These elephants will not survive another deadly drought
Botswana has been hit by its worst drought in decades. Last year, the rains came late, and when they finally arrived, there wasn’t enough. With temperatures soaring above 99°F (37°C), animals began collapsing and dying from the heat. We knew we had to help. Together with our supporters, we got wild animals through the worst of the crisis by installing solar-powered water pumps. But the Boteti River – the region’s lifeline for thousands of thirsty animals – is still dry. Without our help, more animals will die. Last year, together with our partner Camelthorn Farmstead, we installed solar-powered water pumps along this riverbed, giving thousands of wild animals a lifeline through the relentless drought. But as Botswana enters its hottest months, the Boteti River remains dry – and with even more elephants in the area this year, there simply isn’t enough water to go around. Please help us get them the water they desperately need as the sweltering African summer sets in. Every day, tens of thousands of thirsty animals crowd around the waterholes our supporters helped fill. Although these waterholes now offer four times more water than before we helped, by nightfall, there is still not enough for elephants to drink — the time of day they prefer to drink. The solution is simple: installing four solar-powered batteries, at a total cost of $8,000 (£6,000), to keep water flowing for elephants and other thirsty animals. By installing solar-powered batteries at our water pumps, we can ensure water flows 24/7, giving hundreds of elephants enough to drink – and ensuring no elephant, giraffe, zebra or other animal in the region needs to go thirsty. Please help us provide life-saving water for elephants and other wildlife, and to keep the water flowing for generations of animals to come.
15 elephants rescued after being orphaned – now drought threatens them
During this season of giving, 15 orphaned elephants are dearly hoping you’ll spare them a thought… The Jabulani herd is a tight-knit herd of rescued elephants who have found comfort, solace and safety in each other – and in our partner, Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development (HERD). Each elephant has survived the devastating trauma of losing their mother – some even witnessing their mothers’ brutal slaughter. Now, these orphans are safe from poachers – but they desperately need food. As climate change and relentless drought strip their landscape of natural vegetation, 15 orphaned elephants desperately need a reliable food source. Relentless drought conditions in Limpopo have left the land bone-dry, and a herd of rescued elephants is struggling to find enough food. Credit: HERD In South Africa’s Limpopo Province, years of erratic rainfall and prolonged dry spells have left precious wildlife struggling to survive. For the Jabulani herd, the situation is especially dire. These are semi-wild elephants, some orphaned by poaching or snaring in South Africa, and others saved from being culled in Zimbabwe. As rescued animals, they would not survive being released into the wild. They rely fully on the HERD sanctuary for food, but our partner is battling the effects of drought. As drought conditions worsen each year and natural vegetation diminishes, there is simply not enough food in the semi-wild environment to sustain the elephants. Today, we need your help to feed 15 orphaned elephants who are relying on your kindness. Amid worsening drought and diminishing natural vegetation, HERD’s bana grass plantation is critical in sustaining the elephants. Their current crop is finished and they must replant as soon as possible. Credit: HERD Our partner has created a three-hectare bana grass plantation – a sustainable, nutrient-rich, fast-growing and highly drought-tolerant crop. This bana grass has been the perfect buffer against the dry, harsh conditions in Limpopo – BUT it has reached the end of its lifecycle. We must replant the crops to keep the elephants fed right away. Replanting now, at the start of Limpopo’s rainy season, gives the grass the best possible chance to thrive and provide enough food for the elephants for the next five years. Together, we can replant the bana grass and help secure enough food for an orphaned elephant herd for the next half-decade. Credit: HERD It costs $75 (£58) to replant one row of Bana grass. If we can raise $6,300 (£4,800), we can fully restore the plantation and guarantee a steady food supply for the entire herd for FIVE YEARS. This is your chance to make a lasting difference for precious elephants in Africa who have lost their homes and their families. The first 25 donors to give $250 (£190) or more will earn the title of Bana Grass Guardian! You will receive a personalized digital plaque – a lasting tribute to your generosity and symbol of hope for the elephants’ future that YOU helped plant. Please email info@animalsurvival.org once you have made your donation, with the name you would like on your digital plaque. Please donate generously today to help us give 15 rescued orphaned elephants in South Africa the food and safe future they need.
Colombia bans all new oil and mining projects in its Amazon
Article written by Shanna Hanbury Originally published by Mongabay, 18 November 2025 Colombia will no longer approve new oil or large-scale mining projects in its Amazon biome, which covers 42% of the nation’s territory, according to a Nov. 13 statement by its environment ministry. Acting Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres said the entire Colombian Amazon will be made a reserve for renewable natural resources. She made the announcement at a meeting of ministers with the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization during COP30, the U.N. climate summit taking place in Belém, Brazil. “This declaration is an ethical and scientific commitment. It seeks to prevent forest degradation, river contamination, and biodiversity loss that threatens the continent’s climate balance,” Vélez said. She also called on other Amazonian nations to adopt similar protections, highlighting that Colombia controls just 7% of the Amazon biome. Across the Amazon, 871 oil and gas blocks cover an area roughly twice the size of France; 68% of the blocks are still in the study or bidding phases. “We do this not only as an act of environmental sovereignty but also as a fraternal call to the other countries that share the Amazon biome, because the Amazon does not know borders, and its care requires us to move forward together,” Vélez added. Brazil, which controls nearly 60% of the Amazon, has moved in the opposite direction over the past year, despite successfully cracking down on deforestation. The nation auctioned off several oil blocks near Indigenous lands and approved drilling for an offshore site at the mouth of the Amazon River. Peru is courting foreign oil companies to restart production at Lot 192, a huge Amazonian crude oil site in in the north of the country. The Ecuadorian government is planning to auction off 49 oil and gas projects worth more than $47 billion, despite protests. In Colombia, 43 oil blocks and 286 mining requests haven’t yet broken ground. The new measure, the ministry says, will prevent these projects from going forward. “Their activation could put the climate balance of the continent at risk,” the environment ministry wrote in a statement. At another COP30 event, Vélez criticized a mechanism that allows corporations to sue governments for losses caused by environmental policies, saying it infringes on state sovereignty. Such a system, she noted, makes it difficult for a nation to outlaw existing extractive industries without facing significant penalties. “Future generations must be able to find nature in a healthy state, the way we have known it,” María Soledad Hernández, coordinator of the sustainability program with the Colombia-based Amazonian Institute for Scientific Research, said in a video statement. “Talking about conservation does not mean talking about not making use of it. Talking about conservation means being sustainable, being responsible, and having activities that are balanced and in harmony with nature,” she added.
More than half of world’s bird species in decline, as leaders meet on extinction crisis
Article written by Patrick Greenfield Originally published by The Guardian, 10 October 2025 Biodiversity losses are growing, the IUCN reports as summit opens, but green turtle’s recovery ‘reminds us conservation works.’ More than half of all bird species are in decline, according to a new global assessment, with deforestation driving sharp falls in populations across the planet. On the eve of a key biodiversity summit in the UAE, scientists have issued a fresh warning about the health of bird populations, with 61% of assessed species now recording declines in their numbers. From Schlegel’s asity in Madagascar to the tail-bobbing northern nightingale-wren in Central America, many bird species have lost habitat to expanding agriculture and human development. Just nine years ago, 44% of assessed bird species had declining populations, according to the red list of endangered species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Dr. Ian Burfield, BirdLife’s global science coordinator, who helped oversee the assessment, said, “That three in five of the world’s bird species have declining populations shows how deep the biodiversity crisis has become and how urgent it is that governments take the actions they have committed to under multiple conventions and agreements.” It comes as hundreds of conservationists gather in Abu Dhabi on Friday for the IUCN’s congress, where the fate of many of the world’s most at-risk wildlife species will be discussed. In the face of global headwinds on environmental action, scientists are urging governments to deliver on recent pledges to better protect nature. Birds play an important role in ecosystems, helping to pollinate flowers, disperse seeds, and control pests. Hornbills – which are found across the tropics – can spread up to 12,700 large seeds a day in a square kilometer. Credit: Chris Strickland/Alamy Dr Malin Rivers, head of conservation prioritization at the Botanic Gardens Conservation International, said: “The fates of birds and trees are intertwined: trees depend on birds for regeneration, and birds depend on trees for survival.” The green sea turtle’s recovery “reminds us that conservation works,” said the IUCN director general, Dr. Grethel Aguilar. Once classified as endangered, it is now viewed as a species of least concern due to conservation efforts. The turtles’ numbers have grown by 28% since the 1970s thanks to greater protection for nest sites in Ascension Island, Brazil, Mexico, and Hawaii. Roderic Mast, co-chair of IUCN’s species survival commission marine turtle specialist group, said the green turtle’s recovery was “a powerful example of what coordinated global conservation over decades can achieve to stabilize and even restore populations of long-lived marine species.” But there was bad news for Arctic seals, which scientists warn are drifting closer to extinction due to global heating. The loss of sea ice has seen population numbers for bearded and harp seals fall sharply. Thinning sea ice means that the Arctic seals are finding it more difficult to find areas to rest and breed. They are a critical prey species for polar bears, which researchers fear will also be affected by the loss. Dr. Kit Kovacs, Svalbard program leader at the Norwegian Polar Institute, said, “Each year in Svalbard, the retreating sea ice reveals how threatened Arctic seals have become, making it harder for them to breed, rest and feed. “Their plight is a stark reminder that climate change is not a distant problem – it has been unfolding for decades and is having impacts here and now.” Banner credit: Doug McCutcheon/Alamy
Abrupt Antarctic climate shifts could lead to “catastrophic consequences for generations,” experts warn
Article written by CBS News / AFP Originally published by CBS NEWS, 20 August 2025 Abrupt and potentially irreversible changes in Antarctica driven by climate change could lift global oceans by meters and lead to “catastrophic consequences for generations,” scientists warned Wednesday. More broadly, a state-of-knowledge review by a score of top experts revealed accelerating shifts across the region that are often both a cause and effect of global warming, according to a study published in Nature, a peer-reviewed international scientific journal. The study’s authors suggest that limiting CO2 emissions and, in turn, preventing global warming from exceeding at least 1.5 degrees Celsius “will be imperative” to reduce and prepare for the broad effects of abrupt Antarctic and Southern Ocean changes. “Antarctica is showing worrying signs of rapid change across its ice, ocean and ecosystems,” lead author and Australian National University professor Nerilie Abram told the Agence France-Presse. “Some of these abrupt changes will be difficult to stop.” Shifts in different facets of Antarctica’s climate system amplify each other and have accelerated the pace of warming globally as well, Abram said. The study looked at evidence of abrupt change — or “regime shifts” — in sea ice, regional ocean currents, the continent’s ice sheet and ice shelves, and marine life. It also examined how they interact. Floating sea ice does not significantly add to sea level when it melts, but its retreat does replace white surfaces that reflect almost all of the sun’s energy back into space with deep blue water, which absorbs the same amount instead. Ninety percent of the heat generated by manmade global warming is soaked up by oceans. Retreating sea ice After increasing slightly during the first 35 years that satellite data was available, Antarctic sea ice cover plunged dramatically over the last decade. Since 2014, sea ice has retreated on average 120 kilometers, or roughly 75 miles, from the continent’s shoreline. That contraction has happened about three times faster in 10 years than the decline in Arctic sea ice over nearly 50. By July 2025, daily sea ice extent in both hemispheres was at its third lowest in the 47-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. Data from NASA, released in 2020, indicated that Antarctica and Greenland had lost thousands of gigatons of ice between 2003 and 2019, indirectly contributing to more than half an inch of overall sea level rise around the world. Last September, scientists warned that the Antarctic Ice Sheet, officially called the Thwaites Glacier, would deteriorate “further and faster,” with the increased melting expected to trigger rising sea levels. Research conducted by the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, a collective of more than 100 scientists, found that the volume of water flowing into the sea from the Thwaites glacier and others nearby had doubled from the 1990s to the 2010s. The “overwhelming evidence of a regime shift in sea ice” means that, on current trends, Antarctica could essentially become ice free in summer sooner than the Arctic, the recent study published Wednesday in Nature found. This will speed up warming in the region and beyond and could push some marine species toward extinction, experts warned. Over the last two years, for example, helpless emperor penguin chicks perished at multiple breeding grounds, drowning or freezing to death when sea ice gave way earlier than usual under their tiny feet. Of five sites monitored in the Bellingshausen Sea region in 2023, all but one experienced a 100% loss of chicks, earlier research reported. Unlike sea ice, ice sheets and the ice shelves to which they are connected are on — or supported by — land. The world would need to heat up by 5 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels to melt the entire Antarctic ice sheet, which would lift global oceans an almost unimaginable 58 meters, or nearly 200 feet. Point of no return Global warming to date — on average about 1.3 degrees Celsius — is fast approaching a threshold that would cause part of the ice sheet to generate at least three meters of sea level rise, flooding coastal areas inhabited today by hundreds of millions, the study said. “Unstoppable collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of the most concerning global tipping points,” said Abram. “The evidence points to this being triggered at global warming well below 2°C.” Another potential risk is the collapse of the Antarctic Overturning Circulation, a system of ocean currents that distribute heat and nutrients within the region and globally. A “rapid and substantial slowdown” of the currents has already begun, and evidence from the previous interglacial period — between two ice ages — before our own, 125,000 years ago, points to an abrupt stagnation of the system under conditions similar to those seen today. “This would lead to widespread climate and ecosystem impacts,” ranging from an intensification of global warming to a decrease in the ocean’s capacity to absorb CO2, the study reported. Ultimately, the only way to slow down the interlocking changes is to stop adding more planet-warming gases into the atmosphere. “The greenhouse gas emission decisions that we make over the coming decade or two will lock in how much ice we will lose and how quickly it will be lost,” Abram said.
The effects of deadly drought threaten thousands of wild animals
Zimbabwe is reeling from the effects of its worst drought in 40 years. In 2024, the country declared a state of disaster as crops failed and wildlife and people alike struggled to survive. During last year’s dry season, we were horrified to discover the carcasses of elephant calves – staring, dehydrated mothers unable to produce milk to feed them. The effects of this deadly disaster are far from over. Natural resources have not recovered suffiently and unless we help today, the animals will not survive the upcoming dry season. It is a bitter tragedy and one we cannot allow to happen again. The animals need YOU. Desperate animals cluster under skeletal trees in their fruitless search for relief from the baking sun. Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert Another year without water: Zimbabwe’s deadly drought means thousands of thirsty wild animals need help. Last year, Zimbabwe’s dry season – made significantly worse by changing weather patterns – killed thousands of wild animals and left countless infants orphaned. When my team and I visited badly-hit Hwange towards the end of 2024, we found a frightening situation. As temperatures soared up to 104°F (40°C), we saw elephants clustered beneath skeletal trees, desperate to escape the intense heat. In dried-up waterholes, we found the remains of animals who died waiting for relief that never came. Elephant mothers’ milk had dried up as they died, leaving their calves to starve. Mother elephants die of exhaustion and thirst, leaving their calves to die of starvation. Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert Some rain fell in late December, but because of climate change, the rainy season is almost two months shorter than it used to be, and the region is being plunged back into devastating drought. With your help, we can install critical water pumps to help save lives – and prevent countless young animals from being orphaned. We are working with the Presidential Elephants Research Trust (PERT), which operates in a 7,413-acre (3,000-hectare) area bordering Hwange National Park – an area which has no means of providing water during the dry season. Debby Querido – “I was shocked when I realized how catastrophic the situation could become without our help to provide water for wild animals.” Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert With your support, we will help the animals by equipping existing boreholes with solar-powered pumps to create oases. Elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, lions, leopards and countless others will benefit from the oases you can help create. Environmentally conscious people like you helped us quadruple the water available in parts of the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park in Botswana, helping to save thousands of lives. Now, wild animals in Zimbabwe need us too. Please, give as generously as you can today – your support will help make the difference between life and death for Zimbabwe’s parched and desperate animals.
‘We don’t need a disaster to justify resilience’: Climate projects can bring big economic benefits
According to a new report from the World Resources Institute (WRI), every €1 spent on climate adaptation will yield roughly €10 in benefits over a decade. Why does this matter? Because it shows just how critical your donations are today. What you donate today has the potential to have a ten-fold impact on our sustainability projects – from forest regeneration to solar power solutions – in the future. Read more and donate here. Article written by Craig Saueurs Originally published by Euronews (June 6, 2025) The 320 climate projects analyzed were found to have potential yields of about €1 trillion in projected returns over a decade. As floods, fires, and heatwaves grow more frequent and destructive, new research shows that climate adaptation isn’t just urgent. It’s also one of the smartest investments governments can make. According to a new report from the World Resources Institute (WRI), every €1 spent on climate adaptation will yield roughly €10 in benefits over a decade. That figure comes from analyzing 320 projects across 12 countries, including infrastructure upgrades, health system improvements, and disaster risk management schemes. All told, they amounted to more than €1 trillion in projected returns. “This research has pried open the lid on what resilience is truly worth – and even that first glimpse is staggering,” said Sam Mugume Koojo, co-chair of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action from Uganda. Climate impacts are no longer distant threats Glaciers are disappearing from the Alps, and record heatwaves and flash floods are costing lives and destroying livelihoods. Scientists warn that even if warming reverses, much of the damage, such as Arctic melting, won’t be undone in our lifetimes. As climate change intensifies, the need to protect lives, economies, and ecosystems is no longer a distant concern. But this research suggests that adaptation is not only a necessity – it pays off. The WRI defines adaptation investments as those aimed at reducing or managing physical climate risks, such as climate-smart agriculture, expanded health services, and urban flood protection. The research found that some sectors generate bigger gains than others. While the WRI projects 27 percent returns on average, health-focused initiatives, such as expanding services to cope with rising malaria and heat stress, could deliver average returns of 78 per cent. Investments in risk management projects, from early warning systems to flood defenses, also stand out for their high impact and cost-efficiency. And they didn’t just pay off in times of crisis. The WRI report found that over half of the benefits from adaptation projects occur even if climate shocks don’t happen. For example, irrigation systems can support crop diversity, and evacuation shelters can double as community centers. “One of our most striking findings is that adaptation projects aren’t just paying off when disasters happen – they generate value every day through more jobs, better health and stronger local economies,” said Carter Brandon, senior fellow at WRI. “That’s a major mind shift: policymakers don’t need a disaster to justify resilience – it’s simply smart development.” New approaches and new urgency Europe has made progress. Breda in the Netherlands recently became the EU’s first National Park City in recognition of its work to restore wetlands, green its streets, and adopt a whole-of-society approach to embracing eco-minded urban development. Twenty-two cities in Europe, including Copenhagen, Milan, and Stockholm, earned an A grade from the non-profit CDP in 2023 for their climate leadership. Experts still say that Europe lacks a clear, unified green development strategy. Some warn that investment is not keeping pace with growing risks. In 2023 alone, disasters cost the continent more than €77 billion, according to the World Bank. Without action, the economic toll of climate change could reach seven percent of EU GDP. But countries around the world are exploring unconventional methods to prepare for the future and improve life in the present. The Pacific island nation of Nauru has proposed a ‘golden passport’ scheme, offering citizenship to climate investors to help fund critical infrastructure – a controversial idea that underscores the urgency many nations face in bridging adaptation finance gaps. Could COP30 offer a turning point? As global leaders prepare for COP30, the WRI and others argue that climate adaptation should no longer be treated as a side project but rather as a central part of policy. “This evidence gives leaders and non-state actors exactly what they need heading into COP30: a clear economic case for scaling adaptation,” said Dan Ioschpe, a high-level champion for COP30, the global climate conference taking place in Belém, Portugal, in November. “Belém must become a turning point [in] mainstreaming resilience into national and local priorities and unlocking the full potential of non-state actors’ leadership.”
