SOUTHERN Albertans support bid to change equalization, 

ALL ALBERTANS narrowly turn down year-round daylight time

 October 26, 2021  Canuck News/Canada/Edmonton

Most Albertans who voted in last week’s municipal elections want Canada to remove the equalization section from the Constitution, but support for reverting to year-round daylight saving time was almost evenly split among voters — with those voting against narrowly coming out on top.

Elections Alberta reported nearly 62 per cent of voters said “yes” to the equalization question, while just over 38 per cent checked “no.” 

The question asked whether voters support removing a clause from the Constitution that commits the federal government to redistributing taxes paid by all Canadians to ensure that all citizens, regardless of the province in which they live, have equitable access to public services.

The different political cultures of Alberta’s two largest cities were reflected in the results. In Edmonton, 51.9 per cent were against and 48.1 per cent were in favour, while Calgary showed much stronger support for the idea — 58.2 per cent voted yes while 41.8 said no.

On the daylight saving time question, 50.2 per cent of Albertans who voted said they were opposed to moving to permanent daylight time while 49.8 per cent said they were in favour. 

Demanding respect, Kenney says

At a news conference Tuesday, Premier Jason Kenney said the equalization result sent a “powerful” statement to the federal government. 

“Albertans are demanding to be respected,” Kenney said. “They’re demanding that the jurisdiction of this province under the Canadian Constitution be respected … and we fully expect the prime minister to respect the constitutional amendment process and to sit down and negotiate with Alberta in good faith.”

The equalization vote was a part of the UCP’s platform in the 2019 provincial election, with Kenney stating that that Alberta has concerns over billions of dollars its residents pay, while provinces such as British Columbia and Quebec obstruct oil and pipeline projects that underpin Alberta’s wealth.

The constitution can’t be changed without the consent of two-thirds of the provinces with at least 50 per cent of the population of all of them combined. 

Later in the legislative assembly, government House leader Jason Nixon gave oral notice of a motion to ratify the referendum results. Nixon expected the motion will be debated on Wednesday. 

As for the DST result, the province will respect the results and not proceed with a time change. 

WATCH: Equalization victory or flawed process?

Kenney claims equalization victory as Notley cites flawed process

2 hours ago

Premier Jason Kenney is promising to kick-start the equalization amendment process following Alberta’s referendum vote in favour of removing the payments – but Opposition Leader Rachel Notley says the province could have sent a stronger message to Ottawa with a little forethought. 2:42

HOW MANY SPOILED BALLOTS?!

Voters asked to choose three senators-in-waiting

In addition to questions about equalization and clocks, voters were also asked to choose three senators-in-waiting for Alberta. 

Out of 13 candidates, three Conservative Party of Canada candidates received the most votes: Pam Davidson (18.2 per cent), Erika Barootes (17.1 per cent) and Mykhailo Martyniouk (11.3 per cent). 

WASTE OF MONEY BY A PARTY THAT BITCHES ABOUT THAT

Canadians do not elect Senators. The prime minister chooses candidates from a list of people who apply for the position.

When the NDP became the government in Alberta, senate elections were dropped. However Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party brought them back when they took office in 2019. 

Lack of clarity, says Notley

Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Kenney “botched” the process by posing questions that weren’t clear.

She said the majority of Albertans would have supported the time change question if was about whether people wanted to stop changing their clocks twice a year, instead of specifically asking to stay on daylight saving time year-round. 

As for the equalization question, Notley said the result was not as definitive as it should be. 

Elections Alberta did not provide official turnout numbers as the vote was part of the provincewide municipal and school trustee elections on Oct. 18. 

Estimates put the figure at around 39 per cent of voters. There were no polling stations in First Nations communities.

“It was a mess all along,” Notley said.  “It doesn’t meet any of the criteria that have been set out in the courts that the premier tries to rely on.”

A constitutional law scholar from the University of Alberta said the result will do little to convince other provinces to join Alberta in pushing Ottawa to open up the constitution. 

Law professor Eric Adams said the prime minister has a duty to listen to what Alberta or any other province has to say, either in a letter, a face-to-face meeting or a first ministers’ meeting. But he can also decide not to go ahead. 

Adams said Alberta would have to turn to other provinces for support, which could itself create a new set of problems. 

“The ball is in the court of the other premiers. Is anybody willing to grab hold of of this policy? Does the government of Alberta have other provinces lined up that want to support this change?” Adams asked. 

