Considerable but unsustainable water supply from thawing permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau in a changing climate

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

  

This study is led by Dr. Taihua Wang and Dr. Dawen Yang (Tsinghua University), together with experts in the field of both permafrost and glacier including Dr. Tandong Yao, Dr. Xin Li (Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Dr. Guodong Cheng and Dr. Huijun Jin (Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences). In a warming climate, the sustainability of cryospheric meltwater on the Tibetan Plateau has raised concerns because of its importance for the fragile ecosystem in the headwater regions and the dense populations in the downstream. Existing studies mainly focused on glacier melt and snow melt on the Tibetan Plateau, which are above the ground surface can be detected from the surface using in-situ or satellite observations. However, the hydrological implications of thawing permafrost below the ground surface remain largely unknown.

“For the study of permafrost hydrology changes, the ground surface observations have to be combined with physically-based models to examine what is happening below the ground surface.” Taihua says. Therefore, a hydrological model that could reflect the complex interactions between cryospheric and hydrological processes is urgently needed.

The research group led by Dr. Dawen Yang has endeavored to develop such a model for years. Twenty years ago, Dr. Dawen Yang developed a distributed hydrological model named “Geomorphology-Based Hydrological Model (GBHM)”. In 2010, Dr. Dawen Yang participated in a major research plan entitled “Integrated research on the eco-hydrological process of the Heihe River Basin” led by Dr. Guodong Cheng funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. With the support of the research plan and collaboration with experts from different disciplines, the distributed Geomorphology-Based Ecohydrological Model (GBEHM) was developed which could simulate the coupled water-heat processes and has been successfully applied in many headwater regions of the Tibetan Plateau.

Another challenge of relevant study is the limited data on the Tibetan Plateau. Thanks to recent accumulation of both in-situ and satellite observations, as well as the enhanced geoscience data sharing through platforms like the National Tibetan Plateau Data Center (https://data.tpdc.ac.cn) led by Dr. Xin Li, the simulation can be applied to the entire Tibetan Plateau with an unprecedented high spatial resolution (1 km × 1 km).

The results from the modelling study provide some novel insights into the magnitude and temporal changes of water supply from thawing permafrost and melting ground ice. Combining in-situ borehole observations with the spatial distribution of depositional types and paleo-precipitation information, the average ground ice storage across the Tibetan Plateau is estimated to be about half the size of glacier ice storage. However, the ground ice storage decline was almost twice the amount of glacier mass loss during 1980-2019, indicating a more severe decline in the subsurface ice reserve than the above-surface one at the plateau scale, although the former one has received much less attention.

By tracing the meltwater flow paths, the study also quantifies the ground ice meltwater contribution to river runoff. Despite the relatively small contribution at the plateau scale (~0.5%), the ground ice meltwater runoff can be locally important and larger than that from glacier melt in many sub-regions including the upper Yellow, the upper Yangtze and the Qiangtang Plateau.

However, the meltwater runoff from thawing permafrost is unsustainable over the coming decades, which could possibly threaten water security in certain regions relying on water supply from thawing permafrost. “This is similar to previous findings of unsustainable meltwater supply from glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau. The impacts could be more evident in arid regions and dry years, and we have to get prepared for this additional risk caused by unsustainable cryospheric meltwater supply.” Taihua says.

Despite uncertainties in the results of the study, the findings highlight the rarely examined yet non-negligible role of permafrost thaw and ground ice meltwater for the Asian water tower. In the future, high-resolution remote sensing observations and more publicly available in-situ observations across the Tibetan Plateau can be adopted to further reduce the uncertainty in the estimates. The impact of unsustainable cryospheric meltwater on the fragile alpine ecosystem and regional carbon budget on the Tibetan Plateau can also be examined by future studies.

