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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Yves Adams / Instagram
A rare yellow penguin has been photographed for what is believed to be the first time.
<p>Belgian <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> photographer Yves Adams snapped the shot in December 2019 on an island in South Georgia during a two-month expedition, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/yellow-penguin-photo-south-atlantic-b1804738.html" target="_blank">The Independent reported</a>. However, he first posted the photograph on Instagram this month.</p><p>"While unpacking our rubberboats merely after landing on a remote beach on the island of South-Georgia, this leucistic King penguin walked up straight to our direction in the middle of a chaos full of Sea elephants and Antarctic fur seals, and thousands of other King penguins," Adams wrote in his post. "How lucky could I be!"</p>
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<p>Leucism is a genetic mutation that causes some but not all of an animal's melanin to disappear, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/yellow-penguin-south-georgia.html" target="_blank">Live Science explained</a>. King penguins typically have black and white feathers with a yellow bow-tie-like stripe on the collar. Melanin, or dark pigment, is responsible for the darker feathers. While pigment anomalies in penguins are rare, they can be either melanistic (all black), albanistic (all white) or leucistic (a mix of both).</p><p>Dee Boersma, a University of Washington conservation biologist who was not a part of Adams's expedition, told Live Science that she agreed with his diagnosis.</p>
<p>However, Kevin McGraw, an integrative behavioral ecologist at Arizona State University who also was not a part of the expedition, was less sure, as he told Live Science:</p><blockquote>"It does look albino from the perspective that it lacks all melanin" in its plumage, feet and eyes, McGraw said. Still, "we'd need feather samples for biochemical testing if we aimed to unequivocally document," whether melanin is present, he said.</blockquote><blockquote>Animals can be albino but still have non-melanin pigment, he added.</blockquote>
<p>McGraw added that the mutation might put the unique penguin at a disadvantage, since penguins use their coloring for choosing mates and protecting themselves from both predators and the sun.</p><p>"It's conceivable that such color aberrations could impact both survival and reproduction," McGraw said.</p><p>For whatever the reason, the white-and-yellow coloring is rare enough that it has never been seen before, as far as experts are aware. A white chinstrap penguin was spotted in Antarctica in 2012, The Independent reported.</p><p>The rarity made Adams feel especially lucky to get a chance to photograph this individual. He said that it was one of at least 120,000 penguins in the colony.</p><p>"It was heaven that he landed by us. If it had been 50 metres away, we wouldn't have been able to get this show of a lifetime," Adams told The Independent.</p>
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More and more Americans are retrofitting their bathrooms with high-end bidets, allowing them to enjoy cleanliness and hygiene without creating as much paper waste. Not all bidets are created equal, however, and before deciding on a particular brand, it's important to do your homework. Take a look at our comprehensive Toto bidet review, and our reviews of Tushy and Omigo, to learn more about all of their options.
<h2>Toto overview</h2><p>Toto is a company that has been around for over 100 years. They aim to improve people's quality of life, and they do that specifically by focusing on bathrooms. To that end, Toto is known for high-quality products including toilets, faucets, showers, bathtubs, and bidets. </p><p>Toto has also expressed an admirable commitment to ecological stewardship. As <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/toto-way" target="_blank">their corporate website</a> notes, they strive to "protect the global environment by conserving finite natural resources and energy." One example of this is their donation of any imperfectly fired porcelain products for recycling and reuse as porcelain floor tile. Their <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/living-toto-library/smart-sustainable-packaging-solution" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">packaging</a> uses differing levels of recycled post-consumer paper products while their forklifts operate using <a href="https://www.totousa.com/about-toto/living-toto-library/plant-based-hydraulics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">plant-based hydraulics</a> made from soybean oil instead of traditional hydraulic oil.</p><p>Toto is definitely a company with a superior reputation when it comes to bathroom accessories in general, and bidets in particular. Here are reviews of some of the specific products in the Toto line.</p><h2>Toto bidet reviews</h2><p>There are two different bidet product families available from Toto: standalone bidets and bidet seat attachments. Their standalone models include the Piedmont bidet, the Lloyd bidet, and the Clayton bidet, while their bidet toilet seat offerings include a wide selection in the popular Washlet line. Here are details on the three standalone options and three of the most popular bidet seat attachments.</p><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><h3>Toto standalone bidets</h3><h4></h4>
<h2>Toto bidet pros and cons<br></h2><p>Whether you're considering a standalone bidet or a bidet seat attachment, here are some of the pros and cons to help you compare your options.</p><h3>Pros</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Standalone bidets, such as the ones offered by Toto, are designed in a wider range of elegant, contemporary styles. If you are looking to remodel your bathroom, splurging for a standalone bidet makes sense.</li><li>Toto offers a wide selection of bidet and bidet attachment options. Some of their more advanced units feature night lights, adjustable nozzle positions, warm air dryers, and adjustable settings for the temperature of the water.</li><li>All of the Toto bidet attachments we reviewed include self-cleaning nozzles for added hygiene. They are also designed for DIY installation, and easily connect to your existing toilet's water supply without the need for a plumber or electrician.</li></ul><h3>Cons</h3><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Toto's line of standalone bidets and bidet seat attachments are more expensive than some other brands, especially some of their more high-end models.</li><li>Standalone bidets may not be as convenient for those who have mobility issues.</li><li>All of Toto's bidet seat attachments are electric, and don't feature an eco or energy-saving mode like some other options.</li></ul><h2>The benefits of buying a bidet</h2><p>Why buy a bidet at all? There are plenty of perks, both for you and the planet:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Bidets offer a more thorough, hygienic cleaning than toilet paper.</li><li>They're considerably more eco-friendly, using less water and paper.</li><li>Because you'll use so much less toilet paper, bidets are also more cost-effective.</li><li>Compared with TP, bidets can be really soothing to the skin.</li><li>They have special benefits for women, and especially pregnant women, helping minimize the risk of a UTI.</li><li>Bidets are highly accessible, even to those with limited mobility.</li><li>A bidet makes it much easier to teach your children about proper bathroom hygiene.</li></ul><h2>Considerations when buying a bidet</h2><p>As you consider all of your options for getting a bidet, here are a few of the key factors to consider:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Look for a bidet with a self-cleaning nozzle. This will help keep things hygienic.</li><li>Electric vs. non-electric? Electric bidets can offer more comfort features, like a heated seat, but they also use more energy than a non-electric one.</li><li>Is it a standalone bidet, a bidet seat, or a bidet attachment? While a standalone bidet is a completely separate fixture from your toilet, a bidet seat will completely replace your existing seat and a bidet attachment will be installed onto your existing toilet seat. These are usually the least expensive, but also come with the fewest features.</li><li>Does the bidet connect to your home's hot water? If it doesn't, you will only be able to clean with cold water.</li><li>Make sure you can adjust the settings. For the most comfortable bidet, look for controls that let you customize the water pressure, the angle of the water stream, the temperature of the water, and the temperature of the seat, if it is heated.</li></ul><p>Use these questions to determine whether the bidets from Toto are right for you.</p><h2>Toto bidets: a leader in comfort and efficiency</h2><p>Toto makes durable, elegant, and highly functional products that will allow you to enjoy all the hygienic and environmental benefits of a bidet. You can also read our full review of the best bidets to compare with other brands like Brondell, Kohler, Tushy, and BioBidet.</p><p><em><strong>Josh Hurst </strong></em><em>is a journalist, critic, and essayist. He lives in Knoxville, TN, with his wife and three sons. His writing on natural health, nutrition, and supplements has appeared in Health, Shape, and Remedy Review.</em></p>
Piedmont
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjI3MjE3Nn0.QqBs95yaFQnGwAuf0t3XaSCc7pvrSEUalnl9UulrODg/img.jpg?width=980" id="a0c63" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9d10ad2b08c5d00642b44787c1b099ad" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT500B-01-Piedmont-Vertical/dp/B00084P3GO/ref=sr_1_3?crid=ZG6AGN0U9VQL&dchild=1&keywords=toto+piedmont+bidet&qid=1613591898&sprefix=toto+piedmo%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-3" target="_blank">Toto's Piedmont bidet</a> offers an elegant, classic design, and it also comes with built-in safeguards that prevent it from ever overflowing. It is available in several color options, and will look good with any contemporary bathroom design.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> This is the most affordable standalone bidet in Toto's catalog. This bidet is a good option if you are remodeling your bathroom or are building a home and want to save water and paper waste from the start. Priced starting at $533, you can find it through other retailers for around $280.</p>
$533
Lloyd
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTU0Nzk0Nn0.h9XeFBojZff_4Un8swlIoamX7xAwO1wH3RKAiiZb96k/img.jpg?width=980" id="e5d22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="83ff9c9b3ed8f1b5e92ff99c14ad9b0c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT930B-01-Vertical-Cotton/dp/B0015IVUOQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=toto%2Blloyd%2Bbidet&qid=1613592001&sr=8-2&th=1" target="_blank">Lloyd bidet</a> has a much bolder, "skirted" design, but it also shares the Piedmont's flushing rim and integral overflow features, which keep you from ever experiencing spillage.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>This is a fancier product with a more striking appearance, and is mainly suited for a larger, more formal design. It retails for a slightly higher price point: The Lloyd model starts at $780 in total, but you can find it for $526 through other retailers.</p>
$780
Clayton
