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)
Fires erupt in five villages in Barwarî Bala as a result of Turkish bombardments
Bushfires were raging in five villages in Barwarî Bala as a result of Turkish bombardments.
ANF NEWS DESK Monday, 26 August 2024, 08:33
Bushfires, some of them severe, were raging in five villages in Barwarî Bala as a result of Turkish bombardments on Sunday. According to the NGO Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) based in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the villages affected by the fires were Mêrga Qesrê, Girê Sor, Elkîşkê, Cembelkê and Bêlîzanê.
CPT spokesman Kamaran Osman told RojNews news agency that Elkîşkê is particularly at risk. From Sunday morning, the flames surrounded not only several houses, cultivated areas and a cemetery, but also the access road to the village.
At least nineteen families in the village were trapped and had to wait for hours to be evacuated despite requests for help. Osman had no information on injuries or deaths. Regarding the extent of the destruction caused by the flames, he said: "We estimate that around 240 hectares of cultivated and farmland have burned so far."
The bush fires were ignited by heavy shelling by unmanned drones of the Turkish army.
Barwarî Bala - or Berwarî Bala depending on the dialect - which belongs to the Duhok governorate and borders Amêdî, is located with its garden-rich valleys in the southern Kurdish part of the Hekarî Mountains, which are considered a historical Assyrian settlement area. Very close by is the densely populated district of Kanî Masî, in the surrounding area of which the Turkish army already operates several military bases and which serves as a kind of base for Turkey's ongoing occupation offensive in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The KDP, which dominates the government in Hewlêr (Erbil), supports Ankara's occupation campaign. Turkish war policy in South Kurdistan Since the Turkish invasion was expanded in June, the military has regularly set fire to civilian settlements in South Kurdistan - in addition to heavy daily bombings from the ground and air. The aim is to force the population to move. According to the Community Peacemaker Teams, numerous villages in the area around Kanî Masî have already been depopulated as a result of Turkish military violence, and other villages are threatened with the same fate. The international community is ignoring Turkey's crimes in its neighboring country.
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Australia greenlights world's 'largest' solar hub
Agence France-Presse August 21, 2024 Australia is moving forward with plans for a massive solar project, with energy production expected to begin in 2030 (STR)
Australia on Wednesday approved plans for a massive solar and battery farm that would export energy to Singapore, a project billed as the "largest solar precinct in the world".
Authorities announced environmental approvals for SunCable's US$24 billion project in Australia's remote north that is slated to power three million homes.
The project, which will include an array of panels, batteries and, eventually, a cable linking Australia with Singapore, is backed by tech billionaire and green activist Mike Cannon-Brookes.
"It will be the largest solar precinct in the world –- and heralds Australia as the world leader in green energy," said Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
It is hoped that energy production will begin in 2030, providing four gigawatts of energy for domestic use.
Two more gigawatts would be sent to Singapore via undersea cable, supplying about 15 percent of the city-state's needs.
SunCable Australia's managing director Cameron Garnsworthy said the approval was "a landmark moment in the project's journey".
Despite Wednesday's green light, numerous approval processes and other hurdles remain.
The project depends on sign off from Singapore's energy market authority, Indonesia's government and Australian Indigenous communities.
"SunCable will now focus its efforts on the next stage of planning to advance the project towards a final investment decision targeted by 2027," said Garnsworthy. - 'Clean energy powerhouse' -
Countries around the world are racing to bring major solar projects online to ease the transition away from polluting fossil fuels.
China leads the way, and is building almost twice as much wind and solar capacity as every country combined.
Earlier this year it brought online the 3.5 gigawatt Midong solar farm, its largest facility so far.
In contrast, Australia remains one of the world's leading exporters of coal and gas, despite being ravaged by the effects of climate change -- from intense heat to floods and bushfires.
And although Australians are among the world's most enthusiastic adopters of household solar panels, a string of governments have been hesitant to embrace renewables.
In 2022, renewables made up 32 percent of Australia's total electricity generation -- compared to coal, which contributed 47 percent, according to the latest government data.
Plibersek hailed the project as a way of meeting Australia's projected energy shortfall, and creating "14,300 new jobs in northern Australia".
Director of the Energy Change Institute at the Australian National University Ken Baldwin said the project was a "world first" for exporting renewable electricity from solar and wind on such a scale.
"Australia has some of the best solar and wind resources of any country, and as a result, is installing solar and wind at one of the fastest rates of any country in the world on a per capita basis," he told AFP.
But this momentum must continue, particularly if Australia is to meet its net zero targets by 2050, Baldwin said.
"Australia has, over the last five years, invested heavily in solar and wind, but it needs to double and triple that investment in order to reach its climate trajectory towards a net zero future by 2050."
He added that by the 2030s, Australia will need about 100 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity -- the SunCable project will only provide four gigawatts of that need.
Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said the new solar hub was a bold step in making Australia a "clean energy powerhouse" and that such projects were essential in "delivering affordable energy and slashing climate pollution".
"With the closure of coal-fired power stations on the horizon, Australia needs to accelerate the roll-out of solar and storage at every level—rooftops, large-scale projects, and everything in between," she said.
The project would also be a significant step for Cannon-Brookes, who once described the project as "insane" before becoming an enthusiastic investor.
