‘Existential Threat to Our Survival’: See the 19 Australian Ecosystems Already Collapsing
27 February
Climate
Ningaloo Reef near Exmouth on April 2, 2012 in Western Australia. James D. Morgan / Getty Images News
By Dana M Bergstrom, Euan Ritchie, Lesley Hughes and Michael Depledge
In 1992, 1,700 scientists warned that human beings and the natural world were "on a collision course." Seventeen years later, scientists described planetary boundaries within which humans and other life could have a "safe space to operate." These are environmental thresholds, such as the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and changes in land use.
<p>
Crossing such boundaries was considered a risk that would cause environmental changes so profound, they genuinely posed an <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/david-attenboroughs-witness-statement-for-the-planet-commentary/" target="_blank">existential threat to humanity</a>.
</p><p>
This grave reality is what our major research paper, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.15539" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">published Thursday</a>, confronts.
</p><p>
In what may be the most comprehensive evaluation of the environmental state of play in Australia, we show major and iconic ecosystems are collapsing across the continent and into Antarctica. These systems sustain life, and evidence of their demise shows we're exceeding planetary boundaries.
</p>
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<p>We found 19 Australian ecosystems met our criteria to be classified as "collapsing." This includes the arid interior, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ecocheck-australias-vast-majestic-northern-savannas-need-more-care-59897" target="_blank">savannas</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-weather-likely-behind-worst-recorded-mangrove-dieback-in-northern-australia-71880" target="_blank">mangroves</a> of northern Australia, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-just-spent-two-weeks-surveying-the-great-barrier-reef-what-we-saw-was-an-utter-tragedy-135197" target="_blank">Great Barrier Reef</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/shark-bay-a-world-heritage-site-at-catastrophic-risk-111194" target="_blank">Shark Bay</a>, southern Australia's <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-other-reef-is-worth-more-than-10-billion-a-year-but-have-you-heard-of-it-45600" target="_blank">kelp</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-australian-bush-is-recovering-from-bushfires-but-it-may-never-be-the-same-131390" target="_blank">alpine ash</a> forests, tundra on Macquarie Island, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarcticas-moss-forests-are-drying-and-dying-103751" target="_blank">moss beds in Antarctica</a>.</p><p>We define collapse as the state where ecosystems have changed in a substantial, negative way from their original state – such as species or habitat loss, or reduced vegetation or coral cover – and are unlikely to recover.</p>
The Good and Bad News
<p>​<span>Ecosystems consist of living and non-living components, and their interactions. They work like a super-complex engine: when some components are removed or stop working, knock-on consequences can lead to system failure.</span></p><p>Our study is based on measured data and observations, not modeling or predictions for the future. Encouragingly, not all ecosystems we examined have collapsed across their entire range. We still have, for instance, some intact reefs on the Great Barrier Reef, especially in deeper waters. And northern Australia has some of the most intact and least-modified stretches of savanna woodlands on Earth.</p><p><span>Still, collapses are happening, including in regions critical for growing food. This includes the </span><a href="https://www.mdba.gov.au/importance-murray-darling-basin/where-basin" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Murray-Darling Basin</a><span>, which covers around 14% of Australia's landmass. Its rivers and other freshwater systems support more than </span><a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/latestproducts/94F2007584736094CA2574A50014B1B6?opendocument" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">30% of Australia's food</a><span> production.</span></p><p><span></span><span>The effects of floods, fires, heatwaves and storms do not stop at farm gates; they're felt equally in agricultural areas and natural ecosystems. We shouldn't forget how towns ran out of </span><a href="https://www.mdba.gov.au/issues-murray-darling-basin/drought#effects" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">drinking water</a><span> during the recent drought.</span></p><p><span></span><span>Drinking water is also at risk when ecosystems collapse in our water catchments. In Victoria, for example, the degradation of giant </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/logging-must-stop-in-melbournes-biggest-water-supply-catchment-106922" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mountain Ash forests</a><span> greatly reduces the amount of water flowing through the Thompson catchment, threatening nearly five million people's drinking water in Melbourne.</span></p><p>This is a dire <em data-redactor-tag="em">wake-up</em> call — not just a <em data-redactor-tag="em">warning</em>. Put bluntly, current changes across the continent, and their potential outcomes, pose an existential threat to our survival, and other life we share environments with.</p><p><span>In investigating patterns of collapse, we found most ecosystems experience multiple, concurrent pressures from both global climate change and regional human impacts (such as land clearing). Pressures are often </span><a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.13427" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">additive and extreme</a><span>.</span></p><p>Take the last 11 years in Western Australia as an example.</p><p>In the summer of 2010 and 2011, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-lasting-longer-and-doing-more-damage-95637" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">heatwave</a> spanning more than 300,000 square kilometers ravaged both marine and land ecosystems. The extreme heat devastated forests and woodlands, kelp forests, seagrass meadows and coral reefs. This catastrophe was followed by two cyclones.</p><p>A record-breaking, marine heatwave in late 2019 dealt a further blow. And another marine heatwave is predicted for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/24/wa-coastline-facing-marine-heatwave-in-early-2021-csiro-predicts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this April</a>.</p><h2>These 19 ecosystems are collapsing: read about each</h2>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-565" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/565/c520f0fa1e0169ca3dfe5d2d5c668f8f9fd8bc45/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
What to Do About It?
