#POLARVORTEX

Imminent sudden stratospheric warming to occur, bringing increased risk of snow over coming weeks

by University of Bristol

The stratospheric potential vorticity field on 10th February 2018. The Stratospheric Polar Vortex is about to split in two, and the weakening of the vortex was followed around two weeks later by a severe cold air outbreak over Europe known as the Beast from the East. Data from ERA-Interim reanalysis (Dee et al., 2011). Credit: University of Bristol

A new study led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Exeter, and Bath helps to shed light on the winter weather we may soon have in store following a dramatic meteorological event currently unfolding high above the North Pole.

Weather forecasting models are predicting with increasing confidence that a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event will take place today, 5 January 2021.

The stratosphere is the layer of the atmosphere from around 10-50km above the earth's surface. SSW events are some of the most extreme of atmospheric phenomena and can see polar stratospheric temperature increase by up to 50°C over the course of a few days. Such events can bring very cold weather, which often result in snowstorms.

The infamous 2018 'Beast from the East' is a stark reminder of what an SSW can bring. The disturbance in the stratosphere can be transmitted downward and if this continues to the Earth's surface, there can be a shift in the jet stream, leading to unusually cold weather across Europe and Northern Asia. It can take a number of weeks for the signal to reach the surface, or the process may only take a few days.

The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), involved the analysis of 40 observed SSW events which occurred over the last 60 years. Researchers developed a novel method for tracking the signal of an SSW downward from its onset in the stratosphere to the surface.

Findings in the paper, Tracking the stratosphere-to-surface impact of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings suggest split events tend to be associated with colder weather over north west Europe and Siberia.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Richard Hall, said there was an increased chance of extreme cold, and potentially snow, over the next week or two. "While an extreme cold weather event is not a certainty, around two thirds of SSWs have a significant impact on surface weather. What's more, today's SSW is potentially the most dangerous kind, where the polar vortex splits into two smaller 'child' vortices."

"The extreme cold weather that these polar vortex breakdowns bring is a stark reminder of how suddenly our weather can flip. Even with climate change warming our planet, these events will still occur, meaning we must be adaptable to an ever more extreme range of temperatures," said Dann Mitchell, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Bristol and co-author of the study.

"Our study quantifies for the first time the probabilities of when we might expect extreme surface weather following a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. These vary widely, but importantly the impacts appear faster and stronger following events in which the stratospheric polar vortex splits in two, as is predicted in the currently unfolding event. Despite this advance many questions remain as to the mechanisms causing these dramatic events, and how they can influence the surface, and so this is an exciting and important area for future research," said Dr. William Seviour, senior lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter, and co-author of the study.


Explore further

Scientists identify weather event behind extreme cold in Europe and Asia during February 2018
More information: Richard J. Hall et al, Tracking the stratosphere‐to‐surface impact of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (2020).

DOI: 10.1029/2020JD033881

Journal information: 

Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres , Journal of Geophysical Research


Provided by University of Bristol

Climate change caused mangrove collapse in Oman

by University of Bonn

JANUARY 5, 2021

6,000 years ago, mangroves were widespread in Oman. Today, only one particularly robust mangrove species remains there, and this is found in just a few locations. Credit: Valeska Decker/University of Bonn

Most of the mangrove forests on the coasts of Oman disappeared about 6,000 years ago. Until now, the reason for this was not entirely clear. A current study of the University of Bonn (Germany) now sheds light on this: It indicates that the collapse of coastal ecosystems was caused by climatic changes. In contrast, falling sea level or overuse by humans are not likely to be the reasons. The speed of the mangrove extinction was dramatic: Many of the stocks were irreversibly lost within a few decades. The results are published in the journal Quaternary Research.

Mangroves are trees that occupy a very special ecological niche: They grow in the so-called tidal range, meaning coastal areas that are under water at high tide and dry at low tide. Mangroves like a warm climate; most species do not tolerate sea surface temperatures below 24 °C (75°F). They are tolerant to salt, but only up to a tolerance limit that varies from species to species. "This is why we find them nowadays mostly in regions where enough rain falls to reduce salinization of the soil," explains Valeska Decker of the Institute for Geosciences at the University of Bonn, the lead author of the study.

Fossil finds prove that there used to be many mangrove lagoons on the coast of Oman. However, some 6,000 years ago these suddenly largely vanished—the reasons for this were previously disputed. Over the past few years, Decker traveled several times to the easternmost country of the Arabian Peninsula to pursue this question for her doctoral thesis. With the support of her doctoral supervisor Prof. Gösta Hoffmann, she compiled numerous geochemical, sedimentological and archaeological findings into an overall picture. "From our point of view, everything suggests that the collapse of these ecosystems has climatic reasons," she says.

