2022 in the environment

This is an article of notable issues relating to the terrestrial environment of Earth in 2022. They relate to environmental events such as natural disasters, environmental sciences such as ecology and geoscience with a known relevance to contemporary influence of humanity on Earth, environmental law, conservation, environmentalism with major worldwide impact and environmental issues.

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Events

Date / period	Type of event	Event	Topics	Image
February 2	Policy	Global plastic pollution treaty agreement.

Environmental policies approved

Environmental policies approved in 2022 (5 P) 9-Euro-Ticket 30 by 30 Inflation Reduction Act Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Right to a healthy environment

Environmental disasters

Each of the most costly climate-related disasters cost at least $3 billion.^[1]

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2022 natural disasters (11 C, 18 P) 2022 droughts (2 P) 2022 earthquakes (24 P) 2022 floods (6 C) 2022 heat waves (8 P) Landslides in 2022 (21 P) Tornadoes of 2022 (24 P) Tropical cyclones in 2022 (7 C, 42 P) 2022 tsunamis (3 P) 2022 natural disasters in the United States (5 C, 19 P) Volcanic eruptions in 2022 (10 P) 2022 wildfires (1 C, 15 P) 2021–22 European windstorm season 2022 Iraq dust storms 2022 Marmolada serac collapse 2022 Mongolian wildfires 2022 South American cold wave 2022 Southern Cone heat wave 2022 Uttarakhand avalanche 2022 Batang Kali landslide Capitólio rockfall 2022–23 European windstorm season List of earthquakes in 2022 2022 European derecho 2022 Murree snowstorm December 2022 North American winter storm Storm Elpis Tornado outbreak of November 4–5, 2022 Tornadoes of 2022 Tropical cyclones in 2022

Pollution events

Pollution events in 2022 (10 P) 2022 Callao oil spill 2022 Keystone Pipeline oil spill 2022 Surat gas leak 2022 Aqaba toxic gas leak Environmental impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Nord Stream pipelines sabotage 2022 Oder environmental disaster Red Hill water crisis Sewage discharge in the United Kingdom Sumykhimprom ammonia leak

