Green living spruce and gray dead spruce in the Harz mountain region on May 7, 2020 near Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany. Jens Schlueter / Getty Images
More than a third of the world's old growth forests died between 1900 and 2015, a new study has found.
<p>In the study, <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6494/eaaz9463" target="_blank">published in Science</a> Friday, nearly two dozen scientists used satellite data combined with more than 160 previous studies to show that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation" target="_self">deforestation</a> and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> are killing off older, taller <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trees" target="_self">trees</a> and leaving forests younger and shorter, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/grand-old-trees-are-dying-leaving-forests-younger-shorter/" target="_blank">National Geographic explained</a>. And the trend is likely to continue.</p><p>"We will see fewer forests," University of Wisconsin forest ecologist and study coauthor Monica Turner told National Geographic. "There will be areas where there are forests now where there won't be in the future."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">More than 20 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/scientists?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#scientists</a> show global conditions lead to younger, shorter trees: <a href="https://t.co/KR2Tnwx4Af">https://t.co/KR2Tnwx4Af</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/deforestation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#deforestation</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/forests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#forests</a> 🎄<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/science?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#science</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/researchhighlight?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#researchhighlight</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/environment?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#environment</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LosAlamosNatLab?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LosAlamosNatLab</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ORNL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ORNL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Stanford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stanford</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LBNL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LBNL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ScienceMagazine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScienceMagazine</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/McDowell_Trees?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@McDowell_Trees</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/poulterlab?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@poulterlab</a> <a href="https://t.co/NN7k7qcEaW">pic.twitter.com/NN7k7qcEaW</a></p>— PNNL (@PNNLab) <a href="https://twitter.com/PNNLab/status/1266087442081296390?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The study was led by Nate McDowell of the U.S. Department of Energy's <a href="https://www.pnnl.gov/" target="_blank">Pacific Northwest National Laboratory</a> (PNNL), who explained why this change was such a big deal.</p><p>"A future planet with fewer large, old forests will be very different than what we have grown accustomed to," he said in a <a href="https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/global-environmental-changes-leading-shorter-younger-trees" target="_blank">PNNL press release</a>. "Older forests often host much higher <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a> than young forests and they store more carbon than young forests."</p>
<p>Old growth tree loss is being driven by a number of factors, many of them linked to the climate crisis in some way. Warmer temperatures limit photosynthesis, both stunting and killing trees. Increased <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">droughts</a> both kill trees directly and lead to attacks by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/insects" target="_self">insect</a> pests. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">Wildfires</a> and infestations by insects, fungi and choking vines are all on the rise. Humans have also killed old growth trees more directly by chopping them down.</p><p>These factors combine to alter forest makeup, PNNL explained:</p><blockquote>Known as deforestation, the phenomenon has led to an imbalance of three important characteristics of a diverse and thriving forest: (1) recruitment, which is the addition of new seedlings to a community; (2) growth, the net increase in biomass or carbon; and (3) mortality, the death of forest trees.</blockquote>
<p>"Mortality is rising in most areas, while recruitment and growth are variable over time, leading to a net decline in the stature of forests," McDowell said.</p><p>While previous scientists had predicted increased carbon dioxide would lead to more tree growth, McDowell's team found this was only the case in younger forests with lots of nutrients and water. Otherwise, he explained to National Geographic, hotter temperatures reduce moisture, causing trees to shed leaves and close pores to retain water, which makes it harder for them to absorb carbon dioxide.</p><p>"[It's like] going to an all-you-can-eat buffet with duct tape over their mouths," he said.</p>
<p>Tree loss is truly a worldwide problem. In the Western U.S., Canada and Europe, where data is most abundant, the rate of tree death has doubled in the last four decades, and older trees have disproportionately been affected. Worldwide, humans have cut down 12 percent of the world's forests since 1900, and the proportion of the world's forests that are more than 140 years old has declined from 89 to 66 percent during that time, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/28/climate-crisis-world-forests-shorter-younger-study" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p><p>The study spells bad news for trees' ability to help combat the climate crisis.</p><p>"When old trees die, they decompose and stop sucking up CO2 and release more of it to the atmosphere," McDowell told National Geographic. "It's like a thermostat gone bad. Warming begets tree loss, then tree loss begets more warming."</p>
<p>However, professor Simon Lewis of University College London, who was not involved in the study, pointed out that while forests are getting younger on average, some crucial old growth forests are actually increasing their area.</p><p>"The world's intact tropical and boreal forests are both globally important as carbon sinks, and are getting larger," he told The Guardian. "The world's forests currently slow climate change, and while future mortality trends could reverse this, the ideas in the new report don't change what the world needs to do: stabilise the climate by quickly driving fossil fuel emissions to zero and protect the world's forests."</p>
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Feral camels on a sand dune in Australia. Up to 10,000 are being slaughtered in Australia. Auscape / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
Aboriginal officials in Australia approved the rounding up and killing of up to 10,000 camels because of drought conditions, claiming that the thirsty camels are drinking up too much of a dwindling water supply, as CBS News reported.
<p>The officials in the sparsely populated part of the northwest corner of South Australia said in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1466117813680902/photos/pcb.2312419912384017/2312418202384188/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">statement</a> that the wild camels are endangering locals and pastoral lands as they struggle to find water during Australia's prolonged drought and blistering heat.</p>
<p>The hunting of the camels on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands began today and will continue for five days. The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1466117813680902/photos/pcb.2312419912384017/2312418202384188/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">statement</a> did say that other feral animals are also hunting for water, but the camels are the primary target of the cull. Some feral horses will also be killed, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51032145" target="_blank">according to the BBC</a>.</p>
<p>"With the current ongoing dry conditions [and] the large camel congregations threatening the APY communities and infrastructure, immediate camel control is needed," APY <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1466117813680902/photos/pcb.2312419912384017/2312418202384188/?type=3&theater" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said on Facebook</a>, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/01/07/10-000-thirsty-australian-feral-camels-could-killed-during-drought/2838234001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">USA Today reported</a>.</p>
<p>Australia's Department of Environment and Water is sending sharpshooters to the aboriginal lands to cull the camel, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51032145" target="_blank">according to the BBC</a>.</p>
<p>"We have been stuck in stinking hot and uncomfortable conditions, feeling unwell, because all the camels are coming in and knocking down fences, getting in around the houses and trying to get water through air-conditioners," said APY Executive Board Member Marita Baker who lives in the community of Kanypi, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51032145" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BBC reported</a>. "They are roaming the streets looking for water. We are worried about the safety of the young children."</p>
<p>Camels are not native to Australia, but were brought by British settlers from India, Afghanistan and the Middle East in the 19th century, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51032145" target="_blank">according to the BBC</a>.</p>
<p>While an exact number of camels roaming through the central, desolate parts of Australia is unknown, it is estimated that they number into the hundreds of thousands and there may be up to 1.2 million. Their numbers are rapidly growing, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/07/australia/australia-camel-cull-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to CNN</a>.</p>
<p>The camels not only drink water that is needed by people, plants and livestock, but damage fences, farm equipment, and settlements, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51032145" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to the BBC</a>.</p>
<p>"This number is only 1 percent of what is currently destroying the fragile Australian [fauna] and flora," said Richard King who manages APY Lands to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/10000-thirsty-camels-will-be-shot-and-killed-during-major-australian-drought/" target="_blank">CBS News</a>. He added that the aim of the cull is to protect community members and native plant life. </p>
<p>The Department of Environment and Water <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/10000-thirsty-camels-will-be-shot-and-killed-during-major-australian-drought/" target="_blank">told CBS News</a> that the camels are gravitating towards any available water source, including tanks and taps.</p>
<p>"This has resulted in significant damage to infrastructure, danger to families and communities, increased grazing pressure across the APY Lands and critical <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/animal-welfare" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">animal welfare</a> issues as some camels die of thirst or trample each other to access water," a spokesperson <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/10000-thirsty-camels-will-be-shot-and-killed-during-major-australian-drought/" target="_blank">said to CBS News</a>. "In some cases dead animals have contaminated important water sources and cultural sites."</p>
<p>The APY Lands, which are about the size of Kentucky, are home to roughly 2,300 people, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/07/australia/australia-camel-cull-scli-intl/index.html" target="_blank">according to CNN</a>. </p>
<p>Without culling, the camel population would double every 8 to 10 years. However, the desperate search for water has led to several problems in the area, according to a spokesperson for the South Australia Department of Environment and Water. </p>
<p>"This has resulted in significant damage to infrastructure, danger to families and communities, increased grazing pressure across the APY lands and critical animal welfare issues as some camels die of thirst or trample each other to access water," the spokesperson <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/indigenous-leaders-give-goahead-for-massive-cull-of-10000-feral-camels-in-remote-south-australia/news-story/99b32183f8cd55470bda221b64223095" target="_blank">told news.com.au</a>. "In some cases, dead animals have contaminated important water sources and cultural sites."</p>
<p>The camel carcasses will be left to dry off before they are burned or buried, as the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-07/camel-cull-in-apy-lands-begins/11848716" target="_blank">Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported</a>.</p>
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Evacuees wait to board a bus as they are evacuated by local and state government officials before the arrival of Hurricane Laura on August 26, 2020 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
By Maria Trimarchi and Sarah Gleim
If all the glaciers and ice caps on the planet melted, global sea level would rise by about 230 feet. That amount of water would flood nearly every coastal city around the world [source: U.S. Geological Survey]. Rising temperatures, melting arctic ice, drought, desertification and other catastrophic effects of climate change are not examples of future troubles — they are reality today. Climate change isn't just about the environment; its effects touch every part of our lives, from the stability of our governments and economies to our health and where we live.
