Magic mushroom compound provides anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects lasting years, study finds

Single dose of psilocybin leads to decreased demoralisation and improved spiritual wellbeing among cancer sufferers, long-term research indicates

Harry Cockburn
Tuesday 28 January 2020

A single dose of psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, can result in “significant improvements” in reducing stress and anxiety in cancer patients for as long as five years after it was administered, a new study suggests.

A research team at New York University‘s Grossman School of Medicine, who were following up a landmark 2016 study into psilocybin, found that in conjunction with psychotherapy, cancer patients experienced improvements in emotional and existential distress.

In the earlier study, the team reported that the use of psilocybin produced “immediate, substantial, and sustained improvements in anxiety and depression and led to decreases in cancer-related demoralisation and hopelessness, improved spiritual wellbeing, and increased quality of life”.

After a follow-up assessment, six-and-a-half months later, psilocybin was associated with “enduring anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects”.

The new study — a long term follow up of the same set of patients — found the positive effects had continued.

“Participants overwhelmingly (71 to 100 per cent) attributed positive life changes to the psilocybin-assisted therapy experience and rated it among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives,” the researchers said

“Adding to evidence dating back as early as the 1950s, our findings strongly suggest that psilocybin therapy is a promising means of improving the emotional, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing of patients with life-threatening cancer,” said the 2016 parent study’s lead investigator, Dr Stephen Ross.

“This approach has the potential to produce a paradigm shift in the psychological and existential care of patients with cancer, especially those with terminal illness.”

The researchers said psilocybin could become a useful tool for enhancing the effectiveness of psychotherapy and ultimately relieving these symptoms.

Although the precise mechanisms are not fully understood, scientists believe the drug can make the brain more flexible and receptive to new ideas and thought patterns. In addition, previous research indicates the drug targets a network of the brain, the default mode network, which becomes activated when we engage in self-reflection and mind wandering, and which helps to create our sense of self and sense of coherent narrative identity.

‘Absurd’ magic mushrooms and MDMA are class A drugs, expert tells MPs

In patients with anxiety and depression, this network becomes hyperactive and is associated with rumination, worry, and rigid thinking. Psilocybin appears to acutely shift activity in this network and helps people to take a more broadened perspective on their behaviours and lives.

The follow-up study is the longest-spanning exploration of psilocybin’s effects on cancer-related psychiatric distress to date, the authors say.

“These results may shed light on how the positive effects of a single dose of psilocybin persist for so long,” said Gabby Agin-Liebes, lead author of the long-term follow-up study.

“The drug seems to facilitate a deep, meaningful experience that stays with a person and can fundamentally change his or her mindset and outlook,” she said.

The research is published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Magic mushroom compound psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

‘Clinically reassuring’ results boost development of psychoactive ingredient as depression treatment, researcher says


Andy Gregory
Wednesday 18 December 2019 

The largest controlled study of psilocybin – the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms – has found the compound safe for human consumption, bringing researchers one step closer to developing a psilocybin-based treatment for depression.

Volunteers who received doses of the psychedelic compound experienced no serious adverse effects in phase one clinical trials at Kings College London (KCL).

Psilocybin has been tipped as a potentially groundbreaking treatment for mental health disorders that could replace antidepressants, with some research suggesting it could also aid those dealing with addiction.

“The results of the study are clinically reassuring and support further development of psilocybin as a treatment for patients with mental health problems that haven’t improved with conventional therapy, such as treatment-resistant depression,” said KCL’s Dr James Rucker, the study’s lead investigator.

Most of the minor adverse events recorded were of the expected psychedelic nature, researchers found, with changes to sensory perception and mood, but no negative effects on cognitive and emotional functioning.

The phase one trials – which sought to test the compound’s safety, not its therapeutic value – compared the effects of varying doses of the psilocybin-based drug COMP360 and placebos in 89 healthy volunteers

There were 25 dosing sessions in total. In each session, six participants would receive either 10mg or 25mg doses or a placebo during a one-on-one session with a therapist lasting roughly six hours, with a follow-up period of 12 weeks.​

Research by the company behind the trial, Compass Pathways, into using psilocybin as a treatment for depression has been fast-tracked in the US, receiving special “breakthrough therapy” status from the Food and Drug Administration.

