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Greta Thunberg: Who is the climate activist and what has she achieved?

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The climate activist has been arrested in Sweden and the UK as a result of her protests.

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Earth's climate is changing at an rate. As a result, storms and are becoming more intense. Temperatures are rising. Polar ice caps are melting. This is causing oceans to rise. Low coastal areas are flooding. Animals are losing their habitats. Scientists are sounding the alarm: If we don't make changes to halt global warming, the planet's climate will become increasingly unbearable.

Climate, unlike weather, describes long-term patterns in the conditions of the . Earth's climate as a whole has changed several times throughout history. In the past 650,000 years alone, there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat. Most of these changes are a natural part of Earth's 4.5 billion-year history. They are due to tiny variations in the Earth's orbit, which alter the amount of solar energy reaching the planet.

Scientists say that recent changes in Earth's climate are not due to natural causes. According to NASA, 97% of climate scientists agree there is a direct connection between human activity and the changes occurring on our planet.

TAYLOR WEIDMAN-BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

The Human Impact

Over the past 150 years, humans have used more and more engines, vehicles, and other machines. These devices burn through fossil fuels like coal and oil. Fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases.

Normally, plants, trees, and the oceans absorb carbon dioxide and release it back into the atmosphere as oxygen. But an increase in fossil fuels has created more carbon dioxide than nature can take in. Adding to the problem are other human activities. Deforestation and the destruction of habitats also reduce the number of trees and plants. That makes it even harder to absorb all that carbon dioxide.

When too much carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere, it causes problems for Earth's climate. Sunlight can pass through those gases. But the heat the sun generates cannot escape back out into space. So the gases end up trapping that heat. This then turns the planet into a giant greenhouse.

This greenhouse effect leads to changes in the climate, like increased temperatures. Average temperatures across the planet have not been increasing uniformly. But scientists observe a clear upward trend. Sixteen of the 17 warmest years ever recorded have occurred since 2001.

Scientists believe that climate change will have an impact far greater than milder winters and warmer summers. A warmer planet melts glaciers and other large bodies of ice faster than usual. Earth's glaciers help cool the planet. This means that as ice melts, temperatures will continue to rise. Rising sea levels, flooding, and stronger weather events will occur. And as the planet gets hotter, some places will become uninhabitable for people and animals.

These effects are already being felt around the world. Melting polar ice caps are causing huge chunks of ice to fall into the oceans. The melting ice is causing sea levels to rise about an eighth of an inch per year. That's according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Many coastal areas are in danger of flooding. Some scientists predict that if sea levels continue to rise at current rates, entire cities may be submerged in the next 100 years.

In warm, dry regions, increased temperatures are causing severe drought. This leads to wildfires, food shortages, and water insecurity. Global warming has also led to coral bleaching of nearly two-thirds of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The corals provide a habitat for nearly 1,500 different species of fish. This loss of sea life also affects the hundreds of millions of humans who rely on marine creatures for food.

Climate change is also creating more extreme weather events. This puts people and in danger. Scientists believe that global warming is responsible for hurricanes of greater intensity. Other results of global warming include more frequent and severe heat waves, droughts, blizzards, and rainstorms.

CHRIS SEWARD-RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER/TNS/GETTY IMAGES

Taking Action

Governments, companies, and individuals are working to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Countries are joining to fight climate change and its effects. Innovators are working to create Earth-friendly fuels and power sources. And more and more people are using electric and hybrid vehicles. They are also turning to wind and solar power for alternative energy sources.

But humans still need to deal with the large amount of carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. One solution being tested is called carbon sequestration. Through this process, carbon dioxide can be captured and stored underground before it goes into the atmosphere. Another proposal is to store carbon by planting more trees-nature's carbon trap.

Time will tell the true impact that climate change has on Earth. But how humans respond and adapt to a warming planet will set the course for years to come.

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Earth's climate is changing at an unprecedented rate. As a result, storms and droughts are becoming more intense. Temperatures are rising. Polar ice caps are melting. This is causing oceans to rise. Low coastal areas are flooding. Animals are losing...

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Air pollution happens when solid and liquid particles-called aerosols -and certain gases end up in our air. These particles and gases can be bad for the planet and for our health, so keeping track of them is important.

Where do aerosols come from?

Any particle that gets picked up into the air or is formed from chemical reactions in the air can be an aerosol. Many aerosols enter the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels-such as coal and petroleum-and wood. These particles can come from many sources, including car exhaust, factories and even wildfires. Some of the particles and gases come directly from these sources, but others form through chemical reactions in the air.

Aerosols can come from other places, too, such as ash from an erupting volcano. Dust, pollen from plants and mold spores are also examples of aerosols.

What else causes air pollution?

Certain gases in the atmosphere can cause air pollution. For example, in cities, a gas called ozone is a major cause of air pollution. Ozone is also a greenhouse gas that can be both good and bad for our environment. It all depends where it is in Earth's atmosphere.

Ozone high up in our atmosphere is a good thing. It helps block harmful energy from the Sun, called radiation. But, when ozone is closer to the ground, it can be really bad for our health. Ground level ozone is created when sunlight reacts with certain chemicals that come from sources of burning fossil fuels, such as factories or car exhaust.

