6 minute read
global briefs
Holy Smoke!
Forever Chemicals in Indoor Air
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University of Rhode Island research published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters describes a new technique for measuring the presence of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in indoor air, which found them in kindergarten classrooms, offices, laboratories and a home. We have known about toxic “forever chemicals” in food and drinking water, and it seems they are also ubiquitous in the air.
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PFAS are a class of approximately 9,000 chemicals used to improve stain, water or heat resistance in products. The public health concern is that they don’t break down in the environment. PFAS accumulate in animals and humans and are linked to health impacts including cancer, birth defects and immune suppression.
The scientists think PFAS enter the atmosphere when compounds break off of treated products like coats or carpets and attach to dust. “It’s an underestimated and potentially important source of exposure to PFAS,” says study co-author and Green Science Policy Institute Senior Scientist Tom Bruton.
According to the Institute, schools and offices can protect students and employees by replacing carpeting, but that doesn’t prevent PFAS from entering via coats or shoes. Bruton writes, “As long as they continue to be used in products, we’ll all be eating, drinking and breathing PFAS. We need to turn off the tap and stop all unnecessary uses of PFAS as soon as possible.”
Shine On Marine Crisis
Coral Reefs May Soon Be Just a Memory
Tyler Eddy, a research scientist who co-authored a new study at the Memorial Univertom fisk/Pexels.com sity of Newfoundland, says, “Coral reefs have been in decline worldwide. I think that’s pretty commonly accepted. We didn’t necessarily know the magnitude of how much.” The in-depth analysis reveals half of coral reefs have been lost since the 1950s. Climate change, overfishing and pollution are decimating coral reef cover, biodiversity and fish abundance. In another study, scientists with the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network determined the world lost 14 percent of its coral between 2009 and 2018 alone.
Coral reefs provide habitat for fish and protection for coastal communities, and they generate billions of dollars for the fishing and tourism industries. Corals are extremely sensitive to changes in water temperature and acidity. The living polyps rely on zooxanthellae—algae that live in their tissue—to produce food the corals need. When the polyps are stressed by changes in light, water temperature or acidity, they expel the algae in a process called bleaching. There is a brief time frame in which they can replenish the algae, but if corals are stressed for too long, their death is irreversible. “We are running out of time: We can reverse losses, but we have to act now,” says Inger Andersen, head of the United Nations Environment Program.
Large-Scale Solar Power Cost Plummets
A report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) describes a significant decrease in the cost of renewable energy sources compared to 2020, with solar leading the pack by a wide margin. The 10-year average adjusted costs of generation for a plant over its lifetime are 85 percent for utility-scale solar; 56 percent for onshore wind; 48 percent for offshore wind; and 68 percent for concentrated solar power. IRENA continues to see drops of between 7 percent and 16 pixabey/Pexels.com percent in these categories this year. According to the same report, the 62 percent of new renewables added last year had lower costs than the cheapest fossil fuels. New renewables are increasingly competitive against existing fossil fuels. In the U.S., 61 percent of current coal capacity already has higher operating costs. Phasing out these coal plants would start saving money almost immediately. IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera states that because renewables cost more upfront than keeping old coal rolling, action is needed to make sure emerging economies are not left behind. “We are far beyond the tipping point of coal.”
Peaceful Settlement
Native Americans Win Historic Water Battle
The Indigenous Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have reached an historic $1.9 billion water rights settlement with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, resolving thousands of tribal claims to waterways in Montana. The largest of its kind, this agreement authorizes funding to modernize the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project, a 1,300-mile network of aging canals. It also provides funding for habitat restoration and transfers control of the National Bison Range to the tribes. The dispute stems from the 1855 Treaty of Hellgate, which created the 1.25-million-acre reservation.
The agreement establishes a Flathead Reservation Water Management Board to govern water use within the reservation. Two members of the board will be chosen by the tribe, two will be chosen by the governor of Montana and a fifth will be chosen by the four appointed members. Tribal Chairwoman Shelly R. Fyant says, “Our elders continually remind us to protect our water, and this day marks the beginning of the water compact implementation that will protect the water for all generations to come.”
Ryan Rusche, an attorney for the tribes, says, “The settlement provides water to fulfill the purpose of the reservation, which is a permanent homeland for the tribes, while at the same time protecting existing non-Indian uses of water on the reservation where there is a significant irrigation-based economy.”
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