The MoveOn political action committee memorializes coronavirus deaths in the U.S. on May 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images for MoveOn
As the coronavirus has spread around the globe, so have the germs of misinformation and conspiracy theories about the new disease. Fake news about the virus is so prevalent that health professionals have started referring to it as an "infodemic."
<p>To better understand the problem, researchers at Cornell University and Cision Global Insights conducted the first <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/evanega-et-al-coronavirus-misinformation-submitted-07-23-20-1/080839ac0c22bca8/full.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">in-depth investigation</a> of false coronavirus information in online and print media. They looked at more than 38 million English-language articles published between Jan. 1 and May 26 and came to a surprising conclusion: 37.9 percent of articles dealing with coronavirus misinformation mentioned U.S. President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a>.</p>
<p>"We conclude that the President of the United States was likely the largest driver of the COVID-19 misinformation 'infodemic,'" the researchers wrote.</p><p>Trump has spread false information throughout the course of the pandemic. Early on, he downplayed the risks, going against the advice of his own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-infections-trump-2645393552.html" target="_self">saying</a> people with mild cases could continue to work. He also touted unproven cures and treatments, such as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/doctor-bright-coronavirus-trump-drug-2645811981.html" target="_self">anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine</a> and the use of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-coronavirus-medicine-science-2645823308.html" target="_self">bleach or UV light</a> to kill the virus inside the body.</p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-coronavirus-woodward-tapes-2647565763.html" target="_self">New evidence</a> has revealed that Trump knew at least some of his claims were false when he made them. In tapes of interviews with journalist Bob Woodward, the president acknowledged the deadliness of the virus as early as February and March, but said he was downplaying it in order to prevent panic.</p>
<p>However, the researchers told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-misinformation.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR3XbjJZu9op3nZWb37KpXQihBgWD4EHODJ2qsLFy-dCueE4j66NNfw1GAk" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> they had expected the infodemic to be driven more by the many COVID-19 conspiracy theories than by mentions of the president and his statements.</p><p>"The biggest surprise was that the president of the United States was the single largest driver of misinformation around Covid," lead author and Cornell Alliance for Science director Sarah Evanega told The New York Times. "That's concerning in that there are real-world dire health implications."</p><p>The researchers found false information in more than 1.1 million of the more than 38 million articles they assessed, or just under three percent. They included in their count articles that mentioned coronavirus lies in order to fact-check them. However, they found that fact-checking only accounted for 16.4 percent of the "misinformation conversation."</p><p>This suggests that "the majority of COVID misinformation is conveyed by the media without question or correction," the researchers wrote.</p>
<p>They also identified 11 subtopics of misinformation, including miracle cures and various conspiracy theories such as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-conspiracy-video-plandemic-2645951410.html" target="_self">plandemic</a> or the idea that the pandemic was a hoax planned by the Democratic Party to coincide with Trump's impeachment. They found that miracle cures were by far the most reported topic of misinformation, appearing in more articles than all the other topics combined.</p><p>Trump and miracle cures were also tightly linked, as the media reported on Trump's promotion of hydroxychloroquine. These types of articles peaked April 24 after the president suggested the internal application of bleach and UV light.</p><p>The study, published Thursday, has not yet been peer reviewed because the process is time consuming and the researchers thought the information in their study was of great public importance, they told The New York Times.</p><p>"Misinformation about COVID-19 is a serious threat to global <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a>," the researchers wrote. "If people are misled by unsubstantiated claims about the nature and treatment of the disease, they are less likely to observe official health advice and may thus contribute to the spread of the pandemic and pose a danger to themselves and others."<br></p>
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Flowers like bladderwort have changed their UV pigment levels in response to the climate crisis. Jean and Fred / CC BY 2.0
As human activity transforms the atmosphere, flowers are changing their colors.
<p>A study published in <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31267-7?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982220312677%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" target="_blank">Current Biology this month</a> found that the ultraviolet (UV) pigmentation of certain flowers had changed in response to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> and the depletion of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ozone" target="_self">ozone</a> layer. While this isn't something that would be visible to the human eye, flowers rely on their UV patterns to attract <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pollinators" target="_self">pollinators</a>. If those patterns change, it could seriously impact the ability of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plants" target="_self">plants</a> to reproduce.</p><p>"This has implications for plant reproduction of both native wildflowers and domesticated crop species that have UV floral patterning like canola and sunflowers," study coauthor and Clemson University scientist Matthew Koski told the <a href="https://newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/researcher-travels-world-to-measure-how-climate-change-is-altering-the-color-of-flowers/" target="_blank">Clemson Newsstand</a>. "Altered UV floral coloration has the potential to disrupt pollination services."</p>
<p>To achieve his results, Koski traveled to Europe, Australia and North America and collected plant specimens dating from the 1940s to 2017. All in all, he and his team looked at 1,238 specimens to see how and if their UV pigmentation had responded to changes in UV exposure and temperature.</p><p>Overall, they found that UV pigmentation increased by two percent each year. This makes sense because flowers use UV pigment to protect their pollen from UV radiation, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/flowers-are-changing-their-colors-adapt-climate-change#:~:text=Now%2C%20research%20suggests%20that%20over,UV)%20pigments%20in%20their%20petals" target="_blank">Science explained</a>. In an earlier study, Koski had found that flowers living in areas with more UV exposure, such as higher altitudes, had more UV pigment. This finding matched the researchers' prediction that flowers would evolve to make more pigment as ozone levels declined and UV radiation exposure increased.</p><p>However, the flowers' responses to both ozone and temperature changes were heavily influenced by whether the flowers had exposed pollen or not, Science explained.</p>
<p><strong>Flowers With Exposed Pollen:</strong> For these saucer-shaped flowers, like buttercups, UV pigmentation went up when ozone declined and went down when ozone rose.</p><p><strong>Flowers with Concealed Pollen:</strong> For these flowers, such as bladderwort, UV pigment levels were determined by temperature, not radiation exposure. If temperature went up, pigment levels fell, even if ozone levels also declined.</p><p>This is because concealing pollen in petals can protect it from UV exposure but also expose it to additional heat, Harvard plant biologist Charles Davis, who was not involved with the study, told Science. When temperatures rise, the extra protection risks overheating the pollen. Reducing UV pigment also reduces the amount of solar radiation the petals absorb and can therefore help keep pollen cool.</p><p>Pigment changes could impact plants' ability to attract pollinators because pollinators are attracted by a "bull's-eye" pattern that contrasts high and low UV pigment, Koski explained. Altering pigment levels could also alter the effectiveness of this pattern.</p><p>Koski told the Clemson Newsstand he hopes to continue his research, in part by investigating further how changes in flower pigmentation will impact their ability to attract pollinators. He also hopes to determine if changes to ozone and temperature alter flowers' visible hues.</p>
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A meteoroid skims the earth's atmosphere on Sept. 22, 2020. European Space Agency
A rare celestial event was caught on camera last week when a meteoroid "bounced" off Earth's atmosphere and veered back into space.
