Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Linguistics professor uncovering Toronto's unique style of English

by Ali Raza, University of Toronto Mississauga

Most Canadians are familiar with the "aboot" stereotype, and any Canadian who has traveled to the American Midwest might pause a bit when some Americans call the common fruit an "epple." And of course, there's "Tor-on-toh" versus "Tronno."

While these distinctions in how we speak English are subtle and may be explained by a difference in dialect or variety, it's how these subtle changes occur in a multicultural city like Toronto that interests Derek Denis, an associate professor of linguistics at University of Toronto Mississauga.

Denis was teaching a course at UTM when he told his students of Multicultural London English (MLE), a multiethnolect—a way of speaking with influences from multiple different languages—studied by linguists.

A conversation with a student led him to wonder if Toronto also had its own multiethnolect.

Denis and UTM students Vidhya Elango, Nur Sakinah Nor Kamal, Maria Velasco, and Srishti Prashar, conducted research and found that the Greater Toronto Area does indeed have its own multiethnolect—which they call Multicultural Toronto English (MTE). It's a way of speaking that arises from a variety of features present in Toronto, including its vast diversity of languages. Their findings were published in January 2023 in the Journal of English Linguistics.

"I was telling (students) about the development of a new pronoun, which is the 'man' pronoun, in MLE," Denis says. "Pronouns are slow to change linguistically, so the fact there is this new pronoun was exciting, and one of my students put her hand up and said, "We have that here too.'"

An example of this is "I almost missed the TTC but mans made it here anyways," where 'mans' replaces the pronoun "I." Variations heard in Toronto and in London include man, mans and mandem.

Indeed, "mans," "Tronno" and other observations are features of MTE, Denis says.

The study found that among immigrant youth communities in the Greater Toronto area, vowels were distinctive from previous reports of Canadian English.

While similar phenomena have been documented in European cities, there hasn't been a lot of research on it in North America. It's part of why Denis was so interested in pursuing the research.

"I grew up in Scarborough, in a pretty diverse area," Denis says. "You hear all kinds of English around you, all kinds of accents.

"So, I started looking into this in an academic way."

Denis' team of work-study students collected data through interviews of youth in ethnolinguistically diverse regions of the GTA involving a set of questions to answer, casual conversations, and a word list to read aloud.

"We noticed particular vowel realizations," he says. "So, we created a list of words that had those target sounds in them, about 100 or so."

Canadian raising and 'goat' monophthongization

They investigated a mix of vocalic phenomena, but two of them—Canadian raising and "goat" monophthongization—really caught Denis' attention.

Credit: University of Toronto Mississauga

"(Canadian raising) is the easiest to grasp," Denis explains, referring to the difference between "about" and "aboot."

While "aboot" has become a stereotype resulting from how Americans perceive a much subtler pronunciation, Denis says it's the one people know best.

"Canadian raising affects two vowels," he says. "When the vowel is followed by a certain sound, the realization of that vowel is a little bit higher in the mix. It's subtle."

Except of course the not-so-subtle "aboot" is what Americans hear, as the phenomenon doesn't exist in American English. Denis says the presence of a stereotype means there is a social meaning attached to how the word is pronounced. As a result, their research shows an almost unconscious avoidance of this feature of Canadian raising with the word "about."

That's to say, young Torontonians are trying to avoid saying anything resembling "aboot." It's why Denis doesn't consider "aboot" to be a feature of MTE.

But in another example, where there isn't any social meaning or stereotype present, the data shows a difference in pronunciation consistent with Canadian raising: 'eyes' and 'ice." In MTE, the "I' has distinct sounds in this example.

"They're two different sounds," he says. "But we don't have a stereotype of 'eyes' and 'ice.'" Americans don't make fun of us for saying 'ice,' but they make fun of us for saying 'aboot.'"

