Pro-cannabis social media linked to youths’ intentions to use

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

PULLMAN, Wash. – Despite laws against advertising cannabis to teens, young people reported in surveys that they still see a lot of positive cannabis messages through social media posts. 

Washington State University researchers found these messages were also connected to the teens’ intentions to use cannabis, and for college students, with their actual use. Anti-cannabis messages also had an effect in lessening use-intentions, but young people saw less of those types of messages.

“Youth, in particular, have really grown up bombarded with cannabis information compared to previous generations,” said Jessica Willoughby, first author on the study published in the journal Health Communication and an associate professor in WSU’s Murrow College of Communication. “We found that they were seeing more positive messages about using cannabis and a lot less about the risks.”

For this study, the researchers surveyed 350 teens and 966 college students from across Washington state, where recreational marijuana has been legal since 2012.

The state does have regulations aimed at preventing advertising cannabis to minors, such as prohibiting the use of cartoons or youth-oriented celebrities. This does not prevent individuals from posting about cannabis on social media, however.

Of the study participants, the vast majority, over 80%, reported seeing pro-cannabis messages on social media, such as posts about being high or claims that marijuana is harmless. The pro-cannabis messages most often encountered were those from celebrities or lyrics in songs.

“Parents might not understand that if their kid is using a social media site—whether it’s Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat —they are going to see cannabis messages. That's just the reality,” said co-author Stacey Hust, a professor at WSU’s Murrow College of Communication. “This means we need to be getting training into schools at much younger ages. At the very least middle school and high school health classes need to talk about cannabis and how it can be harmful to the developing brain.”

The study participants also reported seeing some anti-cannabis messages, such as that cannabis can cause harm or that smoking it is gross or for losers, but they saw these types of messages less often than pro-cannabis ones.

The youth, both teens and college students, who reported seeing higher levels of positive messages were more likely to indicate an intention to use cannabis. The college students were also asked about actual use and there was a positive connection between exposure to pro-cannabis posts and use for that group.

The good news is that seeing the anti-cannabis messages had some effect, although indirectly. Among the youth who already held beliefs that cannabis use could cause negative outcomes, such as damaging their brain or doing worse in school, seeing anti-cannabis messages appeared to lower their intentions to use.

The researchers said this finding indicates a good area for parents and counselors to target.

“Prevention efforts can have an impact,” said Willoughby. “Since youth are seeing more of that positive cannabis content, it's worthwhile to put out more content highlighting the risks, especially to the young people like them.”

This study received partial funding through Washington state’s initiative measure 502 which taxes production processing and wholesale retail sales of marijuana.  

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DOI

10.1080/10410236.2022.2162707 

ARTICLE TITLE

Exposure to Pro and Anti-Cannabis Social Media Messages and Teens’ and College Students’ Intentions to Use Cannabis

Medical cannabis for chronic pain may help patients on long-term opioid treatment reduce dosages

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CUNY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH POLICY

New York, NY | January 30, 2023 — A new study from New York State and CUNY researchers suggests that receiving medical cannabis for thirty days or more may help patients on long-term opioid treatment to lower their dose over time.

The study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open, found an association between receiving medical cannabis for chronic pain for a longer duration and a reduction in prescription opioid dosages among patients on long-term opioid therapy. Patients who were on higher baseline dosages of prescription opioids when they started receiving medical cannabis experienced larger reductions in opioid dosages.  

These findings leverage existing population-level data to contribute robust evidence for clinicians regarding the potential clinical benefits of medical cannabis in reducing the opioid burden for long-term opioid therapy patients, and possibly reducing their risk for use of illicit substances and overdose. The findings could further inform policies in other jurisdictions, where medical cannabis is not yet legalized.

