Large animals (megafauna) have cascading effects on populations, communities, and ecosystems. The magnitude of these effects is often unknown because native megafauna are missing from most ecosystems. We found that reintroducing bison—a formerly dominant megafauna and the national mammal of the United States—doubles plant diversity in a tallgrass prairie. These plant communities have few nonnative species and were resilient to an extreme drought. Domesticated megafauna (cattle), which have replaced native herbivores in many grasslands, produced less than half of this increase in plant species richness. Our results suggest that many grasslands in the Central Great Plains have substantially lower plant biodiversity than before widespread bison extirpation. Returning or “rewilding” native megafauna could help to restore grassland biodiversity. - PNAS
Hawaii is getting ready to say goodbye to its only coal power plant on Sept. 1 as part of its "aggressive push to renewable energy," according to the state's top energy official. The state received its final shipment of coal last week to the AES Hawaii power plant, located on the western side of Oahu, and s looking toward new solar and battery storage energy projects. "It's the first large fossil fuel power plant that we're retiring," said Scott Glenn, chief energy officer at Hawaii State Energy Office. "The rest of the country is also grappling with this and we don't have the tools that the rest of the country does. ... (As an island chain) we can't reach out to others for help. It's an important step for Hawaii, and I also think it's going to be something that other states look to."- USA Today
On a winter night in early 2016, Jeremy Kitson gathered in his buddy's large shed with some neighbors to plan their fight against a proposed wind farm in rural Van Wert County, Ohio. The project would be about a mile from his home. From the beginning, Kitson — who teaches physics and chemistry at the local high school — knew he didn't want the turbines anywhere near him. He had heard from folks who lived near another wind project about 10 miles away that the turbines were noisy and that they couldn't sleep. "There were so many people saying that it's horrible, you do not want to live under these things,'" Kitson says. - NPR 
Urban gardens offer many benefits for individual health, communities, and ecosystems. They promote sustainable agriculture, reduce food transportation costs, and reduce water runoff. However, urban gardeners also face several challenges, one of which is dealing with contaminants like lead. Lead is a neurotoxin that can damage multiple organ systems. "It is incredibly important to know if urban gardeners are being exposed to lead when they consume their produce," says Sara Perl Egendorf, a researcher at Cornell University. - Phys.Org
The Southwest’s megadrought has put the spotlight on water conservation, and experts agree it’s a crucial part of the solution. But what does conservation mean to the average Arizonan? Shorter showers? No more grass lawns? What really matters might surprise you. Let’s say you’re standing at the kitchen sink with an empty peanut butter jar. You want to put it in the recycling bin, but you need to rinse it out first. Is it worth the water? In our daily lives, there are many ways to save water, such as turning off the faucet when we brush our teeth or taking shorter showers. These are nice gestures, but to really save water, said Sarah Porter of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute, we need to think bigger - Cronkite News
Democratic attorney general candidate Kris Mayes is calling to investigate and potentially cancel the leases the State Land Department signed with a Saudi Arabian company that is pumping from Phoenix's backup water supply in western Arizona. Mayes is also calling for the Saudi Arabian company to pay the state approximately $38 million for using the water in La Paz County, which sits in a basin that could be tapped as a future water source for the Phoenix area. Mayes says the lease should be put on hold while they are investigated because they potentially violate the Arizona Constitution in two ways: They could violate the gift clause as well as a clause that requires state land and its products to be appraised and offered at their true value. - AZ Central
To reduce both climate-changing emissions and exposure to air pollution, the United States must greatly reduce tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks. This makes the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) vital to meeting targets for both climate and public health. Using fully electric vehicles in place of conventional gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles enables the complete elimination of tailpipe emissions. While electric vehicles can eliminate tailpipe emissions, the total emissions from their use include emissions from two other sources: the electricity used to recharge EVs and the processes and materials used to manufacture them. Thus, the value of switching from gasoline and diesel cars and trucks to EVs will increase further as the electricity grid and manufacturing become cleaner. - UCS
