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Rough seas or smooth sailing? The cruise industry is booming despite environmental concerns

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/frederic-dimanche-836528">Frédéric Dimanche</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/toronto-metropolitan-university-1607">Toronto Metropolitan University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelley-a-mcclinchey-1287281">Kelley A. McClinchey</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/wilfrid-laurier-university-1817">Wilfrid Laurier University</a> Cruise ship season is officially underway in British Columbia. The season kicked off with the arrival of Norwegian Bliss on April 3 — the <a href="https://www.cheknews.ca/first-cruise-ship-of-the-season-to-arrive-in-victoria-in-less-than-2-weeks-1196426/">first of 318 ships</a> that are scheduled to dock in Victoria this year. Victoria saw a record 970,000 passengers arrive in 2023, with more expected in 2024. The cruise industry <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2021.100391">was badly hit</a> by the <a href="https://financialpost.com/financial-times/the-2020s-were-meant-to-be-a-boom-decade-for-cruises-then-covid-19-hit-them-like-a-tidal-wave">suspension of cruise operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic</a> in 2020. Fuelled by heavy consumer demand and industry innovation, cruising has made a comeback. It is now one of the fastest-growing sectors, rebounding even faster than international tourism. While many predicted <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/05/carnivals-struggle-to-survive-the-coronavirus-as-outbreak-wipes-out-the-cruise-industry.html">a difficult recovery</a>, a <a href="https://cruising.org/en">recent industry report shows a remarkable post-pandemic rebound</a>. Two million more people went on cruises in 2023 versus 2019, with demand predicted to top 35 million in 2024. But environmental issues plague the sector’s revival. Are they an indication of rough seas ahead? Or will a responsive industry mean smooth sailing? Cruising has long been criticized <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/their-purpose-is-to-be-fun-but-theres-a-dark-side-to-cruising-the-seas/dzxivdoos">for being Janus-faced</a>: on the surface, cruises are convenient, exciting holidays with reputed economic benefits. But lurking underneath are its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2017.11.002">negative environmental and social impacts</a>. <h2>Unprecedented growth</h2> Newly constructed mega-ships are part of the industry’s unprecedented growth. Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas is the <a href="https://www.cruisehive.com/top-10-biggest-cruise-ships-in-the-world/66448">largest cruise ship in the world</a>, with 18 decks, 5,600 passengers and 2,350 crew. MSC World Europa with 6,700 passengers and 2,100 crew, P&O Arvia with 5,200 passengers and 1,800 crew, and Costa Smeralda with 6,600 passengers and 1,500 crew also claim mega-ship status. Those sailing to and from Alaska via Victoria will be some of the <a href="https://hakaimagazine.com/features/cruise-ship-invasion/">estimated 700,000 passengers departing Seattle</a> on massive ships three sport fields in length. Baby boomers represent less than 25 per cent of cruise clientele. Gen X, <a href="https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/2024/01/15/cruise-millennials-gen-z">Millennials and Gen Z</a> have more interest than ever in cruising, with these younger markets being targeted as the future of cruise passengers. The Cruise Lines International Association asserts that <a href="https://cruising.org/-/media/clia-media/research/2024/2024-state-of-the-cruise-industry-report_041424_web.ashx">82 per cent of those who have cruised will cruise again</a>. To entice first-timers and meet the needs of repeat cruisers, companies are offering new itineraries and onboard activities, from <a href="https://www.timescolonist.com/business/royal-caribbean-quantum-cruise-ship-1st-at-sea-bumper-cars-skydiving-observation-capsule-4585987">simulated skydiving and bumper cars</a> to <a href="https://nationalpost.com/travel/cruise-ship-offers-pickleball-on-the-high-seas">pickleball</a> and lawn bowling. Solo cruise travel is also on the rise, and <a href="https://www.cruisetradenews.com/demand-for-multi-generational-cruise-holidays-on-the-up-data-finds/">multi-generational family cruise travel</a> is flourishing, explaining the extensive variety of cabin classes, activities and restaurants available on newly constructed and retrofitted ships. However, only a few cruise ports are large enough to dock mega ships. Cruise lines are responding by offering off-beat experiences and catering more to the distinct desires of travellers. In doing so, there is a <a href="https://www.positivelyosceola.com/2024s-top-cruise-trends-embracing-smaller-ships-solo-adventures-and-luxury-suites/">move towards smaller vessels and luxury liners</a>, river cruises and <a href="https://www.travelweek.ca/news/cruise/expedition-cruising-what-is-it-and-how-do-you-sell-it/">expedition cruising</a>. Leveraging lesser-known ports that can only be accessed via compact luxury ships <a href="https://www.cntraveler.com/story/small-cruise-ships-are-more-sustainble-and-on-the-rise">offers more mission-driven, catered experiences</a> for the eco-minded traveller. <h2>Cruising and environmental costs</h2> Cruise ship visitors are known to negatively impact Marine World Heritage sites. While most sites regulate ballast water and wastewater discharge, there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020611">concerns about ship air emissions and wildlife interactions</a>. Cruise ship journeys along Canada’s west coast, for example, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/09/us-cruise-ships-using-canada-as-toilet-bowl-for-polluted-waste-alaska-british-columbia">are leaving behind a trail of toxic waste</a>. <a href="https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Comparison_of_CO2_Emissions_v2.pdf">A study by environmental organization Friends of the Earth</a> concluded that a cruise tourist generates eight times more carbon emissions per day than a land tourist in Seattle. Also, a rise in expedition cruising means more negative impacts (long-haul flights to farther ports, less destination management in fragile ecosystems, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/03/briefing/last-chance-tourism.html">last chance tourism</a>) and a rise in carbon dioxide emissions. Toxic air pollutants from cruise ships around ports are higher than pre-pandemic levels, <a href="https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/europes-luxury-cruise-ships-emit-as-much-toxic-sulphur-as-1bn-cars-study/">leaving Europe’s port cities “choking on air pollution</a>.” Last year, Europe’s 218 cruise ships emitted as much sulphur oxides as one billion cars — a high number, considering the introduction of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30002-4">International Maritime Organization’s sulphur cap in 2020</a>. <h2>Rough seas ahead or smooth sailing?</h2> Royal Caribbean said its Icon of the Seas is designed to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/worlds-largest-cruise-ship-sets-sail-bringing-concerns-about-methane-emissions-2024-01-27/">operate 24 per cent more efficiently than the international standard</a> for new ships. International Maritime Organization regulations <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-22/royal-caribbean-s-icon-of-the-seas-highlights-climate-impact-of-cruises">must be 30 per cent more energy-efficient</a> than those built in 2014. But despite the industry using liquefied natural gas instead of heavy fuel oil and electric shore power to turn off diesel engines when docking, industry critics still claim <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/26/icon-of-the-seas-largest-cruise-ship-human-lasagne-climate-fuel-lng-greenwashing">the cruise sector is greenwashing</a>. As a result, some cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona and Venice are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/07/21/war-on-cruise-ships-amsterdam-latest-port-to-limit-or-ban-cruise-liners">limiting or banning cruise ships</a>. Environmental critiques remain strong, especially for <a href="https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ijegeo/issue/65449/957262">polar expeditions</a>. The industry must respond and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01949-4_131">increase sustainability efforts</a>, but their measures remain reactive (i.e., merely meeting international regulations) rather than proactive. In addition, by sailing their ships under <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/13/real-problem-with-cruise-industry/">flags of convenience</a>, cruise companies evade taxes and demonstrate an unwillingness to abide by a nation’s environmental, health and labour regulations. In any case, environmental concerns are escalating along with the industry. <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/cruising-green-eco-operators-make-waves">Travel agents and industry figures are aware of these impacts</a> and should help promote cruise lines that demonstrate a commitment to sustainable practices. Local residents need to expect more from port authorities and local governments in order <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2024.103732">to cope with cruise tourism</a>. Cruise consumers should recognize the environmental costs of cruising, and demand accountability and transparency from cruise lines.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/228181/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/frederic-dimanche-836528">Frédéric Dimanche</a>, Professor and Director, Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/toronto-metropolitan-university-1607">Toronto Metropolitan University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelley-a-mcclinchey-1287281">Kelley A. McClinchey</a>, Teaching Faculty, Geography and Environmental Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/wilfrid-laurier-university-1817">Wilfrid Laurier University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rough-seas-or-smooth-sailing-the-cruise-industry-is-booming-despite-environmental-concerns-228181">original article</a>.

Cruising

How to make your next holiday better for the environment

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-canavan-228682">Brendan Canavan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a> Being an environmentally friendly tourist can be challenging. Tourism is an industry that brings many <a href="https://www.unwto.org/EU-guidebook-on-sustainable-tourism-for-development">negative environmental impacts</a> – our pleasure often comes at the expense of local habitats or wildlife. Maya Bay on Thailand’s uninhabited Phi Phi Leh island became famous as the location of the 2000 Hollywood movie The Beach. But this led to rapid growth in visitors to the bay – as many as 8,000 a day at its peak – and put enormous strain on the bay’s natural habitats. In 2018, the bay was <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/maya-bay-thailand-recovery-c2e-spc-intl/index.html">closed to tourists</a> for four years to let its coral reefs and wildlife recover. But tourism can also be an inspiring way to connect with oneself, with others and with new places. As tourists, we can learn, share and contribute to positive environmental practices. As a tourist, you also have influence. The money you spend, the social interactions you have and the resources you consume all <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261517715300224?casa_token=TaXMOLW6Sp4AAAAA:PEnSG1AaAZ-MiuTNZ1wJfLRrzaNVIbaBsk1cKsP8M-_6KjruLO9tp09BqqzGnJTIZbN8_CoP4Q">help to shape an area</a>. So here are four pieces of advice for making your next holiday better for the environment. <h2>Spend locally</h2> We’ve all heard variations on the mantra “<a href="https://cleanisland.org/history-of-the-leave-only-footprints-initiative/#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CTake%20only%20memories%2C%20leave%20only,the%20Leave%20Only%20Footprints%20program.">take only memories, leave only footprints</a>”. This message of less consumption and lower impact is a good ethos for environmentally sensitive tourism. The first thing to do is think about how you can leave more positive footprints behind. An excellent way to make the most of your economic footprint is to stay and shop in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669580802359293?casa_token=eNeLWWRPHxIAAAAA:9bT4S5-0O5b2JQWrYKgmjtDxrZzlv0P-H-9T2SoWT1fX6tFRkoVenNNcfmJbHV9ebhF2kP7XIEgz">independent businesses</a>. These businesses tend to pay local taxes and are owned by and employ local people. More of the money you spend stays in the immediate area as a result. Where tourist money directly benefits local people and businesses, their support for conservation is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26069456.pdf?casa_token=rdKkHk5QviUAAAAA:2ZCqsGG1f-2wFTIdmptbrJDVo8iPjYnam7QPdHXviRy_e0wA7YMY7fc0Qm1smIII4cg6_WriJ1OQwPvxMibmeHQxnO81NPd9jwoeVRudUS2TVv2TNeg">often encouraged</a>. Tourists <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517709000120#sec5">visiting rhino sanctuaries</a> in Botswana, for example, bring income and support jobs. In 2010, the country’s Khama Rhino Sanctuary employed 26 permanent staff and many more casual labourers. This economic security can, in turn, prompt local people to appreciate the importance of protecting vulnerable animal species like rhinos. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2021.1932927?casa_token=rffO3wgsu6UAAAAA:7dounwsgVunXCW4-NERDNDX9Ks_OVfa3z5TfZDojAdiVVKuXbU52_3DnRNfALNjMCW0PzGPPOu0MQQ">Separate research</a> on people living around Kenya’s Maasai Mara nature reserve found that people whose livelihoods were dependent on tourism were more likely to support efforts to conserve local wildlife. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524360/original/file-20230504-19-znuosc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524360/original/file-20230504-19-znuosc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524360/original/file-20230504-19-znuosc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524360/original/file-20230504-19-znuosc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524360/original/file-20230504-19-znuosc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524360/original/file-20230504-19-znuosc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524360/original/file-20230504-19-znuosc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Two white rhinos drinking from a pond." /><figcaption>Two white rhinos at Khama Rhino Sanctuary, Botswana. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/white-rhinoceros-ceratotherium-simum-squarelipped-khama-2060738441">Al Carrera/Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure> <h2>Tread lightly</h2> Tourism creates waste and uses up resources. Treading carefully will minimise the environmental impact you have on your holiday destination. A simple way to lower your environmental footprint is to use fewer resources at every stage of your holiday. A single tourist uses <a href="https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284414529">300 litres</a> of water in their holiday accommodation on average each night. Reusing towels, flushing the toilet less and shortening your shower time can all help to reduce demand for water resources. Thinking about the footprints you leave as a tourist is a useful mindset. You may even become more aware of the positive legacy you can leave behind. Learn about the local area and the environmental issues that matter there. If habitat loss is a problem, contribute to local organisations that support conservation. Organisations like the <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays">National Trust</a> even offer holidays in the UK that help to fund their work. <h2>Place matters</h2> Tourism shifts you away from the familiar and gives you <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160738312001211?casa_token=zHTCleS_F3kAAAAA:jWMOOtEJzH8OXySUqafP5Z7koLFOtNSJ2Ik4ncoA9wPCHTW-1MRNJJwRvYtoopoSqCwTRm_TeA">space for self-reflection</a>. Research has found that people have been <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02508281.2017.1342349?role=button&needAccess=true&journalCode=rtrr20">inspired by travel to make life changes</a> such as relocating or shifting career. Many keen rock climbers, for instance, adopt a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17450101.2014.977667?casa_token=gCsYfe0mSDkAAAAA:q8f6HbQ9rlwXS5_DGl3De1XUnHXX6U0EC3QUNz65pFivUgPo7RDH0-zGXvspjrTrv73FKkouDPM-">minimalist and mobile lifestyle</a>. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616688.2012.762691?needAccess=true">One study</a> on climbers’ lifestyles in the US showed that the challenges of life on the road, gatherings at campgrounds and the considerable amount of time spent in nature can be enriching. Rock climbers’ lifestyles are inspired by and connected to natural settings. And many alternative types of tourism are too. These tourists can become powerful advocates for the protection of the places they care deeply about. Surf tourists, for example, have driven <a href="https://www.sas.org.uk/">various campaigns</a> against the discharge of sewage into UK bathing waters. You and those you travel with can be similar cheerleaders for the places you care about. Join organisations fighting for their conservation, contribute to their sustainable development and share your appreciation of these places with others. <h2>Stay curious</h2> A final thing you can do as a tourist is to keep exploring. It can be tempting to stay in a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40970087.pdf?casa_token=zGlcyUgr_JcAAAAA:TzIuU8wrbvXyjAxawpea1Nw35y-5DSZX-MShnpndR4iEwzOQqCul3Hn61SFdotC4dO3hMZ6ddpOI-O0v45K7Jwo6TY9I4FVbUaE8QMuGo7qsBFbvbXE">tourist bubble</a> and not leave the confines of your resort or stick with familiar travel groups and activities. Cruises are a classic example of bubble tourism. The places visited do not really matter; the floating hotel is the main attraction. But cruise tourism rarely benefits local populations and brings <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261517717302418?casa_token=dz_gzPmnVTsAAAAA:o6WggzlegsnTGIh9__NvL7POYKzGB3pHd44TNswicbl0sOSc5uTUYG-G_qZroQ3gaQVchZR5Gw">significant negative environmental impacts</a>. In the Trujillo Bay area of Honduras, for example, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517717302418?casa_token=DDSyzNJhU5sAAAAA:vqMQqzyKJMXHLZmVfcuYesAmc-0KsqzR8GdX97r0AzecrnXCRPNMC7_lHBKyqYKzLbMoHh83zQ#sec7">increases in garbage and sewage</a> have been reported since commercial cruise tourism began operating in the area in 2014. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524072/original/file-20230503-28-w8obuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524072/original/file-20230503-28-w8obuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524072/original/file-20230503-28-w8obuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524072/original/file-20230503-28-w8obuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524072/original/file-20230503-28-w8obuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524072/original/file-20230503-28-w8obuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524072/original/file-20230503-28-w8obuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A beach full of tourists from the cruise ship moored nearby." /><figcaption>A cruise ship moored near Mahogany Bay beach, Honduras. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mahogany-bay-beach-full-tourists-cruise-1647866578">Ramunas Bruzas/Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure> Similar concerns have prompted calls to restrict cruise tourism in popular European destinations like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/25/cruise-passengers-shuttled-into-venice-by-motor-boat-to-dodge-big-ships-ban">Venice</a>, <a href="https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/09/01/stop-cruises-50000-people-sign-petition-to-regulate-polluting-ships-in-marseille">Marseille</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/09/a-plague-of-locusts-barcelona-battles-port-authorities-to-curb-cruise-tourists">Barcelona</a>. In 2022, more than 50,000 people signed a petition to ban cruise ships from Marseille. Going beyond familiar or fashionable tourist bubbles can help you avoid such negative associations. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517709001113?casa_token=SHXc1sqnFOkAAAAA:T8KwGbxBT_jHQv1RMWfJaQagU4C_XnnOKxxwNqODHpboL6YRkzRsr-C9W6mgRHQDa-M6vcAYAA#sec7">Short-haul city breaks</a> are a more environmentally friendly option. Travellers to these destinations are more likely to use means of transportation that are associated with <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-and-environment-statistics-autumn-2021/transport-and-environment-statistics-autumn-2021#:%7E:text=The%20biggest%20contributors%20to%20this,of%20emissions%2C%2019%20MtCO2e%20">less CO₂ emissions</a> than long-haul travel, such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652613005131?casa_token=INw7hbOMnDEAAAAA:Do8AzrmSnJZtOHdqWtc7QLFhgrWF520ej0-_gt0rcZmhzyLGT5DSS3SdmRR6tnxC3qtOHXIThQ">trains or coaches</a>. And in urban areas, their activities are likely to take place in a concentrated geographical area. Thinking about the footprints you leave and the memories you take can help you to become a more environmentally aware tourist. Leave positive imprints behind, tread carefully, put yourself out there and keep exploring. This is a mantra to adopt and share with your travel groups to get the most out of your holiday experiences while simultaneously reducing your impact on the planet.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203445/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-canavan-228682">Brendan Canavan</a>, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-make-your-next-holiday-better-for-the-environment-203445">original article</a>. Images: Getty