Another phenomenon that Denis traces to the influence of other languages and dialects is "goat" monophthongization. To understand this, it's important to know what a monophthong and a diphthong are. The former is a sound formed by one vowel in a syllable, like "cat," while the latter is a sound formed with a combination of two vowels in a syllable, like "coin" or the subtler "goat."

Essentially, it involves the movement of the tongue during speaking.

"It's the process of a vowel that is normatively produced as a diphthong becoming a monophthong, so there's less movement of the tongue," he says.

Denis and his team found that in MTE, youth surveyed exhibited "monophthongization"—that is a two-vowel syllable turning into a one-vowel syllable—with the word "goat."

That is, the "oa" sound was becoming a more "oh" sound. "Goat" versus "goht."

"'Goat' monophthongization is probably the phenomenon we can most clearly link from an influence from Jamaica patois," Denis says. "The vowel in Jamaican patois is not quite exactly the same, but we can trace the influence to it."

'Feature pool' of variables

MTE results from what linguists called a "feature pool," where several variables influence how a language slowly changes over time. In Toronto, some of those features might be associated with ethnicities like in the example of "goat." But some features arise from an authenticity of being from a community—like the difference of how "Toronto" is pronounced.

"It's like this mixture that people pick and choose from," Denis says. "That's why I hesitate to call this a dialect because it's not exactly that, it's a pool of features that individuals use to develop their own linguistic style."

The results of the research showed a great deal of "interspeaker variability" in the way of speaking among youth in immigrant communities. But it's a result of English changes and developments within Toronto communities, Denis notes.

Denis continues his research on MTE and plans to publish a book on his findings soon.

More information: Derek Denis et al, Exploring the Vowel Space of Multicultural Toronto English, Journal of English Linguistics (2023). DOI: 10.1177/00754242221145164

Provided by University of Toronto Mississauga

New study finds that Miami English is its own unique dialect

What motivates family forest landowners to manage invasive species?

by Marianne Stein, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Over half of forests in the United States are privately owned, especially in the Eastern part of the country. This can make control of invasive species challenging, as efforts need to be coordinated among many different landowners. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at how family forest landowners in Maine and New Hampshire approach invasive species management and what factors influence their decisions.

"We have mostly public land on the West Coast and privately owned family forestland in the Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard. Private landowners are going to have different preferences, so what will happen when collective action is required to manage invasive species?" asked Shadi Atallah, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois.

There are three main categories of private family forest landowners, Atallah stated. There are recreational landowners who primarily want to enjoy the land; owners who are looking to get supplemental income from timber; and others who seek to combine recreational and income opportunities. Each group has different priorities and motivations for managing their forests, and this has implications for policy makers.

Atallah is lead author on the study, which focused on control of glossy buckthorn in eastern white pine forests. This is an exotic and invasive species that can cause substantial problems if not managed.

"Glossy buckthorn can grow as high as a person so it can block recreational activities such as hiking, biking, and wildlife watching. It's also going to inhibit the ability of the white pine forest to naturally regenerate, because it will shade juvenile trees and limit their growth. Thus, it is both an economic problem and a problem for the provision of ecosystem services," Atallah said.

The researchers conducted a survey with 939 forest landowners in Maine and New Hampshire to gauge preferences, motivations, and willingness to pay for glossy buckthorn control on their land. Respondents also received an informational brochure about the invader, explaining identification, problems, and control methods.

The survey was designed as a choice experiment, where respondents were presented with a series of different scenarios and asked to make hypothetical choices for management options and outcomes. The options differed in ecosystem service benefits (trail recreation, wildlife, timber), control methods (mechanical or chemical), neighborhood adoption rates, and costs. Each respondent received a random combination of options.

Current conservation cost-share programs in the region reimburse landowners for up to 75% of the cost of controlling invasive species. According to survey results, this is sufficient to encourage mechanical but not chemical control.

"We find that family forest landowners have a very strong preference for mechanical control methods, although they are more expensive and less effective. In fact, owners have a negative willingness to pay for chemical control, which means they actually would have to be paid to use this method," Atallah stated.

