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Earth is 'really quite sick now' and in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study says
Earth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into "the danger zone," not just for an overheating planet that's losing its natural areas, but for the well-being of people living on it, according to a new study.
The study looks not just at guardrails for the planetary ecosystem but for the first time it includes measures of "justice," which is mostly about preventing harm for countries, ethnicities and genders.
The study by the international scientist group Earth Commission published in Wednesday's journal Nature looks at climate, air pollution, phosphorus and nitrogen contamination of water from fertilizer overuse, groundwater supplies, fresh surface water, the unbuilt natural environment and the overall natural and human-built environment. Only air pollution wasn't quite at the danger point globally.
Air pollution is dangerous at local and regional levels, while climate was beyond the harmful levels for humans in groups but not quite past the safety guideline for the planet as a system, the study from the Swedish group said.
The study found "hotspots" of problem areas throughout Eastern Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, parts of Africa and much of Brazil, Mexico, China and some of the U.S. West — much of it from climate change. About two-thirds of Earth don't meet the criteria for freshwater safety, scientists said as an example.
"We are in a danger zone for most of the Earth system boundaries," said study co-author Kristie Ebi, a professor of climate and public health at the University of Washington.
If planet Earth just got an annual check-up, similar to a person's physical, "our doctor would say that the Earth is really quite sick right now and it is sick in terms of many different areas or systems and this sickness is also affecting the people living on Earth," Earth Commission co-chair Joyeeta Gupta, a professor of environment at the University of Amsterdam, said at a press conference.
It's not a terminal diagnosis. The planet can recover if it changes, including its use of coal, oil and natural gas and the way it treats the land and water, the scientists said.
But "we are moving in the wrong direction on basically all of these," said study lead author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
"This is a compelling and provocative paper – scientifically sound in methodology and important for identifying the dimensions in which the planet is nearing the edge of boundaries that would launch us into irreversible states," Indy Burke, dean of the Yale School of the Environment said in an email. She wasn't part of the study.
The team of about 40 scientists created quantifiable boundaries for each environmental category, both for what's safe for the planet and for the point at which it becomes harmful for groups of people, which the researchers termed a justice issue.
Rockstrom said he thinks of those points as setting up "a safety fence'' outside of which the risks become higher, but not necessarily fatal.
Rockstrom and other scientists have attempted in the past this type of holistic measuring of Earth's various interlocking ecosystems. The big difference in this attempt is that scientists also looked at local and regional levels and they added the element of justice.
The justice part includes fairness between young and old generations, different nations and even different species. Frequently, it applies to conditions that harm people more than the planet.
An example of that is climate change.
The report uses the same boundary of 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial times that international leaders agreed upon in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The world has so far warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit), so it hasn't crossed that safety fence, Rockstrom and Gupta said, but that doesn't mean people aren't being hurt.
"What we are trying to show through our paper is that event at 1 degree Centigrade (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) there is a huge amount of damage taking place," Gupta said, pointing to tens of millions of people exposed to extreme hot temperatures.
The planetary safety guardrail of 1.5 degrees hasn't been breached, but the "just" boundary where people are hurt of 1 degree has been.
"Sustainability and justice are inseparable," said Stanford environmental studies chief Chris Field, who wasn't part of the research. He said he would want even more stringent boundaries. "Unsafe conditions do not need to cover a large fraction of Earth's area to be unacceptable, especially if the unsafe conditions are concentrated in and near poor and vulnerable communities."
Another outside expert, Dr. Lynn Goldman, an environment health professor and dean of George Washington University's public health school, said the study was "kind of bold," but she wasn't optimistic that it would result in much action.
Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo gather in northern town after clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers
Hundreds of ethnic Serbs on Wednesday gathered in a town in northern Kosovo, days after clashes that injured 30 soldiers from a NATO-led peacekeeping force and over 50 Serbs, provoking fears of a renewal of the region's bloody conflicts and prompting the Western military alliance to send in additional troops.