“In my view, the most likely outcome here is is that this doesn’t head anywhere or it gets rather tangled up in a number of other constitutional proposals that the Alberta government doesn’t have any control over. 

View original article here Source

Analysis-Doomed to fail? How carmakers' climate vows fall short - and who's to blame

By Victoria Waldersee

© Reuters/Toby Melville FILE PHOTO: 

A man runs past a BP (British Petroleum) EV (Electric Vehicle) charge point in London

BERLIN (Reuters) - Car and truck makers from Volkswagen to Nissan and Ford have embraced the narrative that reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement should be a key tenet of their business agenda.

Are they doing enough? Research shows their goals are still a far cry from what is needed, but the jury is out on whether automakers alone are responsible for the shortfall.

While some say carmakers should plan to make their fleets carbon-neutral whatever the circumstances, companies argue that their ability to transition to electric vehicles (EV) is dependent on conditions outside their direct control.

Consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group said in a report released last week that at least 90% of new passenger vehicles and 70% of trucks must be electric by 2030 in order to meet climate targets, echoing environmental groups like Greenpeace.

But among major auto brands, very few - among them Geely's Volvo and VW's Bentley - have set goals for 100% EV production by then, with most arguing that they cannot take full accountability for a transition to electric vehicles without the market conditions to remain profitable in the process.

German luxury carmaker Daimler, for example, has refrained from stating it will produce only electric vehicles by 2030 no matter what - instead it has emphasised it will be "ready to go all electric ... where market conditions allow."

"We will lead from the front. Is it realistic to turn 100% of the market by 2030? It would be a stretch," Daimler's CEO Ola Kaellenius told Reuters in an interview, adding he hoped to see countries and economic regions do their bit at the COP26 summit by synchronising their plans for electric vehicle rollouts.

Charging infrastructure is just one of many challenges standing between the auto industry, estimated by the International Energy Agency to be responsible for around 18% of all carbon emissions worldwide, and climate neutrality.

Others include getting rid of dirty fossil-fuel powered cars still on the roads, reducing emissions in battery production, and building storage systems for renewable energy to ensure the electricity used to charge electric cars is from renewable sources.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?

Under carbon reduction policies already agreed by governments and automakers, global CO2 emissions from vehicles are still set to rise over time, research by the International Council on Clean Transportation shows.

If policies under discussion are implemented, the growth trajectory stabilises but still does not fall, it said, highlighting growing demand for cars, buses and trucks in coming years due to population growth and increased economic activity in emerging markets.

While one in five vehicles sold in Europe last quarter were electrified, the share is much lower in the United States at around 2%. EVs are an even tinier slice of sales in less rich markets such as Latin America or Southeast Asia.

Automakers and governments must also find answers for labour unions who are worried that a rapid shift to EVs will put thousands of workers out of their jobs.

This includes German unions demanding clarity from Stellantis on its plans for Opel plants, and U.S. President Joe Biden facing pressure from the U.S. United Auto Workers' union to provide more state support during the EV transition.

"There are a lot of factors involved ... we try to project a realistic picture," a spokesperson for Germany's BMW said. "But if certain conditions change fundamentally, we will of course have to re-examine our climate goals."

CARBON EMITTER

The majority of a vehicle's emissions do not come from the manufacturing process, but from the fuel used to power it - be it electricity, petrol, or diesel.

In the case of electric vehicles, the process of making batteries is also a significant carbon emitter, with a Volkswagen ID.3 for example generating nearly twice the emissions of a diesel equivalent in the production phase, according to company calculations.

While carmakers are increasingly investing in producing batteries in a more environmentally friendly way, controlling the source of energy flowing into electric cars is much harder.

Automakers like VW and Tesla are growing their offering of residential storage systems for clients to power vehicles through mechanisms like solar panels on their roofs – but the question of who is responsible for sourcing and distributing energy in public spaces is more contentious.

Even if automakers invest in public charging stations, ongoing problems with storage of renewable energy could force energy providers to rely on coal and natural gas to meet short-term demand, as recent volatility in energy markets has shown.

Lobby groups such as the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association and the U.S.-based Alliance for Automotive Innovation have urged states to invest in renewable-based charging infrastructure, from public-private investments to fully state-funded projects.

But some environmental groups argue that relying on taxpayer funds is unfair as the networks would disproportionately benefit car companies and owners, as opposed to spending on public transport.

