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Yale Environment 360

Yale Environment 360 is an online magazine offering opinion, analysis, reporting and debate on global environmental issues. We feature original articles by scientists, journalists, environmentalists, academics, policy makers, and business people, as well as multimedia content and a daily digest of major environmental news. Yale Environment 360 is published by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and Yale University. We are funded in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The opinions and views expressed in Yale Environment 360 are those of the authors and not of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies or of Yale University.

Renewable Energy

Half of U.S. Experiencing Some Degree of Drought, Analysis Finds

written by Yale Environment 360

Half of the United States is in the midst of a drought, a recent analysis from the U.S. National Drought Monitor found, with nearly 15 percent of the nation in extreme to exceptional drought. Dry conditions are pushing north rapidly, along with warmer temperatures, and soil moisture and groundwater levels are low far in advance of the agricultural peak demand season, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.

Much of the Southwest and Great Plains regions have been in a persistent drought for several years, and as this map prepared by federal agencies shows, an exceptional drought is currently plaguing parts of those regions.

The entire state of California is experiencing some level of drought, much of it extreme to exceptional. Snowpack is at half its typical level in many parts of the West and much of the snow has completely melted before it normally would, researchers say. The map is based on measurements of climate, soil, and water conditions from more than 350 federal, state, and local observers around the country.

05/14/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Global Renewable Energy Jobs Grew By 14 Percent in 2013, Study Says

written by Yale Environment 360

Renewable energy jobs grew by 14 percent to 6.5 million employees worldwide last year, led by the solar panel industry, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency. Employing a total of 2.6 million workers in renewable energy jobs, China led in hiring last year, followed by Brazil and the United States.

The solar industry — spurred by increasing photovoltaic panel installations in Asia and falling prices — employed 2.27 million workers at the end of 2013, largely concentrated in China, the report said.

The biofuel industry, with 1.45 million employees, and wind energy, with 830,000, were the second- and third-largest employers.

Although policy changes in several countries have reduced wind energy installation jobs, operations and maintenance positions have experienced some growth, according to the report.

05/13/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Biodiversity, But Not Community Composition, Surprisingly Stable Over Time

written by Yale Environment 360

A major turnover of species in habitats around the globe is underway, resulting in the creation of novel biological communities, but overall species diversity is much more stable than scientists had believed, according to a new report in the journal Science.

In a survey of 100 long-term biodiversity monitoring projects in a variety of habitats around the world, the authors found that the majority of those studies (59 percent) documented increasing species richness. Biodiversity declined in 41 percent of the studies, but, in all cases the overall change in biodiversity was modest, the researchers said.

Researchers examined 6.1 million records covering 35,613 species — from Arctic tundra to the South Seas, including mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates and plants. This map shows the locations of the biodiversity sudies they analyzed. Data sets are color-coded to reflect their climatic region: pink, global; royal blue, polar; turquoise, polar-temperate; green, temperate; gold, temperate-tropical; red, tropical. (Image credit: Dornelas, et al., Science, 2014)

When looking at changes in the species constituting those communities, however, the researchers found a surprisingly high rate of change — an average of about 10 percent change per decade. “A main policy application of this work is that we’re going to need to focus as much on the identity of species as on the number of species,” researcher Nick Gotelli of the University of Vermont said. “The number of species in a place may not be our best scorecard for environmental change.”

05/12/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Natural Variations May Account for Up to Half of Greenland’s Warming

written by Yale Environment 360

Up to half of the recent climate change in Greenland and surrounding regions — which have warmed at roughly twice the pace of the rest of the planet since 1979 — may be due to natural climate variations that originate in the tropical Pacific and are not connected with the overall warming of the Earth, a new study says.

Still, at least half the warming remains attributable to rising global carbon dioxide emissions, according to research published in the journal Nature. Climate data and advanced computer models show that changes in the western tropical Pacific Ocean, which has been about 0.3 degrees warmer than normal, have caused shifts in atmospheric pressure over the North Atlantic. Those changes set off a stationary wave in the atmosphere that arcs in a great circle from the tropical Pacific toward Greenland, pulling warmer air over that massive island.

