Daniel Salzler No. 1159
EnviroInsight.org Five Items July 22, 2022
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- With Dwindling Water Supplies, The Timing Of Rainfall Matters. A new study shows it’s not how much extra water you give your plants, but when you give it that counts. Researchers observed that in summer, plants grow more when given extra water, in addition to any natural rainfall. However, the same is not true in winter.
This is especially true near Palm Springs, where the research team created artificial rainfall to examine the effects on plants over the course of two years. This region has both winter and summer growing seasons, both of which are increasingly impacted by drought and, occasionally, extreme rain events.
Normally, some desert wildflowers and grasses begin growing in December, and are dead by June. A second community of plants sprouts in July and flowers in August. These include the wildflowers that make for an extremely popular tourist attraction in “super bloom” years.
The team observed that in summer, plants grow more when given extra water, in addition to any natural rainfall. However, the same was not true in winter. “Essentially, adding water in summer gets us more bang for our buck,” Spasojevic said. Their findings are described in a paper published in the University of California journal Elementa.
While adding water in summer resulted in higher plant biomass, it generally did not increase the diversity of plants that grew, the researchers noted. Decreasing rainfall, in contrast, had negative effects on plants across both summer and winter, but may lead to some increased growth in the following off-seasons.
Implications of the work extend beyond learning when additional water resources might be applied simply to help plants grow. Whole communities of animals depend on these plants.They are critical for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, and they play a big role in controlling erosion and movement of soils by wind.
Desert plants also play an important role in removing carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the atmosphere to use as fuel for growth. Microbes that live in the soil can use the carbon and nitrogen released by plant roots, then send it back into the atmosphere where it can affect the climate.Source:April 18, 2022 University of California – Riverside
2. How Is This Possible? 72% of dog owners have no idea what kind of dog they have. Source: Google.
3. Recycling: Soda Brands Are About to Get Possessive of Their Trash. High prices for recycled plastic make it harder for companies such as Coca-Cola to meet their green-packaging targets.
A fight is brewing over who gets first dibs on the plastic drinks bottles that consumers throw away.
Bottle trash has become a hot commodity as companies try to make their goods and packaging more sustainable. The price of recycled polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, flake, which is usually made out of old drink containers, is up around 35% in Europe since January, according to data from Independent Commodity Intelligence Services. Higher oil and petrochemical prices have also pushed up the cost of virgin PET plastic, but not by as much.
Recycled PET became more expensive than virgin plastic in 2019 in both Europe and the U.S., not long after big consumer brands such as Coca-Cola and Nestlé began making green-packaging commitments. The premium in Europe hit a record of €460 a metric ton in late June this year, according to S&P Global Platts. Prices for recycled plastic have eased slightly since then—supply increases in summer months, when more bottled drinks are consumed and containers find their way back into the recycling system.
The relief will be temporary. Government policies that set out minimum recycled content levels for plastic packaging are driving more companies into the market for recycled PET. In California, companies will need to use 50% recycled material in bottles by 2030.
This will be challenging as bottle collection rates are low—only around 27% in the U.S., based on the latest data available from the National Association for PET Container Resources. To achieve 30% recycled content in bottles by the end of the decade, output of recycled PET needs to increase by an annual compound rate of 45%, ICIS calculates.
The trend points to higher plastic bills for consumer staples companies. One of their responses will likely be trying to prevent nonfood industries from taking all old bottles. Around 70% of used bottles go to other sectors, often to make clothes, carpets or cosmetics packaging, leaving less than a third for the industry that produces them.
That looks unsustainable as the beverage industry currently faces tougher plastic regulations than fashion brands. The rollout of extended producer responsibility schemes for packaging—all EU countries must have one in place by 2024—means companies that put plastic on the market will pay for its collection and recycling after use in many places.
Trade bodies for the soft-drink industry say this could lead to a situation where clothing companies benefit from increased investment in bottle recycling infrastructure without any obligation to pay for it. In Europe, beverage companies are already lobbying for priority access to bottle waste.
This will be challenging as bottle collection rates are low—only around 27% in the U.S., based on the latest data available from the National Association for PET Container Resources. To achieve 30% recycled content in bottles by the end of the decade, output of recycled PET needs to increase by an annual compound rate of 45%, ICIS calculates.
The trend points to higher plastic bills for consumer staples companies. One of their responses will likely be trying to prevent nonfood industries from taking all old bottles. Around 70% of used bottles go to other sectors, often to make clothes, carpets or cosmetics packaging, leaving less than a third for the industry that produces them.
That looks unsustainable as the beverage industry currently faces tougher plastic regulations than fashion brands. The rollout of extended producer responsibility schemes for packaging—all EU countries must have one in place by 2024—means companies that put plastic on the market will pay for its collection and recycling after use in many places.
Trade bodies for the soft-drink industry say this could lead to a situation where clothing companies benefit from increased investment in bottle recycling infrastructure without any obligation to pay for it. In Europe, beverage companies are already lobbying for priority access to bottle waste.
