A U.N. study of Climate Dangers
Climate change is getting worst due to extreme weather. It is a threat to human well-being and planetary health. A new United Nations science report says It will make the world sicker, hungrier, poorer, gloomier, and far more hazardous in the next 18 years, with an “unavoidable” increase in risks. However, The UN Intergovernmental Panel (IPCC) on Climate Change report said on Monday if human-caused global warming is not limited to just a few tenths of a degree, an Earth that is now regularly hit by deadly heat, fires, floods, and drought will degrade in 127 ways in the future decades, some of which will be “potentially irreversible.” It pushed nations to reduce heat-trapping carbon emissions as soon as possible.
People who may still be alive in the next century will face four times more climate extremes than they do now, even if only a few tenths of a degree of warming got to add to today’s temperatures. According to the IPCC, they will face five times more floods, storms, droughts, and heatwaves if temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) from today. Already 3.3 billion people are highly exposed to climate change in their daily lives, and they are 15 times more likely to die due to extreme weather. Increasing weather extremes, according to the poll, are displacing large numbers of people, and the poorest people on the planet are the ones who suffer the most. Humans are not powerless. Repairing harmed ecosystems and drastically decreasing greenhouse gas emissions will save billions of people from disease, poverty, displacement, and death.
The UN climate panel previously projected that reducing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the middle of the century could require extracting up to 8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). This technique takes advantage of the plants’ natural ability to consume greenhouse gases as they develop and can be used to generate electricity or fuels. However, according to UN research, planting enough crops to remove meaningful amounts of carbon dioxide will require vast amounts of land. Many organizations like the Trillion Trees Initiative highlighted planting trees to combat climate change is necessary. Several places and organizations allow landowners and businesses to buy and sell carbon offsets as part of these projects.
Planting trees in natural open grasslands reduces water flow in streams and intensifies flames. It is possible that grasses, which reflect more heat than forests, contribute to global warming. On the other hand, Draining peatlands to grow trees can release massive amounts of greenhouse gas from these rich natural carbon sinks. It’s becoming clear that the world will need to eliminate vast amounts of greenhouse gases in the coming decades—and that we don’t know yet how to do so in a cost-efficient, effective, or reliable manner at anywhere near the scale required.
Sources: The Independent, NY Times, Washington Post.
Impact of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine on Energy crisis
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has a link to the global energy crisis. The attack on Ukraine has sparked heated debate over how to respond, especially since wholesale gas prices are already at a record high due to Russia’s action. There were fears that international leaders would treat climate action as a last-minute decision due to a major humanitarian crisis. Europe, which is heavily reliant on Russian coal, oil, and gas exports, is particularly concerned about energy security. Two major narratives have emerged in response. European Commission and the United Kingdom’s president have emphasized the need to accelerate the deployment of sustainable energy solutions. Some MPs attempt to expand domestic fossil fuel supplies to reduce dependency on Russian imports. Meanwhile, climate skeptics have restricted their focus to domestic oil and gas and claimed that sustainable energy is causing the problem.
Russia is a major part of the global energy system due to its massive fossil fuel resources. It is the world’s third-largest oil producer, behind the United States and Saudi Arabia, with 12% of global output, and the second-largest gas producer, with 17% of global output, behind the United States. Europe receives almost 70% of Russia’s gas and half of its oil exports, according to official US data. The rest of Russia’s gas exports go to Belarus (8%), China (5%), Kazakhstan (5%), Japan (4%), and other Eurasia, Asia, and Oceania countries. The remainder of its oil exports go to China (31%), South Korea (6%), Belarus (6%), Japan (2%), the United States (1%), and other nations.
The UK, EU, and the US collectively spend more than $700 million a day on Russian oil and gas, and Russia is reliant on earnings from fossil fuel sales, which account for more than two-fifths of government revenue. The European Union has received about 40% of its gas and more than a quarter of its oil from Russia over the last three decades, according to a survey. Some countries, like Poland and France, have reduced their need for Russian petroleum over time. On the other hand, Germany and Italy have increased their reliance. The United Kingdom is far less reliant on Russian oil and gas than the European Union.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union have placed sanctions on Russia, targeting the country’s oil and gas infrastructure and exports. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a 1,200 km pipeline going beneath the Baltic Sea and built to transport gas from Russia to Germany without passing through other countries, is one of the most visible sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas infrastructure. Ukraine and Russia are the ninth and tenth greatest uranium producers worldwide. The impact on a wide range of globally traded commodities, from agriculture and forestry to mining and metals, could be one of the most significant global implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sources: NY Times, The Guardian.
