Fuelling the fire

Deep clouds and long shadows viewed from the International Space Station.                  NASA

Climate change denial thrives on manipulated language and disinformation. While sceptics exploit misunderstandings, California’s recent wildfires have proved the deadly reality of climate change. A new study confirms these fires were significantly more likely due to global warming, yet denial persists through cherry-picked data and misinformation.

WORDS wield power and nowhere more so than in the animated discourse on environmental crises. Yet, as California's recent infernos have tragically illustrated, the consequences of misinterpreting or dismissing climate terminology are anything but abstract. 

Disinformation is rampant in today’s world of social media and so-called authoritative media commentary, which is often anything but expert. 

It’s time the mainstream media dissected the language that fuels denial and confronts the clear evidence linking our planet’s escalating disasters to human-induced climate change.

The words "weather", "meteorology" and "climate change" are not synonyms, and understanding the latter as a comprehensive term highlights the complex and multifaceted nature of the challenges we face. 

It's not just about temperatures rising; it's about the cascading effects on weather systems, ecosystems and human societies.

Terms like "climate crisis" or "climate emergency" have emerged to underscore the urgency of the situation, emphasising that these changes are not distant or abstract but immediate threats requiring prompt action. 

And this evolution of climate-related terminology reflects our growing understanding of these phenomena. 

Rhetoric of dismissal
Dismissing such expressions as mere rhetoric ignores the scientific consensus and the lived experiences of communities in all parts of the world already impacted by climate-related disasters.

Whereas “global warming" and "climate change" are often used interchangeably infact they convey different aspects of our planet's environmental shifts.

"Global warming" refers specifically to the increase in Earth's average surface temperature due to rising levels of greenhouse gases. 

In contrast, "climate change" encompasses this warming but also includes the broader range of changes affecting our planet's climate systems, such as alterations in precipitation patterns, increased frequency of extreme weather events and rising sea levels.

Focusing solely on "global warming" can lead to oversimplification, allowing sceptics to argue against the reality of climate change by pointing, for example, to localised cold weather events such as snowstorms or cold snaps. 

This distinction is crucial and is one so often lost on the conspiracy theory and denier community who ply their views freely and without reference or accountability on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter).

Definition of denial
By definition, a climate change denier is a person or entity that rejects, downplays or misrepresents the current overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is occurring and is primarily caused by human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

Climate change deniers typically fall into one or more of the following categories:

•    Outright deniers – those who claim that climate change is a hoax, a conspiracy, or not happening at all, often ignoring or distorting scientific evidence.

•    Minimisers – individuals who acknowledge that the climate is changing but argue that it is part of a natural cycle, downplaying the role of human activities.

•    Delay tacticians – people who accept that climate change is real and human-caused but argue against immediate action, claiming that solutions are too expensive, ineffective or unnecessary.

•    Cherry-pickers – those who selectively use data or specific weather events (such as a cold winter) to argue against long-term climate trends.

•    Misinformation spreaders – individuals, corporations or organisations (often linked to fossil fuel industries or politically motivated groups) that deliberately spread misleading or false information to sow doubt and delay climate action.

Many climate change deniers rely on disinformation, pseudoscience and economic or political motivations rather than peer-reviewed research to support their views and their influence, particularly through online media and political lobbying, has significantly delayed meaningful action on climate change, worsening its consequences.

Tangible impacts
The devastating wildfires that swept through Los Angeles in January 2025 serve as a stark illustration of the tangible impacts of climate change. 

A new study by World Weather Attribution analysed the conditions leading to these fires and found compelling evidence of human-induced climate influences.

It revealed that the hot, dry conditions preceding the fires were approximately 35 percent more likely due to the effects of climate change.

Additionally, the region experienced significantly reduced rainfall in the months leading up to the fires, a trend also linked to global warming. 

These factors combined to create an environment primed for wildfires, which were then exacerbated by the Santa Ana winds – strong, dry gusts that blow from inland towards the coast.

Historically, the arrival of winter rains in California would dampen vegetation and reduce fire risk during the Santa Ana wind season.

The study also noted a troubling shift: the wildfire season is extending, and the anticipated rains are diminishing. This prolongation of dry conditions into periods traditionally considered safer underscores the evolving nature of climate-related threats.

The consequences were catastrophic. The fires resulted in at least 28 fatalities and destroyed over 16,000 structures, marking them among the most destructive in Southern California's history. The rapid spread and intensity of the fires overwhelmed firefighting efforts, highlighting the challenges of responding to such unprecedented events.

Critically, the study emphasised that while natural factors like the Santa Ana winds have always played a role in Southern California's fire regime, the increasing frequency and severity of such fires cannot be explained without accounting for human-induced climate change.

This aligns with broader scientific consensus that links rising global temperatures to more extreme and unpredictable weather patterns.

Deliberate distortions
The language we use to discuss environmental issues shapes our understanding and, consequently, our actions – and so is important.

Misinterpretations or deliberate distortions of terms like "global warming" and "climate change" help foster complacency or denial, despite empirical evidence – such as the recent California wildfires – demonstrating the impacts of climate change are real, immediate and devastating.

