As a kid, Thomas Peschak fell in love with the ocean. A marine biologist turned photographer, Peschak has explored some of the world's "most incredible seascapes" for National Geographic Magazine and the Save Our Seas Foundation.
"Everyone on this planet affects and is affected by the ocean," Peschak explained in the TED Talk below. "And the pristine seas I used to dream about as a child are becoming harder and harder to find. They're becoming more compressed and more threatened.
"For a long time, I thought I had to shock my audience out of their indifference with disturbing images. And while this approach has merits, I have come full circle. I believe that the best way for me to affect change is to sell love."
Peschak attempts to reveal the ocean's animals and hidden ecosystems through his photography so that people will fall in love with the ocean as he did so many years ago. "You can't love something and become a champion for it if you don't know it exists," he explained.
Peschak has visited hundreds of marine locations around the world, but there are a few that stand out in particular to him.
Watch here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_peschak_dive_into_an_ocean_photographer_s_world#t-144949
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A captive elephant is seen at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Littlebourne, England. Suvodeb Banerjee / Flickr / CC by 2.0
By Bob Jacobs
Hanako, a female Asian elephant, lived in a tiny concrete enclosure at Japan's Inokashira Park Zoo for more than 60 years, often in chains, with no stimulation. In the wild, elephants live in herds, with close family ties. Hanako was solitary for the last decade of her life.
<p><a href="https://whalesanctuaryproject.org/whales/kiska-alone-again/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kiska</a>, a young female orca, was captured in 1978 off the Iceland coast and taken to Marineland Canada, an aquarium and amusement park. Orcas are social animals that live in family <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/o/orca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pods</a> with up to 40 members, but Kiska has lived alone in a small tank since 2011. Each of her five calves died. To combat stress and boredom, she swims in slow, endless circles and has gnawed her teeth to the pulp on her concrete pool.</p><p>Unfortunately, these are common conditions for many large, captive mammals in the "entertainment" industry. In decades of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KvCW9T0AAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">studying the brains of humans, African elephants, humpback whales and other large mammals</a>, I've noted the organ's great sensitivity to the environment, including serious impacts on its structure and function from living in captivity.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ1MDQyMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODMyODUwM30.AyeRUJ4H_QH0GLX-ypQsC_HoJk5DAf9DcYP44Go6GzE/img.jpg?width=980" id="72ff6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="efdca2380444b7629ae0f338889fd1b6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Hanako, an Asian elephant kept at Japan's Inokashira Park Zoo; and Kiska, an orca that lives at Marineland Canada. One image depicts Kiska's damaged teeth. Elephants in Japan (left image), Ontario Captive Animal Watch (right image), CC BY-ND
Affecting Health and Altering Behavior
<p>It is easy to observe the overall health and psychological consequences of life in captivity for these animals. Many captive elephants suffer from arthritis, obesity or skin problems. Both <a href="https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o2620.1826-36" target="_blank">elephants</a> and orcas often have severe dental problems. Captive orcas are plagued by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2019.05.005" target="_blank">pneumonia, kidney disease, gastrointestinal illnesses and infections</a>.</p><p>Many animals <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.09.010" target="_blank">try to cope</a> with captivity by adopting abnormal behaviors. Some develop "<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2017.05.003" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stereotypies</a>," which are repetitive, purposeless habits such as constantly bobbing their heads, swaying incessantly or chewing on the bars of their cages. Others, especially big cats, pace their enclosures. Elephants rub or break their tusks.</p>Changing Brain Structure
<p>Neuroscientific research indicates that living in an impoverished, stressful captive environment <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2019.05.005" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">physically damages the brain</a>. These changes have been documented in many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.903270108" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">species</a>, including rodents, rabbits, cats and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2001.0917" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">humans</a>.</p><p>Although researchers have directly studied some animal brains, most of what we know comes from observing animal behavior, analyzing stress hormone levels in the blood and applying knowledge gained from a half-century of neuroscience research. Laboratory research also suggests that mammals in a zoo or aquarium have compromised brain function.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ1MDQzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjM0MzI1MH0.fp2ujwrgKdMD09Y4jRTH8cUUCyxtcAmp0M30n4LzHIU/img.jpg?width=980" id="7cb37" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4c195010067513dfa086c5a0dba564bc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