See the article:

Unsustainable water supply from thawing permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau in a changing climate

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2023.04.037

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JOURNAL

Science Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.scib.2023.04.037 

Arctic dust found to be a major source of particles that form ice crystals in Arctic low-level clouds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NAGOYA UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: SVALBARD IN THE ARCTIC IN SUMMER. DUST FROM THE LAND WITHOUT SNOW COVER GREATLY CONTRIBUTES TO THE FORMATION OF ICE CRYSTALS IN THE LOW-LEVEL CLOUDS. view more 

CREDIT: YUTAKA TOBO, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF POLAR RESEARCH

Researchers from Nagoya University and the National Institute of Polar Research in Japan have found that dust from land without snow cover in the Arctic is a major source of particles that form ice crystals in low-level clouds of the Arctic (at altitudes below about 3 km) during summer and fall.

The formation of ice crystals in low-level clouds is considered to affect climate because it can cause ice particles to grow at the expense of liquid droplets and then fall as precipitation, resulting in a lower sunlight reflectance and a shorter lifetime for clouds.

“The Arctic is said to be heating up two to four times faster than the rate of global warming,” said Dr. Kei Kawai of Nagoya University, the first author of the study. “Considering that the distribution and the lifetime of low-level clouds affect climate, our finding might help improve predictions of Arctic climate change.” The researchers published their findings in Geophysical Research Letters.

Dust is made up of very small mineral particles of earth or sand. It acts as a nucleus for the formation of ice crystals in clouds. Although mainly emitted from arid regions in low or mid latitudes, recent studies have shown that dust is also emitted from areas where there is no snow, ice, or vegetation in the Arctic. A previous study suggested that such Arctic dust serves as an efficient nucleus for forming ice crystals because it contains a tiny amount of organic matter that has high ice nucleating ability.

“In the Arctic, dust is mostly emitted in summer through early fall, when the surface temperature is high and the snow cover is low,” Kawai said. “In this season, Arctic dust is distributed in the lower troposphere of the Arctic (lower than an altitude of approximately 3 km), where temperatures are warmer than about –15°C. In general, dust particles from a desert in low or mid latitudes cannot work efficiently as nuclei to form ice crystals at temperatures warmer than –15°C. In contrast, Arctic dust particles can work as such nuclei between –20°C and –5°C because of their high ice nucleating ability.”

However, until now, the importance of Arctic dust's high ice nucleating ability has remained unclear because it was not considered in any modeling studies. To address this shortcoming, Associate Professor Hitoshi Matsui and Dr. Kawai of Nagoya University, in collaboration with Associate Professor Yutaka Tobo of the National Institute of Polar Research, conducted a study using the global aerosol-climate model CAM-ATRAS.

First, they incorporated the recently observed high ice nucleating ability of Arctic dust into their model. Then, they compared simulations that considered this ability with simulations that did not. The results showed that in simulations that considered this ability, Arctic dust acted efficiently as ice nucleating particles in the Arctic region. The simulations also closely reproduced observations of ice nucleating particles at several locations in the Arctic. In contrast, in simulations that did not consider it, Arctic dust hardly acted as ice nucleating particles.

The results also showed that the number of ice nucleating particles from dust from all around the world in the lower troposphere of the Arctic during summer and fall was increased by more than 100 times considering the high ice nucleating ability of Arctic dust. Furthermore, almost all the ice nucleating particles were found to be derived from Arctic dust.

Therefore, the researchers confirmed that Arctic dust plays a dominant role as ice nucleating particles from dust in Arctic low-level clouds during summer and fall. “We demonstrated that it is important to fully consider Arctic dust's high ice nucleating ability to clarify the distribution and the origin of ice nucleating particles in the Arctic,” Dr. Kawai said. “We hope this finding will also help us understand what is happening regarding Arctic warming and more accurately project future Arctic climate change.”

