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Coastal Antarctica has seen has a curious phenomenon over the last few years. The green snow that hugs parts of its shores has started to spread farther inland. And it's all caused by the climate crisis.
<p>A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16018-w" target="_blank">new study</a> published in the journal <em>Nature Communications</em> on Wednesday found that the green glow in the snow is actually caused by a microscopic <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/algae">algae</a> blooming on the surface of the snow, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/green-snow-algae-antarctica-spreading-climate-change/" target="_blank">CBS News</a>.</p><p>The researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK and the <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/climate-change-will-turn-coastal-antarctica-green/" target="_blank">British Antarctic Survey</a> say the algae will spread as the planet heats up because warming temperatures are creating more of the slushy conditions that the algae need in order to thrive, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/20/climate-change-turning-parts-antarctica-green-say-scientists-algae" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>Where the algae are at their most dense, their bright green shine alters the appearance of the snow and is actually visible from space. The scientists also say that as the algae spreads, it will invite in other species that will feast on it as a potent source of nutrition, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/20/climate-change-turning-parts-antarctica-green-say-scientists-algae" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p>
<p>To conduct the study, the researchers looked at satellite data gathered between 2017 and 2019 and combined it with on-the-ground measurements over two summers in Antarctica. That process allowed the scientists to map the microscopic algae as they bloomed across the snow of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/21/world/green-snow-antarctica-climate-change-intl-scli-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. The data was gleaned from images collected by the European Space Agency satellites with measurements from Antarctica's Ryder Bay, Adelaide Island, the Fildes Peninsula and King George Island.</p><p>What is reported is actually a conservative estimate since the data only included green algae. The satellite is only capable of picking up green, which means the data ignored the red and orange algae that accompany it.</p>
<p>"We now have a baseline of where the algal blooms are and we can see whether the blooms will start increasing as the models suggest in the future," said Matt Davey of the University of Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-antarctica/climate-change-turning-antarcticas-snow-green-idUSKBN22W16F" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p><p>Even though mosses and lichens are the dominant plant species in Antarctica, the new mapping identified 1,679 separate algal blooms that are a key component in the continent's ability to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-antarctica/climate-change-turning-antarcticas-snow-green-idUSKBN22W16F" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>"The algal blooms in Antarctica are equivalent to about the amount of carbon that's being omitted by 875,000 average UK petrol car journeys," Davey said to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-antarctica/climate-change-turning-antarcticas-snow-green-idUSKBN22W16F" target="_blank">Reuters</a>. "That seems a lot but in terms of the global carbon budget, it's insignificant. It does take up carbon from the atmosphere but it won't make any serious dent in the amount of carbon dioxide being put in the atmosphere at the moment."</p>
<p>The green snow appears along the Antarctic coast, which are "warmer" areas. There, the average temperatures reach just above freezing in the summer.</p><p>The researchers found that the distribution of green snow algae is strongly influenced by marine birds and mammals, because their excrement serves as an effective fertilizer. Over 60 percent of blooms were found near penguin colonies, and others were found near birds' nesting sites, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/green-snow-algae-antarctica-spreading-climate-change/" target="_blank">CBS News</a>.</p><p>"This is a significant advance in our understanding of land-based life on Antarctica, and how it might change in the coming years as the climate warms," said Davey in a <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/antarctica-turning-green" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>In order to flourish, the algae need a ready supply of water, which they should have an ample amount of as the planet heats up and snow on the Antarctica Peninsula melts.</p>
<p>"As Antarctica warms, we predict the overall mass of snow algae will increase, as the spread to higher ground will significantly outweigh the loss of small island patches of algae," said co-lead author Dr. Andrew Gray, of the University of Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/green-snow-algae-antarctica-spreading-climate-change/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported.</p><p>And the algae will help more snow melt.</p><p>"It's very dark — a green snow algal bloom will reflect about 45 percent of light hitting it whereas fresh snow will reflect about 80 percent of the light hitting it, so it will increase the rate of snow melt in a localized area," said Gray to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/21/world/green-snow-antarctica-climate-change-intl-scli-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p>
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Biodiversity – the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems – is declining globally, faster than at any other time in human history. Csondy / Getty Images
By Marie Quinney
Biodiversity is critically important – to your health, to your safety and, probably, to your business or livelihood.
<p>But biodiversity – the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems – is declining globally, faster than at any other time in human history. The world's 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things by weight, but humanity has caused the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/21/human-race-just-001-of-all-life-but-has-destroyed-over-80-of-wild-mammals-study" target="_blank">loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of all plants</a>. (Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse is one of the top five risks in <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2020" target="_blank">the World Economic Forum's 2020 Global Risks Report</a>, too.)</p><p>In celebration of <a href="https://www.cbd.int/idb/" target="_blank">the International Day for Biological Diversity</a>, we break down the five ways in which biodiversity supports our economies and enhances our wellbeing – and has the potential to do even more.</p>
1. Biodiversity Ensures Health and Food Security.
<p>Biodiversity underpins global nutrition and food security. Millions of species work together to provide us with a <a href="https://www.cbd.int/health/doc/Summary-SOK-Final.pdf" target="_blank">large array of fruits, vegetables and animal products essential to a healthy, balanced diet</a> – but they are increasingly under threat.</p><p>Every country has indigenous produce – such as wild greens and grains – which have adapted to local conditions, making them more resilient to pests and extreme weather. In the past, this produce provided much-needed micronutrients for local populations. Unfortunately, however, the <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i1620e.pdf" target="_blank">simplification of diets, processed foods and poor access to food have led to poor-quality diets</a>. As a result, <a href="https://www.bioversityinternational.org/research-portfolio/diet-diversity/biodiversity-for-food-and-nutrition/" target="_blank">one-third of the world suffers from micronutrient deficiencies</a>.</p><p>Three crops – wheat, corn and rice – <a href="https://enviroliteracy.org/food/crops/" target="_blank">provide almost 60% of total plant-based calories consumed by humans</a>. This leads to reduced resiliency in our supply chains and on our plates. For example, <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i1620e.pdf" target="_blank">the number of rice varieties cultivated in Asia has dropped from tens of thousands to just a few dozen; in Thailand, 50% of land used for growing rice only produces two varieties</a>.</p><p>People once understood that the conservation of species was crucial for healthy societies and ecosystems. We must ensure this knowledge remains part of our modern agricultural and food systems to prevent diet-related diseases and reduce the environmental impact of feeding ourselves.</p>2. Biodiversity Helps Fight Disease.