On average, landowners prefer control options that increase timber regeneration and wildlife viewing. Owners of large forest lands are also motivated to control invasive species in order to improve trail recreational activities.

The researchers found that owners of smaller forests are strongly influenced by what their neighbors are doing. Neighborhood effects are significant for those owning less than 26 acres, which is 80% of all landowners in the area.

"We show that it's going to increase a landowner's willingness to pay for control if their neighbor is also doing so. If everybody else is controlling, it becomes more cost effective," Atallah said.

Conservation agencies can capitalize on this finding, he noted.

"Because this problem exists in a region with a lot of privately held land, there is an opportunity to build on that neighborhood effect," he said. "For example, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) or Cooperative Extension could provide information to landowners about the control level in their neighborhood to increase their likelihood of action. Landowners view their control as a complement to their neighbors' efforts, which can benefit the areawide management of invasive species."

Forest landowners' strong preference for mechanical control also has policy implications.

"We have these environmental preferences that could lead to the invasive species spreading because mechanical controls are less effective than chemical methods. An agency concerned with effectiveness at the landscape level might end up subsidizing chemical control more than mechanical," Atallah stated. "The crux of the problem is how to balance the tradeoffs between landowner preferences, available treatment methods, and the forest health as an ecosystem that would benefit from the removal of non-native, invasive plants."

Atallah is currently working on a research project to estimate those tradeoffs, which can provide guidelines for conservation agencies seeking to develop management strategies.

More information: Shady S. Atallah et al, Family forest landowner preferences for managing invasive species: Control methods, ecosystem services, and neighborhood effects, Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (2023). DOI: 10.1002/jaa2.60

Provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Private forest landowners in Pennsylvania want to use controlled fire to manage their woods

What the science says about how red and processed meat affects our health, and the health of ecosystems

by Katherine Sievert and Gary Sacks, The Conversation

What the science says about how red and processed meat affects our health—and the health of the ecosystems — Credit: Shutterstock

Emotions can run high when the topic of how much red and processed meat to eat is raised. For many of us, eating these foods is culturally important—often tied to specific dishes and traditions.

That's why this week's landmark new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) is welcome. The report focuses explicitly on what the science says about how red and processed meat affects our health—and the health of the ecosystems on which we depend.

What does it say? Moderation is important. In high-income countries, we tend to eat too much red meat, which boosts the risk of some cancers and heart disease. We should treat processed meat, such as salami, with even greater caution, as the link to cancer risk is even clearer.

If you want a quick take-home, it's this: eat less red meat, avoid processed meat and choose meat farmed under better conditions. But this is not always easy or affordable for everyone. So most importantly, we need changes to the policies that affect how our food systems operate so that our well-being and the health of the planet are prioritized.

What does the evidence say about red meat and our health?

Red meat is a rich source of many important nutrients, including iron, B-vitamins and all essential amino acids. These are compounds essential for human growth, development and good health.

Importantly, these nutrients are not exclusively found in red meat. Beans and legumes are also high in iron and B-vitamins, though in less easily absorbed form. Many cultures have developed healthy diets without an over-reliance on red meat by including beans and legumes.

In populations that experience food insecurity, red meat can be an important source of nutrition. In these contexts, it doesn't make sense to advise people to avoid red meat.

But in other parts of the world, red meat intake is too high. Australians are some of the world's biggest red meat eaters, which puts us at higher risk of chronic diseases such as bowel cancer and cardiovascular disease. Both of these are among Australia's top killers.

Processed and ultra-processed meats such as ham and chicken nuggets come with even greater health risks, especially when consumed in excess. The WHO considers processed meat a Group 1 carcinogen. That means there's strong evidence linking consumption to cancer risk.

The way we produce red and processed meat comes with a host of other health issues, such as antimicrobial resistance due to overuse of antibiotics, as well as the risk of new zoonotic animal-to-human diseases. Intensive farming done on industrial scales poses particular risks.