The Serbs reiterated that they want the Kosovo special police and ethnic Albanian officials they call "fake" mayors to withdraw from northern Kosovo. The crowd then spread a huge Serbian flag.
Wednesday's protest outside the city hall in Zvecan, 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of the capital, Pristina, was peaceful as of late morning. On Monday, ethnic Serbs tried to storm municipal offices and fought with both Kosovo police and the peacekeepers.
Serbs are a minority in Kosovo, but a majority in parts of the country's north bordering Serbia. Many reject the Albanian-majority territory's claim of independence from Serbia. A former province of Serbia, Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence is also not recognized by Belgrade.
The United States and the European Union recently have stepped up efforts to solve the dispute as the war rages in Ukraine. NATO said it will send 700 more troops to northern Kosovo to help quell violent protests after the clashes on Monday. The NATO-led peacekeeping mission, KFOR, currently consists of almost 3,800 troops.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged "all parties to take immediate actions to de-escalate tensions." Blinken described violence against soldiers from the multinational force known as KFOR as "unacceptable."
The confrontation first unfolded last week after ethnic Albanian officials, who were elected in a vote that Serbs overwhelmingly boycotted, entered municipal buildings to take office with an escort of Kosovo police.
When Serbs tried to block the officials, Kosovo police fired tear gas to disperse them. In Zvecan on Monday, angry Serbs again clashed first with the police and later with NATO-led troops who tried to secure the area.
Serbia put the country's military on its highest state of alert and sent more troops to the border with Kosovo.
While Washington and most EU nations recognize Kosovo's statehood, Belgrade has the backing of Russia and China in rejecting it. Western officials have sharply criticized both Kosovo's authorities for pushing to install the newly-elected mayors, and Serbs because of the violence.
"The Government of Kosovo's decision to force access to municipal buildings sharply and unnecessarily escalated tensions," said Blinken.
He urged Kosovo to use alternate locations for the new mayors and withdraw police from the vicinity of the municipal buildings. Serbia, he said, should lower its army's alert level and make sure KFOR troops are not attacked.
"Both Kosovo and Serbia should immediately recommit to engaging in the EU-facilitated Dialogue to normalize relations," said Blinken.
Serbia's Defense Minister on Wednesday told the state broadcaster RTS that the "security situation is highly risky because of one-sided, illegal, illegitimate decisions by the administration in Pristina."
"First of all, we should name it properly and try to define it as an occupation of the north of Kosovo by the Albanian administration in Pristina," said Vucevic.
Serbian officials have repeatedly warned that Serbia would not stand idle if Serbs in Kosovo come under attack.
The 1998-1999 war in Kosovo erupted when ethnic Albanian separatists launched a rebellion against Serbia, which responded with a brutal crackdown. The war ended after NATO bombing forced Serbia to pull out of the territory, and paved the way for the deployment of NATO-led peacekeepers.
Xi replies to letter from Bangladeshi child Alifa Chin
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently wrote back to Bangladeshi child Alifa Chin, encouraging her to study hard, pursue her dream and carry forward the traditional friendship between China and Bangladesh.
Noting that Chin's story shared in the letter is a good example of the friendship between the two countries, Xi said that since ancient times, the Chinese and the Bangladeshi have been close neighbors and good friends, whose friendly exchanges date back over a thousand years.
More than 600 years ago, Zheng He, a Chinese navigator of the Ming Dynasty, sailed twice to Bangladesh, sowing the seeds of friendship between the two peoples, the Chinese president said.
Over 600 years later, during a friendship and humanitarian voyage of "The Peace Ark," a China's navy hospital ship, a Chinese female military doctor helped Chin's mother get through a dangerous time and give birth to her in Chittagong. And Chin's father named her after the Bangladeshi word for China. It is a very touching story of friendship between China and Bangladesh, Xi said.
The Chinese president said he is very glad to know that Chin wants to be a China-Bangladesh friendship messenger when she grows up, and wishes to study at a medical school in China in the future so that she can save lives just like her "Chinese mother."
