Category: Environment

Gulf Stream is weakest it’s been in more than 1,000 years, study says

Gulf Stream is weakest it’s been in more than 1,000 years, study says

Mark Puleo                      February 26, 2021
This Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, satellite image made available by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Eta at 10:40 a.m. EST in the Gulf of Mexico, Theta, right, and a tropical wave to the south that became Tropical Storm Iota. An overheating world obliterated weather records in 2020 – an extreme year for hurricanes, wildfires, heat waves, floods, droughts and ice melt – the United Nations’ weather agency reported Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. (NOAA via AP)

A group of scientists from Europe presented new research this week claiming that the Gulf Stream is weaker now than it’s been at any point over the last 1,000 years. The Gulf Stream is an Atlantic Ocean current that plays a largely hidden role in shaping weather patterns in the United States. Much has been researched and learned about the influential current over the past 500 years, particularly due to the expertise of one of America’s Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin.

But in recent decades, a shift in the Gulf Stream’s circulation has become weaker than any other time over the last millennium, according to a recently published study by scientists from Ireland, Britain and Germany. The weakening of the Gulf Stream, formally known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), can be mostly pinned to one catalyst, the researchers said: human-caused climate change.

The Gulf Stream current moves a massive amount of water across the Atlantic Ocean. According to Stefan Rahmstorf, one of the study’s authors, it moves nearly 20 million cubic meters of water per second, acting like a giant conveyor belt.

How strong of a current is that? “Almost a hundred times the Amazon flow,” he told the Potsdam Institute.
The Gulf Stream location in the Global Real-Time Ocean Forecast System model (RTOFS) from 2016. (Image via NOAA)

The main function of the Gulf Stream is to redistribute heat on Earth by way of the ocean current. The ocean circulatory system plays a crucial role in many weather patterns around the world, particularly along the U.S. East Coast.

Rahmstorf said that his team’s research was groundbreaking for being able to combine previous bits of research to piece together a 1,600-year-old picture of the AMOC evolution.

“The study results suggest that it has been relatively stable until the late 19th century,” he said. “With the end of the little ice age in about 1850, the ocean currents began to decline, with a second, more drastic decline following since the mid-20th century.”
An original mapping of the Gulf Stream from Timothy Folger and Benjamin Franklin from 1768. (Image via Library of Congress)

So what are the implications of this decline in the ocean currents? AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck said it could plausibly lead to rising sea levels if water levels are warmed this year. However, Smerbeck added that it is tricky to know just how warm the waters could get.

Previously, studies have shown that rising water temperatures and higher sea levels can lead to more extreme weather events such as stronger tropical storms, a higher likelihood for extreme heat waves or a decrease in summer rainfall.

However, other researchers have also come out with contrasting data, suggesting that the Gulf Stream hasn’t actually declined over the past 30 years. Using a different data modeling system, researchers from the United Kingdom and Ireland pieced together data from climate models that they said in a study published earlier this month showed “no overall AMOC decline.”

“Our results reinforce that adequately capturing changes to the deep circulation is key to detecting any anthropogenic climate-change-related AMOC decline,” the authors write in their study, which was written just days before Rahmstorf’s team published its research on the topic.

Smerbeck, who has been a meteorologist at AccuWeather for nearly 25 years, urged caution in how to interpret the new research claims.

“One possible repercussion discussed in article 1 [the first study mentioned above] about warming waters along the east coast from an AMOC slowdown could lead to rising sea levels due to thermal expansion of the seawater. This seems plausible,” Smerbeck said. But, he added that the amount of seawater rise would depend on how warm that waters could get and he wasn’t ready to speculate on that.
This undated engraving shows the scene on July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pa. The document, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman, announces the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. The formal signing by 56 members of Congress began on Aug. 2. (AP Photo)

How was the Gulf Stream as we know it today discovered? Well, the discovery was fueled by a need for increased efficiency with the mail service and was inspired by the empiricism of whalers.

In 1768, Benjamin Franklin was working in London as deputy postmaster, according to The Smithsonian Magazine, responsible for overseeing the arrival of mail to and from the American colonies. His cousin, Timothy Folger, worked as a captain of a merchant ship at that same time.

One day, Franklin asked Folger why his merchant ships arrived at the colonies much faster than Franklin’s mail ships made it back to England. Folger explained to his cousin that merchant captains followed the advice of whalers, who followed a “warm, strong current” to track and kill whales.

While Franklin said mail captains were too prideful to follow the advice of “simple American fishermen,” sailing against the current was costing precious time, according to author Laura Bliss.

So Folger sketched out a general location of the current for Franklin, dubbing it the “Gulph Stream.” However, Franklin’s mail carriers refused to follow the directions.
A chart of the Gulf Stream, published in 1786 in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. (Image via Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division)

But when Franklin switched allegiances to the burgeoning United States during the Revolutionary War, he mapped out a more precise route of the AMOC and gave it to French allies, providing them a key advantage in the battle of European Maritimers, according to The Smithsonian. The combination of Folger’s whaling knowledge and Franklin’s mapping would become crucial in later understanding the importance of the current, even if they originally were just trying to figure out how to deliver mail faster.

