#Shilong Piao

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Two Years On - We Are Still Here - Greening, Dune & E.A.

Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, yep it is our 2nd birthday episode. We wish to say thank you to everyone who listens to us. We really appreciate all the support and encouragement we have received. It has been an amazing experience that we have all enjoyed on the Nerds team. Well, here is to another year of Nerdity and fun, we hope you enjoy everything as we continue to look for those items we enjoy learning about and discussing.

            First up this week Buck brings us news that Global Warming is being slowed by a phenomenon known as Global Greening. Apparently all the carbon emissions have provided a positive impact for the trees and plants. Now, this is only a small impact and not enough to celebrate with street parties, but still it is some good news. So with this news coming to light and in the wake of the recent bushfires in Australia it might be a good idea to plant some trees or bushes to help the environment. If nothing else it will give the computers and consoles a break for an hour or two.

            Next up DJ has the first reactions to the new Dune movie, and it is looking promising. Of course Professor and Buck being the fans they are have some reservations, but are excited to see the latest offering when it is released. There is the usual discussion about who might be the best option for director, what were the failures in the previous movies; and what were the successes from them as well. But hopefully one day an offering will be presented that is worthy of Frank Herbert’s legendary work. DJ continues with a discussion on the impact of the Coronavirus on the Chinese film industry. There have been major disruptions in the Chinese economy and a large section of the industry is on hold while China tries to combat this epidemic. We discuss the broad effects of this, but we wish everyone well and hope that this is contained and treated soon.

            Professor has a list of 14 new games that are planned to be released this next fiscal year by EA. We have a look at the offerings and discuss what we think is the most exciting or interesting of these releases. Now it might interest you to know that what we found as the most interesting games to look forward to. We will tell you, to find out listen in and learn what are the games being released that Professor is most interested to see. Also what game Buck thinks should move across to the EA studio catalogue; and what he thinks is an approach to the new Battlefield game if the crew behind Star Citizen were involved.

            As usual we have the Shout outs, Remembrances, Birthdays, and Events of Interest for the week. We invite you to check out MySongsSuck, with our man Alex Smith. Also there is there offering of The Story Chunder, which is sure to delight some and perchance disgust others. As always remember to take care of yourselves, look out for each other, and stay hydrated.

Global Greening

                - https://phys.org/news/2020-01-planet-greener-global.html

                - https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-019-0001-x

First reaction to the new Dune movie are out

            -https://boundingintocomics.com/2020/01/30/early-reactions-to-denis-villeneuves-dune-describe-it-as-phenomenal-compared-to-lord-of-the-rings/

Next victim of the coronavirus hitlist…the Chinese film industry

            -https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chinas-film-industry-takes-stock-market-beating-as-trading-resumes-coronavirus-crisis-1275718

EA’s plan for 2020…. release 14 games

            - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-31-ea-planning-to-publish-14-games-next-fiscal-year

Games Played

Professor

– Quake - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2310/QUAKE/ 

Rating – 2.5/5

Buck

– Hero Wars - https://www.facebook.com/herowarsgame/

Rating – 1.5/5

DJ

– Ironsight - https://store.steampowered.com/app/715220/Ironsight/

Rating – 2/5

Other topics discussed

One climate change prediction being wrong

- https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/11/12/one-of-the-longest-running-climate-prediction-blunders-has-disappeared-from-the-internet/

Gulf Stream (warm and swift Atlanticocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and stretches to the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean as the North Atlantic Current.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream

2019 Ozone Hole is the smallest since its smallest

- https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/2019-ozone-hole-is-the-smallest-on-record-since-its-discovery

World’s tallest timber tower in Norway

- https://www.dezeen.com/2019/03/19/mjostarne-worlds-tallest-timber-tower-voll-arkitekter-norway/

One way to curb climate change: suck carbon from the sky

- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/carbon-capture-trees-atmosphere-climate-change/

