“A group of researchers have posed a fascinating — and downright mind bending — thought experiment: If a planet like Earth can be “alive,” can it also have a mind of its own? The team published a paper exploring this question in the International Journal of Astrobiology. In it, they present the idea of “planetary intelligence,” which describes the collective knowledge and cognition of an entire planet. The researchers point to evidence that underground networks of fungi
Over the course of 20 years, Brazilian photojournalist Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado and his wife Lélia have transformed a barren plot of land into a thriving forest.
Interesting explanation on the why/how/if of extreme weather attribution maths: In the past two years or so we have seen many headlines about extreme weather events: floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes. In some cases, climate scientists claim they can “attribute” those extreme weather events to climate change. But what exactly does that mean? How does one calculate this? And how reliable are those estimates? This video is a brief intro into the young research area
Don’t only look at carbon! We find that tropical deforestation leads to strong net global warming as a result of both CO2 and biophysical effects. From the tropics to a point between 30◦N and 40◦N, biophysical cooling by standing forests is both local and global, adding to the global cooling effect of CO2 sequestered by forests. In the mid- latitudes up to 50◦N, deforestation leads to modest net global warming as warming from released forest
Lake in Chile is disappearing: The Penuelas reservoir in central Chile was until twenty years ago the main source of water for the city of Valparaiso, holding enough water for 38,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. Water for only two pools now remains. Normally, low-pressure storms from the Pacific unload precipitation over Chile in winter, recharging aquifers and packing the Andes mountains with snow. But naturally occurring warming of the sea off Chile’s coast, which blocks storms
Not sure if this article is still correct after 10 years of further model refining. I presume that yes, as these water interactions are really difficult to model. There is now ample evidence that an inadequate representation of clouds and moist convection, or more generally the coupling between atmospheric water and circulation, is the main limitation in current representations of the climate system. Rather than reducing biases stemming from an inadequate representation of basic processes,
John Oliver discusses the water shortage in the American west, how it’s already impacting the people who live there. And what God has to say about it. Partially comedy, but with much really interesting information.
Good read, but only focused on the consumption side. The viewpoint missing for me is that we totally mismanage the water infiltration potential. In many places the answer is yes – if we continue as we have done. The rest of the world could learn a lot from Denmark, one of the few countries to have reduced its water consumption. Danish water consumption today is approximately 40 percent lower than it was in 1980 (see
Great compilation of fascinating large scale earth healing projects: Arvari river restoration, Rhajastan, NW-India, Rajenda Singh, Tarun Bharat Sangh, 375 johads, river flows perennial again after 9 years of work after being dry for the whole year for 60 years, their initial work covered 500 km2 and 70 villages; they formed a river parliament to take control of the new water resources, in following years creation of >9000 water harvesting structures, four more dry rivers
Wow, 70°C on the tilled soil (38°C air temperature). Incredible. In comparison, the patchy clover right next to it is 33°C cooler! I am tempted to exclaim: If you want to cool the planet, cover the soil! More on the background of the influence of land use on climate and water cycle in my UNEP paper, presentation, conference “Climate Landscapes”.
Great quote from Masanobu Fukuoka: It was in an American desert that I suddenly realized that rain does not fall from the heavens – it comes up from the ground. Desert formation is not due to the absence of rain, but the rain ceases to fall because the vegetation has disappeared.
Once again on the road to measure temperature differences. Very exciting. Here two comparisons – at each 20°C difference between “without vegetation/open ground” and “with vegetation/trees”. Very impressive. What effects do surface temperatures of 60°C have, directly on the ground, the plants, the air layers, the weather?
Interesting article on experiences on the ground (and in the sky), when changing from open to covered soils: New evidence and research regarding the impact of soil microbes on the creation of precipitation can be accurately characterized as a game changer in our understanding of what it takes to produce rain across the globe. The immediate question is: What can we do to create favorable situations for this ice-nucleation cycle to occur? The answer resides
Good read, water stress increasing worldwide, but only focused on the consumption side. The viewpoint missing for me is that we totally mismanage the water infiltration potential. In many places the answer is yes – if we continue as we have done. The rest of the world could learn a lot from Denmark, one of the few countries to have reduced its water consumption. Danish water consumption today is approximately 40 percent lower than it
Cooling forests: Here, we combine extensive records of remote sensing and in situ observation to show that non-radiative mechanisms dominate the local response in most regions for eight of nine common LCMC perturbations. We find that forest cover gains lead to an annual cooling in all regions south of the upper conterminous United States, northern Europe, and Siberia—reinforcing the attractiveness of re-/afforestation as a local mitigation and adaptation measure in these regions. Our results affirm
Humans responsible for the desertification of the Sahara: Where available, the evidence suggests that there is systematic homogenization of the floral composition of terminal AHP landscapes commensurate with the spread of shrubbery and reduced precipitation. Subsistence choices were predicated on ecological conditions, and early pastoral economies took root against the backdrop of a progressively drying climate. Because humans have been documented as exerting significant pressures on the NPP of prehistoric and historic landscapes elsewhere in
Large-scale teleconnections: Here it is shown that deforestation of tropical regions significantly affects precipitation at mid- and high latitudes through hydrometeorological teleconnections. In particular, it is found that the deforestation of Amazonia and Central Africa severely reduces rainfall in the lower U.S. Midwest during the spring and summer seasons and in the upper U.S. Midwest during the winter and spring, respectively, when water is crucial for agricultural productivity in these regions. Deforestation of Southeast Asia
More forests, more rain: …that implementing measured characteristics of a successful semi-arid afforestation system (2000 ha, ~300 mm mean annual precipitation) over large areas (~200 million ha) of similar precipitation levels in the Sahel and North Australia leads to the weakening and shifting of regional low-level jets, enhancing moisture penetration and precipitation (+0.8 ± 0.1 mm d−1 over the Sahel and +0.4 ± 0.1 mm d−1 over North Australia), influencing areas larger than the original afforestation.
Recognition of aerial rivers: Given the city’s population growth scenarios, the increase of the renewable water resource by smart reforestation could cover 22–59% of the additional demand by 2030. Building on the findings, we argue for a more systematic consideration of aerial river connections between regions in reforestation and land planning for future challenges.
Evapotranspiration: In the Sahel, recycling of moisture through evapotranspiration appears to be responsible for more than 90% of the rainfall. As a result, there exists an important feedback mechanism between land-use and climate, which has immediate implications for the management of natural resources.
