̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham

Study reveals high rate of possible undiagnosed autism in people who died by suicide

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 17:20:26 +0000

A team of researchers, led by Dr Sarah Cassidy from the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham and Professor Simon Baron-Cohen from the Autism Research Centre at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, are the first to examine evidence of autism and autistic traits in those who died by suicide in England. They analysed Coroners’ inquest records of 372 people who died by suicide and also interviewed family members of those who died. ̽��ֱ��research is published today in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

̽��ֱ��researchers found that 10% of those who died by suicide had evidence of elevated autistic traits, indicating likely undiagnosed autism. This is 11 times higher than the rate of autism in the UK. ̽��ֱ��research team worked with Coroners’ offices in two regions of England to identify the records.

̽��ֱ��team first examined the coroners’ inquests for each death by suicide for signs of elevated autistic traits indicating possible undiagnosed autism, or a definite diagnosis of autism. Evidence of autism was then checked by an independent researcher to make sure that these decisions were reliable. ̽��ֱ��researchers then spoke to 29 of the families, to gather further evidence to corroborate the elevated autistic traits in those who died. After speaking with the families, the researchers found evidence of elevated autistic traits in more people who died by suicide (41%), which is 19 times higher than the rate of autism in the UK.

Previous research by the same group has shown that up to 66% of autistic adults have thought about taking their own life, and 35% have attempted suicide. Around 1% of people in the UK are autistic, yet up to 15% of people hospitalised after attempting suicide have a diagnosis of autism. Previous research has also found that both diagnosed autistic people and those with elevated autistic traits are more vulnerable to mental health problems, suicidal thoughts and behaviours. ̽��ֱ��new research goes beyond this by examining Coroner’s records related to people who have ended their own life.

Autism is a lifelong developmental condition diagnosed on the basis of difficulties in social and communication skills and in adapting to unexpected change, alongside heightened sensory sensitivity, unusually deep interests in specific topics, and a preference for predictability. There are many barriers to obtaining an autism diagnosis, including limited availability of diagnostic services, leading to long waiting lists. Even post-diagnosis, there are insufficient support services for autistic people.

Dr Sarah Cassidy commented: “Many adults in the UK find it very difficult to obtain an autism diagnosis and appropriate support post-diagnosis. Our study shows that undiagnosed autistic people could be at increased risk of dying by suicide.

"It is urgent that access to an autism diagnosis and appropriate support post diagnosis is improved. This is the top autism community priority for suicide prevention, and needs to be addressed immediately by commissioners of services and policy makers.”

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen added: “Even a single suicide is a terrible tragedy for the person and a traumatic loss for their families and friends. Suicide rates are unacceptably high in autistic people and suicide prevention has to be the number one goal to reduce the worrying increased mortality in autistic people.

“Autistic people on average die 20 years earlier than non-autistic people, and two big causes of this are suicide and epilepsy. We published the preliminary data on elevated suicide rates back in 2014 as a wake-up call to governments, and yet nothing has been done.”

Currently evidence of an autism diagnosis or elevated autistic traits are not usually included in Coroners’ inquests in England. This study highlights the need for Coroners to begin to systematically gather evidence of autism and autistic traits in inquests, to help prevent future deaths. There is also an urgent need to work with the autism community to co-design suicide prevention services.

Reference
Cassidy, S et al. Autism and autistic traits in those who died by suicide in England. BJPsych; 15 Feb 2022; DOI: 10.1192/bjp.2022.21

Adapted from a press release from the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham

A significant number of people who died by suicide were likely autistic, but undiagnosed, according to new research that highlights the urgent need for earlier diagnosis and tailored support for suicide prevention.

Suicide rates are unacceptably high in autistic people and suicide prevention has to be the number one goal to reduce the worrying increased mortality in autistic people

Simon Baron-Cohen

Priscilla Du Preez

Two people talking

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Quantum projects launched to solve universe’s mysteries

sc604 — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 09:00:00 +0000

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is supporting seven projects with a £31 million investment to demonstrate how quantum technologies could solve some of the greatest mysteries in fundamental physics. Researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have been awarded funding on four of the seven projects.

Just as quantum computing promises to revolutionise traditional computing, technologies such as quantum sensors have the potential to radically change our approach to understanding our universe.

