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The war in Ukraine has raised fresh concerns about nuclear war. Louisiana State University (LSU) research brings us up-to-date on what would occur in hypothetical scenarios. Nuclear War in Hypothetical Scenarios According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, nine nations control the world’s 13,000+ nuclear weapons. According to the LSU study, the first month following nuclear detonation would see average global temperatures plunge by about 13°F, a bigger temperature change than occurred during the last Ice Age. Rapidly dropping ocean temperatures would expand sea ice by more than 6 million square miles and 6 feet deep in places, possibly blocking major ports, such as Beijing's Port of Tianjin. Urban firestorms could send particles into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The resultant smoke would last three times longer than volcanic aerosols. In a US vs Russia scenario, shortwave radiation could be reduced by 70%, and the global average surface temperature (including land) could decline by 7°C (44.6°F) at first, reaching a peak anomaly of −10°C (14°F) in the third year. Following each of the nuclear war scenarios, a decade-long solar radiation reduction and cooling event would occur. In all nuclear war scenarios, temperature modifications and biogeochemical profiles would continue for decades, more likely for hundreds of years, due to long recovery times for the deep ocean. Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220707100953.htm

The Anglican (Church of England) Bishop of Oxford has added a new environmentally friendly vow to the church’s baptismal rite. According to Anglican Mainstream, the Rt. Rev. Steven Croft added a sixth question to the liturgy that calls on the newly baptized to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the Earth, with the response being: With the help of God, I will. Speaking on June 11, 2022, to the church’s Diocesan Synod, the bishop read the following scripture in support of his stance: Psalms 24 The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, The world and all those who live in it For he has founded it on the seas And established it on the rivers. The bishop recalled his father’s gardening expertise and how it helped him to understand the role of human beings in caring for the natural world: Part of our role is to tend creation; the first and recurring image of paradise in scripture is a beautiful garden. The word "paradise" itself is a Babylonian word meaning walled garden. A garden is not an entirely natural thing. It does not happen by itself. Sources: Anglican Mainstream, Diocese of Oxford

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was founded fifty years ago (1972) as an outcome of the first global environmental conference, held that year in Stockholm, Sweden. To celebrate its golden anniversary, UNEP released an update on its important milestones. UNEP Milestones To date, the UNEP has 193 member states. In 1973, the MARPOL treaty was signed to address ocean pollution from ships and CITES was signed to curb or control the international trade of wild species. All in all, UNEP served as a “docking station” for 15 multilateral environmental agreements related to everything from air and water pollution to species conservation. On June 5, 1974, UNEP initiated the first World Environment Day. UNEP moved into its present home on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, in 1975. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), founded by UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. UNEP member states signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 to limit global warming to 1.5°C (equivalent to 2.7°F). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were also introduced in 2015. UNEP released its Making Peace with Nature Report in 2021. UNEP celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden. Source: https://www.unep.org/environmental-moments-unep50-timeline

Americans throw away millions of tons of food waste every year, much of it going to landfills. Imagine the benefits if all of it were composted. Composting Food Scraps Compostable food scraps and yard waste make up more than 30% of what Americans throw away. In 2018, 35 million tons of food scraps went into US landfills. The residential sector generated about 25 million tons of that waste—about 66% of residential food waste. Fifteen percent of residential food waste was burned, i.e., to generate energy, and 15% was sent to sewage or wastewater treatment. The EPA estimated that only 3% of residential food waste was composted in 2018, or 2.6 million tons of food scraps. Curbside composting collection programs served 6.1 million US households in 2017. Compost enriches soil, holds moisture in soil, suppresses plant diseases and pests, lowers the need for chemical fertilizers, encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria and fungi in the soil, and reduces methane emissions (from landfills). Sources: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/usda-food-waste-infographic.pdf, https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home

