[GWSG] Tropics in peril; wilding vs. eating; slowing ag spread; oceanic heat waves; fossil free politics; Germany's coal struggle & a new model

Thu Aug 16 09:20:07 EDT 2018

1. The tropics are home to an outsized portion of the planet’s species and societal diversity but are in special danger. Both local and global governmental actions could help. https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/the-tropics-are-in-trouble-warn-scientists/?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=30d6f9ba36-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-30d6f9ba36-99031877
[https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/14132143/palau_koror_-7.251072_134.372885.jpg]<https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/the-tropics-are-in-trouble-warn-scientists/?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=30d6f9ba36-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-30d6f9ba36-99031877>

The tropics are in trouble, warn scientists<https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/the-tropics-are-in-trouble-warn-scientists/?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=30d6f9ba36-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-30d6f9ba36-99031877>
news.mongabay.com
Plants and animals in the tropics are disproportionately threatened by a range of dangers, including habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate change, warn researchers writing in the journal Nature. Conducting an extensive review of academic literature, a group of scientists led by Jos Barlow of Lancaster University highlight the extent of biodiversity across the seas, savannas, …

2. The debate has begun on whether setting aside half the earth for the wild would mean unacceptable losses of food sources. It is apparent that the answer depends on how the wild reserves are distributed, and the extent to which we adjust our consumption by reducing food waste and going to plant-based alternatives to some meat and dairy. http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/half-earth-food-tradeoffs/
[http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/deforestation-and-Ag2.jpg]<http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/half-earth-food-tradeoffs/>

With half the planet saved for nature, will we have enough to eat?<http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/half-earth-food-tradeoffs/>
www.anthropocenemagazine.org
The idea of devoting half of Earth’s terrestrial surface to rich, intact forms of nature has stirred conservationist imaginations in the last few years. It’s an inspiring vision, simple yet powerful — yet between the idea and the reality is plenty of practical uncertainty. What would it mean for food production, which currently represents the single largest human land use?

3. Slowing the spread of agricultural land is the best way to cut the loss of sequestered carbon. http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/slowing-agricultures-spread-is-the-best-way-to-lockdown-carbon/
[http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/tractors.jpg]<http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/slowing-agricultures-spread-is-the-best-way-to-lockdown-carbon/>

Slowing agriculture’s spread is the best way to lockdown carbon<http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/slowing-agricultures-spread-is-the-best-way-to-lockdown-carbon/>
www.anthropocenemagazine.org
Simply slowing farmland expansion far outstrips other ways of mitigating against carbon loss, a new study finds.

4. Oceans have heatwaves, just like land. Between 1986 and 2016 the number of ocean heatwaves roughly doubled, stressing or killing such ocean life as coral reefs and the phytoplankton which supply most of our oxygen and absorb carbon from the atmosphere. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05978-1
PhysOrg supplies more detail on the heatwaves and their impact. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-sea-marine-wreak-havoc-wildlife.html
[https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/2018/sustainedspi.jpg]<https://phys.org/news/2018-08-sea-marine-wreak-havoc-wildlife.html>

Climate change multiplies harmful marine heatwaves (Update)<https://phys.org/news/2018-08-sea-marine-wreak-havoc-wildlife.html>
phys.org
The number of days marked by potentially destructive ocean heatwaves has doubled in 35 years, and will multiply another five-fold at current rates of climate change, scientists warned Wednesday.

5. Around 200 candidates in November’s election have signed the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge. This week several won their primaries. The Democratic National Committee decided this week to accept donations from labor groups working in fossil fuel-connected industries but remains committed to its platform position of combatting climate change. https://www.ecowatch.com/politics-fossil-fuels-clean-energy-2596123086.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=e6d5ab9c13-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-e6d5ab9c13-85965093
Midterm Primaries: Clean Energy Advocates Secure Nominations<https://www.ecowatch.com/politics-fossil-fuels-clean-energy-2596123086.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=e6d5ab9c13-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-e6d5ab9c13-85965093>
www.ecowatch.com
With the DNC's reversal on fossil fuel contributions, environmentalists were relieved to see climate champions emerge from midterm primaries.

6. Germany is struggling with the project of cutting their emissions from coal. A task force is working on a plan which would preserve their emissions goals. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/climate/germany-coal.html?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=7f6a8f4e9c-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-7f6a8f4e9c-99031877
[https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/08/15/climate/15cli-newsletter-coal/merlin_135240333_73fed456-f85f-4c92-8f4d-52d344a1f459-facebookJumbo.jpg]<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/climate/germany-coal.html?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=7f6a8f4e9c-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-7f6a8f4e9c-99031877>

‘The Biggest Climate Story No One Is Talking About’<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/climate/germany-coal.html?utm_source=EHN&utm_campaign=7f6a8f4e9c-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8573f35474-7f6a8f4e9c-99031877>
www.nytimes.com
This week: Germany’s moment of reckoning, a new way to forecast future temperatures and the last of the fin whale hunters.

Beneath the Germany story on the same link is a piece on the climate model used to predict the chances for a four-year period of unusually elevated temperatures on land (58%) and the oceans (75%). The model is simple enough to run on a laptop; Nature Communications published the study. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05442-8
[https://media.springernature.com/m685/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038/s41467-018-05442-8/MediaObjects/41467_2018_5442_Fig1_HTML.png]<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05442-8>

A novel probabilistic forecast system predicting anomalously warm 2018-2022 reinforcing the long-term global warming trend<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05442-8>
www.nature.com
Accurate near-term predictions of global temperatures are required to determine some of the key impacts of climate change. Here the authors develop a novel probabilistic forecast system that shows anomalously warm temperatures for the next years with increased risk of extreme warming.

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