It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, June 08, 2021
A few common bacteria account for majority of carbon use in soil
IMAGE: BACTERIAL "MINERS " SHOWN IN RELIEF WORKING TO PROCESS SOIL NUTRIENTS, SOME MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN OTHERS. BRADYRHIZOBIUM, ONE OF THE THREE TOP NUTRIENT PROCESSORS IDENTIFIED IN THE STUDY, IS SHOWN HERE... view more
CREDIT: VICTOR O. LESHYK, CENTER FOR ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
Just a few bacterial taxa found in ecosystems across the planet are responsible for more than half of carbon cycling in soils. These new findings, made by researchers at Northern Arizona University and published in Nature Communications this week, suggest that despite the diversity of microbial taxa found in wild soils gathered from four different ecosystems, only three to six groups of bacteria common among these ecosystems were responsible for most of the carbon use that occurred.
Soil contains twice as much carbon as all vegetation on earth, and so predicting how carbon is stored in soil and released as CO2 is a critical calculation in understanding future climate dynamics. The research team, which included scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and West Virginia University, is asking how such key bacterial processes should be accounted for in earth system and climate models.
"We found that carbon cycling is really controlled by a few groups of common bacteria," said Bram Stone, a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University who led the study. "The sequencing era has delivered incredible insight into how diverse the microbial world is," said Stone, who is now at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "But our data suggest that when it comes to important functions like soil respiration, there might be a lot of redundancy built into the soil community. It's a few common, abundant actors who are making the most difference."
Those bacteria--Bradyrhizobium, the Acidobacteria RB41, and Streptomyces--were better than their rarer counterparts at using both existing soil carbon and nutrients added to the soil. When carbon and nitrogen were added, these already dominant lineages of bacteria consolidated their control of nutrients, gobbling up more and growing faster relative to other taxa present. Though the researchers identified thousands of unique organisms, and hundreds of distinct genera, or collections of species (for example, the genus Canis includes wolves, coyotes, and dogs), only six were needed to account for more than 50 percent of carbon use, and only three were responsible for more than half the carbon use in the nutrient-boosted soil.
Using water labeled with special isotopes of oxygen, Stone and his team sequenced DNA found in soil samples, following the oxygen isotopes to see which taxa incorporated it into their DNA, a signal that indicates growth. This technique, called quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP), allows scientists to track which bacteria are growing in wild soil at the level of individual taxa. Then the team accounted for the abundance of each taxon and modeled how efficiently bacteria consume soil carbon. The model that included taxonomic specificity, genome size, and growth predicted the measured CO2 release much more accurately than models that looked only at how abundant each bacterial group was. It also showed that just a few taxa produced most of the CO2 that the researchers observed.
"Better understanding how individual organisms contribute to carbon cycling has important implications for managing soil fertility and reducing uncertainty in climate change projections," said Kirsten Hofmockel, Microbiome Science Team Lead at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and a co-author of the study. "This research teases apart taxonomic and functional diversity of soil microorganisms and asks us to consider biodiversity in a new way."
"The microbial demographic data that this technique reveals lets us ask more nuanced questions," said Stone. "Where we used to characterize a microbial community by its dominant function, the way a whole state is often reported to have voted 'for' or 'against' a ballot proposition, now, with qSIP, we can see who is driving that larger pattern--the 'election results,' if you will--at the level of individual microbial neighborhoods, city blocks.
"In this way, we can start to identify which soil organisms are performing important functions, like carbon sequestration, and study those more closely."
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This research was supported by grants from the Department of Energy's Biological Systems Science Division Program in Genomic Science (Nos. DE-SC0016207 and DE-SCSC0020172), and by the National Science Foundation (No. DEB-1645596). Research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, via awards SCW1679 and SCW1590, conducted under the auspices of DOE Contract DE-AC52- 07NA27344. Research conducted at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, via awards FWP 68907 and FWP 74475, conducted under the auspices of DOE Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830.
How a Vietnamese raw pork snack could help us keep food fresh, naturally
Fermented meat snack is helping researchers develop a safe, all-natural food preservative
IMAGE: VIETNAMESE FERMENTED PORK SNACK, NEM CHUA. view more
CREDIT: RMIT UNIVERSITY
A traditional Vietnamese meat snack could hold the key to developing a safe and natural food preservative, addressing the twin global problems of food waste and food-borne illnesses.
