WWF / BiancoTangerine
The Mediterranean Sea is turning into a dangerous plastic trap, with record levels of pollution from microplastics threatening marine species and human health, according to a new World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report released Friday.
Coinciding with World Oceans Day, the WWF report "Out of the Plastic Trap: Saving the Mediterranean From Plastic Pollution" raises the alarm on the dramatic effects that excessive plastic use, poor waste management and mass tourism are having on one of the most visited regions in the world.
Bringing together the most recent data and scientific evidence on plastic use in Europe and the many ways in which it impacts marine life, the report presents a detailed roadmap of the urgent actions institutions, businesses and citizens need to take to stop plastic waste from reaching the sea.
"The impacts of plastic pollution in the Mediterranean are also being felt across the world and are causing serious harm both to nature and human health. Worsening plastic pollution will threaten the Mediterranean's global reputation for tourism and seafood, undermining the local communities who depend on these sectors for their livelihoods. The plastics problem is also a symptom of the overall decline in the health of the Mediterranean and must serve as a rallying call for real action," said John Tanzer, leader of the WWF International oceans program.
Today, plastic represents 95 percent of the waste floating in the Mediterranean and lying on its beaches. Most of this plastic is released into the sea from Turkey and Spain, followed by Italy, Egypt and France, with tourists visiting the region increasing marine litter by 40 percent each summer.
Large plastic pieces injure, suffocate and often kill marine animals, including protected and endangered species, such as sea turtles and monk seals. But it is microplastics—smaller and more insidious fragments—that have reached record levels of concentration of 1.25 million fragments per km2 in the Mediterranean Sea, almost four times higher than in the "plastic island" found in the North Pacific Ocean. By entering the food chain, these fragments threaten an increasing number of animal species as well as people.
"In Europe, we produce an enormous amount of plastic waste, the majority of which is sent to landfills, resulting in millions of tonnes of plastic entering the Mediterranean Sea each year. This contaminating flow, combined with the Mediterranean being semi-enclosed, has seen harmful microplastics reach record concentration levels, threatening both marine species and human health," said Giuseppe Di Carlo, director of WWF's Mediterranean marine initiative.
"We cannot let the Mediterranean drown in plastic. We need to act urgently and across the whole supply chain to save our ocean from the pervasive presence of plastics."
According to the report, delays and gaps in plastic waste management in most Mediterranean countries are among the root causes of plastic pollution. Out of the 27 million tonnes of plastic waste produced each year in Europe (Europe here refers to EU-28, Norway and Switzerland), only a third is recycled; half of all plastic waste in Italy, France and Spain ends up in landfills. Recycled plastics currently account for only 6 percent of plastics demand in Europe.
WWF is urging governments, businesses and individuals to adopt a number of actions to reduce plastic pollution in urban, coastal and marine environments in the Mediterranean and globally. These include:
- The adoption of a legally-binding international agreement to eliminate plastic discharge into the oceans, supported by strong national targets to achieve 100 percent plastic waste recycled and reusable by 2030 and national bans for single-use plastic items such as bags.
- A call to businesses to invest in innovation and design toward more effective and sustainable plastic use.
40-Ton Sperm Whales Killed by Plastic Bags in Mediterranean #plasticpollutes https://t.co/KfdCTPTsrg— Plastic Pollutes (@Plastic Pollutes)1527734403.0
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A never-before-documented frog species has been discovered in the Peruvian highlands and named Phrynopus remotum. Germán Chávez
By Angela Nicoletti
The eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains in central Perú are among the most remote places in the world.
<p>At elevations of 12,000 feet, some patches of cloud forest linger, blanketing the rocky ground and grasslands. Scattered across those grasslands are stones, surrounded by moss and lichens.</p><p>And hidden beneath those stones are small, brownish-grey frogs with short limbs and stout bodies. They don't live near water, so they never begin life as tadpoles. Instead, they hatch directly out of the eggs as froglets.</p><p>These unique frogs may have existed under those stones for centuries. But they were unknown to science — until now. <a href="https://case.fiu.edu/about/directory/profiles/catenazzi-alessandro.html" target="_blank">Alessandro Catenazzi</a>, a Florida International University (FIU) biologist in the <a href="https://environment.fiu.edu/" target="_blank">Institute of Environment</a>, and a collaborative team in Perú have successfully identified the never-before-documented frog species in the Peruvian highlands and named it <em>Phrynopus remotum.</em></p>
<p>"You can't do anything for a species if you don't know it exists," Catenazzi said. "As scientists, describing and naming a species is the first step in helping to save it."</p><p>Germán Chávez and Luis Alberto García Ayachi were conducting field work when they came across some of the frogs. At first glance, they didn't necessarily stand out. The frogs look much like other frogs that live at high elevations where temperatures and oxygen levels are lower.</p><p>Because of a phenomenon called convergent evolution, different species will adapt in similar ways to a particular environment. Frogs that live at lower elevations — where there are trees — have disks on their fingers and toes to help them climb and move around. At higher elevations frogs don't usually have those disks. They don't have slim bodies. They don't have eyes that are as big. Living in mosses or under stones, they don't need those particular genetic adaptations.</p>
<p>Every frog living under those stones, though, is <em>not</em> the same.</p><p>Catenazzi knows this better than most. Throughout his career, he's spent time in museums studying the world's frogs and in the field searching for places where a deadly fungal disease has not yet hit amphibian populations. Including this latest find, he's helped discover and name 33 new species.</p><p>In the lab, Catenazzi extracted and sequenced the DNA of the frog in question and confirmed it was, in fact, a completely unique and new species. He then constructed an evolutionary tree. Like a family tree that traces different relatives — grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins — the tree Catenazzi created looked at relatedness that spans hundreds of thousands to millions of years. It shows how closely the newly named species is related to other species in the same genus, <em>Phrynopus.</em></p>
