ReportWire

Tag: Pollution

  • Mount Sinai Researchers Find Asian Americans to Have Significantly Higher Exposure to “Toxic Forever” Chemicals

    Mount Sinai Researchers Find Asian Americans to Have Significantly Higher Exposure to “Toxic Forever” Chemicals

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — New York, NY (August 24, 2023) — Asian Americans have significantly higher exposure than other ethnic or racial groups to PFAS, a family of thousands of synthetic chemicals also known as “toxic forever” chemicals, Mount Sinai-led researchers report.

    People frequently encounter PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in everyday life, and these exposures carry potentially adverse health impacts, according to the study published in Environmental Science and Technology, in the special issue “Data Science for Advancing Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology.”

    The scientists estimated a person’s total exposure burden to PFAS and accounted for the exposure heterogeneity (for example, different diets and behaviors) of different groups of people that could expose them to different sets of PFAS. They found that Asian Americans had a significantly high PFAS exposure than all other U.S. ethnic or racial groups, and that the median exposure score for Asian Americans was 89 percent higher than for non-Hispanic whites.

    This is the first time that researchers accounted for complex exposure sources of different groups of people to calculate a person’s exposure burden to PFAS. To achieve this, they used advanced psychometric and data science methods called mixture item response theory. The researchers analyzed human biomonitoring data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a representative sample of the U.S. population.

    This research suggests that biomonitoring and risk assessment should consider an exposure metric that takes into consideration the fact that different groups of people are exposed to many different sources and patterns of PFAS. Based on these findings, these researches believe that exposure sources, such as dietary sources and occupational exposure, may underlie the disparities in exposure burden. This will be an important topic of future work, as it is difficult to trace exposure sources to PFAS because they are so ubiquitous.

    “We found that if we used a customized burden scoring approach, we could uncover some disparities in PFAS exposure burden across population sub-groups,” said Shelley Liu, PhD, Associate Professor of Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “These disparities are hidden if we use a one-size-fits-all approach to quantifying everyone’s exposure burden. In order to advance precision environmental health, we need to optimally and equitably quantify exposure burden to PFAS mixtures, to ensure that our exposure burden metric used are fair and informative for all people.”

    PFAS pollution is a major health concern, and nearly all Americans have detectable levels of PFAS chemicals in their blood. PFAS are ubiquitous, and are used in products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. The Biden administration has allocated $9 billion to PFAS clean-up, and in March 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first enforceable federal standards to regulate PFAS contamination in public drinking water.

    In the future, Dr. Liu’s team plans to incorporate toxicity information on each PFAS chemical into exposure burden scoring, to further evaluate disparities in toxicity-informed exposure burden in vulnerable groups and population subgroups.

    The research was funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) R03ES033374 and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) K25HD104918.

     

    About the Mount Sinai Health System

    Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

    Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals, receiving high “Honor Roll” status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.

    For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

    [ad_2]

    Mount Sinai Health System

    Source link

  • Piles of rubbish left at abandoned homeless camp ‘right in the heart’ of Gosford’s CBD – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Piles of rubbish left at abandoned homeless camp ‘right in the heart’ of Gosford’s CBD – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    [ad_1]

    An environmental group wants immediate action to help clean up an abandoned homeless camp on the New South Wales Central Coast.

    People had been living in tents, a caravan and a boat on Narara Creek but recently left the site and many of their belongings and rubbish behind.

    Clean4Shore founder Graham “Jono” Johnston said the destruction was “confronting”.

    “You could think you’re standing right in the middle of Woy Woy landfill,” he said.

    “It’s right in the heart of Gosford’s CBD.”

    The site, next to the Gosford Golf Club, is only minutes away from the city’s centre.

    Graham Johnston says the site needs cleaning up.(ABC Central Coast: Scott Levi)

    Mr Johnston said early intervention by support services could prevent similar problems in the future.

    “Get in there early, find out what the situation is and solve it before it develops into this,” he said.

    “The best way we can do it is by working with the respective agencies to support the people and try to help them get rid of their rubbish.”

    Piles of rubbish near Narara Creek.

    Central Coast Council says it is investigating the dumping of rubbish.(ABC Central Coast: Scott Levi)

    Complicated picture

    Services in the sector say a more holistic approach to homelessness would help stop more people slipping through the cracks.

    Coast Shelter acting chief executive Mark Trevaskis said there…

    Original Author Link click here to read complete story..

    [ad_2]

    MMP News Author

    Source link

  • Modeling Study Indicates Potential for US to Reduce Building Emissions by 91%, Resulting in $100 Billion Annual Savings in Energy Costs

    Modeling Study Indicates Potential for US to Reduce Building Emissions by 91%, Resulting in $100 Billion Annual Savings in Energy Costs

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — The US has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. To accomplish this goal, large cuts in emissions are necessary, especially in high-emission sectors like the building industry. In an article publishing on August 18 in the journal One Earth, a team of researchers use a computational model to analyze several scenarios of future building energy use in the US. They find that by tackling emissions on multiple fronts and placing focus on “demand-side measures” that affect how power is drawn from the grid, such as technologies like electric heat pumps and smart thermostats, the US can achieve its climate goals, decrease building emissions by 91% from their 2005 peak, and save over $100 billion each year on energy costs.

    “Meeting the US 2050 net-zero emissions target requires a rapid and cost-effective low-carbon transition across the entire energy system,” writes the team of energy technology experts based at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and energy consultants. “Commercial and residential buildings are a primary source of emissions and are key to this transition.”

    In the United States, the authors cite, buildings—including both public buildings, like offices, and private buildings, like homes—contribute 35% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. In 2005, the US contributed 2,327 megatons of carbon dioxide in the buildings sector, setting a record for all-time high emissions. Since then, emissions have declined by 25%, and are projected to keep declining by up to another 41% by 2050. But we will need to keep cutting emissions to reach our climate goals, assert the authors.

    For their analysis, the authorship team defines three main ways to cut building-related emissions. They argue that we should focus on making buildings use energy more efficiently, making the power grid more reliable by increasing the flexibility of how energy is managed by the grid, and utilizing low-carbon energy sources. “There are no ‘silver bullet’ solutions for building decarbonization,” write the authors. “Achieving deeper levels of emissions reductions will require a comprehensive mix of solutions addressing both the generation and end uses of energy—a true ‘all-of-the-above’ menu of solutions to decarbonize the built environment.”

    The team modeled “low,” “moderate,” and “aggressive” scenarios of this “all-of-the-above menu” to determine the degree to which we can cut emissions. They found that it’s possible to reduce building emissions by 91% compared to 2005 levels by 2050, and that demand-side measures that increase the flexibility of the power grid, like heat pumps and smart thermostats, could contribute up to 45% of these emissions cuts.

    “Flexibility will play an increasingly important role as variable renewable energy accounts for a larger share of power generation and distribution networks are challenged by growing demand for clean electricity,” write the researchers.

    However, achieving this level of emissions cuts would require the “aggressive” level of intervention from the researchers’ model, and the authors emphasize that an “unprecedented scale and speed of building technology development and deployment” would be necessary, as well as a largescale commitment to changing how we consume energy.

    “Realizing this level of change in the building sector will require a rapid and sustained increase in investment alongside policy and regulatory support,” write the authors. “We hope that this study can inform concrete policy approaches that accelerate energy system decarbonization across both demand- and supply-side technologies to fulfill ambitious targets for climate change mitigation in the US.”

     

    ###

     

    [ad_2]

    Cell Press

    Source link

  • The scale of emissions inequality in U.S. society

    The scale of emissions inequality in U.S. society

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Researchers have linked US household income data to greenhouse gas emissions generated in creating that income, and found that 40% of total emissions are associated with income for the highest 10% of households. The paper, published in PLOS Climate suggests that an income or shareholder-based carbon tax focused on investments may have equity advantages over traditional consumer-facing cap-and-trade or carbon tax options.

    Human created climate change is an existential threat, and there is a disconnect between those facing the worst impacts and those that drive the greatest greenhouse gas emissions.

    Jared Starr of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and colleagues, took 30 years of US household-level income data, from 1990-2019, and linked it to the emissions generated in that income. They look at both income from direct emissions, such as industries like power plants, and income related to industries supplying services or commodities to those industries – such as finance or fossil fuel suppliers.

    In general, white non-Hispanic households had the highest emissions linked to income, and Black households had the lowest, predominantly because of the racial inequity of income distribution. In terms of age, emissions tend to increase with age until peaking within the 45 – 54 age group before declining again.

    Among the highest earning 1% of households, whose income is linked to 15 – 17% of national emissions, investment holdings account for 38 – 43% of their emissions. The team also identifies “super emitters” with extremely high overall emissions, and these are almost exclusively among the top 0.1% of households, which are overrepresented in finance, real estate, and insurance; manufacturing; mining and quarrying.

    The research offers a new perspective on emissions responsibility and climate finance and could be a useful policy tool to encourage decarbonization while raising revenue for climate finance.

    Starr adds: “The scale of emission disparity is quite striking. Just fifteen days of income-based emissions from an average top 0.1% household is equal to a lifetime of emissions from a bottom decile household. I find that morally troubling, especially since low-income households face disproportionate climate harms.

