NuseReal
Non-Covid News
News not involving COVID-19. See also: POST-COVID for assessments and reports on what comes next.
Study shows invertebrate decline reduces natural pest control and decomposition of organic matter — phys.org — 26 September 2023 (LINK)
The most intense heat wave ever recorded on Earth happened in Antarctica on 18 March last year, scientists say: soared to 39C above normal, reaching -10C — ground.news: media reports — 25 September 2023 (LINK)
— Some researchers at the Dome C site stripped down to shorts, while others removed their shirts to loll in the warmth. Generally, the temperatures in March on the east coast of Antarctica are around -54 degreesC, marking a transition into autumn on the continent.
Earth 'well outside safe operating space for humanity', scientists find in the first complete 'scientific health check': most global systems beyond stable range in which modern civilisation emerged — www.theguardian.com ● — 13 September 2023 (LINK)
— The assessment, which was published in the journal Science Advances and was based on 2,000 studies, assessment found that six out of nine "planetary boundaries" had been broken because of human-caused pollution and destruction of the natural world.
Two are judged to be close to being broken: air pollution and ocean acidification. The one boundary that is not threatened is atmospheric ozone, after action to phase out destructive chemicals in recent decades led to the ozone hole shrinking.
Several planetary boundaries were passed long ago. The boundary for biosphere integrity, which includes the healthy functioning of ecosystems, was broken in the late 19th century, the researchers said, as destruction of the natural world decimated wildlife. The same destruction, particularly the razing of forests, means the boundary for land use was broken last century.
Climate models have suggested the safe boundary for climate change was surpassed in the late 1980s. For freshwater, a new metric involving both water in lakes and rivers and in soil, showed this boundary was crossed in the early 20th century.
Another boundary is the flow of nitrogen and phosphorus in the environment. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization data, three times the safe level of nitrogen is added to fields every year.
The boundary for synthetic pollution, such as pesticides, plastics and nuclear waste, was shown to have been passed by a 2022 study.
Analysis: Chasm between climate action and scientific reality laid bare in UN stocktake — www.theguardian.com ● — 8 September 2023 (LINK)
African Climate Summit adopts 'Nairobi declaration' calling for global tax on fossil fuels — ground.news: 38 media reports — 6 September 2023 (LINK)
Half of Earth's glaciers could vanish and sea levels rise 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) with 1.5 degrees of warming, study warns — phys.org/news — 6 September 2023 (LINK)
— If the world reaches 2.7 degrees of warming — the estimated temperature increase based on climate pledges made at the Conference of Parties (COP26) of the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change — nearly all glaciers in Central Europe, western Canada, and the U.S. (including Alaska) will have melted. If warming reaches 4 degrees Celsius, 80% of the world's glaciers will disappear and contribute 15 centimeters (6 inches) of sea level rise.
Better recommendations for how biodiversity may be leveraged to promote delivery of ecosystem services — University of Chicago/phys.org — 6 September 2023 (LINK)
— Plant diversity consistently attracts more abundant and diverse communities of predators. Herbivore diversity tends to increase in response to plant diversity treatments, while herbivore abundance and plant damage generally decrease. But specialist herbivores often respond negatively to plant diversity, while generalists more often mount positive or neutral responses.
New US research highlights opportunities to protect carbon and communities from forest fires — USDA/phys.org — 6 September 2023 (LINK)
— New research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters highlights widespread "opportunity hot spots" in the western United States for using proactive forest management, such as forest thinning, prescribed fire, and cultural burning, to reduce the risk of losing carbon to future wildfires.
Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon falls 66% in August, lowest for month since 2018 — ground.news:26 media reports — 5 September 2023 (LINK)
Invasive species costs global economy $423 billion per year — UN Report — Reuters / www.usnews.com — 4 September 2023 (LINK)
This AI model can help prevent up to 76% of wildfires — www.weforum.org — 4 September 2023 (LINK)
New global sustainability reporting requirements are out. Here's what companies need to know — www.weforum.org — 29 August 2023 (LINK)
— Backed by the G20, a set of standards released by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will set worldwide sustainability reporting requirements for decades to come. The new requirements pave the way for companies across jurisdictions to disclose uniform climate and sustainability information.
It aligns with financial accounting practices in more than 140 countries and will help investors understand the sustainability-related risks and opportunities facing businesses. Singapore, Canada and the UK have already signalled that they are looking at routes to integrate the new standards.
'Not just money and math': Young people are willing to sacrifice returns for ESG — www.cnbc.com — 27 August 2023 (LINK)
Scientists release the first complete sequence of a human Y chromosome, completing mapping of human genome sequence — ground.news: 41 media reports — 23 August 2023 (LINK)
— The Y chromosome, alongside the X chromosome, plays a complex role in sexual development and contributes to other aspects of human biology, such as cancer risk and severity.
