[MCN] 90% of us exposed to consequences of combined drought + heat, spring heatwaves take summer water, and it’s a tough life for US birds

[Lance Olsen]

Nature Sustainability <https://www.nature.com/natsustain>  05 January 2023 <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#article-info>
Future socio-ecosystem productivity threatened by compound drought–heatwave events
Jiabo Yin <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#auth-Jiabo-Yin>, Pierre Gentine <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#auth-Pierre-Gentine>, Louise Slater <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#auth-Louise-Slater>, Lei Gu <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#auth-Lei-Gu>, Yadu Pokhrel <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#auth-Yadu-Pokhrel>, Naota Hanasaki <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#auth-Naota-Hanasaki>, Shenglian Guo <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#auth-Shenglian-Guo>, Lihua Xiong <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#auth-Lihua-Xiong> & Wolfram Schlenker <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-01024-1#auth-Wolfram-Schlenker> 
Abstract
Compound drought–heatwave (CDHW) events are one of the worst climatic stressors for global sustainable development. However, the physical mechanisms behind CDHWs and their impacts on socio-ecosystem productivity remain poorly understood. Here, using simulations from a large climate–hydrology model ensemble of 111 members, we demonstrate that the frequency of extreme CDHWs is projected to increase by tenfold globally under the highest emissions scenario, along with a disproportionate negative impact on vegetation and socio-economic productivity by the late twenty-first century. By combining satellite observations, field measurements and reanalysis, we show that terrestrial water storage and temperature are negatively coupled, probably driven by similar atmospheric conditions (for example, water vapour deficit and energy demand). Limits on water availability are likely to play a more important role in constraining the terrestrial carbon sink than temperature extremes, and over 90% of the global population and gross domestic product could be exposed to increasing CDHW risks in the future, with more severe impacts in poorer and more rural areas. Our results provide crucial insights towards assessing and mitigating adverse effects of compound hazards on ecosystems and human well-being.

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Spring heat waves drive record western United States snow melt in 2021

Daniel J McEvoy2,1 and Benjamin J Hatchett1

Environmental Research Letters <https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326>Published 5 January 2023 • © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd
DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/aca8bd

OPEN ACCESS
Article PDF <https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aca8bd/pdf> 
84 Total downloads

Abstract
Throughout the western US snow melted at an alarming rate in April 2021 and by May 1, hydrologic conditions were severely degraded with declining summer water supply forecasts compared to earlier in the winter. The objectives of this study are to (a) quantify the magnitude and climatological context of observed melt rates of snow water equivalent (SWE) and (b) underpin the hydrometeorological drivers during April 2021 based on atmospheric reanalysis and gridded meteorological data. Peak SWE indicated snow drought conditions were widespread (41% of stations between 5th and 20th percentile) but not necessarily extreme (only 9% of stations less than 5th percentile). Here, using observations from the Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) network we found record 7 day snow melt rates (median of −99 mm; ±one standard deviation of 61 mm) occurred at 24% of SNOTEL sites and in all 11 Western states. Strong upper atmospheric ridging that began initially in the north Pacific with eastward propagation by mid-April to the Pacific Northwest Coast led to near-surface conditions across the western US conducive to rapid snow loss. 
One heat wave occurred inland across the Rockies the first week of April and then later in April, a second heat wave impacted the Cascades and northern California. We find that ripening of the snowpack by both record high surface solar radiation and air temperatures were factors in driving the rapid snow melt. Equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures and the La Niña pattern that peaked in winter along with an eastward propagating and intensifying Madden–Julian Oscillation were likely responsible for driving the placement, strength, and progression of the north Pacific Ridge. This study documents the role of two extreme spring 'sunny heat wave' events on snowpack, and the cascading drought impacts which are anticipated to become more frequent in a warming world.


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ABC News                             January 5, 2023
National Bird Day: These are some of the species most at risk of extinction in the US

"It's a tough time to be a bird right now," one expert said.

By Julia Jacobo <https://abcnews.go.com/author/julia_jacobo>

Opening paragraphs
As the United States marks National Bird Day on Jan. 5, the majority of bird species in the U.S. face a grim future in coming decades if environmental efforts, such as mitigating climate change and decreasing habitat degradation and loss, are not implemented on a larger scale.

More than half of bird species in the U.S. are in decline, with plummeting populations across nearly all habitats, according to the U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative's 2022 State of the Birds <https://www.stateofthebirds.org/2022/> report published in October.

About 70 species of birds have lost at least half of their populations in the past 50 years, and are poised to lose the other half in the next half-century if conservation efforts are not significantly ramped up, the report states. Those 70 species are not yet listed as threatened or endangered, but are at a tipping point, according to the report.

"It's a tough time to be a bird right now," Dustin Partridge, director of conservation science at New York City Audubon, told ABC News.

Birds face human-induced threats, such as climate change, disruption of natural systems, habitat loss, poaching, poisoning, outdoor cats, collisions into glass windows and the severe decline of bug populations, which many bird species feed on, according to experts.

But it's important to note that because of the significant challenges all birds face, there should not be individual focus on saving one species of bird, but aim to promote the conservation of all, Partridge said.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/national-bird-day-species-risk-extinction-us/story?id=96131401 <https://abcnews.go.com/International/national-bird-day-species-risk-extinction-us/story?id=96131401>
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“Undoing the Clean Power Plan could be just the beginning   …   Also in the crosshairs are many other environmental statutes passed in the 1970s, 
such as the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act.”

“Preservation of these statutes must not get lost in the potential clamor over the Clean Power Plan. They are the foundation of environmental policy 
and were the response to dangerous environmental degradation. With hostility toward these regulations at the federal level, vigilant focus on these 
laws is required at the state and local level as well as by the broader public.”

Rood, R. B. (2016), Take the long view on environmental issues in the age of Trump

Eos,Published on 01 December 2016. 
<<https://eos.org/opinions/take-the-long-view-on-environmental-issues-in-the-age-of-trump>>


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