Bjorn Quenemoen and Jamie O'Shea (wearing the hat) were once college roommates but are now popcorn makers. Chris Panetta
By Alexandra Zissu
When Bjorn Quenemoen was a student at Bard College, he would host monthly popcorn parties. He would put up posters around campus, inviting everyone to his parties. At 10 p.m., on the appointed date, he would turn the lights down and put on some music.
Quenemoen would sell a handful of items, including Claussen pickles, Lucky Strike cigarettes and beer, but the real draw was his popcorn. He would pop it live, wearing a uniform (orange pants that his sister bought in Thailand, a maroon muscle shirt and a yellow headband). The recipe, heavy on nutritional yeast, comes from his family, who grew corn, among other crops, in Minnesota.
"Quenemoen, now 38, never stopped making popcorn. "Before I graduated, I got the idea that I could turn this recipe into a business," he said. And he did. The business — no longer a live event — is BjornQorn. The idea is so simple, it makes you kick yourself for not launching it first: non-GMO popcorn, solar popped and seasoned. Nothing more.
BjornQorn's enormous solar kettles were designed by Quenemoen's former college roommate, Jamie O'Shea. "We looked for a place where a farmer would let us build a crazy contraption," said O'Shea. Thanks to a family connection, we've installed them on Kelder's Farm in Kerhonkson, New York, across the street from the BjornQorn office — and not far from their old college campus.
About 20 percent of their corn is grown on Kelder's Farm, and the other 80 percent comes from Quenemoen's family farm. When demand is high, they supplement with organic kernels. "When we don't know the farmers, we buy organic," said Quenemoen. "When we do, we work with noncertified lands." He goes home to Minnesota to personally hand-sort the corn — the machinery available doesn't meet his needs. "There isn't a small-scale solution," he said. "All of the grain needs to be sorted. There can be foreign materials, like husks and rocks, in there."
Regardless of its origin, all of their corn is popped in the Hudson Valley kettles. Recently, the duo added a solar-electric facility to increase their production capacity. They also added two primary flavors to their product line: cloudy and spicy. Cloudy is the kernels that pop on non-sunny days, while spicy is quite hot.
On a rainy spring afternoon in their popcorn-scented office, Quenemoen and O'Shea reflect on their growth and try to imagine their future. It's been a few years since O'Shea was able to work at BjornQorn full-time. And they're past the point where Quenemoen has to stand on a ladder to work machinery and hand-deliver orders.
BjornQorn has made appearances in skits on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Saturday Night Live, and their popcorn is stocked in the staff pantries of both shows. Etsy staff members have even dressed up as bags of BjornQorn for Halloween. "They're so crafty," said Quenemoen.
They're just as proud of selling at Hudson Valley stores and breweries as they are of their demand at Eataly in Boston, New York City and Los Angeles. And they're embarking on a trial run at Whole Foods Market. "We aren't sure yet about our quest for world domination," joked Quenemoen.
"There is still a lot of America left," he said. "We'll see how mainstream we can get this quirky popcorn to go."
Reposted with permission from our media associate Modern Farmer.
A dugong, also called a sea cow, swims with golden pilot jacks near Marsa Alam, Egypt, Red Sea. Alexis Rosenfeld / Getty Images
In 2010, world leaders agreed to 20 targets to protect Earth's biodiversity over the next decade. By 2020, none of them had been met. Now, the question is whether the world can do any better once new targets are set during the meeting of the UN Convention on Biodiversity in Kunming, China later this year.
