LONG MEMORIES LEAD TO LONGER LIVES FOR ELEPHANTS
The old saying “an elephant never forgets” is not only true; research shows that long memories may be a key survival tool.
A new study in the journal Biology Letters reports that elephant herds with the oldest females will likely be more resilient as climate change brings more frequent and intense droughts to the African savanna. Researchers found that during a 1993 drought in Tanzania, fewer calves died in two herds whose females were older than a third herd. It’s thought that the older matriarchs, having survived the severe drought of 1958 to 1961, remembered where they’d gone to find distant sources of food and water. The third herd, which did not travel to find water, had a matriarch that was only 33 years old – too young to have experienced that drought.
This underscores not just the value of the elderly and their knowledge, but an added reason to protect elephants from poachers, who often kill the oldest animals for their larger tusks.
EASE UP ON THE ELDERLY
Climate change will hit some groups harder than others – poor people in developing countries are one example. But there is another vulnerable demographic that governments have largely failed to consider: the elderly.
Seniors will be more susceptible to the spread of diseases, evacuations from storms and floods, and the stress of heat waves – note that the majority of the 14,000 deaths during the 2003 heat wave in Europe were elderly people in France. And just as global warming is guaranteed, so is our aging population – compounded by the fact that seniors, who tend to stay at home with the heat on, have particularly large carbon footprints.
Which is why governments need to start thinking now about ways to address the specific needs of seniors – such as improving public transport networks and making them free for seniors, or by improving insulation and energy efficiency in their homes.
“Even if you took climate change out of the equation you’d want to do those things anyways to improve their quality of life – and everyone would benefit,” says Gary Haq of the University of York in the U.K. and author of Growing Old in a Changing Climate, published last week.
The elderly tend to have a lot more time for volunteering and charitable work, as well as activism, adds Mr. Haq, citing the Green Grannies in the U.S.
“They could become our best champions for climate change action.”
ASSAULT ON THE AMAZON
The world’s largest and most diverse rain forest is being slated for oil and gas extraction – and Canadian companies are playing a big part.
A new study in the August issue of the journal PLoS ONE documents that more than 180 oil and gas “blocks” have been zoned for hydrocarbon exploration in the western part of the Amazon, covering an area the size of Alberta across Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia. The study, based on government data, “is to our knowledge the first time somebody has put information together from these different countries for a look at the entire Amazon,” says co-author Matt Finer of Save America’s Forests.
Moreover, these blocks overlap with the most biodiverse areas of the Amazon and the territories of indigenous groups who have never had outside contact. With the encroachment of roads and the ensuing deforestation, both the forests and the people will be at risk – typically up to half a population will die from newly introduced diseases once contact with the outside world is made.
The most dramatic changes will take place in Peru, where the number of blocks to be explored has risen from 8 in 2003 to 64 today, covering 72 per cent of the Peruvian Amazon; 58 of the blocks are home to indigenous tribes.
The development has already led to conflict: The Peruvian government declared a state of emergency on Monday after spear-wielding protesters from 65 different tribes occupied a hydroelectric plant and oil pipelines and clashed with police.
“It was surprising to see how many Canadian companies are involved in Peru, and how many are involved in the most controversial blocks,” says Dr. Finer. Of the 48 blocks that have already been contracted to private companies, 12 covering more than 100,000 square kilometres have been licensed to Canadian companies, such as Talisman Energy, Petrolifera, and Pacific Stratus Energy.
In March this year, Talisman’s CEO declared the company would not operate without the consent of the local people, after a delegation from the Achuar people gate crashed its annual general meeting in Calgary.
STREET HEAT
Cities are hotter than the countryside, by up to six degrees Celsius due to the “heat island effect” caused by concrete roads and parking lots that absorb and retain heat. So why not put that heat to good use, says Rajib Mallick of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.
Lacing asphalt with copper pipes, says Prof. Mallick, could create hot water or drive turbines to generate electricity. As well, the temperature of the asphalt would decrease, lessening the heat island effect at the same time.
Although the energy per square centimetre from asphalt would be less than that generated by rooftop photovoltaic solar panels, the sheer expanses of available asphalt would generate many times more power. And as roads typically need to be resurfaced every 12 years, there are ample opportunities to install the pipes relatively cheaply, costing between $20 and $50 per square metre.
“I’m not saying we should cover up everything with asphalt, but if it’s already there we can use it to create energy,” says Prof. Mallick, whose research was presented at the International Symposium on Asphalt Pavements and Environment in Zurich, Switzerland this week.