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Solar radiation modification: NOAA State of the Science factsheetUploaded 16-05-25https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/solar-radiation-modification-noaa-state-science-factsheet#:~:text=Highlights,sunlight%20away%20from%20the%20Earth.National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationPart of the United States Department of Commerce, headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.SRM deployments large enough to temporarily offset climate change impacts could have substantial risks and unintended and unexpected consequences.NOAA is one of the lead federal research agencies investigating the Earth system, including the planet’s radiative balance, the global carbon cycle, and the chemistry and composition of the atmosphere. Side effects of SRM are driven byComplex chemical, radiative, and dynamical interactions, such as changes to the hydrologic cycle and clouds, or effects on ecosystems, agricultural production, https://csl.noaa.gov/assessments/ozone/2022/downloads/Chapter6_2022OzoneAssessment.pdfImpacts on the protective stratospheric ozone layerStratospheric aerosol injection, impacts stratospheric ozoneEither by direct injection or by injection of a precursor gas (such as sulfur dioxide, SO2) that would subsequently react in the stratosphere to form aerosols. SO3 + H2O – H2SO4 More likely in the presence of O3 (ozone)Proposed aerosol types include sulfate, calcium carbonate, and diamond dust. The ozone layer is a region in the Earth's stratosphere that contains a high concentration of ozone (O₃) and plays a crucial role in absorbing most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.Marine cloud brightening, alterations to the El Niño Southern Oscillation https://www.climate.gov/ensoThese changes in the seasonal climate of the world's biggest ocean have a cascade of global side effects.Potential risks to human health and well-being,and to ecosystemsGreen House Gas induced warming and Solar Radiation Management induced cooling are different physical mechanisms; therefore, SRM would not simply undo GHG-induced warmingand cannot reverse all climate changes everywhere. Some regions could experience cooler or wetter conditions, and others warmer or drier conditions, compared to a climate without SRM. In addition, ocean acidification will persist unabated if GHG emissions continue. SRM deployments large enough to temporarily offset climate change impacts could have substantial risks and unintended and unexpected consequences.Aerosols are removed from the atmosphere by natural processes on timescales of a few years in the stratosphere.Legal and societal issuesSRM deployment could also add significant geopolitical risks. This uneven distribution of benefits and negative consequences introduces potentially significant justice and geopolitical concerns. Substantial knowledge gaps and uncertainties exist in many critical areas of SRM research, particularly related to the social sciences.Many of the processes most important for understanding SRM approaches—such as those that control the formation of clouds and aerosols—are among the most uncertain components of the climate system.These methods have the potential to lower surface temperatures more quickly than carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods … while posing other risks still to be understood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Dr. John Campbell
the medical people I interact with at the hospital are far more optimistic than I've seen them since this all began in April last year
Our world in dataUploaded 11-06-23https://ourworldindata.orghttps://ourworldindata.org/grapher/excess-mortality-p-scores-average-baselinehttps://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covidExcess mortality is a term used in epidemiology and public health that refers to the number of deaths from all causes during a crisis above and beyond what we would have expected to see under ‘normal’ conditionsExcess deaths = Reported deaths – Expected deathshttps://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid#excess-mortality-our-data-sourcesThe Human Mortality Database is maintained by a team of researchers based at the University of California, Berkeley, USA and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic Uploaded 16-09-2214th September 2022https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01585-9/fulltexthttps://covid19commission.orgWHO responseWHO acted too cautiously and too slowlySeveral important mattersTo warn about human transmissibility of the virusTo declare a Public Health Emergency of International ConcernTo support international travel protocols designed to slow the spread of the virus(This delay contributed to the spread of the virus and limited the possibilities for risk mitigation.)To endorse the public use of face masks as protective gearTo recognise the airborne transmission of the virus.