This illustration shows differences in the brain's cerebral cortex in animals held in impoverished (captive) and enriched (natural) environments. Impoverishment results in thinning of the cortex, a decreased blood supply, less support for neurons and decreased connectivity among neurons. Arnold B. Scheibel, CC BY-ND
<p>Subsisting in confined, barren quarters that lack intellectual stimulation or appropriate social contact seems to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1590/S0001-37652001000200006" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">thin the cerebral cortex</a> – the part of the brain involved in voluntary movement and higher cognitive function, including memory, planning and decision-making.</p><p>There are other consequences. Capillaries shrink, depriving the brain of the oxygen-rich blood it needs to survive. Neurons become smaller, and their dendrites – the branches that form connections with other neurons – become less complex, impairing communication within the brain. As a result, the cortical neurons in captive animals <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.901230110" target="_blank">process information less efficiently</a> than those living in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.420020208" target="_blank">enriched, more natural environments</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ1MDQzOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTY3ODY3NX0.LMeqPwRQnd-zr0FF0JcAEVZ9FC0gAy9uzrnb_aXK99o/img.jpg?width=980" id="2bc51" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d34c18b3323cc4c9f41bbe18d8b5aaf1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
An actual cortical neuron in a wild African elephant living in its natural habitat compared with a hypothesized cortical neuron from a captive elephant. Bob Jacobs, CC BY-ND
<p>Brain health is also affected by living in small quarters that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3233/BPL-160040" target="_blank">don't allow for needed exercise</a>. Physical activity increases the flow of blood to the brain, which requires large amounts of oxygen. Exercise increases the production of new connections and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw2622" target="_blank">enhances cognitive abilities</a>.</p><p>In their native habits these animals must move to survive, covering great distances to forage or find a mate. Elephants typically travel anywhere from <a href="https://www.elephantsforafrica.org/elephant-facts/#:%7E:text=How%20far%20do%20elephants%20walk,km%20on%20a%20daily%20basis." target="_blank">15 to 120 miles per day</a>. In a zoo, they average <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150331" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">three miles daily</a>, often walking back and forth in small enclosures. One free orca studied in Canada swam <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0958-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">up to 156 miles a day</a>; meanwhile, an average orca tank is about 10,000 times smaller than its <a href="https://www.cascadiaresearch.org/projects/killer-whales/using-dtags-study-acoustics-and-behavior-southern" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">natural home range</a>.</p>Disrupting Brain Chemistry and Killing Cells
<p>Living in enclosures that restrict or prevent normal behavior creates chronic frustration and boredom. In the wild, an animal's stress-response system helps it escape from danger. But captivity traps animals with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215502109" target="_blank">almost no control</a> over their environment.</p><p>These situations foster <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000033" target="_blank">learned helplessness</a>, negatively impacting the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/6391686" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hippocampus</a>, which handles memory functions, and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2011.02.024" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">amygdala</a>, which processes emotions. Prolonged stress <a href="https://doi.org/10.3109/10253899609001092" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">elevates stress hormones</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.10-09-02897.1990" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">damages or even kills neurons</a> in both brain regions. It also disrupts the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.03.021" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">delicate balance of serotonin</a>, a neurotransmitter that stabilizes mood, among other functions.</p><p>In humans, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2001.0917" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deprivation</a> can trigger <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.00367" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">psychiatric issues</a>, including depression, anxiety, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2018.00367" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mood disorders</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1073858409333072" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">post-traumatic stress disorder</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-010-0288-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Elephants</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0050139" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">orcas</a> and other animals with large brains are likely to react in similar ways to life in a severely stressful environment.</p>Damaged Wiring