<p>Higher rates of biodiversity have been linked to an increase in human health.</p><p>First, plants are essential for medicines. For example, <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_New_Nature_Economy_Report_2020.pdf" target="_blank">25% of drugs used in modern medicine are derived from rainforest plants</a> while <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_New_Nature_Economy_Report_2020.pdf" target="_blank">70% of cancer drugs are natural or synthetic products inspired by nature</a>. This means that every time a species goes extinct, we miss out on a potential new medicine.</p><p>Second, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/news.2010.644" target="_blank">biodiversity due to protected natural areas has been linked to lower instances of disease</a> such as Lyme disease and malaria. While the exact origin of the virus causing COVID-19 is still unknown, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5711306/" target="_blank">60% of infectious diseases originate from animals</a> and <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/631980-Machalaba-Anthropogenic%20Drivers%20of%20Emerging%20Infectious%20Diseases.pdf" target="_blank">70% of emerging infectious diseases originate from wildlife</a>. As human activities encroach upon the natural world, through deforestation and urbanization, we reduce the size and number of ecosystems. As a result, animals live in closer quarters with one another and with humans, creating ideal conditions for the spread of zoonotic diseases.</p><p>Simply put: <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/news.2010.644" target="_blank">more species means less disease</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzMxMDYyOC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDA4MjA5MH0.7QU59zfy44cq0wSAwMxeqjyygJi9ef1aEyYHQZ3gCts/img.png?width=980" id="77368" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="18d555bb10422495fc147f109cb72b3b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Human activity is eroding biodiversity. World Economic Forum Nature Risk Rising
3. Biodiversity Benefits Business.
<p>According to the World Economic Forum's recent <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_New_Nature_Economy_Report_2020.pdf" target="_blank">Nature Risk Rising Report</a>, more than half of the world's GDP ($44 trillion) is highly or moderately dependent on nature. Many businesses are, therefore, at risk due to increasing nature loss. <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/biodiversity/protected_areas/arguments_for_protection/goods_services/medicine/" target="_blank">Global sales of pharmaceuticals based on materials of natural origin are worth an estimated $75 billion a year</a>, while natural wonders such as <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/all_publications/living_planet_report_2018/" target="_blank">coral reefs are essential to food and tourism.</a></p><p>There is great potential for the economy to grow and become more resilient by ensuring biodiversity. <a href="http://wedocs.unep.org/xmlui/handle/20.500.11822/31813" target="_blank">Every dollar spent on nature restoration leads to at least $9 of economic benefits.</a> In addition, <a href="https://www.foodandlandusecoalition.org/global-report/" target="_blank">changing agricultural and food production methods could unlock $4.5 trillion per year in new business opportunities by 2030</a>, while also preventing trillions of dollars' worth of social and environmental harms.</p>4. Biodiversity Provides Livelihoods.
<p>Humans derive approximately <a href="https://livingplanetindex.org/home/index" target="_blank">$125 trillion of value from natural ecosystems each year</a>. Globally, <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/water/wwap/wwdr/2016-water-and-jobs/" target="_blank">three out of four jobs</a> are dependent on water while the agricultural sector employs over <a href="https://www.conservation.org/priorities/livelihoods" target="_blank">60% of the world's working poor</a>. In the Global South, forests are the source of livelihoods for <a href="https://www.conservation.org/priorities/livelihoods" target="_blank">over 1.6 billion people</a>. In India, forest ecosystems contribute <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19915547" target="_blank">only 7% to India's GDP yet 57% of rural Indian communities' livelihoods</a>.</p><p><span></span>Ecosystems, therefore, must be protected and restored – not only for the good of nature but also for the communities that depend on them.</p><p>Although some fear environmental regulation and the safeguarding of nature could threaten businesses, the "restoration economy" – the restoration of natural landscapes – provides more jobs in the United States than most of the extractives sector, with the potential to create even more. According to some estimates, the restoration economy is worth <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0128339" target="_blank">$25 billion per year and directly employs more than the coal, mining, logging and steel industries altogether</a>. Nature-positive businesses can provide <a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/article/10-things-you-need-know-about-restoration-economy" target="_blank">cost-effective, robot-proof, business-friendly jobs</a> that stimulate the rural economy without harming the environment.</p>5. Biodiversity Protects Us.
<p>Biodiversity makes the earth habitable. Biodiverse ecosystems provide <a href="https://www.nature-basedsolutions.com/" target="_blank">nature-based solutions</a> that buffer us from <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_protect.html" target="_blank">natural disasters such as floods and storms</a>, <a href="https://digital.iucn.org/water/nature-based-solutions-for-water/" target="_blank">filter our water</a> and <a href="https://www.naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org/publications/the-superior-effect-of-nature-based-solutions-in-land-management-for-enhancing-ecosystem-services/" target="_blank">regenerate our soils</a>.</p><p>The <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/miracle-mangroves-coastal-protection-numbers" target="_blank">clearance of over 35% of the world's mangroves for human activities</a> has increasingly put people and their homes at risk from floods and sea-level rise. If today's mangroves were lost, 18 million more people would be flooded every year (an increase of 39%) and annual damages to property would increase by 16% ($82 billion).</p><p>Protecting and restoring natural ecosystems is vital to fighting climate change. Nature-based solutions could provide <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/44/11645" target="_blank">37% of the cost-effective CO2 mitigation needed by 2030</a> to maintain global warming within 2°C (35.6 F).</p><p>Natural ecosystems provide the foundations for economic growth, human health and prosperity. Our fate as a species is deeply connected to the fate of our natural environment.</p><p>As ecosystems are increasingly threatened by human activity, acknowledging the benefits of biodiversity is the first step in ensuring that we look after it. We know biodiversity matters. Now, as a society, we should protect it – and in doing so, protect our own long-term interests.</p>From Your Site Articles
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Holger Casselmann / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0
The climate crisis has caused Japanese cherry blossoms to bloom in October and sped the arrival of spring in much of the U.S. But it turns out that humans aren't the only animals who can trick plants into flowering early.
