Mastodawn

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 21, 2023

El Nino and grassland fire risks in #Australia

Important new report from the #ClimateCouncil (authors include Greg Mullins and Joelle Gergis) on how the extended La Nina event over the last three years has enabled significant increases in grassland fire fuel loads which under drier El Nino conditions will then pose substantially higher risks of major grassland fires.

The challenge and opportunity for the Australian and State governments is to listen now to the scientists and firefighting leaders and to then plan how to reduce risk and also scale capacity to fight and contain these future fires before they can spread widely.

Read the report on:

https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/powder-keg-australia-primed-to-burn/

#ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange

Powder Keg: Australia Primed to Burn | Climate Council

Australia has long been referred to as a land of "drought and flooding rains”, prone to bushfires as well as intense rainfall events. Periods of hot, dry, windy weather have regularly dried out vegetation and made it susceptible to ignition, alternating with prolonged wet periods that have promoted rapid and widespread vegetation growth. Climate change, driven by the burning of coal, oil, and gas, is worsening these extreme weather events.

Climate Council

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 20, 2023

The really confronting thing about this new article on feedback loops in #climatechange is the staggering number of loops and mechanisms in play:

41 feedback loops (20 physical and 21 biological) are mentioned, showing the huge risk exposure that planet Earth is facing as a consequence of our continuing reliance upon and addiction to #fossilfuels

The abstract image displays some of these major feedback loops, but if you want a better understanding of both the risks posed and the interplay between them, check out this new article in One Earth on:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.01.004

#ClimateCrisis

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 20, 2023

This staggering image from #NewZealand really is a metaphor for the battle between #ClimateChange and #FossilFuel transport.

Whilst the article from which this photo is taken (in the Guardian) talks about how and whether to rebuild after the impacts of #CycloneGabrielle, a much bigger question remains, namely:
What action are we going to take in terms of slashing #carbonemissions from #fossilfuels to try to prevent extreme weather events that lead to images such as this from becoming an everyday occurrence?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/20/after-cyclone-gabrielle-new-zealand-wonders-how-and-if-to-rebuild

#ClimateCrisis

After Cyclone Gabrielle, New Zealand wonders how – and if – to rebuild

As people dig their houses from the silt, the country faces questions over where to rebuild, as the climate crisis heralds more and more extreme weather

The Guardian

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 19, 2023

Assessing the health of the National Marine Parks and Sanctuaries in #Victoria, #Australia (including of the amazing #PortPhillipBay, which I'm so lucky enough to live near).

Learn more about this ecological assessment (in this article in The Age) which presents some encouraging news on life in the sea and some fabulous images of the #marine #biodversity in Victorian coastal waters

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/floating-through-the-dreamscape-of-victoria-s-underwater-forests-20230214-p5ckcw.html

#ecology #MarineEcology

Floating through the dreamscape of Victoria’s underwater forests

Twenty years ago, Victoria created its network of marine national parks and sanctuaries. New research finds it’s working, but the pressure of climate change is increasing.

The Age

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 19, 2023

Western hemisphere's largest salt lake at risk of drying up in just five years.

Catastrophic outlook for the Great Salt Lake, Utah with it following the same potential demise as the Aral Sea, due in this case to a combination of water extraction/diversions and #climatechange driving its rapid shrinkage.

Find out more about this unfolding ecological disaster in this article in the Guardian and its wider environmental pollution threats to the region on:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/16/great-salt-lake-disappear-utah-poison-climate-crisis

#water #watermanagement #watersecurity #ecology #ecosystem

Great Salt Lake’s retreat poses a major fear: poisonous dust clouds

The largest salt lake in the western hemisphere risks ‘one of the worst environmental disasters’ as it faces the prospect of disappearing in just five years

The Guardian

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 17, 2023

UNBELIEVABLE (but true...)

In 2022, fossil fuel subsidies from governments rose to a new high of over US$ 1 trillion to the #fossilfuel industry (1) as governments sought to mitigate the impacts of rising energy prices resulting from the conflict in Ukraine and what looks (perhaps?) just a little bit like profiteering from the oil and gas industry.

At the same time, income to the oil and gas industry alone increased to an all time high of just under US$4 trillion (2) with over US$ 2 hundred billion of profits reaped for major oil companies (3).

Sources for data:
1. Subsidies from IEA: https://www.iea.org/reports/fossil-fuels-consumption-subsidies-2022
2. Oil and Gas Industry income from Fatih Birol (Executive Director of IEA): see screenshot from Twitter and on IEA-branded slides
3. Oil company profits: from Reuters on: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/big-oil-doubles-profits-blockbuster-2022-2023-02-08/

So as global economies falter, (energy-price-driven) inflation figures soar, populations worldwide suffer AND, most importantly, CO2 levels from #carbonemissions go ever upwards, these polluting industries are making more money and receiving more money from governments (actually from us) than ever before.

This has to stop and our politicians must have the moral courage to stop this continuing and outrageous collaboration with and funding of these industries.

Planet and People FIRST
Profit for FossilFuels LAST

#ClimateCrisis

Fossil Fuels Consumption Subsidies 2022 – Analysis - IEA

Fossil Fuels Consumption Subsidies 2022 - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

IEA

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 16, 2023

Blooms of #Cyanobacteria pose a significant threat to #freshwater systems including rivers driving both #eutrophication and its dire implications for freshwater species as oxygen availability plummets and also the additional threat posed by #cyanotoxins produced by some Cyanobacteria.

