Earthweek: a diary of the planet

For the week ending Friday, April 29.

Bird flu spreads

Huge numbers of wild birds across more than 25 U.S. states and parts of Canada have been made ill or killed by the H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus, including bald eagles. Tens of millions of domestic poultry have also been culled. “This outbreak in wild bird populations is a lot more extensive than we saw in 2014 and 2015,” University of Georgia bird flu researcher David Stallknecht told public broadcaster NPR. The virus can fall to the ground in the droppings of passing wild birds and is easily spread on shoes and vehicles. The strain is also causing France’s worst bird flu in history and infecting wild birds and poultry in other parts of Europe, Africa and Asia.

Plastic eaters

Chemical engineers in Texas say they have developed a new enzyme variant that can break down plastic in hours or days, compared with the centuries it takes to degrade in nature. University of Texas at Austin researchers say this could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste and bring about true recycling of plastic. Globally, less than 10% of all plastic has been recycled. The enzyme was found to break down 51 types of consumer plastic containers, five polyester fibers and fabrics, as well as water bottles.

Reptile peril

An international study of reptiles by more than 900 scientists across six continents finds that more than a fifth of all species are threatened with extinction. “If we remove reptiles, it could change ecosystems radically, with unfortunate knock-on effects, such as increases in pest insects,” researcher Neil Cox said. While many reptiles are found in arid regions, far more live in forests, where they are threatened by climate change, logging and expanding agriculture.

Carbon capture

Pulverized rock dust spread on farmland has the potential to remove vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping countries meet their net-zero carbon target by 2050, experts say. In Britain alone, researchers believe that almost half of the nation’s CO2 removal goals could be achieved in this way. Enhanced rock weathering is a process in which basalt and other rocks are ground up, increasing their surface area to better absorb carbon from the atmosphere. It is far more practical and cheaper than other forms of direct air capture and storage under development.

Krakatoa blast

Indonesian officials issued the country’s second-highest volcanic alert after Mount Anak Krakatoa spewed a column of ash 10,000 feet above the Sunda Strait, which separates Sumatra and Java. Residents living where ash was falling were warned to wear masks as protection from the falling toxic debris. Anak Krakatoa (Child of Krakatoa) emerged in 1927 from the caldera left by the 1883 catastrophic eruption of Mount Krakatoa.