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20/12/2022 ---- 17/01/2023

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17.01.2023
THEME: WORLD

In Peru' there are escalating and violent protests against the government

The year 2023 started with a certain political turmoil in South America. The transition of power in Brazil was far from smooth, with ex-president Bolsonaro's supporters trying to overthrow the new government of Lula - who won the elections in October 2022. A different but equally problematic process is now ongoing in Peru', where violent protests erupted in late 2022 and escalated these days into large manifestations against the government.

Protests began after Congress removed President Pedro Castillo on December 7, who was arrested and sentenced to 18 months of pre-trial detention on rebellion charges. Voters elected Castillo from a crowded field of candidates in 2021, following years of political crises and during a pandemic that hit Peru harder than most countries. He is a former teacher and union leader who had never held elected office before becoming president. He came from rural Peru and positioned himself as a man of the people. Many of his supporters hail from poorer regions, hoping Castillo would bring better prospects to the country's rural and indigenous people. Castillo's supporters had high hopes he could bring better representation to the poor, standing up to elites. Once in office, however, his support tumbled amid corruption scandals, party infighting, and congressional opposition. Castillo struggled to govern, naming five prime ministers and more than 80 ministers during his short presidency. Once embroiled in multiple corruption investigations, he tried to illegally dissolve Congress ahead of a planned impeachment vote. He was impeached and removed from office and is currently accused of crimes of rebellion and conspiracy, which he has denied. Still, Castillo retained supporters, who see him as a victim of political elites and a widely unpopular and corrupt Congress. After his removal, the vice president, Dina Boluarte, ascended to the job as Peru's sixth president in five years.

His supporters started manifesting days after his removal, demanding his release in what some have described as a "national insurgency". Airports and highways became the site of some clashes, and hundreds of foreign tourists were stranded in the country. As a result, in December, a state of emergency was imposed by Boluarte's government, suspending several constitutional rights, such as freedom of movement and assembly. Troops were deployed on the streets. To date, dozens have died in clashes with security forces. The authorities are using firearms, justifying the use of force with the alleged protesters' use of improvised explosives and weapons. The government is now extending this emergency state for the next month. Several top ministers have resigned since protests began. The former Minister of Labor, Eduardo García Birmisa, resigned on Thursday, calling Peru's president to apologize and hold general elections, according to the letter on his Twitter account. Former Minister of Interior Victor Rojas Herrera and Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populations Grecia Rojas Ortiz resigned the following day. Despite mounting political pressure, Boluarte has said she has no intentions of leaving office. In the meantime, Lima was braced for new rallies this week as thousands of demonstrators mobilized Monday towards the capital. More significant protests are now foreseen in the capital Lima in the next few days.

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14.01.2023
THEME: HEALTH

Early diagnosis of gestational diabetes can be based on gut microbes

Gut microbiota is the collection of bacteria, viruses and fungi in the human digestive tract. The gut microbiota has broad impacts, including protection against pathogens, maintaining the intestinal epithelium, metabolizing dietary and pharmaceutical compounds, and controlling immune function and behaviour. The microbial composition of the gut microbiota varies across regions of the digestive tract. The colon contains the highest microbes density recorded in any habitat on Earth, representing between 300 and 1000 different species. Bacteria are the largest and, to date, the best-studied component - 99% of gut bacteria - is made of about 30 to 40 species. The relationship between gut microbiota and humans is not merely a non-harmful coexistence but rather a mutualism. Some human gut microorganisms benefit the host by fermenting dietary fibres and also play a role in synthesizing vitamin B and vitamin K and metabolizing bile acids, sterols and synthetic chemicals. Dysregulation of the gut microbiota has been linked with several diseases, such as asthma, bowel inflammatory disease, autoimmune diseases and even depression. Recently, a study has established a strong link with a dangerous but common type of diabetes.

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is when women without diabetes are diagnosed with glucose intolerance during pregnancy, typically in the second or third trimester. Approximately 10% of pregnant women worldwide are diagnosed with GDM. Risk factors include increased maternal age, obesity, family history of diabetes and history of giving birth to large infants. Consequences of GDM have a wide range of complications for both the mother (e.g., pre-eclampsia, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases) and the neonate (e.g., macrosomia and hypo-glycaemia). Many complications are preventable if GDM is detected and appropriately managed. Reasonable control is achieved by nutrition, exercise and insulin administration - if necessary - along with heightened monitoring during labour and delivery. However, an earlier detection (for example, during the first trimester) may allow for an anticipated action, possibly reducing GDM-associated short and long-term risks.

