Climate Change is Making Hundreds of Diseases Much Worse
氣候變化使數百種疾病更惡化
Sciences
Climate change has exacerbated more than 200 infectious diseases and dozens of non-transmissible conditions, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change on 8 August. Climate hazards bring people and disease-causing organisms closer together, leading to a rise in cases. Global warming can also make some conditions more severe and affect how well people fight off infections. Most studies on the associations between climate change and disease have focused on specific pathogens, transmission methods or the effects of one type of extreme weather. Camilo Mora, a data scientist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and his colleagues scoured the literature for evidence of how ten climate-change-induced hazards — including surging temperatures, sea level rise and droughts — have affected all documented infectious diseases. These include infections spread or triggered by bacteria, viruses, animals, fungi and plants.
--from Nature news
一項8 月 8 日發表在《自然氣候變化》上的研究指出：氣候變化加劇了 200 多種傳染病和數十種非傳染性疾病。氣候災害使人和致病生物更密切接觸，導致病例增加。全球暖化還會使某些病況更加嚴重，並影響人們抵禦感染的能力。大多數對於氣候變化與疾病之關聯的研究都聚焦在特定的病原體、傳播方法或單一極端天氣的影響上。夏威夷大學Mānoa分校的數據科學家Camilo Mora和他的同僚搜索文獻資料以驗證十種氣候變化引發的災害（包括氣溫驟升、海平面上升和乾旱）如何影響所有記錄在案的傳染病。這些包括由細菌、病毒、動物、真菌和植物傳播或引發的感染。
--摘錄翻譯自Nature news
Blood Abnormalities Found in People with Long Covid
自長新冠患者發現血液異常
Health
An ambitious study of people with Long Covid, the mysterious, disabling symptoms that can trail a SARS-CoV-2 infection, has turned up a host of abnormalities in their blood. The clues add to a body of evidence hinting at drivers of the condition and potential treatments worth testing. They also suggest that, as many scientists and patients have suspected, Long Covid shares certain features with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), another condition thought to follow an infection. The Long Covid patients, most of them struggling with intense fatigue, brain fog, and other symptoms, had low levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that helps the body control inflammation, glucose, sleep cycles, and more.
--from Nature news
一項針對新冠長期症狀（長新冠）患者的宏觀研究發現，他們的血液中出現了一些可以追踪 SARS-CoV-2 感染之謎樣致殘症狀的變異。這些線索增加了一系列證據，提示了這種疾病的主訴狀況及值得測試的潛在治療方法。研究還指出，如許多科學家和患者所懷疑，長新冠具有與肌痛性腦脊髓炎/慢性疲勞症候群 (ME/CFS)相同病癥，被視為感染後衍生的症狀。長新冠患者中的多數人都在與極度疲勞、意識不清及其他症狀中掙扎，他們體內「皮質醇」量較低（這是一種壓力荷爾蒙，可幫助身體控制炎症、葡萄糖、睡眠週期等）。
--摘錄翻譯自Science news
A Spanish Town Abandoned by Mistake -- article with video
一個誤被遺棄的西班牙小鎮
Culture
The medieval fortress town of Granadilla is a ghost town. Visitors can peek into empty rooms, wander along its walled-in streets and view the town from atop its castle. But no one lives there. The end began back in the 1950s, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, when Spain embarked on massive project of building dams as a way to boost the economy during the period of isolation. The largest of these efforts was the Gabriel y Galán reservoir on the Alagón River, and in 1955, officials decreed that Granadilla was in the floodplain and therefore all 1,000 residents had to be evacuated. But that's as high as the water got – the town itself never flooded. Even today, villagers have not been allowed to reclaim their homes because the government maintains the flooding decree signed by Franco. However, visitors can and do come for day trips.
--from BBC travel, article with video
中世紀的城堡小鎮Granadilla是一座鬼城。遊客可以一窺空蕩蕩的屋舍、沿著圍牆環伺的街道漫步，並從城堡頂俯瞰小鎮。但沒有人居住於此處。此結果回溯至1950年代Francisco Franco獨裁統治期間，當時西班牙開始了大規模的修建水壩計畫，以在孤立時期提振經濟。其中最大工夫花在Alagón河的Gabriel y Galán 水庫；官方於1955 年下令Granadilla 位於洪氾區，因此必須撤離1000位該處居民。但此處與水位等高，城鎮本身從未被洪水淹沒。即使至今，政府仍保留了Franco簽署的洪水法令，使村民依然不得收回家園。然而，遊客可以、且能實際到訪一日遊。
--摘錄翻譯自BBC travel，原文含影片
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