What does the evidence tell us about red meat and the environment?

Ruminant livestock need grass, which often means farmers chop down the trees or shrubs previously there, making pasture inhospitable for native species. In feedlots, these animals are often fed on grains or soy. Producing the volumes needed—of both animal feed and livestock—means felling more forests. That's why we can clearly link increased livestock farming to damaged biodiversity.

There are issues on the climate front, too. Livestock production accounts for up to 78% of all greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Of this, cattle farming contributes 80%.

In Australia, livestock farming is generally less intensive compared to the United States. Even so, deforestation to make room for cattle is still a major issue in Australia. In the last five years, 13,500 hectares have been cleared for beef cattle operations in Queensland alone.

It doesn't have to be so destructive. Mixed farming systems, where cattle graze on land covered by trees and native grasses, is less destructive.

So are farming methods built around agro-ecological principles where the health of the land and fairness are prioritized.

As global heating escalates, it will pose increasing challenges for livestock farmers (and livestock animals). Increases in extreme weather have major implications for animal welfare, farmer livelihoods and food security.

What does the evidence say about industrial farming?

Many farmers care greatly about the welfare of their animals and the environment.

But meat production in many parts of the world is now dominated by large corporations. To maximize production, these companies rely on intensive farming techniques such as feedlots and extensive use of antibiotics. These techniques are spreading as low- and middle-income countries such as China and Brazil gain more appetite for meat.

Industrial scale farming comes with real costs. If we can make meat production better, we will lower the risk of antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss, and improve the lives of workers and the animals themselves.

Knowing this, what should we do?

If we leave the situation as it is, intensive farming and red and processed meat consumption will continue to increase.

But this is not sustainable. To improve the health of people and the planet we need to change how we produce meat. And we need to consume more diverse diets. These changes have to be sensitive to the local context.

Changing what we eat must involve governments. Just as governments have a role in encouraging food manufacturers to avoid carcinogens or dangerous chemical additives, they have a role in promoting healthy diets from food systems that are sustainable over the long term.

What does that look like? It could be investing in agro-ecological farming practices, tackling corporate concentration of meat production, penalizing antibiotic overuse and subsidizing healthy options like beans and legumes. Taxing the riskiest meat-based foods, such as heavily processed meat, is another option.

Sensible policy-making may also help shift cultural norms in which meat is so highly valued.

Could we just swap red meat for different meat? It's not that simple. The majority of chickens are intensively farmed, too, meaning antibiotic resistance remains a risk. Ultra-processed plant-based meats may also pose problems for human health.

A better option is to focus on minimally-processed whole foods (think brown rice, nuts and pulses) and sustainably-produced foods from animals. But we need action from the government to make these options affordable and convenient.

Importantly, the WHO report does not say stop eating red meat—it simply lays out the evidence about what it does to your health. It also points to ways of farming livestock that are less destructive and outlines ways to reduce our habitual consumption.

Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Meat intake after diagnosis not tied to colon cancer outcomes

Linking the mechanics of lake heat waves and potentially poisonous blooms

by Bangor University

Eutrophication, the cycle whereby nutrients overstimulate the growth of potentially harmful plankton and cyanobacterial "blooms" in freshwater lakes, has become a problem for more than 60% of global inland waters. The problem is set to be exacerbated by climate change, and so our priority should be to further reduce external nutrient inputs to diminish the basis of cyanobacterial bloom outbreaks.

The study of one lake in China, an important source of water for more than 20 million people and for industry, establishes the mechanisms between lake heat waves and potentially poisonous cyanobacteria blooms.

The research by Dr. Iestyn Woolway of Bangor University and research colleagues in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China and Aarhus University, Denmark, published in Science of the Total Environment studies the heat wave experienced in 2022 in Lake Taihu, one of China's largest freshwater lakes situated in the Yangtze delta, and the associated cyanobacteria blooms. (Cyanobacterial are similar to plankton. Under certain conditions they can thrive in freshwater causing harm to other plants and animals).

