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The Billion-Butterfly Weatherman

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on November 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post.
Until Jagadish Shukla, meteorologists generally believed that predicting the weather beyond 10 days was a hopeless pursuit. He wanted to help farmers anticipate monsoons.

Did you ever read Erik Larson’s Isaac’s Storm, a book about a devastating hurricane in Texas before there was good weather prediction? That was the first time I heard about the “butterfly effect,” tiny changes in weather conditions with powerful results.

A researcher interested in chaos theory asked himself what could happen with more butterflies than one.

Anusha Mathur writes at the Washington Post, “Standing in his home office in Rockville, Maryland, meteorologist Jagadish Shukla gestured at the high-resolution satellite map of India hung on the wall. It shows every groove of his home country’s geological landscape in vivid detail. …

“ ‘The trick is how to find predictable components in a chaotic system,’ Shukla told me. …

“He’s come a long way from his childhood village in northern India, where he spent his summers playing outside and praying for rain.

“The most anticipated season of each year was the annual monsoon, he writes in his memoir, A Billion Butterflies: A Life in Climate and Chaos Theory. Monsoons follow India’s hottest period and last for months, providing both relief from the sun and fertility for the land.

“But the monsoon also can be a source of suffering. Some years the rain brings intense flooding, while in others there’s too little for a good harvest — or worst of all, drought and famine. …

In 1970, 26-year-old Shukla arrived in Boston to pursue a doctorate at MIT.  “His goal: find a way to predict the Indian monsoon’s seasonal impact.

“At the time, weather forecasters relied heavily on ‘initial conditions’ — how volatile factors such as temperature, pressure, wind or jet stream today might affect the weather tomorrow. As a result, meteorologists generally believed that predicting the weather beyond 10 days was a hopeless pursuit.

“Soon after arriving at MIT, Shukla learned about the ‘butterfly effect,’ coined by renowned meteorologist Edward Lorenz. Lorenz observed that even the tiniest changes in initial weather conditions — something as small as a butterfly flapping its wings — could make an entire system chaotic over time.

” ‘The idea is that if you change just one decimal point in your initial condition, you will get a different forecast after 10 days,’ Shukla said.

“Lorenz’s work made many scientists skeptical about whether seasonal predictability was worth focusing time [on]. But Shukla’s felt sure that — at least for the monsoon — there was knowledge to be gleaned from the chaos. …

“Then came the breakthrough. While daily weather is driven by volatile initial conditions, seasonal averages are shaped by something else, ‘boundary conditions’ such as ocean temperature, soil moisture, snow cover and vegetation. And these boundary conditions are a source of predictability. …

“Said David Straus, a climate dynamics professor at George Mason University who worked with Shukla, ‘Shukla had a really outsize role in saying, ‘Look, all these little pieces of evidence in the past are there, we can use them together.” ‘ …

“Shukla’s team ran simulations in which they dramatically changed the initial conditions — the metaphoric flutter of billions of Lorenz’s butterflies — while keeping the boundary conditions fixed. Despite the day-to-day instability, the seasonal outcomes remained consistent. It was the origin of the phrase ‘predictability in the midst of chaos,’ which became the title of Shukla’s bellwether paper, published in the journal Science in 1998. …

“As Shukla deepened his work on dynamic seasonal prediction, a new scientific field was emerging: climate change. Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, Shukla’s colleagues repeatedly asked if he would turn his attention to global warming. …

“He ‘wasn’t convinced yet’ about global warming. He worried the claim of human-induced climate change was too bold, too early.

“Finally, in 2004, he accepted an invitation to serve on the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to work on its fourth comprehensive assessment of the climate. …

“In the bombshell IPCC report, published in 2007, Shukla and his fellow scientists declared that the ‘warming of the climate system is unequivocal’ and identified ‘discernible human influences.’ That year, the panel received the Nobel Peace Prize for its work, along with former vice president Al Gore, with Shukla sharing in the honor.

“ ‘I cannot accept something simply on faith and belief,’ Shukla said. ‘The reason 2007 got the Peace Prize was because it was the first time our model said, “Oh, it’s now beyond the uncertainty.” ‘ “

Read at the Washington Post, here, how climate-denying members of the US House put Shukla under an intense and vicious investigation in 2015. Despite the misery of that period, he says, “It’s a small price to pay to defend the integrity of climate science. … If we don’t defend it, who will?”

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Fireflies Are in Trouble

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 17, 2025| 6 Comments »

Photo: Robert Ritchie, Unsplash via Living on Earth.
The streaks of light in this 30-minute timelapse image show fireflies in a Wisconsin field.

Where are the fireflies of our childhood? Although the population perked up around here this past summer, possibly because of all the rain, firefly lovers have reason to be worried about the long term. Today’s story explains what’s going on — and how we can all help.

Eric Berger writes at the Guardian, “Max Vogel, a 29-year-old public defense attorney, was picnicking with friends in early August at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, when he noticed flashes of light appear in the air around him.

“They were fireflies, bioluminescent insects that the Washington DC native had not seen while living in Oregon, where there are few, if any. For many Americans who live where fireflies do, their flashing lights at dusk are a tangible rite of summer – though one that may now be under threat. …

“Vogel said, ‘It’s like a shooting star that just is surprising and gives you the childlike wonder of how you felt when you first saw fireflies in your yard.’

“Even in areas of the US where there are typically fireflies, people are especially excited to see them this year because there appear to be more this summer after a steady decline in recent years, according to scientists.

“Despite that welcome news, researchers caution that it does not necessarily signal a reversal of the downward trend. They remain concerned about the long-term viability of the firefly family, which includes more than 2,000 species, some of which are at risk of extinction due to factors such as light pollution and climate change.

“ ‘It’s been really uplifting to hear all of the reports of huge increases in fireflies,’ said Candace Fallon, senior endangered species conservation biologist for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. ‘But they are also insects, and insects are notorious for having populations that bounce up and down each year, and so it’s hard to say that their populations are increasing from a single year of data.’

“Fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, are beetles that come out at night during summer and produce a bioluminescent gleam, primarily to attract a mate.

“Cultures around the world treasure the bugs, including in Japan, where they are symbols of love and fallen soldiers. …

“ ‘Catching fireflies is a relatively harmless thing that you can do that really connects you to your natural world,’ said Matt Schlesinger, chief zoologist with the New York Natural Heritage Program, which is participating in a project to identify which firefly species occur in state parks.

“Scientists in the US and Canada do not have baseline data on firefly species, which makes it difficult to quantify how much the population has decreased, and they must instead rely on anecdotal reports and documented habitat loss, which point to a downward trajectory, Fallon said.

“She and other researchers conducted a study published in the journal PLOS One which found that 18 species in North America are threatened with extinction. But the scientists also did not have enough data on more than half of the assessed species to determine their extinction risks. …

“The primary factor behind fireflies’ decline is habitat loss and degradation, according to the Xerces Society. That includes land being disrupted by development, light pollution and pesticide use. Artificial lighting at night makes it hard for the bugs to communicate and mate, Fallon said.

“Climate change, including an increase in droughts and rising sea levels, also affect firefly populations, she said.

