Antarctic Ice Missing, Arctic Peatlands Expanding, Nuts to Feed the World and more

Midsummer in the Northern hemisphere marks the dead of winter in Antarctica, usually a time when temperatures plunge and the surrounding ocean ices over, nearly doubling the continent’s size. But this June, scientists found Antarctica’s west coast was missing a chunk of sea ice the size of France. How unusually warm ocean water is affecting sea ice as well as massive Antarctic glaciers.

Also, recent findings that peatlands are expanding northward as the Arctic warms might sound like good news, since peat has powerful carbon storage capabilities. But it takes millennia for peat to sequester large amounts of carbon, while we are burning fossil fuels far more quickly than the Earth can absorb.

And much of the world’s staple crops of corn, wheat, rice and soy are grown in huge monocultures that disrupt ecosystems and require massive amounts of fertilizer, pesticides, fossil fuels and water. The author of ‘Feed Us with Trees: Nuts and the Future of Food’ offers a more sustainable vision of food production. She shares how nut trees can offer alternative sources of starch, protein and healthy fats that integrate well into local ecosystems and can help feed a growing population.

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Don’t miss the next virtual Living on Earth Book Club event on Tuesday, July 14 at 5 pm PDT / 8 pm EDT! We’ll talk with Yurok activist and attorney Amy Bowers Cordalis about how multiple generations of her family have advocated for the protection of Northern California’s Klamath River, a crucial habitat for salmon and the lifeblood of the Yurok tribe. Her book is The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family’s Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life. You can sign up for this free event at loe.org/events.

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