Maine Chipotle Workers File to Form Company’s First-Ever Union

The exterior of a Chipotle Mexican Grill store is shown on June 9, 2021, in Houston, Texas.

BRANDON BELL / GETTY IMAGES

BY Sharon Zhang, Truthout

PUBLISHED June 23, 2022

Workers at a Chipotle in Augusta, Maine, filed to form a union on Wednesday, hoping to become the first unionized workers at the food chain’s nearly 3,000 locations in the country.

The workers, who have formed an independent union known as Workers United, turned in their union petition with union cards signed by a majority of the roughly 20 workers in the store, according to union organizers.

Workers say that they face long hours and understaffing, leading to safety concerns. The union staged a two-day walkout last week to protest against unsafe working conditions after repeatedly being forced to open the store without proper staffing, putting the employees and the customers at risk, they said.

When the store is understaffed — often with half of the amount of people that are required to meet demand — workers say that they’re unable to do things like food temperature checks or cleaning tables in the restaurant.

“I care about these people more than anybody else,” employee Laramie Rohr told the Kennebec Journal. “I hope to improve working conditions, not have to have five people working 50, 60, 70, 80 hours a week, to have the ability to close when you need to for safety reasons. Because we don’t want to serve bad food. We’re proud of our food, we’re proud of our workplace, we’re proud of our coworkers.”

Chipotle management says the fact that they responded with hiring initiatives after the walkout shows that the company is already capable of meeting employees’ concerns, but workers say that upper management has a pattern of not addressing workers’ needs, according to the Kennebec Journal.

The workers delivered a letter to management on Wednesday informing them of their intent to unionize. “We’re hoping that by forming this union we can work with Chipotle to achieve the goals we have in common, such as safe and healthy food, and good atmosphere, and safe and happy crew members, and all of the other things that make Chipotle different,” workers said in a statement.

“We are here to make things better by ensuring we have the tools and the support to meet Chipotle’s high standards while caring for ourselves, the crew that will come after us, and other food service workers who may see our efforts and feel empowered to stand up against the industry’s toxic culture,” they said.

The independent nature of Chipotle United echoes the union campaign waged by Amazon workers, who have been organizing under the independent Amazon Labor Union. Although Chipotle workers have sought help from established unions like Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Maine American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), they are forming a union independently.

Chipotle workers in New York City have also been organizing a union effort, though they haven’t filed for a union petition yet. New York workers, organizing with SEIU Local 32 BJ, filed a labor complaint against the company earlier this year alleging that the company illegally retaliated against Brenda Garcia for her role as a union leader. The union also filed a complaint that the company has been surveilling and intimidating employees over the union.

If Chipotle workers successfully unionize, their victory could spark a wave of unionizations in stores across the country — much like Starbucks workers, who have unionized over 160 locations just in the past roughly eight months.

 Oregon State research highlights importance of large wood in streams for land-based animals

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: BOBCAT OBSERVED BY A MOTION-TRIGGERED CAMERA OPERATED BY OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS AT ROCK CREEK, JUST WEST OF CORVALLIS, OREGON. view more 

CREDIT: OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Land managers have invested millions of dollars annually since the 1980s to place large pieces of wood back in streams, owing primarily to its importance for fish habitat. But little is known about how large wood in streams impacts birds and land-based animals.

Oregon State University scientists Ezmie Trevarrow and Ivan Arismendi are beginning to change that with a just-published paper in Biodiversity and Conservation that outlines what they observed from one year of footage from motion-triggered video cameras they set up near multiple large log jams in a creek just west of Corvallis.

“This study reveals a hidden role of large wood in streams,” said Trevarrow, who conducted the research as an undergraduate in the Honors College at Oregon State and is now a research associate at the University of Georgia. “The findings are valuable for land managers because they demonstrate additional value of restoration projects that involve wood placement into streams.”