“Still, there are some firefly species that appear to be doing ‘just fine,’ Schlesinger said [adding that] the kinds that specialize in particular habitats are the ones struggling. …

“ ‘If they can still have a big year, at least those species are probably doing fine and have the potential to recover,’ Schlesinger said. That said, ‘any single year doesn’t tell you about the long-term trajectory of firefly populations. …

“Kids should continue the tradition of venturing out with jars in the summer but should then release the bugs rather than collecting them, Schlesinger said.

“Other ways to help fireflies survive include: not using pesticides, reducing artificial lighting at night, and allowing the grass to grow long and the leaves to pile up in your yard.

“ ‘A lot of fireflies pupate in leaves, and so when we rake those and put them in bags, we’re destroying their habitat at a very small scale,’ Schlesinger said.

“Despite the concerns about extinction, Fallon is encouraged by master gardeners in Arkansas who created a firefly sanctuary, and by lawmakers in Maryland who approved legislation earlier this year which introduces new regulations on what type of lighting can be bought with state funds. …

“ ‘I think we have enough time to make a difference.”

More at the Guardian, here. See also the radio show Living on Earth, here.

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Melting Glacier Threatens Village

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 9, 2025| 3 Comments »

Photo: Kim Willsher/The Guardian.
Pralognan-la-Vanoise in the French Alps is in danger from global warming. An engineering operation to prevent catastrophic flooding will cost about €400,000 ($465,000). 

As discouraging as it is to read another story about global warming, one has to feel a little hopeful that human ingenuity keeps tackling its effects.

Kim Willsher reports at the Guardian about how engineering is fighting back in France. I leave it to you to decide whether putting humans first or the glacier first would be best.

“The villagers of Pralognan-la-Vanoise in the French Alps know well the perils posed by the mountains that encircle them. Avalanches, rockfalls, mudslides, sudden crevices and torrents of water are within the living memory of most villagers, and every day the climate emergency throws up new dangers.

“Less than a year ago, an enormous lake formed by a melting glacier was discovered high above Pralognan that experts feared could inundate the village with more than 60,000 cubic metres [15,850,000+ gallons] of icy water. …

“As used to natural hazards as local people are high up in the Alps, they are not, however, an idle threat. The Swiss village of Blatten was wiped out by a rock and ice avalanche in May and last year a mountain lake swollen by heavy rainfall caused torrential flooding in La Bérarde in the Isère, forcing inhabitants to flee the hamlet. They have not returned.

“Today, an engineering operation is under way to prevent such a catastrophic scenario in Pralognan. Three workers have been helicoptered to the Grand Marchet glacier at an altitude of 2,900 metres [1.8 miles] to gouge a [narrow] ‘overflow channel’ in the ice. …

“ ‘The aim is to help the water find its way down the mountain gradually and avoid a rapid emptying of the lake,’ said David Binet, the director of the mountain land restoration service (RTM) for the northern Alps, part of the national forestry commission tasked with identifying and preventing natural hazards.

“ ‘What causes the problems and damage with torrents in the mountains is not the water but the stones, gravel, sand and even large rocks it brings down with it.’

“The glacier blocks the lake from spilling down the mountain but it is shrinking at a rate of 2 to 3 metres [6.6 to 9.8 feet] a year. There is also the risk that that the warmer waters of the lake could form a channel gush from underneath.

“Binet said his agency was examining 300 of the estimated 600 lakes in the Alps and Pyrenees one by one for such hazards. The Pralognan operation will cost about €400,000 [$465,000)]. …

“The idea of taking mechanical shovels to glaciers already shrinking at an alarming rate was deemed the least environmentally damaging option. Olivier Gagliardini, a glacier expert at Grenoble University, described it as ‘unfortunate, but necessary.’

“Martine Blanc, the mayor of Pralognan, said … ‘We asked ourselves could it wait but on the principle that prevention is better than cure we decided to go ahead,’ she said. ‘We decided to anticipate events rather than suffer them. Nature is nature and there’s no such thing as zero risk.’ …

“Local shopkeepers say the number of tourists and hikers this summer is down, possibly because the campsite is closed, but Silvere Bonnet, the director of the tourist office, said he had had very few calls from potential visitors concerned about the lake. …

“On a sunny day, the giant rock faces etched with shimmering cascades that rise almost vertically have a benevolent beauty. An hour later in a rapid change of atmosphere, the peaks are cloaked in dark clouds and loom intimidatingly.

“ ‘They can appear rather menacing at first to visitors because they are so sheer,’ [Bernard Vion, a 66-year-old Alpine guide who has watched the expanse of water grow and the mountain change over his lifetime] said. The 66-year-old knows these mountains ‘like his pocket,’ as the French say. He made his first high-altitude climb aged eight with his father, also a guide. Both his grandfathers were Alpinists.

“Vion first spotted what he describes as ‘a puddle’ of water on the Grand Marchet glacier in 2019. Every year since he has watched it grow; it now measures almost 2.5 acres. …

“ ‘We are on the frontline of climate change here. We know it is happening,’ he said.

“Blanc agreed. … ‘People here are used to natural hazards. We’re used to avalanches, falling rocks, torrential floods and mudslides because we’ve seen them and lived with them since we were young. Local people understand there are things we can control and then those we cannot.’ ”

More at the Guardian, here.

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Dog Identifies What’s Killing Bees

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on October 7, 2025| 10 Comments »

Photo: Mike Householder/AP.
Sue Stejskal lets Maple, an English springer spaniel, sniff a bee-themed dog toy at Michigan State University’s Pollinator Performance Center. Maple is part of an effort to screen and diagnose diseases that sicken honeybees.

It seems that over the past few years, I’m hearing more and more about bees — their importance to the food chain, their worrisome diseases. On Instagram I’ve been following the intrepid Erika Thompson @texasbeeworks, and after Sandra told me about an inspiring bee tour, I added @bodhis.bees in Rhode Island. Then, there’s my friend AJ, who shares honey from his hives when the black bear leaves them alone.

Keeping bees and other pollinators healthy is an important job that’s getting increasingly difficult as unaware humans damage their environment. In today’s story, a specially trained dog is helping protect bees.

Ramon Antonio Vargas reports at the Associated Press via the Guardian, “Maple, a springer spaniel aged nine, is earning news headlines by helping Michigan State University (MSU) researchers identify bacteria that is harmful for bee colonies. …

“Maple landed the role after spending seven years detecting human remains for a sheriff’s office. She had to retire from the sheriff’s office after suffering an injury on the job – leaving her handler, Sue Stejskal, in search of something to keep Maple busy.

“ ‘She’s a very over-the-top, enthusiastic, sometimes hard-to-live with dog because of her energy level,’ Stejskal, who has been training dogs for law enforcement and other uses for more than 25 years, said to the AP.

“Fortunately for Stejskal, MSU professor Meghan Milbrath was seeking out tools to screen and diagnose diseases that sicken honeybees, which her lab studies. A veterinarian who had taken part in a training about honeybees later put Stejksal and Milbrath in touch.