This new research in Scientific Reports takes a #metagenomics and Q-PCR approach to explore the composition of the Cyanobacterial populations and their cyanotoxin production gene in major rivers across the United States (in 2019) and identifies Microcystis as the key toxin producing genus across this study.

Find out more on:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-29037-6

#microbiology #ecology #MicrobialEcology

Metagenomic mapping of cyanobacteria and potential cyanotoxin producing taxa in large rivers of the United States - Scientific Reports

Cyanobacteria and cyanotoxin producing cyanobacterial blooms are a trending focus of current research. Many studies focus on bloom events in lentic environments such as lakes or ponds. Comparatively few studies have explored lotic environments and fewer still have examined the cyanobacterial communities and potential cyanotoxin producers during ambient, non-bloom conditions. Here we used a metagenomics-based approach to profile non-bloom microbial communities and cyanobacteria in 12 major U.S. rivers at multiple time points during the summer months of 2019. Our data show that U.S. rivers possess microbial communities that are taxonomically rich, yet largely consistent across geographic location and time. Within these communities, cyanobacteria often comprise significant portions and frequently include multiple species with known cyanotoxin producing strains. We further characterized these potential cyanotoxin producing taxa by deep sequencing amplicons of the microcystin E (mcyE) gene. We found that rivers containing the highest levels of potential cyanotoxin producing cyanobacteria consistently possess taxa with the genetic potential for cyanotoxin production and that, among these taxa, the predominant genus of origin for the mcyE gene is Microcystis. Combined, these data provide a unique perspective on cyanobacteria and potential cyanotoxin producing taxa that exist in large rivers across the U.S. and can be used to better understand the ambient conditions that may precede bloom events in lotic freshwater ecosystems.

Nature

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 15, 2023

Waking up every morning and seemingly finding more bad news on #climatechange impacts doesn't bring an uplifting start to the day but this news must be shared to continue to warn of the irreversible damage we are doing day-in day-out to earth's fragile ecosysytems.

This story from the Guardian highlights a new low in sea ice cover around #Antarctica

What this means is less reflectance of heat from the sun and more heat accumulation in the waters surrounding the frozen continent and therefore more melting of icesheets adjoining the ocean and so the cycle continues.

This is the reality of the current 1.1 degrees C temperature increases - this only gets worse and worse and worse as temperatures increase.

I was asked yesterday what can we do as individuals - I'd suggest our most tractable action is to share the news and research on the ever worsening #ClimateCrisis (painful as it is) and to put pressure at every single opportunity on our governments and opposition parties and especially when new #fossilfuel activities are being enabled, as is so widespread across the world today.

Equally we need to share the progress on #renewables but contextualise this to explain that the latest wind farm and big battery announced is only a fraction of what is needed and that we need so much more during this current vital decade.

None of this is easy and progress to bring change seems (ironically) glacial but the fight to combat #ClimateChange must go on.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/15/antarctic-sea-ice-hits-record-low-climate-crisis

‘Extreme situation’: Antarctic sea ice hits record low

Sea ice helps protect glaciers and ice caps that would cause massive sea level rise when lost, scientists warn

The Guardian

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 15, 2023

Some promising and exciting research from my own university (#RMITUniversity) on development of very clever catalytic #chemistry to allow production of #hydrogen from seawater without prior desalination. Find out more in this news article and in the primary research published in Small on:
https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/media-releases-and-expert-comments/2023/feb/hydrogen-seawater

#greenhydrogen #energy

How to make hydrogen straight from seawater – no desalination required

Researchers have developed a cheaper and more energy-efficient way to make hydrogen directly from seawater.

Professor Mark Osborn Feb 13, 2023

Assessment of impacts of #ClimateChange in #polar habitats will require better understanding of current population structures.

This new research explores populations of two #penguin species (Adelie and Gentoo) in #Antarctica and, for the moment at least, suggests colonies in the Northern parts of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) are doing well in contrast to declines in Adelies elsewhere in the WAP. Ongoing monitoring across these regions will be needed to evaluate changes in the coming years. Learn more in Scientific Reports on:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-29465-4

#ecology #biodiversity

Adélie penguins north and east of the ‘Adélie gap’ continue to thrive in the face of dramatic declines elsewhere in the Antarctic Peninsula region - Scientific Reports

While population declines among Adélie penguins and population increases among gentoo penguins on the Western Antarctic Peninsula are well established, the logistical challenges of operating in the sea ice-heavy northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula have prohibited reliable monitoring of seabirds in this region. Here we describe the findings of an expedition to the northern and eastern sides of the Antarctic Peninsula—a region at the nexus of two proposed Marine Protected Areas—to investigate the distribution and abundance of penguins in this region. We discovered several previously undocumented penguin colonies, completed direct surveys of three colonies initially discovered in satellite imagery, and re-surveyed several colonies last surveyed more than a decade ago. Whereas our expectation had been that the Peninsula itself would divide the areas undergoing ecological transition and the apparently more stable Weddell Sea region, our findings suggest that the actual transition zone lies in the so-called "Adélie gap," a 400-km stretch of coastline in which Adélies are notably absent. Our findings suggest that the region north and east of this gap represents a distinct ecoregion whose dynamics stand in sharp contrast to surrounding areas and is likely to be impacted by future conservation measures.

Nature