The world’s ice sheets just got a dire prognosis, and coastlines are going to pay the price
Adapted from CNN.com By Laura Paddison (May 20, 2025) Ice sheets are melting faster than expected – even at climate targets A new study warns that Earth’s ice sheets are melting at alarming rates – and even if the world meets its climate goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C, it might not be enough to stop dangerous sea level rise. Researchers reviewed satellite data, climate models and historical evidence, including ice cores and ocean sediments. Their conclusion: both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are highly vulnerable, and major melting could happen even at current global temperatures (around 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels). Together, these ice sheets hold enough water to raise sea levels by about 213 feet – a worst-case scenario, but even smaller losses could displace millions. Already, ice loss has quadrupled since the 1990s, and the current pace of melting adds about 370 billion tons of water to the oceans each year. By the end of this century, seas could rise by about 40 inches. That would force massive coastal migration and cause damage beyond what many communities can adapt to. The study also notes that earlier estimates underestimated the risk. What was once thought to be a safe threshold (3°C) is now believed to be closer to 1 – 1.5°C. Keeping warming below 1°C would offer the best chance to avoid collapse, but this would require sharp reductions in fossil fuel use – something not currently on track. Despite the grim outlook, scientists stress that every fraction of a degree matters. While 1.5°C won’t stop sea level rise, it could still reduce the scale of the damage. “There’s very little that we’re observing that gives us hope,” said one researcher, “but hitting 1.5°C would still be a major achievement.”
World lost a record-shattering amount of forest in 2024, fuelled by climate change-driven wildfires
Article written by Rosie Frost Originally published by Euronews (May 21, 2025) Brazil, set to host the COP30 climate conference later this year, lost the largest area of tropical forest in 2024. The world lost a record amount of forest in 2024, driven by a catastrophic rise in fires. New data from the University of Maryland’s GLAD Lab, made available on World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Global Forest Watch platform, shows that loss of tropical primary forests alone reached 6.7 million hectares last year – twice as much as in 2023 and an area nearly the size of Panama. That is around 18 football pitches lost every 18 minutes. For the first time on record, fires, not agriculture, were the leading cause of this loss, accounting for nearly half of all destruction. They burned five times more tropical primary forest in 2024 than in 2023. Latin America was particularly hard hit. In total, these fires emitted 4.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions – more than four times the emissions of all air travel in 2023. “This level of forest loss is unlike anything we’ve seen in over 20 years of data,” says Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of WRI’s Global Forest Watch. “It’s a global red alert – a collective call to action for every country, every business and every person who cares about a livable planet. Our economies, our communities, our health – none of it can survive without forests.” Extreme weather fuelled tropical forest fires in 2024 Though forest fires are natural in some ecosystems, they are mostly human-caused in tropical regions. Fires are often started for agricultural reasons or to prepare new areas for farming. Last year was the hottest year on record, with extreme conditions including severe widespread drought fuelled by climate change and the El Nino climate phenomenon. Some countries, especially those in Latin America, experienced their worst drought on record in 2024. The report says these conditions made fires more intense and harder to control in many parts of the world. While some forests can recover from these blazes, the combined pressure of land conversion and a changing climate hinders that recovery. It also creates a feedback loop that raises the likelihood of future fires. Which countries lost the most forest in 2024? Brazil, set to host the COP30 climate conference later this year, lost the largest areas of tropical forest in 2024, according to the data. In total, it accounted for 42 per cent of all tropical primary forest loss last year. Fires were fuelled by the worst drought on record for the country, causing 66 per cent of that loss. Other causes, such as farming for soy and cattle, rose by 13 per cent – still much lower than the peaks seen in the early 2000s. “Brazil has made progress under President Lula – but the threat to forests remains,” says Mariana Oliveira, director of the forests and land use programme at WRI Brasil. “Without sustained investment in community fire prevention, stronger state-level enforcement and a focus on sustainable land use, hard-won gains risk being undone. As Brazil prepares to host COP30, it has a powerful opportunity to put forest protection front and centre on the global stage.” As Brazil prepares to host COP30, it has a powerful opportunity to put forest protection front and centre on the global stage. – Mariana Oliveira – Director of the forests and land use programme at WRI Brasil Forest loss also skyrocketed by 200 per cent in Bolivia last year to a total of 1.5 million hectares. For the first time ever, it ranked in second place behind Brazil, overtaking the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – despite having less than half the forest area. Stasiek Czaplicki Cabezas, Bolivian researcher and data journalist for Revista Nomadas, says fires in 2024 “left deep scars”, not just on the land but for those who depend on it. “The damage could take centuries to undo.” Despite shifting down in the rankings, DRC saw the highest levels of primary forest loss on record, surging by 150 per cent compared to 2023. Fires, made worse by unusually hot and dry conditions, caused 45 per cent of the damage. Just like the Amazon, the Congo basin acts as a crucial carbon sink, but increasing fires and forest loss now threaten its vital function. Columbia too saw an almost 50 per cent increase in primary forest loss but fires weren’t the primary cause. Instability from the breakdown of peace talks led to the growth of activities like illegal mining and coca production (the main ingredient in cocaine). Wildfires also drove forest loss outside of the tropics The rise in forest loss extended well beyond the tropics in 2024, with a 5 per cent increase in the total loss of tree cover around the world compared to 2023. That is an additional 30 million hectares lost last year, an area roughly the size of Italy. An intense fire season in Russia and Canada was partially responsible for driving this increase. While forest fires are a part of the natural dynamics in these regions, they have been more intense and longer-lasting in recent years, giving tree cover less time to recover. Research has shown that these boreal forests are increasingly susceptible to drought and fires due to climate change, creating a feedback loop of worsening fires and carbon emissions. Last year was also the first time since Global Forest Watch began keeping records when fires raged across both the tropics and boreal forests. This data should ‘jolt’ us out of complacency The report isn’t all bad news, with some countries racking up wins in the face of a challenging year. In Indonesia, for example, primary forest loss fell by 11 per cent. Efforts under former President Joko Widodo to restore land and curb fires helped keep fire rates low, even amid widespread droughts. Arief Wijaya, managing director of WRI Indonesia, says that while deforestation remains a concern, they are proud that it was one of the few countries to reduce primary forest
More than 80% of the world’s reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record
Article written by Graham Readfearn Originally published by The Guardian (Apr 23, 2025) An ashen pallor and an eerie stillness all that remains where there should be fluttering fish and vibrant colours in the reefscape, one conservationist says The world’s coral reefs have been pushed into “uncharted territory” by the worst global bleaching event on record that has now hit more than 80% of the planet’s reefs, scientists have warned. Reefs in at least 82 countries and territories have been exposed to enough heat to turn corals white since the global event started in January 2023, the latest data from the US government’s Coral Reef Watch shows. Coral reefs are known as the rainforests of the sea because of their high concentration of biodiversity that supports about a third of all marine species and a billion people. But record-high ocean temperatures have spread like an underwater wildfire over corals across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, damaging and killing countless corals. The 84% of reefs exposed to bleaching-level heat in this ongoing fourth event compares with 68% during the third event, which lasted from 2014 to 2017, 37% in 2010, and 21% in the first event in 1998. Even reefs considered by scientists to be refuges from the ocean’s rising levels of heat have been bleached, Dr Derek Manzello, the director of Coral Reef Watch, said. “The fact that so many reef areas have been impacted, including purported thermal refugia like Raja Ampat and the Gulf of Eilat, suggests that ocean warming has reached a level where there is no longer any safe harbor from coral bleaching and its ramifications,” he said. Many areas have seen bleaching in back-to-back years, including the world’s biggest reef system, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, where last week authorities declared a sixth widespread bleaching event in just nine years. Australia’s other World Heritage-listed reef along the Ningaloo coast in Western Australia has seen its highest levels of heat stress on record in recent months. Scientists on the other side of the Indian Ocean have reported bleaching in recent weeks affecting reefs off Madagascar and the east African coast, including South Africa’s World Heritage iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Dr. Britta Schaffelke, of the Australian Institute of Marine Science and coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), said the event was unprecedented. “Reefs have not encountered this before.” “With the ongoing bleaching, it’s almost overwhelming the capacity of people to do the monitoring they need to do,” she said. “The fact that this most recent, global-scale coral bleaching event is still ongoing takes the world’s reefs into uncharted waters. “[For] people who spend their entire working lives monitoring and observing reefs and protecting reefs, and living alongside them and relying on them, seeing something like this must be devastating. “Ecological grief is real. People who spend a lot of time under the water see it changing before their eyes,” she said. The GCRMN is collating monitoring data for a status report due out next year, but Schaffelke said even that report would not give a full picture of the impact of the event. Scientists in North and Central America, including Florida, the Caribbean, and Mexico, were among the first to raise the alarm after record ocean temperatures saw extreme bleaching in the Northern Hemisphere’s summer of 2023. Corals can recover from bleaching if temperatures are not too extreme, but surveys done in the months after the event have begun to paint a picture of widespread coral death. Across Florida, an average of one in five corals was lost. On the Pacific side of Mexico, one area lost between 50% and 93% of its corals. Almost a quarter of corals were killed by heat last year in the remote Chagos Islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Scientists described a “graveyard of dead corals” in the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef after bleaching in early 2024 that caused 40% of corals to die in one area in the south. After the extreme heat of 2023, Coral Reef Watch was forced to add three new threat levels to its global bleaching alert system to represent the unprecedented heat stress corals had faced. Melanie McField, the founder of the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People initiative in the Caribbean, said reefs had fallen quiet across the world. “Bleaching is always eerie—as if a silent snowfall has descended on the reef … There is usually an absence of fluttering fish and an absence of the vibrant colors on the reef,” she said. “It’s an ashen pallor and stillness in what should be a rowdy, vibrant reefscape.” Dr. Lorenzo Álvarez-Filip, a coral scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, has been surveying reefs across the Mexican Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico after the bleaching in 2023 and again in 2024. He said the most devastating impact was the loss of reef-building corals, such as elkhorns, that help protect coastlines and support a multitude of other marine life. “Many of the coral colonies I knew well, and which had survived [a major disease] outbreak just a few years earlier, died in a matter of weeks. “The feeling of impotence combined with the need to at least document what was happening made me very anxious – this was particularly hard when we were about to dive in sites where we knew there were big aggregations of susceptible corals. In almost all cases, we ended up with a very depressing feeling when we confirmed that all or nearly all the coral had died.” Dr. Valeria Pizarro, a senior coral scientist at the Perry Institute for Marine Science who works on reefs in the Bahamas and Caribbean, witnessed extreme bleaching in the Bahamas in July 2023. She said, “In the blink of my eyes,” shallow reefs became white landscapes, with widespread death among staghorn corals used in restoration projects. Spectacular sea fans and soft corals died quickly. “It was like they were melting with the heat,” she said. “World leaders need to really commit to reducing fossil fuels
Please help us rush 5,000 displaced endangered tortoises to safety in Madagascar and save their lives.
Over ten thousand critically endangered tortoises are fighting for their lives after two devastating cyclones destroyed their sanctuary in Madagascar. Over 800 have already drowned. Even more tragic, all were initially rescued from the horrific illegal trade. Rescuers are continuing to search for survivors and have so far recovered several thousand, all struggling to swim in the fast-rising waters. Desperate tortoises attempting to swim to safety as cyclone destroys their sanctuary. Credit: TSA Our priority now is to relocate the survivors to safety as quickly as possible. Please help now. We MUST save critically endangered tortoises from a devastating cyclone in Madagascar. Our partner in Madagascar, Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), runs two critical sanctuaries for rescued tortoises. Tropical cyclone Dikeledi has completely destroyed one of these, displacing the 12,000 fragile tortoises in its care and claiming the lives of hundreds. A second cyclone, bringing heavy rains and flooding, has obliterated any chance of rebuilding the sanctuary for the moment. Rescuers wade through floodwaters to save displaced, critically endangered tortoises. Credit: TSA Juvenile tortoises exposed to extreme weather conditions are at risk of pneumonia and dying. Please help us get them critical care, FAST. Thousands of radiated and spider tortoises have been recovered and search-and-rescue efforts continue. Five thousand of those recovered are juveniles, and their prolonged exposure to the floodwaters has put them at acute risk of pneumonia. They require urgent, specialized care to survive, and to receive this, they MUST be relocated to TSA’s remaining sanctuary, roughly 234 miles (375 kilometers) away. Credit: TSA Please help us raise $3,000 to hire a transport vehicle and get the sick, struggling tortoises to safety. These little creatures have already survived so much. Each has been saved from the horrors of the illegal wildlife trade, which sees them stolen from the wild to be eaten, or shipped in abhorrent conditions to be “pets” – mostly in Asia, but also in Europe and America. Critically endangered tortoises are poached in their thousands every year, and illegally smuggled in horrendous conditions. Credit: TSA Often during transportation, tortoises are tightly packed, starved and their shells broken, and countless die on route to their final destination. Madagascar’s radiated tortoises are especially sought-after as “pets,” and their populations have plummeted 75% since the early 2000s, rendering them critically endangered. The International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN) predicts the species could be extinct by as soon as 2050. Credit: TSA Once abundant in Madagascar, tortoise populations have declined alarmingly over the past 20 years. All four local species are now critically endangered. We have a chance right now to help save 5,000 of these severely compromised and critically endangered animals. Will you help them? Please, donate right away and help us save their lives – and give hope to their entire species.
In deep water: Ocean literacy among young people is worryingly low, new survey finds
Article written by Rebecca Ann Hughes Originally published by Euro News (Feb 5, 2025) The survey found little demand amongst young people for significant action or accountability from ocean stakeholders. There’s a concerning disconnect between young people’s recognition of the ocean’s vital role in climate change and the importance of measures required to protect it, a new global survey has found. A large majority of young people are concerned about the ocean’s health—yet they place a higher priority on protecting forests, reducing air pollution, and tackling freshwater scarcity. Young people also have high expectations for governments, NGOs, and local communities but low expectations for businesses, highlighting a misunderstanding about who holds responsibility for ocean pollution, the authors said. The study by the world-leading ocean health initiative Back to Blue found these worrying gaps in ocean literacy levels among 18–24-year-olds in 35 countries. Young people ‘do not fully fathom the dire conditions of our oceans’. Results from the 3,500 respondents of the survey found that 75 percent of young people are concerned about the state of ocean health. However, few acknowledge the jeopardy the ocean is in, nor the ways in which this can be prevented—almost half (47 percent) of young people think the ocean is still healthy. The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines are among some of the top countries that believe this, even though they are struggling with plastic pollution, coral reef degradation, and habitat loss. The authors said it strongly indicates that young people “do not fully fathom the dire conditions of our oceans.” Indeed, 61 percent prioritize other climate issues, such as deforestation, over ocean conservation. Notably, this perspective is shared by 88 percent of young people in Panama—a country bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, where the ocean plays a vital role in the economy. “It is surprising and alarming to see so many young people misjudge the ocean’s health. This level of low ocean literacy risks hindering progress and funding for protecting our oceans,” Peter Thomson, UN Ocean Envoy, said. “We must invest in educating young people about the importance of ocean health and how to safeguard it for the future.” The authors argued that strengthening ocean literacy is pivotal for fostering a deeper understanding of the ocean’s multifaceted role. It is not only a driver of local economies through industries like fisheries, tourism, and renewable energy but also a critical buffer against climate change impacts. “The ocean is one of the most overlooked and underfunded areas in global sustainability, yet its decline directly impacts how we live,” Thomson added. “We must remember that the ocean is silently dealing with sea level rise, soaring temperatures, and acidity levels, as well as irreversible threats to biodiversity because of human activity. The least we can do is understand it better and make it a priority to save.” Improved ocean literacy can help put pressure on policymakers The survey also found little demand amongst young people for significant action or accountability from ocean stakeholders. Less than half of young people want government action that will ensure the ocean’s health. Only 17 percent want to see corporations and businesses take increased responsibility. The latter finding is particularly worrying, as the study found that young people are concerned about ocean contamination—chemical pollution (48 percent) and plastic pollution (50 percent)—yet they do not know where responsibility lies. Better knowledge of the dangers facing the ocean would increase citizen and stakeholder pressure on policymakers and funding sources, the authors said. “It’s incredibly interesting to see that some young people recognize that the ocean can have a role in addressing the impacts of climate change and that damaging ocean health is detrimental to this,” Emma McKinley, an ocean literacy expert and senior research fellow at Cardiff University, said. “Yet, this study suggests that not all young people recognize the need to demand more action from governments and the private sector to do more to prioritize ocean health.” The authors of the study called on educators and policymakers to incorporate ocean literacy into school curriculums to “equip the next generation with the knowledge and tools needed to protect our oceans and address the challenges they face”.
