The world has lost 68 percent of wildlife species since 1970, according to the World Wildlife Fund, a global nonprofit. This represents a staggering loss of what scientists call biodiversity, a crucial metric of environmental health.
"If you begin to reduce or remove animals and plants from any ecosystem, the way it functions begins to unravel, and that's what's happening now," Rebecca Shaw, global chief scientist for World Wildlife Fund, told Cheddar. "Biodiversity then is under threat primarily from habitat destruction and over-harvest."
This steep reduction in biodiversity has serious implications not just for the animal kingdom but for humans as well.
"All of the species in an ecosystem play a role in delivering benefits to humans," she said. "We call them ecosystem services, because they're services that come from the ecosystem like clean air or clean water. So when we reduce populations of animal or plant species, we reduce the capacity of an ecosystem to deliver those services."
She pointed to one study showing that three billion birds are missing from North American skies, which has implications for crucial environmental processes such as pollination and seed dispersal for plants. Similar depopulations are taking place in marine ecosystems as well.
"Globally, hundreds of millions of people depend on their local fisheries for income and nutrition — I know my community does — and the decline of fish species leads to less productive fishery systems and undermines the health and welfare of those people that are dependent on those oceans," Shaw said.
There have been global efforts to counter this decline, but they've met with limited success in reversing the downward trends.
In 2010, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity gathered in Japan to establish the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, setting specific goals to halt or reduce the destruction of wildlife.
Shaw said the UN agency started evaluating the success of those targets this year.
"It doesn't look at all," she said. "While we came close to protecting 17 percent of the world's forests, which was a target, we failed miserably to protect the world's oceans and fisheries in the world's oceans."
The UN is set to meet again to establish goals for the next 10 years, but the date of this meeting has been delayed until the first quarter of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In the meantime, Shaw said it is crucial that governments work with the food industry in particular to fight the loss of biodiversity.
"Production and consumption of food is the major driver of habitat destruction and over-harvesting on the planet," she said. "So the policy actions include working with companies that produce and sell food to make sure that the production of their products is biodiversity friendly."
As for the average consumer, a change in diet could help as well, including eating less red meat. "We need to eat smarter and reduce food waste," she added.
The FDA has granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer's pill to treat covid-19. The treatment, called Paxlovid, is the first antiviral covid-19 pill that people can take at home.
Pfizer says the pill can reduce the risk of severe illness by 90 percent and is intended for people at high risk for severe disease, including those over 65, people with obesity, diabetes, or a weakened immune system. Professor Peter Pitts, Founder, Center for Medicine in the Public Interest & Former FDA Associate joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
Ahead of a four day week for the markets due to the upcoming Christmas holiday, investors hoping for a quiet end to the year, or even a Santa Claus rally, may not be in luck. Investors are still digesting the latest from the Fed regarding a quicker than expected taper, as well as ever increasing blow back as the Omicron variant spreads. Octavio Marenzi, CEO of Opimas LLC, explains why the markets have been so volatile ever since the emergence of the latest variant and what to expect going forward into 2022.
Carlo and Baker cover the heartening news on the Covid front ahead of the holiday, plus President Biden punting student loan repayments again, a new space telescope and Love, Hate, Ate: Christmas Eve Eve Edition!
Pfizer, one of the makers of a currently available COVID-19 vaccine, has taken another critical step forward in combatting the pandemic by getting regulatory approval for Paxlovid, a pill treatment rather than IV or injection as others have been. Dr. Purvi Parikh, an immunologist with the Allergy and Asthma Network, spoke to Cheddar about the ramifications of the authorization. "This is huge, especially because we know early treatment does keep people out of the hospital, especially with this antiviral," Parikh said. "The fact that people can start a regimen at home so they don't have to leave and further expose others is a big breakthrough." She also explained how the drug is a combination of two antiviral medications that are not without its risks but should be safe over the short term.
This year's worldwide semiconductor shortage limited the supply of everything from new cars to smartphones; and now, many in the chip industry expect the shortage to continue deep into 2022, and maybe even 2023. Semiconductor senior research analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co., Tristan Gerra, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Direct health care company Nomi Health recently raised $110 million in a Series A round. Nomi Health lets public and private organizations directly purchase healthcare at reduced costs, and pay providers in real-time. It also delivers healthcare directly to under-served communities via its fleet of mobile care units, which the company says is the largest in the country. Nomi Health says its mission is to improve the health care experience for all Americans. Nomi Health CEO Mark Newman joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The airline industry says it is contending with staff shortages that threaten to hamper operations amid the COVID resurgence, andDelta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian called on the CDC to revise its guidance for vaccinated workers who test positive from a 10-day quarantine to just five. Chuck Liberman, chief investment officer and managing partner at Advisors Capital Management LLC, joined Cheddar to talk about the current guidance on isolation and why he believes the omicron variant calls for more relaxed guidance given its reportedly mild symptoms.
The boys discuss President Biden's plans to send out free rapid tests as the testing supply chain starts to buckle ahead of the holidays. Also, why aren't Americans having more babies, and The Matrix returns.
NASA is launching its new generation of space telescopes just before Christmas. The James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch on December 24th, will succeed the Hubble space telescope as the world's most powerful complex space observatory. The project has been 30 years in the making and is one of the most highly anticipated space science missions of the 21st century. Klaus Pontoppidan, astronomer and JWST Project Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
With Omicron becoming the dominant COVID-19 variant in the U.S., President Joe Biden announced that he will make 500 million rapid tests available to Americans in January 2022. Cheddar News speaks with Dr. Shereef Elnahal, President and CEO of University Hospital why testing is key to combatting the spread of the virus.
