Social Connectedness, Physical Distancing, and Anxiety in Complying with Shelter-In-Place Orders and Advisories during the Once-In-A-Century COVID-19 Pandemic in the US: A Study of Social Media and Internet Users

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As of 20 October 2020, the virus had infected 8,202,552 people, with 220,061 deaths in US, and in countries around the world, over 38 million people have become infected and over one million have died. The virus usually spreads via respiratory droplets from an infected person. At the time of compiling this paper, while countries around the world are still striving to find a pharmaceutical intervention (PI) , including treatments and vaccines, they are left with only non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) , such as physical distancing, wearing masks, and maintaining personal hygiene. In the US, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five US territories issued mandatory stay-at-home orders between March 1 and 31 May 2020 to lower the risk of virus transmission. This study empirically examined how social connectedness and anxiety interact with shelter-in-place compliance and advisories during the pandemic. The study collected information from 494 adults using an online survey during April and July 2020

Annual net snow accumulation over southern Greenland from 1975 to 1998

As part of NASA's Program for Arctic Regional Climate Assessment (PARCA), extensive ice core measurements of annual net water-equivalent accumulation have been made recently around the southern Greenland ice sheet. Analysis of these measurements demonstrates that annual and seasonal accumulation patterns are sometimes regional, with temporal variability in accumulation correlated over large areas. Using this unique, widely distributed set of contemporaneous accumulation measurements, as well as available previously published observations, we developed maps of annual net snow accumulation south of �73° N for each year from 1975 to 1998. Here net snow accumulation is defined as snow accumulation minus ablation. In order to achieve a more consistent spatial distibution of core measurements for each of the 24 years in the study period, some of the observed records were extrapolated up to 5 years using empirical relationships between monthly precipitation measured at coastal stations and the observed ice core net accumulation records. Initial comparisons between the maps of annual net snow accumulation and similar maps of net accumulation derived from meteorological model simulations show excellent agreement in the temporal variability of accumulation, although significant differences in the magnitude of accumulation remain. Both measurements and model simulations indicate that annual net accumulation, averaged over all higher-elevation regions (above 2000 m) of the southern ice sheet, varies significantly from one year to the next. The maximum year-to-year change during the 24-year study period occurred between calendar years 1995 and 1996, when the average annual net snow accumulation increased by 101 and 172 kg m-2 yr-1, or 37 and 57, for observations and model simulations, respectively. Taken alone, this 1-year change in average net snow accumulation corresponds to a drop in sea level of �0.16 and �0.28 mm yr-1. Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union

Entry approach into pristine ice-sealed lakes-Lake Vida, East Antarctica, a model ecosystem

Ice-sealed lakes, potentially home to novel microbiota and microbial processes, can provide a window into isolated and geologically ancient systems. These habitats are earth analogs for extraterrestrial systems that have yet to be sampled, though potentially harbor, or have harbored life at some time during their past. They are also small-scale models of the numerous sub-glacial lake systems, which have been identified across Antarctica and in Iceland. Methods are needed to sample these ecosystems with environmental stewardship in mind, in which human impact on the ecosystem is mitigated before and during sampling. This report describes an entry and sampling approach that was executed at Lake Vida, East Antarctica, a permanently ice-sealed lake that has never been sampled. Best practice sampling procedures were developed with emphasis on mitigating introduction of trace organics or microbiota to the ecosystem. The conceptual approach is transferable to other isolated pristine aquatic ecosystems on Earth and elsewhere. © 2008, by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Inc

Fishing for oil and meat drives irreversible defaunation of deepwater sharks and rays

The deep ocean is the last natural biodiversity refuge from the reach of human activities. Deepwater sharks and rays are among the most sensitive marine vertebrates to overexploitation. One-third of threatened deepwater sharks are targeted, and half the species targeted for the international liver-oil trade are threatened with extinction. Steep population declines cannot be easily reversed owing to long generation lengths, low recovery potentials, and the near absence of management. Depth and spatial limits to fishing activity could improve conservation when implemented alongside catch regulations, bycatch mitigation, and international trade regulation. Deepwater sharks and rays require immediate trade and fishing regulations to prevent irreversible defaunation and promote recovery of this threatened megafauna group