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*By Julie Peterson Vegan “cheesecakes” with cacao, fruit, nuts, and seeds are a sweet creation.  @Martin Gaal/ Shutterstock There is something about the end of a meal that begs a touch of sweetness. While some people reject desserts for fear of added pounds—or blood sugar spikes—others won’t leave the table without a treat. Perhaps there is a better way to serve desserts so that guests feel great and grateful with no regrets.   Come explore alternatives to refined white sugar on this tour celebrating the sublime and divine. Get the current scoop on nutrients, environmental impact, taste profiles, uses, and more.   The Story of Sugar Sugarcane was once a wild perennial grass. Around 10,000 years ago, it was domesticated  in New Guinea for use as animal fodder and human consumption. Sugar was initially extracted from sugarcanes by chewing and extracting fluids via water. About 2,500 years ago, the first chemically refined sugar appeared in India. The process gradually spread to China, Southeast Asia, and eventually the world over.   Today, sugarcane is the world’s largest crop, with 1.86 billion metric tons produced in 2021, according to Statista.com. Most of it is grown in tropical regions like Brazil, India, China, Pakistan, Mexico, and Thailand. Sugar beets are also used to produce refined white sugar. They are easily grown in temperate climates such as France, Germany, and the United States. Farmed sugarcane plants.  Photo: Pexels The purification process to make granulated white sugar is lengthy, and the sugar—whether it comes from cane sugar or beet sugar—is stripped of fiber, minerals, and vitamins.     Not only is sugar non-nutritive, large amounts of sugar in one’s diet is linked to adverse health consequences, such as obesity, tooth decay, inflammation, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. As a result, the American Heart Association  recommends limiting daily added sugar intake to 25 grams (6 teaspoons) for women and 36 grams (9 teaspoons) for men.    The purification process to make granulated white sugar is lengthy, and the sugar—whether it comes from cane sugar or beet sugar—is stripped of fiber, minerals, and vitamins.   The bad news is that sweetened foods are undeniably delicious and hard to resist, plus they stimulate the appetite and cause cravings for more sweet foods (i.e., sugar is addictive).   The good news is that anyone can limit the super-processed white sugar when they cook by substituting sweeteners that are more sustainably produced, less processed, and closer to the natural source.   Let’s break them into two categories: (1) nutritive and (2) non-nutritive. (1) Natural Nutritive Sugar Substitutes Oatmeal cookies sweetened with bananas.  ©ALLEKO/ iStock Fruit:  Naturally sweet and full of nutrients, apples, bananas, berries, dates, and other fruits can be substituted for sugar in many dishes. Ditch the table sugar and top cereal with natural sugar in the form of strawberries and blueberries and get antioxidants at the same time. Applesauce and mashed bananas can often replace sugar and oil in cookie and quick bread recipes (try these Oatmeal Cookies  using banana as the sweetener). Finally, when craving sugar, eat a piece of fruit and see if it satisfies. The natural sugar in fruit is absorbed more slowly by the body than white sugar because fruit also has fiber. Try baking sugar-free sweet potato brownies. Photo: Pexels Vegetables:   They aren’t called sweet potatoes for nothing! Beets, butternut squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes pack a sweet punch. They can be grated and used in sauces to balance acidity in place of  white sugar; they can also be blended into breads, layered into lasagna, or eaten as dessert. Oven roast any of these vegetables to bring out the sugars and munch a treat while getting in one’s daily dose of veggies. If a chocolate treat is desired, try baking these simple sugar-free brownies  that use sweet potatoes. Raw Honey: Bees make honey using nectar from flowers. Raw honey retains small amounts of vitamins and minerals and holds antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. It’s a great substitution for white sugar in coffee or tea, and it doesn’t increase blood sugar quite as much as sugar. It has been used for medicinal purposes through the ages, and some say eating local honey can help with seasonal allergies. Honey is one of the most sustainable natural sweeteners because it can be produced on one’s own property. But if beehives in the backyard aren’t on the bucket list, the best choice is buying raw honey from a local, small-scale producer. Local, raw, organic honey is one of the most sustainable natural sweeteners.  Photo: iStock   Maple Syrup or Coconut Sugar:   How are these two the same, one might ask? They are both made from tree sap. Maple syrup pours readily from maple trees and is boiled down to that thick delicious pancake topping. Coconut sugar is dehydrated coconut sap (and no, it does not taste like coconut). Both options are considered whole food sweeteners with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They are also very sweet and have more calories, carbs, and sugar than dieters will likely want to grapple with; however, its glycemic index—a measure of how food affects blood sugar levels—is lower than white sugar. Tip: Pour a bit of molasses over buckwheat pancakes.  Photo: Pexels Blackstrap Molasses:   A byproduct of the white sugar purification process, molasses contains iron and B vitamins. The thick texture of molasses can add moisture to baked goods, and its flavor adds depth to sauces. It is a bit high in calories and carbs, but it falls in the middle of the glycemic index, which means it’s better than white sugar. Molasses definitely has a niche as a sugar substitute and in a recipe like Boston Brown Bread , where molasses and raisins provide the sweetness, cooks may find blackstrap molasses a pantry staple. (Molasses fan hint: try just a little on buckwheat pancakes.) (2) Natural Non-Nutritive Sugar Substitutes Monk Fruit:   Also known as Luo Han Guo, monk fruit is crushed and the juice dehydrated to result in a dried powder. It’s a natural calorie-free sweetener with a glycemic index of zero, so it doesn't raise blood sugar levels. This is because monk fruit contains mogrosides, a natural compound that the body doesn't recognize as sugar or carbohydrates, and yet it’s about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.   It can be used in baked goods, beverages, and other foods; however, it should not be used for canning due to the lack of research on how the sweetener will affect the pH of canned goods.    Be sure to look for pure monk fruit sweetener [because] many monk fruit products contain additional ingredients, such as dextrose or erythritol, to balance the sweetness, but they can have adverse effects on health.   Be sure to look for pure monk fruit sweetener .  Many monk fruit products contain additional ingredients, such as dextrose or erythritol, to balance the sweetness, but they can have adverse effects on health. Erythritol and xylitol are manufactured “sugar alcohols” (neither sugar nor alcohol) that can cause  gastrointestinal irritation. More concerning are recent studies that suggest that erythritol may cause increased risk  of blood clotting, stroke, heart attack, and death in people at an elevated risk for developing heart disease.   The only drawback to pure monk fruit sweetener  is perhaps the cost. It is difficult to grow, expensive to import, and not readily available on grocery shelves. For a sugar-free dessert made with monk fruit sweetener, these Blueberry Cheesecake Bars  use just one bowl and seven ingredients. Sugar-free blueberry cheesecake bars can be made with monk fruit sweetener. Pexels Stevia:  Stevia is made from the South American plant Stevia rebaudiana. It is 200 to 400 times as sweet as sugar, so only use a tiny amount to sweeten foods. It's also calorie-free and safe  for people with medical conditions like high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.   It’s popular as an addition to dressings, drinks, marinades, and sauces. Some people report that stevia leaves a bitter aftertaste in baked goods, even though there are stevia products specifically for baking. When cooking with stevia, look for recipes that are developed with measurements for stevia, such as these chocolate brownies .   As with monk fruit, stevia often has other chemical sweeteners (such as erythritol) added to it that may cause health issues.   Stevia is a fairly low-impact crop as it requires less land and processing than sugarcane. That being said, China is the biggest producer, and production methods there are not well documented. It is known that sustainable agriculture is not widespread  in China. Yacon syrup with tubers.  Photo: iStock Yacon Syrup:   Native to South America, yacon syrup comes from a root vegetable. The syrup is low-sugar and low-glycemic while containing nutrients and prebiotics. It is said to taste something like honey, with less sweetness. Yacon syrup makes a great substitute for table sugar or honey and only has about 20 calories per tablespoon compared to honey’s 64. The fiber in yacon can help relieve constipation and, alas, this means it can cause diarrhea in some people (especially those with irritable bowel syndrome or disease). Because the fiber is not digestible, it can also cause stomach upset and gas. Before becoming concerned about the side effects , though, consider that yacon syrup may be difficult to find and expensive.  Allulose:  Allulose  is derived from plants such as figs, kiwis, and raisins. It’s found in very small quantities, so it is rare; however, new technology is being developed to extract this sweetener on a larger scale.   Allulose doesn’t cause blood sugar spikes and can be used in recipes for baked goods, drinks, and frozen desserts without the increased calories of white sugar. Allulose doesn’t cause blood sugar spikes and can be used in recipes for baked goods, drinks, and frozen desserts without the increased calories of white sugar. Additionally, allulose does not have any of the unpleasant aftertastes associated with other natural sweeteners like stevia.   Unfortunately, human brains don’t know the difference between non-nutritive, nutritive, chemical, or any other sweetener. They just light up with the ding-ding-ding of the sugar reward and cause the desire for more sweets later.   But who says diners need a cookie or cake to call it dessert? Sun-dried persimmon is a naturally sweet snack in Asian cuisines and Nice Cream is a personal favorite dessert. Sliced persimmons from Vietnam. Pexels Strawberry-Banana Nice Cream Ingredients: 1 large banana 1 cup strawberries Directions: Cut the banana and strawberries into chunks and freeze. Once frozen, pulse in a food processor until smooth, scraping the sides when necessary. Pour into dishes and enjoy. Most any fruit works well with bananas in Nice Cream, a favorite at the author’s house.  Photo: Pexels For alternative or substitute sweeteners, try them in small amounts to be sure they agree with the body. Follow recipes created for sugar substitutes instead of doing a 1:1 replacement. As always, look for organic products to ensure purity. The Fairtrade  Mark is the only label that indicates a product  is certified by the most recognized ethical labeling system in the world. Overall sustainability is a little more difficult to ascertain, but one can start looking at how foods affect the environment and people at sites like Food Print  or Sustainable Brands .   Since humans probably won’t lose their affinity to sweets any time soon, new natural sweeteners will likely continue being found and developed. As plants are further explored and identified, there may be sweet and sustainable ingredients at the local market that haven’t been dreamed of yet. Perhaps there will be a candy mushroom or some sort of delectable seaweed discovered that revolutionizes the sugar industry. People can already grow their own herbs and spices at home; imagine being able to grow one’s own source of the perfect alternative sugar—wouldn’t that be sweet? *Julie Peterson   writes science-based articles about holistic health, environmental issues, and sustainable living from her small farm in Wisconsin.

As Deaths From ‘Superbugs’ Rise, Health Authorities Float Multiple Strategies   *By Richard Park Overuse  of antibiotics in animal agriculture can lead to anti-microbial resistance (AMR) in humans. istock   Antibiotics are among the greatest medical advances of the 20th century. Their widespread use has revolutionized healthcare, increased life expectancy worldwide, and saved countless lives by effectively treating bacterial infections that were once fatal.   However, this progress is threatened by the rise of “superbugs”—antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and, more broadly, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among various microscopic pathogens, including viruses and fungi.   As a result, medical researchers, drug developers, and pharmaceutical companies are joining with health authorities and NGOs to find effective approaches for controlling AMR. Their strategies include developing new treatments, encouraging the prudent use of antibiotics, and finding ways to stop the spread of resistant pathogens.   History of Antibiotics For millennia, diseases and life-threatening conditions caused by bacterial infection, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, sepsis, and meningitis, were often deadly. In the mid-1300s, bubonic plague caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis , led to the Black Death , a pandemic that killed 75 million to 200 million people worldwide. But in the 20th century, these lethal diseases were turned into treatable conditions. The modern era of antibiotics began in 1928 with the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming. This event marked the beginning of a new class of drugs capable of effectively and selectively killing bacteria or inhibiting their growth.   By the 1940s, antibiotics had become widely available. Penicillin dramatically reduced mortality rates from wound infections during World War II and successfully treated the ancient disease of gonorrhea . In addition to curing existing infections, antibiotics enabled major medical advancements, such as safer surgeries and complex medical procedures, by greatly reducing the risk of post-surgical infections. Because of their remarkable effectiveness and cheap manufacturing costs, antibiotics have also become widely used in agriculture to improve animal health and productivity.   The World Health Organization (WHO) now lists germ resistance as one of the world’s leading health challenges, and millions of deaths are already attributed to microbial pathogens that do not respond to the classes of drugs that once destroyed them.   By the mid-20th century, antibiotics were hailed as miraculous wonder drugs. However, their overuse and misuse paved the way for the dangerous rise of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria or superbugs. The World Health Organization (WHO) now lists  AMR as one of the world’s leading health challenges, and millions of deaths are already attributed to microbial pathogens that do not respond to the classes of drugs that once destroyed them.   Development of Antibiotic Resistance The struggle over antibiotic resistance was not unexpected.   The first widely recognized instance of a superbug was the emergence of penicillin-resistant strains of the bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus , shortly after the mass use of penicillin during World War II. In 1959, a groundbreaking new antibiotic, methicillin, was developed to combat penicillin-resistant bacteria. But by 1961, strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus  (MRSA) were already identified. These sobering developments demonstrated the uncanny ability of bacteria to rapidly adapt to antibiotics and highlighted the necessity of cautious use and continued development of new treatments. Scanning electron micrograph of a human neutrophil ingesting MRSA. NIAID/ Wikimedia Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria—through genetic mutation, natural selection, and transfer of genetic elements—develop mechanisms to survive the drugs designed to kill them. The more antibiotics are used, the greater the selective pressure on bacteria, thereby accelerating their ability to develop resistance.   Eventually, the antibiotic eliminates the original bacterial strain, but the mutant bacteria that are impervious to the antibiotic remain and continue to multiply uncontrollably. When that happens, the once-miraculous antibiotic is no longer effective. A harmful bacterium that becomes resistant to several antibiotics has become a superbug.   Looming Global Health Crisis The increasing prevalence of AMR and superbugs poses a serious global health crisis because it could return humanity to a situation in which common infections could again be life-threatening.   According to a study published in 2022 in The Lancet and referenced in the CDC's 2019 Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report , bacterial AMR was estimated to have directly caused 1.27 million deaths globally in 2019.  Another study published in The Lancet  in 2024 found that, worldwide, an estimated “4.71 million deaths… were associated with bacterial AMR” in 2021 alone.   Although the 2024 study found that AMR-linked deaths fell by 50% among children under age 5 from 1990 to 2021, the death rate during the same period rose by more than 80% for adults 70 years and older.    Deaths from MRSA have doubled since 1990 to about 680,000 in 2021, the 2024 Lancet study said. “Resistance to carbapenems [broad-spectrum antibiotics] increased more than any other antibiotic class,” it added.   In 2016, the Review on Anti-Microbial Resistance projected that AMR deaths could surpass 10 million annually by 2050.   In 2016, the Review on Anti-Microbial Resistance  projected that AMR deaths could surpass 10 million annually by 2050 if the threat is not fully addressed. In addition, the World Bank estimates that AMR could reduce the global GDP by nearly 3.8% by 2050​.   Strategies to Deal with AMR In response to the burgeoning threat to humanity posed by AMR, a concerted global effort is underway. Various strategies have been implemented to combat this crisis, ensuring the continued efficacy of antibiotics and preserving public health. These strategies include:   Antibiotic stewardship. Antibiotic use is optimal when prescribed only when necessary to treat a known infection. Education and training for healthcare professionals can counter attitudes about prescribing antibiotics unnecessarily and encourage patient follow-up to ensure dosage compliance and track treatment outcomes. Surveillance and monitoring. Surveillance systems are necessary to track current antibiotic-resistant infections and to monitor trends over time. The WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have established extensive surveillance networks. Development of new antibiotics. Given the rise in resistance, there's an urgent need for new classes of antibiotics. However, the pace of antibiotic discovery has slowed in recent decades, partly because antibiotics are less profitable for pharmaceutical companies compared to other drugs. Governments and health organizations need to incentivize antibiotic research and development through grants, subsidies, and public-private partnerships. Research and development of novel therapies. Alternative treatments to fight bacterial infections are being explored. Some of these include antimicrobial peptides, immunotherapies, and phage therapy, in which key viruses are deployed to attack certain bacterial pathogens. Reducing agricultural antibiotic use. Stricter regulations on the use of antibiotics in agriculture are essential. Policies should include improving animal welfare and hygiene to prevent infections and reduce the need for antibiotics. Global collaboration. AMR is a global issue requiring international cooperation. Global efforts, like the WHO’s Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, can help combat resistance on an international scale. Global Efforts Underway This year, the WHO designated a full week  in November to AMR awareness and to sound warnings about the threat  of AMR.   Meanwhile, other global gatherings have been convened this year to address the AMR threat:   United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting (HLM) In September, the United Nations General Assembly  held the second High-level Meeting (HLM) on Antimicrobial Resistance. Nations committed to reducing the global number of deaths associated with bacterial AMR (4.95 million deaths in 2019) by 10% by 2030. The main thrust of the HLM’s “political declaration” was to set targets, such as “strengthening governance mechanisms for the response to AMR, using a One Health  approach, addressing AMR in human, animal and plant health.” “There is a great appetite to address the slow global, regional and national response that needs to be accelerated to address AMR and its dire effects on the One Health ecosystem,” said Dr. Mirfin Mpundu, director of ReAct Africa , at a UN plenary meeting held in February.     “There is a great appetite to address the slow global, regional and national response that needs to be accelerated to address AMR and its dire effects on the One Health ecosystem.” AMR global abundance map. Wikimedia World AMR Congress Also in September, the World AMR Congress  was held in Philadelphia, with speakers from government, science, and industry addressing AMR mitigation strategies “from fundamental research to commercial production.” Speakers included representatives from the US CDC and Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the AMR Action Fund , and CARB-X . ReAct Africa Regional AMR Conference In July, ReAct Africa co-hosted  the 2024 regional AMR annual conference in Zambia, under the theme “Global Accountability for AMR response: Investing in priorities for Africa.” The conference, funded in part by Wellcome Trust  and the Ministry of Health Zambia, facilitates cross-learning to strengthen “the development and implementation of AMR National Action Plans (NAPs)” in African nations. BEAM Annual AMR Conference In March, BEAM  (Biotech companies in Europe combating Antimicrobial Resistance) held its 8th Annual AMR Conference 2024, calling its gathering “the one-stop shop to catch up with the latest trends in the development of AMR products, by covering scientific, regulatory, financial and policy topics.” The BEAM conference typically brings together over 70 small to medium-sized European biotech and diagnostics companies that work to develop innovative products that fend off antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In addition, the BEAM Alliance supports “policies and incentives in antimicrobial research and development in Europe.” Such international collaboration, exemplified by global action plans and high-level commitments, underscores the recognition of AMR as a shared health challenge that transcends national borders. With millions of lives already affected and projections warning of increasing AMR-associated mortality rates if left unchecked, the need for a unified global response is called for. By implementing prudent antibiotic stewardship, developing novel treatments, administering stricter agricultural policies, and fostering strong international cooperation, there is real hope that the AMR crisis can be effectively mitigated. *Richard Park   has 29 years of experience as an infectious disease scientist in academia and the biotechnology industry. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Johns Hopkins University, and has held academic positions at Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, and Yale University. Dr. Park was also Director of Research at Nuclixbio, Inc. He is currently a junior research faculty member at Yale University.

Arctic Sea Ice Volume and Area on Downward Trends Since 1980   As one of two poles contributing to Earth’s magnetic field and the unofficially recognized home of Santa Claus, the North Pole is part of the arctic, with its tundra, polar bears, and marine life. Below are some facts on this mysterious, icy pole.   The North Pole is warmer than the South Pole partly due to how the North Pole is surrounded by land (North America and Asia), while the South Pole is completely surrounded by water, allowing for a persistent circumpolar current  that blocks it from warmer waters. However, the North Pole still has average temperatures  of 32°F in the summer and -40°F in the winter.  At the North Pole, the sun rises and sets once a year —leading to six months of continuous daylight (midnight sun) and six months of continuous night (polar night).  According to National Geographic , no one lives in the North Pole, but drifting stations (such as by Russia) are sent every year for research. One discovery from these drifting stations was the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater mountain chain from Siberia to Ellesmere Island, Canada.  Polar bears rarely migrate to the North Pole, given its unpredictable habitat. There were about 26,000 bears  in 2023, living primarily above the Arctic Circle.   According to the Polar Science Center   of the University of Washington, arctic sea ice volume at the end of 2023 was 14,122 cubic kilometers (about 3,388 cubic miles). This was still higher than the 2017 low point of 12,800 cubic kilometers (about 3,070 cubic miles).  NASA  reported that the annual September “minimal arctic sea ice area”—a term for the extent of summer sea ice—has been decreasing by 12.2% per decade. In 1980, the area was 7.54 million square kilometers (about 2.91 million square miles); in 2024, it was 4.28 million square kilometers (about 1.65 million square miles).   Sources:   https://climatekids.nasa.gov/polar-temperatures/     https://www.americanoceans.org/facts/north-pole-vs-south-pole/     https://nsidc.org/learn/parts-cryosphere/arctic-weather-and-climate     https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/north-pole/     https://www.fws.gov/species/polar-bear-ursus-maritimus     https://psc.apl.uw.edu/research/projects/arctic-sea-ice-volume-anomaly/    https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/arctic-sea-ice/?intent=121

Civil Initiative Leads Efforts to Restore These Clear, Freshwater Ecosystems *By Yasmin Prabhudas River Bure in Norfolk County, England.  Photo: National Trust, Justin Minns Southern England is home to unique freshwater ecosystems known as chalk streams. The name is derived from the rivers’ unusual chalk bedrock, formed during the Cretaceous period .    Teeming with flora and fauna, England’s chalk streams are at risk from pollution, runoff, and other kinds of degradation. However, initiatives such as the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) Chalk Stream Restoration Group  is meeting the challenge of restoring these rare ecosystems.   Origins of Chalk Streams Charles Rangeley-Wilson , chair of the CaBA Group, notes how chalk “accreted” or accumulated on the bed of the ocean over 60 million or 70 million years in very warm seas. A tiny, single-celled creature called coccolithophores , a type of phytoplankton, became encased in plating of calcium carbonate known as coccoliths .   These creatures “rained down onto the floor of the sea and formed a sort of deep porridge-like ooze, … and then that became chalk when the sea level retreated. … And then, by various forms of plate tectonic activity, those beds of chalk were forced to the surface,” he explains.                                                                                                 While some limestone may have been formed in a similar way, older forms have been buried under subsequent layers of geology, making it much harder as it comes under pressure, says Rangeley-Wilson. The UK is home to chalk formations such as Hooken Cliff.  ©Andrew/ Flickr  ( CC BY 2.0 ) “Chalk is very, very soft,” he states. “And it’s almost completely soluble. If you put a piece of chalk into a bucket of water, let it soak through, and then took it out and just exerted the tiniest pressure on it, it would just crumble to nothing. So, the glaciers obviously destroyed most of the chalk and washed it away, leaving behind the chalk hills that form our chalk streams.”   This makes chalk useful as a writing tool for chalkboards as well as in agriculture to change the soil’s acidity and as a construction  material.   England’s Unique Chalk Streams There are about 300 chalk streams in the world, about 85% of which are in southern England, says Stewart Clarke , PhD, who is with the National Trust, a CaBA Group partner, and is a specialist on national freshwater, catchments, and estuaries.   There are about 300 chalk streams in the world, about 85% of which are in southern England, says Stewart Clarke, PhD.   He credits the climate in the south of England and other parts of northwestern Europe, like northern France and Denmark, for creating the ideal conditions for chalk streams.   “You can go to lots of parts of the world where there is chalk, but the valleys tend to be dry,” he explains. Chalk streams emerge when “there’s enough water around during the winter months to give you that groundwater,” he says. “So, it’s a particular set of circumstances the chalk geology gives you in ... southern England, northern France, that creates this unique habitat, and that’s why they’re so rare globally.”   Havens of Biodiversity Chalk streams have a distinct ecology. “In a natural situation, there’s this steady flow because the water coming out of the bedrock, [meaning] they tend to have a very even temperature regime,” says Clarke. As chalk streams are cool in summer but warm in winter, they can support certain species.   Clarke adds: “The filtering process also means that the water comes out very, very clean and very clear because it’s been forced through very tiny pores in the chalk bedrock.”   Because the water is clear, “lots of light gets to the bottom of the stream; we get plants like water crowfoot […] and now those plants growing submerged in the chalk stream create a set of habitat conditions in the river as well,” he says.   Salmon, brown trout and grayling, chub, barbel, roach, as well as the white-clawed native crayfish can all be found in chalk stream rivers. The habitat is also ideal for mammals, such as the water vole, otter, and beaver.   Clear, clean gravels are important for fish spawning and for invertebrates, like mayflies. Salmon, brown trout and grayling, chub, barbel, roach, as well as the white-clawed native crayfish can all be found in chalk stream rivers . The habitat is also ideal for mammals, such as the water vole, otter, and beaver. A water vole.  Photo: Peter Trimming ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) Chalk streams are also carbon stores. The flood plains create the perfect conditions for the formation of peat , the remains of dead vegetation.   If peat dries out, carbon “gases off into the atmosphere,” but if it remains wet, carbon stays trapped within the peat, Rangeley-Wilson says.    