While knowledge of the AMOC may only go back a few hundred years, Smerbeck said the dating of the currents can be done in a variety of different ways. Direct measurements with deep-ocean instruments only go back to 2004, he said, but other methods can help piece together the puzzle, such as analysis of coral and historical data from ship logs.

“Tree rings can tell how wet or dry the nearby land climate was in the past, which can be linked to sea surface temperatures,” Smerbeck explained. “Ice cores can pretty much tell the same thing as well as how warm or cold it was in the past,” he said. “Ocean sediments can show if there were high or low runoff periods from nearby precipitation over land, which could be linked to how warm or cold sea surface temperatures were in the past.” Researchers have used all of these clues to inform the understanding, which stretches back more than a millennium, they’ve developed of the Gulf Stream.

One Third of Freshwater Fish Face Extinction, New Report Warns

EcoWatch – Fish

One Third of Freshwater Fish Face Extinction, New Report Warns

Olivia Rosane                February 23, 2021

 

One Third of Freshwater Fish Face Extinction, New Report Warns
The numbers of migratory freshwater fish such as salmon have declined 76 percent since 1970. Mike Bons / 500px / Getty Images

The latest warning of the Earth’s mounting extinction crisis is coming from its lakes and rivers.

A new report from a coalition of 16 conservation groups warns that almost a third of freshwater fish species face extinction because of human activity.

“Nowhere is the world’s nature crisis more acute than in our rivers, lakes and wetlands, and the clearest indicator of the damage we are doing is the rapid decline in freshwater fish populations. They are the aquatic version of the canary in the coal mine, and we must heed the warning,” Stuart Orr, WWF global freshwater lead, said in a statement Tuesday announcing the report.

WWF is one of the many organizations behind the report, along with the Alliance for Freshwater Life, Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy, to name a few. Together, the groups emphasized the incredible diversity of the world’s freshwater fish and their importance for human wellbeing.

There are a total of 18,075 freshwater fish species in the world, accounting for 51 percent of all fish species and 25 percent of all vertebrates. They are an important food source for 200 million people and provide work for 60 million. But their numbers are in decline. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has declared 80 to be extinct, 16 of those in 2020 alone. The numbers of migratory freshwater fish such as salmon have declined 76 percent since 1970, while mega-fish such as beluga sturgeon have fallen by 94 percent in the same time period. In fact, freshwater biodiversity is plummeting at twice the rate of biodiversity in the oceans and forests.

Despite this, freshwater fish get much less attention than their saltwater counterparts, the report authors say. Titled “The World’s Forgotten Fishes,” it argues that policy makers rarely consider river wildlife when making decisions.

The main threats to freshwater fish include building dams, syphoning river water for irrigation, releasing wastewater and draining wetlands. Other factors include overfishing, introducing invasive species and the climate crisis.

“As we look to adapt to climate change and we start to think about all the discussions that governments are going to have on biodiversity, it’s really a time for us to shine a light back on freshwater,” Orr told NBC News.

To protect these forgotten fishes, the report authors outlined a six-point plan:

1. Let rivers flow more naturally;
2. Improve water quality in freshwater ecosystems;
3. Protect and restore critical habitats;
4. End overfishing and unsustainable sand mining in rivers and lakes;
5. Prevent and control invasions by non-native species; and
6. Protect free-flowing rivers and remove obsolete dams.

They also called on world leaders to include freshwater ecosystems in an ambitious biodiversity agreement at the upcoming UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Kunming, China.

But the solution will require more than just government action.

“It’s now more urgent than ever that we find the collective political will and effective collaboration with private sector, governments, NGOs and communities, to implement nature-based solutions that protect freshwater species, while also ensuring human needs are met,” Carmen Revenga of The Nature Conservancy told BBC News.

Trash fills Bosnia river faster than workers can pull it out

Trash fills Bosnia river faster than workers can pull it out

Elmar Emric                          February 24, 2021

 

This aerial photo shows a dam garbage floating in the Drina river near Visegrad, eastern Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. Environmental activists in Bosnia are warning that tons of garbage floating down the Balkan country's rivers are endangering the local ecosystem and people's health. The Drina River has been covered for weeks with trash that has piled up faster than the authorities can clear it out. (AP Photo/Kemal Softic)

VISEGRAD, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Environmental activists in Bosnia are warning that tons of garbage floating down the Balkan country’s rivers are endangering the local ecosystem and people’s health.

The Drina River, located on the border between Bosnia and Serbia, has been covered for weeks with trash that has piled up faster than the authorities can clear it out.