Another lingering problem is the diesel and gas cars still driving on roads beyond 2030, which will bump up the industry's emissions well beyond the limit necessary to stay within the Paris Agreements' bounds, researchers have said.

Even if half of all new cars sold in 2035 were zero emission – which climate goals set by BMW, General Motors and Nissan would account for – some 70% of vehicles on roads would still be burning fossil fuels, Boston Consulting has said.

"Even economies in the vanguard of the climate-change fight are therefore likely to fall short of decarbonisation targets."

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Additional reporting by Joe White in Detroit and Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt; Editing by David Holmes)

GREEN CAPITALI$M

BlackRock creates biggest climate exchange-traded fund range

By Simon Jessop

 

© Reuters/CARLO ALLEGRI The BlackRock logo is pictured in New York City

LONDON (Reuters) - Asset manager BlackRock said on Tuesday it had created the largest range of climate-aligned exchange-traded equity funds (EFT) after agreeing to tighter rules to govern six existing funds with $9 billion in assets.

Following consultations with BlackRock, the MSCI indexes that underpin BlackRock's iShares ESG Enhanced UCITS ETF range will follow the European Union's Climate Transition Benchmark, established to help cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7°Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial norms.

The CTB requires a 30% reduction in carbon intensity - a measure of emissions to revenue - against the MSCI benchmark and a 7% year-on-year decarbonisation of the benchmark itself.

For the first time, Scope 3 emissions that cover the emissions produced by the use of a company's products, and not just those produced by the company itself, will be included.

In addition to the CTB, BlackRock said tougher environmental filters would be applied when deciding what to include in the ETFs. It will widen an oil sands exclusion to include a broader array of unconventional oil and gas activities.

The funds will exclude any company making 5% or more of its revenues from oil sands, shale gas, shale oil, coal-seam gas, coal-bed methane and Arctic onshore/offshore reserves.

An "environmental harm" screen will also be applied from November 2022 to companies that have faced severe or very severe controversies relating to environmental issues, such as land use and biodiversity, toxic spills and water management, it said.

Unlike BlackRock's iShares MSCI World Paris-Aligned Climate UCITS ETF fund range, which drills down into each constituent stock to make sure it's aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate, the Enhanced funds will seek to meet the same goal at the portfolio level.

As a result, the number of stocks eligible for inclusion in each fund is more than double that of the Paris-Aligned funds, at 1,385 compared with 685.

This allows the funds to have a much closer risk-return profile to the parent index and potentially be more attractive to wealth managers keen to invest more sustainably but worried about diverging from the returns of the parent.

Gitxaala First Nation in B.C. goes to court over automatic mineral rights

VANCOUVER — A B.C. First Nation is challenging in court an online registry the province uses to automatically grant mineral rights on its territory.

 

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Gitxaala have filed a petition to the B.C. Supreme Court seeking a judicial review, arguing that the process doesn't require the government to consult with the First Nation and simply grants the claim.

“The fact that B.C. still grants mineral claims with total disregard for Indigenous nations like Gitxaała is a damaging relic of colonialism that has no place in the present day,” hereditary Chief Matthew Hill said in a news release. “We will not allow this to continue in Gitxaała territory and that is why we’ve launched our case.”

The petition, which was filed with the court on Monday, asserts that the government didn't fulfil its duty by granting claims without consulting the nation. It is asking the courts to quash seven mineral claims on Banks Island, south of Prince Rupert, and for the court to suspend claim staking in Gitxaała territory.

"For too long, anyone with a computer and $34 has been able to acquire rights to minerals on the traditional territory of Gitxaala nation," Gitxaala Chief Coun. Linda Innes said during a news conference Tuesday. "This can be done legally with no requirement for consultation or consent from Gitxaala and it is a complete disregard of our own laws and governance."

She argued the process is a violation of the government's constitutional requirements to consult with the First Nation and the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the province has committed to implement. The UN declaration requires governments to obtain free, prior and informed consent before taking actions that affect Indigenous Peoples and territories.

"Gitxaala has never surrendered or ceded aboriginal title or other rights respecting Banks Island," the court document says. "On the basis that the provincial Crown granted the claims without having fulfilled the duty to consult, the grant of each of the claims must be quashed or set aside."

The petition includes allegations that have not been tested in court.

The provincial government has not filed a response to the petition with the court.

The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources said it could not comment on matters before the court but that it will continue to work with First Nations on initiatives that "advance their interests with respect to reforming the mineral tenure system, including modernized land use planning and other initiatives intended to safeguard sensitive ecological and cultural values."

