Environmental News

Many technological innovations have facilitated expansion of the Human Enterprise, among them, animal husbandry. (That's what it's called; do not infer that humans are husbands with subsequent ewww).

There have been negative consequences:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02165-x
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09192-8

 

Many reports here are doom and gloomy, and so when those to the contrary appear, I do try to include them. Here is another:

Global soil organic carbon levels on the rise due to climate change | EurekAlert!

TL;DR There is a lot of carbon stored in global soils and it is increasing. Beyond accounting, high-carbon soils benefit plants and critters living in them.

 

However ...

Other threads here about orbital-satellite problems focus on uncontrolled reentries that risk bonking something important. Orbital collision risks appear there, but they are not really the same thing. I extract one very surprising quote from:

Nearly everyone opposes Trump’s plan to kill space traffic control program - Ars Technica

“The military currently performs the spaceflight safety mission, providing up to a million collision warnings per day to give satellite operators a heads-up that their spacecraft will encounter another object …”

I added emphasis to that, because dang.

However the word "will" above is obviously wrong choice. No Kessler yet

 

Beetles in a library:

Hungary’s oldest library is fighting to save 100,000 books from a beetle infestation | CNN

Lead off quote:
"Tens of thousands of centuries-old books are being pulled from the shelves of a medieval abbey in Hungary in an effort to save them from a beetle infestation that could wipe out centuries of history"

Oh man. 100 thousand old books have holes in them. They will be restored with probably some written characters lost that can mostly be replaced from context. Dial down the lurid.

This is bad. 100 thousand of library's 400 thousand old books have holes in them. These beetles are not super fast, so what we have is a library where workers have not been 'tending to their flock'. If other libraries of history take this to mean they ought to do more inspections, then some benefits will accrue.

The damaged books are being bagged up and bags filled with nitrogen gas for a while. Execute beetles, eggs and immatures, Alabama-style.

 

Refrigeration is an essential component of modern societal functions. Use electricity to make small volumes where foods and medicines are kept much colder than ambient.

This was first widely done with chlorocarbon working fluids (thanks Thomas Midgley). Later it was discovered that atmospheric releases formed chlorine monoxide in stratosphere, and ozone there was decomposed. That led to Montreal Protocol still the only effective global agreement about environmental harm -> regulation.

Later-developed working fluids use fluorine instead of chlorine. This avoids ozone depletion, but those rain down to earth as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA):

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02259-6

Part of this relates to amazing analytical capability to detect VERY small concentrations of TFA. Part of concern relates to unknown potential effects of TFA on biological organisms. Evolution has not before created carbon molecules with lots of F atoms decorating.

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Readers here have already been burdened with many things to attend to / worry about. Adding another is for completeness, not because this will probably become Important. It might.

 

A new CO2 observing satellite is to be launched today

https://cnes.fr/en/projects/microcarb
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Vega/Watch_live_Vega-C_to_launch_CO3D_and_MicroCarb

CNES finds this magnifique in terms of spectral and spatial resolution and I do not complain. Being a fellow traveller and what not. Be it seems important to mention that other CO2 observing satellites are already on station, with similar specifications.

A possibly incomplete list begins with (Euro) SCIAMACHY, 2002. GOSAT (Japan, 2009) followed by GOSAT-2 (2018). US’ first OCO (2009) was a mission failure, followed by OCO-2 (2014) and OCO-3 (2019). Those are still at work. Tanager-1 (US, 2024). TanSat (China, 2016) followed by Fengyun-3D and Gaofen-5 in 2017, and Gaofen-5-02 in 2021.

In other words, there is a lot of this happening. Remote observations are complemented by ground-based CO2 measurement networks (TCCON and COCCON) with about 100 dots on the map. Global FLUXNET sites total about 900, of which some have been discontinued. FLUXNET data are not officially used as satellite CO2 ground truth, so it could be said we are actually oversupplied with such. Not something I’d say

Global CO2 work has come a long way since Keeling in Hawaii, 1958.

 

With NASA facing 40% funding reduction

'NASA is under attack.' Space agency employees and lawmakers protest mass layoffs, science cuts amid budget turmoil | Space

There is room for some doom and gloom. I hope the post above lowers that. Many other areas of Earth System Science are doing well also.