When particles in the air combine with ozone, they create smog. Smog is a type of air pollution that looks like smoky fog and makes it difficult to see.

How does air pollution affect Earth's climate?

Aerosols can impact how the Sun's light hits Earth. For example, some aerosols reflect sunlight while others absorb sunlight. It depends on the color of the particle.

Dark surfaces-whether it's a black t-shirt or a dark particle in the atmosphere-absorb the Sun's heat. Lighter-colored surfaces reflect heat from the Sun.

A white t-shirt reflects the Sun on a hot day, making you feel cooler. In the same way, light-colored particles that reflect the Sun's light and heat away from Earth can make the global temperature cooler. Dark-colored particles that absorb the Sun's light can make the global temperature warmer.

How does air pollution affect our health?

Breathing in polluted air can be very bad for our health. Long-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with diseases of the heart and lungs, cancers and other health problems. That's why it's important for us to monitor air pollution.

How is NASA monitoring air pollution?

NASA uses satellites orbiting Earth to keep an eye on air pollution. In fact, air quality forecasters use information about aerosols from NASA's Aqua, Terra and Suomi-NPP satellites.

NASA also is developing a new instrument called the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols, or MAIA, to fly aboard a future spacecraft mission. MAIA will help scientists understand the size, makeup and quantity of aerosols in our air. Eventually, scientists will be able to compare this information with health records. This can help us better understand the relationship between aerosol pollution and human health.

Related NASA Missions

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Air pollution is caused by solid or liquid particles and certain gases suspended in the air. These particles and gases can come from car and truck exhaust, factories, dust, pollen, mold spores, volcanoes and wildfires.

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Plastic is an amazing man-made material - it's cheap to produce and has many uses! But half of the plastic we produce is designed to be used just once and then thrown away - and even plastic that can be reused or recycled gets chucked out, too!
Much of our unwanted plastic ends up in the ocean - around 8 million tonnes of it every year, in fact! And because plastic takes 400 years to break down, it stays there for a long, long time, putting our friends beneath the waves in serious danger. Let's dive in and take a closer look...

700...

different species of animals are believed to be severely threatened because of plastic pollution in the ocean.

tonnes of a gas called carbon dioxide (CO ₂) is absorbed by the ocean each day because of rubbish. The ocean has always sucked up CO ₂ from the air as part of nature - but our waste means more is being absorbed than before. As a result, the water is becoming more acidic, which could make it harder for fish to breath and for creatures like crabs, lobsters and coral to grow their shells.

of all dead animals found in beach cleanups worldwide have been entangled in plastic bags.

animals and birds were found trapped by marine debris (such as old ropes, nets, mesh and wires) during a recent international coastal cleanup.

5 trillion...

pieces of plastic (not including microbeads - minuscule plastic balls found in toiletries like face washes and toothpaste) are estimated to be floating in the world's seas.

of seabirds eat plastic rubbish, mistaking it for food.

of fish found during a recent expedition had plastic in their stomachs.

of sea turtles worldwide have accidentally eaten plastic rubbish in the ocean.

The facts and figures are pretty shocking, right? The good news is that people around the world are working to together to reduce plastic waste. Join the mission and check out our 10 tips to reduce plastic pollution!

What did you think of our Plastic in the Ocean feature? Will you be helping to solve the plastic problem? Leave a comment below and let us know!

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Plastic in the Ocean - National Geographic Kids

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Get facts and figures on how plastic pollution is harming marine life. How much plastic is in the ocean? Why is plastic pollution dangerous?

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Sea turtles are vulnerable to ocean pollution at all stages of life, from eggs to hatchlings to juveniles to adults. Pollutants include things like toxic metals, pcb's, petroleum products, and agricultural and industrial runoff of contaminants such as fertilizers, chemicals, nutrients, and untreated waste. Pollutants may cause immediate harm to sea turtles through direct contact or can build up in tissues over time and lead to immunosuppression resulting in disease and death.

Degradation of sea turtle habitat from pollution also poses a threat and can occur over large areas. Sea turtle habitat overlaps with areas most likely to be affected by offshore oil exploration and production. Petroleum pollution occurs from intentional discharge from vessels, vessel groundings, offshore oil exploration and production, transport of oil products, spills, and runoff of oil from land based sources.

Oil from spills far offshore concentrate along convergence zones (where currents meet) which is are important areas for young turtle development. Oil from spills offshore also washes up on beaches where it degrades nesting habitat, and can impact nests, nesting females, and hatchlings making their way to the water.

Sea turtles are also affected by ingesting food contaminated by oil or tar balls. Tar balls form when crude oil floating in the water degrades. A large percentage of dead hatchlings whose stomach contents have been examined have ingested tar balls.

Fibropapillomas

This disease is a threat to sea turtle populations worldwide. Also known as "FP", this disease causes cauliflower-shaped tumors on external soft parts and internal organs of a sea turtle. The exact cause of FP is still unknown, however, researchers believe there is a link to ocean pollution. External FP tumors can create drag and slow sea turtles down making them more vulnerable to predation and collisions with boats.

Tumors around the eyes can obscure vision and eventually cause blindness, and tumors around the mouth can impair breathing and feeding. In some areas, many stranded and dead turtles have FP tumors. Research is still being done to determine the exact cause and transmission of this disease.