Increasing surface air temperature is one of the most recognized consequences of man-made climate change. In lakes, these conditions are exacerbated by "run-offs" from other human activities which add nutrients to the lakes, these in turn, help the cyanobacteria to thrive. An increase in lake surface water temperature has a knock-on effect on the entire lake environment.

Woolway says, "In addition to reducing run-off into freshwater as a result of our activities, we should be working towards systematic monitoring, prediction and early warning to reduce the damaging impact of heat waves on lake ecosystems. We need to better understand the mechanisms and triggers in lakes with different nutrient levels in order to formulate strategies to address and adapt to climate change.

"The whole thing becomes a vicious circle when heat waves occur. An increased temperature reduces vertical mixing within the freshwater water column. This benefits buoyant cyanobacteria floating and forming dense surface blooms. These dense blooms, in turn, slightly increase the water temperature.

"The lower winds experienced during heat waves also contribute to reduced mixing in the water column and reduce dissolved oxygen in the water. In turn, the low dissolved oxygen levels at the lake bottom increase the release of phosphorus from the sediment, which then supports further growth of more cyanobacteria.

"Heat waves are predicted to increase eleven-fold during this century, and this will have profound negative effects on the structure, function, and ecosystem services of aquatic systems."

More information: Na Li et al, The unprecedented 2022 extreme summer heatwaves increased harmful cyanobacteria blooms, Science of The Total Environment (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165312

Journal information: Science of the Total Environment

Provided by Bangor University

Water temperature found to not impact blue-green algae blooms

Field site shows evidence of humans in Oregon 18,000 years ago

by Lexie Briggs, University of Oregon

Oregon archaeologists have found evidence suggesting humans occupied the Rimrock Draw rock shelter outside of what is now the Eastern Oregon town of Riley more than 18,000 years ago.

The University of Oregon's Museum of Natural and Cultural History Archaeological Field School, led by archaeologist UO Patrick O'Grady, has been excavating at the Rimrock Draw rock shelter since 2011 under an official partnership agreement with the Bureau of Land Management. Discoveries at the site have included stone tools and extinct mammal tooth fragments from the Pleistocene Epoch. The pieces of tooth enamel are identified as bison and camel.

In 2012, O'Grady's team found camel teeth fragments under a layer of volcanic ash from an eruption of Mount St. Helens that was dated at more than 15,000 years ago. The team also uncovered two finely crafted orange agate scrapers, one in 2012 with preserved bison blood residue and another in 2015, buried deeper in the ash. Natural layering of the rock shelter sediments suggests the scrapers are older than both the volcanic ash and camel teeth.

Radiocarbon dating analysis on the tooth enamel, first in 2018 and then again in 2023, by Thomas W. Stafford Jr. of Stafford Research and John Southon of University of California, Irvine, yielded exciting results: a date of 18,250 years before present.

That date, in association with stone tools, suggests that the Rimrock Draw rock shelter is one of the oldest sites of human occupation in North America.

"This early date aligns well with the oral histories of the tribal nations in the region, many of whom have stories about witnessing geological events like the Missoula floods, a series of events that changed everything for the tribes between 18,000 and 15,000 years ago," said David Lewis, who received his doctorate in anthropology from the UO and is currently a professor of anthropology at Oregon State University. "As well, tribes have oral histories of encountering giant animals, monsters on the land, and Rimrock Draw rock shelter's evidence suggest that we did interact with the megafauna, and they may have become characters in our histories of the time before memory."

Additional testing of other camel and bison tooth fragments is currently underway, and archaeobotanists are studying plant remains from cooking fires as well.

"The identification of 15,000-years-old volcanic ash was a shock, then Tom's 18,000-years-old dates on the enamel, with stone tools and flakes below, were even more startling," O'Grady said.