<p>The "Earthgrazer" was filmed early Sept. 22 over Northern Germany and the Netherlands, the <a href="https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/09/Lucky_meteoroid_skims_Earth_s_atmosphere" target="_blank">European Space Agency (ESA) reported</a>. It reached as low as 91 kilometers (approximately 56.4 miles), which is below the average satellite. At this point, most space rocks enter the atmosphere and turn into meteors, which we see as shooting stars. They usually disintegrate before they reach the ground, though sometimes pieces land as meteorites.</p><p>"This lucky visitor, however, didn't get low enough to completely burn up and managed to escape again, only grazing the edges of our planet's protective gassy shield," the ESA explained.</p>
<div id="a566f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="95190b9c195f4d975a5f058cfa4d0588"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1308553949255999489" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">(1/2) An earthgrazer above N Germany and the Netherlands was observed by 8 #globalmeteornetwork cameras on Sept 22,… https://t.co/zEe8QERBdQ</div> — Denis Vida (@Denis Vida)<a href="https://twitter.com/meteordoc/statuses/1308553949255999489">1600818547.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Meteoroids are bits of comet or asteroid that become detached from their parent bodies. While meteors streak across the sky thousands of times a year, Earthgrazing meteoroids only nick our atmosphere a few times annually. To bounce off the atmosphere, they need to approach it at a shallow angle and briefly enter it before shooting off again, <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/148041/video-shows-a-meteoroid-skipping-off-earths-atmosphere/" target="_blank">Universe Today explained</a>. The motion is similar to a rock skipping off a lake.</p><p>The rare event was caught on camera by the <a href="https://globalmeteornetwork.org/" target="_blank">Global Meteor Network</a> (GMN), which seeks to assemble a network of video cameras to observe meteors.</p><p>"The network is basically a decentralised scientific instrument, made up of amateur astronomers and citizen scientists around the planet each with their own camera systems," GMN founder and Western University in Ontario postdoc Denis Vida told the ESA. "We make all data such as meteoroid trajectories and orbits available to the public and scientific community, with the goal of observing rare meteor shower outbursts and increasing the number of observed meteorite falls and helping to understand delivery mechanisms of meteorites to Earth."</p>
<p>The Earthgrazing meteoroid wasn't just a visual event, however. It also made some noise, according to the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.</p><p>"The<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/infrasound?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1311063436571414528%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.embedly.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext2Fhtmlkey%3D3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935schema%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fjdassink%2Fstatus%2F1311063436571414528image%3D&src=hashtag_click" target="_blank"> #infrasound</a> stations of<a href="https://twitter.com/KNMI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1311063436571414528%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.embedly.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext2Fhtmlkey%3D3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935schema%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fjdassink%2Fstatus%2F1311063436571414528image%3D" target="_blank"> @KNMI</a> also detected low-frequency inaudible sound from this event all over the Netherlands," institute geophysicist Jelle Assink tweeted. "It took the sound wave 5 minutes to reach the Earth surface."</p>
<div id="c5017" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b750aa0a84f2b0376868e61d11edccb6"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1311063436571414528" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@esaoperations The #infrasound stations of @KNMI also detected low-frequency inaudible sound from this event all ov… https://t.co/otY46p5a2A</div> — Jelle Assink (@Jelle Assink)<a href="https://twitter.com/jdassink/statuses/1311063436571414528">1601416856.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>While tens of thousands of meteorites have been found on Earth, only around 40 have been traced back to specific asteroids, Universe Today explained. Vida managed to trace the Earthgrazer back to a Jupiter-family orbit, but could not find its asteroid of origin.</p>
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Activists fight a peat fire in Siberia in September. ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP via Getty Images
The wildfires that ignited in the Arctic this year started earlier and emitted more carbon dioxide than ever before.
<p>Now, a group of researchers is warning that the nature of Arctic fires may be changing, and it's important to understand how in order to better predict the future of the global <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate</a>.</p><p>"It's not just the amount of burned area that is alarming," University of Colorado Boulder fire and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/permafrost" target="_self">permafrost</a> ecologist Dr. Merritt Turetsky said in a press release <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-09-arctic.html?fbclid=IwAR3y_vHkipR0x6-jCOdOYoVJYSHmqigeMnzhjBIQxV_-2GUnFbA4pfiMzzE" target="_blank">published by Phys.org</a>. "There are other trends we noticed in the satellite data that tell us how the Arctic fire regime is changing and what this spells for our climate future."</p><p>Turetsky co-wrote a commentary in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-00645-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nature Geoscience</em></a> Monday with two other fire experts. The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">scientists</a> pinpointed two important ways that Arctic wildfires are changing.</p>
<h3>1. Zombie Fires</h3><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/zombie-fires-arctic-2646140786.html" target="_self">Zombie fires</a>, also known as holdover fires, occur when fires from the previous season continue to burn beneath the ground during the winter. These blazes can then reemerge when the snow melts and the weather warms.</p><p>Satellite monitoring data from the <a href="https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/copernicus-tracks-effects-arctic-circle-wildfires" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service</a> confirmed that zombie fires helped drive 2020's unprecedented wildfire season, which broke records both for the number of blazes and the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere, as <a href="https://www.livescience.com/zombie-wildfires-burn-arctic.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Live Science reported</a>. But the scientists writing in Nature Geoscience say they still need to learn more about these unusual fires and how they may contribute to climate feedback loops.</p><p>"We know little about the consequences of holdover fires in the Arctic," Turetsky said in the press release, "except that they represent momentum in the climate system and can mean that severe fires in one year set the stage for more burning the next summer."</p><p>Indeed, the 2020 wildfire season broke records that had been set just the year before, in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-wildfires--2639340124.html" target="_self">2019's also unprecedented season</a>.</p>
<h3>2. Fires Where Fire Shouldn't Be</h3><p>The other troubling feature of the 2019 and 2020 Arctic wildfire seasons is that their blazes ignited in areas typically resistant to burning, the scientists pointed out. This included tundra vegetation such as dwarf shrubs, sedges, grasses and mosses and previously burn-free environments like bogs, fens and marshes.</p><p>Significantly, more than 50 percent of the 2020 fires burning above 65° North occurred on ice-rich permafrost, which contains the most carbon of any Arctic soil.</p><p>"Nearly all of this year's fires inside the Arctic Circle have occurred on continuous permafrost, with over half of these burning on ancient carbon-rich peat soils," commentary coauthor and London School of Economics and Political Science fire scientist Dr. Thomas Smith said in the press release. "The record high temperatures and associated fires have the potential to turn this important carbon sink into a carbon source, driving further global heating."</p><p>The scientists called for more research into the dynamics of Arctic fires to better understand how they will contribute to the climate crisis. Part of this requires collaborating with local and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous" target="_self">Indigenous</a> communities, who can provide on-the-ground observations to accompany satellite data.</p><p>"The burning Arctic is a global issue that requires a global solution," the scientists concluded. "While the expertise of the Indigenous communities of the North and Arctic nations will be central to any success, we cannot expect them to shoulder the responsibility alone."</p>
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A new super enzyme feeds on the type of plastic that water and soda bottles are made of, polyethylene terephthalate (PET). zoff-photo / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Scientists are on the brink of scaling up an enzyme that devours plastic. In the latest breakthrough, the enzyme degraded plastic bottles six times faster than previous research achieved, as The Guardian reported.
