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
Time (March 17)
“Global temperatures in February were the most above average since weather record keeping began nearly 150 years ago, bringing the world the closest it has ever been to what scientists consider dangerous levels of warming.” As if that’s not enough bad news, “climate scientists have already predicted that 2016 will trump last year as the warmest on record.”
Tags: Climate, Dangerous levels, February, Global warming, Records, Scientists, Temperatures, Weather
New York Times (November 30)
Japan canceled its 2014 whale hunt in the wake of a critical ruling from the International Court of Justice, but now stands poised to resume whaling in 2015. The new plan will reduce catches and raise the profile of scientists, but remains “a variation on the same evasion of treaty obligations, just as Japan’s insistence on ‘science’ as its prime motive rings hollow in a field where experts say nonlethal research already suffices.” The decision to resume the hunt is “a diplomatic embarrassment for Japan.”
Tags: Diplomatic, Embarrassment, Evasion, Experts, Hunt, Japan, Motive, Research, Scientists, Treaty obligations, Whales
Wall Street Journal (December 5, 2013)
Chinese “leaders are attempting to create an innovation ecosystem whereby government ministries funnel money through universities, think-tanks, businesses of all sizes, cities, real-estate developers and venture-capital investors.” Despite massive governmental support, “China still has trouble retaining its best and brightest talents onshore…. A growing number of Chinese scientists who had returned to China from the West are now leaving again.” While there are many reasons, including environmental pollution, the stifling political environment seems to be the largest factor. Innovative people generally don’t want to live where “they can’t network on Facebook or voice freewheeling opinions on any topic, business or political, under the sun.”
Tags: China, Chinese, Environment, Facebook, Government, Innovativon, Investors, Ministries, Network, Opinions, Politics, Pollution, Real estate, Scientists, Talent, Think-tanks, Venture-capital, West