<p><br/></p>
<p>Scientists have discovered that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bees" target="_self">bumblebees</a> can cause plants to flower as much as 30 days ahead of schedule by biting their leaves.</p><p>"I think it's fascinating how much we still don't know about organisms that we think we know really well," study coauthor and ETH Zurich professor Consuelo De Moraes <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52759804" target="_blank">told BBC News</a>. "It absolutely increases our sense of wonder at the cleverness of nature in all its many forms."</p>
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<p>The discovery, published in <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6493/881" target="_blank">Science Friday</a>, was made by accident. One of De Moraes' students, Foteini Pashalidou, observed buff-tailed bumblebees making small slits in the leaves of greenhouse plants, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/05/bumblebees-bite-plants-flower-early/" target="_blank">National Geographic</a> explained. However, the bees didn't appear to eat the leaf bits or bring them back to their nests.</p><p>The researchers did notice that the bees from colonies with less food were the ones most damaging the leaves, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/hungry-bumblebees-make-plants-flower-early-cutting-holes-their-leaves" target="_blank">Science reported</a>. This led the scientists to wonder if the bees were trying to get the plants to flower early out of hunger, so they set up an experiment to test this hypothesis, as Science described:</p><blockquote>The researchers set up a greenhouse experiment with black mustard (<em>Brassica nigra</em>), a crop they had been studying. Ten plants were put in mesh bags with bumble bees that hadn't eaten any pollen for 3 days; they proceeded to nibble five to 10 holes in each plant. On average, <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aay0496" target="_blank">those plants flowered after 17 days</a>; undamaged plants that had not been exposed to bumble bees took an average of 33 days, the researchers report today in Science. In a similar experiment, tomato plants sped up their flowering by 30 days.</blockquote>
<p>Further experiments confirmed that the behavior was motivated by hunger. Pollen-deprived bees cut four times as many holes in lab leaves as fully fed bees. Outside the lab, bees cut holes in plants on a rooftop garden in early spring, but stopped doing so as frequently once more flowers began to bloom. The researchers also observed leaf-biting in two wild species: red-tailed and white-tailed bumble bees.</p><p>"That was super exciting," De Moraes told Science.</p><p>While this behavior is new to scientists, we may have encountered its evidence for years without realizing it. </p><p>"You see these semi-circular sort of incisions, often in the leaf," coauthor Dr Nark Mescher told BBC News. "One of the students was saying that they were eating a salad the other day, and they saw that kind of damage on the leaf that was probably from a bumblebee."</p>
<p>Beyond its novelty, the finding has important implications for bumblebees' ability to adapt to the climate crisis, National Geographic explained. As warmer spring temperatures cause <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pollinators" target="_self">pollinators</a> to awaken before plants flower, this activity could ensure early-rising bees find food. It might also help farmers increase human food supply if they can copy the bees' technique.</p><p>But so far the researchers aren't sure how the bees' trick works. Attempts to duplicate it in the lab by damaging leaves in similar ways were only partially successful.</p><p>"We really tried to replicate it with the best of our ability," De Moraes told BBC News. "It's possible that the bees also have some cue that they are providing to the plants that is specific to the bee. And that could be secretions that we don't know about, but it's something that we plan to investigate."</p>
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Cyclone Slams India, Bangladesh, Leaving 84 Dead and Millions Displaced During Pandemic
22 May
Climate
People make their way through uprooted trees and damaged power lines blocking a road in Taltala a day after Cyclone Amphan hit the city on May 21, 2020 in Kolkata, India. Samir Jana / Hindustan Times via Getty Images
At least 84 people were killed when Cyclone Amphan walloped India and Bangladesh Wednesday, bringing "war-like" destruction to the city of Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal, The Guardian reported.
<p>The response to the storm, which made <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146749/amphan-batters-india-bangladesh" target="_blank">landfall</a> as the equivalent of a Category 2 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricane</a>, was complicated by the spread of the new <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a>. While around three million people in India and Bangladesh evacuated to safety ahead of the storm, some villagers remained in place out of fear of contracting the virus in a crowded shelter, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/world/asia/cyclone-amphan-india-bangladesh.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>"At one end there is this small Covid virus that is terrifying people," West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said in a video conference reported by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/world/asia/cyclone-amphan-india-bangladesh.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "This was another virus from the sky."</p>
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<p>Causes of death included felled trees, downed electrical wires and collapsed buildings. In Bangladesh, Khanat Begum and her 13-year-old daughter were killed when a gust of wind uprooted their neighbor's tree and dropped it on top of their house.</p><p>For the survivors, the storm also brought devastation. Hundreds of thousands of people saw their homes destroyed, according to The Guardian. This could enable the spread of the new coronavirus as people are forced to remain in shelters.</p><p>In Kolkata, home to around 14 million people, power was lost and many streets were <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooded</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-52749935" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. Banerjee said that two districts had been completely destroyed.</p><p>"We have to rebuild those districts from scratch," she said, as The Guardian reported: "Area after area has been ruined. I have experienced a war-like situation today."</p>
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<p>At least 15 people in the city were killed, The New York Times reported. All told, at least 72 people died in West Bengal and 12 in Bangladesh, according to BBC News.</p><p>Bangladesh evacuated more people ahead of the storm than India, at 2.4 million compared with around 660,000, The New York Times reported. But the country was still hit hard.</p><p>"Even by Bangladeshi standards, this was a powerful storm," <a href="https://www.savethechildren.net/" target="_blank">Save the Children</a> in Bangladesh Humanitarian Director Mostak Hussain said in a <a href="https://www.savethechildren.net/news/save-children-assesses-damage-india-and-bangladesh-wake-cyclone-amphan" target="_blank">statement</a>. "We've received reports that more than 5 million people were disconnected from the electricity grid for their own safety as winds of 150kph smashed into power lines, destroying homes and uprooting trees. In some of the worst-affected areas there was a tidal surge of nearly three metres, causing dams to overflow and submerging low-lying villages and crops."</p>