Pollutants Endanger Chalk Streams This rare ecosystem is in danger, however. Water companies are guilty of abstraction, which involves draining the rivers for purposes such as irrigation and drinking water.   Pollution is another problem. Clarke states: Treated and untreated sewage from water companies “is one part of a bigger picture around sewage. In rural areas, lots of people are not on main drainages.” Thus, the septic tanks that people have in their homes “can be contributing, if they’re close to the river,” he says.   As reported by BBC  earlier this year, there are major concerns about sewage pollution in the River Kennet, one of England’s most important chalk streams and one of the largest tributaries to the Thames River.   Other pollutants, such as nutrients and sediment from agriculture as well as herbicides, also cause problems.   According to charity Wildfish Conservation’s 2021 Riverfly Census Report , about 26,200 tons of phosphorus are lost into the aquatic environment each year. Chemical pollution can form “an unknown, poisonous cocktail which can devastate freshwater biodiversity,” the report says. Sediment can also clog gills of fish, kill invertebrates and fish eggs, block out light, and bind to chemicals, causing them to remain in rivers for longer.   But that’s not all. Over time, rivers have been straightened and deepened, which means habitat variability has declined. Clarke says if rivers are altered, “you’ve effectively got a straight channel, just with water in it; you’ve got less opportunity for plants to take up and soak up nutrients.” And water is carried away much faster.   River Restoration Work The CaBA Group has established an agreed -upon set of actions to tackle these problems in Norfolk and Lincolnshire. The communities, water companies, industry, the government, environmental regulators, and individuals are all involved.   Rangeley-Wilson claims: “The restoration work has to be three-dimensional. … You’ve got to address the water quality, the pollution, … the over-abstraction and … the fact that we’ve changed the rivers physically.”   Rangeley-Wilson claims: “The restoration work has to be three-dimensional. … You’ve got to address the water quality, the pollution, … the over-abstraction and … the fact that we’ve changed the rivers physically.” River Stiffkey in 2016.  © Hugh Venables  ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) For instance, in Norfolk, long sections of rivers like the Nar and Stiffkey have been moved from their channels and re-established as meandering rivers across the flood plain. In collaboration with Norfolk Rivers Trust, a 2-kilometer section  of River Stiffkey was reunited with its floodplain in 2023, and results have shown improved numbers of fish and a diversity and abundance of insect and plant life.   Restoration work on the River Bure , also in Norfolk, included working with farmers to create a track to redirect silt-laden water into a silt trap. They then clean water through the installation of dams and an outfall pipe to collect and hold water, so sands and soil can “drop out . ” Deadwood and overhanging vegetation were also removed to provide wildlife and plant habitat.   Silvergate  stream runs through the Blickling Estate before joining River Bure. Photo: National Trust, Justin Minns Elsewhere,  Chalk Streams of Lincolnshire have been improving rivers around the Lincolnshire Wolds . The River Rase had been widened and diverted to power a water mill. Silt had eroded the banks, and there were overhanging trees. Recent restoration work involved narrowing the river by repairing the banks and protecting them with coir (fibrous material from coconut husk) matting, and introducing a chalk lining, along with a mix of gravel.   Volunteers Play a Key Role Volunteers help create new channels using diggers, monitor water quality, and collect samples to build up a picture of the species living in the river—for example through the Riverfly Monitoring Initiative.   Volunteers help create new channels using diggers, monitor water quality, and collect samples to build up a picture of the species living in the river—for example through the Riverfly Monitoring Initiative . Jade Oliver , who has volunteered at the Lincolnshire Chalk Streams project, says mornings consisted of conducting a Riverfly survey  at one of the chalk streams in the Lincolnshire Wolds.   She adds: “Waders on, it’s time for a kick sample, after which we identify the invertebrates found to use as a guide to the chalk stream’s health.” A volunteer takes a sample collection from River Bure.  Photo: Natural Trust Oliver also logs in to images from night vision cameras to establish the whereabouts of mammals, such as the water vole and otter.   “One of my favorite things about volunteering is learning all about the amazing local wildlife found around our rare and beautiful chalk streams, teaching other people to love it too, and getting hands on and out and about in this incredibly varied and rewarding volunteer role,” she concludes. *Yasmin Prabhudas  is a freelance journalist working mainly for non-profit organizations, labor unions, the education sector, and government agencies.

Smackover Formation’s 5+ Million Tons Could Exceed Global Demand USGS . Public Domain A potential “ game-changer ”   lithium reserve has been discovered in southwestern Arkansas, says a recent US Geological Survey (USGS) study. There are an estimated 5 million to 19 million tons of lithium reserves in the Smackover Formation, a Jurassic-era limestone and dolomite area that stretches across six states from Texas to Florida. If commercially harvested from the Smackover oilfield brines, the lithium would contribute greatly to US domestic energy resources, the USGS  said. “Using these predicted lithium maps with reservoir parameters and geologic information, we calculated that there are 5.1 to 19 million tons of lithium in Smackover Formation brines in southern Arkansas, which represents 35% to 136% of the current US lithium resource estimate,” wrote Katherine J. Knierim, lead author of the USGS study published in Science Advances  in September. The discovery also has global implications. “The low-end estimate of 5 million tons of lithium present in Smackover brines is also equivalent to more than nine times the International Energy Agency’s projection of global lithium demand for electric vehicles in 2030,” the USGS  said. According to Statistia.com , global demand for lithium is projected to rise “from 720,000 metric tons in 2022 to 3.1 million metric tons” in 2030. Much of this growth is due to the market for electric vehicles batteries. The new lithium discovery, which was done using a combination of water testing and machine learning, was described as a “ treasure trove ,” by industry newsletter Supply Chain Dive . It could also be “a game changer” for the US domestic production of lithium, the newsletter said. Currently, 60% of the world’s lithium  is produced in Chile, Argentina, China, and in Nevada’s Clayton Valley in the US. Currently, the US relies on imports for more than 25% of its lithium. Lithium and Brine According to the study, the Smackover lithium reserves are dissolved in brine at concentrations as great as 400 milligrams of lithium per liter of brine, or more. The lithium was brought to the surface within brines that were produced as waste streams from oil, gas, and bromine operations. The researchers calculated that 5,000 tons of dissolved lithium were brought to the surface within brines in 2022, citing the opportunity of potentially extracting a valuable commodity from a waste stream. Though lithium recovery technologies from brines are still in the testing and implementation phase , Metal Tech News reports that Mobil Lithium (a division of ExxonMobil), Albemarle Corp. (the world's largest lithium producer), and Standard Lithium Ltd (a US Department of Energy grant recipient for its South West Arkansas lithium project), are all working to develop the commercialization of direct lithium extraction technology . Albemarle Corporation Lithium Operation at Silver Peak, Nevada.  © Wikimedia /formulanone ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) "We have the technology that can extract lithium with fewer carbon emissions,” said Patrick Howarth, lithium global business manager at ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions. Stanford Direct   reported  in August 2024 that Stanford University researchers had developed  a lithium extraction method that promises to be far cheaper and more environmentally friendly than current brine extraction methods using drying ponds. The USGS Study Backstory In the USGS-led study, the researchers used “published and newly collected brine lithium concentration data” to train a “ random forest machine-learning model ” and create a continuous spatial map of predicted lithium in Smackover Formation brines. These were then used “with geologic and reservoir characteristics—such as formation thickness, porosity, and water-to-oil ratios” to calculate the mass of lithium in the brines. Prior to the USGS-led study, scientists were already aware of the presence of lithium in oil field brine waste streams at various concentrations and volumes at locations within the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, for instance, and were aware that using   machine-learning models trained with “explanatory” geologic variables might help predict groundwater chemistry. There had also been investigations into how brine geochemistry can help predict lithium in the Smackover