Alpine Solaranlagen sollen eine große Zukunft haben. Besonders in der Schweiz gibt es Pläne für große Projekte. Doch bis jetzt existiert im gesamten Alpenraum erst eine Freiflächen-Anlagen, die am Netz ist: diejenige im Tiroler Pitztal in Österreich. Alex Reichmuth hat die Anlage besucht und berichtet nun im Nebelspalter in zwei Teilen über die Anlage: Teil 1, Teil 2
Beeindruckende Konstruktion auf Stahlstelzen
Zuhinterst im Tiroler Pitztal geht es mit einer unterirdischen Standseilbahn hoch auf 2900 Meter über Meer. Mit bis zu vierzig Kilometer pro Stunde saust die sogenannte Gletscherbahn im engen Tunnel bergauf.
Oben angekommen, empfängt mich eine atemberaubende Bergwelt, die in gleissendes Sonnenlicht getaucht ist. Doch wo ist die Solaranlage? Heiko Rauch, technischer Betriebsleiter der Pitztaler Gletscherbahn, geht mit mir einige Schritte von der Bergstation weg. Wir drehen uns um und erblicken nun die Photovoltaik-Module, die an der Bergflanke gleich über der Station angebracht sind.
Weiterlesen im Nebelspalter: Teil 1, Teil 2
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Robin Millard auf phys.org:
La Nina ending but warming El Nino may strike soon: UN
An exceptionally long La Nina weather phenomenon that intensified drought and flooding is finally ending, the United Nations said Wednesday—but what comes next might bring its own problems.
The outgoing La Nina phenomenon, a cooling of surface temperatures that can have a widespread impact on global weather conditions, started in September 2020.
However, despite La Nina’s cooling effect, both 2021 and 2022 were warmer than any year prior to 2015.
Now El Nino, its warming opposite in the cycle, El Nino, could be on the way this year, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said in its quarterly update.
The WMO said that after an unusually stubborn and protracted La Nina dragged on for three consecutive years—a so-called triple-dip—there was a good chance El Nino would develop in June-August.
„The first triple-dip La Nina of the 21st century is finally coming to an end,“ said WMO chief Petteri Taalas.
Weiterlesen auf phys.org
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Poornima Weerasekara auf phys.org:
China ramps up coal plant approvals despite emissions pledge: report
China last year approved the largest expansion of coal-fired power plants since 2015, according to a study published Monday, despite its vow to begin phasing down use of the fossil fuel in just three years.
The coal power capacity that China began building in 2022 was six times as much as that in the rest of the world combined, the report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in Finland and the Global Energy Monitor (GEM) added.
„China continues to be the glaring exception to the ongoing global decline in coal plant development,“ GEM research analyst Flora Champenois said.
„The speed at which projects progressed through permitting to construction in 2022 was extraordinary.“
China is one of the world’s biggest emitters of the greenhouse gases driving climate change, such as carbon dioxide (CO2).
President Xi Jinping has pledged that China will peak its CO2 emissions between 2026-2030 and reduce them to net zero by 2060, moves seen as essential for keeping global temperature rise well below two degrees Celsius.
Weiterlesen auf phys.org
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Offshore wind halt urged by Native Americans seeking sway
The largest lobbying group for Native Americans in the US demands Washington put offshore wind development on hold after complaints tribes have been cut out of the process.
Weiterlesen bei Bloomberg News
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Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz:
„Klimapeitsche“ hat vor 8.000 Jahren an der kalifornischen Westküste die Waldbrände verstärkt
Tropfsteine helfen bei Erforschung des früheren Klimas / Hydroklima-Schwankungen und verstärkte Brände stehen in Zusammenhang
Um die zukünftige Klimaentwicklung besser abschätzen zu können, versucht die Forschung Hinweise aus vergangenen Zeiten aufzudecken und zu analysieren. In einer internationalen Forschungskooperation haben Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler nun die Misox-Schwankung vor rund 8.200 Jahren anhand von Tropfsteinen aus der White Moon Cave in Nordkalifornien untersucht. Neuartige Indikatoren zeigen, dass in Kalifornien die Schwankungen zwischen extremer Nässe und Trockenheit einerseits und die Waldbrände andererseits eng miteinander verbunden waren. Dieses Phänomen dürfte mit dem menschenverursachten Klimawandel voraussichtlich zunehmen, erwarten die beteiligten Forschenden von der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (JGU), der Vanderbilt University in Nashville, USA, und der Northumbria University im britischen Newcastle upon Tyne. Die Arbeit wurde in Nature Communications veröffentlicht.
