INTERNATIONALISM

HKU remote sensing and landscape scholars reveal global wildfire risk trends in Wildland-Urban Interface areas (1985-2020)

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

 

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GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF WUIS. (A) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF GLOBAL WUI AREAS, (B) ZOOMED-IN SUBSETS OF INTERMIX WUI AND INTERFACE WUI AREAS AND (C) GLOBAL URBAN AREAS OVERLAID ON HIGH-RESOLUTION SATELLITE IMAGERY ACROSS DIFFERENT CONTINENTS IN 2020.

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CREDIT: THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Wildfires present complex socio-economic and ecological challenges, as they devastate vegetation, endanger communities, and cause extensive environmental, wildlife, and human health impacts. These consequences include severe air pollution and soaring firefighting costs.

Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) areas, which are transition zones between wilderness and human-developed land, are particularly susceptible to wildfires. The risk is heightened due to flammable vegetation and the effects of climate change, such as rising temperatures and frequent heatwaves. Consequently, mitigating wildfire risks has become a global priority.

Although WUIs are known to be densely populated by wildfires, there is still a significant knowledge gap regarding their spatial and temporal characteristics, as well as their global wildfire exposure risks. Recently, researchers from HKU, in collaboration with leading interdisciplinary teams from UC Davis, Yale, Utah and Tsinghua, unveiled pioneering mapping results that show a significant surge in global WUIs over the past 35 years (1985-2020).

Published in Nature Sustainability, this groundbreaking research provides reliable, spatially explicit WUI mapping and quantifies WUI – wildfire interaction under climate change. The findings offer essential insights for effective fire management, resilient community development, and global insurance regulations.

The research team has introduced an innovative method for mapping interfaces with crucial human-nature conflicts, using data from Meta for building footprints and data from satellite-derived land cover classification products for wildland vegetation to examine the interaction between houses and nature.

The researchers utilised these detailed and high-resolution data to assess the proximity of buildings to vegetations from 1985 to 2020, revealing the expansive coverage of global WUI areas prone to wildfires, which span a total of 6.62 million square kilometres in 2020. A time-series analysis from 1985 to 2020 also indicates a substantial 12.56% increase of WUIs over 35 years.

Comparing this information with wildfire history, they estimated potential impacts of wildfires on human settlements within WUIs in various scenarios: directly, with a buffer of 2,400 metres and with a buffer of 4,800 metres from wildfires. Their analysis uncovered that globally, 0.83% of WUIs housing 0.27 million people directly experienced wildfire risks.

Moreover, 7.07% and 12.54% of WUI areas housing 4.47 million and 10.11 million people face potential wildfire threats within a 2,400-metre and 4,800-metre buffer zone, respectively.

“This underscores a significant at-risk demographic even at a distance from the actual wildfire, emphasising the profound implications for community safety and integrity of infrastructure in the potential far-reaching risks from wildfires.” Professor Bin Chen, the principal investigator of this research and Assistant Professor in the Division of Landscape Architecture at HKU explained.

Regionally, the United States, Brazil, China, India, and Australia host most WUI areas, while African countries face heightened wildfire risk despite a comparatively lower WUI extent.

“Our research contributes to an advanced understanding of the spatiotemporal patterns observed in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) areas and their associated wildfire risk. This knowledge equips policymakers and stakeholders with the insights to strategically allocate resources and implement tailored measures to protect vulnerable communities.” Professor Chen added.

In this study, Professor Chen emphasised the vital differentiation of two WUI distribution subcategories—Interface WUI and Intermix WUI, each reflecting distinct wildfire characteristics and illustrating varying degrees of potential wildfire risk. Interface WUI, where housing is near dense wildland vegetation, is spatially delineated on the WUI map, while Intermix WUI is where housing and wilderness closely intermingle. Notably, in areas designated as Intermix WUIs, the risk of wildfires is higher. This distinction in spatial patterns helps us better understand and quantify the comparative risks associated with different types of WUIs.

Professor Chris Webster, Dean of HKU Faculty of Architecture, highlighted the timeliness of the team’s findings: “The intensification of global warming, urban sprawl, and the extensive road network expansion at the natural boundaries of cities pose unprecedented challenges for wildfire prevention in the future. This research provides a keen insight into the surface changes of global WUI and the mechanisms of fire risk. It timely offers a forward-looking global reference for short, medium, and long-term wildfire risk mitigation under a changing climate, especially for WUI residents, including vulnerable groups.”