Petra (originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan. The site appeared in films such as: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,Arabian Nights, Passion in the Desert, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger,The Mummy Returns, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,Samsara and Kajraare.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (also known as Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) is a 2019 American epicspace opera film produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Rise_of_Skywalker

Fremen (a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremen

Bene Gesserit (a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bene_Gesserit

Dune (1984 American epicscience fiction adventure film written and directed by David Lynch and based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(1984_film)

The Chronicles of Narnia film series (The Chronicles of Narnia series of films is based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels by C. S. Lewis. From the seven books, three were adapted —The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(film_series)

WHO: Coronavirus is now a public health emergency

- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/coronavirus-who-declares-global-virus-emergency

Briton who contracted Wuhan virus claims he beat illness with this drink : hot toddy

- https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1237119/coronavirus-cure-uk-symptoms-virus-wuhan-hot-toddy-whisky-honey

Battlefield 2142 (2006 first-person shooter video game developed by EA DICE and published by Electronic Arts.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_2142

Original Quake 1 Soundtrack by Trent Reznor

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVOHTGYoM6E

Longest single spaceflight in history by a woman, NASA astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth.

- https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/record-setting-nasa-astronaut-crewmates-return-from-space-station

Junkers Ju 87 (German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and served the Axis forces in World War II.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_87

My Songs Suck (TNC Podcast)

- https://thatsnotcanon.com/mysongssuckpod

Nick Cave: Selected Works featuring Your Man Alex Smith from My Songs Suck

- https://www.facebook.com/events/904564969910195/

The Story Chunder (The Story Chunder at Back Dock Arts. Every week a new lot of cunning linguists will spew forth their most entertaining stories for your delight or disapproval.)

- https://www.facebook.com/thestorychunder/

Shout Outs

- 31 January 2020 – Mary Higgins Clark died – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/books/mary-higgins-clark-dead.html?fbclid=IwAR1CCn7f-sSFWZavHhCCmJIuRNXPic-6SuB29yWK1_91B6sVUoLkbcZq-Ag

Mary Higgins Clark, a fixture on best-seller lists for decades whose more than 50 novels earned her the sobriquet Queen of Suspense. Ms. Higgins Clark, whose books have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone, was still writing until recently, her daughter said, and had a book published in November. Her heroes were most often female, her villains male, and she said that she wrote about “nice people whose lives are invaded.” There are, however, two things that won’t be found in her books — sex and profanity — and that choice was deliberate. “Let others decide whether or not I’m a good writer,” she said. “I know I’m a good Irish storyteller.”  She passed away at Naples, Florida at the age of 92.

- 3 February 1995 – Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. - https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/feb-3-1995-astronaut-eileen-collins-at-the-pilots-station-on-shuttle-discovery

Eileen M. Collins -- the first woman to pilot the shuttle -- is at the pilot's station during a "hotfiring" procedure prior to rendezvous with the Russian Mir Space Station. The successful rendezvous without docking brought Discovery to within 37 feet of the Mir; these flights through the Shuttle-Mir Program prepared the way for the International Space Station.

- 3 Febuary 2020 – Supernova 2020 coming to Adelaide - https://twitter.com/SupanovaExpo/status/1224125683351183360?s=20

Supanova will indeed be returning to Adelaide in 2020! After popular demand from the fans Supanova is going back to basics to bring a show that focuses predominantly on our Supa-Stars, and less on the extras that haven’t resonated as well with fans in S.A. Their return to Adelaide also sees a change to the scheduling of our Brisbane show, which will now run from 6-8 November 2020, with Adelaide the following weekend.

- 3 February 2020 – Gene Reynolds passes away - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gene-reynolds-dead-mash-lou-grant-director-producer-was-96-978156 

Gene Reynolds, the prolific director, producer and writer who was a driving force behind such socially conscious television series as M*A*S*H, Lou Grant and Room 222. Reynolds started out in Hollywood as a child actor at MGM in such movies as Boys Town (1938). Reynolds and Larry Gelbart created CBS' M*A*S*H, which was based on a novel by Richard Hooker and followed the Robert Altman film adaptation. "In directing, I'm always looking for the little humane touch. Something that is real. It could be very, very small," Reynolds said in a 2000 chat for the Archive of American Television website. "It could be a hand on the shoulder. It could be just an extra lingering look on somebody you care about and so forth, for just a fraction. It could be a reaction from somebody … I'm looking for humanity, really. And that goes with comedy or drama." He died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank at the age of 96.