FP was first seen in the 1930's in green turtles in the Florida Keys. In Hawaii, FP was not seen until the late 50's. It was first only observed in isolated areas but now occurs worldwide and in other species including loggerheads, Kemp's and olive ridleys, and flatbacks. Over 50% of green turtles found in Florida's Indian River are afflicted.

ocean pollution & sea turtles

Toxic metals may concentrate in the liver and kidneys of sea turtles. Toxins like mercury also pose a threat to human health.

Chronic exposure to pollutants makes sea turtles susceptible to disease and death. Chronically ill turtles are also more vulnerable to predation and collisions with boats.

PCB's, or polychlorinated biphenyl's, despite being banned from production in the U.S. in 1979, are still found in the environment, and in materials produced prior to the ban. Organisms that ingest these chemicals may suffer from depressed immune systems, illness, disease, and impaired reproduction. Researchers have found PCB's in sea turtle eggs.

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Sea turtles are vulnerable to ocean pollution at all stages of life, from eggs to hatchlings to juveniles to adults. Pollutants include things like toxic metals, pcb's, petroleum products, and agricultural and industrial runoff of contaminants such as fertilizers, chemicals, nutrients, and untreated waste.

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The Clock Is Ticking: Youth and Environmental Activism

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The Clock Is Ticking: Youth and Environmental Activism

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Young people have a unique relationship with the environment: They are often the first affected when something goes wrong, yet the least represented when decisions are made.

They, more than any other generation, have been raised to feel a responsibility toward the environment. And that's important because they will be the first generation in charge of correcting the problems caused by the widespread pollution of the atmosphere and rampant misappropriation of natural resources.

Youth today feel the "clock is ticking in terms of the amount of time we have to deal with the major issues like clean air, clean water and global warming," says Sharon Smith, program director of Brower New Leaders at the Earth Island Institute, a support group for youth environmental campaigns and initiatives.
Growth in activism
Smith has seen firsthand the growth in environmental activism. "I graduated from college in 1999, and right in my first year out of college I went to an eco conference, which at that time was held in the Northeast. It was one of the largest environmental youth conferences held to date, and it had about a thousand people."

Contrast that with a 2009 conference that drew 12,000 young people from all 50 states, she said. "You can really see the growth of the environmental movement even over the past decade by looking at these conferences and the trainings designed and led and initiated by young people."

Canon Envirothon has seen similar growth in youth activism. A nonprofit specializing in the delivery of environmental education for high school students, the program has grown from three states in 1988 to 54 states and provinces in North America today.

Young people are "looking for avenues where they can make a difference and become knowledgeable, and then they can take and share that knowledge and experience," said Clay Burns, executive director of Canon Envirothon in Mississippi. They need to be "willing and prepared to work toward achieving and maintaining a balance between the quality of life and the quality of the environment."
Raising new leaders
But an increase in youth activism is not enough to stave off environmental peril - we need new ideas and new leaders, according to Eban Goodstein, economics professor at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., and co-director of the 2009 National Teach-In on Global Warming, a nationwide network of teachers at all educational levels that, on Feb. 5, engaged more than a million Americans in a "solutions-driven dialogue."

Eban says the U.S. must act aggressively in the next year or so to reduce global- warming pollution and invest in clean energy technologies or "you guys are going to be looking at a very different world in 2050," when the world will be 3 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher.

"To put that number in perspective, during the last Ice Age, it was only nine degrees Fahrenheit colder than it is on average today," he explained.

Goodstein says youth need to move beyond being the front lines of environmental activism to being the visionaries. Both the Brower New Leaders and Canon Envirothon have devoted more than two decades training them to do just that.

Earth Island Initiative was founded in 1982 by renowned environmentalist David Brower to support young people who have new strategies for saving the earth. In 2000, the organization started the Brower Youth Awards, which honor six youth ages 13 to 23 each year for their leadership and activism with a gala ceremony, campout and $3,000 prize.

"We felt like young people so often are sort of the workhorses of these campaigns and aren't always recognized, aren't always supported at a critical time in the development of their careers, in the development of their activism," Smith said.

The Canon Envirothon also honors young environmentalists in a yearly competition that engages more than 500,000 high school students throughout North America. The Envirothon works in partnership with local conservation districts, forestry associations, educators and natural resource agencies to organize and conduct competitions on the local, regional, and state and/or provincial level. This year's hands-on problem-solving competition is Aug. 2-6 at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where local finalists will compete for recognition, scholarships, and prizes.
Issues addressed
While recycling clubs abound at all age levels, more and more youth are expanding their efforts in other directions. In Massachusetts, young people involved in Gardening in the Community promote organic gardening and bicycle use. In Florida, a young man developed an interactive curriculum to educate youth about the plight of loggerhead turtles. In California, youth helped pass a bill requiring cosmetic companies to alert the Department of Health if their products contain carcinogens.

These are just a few examples. Youth across the country are cleaning up local wetlands, shutting down toxic waste sites, promoting clean energy and combating landfills. They have educated their peers, parents and the public on carbon emissions, reusable goods and conservation of resources.

Brower New Leaders have dealt with many such issues, and the Earth Island Institute currently oversees 60 projects, ranging from "Project Coyote" to the "Sacred Land Film Project," in 26 countries worldwide.

