Crops face toxic timebomb in warmer world: study

Staples such as cassava on which millions of people depend become more toxic and produce much smaller yields in a world with higher carbon dioxide levels and more drought, Australian scientists say.

The findings, presented on Monday at a conference in Glasgow, Scotland, underscored the need to develop climate-change-resistant cultivars to feed rapidly growing human populations, said Ros Gleadow of the Monash University in Melbourne.

Gleadow's team tested cassava (top left) and sorghum (lower right) under a series of climate change scenarios, with particular focus on different CO2 levels, to study the effect on plant nutritional quality and yield.

Both species belong to a group of plants that produce chemicals called cyanogenic glycosides, which break down to release poisonous cyanide gas if the leaves are crushed or chewed.

Around 10 percent of all plants and 60 percent of crop species produce cyanogenic glycosides.

The team grew cassava and sorghum at three different levels of CO2; just below today's current levels at about 360 parts per million in the atmosphere, at about 550 ppm and about double at 710 pm.

Current levels in the air are just under 390 ppm, around the highest in at least 800,000 years and up by about a third since the start of the Industrial Revolution.

"What we found was the amount of cyanide relative to the amount of protein increases," Gleadow told Reuters from Glasgow, referring to cassava.

At double current CO2 levels, the level of toxin was much higher while protein levels fell. The ability of people and herbivores, such as cattle, to break down the cyanide depends largely on eating sufficient protein.

Anyone largely reliant on cassava for food, particularly during drought, would be especially at risk of cyanide poisoning.

HARDY STAPLE

While it was possible to use processing techniques to reduce the level of toxin in the cassava leaves, it was the 50 percent or greater drop in the number of tubers that caused most concern, Gleadow said.

About 750 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America rely on cassava as a staple. The starchy tubers are used to make flour and the plant is ideal in dry regions because of its hardy nature.

The good news was that the levels of toxin in the tuber didn't increase with CO2, unlike the edible leaves.

"The downside of that is that we found the plant didn't grow nearly as well," she said.

"There's been this common assumption that plants will always grow better in a high CO2 world. And we've now found that these plants grew much worse and had smaller tubers."

At the 550 ppm level, the problem was not as serious and this meant scientists had a bit of breathing space.

"We've got 20 to 30 years to develop cultivars, which is going to be absolutely essential because by then about 1 billion people will probably be reliant on cassava."

Gleadow's group looked at a type of sorghum (below right) commonly fed to cattle in Australia and Africa and found it became less toxic at the highest CO2 level. But under drought conditions, leaf toxin levels rose.

She said her team was looking at creating mutations to get rid of the toxin response to drought. "If we're going to adapt in the future to a world with twice today's CO2 we need to understand how plants are working, how they are responding and what cultivars we need to develop."

Her team plans to carry out additional research in Mozambique and study other tropical crops such as taro.

Source:
Reuters, "Crops face toxic timebomb in warmer world: study", accessed June 30, 2009

Dams Are Thwarting Louisiana Marsh Restoration, Study Says

Desperate to halt the erosion of Louisiana’s coast, officials there are talking about breaking Mississippi River levees south of New Orleans to restore the nourishing flow of muddy water into the state’s marshes.

But in a new analysis, scientists at Louisiana State University say inland dams trap so much sediment that the river no longer carries enough to halt marsh loss, especially now that global warming is speeding a rise in sea levels.

As a result, the loss of thousands of additional square miles of marshland is “inevitable,” the scientists report in Monday’s issue of Nature Geoscience.

The finding does not suggest it would be pointless to divert the muddy water into the marshes, one of the researchers, Harry H. Roberts, said in an interview. “Any meaningful restoration of our coast has to involve river sediment,” said Dr. Roberts, a coastal scientist.

But he said officials would have to choose which parts of the landscape could be saved and which must be abandoned, and to acknowledge that lives and businesses would be disrupted. Instead of breaking levees far south of New Orleans, where relatively few people live, Dr. Roberts said, officials should consider diversions much closer to New Orleans, possibly into the LaFourche, Terrebonne or St. Bernard basins.

“It’s going to be an excruciating process to decide where that occurs,” Dr. Roberts said of the levee-breaking.

