Sunday, May 10, 2020

Killing of rare river dolphins sparks poaching fears in Bangladesh lockdown

The rare Ganges river dolphin is found in the river systems of Nepal, Bangladesh and India

The gutted carcass of a freshwater dolphin has been found in a river sanctuary in Bangladesh, officials said Sunday, sparking fears fishermen are taking advantage of the virus lockdown to poach the endangered creatures.

Locals in the southeastern town of Raojan found the remains of the 62-inch (157-centimetre) long Ganges river dolphin on the banks of the Halda River, fishery department official Abdullah al Mamun told AFP.

It had suffered a sharp and deep incision from its neck to tail and layers of its body fat—from which oil is extracted for use in traditional medicines—were missing, he said.

The dolphin is the second to be found dead in the same sanctuary since Bangladesh imposed its lockdown to tackle the coronavirus, said Manzoorul Kibria, coordinator of the Halda River Research Laboratory (HRRL).

Bangladesh prohibits the killing of Ganges dolphins, which are categorised as endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "Red List" of threatened species.

A local official, who asked to remain anonymous, said locals were starting to trawl the Halda river, as understaffed police who usually patrol the region were busy enforcing the lockdown in Raojan.

"They are trying to make a living by catching fish illegally," local forestry department head Yasin Nawaz said, adding that the same nets also often caught dolphins.

Once the creatures are trapped, they prove easy pickings for poachers who sell their fat and oil, Kibria said.

"Many local villagers believe dolphin fat can cure diseases. It fetches a good price."

Kibria added he feared the latest death could be the start of a "killing spree" of the rare creature.

The Ganges river dolphin is found in the river systems of Nepal, Bangladesh and India and has a population of between 1,200 to 1,800, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

They can weigh up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and grow to 2.6 meters (eight feet) long, are known for their long beaks which have 28 sharp teeth on both sides of their jaws.

The Halda river is home to around 170 dolphins, according to HRRL.Oil spill threatens rare Bangladesh dolphin breeding zone

Rise in German virus infections spurs concern

Coronavirus. Credit: European Centers for Disease Control

Germany's coronavirus spread appears to be picking up speed again, official data showed Sunday, just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country could gradually return to normal.

The Robert Koch Institute for public health said Germany's closely watched reproduction rate (R0) had climbed to 1.1, meaning 10 people with COVID-19 infect on average 11 others.

The RKI has warned that for the infection rate to be deemed under control and slowing down, R0 has to stay below one.

As recently as Wednesday, Germany's number stood at 0.65.

But since then the country has reported clusters of new cases at slaughterhouses and at care homes for the elderly.

The RKI cautioned that it was too soon to draw conclusions but said the number of new infections "would need to be watched very closely in the coming days".

The latest data raised alarm after Merkel only on Wednesday declared that Germany had left the "first phase" of the pandemic behind it and federal states announced relaxations of social restrictions.

Most shops and playgrounds have reopened, children are gradually returning to classrooms and states are to varying degrees reopening restaurants, gyms and places of worship.

German local authorities have however agreed to pull an "emergency brake" and reimpose social curbs if the infection rate rises above 50 cases per 100,000 residents over a week.

That has already happened in at least three districts in recent days, according to the RKI.

Football, slaughterhouses
In Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, there has been a spike in cases at a slaughterhouse in the district of Coesfeld, where around 200 of the 1,200 employees have tested positive for the virus.

Many of them are foreign workers from eastern Europe who lived in shared housing.

The regional government has ordered workers at all of the state's slaughterhouses to undergo testing. It has also delayed the loosening of some confinement measures in the district.

An outbreak of COVID-19 at a slaughterhouse in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein has likewise pushed the district of Steinburg over the infection threshold.

In the eastern state of Thuringia, Greiz district has reported a jump in infections among residents and employees of several care homes and a geriatrics hospital.

There were also fresh fears for the planned restart of the Bundesliga football season on May 16 after second-tier Dynamo Dresden were ordered to go into quarantine over two coronavirus cases.

Protests

Despite the rising concerns, some Germans believe the country is not moving fast enough in easing the confinement measures.

Thousand of people took to streets in cities nationwide at the weekend to protest against the remaining restrictions, such as wearing a mask on public transport and limiting social contacts.

Tensions rose at a rally in Berlin on Saturday, where hundreds of protesters chanted "Freedom, Freedom" and some threw bottles at police. Several dozen people were taken into custody.