<p>Where would you go if, say, a flood devastated the city you live in? Millions of people around the world have been forced to answer this question. In 2017, 68.5 million people were displaced — more than at any point in human history, according to the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-climate-crisis-migration-and-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brookings Institute</a>. More than one-third of those were uprooted by sudden weather events, including floods, forest fires and intense storms. A <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29461" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2018 report from the World Bank</a>, which focused on three regions — Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America — found that without tangible climate action, more than 143 million people in just these three areas will be forced to move to escape the impacts of climate change by 2050.</p><p>But more than <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/ecological-threat-register/" target="_blank">1 billion people worldwide</a> will live in countries with insufficient infrastructure to withstand climate change by 2050. The Pacific Islands are expected to be affected especially hard. Sea level there is already rising at almost 0.5 inches per year. Eight islands have already been submerged and two more are close to vanishing. By the year 2100, experts fear <a href="https://qrius.com/disappearing-island-nations-are-the-sinking-reality-of-climate-change/" target="_blank">48 more islands</a> in the Pacific will be completely underwater.</p><p>So what about the people who live there? What do we call these people who will be displaced? It's actually complicated. It's difficult to determine what category these migrants should fall under because no global definition exists. Why does that matter? Without a standard method of classification, there's no way to track how many people are affected or displaced by an environmental or climate event. So the most commonly used term is "environmental refugee."</p>
<p>Experts credit the term and its definition to UN Environment Program (UNEP) researcher Essam El-Hinnawi, who in 1985 wrote the United Nations report titled "<a href="http://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/2651?show=full" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental Refugees</a>." El-Hinnawi defined environmental refugees as:</p><p><em>... those people who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption (natural and/or triggered by people) that jeopardized their existence and/or seriously affected the quality of their life.</em></p><p>This working definition has been the baseline for current debate.</p><p>But according to the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention, a refugee "is someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion" [source: <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/3b66c2aa10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees</a>]. Environmental refugees do not legally fall under this status.</p>
<p>Why environmental refugees flee their homes is a complicated mixture of environmental degradation and desperate socioeconomic conditions. People leave their homes when their livelihoods and safety are jeopardized. What effects of climate change put them in jeopardy? Climate change triggers, among other problems, desertification and drought, <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/deforestation.htm" target="_blank">deforestation</a>, land degradation, rising sea levels, <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/flood.htm" target="_blank">floods</a>, more frequent and more extreme storms, <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/earthquake.htm" target="_blank">earthquakes</a>, <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/volcano.htm" target="_blank">volcanoes</a>, food insecurity and famine.</p><p>The September <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2020/09/ETR_2020_web-1.pdf" target="_blank">2020 Ecological Threat Register Report</a>, by the Institute for Economics & Peace, predicts the hardest hit populations will be:</p><ul><li>Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa</li><li>Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Chad, India and Pakistan (which are among the world's least peaceful countries)</li><li>Pakistan, Ethiopia and Iran are most at risk for mass displacements</li><li>Haiti faces the highest risk of all countries in Central America and the Caribbean</li><li>India and China will be among countries experiencing high or extreme water stress</li></ul>
<p>The <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/ecological-threat-register/" target="_blank">report also suggests</a> that developed countries like the United States and regions like Europe are not immune. "The European refugee crisis in the wake of wars in Syria and Iraq in 2015 saw 2 million people flee to Europe and highlights the link between rapid population shifts with political turbulence and social unrest." Developed countries including Sweden, Norway, Ireland face little to no threat, the report found.</p><p>Climate change does not impact all people and all parts of the world in the same way. While floods ravage some areas, deserts are spreading in others. Desertification and depleted resources, including shortages of water and fertile land, are long-term consequences of climate change. But one of the biggest threats will be <a href="https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/all-wasted-food-in-u-s-could-feed-84-population.htm" target="_blank">food insecurity</a>.</p><p>"Ecological threats and climate change pose serious challenges to global peacefulness," Steve Killelea, founder and executive chairman of the Institute for Economics and Peace <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/ecological-threat-register/" target="_blank">said in the in the 2020 Ecological Threat Report</a>. "Over the next 30 years, lack of access to food and water will only increase without urgent global cooperation. In the absence of action civil unrest, riots and conflict will most likely increase. COVID-19 is already exposing gaps in the global food chain."</p>
<p>The report suggests global demand for food will increase by <a href="http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/ecological-threat-register/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">50 percent by 2050</a>. That means if there's no increase in food supply, many people could starve or be forced to flee in search of food. Currently, more than 2 billion people around the world are already food insecure.</p><p>When faced with the decision to flee, most people want to stay in their own country or region. Leaving a country requires money and could mean leaving behind family; simply relocating from a rural to urban area in search of work and resources may be easier. Plus, the chance to return and resettle back home is unlikely if a family leaves their country entirely. In instances when an area is temporarily inhabitable, like after a destructive <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/hurricane.htm" target="_blank">hurricane</a>, returning home may be an option. But when coastlines — or entire islands — are underwater, the possibility of going home is out of the question.</p><p>The future impacts of climate change will disproportionately affect the world's poorest but will also pressure countries around the globe through mass migration of refugees. Adaptation and resilience will be the key to reducing displacement risk — both temporary and permanent — in the forms of early warning systems and flood-defense infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and drought-resistant crops, as well as other protections.</p>
<p><em>This story originally appeared in</em> <u><em><a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/" target="_blank">HowStuffWorks</a><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2647788456#/" target="_self"></a> </em></u> <em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em><a href="https://www.howstuffworks.com/about-sarah-gleim.htm" target="_blank"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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An example of a dry field in San Joachin Valley, California, during the California drought that lasted from 2012 to 2016. Citizens of the Planet / Education Images / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
By Jose Pablo Ortiz Partida
The immediate emergency of COVID-19 has been a powerful reminder that the most valuable things in our lives are our families, friends, and the welfare of our communities.