<p>To help turn the tide, a group of 22 research institutions have come together to develop four steps to protect life on Earth, the <a href="https://environmentjournal.online/articles/researchers-outline-four-key-steps-to-mitigate-climate-crisis/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Environment Journal reported</a>.</p>
<p>"The upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting, and adoption of the new Global Biodiversity Framework, represent an opportunity to transform humanity's relationship with nature," the researchers wrote in <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(20)30657-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2590332220306576%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" target="_blank">One Earth Friday</a>. "Restoring nature while meeting human needs requires a bold vision, including mainstreaming biodiversity <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> in society."</p><p>By mainstreaming biodiversity, the researchers mean that biodiversity should be considered by everyone who makes decisions about the use of natural resources, not just specialized conservation organizations.</p>
<p>To help with this goal, the researchers, led by the University of Oxford's <a href="https://www.iccs.org.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science</a>, developed a framework they are calling the "4Rs," according to a University of Oxford <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-01-22-four-steps-earth-holistic-approach-saving-planet" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">press release</a>. The point of the 4Rs is that they can be used by any group or individual, from the national to the local level, that needs to make a decision that will impact species and ecosystems.</p><p>The 4Rs are:</p><ol><li>Refrain: Avoiding negative impacts on nature.</li><li>Reduce: Minimizing the harm caused by any unavoidable impacts.</li><li>Restore: Acting to quickly counteract any harm caused to nature.</li><li>Renew: Working to improve damaged ecosystems.</li></ol>
<p>"This paper represents a real team effort, with authors from academia, business and government," lead author and Oxford professor E.J. Milner-Gulland said of the goals in the press release. "We're excited to launch this idea and hope that it will be useful to many different groups as they work to realise the vision of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. It's a huge challenge, with many different facets, and we hope that Four Steps for the Earth will provide an intuitive and flexible framework for tying all the threads together."</p>
<p>In the paper, the researchers provided examples of how the framework has been used by groups ranging from the city of London to Indigenous communities. In one example, a fishery in Peru used it to reduce the accidental catching of sea turtles. Goals were set for limiting the number of different species of sea turtle accidentally caught at the local level, and this was connected to regional conservation efforts for the animals.</p><p>The researchers also explained how different institutions could use their framework to guide their actions in the future.</p><p>"This framework will, hopefully, present a turning point in the way institutions such as Oxford think about their biodiversity impact," Oxford project coordinator Henry Grub said in the press release. "Our impacts cannot be overlooked because of the positive research we do – rather we hope the '4Rs' will transform efforts to tackle the environmental impacts of the food we eat in canteens, the paper we put in printers, the land we build on, and much more."</p>
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
President Joe Biden signs executive orders in the State Dining Room at the White House on Jan. 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Images
By Andrew Rosenberg
The first 24 hours of the administration of President Joe Biden were filled not only with ceremony, but also with real action. Executive orders and other directives were quickly signed. More actions have followed. All consequential. Many provide a basis for not just undoing actions of the previous administration, but also making real advances in public policy to protect public health, safety, and the environment.
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<p>These first executive orders address huge challenges — the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/biden-coronavirus-executive-actions/2021/01/21/9a4ab954-5b56-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pandemic</a>, <a href="https://ucsusa.org/about/news/biden-expected-rejoin-paris-agreement-day-one-bring-us-back-international-fold" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate change</a>, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">racial justice</a>, and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/22/fact-sheet-president-bidens-new-executive-actions-deliver-economic-relief-for-american-families-and-businesses-amid-the-covid-19-crises/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economic</a> uncertainty. Among these actions, President Biden also issued a critically important order on "<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-protecting-public-health-and-environment-and-restoring-science-to-tackle-climate-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis</a>," which includes some provisions that have received much less attention than they warrant. They go to the heart of much of UCS' work and advocacy.</p>
<p>Section 1 of the order is clear and inspiring:</p><p>"Policy. Our Nation has an abiding commitment to empower our workers and communities; promote and protect our public health and the environment; and conserve our national treasures and monuments, places that secure our national memory. Where the Federal Government has failed to meet that commitment in the past, it must advance environmental justice. In carrying out this charge, the Federal Government must be guided by the best science and be protected by processes that ensure the integrity of Federal decision-making. <em>It is, therefore, the policy of my Administration to listen to the science; to improve public health and protect our environment; to ensure access to clean air and water; to limit exposure to dangerous chemicals and pesticides; to hold polluters accountable, including those who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities; to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; to bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change; to restore and expand our national treasures and monuments; and to prioritize both environmental justice and the creation of the well-paying union jobs necessary to deliver on these goals."</em> (emphasis added)</p>
