Watch 1PM Weekly News - October 16, 2023
This week Shelby covers seven breaking news stories--from extreme heat worsening the hunger crisis in Yemen to a solar company breaking ground on a new manufacturing plant in Louisiana.
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Extreme Heat Worsens Hunger Crisis in Yemen
War-torn Yemen faces widespread malnutrition that has been exacerbated by extreme heat. By 2030, an estimated 6.5 million people could be exposed to a month’s worth of dangerous heat per year–conditions during which even standing in the shade for a few minutes can threaten health. Higher temperatures reduce food production as workers in industries like agriculture and fishing cut their hours, and thus their yields, to avoid dehydration and sun poisoning. Importing food is nearly impossible with many of Yemen’s roads closed, and even if travel were possible, the impoverished citizens likely couldn't afford to bring food in. These factors and more lead to malnutrition that is worsened by heat-related dehydration. Yemen is in a state of emergency. To help, see the link in our show notes.
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/yemen-extreme-heat-hunger-malnourishment/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_climate202&wpisrc=nl_climate202
- https://www.wfp.org/countries/yemen
Lowest Ever Recorded Antarctic Sea Ice Levels
Winter is over in the Southern Hemisphere, which means Antarctic sea ice is at its peak. But that peak is significantly lower than in any year since tracking began in 1979. In Antarctica, ice builds on both the land and sea throughout the winter. Sea ice protects the land ice from the warming ocean in the spring and summer, and land ice is critical to support the arctic ecosystem of plants and animals. Less sea ice this winter means more and faster breakdown of land ice in 2023 and 2024.
1,000 Birds Dead in Chicago
In Chicago, almost 1,000 birds are dead after hitting a single building in one day of their migration journey. The weather was cloudy and windy, and the building in question left its lights on late into the night for an event. It created a “perfect storm” that disoriented birds and led to building collisions. The American Bird Conservancy estimates that up to a billion birds die each year in building strikes. But there are options to make cities more bird-friendly, like turning off nonessential lighting at night and using materials that discourage bird collisions. Cities like Toronto and New York have already started to implement laws requiring bird-friendly practices, particularly in new builds.
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/10/09/chicago-bird-deaths-mccormick-place/
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-01-04/how-to-design-buildings-to-prevent-bird-crashes
A Desalination Device That Makes Freshwater Cheaper than Tap
Freshwater is critical to sustaining human life, but over 97% of Earth’s water is saltwater. And 2% of water is stored as glaciers, ice caps, and snow. Less than 1% of water is accessible freshwater. That’s why scientists have long been interested in desalination, or the process of converting saltwater to freshwater. Engineers at MIT and Tong University in China recently developed a solar-powered desalination system that they hope can be a sustainable solution to producing more freshwater at a lower cost than tap water. The device circulates water while it’s heated by the sun, causing evaporation. The water vapor is collected while the salt is left to circulate out of the system.
- https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-08/documents/mgwc-ww-intro.pdf
- https://news.mit.edu/2023/desalination-system-could-produce-freshwater-cheaper-0
Solar Company Breaks Ground on Louisiana Manufacturing Plant
In August, the company First Solar announced that it would build its fifth US factory in Louisiana. Domestic solar incentives are just one component of the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to create climate change solutions. First Solar says that the factory will be completed in 2026 and will add 3.5 gigawatts of manufacturing capacity. First Solar’s products are unique because, unlike many solar technologies, they do not rely on polysilicon. Polysilicon is primarily produced in China.
- https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/first-solar-chooses-louisiana-build-fifth-us-factory-2023-08-10/
Solar Panel Reuse and Recycling
In other solar news, increased uptake of solar technologies is creating demand for responsible solar recycling. Inside Climate News states, “Even for the most enthusiastic boosters of renewable energy, it’s hard to argue that solar panels provide truly clean electricity if, at the end of their lives, many of them end up in landfills.” Many experts believe the US should create laws that prohibit landfill disposal of solar panels and incentive reuse and recycling. Many large-scale solar operations need to decommission panels when they’ve lost capacity, but those panels can still be useful at a smaller scale, so reuse could mean a decommissioned panel going to power an RV. Recycling, on the other hand, would mean separating panels into parts and finding markets for raw materials, like copper and glass. But right now, it costs four times as much to recycle a panel as it does to dispose of it in a landfill. Systems will need to change to make solar electricity truly green.
Forest Explorer Brings New Attention to a Very Old Tree
Last year in British Columbia, a forest explorer named TJ Watt found and documented an enormous tree that is believed to be over 1,000 years old. The western red cedar is 151 feet tall and 17 and a half feet in diameter. Watt has been tree hunting for 20 years and has great respect for the forest and its indigenous peoples, which is why he waited over a year to disclose the tree finding to the public He sought feedback from the Ahousat First Nation community, who steward about 80% of the lands of in the Clayoquot Sound and will now protect this tree that has been nicknamed “The Wall.”