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Sea sponges reveal surprising results about rising temperatures; meat plants clash with the EPA; Houthi ship attacks are threatening the environment; an oceanic mission aims to discover new species.
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Sea sponges reveal surprising results about rising temperatures; meat plants clash with the EPA; Houthi ship attacks are threatening the environment; an oceanic mission aims to discover new species.
About EarthxNews:
A weekly program dedicated to covering the stories that shape the planet. Featuring the latest updates in energy, environment, tech, climate, and more.
EarthX & EarthXtra
Love Our Planet.
The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us:
At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
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TVTranscript
00:00New research may dispel a current belief about the rate of global warming.
00:07We'll explore how scientists are using an unexpected marine organism to refine climate projections.
00:14Plus, ever since the Houthi rebels in Yemen started attacking vessels in the Red Sea,
00:19the global shipping industry has been disrupted.
00:21We'll take a look at the impact the conflict is having on the environment.
00:25And carbon pollution takes a dip in the U.S., according to a new report.
00:30But is it enough to meet the country's pledge to cut emissions in half by 2030?
00:35We'll have more on that study.
00:44Hello and welcome to EarthX News, where we focus on sustainability and the environment.
00:48I'm Christina Thompson.
00:50Let's get into some of the biggest headlines facing our planet.
00:52The Earth's average temperature passed a key threshold for the first time.
00:57According to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service,
01:01the planet had 12 consecutive months of temperatures of 1.5 degrees hotter than the pre-industrial era for the first time on record.
01:10The EU climate monitor also showed these extremes continuing into 2024,
01:15with the first month of the year being recorded as the warmest January on record.
01:19The findings come as scientists warn passing the 1.5-degree benchmark could trigger tipping points that could further endanger the environment.
01:28Scientists widely consider 2023 to be the hottest recorded year in history,
01:33with storms, droughts and fires being likely contributors to rising temperatures.
01:38A study of sea sponges yields some surprising results about the rate of rising global temperatures.
01:45Scientists from the University of Western Australia Oceans Institute analyzed samples of sclero sponge skeletons found in the Eastern Caribbean.
01:54Their findings, published in Nature Climate Change,
01:57suggests the Earth may have already passed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming in 2020,
02:03and a 2-degree Celsius rise could be possible by the end of the decade.
02:07Scientists say the study of 300 years of ocean temperature records preserved within the sponge's skeletons
02:13also indicated that the pre-industrial period can be defined by stable temperatures from 1700 to 1790,
02:20and from 1840 to 1860, with the gap defined by cooling related to volcanic activity.
02:27The current period of time commonly used to define the pre-industrial level is 1850 to 1900.
02:34The sea sponges went on to reveal that warming related to human activity commenced with the mid-1860s,
02:40with clear emergence by the mid-1870s, about 80 years before the period indicated by instrumental sea surface records.
02:48Amos Winter, a co-author of the study, praised the marine organism's ability to record ocean temperatures.
02:55Listen.
02:55I mean, the sponges really are the heroes of this story, because without them we'd have no story.
03:00It's like putting a thermometer into the ocean at that time.
03:04And, you know, so temperature versus time, it's just a beautiful thing.
03:08The scolero sponge is a long-lived species that records chemical changes in its calcium carbonate skeleton,
03:15serving as a natural archive of ocean temperatures.
03:18That's according to the study.
03:19While limiting global temps to 1.5 degrees Celsius has been the gold standard for climate action under the framework of the Paris Agreement,
03:27researchers say the findings may have implications for current projections of global warming.
03:32New studies are underway.
03:34A team in Japan is looking into Okinawan sponges to compare their findings to the Australian team.
03:40The Department of Energy finalized its new rule regulating kitchen appliances like the gas stove.
03:46It's less strict than previous versions that were released to the public.
03:49And that's because Republicans and centrist Democrats were worried about the rule being too far-reaching.
03:54More conservative voices, including former President Donald Trump, argued the regulations could increase utility bills for consumers over 30 years.
04:03The final rule is expected to affect only 3% of gas stove models and 23% of electric stoves on the market.
04:11Now, for reference, previous versions of the proposed bill would have impacted about half of the gas stove models on the market.
04:18The finalized rule is expected to take effect in 2028.
04:22Supporters say it is projected to amount to $1.6 billion in savings for consumers' utility bills over 30 years.
04:31The DOE says the new standards will decrease carbon emissions by approximately 4 million metric tons cumulatively over the same time span,
04:39roughly equivalent to the emissions associated with the energy use of 500,000 households.
04:45A new report finds U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell in 2023.
04:49After two years of increases, emissions dropped by 1.9%.
04:54That's according to new estimates from the Rodeo Group.