Sediment carried by the Mississippi built up the marshes of Louisiana over thousands of years, but today inland dams trap at least half of it, Dr. Roberts said. He pointed out that there were 8,000 dams in the drainage basin of the Mississippi.

Levees have turned the river into “a pipe” south of St. Louis, Dr. Roberts said. Getting sediment into the marshes, he said, “is not happening, at least not very efficiently.”

The extent to which inland dams have had an impact on sediment flow has been debated. Although sediment in the river is only about half what it was in the 18th and 19th centuries, some scientists have argued that the flow back then was unusually high because of the advent of farming in the nation’s midsection.

Dr. Roberts said a new analysis of sediment data going back thousands of years challenged that idea. “There probably was a spike, but it was insignificant,” he said.

In theory, it might be possible to remove inland dams to increase the flow of sediment. But Dr. Roberts said the trapped sediment contained agricultural chemicals and other pollutants that might worsen the already deteriorating water quality at the mouth of the Mississippi.

On the other hand, he said, if nutrient-rich sediment made its way into Louisiana’s marshes, it might encourage the growth of plants that would contribute to marsh health.

Source:
New York Times, "Louisiana Marsh Revolution, Study Says", accessed June 29, 2009

From the Inbox - Rich Trophy Seekers Aim to kill Wolves

Wealthy Group Targets Wolves Pups just emerging from their dens could be under the gun as early as this fall. Help Defenders save the lives of wolves with a contribution of: $25.00 $50.00 $100.00 My gift for wolves

More bad news for our wolves: The most powerful and wealthy international trophy hunting group in the world is targeting wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

Your compassionate donation today can support our legal efforts to fight them and save the lives of wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

Safari Club International recently announced that they will bring their vast resources to court to keep wolves unprotected -- and vulnerable to planned wolf hunts -- in the Northern Rockies.

Our tough legal fight for wolves just got tougher. Safari Club International isn’t just any special interest. They're a powerful international organization of wealthy trophy hunters that are fighting our life-saving efforts on many fronts.

In Alaska, they poured thousands of dollars into a campaign to defend Governor Sarah Palin's brutal program of aerial killing of wolves and bears. The same organization is fighting hard to allow their wealthy trophy hunters to kill imperiled polar bears already struggling to survive in a warming world.

Please donate today to support our work to defeat the Safari Club's efforts and save wolves and other wildlife in need.

As early as this fall, hundreds of wolves -- including pups as young as five months of age -- could be killed by a wolf hunt that Idaho has approved. In fact, Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter still wants to be the “first in line” to shoot a wolf himself.

The extremists are determined to wipe out wolves. But, with your critical support, Defenders will stand fast for these magnificent animals that you and I worked so hard to return to the wild.

Even as we wage our legal battle against Safari Club International, our hard-working staff is leading efforts on the ground to keep wolves alive with commonsense, non-lethal deterrents to keep wolves away from livestock, and out of harm’s way.

And, as a founding member of the Western Wolf Coalition, we’re also working with biologists, responsible hunters, tribal leaders, ranchers, farmers and others in an ambitious effort to raise public awareness about the gray wolf’s important role in restoring the balance of nature.

None of this would be possible without the kind support of caring people like you.

Please donate whatever you can today to help us win for our wolves and other imperiled wildlife.

Sincerely, Rodger Schlickeisen President Defenders of Wildlife

P.S. Our fight for wolves against the wealthy Safari Club will be tough. Please make a donation through our secure website today. Or dial 1-800-385-9712 to contribute by phone.

Climate Change: Some Winds Decreasing Across United States

Declining wind speeds in parts of the United States could impact more than the wind power industry, say Iowa State University climate researchers.

Iowa State University researchers contributed their regional climate modeling expertise to a study that found surface wind speeds are decreasing across the country. That could have implications for the wind power industry, agriculture and city air pollution. (Credit: Photo by Iowa Energy Center.)

Three Iowa State researchers contributed their expertise in modeling North America's climate to a study to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres. The study – led by Sara C. Pryor, a professor of atmospheric science at Indiana University Bloomington – found that wind speeds across the country have decreased by an average of .5 percent to 1 percent per year since 1973.