Key Points
Bacteria-killing compound discovered in Nem Chua, a fermented pork snack
Toxic to bacteria but safe for humans, it's a natural alternative to artificial food preservatives
New study reveals ideal growth conditions to potentially make the bacteria-killer at industrial scales
The fermented pork snack, Nem Chua, is eaten raw but does not cause food poisoning when prepared correctly.
This is because friendly bacteria that thrive in the fermented meat make a special compound that destroys more dangerous bacteria.
Now researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have shown how this natural bacteria-killing compound could be used to keep food fresh for longer.
Food waste is a global issue that costs around $US680 billion annually in industrialised countries, consumes nearly a quarter of the water used in agriculture and produces 8% of global greenhouse emissions.
Food-borne diseases like Listeria or Salmonella affect millions each year and can be life threatening for pregnant women, older people and those who are immunocompromised.
Co-lead researcher Professor Oliver Jones said changes in consumer habits have led to a greater demand for natural alternatives to artificial food preservatives.
"Scientists have known about these bacteria-killing compounds for many years but the challenge is to produce them in large enough quantities to be used by the food industry," said Jones, Associate Dean of Biosciences and Food Technology at RMIT.
"The Nem Chua compound is colourless, odourless, tasteless and very resilient.
"Through this new research, we've identified the right growth conditions that would enable us to make it in large amounts, potentially at industrial scales.
"With further development, we hope this could be an effective, safe and all-natural solution for both food waste and food-borne disease."
Bacteria-killing weapon
A team of RMIT researchers was inspired to investigate Nem Chua for its potential antibacterial properties after travelling to Vietnam and observing people eating the raw meat snack without getting sick, despite the hot and humid climate.
The team, led by Professor Andrew Smith (now at Griffith University) and Dr Bee May, discovered a new type of bacteria-killing compound in Nem Chua.
Plantacyclin B21AG is one of a group of compounds known as bacteriocins, which are produced by bacteria to destroy rival bacterial strains.
Bacteriocins form holes in the membranes of target bacteria. This causes the contents of the cell to leak out - effectively killing the bacteria.
The problem is most bacteriocins only work against one or two types of bacteria and they are not very stable in different environmental conditions.
Only one - Nisin, which came to market in the 1960s - is currently licensed for use as a food preservative, in a market estimated to be worth more than $US513 million in 2020, but this compound is temperature and pH sensitive limiting its use.
Tough and effective
The Nem Chua-derived compound is more robust than Nisin and is effective against a wide range of bacteria even after exposure to a range of environments typical in food processing.
It can survive being heated to 90C for 20 minutes and remains stable across high and low pH levels.
The compound can also destroy a range of disease-causing organisms commonly found in food including potentially life-threating Listeria, which can survive refrigeration and even freezing.
Co-lead researcher Dr Elvina Parlindungan, who completed the new study as part of her PhD research at RMIT, is now a postdoctoral fellow at APC Microbiome, part of University College Cork in Ireland.
"Using bacteriocins as food preservatives effectively means we are turning bacteria's own toxic weapons against them - harnessing nature's smart solutions to tackle our big challenges," Parlindungan said.
"In the future, these compounds might also be useful as an antibiotic in human medicine."
Researchers at RMIT's School of Science have begun experimenting with methods to further purify the compound and are planning to incorporate it into test food products.
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The team is keen to collaborate with potential industry partners to further develop the technology.
This work was supported by a PhD scholarship from the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), part of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, awarded to Parlindungan.
Listeria bacteria (green) dying after exposure to Plantacyclin B21AG. The bumps visible on many of the cells are the cell contents beginning to leak out.
CREDIT
Dr Elvina Parlindungan
CAPTION
Left: Listeria bacteria, alive and with intact cell membranes. Right: The same bacteria after exposure to Plantacyclin B21AG, dead and with the cell membranes destroyed.
CREDIT
Dr Elvina Parlindungan
'Asian American': A rallying cry that united Asians in the 1960s but is it still relevant?
How Asian Americans' public policy opinions are divided by generation and national origin, especially on immigration
IMAGE: SIMPLIFIED PROFILES OF CLASSES COMPILED BY SUNMIN KIM BASED ON DATA FROM THE NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN SURVEY. view more
CREDIT: TABLE PROVIDED BY SUNMIN KIM.
The recent attacks against Asian Americans have put Asians in the U.S. in the spotlight. Many of the victims are first-generation immigrants in ethnic communities, while those rallying for the victims are second-generation Asian Americans. A new Dartmouth study explores who Asian Americans are today and the range of identities this category encompasses.