Bruce Ralston, the minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources, told a separate news conference Tuesday that the department has been in touch with representatives from Gitxaala and is "aware of their concerns."

"Generally what we have found in mining is that our relations with Indigenous communities are very good, and there are a number of mining companies which have impact benefit agreements with Indigenous First Nations to share some of the wealth that is created when the mining companies are making investments and create a new mine here in British Columbia," Ralston said.

In an interview, Gitxaala lawyers Lisa Fong and Gavin Smith said benefit-sharing agreements have not applied to Gitxaala. They said the nation has not been contacted in relation to the lawsuit yet.

"Half of litigation is targeted to the root of the problem, which is the granting of the mineral tenders in the first place. It's pretty hard to build a good relationship when you're giving away rights to the minerals without even telling the nation," Smith said.

The petition also names three individuals and one company as respondents, including prospector Johan Shearer, who said he hadn’t heard about the petition. None of them have filed responses with the court.

Shearer said the claims system operates in real time and if a prospector had to contact the First Nation to inform them they are staking a claim, it would cause a problem for the industry.

“If you find something, you need to have some kind of control of that discovery and if you have to advertise that with the First Nation, the hard work you’ve done to make that discovery goes out the window,” he said.

“I understand their point of view but it’s not how the industry works and if this were to happen, I’d imagine the mineral industry would dry up.”

The petition also claims the Mineral Grant Regime doesn't allow the First Nation to use or develop the land.

"We hope that by bringing this challenge forward, the government of British Columbia recognizes their own laws and practices are in opposition with their commitment and that they recognize the need to put an end to the granting of mineral rights without consultation or consent for all indigenous people," Innes said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press

What causes disease outbreaks?

Contaminated water has been the most common driver

Peer-Reviewed Publicatio

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Since 1974, contaminated water has been the most common driver of large-scale zoonotic infectious disease outbreaks, according to new research from the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases (CEID) at the University of Georgia. The next two greatest drivers are unusual weather patterns and changes in the abundance of disease vectors such as mosquitos and ticks.

Zoonotic diseases occur when pathogens are transmitted from animals to humans—prominent recent outbreaks include Ebola hemorrhagic fever and COVID-19. However, most zoonotic disease outbreaks involve fewer than 100 cases and are quickly brought under control. So what factors drive large-scale outbreaks?

In a study published in the Royal Society journal Philosophical Transactions B, researchers investigated over 4,400 zoonotic infectious disease outbreaks. They identified the 100 largest in terms of numbers of human cases, all of which infected thousands to hundreds of thousands of people. From the full list they also selected 200 outbreaks at random to serve as “case controls.” The majority of these control outbreaks included 43 or fewer cases. They then compared the characteristics of large-scale and control outbreaks, particularly how the primary causes of infection and disease spread varied between them.

Lead author Patrick Stephens, an associate research scientist with the Odum School of Ecology and CEID, said that this research is one of the first peer-reviewed studies to quantify the variation of infectious disease outbreak drivers across the globe.

“In the age of COVID-19, it is understandable that many people may not realize how many outbreaks of other infectious diseases are caused by complex, intertwined ecological and socioeconomic conditions,” he said. “We know that factors like exposure to wild mammals, habitat disruption, international trade and travel and contact with contaminated food and water are important considerations. Our research was designed to understand what proportion of outbreaks various drivers contributed to. To our knowledge, this study is the first to do so for a global sample of outbreaks of many diseases.”

Stephens worked with CEID researchers Nicole Gottdenker of the College of Veterinary Medicine and John Drake, Annakate Schatz and John Paul Schmidt of the Odum School to compile a list of contemporary zoonotic infectious diseases documented in peer reviewed scientific literature. They identified and scored 48 specific infectious disease drivers related to the large-scale and control outbreaks in ecological, environmental and socioeconomic categories.  
 

Water contamination is a key driver of disease outbreaks

Both large-scale and control outbreaks were associated with water contamination, which was the most common driver of large outbreaks and the second most common driver of the smaller control outbreaks. Examples of these water-associated diseases include hepatitis E, typhoid and shigellosis (dysentery). The remaining drivers differed, however.

In addition to water contamination, large outbreaks were most often associated with unusual weather patterns, changes in the abundance of vectors—carriers of disease like mosquitos or ticks—and sewage management.