The first human genome sequence was mapped in 2001. In 2022, an international group of scientists called the Telomere-to-Telomere Consortium announced that they were able to finally fill in the gaps of the human genome. Now they have published a paper of their findings. It is the last human chromosome to be fully sequenced.
Unlike most other chromosomes, the Y is made up of palindromes, or sequences that are the same forward and backward. These palindromes are long too—roughly more than a million base pairs.
In a separate but related paper also published in Nature, researchers were able to sequence the Y chromosome from 43 different males across 21 world populations. This gives great insight into human genetic evolution —along with even more information to help with medical treatments and diagnostics.
Vegan diet has just 30% of the environmental impact of a high-meat diet, major study finds — theconversation.com — 21 July 2023 (LINK)
All the positive environmental stories from 2023 so far — www.euronews.com — 17 July 2023 (LINK)
Stem cell therapies: they're expensive, unproven and often dangerous — theconversation.com — 14 July 2023 (LINK)
— In the EU and the UK, unethical stem cell clinics are taking advantage of a regulatory loophole. If stem cells aren't modified in any way after they're extracted and then re-inserted into a person, these procedures fall outside the regulations for so-called advanced therapy medicinal products (medicines based on genes, tissues or cells). As a result of this lack of regulation, there is no standard quality control — if there is any quality control at all. Consequently, the effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapies cannot be guaranteed.
In the US, several patients lost their sight after receiving stem-cell treatment for degenerative eye conditions. The patients, who were treated at an unregulated stem-cell therapy clinic in Florida, paid up to US$20,000 (£15,600) to take part in the "clinical trial". Other reports have highlighted severe harms associated with unregulated stem cell treatments, including fever, infections, tumours, brain inflammation, life-threatening blood clots, disability and even death.
Adopt green hydrogen strategy now, Swiss cantons tell Bern — swissinfo.ch — 9 July 2023 (LINK)
— If Switzerland is to meet its net-zero carbon emissions targets, it must sort out how to obtain sufficient green hydrogen, a gas that can be produced from renewable energies, the NZZ am Sonntag reports. Hydrogen is expected to replace the use of fossil fuels by industry and for the supply of electricity. They suggest in a letter, seen by news agency Keystone-SDA, that the country convert its existing transit pipeline to accommodate hydrogen.
Scientists are sounding the alarm that ife-threatening hot climates will affect 2 billion people by end of century — news.yahoo.com — 8 July 2023 (LINK)
AI revolutionizes brain tumor management with advanced diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis — /www.cryptopolitan.com — 8 July 2023 (LINK)
Nigeria left out as 12 African countries get first-ever malaria vaccine: 18mn in total — guardian.ng — 6 July 2023 (LINK)
— Four African countries accounted for just over half of all malaria deaths worldwide: Nigeria (31.3 per cent), Democratic Republic of Congo (12.6 per cent), Tanzania (4.1 per cent) and Niger (3.9 per cent).Instead, the beneficiaries are Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) countries: Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, who will receive doses to continue vaccinations in pilot areas.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a statement, said the distributions were determined through application of principles outlined in the framework for allocation of limited malaria vaccine supply, which prioritizes areas of highest need, where the risk of illness and death among children are highest.
Researchers: we've underestimated the risk of simultaneous crop failures worldwide — www.sciencealert.com — 5 July 2023 (LINK)
— By "increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases, we are entering uncharted water where we are struggling to really have an accurate idea of what type of extremes we're going to face."
CITES strengthening cooperation for sustainable and legal trade in fish and fish products — cites.org — 5 July 2023 (LINK)
US climate data pinpoints 3 June as hottest recorded day on Earth: 17.01° Celsius(62.62F), surpassing the August 2016 record of 16.92C (62.46F) — ground.news: 49 media reports — 4 July 2023 (LINK)
Climate change spells 'terrifying' future future of hunger and suffering: UN rights chief — afp / www.france24.com — 3 July 2023 (LINK)
— UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk told a UN Human Rights Council debate on the right to food that extreme weather events were wiping out crops, herds and ecosystems, making it impossible for communities to rebuild and support themselves. "More than 828 million people faced hunger in 2021. And climate change is projected to place up to 80 million more people at risk of hunger by the middle of this century," said Türk. "Our environment is burning. It's melting. It's flooding. It's depleting. It's drying. It's dying."
'Mr. Bean' actor sparks controversy with confounding newspaper column: dupes the readers of The Guardian about electric vehicles and environment — www.thecooldown.com — 4 July 2023 (LINK)
— The argument is often the same — the production of electric vehicles produced almost 70% more pollution than the production of traditional vehicles (that's a fact from Volvo, by the way). It's not incorrect, but it is heavily biased. A 2020 study by Transport and Environment found that the life cycle pollution output — or the overall pollution produced by an EV across its entire lifespan — is, on average, almost three times less than that of a vehicle that runs on gasoline. Aside from that, there is a lot of progress being made to mitigate the production pollution.
