🌍 How climate change and deforestation caused Mesoamerican cloud forests to move uphill

Welcome back to the 24th issue of the Sustainability Newsletter by Interesting Engineering. 

Last month, scientists explored the long-term impact of constructed wetlands on carbon mitigation. They measured carbon sequestration rates over 29 years in constructed wetlands in the midwestern US and found that the carbon-capturing ability of these artificial wetlands appears to have stabilized as the wetlands matured rather than diminished.

This month, scientists assessed the adaptive capacity of tropical American forests and discovered that species in Mesoamerican cloud forests have been moving uphill since 1979 due to climate change and deforestation. The study determined that lowland forests show greater trait changes than montane forests, with adult trees adapting to drier conditions but new growth lagging and failing to keep pace with climate change.

Meanwhile, Spain is facing pressure to reverse its nuclear phase-out by 2025, with right-wing and business groups advocating for continued nuclear energy production against the government's renewable energy plan. The groups seek to maintain or expand nuclear energy production, arguing against the current strategy of relying solely on renewable sources like solar and wind, despite Spain's leading position in those areas.

A new MIT study found that the Antarctic ozone layer is demonstrably healing due to reduced ozone-depleting substances, with high statistical confidence. Scientists aimed to confirm and quantify the effectiveness of global efforts in reversing ozone depletion.

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NEWS BULLETIN

🚗 Inorganic, polymer electrolytes built at same vessel to boost EV battery performance
Researchers develop a class of hybrid sulfide-polymer materials through an innovative one-pot, in situ synthetic paradigm

⚛️ Spain under pressure to abort nuclear energy phase-out
Spain, a European renewable energy leader, is coming under increasing pressure from the right and business groups to reverse its plans to phase out its nuclear power plants by 2035.

🔆 China’s PV maker unveils anti-dust solar module with 24.8% efficiency, 670 W power 
Installing Longi’s latest Hi-MO X10 back-contact solar panels on a 10,000 m² rooftop could produce 189,000 kWh more power annually than a 630 W TOPCon system.

🌬️ Data, waves and wind to be counted in the economy 
Wind and waves are set to be included in calculations of the size of countries' economies for the first time, as part of changes approved at the United Nations.

🌎 Study: The ozone hole is healing, thanks to global reduction of CFCs 
New results show with high statistical confidence that ozone recovery is going strong.

⚙️ Hydrogen plasma breakthrough could trigger emission-free metal production 
In this superheated state, hydrogen becomes much more effective at stripping oxygen from metal ores than traditional methods allow.

☢️ US Supreme Court hears 100,000 tons nuclear waste storage plan, some from Cold War-era 
As existing facilities overflow, the push for viable nuclear waste storage intensifies

MUST READ

Climate change & deforestation caused Mesoamerican cloud forests to move uphill

Scientists have recently discovered that species in Mesoamerican cloud forests have been moving uphill since 1979 due to climate change and deforestation. This upward shift is mainly attributed to the shrinking of their lower-altitude range edges. 

“In tropical forests across the Americas, the study found that tree traits are not shifting fast enough to track climate change based on trait-climate relationships, with smaller shifts in montane forests,” stated Bianca Lopez, a co-author of the study.

The tropical American forests’ trees seem to not be adapting their characteristics fast enough to keep up with the speed of climate change. This problem is slightly less pronounced in mountain forests.

The researchers undertook the study to interpret how the critical American tropical ecosystems have been responding to the rapid changes in climate currently occurring. They examined the typical traits of trees, including leaf properties and wood density and how they are transforming concerning rising temperatures and depleting rainfalls.

After assessing the adaptive capacity of forests, scientists determined that lowland forests show greater trait changes than montane forests, with adult trees adapting to drier conditions but new growth lagging and failing to keep pace with climate change.

The research analyzed data from the past 40 years to track observed changes while also considering climate projections that extend to the year 2100. This future-oriented perspective spotlights the urgency of understanding these changes.

This approach allowed researchers to show that while tree communities are changing, they are not changing fast enough to keep up with the rate of climate change.

The study was published on March 7, 2025, in the journal Science.

OTHER IMPORTANT UPDATES

• ☀️ US to turn nuclear kitchen into largest solar farm to generate 2,000 MW power

• 🚗 Sweden creates EV battery power from carbon fibers, reducing need for mining

• 🏔️ World's glaciers melting faster than ever recorded

• 🌫️  The solar system was once engulfed by a vast wave of gas and dust

• ☢️ New tech recycles 90% of nuclear waste into power-packed fuel in a major breakthrough

• 🟧 London scientists explore volcanic brines to mine copper without ruining planet

• 🍷 China turns liquor waste into battery power with 91.9% retention after 100 cycles

• 🌊 Korean scientists boost seawater battery efficiency with wood waste-based catalysts

• 🏞️ ‘The sewage scandal ends now’: UK water company fines to be used to clean up rivers

🌍 Act to shrink your carbon footprint

Happy International Women’s Day!

Last weekend, when the world celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025, the UN Climate Change celebrated a new decade of action to advance gender equality in the face of climate change. 

Countries at COP29, which took place from November 11 to November 22, 2024, agreed to extend the Enhanced Lima Work Programme on Gender and Climate Change for another decade. This decision spotlights the importance of integrating gender considerations into all climate-related objectives and targets within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

The decision aimed to ensure that climate policies and actions are more effective, equitable, and sustainable by acknowledging and addressing the distinct impacts of climate change on different genders.

“As we know, stronger climate action delivers huge benefits for people in their daily lives. More jobs, more economic opportunities, and lower health costs,” stated Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change. 

“Applying a gender-responsive approach ensures that those benefits are shared equally”

UN climate reports provided proof that integrating gender considerations into climate action enhances both effectiveness and societal well-being. These include the following:

• Gender-responsive low-carbon mobility can improve access to and use of low-carbon, climate-friendly options by all.

• Prioritizing projects that consider the unique vulnerabilities, needs, and contributions of all people can increase the effectiveness of adaptation finance.

• Indigenous women’s expertise in areas such as seed-saving techniques and weather forecasting enhances their communities’ food security and improves their ability to prepare and respond to rain and drought.

• By adopting a gender lens, just transition policies can reduce occupational gender stereotypes and increase the chances that women and men equally benefit from new jobs created in the emerging green and blue economy.