International Travel

Coffin? Casket? Cremation? How to make your death more environmentally friendly

We can all agree humans need to reduce their impact on the environment. And while most of us think of this in terms of daily activities – such as eating less meat, or being water-wise – this responsibility actually extends beyond life and into death. The global population is closing on <a href="https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/global-population-will-soon-reach-8-billion-then-what" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eight billion</a>, and the amount of land available for human burial is <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/deal-with-the-dead/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">running out</a>, especially in small and densely populated countries. To minimise environmental impact, human bodies should return to nature as quickly as possible. But the rate of decay in some of the most common traditional disposal methods is very slow. It can take <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-it-takes-human-body-decompose-grave-coffin-2019-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several decades</a> for a body to decompose. In a one-of-its-kind study, our team analysed <a href="https://irispublishers.com/gjfsm/fulltext/a-taphonomic-examination-of-inhumed-and-entombed-remains-in-parma-cemeteries-italy.ID.000518.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">408 human bodies</a> exhumed from grave pits and stone tombs in the north of Italy to find out what conditions help speed up decay. <h2>The environmental cost of traditional burials</h2> Funeral rituals should respect the dead, bring closure to families and promote the reaching of the afterlife in accordance with people’s beliefs. This looks different for different people. Although the Catholic church has allowed cremation <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/world/europe/vatican-bans-scattering-of-human-ashes.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">since 1963</a>, it still prefers burials. Muslims are always supposed to be buried, while most Hindus are cremated. In Australia, however, the latest census revealed almost 40% of the population identifies as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-religion-is-australias-second-largest-religious-group-and-its-having-a-profound-effect-on-our-laws-185697" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not religious</a>”. This opens up more avenues for how people’s bodies may be handled after death. Most traditional burial practices in industrialised countries have several long-lasting harmful <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/108132/EUR_ICP_EHNA_01_04_01%28A%29.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">effects</a> on the environment. Wood and metal fragments in coffins and caskets remain in the ground, leaching harmful chemicals through paint, preservatives and alloys. Chemicals used for embalming also remain in the ground and can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3315260/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contaminate</a> soil and waterways. Cremation also has a large <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/is-cremation-environmentally-friendly-heres-the-science" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carbon footprint</a>. It requires lots of trees for fuel and produces millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year, as well as toxic volatile compounds. There are several alternatives to traditional burials. These include “water cremation” or “resomation” (where the body is rapidly dissolved), human <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-26/body-composting-a-green-alternative-to-burial-cremation/100486964" target="_blank" rel="noopener">composting</a>, mummification, cryonics (freezing and storage), <a href="https://eirene.ca/blog/space-burial-ashes-in-orbit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">space burials</a>, and even turning the body into <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/03/world/eco-solutions-capsula-mundi/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trees</a> or the ashes into <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/ashes-to-diamonds-reefs-rockets-how-we-will-memorialize-dead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diamonds</a> or <a href="https://www.andvinyly.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">record vinyls</a>. However, many of these alternatives are either illegal, unavailable, costly or not aligned with people’s beliefs. The vast majority choose coffin burials, and all countries accept this method. So the question of sustainable burials comes down to choosing between the many types of <a href="https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/death-the-last-taboo/burial-coffins-and-caskets/?gclid=CjwKCAjwx7GYBhB7EiwA0d8oe-mOKjLns2Gj5mpj-mu_kskmPPCKjhOqUrUAEjC05D4pnSXyBP3xrhoCE9oQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coffins available</a>. <h2>What leads to faster decomposition?</h2> Coffins range from traditional wooden caskets, to cardboard coffins, to natural coffins made from willow, banana leaf or bamboo, which decompose faster. The most environmentally sustainable choice is one that allows the body to decompose and reduce to a skeleton (or “skeletonise”) quickly – possibly in just a few years. Our research has presented three key findings on conditions that promote the skeletonisation of human bodies. First, it has confirmed that bodies disposed in traditionally sealed tombs (where a coffin is placed inside a stone space) can take more than 40 years to skeletonise. In these sealed tombs, bacteria rapidly consume the oxygen in the stone space where the coffin is placed. This creates a micro-environment that promotes an almost indefinite preservation of the body. We also found burial grounds with a high percentage of sand and gravel in the soil promote the decomposition and skeletonisation of bodies in less than ten years – even if they are in a coffin. That’s because this soil composition allows more circulation of air and microfauna, and ample water drainage – all of which are helpful for degrading organic matter. Finally, our research confirmed previous suspicions about the slow decomposition of entombed bodies. We discovered placing bodies inside stone tombs, or covering them with a stone slab on the ground, helps with the formation of corpse wax (or “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33596512/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adipocere</a>”). This substance is the final result of several chemical reactions through which the body’s adipose (fat) tissues turn to a “soapy” substance that’s very resistant to further degradation. Having corpse wax slows down (if not completely arrests) the decomposition process. <h2>A new, greener option</h2> In looking for innovative burial solutions, we had the opportunity to experiment with a new type of body disposal in a tomb called an “<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6756/2/3/37" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aerated tomb</a>”. Over the past 20 years aerated tombs have been developed in some European countries including France, Spain and Italy (where they <a href="https://www.tecnofar-solutions.com/prodotti/sistema-aerato-loculi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have</a> <a href="https://www.argema.net/loculi-aerati/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been</a> <a href="https://www.ala-strutture-cimiteriali.com/loculi-aerati" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercialised</a>). They allow plenty of ventilation, which in turn enables a more hygienic and faster decomposition of bodies compared to traditional tombs. They have a few notable features: <ul> <li> an activated carbon filter purifies gases </li> <li> fluids are absorbed by two distinct biodegrading biological powders, one placed at the bottom of the coffin and the other in a collecting tray beneath it </li> <li> once the body has decomposed, the skeletal remains can be moved to an ossuary (a site where skeletal remains are stored), while the tomb can be dismantled and most of its components potentially recycled. </li> </ul> Aerated tombs are also cheaper than ordinary tombs and can be built from existing tombs. They would be simple to use in Australia and would comply with public health and hygiene standards. Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about what will happen to our bodies after we die. Perhaps we should. In the end this may be one of our most important last decisions – the implications of which extend to our precious planet. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/coffin-casket-cremation-how-to-make-your-death-more-environmentally-friendly-188456" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Body

Why this man was lucky to ONLY be fined $2300

A man has been slapped with a fine after feeding a wild dingo some biscuits. The 23-year-old was on Fraser Island, about 250km north of Brisbane, and was photographed by a local feeding the dingo - known as wongari in the local Indigenous dialect - back in April. The images were sent to Queensland’s Department of Environment and Sciences (DES) who issued the man a $2,300 fine. “A member of the public told rangers the man was at the front of the vehicle line while he was waiting for the ferry at Hook Point back in April,” DES compliance manager Mike Devery said in a statement. “The person said the man was ‘brazenly’ feeding the wongari, and given his place at the front of the queue, his offending was witnessed by multiple people. “Thankfully, the member of the public was able to take photos of the man as he fed the wongari, and they provided them to rangers.” Mr Devery confirmed that after being questioned, the man admitted to feeding the dingo. “The man told compliance officers that he threw biscuits in the sand to the wongari when he was cleaning out his vehicle.” The man was lucky to be only fined $2,300 as a court can fine a whopping $11,500 for humans feeding the wild animal. With around 400,000 people visiting the island, Mr Devery said the rules were in place to help protect both people and animals. Image: Queensland Department of Environment and Sciences