A study published in the scientific journal Gut shows that gut microbiota plays a role in GDM pathogenesis. In particular, scientists profiled the gut microbiota and clinical records of 394 women during the first trimester of pregnancy. They found alterations in the gut microbiota composition in women who later developed GMD. This study could provide relevant insights to prevent the development of GDM. Recognition of women at high risk of GDM at an early stage of pregnancy may allow specific recommendations for the prevention of the disease simply by lifestyle modification and, in the future, by specific intervention to equilibrate the gut microbiota.

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11.01.2023
THEME: ENVIRONMENT

The loss of pollinating insects is causing serious consequences on human health

Animal pollination supports the agricultural production of many healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, which provide vital nutrients and protect against several diseases. Today, most crops need more pollination because of the limited abundance and diversity of insects.

A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives assessed dozens of pollinator-dependent crops using data from hundreds of farms worldwide. The data was used to determine the drop in yield due to the reduced populations of pollinating insects. The research team estimated that the world is currently losing 4.7% of total fruit production, 3.2% of vegetables, and 4.7% of nuts. Such loss of production leads to an estimated 427'000 deaths annually from lost healthy food consumption and associated diseases, including stroke, diabetes, and cancer. Wild pollinators are under growing threat for many reasons. Pervasive land-use changes are fracturing, shrinking, and degrading suitable habitats for pollinators worldwide, reducing available areas for nesting and limiting pollinators' ability to migrate. Furthermore, reductions in wild lands and the dominance of large farms growing monocultures have shrunk the diversity of flowering plants and, thereby, the flowering duration, causing nutritional stress. Intensive farming techniques, such as frequent tilling, disturb and destroy nesting sites and disrupt wild plant communities on farms. The ongoing use of pesticides, such as neonicotinoids, has inflicted lethal and sublethal harm to bees.

In addition, the overarching impact of climate change is causing a host of harmful effects. It drives pollinators out of their historical range to find suitable new environmental conditions, causing novel predators, competitors, and pathogens to invade new environments. Whenever their number is measured, pollinating insects decrease in number and diversity. This trend is now understood to be causing severe consequences for the environment and human health.

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10.01.2023
THEME: POLITICS

Thousands arrested in Brazil as violent riots attempted to overthrow Lula's government

On October 30, more than 156 million Brazilians were called to elect the new president. The elections, which saw two candidates - Lula and Bolsonaro - radically opposite in almost every aspect of their politics, were characterized by an extreme climate of violence. In such a controversial climate, the Brazilians chose Lula - who was elected president with 50.9% of the total valid votes. Since then, however, Bolsonaro made clear that he would not readily accept a defeat. Until today he never explicitly accepted the results of the elections. During vote counting, Bolsonaro had cast doubts on the trustworthiness of Brazil's electronic voting system. After the elections, movements of supporters of former president Bolsonaro organized manifestations that included violent practices, such as blocking highways using burning vehicles. In the last week, these tensions catalyzed violent riots in Brasilia, Brazil's capital.

A supporter of Bolsonaro - George Washington de Oliveira Sousa - was arrested on December 26, a few days before Lula's inauguration as the new president, accused of placing explosive devices targeting the airport. Later, during interrogation, he admitted that his actions were part of a plan to trigger a large-scale intervention of the armed forces in the capital. Mr Bolsonaro flew to the US before the presidential handover ceremony on January 1, which he did not attend. In the meantime, his supporters organized a gathering in the capital through social networks. Last Sunday, January 8, hundreds of rioters broke through the police barriers. They stormed the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace, deliberately devastating these key institutional symbols. President Lula has declared a federal intervention, with thousands of troops on standby in Brasilia. After hours of chaos, Brazilian police have retaken control of the stormed premises. The count of arrested amounts to above 1'500 people and growing.

On Monday evening, president Lula visited the damaged buildings of Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court with the country's governors, condemning the "terrorist acts" and vowing to punish the perpetrators. The reactions from world leaders have been unanimous in condemning these acts of violence. A spontaneous response also came from the population. On Monday, street rallies were held in many cities and towns to support the institutions. Thousands could be heard singing and chanting for justice. As authorities in Brazil launched an investigation into the incidents to identify the responsible, more attention was drawn to Bolsonaro. On Monday, he was admitted to a Florida hospital with abdominal pain. From the US, Bolsonaro condemned the "pillaging and invasion of public buildings" and denied responsibility for encouraging the rioters in a post on Twitter some six hours after violence broke out. He rejected what he defined as Lula's "baseless" accusations that he had incited the unrest.

