DEAR READERS: The main issues in America’s presidential election, aside from women’s rights, were the state of the economy, the rising cost of living and the number of immigrants seeking refuge in the United States. All of these are connected to climate change, which should be the primary issue for every government and political leader to address. What will the new administration do about this issue?

Climate change is created by the burning of fossil fuels, which releases the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Another greenhouse gas, methane, comes from millions of abandoned oil wells, from now-melting permafrost tundra, from landfills and from cattle and other ruminants. Nitrous oxide is another factor, especially from fertilizers and factory-farmed animal waste from the petrochemical-dependent agricultural industry.

These gases trap solar radiation, leading to rising land and ocean temperatures that exacerbate forest fires; cause regional droughts; and feed tornadoes, hurricanes and other extreme climatic events. Water evaporation from warming oceans and melting polar ice caps leads to atmospheric rivers, resulting in decimating regional floods and landslides. Absorbed carbon dioxide in the ocean causes acidity that kills plankton and other marine life, which normally sequesters more atmospheric carbon than all the world's forests.

The escalating severity of climate change -- now a climate crisis -- impacts the global economy, public health and food security for ever-more people every year. We now face the tragedy of governments and industries failing to address the crisis, which was documented by scientists (those not aligned with the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries) over four decades ago. Without international coordination to adapt to, prepare for, and prevent further escalation of climate change, national security will founder, with predictable declines in the economy and public health.

We can all do something to reduce our carbon footprints, from traveling less to changing our diets, and businesses must assume greater responsibility and accountability for the “externalities” or hidden costs of their products and services. The adoption of a sustainable global economy based on the science and bioethics of ecology could herald the birth of the "Ecozoic Era" envisioned by the late Father Thomas Berry.

DEAR DR. FOX: I am full of feelings today. A month or so ago, I found out my dog, Max, had lymphoma. At first, he was listless, panted almost continuously and did not rest well at night. Soon, his vet found swollen lymph nodes all over his body. Finally, he stopped eating.

From there, he deteriorated quickly. There was little left to do but put him down. He went quietly; I was with him in his last moments.

I am a Baha’i, and Baha’i writings state that everything in this universe is put here for our training: We are here to develop the spiritual qualities that we will need in the next life. Max certainly trained me as much as, or more than, I trained him. Because of him, I developed qualities that will serve me well in the next life: the ability to love unconditionally, a deep empathy for all God’s creation, patience to teach and be taught, and a better ability to share and reciprocate.

I will carry these qualities and more into the next life, and because they were part of Max, he will accompany me to the next life, as well. Thanks for allowing me to share this. -- B.C.S., Nassau, Bahamas

DEAR B.C.S.: I send you my deepest condolences. I know only too well what it is like to experience a companion animal suffering from a terminal illness and then dying.

Glyphosate, the herbicide in Roundup, is implicated in lymphoma in humans, and since it is a common food and garden contaminant, I suspect it may also be a factor in the rising incidence of canine lymphoma.

I appreciate the eloquence of your sentiments about your dog, Max. Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” By this token, then, dogs are spiritual beings having a "dog experience," and the better we can make it for them, the better we are as human beings.

Many people grieve more over this kind of animal companion loss than over the death of a human friend or family member. This is easily explained by the kind of trust and devotion our empathic animal companions so often provide.

Your statements from the Baha’i faith resonate with the Indigenous Australian declaration “Dingo (dog) makes us human.” To the North American Anishinaabe, it is the wolf. The sentiment remains the same.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: Many of you have lawns and gardens, and may be using pesticides and chemical fertilizers that are harmful to us, to our animal companions and to wildlife. Douglas W. Tallamy’s book "Nature’s Best Hope" will give you the inspiration to give back to nature by creating a wild space of native plants and trees to combat climate change and the species extinction crisis.

If every homeowner in the United States repurposed just half of their yards to make space for native species of plants, shrubs and trees, Tallamy argues, we would create a vast network of “homegrown national parks” that would provide more wildlife habitat than all the national parks combined.

To facilitate this, local municipalities will have to change any ordinances that restrict residents from rewilding all or part of their properties. In the community where I live in Minnesota, I had to provide information on the seed mix I was using to confirm all were native plant species -- and pay $100 for a permit! For more on this issue, see my post: drfoxonehealth.com/post/lawns-be-gone.

I found this Oct. 3 New York Times article on the topic encouraging: "Hidden in Midwestern Cornfields, Tiny Edens Bloom," by Cara Buckley. The writer describes a project initiated by Iowa State University professor Lisa Schulte Moore wherein farmers of corn, soy and alfalfa are converting roughly 10% of their farmland into "prairie strips" -- rewilded areas seeded with native grasses and plants. This increase in biodiversity encourages beneficial insects and other wildlife, enriches the soil, creates a carbon sink, and stanches emissions and fertilizer runoff.

Coupled with no-till and cover crop practices and supported under the federal Conservation Reserve Program, the prairie soils virtually killed by conventional agriculture’s overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers may eventually be restored.

CANCERS ARE RISING IN YOUNG PEOPLE

In findings presented in September, international researchers said that cancer in young adults is on the rise in 14 of the 50 countries studied. Rates in older adults were holding steady.