In Munich, where some 3,000 protesters gathered on Saturday, police criticised participants for not sticking to social distancing rules.

The demos, which have grown larger in recent weeks, have mostly attracted a mix of far-right and far-left sympathisers.

But they are increasingly becoming more mainstream.

A well-known politician from the liberal Free Democrats party (FDP), Thomas Kemmerich, came under fire for joining a protest in Thuringia state that was also attended by members of the far-right AfD party.

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 357 to 169,575: RKI

FILE PHOTO: A member of medical personnel refills a disinfectant dispenser as employees of meat marketer "Westfleisch" wait in line to get tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a provisional testing center at the premises of a "Westfleisch" meat factory, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Hamm, Germany, May 10, 2020. REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler

BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 357 to 169,575, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.

The reported death toll rose by 22 to 7,417, the tally showed.

Reporting by Berlin Newsroom; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman

Women harder hit than men from coronavirus in Quebec

Women in the Canadian province of Quebec have been harder hit by the coronavirus than men, according to the province's health services.

Contrary to trends in other countries where men have been most affected, women account for 59.7 percent of the people infected by the virus in Quebec, and 54 percent of the deaths, the Quebec National Institute of Public Health reported over the weekend.

The institute said there were 36,986 confirmed coronavirus cases in the province and 2,786 deaths.

The institute offered no explanation for why women were more affected than men, but a large majority of nurses and caregivers of the elderly are women.

The age group most affected by the virus was 30- to 49-year-olds, who accounted for 28 percent of those infected.

People between the ages of 80 and 89 accounted for 40 percent of the deaths, followed by 33.4 percent among people 90 and older.

According to the institute, Quebec has a death rate of 326 per million inhabitants, placing it behind Spain (566), Italy (500) and Britain (465), but ahead of Canada as a whole (124).

Canada PM 'worried' about situation in Montreal

With fewer humans to fear, flamingos flock to Albania lagoon

by Hektor Pustina MAY 10, 2020

In this Saturday May 2, 2020 photo flamingos fly in Narta Lagoon, about 140 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the Albanian capital of Tirana. Home confinement rules have angered and anguished some people in Albania, but humans getting their wings clipped during the coronavirus pandemic is allowing flamingos and other birds to flourish in a coastal lagoon by the Adriatic Sea. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

Home confinement rules have upset some people in Albania, but humans getting their wings clipped during the coronavirus pandemic has allowed flamingos and other birds to flourish in a coastal lagoon by the Adriatic Sea.

Local officials and residents say the flamingo population is up to about 3,000 at Narta Lagoon, an important waterfowl habitat that greater flamingos returned to in recent years after a long absence. Bird watchers also have noticed more pelicans, herons and other species this spring at the 28-square-kilometer (10-square-mile) lagoon, which is 145 kilometers (90 miles) south of Tirana, the capital.

"Isn't that beautiful to see fearless flamingos all around?" Dhimiter Konomi, part of a local group that manages commercial fishing in Narta Lagoon, said as the big, long-necked birds stood in the shallow water.

Operations halting at a nearby saltworks and reduced human activity of all types during the pandemic explains why birds are flocking to the lagoon, said Nexhip Hysolokaj, a regional biodiversity expert. Flamingos are "a very delicate species," and not having vehicles or visitors around suits them, he said.

"They have found food and calmness, and that has likely helped them increase the numbers," Hysolokaj said.

In this Saturday May 2, 2020 photo flamingos gather in Narta Lagoon, about 140 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the Albanian capital of Tirana. Home confinement rules have angered and anguished some people in Albania, but humans getting their wings clipped during the coronavirus pandemic is allowing flamingos and other birds to flourish in a coastal lagoon by the Adriatic Sea. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

Researchers plan to study the flamingos to see if the coronavirus-induced calm is conducive to establishing the lagoon as a place where they can nest and breed.

Konomi says a lagoon crowded with feathered life is a treasure that could boost tourism.

But Hysolokaj is less keen to attract conventional tourists to the lagoon, which is part of a protected landscape of sand dunes, wetlands, islands and beaches that supports diverse fauna as well as birds. He described it as the "lung" of Vlora, the nearest city.

"There should be a stable but alternative tourism, naturally letting campers come, beaches used, with environmental biking, educational paths and more because it's so close to Vlora," Hysolokaj said.Birds in paradise: Albania's flamingos flourish in virus lockdown

© 2020 The Associated Press.