Formation, but, according to the USGS-led team, that investigation had “only predicted lithium at brine sample locations.” According to the team, two of the five most important variables for predicting lithium in Smackover brines were dissolved hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations in the brines and the depth of the brine samples. They said other geologic information may become important for predicting lithium quantities and can be tested in future modeling efforts. Sources: https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/unlocking-arkansas-hidden-treasure-usgs-uses-machine-learning-show-large https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adp8149   https://www.sciencealert.com/a-giant-hidden-source-of-lithium-was-just-discovered-in-arkansas https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/massive-lithium-discovery-california-could-boon-us-supplyhttps://www.techspot.com/news/105252-massive-lithium-reserve-discovered-arkansas-could-power-global.html#:~:text=A%20joint%20study%20led%20by%20the%20US%20Geological,for%20lithium%20in%20car%20batteries%20nine%20times%20over . https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/unlocking-arkansas-hidden-treasure-usgs-uses-machine-learning-show-large https://www.sciencealert.com/a-vast-untapped-source-of-lithium-exists-in-the-us https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/lithium-smackover-formation https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/21fd/b1311d417523bd7e4fcd70bca39573688d23.pdf

Soil is essential for life on this planet by storing water and nutrients, providing habitats, and taking up and releasing gases (such as oxygen and greenhouse gases). In light of  World Soil Day  on December 5, first designated in 2014 to focus on the importance of healthy soil and sustainable management of soil resources by the UN General Assembly, below are some facts on this life-giving substance that covers 25% of the Earth.   Ideal soil  is said to be 50% pore space (for water and air), 5% organic matter (organisms, sugars, and plant matter), and 45% minerals (such as sand, silt, and clay).  Soil is considered a renewable resource but with an extremely slow formation rate—one inch of topsoil can take hundreds to over a thousand years  to form depending on the region.  Soil is categorized into six horizons  (layers) given by a single letter: O, A, E, B, C, and R. For simplicity, “O” is the organic layer (with humus), “A” is topsoil, and “R” is bedrock.  Earthworms  are beneficial to soil by increasing its porosity (for water), excreting materials with beneficial microbes, and consuming dry matter and mixing it with the soil.  The US Department of Agriculture has a Soil Textural Triangle  to help determine the type of soil based on percentage of clay, silt, and sand found once separated. For example, soil that is 30% sand, 35% clay, and 35% silt is clay loam.  To raise awareness about the importance of creating and maintaining healthy soil, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) established World Soil Day in 2014.  According to  the FAO, “33% of the Earth’s soils are already degraded and over 90% could become degraded by 2050.”    Sources:   https://digital-media.fao.org/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=2A6XUVAWZV15&PN=1&WS=PackagePres    https://extension.sdstate.edu/what-makes-healthy-soil    https://www.soils.org/about-soils/basics/   https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/what-are-soils-67647639/    https://extension.psu.edu/earthworms   https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/Texture%20and%20Structure%20-%20Soil%20Health%20Guide_0.pdf    https://www.fao.org/about/meetings/soil-erosion-symposium/key-messages/en/

Wildlife Populations Declined 73% Over 50 Years  Over the last 50 years, wild vertebrate populations have dropped by 73%, the World Wildlife Fund said in a 2024 report   released in October. The group collected 34,836 population trends on 5,495 vertebrate species—including mammals, marine life, and birds—in its “Living Planet Index” (LPI). Although many wildlife populations are stable or increasing, the global LPI estimated, on average, populations fell by 73% between 1970 and 2020, with an annual decline of 2.6%.  Declining species include the African forest elephant (78% to 81% decline between 2004 and 2014) due to poaching for ivory trade, Chinook salmon (88% decline from 1970 to 2020) due to dams blocking cold water needed for their survival, and Chinstrap penguin (61% decline on average between 1980 and 2019) due to changes in sea ice and shortages of krill.  Increasing species include the European bison (0 to 6,800 increase from 1950 to 2020) from large-scale breeding, reintroductions, and translocations, as well as the mountain gorilla (3% increase per year between 2010 and 2016) from close monitoring and intervention services.  The LPI for marine species indicated a 56% decline due to declining fish stocks. Meanwhile, the LPI for freshwater species saw a decline of 85%, caused by changes to their habitats.   For terrestrial species (such as animals living in forests, deserts, and grasslands), the LPI indicated a 69% decline.  By region, Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest decline of 95% for its 3,936 populations and 1,362 species, primarily due to conversion of grasslands, forests, and wetlands; overexploitation of species; and introduction of alien species. Meanwhile, Europe and Central Asia had the lowest decline of 35% for its 4,615 populations and 619 species.  The dominant drivers of change were habitat loss/degradation, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive species/genes, and disease.  Typically, habitat loss/degradation had the greatest impact in all regions across almost all species categories.**    Note: The breakdown of species and populations is given below.    Marine  Terrestrial  Freshwater  Total   Populations  16,909  11,318  6,609  34,836   Species  1,816  2,519  1,472  5,807*   *There is overlap between some species, making the total above 5,495.  **Species categories are amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals, and reptiles.     Source:    https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/5gc2qerb1v_2024_living_planet_report_a_system_in_peril.pdf

* By Mark Smith The Aspen Art Museum in Aspen, Colorado, incorporates wood.   Wikimedia Since the dawn of civilization, humans have used wood as a primary building material. Strong, bountiful, easy to shape—its suitability for construction is well-established. Other materials, such as steel and concrete, have long supplanted wood as staples of the building and architecture sectors, but both steel and concrete leave enormous carbon footprints. Concrete  is used so abundantly worldwide that it was estimated  to be responsible for about 8% of the world’s total CO2 emissions by The Royal Institute of International Affairs in 2018. Steel use, which involves mining, processing, and smelting, is estimated to account for more than 7% of CO2 emissions , according to Carbon Chain , a company that tracks carbon emissions in the global supply chain. In comparison, timber has multiple benefits when it comes to sustainability and eco-friendly construction. Wood captures and stores carbon, is renewable, and produces minimal waste. It is also biodegradable, and efforts to source it are fairly easy. In addition to its green credentials, wood is also versatile, strong, and flexible. It also provides good insulation and is easy to maintain. ‘Mass Timber’ Movement Not surprisingly, wood is once again becoming a desired building source for architects. A “mass timber” movement is growing, especially in Europe, according to a 2022 Axios article  titled, “The race to build wooden skyscrapers.” “Today, the tallest mass timber building is the 25-story Ascent skyscraper in Milwaukee, completed in 2022,” Kurt Kleiner wrote in Knowable Magazine  in October. As of 2022, Kleiner added, “there were 84 mass timber buildings eight stories or higher either built or under construction worldwide, with another 55 proposed.” A report from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat  said 70% of projects were in Europe, with another 20% in North America. Modern wood construction uses new methods—such as cross-laminated timber ( CLT ), in which multiple layers of wood are glued together—to help stabilize tall buildings without using concrete. One example is the stunning Sara Kulturhus Center in Sweden. Designed by White Arkitekter and standing at around 75 meters (246 feet), the timber development features a 20-story tower made of prefabricated timber modules that the company said will be “carbon negative” over its lifetime. The timber used within the building sequesters twice as much carbon as the embodied carbon emitted during the building's construction.  Campus of The Sara Kulturhus Center, designed by White Arkitekter.  ©Jonas Westling Built from a combination of CLT   and glued laminated timber (glulam)—where smaller layers of timber are glued together to make a larger, single component—the project in the city of Skellefteå includes a theater, gallery, library, museum, and hotel. The use of wood is something its designers say is a huge boost to the sustainability agenda. The Sara Kulturhus Center theater in Sweden, designed by White Arkitekter.  ©David Valldeby “The primary benefit of using wood structures is the lower environmental impact,” says Oskar Norelius, partner at White Arkitekter. The firm is one of Scandinavia’s leading architectural studios, and its vision is that by 2030 all its architecture will be regenerative and climate neutral. Its impressive portfolio includes Stockholm Wood City , slated to be the world’s largest urban development project constructed entirely from wood and spanning 250,000 square meters (2.7 million square feet). “The greenhouse gas emissions related to the production and construction of a timber structure are significantly lower compared to conventional solutions, meaning less embodied carbon.” “The greenhouse gas emissions related to the production and construction of a timber structure are significantly lower compared to conventional solutions, meaning less embodied carbon,” said Norelius. The need for change is driven by environmental challenges facing the world, said Dean Maltz, managing partner at the Shigeru Ban Architects New York office. The company was founded by Shigeru Ban, a Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Japanese architect, humanitarian, and author of Timber in Architecture  (2022). The company has designed temporary timber housing for earthquake victims, along with some of the world’s most iconic wooden buildings. Projects have included the Swatch and Omega Campus in Biel, Switzerland, and the recently completed Toyota City Museum in Japan—the first museum to receive ZEB (Net Zero Energy Buildings) Ready certification. The Swatch and Omega Campus in Biel, Switzerland.  ©Nicolas Grosmond Maltz—who counts the Aspen Art Museum as one of his favorite structures that incorporates wood—said: “I think sustainable practice is becoming more prevalent now due to the extreme weather conditions suffered the world over and the recognition that we, as responsible citizens, must do something about it. As buildings account for 40% of the carbon expended globally, through sustainable practices, we as architects can support carbon reduction.” Good for Earth and Soul But beyond the environmental benefits of wood construction, there are those associated with mental and physical health. The term “concrete jungle” is a byword for ugly cityscapes that can make people feel worse about their immediate environment. Wooden structures, on the other hand, are known to slightly decrease cortisol (stress) and modestly decrease blood pressure. “Wood is also an attractive material. The tactility, warmth, and softness add value to buildings inside and out,” Norelius said. “Studies have also shown that timber structures have a positive effect on occupiers—students concentrate better, patients in hospital heal faster, and office workers have lower stress levels and heart rates.” “Studies have also shown that timber structures have a positive effect on occupiers—students concentrate better, patients in hospital heal faster, and office workers have lower stress levels and heart rates.” Deforestation Fears A material that can reduce carbon emissions, produce stunning buildings, and improve health and mood sounds ideal. It also prompts critical questions, such as where will all that wood come from? This can lead to fears that increased demand for wood for construction could contribute to deforestation. Mjøstårnet by Voll Arkitekter, at 18 stories, is recognized as the world’s second-tallest timber building.  Wikimedia The Earth loses an area the size of Portugal  in forests every year, with only around half of that offset by growing more trees, according to OurWorldinData.org. The key, said Norelius, is to ensure the wood used is part of a circular economy and that timber taken for building projects is replaced. “Sustainable forestry is key for sustainable construction,” he said. “In terms of carbon, replanting ensures that the forest is not eradicated. In Sweden, the forest is larger in 2024 than it was in the 1920s, and it is growing year by year.” But he also cautioned that deforestation is not simply about the removal of trees. “Forests are a habitat for many species, a space for recreation, and in many cases, a space with strong cultural connotations for local communities. The impact of forestry on biodiversity, land use and other potentially conflicting interests must be taken into consideration.” Maltz agrees, but said it was a “myth” that greater timber use in construction will destroy that resource. “The reality is that the greater use of wood is beneficial to the planet if the wood is harvested through sustainable practices,” he said. He added that by using sustainably sourced wood with certifications, like FSC  (Forest Stewardship Council in America) or PEFC  (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification in Europe), the industry can ensure the viability of forests and their ability to thrive. “In our Swatch/Omega Campus, comprising over 500,000 square feet of construction with three buildings, we utilized 160,000 cubic feet of certified wood from Switzerland. Despite the enormity of the project, the timber utilized takes 10 hours to regrow in the Swiss forests,” he said. (The 10-hour figure is based on “the total annual growth of Swiss forests volumetrically,” according to a 2024 Texas Architect   article.) Fire Risks Building tall structures with wood is not without its difficulties, including one that once made building with wood unpopular—fire. Think of the Great Fire of London in 1666 , where a small blaze in a bakery near Pudding Lane tore through the city due to all its wooden houses. The blaze destroyed 13,000 homes, 87 churches, and St. Paul’s Cathedral. A royal proclamation that followed stated: "No man whatsoever shall presume to erect any house or building, whether great or small, but of brick or stone." The fire ended the widespread use of wood for building in that city, as anyone found to be flouting the rules would be punished by having their house pulled down. “The benefit of wood is that wood burns at a predictable rate as compared to concrete and steel. That predictability allows wood to be used as a fire protective layer.” “The challenge with wood is that it burns,” said Maltz. However, “ the benefit  of wood is that wood burns at a predictable rate as compared to concrete and steel. That predictability allows wood to be used as a fire protective layer,” he said. When an exposed wood surface burns, it creates a charred layer that is naturally protective, acting as insulation, retarding heating of the core. Mass timber construction facilitates fire resistance  by means of the insulation of inner layers. The solid block construct technique of mass timber inhibits air flow and fire spread. According to an article in A rch Daily, a 7-inch thick (about 18 cm) wall of plaster-coated CLT lasted 3 hours and 6 minutes in  a fire test,  one hour longer than fire code requirements. Moisture  in tall wood buildings is also a concern due in part to potential deterioration from fungus and termites. Architects design heat and ventilation systems to prevent moisture from accumulating, use treated wood, or surround wood at the ground level with mesh or other physical barriers. Another challenge in building with wood is acoustics. While wood structures are marvelous for concert halls, anyone who has lived in an old wooden home knows it creaks and groans. This is because a light, rigid material with a smooth, compact surface doesn’t have the ability to suppress noises like voices and footsteps, according to a 2021 article  on premanufactured wooden homes. “That said, all these issues are manageable if tackled with an innovative mindset,” said Norelius. When the process for the Sara Kulturhus Center began, some of these solutions were not yet available, so we adopted innovative and holistic strategies to implement integrated solutions.” Cultural Shift While mainstream architects are looking more at the use of wood, certain parts of the globe—such as Scandinavia and Japan—have long used it. In Japanese culture, the term “ mottainai ,” roughly translated as “what a waste!” is a concept that encourages people to reduce waste and recycle. “Shigeru Ban Architects has been engaged in sustainable design since the beginning of our practice, even before sustainability started being embraced at large by the design community. Our position on sustainability inherent to our work comes from a desire to not make waste,” said Maltz. Norelius added: “What is interesting is that timber construction is evolving differently across countries due to local building culture, regulations and legislation. For instance, Belgium is very advanced in natural materials that complement timber very well, while Germany has developed an array of hybrid structural systems. The key to decarbonizing the construction industry lies in cross-border knowledge-sharing and exchange of experiences.”   