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Experts warn of a “biological holocaust” as human-caused extinction “mutilates” the tree of life

Humans have caused so many changes to our planet that some experts say we’re on par with mass extinctions of eons past. We are equivalent to the asteroid that crushed most of the dinosaurs or the Great Dying that wiped out nearly all life on Earth. Some have proposed calling our current geological age the “Anthropocene,” derived from the Greek word “anthropo” for “human.”...

Originally posted on salon.com

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Marijuana can often help with autism symptoms, but it’s complicated. A new study indicates why

Autistic people who smoke marijuana often report having positive experiences. Yet their anecdotal evidence does not in and of itself prove that marijuana is an effective drug for treating autistic symptoms. To help fill that void, a recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry examined 20 patients with autistic symptoms who had been treated with full-spectrum cannabis extracts (FCEs)....

Originally posted on salon.com

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Climate change “undoubtedly” played a role in Libyan floods that killed over 11,000 people: experts

A devastating flood that tore through eastern Libya has left at least 11,300 people dead and thousands more still missing. The deadly downpour began over the weekend when torrential downpours from Cyclone Daniel caused two upstream river dams to burst. The nearby city of Derna was overwhelmed, and reporters describe miles upon miles filed with distraught survivors and debris....

Originally posted on salon.com

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A new documentary presents devastation from climate change from the perspective of animals

Summer 2023 is officially the hottest summer on record, while freak storms and rising sea levels are all around us. But we often only think of these impacts in terms of how they affect humans, such as how many billions of dollars in damages hurricanes or wildfires cause. A new documentary takes a different approach, with a specific eye toward how animals are reacting to climate change....

Originally posted on salon.com

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Were “alien mummies” really revealed in Mexico? Here’s what we know

On Tuesday, while testifying under oath in front of Mexico’s Congress, journalist and ufologist José Jaime Maussan Flota shocked the world with two boxes that he claimed contained the bodies of deceased extraterrestrial visitors. Not surprisingly, social media has been abuzz about these reports. Yet are they valid?

“They are beings, non-humans who are not part of our terrestrial evolution.”

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Originally posted on salon.com
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Humans are dangerously pushing the limits of our planet in ways other than climate change

Our planet is relatively massive, but it is a world of finite resources and we are quickly approaching our limits. The planetary boundaries framework establishes how safely humanity can operate within Earth’s biological and physical limitations before undermining our own ability to survive. This is why when burning fossil fuels causes global heating, scientists warn about the safe upper limits of climate change....

Originally posted on salon.com

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Atmospheric acid test: Can the successes of reducing acid rain apply to the current climate crisis?

Democrats and Republicans once worked together to solve an environmental crisis. That sentence, admittedly, reads a bit like the start of a fairy tale. Long gone are the days when Republicans seemed to produce quasi-environmentalist presidents like Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon. At the time of this writing, every single frontrunner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination denies that humanity’s burning of fossil fuels is emitting greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which significantly contributes to global heating....

Originally posted on salon.com

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Fossil discovery reveals ancient koala relatives the size of small cats roamed Australia

New research in the journal Scientific Reports points to a missing ancestor that links koalas with other marsupials like kangaroos, possums and wombats. In the process, the scientists may have just cracked a major mystery related to evolution in Australia. Meet Lumakoala blackae, an ancient koala species believed to have lived throughout Australia 25 million years ago....

Originally posted on salon.com

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