Citizen Journalist: united states

Showing posts with label united states. Show all posts

Saturday, November 12, 2022

Global carbon emission of China is lower to that of the United States

A study released by the Global Carbon Project at the COP27 conference underway in Egypt reveals a new picture. Until now, the concept was that U.S. emissions had been steadily dropping while Chinese emissions had been rising. It is not so. The study reveals that in China, fossil fuel pollution in China was down 0.9 percent this year compared with 2021, while in the United States it was 1.5 percent higher. It is a fact that the burning of fossil fuel this year has put 1 percent more heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air compared to last year. Scientists who track emissions say this is a piece of bad news for the fight against climate change. However, China appears to have succeeded in reigning in the emission. Global carbon pollution continues to increase but not at a rate of 10 or 15 years ago. Obviously, the world has become cautious. The fact remains that much more needs to be done because it is pushing the Earth closer to hitting and then passing the globally adopted threshold of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. Carbon emissions from fossil fuels rise globally, including U.S., but drop in China. As a climate scientist of Princeton University says - “It means we better get ready to blow past the target and enter a world that humans have never experienced.’’

The study team, along with other scientific reports, calculate that the Earth can put only 419 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air before warming reaches the 1.5-degree mark. That would work out to about nine to 10 years’ worth of emissions. In other words, that point will come at around 2031 or 2032. Obviously, the time for 1.5 is running out. According to the study, in 2022, the world will put 40.3 billion U.S. tons of carbon dioxide into the air from energy and cement use. That will work out to the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza in carbon dioxide spewed every 75 minutes. The emissions are on the rise in the United States, India witnessed a 6 percent increase in 2022, while Europe had a 0.8 percent drop. The rest of the world averaged a 1.7 percent rise.

Thursday, October 13, 2022

The US has agreed to allow 24.000 migrants from Venezuela to stay legally for up to two years

The proposed program is similar to the one implemented for Ukrainians after the Russian invasion. Under the program, a maximum of 24,000 migrants of Venezuela can enter the U.S. and stay legally for up to two years. It will be necessary for each of them to have a sponsor in the U.S. who will guarantee financial support for the person. After approval of their applications, they would take the air route to the US. However, those who cross the Mexican border without authorization will not be eligible. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said, “Those who follow the lawful process will have the opportunity to travel safely to the United States and become eligible to work here.” The administration believes this to be a way to reduce the rising numbers of migrants crossing the border without authorization. U.S. to allow some Venezuelan migrants to enter. Others will be sent to Mexico. In the last fiscal year ending in September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 2 million encounters with migrants at the border — a record high.

In recent months, there has been an increase in the number of border crossers from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. Border agents have processed many of the cases and released them to pursue their asylum claims within the U.S. Migrants from Cuba and Venezuela are more difficult to deport and U.S. officials face difficulties to send them back to their home countries in significant numbers. Due to deteriorating economic conditions and an authoritarian government, many Venezuelans have left the country. Officials of the administration are hopeful that creating an orderly process for Venezuelans to enter the U.S. will discourage them from crossing the border illegally. That will reduce the load on overwhelmed Border Patrol agents. The administration had focused on rolling back Trump-era restrictions at the border. In that context, this appears to be a new approach that could pay dividends.

Friday, September 9, 2022

The Royal family and the world paid tributes to Queen Elizabeth II who passed away peacefully at the age of 96

Queen Elizabeth II was in Balmoral, her Scottish retreat, where she passed away peacefully. Her grandson, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle, shared a stately tribute to her on Archewell. It is the website for their foundation. They changed the front page of the website. It changed to a simple black background with white text. It read - "In loving memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022." At the time of her death, Harry joined other members of the Royal family. She was at the time under medical supervision and ultimately passed away. Incidentally, Harry was in Europe at the time with his wife Meghan. They had come to attend to a number of events related to charity work. The couple had taken a decision to step back as working royals and shift base to the United States in 2020. However, Harry's grandparents played an important role in his life. His grandfather Prince Philip passed away in April 2021. Harry and Meghan also paid homage to his grandmother the Queen when they named their daughter Lilibet or Lili. It happened to be the nickname for the Queen within the royal family. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Paid Tribute to Queen Elizabeth.

Ever since stepping down, Harry and his wife visited the Queen on several occasions. In 2022, they had tea with Her Majesty in Windsor in April. That was when they traveled to the Hague for the Invictus Games. Subsequently, they met in June when the couple came to Britain for the Platinum Jubilee of the Queen. Official details of the funeral of Her Majesty are yet to be announced. Harry will most possibly be present for the event, as he was for the funeral of his grandfather Prince Philip. At that time, Meghan was unable to attend because of her advanced pregnancy with baby Lili.

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Greenland is losing ice at a fast rate with global sea level rise

A study in the Nature Climate Change journal reveals widespread loss of ice from Greenland. The extent of loss could result in global sea level rise of nearly a foot. There is no apparent way to prevent this from happening even if the world stopped releasing planet-heating emissions immediately. The overall loss could trigger at least 10 inches of sea level rise, irrespective of the climate warming scenarios. That would be a matter of concern because it would be equal to the total rise over the last century from Greenland, Antarctica and thermal expansion. Researchers from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland made note of changes in ice-sheet volume in and around Greenland. It seems meltwater runoff was the primary driver. Subsequently, relying on "well-established theory," they rang the danger bells. The Greenland ice sheet -- equivalent to 110 trillion tons of ice -- will cease to exist as the ice sheet reacts to the changes that have already occurred. Greenland ice losses set to raise global sea levels by nearly a foot, new research shows. The authors did not specify a timeline but their prediction is that the change in sea levels can occur by the end of the century.

Massive sheets of ice sheets can melt at a fast rate when the air temperature is warm. Moreover, the warmer ocean water also erodes the sheet around the edges. Incidentally, a current report released earlier this year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cautions that coastal regions of the United States could expect 10 to 12 inches of sea level rise in the next three decades. This could mean increase in the frequency of high tide floods and storm surges would spread further inland. In case all the ice melted, it would lift sea levels by roughly 25 feet around the world. This extent of sea level rise could leave some places devastated. The amount of ice that melted in Greenland between July 15 and 17 alone was approximately 6 billion tons of water per day. That is a whole lot of water.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

US and Cuba to restore commercial flights after 50-years

The United States and Cuba have finally concluded a deal to restore commercial flights for the first time in more than five decades. There would be nearly 110 daily flights from the US to different cities across Cuba - 20 of these would be regular daily flights to Havana by next autumn.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 16 February 2016.

At present US airlines operate 10 to 15 charter flights into the Cuban capital per day. Therefore, this deal marks one of the more significant developments between the former Cold War foes. It has happened after presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced a normalizing of relations in December 2014.
The conclusion of the deal represents a critically important milestone in the US effort to engage with Cuba because this travel agreement opens up the door for US airlines to start bidding on the new routes. American Airlines, which has operated charter flights into Cuba since 1991, has indicated that it would bid on commercial routes from Miami and other US hubs.
Other airlines that have shown an interest are United, Southwest, Delta, JetBlue and Spirit - they also are keen to secure daily routes into Cuba.
Incidentally, in spite of the new agreement, tourism to Cuba remains barred by US law. However, the number of legal reasons for US travelers to go to Cuba have been widely extended and, in fact, are loosely enforced.

Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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