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JOURNAL

Geophysical Research Letters

DOI

10.1029/2022GL102470 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Dominant Role of Arctic Dust With High Ice Nucleating Ability in the Arctic Lower Troposphere

Enhanced dominance of soil moisture stress on vegetation growth in Eurasian drylands

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

In a new study, a group from Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed a concept of ecosystem water stress and comprehensively compared the impacts of high atmospheric vapor pressure deficit and low soil water content on vegetation growth in Eurasian drylands

Drought, a multifaceted phenomenon encompassing atmospheric and soil drought, has sparked a lively debate over which type of dryness stress exerts a more significant impact on vegetation growth. "Through our defined concept of ecosystem water stress, we can discern where water-stressed vegetation growth is dominated by atmospheric vapor pressure deficit or soil moisture" Dr. Yu Zhang, first author of this work, says.

The team shows soil moisture dominated the dryness stress of vegetation growth over Eurasian drylands. Astonishingly, none of the 18 state-of-the-art vegetation gross primary productivity models describe soil water dominance. As climate change progresses, it is projected that soil moisture stress will continuously constrain vegetation growth towards 2100.

These findings lay a crucial scientific foundation for effective ecosystem management and drought mitigation across Eurasian drylands. Led by Prof. Yangjian Zhang and Dr. Yu Zhang from Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the study has been published in National Science Review.

###

See the article:

Enhanced dominance of soil moisture stress on vegetation growth in Eurasian drylands

https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwad108

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JOURNAL

National Science Review

DOI

10.1093/nsr/nwad108 

Reduce greenhouse gases: Stop drainage and cultivate reed grass instead of potatoes on peat soil

Researchers from Aarhus University compare greenhouse gas emissions from a traditional potato crop rotation on drained peat soil with the cultivation of reed grass for biomass production on undrained or poorly drained peat soil.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AARHUS UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS FROM AARHUS UNIVERSITY ARE COMPARING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM A CONVENTIONAL POTATO CROP ROTATION ON DRAINED PEAT SOIL WITH THE CULTIVATION OF REED CANARY GRASS FOR BIOMASS PRODUCTION ON UNDRAINED OR POORLY DRAINED PEAT SOIL. view more 

CREDIT: POUL ERIK LÆRKE

Drained peat soils in Denmark account for about one-third of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.  

"One of the most effective climate measures we have is to stop draining peat soils. However, this means that the land cannot be cultivated in the same way as regular agricultural soil because it would become rewetted," explains Poul Erik Lærke, a senior researcher at the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University.  

If farmers are unable to cultivate the land, it would be necessary to compensate landowners for the loss of value, which would incur significant costs for society.  

"But part of the loss could actually be offset if the land is used to cultivate crops that thrive in wet conditions. At the same time, it can also reduce the risk of other natural areas being converted into agricultural land as compensation for the loss of current agricultural production on peat soil," he explains.  

Three production scenarios  

In a new study, Henrik Thers and other researchers from the Department of Agroecology used calculation methods typically used for life cycle assessments to investigate greenhouse gas emissions for three different cultivation scenarios.  

"We used IPCC emission factors and cultivation conditions for peat soils in bogs and wet meadows," explains Henrik Thers. The study included three different scenarios, which are as follows: 

• Potato crop rotation on deep-drained raised bog peat soil 

• Perennial reed grass on undrained raised bog peat soil 

• Perennial reed grass on poorly drained wet meadow peat soil  

The results show that greenhouse gas emissions can be significantly reduced by switching from the potato crop rotation to reed grass cultivation.  

"We found that greenhouse gas emissions from the potato crop rotation in the raised bog, scenario 1, could be reduced by 35% by switching to cultivated reed grass on undrained raised bog, scenario 2," says postdoc Henrik Thers from the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University.  

Furthermore, the analysis showed that greenhouse gas emissions from scenario 3, reed grass cultivated in the wet meadow, were even lower than the emissions from scenario 2. According to the researchers, this is primarily due to differences in the average annual water level.  

Biomass for biogas and biorefining  

If traditional potato production is replaced by reed grass production, it is also necessary to find new uses for the crops. Unlike potatoes, reed grass cannot be consumed by humans. 

