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☆ Extreme weather blunts the US military's technological edge
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-19 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewMore extreme weather is scrambling the high-tech systems that have given the US military its edge. For example, severe weather can degrade navigation systems such as GPS and sensors on precision-guided munitions. Heavy rain ground aircraft and drones, intense heat exhausts troops, dust storms gum up tank engines, and storms damage ships at sea. The problem is that tactical units on the front lines, or in remote areas, often lack the connectivity to receive weather reports. "NOAA [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration], the private sector and universities are actively working to improve global weather models," Regens said.

Persons: —, James Regens, Napoleon, Jason Serrit, Regens, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Business, Royal United Services Institute, Waterloo, Staff, US Air Force, Antiphon Solutions, North America, Pentagon, NOAA, National Oceanic, Administration, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: British, Iran, Iraqi, California, Oklahoma, Europe, NATO, Forbes

☆ 5 ways to attack the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Andrea Kane | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The climate crisis impacts Earth — its land, its atmosphere and its bodies of water — and it also profoundly affects the health and behavior of the planet’s inhabitants large and small, including humanity. And CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir has a front-row seat to the ever-evolving situation. “Five million people die prematurely every year just to, just from particulate pollution of burning fossil fuels around the world,” Weir said. “It is taking care of water and soil and air… (that) fills those (Maslow) needs in ways that we can’t imagine in our modern, convenient world,” he said. “I just want folks to connect with each other and nature in the best possible ways,” he said.

Persons: Bill Weir, Weir, Olivia, —, “, ” Weir, Sanjay Gupta, it’s, Abraham Maslow’s, ”, Elisabeth Kübler, Rogers, “ There’s, he’s, Maslow Organizations: CNN, Earth Locations: Hope, America, Charleston , South Carolina, Miami, thrivers, United States, Maine, Canada, Asia, Lahaina, ‘

☆ The sperm whale attack that inspired the novel 'Moby-Dick' may have also involved some aggressive killer whales
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Maiya Focht | Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This story is said to have inspired the novel "Moby-Dick," and was adapted into a 2015 film. In fact, killer whales may have been key characters in the infamous incident that inspired Herman Melville's 1851 novel "Moby-Dick." "Moby-Dick" is inspired by a sperm whale, not a killer whale, sinking the whaling boat "Essex" in 1820. From there, the sailors had to fight off the conditions of the open ocean and follow up attacks by possible orca whales. The novel that resurfaced the story of the EssexPhilbrick's book is a historical recount of what happened to the real sailors that inspired Melville's tale.

Persons: Moby, Dick, —, Herman Melville's, Nathaniel Philbrick's, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, Cillian Murphy, Moby Dick, Essex, Hanne Strager, Philbrick, Melville, Owen Chase's, George Pollard Jr, Pollard Organizations: Service, New Bedford Whaling Museum, Smithsonian, Cruising Association, Business, New York Times Locations: Strait, Gibraltar, Essex, Nantucket, Polish, Moroccan, Danish

☆ This storm chaser captures stunning photographs of extreme weather
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Nadia Leigh-Hewitson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Ad FeedbackThough she is an accountant by trade, Sarah Hasan Al-Sayegh calls herself the first Kuwaiti-Arab female storm chaser. “Storm chasing made me see the world more,” she says. Al-Sayegh recalls that on May 31, 2016, she and fellow storm chaser Mike Olbinski came across a huge storm structure near Lamesa, Texas. She now hopes to expand her meteorological knowledge and raise awareness around climate change. “I just hope to be able to put that message to everybody through my photography and through my storm chasing,” Al-Sayegh says.

Persons: Sarah Hasan Al, Sayegh, ”, “, sandstorms, Storm Daniel, Mike Olbinski, “ Don’t, ” Al Organizations: CNN, UN, United Arab, Kuwait City Locations: Kuwaiti, Kuwait, East, North Africa, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Dubai, Libya, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Al, Lamesa , Texas, Gulf

CNN —Ancient Buddhist murals and statues in caves along China’s Silk Road are under “direct threat” from extreme rainfall brought by climate change, researchers have found. Zhangye Cultural Heritage Administration/GreenpeaceThe report comes as China is conducting its fourth nationwide cultural heritage survey to log the state of the country’s historical artifacts. “The sites we looked at include some of the most well-funded, best-staffed cultural heritage sites in China. Li said Chinese officials and academics are increasingly aware of the threats of the climate crisis on the country’s cultural heritage sites. Unlike Dunhuang, many historical sites lack long-term monitoring data to research the impacts of climate change, Li said.

Persons: ”, Li Zhao, Li, we’re, they’re, ” Li, Tianlongshan grottoes Organizations: CNN, UNESCO, Heritage, Greenpeace, Greenpeace East Asia’s, Spikes, Heritage Administration, Dunhuang Academy Locations: Gansu, Greenpeace East, Greenpeace East Asia’s Beijing, Jinta, China, Shanxi, Jinci, Dunhuang

☆ Sandstorms, dangerous pollution return to Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A woman poses for pictures near the Forbidden City, as the city is shrouded in smog amid a sandstorm, in Beijing, China March 10, 2023. The capital Beijing has seen regular air pollution and an unseasonal number of sandstorms over the past few weeks. On Tuesday morning, smog and misty grey clouds could be seen enveloping Beijing and the city's real-time air quality index was at a serious pollution level, according to the website of the Beijing Municipal Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center. The concentration of fine particulates in the air in Beijing is currently 46.2 times the World Health Organization's annual air quality guideline value, according to IQAir, a website that issues air quality data and information. Beijing has regular sandstorms in March and April as it is near the large Gobi desert.