- 5 February 2020 – Kirk Douglas passes away - https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/entertainment/kirk-douglas-obit/index.html

Kirk Douglas, one of the great Hollywood leading men whose off-screen life was nearly as colorful as his on-screen exploits in movies like "Spartacus" and "Champion,". Michael Douglas said that his father's life "was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet." He added: "Let me end with the words I told him on his last birthday, and which will always remain true. Dad- I love you so much and I am so proud to be your son." In perhaps the most famous -- and certainly most lampooned -- scene from "Spartacus," his fellow rebels, captured by the Roman army, rise to proclaim, "I'm Spartacus!" when told their lives will be spared if they identify him. He died in Beverly hills, California at the age of 103.

Remembrances

- 3 February 1468 – Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg

German blacksmith, goldsmith, inventor, printer, and publisher who introduced printing to Europe with the printing press. His introduction of mechanical movable type printing to Europe started the Printing Revolution and is regarded as a milestone of the second millennium, ushering in the modern period of human history. It played a key role in the development of the Renaissance,Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, and the scientific revolution and laid the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses. The use of movable type was a marked improvement on the handwritten manuscript, which was the existing method of book production in Europe, and upon woodblock printing, and revolutionized European book-making. Gutenberg's printing technology spread rapidly throughout Europe and later the world. His major work, the Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible), was the first printed version of the Bible and has been acclaimed for its high aesthetic and technical quality. He died at the age of around 68 in Mainz, Electorate of Mainz in the Holy Roman Empire.

- 3 February 1935 – Hugo Junkers - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Junkers

German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works), was one of the mainstays of the German aircraft industry in the years between World War I and World War II. His multi-engined, all-metal passenger- and freight planes helped establish airlines in Germany and around the world. In addition to aircraft, Junkers also built both diesel and petrol engines and held various thermodynamic and metallurgical patents. He died at the age of 76 in Gauting,Bavaria.

- 3 February 1959 – The Day Music Died -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died 

American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson. The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean referred to it as such in his 1971 song "American Pie". Soon after take-off, late at night and in poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield. Everyone on board was killed. The event has since been mentioned in various songs and films. A number of monuments have been erected at the crash site and in Clear Lake, where an annual memorial concert is also held at the Surf Ballroom, the venue that hosted the artists' last performance. 

Famous Birthdays

- 3 February 1480 – Ferdinand Magellan - https://www.onthisday.com/people/ferdinand-magellan   

Portuguese explorer who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano. Commanding a fleet of five vessels, he headed south through the Atlantic Ocean to Patagonia. Despite a series of storms and mutinies, they made it through the Strait of Magellan into a body of water he named the "peaceful sea" (the modern Pacific Ocean). The expedition reached the Philippine islands, where Magellan was killed during the Battle of Mactan. The expedition later reached the Spice Islands in 1521 and one of the surviving ships eventually returned home via the Indian Ocean, completing the first circuit of the globe. Magellan had already reached the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia on previous voyages traveling east (from 1505 to 1511–1512). By visiting this area again but now travelling west, Magellan achieved a nearly complete personal circumnavigation of the globe for the first time in history. He was born in Sabrosa.

- 3 February 1859 – Hugo Junkers – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Junkers

German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. Amongst the highlights of his career were the Junkers J 1 of 1915, the world's first practical all-metal aircraft, incorporating a cantilever wing design with virtually no external bracing, theJunkers F 13 of 1919 (the world's first all-metal passenger aircraft), the Junkers W 33 (which made the first successful heavier-than-air east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic Ocean), the Junkers G.38 "flying wing", and the Junkers Ju 52, affectionately nicknamed "Tante Ju", one of the most famous airliners of the 1930s. He was born in Rheydt, Rhine Province.