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09.01.2023
THEME: ENVIRONMENT

More than half of glaciers will be gone by 2100 if global warming continues at the current rate

The Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) is where the United Nations come together to act towards achieving the world's collective climate goals agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris on December 12 2015. Its goal is to limit global warming to below 2C (Celsius degrees), preferably to 1.5C, compared to pre-industrial levels. Earlier this year, at COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, leaders recognized that more effort would be needed to achieve the objective of 1.5C. Unfortunately, scientists are finding out that even this best-case scenario may not be enough to avoid dramatic and profound changes in the Earth's climate.

A recent study published in Science shows that 49% of glaciers would disappear under the most optimistic scenario of 1.5C warming within 2100 AD. However, if global heating continues under the current scenario (reaching 2.7C of warming), losses would be more significant, with 68% of glaciers disappearing. If this happened, almost no glaciers would be left in central Europe, western Canada and the US by the end of the next century. The research team of scientists led by Dr Robert W. McNabb (UK) used two decades of satellite data to map the planet's glaciers with greater precision than ever before. Previous models relied on measurements of specific glaciers. Scientists would then extrapolate that information, but now they can get precise data points on each of the planet's 200,000 glaciers. These data gave insight into how many would be lost under different climate change scenarios. In particular, it was possible to observe mountain glaciers. Mountain glacier melt is believed to contribute to more than a third of sea level rise. A lot of this loss is unavoidable, but the magnitude of loss is directly related to temperature increases, so acting on the climate crisis is vital to contain this phenomenon. The result of the study indicates that mountain glacier melt would significantly raise the sea level. Moreover, it threatens the water supply to 2 billion people and increases the risk of natural hazards such as flooding.

After the alarming temperatures registered at the beginning of the year in central Europe, and the recent and worrisome observations from the Alps' glaciers, science is now getting more accurate in indicating the extent of the effects of global warming. While rising sea levels were initially the primary concern, water droughts may be a more imminent issue involving largely populated areas. According to the latest observations, this a problem that may become critical in just a few decades.

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08.01.2023
THEME: TECHNOLOGY

A new study demonstrated that ancient Roman concrete is more advanced than what we use today

The ancient Romans were masters of engineering, constructing vast networks of roads, aqueducts, ports, and massive buildings, whose remains have survived for two millennia. They built many of these structures with concrete. For instance, the Pantheon - AD 128 - is still intact, and some ancient aqueducts still deliver water to Rome today. In contrast, many modern concrete structures have crumbled after a few decades.

The reason for such extraordinary resilience was still unknown until a recent study published in Science, the fruit of collaboration between the University of Udine (IT) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US). In their research, the authors analyzed the chemical composition of 2000-year-old concrete samples obtained from the archaeological site of Privernum, Italy. The observations are based on cutting-edge electron microscopy and x-ray technologies. They discovered that ancient concrete-manufacturing strategies had incorporated several key self-healing functionalities. The unknown self-healing capabilities of ancient concrete are due to the so-called "lime clasts" - white microscopic minerals that are a typical mark of Roman concrete. The lime clasts develop a brittle architecture thanks to a specific hot-mixing manufacturing protocol, creating an easily fractured and reactive calcium source. As tiny cracks start forming within the concrete, they can preferentially travel through the high-surface-area lime clasts. This material can then react with water (like the one that would penetrate a cracked surface on a rainy day), creating a calcium-saturated solution that recrystallizes and fills the crack.

It is worth noting that concrete is the most ubiquitous construction material in the world, but its production has serious environmental consequences. One method to reduce the carbon footprint - which accounts for up to 8% of total global greenhouse gas emissions - is to improve the longevity of concrete. The resulting extended use life, combined with a reduced need for repair, could reduce the environmental impact and improve the economic life cycle of modern constructs. Such a relevant innovation may now be at hand - not thanks to modern science, but to our ancestors' inheritance.