    I think we need to make sure that our climate policies take these disparities into account. One way to do that is to make sure that those who are financially benefitting thanks to emissions are properly incentivized to both reduce their emissions and pay for the damage caused by those emissions. I believe that an income or asset-based carbon tax would focus the minds of corporate executives, board members, and large shareholders to decarbonize their industries in order to reduce their taxes. In essence it is decarbonization and divestment out of self-interest. At the same time it would generate much needed revenue for climate finance. While no tool is perfect, I think this could be a useful new approach to encourage the most economically and politically powerful in our society to focus their minds on decarbonization.”

     

    [ad_2]

    PLOS

    Source link

  • Combining Rock Placement on Farms with Emissions Reductions Could Assist in Achieving Crucial IPCC Carbon Removal Objective

    Combining Rock Placement on Farms with Emissions Reductions Could Assist in Achieving Crucial IPCC Carbon Removal Objective

    [ad_1]

    Key points:

    • Enhanced rock weathering makes use of a natural geologic process to store carbon long term
    • Applying 10 tons of basalt dust per hectare of crop land globally could sequester up to 217 gigatons of carbon dioxide in 75 years, above the IPCC’s lower threshold of carbon dioxide removal needed to reach climate goals, along with emissions reductions
    • Farms in the tropics have the biggest and fastest return on investment

    Newswise — WASHINGTON — Farmers around the world could help the planet reach a key carbon removal goal set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by mixing crushed volcanic rocks into their fields, a new study reports. The study also highlights wet, warm tropics as the most promising locations for this climate intervention strategy.

    The study provides one of the first global estimates of the potential carbon dioxide drawdown from basalt application on agricultural fields worldwide. It was published in Earth’s Future, AGU’s journal for interdisciplinary research on the past, present and future of our planet and its inhabitants.

    This type of climate intervention is called enhanced rock weathering. It takes advantage of the weathering process, which naturally sequesters carbon dioxide in carbonate minerals. The idea is simple: speed up weathering in a way that also benefits people. When used in parallel with emissions reductions, it can help slow the pace of climate change.

    And it may be a safer bet than other carbon drawdown approaches, according to the study authors.

    “Enhanced rock weathering poses fewer risks compared to other climate interventions,” said S. Hun Baek, a climate scientist at Yale University who led the study. “It also provides some key benefits, like rejuvenating depleted soils and countering ocean acidification, that may make it more socially desirable.”

    The new study explores the potential of applying crushed basalt, a fast-weathering rock that forms as lava cools, to agricultural fields around the world and highlights which regions can most efficiently break down the rocks.

    “There’s tremendous potential here,” said Noah Planavsky, a geochemist at Yale University who co-authored the study. “Although we still have things to learn from a basic science perspective, there is promise, and we need to focus on what we can do from market and finance perspectives.”

    A previous study used a separate method of calculating carbon dioxide removal to estimate carbon drawdown by the year 2050, but the researchers wanted to look beyond country borders and further into the future.

    The researchers used a new biogeochemical model to simulate how applying crushed basalt to global croplands would draw down carbon dioxide, to test the sensitivity of enhanced rock weathering to climate and to pinpoint the areas where the method could be most effective.

    The new model simulated enhanced rock weathering on 1,000 agricultural sites around the world under two emissions scenarios from 2006 to 2080. They found that in the 75-year study period, those agricultural sites would draw down 64 gigatons of carbon dioxide. Extrapolating that to all agricultural fields, representing the world’s total potential application of this strategy, up to 217 gigatons of carbon could be sequestered in that time period.

    “The latest IPCC report said we need to remove 100 to 1,000 gigatons of carbon by 2100 in addition to steeply reducing emissions to keep global temperature from rising more than one and a half degrees Celsius,” said Baek. “Scaling up to global croplands, the estimates of carbon removal we found are roughly comparable to the lower end of that range needed to have a fighting chance of meeting those climate goals.”

    Because weathering progresses more quickly in hot and wet environments, enhanced rock weathering would work more quickly in tropical regions than higher latitudes, the study highlights. Farmers and companies looking to invest in carbon drawdown solutions make cost- and carbon-efficient choices by targeting basalt application in tropical fields.

    The model revealed another promising result: Enhanced rock weathering works just as well, if not a little better, in warmer temperatures. Some other carbon drawdown approaches, such as those that rely on soil organic carbon storage, become less effective with continual warming.

    “Enhanced rock weathering is surprisingly resilient to climate change,” Baek said. “Our results show that it’s relatively insensitive to climate change and works about the same under moderate and severe global warming scenarios. This gives us confidence in its potential as a long-term strategy.”

    Farmers already apply millions of tons of limestone (a calcium carbonate rock that can either be a carbon source or sink) to their fields to deliver nutrients and control soil acidity, so gradually changing the rock type could mean a smooth transition to implementing enhanced rock weathering at scale, Planavsky said.

    Enhanced rock weathering has been applied on small scales on farms around the world. The next step is working toward “realistic implementation,” Planavsky said.

    #

    [ad_2]

    American Geophysical Union (AGU)

    Source link

  • Maui officials and scientists warn that after the flames flicker out, toxic particles will remain

    Maui officials and scientists warn that after the flames flicker out, toxic particles will remain

    [ad_1]

    LAHAINA, Hawaii — When flames swept through western Maui, engulfing the town of Lahaina, residents saw toxic fumes spewing into the air as burning homes, pipes and cars combusted, transforming rubber, metal and plastic into poisonous, particulate matter-filled smoke.

    Retired mailman and Vietnam veteran Thomas Leonard heard a boom as a propane tank at a nearby home exploded, leaving a cloud that looked like “a gigantic mushroom” in its wake.

    Thirty-seven year old Mike Cicchino, who grew up on Maui, said he could tell how close the flames were based on how far away cars sounded as their gas tanks erupted. He and his family sought refuge in the ocean across a knee-high sea wall and as he helped others onto the rocks, his rib cage ached, his eyes were nearly swollen shut and he vomited.

    “It was like a war,” Cicchino said.

    About 46,000 residents and visitors have flown out of West Maui since the devastation became clear last week, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Officials are now mourning the deaths of more than 90 people and preparing the island, particularly Lahaina, for a long recovery.

    In addition to lives lost, property damaged and a culture forever transformed, authorities are worried about returning to some parts of the island where toxic byproducts of the fire likely remain.

    Residents of some parts of the island have begun returning home, finding melted cars, flattened homes and burnt elevator shafts rising from ashy lots where apartment buildings once stood. But even in places where the destruction has begun to subside, officials are warning residents that it remains too dangerous to return and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials are surveying the area for additional hazards.

    “It is not safe. It is a hazardous area and that’s why experts are here,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a news conference Saturday. “We’re not doing anybody any favors by letting them back in there quickly, just so they can get sick.”

    Hawaii’s state toxicologist Diana Felton told Hawaii Public Radio that it could take weeks or months to clean up the pollutants.

    Officials like Bissen and Felton have taken their cue from scientists who warn that fires — even once extinguished in a particular neighborhood or area — can leave lasting health hazards, including in the air and drinking water.

    Such lasting effects could prolong recovery, compound residents’ agony and complicate the return of the island’s tourism-driven economy.

    Maui water officials warned Lahaina and Kula residents not to drink running water, which may be contaminated even after boiling, and to only take short, lukewarm showers in well-ventilated rooms to avoid possible chemical vapor exposure.

    Though others have returned, some residents, like JP Mayoga, are electing to stay away. Mayoga said on Sunday that he, his wife and two daughters planned to stay at the hotel where he works north of Lahaina because they worry toxic debris now covering Lahaina might negatively impact members of the family with sensitive health.

    “It’s safer than it is at home right now,” he said of the hotel.

    Unlike factory pollution or forest fires where scientists have a strong grasp about the kind of toxins emitted, fires like the one in Maui can leave a less unpredictable trail of destruction in their wake. As towns like Lahaina burn, propane tanks explode, pipes melt and oil spills.

    “When you burn people’s belongings, vehicles and boats, we don’t necessarily have a good understanding of what those chemicals are,” said Professor Andrew Whelton, the director of Purdue University’s Center for Plumbing Safety. “When much of that infrastructure burns, it’s transformed into other materials that are never meant for human contact.”

    Whelton said airborne pollutants from smoke often fall to the ground and can require removal by emergency response teams to ensure they aren’t kicked up and inhaled as people return to the burn areas. Melted pipes can compromise the water supply, a concern reflected in the unsafe water alert issued Friday for upper Kula and Lahaina.

    Though these concerns may be less apparent than charred trees and homes, the invisible hazards can often extend beyond burned areas to wherever smoke plumes have traveled.

    “If you go back into some zones even where maybe all the fires have been put out, you can then be really exposed. If there’s dust and debris kicked up, you can get it in your eyes, on your hands or you can inhale it,” Whelton added, imploring people to wear protective gear, cover their arms and legs and follow evacuation orders.

    __

    AP writer Matt Sedensky contributed. Metz reported from Salt Lake City.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Even treated wastewater affects our rivers

    Even treated wastewater affects our rivers

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Effluents from wastewater treatment plants have a dual effect: Some species disappear, while others benefit. Especially certain insect orders, such as stonefly and caddisfly larvae, are decimated. Certain worms and crustaceans, by contrast, can increase in number. A team from Goethe University Frankfurt led by Daniel Enns and Dr. Jonas Jourdan has corroborated this in a comprehensive study, which has now been published in the journal Water Research. They examined 170 wastewater treatment plants in Hesse in relation to species composition.

