Antarctica is turning green! The icy and snowy landscape is disappearing at an accelerated rate | Environmental News

Hello everyone, this is the 20th issue of the Environmental Trumpet column. In this issue, we have collected the following environmental research and news worth reading:

1) Antarctica is turning green! The icy landscape is disappearing at an accelerated rate

2) Solar activity is reaching its maximum, and the aurora borealis will be shown on WeChat Moments again

3) Is the ocean lacking oxygen? People are pumping oxygen into the ocean

4) Laying solar panels on railroad tracks? And using train tracks?

5) The global water cycle is out of balance for the first time

Antarctica is turning green!

Recently, a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience found that as the world warms, parts of Antarctica are rapidly turning green, and the originally snowy tundra is gradually being occupied by plants.

As far as the eye can see, Antarctica is covered in mosses | Dan Charman

The Antarctic Peninsula is located at the northernmost tip of Antarctica. It extends northward and is about 1,000 kilometers away from the southernmost tip of South America. In order to study the changes in the Antarctic Peninsula, researchers acquired satellite images of the Antarctic Peninsula in March every year from 1986 to 2021 .

The reason why the images were selected in March is that it is summer in the local area, which is suitable for plant growth. Generally speaking, plants absorb a lot of red light and reflect a lot of near-infrared light when they grow . In order to study the land vegetation cover, the researchers focused on the measurement results of red light and near-infrared light in satellite images.

The results showed that the area covered by plants on the Antarctic Peninsula increased from less than 1 square kilometer in 1986 to about 12 square kilometers in 2021. From 2016 to 2021, the speed at which vegetation occupied the territory also accelerated.

The driving force behind Antarctica's "greening" is climate change. Since 1950, the temperature in the Antarctic Peninsula has risen by about 3°C , far exceeding most parts of the Earth. The expansion of vegetation may change the local soil conditions, making the soil more conducive to the growth of other organisms. However, local organisms have long been accustomed to the extremely cold conditions in the past, and they are forced to adapt to the new environment.

Solar activity reaches maximum

From October 10 to 12, many places in the Northern Hemisphere welcomed the colorful aurora show. On October 12, representatives of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the International Solar Cycle Prediction Panel (SCPP) announced that solar activity has officially entered the 25th maximum period in recorded history , and this phenomenon may last for a year. This means that geomagnetic storms will occur more frequently, and people living in high-latitude areas will have the opportunity to feast their eyes.

October 10, Gateshead - The northeastern city of England welcomes the northern lights | Lee Smith/REUTERS

The generation of geomagnetic storms is related to the increasingly intense solar activity. During solar activity, a large amount of energy is released, which propagates outward in the form of light, radiation, and charged particle flows. On weekdays, under the protection of the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, most of the charged particle flows and radiation cannot reach the Earth's surface. However, when solar activity intensifies, the Earth's protection gradually fails , and the large amount of charged particle flows and radiation released by solar activity are able to break through the Earth's protection, triggering geomagnetic storms.

The outbreak of geomagnetic storms can easily interfere with radio communications and GPS signals , affecting the normal navigation of aircraft and airplanes. In addition, power grids may also go out of power due to transformer overload during storms. But in general, geomagnetic storms do not have a significant impact on people's lives.

Is the ocean lacking oxygen?

Under the influence of climate change, ocean temperatures have risen and the solubility of oxygen in water has decreased. At the same time, eutrophication of seawater has caused algae to overgrow and consume the oxygen dissolved in seawater, making the problem of ocean deoxygenation more serious.

Baltic Sea depleted of oxygen due to algae bloom | phys.org

To address the problem of local ocean deoxygenation, researchers from Stockholm University in Sweden, French company Lhyfe and Finnish company Flexens have launched a collaborative project called "BOxHy" to refill the Baltic Sea with oxygen by producing hydrogen at sea.

The initial idea of ​​this project is to build an offshore platform on the ocean and establish a green hydrogen production device. While electrolyzing seawater to produce hydrogen , the process can also generate a large amount of oxygen. On the one hand, hydrogen can be used in many scenarios as a green energy source, and the generated oxygen can be injected into the ocean to solve the problem of ocean deoxygenation .

