Proof that protecting nature works

For decades, coastal mangrove forests have been decimated by development. But just this past week, forty years of satellite data confirmed something remarkable...

🌿 Good news: Mangrove forests worldwide are now growing back faster than they're disappearing, with forty years of NASA satellite data showing the decline has reversed thanks to conservation, restoration, and regrowth.

💰 Not-so-good news: A new study finds biodiversity loss carries a steep price tag that financial markets haven't priced in, with $83 trillion in assets potentially mis-priced and some countries facing GDP losses over 15% by 2030.

🌡️ What you can do: Reuters just launched an interactive tool showing how much hotter today is than normal wherever you live. Look up your city and use what you find to start a conversation today!

Thank you to Anne Cloud with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Voice Over for the Planet⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for narrating this edition of Talking Climate. 

Music by Bradley Myer.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.talkingclimate.ca

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Talking Climate with Catherine Haho. Each episode, we explore how climate change is affecting the people, places, and things we love, and what we can do to make a difference. From science to solutions and stories that inspire, you're in the right place for real talk about real change. This week we're talking about mangroves recovering, the cost of biodiversity loss, and a new way to visualize heat. Let's dive in. Good news. For decades, the world's coastal mangrove forests were disappearing, cleared to make way for fish farms, rice fields, and development. Why do we care? Mangroves sequester carbon, buffer coastlines from storm surge, which is getting worse thanks to climate change, provide critical nursery habitat for fish, and filter pollutants from coastal waters. Now, a new study found that since 2010, mangrove regrowth around the world has been outpacing losses. Forty years of satellite data from NASA's Landsat program shows that the gains are driven by mangroves both expanding into new habitats and regenerating in places where they once grew. After decades of decline, the recovery has accelerated so sharply that early losses have nearly been erased. Scientists call it a genuine global rebound, propelled by a combination of careful conservation work, the Nature Conservancy does a lot of this, and natural regrowth. What we're seeing now is a real shift. Mangroves are now showing a net increase globally, and the rate of degradation is slowing, said Daniel Friese, a professor at Tulane University and director of the mangrove lab. While some mangroves are still being lost, this could make them a rare conservation success story and an important source of optimism for climate action. This study is more proof that when we protect nature, it can recover. Not so good news. I often mention the costs of climate change to the global economy, but a new study makes the case that biodiversity loss, too, carries its own enormous price tag, one that financial markets have yet to reckon with. The research conducted by a team of UK economists found that the partial collapse of the ecosystem services of tropical timber, wild pollination, and marine fisheries could dramatically increase the cost of borrowing for 23 nations, representing 5.5 billion people. In this scenario, India's annual debt servicing costs would rise by 49 billion, and China's by 70 billion. Across all countries studied, additional interest payments could reach 162 billion every year. Angola, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Madagascar could see GDP losses exceeding 15% by 2030. And yet today's credit rating models don't account for any of this. The risk is already there, but the markets just haven't priced it in yet. That means $83 trillion in financial assets may be mispriced. The study's lead author, Professor Matthew Argawala from the University of Sussex, didn't mince words about what's at stake. It's not just financiers who will lose out. As nature loss reduces economic performance, it will become harder for countries to service their debt, straining government budgets and forcing them to raise taxes, cut spending, or push inflation even higher, he said. The consequences could be grim. Governments face a stark choice. Pay now by investing in nature recovery, or pay later through higher borrowing costs. When nature stops functioning, economies stop functioning. The two are inextricably intertwined. What you can do. 11 degrees Celsius above normal is incredible to me. And in case you didn't know, Toronto's one of the World Cup cities with an outdoor stadium. That stopped me in my tracks. Yesterday, Philadelphia canceled their 250-year celebration parade as the heat index soared to 118 degrees Fahrenheit. And in DC, temperatures 22 degrees Fahrenheit above normal led to the closing of the Great American Fair on the Mall. This week, take a minute and look up your city. Look up where your parents live, where your kids go to camp, or somewhere currently experiencing a heat emergency. And don't stop there. Talk about it. Share what you find out. Not as a lecture, but as a conversation starter. Did you know it's six degrees warmer than normal here right now? I just found this tool that shows you in real time. Abstract statistics about global average temperatures are easy to dismiss. But when someone sees that their hometown is running eight degrees hotter than usual, or that the town where their grandchildren live is having its warmest July on record, it hits differently. Climate change stops being a headline and starts feeling personal. Thanks for listening to Talking Climate, narrated by Ann Cloud. For more resources, links, and actions you can take, check out the full newsletter at www.talkingclimate.ca. Until next time, keep talking climate.