<p>​<span>Our brains trust comprises 38 experts from 21 universities, CSIRO and the federal Department of Agriculture Water and Environment. Beyond quantifying and reporting more doom and gloom, we asked the question: what can be done?</span></p><p>We devised a simple but tractable scheme called the 3As:</p><ul><li>Awareness of what is important</li><li>Anticipation of what is coming down the line</li><li>Action to stop the pressures or deal with impacts.</li></ul><p>In our paper, we identify positive actions to help protect or restore ecosystems. Many are already happening. In some cases, ecosystems might be better left to recover by themselves, such as coral after a cyclone.</p><p>In other cases, active human intervention will be required – for example, placing artificial nesting boxes for Carnaby's black cockatoos in areas where old trees have been <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/factsheet-carnabys-black-cockatoo-calyptorhynchus-latirostris" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">removed</a>.</p><p><span>"Future-ready" actions are also vital. This includes reinstating </span><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/a-burning-question-fire/12395700" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cultural burning practices</a><span>, which have </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-you-have-unfinished-business-its-time-to-let-our-fire-people-care-for-this-land-135196" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">multiple values and benefits for Aboriginal communities</a><span> and can help minimize the risk and strength of bushfires.</span></p><p>It might also include replanting banks along the Murray River with species better suited to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/my-garden-path---matt-hansen/12322978" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">warmer conditions</a>.</p><p>Some actions may be small and localized, but have substantial positive benefits.</p><p>For example, billions of migrating Bogong moths, the main summer food for critically endangered mountain pygmy possums, have not arrived in their typical numbers in Australian alpine regions in recent years. This was further exacerbated by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/six-million-hectares-of-threatened-species-habitat-up-in-smoke-129438" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2019-20</a> fires. Brilliantly, <a href="https://www.zoo.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zoos Victoria</a> anticipated this pressure and developed supplementary food — <a href="https://theconversation.com/looks-like-an-anzac-biscuit-tastes-like-a-protein-bar-bogong-bikkies-help-mountain-pygmy-possums-after-fire-131045" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bogong bikkies</a>.</p><p><span>Other more challenging, global or large-scale actions must address the </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iICpI9H0GkU&t=34s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">root cause of environmental threats</a><span>, such as </span><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0504-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">human population growth and per-capita consumption</a><span> of environmental resources.</span><br></p><p>We must rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero, remove or suppress invasive species such as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mam.12080" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">feral cats</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-buffel-kerfuffle-how-one-species-quietly-destroys-native-wildlife-and-cultural-sites-in-arid-australia-149456" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">buffel grass</a>, and stop widespread <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-reduce-fire-risk-and-meet-climate-targets-over-300-scientists-call-for-stronger-land-clearing-laws-113172" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">land clearing</a> and other forms of habitat destruction.</p>Our Lives Depend On It
<p>The multiple ecosystem collapses we have documented in Australia are a harbinger for <a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/protected-areas/202102/natures-future-our-future-world-speaks" target="_blank">environments globally</a>.</p><p>The simplicity of the 3As is to show people <em>can</em> do something positive, either at the local level of a landcare group, or at the level of government departments and conservation agencies.</p><p>Our lives and those of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-are-our-future-and-the-planets-heres-how-you-can-teach-them-to-take-care-of-it-113759" target="_blank">children</a>, as well as our <a href="https://theconversation.com/taking-care-of-business-the-private-sector-is-waking-up-to-natures-value-153786" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economies</a>, societies and <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-address-the-ecological-crisis-aboriginal-peoples-must-be-restored-as-custodians-of-country-108594" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cultures</a>, depend on it.</p><p>We simply cannot afford any further delay.</p><p><em><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dana-m-bergstrom-1008495" target="_blank" style="">Dana M Bergstrom</a> is a principal research scientist at the University of Wollongong. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/euan-ritchie-735" target="_blank" style="">Euan Ritchie</a> is a professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences at Deakin University. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lesley-hughes-5823" target="_blank">Lesley Hughes</a> is a professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-depledge-114659" target="_blank">Michael Depledge</a> is a professor and chair, Environment and Human Health, at the University of Exeter. </em></p><p><em>Disclosure statements: Dana Bergstrom works for the Australian Antarctic Division and is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Wollongong. Her research including fieldwork on Macquarie Island and in Antarctica was supported by the Australian Antarctic Division.</em></p><p><em>Euan Ritchie receives funding from the Australian Research Council, The Australia and Pacific Science Foundation, Australian Geographic, Parks Victoria, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. Euan Ritchie is a Director (Media Working Group) of the Ecological Society of Australia, and a member of the Australian Mammal Society.</em></p><p><em>Lesley Hughes receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a Councillor with the Climate Council of Australia, a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and a Director of WWF-Australia.</em></p><p><em>Michael Depledge does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-threat-to-our-survival-see-the-19-australian-ecosystems-already-collapsing-154077" target="_blank" style="">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivers a video speech at the high-level meeting of the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council UNHRC in Geneva, Switzerland on Feb. 22, 2021. Xinhua / Zhang Cheng via Getty Images
By Anke Rasper
"Today's interim report from the UNFCCC is a red alert for our planet," said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The report, released Friday, looks at the national climate efforts of 75 states that have already submitted their updated "nationally determined contributions," or NDCs. The countries included in the report are responsible for about 30% of the world's global greenhouse gas emissions.
<p>While most have increased their individual climate efforts, only two of the worst emitters, including the UK and the EU, have stepped up their goals considerably. And the member states' plans to tackle the climate crisis "are very far from putting us on a pathway that will meet our Paris Agreement goals," said Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of UN Climate Change.</p><p>The individual contributions submitted to date would only cut about 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions — a far cry from the 45% cut needed by 2030 <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/5-years-paris-climate-agreement/a-55901139" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to meet the 1.5 degree goal</a>, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).</p>
<p>In 2015, 195 countries and the European Union had agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global heating way below an increase of 2 degrees Celsius.</p><p>UN Chief Guterres urged major emitters to "step up with much more ambitious emissions reductions targets for 2030" well before the next UN Climate Conference, slated for Glasgow in November.</p><p>The interim report also stressed that poor countries were banking on the funds pledged under the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> to protect forests and other ecosystems, to carry out climate measures.</p>
<h3>Nations Need to Improve Their Targets</h3><p>The UN's interim report, which looked at the NDCs available as of December, provides a snapshot ahead of the COP 26 climate conference in November. The remaining 122 signatory countries have yet to define their updated contributions, including the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases: China and the U.S.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY5NDY4OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NzY3MzAwMX0._APDeJRj_0shkCdStFOXTznO4aSVqXu164gPawaa7lc/img.png?width=980" id="3f289" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a445f108a4e6d0264c1d0037a2a5139b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1920" data-height="2594" />
<p>The Paris agreement is a voluntary process and leaves it up to national governments to decide how they want to achieve their self-imposed targets. There is no provision for sanctions or punitive mechanisms against countries that fail to meet their climate targets.<span></span><br></p>
<h3>Will the U.S. Take the Lead on Climate Change?</h3><p>Many hope that the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/2021-climate-policy-biden-pledges/a-56437561" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. rejoining the Paris agreement</a> will provide a much-needed boost to international climate ambitions. U.S. special envoy for climate John Kerry has already announced that the U.S. will present "very aggressive, strong NDCs" ahead of the special climate summit in Washington on April 22.</p><p>The U.S. under the Biden administration also wants to expand its climate diplomacy to include China in particular, currently the largest emitter. <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/can-china-meet-its-ambitious-decarbonization-goals/a-56644449" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">China has already announced plans</a> to increase its national targets this year.</p><p>Other major emitters, such as Russia and Brazil, have so far shown little ambition to commit to more. Former head of the UN Climate Secretariat, Christiana Figueres, was optimistic nonetheless that "many large emitters such as the U.S., China, Japan and others" would submit ambitious plans, because it was "in their own competitive interests to reach 50% emissions reductions by 2030."</p><p>Together with Canada, the U.S. is also considering slapping higher import duties on countries that are not doing enough to save the climate. However, it is unclear whether such sanctions are compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).</p>
<h3>Climate Change Existential Threat to Humanity</h3><p>UN Climate Change Chief Patricia Espinosa pointed out that the last 10 years had been the hottest decade in human history. The record rise in temperatures, for example in the Arctic winter and northern Siberia, and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/why-does-global-warming-cause-icy-conditions/a-16196445" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dramatic winter weather</a> slamming the traditionally mild southern U.S., were being amplified by the now measurably slowing Gulf Stream in the Atlantic — something that could be irreversible.</p><p>"It's time for all remaining Parties to step up, fulfill what they promised to do under the Paris Agreement and submit their NDCs as soon as possible," Espinosa said, adding "if this task was urgent before, it's crucial now."</p><p>And with the world focused largely on the coronavirus crisis, Espinosa stressed that any economic measures to offset the pandemic needed to take the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> into account.</p><p>According to Espinosa, this is precisely why it is so important to tackle the global crises — such as COVID-19, the climate crisis, and the dramatic loss of biodiversity — as a whole.</p><p>"As we rebuild, we cannot revert to the old normal. The NDCs must reflect this reality and major emitters, especially G20 nations, must lead the way," she said.</p><p>The expanded final report, which will include all national climate contributions, will be released shortly before the UN climate conference in November. COP 26 President Alok Sharma urged all member states to "recognize that the window for action to safeguard our planet is closing fast." </p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/un-red-alert-for-national-climate-goals/a-56713215" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p><em><br></em>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" data-width="710" data-height="959" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" data-width="1244" data-height="1244" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" data-width="800" data-height="800" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" data-width="600" data-height="600" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" data-width="1244" data-height="1244" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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Plastic Burning Makes It Harder for New Delhi Residents to See, Study Suggests
26 February
Health + Wellness
New Delhi's smog is particularly thick, increasing the risk of vehicle accidents. SAJJAD HUSSAIN / AFP via Getty Images
India's New Delhi has been called the "world air pollution capital" for its high concentrations of particulate matter that make it harder for its residents to breathe and see. But one thing has puzzled scientists, according to The Guardian. Why does New Delhi see more blinding smogs than other polluted Asian cities, such as Beijing?
