This week’s article was about how climate change has been affecting the Kariba damn in Lake Kariba, Zambia. This specific damn has always been a seemingly limitless source of electricity to Zambia and it neighbors but things have been changing. Over the last server months, a severe drought that has been magnified by climate change has cut water levels to record lows. The damn is producing so little power that blackouts have been occurring and hurting the nation’s businesses. The problem is that for the past decade, Africa has been seeing much growth, but this drought is crippling multiple economies so bad that they have to reach out to the International Monetary fund for help. After seeing this issue, even David Kaluba, The coordinator of the government’s Interim Climate Change Secretariat said climate change is causing major issues in Zambia. In addition, the problem will not stop here. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change, Africa is expecting to warm up faster than the global aver over the next decades. This means that Zambia is going to need to find new ways to produce electricity for its ever growing population.

As most people know, climate change threatens plants and animals alike. It can raise sea levels and scorch already hot desert sands. As temperatures increase, plants and animals will try and move to reach their preferred climates that are moving ever north, but they may not be able to move fast enough. One idea to help prevent entire ecosystems from going extinct is to actually pick them up and move them.

In New Zealand where some native plants were in the way of a new coalmine, they picked them up and placed them in the location of an old coalmine. This is called ecosystem-scale translocation. This already exists for coal mining so the same principle can be used for climate change. The only question that comes into play is which ecosystems should be moved first as climate change is variable across the planet. In addition, some ecosystems are more prone to stress when moved and moving a new ecosystem should not affect an already existing ecosystem in the same location.

While this does not solve the problem of climate change, moving an ecosystem could provide the planet with extra time to move to more renewable sources of energy while maintaining ecosystem biodiversity.

Resource: http://theconversation.com/climate-change-threatens-entire-ecosystems-lets-pick-them-up-and-move-them-57121

The world’s farmers have increased their use of genetically modified crops steadily and sharply since the technology became broadly commercialized in 1996; however, this will not be the case anymore.  The article states that 2015 was the first time the acreage used for the crops declined.  According to a nonprofit that tracks, the plantings of biotech seeds.  The organization said the main cause for the decline, which measured 1 percent from 2014 levels, was low commodity prices, which led farmers to plant less corn, soybeans and canola of all types, both genetically engineered and non-engineered.  Only three countries account for more than three-quarters of the total global acreage. And only four crops account for the majority of biotechnology use in agriculture.  In many cases, more than 90 percent of those four crops grown in those three countries, and in other large growers like Canada, India and China, is already genetically modified, leaving little room for expansion.

There have been efforts to expand use of biotechnology to other crops and to other countries. These have created difficulties due to opposition from consumer and environmental groups, regulatory hurdles and in some cases scientific obstacles.  The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Application’s plan is to help small farmers in developing countries take advantage in biotechnology.  This in turn can increase farmer income and reduce use of chemical pesticides.  It receives financial support from various foundations, companies, trade groups and governments, including Monsanto and the United States government.  The overall acreage planted with biotech seeds in 2015 fell 1 percent globally to 444.0 million acres, from 448.5 million acres in 2014.  The crops were grown in 28 countries and used by up to 18 million farmers, most of them small ones in developing countries, the report said.  I guess we will just have to wait and see how this all plays out.  Allow more time to collect data and move from there.

References:

Pollack, Andrew. “Acreage for Genetically Modified Crops Declined in 2015.”The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Apr. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.

Recently papers have been released by The Center for International Environmental Law.  The papers show that Humble Energy has know about rising CO2 levels since 1957 which is nearly 60 years.   The data also demonstrated that rising CO2 levels would cause warming earth temperatures.  Humble Energy now belongs to Exxon a major energy company. The papers also reveal that Exxon used the information to plan against regulation.  This is because oil would be less profitable with more regulations to prevent CO2 from rising.  Investigations by four attorneys in the US Virgin Islands are underway.  Exxon does not have an ties to the Virgin Islands meaning their courts hold little influence.  However Exxon has already challenged the investigation in Texas.