Environmental science

Date / period	Type	Description	Topics	Image
January 10	Analysis, Assessment	Researchers build upon previous studies documenting biodiversity loss to confirm that a sixth mass extinction event, entirely caused by anthropogenic activity, is currently underway.[2][3]	[ecosystem] [biodiversity]
January 10	Analysis, Proposal	A study quantifies climate change mitigation potentials of 'high-income' nations shifting diets – away from meat-consumption – and restoration of the spared land.[4][5]	[agriculture] [food]
January 18	Analysis, Assessment	A study suggests and defines a 'planetary boundary' for novel entities such as plastic- and chemical pollution and finds that it has been crossed.[6][7]	[plastic pollution]
January 18	Analysis, Assessment	A study for the first time attempts to assess and quantify complete societal costs of cars (i.e. car-use, etc).[8]	[policy]
February 1	Analysis, Assessment, Observation	The American Geophysical Union reports, based on a study by Chinese scientists published in November, that climate change has likely begun to suffocate the world's fisheries, passing a critical threshold of oxygen loss in 2021.[9][10]	[climate change] [food system]
February 3	Observation, Development	The first comprehensive global map of oil and gas "ultra-emitters" of the potent greenhouse gas methane based on satellite data is published.[11][12][13]	[methane emissions]
February 9	Development[relevant?]	Researchers report the development of a viable flash JH-based process to recover rare-earth elements used in modern electronics from industrial wastes with practical potential to reduce environmental/health impacts from mining, waste-generation and imports if it can be scaled up.[14][15]	[circular economy]
February 14	Observation, Assessment	The most comprehensive study of pharmaceutical pollution of the world's rivers finds that it threatens "environmental and/or human health in more than a quarter of the studied locations".[16][17]	[water pollution]
February 15	Analysis, Projections	NASA publishes its latest Sea Level Rise Technical Report, an update of the 2017 edition, which includes projections for sea-level rise through to the year 2150. The agency warns that sea levels may rise as much over the next 30 years as during the previous 100.[18][19]	[sea level rise]
February 16	Analysis	A study models the system of coupled feedback processes (including potential mitigation tipping points) that may shape the trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions over the century in the contemporary socioeconomic system if it both persists as is and its components remain largely unreformed. Broad factor-domains include public perceptions of climate change, future mitigation technologies' characteristics, and the responsiveness of political institutions.[20][21]	[climate change]
February 17	Development[relevant?]	Bionanotechnologists report the development of a viable biosensor, ROSALIND 2.0, that can detect levels of diverse water pollutants.[22][23]	[water pollution]
February 23	Development[relevant?]	Researchers report the development of a quantum gradiometer – an atom interferometer quantum sensor – which could be used to map and investigate subterraneans.[24][25]	[sensing]
February 23	Analysis, Review, Projections	UN researchers publish a comprehensive study about climate change impacted wildfires with projections (e.g. a 31–57% increase of extreme wildfires by 2100) and information about impacts and countermeasures.[26][27]	[wildfires]
February 28	Analysis, Assessment	A study shows annual carbon emissions (or carbon loss) from tropical deforestation have doubled during the last two decades and continue to increase.[28][29]	[deforestation] [climate change]
February 28	Review	The IPCC releases the second part of its Sixth Assessment Report on climate change. It shows that any further delay in concerted global action would mean missing the rapidly closing window to secure human wellbeing and the planet's health against cascading impacts.[30][31]	[climate change]
March 1	Analysis, Observation	Atmospheric scientists report that the 2022 volcano eruption in Tonga, Pacific Ocean – the largest recorded volcanic eruption since 1991 which reportedly cooled global climate by ~0.6 °C during 15 months[32] – did not have a cooling effect (volcanic winter) of significance to global climate change (i.e. a cooling of ~0.004 °C during the first year).[33][34]	[climate change] [volcanoes]
March 7	Analysis, Observation	Researchers report that more than three-quarters of the Amazon rainforest has been losing resilience due to deforestation and climate change since the early 2000s as measured by recovery-time from short-term perturbations ("critical slowing down" (CSD)), reinforcing the theory that it is approaching a critical transition.[35][36] On March 11, INPE reports satellite data that show record-high levels of Amazon deforestation in Brazil for a February (199 km²).[37]	[deforestation]
March 7	Analysis, Observation	A study suggests that half of the US population has been exposed to substantially detrimental lead levels in early childhood – mainly from car exhaust whose lead pollution peaked in the 1970s.[38][39][globalize]	[toxins] [transport]
March 9	Analysis	Researchers report that, on average, the elderly played "a leading role in driving up GHG emissions in the past decade and are on the way to becoming the largest contributor" due to factors such as demographic transition, low informed concern about climate change and high expenditures on carbon-intensive products like energy which is used i.a. for heating rooms and private transport.[40][41]	[climate change]
March 10	Analysis, Assessment, Proposal	A study estimates that "relocating current croplands to [environmentally] optimal locations, whilst allowing ecosystems in then-abandoned areas to regenerate, could simultaneously decrease the current carbon, biodiversity, and irrigation water footprint of global crop production by 71%, 87%, and 100%", with relocation only within national borders also having substantial potential.[42][43]	[food system]
March 16	Analysis, Observation	Researchers report that over 80% of the growth of methane emissions during 2010–2019 was caused by tropical terrestrial emissions.[44][45]	[methane emissions]
March 21	Observation, Analysis	Before formal publication of the 'Global Carbon Budget 2021' preprint,[46] scientists report, based on Carbon Monitor[47] data, that after COVID-19-pandemic-caused record-level declines in 2020, global CO2 emissions rebounded sharply by 4.8% in 2021, indicating that at the current trajectory, the 1.5 °C carbon budget would be used up within 9.5 years with a two-thirds likelihood.[48]	[climate change]
March 24	Review	Scientists review the biophysical mechanisms by which forests influence climate, showing that beyond 50°N large scale deforestation leads to a net global cooling, that tropical deforestation leads to substantial warming from non-CO2-impacts, and that as well as how standing tropical forests help cool the average global temperature by more than 1 °C.[49][50]	[climate change] [deforestation]
March 31	Analysis	Depletion of ozone in the stratosphere and, more importantly (60%), ozone increase in the troposphere is shown to be responsible for ~30% of upper Southern Ocean interior warming between 1955 and 2000.[51][52]	[ozone]

See also

• Environment portal

General

• 2020s in environmental history
• 2022 in climate change
• Green recovery
• 2022 in space
• List of environmental issues
• Outline of environmental studies

Natural environment

• List of large volcanic eruptions in the 21st century
• Lists of extinct animals § Recent extinction
• Category:Species described in 2022
• Category:Protected areas established in 2022

