Ecology and Energy Production: January 2019

Monday, January 21, 2019

'Soviet grandeur has turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland': Haunting photos show once-thriving industrial towns in the USSR that have been left to ruin

They were once thriving industrial towns in Soviet-controlled Kyrgyzstan with vast factories, busy coal mines and grand houses.

But haunting pictures show that they are now post-apocalyptic wastelands, their populations having largely deserted them following the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

The eerie images were taken by Dutch photographer Thijs Broekkamp, who has been travelling through central Asia to explore its landscape, culture, people and history.

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An overview of the town of Inylcheck in eastern Kyrgyzstan, in a haunting image taken by photographer Thijs Broekkamp. The Soviets started mining in Inylcheck in 1980, which attracted thousands of young people looking for work but most left when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991

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Thijs also visited Ming Kush, which had been the site of one of the Soviet Union's biggest uranium mines. It is now full of crumbling buildings

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High in the hills of Inylcheck are the old coal mines, which employed thousands of people. Pictured is an old Soviet car that's merging with the soil

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Another abandoned vehicle lies untouched in the hills of Inylcheck. The area is rich in tungsten, tin, molybdenum and other metals which the Soviets used to their advantage

Many workers were attracted to Ming Kush as working with uranium, which is naturally radioactive, meant they were paid more and had additional perks. Pictured is one of the town's crumbling factories

While in Kyrgyzstan, he discovered Ming Kush and Inylcheck, which had both been significant industrial towns set in vast landscapes with booming populations full of people working in heavy industry.

But less than 30 years since the Soviet Union broke up, his pictures show that they are now festooned with crumbling factories, abandoned vehicles and rotting houses.

Thijs told MailOnline Travel that despite both places looking almost like war zones, they had actually decayed just through years of neglect.

He explained: 'These sites have not been touched in all those years and give a unique and sort of tangible glimpse into the past. 'Walking around in these abandoned towns and factories was very interesting and impressive and also made me think about the impact this failed 'social experiment' had on people.

'After independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, things were not necessarily better for a long time. The countries fell into chaos, with no governing body.

'Some of the older people I spoke to said that in the Soviet time things were better than now. They brought electricity and infrastructure. There was free healthcare and free education.

'People were equal and some people find it hard nowadays in an individualistic and capitalistic society to make a living, as there is no "safety net" as there was in Soviet times.

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One of Thijs' favourite pictures is this one, of two young boys playing on their bikes in Inylcheck. Only around 30 families still live there

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The empty shell of a once-great house in Ming Kush. Thijs believes this house would have been owned by a wealthy uranium plant worker

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Heavy machine is still scattered across the hillside near to the former coal mine in Inylcheck. Thijs said: 'When you walk around here it looks like people dropped everything the minute they heard of the collapse and just left'

'Statues of Lenin still stand as most people quite like him, unlike Stalin, whose policies had far reaching and terrible consequences for people.'

The town of Ming Kush was one of the first that Thijs visited in Kyrgyzstan.

It was the site of a uranium mine and had been one of the largest uranium producers in the Soviet Union.

Many workers were attracted to the town as working with uranium, which is naturally radioactive, meant they were paid more and had additional perks.

At one time it was home to 20,000 people but once the Soviet Union collapsed, 80 per cent of the population left.

Thijs said: 'You can still see the grand houses in town, once inhabited by a wealthy plant worker and his family, but now all boarded up and crumbling down.

'The old plant is quite large, with perhaps a dozen buildings, now all crumbling. Most valuable materials have been stripped and sold.

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A mural can still be made out on the wall of a crumbling building in Inylcheck, which is close to Kyrgyzstan's border with China

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At one time, Ming Kush was home to 20,000 people but once the Soviet Union collapsed, 80 per cent of the population left. Pictured is one of the homes left to decay

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Thijs made his way into one of the abandoned homes in Ming Kush, which is now boarded up

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The snow-capped mountains can been seen through a window from a now-abandoned factory in the hills of Inylcheck

'In some places the ground is littered with old pens which were manufactured here as well. A few donkeys and goats roam through the factory remains.