<p>Captivity can damage the brain's complex circuitry, including the basal ganglia. This group of neurons communicates with the cerebral cortex along two networks: a direct pathway that enhances movement and behavior, and an indirect pathway that inhibits them.</p><p>The repetitive, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2014.05.057" target="_blank">stereotypic behaviors</a> that many animals adopt in captivity are caused by an imbalance of two neurotransmitters, dopamine and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.02.004" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">serotonin</a>. This impairs the indirect pathway's ability to modulate movement, a condition documented in species from chickens, cows, sheep and horses to primates and big cats.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ1MDQ0NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTk4ODQ5MH0.y-zYv_gEQ-pgdSyytSGEq5Jq3uYWqYR24kKHuEhl7Qo/img.jpg?width=980" id="cf7b3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="03ebc3885a895e0d497ec39dde96d295" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The cerebral cortex, hippocampus and amygdala are physically altered by captivity, along with brain circuitry that involves the basal ganglia. Bob Jacobs, CC BY-ND
<p>Evolution has constructed animal brains to be exquisitely responsive to their environment. Those reactions can affect neural function by <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/311787/behave-by-robert-m-sapolsky/" target="_blank">turning different genes on or off</a>. Living in inappropriate or abusive circumstance alters biochemical processes: It disrupts the synthesis of proteins that build connections between brain cells and the neurotransmitters that facilitate communication among them.</p><p>There is strong evidence that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0577-11.2011" target="_blank">enrichment</a>, social contact and appropriate space in more natural habitats are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.2003.tb02071.x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">necessary</a> for long-lived animals with large brains such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152490" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">elephants</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13880292.2017.1309858" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cetaceans</a>. Better conditions <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5543669/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduce disturbing sterotypical behaviors</a>, improve connections in the brain, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/cdd.2009.193" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trigger neurochemical changes</a> that enhance learning and memory.</p>The Captivity Question
<p>Some people defend keeping animals in captivity, arguing that it helps conserve endangered species or offers educational benefits for <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.574.3479&rep=rep1&type=pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">visitors to zoos and aquariums</a>. These justifications are questionable, particularly for <a href="https://animalstudiesrepository.org/acwp_zoae/8/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">large mammals</a>. As my own research and work by many other scientists shows, caging large mammals and putting them on display is undeniably cruel from a neural perspective. It causes brain damage.</p><p>Public perceptions of captivity are slowly changing, as shown by the reaction to the documentary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfish_(film)" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">"Blackfish</a>." For animals that cannot be free, there are well-designed sanctuaries. Several already exist for elephants and other large mammals in <a href="https://www.elephants.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tennessee</a>, <a href="https://globalelephants.org/overview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brazil</a> and Northern <a href="http://www.pawsweb.org/about_our_sanctuaries.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">California</a>. Others are being developed for large <a href="https://whalesanctuaryproject.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cetaceans</a>.</p><p>Perhaps it is not too late for Kiska.</p>
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Reintroducing wolves is on the ballot in Colorado. Gunner Ries / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
By Tara Lohan
Maybe we can blame COVID-19 for making it hard to hit the streets and gather signatures to get initiatives on state ballots. But this year there are markedly fewer environmental issues up for vote than in 2018.
While the number of initiatives may be down, there's no less at stake. Voters will still have to make decisions about wildlife, renewable energy, oil companies and future elections.
Here's the rundown of what's happening where.