<p>The current pandemic is a threat to those closest to us today in a way that presages what we will experience on an accelerating basis due to the climate emergency. In a place like California's San Joaquin Valley (SJV), Latinos account for <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-25/coronavirus-covid-19-farm-workers-san-joaquin-valley" target="_blank">70 percent</a> of COVID-19 cases, even though they represent 42 percent of the population. Improving access to clean and affordable water even as the pandemic grows more urgent, is critical to reducing the types of burdens worsened by the COVID-19 crisis. Continuing the hard work on groundwater sustainability required by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) could lessen the impact of future crises in the valley. The low level of preparation communities have experienced around the pandemic, echos what these same communities face for water management on a daily basis and will face with future climate change threats unless fundamental changes are made locally.</p>
Thousands of People in the SJV Live Without Reliable Access to Water.
<p>California is the wealthiest state in the most prosperous country in the world, and yet, there are close to one million people living without reliable access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water. Most of these people are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/21/us/california-central-valley-tainted-water.html" target="_blank">concentrated in disadvantaged communities</a> in the SJV. California identifies <a href="https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/sb535" target="_blank">disadvantaged communities</a> as areas that experience disproportionate levels of a combination of poverty, air and water pollution, high unemployment, and high rates of cardiovascular diseases and asthma. According to a report from the UC Davis Center for Regional Change, residents in these communities are <a href="https://regionalchange.ucdavis.edu/publication/water-justice" target="_blank">over 60% Hispanic</a>.</p><p><span></span>The SJV is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, <a href="https://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/water-and-the-future-of-the-san-joaquin-valley-overview.pdf" target="_blank">producing more than half of California's agricultural output</a> with over 200 different crops and annual revenue of about 20 billion US dollars. The astonishing volume of water that agriculture requires has led to over-exploitation of groundwater and the continuous lowering of groundwater levels that has impacted water quality and quantity.</p><p>Groundwater is the primary source for household water needs and agricultural water supply. Yet, thousands of people are unable to drink and use the water in the SJV, because there are multiple contaminants in it. Some of the water pollution comes from natural sources and includes substances like arsenic, but most of it has emerged due to agricultural practices. These contaminants include pesticides and nitrates, which are linked to cancer, birth defects, and blue baby syndrome.</p><p>In years with average precipitation, water flowing in California's rivers from rain and melted snowpack meets about 60 percent of the state's water demand and groundwater meets the remainder. However, during dry years water supply sources shift and put severe stress on groundwater levels. During the California drought from 2012 to 2016, groundwater use, mostly from agricultural water pumping, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/droughts-exposed-california-s-thirst-groundwater-now-state-hopes-refill-its-aquifers" target="_blank">grew to 80 percent</a> in some regions of the SJV increasing overdraft. Groundwater overdraft occurs when water extractions exceed recharge into an aquifer. An analogy is your bank account; extract more money than is put in, and your account will go dry. Aquifers are like a shared account, with some people taking out more than others. Consequently, thousands of domestic wells ran dry, unable to reach water due to lowered groundwater levels, in large part due to increased agricultural water pumping, and affecting thousands of people across the valley.</p><p>We think about drought as standalone events, but in reality, human actions triggered by droughts can have effects that continue long after the drought has ended, like permanently lowering the water table. In the SJV, the last drought has permanently reduced the capacity of some aquifers because overdraft left air in between soil particles instead of water, and the soils subsided eliminating the space for water storage. Overdraft also leads to infrastructure damage from land subsidence, that is when the ground levels drop, plus reduction of surface water, and an increase in water quality problems. That range of concerns brought by overdraft formed the basis of SGMA.</p>Groundwater Sustainability Plans Could Fix Part of the Problem but Are Currently Inadequate.
<p>SGMA passed in 2014 and is the first legislation in California to mandate sustainable management of groundwater resources. SGMA is intended to bring about groundwater sustainability by the year 2040. Local water agencies describe the means to achieve this goal in their Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). For those interested in the details of SGMA, <a href="https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Groundwater-Management/SGMA-Groundwater-Management" target="_blank">here is a thorough description of it</a>. The focus of this post is on the latest developments.</p><p>The 21 most critically over-drafted groundwater basins submitted their GSPs at the beginning of the year and are now under review by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). External reviews of these plans argue that some of them do not sufficiently address current and future impacts on disadvantaged communities. For example, the Groundwater Leadership Forum (a group of organizations funded by the <a href="https://waterfdn.org/" target="_blank">Water Foundation</a> focused on ensuring the success of SGMA and of which UCS is part) also reviewed several GPSs and found gaps in how drinking water, climate change, stakeholder involvement, managed wetlands, and groundwater-dependent ecosystems were addressed in the plans. The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) reviewed 36 plans submitted for basins overlapping the SJV. They found Kings Basin (surrounding Fresno) stands out for having the highest number of domestic wells that may go dry, about 600 of them, under the proposed water level sustainable thresholds and yet the local groundwater plan considers that an <a href="https://www.ppic.org/blog/will-groundwater-sustainability-plans-end-the-problem-of-dry-drinking-water-wells/" target="_blank">insignificant impact from continued overdraft</a>. This is concerning and unacceptable. Public comments can be consulted in the <a href="https://sgma.water.ca.gov/portal/gsp/all" target="_blank">SGMA portal from DWR</a>.</p><p>I, and many others are concerned that multiple GSPs have questionable integrations of climate change projections. GSPs are considering numerous projects to tackle their local overdraft, yet they are not planning for the uncertain future that climate change is bringing. To reduce some of the vulnerabilities that we see now, GSPs need to integrate climate change and show benefits on the range of future scenarios.</p><p>Another concern is that on May 14, the <a href="http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/FullBudgetSummary.pdf" target="_blank">Governor announced</a> a $40 million cut on funding for SGMA. Part of the money was expected to support 37 new staff positions at DWR to uphold its statutory obligation on reviewing GSPs. While the budget still allocated $26 million of existing Proposition 68 bond funds to help with implementation projects in critically overdraft basin, it is unlikely that DWR will have the capacity to review the GSPs thoroughly. However, the governor's budget did prioritize safe and affordable drinking water and the State Water Board approved <a href="http://californiawaternewsdaily.com/infrastructure/state-water-board-approves-2020-21-funds-to-improve-access-to-healthy-drinking-water/" target="_blank">$130 million for 2020-2021</a> to projects that support such objective on vulnerable communities.</p>Without Bold Action and Preparation, Climate Change Threats May Bring Similar Impacts to Those of COVID-19.
<p>The lack of drinking water causes many residents in the valley to rely on bottled water as their primary source for drinking and cooking. Panic buying at the beginning of the pandemic left stores across the valley without bottled water. In the case of COVID-19, unsafe and unreliable access to water has endangered a multitude of low-income communities by preventing them from performing protective, hygienic acts, handwashing, in particular, and forcing them to go to public water supply kiosks. As we've all learned, hand washing is one of the most necessary measures needed to slow and stop the spread of a virus. Without a correct implementation of groundwater sustainability plans under SGMA, many of these risks will continue.</p><p>Shelter in place orders resulted in people losing their jobs and hence, their source of income and being unable to pay utility services. Small utility services were also impacted because of low economic margins of operations in which small drops in income translate to being unable to provide service. Fortunately, many organizations and individuals wrote a letter to Governor Newsom that prompted him to issue an <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/04/02/governor-newsom-issues-executive-order-protecting-homes-small-businesses-from-water-shutoffs/" target="_blank">executive order</a> protecting homes and small businesses from water shutoffs.</p><p>We now have the opportunity to give meaning to these current hardships by learning from them to prevent hardships from climate change. Climate change is a threat intensifier. In this case, the threat is a virus, and historical inequities and water vulnerabilities increased its impact on the most vulnerable among us. An example of the unpreparedness of the system to support our vulnerabilities during times of crisis is seen in the case of school children who rely on school lunches as their main meal of the day but are now unable to access this resource due to school closures. Some farmworkers, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/us/coronavirus-undocumented-immigrant-farmworkers-agriculture.html" target="_blank">while cataloged as 'essential' by the federal government</a> during this crisis, are undocumented and were not part of the stimulus package. The height of irony is <a href="https://www.kvpr.org/post/covid-19-deepens-food-insecurity-san-joaquin-valley" target="_blank">farmworkers struggled with access to food distribution</a> when they needed it.</p>There Is No Scenario Where Water Is Not Absolutely Necessary to Lessen the Impacts During a Crisis.