    Wastewater treatment plants are an indispensable part of our modern infrastructure; they have made a significant contribution to improving the quality of our surface waters. However, their ability to completely remove what are known as micropollutants from wastewater is mostly limited. These substances include, for example, active ingredients from pharmaceuticals and personal care products, pesticides and other synthetic substances enter waterbodies via the treated wastewater, placing an additional burden on rivers and streams. This exacerbates the challenges faced by already vulnerable insect communities and aquatic fauna. Previous studies – which have primarily focused on single wastewater treatment plants – have already shown that invertebrate communities downstream of such effluents are generally dominated by pollution-tolerant taxa.

    Until now, however, it was unclear how ubiquitous these changes are. That is why a team of biologists from Goethe University Frankfurt has now studied extensively how wastewater from 170 wastewater treatment plants in Hesse has an impact on the species composition of invertebrates. This has prompted a change in the common conception that human-induced stressors reduce the number of species in a habitat and thus their diversity: Rather, the findings indicate that a shift in species composition can be observed. The researchers were able to identify significant shifts in the composition of the species community between sites located upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants. Some species were particularly affected by effluents from wastewater treatment plants – such as stonefly and caddisfly larvae, which disappear entirely in some places. Other taxa, such as certain worms and crustaceans, by contrast, benefit and are found in greater numbers. This change can be observed especially in streams and smaller rivers. Overall, wastewater treatment plants alter conditions downstream to the advantage of pollution-tolerant taxa and to the disadvantage of sensitive ones.

    How can we reduce water pollution?

    Modern treatment techniques such as ozonation or activated charcoal filtering can make water treatment in wastewater treatment plants more efficient, allowing a wider range of pollutants, including many trace substances, to be removed from the wastewater before it is released into the environment. Merging smaller wastewater treatment plants can also contribute to reducing the burden on the environment. Whatever measures are taken, it is important to make sure that upstream sections are not already degraded and are in a good chemical and structural condition.

     

    Publication: Enns D, Cunze S, Baker NJ, Oehlmann J, Jourdan J (2023) Flushing away the future: The effects of wastewater treatment plants on aquatic invertebrates. Water Research, 120388. doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2023.120388

     

    Picture download: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/141365425

    [ad_2]

    Goethe University Frankfurt

    Source link

  • Arctic Monitoring Program Plays Vital Role in Global Pollution Reduction Efforts

    Arctic Monitoring Program Plays Vital Role in Global Pollution Reduction Efforts

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Historically, the Arctic was considered a pristine region, but scientific research spanning the last three decades has revealed the harsh reality of long-range transported pollutants reaching the Arctic from different corners of the world. In response to this alarming discovery, AMAP was created with the mission to monitor pollution and its effects on the Arctic environment and human health.

    In a new article published on 26 July 2023, in the journal Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, researchers from Arctic Knowledge Ltd, presents the initiation and implementation of a systematic scientific and political cooperation in the Arctic related to environmental pollution and climate change, with a special focus on the role of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP). AMAP’s pioneering approach, with equal participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations alongside Arctic states, seamlessly blending scientific and local knowledge in assessments, has been crucial in understanding the risks posed by persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, radioactivity, and oil pollution, among others. The far-reaching impacts of AMAP’s scientific results are evident as its data played a key role in establishing international agreements like the UN Stockholm Convention on POPs and the UN Minamata treaty, resulting in reduced pollution levels not only in the Arctic but also globally. Additionally, AMAP’s work has inspired initiatives beyond the Arctic, with ICIMOD establishing HIMAP based on AMAP’s model in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKM) region. Furthermore, the proposal for the Antarctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AnMAP) seeks advice from AMAP, extending the program’s influence beyond its original scope. Despite challenges in data sharing and accessing geographical areas for observations, AMAP remains steadfast in its commitment to enhance Arctic monitoring and research data accessibility for international networks and agreements. Given the rapid changes in the Arctic, AMAP’s role in fostering continued collaboration and providing science-based policy advice has become more critical than ever. In this regard, AMAP stands as a powerful example of the potential of international cooperation in addressing global challenges and promoting peace and prosperity through science.

    Highlights

    • AMAP has monitored and assessed Arctic pollution since 1991.
    • The main source of Arctic pollution is long-range transport from lower latitudes.
    • AMAP data have been fundamental in developing international chemical regulations.
    • Food advice has reduced contaminant exposure in local communities.
    • Other monitoring and assessment frameworks have been developed after AMAP’s model.

    In conclusion, AMAP’s systematic scientific and political cooperation has been instrumental in recognizing, understanding, and mitigating environmental pollution and climate change in the Arctic. Its efforts have not only led to significant reductions in pollutants in the Arctic but have also influenced global agreements and inspired similar initiatives in other regions.

    ###

    References

    DOI

    10.1016/j.ese.2023.100302

    Original Source URL

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2023.100302

    Funding information

    The authors wish to acknowledge the scientists and local communities involved in the AMAP monitoring and assessments as well as the reviewers of the scientific assessments. This long-term work would not have been possible without the dedicated contributions from the AMAP Working Group and the Secretariat. The AMAP work benefitted from financial support by the Arctic countries, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) and the Global Environment Facility Programme (GEF).

    About Environmental Science and Ecotechnology

    Environmental Science and Ecotechnology (ISSN 2666-4984) is an international, peer-reviewed, and open-access journal published by Elsevier. The journal publishes significant views and research across the full spectrum of ecology and environmental sciences, such as climate change, sustainability, biodiversity conservation, environment & health, green catalysis/processing for pollution control, and AI-driven environmental engineering. The latest impact factor of ESE is 12.6, according to the Journal Citation ReportTM 2022.

    [ad_2]

    Chinese Academy of Sciences

    Source link

  • Closure of 3 Southern California power plants likely to be postponed, state energy officials decide

    Closure of 3 Southern California power plants likely to be postponed, state energy officials decide

    [ad_1]

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Temperatures in many California cities are cooling down this week, but a debate is simmering on how to generate enough electricity to power the state through extreme weather events while transitioning away from a reliance on fossil fuels.

    The California Energy Commission voted Wednesday to extend the life of three gas power plants along the state’s southern coast through 2026, postponing a shutoff deadline previously set for the end of this year. The vote would keep the decades-old facilities — Ormond Beach Generating Station, AES Alamitos and AES Huntington Beach — open so they can run during emergencies.

    The state is at a greater risk of blackouts during major events when many Californians simultaneously crank up their air conditioning, such as a blistering heat wave.

    “We need to move faster in incorporating renewable energy. We need to move faster at incorporating battery storage. We need to build out chargers faster,” commissioner Patricia Monahan said. “We’re working with all the energy institutions to do that, but we are not there yet.”

    The plan, put together by the state’s Department of Water Resources, still needs final approval from the State Water Resources Control Board, which may vote on the issue next week. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation last year creating an energy reserve the state could use as a last resort if there is likely to be an energy shortage. The law allowed the Department of Water Resources to fund or secure power sources in those instances.

    The commission acknowledged it was a difficult decision. Environmentalists say the state needs to transition to more short- and long-term solutions that will help it move away from fossil fuels and to rely more on renewable energy sources like solar and wind. They’re also concerned about the health impacts associated with pollution from gas plants.

    Few people spoke in support of keeping the plants open during about three hours of public comment.

    Neither GenOn, the company running the Ormond Beach plant, nor AES, which runs the Alamitos and Huntington Beach plants, responded to email requests for comment on the vote.

    At Wednesday’s meeting, activists said residents cannot be sure the state will not decide to again extend the life of these plants in another three years. Siva Gunda, the commission’s vice-chair, said the state should better prepare a strategy for ending operations of the plants by 2026.

    The three plants were originally set to shut down in 2020 under state regulations aimed at power plants that suck up ocean water to cool down their equipment. Many similar power plants have already shut down to comply with those rules.

    The Ormond Beach plant is located in a largely Latino, low-income part of Oxnard, a city about 54 miles (87 kilometers) west of Los Angeles, next to agricultural fields that border homes. Oxnard residents who testified at the meeting said they are concerned about respiratory illnesses associated with pollution from gas facilities, as well as odors and noises coming from the plant.

    “We are tired of fighting for our human right to breathe clean air,” said Oxnard resident and activist Sofi Magallon.

    Newsom said earlier this year that the state would have enough water in its reservoirs from intense periods of snow and rain this past winter to revive hydroelectric plants, which reduces the chances of electricity outages during heat waves.

    Emissions from the three plants dramatically increased during a record-breaking September heat wave, according to a report released by Regenerate California, a coalition of environmental groups. That included pollution from carbon and smog-forming nitrogen oxides. The report also cites data from the state showing that several gas plants didn’t generate as much electricity as expected during the heat wave.

    “They’re not providing the energy that we’re relying on them for. They’re overpromising and underdelivering,” said Ari Eisenstadt, an energy equity manager with the California Environmental Justice Alliance. “That makes them a pretty bad investment.”

    California has made strides in recent years to move toward renewables. In 2021, more than 37% of the state’s electricity came from renewable sources, up nearly 3% from the previous year, according to the Energy Commission. The state has set out to remove as many carbon emissions from the atmosphere as it emits by 2045.

    But environmentalists still want California to speed up its transition toward renewables like solar and wind. In the meantime, the state should spend “much more ambitiously” to fund programs incentivizing people to reduce their energy use, so resources are not strained during extreme heat, said Teresa Cheng, a campaigner with Sierra Club.