Students involved in Canon Envirothon pay special attention to natural resources, specifically those related to soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry and wildlife.

"Conservation is the big thing that we're involved in," Burns said, explaining that such work is more grassroots, and thus a more viable venue for youth activism.

And while most youth activism is local, many are entering the political realm to effect long-lasting change.

"There's a recognition that this is a time when we need major action from government if we're going to sort of lay the foundation and give you guys the tools that you're going to need to transform the world," Goodstein said.
New worldview coming?
Goodstein envisions a day soon when people automatically think about the environmental impact of their actions before they act. "We'll move on to a phase where we just sort of naturally mimic nature and create things that are in harmony with nature and don't produce waste and pollution."

Smith shares his optimism because she's seen the changes enacted by the youth involved in her program. "Just this year we were looking at the past 10 years of awardees, and at least 87 percent of our award recipients are still in leadership roles in the environmental movement. So it's a great sign that these young folks were committed when they applied to do this work and that hopefully the support we provided ensured they could stay committed and rise as leaders," she said.

The presidency of Barack Obama gives more reasons for hope. "It's rejuvenated the environmental movement in a number of ways," Smith said. "People have been really hitting their heads against the wall for eight years trying to push forward environmental initiatives."
Click here to read these Y-Press profiles:
Grind for the Green, San Francisco, CA
Urban Roots, East Austin, TX
West Oakland Urban Students Uprising against Pollution, Oakland, CA
Click here to read how students at two high schools are recycling and promoting environmentalism.

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Researchers from the United Negro College Fund went to West Virginia last year and asked 62 high school dropouts in the federal Job Corps program a simple, open-ended question. ¨What was it about school,¨ they wanted to know, ¨that caused you to quit?¨

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Like a lot of boys, Clay McMullen always enjoyed fishing and rock-climbing around his home in Geauga County's Chester Township.

But starting about a half-dozen years ago, at age 11, Clay began worrying about the environment so much that he started a crusade to make a difference.

Since then, Clay, now 17, has won nearly 50 grants totaling $180,000 from organizations ranging from Walt Disney Co. to the Environmental Protection Agency to Sea World.

Along the way, the West Geauga High School senior also helped get a state law passed last year that essentially guarantees that Ohio elementary students will be taught about wetlands when they learn about the state symbols.

More heroes

Every year The Plain Dealer highlights people in Greater Cleveland who saw a need and stepped up to answer it -- sometimes risking injury to save lives, sometimes risking time and effort to make a change in the community. Here are the heroes of the past three years and a link to all of this year's stories.

Clay'sprojects include building nesting landings for osprey (an endangered bird), starting nature clubs for students in the West Geauga district's two elementary schools, planting vegetable gardens and courtyards at his middle school and high school, and getting emission-control devices installed on nearly two dozen buses in the school district.

He estimates that he has spent 2,000 hours on environmental causes since the seventh grade.

"It's worth it. I want these natural resources to be preserved," he said. "I want my kids to have the same natural resources that I had. I want my grandkids to have them, too.

"Whatever amount of work I have to do, it's completely worth it," he said.

Clay's mom, Irene, recalls that hebegged to go on a bird-watching excursion when he was in the fifth grade.

"It was so funny. Everyone else was retired," she said, "but Clay was fascinated." Among the topics: The endangered osprey -- a fish-eating bird with a 6-foot wingspan.

The grant mania set in a year later in 2005, after he learned that 90 percent of Ohio's wetlands have been destroyed in the last 100 years. Ospreys rely on wetlands.

Clay got the idea to build osprey nesting platforms, which sit on 50-foot-high poles in wetland areas, and his mom took him to Home Depot. Clay asked the manager if he could help out with the materials, which would have cost about $150. The manager told Clay that if he wrote a letter explaining the project, Home Depot would donate the materials. The rest is history.

Mike Sustin, an environmental-science teacher at West Geauga High School, recalled that Clay next started researching online where he could get grants to build more nesting platforms, and found an application from Disney.

Clay was awarded $1,000 from Disney to build the platforms.

"The projects just got bigger after that," Irene McMullen said. "People began to call him. So it just kind of snowballed."

Clay's biggest grant was a $64,000 prize from the EPA to get diesel multistage filters installed on the schooldistrict's buses. "The amount of particulate from those buses is pretty alarming," he said.

He also got the school board to adopt a "West G is Idle Free" policy that prohibits idling in the parking lot for more than 30 seconds.

What about parents waiting to pick up their kids on cold days? Clay helped secure a grant last year to buy green micro-fleece blankets to distribute to people waiting in cold cars.

Sustin considers Clay's slickest achievement to be the five-year quest he undertook with a few of his environmentally minded friends to ensure that students statewide would learn about and appreciate wetlands.

They persuaded the Ohio legislatureto name the spotted salamander, which lives in wetlands, as the state's official amphibian -- guaranteeing that wetlands are part of every fourth-grade science class.

"That was a great strategy," Sustin said. "As a 20-year educator, I don't know that I could have come up with that idea."

While a kid who's extremely science-minded and has a grade point average above 4.0 could be considered a little nerdy, Clay is one of the most popular students, said Principal David Toth.