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<p>For a period Monday night, Cyclone Amphan became the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal, with winds of up to 165 miles per hour, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/19/asia/super-cyclone-amphan-india-banglash-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. It weakened before making landfall, bringing sustained winds of 105 mile-per-hour winds and a five meter (approximately 16 foot) storm surge, <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146749/amphan-batters-india-bangladesh" target="_blank">according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration</a>. But it was still the worst storm to strike Kolkata in 100 years, The Guardian reported.</p>
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<p>It struck the same week as a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-intensity-climate-crisis-2646033123.html" target="_self">study confirmed</a> that the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making tropical storms more intense, increasing the chance that a cyclone develops into a Category 3 storm or higher by eight percent per decade since the late 1970s. Cyclone Amphan originally intensified after passing over water temperatures as warm as 88 degrees Fahrenheit, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/world/asia/cyclone-amphan-india-bangladesh-map.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. </p><p>"Sea surface temperatures are much warmer than normal in the Bay of Bengal right now," Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/weather/live-news/live-updates-cyclone-amphan-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">told CNN</a>.</p>
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The Ebo Forest in Cameroon, Africa, is a biodiversity hotspot, home to an amazing range of wildlife, including forest elephants, gorillas, drills, chimpanzees, grey parrots and the goliath frog. San Diego Zoo Global
By Lamfu Fabrice Yengong and Sylvie Djacbou Deugoue
Biodiversity loss is a global crisis. In May last year, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warned that over 1,000,000 species are threatened with extinction worldwide. On May 22, the International Day of Biodiversity, it is important to recall the silent victims of our country's obsession for industrial growth at the expense of our forests.
<p>Tropical rainforests are estimated to harbor more than half of the world's plant and animal species. They are also essential for access to water, regulating temperature and preventing soil erosion. It's time to return the forests to indigenous and local communities. </p><p>In our country, Cameroon, the conservation of biodiversity, global climate goals and human rights of indigenous and local communities are all put at stake for industrial exploitation of the rainforest, driven by short-sighted thinking. Biodiversity hotspots are put at risk by industrial logging and agriculture, as trees are cut for the tropical timber market and entire forests cleared to make room for oil palm and rubber plantations. The government tries to assure conservationists that some space will be reserved for the wildlife in the forest it trashes, but even protected areas are not truly safe. </p><p>Companies, usually foreign-owned, are rapidly destroying rainforests that have existed for years. Local communities are left poorer after their traditional source of livelihood is desecrated. The only ones getting rich are a small group of beneficiaries that are close to the circles of power. </p><p>Some low-income countries that are rich in forests are resorting to quick solutions like logging and industrial agriculture. But industrial logging concessions and rubber and palm oil plantations are never the job-creating mechanism they promise to be. That has been demonstrated over and over again in forest countries around the world.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/407/" target="_blank">the Dja Faunal Reserve</a>, a UNESCO world heritage site in the South of Cameroon, is home to more than 100 species of mammals, including at least 14 primates, such as the endangered western lowland gorilla, chimpanzee, and white-collared mangabey, as well as species such as the endangered forest elephant, and the African grey parrot, bongo antelope and leopard.</p><p>The Dja Faunal Reserve is adjacent to the Sudcam rubber plantation, mainly owned by rubber giant Halcyon Agri. Sudcam has cleared more than 10,000 hectares (approximately 25,000 acres) of dense tropical rainforest in the South region of Cameroon – an equivalent of 10 football pitches a day – to make way for a rubber plantation between 2011 and 2018. The rubber plantation has rattled the lives of several indigenous communities, namely the Baka, but it has also aggravated the lives of those numerous protected species in the Dja Reserve.</p><p>To indigenous and local forest dependent communities, the rainforest serves as a source of nutritious foods and traditional medicine, much of which science has yet to explore. The forest is also the foundation of their social life, from recreational to ritual practices. Furthermore, biodiversity loss itself is a direct and immediate threat to the livelihood of indigenous peoples like the Baka next to the Sudcam plantation.</p><p>Upon the arrival of rubber company Sudcam, the indigenous community has lost access to its forest and specifically to the animals and plants they rely on. As Sudcam gets richer, it leaves entire communities in impoverishment, abjectness and destitution. </p>
<p>That is the fate which the chiefs of the Banen people of the Littoral region in Cameroon are trying to avoid <a href="http://www.cameroon-info.net/article/cameroun-denonciation-le-peuple-banen-du-littoral-soppose-a-la-confiscation-de-ses-terres-371484.html" target="_blank">in their current struggle</a> against the destruction of large parts of the Ebo forest. </p><p>The <a href="https://www.globalwildlife.org/blog/ebo-forest-a-stronghold-for-cameroons-wildlife/" target="_blank">Ebo Forest</a> is a biodiversity hotspot, one of the intact forest ecosystems in the Gulf of Guinea, stretching over 2000 square kilometers (approximately 772 square miles). Ebo Forest is home to an amazing range of wildlife, including forest elephants, gorillas, drills, chimpanzees, grey parrots and the goliath frog – the largest living frog on the planet. Accordingly, it was designated over a decade ago by the Cameroon Government as a National Park. </p><p>However, on February 4, the same government of Cameroon authorized two logging concessions (<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P8O3pc1JeLaAnDF1ERXvRrIAzjnw09SG/view" target="_blank">UFA07005</a> and <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n2cgvavirDdYmApiTd5vLV0hQRova6Ed/view" target="_blank">UFA07006</a>) inside the area of Ebo Forest. The planned concessions are enormous – about the size of London. Again, the government of Cameroon wants to convince us that conservation can be done with chainsaws. </p><p>Biodiversity loss doesn't only mean our children would get to see some of the world's most marvelous creatures only in documentary films. The consequences are far greater and more tangible.</p>