<p>Music to my ears. Listening to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a> is not just about the pandemic, it is about serving the needs of the public. For protecting public health and safety in our communities. For worker safety. For protections for all with justice and equity, particularly communities of color and low-income communities that have long suffered much of the burden of pollution and environmental harms. These are exactly the <a href="https://ucsusa.org/resources/roadmap-science-decisionmaking" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">changes</a> that UCS has been advocating for and will pay enormous dividends in improving public health and safety, with specific attention to ensuring those benefits are for all communities.</p><p>As ordered by our president, all agencies and departments in the Executive Branch must immediately review and address actions taken between January 20, 2017 and January 20,2021 that conflict with these policy goals. And suspend, revise, or rescind those found to be in conflict with the new president's policy goals as soon as possible.</p>
<p>For example, these actions will include, but are not limited to:</p><ul><li>Reversing the climate- and health-harming rollback of <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/epa-methane-rollbacks-natural-gas-bridge-becomes-piece-of-crumbling-infrastructure" target="_blank">methane emissions</a> standards.</li><li>Redoing the fuel economy and emissions standards for cars and light trucks that were <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-cooke/trump-administration-finalizes-car-rule-which-will-worsen-economy-public-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gutted</a> under the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-cooke/trump-administration-finalizes-car-rule-as-handout-to-fossil-fuel-industry" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">last administration</a>, while also moving forward with <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-cooke/under-biden-administration-a-new-decade-has-dawned-passenger-car-regulations-must-keep-up?_ga=2.51189737.1374580234.1611258477-310247935.1607440719" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ambitious standards</a> that will dramatically reduce emissions and increase transportation electrification in the future.</li><li>Reconsidering rollbacks of <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/while-you-werent-looking-energy-efficiency-became-one-of-our-nations-top-energy-resources" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">energy efficiency standards</a>.</li><li>Undoing attacks on <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/epas-brazen-mercury-rule-proposal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mercury and air toxics</a> standards for coal plants.</li><li>Reconsidering changes to the way <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/julie-mcnamara/manipulation-of-benefit-cost-analysis-hides-bodies-in-the-fine-print" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">costs and benefits</a> are calculated.</li><li>Revoking the rule that <a href="https://ucsusa.org/about/news/epa-rule-restricting-science-puts-agencys-mission-risk-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">limits the science</a> that the EPA can use in rulemaking.</li><li>Reestablishing the interagency working group on the "<a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/rachel-cleetus/the-social-cost-of-carbon-underscores-an-obvious-fact-climate-change-is-costly" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">social cost</a> of greenhouse gas emissions to determine the social benefits of limiting global warming as critical input to evaluating regulatory proposals, and requiring an interim SCC, SCN and SCM within 30 days which will be used until final values are published.</li><li>Erasing the shortcutting of <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/environmental-racism-in-action-the-trump-administrations-plans-to-gut-nepa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environmental reviews</a> of federal projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).</li></ul><p>Within 30 days agencies must submit a full list of actions from the last four years that will be considered for review and revision or cancellation within the next year.</p>
<h3>(Measured) Excitement at UCS</h3><p>I danced around the room with my dogs at the push toward restoring NEPA analyses. Doing a thorough NEPA analysis, which the shortcuts held back, means that agencies must seek public input more extensive than just notice and public comment during the rulemaking process. And critically it means that alternatives to a proposed action must be considered and vetted with the public, with the full analysis available to anyone who wants to understand the ramifications of a particular policy action. That includes, now with the new order, considering the impacts of climate change and on environmental justice. We need these analyses and public discussion — they are a key part of decisionmaking in our constitutional democracy.</p><p>I am definitely not the only one at UCS who gets excited by these wonky, technical pronouncements.</p><p>My colleague <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/author/jonna-hamilton" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jonna Hamilton</a> raised a glass to toast the drive to more ambitious fuel economy and emissions standards, saying it's time to ensure that the auto companies make the next generation of vehicles that consumers want to drive. Strong standards will help the transition to electric vehicles, which <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-reichmuth/are-electric-vehicles-really-better-for-the-climate-yes-heres-why" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduce emissions</a>, no matter where they are charged.</p><p><a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/author/rachel-cleetus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rachel Cleetus</a> breathed a sigh of relief that the government will be restoring the use of the social cost of carbon (and the social cost of methane and the social cost of nitrous oxide) for regulatory purposes. And that the Council on Environmental Quality will be updating its guidance on the consideration of greenhouse gases for NEPA analyses. With <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/brenda-ekwurzel/2020-ends-hottest-decade-on-record-decadal-temperature-chart-as-iconic-as-co2-keeling-curve" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2020 ending the hottest decade on record</a> globally, and bringing a record-breaking <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/stories/record-number-of-billion-dollar-disasters-struck-us-in-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">22 extreme weather and climate related disasters</a> in the US that killed at least 262 people and each cost more than a billion dollars, it's high time we took the costs of climate change seriously!