As he prepares to leave for college next year, Clay is training younger students to continue his environmental work.

"I think we can provide an example to show that you can be active and try to contribute and make a difference," he said.

Plain Dealer news researcher Jo Ellen Corrigan contributed to this story. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tmurray@plaind.com, 216-999-6315

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Clay McMullen, teen passionate about saving the environment: Community Heroes 2011 (video)

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Like a lot of boys, Clay McMullen always enjoyed fishing and rock-climbing around his home in Geauga County's Chester Township. But starting about a half-dozen years ago, at age 11, Clay began worrying about the environment so much that he started a crusade to make a difference.

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Newsela: Teen activist killed fighting a silver mine to save land

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Newsela: Teen activist killed fighting a silver mine to save land

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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EarthTimes: Various Articles on Pollution

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EarthTimes: Various Articles on Pollution

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A fire burns trees and brush along the road to Jacunda National Forest, near the city of Porto Velho in the Vila Nova Samuel region, which is part of Brazil's Amazon. (Eraldo Peres/AP)

As Brazil and the world mobilize soldiers and finances in response to a wave of wildfires in the Amazon, far more is at stake than Brazil's international reputation.

The Amazon - nearly four times the size of Alaska - is a vast sink for storing carbon dioxide and a key element of any plan to restrain climate change. Any increase in deforestation there would speed up global warming as well as damage an important refuge for biodiversity.
Want to know how your actions can help make a difference for our planet? Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.
Studies show the 2.2 million-square mile rainforest in the Amazon is nearing a tipping point, at which large fragmented portions of the rainforest could transform into an entirely different, drier ecosystem, leading to the acceleration of climate change, the loss of countless species and disaster for the indigenous populations that call the tropical rainforest home.

What does the Amazon have to do with the fight to slow climate change?

The trees and plants of the Amazon forest pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as part of photosynthesis. Destruction of the forest releases carbon stored in the trees and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide used by them.

Cap. Mario Vergotti with the Rondonia State firefighters in Brazil said Aug. 26 that the numerous small fires blazing in the Amazon present a challenge. (Video: The Washington Post)

"The Amazon forest holds something like 90 billion tons of carbon, and if that ends up in the atmosphere it's not a good thing," says Thomas Lovejoy, senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation and professor of environmental science at George Mason University.

Paulo Moutinho, senior fellow at the Woods Hole Research Center, says that would equal a decade's worth of global carbon emissions at current rates.

The world's atmosphere is currently holding about 415 parts per million of carbon, and the destruction of the Amazon would add roughly 38 parts per million, Lovejoy estimates.

The August fires in the Amazon Rainforest have already had a devastating impact and there could be dire long-term environmental effects. (Video: The Washington Post)

"It's a big number," Lovejoy says, and the destruction of the rainforest would turn the Amazon into grasslands and savanna.

What caused the recent outbreak of Amazon fires?

People.

Unlike the United States and Canada, where many wildfires are ignited by lightning strikes during the summer, large fires are not a typical, natural occurrence in the Amazon, particularly during non-drought years such as this one.

Instead, most fires in the Amazon are caused by humans, set either accidentally or intentionally.

Brazil's National Institute for Space Research found the country has lost more than 1,330 square miles of forest cover to development since January, when President Jair Bolsonaro took office. That is a 39 percent increase over the same period in 2018. July in particular featured a huge spike in forest loss, with an area larger than the city of Los Angeles lost in a single month.

Who would want to harm the Amazon?

The biggest economic interest groups eating away at the Amazon are cattle grazers and soybean growers. "Directly after deforestation, mostly what we see is pasture," said Mikaela Weisse, a fellow at the World Resources Institute. Later, soybean growers expand by taking over pasture lands.

Mining, timber and development firms are also eyeing the region for expansion, encouraged by Bolsonaro's election.

Scientists are working to discern how many of the fires are burning on the border of deforested land that had been previously cleared to make way for cattle grazing or growing crops, especially soybeans.

Weisse says satellite photos show a "special pattern where we see a lot of fire hotspots clustered around roads, agriculture and pasture areas that have already been cleared. This confirms the idea that it's mostly due to humans."

Is this year's surge in fires unusual?

In the first eight months of the year, the number of fires in the Amazon has climbed to 156,000, the highest number since 2010, according to the Global Forest Watch.

Before that some years were worse than the current one. The Global Forest Watch's records go back to 2001, and the number of fires was greater in 2002-05 and 2007. That is why international efforts - led by major donors Norway and Germany - pressured Brazil to change its policies.

Brazil's government took action in 2004 and again in 2012 to discourage runaway deforestation - and in large part it succeeded. It bolstered law enforcement, protected more lands and penalized counties that did not reduce deforestation rates. Private companies also pledged to eliminate agricultural products raised on deforested lands from their supply chain.

From 2005 to 2014 deforestation rates dropped by 75 percent, Carlos Nobre, a senior researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, said in an email. "That was the greatest reduction in CO2 emissions on the planet," he said.

In 2015, then-President Dilma Rousseff pledged to restore 46,332 square miles of Brazil's forests - an area about the size of England - by 2030 while it also pursues "policies aimed at eliminating illegal deforestation."

