PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Thousands of birds and fish threatened by mining for clean energy transition

Thousands of birds and fish threatened by mining for clean energy transition
2024-07-26
(Press-News.org) New research has found that 4,642 species of vertebrate are threatened by mineral extraction around the world through mining and quarrying, and drilling for oil and gas.

Mining activity coincides with the world's most valuable biodiversity hotspots, which contain a hyper-diversity of species and unique habitats found nowhere else on Earth.

The biggest risk to species comes from mining for materials fundamental to our transition to clean energy, such as lithium and cobalt – both essential components of solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars.

Quarrying for limestone, which is required in huge amounts for cement as a construction material, is also putting many species at risk.

The threat to nature is not limited to the physical locations of the mines - species living at great distances away can also be impacted, for example by polluted watercourses, or deforestation for new access roads and infrastructure.

The researchers say governments and the mining industry should focus on reducing the pollution driven by mining as an ‘easy win’ to reduce the biodiversity loss associated with mineral extraction.

This is the most complete global assessment of the threat to biodiversity from mineral extraction ever undertaken. The results are published today in the journal Current Biology.

“We simply won’t be able to deliver the clean energy we need to reduce our climate impact without mining for the materials we need, and that creates a problem because we’re mining in locations that often have very high levels of biodiversity,” said Professor David Edwards in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and Conservation Research Institute, senior author of the report.

He added: “So many species, particularly fish, are being put at risk through the pollution caused by mining. It would be an easy win to work on reducing this freshwater pollution so we can still get the products we need for the clean energy transition, but in a way that isn’t causing so much biodiversity loss.”

Across all vertebrate species, fish are at particularly high risk from mining (2,053 species), followed by reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. The level of threat seems to be linked to where a particular species lives and its lifestyle: species using freshwater habitats, and species with small ranges are particularly at risk.

“The need for limestone as a core component of construction activity also poses a real risk to wildlife. Lots of species are very restricted in where they live because they're specialised to live on limestone. A cement mine can literally take out an entire hillside - and with it these species’ homes,” said Ieuan Lamb in the University of Sheffield’s School of Biosciences, first author of the report.

The Bent-Toed Gecko, for example, is threatened by limestone quarrying in Malaysia – it only exists on a single mountain range that planned mining activity will completely destroy.

To get their results, the researchers used International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) data to see which vertebrate species are threatened by mining. By mapping the locations of these species they could investigate the types of mining that are putting species at risk, and see where the risks are particularly high.

The researchers discovered that species categorised as ‘vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered’ are more threatened by mineral extraction than species of lesser concern.

Watercourses can be affected in many ways, and water pollution can affect hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of rivers and flood plains. Mining sand as a construction material, for example, alters patterns of water flow in rivers and wetlands, making birds like the Indian Skimmer more accessible to predators.

Mineral extraction threatens vertebrate species populations across the tropics, with hotspots in the Andes, coastal West and Central Africa, and South-East Asia – which coincide with high mine density. For example, artisanal small-scale alluvial gold mining in Ghana threatens important bird areas through environmental mercury pollution.

Global demand for metal minerals, fossil fuels and construction materials is growing dramatically, and the extraction industry is expanding rapidly to meet this demand. In 2022 the revenue of the industry as a whole was estimated at US $943 billion.

Biodiversity underpins the protection of the world’s carbon stocks, which help to mitigate climate change.

The study focused only on vertebrate species, but the researchers say mining is also likely to be a substantial risk to plants and invertebrates.

“There's no question that we are going to continue to mine - our entire societies are based on mined products. But there are environmental tensions embodied in our use of these products. Our report is a vital first step in avoiding biodiversity loss amidst the predicted drastic expansion of the mining industry,” said Edwards.

“Wildlife is more sensitive to mining in some regions of the world than in others, and our report can inform choices of where to prioritise getting our minerals to cause the least damage to biodiversity. Future policy should also focus on creating more circular economies - increasing recycling and reuse of materials, rather than just extracting more,” said Lamb.

