Articles You Might Have Missed

Climate Good News

Around the world people are taking the initiative to mitigate climate change. Here are some good news briefs compiled by the Climate Issue group of the LWV of Bellingham/ Whatcom.

Stopping Biodiversity Loss

A mega-analysis found that conservation can stop biodiversity loss. The University of Oxford paper looked at 186 studies from around the world to comprehensively examine whether conservation efforts are successful in general.

Actions such as controlling invasive species as well as habitat restoration and management improved or slowed rates of biodiversity loss in 65 percent of the cases. The paper pointed to examples such as improved nesting success for loggerhead turtles in Florida after predator management was implemented.

Effective management of protected areas was specifically recommended as well as the need to scale up these efforts. “It would be too easy to lose any sense of optimism in the face of ongoing biodiversity declines,” said Joseph Bull, on of the co-authors. “However, our results clearly show that there is room for hope.”

  • University of Oxford, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-04-26-landmark-study-definitively-shows-conservation-actions-are-effective-halting-and
  • Reported in Points of Progress, Christian Science Monitor, June 2024

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Midwestern Farmers Are Integrating Strips of Native Prairie Back Into Their Fields

Prairie strips are a conservation practicethat protects soil and water while providing habitat for wildlife. The STRIPS (Science- based Trails of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips) team at the Iowa State University has been conducting research on prairie strips for over 15 years and have shown that integrating small amounts of prairie into strategic locations within corn and soybean fields in the form of in-field contour buffer strips and edge-of-field filter strips can yield disproportionate benefits for soil, water, and biodiversity.

The STRIPS range from 30-120 feet wide. They are helping to mitigate the loss of soil, reduce nutrient pollution, store excess carbon and provide critical habitat for grassland birds and pollinators. It is a win-win situation for farmers and the environment.

Farmer Lee Tesdell in central Iowa planted a 70-species seed mix including such native perennials as big bluestem, wild quinine, milkweed and common evening primrose on his prairie strips. These plants help improve the soil while their stiff stems resist the storms and the multilayered roots protect his fields from the runoff of heavy rains and storms that are becoming more frequent. The strips are often placed in areas with low crop yields and high runoffs so the benefits outweigh the losses.

In fact, research shows that by converting even just 10 percent of a field into prairie strips can reduce soil erosion by 95 percent. Total phosphorous and nitrogen lost through runoff by 90 and 85 percent, respectively.

Doug Doughty, a farmer in Missouri, has a few hundred acres of prairie enrolled in the USDA’s federally funded Conservation Reserve Program.

This past winter, Doughty added prairie strips. One of his major motivations is the control of such nutrient pollution. High levels of nitrates and phosphorus are bad for aquatic habitats and there are also health risks for people. “Nutrients are valuable and they’re also a liability once they get out of our fields and get into streams and rivers and water supplies,” Doughty said, “and taxpayers are having to pay extra now on their water bills in some locations to clean up those nitrates and phosphates.”

Many natural resource experts and ecologists say prairie strips are not a silver bullet for today’s soil, water and biodiversity challenges. And they emphasize that we still need to reconstruct large prairie patches while protecting the rare remnants of original, unplowed prairie.

But, years of research show that prairie strips can unlock some of these benefits. Many conservation organizations, some state agencies, and even private companies are also trying to incentivize prairie strips.

  • Iowa Public Radio, “Prairie home companions: Why more farmers are planting native landscapes in their crop fields” by Rachel Cramer: https://www.iowapublicradio.org/harvest-public-media/2024-09-23/ prairie-strips-soil-water-wildlife
  • https://www.nrem.iastate.edu/research/STRIPS/content/management-overview

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Let Rainforests Grow Back Naturally

New research from an international group of scientists recently published in the journal Nature finds that 830,000 acres of deforested land in humid tropical regions could regrow naturally if left on its own. According to the researchers, this practice would boost biodiversity, improve water quality and availability, and suck up 23.4 gigatons of carbon over the next 30 years.

Matthew Fagan, a conservation scientist and geographer at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a coauthor of the paper said, “In five years, you can have a completely closed canopy that’s 20 feet high. I have walked in rainforests 80 feet high that are 10-15 years old. It blows your mind.”

To have this happen, there are some conditions that have to be met. First humans have to stop intensively farming the land or raising herds of cattle. Cattle compact the soil which makes it hard for plants to grow, and, of course, eat the young plants. In addition, it helps if the soil has a high carbon content to nourish the forest’s growth. If the new forest is near a standing tropical forest, it makes it much easier for birds to drop seeds in their poop. The resulting plants draw other tree-dwelling animals who also spread seeds that help the forest create the self cycle of the natural diversity that leads to a dynamic ecosystem. The diversity is critical to the long-term survival of the new rainforest.

Now governments and nonprofits are using this data to decide where it is cost effective to use this new information. They will work with local governments to figure out where it makes sense to pay communities to leave areas alone. Climate change and drought are also factors to consider.

Sequestering 23.4 gigatons of carbon over 30 years may not sound like much. Humanity is producing 37 gigatons of emissions every year. But as Fagan says, “This is one tool in a toolbox — it is not a silver bullet. It’s one of 40 bullets needed to fight climate change.”

  • Grist Magazine, “How do you save a rainforest? Leave it alone.” by Senior Staff Writer Matt Simon, November 6, 2024: https://grist.org/climate/ save-rainforest-carbon-science-biodiversity/

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Solar-Powered Generators Are Fueling Hurricane Relief in North Carolina

The Footprint Project has built nearly 50 solar microgrids post-Helene — and aims to create a “lending library” to deploy in the wake of disasters. This New Orleans based nonprofit is working to displace as many gas powered generators as possible with batteries charged with solar panels.

The effort in North Carolina is their largest response yet and the organizers are hoping the impact will extend far into the future. “If we can get this sustainable tech in fast, then, when the real rebuild happens, there’s a whole new conversation that wouldn’t have happened if we were just doing the same thing that we did every time,” said Will Heegaard, operations director for the organization.

Responders use what they know works, and our job is to get them stuff that works better than single-use fossil fuels do,” he said. “And then, they can start asking for that. It trickles up to a systems change.”

Using solar-powered batteries also helps because they don’t make our climate crisis worse as well as cause smog and release soot into the air that can trigger asthma attacks and other heath problems. In Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, there were so many generators in use after the electric grid failed that harmful air pollution in San Juan was higher than the legal limit.

  • Reasons to be cheerful, “Solar-Powered Generators Are Fueling Hurricane Relief in North Carolina” by Elizabeth Ouzts, October 29, 2024: https://reasonstobecheerful. world/hurricane-helene-solar-poweredgenerators
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