Large parts of Oman are very dry today. The annual rainfall was probably much higher about 8,000 years ago. Credit: Valeska Decker/University of Bonn

Low pressure trough shifted to the south

Along the equator there is a low pressure trough, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which is situated a little further north or south depending on the season. The Indian summer monsoon, for example, is linked to this zone. It is believed that about 10,000 years ago this zone was much further north than today, which meant the monsoon affected large parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Just over 6,000 years ago this low-pressure trough then shifted to the south, but the reason for this and how fast is still not completely clear.

"That this was the case has been well documented for several years," explains Decker. "Our results now indicate that this climate change had two effects: On the one hand, it caused salinization of the soil, which put the mangroves under extreme stress. On the other hand, the vegetation cover in the affected areas decreased in general due to the greater drought." This increased erosion: The wind carried large amounts of the barren soil into the lagoons. These silted up and successively dried up. The whole thing happened surprisingly fast: "The ecosystems probably disappeared within a few decades," stresses Decker. According to previous studies, the environmental changes were gradual. The mangrove ecosystems struggled till a certain threshold was reached and then collapsed within decades. Nowadays, the only mangroves in Oman are those of a particularly robust species and are found only in a few places.

Valeska Decker and her colleagues investigated a number of sediment profiles for the study. These make it possible, for example, to draw conclusions about sea-level changes. Credit: Valeska Decker/University of Bonn

She was able to exclude other possible causes for the disappearance of the mangroves in her study. For example, the researchers found no evidence of a drop in sea level 6,000 years ago that could have triggered the mangrove extinction. "Archaeological findings also speak against a man-made ecological catastrophe," she says. "It is true that there were humans living in the coastal regions who used the mangroves as firewood. However, they were nomads who did not build permanent settlements. This meant that their need for wood was relatively low—low enough to rule out overuse as a cause."


Decker and her colleagues now want to further investigate how much the annual precipitation changed and what impact this had on the region. To this end, the researchers plan to study the pollen that has persisted in the lagoon sediment for thousands of years. They want to find out how the vegetation changed as a result of the drought. The results could also be relevant for us: In many regions of the world, the climate is changing at a dramatic pace. Germany has also suffered increasingly from long droughts in recent years. Foresters are therefore already planning to plant more drought-resistant species in this country; this is a consequence of climate change that may leave long-term marks in the history of vegetation.


Explore further New research identifies 'triple trouble' for mangrove coasts

More information: Valeska Decker et al, Collapse of Holocene mangrove ecosystems along the coastline of Oman, Quaternary Research (2020). DOI: 10.1017/qua.2020.96

Provided by University of Bonn

Identifying Canada's key conservation hot spots highlights problem

by McGill University

JANUARY 5, 2021

Bighorn Country, Alberta Eastern Slopes. Credit: Aerin Jacob

To stop biodiversity loss, Canada recently committed to protecting 30% of its land and sea by 2030. But making conservation decisions about where to locate new protected areas is complicated. It depends on data both about biodiversity and about a range of benefits (e.g. freshwater, climate regulation, recreation) that people get from nature. Surprisingly, despite the size of the country, new mapping suggests that less than 1% of Canada's land (0.6% of total area or approximately 56,000 km2) is a hot spot, providing all these benefits in one place. Moreover, the study published today in Environmental Research Letters suggests that some of the most critical areas where people receive these key benefits from nature do not occur within currently protected areas and may be threatened by current or future natural resource extraction.


"This research is especially timely as it should help all levels of government design conservation plans that ensure that both people and nature thrive," says Elena Bennett, from McGill University's Bieler School of the Environment and one of the authors in a multi-institutional team that included researchers from Universities of British Columbia, McGill and Carleton and from the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y).

Identifying key areas of Canada that provide ecosystem services

The paper highlights multiple places across Canada as important for one or more ecosystem services that include providing freshwater (such as for irrigation, drinking or hydroelectricity), climate regulation (as in the case of forests and wetlands that act as carbon sinks), or for nature-based human recreation. These include the forests of British Columbia and the Hudson Bay lowlands for above- and below-ground carbon; north-central Quebec, the eastern mountains of British Columbia, the eastern slopes of the Rockies in Alberta, and the north shore of Lake Superior for freshwater; and the Rocky Mountains, eastern Ontario, and southern Quebec for nature-based recreation.

"Canada is grappling with where and how to protect nature. Just one example of how this research could be used is in western Alberta. Our research shows that the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies is one of the most important places across the whole country for its combination of freshwater, carbon storage, and recreation—not to mention important wildlife habitat—and yet the same area is at risk from open-pit coal mining and other threats," says Dr. Aerin Jacob, co-author and conservation scientist, at the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.