̽��ֱ��projects are supported through the Quantum Technologies for Fundamental Physics programme, delivered by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of UKRI’s Strategic Priorities Fund. ̽��ֱ��programme is part of the National Quantum Technologies Programme.

AION: A UK Atom Interferometer Observatory and Network has been awarded £7.2 million in funding and will be led by Imperial College London. ̽��ֱ��project will develop and use technology based on quantum interference between atoms to detect ultra-light dark matter and sources of gravitational waves, such as collisions between massive black holes far away in the universe and violent processes in the very early universe. ̽��ֱ��team will design a 10m atom interferometer, preparing the construction of the instrument in Oxford and paving the way for larger-scale future experiments to be located in the UK. Members of the AION consortium will also contribute to MAGIS, a partner experiment in the US.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge team on AION is led by Professor Valerie Gibson and Dr Ulrich Schneider from the Cavendish Laboratory, alongside researchers from the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, the Institute of Astronomy and the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. Dr Tiffany Harte will co-lead the development of the cold atom transport and final cooling sequences for AION, and Dr Jeremy Mitchell will co-lead the data readout and network capabilities for AION and MAGIS, and undertake data analysis and theoretical interpretation.

“This announcement from STFC to fund the AION project, which alongside some seed funding from the Kavli Foundation, will allow us to target key open questions in fundamental physics and bring new interdisciplinary research to the ̽��ֱ�� for the foreseeable future,” said Gibson.

“Every physical effect, known or unknown, leaves its fingerprint on the phase evolution of a coherent quantum system such as cold atoms; it only requires sufficiently sensitive detectors,” said Schneider. “We are excited to contribute our cold-atom technology to this interdisciplinary endeavour and to develop atom interferometry into a powerful detector for fundamental physics.”

̽��ֱ��Quantum Sensors for the Hidden Sector (QSHS) project, led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Sheffield, has been awarded £4.8 million in funding. ̽��ֱ��project aims to contribute to the search for axions, low-mass ‘hidden’ particles that are candidates to solve the mystery of dark matter. They will develop new quantum measurement technology for inclusion in the US ADMX experiment, which can then be used to search for axions in parts of our galaxy’s dark matter halo that have never been explored before.

“ ̽��ֱ��team will develop new electronic technology to a high level of sophistication and deploy it to search for the lowest-mass particles detected to date,” said Professor Stafford Withington from the Cavendish Laboratory, Co-Investigator and Senior Project Scientist on QSHS. “These particles are predicted to exist theoretically, but have not yet been discovered experimentally. Our ability to probe the particulate nature of the physical world with sensitivities that push at the limits imposed by quantum uncertainty will open up a new frontier in physics.

“This new window will allow physicists to explore the nature of physical reality at the most fundamental level, and it is extremely exciting that the UK will be playing a major international role in this new generation of science.”

Professor Withington is also involved in the Determination of Absolute Neutrino Mass using Quantum Technologies, which will be led by UCL. ̽��ֱ��project aims to harness recent breakthroughs in quantum technologies to solve one of the most important outstanding challenges in particle physics – determining the absolute mass of neutrinos. One of the universe’s most abundant particles neutrinos are a by-product of nuclear fusion within stars, therefore being key to our understanding of the processes within stars and the makeup of the universe. Moreover, knowing the value of the neutrino mass is critical to our understanding of the origin of matter and evolution of the universe. They are poorly understood however, and the researchers aim to develop pioneering new spectroscopy technology capable to precisely measure the mass of this elusive but important particle.

Professor Zoran Hadzibabic has received funding as part of the Quantum Simulators for Fundamental Physics project, led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham. ̽��ֱ��project aims to develop quantum simulators capable of providing insights into the physics of the very early universe and black holes. ̽��ֱ��goals include simulating aspects of quantum black holes and testing theories of the quantum vacuum that underpin ideas on the origin of the universe.

Researchers will use cutting-edge quantum technologies to transform our understanding of the universe and answer key questions such as the nature of dark matter and black holes.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

New Simulation Sheds Light on Spiraling Supermassive Black Holes

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Cambridge in the 2019 New Year honours list

plc32 — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 22:31:00 +0000

Professor David Klenerman, FRS was knighted for Services to Science and for the Development of High Speed DNA Sequencing Technology.

Professor Klenerman said: “I feel very humbled to be recognised in this way.”