- 3 February 1939 – Vladimir Yevgenyevich Preobrazhensky – http://www.astronautix.com/p/preobrazhensky.html 

Russian engineer cosmonaut 1965-1980. Graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute Soviet Air Force, liaising with aircraft industrial enterprises. Cosmonaut training November 1965 - December 1967. Worked at Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He was born in Leningrad. 

- 3 February 1970 – Warwick Davis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Davis

English actor, television presenter, writer, director, comedian and producer.[4] He played the title characters in Willow and the Leprechaun film series, several characters in the Star Wars franchise (most notably the Ewok Wicket), and Professor Filius Flitwick and Griphook in the Harry Potter films. Davis also starred as a fictionalised version of himself in the sitcom Life's Too Short, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Davis is a founder of the Reduced Height Theatre Company, which stages theatrical productions cast exclusively with short actors and using reduced height sets. In April 2010, Davis published his autobiography, Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life and Career of Warwick Davis, with a foreword by George Lucas. He was born in Epsom,Surrey.

Events of Interest

- 3 February 1961 – The United States Air Forces begins Operation Looking Glass, and over the next 30 years, a "Doomsday Plane" is always in the air, with the capability of taking direct control of the United States' bombers and missiles in the event of the destruction of the SAC's command post.  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Looking_Glass

It provides command and control of U.S. nuclear forces in the event that ground-based command centers have been destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperable. In such an event, the general officer aboard the Looking Glass serves as the Airborne Emergency Action Officer (AEAO) and by law assumes the authority of the National Command Authority and could command execution of nuclear attacks. The AEAO is supported by a battle staff of approximately 20 people, with another dozen responsible for the operation of the aircraft systems. The name Looking Glass, which is another name for a mirror, was chosen for the Airborne Command Post because the mission operates in parallel with the underground command post at Offutt Air Force Base. The Looking Glass was also designed to help ensure COG, continuity and reconstitution of the US government in the event of a nuclear attack on North America. Although the two types of aircraft are distinct, the Doomsday Plane nickname is also frequently associated with the E-4 "Nightwatch" Advanced Airborne Command Post mission and aircraft.

- 3 February 1966 – Lunik 9 lands on lunar surface - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lunik-9-soft-lands-on-lunar-surface

On February 3, 1966, the Soviet Union accomplishes the first controlled landing on the moon, when the unmanned spacecraft Lunik 9 touches down on the Ocean of Storms. After its soft landing, the circular capsule opened like a flower, deploying its antennas, and began transmitting photographs and television images back to Earth.

- 3 February 1981 - John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth. - http://thebusterclan.blogspot.com/2016/08/john-e-buster-doctor-that-helped-create.html 

In the procedure, an embryo that was just beginning to develop was transferred from the woman in whom it had been conceived by artificial insemination to another woman who gave birth to the infant 38 weeks later. The sperm used in the artificial insemination came from the husband of the woman who bore the baby. This scientific breakthrough established standards and became an agent of change for women suffering from the afflictions of infertility and for women who did not want to pass on genetic disorders to their children. Donor embryo transfer has given women a mechanism to become pregnant and give birth to a child that will contain their husband’s genetic makeup. Although donor embryo transfer as practiced today has evolved from the original non-surgical method, it now accounts for approximately 10% of in vitro fertilization recorded births.

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

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[wozziebear]

There is a clear greening trend in boreal and Arctic regions, a result of rising temperatures. For example, Svalbard in the high-Arctic has seen a 30 percent increase in greenness, according to Rama Nemani of NASA’s Ames Research Center, a co-author of the review paper in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. The greening was concurrent with an increase in mean summer temperature from 2.9° to 4.7° Celsius (37.2° to 40.5° Fahrenheit) between 1986 and 2015.

The paper’s authors reviewed more than 250 published articles that have used satellite data, modeling, and field observations, to understand the causes and consequences of global greening. Among the key results, the authors noted that on a global scale greening can be attributed to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Rising levels of carbon dioxide increase the rate of photosynthesis and growth in plants.