In the paper, Trevarrow and Arismendi focused their attention on what species they saw, the most common observed activities and the seasonality of the detections. Among their findings:

• Forty species were observed during the study period. The most common species included mule deer, raccoon belted kingfisher, Townsend’s chipmunk, deer mouse western grey squirrel, Virginia opossum and American robin.
• The most common animal activities around the log jams included movement (68%), rest (18%), and food handling/eating (9%), suggesting that large wood in streams acts as lateral corridors, or highways as Trevarrow put it, connecting land habitats year-round for wildlife.
• A strong seasonality in detections and species richness with the highest values occurring in summer and spring, and the lowest values in winter. For example, the most species were seen in summer (27), followed by spring (23), fall (22) and winter (16).

CAPTION

Cougar observed by a motion-triggered camera operated by Oregon State University researchers at Rock Creek, just west of Corvallis, Oregon.

CREDIT

Oregon State University

Before the 1970s, land managers, recreationists, and the public considered large wood in rivers as undesirable, and the removal of wood from streams was extensively promoted across United States. Think of European settlers and images of clean, flat rivers, Arismendi said.

“There is a lot of cultural legacy there, with log jams areas seen as places that increased flood risk, impeded navigation and transport, and accumulated debris” said Arismendi, an associate professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences.

However, the scientific and managerial perception towards large wood in streams has changed.

While the benefits of large wood in streams for fish, particularly salmon, have been well studied, few studies have focused on the impact on land-based animals, the Oregon State researchers said.

For their study, they set up 13 cameras between June 2020 and June 2021 along Rock Creek, about 15 miles west of Corvallis. They collected 1,921 videos containing at least one animal detection, including some unexpected species and activities:

• A golden eagle, a species rarely seen in the region.
• Two mule deer being swept away after attempting to climb onto a log during a high flow event.
• A deer mouse and raccoon separately crossing a log jam during high flow even where water covered the full length of the log.

Video of wildlife images (VIDEO)

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Arismendi is expanding the research this summer to Oregon State’s H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the Cascades Mountains in Oregon with 30 motion-triggered camera sites.

“This is the beginning of looking into this topic more in-depth,” Arismendi said. “I think there is a lot to unpack about the role of log jams in rivers”

The research was partially funded by an OSU Honors College Experiential Award that Trevarrow received. The paper is a portion of her thesis project and started when she began volunteering in Arismendi’s lab in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

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JOURNAL

Biodiversity and Conservation

Remote sensing helps track carbon storage in mangroves

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS FROM THE INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO, HAVE DEVELOPED A MODEL TO EXPLORE CARBON STORAGE IN MANGROVE FORESTS. view more 

CREDIT: INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

Tokyo, Japan – Mangrove forests store huge amounts of carbon but figuring out how much is stored globally is challenging. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a new model that uses remote sensing of environmental conditions to determine the productivity of mangrove forests.

In a recent study in Scientific Reports, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, developed a model to assess the productivity of coastal mangroves in China. Mangroves grow along tropical coastlines and are regularly inundated by seawater. These unique species are well adapted to tropical coastal habitats and have special features such as aerial roots and salt-tolerant tissues that enable them to thrive under dynamic conditions. As a result, the productivity of mangrove forests is influenced by a range of environmental factors, such as sea surface temperature, salinity, and photosynthetic active radiation.

In the past, light use efficiency models have been used to assess the productivity of terrestrial forests but there are no such models for more complex mangrove ecosystems.

“Previous attempts to model mangrove productivity have used field measurements and produced estimates at a local scale,” says lead author of the study, Yuhan Zheng. “But to truly understand the capacity for mangroves to store carbon, global assessments are needed, and these require measurements of environmental conditions on a much larger scale.”

To do this, the team used satellite data to develop a productivity model that is more appropriate for mangroves. Remote sensing can be used to collect information about the environment over large areas, and over time. The researchers developed a model that considered the effects of tidal inundation and then combined the model with satellite data on photosynthetically active radiation to estimate the productivity of mangrove forests along the coastline of China.

“We checked the results from the model against measurements of productivity from carbon flux towers, which measure changes in carbon between the mangrove canopy and the atmosphere, says Yuhan Zheng. “We found that our model could accurately estimate mangrove productivity.”