<p>One of my <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/cecilia-moura/covid-19-air-pollution-and-health-impacts-an-interview-with-pediatric-pulmonologist-dr-denise-serebrisky" target="_blank">colleagues wrote</a> that moments of crisis often expose the weak points of a system. In the SJV, the weak points of the water system have been exposed for years and won't be strengthened without managing water resources sustainably. This is evidenced by the number of people in the SJV without access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water. Considering that about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/28/california-water-wells-dry-sgma" target="_blank">95% of valley residents</a> depend on groundwater for at least part of their water, it is critical that GSPs explicitly include strategies for addressing some of the current and future water issues in the SJV.</p><p>Numerous, various kinds of climate threats will come, whether they develop as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0804-2" target="_blank">floods, heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, or other climate hazards</a>, we need to be prepared and do everything possible to improve sustainable water management for all. While future climate-change-derived crises most likely will be different than COVID-19, there is no scenario where water is not absolutely necessary to lessen the impacts.</p>
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An approximately one-year-old puma in the streets of Santiago, Chile on March 24, 2020, in search for food as fewer people are outside due to the pandemic. ANDRES PINA / ATON CHILE / AFP via Getty Images
A third cougar has been sighted wandering through a residential neighborhood in the Chilean capital of Santiago as millions of the city's residents are under lockdown measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
<p>A video shared by the National Zoo of Chile shows the big cat being released at "dusk under strict security measures" darting from an enclosure back into its mountain landscape. The zoo adds that the big cat was captured in a private home on Monday and was in deemed in good enough health to release it the same day, according to a Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/zoologiconacionaldechile/posts/3238908382799914" target="_blank">post</a>.</p><p>Two other cougars have also been captured in the city as a majority of its six million residents are practicing quarantine and self-isolation measures amid the coronavirus outbreak. As people have moved inside for the last two weeks, wild animals often pushed to urban outskirts have been making their way into city centers.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="77827e0b75e8757004242624fd75cc54"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/zoologiconacionaldechile/videos/213107676637654/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p>"They sense less noise and are also looking for new places to find food and some get lost and appear in the cities," Horacio Bórquez, Chile's national director of livestock and agriculture service, said of the animals in a report by the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52197631" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>The foothills surrounding Santiago have also been experiencing a severe <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">drought</a>, which <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-chile-puma/chilean-capital-gets-another-visit-from-cougar-amid-coronavirus-lockdown-idUSKBN21K37Q" target="_blank">Reuters</a> adds may be further pushing the thirsty felines toward urban centers in search of water. Central Chile has received 30 percent lass rainfall that normal over the last decade in what scientists have nicknamed a "<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.6219" target="_blank">megadrought</a>." Last year was particularly dry with rainfall deficits of 80 to 90 percent, according to <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145874/long-term-drought-parches-chile" target="_blank">NASA</a>.</p><p>"An 80 percent deficit means that the semi-arid region north of Santiago has seen almost no water, as seen in the marked browning of the vegetation," said <a href="http://www.dgf.uchile.cl/rene/" target="_blank">René D. Garreaud</a>, a scientist at the University of Chile. "South of Santiago has received some rain — 100 to 300 millimeters (4 to 12 inches). That is still not much, but it has been enough to keep the vegetation green."</p>
<p>It is unclear whether wildlife is "rebounding" in the absence of humans or if they are simply taking advantage of a unique situation. In recent weeks, social media has shared videos of wildlife making its way to human-populated areas as if in response to global lockdowns – claims that <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/03/coronavirus-pandemic-fake-animal-viral-social-media-posts/" target="_blank">National Geographic</a> has challenged. Many of the reports – which include accounts of <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dolphins-swans-italy-lockdown/" target="_blank">swans</a>, <a href="https://mashable.com/article/coronavirus-fake-dolphins-venice-animals-viral-posts/" target="_blank">dolphins</a>, and even <a href="https://www.indy100.com/article/drunk-elephants-china-corn-yunan-province-9414431" target="_blank">drunk elephants</a> – are either misrepresented or a regular occurrence.</p><p>"The phenomenon highlights how quickly eye-popping, too-good-to-be-true rumors can spread in times of crisis. People are compelled to share posts that make them emotional," writes the publication. "When we're feeling stressed, joyous animal footage can be an irresistible salve. The spread of social phenomena is so powerful, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep19767" target="_blank">2016 research shows</a>, that it can follow same models that trace the contagion of epidemics."</p><p>As human populations grow and encroach on natural habitat, interactions between people and wildlife continue to increase. Protective regulations have further helped once-endangered animal populations to bounce back, further <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/mountain-lion-encounters-rise-experts/story?id=62144482" target="_blank">spurring</a> potential urban-wildlife conflict. A <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.5559" target="_blank">2019 study</a> suggests that understanding animals living at the wildland-urban interface is necessary to ensure the safety of both animals and humans, which is "especially true for large carnivores" as these species are not always tolerated by the public.</p>
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(L) Rushing waters of Victoria Falls at Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, Zimbabwe pictured in January 2018. Edwin Remsberg / VW PICS / UIG / Getty Images (R) Stark contrast of Victory Falls is seen on Nov. 13, 2019 after drought has caused a decline. ZINYANGE AUNTONY / AFP / Getty Images
The climate crisis is already threatening the Great Barrier Reef. Now, another of the seven natural wonders of the world may be in its crosshairs — Southern Africa's iconic Victoria Falls.
<p>The falls are located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. They are also called Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means "the smoke that thunders" in the indigenous Lozi language, <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/stunning-images-show-how-one-severe-dry-season-changed-the-worlds-largest-waterfall/640562" target="_blank">according to AccuWeather</a>. But contrasting photographs taken by Reuters in January and December 2019 show how a severe <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">drought</a> has shrunk the falls into something closer to the steam that whispers.</p>
<div id="e7930" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="W6SZIG1576662524"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1202565823698784256" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This looks very, very wrong 😔 https://t.co/lCL1Ea4mul</div> — Metro (@Metro)<a href="https://twitter.com/MetroUK/statuses/1202565823698784256">1575549009.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu also tweeted images of the dried-out falls in October.</p><p>"These pictures of Victoria Falls are a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment and our livelihood," he wrote at the time. "It is with no doubt that developing countries like Zambia are the most impacted by climate change and the least able to afford its consequences."</p>
<div id="2a078" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="TCIEVV1576662524"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1179026130831073282" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">These pictures of the Victoris Falls are a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment and ou… https://t.co/7TiYroyc8Z</div> — Edgar Chagwa Lungu (@Edgar Chagwa Lungu)<a href="https://twitter.com/EdgarCLungu/statuses/1179026130831073282">1569936709.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The falls usually decline somewhat during the dry season, but the worst drought to bake the region in a century has reduced their water flow to the lowest level in 25 years, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-climatechange-drought-zimbabwe/victoria-falls-shrink-to-a-trickle-feeding-climate-change-fears-idUKKBN1YA1I3" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. This has led to concerns that the attraction that draws millions of visitors to Zambia and Zimbabwe could dry up all together.</p><p>"In previous years, when it gets dry, it's not to this extent. This (is) our first experience of seeing it like this," Dominic Nyambe, who sells crafts to tourists on the Zambian side of the falls, told Reuters. "It affects us, because ... clients ... can see on the Internet (that the falls are low) .... We don't have so many tourists."</p><p>The dwindling falls isn't the only way drought has impacted the two countries. Both Zambia and Zimbabwe rely on hydropower from the Kariba Dam, located on the Zambezi River that also feeds the falls. The reduced water flow has led to power cuts. In southern Africa overall, around 45 million people require food aid because of crop failures.</p><p>AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews said that it was unclear if this year's drought was caused by climate change. And hydrologist Harald Kling, who is an expert on the Zambezi River, cautioned Reuters it isn't always possible to blame the climate crisis for one dry year.</p><p>"If they become more frequent, then you can start saying, ok, this may be climate change," he said.</p>
<p>But that does seem to be the case for the Zambezi basin. While climate models predicted more droughts for the region, Kling said their recent frequency has still been "surprising." The last drought was only three years ago.</p><p>While this year's reduced flow is particularly dramatic, Elisha Moyo, Principal Climate Change Researcher at Zimbabwe's Ministry of Environment, Climate and Tourism, told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-50549711/could-victoria-falls-dry-up" target="_blank">BBC News</a> in November that lower-flow years were becoming more frequent. This year, the cascade's average flow has been reduced by nearly 50 percent.</p><p>"Who knows maybe one year there will be no falls completely, no water," Moyo said.</p>
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A protestor in NYC holds up a sign that reads, "November Is Coming" on June 14, 2020 in reference to voting in the 2020 presidential election. Ira L. Black / Corbis / Getty Images
By Mark Hertsgaard
What follows are not candidate endorsements. Rather, this nonpartisan guide aims to inform voters' choices, help journalists decide what races to follow, and explore what the 2020 elections could portend for climate action in the United States in 2021 and beyond.