"On the other hand, production and harvesting of biomass on undrained peat soil can be used for various purposes in biorefineries, for biogas, or for pyrolysis, thus replacing other protein sources or the use of fossil resources. This potentially increases the calculated reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when switching to grass production on undrained peat soil," explains postdoc Henrik Thers, adding that: "Our analysis does not include the use of the harvested biomass since such an analysis can only be performed on specific end products that include all by-products. As a simplified alternative, the reduction potential is therefore calculated based on the amount of produced biomass or raw protein, which shows an additional reduction when switching from the potato crop rotation to reed grass."  

The study does not include production economics, and the researchers acknowledge that reed grass production will face challenges in competing economically with potato cultivation. (Read more about the economics in the report "Dyrkning af paludikulturer – Effekt på klima, miljø og Natur" [Cultivation of paludiculture - Effects on climate, environment, and nature – in Danish only])  

Local knowledge is crucial  

According to the researchers, it is not always possible to fully saturate previously drained raised bogs even if the current drainage is discontinued, but significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can still be achieved.  

"It is likely that the original vegetation dominated by sphagnum mosses needs to be restored to make the bog wet again during the summer months, and that can take time. We do not see the same challenge in wet meadows, where the water level is primarily controlled by the water level in the stream that the fields drain into," explains Poul Erik Lærke.  

The researchers emphasize in their study that having knowledge of local conditions is essential when estimating the reduction potential for greenhouse gas emissions related to wetting of drained peat soils. Therefore, the land use after discontinuing the drains can still be a new form of biomass production if the agricultural land is not converted into wild nature. Harvesting and removing biomass can also be an important tool in efforts to achieve nutrient-poor soil before the area is handed over to wild nature, thereby contributing to a more diverse vegetation.  

Reed grass production can be used to restore original ecosystems  

"The demonstration experiment with reed grass in Store Vildmose showed that it was possible to remove large amounts of nutrients from peat soil and net remove more nutrients with moderate fertilization compared to no fertilization. Therefore, reed grass production can also be a step towards the restoration of the original ecosystem with high biodiversity," says Poul Erik Lærke.  

According to the researchers, their study highlights the need for further research and adaptation of methods to implement effective strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from peat soils. There are still many challenges and complexities associated with wetting peatlands, but the results demonstrate the potential to reduce agricultural climate impact while maintaining some production on peat soils.  

 

ITEM	CONTENT AND PURPOSE
Collaborators	Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University
Funding	This research was supported as part of CANAPE, an Interreg project funded by the North Sea Program under the European Union's Regional Development Fund, and the GO-GRASS project funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 862674
Conflict of interest	None
Link to the scientific article	The publication "Comparison of GHG emissions from annual crops in rotation on drained temperate agricultural peatland with production of reed canary grass in paludiculture using an LCA approach" has been published in the journal Heliyon. It was written by Henrik Thers, Marie Trydeman Knudsen, and Poul Erik Lærke.
Contact information	Postdoc Henrik Thers, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University. Phone: 93522516 or email: thers@agro.au.dk   Senior Researcher Poul Erik Lærke, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University. Phone: 22401844 or email: poule.laerke@agro.au.dk

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JOURNAL

Heliyon

DOI

10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17320 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Comparison of GHG emissions from annual crops in rotation on drained temperate agricultural peatland with production of reed canary grass in paludiculture using an LCA approach

Offshore floating wind farms, environmental benefits throughout the life cycle

A research paper by Politecnico di Milano in the international journal Sustainable Production and Consumption analyses a floating wind farm off the coast of Sicily

Peer-Reviewed Publication

POLITECNICO DI MILANO

Milan  - Offshore wind farms bring environmental benefits throughout their life cycle. This emerges from a study published in the international journal Sustainable Production and Consumption in which researchers from Politecnico di Milano analysed the potential environmental impacts of a floating offshore wind farm undergoing authorisation off the coast of Sicily.

“Results show that the environmental impacts of offshore wind farms with floating turbines are mainly associated with the life cycle of the wind turbine and the floating structure, and in particular with steel production”, Mario Grosso, professor in Solid Waste Management and Treatment at Politecnico di Milano, explains. “The other phases of the life cycle have much smaller contributions than the procurement phase.