Researchers from the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), the New York State Department of Health, and the New York State Office of Cannabis Management used a combination of two large state databases to analyze data from eight thousand adult New Yorkers during 2017-2019. They evaluated prescription opioid dosages of participants during the 12 months prior to receipt of medical cannabis and up to eight months later. For each month of the study, the researchers compared the average daily morphine milligram equivalent (MME) for those who received medical cannabis for more than 30 days vs. those who received 30 days or less. The following results were observed eight months after patients started receiving medical cannabis:

• Among patients with the lowest MME (less than 50 MME), the average daily MME at the end of the follow-up period for patients with longer medical cannabis duration was reduced 48% from baseline. In contrast, there was a 4% reduction from baseline for patients with shorter medical cannabis duration. This resulted in a total MME net reduction of -14.53 (range, -17.45 to -11.61) over eight months for patients receiving medical cannabis for a longer duration.
• Among patients with a baseline MME of 50 to 89, the average daily MME at the end of the follow-up period for patients with longer medical cannabis duration showed a 47% reduction from baseline versus 9% reduction for patients with a shorter medical cannabis duration. This resulted in a total MME net reduction of -29.49 (range, -35.94 to -23.04) over eight months for patients receiving medical cannabis for a longer duration.
• For adults with a baseline MME at 90 or greater, by the end of the follow-up period, the daily MME for patients with longer medical cannabis duration, there was a 51% reduction from baseline versus 14% reduction for patients with shorter medical cannabis duration. This resulted in the largest MME net reduction of -69.81 (range, -87.09 to -52.53) over eight months for patients receiving longer medical cannabis duration.

"This study found meaningful reductions among patients receiving medical cannabis for longer duration,” said lead author Dr. Trang Nguyen of the Department of Health. “Patients’ daily opioid dosages were reduced by 47%-51% of the baseline dosages after eight months. In contrast, patients receiving medical cannabis for a shorter duration reduced their initial dosages by just 4%-14%."

“These findings have important implications for clinicians and policy makers,” said co-author Dr. Danielle Greene of CUNY SPH. “They provide evidence for another tool to be used in response to the opioid epidemic. Changes in attitudes and policies toward opioid prescribing over the past decade have left some patients dependent on long-term high dosage prescriptions but fewer providers willing to write these prescriptions. Previous research has shown that abrupt disruption in opioid prescriptions among patients on high dosages and long-term opioid therapy can lead to patients’ use of illicit drugs, overdose, and self-harm. Our study suggests a more humane option for achieving lower prescription dosages and potentially reducing those risks. Equitable implementation of these findings will require addressing disparities in both access to medical cannabis due to high cost and the high rate of patients receiving long-term opioid therapy in Medicaid and other programs.”

“Since the inception of the Medical Cannabis Program in New York State, we’ve heard anecdotal evidence from patients, caregivers and health care providers suggesting that medical cannabis can reduce the amount of opioids patients take to manage pain – and now we have the study demonstrating a statistically significant reduction for those patients who were on medical cannabis for a longer duration,” said co-author Nicole Quackenbush of the NYS Office of Cannabis Management. “Research is critical to further our knowledge of the potential risks and benefits of cannabis and the OCM will be continuing efforts to promote cannabis knowledge and research in New York State.”  

Nguyen T, Li Y, Greene D, Stancliff S, Quackenbush N. Changes in Prescribed Opioid Dosages Among Patients Receiving Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain, New York State, 2017-2019. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(1):e2254573. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.54573

For media inquiries, contact:
Ariana Costakes
Communications Editorial Manager
ariana.costakes@sph.cuny.edu 

About CUNY SPH

The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) is committed to promoting and sustaining healthier populations in New York City and around the world through excellence in education, research and service in public health and by advocating for sound policy and practice to advance social justice and improve health outcomes for all. sph.cuny.edu

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JOURNAL

JAMA Network Open

DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.54573 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Changes in Prescribed Opioid Dosages Among Patients Receiving Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain, New York State, 2017-2019

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-Jan-2023

Smart contact lens that diagnoses and treats glaucoma

Peer-Reviewed Publication

POHANG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (POSTECH)

 

IMAGE: SCHEMATIC ILLUSTRATION OF A THERANOSTIC SMART CONTACT LENS FOR GLAUCOMA TREATMENT. view more 

CREDIT: POSTECH

Glaucoma is a common ocular disease in which the optic nerve malfunctions due to the increased intraocular pressure (IOP) caused by drainage canal blocking in the eye. This condition narrows the peripheral vision and can lead to vision loss in severe cases. Glaucoma patients have to manage IOP levels for their life-time. Automatic monitoring and control of the IOP in these patients would significantly improve their quality of life.

 

Recently, a research team at POSTECH has developed a smart contact lens by combining an IOP sensor and a flexible drug delivery system to manage IOP measurement and medication administration.