Climate nears point of no return as land, sea temperatures break records: the target of keeping long-term global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) is moving out of reach — reuters/www.usnews.com — 30 June 2023 (LINK)
Scientists finally discover the cause of lupus — — 30 June 2023 (LINK)
— A recent study published in Nature has identified DNA mutations in a gene that senses viral RNA as a cause of lupus, paving the way for the development of new treatments. This is the first time a TLR7 mutation has been shown to cause lupus, providing clear evidence of one way this disease can arise.
79% of plants remaining on earth must be saved to meet UN climate goals, study says — www.ecowatch.com — 26 June 2023 (LINK)
3M coughs up $10.3b to settle "forever chemicals" lawsuits — boingboing.net — 23 June 2023 (LINK)
— The settlement is the largest related to water safety in U.S. history. The company said the settlement would provide the funds over a 13-year period to cities, towns and other public water systems to test for and treat contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
Environment groups condemn Norway's move to open its waters to deep sea mining — www.euronews.com — 21 June 2023 (LINK)
Media coverage of climate change research does not inspire action, say UNIL scientists — phys.org — 20 June 2023 (LINK)
— If the goal of mediating research is to have a societal impact, then it seems that we are pushing all the buttons that don't work. An analysis of the collection of about 50,000 scientific publications on climate change for the year 2020 showed that that most of the research selected by the media overly focused on large-scale climate projections that will occur in the future, and a narrow range of threats such as polar bears, drought and melting glaciers.
Scientists have discovered an alarming new side effect of air pollution: fly-mating behaviour: 'We had not thought about this before' — news.yahoo.com — 20 June 2023 (LINK)
Spike in ocean heat stuns: Have we breached a climate tipping point? Scientists think not — www.newsnationnow.com — 18 June 2023 (LINK)
Scientists issue increasingly dire warnings as ocean surface temperatures spike — pbs.org — 15 June 2023 (LINK)
World Bank confirms reallocating fossil fuel, factory farm subsidies key to solving climate crisis — www.commondreams.org — 15 June 2023 (LINK)
New hyper-efficient solar panels are 1000 times more powerful — www.thebrighterside.news — 15 June 2023 (LINK)
Synthetic human embryos created in groundbreaking advance — ground.news: 12 media reports — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
Saturn's Moon Enceladus is habitable, confirms breakthrough study — ground.news: 19 media reports — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
— Phosphorus in the form of phosphates is vital for all life on Earth. It is essential for the creation of DNA and RNA, energy-carrying molecules, cell membranes, bones and teeth in people and animals, and even the sea's microbiome of plankton. Life as we know it is simply not possible without phosphates.
"We found phosphate concentrations at least 100 times higher in the moon's plume-forming ocean waters than in Earth's oceans," Dr. Christopher Glein said. "Using a model to predict the presence of phosphate is one thing, but actually finding the evidence for phosphate is incredibly exciting. This is a stunning result for astrobiology and a major step forward in the search for life beyond Earth."
Limiting global warming to 2° is not enough — the world must keep temperature rise below 1° — theconversation.com — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
— Our newly published research suggests warming of more than 1° risks sea level rise of multiple metres, more intense hurricanes and more frequent weather extremes.
Global oil demand to peak before the end of the decade as energy transition gathers pace, IEA says — www.cnbc.com — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
New discovery reveals the oldest-known ancestor of complex life — www.inverse.com — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
— The molecular remains of a microbe called protosterol biota appeared within the Barney Creek Formation in Australia's Northern Territory.
Scientists think they've FINALLY cracked what came first — the chicken or the egg: it's both — www.mirror.co.uk — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
The secret of Stradivarius violin's special and unique sound discovered: several chemicals used have been identified for the first time — www.thebrighterside.news — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
The oldest song in the world — by Ancient Greek artist Seikilos — greekreporter.com — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
— The oldest song to have survived in its entirety is a first-century A.D. Greek tune known as the "Seikilos Epitaph." The song, the melody of which is recorded, alongside its lyrics, in the ancient Greek musical notation, was found in 1883 engraved on a pillar (a stele) from the Hellenistic town of Tralles near present-day Aydin, Turkey, not far from Ephesus.
Fastest star in the galaxy clocked at 2285 km per second — www.newscientist.com ● — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
— Astronomers have spotted white dwarfs moving faster than any free-moving star seen before — so fast they must have been launched by supernovae
World's oldest known human footprint identified in South Africa: dates back 153,000 years — www.sciencealert.com — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
A geologist found the oldest water on earth in Canada, and then she tasted it: Much to her delight, the water was "very salty and bitter" and "much saltier than seawater." This isn't altogether surprising, given that it had been aged for over 2 billion years — www.iflscience.com — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
Has the Mona Lisa's great mystery been solved after 500 years? The location is not where most people had assumed: the Romito Etruscan-Roman bridge over the Arno, also known as Ponte di Valle, pictured in the painting is located in the municipality of Laterina in the province of Arezzo — www.jpost.com — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
Paris says "non" to buildings of more than 12 storeys — or some 37 metres — but what's behind the ban? — www.euronews.com — 14 June 2023 (LINK)
— Certain parts of the city imposed a height limit for new buildings of 37 metres in 1977 after the construction of the controversial 209m-tall Montparnasse Tower, which was completed in 1973. That monolithic building has long been criticised by some Parisians for looking out of place — a blot on the iconic landscape.