What Does the Future Hold? Maltz said he is excited about how the use of wood is developing. “As for now, most buildings in mass timber are residential and commercial buildings. I am also excited about the opportunity to develop more types of structures for project types not traditionally using wood, such as concert halls and laboratory buildings,” he said. In Kleiner’s article, posted in November in JSTOR Daily ,  he wrote, “Though still relatively uncommon, it is growing in popularity and beginning to pop up in skylines around the world.” As industries look to the future as well as the past for solutions to the most pressing climate and sustainability issues, it is becoming clear that wood can once again become a staple of construction. *Mark Smith is a journalist and author from the UK. He has written on subjects ranging from business and technology to world affairs, history, and popular culture for the Guardian, BBC, Telegraph, and magazines in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Countries Need ’Quantum Leap in Ambition’ to Meet Climate Goals, warns UN Environment Programme  The UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 15th  Emissions Gap Report 2024  is sounding alarms about the world’s faltering efforts to limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C (2.7°F) in the next decade, as declared by the Paris Agreement. Instead, current policies have led to record high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2023, UNEP said in its new report, which is called, “No more hot air…please!” and urges redoubled efforts to meet GHG goals.  Total global GHG emissions in 2023 were 57.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (GtCO2e). This was a 1.3% increase  from 2022.  From this total, the power sector (such as electricity production) was the highest contributor at 15.1 GtCO2e (26%). This was followed by transport (8.4 GtCO2e or 15%), agriculture (6.5 GtCO2e or 11%), and industry (6.5 GtCO2e or 11%).  In terms of countries, China was the highest contributor of GHG emissions at 16,000 MtCO2e (megatons of carbon dioxide-equivalent or 30% of the total). The US was second, with 5,970 MtCO2e or 11%, and India at 4,140 MtCO2e or 8%.  In terms of regions, the G20 (excluding African Union) contributed 40,900 MtCO2e or 77% of the total. In contrast, the African Union (55 countries) added just 3,190 MtCO2e or 6% while the EU had slightly more emissions at 3,230 MtCO2e, also 6% of the total.  Nations should “collectively commit” to cutting 42% of annual GHG emissions by 2030 and 57% by 2035, and “back this up with rapid action,” said the UNEP report, which called for “a quantum leap in ambition” and “accelerated mitigation action in this decade.”  Source: United Nations Environment Programme (2024). “Emissions Gap Report 2024: No more hot air … please! With a massive gap between rhetoric and reality, countries draft new climate commitments.” Nairobi. https://doi.org/10.59117/20.500.11822/46404

Prof. Steven Cohen Sees Two-Track Solution in Individual and Organizational Buy-In *By Robert Selle  Classrooms have become a front line in the movement for environmental stewardship.  Photo: Pexels /Max Fischer Solving environmental woes is going to take a mass movement, says Columbia University Professor Steven Cohen, PhD, who has long stressed the importance of the one-two punch of individual consciousness and government/corporate action on environmental issues.   “If we're going to have sustainability, it's organizations, businesses, nonprofits, universities, schools, eventually households that have to act,” according to Cohen, who is former executive director, and now senior advisor, of Columbia University’s Earth Institute. Although he was speaking these words in 2015 to an audience at the Ross School in East Hampton, New York, his views today haven’t changed.    “To some considerable degree, we have to translate these [sustainability] concepts into behaviors at the organizational level and at the individual level,” he added, noting that media messages and elementary school curricula can be enlisted in the effort.   In a recent interview with The Earth and I , Cohen was sanguine about the dawn of an unprecedented global environmental movement. It is a movement to ameliorate and eventually reverse environmental decline, and it is already here, albeit still in its growth stage, he says.   “A concern for environmental sustainability has entered our culture,” says Cohen, who has taught public management and environmental policy at Columbia since 1981.   “The environmental issue has gone from the fringes of our consciousness to the center.”   Evidence for this is everywhere, he says. “Young people are allowing it to impact their consumer choices and the organizations they are willing to work for. ... The environmental issue has gone from the fringes of our consciousness to the center.” Capturing energy from the sun through solar panels has become part of the world’s culture.  Pexels /Kindel Media Sustainability Woes Despite being a buzzword, sustainability is an often-hazy idea.   The UN’s Brundtland Commission, in its 1987 report “Our Common Future,” defin ed sustainability as “ development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”   Today’s economic development, however, while effectively meeting the needs of the present in many well-off countries, is increasingly recognized as being unsustainable. In the words of the Commission, development today is “compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”   [W]ithout individual and family-level buy-in, regulations imposed from the halls of government power can spark collective resistance and protests. Prof. Steven A. Cohen.  Photo: ParulVyas, CC BY-SA 4.0 Cohen believes emphasis on households and individuals is important because without individual and family-level buy-in, regulations imposed from the halls of government can spark collective resistance and protests. In terms of environmental vision, goals, and improvement, not only are individual and household levels important, but government leadership is essential.   Some environmental leaders push for systemic change. For instance, Berlin, Germany, Professor Anders Levermann of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, has called for “a new industrial revolution” to combat environmental problems.   “Personal sacrifice alone cannot be the solution to tackling the climate crisis,” Levermann told  The Guardian   in 2019. “[R}eaching zero emissions requires very fundamental changes. Individual sacrifice alone will not bring us to zero. It can be achieved only by real structural change, by a new industrial revolution. Looking for solutions to the climate crisis in individual responsibilities and actions risks obstructing this.”   In his comments to The Earth & I , Cohen noted that human beings are biological creatures who depend on having a healthy natural world from which to draw water, food, and air. “We don’t get that without functioning ecosystems,” he says. Batteries need to be recycled to keep them from poisoning landfills.  Photo: Unsplash /John Cameron With 8.3 billion people on Earth—which is growing to probably 9 or 10 billion—"we cannot go back to nature,” Cohen says. “There's too many of us, and there's not enough nature. But we have to figure out a way to live on this planet without destroying nature.”   [T]he vital question is, “how do we manage this high-throughput economy without destroying the planet?”   So, the vital question is, “how do we manage this high-throughput economy without destroying the planet?”   The Need for More Education To aid the environment, Cohen told his audience at the Ross School, “We have to learn a lot more about the planet.”   “[At Columbia’s] Earth Institute,” he continued, “we have environmental scientists from all over the world, all over America, trying to understand the basics of what the impact of human behavior on ecology is—what is happening to our ecosystems.   “You would think we know a lot about it,” Cohen says. “We know a lot more than we did 20, 30, 40 years ago, but our ignorance is still fairly profound. We need to learn a lot more than we know.” Participating in a local cleanup day is a great way to make new friends.  Photo: Pexels /Ron Lach But even without perfect environmental knowledge, there are clearly things individual citizens can be educated and incentivized to do to promote the health of the planet’s water, air, and earth. Among them:   Avoiding excessive use of fossil fuels by, for example, biking to work (see: Electric Bikes: Revolutionizing Personal Transportation ). Using energy-efficient appliances and light fixtures at home and in the office (see: Deep Energy Retrofit—Total Residential Makeover Raises Energy Efficiency ). Adding solar panels to home, apartment building, and/or office building (see: ‘Balcony Solar’: Harnessing Power from Sunlit Spaces ). Saving table scraps and adding them to a backyard or community compost heap (see: Stopping the Food Waste—An Introduction to Composting ). Recycling batteries and electronic devices and accessories at one’s local waste facility (see: Recycling Gives Lithium-Ion Batteries a ‘Second Chance’ ). Participating in a cleanup of a street, neighborhood, or local park—increasing one’s number of friends as a bonus in the process (see: Japan’s Kamikatsu: A Model of Zero-Waste Living ). Saving water, an increasingly scarce commodity in many areas (see: When the Water Dries Up ).  One can conserve water by turning off the tap to brush teeth or shave.  Photo: Pikwizard   These and other kinds of individual, community, and industrial actions around the world inspire hope for the future.   A few years ago, Cohen wrote in a Columbia University newsletter, called “State of the Planet,” that, for individuals to be incentivized to become creators of eco-beneficial change, their thought processes and values need to be respectfully addressed so they can decide on their own to take responsibility to shift their behavior.   “Individual change and collective system-level change are interconnected,” he wrote.   Moreover, he told The Earth & I,  “People who have grown up on a warming, crowded, polluted planet know they must change the way we produce and consume.” *Robert R. Selle is a freelance writer and editor based in Bowie, Maryland.

