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Methane from megafires: More spew than we knew
Novel detection technique raises pollution policy questions
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230417142508.htm
Date: April 17, 2023
Source: University of California - Riverside
Summary: Using a new detection method, scientists found a massive amount of methane, a
super-potent greenhouse gas, coming from wildfires -- a source not currently being accounted for
by California state air quality managers.
Methane warms the planet 86 times more powerfully than carbon dioxide over the course of 20
years, and it will be difficult for the state to reach its required cleaner air and climate goals
without accounting for this source, the researchers said.
Wildfires emitting methane is not new. But the amount of methane from the top 20 fires in 2020
was more than seven times the average from wildfires in the previous 19 years, according to the
new UCR study.
"Fires are getting bigger and more intense, and correspondingly, more emissions are coming from
them," said UCR environmental sciences professor and study co-author Francesca Hopkins. "The
fires in 2020 emitted what would have been 14 percent of the state's methane budget if it was
being tracked."
The state does not track natural sources of methane, like those that come from wildfires. But for
2020, wildfires would have been the third biggest source of methane in the state.
"Typically, these sources have been hard to measure, and it's questionable whether they're under
our control. But we have to try," Hopkins said. "They're offsetting what we're trying to reduce."
Traditionally, scientists measure emissions by analyzing wildfire air samples obtained via aircraft.
This older method is costly and complicated to deploy. To measure emissions from 2020's
Sequoia Lightning Fire Complex in the Sierra Nevadas, the UCR research team used a remote
sensing technique, which is both safer for scientists and likely more accurate since it captures an
integrated plume from the fire that includes different burning phases.
The technique, detailed in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, allowed the lead
author, UCR environmental sciences Ph.D. student Isis Frausto-Vicencio to safely measure an
entire plume of the Sequoia Lightning Fire Complex gas and debris from 40 miles away.
"The plume, or atmospheric column, is like a mixed signal of the whole fire, capturing the active
as well as the smoldering phases," Hopkins said. "That makes these measurements unique."
Rather than using a laser, as some instruments do, this technique uses the sun as a light source.
Gases in the plume absorb and then emit the sun's heat energy, allowing insight into the quantity
of aerosols as well as carbon and methane that are present.
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Using the remote technique, the researchers found nearly 20 gigagrams of methane emitted by the
Sequoia Lightning Fire Complex. One gigagram is 1,000 metric tons. An elephant weighs around
one metric ton. For context, the fire therefore contained roughly 20,000 elephants' worth of the
gas.
This data matches measurements that came from European space agency satellite data, which
took a more sweeping, global view of the burned areas, but are not yet capable of measuring
methane in these conditions.
If included in the California Air Resources Board methane budget, wildfires would be a bigger
source than residential and commercial buildings, power generation or transportation, but behind
agriculture and industry. While 2020 was exceptional in terms of methane emissions, scientists
expect more megafire years going forward with climate change.
In 2015, the state first established a target of 40 percent reduction in methane, refrigerants and
other air pollutants contributing to global warming by 2030. The following year, in 2016, Gov.
Jerry Brown signed SB 1383, codifying those reduction targets into law.
The reductions are meant to come from regulations that capture methane produced from manure
on dairy farms, eliminate food waste in landfills, require oil and gas producers to minimize leaks,
ban certain gases in new refrigerators and air conditioners, and other measures.
"California has been way ahead on this issue," Hopkins said. 'We're really hoping the state can
limit the methane emissions under our control to reduce short-term global warming and its worst
effects, despite the extra emissions coming from these fires."
Page 3 of 35
The news article "Methane from megafires: More spew than we knew" is a sobering
reminder of the environmental impact of wildfires and the long-lasting consequences
they can have on the planet. The article highlights a recent study that shows that
wildfires release far more methane, a potent greenhouse gas, than previously thought,
further contributing to global warming.
The findings of the study suggest that wildfires have a more significant impact on
climate change than previously thought. This is concerning, as wildfires have become
more frequent and severe in recent years, partly due to climate change itself. The
feedback loop between climate change and wildfires makes this a dangerous cycle that
could have disastrous consequences for the planet and all of its inhabitants.
The article also highlights the need for improved management of wildfires to prevent
them from becoming megafires that release large amounts of methane and other
greenhouse gases. This includes better firefighting strategies as well as more proactive
measures to reduce the risk of wildfires, such as controlled burning, forest thinning, and
improved land management practices.
Overall, the news article serves as a reminder of the urgent need for action to address the
effects of climate change and prevent the worst outcomes from occurring. It is a call to
action for policymakers, scientists, and individuals alike to take responsibility for their
actions and work towards a more sustainable future.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
“Methane from megafires: More spew than we knew"
Page 4 of 35
1. New look at climate data shows substantially wetter rain and snow days
ahead
Research shows that by the end of the century the biggest rain and snow days will
be 20 to 30% wetter than they are today
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230413154330.htm
Date: April 13, 2023
Source: DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Summary: A new look at climate data shows that, by the end of the century, the heaviest days of
rain and snowfall across much of North America will likely release 20 to 30 percent more
moisture than they do now. Much of the increased precipitation will occur in winter, potentially
exacerbating flooding in regions such as the upper Midwest and the west coast. Researchers also
found that heavy precipitation days historically experienced once in a century will become more
frequent -- as often as once every 30 or 40 years in the Pacific Northwest and southeastern United
States.
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the Department of
Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) report that extremely intense
days of rain or snow will be more frequent by the end of this century than previously thought -- as
often as once every 30 or 40 years in the Pacific Northwest and southeastern United States.
The conclusions come from analyzing a 30-terabyte data set that models temperature and
precipitation at scales roughly the size of urban ZIP codes: six kilometers (3.9 miles). Researchers
developed the data set, called Localized Constructed Analogs Version 2 (LOCA2), to provide
climate information that is useful for local planners. In contrast, most of the existing advanced
climate models look at regions that range from 50 to 250 kilometers (30 to 400 miles).
"With this data set, we're able to look at the impacts of actual weather pattern changes across the
United States at an extremely granular level," said Dan Feldman, staff scientist at Berkeley Lab
and the project's principal investigator. "We see that there is a lot more extreme weather that is
likely to happen in the future -- and by looking at actual weather patterns, we show that changes
in extreme precipitation will actually be more extreme than previously estimated. Land use
managers and planners should expect more extremes, but location matters."
The LOCA2 data set updates a similar analysis conducted in 2016 in advance of the Fourth
National Climate Assessment (NCA), which was released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change
Research Program. The NCA is intended to assist the U.S. government with planning for,
mitigating, and adapting to changes in climate that will affect the country. The Fifth NCA is
expected to be issued later this year.