'From pictures I saw not so long ago I can conclude it is in pretty bad shape now. Many ceilings and walls have completely collapsed. Weeds are growing on the roofs and making their way through cracks and crevasses.

'It was a pretty unique experience and probably the most tangible look into history I'd ever seen or would ever see.

'Between a decaying imprint of the red star (Soviet symbol) on the façade of a building, we could still make out the date stamp of when it was built - 1955.

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Thijs said: 'It was a pretty unique experience and probably the most tangible look into history I'd ever seen or would ever see.' Pictured is an abandoned house in Ming Kush

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A picture captured inside one of the abandoned factories in Ming Kush. Thijs said: 'To imagine this empty, eerie place buzzing with workers and the halls filled with the sound of machinery, toiling away monotonously to meet the demands of the Soviet empire is almost impossible when you walk between these ruins'

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Machines in one of the factories in Ming Kush rust inside one of the crumbling buildings that have been untouched since the Soviet Union collapsed

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A book full of dust is left on a table inside one of the former factories in Inylcheck. Thijs said: 'Even plates and cutlery and cooking utensils in one of the construction shacks were still on the table and in the cupboards, as if any moment somebody could walk in and make a cup of coffee'

'To imagine this empty, eerie place buzzing with workers and the halls filled with the sound of machinery, toiling away monotonously to meet the demands of the Soviet empire is almost impossible when you walk between these ruins.'

Meanwhile, Inylcheck lies deep in the mountains of eastern Kyrgyzstan, close to the Chinese border.

It was a mining town that thrived thanks to the area being rich in tungsten, tin, molybdenum and other metals.

The Soviets started mining in Inylcheck in 1980, which attracted thousands of young people looking for work.

Thijs added: 'When you walk around here it looks like people dropped everything the minute they heard of the collapse and just left.

'There were about 15,000 people living here. Nowadays there are about 15 to 30 families still living there. I can't imagine growing up here as a child, being so incredibly far from civilisation. They have a little school and a doctor but that's it.

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Pictured are empty buildings in Inylcheck. Thijs said he couldn't imagine growing up here and being so far from civilisation

The Soviets started mining in Inylcheck, pictured, in 1980, which attracted thousands of young people looking for work. Tourists need a special visa to visit

'A little bit further up in the hills are the old mines and one of them is still accessible. The left-behind machinery is more complete here than in Ming Kush. Rather intact cranes and trucks stand spread out at the property.

'Even plates and cutlery and cooking utensils in one of the construction shacks were still on the table and in the cupboards, as if any moment somebody could walk in and make a cup of coffee.'

Thijs says his favourite picture is the one he snapped in Inylcheck of two small boys on their bikes posing for the camera.

He added: 'I've never been to such special countries, with so many interesting and incredibly hospitable people. These countries are enormously underrated and largely unknown, which is a bit weird as once they were the centre of the world in the "Silk Road" times.

'Although tourism is upcoming, you can still feel like an explorer and have many authentic interactions and meetings with the locals.'

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Ocean temperatures are rising far faster than previously thought, climate change report finds

Ocean heat has been setting records repeatedly over the last decade
2018 expected to be the hottest year yet, displacing the 2017 record
Study used data from almost 4,000 drifting ocean robots
Provides further evidence that earlier claims of a slowdown or 'hiatus' in global warming over the past 15 years were unfounded.

The world's oceans are rising in temperature faster than previously believed as they absorb most of the world's growing climate-changing emissions, scientists said Thursday.

Ocean heat - recorded by thousands of floating robots - has been setting records repeatedly over the last decade, with 2018 expected to be the hottest year yet, displacing the 2017 record, according to an analysis by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

That is driving sea level rise, as oceans warm and expand, and helping fuel more intense hurricanes and other extreme weather, scientists warn.

The world´s oceans are rising in temperature faster than previously believed as they absorb most of the world's growing climate-changing emissions, scientists have said.

WHY ARE OCEAN TEMPERATURES IPORTANT?

Ocean heating is critical marker of climate change because an estimated 93 percent of the excess solar energy trapped by greenhouse gases accumulates in the world's oceans.

And, unlike surface temperatures, ocean temperatures are not affected by year-to-year variations caused by climate events like El Nino or volcanic eruptions.

