Category: Science

How one arid city is attempting to grow 15 soccer fields of crops in the desert: ‘The world’s most food self-sufficient city’

The Cool Down

How one arid city is attempting to grow 15 soccer fields of crops in the desert: ‘The world’s most food self-sufficient city’

Wes Stenzel – September 19, 2023

Saudi Arabia has enlisted Dutch greenhouse company Van Der Hoeven to synthesize a climate that will “make the desert bloom,” according to Al Arabiya News, with the goal of building “the world’s most food self-sufficient city.”

What is Saudi Arabia’s synthetic climate project?

Saudi Arabia is building Neom, a brand-new city, in the desert on the coast of the Red Sea. In order to supply food for Neom, the kingdom is paying Van Der Hoeven $120 million to create a synthetic oasis about the size of 15 soccer fields, which will allow crops to be grown in an area that ordinarily cannot sustain much life.

The greenhouses are intended to yield over 300,000 tons of produce in the next eight to 10 years.

The project is expected to begin operating its first site in August 2024 and will be using vertical farming, artificial intelligence, solar and seawater-driven cooling systems, advanced water filtration, and numerous other technologies to bolster Neom’s agricultural capabilities.

“We will scale up to hundreds of hectares with different types of greenhouses,” said Juan Carlos Motamayor, the CEO of Neom Food.

Why is this project important?

Expanding countries’ agriculture infrastructure via synthetic means, like greenhouses, will be an essential part of adapting to our planet’s overheating.

As ecosystems change with rising temperatures, so will their capabilities to grow particular kinds of food, as many fruit, vegetable, and grain plants can only survive in a fairly narrow window of average temperatures.

As such, hotter regions may be unable to grow staple crops that they used to be able to produce to feed their populations, which means they will have to turn to alternative synthetic methods like greenhouses.

By developing and improving technologies and systems that make agriculture possible in difficult climates, we better prepare our societies for rising temperatures.

Greenhouse farming is already an important part of our agricultural systems. In the United States, greenhouse vegetable production made $3 billion in 2021, according to Extrapolate. Tomatoes make up the majority of greenhouse veggies grown in the U.S., but cucumbers, bell peppers, lettuce, and herbs are also commonly grown in greenhouses.

“We are building a synthetic climate where outdoor growing is difficult, with a goal for plants to yield produce year-round,” said Michiel Schoenmaeckers, the CEO of Van Der Hoeven.

“There is no other place in the world that is trying to develop at the scale we want to develop and implement agriculture for arid conditions,” said Motamayor.

Researchers ‘stunned’ to find dangerous chemicals in a common produce aisle staple: ‘[This is] particularly concerning’

The Cool Down

Researchers ‘stunned’ to find dangerous chemicals in a common produce aisle staple: ‘[This is] particularly concerning’

Ben Raker – September 18, 2023

Ah, kale. Once a golden child among leafy greens — a 2011 talking point for Gwyneth and Ellen, a 2012 “Dish of the Year” star for Bon Appétit, and the 2014 fashion focus of a Beyoncé video — kale has since had increasing detractors alongside its defenders.

Now a pilot study has found toxic “forever chemicals” in kale samples — especially organic ones — though its authors present this as a critique of chemical pervasiveness, not an anti-kale attack.

What happened?

The nonprofit Alliance for Natural Health USA (ANH) tested supermarket kale from four states and detected the toxic chemicals in seven of eight samples.

PFAS, also known as forever chemicals because of their practically endless lifespans, are compounds manufactured for special properties, including fire and water resistance. They appear in products ranging from fire extinguishers to dental floss.

These chemicals persist in the human body as well as the environment, and emerging science links them to a drug disclaimer’s worth of health issues, including high cholesterol, liver damage, and risks of kidney and testicular cancers.

Why are PFAS in kale concerning?

Robert Verkerk, founder of ANH, told the Guardian that his group tested kale “to look at an archetypal healthy vegetable.” Researchers expected to find small amounts of PFAS, but the levels “stunned” them.

“The fact that kale, one of the healthiest foods you can get at the supermarket, is contaminated, is particularly concerning,” ANH notes online.

Verkerk told the Guardian it was also a “shock finding” that organic kale had high PFAS levels. The contamination source is unclear, though Verkerk suspected dirty water or sewage sludge spread as fertilizer.

The results, released in June, contradict previous Food and Drug Administration (FDA) analyses that reported no PFAS kale contamination.

The FDA states online that “we have found that most foods not grown or produced in specific geographic areas with known PFAS contamination do not have detectable levels of PFAS.”

ANH takes issue with the FDA and Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) testing as “grossly inadequate.”