There is an interesting consequence of this global green up: as vegetation consumes some of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide it also performs evapotranspiration—a function similar to human sweating—which can have a cooling effect on the air. Scientists say that global greening since the early 1980s may have reduced global warming by as much as 0.2° to 0.25° Celsius (0.36° to 0.45° Fahrenheit). In other words, the world would be even warmer than it is if not for the surge in plant growth.

“It is ironic that the very same carbon emissions responsible for harmful changes to climate are also fertilizing plant growth,” said co-author Jarle Bjerke of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, “which in turn is somewhat moderating global warming.”

According to climate models, the future looks even greener. The second map shows what the green-up might look like in the future based on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) climate model, under a scenario in which increases in greenhouse gases lead to almost 5° Celsius (9° Fahrenheit) of warming by the end of the 21st century. Specifically, it shows the predicted change in the growing season’s “leaf area index” from 2081-2100 relative to 1981-2000. The chart below the map shows the predicted changes by latitude. Notice that high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere are still expected to change the most.

“This greening and associated cooling is beneficial,” said Shilong Piao of Peking University, and lead author of the paper. “But reducing carbon emissions is still needed in order to sustain the habitability of our planet.”

Global Green Up Slows Warming

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146296/global-green-up-slows-warming Comments

[stevemaclellan]

In a new study, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the researchers report that climate-altering carbon emissions and intensive land use have inadvertently greened half of the Earth's vegetated lands. And while that sounds like it may be a good thing, this phenomenal rate of greening, together with global warming, sea-level rise, and sea-ice decline, represents highly credible evidence that human industry and activity is dramatically impacting the Earth's climate, say the study's first authors, Shilong Piao and Xuhui Wang of Peking University.

[sciencespies]

As our planet gets greener, plants are slowing global warming

https://sciencespies.com/environment/as-our-planet-gets-greener-plants-are-slowing-global-warming/

As our planet gets greener, plants are slowing global warming

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Chi Chen, a Boston University graduate researcher, and Ranga Myneni, a BU College of Arts & Sciences professor of earth and environment, released a new paper that reveals how humans are helping to increase the Earth’s plant and tree cover, which absorbs carbon from the atmosphere and cools our planet. The boom of vegetation, fueled by greenhouse gas emissions, could be skewing our perception of how fast we’re warming the planet.

Taking a closer look at 250 scientific studies, land-monitoring satellite data, climate and environmental models, and field observations, a team of Boston University researchers and international collaborators have illuminated several causes and consequences of a global increase in vegetation growth, an effect called greening.

In a new study, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the researchers report that climate-altering carbon emissions and intensive land use have inadvertently greened half of the Earth’s vegetated lands. And while that sounds like it may be a good thing, this phenomenal rate of greening, together with global warming, sea-level rise, and sea-ice decline, represents highly credible evidence that human industry and activity is dramatically impacting the Earth’s climate, say the study’s first authors, Shilong Piao and Xuhui Wang of Peking University.

Green leaves convert sunlight to sugars while replacing carbon dioxide in the air with water vapor, which cools the Earth’s surface. The reasons for greening vary around the world, but often involve intensive use of land for farming, large-scale planting of trees, a warmer and wetter climate in northern regions, natural reforestation of abandoned lands, and recovery from past disturbances.

And the chief cause of global greening we’re experiencing? It seems to be that rising carbon dioxide emissions are providing more and more fertilizer for plants, the researchers say. As a result, the boom of global greening since the early 1980s may have slowed the rate of global warming, the researchers say, possibly by as much as 0.2 to 0.25 degrees Celsius.

“It is ironic that the very same carbon emissions responsible for harmful changes to climate are also fertilizing plant growth, which in turn is somewhat moderating global warming,” says study coauthor Dr. Jarle Bjerke of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.