Sir David is a professor of biophysical chemistry at the Department of Chemistry at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and a Fellow of Christ's College. He is best known for his contribution in the field of next-generation sequencing of DNA, which subsequently resulted in Solexa, a high-speed DNA sequencing company that he co-founded.

“I also want to acknowledge and sincerely thank the highly talented people who have worked with me over the years and without whom my research would simply not have been possible. In particular the development of Solexa sequencing was the result of a massive team effort.”

Klenerman was educated at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge where he was an undergraduate student of Christ's College and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1982. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry in 1986 as a postgraduate student of Churchill College.

Sir David has received a string of honours for his work, including a 2018 Royal Medal from the Royal Society for his outstanding contribution to applied sciences. He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2015 and Fellow of the Royal Society in 2012.

Professor Madeleine Julia Atkins, who was first honoured as a CBE in 2011, has been promoted DBE for her Services to Higher Education.

Dame Madeleine, lately Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, has had a long and distinguished career in higher education, most recently providing outstanding leadership in ensuring a smooth transition between HEFCE and the new Office for Students and Research England. She has also been a Trustee and Board member for Nesta, and was until recently a Deputy Lieutenant in the West Midlands. She has been a Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Newcastle ̽��ֱ��, is a former Vice-Chancellor of Coventry ̽��ֱ��, and is now President of Lucy Cavendish College here at Cambridge ̽��ֱ��. She studied for a degree in law and history at Girton College and has a PhD from the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham.

Dame Madeleine said: “I am honoured to receive this award, which recognises the contribution of my former colleagues at HEFCE who worked so hard to make the transition to OfS and Research England both smooth and successful. I am delighted now to be bringing some of my experience in the higher education sector to support the students and Fellowship of Lucy Cavendish College”.

Professor John Frederick William Birney, FRS, the joint director, European Bioinformatics Institute was awarded a CBE For Services to Computational Genomics and to Leadership across the Life Sciences.

Professor Birney is Director of EMBL-EBI, Europe's flagship laboratory for the life sciences, and runs a small research group. He played a vital role in annotating the genome sequences of human, mouse, chicken and several other organisms. He led the analysis group for the ENCODE project, which is defining functional elements in the human genome. Birney’s main areas of research include functional genomics, assembly algorithms, statistical methods to analyse genomic information (in particular information associated with individual differences) and compression of sequence information.

Professor Birney, known as Ewan to his friends, family and colleagues, was educated at Eton, Oxford and St John’s College, Cambridge.

Dr Jennifer Mary Schooling, Director of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge was awarded an OBE For Services to Engineering and to Digital Construction.

Dr Schooling is a Fellow of Darwin College and has been the Director of CSIC since April 2013. CSIC focuses on how better data and information from a wide range of sensing systems can be used to improve our understanding of our infrastructure, leading to better design, construction and management practices. CSIC has strong collaborations with industry, developing and demonstrating innovations on real construction and infrastructure projects, and developing standards and guidance to enable implementation. Dr Schooling is also Chair of the Research Strategy Steering Group for the newly formed Centre for Digital Built Britain. Dr Schooling is founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Smart Infrastructure and Construction Proceedings journal (ICE). She recently served as a member of PAS185 smart cities security standard steering group and of ICE’s State of the Nation 2017 ‘Digital Transformation’ Steering Group. Prior to joining CSIC, Dr Schooling worked for Arup, leading the firm’s Research Business, and before that for Edwards Vacuum (then BOC Edwards) as a manager for New Product Introductions. She has a PhD from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

Andrew Nairne, Director of Kettle’s Yard, was awarded an OBE for Services to Museums and the Arts. Kettle’s Yard is the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s modern and contemporary art gallery.

Andrew Nairne said: “I am delighted to receive this recognition following the hugely successful reopening of Kettle’s Yard in 2018: a magnificent team effort.”

“As Director of one of the eight ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Museums, I believe museums have a vital role to play in the life of both the ̽��ֱ�� and the community.”

̽��ֱ��Honours list, which dates back to around 1890, recognises notable services and contributions to Britain.

Members of collegiate Cambridge recognised for outstanding contributions to society in science, education, engineering and art

“I feel very humbled to be recognised in this way.”

Professor Sir David Klenerman

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‘High-yield’ farming costs the environment less than previously thought – and could help spare habitats

fpjl2 — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 15:28:52 +0000

Agriculture that appears to be more eco-friendly but uses more land may actually have greater environmental costs per unit of food than “high-yield” farming that uses less land, a new study has found.

There is mounting evidence that the best way to meet rising food demand while conserving biodiversity is to wring as much food as sustainably possible from the land we do farm, so that more natural habitats can be “spared the plough”.

However, this involves intensive farming techniques thought to create disproportionate levels of pollution, water scarcity and soil erosion. Now, a study published today in the journal Nature Sustainability shows this is not necessarily the case.

Scientists have put together measures for some of the major “externalities” – such as greenhouse gas emission, fertiliser and water use – generated by high- and low-yield farming systems, and compared the environmental costs of producing a given amount of food in different ways.

Previous research compared these costs by land area. As high-yield farming needs less land to produce the same quantity of food, the study’s authors say this approach overestimates its environmental impact.

Their results from four major agricultural sectors suggest that, contrary to many people's perceptions, more intensive agriculture that uses less land may also produce fewer pollutants, cause less soil loss and consume less water.

However, the team behind the study, led by scientists from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, caution that if higher yields are simply used to increase profit or lower prices, they will only accelerate the extinction crisis we are already seeing.

“Agriculture is the most significant cause of biodiversity loss on the planet,” said study lead author Andrew Balmford, Professor of Conservation Science from Cambridge’s Department of Zoology. “Habitats are continuing to be cleared to make way for farmland, leaving ever less space for wildlife.”

“Our results suggest that high-yield farming could be harnessed to meet the growing demand for food without destroying more of the natural world. However, if we are to avert mass extinction it is vital that land-efficient agriculture is linked to more wilderness being spared the plough.”

̽��ֱ��Cambridge scientists conducted the study with a research team from 17 organisations across the UK and around the globe, including colleagues from Poland, Brazil, Australia, Mexico and Colombia.

̽��ֱ��study analysed information from hundreds of investigations into four vast food sectors, accounting for large percentages of the global output for each product: Asian paddy rice (90%), European wheat (33%), Latin American beef (23%), and European dairy (53%).

Examples of high-yield strategies include enhanced pasture systems and livestock breeds in beef production, use of chemical fertilizer on crops, and keeping dairy cows indoors for longer.

̽��ֱ��scientists found data to be limited, and say more research is urgently needed on the environmental cost of different farming systems. Nevertheless, results suggest many high-yield systems are less ecologically damaging and, crucially, use much less land.

For example, in field trials, inorganic nitrogen boosted yields with little to no greenhouse gas “penalty” and lower water use per tonne of rice. Per tonne of beef, the team found greenhouse gas emissions could be halved in some systems where yields are boosted by adding trees to provide shade and forage for cattle.

̽��ֱ��study only looked at organic farming in the European dairy sector, but found that – for the same amount of milk – organic systems caused at least one third more soil loss, and take up twice as much land, as conventional dairy farming.

Co-author Professor Phil Garnsworthy from the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham, who led the dairy team, said: “Across all dairy systems we find that higher milk yield per unit of land generally leads to greater biological and economic efficiency of production. Dairy farmers should welcome the news that more efficient systems have lower environmental impact.”

Conservation expert and co-author Dr David Edwards, from the ̽��ֱ�� of Sheffield, said: “Organic systems are often considered to be far more environmentally friendly than conventional farming, but our work suggested the opposite. By using more land to produce the same yield, organic may ultimately accrue larger environmental costs.”

̽��ֱ��study authors say that high-yield farming must be combined with mechanisms that limit agricultural expansion if it is to have any environmental benefit. These could include strict land-use zoning and restructured rural subsidies.

“These results add to the evidence that sparing natural habitats by using high-yield farming to produce food is the least bad way forward,” added Balmford.

“Where agriculture is heavily subsidised, public payments could be contingent on higher food yields from land already being farmed, while other land is taken out of production and restored as natural habitat, for wildlife and carbon or floodwater storage.”

New findings suggest that more intensive agriculture might be the “least bad” option for feeding the world while saving its species – provided use of such “land-efficient” systems prevents further conversion of wilderness to farmland.

Our results suggest that high-yield farming could be harnessed to meet the growing demand for food without destroying more of the natural world

Andrew Balmford

Scott Goodwill

Harvest

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Waterworld: can we learn to live with flooding?

lw355 — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 09:52:17 +0000

In December 2015, Storm Desmond hit the north of the UK. In its wake came floods, the misery of muddy, polluted water surging through homes and the disruption of closed businesses, schools and roads.