Watch more

Magic mushrooms ‘could be replacing antidepressants within five years’

It is currently running phase two studies across Europe and North America involving 216 patients who suffer with depression that hasn’t responded to treatment.

“This study is part of our overall clinical development programme in treatment-resistant depression,” Compass Pathways’ co-founder Dr Ekaterina Malievskaia said.

“We wanted to look at the safety and tolerability profile of our psilocybin, and to look at the feasibility of a model where up to six one-to-one sessions are held at the same time.

“We are focused on getting psilocybin therapy safely to as many patients who would benefit from it as possible [and] are grateful to the many pioneering research institutions whose work over the years has helped to demonstrate the potential of psilocybin in medicine.”

In June, The Independent reported that participants in the first trial comparing psilocybin to antidepressants at the world’s first psychedelic research centre, at Imperial College London, described a cathartic emotional “release” and “reconnection” during psilocybin therapy.

As the study’s lead Dr Robin Carhart-Harris pointed out, this is the polar opposite of antidepressants, which patients often complain leave their emotions “blunted”.

Jackdaws can identify “dangerous” humans from listening to each other’s warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again

THIS IS AN ABILITY SHARED WITH OTHER CORVIDS; CROWS AND RAVENS

Magic mushrooms and LSD give sustained boost in mood after recreational use, study concludes

Scientists document ‘afterglow’ effect in vast festival study

Andy Gregory
Tuesday 21 January 2020

The recreational use of psychedelic drugs can provide a sustained improvement in mood and leave users feeling closer to others even after the initial high has worn off, a study of more than 1,200 festivalgoers has found.

Those who had recently taken substances like LSD and magic mushrooms were more likely to report having “transformative experiences” profound enough to radically alter their moral values, which subjects associated with feelings of increased social connectedness and mental wellbeing, Yale University scientists discovered.

By surveying 1,242 UK and US festival goers over a four-year period, the researchers were able to characterise the psychological effects of the “afterglow” often documented in laboratory-based research into psychedelic experiences, publishing their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

“Our results show that people who take psychedelics ‘in the wild’ report positive experiences very similar to those observed in controlled laboratory studies,” said lead author Matthias Forstmann.

The most pronounced effects were reported by those who had used psychedelics within the past 24 hours, as opposed to within the past seven days.

Voluntary participants at six festivals were asked questions on their substance usage and took tests to measure how socially connected they felt after taking psychedelics, and whether they had positively impacted their mood. Subjects were no longer under the influence of psychedelics at the time of answering.

Those who had abstained from using psychedelics, drank alcohol or took other drugs such as cocaine or opioids did not report transformative experiences, increased connectedness with others or positive mood to the same degree, researchers found.

The study was not designed to assess negative reactions to the use of psychedelics, and further research is necessary to assess which environmental factors are associated with positive versus negative psychedelic experiences, said Yale’s assistant professor of psychology Molly Crockett, who led the research.

Read more

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Magic mushrooms ‘could be replacing antidepressants within five years’

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While researchers were unable to verify which substances participants had taken, as they would be able to in laboratory studies, they were less limited in that they were able to observe a far larger cohort in a more natural environment.

The findings add to a body of evidence suggesting psychedelic substances may have potential as therapy for mood disorders.

The new research could even lend credence to the idea of extending psychedelic therapies to healthy recipients, to boost their psychological wellness, the head of Imperial College London’s Centre for Psychedelic Research, Robin Carhart-Harris, told Newsweek.

Scientists should see the study as further evidence to challenge any preconceptions about psychedelics that they are particularly dangerous or harmful drugs, said Dr Carhart-Harris, who did not take part in the research.

“However, and this is an important caveat, beyond the simple fact that the psychedelics were likely taken in a festival setting, the present study hasn't isolated the role of specific contextual factors, such as inter-personal trust at the time of use, expectations or intentions for use, which we know to be very important for predicting how people respond to psychedelics,” he said.

