A better understanding of 'wet markets' is key to safeguarding human health, biodiversity

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, WOODROW WILSON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Research News

 

IMAGE: GOVERNMENTS HAVE PUSHED FOR THE CLOSING OF SO-CALLED "WET MARKETS " AROUND THE WORLD, BUT THIS IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE POLICY SOLUTION, ACCORDING TO PRINCETON UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS. INSTEAD, POLICYMAKERS SHOULD TARGET... view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO CREDIT: GINETTE LAI, TAIWAN

PRINCETON, N.J.--Great uncertainty surrounds the origins of SARS-CoV-2. Early on, some suggested a link between COVID-19 and a seafood market in Wuhan, China. Other theories are now circulating, though the origins of the virus are still unknown.

In response, governments have pushed for the closing of so-called "wet markets" around the world, but this is not an effective policy solution, Princeton University researchers report.

A widespread shuttering of all wet markets could have the unintended consequences of disrupting critical food supply chains, stimulating an unregulated black market for animal products, and stoking xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment. Furthermore, the majority of these informal markets -- which specialize in fresh meat, seafood, and other perishable items in open-air settings -- pose little risk to human health or biodiversity.

Instead, policymakers should target the most high-risk aspects of markets to prevent disruptions to local food supply chains while reducing human health and biodiversity dangers, the researchers argue in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health. Markets selling live animals, especially live wild animals, pose the most outsized risks to human health and biodiversity, the researchers conclude.

"The usage of the term 'wet market' is laced with negative undertones, especially in light of COVID-19. I believe this is driven, in part, by a misunderstanding of what these markets actually are and the ways they can meaningfully differ from other markets and from each other. Given this confusion, the term is slowly being replaced in the academic and popular literature by more specific terminology," said study lead author Bing Lin, a second-year Ph.D. student in the Program in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. "Our research injects some clarity on what wet markets are, and adds precision to how their risks can be considered and classified."

"In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nations temporarily shut down their wet markets, but that's not going to last -- eventually some will be opened up while others will be more closely regulated or closed altogether," said study co-author David S. Wilcove, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and public affairs and the High Meadows Environmental Institute and a core faculty member at Princeton's Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment. "Our work presents a way to tell which ones are worth focusing on for tighter regulation or closure."

Lin and Wilcove began with a definition of wet markets, which sell consumption-oriented, perishable goods in a non-supermarket setting. These markets were named after their frequently wet floors, a result of regular washing to keep food stalls clean and the melting of ice to keep foods fresh. Wildlife markets, on the other hand, sell non-domesticated wild animals, and live-animal markets sell live animals. The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market -- considered a possible source of the COVID-19 pandemic -- was a wet market, a live-animal market, and a wildlife market all in one.

To help policymakers distinguish relatively benign markets from dangerous ones, Bing and his collaborators analyzed the different types of markets, how they function, and the risk they pose to people and wildlife. They then developed a unique framework that identifies the key risks associated with these markets, including size and cleanliness, whether they sell high disease-risk animals, and the presence of live animals, among other factors.

For the paper, Lin and Wilcove drew upon medical and peer-reviewed literature about markets from July through December 2020. They evaluated six specific risks that informal markets can pose to human health: the sale of high disease-risk animals; the presence of live animals; hygiene conditions; market size; animal density and interspecies mixing; and the length and scale of animal supply chains. They also identified the factors that present risks to biodiversity, including the sale of threatened and declining wild-animal species.

They report that numerous wet markets around the world sell only processed domesticated animals such as poultry. These include all markets in Singapore and Taiwan, and farmer's markets in the United States. A smaller number of markets sell live domesticated animals. Fewer still sell wild animals, dead or alive, alongside livestock or meat from domesticated animals.

When comparing all of these, the markets that sell live animals carry the greatest risks to human health and biodiversity, especially if they are selling live wild animals -- which are connected to emerging infectious diseases. These are the markets that policymakers should target as they attempt to mitigate future infectious disease outbreaks, the researchers report.