The role of European policy for improving power plant fuel efficiency

by University of Chicago MAY 9, 2020

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A new study published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists investigates the impact of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the largest international cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions in the world, on power plant fuel efficiency.

In "The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and Fuel Efficiency of Fossil Fuel Power Plants in Germany" author Robert Germeshausen studies German power plants and finds that a reduction in fuel use by fossil fuel power plants due to the introduction of the EU ETS translates into reductions in total annual carbon emissions of about 1.5 to 2 percent within the German power sector.

To put this improvement into context, this decrease in fuel input on average is equivalent to a reduction of around four to six million tons in annual carbon emissions. The results point to the role of actual investment in generation technology to improve fuel efficiency as Germeshausen finds positive effects on large investments in machinery.

The power sector is central to climate protection strategies, including those in Germany, where it accounts for around 40 percent of total annual carbon emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that reducing the carbon intensity of electricity generation (also known as decarbonizing) is a key component of cost-effective mitigation strategies. "Hence, understanding the effects of existing climate policies on the power sector is crucial for the further development of policies to achieve mitigation targets efficiently," writes Germeshausen.

The EU ETS puts a price on greenhouse gas emissions from regulated installations to achieve emission reductions and to provide incentives for investments in low-carbon technologies. Germeshausen utilizes administrative annual plant-level data covering around 85 percent of fossil fuel electricity generation in Germany from 2003 to 2012. Germany's electricity generation fleet consists of a variety of hard coal, lignite, nuclear, and natural gas power plants as well as renewable energy installations.

Germeshausen draws conclusions on the effect of carbon pricing on the optimal input combination in electricity generation and also on fuel efficiency improvements as a measure to reduce carbon emissions in the power sector. He additionally analyzes potential effects on labor efficiency, investments in machinery, and utilization of power plants.

Unlike previous studies on productivity and efficiency effects from policies and regulation in the electricity generation sector, which focus mainly on the effects of deregulation on productivity and efficiency, this study differs with respect to the nature of the influence.

"Understanding the impacts on regulated entities is crucial for the assessment and the further development of mitigation policies such as emission trading schemes," Germeshausen writes. Given the high variable cost share of fuel in power generation, the introduction of a carbon price may provide carbon intensive power plants with an incentive to improve fuel efficiency.

Germeshausen finds that the ETS negatively impacts the capacity factor, i.e., carbon intensive plants produce less output in relation to their potential output compared to less carbon intensive plants. "Thus, the effect should be interpreted as a positive net effect on fuel efficiency, exceeding a potential negative fuel efficiency effect from decreased utilization of carbon intensive power plants."

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Scientists list four key actions to halt global warming

More information: Robert Germeshausen, The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and Fuel Efficiency of Fossil Fuel Power Plants in Germany, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (2020). DOI: 10.1086/708894

Provided by University of Chicago

Brazilian Amazon deforestation hits new Jan-Apr high

Handout picture released by the Communication Department of the State of Mato Grosso showing deforestation in the Amazon basin in the municipality of Colniza, Matorosso state, Brazil, on August 29, 2019.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon hit a new high in the first four months of the year, according to data released Friday, a worrying trend after the devastation caused by record fires last year.

A total of 1,202 square kilometers of forest (464 square miles)— an area more than 20 times the size of Manhattan—was wiped out in the Brazilian Amazon from January to April, according to data based on satellite images from Brazil's National Space Research Institute (INPE).

That is a 55-percent increase from last year, and the highest figure for the first four months of the year since monthly records records began in August 2015.

The numbers raise new questions about President Jair Bolsonaro's commitment to protecting the world's largest rainforest, more than 60 percent of which is in Brazil.

Bolsonaro, a far-right climate-change skeptic, drew scathing international criticism last year after he downplayed huge wildfires that devastated the Amazon from May to October.

The fires contributed to the loss of a total 10,123 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) of forest in the Brazilian Amazon for 2019, the first time that figure had crossed the 10,000 mark since 2008.

The trend for 2020 is all the more worrying given that fire season will only start in late May with dryer weather.

If the Amazon is hit by huge fires again, this year could be on track to break all records for deforestation.

The destruction is caused largely by illegal logging, mining and farming on protected lands. Felled trees are then left to dry and burn when the season begins, driving the fire problem.

Bolsonaro wants to open up more protected lands to economic activity, arguing Brazil's indigenous peoples should reap the benefits of the natural resources on their territory.