Professor Peng Gong, Chair Professor of Global Sustainability at the Department of Geography and the Department of Earth Sciences, Vice-President (Academic Development) of HKU, also stressed the significance of this research: “This study aims for an interdisciplinary collaboration to address challenges at the critical WUI areas imposed by human settlement expansion, climate change, and natural hazards. Scholars in remote sensing, landscape, earth system modelling, and economic geography have standardised multidimensional data combined with state-of-the-art mapping methods. This collaborative effort has filled the gap in a comprehensive global spatiotemporal distribution of WUIs over the past three decades, solidifying a structural foundation for global wildfire risk assessments. The insights gained can guide land-use planning and development decisions, promoting sustainable urban growth while effectively mitigating wildfire risks”.

The full paper can be accessed at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01291-0.

About the research team
This research was led by Professor Bin Chen, Director of Future Urbanity & Sustainable Environment (FUSE) Lab, Division of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, HKU. The collaborative team includes Dr Shengbiao Wu, Research Assistant Professor, Division of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, HKU; Professor Yufang Jin, University of California Davis; Dr Yimeng Song, Postdoctoral Researcher, Yale University; Dr Chao Wu, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Utah; Professor Sergey Venevsky and Professor Bing Xu, Tsinghua University; Professor Chris Webster, HKUrbanLabs, Faculty of Architecture, HKU; and Professor Peng Gong, Department of Geography and Department of Earth Sciences, HKU.

This study is supported by The University of Hong Kong HKU-100 Scholars Fund, Seed Fund for Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Scheme Fund, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong Early Career Scheme (HKU27600222), General Research Fund (HKU17601423), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFB3903703), National Natural Science Foundation of China / Research Grants Council Joint Research Scheme (N_HKU722/23), HKU Business School Shenzhen Research Institutes, Croucher Foundation, International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS2022GSP04, CBAS2022ORP02), and National Natural Science Foundation of China Major Research Plan (42090015).

About the FUSE Lab
FUSE Lab aims to leverage geospatial and remote sensing big data, data-model fusion, and advanced interdisciplinary approaches to investigate the interaction loops between urban environmental change, human activities, and public health, with the ultimate goal of contributing to sustainable development. FUSE lab’s research focuses on four primary directions: (1) Urban and Natural Environmental Changes; (2) Human-Environment Spatiotemporal Interaction; (3) Impact of Human Activities and Environmental Changes on Public Health; and (4) Urban Environment Improvement Theory and Adaptation Pathways.

To promote knowledge exchange, more recent research activities can be viewed through https://fuselab.hku.hk/

Statistics of global WUI areas at the country level.

Examples of Interface WUI (left; Birdsboro, Philadelphia) and Intermix WUI

 (right; Placerville, California). Data source from Google Earth imagery.

Building footprint (left, source: META) and land cover classification 

(right, source: ESA WorldCover) in the same area of North California

CREDIT

The University of Hong Kong

JOURNAL

Nature Sustainability

DOI

10.1038/s41893-024-01291-0 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Wildfire risk for global wildland–urban interface areas

 

First experimental evidence of the dominant contribution of intermediate volatility compounds to biomass-burning organic aerosols

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

 

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INTERMEDIATE VOLATILITY COMPOUNDS DOMINATE THE SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOL FORMATION. ON THE LEFT, THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF DIFFERENT ORGANIC GASES TO BIOMASS-BURNING SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOL ARE SHOWN, INDICATING THE DOMINANT CONTRIBUTION (~70%) OF INTERMEDIATE VOLATILITY ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (IVOCS). ON THE RIGHT IS THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THESE IVOCS.

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CREDIT: ©SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

Biomass burning, including wildfires and residential heating, emits a variety of air pollutants and has a series of negative impacts on the environment. Biomass burning is one of the world's largest sources of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols, and the transport and evolution of these pollutants in the atmosphere affect stratospheric ozone, radiation balance, cloud formation, etc. With global warming, the frequency and intensity of wildfires keep increasing, and the environmental impact of biomass burning has become increasingly important.