"Growing up in metropolitan Indonesia and amidst the hustle of inner-city Taiwan, I knew from experience that wet markets differed drastically in their composition and constitution," Lin said, "and good policy must be based on a clear, yet nuanced, understanding of the different types of markets and their associated and variable risks. We believe that targeted, risk-adjusted policies to mitigate the highest market risks to be preferable over sweeping but ineffectual short-term change."

The researchers emphasize that these markets alone are not solely responsible for global pandemics. Instead, they represent one node of zoonotic transmission potential along the global wildlife trade supply chain. They hope that future research will continue to quantify the risk factors these markets pose so decisionmakers can better safeguard human health and biodiversity.

CAPTION

Wet markets sell consumption-oriented, perishable goods in a non-supermarket setting. Wildlife markets, on the other hand, sell non-domesticated wild animals, and live-animal markets sell live animals. The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market -- considered a possible source of the COVID-19 pandemic -- was a wet market, a live-animal market, and a wildlife market all in one.

CREDIT

Bing Lin, Princeton University

 

Not All Wet Markets Are Created

Equal (IMAGE)

PRNCETON UNIVERSITY, WOODROW WILSON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

CAPTION

A better understanding of wet markets is the key to safeguarding human health and biodiversity, Princeton University researchers report. In a study published by The Lancet Planetary Health, they analyzed the different types of markets -- like the one featured above in Taipei, Taiwan -- how they function, and the risk they pose to people and wildlife.

CREDIT

Ginette Lai, Taiwan

UNESCO report calls for increases in investment in science in the face of growing crises

UNESCO

Research News

 

Paris, June 11 - Spending on science worldwide increased (+19%) between 2014 and 2018, as did the number of scientists (+13.7%). This trend has been further boosted by the COVID crisis, according to UNESCO's new Science Report, The Race against Time for Smarter Development.

But, these figures hide significant disparities: just two countries, the United States and China, account for nearly two-thirds of this increase (63%) while four out of five countries lag far behind, investing less than 1% of their GDP in scientific research. The scientific landscape thus remains largely a landscape of power.

Published every five years, the new report provides an overview of science and science policy.

Artificial intelligence and robotics are particularly dynamic fields, according to the report which notes that almost 150,000 articles were published on these subjects in 2019 alone. Research in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics has surged in lower middle-income countries, which contributed 25.3% of publications in this field in 2019, compared to only 12.8% in 2015. Over the past five years, more than 30 countries have adopted specific strategies, among them China, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, India, Mauritius and Vietnam.

Other fields of research that are crucial for our future attract significantly lower investments. In 2019 for example, research into carbon capture and storage, only generated 2,500 articles, 60 times fewer than artificial intelligence. Research on the subject is actually declining in six of the ten countries leading research in this field (Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the current leader, the United States). Similarly, the field of sustainable energy remains under-explored, representing only 2.5% of global publications in 2019.

There is a long way to go before science contributes its full potential to sustainable development.

The world must focus on providing science with the tools it needs. As Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, points out, "better-endowed science is indispensable. Science must become less unequal, more cooperative and more open. Today's challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, decline of ocean health and pandemics are all global. This is why we must mobilize scientists and researchers from all over the world."

Although international scientific cooperation has increased over the last five years, open access still only applies to one publication in four. Moreover, despite the tremendous collective momentum generated by the fight against COVID-19, many obstacles stand in the way of open access to research in much of the world.

For example, more than 70% of publications remain largely inaccessible to the majority of researchers. The report documents efforts to break down these barriers, which are sources of both inequality and inefficiency. New models for the circulation and dissemination of scientific knowledge in society must be implemented.

UNESCO has been working on this since 2019, when it began preparing a global standard-setting instrument for open science. If adopted at the Organization's next General Conference in November 2021, the Recommendation will provide the international community with a shared definition and framework in which to develop the transparent, inclusive and effective science the world needs.

The report also underscores the importance of diversity in science; the development of this critical discipline must involve the whole of humanity. It finds that only one third of researchers in the world are women. While parity has almost been achieved in the life sciences, it is still a long way off in many sectors of growing importance. For example, women represent only 22% of the workforce in the field of artificial intelligence. This is a problem not only for today, but also for tomorrow. We cannot allow the inequalities of society to be reproduced, or amplified, by the science of the future.