Return of an Apex Predator
<p>Wolves are on the ballot in Colorado. <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/ballots/reintroduction-and-management-gray-wolves" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Proposition 114</a> would require the state's Parks and Wildlife Commission to create a plan by 2023 for the reintroduction and management of gray wolves (<em>Canis lupus</em>) in areas west of the continental divide.</p><p>Gray wolves once roamed across the western United States but were mostly eradicated by the 1930s. Slowly efforts are being made to bring them back. The reintroduction of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1996 has been hailed as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/25/yellowstone-wolf-project-25th-anniversary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rewilding success</a>.</p><p>"The argument is that by putting back in wolves — an apex predator that has evolved alongside their prey species — we're putting things back into ecological balance," University of Colorado Boulder ecology professor Joanna Lambert <a href="https://therevelator.org/wolf-reintroduction-colorado/" target="_blank">told <em>The Revelator</em></a> in a February interview about the science behind wolf reintroductions.</p><p>The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Colorado Farm Bureau are two of the top donors to the opposition groups.</p><p>The measure does include compensation for losses of livestock caused by gray wolves.</p><p>"What we're all hoping for is a landscape where we can coexist with the species that were originally here, but also acknowledging that humans need to make a living and that the costs of this initiative will be felt by some folks more than others," Lambert said.</p>Confusion Over Clean Energy
<p>In Nevada voters will take a second swing at a constitutional amendment to require that electric utilities source 50% of their electricity from renewables by 2030. Voters passed the same measure, <a href="https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/home/showdocument?id=8826" target="_blank">Question 6</a>, in 2018, but state law requires that constitutional amendments be passed in two consecutive even-numbered election years.</p><p>More clean energy for the state may seem good. But there's concern that enshrining 50% renewables by 2030 in the state's constitution isn't that ambitious and it will make it harder to continue the push for 100% renewables in the future. To do that would be another constitutional amendment that would again take four years and two consecutive ballot wins to move the needle.</p><p>Also, the state is already on its way to the same renewable goal.</p><p>A legislative effort to achieve 50% renewables by 2030 — but with a slightly different timeline for the increments to get there — was signed into law in April 2019 by Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak. Renewable advocates hope the state will do even better than that benchmark, but passing Question 6 would make it harder.</p>Paying a Fair Share
<p>If California's <a href="https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ballot-measures/qualified-ballot-measures/" target="_blank">Proposition 15</a> passes, commercial and industrial properties will need to start paying taxes based on their current market value, instead of paying based on the purchase price from decades prior (which stems from Proposition 13 passed back in 1978). The initiative would exempt agricultural land, small businesses, renters and homeowners.</p><p>Reassessing the worth of large commercial properties could bring in between $7.5 billion and $12 billion a year that would go toward supporting local governments, school districts and community colleges.</p><p>Most of the <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_15,_Tax_on_Commercial_and_Industrial_Properties_for_Education_and_Local_Government_Funding_Initiative_(2020)" target="_blank">opposition</a> has come from big business and anti-taxation groups.</p><p>The California Teachers Association Issues PAC is the biggest supporter of the effort, but a number of <a href="https://www.yes15.org/endorsers-environment" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environmental groups</a> have also endorsed the measure, which would likely see oil companies and other big industrial polluters having to kick in more money.</p><p>"The oil industry has used Prop. 13 loopholes to evade tens of millions of dollars in property taxes," <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/victoria-rome/nrdc-announces-support-californias-proposition-15" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote Victoria Lome</a>, California legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Companies like Chevron, Exxon, Phillips 66, Shell and Tosco are paying taxes based on assessments taken prior to 2000. Prop. 15 would end this hidden subsidy to dirty energy."</p><p>Oil companies could stand to lose in Alaska, too. Voters there will weigh in on <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Alaska_Ballot_Measure_1,_North_Slope_Oil_Production_Tax_Increase_Initiative_(2020)" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ballot Measure 1</a>, which would increase taxes on big oil producers (those that have produced more than 400 million barrels overall or 40,000 barrels a day in the past year) operating in three established oil fields in the North Slope.</p>Taking the Wind Out of the Sails of the Electoral College
<p>Colorado's <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/ballots/adopt-agreement-elect-us-president-national-popular-vote" target="_blank">Proposition 113</a> isn't about environmental issues directly but could cause big shifts in how presidential elections are run and what states and issues are considered important.</p><p>The initiative would add Colorado to the <a href="https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/written-explanation" target="_blank">National Popular Vote Interstate Compact</a>. That effort is aimed at ensuring the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote wins the election. It doesn't eliminate the Electoral College, but it saps its power.</p><p>The compact needs states representing at least 270 Electoral College votes to go into effect. It's currently at 196.</p><p>If Colorado's proposition is passed, and if the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact eventually gets enough votes to go into effect, then Colorado's nine electoral votes would go to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote, not to the one who gets the most votes in Colorado.</p>From Your Site Articles
- 5 Key Environmental Ballot Measures to Track at Your Election ... ›
- Trump Is Losing Farmer Support. Will They Swing the Election ... ›
- The Environment Is on the November Ballot — Here's Where and ... ›
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A health care worker holds a test for patients suspected of being infected with coronavirus at the Center Health Vicoso Jardim on April 30, 2020 in Niteroi, Brazil. Luis Alvarenga / Getty Images
By Alexander Freund
The World Health Organization, along with its global partners in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, has announced that it will provide 120 million rapid-diagnostic antigen tests to people in lower- and middle-income countries over the next six months. The tests represent a "massive increase" in testing worldwide, according to the Global Fund, a partnership that works to end epidemics.