Currently, another archaeological site on BLM-managed public lands in western Idaho, known as Cooper's Ferry, is thought to be the oldest known site of human habitation in western North America. Evidence there suggests human occupation dating back more than 16,000 years.

"This is a very exciting development for the archaeological community," said Heather Ulrich, BLM Oregon/Washington archaeology lead. "Previous excavations on BLM public lands in Oregon have provided archaeological evidence of human occupation dating back 14,000 years. Thanks to the partnership with Dr. O'Grady and the university, these new dates push our archaeological knowledge of human occupation in North America even farther, perhaps the oldest yet."

This summer, O'Grady plans to complete the final archaeology field school at Rimrock Draw. The team will be working on several units where more ice age animal remains and artifacts are providing supporting evidence for the 2012 discoveries.

Provided by University of Oregon

New artifacts suggest people arrived in North America earlier than previously thought

Opinion: Why the shipping industry's increased climate ambition will reduce its fossil fuel use

by Christiaan De Beukelaer and Tristan Smith, The Conversation

A revised strategy to reduce global shipping emissions has emerged from two weeks of intense talks in London. It marks a significant increase in the industry's climate ambition.

The revised strategy has been criticized for not being ambitious enough. However, the forecast growth in global trade and the world's shipping fleet means the reductions required of individual ships are much greater than the overall greenhouse gas emission targets.

The new targets for international shipping are:

reductions of 20% (from a 2008 baseline), striving for 30%, by 2030
reductions of 70%, striving for 80%, by 2040
net-zero emissions "by or around, i.e. close to" 2050.

We calculate the strategy will require cuts in emissions per ship of up to 60% by 2030 and as much as 91% by 2040. This means the days of fossil-fueled ships are numbered.

Edging closer to limiting warming to 1.5℃

Global shipping emissions rank within to the top 10 countries for emissions. The industry should do its fair share in keeping global warming below 1.5℃.

The revised strategy was negotiated at the London headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations agency that regulates shipping. Backed by the Science-Based Targets initiative, several Pacific Island states, New Zealand, the US, the UK and Canada had proposed emission cuts of at least 37% by 2030, 96% by 2040 and to absolute zero by 2050. (An initial strategy adopted in 2018 aimed to reduce shipping emissions by at least 50% by 2050.)

The revised strategy's targets are not as high as those called for by the science and the most ambitious governments. However, they are still very stringent at a ship level.

Shipping volumes have grown by more than 50% since 2008, with further growth expected. Increasing numbers of ships mean average emission reductions per ship will need to be 54-60% by 2030 and 86-91% by 2040.

Before the revised strategy, IMO policy focused on improving the energy efficiency and carbon intensity of new and existing ships. These tools failed to rein in shipping emissions.

Climate Action Tracker's most recent analysis concluded the "highly insufficient" initial strategy put shipping on a pathway consistent with 3-4℃ of warming. To estimate how the new targets compare—assuming the strategy's measures that are yet to be adopted will be effective—they can be superimposed on this assessment's current trajectories.

This shows the revised strategy still does not align global shipping with the emission-reduction pathway needed to avoid more than 1.5℃ of warming. But it does mark the beginning of the end for fossil fuels.

What are the strategy's key elements?

The revised strategy calls for "net-zero" GHG emissions "by or around, i.e. close to 2050". The term "net" leaves an unfortunate loophole for future use of emission offsets. It's big enough for the giant container ship Ever Given to steam through. This ambiguity has been left for future negotiations to resolve.

Importantly, though, IMO member states agreed to set targets for emissions on a "well-to-wake" basis, covering emissions from both fuel production and combustion. Including "upstream" emissions ensures shipping decarbonization does not shift emissions ashore. Being required to achieve these reductions will fundamentally and rapidly change the sector's technology and energy supply chains.

Decarbonization will drive up shipping costs. Developing countries fear the impacts will be much greater for them than for developed countries.

Small island developing states and least developed countries bear almost no historical responsibility for the climate crisis. They have called for a "just and equitable transition". So too have countries with large numbers of maritime workers, like the Philippines, as well as the International Transport Workers' Federation representing these workers.