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTI4MTYyNn0.xNOnfejHaWbEVHRbO1vFVdUoWbFvevja40qRVr6L4dI/img.jpg?width=980" id="df200" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0cdb567e670fb2e46f50fbc43c99158c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The company's flagship standalone bidet is known as the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-BT784B-01-Clayton-Vertical/dp/B0018L9JUC/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=toto+clayton+bidet&qid=1613592108&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Clayton</a>. It includes the same overflow safeguards as the other two, and of course, each of these products is backed by Toto's longstanding commitment to excellent craftsmanship.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>This is the most traditional in its visual style, and, with a number of colors to choose from, it will look great in almost any bathroom design. The Clayton starts at $734, but is available through other retailers for around $426.</p>
$734
<h3>Toto bidet seats</h3>
Toto Washlet C200
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTY3OTY1M30.3coYAuyqJLBcw8hQszI8Shbcfyr6nn9V0ek-kXv2kgQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="61762" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b7c91d2511149e271c7f0139f1580788" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>This electronic smart bidet seat fits onto your existing toilet bowl and offers a number of comfort features, including a heated seat, automatic air deodorizer, adjustable warm water, warm air dryer, self-cleaning wand, and a wireless remote control.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> We chose the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UCIOX2Q/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=-XjvJQOmffOcAmiCOZvtAA&hsa_cr_id=7413316040901&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=0e0e7f3d-0baf-4977-85d3-663f618a76d8&pd_rd_w=Yi3yF&pd_rd_wg=LUFHB&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi3d_asin_1_img" target="_blank">Toto C200</a> as the overall best bidet in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/best-bidet-toilet-seats-2650502928.html" target="_self">our review</a> of top brands. In addition to the features mentioned, its dual action oscillating and pulsating spray and pre-mist function provide a comfortable and sanitary clean.</p>
$715
Toto Washlet S500e with EWATER+
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDgzOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTgzNTIyMH0.idaacYO4MzHGTeajRkSCVHOo3TH7tehRN8TAH2s75ko/img.jpg?width=980" id="f6ed5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="87fa67b17e4c8e06f74bfbce87bf4809" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-SW3046-01-Electronic-Contemporary/dp/B078GTKSXK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=15NGPC9YFANKH&dchild=1&keywords=toto+s500e&qid=1613960063&sprefix=toto+s500e%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-2" target="_blank">Toto Washlet S500e</a> bidet seat includes the features found in the C200, plus instantaneous water heating, front and rear wash functions, two-user preset memory, and the company's <a href="https://www.totousa.com/technologies/ewater" target="_blank">EWATER+ technology</a>. This system uses electrolyzed water to keep the wand and toilet bowl clean.</p><p><strong>Why buy:</strong> This high-end Toto electric bidet seat can help you reduce water and toilet paper use, and it can help reduce the need for chemical cleaning products with its EWATER+ technology.</p>
$1530
Toto Washlet A100
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MDg0Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzU0OTU3MH0.g2PYzguGXvB1l7RvWBcw_xNtlpy8hsmcwui8Twr3CMA/img.jpg?width=980" id="08295" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d3d798b5d7737cddaadfd9f6fa5a84d6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Toto USA
<p>The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TOTO-SW2014-01-Electronic-SoftClose/dp/B0165UFOGS/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=30E9Y1LAN9ZRW&dchild=1&keywords=toto+washlet+a100+elongated+bidet+toilet+seat&qid=1613589664&sprefix=toto+washlet+a100%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFBR1FMUTdJR1hXNUEmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAyNjIwOTkxUE1EWk5CQjg2QTZPJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0NDc1MzExSk1UMk5CQzJYVUhVJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==" target="_blank">A100</a> is an entry-level Washlet bidet attachment, but still offers numerous comfort features. It includes a heated seat with temperature control, aerated warm water with a dual action spray, and an attached arm control panel.</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>One of the most affordable Toto bidet options, it still lets you adjust the water temperature and pressure settings, and features rear and front cleaning functionality for a feminine wash.</p>
$499
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The Crystal building in London, England is the first building in the world to be awarded an outstanding BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) rating and a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum rating. Alphotographic / Getty Images
By Stuart Braun
We spend 90% of our time in the buildings where we live and work, shop and conduct business, in the structures that keep us warm in winter and cool in summer.
But immense energy is required to source and manufacture building materials, to power construction sites, to maintain and renew the built environment. In 2019, building operations and construction activities together accounted for 38% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, the highest level ever recorded.
<p>To ensure that the Paris climate targets are met, the building and construction industry needs to become a climate leader by moving towards net-zero construction. Its CO2 emissions need to be cut in half by 2030 for building stock to be carbon-free by 2050, according to a recent <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/building-sector-emissions-hit-record-high-low-carbon-pandemic" target="_blank">report</a> by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).</p><p>In response, a raft of new net-zero building initiatives are focused on curbing emissions across the whole building lifecycle.</p><p>DW looks at five key points in understanding the push to carbon-free construction.</p>
<h3>1. Urbanization Is Skyrocketing, and That's a Problem</h3><p>A rapidly urbanizing world is compounding the massive impact of buildings and infrastructure on the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a>. According to urban climate-action initiative <a href="https://www.c40.org/networks/clean-construction-forum" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">C40 Cities,</a> 2.5 billion more people will flood cities (mostly in Asia and Africa) in the next three decades, while 60% of buildings required by 2050 still have to be built.</p><p>With the equivalent of a city of around 1.5 million people being constructed each week, carbon-heavy construction is skyrocketing, meaning the sector must rapidly decarbonize if global heating is to remain within the IPCC's limit of 1.5- to well below 2 degrees Celsius <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/will-it-soon-be-too-late-to-save-the-climate/a-49889771" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">above 1990 levels.</a></p><p>This will not be easy.</p><p>A <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/energy/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/energy-performance-buildings-directive_en?redir=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">European Union directive</a> to achieve nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEBs) in all new structures by the end of 2020 was on track to achieve an 80% CO2 reduction, according to Lukas Kranzl, a senior scientist at the Vienna-based Energy Economics Group that is <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/projects/en/projects/zebra2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">monitoring</a> the nZEBs. Kranzl says this won't be enough to meet the Paris targets.</p><p>"We will need [almost] complete decarbonization in the building sector before 2050," he told DW, meaning that 95-100% emission cuts will be required.</p>
<h3>2. Independent Initiatives Might Have the Solution</h3><p>While Kranzl fears that some EU member states are not on the path to building and construction decarbonization, new independent initiatives are bringing together cities, companies and organizations to achieve net-zero building across the whole lifecycle.</p><p>The World Green Building Council's (WorldGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment is one such global initiative in which diverse stakeholders pledge to reach net-zero emissions for all new buildings by 2030, and all buildings by 2050.</p><p>Created in partnership with C40, the target was upgraded in September 2019 to include <a href="https://www.worldgbc.org/sites/default/files/WorldGBC_Bringing_Embodied_Carbon_Upfront.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">embodied carbon</a>, which is to say emissions generated, not only during operational life but "during the manufacturing, transportation, construction and end of life phases of all built assets." Embodied carbon itself contributes around 11% of all global carbon emissions.</p><p>According to Victoria Burrows, director of Advancing Net Zero at the World Green Building Council, this shift reflects a "wholesized approach to carbon emissions in the building and construction sector."</p><p>While net-zero buildings were previously focused on operational performance, especially in terms of energy efficiency via solar power or passive design, embodied emissions include the significant "upfront" emissions created during the extraction and manufacture of building materials. The whole lifecycle measure includes "use stage" and "end of life" carbon generated through building maintenance and final deconstruction.</p>
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<h3>3. Cement Causes More Pollution Than You Would Think</h3><p>When addressing embodied emissions, the construction phase that generates around 25% of greenhouse emissions is fundamental to the net-zero building revolution.</p><p>Reducing reliance on <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/carbon-intensive-cement-industry-feeling-the-heat/a-50546807" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">carbon-intensive cement</a>, the most widely used building material on earth that alone accounts for around <a href="https://reader.chathamhouse.org/making-concrete-change-innovation-low-carbon-cement-and-concrete#" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">8% of global CO2 emissions,</a> will be key.</p><p>Designers of carbon-neutral building are replacing cement framing in larger buildings with new sustainable cross-laminated <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/wood-renewable-construction-material-of-the-future/a-42012053" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">timber,</a> for example. Achieving a 20% reduction in building weight is matched by a similar reduction in "embodied energy." The end result is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710219302542" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">26.5% reduction in the "global warming potential"</a> of the building.</p><p>A new five-story apartment building in Boston's Roxbury district is leading the way. Its designers <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2020/mass-timber-sustainable-building-boston-0305" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">are using the revolutionary timber framing</a> to significantly reduce emissions from steel and concrete and achieve a net-zero standard.</p>