The study, by Sunmin Kim, an assistant professor of sociology at Dartmouth, is based on 2016 pre-election survey data and found that Asian Americans tend to have progressive opinions about public policy, including on healthcare, education, climate change, and racial justice, but diverge on views toward Muslim immigration.
As previous research has reported, in 1968, the pan-ethnic category, "Asian American" was born, as Chinese students and Japanese students at University of California, Berkeley, wanted a collective term to refer to both their student associations that could be used to help mobilize their political action. As a result, they established the Asian American Political Alliance, for which a chapter was also created at San Francisco State College.
"With the rise of radical social movements in the 1960s, the term 'Asian Americans' gained further traction as Asians protested domestic racism and the Vietnam War, often viewing both racism and U.S. intervention in Vietnam as originating from imperialism," says Kim. "If the category Asian American can be created, then a logical extension of that argument is that it can also be broken down, reversed or remade in a different context."
To determine whether Asian Americans still rally behind a common cause, the study drew on data from the 2016 pre-election National Asian American Survey (NAAS). With over 3,100 respondents representing nine national origin and ethnic groups in the U.S. (Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Hmong, Cambodian, and Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander), and interviews conducted in English and 10 other languages, as well as comparison data on whites, Blacks, and Latinos, the survey is one of the most comprehensive of its kind. Kim's research focused on the data from the nine Asian groups.
Participants in the NAAS survey were asked seven questions on public policy. Did they support or oppose: the healthcare law passed by Barack Obama and Congress in 2010; federal government spending to make public colleges tuition-free; accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S.; legal possession of small amounts of marijuana; banning Muslim immigrants from entering the U.S.; establishing stricter emissions limits for power plants; and government initiatives to give Blacks equal rights with whites?
The results showed that Asian Americans support the Affordable Care Act, free college tuition, emissions limits for power plants, and racial equality initiatives for Blacks. However, 18% supported the Muslim travel ban, 31% opposed accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S. and 49% opposed the legalization of marijuana.
"Although Asian Americans are often Democrat-leaning, their liberal views are somewhat dampened when it comes to questions on Muslim immigration and Syrian refugees as compared to their opinions on other liberal public policies," says Kim.
The results indicated that Asian Americans with reservations about immigration are more likely to be foreign born than native born and less educated, as opposed to progressives, who are more likely to be born in the U.S.
"There's a considerable number of Asian Americans who are leaning towards these ideas of anti-immigrant sentiment even though they are immigrants themselves," says Kim. "This divergence is one that political candidates may be inclined to tap into in the future, as they work to build a larger coalition. This was the case with Sery Kim, a Korean-American Republican, who delivered anti-Chinese remarks in March during her campaign for Texas' 6th Congressional District."
The research by Sunmin Kim also found that Asian Americans were more liberal than native whites, just as liberal as Latinos, and less liberal than Blacks.
As part of the analysis, the study applied a statistical technique designed to develop a typology, which is similar to the way that we perceive different types of people in various contexts. The analysis revealed two distinct subgroups of Asian Americans:
There are the second- or third-generation Asian Americans who are young, liberal, college educated, middle class, and racially conscious. These individuals may be of East Asian and Indian descent. Kim speculates that this group includes professionals such as lawyers and doctors, who live in the big cities such San Francisco or New York City and are integrated physically into white residential areas and working spaces.
There is also an older, first-generation of Asian American immigrants who were born outside the U.S. and are relatively more conservative. They are more likely to be men than women and are of Southeast Asian heritage, such as Cambodian or Vietnamese. Kim speculates that members of this group may not be proficient in English.
"While many second-generation immigrants today may identify with the Asian American label, if you ask a first- generation immigrant what they think of the term, they probably will be more inclined to identify with their national origin, rather than being associated with such a commonality," says Kim.
"There's a generational divide among Asian Americans, which is ironically present in the recent attacks on Asian Americans: the older, more conservative first-generation immigrants have often been the victims of these attacks rather than the younger, more liberal and highly educated second-generation," adds Kim.
The study reports that, according to The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee at the University of Minnesota, the Asian American category comprises 24 ethnic groups, each with a distinct culture. As Kim explains in the conclusion of his paper, understanding division within Asian Americans is essential to sustaining the politics of this category and to addressing differences and inequality among Asian Americans today.
