Bits n’ pieces from east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact.

A recent sampling:

A large-scale biochar production plant is being built in Kettle Falls, Washington. Advantages of biochar, made from

logging waste, include reduction of forest fire risk.

When applied to land, biochar sequesters carbon and increases moisture retention capacity by up to 38%. It can increase crop yields and reduce the need for chemical fertilizer, according to The North Columbia Monthly.

The new plant, operated by Myno Carbon, will be built at the Avista waste-to-energy plant, which already uses wood waste to create electricity. Unlike many soil treatments, biochar does not require repeated applications. When production at the plant begins, waste wood is expected to create 40,000 tons of biochar annually.

Production is replicable wherever wood waste is available.

Another plus: jobs.

The future of rechargeable sodium-based batteries is in the forefront in China, with an impact expected on electric vehicles. Sodium sells for less than lithium, is more abundant, and is chemically similar, The New York Times reported. And, when it’s below freezing, the batteries hold a charge well.

Solar electric power doesn’t have to mar the natural landscape. Panels can cover parking lots, be placed on fields made fallow by drought (while providing income for farmers), and can go on roofs. High Country News crunched the rooftop numbers: collectively, average “big box” store roofs, paneled over, could power about 3 million homes.

Also, in California an irrigation district plans to cover two miles of canals with panels, while saving 32 million gallons of water typically lost to evaporation.

Designing climate-resilient communities: After Hurricane Ian hit Punta Gorga in Florida last September, homes re-built after a 2004 hurricane, using “hurricane ready” building codes, suffered fewer damages, the Union of Concerned Scientists reported.

In particular, Babcock Ranch retained power because of their solar array. The “ranch” site was chosen for being beyond reach of storm surges; streets and parks were designed to absorb floodwaters and underground power lines avoided wind damage.

On the Northern Great Plains, where 73% of remaining grasslands are privately owned, ranchers face pressure to convert grasslands to croplands because crops can pay more. But, World Wildlife Federation says, those lands are not well-suited to long-term row crops and plowing releases stored carbon.

As well, row crops require more water and fertilizer, which can degrade ecosystems and leave farmers vulnerable to weather and market forces, as opposed to sticking with ranching.

Where you have perhaps just 4 inches of rain, you can still, with knowledgeable management, grow grasses and therefore protein. At one time that protein was bison, but cattle can mimic their impact on the land.

Scientists and labor organizations have been examining extreme heat and the kidneys. So far, they’ve found that high heat scars as well as cripples the kidneys’ microscopic tubes. Kidney disease is expected soar for outdoor laborers, The Washington Post reported.

Stable grocery prices? That depends on a variety of factors, including supply chain shortages, geopolitical events like war in Ukraine and unstable weather patterns, TIME reported.

Average temperatures in the Arctic region, which acts as “a kind of air conditioner for the planet” have gone up two to three times faster than elsewhere, according to World Wildlife Magazine.

The ocean is 30% more acidic than 150 years ago due to Co2 buildup, which impacts food security, livelihoods and the world’s economy, according to climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, author of Saving Us and climate ambassador for the World Evangelical Alliance.

Morgan Stanley estimated that climate disasters cost $650 billion in the three years ending in 2018; for North America the share was $415 billion.

Simple ways to personally help climate change efforts: plant trees, or otherwise encourage urban and nearby forests - trees take up huge amounts of carbon, filter water, clean the air, and foster healthy habitat; join or support climate efforts, such as Interfaith Power and Light, Climate Stewards, Climate Outreach, Evangelical Environmental Network, 350.0rg, Faithful America (they state that “we can’t say we’re loving our neighbors if we’re not caring for God’s creation”) or The Nature Conservancy.

Fossil fuels divestment: the American Medical Association, in the vein of “First, do no harm,” backs divestment. A growing number of banks, faith organizations, educational institutions and individuals are divesting.

Blackrock, the world’s largest assets manager, has dropped coal investments.

Blast from the past: “DDT is good for me,” advertisements in the 1950s claimed. The nation was sprayed with 1.35 billion tons of the insecticide before scientists sounded the alarm about impacts on humans and wildlife. It was banned in 1972.

New research, shared in Scientific American, shows daughters of DDT-exposed pregnant mothers have higher rates of breast cancer, hypertension and obesity. Their children have a higher body mass index and earlier menstruation. DDT, one of many endocrine disruptors, is linked to growth, reproduction, a sense of hunger, and body temperature. At least three generations can be impacted.

DDT can influence how genes turn on and off.