Science must unite all of humanity to face the challenges of today and tomorrow. The report urges the restoration of public confidence in science, and reminds us that today's science contributes to shaping the world of tomorrow, which is why it is essential to prioritize humanity's common goal of sustainability through ambitious science policy.

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About UNESCO's Science Report

Every five years, the UNESCO Science Report provides an update of trends in science governance. Written by 70 authors from 52 countries, it aggregates data on spending, personnel, scientific publications and patents. The latest edition tracks progress towards the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the rapid progress of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It also tracks the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global research and innovation.

 

Study shows how permafrost releases methane in the warming Arctic

SKOLKOVO INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (SKOLTECH)

Research News

Researchers from Skoltech have designed and conducted experiments measuring gas permeability under various conditions for ice-containing sediments mimicking permafrost. Their results can be useful both in modeling and testing techniques for gas production from Arctic reservoirs and in tracing methane emission in high latitudes. The paper was published in the journal Energy&Fuels.

Permafrost, even though it sounds very stable and permanent, is actually quite diverse: depending on the composition of the frozen ground, pressure, temperature and so on, it can have varying properties, which are extremely important if you want to build something on permafrost, such as an oil and gas field. Permafrost is also very gassy: it may contain a lot of natural gas in the form of hydrates, and its permeability is an important parameter both for research and for many activities in the Arctic.

"Gas permeability affects migration and accumulation of natural gas in this frozen ground as well as atmospheric emissions. Knowledge of filtration properties of permafrost containing gas hydrates is also absolutely necessary for estimates of the possibility of extracting gas from hydrates," Evgeny Chuvilin, Leading Research Scientist at Skoltech and a coauthor of the paper, says.

Chuvilin and his colleagues decided to handle the poorly studied issue of gas permeability variations in ice- and hydrate-saturated sand samples during freezing and thawing and as gas hydrates form and dissociate. For that, the team had to design and build an experimental setup that would allow them to test various samples mimicking permafrost under various pressure and temperature conditions as well as clay content.

"The data we got can be used in testing methods of gas extraction in permafrost areas, including from hydrates, and in mapping areas with high permeability in permafrost for methane emissions studies in the Arctic," Chuvilin says.

Their study also showed a high probability of increasing permeability coupled with dissociation of gas hydrates in permafrost - a likely scenario given the current warming trend in the Arctic. "We don't necessarily have to wait for a complete thawing of permafrost - even a slight shift of temperature is enough to trigger dissociation. And increased gas permeability that will follow will create conditions for methane emissions into the atmosphere, causing a variety of environmental and technological impacts," Chuvilin notes.

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Skoltech is a private international university located in Russia. Established in 2011 in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Skoltech is cultivating a new generation of leaders in the fields of science, technology and business, is conducting research in breakthrough fields, and is promoting technological innovation with the goal of solving critical problems that face Russia and the world. Skoltech is focusing on six priority areas: data science and artificial intelligence, life sciences, advanced materials and modern design methods, energy efficiency, photonics and quantum technologies, and advanced research. Web: https://www.skoltech.ru/.

 

Māori connections to Antarctica may go as far back as 7th century, new study shows

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE VIEW OF TE KAIWHAKATERE O TE RAKI LOOKING OUTWARD ACROSS THE ROSS ICE SHELF. view more 

CREDIT: © A SHORT SCAN OF MĀORI JOURNEYS TO ANTARCTICA / JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND

Indigenous Māori people may have set eyes on Antarctic waters and perhaps the continent as early as the 7th century, new research published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand shows.

Over the last 200 years, narratives about the Antarctic have been of those carried out by predominantly European male explorers.

However, this new study uncovers the story of the deep-rooted connections of Māori (and Polynesian) people with Antarctica dating back as far as the seventh century and continuing into the present day.

"We found connections to Antarctica and its waters have been occurring since the earliest traditional voyaging, and later through participation in European-led voyaging and exploration, contemporary scientific research, fishing, and more for centuries," explains lead author Dr Priscilla Wehi, from Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research the organisation which led the project, alongside researchers from Te R?nanga o Ngāi Tahu.

"Our exploration begins to construct a richer and more inclusive picture of Antarctica's relationship with humanity and builds a platform on which much wider conversations about New Zealand relationships with Antarctica can be furthered."