The model also performed better than a terrestrial model that was tested.

As the world seeks ways to mitigate the effects of climate change, there is a growing appreciation of the value of intact mangrove forests. This new model represents an important step towards understanding the capacity of mangroves to store carbon.

About Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

The Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo-IIS) is one of the largest university-attached research institutes in Japan. Over 120 research laboratories, each headed by a faculty member, comprise UTokyo-IIS, which has more than 1,200 members (approximately 400 staff and 800 students) actively engaged in education and research. Its activities cover almost all areas of engineering. Since its foundation in 1949, UTokyo-IIS has worked to bridge the huge gaps that exist between academic disciplines and real-world applications.

 

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JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-022-06231-6 

ARTICLE TITLE

Estimating mangrove forest gross primary production by quantifying environmental stressors in the coastal area

Wildlife–human conflicts could shift with climate change

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS FROM THE INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO, FIND THAT THE RISK OF HUMAN–ELEPHANT CONFLICT IN THAILAND IS LIKELY TO SHIFT WITH CLIMATE CHANGE view more 

CREDIT: INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

Tokyo, Japan – As natural areas become increasingly fragmented, the potential for humans and wildlife to interact is growing. Now, researchers from Japan have found that climate change is altering the risk of such interactions.

In a recent study published in Science of the Total Environment, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, examined how the risk of human–elephant conflict could change over time. When humans encroach on natural landscapes, the chances of interactions with wildlife increase. Conflicts can arise when wildlife damages livestock or crops, or when human activities damage animal habitat. For example, forest edges are particularly attractive areas for elephants on the hunt for food, which can bring them into contact with mature crops, or with farmers.

“In Thailand, half of the country’s population live in rural areas and rely on agriculture,” says lead author Nuntikorn Kitratporn. “Thailand also has about three to four thousand wild elephants and deforestation and the growth of commercial agriculture have pushed elephants into increasingly fragmented patches of habitat, increasing the chance of interactions between humans and elephants.”

Climate change is bringing additional complexity to these interactions, as changing environmental conditions lead to changes in the behavior and distribution of elephants. In rural areas where people depend on agriculture to survive, human–elephant conflict may well intensify in the future. To assess the risk of this, the researchers used a risk framework that incorporated different possible scenarios. They used this framework to examine the recent spatial distribution of human–elephant conflict (2000–2019) in Thailand and how it may look in the near future (2024–2044). Different projections of future climate and socioeconomic conditions were incorporated into the framework and the effects on land use were examined.

“We found a spatial shift in risk toward northern areas and higher latitudes,” says Nuntikorn Kitratporn. “In other areas, habitat is likely to become less suitable over time, which could first increase and gradually decrease the risk of interactions.”

Understanding how human–wildlife interactions may change in the future is vital for long-term planning. The results from this study could be used to develop planning strategies in affected communities and raise awareness of ways in which humans and wildlife can coexist.

About Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

The Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo-IIS) is one of the largest university-attached research institutes in Japan. Over 120 research laboratories, each headed by a faculty member, comprise UTokyo-IIS, which has more than 1,200 members (approximately 400 staff and 800 students) actively engaged in education and research. Its activities cover almost all areas of engineering. Since its foundation in 1949, UTokyo-IIS has worked to bridge the huge gaps that exist between academic disciplines and real-world applications.

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JOURNAL

Science of The Total Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155174 

ARTICLE TITLE

Human–elephant conflict risk assessment under coupled climatic and anthropogenic changes in Thailand

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2022

European map of aerosol pollution can help improve human health

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUTE

 

IMAGE: THE DATA FOR THE NEW SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION COME FROM 22 MEASURING STATIONS IN 14 COUNTRIES, SPREAD ACROSS THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT. A PROTOCOL DEVELOPED AT PSI FOR THE STANDARDISED EVALUATION OF THE DIFFERENT DATA SETS ENSURED THEIR COMPARABILITY. view more 

CREDIT: PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUTE/MAHIR DZAMBEGOVIC

Researchers have measured the composition of fine dust at 22 locations in Europe. The result of this international study, led by the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, is a European map of the most important aerosol sources. The researchers have now published their findings in the journal Environment International.

Good air quality is crucial for our health. Aerosols, also called fine dust, can be health-damaging, one reason being that the suspended particles penetrate deep into the lungs. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), poor air quality associated with high concentrations of aerosols causes seven million deaths worldwide every year. In order to be able to take meaningful measures to improve air quality, it is vital to identify the main aerosol sources.

Under the leadership of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, researchers have compiled a European map of aerosol sources. For this, they have analysed data collected at 22 sites in both urban and rural areas across Europe. They have determined the major sources of organic aerosols – stemming both from natural and from anthropogenic sources – and their variations over the course of days, months and seasons.

“This is a major breakthrough for air quality research,” says Imad El Haddad, acting research head of the Laboratory for Atmospheric Chemistry at PSI and a co-author of the study. “Our data can now be used to improve air quality models. These are used by epidemiologists to determine the aerosol sources that are most detrimental to human health.” In this way, policy makers could propose targeted measures to reduce the most dangerous aerosols, the PSI researcher says.

Combustion and traffic

While the composition of fine dust varies across the sites, the researchers have consistently identified the main source of aerosol pollution: residential heating with solid combustibles such as wood or coal.

“When solid fuel such as wooden logs, wood pellets, coal, or, in some countries, peat is used for residential heating, a lot of fine dust is released into the air and harms the health of the local population,” says Gang Chen, an aerosol researcher at PSI and the first author of the new publication. “In contrast to power plants, which have strict regulations and filter systems, the regulations regarding residential heating emissions are not sufficiently stringent for most European countries, including Switzerland.” In rural areas of the Alps, for example, many homes are still heated with solid combustibles. “Wood is a natural material. This is probably why many people are not aware of how health-damaging it is to burn wood,” adds Chen, who works in the Research Group for Gasphase and Aerosol Chemistry at PSI, headed by André Prévôt, who led this international study. With their work, the researchers hope to increase public awareness about the impact of residential combustion on air quality.

Traffic is another considerable source of fine dust. While traffic exhausts have been subject to strict regulations since the 1990s, non-exhaust emissions such as tire wear and brake wear deserve more attention in order to improve air quality, the scientists say.

Standardised protocol as a blueprint for global use

The data for the new publication come from 22 measuring stations in 14 countries, spread across the European continent, where various universities and other institutions operate their own aerosol measuring stations. The PSI researchers developed a standardised protocol for evaluating the data and determining the aerosol sources. This study is the main outcome of the international “Chemical On-Line cOmpoSition and Source Apportionment of fine aerosoL” (COLOSSAL) project and hence has a joint authorship of 70 collaborators.

Crucial to the study were also several long-standing EU research infrastructures, including the “Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network” (ACTRIS). “ACTRIS and other pan-European research infrastructures are the starting point for our research, producing high-quality long-term data on short-lived atmospheric constituents relevant for our regional climate and public health,” says El Haddad. These infrastructures not only provide vital information for policy makers, but also continue to be the basis of several European research programmes, such as the “Research Infrastructures Services Reinforcing Air Quality Monitoring Capacities in European Urban & Industrial AreaS” (RI-URBANS).

The researchers hope that their current publication will be understood as a stepping stone for a global mission. “We have shown for Europe that our standardised protocol for data analyses works. It can now be adopted by researchers everywhere,” says Chen. “PSI is world-leading in this work that allows us to attribute the measured aerosols to their sources. Next, we would like to expand our protocol in order to obtain aerosol maps of the entire world.”

In addition, the researchers envision that this type of data could soon be collected and analysed in real time. “This would make it possible to directly measure the effectiveness of measures taken to reduce aerosol pollution,” says Chen.

