All over the world, floods have been increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change.

A new study led by researchers at University of British Columbia (UBC) shows that protecting key ecosystems across Canada could reduce the risk of flooding in over half of urban areas in the country that are at high risk.

The study presents a global roadmap for the integration of nature-based solutions into flood management and urban planning, a press release from UBC said.

“This is the first national study to assess the role of Canadian ecosystems in flood prevention and to identify where conservation could have the greatest impact,” said Dr. Matthew Mitchell, an assistant professor of forestry and land and food systems at UBC, in the press release.

The research demonstrates that protecting the most essential five percent of watersheds, which equates to roughly two percent of Canada’s total land — 201,000 square kilometers — can greatly reduce the amount of rainwater runoff, protect croplands and safeguard homes and livelihoods.

Upstream watersheds near cities like Toronto and Vancouver play a major role in the protection of 3.7 million people who live in floodplains, as well as another 20.1 million residents nearby — over half the country’s population.

The research team used global data to analyze how land types such as wetlands, forests and riparian zones reduce runoff and absorb water.

These natural systems improve water quality, support wildlife and prevent downstream flooding, while lowering the reliance on dams and other destructive and costly infrastructure.

“Nature-based solutions are highly effective for managing flood risks, and this study shows exactly where conservation can make the biggest impact,” Mitchell said in the press release.

The researchers identified British Columbia (BC) ecosystems that are vital for flood prevention, including alpine and subalpine ecosystems that help prevent downstream flooding and regulate water flow in the Columbia and Coast Mountains; wetlands and forests in the Similkameen and Okanagan Valleys, which safeguard important agricultural areas and expanding population centers; and Fraser River Delta wetlands — including peatlands like Burns Bog — which are essential for Lower Mainland flood protection.

Highway 99 adjacent to Burns Bog. B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure

Outside of BC, in the prairie provinces of Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan, the research team recommended the protection of grasslands and wetlands in important river watersheds like the Saskatchewan and Red Rivers.

In the Northern Regions, they suggested prioritizing the conservation of wetlands and ecosystems in areas such as the Northwest and Yukon Territories.

In Southern Ontario, the team recommended safeguarding Great Lakes wetlands and major rivers in cities like Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto to reduce flood risks.

Canada has promised to protect 30 percent of its lands by 2030, but just eight percent of the country’s ecosystems that are most crucial for flood protection are currently being preserved. The research team called for more funding and stronger conservation policies to make these high-impact areas a priority.

“This research makes it clear that conserving nature isn’t just about biodiversity—it’s also about protecting communities and making cities more resilient to climate change,” Mitchell said.

The study, “Flood prevention benefits provided by Canadian natural ecosystems,” was published in the journal Ecosystem Services.

The post Safeguarding Natural Areas Can Protect Cities From Flooding, Canadian Study Finds appeared first on EcoWatch.

Cruise ships are producing higher levels of toxic air pollutants than they did before the pandemic, according to a new study by the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E).

The analysis, “Europe’s luxury cruise ships emit as much toxic sulphur as 1bn cars,” found that despite the introduction of a sulphur cap four years ago, the 218 cruise ships operating in European waters in 2023 emitted the sulphur oxide (SOx) equivalent of a billion cars, a press release from T&E said.

“The pandemic provided some respite for port cities, but this is now well and truly over. Cruising is back and tourist hotspots like Barcelona and Athens are again choking on toxic air pollution from cruise ships. Venice has shown that tackling cruise ship pollution is possible, but bans aren’t the only way. Ports can significantly reduce pollution levels by forcing ships to plug into electricity at the port instead of running their engines, and by supporting the adoption of zero-emission fuels,” said Constance Dijkstra, T&E shipping campaigner, in the press release.

In comparison with 2019, the sheer number of cruise ships, how much time they spent in the vicinity of ports, as well as the amount of fuel they consumed, all rose by 23 to 24 percent. This led to a nine percent increase in SOx emissions, a 25 percent increase in particulate matter 2.5 and an 18 percent jump in nitrogen oxide emissions.

“The larger companies have more vessels and bigger ships,” said Jacob Armstrong, T&E shipping policy manager, as The Guardian reported. “But bigger isn’t better when it comes to emissions.”