“And soon, the pair hatched a plan by which Stejskal taught Maple to apply her police canine detection methods in beehives to uncover American foulbrood – a bacterial disease that poses a deadly threat to honeybee larvae.

“The work Maple has since done for MSU’s Pollinator Performance Center has been crucial, with bees and other pollinators in a years-long decline stemming from diseases, insecticides, a lack of a diverse food supply and climate change driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases.

“ ‘American foulbrood [harms] young developing bees, and when a hive gets infected, it actually basically leads to death,’ Milbrath, an assistant professor in MSU’s entomology department. …

” ‘Beekeepers have had to burn tens of thousands of dollars of equipment due to this disease,’ Milbrath said to WILX.

“Maple carries out her duties in a distinctive, yellow protective suit. Her gear includes a veil for her head and four bootees worn on her paws to shield Maple in case she steps on a bee. …

“About 465 bee species are native to Michigan alone. Among the goals of training Maple to spot American foulbrood for the Pollinator Performance Center was to create a guidebook with which other dogs could be similarly taught, WILX noted.

“Stejskal told the AP, ‘I was over-the-moon excited because my dog would have joy in her life and would still be able to work,’ Stejskal said.” More at the Guardian, here.

You probably know there are things we can all do to help bees.

Many homeowners, for example, are giving up pesticides and herbicides. They are leaving the leaves on their lawns in fall to provide pollinator habitat in spring, and they’re committing to No Mow May. After all, as Bee City tells us, “The start of the growing season is a critical time for hungry, newly emerged native bees. Flowers may be hard to find. By allowing it to grow longer, and letting flowers bloom, your lawn can provide nectar and pollen to help your bee neighbors thrive.”

Please add bee tips if you know of some not covered here.

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When Blue Whales Stop Singing

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 5, 2025| 5 Comments »

Photo: Nick Ut / AP.
A blue whale, the largest mammal on Earth, surfaces in the Pacific Ocean near Long Beach, California.

Whether we’re talking about Jonah and the whale or Pinocchio or the lobster fisherman’s uncomfortably close encounter in 2021, we humans have always been fascinated by the largest mammals on Earth. And the blue whale is the most massive of them all. But what is going on with Leviathan of late?

Shola Lawal writes at Al Jazeera that it is not singing as much as it used to.

“Unlike our musical sounds, those produced by whales are a complex range of vocalizations that include groans, clicks and whistles and that can sound like anything from the mooing of a cow to the twitter of a bird. These vocalisations can be so powerful that they can be heard as far as 10km (6 miles) away, and can last for half an hour at a time. …

“For researchers, these complex sounds are a window into whale behavior, even if humans don’t yet know exactly how to decode them.

“The frequency of songs and their intensity can signal various things: an abundance of food, for example. In recent studies, however, researchers have been alarmed to find that blue whales, the largest whales and, indeed, the largest mammals on Earth, have stopped singing at specific times.

“Their eerie quietness, scientists say, is a signal that ocean life is changing fundamentally. The most recent study, conducted by scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California in the US and published in February, examined three types of whales. Researchers found that blue whales, in particular, have become more vulnerable to this change.

“Whale songs are critical for communication between males and females when mating and among schools of whales migrating. …

“The first study, conducted in the sea waters between the islands of New Zealand between 2016 and 2018, was led by scientists from the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University in the US. Over that period of time, researchers tracked specific blue whale vocalizations linked to feeding (called D-calls) and mating (called patterned songs).

“Researchers used continuous recordings from underwater devices called hydrophones, which can log sounds over thousands of kilometers, and which were placed in the South Taranaki Bight – a known foraging spot for blue whales off the west coast of New Zealand.

“They discovered that during some periods, particularly in the warmer months of spring and summer when whales usually fatten up, the frequency and intensity of sounds related to feeding activity dropped – suggesting a reduction in food sources. That decline was followed by reduced occurrences of patterned songs, signaling a dip in reproductive activity.

” ‘When there are fewer feeding opportunities, they put less effort into reproduction,’ lead researcher Dawn Barlow told reporters. The results of that study were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution in 2023.

“Then, in a study published in the scientific journal PLOS One in February [2025] researchers tracked baleen whale sounds in the California Current Ecosystem, the area in the North Pacific Ocean stretching from British Columbia to Baja California. Blue whales are a type of baleen whale, and the study focused on them, alongside their cousins, humpback whales and fin whales.

“Over six years starting in 2015, the scientists found distinct patterns. Over the first two years, ‘times were tough for whales,’ lead researcher John Ryan, of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California, noted in a press statement, as the whales, particularly blue whales, were found to be singing less. Over the next three years, however, all three whale species were back to singing more frequently, the study noted.

“Both studies found one main reason for the reduction of whale song: food or, in this case, the lack of it. It turns out that the research, conducted between 2015 and 2020, captured periods of extreme marine heatwave events that killed off krill, the small shrimp-like animals that blue whales feed on.

“Those heatwaves are part of a looming environmental catastrophe … caused by high-emission human activities, chief among them being the burning of fossil fuels. …

“Krill, which blue whales primarily feed on, are highly sensitive to heat and can all but vanish during heatwaves, the studies found. Their movement patterns also change drastically: instead of staying together, as they usually do, krill disperse when it is hot, making them harder for predators like blue whales to find.

“Typically, when foraging, blue whales sing to others to signal that they have found swarms of krill. … Heatwaves can also trigger harmful chemical changes in the oceans that encourage the growth of toxic algae, which causes poisoning and death to mammals in the oceans and sea birds, researchers have previously found, suggesting that blue whales are also at risk of being poisoned.

“In the more recent study in California, researchers found that in the first two years when whales were singing less frequently, there was also a reduction in other fish populations. …

“ ‘Compared to humpback whales, blue whales in the eastern North Pacific may be more vulnerable due to not only a smaller population size but also a less flexible foraging strategy,’ Ryan, the lead author of the California study said in a statement. …

“It is likely, both studies say, that blue whales need to spend more time and energy finding food when it is scarce, instead of singing.”

At Al Jazeera, here, you read about climate change effects on other species, too.

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Swedish Town Tests a Sustainability Path

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on September 7, 2025| 5 Comments »

Illustration: Wingårdhs.
Tomelilla, a town in southeast Sweden, is focused on sustainability and has plans to build a school with reused materials.

With half of my family in Sweden for the fall semester, I am interested in Swedish stories. Here is one about residents in the Skåne district determined to live sustainably.

Abigail Sykes reports at the Guardian, “In a small town in Sweden, the local authority is carrying out an unusual experiment.

“In 2021 one of the team had been reading an article about the concept of doughnut economics – a circular way of thinking about the way we use resources – and he brought it up. ‘I just mentioned it casually at a meeting, as a tool to evaluate our new quality of life program, and it grew from there,’ says Stefan Persson, Tomelilla’s organizational development manager.