For residents of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, the United States’ recent success in clinching a major piece of climate change legislation may feel like too little, too late. Over the past 40 years, as the world’s largest historical emitter of greenhouses gases repeatedly failed to take significant action on the climate, the region surrounding Svalbard has warmed at least four times as fast as the global average, according to significant research published Thursday. The study suggests that warming in the Arctic is happening at a much faster rate than many scientists had expected. And while U.S. lawmakers this summer hashed out the details of a massive bill to speed their nation’s shift toward cleaner energy — the culmination of months of deliberations — the new findings were just the latest visceral reminder that the planet’s changing climate isn’t waiting around for human action. - Washington Post
The Tibetan Plateau, known as the “water tower” of Asia, supplies freshwater for nearly 2 billion people who live downstream. New research led by scientists at Penn State, Tsinghua University and the University of Texas at Austin projects that climate change, under a scenario of weak climate policy, will cause irreversible declines in freshwater storage in the region, constituting a serious threat to the water supply for central Asia, Afghanistan, Northern India, Kashmir and Pakistan by the middle of the century. “The prognosis is not good,” said Michael Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State. “In a ‘business as usual’ scenario, where we fail to meaningfully curtail fossil fuel burning in the decades ahead, we can expect a substantial — that is, nearly 100% loss — of water availability to downstream regions of the Tibetan Plateau. I was surprised at just how large the predicted decrease is even under a scenario of modest climate policy.” - Penn State 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released three reports showing that wind power remains one of America’s fastest growing energy sources and a generator of high-quality jobs. Wind power accounted for 32% of U.S. energy capacity growth in 2021, employs 120,000 Americans, and now provides enough energy to power 40 million American homes. The 2021 wind market reports show that the domestic expansion of wind power is proving to be an essential source of clean, cheap energy generation that supports President Biden’s goals of reaching 100% clean electricity by 2035 and a net zero economy by 2050. - Energy.gov
Booming electric vehicle sales have spurred a growing demand for lithium. But the light metal, which is essential for making power-packed rechargeable batteries, isn't abundant. Now, researchers report a major step toward tapping a virtually limitless lithium supply: pulling it straight out of seawater. "This represents substantial progress" for the field, says Jang Wook Choi, a chemical engineer at Seoul National University who was not involved with the work. He adds that the approach might also prove useful for reclaiming lithium from used batteries. Lithium is prized for rechargeables because it stores more energy by weight than other battery materials. Manufacturers use more than 160,000 tons of the material every year, a number expected to grow nearly 10-fold over the next decade. But lithium supplies are limited and concentrated in a handful of countries, where the metal is either mined or extracted from briny water.- Science
In a year of record-high prices for fossil fuels, as lawmakers consider new policies that can help fight inflation, renewable energy is already helping to shield Americans from steep jumps in their electricity bills. For example, in Texas, even as some observers have incorrectly blamed renewables for the state’s strained power grid, more than a third of electricity in the first half of 2022 came from wind and solar projects. Wind and solar have both set records already this year. High production from renewables and high fossil fuel prices together mean wind and solar are having an outsized impact on lowering energy costs. Based on benchmark natural gas prices, RMI estimates that, on average, wind and solar projects in Texas have avoided $20 million per day in fuel that otherwise would have been needed for fossil fuel-based power plants to meet electricity demand.- RMI  Swiss mountain pass will lose all glacier ice ‘in a few weeks’ for first time in centuries8/21/2022
The thick layer of ice that has covered a Swiss mountain pass for centuries will have melted away completely within a few weeks, according to a local ski resort. After a dry winter, the summer heatwaves hitting Europe have been catastrophic for the Alpine glaciers, which have been melting at an accelerated rate. The pass between Scex Rouge and Tsanfleuron has been iced over since at least the Roman era. But as both glaciers have retreated, the bare rock of the ridge between the two is beginning to emerge – and will be completely ice-free before the summer is out. - The Guardian
n 2015, about 10% of Australia's vast mangrove forests in the Gulf of Carpentaria mysteriously died. Scientists have now figured out the cause - and warn the forests may struggle to recover in a changing climate. - BBC
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