stone through a natural process called carbon mineralization. Although there is a great deal of uncertainty at this early stage, scientists are hopeful that the process may one day be harnessed on a massive scale to help remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be essential to blunting the worst impacts of global warming, but the technology itself has lagged behind in practice. Today, there are fewer than 20 large-scale CCS projects operating worldwide. These projects typically capture CO2 from fossil fuel combustion or other industrial practices and store it underground as a gas. The carbon mineralization process being researched falls under the category of direct-air capture, meaning the removal of CO2 that's already in the atmosphere. Some scientists caution that direct-air capture may prove impractical, while others view it as part of a diverse research approach to developing climate solutions.
New York Times
According to a new study, the primary driver of glacier loss in Antarctica is now warm ocean water coming in under the ice. The study, appearing in Science Advances, shows that meltwater from the glaciers affects the oceans and makes it easier for warm water to reach the ice. This results in more melting and a continuous feedback loop, which may prove difficult to stop. This mixing process has been significantly lessened in East and West Antarctica, due to the influx of fresh water from glaciers, allowing warm water to seep under nearby glaciers. Essentially, the processes that typically mix and circulate warm and cold water layers near the Antarctic coast are being disrupted. Instead of cooling down due this mixing, the warm water remains a greater threat to melt any glaciers it comes into contact with. Researchers are still trying to find out what causes the feedback loop and the initial high melt rates. Some of the possible causes include natural climate variations, anthropogenic climate change, and influences from Antarctica’s ozone hole.
The idea that temperatures affect body size originated in 1847, when biologist Carl Bergmann proposed that cold climates lead to bigger bodies. By studying non-migrating birds, biologist Simon Griffith discovered that exposure to hot weather has a greater effect on body size than cold weather, but only when the birds are still maturing. Developing during a hot summer makes the birds smaller than they would be otherwise. Griffith’s team has only studied house sparrows and zebra finches thus far, but suspect other species are similarly affected. The phenomenon may be an adaptive response that lets animals cope with a changing climate, meaning that those who cannot change their size could be more vulnerable. Last summer, Canadian researchers reported that fish were also getting smaller – some by as much as 30 percent. This research adds to evidence that animal and plant species and going through changes in response to global warming, such as changing breeding and migration patterns. Griffith said, “The capacity of different species to respond is going to be key to determining the extent to which they can cope [with the speed of climate change].”
Washington Post
In Reversal, FEMA Wants to Allow Bought-Out Homeowners to Rebuild on Flood-Prone Land
Court Rules Protestors May Invoke "Necessity Defense" in Opposing Pipeline Project
Study: Florida and Texas in Line for Deepest Economic Hit from Future Climate Impacts
Louisiana Learning to "Live with Water" as Flood Threats Persist
Study: Republicans Deemed "Most Persuasive" When Correcting Misinformation on Climate
Writers: Jieyi Lu, Pietro Morabito, and Joanne Zulinski Editor: Brian La Shier
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