Artificial development

• Timeline of sustainable energy research 2020–present
• 2022 in rail transport
• Human impact on the environment

References

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2. Sankaran, Vishwam (January 17, 2022). "Study confirms sixth mass extinction is currently underway, caused by humans". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
3. Cowie, Robert H.; Bouchet, Philippe; Fontaine, Benoît (2022). "The Sixth Mass Extinction: fact, fiction or speculation?". Biological Reviews. 97 (2): 640–663. doi:10.1111/brv.12816. PMC 9786292. PMID 35014169. S2CID 245889833.
4. "How plant-based diets not only reduce our carbon footprint, but also increase carbon capture". Leiden University. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
5. Sun, Zhongxiao; Scherer, Laura; Tukker, Arnold; Spawn-Lee, Seth A.; Bruckner, Martin; Gibbs, Holly K.; Behrens, Paul (January 2022). "Dietary change in high-income nations alone can lead to substantial double climate dividend". Nature Food. 3 (1): 29–37. doi:10.1038/s43016-021-00431-5. ISSN 2662-1355. PMID 37118487. S2CID 245867412.
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18. "Sea Level to Rise up to a Foot by 2050, Interagency Report Finds". NASA. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
19. "Climate change: US sea levels to rise as much in 30 years as in previous hundred, study warns". Sky News. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
20. "How politics, society, and tech shape the path of climate change". U.C. Davis. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
21. Moore, Frances C.; Lacasse, Katherine; Mach, Katharine J.; Shin, Yoon Ah; Gross, Louis J.; Beckage, Brian (March 2022). "Determinants of emissions pathways in the coupled climate–social system". Nature. 603 (7899): 103–111. Bibcode:2022Natur.603..103M. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04423-8. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 35173331. S2CID 246903111.
22. "DNA computer could tell you if your drinking water is contaminated". New Scientist. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
23. Jung, Jaeyoung K.; Archuleta, Chloé M.; Alam, Khalid K.; Lucks, Julius B. (17 February 2022). "Programming cell-free biosensors with DNA strand displacement circuits". Nature Chemical Biology. 18 (4): 385–393. doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00962-9. ISSN 1552-4469. PMC 8964419. PMID 35177837.
24. "Sensor breakthrough paves way for groundbreaking map of world under Earth surface". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
25. Stray, Ben; Lamb, Andrew; Kaushik, Aisha; Vovrosh, Jamie; Rodgers, Anthony; Winch, Jonathan; Hayati, Farzad; Boddice, Daniel; Stabrawa, Artur; Niggebaum, Alexander; Langlois, Mehdi; Lien, Yu-Hung; Lellouch, Samuel; Roshanmanesh, Sanaz; Ridley, Kevin; de Villiers, Geoffrey; Brown, Gareth; Cross, Trevor; Tuckwell, George; Faramarzi, Asaad; Metje, Nicole; Bongs, Kai; Holynski, Michael (February 2022). "Quantum sensing for gravity cartography". Nature. 602 (7898): 590–594. Bibcode:2022Natur.602..590S. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04315-3. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 8866129. PMID 35197616.
26. Zhong, Raymond (23 February 2022). "Climate Scientists Warn of a 'Global Wildfire Crisis'". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
27. "Number of wildfires to rise by 50% by 2100 and governments are not prepared, experts warn". UN Environment. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
28. "Deforestation emissions far higher than previously thought, study finds". The Guardian. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
29. Feng, Yu; Zeng, Zhenzhong; Searchinger, Timothy D.; Ziegler, Alan D.; Wu, Jie; Wang, Dashan; He, Xinyue; Elsen, Paul R.; Ciais, Philippe; Xu, Rongrong; Guo, Zhilin; Peng, Liqing; Tao, Yiheng; Spracklen, Dominick V.; Holden, Joseph; Liu, Xiaoping; Zheng, Yi; Xu, Peng; Chen, Ji; Jiang, Xin; Song, Xiao-Peng; Lakshmi, Venkataraman; Wood, Eric F.; Zheng, Chunmiao (28 February 2022). "Doubling of annual forest carbon loss over the tropics during the early twenty-first century". Nature Sustainability. 5 (5): 444–451. doi:10.1038/s41893-022-00854-3. ISSN 2398-9629. S2CID 247160560.
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34. Zuo, Meng; Zhou, Tianjun; Man, Wenmin; Chen, Xiaolong; Liu, Jian; Liu, Fei; Gao, Chaochao (1 March 2022). "Volcanoes and Climate: Sizing up the Impact of the Recent Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Volcanic Eruption from a Historical Perspective". Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. 39 (12): 1986–1993. Bibcode:2022AdAtS..39.1986Z. doi:10.1007/s00376-022-2034-1. ISSN 1861-9533. S2CID 247160715.
