Earthweek: a diary of the planet

For the week ending Friday, Sept. 16.

Climate ‘carnage’ The U.N. weather agency warns that the impacts of global heating are entering “uncharted territories of destruction” because countries are failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A World Meteorological Organization report says climate-related disasters have increased fivefold over the past 50 years and now cost an estimated $200 million daily. “There is nothing natural about the new scale of these disasters. They are the price of humanity’s fossil fuel addiction,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. He called Pakistan’s flood catastrophe “climate carnage.”

Popo blasts

A series of explosions at Mexico’s Popocatépetl volcano spewed ash high into the sky about 40 miles southeast of Mexico City. The columns of debris soared to about 23,000 feet, posing a threat to aviation.

Blue exposure

The switch to energy-efficient but blue-tinted LED street lamps across parts of Europe could pose a threat to human and animal health. Exposure to blue light from TV monitors and mobile phones can interfere with sleep as our eyes control the release of the sleep hormone melatonin based on the colors seen. Blue light may also contribute to such conditions as diabetes and obesity. Researchers at Britain’s University of Exeter used images from the International Space Station to reveal that the orange-colored light from older sodium lights is rapidly being replaced by the cooler colors produced by LEDs. Blue light can also change the behavior of animals.

New iron age

Iron may soon be used as a source of clean and renewable energy. The element has an energy density higher than gasoline in powder form but produces no carbon emissions. It can easily be transported for use in heavily polluting industrial plants and ships. After iron is burned, it leaves behind iron oxide, which can be turned back into iron. However, other energy is needed for that chemical reaction. “But if that energy is obtained from renewable hydrogen produced by solar energy, for example, you have completed the circle with zero emissions,” Carmen Mayoral, at the Spanish National Research Council’s Institute for Carbon Chemistry, told El País.

Osprey triumph

British wildlife experts say they are “over the moon” happy with the successful return of ospreys to a nation where they had been extinct for more than 100 years. They were once hunted out of existence for sport and taxidermy, and their eggs were prized by collectors. But the reintroduction project has now led to about 1,500 of the powerful raptors soaring across England, Wales and Scotland. Chicks recently hatched in England for the first time in two centuries at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. “To have a pair on our land breeding and raising (two) chicks is so exciting,” environmental project manager Beth Dunstan told the Guardian.