Paris has now effectively, returned to 1977 — the ban reintroduced as part of mayor Anne Hidalgo's aim to reduce Paris' carbon emissions, otherwise known as the Local Bioclimatic Urban Plan. Another reason behind the decision lies in the controversial construction of the Tour Triangle tower designed by Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron. Starting building works in 2021, the pyramid-shaped tower is scheduled for completion in 2026 but has been dogged by backlash and delayed by a staggering 12 years due to various legal and planning battles. At its completion, the Tour Triangle will be the city's third tallest building, playing host to a hotel and office as well as shops and restaurants. The building is in a trapezoidal form, meaning it will resemble a thin tower from central Paris, but from the east and west of the city, its full width will be visible.
The world's biggest companies have made almost no progress on limiting global warming since 2018 — edition.cnn.com — 8 June 2023 (LINK)
— Large companies are either more likely to contribute to extreme levels of warming or are not disclosing their greenhouse gas emissions at all, according to a new report from ESG Book, seen by CNN. The efforts of just 22% of the world's 500 biggest public companies by market value are aligned with the Paris Agreement. Almost half, or 45%, of companies are aligned with warming of at least 2.7 degrees Celsius — a disastrous level of warming. That's down from 61% in 2018.
How El Nino could impact the world's weather in 2023-24 — source — 8 June 2023 (LINK)
— The last time a strong El Nino was in full swing, in 2016, the world saw its hottest year on record. Meteorologists expect that this El Nino, coupled with excess warming from climate change, will see the world grapple with record-high temperatures. Experts are also concerned about what is going on in the ocean. An El Nino means that waters in the Eastern Pacific are warmer than usual. But even before this El Nino began, in May, the average global sea surface temperature was about 0.1C (0.2F) higher than any other on record. That could supercharge extreme weather.
Brazil's Lula unveils plan to stop deforestation in Amazon by 2030, in line with right-wing predecessor — ground.news: 28 media reports — 5 June 2023 (LINK)
Solar panels — an eco-disaster waiting to happen when they turn to waste? — source — 3 June 2023 (LINK)
Climate change is already making parts of US uninsurable: California, Florida, Louisiana — www.vox.com — 2 June 2023 (LINK)
Recycled plastic can be more toxic and is no fix for pollution, Greenpeace warns — tthe guardian.com — 24 May 2023 (LINK)
Breakthrough study challenges beliefs on how much water humans need: the average daily water intake of a man in his twenties should be 1.5 to 1.8 liters, while it should be 1.3 to 1.4 liters for a female in the same age group, not 3.7 liters (or 125 ounces) of water per day for adult men and approximately 2.7 liters (or 91 ounces) of water per day for adult women — thebrighterside.news — 23 May 2023 (LINK)
What mosquitoes are most attracted to in human body odor is revealed: the cheesy smell — CNN — 19 May 2023 (LINK)
Man identified with rare mutation that protects from Alzheimer's disease — sciencealert — 16 May 2023 (LINK)
Suck it, Death Cap: scientists find potential antidote to world's deadliest mushroom — gizmodo.com — 16 May 2023 (LINK)
Forgotten antibiotic from the 1940s could save the world from drug-resistant superbugs — studyfinds.org — 16 May 2023 (LINK)
The world can cut plastic pollution by 80% by 2040, UNEP says — ground.news: 40 reports — 15 May 2023 (LINK)
How corporations use greenwashing to convince you they are battling climate change — theconversation.com — 15 May 2023 (LINK)
Climate finance: What are debt-for-nature swaps and how can they help countries? — weforum.org — 12 May 2023 (LINK)
25 skills Millennials learned in the 90s that are utterly useless today — wealthofgeeks — 12 May 2023 (LINK)
Australia told to shoot kangaroos before they starve — afp / phys.org — 10 May 2023 (LINK)
Finally, a vaccine for one of the deadliest forms of cancer: 50% of pancreatic cancer patients free after 18 months — insider.com — 10 May 2023 (LINK)
Swiss discover microbes that can digest plastics at low temperatures — ground.news: 12 media reports — 10 May 2023 (LINK)
New AI can predict pancreatic cancer 3 years early: study — nypost — 9 May 2023 (LINK)
Global push to tackle maternal and newborn deaths has stalled, WHO report finds — ground.news: 9 media reports — 9 May 2023 (LINK)
Mind-boggling' methane emissions from Turkmenistan's two main fossil fuel fields revealed: caused more global heating in 2022 than the entire carbon emissions of the UK — The Guardian — 9 May 2023 (LINK)
Shrinking bodies, growing wings: Climate change having odd effect on birds, study finds — usa today — 8 May 2023 (LINK)
Everyone was wrong about reverse osmosis — until now — wired.com — 8 May 2023 (LINK)
Debunking the Dunning-Kruger effect — the least skilled people know how much they don't know, but everyone thinks they are better than average — theconversation — 8 May 2023 (LINK)
Florida tosses short-term climate lifeline (for 20 years) to swamped 'Keybillies' but longer future open — eenews.net — 8 May 2023 (LINK)
The national debt under every US President in the last 100 years — 247wallst.com — 6 May 2023 (LINK)
— The last time the federal government had a balanced budget — when revenue exceeded spending — was in 2000, under the Clinton Administration. The first U.S. president to increase the national debt by over a trillion dollars during his time in office was Ronald Reagan. In dollar terms, the national debt increased the most under President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump, who oversaw increases of $8.3 trillion and $8.2 trillion, respectively, during their time in office.