Although there are no limits for PFAS in U.S. foods, the EPA recently proposed a PFAS drinking water standard.

What can I do about PFAS in produce?

The EPA lists steps to reduce risks, including learning more.

ANH notes that washing produce may not be effective against PFAS. The organization urges a PFAS ban and has tools for individuals to learn more and take action.

Efforts to control PFAS may help reduce planet-heating pollution. The EPA has linked PFAS production to heat-trapping gases.

For its part, ANH plans more tests, and it calls for government agencies to improve their tests and regulations: “The issue isn’t PFAS-contaminated kale per se, it’s more that we likely live in a PFAS-contaminated world.”

Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.

Outraged beachgoer shares shocking footage of the plastic ‘nurdles’ they collected after a storm: ‘There were probably thousands’

The Cool Down

Outraged beachgoer shares shocking footage of the plastic ‘nurdles’ they collected after a storm: ‘There were probably thousands’

Hayleigh Evans – September 15, 2023

In a viral Reddit post, one user has declared war. While their enemy may be small, they are a sizable opponent responsible for mighty environmental consequences.

This Redditor is fighting plastic pollution by hunting down nurdles and removing them from nature. Nurdles are tiny pellets that are essential ingredients in many plastic products.

They are melted down to make plastic water bottles, vehicle parts, and other products.

These microplastics resemble fish eggs. Nurdles are frequently clear or white, but you may come across brightly colored pellets as well. They are lentil-sized, or about 3 to 5 millimeters in diameter.

“So many nurdles after a rain,” the Redditor writes. “I friggin hate nurdles.”

This Redditor’s quest is a noble environmental pursuit. Billions of nurdles have entered ecosystems around the world, as ships have repeatedly spilled tons of them into oceans during transport.

Roughly 253,000 tons of nurdles enter oceans each year. These toxic pellets then make landfall on coastlines, and they are especially prevalent after rainfall.

Research shows these pellets absorb and transport toxic chemicals into marine environments. Seabirds, fish, and crustaceans will mistakenly eat them because they resemble fish eggs.

This mistake can be extremely harmful, if not deadly, to these animals. Nurdles can cause stomach ulcerations that lead to starvation and introduce harmful chemicals to animals and the greater food chain.

This Redditor is one of many nurdle hunters who want to protect coastlines, wildlife, and water sources. Fellow Redditors have applauded their efforts in the post’s comment section.

“I live on the coast and saw a bunch of them in multiple colors,” one user comments. “I spent 20 minutes picking them up (especially the brightly colored ones since I didn’t want the birds or wildlife to eat them) but there were probably thousands left on that beach.”

“Going for the nurdles! This person rocks,” another user says.

“I’m all for the nurdle patrol,” one user adds.

Scientists are sounding the alarm about a dangerous problem that will soon affect 2 billion people — here’s what to know

The Cool Down

Scientists are sounding the alarm about a dangerous problem that will soon affect 2 billion people — here’s what to know

Laurelle Stelle – September 15, 2023

As the world has gotten hotter, more people are exposed to dangerously high temperatures each year. Recent findings published in Nature Sustainability show that without policy changes, the world will heat up enough by the end of the century that more than 2 billion people will live in life-threatening hot climates, as Science Hub reported.

What’s happening?

So far, the world’s average temperature has risen by just under 1.2 degrees Celsius (about 2 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial level due to human activity, according to Science Hub. The Paris Agreement — an international treaty to limit heat-trapping gases produced by each country and stop the world from getting hotter — proposed to cap the increase at 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

However, the new study found that with the current laws, population growth, and environmental conditions, the world will likely reach about 4.8 degrees Fahrenheit above the preindustrial benchmark, per Science Hub.

The researchers then looked at which areas would be most affected if the temperature increased to that level. They defined “unprecedented heat” zones as areas where the average temperature throughout the year, counting all seasons, is 84.2 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.

Science Hub reported that 40 years ago, only 12 million people worldwide lived in regions with temperatures surpassing that heat. Today, thanks to the warming we’ve already experienced, about 60 million people are affected.

The study found that by 2100, 2 billion out of the world’s projected population of 9.5 billion will live in areas with an average temperature higher than 84.2 degrees Fahrenheit. The most affected areas will be countries around the equator, noted Science Hub: India, Nigeria, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Pakistan.

Why is this heating worrisome?

The hotter the world gets, the more heat waves, droughts, and wildfires we experience. As Science Hub reported, studies have also linked the rising heat to everything from more contagious diseases to lower labor efficiency and more conflict between people.​

“That’s a profound reshaping of the habitability of the surface of the planet, and could lead potentially to the large-scale reorganization of where people live,” study author Tim Lenton, director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter, told ScienceAlert.