Boston University researchers previously discovered that, based on near-daily NASA and NOAA satellite imaging observations since the early 1980s, vast expanses of the Earth’s vegetated lands from the Arctic to the temperate latitudes have gotten markedly more green.

“Notably, the NASA [satellite data] observed pronounced greening during the 21st century in the world’s most populous and still-developing countries, China and India,” says Ranga Myneni, the new study’s senior author.

Even regions far, far removed from human reach have not escaped the global warming and greening trends. “Svalbard in the high-arctic, for example, has seen a 30 percent increase in greenness [in addition to] an increase in [summer temperatures] from 2.9 to 4.7 degrees Celcius between 1986 and 2015,” says study coauthor Rama Nemani of NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Over the last 40 years, carbon emissions from fossil fuel use and tropical deforestation have added 160 parts per million (ppm), a unit of measure for air pollutants, of CO2 to Earth’s atmosphere. About 40 ppm of that has diffused passively into the oceans and another 50 ppm has been actively taken up by plants, the researchers say. But 70 ppm remains in the atmosphere, and together with other greenhouse gases, is responsible the land warming patterns that have been observed since the 1980s.

“Plants are actively defending against the dangers of carbon pollution by not only sequestering carbon on land but also by wetting the atmosphere through transpiration of ground water and evaporation of precipitation intercepted by their bodies,” says study coauthor Philippe Ciais, of the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. “Stopping deforestation and sustainable, ecologically sensible afforestation could be one of the simplest and cost-effective, though not sufficient, defenses against climate change,” he adds.

It is not easy to accurately estimate the cooling benefit from global greening because of the complex interconnected nature of the climate system, the researchers say. “This unintended benefit of global greening, and its potential transitory nature, suggests how much more daunting, and urgent, is the stated goal of keeping global warming to below 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius, especially given the trajectory of carbon emissions and history of inaction during the past decades,” says study coauthor Hans Tømmervik of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Norway.

Explore further

CO2 fertilization greening the Earth

More information: Shilong Piao et al, Characteristics, drivers and feedbacks of global greening, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s43017-019-0001-x

Provided by Boston University

Citation: As our planet gets greener, plants are slowing global warming (2020, January 31) retrieved 31 January 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-01-planet-greener-global.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

#Environment

[jarikolehmainen]

Nälkäiset hyönteiset ja lisääntyvä hyönteismäärä vaikuttavat maanviljelyyn negatiivisesti ilmaston lämmetessä

Kuvan lähde: Pixabay.