“Along this wave train there are warm spots where the air has been pushed down, and cold spots where the air has been pulled up,” one author explained. “And Greenland is in one of the warm spots.” The natural atmospheric variations may have warmed the region’s surface by about a half-degree C per decade since 1979, the researchers said. Overall, Greenland and surrounding areas have warmed by roughly 1 degree C per decade during that time, causing widespread melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

05/09/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

New European Satellites to Give More Detailed Views of Earth

written by Yale Environment 360

The European Space Agency has begun launching a series of satellites designed to collect detailed environmental data around the globe — from radar-based, high-definition imagery to information about the atmosphere’s chemical composition.

The first satellite in the ESA’s Copernicus program, the Sentinel 1A, was launched last month and has already returned many striking images based on radar data, such as this view of Brussels, Belgium, in which the dense urban area contrasts with the city’s heavily vegetated surroundings.

Once Sentinel satellite 1B is launched next year, the two will be able to map the entire globe in six days, giving researchers and conservationists a powerful way to monitor both short- and long-term changes in the environment.

Four additional groups of satellites are set to launch this year. Those arrays will focus on high-resolution photo imagery, topography, land and water surface temperatures, and atmospheric chemistry.

05/06/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Fracking May Induce Quakes at Greater Distance Than Previously Thought

written by Yale Environment 360

Hydraulic fracturing and underground wastewater disposal may trigger earthquakes at tens of kilometers from the wells in which water is injected — a greater range than previously thought, according to new research from seismologists.

In one case, an earthquake swarm in Oklahoma has been linked to a cluster of fracking injection wells up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) away, Cornell University researchers report. So-called “induced seismicity” — when human activity causes tremors in the earth’s crust — is gaining attention as reports of earthquakes within the central and eastern U.S. have increased dramatically over the past few years.

The rise coincides with increased hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas, and the injection of wastewater in deep disposal wells in many locations, including Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), an average rate of 100 earthquakes per year above a magnitude 3.0 occurred in the three years from 2010-2012, compared with an average rate of 21 events per year observed from 1967-2000. The agency is trying to “stay agnostic as to whether the earthquakes are induced or natural,” says a USGS geophysicist, since, currently, it’s difficult to determine what triggers a particular event.

05/02/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Exxon Mobil Arctic Project Possibly at Risk Over Russia Sanctions

written by Yale Environment 360

Exxon Mobil’s development of a Russian Arctic oil project valued at nearly $900 billion is at risk following recent U.S. sanctions on Russian officials as a result of Ukraine’s ongoing political crisis, Bloomberg News reports.

Exxon Mobil has partnered with the Russian state-controlled oil company OAO Rosneft to drill an oil-rich geological structure known as Universitetskaya, which contains an estimated 9 billion barrels of oil, valued at $900 billion at current market prices.

Rosneft’s CEO, Igor Sechin, a longtime member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, was sanctioned by the U.S. this week, exposing the partnership with Exxon Mobil to additional scrutiny. Exxon Mobil and Rosneft are set to invest an estimated $600 million in drilling at the site in the Kara Sea, which would make the project Exxon’s most expensive to-date.

A U.S. Treasury official said yesterday that U.S. companies can still do business with Rosneft, but some analysts say Russian companies could become wary of working with Western corporations in the future. Exxon said last week that the project is on schedule.

04/30/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Economic Viability of Nuclear Power Under Threat, Energy Group Says

written by Yale Environment 360

Nuclear reactors in the U.S. need a boost — either through carbon taxes or regulations forcing coal-fired plants to slash emissions — or economic factors will force many to close, according to a report released today from a non-profit group.

Nuclear power — currently the only major zero-carbon, around-the-clock baseload power source — supplies 19 percent of U.S. electricity and is key to meeting President Obama’s pledge to reduce emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. The economic viability of the 100 nuclear reactors in the U.S. is worsening, the report says, because of the abundance of cheap natural gas and rising wind energy production.

A carbon tax or some form of carbon trading — for instance, requiring coal-fired plants to purchase and blend their electricity output with nuclear power — will be essential to keeping nuclear plants from closing before the end of their lifespans, the report contends. Four power companies recently announced the early retirement of five nuclear reactors, which constitute more than 4 percent of U.S. nuclear capacity, the group says.

04/29/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Soils Release Far More CO2 Than Previously Thought

written by Yale Environment 360

As atmospheric CO2 levels rise, soils will likely store less carbon than scientists and climate models had predicted, according to new research published in Science. Scientists have long understood that rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere spur photosynthesis and plant growth, adding more carbon to the soil.