Tuesday, August 06, 2024
From climate change to landfill, AI promises to solve Earth’s big environmental problems – but there’s a hitch
AI-powered 'smart cities' technologies help make public transport systems work more smoothly, which can reduce congestion and minimise vehicle emissions
PTI Sydney
Published 06.08.24 Representational imageTTO Graphics Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionised our lives in myriad ways, from personalising our social media feeds to giving us driving directions and monitoring our health.
In recent years, hopes have grown that AI may also help humanity tackle global environmental problems such as climate change.
AI involves using computers to make them think like humans. It can solve complex problems and process huge amounts of data.
But the technology brings with it a host of environmental costs. Here, we weigh up the pros and cons.
4 ways AI can help the natural world
Energy efficiency AI systems can control and optimise energy use. For example, AI-powered “smart grids” monitor and manage electricity generation to meet the demand of consumers, which can both lower energy costs and allow for more efficient energy use.
AI can also help streamline the energy used by big commercial and industrial systems. Tech giant Google, for instance, used AI to cut the amount of energy required to cool its data centres by 40%.
Urban Infrastructure Waste management systems driven by AI may help increase recycling rates. In the United Kingdom, for example, recycling company Recycleye uses AI to identify materials for sorting, lowering contamination rates and increasing recycling volumes – and so, reducing pressure on landfill.
And AI-powered “smart cities” technologies help make public transport systems work more smoothly, which can reduce congestion and minimise vehicle emissions.
Artificial intelligence can also be deployed to improve air quality in cities. IBM, for example, uses the technology to analyse weather and air pollution data from sensors and satellites. This can help authorities pinpoint pollution sources, make air quality forecasts and issue health alerts.
Sustainable agriculture
AI-powered smart machines, robots and sensors are already used in agriculture.
They can provide real-time monitoring of weather, soil conditions and crop needs, leading to better water use and ensuring crops receive only what they need.
The technology can also identify pests, reducing the need to spray chemical pesticides on crops.
As climate change worsens, there are hopes AI can help farmers avoid reduced crop yields and become more resilient.
Environmental monitoring
AI systems can forecast floods, bushfires and other natural hazards quickly and accurately. This can minimise the effects of natural hazards on both the environment and communities.
AI can be used to track environmental change. For example, it can reportedly measure changes in icebergs 10,000 times faster than a human can.
Meanwhile, environmental group The Nature Conservancy uses AI to minimise the environmental impacts of hydropower across the Amazon.
But what about the downsides?
The path to realising the potential of AI is fraught – and the technology comes with several major downsides, as outlined below.
Energy use
Artificial intelligence guzzles a huge amount of energy. First the computer models must be “trained”, or fed a large set of data. This feeding can be relatively quick, or take up to several months – during which time big data processors are running 24/7.
And when we ask AI to solve a problem, this also requires processing power which consumes energy. Advanced AI models such as ChatGPT reportedly use ten times more energy per search than a conventional Google search, according to one estimate. Only a small fraction of this demand is met by renewable energy sources.
The International Energy Agency projects electricity consumption from data centres, AI and cryptocurrency sector could double in the four years to 2026, from 460 terawatt-hours in 2022 to more than 1,000 terrawatt-hours in 2026.
By comparison, total electricity generation in Australia in 2022 was around 273 terawatt-hours.
Greener AI systems are urgently needed – and this is looking increasingly possible. Studies have shown the energy use of AI-based computer models can be slashed through various means, such as reducing a model’s complexity without affecting its performance.
Water impacts
The water requirements of AI are significant. The data centres housing powerful AI servers generate a lot of heat. Water is used in cooling to keep the servers at operating temperature.
AI also consumes water indirectly through its energy consumption. Coal-fired power stations use water for cooling, and water is also lost through evaporation from hydro electricity schemes.
And as others have noted, the mining and manufacturing required to produce AI hardware both uses and pollutes water.
Broader environmental damage
The environmental impact of AI goes beyond its energy use. For example, as Scientific American has reported, ExxonMobil in 2019 partnered with Microsoft to deploy AI in oil extraction, substantially increasing production.
As the article also noted, the use of AI in targeted online advertising – on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook – creates demand for material goods. This leads to greater consumption of mass-produced items which creates carbon emissions and uses Earth’s natural resources.
Where to now?
As AI becomes more integrated into modern life, its environmental footprint will grow. Humanity must find the right balance to ensure AI helps the Earth, rather than harms it.
To better achieve this, standard criteria must be developed to accurately measure the effects of AI on the environment.
There is also a push from some quarters for more environmental regulation of AI, and greater transparency from companies about their AI-related emissions.
But efforts to make AI more environmentally friendly will struggle for public and industry acceptance if the effectiveness of AI systems is sacrificed. To avoid this, stronger collaboration between researchers and the AI industry is needed.
The Conversation
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
Monday, August 05, 2024
Rare sighting of Britain's loudest bird at County Durham nature reserve
Tom Burgess Sun, 4 August 2024
Bittern sighting at Rainton Meadows (Image: Brian Howes)
An amateur photographer has captured the moment a rare Bittern appeared at a County Durham nature reserve.
Brian Howes, 75, heard that there had been glimpses of the elusive booming bird at Rainton Meadows.
After a fruitless morning on Monday and a second attempt in the afternoon that day he went home to Great Lumley disappointed.
Mr Howes caught a glimpse of the bittern on Wednesday, but it was not until Friday morning that he got a full look at the majestic booming bird in flight.
(Image: Brian Howes)
He said: "It was first spotted in Rainton Meadows on Monday, it's been in the reeds all week.