The study was compiled by a team of researchers who scanned literature and integrated this with oral histories. The outcome is a compiled record of Māori presence in, and perspectives of, Antarctic narratives and exploration, which - the team states - "plays an important role" to fill knowledge gaps about both Māori and Antarctic exploration.

And these stories start as far back as 1,320 years ago.

"We find Polynesian narratives of voyaging between the islands include voyaging into Antarctic waters by Hui Te Rangiora (also known as ?i Te Rangiora) and his crew on the vessel Te Ivi o Atea, likely in the early seventh century," Wehi says.

"These navigational accomplishments are widely acknowledged; and Māori navigators are described as traversing the Pacific much as Western explorers might a lake.

"In some narratives, Hui Te Rangiora and his crew continued south. A long way south. In so doing, they likely set eyes on Antarctic waters and perhaps the continent."

Other evidence gathered includes Māori carvings, which depict both voyagers and navigational and astronomical knowledge.

"As well," Wehi says, "a 'pou whakairo' (translating as carved post), represents Tamarereti as protector of the southern oceans stands on the southernmost tip of the South Island of New Zealand at Bluff. Ngāi Tahu, the largest tribal group in the South Island, and other tribal groups or iwi also cherish other oral repositories of knowledge in relation to these early explorers and voyagers."

These Māori narratives of connections with Antarctic were not limited to these early voyages either. Rather, voyaging and expedition was shown to continue to the present day; "but is rarely acknowledged or highlighted," Wehi says.

And this research, she hopes, will begin more on the path to ensure inclusion of Māori in future relationships with Antarctica.

"Taking account of responsibilities to under-represented groups, and particularly Māori as Treaty partners, is important for both contemporary and future programmes of Antarctic research, as well as for future exploration of New Zealand's obligations within the Antarctic Treaty System."

Concluding, she says: "Growing more Māori Antarctic scientists and incorporating Māori perspectives will add depth to New Zealand's research programmes and ultimately the protection and management of Antarctica."

Further evidence of Māori exploration is likely to enter the public domain in future as tribal researchers partner with iwi to share these narratives, and Māori leadership in Antarctic research grows more visible, including that of the Kāhui Māori in the Antarctic Science Platform.

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Bacteria serves tasty solution to global plastic crisis

Scientists have devised a novel way of tackling the mounting issue of plastic pollution -- by using bacteria to transform plastic waste into vanilla flavoring

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

Research News

 

Researchers have discovered that the common bacteria E. coli can be deployed as a sustainable way to convert post-consumer plastic into vanillin, a new study reveals.

Vanillin is the primary component of extracted vanilla beans and is responsible for the characteristic taste and smell of vanilla.

The transformation could boost the circular economy, which aims to eliminate waste, keep products and materials in use and have positive impacts for synthetic biology, experts say.

The world's plastic crisis has seen an urgent need to develop new methods to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - the strong, lightweight plastic derived from non-renewable materials such as oil and gas and widely used for packaging foods and convenience-sized juices and water.

Approximately 50 million tonnes of PET waste is produced annually, causing serious economic and environmental impacts. PET recycling is possible, but existing processes create products that continue to contribute to plastic pollution worldwide.

To tackle this problem, scientists from the University of Edinburgh used lab engineered E. coli to transform terephthalic acid - a molecule derived from PET - into the high value compound vanillin, via a series of chemical reactions.

The team also demonstrated how the technique works by converting a used plastic bottle into vanillin by adding the E. coli to the degraded plastic waste.

Researchers say that the vanillin produced would be fit for human consumption but further experimental tests are required.

Vanillin is widely used in the food and cosmetics industries, as well as the formulation of herbicides, antifoaming agents and cleaning products. Global demand for vanillin was in excess of 37,000 tonnes in 2018.

Joanna Sadler, first author and BBSRC Discovery Fellow from the School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, said: "This is the first example of using a biological system to upcycle plastic waste into a valuable industrial chemical and this has very exciting implications for the circular economy.

"The results from our research have major implications for the field of plastic sustainability and demonstrate the power of synthetic biology to address real-world challenges."

