It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
After ten years of living as ‘Maggie’, the penguin has been confirmed to be male
(Picture: Birdland)
A penguin living in a Gloucestershire park has been renamed after it was found she was actually male.
Ten-year-old king penguin ‘Maggie’, of Birdland Park and Gardens, Gloucestershire, has been renamed after making a flirty first move towards another penguin.
Male penguins often make the first move, so when zookeepers saw ‘Maggie’ move towards fellow penguin Frank, they were surprised.
They sent off one of Maggie’s feathers to be tested, which confirmed their suspicions – ‘she’ was actually male.
After ten years of being referred to as the wrong gender, the zookeepers are now happily calling him ‘Magnus’.
In other penguin-related news, last month a malnourished emperor penguin has been discovered thousands of miles away from its home in Antarctica, baffling wildlife experts.
It’s unlikely ‘Maggie’ even realised her name was female
(Picture: Birdland)
The adult male, nicknamed Gus, was found on November 1 on a popular beach in the town of Denmark, south-west Australia, roughly 2,200 miles north of the icy waters off the Antarctic coast where he hails from.
The state of Western Australia’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions said the penguin species has never been reported in Australia before.
University of Western Australia research fellow Belinda Cannell said some had reached New Zealand, but she has ‘no idea’ why the penguin ended up in Denmark.
The penguin is 3.2 feet tall and weighed 51 pounds when he was discovered. A healthy male emperor penguin can weigh more than 100 pounds.
And earlier this year, four new colonies of emperor penguins were found thanks to their telltale calling card – massive smears of poop across the glistening ice.
Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discovered the previously unknown breeding sites using satellites, which captured the big brown patches.
Sunday, December 01, 2024
Planetary boundaries: Confronting the global crisis of land degradation; Potsdam institute report opens UNCCD COP 16
Land degradation undermining Earth’s capacity to sustain humanity; Failure to reverse it will pose challenges for generations; 7 of 9 planetary boundaries are negatively impacted by unsustainable land use, highlighting land’s central role in Earth sys
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
image:
The report, Stepping back from the precipice:Transforming land management to stay within planetary boundaries, produced at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in collaboration with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, is launched as nearly 200 member states begin the UNCCD COP16 summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – A major new scientific report charts an urgent course correction for how the world grows food and uses land in order to avoid irretrievably compromising Earth’s capacity to support human and environmental wellbeing.
Produced under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Johan Rockström at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in collaboration with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the report is launched as nearly 200 UNCCD member states kick off their COP 16 summit on Monday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Land is the foundation of Earth’s stability, regulating climate, preserving biodiversity and maintaining freshwater systems. It provides life-giving resources including food, water and raw materials, says the report, Stepping back from the precipice:Transforming land management to stay within planetary boundaries, which draws on roughly 350 information sources(*) to examine land degradation and opportunities to act from a planetary boundaries perspective.
Deforestation, urbanization and unsustainable farming, however, are causing global land degradation at an unprecedented scale, threatening not only different Earth system components but human survival itself.
Moreover, the deterioration of forests and soils undermines Earth’s capacity to cope with the climate and biodiversity crises, which in turn accelerate land degradation in a vicious, downward cycle of impacts.
“If we fail to acknowledge the pivotal role of land and take appropriate action, the consequences will ripple through every aspect of life and extend well into the future, intensifying difficulties for future generations,” said UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.
Already today, land degradation disrupts food security, drives migration, and fuels conflicts.
The global area impacted by land degradation – approx. 15 million km², more than the entire continent of Antarctica or nearly the size of Russia – is expanding each year by about a million square km.
Planetary boundaries
The report, available for download post-embargo at www.unccd.int and https://bit.ly/3V5SaY7, situates both problems and potential solutions related to land use within the scientific framework of the planetary boundaries, which has rapidly gained policy relevance since its unveiling 15 years ago.
The planetary boundaries define nine critical thresholds essential for maintaining Earth’s stability. How humanity uses or abuses land directly impacts seven of these, including climate change, species loss and ecosystem viability, freshwater systems, and the circulation of naturally occurring elements nitrogen and phosphorus. Change in land use is also a planetary boundary.