Travel Trouble

Mobile phone hoarding: e-waste not good news for the environment

What happened to your previous mobile phone after you upgraded or replaced it? Did it go in a drawer? A box in the garage, perhaps? Today marks International E Waste Day, with this year’s slogan, “Recycle it all, no matter how small!”, specifically targeting small devices with a high recycling value that are often hoarded for years before they become waste. It’s a timely reminder, as results from surveys conducted across Europe suggest that the roughly 5.3 billion mobiles and smartphones dropping out of use this year would reach a height of around 50,000 km if stacked flat and on top of each other. That’s well-and-truly over the average orbiting height of the International Space Station and about an eighth of the distance to the moon. “In 2022 alone, small EEE (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) items such as cell phones, electric toothbrushes, toasters and cameras produced worldwide will weigh an estimated total of 24.5 million tonnes – four times the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza”, says Magdalena Charytanowicz of the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Forum, responsible for organising <a href="https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/events/international-e-waste-day-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">International E Waste Day</a>. “And these small items make up a significant proportion of the 8% of all e-waste thrown into trash bins and eventually landfilled or incinerated.” With their valuable components of <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/critical-minerals-mining-australia/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gold, copper, silver, palladium and other materials</a>, mobile phones ranked fourth amongst small Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) hoarded or unrecoverably discarded – that is put in draws, cupboards or garages – rather than repaired or recycled – or sent to landfill or for incineration. The surveys ran for four months from June 2022 and covered 8,775 households across Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Romani, Slovenia and the UK and asked participants about common items such as phones, tablets, laptops, electric tools, hair dryers, toasters and other appliances. The top five hoarded small EEE products were (in order): small electronics and accessories (e.g., headphones, remotes), small equipment (e.g., clocks, irons), small IT equipment (e.g., hard drives, routers, keyboards, mice), mobile and smartphones, small food preparation appliances (e.g., toasters, grills). Italy hoarded the highest number of small EEE products, while Lebanon hoarded the least. You might recognise some of the reasons given, which included potential future use, plans to sell or give away, sentimental value, future value, use in a secondary residence or contains sensitive data. Others were also unsure how to dispose of the item or felt there was no incentive to recycle it, and some argued that they’d forgotten, didn’t have time or that the item didn’t take up very much space. This is a shame because such items, despite being small, pack a big punch in recyclability. <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p218602-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> “We focussed this year on small e-waste items because it is very easy for them to accumulate unused and unnoticed in households, or to be tossed into the ordinary garbage bin”, says Pascal Leroy, Director General of the WEEE Forum, who have organised International E Waste Day. “People tend not to realise that all these seemingly insignificant items have a lot of value, and together at a global level represent massive volumes.” “These devices offer many important resources that can be used in the production of new electronic devices or other equipment, such as wind turbines, electric car batteries or solar panels – all crucial for the green, digital transition to low-carbon societies,” says Charytanowicz. <h4>What can be done about e-waste?</h4> At the governmental level, there are a number of initiatives including legislation that are coming into effect or being tightened up in order to address this increasing problem. “The continuing growth in the production, consumption and disposal of electronic devices has huge environmental and climate impacts,” says Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries. “The European Commission is addressing those with proposals and measures throughout the whole product life-cycle, starting from design until collection and proper treatment when electronics become waste.” “Moreover, preventing waste and recovering important raw materials from e-waste is crucial to avoid putting more strain on the world’s resources. Only by establishing a <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/can-a-circular-economy-eliminate-e-waste/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">circular economy</a> for electronics, the EU will continue to lead in the efforts to urgently address the fast-growing problem of e-waste.” There is also a role for more education and communication. Launched today by UNITAR, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), is the first self-paced e-waste<a href="https://www.uncclearn.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> online training course</a> open to anyone. A UNITAR certificate is available upon graduation of the roughly 1.5-hour course which aims to use scientific findings in a practical way for international training and capacity building,” says Nikhil Seth, UNITAR’s Executive Director. Finally, The WEEE Forum has been actively involved in collecting, de-polluting, recycling or preparing for re-use more than 30 million tonnes of WEEE and has also run communication campaigns for almost twenty years. “Providing collection boxes in supermarkets, pick up of small broken appliances upon delivery of new ones and offering PO Boxes to return small e-waste are just some of the initiatives introduced to encourage the return of these items,” says WEEE’s Leroy. At the personal level, all you have to do is quite your hoarding habits and recycle, instead! <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=218602&title=Mobile+phone+hoarding%3A+e-waste+not+good+news+for+the+environment" width="1" height="1" /> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/e-waste-mobile-phone-bad-news-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/clare-kenyon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Clare Kenyon</a>. Image: Getty Images </div>

Technology

4 essential reads on pesticides and the environment

In 1962 environmental scientist Rachel Carson published “<a href="http://www.rachelcarson.org/SilentSpring.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Silent Spring</a>,” a bestselling book that asserted that overuse of pesticides was harming the environment and threatening human health. Carson did not call for banning DDT, the most widely used pesticide at that time, but she argued for using it and similar products much more selectively and paying attention to their effects on nontargeted species. “Silent Spring” is widely viewed as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/magazine/how-silent-spring-ignited-the-environmental-movement.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an inspiration for the modern environmental movement</a>. These articles from The Conversation’s archive spotlight ongoing questions about pesticides and their effects. <h2>1. Against absolutes</h2> Although the chemical industry attacked “Silent Spring” as <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/170448/on-a-farther-shore-by-william-souder/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-science and anti-progress</a>, Carson believed that chemicals had their place in agriculture. She “favored <a href="https://theconversation.com/would-rachel-carson-eat-organic-94967" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a restrained use of pesticides, but not a complete elimination</a>, and did not oppose judicious use of manufactured fertilizers,” writes Harvard University sustainability scholar <a href="https://wcfia.harvard.edu/people/robert-l-paarlberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Paarlberg</a>. This approach put Carson at odds with the fledgling organic movement, which totally rejected synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Early organic advocates claimed Carson as a supporter nonetheless, but Carson kept them at arm’s length. “The organic farming movement was suspect in Carson’s eyes because most of its early leaders were not scientists,” Paarlberg observes. This divergence has echoes today in debates about whether organic production or steady improvements in conventional farming have more potential to feed a growing world population. <h2>2. Concerned cropdusters</h2> Well before “Silent Spring” was published, a crop-dusting industry developed on the Great Plains in the years after World War II to apply newly commercialized pesticides. “Chemical companies made broad promises about these ‘miracle’ products, with little discussion of risks. But pilots and scientists took <a href="https://theconversation.com/farmers-and-cropdusting-pilots-on-the-great-plains-worried-about-pesticide-risks-before-silent-spring-91976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a much more cautious approach</a>,” recounts University of Nebraska-Kearney historian <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=37kbK3MAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Vail</a>. As Vail’s research shows, many crop-dusting pilots and university agricultural scientists were well aware of how little they knew about how these new tools actually worked. They attended conferences, debated practices for applying pesticides and organized flight schools that taught agricultural science along with spraying techniques. When “Silent Spring” was published, many of these practitioners pushed back, arguing that they had developed strategies for managing pesticide risks. Today aerial spraying is still practiced on the Great Plains, but it’s also clear that insects and weeds rapidly evolve resistance to every new generation of pesticides, trapping farmers on what Vail calls “a chemical-pest treadmill.” Carson anticipated this effect in “Silent Spring,” and called for more research into alternative pest control methods – an approach that <a href="https://www.usda.gov/oce/pest/integrated-pest-management" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has become mainstream today</a>. <h2>3. The osprey’s crash and recovery</h2> In “Silent Spring,” Carson described in detail how chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides persisted in the environment long after they were sprayed, rising through the food chain and building up in the bodies of predators. Populations of fish-eating <a href="https://raptor.umn.edu/about-raptors/learn-about-raptors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raptors</a>, such as bald eagles and ospreys, were ravaged by these chemicals, which thinned the shells of the birds’ eggs so that they broke in the nest before they could hatch. “Up to 1950, ospreys were one of the most widespread and abundant hawks in North America,” writes Cornell University research associate <a href="https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/person/alan-poole/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alan Poole</a>. “By the mid-1960s, the number of ospreys breeding along the Atlantic coast between New York City and Boston <a href="https://theconversation.com/ospreys-recovery-from-pollution-and-shooting-is-a-global-conservation-success-story-111907" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had fallen by 90%</a>.” Bans on DDT and other highly persistent pesticides opened the door to recovery. But by the 1970s, many former osprey nesting sites had been developed. To compensate, concerned naturalists built nesting poles along shorelines. Ospreys also learned to colonize light posts, cell towers and other human-made structures. Today, “Along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, nearly 20,000 ospreys now arrive to nest each spring – the largest concentration of breeding pairs in the world. Two-thirds of them nest on buoys and channel markers maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, who have become de facto osprey guardians,” writes Poole. “To have robust numbers of this species back again is a reward for all who value wild animals, and a reminder of how nature can rebound if we address the key threats.” <h2>4. New concerns</h2> Pesticide application techniques have become much more targeted in the 60 years since “Silent Spring” was published. One prominent example: crop seeds coated with neonicotinoids, the world’s most widely used class of insecticides. Coating the seeds makes it possible to introduce pesticides into the environment at the point where they are needed, without spraying a drop. But a growing body of research indicates that even though coated seeds are highly targeted, much of their pesticide load washes off into nearby streams and lakes. “Studies show that neonicotinoids are <a href="https://theconversation.com/farmers-are-overusing-insecticide-coated-seeds-with-mounting-harmful-effects-on-nature-176109" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poisoning and killing aquatic invertebrates</a> that are vital food sources for fish, birds and other wildlife,” writes Penn State entomologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AAdZM1UAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Tooker</a>. In multiple studies, Tooker and colleagues have found that using coated seeds reduces populations of beneficial insects that prey on crop-destroying pests like slugs. “As I see it, neonicotinoids can provide good value in controlling critical pest species, particularly in vegetable and fruit production, and managing invasive species like the spotted lanternfly. However, I believe the time has come to rein in their use as seed coatings in field crops like corn and soybeans, where they are providing little benefit and where the scale of their use is causing the most critical environmental problems,” Tooker writes. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/silent-spring-60-years-on-4-essential-reads-on-pesticides-and-the-environment-192232" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Books

Why turning old city bridges into new urban parks is such a great idea

The recent opening of the <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castlefield-viaduct/features/a-garden-in-the-sky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Castlefield Viaduct Sky Park</a> in Manchester, UK, has brought fresh attention to the growing number of projects that reuse urban infrastructures to create linear parks. When the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/jun/07/paris-promenade-plantee-free-elevated-park-walkway-bastille-bois-de-vincennes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Promenade Plantée</a> opened in 1993 on top of an abandoned railway viaduct in Paris, it was reportedly the first of its kind. It provided local residents a green escape, ten metres above the tarmac of the street below, and a beautiful, three-mile meander from the Bois de Vincennes to Bastille. The opening of New York’s fabled <a href="https://www.thehighline.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">High Line</a>, in 2009, further cemented this type of urban regeneration as something for cities to aim for. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ztZl6fYuXhQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="100%" height="400" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> Post-pandemic, finding innovative ways to eke out accessible green spaces in the urban environment is <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-cities-can-add-accessible-green-space-in-a-post-coronavirus-world-139194" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more urgent than ever</a>. Doing so provides <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-021-10474-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">health</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-green-cities-to-become-mainstream-we-need-to-learn-from-local-success-stories-and-scale-up-119933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">environmental</a> benefits alongside <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-investing-in-green-infrastructure-can-jump-start-the-post-coronavirus-economy-139376" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic</a> ones, by <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12876" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promoting</a> biodiversity, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721036779" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mitigating</a> air pollution, and in some (though <a href="https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2019/09/the-solution-to-urban-heat-is-not-one-size-fits-all/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not all</a>) cases, reducing <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6458494/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the heat island effect</a>. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477844/original/file-20220805-7920-f8qtwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477844/original/file-20220805-7920-f8qtwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477844/original/file-20220805-7920-f8qtwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477844/original/file-20220805-7920-f8qtwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477844/original/file-20220805-7920-f8qtwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477844/original/file-20220805-7920-f8qtwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477844/original/file-20220805-7920-f8qtwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Plantlife spills over the edges of an elevated railway above a busy intersection" /><figcaption>The High Line in Manhattan. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-york-usa-july-2017-entry-1371108503" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Krzysztof Stefaniak | Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure> How a local approach to high lines is needed Since the 2000s, city planners across the world have tried to replicate what has been called <a href="https://publicjournal.online/the-high-line-effect/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“the High Line effect”</a>. Built on top of a disused stretch of elevated freight rail line in western Manhattan, the High Line garnered considerable <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/arts/design/09highline-RO.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x4e1dALkhc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">media</a> coverage from the outset. It has been rightly championed as a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/arts/design/15highline.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">success story</a>, attracting eight million visitors a year and <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nycs-high-line-park-marks-10-years-of-transformation/1646268/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fostering new economic activity</a>. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M8H8dqMjUCo?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="100%" height="400" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> But not everywhere else is wealthy Manhattan. By reinvigorating the industrial heritage and cultural identity of a place, this approach can <a href="https://idus.us.es/bitstream/handle/11441/116705/TS2_Libro-de-Actos_-Proceedings-Book-1-655-669.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increase tourism</a> which can have mixed results. <a href="https://cityparksalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Equity_and_Parks_Funding_7.16.19.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recent research</a> has shown that without policies in place to ensure that lower-income local communities can enjoy the benefits of newly greened spaces, including health benefits, these projects can actually exacerbate inequality by raising property values and causing the displacement of long-term residents who can’t afford to stay. Urban planning experts talk about green gentrification, as has been noted in the case of the <a href="https://www.chicagoreporter.com/green-gentrification-and-lessons-of-the-606/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">606 linear park in Chicago</a>, among others. Instead of simply trying to copy what has been done elsewhere, this type of regeneration is best done when attuned to the local heritage. As Historic England <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/wellbeing-and-the-historic-environment/wellbeing-and-historic-environment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has emphasised</a>, the best way to steward heritage sites and the historic environment is by keeping people’s wellbeing in mind. In particular, it’s about giving local people a voice, a place to be active and a sense of belonging. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477850/original/file-20220805-26-ub4qtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477850/original/file-20220805-26-ub4qtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477850/original/file-20220805-26-ub4qtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477850/original/file-20220805-26-ub4qtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477850/original/file-20220805-26-ub4qtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477850/original/file-20220805-26-ub4qtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477850/original/file-20220805-26-ub4qtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Signposts at a junction in a pedestrianised green space." /><figcaption>The 606 elevated trail in Chicago. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chicago-usa-september-20-2018-chicagos-1184490604" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure> Why reusing existing structures is best <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-have-reusable-cups-bags-and-bottles-so-why-are-our-buildings-still-single-use-171345" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adapting</a> existing infrastructure is an integral part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/future-cities-new-challenges-mean-we-need-to-reimagine-the-look-of-urban-landscapes-151709" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rethinking the city</a> in an era of <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/150152/a-july-of-extremes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate emergency</a>. The era of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1587078" target="_blank" rel="noopener">grand visions for public parks</a> is largely over, as most cities are already full. Both spatially and economically, forming large green spaces from scratch is not possible. Reworking old railway lines and bridges into parks, conversely, contributes to a wider strategy of adaptive reuse and what designers term <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/948304/urban-acupuncture-regenerating-public-space-through-hyper-local-interventions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urban acupuncture</a>. Since the 1960s, <a href="https://theconversation.com/parks-help-cities-but-only-if-people-use-them-103474" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pocket parks</a> have been created out of small, hidden or overlooked bits of land between existing buildings. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477847/original/file-20220805-22-e4y1ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477847/original/file-20220805-22-e4y1ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477847/original/file-20220805-22-e4y1ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477847/original/file-20220805-22-e4y1ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477847/original/file-20220805-22-e4y1ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477847/original/file-20220805-22-e4y1ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477847/original/file-20220805-22-e4y1ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A pond set between planted beds in an elevated walkway." /><figcaption>The Promenade Plantée in Paris. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seoul-korea-21-september-2019-top-1539297443" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joao Paulo V Tinoco | Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure> The hyper-local nature of this type of urban greening makes it easier for residents to access and benefit from these spaces. As pressure increases on how we use resources and keep carbon in the ground wherever possible, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-021-10474-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enabling everyone</a> to have access to green space for <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-parks-and-waterways-in-cities-could-prevent-premature-deaths-study-finds-170973" target="_blank" rel="noopener">health reasons</a> is critical. This can be challenging in those cities where a large proportion of residents do not have access to private gardens. Capitalising on a city’s vertical space – as elevated walkways do – is a huge advantage in high-density cities where significant pressure on ground-level space exists. What’s more, the structures being turned into parks are usually found in those parts of a city that are post-industrial and in need of regeneration. In terms of environmental impact, these parks have great potential. Each year the High Line, for example, <a href="https://www.landscapeperformance.org/case-study-briefs/high-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sequesters</a> over 1.3 tons of atmospheric carbon and its tree canopies collect over 24,340 gallons of stormwater. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477848/original/file-20220805-12-mu1w4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477848/original/file-20220805-12-mu1w4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477848/original/file-20220805-12-mu1w4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477848/original/file-20220805-12-mu1w4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477848/original/file-20220805-12-mu1w4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477848/original/file-20220805-12-mu1w4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477848/original/file-20220805-12-mu1w4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="An overhead shot of an elevated park in a city centre." /><figcaption>The Seoullo 7017 Skygarden. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seoul-korea-21-september-2019-top-1539297443" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Keitma | Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure> Further, by reusing existing industrial structures rather than demolishing and replacing them, embodied carbon can be <a href="https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/15481-continuing-education-embodied-carbon-adaptive-reuse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kept where it is</a>. Research on the <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/143/1/012061" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seoullo 7017 Skygarden</a> in Seoul, a linear park built atop a disused highway overpass which cuts across the city’s main rail station, has shown that rewilding and landscaping urban infrastructures is more cost effective and less environmentally impactful than completely replacing them. There is growing evidence of how important <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/67/9/799/4056044" target="_blank" rel="noopener">biodiversity in cities</a> is, not just during daylight hours but <a href="https://theconversation.com/cities-need-to-embrace-the-darkness-of-the-night-sky-heres-why-149129" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at night</a> too. Reused infrastructure projects can play an important role in providing ecological corridors across <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179121000074" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cities for nocturnal creatures</a>. Supporting both human and non-human life in this way is a valuable step towards <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/cities-ecosystems-biodiversity-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">improving</a> the sustainability and resilience of places. Linear parks thus <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329947799_The_Sustainable_Vertical_City_Research_Project" target="_blank" rel="noopener">weave nature</a> into the flow of a city. They support wildlife. They encourage sustainable transport and physical activity (walking, biking, jogging). They are, as landscape architect Diana Balmori puts it in her 2010 book, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300156584/a-landscape-manifesto/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Landscape Manifesto</a>, dynamic spaces: “not peaceful retreats but ways”.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188182/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nick-dunn-131665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nick Dunn</a>, Professor of Urban Design, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/lancaster-university-1176" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lancaster University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-turning-old-city-bridges-into-new-urban-parks-is-such-a-great-idea-188182" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Real Estate