<p>The extinction of forest elephants, for example, small relatives of African Savanna elephants, might also reduce the number of large trees that they support, trees that excel at storing carbon. In the Congo Basin forest, the disappearance of forest elephants might mean a loss of about three billion tons of carbon – equivalent to France's CO2 emissions over more than 25 years, according to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/science/elephants-climate-change.html" target="_blank">New York Times article</a> on recent research published in the journal <em>Nature Geoscience.</em> </p><p>Cameroon's government has made public commitments to preserve and protect biodiversity. Positive declarations and ambitious plans may win applause and some international funding, but all eyes should be on implementation. <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/press/8593/we-were-told-not-to-go-into-the-forest-anymore-greenpeace-investigation-exposes-human-rights-violations-by-halcyon-agri/" target="_blank">Field investigations by Greenpeace Africa</a> and others clearly show how far we are from protecting biodiversity. </p><p>In Cameroon's government, as well as in the meeting rooms and corridors of development agencies, decision makers often hold outdated views. Too often we hear that only through rapid and massive removal of the rainforest in favor of large-scale logging and industrial agriculture plantations can the country emerge out of poverty. </p><p>Yet that model has repeatedly failed the people, as short-term high profits always remained accessible only to a small circle of beneficiaries. On the contrary, local communities who have lived in harmony with nature for many generations are likely to face poverty, abuse, hunger and alcoholism <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-sustainable-development-ravaged-the-congo-basin/" target="_blank">wherever</a> forests are suddenly destroyed. It is becoming increasingly clear that the best solution for both human rights and the planet is for forests to be managed by local communities. They do so much better than the industrial loggers or plantation owners. </p>
<p>The Cameroonian government needs to realize that trashing forests is not the way to make the economy grow. Rapid and intensive exploitation of nature has more far-reaching consequences than short-term economic growth. To prevent the extinction of fauna and flora species, indigenous communities that live among them need the rights to manage their forest.</p>
<p>Standing for biodiversity means communities should get the rights to manage their forests, instead of the corporations that destroy them. </p>
<p class=""><em>Lamfu Fabrice Yengong is a Congo Basin researcher. </em></p><p><em>Sylvie Djacbou Deugoue is a forest campaigner for Greenpeace Africa.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Rifugio Guide del Cervino – in Italy or Switzerland? Wikimedia
By Douglas Broom
Rifugio Guide del Cervino is a bar and restaurant atop the Plateau Rosa, a glacial ridge in the Italian Alps. Or at least, it was. Climate change is moving it inexorably toward Switzerland as the glacier on which it sits steadily melts.
<p>We're used to news reports about people and wildlife forced to move by the effects of climate change. But in this corner of the Alps, climate change is literally moving the border between Italy and Switzerland.</p><p>When <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c911489e-93b9-11ea-97b5-8f15973668de?shareToken=f55bfe668dfecede699f0de2bc8149d1" target="_blank">the Rifugio was built in 1984</a>, it was on the Italian side of the border. Since then, climate change, accelerated by the 2003 European heatwave which <a href="https://www.unisdr.org/files/1145_ewheatwave.en.pdf" target="_blank">caused Alpine glaciers to lose 10% of their mass</a>, has led to the glacier retreating towards Switzerland.</p><p>It could prove to be a headache for <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/italys-alpine-border-melts-and-leaves-a-pasta-restaurant-in-switzerlandmaybe-11582134089" target="_blank">restaurateur Lucio Trucco</a>. If the eatery were declared to be in Switzerland, he would have to make <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/melting-glaciers-leave-a-pasta-restaurant-on-the-italy-switzerland-border-between-both-countries-4964061.html" target="_blank">some major changes to his kitchens</a>, including installing <a href="https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guidance/advice-for-you/when-travelling/travel-adaptor-for-switzerland/" target="_blank">Swiss power sockets</a>, which his Italian plugs won't fit.</p><p>Faced with such issues, Trucco, an experienced mountain guide, says he knows which side of the border his restaurant is located. He has been quoted in media reports as insisting: "The building hasn't moved, so this is still Italy."</p>
Mobile Border
<p>The Rifugio has 40 guest beds and is a <a href="http://www.cerviniaicons.com/food/2018/06/rifugio-guide-del-cervino/" target="_blank">popular destination for climbers attempting the Breithorn</a> (4,164 meters, or 13,661 feet), neighbor to the Matterhorn on the Swiss border. But that's as close to Switzerland as Trucco wants his restaurant to get.</p><p>For now, COVID-19 restrictions mean the Rifugio is closed. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52701621" target="_blank">Italy is starting to lift its coronavirus lockdown</a>, but with bars among the businesses allowed to open, some people say <a href="https://www.skiresorts.net/skiing-social-distancing/" target="_blank">social distancing in ski resorts</a> may prove hard to implement.</p><p>In 2009, <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16854-climate-changes-europes-borders-and-the-worlds/" target="_blank">Italy and Switzerland agreed their border should be mobile</a>, shifting to accommodate changes caused by glacial melting. Movements are monitored using GPS sensors allowing the <a href="https://glacierhub.org/2020/04/30/as-the-climate-shifts-a-border-moves/" target="_blank">border to be redrawn</a> as the ice moves.</p>Sea Levels
<p>Climate change is affecting other borders around the world. In the southern U.S., <a href="http://mississippiriverdelta.org/our-coastal-crisis/land-loss/" target="_blank">rising sea levels</a> and the canalization of the Mississippi river are the culprits. Since the 1930s, Louisiana has seen more than half a million hectares of its coastal territory disappear under the waves.</p><p>As Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert put it in<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/01/louisianas-disappearing-coast" target="_blank"> a recent article for the New Yorker</a>: "If Delaware or Rhode Island had lost that much territory, the U.S. would have only forty-nine states. Every hour and a half, Louisiana sheds another football field's worth of land."</p><p>Shrinking glaciers are one of the most visible demonstrations of the effects of global warming. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the amount of ice lost since 1980 is equivalent to <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-glacier-mass-balance" target="_blank">removing a 24-meter (79-foot) slice off the top of each glacier</a>.</p><p><a href="http://climateandlife.columbia.edu/2017/05/08/the-glaciers-are-going-why-this-matters/" target="_blank">More than one-sixth of the world's population</a>, particularly in China, India and other Asian countries, depend on glaciers for drinking and irrigation water, according to scientists at Columbia University.</p><p>Global temperatures are estimated to have risen by at least 1°C (33.8 degrees F) <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/" target="_blank">above pre-industrial levels</a>, and experts warn urgent action is needed to curb emissions. A rise above 1.5°C (34.7 degrees F) will cause <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature23878" target="_blank">glaciers in Asia</a>, for example, to shrink by two-thirds by the end of the century.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Floodwaters flowing from the Tittabawassee River into the lower part of downtown Midland on May 20, 2020 in Midland, Michigan. Thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate after two dams in Sanford and Edenville collapsed. Gregory Shamus / Getty Images
Around 10,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in central Michigan after heavy rain prompted what the National Weather Service called "catastrophic failures" at two dams.