Weeks of wet winter weather that swelled the Drina and its tributaries pulled plastic bottles, rusty barrels, used tires, old furniture and other rubbish into the water.

Near the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad, islands of garbage can be seen floating on the emerald-colored water as they advance toward the dam of the local hydroelectric power plant.

Activists say the situation is similar for miles up and downstream from Visegrad.

“This is a problem of huge proportions,” warned Dejan Furtula of the local environmental group Eko Centar Visegrad. “I am appealing on all institutions and everyone who can help to join the (clearing) process.”

Local authorities have been working to remove the garbage, but more trash is constantly arriving from upstream, carried also by the Drina’s tributaries in Serbia and Montenegro. The waste eventually piles up by the Visegrad dam. The 346-kilometer long (215-mile-long) Drina later flows into the Sava River.

Furtula said that micro plastics and toxins from the garbage end up in the food chain, threatening both wildlife and humans.

“The entire ecosystem is in danger,” he said. “We all eat fish here.”

Waste management is a problem in many Balkans nations, where the economies are struggling and environmental issues often come last, after efforts to step up employment and industry production.

Serbia recently faced a similar garbage-clogging emergency at an accumulation lake. Unauthorized waste dumps dot hills and valleys throughout the country, while trash litters roads and plastic bags hang from the trees.

The Drina clearing effort in Bosnia received a boost this week from a startup based in Germany that brought in a garbage-picking vessel dubbed Collectix.

Everwave co-founder Clemens Feigl said “shocking” images of the trash-covered river motivated the company to come over to help.

“We will try in the next days to get as much waste as possible out of the water.,” he said. “We will be in action for the next 14 days and will give it our everything.”

In addition to river pollution, many countries in the Western Balkans have other environmental woes. One of the most pressing is the extremely high air pollution affecting a number of cities in the region.

“We just need to all to work more to boost ecological awareness,” Frutula said.

Extinction: Freshwater fish in ‘catastrophic’ decline

Extinction: Freshwater fish in ‘catastrophic’ decline

Helen Briggs, BBC Environment correspondent    February 22, 2021
Salmon in a Scottish river
Healthy rivers are essential for fish to thrive

 

A report has warned of a “catastrophic” decline in freshwater fish, with nearly a third threatened by extinction.

Conservation groups said 80 species were known to have gone extinct, 16 in the last year alone.

Millions of people rely on freshwater fish for food and as a source of income through angling and the pet trade.

But numbers have plummeted due to pressures including pollution, unsustainable fishing, and the damming and draining of rivers and wetlands.

The report said populations of migratory fish have fallen by three-quarters in the last 50 years.

Over the same time period, populations of larger species, known as “megafish”, have crashed by 94%.

The report, The World’s Forgotten Fishes, is by 16 conservation groups, including WWF, the London Zoological Society (ZSL), Global Wildlife Conservation and The Nature Conservancy.

Dead fish, Brazil
Dead fish in the water near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 

In UK waters, the sturgeon and the burbot have vanished, salmon are disappearing and the European eel remains critically endangered.

According to the WWF, much of the decline is driven by the poor state of rivers, mostly as a result of pollution, dams and sewage.

It has called on the government to restore freshwater habitats to good health through proper enforcement of existing laws, strengthening protections in the Environment Bill and championing a strong set of global targets for the recovery of nature.

Dave Tickner, from WWF, said freshwater habitats are some of the most vibrant on earth, but – as this report shows – they are in catastrophic decline around the world.

“Nature is in freefall and the UK is no exception: wildlife struggles to survive, let alone thrive, in our polluted waters,” said the organization’s chief adviser on freshwater.

“If we are to take this government’s environmental promises seriously, it must get its act together, clean up our rivers and restore our freshwater habitats to good health. ”

Sturgeon, Caspian river
Large fish such as sturgeon are dying out faster

 

Carmen Revenga of The Nature Conservancy said freshwater fish are a diverse and unique group of species that are not only essential for the healthy functioning of our rivers, lakes and wetlands, but millions of people, particularly the poor, also depend on them for their food and income.

“It’s now more urgent than ever that we find the collective political will and effective collaboration with private sector, governments, NGOs and communities, to implement nature-based solutions that protect freshwater species, while also ensuring human needs are met,” she said.

Commenting, Dr. Jeremy Biggs, of the Freshwater Habitats Trust, said to protect freshwater biodiversity, we need to consider both large and small waters, and to protect all our freshwaters: ponds, lakes, streams and rivers.

Scientists say removing Snake River dams ‘is necessary’ to restore salmon population

Scientists say removing Snake River dams ‘is necessary’ to restore salmon population

Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, Idaho               February 23, 2021
On the Northwest's Snake River, the Case for Dam Removal Grows - Yale E360

Another set of scientists, this one more than five-dozen deep, is sounding the alarm over Snake River salmon and steelhead, saying if the imperiled fish are to be saved, the four lower Snake River dams must go.