LOCA2 projections cover the lower 48 states of the United States, southern Canada, and northern
Mexico. The data set draws on more than 70 years of weather data and incorporates 27 updated
climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6), the latest iteration of
an international effort to simulate climate that includes the "coupling" of natural systems such as
the ocean and atmosphere to understand how they will act in concert as climate changes.
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"We've spent a lot of effort improving the representation of extreme wet days, which is important
for understanding both the likelihood of flooding and the availability of water for agricultural,
commercial, and residential use," said David Pierce, a scientist at Scripps Oceanography and the
developer of LOCA and LOCA2.
The LOCA2 climate projections are available through the end of the century down to the daily
level, and for three different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios known as SSPs, or Shared
Socioeconomic Pathways. The three scenarios are a medium level of emissions that is slightly
less than current levels (SSP 245), medium-high (SSP 370), and high, where emissions greatly
increase (SSP 585). The data set is freely available for planners and decision makers to use.
The projection reinforces what climate scientists have long predicted: Future weather events will
become more extreme in a warming world. LOCA2 finds that the heaviest days of rain and
snowfall across much of North America will likely release 20 to 30 percent more moisture than
they do now. Much of the increased precipitation will occur in winter, potentially exacerbating
flooding in regions such as the upper Midwest and the west coast.
"The big picture is clear: it's getting warmer and wetter," Feldman said. "This research translates
that bigger picture into more practical data for infrastructure and operations planning. With this
more detailed look at local impacts, we can help local officials make better-informed decisions,
such as how long to make an airport runway, how much resilience to include for constructing
buildings or bridges, or where to put crops or culverts."
The improved set of LOCA2 data was created by better identifying and preserving extreme
weather events in the past, training models to more accurately reflect extremes in simulations of
the future.
"We undertook a Herculean effort of personnel and computer time not just to produce a bunch of
numbers, but to produce local projections that are relevant and useful," Feldman said. "We do so
by recognizing how heat waves and storms have occurred and will occur at the local level, and
projecting those forward."
Seasonal and regional predictions
While the data varies at the local level, researchers found substantial trends across the area
covered by LOCA2 at the end of the century.
Across most seasons, a major part of North America will see roughly the same or fewer number
of days with precipitation, roughly the same or fewer number of days with light and medium
amounts of precipitation, and a large increase in the number of days with the most extreme
precipitation (the top 1 percent and 0.1 percent of storms).
"People will be more affected by the really rare and most extreme events, because those are
showing the biggest increase," said Pierce, who is the lead author of the paper on extreme
precipitation published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology. "The wettest day you would expect
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to see in five years, or 50 years, or 500 years -- those extreme events are going to be substantially
wetter, and that's a really big issue, because it has implications for flooding and run-off."
Southern Canada and most of the United States will see increases in extreme precipitation days
that occur primarily in winter. The wettest days of precipitation will increase by 20-30 percent,
depending on the emissions scenario and how extreme the storm is.
Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico can expect increases in extreme precipitation days
that occur primarily in autumn. The wettest days of precipitation increase by 10-30 percent,
depending on which emissions scenarios come to be and how extreme the storms are. While the
region becomes drier overall, the number of days with extreme precipitation events still goes up,
meaning the precipitation that does come will often do so in larger storms.
"It's quite interesting that you see the same kind of pattern of fewer low- and mediumprecipitation days and more extreme precipitation days across pretty much the entire country,"
Pierce said. Knowing the changing character of precipitation and the frequency of extreme events
is useful in two ways, Pierce added. "One is for building new infrastructure in the future, and one
is for understanding impacts upon existing facilities already there."
Funding for this research was provided by the Department of Defense and Department of Energy
through the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). The NASA
High-End Computing Capability (HECC) Program provided resources supporting this work
through the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX), Earth Science Division, and the NASA Advanced
Supercomputing (NAS) Division at Ames Research Center.
Page 7 of 35
The news article "A new look at climate data shows substantially wetter rain and snow
days ahead" is a glimmer of hope in the ongoing battle against climate change. The
article presents new research that suggests that precipitation levels may increase in the
future, which could help mitigate some of the negative effects of global warming.
The article highlights how scientists have used advanced computer models to analyze
climate data and predict future weather patterns. The findings suggest that many regions
of the world could see an increase in the frequency and intensity of rain and snow events,
which could help replenish water supplies and reduce the risk of drought.
While this is good news, it is important to note that increased precipitation levels can
also lead to other problems, such as flooding and landslides. Therefore, it will be crucial
for policymakers to develop strategies to manage the increased precipitation levels and
ensure that the benefits are maximized while the negative consequences are minimized.
Moreover, this research underscores the importance of investing in science and
technology to better understand climate change and develop effective solutions. The
findings of this study may provide valuable insights into how we can adapt to a changing
climate and mitigate the most severe effects of global warming.
Overall, the news article provides a hopeful perspective on the future of our planet and
highlights the importance of continued research and innovation to address the challenges
of climate change. It is a call to action for all individuals and policymakers to take
responsibility and work towards a more sustainable future.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
"New look at climate data shows substantially wetter rain and snow days ahead"
Page 8 of 35
2. Air pollution is not just a human problem -- it's also changing the gut of
British bumblebees
Research finds that exposure to air pollution changes bumblebee gut bacteria.
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230413154455.htm
Date: April 13, 2023
Source: Microbiology Society
Summary: Human activity is contributing to pollution that is affecting our health.
According to WHO estimates, atmospheric air pollution is estimated to cause 4.2 million
premature deaths worldwide per year. Scientists and the public alike are well aware of
how human activity and pollution is affecting our heath, but new research has identified
how bumblebees may be caught in the crossfire.
The team are researching how air pollution affects bee's beneficial gut bacteria and
microbiome composition, and the subsequent impact on bee health. Dr Hannah Sampson,
first author on the study, explains "We know that pollution is a massive issue globally and
we know that bee decline seems to be increasing over the last few years. Maybe they're
linked, as bees are constantly exposed to these pollution particulates in the air."
The bumblebee has a delicate gut microbiome, that has coevolved with bee species over
millions of years. The balance of the bacteria in the bee gut microbiome is vital to
maintaining bee health, and any disruption to this microbiome could pose a risk not only
to bee health but to pollination and global food security. Snodgrassella alvi is a beneficial
member of the bee gut microbiome, that colonises bees' large intestine in a structure
called a biofilm. A biofilm is a protective matrix that promotes bacterial colonisation on
surfaces (e.g. like plaque on teeth). S. alvi is especially important as it is one of the initial
colonisers of the bee gut microbiome.
Dr Sampson, part of the air pollution bacteria team led by Professor Morrissey at the
University of Leicester, grew S. alvi in lab conditions and exposed it to black carbon air
pollution. She found that exposure to black carbon changed the behaviour of S. alvi and
the structure and formation of the bacteria's biofilm. This is worrying as any disruption to
this could have knock-on effects to the overall composition and function of the bee gut
microbiome.