Alarmingly, six boundaries have already been breached to date, and two more are close to their thresholds: ocean acidification and the concentration of aerosols in the atmosphere. Only stratospheric ozone – the object of a 1989 treaty to reduce ozone-depleting chemicals – is firmly within its “safe operating space”.
“The aim of the planetary boundaries framework is to provide a measure for achieving human wellbeing within Earth’s ecological limits,” said Johan Rockström, lead author of the seminal study introducing the concept in 2009.
“We stand at a precipice and must decide whether to step back and take transformative action, or continue on a path of irreversible environmental change,” he adds.
The benchmark for land use, for example, is the extent of the world’s forests before significant human impact. Anything above 75% keeps us within safe bounds, but forest cover has already been reduced to only 60% of its original area, according to the most recent update of the planetary boundaries framework by Katherine Richardson and colleagues.
Until recently, land ecosystems absorbed nearly one third of human-caused CO₂ pollution, even as those emissions increased by half.
Over the last decade, however, deforestation and climate change have reduced by 20% the capacity of trees and soil to absorb excess CO₂.
Unsustainable agricultural practices
Conventional agriculture is the leading culprit of land degradation, contributing to deforestation, soil erosion and pollution. Unsustainable irrigation practices deplete freshwater resources, while excessive use of nitrogen- and phosphorus-based fertilizers destabilize ecosystems.
Degraded soils lower crop yields and nutritional quality, directly impacting the livelihoods of vulnerable populations. Secondary effects include greater dependency on chemical inputs and increased land conversion for farming.
The infamous Dust Bowl of the 1930s resulted from large-scale land-use changes and inadequate soil conservation.
Land degradation hotspots today stem from intensive agricultural production and high irrigation demands, particularly in dry regions such as South Asia, northern China, the US High Plains, California, and the Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, climate change – which has long since breached its own planetary boundary – accelerates land degradation through extreme weather events, prolonged droughts, and intensified floods. Melting mountain glaciers and altered water cycles heighten vulnerabilities, especially in arid regions.
Rapid urbanization intensifies these challenges, contributing to habitat destruction, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
The impacts of land degradation hit tropical and low-income countries disproportionately, both because they have less resilience and because impacts are concentrated in tropical and arid regions. Women, youth, Indigenous peoples, and local communities also bear the brunt of environmental decline. Women face increased workloads and health risks, while children suffer from malnutrition and educational setbacks.
Weak governance and corruption exacerbate these challenges. Corruption fosters illegal deforestation and resource exploitation, perpetuating cycles of degradation and inequality.
According to the Prindex initiative, nearly one billion people lack secure land tenure, with the highest concentration in north Africa (28%), sub-Saharan Africa (26%), as well as South and Southeast Asia. The fear of losing one’s home or land undermines efforts to promote sustainable practices.
Agricultural subsidies often incentivize harmful practices, fueling overuse of water and biogeochemical imbalances. Aligning these subsidies with sustainability goals is critical for effective land management.
From 2013 to 2018, more than half-a-trillion dollars were spent on such subsidies across 88 countries, a report by FAO, UNDP and UNEP found in 2021. Nearly 90% went to inefficient, unfair practices that harmed the environment, according to that report.
Transformative action
Transformative action to combat land degradation is needed to ensure a return to the safe operating space for the land-based planetary boundaries. Just as the planetary boundaries are interconnected, so must be the actions to prevent or slow their transgression.
Principles of fairness and justice are key when designing and implementing transformative actions to stop land degradation, ensuring that benefits and burdens are equitably distributed.
Agriculture reform, soil protection, water resource management, digital solutions, sustainable or “green” supply chains, equitable land governance along with the protection and restoration of forests, grasslands, savannas and peatlands are crucial for halting and reversing land and soil degradation.
Regenerative agriculture is primarily defined by its outcomes, including improved soil health, carbon sequestration and biodiversity enhancement. Agroecology emphasises holistic land management, including the integration of forestry, crops and livestock management.
Woodland regeneration, no-till farming, nutrient management, improved grazing, water conservation and harvesting, efficient irrigation, intercropping, organic fertiliser, improved use of compost and biochar – can all enhance soil carbon and boost yields.