It's imperative to move beyond semantic debates and acknowledge the urgency of the crisis we face. The time for action, guided by clear understanding and informed by undeniable evidence, is not tomorrow but now. In many ways humanity’s future depends on it.

Spotting leaky pipes from orbit

PRIVATE utility Anglian Water, which supplies water services to around seven million people across eastern England and is under pressure to cut back on excessive wastage from leaky pipes, is turning to out-of-this-world technology for help.

The Huntingdon-based company is using space age technology, originally developed to detect water lying below the surface of Mars, the red planet, to locate hard to find underground leaks. Information gathered by the latest Earth-orbiting satellites is crunched by specialist computer algorithms and then turned into images as a way of helping engineers solve the costly environmental problem.

The system was first created to detect water on Mars and pioneering space firm Asterra is now redeploying its space know-how to help utility companies like Anglian Water solve a long-standing problem.

“It’s not just water that is wasted by leaking pipes – every drop also represents a substantial emission of carbon,” says founder and chief technology officer of the London and Tel Aviv-based company, Lauren Guy.

Anglian Water admits it loses 182 million litres of water per day across its network, an equivalent leakage of approximately 16-18 percent when compared to the amount of water running through the network each day.

“We recently used the Asterra technology to pinpoint some significant leaks that would never have been identified due to the relatively low percentage loss”, a company spokesperson said.

“These non-visible, underground leaks were in remote areas and would never have been reported by a customer, or indeed found using traditional detection sweeps.

“They often run through agricultural and rural farmland where traditional detection, or even smart distribution leakage technology, is difficult to use due to the lack of fittings and the sheer geographical size of an area.”

The water firm says the Asterra expertise allows it to use satellite data to detect leaks from otherwise difficult-to-inspect transfer pipes and trunk mains right across its system.

Before space technology stepped in, staff from water utility companies had to ‘walk the line’ in search of leaks, often manually inspecting mile upon mile of pipes each day in the hope of catching the sound of trickling water.

More modern techniques, such as installing acoustic sensors to listen automatically for leaking pipes are effective but can only cover limited areas before becoming cost prohibitive. Planetary scientists searching for the holy grail of Martian water then realised that orbiting spacecraft with special radar sensors could be used to spy out water lying below the red planet’s surface.

Asterra’s adaptation of this space-based solution for terrestrial use came after Guy realised that if satellite technology could locate water under the surface of Mars it could also be used to help track down water leakages closer to home. His discovery was made possible by sensors known in the space business as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which are used on many of the latest low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites and can peer through cloud and below Earth’s surface.

L-band SAR uses the motion of a radio antenna to build up images which typically cover areas of around 3,500 square km at a time. It works by transmitting radio frequency waves and recording what is reflected to the receiver, revealing details on the nature of the reflective material, including the moisture content of soil.

Asterra’s breakthrough relies on sophisticated data processing using proprietary geophysical modelling and analysis. “It allows us to pick up the signature of leaking water in densely populated urban areas packed with interferences to SAR imaging”, explains Guy. “The observations are much more than high-quality images and, since perfecting the art of extracting a signal from the noise, we can provide game-changing insights to the water industry.”

All this means city and county-wide systems for transporting drinking water and wastewater can be more easily analysed to identify subsurface leaks that otherwise go undetected. (See satellite image from JAXA at top of article with blue lines showing water pipes and yellow dots “points of interest” where satellite data indicates a leak).

“It goes without saying that if leaks can be plugged, then the volume of water saved can amount to an entirely new water source and the requirement to drill new wells, raise dams or invest in expensive desalination plants is significantly reduced,” says Guy.

“Cleaning, treating, pumping and distributing water is an energy-intensive process, and any water going to waste represents unnecessary greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere. Our mission is to help water infrastructure companies improve the distribution of clean water and cut back on waste.”

 Editor's note: an original version of this article was published on Central Bylines.

Sustainability lifeline

 

 

SPACE is a resource to be exploited for the benefit of all and undoubtedly holds many of the keys to humanity’s future. But though it might appear boundless and infinite it will not ultimately be to our advantage if we do not manage it in a sustainable way.

One of the most significant issues is the accumulation of space debris and, in this context, the first months of 2021 witnessed an unprecedented number of rocket launches. SpaceX alone notched up some 20 Falcon 9 launches between January and the end of May, a notable achievement in itself.

What is less clear, given the majority of these launches carried payloads of multiple smallsats to feed the company’s planned 12,000-strong Starlink constellation, is how much they are exacerbating the growing and still largely unaddressed debris problem.

There are still many unknowns relating to the proliferation of objects in Earth orbit, a fact that was highlighted by presentations at the annual European Space Debris Conference held virtually at the end of April [2021].

One paper identified a potential link between space junk and climate change - increasing levels of carbon dioxide could be lowering the density of the upper atmosphere, which may diminish the natural process whereby low Earth orbiting debris is naturally pulled downwards before it incinerates in the thicker, lower atmosphere.

