Scientists publish water quality database for 12,000 freshwater lakes

Scientists have published a new online database with information on the health of thousands of freshwater lakes around the world. Photo by NASA/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Scientists have published a global water quality database detailing the health of nearly 12,000 freshwater lakes, almost half the world's freshwater supply.

Compiled by researchers at York University, in Canada, the database offers water quality information on lakes in 72 countries and all seven continents, including Antarctica.

Researchers detailed the database compilation process in a new paper, published Tuesday in the Nature journal Scientific Data.

"The database can be used by scientists to answer questions about what lakes or regions may be faring worse than others, how water quality has changed over the years and which environmental stressors are most important in driving changes in water quality," lead author Alessandro Filazzola said in a news release.
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To build the database, researchers mined some 3,322 studies for information on chlorophyll levels in lakes all over the world. Scientists often use chlorophyll as a proxy for measuring an ecosystem's health because it is a good predictor of primary production -- the amount of vegetation and algae growing in lakes.

Primary production sounds good, but more chlorophyll isn't always better than less chlorophyll. Rising chlorophyll levels is typically a sign of degraded water quality and declining ecosystems health, researchers say.

"Human activity, climate warming, agricultural, urban runoff and phosphorus from land use can all increase the level of chlorophyll in lakes," said Filazzola, a postdoctoral research fellow at York. "The primary production is most represented by the amount of chlorophyll in the lake, which has a cascading impact on the phytoplankton that eat the algae and the fish that eat the phytoplankton and the fish that eat those fish."

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"If the chlorophyll is too low, it can have cascading negative effects on the entire ecosystem, while too much can cause an abundance of algae growth, which is not always good," he said.

Rising global temperatures have encouraged algae blooms in many lakes around the world, and extreme weather events have exacerbated agricultural runoff problems, flooding lakes with excess nutrients. The problem is especially pronounced in lakes near urban watersheds and agricultural areas.

In addition to chlorophyll data, researchers compiled information on phosphorous and nitrogen levels, which can help predict changes in chlorophyll. Scientists also collected data on each lake's physical characteristics, as well as climate data and land use information.

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"In addition to drinking water, freshwater is important for transportation, agriculture, and recreation, and provides habitats for more than 100,000 species of invertebrates, insects, animals and plants," said senior researcher Sapna Sharma.

"The database can be used to improve our understanding of how chlorophyll levels respond to global environmental change and it provides baseline comparisons for environmental managers responsible for maintaining water quality in lakes," said Sharma, an associate professor of biology at York.

Scientists confirm Alan Turing's explanation for Australian fairy circles


Researchers used drone images to analyze the grass growth patterns found in the Australian Outback, home to polka dot pattern of barren patches known as fairy circles. Photo by S. Getzin/University of Göttingen

Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The Turing pattern theory, developed by mathematician Alan Turing, explains how patterns in nature can emerge naturally, via random disturbances, from a uniform state.

The theory has previously been used to explain the emergence of zebra stripes and leopard spots. Earlier this year, scientists also used Turing pattern models to account for the distribution and segregation of non-territorial passerine birds.

In a new paper, published this week in the Journal of Ecology, ecologists confirmed, for the first time, that Alan Turing's model successfully explains Australian fairy circles, circular patches of barren land barren in arid and semi-arid environs.

To test the Turing pattern's applicability in the Australian Outback, researchers used a drone and multispectral camera to map the vitality of Triodia grasses across five plots, each roughly 2.5 acres large. Scientists classified each plot as either high or low vitality.

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Statistical analysis of the vitality patterns showed that -- just as the Turing model predicts -- random variability in vitality leads to pattern-forming interactions between grass and water, feedbacks that reinforce the development of fairy circles.

The formation of arid clay circles encourages runoff, which plants in arid environs rely on. As clumps of grass develop, they increase shading and water infiltration around the nearby roots, encouraging further grass seeding and growth. As grass density intensifies, the runoff from the fairy circles in more easily intercepted and absorbed by surrounding vegetation.