To deliver a policy that both reduces emissions and supports a just and equitable transition, the revised strategy includes a commitment to finalize a "basket of candidate measures", both technical and economic.

The technical measure is a fuel standard that ratchets down the permissible emission intensity of fuels over time. This proved uncontroversial.

The "candidate" economic measures to price emissions did not all get broad support. For example, a mandatory universal emissions levy—proposed by the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands—was strongly opposed by countries like China, Brazil and Argentina for fear it might harm their exports.

Many "small island developing states" and "least developed countries" backed a levy. They see it as the most environmentally effective companion to a fuel standard. A price on emissions will speed up the transition, while revenues from the levy can be used to support a just and equitable transition.

As a result of these political differences, more work needs to be done to resolve the specifics of the emissions pricing mechanism.

Press the play button or zoom out and use the filters to see where different ship types travel. Created by London-based data visualization studio Kiln and the UCL Energy Institute

Strategy is still a work in progress

The message to industry is crystal clear: the commercial competitiveness of fossil-fuel-driven ships, and demand for them, will dwindle rapidly with almost a full phasing out by the 2040s. During this rapid transition, shipping firms will have to very carefully manage the liabilities and risks of existing investments and formulate ways to maximize opportunities and market share.

Pressure from Pacific Island states and increased public scrutiny forced IMO member states to commit to higher levels of ambition than many had wanted to accept. Continued pressure will be needed, though, to ensure the measures adopted deliver on the ambition of the IMO strategy.

Before member states adopt any of these measures, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will model the expected impacts on states. Some countries may then fight hard to block or reduce the effect of measures that have "disproportionate negative impacts".

The final "basket of measures" won't be adopted until 2025 when their details are finalized. They will become legally binding when the strategy comes into force in 2027.

In sum, the revised strategy is a modest win, but the battle is far from over.

Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Maritime sector seals carbon-cutting deal but sparks criticism

Project reveals extent of pesticide residues in ecosystems and humans across Europe and Argentina

by ISC Intelligence in Science

pesticide agriculture — Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

In the past 70 years, thousands of pesticides have been applied worldwide to increase agricultural production. The intensification of agriculture has led to higher yields, but what are the side effects? Systematic monitoring programs on pesticide residues in ecosystems are only established for water bodies and crops, and only scattered information is available on residues in soils, sediment, air, indoor dust, and the human body.

A session by the SPRINT project at the Science Summit at the UN General Assembly in New York on 27 September 2023 will offer significant new knowledge to solve the urgent question of reducing pesticide risk as a base for transitioning to sustainable agriculture.

SPRINT is the first European-wide effort, extended to Argentina as a significant feed exporter, to monitor actual pesticide application patterns and the resulting distribution of pesticide residues across all central cropping systems. At the UN Science Summit, the initial results of a monitoring campaign will be presented from the growing season 2021, based on the analysis of about 600 samples across soil, plants, surface water, sediment, air and indoor dust and urine and fecal samples from approximately 700 people.

SPRINT focuses on more than 200 active substances of synthetic pesticides and their metabolites from products that are either approved, are substitute candidates or are now banned in the EU. Pesticide residue distribution in different environments is linked to the hazardous properties of the pesticide residues for the ecosystem and human health. Laboratory tests also identify the effects on the ecosystem and human health.

Key findings from the monitoring campaign

Overall

Pesticide residue mixtures are omnipresent in all ecosystems and humans; the presence of mixtures is the new normal.
In more than 90% of the human urine and fecal samples, residues are detected, with a maximum of 20 different types.
Benchmarks for pesticide mixtures in humans, soil, sediment, air and indoor dust are not yet included in the regulations.