Will the White House Turn Green?
<p>Whether the White House changes hands is the most important climate question of the 2020 elections. President Donald Trump rejects climate science, is withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement, and has accelerated fossil fuel development. His climate policy seems to be, as he tweeted in January when rejecting a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal to protect New York City from storm surges, "Get your mops and buckets ready."</p><p>Joe Biden, who started the 2020 campaign with a climate position so weak that activists gave it an "F," called Trump a "climate arsonist" during California's recent wildfires. Biden backs a $2 trillion plan to create millions of jobs while slashing emissions—a Green New Deal in all but name. Equally striking, his running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, has endorsed phasing out fossil fuel production—a politically explosive scientific imperative.</p><p>The race will be decided in a handful of battleground states, five of which already face grave climate dangers: Florida (hurricanes and sea-level rise), North Carolina (ditto), Texas (storms and drought), Michigan (floods), and Arizona (heat waves and drought). <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us/" target="_blank">Public concern is rising</a> in these states, but will that concern translate into votes?</p>Will Democrats Flip the Senate, and by Enough to Pass a Green New Deal?
<p>With Democrats all but certain to maintain their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate will determine whether a potential Biden administration can actually deliver climate progress. Democrats need to pick up three seats to flip the Senate if Biden wins, four if he doesn't. But since aggressive climate policy is shunned by some Democrats, notably Joe Manchin of coal-dependent West Virginia, Democrats probably need to gain five or six Senate seats to pass a Green New Deal.</p><p>Environmentalists, including the League of Conservation Voters, are targeting six Republicans who polls suggest are vulnerable.</p><ul><li>Steve Daines of Montana, who denies climate science</li><li>Martha McSally of Arizona</li><li>Thom Tillis of North Carolina</li><li>Susan Collins of Maine</li><li>Joni Ernst of Iowa (bankrolled by Charles Koch)</li><li>John James of Michigan (also a Koch beneficiary)</li></ul><p>Republican Senators are even at risk in conservative Kansas and Alaska. In both states, the Democratic candidates are physicians—not a bad credential amid a pandemic—who support climate action. In Kansas, Barbara Bollier faces an incumbent funded by Charles Koch. In Alaska, Al Gross urges a transition away from oil, though his openness to limited drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve dims his appeal to green groups. He faces incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan, who receives an 8 percent lifetime voting record from the League of Conservation Voters.</p><p>In the House, environmentalists are working to elect these candidates, in one case over an establishment Democrat:</p><ul><li>Beth Doglio of Washington state</li><li>Georgette Gómez of California</li><li>Marie Newman of Illinois</li><li>Cameron Webb of Virginia</li><li>Mike Siegel and Wendy Davis of Texas</li></ul><p>We rightfully focus on federal climate policy, but climate action must also be made at the state and local level—and there are plenty of races and initiatives to pay attention to.</p>
Will Local and State Races Advance Climate Progress?
<h4>THE CLIMATE HAWKS</h4><p>Under Democratic and Republican leadership alike, Washington has long been a graveyard for strong climate action. But governors can boost or block renewable energy; the Vermont and New Hampshire races are worth watching. Attorneys general can sue fossil fuel companies for lying about climate change; climate hawks are running for the top law enforcement seats in Montana and North Carolina. State legislatures can accelerate or delay climate progress, as the new Democratic majorities in Virginia have shown. Here, races to watch include Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Colorado.</p><h4>THE CLIMATE POLICY MAKERS</h4><p>Perhaps the most powerful, and most overlooked, climate policy makers are public utility commissions. They control whether pipelines and other energy infrastructure gets built; they regulate whether electric utilities expand solar and energy efficiency or stick with the carbon-heavy status quo. Regulatory capture and outright corruption are not uncommon.</p><p>A prime example is Arizona, where a former two-term commissioner known as the godfather of solar in the state is seeking a comeback. Bill Mundell argues that since Arizona law permits utilities to contribute to commissioners' electoral campaigns, the companies can buy their own regulators. Which may explain why super-sunny Arizona has so little installed solar capacity.</p><p>In South Dakota, Remi Bald Eagle, a Native American U.S. Army veteran, seeks a seat on the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, which rules on the Standing Rock oil pipeline. And in what <em>HuffPost</em> called "the most important environmental race in the country," Democrat Chrysta Castaneda, who favors phasing out oil production, is running for the Texas Railroad Commission, which despite its name decides what oil, gas, and electric companies in America's leading petro-state can build.</p>Will the Influencers Usher in a Green New Era?
<h4>THE UNCOUNTED</h4><p>The story that goes largely under-reported in every U.S. election is how few Americans vote. In 2016, some 90 million, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/08/09/an-examination-of-the-2016-electorate-based-on-validated-voters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">roughly four out of every 10 eligible voters</a>, did not cast a ballot. Attorney Nathaniel Stinnett claims that 10 million of these nonvoters nevertheless identify as environmentalists: They support green policies, even donate to activist groups; they just don't vote. Stinnett's <a href="https://www.environmentalvoter.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental Voter Project</a> works to awaken this sleeping giant.</p><h4>THE SUNRISE MOVEMENT</h4><p>Meanwhile, the young climate activists of the <a href="http://www.sunrisemovement.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sunrise Movement</a> are already winning elections with an unabashedly Green New Deal message. More than any other group, Sunrise pushed the Green New Deal into the national political conversation, helping Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey draft the eponymous congressional resolution. In 2020, Sunrise has helped Green New Deal champions defeat centrists in Democratic primaries, with Markey dealing Representative Joe Kennedy Jr. the first defeat a Kennedy has ever suffered in a Massachusetts election. But can Sunrise also be successful against Republicans in the general elections this fall?</p><h4>THE STARPOWER</h4><p>And an intriguing wild card: celebrity firepower, grassroots activism, and big-bucks marketing have converged behind a campaign to get Latina mothers to vote climate in 2020. Latinos have long been the U.S. demographic most concerned about climate change. Now, <a href="https://votelikeamadre.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vote Like A Madre</a> aims to get 5 million Latina mothers in Florida, Texas, and Arizona to the polls. Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayak, and Lin-Manuel Miranda are urging mothers to make a "pinky promise" to vote for their kids' climate future in November. Turning out even a quarter of those 5 million voters, though no easy task, could swing the results in three states Trump must win to remain president, which brings us back to the first category, "Will the White House Turn Green?"</p>From Your Site Articles
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The Metronome, a famous art installation in Union Square that used to display the time of day, has been repurposed into a "Climate Clock" for Climate Week NYC. Zack Winestine
By Jessica Corbett
This story was originally published on Common Dreams on September 19, 2020.