 

A POSTECH research  team led by Professor Sei Kwang Hahn and Dr. Tae Yeon Kim (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) has  developed a wireless theranostic smart contact lens for monitoring and control of intraocular pressure in glaucoma. Their findings were recently published in Nature Communications.

 

The IOP sensors currently available for glaucoma patients do not have the function to administer the appropriate amount of drug in response to the IOP levels.

 

The smart contact lens developed by the research team has an IOP sensor that uses hollow nanowires made of gold. It is integrated with a flexible drug delivery system, wireless power and communication system, and an application-specific integrated circuit chip for both monitoring and control of IOP in glaucoma. Notably, the IOP sensor has exhibited high sensitivity to ocular strain, excellent chemical stability, and biocompatibility. Furthermore, the flexible drug delivery system can provide the on-demand delivery of timolol for IOP control.

 

The researchers successfully demonstrated that the theranostic smart contact lens enabled the IOP measurement in real-time and the appropriate amount of drug release to match the degree of IOP in rabbits with glaucoma.

 

The new smart contact lens is expected to make possible a personalized glaucoma treatment with maximum efficacy and minimal side effects. In addition, the feedback system would be applicable to various wearable devices other than smart contact lenses as well.

 

Professor Hahn who led this study commented, "We hope the early commercialization of the newly developed theranostic smart contact lens for diagnosing and treating glaucoma intraocular pressure to provide glaucoma patients’ compliance.”

 

This study was supported by the Basic Science Research Program, the Korea Medical Device Development Fund grant, BRIDGE Research Program, and Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-022-34597-8 

ARTICLE TITLE

Wireless theranostic smart contact lens for monitoring and control of intraocular pressure in glaucoma

Save the Nautilus! Three new species described from the Coral Sea and South Pacific

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENSOFT PUBLISHERS

 

IMAGE: NAUTILUS SAMOAENSIS view more 

CREDIT: BARORD ET AL.

Nautiloids were once quite plentiful throughout the oceans, based upon the fossil record. Today, they are represented by just a handful of species, including the newly described Nautilus vitiensis of Fiji, Nautilus samoaensis of American Samoa, and Nautilus vanuatuensis of Vanuatu. These descriptions highlight the concept of allopatric speciation, or biogeographic isolation, where populations are geographically separated from other populations, resulting in a barrier to gene flow. Over time, these populations may eventually evolve into distinct species.

But what does it take to be able to collect the evidence needed to determine if three different populations of nautiluses are, in fact, three different species?

“For me, this is the best/worst part of the overall process, because nautilus fishing is not easy,” explains Dr Gregory Barord, marine biology instructor at Central Campus and conservation biologist at the conservation organization Save the Nautilus. “For our team, it starts with building large, steel traps that are about a meter cubed. Then, we wrap the steel frame (ouch), with chicken wire (ouch) mesh (ouch), create an entry hole (ouch), attach it to a surface buoy with about 300 meters of fishing line, and bait it with (ouch) raw meat, usually chicken!”

“Trap construction may take place on a nice beach or a bit inland in the rain or in a warm warehouse. Wherever it takes place, you will have some memories, I mean little scars, on your hands from working with the chicken wire. Looking down at my hands right now, I can remember where I was by looking at each of those scars… worth it!”

Tossing the traps into the sea at dusk is the easy part, Dr Barord says. Load them on the boat, find the right depth, and tip them over the side of the boat. “The hard part is retrieving the traps the next day, after about 12 hours of the raw chicken scent moving through the currents. There are a number of methods we’ve used to pull the traps up, from mechanical winches, hand-powered winches, float systems, boat pulls, and of course, just pulling with one hand at a time. Invariably, something happens in each location where we are just pulling the trap up from 300 meters one meter at a time, which takes a good half hour at least. But, at least you are getting a VERY good work-out. Eventually, you see the trap and these white little orbs in it and you know you’ve caught some nautiluses and the pulling is almost done, for now.”

The next step is probably Dr Barord’s favorite: “One of us jumps in the water and free dives about 5 meters to carefully (ouch, that chicken wire) reach for the nautiluses in the trap and bring them to the surface. You are face to face with these uniquely, misunderstood organisms who seem like this is just another day for them. For me, this is exhilarating!”