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Plant-based and/or fish diets may help lessen severity of COVID-19 infection
Associated with 73% and 59% lower odds, respectively, of moderate to severe disease
Plant-based and/or fish (pescatarian) diets may help lower the odds of developing moderate to severe COVID-19 infection, suggest the findings of a six-country study, published in the online journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health.
They were associated with 73% and 59% lower odds, respectively, of severe disease, the findings indicate.
Several studies have suggested that diet might have an important role in symptom severity and illness duration of COVID-19 infection. But, as yet, there's little evidence to confirm or refute this theory.
To explore this further, the researchers drew on the survey responses of 2884 frontline doctors and nurses with extensive exposure to SARS-CO-v2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 infection, working in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US.
The participants were all part of a global network of healthcare professionals registered with the Survey Healthcare Globus network for healthcare market research. The researchers used this network to identify clinicians at high risk of COVID-19 infection as a result of their jobs.
The online survey, which ran between July and September 2020, was designed to elicit detailed information about respondents' dietary patterns, based on a 47-item food frequency questionnaire, over the previous year, and the severity of any COVID-19 infections they had had, using objective criteria.
The survey also gathered information on personal background, medical history, medication use, and lifestyle.
The various diets were combined into plant-based (higher in vegetables, legumes, and nuts, and lower in poultry and red and processed meats); pescatarian/plant-based (as above, but with added fish/seafood); and low carb-high protein diets.
Some 568 respondents (cases) said they had had symptoms consistent with COVID-19 infection or no symptoms but a positive swab test for the infection; 2316 said they hadn't had any symptoms/tested positive (comparison group).
Among the 568 cases, 138 clinicians said they had had moderate to severe COVID-19 infection; the remaining 430 said they had had very mild to mild COVID-19 infection.
After factoring in several potentially influential variables, including age, ethnicity, medical specialty, and lifestyle (smoking, physical activity), respondents who said they ate plant-based diets' or plant-based/pescatarian diets had, respectively, 73% and 59% lower odds of moderate to severe COVID-19 infection, compared with those who didn't have these dietary patterns.
And compared with those who said they ate a plant-based diet, those who said they ate a low carb-high protein diet had nearly 4 times the odds of moderate to severe COVID-19 infection.
These associations held true when weight (BMI) and co-existing medical conditions were also factored in.
But no association was observed between any type of diet and the risk of contracting COVID-19 infection or length of the subsequent illness.
This is an observational study, and so can't establish cause, only correlation. It also relied on individual recall rather than on objective assessments, and the definition of certain dietary patterns may vary by country, point out the researchers.
Men outnumbered women in the study, so the findings may not be applicable to women, they add.
But plant-based diets are rich in nutrients, especially phytochemicals (polyphenols, carotenoids), vitamins and minerals, all of which are important for a healthy immune system, say the researchers.
And fish is an important source of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, both of which have anti-inflammatory properties, they add.
"Our results suggest that a healthy diet rich in nutrient dense foods may be considered for protection against severe COVID-19," they conclude.
"The trends in this study are limited by study size (small numbers with a confirmed positive test) and design (self-reporting on diet and symptoms) so caution is needed in the interpretation of the findings," comments Deputy Chair of the NNEdPro Nutrition and COVID-19 Taskforce, Shane McAuliffe.
"However, a high quality diet is important for mounting an adequate immune response, which in turn can influence susceptibility to infection and its severity."
He adds:"This study highlights the need for better designed prospective studies on the association between diet, nutritional status and COVID-19 outcomes."
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Externally peer reviewed? Yes Evidence type: Observational; survey data Subjects: People
E-scooter injuries most likely at weekends and after alcohol-fueled risk-taking
Much stricter regulation and technical modifications to design required to lessen injury risk
E-scooter injuries are most likely to occur at the weekend and after alcohol-fuelled risk taking, such as kerb jumping, reveals an analysis of the pattern and timing of these injuries in one European city, and published online in Emergency Medicine Journal.
Much stricter regulations on the use of e-scooters, plus technical modifications to their design, are required to lessen the risk of injury, say the researchers.
E-scooters have become popular in major European cities since their initial licensing in June 2019, prompted by their ready availability and environmental concerns.
With 3.8 million residents and almost 14 million tourists every year, Berlin was chosen by e-scooter manufacturers as a test site for short-distance journeys ('micromobility'). And in September 2019, more than 11,000 e-scooters entered circulation in the city.