“The concept, developed by British economist Kate Raworth is fairly straightforward. The outer ring or ecological ceiling of the doughnut consists of the nine ‘planetary’ boundaries. These are the environmental limits that humans are at risk of passing – we’ve already crossed the safety thresholds on climate change, ocean acidification and biogeochemical flows, for example, but remain within safe limits on our atmospheric aerosol loading. The inner ring forms a social foundation of life’s essentials, and the ‘dough’ in between corresponds to a safe and just space for humanity, which meets the needs of people and planet. …

“ ‘Doughnut economics is like running a farm. Using an excess of resources, like nutrients, on your crops is a mistake. Not using enough is a mistake too,’ says Persson’s colleague Per-Martin Svensson, who is a farmer when he is not doing council work. …

“Doughnut economics is being used in Tomelilla, in Sweden’s southern Skåne region, in several ways. It has been integrated into financial planning and decision support, so that rather than building a new ice rink, the plan is now to revamp an existing building.

“The local government produces an annual portrait of how well it is doing at meeting doughnut economics targets. The best results in the latest diagram were on air quality, housing and social equality. Air quality in the area was good to begin with, but in order to keep improving it, young people at lower and upper secondary school have been given a free travel card for public transport. It is hoped the measure will also improve social equality in terms of access to education and health. Overcrowding and income disparities have both decreased, but it’s hard to link that directly to any of the council’s work.

“Education is a priority, but targets such as carbon emissions, biodiversity and health are more difficult to meet. Emissions have not been decreasing, but in 2023 the town council adopted a climate program to achieve net zero by 2045. …

“Tomelilla’s flagship doughnut economics project, though, is planning a new school. The council hasn’t built a school – or any other big development – since the 1990s. The project is still at an early stage so no decisions have been made about the final construction.

“Last year, a consultant report made recommendations for the project. These included using existing and carbon-neutral materials as far as possible, growing hemp as a building material on the current site; building the school around a greenhouse for growing vegetables as well as for educational and social activities; and making the school an off-grid energy producer using solar power and batteries. …

“This vision has carried over into the council’s procurement requirements, although budget constraints and other considerations have meant it is still unclear whether all of these ideas will come to fruition. …

“It has certainly been demanding. Is it even possible to use the resources needed for a large construction project and stay within the doughnut? Persson thinks it may not be possible but he is focusing on the bigger picture, with a more holistic view of social change. ‘In individual projects, there are always trade-offs. But we’re also looking at how the local community as a whole can move towards the doughnut model. I think that if we’re going to build anything, it should be democratic meeting places and schools.’ …

“Tomelilla is the first local government to attempt to deliver infrastructure and education using doughnut economics. … With a population of about 7,000, it is certainly one of the smallest towns in the international network of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab, dwarfed by Barcelona, Glasgow and Mexico City, which are all putting Raworth’s theories into practice in local governments. …

“The people of Tomelilla welcome the challenge and are extremely proud of the way their town is forging a path. As Jonna Olsson, one of the staff at the council says: ‘Doughnut economics is a really interesting way to work with sustainability. It feels cool to be a cog in international change.’ ”

More at the Guardian, here. No firewall.

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Indian Cities Fighting Extreme Heat

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 21, 2025| 4 Comments »

Photo: Niharika Kulkarni/AFP via Getty Images.
People fill up their bottles from a water tank on a hot summer day in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.

We are all experiencing a new level of heat wave.Where I go in the summer, sea breezes used to be enough to cool us down, but no more. Some places, however, are experiencing the new intensity more than others. Parts of India, for example, were pretty hot in the first place, and global warming has made it worse.

Charlotte Steiner, Sameer Kwatra, and Prima Madan write at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) about new Heat Action Plans (HAPs) in parts of India.

“As India grapples with yet another season of intense heat, the cities of Churu, Rajasthan, and Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, are taking action to strengthen local preparedness and resilience. These cities launched their comprehensive Heat Action Plans (HAPs) in May of this year. Developed in collaboration with city authorities, health experts, and [NRDC] partners — Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) and Indian Institute of Public Health-Gandhinagar (IIPHG) — the Churu Heat Action Plan and Varanasi Heat Action Plan represent a significant milestone. …

“For Varanasi and Churu, building resilience to extreme heat is critical. Varanasi, a city of significant cultural and spiritual importance, gets more than 85 million tourists and pilgrims every year and has been grappling with worsening heat waves, year over year. In 2024, the city recorded a scorching 47.2 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) — the highest temperature in 140 years. Churu, often referred to as the gateway to the Thar Desert, is not only one of the hottest places in India, but it is also particularly at risk for extreme heat events. …

“Historically, HAPs did not include climate projections to highlight the future increase in temperatures to assess risk. However, without concrete data on future projections, it’s hard for city officials and policy makers to move from planning to long-term action. Including robust climate analysis in HAPs strengthens the scientific credibility of the HAP, as well as helping city officials and urban planners to justify budget allocations for long-term heat resilience. It also builds a case for investment in public health and infrastructure to plan for not just saving lives today but reducing the risk over the long run.

“Both the Churu and Varanasi HAPs include tailored climate analysis in addition to a detailed assessment of historical trends (typically included in HAPs), highlighting rising baseline temperatures during both the day and night. The climate analysis for the two cities revealed that, by 2049, the temperatures in Churu are projected to increase by approximately 3.89 degrees Celsius and in Varanasi, by an additional 3.29 degrees Celsius. This could imply more days above 45 degrees Celsius, longer heat waves, and more nighttime heat stress. These HAPs also incorporate the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Heat Index, which combines air temperature and relative humidity to indicate how hot it actually feels to the human body and thereby highlight the human thermal discomfort more realistically.

“Based on hyperlocal analysis, these HAPs also identify specific hot spot areas or account for localized vulnerabilities; they also include ward-level geographic information system (GIS) spatial vulnerability assessments, offering a detailed view of how extreme heat impacts different parts of each city differently. These assessments will help local authorities target interventions more effectively and equitably as they work on implementing each HAP.  …

“Timely early warnings, joint response protocols, and localized capacity building are essential to reducing heat-related morbidity and mortality and maintaining critical services during peak summer months. Keeping up with this expectation, the Churu and Varanasi plans embed institutional accountability by outlining a detailed stakeholder responsibility matrix. This framework defines clear roles, timelines, and coordination mechanisms across state, district, and municipal levels, ensuring that each actor — from government departments to civil society — knows when and how to act.” More at the nonprofit NRDC, here.

NRDC articles are quite technical and full of data charts, but even I can understand the drift, and I hope you find it interesting. I think every town in the world is going to need a HAP.

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If Your Country Sinks in the Sea

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on August 17, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Tuvalu Foreign Ministry/Reuters.
Tuvalu’s foreign minister Simon Kofe in 2021 making a point as he gives his address to the international climate convention Cop26.

Climate change has been making itself known to most of us in early blooming seasons and the increased number of wildfires. But we don’t necessarily feel in our guts that this is really a moment that will determine if our country continues to exist.

Unless we live in a place like Tuvalu, an island gradually, and then not so gradually, sinking into the sea.

An article at the Guardian proposes that when the inevitable happens, countries like Tuvalu must find a way to keep their statehood.

Isabella Kaminski writes, “States should be able to continue politically even if their land disappears underwater, legal experts have said.

