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October 29, 2018
A Taylor Energy-owned oil production platform damaged during Hurricane Ivan has been leaking oil in the Gulf of Mexico since 2004, with no resolution in sight. Image courtesy of Chad Teer via wikipedia.org.
On October 24, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) released a new report advising the U.S. government to invest in research and development for carbon dioxide removal technologies as a means of combatting climate change. The recommendation stems from the fact that countries have delayed steep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for so long that even a sudden turn toward clean energy sources would not be enough to curb the worst climate impacts. The challenge is that researchers have not yet determined how to remove carbon dioxide cheaply or at a sufficient scale to allow for widespread adoption. Climate scientist Stephen Pacala of Princeton said that humanity would have to start removing around 10 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year through 2050 in order to achieve the goals in the Paris Agreement. Pacala added, "To develop the technologies and scale up to 10 billion tons a year is a frightful endeavor, something that would really require a lot of activity. So the time would have to be now."
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New York Times
Hundreds of military families have been displaced from Florida's Tyndall Air Force Base as a result of Hurricane Michael. The Category 4 storm hit the base on October 10, inflicting heavy damage on housing units and F-22 plane hangars. "I think it would be fair to say it will be years to make Tyndall look like it did before the hurricane hit," said Air Force Director of Public Affairs, Brig. Gen. Edward Thomas. Many families and individuals do not know whether they will be reassigned and relocated as the base begins a long road to recovery. While the base reopened temporarily, some of the displaced individuals were unable to return due to the costs and logistical obstacles associated with last-minute travel. It is unclear when the base will fully reopen. Meanwhile, homeowners stationed there are unable to receive assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency until they make an appointment with an inspector to assess damages. Furthermore, some local residents seeking financial assistance through the Defense Department's Stabilizing Assistance Grants who are not active duty or retired Air Force have been denied aid.
NPR
Located on the Third Pole of Central China, the Baishui glacier is one of the fastest melting glaciers on the planet. The glacier, which feeds into the Yangtze, Yellow, Mekong, and Ganges rivers, is said to have lost more than half of its mass and shrunk by 820 feet in the last 36 years. This amount of melting will severely impact China’s freshwater reserves and poses a threat to the country’s water security. Glaciologist Wang Shijin and his team have tracked Baishui’s retreat using remote sensors and other equipment over the last decade, confirming, “The shrinking is very remarkable.” Millions of tourists have been flooding into Baishui and adjacent parks for a number of years, attempting to experience the glaciers before time runs out. Park officials have recently limited the number of tourists allowed on the Baishui glacier to 10,000 per day, banned hiking on the ice, and intend to dam glacial streams with artificial snow banks.
Associated Press
The busiest port in Europe has announced an ambitious plan to reduce 2008-level carbon dioxide emissions by 49 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050. These targets come after the branch of the United Nations that oversees shipping regulations, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), released a similar goal to cut emissions in half by 2050. This will complement the Paris Climate Agreement, which does not address maritime emissions. IMO spokeswoman Natasha Brown said, “Every sector needs to do its bit to contribute to the fight against climate change.” In Rotterdam, financial incentives will encourage ships and port facilities to transition towards renewable power and will work alongside sustainability initiatives to evaluate each ship’s emission levels and reduce waiting times at ports. Fully electric ships are still too expensive to construct and service, but a partnership between the port and Dutch startup Skoon Energy B.V. has allowed some ships to adopt electric propulsion. However, a costly network of onshore infrastructure is first needed to support large-scale electrification of the shipping industry.
Reuters
Hundreds of scientists, engineers, and physicians have entered electoral races at the local, state, and federal levels in 2018. Most are first-time candidates who hope to encourage government institutions to return to evidence-based thinking and step away from the heavily ideology-driven policymaking of recent years. The science-minded candidates have already had a noticeable impact by pressuring opposition candidates to address environment and climate issues on the campaign trail. Today's Congress overwhelmingly consists of individuals with law backgrounds, in addition to seven former talk radio hosts. By contrast, only a handful of STEM professionals hold a seat in the chamber. Former congressman and current CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Rush Holt, noted, "Almost every issue that comes before a legislature has some science, somewhere. If there's not a scientist in the room—and the way things are on Capitol Hill, there usually isn't—the facets of an issue that could be illuminated by science won't even be noticed."