<p>"We have an agreement, we have seed funding and now we need the full amount of funds to buy these tests," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday, without providing further details. The program will initially require $600 million and is planned to start as early as October.</p><p>This mass testing campaign is part of a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_710" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">global initiative launched in April</a> by the WHO, the European Commission, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the French government. Additional partner organizations include the Global Fund, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and Unitaid.</p><p>The test manufacturers, South Korea's SD BioSensor and U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories, have agreed to provide 20% of their test kits to lower- and middle-income countries. The remainder will be made available to wealthier nations, some of whom are helping to finance the test drive. Germany, for example, has already ordered some 20 million test kits.</p>
Quick Test Can Break Infection Chains
<p>"These tests provide reliable results in approximately 15 to 30 minutes, rather than hours or days, at a lower price with less sophisticated equipment," said WHO head Tedros, adding that the tests would cost as little as $5 each, and could become cheaper still. He said the rapid tests would help expand testing to hard-to-reach areas which aren't as well-equipped, or which are lacking trained health workers.</p><p>"High-quality rapid tests show us where the virus is hiding, which is key to quickly tracing and isolating contacts and breaking the chains of transmission," said Tedros. "The tests are a critical tool for governments as they look to reopen economies and ultimately save both lives and livelihoods."</p><p>Catharina Boehme, head of FIND, also welcomed the widespread rollout of cheap test kits. "This really shows what can be achieved when the world and leading global health partners come together with a common priority," she said.</p>How Do COVID-19 Antigen Tests Work?
<p>There are currently three different types of coronavirus diagnostic tests on the market: antigen tests, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and serology tests (ELISA). </p><p>Rapid antigen tests target virus proteins, and somewhat resemble pregnancy tests. They aren't yet available at pharmacies and can only be administered by trained medical personnel. With a nasal or throat swab, testers can find out within approximately 15 minutes whether a patient has contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus and is infectious and must be quarantined.</p><p>The advantage of rapid antigen tests is that they can be conducted quickly and on the spot. <br></p><p>It's hoped that this will help save the lives of thousands of people and slow the spread of the pandemic in the world's poorest countries. Rapid antigen tests can be used to carry out mass screenings among health care workers in low-income countries, who are at greater risk of death from COVID-19. These tests could also be used in schools, in the workplace and in nursing and retirement homes.</p><p>The major disadvantage of rapid antigen tests is that they're less reliable than PCR tests, which are conducted in labs and designed to detect the virus' genetic material. Rapid antigen tests may also be less effective in detecting infections in the early stages.</p><p>Still, a growing number of medical experts are backing the mass rollout of antigen tests, as they allow infected people to be identified even before they show symptoms, when individuals have a high viral load and are especially infectious.</p>Not All Rapid Test Kits Are Reliable
<p>Hundreds of rapid COVID-19 test kits have come on the market recently. Many of them are reliable, but not all. In March, for example, Spain sent back two batches of unlicensed Chinese test kits because they were flawed.</p><p>The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has pointed out that even though many tests have been approved for sale on the European market, very few clinical studies show whether they are actually effective.</p><p>The 120 million test kits set to be rolled out by the WHO are the first to meet all of the organization's standards; test makers SD BioSensor and Abbott were granted emergency approval by the WHO last week.</p><p>The manufacturers claim their tests are up to 97% reliable in lab conditions; in the real world, the tests are said to be between 80% and 90% reliable. While this is good, it also means some 20% of patients will receive negative results despite being infected, which could lead to further spread of the virus.</p>What Are the Alternatives to Antigen Tests?