“The conclusions come from a long-awaited report by the International Law Commission that examined what existing law means for continued statehood and access to key resources if sea levels continue to rise due to climate breakdown.

“Average sea levels could rise by as much as [3ft] by 2100 if climate scientists’ worst-case scenarios come true, and recent research suggests they could even exceed projections. This is particularly important for small island developing states because many face an existential threat. …

“Having waded through international law and scholarship and analyzed state views and practices, legal experts concluded that nothing prevents nations from maintaining their maritime boundaries even if the land on which they are drawn changes or disappears. These boundaries give countries navigation rights, access to resources such as fishing and minerals, and a degree of political control.

“There is also general agreement that affected nations should retain their statehood to avoid loss of nationality. Legal experts say these conclusions are essential for maintaining international peace and stability.

“Speaking at the UN Oceans conference in Nice, Penelope Ridings, an international lawyer and member of the ILC, said the commission’s work was driven by the ‘fundamental sense of injustice’ that sea level rise would be felt worst by the most vulnerable states, which had also contributed the least to the problem. …

“The Pacific nation of Tuvalu has been particularly vocal in its concerns. Sea levels on its nine islands and atolls have already [risen] and are expected to get much higher over the coming decades.

“Australia was the first country to recognze the permanence of Tuvalu’s boundaries despite rising sea levels. In 2023, it signed a legally binding treaty committing to help Tuvalu respond to major disasters and offering special visas to citizens who want or need to move. Nearly a third of citizens have entered a ballot for such a visa. Latvia followed with a similar pledge of recognition.

“At the oceans conference, the Tuvaluan prime minister, Feleti Teo, said his citizens were determined to stay on their land for as long as possible. The government has just finished the first phase of a coastal adaptation project, building concrete barriers to reduce flooding and dredging sand to create additional land. …

“He urged Tuvalu’s development partners to be ‘more forthcoming in terms of providing the necessary climate financing that we need to be able to adapt. And to give us more time to live in the land that we believe God has given us and we intend to remain on.’ …

“Bryce Rudyk, a professor of international environmental law at New York University and legal adviser to the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), said the ILC had been very responsive to small states, which have traditionally not had their voices heard in matters of international law but are increasingly at the forefront of legal advances on climate change and marine degradation.

“In recent years, Aosis and the Pacific Islands Forum have both declared that their statehood and sovereignty, as well as their membership of intergovernmental organizations such as the UN, will continue regardless of sea level rise.

“The international court of justice [was] petitioned by Aosis to affirm this.”

More at the Guardian, here.

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To Save Florida’s Reefs

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on July 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Keys Marine Lab.
Experts inspect nursery-grown juveniles from the reef-building elkhorn coral species.  They’re testing them to withstand warmer temperatures.

Scientists don’t give up, do they? They will surely have a harder time without federal grants, but I hope they will find ways to keep improving life on Planet Earth.

Take this effort to address the damage that global warming poses to coral. Richard Luscombe reports at the Guardian that a group pf experts are seeking “to save Florida’s dying reefs with hardy nursery-grown coral.”

“A taskforce of experts looking into the mass bleaching and decline of Florida’s delicate coral reefs is planting more than 1,000 nursery-grown juveniles from the reef-building elkhorn species in a new effort to reverse the tide of destruction.

“Record ocean heat in 2023 hastened the death spiral for reefs in the Florida Keys, which have lost 90% of their healthy coral cover over the last 40 years, largely because of the climate emergency, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“Marine biologists from the Keys Marine Laboratory of the University of South Florida (USF) partnered with scientists from Tampa’s Florida Aquarium to develop a large-scale restoration project involving elkhorn coral, which is critically endangered but also one of the fastest-growing and most resilient species.

“[In May], the USF facility in Long Key, halfway along the ecologically fragile Florida Keys island chain, took delivery of 1,050 young elkhorn corals spawned between 2022 and 2023 at the aquarium’s conservation and research center in Apollo Beach.

The corals are acclimatizing in temperature-regulated seawater beds in Long Key.

“They will be distributed to research partners including the Coral Restoration Foundation, the Mote Marine Laboratory, Reef Renewal USA, and Sustainable Oceans and Reefs for planting at seven designated offshore sites around the Keys during the next two months.

“Teams will monitor their progress over the following months and years. While project managers say not all will survive, they hope some of the juveniles will thrive and grow, and the knowledge gleaned will help better inform future recovery efforts.

“ ‘Maybe there will only be 100 out there a year from now, but even if it’s only one out of a hundred that survives that’s particularly tough, we can propagate that one,’ said Cindy Lewis, director of the Keys Marine Laboratory. …

“ ‘The coral juveniles we just transferred are made up of many new mother and father combinations that we hope will be more resilient to future stressors,’ Keri O’Neil, director of the [Florida Aquarium] coral conservation program, said.

” ‘Without human intervention, these parent corals would not be able to breed due to the extent of the loss. They’re a sign that, even during a crisis, we can make a difference. By working together we’re protecting a reef that’s essential to our environment, our economy and the thousands of species that call it home.’

“Lewis said the elkhorn project was a small component of a vast wider effort by numerous universities, environmental groups, and state and federal partners to try to restore as much lost coral as possible. …

“ ‘All these different organizations produced over 25,000 pieces of coral this winter to put out on the reef that are going to make a difference, along with our elkhorn.

“ ‘Even though it seems dismal and depressing, the ray of hope is that we can produce these corals, we can get these corals out there, and that everybody has banded together to work together. No one organization is going to do it all. We need everybody, and we need everybody’s ideas.’ “

More at the Guardian, here. No firewall.

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Blue Pearls

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on July 14, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Shanti Mathias.
A farmed pāua shell with a pearl inside (L) held next to a wild pāua shell in New Zealand.

During the pandemic lockdown, there didn’t seem to be much point in dressing up or wearing jewelry. I certainly got comfortable with being casual all the time, and even now I mostly wear jeans. Except for funerals.

But the other day, I noticed my grandmother’s pearl necklace in a box and felt a little sorry that I hardly ever wear jewelry (unless from Suzanne’s company). I always liked pearls.

In today’s story, we learn about unusual blue pearls and how the reality of global warming suggests we better enjoy them now, while abalone can still make them.

Shanti Mathias writes at the Guardian, “Roger Beattie was diving off the Chatham Islands, about 800km [~500 miles] east of New Zealand, when he saw his first pāua pearl. Beattie was familiar with pāua, the Māori word for abalone, and their iridescent shells of shimmering purples and greens. But the pearl that had formed inside was unlike anything he had ever seen, gleaming with layers of the pāua’s natural colors. …

“That was in the early 1990s, and Beattie soon started experimenting ways of farming pāua, and creating pearls in the shell. A decade later, he began selling the so-called blue pearls commercially.

“Now a small industry exists in New Zealand cultivating the unique gems. They are rare, with only a handful of companies running farms, each producing only a few thousand pāua pearls each year. But the delicate operations are being made more complicated as changing conditions and warming seas alter the environments pāua need to survive.

“ ‘Warm waters cause physiological stress to the pāua,’ says Shawn Gerrity, an ecologist at the University of Canterbury who has studied the pāua.