Bighorn Country, Alberta Eastern Slopes. Credit:Aerin Jacob

A question of both supply and demand

Crucially and unusually, the mapping methods included both nature's capacity to supply these benefits as well as the human access and demand for them.

north shore of Lake Superior. Credit: Elizabeth Gow.

"Most research that studies the benefits people get from nature only evaluates where nature has the potential to supply these benefits. For example, where rain falls. Because our work also models and maps human access and demand, we could identify where people actually receive these benefits from nature. For example, the key locations producing water that people use for drinking, farming, or hydroelectricity," says Dr. Matthew Mitchell, lead author and Research Associate, Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability, University of British Columbia. "Governments need to know both of these things in order to take action that protects human well-being. Research like this can help society do that."


Explore further Better conservation planning can improve human life too

More information: Matthew G E Mitchell et al, Identifying key ecosystem service providing areas to inform national-scale conservation planning, Environmental Research Letters (2020). 

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abc121

Journal information: Environmental Research Letters


Provided by McGill University

Los Angeles County ambulance crews are told not to transport Covid-19 patients with little chance of survival

TRUMPVIRUS CREATES NEED FOR DEATH PANELS

Imagine having cardiac arrest and getting picked up by an ambulance that won't take you to a hospital.

© Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images After administering him with oxygen, County of Los Angeles paramedics load a potential Covid-19 patient in the ambulance before transporting him to a hospital in Hawthorne, California on December 29, 2020. - The new variant of coronavirus was detected for the first time today in the United States and Latin America as President-elect Joe Biden vowed to significantly ramp up the vaccination drive. The coronavirus has killed at least 1,775,272 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally on December 29 based on official sources. The United States is the worst-affected country with 334,967 deaths, followed by Brazil with 191,570. (Photo by Apu GOMES / AFP) (Photo by APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images)

Or having a medical emergency and languishing outside an emergency room for hours.

This is what Los Angeles County faces as the onslaught of Covid-19 devastates the community -- including those without coronavirus.

"Hospitals are declaring internal disasters and having to open church gyms to serve as hospital units," County Supervisor Hilda Solis said. "Our health care workers are physically and mentally exhausted and sick." Solis called the situation a "human disaster."

More than 7,600 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 in just Los Angeles County. And 21% of them are in intensive care units, officials said Monday.

And every 15 minutes, one person dies from Covid-19, Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said.

Now, ambulance crews in LA County have been told not to take patients with little chance of survival to hospitals.

"This order that was issued by the county emergency medical services really is very specific to patients who suffered from a cardiac arrest and are unable to be revived in the field," said Dr. Jeffrey Smith, chief operating officer of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

"Those patients have a very low rate of survival each if they are transported to the hospital. So at this time, it is deemed to likely be futile."

Who gets taken to a hospital, and who doesn't

The Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency issued a memo last week to ambulance workers.

"Effective immediately, due to the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on EMS and 9-1-1 Receiving Hospitals, adult patients (18 years of age or older) in blunt traumatic and nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) shall not be transported [if] return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is not achieved in the field," the agency said.

If the patient has no signs of breathing or a pulse, EMS will try to resuscitate the patient for at least 20 minutes, the memo said.

If the patient is stabilized during that time, they would then be taken to a hospital.

But if the patient is declared dead at the scene or no pulse can be restored, paramedics will not take the patient to the hospital.

Patients may or may not get oxygen help

Video: California doctor explains LA County ambulance guidance (CNN)

The Covid-19 surge has also led to a shortage of supplemental oxygen, meaning some patients treated by EMS will go without.

"Given the acute need to conserve oxygen, effective immediately, EMS should only administer supplemental oxygen to patients with oxygen saturation below 90%," Los Angeles County EMS said in its memo.

EMS said an oxygen saturation of at least 90% is sufficient to maintain normal circulation of blood to organs and tissues.

The oxygen shortage in the county and San Joaquin Valley prompted the formation of a "task force on oxygen" last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

The task force has been working with local and state partners to try to refill oxygen tanks and get them to the hospitals and facilities most in need.


Holiday gatherings and essential work fuel spread

As the nation's most populous state and home to about 1 in 9 Americans, it would make sense that California would have the most Covid-19 cases.

But it's the magnitude of hospitalized patients and the staggering rate of increase that are causing major problems.

As of Tuesday, more than 22,000 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized statewide, according to the California Department of Public Health. More than 27,000 people have died from Covid-19, including 368 new deaths reported just Tuesday.

"The increases in cases are likely to continue for weeks to come as a result of holiday and New Year's Eve parties and returning travelers," Ferrer said.

"We're likely to experience the worst conditions in January that we've faced the entire pandemic. And that's hard to imagine."

Experts say other reasons also contribute -- including pandemic fatigue, resistance to stay-at-home regulations, the huge number of essential workers and socioeconomic factors affecting poorer and minority households.