The report found that the most polluted European port was Barcelona, followed by the coastal port of Civitavecchia — northwest of Rome — and Piraeus in Greece. Cruise ships in Barcelona emitted nearly three times the SOx than all the city’s cars. In Europe, SOx limits for cars are 100 times stricter than those for ships.

Air pollutants produced by cruise ships at Venice’s port fell 80 percent after the city banned large cruise vessels. T&E said it proves air pollution can be dealt with, but greater electrification of ports will be necessary “to save lives.”

“Venice, on the other hand, improved significantly,” the press release said. “The most cruise polluted port in 2019 dropped to 41st last year following a ban on large cruise ships entering the port that was introduced in 2021, leading to an 80% fall in SOx emissions.”

Even with Venice’s emissions falling, Italy still surpassed Spain as the European country with the most pollution from cruise ships. Norway had the most cruise traffic, though with smaller ships, and came in fourth in cruise ship pollution overall.

The operator spewing the most pollution was MSC Cruises. The company’s ships emitted almost as much SOx as Europe’s total from passenger vehicles. Including its subsidiaries, the biggest polluter was the Carnival group.

MSC and many other cruise lines have sought a cleaner alternative in liquified natural gas (LNG), with over 40 percent of the cruise ships ordered so far in 2024 powered by LNG. While the ships may produce less air pollution, they are still extremely destructive from a climate standpoint because their engines leak methane — a gas that has more than 80 times the heat-trapping capacity of carbon dioxide. As an example, P&O Cruises’ MS Iona emitted the same amount of methane as 10,500 cows produce in over a year.

“Switching from oil to gas is like trading smoking for alcohol. It may help the cruise ship industry to reduce air pollution but it is terrible from a climate perspective,” Dijkstra concluded.

The post Europe’s Cruise Ships Produce Toxic Sulphur Emissions Equivalent to 1 Billion Cars, Study Finds appeared first on EcoWatch.

The question of how intelligent plants and fungi are has been increasingly explored by scientists, as they have delved into the capability of these lifeforms to perceive and communicate with each other and the outside world.

A new study has found that fungi can not only perceive, but learn, have memories, solve problems and make decisions.

“You’d be surprised at just how much fungi are capable of,” said Yu Fukasawa, as assistant professor in the graduate school of agricultural science at Tohoku University, in a press release from Tohoku University. “They have memories, they learn, and they can make decisions. Quite frankly, the differences in how they solve problems compared to humans is mind-blowing.”

When you see mushrooms growing on the surface of soil, the small umbrella-like caps are really the fruiting bodies of an expansive underground mycelium below. The mycelium is an intricate and complex fungal network germinated and formed by spores. This subterranean web of long, spidery threads spreads underground like roots and is similar to the brain’s neural connections.

In the study, the researchers looked at how a mycelial network growing on decaying wood responded to two distinct situations: wood blocks arranged in a cross arrangement versus in a circle.

If the fungi did not have decision-making skills, they would spread out from the center without being affected by the placement of the blocks. However, this is not what happened.

“For the cross arrangement, the degree of connection was greater in the outermost four blocks. It was hypothesized that this was because the outermost blocks can serve as ‘outposts’ for the mycelial network to embark in foraging expeditions, therefore more dense connections were required,” the press release said. “In the circle arrangement, the degree of connection was the same at any given block. However, the dead center of the circle remained clear. It was proposed that the mycelial network did not see a benefit in overextending itself in an already well-populated area.”

But how were the fungi in the study able to perceive the blocks?

“Probably through touch and ‘taste,’ Fukasawa told EcoWatch in an email. “While contact certainly influences mycelial behavior, they likely need to ‘taste’ the wood blocks to recognize them as a resource. This ‘tasting’ could involve secreting enzymes to break down the wood surface (e.g., cellulose) and absorb the resulting low-molecular sugars (e.g., glucose). Additionally, fungi may also ‘smell’ the wood, meaning they can detect volatile chemicals released, which might either promote or inhibit mycelial growth.”

Fukasawa said the question of whether fungi have memories is “a poorly explored but fascinating topic.”