What’s being done?

Science Hub reported that if the global community reaches the goal set by the Paris Agreement, the affected population would be limited to half a billion people instead of 2 billion.

In the meantime, individuals can protect themselves from heat waves with these tips for cooling off.

Earth’s mysterious core may be encased by an ancient ocean floor that has mountains 5 times taller than Everest

Business Insider

Earth’s mysterious core may be encased by an ancient ocean floor that has mountains 5 times taller than Everest

Marianne Guenot – September 14, 2023

An illustration shows the Earth's core wrapped in red matter representing a newly discovered structure that may be wrapping around the Earth's core. Above the core, seismic waves from earthquakes are shown bouncing off of the structure to the detector places in Antartica.
An artist’s impression inspired by scientists’s discovery that a structure, made of ancient ocean, might wrap around the Earth’s core, shielding the mantle from its intense heat.Edward Garnero and Mingming Li at Arizona State University
  • Scientists have created a detailed map of the geology beneath Earth’s southern hemisphere.
  • They believe an ancient ocean floor may be wrapped around our planet’s mysterious core.
  • The new findings could explain why the core is so much hotter than the mantle above it.

There’s a lot we still don’t know about our planet’s core, which lies about 1,800 miles beneath our feet.

Now, a new study has revealed a discovery that could help researchers piece together its mysterious inner workings.

The research suggests that Earth’s core could be encased in an ancient ocean floor that features giant mountains five times the size of Mount Everest.

Researchers made the discovery after creating the most detailed map yet of the geology beneath our planet’s southern hemisphere.

If confirmed, this “recycled” ocean floor would act almost like a “blanket” that keeps heat trapped inside the core, Samantha Hansen, study lead author and geological sciences professor of the University of Alabama, told Insider in an email.

Earth is like a giant recycling plant

Scientists have long been confused by the boundary between the mantle and the core.

About 2,000 miles under the Earth’s surface, conditions shift dramatically: temperatures shoot up drastically, and the rock composition changes abruptly from a solid bulk of rock in the mantle to gooey iron sludge inside the core.

To understand more about this boundary, scientists have looked at seismic waves coming from earthquakes. As these waves spread from the epicenter of the quake through the inside of our planet, they provide information about the Earth’s innards.

“Admittedly, to most people, seismic data is probably not that interesting to look at.  It is a wiggly line that varies with time. But that wiggly line contains an amazing amount of information!” Hansen told Insider.

Researchers are shown wearing heavy snow gear in an icy environment in Antartica. A plane is seen in the background, fitting with landing gear for snowy terrain. The reserachers are seen lowering a heavy orange box — containing seismic detectors — into a hole in the snow.
Researchers are seen placing their seismic equipment under the snow in Antarctica. Scientists have found looking at data from earthquakes that there may be a layer of ancient ocean floor coating the Earth’s core.Lindsey Kenyon

Scientists had previously spotted areas of so-called ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZ) — areas where the seismic waves unexpectedly slow down — near the core-mantle boundary.

But they had only found patches of this unknown structure.

Hansen and her team headed to Antarctica to understand how far that ULVZ could go. They placed seismic equipment at 15 stations on the continent and collected data for three years.

They found the ULVZ was much more widespread than previously thought. Indeed, it was present “over a significant portion of the southern hemisphere,” suggesting this layer coats the entirety of the core, said Hansen.

The layer may come from recycled bits of ancient ocean floor

Hansen and her team used modeling to understand how this layer may have appeared.

For them, the answer was clear: the layer was likely bits of ancient ocean floor, gobbled up over the ages from the surface as tectonic plates stretched and squished together.

“As the results came together – both from the seismic work and the geodynamic models – it was quite exciting to see the similarities between them,” she said.

“Together, they make a compelling case for subducted oceanic materials being the main source of ULVZs,” she said.

Due to its composition, the ocean floor is a perfect candidate for this layer, Hansen said. It’s very dense, which means it is heavy enough to sink through the mantle. It’s also likely to become more heat resistant as it faces intense pressure deep inside the Earth.

This could explain why the changes seen at the boundary between the core and the mantle are so stark.

“By having this additional layer blanketing the core, the heat won’t be able to escape as easily/readily,” Hansen said.

It’s quite important to understand how heat moves around and escapes the core. The core’s temperature variations control “where we have mantle plumes,” the pools of lava that create archipelagos like Hawaii, for instance, said Hansen.

It also influences the Earth’s magnetic field, she said.