Tropfsteine dienen als wertvolle Klimaarchive
Der Klimawandel und seine Auswirkungen auf unsere Jahreszeiten, den Wasserhaushalt, die Vegetation und die Böden sind bereits heute deutlich spürbar. So übersteigt zum Beispiel schon jetzt die Anzahl und Intensität von Waldbränden in semiariden Regionen wie dem westlichen Nordamerika die historischen Aufzeichnungen.
Wie sieht aber die Entwicklung in der Zukunft aus? Um das vorhersagen zu können, ist es hilfreich, das Klima der Vergangenheit besser zu verstehen. Gut datierte und sehr weit zurückreichende Klimaarchive konservieren kleinste Spuren chemischer Verbindungen, die Aufschluss über kontinentale und regionale Änderungen des Klimas und der vorherrschenden Umweltbedingungen geben. Zu den am besten datierten und detailliertesten Klimaarchiven gehören unter anderem Tropfsteine aus Höhlen, sogenannte Speläotheme. Insbesondere Stalagmiten sind aufgrund ihrer gleichmäßigen Wachstumsform von Interesse.
Mithilfe zweier neuartiger Markersubstanzen, Levoglucosan und Ligninoxidationsprodukten (LOP), ist es den Forschenden aus Mainz, Nashville und Newcastle upon Tyne gelungen, die Feueraktivität und die Vegetationszusammensetzung im Kalifornischen Küstengebirge während der Misox-Schwankung vor über 8.000 Jahren zu rekonstruieren. Die Misox-Schwankung war eine mehrere Hundert Jahre anhaltende Kältephase, die zuerst in den Schweizer Alpen durch pollenanalytische Untersuchungen und später auch in grönländischen Eiskernen nachgewiesen wurde. Studien deuten darauf hin, dass innerhalb dieser Periode die Niederschläge im Westen Nordamerikas viel stärker variierten als üblich. Diese wilden Schwankungen sind symptomatisch für ein Phänomen, das als „Klimapeitsche“ bezeichnet wird und das nach Ansicht vieler Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler mit der Erwärmung der Erde wahrscheinlich zunehmen wird.
Stärkere Feueraktivität und stärkere Bewaldung als Folgen der Hydroklima-Schwankungen
„Die nun publizierten Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass sowohl die Vegetationszusammensetzung als auch die Waldbrandaktivität direkt auf diese Klimapeitsche reagieren“, erklärt Julia Homann, Doktorandin im Arbeitskreis von Prof. Dr. Thorsten Hoffmann an der JGU. Erhöhte Levoglucosan-Konzentrationen deuten auf eine verstärkte Feueraktivität hin, während die veränderte LOP-Zusammensetzung auf eine Verschiebung hin zu einer stärker bewaldeten Vegetation während der Misox-Schwankung hinweist. Diese Veränderungen waren direkte Folgen einer stärkeren Klimapeitsche, also stärkeren Schwankungen des Hydroklimas.
„Beides, Klimapeitsche und Waldbrandaktivität, werden mit dem von uns verursachte Klimawandel voraussichtlich stärker werden“, so Homann. Damit ähnelt das regionale Klima zunehmend dem vor rund 8.000 Jahren, wenn auch unter ganz anderen Vorzeichen. „Damals wurde die Klimapeitsche durch natürliche Umweltschwankungen bewegt, heute ist es der Mensch, der die Klimapeitsche schwingt“, bemerkt Homann, Forscherin am Department Chemie der JGU.
Paper: J. Homann et al., Linked fire activity and climate whiplash in California during the early Holocene, Nature Communications 13: 7175, 23. November 2022, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34950-x
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Nicole De Wet- Billings, University of the Witwatersrand, auf The Conversation:
Climate change is not what South Africans see as their main problem: a survey breaks it down
Climate change is a major threat to food production, and is displacing people and increasing the risks to health globally. Addressing climate change requires vast resources, including financial investment to decarbonise economies and produce food sustainably. Above all, it requires international cooperation and commitment – based on an accurate understanding of the relevant issues.