From a BBC story on the issue:

"'It’s not uncommon for me to see someone under the age of 40 with pancreatic cancer,' says Eileen O’Reilly, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. 'It’s almost every week, which is a scary thought. These are people in the prime of life, who are starting families and have everything to live for. The implications for society are profound.'" (Full story: BBC.com, Oct. 5)

What is driving this change? Researchers are not sure, but factors may include stress, sleep deprivation, microplastics, ultra-processed foods, and antibiotic use, all of which have increased over the past few decades.

While genetics can play a role in cancer susceptibility in dogs, the rising incidence of various cancers in our canine companions parallels, in many ways, these trends in people. Both are probably associated with the same carcinogenic factors we have unwittingly released into the food chain and environment.

ADOPT A DOG OR CAT

If you have the time and resources -- especially if you are an active, healthy retiree, or know someone in that category -- please consider adopting a dog or cat from your local shelter. So many facilities are currently overcrowded.

Adopting an animal is a more rewarding experience than taking another costly vacation! If you already have a dog or cat, consider adopting another, following the advice posted here (drfoxonehealth.com/post/introducing-a-new-cat) and here (drfoxonehealth.com/post/introducing-a-dog-into-cats-home).

Alternatively, volunteer to provide pre-adoption foster care or to help at the shelter. Animals need gentle human contact for socialization under the stressful conditions of confinement in a cage or kennel, and dogs can be safely taken for walks by volunteers.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)

DEAR READERS: Physicians, nutritionists and chefs need to wise up and stop promoting salmon as a “health food.” The "mass suffering" on Scottish salmon farms, as reported by Josh Loeb in the British Veterinary Association’s journal in September -- wherein sick salmon are removed from their floating cages and put on land to suffocate to death -- is further evidence that this sector of aquaculture has not rectified the issues I detailed almost 30 years ago in my book "Eating With Conscience: The Bioethics of Food."

Since then, intensive salmon farming has flourished along the coastlines of several countries with limited regulations and fewer discussions on the adoption of humane slaughter methods.

Emamectin, a pesticide, is fed to caged salmon -- already stressed with overcrowded confinement -- to kill the lice that often plague them. But this insecticide is then excreted, polluting local lakes and killing crustaceans such as crabs and prawns. The addition of discarded salmon parts to pet foods and salmon oil supplements needs to be questioned.

PFAS (“forever” chemicals) and microplastics in salmon and other seafoods are another consumer issue. Plastic pollution is creating a "plastisphere" -- a widespread habitat that includes pathogenic viruses and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria that affect the health of plants, animals and humans. Vibrio bacteria, for example, which are normally rare in the open ocean, are widely distributed in plastispheres throughout the mid-North Atlantic, where they can cause diseases in marine life as well as in humans. (See the study "Oceanic Hitchhikers: Assessing Pathogen Risks from Marine Microplastic" by Jake Bowley et al., published in Trends in Microbiology in 2021.)

Perhaps it is time for this sector of aquaculture to close or transition to sustainable, carbon-sequestering kelp farming. Leave wild salmon to the hungry bears, wolves, eagles and other wildlife whose lives we imperil in so many ways.

If you must purchase salmon, choose only wild salmon caught by members of the Lummi tribe and other Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. I have visited with Lummi elders and can attest to their reverence for this fish, and for their ecological stewardship and conservation.

SALMON SHORTAGE MIGHT NOT BE CAUSING ORCAS’ DECLINE

A shortage of Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea (off the Pacific Northwest coast) might not be behind the decline of southern resident orca pods in the area, according to a study in PLOS One. Instead, food shortages may be occurring elsewhere in the whales’ range. Additionally, noise from large ships in the area may be masking communication between orcas, impeding their ability to hunt, researchers wrote. (Full story: The Guardian, Oct. 16)

DEAR DR. FOX: Our indoor cats were found to have ear mites. Our vet insisted we put Revolution on all three of them, as well as give them an eardrop medication for a full month to get rid of the mites. Then we're supposed to dose them with the Revolution again for a couple of months.

But if the stuff is so poisonous that we need to wear gloves to apply it, how can it be safe for the cats? As for the eardrops, they have to be kept in the fridge, so they are horribly cold. The cats hate all this, and so do we. And all because one kitten got outside for about 10 seconds one day!

Decades ago, I had cats who got ear mites, but we had a miticide that we applied with cotton balls. Those cats grew to like that treatment. What are your thoughts on using these new products? -- D.K., New Haven, Connecticut

DEAR D.K.: This is ridiculous. Stop using the Revolution, and instead use what I have advocated for decades: olive oil. Put a few drops of cold-pressed virgin olive oil, at room temperature, on a cotton ball; squeeze some oil into each ear; then rub each ear to work it in, cleaning out any brown, gummy debris. Do this every other day for 10 days, then repeat a month later. This treatment will not harm your cats, but will smother the mites.

This parasite, which can be passed to dogs in the same home, driving them crazy, is common in outdoor cats. Ear mites are just one of the many health and welfare reasons that I am opposed to trap-neuter-release community cat colonies.

(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.

Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)