Savannas are under severe threat from human-induced land degradation, yet are essential for ecological and human wellbeing. A major store of biodiversity and carbon, they cover 20% of the Earth’s land surface but are increasingly being lost to cropland expansion and misguided afforestation.
The current rate of groundwater extraction exceeds replenishment in 47% of global aquifers, so more efficient irrigation is crucial to reduce agricultural freshwater use.
Globally, the water sector must continue to shift from “grey” infrastructure (dams, reservoirs, channels, treatment plants) to “green” (reforestation, floodplain restoration, forest conservation or recharging aquifers).
More efficient delivery of chemical fertilizer is likewise essential: currently, only 46% of nitrogen and 66% of phosphorus applied as fertilizer is taken up by crops. The rest runs off into freshwater bodies, and coastal areas with dire consequences for the environment.
New technologies
New technologies coupled with big data and artificial intelligence have made possible innovations such as precision farming, remote sensing and drones that detect and combat land degradation in real time. Benefits likewise accrue from the precise application of water, nutrients and pesticides, along with early pest and disease detection.
Plantix, a free app available in 18 languages, can detect nearly 700 pests and diseases on more than 80 different crops. Improved solar cookstoves can provide households with additional income sources and improve livelihoods, while reducing reliance on forest resources.
Regulatory action, stronger land governance, formalisation of land tenure and better corporate transparency on environmental impacts are all needed as well.
Numerous multilateral agreements on land-system change exist but have largely failed to deliver. The Glasgow Declaration to halt deforestation and land degradation by 2030 was signed by 145 countries at the Glasgow climate summit in 2021, but deforestation has increased since then.
Protecting intact peatlands and rewetting 60% of those already degraded could transform such ecosystems into a net sink, or sponge, of greenhouse gases by the end of the century. Currently, damaged peatlands account for 4% to 5% of global GHG emissions, according to the IUCN.
(*) Please see report for complete references
By the Numbers: Recent research highlights
7 out of 9: Planetary boundaries impacted by land use, underscoring its central role in Earth systems.
60%: Remaining global forest cover—well below the safe boundary of 75%.
15 million km²: Degraded land area, more than the size of Antarctica, expanding by 1 million km² annually.
20%: Earth’s land surface covered by savannas, now under threat from cropland expansion and ill-conceived afforestation.
46%: Global land area classified as drylands, home to a third of humanity; 75% of Africa is dryland.
90%: Share of recent deforestation directly caused by agriculture—dominated by expanding cropland in Africa/Asia, livestock grazing in South America.
80%: Agriculture’s contribution to global deforestation; 70% of freshwater use.
23%: Greenhouse gas emissions stemming from agriculture, forestry, and land use.
50% vs. 6%: Share of agricultural emissions from deforestation in lower-income vs. higher-income countries.
46% / 66%: Fertilizer efficiency for nitrogen and phosphorus; the rest runs off with dire consequences.
2,700+: National policies addressing nitrogen pollution while phosphorus is largely overlooked.
10%: World’s arable land planted with genetically modified crops by 2018—dominated by soy (78%), cotton (76%), and maize (30%).
11,700 years: Length of the Holocene period, during which Earth’s temperature varied within a narrow 0.5°C range—until a 1.3°C rise since the mid-19th century.
1/3: Anthropogenic CO2 absorbed by land ecosystems annually.
25%: Share of global biodiversity found in soil.
20%: Decline in trees’ and soil’s CO2 absorption capacity since 2015 attributed to climate change.
3%: Freshwater share of Earth’s water, mostly locked in ice caps and groundwater.
50%+: World’s major rivers disrupted by dam construction.
47%: Aquifers being depleted faster than they replenish.
1 billion: People with insecure land rights, fearing loss of home or land (e.g., 28% in MENA, 26% in sub-Saharan Africa).
1 in 5: People worldwide who paid bribes for land services in 2019—rising to 1 in 2 in sub-Saharan Africa.
$500B+ (2013–2018): Agricultural subsidies across 88 countries, 90% of which fueled inefficient, harmful practices.
$200B/year: Public and private finance for nature-based solutions, dwarfed by $7 trillion/year financing environmental harm.
145: nations that pledged in 2021 to halt deforestation by 2030; forest loss has since continued.