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Thousands of birds and fish threatened by mining for clean energy transition Thousands of birds and fish threatened by mining for clean energy transition 2

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Medical and educational indebtedness among health care workers

2024-07-26
About The Study: U.S. health care workers are more likely than other workers to carry medical and educational debt, collectively owing more than $150 billion. This study found that medical debt was more prevalent among women, home health and nursing home personnel, uninsured individuals, and those with recent hospitalization. Educational debts disproportionately burdened Black workers and younger workers and those with higher education. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Kathryn E.W. Himmelstein, M.D., M.S.Ed., email khimmelstein@mgb.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this ...

US state restrictions and excess COVID-19 pandemic deaths

2024-07-26
About The Study: This cross-sectional study indicates that stringent COVID-19 restrictions, as a group, were associated with substantial decreases in pandemic mortality, with behavior changes plausibly serving as an important explanatory mechanism. These findings do not support the views that COVID-19 restrictions were ineffective. However, not all restrictions were equally effective; some, such as school closings, likely provided minimal benefit while imposing substantial cost.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Christopher J. Ruhm, Ph.D., email ruhm@virginia.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...

Posttraumatic stress disorder among adults in communities with mass violence incidents

2024-07-26
About The Study: In this survey study of 5,991 participants, presumptive posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was quite prevalent long after the mass violence incident (MVI) among adults in communities that have experienced an MVI, suggesting that MVIs have persistent and pervasive public health impacts on communities, particularly among those with prior exposure to physical or sexual assault and other potentially traumatic events. Focusing exclusively on direct exposure to MVIs is not sufficient. Incorporating these findings into ...

New understanding of fly behavior has potential application in robotics, public safety

New understanding of fly behavior has potential application in robotics, public safety
2024-07-26
RENO, Nevada — Why do flies buzz around in circles when the air is still? And why does it matter? In a paper published online July 26, 2024 by the scientific journal Current Biology, University of Nevada, Reno Assistant Professor Floris van Breugel and Postdoctoral Researcher S. David Stupski respond to this up-until-now unanswered question. And that answer could hold a key to public safety — specifically, how to better train robotic systems to track chemical leaks. “We don’t currently have robotic systems to track odor or chemical plumes,” van Breugel said. “We don’t know how to efficiently find the ...

Investigating the effect of alemtuzumab in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in patients with inborn errors of immunity

Investigating the effect of alemtuzumab in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in patients with inborn errors of immunity
2024-07-26
Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) explore the safety and effectiveness of alemtuzumab in an Asian cohort Tokyo, Japan – Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is a commonly used curative therapy for individuals with inborn errors of immunity (IEI). HCT involves introducing stem cells from a compatible donor with the aim of replacing the affected cells in the recipient’s body. Reduced-toxicity conditioning (RTC) is an approach for reducing drug-related toxicities post HCT in patients with IEIs. Alemtuzumab is a humanized anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody that strongly ...

Determining maximum allowable current of an RBS using a directed graph model and greedy algorithm

Determining maximum allowable current of an RBS using a directed graph model and greedy algorithm
2024-07-26
The central principle of the proposed MAC determination method is to connect the batteries within an RBS in parallel to the maximum possible extent, thereby maximizing the output current. To achieve this universally and automatically, the overall process is divided into the 4 steps shown in Fig. 1. First, a directed graph model is established for the subsequent computations. The nodes in the directed graph correspond to the connection points of components in the actual RBS. The edges in the directed graph correspond to the batteries, switches, and external electrical loads in the actual ...

Developed a 21-language, fast and high-fidelity neural text-to-speech technology that works on smartphones

Developed a 21-language, fast and high-fidelity neural text-to-speech technology that works on smartphones
2024-07-26
Highlights -Developed a 21-language, fast and high-fidelity neural text-to-speech technology -The developed model can synthesize one second of speech at high speed in only 0.1 seconds using a single CPU core, which is about eight times faster than the conventional methods -The developed model can realize fast synthesis with a latency of 0.5 seconds on a smartphone without network connection -The technology is expected to be introduced into speech applications, such as multilingual speech translation and car navigation Abstract The Universal Communication Research Institute of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, ...