Dr Stephen Wallace, Principle Investigator of the study and a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow from the University of Edinburgh, said: "Our work challenges the perception of plastic being a problematic waste and instead demonstrates its use as a new carbon resource from which high value products can be obtained."

Dr Ellis Crawford, Publishing Editor at the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: "This is a really interesting use of microbial science at the molecular level to improve sustainability and work towards a circular economy. Using microbes to turn waste plastics, which are harmful to the environment, into an important commodity and platform molecule with broad applications in cosmetics and food is a beautiful demonstration of green chemistry."

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The study, published in Green Chemistry lays the foundation for further studies to maximize vanillin production towards industrially relevant levels.

The research was funded by a BBSRC Discovery Fellowship and a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.

For further information, please contact: Rhona Crawford, Press and PR Office, mb: 07876391498, rhona.crawford@ed.ac.uk

Bacteria-sized robots take on microplastics and win by breaking them down

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Research News

 

IMAGE: METALLIC MICROROBOTS (DARK BLUE DOTS) COLONIZE A JAGGED PIECE OF MICROPLASTIC UNDER VISIBLE LIGHT, BREAKING DOWN THE PLASTIC INTO SMALLER MOLECULES. view more 

CREDIT: ADAPTED FROM ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021, DOI: 10.1021/ACSAMI.1C04559

Small pieces of plastic are everywhere, stretching from urban environments to pristine wilderness. Left to their own devices, it can take hundreds of years for them to degrade completely. Catalysts activated by sunlight could speed up the process, but getting these compounds to interact with microplastics is difficult. In a proof-of-concept study, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces developed self-propelled microrobots that can swim, attach to plastics and break them down.

While plastic products are omnipresent indoors, plastic waste and broken bits now litter the outdoors, too. The smallest of these - microplastics less than 5 mm in size - are hard to pick up and remove. In addition, they can adsorb heavy metals and pollutants, potentially harming humans or animals if accidently consumed. So, previous researchers proposed a low-energy way to get rid of plastics in the environment by using catalysts that use sunlight to produce highly reactive compounds that break down these types of polymers. However, getting the catalysts and tiny plastic pieces in contact with each other is challenging and usually requires pretreatments or bulky mechanical stirrers, which aren't easily scaled-up. Martin Pumera and colleagues wanted to create a sunlight-propelled catalyst that moves toward and latches onto microparticles and dismantles them.

To transform a catalytic material into light-driven microrobots, the researchers made star-shaped particles of bismuth vanadate and then evenly coated the 4-8 μm-wide structures with magnetic iron oxide. The microrobots could swim down a maze of channels and interact with microplastic pieces along their entire lengths. The researchers found that under visible light, microrobots strongly glommed on to four common types of plastics. The team then illuminated pieces of the four plastics covered with the microrobot catalyst for seven days in a dilute hydrogen peroxide solution. They observed that the plastic lost 3% of its weight and that the surface texture for all types changed from smooth to pitted, and small molecules and components of the plastics were found in the left-over solution. The researchers say the self-propelled microrobot catalysts pave the way toward systems that can capture and degrade microplastics in hard-to-reach-locations.

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The authors acknowledge funding from the European Regional Development Fund.

The abstract that accompanies this paper can be viewed here.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS' mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world's scientific knowledge. ACS' main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

Ocean microplastics: First global view shows seasonal changes and sources

Satellites reveal fluctuation in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and releases from the Yangtze River

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Research News

 

An estimated 8 million tons of plastic trash enters the ocean each year, and most of it is battered by sun and waves into microplastics--tiny flecks that can ride currents hundreds or thousands of miles from their point of entry.

The debris can harm sea life and marine ecosystems, and it's extremely difficult to track and clean up.

Now, University of Michigan researchers have developed a new way to spot ocean microplastics across the globe and track them over time, providing a day-by-day timeline of where they enter the water, how they move and where they tend to collect.

The approach relies on the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, and can give a global view or zoom in on small areas for a high-resolution picture of microplastic releases from a single location.

The technique is a major improvement over current tracking methods, which rely mainly on spotty reports from plankton trawlers that net microplastics along with their catch.

