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CURATED ECOLOGICAL NEWS Degrowth blessed once again by Pope Francis
“By now, the word degrowth has made its way from an indecipherable slogan on the fringes of academic and activist society, to a place perhaps not at the centre of political debate, but at least its proximate suburbs. As a recent diatribe in the Washington Post demonstrates, however, degrowth has not quite yet reached the point where its detractors need to have even the faintest comprehension of the object of their ire. “To challenge growth is the quixotic ambition of fringe figures such as North Korea and Pope Francis. For those who recall, Francis’ path-breaking encyclical on the environment, Laudate Si, was greeted with awe and enthusiasm from much of the environmental movement. Did Francis claim, as in the English version, that ‘the time has come to accept decreased growth in some parts of the world’? Some would insist that the encyclical was indeed an insistence on the need for degrowth. Now, almost ten years later, it appears that these claims have exercised their due effect. “Now, as recently as 2023, the incumbent pope issued another letter on the ecological crisis: The apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum. It is ‘no longer possible to doubt the human – ‘anthropic’ – origin of climate change’, seen in the escalation of extreme weather phenomena, rising sea levels and melting ice caps, droughts and floods, and a possible crashing point of no return looming in the near future. ‘[T]he world in which we live is collapsing’, Francis writes. Some will ‘accept the idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in technology’.” More at: Bird decline in most remote forests a mystery
“Tiputini, The biodiversity research centre buried deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, has always been special. For scientists, it comes about as close as you can to observing rainforest wildlife in a world untouched by human industry. Almost every year since his arrival in 2000, ecologist John G Blake had been there to count the birds. But by about 2012, Blake and his collaborators could see something was shifting. The birds were dying. “By 2022, their numbers had almost halved. Songs were missing. Some species simply vanished. ‘A number of them I have not heard for quite a few years now’, Blake says, over a broken video connection from the research centre. At other remote sites around the world, scientists had been starting to observe similar trends. “In Brazil, the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) is an ecological study located deep in primary Amazon forest, unreachable by road. But in 2020, when researchers there compared bird numbers with the 1980s, they found a number of species in deep decline. At another site in Panama, scientists working in an intact forest had been gathering bird data since the mid-1970s. By 2020, their numbers had gone off a cliff: 70% of species had declined. “‘I suspect whatever is causing these declines is something much more widespread’, Blake says. ‘It would not be something specific to the Tiputini area’. The most likely answer, they concluded, was the climate crisis. They found that harsher dry seasons significantly reduced the survival of 83% of species. A 1°C increase in dry season temperature would reduce the average survival of birds by 63%.” More at: Seabirds being decimated by ocean heating
“Scientists have discovered that marine heat waves are having a devastating impact on populations of seabirds in Alaska after examining population numbers. What’s happening? “In 2014, scientists at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge knew something was wrong when they started noticing thousands of common murres washing up on beaches in Alaska. ata was collected from surveys of the bird colonies between 2008 and 2022 to determine the impact that a marine heat wave that occurred between 2014 and 2016 had on population numbers. “It was found that this heat wave, known as ‘The Blob’, resulted in the deaths of between 50 to 75% of the birds, depending on the colony in question. The heat waves had caused changes in the populations of the fish they feed on, leading the birds to die of starvation. Heat waves can cause oxygen levels to deplete, resulting in dead zones that are unable to support life. Warming also impacts a fish’s memory, which could have implications on their ability to find food and shelter. More at: Indigenous wisdom episode #9: with Shoba Liban
“This podcast is about bringing forward the perspectives of Indigenous communities as we reckon with the consequences of a global, industrial society built on growth, extraction, and colonialism. “Many people living in so-called developed countries in the industrialized west remain relatively shielded from the impacts of the Great Unraveling. For now, inertia from the current fossil-fueled economies allows the illusion of normalcy to persist. Yet countries in Africa contain some of the most challenging places to live, due to worsening climate impacts like drought, floods, and famine. Shoba Liban, in Kenya, does not let any of these challenges deter her from serving her community. “Over the years, I’ve also learned that I need to be focused. So I think I’ve managed to maneuver through these challenges of life. But I admit it is not easy. And then because of this modernization in education, we no longer want to support even our kinsmen – like everybody for himself. I’ll do what I can, and If I don’t manage, I will not condemn myself as long as I’ve put in effort. “Shoba is a Boorana woman who promotes health and education for women and children in pastoralist communities in Kenya.” More at: Open source AI tool economically disruptive