    That includes a statewide program to pay people to conserve energy during peak electricity times.

    During last September’s heat wave, Newsom issued something called a Flex Alert, which asked Californians to use less energy during the evenings in part by setting their thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius) or higher. The result was a dramatic reduction in reliance on the grid, Cheng said.

    Cheng said the state keeps depending on being able to use gas plants as a crutch.

    “As long as we have these gas plants online, we never really have to invest in clean energy solutions,” Cheng said.

    ___

    Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @sophieadanna.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Climate Change Exacerbates Complexity of Nitrogen Runoff Mitigation Approaches

    Climate Change Exacerbates Complexity of Nitrogen Runoff Mitigation Approaches

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Washington, DC— As climate change progresses, rising temperatures may impact nitrogen runoff from land to lakes and streams more than projected increases in total and extreme precipitation for most of the continental United States, according to new research from a team of Carnegie climate scientists led by Gang Zhao and Anna Michalak published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    The conditions predicted by these findings are opposite to recent decades, when increasing precipitation has outpaced warming and led to more aquatic nitrogen pollution. Understanding the relative roles of changes in temperature and rainfall is critical for designing water quality management strategies that are robust to climate change while ensuring sustainable food and water supplies.

    Human activity has completely altered how nitrogen moves through the planet’s aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric systems. Nitrogen from fertilizer washes into waterways and, in excess, can lead to toxin-producing algal blooms or low-oxygen dead zones called hypoxia. Over the past several summers, large algal blooms in lake and coastal regions across the United States have received extensive news coverage.

    Carnegie’s Anna Michalak and her team have spent the last decade studying how climate change will affect nitrogen runoff and the subsequent risks posed to water quality. One of the biggest questions for those working to understand and prevent serious water quality impairments is the balance between how changes in temperature and changes in precipitation will affect nitrogen pollution’s ability to get into at-risk waterways.

    “The complex soil and aquatic systems through which nitrogen travels, the chemical transformations it undergoes along the way, and the various ways in which changes in temperature and precipitation will affect these processes make nutrient management a big challenge,” Zhao explained.

    For example, average and extreme precipitation affects how much nitrogen runs off the land and into waterways, as well as how long it takes for the nitrogen to reach lakes or coastal zones, where it can eventually create dangerous conditions. Temperature also indirectly impacts how much nitrogen ends up in waterways, because warming temperatures increase evaporation, preventing it from going into streams. Temperature also affects how nitrogen interacts with microbial life in the soil and sediment, potentially trapping it there or altering its course.  

    “Although the impacts of climate change-induced shifts in precipitation patterns have been explored, the effect of temperature increases on the movement of nitrogen into rivers has not been quantified at continental scales until now due to a lack of available data,” Zhao added.

    Zhao, Michalak, and their Carnegie colleagues Julian Merder and Tristan Ballard analyzed several decades of data tracking nitrogen’s movement through river systems across the continental United States and used it to project future trajectories for nitrogen movement under climate change scenarios. They determined that rising temperatures will likely offset, or even decrease, the amount of excess nitrogen flushed into rivers for the majority of the U.S., despite a predicted uptick in precipitation.

    These findings are counter to recent decades, when precipitation was the dominant factor over temperature in determining the amount of nitrogen that built up in U.S. waterways. Zhao, Michalak, and their colleagues say that this work forms a critical baseline for future research on the interplay between the nitrogen cycle and climate change.  

    “Our research illustrates the complex, and sometimes surprising, ways that climate change affects our planet’s dynamic systems,” Michalak concluded. “Untangling the various factors that are altering the climate change impacts on water quality will help farmers, land managers, and policymakers to pursue the best possible strategies for ensuring that we safeguard water quality, while simultaneously ensuring sustainable food production and water supply.”

    [ad_2]

    Carnegie Institution for Science

    Source link

  • It’s official: Scientists confirm July was the hottest month ever recorded

    It’s official: Scientists confirm July was the hottest month ever recorded

    [ad_1]

    Death Valley National Park on July 15, 2023, near Furnace Creek, California.

    David Mcnew | Getty Images

    Global air and ocean temperatures soared to a record high in July, according to the EU’s climate change service Copernicus, deepening concern among climate scientists at a time when a spate of heat records suggest the planet has entered uncharted territory.

    The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said Tuesday that the global average surface air temperature in July was confirmed to be the highest on record for any month.

    July was found to be a whopping 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the average for the 1850-1900 period and 0.33 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous warmest month of July 2019.

    Meanwhile, global average sea surface temperatures continued to rise in July, the EU’s climate monitor said, after a long period of unusually high temperatures stretching back to April. For the month as a whole, the planet’s average sea surface temperature was 0.51 degrees Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 average.

    The data, which is collated from the measurement of satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world, follows a flurry of record-breaking heat waves across multiple regions.

    Vast parts of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia have suffered from scorching heat in recent weeks, while South American countries have been gripped by record-breaking temperatures in the middle of winter.

    “These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, said in a statement.

    “Even if this is only temporary, it shows the urgency for ambitious efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main driver behind these records,” she added.

    C3S and the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization recently recognized the first three weeks of July as hottest three-week period on record.

    The record heat affecting communities across the globe is fueled by the climate emergency. Scientists say the extreme weather events underscore the urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and deeply as possible.

    ‘Just the beginning’

    C3S said 2023 was the third-hottest on record in the year to date at 0.43 degrees Celsius above the recent average.

    The gap between this year and 2016 — the hottest year on record — is expected to narrow in the coming months. That’s because the latter months of 2016 were relatively cool, C3S said, while the remainder of 2023 is poised to be comparatively warm as the current El Niño event develops.

    Wildfires raging across Algeria during a blistering heat wave killed more than 30 people and forced mass evacuations, the government said.

    Fethi Belaid | Afp | Getty Images

    El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern that contributes to higher temperatures across the globe. The U.N. weather agency declared the onset of El Niño on July 4, warning its return could pave the way for extreme weather conditions.

    Speaking at the U.N. headquarters in New York City late last month, Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “the era of global boiling” has arrived.

    “For scientists, it is unequivocal — humans are to blame,” Guterres said on July 27. “All this is entirely consistent with predictions and repeated warnings. The only surprise is the speed of the change. Climate change is here. It is terrifying, and it is just the beginning.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • The EPA’s ambitious plan to cut auto emissions to slow climate change runs into skepticism

    The EPA’s ambitious plan to cut auto emissions to slow climate change runs into skepticism

    [ad_1]

    DETROIT — The U.S. government’s most ambitious plan ever to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles faces skepticism both about how realistic it is and whether it goes far enough.

    The Environmental Protection Agency in April announced new strict emissions limits that the agency says are vital to slowing climate change as people around the globe endure record-high temperatures, raging wildfires and intense storms.

    The EPA says the industry could meet the limits if 67% of new-vehicle sales are electric by 2032, a pace the auto industry calls unrealistic. However, the new rule would not require automakers to boost electric vehicle sales directly. Instead, it sets emissions limits and allows automakers to choose how to meet them.

    Even if the industry boosts EV sales to the level the EPA recommends, any reduction in pollution could prove more modest than the agency expects. The Associated Press has estimated that nearly 80% of vehicles being driven in the U.S. — more than 200 million — would still run on gasoline or diesel fuel.

    ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SAY IT’S NOT ENOUGH

    Pointing to surging temperatures and smoke from Canadian wildfires that fouled the air over parts of the U.S. this summer, Dan Becker, director of the safe climate transport campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, said: “We need to do a hell of a lot more.”

    He wants the EPA to slash emissions even further.

    Carbon dioxide and methane levels in the atmosphere keep rising. Scientists say July will end up being the hottest month on record and likely the warmest human civilization has seen. The Earth is only a few tenths of a degree from the goal set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.

    Though a panel of United Nations scientists said in March that there was still time to prevent the worst harm from climate change, the scientists said the world would need to quickly cut nearly two-thirds of carbon emissions by 2035 to avoid weather that is even more extreme.

    Peter Slowik, a senior EV researcher with the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation, has calculated that to cut emissions enough to reach Paris Agreement goals, the proportion of new electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles sold would have to reach 67% by 2030. The EPA has projected 60% by then.

    “The EPA proposal is a really great start to putting us on a Paris-compatible path,” said Slowik, whose group provides research and analysis to environmental regulators. “But no, it isn’t enough to comply with the Paris accord.”

    The council has calculated that carbon dioxide pollution from passenger vehicles would have to drop to 57 grams per mile by 2030 to reach the Paris goals. The EPA’s preferred regulation would cut those emissions to 102 grams per mile by 2030 and to 82 by 2032.

    In addition, Slowik cautioned, carbon emissions from new gasoline vehicles would have to drop 3.5% each year from 2027 to 2032. The EPA’s preferred regulation doesn’t set reductions for gas vehicles. But fuel economy standards recently proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration could.

    WHAT DOES THE EPA SAY?

    The EPA contends its proposal will significantly reduce pollution. It estimates that passenger-vehicle carbon dioxide emissions would fall 47% by 2055, when the agency expects most gas-powered vehicles to be gone.

    As the biggest source of pollution in the United States, transportation generates roughly 29% of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA. Passenger vehicles are by far the worst transportation polluters, spewing 58% of that sector’s greenhouse gas pollution.

    The EPA also is proposing big reductions from other sources, including heavy trucks, electric power plants and the oil and gas industry.

