7.3.25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Radioized Diary of Science and Nature. Your reader's
Kelly Taylor. I have some articles related to the topics
of science and nature. But first a reminder that RADIOI
is a reading service intended for people who are blind
or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
printed material. We'll start today on a website called The Conversation,

(00:26):
and the article is headlined Earth is trapping much more
heat than climate models forecast, and the rate has doubled
in twenty years. This is from June twenty sixth. How
do you measure climate change? One way is by recording
temperatures in different places over a long period of time.

(00:50):
While this works well, natural variation can make it harder
to see long term trends. But another approach can give
us a very clear sense of what's going on track.
How much heat enters Earth's atmosphere and how much heat leads.
This is Earth's energy budget, and it's now well and

(01:11):
truly out of balance. Our recent research found this imbalance
has more than doubled over the last twenty years. Other
researchers have come to the same conclusions. This imbalance is
now substantially more than climate models have suggested in the
mid two thousands, the energy imbalance was about zero point

(01:32):
six watts per square meter on average. In recent years,
the average was about one point three watts per square meter.
This means the rate at which energy is accumulating near
the planet's surface has doubled. These findings suggest climate change
might well accelerate in the coming years or still this

(01:56):
worrying imbalance is emerging even as funding unsearched in the
United States threatens our ability to track the flows of heat.
Earth's energy budget functions a bit like your bank account,
where money comes in and money goes out. If you
reduce your spending, you'll build up cash in your account. Hence,

(02:20):
energy is the currency. Life on Earth depends on a
balance between heat coming in from the sun and heat leaving.
This balance is tipping to one side. Solar energy hits
Earth and warms it. The atmosphere's heat trapping greenhouse gases
keep some of this energy, but the burning of coal, oil,

(02:43):
and gas has now added more than two trillion tons
of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
These trap more and more heat, preventing it from leaving.
Some of this extra heat is warming the land or
melting sea ice, glaciers, and ice sheets. But this is

(03:05):
a tiny fraction. Fully ninety percent has gone into the
oceans due to their huge heat capacity. Earth naturally sheds
heat in several ways. One way is by reflecting in
coming heat off of clouds, snow, and ice back out
to space. Infrared radiation is also emitted back to space.

(03:29):
From the beginning of human civilization, up until just a
century ago, the average surface temperature was about fourteen degrees celsius.
The accumulating energy imbalance has now pushed average temperatures one
point three to one point five degrees higher. Scientists keep
track of the energy budget in two ways. First, we

(03:51):
can directly measure the heat coming from the sun and
going back out to space using the sensitive radiometers on
monitoring satellites. This data set and its predecessors date back
to the late nineteen eighties. Second, we can accurately track
the build up of heat in the oceans and atmosphere
by taking temperature readings. Thousands of robotic floats have monitored

(04:15):
temperatures in the world's oceans since the nineteen nineties. Both
methods show the energy imbalance has grown rapidly. The doubling
of the energy imbalance has come as a shock because
the sophisticated climate models we use largely didn't predict such
a large and rapid change. Typically, the models forecast less

(04:37):
than half of the change we're seeing in the real world.
Why has it changed so fast We don't yet have
a full explanation, but new research suggests that changes in
clouds is a big factor. Clouds have a cooling effect overall,
but the area covered by highly reflective white cloudslouds has

(05:00):
shrunk while the area of jumble, less reflective clouds has grown.
It isn't clear why the clouds are changing. One possible
factor could be the consequences of successful efforts to reduce
sulfur in shipping fuel from twenty twenty, as burning the
dirtier fuel may have had a brightening effect on clouds. However,

(05:24):
the accelerating energy budget imbalance began before this change. Natural
fluctuations in the climate systems, such as the Pacific decatal oscillation,
might also be playing a role. Finally, and most worryingly,
the cloud changes might be part of a trend caused

(05:45):
by global warming itself that is a positive feedback on
climate change. What does this mean, Well, these findings suggest
recent extremely hot years are not one offs, but may
reflect like a strengthening of warming over the coming decade
or longer. This will mean a higher chance of more

(06:07):
intense climate impacts from searing heat waves, droughts and extreme
rains on land, and more intense and long lasting marine
heat waves. This imbalance may lead to worse longer term consequences.
New research shows the only climate models coming close to

(06:27):
simulating real world measurements are those with a higher quote
climate sensitivity quote. That means these models predict more severe
warming beyond the next few decades in scenarios where emissions
are not rapidly reduced. We don't know yet whether other
factors are at play. However, it's still too early to

(06:49):
definitively say we are on a high sensitivity trajectory. We've
known the solution for a long time. Stop the routine
burning of fossil fuels and phase out human activities causing emissions,
such as deforestation. Keeping accurate records over long periods of