<p>This new super-enzyme is able to break down plastic at room temperature, setting it apart from the enzyme that the French company Carbios discovered in April. As <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/mutant-enzyme-recycles-plastic-2645686207.html" target="_self">EcoWatch</a> reported at the time, the Carbios enzyme started to work when the plastic was heated to 65 to 72 degrees Celsius, or 149 to 161 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the range when plastic bottles start to soften and melt.</p><p>The researchers worked doggedly to reengineer the enzymes of an enzyme first discovered in Japan in 2016. The scientists published their results Monday in the <em><a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/09/23/2006753117" target="_blank">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a></em>. In the paper, they describe how the bacterium Idoenella sakaiensis produces two enzymes that thrive by consuming plastic bottles, according to <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/scientists-created-an-enzyme-cocktail-that-eats-plastic-1845206488" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a>.</p>
<p>The research holds tremendous promise for tackling the plastic waste crisis since the enzyme feeds on the type of plastic that water and soda bottles are made of, polyethylene terephthalate (PET). That type of plastic can take hundreds of years to degrade. The enzyme that the researchers enhanced can break the plastic down in just a few days, according to John McGeehan, the director of the Center for Enzyme Innovation at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, as <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/28/plastic-eating-super-enzyme-may-key-beating-pollution/" target="_blank">The Telegraph</a> reported.</p><p>"When we linked the enzymes, rather unexpectedly, we got a dramatic increase in activity," said McGeehan, as The Guardian reported. "This is a trajectory towards trying to make faster enzymes that are more industrially relevant. But it's also one of those stories about learning from nature, and then bringing it into the lab."</p>
<p>He was referring to the process that bacteria in nature use to devour polyesters, which occur in nature to protect plant leaves. "Bacteria have been evolving for millions of years to eat that," he said, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43783631" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported in April.</p><p>McGeehan added that the enzyme could help accelerate a sustainable model since it enables the plastics to be "made and reused endlessly, reducing our reliance on fossil resources," as <a href="https://www.independent.ie/world-news/super-enzyme-that-eats-plastic-significant-leap-forward-in-pollution-crisis-39570785.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a> in Ireland reported.</p><p>McGeehan believes that cooperation between researchers and corporations could help scale up the enzyme in the near future.</p><p>"If we can make better, faster enzymes by linking them together and provide them to companies like Carbios, and work in partnership, we could start doing this within the next year or two," he said, as The Guardian reported.</p>
<p>McGeehan and his team also believe their enhancements can be improved so the enzymes are able to consume plastic faster. By adjusting a bit of the residue on the enzyme's surface, it was able to work a bit faster, suggesting that further optimization is still down the road. A testing facility is under construction for McGeehan and his team in Portsmouth, while Carbios is building a plant in France to put the enzymes to use, according to The Guardian.</p><p>"The faster we can make the enzymes, the quicker we can break down the plastic, and the more commercially viable it will be," said McGeehan, as The Telegraph reported.</p>
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Scientists Behind New Study Warn Increasingly Stable Oceans Are 'Very Bad News'
29 September
Science
A new study in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that human-caused global heating is making the world's oceans more stable. Michelle Maria / Pixabay
By Jessica Corbett
In a rare calm moment during a historically active Atlantic hurricane season, an international team of climate scientists on Monday published a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change showing that human-caused global heating is making the world's oceans more "stable"—which, as co-author Michael Mann explained, is "very bad news."