    Using sales projections from the EPA and industry analysts from 2022 through model year 2032, the AP calculated that Americans will likely buy roughly 60 million EVs. With 284 million passenger vehicles on U.S. roads today, at that pace only about 22% of them would be electric in nine years. Two million are already in use, and vehicles now stay on the road for an average of 12.5 years.

    Dave Cooke, a senior vehicles analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that even with slow vehicle turnover, studies show the EPA’s proposal would be an important step toward a zero-carbon transportation system by 2050. In addition, power plants that fuel EVs, he noted, will be converted to renewable energy such as wind and solar.

    “We know that EVs provide a compounding benefit as we dramatically cut (electric power) grid emissions,” Cooke said.

    His group is among those pushing the EPA for more stringent standards than the agency is pursuing.

    The EPA will consider such comments before adopting a final regulation in March 2024.

    THE AUTO INDUSTRY SAYS THE LIMITS CAN’T BE MET

    The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group that represents companies such as General Motors, Ford and Toyota that make most new vehicles sold in the United States, argues the EPA standards are “neither reasonable nor achievable in the time frame covered.”

    The alliance says the agency is underestimating the cost and difficulty of making EV batteries, including short supplies of critical minerals that also are used in laptops, cellphones and other items. Sizable gaps in the charging network for long-distance travel and for people living in apartments pose another obstacle.

    Though automakers continue to downsize engines and produce more efficient transmissions, the alliance says they need to use their limited resources more on producing EVs than on developing more fuel-efficient technology for gas-powered engines.

    ARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES REALLY CLEANER?

    Studies by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology show that shifting to electric vehicles delivers a 30% to 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over combustion vehicles, depending on how the electricity is derived.

    Jessika Trancik, an MIT professor of energy systems, said electric vehicles are cleaner over their lifetimes, even after taking into account the pollution caused by the mining of metals for batteries. The university has a website that lists auto emissions by vehicle.

    Trancik believes that once EV sales accelerate, more people will want them, and the percentages could actually exceed EPA predictions. Sales of EVs, she noted, are growing far faster in many other countries.

    “You often see exponential growth,” she said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • The EPA’s ambitious plan to cut auto emissions to slow climate change runs into skepticism

    The EPA’s ambitious plan to cut auto emissions to slow climate change runs into skepticism

    [ad_1]

    DETROIT — The U.S. government’s most ambitious plan ever to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles faces skepticism both about how realistic it is and whether it goes far enough.

    The Environmental Protection Agency in April announced new strict emissions limits that the agency says are vital to slowing climate change as people around the globe endure record-high temperatures, raging wildfires and intense storms.

    The EPA says the industry could meet the limits if 67% of new-vehicle sales are electric by 2032, a pace the auto industry calls unrealistic. However, the new rule would not require automakers to boost electric vehicle sales directly. Instead, it sets emissions limits and allows automakers to choose how to meet them.

    Even if the industry boosts EV sales to the level the EPA recommends, any reduction in pollution could prove more modest than the agency expects. The Associated Press has estimated that nearly 80% of vehicles being driven in the U.S. — more than 200 million — would still run on gasoline or diesel fuel.

    ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SAY IT’S NOT ENOUGH

    Pointing to surging temperatures and smoke from Canadian wildfires that fouled the air over parts of the U.S. this summer, Dan Becker, director of the safe climate transport campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, said: “We need to do a hell of a lot more.”

    He wants the EPA to slash emissions even further.

    Carbon dioxide and methane levels in the atmosphere keep rising. Scientists say July will end up being the hottest month on record and likely the warmest human civilization has seen. The Earth is only a few tenths of a degree from the goal set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.

    Though a panel of United Nations scientists said in March that there was still time to prevent the worst harm from climate change, the scientists said the world would need to quickly cut nearly two-thirds of carbon emissions by 2035 to avoid weather that is even more extreme.

    Peter Slowik, a senior EV researcher with the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation, has calculated that to cut emissions enough to reach Paris Agreement goals, the proportion of new electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles sold would have to reach 67% by 2030. The EPA has projected 60% by then.

    “The EPA proposal is a really great start to putting us on a Paris-compatible path,” said Slowik, whose group provides research and analysis to environmental regulators. “But no, it isn’t enough to comply with the Paris accord.”

    The council has calculated that carbon dioxide pollution from passenger vehicles would have to drop to 57 grams per mile by 2030 to reach the Paris goals. The EPA’s preferred regulation would cut those emissions to 102 grams per mile by 2030 and to 82 by 2032.

    In addition, Slowik cautioned, carbon emissions from new gasoline vehicles would have to drop 3.5% each year from 2027 to 2032. The EPA’s preferred regulation doesn’t set reductions for gas vehicles. But fuel economy standards recently proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration could.

    WHAT DOES THE EPA SAY?

    The EPA contends its proposal will significantly reduce pollution. It estimates that passenger-vehicle carbon dioxide emissions would fall 47% by 2055, when the agency expects most gas-powered vehicles to be gone.

    As the biggest source of pollution in the United States, transportation generates roughly 29% of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA. Passenger vehicles are by far the worst transportation polluters, spewing 58% of that sector’s greenhouse gas pollution.

    The EPA also is proposing big reductions from other sources, including heavy trucks, electric power plants and the oil and gas industry.

    Using sales projections from the EPA and industry analysts from 2022 through model year 2032, the AP calculated that Americans will likely buy roughly 60 million EVs. With 284 million passenger vehicles on U.S. roads today, at that pace only about 22% of them would be electric in nine years. Two million are already in use, and vehicles now stay on the road for an average of 12.5 years.

    Dave Cooke, a senior vehicles analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that even with slow vehicle turnover, studies show the EPA’s proposal would be an important step toward a zero-carbon transportation system by 2050. In addition, power plants that fuel EVs, he noted, will be converted to renewable energy such as wind and solar.

    “We know that EVs provide a compounding benefit as we dramatically cut (electric power) grid emissions,” Cooke said.

    His group is among those pushing the EPA for more stringent standards than the agency is pursuing.

    The EPA will consider such comments before adopting a final regulation in March 2024.

    THE AUTO INDUSTRY SAYS THE LIMITS CAN’T BE MET

    The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group that represents companies such as General Motors, Ford and Toyota that make most new vehicles sold in the United States, argues the EPA standards are “neither reasonable nor achievable in the time frame covered.”

    The alliance says the agency is underestimating the cost and difficulty of making EV batteries, including short supplies of critical minerals that also are used in laptops, cellphones and other items. Sizable gaps in the charging network for long-distance travel and for people living in apartments pose another obstacle.

    Though automakers continue to downsize engines and produce more efficient transmissions, the alliance says they need to use their limited resources more on producing EVs than on developing more fuel-efficient technology for gas-powered engines.

    ARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES REALLY CLEANER?

    Studies by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology show that shifting to electric vehicles delivers a 30% to 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over combustion vehicles, depending on how the electricity is derived.

    Jessika Trancik, an MIT professor of energy systems, said electric vehicles are cleaner over their lifetimes, even after taking into account the pollution caused by the mining of metals for batteries. The university has a website that lists auto emissions by vehicle.

    Trancik believes that once EV sales accelerate, more people will want them, and the percentages could actually exceed EPA predictions. Sales of EVs, she noted, are growing far faster in many other countries.

    “You often see exponential growth,” she said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • MSU School of Packaging researchers make a sustainable plastic more compostable

    MSU School of Packaging researchers make a sustainable plastic more compostable

    [ad_1]

    BYLINE: Matt Davenport

    Highlights:

    • Researchers led by Rafael Auras in the Michigan State University School of Packaging have shown how to make a bio-based polymer compostable in both home and industrial settings.
    • The team said its research, published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, can help divert plastic packaging that’s been soiled by food, the vast majority of which is not recycled. Another end-of-use option, like composting, can thus help keep plastics out of landfills and the environment.
    • To make the compostable polymer, the team blended bioplastics known as polylactic acid, or PLA, and thermoplastic starch. Both are polymers derived from organic sources — mostly plant carbohydrates — rather than petroleum sources.
    • PLA is already used in packaging and can be composted in industrial settings that use conditions, including higher temperatures, that are more conducive to breaking down polymers when compared to home composting. Even in these settings, though, PLA can be resistant to degrading quickly or completely when compared to organic contents of compost, such as food waste.
    • The inclusion of thermoplastic starch in PLA accelerates industrial composting and opens up the ability to compost in home settings without sacrificing PLA’s attractive material properties. 

    Newswise — EAST LANSING, Mich. – Researchers from Michigan State University’s top-ranked School of Packaging have developed a way to make a promising, sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastics more biodegradable.

    A team led by Rafael Auras has made a bio-based polymer blend that’s compostable in both home and industrial settings. The work is published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.

    “In the U.S. and globally, there is a large issue with waste and especially plastic waste,” said Auras, MSU professor and the Amcor Endowed Chair in Packaging Sustainability.

    Less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled in the U.S. That means the bulk of plastic waste ends up as trash or litter, creating economic, environmental and even health concerns.

    “By developing biodegradable and compostable products, we can divert some of that waste,” Auras said. “We can reduce the amount that goes into a landfill.”

    Another bonus is that plastics destined for the compost bin wouldn’t need to be cleaned of food contaminants, which is a major obstacle for efficient plastic recycling. Recycling facilities routinely must choose between spending time, water and energy to clean dirty plastic waste or simply throwing it out.