The latest research published in National Science Review demonstrated that intermediate volatility compounds (IVOCs) are the major contributors to secondary organic aerosols formed from biomass-burning emissions. This study is led by Professor Kun Li (Shandong University, China) and Professor Andre Prevot (Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland).

“This is a breakthrough for biomass-burning aerosol research,” says Kun Li, the first author and corresponding author of the paper. “Because the main contributors of secondary organic aerosols were thought to be volatile organic compounds (VOCs) rather than IVOCs in previous studies.”

The way that the researchers use to achieve this is the newly-developed laminar-flow oxidation reactor, which can significantly reduce the wall loss of oxidation intermediates, and therefore, obtain a more accurate aerosol production. “We developed this reactor a couple of years ago but it was the first time we applied it for studying biomass-burning emissions,” says Li.

This study found that IVOCs contributed about 70% of secondary organic aerosols in biomass-burning emissions, more than twice as much as VOCs. In addition, the composition, concentration, and yield of secondary organic aerosols generated by IVOCs were analyzed in detail. The results show that the potential of IVOCs to generate secondary organic aerosols is high, with an average yield of about 100%.

“This is the first experimental evidence of the dominant contribution of IVOCs to biomass-burning organic aerosols,” says Li. “The results indicate that previous studies on secondary organic aerosol formation may have significantly underestimated the contribution of lower volatile compounds, such as IVOCs and their oxidation products, in complex emission sources.”

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See the article:

Uncovering the dominant contribution of intermediate volatility compounds in secondary organic aerosol formation from biomass-burning emissions

https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwae014

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JOURNAL

National Science Review

DOI

10.1093/nsr/nwae014 

 

How comparison options affect stock buys

UNIVERSITY OF BASEL

Should I invest my money with a small chance of big returns? Or is it better to pick investments that promise a series of modest returns? A psychologist from the University of Basel conducted a scientific experiment to study when people prefer certain types of investments.

When a company first goes public on the stock exchange, the corresponding securities are referred to as IPO (initial public offering) shares. These shares are typically characterized by their below-average returns for the first few years after the initial offering – with the exception of a few outliers that boom right from the start. In other words, the likelihood of high returns is rather small. 

So why do people still purchase IPO shares? Because they overestimate the probability of the stock becoming one of the rare super performers. This phenomenon is described by prospect theory, the leading theory used to explain decision-making in the face of uncertainty. It’s a similar story when people purchase lottery tickets: they are hoping to hit the jackpot.

There are also investments that result in a much different distribution of profits and losses, with a high likelihood of small returns. This is the standard case, so to speak. On the other hand, big losses are unlikely, such as with catastrophe bonds, or “cat bonds”. Insurance companies use these bonds to create a financial cushion that enables them to guarantee coverage in the event of a disaster. If nothing happens, investors receive a series of small payouts. In the statistically unlikely event of a natural disaster, however, all of the money they have invested is lost.

Then what stocks should I pick?

What circumstances affect how people select a given type of security in the first place? Dr. Sebastian Olschewski from the Faculty of Psychology has published a study on the topic in the journal PNAS.

In the experiment, test subjects were asked to choose between two or three different stocks, for example, one offering “a low probability of high returns” and another offering “a high probability of modest returns with rare but potentially high losses”.

To aid in the decision-making process, information was provided about the performance of the stocks, i.e. when and what returns were generated by the specific stocks on day 1, day 2, day 3, etc. This allowed test subjects to closely examine the volume and frequency of the returns from each individual stock.

Frequent returns preferred

The results showed that having the possibility to compare different stock types greatly affects a person’s decision – and in a way that favors investments on the cat bond end of the spectrum. “In our experiment, the test subjects selected stocks that generated the highest returns on the greatest number of days. The overall total of the returns had only an ancillary effect.” This is what experts refer to as the “frequent winner effect”.

To demonstrate the weight of this effect, the data on the stock returns was modified in a second experimental design in such a way that the “lottery-like” investments more frequently showed the higher yields, which quickly shifted the test subjects’ preference towards this type of stock.

Gaining a better understanding of the stock market

What are the possible conclusions of the study? “If we want to predict how the stock market will perform, we also need to consider how people go about finding information,” says Olschewski. “Whether they simply research a single stock or compare two or three options.”