"We're still early in the research process, but I hope this can be part of a fundamental change in how we track and manage microplastic pollution," said Chris Ruf, the Frederick Bartman Collegiate Professor of Climate and Space Science at U-M, principal investigator of CYGNSS and senior author on a newly published paper on the work.

Their initial observations are revealing.

Season changes in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The team found that global microplastic concentrations tend to vary by season, peaking in the North Atlantic and Pacific during the Northern Hemisphere's summer months. June and July, for example, are the peak months for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a convergence zone in the North Pacific where microplastic collects in massive quantities.

Concentrations in the Southern Hemisphere peak during its summer months of January and February. Concentrations tend to be lower during the winter, likely due to a combination of stronger currents that break up microplastic plumes and increased vertical mixing that drives them further beneath the water's surface, researchers say.

The data also showed several brief spikes in microplastic concentration at the mouth of the Yangtze River--long suspected to be a chief source.

"It's one thing to suspect a source of microplastic pollution, but quite another to see it happening," Ruf said. "The microplastics data that has been available in the past has been so sparse, just brief snapshots that aren't repeatable."

The researchers produced visualizations that show microplastic concentrations around the globe. Often the areas of accumulation are due to prevailing local water currents and convergence zones, with the Pacific patch being the most extreme example.

"What makes the plumes from major river mouths noteworthy is that they are a source into the ocean, as opposed to places where the microplastics tend to accumulate," Ruf said.

Ruf says the information could help organizations that clean up microplastics deploy ships and other resources more efficiently. The researchers are already in talks with a Dutch cleanup organization, The Ocean Cleanup, on working together to validate the team's initial findings. Single-point release data may also be useful to the United Nations agency UNESCO, which has sponsored a task force to find new ways to track the release of microplastics into the world's waters.

Hurricane-tracking satellites set their sights on plastic pollution

Developed by Ruf and U-M undergraduate Madeline Evans, the tracking method uses existing data from CYGNSS, a system of eight microsatellites launched in 2016 to monitor weather near the heart of large storm systems and bolster predictions on their severity. Ruf leads the CYGNSS mission.

The key to the process is ocean surface roughness, which CYGNSS already measures using radar. The measurements have mainly been used to calculate wind speed near the eyes of hurricanes, but Ruf wondered whether they might have other uses as well.

"We'd been taking these radar measurements of surface roughness and using them to measure wind speed, and we knew that the presence of stuff in the water alters its responsiveness to the environment," Ruf said. "So I got the idea of doing the whole thing backward, using changes in responsiveness to predict the presence of stuff in the water."

Using independent wind speed measurements from NOAA, the team looked for places where the ocean seemed less rough than it should be given the wind speed. They then matched those areas up with actual observations from plankton trawlers and ocean current models that predict the migration of microplastic. They found a high correlation between the smoother areas and those with more microplastic.

Ruf's team believes the changes in ocean roughness may not be caused directly by the microplastics, but instead by surfactants--a family of oily or soapy compounds that lower the surface tension on a liquid's surface. Surfactants tend to accompany microplastics in the ocean, both because they're often released along with microplastics and because they travel and collect in similar ways once they're in the water.

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A paper on the work, "Towards the Detection and Imaging of Ocean Microplastics with a Spaceborne Radar," is newly published in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

Written by Gabe Cherry

The rocky road to accurate sea-level predictions

Dirt and water under Greenland control future sea

STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: HENNING ÅKESSON view more 

CREDIT: HENNING ÅKESSON

The type of material present under glaciers has a big impact on how fast they slide towards the ocean. Scientists face a challenging task to acquire data of this under-ice landscape, let alone how to represent it accurately in models of future sea-level rise.

"Choosing the wrong equations for the under-ice landscape can have the same effect on the predicted contribution to sea-level rise as a warming of several degrees", says Henning Åkesson, who led a new published study on Petermann Glacier in Greenland.