But emissions actually increased instead, Nobre says, knocking out any chance of Brazil meeting its Paris accord targets of reducing annual rates to less than 1.2 thousand square miles by 2030.

Now Bolsonaro sees the Amazon as a place to develop, including a series of environment-altering dams. Roads and human settlement will follow. "Let's use the riches that God gave us for the well-being of our population," Bolsonaro said on a visit to the Amazon, where he proposed opening up an ecological reserve to mining.

Brazil initially spurned international community's offer of $22.2 million to fight the fires. Would it be enough?

Fighting thousands of fires in remote areas is an extremely challenging task that is likely to require thousands of people and many aircraft.

The cost of fighting wildfires in the American West last summer, where there are far more structures at risk, ran into the hundreds of millions. So a commitment of $22.2 million is largely a symbolic down payment and an expression of global concern. It will take far more money to put these fires out and, more importantly, prevent new ones from flaring up as farmers and ranchers seek to burn felled trees during the rest of the dry season.

As it stands, a feud erupted between French President Emmanuel Macron and Bolsonaro, who has said he would not accept any money until he gets an apology from Macron.

Is Brazil the only Amazon country seeing an uptick in fires now?

No. Fires are burning in other parts of the Amazon as well as other forest ecosystems in the region, including Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru. But most of the international attention has been focused on Brazil, which contains about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest.

How long have fires been burning in the Amazon and what will it take to extinguish them?

The most recent fires in the Amazon broke out suddenly in early August, with a spike recorded by satellite imagery and reports from the ground during the first two weeks of the month. This coincides with the start of the dry season, which tends to last through October, as well as the typical surge in slash and burn agricultural operations. But scientists say the dry season, an annual event, has not been unusual.

As for what it is going to take to put out the fires, that is unclear. The sheer number of fires presents a huge challenge, though many of the fires are concentrated along existing roadways.

Ultimately, Moutinho says, stopping the fires requires changing the root causes: deforestation and slash and burn agriculture.

"The fire is a consequence of deforestation and if you're not going to address this deforestation you are just going to make some treatment that doesn't make any kind of effect in the long-term," he said.

What's all the fuss about 'fake' photos posted on social media?

Several viral images circulated on social media were not actually from this year, but from earlier years. For example, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, whose foundation works on rainforest conservation, shared a photo that was found to be from a stock photo catalogue taken as long ago as 2003. Macron and Greta Thunberg, the Swedish student climate activist, used the same photo. Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo posted a different photo from an earlier year.

But some only saw those errors as evidence of the long-running problem. After posting an image from Aug. 19, 2019, one reader tweeted "They're still burning!!!"

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What you need to know about the Amazon rainforest fires

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As Brazil and the world mobilize soldiers and finances in response to a wave of wildfires in the Amazon, far more is at stake than Brazil's international reputation. The Amazon - nearly four times the size of Alaska - is a vast sink for storing carbon dioxide and a key element of any plan to restrain climate change.

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Deforestation and Forest Degradation | Threats | WWF

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Learn how you can help support WWF’s conservation work which addresses direct and indirect threats, including deforestation, in order to conserve biodiversity and reduce humanity’s ecological footprint.

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Video: Santa Monica Teens Saving the Environment

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Video: Santa Monica Teens Saving the Environment

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First, global markets consume rainforest products that depend on sustainable harvesting: latex, cork, fruit, nuts, timber, fibers, spices, natural oils and resins, and medicines. In addition, the genetic diversity of tropical forests is basically the deepest end of the planetary gene pool. Hidden in the genes of plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria that have not even been discovered yet may be cures for cancer and other diseases or the key to improving the yield and nutritional quality of foods-which the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says will be crucial for feeding the nearly ten billion people the Earth will likely need to support in coming decades. Finally, genetic diversity in the planetary gene pool is crucial for the resilience of all life on Earth to rare but catastrophic environmental events, such as meteor impacts or massive, sustained volcanism.

Soil Impacts

With all the lushness and productivity that exist in tropical forests, it can be surprising to learn that tropical soils are actually very thin and poor in nutrients. The underlying "parent" rock weathers rapidly in the tropics' high temperatures and heavy rains, and over time, most of the minerals have washed from the soil. Nearly all the nutrient content of a tropical forest is in the living plants and the decomposing litter on the forest floor.

When an area is completely deforested for farming, the farmer typically burns the trees and vegetation to create a fertilizing layer of ash. After this slash-and-burn deforestation, the nutrient reservoir is lost, flooding and erosion rates are high, and soils often become unable to support crops in just a few years. If the area is then turned into cattle pasture, the ground may become compacted as well, slowing down or preventing forest recovery.

Social Impacts

Tropical forests are home to millions of native (indigenous) people who make their livings through subsistence agriculture, hunting and gathering, or through low-impact harvesting of forest products like rubber or nuts. Deforestation in indigenous territories by loggers, colonizers, and refugees has sometimes triggered violent conflict. Forest preservation can be socially divisive, as well. National and international governments and aid agencies struggle with questions about what level of human presence, if any, is compatible with conservation goals in tropical forests, how to balance the needs of indigenous peoples with expanding rural populations and national economic development, and whether establishing large, pristine, uninhabited protected areas-even if that means removing current residents-should be the highest priority of conservation efforts in tropical forests.