<p>To answer this question, scientists looked at the chemical composition of the region's smog and found that its density is likely linked to the burning of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">plastics</a>. The specific <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals" target="_self">chemicals</a> released by this burning and other industrial processes are responsible for around 50 percent of the low visibility, the study authors wrote.</p><p>How did they reach this conclusion? The study, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-00677-x" target="_blank">Nature Geoscience in late January</a>, measured the chemical composition of the particulate matter in the cities of Delhi and Chennai. These are both cities in the Indo Gangetic Plain, a region blanketed in dense smog, particularly in December and January, a PTI story published by <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/plastic-burning-fog-visibility-reduction-delhi-7163964/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Indian Express explained</a>.</p>
<p>The researchers found that the smog in both cities, though particularly in Chennai, had high amounts of chloride. The researchers then looked at which chemicals also spiked along with the chloride, and found it matched what would be released by the burning of plastic, The Guardian explained.</p><p>"We realised that despite absolute PM2.5 mass burden over Delhi being much less than other polluted megacities around the world, including Beijing, the pollution and atmospheric chemistry of Delhi is much more complex to understand," lead author and IIT Madras Department of Civil Engineering associate professor Sachin S Gunthe told PTI. "This work put forward importance of measurements and modelling approaches to scientifically conclude that half of the water uptake and visibility reduction by aerosol particles around Delhi is caused by the hydrochloric acid (<a href="https://indianexpress.com/about/hcl-technologies/" target="_blank">HCl</a>) emissions, which is locally emitted in Delhi potentially due to plastic contained waste burning and other industrial processes."</p>
<p>The low visibility is a deadly and costly problem for New Delhi, the study authors wrote. It increases car accidents and flight delays. Particulate matter in general caused 12,000 excess deaths in New Delhi in 2017, according to one estimate. But the burning of plastics poses other, unique risks, The Guardian explained. It can release highly toxic dioxins that contaminate the food chain and react with smog to increase levels of ground-level ozone, which have been linked to crop yield reductions of 20 to 30 percent.</p><p>However, the study's findings have one bright side.</p><p>"Given that we find plastic burning as a potential cause of the reduced visibility, we hope these findings will help policy makers to efficiently enforce and implement policies that are already in place towards regulating open burning of plastic contained-waste and other potential chlorine sources," Gunthe told PTI.</p>
<p>Still, the problem of plastic waste is larger than two cities in India. Around 90 percent of waste in low income countries is either left in dumps or burned outdoors, according to The Guardian. The emissions from the burning of plastics can also contribute to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. This means the ultimate solution needs to be a global one.</p><p>"Better waste management needs to be a priority but eliminating plastic pollution also requires a rethink of global plastic production and use," Gary Fuller concluded for The Guardian.</p>
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Trending
A bridge over the Delaware river connects New Hope, Pennsylvania with Lambertville, New Jersey. Richard T. Nowitz / Getty Images
In a historic move, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) voted Thursday to ban hydraulic fracking in the region. The ban was supported by all four basin states — New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York — putting a permanent end to hydraulic fracking for natural gas along the 13,539-square-mile basin, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
<p>The vote affirms a 2010 moratorium by the DRBC, an agency that manages the water. Pressured by environmental groups, commissioners used their authority to safeguard public and environmental health and limit future pollution, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.</p><p>"Today's decision is a historic watershed moment and one that will significantly contribute to a clean energy future," Patrick Grenter, associate director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign, <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2021/02/fracking-outlawed-delaware-river-basin-commission" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a statement</a>. "Fracking threatens the health of our people, water, climate, and communities and we're relieved to see it outlawed in the Delaware River Basin."</p><p>Fracking for natural gas involves blasting high volumes of pressurized water and chemicals into rock formations. This has led to contaminated water wells, while wastewater spills have transmitted radioactive materials into surface and groundwater, <a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2021/02/25/delaware-river-basin-commission-votes-to-ban-fracking-in-the-watershed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">StateImpact Pennsylvania reported</a>. These pollutants and chemicals are linked to cancers and other health issues in humans and wildlife, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/marisa-guerrero/fracking-banned-delaware-river-basin" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NRDC reported</a>. </p><p>If fracking were to be allowed in the Delaware River Basin, these same impacts could affect the 17 million people that rely on the basin for drinking water, putting 45,000 people who live within a mile of the planned fracking well locations at high risk for those health problems, the NRDC added. The basin is also a critical habitat for one of the most important fisheries in the country, home to diverse species such as native trout, American eels and bald eagles.</p>
<p>The debate on fracking in the region began over a decade ago. During Pennsylvania's natural gas boom, commissioners expressed concern over the high quantity of basin water required to support it, StateImpact Pennsylvania found.</p>
<p>In response, the DRBC imposed a fracking moratorium in 2010, but never finalized drilling regulations, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Supporters of basin drilling argued that the commission did not have the authority to regulate drilling, StateImpact Pennsylvania noted. </p><p>Despite yesterday's vote, the ban still faces opposition. </p><p>Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry President and CEO Gene Barr said that the votes by New York, New Jersey and Delaware did not have Pennsylvania's "best interests in mind," StateImpact Pennsylvania reported. </p>
<p>"There is no support to any claim that drilling results in widespread impacts to drinking water, rivers or groundwater," <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fracking-ban-vote-delaware-river-16dbb425b97cff0fb6f10186b0a2bae8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Barr told AP</a>. "This was a political decision uninformed by science."</p>
<p>Last month, State Sens. Gene Yaw (R., Lycoming) and Lisa Baker (R., Luzerne) and the Pennsylvania Republican Caucus said the moratorium, now a ban, "amounts to an illegal taking of property from Pennsylvania owners of mineral rights and from taxing authorities," The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.</p>
<p>While Thursday's fracking ban could be seen as a promising sign for reducing fossil fuel reliance, the Biden team will face challenges addressing the climate crisis without also slashing jobs in an industry that accounts for a significant amount of U.S. employment. </p>
<p>For the time being, environmental groups are celebrating a rare climate victory. </p><p>"Banning fracking in the Delaware River Basin is an historic event," the NRDC added, crediting years of hard-fought advocacy by environmental groups and activists alike. "It marks a commitment to protecting human and environmental health — not just for those who depend on the Delaware River, but for an entire planet threatened by climate change."</p>
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New EarthX Special 'Protecting the Amazon' Suggests Ways to Save the World’s Greatest Rainforest
26 February
Popular
A 3-hour special film by EarthxTV calls for protection of the Amazon and its indigenous populations. EarthxTV.org
To save the planet, we must save the Amazon rainforest. To save the rainforest, we must save its indigenous peoples. And to do that, we must demarcate their land.
