Earthweek: a diary of the planet
Gelatinous invasion Scientists are baffled by the mounting invasion of jellylike organisms that are clogging fishing gear from California to British Columbia this year. The glowing, tubular pyrosome clusters are typically found in the tropics far from shore, but they have spread northward right along the Pacific Coast in recent years. There are now reports of them as far north as Sitka, Alaska. Some West Coast fishermen say there are now so many of the “sea pickles” in the water that it is impossible to catch anything else.
Ozone killer
The slow healing of Earth’s ozone hole is being held back by the use of an unregulated chemical that continues to damage the UV protection layer 30 years after most ozonedestroying compounds were banned. Scientists at the University of Lancaster in England say atmospheric levels of dichloromethane, a short-lived, ozone-depleting substance used in paint strippers, are on the rise. It
isn’t covered under the 1987 Montreal Protocol.
African ark
Thousands of wild animals are being moved across parts of Africa in an attempt to restore their populations in Mozambique, where a bloody 15-year civil war nearly wiped them out. Neighboring Zimbabwe is donating and transporting 50 elephants, 100 giraffes, 200 zebras and 200 water buffalo to Mozambique’s Zinave National Park in one of Africa’s largest-ever wildlife transfers. In total, about 7,500 wild animals from Zimbabwe, South Africa
and elsewhere in Mozambique will be relocated during the next three years to help Zinave officials restore the park’s diversity.
Ever-rising CO2
The rate at which carbon dioxide is accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere is rising only slightly less this year than the record increases measured in 2015 and 2016. This ongoing high rate is concerning to scientists because the amount of the greenhouse gas that humans are pumping into the air seems to have recently leveled off. Scientists are not certain whether el Nino or any other factors can explain the high rate of increase in atmospheric Co2. Roughly half of the gas caused by the burning of fossil fuels is absorbed about equally by the planet’s land surface and oceans. It is unknown whether those “sponges” are losing their ability to remove Co2 from the air.
Earthquakes
At least two people were injured in central Japan when a magnitude 5.2 temblor knocked off roof tiles in Nagano prefecture. Earth movements also were felt in far northern Japan, central Mozambique, the Indonesian part of Timor Island and in eastern Afghanistan and neighboring parts of Pakistan.
Hurricane season Tropical Storm Dora briefly strengthened into the first Western Hemisphere hurricane of the season as it churned the Pacific waters off Mexico.
Sea level rises Accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet has caused the pace of global sea-level rise to surge significantly since 1990, according to scientists from the United States, China and Australia. They found that the melt now contributes to more than a quarter of the world’s rising tides, compared with only 5 percent in 1993. Another study, from Cornell University, found that 2 billion people could become climate refugees due to rising ocean levels by 2100. That would mean one-fifth of the world’s population will face displacement and resettlement challenges as they seek new homes on higher ground.