04:57The nonpartisan research provider says the year-on-year decline is because of emissions reductions in the U.S. power sector,
05:04which fell by 8% in the last 12 months, as well as building emissions, which saw a 4% drop in the same period.
05:11Now, the drop in power sector emissions comes as the U.S. continues to move away from coal-fired power plants,
05:18transitioning to cleaner and renewable sources of energy.
05:21Rodeo Group also found the 2023 emissions reduction is the largest single-year decline the U.S. has seen since 2016,
05:29and marks a whopping 17.2% decline in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2005 levels.
05:36But keep in mind, those reductions, they're still well below the country's climate target set up under the Paris Agreement,
05:42which aims for a 50 to 52% emissions reduction by 2030.
05:47The U.S. meatpacking industry is pushing back against proposed EPA standards to help reduce water pollution from slaughterhouses.
05:55The EPA's guidelines would require slaughterhouses to install, quote,
05:58the best available technology economically achievable.
06:03However, owners of meat and poultry slaughterhouses argue the compliance costs would be too high.
06:09Plus, an attorney representing the industry says the EPA did not ask the meat and poultry producers about these newly proposed rules.
06:17The EPA's rules, announced in December of 2023, would revise wastewater discharge standards for slaughterhouses
06:24to cut nitrogen and phosphorus pollution into U.S. waters.
06:27The federal agency held public hearings on the proposal in January,
06:31and they will be accepting public comments on it through March 25th.
06:35The smog in Los Angeles is getting worse as the EPA is pushing back against a local pollution plan.
06:41The EPA is prepared to reject the state's plan,
06:44which would make the federal government responsible for two-thirds of the required pollution reductions.
06:50Southern California has the strictest air pollution rules in the country,
06:54yet has never complied with federal health standards for ozone.
06:58State and local air regulators are required to submit plans to the EPA,
07:02showing how they plan to reduce pollution and comply with federal standards.
07:06California air regulators know that the region still needs to reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxides
07:11by more than 100 tons per day.
07:14That's just to reach the 1997 standard for ozone.
07:18This new South Coast Air Quality Management District proposal calls on the federal government
07:23to be responsible for 67 tons per day of those cuts,
07:27arguing that some of the largest sources of smog-forming emissions are federally regulated,
07:33like ships, trains, and aircrafts.
07:35But in a recent draft response, the EPA has proposed rejecting California's plan, declaring,
07:40states do not have the authority under the Clean Air Act or the Constitution
07:45to order the federal government to reduce pollution.
07:49The EPA has until July 1st to decide whether it will reject it.
07:53If the state and local air regulators fail to submit a plan that the EPA finds acceptable within that time,
07:59the federal government could withhold billions of dollars in highway funding,
08:03place strict requirements on new permits,
08:05and even impose a federal plan to curb the smog.
08:09Turning now to the Middle East, where the unrest may be having a major impact
08:14not only on the shipping industry, but also on the environment.
08:18The growing area of concern centering on the Houthi rebels of Yemen
08:21and their attacks against vessels in the Red Sea.
08:25To avoid entanglements with the Iran-backed Houthis,
08:28many shipping companies are now having their boats take longer routes to Europe and America,
08:32which could have a major impact on the world's oceans.
08:35Joining us now to discuss is retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Blaine Holt.
08:39Blaine Holt, thank you for coming in. We appreciate it.
08:42Great to be back with you.
08:43So ever since the Houthi rebels of Yemen started attacking vessels in the Red Sea,
08:48the global shipping industry, it's been disrupted.
08:51Now, is an invisible victim of this conflict the environment?
08:55Oh, no, it absolutely is.
08:56It's very, very impactful because the ships that can no longer get through the Red Sea
09:02and the Suez Canal must go all the way down to South Africa and then make their way back up.
09:09That's an additional 4,300 miles of sailing.
09:12So when you think about all of the fuels that are going to be burned in those ships
09:16that have to go the extra miles.
09:17And then let's focus on the impact right there in the war zone.
09:22When the Houthis take out a ship or when they blow one up,
09:27like they've hit several tankers that have fuel and gas on board.
09:30So when they hit these things and they explode,
09:33it's not good for the environment when you see gasoline openly getting blown up into the atmosphere.
09:40So, you know, the United States and its coalition partners,
09:45they need to be a lot more aggressive about shutting this down.
09:49This idea that the United States Navy has its hands full with a peer competitor in the Houthis is absolutely ridiculous.
09:57So if for the folks who are very, very climate minded,
10:00this ought to be an element that they should be looking into.
10:03And economically, it's very painful.
10:04Is there anything that the shipping industry is specifically doing to combat the extra emissions?