</p><p>And <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/author/gretchen-goldman" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gretchen Goldman</a>, swinging her young sons in the air in joy, was thrilled to see that revoking the limits on science was named as a top priority of the Biden administration! The so-called Transparency Rule would do <a href="https://ucsusa.org/about/news/epa-rule-restricting-science-puts-agencys-mission-risk-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">widespread damage</a> to the EPA's ability to use the best available science on everything from air pollution standards to pesticide regulation. Finding a way to get rid of <a href="https://undark.org/2019/11/21/opinion-trump-epa-transparency-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this harmful rule</a> will allow the EPA to fully carry out its mission of protecting public health and the environment.</p><p>This order does a lot more to revoke bad policies. It also calls on the Secretary of the Interior to review the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/national-monuments">national monuments</a> with a view to restoring them to 2017 boundaries. It declares the environmental review of oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge inadequate, placing a moratorium on leasing. It revokes the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline because it is inconsistent with the economic and climate goals of the new administration. And part of those stated goals as laid out in the policy section of the order includes respecting the voices of the Indigenous communities whose lands, livelihoods, and culture were given short shrift in the permitting process to date.</p>
<h3>Another Less Noticed, Even Wonkier, Remarkable Day One Action</h3><p>Another <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/modernizing-regulatory-review/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Presidential Directive</a> of critical importance to the mission and work of UCS is titled "Modernizing Regulatory Review." It calls for the Office of Management and Budget, through its Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), to re-focus the role and content of reviews of regulations proposed by federal agencies.</p><p>The new process OIRA is tasked with designing and implementing in consultation with agencies across the government will:</p><ul><li>Reflect new developments in science.</li><li>Fully account for benefits of regulations that are difficult to quantify.</li><li>Take into account the distributional consequences of regulations to ensure they appropriately benefit, and not inappropriately burden, disadvantaged, vulnerable or marginalized communities.</li><li>Find ways for OIRA to work more proactively and effectively with agencies to obtain the benefits to the public that come with regulatory initiatives.</li><li>Improve efficiency, transparency, and inclusiveness in the interagency review process.</li></ul><p>For example, consider the review of the previous administration's rules that would limit the science that the EPA can use as the basis for implementing public health protections. That rule requires that the underlying data of any study be publicly available to be fully considered by the agency. That would necessarily exclude studies that rely on confidential health information in most cases, or give those studies lower credence, not on the basis of their scientific merit, but because of an artificial barrier labeled as "transparency" concerns. <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/we-told-omb-why-epas-so-called-transparency-rule-is-a-trap" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">OIRA has reviewed</a> both the proposed and final rules and deemed them not economically significant, despite the fact that they affect all of the work that EPA does. Under an improved review process, the rule would have never moved through the process because it will in fact overburden, yet again, vulnerable communities.</p><p>Though OIRA's work is often behind the scenes and rarely fully acknowledged, the agency plays a critical role in either advancing or hindering the regulatory process. In order for the Biden administration to meet its goals on climate, the pandemic, racial justice, and economic recovery, that process has to become better and more effective. OIRA involvement must add real value to the benefit of the public. It is heartening and remarkable that this directive is a Day One action of the new administration.</p>
<h3>Toward Real Action</h3><p>By no means do the first executive orders accomplish the huge tasks before this administration. But it is an extraordinarily good start.</p><p>Now these orders need to turn into real actions from top to bottom in the federal government and in partnership with state and tribal governments as well as internationally. None of the challenges we face will be solved without action at all levels.</p><p>Our excitement at UCS is tempered by the enormous amount of work that needs to turn this promising vision into a reality. We will make our voices heard to hold the administration and Congress to account. Please join us in doing so.</p>
<p><em>Andrew Rosenberg is the director of the UCS Center for Science and Democracy.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/andrew-rosenberg/consequential-biden-actions-nobody-is-talking-about" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Melting ice forms a lake on free-floating ice jammed into the Ilulissat Icefjord during unseasonably warm weather on July 30, 2019 near Ilulissat, Greenland. Sean Gallup / Getty Images
A first-of-its-kind study has examined the satellite record to see how the climate crisis is impacting all of the planet's ice.
<p>The answer? Quite a lot. The rate of worldwide ice loss has increased by more than 60 percent in the past three decades, a study published in <a href="https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/233/2021/" target="_blank">The Cryosphere</a> on Monday found.</p><p>"The ice sheets are now following the worst-case climate warming scenarios set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," Dr. Thomas Slater, study lead author and research fellow at Leeds' <a href="https://cpom.org.uk/" target="_blank">Center for Polar Observation and Modeling</a>, said in a <a href="http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4756/global_ice_loss_increases_at_record_rate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">University of Leeds press release</a>. "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">Sea-level rise</a> on this scale will have very serious impacts on coastal communities this century."</p><p>Previous studies have used satellite data to assess ice loss from individual sources, such as polar ice caps, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/25/global-ice-loss-accelerating-at-record-rate-study-finds" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian explained</a>. However, this is the first one to consider all sources of ice loss. The study found that the world lost around 31 trillion U.S. tons between 1994 and 2017. During that time, the rate of ice loss also increased 65 percent, from 0.9 trillion U.S. tons a year to 1.4 trillion U.S. tons a year. Ice loss from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ice-sheets" target="_self">ice sheets</a> in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica" target="_self">Antarctica</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greenland" target="_self">Greenland</a> largely contributed to that number, the press release stated.</p>