Lhyfe estimates that the Baltic Sea will need around 30 offshore platforms for oxygen reinjection | phys.org

In the project, everyone contributed their own expertise. Stockholm University provided a professional laboratory to explore the impact of ocean nutrient enrichment and ocean deoxygenation in the research field; the Finnish company Flexens investigated the current status of ocean hypoxic areas and planned the construction of offshore wind farms; and the French company Lhyfe was responsible for the development and construction of offshore hydrogen production platform equipment.

At present, Finnish companies have planned three potential oxygen reinjection areas and designed the scale of offshore wind farms; French companies have tested the world's first offshore green hydrogen production facility in France. However, the oxygen produced by the existing devices is directly released into the atmosphere . In future actual construction, this oxygen will be injected into the water.

The BOxHy project plans to run a pilot project in 2025 to conduct in-depth research on the methods and speed of oxygen reinjection and the subsequent ecological impacts.

Solar panels on railroad tracks?

Let's lay a "solar" railway! Swiss startup Sun-Ways has designed detachable solar panels and installed them between the rails , allowing the railway to generate solar power while ensuring its transportation function.

Photovoltaic panel installation diagram | Sun-Ways

As a new type of solar panel, its installation process is also special. The installation of solar panels will be achieved by specially designed trains . While the train is running on the rails, the photovoltaic panels loaded on the bottom will gradually unfold and be loaded between the two rails. The fixed panels will use sunlight to generate electricity, which will eventually be transmitted to the power grid to power the home. Scheuchzer, the train design company, said that the train can install about 1,000 square meters of solar panels every day.

For Sun-Ways, they hope to lay as many solar panels as possible. Switzerland's railway network is 5,317 kilometers long. If all of them are covered with solar panels, the power generation area will be approximately equal to the size of 760 football fields , and the electricity produced can account for 2% of Switzerland's total energy consumption. But this is not enough, the company is also negotiating similar project construction in Spain, Romania and other countries.

However, there are potential problems with such panels that need to be solved. Unpredictable weather may cause the surface of the panels to be covered with snow, dust, etc., and how to clean and maintain the panels needs further planning. Another problem is that the reflection of solar panels may interfere with the driving of train drivers . The team also needs to consider how to reduce the driving risks caused by reflection.

Global water cycle out of balance for the first time

For the first time in history, humans have upset the balance of the global water cycle , according to a new report released by the Global Commission on the Economy of Water (GCEW).

Both “green water” and “blue water” participate in the global water cycle | GCEW

The report points out that the global water cycle is actually composed of two major parts: "blue water" and "green water". "Blue water" refers to liquid water in lakes, rivers and aquifers, while "green water" refers to water stored in soil and plants . In the past, people tended to only pay attention to the importance of blue water in the water cycle, but ignored the role of green water. Green water returns to the atmosphere through plant transpiration and participates in the formation of rain and snow. Nearly half of the rainfall on land comes from the supply of green water .

The stability of the water cycle is essential to maintain climate change and support carbon sink vegetation. Carbon sink vegetation, such as forests and wetlands, can absorb and store large amounts of carbon dioxide, thereby helping to slow global warming. However, current wetland destruction and deforestation are weakening the capacity of these natural carbon sinks, causing more greenhouse gases to remain in the atmosphere, exacerbating the trend of global warming.

As global warming intensifies, high temperatures become more frequent and extreme , which not only accelerates the evaporation of water, but also increases the frequency of droughts. Under drought conditions, vegetation is more fragile and more vulnerable to fires. Therefore, high temperatures and droughts work together to increase the risk of fire outbreaks , which not only destroys vegetation, but also further reduces the ability of carbon sinks, forming a vicious cycle.

The report states that nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world's food are located in arid areas or areas with unstable water resources. The water crisis may put more than half of the world's food production at risk . By 2050, due to the disruption of water balance, the GDP of various countries may drop by 8% on average, and the loss of low-income countries may even be as high as 15%.

References

[1]https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03219-2

[2]https://phys.org/news/2024-10-geomagnetic-storm-earth-space-scientist.html

[3]https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasa-noaa-sun-reaches-maximum-phase-in-11-year-solar-cycle/

[4]https://phys.org/news/2024-10-reoxygenating-oceans-startups-baltic-sea.html

[5]https://flexens.com/leading-the-battle-against-anoxia-in-the-baltic-sea-the-boxhy-project/

[6]https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/10/14/solar-panels-could-be-installed-in-the-spaces-between-railway-tracks-in-world-first

https://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2024/10/532156.shtm

Author: Xiao Xiaoze

Edited by: Yellowtail Pollock