Researchers also looked at the effects of black carbon pollution on live bumblebees. They
sampled bees before and after exposure and measured the abundance of bacteria in their
gut to observe any differences. The researchers found that there was a significant change
in the abundance of two beneficial bacteria that are vital to the health of the bee gut
microbiome.
Page 9 of 35
Whilst Dr Sampson urges caution on concluding that air pollution directly contributes to
bee population decline from this initial study, she is clear on the importance of
understanding this interaction to learn how to better protect our planet: "More research
needs to take place as air pollution is having a much greater impact than we think. Air
pollution affects microbial communities. Changes to these important communities could
have detrimental effects on lots of different ecosystems that affect bees and also directly
affect humans."
Page 10 of 35
The news article "Air pollution is not just a human problem—it's also changing the gut
of British bumblebees" sheds light on an often-overlooked consequence of air pollution:
the impact it has on wildlife. The article reports on a study that shows how air pollution
can affect the gut microbiome of bumblebees in the UK, which could have significant
implications for their health and survival.
The article highlights how air pollution can alter the composition of bacteria in the gut of
bumblebees, which can weaken their immune systems and make them more vulnerable
to diseases and parasites. This, in turn, could have serious consequences for their
survival and the ecosystems they support.
The article serves as a reminder that the impact of air pollution extends beyond human
health and affects the health and wellbeing of wildlife as well. It is a call to action for
policymakers and individuals alike to take responsibility for reducing air pollution levels
and creating a more sustainable future for all living beings.
Moreover, this research highlights the importance of studying the impact of
environmental factors on wildlife and understanding the interconnectedness of
ecosystems. It underscores the need for continued research and innovation to address the
challenges of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.
Overall, the news article provides an important perspective on the impact of air pollution
on wildlife and underscores the need for action to create a more sustainable future. It is a
call to action for all individuals and policymakers to take responsibility and work
towards a healthier planet for all living beings.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
"Air pollution is not just a human problem -- it's also changing the gut of British
bumblebees"
Page 11 of 35
3. Increased droughts are disrupting carbon-capturing soil microbes,
concerning ecologists
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230412131133.htm
Date: April 12, 2023
Source: Cell Press
Summary: Soil stores more carbon than plants and the atmosphere combined, and soil
microbes are largely responsible for putting it there. However, the increasing frequency
and severity of drought, such as those that have been impacting California, could disrupt
this delicate ecosystem. Microbial ecologists warn that soil health and future greenhouse
gas levels could be impacted if soil microbes adapt to drought faster than plants do.
"Soil microbes are beneficial, and we couldn't live without their cycling of carbon and
nutrients, but climate change and drought can tweak that balance, and we have to be
aware of how it's changing," says Allison of the University of California, Irvine.
Some soil microbes take carbon from decomposing plants and store it in the soil, while
others release plant carbon back into the atmosphere. The carbon that ends up in the soil
is beneficial in multiple ways. "The carbon in the soil has these reverberating effects out
to the rest of the world in terms of the infrastructure in our natural and managed
ecosystems," says Allison. "Carbon-rich soils hold more nutrients, so plants growing in
those soils tend to be more productive, and the carbon changes the physical properties of
the soil, which prevents erosion."
"In California now, we have this system where the droughts are more intense, and then
the rainfall is more intense," he says. "So, if you're losing your soil carbon, when it rains
really hard it could carry away your soil and cause erosion, landslides, mudslides,
sediments, and all kinds of problems that we're actually seeing right now."
The carbon that is released back into the atmosphere is another story. "From a climate
mitigation standpoint, what we want is for more carbon to be in plants and soils and less
carbon to be in the atmosphere, so the more carbon we can absorb into plants through
photosynthesis and the more we can transfer and keep in the soil, the better off we're
going to be in terms of climate change," says Allison. "That's why it's really important to
know how the balance of incoming versus outflowing carbon changes with drought, or
warming, or any other climate factor."
Plants and microbes will both be impacted by the increasing frequency of drought, but
Allison suspects that microbes will be able to bounce back faster. "Microbes are really
adaptable -- they can change their physiology, they can change their abundances so that
more drought-adapted microbes take over, and they can potentially evolve -- so we
expect that they are going to resist or bounce back from drought," says Allison. "All those
Page 12 of 35
different processes can happen pretty quickly with microbes, and much more quickly than
with plants."
If more carbon-releasing microbes survive than carbon-sequestering microbes, we could
end up with carbon-depleted soils, which would have serious negative implications for
plant productivity and future greenhouse gas levels.
We may be able to nudge the balance in the right direction, Allison says, but more
research is needed first. "There's still a lot to be done. Right now, we have data that
suggests that when we have drought, something changes that results in carbon loss, but
we don't understand exactly how or why that's happening, whether drought's changing the
abundance of beneficial plant associated microbes versus the carbon releasing microbes,
or if it's causing the evolution of one of the microbe groups, or if it's more determined by
changes to their immediate physiology," says Allison.
Some microbes could actually help plants cope with drought. If we knew which microbes
were most beneficial to plants, and most likely to retain carbon in soil, we could try to tip
the balance in their favor.
"There's a lot of potential for us to manage or engineer soil microbes," says Allison. "In
agricultural systems, we can look into manipulating the soil or adding beneficial
microbes back in. In more natural systems, management would probably be on the plant
side: soil microbes are often closely intertwined with plants, so managing the plants can
also benefit the microbial part of the ecosystem."
"We also need more measurements to get a good sense of how drought affects soil carbon
change in different ecosystems," says Allison. "There's a lot of landscape out there -from the Arctic tundra to the deserts -- and we could use more research across those
diverse habitats."
Page 13 of 35
The news article "Increased droughts are disrupting carbon-capturing soil microbes,
concerning ecologists" is a concerning reminder of the impact that climate change is
having on the planet's ecosystems. The article reports on a study that shows how
increased droughts caused by global warming are disrupting the soil microbes that
capture and store carbon, which could have significant implications for the planet's
carbon cycle.
The article highlights how droughts can cause soil microbes to become less efficient at
capturing and storing carbon, which can lead to an increase in the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere. This, in turn, can exacerbate the effects of climate change,
creating a dangerous feedback loop that could have severe consequences for the planet.
The article serves as a stark reminder of the interconnectedness of ecosystems and how
changes in one part of the ecosystem can have far-reaching effects on the rest of the
system. It underscores the need for a holistic approach to address the challenges of
climate change and preserve the health and wellbeing of the planet.
Moreover, this research highlights the importance of studying the impact of
environmental factors on soil microbes and understanding the complex interactions
between different parts of the ecosystem. It underscores the need for continued research
and innovation to address the challenges of environmental degradation and biodiversity
loss.