“It would be wrong to assume from these findings that if you take psychedelics at a festival you're going to have a great time and improve your mental well-being in the process.”

Congress debates decriminalising magic mushrooms in DC as representative claims it would make area ‘drug capital’

Activists have focused on health benefits of natural hallucinogens
James Crump @thejamescrump


Representatives on the House Appropriations Committee have debated the status of magic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs in Washington, DC, after activists called for them to be decriminalised in a petition.

Last week, activists submitted a petition with 36,000 signatures to the Board of Elections, that they say is enough to get the decriminalisation of natural hallucinogens in the district on the ballot in November, according to the Associated Press.

If the motion is successful, then it would follow similar laws passed in Denver, Colorado, and California cities Oakland and Santa Cruz, where natural hallucinogens, have been decriminalised in recent years.

Melissa Lavasani, who proposed the initiative and claimed using the mushrooms helped treat her postpartum depression, said the activists are focused on promoting the therapeutic and medical benefits of the drugs.

“DC could really lead the way on this,” Ms Lavasani told the AP. “You shouldn’t bear the repercussions of the drug war while you are healing yourself.”

However, Maryland representative Andy Harris, proposed forbidding a voter initiative on the policy on Wednesday, and argued that “we certainly — I would hope — don’t want to be known as the drug capital of the world.”

Watch more

Magic mushroom compound ‘has anti-anxiety effect lasting years’

His amendment, which also called for the use of psychedelics to be still be banned without a doctors recommendation, was backed by other Republicans, who suggested that decriminalising the drugs would be dangerous, according to the New York Post.

“We all can agree that policies that increase the availability of psychedelic drugs in the nation’s capital — that’s dangerous,” said Republican representative Tom Graves.


“As the nation’s capital, the District of Columbia, it should be a place where Americans come to see their government at work, for history and to go to a Braves-Nats game. It shouldn’t be a destination for illegal drugs,” he added.

However, Democrats on the committee criticised Mr Harris’ proposed amendment and said that the vote is a choice for the public, not politicians.

“If the district’s residents want to make mushrooms a lower priority and focus limited law enforcement resources on other issues, that is their prerogative,” Illinois congressman Mike Quigley argued.

The health benefits of using natural hallucinogens has long been debated, but a study at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine earlier this year found that a single dose of psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, could have long-term positive effects.

The study into psilocybin, found that in conjunction with psychotherapy, cancer patients experienced improvements in emotional and existential distress five years after they had been administered just one dose.


“Participants overwhelmingly (71 to 100 per cent) attributed positive life changes to the psilocybin-assisted therapy experience and rated it among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives,” the researchers said of the study from 2016 to 2020.
Watch more

Magic mushrooms and LSD can give prolonged mood boost, study finds

Mr Harris later withdraw his amendment, but released a statement where he said he would revisit it if the motion is on the ballot in November.

“This is a new issue to the committee,” he said. “Between now and the meeting of the conference committee this fall, the issue of whether this will be on the ballot will be resolved.

“Fortunately, in that time, members will also have time to learn more about this complicated medical issue.”

MORE ABOUT:
MAGIC MUSHROOMS | PSILOCYBIN |

THIRD WORLD USA 

The average minimum wage worker has to work more than 2 full-time jobs to afford a 2-bedroom rental in any state in the US

A woman wears a T-shirt reading "One Job Should be Enough" during a rally calling for an increase in the minimum wage on Oct. 2, 2019, in Miami. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

The average minimum wage worker in the US would need to work at least two jobs in order to afford rent in any US state, according to the annual "Out of Reach" report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom rental in 2020 is $23.96 per hour and $19.56 for a one-bedroom rental, according to the report.

The report was published amid an unprecedented health crisis, the economic impact of which has left millions of Americans without a job.

The researchers behind the report called on the federal government to take more action to "secure affordable homes" by funding federal rental housing programs, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Full-time minimum wage workers can't afford to rent a two-bedroom rental in any state in the US, according to the annual "Out of Reach" report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).