Supermarket delivery by robot better for the climate

Along with their <a href="https://twitter.com/historymatt/status/1525776275939418113" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cult following on social media</a>, autonomous delivery robots travelling on footpaths could be the most climate-friendly way to do your grocery shopping. Around the world, <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/will-covid-19-change-our-cities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">COVID-19 has seen a change</a> in the way people shop for groceries. Instead of driving to the supermarket more people are ordering online for pick-up or home delivery, and even in some places, delivery <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/robotics/drone-delivery-groceries-canberra/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">by drone</a> or robot. In the United States supermarket home delivery services grew 54% between 2019 and 2020. In Australia, Woolworths and Coles experienced <a href="https://theconversation.com/coles-and-woolworths-are-moving-to-robot-warehouses-and-on-demand-labour-as-home-deliveries-soar-166556" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unprecedented demand.</a> The rapid growth in e-commerce has seen an increased focus on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/to-help-the-environment-should-you-shop-in-store-or-online/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">‘last-mile’ delivery</a>. A study by University of Michigan researchers and the Ford Motor Co modelled the emissions associated with the journey of a 36-item grocery basket from shop to home via a number of alternative transport options. Their study is <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c02050" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. “This research lays the groundwork for understanding the impact of e-commerce on greenhouse gas emissions produced by the grocery supply chain,” says the study’s senior author Greg Keoleian<a href="https://seas.umich.edu/research/faculty/greg-keoleian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">,</a> director of the Centre for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. The researchers modelled 72 different ways the groceries could travel from the warehouse to the customer. Across all options, the results showed ‘last-mile’ transport emissions to be the major source of <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/food-transport-emissions-cost/">supply chain emissions</a>. <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p201307-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> They found the conventional option of driving to the supermarket in a petrol or diesel car to be the most polluting, creating six kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2). All other choices had lower emissions, with footpath delivery robots the cleanest for the climate, at one kg CO2. A customer who switched to an electric vehicle could halve their emissions. But they could achieve a similar impact on emissions by reducing their shopping frequency. Without buying a new car, households who halved the frequency of supermarket trips reduced emissions by 44%. Keoleian says the study emphasises the “important role consumers can serve in reducing emissions through the use of trip chaining and by making carefully planned grocery orders.” Trip chaining refers to combining grocery shopping with other errands. All home delivery options had lower emissions than in-store shopping – in part due to the efficiencies gained in store operation and transport – with the potential to cut emissions by 22 – 65%. Footpath robots are being trialled in cities across the United States, Europe and China. These four or six wheeled robots carry items like supermarket shopping or retail items over short distances. Most have a delivery range around three kilometres. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"> <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"> <div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered spai-bg-prepared" style="display: flex; max-width: 500px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" class="spai-bg-prepared" style="display: block; position: static; visibility: visible; width: 500px; height: 612px; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=CosmosMagazine&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1525776275939418113&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fcosmosmagazine.com%2Fearth%2Fclimate%2Frobot-delivery-better-for-the-climate%2F&sessionId=84ec360f0f0db6f38136f997db6585736d09d60a&siteScreenName=CosmosMagazine&theme=light&widgetsVersion=b7df0f50e1ec1%3A1659558317797&width=500px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-tweet-id="1525776275939418113"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </figure> <a>Starship robots</a> is one example. Since launching in 2014, their robots have completed three million autonomous home deliveries in cities across Estonia, the United Kingdom, Finland and the United States. <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=201307&title=Supermarket+delivery+by+robot+better+for+the+climate" width="1" height="1" /> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/climate/robot-delivery-better-for-the-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/petra-stock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Petra Stock</a>. Petra Stock has a degree in environmental engineering and a Masters in Journalism from University of Melbourne. She has previously worked as a climate and energy analyst. Image: Getty Images </div>

Technology

New research in Arnhem Land reveals why institutional fire management is inferior to cultural burning

One of the conclusions of this week’s shocking <a href="https://soe.dcceew.gov.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State of the Environment report</a> is that climate change is lengthening Australia’s bushfire seasons and raising the number of days with a fire danger rating of “very high” or above. In New South Wales, for example, the season now extends to almost eight months. It has never been more important for institutional bushfire management programs to apply the principles and practices of Indigenous fire management, or “cultural burning”. As the report notes, cultural burning reduces the risk of bushfires, supports habitat and improves Indigenous wellbeing. And yet, the report finds: <blockquote> with significant funding gaps, tenure impediments and policy barriers, Indigenous cultural burning remains underused – it is currently applied over less than 1% of the land area of Australia’s south‐eastern states and territory. </blockquote> Our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-12946-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent research</a> in Scientific Reports specifically addressed the question: how do the environmental outcomes from cultural burning compare to mainstream bushfire management practices? Using the stone country of the Arnhem Land Plateau as a case study, we reveal why institutional fire management is inferior to cultural burning. The few remaining landscapes where Aboriginal people continue an unbroken tradition of caring for Country are of international importance. They should be nationally recognised, valued and resourced like other protected cultural and historical places. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Different indigenous fire application today with a country full of weeds. First burn of of two applications this year. This is what we have to do to make country have less flammable vegetation. Walk through, More time and love put into country. <a href="https://t.co/pnoWFQbq6C">pic.twitter.com/pnoWFQbq6C</a> — Victor Steffensen (@V_Steffensen) <a href="https://twitter.com/V_Steffensen/status/1505384041402748930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2022</a></blockquote> Ancient fire management The rugged terrain of the Arnhem Plateau in Northern Territory has an ancient human history, with archaeological evidence <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-07-20/aboriginal-shelter-pushes-human-history-back-to-65,000-years/8719314#:%7E:text=New%20excavations%20of%20a%20rock,earlier%20than%20archaeologists%20previously%20thought." target="_blank" rel="noopener">dated at 65,000 years</a>. Arnhem Land is an ideal place to explore the effects of different fire regimes because fire is such an essential feature of the natural and cultural environment. Australia’s monsoon tropics are particularly fire prone given the sharply contrasting wet and dry seasons. The wet season sees prolific growth of grasses and other flammable plants, and dry season has reliable hot, dry, windy conditions. Millennia of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-best-fire-management-system-is-in-northern-australia-and-its-led-by-indigenous-land-managers-133071" target="_blank" rel="noopener">skilful fire management</a> by Indigenous people in these landscapes have allowed plants and animals needing infrequently burnt habitat to thrive. This involves shifting “mosaic” burning, where small areas are burned regularly to create a patchwork of habitats with different fire histories. This gives wildlife a diversity of resources and places to shelter in. Conservation biologists suspect that the loss of such patchy fires since colonisation has contributed to the <a href="http://132.248.10.25/therya/index.php/THERYA/article/view/236/html_66" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calamitous demise</a> of wildlife species across northern Australia, such as northern quolls, northern brown bandicoots and grassland melomys. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> "Fire is the way to really look after the land and the people. Since we started here, we've been using fire. And we need to bring it back because it unites the people and the land." Jacob Morris, Gumea-Dharrawal Yuin man. 🎥 Craig Bender & <a href="https://twitter.com/VeraHongTweets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VeraHongTweets</a> <a href="https://t.co/Afh6iwIrOX">pic.twitter.com/Afh6iwIrOX</a> — FiresticksAlliance (@FiresticksA) <a href="https://twitter.com/FiresticksA/status/1436177617049296901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2021</a></blockquote> Collapse of the cypress pine Our study was undertaken over 25 years, and wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support and close involvement of the Traditional Owners over this time. It compared an area under near continuous Indigenous management by the Kune people of Western Arnhem Land with ecologically similar and unoccupied areas within Kakadu National Park. We found populations of the cypress pine (Callitris intratropica) remained healthy under continual Aboriginal fire management. By contrast, cypress pine populations had collapsed in ecologically similar areas in Kakadu due to the loss of Indigenous fire management, as they have across much of northern Australia. The population of dead and living pines is like a barcode that records fire regime change. The species is so long lived that older trees were well established before colonisation. The timber is extremely durable and termite resistant, so a tree killed by fire remains in the landscape for many decades. And mature trees, but not juveniles, can tolerate low intensity fires, but intense fires kill both. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475072/original/file-20220720-22-odbe84.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475072/original/file-20220720-22-odbe84.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475072/original/file-20220720-22-odbe84.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475072/original/file-20220720-22-odbe84.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475072/original/file-20220720-22-odbe84.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475072/original/file-20220720-22-odbe84.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475072/original/file-20220720-22-odbe84.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475072/original/file-20220720-22-odbe84.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Cypress pine timber can remain in the landscape decades after the tree died. Michael Hains/Atlas of Living Australia, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY-NC-SA</a></figcaption></figure> Since 2007, park rangers have attempted to emulate cultural burning outcomes. They’ve used aircraft to drop incendiaries to create a coarse patchwork of burned and unburned areas to improve biodiversity in the stone country within Kakadu. Unfortunately, our research found Kakadu’s fire management interventions failed to restore landscapes to the healthier ecological condition under traditional Aboriginal fire management. While the Kakadu aerial burning program increased the amount of unburnt vegetation, it didn’t reverse the population collapse of cypress pines. Searches of tens of kilometres failed to find a single seedling in Kakadu, whereas they were common in comparable areas under Aboriginal fire management. Our study highlights that once the ecological benefits of cultural burning are lost, they cannot be simply restored with mainstream fire management approaches. But that’s not to say the ecological impacts from the loss of Aboriginal fire management cannot be reversed. Rather, restoring fire regimes and ecosystem health will be slow, and require special care in where and how fires are set. This requires teams on the ground with deep knowledge of the land, rather than simply spreading aerial incendiaries from helicopters. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> After 60 years of fire exclusion, another magic day restoring fire to Arakwal-Bundjalung-Bumberlin country. <a href="https://t.co/xRRNb4ELdQ">pic.twitter.com/xRRNb4ELdQ</a> — Dr. Andy Baker (@FireDiversity) <a href="https://twitter.com/FireDiversity/status/1537768580455931905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2022</a></blockquote> There’s much to learn There remains much for Western science to learn about <a href="https://theconversation.com/fighting-fire-with-fire-botswana-adopts-indigenous-australians-ancient-burning-tradition-135363" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traditional fire management</a>. Large-scale institutional fire management is based on concepts of efficiency and generality. It is controlled by bureaucracies, and achieved using machines and technologies. Such an “industrial” approach cannot replace the placed-based knowledge, including close human relationships with Country, underpinning <a href="https://www.firesticks.org.au/about/cultural-burning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cultural burning</a>. Cultural burning and institutional fire management could be thought of as the differences between home cooking and fast food. Fast food is quick, cheap and produces the same product regardless of individual needs. Home cooking takes longer to prepare, can cater to individual needs, and can improve wellbeing. But restoring sustainable fire regimes based on the wisdom and practices of Indigenous people cannot be achieved overnight. Reaping the benefits of cultural burning to landscapes where colonialism has disrupted ancient fire traditions take time, effort and resources. It’s urgent remaining traditional fire practitioners are recognised for their invaluable knowledge and materially supported to continue caring for their Country. This includes: <ul> <li>actively supporting Indigenous people to reside on their Country</li> <li>to pay them to undertake natural resource management including cultural burning</li> <li>creating pathways enabling Indigenous people separated from their country by colonialism to re-engage with fire management.</li> </ul> Restoring landscapes with sustainable cultural burning traditions is a long-term project that will involve training and relearning ancient practices. There are extraordinary opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike to learn how to Care for Country. <hr /> The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Victor Steffensen, the Lead Fire Practitioner at the Firesticks Alliance Indigenous Corporation, who reviewed this article.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184562/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-bowman-4397" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Bowman</a>, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Tasmania</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/christopher-i-roos-1354187" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christopher I. Roos</a>, Professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-methodist-university-1988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Southern Methodist University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/fay-johnston-90826" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fay Johnston</a>, Professor, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Tasmania</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-in-arnhem-land-reveals-why-institutional-fire-management-is-inferior-to-cultural-burning-184562" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: @FireDiversity (Twitter)

