October 9, 2015
Inventors Race to Find Best Way to Recycle Polluting Carbon
By Mark Peplow and ChemistryWorld | October 21, 2015
October 16, 2015
Article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/inventors-race-to-find-best-way-to-recycle-polluting-carbon/
Image: |
Summary
Last year, human activities released about 32 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the further explained that we need to decrease gas emissions to almost zero by 2100 to avoid irreversible damage to our environment. And to do that, we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and prevent the CO2 that we do produce from reaching the atmosphere. On 29 September, the XPrize Foundation (a charity that supports innovation) announced that it would award $20 million to the winners of its new Carbon XPrize,( a competition intended to stimulate carbon capture and utilization 'CCU' research). Entrants will submit ideas for using CO2 from either gas- or coal-fired power stations, and the best technologies will be tested at demonstration-scale plants. The teams that convert the most CO2 into the highest value products will win. The need to be both environmentally and economically sustainable has been a tough hurdle for CCU, Many economists believe that a global carbon price would probably be the most effective way to enforce CO2 decline. By setting a global minimum tax on CO2 emissions, industries would have a clear incentive to invest in technologies. Whether a global tax will ever be politically acceptable remains to be seen. Although the idea got short shrift at the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit, it is notable that China (which emits about one-quarter of the world’s CO2) Recently announced plans to set a price on carbon through a national emissions trading scheme from 2017. Reflection |
Frog Mass Extinction on
the Horizon
By John R. Platt | October 13, 2015
Summary
At least 10 percent of all frog species will disappear by 2100. We’ve already lost 3.1 percent, according to his calculations. Said biology professor John Alroy of Australia’s Macquarie University. The world has lost at least 200 frog species since the 1970s, and hundreds more will face extinction in the coming decades, according to new research published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Habitat loss and pollution have likely caused some of the extinctions so far; however, studies have shown that the primary driver has been the deadly chytrid fungus “BD” (Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis). BD has been spreading around the globe over the past 40 years via the pet trade and other human activities. Furthermore, it has previously been blamed for at least 100 extinctions. Alroy now calculates that the number is probably much higher. John Alroy used complicated statistical analysis to determine his estimates, which otherwise be hard to calculate by direct observation. Most amphibian species have very limited ranges in distribution, and many live in remote areas like rainforests, where they are hard to study. Alroy said that the actual rate of extinction may be much higher than his estimated 10 percent due to the lack of available data in some regions, his analysis did show several hotpots for extinction risk, including most of Central America, Brazil, Madagascar, Australia and New Guinea, all of which also contain high numbers of endemic species. his analysis have also revealed the safest areas for frogs, which are Southeastern U.S. and Europe, however, the chytrid fungus remains a threat in both regions, He also noted that the extinction rate began to increase in the 1980s after chytrid was first discovered. Things are already getting worse than Alroy predicted, earlier this year—just after Alroy completed his analysis—the chytrid fungus turned up on Madagascar for the first time. 7 percent of the world’s amphibian species live on that island and most of these species live nowhere else. Reflection I chose this article because i like to know about what causes species to extinction and what scientists/biologists go through to figure that out. what interested me is how on type of fungus could be the reason of a specie to be extinct. Article: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/frog-mass-extinction/
Image: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/frog-mass-extinction/ |
October 2, 2015
Big Trees First to Die in
Severe Droughts
By Brittany Patterson and ClimateWire | October 1, 2015
Article:http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/big-trees-first-to-die-in-severe-droughts/
Image: http://www.americansouthwest.net/california/calaveras-big-trees/hercules-tree_l.html |
Summary
“Imagine trying to suck up water from a straw that is 5 feet tall versus a few inches,” said Nathan McDowell, a researcher with the Earth and Environmental Sciences Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. A global analysis of how national forests respond to drought published inventory data from 40 drought events in 38 forests across the globe. 65 percent of the trees tested had a drought death due to their increase in size. New research published this week in the journal Nature Plants finds it’s the large trees that suffer most and are first to die. This week, officials in California reported that the number of dead trees in California has soared to 25 million, the result of drought and diseases exacerbated by lack of water (Green wire, Sept. 28). “Plants can’t go to the local 7-Eleven and get something to drink—they’re stuck there,” he said. “The way they deal with dry conditions is they close their stomata, holes in leaves that allow water to escape and capture CO2,” Said McDowell. If a tree does this for an extended period of time, it begins to run out of carbon or experience what is called “carbon starvation.” Furthermore, the researchers found that when trees are exposed to drought not only are climate-stressed trees less likely to take in as much carbon, but when they die, they release large amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. “Understanding which trees in the forest are most vulnerable to drought is quite important for understanding whether they will continue to act as a strong carbon sink in a rapidly changing climate,” William Anderegg, a postdoctoral fellow at the Princeton Environmental Institute. Anderegg’s own work, including a study published in July in the journal Science, found that forests absorb less carbon for four years after a drought. Although some forest management strategies could be helpful, such as forest thinning and controlled burning in appropriate places, those are merely bandages, he said.