What We Are Reading Today: The Earth Transformed
"The Earth Transformed" reveals how climate change has dramatically shaped the development — and demise — of civilizations across time.
Peter Frankopan argues that nature has always played a fundamental role in the writing of history.
Frankopan shows that when past empires failed to act sustainably, they were met with catastrophe. Blending brilliant historical writing and cutting-edge scientific research, the book will radically reframe the way we look at the world and our future.
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Arab News
4 days ago
- Arab News
‘Silent killer': the science of tracing climate deaths in heatwaves
PARIS: A heatwave scorching Europe had barely subsided in early July when scientists published estimates that 2,300 people may have died across a dozen major cities during the extreme, climate-fueled episode. The figure was supposed to 'grab some attention' and sound a timely warning in the hope of avoiding more needless deaths, said Friederike Otto, one of the scientists involved in the research. 'We are still relatively early in the summer, so this will not have been the last heatwave. There is a lot that people and communities can do to save lives,' Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, told AFP. Heat can claim tens of thousands of lives during European summers but it usually takes months, even years, to count the cost of this 'silent killer.' Otto and colleagues published their partial estimate just a week after temperatures peaked in western Europe. While the underlying methods were not new, the scientists said it was the first study to link heatwave deaths to climate change so soon after the event in question. Early mortality estimates could be misunderstood as official statistics but 'from a public health perspective the benefits of providing timely evidence outweigh these risks,' Raquel Nunes from the University of Warwick told AFP. 'This approach could have transformative potential for both public understanding and policy prioritization' of heatwaves, said Nunes, an expert on global warming and health who was not involved in the study. Science can show, with increasing speed and confidence, that human-caused climate change is making heatwaves hotter and more frequent. Unlike floods and fires, heat kills quietly, with prolonged exposure causing heat stroke, organ failure, and death. The sick and elderly are particularly vulnerable, but so are younger people exercising or toiling outdoors. But every summer, heat kills and Otto — a pioneer in the field of attribution science — started wondering if the message was getting through. 'We have done attribution studies of extreme weather events and attribution studies of heatwaves for a decade... but as a society we are not prepared for these heatwaves,' she said. 'People think it's 30 (degrees Celsius) instead of 27, what's the big deal? And we know it's a big deal.' When the mercury started climbing in Europe earlier this summer, scientists tweaked their approach. Joining forces, Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine chose to spotlight the lethality — not just the intensity — of the heat between June 23 and July 2. Combining historic weather and published mortality data, they assessed that climate change made the heatwave between 1C and 4C hotter across 12 cities, depending on location, and that 2,300 people had likely perished. But in a notable first, they estimated that 65 percent of these deaths — around 1,500 people across cities including London, Paris, and Athens — would not have occurred in a world without global warming. 'That's a much stronger message,' said Otto. 'It brings it much closer to home what climate change actually means and makes it much more real and human than when you say this heatwave would have been two degrees colder.' The study was just a snapshot of the wider heatwave that hit during western Europe's hottest June on record and sent temperatures soaring to 46C in Spain and Portugal. The true toll was likely much higher, the authors said, noting that heat deaths are widely undercounted. Since then Turkiye, Greece and Bulgaria have suffered fresh heatwaves and deadly wildfires. Though breaking new ground, the study has not been subject to peer review, a rigorous assessment process that can take more than a year. Otto said waiting until after summer to publish — when 'no one's talking about heatwaves, no one is thinking about keeping people safe' — would defeat the purpose. 'I think it's especially important, in this context, to get the message out there very quickly.' The study had limitations but relied on robust and well-established scientific methodology, several independent experts told AFP. Tailoring this approach to local conditions could help cities better prepare when heatwaves loom, Abhiyant Tiwari, a health and climate expert who worked on India's first-ever heat action plan, told AFP. 'I definitely see more such studies coming out in the future,' said Tiwari from NRDC India. Otto said India, which experiences tremendously hot summers, was a 'prime candidate' and with a template in place it was likely more studies would soon follow.