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First, global markets consume rainforest products that depend on sustainable harvesting: latex, cork, fruit, nuts, timber, fibers, spices, natural oils and resins, and medicines. In addition, the genetic diversity of tropical forests is basically the deepest end of the planetary gene pool.

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Climate change has caused an 89% decrease in new coral in the Great Barrier Reef, study finds

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“We used to think that the Great Barrier Reef was too big to fail – until now”

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Kelsey Juliana is proof that you're never too young or too busy to save the planet.
The 18-year-old environmentalist activist is a co-plaintiff for the Oregon TRUST (a nonprofit fighting climate change for future generations), who is suing the state of Oregon "to take a more aggressive stance against the carbon emissions warming the earth and destroying the environment." It's a cause she's been fighting for since the tender age of 15.
The impressive teen - who is also walking across America to bring awareness to global warming - recently sat down with journalist Bill Moyers on his show. The host marveled that when most kids her age are reading "The Hunger Games," this young lady is delving into legal briefs about public doctrine.
During a poignant portion of the interview at the 4:30 mark below, Moyers asks, "Do some of your friends in high school think you're weird [for your activism]?"
Juliana responds, "No. They seem to all support me but not join me, which is almost worse than not supporting me, you know, because they get it. And they don't do anything."
MORE: What Happens When a 13-Year-Old Girl Takes on an Oil Company?
What she says is completely true. Thanks to the proliferation of smart phones and social media, America's youth is probably more informed about worldly issues than ever (just think of the virality of #BringBackOurGirls or the ALS #IceBucketChallenge). And while using a hashtag to promote a cause certainly helps, ultimately, actions speak much louder.
With warmer temperatures, rising sea levels and toxic air, we cannot afford to stand idle. Especially, the people who will be inheriting the earth.
As Juliana says, "I think that's so important that people my age really get [that] into their heads. As a younger person, I have everything to gain from taking action and everything to lose from not... It's important that youth are the ones who are standing up because of the fact that we do have so much to lose."

DON'T MISS: When it Comes to the Planet, Children (Not the Government) Really Are the Future

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This Teen Activist Is Suing the Government Over Climate Change

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Skip to content Kelsey Juliana is proof that you're never too young or too busy to save the planet. The 18-year-old environmentalist activist is a co-plaintiff for the Oregon TRUST (a nonprofit fighting climate change for future generations), who is suing the state of Oregon "to take a more aggressive stance against the carbon emissions warming the earth and destroying the environment."

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Youths bring lawsuits to stop climate change

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Youths bring lawsuits to stop climate change

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Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Tropical coral reefs are the most diverse marine ecosystems on earth, giving shelter to thousands of animal species. Many millions of people depend on fisheries, tourism and coastal protection provided by healthy coral reefs. Yet today, coral reefs are dying at an alarming rate all around the globe

Corals build the reef structure and provide the basis for a functioning coral reef ecosystem. Without corals, reefs will degrade and vanish within years. At present, coral reefs are facing multiple stresses such as pollution, overfishing, and, overall, the ongoing climate change―consequently raising sea water temperatures and causing coral bleaching worldwide. As a result, over 50 percent of the world's coral reefs have died in the last 30 years and up to 90 percent may die within the next century-very few pristine coral reefs still exist.

The impact of our changing climate on coral reefs was manifested by the third global bleaching event in 2015/16. This event has caused a mass die-off of corals; for example along the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately, there is a clear pattern of severe bleaching events increasing in frequency, to a point where there is now inadequate intervals for corals to recover in between.

A world without corals means not only will we have a less diverse and less beautiful ocean, but it will also be an economic disaster for many people-predominantly in developing countries. Fisheries and tourism provide important livelihoods that directly depend on healthy coral reefs. Reefs are nurseries for many fish species, including commercial ones, and attract millions of tourists every year. Coral reefs offer natural coastal protection, especially in areas frequently impacted by hurricanes and tropical storms. The great biodiversity of coral reefs serves as an important source for new medicinal remedies.

Altogether, coral reefs comprise an area of almost 300 000 km² and are estimated to have an economic value of US$100 000 - 600 000 per km², thus providing one of the most high-value ecosystems. Coral reefs are among the most complex ecosystems and are revealing the degraded status of coastal environments. Their alarming status represents the poor health of our oceans and if coral reefs disappear other marine realms will follow.

Corals have existed for more than 400 million years; yet stresses and changes from human activities are happening faster than their ability to adapt. Corals may not survive the intensity and swiftness of these ongoing changes. A matter of vital importance is sexual reproduction of corals; as it is for most species. Sexual reproduction maintains genetic diversity and, in turn, enables species to adapt to a naturally dynamic environment in the long-term. Corals under stress are likely to stop sexual reproduction, which puts their survival at risk.

SECORE is working to give coral reefs a future.

Apart from urgent action to mitigate climate change on a global scale, it is increasingly evident that traditional conservation measures are inadequate to ensure the survival of this essential ecosystem. If we want to give coral reefs a fighting chance to survive and thrive for generations to come, we need active restoration measures to complement coral reef conservation.

Together with our lead partners, we initiated the Global Coral Restoration effort in 2017 to accelerate the development of new tools, methods and strategies to make coral restoration viable on larger thus meaningful scales.