(07:09):
time is essential if we are to spot unexpected changes.
Satellites in particular, are our advance warning system, telling us
about heat storage changes. Roughly a decade before other methods,
but funding cuts and drastic priority shifts in the United
States may threaten essential satellite climate monitoring. All right, now

(07:35):
we go to Science News Explores and this is an
article titled Earth, Layer by Layer. This is from November
eleventh of twenty nineteen, but still relevant. Mountain ranges tower
to the sky, ocean's plummet to impossible depths. Earth's surface

(08:01):
is an amazing place to behold, Yet even the deepest
canyon is but a tiny scratch on the planet. To
really understand Earth, you need to travel six thousand, four
hundred kilometers or three nine hundred seventy seven miles beneath
our feet, starting at the center. Earth is composed of

(08:21):
four distinct layers. They are from deepest to shallowest, the
inner core, the outer core, the mantle, and the crust.
Except for the crust, no one has ever explored these
layers in person. In fact, the deepest humans have ever
drilled is just over twelve kilometers or seven point six miles,

(08:42):
and even that took twenty years. Still, scientists know a
great deal about Earth's innerstructure. They've explored it by studying
how earthquake waves travel through the planet. The speed and
behavior of these waves change as they encounter layers of
different densities. Scientists, including Isaac Newton three centuries ago, have

(09:07):
also learned about the core and mantle from calculations of
Earth's total density, gravitational pull, and magnetic field. Here's a
primmer on Earth's layers, starting with a journey to the
center of the planet. The inner core. This solid metal
ball has a radius of seven hundred and fifty eight miles,

(09:30):
or about three quarters that of the Moon. It's located
some five eighty kilometers beneath Earth's surface. Extremely dense, it's
made mostly of iron and nickel. The inner core spins
a bit faster than the rest of the planet. It's

(09:51):
also intensely hot. Temperatures sizzle at nine thousand, eight hundred
degrees fahrenheit. That's almost as hot as a surface of
the Sun. Pressures here are immense well over three million
times greater than on Earth's surface. Some research suggests there
may also be an inner inner core. It would likely

(10:15):
consist almost entirely of iron. The outer core. This part
of the core is also made from iron and nickel,
just in liquid form. It sits some eighty to two thousand,
eight hundred eighty kilometers below the surface. Heated largely by
the radioactive decay of the elements uranium and thorium, This

(10:38):
liquid churns in huge turbulent currents. That motion generates electrical currents.
They in turn generate Earth's magnetic field. For reasons somehow
related to the outer core, Earth's magnetic field reverses about
every two hundred to three hundred thousand years. Still working

(11:00):
to understand how that happens. The mantle at close to
three thousand kilometers thick, this is Earth's thickest layer. It
starts a mere thirty kilometers beneath the surface, about eighteen
miles Made mostly of iron, magnesium, and silicon. It is dense, hot,
and semi solid. Think caramel candy. Like the layer below it,

(11:25):
this one also circulates, It just does so far more slowly.
Near its upper edges, Somewhere between one hundred and two
hundred kilometers or sixty to one hundred and twenty miles underground,
the mantle's temperature reaches the melting point of rock. Indeed,
it forms a layer of partially melted rock known as

(11:47):
the asthenosphere. Geologists believe this weak, hot, slippery part of
the mantle is what Earth's tectonic plates ride upon and slide.
Diamonds are tiny pieces of the mantle we can actually touch.
Most form at depths above one hundred and twenty four miles,

(12:11):
but rare, super deep diamonds may have formed as far
down as four hundred and thirty five miles below the surface.
These crystals are then brought to the surface in volcanic
rock known as kimber light. The mantle's outermost zone is
relatively cool and rigid. It behaves more like the crust
above it. Together, this uppermost part of the mantle layer

(12:35):
and the crust are known as the lithosphere. The crust.
Earth's crust is like the shell of hard boiled egg.
It is extremely thin, cold, and brittle compared to what
lies below it. The crust is made of relatively light elements,
especially silica, aluminum, and oxygen. It's also highly variable in

(13:00):
its thickness. Under the oceans and Hawaiian islands, it may
be as little as five kilometers or three miles thick.
Beneath the continents, the crust may be thirty to seventy
kilometers or eighteen and a half to forty three miles thick.
Along with the upper zone of the mantle, the crust
is broken into big pieces, like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle.

(13:24):
These are known as tectonic plates. These move slowly, at
just three to five centimeters or one or two inches
per year. What drives the motion of tectonic plates is
still not fully understood. It may be related to heat
driven convection currents in the mantle below. Some scientists think

(13:46):
it's caused by the tug from slabs of crust of
different densities, something called slab pull. In time, these plates
will converge, pull apart, or slide past each other. Those
acts cause most earthquakes and volcanoes. It's a slow ride,
but it makes for exciting times here on Earth's surface.