Overall, the news article provides an important perspective on the impact of climate
change on soil microbes and the planet's carbon cycle. It is a call to action for all
individuals and policymakers to take responsibility and work towards a more sustainable
future for the planet and all of its inhabitants.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
"Increased droughts are disrupting carbon-capturing soil microbes, concerning ecologists"
Page 14 of 35
4. Underground water could be the solution to green heating and cooling
Decarbonizing the grid means storing energy from renewables. Aquifers can do
that.
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230405130132.htm
Date: April 5, 2023
Source: DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Summary: About 12% of the total global energy demand comes from heating and
cooling homes and businesses. A new study suggests that using underground water to
maintain comfortable temperatures could reduce consumption of natural gas and
electricity in this sector by 40% in the United States. The approach, called aquifer
thermal energy storage (ATES), could also help prevent blackouts caused by high power
demand during extreme weather events.
"We need storage to absorb the fluctuating energy from solar and wind, and most people
are interested in batteries and other kinds of electrical storage. But we were wondering
whether there's any opportunity to use geothermal energy storage, because heating and
cooling is such a predominant part of the energy demand for buildings," said first author
A.T.D Perera, a former postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), now at Princeton University's Andlinger Center for Energy
and Environment.
"We found that, with ATES, a huge amount of energy can be stored, and it can be stored
for a long period of time," Perera said. "As a result, the heating and cooling energy
demand during extreme hot or cold periods can be met without adding an additional
burden on the grid, making urban energy infrastructure more resilient."
The study, published this week in Applied Energy, is one of the first examinations of how
ATES could fit into the larger goal of decarbonizing U.S. energy systems by storing
intermittent renewable energy to use when the sun isn't shining and the turbines aren't
spinning. After building a comprehensive technological and economic simulation of an
energy system, the authors found that ATES is a compelling option for heating and
cooling energy storage that, alongside other technologies such as batteries, could help end
our reliance on fossil fuel-derived backup power and enable a fully renewable grid.
Putting thermodynamics to work
ATES is a delightfully simple concept that leverages the heat-absorbing property of water
and the natural geological features of the planet. You simply pump water up from existing
underground reservoirs and heat it at the surface in the summer with environmental heat
or excess energy from solar, or any time of the year with wind. Then you pump it back
down.
Page 15 of 35
"It actually stays fairly hot because the Earth is a pretty good insulator," explained coauthor Peter Nico, deputy director of the Energy Geosciences Division at Berkeley Lab
and lead of the Resilient Energy, Water and Infrastructure Domain. "So then when you
pull it up in the winter, months later, that water's way hotter than the ambient air and you
can use it to heat your buildings. Or vice versa, you can pull up water and let it cool and
then you can put it back down and store it until you need cooling during hot summer
months. It's a way of storing energy as temperature underground."
ATES is not yet widely used in the U.S., though it is gaining recognition internationally,
most notably in the Netherlands. One major perk is that these systems get "free" thermal
energy from seasonal temperature changes, which can be bolstered by the addition of
artificial heating and cooling generated by electricity. As such, they perform very well in
areas with large seasonal fluctuations, but have the potential to work anywhere, so long
as there is wind or solar to hook up to. In regards to other impacts, ATES systems are
designed to avoid impinging upon critical drinking water resources -- often the water
used is from deeper aquifers than the drinking water supply -- and do not introduce any
chemicals into the water.
How does it perform?
To get some concrete numbers estimating how much energy ATES could save on the U.S.
grid, and how much it would cost to deploy, the team designed a case study using a
computational model of a neighborhood in Chicago. This virtual neighborhood was
composed of 58 two-story, single-family residence buildings with typical residential
heating and cooling that were hooked up to a simulation of an energy grid with multiple
possible energy sources and storage options, including ATES. Future climate projections
were used to understand how much of the neighborhood's total energy budget is taken up
by heating and cooling demands currently, and how this might change in the future.
Finally, a microgrid simulation was designed for the neighborhood that included
renewable energy technologies and ATES to evaluate the technoeconomic feasibility and
climate resilience. Putting all these factors together into one model would not have been
possible without the team's diverse expertise across the energy geosciences, climate
science, and building science fields.
The results showed that adding ATES to the grid could reduce consumption of petroleum
products by up to 40%, though it would cost 15 to 20% more than existing energy storage
technologies.
"But, on the other hand, energy storage technologies are having sharp cost reductions,
and after just a few years of developing ATES, we could easily break even. That's why it's
quite important that we start to invest in this research and start building real-world
prototype systems," said Perera.
Page 16 of 35
"ATES does not need space compared with above-ground tank-based water or ice storage
systems. ATES is also more efficient and can scale up for large community cooling or
heating compared with traditional geothermal heat pump systems that rely on heat
transfer with the underground earth soil," added Tianzhen Hong, a co-author and senior
scientist at the Building Technology and Urban Systems Division.
Another major benefit of ATES is that it will become more efficient as weather becomes
more extreme in the coming years due to climate change. The hotter summers and harsher
winters predicted by the world's leading climate models will have many downsides, but
one upside is that they could supercharge the amount of free thermal energy that can be
stored with ATES. "It's making lemonade, right? If you're going to have these extreme
heat events, you might as well store some of that heat for when you have the extreme
cold event," said Nico.
ATES will also make the future grid more resilient to outages caused by high power
demands during heat waves -- which happen quite often these days in many highpopulation U.S. areas, including Chicago -- because ATES-driven cooling uses far less
electricity than air conditioners, it only needs enough power to pump the water around.
"It's very much a realistic thing to do and this work was really about showing its value
and how the costs can be offset," said Nico. "This technology is ready to go, so to speak.
We just need to do it."
This research was funded by the Department of Energy's Geothermal Technologies
Office.
Page 17 of 35
The news article "Underground water could be the solution to green heating and cooling"
provides a glimmer of hope in the ongoing battle against climate change. The article
highlights the potential of underground water to be used as a source of renewable energy
for heating and cooling buildings, which could reduce carbon emissions and help
mitigate the effects of global warming.
The article highlights how the use of underground water for heating and cooling, also
known as geothermal energy, has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 80%
compared to traditional heating and cooling methods. This could have a significant
impact on the fight against climate change.
The article serves as a reminder of the importance of innovation and technology in
creating a more sustainable future. It underscores the need for continued research and
development to identify new sources of renewable energy and reduce our dependence on
fossil fuels.
Moreover, this research highlights the importance of finding innovative ways to adapt to
a changing climate and mitigate its effects. It underscores the need for a holistic
approach that addresses both the causes and consequences of climate change.