Domestic Travel

Support the environment. Don’t mow your lawn

<div class="copy"> Mowing urban lawns less often or less severely increases biodiversity, saves money and reduces pests, according to research from the British Ecological Society. A meta-analysis of data from North America and Europe found strong evidence, the researchers say, that greater mowing intensity at home, in parks and on roundabouts and road verges has negative effects, particularly on invertebrate and plant diversity. Pest species thrive, however. “Even a modest reduction in lawn mowing frequency can bring a host of environmental benefits: increased pollinators, increased plant diversity and reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” says Chris Watson from the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, Canada, lead author of a <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13542" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paper</a> in the Journal of Applied Ecology. “At the same time, a longer, healthier lawn makes it more resistant to pests, weeds, and drought events.” The reason, Watson says, is that regular mowing favours grasses, which grow from the base of the plant, and low growing species such as dandelion and clover. Other species that have their growing tips or flowering stems regularly removed by mowing can’t compete. {%recommended 6627%} “These findings support a lot of research done by the turfgrass industry that shows that the more disturbance a lawn gets, the higher the likelihood of pest and weed invasion,” he adds. For their meta-analysis, the researchers identified 14 studies undertaken in urban areas between 2004 and 2019 that measured mowing intensity (either height or frequency) as an experimental factor. They also included three unpublished studies of their own. A separate case study was used to estimate the economic costs of high-intensity lawn management – which are known to be considerable. Previous studies have shown, for example, that the cost of allergies to ragweed, which is common in North America and Europe, is around CAD$155 million per year in Quebec and €133 million a year in Austria and Bavaria. As it has a more rapid reproduction than other species, the researchers say, ragweed is able to colonise disturbances caused by intense mowing. You can also save money more directly. In their case study, Watson and colleagues analysed mowing contractor data from the city of Trois-Rivières. They estimated a 36% reduction in public maintenance costs when mowing frequency was reduced from 15 to 10 times per year in high use lawn areas and from three times to once a year in low use areas. Watson acknowledges that people worry that leaving grass long attracts ticks and rodents but says there is little evidence to support this. “The presence of ticks are more strongly related to host populations, like deer, than type of vegetation,” he says. “With respect to small mammals, some species prefer longer grass, whereas others do not.” The plan now is to expand the research and begin applying the findings to improve lawns. Image credits: Getty Images </div> <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sustainability/support-the-environment-dont-mow-your-lawn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Nick Carne. </div>

Home Hints & Tips

Shifting seasons: using Indigenous knowledge and western science to help address climate change impacts

Traditional Owners in Australia are the creators of millennia worth of <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/native-knowledge-what-ecologists-are-learning-from-indigenous-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traditional ecological knowledge</a> – an understanding of how to live amid changing environmental conditions. Seasonal calendars are one of the forms of this knowledge best known by non-Indigenous Australians. But as the climate changes, these calendars are being disrupted. How? Take the example of wattle trees that flower at a specific time of year. That previously indicated the start of the fishing season for particular species. Climate change is causing these plants to flower later. In response, Traditional Owners on <a href="http://www.archerpoint.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yuku Baja Muliku</a> (YBM) Country near Cooktown are having to adapt their calendars and make new links. That’s not all. The seasonal timing of cultural burning practices is changing in some areas. Changes to rainfall and temperature alter when high intensity (hot) burns and low intensity (cool) burns are undertaken. Seasonal connections vital to Traditional Owners’ culture are decoupling. To systematically document changes, co-author Larissa Hale and her community worked with western scientists to pioneer a Traditional Owner-centred approach to climate impacts on cultural values. This process, <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7kw7z2c9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published last week</a>, could also help Traditional Owners elsewhere to develop adaptive management for their Indigenous heritage. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467324/original/file-20220606-15930-59oyt9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Wattle flower" /></a><figcaption>A YBM Traditional Owner showing the wattle flower which used to be an indicator species for good fishing. Author provided</figcaption></figure> Climate change threatens First Nations - their perspectives must be heard Australia’s First Nations people face many threats from climate change, ranging from impacts on food availability to health. For instance, rising seas are already <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/torres-strait-islanders-plead-for-climate-action-as-government-builds-seawall-20220401-p5aa13.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flooding islands</a> in the Torres Strait with devastating consequences. The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on impacts and adaption noted in the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FinalDraft_Chapter11.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australasia chapter</a> that climate-related impacts on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their country and cultures are “pervasive, complex and compounding.” While it is important these impacts are recorded, the dominant source of the data is academic literature based on western science. Impacts and pressures Traditional Owners are seeing and managing on their country must be assessed and managed from their unique perspective. Traditional Owners have survived and adapted to climatic shifts during their 60,000+ years in Australia. This includes sea-level rise that flooded the area that is now the Great Barrier Reef and extreme rainfall variability. As a result, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-knowledge-is-lost-when-a-species-disappears-its-time-to-let-indigenous-people-care-for-their-country-their-way-172760" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they have developed</a> a fine-tuned sense of nature’s variability over time. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467327/original/file-20220607-20-y7p3ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Drone shot of Annan river" /></a><figcaption>YBM Traditional Owners and scientists surveying freshwater mussel populations on Annan River near Cooktown. Author provided</figcaption></figure> So what did we do? Worried about the changes they were seeing on their Land and Sea Country around Archer Point in North Queensland, the YBM people worked with scientists from James Cook University to create a new way to assess impacts on cultural values. To do this, we drew on the values-based, science-driven, and community-focused approach of the <a href="https://cvi-heritage.org/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate vulnerability index</a>. It was the first time this index had been used to assess values of significance for Indigenous people. YBM people responded to key prompts to assess changes to their values, including: <ul> <li>What did the value look like 100 years ago?</li> <li>What does it look like now?</li> <li>What do you expect it will look like in the climate future around 2050?</li> <li>What management practices relate to that value and will they change?</li> </ul> We then discussed what issues have emerged from these climatic changes. Using this process, we were able to single out issues directly affecting how YBM people live. For instance, traditional food sources can be affected by climate change. In the past, freshwater mussels in the Annan River were easy to access and collect. Extreme temperature events in the last 10 years have contributed to mass die-offs. Now mussels are much smaller in size and tend to be far <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311066114_Freshwater_mussel_surveys_from_the_Annan_River_Yuku_Baja_Muliku_Country_-_project_findings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fewer in number</a>. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467325/original/file-20220607-16-b1ny4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Freshwater mussels Annan River" /></a><figcaption>Freshwater mussels used to be more common. Author provided</figcaption></figure> Through the process we also documented that changes to rainfall and temperature have altered the time when some plant foods appear. This is particularly true for plants that depend upon cultural burns to flower or put up shoots. This in turn has meant that the timing of collecting and harvesting has changed. <figure class="align-right zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467328/original/file-20220607-12-61cmu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="bushfoods found on YBM country" /></a><figcaption>The timing of when some bushfoods appear is changing. Author provided</figcaption></figure> These climate-linked changes challenge existing bodies of traditional knowledge, altering connections between different species, ecosystems and weather patterns across Land and Sea Country. A key part of this process was developing a mutually beneficial partnership between traditional ecological knowledge holders and western scientists. It was critical to establish a relationship built on trust and respect. Walking the country first – seeing rivers, mangroves, beaches, headlands, bush, wetlands, and looking out at Sea Country – helped researchers understand the perspectives of Traditional Owners. Honouring experience and knowledge (especially that held by Elders and Indigenous rangers) was important. Indigenous cultural and intellectual property <a href="https://www.artslaw.com.au/information-sheet/indigenous-cultural-intellectual-property-icip-aitb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">protocols</a> were recognised and respected throughout the assessment. <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Respecting</a> and working collaboratively with Traditional Owners as expert scientists in their own knowledge system was critical for success. Any effort to incorporate traditional ecological knowledge in climate change assessments must protect sensitive traditional knowledge. As climate change will continue and accelerate, we must work together to minimise resulting impacts on the cultural heritage of First Nations peoples.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183229/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/karin-gerhardt-1350288" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karin Gerhardt</a>, PhD student, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Cook University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jon-c-day-142416" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jon C. Day</a>, PSM, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Cook University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/larissa-hale-1346434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Larissa Hale</a>, Yuku Baja Muliku Traditional Owner, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/indigenous-knowledge-4846" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indigenous Knowledge</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/scott-f-heron-256521" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scott F. Heron</a>, Associate Professor in Physics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Cook University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/shifting-seasons-using-indigenous-knowledge-and-western-science-to-help-address-climate-change-impacts-183229" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Yuku Baja Muliku Land and Sea Rangers (Facebook)

Domestic Travel

Losing sleep over climate change: warmer nights are already disrupting our sleep cycles

While we’re familiar with the environmental and economic impacts of climate change, there are some unexpected indirect effects that could dramatically influence our fundamental daily human activities – including sleep. Yes, precious sleep. Sleep is vital in maintaining our mental and physical health. Each night when we lay our heads the pillow, our cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) enters the brain and clears out metabolic waste. Now, in a study published in One Earth, the investigators have found that increasing ambient temperatures brought on my global warming are negatively impacting human sleep worldwide. The team analysed seven million nightly sleeps of more than 47,000 adults across 68 countries. This anonymised global sleep data had been collected from accelerometer-based sleep-tracking wristbands, which tracked quality and quantity of sleep. On very warm nights (greater than 30°C/86°F), sleep declined on average by almost 15 minutes. Sleepers also struggled to get seven hours or more of sleep on these warmer nights. At this rate, by year 2099, we might lose 50-58 hours of sleep per year, equivalent to almost two weeks, with older adults and females being impacted the most. “Our bodies are highly adapted to maintain a stable core body temperature, something that our lives depend on,” says lead author Kelton Minor (@keltonminor) of the University of Copenhagen. “Yet every night they do something remarkable without most of us consciously knowing – they shed heat from our core into the surrounding environment by dilating our blood vessels and increasing blood flow to our hands and feet.” This drop in core body temperature that slows our metabolism in order to go to sleep is triggered by the hormone melatonin. For our bodies to shed heat, the surrounding environment also needs to be cooler than we are. This research also found that people appeared to be better at adapting to colder temperatures outside than hotter. “Across seasons, demographics, and different climate contexts, warmer outside temperatures consistently erode sleep, with the amount of sleep loss progressively increasing as temperatures become hotter,” says Minor. Socioeconomic status also seems to matter, with those in developing countries more strongly affected by temperature change, possibly due to lack of access to insulation and air conditioning. This highlights that the most vulnerable populations live in some of the world’s hottest regions, are they’re also historically some of the poorest. To help save our sleep (along with our planet), the team hope to collaborate with global climate scientists, sleep researchers and tech companies to extend their scope of global sleep and behaviour research to more people and contexts. “In order to make informed climate policy decisions moving forward, we need to better account for the full spectrum of plausible future climate impacts extending from today’s societal greenhouse gas emissions choices,” says Minor. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/climate/climate-change-bad-sleep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by <a class="fn" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: halyard-text, sans-serif; color: #000000; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/qamariya-nasrullah" rel="author">Qamariya Nasrullah.</a> Image: Shutterstock

Body

House dust from 35 countries reveals our global toxic contaminant exposure and health risk