The analysis included the phases of procurement of materials, transport of components, assembly and installation with specialised vessels, maintenance during operation, disassembly and end-of-life.

"The analysis also included the other components required for building an offshore wind farm, with a particular focus on the electrical system for transmitting the energy produced, in order to assess the contribution of the implementation complexity of offshore installations to the wind farm overall impact", Lucia Rigamonti, professor in Methodologies for Life Cycle Thinking, explains.

Results show that comparing 1 GWh of energy taken from the national grid with 1 GWh of energy produced by the wind farm, the overall impacts of wind power are significantly reduced for almost all impact categories analysed: in the ‘climate change’ category, the benefit is a 92% reduction in impacts, and worsening is only observed in the ‘abiotic depletion’ category (+95%). Furthermore, this technology would allow to avoid generating energy from fossil fuels, and therefore, as the results show, related investments would be quickly repaid in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and energy, in 2 and 3 years, respectively.

"Overall, the results of the analysis provide a rough indication that helps make us aware of the environmental loadings of a renewable electricity generation system and to compare it with other energy sources”, Gaia Brussa, researcher at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Politecnico, explains. “However, it must be kept in mind that this is currently a preliminary estimate based on the design choices presented for the scoping phase of the Environmental Impact Assessment.

Scientific literature is still insufficient when it comes to life cycle analysis (LCA) of offshore wind farms with large turbines (over 15 MW) installed on floating structures reflecting recent industry developments and current market trends. However, in order to assess their true environmental sustainability, it is important to analyse renewable electricity generation technologies from a life-cycle perspective.

 

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JOURNAL

Sustainable Production and Consumption

DOI

10.1016/j.spc.2023.05.006 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Life cycle assessment of a floating offshore wind farm in Italy

SCI-FI-TEK

EU invests €3.5M in a project to convert carbon and nitrogen emissions into valuable resources

With a duration of three years, the EU-funded SUPERVAL project is set to commence on 1st November 2023.

Grant and Award Announcement

INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH OF CATALONIA (ICIQ)

 

IMAGE: MAP OF SUPERVAL CONSORTIUM PARTNERS view more 

CREDIT: ICIQ

The European Union has allocated €3.5 million in funding the SUPERVAL project (SUstainable Photo-ElectRochemical VALorization of flue gases) under the EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2022 call, an ambitious initiative aimed at converting, in a sustainable way, carbon and nitrogen emissions into valuable resources. This three-year project, scheduled to start on the 1st of November 2023, brings together a consortium of eight organizations from Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands and Denmark.

Limiting post-combustion emissions is one of the most urgent actions for environmental remediation. However, capture technologies face multiple challenges mostly due to the low concentration of pollutants, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) or nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), making them highly inefficient. Additionally, even if successful, there are very few plausible uses for the captured pollutants, apart from long-term geological storage.

In the pursuit of a more sustainable future, SUPERVAL’s primary objective is to address these challenges simultaneously, investigating the viability of a technology capable of transforming the treatment of post-combustion gases to unlock the potential of carbon and nitrogen components by separating and transforming them into valuable resources.

This is not the first project that the EU funds in that direction. SUPERVAL builds on the A-LEAF project, which is featured as a success story on the European Commission website.The A-LEAF project achieved the direct use of sunlight to transform waste carbon dioxide (CO₂) into valuable chemical fuels using a clean, fast and cost-effective solution from low-cost, non-critical raw materials and processes.

The SUPERVAL technology will optimize and expand this strategy to the capture of the contaminants (CO₂ and NOₓ) from flue gas to convert them into added-value commodities for the chemical industry using exclusively renewable power sources from photovoltaics. All implemented in a single, autonomous installation, to be validated in an industrial environment.