 

Oh bother. M 8.8 earthquake on Pacific side of Russia

Magnitude 8.8 Earthquake Sets Off Tsunami Alerts Across The Pacific | Weather.com

There are tsunami warnings and people are widely warned to move uphill.

Early local earthquakes following this have been much smaller, in the 'fives'.

 

Coastal and offshore earthquakes cause tsunamis by moving large areas of 'seafloor'. That displaces large volumes of seawater. If they don't, they don't.

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BBC for example is all over this. I must say that current talking head asked some authority if mega earthquakes are increasing. This cannot be discerned from data.

Just now, current talking head said that tsunami warnings have been issued worldwide. Oh please...

It remains undescribed how I am watching BBC unavailable in this country. Undescribed it remains

 

Largest tsunami I've seen reported is 50 cm (local in Kamchatka). If that pertains, this is currently an over-reported thing. A subsequent large earthquake could move large areas of 'seafloor' and generate tsunami. Always true.

Without calling away from this, there are other important matters being displaced by this. Civilians in Gaza are not now well fed. Ukraine may be facing its last territorial loses prior to ceasefire, after that negotiations about final national size. Perhaps least, Trump complains of a 16-yr-old spa employee poached by Evil Epstein, within that story.

What a relief for today's trouble to distract. But it does seem to stretch overlong.

 

“On July 29, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a report entitled A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate, evaluating existing peer-reviewed literature and government data on climate impacts of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and providing a critical assessment of the conventional narrative on climate change.”

https://www.energy.gov/topics/climate

Offers full document download. Public comment period closes 2025 Sept 21.

I have bought the matter to readers attention as I strive to do with such things. Only readers interested in my impressions of this document should read further.


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Authors are John Christy, Judith Curry, Steven Koonin, Ross McKitrick and Roy Spencer. Names familiar to some readers. None are among the most sceptical of impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, but together represent a small fraction of range from Very Sceptical to ‘we are doomed’. Fair and balanced was not a stated goal here, and it was not achieved.

Quotes from the Forward by US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright:

“I’ve reviewed the report carefully, and I believe it faithfully represents the state of climate science today.”

My reaction. Twelve areas are covered of which I have extensively read literature in 6. In those, the report does not comprehensively nor neutrally represent the state of climate science. Word choice “faithfully” seems different and possibly telling. Faithful to what?

“To correct course, we need open, respectful, and informed debate. That’s why I’m inviting public comment on this report. Honest scrutiny and scientific transparency should be at the heart of our policymaking.”

My reaction. 100% agreement with these words. Public comments might address (any possible) inadequacies in report. Those might be allowed to improve it. Process transparency might be adequate to discern if they do. Wait and look and see.

“Climate change is real, and it deserves attention. But it is not the greatest threat facing humanity. That distinction belongs to global energy poverty.”

My reaction. Not exactly. The greatest threats facing humanity are interactions among food, water (supply and waste disposal), and energy poverty. Second greatest is improving functions of global infrastructure against even small (ish) climate excursions. Addressing these by only increasing energy supply with CO2 increases does not appear comprehensive nor neutral. But it might be seen as faithful.

“We stand at the threshold of a new era of energy leadership. If we empower innovation rather than restrain it, America can lead the world in providing cleaner, more abundant energy …”

My reaction. Start with “cleaner”, search this document and decide for yourselves about its coverage. If that does not provide enough gloom, search for “empower innovation”. It seems more is claimed here than provided.

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Some sections include ‘surprising’ references. I praise authors for excluding many wacky ones, but their inclusions are very incomplete.

Intentional misleading would be a claim. Below is Fig 6.2.2 from document



Do readers see there a recent decadal increase in major hurricanes? No?

Image below is my work


There are patterns, and most recent decades are high, but not higher than any previous decades offering data. If our goal is understanding, we’d start from unconfusing data presentations.
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Yes I have more. Interested readers would expect that from me. But it would be better for you to discern if this document ought to stand as US’ best science summary. US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said this is very important.