<p><em>Phrynopus remotum</em> refers to the remote place the frogs are found, which can only be reached after days of traveling over roads, on horseback, along hiking trails and up the steep slopes of the mountain side.</p><p>As Catenazzi points out, though, just because this place is remote today doesn't mean it will always remain that way. The highlands and nearby areas are threatened by the rapid expansion of human activities. Even hiding under a stone won't save the little frog if a road is built or the land is used for agriculture.</p><p>But, now that scientists know these frogs exist, conservation can begin. </p><p>"With the knowledge of this species, we can convince people of the value of this area. We can say 'Here is a species and it's found nowhere else on earth,'" Catenazzi said. "That can convince people that this specific area has value and should be protected so this frog can persist."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.fiu.edu/2020/whats-under-that-stone-oh,-just-a-never-before-seen-species-of-frog" target="_blank">Florida International University</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Left: Lemurs in Madagascar on March 30, 2017. Mathias Appel / Flickr. Right: A North Atlantic right whale mother and calf. National Marine Fisheries Service
A new analysis by scientists at the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that lemurs and the North Atlantic right whale are on the brink of extinction.
<p>For lemurs, the analysis found that almost one-third of the species in Madagascar are critically <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered</a> while 98 percent are threatened or worse, according to the IUCN's updated Red List of Threatened Species. The demise of lemurs is largely attributed to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation" target="_self">deforestation</a> and hunting on the giant island off eastern Africa, conservationists said Thursday, as the <a href="https://apnews.com/82146ce2b2b9b98bb21b110eb14a797b#:~:text=GENEVA%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20Nearly%20all,eastern%20Africa%2C%20conservationists%20said%20Thursday." target="_blank">AP</a> reported.</p><p>To put that in numbers, instead of percentages, 33 lemur species are critically endangered, with 103 of the 107 surviving species threatened with extinction, according to the IUCN. The updated list now has 13 species pushed into the critically endangered category due to human activity.</p>
<p>The IUCN also says there were fewer than 250 mature North Atlantic right <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/whales" target="_self">whales</a> believed to be alive in 2018, marking a 15-percent drop since 2011. That number includes about only 100 breeding females.</p><p>"At the heart of this crisis is a dire need for alternative, sustainable livelihoods to replace the current reliance on deforestation and unsustainable use of wildlife," Grethel Aguilar, IUCN's acting director general, said in a statement, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/07/09/north-atlantic-right-whale-is-face-an-extinction-crisis-report-says/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported. "These findings really bring home the urgent need for an ambitious post-2020 biodiversity framework that drives effective conservation action."</p>
<p>At the end of June, one dead whale was spotted off the coast of New Jersey. That six-month-old calf had been struck several times on the head, suggesting one or possibly two vessel collisions, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/climate/trump-north-atlantic-right-whale.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. Increasingly, collisions with ships, entanglements in fishing nets, and underwater noise pollution are killing the animals, which rely on echolocation for basic activities such as feeding, communicating and finding mates, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/07/09/north-atlantic-right-whale-is-face-an-extinction-crisis-report-says/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>The North Atlantic right whale also faces an increased threat from the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. The IUCN says that warming ocean temperatures have likely pushed the species' main prey species further north during summer, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the whales are more exposed to accidental encounters with ships and also at high risk of entanglement in crab-pot ropes.</p><p>The whale's preferred home, in the Gulf of Maine's deep waters, has warmed nearly 9 degrees Fahrenheit since 2004, faster than 99 percent of the world's oceans for much of this century, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/climate/trump-north-atlantic-right-whale.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>The prospects are bleak for the North Atlantic right whale now that President <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> lifted restrictions on commercial fishing in a key area of the whale's habitat.</p>
<p>"Unless we act decisively to turn the tide, the next time the right whale's Red List status changes it will be to 'extinct,'" Jane Davenport, a senior attorney for Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement, as The Washington Post reported.</p><p>The deaths of 30 Atlantic right whales were confirmed as human-caused between 2012 and 2016, according to the IUCN report, and all but four were caused by entanglement in fishing gear.</p><p>Peter Corkeron, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium, has chronicled the gruesome deaths of right whales as the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's research program for large whales for the last decade. He told the New York Times he feared the listing would have little impact.</p><p>"A lot of the dynamic was bad anyway, and under Trump it just got worse," Corkeron said. "People are terrified to do anything about right whales at the moment."</p>
<p>The update to the "Red List of Threatened Species" shows that 32,441 species are threatened out of a total of 120,372 on the list.</p><p>"We have to take bold and rapid action to reduce the huge damage we're doing to the planet if we're going to save whales, frogs, lemurs and ultimately ourselves," said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, as The Washington Post reported. "We really can do all of these things, but we need world leaders to stand up and do them."</p>
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Nobody knows exactly how much vitamin D a person actually needs. However, vitamin D is becoming increasingly popular. Colin Dunn / Flickr / CC by 2.0
By Julia Vergin
It is undisputed that vitamin D plays a role everywhere in the body and performs important functions. A severe vitamin D deficiency, which can occur at a level of 12 nanograms per milliliter of blood or less, leads to severe and painful bone deformations known as rickets in infants and young children and osteomalacia in adults. Unfortunately, this is where the scientific consensus ends.