<p>The paper also broke down which sources had lost the most ice in total terms between 1994 and 2017. Amounts are approximate and in U.S. tons:</p><ol><li><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic" target="_self">Arctic</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice" target="_self">sea ice</a>: 8.4 trillion</li><li>Antarctic ice shelves: 7.2 trillion</li><li>Mountain <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/glaciers" target="_self">glaciers</a>: 6.7 trillion</li><li>Greenland ice sheet: 4.2 trillion</li><li>Antarctic ice sheet: 2.8 trillion</li><li>Southern Ocean sea ice: one trillion</li></ol><p>The study also examined the leading cause of ice melt for each source, according to the press release. For Arctic sea ice and mountain glaciers, rising atmospheric temperatures have driven melting. For the Antarctic ice sheet, rising <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> temperatures have been the main cause. And for the Greenland ice sheet and Antarctic ice shelves, melting has been increased by a combination of the two.</p><p>All told, melting from Antarctica, Greenland and mountain glaciers have increased sea levels by around 34.6 millimeters, the study found. While this might not sound like a lot, every centimeter of sea level rise puts around a million people in low-lying areas at risk of being flooded out of their homes, the press release said. Moreover, sea level rise isn't the only threat from melting ice.</p><p>"As well as contributing to global mean sea level rise, mountain glaciers are also critical as a freshwater resource for local communities," Inès Otosaka, report co-author and Leeds PhD researcher, said in the press release. "The retreat of glaciers around the world is therefore of crucial importance at both local and global scales."</p>
<p>Melting Arctic sea ice is also a problem because it reduces the ice cover that reflects solar energy back into space.</p><p>"As the sea ice shrinks, more solar energy is being absorbed by the oceans and atmosphere, causing the Arctic to warm faster than anywhere else on the planet," Dr. Isobel Lawrence, coauthor and Leeds research fellow, explained in the press release. "Not only is this speeding up sea ice melt, it's also exacerbating the melting of glaciers and ice sheets which causes sea levels to rise."</p><p>Climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, who was not involved in the study, <a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateOfGavin/status/1353682889045667840" target="_blank">called it</a> a "thorough accounting of how ice is disappearing from the Arctic, Antarctic and mountain ranges."</p><p>However, he disagreed with the paper's claim that the melting of floating sea ice does not contribute directly to sea level rise. He pointed to a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/170/1/145/2019346" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2007 paper</a> that found that if all currently floating sea ice were to melt, sea levels would rise around four centimeters. Slater <a href="https://twitter.com/_tslater/status/1353716525170098176" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">agreed</a> that the language should be changed to make it clear that melting floating sea ice does slightly contribute to sea level rise.</p>
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A Healthy Microbiome Builds a Strong Immune System That Could Help Defeat COVID-19
5h
Health + Wellness
Probiotic rich foods. bit245 / iStock / Getty Images Plus
By Ana Maldonado-Contreras
Takeaways
- Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria that are vital for keeping you healthy.
- Some of these microbes help to regulate the immune system.
- New research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, shows the presence of certain bacteria in the gut may reveal which people are more vulnerable to a more severe case of COVID-19.
You may not know it, but you have an army of microbes living inside of you that are essential for fighting off threats, including the virus that causes COVID-19.
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In the past two decades scientists have learned our bodies are home to more bacterial cells than human ones. This community of bacteria that lives in and on us – called the microbiome – resembles a company, with each microbe species performing specialized jobs but all working to keep us healthy. In the gut, the bacteria balance the immune response against pathogens. These bacteria ensure the immune response is effective but not so violent that it causes collateral damage to the host.
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Bacteria in our guts can elicit an effective immune response against viruses that not only infect the gut, such as <a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/v10020096" target="_blank">norovirus</a> <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1258025" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">and rotavirus</a>, but also those infecting the lungs, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019378108" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the flu virus</a>. The beneficial gut microbes do this by ordering specialized immune cells to produce potent antiviral proteins that ultimately eliminate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.022" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">viral infections</a>. And the body of a person lacking these beneficial gut bacteria won't have as strong an immune response to invading viruses. As a result, infections might go unchecked, taking a toll on health.
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<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4y55zc0AAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">I am a microbiologist</a> fascinated by the ways bacteria shape human health. <a href="https://www.umassmed.edu/nutrition/melody-trial-info/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">An important focus of my research</a> is figuring out how the beneficial bacteria populating our guts combat disease and infection. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.05.20249061" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">My most recent work focuses on the link</a> between a particular microbe and the severity of COVID-19 in patients. My ultimate goal is to figure out out how to enhance the gut microbiome with diet to evoke a strong immune response – for not just SARS-CoV-2 but all pathogens.</p>
How Do Resident Bacteria Keep You Healthy?