Ambulances wait for hours outside hospitals

Even when patients are lucky enough to get to a hospital, they might languish outside for hours if there's no more room.

"The Emergency Medical Services are working very hard to divert ambulances or send them to hospitals that do have potential capacity to receive those patients," said Smith, COO of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

"There are situations where patients are made to wait in ambulances under the care of the paramedics. We want to make sure that time is as short as possible so they can receive the necessary care."

For EMT Jimmy Webb, the wait can last several hours.

"We are waiting two to four hours minimum to a hospital, and now we are having to drive even further ... then wait another three hours," Webb told CNN affiliate KCAL.

Local officials have urged the public not to call 911 unless "they really need to," Dr. Marc Eckstein, head of the Los Angeles Fire Department EMS bureau, told CNN affiliate KABC.

"One of our biggest challenges right now is getting our ambulances out of the emergency department," he said.

"When our paramedics and EMTs transport a patient to an emergency department, there's a transfer of care that has to take place. Patients who are unstable or unable to be safely transferred to the waiting room or to a chair need a bed in the emergency department to be transferred to. And those beds are lacking right now."

And more ambulances waiting at hospitals means there are fewer ambulances to respond to other 911 calls -- leading to even more delays.

The situation may get worse, Eckstein said.

"I think this next four- to six-week period is going to be critical with our system being taxed," he said.

CANADA 

‘Stupidity’: Experts slam politicians’ travel amid coronavirus pandemic

© Provided by Global News A traveler approaches the AirTrain to JKF International Airport Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, in New York. Rising U.S. coronavirus cases, a new round of state lockdowns and public health guidance discouraging trips are dampening…


The decision made by several federal and provincial politicians to leave the country despite guidance from officials to avoid all non-essential travel amid the novel coronavirus pandemic is selfish and hypocritical, health experts say.

Play Video Federal politicians face fallout for pandemic trips




The move is "tone-deaf politically," Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, said.

"I mean, to not be able to read the country, to not be able to read the mood and think somehow this was OK," he said. "The stupidity is surprising."

Dr. Gerald Evans, chair of infectious diseases division at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., told Global News that this is "absolutely the wrong messaging" coming from these public figures.

"What it does is it makes people not want to listen to politicians," he said. "Why would you listen to somebody who's a hypocrite?"

Evans said this raises the question of fairness.

"And that's not the message we want," he said. "I go back to the spring, (when) it was all about, 'We're all in this together,' and it just doesn't look like we're all in this together when politicians travel."

Read more: The Canadian politicians who travelled over the holidays during a coronavirus pandemic

Their remarks come after more than 20 politicians, including (now former) Ontario finance minister Rod Phillips, MP Kamal Khera, and Sen. Don Plett, disclosed they had travelled outside of the country in the last several weeks.

But their decision to ignore the regulations is just a "microcosm of what's going on" in Canada more broadly, Furness said.

"The airplanes that are going back and forth carrying COVID around are not just full of politicians, they are full of lots of people who think it's really important to take a vacation," he said. "And I think there's a bigger social trend. They really are revealing that."

'Outrage'

Furness said this behaviour has provoked "outrage" from those who are heeding the advice of health experts and are respecting the measures in place to stem the spread of the virus.

Play "The challenges Jason Kenney faces after MLAs travelled over the holidays"

This backlash, he said, is "actually very useful."

"Now we actually really have public sentiment that says this is lousy behaviour... This is truly selfish, lousy behaviour," he said.

But Furness said we need to shame the actions, "not the individual," adding that it is important to establish what is good and bad behaviour.

"I want it to look like it's so socially unacceptable that you won't do it," he said. "That kind of attitude is actually starting to form because of these politicians' gaffes, so that's the upside."

Closing down travel

Late last month, the federal government announced new rules for air travellers, saying anyone travelling to Canada will need to obtain a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before their flight.

The new measures are scheduled to come into effect on Jan. 7.

Under existing rules, anyone entering the country must quarantine for 14 days.

Read more: Canada’s ‘slow’ rollout of coronavirus vaccine ’embarrassing,’ experts say

However, Furness said it's not enough to simply ask Canadians to only travel when it is essential.

"If we want people not to travel, we need to close travel down," he said.

Furness pointed to the new COVID-19 variants identified initially in the United Kingdom and South Africa, which are spreading rapidly.

Early data suggests the U.K. variant is more transmissible than the original variant of COVID-19, while the South Africa variant has raised concerns that mutations could affect vaccine efficacy.

"The U.K. one is definitely in the country, and it's showing up again and again, and it's going to spread and it's going to close schools," Furness said. "That's what's going to happen. This isn't OK, this is not OK."

Growing list of politicians who ignored travel guidelines

The latest figures released last week by the Canadian Border Services Agency said between Dec. 21 and 27, 2020, a total of 132,094 people crossed the country's land border, while 65,318 people arrived by air.