<p>Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/climate-change-oceans-stabilizing-1534512" target="_blank">detailed</a> researchers' findings about ocean stratification in a piece for <em>Newsweek</em>. Using "more comprehensive data and a more sophisticated method for estimating stratification changes" than past studies, the scientists found that "oceans are not only becoming more stable, but are doing so faster than was previously thought."</p><p>The team—led by Guancheng Li of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in China—specifically found that stratification globally increased by a "substantial" 5.3% from 1960 to 2018, mostly in the upper 650 feet or so of the world oceans. "This seemingly technical finding has profound and troubling implications," Mann noted.</p><p>"The more stable the upper ocean, the less vertical mixing that takes place. This mixing is a primary means by which the ocean buries warming surface waters. So the surface warms up even faster. It's what we call a 'positive feedback'—a vicious cycle," he wrote. "That's bad for a number of reasons."</p>
<div id="e639b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d8d112e123588b9bf3c3eadcc89627e8"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1310602217825726465" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Thank you to @MichaelEMann for patiently and clearly explaining to non scientists why increased ocean stabilizati… https://t.co/yW2BmQhKGp</div> — Dr Naomi Wolf (@Dr Naomi Wolf)<a href="https://twitter.com/naomirwolf/statuses/1310602217825726465">1601306893.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Noting the ongoing storm season and previous warnings from scientists—<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/28/climatologist-michael-mann-2020-atlantic-hurricane-season-hate-say-we-told-you-so" target="_blank">including him</a>—that the increasingly devastating recent hurricanes "have fed off warmer surface waters," Mann explained that "a more stably stratified ocean potentially favors more intense, destructive hurricanes." Warmer waters also "absorb less atmospheric carbon dioxide" and "hold less dissolved oxygen."</p><p>In other words, the new study indicates that "humans have made the oceans more stable, and the result will be more extreme weather and the acceleration of climate change," as study co-author John Abraham <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/28/how-our-warmer-oceans-are-contributing-to-climate-breakdown" target="_blank">wrote</a> Monday for <em>The Guardian</em>. Like Mann, he detailed the research team's findings about the stratification of the oceans, and the implications. Then, he added:</p><blockquote>It is not all doom and gloom. The good news is we know why the climate is changing and we know how the oceans are responding. We can do something about this problem—we have the ability to slow down climate change. We just lack the will and leadership.<br><br>But if 2020 has shown us anything, it has revealed that humans can change and adapt quickly to situations. There is hope that we can navigate the challenges resulting from a more stable ocean—but we must start immediately.<br></blockquote><p>Both co-authors' pieces provoked calls for swift, bold, global efforts to address the climate crisis:</p>
<div id="85eca" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="43780424fc8b04e23a525e1bad1086eb"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1310608647651811336" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Canada has oceans on 3 sides-we can't ignore the climate news that The Oceans Appear to Be Stabilizing. Here's Why… https://t.co/SfWJWWRHr7</div> — Friends Of Halifax Common (@Friends Of Halifax Common)<a href="https://twitter.com/FriendsHalifax/statuses/1310608647651811336">1601308426.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="3e52e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f210e186b6e1481a64770e0c8722a438"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1310638669477236738" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">"Das bedeutet, dass das CO2-Budget, das zur Vermeidung kritischer Erhitzung (z.B. 1,5°C) übrig bleibt, möglicherwei… https://t.co/675YBTSybJ</div> — Parents For Future #SystemChangeNotClimateChange (@Parents For Future #SystemChangeNotClimateChange)<a href="https://twitter.com/parents4future/statuses/1310638669477236738">1601315583.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Ending his piece on a similar note, Mann wrote that "in short, it's unwise to be complacent given the accumulating scientific evidence that climate change and its impacts may well be in the upper end of the range that climate scientists currently project. There is ever-greater urgency when it comes to acting on climate. But there is agency as well. Our actions <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/dangerous-new-form-climate-denialism-making-rounds-opinion-1455736" target="_blank">make a difference</a>—something to keep in mind as we head into a presidential election <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/greta-thunberg-donald-trump-true-leadership-climate-change-free-world-1461147" target="_blank">whose climate implications</a> are monumental."</p><p>Mann is on the mounting list of climate experts and advocates <a href="https://www.axios.com/2020-presidential-election-joe-biden-endorsed-climate-scientists-24013990-0300-4c2c-ad95-57571b397196.html?fbclid=IwAR3vTCBmK5BwvoafwGefadTsnIMnKo9FS6ssc9PCdFLEeXr6p4KHlnrFWKU" target="_blank">supporting </a>Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in his effort to oust President Donald Trump—who has, at various points, ignored and exacerbated the climate emergency. Earlier this month, the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/matter-life-and-death-after-175-years-scientific-american-backs-biden-magazines" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">editors</a> of<em> Scientific American</em> as well as the political action arms of both 350 and Friends of the Earth also <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/24/clarion-call-all-progressive-environmentalists-defeat-trumps-planetary-destruction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">endorsed</a> the former vice president.</p><p>"The stakes are clear and present," Tamara Toles O'Laughlin from 350 Action said of the general election, for which early voting is already underway in some states. "The planet cannot withstand four more years of Trump."</p>
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Affordable, Self-Administered COVID-19 Tests Could Use Your Cell Phone
25 September
Health + Wellness
A graphic shows how Rhoel Dinglasan's smartphone-based saliva test works. University of Florida
As the world continues to navigate the line between reopening and maintaining safety protocols to slow the spread of the coronavirus, rapid and accurate diagnostic screening remains critical to control the outbreak. New mobile-phone-based, self-administered COVID-19 tests being developed independently around the world could be a key breakthrough in making testing more widely available, especially in developing nations.
<p>Point-of-care testing (POCT) involves the use of easily portable devices to carry out analytical testing outside of a central laboratory, in places like long-term care facilities, local clinics and patients' homes, a new study by the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7288261/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Center for Biomedical Information</a> said. POCT provides early and fast diagnostic results; when combined with microfluidic systems that can measure traces of diseases and infections based on small amounts of fluids with daily high sensitivity and speed, POCT can result in faster, more cost-effective diagnostic instruments that do not require any trained healthcare workers to administer them, the study reported. Smartphone-based microfluidic POCT uses personal mobile devices to carry out the whole analytical process using bodily fluids like saliva. Critically, this also will result in earlier diagnoses that can help slow the spread of diseases like COVID-19.</p>
<p>Recently, Rhoel Dinglasan, a University of Florida infectious diseases professor and his industry collaborators won second place in a national technology competition sponsored by the National Institutes of Health for a smartphone-based, rapid saliva test they developed that can be used to diagnose COVID-19, along with two other diseases of major global importance, malaria and anemia. The test adapted the team's existing mobile-based test for malaria to also test for anemia and COVID-19, explained Dinglasan in a <a href="https://ufhealth.org/news/2020/smartphone-based-saliva-test-can-detect-covid-19-earns-uf-professor-honors-national" target="_blank">University of Florida Health news release</a>.</p><p>"This test will leverage existing technology to fill a pressing and unmet need in global public health by allowing us to differentiate between three diseases that can present similarly in terms of symptoms," Dinglasan said in the release. "As treatment and containment protocols differ for each disease, the proper diagnosis delivered in literally minutes could save lives."</p>