<p>The Edenville and Sanford dams collapsed Tuesday night, threatening to drench the town of Midland, Michigan under nine feet of water, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-flood-michigan/michigan-governor-declares-emergency-after-dams-collapse-idUSKBN22W071" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> comes as Michigan suffers one of the nation's worst <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> outbreaks, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/us/michigan-flooding-dams-midland.html" target="_blank">The New York Times pointed out</a>. It currently has 53,009 confirmed cases, according to <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins University data</a> as of Thursday morning, the seventh highest total in the U.S.</p><p>"It's hard to believe that we're in the middle of a 100-year crisis, a global pandemic, and we're also dealing with a flooding event that looks to be the worst in 500 years," Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said, as The New York Times reported.</p>
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<p>Much of the town of Midland, Michigan, which has a population of 42,000, was inundated with record flooding Wednesday, <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/aging-dams-changing-climate-a-dangerous-mix" target="_blank">Weather Underground reported</a>. The Tittabawassee River gauge at Midland measured a water level about one foot above the previous record of 33.89 feet as of 2 p.m. local time. The river was expected to crest in the afternoon and evening, the National Weather Service said.</p>
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<p>No deaths or injuries have been reported, according to The New York Times, but the event puts further pressure on residents and businesses already reeling from the impact of the coronavirus.</p><p>"It's disastrous," evacuee Sue Baranski from neighboring Sanford told The New York Times. "Between the devastation from the flooding and the virus and the small-business owners trying to make their way through that, it's just too much."</p>
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<p>The flooding is the result of two environmental crises and may be the author of a third.</p><p>First, there's the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. Warming temperatures are expected to increase precipitation in northern midlatitudes and lead to more intense periods of rainfall in many places, including the U.S., as Weather Underground pointed out. In Michigan, this process is already underway. 2019 was its wettest year on record, and Midland is 1.35 feet of rainfall away from its wettest May on record. Its rainfall total for Monday and Tuesday was its third highest on record.<br></p><p>Then there's the state of one of the dams that failed. Federal regulators had warned for more than 20 years that the spillways at the Edenville Dam were not up to handling a major flood, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/20/politics/ferc-edenville-dam-midland-michigan-flooding/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. However, they waited more than 13 years to crack down on the private company that operated the dam when it failed to comply, finally revoking its license in 2018. Oversight of the dam also passed from the federal government to the state of Michigan that year. Whitmer has promised an investigation of dam operator Boyce Hydro.</p>
<p>"This incredible damage requires that we hold people responsible," Whitmer said, as <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/michigan-governor-warns-floods-peak_n_5ec569b6c5b6ea08c805eaeb?ri18n=true" target="_blank">HuffPost reported</a>. "This was a known problem for a while and that's why it's important that we do our due diligence and take action."</p><p>The flood also has the potential to cause lasting environmental damage as Dow Chemical confirmed Wednesday that flood waters were "commingling with on-site containment ponds," <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/05/20/859333402/catastrophic-dam-failures-in-michigan-force-thousands-to-evacuate" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>. The flood also reached a Superfund site caused by a Dow release of dioxins, according to CNN.</p>
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<p>"[T]this has the potential to be a major environmental disaster. Climate Power communications director Meghan Schneider tweeted.</p>
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Unused rental cars are stored in the parking lot of dormant Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on April 23, 2020. Clearer skies have followed coronavirus lockdowns around the world. Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The lockdowns imposed around the globe in response to the coronavirus pandemic led to a record drop in greenhouse gas emissions, according to research published in Nature Climate Change Tuesday.