<p>Our immune defense is part of a complex biological response against harmful pathogens, such as viruses or bacteria. However, because our bodies are inhabited by trillions of mostly beneficial bacteria, virus and fungi, activation of our immune response is tightly regulated to distinguish between harmful and helpful microbes.</p><p>Our bacteria are spectacular companions diligently helping prime our immune system defenses to combat infections. A seminal study found that mice treated with antibiotics that eliminate bacteria in the gut exhibited an impaired immune response. These animals had low counts of virus-fighting white blood cells, weak antibody responses and poor production of a protein that is vital for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019378108" target="_blank">combating viral infection and modulating the immune response</a>.</p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184976" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">In another study</a>, mice were fed <em>Lactobacillus</em> bacteria, commonly used as probiotic in fermented food. These microbes reduced the severity of influenza infection. The <em>Lactobacillus</em>-treated mice did not lose weight and had only mild lung damage compared with untreated mice. Similarly, others have found that treatment of mice with <em>Lactobacillus</em> protects against different <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04638" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">subtypes of</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17487-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">influenza</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008072" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">virus</a> and human respiratory syncytial virus – the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-39602-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">major cause of viral bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children</a>.</p>Chronic Disease and Microbes
<p>Patients with chronic illnesses including Type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease exhibit a hyperactive immune system that fails to recognize a harmless stimulus and is linked to an altered gut microbiome.</p><p>In these chronic diseases, the gut microbiome lacks bacteria that activate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1198469" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">immune cells</a> that block the response against harmless bacteria in our guts. Such alteration of the gut microbiome is also observed in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1002601107" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">babies delivered by cesarean section</a>, individuals consuming a poor <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12820" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">diet</a> and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11053" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">elderly</a>.</p><p>In the U.S., 117 million individuals – about half the adult population – <a href="https://health.gov/our-work/food-nutrition/2015-2020-dietary-guidelines/guidelines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">suffer from Type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease or a combination of them</a>. That suggests that half of American adults carry a faulty microbiome army.</p><p>Research in my laboratory focuses on identifying gut bacteria that are critical for creating a balanced immune system, which fights life-threatening bacterial and viral infections, while tolerating the beneficial bacteria in and on us.</p><p>Given that diet affects the diversity of bacteria in the gut, <a href="https://www.umassmed.edu/nutrition/melody-trial-info/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">my lab studies show how diet can be used</a> as a therapy for chronic diseases. Using different foods, people can shift their gut microbiome to one that boosts a healthy immune response.</p><p>A fraction of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, develop severe complications that require hospitalization in intensive care units. What do many of those patients have in common? <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6912e2.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Old age</a> and chronic diet-related diseases like obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.</p><p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2008.12.019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Black and Latinx people are disproportionately affected by obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease</a>, all of which are linked to poor nutrition. Thus, it is not a coincidence that <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6933e1.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">these groups have suffered more deaths from COVID-19</a> compared with whites. This is the case not only in the U.S. but also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/blacks-in-britain-are-four-times-as-likely-to-die-of-coronavirus-as-whites-data-show/2020/05/07/2dc76710-9067-11ea-9322-a29e75effc93_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in Britain</a>.</p>Discovering Microbes That Predict COVID-19 Severity
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired me to shift my research and explore the role of the gut microbiome in the overly aggressive immune response against SARS-CoV-2 infection.</p><p>My colleagues and I have hypothesized that critically ill SARS-CoV-2 patients with conditions like obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease exhibit an altered gut microbiome that aggravates <a href="https://theconversation.com/exercise-may-help-reduce-risk-of-deadly-covid-19-complication-ards-136922" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">acute respiratory distress syndrome</a>.</p><p>Acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening lung injury, in SARS-CoV-2 patients is thought to develop from a <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cytogfr.2020.05.003" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fatal overreaction of the immune response</a> called a <a href="https://theconversation.com/blocking-the-deadly-cytokine-storm-is-a-vital-weapon-for-treating-covid-19-137690" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cytokine storm</a> <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30216-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">that causes an uncontrolled flood</a> <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30216-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">of immune cells into the lungs</a>. In these patients, their own uncontrolled inflammatory immune response, rather than the virus itself, causes the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-020-05991-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">severe lung injury and multiorgan failures</a> that lead to death.