Overall, the news article provides a hopeful perspective on the future of our planet and
the potential for renewable energy to play a critical role in creating a more sustainable
future. It is a call to action for all individuals and policymakers to take responsibility and
work towards a more sustainable future for the planet and all of its inhabitants.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
"Underground water could be the solution to green heating and cooling"
Page 18 of 35
5. Preventing urban flooding in the face of climate change
Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of floods
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230404161708.htm
Date: April 4, 2023
Source: University of Cincinnati
Summary: Planners have come up with many innovative ways to prevent flooding
caused by heavy downpours -- from planting rain gardens to installing green roofs. But in
many cases, nothing works quite as well as a simple hole in the ground -- a detention
basin.
But in many cases, nothing works quite as well as a simple hole in the ground — a
detention basin.
That’s the finding of an analysis by University of Cincinnati geography students in a
research collaboration with the Hamilton County Conservation District.
Lead author and UC College of Arts and Sciences doctoral student Man Qi said cities are
developing new ways to trap rainwater and direct it where it’s most wanted, especially
during droughts. They call these low-impact development practices, which include
innovations such as permeable pavement that allows rainwater to seep into the ground
instead of diverting it elsewhere.
Another innovation is a bioretention cell composed of ornamental or landscaping plants
atop soil specially designed to drain quickly spread over a thick bed of gravel that does
likewise. This soaks up large volumes of rain without creating standing pools of open
water.
New commercial or housing developments typically must prevent rainwater from spilling
out to other neighboring properties or roads. Hard surfaces like buildings and parking lots
can’t absorb heavy rains so planners must collect or divert the water to prevent property
damage.
“A detention pond is a common practice,” Qi said. “It temporarily stores the water and
releases it into the air or the groundwater or nearby streams at a low rate to reduce the
risk of flooding. It also provides some ecological benefits.”
Qi worked with the Hamilton County conservation district to measure the effectiveness of
flood-prevention techniques such as detention basins and bioretention cells under five
scenarios.
Qi presented their results at the annual American Association of Geographers’ conference
in Denver.
Page 19 of 35
“In residential areas where the impervious area is less than 40%, low-impact
development practices are better. But if 70% or more of the ground surface is impervious,
it’s best to put in detention basins,” Qi said. “The flood risk can be greatly reduced.”
Climate change is expected to increase both the frequency and severity of rainstorms,
which means making deliberate plans for drainage will become even more important in
cities, said Professor Lin Liu, a study co-author and co-director of UC’s Joint Center of
GIS and Spatial Analysis.
With their hard reflective surfaces, cities tend to trap heat, raising the ambient
temperature by as much as 7 degrees during the day. This urban heat island effect can
provide more energy for damaging storms, Liu said.
“Global warming and urban sprawl have contributed to extreme weather,” he said.
“Coupled with the urban heat island effect many metropolitan cities have experienced
more extreme precipitation events. As a result, urban flooding has become an increasing
threat to the loss of human life and property damage in many cities around the globe.”
“You can see the extreme rainfalls happen more frequently,” Qi added. “Intense, heavy
rains could inundate networks designed to prevent flooding and the capacity of drainage
networks could fail because they simply can’t hold that much stormwater.”
The issue of urban flooding became real for Qi in 2021 when her sister’s home was
inundated by floodwaters in China’s Zhengzhou City. More than 10 million people were
affected by the disaster, which was one of the most severe floods in the city’s history. As
much rain fell in a single day as the city sometimes sees in an entire year.
“My sister’s family was badly affected by the flooding. The water flooded their garage.
Their cars were underwater,” she said. “It was very scary.”
The flood killed nearly 400 people and caused $10 billion in property damage.
Qi said flooding disproportionately affects lower-income residents who don’t have the
resources to recover as quickly from a disaster.
Flood insurers create maps around these once-in-a-century disasters. But because of
climate change, they are happening more frequently, Qi said.
“Floods affect roads and infrastructure and interrupt society,” Qi said. “Schools are
closed. Businesses are closed. The impacts are widespread.”
Page 20 of 35
The news article "Preventing urban flooding in the face of climate change" sheds light on
the impact of climate change on urban areas and the importance of addressing the
increasing frequency and severity of floods. The article highlights the innovative
approaches that cities around the world are taking to prevent urban flooding and protect
their communities from the effects of climate change.
The article highlights how urban flooding is becoming an increasingly common problem
in many cities around the world and how the consequences can be devastating, causing
damage to infrastructure and homes and posing a risk to human lives.
The article serves as a reminder of the importance of taking a proactive approach to
addressing the challenges of climate change. It underscores the need for innovative
solutions that combine the use of technology, infrastructure, and community engagement
to create more resilient cities that are better able to withstand the effects of climate
change.
Moreover, this research highlights the importance of recognizing the interconnectedness
of different parts of our environment and the need for a holistic approach to climate
change. It underscores the importance of engaging with communities and stakeholders to
develop solutions that are tailored to the unique challenges and needs of each urban area.
Overall, the news article provides an important perspective on the impact of climate
change on urban areas and the importance of taking a proactive approach to address the
challenges posed by urban flooding. It is a call to action for all individuals and
policymakers to take responsibility and work towards a more sustainable future for the
planet and all of its inhabitants.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
"Preventing urban flooding in the face of climate change"
Page 21 of 35
6. New approach estimates long-term coastal cliff loss
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230417142448.htm
Date: April 17, 2023
Source: Stanford University
Summary: A new method for estimating cliff loss over thousands of years in Del Mar,
California, may help reveal some of the long-term drivers of coastal cliff loss in the state.
Using a model that incorporates measurements of the amount of time coastal cliffs and
their remnant deposits were exposed at the Earth's surface, Stanford researchers found
that the rate of cliff erosion in the past 100 years is similar to that of the past 2,000 years.
The proof-of-concept, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface
April 17, opens the possibility of using this new approach to understand the long-term
history of coastal cliff erosion, or retreat, in other parts of the state. The work was
conducted in Del Mar, California, a beach town in San Diego County with infrastructure
atop its coastal bluffs.
"In this particular location, these cliff erosion rates have been the same for thousands of
years, so we shouldn't expect them to get lower," said senior study author Jane
Willenbring, an associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the Stanford Doerr
School of Sustainability. "If anything, we should expect them to be higher in the future."
Del Mar is among locations that are critically important for understanding cliff retreat.
Homes are situated up to 70 feet above its beach, in addition to public infrastructure. A
major railroad between Los Angeles and San Diego runs atop the coastal bluffs, where
cliff failures have resulted in several derailments in modern history, as well as rock fall
events that led to closures in recent years.
"I think this study bolsters the thinking that we should do something about cliff retreat
sooner rather than later," said lead study author Travis Clow, PhD '22.