Few studies have looked at the patterns of injury associated with e-scooter use in European cities. To plug this knowledge gap, the researchers looked at e-scooter injuries treated at four emergency departments in central Berlin for the six months between June and December 2019.
At two of the emergency departments, injured patients were asked to fill in questionnaires on the likely cause of the incident, previous experience with e-scooters, possession of a driving licence, whether they had been drinking before the incident, and whether they had worn a helmet.
During the 6-month study period, 248 patients were treated at the four emergency departments after sustaining an e-scooter injury.
The riders' average age was 29, but ranged from 5 to 81, with the bulk of injuries occurring in those aged between 26 and 40. Just over half the patients were male (52%). Nearly six out of 10 (58%) were resident Berliners; 41% were tourists.
Most incidents (75%) occurred between July and September, peaking between noon and 18:00 hours (40%) and between 18:00 hours and midnight (29%).
E-scooter injuries were also higher at the weekend (58%) than on weekdays. In 20 patients (8%), the incidents happened on the way to or from work.
The primary cause of the injury was falling off the scooter because of loss of control, due to not paying attention, single handed driving, kerb jumping, inexperience, or going too fast.
Injuries were also caused by contact with the sharp edges or protruding screws of the e-scooter during acceleration or when pushing off from the ground or while trying to brake.
Pedestrians were injured in 12 cases (5%), either by getting hit by an e-scooter (9) or by tripping over a parked vehicle (3).
Leg and arm injuries were recorded in 178 patients and made up most of the injuries (72%). Thirteen of the 17 patients with a leg fracture required surgery; but most leg injuries were soft tissue injuries.
Arms were more likely to be fractured than legs (17% vs 6%); 21 of these patients (8%) required surgery. Four people dislocated a shoulder.
Head injuries (135) were sustained by 101 patients: soft tissue injuries (27%); fractures (19%); and tooth damage (17%). One patient had a brain bleed. Thirty two (13%) also had a traumatic brain injury of mild severity, 22 of whom were admitted to hospital.
In total, 1 in 4 patients (61;25%) was admitted to hospital: 57 of them (23%) required surgery, with the average stay lasting 3 days, but ranging from 1-12 days.
Of the 120 patients who filled in the questionnaire, two thirds (82; 68%) had a driving licence and around half (58; 48%) had driven an e-scooter before.
One in five patients (49; 20%) tested positive on the alcohol breath test; 15 of them had sustained traumatic brain injury (31%).
A positive breath test was associated with a fivefold increase in the odds of traumatic brain injury and a doubling in the odds of hospital admission, even if the drivers were experienced in handling e-scooters.
Previous experience with e-scooters was associated with a threefold increase in the odds of traumatic brain injury. Only 1% of riders wore a helmet.
The researchers acknowledge that their study was confined to four central emergency departments in one city and that patients at only two of the emergency departments filled in the questionnaire.
Nevertheless, the study reports on the largest cohort of patients involved in e-scooter incidents in Europe, they point out.
Their findings prompt the researchers to call for much tighter regulations for e-scooter users. "These should include the wearing of helmets, an age limit of 18 years, a ban on alcohol and a strict adherence to traffic regulations, such as avoiding driving on pavements," they write.
"By performing technical modifications to the e-scooter platforms, providers can help to eliminate an additional source of injury," they add.
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Externally peer reviewed? Yes Evidence type: Observational Subjects: People
Global youth draft 'Blue New Deal' to protect oceans: 'Time to end generational injustice'
Seek public comment on global youth crowd-sourced ocean policy framework to balance ocean, human, climate, and economic health
YOUTH POLICY ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE
IMAGE: THE SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE IS A GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF YOUTH, ENTREPRENEURS, AND EXPERTS IN THEIR FIELD, COLLABORATING TO SOLVE THE GREATEST CHALLENGES FACING OUR OCEAN. THE SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE IS A... view more
CREDIT: SOA
Concerned youths worldwide today delivered a policy vision for policy-makers to address the declining state of the world's ocean.
A carbon neutral economy, preserving biodiversity, achieving sustainable seafood production, and reforming ocean governance are the four fundamental pillars supporting policy recommendations debuted in the Global Blue New Deal, an ocean policy framework built around crowd-sourced youth priorities.
"Healthy oceans are essential to human survival and well-being, and environmental health must be a global priority as we recover from the pandemic and build a sustainable blue economy," says Mark Haver, Chair of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance's Youth Policy Advisory Council.