10:10Yep. So there's a lot of things that the shipping industry is doing to try to,
10:15first off, they're trying to harden their ships and put security teams on board
10:19for if they are going to try to make a run at the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
10:25But it's extremely difficult for them in any case to get shipping insurance.
10:29If you don't have insurance on a ship and it's cargo, you're essentially not sailing.
10:34Another thing that they're doing is we're seeing a slowdown in the supply chains themselves.
10:39So if there's a ship that's partially loaded out of Ningbo or Shanghai,
10:45it's going to sit until it gets a full, full load of cargo
10:48because it's just economically not worth it if they've got to reroute that ship around Cape Horn.
10:55So we know that the administration and the shipping industry,
10:58they've recently introduced new sort of rules that would ideally lower the amount of emissions
11:03that they send out by 30 percent by the year 2030.
11:06With all that's going on right now, is that still a goal that we should feel confident about?
11:11I get very concerned when they put these arbitrary dates out there.
11:16By 2030, we're going to do this. By 2035, we're going to do this.
11:20Without any regard for the second and third order effects,
11:23hard lines on climate targets and goals are really, really irresponsible.
11:28General Blainholt, thank you for coming on.
11:31Great to be with you.
11:33Coming up, a new environmental rule gets the green light in the U.S.
11:36Stay tuned. We'll talk about America's latest effort to protect the planet when we return.
11:41The U.S. is continuing to take steps in hopes of improving the planet's health.
12:10The Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized stronger standards for soot pollution.
12:16The EPA's new rule aims to cut particulate matter by 25 percent
12:20from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9 micrograms per cubic meter.
12:26The agency says the stricter policy could help prevent roughly 4,500 premature deaths
12:30and hundreds of thousands of lost work days as the microscopic particles emitted from construction sites,
12:36smokestacks, tailpipes, and wildfires can be linked to a number of serious illnesses,
12:42including heart disease and asthma.
12:45However, a recent study from Oxford University finds the EPA's new rule could hamper the American economy,
12:51reducing the U.S. gross domestic product by about $87 billion and harming over 300,000 jobs.
12:58Joining us now to discuss is the former chief of staff at the U.S. EPA, Mandy Gunasikara.
13:03Mandy, thanks for coming in.
13:04Yeah, great to be with you.
13:07So first, the EPA just updated the country's National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
13:12What exactly are they?
13:14So the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or NACS, as we say for short,
13:20monitors the presence of six main pollutants.
13:24This ranges from things like nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone to PM, and a few others.
13:29And EPA has been tracking the presence of these pollutants since 1970.
13:34And the standards are set, if you're following the book, which is set out in the Clean Air Act,
13:40they're set every five years.
13:42EPA is supposed to set a standard, and then every five years they review the science,
13:47the latest and greatest technical understanding around those standards,
13:50how it's having an impact, positive or negative,
13:53and then determine whether or not to lower those standards.
13:56And so what you've seen here is the latest rendition of EPA reviewing standards and then deciding to lower them.
14:03Now, I will say this.
14:05When I was at EPA in 2020, we had actually finalized the 12 microgram standard.
14:10And after looking at the comprehensive scientific analysis and taking into account technical realities,
14:17decided to maintain the standard, there's a lot more to it.
14:20But that's where we are right now, and that's, generally speaking, what the NACs are.
14:24The EPA is saying that this new policy, it will support economic growth.
14:28A lot of critics are saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, we aren't positive about that.
14:32Can you explain a little bit further about what these opponents are saying,
14:36and why else could this have such a big impact on the economy?
14:40Yeah, well, when you set a new NACs standard, the states have to submit plans to EPA
14:48to show how they are going to comply with the new standard.
14:52And the way that this is really looked at is either by county or by metropolitan area.
14:57If you think about Atlanta, Atlanta is a number of counties,
15:00and so they assess pollution from a metropolitan area that includes a number of counties.
15:06But what the states have to do, they have to come up with a plan
15:09of how they will comply with this new standard.
15:11And the problem from an economic development perspective is if that gets so low,
15:17you cannot expand businesses.
15:19You cannot bring in new industrial activity.
15:22You cannot let life continue as it does, even with the latest and greatest technologies.
15:29You just cannot let that happen without significant costs.
15:33So at the end of the day, it's a convoluted route whereby regulations really increase the everyday price
15:39of moving around by virtue of impacting the cost of energy and goods that are dependent
15:44on transportation and infrastructure and economic development writ large.
15:48A policy like this, and most things in life, it all boils down to compromise, right?
15:53So concerning environmental policy, especially for these new air quality standards,
15:58we're once again pitting a healthy planet against a strong economy.
16:01So what ways can we move beyond these two necessities that are constantly at odds with one another?
