Environmental News

Speaking of oxygen,

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02112-8

Balbi and Frank contend that technology could not start on any planet without high-enough [O2]. It could not get fired up. Don't see how that could be disproven ...

 

This implication is correct. Filtration by its physical meaning can only remove solids. Dissolved ions can be dealt with by ionic exchange, but that is a meaningful verb. Exchange. Removing sodium releases some other cation (of your choice); removing chloride likewise releases some anion. One could be clever about it and exchange for ammonium and nitrate. Then arrange for archaebacteria to exhale those nitrogens as gaseous N2. But I don't know of anyone ever attacking saline water in that way. This weakly implies it would fail.

High-value ions (such as those containing N and P) should be removed by biological processes as soil water becomes groundwater. Usually they are, so only 'junk' ions (that nobody much wants, Like Na+ and Cl-, sorry) make the trip to groundwater. If N and P containing ions make the trip, somebody upstairs made some mistakes.

Meanwhile, ion exchange is a great tool to learn which ions are in soil solution. Used by many including your humble correspondent. Nylon footie socks and salad spinners are involved

Meanwhile, others may use filtration in a non-technical sense to mean other things. On your own there.

 

Young ones first studying biogeochemistry ought to meditate on why Na+ and Cl- dominate seawater, and ions of N, P, Fe and SI are in short supply. If'n they don't, teacher ain't teaching.

This is spoz to lead to curiosity about how much salt there is in the sea. Good. Then the kiddies are spoz to look at global river outputs of Na+ and Cl-. And be surprised to figure out that only ~100 million years of salt is there. not 4600 or whatever million year's worth.

This leads to plate tectonics specifically subduction at plate boundaries. The big daddy geo in biogeochemistry. Whole thing is spoz to be a lot of fun. We bring out nylon footie socks and salad spinners if needed to spice things up.

 

There are about 3000 billion trees on earth (see Tom Crowther ETH Zurich) of which 800 billion are in tropics. In tropics, about 2% of tree species account for 50% of the trees:

Scientists name the commonest tropical tree s | EurekAlert!

This is important because tropical forests 'do what they do' mostly with about 1000 tree species. That number is approachable for physiological research, while total number of tropical tree species is much larger, (actually) unknown, and too many to examine.

So if we chose to, we could explore 1000 tropical tree species in terms of physiology and nutrient cycling. It could usefully inform global ecology confronting many changes. I say 'could' because no one has announced funded plans to do it.

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In temperate forest biome there are about 50 dominant tree species to examine. In boreal forest biome there are about 5. So as one moves away from equator, the whole thing gets easier. But not yet being done, I'm sorry to say.

 

Better for time wasting is Oddity Central though. Example:

Researchers Find That Birds Are Using Anti-Bird Spikes to Build and Protect Their Own Nests

 

Panama Canal finished its very expensive expansions recently. Even so this year's dry season has limited through traffic.

Traffic through the Panama Canal is being slashed because of drought, disrupting global trade - ABC News

They can do no more expansion. When ENSO dry abates, this problem will fade until the next time.

Until the next time.

 

Earthquake risks:

New USGS map shows where damaging earthquakes are most likely to occur in US?

Pollinators in PV shade:

Insect populations flourish in the restored habitats of solar energy facilities

 

I don't know where converting whole prime farm fields to PV fields. Is happening.

PV promoters suggest that where govt incentives are good and grid tie is handy, (ex) farmers can net $10 thousand per acre per year, passively, without doing all that farm work. I presume they are working debt service into that. With all those arranged, it does look pretty darn attractive.