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06.01.2023
THEME: ENVIRONMENT

Exceptional temperatures are occurring in Europe: a trend with potentially serious consequences

While the US is dealing with the consequences of the century winter storm, the situation is diametrically opposite in Europe. National temperature records for January have been established in eight countries. For instance, in Warsaw, the temperature reached 18.9C, while in Spain, it went even further to over 25C on January 1. In Switzerland, temperatures hit 20C in Geneva, and the warm weather has affected ski resorts across the Alps due to the absence of snow. Switzerland's Alps are renowned as the water bank of Europe. According to recent studies, Swiss glaciers are melting at an unprecedented and increasing speed. They have lost more than half their volume in less than a century. With the temperature increase in recent years, the volume loss is accelerating. Comparing topographic images of glaciers from the 1930s to those from the last ten years establishes a link between ice loss and global warming. Furthermore, after the heatwaves involving the whole Northern Hemisphere last summer, regions of ground that were covered by ice for thousands of years became exposed due to melting. Ice measurements last summer were off the chart, showing three times more mass loss over one year than the average over the previous ten years. Glaciers are often referred to as the water towers of Europe. They store the winter snow and release it gently over the summer, providing water for Europe's rivers and crops, and cooling its nuclear power stations. Last summer, severe droughts hit Europe, provoking several issues, such as the need to transport drinking water in dry regions. Considering these recent events, the current high temperatures and accelerated melting glaciers are no good news for the old continent. It is uncertain how some large European areas would survive without a constant mountain water source.

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03.01.2023
THEME: WORLD

The first death from brain-eating amoeba infection was reported in South Korea

South Korea has reported its first-ever case of, and subsequent death by, the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria Fowleri. The patient, who died on December 21, had been suffering from meningitis symptoms caused by the pathogen, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed Monday. In a statement, the KDCA said the patient had experienced fever, headache, vomiting, neck stiffness, and loss of the ability to speak, having returned home recently from a four-month trip to Thailand. N. Fowleri is typically found in freshwater, lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is the only species of Naegleria that infects humans, and while infections are rare, they are often fatal – the death rate is over 97%. The amoeba enters the body via the nose. It then travels to the brain, where it can cause primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), an infection characterized by the destruction of brain tissue, brain swelling, and eventually death. The organism mainly thrives in warm water and heat and grows best in high temperatures up to 115°F (46°C) but can sometimes survive warmer temperatures. As of 2018, 381 cases have been reported worldwide, mainly from US, India and Thailand. While currently reported cases of this deadly amoeba are rare, as climate change and global warming heat the planet, this heat-loving amoeba may thrive, making infections common.

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02.01.2023
THEME: WORLD

A few facts marking the end of 2022 and the start of 2023

2022 was undoubtedly a year that will be remembered. We have seen the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, but at the same time, growing global inflation and a steep deterioration of international relationships. War in Ukraine started earlier in February and is still ongoing while the Taiwan crisis grows. Moreover, exceptional atmospheric events occurred in the northern hemisphere, both in summer and winter. In the few final days of 2022, two famous characters died, marking the end of the year. From the world of sport, more specifically soccer, it was Edson Arantes do Nascimento - who died on 29 December 2022 at 82 - known by his nickname Pelé. He was regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA. In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee. He was included in the Time list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. His 1,279 goals in 1,363 games are recognised as a Guinness World Record. After retiring in 1977, Pelé was a worldwide ambassador for football and made many acting and commercial ventures. In 1995, he became the Brazilian minister for sport. Just two days after Pelé death, a pope of the Catholic Church died too. Pope Benedict XVI - born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger - died on December 31 at 95. He became famous among popes for somewhat controversial facts and opinions. After his election in 2005, Benedict chose to be known by the title "pope emeritus" upon his resignation, and he retained this title until his death. It was the first time a pope spontaneously retired since 1294. During his short reign, he became known for his anti-LGBT positions and was called homophobic by many. He was also accused of failing to adequately take action against clerics in four cases of alleged abuse while he was Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982. The first positive news of 2023 comes from the world of international politics as Croatia adopted the euro currency and entered Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone starting January 1 - after nearly a decade since joining the European Union.

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29.12.2022
THEME: WORLD

Covid cases surge in China while international tensions grow due to the Taiwan crisis and new travel restriction