"I went down this morning and it poked its head up before taking flight and going back into the reeds.
"It was beautiful. Someone was saying it has been 10 or 15 years since we had one hanging around for a few days.
"It is especially rare to see one in Rainton Meadows.
(Image: Brian Howes)
"We have seen them flying past overhead but not sticking around.
"It was just nice to see it and with the sun shining too. That made the pictures even nicer."
Bitterns are Britain's loudest birds and they were nearly driven to extinction in the 1870s because of over hunting.
Their numbers are still low but conservation efforts are working and the occasional sighting of them is made in the North East.
In 2012, a male bittern was heard booming for the very first time at RSPB Saltholme, in Stockton, in an attempt to attract a female but was sadly unsuccessful.
Then in 2022 a male Bittern was once again heard booming and this time sightings of regular feeding flights to a nest indicated a successful breeding pai
One of Australia’s most elusive birds, a 2,200km journey and a mid-winter mystery solved
Andrew Stafford
THE GUARDIAN Sat, 3 August 2024
A 2020 survey estimated there may be as few as 340 Australian painted-snipe remaining in the wild.Photograph: Peter Stevens
It had been three months without a peep, and the ecologist Matt Herring thought Gloria had perished. He had captured the elusive bird on 22 October 2023, on a property north of Balranald in New South Wales – the first Australian painted-snipe to be fitted with a satellite tracker.
But contact had been lost, and there was a sticky complication: Gloria’s tracker had been financed by a successful crowdfunding campaign. Herring started preparing an obituary for the avian pioneer for her species.
And then she reappeared – more than 1,000km north of where she was first captured, near Birdsville in outback Queensland. Herring guesses the tiny solar panel on the two-gram tracker may have been obscured by one of the bird’s feathers, causing the outage.
The second painted-snipe he’d caught, Marcelina, had made an even more epic journey from the same Balranald property. Captured on 3 January this year, she is now in Daly Waters in the Top End – a journey of more than 2,200km, as the painted-snipe flies.
The Australian painted-snipe is an enigmatic waterbird, most active from dusk to dawn. They hide in vegetation during the day, camouflaged by intricately patterned plumage. Almost all sightings are in summer, suggesting the species is at least partially migratory or nomadic.
Herring’s project, Australian Painted-snipe Tracking, aims to uncover where the birds go during winter. It’s becoming clear why, until now, no one knew. “When you look at where these two birds have gone, they’re some of the most remote parts of the country,” he said.
By tracing its movements, Herring hopes to help save one of our least-known and rarest species. The 2020 Action Plan for Australian Birds – which summarises the conservation status of all Australian avifauna – estimated there may be as few as 340 remaining in the wild.
However, Herring said that figure is likely to be underestimated. Consecutive La Nina years since the report was published have gone some way to replenishing water flows in the Murray-Darling basin, where the bird breeds.
But Herring cautioned that while overall numbers had probably been boosted, there had not been the dramatic jump in sightings recorded in 2011–2012, after the breaking of the millennium drought.
About 400 Australian painted-snipe were logged during that period. In the two years before the black summer bushfires, however, the species was recorded from just half a dozen locations, raising grave fears for their survival.
By comparison, between July and December last year, 61 birds were recorded from 25 sites, suggesting only a partial recovery. This was during a period Herring said “more people were out looking than ever”, after a post-Covid boom in birdwatching.
It’s great to figure out their movement patterns, but the key is actually having sites to organise conservation
Matt Herring
Herring said satellite-tracking the birds was the most efficient way of monitoring the specie’s movements. This in turn was helping to identify the painted-snipe’s habitat requirements, and where conservation efforts needed to be targeted.
The first six months of data provided by the movements of Gloria and Marcelina had pinpointed the locations of over a dozen individual wetlands used by the species across three states, plus the Northern Territory.
“That gives us the opportunity to work with those wetland managers, be they farmers or traditional owners or national park rangers,” Herring said. “It’s great to figure out their movement patterns, but the key is actually having sites to organise conservation for them.”
Remarkably, surveys conducted over summer showed Australian painted-snipe making extensive use of human-modified habitat, with a gathering of about 25 birds feeding in flooded wheat stubble on the property where Marcelina and Gloria were tagged.
The landowners, Peter and Sue Morton, are making dedicated changes of their own to benefit the birds, using designated environmental flows to help create a mixture of shallow water, mudflats and low cover the painted-snipe naturally favour.
“I do a lot of bird photography, so I had cameras everywhere set up,” Morton said. “I pumped a bit of water [into the channel] out of the firefighting unit and you wouldn’t believe it, the footage came back and there were 10 painted-snipe there, including Gloria.”
He said he was now working on fencing off the woodland. “I’m on a Cat loader now and I’ve got four blokes putting up an exclusion fence,” he said. “We’re putting the exclusion fence up to keep the stock out.”
The New South Wales Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water recently announced it had partnered with the Commonwealth environmental water holder to manage the area specifically for Australian painted-snipe.
Herring said it was the first government-sponsored, targeted conservation initiative for the Australian painted-snipe. He said that it would also benefit other threatened species, including fish such as the southern pygmy perch, and frogs like the southern bell frog.
He said that crowdfunding for conservation work was a good way to engage people directly in species’ recovery – though he agreed it was a poor precedent, since the protection of nationally threatened species is a federal government responsibility.