<p><a href="https://earthx.org/protecting-the-amazon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Protecting the Amazon</em></a>, the latest special film program from EarthxTV, explains the need for these actions and how to work in solidarity with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous-peoples" target="_self">indigenous peoples</a> to preserve Amazonia.</p><p>The Amazon rainforest and the indigenous tribes that call it home are in danger. The newest scientific reports predict the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-rainforest-collapse-2649776959.html" target="_self">world's largest rainforest will collapse by 2064</a>, causing dangerous water shortages, catastrophic biodiversity loss and much more. As the ecosystem degrades, it will also lose its ability to store carbon, changing from a carbon sink for the planet into a carbon source. A 2020 study estimated that the Amazon is already <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-rainforest-carbon-emissions-2650166673.html" target="_self">on the brink of turning into a net carbon emitter</a>. Going past that threshold would throw the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> into full swing.</p>
<p>Unsustainable development, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation" target="_self">deforestation</a>, cattle ranching and soybean production are the main culprits behind this rapid destruction. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-brazil-gold-mining-2645732733.html" target="_self">Illegal gold mining</a> plays a big part, too.</p><p>Princess Esmeralda of Belgium, president of the Leopold III Fund for Nature Exploration and Conservation and one of the co-hosts of the 3-hour special, lamented the bleak outlook.</p><p>"The current state of the Amazon rainforest is dire," she told EcoWatch. "During 2019 and 2020, deforestation continued at a frightening pace and scale. Last year, it increased by 30 percent from what was already a record-breaking year in 2019."</p><p>The conservation journalist also pointed out how <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-deforestation-bolsonaro-2649115946.html" target="_self">deforestation, invasion of indigenous lands and mining in the rainforest have skyrocketed under Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro</a>, a known pro-development, anti-Amazon, anti-indigenous candidate. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/jair-bolsonaro" target="_self">Bolsonaro</a> was elected with the support of the "so-called BBB (beef, bullets and bible)," a very powerful lobby composed of militaries, Christian evangelists and meat producers, Princess Esmeralda said. She estimated that almost 20 percent of the Amazon had been lost in the last half-century.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, attempts to stop the destruction have fallen short.</p><p>According to Rob Harding, executive producer of <em>Protecting the Amazon</em>, "The international community's attempts to nurture a healthier Amazon have thus far failed... The urgency of this situation is clear."</p><p>Citing his motivations behind pitching the special project, Harding added, "There's no time like the present to help raise awareness and inspire meaningful action by instilling a sense of global collective responsibility. We believe that <em>Protecting the Amazon</em> will do all of the above."</p>
<p>The film event, a rare collaboration and amplification of indigenous voices and their allies, brings together some of the world's biggest players in conservation – including Jane Goodall, legendary indigenous rights advocates Chief Raoni Metuktire and Chief Ninawa Huni-Kui and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson – on the same virtual stage to highlight our collective responsibility to the rainforest.</p><p>All make the case for demarcating indigenous lands in the Amazon as an effective forestalling against the catastrophes forecasted above. Demarcation is the constitutionally-mandated federal process wherein indigenous territories are identified and studied to determine and mark off boundaries, explained Gert-Peter Bruch, co-host of the special and co-founder of the Alliance of Mother Nature's Guardians.</p>
<p>Satellite views of the rainforest make clear that where there are federally-recognized, demarcated and protected indigenous territories, the richest and most contiguous forests still remain, said Christian Poirier, program director for Amazon Watch, a partner in the special program.</p><p>"These are essentially islands of forests in a sea of deforestation," he told EcoWatch. "Everything around them has been degraded and deforested."</p><p>Importantly, he added, these areas remain pristine because (1) indigenous peoples are effective stewards of the rainforest, and (2) the federal government of Brazil has recognized the rights of indigenous peoples to these lands and helps to keep out destructive actors.</p><p>"The demarcation of indigenous lands is fundamental to the future of the Amazon, both in terms of its environmental conservation and in terms of respecting the human rights of indigenous peoples, who are the best stewards of the rainforest," Poirier said. Without demarcation, "the Amazon would cease to exist as we know it today."</p>
<p>In theory, once land is demarcated, non-indigenous equipment, installations and occupants would be required to leave, for good, Bruch explained. This would allow indigenous peoples to continue to act as custodians of the land as they have since time immemorial.</p><p>In the Amazon and indeed even on a global scale, indigenous peoples make up approximately 4 percent of the world's population, and yet they effectively watch over 80 percent of the planet's remaining biodiversity, Poirier explained.</p><p>"Because they are proven the best stewards of the rainforest, we need to learn from them how to keep the rainforest from reaching a tipping point," Poirier said. "The integrity of their territories is a fundamental component of that, but it goes beyond their territories. This is a worldview we need to apply to understanding how to preserve the rainforest in conjunction with its peoples ‒ its forest peoples and its indigenous peoples. We need to have their voice centered in any conversation about land conservation and their rights upheld."</p>
<p><em>Protecting the Amazon</em> calls for this critical mass and solidarity with indigenous peoples in protecting their rights and the forest, simultaneously. The film event notes the long history of fierce indigenous resistance to the many efforts to disenfranchise and evict them from their lands. All speakers also insist that indigenous peoples cannot do this work alone.</p><p>Bruch concluded with a hope that the special event would refocus the world on these pressing issues and remind everyone that the destiny of the indigenous guardians of the Amazon is linked to ours, and that their protection depends on the protection of their territories.</p><p>"Solidarity is so critical and... this event is a critical step towards raising awareness... of the work (indigenous peoples) have always done to benefit us all," Poirier said. "If they are unsuccessful in protecting their areas, all of humanity will suffer gravely."</p><p>View the film on demand on <a href="https://earthx.org/earthxondemand/" target="_blank">EarthxOnDemand</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY5NDQxMS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDc5MzIxM30.yA7xyURHdb8k9uod4xzcKlca2LK9Tei5K5ZQdBY-TLQ/img.png?width=980" id="c31e1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="919f5b7bb78b2d4fd6b6f48c6e3db1a1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2048" data-height="1080" />
A new EarthxTV film special calls for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people that call it home. EarthxTV.org
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An oil pumpjack is seen in a Texas cotton field against a backdrop of wind energy. ChrisBoswell / Getty Images
Many congressional districts with the most clean energy potential are current fossil fuel hubs, potentially reducing political barriers to a just transition away from the energy sources that cause climate change, a Brookings report says.