Like the previous A-LEAF project, SUPERVAL will be coordinated by the research institution Institut Catala d'Investigacio Química (ICIQ-CERCA) and will bring together a consortium of diverse organizations contributing their unique expertise and resources. The participating partners include: Orchestra Scientific. Universitat Politècnica de València – UPV, Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali - INSTM UdR Messina, CASPE Laboratory. Forschungszentrum Julich (who was also a consortium partner in the A-LEAF project), Technische Universiteit Eindhoven - TU/e. Vareser 96 and 2.-O LCA Consultants Aps.

JR Galán-Mascarós, the project coordinator and group leader at ICIQ, stated: “The SUPERVAL project holds immense potential to demonstrate a viable treatment of post-combustion emissions and contribute to our journey towards sustainability. The technology's process involves the solar-driven electrochemical conversion of captured CO₂ into an organic, energy-rich molecule (formate), using water as a source of electrons and protons. Additionally, the NOₓ, in combination with N₂, will be transformed into ammonia through a photocatalytic process, utilizing electrolytic green hydrogen. This comprehensive approach enables the capture and valorization of carbon and nitrogen components found in post-combustion emissions, reducing pollutants while generating valuable chemicals.”

To ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the SUPERVAL project, techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment studies will be conducted. These studies will contribute to refining the performance and components of the technology, solidifying its position as a crucial advancement in achieving zero net emissions.

Stefano Giancola, R&D manager of Orchestra Scientific and leader of the gas separation work package, shared his excitement, adding: "Collaborating on the SUPERVAL project is a really inspiring experience. As a company specialized in CO₂ capture, we look forward to contribute with our expertise to the impactful outcomes that this innovative technology will deliver."

Representing the international partnership, Tsvetelina Merdzhanova, group leader at IEK-5 Photovoltaics, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, remarked, "We are proud to be part of the SUPERVAL project as photovoltaic experts, and through our collective efforts, we aim to achieve a significant breakthrough in carbon and nitrogen management."

The SUstainable Photo-ElectRochemical VALorization of flue gases – SUPERVAL project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020, Grant Agreement No. 101115456

More extreme-heat occurrences related to humidity in China

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INSTITUTE OF ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

 

IMAGE: TIME SERIES OF EXTREME COMPOUND HUMID-HEAT (SOLID RED LINE) AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE (SOLID BLUE LINE) HEAT DAYS OVER CHINA DURING 1961–2020. DASHED LINES SHOW THE CORRESPONDING LINEAR TRENDS. view more 

CREDIT: WENYUE HE

One of the main risks posed by climate change is exceeding the thermal limits of the human body. In hot environments, evaporation is considered to be the primary means by which human bodies cool down. However, atmospheric humidity is a crucial factor affecting the efficiency of evaporation, making the combination of hot and humid conditions more physiologically stressful than extreme dry-temperature conditions.

Besides the human health impacts, the occurrence of extreme-heat events also has severe socioeconomic impacts. For example, the record-breaking extreme heat event in Europe in 2003, the rare extreme heat wave in Russia in 2010, and a long-duration heat wave in southern China in 2013, aside from the thousands of human casualties, all caused billions of dollars in economic losses.

The co-occurrence of day and night heat extremes has attracted much attention in China because, with its vast population and many laborers engaged in outdoor work, the recent rapid increases in air temperature that have resulted in more frequent and intense heat waves pose particularly dangerous conditions across most of the country. With this in mind, the research group of Prof. Huopo Chen from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, characterized and compared extreme day–night compound humid-heat/high-temperature events in China as well as the associated impacts. The results have been published recently in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters.

Against the background of global warming, significant increasing trends in the frequency of such extreme events are captured nationwide, but with much stronger trends detected in northern and western China (see figure). According to this study, the anomalies of humidity play a more important role than those of temperature in the occurrence of extreme compound humid-heat events in most parts of China, but particularly in eastern regions. Since 1961, the human population and land areas of China have experienced strongly increasing compound heat extremes, with a faster rate of exposure to extreme compound humid-heat events than to extreme compound high-temperature events.