Large outbreaks were also much more likely to be caused by viral pathogens such as SARS coronavirus, influenza virus and Japanese encephalitis virus than were smaller outbreaks. The typical smaller outbreaks were associated with food contamination, local livestock production and human-animal contact. Finally, individual large outbreaks tended to be driven by a greater variety of factors than control outbreaks.

“There is still a lot of work to do to understand how large-scale infectious disease outbreaks can be avoided and controlled,” Stephens said. “Perhaps two-thirds of future infectious disease outbreaks are expected to be caused by zoonotic pathogens, and the number of these diseases is growing worldwide. Our research is an extremely important first step to better understand global variation in the drivers of outbreaks.”

This research was funded by the NSF (DEB 1316223, Research Coordination Network: Macroecology of Infectious Diseases, P.R.S.), NIH (R01Al156866) and a UGA presidential SEED grant. The study is part of a special issue of Philosophical Transactions B devoted to infectious disease macroecology, edited by Stephens, Shan Huang of the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and Maxwell Farrell of the University of Toronto. The issue includes papers by researchers from across the globe, covering topics such as spatial patterns of parasite diversity, changes in host-parasite associations over time, and likely sources of future zoonotic disease outbreaks.

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JOURNAL

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (B )

DOI

10.1098/rstb.2020.0535 

ARTICLE TITLE

Characteristics of the 100 largest modern zoonotic disease outbreaks

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Sep-2021

Scientists enable blind woman to see simple shapes using brain implant

Preliminary experimental results with the Moran|Cortivis Prosthesis support efforts to restore useful vision for the blind.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH

 

VIDEO: USING THE EXPERIMENTAL MORAN|CORTIVIS PROSTHESIS, FULLY BLIND BERNA GÓMEZ SUCCESSFULLY IDENTIFIES THE BOUNDARIES OF A HORIZONTAL LINE DEPICTED ON A PIECE OF CARDBOARD. view more 

CREDIT: MIGUEL HERNANDEZ UNIVERSITY, SPAIN

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Newly published research details how a team of scientists from the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah and Spain’s Miguel Hernández University successfully created a form of artificial vision for a blind woman using a prosthesis hardwired into her brain.

Publishing “Visual percepts evoked with an Intracortical 96-channel Microelectrode Array inserted in human occipital cortex” in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Moran researcher Richard A. Normann, PhD, and Spanish collaborator Eduardo Fernández, MD, PhD, detail how the Moran|Cortivis Prosthesis produced a simple form of vision for 60-year old Berna Gómez. The team conducted a series of experiments with Gómez for six months in Elche, Spain, that represent a leap forward for scientists hoping to create a visual prosthesis that could increase independence for the blind.

A neurosurgeon implanted a microelectrode array invented by Normann, the Utah Electrode Array (UEA), into the visual cortex of Gómez to both record and stimulate the electrical activities of neurons. Gómez wore eyeglasses equipped with a miniature video camera; specialized software encoded the visual data collected by the camera and sent it to the UEA. The array then stimulated neurons to produce phosphenes, perceived by Gómez as white points of light, to create an image.

A former science teacher fully blind for 16 years at the time of the experiments, Gómez had no complications from the surgery and researchers determined that the UEA did not impair the function of neurons in close proximity to the electrodes or affect the function of the underlying cortex. Gómez was able to identify lines, shapes, and simple letters evoked by different patterns of stimulation. To help her practice using the prosthesis, researchers created a video game for Gómez to play using a character from the popular television show The Simpsons. Thanks to her precise descriptions of visual perceptions and importance to the research, Gómez is a co-author on the study.

“These results are very exciting because they demonstrate both safety and efficacy,” said Fernández, who has collaborated with Normann for more than 30 years and is an adjunct professor at Moran. “We have taken a significant step forward, showing the potential of these types of devices to restore functional vision for people who have lost their vision.”

Normann and colleague Gregory Clark, PhD, first used the UEA in amputees to evaluate its safety and efficacy. The UEA allowed the amputees to control artificial limbs simply with their desire to move a finger or hand. The Spain experiments were the first to implant the UEA into the visual cortex.

The team’s neurosurgeon placed just one 4 mm by 4 mm UEA in Gómez’s brain, but published research conducted by Normann indicates between seven and 10 arrays in the visual cortex, working together, could produce more detailed images for useful vision. University of Utah neurosurgeons and neuroscientists John D. Rolston, MD, PhD, and Tyler Davis, MD, PhD, collaborated on the research.