<h3>4. Scandinavia Is Becoming a Net-Zero Pioneer</h3><p>A report released by C40 in October 2019 showed that the construction industry alone could cut emissions from buildings and infrastructure by 44% by 2050. Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm have since <a href="https://www.c40.org/press_releases/mayors-of-copenhagen-oslo-and-stockholm-commit-to-clean-construction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">committed to take a leadership role</a> in creating a global market for low-emission construction materials and zero-emission machinery.</p><p>Oslo, for instance, aims to make all city-owned construction machinery and construction sites operate with zero emissions by 2025. Meanwhile, Copenhagen's bold plan to be climate-neutral by 2025 will draw heavily on its commitment to zero-carbon construction. This will be achieved in part through "fossils- or emission-free construction machinery in construction projects," said Frank Jensen, mayor of Copenhagen.</p><p>With Stockholm also part of a cross-border tender for sustainable procurement of mobile construction machinery, such unified demand is designed to send a signal to the market, according to Victoria Burrows. The end result will be to "create a ripple effect" that will help kickstart the net-zero building transition.</p>
<h3>5. Diverse Sectors Embracing Carbon-Free Construction</h3><p>The success of the net-zero carbon buildings commitment hinges on involving stakeholders across the whole building supply chain, says Burrows. With building and construction able to "cut across many other sectors" in the fight against climate change, she notes that cement and engineering firms, cultural institutions like the Sydney Opera House, universities and city governments are committing to net-zero building.</p><p>So, too, are real-estate companies that might once have prioritized profits over reducing emissions. British global property giant Grosvenor Group and Canada's Avison Young, another international real-estate powerhouse, are among many others implementing a net-zero building roadmap — with or without government targets.</p><p>In December, Grosvenor Europe committed to reducing its carbon impact by 50% by 2030. It will partly achieve this by cutting energy use in its buildings by one-third, and the embodied carbon intensity of its developments by one half.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/5-things-to-know-about-carbon-free-construction/a-52747374" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A mix of public and private forests in Oregon's Coast Range. Beverly Law / CC BY-ND
By Beverly Law and William Moomaw
Protecting forests is an essential strategy in the fight against climate change that has not received the attention it deserves. Trees capture and store massive amounts of carbon. And unlike some strategies for cooling the climate, they don't require costly and complicated technology.
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<p>Yet although <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/one-trillion-trees-world-economic-forum-launches-plan-to-help-nature-and-the-climate/" target="_blank">tree-planting initiatives are popular</a>, protecting and restoring existing forests rarely attracts the same level of support. As an example, forest protection was notably missing from the $447 million <a href="https://www.energy.senate.gov/services/files/32B4E9F4-F13A-44F6-A0CA-E10B3392D47A" target="_blank">Energy Act of 2020</a>, which the U.S. Congress passed in December 2020 to jump-start technological carbon capture and storage.</p><p>In our work as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=J2KWqAoAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">forest carbon cycle</a> and <a href="https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/william-moomaw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate change</a> scientists, we track carbon emissions from forests to wood products and all the way to landfills – and from forest fires. Our research shows that protecting carbon in forests is essential for meeting global climate goals.</p>
<p>Ironically, we see the U.S. <a href="https://www.energy.gov/fe/services/petroleum-reserves/strategic-petroleum-reserve" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategic Petroleum Reserve</a> as a model. This program, which was created after the 1973 oil crisis to guard against future supply disruptions, stores nearly 800 million gallons of oil in huge underground salt caverns along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. We propose creating strategic forest carbon reserves to store carbon as a way of stabilizing the climate, much as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve helps to stabilize oil markets.</p>
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The U.S. has more than 800 million acres of natural and planted forests and woodlands, of which nearly 60% are privately owned. USDA / USFS
<h3>Carbon Stockpiles That Grow</h3><p>Forests pull about one-third of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere each year. Researchers have calculated that ending <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation">deforestation</a> and allowing mature forests to keep growing could <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25138" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">enable forests to take up twice as much carbon</a>.</p><p>Half of a tree's stems, branches and roots are composed of carbon. Live and dead trees, along with forest soil, hold the equivalent of <a href="http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca9825en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">80% of all the carbon currently in Earth's atmosphere</a>.</p><p>Trees accumulate carbon over extremely long periods of time. For example, redwoods, Douglas firs and western red cedars in the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest can live for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0901970106" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">800 years or more</a>. When they die and decompose, much of that carbon ends up in soil, where it is stored for centuries or millennia.</p><p>Mature trees that have reached full root, bark and canopy development deal with climate variability better than young trees. Older trees also store more carbon. <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-old-growth-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Old-growth trees</a>, which usually are hundreds of years old, store enormous quantities of carbon in their wood, and accumulate more carbon annually.</p>
<p>There are many fallacies about forest carbon storage, such as the concern that wildfires in the American West are <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/California-wildfires-emitted-a-huge-amount-of-15775044.php" target="_blank">releasing huge quantities of carbon</a> into the atmosphere. In fact, fires are a relatively small carbon source. For example, the massive Biscuit Fire, which burned 772 square miles in southwest Oregon in 2002, emitted <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1720064115" target="_blank">less than 10% of Oregon's total emissions that year</a>.</p><p>Another false claim is that it's OK from a climate perspective to cut trees and turn them into furniture, plywood and other items because <a href="https://oregonforests.org/sites/default/files/2020-07/OFRI_CarbonSpecialReport_DIGITAL.pdf" target="_blank">wood products</a> can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904231116" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">store substantial amounts of carbon</a>. These assertions fail to count <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-016-0066-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cradle-to-grave emissions</a> from logging and manufacturing, which can be substantial.</p><p>The wood products industry releases carbon in many ways, from manufacturing products and burning mill waste to the breakdown of short-lived items like paper towels. It takes decades to centuries for newly planted forests to accumulate the carbon storage levels of mature and old forests, and many planted forests are <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-3691-2013" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">repeatedly harvested</a>.</p>
<p>In a review that we conducted with colleagues in 2019, we found that overall, U.S. state and federal reporting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab28bb" target="_blank">underestimated wood product-related carbon dioxide emissions by 25% to 55%</a>. We analyzed Oregon carbon emissions from wood that had been harvested over the past century and discovered that 65% of the original carbon returned to the atmosphere as CO2. Landfills retained 16%, while just 19% remained in wood products.</p><p>In contrast, protecting high carbon-density western U.S. forests that have low vulnerability to mortality from drought or fire would sequester the equivalent of about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2039" target="_blank">six years</a> of fossil fuel emissions from the entire western U.S., from the Rocky Mountain states to the Pacific coast.</p>
<h3>Focus on Big Trees</h3><p>In a recently published analysis of carbon storage in six national forests in Oregon, we showed why a strategic forest carbon reserve program should <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.594274" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">focus on mature and old forests</a>. Big trees, with trunks more than 21 inches in diameter, make up just 3% of these forests but store 42% of the above-ground carbon. Globally, a 2018 study found that the largest-diameter 1% of trees hold <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12747" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">half of all the carbon stored in the world's forests</a>.</p><p>Findings like these are spurring interest in the idea of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00027" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proforestation</a> – keeping existing forests intact and letting them grow to their full potential. Advocates see proforestation as an effective, immediate and low-cost strategy to store carbon. Older forests are more resilient to climate change than <a href="https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v64i0.17159" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">young</a> tree plantations, which are more susceptible to drought and severe wildfires. Like the 2,000-year-old redwoods in California that have <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-000-year-old-redwoods-survive-wildfire-california-s-oldest-n1237949" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">survived recent wildfires</a>, many tree species in old forests have lived through past climate extremes.</p><p>Creating forest carbon reserves would also conserve critical habitat for many types of wildlife that are threatened by human activities. Connecting these reserves to other parks and refuges could help <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-climate-corridors-help-species-adapt-to-warming-world-61190" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">species that need to migrate</a> in response to climate change.</p>