<p>The researchers found that daily emissions fell by 17 percent during the height of quarantine measures in early April when compared with the same time in 2019, the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/covid-19-crisis-causes-17-drop-in-global-carbon-emissions" target="_blank">University of East Anglia (UEA) reported</a> in a press release.</p><p>"Globally, we haven't seen a drop this big ever, and at the yearly level, you would have to go back to World War II to see such a big drop in emissions," UEA professor of climate change science and lead author Corinne Le Quéré told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/carbon-emissions-dropped-17-percent-globally-amid-coronavirus-n1210331" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. "But this is not the way to tackle <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate change</a> — it's not going to happen by forcing behavior changes on people. We need to tackle it by helping people move to more sustainable ways of living."</p>
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<p>The research is the first major study of emissions this year, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/19/lockdowns-trigger-dramatic-fall-global-carbon-emissions" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, though the International Energy Agency <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greenhouse-gas-emissions-coronavirus-lockdowns-2645880717.html" target="_self">projected</a> a record 8 percent decline in emissions for 2020. Because it is not possible to measure the change in carbon dioxide emission directly, since the gas remains in the atmosphere for such a long time, researchers instead relied on data for on-the-ground indicators like traffic, energy usage, flights and manufacturing, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/carbon-dioxide-emissions-pandemic/" target="_blank">Wired explained</a>.</p><p>That data also revealed the major drivers of the emissions decline, the UEA press release explained. The drop in ground transport, such as cars, was responsible for 43 percent of the decline, while declines in industry and power together accounted for another 43 percent. While air travel was majorly impacted by the pandemic, it only accounted for 10 percent of the emissions drop because it is only responsible for three percent of emissions overall.</p>
<p>The data was gathered from 69 countries responsible for 97 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. At the height of the global response, areas responsible for 89 percent of emissions were under some kind of lockdown. On average, countries saw their emissions fall 26 percent. In the U.S. and the UK, emissions fell by a third, Wired reported.</p><p>While these numbers are dramatic, they also illustrate the challenges involved in lowering emissions enough to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.</p><p>"This is a really big fall, but at the same time, 83% of global emissions are left, which shows how difficult it is to reduce emissions with changes in behaviour," Le Quéré told The Guardian.</p>
<p>She also pointed out to Wired that the 17 percent drop at the height of confinement measures only returned emissions to 2006 levels.</p><p>"So this is really showing just how much emissions are increasing through time every year. This incredible drop in emissions only takes us back 14 years," she told Wired.</p><p>What happens next will depend on political decisions and how soon lockdown measures are lifted, the press release explained. If they are lifted fully by June, emissions for the year will fall four percent. If some restrictions are in place all year, they will decline by seven percent. That is around the yearly decline needed to meet the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> climate goals of limiting global warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.</p>
<p>"We would have to have the same speed of reduction that's happening in 2020 every year for the next decade," Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at the University of California, Berkeley who was not involved with the study, told NBC News.</p><p>The researchers called on governments to craft economic recovery plans that encouraged the systemic changes that will ultimately make sustainable emissions declines possible.</p><p>"The extent to which world leaders consider climate change when planning their economic responses post COVID-19 will influence the global CO2 emissions paths for decades to come," Le Quéré said in the press release.</p><p>For example, governments could follow the lead of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/milan-car-limit-coronavirus-2645805180.html" target="_self">Milan</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/car-free-zones-london-2646014436.html" target="_self">London</a> in reopening cities in ways that prioritize walking and cycling over driving. Le Quéré suggested to Wired that governments stimulate the economy by directing money towards electric cars.</p>
<p>One positive development is that people around the world now have an illustration of what emissions reductions make possible.</p><p>"The most obvious change was the beautiful blue skies we saw from India to Indiana," study coauthor and Stanford University Earth system science professor Rob Jackson told NBC News. "People can relate to that more than abstract discussions about greenhouse gas emissions — you could just see that skies were clear."</p>
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The skyline of Houston at night seen from the Bank of America Center in Houston, Texas. James Leynse / Corbis / Getty Images
By Kimberly White
The City of Houston has committed to 100 percent renewable energy. Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that the city has teamed up with NRG Energy to power all municipal operations with renewable energy beginning in July.
<p>Through the partnership, the City of Houston will receive 1,034,399 MWh of renewable electricity from a utility-scale solar facility each year. The contract with NRG is set to last seven years and is projected to save the city a total of $65 million during its duration.</p><p>The transition to renewable energy is part of Houston's recently released Climate Action Plan. Mayor Turner, along with the City's Office of Sustainability, released the Houston Climate Action Plan in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. </p><p>"This announcement is a shining example of how the Houston Climate Action Plan is already in motion. Expanding our renewable energy investment through our partnership with NRG helps us build a more sustainable city and save over $9 million per year on our electric bill," <a href="https://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/press/2020/100-percent-renewable-energy.html" target="_blank">said</a> Mayor Sylvester Turner. "Together, we are leading by example and showing how to reduce emissions in the Energy Capital of the World."</p>
<p>Houston is no stranger to the impacts of climate change. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey pummeled Houston. The Category 4 hurricane caused widespread devastation and <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/news/UpdatedCostliest.pdf" target="_blank">$125 billion</a> in damage. According to Houston's Office of Sustainability, the Climate Action Plan is a key element of the Hurricane Harvey recovery effort. The City of Houston aims to reduce emissions and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. </p><p>"Houstonians have experienced the effects of climate change. Hurricane Harvey was larger, slower, and had 40 percent more rain than it would have if it had occurred 100 years ago. In Houston, spring arrives three weeks earlier than it did even a generation ago and our already hot summers keep getting hotter," <a href="http://www.greenhoustontx.gov/climateactionplan/CAP-April2020.pdf" target="_blank">stated</a> Turner.</p>
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<p>Houston is one of many U.S. cities that have stepped up their climate ambitions in an effort to fight the global climate emergency following the <a href="https://www.theplanetarypress.com/2019/11/u-s-announces-withdrawal-from-the-paris-agreement/" target="_blank">United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement</a>. </p><p>"Houston is a global city and climate change is a global challenge, which is why as a member of C40 Cities Global Climate Leadership Group and Vice Chair of U.S. Climate Mayors, I am committed to doing our part to make Houston carbon neutral by 2050 in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement," said Turner. </p><p>"We can't fix the problem overnight—but if we take bold, transformative action to lead our city down a more sustainable path, we'll leave behind a better Houston, and a better world, for future generations."</p>
<p class=""><em>This story originally appeared in <a href="https://www.theplanetarypress.com" target="_blank">The Planetary Press</a></em> <em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Sandy reached its initial peak intensity as a Category 3 hurricane over Cuba on Oct. 25, 2012. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Center for Climate Simulation. NASA / GSFC / William Putman
The devastation caused by hurricanes in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, North Carolina and Houston over the last few years is a direct effect of the climate crisis, which is making tropical storms stronger and wetter, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as CNN reported.