“One goal of this research is to give a blind person more mobility,” said Normann. “It could allow them to identify a person, doorways, or cars easily. It could increase independence and safety. That’s what we’re working toward.”

The research team hopes the next set of experiments will use a more sophisticated image encoder system, capable of stimulating more electrodes simultaneously to reproduce more complex visual images.

Authors on the paper are: Eduardo Fernández, Arantxa Alfaro, Cristina Soto-Sánchez, Pablo Gonzalez-Lopez, Antonio Lozano, Sebastian Peña, Maria Dolores Grima, Alfonso Rodil, Bernardeta Gómez, Xing Chen, Pieter R. Roelfsema, John D. Rolston, Tyler S. Davis, and Richard A. Normann.

Funding was provided by grant RTI2018-098969-B-100 from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación y Universidades, by grant PROMETEO/2019/119 from the Generalitat Valenciana, by the Bidons Egara Research Chair of the University Miguel Hernández, by the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah, the University of Utah Department of Neurosurgery, and by an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, NY, to the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah.

About the John A. Moran Eye Center

The John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah serves as the largest ophthalmology clinical care and research facility in the Mountain West, with more than 60 faculty members, 10 satellite clinics, and 15 research laboratories. Physicians provide comprehensive care in all ophthalmic subspecialties and Moran is a major referral center for complex cases with over 145,000 patient visits and about 7,000 surgeries annually. CEO and Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Randall J Olson, MD, leads more than 500 employees working to achieve the Moran Eye Center’s vision that no person with a blinding condition, eye disease, or visual impairment should be without hope, understanding, and treatment.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Clinical Investigation

DOI

10.1172/JCI151331 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Visual percepts evoked with an Intracortical 96-channel microelectrode array inserted in human occipital cortex

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

19-Oct-2021

Coffee and the effects of climate change

A collaborative study looks at how changing climate conditions might be affecting the taste, aroma, and overall quality of coffee

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TUFTS UNIVERSITY, HEALTH SCIENCES CAMPUS

Whether you prefer notes of berry and citrus or chocolate and nuts, dark roast or light, a good cup of coffee can be a simple pleasure. You probably would notice if some of your morning brew’s brightness disappeared, or if the familiar fruity aroma dulled a little. Changes like these might not stem from when the beans were roasted or ground, but from growing conditions.   

Coffee is grown on more than 27 million acres across 12.5 million largely smallholder farms in more than 50 countries. Many coffee-producing regions are increasingly experiencing changing climate conditions, whose impact on coffee’s taste, aroma, and even dietary quality is as much a concern as yields and sustainability. 

A new research review says that coffee quality is vulnerable to shifts in environmental factors associated with climate change. The review, led by researchers from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts and Montana State University, also finds that some current adaptation strategies to combat these effects provide hope for positive outcomes.  

“A subpar cup of coffee has economic implications as well as sensory. Factors that influence coffee production have great impacts on buyers’ interest, the price of coffee, and ultimately the livelihoods of the farmers who grow it,” says Sean Cash, an economist and the Bergstrom Foundation Professor in Global Nutrition at the Friedman School and senior author on the study, published in Frontiers in Plant Science.

“Climate change impacts on crops are already causing economic and political disruption in many parts of the world,” he says. “If we can understand the science of these changes, we might help farmers and other stakeholders better manage coffee production in the face of this and future challenges.”

In their analysis, the researchers looked at the effects of 10 prevalent environmental factors and management conditions associated with climate change and climate adaptation, respectively, across 73 published articles. 

The most consistent trends the team found were that farms at higher altitudes were associated with better coffee flavor and aroma, while too much light exposure was associated with a decrease in coffee quality. A synthesis of the evidence found that coffee quality is also susceptible to changes due to water stress and increased temperatures and carbon dioxide, although more research on these specific factors is needed.

Some current efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, including shade management to control light exposure, selection and maintenance of climate-resilient wild coffee plants, and pest management, show promise and feasibility, but innovative solutions to support bean growth at all elevations need to be devised, the team says.   

“These strategies are giving some hope that coffee quality can be maintained or improved and will ultimately help farmers consider how to design evidence-based interventions to support their farms,” says Selena Ahmed, an ethnobotanist in the Food and Health Lab at Montana State University, who earlier was a postdoctoral scholar in the Tufts IRACDA program. “These impacts on crops are important to study in general, not just for coffee. Our food systems support our food security, nutrition and health.”

