Sunny climate, stormy climate | Weekly Digest #37
Scientists brought a bird back from extinction and are now teaching it migration routes, Namibia is culling animals in national parks and heat is now a major indicator for food inflation in India!
Hello folks! Here’s your weekly dose of climate updates where I bring to you 3 climate stories, 1 climate action and 1 climate content reco!
🌞 Sunny news 🌞
1. The bald Ibis came back from extinction. Scientists are now teaching these birds to migrate.
What are we talking about?
The Northern Bald Ibis (or the Waldropp) went extinct in central Europe around the 1700s due to excessive hunting.
These birds were brought back from extinction thanks to breeding efforts by conservationists.
However, without the guidance of their ancestors, the birds were struggling to figure out which direction to fly to in winter. Instead of returning to familiar wintering grounds like Tuscany, they ended up going in different directions and dying.
So scientists (who have taken up the role of ‘bird moms’) have been teaching the migratory journey from Bavaria to Tuscany to these young chicks. They fly in a small aircraft with a yellow parachute and the birds follow!
The first generations have already bred in the wild, and taught their offspring the migratory path they learned from humans.
But the climate crisis is making this migration challenging once again. The Ibis now migrate later in the season, which forces them to cross the Alps in colder, more dangerous weather.
In response, scientist piloted a new route in 2023, from Bavaria to Andalusia in southern Spain and are now guiding the younger birds along the new route.
Why does this matter?
This effort could pave the way for other migratory species that are threatened by the climate crisis
Sources for further reading
What can ‘I’ do? 😎
This is a new section that will bring to you a simple action you can do as a step towards leading a more sustainable life
Collect and re-use reject water from RO water purifiers!
If you live in an Indian city, there is a good change you use an RO water purifier at home (think Kent, Aquaguard, Eureka Forbes).
An RO water purifier rejects 3 liters of water for every 1 liter of clean water it delivers. So if your household uses 20 liters of water every day (drinking and cooking) you are wasting 60 liters of water daily!
What can you do?
You can collect and re-use the RO water for a variety of purposes. Even if you can’t set up a tank (like the image above), you can simply collect all the water coming out of the reject pipe in a vessel.
Some easy uses are -
For cleaning floors
In the washing machine
To wash utensils
To water plants
🌩️ Stormy news 🌩️
2. Namibia to kill 700+ wild animals for food as the country faces its worst drought in 100 years.
What are we talking about?
Namibia has announced that it will be culling 700+ animals ( including 30 Hippos, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas, 100 blue Wilderbeast, 300 Zebras, 83 elephants and 100 elands) to provide for meat for its citizens
This is part of the country’s drought relief program as the country is running out of food to feed its 2.5 mn citizens
“This exercise is necessary and is in line with our constitutional mandate where our natural resources are used for the benefit of Namibian citizens,” a statement from the country’s environment ministry read.
Why does this matter?
This extreme step is just another indicator of how severe the drought in Namibia is.
About 84 % of the country’s food reserves have been exhausted as a result of the drought, with nearly half of the 2.5 mn population expected to experience high levels of food insecurity during the lean season from July to September.
Namibia is dependent on agriculture and livestock which need rain to flourish and hence the drought has seriously endangered food security of the country.
Sources for further reading
3. Heat may become a better indicator of food inflation than rains
What are we talking about?
A report ‘India: Feeling the heat’ by HSBC shows ‘heat’ emerging as a critical driver of food inflation in India and says it may overtake rainfall that has historically been the primary driver.
Key findings in the report -
The correlation between temperatures and cost of perishable staples such as fruit and vegetables in the country rose to 60% this year from 20% in 2014
It’s not just vegetables. Livestock mortality has also shot up as a result of heatwaves and is affecting production of egg, milk and meat.
Why does this matter?
Analysts have historically looked at reservoir levels to predict food inflation. However, improved irrigation systems can mitigate the impacts of scarce rainfall, while there is currently no solution to shield crops from extreme heat.
As average temperatures and incidents of extreme heatwaves are expected to increase this can seriously impact food inflation and core inflation.
Sources for further reading
Sailee’s climate picks
In this section, I bring to you 1 piece of climate content I’d like to recommend that could be books, article, podcasts, movies etc.
This was a brilliant photo-exhibition by photographer Gregg Segal where he photographed people with 7 days of their trash collected around them.
See the full exhibition here
In case you missed, a piece I wrote last week: How the humble toilet is fighting climate change
You can read previous editions of the newsletter -
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #36
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #35
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #34
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