Setting more effective guideline values

Currently, the WHO requires that the total amount of aerosols that are smaller than 2.5 micrometres in diameter not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic metre of air. The WHO has only recently redefined this guideline value; previously it was 10 micrograms per cubic metre. “However, both values are exceeded almost everywhere,” says El Haddad. “If we set the new value at 5 micrograms per cubic metre, then 99 percent of all people live in areas where this is currently not met. In Switzerland, at least, measured values fell just below 10 micrograms per cubic metre of air a few years ago – thanks to the efforts made so far to mitigate aerosol pollution.”

For the improvement of air quality to progress more efficiently in the future, regulators could lower the limit values specifically for those aerosols most harmful to health more than for others, the researchers argue. Chen adds: “Ultimately, it is about saving lives. Our data helps ensure that we set sound priorities when it comes to air quality.”

Text: Paul Scherrer Institute/Laura Hennemann

 

Further information

WHO air quality key facts and guideline values
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health

Original publication

European Aerosol Phenomenology - 8: Harmonised Source Apportionment of Organic Aerosol using 22 Year-long ACSM/AMS Datasets
G. Chen et al.,
Environment International 15 June 2022 (online)
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107325

Researchers have measured the composition of fine dust at 22 locations in Europe. The result of this international study, led by the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, is a European map of the most important aerosol sources. The researchers have now published their findings in the journal Environment International.

Good air quality is crucial for our health. Aerosols, also called fine dust, can be health-damaging, one reason being that the suspended particles penetrate deep into the lungs. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), poor air quality associated with high concentrations of aerosols causes seven million deaths worldwide every year. In order to be able to take meaningful measures to improve air quality, it is vital to identify the main aerosol sources.

Under the leadership of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, researchers have compiled a European map of aerosol sources. For this, they have analysed data collected at 22 sites in both urban and rural areas across Europe. They have determined the major sources of organic aerosols – stemming both from natural and from anthropogenic sources – and their variations over the course of days, months and seasons.

“This is a major breakthrough for air quality research,” says Imad El Haddad, acting research head of the Laboratory for Atmospheric Chemistry at PSI and a co-author of the study. “Our data can now be used to improve air quality models. These are used by epidemiologists to determine the aerosol sources that are most detrimental to human health.” In this way, policy makers could propose targeted measures to reduce the most dangerous aerosols, the PSI researcher says.

Combustion and traffic

While the composition of fine dust varies across the sites, the researchers have consistently identified the main source of aerosol pollution: residential heating with solid combustibles such as wood or coal.

“When solid fuel such as wooden logs, wood pellets, coal, or, in some countries, peat is used for residential heating, a lot of fine dust is released into the air and harms the health of the local population,” says Gang Chen, an aerosol researcher at PSI and the first author of the new publication. “In contrast to power plants, which have strict regulations and filter systems, the regulations regarding residential heating emissions are not sufficiently stringent for most European countries, including Switzerland.” In rural areas of the Alps, for example, many homes are still heated with solid combustibles. “Wood is a natural material. This is probably why many people are not aware of how health-damaging it is to burn wood,” adds Chen, who works in the Research Group for Gasphase and Aerosol Chemistry at PSI, headed by André Prévôt, who led this international study. With their work, the researchers hope to increase public awareness about the impact of residential combustion on air quality.

Traffic is another considerable source of fine dust. While traffic exhausts have been subject to strict regulations since the 1990s, non-exhaust emissions such as tire wear and brake wear deserve more attention in order to improve air quality, the scientists say.

Standardised protocol as a blueprint for global use

The data for the new publication come from 22 measuring stations in 14 countries, spread across the European continent, where various universities and other institutions operate their own aerosol measuring stations. The PSI researchers developed a standardised protocol for evaluating the data and determining the aerosol sources. This study is the main outcome of the international “Chemical On-Line cOmpoSition and Source Apportionment of fine aerosoL” (COLOSSAL) project and hence has a joint authorship of 70 collaborators.

Crucial to the study were also several long-standing EU research infrastructures, including the “Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network” (ACTRIS). “ACTRIS and other pan-European research infrastructures are the starting point for our research, producing high-quality long-term data on short-lived atmospheric constituents relevant for our regional climate and public health,” says El Haddad. These infrastructures not only provide vital information for policy makers, but also continue to be the basis of several European research programmes, such as the “Research Infrastructures Services Reinforcing Air Quality Monitoring Capacities in European Urban & Industrial AreaS” (RI-URBANS).