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Plant Science

DOI

10.3389/fpls.2021.708013 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Systematic review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Climate Change and Coffee Quality: Systematic Review on the Effects of Environmental and Management Variation on Secondary Metabolites and Sensory Attributes of Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Oct-2021

Kick-start of a new generation of climate scientists

Meeting Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN - FACULTY OF SCIENCE

 

IMAGE: 15 INTERNATIONAL PHD STUDENTS ARE TRAINED IN AN INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF 11 LEADING UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS ACROSS EUROPE SUPPORTED BY 8 ADDITIONAL PARTNERS IN ACADEMIA, INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENTAL- AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS. view more 

CREDIT: NBI/HP

The study of critical transitions or tipping points in the Earth system involves increasingly complex mathematical techniques and understanding of the Earth system. CriticalEarth, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Innovative Training Network programme for young scientists, aims to prepare the next generation of climate scientists for this important task. The training of 15 PhD international students at 17 European research institutions begins this week, with a kick-off meeting in Denmark, hosted by Critical Earth partner the University of Copenhagen (Department of Physics of Ice, Climate and Earth at the Niels Bohr Institute).

 

Climate tipping is a worrying concept. Abrupt transitions lead to accelerated climate change because the climate system or parts of it move from one stable state to another. Assessing the risk of encountering climate tipping points due to anthropogenic global warming is one of the most urgent challenges in climate science today.

 

Analyzing a complex system as the Earth's climate to a high enough precision for the prediction of critical transitions involves very different mathematical concepts like stochasticity, chaos theory and dynamical systems theory. The demand for expert understanding of the physical behaviour of the climate system is equally pressing.

 

The study of tipping points and critical transitions is therefore leading climate science into a field of increasingly advanced mathematics and physics, creating a need for highly-trained specialists. The upstart of the CriticalEarth project will hopefully aid this essential task.

 

CriticalEarth’s network of 15 PhD Fellows will be trained in new research methods for assessing the mechanisms and associated risks of critical transitions in the climate.

 

The focus will be on investigating how complex mathematics can be used to predict and avoid irreversible climate change. The positions will offer the students an excellent experience, working within a strong, cross-disciplinary network among 11 leading Universities and research institutions across Europe, and supported by 8 additional partners in academia, industry, governmental- and non-governmental institutions.

 

Professor Peter Ditlevsen, who is the leader of the CriticalEarth project : “It is extremely important that we fill the knowledge gap in the mathematical understanding of tipping points and abrupt climate change. This is a deep scientific challenge for the next generation of climate scientists and the reason for the European Commission in investing in the education of 15 excellent young researchers. I am really excited about the project and thrilled to see the development of these great young scientists and the buildup of the international scientific network in CriticalEarth.”

 

A Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Innovative Training Network is one of the most prestigious and competitive science programmes under the EU Horizon 2020 which fund CriticalEarth with more than 4 million Euros.

 

For more information, contact Peter Ditlevsen, pditlev@nbi.ku.dk or Henrik Prætorius henrik.praetorius@nbi.ku.dk.

 

CriticalEarth (grant agreement 956170) is funded by the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie

Actions Research networks ITN - Innovative Training Networks For details please refer to:

ITN https://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/actions/get-funding/innovative-trainingnetworks

 

Contributing universities and science institutions.

 

The Niels Bohr Institute, The University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Department of Mathematics, Technische Universität München, Germany.

Department of Mathematics, Norges Arktiske Universitet, Norway.

Department of Physics, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

Department of Mathematics, University of Exeter, Great Britain.

Department of Physics, University of Reading, Great Britain.

Department of Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Torina, Italy.

Department of Atmospheric Science, Koninklijk Meteorologisch Instituut, The Netherlands.

Laboratoire de physique, ENS de Lyon, France.

Department of Earth Physics and Astrophysics, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Spain.

Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany.

 

Partner organisations

 

Department Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, France

Danish Meteorological Institute, Denmark

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany
Climate Risk Analysis, Mudelsee, Germany
Amigo Climate, Italy

David Trads Consulting & Management, Denmark

Penn Medicine’s Pavilion marks a healthcare ‘first’ with prestigious LEED Gold Building Certification for Sustainability

New Penn hospital becomes largest LEED Healthcare certified project in the world to achieve this recognition for green design and construction

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

 

IMAGE: PAVILION view more 

CREDIT: PENN MEDICINE

PHILADELPHIA – Penn Medicine’s new Pavilion on the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s campus has broken new ground for sustainable healthcare construction and design with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Healthcare Gold Certification. Incorporating sustainability efforts since the beginning of its development, the 17-story, future-ready patient facility is the largest certified project in the world to achieve Gold certification or higher in LEED Healthcare. At 1.5 million square feet, the Pavilion—which will open October 30—is also the first hospital in the United States of more than 1 million square feet to achieve certification in LEED Healthcare.