Where Does the Deficiency Begin?
<p>Nobody knows exactly how much vitamin D a person actually needs. The question of when a deficiency starts is correspondingly controversial. However, vitamin D is becoming increasingly popular.Not only is the pseudo-scientific literature on the "sun vitamin" experiencing an upswing, but the number of published studies has also increased enormously in recent years. For example, in 2019 <a href="https://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/40/4/1109/5126915" target="_blank">a study found that</a> Vitamin D is responsible for keeping the skeleton functional and is associated with cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and various types of cancer. <br></p>An All-Rounder
<p>Vitamin D levels in the body rise and fall according to sun exposure. If sufficient UV rays reach the skin, the body is able to produce the vitamin itself. However, the human body only derives an estimated 10 to 20 percent of its daily requirement from food.</p><p>The vitamin D that we synthesize from sunlight or food is not biologically active at first. Before the kidneys can produce the biologically active form of the vitamin, known as calcitriol, and release it into the blood, some metabolic processes must take place beforehand.</p><p>In addition, many organs have receptors to which the precursor of calcitriol binds. Further, this substance is also present in blood.</p><p>From this precursor, the organs then produce calcitriol themselves, which the body then uses for countless other processes in the body. This form of vitamin D thus regulates insulin secretion, inhibits tumor growth, and promotes the formation of red blood cells as well as the survival and activity of macrophages, which are important for the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/5/7/2502/htm" target="_blank">immune system.</a></p>Low Vitamin D, Severe COVID-19 Disease?
<p>A research study carried out <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352364620300067?via%3Dihub" target="_blank">at the University of Hohenheim</a> has now established a link between vitamin D deficiency, certain previous diseases, and severe cases of COVID-19.</p><p>According to the study, "there is a lot of evidence that several non-communicable diseases (high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome) are associated with low vitamin D plasma levels. These comorbidities, together with the often accompanying vitamin D deficiency, increase the risk of severe COVID-19 events."</p><p>"This statement is completely correct," said Martin Fassnacht, head of endocrinology at the University Hospital of Würzburg. However, he qualifies that it is a pure association, "i.e. a mere observation that these events occur together.</p><p>Dr. Fassnacht is very critical of the hype surrounding vitamin D, but not because he denies the vitamin serves important functions. However, studies on humans have not been able to show that vitamin D has the healing powers many often propagate.</p><p>Fassnacht says, "If you take a closer look, the hopes that the administration of vitamin D has a healing effect have not been confirmed so far."</p>Association Versus Intervention Studies
<p>Many studies on the vitamin are association or observational studies. "By definition, these studies cannot prove the causal relationship, but only point to mere correlations," said Fassnacht. The physician tries to illustrate this with an example:</p><p>"Imagine two groups of 80-year-olds. One group is spry, active and does sports. If you compare them with another group living in nursing homes, the difference in vitamin D levels will be dramatic. Life expectancy would also be extremely different."</p><p>But to try to explain the difference in fitness by vitamin D status alone is far too simplistic. "Vitamin D levels are a good measure of how sick someone is. But not more," says Fassnacht. </p><p>According to Fassnacht, none of the intervention studies carried out to date -- that specifically examined the effect of vitamin D on various diseases -- has been able to confirm the previous association and laboratory studies or the presumed positive effect of vitamin D.</p>Further Research Is Needed
<p>"If a coronavirus infection is suspected, it is therefore absolutely necessary to check the vitamin D status and quickly correct any possible deficit," said the recommendation of the paper published by the University of Hohenheim.</p><p>"Studies are underway to see whether vitamin D helps in COVID-19 infection, but I personally do not believe that this is really the case," says endocrinologist Fassnacht. Nevertheless, he says it is of course useful to carry out these studies.<br></p><p>"I don't want to rule out that there are actually subgroups of people who benefit from an additional vitamin D dose," he says. After all, this has been proven to be the case with a severe deficit.</p><p>In view of the study situation, Fassnacht does not think much of preventive, nationwide vitamin D substitutes. "My belief that the vitamin helps somewhere is very low. But, of course, I can be wrong."</p>From Your Site Articles
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Data from a scientist measuring macroalgal communities in rocky shores in the Argentinean Patagonia would be added to the new system. Patricia Miloslavich / University of Delaware
Ocean scientists have been busy creating a global network to understand and measure changes in ocean life. The system will aggregate data from the oceans, climate and human activity to better inform sustainable marine management practices.
EcoWatch sat down with some of the scientists spearheading the collaboration to learn more.
<p>"There is the <a href="https://www.goosocean.org/" target="_blank">Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)</a> and the <a href="https://marinebon.org/" target="_blank">Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON)</a>. We're trying to put them together," explained Frank Muller-Karger, a professor at the University of South Florida studying phytoplankton, a member of the Biology & Ecosystems Panel (BioEco Panel) of GOOS and a co-founder of MBON.</p><p>GOOS recommends what kinds of essential measurements should be collected to address particular problems. Over the last few decades, physical variables (salinity, temperature, oxygen, etc.) have helped improved weather forecasts and understanding of how the ocean redistributes heat around the world, Muller-Karger said.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0NzgxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODE2OTE0MX0.FEfKKy8pBNvRAcmFZxjv5NOR091Ic42VVpZLcCvQCCA/img.jpg?width=980" id="dc9f8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cc9679b2e14d4d050938af7041bed306" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Climate models are predicting faster warming of the North Atlantic Ocean, which will shift the Gulf Stream. NASA
<p>MBON has established biodiversity variables (genetics, number of species at a certain depth, ecosystem structure, etc.) to understand the structures of life in the oceans, explained Patricia Miloslavich, executive director of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research at the University of Delaware and member of both the BioEco Panel and MBON.</p><p>Now, scientists are trying to bridge the gap between the two observing networks by creating one "language" both systems can speak and in which all data can be collected and shared. A major goal is to be more efficient and effective in solving issues that affect people around the world by leveraging the oceans' resources sustainably. The effort will be a key contribution to the <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/" target="_blank">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development</a> (2021 - 2030), an international effort under which top researchers have been collaborating to reverse ocean decline.</p><p>"Data have to be formatted and have to carry a measure of precision if you want any hope to understand how the world is changing," Muller-Karger said. "It's so difficult to make measurements in the sea, that if we don't follow standards, we end up with things we cannot compare. It complicates things even further."</p>
<p>Woody Turner, who works with NASA and remotely sensed data that will be incorporated into the new system, said the entire endeavor is about "coordination at a global scale to get a global view of the planet." He noted that people have been looking at phenomena in the ocean for centuries and that the hard part has always been stitching these diverse observations together.</p><p>"That's why the U.N. Decade is such a big deal. It's an effort to bring together natural and social scientists from around the world to deliberately tie things together and create a standardized global observation system for it all," he said.</p>
<p>The system will also link into a similar global climate observation system that has been in place for over 40 years, as well as account for human intervention. In this way, scientists hope to more fully understand how the two biggest stressors on the oceans — climate change and human activity — affect <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a> and abundance of life in the oceans, Miloslavich said.</p><p>"This can be used by policymakers to better manage how we use the oceans," she added.</p><p>For example, through the system, scientists could explain the fact that the oceans off the northeast U.S. are warming and document the how and why of a northward-migration of lobsters to forecast whether specific action may <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/lobsters-climate-change-2639919647.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">prevent the impending collapse of current fisheries</a> and the resultant shift towards new species in the ecosystem.</p>
<p>Traditional climate data would show the effect of increased emissions of greenhouse gases, the GOOS might measure higher water temperatures, and the MBON might separately register the disappearing lobster populations, but the new system would hopefully be able to connect it all. Fisheries managers could then anticipate shortening or shifting a catch season accordingly, making the fishery more effective and profitable.</p><p>"We really need to be measuring life and the diversity of life, because that's ultimately what we depend on," Muller-Karger said. "We don't eat bulk carbon; we eat fish and potatoes."</p><p>Fundamentally, the scientists are trying to create a way to link physical and chemical measurements to the changes in biodiversity and life in the oceans.</p><p>"We need to be able to harness all that information so we can profit more from the info we're collecting," said Nic Bax, co-chair of the BioEco Panel. "That multi-disciplinarity is really needed now."</p>
<p>Critically, the new integrated observing system also shows how human actions can increase biodiversity in a particular region, so that abundance and productivity can be used to improve human life in various ways, Bax explained.</p><p>For example, Turner and Maury Estes apply space-based satellite imagery of the Earth with sea-based measurements to improve aquaculture practices in Palau. This combats overfishing while sustaining the health of the people and the economy of the island nation. They are also applying such technologies to <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/mangrove-conservation-more-valuable-ever-thanks-carbon-trading" target="_blank">mangrove conservation</a> and restoration efforts in Kenya, where carbon credits are purchased to maintain mangroves as essential fish spawning grounds, increasing biological resilience while reducing human poverty.</p><p>"As we understand more, how we talk about sustainably developing the environment won't be just about how to not lose diversity, but about how to bring it back," Bax said. "A lot of things just require someone to invest in them, and financial markets need to be informed about what's going on in the larger system. This is a way to generate profit while improving the lives of people."</p><p>Turner added, "It's not only about saving life on the planet, it's about saving ourselves. It's a global problem, so we have to address it top-down, globally."</p>
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Authors of a new study warned Thursday that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is nearing a level not seen in 15 million years. Dawn Ellner / Flickr / CC by 2.0
By Jessica Corbett
As a United Nations agency released new climate projections showing that the world is on track in the next five years to hit or surpass a key limit of the Paris agreement, authors of a new study warned Thursday that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is nearing a level not seen in 15 million years.
<p><br/></p>
<p>For the study, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67154-8" target="_blank">published</a> in the journal<em> Scientific Reports</em>, researchers at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom examined CO2 levels during the Late Pliocene about three million years ago "to search for modern and near future-like climate states," co-author Thomas Chalk <a href="https://twitter.com/ChalkyOceans/status/1281182408554020864" target="_blank">explained</a> in a series of tweets.</p><p>"A striking result we've found is that the warmest part of the Pliocene had between 380 and 420 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere," Chalk <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/09/co2-in-earths-atmosphere-nearing-levels-of-15m-years-ago" target="_blank">told</a> the <em>Guardian</em>. "This is similar to today's value of around 415 parts per million, showing that we are already at levels that in the past were associated with temperature and sea-level significantly higher than today."</p><p>When CO2 levels peaked during the Pliocene, temperatures were 3ºC to 4ºC hotter and seas were 65 feet higher, the newspaper reported. Chalk said that "currently, our CO2 levels are rising at about 2.5 ppm per year, meaning that by 2025 we will have exceeded anything seen in the last 3.3 million years."</p><p>"We are burning through the Pliocene and heading towards a Miocene-like future," warned co-author Gavin Foster, referencing a period from about 23 to 5.3 million years ago. It was during the Miocene, around 15 million years ago, when "our ancestors are thought to have diverged from orangutans and become recognizably hominoid," the <em>Guardian</em> noted.</p>
<div id="1a097" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3be1f37aee62477983e577219c84d7a9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1281182404116385792" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">https://t.co/3sNdmN8mCz New study covered by @guardiannews, we look at CO2 levels in the Late Pliocene (~3 million… https://t.co/xRhhLcpdJ5</div> — Tom Chalk (@Tom Chalk)<a href="https://twitter.com/ChalkyOceans/statuses/1281182404116385792">1594292663.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Reporting on the study elicited concern and calls for action from environmentalists and advocacy groups.</p><p>"Every kilo of CO2 we emit is one we have to sequester later, provided the food doesn't run out first," <a href="https://twitter.com/xrfinland/status/1281177680948473857" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Extinction Rebellion Finland, urging the international community to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ActNow" target="_blank">#ActNow</a>.</p><p>Nathaniel Stinnett, executive director of the U.S.-based Environmental Voter Project, also <a href="https://twitter.com/NCStinn/status/1281186259998777351" target="_blank">responded</a> to the report on Twitter, saying, "Big Oil and Gas are killing us."</p><p>A new report released Thursday by the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) about global temperatures likely coming in the next five years provoked similar alarm and demands.</p>
<p>"It's still not too late to avoid the worst effects of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimateEmergency?src=hashtag_click" target="_blank">#ClimateEmergency</a>. But governments need to act NOW," <a href="https://twitter.com/Greenpeace/status/1281166638897860608" target="_blank">declared</a> Greenpeace, pushing for a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GreenRecovery" target="_blank">#GreenRecovery</a> from the Covid-19 pandemic.</p><p>The WMO report projects that the annual global temperature is likely to be at least 1°C warmer than pre-industrial levels in each of the next five years. Although it is "extremely unlikely" the average temperature for 2020–2024 will be 1.5°C warmer than pre-industrial levels, WMO warned certain periods could hit that temperature.</p><p>Specifically, there is about a 70% chance that one or more months during those five years will be at least 1.5°C hotter than pre-industrial levels and about a 20% chance that one of the next five years will be at least that warm, according to WMO's Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, led by the United Kingdom's Met Office.</p>
<div id="23d44" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a800573625ce69a53bedfe537b572116"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1281123005695959040" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Annual mean global temperature likely to be at least 1° C above pre-industrial levels in each of coming 5 years (20… https://t.co/WOBeEOhbCe</div> — World Meteorological Organization (@World Meteorological Organization)<a href="https://twitter.com/WMO/statuses/1281123005695959040">1594278501.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In a statement Thursday, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas also <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/new-climate-predictions-assess-global-temperatures-coming-five-years" target="_blank">pointed</a> to the coronavirus pandemic—which prompted global lockdowns that briefly <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/20/after-coronavirus-triggers-17-emissions-drop-experts-say-only-fundamental-structural" target="_blank">caused</a> planet-heating emissions to drop—as an opportunity to pursue bold recovery plans that incorporate policies that combat the climate crisis, such as rapidly transitioning to renewable energy worldwide.</p><p>"WMO has repeatedly stressed that the industrial and economic slowdown from Covid-19 is not a substitute for sustained and coordinated climate action," Taalas said. "Due to the very long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere, the impact of the drop in emissions this year is not expected to lead to a reduction of CO2 atmospheric concentrations which are driving global temperature increases."</p><p>"Whilst Covid-19 has caused a severe international health and economic crisis, failure to tackle climate change may threaten human well-being, ecosystems, and economies for centuries," he continued. "Governments should use the opportunity to embrace climate action as part of recovery program and ensure that we grow back better."</p><p>Taalas added that "this study shows—with a high level of scientific skill—the enormous challenge ahead in meeting the Paris agreement on climate change target of keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C."</p><p>While some scientists and activists have criticized the 2015 Paris climate agreement as not ambitious enough, it is backed by nearly all nations on Earth. U.S. President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/04/delivering-catastrophic-message-moment-great-urgency-trump-formally-begins-ditching" target="_blank">began</a> the one-year withdrawal process in November 2019 but former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, has vowed to rejoin the accord if he wins this year's election.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/09/humanity-track-soon-hit-15oc-paris-accord-limit-atmospheric-co2-nears-level-not-seen" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Jane Goodall on Conservation, Climate Change and COVID-19: 'If We Carry on With Business as Usual, We're Going to Destroy Ourselves'
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Climate
Dr. Jane Goodall, the world-renowned conservationist, desperately wants the world to pay attention to what she sees as the greatest threat to humanity's existence. Craig Barritt / Getty Images for TIME
By Jeff Berardelli
While COVID-19 and protests for racial justice command the world's collective attention, ecological destruction, species extinction and climate change continue unabated. While the world's been focused on other crises, an alarming study was released warning that species extinction is now progressing so fast that the consequences of "biological annihilation" may soon be "unimaginable."
<p><a href="https://www.janegoodall.org/" target="_blank">Dr. Jane Goodall</a>, the world-renowned conservationist, desperately wants the world to pay attention to what she sees as the greatest threat to humanity's existence.</p><p>CBS News recently spoke to Goodall over a video conference call and asked her questions about the state of our planet. Her soft-spoken grace somehow helped cushion what was otherwise extremely sobering news: "I just know that if we carry on with business as usual, we're going to destroy ourselves. It would be the end of us, as well as life on Earth as we know it," warned Goodall.</p><p>What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.<br> </p>
<p><strong><em>Jeff Berardelli:</em></strong> <strong>Destruction of nature is causing some really big concerns around the world. One that comes to the forefront right now is </strong><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-environment-pandemic-infectious-diseases/" target="_blank"><strong>emergent diseases like COVID-19</strong></a><strong>. Can you describe how destruction of the environment contributes to this?</strong></p><p><strong></strong><strong><em>Dr. Jane Goodall:</em></strong> Well, the thing is, we brought this on ourselves because the scientists that have been studying these so-called zoonotic diseases that jump from an animal to a human have been predicting something like this for so long. As we chop down at stake <span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-brazil-amazon-rainforest-destruction/" target="_blank">tropical rainforest</a></span>, with its rich biodiversity, we are eating away the habitats of millions of animals, and many of them are being pushed into greater contact with humans. We're driving deeper and deeper, making roads throughout the habitat, which again brings people and animals in contact with each other. People are hunting the animals and <span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wuhan-china-coronavirus-bans-eating-wild-animals-breeding-wet-markets/" target="_blank">selling the meat</a></span>, or trafficking the infants, and all of this is creating environments which are perfect for a virus or a bacteria to cross that species barrier and sometimes, like COVID-19, it becomes very contagious and we're suffering from it.</p><p>But we know if we don't stop destroying the environment and disrespecting animals — we're hunting them, killing them, eating them; killing and eating chimpanzees in Central Africa led to HIV/AIDS — there will be another one. It's inevitable.</p><p><strong>Do you fear that the next [pandemic] will be a lot worse than this one?</strong></p><p>Well, we've been lucky with this one because, although it's incredibly infectious, the percentage of people who die is relatively low. Mostly they recover and hopefully then build up some immunity. But supposing the next one is just as contagious and has a percentage of deaths like <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ebola-virus-disease" target="_blank">Ebola</a>, for example, this would have an even more devastating effect on humanity than this one.</p>
<p><strong>I think people have a hard time connecting these, what may look like chance events, with our interactions and relationship with nature. Can you describe to people why the way that we treat the natural world is so important?</strong><br></p><p>Well, first of all, it's not just leading to zoonotic diseases, and there are many of them. The destruction of the environment is also contributing to the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/climate-change/" target="_blank">climate crisis</a>, which tends to be put in second place because of our panic about the pandemic. We will get through the pandemic like we got through World War II, World War I, and the horrors following the World Trade towers being destroyed. But climate change is a very real existential threat to humankind and we don't have that long to slow it down. </p><p>Intensive farming, where we're destroying the land slowly with the chemical poisons, and the monocultures — which can be wiped out by a disease because there is no variation of crops being grown — is leading to habitat destruction. It's leading to the creation of more <span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-lockdowns-climate-change-carbon-dioxide-emissions/" target="_blank">CO2</a></span> through fossil fuels, methane gas and other greenhouse gas [released] by digestion from the billions of domestic animals.</p><p>It's pretty grim. We need to realize we're part of the environment, that we need the natural world. We depend on it. We can't go on destroying. We've got to somehow understand that we're not separated from it, we are all intertwined. Harm nature, harm ourselves.</p><p><strong>If we continue on with business as usual, what do you fear the outcome will be?</strong></p><p>Well, if we continue with business as usual, we're going to come to the point of no return. At a certain point the ecosystems of the world will just give up and collapse and that's the end of us eventually too.</p><p>What about our children? We're still bringing children into the world — what a grim future is theirs to look forward to. It's pretty shocking but my hope is, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earth-day-how-the-pandemic-is-changing-air-pollution-levels/" target="_blank">during this pandemic</a>, with people trapped inside, factories closed down temporarily, and people not driving, it has <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-photos-decline-air-pollution-lockdown/" target="_blank">cleared up the atmosphere</a> amazingly. The people in the big cities can look up at the night sky and sea stars are bright, not looking through a layer of pollution. So when people emerge [from the pandemic] they're not going to want to go back to the old polluted days.</p><p>Now, in some countries there's not much they can do about it. But if enough of them, a groundswell becomes bigger and bigger and bigger [and] people say: "No I don't want to go down this road. We want to find a different, green economy. We don't want to always put economic development ahead of protecting the environment. We care about the future. We care about the health of the planet. We need nature," maybe in the end the big guys will have to listen.</p>
<p><strong>I often think our economic future, which is always put at the forefront, is actually dependent upon our ecological future. Without an ecological future, there is not going to be any economic growth. Would you agree?</strong></p><p>Absolutely. I mean, it's all been said again and again, but fossil fuels are not infinite, they will come to an end, leading to a lot more destruction of the environment for sure. Forests and natural resources are not infinite and yet we're treating them as though they are, and in some places using them up more quickly than nature can replenish them.</p>We have to have a <span style="background-color: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-action-economic-benefit-study-finds/" target="_blank">different kind of economy</a></span>, we need a different way of thinking about what is success.<strong> </strong>Is it just about having more and more money, more and more stuff, being able to show off to your friends, and the wasteful society we live in? We waste <span style="background-color: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earth-day-2019-fashion-industrys-carbon-impact-is-bigger-than-airline-industrys/" target="_blank">clothes</a></span>, we waste <span style="background-color: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-waste-nearly-a-pound-of-food-each-per-day-study-finds/" target="_blank">food,</a></span> we waste laptops and cellphones. That pollutes the environment. So we've got to think differently, haven't we?<p><strong>So what do we do? Right now our worldview is based on GDP. You suggest that we think of it in a different way. So do you have a suggestion of how we rate our success other than GDP?</strong></p><p>I'm not an economist.<strong> </strong>I just know that if we carry on with business as usual, we're going to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-climate-change-report-human-civilization-at-risk-extinction-by-2050-new-australian-climate/" target="_blank">destroy ourselves</a>. It would be the end of us, as well as life on Earth as we know it.</p><p>So one thing we can do, those of us in affluent societies can almost all do with a bit less. We have a very unsustainable lifestyle. You can't really blame people, they grew up into it. But if you went through World War II like I did, when you took nothing for granted, one square of chocolate for a week is what we had and everything was rationed. So, you appreciate it. We never wasted even an ounce of food; not like today. </p><p>Then, we also have to alleviate poverty. Because if you're really poor you destroy the environment, you cut down the last trees to make land to grow more food for your family, or fish the last fish. Or if you're in an urban area you buy the cheapest junk food. You don't have the luxury of asking: how is this made, did it harm the environment, did it lead to the suffering of animals like in the factory farms, is it cheap because of child slave labor? You just have to buy the cheapest in order to survive. </p><p>Then the third thing, which nobody wants to talk about, but nevertheless ... there are approximately 7.8 billion of us on the planet today and already in some places we're using up natural resources faster than nature can replenish them. In 2050 it's estimated that there will be 9.7 billion of us. What will happen? We can't just go on burying it under the carpet. </p><p>Population issues are politically sensitive so I talk about voluntary population optimization. So that's OK, it's voluntary, it is your choice. You optimize it for your financial situation. People are desperate to educate their children and they can't educate eight anymore. So they love family planning, and women can space out their children so that they can have a child and look after it.</p>
<p><strong>Let's switch gears. I don't eat animals. I have a dog. I love my dog. Let's talk about the idea that animals have feelings and that pigs are as intelligent as dogs...</strong></p><p>You know, animals are so much more intelligent than people used to think, and they have feelings and emotions and personalities, like your dog, any animal you share your life with. You know, birds now are making tools and octopus are incredibly intelligent. And when we think of all this trafficking of animals, selling them in meat markets or factory farms, when you think that each one one is an individual, can feel fear and pain, can suffer mentally as well as physically, isn't it shocking? I'm glad you don't eat them. I don't either, of course. </p><p>The shock and horror because in China and South Korea they <span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dog-meat-festival-china-underway-in-yulin-but-activists-hope-it-will-be-the-last-amid-coronavirus/" target="_blank">eat dogs</a></span> — well, the thought of eating a dog makes me feel particularly sick, but not more sick than eating a pig. They eat dogs and we don't like it, but we eat pigs, and they are as intelligent as dogs.</p><p>Isn't the point, if you must eat an animal shouldn't you treat it really well, like the Native Americans, respect the animal and give thanks that it's sacrificed itself for you?</p><p><strong>This is a bit more of a thought-provoking question: What has led us to this over-consumption in society? There is an idea that perhaps there is a Biblical basis, that we have dominion, that we're in charge, and because we're in charge we're able to do what we want. Can you give me an idea of why we are where we are, as a world right now, and what led us here? </strong></p><p>[Laughing]<strong> </strong>You think I'm going to be able to answer all these questions?</p><p><strong>I know it's a lot, but I know that you must have some thoughts on this.</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Well, first of all, I do think that religion has played a role. I was told by a Hebrew scholar the original translation of that word that you just mentioned, "dominion," is wrong. It's actually something more like "stewardship." That's very different. If God gave us stewardship that's different from saying we have dominion. So I think religion started this thinking that we're so different from all the other animals and I was taught there was a difference in kind, not degree. Thank goodness the chimpanzees are so like us biologically, as well as behaviorally, that science had to start thinking differently.</p><p>So how did we get there? It's sort of been like this all throughout human history. There were so many fewer of us back then that we could have these unsustainable lifestyles and it didn't really matter; they were sustainable. Think of how people have always exploited the natural world just because we can. And so there's been a lag between developing new technologies [which enable us to] destroy whole forests. Whereas the indigenous people might take a week to cut down the big tree, we can do it in an hour. And the moral evolution and the sense of a spiritual awareness and connection to the natural world on which we depend, that's lagged behind as well.</p>