The new analysis shows that trends in ocean heat content match those predicted by leading climate change models, and that overall ocean warming is accelTHE WARMING, MEASURED SINCE 1960, IS FASTER THAN PREDICTED BY SCIENTISTS IN A 2013 INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT THAT LOOKED AT OCEAN WARMING, ACCORDING TO THE STUDY, PUBLISHED THIS WEEK IN THE JOURNAL SCIENCE.

'It´s mainly driven by the accumulation of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to human activities,' said Lijing Cheng, a lead author of the study from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The increasing rate of ocean warming 'is simply a signature of increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere', Cheng said.

Leading climate scientists said in October that the world has about 12 years left to shift the world away from still rising emission toward cleaner renewable energy systems, or risk facing some of the worst impacts of climate change.

Those include worsening water and food shortages, stronger storms, heatwaves and other extreme weather, and rising seas.

For the last 13 years, an ocean observing system called Argo has been used to monitor changes in ocean temperatures, Cheng said, leading to more reliable data that is the basis for the new ocean heat records.

The system uses almost 4,000 drifting ocean robots that dive to a depth of 2,000 metres every few days, recording temperature and other indicators as they float back to the surface.\

HOW OCEAN TEMPERATURES ARE MONITORED

The system uses almost 4,000 drifting ocean robots that dive to a depth of 2,000 metres every few days, recording temperature and other indicators as they float back to the surface.

Through the data collected, scientists have documented increases in rainfall intensity and more powerful storms such as hurricanes Harvey in 2017 and Florence in 2018.

Argo uses almost 4,000 drifting ocean robots to monitor ocean temperatures. Through the data collected, scientists have documented increases in rainfall intensity and more powerful storms such as hurricanes Harvey in 2017 and Florence in 2018.

Cheng explained that oceans are the energy source for storms, and can fuel more powerful ones as temperatures - a measure of energy - rise.

Storms over the 2050-2100 period are expected, statistically, to be more powerful than storms from the 1950-2000 period, the scientist said.

Cheng said that the oceans, which have so far absorbed over 90 percent of the additional sun's energy trapped by rising emissions, will see continuing temperature hikes in the future.

If you want to see where global warming is happening, look in our oceans

'Because the ocean has large heat capacity it is characterized as a `delayed response´ to global warming, which means that the ocean warming could be more serious in the future,' the researcher said.

'For example, even if we meet the target of Paris Agreement (to limit climate change), ocean will continue warming and sea level will continue rise. Their impacts will continue.'

If the targets of the Paris deal to hold warming to 'well below' 2 degrees Celsius, or preferably 1.5C can be met, however, expected damage by 2100 could be halved, Cheng said.

For now, however, climate changing emissions continue to rise, and 'I don´t think enough is being done to tackle the rising temperatures,' Cheng said.

The find means Earth is more sensitive to fossil fuel emissions than thought and could be set to warm even faster than predicted in the years ahead (stock image)

The results also provide further evidence that earlier claims of a slowdown or 'hiatus' in global warming over the past 15 years were unfounded.

'If you want to see where global warming is happening, look in our oceans,' said Zeke Hausfather, a graduate student in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of the paper.

'Ocean heating is a very important indicator of climate change, and we have robust evidence that it is warming more rapidly than we thought.'

WHAT IS THE PARIS AGREEMENT?

The Paris Agreement, which was first signed in 2015, is an international agreement to control and limit climate change.

It hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2°C (3.6ºF) 'and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C (2.7°F)'.

It seems the more ambitious goal of restricting global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) may be more important than ever, according to previous research which claims 25 per cent of the world could see a significant increase in drier conditions.

In June 2017, President Trump announced his intention for the US, the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, to withdraw from the agreement.

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has four main goals with regards to reducing emissions:

1) A long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels

2) To aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change

3) Goverments agreed on the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognising that this will take longer for developing countries

4) To undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available science

World risks second GREAT DYING: Rising temperatures could leave sea creatures unable to breath and wipe out animals on land just like massive volcanic eruptions of 252 million years ago

The Great Dying was caused by a series of massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia
Warmer water couldn't hold enough oxygen for most marine creatures to survive
Finding has major implications for fate of today's warming world, say scientists
Ocean warming could reach 20 per cent of Permian period by 2100, experts say

An episode of extreme global warming that left ocean animals unable to breathe caused the biggest mass extinction in the Earth's history, research has shown.