Of those travelling by air, 18,981 arrived on flights from the U.S., while 46,337 came from "other international flights."

By the numbers

To date, Canada has seen a total of 614,072 novel coronavirus infections.

Since the pandemic began, 16,125 people have died in the country after testing positive for COVID-19.

Read more: Over 600K Canadians have now been infected with COVID-19

Globally, more than 85.8 million cases of the virus have been reported, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

By 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the virus had claimed 1.8 million lives around the world.

— With files from Global News' Rachael D'Amore and The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the rules will be changed to forbid people who have to self-isolate after returning from trips abroad from seeking a federal benefit meant for people who need to quarantine after possible COVID-19 exposures. And he says he's disappointed in politicians who travelled over the December holidays...

.More from The Gazette

More federal MPs in Ottawa have come under the spotlight, after they were revealed to have travelled outside Canada against public health advice during the pandemic. David Akin breaks down how the public scrutiny is affecting the parties, and how they are taking further action

Federal politicians face fallout for pandemic trips (msn.com)

Allard resigns as Alberta municipal affairs minister, Kenney's chief of staff steps down amid controversy over international travel

Ashley Joannou 

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Tracy Allard attends the All Candidates Forum at Grande Prairie Regional College on Tuesday, April 9, 2019. Allard resigned from cabinet Monday after travelling to Hawaii over the Christmas holidays, ignoring provincial and federal advisories against non-essential international travel.


Video player from: YouTube (Privacy Policy, Terms)

Tracy Allard has resigned as Alberta’s municipal affairs minister after travelling to Hawaii over Christmas despite advisories to avoid all non-essential international travel during the pandemic.

In a statement posted on Facebook Monday, Premier Jason Kenney announced Allard had stepped down and said he had also accepted the resignations of MLA Jeremy Nixon as parliamentary secretary for civil society and MLA Jason Stephan from treasury board. They, as well as MLAs Tanya Fir, Pat Rehn, and Tany Yao, have lost their legislature committee responsibilities.

All six of them, including Allard, remain in the UCP caucus.

The MLAs have been caught up in scandal over the last few days after travelling to various international locations over the holidays despite the government asking Albertans to stay home.

Kenney’s chief of staff, Jamie Huckabay, also travelled to the United Kingdom and returned to Canada via the United States. Kenney said Huckabay has stepped down after the premier asked him to.

At a press conference on New Year’s Day, Kenney said he would not be punishing those who chose to travel, claiming he had not been clear enough with them about the rules.

At the time he was argued that travel, which is not legally forbidden, was important to protect the travel industry, including Calgary-based Westjet.

In his statement Monday, he said Albertans wanted more to be done.

“Albertans have every right to expect that people in positions of public trust be held to a higher standard of conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic, ” he said.

“Millions of Albertans have made real sacrifices over the past 10 months to help keep each other safe. They are right to be angry about people in positions of leadership vacationing outside of the country.”

Transportation Minister Ric McIver will serve as interim municipal affairs minister, and principal secretary Larry Kaumeyer will serve as interim chief of staff, Kenney said.

Allard apologized for her behavior at a press conference on New Year’s Day.

Stephan, the MLA for Red Deer-South, defended taking a trip to Arizona last Thursday. He posted on Facebook Saturday that he was coming home at Kenney’s request but claimed “international travel, in and of itself, does not negatively impact Alberta’s COVID curve if it is done responsibly.”

Nixon, MLA for Calgary-Klein, also travelled to Hawaii in December while Fir, a former cabinet minister, went to Las Vegas. Fir “sincerely” and “wholeheartedly” apologized in a post to Facebook.

Both Rehn and Yao travelled to Mexico. Rehn has apologized for what he called a previously-planned family trip. As of Sunday, government officials confirmed Yao was in Mexico and said they were trying to contact him to tell him to come home.

The NDP Opposition called for Allard to resign when her travel was uncovered last Thursday. In a statement Monday, deputy leader Sarah Hoffman said the government needs to provide a complete accounting of all UCP ministers and MLAs who vacationed outside of Canada over the holidays.

“Premier Jason Kenney’s ministers, MLAs, and senior staff betrayed every single Albertan by thumbing their noses to the rules, by hitting the beach and jetting off to warm destinations while families made deep sacrifices and struggled with loneliness and grief in isolation. It’s sickening,” she said.

Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University, said Kenney’s decision to act now instead of on Friday, when he originally said he wasn’t going to punish travelling MLAs, made the situation worse.

“Basically, had he taken the action that he did today on Friday in that press conference, I don’t think we would have seen the anger build up,” he said.

“It would have been anger from the usual suspects, but it wouldn’t have been the anger from … his own base, and that is what that is what led to the shift.”