Before we can add this new layer to science books, more research will be needed to rule out other explanations.

Some have suggested that the ULVZ could be due to another, completely unknown, material, generated by the unique chemical reactions that could be happening at the boundary.  Others think the bizarre seismic data seen at the boundary is due to a specific state of melting we don’t quite understand, said Hansen.

Still, if Hansen’s team is correct, this could provide a new chapter to the story of Earth’s formation.

“If ULVZs are associated with these subduction materials, they could help us get a better understanding of how the overall plate tectonics cycle works and how our planet has evolved through time,” said Hansen.

The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advance in April.

Earth is outside its ‘safe operating space for humanity’ on most key measurements, study says

Associated Press

Earth is outside its ‘safe operating space for humanity’ on most key measurements, study says

Seth Borenstein – September 13, 2023

FILE - A woman is silhouetted against the setting sun as triple-digit heat indexes continue in the Midwest, Aug. 20, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. Earth is exceeding its “safe operating space for humanity” in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
A woman is silhouetted against the setting sun as triple-digit heat indexes continue in the Midwest, Aug. 20, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. Earth is exceeding its “safe operating space for humanity” in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE - Haze blankets the main business district in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 11, 2023. Earth is exceeding its “safe operating space for humanity” in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three, one being air pollution, are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)
Haze blankets the main business district in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 11, 2023. Earth is exceeding its “safe operating space for humanity” in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three, one being air pollution, are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)

Earth is exceeding its “safe operating space for humanity” in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said.

Earth’s climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, nutrient pollution and “novel” chemicals (human-made compounds like microplastics and nuclear waste) are all out of whack, a group of international scientists said in Wednesday’s journal Science Advances. Only the acidity of the oceans, the health of the air and the ozone layer are within the boundaries considered safe, and both ocean and air pollution are heading in the wrong direction, the study said.

“We are in very bad shape,” said study co-author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. “We show in this analysis that the planet is losing resilience and the patient is sick.”

In 2009, Rockstrom and other researchers created nine different broad boundary areas and used scientific measurements to judge Earth’s health as a whole. Wednesday’s paper was an update from 2015 and it added a sixth factor to the unsafe category. Water went from barely safe to the out-of-bounds category because of worsening river run-off and better measurements and understanding of the problem, Rockstrom said.

These boundaries “determine the fate of the planet,” said Rockstrom, a climate scientist. The nine factors have been “scientifically well established” by numerous outside studies, he said.

If Earth can manage these nine factors, Earth could be relatively safe. But it’s not, he said.

In most of the cases, the team uses other peer-reviewed science to create measurable thresholds for a safety boundary. For example, they use 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the air, instead of the Paris climate agreement’s 1.5 degrees (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial times. This year carbon in the air peaked at 424 parts per million.

The nine factors are intermingled. When the team used computer simulations, they found that making one factor worse, like the climate or biodiversity, made other Earth environmental issues degrade, while fixing one helped others. Rockstrom said this was like a simulated stress test for the planet.

The simulations showed “that one of the most powerful means that humanity has at its disposal to combat climate change” is cleaning up its land and saving forests, the study said. Returning forests to late 20th century levels would provide substantial natural sinks to store carbon dioxide instead of the air, where it traps heat, the study said.

Biodiversity – the amount and different types of species of life – is in some of the most troubling shape and it doesn’t get as much attention as other issues, like climate change, Rockstrom said.

“Biodiversity is fundamental to keeping the carbon cycle and the water cycle intact,” Rockstrom said. “The biggest headache we have today is the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis.”

University of Michigan environmental studies dean Jonathan Overpeck, who wasn’t part of the study, called the study “deeply troubling in its implications for the planet and people should be worried.”

“The analysis is balanced in that it clearly sounds a flashing red alarm, but it is not overly alarmist,” Overpeck said. “Importantly, there is hope.”

The fact that ozone layer is the sole improving factor shows that when the world and its leaders decide to recognize and act on a problem, it can be fixed and “for the most part there are things that we know how to do” to improve the remaining problems, said Carnegie Mellon chemistry and environment professor Neil Donahue.

Some biodiversity scientists, such as Duke’s Stuart Pimm, have long disputed Rockstrom’s methods and measurements, saying it makes the results not worth much.

But Carnegie Mellon environmental engineering professor Granger Morgan, who wasn’t part of the study, said, “Experts don’t agree on exactly where the limits are, or how much the planet’s different systems may interact, but we are getting dangerously close.”

“I’ve often said if we don’t quickly cut back on how we are stressing the Earth, we’re toast,” Morgan said in an email. “This paper says it’s more likely that we’re burnt toast.”