99% female: Skewed sex ratio in green sea turtles in warming climate

Study raises alarm over near-total feminisation of green sea turtles in one of the world’s largest turtle colonies in Australia, says climate change is the cause

http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/green-sea-turtles-danger-99-female-5024863/

Written by Kabir Firaque | Updated: January 15, 2018 7:21:20 pm




The ratio exceeds 99% among the younger turtles from the northern Great Barrier Reef, indicating that the proportion of females has increased in recent decades.

One of the world’s largest turtle populations is turning almost entirely female, and the cause is most likely warming temperatures in a changing climate.

The sex of hatchlings in sea turtles — and in a few other species such as alligators and crocodiles —depends on the temperature of the sand in which the eggs incubate, with warmer temperatures resulting in female hatchlings and cooler temperatures in males. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website specifies the temperature ranges that lead to offspring of one sex or the other: male when it is 27.7°C or cooler, female when 31°C or warmer, and a mix of male and female baby turtles when the temperature fluctuates between these two limits.

In a study led by NOAA research biologist Michael Jensen, an international team of scientists used a new research method to assess sex ratios in two nesting populations of green sea turtles in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Turtles of the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) are genetically different from those of the southern GBR. The results of the study, published in Current Biology, showed an alarming female bias in turtles from the northern Great Barrier Reef, which is warmer than the southern GBR: 86.8% female among adults, 99.8% female among subadults and 99.1% female among juveniles. A female bias showed again in turtles from the cooler, southern GBR, but this was less stark: between 65% and 69% (see chart).

The fact that the ratio exceeds 99% among the younger turtles from the warmer region, while being 86.8% among adults of the region, indicates that the proportion of females has increased in recent decades.

“Yes, the rising temperatures are shifting the ratio of turtles from male to female. All sea turtles affected by temperatures this way are subject to this change as beaches where they nest become warmer,” NOAA public relations officer Michael Milstein told The Indian Express, by email. Although researchers have known for decades that warming temperatures alter the sex of sea turtle offspring, this is the first time they have directly documented the trend in a major wild population.

In an article on the research, NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Centre briefly describes the way in which the sex ratios were determined. Researchers previously determined the sex of individual hatchlings through anatomical exams at nesting beaches, providing only a snapshot in time from only a few nests.

The sea floor is sinking under the weight of climate change

http://geographical.co.uk/nature/climate/item/2570-sea-floor-sinking-under-the-weight-of-climate-change

The ocean floor is being deformed under the weight of ever-increasing water from melting ice and redistribution of land water. This unexpected consequence of climate change also appears to be skewing global sea level data making it appear less severe.

The consequences of the alarming deformation of the Earth has been highlighted by researchers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Combining data on mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets, and changes in water storage on land surfaces (due to dam, reservoirs and irrigation), they were able to feed this information into mathematical equations that could calculate sea level estimates around the globe.

‘I was quite surprised by the outcomes,’ says Thomas Frederikse who authored the study. ‘Over the last 20 years the oceans have become ~2.5 mm deeper. It was already assumed that bottom deformation was small, compared to sea-level rise on a global scale. However, we show that for some regions, especially the Arctic and Southern oceans, its size is considerable.’

Changes in a) the seafloor, b) relative sea level taking into account sea floor deformation, and c) ‘geocentric’ sea level as measured by satellites (not taking into account sea floor deformation). Note in the second graph how sea level change relative to the seafloor is negative for the Arctic, as the sea floor has risen due to mass loss from melting ice. (Image: Frederikse et al. 2017)

Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to global warming: the added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers, and the expansion of sea water as it warms. This rise has long been documented, but what these new findings mean is that the global sea level rise is actually higher than previously thought.

The existing numbers were based on satellite data which measured surface level relative to the centre of the Earth, assuming the ocean floor as basically a fixed constant depth. Now this assumption has been proved to be wrong, the significance being that even more water from melting ice has reentered the oceans than was thought, thanks to climate change and human activity.

Perhaps almost as telling of the state of wilful ignorance to climate change and its consequences, is that the unexpected phenomena of our swelling oceans actually contracting the Earth has been known by scientists for some time, it is simply a lesser documented and less visible symptom of climate change.

The team of researchers from Delft have managed to quantify this extreme effect, finding that the increase in weight of the oceans has caused the sea floor to sink by about 0.1 mm/year between 1993-2014, or 2.5 mm over the entire period, and this is a trend that will only worsen with time.

‘It is widely accepted that, when greenhouse gas emissions won’t be cut, the ice sheets will retreat at a much faster pace than today, and then, due to the massive increase in ocean mass, seafloor deformation will become significant,’ says Frederikse.