Expressing his hope that Chin will make best use of her youthful years and study hard to make her dream come true, Xi said that by then she will be able to give back to her family, contribute to the society, and serve her country.
As the World Children's Day is coming, Xi said he wishes Chin good health, a happy family and every success at school.
When Chin was born in 2010, her mother suffered from a difficult delivery due to a severe heart problem. At that time, "The Peace Ark," the visiting hospital ship, received help and immediately sent military doctors to the local hospital to perform a caesarean section under great pressure. Finally, the mother and daughter were safe. To show gratitude, the father named the baby "Chin," which means "China" in Bengali.
US says ‘the time is now’ for Sweden to join NATO and for Turkey to get new F-16s
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the "time is now" for Turkey to drop its objections to Sweden joining NATO but said the Biden administration also believed that Turkey should be provided with upgraded F-16 fighters "as soon as possible."
Blinken maintained that the administration had not linked the two issues but acknowledged that some U.S. lawmakers had. President Joe Biden implicitly linked the two issues in a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.
"I spoke to Erdogan and he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden. So let's get that done," Biden said.
Also Read: Finland could join NATO ahead of Sweden: Defense minister
Still, Blinken insisted the two issues were distinct. However, he stressed that the completion of both would dramatically strengthen European security.
"Both of these are vital, in our judgement, to European security," Blinken told reporters at a joint news conference in the northern Swedish city of Lulea with Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. "We believe that both should go forward as quickly as possible; that is to say Sweden's accession and moving forward on the F-16 package more broadly."
"We believe the time is now," Blinken said. He declined to predict when Turkey and Hungary, the only other NATO member not yet to have ratified Sweden's membership, would grant their approval.
But, he said, "we have no doubt that it can be, it should be, and we expect it to be" completed by the time alliance leaders meet in Vilnius, Lithuania in July at an annual summit.
Also Read: Erdogan might approve Finland’s NATO bid, ‘shock’ Sweden
Fresh from a strong re-election victory over the weekend, Erdogan may be willing to ease his objections to Sweden's membership. Erdogan accuses Sweden of being too soft on groups Ankara considers to be terrorists, and a series of Quran-burning protests in Stockholm angered his religious support base — making his tough stance even more popular.
Kristersson said the two sides had been in contact since Sunday's vote and voiced no hesitancy in speaking about the benefits Sweden would bring to NATO "when we join the alliance."
Blinken is in Sweden attending a meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council and will travel to Oslo, Norway on Wednesday for a gathering of NATO foreign ministers, before going on to newly admitted alliance member Finland on Friday.
Also Read: Erdogan says no support for Sweden's NATO bid
Speaking in Oslo ahead of the foreign ministers' meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the goal was to have Sweden inside the grouping before the leaders' summit in July.
"There are no guarantees, but it's absolutely possible to reach a solution and enable the decision on full membership for Sweden by the Vilnius summit," Stoltenberg said.
North Korea says its attempt to launch 1st spy satellite ends in failure
North Korea said its attempt to put the country’s first spy satellite into orbit failed Wednesday, an apparent embarrassment to leader Kim Jong Un over his push to boost his military capability in the protracted security tensions with the United States and South Korea.
The statement published in state media said the rocket carrying the satellite crashed into waters off the Korean Peninsula’s western coast after it lost thrust following the separation of its first and second stages. It said scientists were examining the cause of the failure.
The rocket was launched about 6:30 a.m. from the northwestern Tongchang-ri area, where North Korea’s main space launch center is located, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
South Korea’s military said the rocket had “an abnormal flight” before it fell in the waters. It also said it bolstered its military readiness in close coordination with the United States. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that no object was believed to have reached space.
The North Korean launch had prompted brief evacuation orders in South Korea and Japan.
The South's capital city of Seoul issued alerts over public speakers and cellphone text messages telling residents to prepare for evacuation. But there were no reports of damages or major disruption and Seoul later lifted the alert.