The new data analysis showed fairy circles work like "ecosystem engineers," helping vegetation cope with the challenges presented by arid and semi-arid environments.

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"The intriguing thing is that the grasses are actively engineering their own environment by forming symmetrically spaced gap patterns," lead study author Stephan Getzin said in a news release.

"The vegetation benefits from the additional runoff water provided by the large fairy circles, and so keeps the arid ecosystem functional even in very harsh, dry conditions," said Getzin, an ecosystem modeller at the University of Göttingen in Germany.

Without the Turing pattern, researchers estimate grasses in such water-stressed environs wouldn't be able to survive.

RELATED Mysterious 'fairy circles' not the work of termites

RIP

Ang Rita Sherpa, legendary climber of Mount Everest, dies at 72


Ang Rita Sherpa in 1987 became the first person ever to climb Mount Everest in the winter without the aid of oxygen. File Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA

Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Ang Rita Sherpa, the first person to climb Mount Everest 10 times without the aid of an oxygen bottle, died Monday at 72 in Kathmandu after suffering a stroke.

The legendary climber was a local celebrity who had his accomplishments officially documented in the by Guinness Book of World Records in 2017. He earned the nickname "Snow Leopard" for his climbing skills.

Sherpa grew up as a member of the successful Sherpa clan, a group of Himalayan people known for their skill in mountaineering.

He was born in 1948 in the village of Yillajung in eastern Nepal and began climbing at a young age. He later and graduated with a degree in parks, recreation and tourism from Lincoln University in New Zealand.
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Sherpa volunteered for nine months in the United States as a volunteer in the National Park Service at Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks before joining The Mountain Institute.

He first climbed Mount Everest while with a Belgian expedition team in 1982 and became the first to climb the mountain five years later in the winter without supplementary oxygen. He retired from climbing in 1996 because of poor health.

Sherpa's oldest son, who was also a climber who scaled Mount Everest several times, died in 2012 after suffering from altitude sickness at a base camp on the mountain.

Despite his fame, Sherpa struggled financially after his retirement from climbing.

"He was soft-spoken and normally did not speak much," journalist Narayan Wagle said. "When we asked questions he answered in few words. In our early days of journalism ... we would meet him and ask him about his mountaineering exploits."

Federal judge rules election mail must be treated as first-class


A federal judge in the Southern District of New York ruled Monday that mail-in ballots must be considered first-class mail or priority express and that overtime to deliver election mail must be approved by the U.S. Postal Service.

File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. Postal Service must give election mail first-class preference and make other changes to compensate for "managerial failures" that risk the security of mail-in voting.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in the Southern District of New York became the second federal judge to rule against the USPS in a week.

On Thursday, a Washington-based federal judge placed a temporary block on operational changes that caused a slowdown in mail delivery in a lawsuit brought by attorneys general in 13 states.

Marrero approved a partial injunction ordering that all election mail shall be treated by the U.S. Postal Service as first-class or priority mail express. All overtime will be approved in the two weeks before election day to make sure absentee and mail-in ballots are counted, the ruling said.

These changes are to go into effect on Friday, when a settlement between the plaintiffs and the USPS must be hammered out, Marrero said. If both parties don't reach a settlement by the deadline, the changes will become law by judicial order, he said.

"Now, more than ever, the postal service's status as a symbol of national unity must be validated by the demonstrated degree of its commitment to utmost effectiveness of election mail service," Marrero said.

"The right to vote is too vital a value in our democracy to be left in a state of suspense in the minds of voters weeks before a presidential election, raising doubts as to whether their votes will ultimately be counted."

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy instituted policies that Marrero said were meant to "rechannel the USPS's mission to follow the business model of a private enterprise."

These operational changes included reducing overtime pay; eliminating mail-sorting machines in dense population areas and directing mail trucks to leave as scheduled, even if it would entail leaving mail behind for delivery on another day. In August, the USPS agreed to suspend changes until after the election.