Once on the boat, they are placed in chilled seawater and from then on, the data collection happens fast. “With the living organism in hand, you can start to glean even more of the differences between the species, examining the hood ornaments, or lack thereof,” Dr Barord explains. After some photos, measurements, and non-lethal tissue samples, the nautiluses are released and burped.

“Maybe nautilus burping is my favorite part,” he adds. To do this, the researchers either dive with SCUBA or free dive with the nautiluses, and ensure there are no air bubbles trapped in the shell that may cause them to be positively buoyant. “Imagine, you have one nautilus in each hand and you start swimming down, your feet and the nautilus tentacles pointed toward the surface. At a sufficient depth, you release them and observe their buoyancy. As the nautiluses compose themselves and jet back down to their nektobenthic habitat 300 meters below, you realize you may never see that individual nautilus again, and that nautilus may never see another human, well, maybe they will…”

For him, the impetus for a publication in the scientific journal ZooKeys describing the three new species is rooted in nautilus conservation efforts. Over the last 20 years, he has studied nautiluses from many angles and for over 10 years now, has worked with an international team to address nautilus conservation issues.

“For many nautiluses, probably millions, they were caught in much the same way that our team collected nautiluses,” he points out. “However, their first meeting with humans was their last as they were pulled from the trap, ripped from their protective shell, and tossed back in the ocean, used as bait, or, rarely, consumed. The shell is the attractive piece for shell traders and the living body has no value. It is like shark finning in that sense.”

As a direct result of these unregulated fisheries, populations of nautiluses have crashed, some have reportedly gone extinct, and international and country level legislation and regulations has been enacted.

Currently, there are no known fisheries in Fiji, American Samoa, or Vanuatu so the risk of these populations decreasing from fisheries is low, at the moment. Now, what is the risk to these same populations from ocean acidification, increased sedimentation, eutrophication, warming seas, and over-fishing of other species connected to the ecosystem nautiluses reside in?

“Right now, we simply do not know,” says Dr Barord. “Our conservation efforts started with simply counting how many nautiluses were left in different areas across the Indo-Pacific, then recording them in their natural habitat, then tracking their migrations, and now describing new species. There are still many questions to address regarding where they lay eggs, what they eat, and how they behave.”

All nautiluses have long been grouped together when describing their natural history, but as we continue to uncover the nautilus story, it is increasingly obvious that each population of nautiluses is different, as exemplified by these three new species descriptions.

“This is certainly an exciting time for nautilus research, as we uncover more and more information about the secret life of nautiluses,” Dr Barord says in conclusion.

“I just hope that this is also an exciting time for nautiluses as well, and they continue doing their nautilus thing as they have done for millions of years.”

Nautilus vanuatuensis

Nautilus vitiensis

Lateral view of Nautilus samoaensis

 

Lateral view of Nautilus vanuatuensis

Lateral view of Nautilus vitiensis

A nautilus trap in the water with nautiluses in it.

CREDIT

Gregory Barord

Research article:

Barord GJ, Combosch DJ, Giribet G, Landman N, Lemer S, Veloso J, Ward PD (2023) Three new species of Nautilus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) from the Coral Sea and South Pacific. ZooKeys 1143: 51-69. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1143.84427

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JOURNAL

ZooKeys

DOI

10.3897/zookeys.1143.84427 

ARTICLE TITLE

Three new species of Nautilus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) from the Coral Sea and South Pacific

ARTICLE PUBLICATIO

Shining a light on the biological origins of PTSD

A Tufts-led team finds a brain marker that indicates vulnerability to developing post-traumatic stress disorder

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TUFTS UNIVERSITY

By Taylor McNeil, Tufts Now

Understanding one’s susceptibility to developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is important. If you knew you were at risk, for example, you might steer clear of jobs that carry more likelihood of high stress and potential trauma or seek treatment as soon as you experienced a potentially triggering event.

Now a research team has found a marker that indicates vulnerability to the disorder. They discovered that heightened activation in one particular brain region in response to seeing surprised and neutral facial expressions appears to be tied to developing PTSD.

A number of symptoms define PTSD, but the researchers were particularly interested in hypervigilance—“always feeling that you need to monitor your environment for potential threats,” says Cecilia Hinojosa, AG21, who was first author on the research paper in the Journal of Psychiatric Research and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Emory University, focusing on PTSD in women.