</p><p>Several studies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trsl.2020.08.004" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">described in one recent review</a> have identified an altered gut microbiome in patients with COVID-19. However, identification of specific bacteria within the microbiome that could predict COVID-19 severity is lacking.</p><p>To address this question, my colleagues and I recruited COVID-19 hospitalized patients with severe and moderate symptoms. We collected stool and saliva samples to determine whether bacteria within the gut and oral microbiome could predict COVID-19 severity. The identification of microbiome markers that can predict the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 disease is key to help prioritize patients needing urgent treatment.</p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.05.20249061" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">We demonstrated</a>, in a paper which has not yet been peer reviewed, that the composition of the gut microbiome is the strongest predictor of COVID-19 severity compared to patient's clinical characteristics commonly used to do so. Specifically, we identified that the presence of a bacterium in the stool – called <em>Enterococcus faecalis</em>– was a robust predictor of COVID-19 severity. Not surprisingly, <em>Enterococcus faecalis</em> has been associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2011.05.035" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">chronic</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9440(10)61172-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inflammation</a>.</p><p><em>Enterococcus faecalis</em> collected from feces can be grown outside of the body in clinical laboratories. Thus, an <em>E. faecalis</em> test might be a cost-effective, rapid and relatively easy way to identify patients who are likely to require more supportive care and therapeutic interventions to improve their chances of survival.</p><p>But it is not yet clear from our research what is the contribution of the altered microbiome in the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. A recent study has shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.11.416180" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers an imbalance in immune cells</a> called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/imr.12170" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">T regulatory cells that are critical to immune balance</a>.</p><p>Bacteria from the gut microbiome are responsible for the <a href="https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.30916.001" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proper activation</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1198469" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">of those T-regulatory</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nri.2016.36" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cells</a>. Thus, researchers like me need to take repeated patient stool, saliva and blood samples over a longer time frame to learn how the altered microbiome observed in COVID-19 patients can modulate COVID-19 disease severity, perhaps by altering the development of the T-regulatory cells.</p><p>As a Latina scientist investigating interactions between diet, microbiome and immunity, I must stress the importance of better policies to improve access to healthy foods, which lead to a healthier microbiome. It is also important to design culturally sensitive dietary interventions for Black and Latinx communities. While a good-quality diet might not prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, it can treat the underlying conditions related to its severity.</p><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ana-maldonado-contreras-1152969" target="_blank">Ana Maldonado-Contreras</a> is an assistant professor of Microbiology and Physiological Systems at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.</em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: Ana Maldonado-Contreras receives funding from The Helmsley Charitable Trust and her work has been supported by the American Gastroenterological Association. She received The Charles A. King Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. She is also member of the Diversity Committee of the American Gastroenterological Association.</em></p><p><em style="">Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-healthy-microbiome-builds-a-strong-immune-system-that-could-help-defeat-covid-19-145668" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Michael Mann photo inset by Joshua Yospyn.
By Jeff Masters, Ph.D.
The New Climate War: the fight to take back our planet is the latest must-read book by leading climate change scientist and communicator Michael Mann of Penn State University.
<p>Published Jan. 12, 2021, <em>The New Climate War</em> describes how outright <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-denier" target="_self">denial</a> of the physical evidence of human-caused climate change simply is no longer credible. It describes in explicit detail how forces of denial and delay – fossil fuel companies, right-wing partisans, media and talking heads, and oil-funded governments – continue to profit from our dependence on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>. It explores how they have shifted to new tactics, using "an array of powerful Ds: disinformation, deceit, divisiveness, deflection, delay, despair-mongering, and doomism."</p>
<p>In better understanding how prospects for climate action still are threatened, readers will learn fascinating climate history and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a>, and will be uplifted by Mann's take on how close society may be to a tipping point on solving the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a>. "A clean energy revolution and climate stabilization are achievable with current technology," Mann writes. "All we require are policies to incentivize the needed shift."</p><p>The new Mann book consists of nine sections:</p><p>The first two chapters, "The Architects of Misinformation and Misdirection" and "The Climate Wars," outline the history of climate science denial over the years.</p>
<p><strong>The Crying Indian' and the Birth of the Deflection Campaign</strong> details how vested interests use <em>deflection</em> campaigns to defeat policies they dislike. A classic example is the iconic "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OHG7tHrNM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crying Indian</a>" commercial of the 1970s, which alerted viewers to accumulating glass bottle and can waste litter. The commercial was part of a successful deflection campaign by the beverage industry to blame the public rather than corporations, emphasizing individual responsibility over collective action and regulations.</p>