    “Imagine you had a coffee cup or a microwave tray with tomato sauce,” Auras said. “You wouldn’t need to rinse or wash those, you could just compost.”

    PLA and a ‘sweet spot’ for starch 

    The team worked with what’s known as polylactic acid, or PLA, which seems like an obvious choice in many ways. It’s been used in packaging for over a decade, and it’s derived from plant sugars rather than petroleum.

    When managed properly, PLA’s waste byproducts are all natural: water, carbon dioxide and lactic acid.

    Plus, researchers know that PLA can biodegrade in industrial composters. These composters create conditions, such as higher temperatures, that are more conducive to breaking down bioplastics than home composters.

    Yet, the idea of making PLA compostable at home seemed impossible to some people.

    “I remember people laughing at the idea of developing PLA home composting as an option,” said Pooja Mayekar, a doctoral student in Auras’ lab group and the first author of the new report. “That’s because microbes can’t attack and consume PLA normally. It has to be broken down to a point where they can utilize it as food.” 

    Although industrial compost settings can get PLA to that point, that doesn’t mean they do it quickly or entirely. 

    “In fact, many industrial composters still shy away from accepting bioplastics like PLA,” Auras said.

    In its experiments, supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and MSU AgBioResearch, the team showed that PLA can sit around for 20 days before microbes start digesting it in industrial composting conditions.

    To get rid of that lag time and enable the possibility of home composting, Auras and his team integrated a carbohydrate-derived material called thermoplastic starch into PLA. Among other benefits, the starch gives composting’s microbes something they can more easily chow down on while the PLA degrades.

    “When we talk about the addition of starch, that doesn’t mean we just keep dumping starch in the PLA matrix,” Mayekar said. “This was about trying to find a sweet spot with starch, so the PLA degrades better without compromising its other properties.”

    Fortunately, postdoctoral researcher Anibal Bher had already been formulating different PLA-thermoplastic starch blends to observe how they preserved the strength, clarity and other desirable features of regular PLA films.

    Working with doctoral student Wanwarang Limsukon, Bher and Mayekar could observe how those different films broke down throughout the composting process when carried out at different conditions.

    “Different materials have different ways of undergoing hydrolysis at the beginning of the process and biodegrading at the end,” Limsukon said. “We’re working on tracking the entire pathway.”

    The team ran these experiments using systems that Auras and lab members, past and present, largely built from scratch during his 19 years with MSU. The equipment the researchers have access to outside their own lab in the School of Packaging also makes a difference.

    “Working with Dr. Auras, the School of Packaging, MSU — it’s great,” Bher said. “Because, at some point, we want to be making actual products. We are using facilities around campus to make materials and test their properties. MSU offers a lot of resources.” 

    “There’s a reason why this is one of the best schools for packaging,” Mayekar said. 

    Read more on MSUToday.

    ### 

    Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 165 years. One of the world’s leading research universities, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery to make a better, safer, healthier world for all while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 400 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.

    For MSU news on the Web, go to MSUToday. Follow MSU News on Twitter at twitter.com/MSUnews.

    [ad_2]

    Michigan State University

    Source link

  • It’s the summer of changed climate. Get used to it | CNN Politics

    It’s the summer of changed climate. Get used to it | CNN Politics

    [ad_1]

    A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.



    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a hot take on the summer of 2023: The climate you grew up in is gone, replaced by something new and changing, but also inalterably different – where the Atlantic Ocean can reach hot-tub temperature, heat is a recurring public health concern and people will have to adapt their way of living.

    In this year of epic heat, it’s time to start thinking about how the climate changed rather than the fact of its changing.

    From a historical standpoint, we are in uncharted territory. This is not just the hottest month in human history. It may be the hottest month in 120,000 years, according to scientists in Europe.

    Nearly half the US is under a heat advisory this week, and the country’s largest power grid was on alert.

    The warnings that more fires, floods and storms would occur as the atmosphere heated up are here.

    A large portion of the country has seen smoke come and go from those Canadian wildfires. Tourists in Greece were forced to flee in the country’s largest-ever evacuation.

    Towns unused to flooding were under water this year in Vermont. Torrential rain flooded Boston’s Fenway park.

    The West Coast of the US, for instance, has gotten a respite so far from wildfires thanks to epic rainfall earlier in the year.

    But we can expect more heat more often. Asked by CNN’s Zain Asher about a heat index in Iran that approached 150 degrees Fahrenheit, Marina Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, said to prepare for more.

    “What we know is the heat will become much more intense, much more frequent, and that if we don’t act urgently to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then the outlook will be very serious with, as you said, temperatures that are beyond the limits of physiological survival.”

    Are we acting urgently? Asher pointed out California is phasing out gas-powered car sales. Romanello said the basic move would be to commit to phase out fossil fuels. But countries are not yet on that path or anywhere close to it.

    Take a look at Arizona, where Phoenix has endured nearly a full straight month of 110-plus-degree days.

    Cacti can’t stand the heat and are dying. Hospitals have been taxed. Doctors are treating people burned just by falling on the ground, according to one CNN report.

    The Phoenix area medical examiner has brought in extra refrigerated containers for bodies, like it did during spikes of Covid-19, to deal with potential overflow. Maricopa County has 25 heat-related deaths so far, but another 249 are under investigation.

    The urban density that creates economic opportunity also makes cities hotter than their surrounding areas. There can be variation up to 8 degrees between portions of a city with trees and green space and those that are mostly pavement.

    “These giant swings in temperature over short distances in cities, known as the urban heat island effect, make heat waves even worse,” writes CNN’s Rachel Ramirez of a new report by the nonprofit research group Climate Central. “Areas blanketed with asphalt, buildings, industry and freeways tend to absorb the sun’s energy then radiate more heat, while areas with abundant green space – parks, rivers, and tree-lined streets – radiate less heat and provide shade.”

    Ramirez notes that cities are looking for new ways to adapt, like painting roads white in Los Angeles, painting roofs in New York and more.

    Coral reefs off the Florida Keys, unable to stand the 100-plus-degree temperatures charted in some areas, are suffering a mass bleaching event, according to CNN’s Eric Zerkel, who writes experts were stunned at the two-week escalation that could kill some reefs off.

    That’s a very real and grim consequence. More theoretical is the possibility that the series of currents that circulates water around the oceans simply collapses.

    A study published in the journal Nature this week suggested the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current, which includes the Gulf Stream, could collapse as early as 2025. Melting ice could dilute ocean water and alter the currents, which would affect everyone on the planet.

    The reason gas prices have spiked in recent days? On top of OPEC holding back supply, excessive heat is affecting productivity at oil refineries.

    In the US, while President Joe Biden has made pledges to make the US carbon neutral in the coming decades, he is not completely opposed to new oil projects. It was seen as a political win for him and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, that the Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for a new pipeline running through West Virginia.

    That news came the same day the White House announced new relief measures for people suffering from the record heat, including the creation of a new “heat hazard alert” system to clarify precautions for workers.

    “I don’t think anybody can deny the impact of climate change anymore,” Biden said, announcing the measures.

    A majority of Americans – 52% – said in Gallup survey in March, before this heat wave, that protecting the environment should be prioritized even if it hurts the economy. That’s compared with 43% who said the government should prioritize economic growth even if it hurts the environment.

    However.

    The numbers may fluctuate depending on how people feel about the health of the economy. But the share who prioritize economic growth over the environment has on the whole risen in Gallup’s polling over the long term. Between 1985 and 2002, that number never topped 40%. The partisan divide over climate change is also the largest it has ever been.

    The geophysicist Bill McGuire, a professor at University College London and author of “Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide,” writes for CNN Opinion this week that people’s vacations as we know them are over.

    He points to tourists who had to flee the island of Rhodes in Greece to get away from wildfires.

    “It would be a big mistake to regard these as freak events and to continue holidaying as usual in the years ahead,” McGuire writes. “On the contrary, the extreme weather conditions across southern Europe this summer are a wake-up call – a reminder that not even our vacations are insulated from the growing consequences of global heating.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Inside efforts to avert environmental ‘catastrophe’ in the Red Sea | CNN

    Inside efforts to avert environmental ‘catastrophe’ in the Red Sea | CNN

    [ad_1]

    Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.



    CNN
     — 

    Moored five miles off the coast of Yemen for more than 30 years, a decaying supertanker carrying a million barrels of oil is finally being offloaded by a United Nations-led mission, hoping to avert what threatened to be one of the world’s worst ecological disasters in decades.

    Experts are now delicately handling the 47-year-old vessel – called the FSO Safer – working to remove the crude without the tanker falling apart, the oil exploding, or a massive spill taking place.

    Sitting atop The Endeavor, the salvage UN ship supervising the offloading, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen David Gressly said that the operation is estimated to cost $141 million, and is using the expertise of SMIT, the dredging and offshore contractor that helped dislodge the Ever Given ship that blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week in 2021.

    How to remove one million barrels of oil from a tanker

    Twenty-three UN member states are funding the mission, with another $16 million coming from the private sector contributors. Donors include Yemen’s largest private company, HSA Group, which pledged $1.2 million in August 2022. The UN also engaged in a unique crowdfunding effort, contributing to the pool which took a year to raise, according to Gressly.

    The team is pumping between 4,000 and 5,000 barrels of oil every hour, and has so far transferred more than 120,000 barrels to the replacement vessel carrying the offloaded oil, Gressly said. The full transfer is expected to take 19 days.