Previous research had found that hypervigilance may lead people with PTSD to respond with fear to signals that are ambiguous or not clearly threatening—for example, hearing a firecracker might trigger fears of gunshots.

The team, led by Tufts researchers, studied male identical twin pairs using fMRI studies of brain activation. By studying identical twins, who share the same genes, the researchers could show which traits are familial and which are not.

In a set of 12 identical twin pairs one twin had experienced trauma and developed PTSD, while the other was not trauma-exposed. A set of 15 identical twin pairs were used as a control group. One member of that twin set had experienced trauma but not developed PTSD, and the other was not exposed to trauma.

While reactions of people with PTSD to trauma-related imagery have been studied, no one had previously examined their responses to ambiguous imagery while doing brain activation scans. The research team focused on two brain mechanisms.

Mechanisms of PTSD

The first was heightened activation of the amygdala, a part of the brain that is involved in processing fear-related stimuli, resulting in the fight, flight, or freeze response.

“Every time we experience something that could be potentially threatening in our environment, the amygdala starts a chain of reaction of responses in the brain,” says Hinojosa, who as a graduate student worked on the study with Lisa Shin, a Tufts professor of psychology and an expert on PTSD.

The second mechanism is activation of the medial frontal gyrus, a part of the prefrontal cortex involved in inhibiting the amygdala’s response to things that are in fact not threatening.

The study, which involved researchers from Tufts, MGH, Duke, and the National Institutes of Health, sought to find out whether people have preexisting brain activation patterns that make them more susceptible to PTSD, or if they acquire that activation pattern because they have PTSD.

While the researchers were expecting the men who had PTSD to show greater activation of the amygdala when observing faces with surprised looks, they hadn’t expected that the participants would have the same response to neutral facial expressions. Tellingly, the same was true in the participants’ trauma-unexposed twins who didn’t have PTSD.

On the other hand, the group who had experienced trauma but not been diagnosed with PTSD did not show the same heightened amygdala response to either the surprised or neutral faces.

These findings may mean that that individuals who have greater amygdala activation before experiencing trauma may be more vulnerable to developing PTSD, Hinojosa notes.

The findings may also imply that if a person shows preexisting vulnerability to developing PTSD—through heightened amygdala activation—and experiences a traumatic event, “we could potentially provide them with treatments as soon as they experience that trauma to hopefully prevent the development of PTSD symptoms,” Hinojosa says.

A final takeaway from the study is that the decreased reactivity in the medial frontal gyrus, which tamps down an excessive fear response, occurred only in the group with PTSD. This suggests that the lowered response in the prefrontal cortex “is an acquired characteristic of PTSD,” says Hinojosa, who earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology.

She pointed to studies of non-human animals, which suggest that chronic stress or traumatic events are neurotoxic. Stress and trauma “could be harming this region of the brain, so it doesn’t work as well,” she says.

For next steps, Hinojosa says, the study would need to be replicated with larger sample sizes and expand beyond the male-only subjects in the current study.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Psychiatric Research

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Exaggerated amygdala activation to ambiguous facial expressions is a familial vulnerability factor for posttraumatic stress disorder

Feather mite species related to the Laysan albatross discovered in Japan

Scientists present morphological redescriptions and new genetic information on two feather mite species associated with an endangered seabird species

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HOSEI UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: TWO SPECIES OF FEATHER MITES (BOTH MALES) FROM THE LAYSAN ALBATROSS. A) ECHINACARUS PETALIFERUS (TROUESSART, 1898) AND B) DIOMEDACARUS GIGAS (TROUESSART, 1895). view more 

CREDIT: TSUKASA WAKI FROM TOHO UNIVERSITY, JAPAN.

Phoebastria immutabilis, commonly known as the Laysan Albatross, is a large seabird native to the North Pacific Ocean. Owing to the decrease in their population size, this species has been listed as “Near Threatened” in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Laysan Albatrosses, like other birds, have a symbiotic relationship with feather mites, a species of highly host-specific parasites that inhabit the feathers of the birds. 

Now, with the threat of extinction looming over P. immutabilis, the feather mites could be in danger, too. Changes in the population dynamics of either host or their symbiont (the organism living in symbiosis with the host) can lead to an ecological imbalance. However, their current population and infection status remains ambiguous in Japan. To bridge this gap, Professor Satoshi Shimano from Hosei University, along with Associate Professor Tsukasa Waki from Toho University and Professor Masaki Eda from Hokkaido University, all in Japan, investigated the current status of P. Immutabilis feather mites. They studied bird specimens from in and around Japanese coastal waters. Their recent work was published in Volume 28, Issue 1 of the journal Systematic and Applied Acarology on 19 January 2023.
 