Marrero called the changes a series of "multiple managerial failures [that] have undermined the postal employees' ability to fulfill their vital mission."

The judge also ruled that the post office shall submit to the court a list of all steps necessary to restore first-class and marketing mail on-time delivery scores to their previous levels above 93% and make a good-faith effort to follow those steps.

Because of the public health threats from COVID-19 to in-person voting, at least 22 states and the District of Columbia have changed laws to encourage voters to cast their ballots by mail and 34 states already permitted anyone to vote by mail. Only five states require an excuse (beyond COVID-19 health concerns) to vote by mail.

BARR'S BULLY BOYS

Justice Dept. labels NYC, Portland, Seattle 'anarchist' over protests



Activists marching for social equality clash with police and federal officers in downtown Portland, Ore., on July 27. File Photo by David Swanson/EPA-EFE

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The Justice Department on Monday labeled New York City, Portland, Ore., and Seattle as "anarchist jurisdictions" to be evaluated for possible cuts in federal funding for failing to rein in "violent" anti-racism protests.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr said an executive order from President Donald Trump this month threatens to withhold federal funding from cities where local officials have cut police department funding or have refused to accept federal forces.

"When state and local leaders impede their own law enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest," Barr said in a statement.

"We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance. It is my hope that the cities identified by the Department of Justice today will reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens."

Barr cited rising gun violence in New York, cuts to the city's police budget and other criteria for justifying its designation as an "anarchist jurisdiction."

Portland, he said, endured "100 consecutive nights of protests marred by vandalism, chaos, and even killing."

Seattle's was cited for "[permitting] anarchists and activists to seize six square blocks of the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood."

The designations mean all federal agency heads must submit reports to the Office of Management and Budget detailing all funding in those cities for review and possible cuts.

All three cities have Democratic mayors who have clashed with the Trump administration over their handling of protests this summer that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. The cities' mayors have accused the White House of worsening the situations by encouraging angrier confrontations and sending armed federal police.

After Trump issued the order, the cities promised a legal battle against what they called "unlawful attacks" and said they expect the provisions of his order will "undoubtedly be defeated in court."

Global warming to make it harder for humans to get enough omega-3 fatty acid


The naturally occurring omega-3 fatty acid called DHA will be harder to come by on a warmer planet, new research suggests. 

Photo by Flickr/Hitthatswitch

Sept. 12 (UPI) -- New research suggests the availability of omega-3, the brain-building fatty acid, could be significantly diminished by global warming.

The omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, is the most abundant fatty acid in mammalian brains. It plays a vital role in neural development and health, protecting cells and reducing inflammation.

But humans don't produce enough DHA on their own. Instead, they rely on fish and seafood to boost DHA levels. Previously, some scientists have hypothesized that our earliest human ancestors were able to boost brain development by taking advantage of marine food sources and gaining access to greater levels of fatty acids.

DHA is mostly produced by algae. It accumulates as it works its way up the aquatic food chain.

The biochemical reactions involved in the fatty acid's production are sensitive to changes in temperatures. To determine how global warming might affect the availability of DHA, scientists ran a variety simulations.

The models -- described this week in the journal Ambio -- showed rising global temperatures and growing human populations will leave 96 percent of humans without access to sufficient amounts of DHA.

In places like Scandinavia, with relatively small populations and access to DHA-rich fish, the fatty acid's availability won't be a problem. But in Asia and Africa, where populations are growing and DHA is harder to come by, the vast majority of people will struggle to consume the recommended daily DHA dose of 100 milligrams per day.
"According to our model, global warming could result in a 10 to 58 percent loss of globally-available DHA in the next 80 years," Stefanie Colombo, researcher at Dalhousie University in Canada, said in a news release. "A decrease in levels will have the greatest effect on vulnerable populations and periods of human development, such as fetuses and infants, and may also affect predatory mammals, especially those in polar regions."

