Study highlights urgent need to build vaccine confidence within racial and ethnic minority communities

Racial and ethnic disparities in vaccine uptake have persisted over the last decade, highlighting the urgent need to achieve equity in immunization rates, report scientists in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ELSEVIER

 

IMAGE: RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN VACCINE UPTAKE (INCLUDING INFLUENZA, PNEUMOCOCCAL, SHINGLES, AND TDAP VACCINATIONS) HAVE PERSISTED FROM 2010 TO 2019. view more 

CREDIT: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE

Ann Arbor, July 29, 2021 – Promoting health equity in immunization rates for the new vaccines against COVID-19 during the pandemic is critical, as individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups and adults living in low-income communities are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, as well as influenza and other vaccine-preventable diseases, according to investigators. Concerted efforts are urgently needed to achieve equity in immunization rates, reports a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier.

Vaccination has substantially decreased deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases in children to 300 per year in the United States. However, more than 42,000 adults die from vaccine-preventable diseases every year. Influenza causes approximately 140,000–710,000 hospitalizations and about 12,000–61,000 deaths in adults annually, with vulnerable communities at higher risk of influenza hospitalization. Pneumococcal disease causes about 242,000 hospitalizations and 16,000 deaths in adults aged 65 years or more every year. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to spread across the world and affect millions of individuals, especially among racial and ethnic minority groups.

“Currently, the biggest public health concern we are facing is the COVID-19 pandemic, for which we now have safe and effective vaccines available in the USA,” explained investigators Kosuke Kawai, ScD, Institutional Centers for Clinical and Translational Research, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, and Alison Tse Kawai, ScD, RTI Health Solutions, Waltham, MA, USA. “Unfortunately, as we observed for vaccines against influenza, pneumococcal, shingles, and Tdap, a combination vaccine that protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, adults from racial and ethnic minorities have had lower rates of COVID-19 vaccine uptake.”

The objective of this study was to examine trends in adult vaccination coverage by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status from 2010 to 2019. Investigators assessed trends over time in vaccination coverage for influenza, pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster, and Tdap using the National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) from 2010 to 2019. The NHIS is a US-wide survey of the civilian non-institutionalized population conducted through in-person household interviews. It collects data on demographics, health status, insurance coverage, healthcare access, and health behaviors from a nationally representative sample.

The current study shows that racial and ethnic disparities in vaccine uptake (including influenza, pneumococcal, shingles, and Tdap vaccinations) have persisted over the last decade in adults.  Black and Hispanic individuals had lower uptake of vaccination than White individuals. Socioeconomic disparities in influenza vaccine uptake have moderately narrowed among adults 18–64 years of age between 2010 and 2019, possibly because of the Affordable Care Act. However, socioeconomic disparities in vaccine uptake have persisted among adults 65 years of age and older. 

“Although the COVID-19 pandemic is the primary public health concern at the moment, our findings also serve as a reminder of the importance of continuing to strive towards equity in immunization rates for vaccines against other vaccine-preventable diseases,” commented the investigators. “More than 42,000 adults die from vaccine-preventable diseases in the US (not including COVID-19) every year. In addition to building trust and vaccine confidence through community engagement, reducing cost barriers especially for adults 65 years or older and implementing provider/patient reminder and recall systems using an Immunization Information System, could narrow the disparities in immunization rates.”

 

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JOURNAL

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2021.03.023

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Adult Vaccination Coverage

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Jul-2021

THIRD WORLD USA

New study: Half of Americans living with diabetes may be consuming less than the recommended amount of protein, which is associated with greater physical limitations

Patients with diabetes who did not meet the recommended daily intake of protein had greater physical limitations, which together may suggest an increased risk of muscle loss

Peer-Reviewed Publication

GCI HEALTH NY

ABBOTT PARK, Ill., Jul. 29, 2021 – A new study conducted by The Ohio State University and Abbott showed that half of the adults surveyed living with diabetes did not consume the daily recommended intake of protein, which is associated with lower diet quality, increased carbohydrate intake, and greater physical limitations. The study highlights protein intake as an essential and often overlooked consideration in meeting the nutritional needs of people living with diabetes and its importance in supporting strength and mobility.  

“We’ve long studied the impact of sugar consumption in people living with diabetes, but new data shed light on the critical association between low protein intake and diabetes,” said Christopher Taylor, Ph.D. R.D., lead researcher, and professor of Medical Dietetics at The Ohio State University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. “Diabetes is associated with a risk for developing low muscle mass, which can lead to falls and other injuries. That's why protein consumption—and awareness of the need for it—is critical to maintaining muscle mass and preserving functional mobility, which can help people living with diabetes live stronger overall lives.”

Published in the scientific journal of human nutrition, Nutrients, the retrospective cross-sectional analysis examined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected between 2005 and 2016 from more than 23,000 adults in the U.S. Key findings from the analysis include:

• People living with diabetes who did not consume the daily recommendation of protein on the day of intake reported a higher prevalence of physical limitations, including difficulty completing basic movements, such as stooping, crouching, kneeling, standing for long periods, and pushing or pulling large objects.
• Adults with diabetes who met protein recommendations had better overall diet quality, more closely meeting dietary recommendations for total daily intake of vegetables, whole grains, dairy and added sugars.
• People with diabetes who exhibited low protein intake showed significantly poorer nutrient density, lower overall diet quality, and consumed 12.5% more carbohydrates, which may negatively impact glucose levels.

“This study highlights the importance of the quality of foods in our diet as well as the quantity of nutrients we need daily—both of which have a significant impact on health and mobility, especially for people living with diabetes,” said Sara Thomas, Ph.D., R.D.N., a research scientist, and dietitian at Abbott specializing in diabetes. “Nutrition education will help people successfully manage a condition like diabetes, emphasizing the need to achieve a well-rounded diet with the right nutrients and avoid foods that are detrimental to optimal health.” 

Understanding the recommended daily intake requirements for macronutrients like protein, fat and carbohydrates, and more than 25 vitamins and minerals can be complicated. The National Academy of Medicine, formerly the Institute of Medicine, developed the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs), a set of reference values used to plan and assess nutrient intakes and provide recommended consumption levels. The DRIs recommend adults consume 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body mass each day, which means that a person weighing 150 pounds should consume 54 grams of protein per day. The DRI calculator can help determine individual nutrient needs for overall micro-and macronutrient intakes. Individuals should discuss results with a healthcare professional.

“This new research underscores Abbott's long-time focus on diabetes care and will help us continue to support people living with this condition,” said Matt Beebe, divisional vice president and general manager of Abbott’s U.S. nutrition business. “At Abbott, we are continually working to advance our understanding so that we can enable a more holistic approach to managing diabetes from the point of diagnosis with industry-leading glucose monitoring and world-class nutrition.”

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About Abbott

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 109,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/abbott-/, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews.

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JOURNAL

Nutrients

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082582

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Low Protein Intakes and Poor Diet Quality Associate with Functional Limitations in US Adults with Diabetes: A 2005–2016 NHANES Analysis

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Jul-2021

COI STATEMENT

O.J.K. was an employee of Abbott Nutrition at the time of the work and collaborated to develop the research questions and contribute to the writing of the manuscript. CT has received speaker honoraria from Abbott Nutrition.

ANCIENT GRAINS

Millet based diet can lower risk of type 2 diabetes and help manage blood glucose levels

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INTERNATIONAL CROPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR THE SEMI-ARID TROPICS (ICRISAT)

 

IMAGE: A FARMER SHOWS DHANSHAKTI, INDIA'S FIRST BIOFORTIFIED PEARL MILLET. view more 

CREDIT: ICRISAT

A new study has shown that eating millets can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and helps manage blood glucose levels in people with diabetes, indicating the potential to design appropriate meals with millets for diabetic and pre-diabetic people as well as for non-diabetic people as a preventive approach.

Drawing on research from 11 countries, the study published in Frontiers in Nutrition shows that diabetic people who consumed millet as part of their daily diet saw their blood glucose levels drop 12-15% (fasting and post-meal), and blood glucose levels went from diabetic to pre-diabetes levels. The HbA1c (blood glucose bound to hemoglobin) levels lowered on average 17% for pre-diabetic individuals, and the levels went from pre-diabetic to normal status. These findings affirm that eating millets can lead to a better glycemic response.

The authors reviewed 80 published studies on humans of which 65 were eligible for a meta-analysis involving about 1,000 human subjects, making this analysis the largest systematic review on the topic to date. “No one knew there were so many scientific studies undertaken on millets’ effect on diabetes and these benefits were often contested. This systematic review of the studies published in scientific journals has proven that millets can keep blood glucose levels in check and reduce the risk of diabetes. It has also shown just how well these smart foods do it,” said Dr. S Anitha, the study’s lead author and a Senior Nutrition Scientist at ICRISAT.

Millets, including sorghum, were consumed as staple cereals in many parts of the world until half a century ago. Investments in a few crops such as rice, wheat and maize, have edged nutritious and climate-smart crops like millets out of the plate.

“Awareness of this ancient grain is just starting to spread globally, and our review shows millets having a promising role in managing and preventing type 2 diabetes. In the largest review and analysis of research into different types of millet compared to other grains such as refined rice, maize and wheat we found that millets outperform their comparison crops with lower GI and lower blood glucose levels in participants,” observed Professor Ian Givens, a co-author of the study and Director at University of Reading’s Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health (IFNH) in the UK.

According to the International Diabetes Association, diabetes is increasing in all regions of the world. India, China and the USA have the highest numbers of people with diabetes. Africa has the largest forecasted increase of 143% from 2019 to 2045, the Middle East and North Africa 96% and South East Asia 74%. The authors urge the diversification of staples with millets to keep diabetes in check, especially across Asia and Africa.

Strengthening the case for reintroducing millets as staples, the study found that millets have a low average glycemic index (GI) of 52.7, about 36% lower GI than milled rice and refined wheat, and about 14-37 GI points lower compared to maize. All 11 types of millets studied could be defined as either low (<55) or medium (55-69) GI, with the GI as an indicator of how much and how soon a food increases blood sugar level. The review concluded that even after boiling, baking and steaming (most common ways of cooking grains) millets had lower GI than rice, wheat and maize.

“Millets are grown on all inhabited continents, yet they remain a ‘forgotten food’. We hope this will change from 2023, when the world observes the United Nations declared International Year of Millets, and with studies like this that show that millets outperform white rice, maize and wheat,” said Ms. Rosemary Botha, a co-author of the study who was based in Malawi at the time of the study, with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

“The global health crisis of undernutrition and over-nutrition coexisting is a sign that our food systems need fixing. Greater diversity both on-farm and on-plate is the key to transforming food systems. On-farm diversity is a risk mitigating strategy for farmers in the face of climate change while on-plate diversity helps counter lifestyle diseases such as diabetes. Millets are part of the solution to mitigate the challenges associated with malnutrition, human health, natural resource degradation, and climate change. Trans-disciplinary research involving multiple stakeholders is required to create resilient, sustainable and nutritious food systems,” said Dr. Jacqueline Hughes, Director General, ICRISAT.

Professor Paul Inman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) of the University of Reading, stressed that “The rapidly accelerating threats of climate change and global health crises, including obesity and diabetes, require everyone to pull together in action. The partnership between ICRISAT and the University of Reading is doing exactly this, bringing together our world leading expertise in human nutrition with ICRISAT’s long established role as a leader in agricultural research for rural development.”

The study also identified information gaps and highlighted a need for collaborations to have one major diabetes study covering all types of millets and all major ways of processing with consistent testing methodologies. Structured comprehensive information will be highly valuable globally, taking the scientific knowledge in this area to the highest level.

“This study is first in a series of studies that has been worked on for the last four years as a part of the Smart Food initiative led by ICRISAT that will be progressively released in 2021. Included are systematic reviews with meta-analyses of the impacts of millets on: diabetes, anemia and iron requirements, cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases and calcium deficiencies as well as a review on zinc levels. As part of this, ICRISAT and the Institute for Food Nutrition and Health at the University of Reading have formed a strategic partnership to research and promote the Smart Food vision of making our diets healthier, more sustainable on the environment and good for those who produce it,” explained Ms. Joanna Kane-Potaka, a co-author from ICRISAT and Executive Director of the Smart Food initiative.

 

CAPTION

Proso millet rice with turmeric.

CREDIT

Joanna Kane-Potaka

NOTE: This research is also part of a special edition and theme section in the Frontiers journal - Smart Food for Healthy, Sustainable and Resilient Food System.  

About the authors’ organizations/affiliations

ICRISAT: The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is an international agriculture research organization specialized in the drylands across Asia and Africa to ensure food, nutrition and income security, with global headquarters in India. www.icrisat.org. ICRISAT is a CGIAR research center.

IFNH: The Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health at the University of Reading in the UK, brings together the university’s world-leading expertise in food, nutrition, agriculture, health and the environment to help deliver better diets and health. https://research.reading.ac.uk/ifnh/

IFPRI: The International Food Policy Research Institute, part of the CGIAR, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. It is headquartered in Washington DC, USA. www.ifpri.org

NIN: The National Institute of Nutrition is India’s premier public research institute for nutrition. Headquartered in Hyderabad, NIN continuously monitors India’s nutritional health and works to manage as well as prevent nutritional problems. www.nin.res.in

Kobe University: One of Japan’s largest and oldest national universities. It is an institute of excellence for the social sciences and promotion of interdisciplinary research and education. www.kobe-u.ac.jp

Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education of Women (deemed to be University) is dedicated to higher education for women and has a specialization in a wide range of Home Science (including food and nutrition), Sciences, Arts, Commerce and Engineering based in India. https://avinuty.ac.in

NTBN: The National Technical Board on Nutrition advises the Government of India. It provides evidence-based, technical and policy recommendations and guidance for matters of nutrition.

CAPTION

Foxtail millet and barley salad.

CREDIT

Joanna Kane-Potaka

JOURNAL

Frontiers in Nutrition

DOI

10.3389/fnut.2021.687428

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Potential of Millets for Managing and Reducing the Risk of Developing Diabetes Mellitus

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Jul-2021

COI STATEMENT

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

 

Optimizing phase change material usage could reduce power plant water consumption

Trillions of gallons of water are used annually to prevent power plants from overheating. A Texas A&M research group is looking into alternative methods of cooling steam turbines

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

The food-water-energy nexus dictates that there is a direct link between these three necessities, and stressing one directly impacts the supply of the other two. As the population grows, human demand for energy and food has caused our freshwater reserves to slowly deplete. Power plants are one of the main culprits contributing to this issue, as they use trillions of gallons of fresh water annually to prevent overheating. 

A research group led by Dr. Debjyoti Banerjee, professor in the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has shown that specific phase change materials (PCMs) can cool steam turbines used in power plants, averting fresh water usage. Simultaneously, they used machine-learning techniques to enhance the reliability and energy storage capacity of various PCM-based cooling platforms to develop powerful “cold batteries” that dispatch on demand. 

Their publication, “Leveraging Machine Learning (Artificial Neural Networks) for Enhancing Performance and Reliability of Thermal Energy Storage Platforms Utilizing Phase Change Materials,” was published in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers  Journal of Energy Resources Technology. 

Power plants and process industries use fresh water in cooling towers to reduce costs and improve reliability. Water runs through the cooling tower, absorbing the heat and turning into vapor, which is then used to condense the steam from the turbine exhaust. 

With high demands on fresh water, alternate methods like using PCMs that can morph from a solid to a liquid state by absorbing heat energy are gaining more attention for cooling power plants and process industries.

The first material the team examined was bioderived waxy materials (similar to lard): natural products with low carbon footprints that are relatively cheap. Although effective, the researchers showed that waxes (paraffins) could not store as much energy nor deliver the cooling power they originally hypothesized, therefore, not providing enough cooling for extreme climates or providing safety amid extreme weather events. 

This led to testing another PCM called salt hydrates that are also inexpensive and safe for the environment. Salt hydrates pack more punch than waxes and lards, approximately harboring two to three times the amount of energy while melting at faster rates. However, these materials have a known flaw – they take too long to solidify (as they need to be “subcooled”). Without a reliable melting and freezing method, the salt hydrates are ineffective. 

“Think of the process as an electric car battery – you want it to take very little time to recharge, but it needs to run for a long time,” said Banerjee. “The same concept can be applied to PCMs. We need a PCM to recharge (freeze) quickly, yet melt over long durations.” 

To ramp up the reliability and speed up freezing of these PCMs, the researchers turned to machine learning. Using the readings from just three miniature temperature sensors that act like thermometers, they recorded the melting-time history. They then implemented machine learning to predict when and how much of the PCM will melt and when the freezing will start, maximizing both cooling power and capacity. 

“Using this method, we found that if you melt only 90% of the salt hydrate and leave 10% solidified, then the moment you start the cooling cycle, it immediately starts freezing,” said Banerjee. “The beauty of this method is that with a bare-bones apparatus of three sensors and a simple computer program, we have created a system that is cost-effective, reliable and sustainable.”

Currently, other machine-learning algorithms require years of data to achieve this type of accuracy for power plants whereas Banerjee’s new method requires only a few days. The algorithm can tell the operator within one hour (and as much as three hours) before the system will reach the peak percentage for melting with a 5-to-10-minute prediction accuracy. The technique can be retrofitted on any existing cooling unit in any process industry or power plant.

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The co-authors of this publication are Aditya Chuttar and Ashok Thyagarajan, students in the mechanical engineering department.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Energy Resources Technology

DOI

10.1115/1.4051048

METHOD OF RESEARCH

News article

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Leveraging Machine Learning (Artificial Neural Networks) for Enhancing Performance and Reliability of Thermal Energy Storage Platforms Utilizing Phase Change Materials

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

31-May-2021

 

Understanding past climate change ‘tipping points’ can help us prepare for the future

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Of all the creatures on Earth, humans manipulate their environments the most. But, how far can we push it before something drastic happens?

Scientists are calling for a better understanding of past extreme climate change events in an attempt to anticipate future changes.

Enter geoarchaeologist and anthropologist C. Michael Barton at Arizona State University. The School of Human Evolution and Social Change researcher, along with Foundation Professor Sander van der Leeuw and an international and interdisciplinary team, published their analysis this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. The paper describes past abrupt climate changes, what led up to the “tipping points” for those events, and what followed.

“We've been putting a lot of chemicals into the atmosphere and changing the heat of the atmosphere for a long time, and really intensively for 150 years,” Barton said. “And, things are still chugging along. Temperatures are slowly going up globally, but we haven’t seen a huge, dramatic shift. However, complex systems are potentially vulnerable if you push too much.”

Barton studies Earth’s many systems - specifically the water cycle and landscapes - and how humans alter these systems.

“People tend to look at how far you can push things before suddenly everything changes,” Barton said. “And that's what's considered the tipping point.”

Systems are everywhere

For a complex systems specialist like Barton, almost everything can be viewed as systems or cycles. A tree grows and dies, and the decay returns nutrients to the soil. Water cycles through the Earth in different forms like rain, runoff and evaporation.

Some of Earth’s major systems include the hydrosphere (water), the atmosphere (air) and the cryosphere (ice). All these systems are connected. This research on tipping points looks at the history of these systems to quantify small changes that can lead up to an abrupt, massive change, while also measuring how one abrupt change can trigger abrupt changes in other systems.

The paper explores prior research with sediment cores in the Gulf of Alaska, dust records in North Africa and ice cores from Greenland. All of this pre-historic data gives Earth system modelers and scientists a better idea of what Earth was really like hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Scientists have also been extensively studying Earth’s oceans. This includes the current levels of salt and oxygen, changes in circulation patterns, and influxes of fresh water from melting ice sheets. Current ocean conditions can be compared to historic data gathered from the composition of the ocean floor, to make inferences about past ocean currents.

Major changes have happened before

The authors note past instances of extreme climate events happening so quickly that humans either had difficulties adapting, or were unable to adapt, to the new environment.

For example, about 1,500 years ago, abrupt cooling occurred in Europe, leading to changes in the vegetation. The authors note the cooling may have been caused by a natural phenomenon -- volcanic eruptions. The vegetation and farming changes were so extreme that people experienced famine and societal reorganization. This timing correlates with the transformation of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The authors note how climate events centuries ago triggered drastic changes or even collapse in ancient civilizations due to unforeseen societal vulnerabilities.

One example is the ancient city of Angkor, which was located in present-day Southeast Asia. The people living in Angkor altered the natural water cycle by diverting water to grow crops. As the city grew, the water system in that region became so strained that it passed a tipping point. The system couldn’t handle more intense droughts and floods, and the city of Angkor collapsed.

Many unknowns remain

Arizonans know that the last few years have been drier and hotter than usual. Barton said it’s not yet clear whether we’ve passed a tipping point in the Southwest region.

It’s normal to see slight fluctuations in precipitation and temperature year to year. But recent studies of ancient climate make Barton wonder if the drier weather patterns have become the new normal for our lifetimes.

Barton also noted that researchers still don’t know why some weather systems change. For example, past monsoon rains have shifted without warning and for unknown reasons. This can be catastrophic for human populations, as those who depend on the monsoon experience intense drought, while others do not have the infrastructure to handle the influx of water.

There are still gaps in this field of research. More raw data needs to be collected and quantified, and some existing data lacks the precision and quality needed to create test models and simulate future abrupt changes.

The researchers also call for more analysis on the interactions between environmental systems and human societies during periods of climate change.

Lastly, improvements in Earth system models will help scientists be able to simulate possible abrupt changes humans may see in the near future. Current models are very good at simulating more gradual climate change, but are not yet able to simulate well-documented past abrupt changes.

The authors hope this paper raises awareness of the field, and that more people will understand how analyzing the long-term past could help us in the near future.

For example, one component of tipping points research is identifying early warning signals. These are smaller fluctuations in a system before an abrupt change. The authors say these warning signals exist, but when the entire world is the focus, it can be challenging to trace how small changes in one system can warn of an abrupt change in another.

There is evidence of past warning signals. For example, there were abnormal shifts in the climates of the North Pacific Ocean region and around Greenland before the major melting of Earth’s last ice age.

“All the components can change really, really fast,” Barton said. “The whole system can drop into a different state… How do we know when we're getting too close?”

The authors leave the reader with this final thought: “As humans, we try to anticipate the future. We are now well aware that complex systems, including the coupled social and ecological systems that now dominate our planet, can undergo abrupt changes…. If we cannot model abrupt change in the past, we cannot hope to predict them in the future.”

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The paper “Past abrupt changes, tipping points and cascading impacts in the Earth system” published July 29 and is co-authored by more than 30 researchers from across the world, including Barton and van der Leeuw.

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JOURNAL

Nature Geoscience

ARTICLE TITLE

Past abrupt changes, tipping points and cascading impacts in the Earth system

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Jul-2021

 

The price of pests: Australia’s $390 billion invasive species bill

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

 

VIDEO: IN JUST THE LAST 60 YEARS ALONE, DELIBERATELY OR ACCIDENTALLY INTRODUCED INVASIVE SPECIES HAVE COST THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY AUD$389.59 BILLION, A NEW FLINDERS-LED ANALYSIS HAS REVEALED, WITH THAT NUMBER LIKELY TO RISE UNLESS BETTER INVESTMENTS, REPORTING AND COORDINATED INTERVENTIONS ARE INTRODUCED. WHILE FERAL CATS ARE THE SINGLE-MOST COSTLY INDIVIDUAL SPECIES, COSTS ARISING FROM THE MANAGEMENT OF INVASIVE PLANTS PROVED THE WORST OF ALL, COSTING US$151.68 BILLION, WITH RYEGRASS (LOLIUM RIGIDUM), PARTHENIUM (PARTHENIUM HYSTEROPHORUS) AND RAGWORT (SENECIO JACOBAEA) THE COSTLIEST CULPRITS. INVASIVE MAMMALS AND INSECTS WERE THE NEXT BIGGEST BURDENS, COSTING THE COUNTRY US$48.63 BILLION AND US$11.95 BILLION RESPECTIVELY, WITH CATS, EUROPEAN RABBITS AND RED IMPORTED FIRE ANTS THE THREE COSTLIEST SPECIES. view more 

CREDIT: FLINDERS UNIVERSITY

In just the last 60 years alone, deliberately or accidentally introduced invasive species have cost the Australian economy AUD$389.59 billion, a new analysis has revealed, with that number likely to rise unless better investments, reporting and coordinated interventions are introduced.

While feral cats are the single-most costly individual species, costs arising from the management of invasive plants proved the worst of all, costing US$151.68 billion, with ryegrass (Lolium rigidum), parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorus) and ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) the costliest culprits.

Invasive mammals and insects were the next biggest burdens, costing the country US$48.63 billion and US$11.95 billion respectively, with cats, European rabbits and red imported fire ants the three costliest species.

Published in the open-access journal NeoBiota, the study is one of 19 region-specific analyses released today looking at the cost of invasive species around the world.

As part of the research paper’s release, the study’s abstract has been translated into 24 languages including Pitjantjatjara, a language traditionally spoken by the Aṉangu of Central Australia, and one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages in Australia.

Led by Professor Corey Bradshaw from Flinders University and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, the research team analysed data from InvaCost, a database developed to provide the most comprehensive and standardised compilation of invasion costs globally, combined with other Australian datasets covering invasive herbivore species, invasive plants, and other disease-causing agents.

The total cost was estimated at US$298.58 billion (AUD$389.59 billion), with over 90 percent of the costs classified as observed — that is, costs that were neither predicted nor extrapolated.

The analysis also looked at how much each state or territory had spent tackling invasive species. Aside from the costs not clearly attributed to a particular region, New South Wales had the highest costs, followed by Western Australia, and Victoria.

“This is the most detailed analysis to date,” says lead researcher Professor Corey Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology at Flinders University.

“Australia has a long history of invasive species, and their impact is far-reaching, not only for our native animals and the environment but across our agricultural and health sectors as well.”

Co-author Dr Andrew Hoskins from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, said it was important to understand the full breadth of the problem, to help prioritise future research and inform policy decisions.

“We captured species not previously detailed in any other nation-wide study of the economic burden of invasives, providing us with the most up-to-date picture of the cost of such species to our country.

“This research shows that invasive species are causing serious and growing harm to our ecological, agricultural, and economic systems,” says Dr Hoskins.

The analysis also considered the estimated costs of five native species groups, as they are often deemed “pest” species due to their overabundance and tendency to damage crops, livestock, or farmland.

Together kangaroos, koalas and wombats only accounted for between 2.4 to 3 percent of the costs – with kangaroos alone almost completely responsible for those costs.

The researchers say as the world becomes more interconnected, invasive species will only continue to increase their range and impacts across the planet.

“As our analysis shows, the large and ever-increasing costs of invasive species to Australia’s economy are substantial and also likely to be underestimated,” says Professor Bradshaw.

“We can reasonably assume that without better investment and coordinated interventions, including animal culls, Australia will continue to lose billions of dollars on invasive species over the coming decades.”

“And we aren’t just losing money, for there are many other types of economically intangible costs arising from invasive species that we have yet to measure adequately across Australia, such as the true extent of ecological damage, loss of cultural values and the erosion of ecosystem services, that is the many human benefits we draw from the environment, such as food and water.”

CAPTION

Top 10 worst invasive species in Australia based on economic costs

CREDIT

Professor Corey Bradshaw, Flinders University

The research was conducted in partnership with South Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) and the University of Adelaide.

International partners included Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt (Germany), University of South Bohemia (Czech Republic), GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel (Germany), University Belfast, (Northern Ireland, UK), Université Paris-Saclay (France), Sorbonne Université (France), Université de Caen Normandie (France) and Université des Antilles (France).

“Detailed assessment of the reported economic costs of invasive species in Australia” will be published in the journal NeoBiota on Friday 30 July 2021 (DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.67.58834).

CAPTION

The worst three invasive species for each sate based on economic costs

CREDIT

Professor Corey Bradshaw, Flinders University

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JOURNAL

NeoBiota

DOI

10.3897/neobiota.67.58834)

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Detailed assessment of the reported economic costs of invasive species in Australia

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Jul-2021

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