Everyone’s home gets dusty, but is yours the same as house dust in China or the US? Researchers around the world have united to capture the <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c04494" target="_blank">world’s first trans-continental data on household dust.</a> People from 35 countries vacuumed their homes and sent their dust to universities in different countries, where it was tested for potentially toxic trace metals. Researchers gathered data on the human and household factors that might affect how much humans are exposed to these contaminants. This is the first effort to collect global data of this type in a single <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c04494" target="_blank">study</a>. It shed new light on the sources and risks associated with trace metal exposure, which can lead to concerning neurocognitive effects in people of all ages. The <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c04494" target="_blank">study</a> shows it doesn’t matter whether you live in a high or low income country, are rich or poor – we’re all exposed to contaminants via dust. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433642/original/file-20211124-19-29ut51.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433642/original/file-20211124-19-29ut51.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A man sneezes in a dusty room" /></a> It doesn’t matter whether you live in a high or low income country, we are all exposed to contaminants in dust. Shutterstock Differences between countries Local environmental factors and contamination histories can make a difference. In <a rel="noopener" href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0269749121011751" target="_blank">New Caledonia</a>, elevated chromium, nickel and manganese were evident, due to local rock, soil and nickel smelters. These may be linked to increased <a rel="noopener" href="https://www-jstor-org.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/stable/45011245" target="_blank">lung</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/science/article/pii/S1877782117301455" target="_blank">thyroid</a> cancers in New Caledonia. In New Zealand, arsenic concentrations are <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2016.05.009" target="_blank">naturally high</a>. One in three New Zealand homes exceeded the acceptable health risk for children under two, set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Australia has concerning levels of arsenic and lead contamination in house dust. One in six Australian homes exceeded the US Environmental Protection Agency acceptable health risk. Arsenic exposure can increase <a rel="noopener" href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/science/article/pii/S1382668915300946" target="_blank">cancer risk</a> and cause problems to respiratory health and immune function. <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/the-verdicts-in-we-must-better-protect-kids-from-toxic-lead-exposure-41969" target="_blank">Lead</a> can affect children’s brain and nervous system development, causing behavioural and developmental problems. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439426/original/file-20220104-23-nhnz25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439426/original/file-20220104-23-nhnz25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A man dusts on top of a shelf." /></a> Frequent vacuuming, mopping and dusting with a damp cloth can reduce your risk. Shutterstock It’s clear <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749121020443" target="_blank">lead mining</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/children-continue-to-be-exposed-to-contaminated-air-in-port-pirie-113484" target="_blank">smelting</a> activities cause high lead levels in dust for local communities. But the study shows inner city areas are equally affected, commonly from legacy sources like <a rel="noopener" href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/science/article/pii/S016041201000156X" target="_blank">emissions</a> from the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0883292717301300" target="_blank">leaded petrol era</a>, or peeling lead paint in homes. Data from Accra, in Ghana showed homes contained elevated lead concentrations, likely due to nearby electronic recycling operations. Old wiring and circuitry are <a rel="noopener" href="https://greatforest.com/sustainability101/best-recycling-videos-story-electronics/" target="_blank">burned to extract metals</a>, causing trace metals such as lead, nickel and copper to fall out as dust across the city. So where do contaminants in house dust come from? One source reflects lead from past leaded petrol emissions and paints. Another reflects the degradation of building materials, rich in copper and zinc. This was more prevalent in older homes, which have seen more wear and tear and have been exposed to traffic emissions longer. The third common source is soil, which gets blown in from outside and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0160412019320021" target="_blank">walked into homes</a> by people and pets. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433643/original/file-20211124-17-1tfgi8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433643/original/file-20211124-17-1tfgi8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A woman cleans a vent." /></a> Simple home cleaning practices, like frequently vacuuming, mopping and dusting with a damp cloth can reduce your exposure to contaminants in dust. Shutterstock What factors affect how risky your dust is? We also gathered global data on building materials, pets, hobbies, habits and home characteristics. What made the most difference to metals in dust were house age, peeling paint, having a garden and smoking. Interestingly, homes with garden access had higher dust concentrations of lead and arsenic. Older homes had higher levels of all metals except chromium, and are likely to have residues from peeling paints, traffic and industrial pollutants, pest treatments and other chemicals. Other factors, such as home type, building material, heating fuel didn’t appear to influence trace metal concentrations in homes. Critically, what’s outside ends up <a rel="noopener" href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0013935120302504" target="_blank">in our homes</a>, where it can be inhaled and <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubs-acs-org.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.1c01097" target="_blank">ingested</a>. While global averages were within accepted thresholds, many individual homes exceeded these, particularly homes in Australia for lead-related risks, New Caledonia and the US for chromium-related risks, and New Zealand for arsenic-related risks. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433664/original/file-20211124-21-1czyn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433664/original/file-20211124-21-1czyn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A person wipes dust from a shoe area." /></a> Reduce the amount of dust entering your home by taking your shoes off at the door. Shutterstock How to reduce your exposure to contaminants in dust Frequent vacuuming, mopping and dusting with a damp cloth can reduce your risk. Vacuuming reduces contaminants like <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/were-all-ingesting-microplastics-at-home-and-these-might-be-toxic-for-our-health-here-are-some-tips-to-reduce-your-risk-159537" target="_blank">microplastics</a> in house dust. If you live in an older home, keep the paint in good condition so it’s not flaking off. When painting or renovating, follow safety <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/household-building-and-renovation/lead-safety" target="_blank">guidance</a> from your state’s environmental protection authority – or call a <a href="https://painters.edu.au/Training-Resources/CPCCPD3031-Work-safely-with-lead-painted-surfaces-in-the-painting-industry.htm">professional</a>. Hobbies involving lead, like fishing, shooting and metal work, can affect your trace metal exposure. Choosing not to smoke inside will reduce exposures to chromium and manganese. Cover exposed soil in your garden with mulch or grass, use a dual system of outdoor and indoor mats, take shoes off at the door and towel down muddy pets before letting them inside. Considering we spend most of our lives <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500165" target="_blank">indoors</a>, there is growing <a rel="noopener" href="https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/doi/epdf/10.1111/ina.12722" target="_blank">international interest</a> in setting public health guidelines for chemicals in indoor settled dust. In <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/household-building-and-renovation/lead-safety" target="_blank">Australia</a> and the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.epa.gov/lead/hazard-standards-and-clearance-levels-lead-paint-dust-and-soil-tsca-sections-402-and-403" target="_blank">US</a>, we have guidance for lead dust, but not other contaminants. The best way to know what’s in your house dust is to have it tested by <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.360dustanalysis.com/" target="_blank">DustSafe</a> researchers. <img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172499/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439427/original/file-20220105-25-mvokjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439427/original/file-20220105-25-mvokjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A man vacuums his house." /></a> Vacuuming reduces contaminants like microplastics in house dust. Shutterstock <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cynthia-faye-isley-602937" target="_blank">Cynthia Faye Isley</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Environmental Science, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174" target="_blank">Macquarie University</a>; <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kara-fry-1274525" target="_blank">Kara Fry</a>, Academic Casual, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174" target="_blank">Macquarie University</a>, and <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-patrick-taylor-11394" target="_blank">Mark Patrick Taylor</a>, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174" target="_blank">Macquarie University</a> This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/house-dust-from-35-countries-reveals-our-global-toxic-contaminant-exposure-and-health-risk-172499" target="_blank">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Home Hints & Tips

The greener future of the live music industry

As climate change discussions front global politics, many sectors of the arts are trying to find a solution to do their part to help environmental causes. It turns out that staging a live show leaves behind a bigger carbon footprint than you might imagine, when considering the energy consumption involved with constant transport, lighting, PA systems and facilities, not to mention accommodating all the needs of the crew involved. A <a href="https://juliesbicycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/MA_Vol1_Touring_Bands_Report_2010.pdf">study</a> conducted in 2010 found that the live music industry alone is responsible for a whopping 405,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in a single year in the UK alone, which does not include the amount of micro-plastics used throughout the duration of a tour. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7846781/carbon-footprint.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/9026b5caeed24eaeb98f841f3da3060d" /> Image credit: Green Touring Network Due to these astonishing figures, drastic measures are being taken to help reduce the amount of emissions produced by the music industry. As early as 2004, Neil Young began to advocate for eco-friendly touring by exclusively using tour vehicles that only ran on biofuels made from soybeans and vegetable oils. More recently, artists such as Maroon 5 have been strong advocates for green touring, with the band co-founding the Green Music Group. The group have “greened up” their tours by using biofuel in their tour vehicles, advocating for use of solar power and other renewable energy sources, and even donating the entire income of their 2005 tour to the global environmental organization "Global Cool". Other musicians such as the rock band Green Day, Radiohead, Linkin Park, U2 and many more, have also opted for sustainably made merchandise, using ship transportation as opposed to air travel, and donating millions of dollars to organisations dedicated to the climate change fight. Though these changes seem small in the grand scheme of the global warming fight, influential musicians are still doing their part to ensure there is still a planet to perform on, while healing hearts with the incomparable experience of live music. Image credits: Getty Images

Music

Making the tobacco industry pay for cigarette litter could stop 4.5 billion butts polluting the Australian environment

Cigarette butts with filters are the most commonly littered item worldwide, with a staggering <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5347528/">4.5 trillion</a> of them tossed into the environment each year. This is a huge problem; many end up on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935119300787">beaches and in the ocean</a>, and the tar from burnt tobacco in the filter can be toxic to wildlife. Fixing the problem has focused on changing the behaviour of people who smoke, but a <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/ArticleDocuments/353/pub-WWF-Australia-Ending-cigarette-butt-pollution-3Dec21.pdf.aspx">new report</a> shows making the tobacco industry responsible for the litter with a mandatory product stewardship scheme is likely to have a much greater impact. In Australia alone, it’s estimated up to 8.9 billion butts are littered each year. Under the proposed scheme, we could potentially reduce this by 4.45 billion a year. So how can it be done in practice? And what would the benefits be from a policy like this? <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433353/original/file-20211123-15-8zbai4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433353/original/file-20211123-15-8zbai4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Three wrens around a cigarette butt" /></a> Smoked cigarette filters take months or even years to break down. Shutterstock <h2>Social and environmental costs</h2> Cigarette filters are made of a bioplastic called cellulose acetate, and they typically take <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117393">years to break down</a>. Smoked cigarette filters are infused with the same chemicals and heavy metals in the tar that harm humans when they smoke. <a href="https://theconversation.com/cigarette-butts-are-the-forgotten-plastic-pollution-and-they-could-be-killing-our-plants-119958">Research from 2019 found</a> adding cigarette butts to soil reduces the germination of grass and clover seeds and the length of their shoots. Seaworms exposed to used filters have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep14119">DNA damage and reduced growth</a>. And exposure to cigarette filters (even unsmoked ones) are toxic to fish – <a href="https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/Suppl_1/i25?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=TC_TrendMD-0">research with two fish species </a> found adding two to four smoked cigarette filters per litre of water could kill them. Currently, the tobacco industry does not have to pay for the clean-up of cigarette butts polluting the environment. Rather, the community bears the cost. Cigarette litter and its management <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/ArticleDocuments/353/pub-WWF-Australia-Ending-cigarette-butt-pollution-3Dec21.pdf.aspx">costs</a> the Australian economy an estimated A$73 million per year. Local councils in particular spend large amounts of money cleaning it up. The City of Sydney, for example, has estimated their cleaning crews sweep up <a href="https://campaignbrief.com/the-city-of-sydney-launches-ci/">15,000 cigarette butts daily</a> from city streets. And volunteers spend countless hours picking up cigarette butts from parks, streets and beaches. In its 2020 Rubbish Report, Clean Up Australia Day found cigarette butts accounted for <a href="https://www.cleanup.org.au/cigarette-butts">16% of all recorded items</a>. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433349/original/file-20211123-19-1qwxthm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433349/original/file-20211123-19-1qwxthm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Two smiling men hold bags of rubbish" /></a> Volunteers, such as for Clean Up Australia Day, spend countless hours picking up cigarette butts from the enviornment. Glengarry Landcare VIC/Clean Up Australia <h2>Current strategies are ineffective</h2> The tobacco industry response to product waste has been to focus <a href="https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/2/100">responsibility on the consumer</a>. Tobacco companies have created public education campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of the butt litter problem, supplied consumers and cities worldwide with public ashtrays, and funded anti-litter groups. But given the amount of cigarettes that continue to be littered, it’s clear these strategies on their own have been ineffective. Many around the world are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-explores-next-steps-to-clean-up-tobacco-litter-in-england">now calling for stronger industry regulation</a>. There have also been calls to ban cigarette filters completely. For example, lawmakers in <a href="https://calmatters.org/environment/2019/06/california-cigarette-butt-filter-ban-bill-electronic-disposable-vapes/">California</a> and New York have attempted to ban the sale of cigarettes with filters, and New Zealand is finalising their <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/proposals_for_a_smokefree_aotearoa_2025_action_plan-final.pdf">Smokefree Aotearoa Action Plan</a>, which may include a cigarette filter ban. Many jurisdictions in Australia and worldwide are starting to ban single-use plastics such as straws and takeaway containers, and have <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l5890">been criticised</a> for not including cigarette filters in these laws. If filters were banned, cigarette butt litter would remain, but without the plastic filter. Although, <a href="https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2021/11/18/tobaccocontrol-2021-056815">a recent trial</a> of cigarettes without filters found that people smoked fewer of these than when they were given the same cigarettes with filters. More research is needed on the health impact of smoking filterless cigarettes and the environmental impact of filterless cigarette butts. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433352/original/file-20211123-27-d6ktd4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433352/original/file-20211123-27-d6ktd4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> A pubic cigarette butt disposal facility in Salem, US. Shutterstock <h2>What would a stewardship scheme look like?</h2> The federal government’s <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-plastics-plan-2021.pdf">National Plastics Plan</a>, released in March this year, committed to initiate a stewardship taskforce that would reduce cigarette butt litter in Australia, and would consider a potential stewardship scheme. However, they proposed the stewardship taskforce be industry led. Product stewardship schemes can be voluntary or written into law. For example, waste from product packaging is managed through a voluntary scheme, the <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/plastics-and-packaging/packaging-covenant">Australian Packaging Covenant</a>, which sets targets for reducing packaging waste that aren’t written into law. On the other hand, <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/product-stewardship/products-schemes/television-computer-recycling-scheme">there is a law in Australia</a> requiring companies who manufacture TVs or computers to pay some of the costs for recycling these products. The <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/ArticleDocuments/353/pub-WWF-Australia-Ending-cigarette-butt-pollution-3Dec21.pdf.aspx">new research</a>, commissioned by World Wildlife Fund for Nature Australia, considered four regulatory approaches: business as usual, a ban on plastic filters, a voluntary industry product stewardship scheme, and a mandatory product stewardship scheme led by the federal government. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433344/original/file-20211123-13-tpimfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C5442%2C3600&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433344/original/file-20211123-13-tpimfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C5442%2C3600&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A hand in blue plastic gloves holds a cigarette butt on the beach" /></a> Cigarette litter costs the Australian economy an estimated A$73 million each year. Brian Yurasits/Unsplash, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" class="license">CC BY</a> Each of these options were ranked according to factors such as the regulatory effort required to implement them, their cost, consumer participation and the extent to which they would reduce environmental impacts on land and waterways. A ban on plastic cigarette filters and a mandatory product stewardship scheme were assessed as having the greatest potential environmental benefit. While uncertainties remain about a filter ban, there is no such barrier to implementing a mandatory product stewardship scheme on cigarette waste. This scheme could involve a tax that would pay for the recovery and processing costs associated with cigarette butt litter. The study suggested introducing a levy of A$0.004 – less than half a cent – on each smoked cigarette to manage the waste. Other studies from overseas, however, show this cost would need to be <a href="https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/Suppl_1/i36.full">higher</a>. We can look to the UK for an example of where to start. The UK is currently considering implementing an extended producer responsibility scheme to address cigarette litter. In November this year, it released a <a href="https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/call-for-evidence-on-commonly-littered-and-problem/supporting_documents/Call%20for%20evidence%20document.pdf">consultation document</a> on different options. They proposed a mandatory scheme where the tobacco industry would pay for the full costs of cleaning up and processing cigarette waste. Other costs they might be made to pay are for gathering and reporting data on tobacco product waste, provision of bins for cigarette butts, and campaigns to promote responsible disposal by consumers. It is time for the federal and state governments in Australia to make the tobacco industry pay for the mess they create.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171831/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kylie-morphett-1271253">Kylie Morphett</a>, Research Fellow, School of Public Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/coral-gartner-7425">Coral Gartner</a>, Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/william-clarke-380521">William Clarke</a>, Professor of waste management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-the-tobacco-industry-pay-for-cigarette-litter-could-stop-4-5-billion-butts-polluting-the-australian-environment-171831">original article</a>. Image: Shuttershock