Deadly blast at Kyiv tv tower after Russia warns capital
A Russian airstrike hit Kyiv’s large tv tower in the heart of the Ukrainian capital on March 1, 2022. Ukraine’s parliament said that five people were killed. As Russia continued its attacks, videos on social media show a tremendous explosion followed by billowing clouds of smoke streaming from the tower. Local media stated that Ukrainian TV channels stopped transmitting shortly after the attack. On the sixth day of the Russian invasion, Ukraine’s primary Holocaust memorials, along with other civilian sites, were alleged to have been targeted.
In the last 24 hours, the Russian assault on Ukraine has intensified, with Vladimir Putin’s soldiers stepping up their efforts to take Kyiv and Moscow’s defense minister pushing citizens to flee their homes. A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other military vehicles is on its way to Kyiv, where Vladimir Putin aims to topple Ukraine’s government and install a Kremlin-friendly dictatorship. Russian forces are currently just 17 kilometers from the capital, which they plan to conquer in an apparent attempt to undermine the government. The Russian Defence Ministry warned on Tuesday that strikes were being prepared on military sites in Kyiv, claiming that Moscow was attempting to disable Ukrainian military infrastructure while emphasizing that there are no dangers to the civilian population. The minister urged people living near such sites to leave their homes.
Russian blasts shook Ukraine’s second-largest city on the second day of the bombing, with the country’s president calling a missile strike on a government facility an act of “undisguised terror.” Explosions leveled residential areas, and a maternity ward relocated to an underground bunker. Kharkiv’s Freedom Square, Ukraine’s largest plaza, was hit by a rocket and reduced to rumble. The shelling blew away the windows and walls of buildings around the square. Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy pronounced the attack on the main square “frank, undisguised terror,” blaming a Russian missile and calling it a war crime. “This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation,” he said.
Human Rights Watch observed a cluster bomb attack outside a hospital in Ukraine’s east in recent days. Locals in Kharkiv and the town of Kiyanka also claimed to have seen the guns in action, but there is no official confirmation. If the allegations are found authentic, the war will reach a new level of brutality. The Kremlin has denied the use of such weapons. Ground opposition and an unanticipated failure to control Ukraine’s airspace have delayed Russia’s military operations. Residents piled sand-filled tractor tires on a highway between Odesa and Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine to stop the Russian invasion.
Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC.
The most unsafe city in America
In the United States, crime is on its highest level, and perhaps getting worse. In 2021, homicides grew by 7%, and gun violence has been on the rise since 2014, with fatal shootings in metropolitan cities increased by 80%. MoneyGeek, a personal financial technology business, recently evaluated crime statistics in almost 300 locations with populations of over 100,000 to determine the most dangerous and safest places in the United States—a valuable list for everyone from vacationers to worried citizens. MoneyGeek compiled a list of the most hazardous cities in the US and the safest areas in the US-based on the cost of crime per capita, calculated using FBI regular crime statistics and studies.
To determine which cities in the United States are the most dangerous, Wall Street looked at data from the FBI’s 2018 Uniform Crime Report, including each city’s murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Only cities with a population of 100,000 or more were considered. The poverty rate and the unemployment rate were also evaluated for each city, as these economic factors often correlate with crime rates.
The ten most dangerous cities in the United States are St. Louis, Jackson, Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore, Memphis, Cleveland, Baton Rouge, Kansas City, and Shreveport. St. Louis was named the most dangerous city in America. It is the only midsize or large city in the United States with a crime rate of over 2,000. St.Louis is so hazardous because of its struggling economy. St. Louis’s scarce economic opportunities have led to an annual unemployment rate of 9.0% and 37.9% of residents living below the poverty line.
A city with a high rate of crime does not necessarily mean that the city is dangerous as a whole. Within each city, violence is hyper-local, meaning it is more prevalent in specific neighborhoods or “block-by-block.” The most dangerous city in the United States usually changes every year. Two factors decide which state is the most hazardous. The first is the crime rate of a location, while the second is the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime. Some of the world’s most dangerous regions aren’t included in this list of the most dangerous US cities since their populations are too small to be classed as cities.
Sources: Neighbourhood Scout, Forbes.