He and 14 fellow Young Ocean Leaders on the Council spent a year gathering and synthesizing more than 100 survey responses in five languages from the SOA global youth community in 38 countries on how to end the cycle of ocean decline.
"Today's oceans are overfished, rife with plastic, and overexploited for minerals, fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources. We need to end this cycle of decline and generational injustice that threatens us all."
Today, June 7, 2021, is the first step of integrating public comment into the Global Blue New Deal. Our event, "Defining The Blue New Deal: A Youth Led Workshop For The Future of Our Ocean," seeks to collect feedback on our framework from youth and stakeholders ahead of larger public comment periods.
Starting in July, our public comment period seeks to engage the UN Major Group for Youth and Children, UN Ocean Decade affiliates, the NGO sector, more youth, and other ocean stakeholders in gathering input ahead of our official launch of the final Global Blue New Deal before COP26.
The Global Blue New Deal consists of four pillars. Each pillar has sub-pillars with specific ocean policy solutions.
In brief:
Pillar 1
Carbon Neutrality: Transition to a Zero Carbon Future
Limiting carbon emissions is of utmost importance to preserve ocean health due to its impact on ocean acidification levels, marine biodiversity, sea level rise and livelihoods of coastal communities, especially in Small Island Developing States.
Subpillars:
End offshore drilling and invest in renewable ocean energy, in accordance with a recent International Energy Agency report stating there is "no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net-zero pathway."
Decarbonize the shipping industry, which produces approximately 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and use revenues from economic tools such as carbon pricing to research and develop zero-carbon shipping.
Reduce land-based marine pollution which is responsible for about 80% of all marine pollution. Halt or curb manufacturing and use of plastic nurdles (small beads used in various products), plastic bags, and microplastics through use of bans, taxes, and other disincentives.
Transition to a circular economy to shift from today's linear take-make-waste model to a sustainable economic system where we reduce what we take and reuse and recycle what we already have.
Strengthen legislation and enforcement against ocean contamination to build accountability and affirm commitments to the London Protocol.
Pillar 2
Preserve Biodiversity: Apply Nature-based Solutions to Promote Healthy Ecosystems and Climate Resilience
Prioritize conservation of the planet's ecosystems, which remove carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases from our atmosphere while providing cleaner air and water, reducing coastal erosion, bolstering climate resilience and providing habitat.
Subpillars:
Support the global movement to protect 30% of the world's ocean by 2030 and establish Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) with a robust scientific foundation and "no-take zones" where extractive activities are prohibited.
Enforce against non-compliance in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to prevent "paper parks."
Establish a global moratorium against deep-sea mining -- an unjustified threat to unique deep-sea biodiversity.
Transition from "gray" manmade infrastructure, such as culverts and seawalls, to nature-based blue carbon infrastructure including the restoration of wetlands, mangroves, marshes, oyster reefs, coral reefs, kelp forests, and the installation of living shorelines to sequester carbon and promote biodiversity.
Pillar 3:
Sustainable Seafood: Match Increasing Global Demand Sustainably
With one-third of global fish stocks overfished and climate change exacerbating the pressures placed on already vulnerable fish populations, feeding future generations depends on the viability of ocean ecosystems.
Subpillars:
Encourage sustainable governance of capture fisheries to sustainably manage the fish stocks within and outside countries' Exclusive Economic Zones, and adopt precautionary and ecosystems-based approaches to fisheries management.
Enforce against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing with clear supply chain inspection processes to certify the origin and legality of the fish landing in ports. Direct greater funding and technological support (including Vessel Monitoring Systems) to detect IUU fishing.
Eliminate capacity-enhancing fisheries subsidies, amounting today to tens of billions of dollars that promote overfishing, and redirect the funds to fisheries management and research, marine protected areas, and increased economic opportunity for coastal communities.
Provide a sustainable path for aquaculture, with low-impact production and feed supply to ensure that as we feed ourselves, we can also feed the generations of tomorrow.
Fund research and development of plant-based and cell-cultured seafood, to provide an alternative supply while assessing potential risks and benefits.
Pillar 4:
Stakeholder Engagement: Include Local Communities in Natural Ocean Resource Management
Ocean governance should be built on sound legal and institutional mechanisms that are horizontally integrated to ensure full transparency in decision-making processes and building self-sufficient community management.