“There may be several mechanisms of fungal memory, with the longevity of the memory potentially depending on the specific mechanism. One possibility is cellular-level memory, based on organelle dynamics such as the cytoskeleton and aggregates of small vesicles (called Spitzenkörper), which may produce relatively short-term memory,” Fukasawa told EcoWatch. “Studies suggest that memory of growth direction at the hyphal tip could be maintained for at least the length of a 100 µm hyphal growth. However, if memory is stored through other mechanisms, such as epigenetic changes in cellular activity, it could last longer.”

The findings suggest that the network of mycelia could communicate information regarding its surroundings throughout the whole fungal network. The mycelium was also able to alter its direction of growth based on the shape of the blocks.

“Our comprehension of the mysterious world of fungi is limited, especially when compared to our knowledge of plants and animals. This research will help us better understand how biotic ecosystems function and how different types of cognition evolved in organisms,” the press release said.

Fukasawa told EcoWatch that, not only are fungi important to ecosystems, they also help mitigate climate change.

“The main known functions of fungi in ecosystems are categorized as decomposers, symbionts, and pathogens. These functions often overlap (i.e., a single fungal species can perform more than one function), and all are important to ecosystem processes. However, when we focus on mitigating climate change, their role as decomposers is undoubtedly the most significant,” Fukasawa explained. “Decomposer fungi break down plant carbon polymers into low-molecular-weight carbon compounds for energy, eventually releasing CO2 through respiration. Thus, decomposition is a process that releases CO2 into the atmosphere.”

Fukasawa said there are two different kinds of wood decomposition: white rot and brown rot. With white rot, the wood’s cellulose and lignin are broken down, and with brown rot, just the cellulose is broken down, while the lignin remains intact.

“These different types of decomposition can affect the amount of CO2 released during the process. Additionally, recent studies show that a diverse decomposer fungal community actually slows down wood decomposition, suggesting that higher diversity among decomposer fungi may reduce CO2 emissions from forest ecosystems,” Fukasawa told EcoWatch.

What can people do to better support fungal networks?

“I believe forest fragmentation is a significant issue. Networks of some fungi can spread over areas larger than 900 hectares across the forest floor. In such cases, forest fragmentation directly disrupts fungal networks,” Fukasawa said. “While fungi can spread through airborne spores, maintaining direct connections via mycelial networks is also crucial. Similar to plants and animals, creating green corridors between fragmented forests could help support fungal networks. This is important because fungal mycelial networks can transport a variety of materials and information, which may help improve locally degraded environments and enhance the overall functioning of the ecosystem.”

The study, “Spatial resource arrangement influences both network structures and activity of fungal mycelia: A form of pattern recognition?” was published in the journal Fungal Ecology.

The post ‘Mind-Blowing’: Study Shows Fungal Networks Can Solve Problems and Make Decisions appeared first on EcoWatch.

The COP29 United Nations Climate Conference extended into overtime on Friday, as the offer by the world’s richest countries of $250 billion annually by 2035 to assist poorer nations struggling with the most dire effects of the climate crisis was rejected as inadequate.

“I’m so mad. It’s ridiculous. Just ridiculous,” said Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, Panama’s special representative for climate change, as Reuters reported. “It feels that the developed world wants the planet to burn.”

Representatives from nearly 200 nations at the summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, have been given the goal of coming to an agreement on a financing plan to deal with climate change. However, deep divides created by the world’s richest governments not wanting to pay as much and developing nations pressing for more have mired the talks.

A European negotiator told Reuters that the draft deal figure by the summit presidency was “uncomfortably high” and did not adequately expand the number of contributing countries.

“No one is comfortable with the number, because it’s high and (there is) next to nothing on increasing contributor base,” the negotiator said.

Nations that would need to lead the financing after a final deal is reached include the United States, the European Union, Australia, Britain, Japan, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and New Zealand.

The draft deal also invited voluntary contributions from developing countries.

Gómez told The Guardian that the $250 billion split between all the developing countries needing assistance was paltry.