Just a month ago, China faced rising socioeconomic pressure due to rigid restrictions against Covid. Lockdowns were frequently in place to limit the virus spread and maintain the sanitary situation under control. However, such measures' economic and social costs have been incredibly high, so the government has recently decided to ease the grip on the virus. The National Health Commission announced that the management of COVID-19 will be downgraded from Class A to Class B from January 8. It means that there will be no more quarantine for people entering the country, and there will be no isolation of COVID-19 cases and the designation of high-risk areas. The government will gradually resume the entry and exit of passenger transport through water and land ports. International passengers coming into the country should still take a nucleic acid test 48 hours before departure. It is worth noting that most countries already have similar measures in place for months. However, immunization in the Chinese population is very low, and most Chinese people have never come in contact with the virus. For this reason, significant pressure on hospitals is already taking place and is expected to grow. The World Health Organization expressed concern about reports of severe disease in China. Around Baoding and Langfang outside Beijing, hospitals have run out of intensive care beds and staff as severe cases surge. Several countries, including Italy, Japan, India and US, are already implementing restrictions for all inbound travellers from China, who now need to show a negative molecular test to travel. The reaction of the Chinese government to such rules is of disappointment, accusing Western countries of disproportionate and inappropriate response to a crisis that, they say, is under control and managed based on a comprehensive analysis. In the meantime, the European and US administrations justify the restrictions with fear of new variants. Every new infection offers a chance for the coronavirus to mutate, and the virus is spreading rapidly in a country with over 1.4 billion people. International relations are also under pressure due to the increasing intensity of the Taiwan crisis. New Chinese military drills came after US President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which marked the first time the US government will finance weapons for the island of Taiwan. The intensity of the drills surpassed those in August. They showed that the Chinese army could organize large-scale exercises repeatedly and at any time. To make things even worse, at the same time, China and Russia were holding joint naval drills in the East China Sea, proving the capability of the Chinese to conduct multiple major military activities in various regions simultaneously. Not the best premises for the upcoming year 2023, in which, hopefully, major powers will learn to collaborate instead of continuously raising international tension.

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26.12.2022
THEME: ENVIRONMENT

The US faced over Christmas the most powerful winter storm in the last century

In the last few days, record-low temperatures have been registered in large territories of Canada and the US. A powerful and prolonged winter storm brought strong winds and snow in incredible amounts. The scope of the storm has been unprecedented, stretching from Canada as far south as the Rio Grande. The snowfall and blizzard conditions made roads impassable, froze power substations and left more than a dozen dead. At least 38 deaths have now been linked to this severe Arctic freeze. Storm-related deaths were reported in Vermont, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Colorado. South Florida's temperatures dropped so low that iguanas froze and fell from trees. Over 200'000 people were left without power, with their homes covered in snow and ice. Thousands of flights have been cancelled, preventing many people from reaching their families at Christmas. The western US state of Montana is the worst hit by the cold, with temperatures dropping to -45C. Atlanta and Tallahassee, Florida, were forecast to have their coldest temperature recorded on December 24. Such an event is so rare that it should happen once in a hundred years. However, it is not the first potent and extreme weather event this year. The whole northern hemisphere was hit earlier in the summer by record-high temperatures and droughts. Recently, studies published by eminent climatologists demonstrated that the effects of global warming are to increase the frequency of extreme events. May this recent storm also be a consequence of climate change?

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23.12.2022
THEME: HEALTH

FDA approved the first monoclonal antibody drug for the treatment of COVID-19 hospitalized patients

The FDA has approved Tocilizumab - also known as Actemra and commercialized by Roche Genentech - for treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The treatment is for individuals who receive corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen, non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation or oxygenation. Tocilizumab is the first FDA-approved monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19, recommended for use as a single intravenous injection. Scientists evaluated Tocilizumab for the treatment of COVID-19 in 4 studies in more than 5500 individuals who were hospitalized. The studies showed that Tocilizumab may improve outcomes in individuals receiving corticosteroids and requiring supplemental oxygen or breathing support. There were no new warnings or precautions related to Tocilizumab noted in the trials, with the most common adverse events being anxiety, constipation, diarrhoea, hypertension, insomnia, nausea, and urinary tract infection. More than one million people hospitalized with COVID-19 have been treated with Actemra worldwide since the pandemic's beginning. Tocilizumab has been approved for use for COVID-19 in the United States, European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Russia, and Brazil. It is also provisionally approved in Australia and authorized for emergency use in Ghana, Mexico, and Korea for individuals hospitalized with severe or critical COVID-19. The World Health Organization has also recommended and prequalified the drug.