<p>Of the 155 congressional districts with high renewable energy potential, 91 are currently represented by a Republican.</p><p>Although fossil fuel companies have laid off well over 100,000 workers in the last year alone, in some cases while their executives raked in <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/MVY1h1-_RTJN7mQ5ZLkJ0w4W3fCDQw4nwFmrMQqrWk3p_9LV1-WJV7CgLcCV2Df3L1V8BtsW2_x6NM3601T9W5c5Qtv1W8mMBW74KJT267rhm4W17YTpJ8p5pTPW6kyj365Dcpr0W84Kmdm5JDgWFN8w9R8dmmRHNW3QMyqv4jhm4BN3W2BvyqbzFjW4CCrmM8WKztLW8YKVFK6vCrRLW3nCpt375_vHRW2sDJXQ1R8Kc4W8lQ9pd8M5g2HW2f1fnZ5F_X1PW6F98Pr8kHHRSW3b9jnl6hY8MvW1RmG5X8ysxJ0W2cRmR06xHGjfW6FqMSC6pd4yNW8Gn8zS5rfsl9W3XfPnx4zdZgVVjgcXV4b1fyyW4llG__99Vgp2W48Ds8c5QqTfYW3CwWFf5tS3Q2W96QcZ99487Rr31Ng1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bonuses funded by government bailouts</a>, the Brookings researchers describe a fear of transitioning to renewable energy in geographically concentrated regions and communities historically dominated by the fossil fuel industry. </p><p>The Brookings report did not address the billions of dollars spent by fossil fuel companies over decades to deny the science of climate change and fund politicians who support their industries. </p><p>While many workers in the fossil fuel industry are finding <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/MVY1h1-_RTJN7mQ5ZLkJ0w4W3fCDQw4nwFmrMQqrTy5nxG7V3Zsc37CgL8bW40b_lj927k13W7BcJZT8BqWSMW3tbhQG4bHXgFW639_Rf3s01YkW1bcZZ55dDP_PW5sqqPG6HcmKgN3ZmLcg9KXlDW9fDBRM4d8ls6W6c6tr62qqs6LW50t0NS2WVbq3N7XF1wXYV06kW7_Fh133KRKM8W5Z2j8k3PNYKmW3j7RDX1SBHYBW5D7SM44RNQL4W71Pf2Z7bWdt6V1SGF85j4knsW5ZdjY673mNQGW6vP-_G4dRgFsVjntSb6LHB7pW5gxjl28rpMVtW6xjfx21t26zKW6VNVL68Mng3TN64Mq75nctXmW2xS4BD7N0tXkW49tMfh5fQGRkW4NQskf7BkRkHW5x5BdW7CzVKNW7-HWBP5HnvCTW3vb3D55RC2_3W3tyYzP78jh4wW8vNy9y6k4D863nqX1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their skills transfer easily</a> to renewable energy, oil and gas workers could also be employed plugging orphaned wells, which leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and other pollutants.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p>Brookings: <a href="https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/02/25/stories/1063725859?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113098412&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-839hnX7b4zvCuqLUebVBKHK2HmH_2m8irPUGeEuycSZygZjz_VnUscwzq9nRj6WUpT1dNLTFsa-40M5MyUjMRwCs0j3w3Rs855EyCa7x_gAR9tTT0&utm_content=113098412&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E</a>, <a href="https://www.axios.com/clean-energy-jobs-transition-biden-c656cb47-fe7e-4a8c-9737-981e006aff6f.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113098412&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-820Rqwn19yHmMV1VXr5zuWUaA-6TDDux8h9pANCdwtRhxc1z_MdVhdY31lRccPdnX-I5iaExEyGuZyPUBiHzAnGEPeejcUei8O-dxiI8GSKaM4iNU&utm_content=113098412&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Axios</a>; Bonuses: <a href="https://bailoutwatch.org/analysis/bailed-out-oil-firms-lay-off-workers?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113098412&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9u3p0E67jWSCvYD7I-2YFDhEp58vEJzLASuQGVA_qPbufk2qtOPkaRawD25U7NHyobohaYbVYDBBfVGhmzqNRKbEDNNbRvanzDupjNjauDi0ddZWM&utm_content=113098412&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">BailoutWatch</a>; Orphaned Wells: <a href="https://www.kxan.com/weather/weather-blog/curbing-climate-change-while-also-putting-unemployed-oil-gas-workers-back-to-work/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113098412&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-89DPzr9Bwxk-sF9J39afc8oKu10cH4J_RQhKymU3VaHOTdmij2mnhRByaaz24lZD0thps-E4K4IDbaBotigWb2c4l9MRB_1lVfJVGNDTzr2br-O4A&utm_content=113098412&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">KXAN</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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Could a 'Digital Twin of Earth’ Help Scientists Predict the Future of Climate Change?
25 February
Science
A "digital twin of Earth." European Space Agency
As the weather grows more severe, and its damages more expensive and fatal, current weather predictions fall short in providing reliable information on Earth's rapidly changing systems.
<p>That's why a team of European scientists and ETH Zurich computer scientists are putting their heads together to "marry" the earth sciences and computer sciences to create a "<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-00986-y?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nclimate%2Frss%2Fcurrent+%28Nature+Climate+Change+-+Issue%29" target="_blank">digital twin of Earth</a>." The simulation will provide an information system for scientists and policymakers to test scenarios with different sustainable development options, <a href="https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2021/02/a-highly-accurate-digital-twin-of-our-planet.html" target="_blank">ETH Zurich reported</a>.</p><p>"If you are planning a two-metre high dike in The Netherlands, for example, I can run through the data in my digital twin and check whether the dike will in all likelihood still protect against expected extreme events in 2050," Peter Bauer, deputy director for Research at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and co-initiator of the project Destination Earth, told ETH Zurich.</p>
<p>Over the past 20 years, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">extreme weather</a> events have been on the rise, according to a <a href="https://www.undrr.org/news/drrday-un-report-charts-huge-rise-climate-disasters" target="_blank">report by the United Nations</a>. From 2000 to 2019, 1.23 million people were killed by 7,348 major natural disasters. Twenty years before that, in comparison, there were 4,212 natural disasters, killing 1.19 million. This increase comes with a heavy price tag. Extreme natural weather cost $2.97 trillion in global economic losses in the past two decades, compared to the $1.63 trillion, two decades prior.</p><p>These numbers are expected to grow, urging researchers to design large-scale policy solutions across nations.</p><p>As part of their plans to become climate neutral by 2050, the European Union launched the Destination Earth initiative to track and plan for the future of extreme weather, monitor the health of the planet and support and inform EU environmental policy, according to a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/destination-earth-destine" target="_blank">EU policy report</a>.</p>
<p>In an effort to advance the "digital revolution of earth-system sciences" a team of scientists and researchers, including Bauer looked at the steady advancement of weather models since the 1940s, <a href="https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2021/02/a-highly-accurate-digital-twin-of-our-planet.html" target="_blank">ETH Zurich reported</a>. Their <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-021-00023-0" target="_blank">paper</a> was published Monday in <em>Nature Computational Science.</em></p><p>The climate problem is a complex one, requiring weather predictors to cover more than just local regions, but encompass the "complex processes of the entire Earth system," ETH Zurich reported. Yet, while their findings are not meant to "invalidate the steady progress achieved in weather prediction over the past decades," the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-021-00023-0" target="_blank">authors stress</a> the urgent need to develop a "high resolution" and "more realistic representation" of Earth's changing atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, land surfaces and biosphere.</p>
<p>"We are willfully destructive," Mami Mizutori, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction <a href="https://www.undrr.org/news/drrday-un-report-charts-huge-rise-climate-disasters" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a statement</a> about the UN report on natural disasters. "Disaster risk is becoming systemic with one event overlapping and influencing another in ways that are testing our resilience to the limit. The odds are being stacked against us when we fail to act on science and early warnings to invest in prevention, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction."</p><p>While the "digital twin of Earth" model is a bold step forward, it is necessary to ensure nations are prepared to handle the future of extreme weather, the authors wrote.</p><p>"The apparent effects of climate change on our environment — in particular on the frequency of occurrence and the intensity of environmental extremes — require urgent political response and much faster progress in delivering skillful predictions of future change," the authors wrote.</p>
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Melting ice in places such as Greenland could stop a critical ocean current. Paul Souders / Getty Images
The climate crisis could push an important ocean current past a critical tipping point sooner than expected, new research suggests.