Total Global Hidden Cost of Agrifood was $11.6 Trillion in 2023   In November, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization  published its 2024 State of Food and Agriculture  report on global “agrifood” or the entire food supply chain. The report highlights the hidden costs—environmental, social, and health—of these systems in 2023, based on the US dollar’s purchasing power parity in 2020. An estimated 1.23 billion people are employed in agrifood systems.  The global hidden cost of agrifood was estimated to be almost $11.63 trillion, of which about $2.95 trillion (25% of total) were environmental.   Of the of hidden environmental costs, about $1.45 trillion (49.2%) were from nitrogen (emissions and runoff), $1.26 trillion (42.7%) were from emissions of greenhouse gases, and almost $237 billion (8%) were from land-use change. The latter refers to any kind of human modification of land.  Countries with the highest hidden costs from nitrogen were China ($306 billion), Brazil ($173 billion), and US ($26.4 billion).  The three countries with the highest hidden costs from greenhouse gas emissions were China ($1.82 trillion), US ($1.44 trillion), and India ($1.33 trillion).  Meanwhile, countries with the highest hidden costs from land-use change were Australia ($114 billion), US ($26.4 billion), and Indonesia ($24.8 billion).   Some countries had hidden benefits  from land-use change, e.g., return of forest or other land—with the top three being Kazakhstan ($6.07 billion), Argentina ($6.02 billion), and China ($3.63 billion).    Sources:   FAO. 2024. The State of Food and Agriculture 2024 – Value-driven transformation of agrifood systems .  Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd2616en    https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/75774813-6846-48fc-810d-9e35fa3c8b68/content

Tons of Bread Wasted Each Year: Danish Company ‘Eat Wasted’ Recycles Loaves into Pasta *By Gordon Cairns Preparing pasta from bread waste.  ©Eat Wasted Around the world, bread is a beloved staple of billions of people’s diets, with an estimated 100 million tons produced each year. Many millions of people prayerfully give thanks for their “daily bread” while others use it as a way of describing the money in their pockets. Yet, an astonishing amount of bread is thrown away every year—around 1.2 million tons a year in the UK, according to a 2013 study.  “Bread has been one of the highest food waste categories,” said a 2022 study  in Molecules  journal. Efforts to reuse or recycle bread products are underway, but much of the moldy, inedible excess still ends up in landfills or is otherwise discarded. Enter a Danish company called Eat Wasted , which is turning stale bread into pasta. Since 2022, the company founded by Leif Friedmann and Jorge Aguilar has reused 50,000 slices of stale bread (1400 kg or about 1.5 tons) to produce 100 kg (220 lbs.) of pasta every week. Demand by local restaurants and cafes in the Copenhagen area is so great that the company could sell more, but their small pasta factory is already at capacity. Bread Demand and Waste The idea of recycling bread into another food comes at a time when countries are struggling with food waste. A report published in 2023 found for every five loaves of bread  bought in the United Kingdom, one was thrown away unopened. A more recent report found British consumers put £620 m illion ($785 million) worth of uneaten bread into the garbage every year simply because it hadn’t been used in time. And UK shoppers are not alone in being so wasteful: In Sweden , a 2021 study calculated that bread waste made up the largest part of all of that country’s total food waste, with each person annually discarding 8 kg (17.6 lbs.) of their daily bread. Discarded bread is part of a bigger picture. The United Nations Environment Program me reports that more than 1 billion tons of food was wasted in 2022, with more than half being generated by households (632 million tons). Incredibly, every year, each person throws away the average body weight of an adult human in food. The UN agency believes food waste to be a failure of the market, with more than $1 trillion lost every year. It is also an environmental failure, generating an estimated 8% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions while filling up the equivalent of nearly 30% of the world’s agricultural land. And yet, as bread is thrown away, people go hungry. [L]andfills remain the most common destination for bread waste—in the US, around 800 million bread loaves are thrown in the trash, according to a 2024 study. Obviously, stale, moldy bread cannot be sent to anyone in need, but better management of bread products could lead to lower grain prices. Africa is reliant on wheat imports, as it spends up to $75 billion annually importing 100 million tons of cereals. Wheat, instead of being processed into bread products that are often wasted, could instead be transported to a part of the world where it would not be wasted. Converting Bread Waste into Pasta Others are looking at what to do with all of that uneaten bread. Some excess bread is converted into substances such as fuels, chemicals, and enzymes through fermentation . Some is converted to animal feed, as has been done for centuries , the Molecules  study noted. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of bread also go to food banks and pantries, where it has a short shelf life. But landfills remain the most common destination for bread waste—in the US, around 800 million bread loaves are thrown in the trash, according to a 2024 study  “Breaking bread: Assessment of household bread waste incidence and behavioural drivers” in the Journal of Cleaner Production . Eat Wasted's pasta.  ©Eat Wasted Eat Wasted  project manager Evalotta Spangenberg said that their business of recycling bread is not a new concept. “This is an old technique used by Italian grandmas. Making something out of waste is not something our generation came up with,” said Spangenberg. “This is an old technique used by Italian grandmas. Making something out of waste is not something our generation came up with.” But what is new is that the company has upscaled from grandmother’s kitchen. Rather than using household crumbs, they gather old bread from an industrial bakery and freeze it. It is then converted into breadcrumbs and then flour before being used in the pasta recipe making up 25% of the whole ingredients. It took a lot of experimenting to produce the perfect product, Spangenberg said, adding that some earlier versions were “horrible.” “We have now created a recipe where the taste and texture is very close to normal pasta. I think it has a great texture and a nice bite. People say it is super-close to normal pasta.” Eat Wasted plans to expand its product beyond the wholesaler directly to Danish consumers and then deliver it around the world. “We would like to be a staple on the supermarket shelves to allow people to buy a more sustainable, mission-driven product. That’s the overall mission, but it will take a lot of small steps to achieve,” she said. The Danish start-up further wants to use its products to bridge the gap between food waste and food-insecure people. Spangenberg explained how over the first two years of the company’s existence they have been feeding people pasta dinners. “We started hosting weekly community dinners, which started with 10 people showing up, and it grew until we had a 100 every week. The community became like a little restaurant where people could exchange different ideas about ways of living in a more sustainable way,” she said. The company has expanded by introducing their pasta to tables all over the world at special events and now wants to expand by creating a bread pasta factory in Italy to make casarecce pasta, a Sicilian pasta with short, edged noodles. She added: “Our core vision is donating food to the local community and to the people who are food insecure a proportion of everything we sell.” Eat Wasted’s casarecce pasta.  ©Eat Wasted Bread Recipes at Home However, people don’t need to buy Eat Wasted’s pasta to cut down on bread waste—they can actually make it in their own kitchen without too much difficulty. A recipe from the Nolla restaurant in Helsinki,  mixes 100 grams of stale sourdough bread with the same amount of pasta flour and two eggs, making enough pasta for two.  [T]here are plenty of other alternative dishes made from out-of-date bread that have been part of classic cuisine from countries across the world [including] … gazpacho, … croutons to have with onion soup, … [and] bread pudding dessert. And there are plenty of other alternative dishes made from out-of-date bread that have been part of classic cuisine from countries across the world. Spanish cold soup gazpacho uses stale white bread to thicken a mixture of tomatoes, cucumber, olive oil, and peppers. The French turn their old baguettes into croutons to have with onion soup, while in England, bread pudding dessert is made from slices of day-old bread. Gazpacho with bread.  ©oomni/ Flickr  ( CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ) Buying Less Equals Less Bread Waste The simplest method for not wasting bread is not to let it become stale in the first place, which apart from reducing food waste will also save money. Surely, many people come home from the bakery with fresh bread only to find there is still half a loaf sitting in the kitchen; yet checking what food is in the cupboard before grocery shopping shouldn’t take long. When leaving a loaf  of bread at home, store it in paper rather than plastic, as this will delay the development of mold. Unsurprisingly, storing bread in a bread bin will also keep it fresh for longer, but perhaps less obvious is the importance of where it is kept. While putting the bin within easy reach on top of the fridge can be handy, this will cause the bread to dry out due to the heat from the appliance. Instead, keep it in a cool dark corner. When bread does go stale though, there are many recipes to choose from to transform that bread into something delicious. Choose a recipe and try it at home! *Gordon Cairns   is a freelance journalist and teacher of English and Forest Schools based in Scotland.