<p>Their solution is the CLIP-CAM, an adapter that attaches to a smartphone that fits a detection cassette, the release detailed. A saliva sample is self-collected and activated, and a droplet is put into the cassette. The camera flash is used to excite the detection system in the cassette, which can then be read by a smartphone app. Results are available in 15 minutes or less, Dinglasan said, the release reported.</p><p>He further explained the importance of quick diagnoses to the <a href="https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/09/18/uf-professor-earns-national-honors-smartphone-base-saliva-test-covid-19/3486844001/" target="_blank">Gainesville Sun</a>: "When we go out to work in these different countries, we need to differentiate when a person comes in, we need to know if it is COVID-19, malaria or anemia. Without that ability, how would we know if we should send this person home to quarantine because we think he has COVID-19? What if it is malaria? You need to give that child or adult anti-malaria drugs or they will die."</p>
<p>Similar prototyping is underway around the world. At the University of Utah, electrical and computer engineering professor Massood Tabib-Azar adapted the platform he used to detect the Zika virus to now detect COVID-19, reported <a href="https://www.biospace.com/article/nsf-funded-smartphone-covid-19-dx-puts-testing-in-the-hands-of-the-public/" target="_blank">BioSpace</a>. His sensor can also test for the presence of the virus on surfaces like door handles or desks by brushing a swab on a surface and then onto the sensor, the news report said. Tabib-Azar is also exploring the potential of detecting COVID-19 in floating microscopic particles in enclosed spaces like an elevator.</p><p>The Utah sensor is reusable, because samples can be destroyed using a small electrical current to disintegrate viruses or saliva can be placed on a disposable sheet like a piece of paper put on top of the sensor, Tabib-Azar told BioSpace. His test is also designed to upload the results to a central server that can map out positive results in an area to give public health experts a better idea of where outbreak hotspots are, the report said.</p>
<p>"Mobile-based epidemic monitoring is nothing but a logical next step, because only the mobile devices that move with people can keep up with the contacts they make," Tabib-Azar said, speaking of related research in <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8626091" target="_blank">IEEE Access</a>.</p><p>In Ontario, Canada, a third diagnostic prototype called Atlas hopes to use the same saliva-to-mobile-phone testing concept to make testing more widely available, from remote communities to front-line screening, reported <a href="https://www.hospimedica.com/covid-19/articles/294783026/smartphone-powered-saliva-based-covid-19-diagnostic-test-delivers-lab-quality-results-to-app-in-20-minutes.html" target="_blank">HospiMedica.com</a>. Atlas is designed as a single-use, disposable device that could deliver results in 20 minutes.</p><p>All three tests have received enough funding to get through the prototype phase. Additional support will help to quickly transform the design concepts into mass-produced products for global health.</p>
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Trump’s EPA Dismisses Agency’s Own Findings That Chlorpyrifos Harms Children’s Brains
24 September
Politics
Moms Clean Air Force members attend a press conference hosted by Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announcing legislation to ban chlorpyrifos on July 25, 2017. Moms Clean Air Force
The Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a risk assessment for toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos Tuesday that downplayed its effects on children's brains and may be the first indication of how the administration's "secret science" policy could impact public health.
<p>Several studies have found that babies exposed to chlorpyrifos in the womb can suffer from lower birth weights, attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorder, lower IQ and limited working memory, <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/epa-ignores-evidence-chlorpyrifos-causes-permanent-damage-to-childrens-brains" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Earthjustice pointed out</a>. But the EPA on Tuesday discounted those findings, ruling instead that the science on chlorpyrifos' brain-damaging effects "remains unresolved." In doing so, it reversed the findings of EPA scientists from previous administrations.</p>
<p>"This shows that E.P.A. has completely abandoned any commitment to protecting children from this extremely toxic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals" target="_self">chemical</a> when their own scientists recommended twice to ban it," <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> senior director for health Erik D. Olson told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/climate/epa-pesticide-chlorpyrifos-children.html?fbclid=IwAR1oVHFXSRiLg7sx1wgirelbWGK5jBoZ6b_NO0diW0o-RBfJRUTDU4itq6w" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "The science is being overridden by politics."</p>
<p>In Tuesday's conclusion, the EPA discounted several epidemiological studies, including a prominent one conducted by Columbia University that found a connection between chlorpyrifos exposure in utero and developmental disorders in toddlers. This suggests the agency is moving forward with its proposed "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-limits-science-public-health-2645395622.html" target="_self">secret science</a>" policy that would reject or at least give less weight to the conclusions of studies that do not make their underlying data public. However, several long-term health studies do not publish such data in order to preserve their subjects' privacy. The "secret science" policy has not yet been made an official EPA rule, but the agency already seems to be applying it in the case of the chlorpyrifos assessment. EPA spokesperson James Hewitt said the agency had not been able to confirm the conclusions of the Columbia study.</p><p>"The EPA is ignoring decades of science by leading universities and in doing so, it's neglecting its duty to protect children from pesticides," Earthjustice managing attorney Patti Goldman said in a statement. "Ignoring the demonstrated harm to children doesn't make chlorpyrifos safe, it just shows a commitment to keep a toxic pesticide in the market and in our food at all cost."</p>
<p>EPA scientists sounded the alarm on chlorpyrifos in 2014 and 2016, recommending it be banned from use on food, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/517654-epa-questions-science-linking-widely-used-pesticide-to-brain-damage" target="_blank">according to The Hill</a>. (It was already banned for household use in 2000). But in 2017, the EPA under Trump <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-pesticide-ban-chlorpyrifos-2338511186.html" target="_self">halted</a> the process of banning the chemical. This <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pesticide-chlorpyrifos-2458558122.html" target="_self">triggered a round of lawsuits</a>, leading eventually to Tuesday's risk assessment.</p><p>"They kicked the decision back to scientists and said they're reanalyzing it so that's how they got around the courts telling them to decide whether to ban it or not," <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> senior scientist Nathan Donley told The Hill.</p><p>He said Tuesday's assessment suggests it is unlikely that the agency will ultimately decide to ban the pesticide.</p><p>Meanwhile, states including <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/california-chlorpyrifos-ban-2636704080.html" target="_self">California</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/chlorpyrifos-ban-hawaii-2578016885.html" target="_self">Hawaii</a> have taken matters into their own hands and banned the chemical. Corteva, the pesticide's No. 1 maker, has said it will stop producing it by the end of 2020, according to The New York Times. Despite this, Earthjustice pointed to <a href="https://beta.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0850-0938" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EPA documents</a> showing that Corteva has been lobbying the agency.</p>
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In 'My Octopus Teacher,' Craig Foster becomes fascinated with an octopus and visits her for hundreds of days in a row. Netflix
In his latest documentary, My Octopus Teacher, free diver and filmmaker Craig Foster tells a unique story about his friendship and bond with an octopus in a kelp forest in Cape Town, South Africa. It's been labeled "the love story that we need right now" by The Cut.