Domestic Travel

High Court decision on $125 million fine for Volkswagen is a warning to all greenwashers

The High Court of Australia has today refused to hear Volkswagen’s appeal against the record A$125 million fine imposed on it for deliberately deceiving regulators and customers about the environmental performance of its cars. The $125 million fine is the largest penalty ever imposed on a company in Australia for misleading consumers. It relates to the so-called “dieselgate” scandal, by which the German car company used secret software to beat emissions standards and tests in multiple countries. This is a significant win for the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/high-court-denies-volkswagen-leave-to-appeal-125-million-penalty" target="_blank">Australian Competition and Consumer Commission</a> in its ongoing battle against “greenwash”, by which companies make false environmental claims to mislead consumers. <a rel="noopener" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1050651919874105" target="_blank">Research shows</a> greenwashing harms the market for environmentally friendly products. Without being able to distinguish between genuine and dubious claims, consumer cynicism about all claims increases. The <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.australiancompetitionlaw.org/legislation/provisions/acl18.html" target="_blank">Australian Consumer Law</a> adequately prohibits greenwashing claims through its provisions covering false and misleading practices. But this evidence the consumer watchdog is enforcing these laws, and that the courts are upholding them, will build confidence that environmental claims can be trusted. Background to the ‘dieselgate’ case The ACCC initiated Federal Court proceedings against Volkswagen in September 2016, a year after the US Environmental Protection Agency revealed the car company had used “defeat” software in diesel vehicles since 2009 to produce lower greenhouse gas emissions during “laboratory” tests. This software shut off during road use, meaning the cars performed better, but then produced nitrogen oxide pollution <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772" target="_blank">up to 40 times that permitted</a> by US law. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431640/original/file-20211112-19-bb47po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Volkswagen's software ensured cars produced lower nitrogen oxide emissions when being tested." /> Volkswagen’s software ensured cars produced lower nitrogen oxide emissions when being tested. Shutterstock Volkswagen had used its software globally. The ACCC alleged the car maker sold 57,000 cars with these defeat devices in Australia between 2011 and 2015. Volkswagen initially fought the case by the ACCC, but <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/judge-warns-that-vw-fine-will-be-multiples-of-75m-imposed-by-accc-20191016-p531be.html" target="_blank">in 2019 agreed to settle</a> for a fine of $75 million (and $4 million in court costs). When this was taken to the Federal Court for ratification (approval) the judge, Justice Lindsay Foster, rejected the deal as “outrageous”. He called the “agreed statement of facts” about the harm caused “<a rel="noopener" href="https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/outrageous-judge-slams-accc-over-vw-deal-20191016-p5313c" target="_blank">a bunch of weasel words</a>”. In his ruling in <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/FCA/2019/2166.html" target="_blank">December 2019</a> he doubled the penalty to $125 million. Volkswagen appealed this judgement to the full bench of the Federal Court (the equivalent of a court of appeal), arguing it was manifestly excessive. In its ruling (in April 2021) the full bench disagreed and <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/FCAFC/2021/49.html" target="_blank">upheld the A$125 million penalty</a>. This led to Volkswagen appealing to the High Court (Australia’s ultimate court of appeal). Today it refused “special leave” (permission to bring the whole case) to challenge the ruling and the large penalty. Which means the A$125 million fine stands. This sends a strong message This decision will send a very strong message to other manufacturers and sellers of products making environmental claims. The Australian Consumer Law’s provisions against greenwashing are contained in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.australiancompetitionlaw.org/legislation/provisions/acl18.html" target="_blank">Section 18</a> of the act, dealing with misleading or deceptive conduct. As the market for “green products” has expanded over the past few decades, so too has the temptation for unsavoury producers and marketers to make misleading statements. In response, some consumer groups and activists have demanded new laws to prevent greenwash. But <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/BondLRev/2012/2.pdf" target="_blank">my research</a> with Marina Nehme (now associate professor of corporate law at UNSW) led us to to the view the existing laws actually cover all the relevant situations. The High Court decision today demonstrates this. There are hundreds of examples of the consumer watchdog successfully pursuing greenwashers, but the size of the fine in this case will stand out and serve to deter others.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171733/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-adams-18149" target="_blank">Michael Adams</a>, Professor of Corporate Law & Head UNE Law School, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919" target="_blank">University of New England</a> This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/high-court-decision-on-125-million-fine-for-volkswagen-is-a-warning-to-all-greenwashers-171733" target="_blank">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Money & Banking

Electric cars are better for the environment

<div> <div class="copy"> A global analysis has verified that electric cars and heat pumps generate less greenhouse gas over their life cycle than their archaic petrol and fossil boiler counterparts, which together account for a quarter of the world’s emissions. Considering several different climate policy scenarios over the next three decades, European researchers <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-0488-7" target="_blank" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">report</a> in the journal Nature that electric vehicles and heaters are the better options in all cases, dispelling claims they <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/25/are-electric-vehicles-really-so-climate-friendly" target="_blank" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">aren’t any greener</a>. “Fears that electric cars could actually increase carbon emissions are unfounded in almost all parts of the world,” says lead author Florian Knobloch, from Radboud University in The Netherlands. “Electric cars and heat pumps lead to lower carbon emissions overall, even if electricity generation still involves substantial amounts of fossil fuel.” The researchers simulated 59 regions, including the US, China and most of Europe, which together account for 95% of the global demand for heating and transport. In 53 of these, emissions from electric cars were found to already be lower than fossil fuel alternatives. The few exceptions included places like Poland, which still rely mostly on coal to generate electricity. “However,” says Knobloch, “with energy production decarbonising worldwide, the last few debatable cases will soon disappear.” Countries did vary considerably according to the amount of electricity generated from alternative and renewable sources. In Sweden and France, for instance, average lifetime carbon dioxide emissions from electric cars are 70% lower than petrol cars, while in the UK they are 30% lower. The researchers estimate that by 2050 half of the cars on the road could be electric, which would drop global emissions by up to 1.5 gigatonnes per year – equating to those currently generated by the whole of Russia. For each of the regions in the analysis, Knobloch and colleagues conducted a life-cycle assessment of emissions generated from cars and heating systems, including the production chain and waste processing. Building on previous research, which has only considered the present situation, they also accounted for the vast range of cars and heating systems available. The comprehensive analysis simulated three future scenarios. The first two involve continuing with current climate policies or enacting feasible policies in line with the two-degree target set by the Paris Agreement. The third, a worst-case scenario that the authors say is unlikely, considers what would happen if ambitious targets are implemented for electric cars and heating while overall emissions continue on their current trajectory. The empirical model includes future consumer technology choices, based on detailed consumer market databases, and the resulting emissions from power generation, transport and household heating using historical observations. “We combined the resulting scenario projections with bottom-up estimates of life-cycle emissions from producing different technologies and their fuels,” Knobloch explains. At the study’s inception in 2015, electric cars and heaters both emitted a third less harmful gases than their air-polluting alternatives. Looking ahead, all three tested scenarios looked positive. Staying on current trajectories would lead to 10% lower emissions globally on average by 2030 and 16% by 2050. If Paris Agreement targets are met, that drops to 44% and 74% lower emissions, respectively. This also holds true for low-efficiency electric vehicles and heat pumps, which performed better than high efficiency petrol cars and fossil boilers, leaving no doubt about the best way forward. “Taking into account emissions from manufacturing and ongoing energy use, it’s clear that we should encourage the switch to electric cars and household heat pumps without any regrets,” says Knobloch. “Even in our worst-case scenario, there would be a reduction in emissions in almost all cases. This insight should be very useful for policy-makers.” Image credits: Shutterstock </div> <div id="contributors"> This article was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/yes-electric-cars-are-better-for-the-environment/" target="_blank">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Natalie Parletta. </div> </div>

Technology

Five books to change the way you think about the environment and climate change

Image: Shutterstock We are constantly bombarded with dire warnings about the environmental and climate change emergency. Act now or face unprecedented global catastrophe, as we are constantly reminded. These five books offer alternative perspectives and new ways we can understand and relate to nature. Gaia by James Lovelock (1979) In his 1979 book, James Lovelock offers an entirely new understanding of the earth as not just a planet on which life has evolved, but a self-regulating system capable of correcting any significant fluctuations that tend towards making it uninhabitable, such as increases or decreases in global temperatures or ocean salinity. Lovelock shows, for example, how the environment has contributed to driving down atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to compensate for a steadily warming sun. This has kept global temperatures in a habitable range. Ultimately though, the importance of Gaia lies not just in its bold scientific claims, but in the way it opens up the possibility of bringing together science and spirituality, the true and the meaningful. What does being a part of Gaia mean for us? Should Trees Have Standing? By Christopher D. Stone (1972) No law, Christopher Stone claims, can be created until we begin to challenge its non-existence. And just as it was once “unthinkable” for corporations to be given the same rights as people, the same is true today of living beings and ecosystems. Nature itself has no rights, only the people that own it or use it. Against this, Stone argues that certain natural entities – trees, forests, rivers – should be treated as people and granted “rights”. This radical idea is increasingly being implemented. In 2008 and 2009, Ecuador and Bolivia became the first countries in the world to recognise nature as a legal person in their constitutions. And in 2017, New Zealand recognised the legal personhood of the Whanganui River. Developing these insights in the 2010 edition of the book, Stone asks if the climate should also be granted legal standing. He sees this as problematic but not impossible, though it would require a legal system that goes beyond the current nation-state structure. Biomimicry by Janine Benyus (1997) Few would deny that technology will play a major role in achieving sustainability. But for the most part, we concentrate on individual technologies – such as electric vehicles or biodegradable packaging – without pausing to rethink technology as a whole. A significant exception to this is Janine Benyus, who argues that sustainability calls for an entirely different approach: innovation inspired by nature, or “biomimicry”. The book explores the practice of imitating nature to solve human design challenges and offers many case studies showing how biomimicry can apply to almost every field of innovation – from solar energy generation based on natural photosynthesis to cereal farming modelled on the native Kansas prairie. But perhaps the deepest significance of the book is the way it calls on us to view nature not just as something we learn about, but also as something we learn from. And in that case, we must cease to think of ourselves as the sole possessors of intelligence and knowledge and instead also come to recognise the genius of nature. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2013) Like Benyus, Robin Wall Kimmerer thinks nature has a lot to teach us. But whereas Benyus focuses on technological innovation, Kimmerer is interested in broader lessons. The overarching theme of the book is how to “braid” together indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge, a project that the author, as a citizen of the Potawatomi nation and a professional biologist, has devoted much of her life to. Kimmerer’s most brilliant example is sweetgrass itself – an aromatic plant used in indigenous medicine and basketry. Whereas Kimmerer’s biologist colleagues presumed that harvesting sweetgrass always harms it, a biology student of hers designed a careful experiment proving something the Potawatomi had long since known: harvesting sweetgrass actually stimulates vigorous growth. What these plants teach us, then, is that humans are not outside nature, but a part of nature – and with the right approaches we can enable other species to flourish alongside our own. The Climate of History in a Planetary Age by Dipesh Chakrabarty (2021) Addressing the meaning of climate change through the lens of history, Dipesh Chakrabarty proposes a fundamental shift from thinking about “global” to “planetary” climate change. Chakrabarty argues that while the world is busy solving a “global” problem, we forget to ask what the “global” means for us today. The “global”, he explains, is essentially a human-centric idea, intrinsically linked to postwar globalisation and modernisation. The “planet”, by contrast, decentres this human-centric idea, allowing nonhuman perspectives and interests to be taken into account. Most importantly, it raises the possibility of discovering new universal values. Chakrabarty also emphasises that the acceleration of global warming is tightly linked to the anti-colonialist modernising movements of the mid-20th century, such as Chairman Mao’s Great Leap Forward. This was an economic and social programme aimed to bring China up to speed with the Western world through intensive industrialisation and technological advancement. Chakrabarty argues that it is only by overcoming our obsession with constant growth and development that we can rise to the challenge of ensuring planetary sustainability.