The researchers hope that their current publication will be understood as a stepping stone for a global mission. “We have shown for Europe that our standardised protocol for data analyses works. It can now be adopted by researchers everywhere,” says Chen. “PSI is world-leading in this work that allows us to attribute the measured aerosols to their sources. Next, we would like to expand our protocol in order to obtain aerosol maps of the entire world.”

In addition, the researchers envision that this type of data could soon be collected and analysed in real time. “This would make it possible to directly measure the effectiveness of measures taken to reduce aerosol pollution,” says Chen.

Setting more effective guideline values

Currently, the WHO requires that the total amount of aerosols that are smaller than 2.5 micrometres in diameter not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic metre of air. The WHO has only recently redefined this guideline value; previously it was 10 micrograms per cubic metre. “However, both values are exceeded almost everywhere,” says El Haddad. “If we set the new value at 5 micrograms per cubic metre, then 99 percent of all people live in areas where this is currently not met. In Switzerland, at least, measured values fell just below 10 micrograms per cubic metre of air a few years ago – thanks to the efforts made so far to mitigate aerosol pollution.”

For the improvement of air quality to progress more efficiently in the future, regulators could lower the limit values specifically for those aerosols most harmful to health more than for others, the researchers argue. Chen adds: “Ultimately, it is about saving lives. Our data helps ensure that we set sound priorities when it comes to air quality.”

Text: Paul Scherrer Institute/Laura Hennemann

Further information

WHO air quality key facts and guideline values
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-healt

Original publication

European Aerosol Phenomenology - 8: Harmonised Source Apportionment of Organic Aerosol using 22 Year-long ACSM/AMS Datasets
G. Chen et al.,
Environment International 15 June 2022 (online)
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107325

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JOURNAL

Environment International

DOI

10.1016/j.envint.2022.107325 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

European Aerosol Phenomenology - 8: Harmonised Source Apportionment of Organic Aerosol using 22 Year-long ACSM/AMS Datasets

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Jun-2022

Systematic warming pool discovered in the Pacific due to human activities

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG

 

IMAGE: THE IMAGE SHOWS THE INCREASE OF WATER TEMPERATURE OVER THE NORTHEAST PACFIC OCEAN FROM 1996 TO 2021 (PACFIC WARMING POOL). THE MEASURMENTS ARE SHOWN IN °C PER DECADE INCREASE. THE WHITE COUNTER REPRESENTS THE 2019-2021 MARINE HEATWAVE CO-LOCATED WITH THE “WARMING POOL”. view more 

CREDIT: UHH/CLICCS/A. BARKHORDARIAN

In a study just released in the journal Nature Communications Earth and Environment, Dr. Armineh Barkhordarian confirms that this systematic warming pool is not the result of natural climatic variations – but of human influences instead. “This warming pool will continue to increase the water temperature in the future, increasing both the frequency and intensity of local marine heatwaves. "The sharp increase in average water temperature is pushing ecosystems to their limits,” explains Barkhordarian, an expert on atmospheric science and member of Universität Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence “Climate, Climatic Change, and Society” (CLICCS).

Barkhordarian and her team show how the long-term warming pool has promoted local marine heatwaves in the past. One of these phenomena gained notoriety as the deadly “Pacific Ocean Blob,” which had devastating consequences between 2014 and 2015: marine productivity faltered, toxic algal blooms formed, and seabirds and marine mammals died in droves. In addition, the event led to severe droughts on the west coast of the USA.

The most recent marine heatwave continued for three years, from 2019 to 2021, producing water temperatures up to six degrees Celsius above average. Barkhordarian’s team have now proven that increased anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions were directly responsible for the extreme event. The probability of such a heatwave arising without human influences is less than one percent; there is a 99-percent probability that increased greenhouse-gas emissions were also required.