On Monday, 68 fisheries researchers from the Pacific Northwest released a letter penned to the region’s congressional delegation, governors and fisheries policymakers methodically making the case for breaching the dams.

“This scientific recommendation wasn’t taken lightly. This is relying on a review of a large preponderance of information that a bunch of us analyzed over and over again over the years,” said Howard Schaller, a retired fisheries research biologist who worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

They compared the lifecycle survival, known as smolt-to-adult survival rates, of Snake River salmon and steelhead, and note the runs which must pass eight dams as they migrate to and from the ocean have lower survival rates than similar stocks in the Columbia Basin that only have to make it past four or fewer dams.

For example, wild steelhead from the John Day River in Oregon have an average smolt-to-adult return rate of 5 percent and wild chinook from the same river have a survival rate of 3.6 percent. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has set a survival goal of 2 percent to 6 percent for anadromous fish runs from the Snake and Columbia rivers. At 2 percent, the runs replace themselves. At an average of 4 percent, they grow.

But the smolt-to-adult return rate for wild Snake River steelhead is 1.4 percent, below replacement level, and for wild spring and summer chinook, it is just 0.7 percent.

The difference, they say, is caused by the number of dams and reservoirs each run encounters during juvenile outmigration. For the fish from the John Day River, it’s three dams. Snake River fish must pass eight dams. At each one, they face hardships, including delays caused by slowed water velocity, predation, injury and stress. The scientists point to research that indicates many of the young fish that make it past each of the eight dams succumb from delayed mortality, the result of accumulated stress and injuries incurred along the way.

“When all of the existing credible scientific evidence is taken into account, it is clear that removing the four lower Snake River dams, with adequate spill at the remaining lower Columbia River dams, is necessary to restore Snake River salmon populations,” they write.

4 A. "Lower Four Snake River Dams" - SaveOurDams

The work they cite was looked at during last year’s Columbia River Systems Operation Environmental Impact Statement, authored by the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration. The federal agencies concluded removing the four lower Snake River dams would produce the highest likelihood of saving the fish. But the agencies instead chose a plan that calls for water to be spilled at each of the dams during the juvenile outmigration period.

4 A. "Lower Four Snake River Dams" - SaveOurDams

Lower Four Snake River Dams

“They basically came to the conclusion themselves that breaching was the action that had the highest benefit,” Schaller said.

Terry Holubutz, a retired fisheries researcher and manager who spent most of his career with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said dam breaching would allow more wild salmon and steelhead to survive and return to Idaho’s mostly pristine spawning habitat. That is critical, he said, now that ocean conditions are poor and expected to be influenced by climate change.

“I think anyone that goes through the data that has been developed over the years would say that survival of downstream migrants is the key factor for the Snake River stocks, and if we (breach the dams) that our fish would be in a better position to handle the ocean conditions right now. So our group feels strongly this is something we have to do.”

Last week, a study by federal fisheries scientists said Snake River chinook face grim odds which will grow substantially worse with climate change. Some of those who worked on the study said dam breaching should be considered while others said measures to improve conditions in the ocean are more important.

Earlier this month, Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson released a $33 billion concept that calls for breaching the four lower Snake River dams and mitigating affected communities and industries. The plan has been endorsed by many conservation organizations but criticized by some local government officials, farmers and shippers.

Holubutz said Simpson’s blueprint is a promising development that the region should look at and help shape so that it accomplishes its goal of saving the fish and offsetting the negative impacts of breaching.

“It’s a start, and that is what we need — a start.”

File:Columbia dams map.png - Wikimedia Commons

Wisconsin Wolf Hunt Ends Early as Hunters Exceed Quota

EcoWatch – Wolves

Wisconsin Wolf Hunt Ends Early as Hunters Exceed Quota

Olivia Rosane                      February 24, 2021

 

Wisconsin Wolf Hunt Ends Early as Hunters Exceed Quota
A gray wolf is seen howling outside in winter. Wolfgang Kaehler / Contributor / Getty Images

 

Wisconsin will end its controversial wolf hunt early after hunters and trappers killed almost 70 percent of the state’s quota in the hunt’s first 48 hours.

By the end of Tuesday, the second day of the hunt, 82 wolves had been killed, The Associated Press reported. As of Wednesday morning, 135 had been killed, exceeding the quota, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

“Wisconsin’s actions offer a tragic glimpse of a future without federal wolf protections,” the Wolf Conservation Center tweeted in response.

President Donald Trump’s delisting of gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act triggered the hunt. The DNR originally set a quota of 200 wolves to be killed between Feb. 22 and Feb. 28. Of the 200, 81 were allocated to the Ojibwe Tribes in accordance with treaty rights, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. Hunters killed about half of the remaining 119 by Tuesday morning and 69 percent by Tuesday afternoon, The Associated Press reported. By Wednesday morning, hunters exceeded the quota by 16 wolves.

