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Polar Oceans' Carbon Sequestration Potential Underestimated in Climate Change Mitigation Policies

Polar Oceans' Carbon Sequestration Potential Underestimated in Climate Change Mitigation Policies

A new review by an international team of polar scientists, published within the Horizon Europe project POMP, highlights that polar oceans, including the Arctic and Antarctic, are largely unrecognized in global blue-carbon approaches for climate change mitigation. These regions, which constitute about 20% of the global ocean, are experiencing rapid environmental changes, with parts of the Arctic warming at up to four times the global average. While traditional blue-carbon strategies focus on tropical and temperate coastal ecosystems like mangroves and salt marshes, polar ecosystems also play a significant role in capturing and storing carbon. The review categorizes polar blue-carbon habitats, noting strong evidence for carbon storage in Arctic salt marshes and seagrass meadows. Other pathways, such as kelp, phytoplankton, and carbon stored in deep-sea sediments, are less understood but are expanding or contributing to carbon sequestration. The study emphasizes that current scientific and policy frameworks a...

Arctic Sea Currents Accelerate Carbon Sinking by Phytoplankton, Impacting Ocean Food Webs

Arctic Sea Currents Accelerate Carbon Sinking by Phytoplankton, Impacting Ocean Food Webs

Scientists have discovered that currents in the Arctic's Chukchi Sea are causing phytoplankton to sink to the seafloor at four times the usual speed. These tiny, plant-like organisms are crucial for ocean carbon storage and form the base of marine food webs. Researchers aboard the R/V Sikuliaq in 2023 studied how local currents and sea ice influence the seasonal growth of phytoplankton. They found that blooms of phytoplankton can be ten times denser in the darker waters beneath thick sea ice compared to open water. Measurements indicate that sunlight filtering through ice cracks is sufficient for photosynthesis, allowing these large populations to thrive in environments previously thought inhospitable. This accelerated sinking helps explain the unexpectedly high populations of clams, brittle stars, walruses, and whales observed on the Arctic seafloor, as it provides a rapid food source.

El Niño-Driven Heat Projected to Cause Nearly Half a Million Additional Deaths Globally

El Niño-Driven Heat Projected to Cause Nearly Half a Million Additional Deaths Globally

The current powerful El Niño, combined with record global heat, is projected to cause approximately 451,000 additional heat-related deaths worldwide between June and the end of February, according to a research report by the University of Chicago-based Climate Impact Lab. This grim warning highlights the severe human cost of the climate phenomenon, which is also contributing to severe droughts, wildfires, and shrinking water supplies. The report indicates that global land temperatures during this El Niño could be about 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than normal, leading to a 44% increase in extremely hot days compared to a typical year. The heaviest toll is anticipated in poorer countries already grappling with food insecurity and high energy costs.

Arctic Sea Ice Thinning Rapidly, Posing Global Climate and Economic Challenges

Arctic Sea Ice Thinning Rapidly, Posing Global Climate and Economic Challenges

The Arctic is experiencing a dramatic and rapid thinning of its sea ice, with summer sea ice having declined by over 40% since satellite records began. This phenomenon is leading to a 'new Arctic' where the once permanently frozen central region is now becoming seasonally ice-free, potentially as early as 2035. Scientists from NASA and other research institutions are conducting extensive studies, using flying laboratories and advanced instruments, to understand the forces behind this disappearance. They have observed significant changes, such as a 'dark wedge' of open water advancing towards the North Pole, indicating the ice's weakening. This thinner, more fragile ice is more susceptible to melting and breaking apart due to wind and storms. The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet, causing ice to form later in autumn and melt earlier in spring, resulting in longer open water seasons. This shift is profoundly impacting polar ecosystems and has broader implications for global cli...

Brazil's Amazon Reforestation Fund Targets $150 Million, Salesforce Joins Carbon Removal Buyers

Brazil's Amazon Reforestation Fund Targets $150 Million, Salesforce Joins Carbon Removal Buyers

Mombak, a Brazilian carbon removal company, has launched its second reforestation fund, aiming to raise $150 million to finance restoration projects in the Amazon. The company has also secured a multi-year carbon removal purchase agreement with Salesforce, adding another major corporate buyer to its client base, which already includes Google, Microsoft, and McLaren Racing. The new fund has access to a R$200 million (approximately $38.9 million) credit line from Brazil’s Climate Fund, operated by the state development bank BNDES. Mombak's first fund, which raised $120 million, supported restoration across 15 Amazon farms, resulting in the planting of nearly 15 million native trees and the issuance of over 21,000 tonnes of CO2 removals, certified by Isometric. This early delivery of credits, two years ahead of schedule, is a significant achievement in the voluntary carbon market, which has often faced delays.