In the environment

38% of the European surface water bodies exceed the benchmarks for drinking water quality.
96% of the soils sampled under conventional farming contain pesticide mixtures with a maximum of 20 residues.
79% of soils under organic farming contain mixtures as well.
Most pesticide residues detected in soils and water are classified as hazardous for earthworms or fish.
More than 90 different pesticides and pesticide metabolites were detected in the air in two European agricultural areas.

On crops and farms

More than 40% of the crops contain mixtures with a maximum of 20 residues per sample. The maximum residue level (MRL) for single residues is mostly not exceeded, but there is no MRL for mixtures.
Ecosystems connected to organic farms contained fewer residues but often mixtures of mostly banned pesticide residues from past applications.
The highest accumulation of pesticide residues is detected in indoor dust of farmhouses, with up to 121 different residues per sample in conventional farmhouses and more than 80 in organic farmhouses.
More than 30% of the residues detected in indoor dust are classified as carcinogenic, with more than 60% potentially affecting reproduction development.

In advance of the Science Summit, Violette Geissen, the project leader, said, "Our research has shown just how widespread these pesticide residues are in our homes, bodies and ecosystems. Based on our results, we propose a new risk indicator system to account for the frequency and levels of pesticide use that can be included in future regulations. With the EU's strong commitment to regulation and human safety, we are confident our new data will help inform decision-makers as they work towards the EU's policy goals of a 50% reduction in the use and risk of pesticides."

Provided by ISC Intelligence in Science Revealing the impact of 70 years of pesticide use on European soils

Forest fires in British Columbia are 30 times worse than average, say researchers

by Matt Williams, Universe Today

This summer has seen a violent outbreak of forest fires across Canada and North America. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC), there were 911 active fires across the country on July 13, nearly 600 of which were characterized as "out-of-control."

More than half of these active fires are taking place in the provinces of British Columbia, driven by a combination of unusual heat, dry lightning, and drought. The situation is becoming increasingly common thanks to rising global temperatures, diminished rainfall, changing weather patterns, and other related effects of Climate Change.

Monitoring forest fires and other meteorological phenomena is an important task for which Earth Observation missions like NASA's Aqua satellite were created. On July 12, with six weeks left in the Canadian fire season, Aqua captured images of some of the largest fires over British Columbia using its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument.

The image above shows some of the biggest "hot spots" in the province, which produced dense plumes of smoke blowing eastward through the Rocky Mountains and into Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

The Aqua and Terra satellite work in tandem to acquire data twice daily at mid-latitudes using their MODIS instruments. These four daily observations inform operational fire management while advancing global monitoring of wildfires and their effects on the local environment, the planet's atmosphere, and climate.

In addition, these fires produce massive plumes of smoke that reach the upper atmosphere, where high-level winds spread the smoke and particulate matter to neighboring areas. Several of these fires have produced smoke-infused storm clouds in recent weeks, known as pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb).

"We observed 14 pyroCbs with satellites on July 9-10 alone—several in British Columbia and some in Quebec," said David Peterson, an atmospheric scientist with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. "This surge in activity has made 2023 the most active year for pyroCbs both in Canada and worldwide since we began tracking their numbers closely about a decade ago."

As of July 13, Peterson and colleagues observed 90 pyroCbs in Canada and 104 worldwide. This set a new record for Canada and the world, the previous of which were set in 2021 (50 and 100, respectively), and prompted Environment Canada to issue air quality warnings for communities throughout British Columbia, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories.

In addition, more than 1.2 million hectares were damaged by fire in British Columbia as of July 12, 2023, roughly 30 times the average by this point in the year.

A major outbreak in June struck the eastern province of Quebec and led to air quality issues in neighboring Ontario and parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. This year's totals represent 13% of the 9.4 million hectares that burned nationwide as of July 12. It's also an almost 25% increase over the 7.1 million hectares that burned in 1997, the second-highest year recorded by the CIFFC. Monitoring and tracking these firestorms is vital to mitigation and adaptation efforts as average global temperatures continue to rise.

Provided by Universe Today

Canada wildfires have burned over 10 mn hectares this year

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