<p>The study looked at nearly four decades of satellite data from storms around the world. The researchers noticed that the likelihood of a storm reaching Category 3 or above, with sustained winds above 110 miles per hour, increased every decade, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/weather/climate-change-hurricane-tropical-cyclone/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>"The change is about 8 percent per decade," James Kossin, author of the study, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/weather" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "In other words, during its lifetime, a hurricane is 8 percent more likely to be a major hurricane in this decade compared to the last decade."</p>
<p>The ramifications of their findings, published Monday in the <em><a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1920849117" target="_blank">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,</a></em> are far-reaching for coastal communities, insurers and policymakers, as increasingly severe hurricanes will usher in more damage, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/05/18/hurricanes-stronger-climate-change/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>"Almost all of the damage and mortality caused by hurricanes is done by major hurricanes (category 3 to 5)," Kossin said, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/weather/climate-change-hurricane-tropical-cyclone/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported. "Increasing the likelihood of having a major hurricane will certainly increase this risk."</p>
<p>The research data aligns with predictions that scientists have made about the effects of a warming planet. Hurricanes and typhoons gain strength from warm ocean waters and water vapor in the air, among other factors, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/05/18/hurricanes-stronger-climate-change/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>"Through modeling and our understanding of atmospheric physics, the study agrees with what we would expect to see in a warming climate like ours," James Kossin, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the paper's lead author, in a university <a href="https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_158989047177211&key=ce074976249105acf14d8c9cf69bdcd1&libId=kadunymo01003n6p000DAbkjigd00&loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnet.com%2Fnews%2Fscientists-say-hurricanes-are-indeed-getting-stronger%2F&v=1&out=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurekalert.org%2Fpub_releases%2F2020-05%2Fuow-ltd051420.php&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&title=Scientists%20say%20hurricanes%20are%20indeed%20getting%20stronger%20-%20CNET&txt=Kossin%20said%20in%20a%20release" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p>
<p>The researchers looked at satellite data from 1979 to 2017, so their research period ended before Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm that leveled the Bahamas. While their research focused on wind force, other research has noted that increased water vapor from a warming planet has made hurricanes and typhoons wetter, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-crisis-hurricanes-wetter-2639175731.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">EcoWatch</a> reported.</p><p>"The trend is there and it is real," said Kossin, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/climate/climate-changes-hurricane-intensity.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. "There's this remarkable building of this body of evidence that we're making these storms more deleterious."</p>
<p>Past research that had noticed the connection between global ocean temperatures and increasingly strong storms had not looked at such a long time period. The latest findings add another 11 years to the data set, which allows for statistically significant trends to become clear.</p><p>"The signals really start to emerge beyond the internal climate variability noise when you look at (approximately) 40 years of data as opposed to their earlier study which looked at (approximately) 25 years of data," Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach, who was not involved in this study, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/weather/climate-change-hurricane-tropical-cyclone/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> in an email interview.</p><p>"It's a gratifying confirmation of what the field was concluding anyway for researchers … a much more robust indicator that now we're really seeing this in nature," said Kerry Emanuel, a hurricane expert at MIT, of the new study to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/05/18/hurricanes-stronger-climate-change/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>The study found that trends toward stronger storms are clearest in the north Atlantic, southern Indian and eastern north Pacific oceans.</p>
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Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks on the coronavirus outbreak on March 12. SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Image
If elected president in November, Joe Biden will ax the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
<p>The long-delayed pipeline, which would carry around 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada to the U.S., was <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/breaking-president-obama-rejects-keystone-xl-pipeline-1882117930.html" target="_self">first rejected by the Obama administration</a> when Biden served as vice president. However, President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/state-department-approve-kxl-2326597009.html" target="_self">revived</a> it when he took office, and the Biden campaign had so far been silent on what Biden would do about the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> project if he defeats him. That silence ended Monday.</p><p>"Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipeline in the last administration, stood alongside President Obama and Secretary Kerry to reject it in 2015, and will proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as President and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit," Biden campaign policy director Stef Feldman wrote in a statement to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/18/biden-white-house-keystone-xl-permit-265041" target="_blank">POLITICO</a>.</p>
<p>In a fuller statement reported by CBC News's Katie Simpson, the Biden campaign used the occasion to criticize the Trump administration's attitude towards <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/science" target="_self">science</a>.</p><p>"He reversed our decision to not permit the Keystone pipeline without any further process or review, and contrary to the science and now his Administration and its allies are even using the coronavirus pandemic as cover for a stealth attack on environmental protections that keep us safe," the campaign wrote. "That denial of science ends on day one of a Biden presidency."</p>
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<p>When President Barack Obama rejected the pipeline in 2015, he did so partly because it would contribute to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, making him the first world leader to reject a major fossil fuel project for climate reasons. Biden reportedly opposed the project as early as 2013, saying he was "in the minority" of those in the administration who did, according to <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/18/joe-biden-campaign-said-he-would-rescind-keystone-pipeline-permit/5216015002/" target="_blank">USA TODAY</a>.</p><p>However, as a candidate, Biden did not join other primary contenders like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in signing the activist-supported "<a href="http://boldnebraska.org/democratic-presidential-candidates-sign-nokxl-pledge-to-stop-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-on-day-one-if-elected/" target="_blank">NoKXL Pledge</a>" to revoke the pipeline's permit on day one of their presidency.</p><p>His announcement Monday was met with enthusiasm by pipeline opponents.</p><p>"When Biden wins, KXL is finished, dead in the water, stake-in-the-heart dead," chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and longtime anti-pipeline activist Jane Kleeb said in an email to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/biden-kxl-1.5574515" target="_blank">CBC News</a>. "Biden just provided the last nail in the KXL pipeline coffin."</p>
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<p>Pipeline owner TC Energy did not respond immediately to POLITICO's request for a comment, but Biden's position could be a major hurdle for the project, which just <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-construction-montana-2645658110.html" target="_self">started construction in April</a>. There is no way the project, which is expected to take two years, will be complete before the November presidential election, according to CBC News. The pipeline also hit another legal roadblock this spring when a federal judge in Montana <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-waterways-endangered-species-2645978077.html" target="_self">revoked</a> a key permit it needs to cross streams.</p>
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