"The study found that across the country wind speeds were decreasing – more in the East than in the West, and more in the Northeast and the Great Lakes," said Gene Takle, an Iowa State professor of geological and atmospheric sciences and agronomy.

In Iowa, a state that ranks second in the country for installed wind power capacity, Takle said the study found annual wind speed declines that matched the average for the rest of the country.

The study's findings made headlines across the country. Most of those stories focused on the potential implications for the wind power industry.

But Iowa State's team of climate researchers – Takle; Ray Arritt, a professor of agronomy; and Bill Gutowski, a professor of geological and atmospheric sciences – say the study raised other issues and questions, too.

The study looked at eight sets of wind data going back to 1973 and up to 2005: actual wind speed measurements from anemometers; a hybrid of measurements and computerized climate models; and two different regional climate models. Iowa State researchers contributed a regional model of North America's climate they've worked with since the early 1990s. It's a community model that researchers across the globe share and use. The Iowa State researchers have used the model to run long-term climate simulations.

Takle said there wasn't a lot of agreement between the measurements and the various models. The model that most closely matched the measurements was the one used by the Iowa State researchers.

Gutowski said the differences aren't surprising because the study was an initial examination of surface wind trends. He also said those differences tell climate researchers they have more work to do.

"We see this trend toward slower wind speeds and our unanswered question is whether this is part of global warming or something else," Gutowski said. "What we're poking into here is not something that's commonly explored. Most studies look at temperature and precipitation, not surface winds."

But the researchers said slower surface winds can have significant impacts beyond the wind power industry.

Crops, for example, depend on the wind for ventilation and cooling. Slower winds could mean higher field temperatures and less productive crops.

Slower winds could also mean more dew covering crops for longer periods, Takle said. That could mean problems with fungus and plant disease. That could also lead to lower yields at harvest time.

In cities, slower winds can mean more pollution and heat, the Iowa State researchers said.

"Air pollution episodes in major cities happen when there's high pressure and stagnant air," Takle said. "Less wind means less ventilation and less sweeping away of pollutants."

Slower winds can also be a problem when heat waves hit a city, he said. The winds wouldn't dissipate as much heat, allowing heat to linger and build.

All of those potential impacts need further study, the researchers said. And so does the cause of the apparent decline in the country's wind speeds.

Takle suggested three possibilities for the trend: changes in instrumentation produced flawed measurements (though Takle said researchers made corrections to account for the changes); the study didn't account for land-use changes such as development and tree planting that slowed winds near instruments; or the climate is changing and one consequence is slower winds.

Arritt said the study appears to support theories that climate change could affect surface winds.

"There are some good theoretical reasons to think that global warming will cause lighter winds in regions between the tropics and the Arctic," Arritt said. "But we like to confirm our theory with data, and our results make us think the theory is on track."

Source:
Iowa State University (2009, June 26). Climate Change: Some Winds Decreasing Across United States. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 28, 2009

Fate of whales depends on Obama: conservationists

Conservationists are looking to the United States to help re-establish the authority of the International Whaling Commission after IWC delegates this week failed to reach a deal to regulate global whaling.

A moratorium on commercial whaling was agreed at the IWC in 1986. But Japan continues to skirt the ban, citing research purposes, while Iceland and Norway simply ignore it and harpoon whales for commercial use, leaving the IWC looking irrelevant and in danger of collapsing.

Instead of coming up with a deal this week to marry the views of anti-whaling nations such as Australia and whaling countries Japan, Norway and Iceland, IWC delegates agreed only to extend the deadline for a compromise for a year.

Opponents of whaling argue that many species face extinction, and that the explosive harpoons in general use can cause horrific suffering. (Right: humpback whales)

The Obama administration has so far taken a back seat at the IWC but has been highly active on other aspects of environmental protection, raising hopes among conservation groups that it may yet convince Japan, in particular, to make concessions.

"We hope the U.S. can now show leadership at the IWC and are convinced that, if they act in a proactive manner, they can help the commission and Japan to get out of the deadlock," said Remi Parmentier of the U.S.-based Pew Whales Conservation Project.

