TEN ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTS
February 2025
1. More loss of sea ice and increase of ocean heat loss and storms
Simon A. Josey et al., “Record-low Antarctic sea ice in 2023 increased ocean heat loss and storms,” Nature (18 Dec 2024). bit.ly/41WYd5o
See also, “Loss of Antarctic Sea Ice Is Giving Rise to More Frequent Storms,” Yale Environment 360 (26 Dec 2024). bit.ly/4gFAOdu
The decline of sea ice around Antarctica is fueling more frequent storms in the Southern Ocean, a new study finds.
Researchers analyzed satellite imagery and weather data from the region from the Antarctic winter of 2023, when sea ice cover hit a record low. That winter, some regions saw 80 percent less ice than would be typical.
Scientists found that in parts of the ocean that saw a drop in sea ice, storms were growing more frequent. The study, published in Nature, indicates that as sea ice disappears, the ocean is releasing more heat into the air, which is in turn fueling storms. Some areas saw as many as seven extra days with storms per month, the research showed.
“It is too early to state whether 2023 and its record-breaking sea-ice decline marks the onset of a fundamental shift in the amount of Antarctic sea ice,” said lead author Simon Josey, of Britain’s National Oceanography Centre. But, he said, this year is “looking like it is continuing the sharp change seen in 2023.”
Authors say more research is needed to understand the full impact of declining ice. Said Josey, “It’s critical to understand how the increased heat loss and more frequent storms are linked to broader shifts in weather patterns.”
2. Climate-driven sea level rise will overwhelm major oil ports
State of the Cryosphere 2024 – Lost Ice, Global Damage. International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI), 12 Nov 2024. bit.ly/3DIhnlA
“In the State of the Cryosphere 2024 – Lost Ice, Global Damage report, over 50 leading cryosphere scientists warn of vastly higher impacts and costs to the global economy given accelerating losses in the world’s snow and ice regions. Current climate commitments, leading the world to well over 2°C of warming, would bring disastrous and irreversible consequences for billions of people from global ice loss.
Based on the most recent cryosphere science updates from 2024, the authors underscore that the costs of loss and damage will be even more extreme, with many regions experiencing sea-level rise or water resource loss well beyond adaptation limits in this century if our current level of emissions continues – leading towards a rise of 3°C or more. Mitigation will also become more costly due to feedbacks from thawing permafrost emissions and loss of sea ice.
For the first time, the report notes a growing scientific consensus that melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, among other factors, may be slowing important ocean currents at both poles, with potentially dire consequences for a much colder northern Europe and greater sea-level rise along the U.S. East Coast.”
See also, Damian Carrington, “‘Ironic’: climate-driven sea level rise will overwhelm major oil ports, study shows,” The Guardian (4 Jan 2025). bit.ly/4016Nxv
3. Climate crisis is wreaking havoc on Earth’s water cycle
Global Water Monitor: Free and up-to date information on climate and water anywhere in the world, measured by satellites and on the ground bit.ly/40UDnTc
“We are a consortium of several organisations and individuals that share the goal of providing free, rapid and global information on climate and water resources. Over the years, the partners have developed methods to combine and interpret water measurements made at ground stations and by satellites orbiting the Earth. They use these to produce up-to-date information on rainfall, air temperature and humidity, soil water, river flows and the volume of water bodies.
In 2022, they teamed up to provide comprehensive climate and water information via the Global Water Monitor. The online data explorer unlocks an extraordinary trove of climate and water data to anyone interested at no cost. The development of the Monitor made it possible to report on the state of our global water resources within a few days or weeks of the event. We produced a first annual report on 2022 to demonstrate that capacity.”
See also, Damian Carrington, “Climate crisis ‘wreaking havoc’ on Earth’s water cycle, report finds,” The Guardian (6 Jan 2025). bit.ly/4gYn256 via @guardian
4. Risks of PFAS in fire fighting foam
Irene Jacqz, Tugba Somuncu, and John Voorheis Fighting Fire with Fire (fighting Foam): The Long Run Effects of PFAS Use at U.S. Military Installations bit.ly/4ah0drx
Abstract
Tens of millions of people in the U.S. may be exposed to drinking water contaminated with per and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS). We provide the first estimates of long-run economic costs from a major, early PFAS source: fire-fighting foam. We combine the timing of its adoption with variation in the presence of fire training areas at U.S. military installations in the 1970s to estimate exposure effects for millions of individuals using natality records and restricted administrative data. We document diminished birthweights, college attendance, and earnings, illustrating a pollution externality from military training and unregulated chemicals as a determinant of economic opportunity.
See also Tom Perkins, “Early ‘forever chemicals’ exposure could affect economic success in adulthood – study,” The Guardian (10 Jan 2025). bit.ly/4hf9Fhl
5. Climate change policies reduce air pollution and increase physical activity
Sean Beevers, et al., “Climate change policies reduce air pollution and increase physical activity: Benefits, costs, inequalities, and indoor exposures,” Science Direct (Jan 2025). bit.ly/4jces4Q
“The challenges of reaching net zero emissions are often discussed, but little attention is given to the gains from living in a low-carbon future. Less fossil-fuel combustion means less air pollution, and if the changes are done correctly, net zero could result in homes that are easier to keep warm and a healthier population from walking and cycling every day.
A study has looked at air pollution and the health benefits from net zero changes to our homes, our vehicles and the ways we travel.”
