Theres a new banana in town, and its been genetically modified (GM). Scientists at Australias Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have developed the first GM banana in the world, a variety of Cavendish banana known as QCAV-4, designed to help save the species.

"https://www.ecowatch.com/most-hydrating-fruits-and-vegetables.html"> fruit was engineered to withstand a fungus known as Panama Disease tropical race 4 (TR4), a threat to the $20 billion global banana industry, a press release from QUT said. The GM Cavendish has been submitted to the Australian government for regulatory approval.

QUT professor James Dale, who led the development of QCAV-4, and his team have been developing and growing the GM Cavendish variety for more than 20 years.

The devastating Panama Disease TR4 is caused by a soil-borne fungus that stays in the ground for more than 50 years, wiping out banana crops and destroying farms for generations, Dale said in the press release. It is a huge problem. It has devastated Cavendish plantations in many parts of the world and could cripple the Cavendish banana export industry worldwide.

If the new Cavendish banana variety is given the green light, it will become the first GM fruit approved for cultivation and consumption in Australia, reported The Guardian.

Dale estimates that there are between 300 and 1,000 types of bananas throughout the world, with the Cavendish variety making up about half of commercial production.

It has some disease resistance, its high yielding, it tastes pretty good and it travels well, Dale said, as The Guardian reported.

The team has been growing QCAV-4 bananas in field trials in Australias Northern Territory for more than six years and have found them to be highly resistant to TR4, the press release said.

About 95 per cent of Australias bananas...

By Audrey Leonard, Staff Attorney, Columbia Riverkeeper

For more than 20 years, Columbia Riverkeeper has fought dirty fossil fuel infrastructure and won. Together with firefighters, fishers, foresters, farmers, health professionals, educators, union leaders, and tribes, we stopped more than a dozen proposed fossil fuel facilities, ranging from coal exports to LNG terminals. 

Because of our success, the fossil fuel industry has begun trying to expand existing infrastructure rather than build new facilities. Whats the difference? Existing infrastructure typically has some of the required permits, and regulators generally approve capacity expansions even where they might reject a new project. Industry often disguises expansion projects with terms like reliability, and without effective public notice. In many ways, halting a brand-new oil refinery is much easier than stopping an existing refinery from producing more oil. 

In a changed landscape, watchdogs and advocates must adapt quickly to keep fossil fuels in the ground and out of our communities. 

GTN Xpress Fracked Gas Expansion 

A prime example is GTN Xpress a proposal to increase the quantity of fracked gas flowing through the 1,354-mile interstate Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline. The project would push more fracked gas through the existing pipeline by upgrading three existing compressor stations. Compressor stations are fracked gas-powered industrial facilities that control how much gas moves through the pipeline. More power and higher pressure means more gas flowing through the GTN pipeline. 

Why is this a big deal? The amount of gas this would add to the pipeline would result in more than 3.47 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year thats the equivalent of adding 754,000 cars to the road every year! Not only is GTN Xpress bad for the climate, its also a dirty deal for ratepayers and communities near the pipeline. If completed, ratepayers will be stuck fronting the bill for this expensive infrastructure upgrade. Nearby communities will see increased air pollution from the compressor stations, as well as face a heightened risk of explosion and fires in the event of an accident. 

The company re...

For the first time, a meat alternative product has received the American Heart Associations (AHAs) Heart-Check Mark, meaning it meets criteria to deem the plant-based meat product as a heart-healthy food.

Beyond Meats product Beyond Steak gained the certification, which requires products to meet certain targets such as being low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium as well as containing over 10% of the recommended Daily Value of at least one of six essential nutrients: vitamin A, vitamin C, protein, iron, calcium and fiber. 

The Beyond Steak product contains 21 grams of protein and 1 gram of saturated fat per serving and doesnt contain cholesterol. Beyond Meat also noted that Beyond Steak is a non-GMO product and does not contain added antibiotics or hormones.

The AHA said that eating less meat can be beneficial to health, reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, many types of cancer and other health problems. However, it also warned that subbing meat with a diet heavy in highly processed meat substitutes isnt ideal. Instead, consumers should focus on eating veggies, fruits, whole grains, nuts and other protein sources, like tofu, beans and legumes.

Still, the new Heart-Check certification for Beyond Steak shows promise in the development of plant-based products that, when enjoyed in moderation, can contribute to a healthful diet. 

The Heart-Check mark is a simple tool to help you Eat Smart. When you see it, you can be confident that a product aligns with the American Heart Associations recommendations for an overall healthy eating pattern, the association said on its website.

A 2022 study published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology found that daily consumption of meat, particularly red meat, was linked to a higher risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). In...

The tech giant Microsoft has agreed to buy electricity from startup Helion Energy, which is aiming to make at least 50 megawatts of electricity from nuclear fusion by 2029. No one anywhere in the world has produced electricity from fusion yet, an energy source that powers the sun and stars and a potentially limitless source of clean power.

I would say its the most audacious thing Ive ever heard, University of Chicago theoretical physicist Robert Rosner told the Verge. In these kinds of issues, I will never say never. But it would be astonishing if they succeed.