"We have a lot of hard work to do in the next year," said Monica Medina, one of the new U.S. delegates to the IWC. "And our administration will roll up their sleeves and we will work hard."

The IWC allows Japan to hunt 900 whales a year for research purposes, but anti-whaling nations say it uses the quota commercially, and that whale meat ends up on the dinner table.

Japan says stocks of species like the small minke are big enough to allow limited hunts. It says the IWC has betrayed its roots by emphasizing conservation above all else instead of enabling the development of a sustainable whaling industry, and that this may soon rob it of its reason for existing.

But the Japanese government is under severe pressure in opinion polls, and may find it easier to consider compromises after a national election later this year.

"It is imperative that a short-term agreement is in place by next year. Without that, the future of the IWC is seriously in doubt," said Joji Morishita, a senior official in the Japanese delegation.

Source:
Reuters, "Fate of whales depends on Obama: conservationists", accessed June 28, 2009

From the Inbox - Mountaintop Removal Mining Goes to Senate

Last week, the Senate held its first hearing on mountaintop removal coal mining and the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696) -- and an overflow crowd of activists and coalfield residents turned out to show their support for Senate action to end the destructive practice of mountaintop removal. Among those testifying at the hearing was West Virginia native Maria Gunnoe, winner of this year's Goldman Environmental Prize. Click here to watch a special message from Maria to supporters of iLoveMountains.org The Appalachian Restoration Act (S 696) is the Senate version of the Clean Water Protection Act, which would outlaw the dumping of mining waste into streams and undo the Bush administration's 2002 gutting of the Clean Water Act. As you can see in the video, turnout for the hearing was incredible. Nearly 200 people lined up for the hearing -- so many that an overflow room in a nearby building was set up for those who couldn't get inside the Senate chamber. We're proud to say that supporters of the bill strongly outnumbered opponents. Now, more than ever, it's absolutely critical that the Senate knows that the public -- including you -- supports ending mountaintop removal coal mining. That's why I'm joining Maria and asking you to take action today. Let your Senators know that you support the Appalachian Restoration Act. Please take a moment out of your day right now to call your Senators and urge them to support an end to mountaintop removal coal mining. Use our toll-free online call-in tool to call your Senators now. Suggested talking points are provided. Last week's hearing was a critical first step on the road to getting meaningful Senate action to end mountaintop removal coal mining. Please, take a moment to let your Senators know that you support an end to the worst abuses of the coal mining industry. Call your Senators now - http://www.ilovemountains.org/call-your-senators/ If you want to make an even bigger impact in the effort to pass the Clean Water Protection Act and the Appalachian Restoration Act, consider visiting your members of Congress in their local office when they return from DC during the August recess. We can guide you through the process to make your visit as easy and successful as possible. For more information on visiting your members of Congress in August, click here. Thank you for taking action. Matt Wasson iLoveMountains.org P.S. - For a roundup of news stories on the hearing and links to additional photos, click here.

Mystery Glaciers Growing as Most Others Retreat

Two South American glaciers are displaying strange behavior for the times: While most glaciers are shrinking, these are growing.

Most of the 50 massive glaciers draped over the spine of the Patagonian Andes are shrinking in response to a global warming, said Andrés Rivera, a glaciologist at the Center for Scientific Studies in Valdivia, Chile.

But the Perito Moreno glacier in (right) Argentina and Pio XI glacier in Chile are taking on ice, instead of shedding it.

"What is happening … is not well understood," Rivera said.

Theories center on the geography and topography of the glaciers; the depth and temperature of the waters where the glaciers end; and how quickly, or slowly, they react to changes in the climate.

Yet overall, "if you account for the gains and losses of all of Patagonia's glaciers, they are [still] losing huge amounts of ice," Rivera pointed out.

Climate Insensitivity?

One hypothesis for the 3-mile-wide (5 kilometer-wide) Perito Moreno's advance is the glacier's apparent insensitivity to changes in what glaciologists call the equilibrium line (see left) on glaciers, Rivera said.

Roughly equivalent to the snow line, the equilibrium line is the elevation above which the glacier is growing, due to snow accumulation, and below which the glacier is melting.

When this line moves higher up a hill or a mountain due to rising temperatures, for example, more of the glacier is situated in the melting zone, and the glacier retreats.