Giant iceberg on crash course with island, putting penguins and seals in danger
Article written by Georgina Rannard and Erwan Rivault Originally published by BBC (Jan 23, 2025) Giant iceberg on crash course with island, putting penguins and seals in danger The world’s largest iceberg is on collision course with a remote British island, potentially putting penguins and seals in danger. The iceberg is spinning northwards from Antarctica towards South Georgia, a rugged British territory and wildlife haven, where it could ground and smash into pieces. It is currently 173 miles (280 km) away. Countless birds and seals died on South Georgia’s icy coves and beaches when past giant icebergs stopped them feeding. “Icebergs are inherently dangerous. I would be extraordinarily happy if it just completely missed us,” sea captain Simon Wallace tells BBC News, speaking from the South Georgia government vessel Pharos. Around the world, a group of scientists, sailors and fishermen are anxiously checking satellite pictures to monitor the daily movements of this queen of icebergs. It is known as A23a and is one of the world’s oldest. It calved, or broke off, from the Filchner Ice Shelf in Antarctica in 1986 but got stuck on the seafloor and then trapped in an ocean vortex. Finally, in December, it broke free and is now on its final journey, speeding into oblivion. The warmer waters north of Antarctica are melting and weakening its vast sides that extend up to 1,312 feet (400 meters), taller than the Shard in London. It once measured 3,900 sq km, but the latest satellite pictures show it is slowly decaying. It is now around 3,500 sq km, roughly the size of the English county of Cornwall. And large slabs of ice are breaking off, plunging into the waters around its edges. A23a could break into vast segments any day, which may then hang around for years, like floating cities of ice cruising uncontrollably around South Georgia. This isn’t the first huge iceberg to threaten South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands. In 2004 one called A38 grounded on its continental shelf, leaving dead penguin chicks and seal pups on beaches as massive ice chunks blocked their access to feeding grounds. The territory is home to precious colonies of King penguins and millions of elephants and fur seals. “South Georgia sits in an iceberg alley, so impacts are to be expected for both fisheries and wildlife, and both have a great capacity to adapt,” says Mark Belchier, a marine ecologist who advises the South Georgia government. Sailors and fishermen say icebergs are an increasing problem. In 2023, one called A76 gave them a scare when it came close to grounding. “Chunks of it were tipping up, so they looked like great ice towers, an ice city on the horizon,” says Mr. Belchier, who saw the iceberg while at sea. Those slabs are still lingering around the islands today. “It is in bits from the size of several Wembley stadiums down to pieces the size of your desk,” says Andrew Newman from Argos Froyanes, a fishing company that works in South Georgia. “Those pieces basically cover the island—we have to work our way through it,” says Captain Wallace. The sailors on his ship must be constantly vigilant. “We have searchlights on all night to try to see ice—it can come from nowhere,” he explains. A76 was a “gamechanger,” according to Mr. Newman, with a “huge impact on our operations and on keeping our vessel and crew safe.” All three men describe a rapidly changing environment, with glacial retreat visible year-to-year and volatile levels of sea ice. Climate change is unlikely to have been behind the birth of A23a because it calved so long ago, before much of the impacts of rising temperatures that we are now seeing. But giant icebergs are part of our future. As Antarctica becomes more unstable with warmer ocean and air temperatures, more vast pieces of the ice sheets will break away. Before its time comes to an end, though, A23a has left a parting gift for scientists. A team with the British Antarctic Survey on the Sir David Attenborough research vessel found themselves close to A23a in 2023. The scientists scrambled to exploit the rare opportunity to investigate what mega icebergs do to the environment. The ship sailed into a crack in the iceberg’s gigantic walls, and PhD researcher Laura Taylor collected precious water samples 400 m away from its cliffs. “I saw a massive wall of ice way higher than me, as far as I could see. It has different colours in different places. Chunks were falling off—it was quite magnificent,” she explains from her lab in Cambridge, where she is now analysing the samples. Her work looks at the impact the meltwater is having on the carbon cycle in the southern ocean. “This isn’t just water like we drink. It’s full of nutrients and chemicals, as well as tiny animals like phytoplankton frozen inside,” Ms. Taylor says. As it melts, the iceberg releases those elements into the water, changing the physics and chemistry of the ocean. That could store more carbon deep in the ocean as the particles sink from the surface. That would naturally lock away some of the planet’s carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change. Icebergs are notoriously unpredictable, and no one knows what exactly they will do next. But soon the behemoth should appear, looming on the islands’ horizons, as big as the territory itself.
Water still desperately needed for drought-stricken animals.
For the animals of Zimbabwe, the new year does not mean new hope. It means 365 long, miserable days filled with suffering and pain. Without our help, many will not survive. Credit: MARES “The donkeys are collapsing and dying. We have no more feed or grass. Things are very desperate.” – Matabeleland Animal Rescue and Equine Sanctuary (MARES) Zimbabwe is battling a severe drought that has dragged on for over a year, locking animals in a desperate state of hunger and thirst. The smattering of rain in Bulawayo has not reached outlying areas where animals have no food and no water. Over 60 have already died in the area MARES operates in. To make matters worse, the country’s severely mismanaged power supply means up to 20 hours without electricity per day – so even where boreholes have been drilled to access water, there is often no electricity to pump the water to the surface for the animals. Dehydrated, rake-thin and utterly defeated, Zimbabwe’s animals are dropping dead as you read this. Solar-powered pumps are a reliable way to bring underground water to the surface for animals. We MUST install these pumps FAST. Our long-term partner in Bulawayo, Matabeleland Animal Rescue and Equine Sanctuary (MARES), is a refuge for over 100 injured, neglected and abused animals. It also helps hundreds more every year through regular community outreach programs. But with the drought stretching on for so many months, and countless animals relying on them for survival, MARES is in crisis. “Our emergency supplies have been depleted and we [are] receiving calls that more and more animals are collapsing and dying.” – MARES Credit: MARES Even as funds, supplies and electricity run dry, MARES is inundated with calls to help animals in distress. They are saving as many as they can, but without water or electricity, the situation is nearly hopeless. We must raise $7,800 (approximately £6,200) to drill a borehole and install two solar-powered water pumps for the animals. One solar system will run a pump at an existing borehole, providing a steady supply of water for the animals in their care. It will also power vital veterinary equipment and lights for on-site treatment, empowering our team to provide crucial care for hundreds of gravely ill and injured animals. Credit: MARES But water isn’t just needed for the dehydrated animals – it’s also required to irrigate farmlands that are currently withering under the relentless sun, leaving the animals with nothing to eat. With your help, we will drill another borehole and install a second solar system to pump water for around 30 acres (12 hectares) of land at the sanctuary to grow grass for the starving animals. Hundreds of animals are facing starvation, dehydration and death. Will you help save them from their suffering? With over 2,000 litres of water required every day just to keep the sanctuary’s animals alive, the need is severe. Together, we can help these desperate animals, installing pumps that will provide thousands of liters of water every day. Please donate generously right away. Their lives count on your kindness today.
In the aftermath of savage Los Angeles fires, animals still need life-saving care.
Intense fires are still raging in Los Angeles and extreme winds forecasted for today and tomorrow pose a deadly new threat to wildlife. Rescuers are being overwhelmed by the number of wild bird and animal victims and these creatures badly need your help. A mountain lion in Los Angeles seeks refuge from the burning landscape. Credit: Jason Klassi/Getty “Tragically, many wildlife are impacted by wildfires and lose their lives. But for those that can be rescued, our staff is trained and ready to triage and treat burn and smoke inhalant victims.” – Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center LosAngeles’ wildfires are catastrophic for wildlife. Owls, opossums, coyotes, bobcats, rabbits and mountain lions all need immediate emergency care. Our partner, Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center of Orange County (WWCC), is taking in as many as it can, but it needs help. The animals arrive in terrible conditions, and as the fires continue to rage, more are pouring in all the time. Your donation will help cover the cost of critical care, including X-rays to check for broken bones, veterinary wipe-downs to remove toxic soot, burn wound treatment, skin grafts, emergency oxygen, and surgery for the severely injured. Deer surveying the charred, barren wasteland that remains of their home in the Palisades. Credit: Apu Gomes/Getty The fires, among the most destructive in Los Angeles’ history, have razed 40,300 acres (16,300 hectares) of land so far – an area larger than the city of Paris. Experts believe the disaster has been exacerbated by global warming, as climate-related extreme events increase in frequency and intensity across the globe. Search and rescue missions are underway for injured wildlife seared by fire. Our partner works tirelessly to help wild animals caught in natural disasters. Credit: WWCC Imagine the terror of these helpless creatures as fires blaze around them, with no hope of escape. It is the stuff of nightmares. Our team is ready to find and triage survivors, stabilize them and give them critical care – but they need our help to save them. Your donation today will help save wild animals caught in LA’s cataclysmic fires. Credit: WWCC It is a deeply distressing situation, but we know that with your help today, we can bring comfort and hope to animals who have lost everything. Please, open your heart to the tragic wild animals of Los Angeles, and donate any amount you can right away.
Will you give orphaned elephants the gift of water this holiday season?
Before you raise your holiday glass to bid farewell to the year, we ask you to take a moment to think about the animals. The endangered elephants of South Africa have a vital item on their wish list for 2024 – and they are sincerely hoping you’ll help make it come true… Credit: HERD Please help us give thirsty, rescued elephants the gift of water before the year ends. Imagine a majestic herd of rescued elephants – each one already orphaned under heartbreaking circumstances – basking in a magnificent pool of fresh, abundant water. This is our dream for the Jabulani Herd – a family of 17 orphaned, rescued elephants in the care of our partner, Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development (HERD) in South Africa. These precious animals have experienced untold suffering in their lives, and we want your help to give them the idyllic, life-sustaining oasis they deserve. With adults weighing around six tons, elephants naturally have a BIG thirst – they need up to 50 gallons (200 liters) of water every day to survive. Credit: HERD In 2025 and beyond, we want to provide them with a steady, stable water source so they never again have to worry about where their next drink might be coming from in this drought-prone country. We need your help to make it happen. Let’s celebrate the strength of South Africa’s orphaned survivors by giving these elephants a lifetime of crucial water. If we can raise $7,000 (£5,500), we can drill a borehole near the elephants’ primary waterhole and equip it with a solar-powered pump. This will provide a reliable, long-term source of water for the elephants, sustaining them through the current dry period and well into the future. Your generosity in 2024 helped us provide life-saving water to wildlife across drought-ravaged Botswana and Zimbabwe. Thanks to you, countless wild animals who would otherwise have perished are alive and well, despite the horrific drought that has ravaged southern Africa. Now, you can make the same life-changing difference for elephants in South Africa. Make your final gift of 2024 count by donating generously now.
Drylands now make up 40% of land on Earth, excluding Antarctica, study says
Article written by Fiona Harvey Originally published by The Guardian (Dec 9, 2024) An area nearly a third larger than India turned permanently arid in past three decades, research shows An area of land nearly a third larger than India has turned from humid conditions to dryland – arid areas where agriculture is difficult – in the past three decades, research has found. Drylands now make up 40% of all land on Earth, excluding Antarctica. Three-quarters of the world’s land suffered drier conditions in the past 30 years, which is likely to be permanent, according to the study by the UN Science Policy Interface, a body of scientists convened by the United Nations. Africa lost about 12% of its GDP owing to the increasing aridity between 1990 and 2015, the report found. Even worse losses are forecast: Africa will lose about 16% of its GDP, and Asia close to 7%, in the next half decade. Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the UN convention to combat desertification (UNCCD), said: “Unlike droughts – temporary periods of low rainfall – aridity represents a permanent, unrelenting transformation. “Droughts end. When an area’s climate becomes drier, however, the ability to return to previous conditions is lost. The drier climates now affecting vast lands across the globe will not return to how they were, and this change is redefining life on Earth.” Some crops will be particularly at risk: maize yields are projected to halve in Kenya by 2050 if current trends continue. Drylands are areas where 90% of the rainfall is lost to evaporation, leaving only 10% for vegetation. Two-thirds of land globally will store less water by mid-century, according to the report published on Monday. Governments are more than halfway through a global conference in Riyadh, which concludes this Friday under the UNCCD. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s most arid countries and is anxious to use the fortnight of talks to gain global agreement on halting the degradation of the world’s lands and begin restoring affected areas. Despite hosting the conference, Saudi Arabia has appeared reluctant to talk about the climate crisis, which is the key driver of desertification around the world. Saudi Arabia played an obstructive role at a key climate summit, the UN framework convention on climate change conference of the parties (Cop) in Azerbaijan last month. The world’s water problems are fast growing more acute as a result of global failure to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. According to the UN SPI (science-policy interface) study, as of 2020, about 30% of the population – 2.3 billion people globally – lived in drylands, up from about 22.5% in 1990. By 2100, this is projected to double if too little is done to reduce carbon emissions. Nearly half of Africa’s people already live in drylands. Barron Orr, chief scientist at UNCCD, said: “For the first time, a UN scientific body is warning that burning fossil fuels is causing permanent drying across much of the world, with potentially catastrophic impacts affecting access to water that could push people and nature even closer to disastrous tipping points.” Climate breakdown is “inextricably linked” to the world’s water crisis, multiple studies have shown, but poor farming practices, overextraction of water, the erosion of soil and destruction of natural vegetation are also factors. Praveena Sridhar, chief technical officer of the Save Soil campaign group, said: “Healthy soils are the foundation of life. Drying lands signify degraded soils, and the cause is clear: human activity. “Intensive agriculture is the leading driver of land and soil degradation, fuelling biodiversity loss, carbon sequestration decline, and worsening floods, droughts and wildfires – issues rapidly increasing across the globe.” Experts called on governments to act. Mark Maslin, professor of earth system science at University College London, who was not involved with the study, warned: “This is the land we rely on to produce food. [This] is not only a warning but a call to politicians that there are solutions. “First, we can curb greenhouse gas emissions, which will reduce climate change and global aridification. Second, we can acknowledge the world is drying and take measures to slow it down and to adapt to it. “We now have so many solutions: sustainable agriculture, water management, reforestation and rewilding to education and awareness building. Ultimately, good local and national governance is required to deal with the desertification of our precious life-giving planet.” Kate Gannon, research fellow at the Grantham Institute, London School of Economics, told the Guardian: “Rising aridity deepens poverty, forces overexploitation of fragile resources and accelerates land degradation, creating a vicious cycle of resource scarcity, water insecurity and diminished agricultural potential. “These communities, with the least capacity to adapt, face dire consequences to health, nutrition and wellbeing from risks of food shortages, displacement, and forced migration. This is not only a profound injustice but also a global challenge.”
The Arctic could be ice-free by summer 2027: What it means for weather, shipping and polar bears
Article written by Jennifer Marsden Originally published by euronews. (Dec 4, 2024) The Arctic Ocean may see its first ice-free day before 2030, earlier than scientists predicted. While most projections of the Arctic’s sea ice have focused on month-by-month conditions, a new study has revealed possible predictions down to the day. Previous expectations had the Arctic Sea loss predicted around 2030, but these results reveal that an ice-free day could occur as early as late summer 2027. Nine other simulations, while less likely, predict that it could occur within the next three to six years. Scientists, from the study published in Nature Communications, say the Arctic’s first ice-free day is now inevitable and irreversible, regardless of how humans alter greenhouse gas emissions. What is an ice-free Arctic, and why does it matter? The Arctic Ocean covers a vast area of more than 16 million square kilometres, and for thousands of years, it has witnessed a natural seasonal event: layers of frozen seawater dramatically build up over the winter months into a thick ice cap that peaks in March before it melts in September. In recent decades, however, this dramatic event has been less prevalent. Sea ice has declined by more than 12 percent every decade since 1978, when satellite imagery—the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer, or ”SMMR’—started recording Arctic sea ice growth and retreat. That’s 80,000 square kilometres every year—roughly the same size as Austria or the Czech Republic. Scientists define ‘ice-free’ as the sea ice area dropping to less than one million square kilometres in a short time, which is considered a climate tipping point. A team of international researchers, including climatologist Alexandra Jahn from the University of Colorado Boulder and Céline Heuzé from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, used over 300 computer models to predict the first ice-free day. These showed an accelerated timeline compared to what was previously projected. Rapid ice loss events are typically associated with intense winters and spring warming. Long-term, if the Arctic Ocean is regularly declared ice-free, this could significantly impact the fragile ecosystem of the northernmost sea, including everything from the ‘emblematic polar bear to the crucial zooplankton,’ the study reveals. What will the Arctic Ocean’s ice-free days mean for humans? The day the Arctic shows ice-free conditions is symbolically significant. It will visually highlight how humans have changed one of our planet’s defining natural features: from a white to a blue Arctic Ocean. “The first ice-free day in the Arctic won’t change things dramatically,” explained Jahn in a statement. “But it will show that we’ve fundamentally altered one of the defining characteristics of the natural environment in the Arctic Ocean, which is that it is covered by sea ice and snow year-round, through greenhouse gas emissions.” The sun never sets in the Arctic during summer, so without the reflective ice reflecting sunlight into space, the ocean will absorb and distribute a substantial amount of heat around the Earth. International waters do not have any jurisdiction, so commercial industries could exploit opportunities found in the warmer Arctic waters. They could fish and deep-mine previously inaccessible marine and mineral populations, while freight companies could take a quicker shipping route across the Northwest Passage. The warming could also lead to more erratic and extreme weather events through changing wind and ocean current patterns. Warmer years have already occurred: in March 2022, some of the Arctic was 50F/10C warmer than the average, which caused areas around the North Pole to almost melt. The study’s authors say there is still a chance to delay the timeline for the sea ice melt in the near future. “Any reductions in emissions would help preserve sea ice,” added Jahn.
Starving animals in Botswana resorting to cannibalism.
Across Southern Africa, drought-stricken hippos are resorting to dreadful measures to fill their achingly empty bellies. Credit: de Wets Wild In Botswana, these normally herbivorous animals are so hungry, they have been eating the rotting carcass of a dead cow. But somehow, it gets worse. In the Motopi region, a herd of hippos was seen eating excrement to fill their bellies… and then one of their own – a hippo that had become trapped in the sticky mud of a near-dry waterhole. The hippo was literally being eaten alive – THAT is how desperate the situation is. Right now, 88 animals are starving to death. Credit: MAWS Our partner in Botswana, Maun Animal Welfare Society (MAWS), has launched a vital assistance program for animals affected by this horrific drought, providing much-needed food and water. MAWS has now expanded the program to feed 13 hippos and 75 other animals who require immediate help. “Hungry, hungry animals… They are dropping like flies, we have calls every day about horses, donkeys and cows [falling] down and unable to get up. Starving to death or having eaten plastic bags in desperation.” – Equine Assist, Maun MAWS needs good quality bales, pellets, quick beet supplements, and lucerne – anything with high nutritional value – to help feed the animals, and they need it right away. Time is of the essence. These animals are eating plastic, rubbish and worse – and they are getting sicker, weaker, and ever closer to a slow, premature death. For just $48 (£38), you can feed a starving animal for a month. If we can raise $4,200 (around £3,300), we can feed all 88 animals for an entire month, including hippos, donkeys, horses and other starving creatures. Credit: MAWS Every $48 (£38) you donate feeds an animal for a month – hopefully, buying enough time until the rains come in late December. Botswana’s rainy season was supposed to start in November, but the rains never came. No one knows when the drought will break. We have to help until the rains finally arrive. Please, will you be the lifeline for 88 starving animals?
World’s 1.5C climate target ‘deader than a doornail’, experts say
Article written by Oliver Milman Originally published by The Guardian (Nov 18, 2024) Scientists say goal to keep world’s temperature rise below 1.5C is not going to happen despite talks at Cop29 in Baku The internationally agreed goal to keep the world’s temperature rise below 1.5C is now “deader than a doornail,” with 2024 almost certain to be the first individual year above this threshold, climate scientists have gloomily concluded—even as world leaders gather for climate talks on how to remain within this boundary. Three of the five leading research groups monitoring global temperatures consider 2024 on track to be at least 1.5C (2.7F) hotter than pre-industrial times, underscoring it as the warmest year on record, beating a mark set just last year. The past 10 consecutive years have already been the hottest 10 years ever recorded. Although a single year above 1.5C does not itself spell climate doom or break the 2015 Paris agreement, in which countries agreed to strive to keep the long-term temperature rise below this point, scientists have warned this aspiration has in effect been snuffed out despite the exhortations of leaders currently gathered at a United Nations climate summit in Azerbaijan. “The goal to avoid exceeding 1.5C is deader than a doornail. It’s almost impossible to avoid at this point because we’ve just waited too long to act,” said Zeke Hausfather, climate research lead at Stripe and a research scientist at Berkeley Earth. “We are speeding past the 1.5C line in an accelerating way, and that will continue until global emissions stop climbing.” Last year was so surprisingly hot, even in the context of the climate crisis, that it caused “some soul-searching” among climate scientists, Hausfather said. In recent months there has also been persistent heat despite the fading of El Niño, a periodic climate event that exacerbated temperatures already elevated by the burning of fossil fuels. “It’s going to be the hottest year by an unexpectedly large margin. If it continues to be this warm, it’s a worrying sign,” he said. “Going past 1.5C this year is very symbolic, and it’s a sign that we are getting ever closer to going past that target.” Climate scientists broadly expect it will become apparent the 1.5C target, agreed upon by governments after pleas from vulnerable island states that they risk being wiped out if temperatures rise further than this, has been exceeded within the coming decade. Despite countries agreeing to shift away from fossil fuels, this year is set to hit a new record for planet-heating emissions, and even if current national pledges are met, the world is on track for 2.7C (4.8F) warming, risking disastrous heatwaves, floods, famines, and unrest. “We are clearly failing to bend the curve,” said Sofia Gonzales-Zuñiga, an analyst at Climate Analytics, which helped produce the Climate Action Tracker (Cat) temperature estimate. However, the Cop29 talks in Baku have maintained calls for action to stay under 1.5C. “Only you can beat the clock on 1.5C,” António Guterres, secretary general of the UN, urged world leaders on Tuesday, while also acknowledging the planet was undergoing a “masterclass in climate destruction.” Yet the 1.5C target now appears to be simply a rhetorical, rather than scientifically achievable, one, bar massive amounts of future carbon removal from as-yet unproven technologies. “I never thought 1.5C was a conceivable goal. I thought it was a pointless thing,” said Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist at Nasa. “I’m totally unsurprised, like almost all climate scientists, that we are shooting past it at a rapid clip.” “But it was extremely galvanizing, so I was wrong about that. Maybe it is useful; possibly people do need impossible targets. You shouldn’t ask scientists how to galvanize the world because clearly we don’t have a fucking clue. People haven’t got a magic set of words to keep us to 1.5C, but we have got to keep trying.” “What matters is we have to reduce emissions. Once we stop warming the planet, the better it will be for the people and ecosystems that live here.” The world’s decision-makers who are collectively failing to stem dangerous global warming will soon be joined by Donald Trump, who is expected to tear down climate policies and thereby, the Cat report estimates, add at least a further 0.04C to the world temperature. Despite this bleak outlook, some do point out that the picture still looks far rosier than it did before the Paris deal, when a catastrophic temperature rise of 4C or more was foreseeable. Cheap and abundant clean energy is growing at a rapid pace, with peak oil demand expected by the end of this decade. “Meetings like these are often perceived as talking shops,” said Alexander De Croo, the Belgian prime minister, at the Cop29 summit. “And yes, these strenuous negotiations are far from perfect. But if you compare climate policy now to a decade ago, we are in a different world.” Still, as the world barrels past 1.5C, there lie alarming uncertainties in the form of runaway climate “tipping points,” which once set off cannot be halted on human timescales, such as the Amazon turning into a savanna, the collapse of the great polar ice sheets, and huge pulses of carbon released from melting permafrost. “1.5C is not a cliff edge, but the further we warm up, the closer we get to unwittingly setting off tipping points that will bring dramatic climate consequences,” said Grahame Madge, a climate spokesman at the UK Met Office, who added that it would now be “unexpected” for 2024 to not be above 1.5C. “We are edging ever closer to tipping points in the climate system that we won’t be able to come back from; it’s uncertain when they will arrive; they are almost like monsters in the darkness,” Madge said. “We don’t want to encounter them, so every fraction of a degree is worth fighting for. If we can’t achieve 1.5C, it will be better to get 1.6C than 1.7C, which will be better than getting 2C or
‘World’s largest’ coral discovered in Solomon Islands
Article written by Nick Squires Originally published by The Telegraph (Nov 14, 2024) The ‘mega’ coral is longer than a blue whale and is in glowing health despite warming seas that bleach others of its kind Scientists have discovered the largest single coral ever recorded—so big that they had originally thought it was a long-forgotten shipwreck. The “mega coral,” which is a network of small creatures that together form one huge organism rather than a reef, was found in the waters of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. Unlike coral reefs around the world that have been struck by bleaching as a result of warming seas, the newly-discovered coral is in rude health. Measuring 112ft by 105ft and 16ft high, it is longer than a blue whale and amounts to the size of five tennis courts. The vast coral, thought to be 300 years old, was discovered by marine scientists on the National Geographic’s Pristine Seas expedition in the Three Sisters Islands, hundreds of miles southeast of the capital, Honiara. “Finding this mega coral is like discovering the tallest tree on earth,” Enric Sala, founder of Pristine Seas, told National Geographic. “This discovery rekindles our sense of awe and wonder about the ocean.” In size, it surpassed other corals that were previously thought to be the largest on the planet, including one in American Samoa that is affectionately known as Big Momma. It was so large, the scientists say it can be seen from space. “While Big Momma looked like a huge scoop of ice cream plopped down on the reef, this newly-discovered coral is as if the ice cream started to melt, spreading forever along the seafloor,” said Molly Timmers, lead scientist on the expedition. ‘Coral oasis’ The researchers very nearly missed it altogether—it was found the evening before they were due to move to another area. While a coral reef is made up of multiple coral colonies, this is a single coral colony, formed by a species called Pavona clavus. The scientists believe it consists of up to a billion coral polyps—the tiny marine animals that form corals. “While the nearby shallow reefs were degraded due to warmer seas, witnessing this large, healthy coral oasis in slightly deeper waters is a beacon of hope,” said Eric Brown, coral scientist for the expedition. Peter Mumby, a scientist from the University of Queensland who was not part of the expedition, described the coral as “astonishingly large.”. It may have grown to such a large extent because it was located away from the Pacific’s main cyclone belt, he said. “I would suspect in this case that this coral has existed in a very benign environment that’s sheltered from major disturbances.” “If it’s in the Solomon Islands, it won’t be subjected to very frequent major storms,” Prof Mumby told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The scientists embarked on the Pristine Seas expedition last month with the aim of studying the marine ecosystem of the Solomon Islands, a Melanesian island nation that lies north-east of Australia.
This year ‘virtually certain’ to be hottest on record, finds EU space program
Article written by Ajit Niranjan Originally published by The Guardian (Nov 7, 2024) Copernicus Climate Change Service says 2024 marks ‘a new milestone’ and should raise ambitions at Cop29 summit It is “virtually certain” that 2024 will be the hottest year on record, the European Union’s space programme has found. The prognosis comes the week before diplomats meet at the Cop29 climate summit and a day after a majority of voters in the US, the biggest historical polluter of planet-heating gas, chose to make Donald Trump president. Trump has described climate change as a “hoax” and promised to roll back policies to clean up the economy. The report found 2024 is likely to be the first year more than 1.5C (2.7F) hotter than before the Industrial Revolution, a level of warming that has alarmed scientists. “This marks a new milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst to raise ambition for the upcoming climate change conference,” said Dr Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The scientists found global temperatures for the past 12 months were 1.62C greater than the 1850-1900 average, when humanity started to burn vast volumes of coal, oil and gas. In their monthly climate bulletin, they said October 2024 was the second-warmest October on record, behind only October 2023, with temperatures 1.65C greater than preindustrial levels. It was the 15th month in the past 16 to be higher than the 1.5C mark. World leaders promised to stop the planet from heating 1.5C by the end of the century but are on track to heat it by roughly double that. Scientists say a single year above the threshold does not mean they have missed the target, as temperature rise is measured over decades rather than years, but warn that it will force more people and ecosystems to the brink of survival. “Our civilisation never had to cope with a climate as warm as the current one,” said Carlo Buontempo, the director of Copernicus. “This inevitably pushes our ability to respond to extreme events—and adapt to a warmer world—to the absolute limit.” The Copernicus findings are based on billions of weather measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations. The temperature analyses in the ERA5 dataset on which the bulletin relies differ slightly from other prominent datasets used by climate scientists in the US and Japan. The scientists also found that Arctic sea ice had reached its fourth-lowest monthly level for October, at 19% below average, while Antarctic sea ice extent hit its second-lowest for October, at 8% below average. They pointed to heavier-than-normal rains that hit large parts of Europe, including Spain, where flash floods killed more than 200 people as they ripped through villages and swamped homes with mud. Last week, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) found the concentration of planet-heating pollutants clogging the atmosphere had hit record levels in 2023. It found carbon dioxide was accumulating faster than at any time in human history, with concentrations having risen by more than 10% in just two decades, heating the planet and making extreme weather more violent. “The most effective solution to address the climate challenges is a global commitment on emissions,” said Buontempo.
Devastating wildfires leave baby animals orphaned.
When the dry South African landscape catches fire, there is little animals can do to escape the raging flames, which can tear through the bushveld at a terrifying 13.5mph (22kph). Credit: Friends of Free Wildlife Recently, two tiny jackal cubs were orphaned in such fires. Their mothers either lost them as they became disoriented in the chaos, or perished in the devastating flames. Even more heartbreakingly, a newborn red hartebeest – a species of antelope – lost her mother moments after she was born. The fragile calf was found with her umbilical cord still attached, disorientated and too weak to even stand on her own. These traumatized little animals stand no chance without support from our team and animal-lovers like you. Infant wild animals are fighting for their lives after fire orphaned them and destroyed their homes. Credit: Friends of Free Wildlife These animals, and many others with equally tragic histories, have found safety and care at our partner, Friends of Free Wildlife (FFW), a private, community-run wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center in Gauteng, South Africa. FFW has placed the baby jackals together so they can support each other in the wake of this crushing loss, helping them on their long road to recovery. But for the little hartebeest, recovery will take a lot more time, resources and effort. Because her mother died immediately after the infant was born, she did not receive her first, vital feed, which would have given her crucial immune-boosting colostrum. While she is clinging to survival, she is weak, immuno-compromised, and at serious risk of death. Credit: ASI/Savannah Anderson When our team visited, she was still not able to stand or walk on her own. Baby animals dependent on their mothers have lost their primary caregivers to devastating wildfires. Please, help us give them a second chance at life. FFW works to help rescue, rehabilitate and release wild animals in the Gauteng region, including endangered species so close to extinction, even a single life could tip the scales. In the aftermath of this spate of wildfires, they have their hands full. The little antelope needs to be bottle-fed every two hours, from the early hours of the morning until well into the night. She is also receiving physiotherapy so she may gain the strength to stand and walk on her own, and red light therapy to speed up her recovery. Even as the team struggles to fund the rehabilitation of these survivors, more rescues keep pouring in. Credit: ASI/Savannah Anderson Devastating wildfires in Gauteng are increasing in frequency and intensity, due largely to climate change. Animals lucky enough to escape the flames are often left with severe injuries and rely on organizations such as FFW to survive. Without this care and the dedicated team at FFW, they wouldn’t have a chance. FFW is in dire need of funds for food, medicine and veterinary supplies to keep these babies alive, and to ensure they can recover and be safely returned to wild areas where they belong. But as more animals in need arrive at the shelter, they can only continue their work through the support of people like you. Please, open your heart to these little victims. They are vulnerable, afraid, and need all the support they can get – so please, donate any amount you can today.
African Penguin classified as ‘critically endangered’
Adapted from originally published by Cape Town Ect (Oct 28, 2024) The African Penguin, with its distinctive black-and-white tuxedo and playful nature, is a cherished symbol in South Africa and around the world, Cape {town} Etc reports. Yet despite its popularity, the species has been uplisted to Critically Endangered by the IUCN, revealing it is one step away from becoming extinct in the wild. The bird is the first penguin species (of the 18 species globally) to meet the criteria for this classification. Faced with numerous threats, a primary cause of the African Penguin’s decline is a lack of available food due to climate change, made worse by competition from commercial fishing around its breeding colonies, which impacts the species’ survival and breeding success. While there are existing no-take zones where commercial fishing is prohibited to help the penguins better access the fish they feed on, primarily sardines and anchovies, research by seabird scientists has demonstrated that these zones are currently inadequate for penguin conservation. The IUCN Red List is the international ‘Gold Standard’ tool for measuring species extinction risk; to date, 163 040 species have been assessed, of which 45 321 are threatened with extinction. While the Red List indicates the detrimental status of global biodiversity, it also points towards an urgent need for solutions, and the prioritisation of collaborative, cross-sector action before it’s too late. The current commercial fishery no-take zones in South Africa surround six African Penguin colonies that represent 76% of the global African Penguin population. Yet research finds that these zones fail to sufficiently protect important feeding areas for the penguins, forcing them to compete with commercial fisheries for food. Scientists such as BirdLife South Africa’s Dr Alistair McInnes and the University of Exeter’s Dr Richard Sherley recommend expanded and achievable no-take zones that provide more substantial benefits to penguins without causing disproportionately high costs to the purse-seine fishing industry. Two conservation groups have taken action to enforce greater protection of the species. Launched by the Biodiversity Law Centre earlier this year, the two non-profit organisations have instituted a case against the office of the South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, to challenge the Minister’s ‘biologically meaningless’ island closures to purse-seine fishing around key African Penguin colonies. The legal action seeks to substitute the existing commercial fishery no-take zones with alternative zones designed using an internationally-recognised process that will better align them to the African Penguins’ important feeding areas, while minimising the impacts on the purse-seine fishing industry.
We’re still trying to reach our goal to fill waterholes in Botswana.
Our supporters are helping to provide critical water sources for wildlife in drought-ravaged Botswana, saving countless animals from dehydration and death. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead Now, we have discovered that animals are dying on the banks of two more waterholes that have run completely dry. The situation is heart-breaking – but the good news is that, with your support, we can provide a long-term solution. Animals are dying of thirst on the banks of two dried-up waterholes. Please help us install water pumps FAST. Two sites need our immediate attention – one inside the Makgadikgadi National Park in north-eastern Botswana, and another in the Motopi region, about an hour’s drive away. Severe drought in parts of Botswana has left wild animals, like these hippos in Maun, trapped in near-dry waterholes. Credit: AFP Here, dried-up waterholes have created muddy death traps. Desperately thirsty animals wade in, seeking a drop to drink, and become lodged in the thick, sticky mud. Writhing, crying and baking under temperatures exceeding 99°F (37°C), they slowly die over many days. It is utterly gut-wrenching – no animal should suffer like this. Zebras and at least three hippos have already died this way, and unless we can fix the waterholes, more will perish. There is a solution. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead If we can raise $6,500 (roughly £5,000), we can install solar-powered water pumps at both sites. Water will begin flowing fast, providing a crucial lifeline to these desperately thirsty animals. We must install two solar-powered water pumps to help save elephants, zebras and other wild animals in Botswana. Since June, we have provided a life-saving supply of water to elephants and other animals in the Khumaga region of the Makgadikgadi National Park. This park spans an enormous 2,423 miles (3,900 kilometers) and is a haven for countless vulnerable and endangered wild species. As Botswana’s worst dry spell in over 40 years bakes the land, functional waterholes are essential to prevent thousands of animals from succumbing to dehydration. Time is truly of the essence – the longer it takes to raise the funds, the more animals will die. Our partner, Camelthorn Farmstead, is ready to install the solar-powered pumps as soon as funds are raised, and can complete both projects within a matter of weeks. The situation may be dire, but together, we can and will make a difference, saving wild animals who have no-one else to turn to. Please donate whatever you can today.
Rate of ocean warming has nearly doubled since 2005: study
Originally published by Dawn (Oct 1, 2024) The pace at which oceans are warming has almost doubled since 2005 as global temperatures rise because of human-caused climate change, a report from the EU monitor Copernicus said on Monday. The findings by the Copernicus Marine Service underscore the consequences of a warming planet on oceans, which cover 70 percent of earth’s surface and act as a major regulator of the climate. Ocean warming has “increased continuously” since the 1960s but sharply accelerated in the years since 2005, oceanographer Karina von Schuckmann from Copernicus told reporters. Over the past two decades, the pace of warming has close to doubled from a long-term rate of 0.58 watts per m2 to 1.05 watts per m2. “Ocean warming can be seen as our sentinel for global warming,” said von Schuckmann, a specialist on the unique role the ocean plays in Earth’s climate system. The findings echo the IPCC, the expert panel of climate scientists mandated by the United Nations, on the longer-term heating of the oceans because of humanity’s release of planet-heating emissions. Since 1970, some 90 percent of excess heat trapped in the atmosphere due to the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses has been absorbed in the oceans, the IPCC says. Warmer oceans fuel storms, hurricanes and other extreme weather by influencing global weather patterns and where rainfall lands. Copernicus said its report detailed “record-breaking ocean temperatures, marine heatwaves stretching down to the deep ocean, unprecedented sea ice loss and rising levels of heat stored in the ocean”. Ripple effect It said in 2023, more than 20 percent of the world’s oceans experienced at least one severe to extreme marine heatwave, events that have ripple effects for marine life and fisheries. Such heatwaves can lead to the migration and mass mortality of certain species, harm fragile ecosystems, and interfere with the flow of deep and shallow waters, hindering the distribution of nutrients. Ocean warming “can affect all aspects of the marine world, from biodiversity to chemistry to fundamental oceanographic processes, currents, and as well as the global climate,” said von Schuckmann. More extensive marine heatwaves also tend to be longer. The average annual maximum duration of such a heat event has doubled since 2008 from 20 to 40 days, according to the latest “Ocean State Report” by Copernicus. Compared to an earlier baseline, the bottom of the northeast Barents Sea in the Arctic appears to have “entered a state of permanent marine heatwave,” said von Schuckmann, citing a research paper. 2023 also saw the lowest sea ice on record in the world’s polar regions. The report said that in Aug 2022, a temperature of 29.2 degrees Celsius was recorded in the coastal waters of the Balearic Islands off Spain, the warmest in forty years. That same year, a marine heatwave in the Mediterranean Sea stretched to roughly 1,500 meters below the surface, illustrating how heat can reach the deep ocean. Copernicus noted that ocean acidity had also increased 30 percent since 1985, another consequence of climate change caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels. Above a certain threshold, the acidity of seawater becomes corrosive to the minerals used by marine life including corals, mussels, and oysters to make their skeletons and shells.
Climate change creates a ‘cocktail’ of serious health hazards for 70 per cent of the world’s workers
Originally published by International Labour Organization (Apr 22, 2024) The health consequences of climate change can include cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, kidney dysfunction and mental health conditions. A “staggering” number of workers, amounting to more than 70 percent of the global workforce, are likely to be exposed to climate-change-related health hazards, and existing occupational safety and health (OSH) protections are struggling to keep up with the resulting risks, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The report, Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate, says that climate change is already having a serious impact on the safety and health of workers in all regions of the world. The ILO estimates that more than 2.4 billion workers (out of a global workforce of 3.4 billion) are likely to be exposed to excessive heat at some point during their work, according to the most recent figures available (2020). When calculated as a share of the global workforce, the proportion has increased from 65.5 percent to 70.9 percent since 2000. In addition, the report estimates that 18,970 lives and 2.09 million disability-adjusted life years are lost annually due to the 22.87 million occupational injuries, which are attributable to excessive heat. This is not to mention the 26.2 million people worldwide living with chronic kidney disease linked to workplace heat stress (2020 figures). However, the impact of climate change on workers goes well beyond exposure to excessive heat, the report says, creating a “cocktail of hazards,” which result in a range of dangerous health conditions. The report notes that numerous health conditions in workers have been linked to climate change, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, kidney dysfunction and mental health conditions. The impact includes: 1.6 billion workers exposed to UV radiation, with more than 18,960 work-related deaths annually from nonmelanoma skin cancer. 1.6 billion are likely to be exposed to workplace air pollution, resulting in up to 860,000 work-related deaths among outdoor workers annually. Over 870 million workers in agriculture, likely to be exposed to pesticides, with more than 300,000 deaths attributed to pesticide poisoning annually. 15,000 work-related deaths every year due to exposure to parasitic and vector-borne diseases. “It’s clear that climate change is already creating significant additional health hazards for workers,” said Manal Azzi, OSH Team Lead at the ILO. “It is essential that we heed these warnings. Occupational safety and health considerations must become part of our climate change responses—both policies and actions. Working in safe and healthy environments is recognized as one of the ILO’s fundamental principles and rights at work. We must deliver on that commitment in relation to climate change, just as in every other aspect of work.” The report also explores current country responses, including revising or creating new legislation, regulations, and guidance, and improving climate mitigation strategies—such as energy efficiency measures—in working environments.
‘Time capsules’ of toxic consumption: What happens to the shipping containers lost at sea?
Article written by Christina Larson, Helen Wieffering, Manuel Valdes with AP Originally published by Euro news. (Oct 3, 2024) A single container changes the micro-ecosystem around it – impacting seafloor species that scientists are still discovering. Russ Lewis has picked up some strange things along the coast of Long Beach Peninsula in Washington state over the years: bicycle helmets with feather tufts, life-size plastic turkey decoys made for hunters, colourful squirt guns. And Crocs – so many mismatched Crocs. If you find a single Croc shoe, you might think somebody lost it out on the beach, he said. “But, if you find two, three, four and they’re different – you know, one’s a big one, one’s a little one – that’s a clue.” These items aren’t like the used fishing gear and beer cans that Lewis also finds tossed overboard by fishers or partygoers. They’re the detritus of commercial shipping containers lost in the open ocean. Most of the world’s raw materials and everyday goods that are moved over long distances – from T-shirts to televisions, mobile phones to hospital beds – are packed in large metal boxes the size of tractor-trailers and stacked on ships. A trade group says some 250 million containers cross the oceans every year – but not everything arrives as planned. How many shipping containers get lost at sea? More than 20,000 shipping containers have tumbled overboard in the last decade and a half. Their varied contents have washed onto shorelines, poisoned fisheries and animal habitats, and added to swirling ocean trash vortexes. Most containers eventually sink to the seafloor and are never retrieved. Cargo ships can lose anywhere from a single container to hundreds at a time in rough seas. Experts disagree on how many are lost each year. The World Shipping Council, an industry group, reports that, on average, about 1,500 were lost annually over the 16 years they’ve tracked – though fewer in recent years. Others say the real number is much higher, as the shipping council data doesn’t include the entire industry and there are no penalties for failing to report losses publicly. Much of the debris that washed up on Lewis’ beach matched items lost off the giant cargo ship ONE Apus in November 2020. When the ship hit heavy swells on a voyage from China to California, nearly 2,000 containers slid into the Pacific. Court documents and industry reports show the vessel was carrying more than $100,000 (€119,000) worth of bicycle helmets and thousands of cartons of Crocs, as well as electronics and other more hazardous goods: batteries, ethanol and 54 containers of fireworks. Researchers mapped the flow of debris to several Pacific coastlines thousands of miles apart, including Lewis’ beach and the remote Midway Atoll, a national wildlife refuge for millions of seabirds near the Hawaiian Islands that also received a flood of mismatched Crocs. Scientists and environmental advocates say more should be done to track losses and prevent container spills. “Just because it may seem ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ doesn’t mean there aren’t vast environmental consequences,” said marine biologist Andrew DeVogelaere of California’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, who has spent more than 15 years studying the environmental impact of a single container that was found in sanctuary waters. “We are leaving time capsules on the bottom of the sea of everything we buy and sell – sitting down there for maybe hundreds of years,” he said. Nitric acid, plastic pellets and baby seals This year’s summer winds washed thousands of plastic pellets ashore near Colombo, Sri Lanka, three years after a massive fire aboard the X-Press Pearl burned for days and sank the vessel a few miles offshore. The disaster dumped more than 1,400 damaged shipping containers into the sea – releasing billions of plastic manufacturing pellets known as nurdles as well as thousands of tonnes of nitric acid, lead, methanol and sodium hydroxide, all toxic to marine life. Hemantha Withanage remembers how the beach near his home smelled of burnt chemicals. Volunteers soon collected thousands of dead fish, gills stuffed with chemical-laced plastic, and nearly 400 dead endangered sea turtles, more than 40 dolphins and six whales, their mouths jammed with plastic. “It was like a war zone,” he said. Cleanup crews wearing full-body hazmat suits strode into the tide with hand sieves to try to collect the lentil-size plastic pellets. The waterfront was closed to commercial fishing for three months, and the 12,000 families that depend on fishing for their income have only gotten a fraction of the $72 million (€65 mn) that Withanage, founder of Sri Lanka’s nonprofit Centre for Environmental Justice, believes they are owed. “Just last week, there was a huge wind, and all the beaches were full of plastic again,” he said in mid-June. Lost container contents don’t have to be toxic to wreak havoc. In February, the cargo ship President Eisenhower lost 24 containers off the central California coast. Some held bales of soon-waterlogged cotton and burst open. Debris washed ashore near Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a federally protected area. The ship’s captain informed the US Coast Guard, which worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and California State Parks to remove the debris. Each bale was too heavy to drag away – instead they had to be cut up, each filling two dump trucks. “A rancid soggy mess,” said Eric Hjelstrom, a chief ranger for California State Parks. “If tidal pools get filled with cotton, that can block out sunlight and harm a lot of organisms.” Baby seals were all around one bale as it fell into an elephant seal nursery. “You have to be careful how to approach it – you don’t want to injure the seals,” Hjelstrom said. A marine mammal specialist gently escorted 10 pups away before the bale was removed. Although the operators of the President Eisenhower helped pay for cleanup, neither California nor federal authorities have ordered the company to pay any penalties. As for the metal shipping containers, only one was spotted on a US Coast Guard
One in two El Niño events could be extreme by mid-century
Article written by Yvaine Ye Originally published by Science Daily (Sep 25, 2024) With the climate pattern known as El Niño in full force from mid-2023 to mid-2024, global temperatures broke records for 12 months in a row. As one of the strongest El Niño events on record, it was likely the main culprit of unprecedented heat, floods and droughts worldwide. In a new study published Sep 25 in the journal Nature, a University of Colorado Boulder climate scientist and collaborators reveal that the planet could see more frequent extreme El Niño events by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase. “It’s pretty scary that 2050 is not very far away,” said Pedro DiNezio, the paper’s co-lead author and associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. “If these extreme events become more frequent, society may not have enough time to recover, rebuild and adapt before the next El Niño strikes. The consequences would be devastating.” Shifting wind and soaring temperatures El Niño occurs when water temperatures along the equator in the Pacific Ocean rise by at least 0.9 °F above average for an extended period. The seemingly marginal temperature change can shift wind patterns and ocean currents, triggering unusual weather worldwide, including heat waves, floods and droughts. When the area warms by 3.6°F above average, scientists classify the El Niño event as extreme. Since the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began collecting data in the 1950s, the agency has recorded up to four extreme El Niño events. During an extreme El Niño, the impacts on global weather tend to be more severe. For example, during the winter of 1997-98, El Niño brought record rainfall to California, causing devastating landslides that killed more than a dozen people. Over the same period, the planet lost about 15% of its coral reefs due to prolonged warming. Last winter, El Niño almost reached extreme magnitude, DiNezio said. “El Niño events are difficult to simulate and predict because there are many mechanisms driving them. This has hindered our ability to produce accurate predictions and help society prepare and reduce the potential damage,” they said. Prior research suggests that climate change is intensifying and increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, possibly linked to changes in El Niño patterns. However, due to limited data, scientists have yet to confirm whether El Niño will strengthen with warming. DiNezio and their team set out to simulate El Niño events in the past 21,000 years — since the peak of Earth’s last Ice Age — using a computer model. The model shows that during the Ice Age, when Earth’s climate was colder, extreme El Niño events were very rare. As the planet warmed since the end of the Ice Age, the frequency and intensity of El Niño have been increasing. The team validated the model by comparing the simulated data with past ocean temperature data retrieved from fossilized shells of foraminifera, a group of single-celled organisms ubiquitous in the oceans long before human existence. By analyzing the type of oxygen compounds preserved in these fossilized shells, the team reconstructed how El Niño drove ocean temperature fluctuations across the Pacific Ocean for the past 21,000 years. The ancient record aligned with the model’s simulations. “We are the first to show a model that can realistically simulate past El Niño events, enhancing our confidence in its future predictions. We are also proud of the robust technique we developed to evaluate our model, but unfortunately, it brought us no good news,” DiNezio added. The model predicts that if society continues to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at the current rate, one in two El Niño events could be extreme by 2050. The control knob Despite El Niño’s complexity, the model reveals that a single mechanism has controlled the frequency and intensity of all El Niño events as the planet has warmed since the last Ice Age. When the eastern Pacific Ocean water warms from natural fluctuation, the winds that always blow east to west over the equatorial Pacific weaken due to changes in air pressure above the ocean. But during an El Niño, weakened winds allow warm water to flow east, and the warmer water weakens the winds even more, creating a feedback loop known as the Bjerknes feedback. DiNezio’s research suggests that as the atmosphere warms rapidly from greenhouse gas emissions, the planet experiences stronger Bjerknes feedback, leading to more frequent extreme El Niño events. With the most recent El Niño now in the past, DiNezio emphasized that society needs to focus on taking measures to reduce the impact from future extreme El Niño events, including cutting emissions and helping communities, particularly those in the developing countries, become resilient to extreme weather. “We now understand how these extreme events happen, and we just need the will to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels,” they said. “Our findings emphasize the urgent need to limit warming to 1.5 °C to avoid catastrophic climate impacts.”
Food has run out once again for starving hippos.
A while ago, we asked for your help to feed 100 starving hippos along the Boteti River in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi National Park, where a brutal drought had decimated the animals’ food sources. The desperately hungry hippos were eating elephant dung to survive – until we rushed them emergency food supplies thanks to your support. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead Now, food and funds have run out – and the drought is only going to get worse over the next few months. With no food and rain still months away, 120 suffering hippos are facing starvation once more. Please, help us feed them. Right now, the drought is worse than ever in the park, and the hippos need YOU. Drought has wiped out their food sources, and more hippos have arrived from other parts of the park desperately hungry. We now have 120 hungry hippos to feed. A donor reached out and offered to provide food for the worst part of the dry season, but this support has now fallen through, and we urgently need to raise funds to feed the animals. Itf we don’t, these hippos face starvation and will die. Credit: AFP/Getty The consequences of drought have been devastating for wild animals, and with no sign of rains to come, more animals will die – unless we help. Since 2022, northern parts of the country have been affected by a drought so severe, animals have dropped dead, infants have been left orphaned, and water-related human/wildlife conflict has left countless wild animals dead. With your help, we are bringing relief in the form of boreholes, wellpoints and pumps to help save these thirst-ravaged animals. But while water can be pumped out of underground reservoirs, food must be shipped from outside the park – and until the rains come again, the hippos are relying on us and kind-hearted supporters like you for life-saving food. Credit: David Dugmore Not only are there more hippos than before, but they’re also so hungry that they’re eating more than usual to get enough nutrition. With the increased number of hippos and their higher food consumption, we need to provide more food than we originally anticipated. Despite being fed, the hippos are rapidly losing weight and struggling each day. With so many desperate animals on the brink of starvation, we need at least 150 bales of hay each week for the next two months. Without viable food sources, desperate hippos eat elephant dung to survive. We cannot turn our backs on these painfully hungry hippos now, or everything we have already done will have been in vain. Our partner, Camelthorn Farmstead, situated near a waterhole where the hippos gather, has been working hard to distribute the food donations they’ve received through your support. They have less than a week’s worth of food left for the hippos. Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert With your support today, 120 starving hippos can receive life-saving food, saving them from slowly succumbing to starvation. Please help us raise $7,000 (about £5,300) to feed 120 hippos for the next two months during the driest and most difficult time of the year. Your support will help keep these animals and their calves from suffering and starvation. Please, donate to make a difference right away. 120 hungry hippos are hoping for your compassion today. Please, donate as much as you possibly can, and help us save their lives.
Orphaned elephant calf still desperate for your help.
When 11-month-old elephant calf Boteti was orphaned, Botswana’s drought had become so severe, the infant was close to starvation. Her mother, in her dying moments, had brought Boteti to the edge of near-dry waterhole to drink. There, utterly depleted, she collapsed and died in front of her calf. Infant Boteti with her mother shortly before her mother’s tragic death. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead This was the scene our team discovered along the dried-up Boteti River in the Makgadikgadi National Park as a deadly drought destroyed wildlife populations. When Boteti was found by our team, she was so hungry she was attempting to eat her dead mother’s tail in a desperate bid to fill her belly. Elephants have been proven to grieve their dead, experiencing similar emotions to humans when losing a beloved member of their herd. If they are calves, like Boteti, their chance of survival is slim. If you have been following our work, you will know we are implementing drought-alleviating solutions along the Boteti River in northern parts of the park – but these solutions have come too late for little Boteti’s mother. For Boteti, however, there is a sliver of hope: You, and our partner, Elephant Havens. Please, help us give this baby elephant a fighting chance of survival. Grieving Boteti awaiting rescue beside the carcass of her mother. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead It seems Boteti’s mother walked for days in the scorching heat to bring her baby to water, ultimately collapsing and dying on the banks of the near-dry Boteti River. Our team witnessed the devastating scene. They rushed to Boteti’s side, staying with her for hours until help arrived in the form of Elephant Havens – a dedicated elephant orphanage located two and a half hours away. Young elephants are incredibly fragile both physically and emotionally, particularly those that have experienced heartache and stress like little Boteti. They are entirely dependent on their mothers, and without them, their rate of survival is low – but Elephant Havens is determined to give Boteti everything possible to survive. Boteti needs special milk formula, dedicated care and emotional support if she has any hope of surviving the trauma of being orphaned. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead Boteti and 12 other orphans in Elephant Havens’ care must be bottle-fed a special formula every three hours to survive. Because calves stay with their mothers – males for up to 20 years, and females for all their lives – receiving emotional support is just as important. People from the local community are trained to care for elephants until they are weaned and introduced into a soft-release area. Here they remain for another five years, and bond with one another to form strong family units. These units will endure when they are ultimately released into safe, protected areas. Before they are released into the protected Okavango Delta, the elephants are fitted with satellite collars that provide hourly updates on their location. This helps ensure that they stay a safe distance from communities, reducing human-wildlife conflict. Credit: Elephant Havens Please help us feed Boteti and her orphan friends so they can grow big and strong enough to join a new herd. Your donation will be the light and warmth these sweet orphans so dearly need. For every $370 (roughly £290) you donate, we can feed Boteti for an entire month, providing her with the life-sustaining milk she needs to survive during this critical part of her development. For every $4,700 (approximately £3,560) we raise, we can feed all 13 orphans for a whole month. Without the experts at Elephant Havens, Boteti and her friends would stand little chance of survival – but even they cannot do it without the support of wildlife heroes like you. Please show these vulnerable orphans your compassion today.
The dark side of nature photography: How social media threatens wildlife
Article written by Kaleigh Harrison Originally published by Enviroment Energy Leader (Aug 16, 2024) The “Instagram effect” has led to overcrowding and environmental damage at once-secluded beaches. For example, Thailand’s Maya Bay, made famous by the film “The Beach,” had to be closed to tourists in 2018 after social media popularity led to over 5,000 daily visitors, causing severe coral reef destruction and shoreline erosion. Social media’s ability to make remote locations instantly famous has become a major threat to sensitive habitats. When stunning photos of “undiscovered” natural wonders go viral on TikTok or Instagram, they can spark an influx of visitors that overwhelms delicate ecosystems. This phenomenon has impacted species across the globe. In China, the critically endangered blue-crowned laughingthrush has been forced to alter its nesting habits due to an onslaught of photographers seeking rare shots. Fragile orchid populations have been decimated after location data was shared online, with one newly discovered species in Vietnam driven to extinction in just six months. Even well-intentioned nature lovers can inadvertently cause harm. Simply walking through a wildflower meadow to recreate a beautiful social media image can damage rare plants. Drones used for aerial photography frequently disturb wildlife, causing animals to flee or become aggressive. Unethical practices for online fame The pressure to capture attention-grabbing content has led some photographers to engage in damaging behaviors. Baiting animals with food to lure them closer for photos disrupts natural behaviors and can increase aggression. Playing recorded birdcalls to draw out rare species for pictures can leave birds vulnerable to predators or disrupt breeding. These unethical practices stem from the intense competition for likes and followers on social media platforms. While individual photographers may see their actions as harmless, the cumulative impact on wildlife can be severe. Balancing awareness and protection Despite these issues, social media remains a powerful tool for raising awareness about biodiversity and conservation. Citizen science projects like the Aussie Bird Count have leveraged social platforms to engage millions in data collection. The key is finding ways to harness this engagement while mitigating negative impacts. Conservation organizations and eco-tourism businesses can take the lead by promoting responsible photography practices. This includes educating followers about the harm of geotagging sensitive locations and the importance of maintaining distance from wildlife. Social media platforms and nature photography groups also have a role to play. Stricter moderation policies around sharing location data for rare species and banning posts that show unethical wildlife interactions can help curb some of the worst abuses. By working together to promote more ethical nature photography, businesses and conservationists can help ensure that our collective love of wildlife doesn’t inadvertently destroy what we’re trying to celebrate.
World logs hottest day since records began — with fresh highs expected in the coming months
Article written by Sam Meredith Originally published by CNBC (Jul 23, 2024) The world’s average temperature climbed to its highest level ever recorded on Sunday, according to the European Union’s climate monitor. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found that the global average surface temperature rose to 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 21—marginally higher than the previous record of 17.08 degrees Celsius set on July 6 last year. “On July 21st, C3S recorded a new record for the daily global mean temperature,” C3S Director Carlo Buontempo said Tuesday. “What is truly staggering is how large the difference is between the temperature of the last 13 months and the previous temperature records. We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years,” Buontempo said in a statement. C3S confirmed on Tuesday that Sunday’s average temperature reflects a fresh high, in their records, which stretch back to 1940. However, they noted that it is the difference between the temperatures since July 2023 and all previous years that really stands out. Before July 2023, the EU’s climate monitor said the previous daily global average temperature record was 16.8 degrees Celsius on August 13, 2016. CS3 said there have now been 57 days since July 3 last year that have exceeded that previous record. Excessive heat has gripped large parts of the U.S., Russia and southern Europe in recent days. The burning of fossil fuels, which is the primary cause of the climate crisis, makes extreme heat much more likely. CS3 recently confirmed that the planet’s more than year-long hot streak continued apace in June. Every month since June last year, has ranked as Earth’s hottest since records began, when compared to the corresponding month in previous years. Some climate researchers had previously warned that an extraordinary run of record heat was likely to usher in a long, hot summer—”and not in a good way.” Scientists have repeatedly called for rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to stop global average temperatures from rising.
Massive drought has starving hippos running out of time!
We are reaching out today because we have still not reached our goal to feed 100 starving hippos through Botswana’s worst drought in decades. Please, will you help? The scenes are harrowing: A hundred starving hippos desperately searching the parched landscape for scraps to eat, their helpless, newborn infants by their sides. Without food, they will die – and without your support right away, we cannot feed them. Read on… Credit: Shutter Stock Hippos are on the brink of starving to death in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi National Park, where we have been working to help mitigate the effects of a terrible drought. They URGENTLY need your help. 100 hippos face death by starvation due to the horrific, relentless drought in Botswana. Please help us feed them FAST. Recently my team and I visited Botswana to oversee the beginning phases of the drought-mitigation project you are helping us implement. Northern parts of the country have been affected by a drought so severe, animals are dropping dead, infants are being left orphaned, and human/wildlife conflict for water is leaving countless wild animals dead. There are many baby hippos with their mothers that are also at risk of dying. Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert Right now, we are starting to provide crucial water to the desperate animals, but there is another urgent need we must address… …food for 100 starving, vulnerable hippos. Drought has wiped out the food sources for this rapidly declining pod, and roads and fences – erected to keep wildlife out of human settlements – are obstructing their access to areas that may offer vital sustenance and nutrition for the hippos and their young calves. This year, Botswana has experienced its driest wet season in 40 years, with less than 20% of its expected rainfall. These deadly conditions are made worse by extreme heat steadily climbing above 99℉ (37℃). Water is drying up, and with it, food sources are rapidly disappearing – a tragic result of climate change and the impact of the El Niño climate patterns. Credit: David Dugmore The consequences of drought have been devastating for wild animals, and with no sign of rains to come, more animals will die – unless we help now. Food has almost completely run out for the hippos, and in another TWO WEEKS, they will be in serious trouble. The clock is ticking! During times of food scarcity, hungry hippos can go for up to three weeks without eating, but any longer and they are doomed. Right now, there is no food left, and time is quickly running out. One adult hippo needs up to 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of food every day, and this pod has been walking miles every day in search of food they never find. Ravenous hippos are so desperate for food, they are eating ELEPHANT DUNG to survive! The hippos are so hungry, they are now resorting to eating elephant dung to fill their painfully empty bellies. It is a truly heart-breaking sight. Our partner, Moela Safari – situated near a waterhole where the hippos flock to find precious water – has pledged to get the animals fed if we can help raise the funds. With your support today, 100 starving hippos can receive life-saving food, saving them from slowly succumbing to starvation. This baby hippo died after its mother became too weak and malnourished to feed it. Credit: ASI As the animals become increasingly desperate for food, they may start to break fences and cross roads to approach villages in a last-ditch attempt to find food. This will almost certainly pose a risk to human life, and communities are likely to kill any hippos that get too close, posing yet another threat to their lives. By providing reliable food sources within the protected Makgadikgadi National Park, we can ensure they neither starve to death nor get injured or killed in their frantic search for food. With rains only expected in December, we MUST rush food to the starving hippos RIGHT AWAY. We have no time to waste. Please, hungry animals are desperate for your help now! We have not reached our goal and urgently need your help to provide food for the next five months. For every $4,000 we raise (approximately £3,140), we can feed 100 hippos for a month, protecting these precious wild animals and their defenseless calves from misery and death. 100 hungry hippos are hoping for your compassion today. Please, donate as much as you possibly can, and help us save their lives.
The greatest land mammal migration on Earth is taking place – and it’s not the Serengeti
Article written by Don Pinnock Originally published by Daily Maverick (Jun 25, 2024) In an area you’ve probably never heard of, the largest movement of land mammals on the planet is under way. Each year millions of white-eared kob, Mongalla gazelle, tiang and Bohor reedbuck migrate across the Boma Badingilo Jonglei Landscape in South Sudan. A survey just completed by African Parks and the Sudanese Wildlife Ministry counted about six million antelope. The findings confirm a remarkable and unmatched wildlife phenomenon across a landscape of immense ecological importance which is largely unknown to the rest of the world. The survey covered 122,774km2, encompassing the entire known range of the four main migratory antelope species in the Great Nile Migration. Data from 251 tracking collars on large mammals was also integrated, providing a wide understanding of the region’s ecological dynamics which includes parts of South Sudan and Ethiopia. Announcing the survey results, South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit said it confirmed that the country remained rich in biodiversity with some of Africa’s most beautiful animals. “The results of this survey are nothing short of staggering,” said Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks. “The astonishing scale of the migration is only equalled by the responsibility to ensure that it survives into the future in an extremely complex landscape.” War and commercial poaching have been an ongoing threat to the migration. “This wildlife and larger ecosystem is the basis for survival for multiple ethnic groupings which are often in conflict with each other over resources,” said Fearnhead. “Successful management of this landscape will only be possible through building trust with and amongst these ethnic groupings.” Many ethnic groups live within the Boma Badingilo Jonglei Landscape, including the Dinka, Murle, Anyuak, Jie, Toposa, Nyangatom, Nuer, Mudari, Bari, Lokyoya, Madi, Lolubo, Ari, Lopit, Latuka, Boya and Didinga. Each of these communities has deep cultural traditions and activities that are firmly embedded and heavily reliant on wildlife. The combined survey of white-eared kob, tiang, Mongalla gazelle and Bohor reedbuck counted just under 5,900,000 individuals. No black rhinos were seen – they are thought to have gone extinct in the 1980s. Zebras have also not been seen in the area since 2008, and buffalo were absent except on the periphery of the Sudd Swamp and along the Ethiopian border near Gambella. The survey flights encountered massive populations of open-billed, marabou, yellow-billed, Abdim’s and woolly-necked storks, black-crowned cranes, herons and several species of vultures. The survey used two aircraft equipped with cameras that captured over 330,000 images. A team of seven graduates from the University of Juba, trained in specialised software, analysed 59,718 photos across 64 transects to document wildlife presence. Situated in the east of South Sudan, the Boma Badingilo Jonglei Landscape forms part of a larger 200,000km2 ecosystem that stretches east of the Nile, covering Central Equatoria State, Eastern Equatoria State, Jonglei State and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area. This immense landscape is critically important to the Sudd Swamps – the largest wetlands in Africa and the second largest in the world. African Parks, which conducted the survey, is a non-profit conservation organisation that takes on the responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of protected areas in partnership with governments and local communities. It currently manages 22 national parks and protected areas in 12 countries covering over 20 million hectares in Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It recently bought the farm owned by rhino breeder John Hume and is presently rewilding his 2,000 rhinos on to protected areas across the continent.
Climate crisis driving exponential rise in most extreme wildfires
Article written by Damian Carrington Originally published by The Guardian (Jun 24, 2024) Scientists warn of ‘scary’ feedback loop in which fires create more heating, which causes more fires worldwide The climate crisis is driving an exponential rise in the most extreme wildfires in key regions around the world, research has revealed. The wildfires can cause catastrophic loss of human life, property and wildlife and cause billions of dollars of damage. Scientists say this is climate change “playing out in front of our eyes.” The analysis of satellite data showed the number of extreme fires had risen by more than 10 times in the past 20 years in temperate conifer forests, such as in the western US and Mediterranean. It has increased by seven times in the vast boreal forests in northern Europe and Canada. Australia was also a hotspot for these devastating fires. The scientists also found that the intensity of the worst wildfires had doubled since 2003, and that the six years with the biggest numbers of extreme fires had all occurred since 2017. On average, across the globe, extreme wildfires have more than doubled in frequency and intensity over the past two decades. The researchers also warned that the rise in the huge fires was threatening to create a “scary” feedback loop, in which the vast carbon emissions released by the fires cause more global heating, which causes more fires. The new research helps resolve an apparent paradox, in that global warming has driven an unambiguous rise in hot, dry fire weather, but the area burned by wildfires has fallen. The researchers said that most fires were small, started by humans, caused relatively little damage, and may be declining due to the expansion of cropland and cuts in crop waste burning. Including all fires in global analyses therefore obscured the rapid rise of the most intense and destructive wildfires. “The fingerprints of climate change are all over this rise,” said Dr. Calum Cunningham at the University of Tasmania, Australia, who led the new study. “We’ve long seen model projections of how fire weather is increasing with climate change. But now we’re at the point where the wildfires themselves, the manifestation of climate change, are occurring in front of our eyes. This is the effect of what we’re doing to the atmosphere, so action is urgent.” Cunningham said there were very significant increases in extreme wildfires in the conifer forests of the American West: “That’s concerning, because there’s a lot of people there living in very close proximity to these flammable vegetation types and that’s why we’re seeing a lot of disasters emerge.” He added: “The concerning thing, especially with the really carbon-rich ecosystems, boreal forests, that are burning intensely, is that it’s threatening to create a feedback effect.” The research, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, analysed data from NASA satellites that pass over the Earth four times a day. The researchers identified the 0.01% most extreme wildfires, measured by the energy released in a day, giving a total of almost 3,000 events. They include extremely destructive recent wildfire seasons in the western US, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Indonesia, Siberia, Chile and the Amazon. One region that did not suffer disproportionately was the eastern US, despite being heavily forested in some places. This may be due to different tree species that are less prone to drying out, said Cunningham. Dr. Mark Parrington, at the EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), said the research showed the “changing climate is leading to clear observed increases in extreme wildfires” outside the tropics and in regions and ecosystems that have not frequently experienced wildfires in the past. High northern latitudes were heating at double the global average and this was where the biggest increases in extreme wildfires had been taking place, he said. Parrington said the new research and his work at CAMS were likely to underestimate the actual intensity, as the satellites are unable to record data for full days and the fires can be obscured by thick smoke or clouds. Much greater action to prevent and cope with extreme wildfires was urgently needed, Cunningham said, with slowing global warming by cutting fossil fuel burning foremost. Also needed was the thinning of wood in suitable forests and controlled low-intensity burning to reduce the buildup of highly flammable wood, he said. “Indigenous Australians have been managing landscapes for millennia, using [small] frequent fires, so fuel loads never became too high,” Cunningham said. “As a result, this matrix of patchy burns of different ages produces natural fire breaks, which meant catastrophic fires didn’t seem to happen. We might be able to harness some of that wisdom.” Alert systems and evacuation planning were also vital, he said: “A lot of people die during evacuations, because they haven’t left early enough.”
Fossil fuels generated less than a quarter of the EU’s electricity in April
Article written by Rosie Frost Originally published by euronews.green (May 10, 2024) Growth in wind and solar energy, as well as the restoration of hydropower, were the main factors in the decline in fossil fuel production. Fossil fuels provided less than a quarter of the EU’s energy for the first time in April. The good news comes from energy think tank Ember, which found that the proportion of electricity generated by fossil fuels in the bloc fell to a record low of 23 percent last month—a sharp drop of 22 percent compared to April 2023, despite an increase in demand. It also surpasses the previous record low of 27 percent from May 2023. Wind and solar growth, as well as the recovery of hydropower, drove the fall in fossil fuel generation and increased the share of renewables in the electricity mix to a record 54 percent. Wind and solar alone generated more than a third of the EU’s electricity in April, while gas and coal fell. Coal contributed just 8.6 percent of the energy mix, compared to 30 percent in 2023. Gas provided 12.1 percent of the EU’s electricity—a 22 percent decline year-on-year. “The once unthinkable is happening before our eyes,” says Sarah Brown, Ember’s Europe Programme Director. “Fossil fuels are on the way out of Europe’s power sector. Solar and wind have stepped up as the main players, proving they are ready to take on their role as the backbone of the modern clean electricity system.” Which EU country saw the biggest drop in fossil fuel generation? Germany saw the largest drop in fossil fuel generation in April when compared to last year. Seven coal fired power stations closed in the country at the end of March 2024 after their shutdown was postponed due to the energy crisis. Overall, electricity from fossil fuels fell by 26 percent in Germany, representing 32 percent of the total EU fall. Italy saw the second biggest drop of 24 percent, contributing another 15 percent of the EU’s total reduction in fossil fuel electricity. France and the Netherlands came next, then Spain. Emissions fell despite rising electricity demand Electricity demand has been undergoing a mild revival since last October. It increased 0.4 per cent in the first four months of the year when compared to 2023. Despite rising demand, fossil fuel electricity generation still fell as renewables displaced them from the mix. Brown points to coal as an example of this. “From 2016 to 2023, coal fell by over 300 terawatt hours, and there was a similar rise in wind and solar over that period,” she explains. As a result, wind and solar are significantly replacing coal in the structural decline. The report from Ember says that while last month’s exceptional figures stand out, they are part of an established shift in the EU’s electricity transition, with emissions down 18 percent in the first four months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
Scientists’ experiment is ‘beacon of hope’ for coral reefs on brink of global collapse
Article written by Donna Ferguson Originally published by The Guardian (Apr 20, 2024) Recordings of healthy fish are being transmitted to attract heat-tolerant larvae back to degraded reefs in the Maldives An underwater experiment to restore coral reefs using a combination of “coral IVF” and recordings of fish noises could offer a “beacon of hope” to scientists who fear the fragile ecosystem is on the brink of collapse. The experiment – a global collaboration between two teams of scientists who developed their innovative coral-saving techniques independently – has the potential to significantly increase the likelihood that coral will repopulate degraded reefs, they claim. The first use of the combined techniques, to repair damaged atolls in the Maldives, will be shown on the BBC One TV series Our Changing Planet, co-presented by the naturalist Steve Backshall. Hailed as a potential “gamechanger”, the hope is that the technique could be replicated on a large scale to help preserve and revitalise dying reefs. “All corals in all ocean basins in the world are under pressure,” said Prof. Peter Harrison, a coral ecologist at Southern Cross University in Australia. “Quite a large number have died in some reef areas. So we’re going to end up with big spaces of new real estate for coral larvae, but very few coral larvae are being produced because so many adults have died.” He has pioneered a form of “coral IVF” that involves capturing millions of spawn from “heat-tolerant” reproductive coral after it floats to the sea surface or, alternatively, surrounding coral that has withstood a bleaching event with a cone-shaped net. The net functions like a huge “coral condom”. “If you breed from heat-tolerant corals that can survive heat stress in the laboratory, the larvae of those corals also have higher heat tolerance than the larvae of other corals,” said Harrison. The gametes (reproductive cells) then merge together, fertilise and form coral larvae in floating “nursery” pools, which protect them from predators and prevent them from getting lost at sea. “If we don’t support the process of natural selection by focusing on the survivors, we’re going to lose everything.” This technique, Harrison added, can produce 100 times more coral colonies than would naturally occur on a reef with the same number of larvae: “And we’re working out ways to get it to about 1,000.” To attract the larvae to settle on a degraded reef, the scientists are broadcasting recordings of fish noises that were captured near a busy, healthy reef. “We’ve done this and restocked degraded reefs with fish,” said Steve Simpson, professor of marine biology and global change at the University of Bristol. “Working with Peter is the first time we’ve tried it with corals. It maximises the chance that the coral larvae being released find somewhere to live – somewhere that they will then restore the reef habitat.” Coral larvae, he has discovered, can detect sound according to the way the hairs on their bodies move, and so can be “tricked” into swimming towards – and settling on – a typically silent, unhealthy reef. “It’s like sowing a field that will become a forest again,” said Simpson. In the lab, the larvae were particularly attracted to the low-frequency grunts, croaks and rumbling sounds made by territorial fish, which can protect coral growing on the reef. “We have discovered that coral larvae hear their way home as babies, before they then choose where to live for up to 1,000 years,” Simpson said. “They look very simple, and they don’t have ears or a brain, but coral were probably among the earliest animals cueing into their soundscape and dancing to the beat.” Time is running out for coral reefs across the planet. Scientists recently announced that the world is experiencing its fourth planet-wide coral bleaching event since 1998, with 54% of reef areas in the global oceans experiencing heat stress high enough to turn its colourful coral white. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has suffered its worst bleaching on record, with about 73% of the 1,429-mile (2,300km) reef affected. Backshall initially had the idea of using the soundscape of a busy reef to entice the tiny coral larvae to a denuded area “just bananas”. “To see that happening—to take these gametes into the sea, play them the sounds of a healthy reef and see them actively start swimming towards it—it is probably as close to a eureka moment as I will ever have,” he said. He fears, however, that if global temperatures rise by 2.5°C or 3°C, then “coral reefs are doomed”, regardless of these new techniques: “If we continue business as normal in terms of anthropogenic climate change, I don’t think it’s going to matter what we do. “Tropical reefs are right on the frontline. But if we can keep our levels of temperature increase across the planet down to 1.5C, then there’s a chance – and then these methods will absolutely be part of a positive future.” The world is “very gradually” waking up to the enormity of the global climate emergency, Harrison said. In the meantime, he and Simpson are “just trying to buy time for corals”. “If we can keep enough reefs alive through the next two or three bumpy decades to be able to recover, we’ve then got the reefs for the future, once the climate is under control,” Simpson said. “People say that coral reefs might be the first ecosystem we could lose, and I like to think that, therefore, they are the first ecosystem we can save. If they’re on the brink, and we can save coral reefs, we can save anything. And they become a beacon of hope.” Banner Credit: Screengrab/BBC Studios
Wild animals stand no chance against this deadly drought without YOU.
In Botswana, once-majestic wild animals are withering away and dropping dead on parched landscapes – tragic victims of the country’s worst drought in decades. This year, the nation experienced its wet season in 40 years, with less than 20% of its expected rainfall. Deadly conditions were made worse by extreme heat exceeding 99℉ (37℃). For illustration purposes only. The consequences have been devastating for wild animals. In one of the most heart-rending scenes, an orphaned elephant calf was found next to her dead mother, who had been powerless against the raging drought and succumbed to dehydration. The mother had given her baby every last drop of sustenance her body could muster before she collapsed and died. Her calf, helpless and alone, remained by her mother’s side. She was later rescued and taken into the care of an elephant orphanage – but she will never know her mother, who she would have stayed with for her entire life. Drought is reducing Africa’s iconic wildlife to skin, bone, and dust in Botswana – elephants, zebra, lions, hippos, hyenas, and wildebeest are clinging to life as you read this. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead With your support, we can help save as many of these beautiful animals as possible. The Boteti River runs through the Makgadikgadi National Park in north-eastern Botswana and is one of the animals’ main water sources. Since October 2022, it has been almost completely dry. A smattering of rain in April this year has barely helped, providing a thin trickle of water that will definitely run dry before the next rainy season, which only starts in December. This devastating drought has been exacerbated by a combination of climate change and the impact of the El Niño climate pattern. Wild animals are battling with relentless heat, struggling to find precious water and food. Strong, young wild animals in Botswana who should be in the prime of their lives are dropping dead after traveling countless miles in search of water they never find. For illustration purposes only. Starved, parched, and bone-weary, they fall where they stand, their carcasses littering the barren landscape. Others become stuck in near-dry muddy waterholes, exhausting themselves in futile attempts to escape the mud and ultimately perishing. Under these disastrous conditions, not even the strong survive. Can you imagine, just how dire the situation is for older, weaker and juvenile animals? Amidst this disaster, two wildlife warriors are coming to the aid of desperate wild animals – and they urgently need support for their life-saving mission. This kind-hearted couple owns a private farmstead along a boundary fence of the Makgadikgadi National Park, where desperate animals scour the barren landscape for anything to drink. Using the park’s two wellpoints, their own borehole, and long pipes that extend through the park’s fence, they pump water daily into the park’s dry riverbed for elephants, zebras, and other animals. For illustration purposes only. The animals are so frantic for water that they have come to recognize the sound of the pumps being switched on, clamoring around the pump as they await their turn to drink. This is both heart-warming and heart-breaking to witness. HUNDREDS of wild animals need water right now, and our partner CANNOT meet the demand for this life-saving resource. With two extra water pumps, we can help bring much-needed relief to dehydrated wild animals in crisis. Please support this cause now. Each of the two existing wellpoints currently has the capacity to pump around 7,925 gallons (30,000 liters) of water a day. While this may sound like a lot, elephants alone can drink over 52 gallons (200 liters) every day. In a park covering around 4,630 square miles (12,000km²), home to large herds of elephants, zebras, oryx, wildebeests, impalas, and so much more, the need far exceeds what our partner is able to supply. Credit: Calmelthorn Farmstead By installing new, highly-efficient solar-powered pumps, the output of the existing wellpoints will be DOUBLED, collectively producing around 31,700 gallons (120,000 liters) daily – enough to quench the thirst of the area’s 150 elephants, as well as hundreds of other animals like zebras, giraffes, leopards and hippos. We MUST raise the funds to supply our partner with two solar-powered water pumps RIGHT AWAY. Wild animals are DEPENDING on it – can they count on your generosity today? Countless animals are depending on us to give life-saving water pumps. Credit: Camelthorn Farmstead The animals are desperate. One of the most tragic cases our partner recently witnessed was a mother zebra who succumbed to thirst and starvation while in labor. Our partner did their utmost to help, but it was too late – both mother and foal died. We MUST prevent more wildlife tragedies like this, but we can’t do it without your support today. Please help us raise $6,000 (roughly £4,800) to install these life-saving water pumps immediately. There is no time to waste! The situation is catastrophic, but with your donation today, we WILL rush support to the dangerously dehydrated animals of Botswana – animals who are counting on YOU for a miracle. Please donate as much as you possibly can right away.
Can we engineer our way out of the climate crisis
Article written by David Gelles Originally published by New York Times (Published March 31, 2024 – Updated April 4, 2024) On a windswept Icelandic plateau, an international team of engineers and executives is powering up an innovative machine designed to alter the very composition of Earth’s atmosphere. If all goes as planned, the enormous vacuum will soon be sucking up vast quantities of air, stripping out carbon dioxide and then locking away those greenhouse gases deep underground in ancient stone — greenhouse gases that would otherwise continue heating up the globe. Just a few years ago, technologies like these, that attempt to re-engineer the natural environment, were on the scientific fringe. They were too expensive, too impractical, too sci-fi. But with the dangers from climate change worsening, and the world failing to meet its goals of slashing greenhouse gas emissions, they are quickly moving to the mainstream among both scientists and investors, despite questions about their effectiveness and safety. Researchers are studying ways to block some of the sun’s radiation. They are testing whether adding iron to the ocean could carry carbon dioxide to the sea floor. They are hatching plans to build giant parasols in space. And with massive facilities like the one in Iceland, they are seeking to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air. As the scale and urgency of the climate crisis has crystallized, “people have woken up and are looking to see if there’s any miraculous deus ex machina that can help,” said Al Gore, the former vice president. Since the dawn of the industrial age, humans have pumped huge volumes of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere in pursuit of industry and advancement. It amounted to a remaking of the planet’s delicately balanced atmosphere that today has transformed the world, intensifying heat, worsening droughts and storms and threatening human progress. As the risks became clearer, political and corporate leaders pledged to keep global average temperatures to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than before the Industrial Revolution. But for several months last year, the world briefly passed that symbolic threshold, sooner than many scientists expected. Global temperatures are now expected to rise as much as 4 degrees Celsius, or more than 7 degrees Fahrenheit, by the end of the century. That has given new weight to what some people call geoengineering, though that term has become so contentious its proponents now prefer the term “climate interventions.” The hope is that taking steps like these might buy some time at a moment when energy consumption is on the rise, and the world isn’t quitting fossil fuels fast enough. Many of the projects are controversial. A plant similar to the one in Iceland, but far larger, is being built in Texas by Occidental Petroleum, the giant oil company. Occidental intends to use some of the carbon dioxide it captures to extract even more oil, the burning of which is one of the main causes of the climate crisis in the first place. Some critics say that other types of interventions could open up a Pandora’s box of new problems by scrambling weather patterns or amplifying human suffering through unintended consequences. In effect they are asking: Should humans be experimenting with the environment in this way? Do we know enough to understand the risks? “We need more information so we can make these decisions in the future,” said Alan Robock, a professor of atmospheric science at Rutgers University. “Which is riskier: to do it, or not to do it?” Others argue that fanciful or costly technologies will simply waste resources and time, or lull people with the false idea that it will be possible to slow global warming without phasing out fossil fuels. There is also the risk of rogue actors barreling ahead with their own efforts to change the climate. Already, Mexico has banned what’s known as solar radiation modification after a start-up from California released sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere without permission. And then there is the fact that, because these technologies are so new, there is relatively little regulation governing them. “There are these much bigger questions around who decides how this is all coordinated over time,” said Marion Hourdequin, a professor of environmental philosophy at Colorado College. “We don’t have a great track record of sustained global cooperation.” With a subzero wind whipping down from the fjords, Edda Aradottir trudged through fresh snow to inspect the direct air capture plant in Iceland. Ms. Aradottir is the chief executive of Carbfix, an Icelandic company that is working with the Swiss start-up that built the plant, Climeworks. Known as Mammoth, the project is a technological accomplishment, powered by clean geothermal energy and capable of capturing up to 36,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year and pumping it down into the bedrock. That is just one one-millionth of annual global emissions. But unlike trees, which can be cut down or catch fire, Climeworks promises to store that carbon dioxide forever. Inside a series of bunkerlike buildings, dozens of huge fans suck air into bins that contain chemical pellets that absorb carbon dioxide, then release the gas when they are heated up. The carbon dioxide is then mixed with water and pumped more than a mile below the surface, where extreme pressure turns it into a solid in a matter of years, a process known as “mineralization.” In effect, the gas becomes part of the rock. “Over 99 percent of the carbon on Earth is already stored in rocks in the form of minerals,” Ms. Aradottir said. “Naturally, it happens over geologic time scales. We’re speeding it up.” When Mammoth is turned on in the coming weeks, it will be the largest such facility in the world, even though the amount of carbon it can absorb is still just a drop in the bucket. Global carbon dioxide emissions hit an all-time high of 36 billion metric tons last year. The Occidental plant, being built near Odessa, Texas, and known as Stratos, will be more than 10
Africa’s wildebeest: those that can’t migrate are becoming genetically weaker – new study
Article written by Joseph Ogutu Originally published by The Conversation (Apr 12, 2024) Wildebeest – large African antelopes with distinctively curved horns – are famous for their great migrations on the grasslands of eastern and southern Africa. One hundred and fifty years ago, they migrated in huge numbers across the continent, in search of grazing and water and to find suitable areas for calving. Migration is crucial to sustain their large populations. But their routes are being interrupted by roads, oil and gas pipelines, railway lines, fences, cities, livestock and farmland. Today, the only remaining large migration is east Africa’s famous Serengeti-Mara migration. About 1.4 million wildebeest – accompanied by about 200,000 zebras, 400,000 gazelles and 12,000 eland – cover up to 3,000km every year in a cycle that follows seasonal rainfall patterns. Even this migration is now threatened by plans for new roads and railways, uncontrolled and unplanned developments and exponential human population growth around the edges of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. We’ve now found, in new research, that the disruption to the migratory route has genetic implications for the animals’ longer term survival. Our results show that wildebeest populations that no longer migrate are less genetically healthy than those that continue to migrate. Because their populations aren’t mixing with other wildebeest groups, they are more inbred and genetically isolated. We expect this to lead to lower survival, reduced fertility and other debilitating health effects. It isn’t just the wildebeest that are threatened when we prevent them from migrating, but many other species as well. Wildebeest grazing keeps vegetation healthy and distributes nutrients. The wildebeest also serve as prey for predators, carrion for scavengers and their dung supports millions of dung beatles. If the migrations are lost, Kenya and Tanzania risk losing an enormous amount of tourism revenue that benefits governments and local communities. Collapsing populations Our study is the first time that the genetic effect of migration in wildebeest has been studied. We analysed the genetic material of 121 blue wildebeest and 22 black wildebeest. We chose these 143 wildebeest from their entire range on the African continent, from South Africa to Kenya. This meant we were able to make a general genetic comparison between migratory and non-migratory populations. Populations of migratory wildebeest showed greater genetic diversity. They had extensive random mating which reduced inbreeding levels compared to nearby populations whose migration patterns had been recently interrupted. This was found across multiple locations. The conclusion is clear. There’s an overall negative genetic effect in wildebeest populations that have been prevented from migrating, regardless of where they live on the continent. Reduced genetic diversity makes animals less healthy and therefore more vulnerable to illness and infertility. Populations with low genetic diversity are less able to evolve, or cope with changes to the environment. So, if climatic changes continue to intensify and there isn’t as much genetic variation to enable them to adapt, their survival could be threatened. Already vulnerable Large, non-migrating wildebeest populations are already vulnerable and their numbers shrink when they cannot migrate. This is because they don’t have enough food to eat, cannot access nutrient-rich calving grounds or don’t have enough drinking water in dry periods. They also cannot escape their predators, become vulnerable to poaching and are vulnerable to disease outbreaks, like rinderpest. While the total number of wildebeest across the continent remains fairly stable, many local migrating populations have experienced steep declines and several have even collapsed in recent decades. We’ve seen this affect populations in parts of Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana. For instance, the Mara-Loita migration collapsed by 76% from about 150,000 wildebeest in the 1970s to about 36,500 animals, all of which had become resident, by 2021. And, in Botswana, fencing to protect cattle from coming into contact with migratory wild animals has seen the Kalahari wildebeest population decline by more than 94.2% from roughly 260,000 in the 1970s to fewer than 15,000 in the late 1980s. These findings stress the critical need to preserve animal migration paths. Putting things into perspective Policymakers need to pay special attention to preserving the wildebeest’s old and natural migratory routes. There are certain steps that can be taken: Protect highly variable arid and semi-arid lands inhabited by wildebeest Protect critical drought refuges, such as swamps and woodlands Regulate and strategically plan the expansion of permanent settlements, including urban centres, infrastructure, fences and cultivation in pastoral lands Designate zones for wildlife and livestock grazing and settlements Make and enforce clear rules and regulations governing land use, land sales, leases and development on crucial wildlife migration routes Reintroduce locally endangered wildlife species, such as wildebeest, from outside ecosystems wherever possible By addressing these priorities, efforts to save and restore threatened ungulate mass migrations can be more focused, coordinated and effective, and contribute to the long-term conservation of these animals.
Not just polar bears — climate change could push African rhinos to extinction
Article written by Anna Dulissa Originally published by Mongabay News (Mar 14, 2024) New research finds climate change threatens black and white African rhinos by making their current habitats hotter, drier and less hospitable. Rhinos, unable to sweat, rely on shade, water and food sources that are becoming scarcer due to rising temperatures and arid landscapes. The study reveals that hotter periods will also likely force rhinos into areas with more humans, raising the risk of conflicts and compounding threats like poaching. Experts say strong global climate change mitigation efforts paired with on-the-ground adaptation tactics, such as shade-tree planting, corridor creation and misting stations, would give rhinos a fighting chance. New research is ringing alarm bells about how climate change may impact one of Africa’s most iconic and vulnerable animals: the rhinoceros. “Climate change has the potential of wiping out all of them in the blink of an eye,” says Hlelolwenkhosi Mamba, an Eswatini native and Fulbright scholar. Mamba and Timothy Randhir, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, spent two years obtaining climate modeling and rhino GPS coordinates in five national parks across Southern Africa to understand how two different climate change scenarios might impact the bulk of the world’s remaining black (Diceros bicornis) and white (Ceratotherium simum) rhinos, the two rhino species found in Africa. Rhinos, unable to sweat through their super-thick skin, rely on nature for survival, requiring shade trees, mud pits and watering holes to regulate their body temperature. Climate change threatens these vital features, making them scarcer and altering rhino behaviors and population dynamics. In a paper published in January, Mamba and Randhir write that hotter temperatures and increasingly water-starved landscapes will lead to the rhinos stress eating and spending more time escaping the heat, affecting their access to food, water and shade. This will also likely send them into areas with more humans and conflict. On top of the ongoing risk of poaching, these climate change influences could drive rhinos to extinction in these parks by the end of the 21st century, the researchers warn. “People think that rhinoceroses are very strong and robust and can handle it. But I think this study highlights their vulnerability and can hopefully bring more visibility to the climate change question,” Randhir says. The findings are alarming, and the research duo say they hope this information will give humans the tools to help rhinos adapt to a rapidly warming world. “I love rhinos. They are my favorite and I wish I had the resources to protect them from all that’s threatening them,” Mamba says. “If nothing is done to reduce our emissions, then their extinction due to climate change is imminent.” Methods for a megafauna Randhir and Mamba compiled location data on black and white rhinos to identify each species’ habitat preferences. Then they analyzed two emissions scenarios published by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — business-as-usual and high — for each of the five Southern African parks: Kruger in South Africa, Etosha in Namibia, Hwange in Zimbabwe, Tsavo West in Kenya, and Hlane Royal in Eswatini. From this, they were able to project temperature and precipitation changes and their impacts on rhino habitat suitability by 2050 and 2085. The more moderate, business-as-usual scenario, known as RCP4.5, predicts average warming across the five parks of 2.2° Celsius (4° Fahrenheit) by 2055 from the pre-industrial baseline, and 2.5°C (4.5°F) by 2085. The high-emissions scenario, RCP8.5, forecasts a 2.8°C (5°F) rise by 2055 and 4.6°C (8.3°F) by 2085. In both scenarios, rhino habitats will become hotter and drier, except for Tsavo West National Park, which will see increased rainfall under the high-emissions scenario. Habitats in Etosha National Park and Hlane Royal National Park could become entirely inhospitable for rhinos by 2085 under either scenario, with a real likelihood of extinction. As a conservationist and Eswatini resident, Mamba said, this is something the world needs to know now. Not all black and white For thousands of years, both black and white rhinos have held cultural importance for farming and hunter-gatherer communities throughout sub-Saharan African nations. In the Huns Mountains of southern Namibia, rock art paintings of rhinos date back 30,000 years. To the Shona peoples of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa, the black rhino or chipembere is known as “the dancer” for its supposed fashion of charging and stamping out campfires. The Tswana, of Botswana and South Africa, believed that Mohoohoo, the white rhino, emerged from the same cave as their own original ancestor, and hold the animal in high regard. And to the San peoples across Southern African, both species are associated with rainmaking rituals, each bringing a type of rain appropriate to their temperament — the more docile white rhino brings a soft rain, and the feistier black rhino commands thunderstorms. That a rain-summoning pachyderm, incapable of sweating and dependent on watering holes and shade for cooling, is now threatened by drought and intolerable heat seems both ironic and unfair. Randhir, an interdisciplinary academic at heart who grew up in India, a country with its own rhinos, said rhino conservation is complicated even at the best of times. “Climate scenarios are having direct and indirect impacts,” he said, adding that it impacts rhinos’ “physiology, survival, the community structure, but also food access, habitat access, and safe places where they can survive without human conflicts.” With drastic or even moderate reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, Randhir said he hopes the 2.2°C warming by 2055 will be the worst-case scenario for rhinos — and people. But he added that adaptation strategies must be in place. “We always have impacts coming from the cryosphere [polar regions and ice caps] like a polar bear losing their ice. But we never talk about climate impacts on dry environments, especially on rhinos and elephants who are so tied to water,” he said. “We were focusing on how parks can adapt and manage.” Ensuring black and white rhinos have access to food, water, shade and habitat in places safe from human conflict is what Randhir and Mamba say they
February was warmest on record globally, say scientists
Article written by staff and agencies Originally published by The Guardian (Mar 7, 2024) Global average temperature for past 12 months highest on record at 1.56C above pre-industrial levels, data shows Last month was the warmest February on record globally, making it the ninth month in a row with record temperatures for the time of year, scientists have said. Global sea surface temperatures are also at their highest ever recorded, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows. The data shows February was 1.77C warmer than the pre-industrial average for the month, from 1850 to 1900, and 0.81C above 1991-2020 levels. The global average temperature for the past 12 months – between March 2023 and February 2024 – was the highest on record, at 1.56C above pre-industrial levels. That puts the world temporarily above the 1.5C threshold beyond which, over the long term, the worst impacts of climate change are expected. Daily global average temperatures were “exceptionally high” during the first half of the month, reaching 2C above 1850-1900 levels on four days from 8 to 11 February, Copernicus said. European temperatures in February 2024 were 3.3C above the 1991-2020 average for the month, with temperatures well above average seen in central and eastern Europe, the figures showed. Europe’s winter, from December to February, was the second warmest on record for the continent. Average global sea surface temperatures for February, outside the polar regions, were the highest for any month on record, at 21.06C, exceeding the previous record of 20.98C set in August 2023. The average daily sea surface temperature reached a new absolute high of 21.09C at the end of the month, Copernicus said. Carlo Buontempo, the director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said: “February joins the long streak of records of the last few months. As remarkable as this might appear, it is not really surprising as the continuous warming of the climate system inevitably leads to new temperature extremes. “The climate responds to the actual concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, so unless we manage to stabilise those, we will inevitably face new global temperature records and their consequences.” Dr Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London, said: “There’s now so much evidence pointing to the fact that our climate is warming, if you want to deny climate change, you might as well claim the Earth is flat, too. Billions of measurements from weather stations, satellites, ships and planes point to the very basic fact that our planet is heating up at a dangerous pace. “People should not be surprised that we have broken another record. Humans continue to burn oil, gas and coal, so the climate continues to warm. It is a very well understood relationship. There is no silver bullet or magic fix for climate change. We know what to do: stop burning fossil fuels and replace them with more sustainable, renewable sources of energy. Until we do that, extreme weather events intensified by climate change will continue to destroy lives and livelihoods.”