<p><strong>So how do we repair that? How do we rediscover our connection to the rest of the natural world?</strong></p><p>As I think you know, I began a program for young people back in 1991 called <a href="https://www.rootsandshoots.org/" target="_blank">Roots and Shoots</a> because young people had lost hope in the future. I've met them all over the world. They were mostly apathetic and didn't seem to care. Or they were angry or deeply depressed and they told me they felt like that because we compromised their future and there was nothing they could do about it. And we have compromised their future. We've been stealing it for years and years. And yes, we still are still stealing it today. But when they said there was nothing they could do I thought, no, that's not right. We got this window of time. If we all get together, take action, we can start healing some of the harm, we can start slowing down climate change and we can work on educating people. </p><p>Kids are really good at educating their parents and grandparents, some of whom may be in positions to make a huge difference, like CEOs of big companies or people in government. That program is now kindergarten to university and everything in between. It's in 68 countries and growing. Every group has the message: Each one of us — and that means you as well as me — we make some impact every single day and we have the luxury of choosing the impact that we make.</p>
<p class=""><em>This story originally appeared in</em> <em><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/" target="_blank">CBS News</a>,</em> <em>and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A Starbucks employee in a mask and face shield at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on May 12, 2020. ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images
Anyone entering a U.S. Starbucks from July 15 will have to wear a face mask, the company announced Thursday.
<p>The policy comes as U.S. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> cases continue to surge, with the country breaking its record for new cases Thursday for the sixth time in 10 days, with more than 59,880 new cases reported, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/world/coronavirus-updates.html?action=click&campaign_id=51&context=storylines_menu&emc=edit_MBE_p_20200710&instance_id=20192&module=styln-coronavirus-national&nl=morning-briefing&pgtype=Article&regi_id=88631294&region=TOP_BANNER&section=topNews&segment_id=33060&state=default&te=1&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19&variant=show#link-18813319" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>"The company is committed to playing a constructive role in supporting health and government officials as they work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19," Starbucks said in its statement.</p>
<div id="f82a0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f287b23a56ac56afd28e138cb3e56855"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1281260862250967040" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Our priority is the health and well-being of our partners (employees) and customers. Starting July 15, U.S. company… https://t.co/IhGagY6f2z</div> — Starbucks News (@Starbucks News)<a href="https://twitter.com/StarbucksNews/statuses/1281260862250967040">1594311368.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Other companies that require customers to wear masks include Costco and Uber, according to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/07/09/starbucks-require-face-masks-customers-starting-july-15/5406037002/" target="_blank">USA TODAY</a>. Around 20 states and Washington, DC already require masks in public places, but other states, including hotspots like Arizona and Florida, do not, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/business/starbucks-face-coverings-masks/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p><p>In those states, Starbucks customers who chose not to wear masks can order their coffee at the drive-thru, use curbside pickup through the Starbucks app or have orders delivered by Starbucks Delivers, the company said.</p>
<p>Starbucks has required employees to wear masks since April, according to CNN. But masks are most effective at preventing wearers from spreading the virus to others, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-guidance.html" target="_blank">according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)</a>, meaning the more people who wear one, the more everyone is protected.</p><p>"Cloth face coverings are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings," the CDC wrote.</p><p>One study of households in Beijing where one person was infected with the virus found that if everyone in the home wore a mask before they knew anyone was sick, it reduced the risk of transmission by 79 percent, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/21/880832213/yes-wearing-masks-helps-heres-why" target="_blank">NPR</a>. And a model found that if 80 percent of people wore masks, it would be more effective at combating COVID-19 than a lockdown, <a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent" target="_blank">University of California San Francisco explained</a>.</p>
<p>But mask requirements have led to conflicts in retail settings. One confrontation at a Starbucks went the other kind of viral, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/starbucks-face-masks-required-customers-july-15/" target="_blank">CBS News reported</a>. When San Diego yoga instructor Amber Lynn Gilles was asked to wear a mask at a local Starbucks in accordance with county rules, she took to Facebook to complain. The act backfired. She was widely criticized, and a GoFundMe for the barista who asked her to mask up, Lenin Gutierrez, raised more than $100,000.</p><p>Reactions by angry customers at other retail establishments have prompted the Retail Industry Leaders Association to write a letter to the the National Governors Association urging states to require masks across the board, as <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/07/07/mask-mandates-retailers-ask-governors-require-masks-immediately/5391045002/" target="_blank">USA TODAY reported Wednesday</a>.</p><p>The retail body, which represents large chains including Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Walgreens and Home Depot, said that the current patchwork of state and local mask rules had led to confusion, which increased employee-customer confrontations.</p><p>"Retailers are alarmed with the instances of hostility and violence front-line employees are experiencing by a vocal minority of customers who are under the misguided impression that wearing a mask is a violation of their civil liberties," retail association President Brian Dodge wrote in the letter.</p>
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