But, he said, the plight of the Australian painted-snipe was too urgent to wait. “A lot of large-scale conservation and academic research funds can take six months or a year,” he said. “What are we going to do, just sit around and wait for new funding streams to be announced?”
This article was amended on 4 August 2024. An earlier version stated Australian painted-snipes were fitted with radio transmitters; the birds were fitted with satellite trackers.
Saturday, July 27, 2024
A Canadian Wildfire Grew So Intense It Made Its Own Weather
Austyn Gaffney Updated Sat, July 27, 2024 A helicopter buckets water onto smouldering fires outside Jasper, Alberta, Canada, on Friday July 26, 2024. AMBER BRACKEN/Pool via REUTERS
Officials said Thursday that they feared as much as half the town of Jasper, Alberta, had been destroyed by wildfires so intense they generated their own weather.
“It’s a sad day here because Jasper is such a gorgeous place,” Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, said Thursday.
The town is the gateway to Jasper National Park, a crown jewel of the Canadian parks system. At least 25,000 residents and tourists were evacuated from their homes before firefighters and emergency personnel also had to flee toxic smoke. The mayor called the destruction “almost beyond comprehension.” That fire was worsened by a pyrocumulonimbus, or a fire-generated thunderstorm, according to Flannigan.
“They’re by far the most intense fires in the world,” he said.
What are these storms?
A pyrocumulonimbus is a huge, smoke-filled thunderstorm generated when the intense heat from wildfires combines with atmospheric conditions ripe for storm formation.
Although these heat-generated storms don’t produce much rain, they can create other types of weather such as hail, strong winds, lightning and tornadoes. Tornadolike winds were reported near the Park fire, which is burning in California.
These storms can also create smoke plumes that can surpass the cruising altitude of a commercial aircraft. They act like a giant chimney: Smoke is pulled up from the wildfire and as the air escapes, more air moves quickly in at the ground level, feeding the fire more oxygen before funneling up and away.
This feedback loop can push out so many smoke particles that the result can be similar to a volcanic eruption.
In the 2019-20 Black Summer fire season in Australia, for example, 38 such storms, also known as pyroCbs, were observed. They injected enough smoke into the atmosphere that scientists likened it to a nuclear winter.
Wildfires that are exacerbated by these types of storms can become nearly impossible to put out. They’re also more hazardous for firefighters, creating more extreme wind conditions and darkening skies.
“They tried to put helicopters on it,” Flannigan said of the wildfires that fueled at least two of these storms this week near Jasper. “They couldn’t stop it, which is unfortunate because it led to a good chunk of the town burning down.”
Why are fire-generated storms happening more often?
Unlike the study of other extreme weather events such as heat waves and hurricanes, the study of these storms is relatively new in scientific circles.
Because data only dates to 2013, it’s difficult to determine a trend, said David Peterson, a meteorologist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California.
“There’s been an increasing number of large and intense wildfires in North America in recent years that likely would suggest there would be more pyroCbs,” Peterson said. “But we still don’t know enough.”
But over the past decade, the number of these storms has grown.
In 2017, four pyroCbs in British Columbia created a volcanic-scale smoke plume that traveled around the globe, lasting more than six months. Then, the Black Summer in Australia sent a smoke plume up that lasted more than year. In 2021, 100 pyroCbs were recorded worldwide, but 2023 shattered that record with 169.
Western Canada seems to be a hot spot. The country’s 2023 fire season spawned 142 of these storms, almost tripling its previous record of 50 in 2021.
Although research has yet to link these types of storms to climate change, studies show that as climate change increases how often extreme wildfires happen, they could also become more frequent.
“In a general sense, if you have more fires, you’ll have more pyroCbs because there are more opportunities to have them sink up, but it depends on atmospheric conditions, too,” Peterson said. “An intense wildfire definitely increases the odds.”
More than 50 pyroCbs have been observed in western North America so far this year, which already puts 2024 in the top three years in the 12-year-old record. When will we know more?
In October, Peterson and his partners will begin a five-year, NASA-funded study to better understand the effect these wildfires could have on our climate.
“The big open question right now is what is the role of pyroCbs in a warming climate system?” Peterson said. “What are the effects of pushing smoke up extremely high into the stratosphere, especially when smoke that high persists for a year?”
The study will use two NASA aircraft: one that can fly up to 70,000 feet above the storm, requiring the pilot to wear a spacesuit, and a second that can fly through the storm’s upper clouds. The aircraft will collect data in the summers of 2026 and 2027.
In the meantime, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is also working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies to develop a more sophisticated warning system. The science is complex because it merges wildfire science with thunderstorm meteorology.
“We need to develop a warning capability for fires that are more likely to generate pyroCbs because it means something different if you’re fighting it, evacuating people, and predicting where the smoke is going,” Peterson said. “Right now, we’re in catch-up mode.”
Pyrocumulonimbus clouds are thunder clouds created by intense heat from the Earth’s surface. They are formed similarly to cumulonimbus clouds, but the intense heat that results in the vigorous updraft comes from fire, either large wildfires or volcanic eruptions. So it is, for this reason, the prefix ‘pyro’ is used – meaning fire in Greek.
Pyrocumulonimbus clouds were reported during the Australian bushfires in late 2019/early 2020, and a number have more recently been observed in Siberia with the Arctic heatwave. These intense wildfires reach temperatures above 800°C and can essentially create their own weather systems.