The extinction event at the end of the Permian period 252 million years ago wiped out 96 per cent of all marine species and 70 per cent of land-dwelling vertebrates.

Scientists have linked what has become known as the 'Great Dying' with a series of massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia that filled the atmosphere with greenhouse gas.

But precisely what made the oceans so inhospitable to life has remained an unanswered question until now.

Earth could face a similar fate if predictions of runaway climate change in the modern world come true.

Breakthrough: An episode of extreme global warming that left ocean animals unable to breathe caused the biggest mass extinction in the Earth's history, research has shown

The new study, reported in the journal Science, suggests that as temperatures soared the warmer water could not hold enough oxygen for most marine creatures to survive.

Lessons from the Great Dying have major implications for the fate of today's warming world, say the US scientists.

If greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, ocean warming could reach 20 per cent of the level experienced in the late Permian by 2100, they point out.

By the year 2300 it could reach between 35 and 50 per cent of the Great Dying extreme.Lead researcher Justin Penn, a doctoral student at the University of Washington, said: 'This study highlights the potential for a mass extinction arising from a similar mechanism under anthropogenic [human caused] climate change.'

Before the Siberian eruptions created a greenhouse-gas planet, the Earth's oceans had temperatures and oxygen levels similar to those present today.

In a series of computer simulations, the scientists raised greenhouse gases to match conditions during the Great Dying, causing surface ocean temperatures to increase by around 10C.

The model triggered dramatic changes in the oceans, which lost around 80 per cent of their oxygen.

Roughly half the ocean floor, mostly at deeper depths, became completely devoid of the life-sustaining gas.

Epic: Previously experts were undecided about whether lack of oxygen, heat stress, high acidity or poisoning chemicals wiped out life in the oceans at the end of the Permian period

The researchers studied published data on 61 modern marine species including crustaceans, fish, shellfish, corals and sharks, to see how well they could tolerate such conditions.

These findings were incorporated into the model to produce an extinction map.

'Very few marine organisms stayed in the same habitats they were living in - it was either flee or perish,' said co-author Dr Curtis Deutsch, also from the University of Washington.

The simulation showed that the hardest hit species were those found far from the tropics and most sensitive to oxygen loss.

Data from the fossil record confirmed that a similar extinction pattern was seen during the Great Dying.

Tropical species already adapted to warm, low-oxygen conditions were better able to find a new home elsewhere. But no such escape route existed for those adapted to cold, oxygen-rich environments.

Previously experts were undecided about whether lack of oxygen, heat stress, high acidity or poisoning chemicals wiped out life in the oceans at the end of the Permian period.

'This is the first time that we have made a mechanistic prediction about what caused the extinction that can be directly tested with the fossil record, which then allows us to make predictions about the causes of extinction in the future,' said Mr Penn.

WHAT WAS THE PERMIAN MASS EXTINCTION, KNOWN AS 'THE GREAT DYING'?

Around 248 million years ago, the Permian period ended and the Triassic period started on Earth.

Marking the boundary between these two geologic eras is the Permian mass extinction, nicknamed 'The Great Dying'.

This catastrophic event saw almost all life on Earth wiped out.

Scientists believe around 95 per cent of all marine life perished during the mass extinction, and less than a third of life on land survived the event.

In total, it is believed that 90 per cent of all life was wiped out.

All life on Earth today is descended from the roughly ten per cent of animals, plants and microbes that survived the Permian mass extinction.

Previously, it was believed a huge eruption blanketed the Earth in thick smog, blocking the sun's rays from reaching the planet's surface.

However, new findings suggest a massive volcanic eruption that ran for almost one million years released a huge reservoir of deadly chemicals into the atmosphere that stripped Earth of its ozone layer.

This eradicated the only protection Earth's inhabitants had against the sun's deadly UV rays.

This high-energy form of radiation can cause significant damage to living organisms, causing the death toll to skyrocket.

Ecology and Energy Production