Red lines show the ‘relative’ sea level change taking into account changes in the seafloor, blue lines show previous ‘geocentric’ estimates at sea level change. Solid lines are average recordings and the dashed lines are tide gauge recordings. The ‘altimetry’ area consists of the global oceans, bounded by ±66º latitude. Note the red lines appear higher in all regions except the Arctic and North Atlantic, which suffer the most ice mass loss, and thus where the sea floor has risen rather than sunk. (Image: Frederikse et al. 2017)

The research also revealed some other unexpected consequences, as some areas of the sea floor are forced down, others rise. ‘On regional scales, the effect was certainly larger than expected: in the Arctic, which becomes less and less heavy due to mass loss in Greenland and many glaciers, the ocean floor rises at about 1 mm/y,’ explains Frederikse.

These incremental seafloor changes might not seem all that problematic from land, but for scientists documenting the rate of melting ice and sea level change they are more than simply numbers and maths equations, they signal once again the need for action on climate change.

For Frederikse, this is one of the most important implication of the study. ‘I’m fascinated by the fact that due to our behaviour, we do not only change the Earth’s thermostat, we’re literally deforming our own planet. Fascinating, but very worrisome,’ he says.

World’s first permanent visitor centre on climate change to open in Ireland

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2018/01/15/cool-planet-ireland-climate-change/

JAMES GABRIEL MARTIN

Lonely Planet Writer

15 JANUARY 2018The first ever permanent visitor centre dedicated to climate change has opened in County Wicklow, Ireland, featuring an interactive experience aimed at inspiring positive action.Sir Richard Branson officially opened the centre on 10 January 2018. Image by Jason Clarke Photography / Justin Mac Innes

Located on the picturesque grounds of Powerscourt House, Cool Planet Experience was officially opened on 10 January in a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Richard Branson. The centre is the brain child of entrepreneur Norman Crowley, who envisioned it as a place that would educate visitors in an engaging and dynamic way. Connecting science, engineering, gaming and drama, the centre is the first of ten that are planned to open around the world over the next three years, with plans already in place for centres in Dubai and Sydney.

The experience takes approximately an hour and a half to go through fully, with one of the highlights being an interactive game called Can You Save Your City?, which sees visitors being transported to the year 2050, racing to tackle issues such as transport, waste and energy. Workshops aimed at inspiring younger generations will also be hosted at the centre, as well as the Cool Planet Champion program, which is designed to train people from all walks of life on how to put together compelling presentations on climate change and encourage them to take action with local representatives and communities.

Cool Planet Experience will be open to visitors from February onwards. More information is available on the official website.

More money needed to address climate change, says UN official

Miroslav Lajcak gave a lecture at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/more-money-needed-to-address-climate-change-says-un-official-1.695313

Caline Malek

January 14, 2018

Updated: January 14, 2018 08:45 PM

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, meets with Miroslav Lajcak, President of the UN General Assembly, during a Sea Palace barza. Hamad Al Kaabi / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi.

For the first time since the Second World War we are at a grave risk of leaving the planet in worse shape than how we received it from our predecessors, the President of the United Nations General Assembly said on Sunday.

Miroslav Lajcak, who is visiting the UAE for Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, said global warming was a reality that affected living conditions around the world.

“We can’t guarantee that the living conditions for our children will be better than they were for us and this is a grave risk,” he said before giving a lecture at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy.

“There are countries that are disappearing from the surface of the planet, there are people who were forced to leave their homes because they are no longer liveable so I believe this is no longer denied and we need to advance this.”

He said despite the world coming together in a pledge to fight climate change, hard action is still needed as well as financial resources, which are falling short.

“We agreed in Paris to limit the global warming below 2°C and eventually if possible below 1.5°C but we are not delivering,” Mr Lajcak said. “We’re short of 100 billion dollars a year to do so, so we need to talk about that. The good thing is we are able to agree on policies but this agreement should be followed by concrete action, and the action is missing in many cases so we need to have events like ADSW and speak about positive examples, speak openly about the problems and link our ambitions and plans with financial resources.”

The challenges facing the world today, including climate change, global warming, terrorism and migration, are global in nature and therefore require an international effort, he said.

New York City sues oil companies over climate change

NEW York City is seeking damages of $20 billion from five companies to cover spiralling costs the city is facing.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/new-york-city-sues-oil-companies-over-climate-change/news-story/62f094535840c8f389c966417c66b8ec

AFPJANUARY 15, 201810:09AM

NEW York’s mayor has announced plans to sell off $5 billion in fossil fuel investments from city pension funds after suing oil companies for billions of dollars to help fund protection against climate change.