The hot smoke released from these fires acts as a plume of heat into the atmosphere. Hot and very buoyant, the air in the plume rapidly rises. As it rises, it cools and expands. Once cooled sufficiently, water vapour condenses on the ash to form a grey or brown cloud above the plume. At this stage, the cloud is called a pyrocumulus. Still, if enough water vapour is available and the updraft intensifies, it can develop into a pyrocumulonimbus cloud. Then, similar to other thunderstorms, there may be a downburst of intense localised rain. This rain can create a downdraft of cooler air, which can then carry embers from the fire, igniting spot fires away from the source. In some cases, dry lightning from these storms can strike without rain, further spreading the wildfire. They have also been known to dangerously generate fire tornadoes.
Pyrocumulonimbus clouds are thought to be responsible for several aerosol pollutants (such as smoke and ash) trapped in the stratosphere and upper atmosphere. However, a paper by the American Meteorological Society, ‘The Untold Story of Pyrocumulonimbus’, re-evaluated the data from previous stratosphere studies to conclude that volcanic eruptions had been wrongly attributed to these pollutants. Dr Glenn K. Yue, one of the paper’s authors, stated in an article by NASA that one of the reasons for this misinterpretation was that it was initially thought the only force strong enough to penetrate the tropopause in a short period was a volcanic eruption.
As our climate changes, these unusual but significant storms could occur more frequently due to hotter and drier conditions increasing the risk of wildfires.
Friday, July 12, 2024
Complex impact of large wildfires on ozone layer dynamics unveiled
In a revelation that highlights the fragile balance of our planet's atmosphere, scientists from China, Germany, and the U.S. have uncovered an unexpected link between massive wildfire events and the chemistry of the ozone layer. Published in Science Advances, this study reveals how wildfires, such as the catastrophic 2019/20 Australian bushfires, impact the stratosphere in previously unseen ways.
The ozone layer, a crucial shield protecting life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, has been on a path to recovery thanks to the Montreal Protocol. This landmark international treaty, adopted in 1987, successfully phased out the production of numerous substances responsible for ozone depletion.
Over the past decades, the ozone layer has shown significant signs of healing, a testament to global cooperation and environmental policy.
However, the stability of this vital atmospheric layer is now facing a new and unexpected challenge. During the 2019/20 Australian wildfires, researchers observed a dramatic increase in stratospheric aerosols—tiny particles that can influence climate, health and atmospheric chemistry.
Utilizing advanced satellite data and numerical models, the research team successfully demonstrated the impact of wildfires through a novel phenomenon: the smoke-charged vortex (SCV).
"The SCV is a powerful, smoke-laden whirlpool that transports wildfire emissions into the stratosphere, reaching altitudes of up to 35 kilometers," explained Prof. Hang Su from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the corresponding authors of the study.
"This process led to at least a doubling of the aerosol burden in the southern hemisphere's middle stratosphere. These aerosols, once reaching such high altitudes, initiated a series of heterogeneous reactions that impacted ozone concentrations."
The international team discovered that these wildfire-induced aerosols facilitated heterogeneous chemical reactions, which paradoxically led to both ozone depletion and ozone increase at different atmospheric layers.
While the lower stratosphere experienced significant ozone loss, they found that the enhanced chemical reactions on aerosols at higher altitudes, i.e., the middle stratosphere, lead to increase of ozone. In Southern Mid-Latitudes, this complex interplay managed to buffer approximately 40% (up to 70%) of the ozone depletion observed in the lower stratosphere in the following months of the mega-bushfire events.
So why does this matter?
"Our study demonstrates an unexpected and crucial mechanism, by which the absorbing aerosols in wildfire smoke, such as black carbon, can induce and sustain enormous smoke-charged vortices spanning thousands of kilometers," said Prof. Yafang Cheng, another corresponding author from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.
"These vortices can persist for months, carrying aerosols deeply into the stratosphere and affecting the ozone layer in distinct ways at different altitudes. This highlights the need for continued vigilance and research as climate change progresses."
The ozone layer's role in filtering UV radiation is crucial for protecting all life forms on Earth. The Montreal Protocol's success in reducing ozone-depleting substances was a monumental achievement, but the new findings highlight that natural events, exacerbated by climate change, pose additional risks to this fragile layer.
With the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires driven by global warming, the formation of SCVs and their impact on the stratosphere could become more common, threatening the delicate balance of the ozone layer.
This study opens new avenues for research into how wildfire and other climate-driven events might influence stratospheric chemistry and ozone dynamics in the future.
By AFP July 8, 2024 Nepali climbers hang from a ladder off a Himalayan mountain cliff to gather highly prized hallucinogenic honey - Copyright AFP Chris Kleponis Anup OJHA
Hanging from a rope-and-bamboo ladder off a Himalayan mountain cliff, skilled Nepali climbers gather highly prized hallucinogenic honey — an ancient tradition stung by environmental degradation and rapid climate change.
Wreathed in smoke to drive away defensive clouds of giant bees, 26-year-old Som Ram Gurung dangles dangerously 100 metres (325 feet) off the ground, slicing off dark and dripping hunks of delicious honeycomb.
For as long as anyone can remember in villages of Lamjung district, collecting the honey was worth the risk.
The combs are valued as “mad honey”, sweetness with a sting in its tail that collectors say provides an intoxicating buzz with mild psychoactive properties derived from rhododendron nectar that the bees love.