Some advocates kicked off next week's Climate Week NYC early Saturday by repurposing the Metronome, a famous art installation in Union Square that used to display the time of day, as a massive "Climate Clock" in an effort to pressure governments worldwide to take swift, bold action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and rein in human-caused global heating.
<p><br/></p>
<p>"The clock is a way to speak science to power," project co-founder Andrew Boyd said in a statement. "The clock is telling us we must reduce our emissions as much as we can as fast as we can. The technology is there. We can do this—and in the process, create a healthier, more just world for all of us. Our planet has a deadline. But we can turn it into a lifeline."</p><p>Launched as people across the country are facing the deadly, devastating <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/18/climate-floods-climate-droughts-climate-fires-interactive-map-illustrates-how" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impacts of climate change</a>—from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/11/fires-ravaging-us-west-bellwether-future-says-oregon-governor-half-million-residents" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">historic wildfires</a> in western states to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/17/bolstering-calls-climate-action-mutant-sloth-hurricane-sally-leaves-major-mess-gulf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">slow-moving hurricanes</a> and the resulting floods on the Gulf Coast—the clock in New York City on Saturday warned that the international community only has seven years and 102 days to "undertake bold transformation of our energy system and economy" in hopes of keeping global temperature rise under 1.5 degrees Celsius.</p><p>"Climate Change is already here. This clock is not an alarm clock saying, in seven years it will ring and we need to wake up! It's more like a stopwatch already running that we have to keep pace with," explained Gan Golan, the project originator. "We need to take action today, tomorrow, and the day after that. Let's get moving. Every second counts. We need to act in time."</p>
<div id="0bde7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="002ce26d8d0c627f76d752e14d234d6e"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1307397838884741121" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">LIVE: #ClimateClock about to go live at Union square replacing the atronomical clock, with a carbon countdown!… https://t.co/5OzxwUwWDf</div> — Greg Schwedock🌹(⧖) (@Greg Schwedock🌹(⧖))<a href="https://twitter.com/GregSchwedock/statuses/1307397838884741121">1600542909.0</a></blockquote></div><p>A mobile climate clock that Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg "now carries with her, as well as the larger Climate Clock project, was assembled by a team of artists, makers, scientists, and activists based in New York, and is part of the Beautiful Trouble community of projects," according to <a href="https://climateclock.world/" target="_blank">Climateclock.world</a>, which details the science behind the numbers displayed and how to install clocks in other cities.</p>
<div id="5160f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="75ffdd348e9e589c32b324c77f650b1b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1204581474218807296" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">LIVE: Greta Thunberg's worldwide #ClimateClock launches https://t.co/sglWCLwdsG</div> — act.tv (@act.tv)<a href="https://twitter.com/actdottv/statuses/1204581474218807296">1576029578.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"In an accompanying app, the artists include more detail about solutions," <em>Fast Company</em> <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90552230/manhattans-classic-digital-clock-is-now-counting-down-to-climate-disaster" target="_blank">reported</a> Saturday. "Another number tracks the current percentage of renewable energy in the world. An interactive tool shows how to 'flatten the climate curve' and how much difference it makes to invest more now, and to move more quickly. A DIY maker kit explains how to make a countdown clock of your own."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/19/massive-climate-clock-urging-governments-actintime-unveiled-metronome-new-york-city" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A California newt (Taricha torosa) from Napa County, California, USA. Connor Long / CC BY-SA 3.0
By Tara Lohan
Aerial photos of the Sierra Nevada — the long mountain range stretching down the spine of California — showed rust-colored swathes following the state's record-breaking five-year drought that ended in 2016. The 100 million dead trees were one of the most visible examples of the ecological toll the drought had wrought.
Now, a few years later, we're starting to learn about how smaller, less noticeable species were affected.
<p>One of those is the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/nature/californianewt.htm" target="_blank">California newt</a> (<em>Taricha torosa</em>). These large, colorful amphibians live across the state, from Mendocino County to San Diego County, but newts living in Southern California fared worse during the drought, according to a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60122-2" target="_blank">new study</a> published in the <em>Nature </em>journal<em> Scientific Reports</em>. And worse, anticipated future changes to the climate are likely to put northern newts in the same boat in coming decades.<br></p><p>Researchers have been surveying populations of these amphibians for decades. By tagging them with transponders and following their movements, they've learned that the newts can live for more than 30 years and return to the same spots year after year as they migrate between freshwater and land.</p>
<p>But as the drought began in 2012, the researchers noticed a change in the Southern Californian populations. There were fewer newts from the tagged population coming back to dozens of breeding sites monitored across the region each year. The researchers also observed fewer egg masses, tadpoles and larvae.</p><p>"Here's a long-lived species that we're not seeing individuals that we've seen for the last 10 or 15 years coming back to the sites where they usually breed," says Gary Bucciarelli, the lead author of the report and an assistant adjunct professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA.</p><p>And there was one more piece of bad news: Most of the adult newts that <em>did</em> return in Southern California were in poorer body condition than before the drought began. This negative trend, the researchers concluded, was linked to drier and warmer conditions that were far outside the 100-year average.</p><p>At the time the state was experiencing drought conditions not seen there for 1,200 years. You'd expect drought to hurt amphibians, which rely on access to water, but Bucciarelli says the research shows that similarly record-high <em>air</em> temperatures may have played an even greater role than precipitation.</p><p>Warmer temperatures remove necessary moisture from the terrestrial environment. But they could also affect food — a shifting climate may mean less prey, says Bucciarelli. Or it could mean that newts spend more time wandering around, burning calories, and less time hunkered down as they normally would.</p><p>Whatever exactly happened in this case, "It all was strongly correlated with the extreme deviation in climate," he adds.</p>
<p>Amphibians spend part of the year on land, and we know far less about how they spend their terrestrial days. "When they're on land we don't know if they're underground, moving around, in a deep sleep, or what they're feeding on," he says. "This research suggests there are things happening on land that are impacted by temperature that we don't really understand."</p><p>One thing is certain, though: Climate change will bring more severe droughts and higher temperatures to California, and that could push newts in Southern California, which are already a species of conservation concern, closer to extinction.</p><p>And in the next 50 years, the northern populations are likely to experience the same change in body condition. That means that the northern range "likely will not provide climate refuge for numerous amphibian communities," the researchers conclude.</p><p>That's particularly bad news considering that globally, an estimated 40% of amphibians face extinction. A disease caused by chytrid fungus has <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328150806.htm" target="_blank">devastated many amphibian populations</a>, especially in Australia, Central and South America, and wiped out 90 species already.</p><p>But amphibians face other threats, too. And the California newt is no exception.</p><p>The species is adapted to drought, but "they haven't dealt with drought coupled with temperature changes that are this rapid and this severe, in conjunction with habitat fragmentation, land use changes and fire frequency changes," Bucciarelli says. "Now we're beginning to see how these combined stressors are acting out ecologically."</p>
<p>So what do we do?</p><p>Collecting more data is a good start. Land managers need to begin long-term monitoring surveys of populations of amphibians now, even if the species aren't currently a major concern. "You never know what's going to happen and having baseline data is super important," he says.</p><p>Proactively improving habitat is also critical. We can start by ensuring that habitats are free of non-native species, says Bucciarelli, who has also tracked the negative effects of introduced fish and invasive crayfish on amphibians.</p><p>Suitable habitat is key, but so is connection. Many newt populations in Southern California have become islands, separated by development that limits their genetic diversity — and in the long run, their capacity to adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Ensuring habitat connectivity could help strengthen their resilience.</p><p>Even if all of that happens, climate change will continue to be a threat, and Bucciarelli says we may need to develop contingency plans for worsening conditions if we hope to save these newts.</p><p>"We'll have to think of different and more creative management strategies to help in years when temperature and precipitation are not in line with the norm."</p>
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/taralohan/" target="_blank"><strong></strong></a>Tara Lohan is deputy editor of The Revelator.</p><p><em><a href="http://twitter.com/TaraLohan" target="_blank"></a>Reposted with permission from our media associate </em><em><a href="https://therevelator.org/california-newt-climate/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A satellite image shows smoke spreading from wildfires in the Western U.S. on Sept. 11, 2020. NOAA / NASA
The smoke from the wildfires devastating the West Coast of the U.S. has reached as far away as Europe, officials said Wednesday.