“There are four species of pāua endemic to New Zealand. The blackfoot pāua is the biggest species, known for its vibrant shell and succulent flesh. All cultivated pāua pearls come from the blackfoot pāua. The pearls appear shades of blue, turquoise, purple and green.

“ ‘Only this abalone, in this water, produces such an unusual color of pearl,’ says Jacek Pawlowski, a jeweler in Akaroa, a seaside town southeast of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island. … ‘They have that rainbow, opal shine.’ …

“As juveniles, pāua are taken out of the water, where their flesh is pried up and a small implant placed under their shell for a pearl to form on. If their soft bodies are nicked, the pāua will bleed to death, so the process must be gentle. Only one in five pāua will create a jewelery-grade gem, Beattie says.

“Each mollusk needs to be fed vast quantities of kelp and live in water about 16 degrees for the three to four years it takes for a pearl to form. …

“But rising ocean temperatures pose a threat to their survival. … Marine heatwaves have dramatically increased in frequency around New Zealand, with a particularly severe event in 2017/18 causing thousands of sea creatures to die.

“Increased marine temperatures have caused mass die-offs of abalone species in other areas of the world, like California, where warming water has reduced abalone’s access to food and sped up the transmission of a withering disease. Beattie has had an algal bloom – which is more likely in warm water – kill a harvest of pāua by depriving them of oxygen.

“Gerrity says marine heatwaves ‘destroy habitats.’ …

“Gerrity has researched the recovery of pāua in Kaikōura, on the north-east coast of the South Island, where thousands of pāua died after the sea floor was lifted six metres [~20 feet] in a 2016 earthquake. Nine years later, with careful management, the population is healthy again. …

“Dr Norman Ragg, senior shellfish scientist at science organization Cawthron Institute, says pāua are a ‘really interesting quirk of nature’ that have remained unchanged for millennia. While New Zealand’s populations are still healthy, there is no room for complacency. … Ragg believes cultivating blue pearls could go some way to bolstering appreciation for pāua and securing its future in the face of climate change.”

More at the Guardian, here. With no paywall at the Guardian, donations are vital.

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Hawaii Tax to Go to Environment

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on June 30, 2025| 3 Comments »

Photo: Brian Howell, Flickr Commons.
A helicopter circles a wildfire on Kaua‘i, where these fires are becoming increasingly common during drier summer months.

A Guardian update on what governments are doing about increased environmental costs sent me to Hawaii’s website. The island state, already grappling with the effects of global warming, is the first in the US to approve a tourism tax designated for climate issues.

The article says, “Lawmakers in Hawaii have passed first-of-its-kind legislation that will increase the state’s lodging tax to raise money for environmental protection and strengthening defenses against natural disasters fueled by the climate crisis. …

“[Gov. Josh] Green said in a statement. ‘Hawai‘i is truly setting a new standard to address the climate crisis.’

“The bill passed [adds] a 0.75% levy to the state’s existing tax on hotel rooms, timeshares, vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations. It also imposes a new 11% tax on cruise ship bills, prorated for the number of days the vessels are in Hawaii ports.

“Officials estimate the tax will generate nearly $100m annually. They say the money will be used for projects like replenishing sand on eroding Waikiki beaches, promoting the use of hurricane clips to secure roofs during powerful storms and clearing flammable invasive grasses like those that fed the deadly wildfire that destroyed downtown Lahaina in 2023. …

“Hawaii already levies a 10.25% tax on short-term rentals. As of 1 January, the tax will rise to 11%. Hawaii’s counties separately charge a 3% lodging tax, and travelers also have to pay the 4.712% general excise tax that applies to all virtually all goods and services. The cumulative tax bill at checkout will climb to 18.712%, among the highest in the nation. …

“As many visitors travel to the state to enjoy the environment, [Green] predicted they would welcome committing dollars to protect shorelines and communities.

“ ‘The more you cultivate good environmental policy, and the more you invest in perfecting our lived space, the more likely it is we’re going to have actually lifelong, committed travelers to Hawaii,’ he told the Associated Press.

“Zane Edleman, a visitor from Chicago, said … ‘If you really focus on the point – this is to save the climate and actually have proof that this is where the funds are going, and that there’s an actual result that’s happening from that, I think people could buy into it.’ …

“John Pele, the executive director of the Maui Hotel and Lodging Association, said there’s broad agreement that the money raised will go to a good cause. But he wonders if Hawaii will become too expensive for visitors.

“ ‘Will we be taxing on tourists out of wanting to come here?’ he said. ‘That remains to be seen.’ ”

The website Hawaii.gov notes that “2015 and 2016 were Hawaiʻi’s warmest years on record, and average air temperatures are 2 degrees warmer than they were in 1950. In 2019, Honolulu experienced its hottest recorded day three times, representing the hottest year ever recorded in the city. The last five years have seen peak average annual temperatures years across all islands.  In 2015-2016, it was so hot in Honolulu that emergency public service announcements were issued to curtail escalating air conditioning use because it stressed the electrical grid.” 

Among other global-warming consequences the website lists are the loss of 1.5 million acres of native forests, increasing numbers of wildfires, rapid growth of invasive species, “mass coral bleaching and mortality,” and a severe strain on water and energy infrastructure.

More at the Guardian, here, and at Hawaii’s official website, here.

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Urbanites Embrace the Tree Challenge

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on June 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Martin Godwin/The Guardian.
Residents in Tottenham, north London, with a tree sponsored through Trees for Streets. “City residents are working out how to fill their streets with trees as evidence grows of their benefits,” says the Guardian.

Can you bear another story about planting trees to beautify and bring warming temperatures down in neighborhoods?

Although really in-depth biodiversity efforts go further (read about Miyawaki urban forests here), street plantings are important, too. Each time I read about another community organizing to plant trees, I want to share the news.

Olivia Lee writes at the Guardian, ” ‘I wanted to do something that would benefit as many people from the community as possible,’ says Chloe Straw, pointing at a small but promising sapling visible through the window of her local cafe.

“In 2023, Chloe began chatting to her neighbors in Haringey, north London, about trees. ‘I thought it’d be really nice to raise some money for trees on the main road. Everyone uses West Green Road, regardless of whether you have a lot of money or not, regardless of your background.’

“After getting in touch with Trees for Streets, a sponsorship scheme that guides communities across England on how to plant trees in their local areas with support from local councils, a small group was formed to work out how to do it. As a first step, Straw and friends were provided with an interactive map to choose the location of the trees, and that was passed along to Haringey council.

“Then they got help to set up a crowdfunding campaign, which was shared in local WhatsApp groups and community forums, secured 168 backers and raised more than £6,000 [$8,000] in one month.

“Mohamed Eljaouhari, a co-chair of Haringey Living Streets, said [of WhatsApp], ‘It is a very powerful tool for getting a very simple message out very quickly to a lot of people. I got in contact with, like, a thousand people in a few minutes, because I forwarded on the message with a bit of an explanation to a local group here, a local group there, people who were interested in the environment and maybe wanted to help West Green.’