    The tanker was carrying a million barrels of oil. That would be enough to power up to 83,333 cars or 50,000 US homes for an entire year. The crude on board is worth around $80 million, and who gets that remains a controversial matter.

    Here’s what we know so far:

    The ship has been abandoned in the Red Sea since 2015 and the UN has regularly warned that the “ticking time bomb” could break apart given its age and condition, or the oil it holds could explode due to the highly flammable compounds in it.

    The FSO Safer held four times the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez off Alaska in 1989 which resulted in a slick that covered 1,300 miles of coastline. A potential spill from this vessel would be enough to make it the fifth largest oil spill from a tanker in history, a UN website said. The cost of cleanup of such an incident is estimated at $20 billion.

    The Red Sea is a vital strategic waterway for global trade. At its southern end lies the Bab el-Mandeb strait, where nearly 9% of total seaborne-traded petroleum passes. And at its north is the Suez Canal that separates Africa from Asia. The majority of petroleum and natural gas exports from the Persian Gulf that transit the Suez Canal pass through the Bab el-Mandeb, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

    The sea is also a popular diving hotspot that boasts an impressive underwater eco-system. In places its banks are dotted with tourist resorts, and its eastern shore is the site of ambitious Saudi development projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

    The first step of the mission was to stabilize and secure the vessel to avoid it collapsing, Gressly said. That has already been achieved in the past few weeks.

    “There are a number of things that had to be done to secure the oil from exploding,” Gressly told CNN, including pumping out gases in each of the 13 compartments holding the oil. Systems for pumping were rebuilt, and some lighting was repaired.

    Booms, which are temporary floating barriers used to contain marine spills, were dispersed around the vessel to capture any potential leaks.

    The second step is to transfer the oil onto the replacement vessel, which is now underway.

    exp Yemen tanker United Nations cnni world 072611ASEG1_00001402.png

    Oil being removed from tanker near Yemen in Red Sea

    After The Safer is emptied, it must then be cleaned to ensure no oil residue is left, Gressly said. The team will then attach a giant buoy to the replacement vessel until a decision about what to do with the oil has been made.

    “The transfer of the oil to (the replacement vessel) will prevent the worst-case scenario of a catastrophic spill in the Red Sea, but it is not the end of the operation,” Gressly said.

    While the hardest part of the operation would then be over, a spill could still occur. And even after the transfer, the tanker will “continue to pose an environmental threat resulting from the sticky oil residue inside the tank, especially since the tanker remains vulnerable to collapse,” the UN said, stressing that to finish the job, an extra $22 million is urgently needed.

    A spill would shut the Yemeni ports that its impoverished people rely on for food aid and fuel, impacting 17 million people during an ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by the country’s civil war and a Saudi-led military assault on the country. Oil could bleed all the way to the African coast, damaging fish stocks for 25 years and affect up to 200,000 jobs, according to the UN.

    A potential spill would cause “catastrophic” public health ramifications in Yemen and surrounding countries, according to a study by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine. Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Eritrea would bear the brunt.

    Air pollution from a spill of this magnitude would increase the risk of hospitalization for cardiovascular or respiratory disease for those very directly exposed by 530%, according to the study, which said it could cause an array of other health problems, from psychiatric to neurological issues.

    “Given the scarcity of water and food in this region, it could be one of the most disastrous oil spills ever known in terms of impacts on human life,” David Rehkopf, a professor at Stanford University and senior author of the study, told CNN.

    Up to 10 million people would struggle to obtain clean water, and 8 million would have their access to food supplies threatened. The Red Sea fisheries in Yemen could be “almost completely wiped out,” Rehkopf added.

    The tanker has been an issue for many people in Yemen over the past few years, Gressly said. Sentiment on social media surrounding the removal of oil is very positive, as many in Yemen feel like the tanker is a “threat that’s been over their heads,” he said.

    The tanker issue remains a point of dispute between the Houthi rebels that control the north of Yemen and the internationally recognized government, the two main warring sides in the country’s civil conflict.

    While the war, which saw hundreds of thousands of people killed or injured, and Yemen left in ruins, has eased of late, it is far from resolved.

    Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group think tank in Brussels, sees the Safer tanker issue as “an embodiment of the conflict in Yemen as a whole.”

    “The government sees the Houthi militias as an illegitimate group controlling the tanker, and the Houthis do not recognize (the government),” Nagi told CNN.

    The vessel was abandoned after the outbreak of the Yemeni civil war in 2015. The majority of the oil is owned by Yemeni state firm SEPOC, experts say, and there are some reports that it may be sold.

    “From a technical point of view, the owner of the tanker and the oil inside it is SEPOC,” Nagi said, adding that other energy companies working in Yemen may also share ownership of the oil.

    exp un yemen oil spill tanker achim steiner vause intv FST 071912ASEG2 cnni world_00003204.png

    U.N. begins high-risk operation to prevent catastrophic oil spill from Yemen tanker

    The main issue, Nagi added, is that the Safer’s headquarters are in the government-controlled Marib city, while the tanker is in an area controlled by the Houthis. The Safer is moored off the coast of the western Hodeidah province.

    Discussions to determine the ownership of the oil are underway, Gressly said. The rights to the oil are unclear and there are legal issues that need to be addressed.

    The UN coordinator hopes that the days needed to offload the oil will buy some time for “political and legal discussions that need to take place before the oil can be sold.”

    While the UN may manage to resolve half of the issue, Nagi said, there still needs to be an understanding of the oil’s status.

    “It still poses a danger if we keep it near a conflict zone,” he said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Detecting the unseen particles

    Detecting the unseen particles

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — How high are concentrations of microplastics in the environment, in our drinking water or in foods? Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed an automated analysis method for the identification and quantification of particles.

    Microplastics are everywhere in the environment. The tiny particles, with diameters of less than 5 millimeters, can also absorb and transport contaminants and toxins. “We urgently need analytical techniques to learn about the size, concentration and composition of these particles,” says Dr. Natalia Ivleva at the Chair of Analytical Chemistry and Water Chemistry at TUM. Together with her team, the scientist has developed a new process.

    To be able to detect microplastic particles, the researchers had several hurdles to overcome: The first was the problem of low concentrations. River water, for example, contains massive amounts of suspended solids and fine sand, with plastic accounting for less than 1 percent of the particles. These particles must first be isolated before their concentrations and ultimately their chemical composition are determined. Previous methods have relied on the analysis of the residues that are released when the samples are heated. With that approach, however, it is not possible to determine the number, size and shape of the plastic particles.

    Plastics can be identified through light scattering

    “Our approach is fundamentally different,” says Dr. Ivleva: “It is particle-based. That means that instead of destroying the particles, we analyze them directly.” To do this, the researchers use a method known as Raman microspectroscopy. It works by shining a monochromatic laser source onto a sample and detecting the light scattered by the molecules. Comparing the scattered light against the laser source provides information on the substance under investigation. To analyze plastic particles with a diameter greater than 1 µm (micrometer), they must first be filtered out of the aqueous solution, detected under the microscope and then illuminated with laser light. Because plastics such as polyethylene, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride scatter the photons in characteristic ways, they each generate signals as unique as a fingerprint.

    Automation instead of manual measurements

    It took years to develop the tracing process: “When we started, we still had to make manual measurements,” recalls the chemist. “It took us months to investigate a few thousand particles.” In the meantime the team has succeeded in automating the detection of microplastics. A single analysis no longer takes weeks, but only a matter of hours. Although the tiny particles still have to be filtered out of the aqueous solution, followed by placement of the filter under the Raman microspectroscope, all remaining steps are carried out by the software developed by the team. The plastic particles are first localized with a light microscope, photographed and measured, and the particles are distinguished from fibers. The software uses these data to compute the number of particles and fibers and to select the image sections needed for a statistically significant result in the subsequent Raman spectroscopy.

    In the next step, the laser is directed onto the sample and the scattering is detected and analyzed. This allows quick and reliable analysis of the number, size, shape and composition of the microplastics. The open-source TUM-Particle Typer 2 software is now available to researchers around the world.

    Nanoplastics require special detection processes

    To investigate nanoparticles with diameters of less than 1 µm, however, Dr. Ivleva’s team is already working on a modified process. “Nanoparticles like these are difficult or even impossible to discern under a light microscope. To detect them, we first have to carry out size fractionation and then identify them,” explains the researcher.

    For this purpose, a field flow fractionation (FFF) system is used. This creates a water flow that captures the particles – depending on their size – and separates them by transporting them at varying speeds. A specially developed device, combined with Raman spectroscopy, permits the chemical characterization of different types of nanoplastics.

    “The new analytical processes permit rapid and precise investigation of concentration, size and composition of micro- and nanoplastics,” sums up Dr. Ivleva. “This will now make it possible to study the influence of these particles on the environment and human health.”

    [ad_2]

    Technical University of Munich

    Source link

  • Smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires blankets northern US cities with air pollution | CNN

    Smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires blankets northern US cities with air pollution | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Smoke from more than 1,000 wildfires burning across Canada has wafted over the northern US, bringing poor air quality and pollution that threaten residents’ health to northern US cities including Chicago, Illinois, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit, Michigan, are now among at least three major US cities that are ranked in the top 20 most polluted cities in the world, according to global pollution tracker IQAir.