Being able to predict things like this is important for economists or analysts who want to predict price trends on the stock market. But it is also important for social resources planning – for instance, in the case of governments investing for the benefit of their citizens. After all, the Swiss pension system is partially invested in the capital market, as the researcher points out.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2317751121 

 

IVI starts technology transfer to Biological E. Limited to manufacture oral cholera vaccine for India and global markets

IVI will complete the technology transfer by 2025

Business Announcement

INTERNATIONAL VACCINE INSTITUTE

 

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IVI TRANSFERS ORAL CHOLERA VACCINE TECHNOLOGY AND KNOW-HOW TO BIOLOGICAL E. LIMITED. 

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CREDIT: IVI

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• IVI will complete the technology transfer by 2025
• Oral Cholera Vaccine to be manufactured by Biological E. Limited for India and international markets

 

March 20, 2024, SEOUL, Republic of Korea and HYDERABAD, India — The International Vaccine Institute (IVI), an international organization with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health, today announced that it has commenced a technology transfer of simplified Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV-S) to Biological E. Limited (BE), a leading India-based Vaccines and Pharmaceutical Company.

 

Following the signing of a technology license agreement in November last year, IVI has begun providing the technical information, know-how, and materials to produce OCV-S at BE facilities and will continue to support necessary clinical development and regulatory approvals. IVI and BE entered this partnership during an unprecedented surge of cholera outbreaks worldwide and aim to increase the volume of low-cost cholera vaccine in India as well as the global public market.

 

IVI will complete the technology transfer by 2025 and the oral cholera vaccine will be manufactured for India and international markets by Biological E. Limited.

 

Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, said: “In an era of heightened risk of poverty-associated infectious diseases such as cholera, the world needs a sustainable source of high-quality, affordable vaccines and committed manufacturers to supply them. We are pleased to partner with Biological E., a company with a proven history of making life-saving vaccines accessible globally, to address this supply gap and protect communities from this deadly, though preventable, disease.”

 

Ms. Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E. Limited, said: “We are glad to be in collaboration with IVI for the manufacture of simplified Oral Cholera Vaccine. Our efforts are aimed to not only combat the disease but to also be part of a sustained legacy of innovation, collaboration, and health stewardship. Together with IVI, we are happy to be shaping a healthier and more resilient future by making this vaccine accessible globally.”

 

This technology transfer and licensing agreement is the sixth of its kind for IVI, transferring such technology to manufacturers in India, the Republic of Korea, Bangladesh, and South Africa. All these partnerships have led to or seek to achieve, pre-qualification (PQ) from the World Health Organization, a designation that enables global agencies such as UNICEF to procure the vaccine for the global market. BE already has 9 vaccines with WHO PQ in its portfolio, and IVI and BE will pursue WHO PQ for OCV-S as well, following national licensure in India.

 

Dr. Julia Lynch, Director of IVI’s Cholera Program, said: “The cholera situation is dire, and the availability and use of oral cholera vaccine is an essential part of a multifaceted approach to cholera control and prevention, especially as outbreaks increase and the global vaccine supply remains strained. With more manufacturers like BE entering the market, the future supply situation looks strong. IVI remains committed to ensuring the availability of the oral cholera vaccine and to developing new and improved vaccines that are equally safe, effective, and affordable and made around the world, for the world.”

 

OCV-S is a simplified formulation of OCV with the potential to lower production costs while increasing production capacity for current and aspiring OCV manufacturers. IVI’s development of OCV-S and ongoing technology transfers are part of an institutional strategy to confront cholera with 3 main goals: 1) Ensure supply of OCV 2) Improve cholera vaccines 3) Support OCV use and introduction. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been supporting IVI’s cholera program since 2000 and is funding this latest technology transfer to BE.

 

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About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)

The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a non-profit international organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health.

IVI’s current portfolio includes vaccines at all stages of pre-clinical and clinical development for infectious diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, such as cholera, typhoid, chikungunya, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, hepatitis E, HPV, COVID-19, and more. IVI developed the world’s first low-cost oral cholera vaccine, pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO), and developed a new-generation typhoid conjugate vaccine that also achieved WHO prequalification in early 2024.