The International Atomic Energy Agency forecasts fusion electricity is possible in the second half of this century, though scientists have been trying to achieve nuclear fusion energy since the 1950s. Todays nuclear power plants use fission, which unleashes tons of energy from separating atoms but also creates unstable waste that stays radioactive for millions of years. Fusion avoids the radioactive waste problem because it is creating, not separating, helium atoms.

For a Deeper Dive: 

Axios, CNBC, Reuters, The Verge, The Hill, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal

For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, sign up for daily Hot News, and visit their news site, Nexus Media News.

The post Microsoft Signs Nuclear Fusion Power Deal Under Sustainability Banner appeared first on EcoWatch.

Not all creepy-crawlers are welcome in the garden, but some insects are very beneficial to the success of your flowers, herbs and veggies. According to Almanac, beneficial bugs fall into three categories: pollinators, which help pollinate plants; predators, which feed on garden pests; and parasitizers, like parasitic wasps and other insects that lay eggs inside of harmful insects. 

Many beneficial bugs can be bought from nurseries and introduced to your garden, but creating a welcoming environment will convince them to come of their own volition. A diverse, well-mulched garden full of native flowering plants is a haven for these good bugs. Because pesticides both natural and synthetic are indiscriminate in what they kill, raising an organic garden is also crucial for attracting beneficial bugs. If the right insects are there, then theyll deal with all of the aphids, whiteflies and other pests for you. 

Here are a few insects that you should welcome into your garden, and how to get them to stick around all season. 

Earthworms

Its no secret that earthworms are a gardens best friend. Because these squirmy invertebrates breathe through their skin, they find oxygen by tunneling through the soil, creating pocket...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a wide-ranging new proposal for limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants. If finalized, the new rule will be the first time the federal government has restricted carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, which generate about a quarter of the countrys emissions.

Scientists and environmental groups have long agreed such measures are needed to slow global warming, while states that produce the most fossil fuels say they overextend the governments authority and could disrupt the electric grid, reported Reuters. The new rule would mean power plants would need to invest billions in new carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment, add ultra-clean hydrogen or risk shut-down. 

EPAs proposal relies on proven, readily available technologies to limit carbon pollution and seizes the momentum already underway in the power sector to move toward a cleaner future, Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement, as Reuters reported.

White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said the new proposal will help the country to stay on track to achieve a carbon-free power sector by 2035.

In a strong and vigorous way this reinforces our trajectory in a critical sector of the economy in the power sector and we are moving even faster and with greater certainty in the direction of unlocking the economic upside and the public health gains associated with meeting the presidents climate targets, Zaidi told reporters yesterday, as reported by The Hill. ...

In Bournemouth and the Isle of Wight, artificial rockpools installed on seawalls have become habitats for marine life. Researchers established the rockpools back in 2020 and are now finding them to be successful habitats in places where coastal development has restricted natural habitats.

Scientists first placed a total of 114 rockpools along seawalls at three sites in Bournemouth, UK and the Isle of Wight, UK in 2020. The rockpools, called Vertipools and developed by Artecology, are made from a low-carbon concrete material.

They have found as many as 65 species, including the Ostrea edulis native oyster species, in 45 artificial rockpools at one site in Sandbanks. The protected Ostrea edulis is an important find, as this species is vulnerable to habitat destruction, pathogens and fisheries.

As our coastlines become more developed, marine species are seeing their natural habitats replaced by sea defenses which are harder to colonize, Jess Bone, Ph.D. researcher at Bournemouth University, explained in a statement. Sea level rise is also compounding the problem and is squeezing their habitats into smaller and smaller spaces. We wanted to see if giving them more rockpools could offer them a lifeline in the face of these challenges.

In addition to the oysters, the team has also found crabs, molluscs, small fish, barnacles, sea squirts and 25 different types of seaweeds in the artificial rockpools. During high tides, the researchers even noticed bass exploring the pools.

At low tide, we found that the rock pools provided a haven for squishy species, like sea squirts and sponges that would dry out on the seawall and not survive, Bone explained. Similarly, they helped delicate species, like bryozoans and some finer seaweeds, that would get bashed about by waves on the seawall and would not survive either.

In addition to providing shelter for a wide variety of species impacted by coastal development, the higher amounts of living materials in the artificial rockpools can increase the biomass. This can help improve carbon sequestration and can remove excess nutrients fro...

Satellite data shows methane leaks in a fossil fuel field in western Turkmenistan have caused more global heating in 2022 than all of the carbon pollution from the United Kingdom.

Turkmenistan is one of the largest methane hotspots in the world, according to recent research in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The number of super emitting methane sites in the country doubled between 2021 and 2022, with one site spewing methane for almost six weeks.

Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov told regulators at the 2021 climate summit that Turkmenistan was paying special attention to the reduction of methane emissions, but has done little to address the leaking wells.

Methane leaks are also ubiquitous among the 14,000 orphaned oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new study in Nature Energy. Plugging them could cost up to $30 billion, though 90 percent of the leaky wells are in shallower water and would only cost 25 percent of the $30 billion to plug.

For a Deeper Dive: 

Gulf Coast: ABC News, New Scientist, Gizmodo; Turkmenistan: Guardian

For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, sign up for daily Hot News, and visit their news site, Nexus Media News.

The post Major Methane Leaks Ongoing in Turkmenistan and Gulf of Mexico appeared first on EcoWatch.