Scientists had thought this soil carbon was relatively stable and could remain locked away for centuries. But the new study, from researchers at Northern Arizona University shows that increasing soil carbon actually spurs microbes to produce more CO2. Higher atmospheric CO2 levels added roughly 20 percent more carbon to the soil, through increased photosynthesis, but they also increased carbon turnover by microbes by 16.5 percent.

Many climate models had previously assumed that far more of the carbon absorbed by soils stayed there for long periods of time. “Our findings mean that nature is not as efficient in slowing global warming as we previously thought,” the lead researcher said. “By overlooking this effect of increased CO2 on soil microbes, models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change may have overestimated the potential of soil to store carbon and mitigate the greenhouse effect.”

04/28/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Browning of Congo Rainforest is Depicted in NASA Satellite Data

written by Yale Environment 360

Persistent drought has taken a major toll on Africa’s Congo rainforest, with large-scale browning intensifying and affecting a growing portion of the forest over the past decade, an analysis of NASA satellite data shows. A browning trend significantly dwarfed smaller areas of “greening” — a satellite-derived indicator of forest health — during April, May, and June each year from 2000 to 2012, according to research published in Nature.

The browning of Congo’s rainforest is significant, researchers said, because most climate models forecast that tropical forests may face increasing stress and rainfall shortages in a warmer and drier 21st century. A continued drying trend might alter the composition and structure of the Congo rainforest, affecting its biodiversity and carbon storage, the study said.

“Forests of the Congo basin are known to be resilient to moderate climate change because they have been exposed to dry conditions in the past few hundred years,” a NASA researcher said. “However, the recent climate anomalies as a result of climate change and warming of the Atlantic Ocean have created severe droughts in the tropics, causing major impacts on forests.

04/25/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Run-of-River Hydropower Set For Big Gains, Turbine Maker Predicts

written by Yale Environment 360

A type of hydroelectric technology known as “run-of-river” hydropower is set to grow 10-fold over the next decade, potentially becoming a $1.4 billion industry, according to Dutch turbine maker Tocardo International BV. Run-of-river hydropower stations redirect part of a waterway through a diversion to spin turbines and generate electricity.

Run-of-river is considered a more benign type of hydropower than large dam projects because it is a smaller-scale technology that doesn’t create large upstream reservoirs that flood ecosystems and disrupt a river’s natural flow.

Some conservation groups are concerned that problems with migratory fish passage and other environmental issues could outweigh the power-generating potential of run-of-river hydro projects. Tocardo notes, however, that flow monitoring and ecosystem protection strategies, such as fish ladders, are an important part of run-of-river hydropower deployment. The company implemented its first project to harness tidal streams at Den Oever, Holland, and it has been generating power for five years.

04/23/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Massive Data Crunch Shows Steady Rise in Warmer Days

written by Yale Environment 360

The proportion of days in the United States that are warmer than the long-term average increased from 42 percent in 1964 to 67 percent today, according to an analysis of 3.2 million temperature anomalies over the last 50 years.

Enigma.io, a New York City-based company that specializes in searches of information from public databases, examined data from 2,716 U.S. weather stations to track the temperature anomalies. The company found that since 1964, temperature anomalies characterized as warm or “strong warm” have increased by an average of .5 percent a year.

Enigma’s data show, for example, that in 2012, 84 percent of temperature anomalies in the U.S. skewed on the warm side. The company forecast that by the 2030s more than 70 percent of anomalous temperatures in the U.S. are likely to be higher than the historical average, rather than colder.

04/22/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Scale and Extent of Dam Boom in China Detailed in Mapping Project

written by Yale Environment 360

China is planning to build at least 84 major dams in its southwest region, as shown in a map from the Wilson Center, eventually boosting its hydropower capacity by more than 160 gigawatts. By next year China’s capacity will surpass Europe’s, and by 2020 it’s projected to be larger than that of the U.S. and Europe combined.

An interactive map shows the scale and number of major dams proposed, under construction, existing, and canceled. The dam rush is part of an ongoing effort by China to increase non-fossil energy sources to 11.4 percent of the country’s total energy consumption — a goal that has gained urgency due to severe air pollution in many northern Chinese cities. However, the hydropower push is not without its own major environmental consequences, the Wilson Center notes.

More than 70 of the dams planned or being constructed are located in so-called “biodiversity hotspots,” areas with rich species diversity that are threatened by development. The cascades of planned dams will submerge important corridors that connect tropical rainforests to the Tibetan Plateau and allow wildlife to migrate to cooler climates as temperatures rise.

04/20/2014 1 comment

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