Mozambique Explores Debt-for-Nature Swaps to Boost Fiscal Resilience and Environmental Financing

Mozambique Explores Debt-for-Nature Swaps to Boost Fiscal Resilience and Environmental Financing

Mozambique is considering debt-for-nature swaps as a key component of its strategy to enhance creditworthiness and secure innovative financing solutions for sustainable development. This initiative is part of a national workshop organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in collaboration with the Mozambican government. The workshop aims to strengthen the country's capacity to improve sovereign creditworthiness and mobilize resources for its sustainable development priorities. Debt-for-nature swaps involve a creditor forgiving a portion of a debtor country's outstanding debt, conditional on the debtor investing an equivalent amount in local currency into environmental or climate programs. This mechanism is being examined alongside other sustainable debt approaches, such as debt-for-climate swaps and thematic bonds, to support Mozambique's fiscal resilience and environmental financing needs. The discussions will also focus on implementing Mozambique's National Climate Finance Stra...

Report shows steady improvement in Long Island Sound water quality

Report shows steady improvement in Long Island Sound water quality

A report from Save the Sound highlights improvements in Long Island Sound’s water quality due to infrastructure upgrades in Connecticut and New York

Yale-Led Study Finds Mississippi River Basin Farmland Liming Acts as Major Carbon Sink

Yale-Led Study Finds Mississippi River Basin Farmland Liming Acts as Major Carbon Sink

A new Yale-led study has revealed that farmers in the Mississippi River Basin are storing more carbon dioxide (CO2) in the soil than they emit by adding limestone to their fields, a practice known as 'liming.' This finding, published in the journal Nature, challenges conventional greenhouse gas accounting methods, including those used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which typically treat the carbon in applied lime as emitted CO2. The study, led by geochemist Tim Jesper Suhrhoff, a postdoctoral associate at the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture, analyzed over a century of data. It concludes that agricultural liming, which involves spreading crushed limestone to raise soil pH, reduce acidity, and increase crop yields, results in net carbon removal in the long term. This is because the limestone reacts with CO2 in the soil to form stable bicarbonate ions that can travel through soils, groundwater, and rivers, eventually reaching the ocean where the carbon can be stored for extend...

Philippines Strengthens Climate Reporting and Action with UN Collaboration

Philippines Strengthens Climate Reporting and Action with UN Collaboration

The Climate Change Commission (CCC) in the Philippines has partnered with experts from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for a five-day assessment of the country’s first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR1). This evaluation aims to identify opportunities to enhance national climate reporting and integrate climate data more effectively into policies, programs, and investments. The BTR is a comprehensive document detailing the Philippines' progress in addressing climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation efforts, adaptation strategies, and support mechanisms under the Paris Agreement’s Enhanced Transparency Framework. The review process involves detailed discussions, Q&A sessions, and consultations between the UNFCCC expert review team and various Philippine government agencies involved in climate reporting and action. This initiative is designed to strengthen coordination among government institutions to produce consistent, reliable, and useful climate inf...

Utah Targets 2034 to Restore the Shrinking Great Salt Lake

Utah Targets 2034 to Restore the Shrinking Great Salt Lake

Utah is racing to restore the shrinking Great Salt Lake before Salt Lake City hosts the 2034 Winter Olympics. More than 800 square miles of exposed lakebed can produce windblown dust containing arsenic and other contaminants, raising concerns for nearby communities. Water diversions, drought and warming have driven the lake’s decline, while its shrinking ecosystem threatens millions of migrating birds. Utah is investing in conservation, irrigation upgrades and voluntary water leasing, with a goal of raising lake levels by about 7 feet.

Countries still way behind on UN biodiversity targets, research shows

Countries still way behind on UN biodiversity targets, research shows

SINGAPORE, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Governments are set to fall well short of meeting a major UN target to protect and conserve biodiversity in at least 30% of the world's land and seas by 2030, research published on Wednesday showed.