A natural laboratory
The study area was ideal for the researchers' methodology because the Del Mar beach
features a narrow shore platform, the bedrock where tidepools are typically found. Using
nine samples of bedrock, the co-authors measured concentrations of the chemical isotope
beryllium-10 that track landform exposure to cosmic radiation from space. The data were
compared with cliff retreat rates from recent studies based on aerial photography,
showing that coastal erosion rates have remained relatively constant over the past two
millennia -- at about 2 to 5 inches per year.
"One of the advantages of this technique is that it gives you information at the time scales
that are relevant for factors like sea-level rise," Willenbring said. "Our tool estimates
Page 22 of 35
retreat over time periods that include multiple major storms or atmospheric rivers that
don't happen very often, but are critical in forming the coastline."
The researchers' approach explores the influence of different factors, including wave
impacts and weathering that occur at the shore platform and the cliff interface.
"It does more than just spit out a retreat rate," said Clow, who processed the samples in
Willenbring's lab and measured them at the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). "It also allows us to have a relative
assessment of what might be driving cliff retreat over longer periods of time."
When rock becomes air
On sandy coasts, like those spanning much of the eastern U.S., beaches are shaped by
waves that pull sand out to the ocean, then re-deposit it on land with the coming and
going of the tides. But with rocky coastlines like those along California, once a cliff
erodes into the ocean, it cannot be replaced, Willenbring said. Instead, it's as if the rock
becomes air.
Willenbring was surprised to learn through this research that over half of all coastlines on
Earth are eroding like California's. The scope of the problem, which will be exacerbated
by sea-level rise in the next century, presents an opportunity for using this new technique
in other areas.
"There are plenty of other places in California and the Pacific Northwest where active
erosion of coastal rocky cliffs is happening, and we hope to use this technique in a wide
variety of environments," Clow said.
Knowledge of cliff retreat in the U.S. is about 50 years behind research on the impacts of
erosion and storms on sandy beaches, according to Willenbring -- and that makes her
excited about contributing to fundamental science in this field.
"No one had even looked at how the beach width correlated with the rate of cliff retreat in
California," Willenbring said. "There are a lot of open questions about what drives coastal
erosion, and now we have a new tool to be able to address some of them."
Additional study co-authors are from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the
University of California, San Diego; the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at
LLNL; and Imperial College London. The research was supported by LLNL, the
California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Page 23 of 35
The news article "New approach estimates long-term coastal cliff loss" highlights the
innovative approach scientists are taking to measure the potential effects of climate
change on our coastlines. The article reports on a study that uses a new method to
estimate long-term coastal cliff loss due to sea level rise and storm surges, which could
have significant implications for coastal communities and infrastructure.
The article highlights how this new approach could provide more accurate estimates of
the potential impact of climate change on coastal cliffs and help inform policy decisions
related to coastal management and adaptation.
The article serves as a reminder of the urgency of addressing the challenges posed by
climate change and the need for innovative solutions to mitigate its effects. It
underscores the importance of continued research and development to better understand
the complex interactions between the environment, climate change, and human activity.
Moreover, this research highlights the importance of taking a long-term perspective
when it comes to climate change and its effects on the planet. It underscores the need for
a holistic approach that considers the impact of climate change on all aspects of our
environment, including our coastlines, and takes into account the potential consequences
for human communities.
Overall, the news article provides an important perspective on the potential impact of
climate change on our coastlines and the need for innovative approaches to understand
and address these challenges. It is a call to action for all individuals and policymakers to
take responsibility and work towards a more sustainable future for the planet and all of
its inhabitants.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
"New approach estimates long-term coastal cliff loss"
Page 24 of 35
7. Shift to 'flash droughts' as climate warms
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230413154232.htm
Date: April 13, 2023
Source: University of Southampton
Summary: 'Flash droughts' have become more frequent due to human-caused climate
change and this trend is predicted to accelerate in a warmer future, according to new
research.
The research published in Science shows that flash droughts, which start and develop
rapidly, are becoming 'the new normal' for droughts, making forecasting and preparing
for their impact more difficult.
Flash droughts can develop into severe droughts within a few weeks. They are caused by
low precipitation and high evapotranspiration, which quickly depletes the soil of water.
While they start quickly, the droughts can last for months, damaging vegetation and
ecosystems, and triggering heat waves and wildfires.
A multinational group of researchers wanted to understand if there had been a transition
from conventional 'slow' droughts to flash droughts and how this trend will develop under
different carbon emission scenarios.
"Climate change has effectively sped up the onset of droughts," says Professor Justin
Sheffield, Professor of Hydrology and Remote Sensing at the University of Southampton
and co-author of the paper.
"While it varies between different regions, there has been a global shift towards more
frequent flash droughts during the past 64 years."
The transition to flash droughts is most notable over East and North Asia, Europe, the
Sahara, and the west coast of South America. Some areas, such as eastern North America,
Southeast Asia and North Australia, saw fewer flash and slow droughts, but the speed of
drought onset had increased. In the Amazon and West Africa, there was no evidence of a
transition to flash droughts; the Amazon saw an increase in slow droughts and West
Africa saw an increase in the frequency and extremity of both fast and slow droughts.
Professor Justin Sheffield added: "As we head towards a warmer future, flash droughts
are becoming the new normal. Our models show that higher-emission scenarios would
lead to a greater risk of flash droughts with quicker onset which pose a major challenge
for climate adaptation."
The transition to flash droughts may have irreversible impacts on ecosystems as they may
not have enough time to adapt to a sudden lack of water and extreme heat. Forecasting
Page 25 of 35
flash droughts is also difficult as current approaches to predicting droughts use longer
time scales.
The researchers say new approaches are needed to provide early warnings of flash
droughts, as well as a better understanding of how natural ecosystems and humans will be
impacted.
Funding for the research was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of
China, the National Key R&D Program of China, the Natural Science Foundation of
Jiangsu Province for Distinguished Young Scholars, and the UK-China Research &
Innovation Partnership Fund through the Met Office Climate Science for Service
Partnership (CSSP) China as part of the Newton Fund.
Page 26 of 35
The news article "Shift to 'flash droughts' as climate warms" highlights the emerging
threat of "flash droughts" as a consequence of global warming. The article reports on a
study that found that such droughts are becoming more frequent and severe in various
parts of the world, posing a significant challenge to agriculture and water management.
The article emphasizes how "flash droughts" are different from traditional droughts
because they occur rapidly and unexpectedly, and their impacts are felt almost
immediately. This makes it difficult for communities and farmers to prepare and respond
effectively.
The article serves as a reminder of the urgent need to address the challenges posed by
climate change and its impact on agriculture and water management. It underscores the
importance of innovative solutions that can help mitigate the effects of droughts and
support sustainable agriculture.
Moreover, this research highlights the importance of taking a proactive approach to
climate change and its effects. It underscores the need for a holistic approach that
considers the impact of climate change on all aspects of our environment and takes into
account the potential consequences for human communities.