(14:11):
Now turning to ABC News for an article that is
headlined climate and Environment updates climate change making it harder
for us to sleep. Study says. This is from June thirtieth.
The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It's happening
right now and affecting what matters most to us. Hurricanes

(14:34):
intensified by a warming planet and drought fueled wildfires are
destroying our communities. Rising seas and flooding are swallowing our homes,
and record breaking heat waves are reshaping our way of life.
The good news is we now know how to turn
the tide and avoid the worst possible outcomes. However, understanding

(14:59):
what needs to be done be confusing due to a
constant stream of climate updates, scientific findings, and critical decisions
that are shaping our future. That's why ABC News Climate
and Weather Unit is cutting through the noise by curating
what you need to know to keep the people in
places you care about safe. Climate change is making it

(15:23):
harder for us to sleep. Rising temperatures amplified by climate
change are contributing to an increase in cases of sleep apnea,
a condition in which breathing repeatedly stops during sleep. According
to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications quote,
if temperature keeps rising the way they project it to

(15:46):
the burden im prevalence of sleep apnea may double, increasing
by twenty to one hundred percent, depending on greenhouse gas
emission reduction. That's from Bastion Leshat the studies off and
senior research fellow at Flinders University in Australia. Obstructive sleep

(16:06):
apnea or OSA affects about a billion people globally, and
eighty percent of people who have it are unaware and untreated.
OSA has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, diabetes,
and depression. People with OSA also have two times greater
risk of getting in a car accident. The study followed

(16:29):
over one hundred and fifteen thousand people from numerous countries
for up to two years, measuring their sleep quality with
below the mattress sleep monitors, and then cross referencing this
information with weather data to evaluate the relationship between temperature
and OSA. When comparing eighty degree fahrenheit days today's in

(16:52):
the forties, there was a forty to forty five percent
increase in the frequency of severe or severity of sleep apnea.
The risk was even higher for males and individuals who
normally sleep longer or have higher body weight. Extreme heat

(17:14):
can exacerbate OSA by making it even harder to sleep.
The study noted higher temperatures can disrupt the body's ability
to cool down during the night, which in fears with
the natural sleep cycle. This can lead to more frequent awakenings,
shallower sleep, and worsened airway instability, resulting in more apnea events.

(17:40):
Using existing health economic models, the researchers estimated over seven
hundred eighty eight thousand healthy years of life were lost
or disabled in twenty twenty three due to temperature related
increases in OSA, equivalent to a loss of approximately sixty
eight billion dollars according to the models. Quote. When you

(18:03):
look at the rate of years of life lost per
one hundred thousand people, this is similar to a disorder
like Parkinson's disease or bipolar disorder, or similar to low
physical activity as a risk factor, So it's a significant burden,
a shot told ABC News. Lashot said that increased access

(18:24):
to air conditioning and better diagnosis and treatment of OSA
could offset some of the increases caused by climate change. However,
he emphasized that limiting global warming through policy changes is
the most effective and cost efficient option. Quote. Limiting global
warming is probably cost effective when you look at the numbers,

(18:44):
the loss of well being and the economic costs of
increasing temperature. And then we'll get an article from the
Associated Press and the headline is these Canadian rocks may
be the oldest on Earth. Scientists have identified what could

(19:05):
be the oldest rocks on Earth from a rock formation.
In Canada, the Greenstone Belt has long been known for
its ancient rocks plains of streaked gray stone on the
eastern shore of Hudson Bay in Quebec, but researchers disagree
on exactly how old they are. Work from two decades
ago suggested the rocks could be four point three billion

(19:28):
years old, placing them in the earliest period of Earth's history,
but other scientists using a different dating method contested the finding,
arguing that long ago contaminants were skewing the rocks age
and that they were actually slightly younger at three point
eight billion years old. In the new study, researchers sampled

(19:51):
a different section of rock from the belt and estimated
its age using the previous two dating techniques, measuring how
one radio diactive element decays into another over time. The
result the rocks were about four point one six billion
years old. The different methods gave exactly the same age,

(20:14):
said study author Jonathan O'Neil with the University of Ottawa.
The new research was published Thursday in the journal Science.
Earth formed about four and a half billion years ago
from a collapsing cloud of dust and gas soon after
the Solar system existed. Primordial rocks often get melted and

(20:36):
recycled by Earth's moving tectonic plates, making them extremely rare
on the surface. Today, scientists have uncovered four billion year
old rocks from another formation in Canada called the Acosta
Nice Complex, but these other rocks could be even older.
Studying rocks from Earth's earliest history could give a glimpse

(20:59):
into how the planet may have looked, how its roiling
magma oceans gave way to tectonic plates, and even how
life got started. To have a sample of what was
going on on Earth way back then is really valuable,
said Mark Reagan with the University of Iowa, who studies
volcanic rocks and lava, was not involved with the new study.

