San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Greenhouse gas trio reaches new record
DIARY OF A CHANGING WORLD Week ending Friday, April 12, 2024
Warming Gases
Atmospheric concentrations of the three most potent greenhouse gases rose to new record levels in 2023, highlighting the failure by world leaders and industry to curb carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
While the increases in each did not quite match the record jumps of recent years, the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and livestock farming have brought the world’s CO2 levels 50% higher than they were before the onset of the Industrial Revolution.
“As these numbers show, we still have a lot of work to do to make meaningful progress in reducing the amount of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere,” said Vanda Grubiši, director of NOAA’s global monitoring laboratory.
Earthquakes
The northeastern United States was jolted by a magnitude 4.8 quake in northern New centered
Jersey.
• Earth movements were also felt in central Virginia, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Northern Mariana Islands and southwestern Japan.
Cross Infections
With growing concerns that animal diseases such as bird flu may now be infecting humans more frequently, scientists say people pass on far more viruses to domestic and wild animals than we catch from them.
Writing in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, researchers say that when viruses cross over from animals to humans, a process known as zoonosis, they can cause disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics such as Ebola, flu or COVID-19.
But their study found that roughly twice as many pathogens were going from humans to other animals in a process known as anthroponosis.
The researchers say they also found that even more animal-to-animal infections occurr without involving any humans.
Smoke Rings
Nearly perfect circles of gas spewing from Sicily’s Mount Etna delighted residents and tourists alike thanks to a rare set of atmospheric and volcanic conditions that caused the gas to wrap upon itself in a vortex motion.
The volcano towers over the historic port city of Catania. It is the largest in Europe and one of the most active in the world. It is also a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The vapor bands have prompted local residents to rename the volcano “Lady of the Rings.”
Smart Vests
Chinese scientists say they have devised tiny electronic vests that can be attached to fish to monitor their movement based on the disturbances created as they swim through water.
Writing in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences say the wearable electronic devices can, in ways never before possible, measure when a fish turns, speeds up or dips. -102° Vostok, Antarctitca
‘Forever’ Pollution
A study of more than 45,000 water samples from around the world found that about 31% of groundwater tested, not collected near any clear source of contamination, had levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) considered harmful by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Often referred to as “forever chemicals,” PFASs can also be found in nonstick pans, rain jackets, firefighting equipment and a host of other products.
Their chemical bonds are so strong that they don’t break down for hundreds to thousands of years, if at all, scientists warn.
Exposure to high levels of some PFASs have been linked to elevated cholesterol levels, liver and immune system damage and high blood pressure, as well as kidney and testicular cancer.
Tropical Cyclones
Cyclone Olga briefly attained Category-4 force over the eastern Indian Ocean, between Australia and Indonesia. • Tropical Storm Paul spun up over the far northern Coral Sea.