SECORE's mission is to create and share the tools and technologies to sustainably restore coral reefs worldwide.

You can make a difference: your donation is vital for us to continue where we excel - creating the tools to sustainably restore coral reefs around the world.

read more:

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coral reefs are the most diverse marine ecosystem

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secore is working to give coral reefs a future

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SECORE International | Why coral reefs need our help

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Tropical coral reefs are the most diverse marine ecosystems on earth, giving shelter to thousands of animal species. Many millions of people depend on fisheries, tourism and coastal protection provided by healthy coral reefs. Yet today, coral reefs are dying at an alarming rate all around the globe

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By Justin Worland | Photographs by XL Catlin Seaview Survey

Richard Vevers has traveled the globe to photograph coral reefs since quitting his advertising job. In 2011 he cofounded the XL Catlin Seaview Survey, a collaboration between the University of Queensland and a number of research institutions, photographing underwater corals as they adapt to climate change. He captured the Great Barrier Reef during its latest-and most devastating-mass die-off, and documented how coral off the coast of Belize had partially recovered thanks to a no-fishing zone.

But no dive has stunned Vevers as much as the sight of corals going white during an early March dive in the New Caledonia Barrier Reef, located about 1,000 miles from Australia's better-known Great Barrier Reef.

Coral die-offs-caused by a process known as bleaching-tend to look as bland and lifeless, in contrast to the vibrant rainbow colors of thriving coral. Bleached coral reefs usually appear as an endless stretch of white coral and eventually turn to dead brown coral. But in New Caledonia Vevers found something different.

The corals he captures lit up fluorescently as their color left them slowly but surely. The crew captured the moment using their underwater SVX camera system-a technology that captures 360-degree imagery underwater. "In the past people simply haven't gone to the right location at the right time," says Vevers. "I was blown away... I've never seen something so beautiful, but it's dying."

on your phone? Click "360" then move

The bleaching in New Caledonia represents just a small fraction of the total bleaching that has occurred across the globe since 2014. The ongoing bleaching event is the worst ever, with reefs affected from Florida to Australia, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It's also the longest bleaching event in recorded history, and scientists say it shows no evidence of ending any time soon. With the Our Ocean conference scheduled to start today in Washington, there's no better time to focus on one of the biggest threats to aquatic health.

A number of factors-from water pollution to disease-can irritate corals, causing them to expel the colored algae known as zooxanthellae that they live with symbiotically. Warm water temperatures caused by a combination of long-term climate change and short-lived weather phenomena like El Niño deserve the blame for the current bleaching episode.

Last year beat out 2014 as the warmest year on record and 2016 is on track to be even hotter. On top of that, sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific rose by more than 2°C (3.6°F) during the latest occurrence of the El Niño climate phenomenon. It only takes a sustained water temperature spike of 1°C (1.8°F) above average to upset corals and lead to bleaching.

"Rather than just being a single event tied to a single El Niño there has been continual bleaching in the Pacific," says Mark Eakin, a NOAA coral reef scientist. "It's unlike anything we've ever seen before."

The corals in the New Caledonia Barrier Reef have been lucky by most measures-a drop in local temperatures has allowed many of them to recover. But corals in other locations haven't been so fortunate. A recent survey of some areas of Australia's Great Barrier Reef suggested that more than a third of the corals in the region might have died, leaving a marine graveyard behind.

"The soft corals were just decomposing-animals literally dripping off the rocks," says Vevers of his dive in the Great Barrier Reef. "The most horrifying part was that we just absolutely stank of rotting animals. That's when you really realize that reefs are made up of billions of animals."

A full global accounting of how many corals have survived the latest bleaching episode will take months, if not longer, but coral scientists expect the worst. The consequences of losing coral reefs are catastrophic for the oceans. There's a reason scientists describe reefs as the rainforests of the sea.

Reefs occupy just 1% of the world's marine environment, but they provide a home to a quarter of marine species-including a unique set of fish, turtles and algae. Many of these species could be lost permanently, but with temperatures only expected to rise in the coming decades chances are slim that reefs will be able to rebuild from scratch.

"You can't grow back a 500-year old coral in 15 years," says Eakin. "In many cases, it's like you've killed the giant redwoods."

The death of coral also represents a huge loss-as much as $375 billion annually-for the local economies along the globe they support. Reefs support local tourism and the commercial fishing industry. They also protect coastlines from flooding during extreme storms.

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of coral loss is what it suggests about the future. The fragile nature of coral reefs leaves them hypersensitive to climate change, but ecosystems above ground and beneath the ocean will also be vulnerable to rising temperatures in the coming years and decades. And while humans can still stave off the worst effects of climate change, some level of warming remains inevitable.

"If you think of corals as canaries [in a coal mine], they're chirping really loudly right now," said Jennifer Koss, NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program director, at a recent press conference. "The ones that are still alive, that is."
Graphic sources: World Resources Institute; XL Catlin Seaview Survey; NOAA Animation by Heather Jones for TIME

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Explore This Coral Reef Before it Disappears

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An underwater investigation of coral bleaching in the South Pacific

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Find the best eco-friendly advice for parenting infants to teens, plus tips on pregnancy, activities, family dynamics, and environmental education.

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