“At Penn Medicine, implementing sustainability measures in our buildings has been a key area of our leadership in the health care field, to not only conserve energy but also improve the way patient care is delivered,” Kevin B. Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, said. “Our workforce is deeply committed to climate stewardship, and in the Pavilion, they can be proud to be part of a new era in conservation that puts medicine on the map as a force for improving the health of our planet.”

LEED, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the most widely used green building rating system in the world and an international symbol of excellence. The LEED Healthcare rating system focuses on green initiatives at inpatient, outpatient and licensed long-term care facilities, medical offices, assisted living facilities, and medical education and research centers. To become LEED certified, a building must earn a threshold of points across multiple measurements for green building excellence, from sustainable site development to energy efficiency and water savings.

Conservation initiatives during the Pavilion project included recycling materials that were collected after the demolition of Penn Tower, which formerly stood on the new hospital’s site, including 291 tons of scrap steel and 17,000 tons of concrete. In addition, during the Pavilion’s construction, about 25 percent of materials were prefabricated and manufactured off-site, including more than 570 mechanical/electrical/plumbing racks and all 504 bathrooms for each patient room. This process minimized on-site waste, reduced traffic impact and site congestion, increased quality, and lowered cost.

Overall, the energy efficiency efforts in the Pavilion are anticipated to save more than 14 percent in annual energy costs compared to merely a code-compliant hospital. The building itself also uses 100 percent outside air through its HVAC system, using energy recovery wheels to capture and repurpose waste energy.

Along with saving energy, the facility was constructed to cut 30 percent of typical indoor water use through the installation of select fixtures and designs that use significantly less water, such as low-flow and low-flush toilets, sinks, and showers. In addition, more than 20 percent of the water required for the building’s HVAC equipment is provided by water captured and reused on site, such as rainwater, condensate, and foundation dewatering. Two cisterns, to help supply the chilled water system, are projected to process 7 million gallons of captured non-potable water each year.

The Pavilion’s property also includes an acre of greenery through landscaping surrounding the facility—including ground-level greenery that helps “bring the outside in” to patients and employees through abundant windows—and green roofs. Landscaped areas will feature native and hardy species that require minimal watering and maintenance.

The facility’s eco-friendly finishes extend to enabling green transit options for the thousands who will work and visit the Pavilion each day. In the 690-space underground parking garage, 2 percent of parking spaces have access to electric vehicle recharging stations, and to promote cycling and walking, 352 new bicycle parking spots have been installed at various locations surrounding the Pavilion. A new pedestrian pathway connecting the facility to Penn Medicine Station makes for easily accessible train travel for staff and visitors who use public transportation.

Design and planning for the Pavilion was orchestrated by PennFIRST, an integrated project delivery (IPD) team comprised of Penn Medicine employees, health care design firm HDR, architects Foster + Partners, engineering firm BR+A, and construction managers L.F. Driscoll and Balfour Beatty.

“An integral part of Penn’s campus development plan is to mindfully consider how our projects respond to our sustainability goals. In earning a LEED Gold designation, the Penn Medicine Pavilion exceeds this important consideration while adding to the transformation of our spectacular urban campus,” said Anne Papageorge, Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Services at the University of Pennsylvania.

Every new building and major renovation project currently under design at Penn is registered with the USGBC and is targeting LEED Silver rating or higher. The Pavilion is one of nearly 40 Penn buildings to achieve LEED certification, including Penn Medicine’s Valley Forge location, Penn Medicine Radnor, the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, and Penn Medicine’s University City Office Tower.

Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $8.9 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top medical schools in the United States for more than 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $496 million awarded in the 2020 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities include: the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center—which are recognized as one of the nation’s top “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report—Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Medicine Princeton Health; and Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.

Penn Medicine is powered by a talented and dedicated workforce of more than 44,000 people. The organization also has alliances with top community health systems across both Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, creating more options for patients no matter where they live.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2020, Penn Medicine provided more than $563 million to benefit our community.