<p>Rapid antigen tests are ideal to test scores of patients quickly, simply and cheaply. Lab-based PCR tests, however, are superior in terms of reliability.</p><p>The PCR test detects genetic material, or RNA, from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Patients are asked to provide a throat swab. One part of the person's genetic material is then synthesized, after which a biochemical process known as agarose gel electrophoresis is used to detect if the sample contains virus RNA. These tests are highly reliable but can only be conducted in specialized labs.</p><p>Serologic testing, on the other hand, detects antibodies in a person's blood that form when the immune system responds to a certain pathogen. This indicates that a person has already been exposed to the virus. While quick test kits are available for this method, these are mainly used for scientific studies.<br></p>
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participate in the first presidential debate moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University on Sept. 29, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. Scott Olson / Getty Images
The first presidential debate seemed like it would end without a mention of the climate crisis when moderator Chris Wallace brought it up at the end of the night for a segment that lasted roughly 10 minutes.
<p>The raucous event in Cleveland, Ohio was notable for President Donald's Trump's constant interruptions and bullying behavior as he spoke over the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, and Wallace. "Mr. Trump purposefully and repeatedly heckled and blurted over his rival and the moderator alike in a 90-minute melee that showcased the president's sense of urgency to upend a race," is how Shane Goldmacher of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/us/politics/presidential-debate-recap.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> summarized the night.</p><p>It was with that backdrop that Wallace said toward the end of the evening, "I'd like to talk about climate change." He then spoke about the forest fires in the West, turned toward Trump and noted that Trump said he doesn't believe that science knows if the climate crisis is triggering record-setting wildfires.</p>
<p>"Over your four years, you have pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord," Wallace said. "You have rolled back a number of Obama environmental records. What do you believe about the science of climate change, and what will you do over the next four years to confront it?"</p><p>"I want crystal clean water and air, we now have the lowest carbon … if you look at our numbers now we are doing phenomenally," Trump said in response. He then insisted that people are people are very happy he has started to withdraw the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord before turning the discussion to how states in the West need to improve their forest management.</p><p>That distraction from the question pushed Wallace to interrupt Trump. "What do you believe about the science of climate change, sir?" And then later in the segment, he asked, "Do you believe that human pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, contribute to the global warming of the planet?"</p><p>Trump said he did, to an extent, and then pivoted again to forest management.</p>
<p>As Trump spoke of the need to better manage the forests, Biden looked bemused, often laughing at the president's answers and shaking his head.</p><p>"But sir, if you believe in the science of climate change, why have you rolled back the Obama Clean Power Plan, which limited carbon emissions in power plants? Why have you relaxed fuel economy standards that are going to create more pollution from cars and trucks?" Wallace asked.</p><p>Trump dismissed that idea, insisting that more new cars will be bought which will make them safer.</p><p>When Biden had a chance to speak about his $2 trillion green energy plan, the former vice president spoke about his track record in bringing down the cost of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> and said that coal-fired and oil-fired power plants were going extinct in America.</p>
<p>He also spoke of replacing the federal automotive fleet of vehicles with electrical vehicles. He mentioned a plan to weatherize millions of buildings and homes to reduce the need for both heating and air conditioning. He then insisted the country could reach net-zero emissions in 15 years while creating millions of jobs to overhaul the country's energy infrastructure.</p><p>When Trump tried to tie Biden to the yoke of the Green New Deal and erroneously labeled the price tag at $100 trillion, Biden insisted that his plan was not the Green New Deal, but his own.</p><p>Discussing the costs, Biden pointed to the steep price tag of ecological disaster.</p><p>"We spend billions of dollars now, billions of dollars, on floods, hurricanes, rising seas," he said. "We're in real trouble."</p>
<p>The pivot toward the climate crisis was a surprise. Before the debate, Wallace, a Fox News host, had said the debate would focus on a handful of topics: the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic, the economy, election integrity and "race and violence in our cities," according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/29/energy-202-climate-change-left-off-debate-list-even-though-polls-show-it-growing-concern-among-voters/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>The omission of the climate crisis was striking, as activists worried that debate moderators would ignore the number one issue today to young people, just as it was in the 2016 debates, according to The Washington Post.</p><p>The omission also raised the ire of Democratic lawmakers. Prior to the debate, 40 Democratic senators sent a letter to the debate commission insisting upon questions that address the climate crisis.</p><p>"Without these topics, any discussion on the economy, racial justice, public health, national security, democracy, or infrastructure would be incomplete," said the letter, as The Washington Post reported.</p>
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Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
The wildfires that roared through Eastern Washington in September had a devastating impact on an extremely endangered species of rabbit.