35. "Climate crisis: Amazon rainforest tipping point is looming, data shows". The Guardian. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
36. Boulton, Chris A.; Lenton, Timothy M.; Boers, Niklas (March 2022). "Pronounced loss of Amazon rainforest resilience since the early 2000s". Nature Climate Change. 12 (3): 271–278. Bibcode:2022NatCC..12..271B. doi:10.1038/s41558-022-01287-8. ISSN 1758-6798. S2CID 247255222.
37. Spring, Jake (11 March 2022). "Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon hits second straight monthly record". Reuters. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
38. "Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans". Duke University. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
39. McFarland, Michael J.; Hauer, Matt E.; Reuben, Aaron (15 March 2022). "Half of US population exposed to adverse lead levels in early childhood". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119 (11): e2118631119. Bibcode:2022PNAS..11918631M. doi:10.1073/pnas.2118631119. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 8931364. PMID 35254913.
40. Mel, Svein Inge. "People over 60 are greenhouse gas emission 'bad guys'". Norwegian University of Science. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
41. Zheng, Heran; Long, Yin; Wood, Richard; Moran, Daniel; Zhang, Zengkai; Meng, Jing; Feng, Kuishuang; Hertwich, Edgar; Guan, Dabo (March 2022). "Ageing society in developed countries challenges carbon mitigation". Nature Climate Change. 12 (3): 241–248. Bibcode:2022NatCC..12..241Z. doi:10.1038/s41558-022-01302-y. hdl:11250/3027882. ISSN 1758-6798. S2CID 247322718.
42. "Relocating farmland could turn back clock twenty years on carbon emissions, say scientists". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
43. Beyer, Robert M.; Hua, Fangyuan; Martin, Philip A.; Manica, Andrea; Rademacher, Tim (10 March 2022). "Relocating croplands could drastically reduce the environmental impacts of global food production". Communications Earth & Environment. 3 (1): 49. Bibcode:2022ComEE...3...49B. doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00360-6. hdl:10810/61603. ISSN 2662-4435. S2CID 247322845.
44. "Tropical methane emissions contribute greatly to recent changes in global atmospheric methane growth rate". Chinese Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
45. Feng, Liang; Palmer, Paul I.; Zhu, Sihong; Parker, Robert J.; Liu, Yi (16 March 2022). "Tropical methane emissions explain large fraction of recent changes in global atmospheric methane growth rate". Nature Communications. 13 (1): 1378. Bibcode:2022NatCo..13.1378F. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28989-z. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 8927109. PMID 35297408.
46. Friedlingstein, Pierre; et al. (4 November 2021). "Global Carbon Budget 2021". Earth System Science Data Discussions: 1–191. doi:10.5194/essd-2021-386. S2CID 240490309. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
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48. Liu, Zhu; Deng, Zhu; Davis, Steven J.; Giron, Clement; Ciais, Philippe (April 2022). "Monitoring global carbon emissions in 2021". Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. 3 (4): 217–219. Bibcode:2022NRvEE...3..217L. doi:10.1038/s43017-022-00285-w. ISSN 2662-138X. PMC 8935618. PMID 35340723.
49. "Forests help reduce global warming in more ways than one". Science News. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
50. Lawrence, Deborah; Coe, Michael; Walker, Wayne; Verchot, Louis; Vandecar, Karen (2022). "The Unseen Effects of Deforestation: Biophysical Effects on Climate". Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. 5. Bibcode:2022FrFGC...5.6115L. doi:10.3389/ffgc.2022.756115. ISSN 2624-893X.
51. "Ozone may be heating the planet more than we realize". University of Reading. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
52. Liu, Wei; Hegglin, Michaela I.; Checa-Garcia, Ramiro; Li, Shouwei; Gillett, Nathan P.; Lyu, Kewei; Zhang, Xuebin; Swart, Neil C. (April 2022). "Stratospheric ozone depletion and tropospheric ozone increases drive Southern Ocean interior warming". Nature Climate Change. 12 (4): 365–372. Bibcode:2022NatCC..12..365L. doi:10.1038/s41558-022-01320-w. ISSN 1758-6798. S2CID 247844868.