“The remaining costs were covered by Haringey council. The result? Twenty beautiful trees planted across the neighborhood. …

“Around the world, city residents are working out how to fill their streets with trees as evidence grows of their benefits. As temperatures rise, research has shown that urban trees can play a fundamental role in keeping cities cool, evaporating water to provide a natural form of air-conditioning, cooling air temperatures and reducing the urban heat island effect. Work by Friends of the Earth in five English cities in 2023 showed that areas with more trees and greenery were up to 5C cooler. …

“Public funds are stretched everywhere, and the community model followed by Trees for Streets empowers local people to take their own action without waiting for a government plan.

“The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) is a non-profit organization in Philadelphia that trains individuals to lead community groups to plant trees across the US city. So far their program, Tree Tenders, has trained more than 6,500 people, who have led volunteers in planting more than 3,000 trees each year.

“[Andrew Conboy, an urban forester in Philadelphia, says,] ‘There’s a heavy emphasis on native species here in the Philadelphia area, which is good thing because the native species are ultimately better for our wildlife and for our ecosystems, because those are the species that evolved here.’ …

“The Garden City Fund, a charity in Singapore, runs a similar initiative, the Plant-a-Tree program. Individuals and organizations can donate to the cost of a young tree and then plant it in one of their managed green spaces.

“Tree People, an environmental advocacy organization, runs a forestry program that supports communities to plant and care for trees in cities in southern California. The organization also runs the School Greening program, which provides training to parents, students, teachers and district leaders to plant and maintain trees in schools. …

“As the West Green residents take turns discussing their local initiative over cups of coffee, it’s clear that one of the most significant impacts the project has had is in strengthening connections within the community. …

“[Says Dan Snell, an urban forest officer at Haringey council,] ‘There was another tree scheme on my mum’s street who lives in Haringey … suddenly there were all these new street trees and my mum had met a load of neighbors that she hadn’t really met before, even though she’s been there for 30 years. It’s had this really lovely long-term effect on bringing the street together.’ It’s such a wonderful thing to connect over.’ “

Plant a tree, make a friend. More at the Guardian, here. No paywall.

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Why She Saves Seeds

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 7, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Dani Anguiano.
Haleigh Holgate, seed collection manager at Heritage Growers, inspects a seed in the San Luis national wildlife refuge complex on March 2025. Only the correct species will do.

I have blogged about seed banks in various countries (search on “seed bank”), and particularly about the global one that will keep seeds safe forever — if it stays frozen.

Today we learn what’s going on in California, where Heritage Growers is focused on local flora.

Dani Anguiano reported at the Guardian, “Deep in California’s agricultural heartland, Haleigh Holgate marched through the expansive wildflower-dotted plains of the San Luis national wildlife refuge complex in search of something precious.

“She surveyed the native grasses and flowering plants that painted the Central valley landscape in almost blinding swaths of yellow. Her objective on that sweltering spring day was to gather materials pivotal to California’s ambitious environmental agenda – seeds. …

“As a seed collection manager with the non-profit Heritage Growers native seed supplier, Holgate is tasked with traveling to the state’s wildlands to collect native seeds crucial for habitat restoration projects.

“The need has become particularly acute as California aims to conserve 30% of its land by 2030, with the governor pledging to restore ‘degraded landscapes’ and expand ‘nature-based solutions’ to fight the climate crisis. …

“But the rising demand for seeds far outpaces the available supply. California faces an ‘urgent and growing need’ to coordinate efforts to increase the availability of native seeds, according to a 2023 report from the California Native Plant Society. There simply isn’t enough wildland seed available to restore the land at the rate the state has set out to, Holgate said.

“Bridging the gap starts with people like Holgate, who spends five days a week, eight months of the year, traveling with colleagues to remote spots across the state collecting seeds – an endeavor that could shape California’s landscape for years.

“That fact is not lost on the 26-year-old. It’s something she tries to remind her team during long, grueling, hot days in the oilfields of Kern county or the San Joaquin valley. …

“Seeds play a vital role in landscape recovery. When fires move through forests, decimating native species and leaving the earth a charred sea of grey ash, or when farmlands come out of production, land managers use native seeds to help return the land to something closer to its original form. They have been an essential part of restoring the Klamath River after the largest dam removal project in US history, covering the banks of the ailing river in milkweeds that attract bees and other pollinators, and Lemmon’s needlegrass, which produces seeds that feed birds and small mammals.

“California has emphasized the importance of increasing native seed production to protect the state’s biodiversity. … Three-quarters of native vegetation in the state has been altered in the last 200 years, including more than 90% of California wetlands, much of them here in the Central valley.

“For the state to implement its plans, it needs a massive quantity of native seeds. … Enter Heritage Growers, the northern California-based non-profit founded by experts with the non-profit River Partners, which works to restore river corridors in the state and create wildlife habitat.

“The organization takes seed that Holgate and others collect and amplifies them at its Colusa farm, a 2,088-acre (845-hectare) property located an hour from the state capital. (The ethical harvesting rules Heritage Growers adhere to mean that they can take no more than 20% of seeds available the day of collection.) …

“Currently, the farm is producing more than 30,000 lbs of seeds each year and has more than 200 native plant varieties.

“The goal, general manager Pat Reynolds said, is to produce source-identified native seed and get as much of it out in the environment as possible to restore habitat at scale. …

“The benefit of restoring California’s wildlands extends far beyond the environment, said Austin Stevenot, a member of the Northern Sierra Mewuk Tribe and the director of tribal engagement for River Partners.

“ ‘It’s more than just work on the landscape, because you’re restoring places where people have been removed and by inviting those people back in these places we can have cultural restoration,’ Stevenot said. ‘Our languages, our cultures, are all tied to the landscape. … It’s giving the space back to people to freely do what we would like for the landscape and for our culture,’ he said. …

“The mission is worthwhile, Holgate said. The seeds she collects are expensive, but if they can be amplified and expanded, native seeds will become more abundant and restoration projects can happen more quickly.

“ ‘We can restore California faster,’ she said. … ‘I know that when I’m dreaming about a certain species, I should go check that population and see what’s happening. And normally there’s something going on where it’s like grasshoppers came in and ate all the seed, or the seed is ripe and ready, and I gotta call in a crew,’ she said. ‘I’ve really put my whole heart into this job.’ “

More at the Guardian, here. No firewall at this outstanding news site, but please support it.

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When the Ice Broke Off

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: NASA Worldview, NASA Earth Science Data and Information System.
Satellite imagery showing the iceberg calved from George VI Ice Shelf in the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica, on 19 January 2025.

Not much of a recompense for ruining our planet, but it’s true that global warming is giving scientists a chance to study previously unknown places.

At Schmidt Ocean Institute, we learn about some unexpectedly vibrant communities of ancient corals and sponges in Antarctica.

“An international team on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) working in the Bellingshausen Sea rapidly pivoted their research plans to study an area that was, until last month, covered by ice. On January 13, 2025, an iceberg the size of Chicago, named A-84, broke away from the George VI Ice Shelf, one of the massive floating glaciers attached to the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet.  The team reached the newly exposed seafloor on January 25 and became the first to investigate an area that had never before been accessible to humans.