However, less developed countries also have competing challenges. In South Africa, for example, poverty, inequality, violence and access to education and employment tend to overshadow climate change efforts.
In 2022, the South African government started thinking about how to incorporate environmental challenges in the national budget using evidence from 11 ongoing projects. This is an important step towards treating climate change as a national priority. However, at present other socioeconomic challenges plaguing the population are at the centre of the government’s national spending.
This is understandable. In South Africa, one in every four women aged 18–49 years old has experienced violence from an intimate partner. HIV prevalence is at 13.5% and current unemployment is the highest in many years at 33.9%. South Africans regard these as urgent issues warranting immediate attention. They are reflected in the country’s National Development Plan.
All these concerns are linked, however. Climate change poses an additional risk to current and future endeavours to protect livelihoods, grow the economy, and prevent disease and loss of life. It’s therefore important to know what the public thinks about environmental issues and the value of addressing them.
This was the motivation for my study of the attitudes of South Africans towards environmental issues in relation to competing socioeconomic challenges.
The study used the 2017 South African Social Attitudes Survey of a nationally representative sample of people. In the survey, 3,173 adults chose what they saw as the three most important challenges in South Africa at the time. Environmental issues were on the list they could choose from.
Environmental issues did not appear in the top 10 most important challenges they identified. Only 0.09% of the respondents reported environmental issues as the most important priority in the country. The environment ranked 17th among respondents’ top priorities. The highest ranked issues were unemployment, HIV and crime.
Analysis of responses revealed that 77.62% of respondents had negative attitudes towards the environment and 22.37% had positive attitudes.
The survey results suggest that South Africans would rather see efforts go into tackling other challenges – even though climate change will intensify those challenges. The results also suggest where efforts to change perceptions could focus.
The survey was carried out five years ago and the COVID-19 pandemic has since had a huge impact on people’s lives. So it is possible that if asked today, climate concerns might rank even lower in the list of priorities for the South African population.
Attitudes and perceptions about environmental concerns
The study population were adults, aged 16 years and older, of both sexes and all races, geographical locations and nationalities. Results were controlled for these demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
Participants responded to three questions:
- what they saw as South Africa’s three most important challenges (in order)
- whether “people’s taxes” were being used for the environment
- whether more taxes should be spent on the environment.
Out of all the respondents, 65% listed unemployment (1st), 15% stated HIV/AIDS (2nd) and 11% cited crime and safety (3rd) as the top three challenges in the country. Only 0.09% of the respondents listed the environment as their top priority. This last group of respondents were all male.
Environmental issues did not appear in the top 10 of the second or third most important challenges either.
The list of second most important priorities was led by: crime and safety; service provision; corruption. Here, environment came in at 15th (1.04%). Of those who ranked environment 2nd, 69% were female.
The list of third most important issues was dominated by: poverty; corruption; education. Environment was 10th (3.18%), with a more even mix of male and female.
Participants who ranked social challenges as a main priority were also more likely to have positive attitudes towards environmental challenges. This shows there is a common group within the population that could be targeted for environmental and social change movements.
Among respondents who believed that more tax money should be spent on the environment, 62.28% were male and 37.72% female.
Males and urban residents were more likely to have negative attitudes to environmental issues than females and rural residents.
The groups that were inclined to be negative about the environment were: older than 16-19; female; black; less educated; unemployed.
The finding that females do not prioritise environmental challenges as much as males is an opportunity to inform females about the immediate benefits that climate change strategies could present to the care and daily functioning of their households. About 42% of households in South Africa are headed by females.
Implications for climate change efforts
These results tell us that economic, social and health competing interests currently overshadow environmental interests in South Africa. This is justifiable at present, but many of these issues will be exacerbated by climate change in the future, adding another challenge to the country’s development prospects.
Second, efforts to reduce the competing challenges could create an opportunity for more awareness around environmental change and development concerns.
Strategies that focus on including females and rural residents, among others, should be developed to inform and assist the public to reduce carbon footprints and create sustainable technologies.
In doing so, there are two important factors to remember. Interventions should not cost the public more and make the population more vulnerable. And the solutions sought and information communicated should be suited to the population’s livelihoods, food production and consumption needs, and economies. That is, an African led strategy and solution is required.