A MINIMUM WAGE SHOULD BE $15 AN HOUR

 A LIVING WAGE IS $25 AN HOUR

The coalition also found 95% of minimum wage workers cannot afford a one-bedroom rental.

The minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom rental in 2020 is $23.96 per hour and $19.56 for a one-bedroom rental, according to the report. However, the hourly wage of the average renter is $18.22, which is still $5.74 less than what is needed to afford a two-bedroom rental and $1.34 less to afford a one-bedroom.

The average full-time minimum worker needs to work at least 97 hours to afford a two-bedroom rental or 79 hours per week to afford a one-bedroom rental, according to the report.

"People who work 97 hours per week and need 8 hours per day of sleep have fewer than 2.5 hours per day left over for everything else — commuting, cooking, cleaning, selfcare, caring for children and family, and serving their community," the analysts behind the report wrote.

As the national housing wage becomes increasingly unattainable for minimum wage workers, the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has left millions without a job.

A rental sign is posted in front of an apartment complex Tuesday, July 14, 2020, in Phoenix. Housing advocacy groups have joined lawmakers lobbying Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to extend his coronavirus-era moratorium on evictions when it expires, when the 120-day order ending July 22 was supposed to ensure people would not lose their homes if they fell ill to COVID-19 or lost jobs in the pandemic's economic fallout. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) Associated Press

"The economic downturn spurred by the virus further increases the risk of housing instability for millions of low-wage renters at a time when stable housing is vital," they wrote. "Millions of renters were one financial shock away from housing instability, and for many the pandemic and economic fallout is that shock."

The researchers behind the report called on the federal government to take more action to "secure affordable homes" by funding federal rental housing programs, especially amid the unprecedented health crisis.

"Housing is a basic necessity – an essential ingredient of individual and public health, stability, and dignity," the analysts wrote. "The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the recklessness of letting people's access to basic necessities like housing depend on the contingencies of the economy."

Congress has attempted to pad the financial ramifications of the pandemic by passing the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, a $2 trillion economic stimulus bill.

In May, the House of Representatives passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill in May dubbed the HEROES Act, which stands for the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act. The bill, however, is not expected to pass in the GOP-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the bill a "big laundry list of pet priorities" that has "no chance of becoming law."

Last month, the House passed another relief bill specifically geared towards housing affordability, known as the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020.

"The bill allocates $100 billion towards emergency rental assistance, establishes a $75 billion fund for homeowners, and extends an eviction and foreclosure moratorium," Business Insider's Rosie Perper reported.

A minimum-wage worker needs 1.5 jobs just to afford half the rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in most of the US
Hillary Hoffower and Andy Kiersz
Jan 30, 2019

To afford a two-bedroom apartment, a minimum-wage worker would need to work about 122 hours a week. Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images

Many minimum-wage workers can't afford a modest two-bedroom apartment, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's annual report.
The national housing wage for a modest two-bedroom rental apartment is $22.10, while the federal minimum wage is $7.25.
A low-income worker earning the federal minimum wage would need three jobs to afford a two-bedroom apartment — or 1.5 jobs and a roommate.


A minimum-wage worker needs 2.5 full-time jobs to afford a one-bedroom apartment in most of the US, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's (NLIHC) annual report.

But that's nothing compared to how many jobs they'd have to work to afford a two-bedroom rental apartment in most of the US — three.

However, that's only if they're living in a two-bedroom alone or are the only working spouse bringing home a check. It's likely they have a partner or roommate living there as well, in which case they would split the rent. If both residents are minimum-wage workers, they would need to work 1.5 jobs each to afford rent.

The report looked at the "housing wage," an estimate of the hourly wage a full-time worker — working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year — needs to earn to afford a rental home at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's fair-market rent. That's defined as spending no more than 30% of their income on housing costs — experts' rule of thumb when budgeting for housing.


NLIHC found that the national housing wage for a two-bedroom rental apartment is $22.10. That's slightly more than three times the federal minimum wage of $7.25.

The map below shows the hourly wage needed to afford a fair-market rent, two-bedroom apartment by state, assuming a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks a year, as calculated by the NLIHC.