☆ Thick sandstorms shroud Beijing and several provinces in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, March 22 (Reuters) - Capital Beijing and several provinces in China will be affected by thick, dense sandstorms that will severely affect visibility, Chinese weather authorities said on Wednesday. The Central Meteorological Observatory issued yellow warning signals from Wednesday to early morning Thursday for Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei provinces. Many areas will have low visibility, weather forecasters said, cautioning drivers on speed. China has a four-tier, colour-coded weather-warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. Beijing, which was also issued a yellow sandstorm warning, has experienced sand and dust storms over the past several days, causing pollution levels to drastically increase.

☆ NASA imagery reveals China's Mars rover hasn't moved in months as Chinese scientists scramble to save the mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Chris Panella | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NASA imagery from Mars shows that China's rover hasn't moved in months. Chinese scientists are scrambling to make contact, according to the South China Morning Post. China's rover, Zhurong, could be covered in dust and drained of energy, like NASA's InSight lander. Arrows highlight the location of China's Zhurong rover in March 2022, September 2022, and February 2023. A photo showing the back of China's Zhurong rover from its landing spot on Mars' Utopia Planitia following a May 15, 2021 landing.

☆ Beijing and northern China hit by winter sandstorm
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Beijing and large swaths of northern China woke to choking sand and dust on Monday, as a winter sandstorm sent air pollution levels off the charts. Beijing used to be hit by sandstorms regularly in the spring, but less so in the winter. Sandstorms also hit northern Hebei and Shanxi provinces, western Gansu, and central and western Inner Mongolia on Monday, state-run news agency Xinhua said. CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesIn the spring of 2021, Beijing was hit by the biggest sandstorm in nearly a decade, which turned the skies an eerie shade of orange. In previous decades, each May saw at least two rounds of sandstorms, according to Xinhua.

☆ Fans book 90,000 nightly rooms in group stage of Qatar World Cup, more available - organiser
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DOHA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Fans have booked accommodation in more than 90,000 rooms, tents, apartments, villas and portacabins on each of the peak days of the World Cup in Qatar, organisers said Wednesday, adding that at least 25,000 rooms are still available. After the tournament, Qatar will donate the portacabins to "poor countries" to be used as houses, Al-Jaber said. Qatar is expecting 1.2 million visitors during the month-long tournament, with the peak number expected between Nov. 24 and 28, during the busy group stage. On average, fans will spend seven nights in Qatar, Al-Jaber said. Some fans will stay in 1,000 modern tents on a man-made island north of Doha, Al-Jaber said.

☆ A weird evolutionary quirk in the human eye could be what saves us from climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-19 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The difference: climate change, our dunderheaded anti-terraforming of Earth. Climate change has been going on for a century and a half. Then that derecho — souped up by an atmosphere pumped full of heat energy, thanks to climate change — swept across South Dakota. In the US, only young people and those who identify as Democrats think dealing with climate change should be a top priority, according to surveys from Pew Research. About half of Americans think humans are only partially responsible for climate change, or not responsible at all.

☆ The world's fastest trains -- from China to France
▼ + stars: | 2021-12-10 | by ( Ben Jones | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

Chogo/Xinhua/Getty ImagesAs well as boasting the longest network of high-speed lines in the world, China now has the fastest scheduled trains on the planet. A statement of intent by China’s booming railway technology industry, the Fuxing trains have been developed from previous generations of high-speed trains, which were based on technology imported from Europe and Japan. The design also forms the basis of the Siemens “Velaro” family of high-speed trains, which has been sold to Spain, Russia, Turkey, China and to Eurostar for its second generation international trains. Europe’s first dedicated high-speed network is still its best known and most successful, reaching out well beyond France’s borders. Frecciarossa services operate across Italy’s T-shaped high-speed network, linking Turin, Milan and Venice in the north with Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples.

Persons: Germany's, Philipp von Ditfurth, Thomas Coex, Europe’s, Kiyoshi Ota, Al Boraq, Morocco's Al Boraq, ‘ Al, Boraq, Oriol, Iryo, Frecciarossa, Ed Jones, Alessandro Rota, sandstorms don’t, HHR Organizations: CNN, Japan’s, Vitesse, Getty, Germany's Inter, City Express, Express, Siemens, Eurostar, Bloomberg, JR, Japan Railways, Tohoku, TGV Euroduplex, Alstom, Flickr, Images Spain, Alta Velocidad, Ouigo Espana, Italian State Railways, Alitalia, Arrows, Spanish National Railways, Railway, Haramain, Speed Railway Locations: Scandinavia, Europe, Asia, France, China, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, England, Africa, Morocco, Egypt, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Russia, United States, Shanghai, Shanghai’s Pudong, Hangzhou, Chogo, Xinhua, Japan, Beijing, Hong Kong, Harbin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Turkey, AFP, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Strasbourg, Lille, London, Switzerland, Tokyo, Shin, Aomori, Hokkaido, Honshu, Tsugaru Strait, Tangier, Casablanca, Kenitra, Rabat, Oriol Paris, Madrid, Seville, Malaga, Valencia, Galicia, Barcelona, Alta Velocidad Espana, Korea, South, Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Mokpo, Pyeongchang, Turin, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, Saudi, Bandar Aldandani, Mecca, Medina

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