<p>As noted by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/my-octopus-teacher-craig-foster/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a>, the film follows Foster as he battles career exhaustion and depression by going for daily swims in the frigid South African coast.</p><p>He becomes fixated upon a common octopus, freediving daily to visit and observe her in her natural habitat. He's amazed by her ability to find clever ways to evade predators and adapt to her environment.</p>
<p>"Before the viewer's eyes, the octopus adapts her crab-hunting strategy for lobster, evades a pyjama shark by climbing onto its back, shape-shifts to resemble seaweed and rocks, and otherwise applies her intelligence and creativity to survive," the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253789-my-octopus-teacher-review-the-strange-lives-of-cephalopods-up-close/" target="_blank">NewScientist</a> observed.</p><p>Foster's fascination and curiosity with her are matched by hers with him, according to a review by <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2020/09/my-octopus-teacher-netflix-doc-just-how-horny-is-it.html" target="_blank">Vulture</a>. The unlikely relationship between them is a mentorship on the fragility of life and man's connection to nature, reported The Cut. Their interaction culminates when the octopus swims up to Foster and lands on his chest, in a display of inter-species connection, the review said.</p>
<p>Throughout the film, Foster tracks the octopus' movements and thereby transports viewers into the octopus' natural world and point of view in a way that has rarely been done before, reported <a href="https://www.biznews.com/good-hope-project/2020/09/21/my-octopus-teacher" target="_blank">BizNews</a>. It brings a "level of consciousness few have experienced before him" to the life of the cephalopod, and some celebrities have vowed never to eat octopus again after watching it, according to the news report and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2020/09/22/my-octopus-teacher-netflix-documentary-unexpected-tearjerker/5860006002/" target="_blank">USA Today</a>.</p><p>"If you gain the trust of that animal over a period of months, it will actually ignore you to a certain degree and carry on with its normal life, and allow you to step inside its secret world," Foster told CNN. "The octopus showed me many behaviors that were completely new to science because this animal trusted me."</p><p>Foster told CNN that the greatest lesson the octopus taught him is that humans are part of the natural world and not simply visitors.</p>
<p>The film was backed by the Sea Change Project, an NGO Foster co-founded to create awareness about the South African sea forest. The ecosystem stretches for 800 miles along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa, according to <a href="https://www.voanews.com/arts-culture/octopus-teacher-lets-filmmaker-secret-world#:~:text=It%20has%20received%20eight%20award,film%20and%20best%20ecosystem%20film." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">VOA News</a>.</p><p>"Our group, our whole idea is to try and get this great African sea forest, kind of the home of the octopus teacher, recognized as a global icon, like the Serengeti or the Great barrier reef, because nobody really knows about it and no one realizes just how important this ecosystem is in terms of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a>, in terms of how important it is for the planet," Foster said, reported BizNews. "People have sort of forgotten that the biodiversity of nature is our life support system."</p><p>Several international publications have listed <em>M</em><em>y Octopus Teacher</em> as a must-see, including The Washington Post, Hollywood reviews, and even scientific articles, according to BizNews. It has already won several prestigious awards, including best feature at the <a href="https://earthx.org/film/" target="_blank">EarthX Film Festival</a>.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cf2851033b2fa938a5f90feef7f42393"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3s0LTDhqe5A?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
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A palm tree plantation in Malaysia. Yann Arthus-Bertrand / Getty Images Plus
Between 2000 and 2013, Earth lost an area of undisturbed ecosystems roughly the size of Mexico.
<p>That's the mind-melting finding of a <a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(20)30418-8?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2590332220304188%3Fshowall%3Dtrue" target="_blank">new study published in One Earth</a> Friday, and the researchers say it has "profound implications" for global <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a> and for humans who rely on natural resources.</p><p>"We were expecting there to be high levels of intact ecosystem and wilderness loss, but the results were shocking," lead researcher Brooke Williams of the University of Queensland told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/19/shocking-wilderness-the-size-of-mexico-lost-worldwide-in-just-13-years-study-finds?fbclid=IwAR2XlFeNEaoMktkBPoteocAS4Bi-Kx5dErhWX9qzNB-CZ9VBsBpxmdEMrTw" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "We found substantial area of intact ecosystems had been lost in just 13 years – nearly two million square kilometres – which is terrifying to think about. Our findings show that human pressure is extending ever further into the last ecologically intact and wilderness areas."</p>
<p>In total, the researchers found that 1.9 million square kilometers (approximately 700,000 square miles) of previously intact ecosystem area had been "highly modified" during the study period. They also found that 58.4 percent of Earth's land ecosystems were under "moderate or intense" pressure from human activity, while only 41.6 percent of ecosystems were intact and 25 percent were true wilderness.</p><p>The 1.9 million square kilometers lost were mostly tropical and subtropical grasslands in Asia, South America and Africa, according to the <a href="https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/14950/STUDY-Since-2000-A-Mexico-Sized-Chunk-of-Intact-Land-Has-Been-Swallowed-up-by-Humanity.aspx" target="_blank">Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which participated in the research</a>. The rainforests of Southeast Asia also suffered significant human encroachments.</p>
<p>To achieve these results, an international team of 17 scientists from six countries used satellite imagery to assess the human footprint on land-based ecosystems and how it had changed between 2000 and 2013, The Guardian explained. The researchers found that human pressure increased on nearly 20 percent of the globe and decreased on only around six percent.</p><p>"Data does not lie," senior author James Watson from WCS and the University of Queensland said in the WCS press release. "Humanity keeps on shrinking the amount of land that other species need to survive. In a time of rapid <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate change</a>, we need to proactively secure the last intact ecosystems on the planet, as these are critical in the fight to stop extinction and halt climate change."</p>
<p>The study comes amidst other dire news for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> and biodiversity. A UN study <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/nature-destruction-biodiversity-loss-un-2647682550.html" target="_self">released last week</a> found that world governments had failed to achieve any of the 20 targets they had set for preserving biodiversity by 2020. Another study <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/humans-destroying-wildlife-report-2020-2647567577.html" target="_self">published this month</a> found that wildlife populations had plummeted 68 percent on average over the last 50 years.</p><p>Williams explained to WCS why the loss of intact ecosystems is such a big deal for humans and other animals.</p><p>"Intact lands are relied on by biodiversity for habitat, and by people for ecosystem services such as climate regulation and clean water," Williams said. "We continue to take these last functioning places for granted, and our results show urgent action is needed to protect those lands that do remain intact."</p>
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The label of one of the recalled thyroid medications. FDA
If you are taking medication for an underactive thyroid, check your prescription.