Glaciers and ice sheets around the world currently lose more than 700,000 Olympic swimming pools of water every day. Glaciers form by the transformation of snow into ice, which is later melted by the atmosphere in summer, or slides all the way into the sea. With climate change, glaciers are breaking up and drop icebergs into the ocean at an accelerating pace. Exactly how fast depends to a large extent on the bed below all the ice. Glaciers conceal a landscape under the ice covered by rocks, sediments and water. A new study shows that the way we represent this under-ice landscape in computer models means a great deal for our predictions of future sea-level rise. More specifically, how we incorporate the friction between the ground and the ice sliding over it in glacier models is what affects our predictions. This was found by a team of Swedish and American scientists, when they simulated the future of Petermann Glacier, the largest and fastest glacier in northern Greenland.

Petermann is one of the few glaciers in the northern hemisphere with a remaining ice tongue, a type of floating glacier extension otherwise mainly found in Antarctica, where they are called ice shelves. These floating extensions have been found to be exposed to warm subsurface water flowing from the open ocean towards the glaciers. This happens both in Antarctica and in many fjords around Greenland, including the Petermann Fjord.

"Peterman lost 40% of its floating ice tongue over the last decade. It still has a 45 km tongue, but we found that a slightly warmer ocean than today would lead to its break up, and trigger a retreat of the glacier", says Henning Åkesson, a postdoctoral researcher at Stockholm University who led the study.

Many glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica flow towards the ocean much faster than they did a few decades ago, and therefore contribute more to global sea-level rise. Scientists have therefore mobilized great efforts into learning what is going on in these environments. This has spurred new insights into the landscape under glaciers and the shape of the seafloor where they drain. We now also know much more about what happens to the ice when glaciers meet the sea.

Still, the remote polar regions are notoriously difficult to study because of sea ice, icebergs, and often harsh weather. The under-ice landscape is a particular challenge because, frankly, it is hard to measure something covered by a kilometer of ice on top. Even in areas of known under-ice topography, describing its physical properties using mathematical equations is difficult. Computer models are therefore still somewhat in the dark when it comes to how to represent things like sediments, rocks, ponds and rivers under glaciers in the equations that describe ice flow. These equations are ultimately the foundation of the models used by the IPCC to estimate how fast glaciers flow and how much sea levels will rise under future climate warming.

"As we said, choosing the wrong equations for the under-ice landscape can have the same effect on the contribution to sea-level rise as a warming of several degrees", Åkesson says.

"In fact, predicted sea-level rise for this Greenland glacier can quadruple depending on how we represent friction under the ice. We still don't know which way is the best, but our study illustrates that ice-sheet models still need to progress in this respect, in order to improve our estimates of mass loss from Earth's polar ice sheets."

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Swedish icebreaker Oden at the front of Petermann Ice Shelf in 2019. The new study shows that this ice shelf may break up if ocean warming continues.

CREDIT

Martin Jakobsson

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The 20 km-wide Petermann Fjord with the ice shelf in the far distance.

CREDIT

Martin Jakobsson

Why this London, Ont., MP voted against a 2017 motion to condemn Islamophobia

Rebecca Zandbergen 

CBC NEWS

JUNE 10, 2021

© Karen Vecchio/Twitter In 2017, Karen Vecchio, the Conservative MP for Elgin-Middlesex-London, voted against M-103, a motion introduced by Ontario Liberal MP Iqra Khalid to condemn Islamophobia. She spoke to CBC London on Thursday 

In the wake of the fatal attack Sunday on a Muslim family in London, Ont., politicians of every stripe have come out to condemn hate and violence in this province and across Canada.

Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their daughter Yumna Afzaal, 15, and Salman's mother, Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed. The youngest member of the family, nine-year-old Fayez, survived and remains in hospital.

Following Tuesday night's vigil, Karen Vecchio, the Conservative MP for Elgin-Middlesex-London, is among those who took to social media, and said, "Last night I stood amongst 10,000 Canadians who came together to grieve, commemorate and address the issues of Islamophobia."

But in 2017, after six people were killed in an attack on a Quebec City mosque, Vecchio voted against M-103, a motion first introduced in 2016, to condemn Islamophobia.

In the recent attack, police say they believe it was premeditated and motivated by anti-Muslim hate. Community groups and politicians have also spoken out about Islamophobia.