Every state's housing wage, or the hourly pay needed to afford a two-bedroom rental. Andy Kiersz

If a worker held three full-time minimum-wage jobs, they'd be earning $21.75, just under the $22.10 needed to afford rent and have 70% of income left over for other expenses. They would have to work about 122 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, just to cover rent, according to the report. To put that in perspective, there are 168 hours in the week — that leaves them with only 46 hours, less than two days, of nonwork time.

There is no state in which a minimum-wage worker can afford a two-bedroom rental home by working a standard 40-hour work week, according to the report.

This is true even in Arkansas, which has the lowest housing wage of $13.84. The state has a minimum wage of $8.50, which means workers would need to work a full-time job and a part-time job, or 65 hours a week, to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

Fourteen states have a housing wage exceeding the national housing wage of $22 — Washington, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, plus Washington, DC.

Of all these states, Hawaii is the most expensive with a $36.13 housing wage. Here, workers earn a minimum wage of $10.10. With three jobs, that's $30.30 — more than the national housing wage, but still not enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the state. A worker in Hawaii would need to work nearly four full-time jobs, or 143 hours a week, to afford a two-bedroom rental

Sex workers are returning to work in clear 'biosecurity suits' in an attempt to reduce coronavirus spread

Canela López
Jul 15, 2020

A sex worker wearing protective gear against the spread of the new coronavirus sits on a bed during a demonstration of the safety precautions they will take at their jobs in El Alto, Bolivia, Monday, June 29, 2020. AP Photo/Juan Karita

Bolivian sex workers will begin seeing clients again dressed in face shields, gloves, and "thigh-skimming," see-through raincoats to protect them from the coronavirus.

Brothels will be expected to follow a 30-page set of guidelines to properly sanitize work areas and see clients during the pandemic. 

The raincoats will serve as "biosecurity suits," to be worn during pole dances.
As businesses begin to reopen in Bolivia, the nation's sex workers are preparing to see clients again following instructions from a 30-page set of guidelines: including face shields, gloves, and see-through raincoats serving as "biosecurity suits."

The Organization of Night Workers of Bolivia (OTN) — an organization representing sex workers — created the guidelines to help protect sex workers and their clients from the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

While a "thigh-skimming" raincoat might seem like an odd piece of lingerie, they are meant to be worn during pole dances to protect from germs. They will take the coats off once the client session is taking place.

"The biosecurity suit will allow us to work and protect ourselves," Antonieta, a Bolivian sex worker, told Reuters as she demonstrated how workers will disinfect poles with bleach spray between dances.

Experts say the most important thing to cover up to prevent the coronavirus is your nose, mouth, and eyes.

That hasn't stopped the steady stream of celebrities sporting hazmat suits, coveralls, and other full-body protective gear since the pandemic began.

Luckily, the 30 pages of guidelines also call for face shields and paper masks under the shields, in addition to plenty of hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray.
Brothels are coming up with creative reopening guidelines so sex workers can stop doing risky street work

AP Photo/Juan Karita

Vanessa, a sex worker at the same brotherly and a mother-of-two, told Reuters she does this line of work to provide for her children and make sure they have money to go to school.

"Our clients respect the issue of safety, that we are taking these measures for our security, but also for theirs," she told Reuters.

OTN is pushing these guidelines in order to convince the city of La Paz to allow day-time visits to brothels even if night-time curfews remain in place.

Lily Cortes, a representative of OTN, told Reuters in March that if sex workers are not allowed to legally work in brothels, they might be forced to turn to street work, which can be especially dangerous during the pandemic.

As of July 15, Bolivia had 48,187 confirmed cases and 1,807 deaths according to Reuters.

Texans receiver Kenny Stills one of 87 people arrested after marching to the Kentucky Attorney General's house to demand justice for Breonna Taylor

Kenny Stills. Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills was one of 87 people arrested on charges of intimidating a participant in the legal process, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespassing.

Stills took part in a march in Louisville to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's house to demand justice in the killing of Breonna Taylor.

Stills was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon and scheduled for arraignment at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

Stills was nominated for the Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award in 2018 for his community activism and involvement in social justice reform.

Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills was one of 87 people arrested after a protest march to demand the arrest of the police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor, according to Lucas Aulbach of The Louisville Courier Journal.

Stills was part of a group that marched to the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to call for action against the officers involved in Taylor's killing on March 13. The march included over 100 people and began at Ballard High School in Louisville's East End in Louisville.

According to Aulbach, Stills was charged with intimidating a participant in the legal process, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespassing. Aulbach reported that Stills was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon and entered into the jail's booking log before midnight. His arraignment was scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.

According to Aulbach, the 86 others arrested have the same charges.

A police spokesman told Aulbach that the protesters were given a chance to leave and did not before being arrested.

Stills has been a vocal proponent of racial equality and social justice reform. He has been one of the players to kneel during the national anthem to protest social injustice and police brutality since 2016.

In 2018, Stills was nominated for the Walter Peyton Man of the Year award for his community activism.

North Sea sediment analysis helps scientists reconstruct ancient tsunami

New sedaDNA analysis techniques allowed scientists to reconstruct the tsunami that struck a region known as Doggerland some 8,000 years ago. Photo by Martin Bates/UWTSD

July 16 (UPI) -- By analyzing the sedimentary ancient DNA, sedaDNA, deposited on Doggerland, the landmass that once connected Britain and mainland Europe, researchers were able to reconstruct a tsunami that occurred 8,150 years ago.

During the mid-holocene, a marine inundation swept away Doggerland, and Britain became separated from the mainland by the North Sea.

To better understand the tsunami that hit Doggerland more than 8,000 years ago, researchers used a variety of breakthrough techniques to study DNA trapped in marine sediment samples collected from the North Sea, researchers said on Thursday.

One of the new analysis methods allowed University of Warwick scientists to -- for the first time -- reconstruct the biomass changes caused by a major event.

RELATED Scientist finds dozens of unknown submarine landslides in Gulf of Mexico

"Exploring Doggerland, the lost landscape underneath the North Sea, is one of the last great archaeological challenges in Europe," study co-author Vince Gaffney said in a news release.

By analyzing the concentration of certain DNA signatures in the ancient sediment samples, scientists were able to estimate the effects of the mid-holocene tsunami on the abundance of trees and their woody mass.

Researchers also developed new techniques for authenticating compromised sedaDNA, like DNA that's been damaged by centuries spent underwater.

RELATED Researchers find new way to predict where ocean trash, seaweed will go

By studying the damages experienced by certain DNA signatures and measuring the movement of biomolecules in the sediment core column, scientists were also able to determine how much sedaDNA had moved since being originally deposited.

"This study represents an exciting milestone for sedimentary ancient DNA studies establishing a number of breakthrough methods to reconstruct an 8,150-year-old environmental catastrophe in the lands that existed before the North Sea flooded them away into history," Warwick life scientist Robin Allaby said in a news release.

Researchers detailed the novel sedaDNA analysis techniques this week in the journal Geoscience.

RELATED Laser topography reveals mudslide risks in Pacific Northwest

"This work demonstrates that an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and scientists can bring this landscape back to life and even throw new light on one of prehistory's great natural disasters, the Storegga Tsunami," said Gaffney, a researcher at the University of Bradford.

"The events leading up to the Storegga tsunami have many similarities to those of today. Climate is changing and this impacts on many aspects of society, especially in coastal locations," Gaffney said.

Conservation groups file new lawsuit against Keystone XL pipeline

July 14 (UPI) -- A coalition of conservation and landowner groups sued the Trump administration Tuesday challenging its approval for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline through federal lands in Montana.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, the lawsuit by the Bold Alliance, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and others accuses the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service's review of the project of being "riddled" with errors and omissions and their approval of its constriction was made "in reliance of flawed data and outdated spill response plans."

"The Keystone XL project was never in the public interest, yet this administration continues to flaunt key environmental lases in its effort to promote the dirty and dangerous pipeline," Jared Margolis, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. "The project would be devastating for the people and wildlife in its path, and regulators have repeatedly failed to fully address its environmental risks, including oil spills."