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<h3>Using Forests to Meet Climate Goals</h3><p>More than half of U.S. forested lands <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/inf/nrs_inf_31_15-NWOS-whoowns.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">are privately owned</a>, so strategic forest carbon reserves should be established on both public and private lands. The challenge is paying for them, which will require a major shift in government and societal priorities. We believe that transferring public investment in oil and gas subsidies to pay private land owners to keep their forests growing could act as a <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/or/technical/cp/?cid=stelprdb1262209" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">powerful incentive</a> for private land owners.</p><p>Many researchers and conservation advocates have called for comprehensive actions to <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-solve-climate-change-and-biodiversity-loss-we-need-a-global-deal-for-nature-115557" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">slow climate change and reduce species losses</a>. One prominent example is the <a href="https://www.ncel.net/2020/02/27/30x30-land-and-water-conservation-in-the-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">30x30 initiative</a>, which seeks to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw2869" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conserve 30% of the world's land and oceans by 2030</a>. In an executive order on Jan. 27, 2021, President Biden directed his administration to develop plans for conserving at least 30% of <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" rel="noopener noreferrer">federally controlled lands and waters</a> by 2030.</p><p>Recent projections show that to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, governments will have to increase their pledges to reduce carbon emissions by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00097-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as much as 80%</a>. We see the next 10 to 20 years as a critical window for climate action, and believe that permanent protection for mature and old forests is the greatest opportunity for near-term climate benefits.</p>
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<em>Beverly Law is professor emeritus of global change biology and terrestrial systems science at Oregon State University.<br/>
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<em><span style="background-color: initial;">William Moomaw is p</span>rofessor emeritus of international environmental policy at Tufts University.</em>
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<em>Disclosure statements: Beverly Law receives funding from U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. She is a Fellow of the Earth Leadership Program. </em><em>William Moomaw receives funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. He is affiliated with the Woodwell Climate Research Center, the Climate Group – North America, the Earthwatch Institute and the Nature Conservancy.</em>
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<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-trees-in-the-ground-where-they-are-already-growing-is-an-effective-low-tech-way-to-slow-climate-change-154618" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154618/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>From Your Site Articles
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The Milky Way seen from the Izu Peninsula, Japan, on the Pacific Ocean coast. Krzysztof Baranowski / Moment / Getty Images
When you look up at the Milky Way, you may be looking at stars surrounded by planets with oceans like ours.
<p>A study published in<em> <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/8/eabc0444" target="_blank">Science Advances</a> </em>on Feb. 17 found that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water" target="_self">water</a> could have been part of Earth's early formation, increasing the likelihood that this would be the case for other planets, too.</p><p>"All our data suggest that water was part of Earth's building blocks, right from the beginning. And because the water molecule is frequently occurring, there is a reasonable probability that it applies to all planets in the Milky Way," study lead author professor Anders Johansen from the Centre for Star and Planet Formation at the GLOBE Institute at the University of Copenhagen said in a <a href="https://healthsciences.ku.dk/newsfaculty-news/2021/02/the-milky-way-may-be-swarming-with-planets-with-oceans-and-continents-like-here-on-earth/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
<p>Scientists previously theorized that water arrived on planets like Earth after they formed through collisions with ice asteroids. This would make the presence of water on any planet in the galaxy a matter of chance. But, in recent years, new theories have emerged. Another <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/origin-water-earth-2647413989.html" target="_self">paper published in August 2020</a> found that water may have been part of Earth's original building blocks.</p><p>That paper, led by the French-based Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, drew its conclusions by looking at the composition of a type of meteorite that has a similar composition to early Earth.</p>
<p>The new study, on the other hand, was based on computer models. The researchers modeled planet formation to see how long it would take using which building blocks. They calculated that Earth, Venus and Mars were all made through a process called "pebble accretion," in which millimeter-sized particles of dust and ice gather together into planets.</p><p>"Up to the point where Earth had grown to one percent of its current mass, our planet grew by capturing masses of pebbles filled with ice and carbon. Earth then grew faster and faster until, after five million years, it became as large as we know it today," Johansen said in the press release.</p>
<p>This theory does not require water to be brought to a planet from outside. Instead, what determines the presence of liquid water on the planet is how far it is from its sun. It also increases the likelihood that liquid water would form on other planets in our galaxy, since they could have formed in the same way from the same materials.</p><p>This, in turn, increases the chance that these planets would host extraterrestrial life.</p><p>'With our model, all planets get the same amount of water, and this suggests that other planets may have not just the same amount of water and oceans, but also the same amount of continents as here on Earth. It provides good opportunities for the emergence of life," study co-author professor Martin Bizzarro, also at the University of Copenhagen, said in the press release.</p>
<p>This is not the first study to suggest that other planets in our galaxy were likely to have oceans. A<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/are-planets-with-oceans-common-in-the-galaxy-it-s-likely-nasa-scientists-find" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> NASA-led study published in June of 2020</a> looked at the likelihood that other planets in the Milky Way would have ice-covered oceans similar to those on Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa. They calculated that 14 of the 53 planets they studied could be ocean worlds.</p>
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Earth’s Magnetic Field Broke Down 42,000 Years Ago, Causing Massive and Sudden Climate Change
23 February
Science
Illustration of Earth's magnetic fields. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Elen11 / iStock / Getty Images Plus
By Chris Fogwill, Alan Hogg, Chris Turney and Zoë Thomas
The world experienced a few centuries of apocalyptic conditions 42,000 years ago, triggered by a reversal of Earth's magnetic poles combined with changes in the Sun's behavior. That's the key finding of our new multidisciplinary study, published in Science.
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<p>This last major geomagnetic reversal triggered a series of dramatic events that have far-reaching consequences for our planet. They read like the plot of a horror movie: the ozone layer was destroyed, electrical storms raged across the tropics, solar winds generated spectacular light shows (auroras), Arctic air poured across North America, ice sheets and glaciers surged and weather patterns shifted violently.</p><p>During these events, life on Earth was exposed to intense ultraviolet light, Neanderthals and giant animals known as megafauna went extinct, while modern humans sought protection in caves.</p>
<p>The magnetic north pole – where a compass needle points to – does not have a permanent location. Instead, it usually wobbles around close to the geographic north pole – the point around which Earth spins – over time due to movements within Earth's core.</p><p>For reasons still not entirely clear, magnetic pole movements can sometimes be more extreme than a wobble. One of the most dramatic of these pole migrations took place some 42,000 years ago and is known as the Laschamps Excursion – named after the village where it was discovered in the French Massif Central.</p><p>The Laschamps Excursion has been recognized around the world, including most recently in <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-the-first-australian-evidence-of-a-major-shift-in-earths-magnetic-poles-it-may-help-us-predict-the-next-155040" target="_blank">Tasmania, Australia</a>. But up until now, it has not been clear whether such magnetic changes had any impacts on climate and life on the planet. Our new work draws together multiple lines of evidence that strongly suggest the effects were indeed global and far-reaching.</p>
<h3>Ancient Trees</h3><p>To investigate what happened, we analyzed ancient New Zealand <a href="https://theconversation.com/lord-of-the-forest-new-zealands-most-sacred-tree-is-under-threat-from-disease-but-response-is-slow-100447" target="_blank">kauri trees</a> that had been preserved in peat bogs and other sediments for more than 40,000 years. Using the annual growth rings in the kauri trees, we have been able to create a detailed timescale of how Earth's atmosphere changed over this time. The trees revealed a prolonged spike in atmospheric radiocarbon levels caused by the collapse of Earth's magnetic field as the poles switched, providing a way of precisely linking widely geographically dispersed records.</p>
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<p>"The kauri trees are like the Rosetta Stone, helping us tie together records of environmental change in caves, ice cores, and peat bogs around the world," said professor Alan Cooper, who co-led this research project.</p><p>Using the newly-created timescale, we were able to show that tropical Pacific rain belts and the Southern Ocean westerly winds abruptly shifted at the same time, bringing arid conditions to places like Australia at the same time as a range of megafauna, including giant kangaroos and giant wombats <a href="https://theconversation.com/dna-evidence-proves-climate-change-killed-off-prehistoric-megafauna-45080" target="_blank">went extinct</a>. Further north, the vast Laurentide Ice Sheet rapidly grew across the eastern U.S. and Canada, while in Europe the Neanderthals spiraled into extinction.</p>
<h3>Climate Modeling</h3><p>Working with a computer program that simulated the global interactions between chemistry and the climate, we investigated the impact of a weaker magnetic field and changes in the Sun's strength. Importantly, during the magnetic switch, the strength of the magnetic field plummeted to less than 6% of what it is today. A compass back then would struggle to even find north.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3Njc4NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNzE0OTcyNX0._6giz_hkdx8BolumooinqSERhaRFMZEnSqsHFHaVG5I/img.jpg?width=980" id="c8f93" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b649fb72ee55c49e794cdcf3f90b1eb9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="676" />
An ancient kauri tree log from Ngāwhā, New Zealand. Nelson Parker, author provided
<p>With essentially no magnetic field, our planet totally lost its very effective shield against cosmic radiation, and many more of these very penetrating particles from space could access the top of the atmosphere. On top of this, the Sun experienced several "grand solar minima" throughout this period, during which the overall solar activity was generally much lower but also more unstable, sending out numerous massive solar flares that allowed more powerful ionizing cosmic rays to reach Earth.</p><p>Our models showed that this combination of factors had an amplifying effect. The high energy cosmic rays from the galaxy and also enormous bursts of cosmic rays from solar flares were able to penetrate the upper atmosphere, charging the particles in the air and causing chemical changes that drove the loss of stratospheric ozone.</p><p>The modeled chemistry-climate simulations are consistent with the environmental shifts observed in many natural climate and environmental change archives. These conditions would have also extended the dazzling light shows of the aurora across the world – at times, nights would have been as bright as daytime. We suggest the dramatic changes and unprecedented high UV levels caused early humans to seek shelter in caves, explaining the apparent sudden flowering of cave art across the world 42,000 years ago.</p><p>It must have seemed like the end of days.</p>
<h3>The Adams Event</h3><p>Because of the coincidence of seemingly random cosmic events and the extreme environmental changes found around the world 42,000 years ago, we have called this period the "Adams Event" – a tribute to the great science fiction writer Douglas Adams, who wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and identified "42" as the answer to life, the universe and everything. Douglas Adams really was onto something big, and the remaining mystery is how he knew?</p>
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<p>
<em>Chris Fogwill is a professor of glaciology and palaeoclimatology, and the head of school geography, geology and the environment and director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures, Keele University.<br/>
</em>
</p><p>
<em>Alan Hogg is a professor and director of the Carbon Dating Laboratory, University of Waikato.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Chris Turney is a professor of earth science and climate change, director of the Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre, director of Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, and UNSW director of the ARC Centre for Excellence in Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, UNSW.<br/>
</em>
</p><p>
<em>Zoë Thomas is an ARC DECRA fellow, UNSW.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statements: Chris Fogwill receives funding from UKRI and the Australian Research Council. A huge thanks to professor Alan Cooper, honorary researcher at the South Australian Museum, who co-led this study, adjunct professor Ken McCracken and Dr. Jonathan Palmer at the University of New South Wales, Drew Lorrey at the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Dr. Janet Willmshurst at Landcare Research and our co-authors on the published article.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Professor Alan Hogg works for University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. He is an associate investigator in a Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden grant - MFP-NIW1803: Dr. Andrew Lorrey, NIWA, Auckland, principal investigator.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Chris Turney receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is a scientific advisor to cleantech graphite company CarbonScape (<a href="https://www.carbonscape.com/" target="_blank">https://www.carbonscape.com</a>).</em>
</p><p>
<em>Zoë Thomas receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/earths-magnetic-field-broke-down-42-000-years-ago-and-caused-massive-sudden-climate-change-155580" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Gas utilities and industry trade groups are fighting across the country to prohibit municipalities from taking steps to cut greenhouse gas pollution from buildings. tomazl / Getty Images
Gas utilities and industry trade groups are fighting across the country to prohibit municipalities from taking steps to cut greenhouse gas pollution from buildings, efforts those utilities and groups view as an existential threat, NPR and the Washington Post report.
<p>The American Gas Association, which gets its funding from ratepayers via its member utilities, is actively involved in state-level efforts to prohibit localities from requiring new buildings to be fully electric, according to internal reports, emails and recordings of AGA executives reviewed by NPR. </p><p>Science shows extracting and burning gas is incompatible with cities' net-zero climate pollution goals because not only does gas emit carbon pollution when burned, its extraction and transportation is responsible for millions of tons of methane pollution — a heat-trapping gas far more potent than CO2.</p><p> Studies also show that <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VX5FSW2QvMwlW6gKMxn8c7vqzV1-ywc4npdlxN65wGW93p_9LV1-WJV7CgB3BW8hCqrQ8_pNBwW8p9N9Y4VsFrJW63RXfd6qHkKZW5pbZRn8d2thyW4jM4TJ3zlyNsW2DllBd8RGrRTW2HfT4V5ynZd5W4-w5kn1wTBtdW55HwHK4vBQg5W7xHjKP3Mb4lYW3QjpYx6K2gNqW4ywVnh6r17d4N6H2-lL5cfHKW51c_JF14_g1yW85-cF737Yv1_W4MgbGH675zdHN8tx5vzTZG1DN4qH21JMk4PSVNgMs98khSrmW9fjcyb2DLzp9W2vRq4f29Zl-4W4Drb6v58pBfhVwlpnL4BxcT0VDs_5P1bg-3dW53SNft2gqBTqW6Q6sQh7St54DW85gr6S7F7qm6W3C4hl7599TgX3b3T1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">gas stoves create unsafe levels of indoor pollution</a>, the Post notes. </p><p>In addition to paying Instagram influencers, the gas industry mainly uses front groups like "The Empowerment Alliance" and "Partnership for Energy Progress" to push the state preemption laws, the same type of laws long used by the tobacco and plastic bag industries to fight local efforts they viewed as a threat. </p><p>Four states have already passed preemption legislation, and bills are under consideration in 12 more.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/22/967439914/as-cities-grapple-with-climate-change-gas-utilities-fight-to-stay-in-business?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112509857&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9vRYfuNbYD3VmUg3uLoNM6uTxiJFjb-KR5fsnB4wiYeRmREjklOTPVnifU-8bb242uYkyoTm2k_eUAFDMWRHojAagEwas7POK1fA1zaAgHo8UlfjM&utm_content=112509857&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">NPR</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/02/23/climate-change-natural-gas/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=112509857&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--3GXf9B3K5W2Tef9rbACwMaouuh3pHdjStuJ7m481UQEiq6Alqrxy6YSmuDD88mpXLpgjwtXNHYa1jHgd-7LJy-Oi1jszURWlvbDe0F0euw4t-tlo&utm_content=112509857&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Washington Post </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>From Your Site Articles
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This is among the first high-resolution, color image to be sent back by the Hazard Cameras on the underside of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover after its landing on Jezero crater on Mars on February 18, 2021. NASA / Getty Images
U..S space agency NASA has released a video and the first ever audio clip from Mars, a faint wind sound captured by the Perseverance rover.
<p>Several images of the landing were <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/mars-perseverance-sends-back-first-color-images/a-56633251" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">released earlier</a>, but it took days for the video signal to be relayed to Earth. </p><p>The 3 minute 25 second video clip released on Monday shows the last few kilometers of Perseverance's trip.</p>
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<p>After the parachute opens during the descent, the spacecraft touches down on the dusty red surface of the planet.</p><p>"These are really amazing videos," Michael Watkins, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said at a briefing for reporters. "This is the first time we've ever been able to capture an event like the landing on Mars. We all watched them over the weekend many, many times."</p><p>NASA also released several new higher resolution panoramic images during the press conference.</p>
<div id="76947" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="10dd970dcf8dc0b6fa4bc8849d0df6c6"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1363954814497943552" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Scan this image for the various pieces of my landing system, which did their jobs perfectly before coming to rest o… https://t.co/Izucl5yA5f</div> — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover)<a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/statuses/1363954814497943552">1614027143.0</a></blockquote></div>
<h2>What Does Mars Sound Like?</h2><p>Though the two onboard microphones weren't turned on during the descent, the rover was able to capture audio once it landed.</p><p>The short audio clip may not be spectacular, but it is the first sound recording from another planet.</p><p>NASA is building a "Martian playlist," collected on the website, Sounds of Mars.</p><p>"Stay tuned," said NASA. "We may soon hear the sounds of another world."</p>
<div id="4739f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c4ef05cbef85acd40fb1eae0c9ef982b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1363937472971907072" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Now that you’ve seen Mars, hear it. Grab some headphones and listen to the first sounds captured by one of my micro… https://t.co/nEnrUY7Js9</div> — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover)<a href="https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/statuses/1363937472971907072">1614023008.0</a></blockquote></div>
<h2>Mission Update</h2><p>The newly launched rover is operating as expected, said Jessica Samuels, Perseverance's surface mission manager.</p><p>"I am happy to report that Perseverance is healthy," she said.</p><p>In another mission update, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/mars-nasa-releases-first-video-and-audio-of-rover-landing/a-56657373" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the small helicopter Ingenuity</a>, which was delivered by the rover, sent its first status report to the control center in Pasadena, California. According to NASA, it too appears to be "functioning perfectly."</p><p>Still attached to the underside of Perseverance, the helicopter will begin exploring Mars in 30 to 60 days, offering viewers a bird's-eye view of the surface.</p><p>It would be the first flight of an air vehicle over another planet.</p><h2>What's Next?</h2><p>Perseverance's main mission is to search for traces of past microbial life on Mars and study the planet's climate and geology.</p><p>The rover itself weighs about 2,200 pounds and is the size of a small car.</p><p>On Thursday it set off on another mission, a risky maneuver to a dried-up lake called Jezero Crater. With a diameter of about 28 miles, Perseverance will explore the crater over the next two years.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/mars-nasa-releases-first-video-and-audio-of-rover-landing/a-56657373" target="_blank"> Deutsche Welle</a></em><em>.</em></p>
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Pollution from factories in Estonia in the early 1990s. Bernard Bisson / Sygma via Getty Images
In the late 1980s, scientists noticed something odd. Less of the sun's brightness was reaching Earth's surface, leaving us with a darker planet.
<p>This phenomenon, known as "global dimming," is now in reverse, according to <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/variations-in-sunlight-have-more-to-do-with-human-pollution-than-clouds" target="_blank">Science Alert</a>. But a mystery remained. What was driving the shifts in brightness? Was it human-caused <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="_self">air pollution</a> or natural variations in cloud cover?</p><p>A new study published in <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020GL092216" target="_blank">Geophysical Research Letters</a> this month comes down firmly on the side of air pollution.</p>
<p>"Although we'd already assumed as much, we'd been unable to prove it directly until now," study lead author and ETH Zurich professor Martin Wild said in a <a href="https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2021/02/human-impact-on-solar-radiation-levels-for-decades.html" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>In order to prove it, Wild and his team looked at "one of the longest and best‐maintained records of sunlight measured at Potsdam, Germany," they wrote in the study. The record covered the period from 1947 to 2017, according to the press release.</p>
<p>The researchers were able to filter out the impacts of clouds and study brightness on both cloudy and sunny days. This enabled them to determine that overall patterns in both dimming and brightening remained consistent without cloud cover.</p><p>"This implies that aerosol pollutants play a crucial role in these variations and points to a discernible human influence on the vital level of sunlight required for sustainable living conditions," the paper authors wrote.</p>
<p>The findings match up with the historical record. Global dimming was originally worse in the northern hemisphere, which saw dimming of four to eight percent between 1961 and 1990, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/may/11/global-dimming-pollution" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. In one part of the former Soviet Union, the sky dimmed by nearly 30 percent between the 1950s and the late 1980s, Science Alert pointed out.</p><p>However, the trend in Europe and North America began to reverse just as these regions enacted clean air legislation in the 1990s, The Guardian reported. At the same time, the economy of the former communist countries collapsed, also reducing pollution, according to ETH Zurich.</p>
<p>The dimming trend in the southern hemisphere, meanwhile, has been smaller since mid century but has continued with regional variations, according to The Guardian. China and India have continued to dim as their rapid industrialization progresses.</p><p>Aerosol pollution can dim the sun because these tiny particles reflect and absorb solar radiation before it reaches Earth. This can have profound impacts on planetary systems, ETH Zurich noted. For one thing, it alters the water cycle because it impacts evaporation, cloud formation and then precipitation. During the period of widespread global dimming, less water evaporated and less rain fell.</p>
<p>It also may have masked the impacts of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, since less sunlight leads to a cooler planet.</p><p>"Glacial retreat accelerated when the atmosphere began brightening again," Wild said in the press release.</p><p>Areas that began to brighten again also grew quickly warmer, according to The Guardian.</p><p>This has led some to suggest intentionally dimming the planet through <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/solar-geoengineering-climate-crisis-2647709342.html" target="_self">solar geoengineering</a> to combat climate change, according to Science Alert. However, some warn this could have unintended consequences. Another study found that regional dimming linked to Arctic mining inhibited tree growth.</p>
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New Data Show Higher Rates of Contamination in Pork Plants Under New Slaughter System
22 February
Food
Plants adopting the Trump-approved New Swine Inspection System had nearly double the rate of fecal and digestive matter contamination of other facilities. Juanmonino / Getty Images
By Brett Wilkins
New data released Friday revealed pigs slaughtered at plants piloting a controversial new system—which speeds production while replacing many government inspectors with slaughterhouse employees—had much higher rates of fecal and digestive matter contamination than animals processed in other plants, information that the Trump administration hid from the public while expanding the system.
<p>The consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch <a href="https://foodandwaterwatch.org/news/pilot-swine-slaughter-plants-self-inspection-rules" target="_blank">said in a statement</a> that from 2014 to 2017, pork processing plants implementing the New Swine Inspection System (NSIS) on a trial basis had, on average, "nearly double the violations than comparably sized plants outside the program" and "were almost twice as likely to be cited for contamination."</p><p>According to Food & Water Watch, the plant's higher rates of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) violations were for the agency's FS-2 food safety standard for fecal matter, digestive contents, and milk.</p>
<div id="3d1b9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a8b85539bdb4b59a69c715198e4bfd66"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1362824326123249665" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">“This new data should end this argument once and for all: Meat companies should not be left to police themselves to… https://t.co/ocjzYckRaR</div> — Food & Water Watch (@Food & Water Watch)<a href="https://twitter.com/foodandwater/statuses/1362824326123249665">1613757614.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"These substances can contain human pathogens, like potentially deadly <em>Salmonella</em>, which the agency has estimated is responsible for 69,000 people getting sick from eating pork each year," Food & Water Watch said. "Because of its seriousness, the agency has zero tolerance for FS-2 violations, meaning that no carcass contamination is acceptable."</p><p>"This new data should end this argument once and for all: Meat companies should not be left to police themselves to protect consumers from dirty and dangerous pork products," said Zach Corrigan, a senior attorney for Food & Water Watch, in a <a href="https://foodandwaterwatch.org/news/pilot-swine-slaughter-plants-self-inspection-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a> Friday. </p><p>The new revelations follow 2018 <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-02-21/dirty-us-meat-could-come-over-here-after-brexit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reporting</a>—based on documents obtained by Food & Water Watch—that plants piloting the NSIS were "rife with food safety violations," including "fecal contamination, sanitation issues, and failure to remove diseased carcasses from the food chain."</p><p>Despite this, the USDA adopted the NSIS last year as part of the Trump administration's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/30/dangerous-and-dumb-trump-signs-executive-order-torching-regulations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">aggressive</a>—and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/14/deregulations-deadly-consequences-report-details-how-trumps-assault-government" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sometimes deadly</a>—deregulation and privatization agenda. The NSIS is supported by the North American Meat Institute, an industry lobby group that came under fire last year after <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/usda-and-meatpacking-industry-collaborated-undermine-covid-19-response-documents" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">revelations</a> that one of its draft executive orders on keeping meatpacking plants open during the coronavirus pandemic bore striking similarities to an actual directive signed by then-President Donald Trump.</p><p>Center for Food Safety staff attorney Ryan Talbott has <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/news/lawsuit-challenging-trump-dirty-swine-slaughter-rules-allowed-proceed-federal-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">called</a> the NSIS' lifting of production line speed limits and partial privatization of meat inspection by replacing USDA inspectors with plant workers "a recipe for disaster." </p><p>The coronavirus pandemic—which has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/19/depraved-tyson-food-managers-accused-betting-how-many-their-workers-would-get-covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hit meat processing plants</a> particularly hard—has further increased risks, including the prospect of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/06/food-safety-groups-warn-looming-zoonotic-pandemic-blast-usdas-new-slaughter-plant" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new zoonotic diseases</a> that could be the source of the next pandemic. </p>
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<p>Worker safety is also a critical issue. The lifting of processing line speed limits, which had been <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/news/confirmed-usda-now-pursuing-privatized-beef-inspections" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">390 pigs per hour</a>, doesn't just mean more contamination—it has resulted in <a href="https://kfgo.com/2021/02/19/as-u-s-pork-plant-speeds-up-slaughtering-workers-report-more-injuries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more worker injuries</a>. </p><p>"Meatpacking is already one of the most dangerous industries for workers in America," said Deborah Berkowitz, worker safety and health program director at the National Employment Law Project, in a <a href="https://www.nelp.org/commentary/line-speeds-worker-safety-real-concerns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">letter</a> last year. "Every day, tens of thousands of hog slaughter workers make the same repetitive motions, thousands upon thousands of times a day, using saws, hooks, and knives to slaughter and break down hogs into the pork steaks that we all buy and eat."</p><p>"The scientific evidence in the record for the NSIS is clear—the faster hog slaughter workers must do their tasks, the higher the risk of injury," added Berkowitz. </p><p>In a bid to mitigate risks, a group of Democratic lawmakers last year <a href="https://www.aspca.org/news/bill-introduced-protect-farm-animals-food-workers-and-consumers-during-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">introduced</a> the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7521/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Safe Line Speeds in Covid-19 Act</a>, which would prohibit high-speed slaughter systems such as the NSIS from operating during the pandemic. </p><p>Last year, Food & Water Watch <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/13/recipe-disaster-consumer-safety-groups-sue-usda-over-trumps-effort-privatize" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sued</a> the USDA over the NSIS, calling it "a draconian reversal to the swine slaughter inspection system that has existed in the United States since 1906." Earlier this month, a federal court <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/02/05/lawsuit-challenging-trumps-dirty-swine-slaughter-rules-allowed-proceed-federal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ruled</a> that the lawsuit could proceed.</p><p>"Were the Biden administration to continue defending [the NSIS] in court, it would be to support exposing consumers to more pork contaminated with potentially pathogenic fecal matter and other contaminants," said Corrigan. </p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/19/dirty-and-dangerous-new-data-show-higher-rates-contamination-pork-plants-using-new" target="_blank">Common Dreams.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A swamp wallaby searches for food in a bushfire-scorched forest on February 3, 2020 in Braidwood, Australia. John Moore / Getty Images
By Tara Lohan
A hailstorm in South Texas. Tornadoes in Tennessee. Wildfires across the West. A barrage of Gulf Coast hurricanes. Those are among the record 22 weather and climate disasters that each topped $1 billion in damages last year in the United States.