In addition, the study shows that the water temperature over the warming pool in the northeast Pacific increased by an average of 0.05 degrees Celsius per year over the past 25 years. Overall, the region cooled less in winter and the summer was 37 days longer on average. As a result, over the past 20 years there have been 31 marine heatwaves in this region alone, compared to just nine between 1982 and 1999.

“More frequent and extreme marine heatwaves are a serious burden for affected ecosystems. This not only poses a tremendous threat to biodiversity; it can also push these marine ecosystems past a tipping point, after which they can no longer recover,” says Barkhordarian. “The discovery of the long-term warming pool will now provide us with crucial information on the likelihood of such extreme events in the future.”
 

To what extent are human beings responsible? In what is referred to as attribution research, experts compare how the world developed with human influences, and how it would have done so without them. In the present study, the percentage of marine heatwaves resulting from additional anthropogenic greenhouse gases since 1982 was calculated. This allows statistically based conclusions on the future to be drawn.

Publication:

Barkhordarian A, Nielsen DM, Baehr J (2022): Recent marine heatwaves in the North Pacific warming pool can be attributed to rising atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases; Nature Communications Earth and Environment, DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00461-2

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s43247-022-00461-2 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

ARTICLE TITLE

Recent marine heatwaves in the North Pacific warming pool can be attributed to rising atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2022

Damaged plants and fake perfumes can be identified rapidly and reliably in real time

Researchers develop a highly sensitive novel technique capable of detecting chiral molecules within complex gas mixtures

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JOHANNES GUTENBERG UNIVERSITAET MAINZ

 

IMAGE: AT THE CORE OF THE NEW DEVICE IS AN OPTICAL CHIRAL POLARIMETER WITH WHICH IT IS POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE THE CHIRAL SIGNATURE OF COMPONENTS ACCURATELY AND PRECISELY EVEN IN THE GASEOUS PHASE. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO/©: LYKOURGOS BOUGAS, JGU

The chiral signature of a fragrance can reveal whether a perfume is genuine or fake. Similarly, the chiral signature of the emissions of a plant can provide information on whether the plant is healthy or sick. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC) have developed an innovative approach capable of identifying and monitoring such chiral signatures. Most natural chiral substances are found in two mirror-image forms present in different relative quantities. Therefore, every plant and every perfume must have its own individual chiral hallmark. Using their new approach, the research team has been able, for the first time, to identify chiral compounds within complex mixtures of gases with a high level of sensitivity and in real time.

"Our new technique has enormous potential, specifically in agriculture and the chemical industry," said Dr. Lykourgos Bougas of JGU. Professor Jonathan Williams of MPIC added: "In addition to commercial applications, this technique will also make it possible for us to decode chiral signals in the air around us, enabling us to better understand the chemistry of the atmosphere." The cooperating partners have already applied for a patent for their technique.

Naturally occurring odors differ from synthetic ones

Chirality is a fundamental property of nature. Our right and left hands are a manifestation of this. Most importantly, several biomolecules exist in two mirror-image forms that are non-superimposable – in the same way that a right hand will not fit in a left-handed glove. This can affect the bio-chemical activity of these molecules. A unique example is the emissions of plants. These contain several chiral compounds that are naturally present in both chiral forms, the D- and L-isomers or enantiomers. A prominent example is the chiral molecule pinene, which is responsible for the characteristic scent of conifers and pines. The relative ratios of the two enantiomers of pinene naturally vary in the emissions of such plants, but they critically depend on the state of health of the plant.

The same principle applies in the case of complex blends of natural and synthetic components, as in the case of perfumes. Any chiral ingredients will occur in both the D- and L-isomers but in differing relative quantities, depending on whether these originate from natural sources or from synthetic ones. As it is often the case that natural components are replaced by synthetic substances in fake or counterfeit perfumes, fake perfumes will have a chiral signature that differs from that of the originals.