<p>The EU's climate tracking body, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), said it had detected smoke from the fires over Northern Europe, 8,000 kilometers (approximately 4,970 miles) away from its origin, as an <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200916-smoke-from-us-fires-reaches-europe-satellite-data-shows" target="_blank">AFP story published by France24 reported</a>.</p><p>"The fact that these fires are emitting so much pollution into the atmosphere that we can still see thick smoke over 8000 kilometres away reflects just how devastating they have been in their magnitude and duration," CAMS senior scientist Mark Parrington said in a <a href="https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/cams-monitors-smoke-release-us-wildfires" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>CAMS said smoke from the fires first reached Europe last week and is expected to do so again at the end of this week.</p>
<div id="88627" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2513ec46adc7536e0d71ac93d5aa7a0a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306128847017054208" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🔥#Smoke from the unprecedented #USFires is moving back across #NorthAmerica from the #Pacific and is on its way to… https://t.co/rep440bkfN</div> — Copernicus ECMWF (@Copernicus ECMWF)<a href="https://twitter.com/CopernicusECMWF/statuses/1306128847017054208">1600240358.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Climate researcher Geert Jan van Oldenborgh <a href="https://twitter.com/gjvoldenborgh/status/1304478828476198912" target="_blank">tweeted Sept. 11</a> that the smoke had been observed in Holland.</p><p>"The smoke from the western US wildfires has even reached the Netherlands..., turning the sky [grey] instead of blue," he wrote.</p><p>In its report Wednesday, CAMS also gave an account of the scale of the fires themselves. It said fire activity was ten to hundreds times more intense this year than for the U.S. average from 2003 to 2019. Blazes in Oregon and California also emitted more carbon pollution this year than at any time since record-keeping began. So far, they have released more than 30 million tonnes (approximately 33 million U.S. tons) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since mid-August, AFP reported.</p><p>"The scale and magnitude of these fires are at a level much higher than in any of the 18 years that our monitoring data covers, since 2003," <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/16/weather/us-wildfires-smoke-europe-copernicus-intl/index.html" target="_blank">Parrington told CNN</a>.</p>
<p>The heaviest smoke from the fires was trapped over the Western U.S. for days, CAMS noted, choking Pacific cities with the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/west-coast-wildfires-air-pollution-2647637806.html" target="_self">worst air quality in the world</a>. But a change in the weather Monday began to move the smoke east along the jet stream, according to AFP. In the Eastern U.S., Boston, New York and Maine have all reported smoky, hazy conditions, the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-09-15/smoke-california-wildfires-reaches-east-coast-europe" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times reported</a>.</p><p>"Satellite images this morning show smoke aloft moving over much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic," the Baltimore-Washington office of the National Weather Service <a href="https://twitter.com/NWS_BaltWash/status/1305857530283913217" target="_blank">tweeted Tuesday</a>. "This smoke is obscuring the sun, and will keep temperatures a few degrees cooler today than what would be observed if the smoke was not present."</p><p>But just because some of the smoke is moving doesn't mean the West Coast can breathe easy. Portland, OR still had the worst air quality in the world Wednesday morning, <a href="https://www.iqair.com/us/world-air-quality-ranking" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to rankings from IQAir</a>.</p>
<p>The fires themselves also continue to rage. There were 87 burning in 11 states as of Tuesday, CNN reported. So far, the fires have claimed 25 lives in California. In Oregon, as of Tuesday, 10 people had died and 22 were missing.</p><p>In California, fires have scorched more than 3.2 million acres, the most on record, burned at least 4,200 structures and displaced more than 60,000 people. Across the West, the flames have consumed nearly five million acres, an area roughly the size of New Jersey, AFP pointed out.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> makes larger, intense wildfires more likely because higher temperatures worsen the drought conditions that feed them.</p>
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An electric car at an eVgo charging station in a parking lot in Dublin, California on June 20, 2018. Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday that would ban the sale of new cars in California that run only on gasoline by the year 2035. The bid to reduce emissions and combat the climate crisis would make California the first state to ban the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines, according to POLITICO.
<p>"This is the most impactful step our state can take to fight climate change," said Newsom in a <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/09/23/governor-newsom-announces-california-will-phase-out-gasoline-powered-cars-drastically-reduce-demand-for-fossil-fuel-in-californias-fight-against-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a> that accompanied the signing of the executive order. "For too many decades, we have allowed cars to pollute the air that our children and families breathe. Californians shouldn't have to worry if our cars are giving our kids asthma. Our cars shouldn't make wildfires worse – and create more days filled with smoky air. Cars shouldn't melt glaciers or raise sea levels threatening our cherished beaches and coastlines."</p>
<p>The threats posed by the climate crisis are playing out in dramatic fashion in California. This summer, the state has seen record-setting wildfires, heat waves and drought. Those mounting climate crisis-related challenges have spurred the move away from the state's leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/09/23/california-electric-cars/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>"We can't continue down this path," Newsom said at a briefing, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/23/california-cars-electric-vehicles-gavin-newsom-climate-change" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "If you care about your kids and your grandkids, if you care about disadvantaged communities, if you care about seniors, if you care about rural communities, if you care about inner city communities that have been underserved by our fossil fuel economy, then you care about the core construct that we are advancing here in this executive order."</p><p>Newsom added that the order will create "green collar jobs" that Californians are well-positioned to capitalize on since 34 <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/electric-vehicles">electric car</a> manufacturers are already in the state.</p>
<p>"Our second largest export in the state of California are electric vehicles," he said, according to The Guardian. "Those 34 manufacturers, those public trading manufacturers, represent close to half a trillion dollars of market capitalization, some $500bn … this is an economic opportunity."</p><p>For the order to be successful, the technology, scalability, and affordability of electric cars would have to improve dramatically in the next decade. Also, the state will need to make sure charging stations are readily available. California currently has the largest market for electric and hybrid vehicles, with roughly 257,000 new registrations for electric vehicles in 2018, according to The Washington Post. Yet, that number was not even 10 percent of the state's new car market.</p><p>While the order is sure to meet legal challenges, it may set the trend that carmakers need to increase their investment in fossil-fuel-free vehicles.</p>
<p>"The automotive industry was already on the road toward electrification as a long term goal, but many automakers have been guilty of setting short term targets for their electrification strategy that never came to fruition," said Jessica Caldwell, director of insights at Edmunds, an online resource for car data, in an emailed comment to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/23/cars/california-zero-emissions-passenger-vehicles/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "This rule, if implemented, establishes a specific timeline that they'll collectively need to adhere to. California is a major market that automakers desperately need to maintain sales within to ensure their own viability."</p><p>The announcement also earned the praise of environmental groups.</p><p>"The Governor's Executive Order is a meaningful step in addressing the climate crisis and protecting the health of Californians," said Coalition for Clean Air in an email to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/916209659/california-governor-signs-order-banning-sales-of-new-gasoline-cars-by-2035" target="_blank">NPR</a>. "Electrifying transportation will also create jobs and help California move forward in its economic recovery."</p>
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A woman scoops water in a dry riverbed near Kataboi village in remote Turkana in northern Kenya. Marisol Grandon / Department for International Development
By Raya A. Al-Masri
Different strategies for resisting the spread of the new coronavirus have emerged in different countries. But the one that has cut through everywhere is simple and, supposedly, can be done by anyone: "Wash your hands with water and soap for at least 20 seconds."