Rapid urban growth and progressively unpredictable weather have focused attention on the resilience of cities worldwide not just to extreme events, but also to heavier-than-normal rainstorms, and raised questions as to how flood risk can be managed.

There is of course no ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy. For some areas, defence is a possibility. For others, retreat is the only option. “But for those unable to do either, we need to fundamentally rewrite the rule book on how we perceive water as a hazard to towns and cities,” says Ed Barsley, PhD student working with Dr Emily So in the Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Centre for Risk in the Built Environment (CURBE). Barsley believes that adaptation and planning for resilience can provide a unique opportunity for increasing the quality of towns and cities (see panel).

Dr Dick Fenner from Cambridge's Department of Engineering agrees that resilience to water should be regarded positively. He is part of the UK-wide Blue–Green Cities project, which is developing strategies to manage urban flood risk in ways that also pay dividends in many other areas, through ‘greening’ the city. “We want to turn rainfall into a win-win-win event,” he says.

When it comes to dealing with floods, one of the major difficulties that many cities face is the impermeability of the built environment. In a city that is paved, concreted and asphalted, surface water can’t soak away quickly and naturally into the earth.

Newcastle city centre, for instance, is around 92% impermeable, and has suffered major flooding in the past. “ ̽��ֱ��‘flood footprint’ of the 2012 ‘Toon Monsoon’ caused around £129 million in direct damages and £102 million in indirect damages, rippling to economic sectors far beyond the physical location of the event,” says Fenner.

“Traditionally, cities have been built to capture water run-off in gutters and drains, to be piped away. But where is away? And how big would we have to build these pipes if the city can’t cope now?” he adds. ̽��ֱ��principal behind a ‘Blue–Green City’ is to create a more natural water cycle – one in which the city’s water management and its green infrastructure can be brought together.

Cities worldwide are already taking up the concept of ‘greening’, using permeable paving, bioswales (shallow ditches filled with vegetation), street planting, roof gardens and pocket parks. Green infrastructure benefits health and biodiversity, and can help combat rising CO₂ levels, heat island effects, air pollution and noise.

“Not only do they also provide a place for water to soak away,” says Fenner, “they can even create resources from water – such as generating energy from the water flow through sustainable drainage systems and providing places for amenity and recreation.”

All well and good but with a long list of potential ‘blue–green’ choices, and an equally long list of benefits, how do cities choose the best options?

One of the major outputs of the Blue–Green Cities initiative is a ‘toolbox’ for authorities, planners, businesses and communities to help them decide. Using Newcastle ̽��ֱ��’s CityCat model, the team assessed how well green infrastructures performed in holding back surface flows, and used novel tracer techniques to follow the movement and trapping of sediments during intense storms. Then they mapped the benefits in a geographic information system (GIS) to identify physical locations that are ‘benefit hotspots’.

̽��ֱ��tools were developed by evaluating the performance benefits of green infrastructure gathered from sites in both the UK and USA. As part of a recent 12-month demonstration study in Newcastle, a Learning Action Alliance network was set up with local stakeholders that has, says Fenner, led to new opportunities that reflect the priorities and preferences of communities and local residents.

Now, Newcastle City Council, the Environment Agency, Northumbrian Water, Newcastle ̽��ֱ��, Arup and Royal Haskoning DHV have combined to be the first organisations in the country to explicitly commit to a blue–green approach, as recommended by the research. ̽��ֱ��hope is that other local and national organisations will follow suit.

Embracing resilience, as these organisations are doing, is vitally important when dealing with natural hazards, says Emily So, who leads CURBE: “We should remember that flooding is a natural process and a hazard we need to learn to live with. It is often the disjointed configuration of the built environment that results in it being a risk to the communities. Our aim should be to design to reduce the impact of, and our recovery time from, this natural hazard.”

Fenner adds: “Continuing to deliver an effective and reliable water and wastewater service despite disruptive challenges such as flooding is hard, but vital; it requires continuous and dramatic innovation. In the future, we will see fully water-sensitive cities, where water management is so good that it’s almost as if the city isn’t there.”