The Japanese government activated a missile warning system for its Okinawa prefecture in southwestern Japan, believed to be in the path of the rocket.
Also read: North Korea says it will launch its first military spy satellite in June
"Please evacuate into buildings or underground,” the alert said. Authorities later lifted the calls for evacuation.
A top North Korean official had said Tuesday that the country needed a space-based reconnaissance system to counter escalating security threats from South Korea and the United States.
The United States strongly condemned North Korea for the launch, which used ballistic missile technology in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
President Joe Biden and his national security team were assessing the situation in coordination with U.S. allies and partners, National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge said.
It is not clear if a North Korean spy satellite would significantly bolster its defenses. The satellite disclosed in the country's state-run media didn’t appear to be sophisticated enough to produce high-resolution imagery. But some experts note that it is still likely capable of detecting troop movements and big targets, such as warships and warplanes.
Recent commercial satellite imagery of the North’s main rocket launch center in the northwest showed active construction activities indicating that North Korea plans to launch more than one satellite, however.
And in his statement Tuesday, Ri Pyong Chol, a close associate of leader Kim Jong Un, said the country it would be testing “various reconnaissance means."
He said those surveillance assets are tasked with “tracking, monitoring, discriminating, controlling" and responding, both in advance and real time, to moves by the United States and its allies.
With three to five spy satellites, North Korea could build a space-based surveillance system that allows it to monitor the Korean Peninsula in near real-time, according to Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute.
During his visit to the country’s aerospace agency earlier this month, Kim emphasized the strategic significance a spy satellite could have in North Korea's standoff with the United States and South Korea.
The satellite is one several high-tech weapons systems that Kim has publicly vowed to introduce in recent years. Other weapons he has pledged to develop include a multi-warhead missile, a nuclear submarine, a solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile and a hypersonic missile.
Denuclearization talks with the U.S. have been stalled since early 2019. In the meantime, Kim has focused on expanding his nuclear and missile arsenals in what experts say is an attempt to wrest concessions from Washington and Seoul. Since the beginning of 2022, North Korea has conducted more than 100 missile tests, many of them involving nuclear-capable weapons targeting the U.S. mainland, South Korea and Japan.
North Korea says its testing activities are self-defense measures meant to respond to expanded military drills between Washington and Seoul that it views as invasion rehearsals. U.S. and South Korean officials say their drills are defensive and they’ve bolstered them to cope with growing nuclear threats by North Korea.
The U.N. imposed economic sanctions on North Korea over its previous satellite launches, which it views as covers for testing its long-range missiles. China and Russia, permanent members of the U.N. council who are now locked in confrontations with the U.S., already blocked attempts to toughen sanctions over Pyongyang’s recent ballistic missile tests.
Before Tuesday’s launch, both South Korea and Japan said such a move would undermine regional peace. The South Korean Foreign Ministry warned that North Korea would face consequences.
After repeated failures, North Korea successfully put its first satellite into orbit in 2012, and the second one in 2016. The government said both are Earth-observation satellites launched under its peaceful space development program, but many foreign experts believed both were developed to spy on rivals.
Observers say there has been no evidence that the satellites have ever transmitted imagery back to North Korea.
Time machine: Rebuilding Notre Dame’s fire-ravaged roof transports workers back to Middle Ages
If time travel was possible, medieval carpenters would surely be amazed to see how woodworking techniques they pioneered in building Notre Dame Cathedral more than 800 years ago are being used again today to rebuild the world-famous monument's fire-ravaged roof.
Certainly the reverse is true for the modern-day carpenters using medieval-era skills. Working with hand axes to fashion hundreds of tons of oak beams for the framework of Notre Dame's new roof has, for them, been like rewinding time. It's given them a new appreciation of their predecessors' handiwork that pushed the architectural envelope back in the 13th century.
"It's a little mind-bending sometimes," says Peter Henrikson, one of the carpenters. He says there are times when he's whacking mallet on chisel that he finds himself thinking about medieval counterparts who were cutting "basically the same joint 900 years ago."