“The power sector’s data center mania just got a dose of reality. Instead of looking forward to huge increases in electricity demand from data centers, this growth may be smaller and less predictable than previously thought. China-based DeepSeek released information this month about its AI systems and showed a combination of high performance and low cost. DeepSeek is giving it away free, or at only 3% of competitors’ prices. Chip-maker Nvidia, which has a central role in supplying AI developers, lost about $600 billion in market value on Monday. “DeepSeek’s AI tool is open source and can be freely distributed. This means anyone can see the code, customize it, perhaps improve upon it AND make money off the improved or customized version. And, because anyone can see the code, anyone can see how DeepSeek achieved such efficiencies and design their own AI tool. Moreover, DeepSeek has shown that its powerful AI tool can run on a laptop, so the need for vast cloud computing resources is not necessary in many cases. “The demand for AI is likely to grow much more rapidly as it is applied to situations where AI was previously too expensive to justify—just as The Jevons Paradox suggests. And that means it is probably wrong to think that these vast new efficiencies will eliminate the need for large expansions of electric generating capacity. Does this mean the future of AI has definitively changed? It’s difficult to say. But the outlook is more uncertain, with implications for the energy transition.” More at: Arctic has passed the tipping point for CO2 emissions
“The Arctic region has shifted from storing carbon dioxide to releasing it into the atmosphere, according to the 2024 Arctic Report Card released by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A combination of increased microbial activity, thawing permafrost, and more frequent wildfires now means the Arctic is releasing more carbon dioxide than it is storing. More than 30% of the region was a net source of CO2, according to the analysis, rising to 40% when emissions from wildfires were included. “The Arctic is Earth’s northernmost region, centered around the Arctic Ocean and surrounded by the lands of North America, Europe and Asia. The treeless tundra that rings the Arctic Ocean covers an area nearly twice the size of Alaska. This region has historically served as Earth’s freezer. Its permanently frozen ground, called permafrost, stores more than half of all the carbon stored in the Earth’s soil, which has accumulated over thousands of years. “The temperature has also been rising. The past nine years have been the warmest on record in the Arctic, with 2024 marking the second-warmest year since 1900. While the Arctic region heats up, its role as Earth’s cooling system weakens. Large expanses of white sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean helped to reflect energy and heat back out to space. But as the ice melts, the surface darkens and absorbs rather than reflects heat.” More at: AC-DC microbes could emit CO2, not store it
“Mixotrophic microbes are organisms that can switch between photosynthesising like plants (absorbing carbon dioxide) and eating like animals (releasing carbon dioxide). They are globally abundant, commonly found in freshwater and marine environments, and estimated to make up the majority of marine plankton. Researchers at Duke University and the University of California Santa Barbara, have found that under warming conditions, mixotrophic microbes shift from being carbon sinks to carbon emitters. “These microbes may act as early indicators of the catastrophic effects of rapid climate change. Dr Daniel Wieczynski of Duke University said, ‘By converting microbial communities to net carbon dioxide sources in response to warming, mixotrophs could further accelerate warming by creating a positive feedback loop between the biosphere and the atmosphere’.” More at: Mangoes’ global trade harmed by climate heating
“As climate change complicates growing the Messina, Sicily’s historically emblematic crops like olives and lemons, farmers are already starting to change from lemons to mangoes. As warming brings significant challenges to agriculture, growers are abandoning crops with dwindling yields or those threatened by pathogens and pests for those better suited to changing local conditions. “The mango, that beloved linchpin of cuisines and cultures around the world, typifies this trend. This juicy, flavorful fruit, which outsells most of its tropical counterparts, is grown in some 120 countries. Mangoes are well-adapted to sub-tropical and tropical areas. The trees generally favor temperatures in the 70s, and tend to be incredibly frost-sensitive. “Much of Italy enjoys a Mediterranean climate marked by hot summers and mild winters, which provide ideal conditions for sub-tropical fruit. Mangoes, like most tropical fruits, are typically grown in remote locales where cultivation is highly dependent on rainfall, prone to the effects of increasingly erratic weather, and reliant on less robust transport routes. “Although India is the world’s leading producer and consumer of the sweet fruit, most of the mangoes found in U.S. supermarkets come from Mexico. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, told Grist that preliminary trade data and industry sources suggest Mexico’s exports dropped 2%, while Brazil saw an 8% decrease. Exports from Peru plunged a staggering 55%. Other reports clearly attribute some of these declines to climate change.” More at: Mushroom mycelium protein highly efficient
“Gavin Schneider developed a mushroom-based protein that could change the way we eat. Schneider’s company, Maia Farms alongside ag-tech company Ecoation designed an extremely efficient and compact food production system, as well as a versatile mushroom-based protein product. Maia Farms’ protein product — made from mycelium, a rootlike structure within fungi — could significantly decrease the amount of resources and emissions required to satisfy our protein needs. ‘It’s arguably the most efficient form of agriculture that will ever exist’, Schneider said. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, meat and dairy production take up 30% of the planet’s surface and account for 18 per cent of greenhouse gases. However, without a comparable plant-based alternative, meat consumption is hardly wavering. While a cow takes 18 months to grow before being harvested, Maia Farms can harvest its mushroom mycelium protein after only seven days. By 2030, Maia Farms aims to have five mycelium farms on five continents, proving its versatility and suitability for everyone.” More at: | 