<p>In all, the price tag for 2020 hit a whopping $95 billion — and that's just in the United States. Reinsurance firm Swiss Re put <a href="https://www.swissre.com/media/news-releases/nr-20201215-sigma-full-year-2020-preliminary-natcat-loss-estimates.html" target="_blank">global economic losses</a> at $175 billion last year, including $32 billion for <a href="https://qz.com/1950391/the-10-most-expensive-natural-disasters-of-2020/" target="_blank">floods in China</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/weather/cyclone-amphan-damage-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">$13 billion in damages</a> from Cyclone Amphan across India and Bangladesh.</p><p>The worst news? Our profligate burning of fossil fuels means we're in store for more.</p><p>Studies show that climate change is supercharging some weather and climate events and will lead to more severe and longer-lasting <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/305/5686/994" target="_blank">heat waves</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/climate/climate-changes-hurricane-intensity.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stronger hurricanes</a>, an <a href="https://www.c2es.org/content/wildfires-and-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased wildfire risk</a> and a longer wildfire season. We can also expect more <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2881/earths-freshwater-future-extremes-of-flood-and-drought/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">heavy rain events</a> and <a href="https://www.c2es.org/content/drought-and-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">severe droughts</a>, not to mention other extreme events like February's polar vortex.</p><p>"You can't attribute any particular storm to climate change, but what we do know is that climate change tips the odds of making many of these events more severe," says Bruce Stein, chief scientist and associate vice president at the National Wildlife Federation.</p><p>While experts tabulate the economic losses — homes destroyed, crops ruined, businesses shuttered — ecosystems and wildlife can also sustain damage that's harder to quantify.</p><p>Many plants and wildlife evolved with and have adapted to dealing with large-scale disturbances, but we're beginning to see "megadisturbances" at levels beyond what we saw in the past, says Stein.</p><p>And that can take a toll. Extreme weather can kill animals directly — or indirectly, like by destroying food sources, contaminating water or altering habitat, forcing a species to move into areas where there may be more competition, fewer resources or a greater risk of predation.</p><p>"What we begin to find when you get some of these mega disturbances is that it's beyond the ability of a species — or their adaptive capacity — to bounce back," says Stein.</p>
<h1>The Research</h1><p>The effects of climate change on the natural world are being felt at two speeds. One is more gradual, referred to by scientists as "ramping" — shrinking glaciers, rising sea levels. The second is quick, like extreme weather events.</p><p>Both are problematic, says Sean Maxwell, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Queensland's Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science. But, he adds, "I think the changes to acute events have the greatest potential to devastate local populations or ecosystems, and the impacts of these events are often more difficult to plan for or avoid."</p><p>Maxwell was the lead author of a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ddi.12878" target="_blank">2018 study</a> published in the journal <em>Diversity and Distributions</em> that examined how changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate events affected wildlife. The researchers looked at 519 studies of ecological responses to extreme events — including cyclones, droughts, floods, and heat and cold waves — that took place from 1941 to 2015. They found that the response was negative 57% of the time. (And in those instances where species benefited, they were mostly invasive species.)</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MjMxMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDQ5MjcwMX0.vWOhTY5PgWrupHYIMFFce6KUG1XH6n1aw0qMCWv3-bE/img.jpg?width=980" id="3f9df" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f1ccfeffe9a6723900d8f76612d9f9b8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="799" data-height="533" />
A manatee stranded by Hurricane Irma in Melbourne, Florida. Bill Greer, FWC / CC BY-ND 2.0
<p>"Some of the negative responses we found were quite concerning, including more than 100 cases of dramatic population declines and 31 cases of local population extinction following an extreme event," says Maxwell. "Populations of critically endangered bird species in Hawai'i, such as the palia, have been annihilated due to drought, and populations of lizard species have been wiped out due to cyclones in the Bahamas."</p><p>Plant species, the researchers found, had the highest number of negative responses to extreme events, followed by reptiles and amphibians.</p><p>"Collectively, the studies in our review suggest that extreme weather and climate events have profound implications for species and ecosystem management," the researchers concluded.</p><h1>The Most Vulnerable</h1><p>Species that are already threatened or endangered are of course especially at risk.</p><p>Take the Attwater prairie chicken. A million of these birds once ranged across the prairies of Texas and Louisiana.</p><p>Today fewer than 100 remain in the wild and scientists have sought to bolster their populations with captive breeding programs. But when Hurricane Harvey walloped Texas with 130-mile-per-hour winds and record rainfall in 2017, the birds were right in harm's way.</p><p>"The Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge tracked 29 individual birds, mostly hens. Post-hurricane, staff confirmed only five of them still alive," <a href="https://texasclimatenews.org/features/attwaters-prairie-chicken-population-hit-hard-by-harvey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Texas Climate News</a> reported. "The hurricane also killed roughly 80% of a prairie chicken population on private property in Goliad County."</p><p>Other species with limited ranges, like those on islands, also face big threats.</p><p>"If a species is well distributed, then if one part of its range gets hit, there's the ability for it to recover," says Stein. "But if essentially all its eggs are in one basket, and that particular place gets hit by one of these big disturbances, that's when you have a real concern."</p><p>In 2017 Hurricane Maria <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/after-hurricane-dorian-survey-shows-hope-and-concern-bahamas-birds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cut the population of just 200 Puerto Rican parrots</a> in half. The year before, Hurricane Matthew was believed to have wiped out the last Bahama nuthatches (<em>Sitta insularis</em>). It took two years before a few of the birds were found — and then Hurricane Dorian struck in 2019, making their survival unlikely, according to Diana Bell, a professor of conservation biology at the University of East Anglia.</p><p>"In fact, Dorian may have not only sealed the fate of the nuthatch but also severely impacted other birds endemic to these islands, particularly the Bahama warbler and the Abaco parrot," Bell <a href="https://theconversation.com/hurricane-dorian-was-also-a-catastrophe-for-the-bahamas-unique-birds-123493" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote</a> in an essay for <em>The Conversation</em>. "Also known as the Bahama Amazon parrot, this subspecies uniquely nests in limestone cavities on the ground which are likely to have been flooded by the storm surge."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MjMxOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NTgxMjYyMH0.GEcdU7i6_0jsNoolMUAM1ZNpvsQWjlDj8KfSZzLxvNE/img.jpg?width=980" id="47539" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0aaf95300b450d0f8d0a49b310aeae5a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="799" data-height="533" />
Damage in the Bahamas from Hurricane Dorian. Seaman Erik Villa Rodriguez / U.S. Coast Guard
<h1>Compounding Crises</h1><p>The risk to wildlife from extreme storms can be compounded by the ramping effects of climate change, too.</p><p>"If you have increasingly severe hurricanes where you've also got sea-level rise essentially providing a higher lodge point for the storm surge, then you start seeing impacts beyond the historical record," says Stein.</p><p>In other places, extreme weather is an extra blow to species already struggling with other environmental pressures, like habitat loss, invasive species or pollution.</p><p>Last year the world watched in horror as land-use management, climate change and drought helped push Australia's bushfires to a terrifying new level, killing 34 people and burning 37,500 square miles.</p><p>In the immediate aftermath, one expert put the death toll for wildlife at <a href="https://therevelator.org/australia-bushfires-extinction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1 billion animals lost</a>. Since then the figure has been revised to <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/study-says-australias-bushfires-harmed-3-billion-animals/a-54344204" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">3 billion killed or displaced</a> by the blazes.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1251-1.epdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> published in <em>Nature Ecology and Evolution</em> found that the fire impacted the critical habitat of 832 native species, with 70 species losing more than 30% of their natural range. Twenty-one of those were already at risk of extinction.</p><p>Those that survived could find themselves hard-pressed in future climate disasters. "Multiple extreme events are likely to act in synergistic ways to exacerbate risk of species' extinction," wrote Maxwell and the other researchers of the 2018 study.</p><p>Australia already has one of the highest extinction rates, and the wildfires could limit the capacity of some species to recover — like the endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart and the long-footed potoroo — and threaten others. Australia's record blazes last year could push the number of endangered species in the country up by 19%, the study in <em>Nature Ecology and Evolution </em>found.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MjMyMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTE0NDI3NX0.GIq4Um10O8jxxaX6lV8YLVU0ZEeSfml4KGSas0xx_rc/img.jpg?width=980" id="b65a7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="23f41600dfbd2c618b67fac0e1b87ac6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="799" data-height="533" />