<p>The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) helps move heat from the tropics to the Northern Hemisphere, and is one of the reasons why Europe has relatively mild winters, <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/a-major-ocean-current-might-be-on-the-verge-of-a-climate-change-tipping-point" target="_blank">Science Alert explained</a>. However, the current has begun slowing down in recent years, and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">scientists</a> want to know what it would take for the current to stop. A study published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/9/e2017989118" target="_blank">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Monday</a> calculates that this moment could come sooner than expected.</p><p>"It is worrying news. Because if this is true, it reduces our safe operating space," Johannes Lohmann of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and study co-author said in a <a href="https://www.tipes.dk/steady-now-unfortunate-timing-and-rate-of-change-may-be-enough-to-tip-a-climate-system/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>Essentially, the new findings come down to timing. The AMOC is threatened by increasing freshwater into the North Atlantic as the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greenland" target="_self">Greenland</a> ice sheet melts. A certain amount of freshwater will cause the current to stop. But Lohmann wanted to test what would happen if that water were added quickly instead of gradually.</p><p>"These tipping points have been shown previously in climate models, where meltwater is very slowly introduced into the ocean," Lohmann told <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/a-major-ocean-current-may-be-hurtling-towards-collapse-1846337333" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a>. "In reality, increases in meltwater from Greenland are accelerating and cannot be considered slow."</p>
<p>So researchers used an ocean model called Veros to calculate when the current would stop if freshwater were gradually added, the press release explained. Researchers then added freshwater at increased rates and found that quickly added freshwater would stop currents before reaching the initial freshwater threshold.</p><p>This has serious implications for the AMOC current itself. If it were to completely halt, tropical monsoon patterns would shift, rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere would decrease and the North Atlantic would get stormier. It also raises concerns about other climate tipping points, such as polar ice sheets collapsing or the Amazon rainforest drying out. If the AMOC can stop before the previously calculated tipping point is reached, is the same true for other systems?</p><p>"The results show that the safe operating space of elements of the Earth system with respect to future emissions might be smaller than previously thought," the study authors wrote.</p>
<p>However, outside scientists urged caution. Dave Sutherland, an associate professor in Earth sciences at the University of Oregon, told Gizmodo that the findings were important and timely, but that the models did not take all details into account, such as the location of the meltwater entering the ocean from Greenland.</p><p>Lohmann agreed that more testing is needed, but also pressed the urgency of climate action.</p><p>"Due to the potentially increased risk of abrupt climate change in parts of the Earth system that we show in our research, it is important that policymakers keep pushing for ambitious short- and mid-term climate targets to slow down the pace of climate change, especially in vulnerable places like the Arctic," Lohmann told Gizmodo.</p>
<p><br/></p>
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Gavin Newsom Sued for 'Completely Unacceptable' Approval of Oil and Gas Projects in California
25 February
Politics
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tours the Chevron oil field west of Bakersfield, where a spill of more than 900,000 gallons flowed into a dry creek bed, on July 24, 2019. Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
By Brett Wilkins
Accusing California regulators of "reckless disregard" for public "health and safety," the environmental advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday sued the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom for approving thousands of oil and gas drilling and fracking projects without the required environmental review.
<p>The <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/pdfs/Center-v-CalGEM-Complaint.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lawsuit</a> claims that the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) failed to adequately analyze environmental and health risks before issuing fossil fuel extraction permits, as required by law. According to the suit, California regulators approved nearly 2,000 new oil and gas permits without proper environmental review.</p><p>"CalGEM routinely violates its duty to conduct an initial study and further environmental review for any new oil and gas well drilling, well stimulation, or injection permits and approvals," the suit alleges. "Instead, CalGEM repeatedly and consistently issues permits and approvals for oil and gas drilling, well stimulation, and injection projects without properly disclosing, analyzing, or mitigating the significant environmental impacts of these projects."</p>
<div id="18713" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2a09e4b10fa749c78e24fe406333d693"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1364658901313060865" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We took Gov. Newsom to court for granting new oil and gas permits w/o environmental review.
"The governor is openl… https://t.co/AAShi3a1rm</div> — Center for Bio Div (@Center for Bio Div)<a href="https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv/statuses/1364658901313060865">1614195010.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The center noted that "despite Gov. Newsom's progressive rhetoric on climate change, he has failed to curb California's dirty and carbon-intensive oil and gas production."</p><p>"His regulators continue to issue thousands of permits without review, and the governor has refused to act on his stated desire to ban fracking," the group said in a <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/newsom-administration-sued-over-thousands-of-unlawful-oil-gas-projects-2021-02-24/" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Newsom's regulators also failed to meet the governor's deadline to publish a draft health-and-safety rule after vowing to do so before the end of 2020."</p><p>Last September, as deadly climate-driven wildfires <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/what-climate-crisis-looks-fires-have-now-burned-record-2-million-acres-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ravaged</a> large swaths of California and turned skies in the San Francisco Bay Area an <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/green-new-deal-or-blood-red-apocalypse-your-choice-dems-urged-embrace-bold-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">apocalyptic shade of orange</a>, Newsom <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/ban-fracking-calif-now-not-2024-say-climate-groups-following-newsom-order-phase-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">called on</a> the Democrat-controlled state legislature to stop issuing new fracking permits by 2024, drawing widespread rebuke from climate campaigners who argued that now is the time to act.</p>
<p>Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, said Wednesday that "it is completely unacceptable for Gov. Newsom to continue to ignore our flagship environmental law that's meant to protect people from oil industry pollution."</p><p>"Newsom can't protect our health and climate while giving thousands of illegal permits each year to this dirty and dangerous industry," Kretzmann added. "We need the courts to step in and stop this."</p><p>Deborah Sivas, director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford Law School and an attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity in the lawsuit, said that "state laws are designed to protect communities and minimize pollution."</p><p>"The state can't continue to pretend these fundamental protections don't apply to one of the most polluting and dangerous industries on the planet," added Sivas.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/24/avowed-climate-champion-gavin-newsom-sued-completely-unacceptable-approval-oil-and" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Kenyan professor Wangari Maathai poses during the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 15, 2009. Olivier Morin / AFP / Getty Images
By Kate Whiting
From Greta Thunberg to Sir David Attenborough, the headline-grabbing climate change activists and environmentalists of today are predominantly white. But like many areas of society, those whose voices are heard most often are not necessarily representative of the whole.