He issued a decree Thursday authorizing the army to fight wildfires and oversee environmental agencies' work from May 11 to June 10 this year.

Environmentalists responded that it would be better to increase staffing and budgets for the environmental agencies.

Brazil to deploy army to fight Amazon deforestation

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 in pets and livestock

by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc

A new paper identifies the critical need for research on the ability of the COVID-19 virus to infect certain animal species, the transmissibility of infection between humans and those animals, and the impact infection could have on food security and the economy. The article, which focuses on companion animals, livestock and poultry, working animals such as military service dogs, and zoo species, is published in Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Disease.

The authors identify three urgent issues to consider: the potential for domesticated animals to transmit infection to humans and to contribute to community spread of disease; the impact on food security, economy, and trade if livestock and poultry are affected by coronavirus; and the effect on national security if the virus infects military service dogs and impairs their sense of smell, often used for tracking and to detect explosives and narcotics.

Tracey McNamara, DVM, DACVP, NAPf, Western University of Health Sciences (Pomona, CA), Juergen Richt, DVM Ph.D., Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas) and Larry Glickman, VMD, DrPH, Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) coauthored the article entitled "A Critical Needs Assessment for Research in Companion Animals and Livestock Following the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Humans."

Stringent studies are needed, with robust data collection, and not just anecdotal evidence. Dogs, cats, lions, and tigers have all already tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Studies are needed on the transmissibility of the virus between animal species and between animals and humans, on the best diagnostic tests available for companion animals and livestock, and on how COVID-19 is expressed in animals.

"The potential for zoonotic SARS-CoV-2 to infect companion animals has been a topic of much discussion," says Stephen Higgs, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases and Director, Biosecurity Research Institute, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. "With over 3 million cases of COVID-19 and over a quarter of a million deaths worldwide so far since January, it is vital that we understand the risks posed by domestic animals as a possible source for human infection. This review, brings all of what we know about SARS-CoV-2, pets, and other animals to our readership."Animals should not pose coronavirus threat to pet owners, farmers

More information: Tracey McNamara et al, A Critical Needs Assessment for Research in Companion Animals and Livestock Following the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Humans, Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases (2020). DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2020.2650

Provided by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc

Shark makes stunning 4,000-mile trek across ocean—but why?

by Mark Price

A 10-foot tiger shark fitted with a satellite tracker has stunned researchers by proving the species is capable of crossing entire oceans.

The nonprofit OCEARCH, which documented the trek, says the female shark named Sereia made a 4,000-mile transoceanic journey from Africa, across the Indian Ocean, to within 800 miles of Indonesia's coast.

In doing so, she showed "the range tiger sharks are capable of covering," OCEARCH said.

Researchers with the Biopixel Oceans Foundation and the Oceanographic Research Institute are behind the discovery, and they're trying to figure out why the shark made the trip. Where is it going?

"This shark moving across the Indian Ocean puts the question of connectivity into a much larger scale, especially if she does make it all the way to Indonesia or Australia," Biopixel Oceans Foundation scientist Adam Barnett said in a release.

"An interesting aspect of this large-scale movement is understanding not just where this shark is moving to, but why."

Sereia was tagged off Mozambique in November 2018 and tracked crossing the Indian Ocean last month, according to OCEARCH spokesman John Kanaly. That is the longest tiger shark migration ever recorded, he said in a release.

Ryan Daly of the Oceanographic Research Institute in South Africa says the discovery is "incredibly important," in part because it "opens up a whole new line of questioning," according to the release.

OCEARCH is best known for tracking great white sharks along the East Coast of the United States. The agency hopes to find out where they mate and give birth.

It has never tracked a shark crossing the Atlantic completely, but some have come close. A great white shark named Lydia was tracked crossing the Mid Atlantic Ridge, a trip that took her 2,200 miles east of the North Carolina coast, OCEARCH says.

Sharks tracked by OCEARCH have proven the species is capable of traveling from Nova Scotia to the mouth of the Mississippi River in the Gulf of Mexico.