New artificial intelligence tool can accurately identify cancer — Guardian — 30 April 2023 (LINK)
— Algorithm performs more efficiently and effectively than current methods, according to a study
Researchers discover what triggered Earth's last ice age — thebrighterside — 30 April 2023 (LINK)
— %he ocean gateways in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago served as a vital linchpin, determining whether ice sheets could form or not. The simulations indicated that as long as the ocean gateways in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago were open, the Northern Hemisphere's cooling due to Earth's orbital configuration allowed ice sheets to develop in Northern Canada and Siberia, but not in Scandinavia. The scientists conducted a second study where they created a simulation to investigate the impact of marine ice sheets blocking the waterways in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The diversion caused the North Atlantic deep circulation to weaken and freshen, leading to the expansion of sea ice and cooler conditions in Scandinavia. The simulation results indicated that this scenario was adequate to initiate the growth of ice in Scandinavia. Sediment records also demonstrated strong indications of a weakened deep ocean circulation before the formation of glaciers in Scandinavia, which closely mirrored the results obtained from the simulation.
The study proposes that even minor disturbances in the Earth's climate system could result in substantial and abrupt changes in ice sheet size and distribution, with far-reaching effects on sea level increase, ocean currents, and global climate patterns.
Github: EcoHabit is a web app project that aims to create awareness of the environment and help people build environmental friendly habits. It will visualize users' habits by tracking their activities (recycling, commuting, eating, etc.) and encourage them to improve their habits with better alternative options. It also targets to be users' go–to place to find the closest recycling locations and give them clear instructions about how to divide and recycle each material. — github.com — 19 April 2023 (LINK)
Researchers said they have discovered that parts of the brain region called the motor cortex that govern body movement are connected with a network involved in thinking, planning, mental arousal, pain, and control of internal organs, as well as functions such as blood pressure and heart rate — ground.news: 16 sources — 19 April 2023 (LINK)
— They identified a previously unknown system within the motor cortex manifested in multiple nodes that are located in between areas of the brain already known to be responsible for movement of specific body parts — hands, feet and face — and are engaged when many different body movements are performed together.
The researchers called this system the somato-cognitive action network, or SCAN, and documented its connections to brain regions known to help set goals and plan actions.
This network also was found to correspond with brain regions that, as shown in studies involving monkeys, are connected to internal organs including the stomach and adrenal glands, allowing these organs to change activity levels in anticipation of performing a certain action. That may explain physical responses like sweating or increased heart rate caused by merely pondering a difficult future task, they said.
"Basically, we now have shown that the human motor system is not unitary. Instead, we believe there are two separate systems that control movement," said radiology professor Evan Gordon of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
"One is for isolated movement of your hands, feet and face. This system is important, for example, for writing or speaking — movements that need to involve only the one body part. A second system, the SCAN, is more important for integrated, whole body movements, and is more connected to high–level planning regions of your brain," Gordon said.
El Niño is coming, and ocean temps are already at record highs â€" that can spell disaster for fish and corals — theconversation — 18 April 2023 (LINK)
Biodiversity targets may be slipping out of reach — study — BBC — 18 April 2023 (LINK)
Antarctica's sea ice reaches its lowest level since records began, for the 2nd year in a row — www.space.com — 4 April 2023 (LINK)
UN votes to ask world court to rule on national climate obligations — ground.news: 54 sources — 29 March 2023 (LINK)
Antarctic ocean currents headed for collapse, say scientists — dw — 30 March 2023 (LINK)
Investments in renewable energies must quadruple annually to meet climate target — IRENA — ground.news: 30 sources — 28 March 2023 (LINK)
WHO announces 8 more cases of highly fatal Marburg virus disease — iflscience.com — 28 March 2023 (LINK)
The small Pacific island country of Vanuatu is poised to gain UN approval to seek an unprecedented legal opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on what obligation countries have to combat climate change — axios — 24 March 2023 (LINK)
— The push started in a law school classroom in Fiji four years ago, according to Cynthia Houniuhi, president of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change. She and her international environmental law classmates brainstormed ways to seek action through various legal mechanisms, Houniuhi told reporters on a press call on 23 March. Propelled by youth activism, the effort to gain adoption by the UN General Assembly has been led by the Vanuatu government since 2021. The resolution, with a vote expected on March 29, has over 100 co-sponsors.