IVI is headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea with a Europe Regional Office in Sweden, an Africa Regional Office in Rwanda, a Country Office in Austria, and a Country and Project Office in Kenya. IVI additionally co-founded the Hong Kong Jockey Club Global Health Institute in Hong Kong and hosts Collaborating Centers in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. 39 countries and the WHO are members of IVI, and the governments of the Republic of Korea, Sweden, India, Finland, and Thailand provide state funding. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int.

 

 

About Biological E. Limited

Biological E. Limited (BE), a Hyderabad-based Pharmaceuticals & Biologics Company founded in 1953, is the first private sector biological products company in India and the first pharmaceutical company in Southern India. BE develops, manufactures and supplies vaccines and therapeutics. BE supplies its vaccines to more than 130 countries and its therapeutic products are sold in India, the USA and Europe. BE currently has 8 WHO-prequalified vaccines and 10 USFDA approved Generic Injectables in its portfolio. Recently, BE has received Emergency Use Listing (EUL) from the WHO for CORBEVAX®, the COVID-19 vaccine. Recently, DCGI has approved BE’S 14-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine.

In recent years, BE has embarked on new initiatives for organizational expansion such as developing specialty injectable products for global markets as a means to manufacture APIs sustainably and developing novel vaccines for the global market.

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MEDIA CONTACTS

IVI

Aerie Em, Global Communications & Advocacy Manager
+82 2 881 1386 | aerie.em@ivi.int

 

Biological E. Limited

K. Vijay Amruth Raj
Email: Vijay.Kammari@biologicale.com
www.biologicale.com/news

AMERIKA

Does party affiliation affect consumer sentiment and spending intentions after elections?

WILEY

Consumer sentiment generally refers to consumers’ attitudes and expectations about economic conditions. A new analysis published in Economic Inquiry indicates that U.S. party affiliation has a significant effect on consumer sentiment, and that sentiment, in turn, affects spending intentions.

In the study that relied on information dating back to 1991 and focused on data surrounding elections in which the governing party changed, survey respondents from Florida whose party affiliation matched the winning U.S. presidential candidate reported more optimistic views about personal and national economic conditions immediately after the election. In contrast, respondents from Florida whose party affiliation aligned with the losing candidate reported more pessimistic views about the same economic conditions. The study shows that these changes in consumer sentiment affected spending intentions among Floridians.

Spending intentions were also indicative of actual spending. For example, actual spending on durable goods increased more among counties with a larger share of Republican voters following the 2016 presidential election.

“Consumer sentiment measures are considered leading indicators by policymakers and economists, reflecting changes in household spending. We confirm this crucial role and emphasize the importance of partisanship in shaping consumer expectations,” said corresponding author Hector Sandoval, PhD, Director of the Economic Analysis Program at the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecin.13215

 

Additional Information
NOTE: The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage. For more information or to obtain a PDF of any study, please contact: Sara Henning-Stout, newsroom@wiley.com.

About the Journal
Published since 1962, Economic Inquiry is a highly regarded scholarly journal in economics publishing articles of general interest across the profession. Quality research that is accessible to a broad range of economists is the primary focus of the journal. Join our long list of prestigious authors, including more than 20 Nobel laureates.

About Wiley
Wiley is a knowledge company and a global leader in research, publishing, and knowledge solutions. Dedicated to the creation and application of knowledge, Wiley serves the world’s researchers, learners, innovators, and leaders, helping them achieve their goals and solve the world's most important challenges. For more than two centuries, Wiley has been delivering on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. Visit us at Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

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JOURNAL

Economic Inquiry

DOI

10.1111/ecin.13215 

ARTICLE TITLE

Sentiments and spending intentions: Evidence from Florida

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Mar-2024

 

Impacts of major volcanic eruptions over the past two millennia on both global and Chinese climates

SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

 

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(A) RECONSTRUCTION OF GLOBAL VOLCANIC FORCING. (B) RECONSTRUCTED SURFACE TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES (°C) RELATIVE TO 1961–1990. (C) ENSEMBLE MEAN OF ANNUAL MEAN SAT ANOMALIES (°C) FROM MULTI-MODEL SIMULATIONS.

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CREDIT: ©SCIENCE CHINA PRESS

Recently, a research finding of Dr. Sun Weiyi and Prof. Liu Jian from the School of Geography at Nanjing Normal University was published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences. The research team, based on multiple data from observations, reconstructions, simulations, and assimilations over the past 2000 years, systematically summarized the historical facts of major volcanic eruptions, the characteristics and mechanisms of their climatic impact, and directions for future research.