Kangaroo Island, the only habitat of the endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart, after the 2019-2020 Australia wildfires. StephenMitchell / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
<h1>Solutions</h1><p>When Hurricane Irma sacked the Florida Keys in 2017, the storm tossed boats ashore, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and left a trail of debris across the islands.</p><p>It also endangered one of the region's beloved endemic species, the tiny Key deer, which today primarily live on Big Pine Key. Some deer were killed in the storm, and surviving animals faced threats to their already limited freshwater supply as the storm surge dumped saline ocean water into freshwater pools.</p><p>Island residents responded the way folks often do after a disaster — they offered help to their neighbors.</p><p>"What you saw during and shortly after Irma is that these Key deer were coming up to houses looking for fresh water," says Stein. "And people were putting out kiddie pools of water for them."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY3MjMyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjM4MTE0OH0.x_zKoXw0-UArsFon5rOFwKQ93UVDBTyJdRClAD98qvE/img.jpg?width=980" id="7cf53" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7af4c5a126d38d68aeda4daaaa4ad61c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="799" data-height="533" />
Key deer after Hurricane Irene. Carol Lyn Parrish /CC BY-ND 2.0
<p>Following Australia's bushfires last year, the country's government jumped to the aid of wildlife by dropping 4,000 pounds of carrots and sweet potatoes to starving brush-tailed rock-wallabies who lost their food source in the blazes.</p><p>"There's a lot of things that we can do to help human communities as well as wildlife after these acute disturbances," says Stein.</p><p>But beyond immediate food and water relief, there's a much bigger task ahead: reducing greenhouse gas emissions to address the ongoing dangers of climate change and the ability of ecosystems to adapt. Key deer, for example, also face a long-term threat to their drinking water supply from rising seas, something no number of kiddie pools can repair. And more severe hurricanes are likely in their future, too.</p><p>"As climate change continues to ensure extreme climate and weather events are more and more common, we now need to act to ensure species have the best chance to survive," says Maxwell. "Wherever possible, high-quality and intact habitat areas should be retained, as these are the places where species are most resilient to increasing exposure to extreme events."</p><p>If such intact habitat doesn't exist, ecological restoration efforts can be used to help species adapt, his study found.</p><p>And the more we know, the better.</p><p>"Incorporating extreme events into climate change vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans will be challenging," the researchers of the 2018 paper concluded. "But by doing so we have a greater chance of arriving at conservation interventions that truly address the full range of climate change impacts."</p><p>And that could give more species a fighting chance in a changing climate.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/taralohan/" target="_blank"><em>Tara Lohan </em></a><em>is deputy editor of The Revelator and has worked for more than a decade as a digital editor and environmental journalist focused on the intersections of energy, water and climate. Her work has been published by The Nation, American Prospect, High Country News, Grist, Pacific Standard and others. She is the editor of two books on the global water crisis.</em></em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="The%20Revelator" target="_blank">The Revelator.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Photos of alligators engaged in "icing" were posted on Facebook by an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation worker. David Arbour / Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
As unusually cold temperatures descended on the south and central U.S. this week, it wasn't only humans who struggled to adjust.
<p>In Texas, sea turtles had to be <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/turtle-rescue-texas-2650597417.html" target="_self">rescued by the thousands</a> as cold water temperatures made them go limp. Now, in Oklahoma, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alligators" target="_self">alligators</a> have been pictured engaging in an extraordinary survival technique.</p><p>That technique is called "icing," and David Arbour of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation posted photos on Facebook Tuesday of alligators engaging in this odd-looking strategy.</p><p>What is icing exactly?</p><p>"They keep [their] nose up through the ice to maintain a[n] air hole so they can breathe," Arbour explained in the comments.</p>
<p>Arbour took the photos in the Red Slough Wildlife Management Area, a 5,814-acre wetland in southeastern Oklahoma that is home to alligators as well other reptiles, fish, mammals and amphibians, the <a href="https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article249345545.html#:~:text=The%20alligators%20were%20recently%20seen,helps%20the%20alligators%20breathe%20properly." target="_blank">Tri-City Herald reported</a>.</p><p>The behavior is also called snorkeling, and this is not the first time it has been observed in American alligators (<em>Alligator mississippiensis</em>). Alligators in a frozen-over pond in North Carolina were pictured doing the same thing during a cold snap in 2018, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/61389-alligators-snorkel.html" target="_blank">LiveScience reported at the time</a>.</p>
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<p>Because alligators are cold blooded, they depend on the surrounding environment to keep warm. That is why they bask on sunny days. But when it freezes, this kind of basking isn't possible, and that is when they "ice."</p><p>"It's an interesting behavior because it's opposite of what most crocodilians do," James Perran Ross, a retired associate scientist of wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of Florida, told LiveScience. "The normal response of most other crocs when it gets really cold is to come out of the water and try to bask to get warm again."</p><p>However, Ross added, this would be a bad idea for alligators in a cold climate, since the air is usually colder than the water. If they left the water, they might freeze.</p>
<p>Arbour wrote on Facebook that the alligators in his pictures would not freeze as long as the water remained liquid. He added that the ice did not hurt their snouts, because they are only made of cartilage.</p><p>Instead of hibernating, Arbour wrote, alligators enter a state called brumation.</p><p>"They can still move and are aware of things," Arbour said.</p><p>Brumation is a reptile-wide response to cold weather, according to <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/this-how-alligators-stuck-frozen-swamps-spending-winter-brumation-hibernation" target="_blank">Science Alert</a>. The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals/" target="_self">animals</a> slow down their metabolism and are very lethargic. Usually, alligators brumate at the bottom of swamps and come up once a day to breathe. When water freezes over, however, that is not possible.</p>
<p>Alligators can survive in water as cold as 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but it is not ideal.</p><p>"Obviously, that is not optimal, being frozen like that," North Carolina's Shallotte River Swamp Park general manager George Howard told <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/frozen-alligators-winter_n_5a55043de4b01e1a4b1a401e" target="_blank">HuffPost in 2018</a>, when alligators were videoed icing in his swamp. "I can't imagine it being very good for them if it was much over a week in cold water. That's why you don't see indigenous alligators north of North Carolina. Their bodies like the warmth."</p><p>In Oklahoma, temperatures have now been below freezing for 10 days as of Thursday, according to <a href="https://www.wlbt.com/2021/02/18/oklahoma-alligators-frozen-water-with-snouts-sticking-out/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WLBT3</a>. However, the Southern Plains are expected to finally thaw this weekend, according to the <a href="https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/hpcdiscussions.php?disc=pmdspd" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Weather Service</a>.</p>
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