<p>The fast-moving Pearl Hill and Cold Springs fires scorched a habitat for Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits on Sept. 7, wiping out around half of the species' recovering population, <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/latest-endangered-pygmy-rabbit-population-halved-by-fast-moving-fire?fbclid=IwAR2pzH5M9FLQkGBEVPriSAyklH8Tej1B66EhCfPKYQbnAkSD9j3kEJT8chA" target="_blank">High Country News reported Monday</a>.</p><p>"The sun was blotted out, it was just red from the fire glare and the smoke and all you saw was rocks and sand and dust, there was just nothing," Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Biologist Jon Gallie told <a href="https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/paywalloff/fire-wipes-out-half-of-columbia-basin-pygmy-rabbit-population/article_8c20b63c-f475-11ea-b668-83235dc86d8a.html" target="_blank">The Wenatchee World</a> after the fire. "I have not seen a sagebrush fire that hot in my 13 years out here."</p>
<p>Gallie leads a recovery program for North America's smallest rabbits, which are about the size of a grapefruit, according to High Country News. Their population was devastated during the 20th century by development, agriculture and wildfires and, in 2001, the last 16 were gathered from the wild for a captive breeding program. Scientists bred the Washington rabbits with pygmy rabbits from the Great Basin of the intermountain West and began to reintroduce them to the wild in 2011, according to The Wenatchee World.</p><p>To defend against wildfires, the rabbits were released in three different locations: Jameson Lake, Beezley Hills and Sagebrush Flats. It was the Jameson Lake population that was lost to September's flames.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ0Nzg4NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMjQ5MjQ3Mn0.D6_1M4ciX784XMASOHmBKtmQxkxB7aE4WDkiR6Z2MvI/img.jpg?width=980" id="edb37" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1d81accb8933f5bf30a885568b7bcc2c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A pygmy rabbit rescued from a breeding site in Beezley Hills, Washington eats owl clover in its new enclosure. Kourtney Stonehouse, WDFW
<p>"We have pygmy rabbits well distributed on the landscape in two other areas, so not all is lost," Gallie told High Country News. "We will just have to chart a now more challenging path to recovery."</p><p>However, WDFW manager of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> diversity Hannah Anderson told <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/endangered-wildlife-habitat-burned-in-wildfires/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Seattle Times</a> that the department had been focusing on the Jameson Lake population and had expected it to increase.</p><p>"It's devastating," Anderson said. "A catastrophic loss and a significant loss in recovery."</p>
<p>The rabbits aren't the only endangered species that were harmed by the fires. The Pearl Fire may also have reduced the state's sage grouse population by 30 to 70 percent, according to The Seattle Times.</p><p>The fires also damaged the sagebrush ecosystem these and other species depend upon. This unique, biodiverse shrub-steppe environment once covered 10.4 million acres of Washington state, but has declined by 80 percent since the mid-19th century. The fires wiped out thousands more acres within days.</p><p>While sagebrush ecosystems are used to fires, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/invasive-species" target="_self">invasive species</a> of weeds have taken root that dry out early and encourage hotter, larger fires. It takes sagebrush steppe 10 to 20 years to recover from such blazes.</p><p>"Truly, now preserving what we have left is going to be the challenge," WDFW habitat program director Margen Carlson told The Seattle Times.</p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is also <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/wildfires-climate-fires-2647729127.html" target="_self">fueling</a> larger, more extreme fires in Washington and around the world.
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