"It's fascinating," he says. "We probably are in some ways thinking the same things."
The use of hand tools to rebuild the roof that flames turned into ashes in 2019 is a deliberate, considered choice, especially since power tools would undoubtedly have done the work more quickly. The aim is to pay tribute to the astounding craftsmanship of the cathedral's original builders and to ensure that the centuries-old art of hand-fashioning wood lives on.
"We want to restore this cathedral as it was built in the Middle Ages," says Jean-Louis Georgelin, the retired French Army general who is overseeing the reconstruction.
"It is a way to be faithful to the (handiwork) of all the people who built all the extraordinary monuments in France."
Facing a tight deadline to reopen the cathedral by December 2024, carpenters and architects are also using computer design and other modern technologies to speed the reconstruction. Computers were used in the drawing of detailed plans for carpenters, to help ensure that their hand-chiseled beams fit together perfectly.
"Traditional carpenters had a lot of that in their head," Henrikson notes. It's "pretty amazing to think about how they did this with what they had, the tools and technology that they had at the time."
The 61-year-old American is from Grand Marais, Minnesota. The bulk of the other artisans working on the timber frame are French.
The roof reconstruction hit an important milestone in May, when large parts of the new timber frame were assembled and erected at a workshop in the Loire Valley, in western France.
The dry run assured architects that the frame is fit for purpose. The next time it is put together will be atop the cathedral. Unlike in medieval times, it will be trucked into Paris and lifted by mechanical crane into position. Some 1,200 trees have been felled for the work.
"The objective we had was to restore to its original condition the wooden frame structure that disappeared during the fire of April 15, 2019," says architect Remi Fromont, who did detailed drawings of the original frame in 2012.
The rebuilt frame "is the same wooden frame structure of the 13th century," he says. "We have exactly the same material: oak. We have the same tools, with the same axes that were used, exactly the same tools. We have the same know-how. And soon, it will return to its same place."
"It is," he adds, "a real resurrection."
Russia says drones damage Moscow buildings in pre-dawn attack, blames Ukraine
Russian air defenses stopped eight drones converging on Moscow, officials said Tuesday, in an attack that authorities blamed on Ukraine, while Russia pursued its relentless bombardment of Kyiv with a third assault on the city in 24 hours.
The Russian defense ministry said five drones were shot down and the systems of three others were jammed, causing them to veer off course. It called the incident a "terrorist attack" by the "Kyiv regime."
The attack caused "insignificant damage" to several buildings, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Two people received medical attention for unspecified injuries but did not need hospitalization, he said in a Telegram post. Residents of two high-rise buildings damaged in the attack were evacuated, Sobyanin said.
Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the wider Moscow region, said some of the drones were "shot down on the approach to Moscow."
Ukraine made no immediate comment on the attack, which would be one of its deepest and most daring strikes into Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than 15 months ago.
The attacks have raised questions about the effectiveness of Russia's air defense systems.
A senior Russian lawmaker, Andrei Kartapolov, told Russian business news site RBC that "we have a very big country and there will always be a loophole where the drone can fly around the areas where air defense systems are located."
Kartapolov said the purpose of the attacks was to unnerve the Russian people. "It's an intimidation act aimed at the civilian population," RBC quoted him as saying. "It's designed to create a wave of panic."
Moscow residents reported hearing explosions before dawn. Police were seen working at one site of a crashed drone in southwest Moscow. An area near a residential building was fenced off, and police put the drone debris in a cardboard box before carrying it away.
At another site, apartment windows were shattered and there were scorch marks on the building's front.
It was the second reported attack on Moscow. Russian authorities said two drones targeted the Kremlin earlier this month in what they portrayed as an attempt on President Vladimir Putin's life.
Ukrainian drones have reportedly flown deep into Russia several times. In December, Russia claimed it had shot down drones at airfields in the Saratov and Ryazan regions. Three soldiers were reported killed in the attack in Saratov, which targeted an important military airfield.