Europeans can monitor the air quality in over 340 of their cities through the European city air quality viewer. The data for ranking the European cities was collected from over 400 monitoring stations over the past two years. Air Quality in Europe Air quality in 2020-2021 was good in only 11 European cities, having levels of particulate matter PM2.5 below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) health-based guidelines. Of the 343 European cities included in the viewer, 97% were above the WHO guidelines. In contrast, the European Union’s (EU) annual limit for particulate matter PM2.5 was only exceeded in the three most polluted cities, those being Nowy Sacz in Poland and Cremona and Padova in Italy. Starting in 2020, under the National Emission reduction Commitments (NEC) directive, EU Member States saw a transition to more stringent national emission reduction commitments to reduce emissions for five air pollutants. 2020 saw just under half of Member States meet all their national commitments to cutting air pollutant emissions. Reducing emissions of ammonia from agriculture is the biggest challenge. 11 Member States still need to cut their emissions levels. On the bright side, the annual EU emission inventory report 1990-2020 showed a downward trend in emissions (1990-2020) of six air pollutants: carbon monoxide, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulphur oxides and particulate matter. Source: https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/air-pollution-which-european-cities

City noise can be distracting and irritating. It can also lead to health problems. Noise Pollution in the City Can Be Deadly According to the UNEP, noise pollution “leads to” 12,000 premature deaths each year in the European Union (EU). Acceptable noise levels are surpassed in many global cities including Bangkok, Damascus, Algiers, and New York. “Recreational noise” (i.e., music concerts) caused hearing damage in 21% of Mexico’s high school students. Kaltenbach et al., showed that exposure to daytime aircraft noise surpassing 50 dBA was associated with adolescent learning difficulties. Parra et al., found that health-related (HR) “quality of life” was diminished by road traffic noise for people over 60 in Bogota, Columbia. Ana et al., found that children in Nigeria who attended a school near a noisy road reported “fatigue and lack of concentration” as their prominent noise-related health complaint. UNEP reports that noise of 60 dB can raise heart rate and blood pressure. It can also cause a lack of sleep. Sources: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/deadly-wildfires-noise-pollution-and-disruptive-timing-life-cycles https://www.noiseandhealth.org/article.asp?issn=1463-1741;year=2013;volume=15;issue=64;spage=153;epage=159;aulast=van https://www.unep.org/interactive/frontiers-report-2022/frontiers/en/index.php#cities

The Indian government’s trade ministry has identified environmental technology as the “best prospect industry sector” for the country going forward. Serious environmental problems—India is the largest emitter of sulfur oxides in the world—and recently adopted policies are fueling growth in this sector. (India launched its third edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index and Dashboard in June 2021) India’s overall environmental technologies market, including goods and services, is estimated to be worth over $23 billion. India’s environmental tech market is the sixth largest world market, with subsector world rankings at ninth for air pollution control and second for wastewater/water management. (About 40% of industrial water and 63% of municipal wastewater is discharged, untreated, into nearby rivers, lakes and streams.) Total imports of environmental technology equipment were $931 million in 2020, with $106 million of that coming from the US. India’s demand for water is projected to double available supply by 2030. (The coastal states of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are front runners in establishing desalinization technology for drinking water.) The Indian government’s water ministry established a national initiative to provide piped drinking water to 146 million households across 700,000 villages by 2024, earmarking $51 billion to increase household water connection coverage from 18.3% in 2019 to 100% by 2024. Source: International Trade Administration, India - Environmental Technology

Save Soil, the brainchild of Indian mystic Sadhguru, is a global movement to enrich the Earth’s depleted, degraded soils with organic matter before it is too late for them to grow enough food to feed increasing populations. A long time in development, the Save Soil movement is partnering with or is endorsed by major institutions, including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and celebrities and politicians worldwide. It is organized by volunteers and even has its own theme song. The 64-year-old Sadhguru is serious about the problem. According to his Isha organization website, the mystic is journeying over “30,000 km across 24 nations on a lone motorcycle” to encourage participation. According to Isha’s website, “The journey will begin in London and end in the Cauvery basin in southern India where the Cauvery Calling project, initiated by Sadhguru, has so far enabled 125,000 farmers to plant 62 million trees to revive soil and help replenish the depleting waters of river Cauvery.” The trees, which may include donated crore saplings, are planted solely on the farmers’ property. “The ambition is to enable 5.2 million farmers to plant 2.42 billion trees in the Cauvery River Basin in a span of 12 years.” Over the Father’s Day (US) weekend (June 18-19), Save Soil Walkathons were initiated in cities across North and Latin America in support of the project. Houston and Sao Paulo were two of about sixty cities that scheduled Save Soil Walkathons in the region. To explain the basic concept behind the walkathons, each city’s walkathon signup page quoted the founder, “By 2045, it is expected we will be producing 40% less food than what we are producing right now, and our population will be 9.3 billion people. This is not a world you want to live in, and that is not a world you want to leave our children.”