Maailmanlaajuisesti tarkasteltuna joka yhdeksäs ihminen kärsii kroonisesta nälästä. Samanaikaisesti keskimääräiset globaalit pintalämpötilat ovat kohonneet ja niiden odotetaan nousevan 2-5 astetta tämän vuosisadan aikana, millä on negatiivisia vaikutuksia globaaliin maataloustuotantoon. Huomattavista kasvinsuojelutoimista huolimatta noin kolmasosa sadosta menetetään tuhohyönteisten, kasvitautien ja rikkakasvien takia. Yksin hyönteiset kuluttavat nykyoloissa 5-20 prosenttia tärkeimpien ravintokasvien tuottamasta sadosta. Miten ilmaston lämpeneminen vaikuttaa näihin satotappioihin maailmanlaajuisesti? Science-lehdessä tutkijat (Curtis et al.) arvioivat maapallon keskimääräisten pintalämpötilojen vaikutusta hyönteisten aiheuttamiin vehnän, maissin ja riisin satotappioihin. Nämä viljelykasvit tuottavat 42 prosenttia ihmiskunnan kuluttamasta ravinnon energiasta (kaloreista). Tutkimuksen tulosten mukaan hyönteisten aiheuttamat satotappiot lisääntyvät huomattavasti maapallon lämmetessä. Aina globaalin keskilämpötilan noustessa yhdellä celsiusasteella satotappiot lisääntyvät 10-25 prosenttia. Vehnän sato vähenee kaikkein eniten. Tällä hetkellä hyönteiset syövät kuvaannollisesti joka kahdeksannen leipäviipaleemme ennen kuin leipä edes päätyy pöytäämme. Mikäli maapallo lämpenee keskimäärin neljä astetta, hyönteiset syövät jo kaksi kahdeksasta leipäviipaleesta. Tällainen ruokahuollon epävarmuus voi kärjistää erilaisia konflikteja. Ilmastonmuutoksen myötä suurimmat satotappiot koetaan sellaisilla alueilla, joilla sekä hyönteisyksilöiden määrä (populaation koko) että hyönteisten aineenvaihdunta ja siten myös ruokahalu lisääntyvät. Näin käy erityisesti lauhkealla vyöhykkeellä (esimerkiksi Yhdysvalloissa, Länsi-Euroopassa ja osin myös Kiinassa), jossa pääosa maailman viljasta kasvatetaan. Lämpimässä hyönteisten lisääntymiskierto nopeutuu tiettyyn rajaan asti, joten hyönteiset tuottavat enemmän jälkeläisiä. Tropiikissa vaikutukset kuitenkin ovat lauhkeaa vyöhykettä pienemmät, koska lämpötila on tropiikissa jo ennestäänkin lähellä lisääntymisen optimilämpötilaa. Tropiikissa viljeltävän riisin satotappioiden lisääntymistä pienentääkin hyönteisten optimilämpötilan ylittyminen. Tämän uuden tutkimuksen tulokset ovat vieläkin huolestuttavampia kuin vuosi sitten julkaistussa tutkimuksessa (Chuang et al.). Sen mukaan jokainen asteen lämpeneminen vähentää vehnäsatoa 6,0 ± 2,9 prosenttia, riisisatoa 3,2 ± 3,7 prosenttia, maissisatoa 7,4 ± 4,5 prosenttia ja soijapapusatoa noin 3,1 prosenttia. Alueellinen satotappioiden vaihtelu on kuitenkin suurta. Esimerkiksi Intiassa riisisato pienenee aina 6,6 ± 3,8 prosenttia, kun globaali keskilämpötila nousee asteella. Globaalisti tutkittujen viljelykasvien sadot pienentyvät vuosisadan loppuun mennessä pienellä kasvihuonekaasujen päästöskenaariolla (RCP2.6) keskimäärin 5,6 prosenttia ja suurella päästöskenaariolla (RCP8.5) 18,2 prosenttia. Tutkijoiden mukaan satotappiot tulevat kuitenkin suuren päästöskenaarion (RCP8.5) mahdollisesti toteutuessa olemaan arvioitua suurempia, koska todellisessa maailmassa ja myös simulaatioiden mukaan suurempi lämpeneminen aiheuttanee suuremmat vaikutukset kuin vain parin asteen muutos. RCP8.5-skenaariossa kasvihuonekaasupäästöt jatkuvat nykyiseen tahtiin ja maapallo lämpenee lähes neljä astetta vuosisadan loppuun mennessä. Todennäköisesti epärealistisen toiveikkaassa RCP2.6-skenaariossa kasvihuonekaasupäästöjen hillintä kääntää globaalit päästöt selvään laskuun jo vuoden 2020 jälkeen ja ne päätyvät lähes nollatasolle vuosisadan lopulla, jolloin lämpeneminen jää alle kahteen asteeseen. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin vain lämpötilan muutosta, mutta sen lisäksi todellisiin satomääriin vaikuttavat negatiivisesti myös sateisuuden muutokset (erityisesti kuivuuden lisääntyminen) ja positiivisesti hiilidioksidin kasvua lisäävä vaikutus (ns. hiilidioksidilannoitus), mikäli ravinteita on saatavilla riittävästi. Vaikka lisääntynyt hiilidioksidi voikin toimia kasvua nopeuttavana lannoitteena, toukokuussa julkaistun tutkimuksen (Chunwu et al.) mukaan hiilidioksidilannoituksen myötä nopeasti kasvaneiden kasvien ravintoarvot heikkenevät merkittävästi. Esimerkiksi riisillä, joka on maailmalla merkittävä ravintokasvi, sekä proteiini-, rauta-, sinkki- että vitamiinipitoisuudet pienentyvät. Vastaaviin tuloksiin on päädytty aiemminkin (Myers et al.). Ilmastonmuutokseen sopeutuminen edellyttää maanviljelijöiltä vuosirytmin muuttamista (esimerkiksi erilaiset kylvöajankohdat), uusien lajikkeiden käyttämistä ja entistä tehokkaampaa tuholaistorjuntaa vaikkapa viljelykierron (vuoroviljelyn) tai aiempaa suurempien myrkkymäärien avulla. Rikkaissa valtioissa tämä onnistuu helpommin kuin kehitysmaissa. Lähteet Chuang Zhao, Bing Liu, Shilong Piao, Xuhui Wang, David B. Lobell, Yao Huang, Mengtian Huang, Yitong Yao, Simona Bassu, Philippe Ciais, Jean-Louis Durand, Joshua Elliott, Frank Ewert, Ivan A. Janssens, Tao Li, Erda Lin, Qiang Liu, Pierre Martre, Christoph Müller, Shushi Peng, Josep Peñuelas, Alex C. Ruane, Daniel Wallach, Tao Wang, Donghai Wu, Zhuo Liu, Yan Zhu, Zaichun Zhu, and Senthold Asseng: Temperature increase reduces global yields of major crops in four independent estimates Chunwu Zhu, Kazuhiko Kobayashi, Irakli Loladze, Jianguo Zhu, Qian Jiang, Xi Xu, Gang Liu, Saman Seneweera, Kristie L. Ebi, Adam Drewnowski, Naomi K. Fukagawa and Lewis H. Ziska: Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels this century will alter the protein, micronutrients, and vitamin content of rice grains with potential health consequences for the poorest rice-dependent countries Curtis A. Deutsch, Joshua J. Tewksbury, Michelle Tigchelaar, David S. Battisti, Scott C. Merrill, Raymond B. Huey, Rosamond L. Naylor: Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate Kendra Pierre-Louis: The Bugs Are Coming, and They’ll Want More of Our Food Markus Riegler: Insect threats to food security Phys.org: More insects, eating more crops Samuel S. Myers, Antonella Zanobetti, Itai Kloog, Peter Huybers, Andrew D. B. Leakey, Arnold J. Bloom, Eli Carlisle, Lee H. Dietterich, Glenn Fitzgerald, Toshihiro Hasegawa, N. Michele Holbrook, Randall L. Nelson, Michael J. Ottman, Victor Raboy, Hidemitsu Sakai, Karla A. Sartor, Joel Schwartz, Saman Seneweera, Michael Tausz & Yasuhiro Usui: Increasing CO2 threatens human nutrition Lue myös nämä Ilmastonmuutoksen haitalliset vaikutukset maailman maatalouteen olisivat kalliimmat kuin ilmastonmuutosta hillitsevän bioenergiatuotannon aiheuttama hintojen nousu Vaikuttivatko ilmasto ja elintarvikkeiden hintapiikki Arabikevään mellakoihin vuonna 2011? Ilmastonmuutos ja maailman ruokatuotanto – haasteita edessä

[ecomet]

Climate mitigation from vegetation biophysical feedbacks during the past three decades

Climate mitigation from vegetation biophysical feedbacks during the past three decades

Zhenzhong Zeng,

Shilong Piao,

Laurent Z. X. Li,

Nature Climate Change 7, 432–436 (2017) doi:10.1038/nclimate3299

[ecomet]

Was the extreme Northern Hemisphere greening in 2015 predictable?

Was the extreme Northern Hemisphere greening in 2015 predictable?

Ana Bastos1,6, Philippe Ciais1, Taejin Park2, Jakob Zscheischler3, Chao Yue1, Jonathan Barichivich4, Ranga B Myneni2, Shushi Peng5, Shilong Piao5 and Shilong Zhu5

Published 5 April 2017 • © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd Environmental Research Letters, Volume 12, Number 4

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa67b5/meta