“Do we predict all trees are going to die? Maybe it’s 80 percent,” he said. “The bottom line is we can’t just limit CO2 emissions. We have to stop carbon emissions totally. It’s good our governments are making progress, but it’s just a drop in the bucket.” Reflection I chose this article because the topic seemed very interesting and almost obvious, the straw metaphor McDowell used was closest to what I had in mind when I started reading it. I have read many articles about drought this was the most interesting, because the way the large trees are architected when going through dry conditions they close their stomata, holes in leaves that allow water to escape and capture carbon dioxide and when it does this for a long period of time it begins to run out of carbon and start to experience “carbon starvation.” I thought that it was a cool way of nature to react to environmental problems, however, when these trees die most of them release large amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. |
September 25, 2015
Ocean Fish Numbers Cut in
Half Since 1970
By Alister Doyle | September 16, 2015
Summary
"The amount of fish in the oceans has halved since 1970, in a plunge to the 'brink of collapse' caused by over-fishing and other threats." said the WWF conservation group. A study by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), showed that some of the commercial fish stock populations such as tuna, mackerel and bonito, had fallen by almost 75 percent. Furthermore, The report said populations of fish, marine mammals, birds and reptiles had fallen 49 percent between 1970 and 2012. Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International has said "There is a massive, massive decrease in species which are critical." both for the ocean ecosystem and food security for billions of people, Lambertini continues by explaining how the ocean has Its limits and over-fishing could cause many issues like the onese we see in the statistics above. In addition to over fishing, damages to coral reefs and mangroves---which are nurseries for many fish--- coastal development, pollution and climate change---which is raising temperatures and making waters more acidic--- are also threats to the species in the ocean. Reflection I chose this article because its title seemed pretty interesting; especially after doing the “Happy Fishing Game” I wanted to know more about how this type of environmental issue is affecting the environment. And what really interested me is why it took us about four decades to realize that over fishing is threatening has cut half of the populations of many species. However I was more interested to learn about the ways organizations are using to stop this environmental issue from happening. And these ways include, Closing fishing grounds and cracking down on illegal fishing gives stocks. |
September 18, 2015
California's Drought Is Part of a Much Bigger Water Crisis
By Abrahm Lustgarten, Lauren Kirchner, Amanda Zamora and ProPublica | June 26, 2015
Article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/california-s-drought-is-part-of-a-much-bigger-water-crisis/
Picture: http://giphy.com/search/drought |
Summary
"The river that sustains 40 million Americans is dying — and man, not nature, is to blame." by Abrahm Lustgarten. Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and California all share water from the Colorado River, a hugely important water resource that sustains 40 million people in those states, and supports 15 percent of the nation's food supply. Entering its fourth year, most of California is experiencing extreme to exceptional drought crisis due to severe shortages of rain and snowfall, however, it has helped increase national awareness for the longer-term shortages that are harming the entire Colorado River basin. California uses almost one-third of the entire Colorado River flow, which is larger than any other Colorado River basin state. 16 percent of California's surface water---water from snowpack, streams and rivers---is from the Colorado River. A recent study by U.C. Davis researchers projected that the drought would cost California's economy $2.7 billion in 2015 alone. In addition to the economic cost, the dry and hot periods are increasing the chances of wildfires, Furthermore, threatening populations of geese, ducks and Joshua trees. And a little bit of rain won't help. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists say it could take several years of average or above-average rainfall before California's water supply can return to anything close to normal. Climate change was not the cause, and Global warming may have caused excessive heat that have worsened the drought's effects, but it isn't to blame for the lack of rain. The reason for less rain and snow in the previous years is "natural variance" and not necessarily because of man-made pollution. Reflection Knowing more about California's drought and how it is effecting our environment is the reason I chose to write about this article. It interested me how people could overuse water in ways like using an entire gallon of water to produce one almond, a tine slice of cantaloupe, four strawberries or two florets of broccoli. |