Experts puzzled as 10-foot great white shark stays a month in one spot off East Coast

Fishing can disrupt mating systems

by University of Jyväskylä

At the Univesrity of Jyväskylä sexual selection in fish have been studied using model species like zebrafish. Credit: The University of Jyväskylä/Johanna Hippeläinen

WHICH CITIZEN SCIENTISTS CAN EASILY RAISE AT HOME AS A HOBBY AQUARIUMIST

In many fish species body size plays an important role in sexual selection. Large individuals are preferred mating partners because they can enhance offspring survival by providing better quality resources than small individuals. While large females and males are often favored by sexual selection, fishing targets and removes these reproductively superior individuals. Academy Research Fellow Silva Uusi-Heikkilä discusses in her recent literature review the implications fisheries selection might have on sexual selection, individual reproductive success and population viability.

Sexual selection depends on the advantage certain individuals have over other conspecifics. It creates important filters for reproductive success and can consequently increase fitness and population viability. A large male can provide more intensive care for the developing offspring than a small male and is therefore preferred by a female. A large female salmon, on the other hand, is more fecund than a small one and attracts multiple males. Sexual selection in fish has been studied using model species, such as the guppy, zebrafish and three-spine stickleback.

"Zebrafish females prefer a large male as a mating partner and releases more eggs for him compared to a small male. In some species females also produce higher quality eggs towards large males," says Academy Fellow Silva Uusi-Heikkilä from the University of Jyväskylä.

Fisheries often remove the largest individuals from the population, thus working in the opposite direction of sexual selection. The effects of fisheries selection on sexual selection has received relatively little attention.

"Studying mate choice in natural conditions can be challenging," says Uusi-Heikkilä.

Therefore, the mating systems of many commercially valuable fish species are poorly known, perhaps excluding cod and salmon. Experimental studies have revealed a great deal about cod mating systems. Salmon, on the other hand, spawn in their home rivers, where it is easier to observe mate choice and mate competition compared to the great depths of the oceans where many commercially important fish species spawn.

Uusi-Heikkilä points out that we should focus more on how size-selective fisheries affect fish mating systems, how persistent these effects are and how this might affect population growth, viability and resilience.

"Large females and males often have higher reproductive success than small ones. Thus, size-selective fisheries may impair population growth. It is tempting to think that sexual selection could buffer the adverse effects of fishing and rescue exploited populations. This is not going to happen if there are no large females and males left. Overall, if fishing reduces body size variation in a population, sexual selection cannot operate effectively," concludes Uusi-Heikkilä.

Explore further

Exploring why males are larger than females among mammals

More information: Silva Uusi‐Heikkilä, Implications of size‐selective fisheries on sexual selection, Evolutionary Applications (2020). DOI: 10.1111/eva.12988

Provided by University of Jyväskylä

A standard for real-time calculation of pollutant emissions allocated to the use of ICTs

by École de technologie supérieure

The first ever standard for real-time calculation of pollutant emissions allocated to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) was recently introduced, thanks to the work of the IEEE ICT Emissions Working Group Committe, chaired by Mohamed Cheriet, a Professor in the Systems Engineering Department at École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS). Under the auspices of the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA), the Working Group Committee is made up of researchers from diverse backgrounds and many different countries.

A large proportion of the pollutants generated by the use of ICTs during their life cycle are linked to their electricity consumption. The consumer is not aware of it, but the sources used to produce the electricity vary continuously over time. Electricity that is consumed in the morning may originate from a different source compared to the electricity that is consumed in the evening. In addition, some sources generate more pollutants than others.

Before this new standard was created, the main methods for calculating carbon footprints and GHG emissions left out these significant factors of time and location.

As of now, the Standard for a Method to Calculate Near Real-Time Emissions of Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure (IEEE 1922.2-2019)—approved in April 2020 by the IEEE-SA after two years of work—allows for the quantity of pollutants emitted by the use of ICTs to be calculated wherever they are located around the globe, taking into account both the electrical power source and the time of day in which they operate.

According to Mohamed Cheriet: "This standard could not have come at a better time: The use of ICTs is responsible for 4% of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by human activity, which is slightly higher than the worldwide aerospace industry. In addition, even though these activities emit both GHGs and other types of pollutants, until now, there have been no official guidelines or rules that allow for the quantity of pollutants they produce to be measured in real time."

Over the medium term, this standard will allow for the ICT market to be oriented toward cleaner technological solutions, and by extension, toward reducing the quantity of pollutants emitted. From this perspective, it is important to note that access to telecommunications, data centres and peripherals is growing at an exponential rate. By way of example, telecommunication companies are now among the world's largest energy consumers.

Tracking power generation and use in the U.S. on an hourly basis

Provided by École de technologie supérieure

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