Sharing the motivation behind their investigation, Prof. Shimano states, “The feather mite Compressalges nipponiae, which infects the Crested Ibis, is known to have become extinct with the disappearance of its host population in Japan. Therefore, information on the mite symbionts, thought to clean the host’s feathers, could be helpful in conserving the Layasan Albatross.” Their study and findings were published in the journal Systematic and Applied Acarology. 

Feather mites from three preserved P. immutabilis wing feathers were studied using microscopy and molecular analyses. The team identified 603 members of Diomedacarus gigas, and two adult males of Echinacarus petaliferus. Remarkably, this is the first study to report on the occurrence of D. gigas in Japan in the last 50 years, and the first-ever on E. petaliferus. The team provided a detailed morphological redescription of the isolated mites. Twenty D. giga and one E. petraliferus mites were selected for analysis of haplotype network – a method to determine genetic diversity and lineage.

Every organism has a unique set of genes that do not undergo much variation over time, which makes them a molecular fingerprint. Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I (COI) was used as the target gene for haplotype analysis of D. gigas. The COI parsimony network revealed seven different haplotypes, of which six were unique to their hosts. The large proportion of unique COI haplotypes pointed to a greater genetic diversity and stable population of D. gigas. On the other hand, genetic information could not be obtained for E. petaliferus and additional research is expected for this species. The team concluded that E. petaliferus was a rare species in Japan, with a high risk of extinction. 

In summary, these findings highlight the strong correlation between the ecology of the mites and the population of P. immutabilis. Foreseeing possible future avenues for their work, Dr. Waki speculates, “We believe that the information on the Laysan Albatross and the distribution of its symbionts will enable better conservation planning and extinction risk assessment for this species. This knowledge will ultimately lead to a better preservation of ecosystems for future generations.” 

And we certainly hope his visions come true! 

Two species of feather mites (both males) from the Laysan Albatross. A) Echinacarus petaliferus (Trouessart, 1898) and B) Diomedacarus gigas (Trouessart, 1895).

CREDIT

Tsukasa Waki from Toho University, Japan

Reference

Authors: Tsukasa Waki1, Masaki Eda2, and Satoshi Shimano3

Title of original paper: Two feather mite species (Alloptidae, Freyanidae) associated with the Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis (Rothschild, 1893) (Diomedeidae) from Japanese coastal water

Journal: Systematic and Applied Acarology

Abstract URL: https://www.biotaxa.org/saa/article/view/74995

Article URL: http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C2AC09A5-E630-4863-B9F6-011006832E38

Affiliations:
1Faculty of Science, Toho University
2Hokkaido University Museum, Hokkaido University
3Science Research Center, Hosei University

About Professor Satoshi Shimano
Satoshi Shimano is an acarologist and a Professor at the Science Research Center at Hosei University in Japan. He obtained his master’s degree from Nagoya University and his doctoral degree from Yokohama National University, both in Japan. His research interests include systematics, taxonomy, soil zoology, acarology, and protistology. He has published 177 papers with over 1800 citations to his credit. Additionally, he is a recipient of several awards and has a patent to his name. 

About Associate Professor Tsukasa Waki
Tsukasa Waki is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science at Toho University, Japan. He earned his PhD from The University of Tokyo, and is currently pursuing research across field ecology, population ecology, pathogens and virulence, infection, and mortality. He has published 55 articles on diverse topics in the biological sciences since 2009.

About Hosei University
Hosei University is one of the leading private universities in Tokyo, Japan. The university offers international courses in many disciplines and has a long and rich history. Hosei University was founded as a school of Law in 1880 and evolved into a private university by 1920.
It is also home to multiple research centers, which conduct advanced research on various fields, including nanotechnology, sustainability, ecology, and more.
The university has three main campuses—Ichigaya, Koganei, and Tama, located across Tokyo.

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JOURNAL

Systematic and Applied Acarology

DOI

10.11158/saa.28.1.7 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Two feather mite species (Alloptidae, Freyanidae) associated with the Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis (Rothschild, 1893) (Diomedeidae) from Japanese coastal waters

1.5-degree goal not plausible: social change more important than physical tipping points

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG

 

IMAGE: COVER ILLUSTRATION view more 

CREDIT: CLICCS/UNIVERSITÄT HAMBURG

Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is currently not plausible, as is shown in a new, central study released by Universität Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence “Climate, Climatic Change, and Society” (CLICCS). Climate policy, protests, and the Ukraine crisis: the participating researchers systematically assessed to what extent social changes are already underway – while also analyzing certain physical processes frequently discussed as tipping points. Their conclusion: social change is essential to meeting the temperature goals set in Paris. But what has been achieved to date is insufficient. Accordingly, climate adaptation will also have to be approached from a new angle.

The interdisciplinary team of researchers addressed ten important drivers of social change: “Actually, when it comes to climate protection, some things have now been set in motion. But if you look at the development of social processes in detail, keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees still isn’t plausible,” says CLICCS Speaker Prof. Anita Engels. According to the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook, especially consumption patterns and corporate responses are slowing urgently needed climate protection measures. Other key factors like UN climate policy, legislation, climate protests and divestment from the fossil fuels are supporting efforts to meet the climate goals. As the analysis shows, however, this positive dynamic alone won’t suffice to stay within the 1.5-degree limit. “The deep decarbonization required is simply progressing too slowly,” says Engels.

In addition, the team assesses certain physical processes that are frequently discussed as tipping points: the loss of the Arctic sea ice and melting ice sheets are serious developments – as are regional climate changes. But they will have very little influence on the global temperature until 2050. In this regard, a thawing permafrost, weakened Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), and the loss of the Amazon Forest are more important factors – albeit only moderately. “The Fact is: these feared tipping points could drastically change the conditions for life on Earth – but they’re largely irrelevant for reaching the Paris Agreement temperature goals,” explains CLICCS Co-Speaker Prof. Jochem Marotzke from the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology.

The study also coveres COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine: economic reconstruction programs have reinforced dependence on fossil fuels, which means the necessary changes are now less plausible than previously assumed. In contrast, whether efforts to safeguard Europe’s power supply and the international community’s attempts to become independent of Russian gas will undermine or accelerate the phasing out of fossil fuels in the long run remains unclear.

Importance of human agency, new approach to adaptation

The Outlook is currently the only assessment that interlinks social sciences and natural sciences analysis in an integrated study to assess the plausibility of certain climate futures. More than 60 experts have contributed. According to the study, the best hope for shaping a positive climate future lies in the ability of society to make fundamental changes (“human agency”). In addition, the Outlook reveals a range of conditions for doing so, for instance that transnational initiatives and non-government actors continue to support climate protection, and that protests keep up the pressure on politicians.

“The question of what is not just theoretically possible, but also plausible, that is, can realistically be expected, offers us new points of departure,” says Anita Engels. “If we fail to meet the climate goals, adapting to the impacts will become all the more important.” In this regard, the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook introduces a new tool for testing the long-term effects of various measures. They need to do more than provide support once the crisis strikes: “In order to be equipped for a warmer world, we have to anticipate changes, get the affected parties on board, and take advantage of local knowledge. Instead of just reacting, we need to begin an active transformation here and now.”

CAPTION

The path toward climate goals. The plausibility assessments indicate where social drivers and physical processes position themselves on the path toward the climate future scenario in which global climate mitigation goals are attained. Drivers and processes situated in the gray area are ambivalent with regard to reaching deep decarbonization by 2050 (social drivers), or do not affect the plausibility of attaining the Paris Agreement temperature goals (PAtg) (physical processes). Several social drivers are positioned closer to the goals as they support decarbonization (light blue area). However, the path toward climate goals is obstructed by physical processes which moderately inhibit the plausibility of attaining the Paris Agreement temperature goals (light red hexagon), and even more by social drivers which inhibit decarbonization (red hexagon). Currently, no social driver positions itself on the path of supporting deep decarbonization. More information can be found in Tables 1 and 2 and in the assessments in Chapter 6.

CREDIT

CLICCS/Universität Hamburg

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DOI

10.25592/uhhfdm.11230 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Content analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

The plausibility of a 1.5°C limit to global warming—Social drivers and physical processes

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Feb-2023