Google Earth has a new application that shows carbon dioxide in different layers of the earth’s atmosphere. Tyler Erickson, a geospatial researcher at the Michigan Tech Research Institute in Ann Arbor, responded to a competition call from Google asking scientists to present research results using KML, a data format used by Google Earth. This is what he came up with – an app that illustrates for us the carbon cycle, a deeper understanding of which can impact everything from mainstream understanding of carbon emissions to environmental policy.

Erickson said, “I tried to think of a complex data set that would have public relevance.” NASA reports that it lead him to work with data from NASA-funded researcher Anna Michalak of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Michalak develops complex computer models to trace carbon dioxide back in time to where it enters and leaves the atmosphere. With this information, we now have a great visual way to see and understand the carbon cycle, seeing in color where carbon dioxide is cycled into the earth through plants and water or where it hangs in the higher levels of the atmosphere.

To get at this information, a network of 1,000 foot towers with carbon dioxide-measuring equipment Read the full story

Yolandi Groenewald M&G

South Africans should brace themselves for a severely water-stressed future, a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report on the world’s ecological footprint warned this week.

The influential international report has been released every two years for the past decade.

In 1996 it warned that the world was heading for ecological disaster. The latest report paints an even bleaker picture of the future if consumers cannot curb their hunger for resources.

A new feature is the inclusion of a water footprint. The report finds that about 50 countries face moderate or severe water stress and that the number of people suffering from year-round or seasonal water shortages is likely to increase because of climate change.

“South Africa will be one of the countries hardest hit by water scarcity in 2025,” said Deon Nel, WWF Sanlam Living Waters Partnership manager. “A shortage of water will not only affect economic growth — there won’t be enough water for some people to live on.” Read the full story

A report released today by California’s Pacific Institute estimates that reasonable water conservation improvements on the state’s farms could save a huge amount of water–far more than what farmers have been forced to relinquish to protect fish habitat during the state’s ongoing drought. The amount that could be saved, 1.8 trillion gallons annually, is more than 15 times the size of the municipal supply of San Francisco.

The report, Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future, provides considerable ammunition to environmentalists their fight with farmers over the West’s dwindling water resources. In the midst of the third year of drought in California, growers are blaming endangered species laws for crimping their water supply and contributing to more than $1 billion in lost revenue this summer. Though they’ve used their plight to call for weakening environmental regulations and building more dams and reservoirs, the report suggests their efforts are misplaced. Smarter conservation has allowed some growers “to increase their income, crop yields, and production, even during drought,” says Pacific Institute president Peter Gleick. “Such success stories offer the state a vision of what a healthy agricultural future might look like.”

The water conservation methods that the Gleick studied are already in use in the state, though many farmers cling to older practices. For example, 60 percent of crops in California are still irrigated by flooding the field, even though drip irrigation methods can easily halve water use. The report also suggests that farmers apply less water to crops during drought-tolerant growth stages and use sensors that can detect when soil is dry.

These ideas can seem far-removed from our lives until we realize that the products we consume account for more than 90 percent of our daily water use, far more than what comes out of our taps. I explore this idea in “What’s Your Water Footprint,” a piece in the current issue.  The Pacific Institute and other environmental groups eventually hope the concept of a water footprint will catch on much as carbon footprints have. The idea could be used to reward farmers who do the right thing, either with tax breaks, loans, or a premium for the products they sell.

The case for looking at carbon footprints and water footprints together is stronger than ever. A new study from the University of Colorado found that climate change creates a 50 percent chance that the reservoirs supplied by the Colorado River, the West’s main water source, could run dry by 2057. If that happens, all the water conservation technology in the world still probably won’t save us.