Volume 249, December 30, 2023 | |
An Epic Year for the Ocean River Institute
2023 will go down in infamy as the year we turned the tables on saving the planet from climate change. ORI Summer Interns Morgan Owens (Tufts), Sabrina Machtay (Brandeis), and Megan Mathieu dug deep into soil, fungi, and plant sciences to unravel the mystery of why there are more extreme weather events, more droughts and rainstorms, forest fires, invasive species, and rising seas.
Before answering corporate America’s call to rush out and purchase electric vehicles and solar panels, take a moment to learn what we can do at nearly no expense at home and in our neighborhoods.
Listen to what Morgan, Sabrina, and Megan were talking about at farmers' markets, coffee shops, and town squares.
Please make a year-end gift in support of ORI-paid interns. A gift of $20 will enable an intern to work one hour next summer. Help underwrite the expenses of what has become Boston's most sought-after college internship programs.
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The world's atmosphere is burdened with about 420 parts per million carbon. That’s about 800 billion tons of carbon. We want to restore the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, or 700 billion tons of carbon.
Net Zero carbon emissions means that the amount of carbon emitted equals the amount drawn down from the atmosphere.
With Net Zero, an additional 100 billion tons must be removed from the atmosphere to return to 350 parts per million carbon.
All of the plants and animals add up to about 564 billion tons of carbon. Adding 100 billion tons, about 20% of the world’s biomass, will take a long time.
However, there are 2800 billion tons of carbon stored in soils. Out of sight, we know less about soil ecology and the rhizosphere than we do about the ocean. To add 100 billion tons of organic carbon to soils is a less than 4% increase in soil. Plants photosynthesize to put the carbon in soils. If everyone increased plant biomass by 4%, the atmosphere would be restored to 350 parts per million.
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We began with residential lawns where the fertilizer industry is scamming people to apply nitrogen, phosphorus and chemicals. Nitrogen kills beneficial soil microbes and nematodes. Thirsty grassroots stay at the surface, separating plants with “sun spills,” patches of dirt that bake in the sun and become only inhabitable by weeds. The grass is blamed, and more lawn care must be purchased.
Instead, residential lawns should be treated like golf course fairways without any fast-release fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Grassroots go deep to open the soil and feed organic carbon to the mycorrhizal network of fungi and bacteria. Bacteria manufacture enzymes and compounds needed by the plants.
A natural residential lawn can build an inch of soil in a year. Four inches of soil will hold seven inches of rainwater. With more water in soils, plants photosynthesize more. Walking on the grass and mowing with the blade set at four inches stimulates the grass to repair itself and draw down more carbon.
There are more than 2,000 square miles of residential lawns in Massachusetts. An inch of soil would add 232,320,000 tons of organic carbon. Lawn photosynthesis would annually pull out 852,614,400 tons of carbon dioxide (equal to the annual emissions of 170.5 million cars). An acre with six-inch deep soil holds approximately 38,445 gallons of water. Two thousand square miles of lawns four inches deep hold 25.8 million gallons.
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The interns and I proposed the Slow Water Carbon Offset Fund, which is established with state money and private donations. The fund would pay residents who pledge not to apply quick-release fertilizer $1 a square foot of lawn up to $1,000 for 1,000 square feet. Residents would be incentivized to restore degraded land with a new lawn, improving nature in their yards.
The Fund would also incentivize property owners to install green infrastructure with a grant program modeled on Maryland’s Stormwater Program. Funds would be awarded to residents installing rainscapes, to choose from rain barrels, green roofs, permeable pavers that provide a hard surface that can also infiltrate water, a native plant garden designed to absorb water, and Miyawaki forests.
In Cambridge, a couple recently planted a Miyawaki forest in the 600-foot square plot between their house and the sidewalk. About 40 native species of woody plants were selected, representing all stages of forest development, from early to old-growth forest species. This great diversity increases the vigor of all plants because the mycorrhizal network connects a more diverse constellation of bacteria.
Research indicates that if we can slow water down, we can reduce the rise in sea level by 25%.
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The Let Forests Grow Carbon Offset Fund would restore the land by paying the value of timber harvests to leave trees standing on state lands. On private lands with woodlot plans, landowners would be granted the value of their timber harvest to let mature trees grow.
Eighty-year-old forests store over twice as much carbon as 40-year-old forests. The largest one percent of trees are responsible for 30% of the carbon stored. Trees regulate the microclimate by releasing water when it's hot that evaporates and cools. Before dawn, trees release water vapor that condenses to warm.