Overall, the news article provides an important perspective on the emerging threat of
"flash droughts" and the need for innovative solutions to address the challenges posed by
climate change. It is a call to action for all individuals and policymakers to take
responsibility and work towards a more sustainable future for the planet and all of its
inhabitants.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
"Shift to 'flash droughts' as climate warms"
Page 27 of 35
8. New look at climate data shows substantially wetter rain and snow days
ahead
Research shows that by the end of the century the biggest rain and snow days will
be 20 to 30% wetter than they are today
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230413154330.htm
Date: April 13, 2023
Source: DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Summary: A new look at climate data shows that, by the end of the century, the heaviest
days of rain and snowfall across much of North America will likely release 20 to 30
percent more moisture than they do now. Much of the increased precipitation will occur
in winter, potentially exacerbating flooding in regions such as the upper Midwest and the
west coast. Researchers also found that heavy precipitation days historically experienced
once in a century will become more frequent -- as often as once every 30 or 40 years in
the Pacific Northwest and southeastern United States.
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the Department of
Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) report that extremely
intense days of rain or snow will be more frequent by the end of this century than
previously thought -- as often as once every 30 or 40 years in the Pacific Northwest and
southeastern United States.
The conclusions come from analyzing a 30-terabyte data set that models temperature and
precipitation at scales roughly the size of urban ZIP codes: six kilometers (3.9 miles).
Researchers developed the data set, called Localized Constructed Analogs Version 2
(LOCA2), to provide climate information that is useful for local planners. In contrast,
most of the existing advanced climate models look at regions that range from 50 to 250
kilometers (30 to 400 miles).
"With this data set, we're able to look at the impacts of actual weather pattern changes
across the United States at an extremely granular level," said Dan Feldman, staff scientist
at Berkeley Lab and the project's principal investigator. "We see that there is a lot more
extreme weather that is likely to happen in the future -- and by looking at actual weather
patterns, we show that changes in extreme precipitation will actually be more extreme
than previously estimated. Land use managers and planners should expect more
extremes, but location matters."
The LOCA2 data set updates a similar analysis conducted in 2016 in advance of the
Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA), which was released in 2018 by the U.S.
Global Change Research Program. The NCA is intended to assist the U.S. government
with planning for, mitigating, and adapting to changes in climate that will affect the
country. The Fifth NCA is expected to be issued later this year.
Page 28 of 35
LOCA2 projections cover the lower 48 states of the United States, southern Canada, and
northern Mexico. The data set draws on more than 70 years of weather data and
incorporates 27 updated climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project
(CMIP6), the latest iteration of an international effort to simulate climate that includes the
"coupling" of natural systems such as the ocean and atmosphere to understand how they
will act in concert as climate changes.
"We've spent a lot of effort improving the representation of extreme wet days, which is
important for understanding both the likelihood of flooding and the availability of water
for agricultural, commercial, and residential use," said David Pierce, a scientist at Scripps
Oceanography and the developer of LOCA and LOCA2.
The LOCA2 climate projections are available through the end of the century down to the
daily level, and for three different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios known as SSPs, or
Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. The three scenarios are a medium level of emissions
that is slightly less than current levels (SSP 245), medium-high (SSP 370), and high,
where emissions greatly increase (SSP 585). The data set is freely available for planners
and decision makers to use.
The projection reinforces what climate scientists have long predicted: Future weather
events will become more extreme in a warming world. LOCA2 finds that the heaviest
days of rain and snowfall across much of North America will likely release 20 to 30
percent more moisture than they do now. Much of the increased precipitation will occur
in winter, potentially exacerbating flooding in regions such as the upper Midwest and the
west coast.
"The big picture is clear: it's getting warmer and wetter," Feldman said. "This research
translates that bigger picture into more practical data for infrastructure and operations
planning. With this more detailed look at local impacts, we can help local officials make
better-informed decisions, such as how long to make an airport runway, how much
resilience to include for constructing buildings or bridges, or where to put crops or
culverts."
The improved set of LOCA2 data was created by better identifying and preserving
extreme weather events in the past, training models to more accurately reflect extremes in
simulations of the future.
"We undertook a Herculean effort of personnel and computer time not just to produce a
bunch of numbers, but to produce local projections that are relevant and useful," Feldman
said. "We do so by recognizing how heat waves and storms have occurred and will occur
at the local level, and projecting those forward."
Seasonal and regional predictions
Page 29 of 35
While the data varies at the local level, researchers found substantial trends across the
area covered by LOCA2 at the end of the century.
Across most seasons, a major part of North America will see roughly the same or fewer
number of days with precipitation, roughly the same or fewer number of days with light
and medium amounts of precipitation, and a large increase in the number of days with the
most extreme precipitation (the top 1 percent and 0.1 percent of storms).
"People will be more affected by the really rare and most extreme events, because those
are showing the biggest increase," said Pierce, who is the lead author of the paper on
extreme precipitation published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology. "The wettest day
you would expect to see in five years, or 50 years, or 500 years -- those extreme events
are going to be substantially wetter, and that's a really big issue, because it has
implications for flooding and run-off."
Southern Canada and most of the United States will see increases in extreme precipitation
days that occur primarily in winter. The wettest days of precipitation will increase by 2030 percent, depending on the emissions scenario and how extreme the storm is.
Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico can expect increases in extreme
precipitation days that occur primarily in autumn. The wettest days of precipitation
increase by 10-30 percent, depending on which emissions scenarios come to be and how
extreme the storms are. While the region becomes drier overall, the number of days with
extreme precipitation events still goes up, meaning the precipitation that does come will
often do so in larger storms.
"It's quite interesting that you see the same kind of pattern of fewer low- and mediumprecipitation days and more extreme precipitation days across pretty much the entire
country," Pierce said. Knowing the changing character of precipitation and the frequency
of extreme events is useful in two ways, Pierce added. "One is for building new
infrastructure in the future, and one is for understanding impacts upon existing facilities
already there."
Funding for this research was provided by the Department of Defense and Department of
Energy through the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program
(SERDP). The NASA High-End Computing Capability (HECC) Program provided
resources supporting this work through the NASA Earth Exchange (NEX), Earth Science
Division, and the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division at Ames Research
Center.
Page 30 of 35
The news article "A new look at climate data shows substantially wetter rain and snow
days ahead" highlights the findings of a recent study that suggests that rainfall and
snowfall events are likely to become more frequent and intense in the future due to
climate change.
The article emphasizes how this increased precipitation could have significant
implications for water management, agriculture, and infrastructure, particularly in areas
that are already experiencing water stress or where floods and landslides are common.
The article serves as a reminder of the urgency of addressing the challenges posed by
climate change and its impact on our environment and society. It underscores the
importance of taking a proactive approach to adaptation and resilience building to help
communities and ecosystems withstand the effects of climate change.