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21.12.2022
THEME: ENVIRONMENT

At COP15 in Montreal, nations agreed on four goals and 23 targets to protect biodiversity

Earlier this year, the environmental issues have been growing, ranging from devastating floods to extreme heat and drought in the northern hemisphere. The preservation of biodiversity is crucial to sustaining human life on Earth. On this topic, countries have reunited in Montreal, Canada, from December 7 to 19 at the UN COP15 conference. The conference was presided over by China. The premises of this meeting called for prompt action to preserve biodiversity: the latest WWF's Living Planet Report warned that global wildlife populations declined by 69% on average from 1970 to 2018. The accelerating loss of nature has already impacted human well-being and economies. Healthy ecosystems also play indispensable roles in tackling climate change, and biodiversity loss weakens our resilience. In response, nations agreed on four goals and 23 targets to protect biodiversity. The four goals are: (1) to maintain genetic biodiversity, increase the natural ecosystem's areas and reduce extinction rate and risk tenfold (2) to support the restoration and maintenance of biodiversity (3) to share the monetary and non-monetary benefits equitably from utilizing genetic resources, including with indigenous populations and local communities (4) to guarantee adequate means of implementation, including financial resources, capacity-building, and technical and scientific cooperation. A few of the 23 targets for 2030 supporting these goals are undoubtedly relevant. It is agreed to reach the conservation of at least 30% of the world's lands, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans (today, only 17% and 10% of the world's terrestrial and marine areas are under protection). Further, a target mentions reducing the loss of areas of high biodiversity importance to near zero, including ecosystems of high ecological integrity. It is also agreed to cut global food waste in half and reduce overconsumption and waste generation. Financial targets also mentioned phasing out subsidies that harm biodiversity by at least $500 billion per year while mobilizing by 2030 at least $200 billion per year in domestic and international biodiversity-related funding from all sources – public and private. Although all the targets agreed upon in Montreal are impressive, it is fair to question if they will be achieved. In fact, in 2002, nations committed "to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss". They failed. In 2010 they met in Japan and agreed on a new plan, which included the 20 Aichi Targets. But not one of these targets was fully satisfied by the 2020 deadline. It is worth noting that, being these targets non-binding by law, they are rather guidelines to support objectives. Despite the ambition demonstrated at COP15 leaving hope, it remains true that just earlier this year, a monumental occasion to protect biodiversity failed miserably. At the end of last August, after 15 years of negotiations, nations could not agree on a binding pact to preserve Earth's oceans' biodiversity in another UN meeting in New York - probably the biggest of the lost occasions to preserve our marine ecosystems.

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20.12.2022
THEME: ENVIRONMENT

Oil drilling may soon destroy the unique ecosystem of the Amazon Reef

In the 1970s, the biologist Rodrigo Moura completed a study on fishing on the continental shelf and wanted to expand his research by locating the reefs where he caught the fish. When Moura found the fish he caught around the Amazon Reef and in the mouth of the Amazon River, he saw this as an indication that there must be biodiversity underneath. A few decades later, a group of students from the University of Georgia noted that Moura's article did not contain GPS coordinates and used Moura's sound waves and seafloor samples to locate the reef. Finding the reef took about three years before an official announcement was made about its discovery. The Amazon River is home to about 20 per cent of the world's freshwater supply, placing the Amazon Reef at the mouth of the largest river in the world, where every day, one-fifth of the world's water flows into the ocean from the Amazon River. Because of this, the Amazon Reef is less biologically diverse compared to other reefs of its kind. It is a unique ecosystem, and researchers say it could contain many unknown species of medicinal or scientific value, some of which are being studied for their anti-cancer properties. The Amazon reef is unusual because it lies in deep water and is sometimes hidden by the muddy waters flowing into the sea from the world's largest river. Some species may appear only in that area and nowhere else in the world. Brazilian scientists say today that this unique reef habitat is threatened by government plans to drill for oil. The scientists worry that the Brazilian oil company Petrobras plans to drill for oil close to the reef could cause an oil leak that would devastate the ecosystem. Petrobras is planning this month to carry out a test to learn more about how oil diffuses in the case of a leak. If that satisfies Brazil's environmental protection agency, Ibama, exploration wells could follow soon afterwards, 160km (100 miles) from the shore, but much closer to the reef. "This area has one of the strongest currents on the planet and a tidal range that can be greater than 10m (33ft). These are environmental conditions that challenge any engineering work, making it very risky," says Rodrigo Leão de Moura, professor at the Institute of Biology at the University of Rio de Janeiro and the leading scientist involved in the reef's discovery. Brazil is also not new to environmental disasters due to oil drilling. An oil spill that hit the coast of northern Brazil in 2019 also casts a long shadow. On that occasion, tons of thick black crude began washing up at a thousand locations, bringing the tourism industry to a halt. Overnight the biggest market for locally caught fish also disappeared since buyers stopped buying for fear of contamination.

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