Meanwhile, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson expressed concern that the decision by some politicians to travel will lead others to flout the rules.

In a statement Monday, Iveson said he, like most Edmontonians, stayed home over the holidays.

“Many Edmontonians are justifiably angered about reports that some politicians and public officials, engaged in non essential travel during the serious phase of the pandemic,” Iveson wrote on Twitter.

“As mayor of the hardest hit city in our province. I’m concerned that some will take these developments as an excuse to flaunt the public health rules, even just out of frustration.”

Iveson also issued a statement on the appointment of McIver to lead municipal affairs, noting the relationship between the province and municipalities has never been more important than during the pandemic.

“I want to assure Edmontonians that a change in minister does not mean we will slow down our efforts to ensure our city has the tools it needs to weather this pandemic and recover from it successfully,” he said Monday afternoon.

— With files from Lisa Johnson

Edmonton mayor urges residents to follow COVID-19 rules despite vacation outrage

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson is urging residents to keep following COVID-19 rules, despite growing outrage over some provincial politicians and staff ignoring advice not to travel.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Several Alberta legislature members, including Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard, have admitted they travelled out of the country over the holidays. Allard resigned Monday and others have been stripped of responsibilities.

Iveson said Monday that many Edmontonians are justifiably angry about the non-essential travel.

But he said it's not an excuse to flout the public-health rules — even out of frustration.

Iveson noted that Edmonton is the hardest hit city in the province and COVID-19 is still a "clear and present danger," lives are at risk and the health-care system is under enormous pressure.

He urged all Edmontonians to continue taking the pandemic seriously to limit the spread of COVID-19.

"I, like most of you, stayed home this holiday season," he wrote in a Twitter post. "I did not gather with family and friends and followed … public health directives.

"I commend Edmontonians who did the same — your sacrifices and diligence have made a difference to case counts. Thank you for your leadership and civic-mindedness."

The latest case data released by the province Monday shows Edmonton has had 45,312 COVID-19 cases. Of those, 5,983 infections were active and 488 people were in hospital. A total of 607 people in the Edmonton region have died due to COVID-19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2021.

The Canadian Press

UCP KILLS HEALTHCARE WORKER 
Alberta has lost its first health-care worker to COVID-19, and recorded 96 fatalities over the past five days

.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced the death in an email statement Monday afternoon, saying he was deeply saddened to learn of it.

“Health-care workers are doing all they can to protect the people they care for, their co-workers, and themselves,” said Shandro. “The dedication and remarkable commitment I’ve witnessed from health-care workers throughout the pandemic has never wavered — you have stepped up for this province in a time of need.”

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees identified the worker as 61-year-old Joe Marie (Jing) Corral. Corral was a health care aide at the Bethany Riverview continuing care facility in Calgary.

“It’s always hard to lose a loved one, but it seems even harder over the holidays when we are so focused on family and friends. AUPE is a community of colleagues and we all send our condolences to the family, said AUPE vice-president Bobby-Joe Borodey.

Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Associations of Alberta, said news of Corral’s death was a blow to his membership.

“Our folks are heading into work every single day and this heartbreaking news that’s coming out now, at a time when we don’t have the vaccines being rolled out when our members are not getting the protections that they need from from the rollout of the vaccines, it is really, really tough to hear,” said Parker.

Alberta Health Services spokesman Kerry Williamson said the worker was not an AHS employee but their hearts go out to their loved ones and colleagues.

“Losing a fellow health-care worker impacts us all — this person is a colleague, and we think of them as part of our healthcare family,” said Williamson in an email. “Health-care workers across the province have been working tirelessly to take care of Albertans, and we are so grateful for their commitment and their dedication.”

Data provided online by the government shows 6,426 cases of COVID-19 in health-care workers have been reported since the pandemic began.

Following Shandro’s statement, Alberta Health spokesman Tom McMillan announced 96 people have died with COVID-19 over the past five days, including 54 in the Edmonton Zone. The latest online update is the first since Dec. 30.

A total of 1,142 Albertans have died from COVID-19 since March.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal

On Dec. 30, 1,226 new cases were identified across Alberta while 1,361, 933, 459 and 1,128 cases were recorded on Dec. 31, Jan. 1, Jan. 2 and Jan. 3, respectively. Fewer tests were completed on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 than on the other three days.

Returning from the new year break, active cases and hospitalizations have dropped since the end of December but so did the number of completed tests. There are currently 13,839 active infections in Alberta, down from 14,555 on Dec. 29.

The number of Albertans getting treatment in hospital has also dropped as there are 905 COVID-19 patients across the province, including 136 in intensive care. On Dec. 29 there were 921 people in hospital, including 152 in intensive care.