Seven unexpected ways that climate change is affecting the planet: Birds with longer beaks, rising infertility, and more lightning are a few unforeseen consequences — salon — 24 March 2023 (LINK)
Which countries pollute the most ocean plastic waste? Philippines top — visualcapitalist — 17 February 2023 (LINK)
Greenland ice sheet at its warmest level in past 1,000 years — ground.news: 22 sources — 18 January 2023 (LINK)
Supercomputer says 27% of life on Earth will be dead by the end of this century — popularmechanics — 18 January 2023 (LINK)
More than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows — Guardian — 18 January 2023 (LINK)
U.S. slaughterhouse gas chambers are not humane, say activists who installed spy cameras for first time — wired ● — 18 January 2023 (LINK)
Scientists have tried to reverse ageing for decades. Have they finally cracked it? — smh.com.au — 17 January 2023 (LINK)
Physicists say this is the best place to hide indoors from a nuclear shockwave — gizmodo — 17 January 2023 (LINK)
— "Even in the front room facing the explosion, one can be safe from the high airspeeds if positioned at the corners of the wall facing the blast. The team did not look at what would happen if you tried to survive a nuclear blast by hiding inside a fridge, a la Indiana Jones, though other scientists have cast doubt on that particular piece of movie logic."
Why was Roman concrete so durable? Scientists finally have an answer after 2,000 years! — studyfinds — 6 January 2023 (LINK)
— The key to the ancient concrete's durability was one ingredient: pozzolanic material, such as volcanic ash from the area of Pozzuoli, on the Bay of Naples. Ancient samples contain small, distinctive, millimeter-scale bright white mineral features. They were common component of Roman concretes. The white chunks — often called "lime clasts" — come from lime, another key ingredient in ancient concrete mix. Although previous studies have disregarded these features as a sign of sloppy mixing practices, or poor-quality raw materials, the new study theorizes that the tiny lime clasts gave the concrete its self-healing capability. Studying samples of the ancient concrete, MIT researchers determined that the white substances were made out of various forms of calcium carbonate. Further analysis provided clues that they had been formed by extreme temperatures. This would be the expected result of an exothermic reaction produced by using quicklime instead of the slaked lime in the concrete mixture. The research team now believes that "hot mixing" was the real key to the concrete's super-durable nature.
Scientists develop a vaccine that destroys AND prevents untreatable brain cancer which killed Beau Biden and John McCain: so far tested only on mice — dailymail.co.uk * — 6 January 2023 (LINK)
True Movie Stories that Lied To You, including about Edgar Allan Poe in Pale Blue Eye — looper — 6 January 2023 (LINK)
Human gene linked to bigger brains was born from seemingly useless DNA: Researchers discover how DNA sequences must mutate to free their RNA to make proteins — science.org — 5 January 2023 (LINK)
— a study identifies mutations that transform seemingly useless DNA sequences into potential genes by endowing their encoded RNA with the skill to escape the cell nucleus — a critical step toward becoming translated into a protein. The study's authors highlight 74 human protein genes that appear to have arisen in this de novo way — more than half of which emerged after the human lineage branched off from chimpanzees. Some of these newcomer genes may have played a role in the evolution of our relatively large and complex brains. When added to mice, one made the rodent brains grow bigger and more humanlike, the authors report this week in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
'Digital twins' for cities and the UN system — undp — 27 December 2022 (LINK)
— Singapore's use of its digital twin is already highlighted as best practice in the 2021 UNDP Handbook on Smart Urban Innovations. Its 3D virtual model allows new developments to be simulated with great precision. This digital twin is used in planning bicycle lanes and parking lots, taking into account many factors such as road obstacles, tree shading, surrounding facilities, traffic connections and other safety parameters. The capital of Estonia, Tallinn, aims to use digital twins to increase public participation in urban planning and to track energy consumption. Seoul in South Korea uses it to predict wind paths and inform urban design in a way that reduces spread of forest fires, heat island effect (spots in urban areas with higher temperatures) and spread of fine dust.