<p><strong></strong><strong>It's YOUR Fault</strong> describes how fossil fuel interests, using <em>deflection</em> campaigns, "are actually all too happy to talk about the environment. They just want to keep the conversation around individual responsibility, not systemic change or corporate culpability." Mann also details how deflection campaigns criticize individuals for their air travel to attend conferences.</p><p>Internet bots and trolls from oil-rich Russia are also involved in deflection campaigns, Mann writes. He writes that barbs aimed at 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton "appeared to come from the environmental left, criticizing her climate policies (for example, her position on fracking). We now know that many of those attacks were actually Russian trolls and bots seeking to convince younger, greener progressives that there was no difference between the two candidates (so they might as well stay home)." Mann writes also that Russia is believed to have helped instigate the 2018 'Yellow Vest' revolts that undercut French governmental efforts to introduce a carbon tax.</p><p>Mann describes a number of "wedge" campaigns run to divide climate advocates. He points to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/21/climate-tweets-twitter-bots-analysis" target="_blank">a 2020 news story in The Guardian</a> reporting that "the social media conversation over the climate crisis is being reshaped by an army of automated Twitter bots." That article estimated that "a quarter of all tweets about climate on an average day are produced by bots," with a goal of "distorting the online discourse to include far more climate science denialism than it would otherwise."</p>
<p><strong>Put a Price on It. </strong><em><strong>Or Not.</strong></em> This chapter begins with Mann's concerns that "the fuel industry has been granted the greatest market subsidy ever: the privilege to dump its waste products into the atmosphere at no charge." When <em>implicit</em> subsidies are included like the health costs and environmental pollution damage, including the damage done by climate change, Mann writes, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-the-challenge-of-defining-fossil-fuel-subsidies" target="_blank">estimated</a> subsidies of over $5 trillion were paid in the year 2015 alone. These subsidies need to end, Mann argues, preferring a price on carbon emissions to force polluters to pay for the climate damage done by their product, fossil fuels, and a tilt giving an advantage to clean and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> forms.</p><p>Mann rejects flat-out concerns over a potential carbon tax. For instance, he writes that "whether a carbon tax is progressive or regressive depends on how it is designed. A fee-and-dividend method, for example, returns any revenue raised back to the people."</p><p>Mann also expresses support for supply-side measures like "blocking pipeline construction, banning fracking, stopping mountain-top-removal coal mining, divesting in fossil fuel companies, and putting a halt to most new fossil fuel infrastructure."</p>
<p>In <strong>Sinking the Competition</strong>, Mann backs explicit incentives for renewable energy and elimination of incentives for fossil fuels. He says fossil fuel interests and their backers have "put their thumbs on the scale by promoting programs that favor fossil fuel energy while sabotaging those that incentivize renewables, and engaging in propaganda campaigns to discredit renewable energy as a viable alternative to fossil fuels."</p>
<p><strong>The Non-Solution Solution</strong> chapter details Mann's concerns that those opposing climate action promote "solutions" (natural gas, carbon capture, geo-engineering) that Mann argues aren't real solutions at all. "Part of their strategy is using soothing words and terms – 'bridge fuels,' 'clean coal,' 'adaptation,' 'resilience' – that convey the illusion of action but, in context, are empty promises," he writes. Mann's preferred "viable path forward on climate involves a combination of energy efficiency, electrification, and decarbonization of the grid through an array of complementary renewable energy sources. The problem is that fossil fuel interests lose out in that scenario, and so they have used their immense wealth and influence to stymie any efforts to move in that direction."</p>
<p><strong>The Truth Is Bad Enough</strong> decries obsessive pessimism and "doomism" as unhelpful to tackling the climate crisis. "Exaggeration of the climate threat by purveyors of doom – we'll call them 'doomists' – is unhelpful at best," he writes. "Indeed, doomism today arguably poses a greater threat to climate action than outright denial. For if catastrophic warming of the planet were truly inevitable and there were no agency on our part in averting it, why should we do anything?"</p>
<p><strong>Meeting the Challenge</strong> presents a summary of Dr. Mann's four-point battle plan, which he outlines in the introduction to the book:</p><p><em>Disregard the Doomsayers:</em> The misguided belief that "it's too late" to act has been co-opted by fossil fuel interests and those advocating for them, Mann argues. It's just another way of legitimizing business-as-usual and a continued reliance on fossil fuels. Overt doom and gloom arguments should be ignored.</p><p><em>A Child Shall Lead Them:</em> Youths are fighting to save their planet, and there is a moral authority and clarity in their message that only the most jaded can disregard. Youths are the game-changers climate advocates have been waiting for, and their actions, methods, and idealism are models for all.</p><p><em>Educate, Educate, Educate:</em> Most hard-core climate-change deniers are unmovable, with an ideology impervious to facts. Don't waste time and effort trying to convince them. Instead, work with and help inform victims of climate change disinformation campaigns so they can join efforts to combat the climate challenge.</p><p><em>Changing the System Requires Systemic Change:</em> Those responsible for fossil fuel disinformation engage in either-or arguments rather than address larger systemic issues and consider incentives. Policies need to incentivize shifts away from fossil fuel burning toward a clean, green global economy, and those policies warrant the support of elected leaders.</p><p>The bottom line on <em>The New Climate War</em>: The book could benefit from more graphics and cartoons as complements to its 267 pages of text. Overall, though, the book still is a must-read for every climate-savvy and climate-dependent. (Only air breathers need apply!)</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/01/scientist-mike-manns-must-read-book-the-new-climate-war/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- 12 New Books Explore Fresh Approaches to Act on Climate Change ... ›
- Dr. Michael Mann on Climate Denial: 'It's Impaired Our Ability to ... ›
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