According to the lawsuit, the Bureau of Land Management unlawfully granted a right-of-way and temporary use permit for the pipeline on Jan. 20 as it based its decision on environmental review documents that violate the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The lawsuit also accuses the Bureau of Land Management of violating other statutes when it issued a notice that it would proceed with construction of the pipeline prior to being granted all the permits necessary, several of which still remain outstanding.

"The Trump administration keeps trying to fast-track and rubber-stamp the boondoggle Keystone XL pipeline project, but they keep losing 'bigly' every time we take them to court," Bold Alliance founder Jane Kleeb said in a statement mocking President Donald Trump who used the non-word in a debate while he was running for the country's highest office.

The lawsuit is the latest to bog down construction of the controversial project that upon completion would deliver some 830,000 barrels of crude tar sand oil a day from the Canadian city of Hardisty, Alberta, to Steel City, Neb.

Early last week, the Supreme Court denied the Trump administration's request to allow for construction of the Keystone pipeline to continue, upholding a lower court's decision to cancel a key water crossing permit on environmental grounds.

Many of the plaintiffs in that case filed Tuesday's lawsuit seeking the court to declare the bureau's issuance of permits and its Notice to Proceed to have violated several statures and for those permits to be vacated as well as have an injunction put in place against any further construction of the project or issuance of federal approvals.

"As the courts have found time and time again, the Trump administration has consistently cut corners and skirted the law in order to ram through approval of Keystone Xl," said Sierra Club Senior Attorney Doug Hayes. "This project is stalled because it would be a disaster for clean water, wildlife, the clime and public lands, and there's simply no way to approve it without ignoring bedrock environmental laws."

UPI has contacted the Bureau of Land Management for comment.

WAR IS ECO DISASTER 

U.N. warns of spill '4 times the size of Exxon Valdez' from disabled Yemeni tanker

A Yemeni child waits to get his family's food rations in Sana'a, Yemen, on Thursday. U.N. officials said a possible oil leak from a disabled tanker moored off the country's coast could worsen conditions for Yemen's famine-stricken population. Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA-EFE

July 16 (UPI) -- A top United Nations official has warned that unless a disabled oil tanker moored off the coast of Yemen can be boarded and repaired quickly, a disastrous spill affecting 1.6 million Yemenis could result.

Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock told the U.N. Security Council Wednesday that 1.1 million barrels could spill out of the rusting supertanker FSO Safer -- an amount four times greater than that discharged during the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off the coast of Alaska.
"If a spill were to occur in the next two months, experts project that 1.6 million Yemenis would be directly affected," he said. "Essentially every fishing community along Yemen's west coast would see their livelihoods collapse and would suffer substantial economic losses.

"About 90 percent of people in these communities already need humanitarian assistance."

The plea came as the United Nations reported that the Yemeni economy is already "in tatters" and its institutions are facing "near-collapse" after more than five years of conflict. Famine conditions have resulted in 2 million Yemeni children suffering from acute malnutrition, Secretary-General António Guterres said this month.

The Safer, a 44-year-old supertanker owned by the Saudi-backed Yemen government, was seized by Houthi insurgents in 2015 off the coast of rebel-held territory while carrying more than 1 million gallons of light crude oil. It has remained moored at the spot near the port of Hudaydah since then.

The vessel sprung a leak in late May, flooding its engine room with seawater and threatening to spill its cargo. Though the leak was relatively small, divers dispatched by the ship's builder needed five days of round-the-clock underwater efforts to contain it.

RELATED State of emergecy called in Arctic after Russian fuel spill

Lowcock and U.N. Environment Program chief Inger Andersen each urged the international community to urgently work out a deal with Houthi rebels allowing a full team of U.N. technicians to board the rusting ship and assess risk of a spill.

"Despite the difficult operational context, no effort should be spared to first conduct a technical assessment and initial light repairs," Andersen told the Security Council. "In the longer term, she added, the best option will be to offload the oil from the ship and then tow it to a safe location for inspection and dismantling."

The rebels have stated they want to allow an international team to board the Safer, but have also set preconditions linking access to the ship with other issues related to the conflict, Lowcock said.