The reconstructions of volcanic activity over the past two millennia reveal that cold epochs (530–700 AD, 1200–1460 AD, and 1600–1840 AD) coincided with frequent major volcanic eruptions, while warm epochs (0–200 AD and 900–1100 AD) occurred during volcanic quiescence. The eruption of Changbai Mountain in 946 AD was identified as the strongest volcanic eruption in China over the past 2000 years.

The research indicates that significant cooling occurred throughout the globe and China several years after eruptions. The reconstructed cooling magnitude does not entirely align with volcanic intensity (Figure 1), but there is a significant linear relationship between the cooling simulated by climate models and volcanic intensity. Continuous volcanic eruptions lead to decadal-scale cold events in the Northern Hemisphere and China on the decadal time scale. In the first year after eruptions, monsoon precipitation globally significantly decreases, while precipitation in the Yangtze River Basin in China abnormally increases. There are inconsistent responses among different datasets in North China, Northeast China, and the southern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The research team also reviewed previous reconstructions of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) based on tree-ring data over the past millennium. They found that after tropical major volcanic eruptions, El Niño events occurred, followed by a rapid decline into La Niña. This caused anomalous Northwest Pacific anticyclones, transporting moisture to the Yangtze River Basin. However, coral δ18O records from the central tropical Pacific show no significant El Niño event after major volcanic eruptions, indicating discrepancies between reconstruction data. Frequent major volcanic eruptions can influence the phase changes of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) by triggering processes such as Arctic sea ice expansion, air-sea interactions, and changes in oceanic dynamic processes. The responses of ENSO and AMO to volcanoes will further impact regional climate response differences, potentially causing disparities between reconstructed and simulated data.

Future research should focus on enhancing the in-depth understanding of the impact processes of internal variability in the climate system under volcanic influence, such as hydroclimate, weather and seasonal-scale variability changes, and climate anomalies. This relies on improvements in volcanic-forcing reconstruction, the development of stratospheric chemistry-aerosol-climate models, and a more comprehensive revelation of the climatic effects of major volcanic eruptions.

See the article:

Sun W, Chen D, Lü G, Ning L, Gao C, Zhang R, Wang B, Liu J. 2024. Impacts of major volcanic eruptions over the past two millennia on both global and Chinese climates: A review. Science China Earth Sciences, 67(1): 61‒78, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-022-1218-0

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JOURNAL

Science China Earth Sciences

DOI

10.1007/s11430-022-1218-0 

 

Scientists weigh up current status of blue whale populations around the world

Largest global genomic dataset to date will assist conservation and management

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: 

PYGMY BLUE WHALE 

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CREDIT: FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

The largest living animal, the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) which averages about 27 metres in length, has slowly recovered from whaling only to face the rising challenges of global warming, pollution, disrupted food sources, shipping, and other human threats.

In a major new study, Flinders University has taken a stocktake of the number, distribution and genetic characteristics of blue whale populations around the world and found the greatest differences among the eastern Pacific, Antarctic subspecies and pygmy subspecies of the eastern Indian and western Pacific.

“Each of these groups need to be conserved to maintain biodiversity in the species, and there are indications that natural selection in different environments contributed to driving genetic differences between the high-level groups,” says study first author Dr Catherine Attard in a newly published article in Animal Conservation.

“Within these regions, there were differences between the eastern North and eastern South Pacific, and among the eastern Indian Ocean, the western South Pacific and the northern Indian Ocean but no differences in the Antarctic group,” she says.

The study found no evidence of inbreeding, which is good news for the potential recovery of subspecies and populations. However, challenges remain for this endangered species.

The recovery of baleen whales including endangered blue whales is now threatened by multiple human sources, including underwater noise, changing availability of food driven by human-induced effects on ocean productivity, environmental contaminants, ship collision and entanglement in fishing gear.

“Our findings build on decades of work to improve the management of endangered blue whales under the International Whaling Commission,” says Dr Attard.

The estimated migration rates were 1%-4% among each of the high-level groups, with both migrant individuals (i.e. movement without necessarily interbreeding) and hybrids (i.e. interbreeding) among the high-level groups.

Piecing together the whale population structures, the researchers found an unexpected similarity between the eastern South Pacific and eastern North Pacific blue whales, which suggests they are part of the same subspecies, rather than their current classification as separate subspecies.

“This finding was unexpected given that blue whale populations are thought to have opposite breeding seasons when their populations exist on either side of the equator,” adds senior author Associate Professor Luciana Möller, from the Molecular Ecology Lab and Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab at Flinders University.

“While eastern Indian and western Pacific blue whales have the lowest genetic diversity of the high-level hierarchical groups, which is likely due to climate-induced diversification rather than anthropogenic impacts, our study identified the eastern Indian Ocean, western South Pacific Ocean and potentially western Indian Ocean as different populations within the Indo-western Pacific,” says Associate Professor Möller.

As well as generating the largest global genomic dataset to date for blue whales, the study incorporated information from recent satellite tagging, acoustics and stable isotopes research to link the genetic results to blue whale population calls and typical migratory and breeding patterns.

Another coauthor, Matthew Flinders Professor Luciano Beheregaray, who founded the Molecular Ecology Lab at Flinders University in 2009, adds: “Genomics is a vital tool that has unparalleled power to determine population differentiation, connectivity, and other characteristics to inform the conservation management of biodiversity.

“Whole-genome population studies and comparisons with environmental conditions are needed to better understand adaptations in blue whales and other baleen whales. Localised depletion of blue whales could occur if these threats are concentrated in areas containing populations with limited connectivity to animals in surrounding regions.

“Thus, describing the spatio-temporal patterns of population differences within a species and their geographic boundaries can inform management decisions on the timing and location of human activities to minimise impacts on these wide-ranging whale species.”

While blue whales became protected from commercial whaling in 1966, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) implemented a global moratorium 20 years later.  

The Flinders University-based research group calls on the IWC to use the findings to refine the stock delineations of blue whales for conservation and management purposes. 

“We recommend that national management bodies minimise human activities that can impact these management groups when the blue whales are within their jurisdiction,” researchers conclude.

The article, Global conservation genomics of blue whales calls into question subspecies taxonomy and refines knowledge of population structure (2024), by CRM Attard, J Sandoval-Castillo, AR Lang, BG Vernazzani, LG Torres, R Baldwin, KCS Jenner, PC Gill, CLK Burton, A Barceló, M Sironi, M-NM Jenner, MG Morrice, LB Beheregaray, LM  Möller has been published in Animal Conservation (Zoological Society of London).

First published: 15 March 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12935

Photos:  more Pygmy blue whale Photos available here 

Acknowledgements: The IWC Southern Ocean Research Partnership, Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation Inc, Winifred Violet Scott Charitable Trust and Flinders University provided funding as well as the Australian Marine Mammal Centre within the Federal Government’s Australian Antarctic Division Southwest Fisheries Science Center in California provided samples from the eastern North Pacific, tropical Pacific and the Maldives.

 

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JOURNAL

Animal Conservation

DOI

10.1111/acv.12935 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Global conservation genomics of blue whales calls into question subspecies taxonomy and refines knowledge of population structure

Entanglements of humpback whales in fish farms rare – and naivety could be to blame

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

The first study of humpback whale entanglements in B.C. aquaculture facilities in PLOS One found eight over 13 years, with the curiosity of young whales a potential contributing factor.

A rare occurrence

Entanglements are one of several threats to humpbacks. The eight occurred from 2008 to 2021 at seven fish farms, with five animals successfully released and three deaths. The entanglements accounted for less than six per cent of all entanglements in B.C. Approximately 7,000 animals return to B.C. waters annually.

Most whales became entangled between the predator and containment nets on fish farms. In five cases, experienced responders were called to lower the predator net, allowing the whales to escape. “This work gives us hope we have strategies and protocols in place to respond to entanglements,” said first author Rhea Storlund, a doctoral student in UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF).

Curious cetaceans

Contributing factors to entanglement included facility design, anatomy and age: all whales entangled were young. “This could be due to naivety and inexperience, as well as developing new feeding methods compared with adults,” said co-author Dr. Stephen Raverty, IOF adjunct professor.

Human harms to humpbacks

Co-author Dr. Andrew Trites, IOF professor, said those industries including fishing involved in the other 94 per cent of entanglements needed to step up to minimize the harms caused to whales.

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0297768