If you care about conservation, read this

For the past decade and a half, a team led by Cambridge University conservation biologist William Sutherland has engaged scientists and practitioners from around the world in a unique annual activity: conducting a horizon scan to identify the top emerging technological, political, economic and related shifts most likely to have a substantial effect on biodiversity around the world in the year ahead. Over the years, the list has helped illuminate intended and unintended consequences in a way that offers benefit to both policy and practice. This year’s horizon scan includes 15 key issues looming over biodiversity in 2024: Hydrogen: Heyday or Mayday? As efforts to allay climate change grow, hydrogen is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to conventional fuels. The extent to which tapping this alternative energy source benefits biodiversity, however, depends on how the hydrogen made. Hydrogen produced from natural gas continues reliance on climate-disrupting fossil fuels; production using freshwater or seawater as feedstock or tapping natural underground reservoirs poses potential unintended consequences in the form of habitat destruction or disruption. And unless hydrogen production, distribution and deployment systems are designed with care, they could end up contributing greenhouse gases of their own. Special effort will be needed to ensure the benefits outweigh the harms in ramping up this mixed-bag climate solution. Ammonia Dilemma Ammonia is a key ingredient in agricultural fertilizer. It also takes massive amounts of energy — currently largely derived from fossil fuels — to produce. A novel technique that involves spraying tiny droplets of water onto a magnetic mesh holds promise for dramatically reducing the cost and greenhouse gas footprint of ammonia production and so mitigating climate change. However, it also poses potential threats. For one, cheaper, lower-carbon ammonia production could spark an increase in fertilizer use and so the threat of air and water pollution. In addition, because fertilizer enhances soil microbes’ ability to produce nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, the net climate benefit could be far less than anticipated at first glance. Mmm Mmm Microbes  The search for environmentally friendlier food sources has turned to the tiny — with huge implications for… Read More
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