Supporting school re-entry of children with special health care needs post extended hospitalizations

Supporting school re-entry of children with special health care needs post extended hospitalizations
2024-07-26
East Hanover, NJ – July 26, 2024 – Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) often face significant disruptions in their education due to extended hospitalizations. A recent study published online in Disability and Rehabilitation on July 1, 2024, by a multidisciplinary team of Kessler Foundation and Children Specialized Hospital researchers, highlights critical areas needing attention to ensure smoother school re-entries for CSHCN, ensuring they receive the necessary educational support post-hospitalization. Involving parents, former patients, and rehabilitation ...

Have a seat, doctor: Study suggests eye-level connection makes a difference in hospitals

2024-07-26
Doctors and others who take care of hospitalized patients may want to sit down for this piece of news. A new study suggests that getting at a patient’s eye level when talking with them about their diagnosis or care can really make a difference. Sitting or crouching at a hospitalized patient’s bedside was associated with more trust, satisfaction and even better clinical outcomes than standing, according to the new review of evidence. The study’s authors, from the University of Michigan and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, note that most of the studies on this topic varied with their interventions and outcomes, and were found to have high risk of bias. Their ...

BRCA1/2: Why men should be screened for the ‘breast cancer gene’

2024-07-26
More and more studies show that men face risks of cancer from BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations that are most often associated with breast and ovarian cancers in women.   According to a July 25 JAMA Oncology review article by experts at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and University of Washington, newly developed national screening guidelines offer hope for identifying the cancer risk of BRCA mutations in men through genetic testing and tailored cancer screening. “Not enough men are getting genetic testing to see if they carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

First-in-human trial shows promising results for DLL3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate SHR-4849 in relapsed small cell lung cancer

Ifinatamab deruxtecan demonstrates high response rate in previously treated extensive-stage small cell lung cancer: Phase 2 IDeate-Lung01 trial

Higher blood pressure in childhood linked to earlier death from heart disease in adulthood

AI helped older adults report accurate blood pressure readings at home

High blood pressure in childhood and premature cardiovascular disease mortality

Zidesamtinib shows durable responses in ROS1 TKI pre-treated NSCLC, including patients with CNS disease and ROS1 G2032R mutations

Crizotinib fails to improve disease-free survival in resected early-stage ALK+ NSCLC

Ivonescimab plus chemotherapy improves progression-free survival in patients with EGFR+ NSCLC following 3rd-generation EGFR-TKI therapy

FLAURA2 trial shows osimertinib plus chemotherapy improves overall survival in eGFR-mutated advanced NSCLC

Aumolertinib plus chemotherapy improves progression-free survival in NSCLC with EGFR and concomitant tumor suppressor genes: ACROSS 2 phase III study

New antibody-drug conjugate shows promising efficacy in EGFR-mutated NSCLC patients

Iza-Bren in combination with osimertinib shows 100% response rate in EGFR-mutated NSCLC, phase II study finds

COMPEL study shows continuing osimertinib treatment through progression with the addition of chemotherapy improves progression-free survival in EGFR-mutated NSCLC

CheckMate 77T: Nivolumab maintains quality of life and reduces symptom deterioration in resectable NSCLC

Study validates AI lung cancer risk model Sybil in predominantly Black population at urban safety-net hospital

New medication lowered hard-to-control high blood pressure in people with chronic kidney disease

Innovative oncolytic virus and immunotherapy combinations pave the way for advanced cancer treatment

New insights into energy metabolism and immune dynamics could transform head and neck cancer treatment

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Steven Heymsfield named LSU Boyd Professor – LSU’s highest faculty honor

Study prompts new theory of human-machine communication

New method calculates rate of gene expression to understand cell fate

Researchers quantify rate of essential evolutionary process in the ocean

Innovation Crossroads companies join forces, awarded U.S. Air Force contract

Using new blood biomarkers, USC researchers find Alzheimer’s disease trial eligibility differs among various populations

Pioneering advances in in vivo CAR T cell production

Natural medicines target tumor vascular microenvironment to inhibit cancer growth

Coral-inspired pill offers a new window into the hidden world of the gut

nTIDE September2025 Jobs Report: Employment for people with disabilities surpasses prior high

When getting a job makes you go hungry

Good vibrations could revolutionize assisted reproductive technology

[Press-News.org] Thousands of birds and fish threatened by mining for clean energy transition