“The expedition was the first detailed, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary study of the geology, physical oceanography, and biology beneath such a large area once covered by a floating ice shelf. The ice that calved was approximately 510 square kilometers (209 square miles), revealing an equivalent area of seafloor.

“ ‘We seized upon the moment, changed our expedition plan, and went for it so we could look at what was happening in the depths below,’ said expedition co-chief scientist Dr. Patricia Esquete of the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and the Department of Biology (DBio) at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. ‘We didn’t expect to find such a beautiful, thriving ecosystem. Based on the size of the animals, the communities we observed have been there for decades, maybe even hundreds of years.’

“Using Schmidt Ocean Institute’s remotely operated vehicle, ROV SuBastian, the team observed the deep seafloor for eight days and found flourishing ecosystems at depths as great as 1300 meters. Their observations include large corals and sponges supporting an array of animal life, including icefish, giant sea spiders, and octopus. The discovery offers new insights into how ecosystems function beneath floating sections of the Antarctic ice sheet. …

“The team was surprised by the significant biomass and biodiversity of the ecosystems and suspect they have discovered several new species.

“Deep-sea ecosystems typically rely on nutrients from the surface slowly raining down to the seafloor. However, these Antarctic ecosystems have been covered by 150-meter-thick (almost 500 feet) ice for centuries, completely cut off from surface nutrients. Ocean currents also move nutrients, and the team hypothesizes that currents are a possible mechanism for sustaining life beneath the ice sheet. The precise mechanism fueling these ecosystems is not yet understood.

“The newly exposed Antarctic seafloor also allowed the international team, with scientists from Portugal, the United Kingdom, Chile, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, and the United States, to gather critical data on the past behavior of the larger Antarctic ice sheet. The ice sheet has been shrinking and losing mass over the last few decades due to climate change.

“ ‘The ice loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet is a major contributor to sea level rise worldwide,’ said expedition co-chief scientist Sasha Montelli of University College London (UCL), United Kingdom, also a 2019 Schmidt Science Fellow. ‘Our work is critical for providing longer-term context of these recent changes, improving our ability to make projections of future change — projections that can inform actionable policies. We will undoubtedly make new discoveries as we continue to analyze this vital data.’

“In addition to collecting biological and geological samples, the science team deployed autonomous underwater vehicles called gliders to study the impacts of glacial meltwater on the physical and chemical properties of the region. Preliminary data suggest high biological productivity and a strong meltwater flow from the George IV ice shelf. …

“ ‘The science team was originally in this remote region to study the seafloor and ecosystem at the interface between ice and sea,’ said Schmidt Ocean Institute Executive Director, Dr. Jyotika Virmani. ‘Being right there when this iceberg calved from the ice shelf presented a rare scientific opportunity. Serendipitous moments are part of the excitement of research at sea – they offer the chance to be the first to witness the untouched beauty of our world.’ ”

More at Schmidt Ocean Institute, here, and at radio show The World, here. No firewalls.

Photo :A large sponge, a cluster of anemones, and other life is seen nearly 230 meters deep at an area of the seabed. Sponges can grow very slowly, and the size of this specimen suggests this community has been active for decades, perhaps even hundreds of years.

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A Japanese Lake Has a Warning

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 22, 2025| 5 Comments »

Photo: Suwa City.
Kiyoshi Miyasaka, a Shinto priest, leads parishioners from the Yatsurugi Shrine onto the frozen Lake Suwa in 2018, the last time the Miwatari, or Sacred Crossing, formed.

Climate change shows up in many ways around the world, especially where humans have kept records for centuries. One such place is in Japan.

Martin Fackler and Hisako Ueno report at the New York Times, “For at least six centuries, residents along a lake in the mountains of central Japan have marked the depth of winter by celebrating the return of a natural phenomenon once revered as the trail of a wandering god.

“It would only appear after days of frigid temperatures had frozen Lake Suwa into a sheet of solid white. First, people were awakened at night by a loud rumbling. Dawn broke to reveal its source: a long, narrow ridge of jagged ice that had mysteriously arisen across the lake’s surface, meandering like the spiked back of a twisting dragon.

“This was the Miwatari, meaning the sacred crossing, which local belief held was left by a passing god of Japan’s native Shinto belief. Its appearance evoked feelings of awe but also reassurance among the residents, who ventured onto the ice to perform a ceremony honoring what they saw as a visitation from the supernatural.

In the rare winters when the ice ridge did not appear, the god’s absence was viewed as a warning that the natural world was out of balance.

“So  important was the Miwatari that residents recorded whether it appeared, the condition of the lake and what historical events accompanied it. They have loyally written these descriptions every winter since 1443, creating a remarkable archive that attests to centuries of monotonously cold winters.

“But recently, the chronicles of Suwa have told a different, more alarming story. For the past seven winters, the Miwatari has failed to appear because the lake didn’t freeze. While there have been occasional years without ice, an absence of this length has happened only once before in the archive, and that was a half millennium ago.

“In fact, Lake Suwa has not fully frozen over — what locals call ‘an open sea’ — for 18 of the past 25 years. Kiyoshi Miyasaka, the chief priest of Yatsurugi Shrine, which for the past three and a half centuries has borne the duty of maintaining the records, says ice has failed to appear with regularity since the 1980s. He and other locals blame the disappearance of the ancient rhythms on global climate change.

“ ‘In old times, an open sea was regarded as a bad omen,’ said Mr. Miyasaka, 74, whose shrine’s traditional stone gate and tile-roofed wooden buildings stand about a mile from the lakeshore. ‘We hear about melting of ice caps and Himalayan glaciers, but our own lake is also trying to alert us.’ …

“Only parishioners in their 60s or older remember when the Miwatari was still big enough to make a sound that could wake them at night. The last time an ice ridge formed, in 2018, it was barely six inches tall.

“ ‘When I was child, the ice spikes rose higher than my height,’ said Isao Nakazawa, 81, a retired auto company worker. ‘We knew when it appeared because it made a sound like a taiko drum, “Gon-gon-gon!” ‘

“These days, the Miwatari has lost much of its religious significance. Residents in Suwa, a small, sleepy city wrapped along the lake’s edge, see it as a local rite of winter. …

” ‘Carrying on a tradition for 580 years binds our community together,’ said the mayor, Yukari Kaneko, 66. ‘I fear what’s happening now is a warning to rethink how we’re living.’

“Science has also robbed the ice ridges of their mystery by explaining how they arise. When Lake Suwa freezes, its surface hardens into a slab some two and a half miles across. On particularly cold nights, the ice contracts, opening cracks that fill with lake water, which also freezes. As temperatures rise again, the slab expands back into its original shape, pushing the newly formed ice upward into buckled ramparts. …

“While Mr. Miyasaka says he feels discouraged by the failure of the ice ridge to return, he intends to keep updating the archive.

“ ‘You cannot just quit something that has been around for more than 580 years,’ said Mr. Miyasaka, whose family has held the position of chief priest for five generations. ‘I will not be the one who ends it.’ ”

More at the Times, here.

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