    The smoke has drifted over the Great Lakes region, in particular, as about 1,090 active fires blaze throughout Canada, more than 670 of which are considered “out of control,” according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. That’s up from more than 880 fires there last week.

    The bulk of the country’s wildfires are burning in British Columbia, where more than 460 fires are ongoing, the agency reports.

    In the US, the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued air quality alerts for millions of people across Michigan and parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.

    The blanket of hazy skies follows a belt of Canadian wildfire smoke which stretched across the US last week, triggering air quality alerts for more than a dozen states from Montana to Vermont, with some smoke reaching as far South as Alabama.

    The smoke is expected to shift eastward through the Great Lakes region through Tuesday and disperse by Wednesday – just as the upper Midwest is forecast to see some of its hottest temperatures so far this year. Minneapolis could reach 100° and Chicago will be in the upper 90s.

    The EPA in Illinois has declared an “Air Pollution Action Day” through Tuesday due to the “persistent” wildfire smoke causing elevated air pollution in the region. Similar advisories have been declares in Michigan and Wisconsin.

    The city is recommending that those with chronic respiratory issues limit their activities outdoors and is advising against strenuous activity for children, teens, seniors, people with heart or lung disease, and pregnant people.

    “All Chicagoans may also consider wearing masks, limiting their outdoor exposure, moving activities indoors, running air purifiers, and closing windows,” the city said in a release Monday.

    Wildfire smoke is packed with tiny pollutants – known as particulate matter – that can infiltrate the lungs and blood stream if inhaled. Particulate matter can commonly cause difficulty breathing and eye and throat irritation, but has also been linked to more serious long-term health issues such as lung cancer, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    The US is likely to see the downwind effects of Canada’s prolonged wildfires as the country continues to experience its worst fire season on record.

    Almost 29 million acres of Canadian land have been scorched so far this year, according to the national fire center. Smoke from the blazes this summer have so far touched the American South and traveled across the Atlantic and into Europe.

    The crisis has elicited a flood of international support, as fire and emergency response personnel have deployed to the country from nations including the US, Australia and Brazil. At least two Canadian firefighters have died while battling the flames.

    Hard-hit British Columbia will receive federal assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces, Public Safety Canada announced last week.

    Hundreds of British Columbia’s fires have been ignited by lightning strikes from thunderstorms, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service. Some of those thunderstorms were “dry,” producing insufficient amounts of rain to help quench any fires – a dangerous prospect in a province experiencing severe drought.

    As the human-driven climate crisis intensifies, scientists expect wildfire seasons will increase in severity, especially as droughts and heat become more common and more severe across the world.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Biosurfactants: A Promising Environmentally-Friendly Approach to Combat Oil Spills

    Biosurfactants: A Promising Environmentally-Friendly Approach to Combat Oil Spills

    [ad_1]

    Newswise — Can biosurfactants increase microbiological oil degradation in North Sea seawater?  An international research team from the universities of Stuttgart und Tübingen, together with the China West Normal University and the University of Georgia, have been exploring this question and the results have revealed the potential for a more effective and environmentally friendly oil spill response.

    Oil leaks into the oceans are estimated at approximately 1500 million liters annually worldwide. This leads to globally significant environmental pollution, as oil contains hazardous compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that can have toxic or mutagenic effects on organisms. Oil spills, particularly catastrophic ones resulting in the rapid release of large quantities of oil into the oceans, such as tanker accidents or incidents at oil drilling platforms like Deepwater Horizon in 2010, are especially devastating.

    In such oil spill incidents, large quantities of chemical dispersants, ranging in the millions of liters depending on the amount of oil, are routinely applied to dissolve oil slicks, prevent oil from reaching coastlines, and enhance oil dispersion in the water. The hope is that microbial oil degradation will be enhanced as a result. This is because special microorganisms that are widespread in nature can feed on crude oil components and break them down into harmless substances. This special ability of microbes naturally cleans oil-contaminated areas.

    “In a study from the USA published in 2015, we demonstrated that – contrary to expectation – chemical dispersants in deep-sea water from the Gulf of Mexico can slow down microbial oil degradation,” says Prof. Sara Kleindienst, who worked at the University of Tübingen until 2022 and now works at the University of Stuttgart. “Since then, the topic has been at the center of controversial discussions, and there is still no simple answer to how oil spills can be combated more effectively,” emphasizes Prof. Sara Kleindienst.

    In the search for more environmentally friendly methods for dealing with oil spills, biosurfactants could offer a promising alternative to chemical dispersants. Biosurfactants are produced by microorganisms and can increase the bioavailability of oil components. This can thus enhance microbial oil degradation, which is crucial for purification.

    Experiments with seawater from the North Sea
    An international research team led by environmental microbiologist Professor Sara Kleindienst, with geomicrobiologist Professor Andreas Kappler (University of Tübingen) and biogeochemist Professor Samantha Joye (University of Georgia), compared the effects of biosurfactants and chemical dispersants. In the laboratory at the University of Tübingen, the researchers simulated oil spill conditions. For their experiment, they took over 100 liters of surface water from the North Sea close to the island of Helgoland. The seawater was treated with either the biosurfactant rhamnolipid or a dispersant (either Corexit 9500 or Slickgone NS), both in the presence and absence of oil. The research team used radioactive markers to track the degradation of the oil by the microorganisms in detail. “Our investigations using radioactively labeled hydrocarbons or a radioactively labeled amino acid showed that the highest rates of microbial hydrocarbon oxidation and protein synthesis occurred in the oil microcosms treated with rhamnolipid,” says Prof. Lu Lu, who previously worked at the University of Tübingen and now works at the China West Normal University.

    The impact on the composition of microbial communities also differed significantly between the approaches using biosurfactants compared to chemical dispersants. “This result suggests that the use of biosurfactants may stimulate different microbial oil degraders, both in terms of growth and activity, which in turn can affect the cleanup process after oil spills,” says Prof. Lu Lu.

    “Our findings suggest that biosurfactants have great potential for use in future oil spills in the North Sea or similar nutrient-rich ocean habitats,” adds Prof. Sara Kleindienst. “A visionary continuation of our work would be the development of products based on biosurfactants that offer both effective and environmentally friendly approaches to combating oil spills.”

    [ad_2]

    University of Stuttgart

    Source link

  • Xi says China will follow its own carbon reduction path as US climate envoy Kerry meets top officials in Beijing | CNN

    Xi says China will follow its own carbon reduction path as US climate envoy Kerry meets top officials in Beijing | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    China will follow its own path to cut carbon emissions, leader Xi Jinping vowed Tuesday, as US climate envoy John Kerry called for faster action to confront the climate crisis in a high-profile visit to Beijing.

    Xi told a national conference on environmental protection that China’s commitment to its duel carbon goals – reaching a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 – is “unwavering,” according to state news agency Xinhua.

    “But the path, method, pace and intensity to achieve this goal should and must be determined by ourselves, and will never be influenced by others,” he said.

    The comments came as Kerry met China’s Premier Li Qiang and top diplomat Wang Yi Tuesday, with Washington and Beijing – the world’s two largest polluters – resuming their long-stalled climate talks amid scorching heat waves across much of the globe.

    In the meeting with Li, Kerry stressed the “need for China to decarbonize the power sector, cut methane emissions, and reduce deforestation,” a spokesperson for the US State Department said in a statement.

    He also urged China to “take additional steps to enhance its climate ambition in order to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”

    China has invested heavily in clean energy in recent years. Its solar capacity is now greater than the rest of the world combined, and the country is also leading the world in wind capacity and electric vehicles.

    On the other hand, it has accelerated the approval of new coal plants due to a renewed focus on “energy security,” sparking concerns from environmentalists that these new projects will make the shift away from coal slower and more difficult.

    But Xi’s remarks at the conference suggest that China has no desire to be pushed, or be seen to cave to pressure – especially from the United States.

    China and the US are the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters, so any attempt to address the climate crisis will need to involve deep emissions cuts from these two powerhouse nations.

    China’s emissions are more than double those of the US, but historically, the US has emitted more than any other country in the world.

    China and other fast developing nations have long argued that the world’s richest countries, especially those in the West, were able to become wealthy while churning out huge carbon emissions for decades.

    Relations between the US and China are at their worst in years with the world’s two largest economies feuding over a host of issues, from geopolitics to trade and technology.

    The US has said climate cooperation with China should be a standalone issue, separate from their disputes.

    But Beijing views it differently. Last year, it cut off climate talks with the US in protest at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan – in the middle of the worst heat wave China had seen in six decades.

    It also halted cooperation on other common causes issues, including communications between military and law enforcement.

    That difference in views has been on full display in Beijing, even as the two sides return to the table to restart talks.

    When meeting Wang, China’s top diplomat, on Tuesday, Kerry stressed the two countries “cannot let bilateral differences stand in the way of making concrete progress” on climate cooperation.

    But Wang insisted this cooperation “cannot be separated from the overall environment of Sino-US relations.” He urged the US to pursue a “rational, pragmatic and positive policy toward China” and “properly handle the Taiwan issue,” referring to the democratic self-ruled island that Beijing claims sovereignty over.

    On Wednesday, Kerry reiterated his message to Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng that climate should be handled separately from broader diplomatic issues, Reuters reported.

    Acknowledging the diplomatic difficulties between the two sides in recent years, Kerry said climate should be treated as a “free-standing” challenge that requires the collective efforts of the world’s largest economies to resolve, according to Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Source link