See also, Gary Fuller, “Warmer homes and healthier people: what’s not to like about a low-carbon future?’ The Guardian (10 Jan 2025). bit.ly/4amLlaX
6. Oil and gas firms have given more than $75m to Trump’s campaign and stand to benefit from his ‘drill, baby drill’ plan
Sarah Cohen and Chuck Collins, Pipeline to Power: Trump and the “Oilgarch” Wealth Surge, Climate Research Accountability Project. bit.ly/3Wstmu2
See also, Dharna Noor, “Wealth of US ‘oil-garchs’ went up 15% in nine months as industry figures plan Trump inauguration party,” The Guardian (18 Jan 2025). bit.ly/4hn3yHB
“For their research, the authors analyzed numbers from from a Forbes database, which is updated every five minutes based on shifts in the stock market. The authors examined fluctuations in the top 15 US oil billionaires’ wealth – including the energy CEO Jeffery Hildebrand, oil and gas boss Timothy Dunn, pipeline company chairman Kelcy Warren, and fossil fuel CEO Charles Koch – since April 2024.
That month, Trump held a meeting with fossil fuel bosses where he reportedly asked them for $1bn in campaign donations, while vowing to roll back dozens of environmental regulations if elected. Since that infamous meeting, the combined wealth of these 15 fossil fuel billionaires shot up by $40.2bn, the report found, from $267.6bn to a stunning $307.8bn.”
7. Global heating ends thousands of years of carbon storage in parts of the frozen north.
Anna-Maria Virkkala, et al., “Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptake,” Nature Climate Change (21 Jan 2025).
See also, Patrick Greenfield, “A third of the Arctic’s vast carbon sink now a source of emissions, study reveals,” The Guardian (21 Jan 2025). bit.ly/3PMC6Yd
“A third of the Arctic’s tundra, forests and wetlands have become a source of carbon emissions, a new study has found, as global heating ends thousands of years of carbon storage in parts of the frozen north.
For millennia, Arctic land ecosystems have acted as a deep-freeze for the planet’s carbon, holding vast amounts of potential emissions in the permafrost. But ecosystems in the region are increasingly becoming a contributor to global heating as they release more CO2 into the atmosphere with rising temperatures….
More than 30% of the region was a net source of CO2, according to the analysis, rising to 40% when emissions from wildfires were included. By using monitoring data from 200 study sites between 1990 and 2020, the research demonstrates how the Arctic’s boreal forests, wetlands and tundra are being transformed by rapid warming.”
8. Tiny Flames With a Huge Impact: How Embers Spread Wildfires in California and Beyond
Bhabna Banerjee, “The Path of an Ember: Visualizing How Burning Debris Spreads a Wildfire,” Inside Climate News (26 Jan 2025). bit.ly/3CpOFpe.
When wildfires turn into urban firestorms like the conflagrations in LA, it’s often the smoldering bits of debris that cause the most widespread destruction
9. The toxic smoke and ash in LA fires
Audrey Gray and Andrew Robinson, “Smoke and Ash Made More Toxic by the Contents of Burning Homes Threaten Residents of LA and Beyond,” Inside Climate News (17 Jan 2025). bit.ly/40YFw0x
“The chemical composition of the smoke and ash in Los Angeles right now is different from forest fire smoke, which is plenty toxic on its own, said Lim. The more than 40,000 acres that have burned since last week in LA included more than 12,000 structures and everything around them, from cars to infrastructure. The firestorms that began 10 days ago are releasing chemicals from electronics, laminated floors, treated wood, paint, metals, cleaning products stored under sinks and an incalculable volume of plastics. Fallout from urban fires typically includes heavy metals like lead and mercury along with PCBs and noxious gases, all of which are now hovering over or landing around homes of Angelenos.”
“Significant exposure to urban wildfire pollution carries both acute and chronic impacts for human bodies… During and immediately after wildfires and urban conflagrations, those with compromised respiratory systems, cardiovascular issues or any condition related to inflammation are likely to feel the impact. Incidences of heart attacks and strokes go up right after firestorms… more research is needed on potential long-term effects, but what’s been proven so far is harrowing. The “chronic” impacts include lower birth weights, enduring lung conditions in children, a variety of cancers in adults and increased cases of dementia.”
“The biggest impacts are the mental health ones, long term,” referring to everyone experiencing the regional crisis and its toxic-air aftereffects, not only those who lost homes. Anxiety. Depression. Trauma responses with their crippling triggers.”
10. Growing longevity of electric vehicles
Viet Nguyen-Tien, et. al., “The closing longevity gap between battery electric vehicles and internal combustion vehicles in Great Britain,” Nature Energy (24 Jan 2025).
Abstract:
Electric vehicles are increasingly being adopted in Great Britain and other parts of the world, driven by the perception that they offer a cost-effective alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles while reducing emissions. However, a key element that underpins this perception is the longevity of electric vehicles, which remains relatively under researched. Here we show that although early battery electric vehicles (BEVs) exhibited lower reliability than internal combustion engine vehicles, rapid technological advancements have allowed newer BEVs to achieve comparable lifespans, even under more intensive use. Longevity is also found to be impacted by engine size, location and make of vehicle. We provide parameter estimates for life mileage that can be used to update life cycle assessment and total cost of ownership studies of different vehicle powertrains. Our results also shed light on BEV diffusion patterns, fleet replacement strategies and end-of-life treatment planning, including the increasingly important debate around BEV battery recycling and second-life options.
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