Very preliminary progress with an unusual cancer therapy: A common plant virus is an unlikely ally in the war on cancer | Ars Technica
"Researchers looked at 17 years' worth (2000-2016) of hospital admissions data from 63,038,019 Medicare recipients in the U.S. and linked these with estimated PM2.5 concentrations by zip code. Taking into account potential confounding factors like socioeconomic status, they found that, for each 5 microgram per cubic meter of air (μg/m3) increase in annual PM2.5 concentrations, there was a 13% increased risk for first-time hospital admissions both for Parkinson's disease and for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. This risk remained elevated even below supposedly safe levels of PM2.5 exposure, which, according to current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, is an annual average of 12 μg/m3 or less." Significant link found between air pollution and neurological disorders | EurekAlert! Science News
Hard to prove causality without randomization. Of course that's not possible in this case with humans. Still, good grounds to surmise causality here. Best bet is to buy/lease an electric vehicle, walk, ride a bike, use electrified public transport, electrify one's home for cooling and heating everything, vote for persons/policies to electrify the grid and decarbonize other parts of infrastructure and agriculture...
Cost to build solar energy plants vs. all the rest: Solar is now ‘cheapest electricity in history’, confirms IEA The IEA full report costs 129 Euros, but exec summary is free to download.
'every time they sharpen their pencils': In a move toward clean energy, Idaho Power will leave Nevada coal plant three years early | Local | magicvalley.com
"Idaho Power plans to leave its Valmy coal plant in Nevada three years early and stop all its use of coal by 2030." Another nugget in there [emphasis added]: "Oregon’s Boardman Coal Plant, 90% of which Portland General Electric owns while Idaho Power owns the remaining 10%, closed Oct 15. Portland General Electric plans to replace most of its power with wind and solar projects and battery storage. That storage approach recently has become more competitive and makes wind and solar a more reliable energy option." I'll have the check their air the next time I drive through there.
I did finish watching it the other day as it's on Hulu in the US. I did visit the place around Sept 2019 and took the tour. As I wrote in another forum about the movie: -- begin -- Pacing was a bit too slow for me. Was interesting to hear of the origin story and of what John Allen embarked on before (e.g. building a ship). I wish there were a more focus on the missions themselves. I did actually take a tour of Biosphere 2 over a year ago (which was fascinating) so I did like seeing all footage inside and out. I'd also done some reading about it before. I wish they explained why they pumped in the oxygen (I know why) and explained the lung that they briefly mentioned. We got to go in the lung on the tour and it was explained. Also, the movie didn't talk at all about the 2nd crew. They just jumped into briefly taking about the Steve Bannon takeover and ousting of previous management, Too bad I wasn't following this project back in the day of the two missions. I recall hearing about it on the news before back then. -- end -- Although the movie showed a ton of bugs at one part, they didn't talk about. The tour guides at the site talked about (don't remember the details) about certain bugs being in the biosphere that got kinda out of control. I know one of the crew did write a book about her experience. I believe in the book or one of the other crew talked about having to slaughter animals (something they weren't used to). And, coffee was in short supply as I recall it took so long to grow the beans (which didn't yield many) and go through the whole process. And, there was the issue of lack of oxygen due to the concrete curing having used a lot of it up. The documentary talked about the lack but not the reason. Maybe one day, if I find some free time, I'll read the book...
I was unaware of this important wildlife area in Alabama: This American wilderness is being destroyed in silent massacre - Los Angeles Times
Six thousand words in The New York Times Magazine about forest soil-y stuff. The Social Life of Forests - The New York Times
I just wrote a manuscript about mycorrhizae in agriculture. There are some similarities. The crop things collect soil nutrients and get paid (sugar etc.) by crop roots. When ag is based on fertilizer additions, the trade deal breaks down. Then the other benefits of myco to crops get lost. But Suzanne Simard is the real deal. not just somebody who writes about what other folks have done
Lunar gravity pulls out methane: The Moon Plays A Key Role In Methane Emissions Released From The Ocean | IFLScience
Iceberg A68a detached from Antarctica in February. Assuming it became floaty then, and if weight I've read is correct, in raised sea level by 1 millimeter. 10^12 tons does that. Now moving towards S Georgia Island where penguins can have a look without the long commute to Antarctica. == Have we ever talked about towing ice to arid countries? There were some research grants for that. Not for me to call them boondoggles though.
It came from the Larsen C ice shelf, which I understand to mean that is was floaty long before calving. So no sea level rise from this event.
Reports that 2020 global temperature ties 2016 for warmest are perhaps clickbait and not of great interest to me. But click this: Copernicus: 2020 warmest year on record for Europe; globally, 2020 ties with 2016 for warmest year recorded | Copernicus and about 1/4 down the page, see decadal averages increasing, each higher than previous. It is not obvious what factors, either human based or otherwise, will stop this pattern.
Each decade, 0.2 degrees Celsius. If this happened without corollaries, and not during a time when additional water, food, and energy are all needed, it might not be a thing. But this is 21st century and humanity will work to manage these interconnected things. There is every reason to hope for successes.