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Key facts about tsunamis and the damage they cause
Tsunami alerts were issued across parts of the Pacific on Wednesday after an 8.7-magnitude earthquake off Russia's Far East. Here are key facts about tsunamis and the damage they can cause: Shock of water A tsunami is a shock of water that spreads through the sea, usually triggered by a strong earthquake beneath the ocean floor. The sudden, violent movement of the Earth's crust can thrust up or drive down a section of the seabed — with the rift displacing vast quantities of water that move as waves. Tsunamis radiate in all directions from their source and can cover enormous distances, sometimes at the speed of a jet plane. They are a rare phenomenon but can create dangerously powerful currents and cause deadly flooding in coastal areas. Other causes Large quakes are the main driver of tsunamis, but the phenomenon can also be sparked by other cataclysmic geographic events, such as volcanic eruptions and landslides. In 1883, a volcano shattered the Pacific island of Krakatoa, causing a blast that could be heard 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) away, followed by a tsunami that killed around 30,000 people. Large storms or a meteorite falling into the ocean can also be powerful enough to cause a tsunami, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 'Harbour wave' The word 'tsunami' comes from the Japanese words for 'harbour' and 'wave.' Tsunamis are sometimes referred to as 'tidal waves' but experts say this is inaccurate because they are not related to tides. At their point of generation, tsunamis have a relatively small wave height, with peaks far apart. As the waves approach the shore they are compressed by the shelving of the sea floor, reducing the distance between the peaks and vastly increasing the height. When they hit the coast, tsunami waves can strike repeatedly over several hours, or even days. Roman historian To those on the shore, the first sign of something amiss can be the retreat of the sea, which is followed by the arrival of large waves. 'The sea was driven back, and its waters flowed away to such an extent that the deep seabed was laid bare and many kinds of sea creatures could be seen,' wrote Roman author Ammianus Marcellinus of a tsunami that struck Alexandria in 365 AD. 'Huge masses of water flowed back when least expected, and now overwhelmed and killed many thousands of people... some great ships were hurled by the fury of the waves onto the rooftops.' How much damage? Several factors determine the height and destructiveness of a tsunami. They include the size of the quake, the volume of displaced water, the topography of the sea floor and whether there are natural obstacles that dampen the shock. The Pacific Ocean is particularly prone to earthquakes and therefore to tsunamis, but over the millennia tsunamis have occurred in many parts of the world. The tsunami of December 2004 in the Indian Ocean was caused by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It released energy equivalent to 23,000 of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Around 220,000 people in 11 nations were killed, many of them thousands of kilometers from the epicenter.
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- Al Arabiya
It's moo-ving day for dairy cattle at Michigan State University
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Dozens of dairy cattle were on the moo-ve Monday at Michigan State University. About 80 cows hoofed it to their new home – the Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center, a $75 million facility – the East Lansing school says will allow agriculture, veterinary, and other students to learn on a modern farm that's equipped to replicate the most high-tech operations in the world. George Smith, who heads up Michigan State's AgBioResearch department, called it a 21st century cattle drive. Crews erected a fence between the two buildings and herded the animals via claps, calls, and whistles. The remaining 180 cows are expected to be herded to the new building on Tuesday. Michigan's dairy industry leads the nation in milk production per cow, according to Smith, adding dairy also is the No. 1 contributor to the state's agricultural economy. The new complex is significantly larger than the existing dairy farm, which was constructed in the 1960s and was so limited in space and equipment that researchers have a backlog of up to two years on funded projects. The existing MSU Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center currently houses 250 dairy cattle and supports the research of faculty in the colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Veterinary Medicine. The new facility features a 165,000-square-foot cattle barn that will expand research capacity by increasing herd size to 680. Those cows will arrive in batches in the coming weeks and months. The new space also includes modernized barns, feed centers, milking parlors, and labs. 'Our old facility didn't have the technical capabilities to be able to train our students for what to expect when they graduated – what dairy cattle production looks like today,' Kim Dodd, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, said Monday. The new digs are opening at a time when other land grant universities in the agricultural Midwest are scrapping their dairy cattle teaching programs. 'While other institutions are disinvesting in dairy programs, we are investing in the future of the dairy industry in the state of Michigan because it's so critical to the state's agricultural economy,' Smith said. A $30 million investment by the State of Michigan provided the initial funding for the 18-month project, with the rest being contributed by alumni, donors, and stakeholders in the dairy industry. 'Who doesn't love ice cream?' Smith said. 'Who can't get excited about new opportunities in the field of dairy science?'