Hunters also exceeded the quota set for three of the state’s hunting zones, according to DNR. They killed 33 of an 18-wolf quota in zone 2, located in the northeast; 24 of a 20-wolf quota in zone 3 located in the center; and 30 of a 17-wolf quota in southern zone 6. The hunt ended Wednesday at 10 a.m. CT in the most depleted zones and will end at 3 p.m. CT for the remaining half.

The hunt is the state’s first since 2014, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. After wolves were returned to state management under Trump in January 2021, Wisconsin intended to plan a hunt for November 2021, arguing that it needed the time to study the population and consult with Native American tribes and the general public. However, pro-hunting group Hunter Nation sued the state to start the hunt earlier in the year, with a judge ruling in their favor. This past Friday, an appeals court dismissed the Wisconsin DNR’s appeal, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

“The reckless slaughter of 135 wolves in just three days is appalling,” said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Sound science was ignored here in favor of catering to trophy hunters who were all too eager to kill wolves even at the height of breeding season. It will take years for Wisconsin’s wolf population to recover from the damage done this week. And without federal protections, this bloody spectacle could easily play out in other states.”

The hunt killed about 12 percent of Wisconsin’s wolves, which last numbered between 1,034 and 1,057 according to 2020 DNR data.

Other conservation groups also raised concerns about the rushed hunt. At the same time, Indigenous communities criticized the lack of consultation. The state is required by law to consult with tribes on resources management.

“This hunt is not well-thought-out, well-planned, totally inadequate consultation with the tribes,” Peter David, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission wildlife biologist, told Wisconsin Public Radio. “And maybe the biggest concern of all is that this season is not so much a hunting season as it is a killing season. No justification, really, was given for what was the legitimate purpose other than killing wolves.”

COVID-19 is circulating in some animals. What does that mean for us?

COVID-19 is circulating in some animals. What does that mean for us?

Dr. Jonathan Chan                     February 21, 2021

 

Last month, the nation watched as Winston the gorilla came down with COVID-19 and then recovered. So far, the virus has been detected in zoo animals like Winston, domestic animals like cats and dogs, and most worryingly, in farmed and wild animals like mink and ferrets.

Now, animal experts are warning that if the virus is circulating freely in wild animals, it might develop mutations and evolve into a new version – one that is capable of jumping back into humans.

January has been the deadliest month in the United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, as efforts to distribute and administer the new vaccines continue.

And just as the United States is ramping up its efforts to find new COVID variants among people, many scientists are speaking out that we should be doing the same for animals.

“In the current pandemic, we know that the virus originated in wildlife, most likely bats, then jumped to people,” said Dr. Jonathan Epstein, an epidemiologist and vice president for science and outreach at EcoHealth Alliance. “And we know that there are a lot of other animals that are susceptible to this virus.”

MORE: US life expectancy drops 1 year in first half of 2020 amid coronavirus pandemic, CDC says

Epstein explained that the COVID virus is so widespread and so many people are infected that there is a significant possibility that wildlife could be exposed through the environment, contaminated waste water or direct contact with humans.

PHOTO: A dog is tested for COVID-19 in South Korea on Feb. 10, 2021. (Seoul Metropolitan Government)
PHOTO: A dog is tested for COVID-19 in South Korea on Feb. 10, 2021. (Seoul Metropolitan Government)

 

Minks are small, carnivorous mammals that are raised mostly for their furs. So far, six countries, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy and the United States, have reported COVID virus infections in their mink farms to the World Health Organization.

While there is no evidence yet that the virus found in the farmed mink population is more dangerous than what has already been detected in humans, the virus does spread easily among minks that are housed closely together.

But infections in farmed and captive animals can be managed. Some farmed mink populations in Europe, for example, have been culled. Meanwhile, zoo animals like Winston are isolated and treated for their infections to limit the spread of disease.

But it’s a different story once the virus jumps into wildlife.

As scientists were investigating the outbreak of COVID among farmed minks, they discovered that the virus had already spread to wild minks as well.

“What we are seeing right now is known as a spill back infection,” said Dr. Christine Kreuder Johnson, a professor of veterinary medicine and ecosystem health at the University of California—Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The virus, which likely originated from bats, spilled over to the human population and has now “spilled back” to infect other animal species.

According to Johnson, the threat of spill back includes both wildlife populations and zoo animals. Felines, including both tigers and domestic cats, are suspected to have been infected from their human owners or caretakers.

“Widespread transmission in any animal species could be a source of virus mutation,” she said.

While there is limited evidence that the virus can significantly spread to humans from animals, scientists are concerned that the virus could change while infecting other animal species. If it spills back, or returns, to infect humans again, it could come back as a new variant.

But more testing and research still needs to be done to better understand the extent the virus can spread in animals.

“We may never have the answer to the question about how COVID spreads in wild animals,” said Dr. Tracey McNamara, a professor of pathology at the Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine.