Earlier, Russia reported shooting down a Ukrainian drone that targeted the headquarters of its Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol in Russia-annexed Crimea.
In Ukraine, Russia launched a pre-dawn air raid on Kyiv, killing at least one person and sending the capital's residents again scrambling into shelters.
At least 20 Shahed explosive drones were destroyed by air defense forces in Kyiv's airspace in Russia's third attack on the capital in the past 24 hours, according to early information from the Kyiv Military Administration. Overall, Ukraine shot down 29 of 31 drones fired into the country, most in the Kyiv area, the air force later added.
Before daylight, the buzzing of drones could be heard over the city, followed by loud explosions as they were taken down by air defense systems.
In the overnight attacks on Kyiv, one person died and seven were injured, according to the municipal military administration. A high-rise building in the Holosiiv district caught fire after being hit by debris either from from drones being hit or interceptor missiles.
The building's upper two floors were destroyed, and there may be people under the rubble, the Kyiv Military Administration said. More than 20 people were evacuated.
Resident Valeriya Oreshko told The Associated Press in the aftermath that even though the immediate threat was over, the attacks had everyone on edge.
"You are happy that you are alive, but think about what will happen next," the 39-year-old said.
A resident who gave only her first name, Oksana, said the whole building shook when it was hit.
"Go to shelters, because you really do not know where it (the drone) will fly," she advised others. "We hold on."
Elsewhere in the capital, falling debris caused a fire in a private house in Darnytskyi district and three cars were set alight in Pechersky district, according to the military administration.
The series of attacks that began Sunday included a rare daylight attack Monday that left puffs of white smoke in the blue skies.
On that day, Russian forces fired 11 ballistic and cruise missiles at Kyiv at about 11:30 a.m., according to Ukraine's chief of staff, Valerii Zaluzhnyi. All of them were shot down, he said.
Debris from intercepted missiles fell in Kyiv's central and northern districts during the morning, landing in the middle of traffic on a city road and also starting a fire on the roof of a building, the Kyiv military administration said. At least one civilian was reported hurt.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it launched a series of strikes early Monday targeting Ukrainian air bases with precision long-range air-launched missiles. It claimed the strikes destroyed command posts, radars, aircraft and ammunition stockpiles, but didn't say anything about hitting cities or other civilian areas.
UN agencies warn of starvation risk in Sudan, Haiti, Burkina Faso and Mali, call for urgent aid
Two U.N. agencies warned Monday of rising food emergencies including starvation in Sudan due to the outbreak of war and in Haiti,Burkina Faso and Mali due to restricted movements of people and goods.
The four countries join Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen at the highest alert levels, with communities that are already facing or projected to face starvation or otherwise risk a slide “towards catastrophic conditions.”
The report by the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization calls for urgent attention to save both lives and jobs. Beyond the nine countries rating the highest level of concern, the agencies said 22 countries are identified as “hotspots’’ risking acute food insecurity.
“Business-as-usual pathways are no longer an option in today’s risk landscape if we want to achieve global food security for all, ensuring that no one is left behind.” said Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General.
He called for immediate action in the agricultural sector “to pull people back from the brink of hunger, help them rebuild their lives and provide long-term solution to address the root causes of food insecurities.”
The report cited a possible spillover of the conflict in Sudan, deepening economic crises in poor nations and rising fears that the El Nino climatic phenomenon forecast for mid-2023 could provoke climate extremes in vulnerable countries.
The report warns that 1 million people are expected to flee Sudan, while an additional 2.5 million inside Sudan face acute hunger in the coming months as supply routes through Port Sudan are disrupted by safety issues.
WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain warned of “catastrophic”consequences unless there is clear action to “help people adapt to a changing climate and ultimately prevent famine.”
“Not only are more people in more places around the world going hungry, but the severity of the hunger they face is worse than ever,” McCain said.