If they succeed, it would be a blow for fast-fashion chains such as H & M and Zara, who haven’t figured out how to recycle their own waste at scale. Only 14% of global polyester is made from recycled material, almost all of it spun from drinks bottles. Sportswear giant Nike uses over a billion plastic bottles a year in its goods. Limiting access would force these industries to invest in technology to recycle old clothes and footwear into reusable fibers.
Any new rules would be resisted by other sectors such as carpet makers and auto companies, which also rely on bottles to manufacture goods and components. The recycling industry, currently enjoying high prices after decades of poor returns, may argue that restrictions would deter investment and prove counterproductive.
Still, the more beverage companies step in to fund bottle recycling programs, the stronger their claim on the industry’s increasingly valuable trash.
Write to Carol Ryan at carol.ryan@wsj.com
4. Wild Population Of Mexican Wolves Continues To Experience Growth. With a minimum of 196 wolves recorded. Annual count reveals small gains in Mexican Wolf population in 2021. From November 2021 through February 2022, the Interagency Field Team (IFT) conducted ground and aerial counts of Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. According to the IFT, the population is distributed with 112 wolves in New Mexico and 84 in Arizona. In 2020, the team documented a minimum of 186 wolves. The slower growth in 2021 is attributed to low pup recruitment in the wild population. A minimum of 144 pups were born in 2021, with at least 56 surviving until the end of the year (a 38 percent survival rate). The average survival of Mexican wolf pups in their first year is around 50 percent. Source: Nature Magazine
5. Climate Change Brings Super Poison Ivy. Climate change isn’t just increasing outdoor temperatures and warming up the oceans. It may also greatly increase your chances of getting a really bad case of poison ivy.
As the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, it’s boosting the growth of poison ivy plants, two recent studies show. These elevated carbon dioxide levels are creating bigger, stronger poison ivy plants that produce more urushiol, the oil that causes the allergic reaction and miserable poison ivy rash. The urushiol isn’t just more plentiful; it might also be more potent.
“Initial data suggests that there may be a more [powerful] form of urushiol being produced with increasing carbon dioxide,” says Lewis Ziska, PhD, a weed ecologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Md., and a co-researcher of both studies.
In the last 50 years, Ziska says, the growth rate of the poison ivy plant has doubled. “The chances of encountering poison ivy and coming down with a rash are greater than they used to be,” he tells WebMD.
About 80% of people are sensitive to the plant — meaning they may develop a poison ivy rash if they come in contact with the plant. While the reaction is not typically serious, getting poison ivy can doom you to a week or more of miserable itching. The poison ivy rash can also raise your risk of getting a potentially serious skin infection from scratching your skin. Here’s what you need to know before you head out to the woods, or the backyard.
Poison Ivy Studies
In Ziska’s latest study, published in the July-August issue of Weed Science, his team compared the effects of four different concentrations of carbon dioxide on poison ivy plants, working in the laboratory. The carbon dioxide concentrations corresponded roughly to those that existed during the middle of the 20th century, the current concentration, and the concentration predicted for 2050 and 2090.
“What we found was even during that 50- or 60-year period that poison ivy could significantly respond to even a small change in carbon dioxide,” Ziska says. The growth rate doubled, he says.
Ziska says his latest study confirms the findings of an experiment reported last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In that study, Ziska and researchers from Duke University and other institutions compared poison ivy plants grown in ambient air with those grown in areas with a piped in system that increased the carbon dioxide levels. In the six-year study, the scientists showed that elevated carbon dioxide boosts the growth of poison ivy and results in the production of a more powerful form of the urushiol.
Once urushiol gets on the skin, it can penetrates in minutes.
“If you think you have come into contact, wash the [oil] off first, using rubbing alcohol,” Peng says. Then use plain hot water. Then use soap and hot water. Discard the soap, and wash the washcloth.”
Ronald Brancaccio, clinical professor of dermatology at the New York University School of Medicine says it’s good enough to wash with plain soap and water of any temperature and OK to skip the alcohol and plain water steps.
If you’re out on a hiking trail or camping, use cold water from a stream or other source, and the sooner the better.
At-Home Poison Ivy Treatment
If you develop a poison ivy rash despite trying to wash the oil off your skin, you can turn to home treatments to soothe the itching. Apply cold compresses, Brancaccio advises, and then calamine lotion. You can also take Benadryl (available over the counter) by mouth to help calm down the allergic reaction. Be aware that Benadryl pills will likely make you sleepy — not such a bad thing if you’re itching to death. [Break a piece of Aloe off a plant and apply the gooy inside to you skin – editor]
Hydrocortisone cream, 1% strength, over the counter, can also help.
Prevention Plan
Avoiding poison ivy is the best bet, researchers agree. “Leaves of three, let it be” is the motto repeated by the experts. Each leaf of the poison ivy plant has three leaflets.
An over-the-counter product containing bentoquatam (IvyBlock) is effective, according to Peng, if applied before exposure. It literally provides a physical barrier, he says, so the oil can’t penetrate the skin.
Wearing long pants and long-sleeve shirts, though not always plausible in the summer heat, is also recommended, as well as wearing socks and shoes to garden. Source: ClimateCentral.com and WebMD.
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