[MCN] Climate, babies, banks, bears, and sociopolitical barriers to nature reserves

[Lance Olsen]

NEWS RELEASE 23-MAY-2021
Early research suggests climate change could lead to more stillbirths
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/uoq-ers052321.php <https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/uoq-ers052321.php>
Scientists are investigating whether rising global temperatures may lead to more stillbirths, saying further study is needed on the subject as climates change.

Excerpts
Researchers from The University of Queensland's School of Earth and Environmental Science and the Mater Research Institute reviewed 12 studies, finding extreme ambient temperature exposures throughout pregnancy appeared to increase risk of stillbirth, particularly late in pregnancy.

"Overall, risk of stillbirth appears to increase when the ambient temperature is below 15 degrees Celcius and above 23.4 degrees Celsius, with the highest risk being above 29.4 degrees Celsius," Ms Sexton said.

"Even in 2021, a stillbirth occurs somewhere in the world every 16 seconds," Professor Flenady said.

"Stillbirth has a traumatic long-lasting impact on women and their families, who often endure profound psychological suffering as well as stigma, even in high-income countries.

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Financial regulator APRA to stress-test banks on climate change, to examine what would happen in a 3-degrees-hotter world <https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEEjZ11tdqXslDpMdW1XI35AqFggEKg4IACoGCAow3vI9MPeaCDDciw4?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen>
A key financial regulator is testing what would happen to Australia's economy if climate change creates a 'hot house world' with temperatures more than 3 ...
ABC News <https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBggKMN7yPTD3mgg?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen>
2 days ago

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American black bears (Ursus americanus; hereafter, black bears) are particularly vulnerable to hyperthermia because of their large, warm-blooded bodies with dark, heat-absorbent coats, thick layers of fur and subcutaneous fat, and lack of functioning sweat glands.
Jan 2, 2019
 <https://www.bearbiology.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Sawaya-et-al_ursus_vol27_2.pdf>
https://www.bearbiology.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Sawaya-et-al_ursus_vol27_2.pdf <https://www.bearbiology.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Sawaya-et-al_ursus_vol27_2.pdf>


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A researcher has an epiphany about establishing a set of reserves for species conservation 

1st 2 paragraphs

Richard Cowling was playing with maps of South Africa on a computer screen when he had his epiphany. He was designing a conservation plan for the Cape Floristic Region, or fynbos, an arid landscape of shrubs and flowers that contains some 9,000 species, many unique to the area. Some of these, such as the mandala-like sunset blooms of the protea flowers, are spectacular. Some — like the geometric tortoises, whose fetching shells help them hide from baboons and secretary birds — are seriously endangered. Cowling, a conservation biologist at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, was working on defining a set of reserves that would maximize the chances of conserving all those species. The project was so large that it would end up as aseries of 16 papers by 36 authors that occupied all 297 pages of Biological Conservation’s July–August 2003 issue. 

And it was also, Cowling realized as he stared at the screen, “sheer nonsense”.
“I had to click on a couple of grid squares and the project would be complete,” Cowling says. “And it dawned on me: complete for whom? There was no way that this reserve would ever happen. It had to be linked to some social realities on the ground.” 

Nature Nov 8 2007. What to let go. Not all species can be saved from extinction. Emma Marris talks to conservation biologists about prioritization and triage.

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“The gap between high- and low-income families has widened steadily since about 1980, hitting a new high every year since 1985. “

Business Week, November 21, 1994, p. 72.




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