But because Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier is so steep in the area where the equilibrium line falls, climate shifts don't impact the line's movement much, at least as it relates to the height of the mountain, Rivera noted.

As a result, the amount of of ice lost or gained is minimal. It could also be that Perito Moreno simply hasn't got all that much to lose.

The lake where Perito Moreno ends—Lago Argentino (right)—is shallower than the bodies of water at the ends of most glaciers.

Most glaciers calve, or release ice, in deep water, but not Perito Moreno, where the calving rates are higher than on other Patagonian glaciers.

That means less of the glacier is in the melting zone below the equilibrium line.

As heavy snowfall above the equilibrium line pushes the glacier downhill, the glacier breaks up when it hits the lake, Rivera explained.

Such impacts kept the glacier from growing longer when the climate was cooler, and thus more likely to expand, he said.

If Perito Moreno had extended into a deep lake area, it would have become a longer glacier, and Earth's recent warming trend would be causing the glacier to melt and its ice to retreat more easily, Richard Alley, a glaciologist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, said in an email.

"Instead, we have a shorter glacier, with less [of a] zone where the warming can cause melting, but a large high-elevation [snow and ice] accumulation zone," Alley added.

As for the Pio XI (right) glacier in Chile, some scientists have attempted to explain its advance as a glacial surge, a periodic and sudden expansion of a glacier that is little understood but is thought to be unrelated to external forces.

But the Chilean glaciologist, Rivera, said the evidence is inconclusive. "At the end of the day, there is not a clear, convincing result for this research," he said. "So, I am not sure why these glaciers are advancing."

Source:
National Geographic, "Mystery Glaciers Growing as Most Others Retreat", accessed June 26, 2009

Norway proposes sea-based wind power

Norway's government proposed a new law on Friday to develop sea-based wind power as part of a plan to diversify from offshore oil and gas toward renewable energy.

"Offshore wind energy may become the next adventure for the Norwegian industry and energy sector," Oil and Energy Minister Terje Riis-Johansen said in a statement of a draft bill presented by the center-left government.

The proposed act, which has to be debated and approved by parliament where the government has a slim majority, says that wind resources at sea belong to the state.

Norway will identify areas suitable for offshore wind development and then offer areas as it does for oil and gas licenses. The draft sets up technical details of applying for concessions, setting up, operating and closing installations.

"The proposal creates a framework for ensuring that energy infrastructure is planned, constructed and operated with due concern for energy supply, environment, security, fisheries, sea transport and other interests," Riis-Johansen said.

The draft said that Denmark was the first country to start tests of sea-based wind turbines, in 1991.

In European Union nations, out of 760,000 megawatts of installed electricity generation capacity about 1,500 MW are offshore wind, it said. Another 2,600 MW are under construction, mostly turbines standing on the sea bed in shallow waters.

Norway is outside the EU. Norway's state-controlled StatoilHydro is developing floating wind turbines -- they could be used in far deeper waters, perhaps to help power offshore oil and gas platforms or transmit power to land.

Norway is the world's number six oil exporter and western Europe's biggest gas exporter and needs to diversify to renewable energies to reach goals of fighting climate change.

Oslo has promised to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, among the toughest goals in the world. Emissions were 7.4 percent above 1990 levels in 2007.

Source:
Reuters, "Norway proposes sea-based wind power", accessed June 28, 2009

Endangered sharks unprotected on high seas

Sharks, among the most endangered species of fish, are effectively unprotected in the world's oceans, the IUCN environmental organization said on Thursday.

Its report urges governments to halt shark "finning," the slicing of fins from captured sharks which are then tipped back into the sea to die, which it says is a growing industry providing ingredients for the Asian delicacy, shark fin soup.

Although finning bans have been declared in most global waters, little effort is made to enforce them, said the IUCN.

A third of shark species and their evolutionary cousins, the rays, are at risk of extinction due to overfishing, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature said.

The body's experts say sharks are especially sensitive to over-fishing because they take many years to mature and have relatively few young. It is vital for governments boost monitoring of boats catching them, they said.

"Sharks remain virtually unprotected on the high seas," IUCN shark specialist Sonja Fordham said in a statement.

Its report, "The Conservation Status of Pelagic Sharks and Rays", says that some of the best-known sharks -- the Great Hammerhead (left), the Great White and the Basking -- as well the Giant Ray are either endangered or vulnerable to extinction.

The study was released on the eve of a conference in Madrid of managers responsible for high seas tuna fisheries. In these operations, as in swordfish catching, sharks are taken without limit, said the IUCN, based near Geneva.

Source:
Reuters, "Endangered sharks unprotected on high seas", accessed June 25, 2009

Climate refugees will not flood rich nations: study

Migrants uprooted by climate change in the poorest parts of the world are likely to only move locally, contrary to predictions that hundreds of millions will descend on rich countries, a study said on Wednesday.

The research from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), a non-profit London-based think tank, challenges the common perception in the developed world that waves of refugees will try to move there permanently to escape the impact of global warming.

For example, many farmers struggling to grow enough food as seasons change will leave their homes to look for work in nearby towns for short periods only, the study said.

"It seems unlikely that the alarmist predictions of hundreds of millions of environmental refugees will translate into reality," said the paper, presented at a conference on climate change and population organized by IIED and the United Nations.

"Past experiences suggest that short-distance and short-term movements will probably increase, with the very poor and vulnerable in many cases unable to move."

The study said uncertainty about the expected consequences of global warming -- including more extreme weather and rising seas -- and weak migration data make it difficult to forecast accurately how many people will be displaced by climate change.

Frequently cited estimates range from 200 million to 1 billion by 2050, it noted.

IIED researcher Cecilia Tacoli, the paper's author, said there was a risk that alarmism about climate-related migration in the developed world would lead to policies that fail to protect the most vulnerable people.

"No one seems to have a perception that (migration) is an essential part of people's lives," Tacoli told Reuters. "For some people, (it) is an extremely good strategy to move to better jobs, to better lifestyles."

The paper said that, because most governments and international agencies view migration as a problem they need to control, they are missing opportunities to develop policies that could increase people's resilience to climate change.

These include helping local governments and other institutions in small rural towns create jobs, provide basic services and share out natural resources more fairly.

Even in small island nations and coastal regions threatened by rising seas, the numbers leaving their homes will depend on government and community measures to adapt land use and improve infrastructure and construction methods, the paper said.

Hasan Mahmud, Bangladeshi state minister for foreign affairs, told a conference in Geneva on Tuesday organized by the Global Humanitarian Forum, that millions had already been displaced by floods and encroaching seas in his country.

In response, the government is investing in more resistant crops and helping local authorities and communities respond quicker when disasters strike.

Source:
Reuters, "Climate refugees will not flood rich nations: study", accessed June 25, 2009

From the Inbox - Clean Energy Bill Passes House

The House of Representatives has just passed a landmark bill that will propel our nation toward a clean energy future. The vote was close. Know that all of your efforts -- whether a signed petition, a donation, or a call -- made a difference in the outcome. Together, we are truly showing the power of government by the people and for the people. It's not over though. The debate moves on to the Senate where our opponents will redouble their efforts. There will be more distortions and foot dragging, but the momentum is on our side. Today, we have something to celebrate. For the first time in decades, we have taken bold action to help solve the climate crisis. I look forward to working with you in the days ahead. Thanks for all that you do, Steve Bouchard Campaign Manager www.RepowerAmerica.org P.S. Please support our efforts to make this year the one our nation actually gets serious about our climate and energy future. Click here.

From the Inbox - Al Gore - You have a critical role to play

In the next day or so, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the boldest effort in our history to rethink how we produce and use energy in this country. I recorded a video message to describe what's at stake and how we need your help urgently. Take a moment and please watch it. Some of the smartest ideas on energy and climate -- ones that have been aired by countless hearings in our Capitol over the last two decades -- are finally getting their due in this bill. And it's deserving of our strongest support. When people said that we couldn't get a bill out of a House committee with a diverse base of support, we proved them wrong. But it wasn't without the work of many people, including members like you. Today, we need twice that effort. Please watch the video and call your Representative today: http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/UrgentAlGoreVideo Thanks for everything, Al Gore