Moreover, this research highlights the importance of using data and science to inform
decision-making and policy development. It underscores the need for evidence-based
solutions that consider the potential consequences of climate change on all aspects of our
environment and society.
Overall, the news article provides an important perspective on the potential impacts of
climate change on precipitation and the importance of taking a proactive approach to
adaptation and resilience building. It is a call to action for all individuals and
policymakers to take responsibility and work towards a more sustainable future for the
planet and all of its inhabitants.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
"New look at climate data shows substantially wetter rain and snow days ahead"
Page 31 of 35
9. Warmer climate may drive fungi to be more dangerous to our health
Pathogen's mutations ramp up as heat rises, causing concern for new infectivity
LINK: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230131160543.htm
Date: January 31, 2023
Source: Duke University
Summary: A new study finds that raised temperatures cause a pathogenic fungus known
as Cryptococcus deneoformans to turn its adaptive responses into overdrive. Heat
increases its number of genetic changes, some of which might presumably lead to higher
heat resistance, and others perhaps toward greater disease-causing potential.
Pathogenic fungi (Candida, Aspergillus, Cryptococcus and others) are notorious killers of
immune-compromised people. But for the most part, healthy people have not had to
worry about them, and the vast majority of the planet's potentially pathogenic fungi don't
do well in the heat of our bodies.
But all that may be about to change.
A new study out of Duke University School of Medicine finds that raised temperatures
cause a pathogenic fungus known as Cryptococcus deneoformans to turn its adaptative
responses into overdrive. This increases its number of genetic changes, some of which
might presumably lead to higher heat resistance, and others perhaps toward greater
disease-causing potential.
Specifically, higher heat makes more of the fungus' transposable elements, or jumping
genes, get up and move around within the fungal DNA, leading to changes in the way its
genes are used and regulated. The findings appeared Jan. 20 in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
"These mobile elements are likely to contribute to adaptation in the environment and
during an infection," said postdoctoral researcher Asiya Gusa Ph.D. of Molecular
Genetics and Microbiology in the Duke School of Medicine. "This could happen even
faster because heat stress speeds up the number of mutations occurring."
This may ring a bell with viewers of the new HBO series "The Last of Us," where a
dystopian hellscape is precipitated by a heat-adapted fungus that takes over humans and
turns them into zombies. "That's exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about -- minus the
zombie part!" said Gusa who just watched the first episode and who will join the Duke
faculty as an assistant professor later this year.
"These are not infectious diseases in the communicable sense; we don't transmit fungi to
each other," Gusa said. "But the spores are in the air. We breathe in spores of fungi all the
time and our immune systems are equipped to fight them."
Page 32 of 35
Fungal spores are generally larger than viruses, so your existing stock of face masks
against Covid would probably be sufficient to stop them. That, and your body heat, for
now.
"Fungal diseases are on the rise, largely because of an increase in the number of people
who have weakened immune systems or underlying health conditions," Gusa said. But at
the same time, pathogenic fungi may be adapting to warmer temperatures as well.
Working in the lab of Professor Sue Jinks-Robertson, Gusa led research that focused on
three transposable elements that were particularly active under heat stress in C.
deneoformans. But there are easily another 25 or more transposable elements in that
species that could mobilize, she said.
The team used 'long-read' DNA sequencing to see changes that might otherwise have
been missed, Gusa said. Computational analysis allowed them to map transposons and
then see how they had moved. "We have improved tools now to see these movements that
were previously hiding in our blind spots."
Heat stress sped the mutations up. Following 800 generations of growth in laboratory
medium, the rate of transposon mutations was five-times higher in fungi raised at body
temperature (37 Celsius) compared with fungi raised at 30C.
One of the transposable elements, called T1, had a tendency to insert itself between
coding genes, which could lead to changes in the way genes are controlled. An element
called Tcn12 often landed within the sequence of a gene, potentially disrupting that gene's
function and possibly leading to drug resistance. And a third kind, Cnl1, tended to land
near or in the telomere sequences at the ends of chromosomes, an effect which Gusa said
isn't fully understood.
The mobilization of transposable elements also appeared to increase more in fungi living
in mice than in lab culture. "We saw evidence of all three transposable elements
mobilizing in the fungus genome within just ten days of infecting the mouse," Gusa said.
The researchers suspect that the added challenges of surviving in an animal with immune
responses and other stressors may drive the transposons to be even more active.
"This is a fascinating study, which shows how increasing global temperature may affect
the fungal evolution in unpredictable directions," said Arturo Casadevall MD, PhD, the
chair of molecular microbiology & immunology at Johns Hopkins University. "As the
world warms, transposons in soil fungi like Cryptococcus neoformans could become
more mobile and increase genomic changes in ways that could enhance virulence and
drug resistance. One more thing to worry about with global warming!"
Page 33 of 35
Gusa's work was helped by collaboration with Duke labs that also study fungi, the Joseph
Heitman lab in the school of medicine and the Paul Magwene lab in Trinity Arts &
Sciences.
The next phase of this research will be looking at pathogens from human patients who
have had a relapsing fungal infection. "We know that these infections can persist and then
come back with potential genetic changes."
It's time to get serious about pathogenic fungi, Gusa said. "These kinds of stressstimulated changes may contribute to the evolution of pathogenic traits in fungi both in
the environment and during infection. They may be evolving faster than we expected."
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R35-GM118077, R21AI133644, 5T32AI052080, 2T32AI052080, 1K99-AI166094-01, R01-AI039115-24,
R01-AI050113-17, R01-AI133654-05)
Page 34 of 35
The news article "Warmer climate may drive fungi to be more dangerous to our health"
sheds light on a new study that suggests that climate change may lead to increased fungal
infections as warmer temperatures can encourage the growth and spread of fungi,
making them more dangerous to human health.
The article emphasizes how fungal infections can have serious health consequences,
particularly for vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, and people with
weakened immune systems.
The article serves as a reminder of the urgent need to address the challenges posed by
climate change and its impact on human health. It underscores the importance of
investing in research to better understand the potential health risks associated with
climate change and developing strategies to mitigate these risks.
Moreover, this research highlights the importance of taking a holistic approach to
climate change and its impact on all aspects of our environment and society. It
underscores the need for a comprehensive and coordinated response that considers the
potential consequences of climate change on public health and takes into account the
needs of vulnerable populations.
Overall, the news article provides an important perspective on the potential health risks
associated with climate change and the importance of taking proactive steps to address
these risks. It is a call to action for all individuals and policymakers to take responsibility
and work towards a more sustainable future for the planet and all of its inhabitants.
REFLECTION FOR THE NEWS ARTICLE:
"Warmer climate may drive fungi to be more dangerous to our health"
Page 35 of 35