Researchers populated their models with data from the Sea Around Us initiative, which collects data related to the effects of fishing on the health of marine ecosystems. Scientists also relied on data compiled by United Nations researchers for global inland fisheries catch and aquaculture production data.

Scientists used the data to build a mathematical model that predicted how rising temperatures would alter the availability of DNA in marine and freshwater food chains.

"It is also interesting to see that freshwater fishing zones showed greater declines in DHA than marine zones, due to larger projected temperature increases in freshwater than the oceans," Colombo said. "Changes in availability of DHA may therefore have a greater impact on populations in certain areas of the world, especially inland Africa."

upi.com/6939079

Study: Commercial fisheries regularly catch threatened, endangered species

New research suggests dozens of threatened and endangered fish species are regularly caught and sold around the world. Photo by Maritime Enforcement Agency/EPA-EFE

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Despite Australia's international reputation for high quality marine conservation programming, new research out of the University of Queensland suggests Australia's seafood eaters are regularly consuming engendered species.

The findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Communications, suggest the consumption of endangered fish species isn't just a problem Down Under -- it is a global crisis

When researchers surveyed commercial catch and seafood import data, they found 92 endangered and 11 critically endangered species of seafood are being caught elsewhere before being imported and sold at grocery stores, fish markets and restaurants in Australia, Europe and elsewhere.

That's because it's perfectly legal for commercial fishers to catch species threatened with extinction. Additionally, seafood is not required to be labeled according to its species.

"This means that the 'fish', 'flake' or 'cod' that Australians typically order at the fish and chip shop could be critically endangered," lead researcher Leslie Roberson said in a news release.

"Australian seafood is not as sustainable as consumers would like to think, and it's definitely not in line with many of the large international conservation agreements that Australia has signed to protect threatened species and ecosystems," said Roberson, a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland.

Home to the Great Barrier Reef and tremendous marine biodiversity, Australia has earned a reputation for progressive marine conservation programming.

But according to the latest study, unsustainable seafood importation and consumption patterns can undermine conservation efforts at home.

"Australia imports around 75 per cent of the seafood we consume and is internationally regarded as having effective conservation and fisheries management policies," said study co-author Carissa Klein.

"When importing seafood from other places, we are displacing any social or environmental problems associated with fishing to that place, which is likely to have less capacity to sustainably manage its ocean," Klein, senior research fellow at the University of Queensland.

According to Roberson, Klein and their colleagues, the estimates for the number of threatened species currently being caught by commercial fisheries are quite conservative.

The study authors suggest that part of the problem is that the international seafood trade is highly complex, making it difficult to track and regulate. One part of a fish may be processed in China, but the rest may go to Europe, they said.

"A typical situation might look something like -- a fishing boat operating in Australian waters, owned by a Chinese company, with a crew of fishermen from the Philippines," Roberson said. "We don't know what we're eating -- it's really hard to trace seafood back to its origin and species because the industry is such a mess."

Researchers suggest trade and importation rules can be put in place to encourage Australians to eat more local seafood, which can be more easily regulated for sustainability. Australian-farmed abalone and wild-caught sardines are two seafood sources that could ease pressures on threatened fish species.

"Improving the sustainability of Australia's seafood trade policies could significantly benefit the ocean worldwide, as well as the billions of people that depend on a healthy ocean for their health and livelihoods," Klein said.

"It should be illegal to eat something that is threatened by extinction, especially species that are critically endangered -- if we can better coordinate fisheries and conservation policies, we can prevent it from happening," she said.

FALL AUTUMNAL EQUINOX MABON

 

World's largest pilots' union TELLS  asks U.S. to improve cockpit procedures for Boeing 737 MAX


By Eric M. Johnson, Allison Lampert and Tracy Rucinski

© Reuters/Asgeir Asgeirsson 

An inside view of the Icelandair Boeing 737 MAX training simulator in the TRU Flight Training Iceland in Reykjavik

By Eric M. Johnson, Allison Lampert and Tracy Rucinski


SEATTLE/MONTREAL/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. aviation regulator should require new cockpit procedures for Boeing Co's 737 MAX to help pilots disable an erroneous stall alert that could be a serious distraction during mid-flight emergencies, the world's largest pilot union said on Monday.