Data shows the provincial R value, or the rate at which the virus is spreading, was 0.99 between Dec. 28 and Jan. 3. The Edmonton Zone’s R value was 0.93 during that time frame.

An R value of one typically means that an infected individual will infect one other person. Premier Jason Kenney has previously stated he wants to see the provincial value drop below one, ideally to 0.8.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal

A unidentified flying object recently spotted soaring over Hawaii prompted calls to local police and the Federal Aviation Administration.

© Provided by People abc7

Multiple eyewitnesses called 911 after seeing a bright blue object above Oahu on Tuesday around 8:30 p.m., Hawaii News Now reported.

The mysterious object appeared to be a glowing‚ oblong mass in multiple videos captured by onlookers, according to the local news outlet.

A witness only identified as Moriah said she spotted the mysterious object hovering over the Princess Kahanu Estates in the Nanakuli neighborhood.

"I look up and then I was like, 'Oh s—!' " she told the station. "I started calling my husband and them because they were all in the garage. I was like, 'Hey, come look up there. See if you see what I see.' They all said, 'Yeah!' "

She told the outlet that she and her husband then jumped into the car and followed the object for three miles. She said they last spotted the object, which was described as being larger than a telephone pole, around Farrington Highway when it appeared to fall into the ocean without a sound.

© abc7 The mysterious object appeared to be a glowing‚ oblong mass in multiple videos captured by onlookers

Moriah said she called the police and when police arrived, they saw similar object omitting white light from the sky.

"The white one was smaller. Was coming in the same direction as the blue one," she said.



Another eyewitness, Misitina Sape, told Hawaii News Now that she captured footage of the blue mass near Haleakala Avenue in the Nanakuli neighborhood.

While Moriah said she is unsure what the object could be, UFO enthusiasts online believe the glowing mass bears resemblance to an LED kite.

The FAA did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment, though Ian Gregor, a spokesperson for the agency, told Hawaii News Now that there are "no reports of overdue or missing aircraft" in the area.

A Mysterious Blue UFO Was Spotted Over Hawaii — and the Whole Thing Was Caught on Camera

Stefanie Waldek 

Remember how we had “alien invasion” on our 2020 bingo card? Well, we might just be able to check off that box. On Dec. 29, at roughly 8:30 p.m. local time, eyewitnesses on the Hawaiian island of Oahu spotted an unidentified flying object in the night sky, prompting several 911 calls. As reported by Hawaii News Now, the UFO, which was caught on video, had a glowing blue oblong form, described by one onlooker as “larger than a telephone pole.” It sailed across the sky for several miles before crashing silently into the sea. 

One witness, identified by Hawaii News Now as a woman named Moriah, saw a second UFO — this one with a whitish hue. “The white one was smaller. Was coming in the same direction as the blue one,” Moriah told Hawaii News Now. It disappeared from her sight as it flew over a neighboring town.

Local police reported the UFO sightings to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in the event there was a downed aircraft, but the FAA said that no planes had disappeared from radar in the area, nor were any deemed overdue or missing.

But don’t go putting on your tinfoil hat just yet. These sightings are not likely extraterrestrial in nature, as is the case with most UFOs. In fact, some internet sleuths have already proffered a plausible explanation: The floating blue object bears resemblance to an LED kite, as demonstrated in this video by fact-checking Twitter account UFO of Interest. 

So, as it turns out, 2020 just wasn’t the year for aliens, but who knows what 2021 will bring.

Neanderthal burials: Child's skeleton buried 41,000 years ago may solve mystery

Is burying the dead a practice unique to Homo sapiens? Or did other early humans such as Neanderthals lay their loved ones to rest under the earth?

© Emmanuel Roudier This artist's reconstruction shows a child's burial by Neanderthals at La Ferrassie in southwestern France. © Emmanuel Roudier

By Katie Hunt, CNN 

It's a topic of long-standing debate among archaeologists. Now, evidence of funerary behavior could shed light on the cognitive abilities and social customs of Neanderthals and whether, like modern humans, they were capable of symbolic thought.

Dozens of buried Neanderthal skeletons have been discovered in Europe and parts of Asia over the course of 150 years. The most well-preserved ones, however, were found at the beginning of the 20th century and weren't excavated using modern methods. This has led to skepticism about whether Neanderthal burial practice was deliberate.

© Antoine Balzeau/CNRS/MNHN A researcher from the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale in France examines material from excavations of the La Ferrassie Neanderthal site in southwestern France. Thousands of bone remains were sorted and 47 new fossil remains belonging to a Neandertal child were identified.

A new analysis of a 41,000 year-old skeleton of a Neanderthal child, found in a French cave in the 1970s, provides fresh evidence that the Stone Age hominins intentionally buried their dead.