Old-growth forests release bacteria, fungi, and pollen that float in the air, where water vapor nucleates to form cumulus clouds that reflect heat to cool the atmosphere. Cloud formation causes a decrease in atmospheric pressure, and water vapor flows in from the ocean. When old trees are removed, the biotic pump ceases to operate, and more water vapor stays over the ocean to power stronger hurricanes with more rainfall.
Two carbon offset funds, one that invests in storing organic carbon and holding water in soils and the other that pays timber harvest revenue to keep trees standing, would pay dividends to everyone. What happens in soils and forests does not stay in soils and forests. Entire watersheds and the climate benefit; even the nests we build called cities are better off.
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Meanwhile, at COP28, the 28th UN climate conference, PepsiCo Chief Sustainability Officer Jim Andrew recognized that the solution is much more than reducing carbon emissions:
“The COP28 deal sends a pivotal signal to keep 1.5C alive. To make it a reality, there must be follow through on tripling Renewable Electricity capacity…Sustainable food systems making it onto the table at COP28 was another major breakthrough, along with the recognition that regenerative agriculture must be part of the solution in combating climate change.”
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At the ninth biennial New England Ocean Science Education Collaborative (NEOSEC) Ocean Literacy Summit in Gloucester, MA, we launched a campaign calling for a 6,500 square mile Right Whale National Marine Sanctuary. The proposed sanctuary would feature the sandy shoaly waters where right whales break their winter fast every April, from Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary to Block Island.
We are gathering many diverse voices to call on the government to act because the right whale population had been growing from 350 to 451 whales. Then, in 2017, right whales took a turn for the worse, with the population falling to 338 right whales, with only 50-70 breeding females.
The government will consider a new National Marine Sanctuary only when there is a robust call from many individuals and diverse interest groups.
Join others rescuing right whales by signing our petition and speaking up for the Right Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
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Support ORI Interns. Every $20 pays the salary for one hour of work by an intern. The more you give, the more hours interns work.
Publications:
"How We Created the Hottest Global Average Temperature Day and What To Do About It?" One Green Planet, December 5, 2023
"Commentary: What if there was a Right Whale National Marine Sanctuary?" Gloucester Times, December 1, 2023
"What if there was a Right Whale National Marine Sanctuary?" Seven Seas Media Issue 103 - December 2023
"How We Created the Hottest Global Average Temperature Day and What to do about it." The Eden Magazine, September 2023
"Saving Forests with Carbon Offset Rewards for Not Cutting, Let Forests Grow Old." E The Environmental Magazine, March 14, 2023
"Speak for the trees: President Biden should protect public forests." Illuminem, December 18, 2022
"Slowing Water for Greener Neighborhoods." Illuminem, December 9, 2022
"Top Gun at COP27. It's not the plane. It's the pilot." The Environmental Magazine, November 29, 2022
"Biden’s game-changing administrative actions for climate at COP27." illuminem Voices, November 19, 2022
"Taking action to improve plight of right whales." Boston Herald, November 9, 2022
"Revival Coffee in Somerville takes up the Natural Lawn Challenge." The Somerville Times, August 27, 2022
"For eco groups, less lawn fertilizer is key to water crisis." By Dustin Luca, Salem News August 12, 2022
“More carbon capture, better water retention and greener emerald bracelets for Dedham.” The Dedham Times, August 12, 2022.
“Emerald Bracelets to Solve Three Of The World’s Greatest Environmental Problems.” by Rob Moir, The Environmental Magazine, June 21, 2022
"Of Mousy and Elephantine Cycles, Managing the CLIMATE CRISIS after Glasgow COP26." The Eden, March 2022
“Lincoln resident promotes natural lawn care,” Concord Journal, Aug 3, 2021
“Zumi’s host Natural Lawn Care for Healthy Soils Challenge,” Ipswich Chronicle Transcript, Aug 10, 2021
“Peabody peak capacity generator need not burn fossil fuels,” The Salem News, Aug 5, 2021
“30% preserved or restored by 2030,” The Salem News, Sep 29, 2021
“Pogie deaths, a Mystic River mystery,” Boston Herald, Oct 4, 2021
“Remember the right whales with a special day,” CommonWealth, Oct 29, 2021
“Retreating Arctic Sea Ice, Sea Ice Formation, and the Stronger Flow of the Gulf Stream” Seven Seas November 2021
"Rob Moir, PhD, Science Advocate," Bloomberg Business, April 11, 2022
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For healthy oceans, green watersheds, and diverse abundant wildlife. | | | | |