(These delayed and vague recommendations from WHO continued until late April, 2021.) Just 1 example, after receiving an open letterFrom 238 scientists in July, 2020,asking the organisation to address airborne transmissionWHO did not change until April 30, 2021.Multiple failures of international cooperationToo many governments have failed to adhere to basic norms of institutional rationality and transparency, and the world's major powers have failed to collaborate to control the pandemic.Specific pointsLack of timely notification of the initial outbreak of COVID-19Costly delays in acknowledging the crucial airborne exposure pathway of SARS-CoV-2, and in implementing appropriate measures at national and global levels to slow the spread of the virus.Lack of coordination among countries regarding suppression strategiesFailure of governments to examine evidence and adopt best practices for controlling the pandemic,and managing economic and social spilloversShortfall of global funding for low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs)Failure to ensure adequate global supplies and equitable distribution of key commodities,protective gear, diagnostics, medicines, medical devices, and vaccinesLack of timely, accurate, systematic dataInfections, deaths, viral variants, health system responses, and indirect health consequencesAgain the report raised lab leak possibilityPoor enforcement of appropriate levels of biosafety regulations in the lead-up to the pandemic, raising the possibility of a laboratory-related outbreakFailure to combat systematic disinformationLack of global and national safety nets to protect populations experiencing vulnerability.As of May 31, 2022There were 6·9 million reported deaths and 17·2 million estimated deaths from COVID-19Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluationhttps://covid19.healthdata.org/global?view=cumulative-deaths&tab=trendThis staggering death toll is both a profound tragedy and a massive global failure at multiple levels. Sustainable development processSet back by several years, Deep underfinancing, Sustainable Development Goals and,aims of the Paris Climate Agreement. Previous publicationsLancet 2021https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02833-6/fulltextLancet Jan 2022https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02871-3/fulltexthttps://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01585-9/fulltext Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dr. Melissa McCann is a general practitioner in Queensland, Australia
Monkeypox virus, seldom reported outside African until now, Uploaded 27-07-22https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2207323?emp=marcom&utm_source=nejmlist&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=aomev2&utm_content=version-a&ssotoken=U2FsdGVkX19dsxXEVZT5ggLZ3zieDxejeViMkwTigM4Q7ECfBTJmfTXUrKWkbZ3up0jDhhQjYR6OydzgkC%2F1LL8S5l7OuFDLsP2LiBwfKJ3ymNN4hp0Z%2FNASEYMuetIqeQIQ9ETL8BABCQut7e8xEQeWPlduFdyPMYgAugUePHtSEs5rFR%2BGWfFOCIPZs9Wb7aJf%2FyzhvvLSrzqDKmNt4Q%3D%3D&cid=DM1289135_Notable_Articles_Engaged&bid=1085207852Endemic in AfricaCases now worldwideMETHODSFormed an international collaborative group,international case series, presentation, clinical course, outcomes of PCR confirmed infectionsRESULTSWe report 528 infections diagnosed between April 27 to June 24, 2022Cases, 528, at 43 sites in 16 countries98% in gay or bisexual men, 75% were White, 41% had HIVmedian age 38Transmission suspected to have occurred through sexual activity95% of casesPresentation in this series95% rash (with 64% having less than 10 lesions)73% anogenital lesions41% had mucosal lesions(with 54 having a single genital lesion)Common systemic features preceding the rashfever (62%)lethargy (41%)myalgia (31%)headache (27%)lymphadenopathy (56%)Concomitant sexually transmitted infections109 of 377 (29%)Among the 23 people with a clear exposure historymedian incubation period, 7 days (range, 3 to 20)Monkeypox virus DNADetected in 29 of the 32 (in whom seminal fluid was analyzed)ManagementAntiviral treatment given to 5% of cases70 (13%) were hospitalizedMostly for pain managementsevere anorectal pain (21)soft-tissue superinfection (18)pharyngitis limiting oral intake (5)eye lesions (2)acute kidney injury (2)myocarditis (2)infection-control purposes (13)No deaths were reportedCONCLUSIONSMonkeypox manifested with a variety of dermatologic and systemic clinical findings. Need for rapid identification and diagnosis of cases to contain further community spread. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices