New study: food banks divert a whopping 1.8 million metric tons of carbon emissions a year

Supporting your local food bank doesn’t just help your community — it helps the planet.

From the article:

Their metrics showed that — in addition to providing over 1.7 billion meals to 40 million people in need globally — food banks also diverted an estimated 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. By intercepting unspoiled food destined for the landfill, and redistributing food from local farms and wholesale produce markets, the 2023 report offered evidence that community-led solutions to addressing global hunger can also help protect the globe itself. “Nearly a third of the world’s food is lost or wasted at the post-harvest, retail, and consumer levels, never reaching the people who need it,” the GFN team wrote in the report. “Food loss and waste proves costly for producers, takes up space in landfills, and emits harmful greenhouse gases, intensifying climate change.”

Reading this was one of those "oh duh!" moments for me. Despite being aware that food systems and food waste are major sources of emissions, I had mentally placed food banks in a "addressing non environmental problems" category. But of course, food banks make our food system more efficient and less wasteful by making the most out of the food we have already produced.

This is just another example of so many of our problems being connected. Donating to a food bank doesn't just address food insecurity, it's also a powerful force for reducing food waste and carbon emissions.

#good news #hope #hopepunk #solarpunk #food insecurity #food banks #food waste #agriculture #agricultural emissions #carbon emissions #CO2 emissions #climate change #global warming #greenhouse gases #methane #climate anxiety

reasonsforhope

Masterpost: Reasons I firmly believe we will beat climate change

Posts are in reverse chronological order (by post date, not article date), mostly taken from my "climate change" tag, which I went through all the way back to the literal beginning of my blog. Will update periodically.

Especially big deal articles/posts are in bold.

Big picture:

Mature trees offer hope in world of rising emissions (x)
Spying from space: How satellites can help identify and rein in a potent climate pollutant (x)
Good news: Tiny urban green spaces can cool cities and save lives (x)
Conservation and economic development go hand in hand, more often than expected (x)
The exponential growth of solar power will change the world (x)
Sun Machines: Solar, an energy that gets cheaper and cheaper, is going to be huge (x)
Wealthy nations finally deliver promised climate aid, as calls for more equitable funding for poor countries grow (x)
For Earth Day 2024, experts are spreading optimism – not doom. Here's why. (x)
Opinion: I’m a Climate Scientist. I’m Not Screaming Into the Void Anymore. (x)
The World’s Forests Are Doing Much Better Than We Think (x)
‘Staggering’ green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief (x)
Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View (x)
Young Forests Capture Carbon Quicker than Previously Thought (x)
Yes, climate change can be beaten by 2050. Here's how. (x)
Soil improvements could keep planet within 1.5C heating target, research shows (x)
The global treaty to save the ozone layer has also slowed Arctic ice melt (x)
The doomers are wrong about humanity’s future — and its past (x)
Scientists Find Methane is Actually Offsetting 30% of its Own Heating Effect on Planet (x)
Are debt-for-climate swaps finally taking off? (x)
High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN (x)
How Could Positive ‘Tipping Points’ Accelerate Climate Action? (x)

Specific examples:

Environmental Campaigners Celebrate As Labour Ends Tory Ban On New Onshore Wind Projects (x)
Private firms are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa (x)
How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution (x)
Rewilding sites have seen 400% increase in jobs since 2008, research finds [Scotland] (x)
The American Climate Corps take flight, with most jobs based in the West (x)
Waste Heat Generated from Electronics to Warm Finnish City in Winter Thanks to Groundbreaking Thermal Energy Project (x)
Climate protection is now a human right — and lawsuits will follow [European Union] (x)
A new EU ecocide law ‘marks the end of impunity for environmental criminals’ (x)
Solar hits a renewable energy milestone not seen since WWII [United States] (x)
These are the climate grannies. They’ll do whatever it takes to protect their grandchildren. [United States and Native American Nations] (x)
Century of Tree Planting Stalls the Warming Effects in the Eastern United States, Says Study (x)
Chart: Wind and solar are closing in on fossil fuels in the EU (x)
UK use of gas and coal for electricity at lowest since 1957, figures show (x)
Countries That Generate 100% Renewable Energy Electricity (x)
Indigenous advocacy leads to largest dam removal project in US history [United States and Native American Nations] (x)
India’s clean energy transition is rapidly underway, benefiting the entire world (x)
China is set to shatter its wind and solar target five years early, new report finds (x)
‘Game changing’: spate of US lawsuits calls big oil to account for climate crisis (x)
Largest-ever data set collection shows how coral reefs can survive climate change (x)
The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What Does It DO? [United States] (x)
Good Climate News: Headline Roundup April 1st through April 15th, 2023 (x)
How agroforestry can restore degraded lands and provide income in the Amazon (x) [Brazil]
Loss of Climate-Crucial Mangrove Forests Has Slowed to Near-Negligable Amount Worldwide, Report Hails (x)
Agroecology schools help communities restore degraded land in Guatemala (x)

Climate adaptation:

Solar-powered generators pull clean drinking water 'from thin air,' aiding communities in need: 'It transforms lives' (x)
‘Sponge’ Cities Combat Urban Flooding by Letting Nature Do the Work [China] (x)
Indian Engineers Tackle Water Shortages with Star Wars Tech in Kerala (x)
A green roof or rooftop solar? You can combine them in a biosolar roof — boosting both biodiversity and power output (x)
Global death tolls from natural disasters have actually plummeted over the last century (x)
Los Angeles Just Proved How Spongy a City Can Be (x)
This city turns sewage into drinking water in 24 hours. The concept is catching on [Namibia] (x)
Plants teach their offspring how to adapt to climate change, scientists find (x)
Resurrecting Climate-Resilient Rice in India (x)

Edit 1/12/25: Yes, I know a bunch of the links disappeared. I'll try to fix that when I get the chance. In the meantime, read all the other stuff!!

Other Masterposts:

Going carbon negative and how we're going to fix global heating (x)

Podcasts and newsletters to subscribe to for more good news (x)

mindblowingscience

Climate-friendly farming: Scientists find feeding grazing cattle seaweed cuts methane emissions by almost 40%

Seaweed is once again showing promise for making cattle farming more sustainable. A study by researchers at the University of California, Da

phys.org

Seaweed is once again showing promise for making cattle farming more sustainable. A study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that feeding grazing beef cattle a seaweed supplement in pellet form reduced their methane emissions by almost 40% without affecting their health or weight. The study was published Dec. 2 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This is the first study to test seaweed on grazing beef cattle in the world. It follows previous studies that showed seaweed cut methane emissions 82% in feedlot cattle and over 50% in dairy cows.

#Science #Animals #Biology #Agriculture #Cattle #Cows #Seaweed #Methane #Greenhouse Gasses

zegalba

Underwater Ice Bubbles

This phenomenon takes place as decomposing plants on the bottom of lakes emit methane gas and form bubbles while the lake begins to freeze.

#ice #ice bubbles #bubbles #water #underwater #nature #science #methane #blue #icecore #coldcore #weirdcore

abilene-paradox

Is Earth is doomed in Project Hail Mary ?

Let's ignore that happy ending and do some science :)

So I've been pondering Earth in the Hail Mary's absence and specifically what we can derive from canon to determine a climatic model for what happens. In order to figure this out I went through the book with the finest comb possible to pick out all the instances of related information that Weir has stuck in there.

This is Part 1 of 3. First we will explore the assumptions established in the canon text, then we will model those scenarios utilizing a couple different simulators, and finally, we will wrap up the viability of these scenarios (and what it might look like to actually survive them!)

So here's what I have from that:

(please feel free to comment any other book-specific information I missed! I will not be using any movie or author notes outside the book to keep things easily citable. Thanks!)

supplyside

LNG

#LNG #tanker #ship #natural gas #methane #CH4

vestaignis

Эстетика замерзших пузырьков метана.

Байкал — не единственное озеро, где поднимающийся со дна метан замерзает в ледяном покрове. Таких озер много — например, озеро Эйбрахам в Канаде. Пузырьки метана поднимаются из глубин озер и скапливаются под поверхностью льда, после чего лед продолжает свое замерзание и при этом захватывает поднявшийся газ. Метановые пузырьки во льду бывают самого разного размера — от практически невидимых невооруженным глазом до крупных, доходящих до десятков сантиметров в диаметре и располагающихся друг под другом. Это все происходит слоями, поэтому в результате получаются причудливые россыпи, ниточки, шарики, лепешки и .т. д, уходящие в глубину вод озер, которые можно разглядывать бесконечно.

The aesthetics of frozen methane bubbles.

Lake Baikal is not the only lake where methane rising from the bottom freezes in the ice cover. There are many such lakes, for example, Abraham Lake in Canada. Methane bubbles rise from the depths of the lakes and accumulate under the surface of the ice, after which the ice continues to freeze and at the same time captures the rising gas. Methane bubbles in ice come in a variety of sizes - from practically invisible to the naked eye to large ones, reaching tens of centimeters in diameter and located one under the other. All this happens in layers, so the result is bizarre placers, threads, balls, cakes, etc., going deep into the waters of the lakes, which can be examined endlessly.

Источник:/t.me/okgooglearth, /cs.pikabu.ru/post_img/big/2013/ 03/ 18/6/1363593756_495289063.jpg, /discoverynn.ru/blog/bajkal-tours/puzyri-vo-ldu-baykala/, dzen.ru/a/ZazgoYZO-w7JuU8M, //elementy.ru/kartinka_dnya/1337/Zamerzshie_puzyrki_metana, /vk.com/wall-51232997_91273.

rjzimmerman

Oil Firms Knew for Decades of Methane’s Danger to Planet, Documents Suggest. (New York Times)

Excerpt:

The oil and gas industry has known for decades that its wells were releasing far more planet-warming methane than companies acknowledged, according to industry documents identified by an environmental group.

In a report on the findings released on Monday, the Center for Climate Integrity cited, among other examples, a 1979 report commissioned by the research arm of the American Gas Association, an industry group. That report said that major gas fields in the United States could be releasing far more planet-warming gases than was being officially reported.

Methane, a main component in natural gas, is a particularly potent greenhouse gas when released into the atmosphere. It has “always been unclear what the industry directly knew” about its methane releases, said Steven Hamburg, chief scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, who has researched the question for years and wasn’t involved in the center’s report.

The Center for Climate Integrity is a nonprofit that has called for the oil industry to be held financially responsible for the effects of climate change, which has been caused by the burning of fossil fuels. The group said it examined decades’ worth of industry documents, available in university libraries and other public archives, to draw its conclusions.

#methane #oil and gas industry