Subpillars:
Ensure the sustainability of coastal ecotourism, where current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts are taken into full account with full stakeholder participation. Create financial incentives to support the most sustainable ecotourism companies and incentivize others to become more and more sustainable.
Promote ocean research and innovation to scale ocean solutions and map 100% of the global seafloor by 2030.
Emphasize ocean literacy and capacity building to build the skills and networks for effective leadership, policy development, stakeholder engagement, and communication to conserve and protect oceans through community management.
Build stakeholder participation in ocean governance, embrace inclusion and diversity, and involve as many stakeholders as possible in management of marine and coastal ecosystems, particularly those who are directly affected.
Background
Young Ocean Leaders, all under 35 years of age, are part of SOA's global community of youth, entrepreneurs, and experts from 165 countries and territories -- the world's largest youth-led network of ocean allies working to solve the greatest challenges facing our oceans.
"Youth are the greatest stakeholders in the future health of the ocean environment," says Marina Porto of Brazil, Co-Chair of the Youth Policy Advisory Council. "They need to be directly involved in building a sustainable blue economy that ensures the health of the ocean ecosystem while providing economic opportunities."
The United Nations has recognized the increasingly degraded state of our ocean and declared 2021-2030 a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which officially launched June 1.
The UN has called on global ocean stakeholders to develop and support a common framework to deliver "the ocean we need for the future we want".
The ocean provides an estimated USD $3 to $6 trillion in ecosystem services, jobs, and cultural services. Fisheries and aquaculture alone contribute USD$100 billion per year and 250+ million jobs.
"We see this as our opportunity to rewrite the long history of an increasingly compromised ocean," concluded Mark Haver. "Each generation has inherited an increasingly degraded ocean environment with the poorest, most vulnerable communities feeling the impacts the most severely."
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SOA's Youth Policy Advisory Council (YPAC) is comprised of 15 Young Ocean Leaders recognized for their policy acumen and dedication to furthering environmental regulation in their region.
North America / Caribbean
Mark Haver YPAC Chair, USA Mark is an ocean policy and communications advisor based in Washington, DC. He's been active at the intersection of youth organizing, ocean climate policy, and politics. Mark has been involved with SOA for four years and has been driving the development of the Blue New Deal to rally global youth around an intergenerational call for a healthy ocean and just future.
Nicolas P Florestal Haiti Nicolas has successfully worked on establishing Haiti's first official network of Marine Protected Areas and has worked in them as an ecodiver since 2011.
Latin and South America
Marina Porto YPAC Co-Chair, Brazil Marina has engaged in several projects related to sustainable production and consumption, climate change and marine litter. She holds a masters degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and is a sustainability consultant at Sofies UK.
Diwigdi Valiente Panama Diwi is a member of the indigenous Guna people of Central America, whose islands may disappear under the rising sea within his lifetime. He develops and leads initiatives to raise awareness and inspire political action against climate change and plastic pollution in Panama.
Europe
Leonie Meier YPAC Secretary, Germany Leonie is passionate about the ocean, having researched microplastic pollution for her Master's thesis. She has worked on a wide range of environmental and sustainability issues for various UN organizations and the public sector in Germany.
Lucie Guirkinger Belgium Half-French, half-Colombian, Lucie is a passionate marine conservationist who recently graduated from the University of Cambridge where she investigated fishers' non-compliance and how this can be addressed. She has also managed several projects on corals, sharks, rays and turtles.
Africa
Pauline Owiti Kenya Pauline has been serving as a Project Lead in initiatives that aim to declare the Arctic Ocean as a Marine Protected Area. She currently serves as the National Coordinator of Kenya at the United Nations Conference of Youth, the Kenya Coordinator at Extinction Rebellion, and part of Kenya Youth Biodiversity Network.
Emerson Neves Mozambique Emerson works for the Marine Megafauna Foundation in Mozambique. He has been recognized as a 2021 Top 100 Young African Conservation Leader, a 2021 Climate Ambassador with the Global Youth Climate Network through the World Bank, and a 2020 Disney Conservation Hero.
Oceania and Small-Island Developing States
Jeremy Raguain Seychelles Life in Seychelles depends on the ocean. Jeremy works with the Seychelles Islands Foundation, a non-profit organisation which manages Seychelles' UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In this role, and through his volunteering with Global Shapers and SOA, Jeremy contributes his efforts towards SDGs 13, 14 and 17 through evidence based management with environmental justice in mind.