Books

How Māori knowledge could help New Zealanders turn their concern for the environment into action

As world leaders continue negotiations at the <a href="https://ukcop26.org/">COP26 climate summit</a> in Glasgow, several <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/07/so-what-has-cop26-achieved-so-far">agreements</a> reached so far have acknowledged the connection between climate change and the global loss of biodiversity. Half a world away, we might feel somewhat smug. Almost a third of Aotearoa New Zealand is protected as conservation land, but we nevertheless have the highest number of threatened species worldwide, with 79% of birds, bats, reptiles and frogs at <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/conservation-status-of-indigenous-land-species">risk of or threatened with extinction</a>. The threat to wildlife is entirely due to <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/PC130256">human impacts</a>, including the introduction of mammal predators and land-use practices that threaten Indigenous biodiversity. Despite more than 40,000 people in 600 community <a href="https://www.newzealandecology.org/nzje/3234">conservation groups</a> working throughout the country, these efforts and gains are tenuous, not yet arresting the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03036758.2019.1599967?journalCode=tnzr20">decline in biodiversity</a>. <a href="https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10182/14097/Perceptions2019_Final_LowRes_jan2020.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">Surveys</a> show New Zealanders are increasingly aware of the state of our environment, but knowledge on its own does not spur action. We suggest <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310472991_Matauranga_Maori-the_ukaipo_of_knowledge_in_New_Zealand">mātauranga Māori</a>, a traditional system of understanding the natural world, could help take people from awareness to action. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430665/original/file-20211107-10121-4tn6ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> Conservation status of native species in New Zealand. <a href="https://statisticsnz.shinyapps.io/conservation_status_land/" class="source">Stats NZ</a>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" class="license">CC BY-ND</a> Te Mana o te Taiao is New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/biodiversity/aotearoa-new-zealand-biodiversity-strategy/te-mana-o-te-taiao-summary/">national biodiversity strategy</a> and lays out conservation priorities for the next three decades. It promotes the braiding of Western science and mātauranga Māori and emphasises a focus on people as much as the environment. Regular <a href="https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10182/14097/Perceptions2019_Final_LowRes_jan2020.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">surveys</a> show a marked shift in public perception of the state of New Zealand’s environment. Twenty years ago, a majority believed the environment was in good health, but today, most people believe it is in poor health. The survey also asks if respondents had participated in environmental advocacy or volunteer work, but the percentage of people who have has remained steady over two decades. <h2>From awareness to action</h2> People feel increasingly <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.1225">disconnected from the natural world</a> for a few key reasons, including: <ul> <li> a rise of individualism and the erosion of community </li> <li> distraction by technology and entertainment </li> <li> increasing urbanisation and inequality leading to an “extinction of experience” </li> <li> poorer urban populations with fewer opportunities to connect with nature. </li> </ul> Awareness alone does not spur action, but research shows people who feel more <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40362-014-0021-3">connected with nature</a> have a stronger sense of environmental responsibility. If we wish to ensure the survival of our Indigenous biodiversity, we need to ask how we get from awareness to action. Indigenous peoples have played a strong role in conserving biodiversity over many centuries, and mātauranga Māori could hold some answers. There are three main strands to how mātauranga Māori can turn knowledge into action. <ol> <li> Ecological science has increased our understanding of the inter-connectedness of ecosystems and has brought us closer to a mātauranga Māori concept of human relationships with the natural world. Within this concept, if the environment is not in good health, people can’t be in good health either. Seeing ourselves as inter-connected and inter-dependent with the natural world <a href="https://www.pnzmemberhub.org.nz/single-post/2013/01/01/indigenous-m%C4%81ori-knowledge-and-perspectives-of-ecosystems">engenders reciprocity and care</a> for the natural world. </li> <li> By embedding values and beliefs into facts, knowledge becomes more memorable, meaningful and relatable. This helps people to form an identity of belonging within the natural world and a connection to place. We are far more likely to care for a place if we feel a <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12398">connection</a> to it. </li> <li> Awareness of our inter-connections and dependence on the natural world helps us see the dissonance between stewardship and practices that threaten other species. </li> </ol> <h2>Community conservation as the answer</h2> Community conservation groups could play a central role in achieving New Zealand’s national biodiversity strategy through use of mātauranga Māori concepts. Ecosanctuaries like <a href="https://www.visitzealandia.com/">Zealandia</a> already provide opportunities to connect with the natural world, through education and <a href="https://www.visitzealandia.com/Volunteer">volunteering</a>. There are more than 80 <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03036758.2019.1620297">sanctuaries</a> throughout the country, providing opportunities for people to acquaint themselves with the natural world and become involved in conservation activities. Ecosanctuaries demonstrate environmental restoration is possible and conservation is everyone’s responsibility, not just the role of the state. They effectively build a constituency for conservation within the community. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430957/original/file-20211109-23-1y907yi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A conservation volunteer releases South Island saddlebacks, or tīeke in an ecosanctuary." /> A conservation volunteer releases South Island saddlebacks, or tīeke – one of New Zealand’s endangered native birds – in an ecosanctuary. Andrew MacDonald/Getty Images, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" class="license">CC BY-ND</a> Zealandia identifies its role as an enabler of transformation in the way people engage with the natural world. Their <a href="http://www.visitzealandia.com/livingwithnature">20-year strategy</a> emphasises mātauranga Māori and inspiring change through shared passion. <blockquote> The biodiversity strategy is fundamentally about people […] the task that we have in front of us is fundamentally about changing the way people value the natural world. </blockquote> Māori continually straddle two worlds, navigating the Māori world view and the Tauiwi (Western) world. Non-Māori rarely step into the Māori world, and its unfamiliarity can cause discomfort. Incorporating mātauranga Māori should not mean appropriating knowledge from Māori or glossing over legitimate Māori grievances. Instead, being able to hold <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13412-012-0086-8">two world views</a> can be likened to gaining binocular vision – people discern more depth and detail than by seeing the world through a single lens. To maintain and improve our biodiversity, we need to practise conservation everywhere rather than only in conservation spaces. Embracing mātauranga Māori concepts could help New Zealanders to develop an identity of ecological belonging to become better kaitiaki (guardians) of our biodiversity. This article is based on a presentation given at a <a href="https://www.sanctuariesnz.org/projects.asp">Sanctuaries of New Zealand</a> workshop earlier this year on the theme of iwi and conservation.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168831/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/scott-burnett-1280153">Scott Burnett</a>, Research assistant, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/apisalome-movono-1108178">Apisalome Movono</a>, Senior Lecturer in Development Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/regina-scheyvens-650907">Regina Scheyvens</a>, Professor of Development Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/massey-university-806">Massey University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-maori-knowledge-could-help-new-zealanders-turn-their-concern-for-the-environment-into-action-168831">original article</a>. Image: Guo Lei/Xinhua via Getty Images

Domestic Travel

How the new human right to a healthy environment could accelerate New Zealand’s action on climate change

Last week’s formal recognition by the United Nations Human Rights Council that the <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1102582">right to a healthy environment</a> is an essential human right has been heralded as a historic victory for environmental protection and an important step forward for the world’s most vulnerable people. It’s also significant for coming on the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow next month, billed as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/22/boris-johnson-to-tell-un-that-cop26-must-be-turning-point-for-humanity">last best chance</a> to pledge emissions reductions large enough to head off the worst consequences of global heating and associated ecological harm. On the other hand, UN recognition doesn’t make the right to a healthy environment legally binding. No New Zealander can now claim a remedy from the courts because our environment doesn’t meet the standard of being clean, healthy and sustainable. So, what does a human right to a healthy environment really mean? Is it largely rhetorical, or will its adoption have tangible consequences both internationally and in Aotearoa New Zealand? <h2>Better global standards</h2> Despite its limitations, this new human right is certainly not useless. It’s the first time a right to a healthy environment has been explicitly recognised at the global level. The right <a href="http://www.srenvironment.org/sites/default/files/Reports/2018/Boyd%20Knox%20UNGA%20report%202018.pdf">obliges states</a> to protect against environmental harm, to provide equal access to environmental benefits and to ensure a minimum standard of environmental quality for everyone to enjoy. Arguably, this paves the way for better global standards, bolder climate litigation, and even for more equitable sharing of the burdens and benefits of climate change. It also creates a Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change, focused on tackling the effects of climate change on people’s enjoyment of their human rights. And it’s likely other global and regional bodies, including the UN General Assembly and the Council of Europe, will soon acknowledge the right to a healthy environment. Developments like this would make the right more credible and more visible, transforming it into an effective tool for challenging states and corporations to do more on environmental protection. <h2>Enshrining the right in law</h2> Overall, the right to a healthy environment reflects a new urgency to push environmental issues back up the international agenda. For example, plans to adopt a “<a href="https://www.iucn.org/commissions/world-commission-environmental-law/resources/wcel-important-documentation/global-pact-environment">Global Pact for the Environment</a>” next year are gaining momentum. Proponents are describing the pact as the most comprehensive international text ever on environmental rights, essential for protecting everyone and everything from the “<a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sgsm20422.doc.htm">triple planetary emergency</a>” of climate change, pollution and nature loss. Already, in places where a right to a healthy environment is part of domestic law, court decisions are resulting in stronger climate action. The Colombian Supreme Court, for example, <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/non-us-case/future-generation-v-ministry-environment-others/">recently decided</a> that deforestation of the Amazon violated a right to a healthy environment for present and future generations, and required the government to put protections in place. Meanwhile, the Nepalese Supreme Court has held that the government <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/non-us-case/shrestha-v-office-of-the-prime-minister-et-al/">must take action</a> on climate change as part of its citizens’ constitutional right to a clean environment. From these and many more national examples, we can be confident that recognising a right to a healthy environment will help improve the <a href="http://www.srenvironment.org/sites/default/files/Reports/2018/Boyd%20Knox%20UNGA%20report%202018.pdf">implementation of environmental laws</a>, help fill gaps in legislation and support respect for human rights generally. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427110/original/file-20211018-165556-11t4yrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> <h2>Implications for New Zealand</h2> New Zealand’s courts and policymakers look to international human rights for <a href="https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/constitutional-issues-and-human-rights/human-rights/international-human-rights/">guidance and standards</a>. As recognition of the right to a healthy environment grows internationally, we can expect to see greater reliance on it here. But there is one specific area where I anticipate this right may provide a new approach: climate-change mitigation. When it comes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and New Zealand, the elephant in the room – or the cow in the field – is the dairy industry. Between 1990 and 2018 New Zealand’s GHG emissions <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Files/new-zealands-greenhouse-gas-inventory-1990-2018-vol-1.pdf">rose by 24%</a>. The increase was driven largely by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/16/the-fight-against-climate-change-goes-beyond-reducing-co2-emissions">methane</a> from livestock and <a href="https://theconversation.com/nitrous-oxide-a-powerful-greenhouse-gas-is-on-the-rise-from-ocean-dead-zones-162812">nitrous oxide</a> from fertilisers. Both of these GHGs are many times more potent than carbon dioxide. Continuing to operate with this level of GHG emissions will make it extremely difficult for New Zealand to do its fair share of <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/new-zealand/">climate change mitigation</a> or meet its <a href="https://haveyoursay.climatecommission.govt.nz/comms-and-engagement/future-climate-action-for-aotearoa/supporting_documents/CCCADVICETOGOVT31JAN2021pdf.pdf">international climate change obligations</a>. <h2>Protecting people and nature</h2> The right to a healthy environment, then, could become a new lever for achieving big changes in a small window of time. A rights-based approach to the environment will encourage a conversation around what a healthy environment means and who should enjoy it. It may even provide a fresh vocabulary for discussing broader issues, such as land use, transport and power. As we battle COVID-19 at home, it’s tempting to take our eye off the grave environmental challenges ahead. To do that would be a mistake. The full potential of a human right to a healthy environment remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that a healthy environment is essential for human health and well-being – and that protecting people and protecting nature are always interconnected.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170187/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nathan-cooper-749971">Nathan Cooper</a>, Associate Professor of Law, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-waikato-781">University of Waikato</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-new-human-right-to-a-healthy-environment-could-accelerate-new-zealands-action-on-climate-change-170187">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

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