The city has filed a federal claim seeking damages from BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell to help compensate its $US20 billion ($AU25 billion) plan to protect the city, economy and public services from the effects of climate change.

Mayor Bill de Blasio drew comparisons between oil companies and the tobacco industry, which knowingly profited out of a habit they knew to be harmful.

While other cities in Europe and the United States have already taken similar steps, New York hailed its move as significant, as it is the biggest metropolis in the country. The city suffered billions of dollars of damage in Hurricane Sandy which paralysed New York in 2012, causing 3m-high floods across coastal New York and New Jersey, and an estimated $US71 billion ($AU89.7 million) in damage.

A study published by researchers in October warned that rising sea levels from man-made climate change could prompt catastrophic flooding in New York as frequently as once every five years by 2030 to 2045.

New York’s $US189 billion $AU238.8 billion) pension fund — held for city employees such as police officers, teachers and firefighters — currently has around $US5 billion ($AU6.3 billion) in securities of more than 190 fossil fuel companies, officials said.

Mayor de Blasio said staff would instruct fund trustees to start analysing ways to divest responsibly from fossil fuel over the next five years, in a process that officials warned would not be easy and would take time.

“New York City is standing up for future generations by becoming the first major US city to divest our pension funds from fossil fuels,” Mayor de Blasio said.

US President Donald Trump inflamed the world last year by announcing that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, setting off a crescendo of efforts by Democrat-run cities and states to shrink the country’s carbon footprint.

A report issued at UN talks last November said those efforts would not fully counteract Mr Trump’s decision to reverse climate policies and promote fossil fuel use.

In December, the US did not attend international climate talks in Paris, where countries announced they were boosting investment in green energy and divesting from fossil fuels.

New York, home to 8.5 million residents and the US financial capital, is a bastion of opposition to Mr Trump.

Flood damaged streets are viewed in the Rockaway section of Queens where the historic boardwalk was washed away due to Hurricane Sandy on October 31, 2012 in the Queens borough of New York City. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFPSource:AFP

COURTS ‘NOT THE ANSWER’

“New York City is taking on these five giants because they are the central actors, they are the first ones responsible for this crisis, and they should not get away with it anymore,” Mayor de Blasio told reporters.

“As climate change continues to worsen, it’s up to the fossil fuel companies whose greed put us in this position to shoulder the cost of making New York safer and more resilient.”

Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell issued statements calling the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions a global issue that required more sweeping action than legal action.

BP and ConocoPhillips declined to comment.

“Climate change is a complex societal challenge that should be addressed through sound government policy and cultural change to drive low-carbon choices for businesses and consumers, not by the courts,” a Shell spokesperson said.

Last month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also unveiled plans to divest state pension funds from fossil fuel investments.

In June 2016, the largest public pension fund in the US capital Washington said it had successfully purged its $US6.4 billion ($AU8 billion) fund of all direct holdings in fossil fuels.

Later that year, global movement DivestInvest said funds held by institutions and individuals committed to divesting from fossil fuel had reached $US5.2 trillion ($AU6.5 trillion).

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is taking action against oil companies. Picture: Nicholas Hunt/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

Farmland could be used to sustainably offset America’s entire carbon footprint—if the will exists

https://qz.com/1188241/farmland-could-be-used-to-sustainably-offset-americas-entire-carbon-footprint-if-the-will-exists/

Amid the roaring debate on how to curb climate change in Bonn last year, an impasse was finally broken on agriculture. Both a cause and casualty of climate change, our food system accounts for up to 24% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Yet hit by soaring temperatures and more frequent extreme weather, farming is becoming more difficult, as demand continues to increase.

Positive agricultural interventions could achieve up to 6% of reductionemissions needed to achieve the Paris Agreement goals—showing that this sector is not only part of the problem, but part of the solution to climate change.

Previously at climate talks, disagreement focussed on whether helping farmers adapt to climate change, or reducing the greenhouse gases produced by the sector should be prioritized, largely along developing vs. developed country lines.

Developed countries, already equipped with successful techniques for ramping up agricultural production, are more interested in mitigation, making existing techniques more climate-friendly. On the other hand, in developing countries, drought, floods, and hurricanes all play havoc with the mostly smallholder-driven agriculture sector. Their priority is to help those farmers adapt and find food security.

In Bonn at the latest round of climate talks, a compromise was reachedto allow two technical bodies to work together to identify solutions on how the agriculture sector can be a part of the solution. The question is: where to begin? How can we rein in emissions in agriculture, while making farmers more resilient to the whims of the weather?

One solution stands out. Eighty-nine percent of agriculture’s future mitigation potential could lie in capturing carbon on farmland soils: carbon sequestration. Not only does this process suck harmful carbon out of the atmosphere, it makes soils healthier and more fertile for future food production, boosting resilience to climate change.

Soil carbon sequestration should make both sides of the mitigation vs. adaptation debate happy. Efforts to capitalize on this win-win solution need to be stepped up—and now. To do this, we needed to determine which areas in the world could contribute which quantities of carbon sequestration.

A new paper published in Scientific Reports tells us just that. Findings show that the world’s farmland soils have the technical potential to offset as much carbon as the United States emits, if they are managed better. This would also be equal to removing all the carbon from the atmosphere that the transport sector emits each year.

The analysis focused on croplands, which make up about one-third of agricultural lands globally. The results show that North America has the highest potential for soil carbon storage. So how can American farmers take action?

New technology means soil health can be managed at much finer scales than has been possible previously. For example, American companiesare embracing precision agriculture, investing in sensors and camera-equipped drones that can send information on soil health and moisture wirelessly to a computer.

This type of technology could allow farmers to find out exactly which type and quantity of fertilizer to apply in which area of the farm to reach the optimum level of soil health, improving the soil’s capacity to trap carbon.

Other methods are simpler: reducing use of heavy machinery to till land; mulching or covering the soil with already harvested maize stalks to protect the surface. These options can all keep more carbon in North American soils and improve productivity.

These practices work in other parts of the world too. Africa, with its large area of croplands (~2.6 million km2), has high potential for soil carbon storage—although equipping farmers to step up carbon sequestration efforts will be more difficult in these areas, because they require scarce labor resources, and extension services are more constrained.

Yet there are many other options to consider. Pasture lands in Africa often have low productivity, so using improved forage varieties and mixing legume plants into pasture vegetation can increase soil carbon storage – while having the added benefit of increasing live weight gain of livestock.

Agroforestry—planting trees on farmland—is also a promising option in Africa, particularly since some trees are actually able to fix nitrogen to the soil. It also helps farmers diversify their production, improving their diet and making them less vulnerable to shocks.

At the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, we are working on a number of tools to help investors and other decision makers assess which efforts are best placed to restore degraded land in specific areas. The Soil Organic Carbon app, for example, can calculate the amount of organic carbon that could be sequestered in the soil, based on soil organic carbon concentration and the impact of soil protection practices on sequestration over time and at different scales.

But there is more research to be done. The evidence overwhelmingly shows that agriculture increasingly supports solutions to tackle both food security and environmental goals. What we need now is a united effort to prevent the world’s soils from remaining an untapped carbon sink.

It is time to unlock its vast potential to roll back emissions, ensure food security, and put us on a more sustainable path towards climate stability.

Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

ALJ Energy plans carbon-neutral desalination plants fueled by renewable energy

https://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/alj-energy-plans-carbon-neutral-desalination-plants-fueled-by-renewable-energy-1.697316

Jennifer Gnana

January 21, 2018

Updated: January 21, 2018 04:26 PM

Energy firms across the Middle East are looking for ways to make the desalination process less energy-intensive. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National

Saudi developer Abdul Latif Jameel Energy (ALJ Energy) plans to use its renewable energy experience to develop carbon neutral desalination plants, as it pursues contracts in both sectors in markets including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

“We’re looking at working between [our] water and the power teams to develop a carbon neutral desalination approach, to be able to desalinate with renewable energy,” the company’s chief executive officer Roberto de Diego in an interview with The National.

The firm is “looking internally” at integrating solar and wind power solutions into desalination plants, which are typically highly energy-intensive.

“[It will] depend on the geographic conditions of where the desalination plant will be,” said Mr de Diego Arozamena.

“The solar or wind plant doesn’t necessarily have to be in the same place; [much depends on] the regulations to provide electricity to the desalination project.” he said.

ALJ Energy is among a number of local and international utility providers and energy firms hoping to benefit from the increasing privatisation of Saudi Arabia’s water and electricity distribution networks.

The country’s environment minister Abdulrahman Al Fadhli on Sunday announced plans to build nine desalination plants on the country’s Red Sea coast with a total capacity of 240,000 cubic metres of water per day, to be completed within 18 months.

Mr de Diego Arozamena said the firm is targeting both greenfield and brownfield desalination opportunities in the kingdom, including largescale projects in the industrial cities of Jubail, Yanbu and Rabigh.

ALJ Energy has also prequalified to bid for the world’s largest desalination facility in Abu Dhabi, a 200 million Imperial gallon-a-day project announced earlier this month by the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (Adwea).