“This is definitely not enough. What we need is at least $5tn a year, but what we have asked for is just $1.3tn. That is 1% of global GDP. That should not be too much when you’re talking about saving the planet we all live on,” Gómez said. “It comes to nothing when you split it. We have bills in the billions to pay after droughts and flooding. What the heck will $250bn do? It won’t put us on a path to 1.5C. More like 3C.”

Yalchin Rafiyev, lead negotiator from Azerbaijan, told reporters that the draft deal “doesn’t correspond to our fair and ambitious goal, but we will continue to engage with the parties,” as reported by Reuters.

The current draft set a broader target of raising $1.3 trillion annually for climate finance by 2035, including funding from all private and public sources.

Economists have said developing countries need to be able to access a minimum of $1 trillion per year by 2030, and criticized the $250 billion goal as too low.

“This goal will need to be supported by ambitious bilateral action, MDB contributions and efforts to better mobilise private finance, among other critical factors,” said a senior U.S. official, in reference to multilateral development banks, as Reuters reported.

The current climate financing pledge of $100 billion annually will expire next year. A new target must be agreed upon to ensure poorer nations that are the most vulnerable to climate change will have the funds they need.

“We are far away from the $1.3 trillion,” said M Riaz Hamidullah, a foreign office official from Bangladesh. “It’s a bit like haggling in the fish market, which we do often in our part of the world.”

The COP29 presidency said Friday’s draft text was a “first reflection” of what nations had expressed in consultations, with hope negotiators would soon come to an agreement.

“The proposed target to mobilize $250 billion per year by 2035 is totally unacceptable and inadequate,” said Chair of the African Group of Negotiators Ali Mohamed, as reported by The Washington Post.

The post As COP29 Winds Down, Poorer Nations Reject Wealthy Countries’ Offer of $250B to Assist With Climate Crisis They Created appeared first on EcoWatch.

Many animals — from bees to bats and lizards to lemurs — are pollinators, but have you ever seen a wolf happily licking the cone of a flower?

Ethiopian wolves have been observed foraging for nectar from the Ethiopian red hot poker flower, with some of the canids visiting up to 30 blooms in one round, a press release from University of Oxford said.

It is a newly documented behavior for the wolves, and when they partake of the unusual treat, their muzzles get covered in pollen, which could potentially be transferred from flower to flower.

The process is possibly the first known interaction of a plant and pollinator involving a large predator. Ethiopian wolves are also the only large carnivore predators to have ever been seen feeding on nectar.

“These findings highlight just how much we still have to learn about one of the world’s most-threatened carnivores. It also demonstrates the complexity of interactions between different species living on the beautiful Roof of Africa,” said lead author of the study Dr. Sandra Lai, a University of Oxford-based senior scientist with the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP), in the press release. “This extremely unique and biodiverse ecosystem remains under threat from habitat loss and fragmentation.”

The rarest of the world’s wild canid species, the Ethiopian wolf is Africa’s most threatened carnivore. Only found in the highlands of Ethiopia, fewer than 500 of these beautiful creatures remain, restricted to 99 packs living in six Afroalpine enclaves.

During the study, EWCP researchers discovered evidence of the wolves using social learning, with juveniles accompanying adults to the flower fields.

“I first became aware of the nectar of the Ethiopian red hot poker when I saw children of shepherds in the Bale Mountains licking the flowers. In no time, I had a taste of it myself — the nectar was pleasantly sweet. When I later saw the wolves doing the same, I knew they were enjoying themselves, tapping into this unusual source of energy,” said Professor Claudio Sillero, founder and director of EWCP, in the press release. “I am chuffed that we have now reported this behavior as being commonplace among Ethiopian wolves and explored its ecological significance.”

The study, “Canids as pollinators? Nectar foraging by Ethiopian wolves may contribute to the pollination of Kniphofia foliosa,” was published in the journal Ecology.

Founded in 1995, EWCP is Ethiopia’s longest-running conservation program, with the purpose of protecting the wolves and their habitat. The program — a partnership between University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Dinknesh Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority — aims to preserve natural habitats for wildlife and humans in Ethiopia’s highlands.

The post Ethiopian Wolf Is First Known Large Predator-Pollinator to Feed on Nectar appeared first on EcoWatch.