16:07Yeah, well, that's such a great question.
16:08It doesn't have to be at odds.
16:10And I would say that during the Trump administration, we actually proved this.
16:14We cut regulations.
16:15We reduced the cost of regulations on all sorts of businesses, small, medium and large across
16:21the United States, to the tune of a billion dollars.
16:25But emissions continued to fall.
16:27Water continued to get cleaner.
16:29We transitioned a lot of long-term pollution sites called Superfund sites out of that status
16:35into positions where they were cleaned up and they were able for use and economic development
16:41and whatnot.
16:42And so you don't have to make this choice.
16:44And I would say that's particularly the case with the PM 2.5 standard.
16:48We just did the analysis in 2020 when we were considering the spectrum of scientific perspective
16:54and insight and experience, and we landed on maintaining the current standard.
16:59And the current standard is really good.
17:01We're 6% below global standards and much better than most other industrialized countries.
17:07And then we should make sure we're fostering economic development and growth here in the United
17:11States that's done consistent with the gold standard of environmental regulations and
17:15not pushing that out to places like China, where their production means pollution that
17:20floats over and makes life harder for our West Coast.
17:25All right.
17:25Manny Gunasakara, thank you so much for coming on and for sharing your expertise on this matter.
17:30Yeah.
17:30Thanks for having me coming up.
17:32A group of oceanographers is headed to uncharted depths.
17:35We'll have more on what they hope to find and how it may help some species that are in
17:39decline.
17:40Stay tuned.
17:41A pioneering expedition to discover new species in one of the most remote places.
18:11parts of the deep ocean is taking place in New Zealand.
18:14Alex Salvi has more scientific foundations from around New Zealand are banning together
18:20for an expedition to search for new species deep in the ocean.
18:25The ocean census team is leading a 21 day mission off the coast, traveling depths of 16,000
18:30feet into uncharted waters.
18:32Discovering species in the ocean is really urgent.
18:36Global climate change and regional and local stresses such as overfishing, plastic pollution
18:43are causing huge changes in marine life and a huge decline in many marine species.
18:51The goal is to discover and protect tens of thousands of new species, many of which threatened
18:56by climate change and biodiversity crises.
18:5910,000 miles of stunning coastline and a sea rich environment makes New Zealand the ideal
19:04location for maritime research.
19:06This is a really underexplored area of the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone.
19:12We are going to discover, hopefully if this goes well, hundreds of new species on our voyage.
19:18The crew will use state of the art equipment to overcome changes in pressure at depths that
19:23few humans have ever experienced.
19:25Using deep sea camera systems, they hope to uncover more about the roughly 2 million species
19:31estimated to inhabit the ocean, with only around 10% they've discovered.
19:35We are already seeing distributions of species changing.
19:38We're seeing things that we know turn up in different places and move south as warming waters
19:43encroach.
19:44And so we can't measure those changes if we don't know what we have.
19:48There's a high bar set for the expectations.
19:51With this elite collection of scientists, confident they will not only return with a plethora of
19:55discoveries, but an opportunity to implement real change.
19:58Our success of this voyage is going to be returning with a whole bunch of buckets of samples
20:06that we can then examine here in the lab, which will be like Christmas coming all at once.
20:12The three week journey is seen as an expedition and a rescue mission, with the outcome being life or death for thousands of species.
20:21For EarthX, I'm Alex Salvi.
20:24Alex Salvi, thank you.
20:27And before we leave you, a heartwarming and historic moment at the world's oldest zoo.
20:32Staffers are celebrating after four tiny Vosseler two-horned chameleons successfully hatched at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria.
20:40Adorable newborns are the offspring of two endangered rainforest chameleons who were rescued from animal traffickers at the Vienna airport three years ago.
20:49This type of chameleon is native to East Africa, but researchers say illegal capture and habitat loss have played a role in their declining numbers.
20:58Zoo officials say the births are an important contribution to the preservation of the species.
21:03And footage of two bald eagles protecting their nest is going viral.
21:07Parents Jackie and Shadow are racking up a whole lot of fans on social media as the two birds tend to their three eggs in Southern California.
21:16Friends of Big Bear Valley started the livestream a few months ago, and since then, it has taken off in popularity.
21:22At last check, the livestream had nearly 250,000 subscribers.
21:27Now, eagle eggs, they take around 35 days to incubate.
21:30Eagle watchers will want to keep an eye out for any signs of a pip, which is the first hole the eaglet makes in the shell when it's starting to hatch.
21:39That's it for this edition of EarthX News.
21:41Please join us again next week.
21:42I'm Christina Thompson.
21:52I'm Christina Thompson.
22:01We'll see you all soon.
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