Transparent solar cell innovation generates power 1000x more efficiently — thebrighterside — 20 December 2022 (LINK)
Five things to know about the global biodiversity agreement — thehill — 19 December 2022 (LINK)
UN biodiversity conference: what does living in harmony with nature look like? — phys.org — 19 December 2022 (LINK)
Greenland's glaciers are melting 100 times faster than estimated — livescience — 19 December 2022 (LINK)
5 countries have triple-digit inflation: Zimbabwe (269%, the highest inflation rate in the world), Lebanon (162%), Venezuela (156%), Syria (139%), and Sudan (103%) — bigthink — 9 December 2022 (LINK)
700 new species are facing extinction — pbs — 9 December 2022 (LINK)
The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg — kottke — 7 December 2022 (LINK)
— "Greta Thunberg has gathered the wisdom of over one hundred experts — geophysicists, oceanographers and meteorologists; engineers, economists and mathematicians; historians, philosophers and indigenous leaders — to equip us all with the knowledge we need to combat climate disaster. Alongside them, she shares her own stories of demonstrating and uncovering greenwashing around the world."
Amazon Deforestation in Brazil in 2021 Near 15-Year 2020 High — ground.news: 33 sources — 1 December 2022 (LINK)
Slovenia beekeeping tradition gets UN world heritage status — ground.news: 5 sources — 1 December 2022 (LINK)
Great Barrier Reef should be placed on world heritage 'in danger' list, UNESCO-backed report says — The Guardian — 28 November 2022 (LINK)
Most Of The World's Honey Comes From China (25%) and Turkey — tastingtable — 28 November 2022 (LINK)
Wildlife conference boosts protection for sharks, turtles — ground.news: 37 sources — 25 November 2022 (LINK)
UN's highest environmental honour celebrates ecosystem restoration — unep — 22 November 2022 (LINK)
All signs point to world blowing past the 1.5 degrees global warming limit — here's what we can still do about it — phys.org — 22 November 2022 (LINK)
Greta Thunberg, Antonio Guterres and Mary Robinson: What experts are saying about the COP27 deal — euronews — 21 November 2022 (LINK)
Heavy rains behind floods that killed more than 600 people in Nigeria this year were about 80 times likelier because of human-induced climate change, scientists reported — ground.news: 21 sources — 16 November 2022 (LINK)
Sustainable architecture efforts hindered by "sloppiness" says UN climate ambassador — dezeen — 18 November (LINK)
How Scientists From the "Global South" Are Sidelined at the IPCC — theintercept — 17 November (LINK)
A novel look at the global footprint of food uncovers some eye-opening insights: For example, almost half of all environmental pressures from food production come from just five countries: India, China, the United States, Brazil, and Pakistan — anthropocenemagazine — 11 November 2022 (LINK)
Glaciers and climate change: a FlipBoard collection — flipboard — 11 November 2022 (LINK)
SOS Mediterranean - European maritime and humanitarian organization for the rescue of life in the Mediterranean — charitablehub — 11 November 2022 (LINK)
— "Since 2014, more than 23,000 people have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea. Since launching our operation in 2015 we have welcomed 34,517 survivors aboard our rescue ships"
Protein discovery could help with lung cancer treatment and early detection — ground.news: 5 sources — 9 November 2022 from 8 November (LINK)
Levels of a key protein — called TLR2 — in tumours was found to predict a patient's survival after being diagnosed with lung cancer, a study shows. A drug compound that activates TLR2 was tested in mice and was found to reduce tumour growth in the early stages of the disease. With the five-year survival rate from late stage lung cancer only six per cent — compared with 50 per cent when diagnosed earlier — experts say the breakthrough could help spot the disease sooner and improve patient outcomes."
First known sentence written in ancient alphabet discovered in Israel — on a 3,700-year-old Canaanite head lice comb — ground.news: 11 sources — 9 November 2022 (LINK)
The inscription reads: "May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard."