French and Spanish researchers re-examined the remains using modern high-tech methods, re-excavated the original archaeological site where the bones were found in La Ferrassie, southwestern France, and reviewed the notebooks and field diaries from the original dig.

Their conclusion? The corpse of a 2-year-old Neanderthal was deliberately laid in a pit dug in the sediment.

The absence of marks from carnivores who may have tried to scavenge an uncovered body and the fact that the bones were relatively unscattered with little weathering suggested that the body was rapidly covered, the researchers said. The remains were also well preserved (better than the bones from animals found in the same layer of earth) despite belonging to a child. Children's skeletons typically have more delicate bones.

The position of the skeleton also suggested the child had been placed there intentionally. The head, which pointed to the east, was raised higher than the rest of the body even though the land inclined to the west.

"The origin of funerary practices has important implications for the emergence of so-called modern cognitive capacities and behaviour," the study said. "These new results provide important insights for the discussion about the chronology of the disappearance of the Neanderthals, and the behavioral capacity, including cultural and symbolic expression, of these humans."

The researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris and the University of the Basque Country in Spain identified 47 bones belonging to the child's skeleton that hadn't been previously identified.

One piece of bone was carbon dated and found to be 41,000 years old. Researchers confirmed the bone belonged to a Neanderthal by analyzing the fragment's mitochondrial DNA.

The child was one of eight sets of skeletal remains found at the site.

Death rites

Potential evidence of burial has also been found in one of the most famous Neanderthal sites, the Shanidar cave in Kurdistan, located in northern Iraq. This site was home to the remains of 10 Neanderthal men, women and children. They were found with ancient pollen clumps, suggesting that Neanderthals may have included flowers as part of their funeral rites.

More recent excavations of the Shanidar cave have turned up more Neanderthal remains, which early research has suggested were deliberately buried.

Other research has suggested that there was considerable diversity in how European Neanderthals treated their dead kin in the period immediately preceding their disappearance roughly 40,000 years ago -- including cannibalism.

The team of researchers said today's analytical standards should be applied to the other skeletal remains at the La Ferrassie site to assess whether they too were buried.

The research was published in the journal Scientific Reports in December.

Caledonia land dispute: Crown withdraws charges against Indigenous jounalist Karl Dockstader

Karl Dockstader has made it as far as his driveway.

But despite having the charges against him dropped, he has not yet returned to Caledonia to continue the reporting on the McKenzie Meadows occupation that got him arrested in the first place.

“In the back of my head I’m like, ‘Is something going to happen this time where I’ll make a mistake and it’ll get on video, and this will be the time the cops will make charges stick?’” said Dockstader, an Indigenous journalist from Oneida on the Thames who hosts a Niagara radio show and podcast.

“Even though I’m not going out there to do anything other than reporting, it’s planted a seed of doubt that I can’t get rid of. I still have a lingering fear that I could be arrested at a moment’s notice.”

Over the summer, Dockstader spent a week embedded at the camp on McKenzie Road, which Six Nations land defenders claim as unceded Haudenosaunee territory. He was subsequently arrested on Sept. 2 for violating an injunction which orders anyone not authorized by Foxgate Developments to leave the disputed construction site.

On Dec. 15, the Crown withdrew all criminal charges, telling the judge there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

“I was relieved, but it didn’t last long,” Dockstader said.

“It struck me how many people were there who didn’t have their charges withdrawn. So I was happy, but I felt really bad for everyone else who still has charges to contend with.”

Dockstader called his arrest “a gross misuse of police power,” adding that he feels he was treated differently because he is Indigenous.

“I definitely think I was arrested for reporting while Indigenous,” he said. “There was nothing I was doing the week that I was there that was nefarious, that was harmful, that was actively assisting the movement.”

At the time of Dockstader’s arrest, OPP Const. Rod LeClair told The Spectator that while police are “committed to the freedom of the press,” a press pass does not grant journalists immunity.

“Engaging in activities outside of their reporting purpose could subject media personnel to charges in relation to violation of a court order and other applicable offences,” LeClair said.

Dockstader said he felt “vindicated” by the Crown’s decision, but said his arrest continues to have a chilling effect on his work.

He added that his ordeal changed how his family perceives the justice system, deepening the skepticism that his wife and children already felt about how the police and courts treat Indigenous people.

“That’s probably the worst part of all of this – that their faith in the system was destroyed the second the charges got laid,” he said.

“Withdrawing the charges, I think, did nothing to change where they stand. They just see it as a through-and-through miscarriage of justice from beginning to end.”

Dockstader’s lawyer, Emily Lam of Kastner Lam LLP, confirmed that he is “free and clear” to continue reporting at the disputed site, something Dockstader said he looks forward to doing, even with the threat of arrest still nagging at him.

“I’ll be back to report,” he said. “But I’ll have that fear in my back of my mind, always.”

J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator