Weekend Reads 8/17/19

Two Ebola drugs boost survival rates, according to early trial data

Moreover, when researchers looked at how patients fared when they sought treatment early in the disease progression, the drugs looked even better. Only 6% of those treated early with REGN-EB3 died, and 11% of those treated early with mAb114 succumbed to the disease. Mortality rates for early treatments with ZMapp and remdesivir were 24% and 33%, respectively.

The climate change ‘tipping point’ has already arrived for these 70 U.S. counties

Of course, climate catastrophes aren’t just about higher average regional temperatures. Cold, heat, flood, drought, and sea-level rise all pose significant risks to U.S. communities, according to a newly released analysis by the group Clever Real Estate. And bad news: The report found that many of the cities most at risk to the impacts of climate change are also the least prepared for it.

The Endangered Species Act is incredibly popular and effective. Trump is weakening it anyway.

The act is generally uncontroversial among the public: About 83 percent of Americans (including a large majority of conservatives) support it, according to an Ohio State University poll. And it works: According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the act has prevented the “extinction of 99 percent of the species it protects.”

Yet the strict regulations it put in place are often frustrating (and costly) roadblocks for industries like mining or oil and gas drilling, and for developers looking to build in areas where protected species live.

The Anthropocene Is a Joke

The idea of the Anthropocene is an interesting thought experiment. For those invested in the stratigraphic arcana of this infinitesimal moment in time, it serves as a useful catalog of our junk. But it can also serve to inflate humanity’s legacy on an ever-churning planet that will quickly destroy—or conceal forever—even our most awesome creations.