Groundbreaking vaccine proven effective against skin and pancreatic cancer — thebrighterside — 6 November 2022 (LINK)
Breakthrough senolytics drugs increase human life span by 30%: Mayo — thebrighterside — 4 November 2022 (LINK)
Major glaciers, including in Yosemite and Kilimanjaro, will be gone within 23 years due to climate change, UNESCO report warns — cbsnews — 3 November 2022 (LINK)
Our Understanding Of Human Prehistory And Societies Is Wrong — Scientists Say — ancientpages — 3 November 2022 (LINK)
First cancer vaccine in the world may be available soon — inhabitat — 2 November 2022 (LINK)
The most and least environmentally friendly countries of 2022 — theweek — 29 October 2022 (LINK)
Under the same sky: how Rolex Laureate Emma Camp is saving coral reefs — tatlerasia — 4 July 2022 (LINK)
'They're everywhere': Microplastics in oceans, air and human body — ground.news — 3 July 2022 (LINK)
UN Ocean Conference ends with call for greater ambition and global commitment to address dire state of the Ocean — un — 1 July 2022 (LINK)
Catchup: U.N. Ocean Conference ends with promises. Is a sea change coming? — mongabay — 1 July 2022 (LINK)
Limiting global warming to 1.5°C would reduce risks to humans by up to 85% — thebrighterside — 30 June 2022 (LINK)
Davos was a case study in how not to talk about climate change — undark — 30 June 2022 (LINK)
These 3 smartphone apps are helping to reduce food waste around the globe — theplanetarypress — 29 June 2022 (LINK)
Who's to blame for inflation? NPR fact checks some common claims — npr — 29 June 2022 (LINK)
Mapped: Energy consumption per capita around the world: Iceland tops, but 98% from renewables — visualcapitalist — 28 June 2022 (LINK)
U.S. Supreme Court abortion ruling 'misleadingly quotes me' in overturning Roe vs Wade: law professor — Newsweek — 25 June 2022 (LINK)
We have been lied to': Greta Thunberg Glastonbury address takes aim at 'greedy' world leaders — somersetlive — 25 June 2022 (LINK)
Thailand signs world's first country-to-country carbon offsetting pact, with Switzerland — nationthailand — 25 June 2022 (LINK)
World's first solar-powered car is ready to hit the road with 79km range and €250K price tag — mymodernmet — 25 June 2022 (LINK)
Lagos ranks second worst liveable city in the world, worst in Africa: Damascus at bottom — ripplesnigeria — 24 June 2022 (LINK)
Pacific island nation Niue protects 100% of its ocean territory — the size of Norway — in pioneering move — Business Insider — 23 June 2022 (LINK)
Britain ranks bottom in Europe for nature connectiveness: Italy best — The Guardian — 23 June 2022 (LINK)
Five steps to environmental justice — undp — 23 June 2022 (LINK)
The retail industry is facing a potential wave of bankruptcies — cnbc — 23 June 2022 (LINK)
"Magic set of pills to keep you healthy? Don't waste your money on vitamins and supplements" (but some do help) — scitechdaily — 21 June 2022 (LINK)
An enormous international study just confirmed the ugly truth about sitting too much — sciencealert — 17 June 2022 (LINK)
Bank of England hikes rates for the fifth time in a row to 1.25% as inflation soars to 40-year high at 9% — cnbc — 16 June 2022 (LINK)
U.S. Federal Reserve's largest rate rise since 1994 to 1.5% — morningstar — 16 June 2022 (LINK)
McDonald's to pay France $1.3 billion in tax fraud case — AP — 16 June 2022 (LINK)
Origin of Black Death finally found in bacteria from Kyrgyzstan graves: plague bacteria affecting marmosets in the region are genetically most similar to the samples — newscientist — 15 June 2022 (LINK)
'Nobody's immune to inflation': These are the most expensive cities for the world's wealthy: Inflation across the collection of items recorded rose 7.5% over the year, compared with just 1% the year earlier. Three-quarters (75%) of luxury goods and almost two-thirds (63%) of luxury services increased in price over the year — cnbc — 15 June 2022 (LINK)
Climate change: Rising sea levels threaten 200,000 England properties — ground.news — 15 June 2022 (LINK)
UN Secretary-General says the climate crisis is placing half of humanity in 'the danger zone' — euronews — 14 June 2022 (LINK)
North Carolina could lose up to 40% of its wetlands to sea level rise by 2070, new study shows — phys.org — 14 June 2022 (LINK)
UNESCO designates 11 new biosphere reserves, including 3 new countries — unesco — 14 June 2022 (LINK)
Universal health care could have saved more than 330,000 U.S. lives during COVID — scientificamerican — 13 June 2022 (LINK)
Scientists sound alarm on badly run medical studies: "over 60% showed a high risk of bias" — groundup — 13 June 2022 (LINK)
What extreme heat does to the human body — time — 13 June 2022 (LINK)
Global nuclear arsenal set to grow for first time in decades — The Guardian — 13 June 2022 (LINK)
Expected Ocean Changes Require Planning For Many Generations Ahead — eurasiareview — 13 June 2022 (LINK)
"While surface warming may stabilize at about 1.5-2â„Æ' when global emissions reach net-zero emissions, sub-surface ocean warming will continue for at least hundreds of years."
UNDP's Ocean Promise ahead of UN Ocean Conference 27 June-1 July — undp — 11 June 2022 (LINK)
"As of 2022, none of [the] SDG 14 [ocean] targets have been achieved, and progress on most has been limited. SDG 14 is estimated to receive the lowest level of investment of all the 17 SDGs." See also: The ocean and the blue economy are fundamental to addressing the triple planetary crisis — says UNDP (LINK)
Sepsis still kills 1 in 5 people worldwide — two Pittsburgh physicians offer a new approach to stopping it — lakeconews — 12 June 2022 (LINK)
World's protected natural areas too small and isolated to benefit wildlife — new study — theconversation — 10 June 2022 (LINK)
s"We estimated that at least 1,536 species (40% of those we looked at), and maybe as many as 2,156 (56%) had ten or fewer protected populations that were likely to survive in the long run."