Earthweek: a diary of the planet
Carbon collection
Recent advances in removing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the air have significantly brought down the cost, with one process having the ability to create synthetic fuel. Carbon Engineering’s pilot facility in western Canada has been extracting about one ton of CO2 per day at a cost of about $100 per ton, far less than the prevailing price of about $600 per ton. The captured carbon can be stored in stone deep underground, and Carbon Engineering says it can use renewable energy to take hydrogen from water and combine it with the collected carbon to create a synthetic liquid fuel. The Bill Gates-funded company says it already is making about one barrel a day with that process.
Antarctic rise
The loss of ice across Antarctica has added about a third of an inch to rising global sea levels since 1992, with two-fifths of that increase coming in the past five years. A new study
says the loss is mainly due to the acceleration of glaciers in West Antarctica and the Antarctica Peninsula, and the reduced growth of the ice sheet in East Antarctica. The continent stores enough frozen water to raise global sea levels by 190 feet. “This has to be a concern for the governments we trust to protect our coastal cities and communities,” said lead researcher Andrew Shepherd.
Earthquakes
Parts of England were soundly jolted by a moderate earthquake. Earth movements also were felt in Panama, North Carolina and Oklahoma. Dying ancients
The world’s oldest flowering trees are mysteriously dying after providing food, water and shelter from the African sun to both humans and animals for thousands of years. The deaths of four of the continent’s 13 oldest baobab trees, and the withering to near death of five others over the past 12 years, is being blamed by some on climate change. But a team of scientists from Romania, South Africa and the United States studying the trees says further research is needed to determine the cause. Towering over Africa’s savannah, the iconic trees can live to be nearly 3,000 years old. One village held a funeral for its dead baobab, calling it the “mother of us all.”
Male bonding
A new study reveals that male bottlenose dolphins communicate by calling on their bros by name. The University of Western Australia study found that dolphins use signature whistles for one another, and are the only animals besides humans to adopt names. Researcher Stephanie King says that using individual names helps the dolphins negotiate a complex social network of relationships. The study also revealed that male dolphins spend a lot of time caressing one another with their pectoral fins, as if they are holding hands.
Lighting hazard
Greater care might need to be taken in choosing the color of outdoor LED lighting across Earth’s landscapes, as scientists warn that some hues of the modern-day lighting can be harmful to wildlife. Researchers have spent years documenting how the brightness, color and direction of LED light affects migration, species attraction, predator-prey relationships and circadian rhythms. A new study led by the University of Southern California finds that blue and white have the worst impacts. The warmer yellow, amber and green LEDs are more benign. Some creatures, such as insects and sea turtles, are especially vulnerable.
Tropical cyclones
Hurricanes Aletta and Bud churned the Pacific off Mexico. Tropical Storm Maliksi briefly formed off Japan.
©2018 Earth Environment Service