The 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 Dec. 2024.
The COP is the main decision-making body of UNCCD’s 197 Parties – 196 countries and the European Union.
UNCCD is the global voice for land and one of the three major UN treaties known as the Rio Conventions, alongside climate and biodiversity, which recently concluded their COP meetings in Baku, Azerbaijan and Cali, Colombia respectively.
Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of UNCCD, COP 16 will be the largest UN land conference to date, and the first UNCCD COP held in the Middle East and North Africa region, which knows first-hand the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought.
COP 16 marks a renewed global commitment to accelerate investment and action to restore land and boost drought resilience for the benefit of people and planet.
COP 16 early news highlights include the following:
Special Report on Land: Johan Rockstrom, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) (2 Dec)
Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership launch (2 Dec)
International Drought Resilience Observatory launch (2 Dec)
Global Drought Atlas launch (2 Dec)
Report launch: Investing in Land’s Future: Assessing Financing Needs for Land Restoration and Drought Resilience(3 Dec)
Ministerial dialogues:
Policy instruments for proactive drought management(2 Dec)
Unlocking public and private finance for land restoration and drought resilience(3 Dec), and
Impacts of land degradation and drought on forced migration, security and prosperity(3 Dec)
Climate change is no longer an abstraction. I can literally see it at my front door. My figs ripened in October 2024, which has never happened before as it was never warm enough during that month. In my home state of Oregon, wildfires set new records this year, with almost 2 million acres burned.
Meanwhile, in my hometown, Eugene, we had the longest stretch of consecutive days when temperatures reached at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. It’s hard for me to think about the world that I will leave to my grandchildren. So I look for what I can do, and believe it or not, there’s hope right at the grocery store; buying organic can contribute to combating climate change. Organic farmers actually store carbon in the soil, meaning there’s less in the air to change our climate.
A series of long-term studies mentioned below demonstrate that organic farming increases soil carbon. In other words, organic farming is carbon farming. Federal law defines organic farming as a farming method, so we know what we’re buying. Organic farmers use cover crops, mulches, and crop rotations to build healthy soil. They utilize various techniques to prevent pest problems, using only certain pesticides, which have been thoroughly reviewed as a last resort. You can support carbon farming by buying organic.
Referring to the IPCC recommendations, the World Economic Forum’s November 2024 article states, “[E]nhancing soil carbon sequestration through regenerative agriculture could sequester up to 23 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2050, a substantial portion of the mitigation required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Studies on Organic Farming and Soil Carbon—the Big Picture
Organic carbon farming has been documented by scientists for decades. In 2012, researchers from Switzerland, Scotland, and Italy published a meta-analysis of 74 studies that were pairwise comparisons of organic and conventional farms growing various crops around the world—from all continents except for Africa and Antarctica. The researchers measured soil carbon in three ways (if the underlying study provided the necessary data): the soil carbon concentration, the amount of soil carbon per unit area, and the rate at which the soil carbon measurements changed. They found that for all three measurements, soil carbon was greater at the organic farms than conventional farms. They concluded that “organic farming has the potential to accumulate soil carbon.”
Meanwhile, a 2017 study by Northeastern University and the Organic Center—which studied more than 1,000 soil samples from both organic and conventional farms across 48 states in the U.S.—“found that organic soils had 13 percent higher soil organic matter and 44 percent higher long-term carbon storage than conventionally managed soils.”
Crops That May Be on Your Grocery List
Eating organic fruits and vegetables is better for the environment and has overall health benefits. “Not only does organic production help reduce public health risks, mounting evidence shows that food grown organically are rich in nutrients, such as Vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus, with less exposure to nitrates and pesticide residues in organically grown fruits, vegetables, and grains when compared to conventionally grown products,” states the Organic Trade Association.
Below is a list of popular items we regularly purchase from grocery stores. I chose these products because they are foods that most of us buy often. For each food, There is at least one study showing that choosing organic can help support carbon sequestration and, therefore, allows us to play our part in combating climate change:
Corn
A 2015 review article examined six long-term organic and conventional corn farming comparisons. Each study involved one site, with some plots managed organically and others managed conventionally. Four studies were done in the Midwest, one in California, and one in Maryland. All the studies grew corn in rotation with other crops. The studies were initiated between 1981 and 1998, and these plots had been continuously used for farming between 10 and 24 years when soil carbon was measured.