<p>Acella Pharmaceuticals, LLC is recalling some of its NP Thyroid® tablets because they are not strong enough to work properly, according to an announcement published by the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/acella-pharmaceuticals-llc-issues-voluntary-nationwide-recall-two-lots-np-thyroidr-thyroid-tablets" target="_blank">Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Thursday</a>. Patients with underactive thyroids, technically known as hypothyroidism, who take weaker medicine may experience symptoms of the condition. These include fatigue, dry skin, low heart rate, depression and unexpected weight loss or gain.</p><p>"To date, Acella has received four reports of adverse events for these lot numbers possibly related to this recall," the company said.</p>
<p>The recall marks the second time this month that a thyroid drug was pulled for being too weak, or subpotent, <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article245872655.html" target="_blank">the Miami Herald pointed out</a>. RLC Labs, Inc. <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/rlc-labs-inc-issues-voluntary-nationwide-recall-all-lots-nature-throidr-and-wp-thyroidr-current" target="_blank">recalled</a> nearly 500 lots of Nature-Throid® and WP Thyroid® for the same reason Sept. 3. Weeks before that, several lots of thyroid medication were recalled for being too strong, <a href="https://www.slashgear.com/popular-thyroid-drugs-recalled-because-theyre-weaker-than-expected-05636932/" target="_blank">SlashGear reported</a>.</p><p>The most recent recall concerns one lot of Acella's 15-mg NP Thyroid® and one lot of its 120-mg NP Thyroid®. The recall comes because testing revealed the lots to be subpotent. They may contain as little as 87 percent of the amount of levothyroxine, or T4, indicated on the label.</p><p>"Acella is proactively notifying its wholesalers by email and phone to discontinue distribution of the two above referenced lots being recalled and is arranging for return of all recalled products," the company said in the recall announcement. "Patients who are currently taking NP Thyroid® from the lots being recalled should not discontinue use without contacting their healthcare provider for further guidance and/or a replacement prescription."</p>
<p>Pregnant or elderly patients with hypothyroidism face additional risks if they take subpotent medication. For pregnant people, the weakened drug could cause early miscarriage or damage to the fetus such as impairment of skeletal or brain development or the onset of fetal hyperthyroidism. In elderly patients or patients with preexisting heart conditions, taking the weakened drugs could lead to palpitations, heart pain or cardiac arrhythmia.</p><p>The recalled products were packed in 100-count bottles and had expiration dates of Oct. and Nov. 2020. Their lot numbers were M327E19-1 and M328F19-3.</p><p>"[C]onsumers may be able to determine that their product is not impacted by the recall if the 'use by,' 'discard after,' or 'expiration date' on their prescription bottle is on or after December 2020," the recall notice said.</p><p>If patients experience any harmful side effects from taking the medication, they should contact their healthcare providers. They can also report the adverse reaction to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch-fda-safety-information-and-adverse-event-reporting-program/reporting-serious-problems-fda" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>Anyone with questions about the recall can contact Acella Pharmaceuticals at recall@acellapharma.com or 1-888-280-2044.</p>
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Monarch Butterflies’ Spectacular Migration Is at Risk – An Ambitious Plan Aims to Save It
18 September
Animals
Monarch butterflies in Mexico's Oyamel forest in Michoacan, Mexico after migrating from Canada. Luis Acosta / AFP / Getty Images
By D. André Green II
One of nature's epic events is underway: Monarch butterflies' fall migration. Departing from all across the United States and Canada, the butterflies travel up to 2,500 miles to cluster at the same locations in Mexico or along the Pacific Coast where their great-grandparents spent the previous winter.
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<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/d-andre-green-ii-798108" target="_blank">D. André Green II</a> is an </em>Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan.<em><br/>
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<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>D. André Green II receives funding from the National Geographic Society.</em>
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<em><span></span>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/monarch-butterflies-spectacular-migration-is-at-risk-an-ambitious-new-plan-aims-to-help-save-it-136479" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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<p>Human activities have an outsized impact on monarchs' ability to migrate yearly to these specific sites. Development, agriculture and logging have reduced monarch habitat. Climate change, drought and pesticide use also reduce the number of butterflies that complete the journey.</p><p>Since 1993, the area of forest covered by monarchs at their overwintering sites in Mexico has fallen from a peak of 45 acres in 1996-1997 to <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/number-of-monarch-butterflies-wintering-in-mexico-down-by-more-than-half/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">as low as 1.66 acres</a> in the winter of 2013-2014. A 2016 study warned that monarchs were dangerously close to a predicted "<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep23265" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">point of no return</a>." The 2019 count of monarchs in California was the lowest ever recorded for that group.</p><p>What was largely a bottom-up, citizen-powered effort to save the struggling monarch butterfly migration has shifted toward a top-down conversation between the federal government, private industry and large-tract landowners. As a <a href="https://greendeilab.com/" target="_blank">biologist studying monarchs</a> to understand the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15178" target="_blank">molecular and genetic aspects of migration</a>, I believe this experiment has high stakes for monarchs and other imperiled species.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQyNDIxNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Mjk4NDY0MH0.ye1oi-21CqYxK1BS7nBwiii6g_9dQIuHZfR2sT-PL5Y/img.png?width=980" id="5cab0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cafebfff5a437115e805a31f67002fed" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Millions of People Care About Monarchs
<p>I will never forget the sights and sounds the first time I visited monarchs' overwintering sites in Mexico. Our guide pointed in the distance to what looked like hanging branches covered with dead leaves. But then I saw the leaves flash orange every so often, revealing what were actually thousands of tightly packed butterflies. The monarchs made their most striking sounds in the Sun, when they burst from the trees in massive fluttering plumes or landed on the ground in the tussle of mating.</p><p>Decades of educational outreach by teachers, researchers and hobbyists has cultivated a generation of monarch admirers who want to help preserve this phenomenon. This global network has helped restore not only monarchs' summer breeding habitat by planting milkweed, but also general pollinator habitat by planting nectaring flowers across North America.</p><p>Scientists have calculated that restoring the monarch population to a stable level of about 120 million butterflies will require <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12198" target="_blank">planting 1.6 billion new milkweed stems</a>. And they need them fast. This is too large a target to achieve through grassroots efforts alone. A <a href="https://www.fws.gov/savethemonarch/CCAA.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new plan</a>, announced in the spring of 2020, is designed to help fill the gap.</p>Pros and Cons of Regulation
<p>The top-down strategy for saving monarchs gained energy in 2014, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service <a href="https://www.fws.gov/southeast/pdf/petition/monarch.pdf" target="_blank">proposed</a> listing them as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A decision is expected in December 2020.</p><p>Listing a species as endangered or threatened <a href="https://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/listing.pdf" target="_blank">triggers restrictions</a> on "taking" (hunting, collecting or killing), transporting or selling it, and on activities that negatively affect its habitat. Listing monarchs would impose restrictions on landowners in areas where monarchs are found, over vast swaths of land in the U.S.</p><p>In my opinion, this is not a reason to avoid a listing. However, a "threatened" listing might inadvertently threaten one of the best conservation tools that we have: public education.</p><p>It would severely restrict common practices, such as rearing monarchs in classrooms and back yards, as well as scientific research. Anyone who wants to take monarchs and milkweed for these purposes would have to apply for special permits. But these efforts have had a multigenerational educational impact, and they should be protected. Few public campaigns have been more successful at raising awareness of conservation issues.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="91165203d4ec0efc30e4632a00fdf57d"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KilPRvjbMrA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