Scientists studying this unexpected link between climate change and space debris propagation speculate that, in a worst case scenario, it could lead to increased orbital lifetimes of up to 40 years.

This could boost the amount of space debris as much as 50 times by the end of the century.
Such findings may heap further difficulties on the already complex problems faced by regulators wrestling with satellite operators amidst the headlong rush to deploy megaconstellations by the likes of SpaceX, Amazon and OneWeb in the west, as well as the Russian Sfera and Chinese Hongyan systems.

So how do we make space and our activities in it sustainable? Up to now the rules and regulations governing this are relatively weak. 

To be effective, space law regulations - backed by monitoring and a means of enforcement - must prevent as many potentially dangerous situations as possible from occurring. Legislation also needs to lay out a framework for responsibility and liability for when things go wrong.

Space law has largely worked so far because any issues have been few and far between and, on the whole, have been dealt with diplomatically.

As global populations grapple with the daily effects of climate change and pollution, the lessons of how we have mismanaged the environment and its resources are plain to see.

The same is true for space, even if the outcomes of our inactions today may only become apparent in the future.

While space sustainability has been a topic of discussion among academics and technologists for decades, the importance of protecting Earth’s orbital environment and the expanding sphere of our new domain has never been more relevant.

In the absence of robust, internationally agreed and long-term sustainability laws and guidelines, it is doubtful that commercial space companies, and some state players, can be relied on to police themselves in the space realm.

The questions surrounding space debris and the threat it poses become more urgent with every launch and, at present, the solutions on any level are far from certain. Now is the time to make sustainability a priority.

This Editorial by Clive Simpson was first published in ROOM Space Journal (#28), Summer 2021.

Silent Spring

Rachel Carson - Silent Spring.

THEY have entranced generations with the beauty of their songs and glimpses of their plumage - but now the sound of the linnet and the vision of a turtle dove are becoming increasingly rare experiences for visitors to the European countryside.

According to a recent survey, the chances of encountering any one of the 36 species of farmland birds in Europe – species that also include the lapwing, the skylark and the meadow pipit – are now stunningly low.

Devastating declines in their numbers have seen overall populations drop from 600 million to 300 million between 1980 and 2009, the study has discovered.

This dramatic decline represents a 50 percent reduction and is blamed on major changes in farming policies enforced by the EU over the last 30 years.

In order to boost food production across Europe, the wholesale ripping up of hedgerows, draining of wetlands and ploughing over of meadows has robbed farmland birds of their homes and food. Numbers of linnets, turtle doves and lapwings have crashed as a result.

The survey, carried out by the pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme, also found that Britain has been one of the nations worst affected by losses to its farmland bird populations - in Europe the population of grey partridges has dropped from 13.4 million to 2.4 million, a loss of 82 percent whereas in the UK, that loss was 91 percent.

These losses were described as shocking by the scheme's chairman, Richard Gregory. "We had got used to noting a loss of a few per cent in numbers of various species over one or two years," he said.

"It was only when we added up numbers of all the different farmland bird species for each year since 1980, when we started keeping records, that we found their overall population has dropped from 600 million to 300 million, which is a calamitous loss. We have been sleepwalking into a disaster."

According to Gregory, who also serves as the head of species monitoring for the UK's Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds (RSPB), a range of factors are involved. In the case of the grey partridge, he blamed the intensification of farming which had killed off the plentiful numbers of insects that they ate.

With starlings, whose populations have fallen from 84.9 million to 39.9 million, a drop of 53 percent, it has been the destruction of woodlands and the corresponding loss of nesting places that has done the most serious damage, he said.

"By contrast, lapwings – whose numbers have declined from 3.8 million to 1.8 million, a drop of 52 precent – are more associated with marshes and riverbanks. It has been the draining of these lands that has destroyed their habitats and reduced their numbers so drastically."

The fact that the high losses of linnets, turtle doves and other farmland birds had not been expected is blamed by Gregory on a phenomenon known as the shifting baseline syndrome.

And it is unlikely that the problem will get better in the near future. In Bulgaria, Poland and the EU's other, newer member nations in eastern Europe, farming policies that have been responsible for wiping out vast numbers of farmland birds in older member countries are only being introduced now.

"We take for granted things that two generations ago would have seemed inconceivable – in this case the reduction by 300 million of Europe's farmland bird population," Gregory added.

"Apart from the removal of creatures that are beautiful to behold and beautiful to listen to, we should take note of what this means. These losses are telling us that something is seriously amiss in the world around us and the way that we are interacting with nature."

The discovery of the dramatic losses suffered by farmland birds since 1980 comes as the green movement prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

The book, published in summer 1962, outlined the devastating impact that the uncontrolled use of synthetic insecticides was having on populations of birds in the US and played a critical role in kick-starting the green movement on both sides of the Atlantic.

Humanity was beginning to have a dreadful impact on wildlife and in particular on birds, Carson argued and Silent Spring led directly to the banning of the manufacture of DDT and other pesticides.

However, the bird losses she outlined 50 years ago have been dwarfed by the losses that have occurred in the last 30 years and which are revealed in the RSPB survey. Carson would be horrified about the state of the planet today.