Alanna Smith Cook Islands Alanna, who works for the environmental NGO 'Te Ipukarea Society,' has actively opposed Cook Islands seabed mining, worked on Marine Spatial Planning projects and biodiversity surveys, and helped raise public awareness of plastic pollution.
Asia
Surangika Jayarathne Sri Lanka Surangika works as a researcher in the areas of sustainable blue economy, climate change and maritime security in South Asia.
Lu Fang China Lu Fang leads the seafood sustainability assessment effort of an NGO, the Qingdao Marine Conservation Society. She also provides scientific and analytical support to several sustainable fisheries and aquaculture projects.
Roger Joseph (Rocky) Guzman Philippines Rocky is a lawyer and ocean policy specialist involved with environmental non-profits, where he handled policy campaigns related to fisheries management and ending illegal fishing, marine conservation and strengthening the rule of law.
Fidan Karimova Azerbaijan Fidan works to bridge the gap between water and wastewater utility needs and available technologies. She has helped entrepreneurs worldwide to bring ideas to market. A University of Maryland graduate with a Bachelor's degree in business and a Master's in environmental management, Fidan is an avid ocean supporter and artist.
Andreas Aditya Salim Indonesia Andreas is a lawyer dedicated to eradicating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and improvement of ocean management in Indonesia. He served as a legal counsel for the Commander of the Republic of Indonesia's Presidential Task Force to Combat Illegal Fishing for four years prior to his participation in the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. He obtained his law degree from the University of Indonesia and is enrolled in the Berkeley Law LL.M. program
Projected acidification of the Great Barrier Reef could be offset by ten years
New research has shown that by injecting an alkalinizing agent into the ocean along the length of the Great Barrier Reef, it would be possible, at the present rate of anthropogenic carbon emissions, to offset ten years' worth of ocean acidification.
The research, by CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart, used a high-resolution model developed for the Great Barrier Reef region to study the impact of artificial ocean alkalinization on the acidity of the waters in the Great Barrier Reef. The study is based on the use of existing shipping infrastructure to inject a source of alkalinity into the ocean, which could also be considered as an acceleration of the chemical weathering of minerals through natural processes. Their results are published today in the IOP Publishing journal Environmental Research Letters.
The Great Barrier Reef is a globally significant coral reef system that supports productive and diverse ecosystems. At present, it is facing unprecedented stress from ocean warming, tropical cyclones, sediment and nutrient runoff, marine pests, and ocean acidification. Among these stressors, ocean acidification represents one of the most significant threats to the long-term viability of the reef, since it impacts the ability of the corals to build and repair their hard structures and recover from bleaching events.
In response to the declining health of coral reef ecosystems, a wide range of potential intervention concepts and technologies are currently under consideration, with the goal of minimising environmental pressures and enhancing the resilience of the coral reef ecosystem. These include active and direct environmental engineering approaches, such as artificial ocean alkalinization, a technique to offset or ameliorate the changes associated with ocean acidification and enhance oceanic carbon uptake. Essentially, artificial ocean alkalinization involves adding a source of alkalinity, such as olivine, to seawater, thereby "reversing" the shift in the carbon chemistry equilibrium process that occurs when the ocean takes up anthropogenic carbon. Olivine is an abundant mineral resource, which is already mined near the Great Barrier Reef.
The goal of this study was to investigate the reduction of the impact of ocean acidification on a scale hitherto unconsidered. According to the authors, "The majority of the artificial ocean alkalinization modeling studies to date have focused on the potential for alkalinization as a carbon dioxide removal technique. Few studies have explored the role of alkalinization with a focus on offsetting the changes associated with ocean acidification at a regional scale." The study therefore used a recently developed 4 km-resolution coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model, validated for the Great Barrier Reef region, which allowed the simulation of the impact of the alkalinity injection on individual reefs along the length of the Great Barrier Reef (~2,000 km) for the first time. The results showed that by releasing the alkalinizing agent from an existing shipping lane, the resulting de-acidification would reach almost the whole of the Great Barrier Reef.
This report describes the novel and timely use of a regional model as a testbed for an ocean acidification mitigation technique. The study found that, by assuming the use of existing shipping infrastructure (a bulk carrier releasing 30 000 tons per day) as the alkalinity delivery mechanism, artificial ocean alkalinization would offset or ameliorate the projected acidification by ten years on 250 reefs. In doing so, it would also sequester 35,000 t of carbon in the ocean per year, or 0.0001% of the current global CO2 emissions.