"Understanding the nature of humidity and limiting its occurrence may be an important step in dealing with regional changes in heat stress in the future," concludes Prof. Chen.

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JOURNAL

Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters

DOI

10.1016/j.aosl.2023.100391 

ARTICLE TITLE

More extreme-heat occurrences related to humidity in China

From ground-hugging to groundbreaking: How a unique tomato mutation could transform sustainable agriculture

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BOYCE THOMPSON INSTITUTE

 

IMAGE: ADJUNCT ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT BTI CARMEN CATALÁ AND BTI POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER PHILIPPE NICOLAS EXAMINE TOMATOES GROWING IN A BTI GREENHOUSE. view more 

CREDIT: BTI

ITHACA, NY, July 7, 2023 - Tomatoes are a staple in diets worldwide and an essential part of sustainable agriculture. Now, scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) have reported groundbreaking insights into a long-known tomato mutation, unlocking the potential for enhanced fruit quality and stress resistance. 
 
"What started as curiosity about an intriguing mutant has blossomed into a potentially transformative discovery for sustainable agriculture," said lead researcher Carmen Catalá, an adjunct assistant professor at BTI and Senior Research Associate in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell. 
 
The investigation, published in the Journal of Experimental Botany, focused on decoding the mystery of a tomato mutant called "adpressa," first discovered in the 1950s. The mutant garnered attention because of an unusual characteristic: adpressa plants are unable to sense gravity. These plants often grow close to the ground rather than upward toward the sky; hence, their name conveys a habit of being flat (adpressed) against the soil. 
 
The team led by Catalá, including BTI postdoctoral researchers Philippe Nicolas and Richard Pattison, began by uncovering the precise genetic change causing this fascinating effect. They found that the mutation blocks the synthesis of starch, which is a storage form of sugar.  
 
The team pushed further, using the mutation to investigate fundamental questions about fruit biology. They discovered that the mutant shows major transcriptional and metabolic adjustments, including increased levels of soluble sugars and enhanced growth. More surprisingly was the discovery of complete resistance to blossom-end rot (BER), a physiological disorder causing deterioration of fruit's cell membranes and a dry, black, and sunken area on the bottom of the tomatoes. 
 
Often noticed by gardeners and commercial growers, BER incidence is difficult to predict but has been directly related to environmental stresses such as temperature or irregular watering. BER also affects other fruits and vegetables, including peppers, squash, cucumber, and melon. Although this complex disorder has been intensively studied, mechanisms underlying BER development are not fully understood.
 
"Our findings with the adpressa mutant are quite promising. Contrary to what was previously thought, the lack of starch did not alter fruit development and ripening. In fact, adpressa fruits were slightly larger and accumulated more sugars during growth. The most remarkable discovery is the resistance to blossom-end rot. These findings open new avenues for improving fruit yield and quality, especially under stressful environmental conditions," noted Nicolas. 
 
The research team at BTI collaborated with scientists from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, the Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea "La Mayora" in Málaga, Spain, and the US Department of Agriculture. Together, they utilized advanced genomic and metabolic analysis tools to study how the mutation affects fruit development. 
 
"The intricate connection we observed between sugar metabolism and resistance to cellular damage in fruit tissues is particularly fascinating. This study reveals the potential for engineering or breeding tomatoes that can better withstand environmental challenges," said Nicolas.
 
The team is now working on understanding why these mutants are resilient against abiotic stresses and expect to find target genes or compounds with an essential role in BER resistance. 
 
"We hope this discovery will lead to novel approaches in creating plants resistant to blossom-end rot and other types of stress-induced damage," said Catalá. "Not only would it benefit gardeners and commercial growers, but it would have a significant impact in countries with adverse growing conditions, where small farmers do not have the resources to protect their crops from environmental challenges such as drought." 