UN talks on a treaty to end global plastic pollution open in Paris
A United Nations committee is meeting Monday in Paris to work on what is intended to be a landmark treaty to bring an end to global plastic pollution, but there is little agreement yet on what the outcome should be.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Plastics is charged with developing the first international, legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. This is the second of five meetings due to take place to complete the negotiations by the end of 2024.
At the first meeting, held six months ago in Uruguay, some countries pressed for global mandates, some for national solutions and others for both.
Humanity produces more than 430 million tons of plastic annually, two-thirds of which are short-lived products that soon become waste, filling the ocean and, often, working their way into the human food chain, the United Nations Environment Program said in April. Plastic waste produced globally is set to almost triple by 2060, with about half ending up in landfill and under a fifth recycled, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Because it's a short timeline for treaty negotiations, experts say it's critical decisions are made about the objectives at this meeting.
The treaty could focus on human health and the environment, as desired by the self-named “high ambition coalition” of countries, led by Norway and Rwanda, with limits on plastic production and restrictions on some of the chemicals used in plastics, for example. The coalition is committed to an international, legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution by 2040. It says that this is necessary to protect human health and the environment while helping to restore biodiversity and curb climate change.
Alternatively, the treaty could have a more limited scope to address plastic waste and scale up recycling, as some of the plastic-producing and oil and gas exporters want. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels. Countries supporting this plan include the United States, Saudi Arabia and China. The U.S. delegation in Uruguay said national plans would allow governments to prioritize the most important sources and types of plastic pollution. Many plastics and chemical companies want this approach, too, with a plastic waste treaty that prioritizes recycling.
The International Council of Chemical Associations, the World Plastics Council, the American Chemistry Council and other companies that make, use and recycle plastics say they want an agreement that eliminates plastic pollution while “retaining the societal benefits of plastics.” They're calling themselves the “global partners for plastics circularity." They say that modern plastic materials are used around the world to create essential and often life-saving products, many of which are critical to a lower-carbon, more sustainable future.
Björn Beeler is at the meeting as the international coordinator for the International Pollutants Elimination Network, or IPEN. He said countries need to make a plan by the end of this week to write up an initial draft of the treaty text so it can be negotiated at the third meeting.
“If there’s no text to negotiate, you’re just continuing to share ideas,” he said. “Then because of the timeline, we could be looking at an early failure.”
Beeler said the talks are “the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a global conversation to change the trajectory of plastic production growth.” IPEN wants a treaty that restricts chemicals used to make plastic that are harmful to human health and the environment, he added.
Lost necklace unearthed in Titanic wreck after a century
In a remarkable find, a necklace that had remained hidden for over a century has been uncovered in the Titanic wreckage.
Guernsey-based deep-sea mapping firm Magellan has captured extraordinary images of this precious gold jewelry, adorned with a tooth from a pre-historic shark named Megalodon, reports BBC.
The necklace came into view during the initial comprehensive digital scan of the Titanic conducted by Magellan.
The CEO of Magellan, Richard Parkinson, expressed his awe at the breathtaking nature of this discovery.
However, the team was bound by a UK-US agreement, which strictly prohibits the removal of any artifacts from the wreck. Consequently, they were unable to physically touch the necklace.
Nonetheless, Magellan has devised an alternative plan to unravel the necklace's mysteries.
Leveraging the power of artificial intelligence, they aim to utilize advanced algorithms to trace the descendants of the approximately 2,200 passengers who were aboard the Titanic during its ill-fated voyage.
By analyzing footage and photographs of the passengers, specifically focusing on their facial features and attire when they embarked on the ship, the team hopes to identify the rightful owner of the necklace, it said.
Last summer, Magellan collaborated with Atlantic Productions, who are currently producing a documentary about this ambitious project. Employing submersibles operated remotely from a specialized vessel, the team dedicated over 200 hours to meticulously surveying every nook and cranny of the wreckage. Over 700,000 images were painstakingly captured from various angles, enabling the creation of an exact 3D reconstruction of the historic vessel.