Although Exxon denies any involvement of hiding or abusing climate science, the papers seem to be evidence of the contrary.  The company once again acknowledged that climate change may be a threat.  Showing the issue is whether Exxon withheld valuable information when they first discovered the problem in 1957.

According to the Module for this week annual losses of colonies averaged about 33% each year and 1/3 of this percentage is from colony collapse disorder (CCD). In an article published in Arizona news, a study on honey bee larvae performed by Arizona State University’s School of Life Sciences was explained. The cause of decline, explains researcher is caused by a combination of stressors such as parasites, pathogens, pesticides, environmental changes and malnutrition. The objective of the study was to better understand the resilience of the bee colonies that survive through tough living conditions. Researchers found that when bees are challenged nutritionally by being denied food, it changes the fundamental physiology that affects them when they are adults. They also found that by starving bees during their development, they become more resistant to tough living conditions and CCD. The more starved these bees are, the more susceptible to disease they are. The study urges beekeepers to keep bees as close to their natural state as possible meaning no pesticides or antibiotics. Also to stay away from agricultural and urban practices. Researcher from this study concludes by adding, “the effort of the scientists and beekeepers to understand bees and save bees have resulted in significant enhancement of honey bee health by improving bee management practices.” This might be true but colonies are still collapsing and honey bees are still on the decline. There is always more to do.

http://www.prescottenews.com/index.php/education/item/27488-honey-bees-asu-researchers-study-may-help-improve-lifespan

Throughout this course, the class has been analyzing climate change and its effect on the different places around the world.  In the article I have chosen to blog about this week, titled “Sierra Nevada Snow Won’t End California’s Thirst” the New York Times discusses how the snowpack in Sierra Nevada was greater this year than it has been in years.  The cause of the snowpack is stated as primarily El Nino and definitely the result of changing climate systems.  This snowpack serves as an important factor as it supplies water for the surrounding regions, especially California.  The article states that the Sierra snowpack supplies California with nearly 30 percent of their water as the snow melts and flows into rivers and reservoirs.  Also, the snowpack is even more valuable than just rain because the accumulation of snow serves as a reservoir that gradually melts, supplying the needs of industries, people, agriculture, and forests.  It is interesting to keep finding out new ways that climate change is effecting the places we live in.  I found this article specifically interesting because I was unaware of how detrimental the snow influences the populations around them.  California continues to live with water restrictions and it is crazy to think that as global warming continues and gradually increases the situation may only get worse.

Fountain, Henry. “Sierra Nevada Snow Won’t End California’s Thirst.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

NASA’s two largest launch pads are located a quarter of a mile away from the encroaching ocean. These launch pads sit atop of two 50 foot artificial hills. Most of the Florida Space Coast is in threatening danger due to climate change. Researchers have proposed that the sea levels could rise five to six feet by the end of the century due to the warming of the Antarctic ice sheet. An astronaut, named Scott Kelly, just recently returned from a year long trip in space and spoke of differences in the earth that he had observed from his prior trip from 2010. He stated, “It seems to me there is more pollution in India and China than what I saw last time. Definitely noticed the fires this summer in the USA; sometimes, could see the smoke all the way to Chicago.”

Much of the land that is owned and operated by NASA is “within 16 feet of mean sea level”. This means that the sites owned by NASA will be under severe threat from climate change although, retreating the facilities inland is not an option. The most inexpensive way to deal with climate change would to be upgrading the facilities to prepare for the changing climate. The reason these billion dollar facilities are located on the coast is due to the fact that it is much safer to launch rockets over water than over land and human civilization. The article finishes with a very sound statement, “Water, once the solution to many of the space agency’s problems, is becoming its biggest threat.”

References:

Schwartz, John. “NASA Is Facing a Climate Change Countdown.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Apr. 2016. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.