The proposal about an erroneous "stick shaker" alert is among recommendations the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) submitted during a 45-day public comment period for proposed 737 MAX design and operating changes laid out last month by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Monday was the deadline for comments.

The 737 MAX changes could pave the way for the FAA to lift a ban on the jet, potentially before year-end. The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide 18 months ago after crashes killed 346 people in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

In both crashes, pilots grappled with Boeing's flawed MCAS flight control system, which repeatedly forced down the jet's nose, and multiple audio and visual warnings that included the rapid and noisy rattling of their control column known as "stick shaker" and excess speed.

The proposals, which include recommendations for pilots during emergency situations, came during a U.S.-led gathering of regulators in the UK for a training review of the MAX.

While the FAA is in charge of certifying the MAX, other regulators like Transport Canada and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) could add different training requirements as part of their validation of the aircraft.

ALPA proposed steps that would allow flight crews to identify and pull a circuit breaker to stop the stick shaker after they confirm an alert is erroneous, echoing an earlier recommendation by Transport Canada.

Among other comments, the National Transportation Safety Board has called the FAA's proposed changes "positive progress," while crash victims' families have said Boeing's changes to MCAS do not address the jet's underlying aerodynamic problem.

Meanwhile, Boeing whistleblower Curtis Ewbank has urged additional protections, while the British Airlines Pilots Association has called for Boeing to add a third "angle of attack" sensor to the jet.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Writing by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by David Gregorio and Tom Brown)

Madrid opera canceled after audience revolts over social distancing concerns
IN DEFENSE OF PUBLIC HEALTH 
By Zamira Rahim and Renee Valdes

© Europa Press News/Getty Images/FILE The Teatro Real on June 5. In a statement, the theater said it was in full compliance with Madrid's health regulations.

A live audience is always difficult to impress, perhaps even more so in the age of social distancing.

An opera in Madrid was halted on Sunday night after audience members protested over concerns that seating was too crowded in the venue.

The Teatro Real in Spain's capital city was forced to cancel the performance of Giuseppe Verdi's "Un ballo in maschera" after a group of spectators staged a protest during the performance, eventually ending the show and closing the venue for the night.

Police officers were called to the site on Sunday.

The venue said Monday that it "greatly regrets what happened" but attributed the upset to shifts in the city's health regulations.

In July, the theater hosted performances of another Verdi opera, "La Traviata," and spaced out audience members by sealing off some chairs and placing empty chairs between each pair of occupied seats, it said.

But it relaxed its seating policy after the city eased coronavirus restrictions, allowing some venues to host bigger audiences. On Sunday, the Teatro Real was at 65% capacity, still below city guidelines that allow such venues to fill up to 75% of normal capacity, it said. Audience members were allowed to freely choose their seats, though they wore masks during the performance.

The Teatro Real on Monday acknowledged in a statement that some spectators had felt unsafe in their seats, "even if the current health regulations were scrupulously complied with, verified by the police who traveled to the [Teatro Real] last night."

The statement added: "The Teatro Real wants to reiterate its commitment to the health safety of the public, artists and workers, in which it has been working with dedication, responsibility and great energy, since April, with its own Medical Committee and scrupulous monitoring of the regulations of the Government of Spain and the Community of Madrid."

It also said the venue would "adopt all the necessary measures to make the audience feel safer [and would] also [reinforce] its communication with the public."

Madrid has seen a recent spike in coronavirus cases, accounting for approximately a third of all new cases, according to data from the Spanish Health Ministry. On Monday, strict distancing rules were imposed anew in several areas of the city.

Spain has now recorded more than 30,000 deaths since the start of the outbreak, with more than 600,000 total cases.