InsideClimate News
Earlier this month, Hurricane Michael tore through southwest Georgia, an agricultural region focused on the production of cotton, peanuts, and sweet corn. “This is the most severe weather anyone here has ever seen,” Casey Cox, whose nine-acre, century-old grove of pecan trees was destroyed by the storm. Georgia’s agricultural commissioner, Gary Black, estimated that the state’s economic losses could exceed $2.5 billion. Still, many residents are reluctant to accept the possibility that climate change may contribute to the severity and frequency of storms in the area. “But we’ve always had bad weather,” said Clayton Moss, a cotton farmer who experienced estimated crop losses of up to 100 percent this year. “Is it getting worse? Have we had three bad years in a row? Yeah. But I’m worried about the weather, not about climate change.” Georgia’s current governor, Nathan Deal (R), has been an outspoken critic of climate change, and both the Democratic and Republican candidates for November's gubernatorial race have remained largely silent on the issue.
Politicians in the Midwest are not discussing the effects of climate change on regional agriculture, despite the spring droughts and fall flooding that are plaguing farmers in Iowa. The political influence of profitable agricultural heavyweights like Bayer-Monsanto, Dow-Dupont, and Koch Industries has discouraged candidates from addressing the issue. Farmers are expanding the capacity of the regional drainage system to mitigate the effects of extreme weather and increasing humidity, but its stormwater runoff carries nitrate-rich fertilizer into the Mississippi River watershed and removes valuable topsoil, which in turn reduces the protein content of corn and soy beans. Research by the University of Minnesota on data from NASA predicts that the Iowa corn harvest could be cut in half over the next 50 years. Iowa State University climate scientist Dr. Gene Takle observed, “You have flavors of the Dust Bowl.” Lower crop yields reduce land prices, which is especially problematic in a region where land is the foundation of wealth. Groups like the Practical Farmers of Iowa offer hope by promoting more sustainable farming practices.
Guardian
A sunken oil production platform in the Gulf of Mexico has quietly been the source of one of the worst offshore oil spills in U.S. history. The site, owned by Taylor Energy, has been leaking the equivalent of 300-700 barrels of oil per day off the Louisiana coast since 2004. A mudslide set off by Hurricane Ivan caused the platform to sink and its damaged wells were never capped to halt the flow of oil. Taylor Energy has sought to keep the spill out of the public eye, but a lawsuit ultimately forced the company to publish its cleanup plan. The company has argued there is no evidence that its wells are leaking. In response, the U.S. Justice Department provided an independent analysis showing the true extent of the spill. The Gulf waters of Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi are home to roughly 4,000 oil platforms, plus 50,000 miles of active and inactive pipelines. There is an average of 20 uncontrolled releases of oil per year for every 1,000 wells in state and federal waters.
Washington Post
Kelp forests off the coast of northern California face an uncertain future as purple sea urchins proliferate. These spiky, kelp-eating invertebrate have benefitted from a decline in predation from sunflower starfish and sea otters, enabling them to reduce kelp forest coverage by around 93 percent in the last few years. These kelp forests serve as a carbon sink and provide habitat for many commercially important species, including rockfish and red urchins, which are outcompeted by the smaller purple urchins. Warmer water temperatures brought on by marine heat waves and climate change interfere with nutrient cycling, further contributing to the declining health of the kelp forests. “A warmer ocean generally is not as productive,” said Sonke Mastrup, a program manager at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Culling events aim to remove purple urchins from certain areas to create “kelp oases” that organizers hope will help restore California’s kelp forests when conditions improve. Facing similar threats, kelp forests off the coast of Maine and Tasmania are in rapid decline as well.
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