About Boyce Thompson Institute
Founded in 1924, the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) is a premier plant biology and life sciences research institution located in Ithaca, New York. BTI scientists conduct investigations into fundamental research with the goals of increasing food security, improving environmental sustainability, and making basic discoveries that will enhance human health. Throughout this work, BTI is committed to inspiring and educating students and to providing advanced training for the next generation of scientists. BTI is an independent nonprofit research institute that is affiliated with Cornell University. For more information, please visit BTIscience.org.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Experimental Botany

DOI

10.1093/jxb/erad212 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Starch deficiency in tomato causes transcriptional reprogramming that modulates fruit development, metabolism, and stress responses

Doom-and-gloom climate news may scare but also encourage audiences

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENN STATE

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A team of Penn State researchers investigated how seeing frightening news about climate change day after day may shape the way people feel about the phenomenon and how willing they are to take action to address it.

Christofer Skurka, Jessica Myrick and graduate student Yin Yang found that seeing bad news about climate change can make people more afraid over time, but it also may encourage audiences to think about what society can do to address the problem. They published the results of two separate studies in an article titled “Fanning the flames or burning out? Testing competing hypotheses about repeated exposure to threatening climate change messages,” which appeared in the journal Climatic Change. 

“The public is surrounded by media coverage about climate change, and this messaging tends to be negative in tone, focusing on the threats that climate change poses to human prosperity and ecological health,” said Skurka, the paper’s lead author and an assistant professor of media studies in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. “We know from years of research in the field of communication that media messaging can impact our emotions, our beliefs and, in turn, sometimes our behavior.”

The first study involved exposing participants to three days of negative news stories about climate change. A follow-up study consisted of participants reading negative news headlines about climate change in the form of Twitter posts for seven consecutive days.

“We found that three days in a row of reading doom-and-gloom news stories about climate change was linked to greater fear and less hope, which can potentially hurt an audience’s attitude that they can do anything to tackle the problem,” said Myrick, the Donald P. Bellisario Professor of Health Communication and co-funded faculty member of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment. “However, our follow-up study had people look only at headlines and not full news stories for a longer period of seven days in a row. In that study, we found that fear peaked after a few days and then held steady.”

The researchers reported that over time, people who repeatedly saw climate change headlines started to feel like they could do more to affect change and that the topic of climate change was important.

“You would think that as people are repeatedly exposed to threatening climate news devoid of solutions content that their efficacy beliefs will decrease over time,” Skurka said. “We saw the opposite pattern in our second study. People’s efficacy beliefs increased over time. In other words, the more exposure people had to these threatening news stories each day, they were increasingly likely to think that they can make a difference in addressing climate change.”

Skurka said one possibility is that as the public copes with unpleasant feelings about the enormous threat climate change presents, they may convince themselves that they have control over the situation, which translates into greater efficacy beliefs that their actions will make a difference. 

“Our findings suggest that people have gotten used to doom-and-gloom reporting around climate change and what may be more important for motivating them to take action is that they see coverage of it on a daily basis,” Myrick said. “This is called an agenda-setting effect, where a topic that is covered more often in the news is then viewed as more important by people who consume the news.”

According to Skurka, decades of research in communication and psychology show that under certain circumstances, fear can be motivating.

“We found that people exposed to the high-threat headlines, which tended to evoke more fear, generally expressed greater intentions to share the information than people exposed to the low-threat headlines, which means there may be an advantage to evoking fear,” Skurka said. “However, people’s responses over time were essentially the same regardless of whether they were shown the high-threat or low-threat news headlines. That tells us that when it comes to over-time responses to repeated media exposure, simply mentioning climate change in the news activates pre-existing emotions and thoughts associated with climate change.”

Myrick added that this does not mean that fear-appeals should be used for all climate change communication. Instead, the more important factor may be communicating hope and solutions.

“For communication to be most impactful, people need to feel like there is still something we can do about it to make a difference,” Myrick said. “That should hopefully motivate reporters and strategic communicators to include information about solutions to climate change in their messaging.”

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JOURNAL

Climatic Change

DOI

10.1007/s10584-023-03539-8