“Testing in animals was discouraged from the very beginning, largely because they were concerned that there were not enough supplies,” she said. “Testing in humans and wild animals use the same types of swabs.”

In a statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not currently recommend routine, widespread testing among animals, and animal testing is available if “public health and animal health officials agree the animal’s case merits testing.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that we won’t be able to learn more about the spread of COVID in different species, through a process known as retrospective serologic surveys. As McNamara explained, every time a staff member interacts with or handles an animal at a zoo, they obtain a blood sample and store that in a blood bank.

PHOTO: A guard stands at the entrance to the Bronx Zoo on April 06, 2020, in New York City. A four-year-old tiger named Nadia at the zoo tested positive for COVID-19, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement on April 5. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

 

Those samples are saved, and with enough funding and support, scientists could look back at those samples and potentially learn more about when COVID may have first appeared in different wild and domestic animal species.

“So much funding was poured into the development of the COVID vaccine,” said McNamara. “Creating a vaccine is very expensive, but there may be less expensive modes to decrease spreading between animal species.”

That includes treatment and prevention efforts specifically designed for captive and farmed animals. And for wild animals, it means more robust monitoring and testing — and reducing direct contact with wildlife when possible.

Ultimately, the threat of “spill back” is a reminder that almost all virus outbreaks are zoonotic, meaning they originate in animals and wildlife.

“These pandemics don’t happen by accident,” Epstein said. “They happen because of human activity that changes the environment around us and brings us into closer contact with wildlife.”

Jonathan Chan, M.D., is an emergency medicine resident at St. John’s Riverside Hospital and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.

North-central Minnesota lakes are getting murkier faster

Star Tribune

North-central Minnesota lakes are getting murkier faster

Jennifer Bjorhus, Star Tribune                        February 20, 2021

 

Leif Olmanson has spent most of his career tracking Minnesota’s lakes from space, poring over decades of satellite images and crunching data on water clarity.

Now the University of Minnesota researcher is puzzling over a new question: What is driving the declining water clarity in Minnesota’s northern lakes, some of the jewels of the state?

“My big concern is that the areas that are more pristine are where things are changing quickly,” Olmanson said. “Why would these lakes be changing in northern Minnesota where there’s not a lot of land use changes going on?”

Olmanson quickly mapped the state’s late summer temperatures — the dog days when algae blooms — and saw they have risen fastest in Minnesota’s north-central regions where lakes have been warming the most. This is the home of deep, cold lakes. Bit by bit, the change in a few degrees could alter the state’s prized cabin country and angler havens.

“That’s some of the best walleye fishing in the country,” said retired DNR fisheries research biologist Peter Jacobson. “It’s a part of the state we’re very concerned about.”

Other scientists at the U, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are monitoring the trend, too.

Casey Schoenebeck, a research scientist who runs the DNR’s sentinel lakes program, said Olmanson’s heat map is supported by what his team has found in the water. Lake water temperatures are rising statewide, but particularly in the state’s transition zone from the plains to forest and in the northern forest area.

“It’s all changing,” Schoenebeck said, “but the changes are happening the fastest in those two central eco-regions.”

Warmer water encourages the algae growth, including the toxin-producing cyanobacteria commonly called blue-green algae. It can clog fish gills, and when it dies and sinks to the bottom of a lake it consumes oxygen, starving fish and other aquatic life.

The murkiness can actually amplify the warming temperatures, said Gretchen Hansen, another U scientist studying the decline in water clarity. Murky surfaces absorb more of the sun’s radiation, warming surface waters even faster.

The most ominous sign of the impact is the plunge in cisco populations across the Midwest as lakes warm. Also called tullibee, the small silvery fish are a main source of food for prized game fish such as walleye. They thrive in bands of deep cold water, and are highly sensitive to temperature changes. The DNR has been working to try find “refuge” lakes for them.

There are multiple factors that can make Minnesota lakes murkier, that Olmanson, Hansen and others are trying to untangle, such as changes in precipitation and, perhaps more important, in land use.

Minnesota is losing forests to farmland as row crops spread north, for example, as timber is harvested and as communities grow with new homes, businesses and roads. Then there are cabin owners tinkering with shorelines.

Plus, more intense rainstorms wash more nutrients, sediments and solids, such as leaves, into lakes with tannins that turn water brown.

As Peterson, the retired DNR biologist, sees it, the solution to protecting water quality in the state’s deep clear lakes is to protect the intact forests around them. If 75% of a lake’s watershed is forested, you can protect it, he said.

“It’s critical that it does not get converted to agriculture or homes, and shopping centers and roads,” Jacobson said.

That’s what the Northern Waters Land Trust has been working on. Based in Walker, Minn., the nonprofit conserves private land on strategic tullibee refuge lakes in Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard and Aitkin counties. It uses grants from the state’s sales-tax funded Outdoor Heritage Fund to arrange conservation easements for landowners and has protected nearly 2,500 acres that way since 2014. The trust also buys land outright.