(21:23):
The rock formation on tribal lands and the local Inuit
communities temporarily restricted scientists from taking samples from the site
due to damage from previous visits. After some geologists visited
the site, large chunks of rock were missing in the
community noticed pieces for sale online, said Tommy Palliser, who

(21:45):
manages the land with the Pituvic Landholding Corporation. The Inuit
community wants to work with scientists to set up a
provincial park that would protect the land while allowing researchers
to stay udiy It. There's a lot of interest for
these rocks, which we understand, said Palliser, a member of
the community. We just don't want any more damage and

(22:12):
now to CBS News from Yellowstone to the Garden of Eden.
Climate change puts majority of the world heritage sites at risk.
This is day to July first. About three quarters of
the globe's cultural and natural heritage sites are threatened by
too little or too much water, the UN's Cultural Agency

(22:34):
set on Tuesday. As a result of rising temperatures, extreme
weather events including hurricanes, droughts, floods, and heat waves have
become more frequent and intense. Seventy three percent of all
one one seventy two non marine sites on the UNESCO
Heritage List are exposed to at least one severe water risk,

(22:59):
including water stress, drought, river flooding, or coastal flooding. Quote.
Water stress is projected to intensify, most notably in regions
like the Middle East and North Africa, parts of South
Asia and Northern China, posing long term risks to ecosystems,

(23:21):
cultural heritage, and the communities and tourism economies that depend
on them. Cultural sites were most commonly threatened by water scarcity,
while more than half of natural sites faced the risk
of flooding from a nearby river. In India, the taj

(23:42):
Mahal Monument in Agra, for example, quote faces water scarcity
that is increasing pollution and depleting groundwater, both of which
are damaging the mausoleum. In the United States, in twenty
twenty two, a massive flo blood closed down all of
Yellowstone National Park and costs over twenty million dollars in

(24:05):
infrastructure repairs to reopen. The report gave four more examples.
Iraq's Southern Marshes, the reputed home of the Biblical Garden
of Eden, quote, face extremely high water stress, where over
eighty percent of the renewable supply is withdrawn to meet
human demand, it added, and competition for waters expected to

(24:29):
increase in the marshes, where migratory birds live and inhabitants
raise buffalo as the region grows hotter in coming years.
On the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Victoria Falls
originally called Mossy Oatuna the smoke that thunders before it

(24:50):
was renamed by Scottish explorer David Livingstone has faced recurring
drop and is sometimes reduced to a trickle. In Peru,
the pre Columbian city of chan Chan and its delicate
one thousand year old adobe walls face an extremely high
risk of river flooding. In China, rising sea levels, driven

(25:14):
in large part by climate change are leading to coastal flooding,
which destroys mudlands where migratory water birds finn food. These
specific warning over flooding and drought comes about a decade
after an independent scientific study found that seven hundred and
twenty UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the Statue of Liberty

(25:37):
and the Tower of London, could be consumed by rising
seas within two thousand years at the climate continues warming
at current rates. The study calculated that one hundred thirty
six sites would be in danger if global average temperatures
rise to three degrees celsius above pre industrial levels, a
figure well within the range projected in the latest UN

(25:59):
report on clot climate change, which projected that without significant
policy changes, there's a ninety seven percent likelihood of a
two degree celsius warming and a thirty seven percent chance
of a three degree celsius average warming. And now an
article from Science Alert Space cargo of human remains and

(26:23):
cannabis lost at sea following mission failure July first, we
sent some pretty interesting payloads to space since the first
satellite launched on October fourth, nineteen fifty seven, spud Nik one.
As access to space has increased, thanks largely to commercial
space industry, so too of the types of payloads we

(26:44):
are sending. Consider the Nicks Capsule NYX, created by German
aerospace startup The Exploration Company, which launched on June twenty
third from Vandenburg Space Force Base, a top to Falcon
nine roget. The payload of this flight included the ashes
and DNA of more than one hundred and sixty six

(27:05):
deceased people provided by Celestis, a Texas based Memorial spaceflight company.
While the mission achieved orbit and a controlled re entry,
the capsule's landing parachutes failed to deploy. This caused the
Knicks Capsule to crash in the Pacific Ocean, causing all
of its cargo to be lost at sea. This was

(27:26):
the first time the Exploration Company sent customer payloads to space.
In a statement posted on LinkedIn, the company described the
flight as a partial success. Partial failure. This is also
the second time Celestis has lost a payload, the previous
having taken place in twenty twenty three when a rocket

(27:47):
containing cremated remains of the late astronaut Philip K. Chapman
exploded over New Mexico. Well, that is all for today's
Diary of science ants in Nature. Your reader was Kelly Taylor,
and now stay tuned for the health corner on RADIOI