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<p>This advice takes plentiful safe <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water" target="_self">water</a> for granted, but in many parts of the world, clean fresh water isn't guaranteed. Where it is, it may be in scarce supply. What will happen in such places if and when the pandemic escalates and the need for proper sanitation grows ever more urgent?</p>
<p>According to the World Health Organization, <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1272446/retrieve" target="_blank">frequent and thorough hand washing</a> can help reduce your chances of contracting infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Worldwide statistics <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/water-access" target="_blank">for 2017</a> revealed that poor sanitation and limited access to hand-washing facilities contributed to around 1.5 million deaths. Nearly 2.2 billion people are currently living without safely managed water outlets, and around <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water" target="_blank">22% of healthcare facilities</a> in the least developed countries lack basic water services.</p><p>Clean water and good hygiene is the absolute minimum that's needed to combat the spread of the new coronavirus. But in sub-Saharan Africa, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/mar/19/community-infections-could-happen-any-time-kenya-prepares-for-covid-19-coronavirus" target="_blank">World Bank reported</a> that around 75% of people living in rural areas live in homes that lack adequate facilities for hand washing. One charity working in the Western Province of Kenya found that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/mar/19/community-infections-could-happen-any-time-kenya-prepares-for-covid-19-coronavirus" target="_blank">95% of the households</a> they visited had no access to running water.</p>
<p>It's been known for a while that countries without a reliable system of supplying water to everyone are likely to be more vulnerable to infectious diseases. The mortality rates from diarrhea <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/diarrheal-diseases" target="_blank">in 2017</a> were highest in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Here, unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation were the highest risk factors for developing the disease among people who are 70 years and older.</p><p>Likewise, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/diarrheal-diseases" target="_blank">72% of deaths</a> from diarrhea among children under five in 2016 were caused by unsafe water, mostly in drought-prone countries in southern Africa. But even places with a sufficient supply of clean water are likely to face an intolerable strain as frequent hand washing becomes essential.</p>
<h3>A Tipping Point</h3><p>In Jordan, where over <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/water-access" target="_blank">93% of people</a> had access to safe water in 2015, a water sector official recently declared that demand for water has <a href="http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/water-resources-operating-highest-capacity-demand-surges-40-cent" target="_blank">jumped by 40%</a> since the government ordered people to stay home as part of a nationwide curfew. That's on top of a steady rise in water demand <a href="https://thearabweekly.com/jordans-water-shortage-made-worse-refugee-crisis" target="_blank">of 22%</a> since 2011, as Syrian refugees have arrived, fleeing the civil war. The growing population has limited each individual's share of water in Jordan to less than 80 liters per day.</p><p>The sudden increase in water demand in countries where supply is already strained could cause widespread shortages. But in places where a regular, safe water supply doesn't exist, the risk of infection could multiply.</p><p>Like COVID-19, water scarcity is a global problem that needs collective action. There is no more urgent a time to address the world's water crisis than now, when people are constantly being reminded to use water to combat the spread of the virus.</p>
<p>Acting on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> is one way to limit the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">droughts</a> that are behind many surface-water shortages, as is reforming agriculture to reduce pumping for irrigation. Managing water sources as a commons, with access guaranteed to all, is equally important.</p><p>The COVID-19 health crisis has taught us so far that collective action is the proper way to address a common problem, if not the only one. This should compel researchers to do all they can to communicate their findings and expertise, to bridge the gap between the scientific community and everyone else. Sharing knowledge within the community in a more inclusive way would help others devise innovative solutions for protecting water sources, improving sanitation and developing hygiene projects.</p><p>Let the COVID-19 outbreak remind us all how important safe running water is in keeping us healthy, and spare a thought for those who cannot count on it always flowing. Ensuring that clean water and hygiene is a right guaranteed to all is an urgent demand for global justice, but it is also vital in preparing the world to resist the development of future pandemics.</p>
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<em><span style="background-color: initial;">Raya A. Al-Masri is a </span>Ph.D. researcher in environment and sustainability at the University of Surrey.<br/>
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<em>Disclosure statement: Raya A. Al-Masri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond her academic appointment.</em>
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<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-what-might-more-hand-washing-mean-in-countries-with-water-shortages-134625" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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Smoke hangs low at Big Basin Redwoods State Park as some redwoods are still on fire Aug. 22, 2020 in Boulder Creek, California. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The massive redwood trees that dot the landscape of Northern California have survived through countless earthquakes and natural disasters. Some of them are over 1,800 years old, hundreds of feet tall, and more than 90 feet in circumference. Yet, the climate crisis may threaten their livelihood as the latest California wildfires have encroached upon the ancient trees, as NPR reported.
<p>The California Department of Parks and Recreation said last week that the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire in Santa Cruz County had badly damaged Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the state's oldest park, according to <a href="https://time.com/5882581/redwoods-big-basin-california-fires/" target="_blank">TIME</a> Magazine.</p><p>As of Sunday night, Cal Fire officials said, the CZU fire had burned 74,000 acres and was 8 percent contained. It threatened more than 24,000 structures and had destroyed 163 buildings, according to <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/23/czu-complex-fire-update-firefighters-brace-for-more-challenges/" target="_blank">The Mercury News</a> in San Jose.</p>
<p>Biologists are keeping a close eye on the state's old-growth trees and are feeling some relief that many trees have been spared and the fires have moved around their clusters. They also note that the redwoods' hardiness will help them endure the fires. The trees are protected by remarkably thick bark that can withstand fires and preserve enough strength and vitality to allow the trees to sprout again after suffering from fire damage, according to NPR.</p><p>In fact, some of the oldest trees have bark that is an entire foot thick. Furthermore, the trees rarely have branches near the forest floor, which helps to lessen the spread of wildfires.</p>
<p>Kristen Shive, a scientist for Save the Redwoods League, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/us/big-basin-redwoods-ca-fires.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> that she is cautiously optimistic about the fate of the beloved conifers, though she stressed that she was merely speculating since she is not allowed to check the status of the trees.</p><p>"Because of their resilience, I feel a lot more hopeful than super worried about the trees," said Shive, as NPR reported. "The trees really are so incredibly tough when it comes to fire. Most of them will persist and survive."</p><p>"If a fire is hot enough to consume the entire crown of a tree, in a pine tree, that tree is most likely dead," Shive added. "But in redwoods, they have these buds that lie dormant under their bark and they can sprout after the fire."</p>
<p>Yet, while the trees are able to bounce back from fire, the compounding hits that the climate crisis delivers threatens the long-term prospects of the ecosystem that has allowed the trees to thrive. The increased frequency and duration of both heat stress and drought could undermine the trees' efforts to bounce back.</p><p>Dr. Shive also told The New York Times that while trees may remain intact and have the capability to rejuvenate, their tops will be badly damaged and will take years to return to normal.</p><p>Shive told NPR that the threat from the climate crisis means that efforts to save the redwoods need to be ramped up and controlled burns need to be in place for the forests to survive the mounting dangers.</p><p>"We still need to be setting these forests up to be as fire-resilient as possible, since, as we've seen in this last week, this warmer and drier future is already upon us and it's going to get worse," she said to NPR.</p><p>Big Basin Redwoods State Park spans 18,000 acres north of Santa Cruz. It is the largest continuous stand of old-growth trees south of San Francisco. Designated a state park in 1902 in response to rapacious development, it's also the state's oldest, as The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/us/big-basin-redwoods-ca-fires.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a> reported.</p>
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