The Rescue Attempt
<p>To preempt the need for this kind of regulation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a <a href="https://www.fws.gov/savethemonarch/pdfs/Monarch%20CCAA-CCA%20Public%20Comment%20Documents/Monarch-Nationwide_CCAA-CCA_Draft.pdf" target="_blank">Nationwide Candidate Conservation Agreement for Monarch Butterflies</a>. Under this plan, "rights-of-way" landowners – energy and transportation companies and private owners – commit to restoring and creating millions of acres of pollinator habitat that have been decimated by land development and herbicide use in the past half-century.</p><p>The agreement was spearheaded by the <a href="http://rightofway.erc.uic.edu/" target="_blank">Rights-of-Way Habitat Working Group</a>, a collaboration between the University of Illinois Chicago's <a href="https://erc.uic.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Energy Resources Center</a>, the Fish and Wildlife Service and over 40 organizations from the energy and transportation sectors. These sectors control "rights-of-way" corridors such as lands near power lines, oil pipelines, railroad tracks and interstates, all valuable to monarch habitat restoration.</p><p>Under the plan, partners voluntarily agree to commit a percentage of their land to host protected monarch habitat. In exchange, general operations on their land that might directly harm monarchs or destroy milkweed will not be subject to the enhanced regulation of the Endangered Species Act – protection that would last for 25 years if monarchs are listed as threatened. The agreement is expected to create up to 2.3 million acres of new protected habitat, which ideally would avoid the need for a "threatened" listing.</p><div id="5756a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="60ebca608cf0dade6850bc4cbeb28045"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1168708823814742016" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Massive #monarch roosts all over the farm, can't move around without setting off a storm. #Minnesota #native #plants https://t.co/XStLDeuouK</div> — Dustin Demmer (@Dustin Demmer)<a href="https://twitter.com/DustinDemmer/statuses/1168708823814742016">1567476871.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Many questions remain. Scientists are still learning about factors that cause monarch population decline, so it is likely that land management goals will need to change over the course of the agreement, and partner organizations will have to adjust to those changes.</p><p>Oversight of the plan will fall primarily to the University of Illinois, and ultimately to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. But it's not clear whether they will have the resources they need. And without effective oversight, the plan could allow parties to carry out destructive land management practices that would otherwise be barred under an Endangered Species Act listing.</p>
A Model for Collaboration
<p>This agreement could be one of the few specific interventions that is big enough to allow researchers to quantify its impact on the size of the monarch population. Even if the agreement produces only 20% of its 2.3 million acre goal, this would still yield nearly half a million acres of new protected habitat. This would provide a powerful test of the role of declining breeding and nectaring habitat compared to other challenges to monarchs, such as climate change or pollution.</p><p>Scientists hope that data from this agreement will be made publicly available, like projects in the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/savethemonarch/MCD.html" target="_blank">Monarch Conservation Database</a>, which has tracked smaller on-the-ground conservation efforts since 2014. With this information we can continue to develop powerful new models with better accuracy for determining how different habitat factors, such as the number of milkweed stems or nectaring flowers on a landscape scale, affect the monarch population.</p><p>North America's monarch butterfly migration is one of the most awe-inspiring feats in the natural world. If this rescue plan succeeds, it could become a model for bridging different interests to achieve a common conservation goal.</p>
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Ig Nobel Award Winners Include Researchers Who Listened to Alligators on Helium
18 September
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The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony on Sept. 17 introduced ten new Ig Nobel Prize winners, each intended to make people "laugh then think." Improbable Research / YouTube
The annual Ig Nobel prizes were awarded Thursday by the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research for scientific experiments that seem somewhat absurd, but are also thought-provoking. This was the 30th year the awards have been presented, but the first time they were not presented at Harvard University. Instead, they were delivered in a 75-minute pre-recorded ceremony.
<p>The awards "honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology," the Annals of Improbable Research <a href="https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">explains</a>.</p><p>This year's <a href="https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/winners/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">winners</a> included an experiment on alligators that changed their sounds by making them breathe helium. The researchers behind that experiment were trying to show that reptiles, like mammals and birds, can use their voice to show how big they are, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54197198" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>To figure that one out, the researchers dropped an alligator in a tank and then filled it with oxygen or a mixture of oxygen and helium. The experimenters then registered the different vocal waves. Sure enough, the test confirmed that an animal's body size correlates to the sounds it makes.</p><p>"The resonances in your vocal tract sound lower overall if you're larger because it's a larger space in which the air can vibrate," said Stephan Reber, one of the researchers, to the BBC. "We didn't know if reptiles actually had resonances. Frogs, amphibians, don't for example. So we needed a proof of concept that crocodilians actually have resonances."</p>
<p>Another experiment that won an Ig Nobel looked at if it was possible to make a knife from human excrement. Metin Eren, an archaeologist at Kent State University, was inspired by the story on an Inuit who made a knife from his own stool. Eren used human feces frozen to 50-degrees below zero Celsius and carved it into a knife, according to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/poop-knives-arachnophobic-entomologists-win-2020-ig-nobel-awards" target="_blank">PBS</a>. Eren then tried the knife on a piece of meat.</p><p>"The poop knives failed miserably," he said, as PBS reported. "There's not a lot of basis empirically for this fantastic story. The point of this was to show that evidence and fact checking are vital."</p>
<p>In another experiment that earned an Ig Nobel, researchers from Melbourne's Swinburne University placed earthworms on a subwoofer to observe how vibrations affected their movement.</p><p>"It was a pure 'what if' moment," said Ivan Maksymov, a physicist who conducted the experiment, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/sep/18/melbourne-academics-win-ig-nobel-prize-for-research-showing-worms-vibrate-like-water" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "We didn't go into this with any particular question or scientific problem to solve.</p><p>"I decided to vibrate the speaker, so I played some instrumental beeping noises through. And they started to move like water."</p><p>The research was published in <em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65295-4#:~:text=Here%2C%20we%20test%20four%20common,and%20a%20liquid%2Dfilled%20body" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Scientific Reports.</a></em></p><p>Other winning experiments included an attempt to link thicker eyebrows with narcissism, according to The Guardian, and an examination of why entomologists are scared of spiders, as PBS reported.</p>
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