Wildlife crime is a serious international problem. Australia, rich in varied wildlife, is a target for wildlife traffickers. The Australian government recently deported a Malaysian reptile trafficker after the individual served time in an Australian prison. The Malaysian reptile trafficker was charged with attempting to export “21 parcels containing Shingleback lizards, Blue-tongue lizards, Geckos, Lace Monitors, Pythons and Water Dragons,” according to a news release from Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment (DAWE). The parcels were intended for Hong Kong. The perpetrator was found guilty of nine counts of attempting to export regulated native specimens out of Australia, sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment, and paroled after two years and four months. DAWE has worked with Interpol and various Australian law enforcement agencies to track down wildlife traffickers through several investigations, resulting in eleven perpetrators having been sentenced to nearly twenty-seven years in jail for their crimes. Exporting Australian wildlife is an offense with a maximum penalty of imprisonment for ten years and/or a $222,000 fine for individuals—for each count—or a $1,110,000 fine for a corporation. Source: https://www.awe.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/convicted-wildlife-trafficker-deported-after-serving-term-imprisonment

Commercial fishing in the US hauled in 8.4 billion pounds of fish in 2021, valued at $4.7 billion. Recreational fishing landed an estimated 1 billion fish with 65% released. NOAA manages 460 different fish population stocks with over 90% not subject to overfishing in 2021. Fish population stocks on the overfishing list remained steady at 26, while overfished population stocks slightly increased from 49 to 51. Total landings were down by 10%, likely due to COVID-19 impacts. Source: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/noaa-releases-two-key-reports-status-stocks-and-fisheries-united-states

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), wind and solar should be the larger renewable sources of US electricity generation this summer. Utility-scale solar generation between June and August 2022 is forecast to grow by 10 million megawatt hours (MWh) compared with the same period last summer. Wind generation is forecast to increase by 8 million MWh. Generation from coal and natural gas is forecast to decline by 26 million MWh this summer, but natural gas generation could increase in some places where coal supplies are limited. The U.S. electric power sector is expected to have 65 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar-generating capacity, an increase of 31% in solar capacity since June 2021. Estimates of 138 GW of wind capacity online in June 2022 would mark a 12% increase from last June. Source: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=52438

In May 2022, the Brazilian government’s environmental agency, IBAMA, announced that it had greatly reduced the impacts on coral of a proposed oilfield revitalization project through a licensing review. Oil producer Petrobas had sought approval for the project, which would have impacted coral formations in the Marlim offshore oil and gas field. IBAMA’s requirements led to the proposal of using “two new Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Unit (FPSO) platforms and production lines” over current subsea infrastructure. Coral impacts in Campo de Marlim, located in the northeast portion of the Campos Basin, on the northern coast of the State of Rio de Janeiro, were reduced by 95% through the changes. The project initially was expected to directly impact 132 coral formations, but IBAMA required that changes be made in order to proceed with their analysis of environmental feasibility. As a result of the changes, the number of impacted formations was reduced to seven. Production output at the Marlim oilfield had dropped from 580,000 barrels of oil/day in 2002 to current output below 71,000 barrels/day, which prompted Petrobras to propose the revitalization of the fields. Source: https://www.gov.br/ibama/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2022/ibama-reduz-em-95-os-impactos-sobre-corais-em-empreendimento-de-producao-de-petroleo-e-gas-offshore