Research under the aegis of the ULTRACHIRAL project funded by the European Union

The Mainz-based researchers have developed a cavity-enhanced polarimetric method for optical chiral analysis as part of the EU-sponsored ULTRACHIRAL project. They were able to detect the differing optical rotation effects of chiral molecules under polarized light. For this they transferred a sample of a plant or perfume scent to a small chamber which they exposed to polarized light. They then used a novel chirality-sensitive optical polarimeter to measure precisely and accurately the induced rotation of the polarized light. The researchers have been able to achieve a sensitivity that is better than that of the current state-of-the-art equipment by several orders of magnitude.

"Our new chiral-analysis approach provides us with precise results, faster and at better sensitivities than traditional techniques, without the need for any calibration before each measurement run. Additionally, our technique has been combined with gas chromatography for the first time to separate the individual components in a complex mixture. As a result, the chiral form of each constituent present in a complex blend of gases can be directly and accurately identified," explained JGU physicist Dr. Lykourgos Bougas, lead author of the paper that has recently been published in Science Advances. In their publication, the team of authors proposes a whole range of possible new applications for their detection method.

Among these is the quality control of perfumes, currently a particularly complex process as perfumes contain several hundreds or even thousands of different – natural and synthetic – compounds. To demonstrate the effectiveness of their technique, the researchers compared four authentic high-quality commercial perfumes with their low-cost counterfeits. The Mainz-based team was able to differentiate the high-quality original perfumes from their imitations on the basis of their chiral signatures with the help of a single rapid measurement.

CAPTION

Plant emissions contain several chiral compounds that significantly contribute to their characteristic aromas. The researchers were able to directly observe in real time how the chirality of emissions from a young conifer changed when the plant was damaged.

CREDIT

photo/©: Lykourgos Bougas, JGU

Potential use in crop cu

 

CAPTION

The resin secreted by a damaged conifer to protect the site of the damage has its own characteristic chiral signature within that of the overall emissions of the plant.

CREDIT

photo/©: Lykourgos Bougas, JGUltivation to monitor plant health and pest infestation

The technique might also be of considerable interest in the field of agriculture. Taking a young coniferous plant, the team was able to show that the chiral signature of the plant's emissions suddenly changed as soon as the plant was damaged. Similar chiral signatures have already been observed in plants subject to drought or disease. These signatures can be employed in practice, for example, to continuously monitor crop plants and trigger an alarm if these are infested by insects, suffer from a shortage of water, or become unhealthy.

The method may also assist in acquiring further insights into the physical and chemical processes that occur in our atmosphere. It is known that forests release vast quantities of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the environment, many of which are chiral. These molecules have an effect not only on the chemistry and physics of the air around us but also on our climate. VOCs can also be the precursor substances of secondary organic aerosols that influence the Earth's solar radiation budget. "We are still largely unaware of the role chirality plays in all these processes. In order to better understand this, we need new instruments and new approaches, such as that delivered by our research," concluded Bougas.

In order to enable the new method to be implemented in the various areas of application more easily, Dr. Lykourgos Bougas and Professor Jonathan Williams hope that a portable version of the device will be developed in future.

Related links:
https://www.mpic.de/2285/en – Max Planck Institute for Chemistry ;
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/737071 – ULTRACHIRAL project

Read more:
https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/13510_ENG_HTML.php – press release "Metabolite fumarate can reveal cell damage: New method to generate fumarate for MRI presented" (27 April 2021) ;
https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/13224_ENG_HTML.php – press release "Hyperpolarized proton magnetic resonance imaging used to observe metabolic processes in real time" (11 March 2021) ;
https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/13025_ENG_HTML.php – press release "Venus flytraps found to produce magnetic fields" (2 Feb. 2021) ;
https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/11825_ENG_HTML.php – press release "New NMR method enables monitoring of chemical reactions in metal containers" (15 July 2020) ;
https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/aktuell/11370_ENG_HTML.php – press release "New simple method for measuring the state of lithium-ion batteries" (7 May 2020) ;
https://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/20145_ENG_HTML.php – press release "EU funding for excellent young researchers in physics" (23 Feb. 2016)

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.abm3749 

ARTICLE TITLE

Absolute optical chiral analysis using cavity-enhanced polarimetry