̽��ֱ��Blue–Green Cities project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), involves researchers from nine UK universities and is led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham. A parallel project, Clean Water for All, funded by EPSRC and the National Science Foundation, connects the team with researchers in the USA.

Inset image: Ed Barsley.

Flash floods, burst riverbanks, overflowing drains, contaminants leaching into waterways: some of the disruptive, damaging and hazardous consequences of having too much rain. But can cities be designed and adapted to live more flexibly with water – to treat it as friend rather than foe?

We need to fundamentally rewrite the rule book on how we perceive water as a hazard to towns and cities

Ed Barsley

Artist's interpretation of existing (left) and adapted (right) responses to flooding

Flood risk as a driver for change

While the Blue–Green Cities project focuses on urban drainage at times of normal to excessive rainfall, Ed Barsley is more concerned with helping communities consider the consequences of extreme events.

“Floods are devastating in their impact and flood risk is often seen as a burden to be endured,” says Barsley, “but future proofing and planning for resilience can and should be used as a driver for increasing the quality of buildings, streets and neighbourhoods – a chance for exciting change in our cities.”

As a case study, Barsley is using the village of Yalding in Kent, which has endured physical, economic and psychological impacts as a result of flooding.

He looked at how each house in the village prepared for and was affected by its most recent flood, its location and building material, and even its millimetre threshold height; and then he looked at future flood risk scenarios. ̽��ֱ��result is a methodology for assessing resilience that can be used to help inform and plan for adaptation, and is transferable to other communities large or small across the UK and worldwide.

“When we communicated the risks to the community, we found that resilience means different things to different people. Understanding priorities can help them tailor their own strategy to be contextually appropriate,” explains Barsley, who is special advisor on flood risk in the South East to Greg Clark MP, Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government.

For homes in which resistance measures like flood barriers will be overcome, one option might be to regard the lower floor as a sacrificial space – an area that can be flooded without disrupting waste, power or water. In Yalding, there are examples of homeowners who have done just this and added an extra storey to their homes.

“I’d like to see resilience rewarded and for us to begin to live with water in a different manner. Embedding long-term resilience has huge potential for creating vibrant and enriching spaces.”

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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Pollution on the move – human activity in East Asia negatively affects air quality in remote tropical forests

sc604 — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 12:00:01 +0000

Researchers from the UK and Malaysia have detected a human fingerprint deep in the Borneo rainforest in Southeast Asia. Cold winds blowing from the north carry industrial pollutants from East Asia to the equator, with implications for air quality in the region. Once there, the pollutants can travel higher into the atmosphere and impact the ozone layer. ̽��ֱ��research is published today (31 March) in the open access journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Rainforests are often associated with pure, unpolluted air, but in Borneo air quality is very much dependent on which way the wind blows. “On several occasions during northern hemisphere winter, pockets of cold air can move quickly southwards across Asia towards southern China and onward into the South China Sea,” said lead author Matthew Ashfold, who conducted the research while at the ̽��ֱ��’s Department of Chemistry, and who is now based at the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.

In a new study, the researchers show that these ‘cold surges’ can very quickly transport polluted air from countries such as China to remote parts of equatorial Southeast Asia. ̽��ֱ��pollution travels about 1000 km per day, crossing the South China Sea in just a couple of days.

̽��ֱ��researchers were initially looking for chemical compounds of natural origin: they wanted to test whether the oceans around Borneo were a source of bromine and chlorine, compounds which can affect stratospheric ozone levels. They designed their experiments to measure these gases, but also detected another gas called perchloroethene, or perc, in the air samples they collected from two locations in the Borneo rainforest. Perc is a common ‘marker’ for pollution because it does not have natural sources.

In order to find out where the man-made gas came from, and where it might go, the researchers used a UK Met Office computer model of atmospheric transport to look back in time and determine where the collected air samples had travelled from. ̽��ֱ��experiments suggest the high levels of perc in the air samples were influenced by East Asian pollution.

Perc is produced in a number of industrial and commercial processes, such as dry cleaning and metal degreasing, and exposure to large amounts (above about 100 parts per million) can affect human health. While global emissions of perc have declined in the past 20 years or so, it is not clear whether this has been the case in East Asia, where air pollution has increased over the same period.

̽��ֱ��levels of perc measured in Borneo are low, at a few parts per trillion. But since the gas does not occur naturally, even small concentrations are a sign that other more common pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and ozone, could be present. Ozone, for example, can damage forests in high concentrations, as it reduces plant growth.

̽��ֱ��team’s measurements showed the amounts of perc varied strongly over the course of about a week, and models they analysed indicated this variation to be related to similar changes in carbon monoxide and ozone. During the one cold surge event the team studied in detail, levels of these pollutants over Borneo appeared to be double typical levels.

But diminished air quality in the remote rainforest is not the only way East Asia pollution affects the tropics. “ ̽��ֱ��atmosphere over Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific is home to unusually strong and deep thunderstorms during the northern hemisphere winter. Because of this, the region is an important source of air for the stratosphere,” said Ashfold.

In their study the researchers show that, once in the deep tropics, the polluted air is lifted towards the upper atmosphere. This can introduce a range of industrial chemicals with atmospheric lifetimes of just a few months to the stratosphere, which could have a potentially negative impact on the ozone layer.

“This work shows how quickly increasing pollution in southeast Asia can reach the Borneo rainforest, and even the upper atmosphere,” said Dr Neil Harris of the ̽��ֱ��’s Department of Chemistry, one of the paper’s co-authors. “It means that short-lived compounds, including some ozone-depleting substances, can reach the ozone layer within a couple of weeks. This effect could become more important if emissions of these pollutants continue to increase. At a simple level, it still amazes me how connected our atmosphere is.”

New analysis shows that pollution from human activity in East Asia is having a negative effect on air quality in tropical rainforests thousands of kilometres away, and could harm the ozone layer if levels continue to increase.

This work shows how quickly increasing pollution in southeast Asia can reach the Borneo rainforest, and even the upper atmosphere

Neil Harris

Ch'ien C. Lee

Borneo rainforest

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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Unsafe havens? Health risks for refugees

jfp40 — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 09:33:04 +0000

As the humanitarian crisis in Syria continues to unfold, over two million people are thought to have crossed the borders into neighbouring countries. Desperate, empty-handed and facing an uncertain future, most of the refugees will seek aid and support in camps, where they will be exposed to yet another threat: infectious disease.

High population densities, malnutrition, poor sanitation, sexual violence and reduced access to healthcare following forced migration can create a ‘perfect storm’ where communicable diseases become a major cause of mortality and morbidity. And it’s far from a recent problem.

Over 600,000 cases of cholera have been recorded in Haiti since the earthquake of 2010, which displaced up to 2.3 million people. Cholera was also responsible for some 50,000 deaths in 1994 among refugees of the Rwandan genocide. In 1949, the British Red Cross noted that malaria and dysentery were widespread among 30,000 Arab refugees living in huts, caves or ragged tents in Jordan. In 1901, Boer War refugees were exposed to measles, pneumonia, dysentery, diarrhoea, bronchitis and enteric fever in the camps of the Transvaal.

“Since biblical times, mass migrations have followed conflict and crises,” said Professor Andy Cliff. “Today, humanitarian aid organisations perform an incredible job in taking care of refugees but this can take time to come into play, and the conditions that migrants find themselves in raises the spectre of epidemics. Diseases such as cholera, dysentery, measles and meningitis, for instance, have resulted in high mortality rates in relief camps in Africa, Asia and Central America.”

Although the impact of forced migration on health is well known, no study has ever systematically linked the nature of displacement, its geographical location and the particular patterns of disease that occur: a triangulation that, if charted, could help authorities and aid agencies prepare as crises unfold.

"We call this the displacement–disease nexus,” added Cliff. “Understanding it lies at the heart of preparing for future displacements, both for the welfare of the migrants and for the health and economy of the destination.”

For the past year, Cliff from the Department of Geography and Professor Matthew Smallman-Raynor from the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham have been leading a project that is assembling the first ever database to link these types of information. And to do so, their team is looking back over 100 years of forced migrations, across the globe.

“ ̽��ֱ��research could scarcely be more timely,” said Smallman-Raynor. “ ̽��ֱ��most recent figures released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimate up to 45.2 million people in situations of displacement for 2012, which is the highest figure in 20 years.”

Cliff’s colleagues Dr Anna Barford and Heather Hooper have begun the task of hunting through the rich archives held by organisations such as the UNHCR, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Office at Geneva and the World Health Organization, as well as searching through scientific journals dating back to 1901. A doctoral student, Anna-Meagan Fairley at the ̽��ֱ�� of Nottingham, is looking specifically at infectious disease among people displaced by natural disasters.

“Because each set of circumstances is unique, we need to look at as many cases of displacement as possible, over a long time period,” said Barford. “Only then can we start to work out whether there are patterns that governments and aid agencies can learn from in preventing epidemics and delivering healthcare.”

Epidemics of communicable diseases not only affect the health of migrants in camps, but also the health of those in areas the migrants pass through during their migration. “Perhaps one of the most significant examples relates to the First World War,” said Cliff. “Chaos ensued in terms of preparedness for the end of the war – several million refugees were swilling around on borders between Russia and eastern Europe, and you could map the spread of typhus and cholera marching with the refugees as they crisscrossed Europe.”

̽��ֱ��results will be used to establish global electronic databases of infectious disease events in relation to mass population movements since the beginning of the 20th century. “It will be a fascinating resource,” said Barford. “Out of this we’ll pick 50 events and look in detail at the short-, medium- and long-term geographical patterns and consequences of displacement-associated epidemics. ̽��ֱ��databases will be available to national and international organisations involved in health promotion and in the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”

̽��ֱ��results will also be published by Oxford ̽��ֱ�� Press as one of a series of atlases; a previous volume in the series Atlas of Epidemic Britain: A Twentieth Century Picture authored by Cliff and Smallman-Raynor won the British Medical Association prize for Best Medical Book of the Year 2013.

̽��ֱ��results of this ambitious project, which is funded by the Leverhulme Trust, will also be of interest to countries such as the UK that eventually become home to refugees after they have left intermediary camps. “This so-called secondary migration has been the cause of much public and political debate, with the UK’s Department of Health launching a consultation into proposals for charging migrants to use the health system,” added Cliff. “By also looking at the long-term health consequences for secondary migrants, we hope to shed light on how best to prepare for their arrival and support their healthcare.”

For further information about this story, please contact Louise Walsh at louise.walsh@admin.cam.ac.uk

Inset image: A Syrian woman near a fire at a refugee camp in Azaz, Syria, on December 17, 2012. Credit: Freedom House

A new study is looking at a century of mass migrations worldwide to understand the public health consequences when people are forced to flee from war, persecution and natural disaster.

Since biblical times, mass migrations have followed conflict and crises

Professor Andy Cliff

MM/JRS

Caption: A group of Sri Lankan refugees arrives in Tamil Nadu after a risky 30-mile boat ride across the Palk Straits

Migration and mental health

Infectious disease is not the only health threat that victims of forced migration face. Their mental health is also at risk.

Forced migrations are often the result of violent events or economic hardship, which can have profound psychological consequences. Migrants may be without their family support network and living in difficult conditions, while their left-behind families might find it equally hard to cope.

̽��ֱ��mental health of individuals after forced migration, as well as after their subsequent return migration, is an area that Dr Tine Van Bortel from the ̽��ֱ��’s Institute of Public Health describes as “one of the least explored areas of health research.”

She has been involved in pilot projects that have looked at the quality of life, well-being and mental health of migrant domestic workers and their left-behind families in Singapore and Sri Lanka, and of Muslims forcibly resettled in 1990 by rebel fighters in Sri Lanka, working in collaboration with Dr Chesmal Siriwardhana and Sabrina Anjara at King’s College London and researchers at the Sri Lankan Institute of Research and Development (IRD).

“In terms of economic forced migration, we find that both labour-receiving countries and labour-sending countries have inadequate measures to provide the information, care and support that’s needed for migrant workers and their left-behind families,” said Van Bortel. “Some labour-receiving countries have health checks in place but these focus mainly on communicable diseases and not on mental health. Hard work, social isolation, abuse and missing their left-behind family members often lead to significant mental strain and sometimes suicide. In turn, the left-behind families often find it difficult to cope too."

“We are now broadening our research to look at possible interventions to raise awareness, psycho-educate and empower people to make more informed decisions about economic migration, to help migrant workers and their left-behind families cope more constructively with often challenging situations, and to address the psycho-social needs of displaced populations,” added Van Bortel.

“Humanitarian agencies are increasingly aware of the psychological consequences of forced migration and have been campaigning for change. We hope that the results might be used by legislators and policy makers in countries affected by forced migration and internal displacement to improve policy and practice for the benefit of individuals, families and communities.”

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