It was never easy to harvest.
The high-altitude honey comes from the world’s largest honey bee species, Apis laboriosa, which favours inaccessible cliffs.
But the skilled craft is now beset with extra challenges, many driven by the increasing effects of a heating planet.
Honey hunters say shifting weather patterns and environmental threats are impacting their remote forested valleys, 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Kathmandu.
Doodh Bahadur Gurung, 65, who taught his son Som Ram his skills, said hunters had seen a rapid slump in the number of hives and amounts of honey harvested.
“When we were young, there used to be beehives on almost all cliffs because of the abundance of wildflowers and water sources,” said Doodh Bahadur.
“But with each passing year, it’s becoming harder to find hives.”
– Dams, pesticides, wildfire –
He blamed the decline in bees on increasingly irregular rainfall, wildfires, agricultural pesticides and the diversion of rivers due to a surge of hydropower dams and accompanying construction of roads.
“Streams are drying up due to hydro-projects and irregular rainfall,” he said, noting wild bees prefer to nest near water.
“Bees that fly to farms also face the problem of pesticides, which kill them.”
With erratic rain, drier winters and baking heat, bushfires have become more common.
Government data shows Nepal tackled over 4,500 wildfires this year, nearly double the year before.
“Wildfires are more common now,” Doodh Bahadur said. “There aren’t enough young people to douse them in time”.
A decade ago, his village of Taap could harvest 1,000 litres a season.
Today, Doodh Bahadur said they count themselves lucky to get 250 litres.
The hunters’ observations are confirmed by scientists.
They say rising temperatures due to fossil-fuel-driven climate change is a key factor.
“Bees… are highly susceptible to changing temperatures,” said bee specialist Susma Giri, from the Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences.
“They are wild creatures and can’t adjust to human movements or noise, which directly affects wild bees.”
– ‘Alarming economic consequences’ –
ICIMOD rang the alarm in May, noting at least 75 percent of Nepal’s crops depend on pollinators such as bees.
“Among the key factors for their decline… are climate change and loss in habitats,” ICIMOD said.
“The reduced pollination that ensues has already had alarming economic consequences.”
A 2022 study, in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, calculated annual losses from reduced pollination in Nepal amounted to as much as $250 per capita — a massive sum in a country where annual average income is $1,400.
Shrinking supplies means the rare honey commands high prices.
A litre that sold for $3.5 per litre two decades ago now sells for $15.
Traders say there is increasing demand from the United States, Europe, and Japan, fuelled by its reported health benefits on social media.
Honey traders in Kathmandu estimate annual exports to be around 10,000 litres, and internationally, a 250-gramme pot of “mad honey” can command prices of $70 online.
“The demand for ‘mad honey’ increases yearly, but quality production has decreased,” said Kathmandu-based honey exporter Rashmi Kandel.
– ‘Losing everything’ –
With honey drying up, fewer young people want to join the traditional month-long mountain hunt.
Across Nepal, young people are leaving rural life, seeking better-paid jobs abroad.
Suk Bahadur Gurung, 56, a local politician and part of the honey hunting team, is gloomy the next generation will follow the trade.
“You need skills and strength,” Suk Bahadur said. “There aren’t many youths who want to do it.”
Som Ram Gurung held out his swollen arms and legs after descending from the cliff.
“Stings cover my body,” he said, adding he is due to take up a factory job in Dubai with a monthly salary of around $320.
His father Doodh Bahadur laments both the dwindling bees and the departing youth.
“We’re losing everything,” he said. “The future is uncertain for everyone.”
Wednesday, July 03, 2024
Australian bushfire ash is deadly for aquatic life
While the impact of wildfires on terrestrial life has been well studied, only recently has research started to examine the effects of wildfire ash on aquatic organisms. New research reveals that wildfire ash can have lethal consequences on Australian water ecosystems.
Wildfires are becoming more prevalent due to the warming and drying effects of climate change, with Australia becoming especially vulnerable to dangerous bushfires. “Therefore, many Australian species may be threatened by fires,” says Miss Jenelle McCuaig, a Masters student at the University of Alberta, Canada. “This is putting them at greater risk of endangerment and possible extinction.”
Wildfires release ash into the air, which can enter aquatic environments directly or be washed into bodies of water by rainfall. “Once in the water, ash may leach metals and organic combustion products, where they can affect organisms, acquired by ingestion through intestines or respiration through gills,” says Miss McCuaig. There are also serious consequences for humans, as we rely on healthy freshwater ecosystems for water and food.
Miss McCuaig and her team focused their research on two common Australian crustacean species, a crayfish (Cherax destructor) and a shrimp (Macrobrachium australiense).
To examine the effects of wildfire ash on the crustaceans, each species was exposed to a range of ash concentrations to determine their sensitivity and likelihood of survival. Miss McCuaig then measured their oxygen consumption using a respirometry system and took tissue samples to look at their metabolic activity.
After exposure to just 5g of ash per litre of water, Miss McCuaig found that no shrimps could survive – but it took 8 times as much ash to reach complete crayfish mortality. “The huge difference in sensitivity between the two species was much greater than I expected,” says Miss McCuaig.
This research shows that even between similar species, there can be a big difference in survival response to environmental stressors such as wildfire ash. “Differences in body shape and gill structure, as well as habitat preferences, has allowed them to fulfil different niches,” says Miss McCuaig. “Crayfish demonstrated greater resilience to the ash exposure compared to the shrimp.”
For the surviving crayfish and shrimp, the individuals exposed to the highest concentrations of ash had the highest metabolic rates, suggesting a high level of physiological stress. “This is particularly concerning during ash exposure, because increased ventilation means that the animals will be taking up more of the ash particles and leached contaminants from the water, further affecting their body systems.”
“This research will allow us to identify the species that are most threatened by fires and help to inform the development of breeding programs or relocation efforts,” says Miss McCuaig. “When it comes to wildfires, resources are limited, so we must prioritise response actions.”
Miss McCuaig adds that even though many wildfires occur naturally, humans still have a responsibility to protect the living world: “Species conservation begins with wildfire prevention in the first place - it is incredibly important to be educated about, and to implement, fire-safety into our lives to mitigate human-caused wildfires”.
This research was made possible by funding from The Company of Biologists, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Society for Experimental Biology, as well as collaboration of the Blewett Lab and Franklin Eco-Laboratory.
This research is being presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Prague on the 2-5th July 2024.
Shark hatching success drops from 82% to 11% in climate change scenario
New experimental research shows that the combined effects of ocean warming and acidification could lead to a catastrophic decrease in embryonic shark survival by the year 2100. This research is also the first to demonstrate that monthly temperature variation plays a prominent role in shark embryo mortality.
Oceanic warming and acidification are caused by greater concentrations of CO2 dissolving into marine environments, resulting in rising water temperatures and falling pH levels. “The embryos of egg-laying species are especially sensitive to environmental conditions,” says Noémie Coulon, a PhD student at the Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Écosystèmes Aquatiques, France. “The hatching success of embryos is a crucial factor for population dynamics. In the case of skates and sharks, which have a slow pace of life, low hatching rates could be critical for population renewal.”
Small-spotted catsharks (Scyliorhinus canicula) are one of the most abundant shark species in Europe. “The small-spotted catshark is already experiencing habitat loss in coastal areas, particularly during the summer months when egg-laying is at its peak,” says Ms Coulon.
Ms Coulon and her team compared small-spotted catshark embryo survival in three environmental scenarios: one control scenario using baseline temperature and pH data from the years 1995 to 2014, and two using predicted climate scenarios for the year 2100 called the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) as outlined in the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report released in 2021.
SSP2, known as the “Middle of the Road” scenario, represents a future where slow and non-uniform progress towards tackling climate change is present but net-zero is not reached, and predicts a temperature rise of 2.7°C and drop in pH of 0.2 by the year 2100.
SSP5, known as the “Fossil-fueled Development” scenario, represents a future where fossil fuel resources continue to be more rapidly exploited across the world, and predicts a temperature rise of 4.4°C and drop in pH of 0.4 by the year 2100.
To assess the impact of these different scenarios, Ms Coulon and her team measured embryo growth and yolk consumption within small-spotted catshark eggs every week over a 4-month period, while recording hatching success and growth of surviving baby sharks for 6 months post-hatching.
While the team found a high survival rate for both the control and SSP2 scenarios (81% and 83% respectively), there was a much lower chance of survival for the SSP5 scenario. “We were shocked by the low survival rate observed in the SSP5 scenario, with only 11% of embryos hatching,” says Ms Coulon. The team indicated that the mortality was linked with lower yolk consumption rates, lower growth rates and failure to transition to internal gills.
This research also highlights the importance of seasonal temperature variation, which can significantly increase mortality during critical egg laying periods. “This mortality was most pronounced in August, coinciding with the highest temperatures (reaching 23.1°C), and during a stage of development where embryos undergo gill reabsorption,” explains Ms Coulon.
Ms Coulon and her team noticed that the surviving 11% did not exhibit the typical growth pattern of the other sharks, which may have contributed to their resistance to environmental change: “What makes these individuals special remains unclear, but by acknowledging the inter-individual variation among young marine organisms, we could better evaluate the future ecological success of species.”
This research offers both a serious caution and a beacon of hope for marine species. “Firstly, it serves as a warning about the responses of other species that may be even more sensitive to environmental change,” explains Ms Coulon. “Secondly, our findings demonstrate that the more moderate SSP2 scenario can limit the damage inflicted on species like the small-spotted catshark, which gives us a positive incentive to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”
This project has received funding support from the Save Our Seas Foundation. More information can be found here: https://saveourseas.com/project/bringing-up-baby-shark-embryos-and-our-warming-oceans.
This research is being presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Prague on the 2-5th July 2024.
New research finds that artificial light at night (ALAN) attracts larval fish away from naturally lit habitats, while dramatically lowering their chances of survival in an “ecological trap”, with serious consequences for fish conservation and fishing stock management.
“Light pollution is a huge ongoing subject with many aspects that are still not well understood by scientists,” says Mr Jules Schligler, a PhD student at CRIOBE Laboratory (Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement) in Moorea, French Polynesia.
ALAN is the product of human-related activities such as the use of electrical lights along roads, factories, residences and resorts near bodies of water. “ALAN is everywhere and marine wildlife is not exempt to its effects,” says Mr Schligler. “A quarter of the world coastline is impacted and this level is increasing every year.”
Mr Schligler and his team set out to investigate the effects of ALAN on larval recruitment in tropical fish. Larval recruitment is the number of fish that settle in their habitat and survive their juvenile years before becoming an adult. “Larval recruitment is a key life history trait for fish that impacts on stock replenishment and adult fitness,” he says. “Larval fish are also very dependent on the natural light cycle.”
To investigate these effects, Mr Schligler used 48 corals that were split into two treatments: control corals with only natural light exposure, and ALAN corals that were exposed to light pollution at night of a similar intensity that beach resorts and streetlights produce. They focused on two dominant coral reef damselfish native to French Polynesia, the yellowtail dascyllus (Dascyllus flavicaudus) and the blue-green chromis (Chromis viridis).
“First, we monitored fish settlement to the corals to see if they preferred natural or artificial light conditions,” says Mr Schligler. “The fish were then subjected to a range of experiments to better understand the impact of ALAN after they had settled.” These experiments measured various aspects of development and survival such as growth, metabolic rate and risk of predation.
This research finds that many young fish actually prefer environments with artificial light, recruiting 2-3 times as many fish than naturally lit environments.
The study also reveals the harmful effects of ALAN on fish growth, metabolic rate and overall survival. “ALAN has produced an ecological trap where these fish, misled by human activity, now prefer habitats where their fitness will be lower,” says Mr Schligler. “In other words, ALAN has the potential to attract organisms to a less suitable environment, generating a peculiar anthropogenic stressor."
These results have implications for fish conservation and harvesting policies. “Marine protected areas have only started to consider light pollution in their management policy very recently,” says Mr Schligler. “To better understand fish stock replenishment and conservation, it is crucial to take into account as many factors as we can, such as the rarely considered effects of light pollution.”
This research is being presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Prague on the 2-5th July 2024.
Experimental coral.
CREDIT
Jules Schligler
Pregnant fish can also get “baby brain”, but not the way that mammals do
SOCIETY FOR EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
IMAGE:
BRAIN STAINING OF PREGNANT FISH. ON THE LEFT IS THE NISSL STAINING USE TO DETERMINE NEURON MORPHOLOGY AND ON THE RIGHT IS KI67 STAINING WHICH STAINS FOR CELL PROLIFERATION.
New research reveals that pregnancy-related brain impairment is present in live-bearing fish, but instead of affecting learning and memory as expected from similar research on mammals, it appears to have a stronger impact on decision-making and sensory reception.
There have been many studies into the detrimental impact of pregnancy on mammalian brains, sometimes called “baby brain” or “momnesia” in humans, revealing how the disruption of neurological processes like neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons, can affect learning and memory - but this is the first study to examine this phenomenon in fish.
While most fish reproduce by laying eggs, some species are live-bearing, or viviparous, and carry their offspring internally before producing live young. Viviparous species include popular aquarium fish from the family Poeciliidae, such as guppy, molly and platy.
“We wanted to see if these pregnancy-related changes in cognition and neurogenesis occur in other live-bearing evolutionary lineages, particularly in a species which lacks a placenta,” says Tiffany Ernst, a PhD candidate in the field of developmental and reproductive biology at Wageningen University, Netherlands. “In mammals, the placenta is thought to help regulate pregnancy-related changes to the mother’s brain.”
“The species of fish that I work with, Poeciliopsis gracilis, is especially interesting as they are superfetatious, meaning they can be pregnant with multiple temporally overlapping broods of offspring simultaneously,” says Ms Ernst. “Essentially, my fish are almost constantly pregnant in adulthood - so any detrimental impact on cognition might be more evident in this species.”
“We hoped to learn how pregnancy might induce changes to the maternal brain in a non-mammalian live-bearing species,” says Ms Ernst. “This could help us to understand whether the evolution of a live-bearing reproductive strategy requires neurological trade-offs to adequately adapt for a healthy pregnancy.”
To examine the impact of pregnancy on cognition, pregnant and virgin fish were trained to associate a green disk with the location of food, and then perform a spatial learning task when presented with two seemingly identical disks in different locations. “Then we tested their cognitive flexibility by swapping the locations of the rewarded and non-rewarded disks to see how the fish adjusted to the new location of the food reward,” says Ms Ernst.
To assess the effect on fish neurology, Ms Ernst and the team removed the brains of the pregnant and virgin females and used cell staining to identify areas of new cell proliferation - an indicator of which areas of the brain were producing new cells.This study is the first to map the areas of brain cell proliferation in this species in a “brain atlas”.
Ms Ernst and her team found that while both pregnant and virgin fish were equally successful in both cognitive tasks, pregnant fish were much more hesitant when choosing which disk to approach.
“We also found no difference in cell proliferation in the regions of the brain most responsible for learning and memory,” says Ms Ernst. “However, we were surprised to see that pregnant females exhibited decreased cell proliferation in the regions which contribute to maternal olfactory reception.”
This surprising result suggests that pregnancy compromises the fish’s ability to interpret scent in the water, which may contribute to their choice-aversion in the cognitive tests. “For P. gracilis, reduced choice-propensity during pregnancy might be an adaptive strategy wherein females do not take the risk of foraging for food when the reward is not guaranteed, thus conserving energy for reproduction,” says Ms Ernst.
“Our research indicates that pregnancy may impact maternal cognition and alters brain cell proliferation, but not in the same ways as we would expect from mammals,” says Ms Ernst. “This implies that pregnancy across different evolutionary lineages has an impact on the maternal brain which in turn, affects how mothers cognitively and physiologically adapt to the burdens of live-bearing reproduction.”
This research is being presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Prague on the 2-5 th July 2024.