Vecchio spoke to Rebecca Zandbergen of CBC's London Morning on Thursday morning about why and how she may have done things differently:

Standing among over 10,000 people who were there to commemorate the family and address Islamophobia: it was a very powerful evening. I think since the tragedy on Sunday, this has been a time in which many people throughout London and the region are reflecting because this is just a family, a family like I have. The bottom line is no family is free until all families are free. No family should ever worry about walking down the street and be targeted because of their religion and how they look.

I recognize the importance to the community and the importance to push this forward to understand racism and hate. So M-103 today would look very different in my eyes. But back at that time when this was put forward in 2016, there was also another motion in the House that I had supported. It was much broader. I have spoken to Iqra Khalid [the Ontario Liberal MP who sponsored the motion] and I have respect for her and worked with her on the women's caucus for some time. We had put forward a motion that was a bit different and much broader. It expanded to different religions ... that included Sikh, Jewish, Islam. It expanded everything.

No. When I voted, I personally thought we need to include other communities, including the Sikhs and Hindus.

You're absolutely right. I recognize that, yes, I could have voted for both, and would I today? Absolutely. But what I'm saying is at that time when I was looking at those bills, I wanted to expand it.

Yes, absolutely. I absolutely do.

Once again, it's the messaging.We're looking at our economy right now and so I want to ensure when we're talking about it, we're looking at the security of Canadian families and security includes the economy, it includes safety, includes it all. So I would not take what he has indicated there in our motto, to have anything to do with Islamophobia. It is not the intention whatsoever and people can try to take any phrase like that and move it. It is absolutely genuine and wanting to ensure that we have a secure Canada for all Canadians. And that includes our new immigrants to Canada, and to our brothers and sisters who are of Muslim faith.

I understand where you're coming from, but we're referring to the economy. I see where you're going on this. And I think every single time you have a slogan, we have to be very cautious because there's going to be lots of individuals that are going to take that and that they're going to twist it. Let's not kid ourselves. When we have political foes, they like to take anything and twist it.

Lots of phone calls. Lots of people have tried to put things on my Facebook. I find that we're at a time of great hate. And so I've been trying to reach out to all of those people individually. I don't believe the social media platforms are the best way to have discussions. I've been on the phone with many individuals in our own community, including going to the vigil just last night here in St. Thomas with the St. Thomas Islamic Centre. I think we have to do lots of great work in our smaller communities and that's the kind of work I'll continue to do

 SPACE RACE 3.0

European Space Agency adds another new Venus mission

By

Paul Brinkmann

An illustration depicts the EnVision orbiter unfolding instruments as it nears Venus. Image courtesy of European Space Agency

June 10 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency has approved a new mission to study Venus -- the third new mission to Venus to be announced in the past two weeks.

The ESA announced Thursday it will launch the EnVision orbiter in 2031 or 2032, with a budget of roughly $610 million.

It will follow two NASA missions to Venus that are scheduled to launch in a three-year span starting in 2028. NASA announced those missions, known as DAVINCI+ and Veritas, on June 2.

EnVision will scan specific regions of the Venusian surface that may be selected using data from Veritas, said Günther Hasinger, ESA director of science, in an interview Thursday.

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"Venus has been kind of ignored for a long time. So I believe we will get similar details of Venus as we have today for Mars, once these missions are concluded," Hasinger said.

Such knowledge could help scientists combat the worst impact of climate change on Earth, since the Venusian atmosphere may have undergone similar changes, he said.

All three Venus missions will attempt to answer the same difficult question that has vexed scientists for decades: Why did Venus, which is similar in size and location in the solar system to Earth, evolve into a hellish environment with temperatures that can melt lead at the surface?

Veritas will map the entire surface of the planet, while EnVision targets mountainous regions known as tesserae. DAVINCI+ will plummet through the atmosphere to the surface in an hour-long journey as it samples the air using various sensors.

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EnVision's key instruments will be radar that can penetrate the thick sulfuric-acid clouds in the Venus atmosphere. NASA will supply key components for EnVision.

That radar will provide detailed maps of the surface -- 10 to 50 times more accurate than NASA's previous Magellan orbiter launched in 1989, said Adriana Ocampo, NASA's program scientist for the EnVision mission, in an interview.

"It's actually the same team that's working on EnVision and Veritas, so this would be complementary science. This will serve to maximize science to ad