In five of the six studies, soil carbon capture increased in instances of organic treatments compared to conventional treatments. (The one exception was a plot that used to be a dairy farm and had high soil carbon levels at the beginning of the study.) The review article concludes, “These results suggest that organic farming practices have the potential to reduce nitrate leaching, foster carbon sequestration, and allow farmers to remain competitive in the marketplace.”
Wheat
An 11-year comparison of organic and conventional wheat farming (with other crops grown in rotation) in Nebraska found that soil organic matter (one way to measure carbon) was higher in the organic plots than in conventional plots.
Tomato (in rotation with corn)
California’s Century Experiment has compared organic and conventional tomato (and corn) farming since 1993. Measurements of soil organic carbon showed that the concentrations in organic plots were two to three times higher than in the conventional plots. The study authors noted that the increases occurred throughout the soil profile, down to a depth of 6 feet.
Potato (in rotation with wheat and corn)
A long-term field study in Switzerland that compared organic and conventional farming systems showed that soil organic carbon was higher in the organic plots. The researchers collected soil samples over two decades after the experiment started. A study in Germany found that while carbon was sequestered in the organic plots for more than 15 years, in the conventional plots, the soil lost carbon.
Almonds
In 2018 and 2019, researchers in California compared eight conventional almond orchards with eight organic orchards. (The researchers identified the organic orchards as “regenerative,” but all were certified organic.) The trees in the orchards had been growing for between three and 38 years. Total soil carbon was about 30 percent greater in organic orchards than in conventional orchards. The researchers concluded: “Our results support the notion that converting agriculture to regenerative systems could contribute to remediating several imminent global problems, including climate change diminishing water resources, biodiversity loss, agricultural pollution, human health problems, and diminishing rural economies.”
Strawberries(in rotation with broccoli and lettuce)
In 2004 and 2005, researchers, mainly from Washington State University, compared13 pairs of organic and conventional strawberry farms in Watsonville, California. The farms had been either organic or conventional for at least five years. They found that the amount of carbon in the soil from organic farms was higher than 21 percent compared to conventional farms.
Apples
Scientists from Washington State University and the United States Agency for International Development comparedconventional and organic apple production in a commercial orchard in the Yakima Valley. Trees were planted in 1994, and soil measurements were taken in 1998. At that time, soil organic carbon in the organic plots was about 15 percent higher than in the conventional plots.
Citrus
Two studies, one from Brazil and the other from Italy, showed that total organic soil carbon was higher in organic citrus orchards than in conventional orchards. The increase in soil carbon was 30 percent in the Italian study and 300 percent in some Brazilian measurements.
Extra Benefits
Organic farming benefits people who grow and harvest food because they are exposed to fewer pesticides. According to a 2024 study from California, researchers looked for seven common herbicides and two fungicides in carpet dust from homes in the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. The frequency at which each pesticide was detected and its amount increased in homes where larger amounts of pesticides were used nearby. None of these pesticides are used on organic farms.
“Our findings suggest that most of these herbicides and fungicides travel from the field via primary and secondary drift to homes in the surrounding area, potentially impacting the health of children and other vulnerable groups,” the study published in Environmental International states.
Organic farming also benefits those of us who eat the food. In 2024, Consumer Reports (CR) analyzed pesticide contamination of 59 common fruits and vegetables. The data came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, spanning seven years, and included both conventional and organic produce. The analysis by CR found that pesticide contamination posed significant risks in 20 percent of conventional foods but in almost none of the organic foods. Eating more organic produce ensures a healthier diet.
Tackling a Global Problem With Personal Choices
Climate change is an enormous and complex problem, and the solutions are also complex. There’s no single silver bullet that can fix the crisis, including carbon farming. Even its proponents state that converting power generation to solar or wind energy and reducing the destruction of natural ecosystems are more significant measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
However, while organic food is sometimes hard to find and more expensive, it is a relatively simple step that many of us can incorporate into our daily lives, providing a crucial opportunity to help mitigate climate change.
This article was produced by Earth | Food | Life, a project of the Independent Media Institute.
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