<p><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/8-black-environmentalists-need-know/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental issues are deeply interconnected with racial justice</a> as Black people have historically been disproportionately impacted by pollution, climate change and lack of access to green space.</p><p>In June 2020, 25 Black environmental leaders published an open letter calling for an end to the '<a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/Statement%20on%20systemic%20and%20pervasive%20racism%20within%20the%20environmental%20field.pdf" target="_blank">systemic and pervasive racism within the environmental field</a>.' They called for an end to negative narratives around Black people and their relationship with nature in the U.S., Europe and Africa and listed solutions to eradicate racism, from education to ensuring access to wildlife.</p><p>From environmental justice advocates to scientists and social entrepreneurs, here are just a handful of the many Black environmentalists who have contributed to our global understanding of the need to look after our planet.</p>
1. Wangari Maathai
<p>In 2004, Professor Maathai made history as the <a href="https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/Prize-winners/Prizewinner-documentation/Wangari-Maathai" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize</a> for her dedication to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She started the <a href="http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Green Belt Movement</a>, a community-based tree planting initiative that aims to reduce poverty and encourage conservation, in 1977. More than 51 million trees have been planted helping build climate resilience and empower communities, especially women and girls. Her environmental work is celebrated every year on <a href="http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/node/955" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wangari Maathai Day on 3 March</a>.</p>​2. Robert Bullard
<p>Known as the 'father of environmental justice,' Dr Bullard has <a href="https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2020/robert-bullard" target="_blank">campaigned against harmful waste</a> being dumped in predominantly Black neighborhoods in the southern states of the U.S. since the 1970s. His first book, Dumping in Dixie, highlighted the link between systemic racism and environmental oppression, showing how the descendants of slaves were exposed to higher-than-average levels of pollutants. In 1994, his work led to the signing of the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/albert-huang/20th-anniversary-president-clintons-executive-order-12898-environmental-justice" target="_blank">Executive Order on Environmental Justice</a>, which the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/" target="_blank">Biden administration is building on</a>.<br></p>Â
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7983f54726debdd824f97f9ad3bdbb87"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T_VjSGk8s18?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4OTYxMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzA2NTg5MH0.Bo1gWG2ciWhbBFN5X0pX5h68T566FLm1eO_ulQYYjqg/img.png?width=980" id="31f4c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="685c35c43855fcf8319ac2edba5e4fd2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1696" data-height="1204" />
Pollution has a race problem. Elizabethwarren.com
3. John Francis
<p>Helping the clean-up operation after an oil spill in San Francisco Bay in January 1971 inspired Francis to <a href="https://planetwalk.org/about-john/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stop taking motorized transport</a>. Instead, for 22 years, he walked everywhere. He also took a vow of silence that lasted 17 years, so he could listen to others. He has walked the width of the U.S. and sailed and walked through South America, earning the nickname "Planetwalker," and raising awareness of how interconnected people are with the environment.</p>Â
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09b968e0e9964e31406954dcea45981d"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vgQjL23_FoU?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>4. Dr. Warren Washington
<p>A meteorology and climate pioneer, Dr. Washington was one of the first people to develop atmospheric computer models in the 1960s, which have helped scientists understand climate change. These models now also incorporate the oceans and sea ice, surface water and vegetation. In 2007, the <a href="https://www.cgd.ucar.edu/pcm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parallel Climate Model (PCM)</a> and <a href="https://www.cesm.ucar.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Community Earth System Model (CESM)</a>, earned Dr. Washington and his colleagues the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2007/summary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nobel Peace Prize</a>, as part of the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>.</p>Â
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09fbf6dc37f275f438a0d53ec0fe1874"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bvJ4jTy2mTk?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>5. Angelou Ezeilo
<p>Huge trees and hikes to pick berries during her childhood in upstate New York inspired Ezeilo to become an environmentalist and set up the <a href="https://gyfoundation.org/staff/Angelou-Ezeilo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Greening Youth Foundation</a>, to educate future generations about the importance of preservation. Through its schools program and Youth Conservation Corps, the social enterprise provides access to nature to disadvantaged children and young people in the U.S. and West Africa. In 2019, Ezeilo published her book <em>Engage, Connect, Protect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders</em>, co-written by her Pulitzer Prize-winning brother Nick Chiles.</p>Â
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Algal blooms from fertilizer pollution are among the causes behind global coastal darkening. Gooddenka / Getty Images
Coastal waters around the world are growing darker from pollution and runoff. This has the potential to create huge problems for the ocean and its marine life.
<p>Coastal darkening is a change in the color and clarity of water. According to <a href="https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/the-environmental-threat-youve-never-heard-of/" target="_blank">Hakai Magazine</a>, the underlying causes include fertilizer pollution creating algal blooms, along with boats stirring up silt. Both of these issues block light. Even heavy rains can contribute when they loosen organic matter from decaying plants and soil, carrying them to the ocean as a brown, light-blocking slurry, Hakai Magazine noted.</p><p>According to <a href="https://sciencenorway.no/environmental-surveillance-ocean/the-sea-along-norways-coast-has-gotten-darker-thats-bad-news-for-fish-seagrass-and-kelp/1804006" target="_blank">Science Norway</a>, sunlight hitting these particles gets absorbed or blocked, instead of penetrating further down the water column. The result is that the underwater world is darker. Science Norway also reported that the amount of loose organic material that ends up in the sea has increased during the last 30 years.</p><p>"It's affecting the quality of the sea we know," Oliver Zielinski, who runs the <a href="https://uol.de/en/icbm/collaborative-projects/coastal-ocean-darkening" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Coastal Ocean Darkening project</a> at the University of Oldenburg in Germany, told Hakai Magazine.</p><p>According to the <a href="https://uol.de/en/icbm/collaborative-projects/coastal-ocean-darkening" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">project's website</a>, "Light availability in the coastal ocean is closely coupled to its physical, biological and chemical processes and is experiencing changes on all spatial and temporal scales." This will have profound ecological implications that are just beginning to be understood.</p>
<p>First, physical impediments create biological changes in water. A study from the Coastal Ocean Darkening project published in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.547829/full" target="_blank">Frontiers in Marine Science</a> showed that as more organic matter blocked sunlight from penetrating the water, phytoplankton concentrations dropped. Because phytoplankton are the base of the oceanic food chain, decreasing numbers and shifting concentrations of specific types could have catastrophic, cascading consequences for the entire ecosystem, Hakai Magazine reported.</p><p>Over time, other biological changes in marine life might be observed, the study found. Decreased light availability benefits creatures such as jellyfish that don't rely on sight to hunt, while hindering those that are visual hunters, such as fish, Hakai Magazine reported. A <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230774741_Coastal_water_darkening_and_implications_for_mesopelagic_regime_shifts_in_Norwegian_fjords" target="_blank">2009 study</a> found that coastal water darkening was implicated in regime shifts of predominant animals in Norwegian fjords. For example, jellyfish enjoyed a "mass occurrence" after more than 70 years of coastal darkening in the fjords. </p><p>A 2021 report of Norwegian fjords found that darkening makes life difficult for plankton, kelp, seagrass and fish because all depend on light to make their food, reported Science Norway. Reductions in vast ecosystems, such as kelp forests and seagrass beds because of light scarcity, have negative consequences for fish species that use these areas as nurseries, the report added.</p><p>The Coastal Ocean Darkening study predicted that ongoing and future <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate change</a> would intensify this darkening. The climate crisis and warming ocean temperatures will <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-extreme-weather-2639274656.html" target="_self">result in more extreme weather</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-crisis-hurricanes-wetter-2639175731.html" target="_self">increased rainfall</a>, Science Norway reported. These, in turn, will intensify runoff into coastal ecosystems, causing browner, darker water. Human activity and changes in land use could also result in "large pulses of soil and sediment" smothering coastal ecosystems and reducing light penetration and water clarity, Hakai Magazine reported.</p>
<p>A separate study from the Norwegian Institute for Water Research published by the <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b03093" target="_blank">American Chemical Society</a> found that ocean darkening is also changing the chemical makeup of the water. When less light penetrates, methyl mercury, which results when sunlight breaks down toxic chemicals, lingers and accumulates in the water. This allows methyl mercury and other organic contaminants to readily transfer into the fish food web and, eventually, humans, Hakai Magazine reported.</p><p>So, what can be done?</p><p>Science Norway suggested stricter land-use regulations for areas that drain to rivers and other bodies of water. Reducing nutrient runoff to these areas will also reduce the amount that eventually makes it to the sea.</p><p>"For example, the authorities could impose stricter regulations on when farmers are allowed to plow their fields, or a requirement to preserve wetlands," said Helene Frigstad, the project manager behind the 2021 report on Norwegian fjords.</p><p>With this relatively unknown environmental phenomenon already altering waterways along the world's coasts, more research is needed to pinpoint exact consequences and potential solutions.</p>
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Congresswoman Deb Haaland, seen here on December 19, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware, is poised to become the next U.S. Secretary of Interior pending Senate confirmation hearings. Alex Edelman / AFP / Getty Images
After a second day of Senate hearings, Representative Deb Haaland (D-NM) is poised to become the first Native to serve as Secretary of the Interior (or any such high-ranking cabinet position.)