World’s globetrotting animals at risk due to habitat loss, climate change
Adapted from original article written by Benjamin Shingler Originally published by CBC News (Fri, Feb 12, 2024) New report highlights challenges facing migratory species, and what can be done to save them During its nesting season, the marbled murrelet, known affectionately among bird watchers as a “strange, mysterious little seabird,” lays a single egg in the thick mosses that grow on the branches of British Columbia’s old-growth forest canopy. With some of those forests under threat from logging, the small black-and-brown mottled seabird is considered threatened, too. The marbled murrelet is among a growing number of migratory species animals facing a perilous future, a new UN report found. “The solution for the marbled murrelet and for a number of other migratory species is habitat protection,” said Shelley Luce, campaign director of Sierra Club. “Loss of habitat is one of the biggest drivers — in many cases the biggest driver — for species loss.” A report by a United Nations conservation group released Monday on the state of the world’s migratory species found the threats to these animals, ranging from fish to birds to butterflies, are greater than ever. Nearly all of the fish the group is tracking — 97 per cent — are down in numbers, and birds aren’t faring much better. Overall, more than one in five species listed by the group are threatened with extinction, and 44 per cent have a decreasing population. Along with habitat loss, other human-caused impacts such as over-exploitation, pollution and climate change are making it harder for migratory species to survive, the report found. The report, entitled State of the World’s Migratory Species, is the first of its kind. It was created by a UN-backed organization known as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. It comes two years after nearly 200 countries committed at a UN biodiversity conference in Montreal to halt and reverse the destruction of nature by 2030. An international issue The findings underscore the importance of greater co-operation between countries to preserve habitats along migration routes, experts said. “Trying to conserve those species means working across borders and having coherent policies to try to help them,” said Chris Guglielmo, a biology professor and director of the Centre for Animals on the Move at Western University in London, Ont. The endangered monarch butterfly, for instance, flies from Canada and the U.S. to Mexico and back again every year. The annual count for the number of monarchs at their wintering areas in Mexico dropped by 59 per cent this year. It’s the second-lowest level since record keeping began, according to a partnership of environmental and state groups that conducted the count. Experts have proposed a safe corridor for migrating butterflies through the three countries, where pesticides are reduced and there are stricter rules against deforestation. “Animals need to be able to move to fulfil their life cycles, and we have to put a lot of thought into how we allow them to do that,” said Guglielmo. He described biodiversity as a system of “cogs and wheels,” to borrow a turn of phrase from conservationist Aldo Leopold, whereby every species and organism has a role to play — and if migratory species aren’t around, the system falls apart. Migratory birds, for instance, help control pests such as the spruce budworm, which has wreaked havoc on parts of the boreal forest in a number of Canadian provinces. ‘Pit stops’ on the journey The report lays out how these animals can be better protected, from limiting overfishing to reducing light pollution along migratory bird routes. Like humans, birds often make “pit stops” along their migratory journey, said Barbara Frei, a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. Frei said adding protection means “more native plants, more food, often shrubs for migratory birds, and reducing threats and, honestly, that makes it a more pleasant place for you and I to live.” Dr. Christy Morrissey, a biology professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said many migratory birds face challenges as they fly north during the spring migration, over farmland during a period of “spring seeding, spring spraying, application of pesticides and tillage.” One solution, Morrissey said, is to protect wetlands from being drained and turned into agricultural land. Those wetlands can serve as a home to many migratory species, she said. Canada’s role Given its vast territory, experts said Canada has an important role to play as the world works toward the 2030 conservation goal. Luce’s Sierra Club has been pressing the federal and B.C. provincial government to do more to protect migratory species. “We have beautiful ancient coastal old growth forests in British Columbia that are not protected from logging,” she said. Sierra Club was among a coalition of environmental groups that went to court to argue that Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault should have gone further in protecting the marbled murrelet and other at-risk birds. Earlier this month, a Federal Court judge ruled in their favour, concluding that Guilbeault should have extended a protected area beyond the nesting area to where the bird gets its food, meets its mates and rears its young. Environment and Climate Change Canada did not return a request for comment.
Atlantic Ocean circulation nearing ‘devastating’ tipping point, study finds
Adapted from original article written by Johnathan Watts Originally published by The Guardian (Fri, Feb 9, 2024) Collapse in system of currents that helps regulate global climate would be at such speed that adaptation would be impossible The circulation of the Atlantic Ocean is heading towards a tipping point that is “bad news for the climate system and humanity”, a study has found. The scientists behind the research said they were shocked at the forecast speed of collapse once the point is reached, but said it was not yet possible to predict how soon that would happen. Researchers developed an early warning indicator for the breakdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc), a system of ocean currents critical to climate regulation. They found Amoc is already on track towards an abrupt shift, which has not happened for more than 10,000 years. It would have dire implications for large parts of the world. Amoc is a marine conveyer belt that carries heat, carbon and nutrients from the tropics towards the Arctic Circle, where it cools and sinks into the deep ocean. This helps to distribute energy around the Earth and modulates the impact of human-caused global heating. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is weakening and has collapsed in the distant past The system is being eroded by the faster-than-expected melt-off of Greenland’s glaciers and Arctic ice sheets. These pour freshwater into the sea and obstruct the sinking of saltier, warmer water from the south. Amoc is in its weakest state in more than a millennium, according to previous research. The paper mapped some of the consequences of Amoc collapse. Sea levels in the Atlantic would rise by a metre in some regions, inundating many coastal cities. The wet and dry seasons in the Amazon would flip, potentially pushing the already weakened rainforest past its own tipping point. Temperatures around the world would fluctuate far more erratically. The southern hemisphere would become warmer. Europe would cool dramatically and have less rainfall. While this might sound appealing compared with the current heating trend, the changes would hit 10 times faster than now, making adaptation almost impossible. “What surprised us was the rate at which tipping occurs,” said the paper’s lead author, René van Westen, of Utrecht University. “It will be devastating.” He said there was not yet enough data to say whether this would occur in the next year or in the coming century, but when it happens, the changes are irreversible on human timescales.
Nearly half of the world’s migratory species are in decline, UN report says
Article written by Christina Larson Originally published by wbtv.com (Mon, Feb 12, 2024) Many songbirds, sea turtles, whales, sharks and other migratory animals move to different environments with changing seasons and are imperiled by habitat loss, illegal hunting and fishing, pollution and climate change. About 44% of migratory species worldwide are declining in population, the report found. More than a fifth of the nearly 1,200 species monitored by the U.N. are threatened with extinction. “These are species that move around the globe. They move to feed and breed and also need stopover sites along the way,” said Kelly Malsch, lead author of the report released at a U.N. wildlife conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Habitat loss or other threats at any point in their journey can lead to dwindling populations. “Migration is essential for some species. If you cut the migration, you’re going to kill the species,” said Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm, who was not involved in the report. The report relied on existing data, including information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, which tracks whether a species is endangered. Participants of the U.N. meeting plan to evaluate proposals for conservation measures and also whether to formally list several new species of concern. “One country alone cannot save any of these species,” said Susan Lieberman, vice president for international policy at the nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society. At the meeting, eight governments from South America are expected to jointly propose adding two species of declining Amazon catfish to the U.N. treaty’s list of migratory species of concern, she said. The Amazon River basin is world’s largest freshwater system. “If the Amazon is intact, the catfish will thrive — it’s about protecting the habitat,” Lieberman said. In 2022, governments pledged to protect 30% of the planet’s land and water resources for conservation at the U.N. Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Canada.
Polar bears risk starvation as they face longer ice-free periods in the Arctic
Article written by Agence France-Presse Originally published by The Guardian (Tue, Feb 13, 2024) Bears use ice to access food, but a study of animals in Canada shows them struggling to adapt to more time on land amid climate crisis Polar bears in Canada’s Hudson Bay risk starvation as the climate crisis lengthens periods without Arctic Sea ice, despite the creatures’ willingness to expand their diets. Polar bears use the ice that stretches across the ocean surface in the Arctic during colder months to help them access their main source of prey – fatty ringed and bearded seals. In the warmer months when the sea ice recedes, they would be expected to conserve their energy and even enter a hibernation-like state. But human-caused climate change is extending this ice-free period in parts of the Arctic – which is heating between two and four times faster than the rest of the world – and forcing the polar bears to spend more and more time on land. New research looking at 20 polar bears in Hudson Bay suggests that without sea ice they still try to find food. “Polar bears are creative, they’re ingenious, you know, they will search the landscape for ways to try to survive and find food resources to compensate their energy demands if they’re motivated,” Anthony Pagano, a research wildlife biologist with the US Geological Survey and lead author of the study, told AFP. The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, used video camera GPS collars to track the polar bears for three-week periods over the course of three years in the western Hudson Bay, where the ice-free period has increased by three weeks from 1979 to 2015, meaning that in the last decade bears were on land for approximately 130 days. The researchers found that of the group, two bears indeed rested and reduced their total energy expenditure to levels similar to hibernation, but the 18 others stayed active. The study said these active bears may have been pushed to continue to look for food, with individual animals documented eating a variety of foods including grasses, berries, a gull, a rodent and a seal carcass. Three ventured off on long swims – one travelled a total distance of 175km (more than a hundred miles) – while other bears spent time playing together or gnawing on caribou antlers, which researchers said was like the way dogs might chew bones. But ultimately the researchers found that the bears’ efforts to find sustenance on land did not provide them with enough calories to match their normal marine mammal prey. Nineteen out of the 20 polar bears studied lost weight during the period consistent with the amount of weight they would lose during a period of fasting, researchers said. That means that the longer polar bears spend on land, the higher their risk for starvation. “These findings really support the existing body of research that’s out there, and this is another piece of evidence that really raises that alarm,” Melanie Lancaster, senior Arctic species specialist for the World Wildlife Fund, who is not associated with the study, told AFP. The world’s 25,000 polar bears remaining in the wild are endangered primarily by the climate crisis. Limiting planet-heating greenhouse gases and keeping global heating under the Paris deal target of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels would likely preserve polar bear populations, Pagano said. But global temperatures – already at 1.2C – continue to rise and sea ice dwindles. John Whiteman, the chief research scientist at Polar Bears International, who was not involved in the study, said the research was valuable because it directly measures the polar bears’ energy expenditure during the ice-free periods. “As ice goes, the polar bears go, and there is no other solution other than stopping ice loss. That is the only solution,” he told AFP. Banner credit: Sean Kilpatrick/AP
Hurricanes becoming so strong that new category needed, study says
Article written by Oliver Milman Originally published by The Guardian (Mon, Feb 5, 2024) Scientists propose new category 6 rating to classify ‘mega-hurricanes’, becoming more likely due to climate crisis Hurricanes are becoming so strong due to the climate crisis that the classification of them should be expanded to include a “category 6” storm, furthering the scale from the standard 1 to 5, according to a new study. Over the past decade, five storms would have been classed at this new category 6 strength, researchers said, which would include all hurricanes with sustained winds of 192mph or more. Such mega-hurricanes are becoming more likely due to global heating, studies have found, due to the warming of the oceans and atmosphere. Michael Wehner, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US, said that “192mph is probably faster than most Ferraris, it’s hard to even imagine”. He has proposed the new category 6 alongside another researcher, James Kossin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Being caught in that sort of hurricane would be bad. Very bad.” The new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, proposes an extension to the widely used Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, which was developed in the early 1970s by Herbert Saffir, a civil engineer, and Robert Simpson, a meteorologist who was the director of the US National Hurricane Center. The scale classifies any hurricane with a sustained maximum wind speed of 74mph or more to be a category 1 event, with the scale rising the faster the winds. Category 3 and above is considered to include major hurricanes that risk severe damage to property and life, with the strongest, category 5, including all storms that are 157mph or more. Category 5 storms have caused spectacular damage in recent years – such as Hurricane Katrina’s ravaging of New Orleans in 2005 and Hurricane Maria’s devastating impact upon Puerto Rico in 2017 – but the new study argues there is now a class of even more extreme storms that demands its own category. They include Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people in the Philippines in 2013, and Hurricane Patricia, which reached a top speed of 215mph when it formed near Mexico in 2015. “There haven’t been any in the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico yet but they have conditions conducive to a category 6, it’s just luck that there hasn’t been one yet,” said Wehner. “I hope it won’t happen, but it’s just a roll of the dice. We know that these storms have already gotten more intense, and will continue to do so.” While the total number of hurricanes is not rising due to the climate crisis, researchers have found that the intensity of major storms has notably increased during the four-decade satellite record of hurricanes. A super-heated ocean is providing extra energy to rapidly intensify hurricanes, aided by a warmer, moisture-laden atmosphere. Wehner said the Saffir-Simpson scale was an imperfect measure of the dangers posed to people by a hurricane, which mostly come via severe rainfall and coastal flooding rather than the strong winds themselves, but that a category 6 would highlight the heightened risks brought by the climate crisis. “Our main purpose is to raise awareness that climate change is affecting the most intense storms,” he said. The systems used to chart the world around us have been previously tweaked to reflect the rapid changes of the modern era. Australia’s bureau of meteorology added a new colour – purple – to its weather maps to account for ferocious heat, while just last week the US government’s Coral Reef Watch programme added three new alert categories to capture the increasing heat stress suffered by corals. There is no indication there will soon be hurricanes officially classified as category 6, however. The US National Hurricane Center did not respond to a request for comment about the new study.
Greenland losing 30m tonnes of ice an hour, study reveals
Article written by Damian Carrington Originally published by The Guardian (Thu, Jan 17, 2024) Total is 20% higher than thought and may have implications for collapse of globally important north Atlantic ocean currents The Greenland ice cap is losing an average of 30m tonnes of ice an hour due to the climate crisis, a study has revealed, which is 20% more than was previously thought. Some scientists are concerned that this additional source of freshwater pouring into the north Atlantic might mean a collapse of the ocean currents called the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is closer to being triggered, with severe consequences for humanity. Major ice loss from Greenland as a result of global heating has been recorded for decades. The techniques employed to date, such as measuring the height of the ice sheet or its weight via gravity data, are good at determining the losses that end up in the ocean and drive up sea level. However, they cannot account for the retreat of glaciers that already lie mostly below sea level in the narrow fjords around the island. In the study, satellite photos were analysed by scientists to determine the end position of Greenland’s many glaciers every month from 1985 to 2022. This showed large and widespread shortening and in total amounted to a trillion tonnes of lost ice. Greenland has lost a trillion tonnes of ice since 1985 from glacier retreat alone Mass of Greeland ice sheet relative to mass in 2022, billion tonnes “The changes around Greenland are tremendous and they’re happening everywhere – almost every glacier has retreated over the past few decades,” said Dr Chad Greene, at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US, who led the research. “It makes sense that if you dump freshwater on to the north Atlantic Ocean, then you certainly get a weakening of the Amoc, though I don’t have an intuition for how much weakening.” The Amoc was already known to be at its weakest in 1,600 years and in 2021 researchers spotted warning signs of a tipping point. A recent study suggested the collapse could happen as soon as 2025 in the worst-case scenario. A significant part of the Greenland ice sheet itself is also thought by scientists to be close to a tipping point of irreversible melting, with ice equivalent to 1-2 metres of sea level rise probably already expected. The study, published in the journal Nature, used artificial intelligence techniques to map more than 235,000 glacier end positions over the 38-year period, at a resolution of 120 metres. This showed the Greenland ice sheet had lost an area of about 5,000 sq km of ice at its margins since 1985, equivalent to a trillion tonnes of ice. The most recent update from a project that collates all the other measurements of Greenland’s ice found that 221bn tonnes of ice had been lost every year since 2003. The new study adds another 43bn tonnes a year, making the total loss about 30m tonnes an hour on average. The scientists said: “There is some concern that any small source of freshwater may serve as a ‘tipping point’ that could trigger a full-scale collapse of the Amoc, disrupting global weather patterns, ecosystems and global food security. Yet freshwater from the glacier retreat of Greenland is not included in oceanographic models at present.” The influx of less dense freshwater into the sea slows the usual process of heavier salty water sinking in the polar region and driving the Amoc. Prof Tim Lenton, at the University of Exeter, UK, and not part of the study, said: “This additional freshwater input to the north Atlantic is a concern, particularly for the formation of deep water in the Labrador and Irminger Seas within the subpolar gyre, as other evidence suggests these are the regions most prone to being tipped into an ‘off’, or collapsed state.” “That would be like a partial Amoc collapse, but unfolding faster and having profound impacts on the UK, western Europe, parts of North America, and the Sahel region, where the west African monsoon could be severely disrupted,” he said. “Whether this previously unaccounted source is enough freshwater to make a difference depends on how close we are to that subpolar gyre tipping point. Recent models suggest it could be close already at the present level of global warming.” However, Prof Andrew Shepherd, at the University of Northumbria, UK, said: “Although there was a step-change in glacier retreat at the turn of the century, it’s reassuring to see that the pace of ice loss has been steady since then and is still well below the levels needed to disturb the Amoc.” The discovery of the extra ice loss is also important for calculating the Earth’s energy imbalance, ie how much extra solar heat the Earth is trapping due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, said Greene. “It takes a lot of energy to melt 1tn tonnes of ice. So if we want very precise energy balanced models for the Earth, this has to be accounted for.” The glaciers analysed in the study were mostly below sea level already, so the lost ice was replaced by sea water and did not affect sea level directly. But Greene said: “It almost certainly has an indirect effect, by allowing glaciers to speed up. These narrow fjords are the bottleneck, so if you start carving away at the edges of the ice, it’s like removing the plug in the drain.” Greene and colleagues also analysed the extent of Antarctic ice shelves over time in a study published in 2022. It found that the total lost from the ice shelves since 1997 was doubled to about 12tn tonnes when the shrinking areal extent of the shelves was accounted for and added to the thinning of the shelves.
‘Astounding’ ocean temperatures in 2023 intensified extreme weather, data shows
Adapted from article written by Damian Carrington Originally published by The Guardian (Thu, Jan 11, 2024) Record levels of heat were absorbed last year by Earth’s seas, which have been warming year-on-year for the past decade “Astounding” ocean temperatures in 2023 supercharged “freak” weather around the world as the climate crisis continued to intensify, new data has revealed. The oceans absorb 90% of the heat trapped by the carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, making it the clearest indicator of global heating. Record levels of heat were taken up by the oceans in 2023, scientists said, and the data showed that for the past decade the oceans have been hotter every year than the year before. The heat also led to record levels of stratification in the oceans, where warm water ponding on the surface reduces the mixing with deeper waters. This cuts the amount of oxygen in the oceans, threatening marine life, and also reduces the amount of carbon dioxide and heat the seas can take up in the future. “We’re already facing the consequences and they will get far worse if we don’t take action,” said Prof John Abraham, at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota. “But we can solve this problem today with wind, solar, hydro and energy conservation. Once people realise that, it’s very empowering.” Credit: Thoko Chikondi/AP In 2023, an additional 15 zettajoules of heat was taken up by the oceans, compared with 2022. By comparison, humanity uses about half a zettajoule of energy a year to fuel the entire global economy. In total, the oceans absorbed 287 zettajoules in 2023. These figures are based on data from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. A separate dataset from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found a similar increase and identical trend over time. The ocean surface temperatures in 2023 were “off the charts”, the researchers said. The primary cause was another year of record carbon emissions, assisted by El Niño. Over the whole year, the average temperature was 0.1C above 2022, but in the second half of 2023 the temperature was an “astounding” 0.3C higher. The scientists said the record level of stratification and reduced oxygen in the ocean would have “severe consequences” for ocean plant and animal life. Marine heatwaves struck across the oceans in 2023. A separate report, by the consortium Global Water Monitor (GWM), found some of the worst disasters of 2023 were due to unusually strong cyclones bringing extreme rainfall to Mozambique and Malawi, Myanmar, Greece, Libya, New Zealand and Australia. Prof Albert Van Dijk of GWM said: “We saw cyclones behave in unexpected and deadly ways. The longest-lived cyclone ever recorded battered south-eastern Africa for weeks. Warmer sea temperatures fuelled those freak behaviours, and we can expect to see more of these extreme events going forward.” Abraham said a rapid end to the burning of coal, oil and gas was needed: “If we don’t bend the trajectory of climate change downwards, then we are going to experience more extreme weather, more climate disruption, more climate refugees, more loss of agricultural productivity. We’re going to have costs in dollars and lives from a problem that we could have avoided. And, generally, those least responsible are going to suffer the most, which is a tremendous injustice.”