Investment Week (November 12)
“The world’s two biggest emitters, who had been trading insults for the first week of the conference,” surprised the world with “a joint declaration that would see Washington and Beijing cooperate closely on the emissions cuts scientists say are needed in the next ten years to stay within 1.5C.”
Tags: Beijing, Conference, Cooperate, Emissions, Emitters, Joint declaration, Scientists, Trading insults, Washington
Washington Post (November 9)
“After nine days of grand pronouncements, pledges and plans, scientists delivered a rude awakening to a COP26 summit that has been called ‘the last, best hope’ for climate action: Earth is on track to warm about 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit), eclipsing the world’s shared climate goal by a full degree.”
Tags: 2.5 degrees, Climate action, COP26, Earth, Hope, Plans, Pledges, Pronouncements, Rude awakening, Scientists, Summit
USA Today (October 20)
“Scientists for decades have dreamed of xenotransplantation: using animals to solve the shortage of organs available for human transplant.” This came a step closer with a “groundbreaking operation using a pig’s kidney.” Though the successful transplant into a brain-dead human is only a first step, it may ultimately help reduce the number of deaths, roughly 6,000 annually, of those waitlisted who die before receiving a donor organ.
Tags: Animals, Deaths, Donor, Groundbreaking, Human, Kidney, Operation, Organs, Pig, Scientists, Shortage, Transplant, Xenotransplantation
New York Times (August 12)
The fires ravaging Evia, Greece’s second-largest island “seem less a random act of God than another inevitable episode of Europe’s extreme weather brought on by the man-made climate change that scientists have now concluded is irreversible.”
Tags: Act of God, Climate change, Europe, Evia, Extreme weather, Fires, Greece, Inevitable, Irreversible, Man-made, Random, Scientists
Seattle Times (February 9)
“The prospect of a fourth wave propelled by new variants is something many scientists and modeling groups are warning about.” For example, the University of Washington now forecasts “an additional 200,000 deaths nationwide through June 1.” There is “one bright spot… hospitalizations and death rates are likely to be lower during any fourth wave than in previous surges because many older people are getting vaccinated.”
Tags: Death rates, Deaths, Fourth wave, Hospitalizations, Modeling, New variants, Older, Scientists, Surges, Warning
Bloomberg (December 4)
“Chinese scientists claim to have built a quantum computer that is able to perform certain computations nearly 100 trillion times faster than the world’s most advanced supercomputer, representing the first milestone in the country’s efforts to develop the technology.” This would be “exponentially faster than existing supercomputers.”
Tags: Advanced, China, Faster, Milestone, Quantum, Scientists, Supercomputer, Technology
CNN (March 25)
“Scientists have been more concerned about West Antarctica, where the ice has been melting faster in recent years.” They are now realizing East Antarctica brings perils as well, especially the Denman Glacier. This “giant glacier” has already “retreated almost three miles” and if it “fully thaws, sea levels would rise almost 5 feet.”
Tags: Denman Glacier, East Antarctica, Ice, Melting, Perils, Retreated, Scientists, Thaws, West Antarctica
CNN (August 22)
“Fires are raging at a record rate in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and scientists warn that it could strike a devastating blow to the fight against climate change.” If the Amazon is “the planet’s lungs,” then they are turning black. Brazil’s space agency estimated “more than 1½ soccer fields of Amazon rainforest are being destroyed every minute of every day” and 1,700 miles away Sao Paulo was engulfed in mid-afternoon darkness with “the sky pitch-black…the sun blanketed by smoke and ash.”
Tags: Amazon, Brazil, Climate change, Devastating, Fires, Raging, Rainforest, Sao Paulo, Scientists, Smoke
LA Times (October 16)
“Scientists believe that Earth is in the throes of a sixth great extinction. Humans are causing it. Ultimately, we could become the victim of our own excesses.”
Tags: Earth, Excesses, Extinction, Humans, Scientists, Throes, Victim
Popular Mechanics (May 16)
“Scientists have confirmed that plastic bags litter the very depths of the Earth’s oceans inside the Mariana Trench. The findings highlight a polluted region of the ocean often ignored: the very bottom.” While disturbing, the knowledge could prove a source of hope. “The better understanding of the damage being down there, the better chance there is of correcting the damage.”
Tags: Correcting, Damage, Earth, Litter, Mariana Trench, Oceans, Plastic bags, Polluted, Scientists, Understanding
