Australia suffers hottest summer on record, little relief in sight

PHYS ORG

Drought in Quensland, 2014. Btcpg

Australia suffered its hottest summer on record from December through February and forecasts show the southern autumn will continue to be drier and warmer than average, the government said Thursday. Story here.

FOOTNOTE: Australia's annual emissions continue to rise, driven by LNG production. Emissions for the year to September 2018 up 0.9% as Morrison government attempts a policy pivot on climate. The Guardian.

Nearly 50% of transport pollution deaths linked to diesel: study

PHYS ORG

A diesel truck in Canada. A PinP photo.

Some 385,000 people worldwide died prematurely in 2015 from air pollution caused by vehicle exhaust emissions, a US study found Wednesday, which singled out diesel engines as the main culprit. Story here.

'We're sounding the alarm': half of Canada's chinook salmon endangered

THE Guardian

A chinook salmon. Photo by US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Prospects for species look dire as federal science body finds that only one of Canada's16 populations is believed to be stable. STORY HERE.

If you're a farmer who generously applies certain pesticides to your crops - losing your sense of smell has just taken on a whole new meaning. It could foreshadow health problems down the road.

Decades of research - recently published - has found a significant link between a chronic loss of smell (olfactory impairment or "OI") among American farmers, and their high exposure to certain chemicals they applied to their fields. Far from being a minor ailment, "OI" has long been identified as one of the earliest and most important symptoms of several neurological diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

by Larry Powell

The human "olfactory" system governs 
our sense of smell. Image - public domain.

Beginning in the '90s, a team of US scientists surveyed more than 11 thousand farmers from Iowa and North Carolina. They were asked about their experiences with farm chemicals during their lifetimes.

In 2015, there was a follow-up survey. Almost 12 hundred (10.6%) reported they had either lost, or significantly lost, their sense of smell. And those who reported incidents of unusually high exposure to pesticides during that time, were almost 50% more likely to report the symptom than those who did not. These mishaps are identified in the research as "High Pesticide Exposure Events" or "HPEEs." In them, the farmers either accidentally swallowed, inhaled or spilled the pesticides on their skin.

And those who did not wash thoroughly with soap and water within four hours of exposure, stood a greater chance of developing "OI". In other words, those who washed quickly likely helped reduce their harmful effects.

The pesticides named in the analysis include DDT, an insecticide no longer used in North America. The researchers believe the older farmers reporting symptoms were exposed to it, even before it was banned back in the '60s. DDT and the other insecticide named, lindane, are persistent and can still be found in food, the environment and even human tissue. They belong to a family known as organochlorines. Even before this latest research,  organochlorines had been associated with both Parkinson's and dementia.

Four other pesticides are also implicated. They include 2,4-D, a popular weedkiller still in use. 

Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, professor
of epidemiology, Michigan State U. 

In an e-mail to "Planet in Peril," the lead author of the study, Honglei Chen (l.) further explains, "Poor sense of smell predicts higher mortality and risk for neurodegenerative diseases after accounting for other risk factors such as age, sex, smoking and health status."




The report concludes: "To the best of our knowledge, our study provides the first empirical evidence that acute high exposure to pesticides may lead to poor sense of smell among older farmers."

A ground sprayer in Canada, where farming methods, including
heavy inputs of chemical pesticides, closely 
resemble those in the US. A PinP photo.

The research was conducted by nine US experts. They represented groups including the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. Their report was published in January in the journal, "Environmental Health Perspectives."  It calls for more studies to further explore the issue.

"OI" also affects us in other ways few might imagine. 

Even certain accidents can be attributed to a loss of smell. For example, if you can't smell properly, you may be unable to detect stove fires due to burning pots or pans, gas leaks, food gone bad or toxic substances in time to avoid an accident. Even weight gain has been shown to be highest among those with "OI." And among women age 45 to 60 years who were tested, an ability to smell well "significantly improved" their tension, depression and confusion levels. And pesticides may even be responsible for a loss of smell among honeybees, disrupting their ability to find pollen and nectar.  

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RELATED: "Research suggests our past, prolific use of the insecticide DDT may still be contributing to a scourge of modern-day diseases related to obesity. Is a worldwide ban now the only ethical thing to do?" by Larry Powell

World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity

The Guardian

Plants, insects and organisms crucial to food production in steep decline, says UN. Story here.

A display of harvesting "might" in Canada. 

African swine fever (ASF) would be a disaster

There is a ‘clear risk’ the swiftly spreading disease could come here, says leading swine health vet

By Alexis Kienlen FOLLOW

Reporter Alberta farmer - February 11, 2019

These red spots are typical of African swine fever.  
A Wikimedia photo.

There is a real risk that the African swine fever virus could enter Canada — and if it did, it would be catastrophic, says one of the country’s leading swine health experts.

Mexico’s monarch population booms

Science Magazine

IN SECTION: NEWS IN BRIEF

Edited by Jeffrey Brainard

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Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in

 Mexico.PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Viewable Image - mexicos monarch population booms

Image Caption

Monarch butterflies clustered at a reserve in Angangueo, Mexico. PHOTO: BIOSPHOTO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Every winter, monarch butterflies in Canada and the northeastern and midwestern United States flock to the pine and fir forests of central Mexico to hibernate, covering trees and turning hectares of forest orange and black. This year, the butterfly population overwintering in Mexico more than doubled, according to World Wildlife Fund Mexico, which helps lead the annual count. The butterflies covered 6.05 hectares of forest, up from 2.48 last year. It’s the largest wintering area since the winter of 2006–07. This famous group of migrating monarchs has been struggling in recent years, with an all-time low arriving in 2013–14, when they covered a mere 0.67 hectares. This year’s uptick reflects a boost from mild climatic conditions in the United States last year, which allowed more monarch larvae to survive and mature there and eventually make the 4000-kilometre journey to Mexico. Another possible cause: Increasing numbers of Americans have planted milkweed, monarch caterpillars’ food source, which has been threatened by the widespread use of herbicides in U.S. agriculture. Meanwhile, the population of monarch butterflies that lives west of the Rocky Mountains and overwinters on the California coast continues to decline, with an 86% drop reported this year.