<p>It was clear the GOP appeared to hold her to a standard far different from the unqualified or corrupt Trump nominees it approved, with incendiary language and attacks "<a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VW61Bk3sp0N8W5mpsPb5Y5z_6W6klx534ntv9hN24tzww3p_9rV1-WJV7CgXbMW3vYcZf2yvM5_VJdRXZ7TTT6sVdgt2m5mzDv6W5X8hFn50c6RRW947RK12Yzjt2W98hSVl6SC_c6W5S8ZBR5bbvfYW7C2BVT3RVTsYW2TbKH080q4Z1W3SdsNS7WX_nmN7by4YjRZ_-ZN5q3JnkyDq_bW6PK8761rdFZ0N4YLf4hJ9nSBW8y8zXX88gWPrW4ZlRQ-60wqgHW2yBZY149214mW5L4Ygy6cPr7YW5D3Vcw3zkRt6W389ZnG5pbckrV5NsFT4GXc0pW34PVn81JBGc5W6L4Cnq87zG8yV74vcj3rldLBW6zcG648VnflXW49Tyl44TD_Q_38Q21" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">premised on settler colonialism.</a>" </p><p>While Indigenous groups and others, like Senator Elizabeth Warren sang her praises, it was moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin who stood as the potentially undecided vote. Coming from fossil-fuel-friendly West Virginia, Manchin's initial reluctance suggested Haaland's nomination might be in trouble. </p><p>But after her second day of hearings, in which she repeatedly stated she would push the Biden administration's agenda, Manchin released a statement signaling his support for her nomination, virtually ensuring Haaland will have the votes to make history.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/debforinterior-we-are-ready-to-make-history-qhx9jdf-okyGe41Zio2FyQ?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_p9VoM0wqt1DX7ynnFm3lFGEVwT3Uo4ZopeeU1n1erC1WG47D1PIlbLY9c3UYh63oFD3nIdHA3HhgFA2F5oykv346_xAFfk1o4GFjOYk9UrOezDHU&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Indian Country Today,</a> <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/a-historic-run-support-for-auntie-deb-szgCQ7fr10a-1ZiZLgCurA?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8cTxNUneN75zchInT0k1O9kP-Krkvw3ke-KzYIpeycal92S2xWKZkiYu5TcnmVqVUIfCa9RcspF0eeyM-oSsjIsQh8fGoSTVtp4IhlmjNxCKpc0Ug&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Indian Country Today</a>, <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/indian-country-defends-deb-haaland-nZBNTaP750e-AobbIobSaw?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--a1lW1MmTlCg7VxpAEkRRhNqiFbYGkgMIQVWyC6YzE37NPITy9B1aRTz4yloNJS3sjXqmlqcRFgexEMtLqjKAygn6G6X7ulC0aT2xvgZitFD4tQxU&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Indian Country Today</a>, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2021/02/24/stories/1063725905?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--NkklQ79bZQw_O5kfv-B_tc5HDMPrCOzCHtFcUl9VoKrJfsJWNsS9nYLP0KiODMtU3TVGhRR62RH9DYiHXoGS0Ri4TEashyr4QK2_NiXzbn_zIMOE&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E,</a> <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/540305-haaland-on-drilling-lease-moratorium-its-not-going-to-be-a?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9-VPuOR-l01pWuj07I3X-SS1RnRxXiIS_U6ph9VlY0ZV9IajktL0PJH8wEFQSQxVOHtCcBjfpEqiLa3_CTWFF9SBXiLLDNLx64bIMOpKTjJtO1neM&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Hill</a>, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/02/24/stories/1063725917?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--ZWgjS2zArv5d1CKPSZZPPMwAsx3kv09pkcwklZ6OKVUdImC-yhJnXm-qX_c8F-Rb2pDfMLQzYqFOktAOn--m-TfHnF2_xPu6FGMKKXIo8Z9E-bDM&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/climate/deb-haaland-interior-secretary.html?searchResultPosition=2&utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_lIccuHeSWCi0XXA1VeqHm2k7vkabdei6KROmXgzS7KTzMj_KWfUakElz96Yl5Ehzo0z2vucw6hqkXxdh03LFeeC_kVBzkNVoMTnhZqw5suj5fax4&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/deb-haaland-senate.html?searchResultPosition=3&utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_UCsi8hnEJhWYfM6L_RP5hQfUOlLFOJaAxvC5TS-IPddFCVy5i7fZJYxr0BpOMB8Yqcf8lUZmXufHydJuRUqP926k7jMB6wxofUb54F47QH2o9eDM&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, <a 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href="https://login.politicopro.com/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscriber.politicopro.com%2Farticle%2F2021%2F02%2Fhaaland-backs-bidens-move-to-block-keystone-xl-pipeline-project-3987202%3Futm_campaign%3DHot%2520News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Wi8j19V1F9rPalfTw7EZx2iWLqoJ9f9aTDjB5Si71DQkbsPOEwj7pT9OexevjbnvGgFfkZzfsJWt71iUyja6sc56a9B8nQOZf9Z5BZEfGS91s64w&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Politico Pro</a>,<a href="https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2021/02/24/stories/1063725919?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112905932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_H1jBZbAg5AMzefRfNvgoEscDoQ35ptHC6adNwWRMXPsl6JzQhffSgGBQRqLTHoh12Z1eiV0r5qYNShO5yDOQAgMFsdaU6KjJX2sIbPKJ1-J8dDc8&utm_content=112905932&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank"> E&E,</a><a 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