Olmanson said the approach makes perfect sense: “It’s cheaper to protect the lake before it gets impacted than to try to restore it.”

To explore the effects of land-use changes on water clarity, Olmanson is analyzing new satellite-derived data that show changes in land cover. His goal is to build an automated data set to show which factors are most important in driving declining water clarity in different lakes.

“Different things are happening in different parts of the state,” he said. In the near term, he’s racing to finish a major update of the U’s interactive LakeBrowser tool in time for this year’s fishing opener May 15. It’s popular with anglers and real estate agents.

The tool, which Olmanson helped create, displays information about the clarity of all Minnesota lakes down to 10 acres in size. It shows a lake’s current and historic clarity measures and comparisons to other lakes in the watershed, for example, how much algae it has and the nature of the land around it, such as forest or fields. It complements the DNR’s LakeFinder tool.

The map Olmanson generated of late-summer temperature changes in Minnesota’s center north reflect a broader pattern, climatologists say.

Northern Minnesota is warming faster than southern Minnesota, with north-central and northeast Minnesota warming a little more than west-central Minnesota, said Kenneth Blumenfeld, senior climatologist in the state Climatology Office.

If you zoomed out from Olmanson’s map, Blumenfeld said, it would show that high readings in north-central Minnesota are part of a larger continuous belt extending north into Canada. In general, the farther north you go around the world, the faster warming is occurring. There are variations on our continent, he said, where the interior is warming faster than near the coasts.

“Northern Minnesota has some of the fastest warming rates in the contiguous U.S., including during the late summer,” he said. “The variations we see to the east and west are based on topography, elevation, land cover, proximity to water, and other factors climate scientists do not fully understand.”

Minneapolis gardener transformed gritty city lot into productive urban farm

Star Tribune

Minneapolis gardener transformed gritty city lot into productive urban farm

Kim Palmer, Star Tribune                   February 19, 2021

 

Andy Lapham has a knack for salvaging castoff things and transforming them into something useful.

“I do like junk,” said Lapham. It’s what he used to build his shed, his chicken coop and his one-of-a-kind trellis/gazebo, which is topped with a canopy of old bicycle wheels.

But Lapham’s biggest reclamation project is a formerly vacant, junk-strewn lot in Minneapolis’ urban core that he and others have nurtured into a lush, productive garden that grows apples, plums, berries of all kinds, sunflowers to nourish birds and bees and other pollinator plants.

Lapham doesn’t own the garden; its out-of-state owner has given him permission to grow there.

“They let me garden for free,” said Lapham, 35, whose laid-back demeanor belies his drive to produce. In return, he takes care of maintenance, snow shoveling and trimming branches that dangle into the street.

This compact oasis of urban agriculture at a busy corner in the Central neighborhood is Lapham’s passion. It’s a community garden and a demonstration site, where he leads tours and shares what he’s learned about permaculture — producing food sustainably within a system inspired by natural ecosystems.

Lapham and his gardens were one of six chosen in the Star Tribune’s annual Beautiful Gardens contest, selected by a panel of judges from more than 380 nominations from readers. In this year of pandemic and racial justice reckoning, the contest was changed a bit. Readers were invited to nominate gardens that are beautiful in spirit and contribute to the greater good.

Lapham’s passion for growing food has evolved, although the seed was planted in his bloodline. “All my grandparents were born on farms,” he noted. Growing up in Golden Valley, his family tended a vegetable plot. “We always had a garden, but it wasn’t really intense.”

His own interest intensified after a 2013 trip to Hawaii, where he visited an eco village in the jungle.

“It was so cool!” he enthused. “There was all this food growing, 30 to 40 people, a communal kitchen. I wished we had places like that.”

Back in Minneapolis, Lapham asked his landlord if he could install a garden at the home he was renting in Seward. The landlord balked. “He said, ‘If you move, the next tenant won’t want to take care of it, and it will turn into a weed patch.’ ” Lapham did it anyway. “I built a raised bed, got books and started learning different things.”

Later he took a class on permaculture, and learned more things, including water collection methods, sustainability techniques and low-tech building using recycled materials.

“Before that, it was just gardening,” said Lapham, who makes his living working on landscape jobs.

Finding the lot Lapham took over the vacant lot in 2015. At the time he was working for a food share program, Sisters Camelot, and helping tend its garden on a city-owned lot. When the program lost the use of the lot, Lapham called around and found the empty lot in Central. He tracked down its owner in Pennsylvania. “They loved the garden idea,” he said.

So Lapham cleaned up the junk and abandoned mattresses, and recruited friends and volunteers to help him clear buckthorn and brush.

“The soil was pretty poor,” he said, so he brought in better soil and compost and started brewing compost tea.

Then he began planting — apple, plum, apricot and pear trees, berries of all kinds, cherries, grapes and currants. Once the plants started producing, neighbors started to help themselves to the fruit. “People come and pick ’em, especially kids,” he said.

Tending the garden led Lapham to buy the house next door, a century-old fixer-upper. He was working in the garden with a friend when he noticed the tenants loading up a moving van.

Later the landlord stopped by. “He said, ‘I can’t believe what you guys have done [with] this lot. One of you should buy this [the house].’ ” Lapham told him he couldn’t afford a house. It sat vacant for two months.

By that time, Lapham’s lease was ending, and his roommates were moving so he asked the landlord if he could rent the house. After renting for two years, Lapham had saved up enough to buy the house on a contract for deed.

“Now I get to learn how to fix an old house, too,” he said. And owning the house next to his garden gave him more land for planting and for keeping chickens — four hens and a rooster.

Lapham also helps tend a third food-producing garden a block away. It’s owned by the Baha’i Center of Minneapolis, which asked Lapham to give its youth farm a permaculture makeover. He dug a swale [a trench for irrigation] and redesigned the garden, adding new crops.

“Neighbors come and pick them,” he said. “Corn disappears fast. We know it’s everybody’s favorite.” Pattypan squash and watermelon also have been popular. “But nobody touched the kale.”

Lapham’s latest hobby is plant propagation. “I’m learning how so I can give plants to neighbors, other community gardens and spread them around the neighborhood,” he said. Last March, he posted a plant giveaway on Facebook, and about 20 to 30 people showed up to get his plants.

Troubled timesAfter George Floyd was killed by police just two blocks from Lapham’s home, the neighborhood erupted in unrest and increased crime.

“It’s been real scary,” Lapham said last summer. “I woke up to gunshots.”

More recently, a neighbor was clubbed in the head with a gun and had his wallet stolen, and there’s been a spate of carjackings. “I’m lucky enough to own terrible cars nobody wants,” Lapham said, including two old Volkswagens and a work van.

He’s also had tools, equipment and plants stolen from the garden. He built a shed out of salvaged materials for storing his tools, but “I can’t put everything inside,” he said.

Sometimes the challenges of urban living make him dream of owning a small farm in the country. “I think about it a lot, with the crime in the neighborhood,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll turn around.”

But there are examples of caring and altruism in his neighborhood, too. The bench Lapham built at the corner bus stop on the edge of his garden has become a place where people drop off food for the taking to help neighbors in need. What doesn’t get taken by people, Lapham feeds to crows and other birds.

While most Minnesota gardeners take a break during the winter months, Lapham stays busy with garden-related chores.

“I’ve been trying to fix a lot of the tools,” he said earlier this month. “I took apart and rebuilt the tiller, the blower and the chain saw. I spend a lot less time out there in the winter but there are still things to do all the time.”

He’s been doing some pruning. “A lot of trees you can only prune in winter,” he said. “It’s safer for the plant, and helps it produce better. It wakes up in the spring and doesn’t even realize it is missing a limb.”

Soon he’ll start collecting cuttings to propagate. And he recently filled out an application to get seeds through the Horticulture Society’s Minnesota Green Program, with the aim of starting seeds in March and April.

“I’m excited to see what we’re going to do — more garden plans and more tours,” he said of the growing season ahead.

What motivates him to invest so much time and energy into urban farming?

Lapham paused to ponder that question. “I don’t watch TV, drink or go out or do anything,” he said with a smile. “I want to learn all these things and be an inspiration for others to try — build a better world instead of wasting time.”

Ted Cruz’s Tweet About California Energy Shortages Comes Back To Haunt Him

Ted Cruz’s Tweet About California Energy Shortages Comes Back To Haunt Him

Jeremy Blum, Reporter, HuffPost                     

An old tweet from GOP Sen. Ted Cruz criticizing California’s energy policies went viral on Monday as the senator’s own state, Texas, reeled from a massive snowstorm that knocked out power to more than 4 million homes and businesses.

Cruz’s August 2020 post had taken aim at a tweet from the Office of the Governor of California, which urged residents to conserve energy by turning off lights, limiting the usage of electrical appliances and adjusting thermostats.

At the time, California was gripped by a major heat wave and implementing its first rolling power blackouts since 2001.

“California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity,” Cruz wrote back then.

The senator also claimed that supporters of the Green New Deal ― like President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, then campaigning for the White House, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) ― wanted “to make CA’s failed energy policy the standard nationwide.”

As Monday’s extreme snow and freezing temperatures caused Texas to implement its own rolling blackouts, multiple commentators referenced Cruz’s old tweet, pointing out that the senator was perfectly happy to criticize California last August but noticeably quiet when it came to the emergency measures affecting his own state.

As of Tuesday, outages in Texas were expected to last the full day for most affected homes and businesses. A representative for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas told a local ABC station that only about 10-15% of those customers were expected to get power back by mid-afternoon.