Climate Change, A Dirty River, & A Trip To Mars
April 10, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Wednesday! Today, we’re talking about climate change, China & Russia’s friendship, a dirty river, the Panama Papers trial, Arizona’s abortion law, the Norfolk Southern settlement, and Elon Musk’s plan for Mars.
Want answers? We’ve got you covered: DP 4/5 Quiz Answers. Hats off to John B., who scored a perfect 10 on last week’s quiz. Check back next week for another chance to test your current affairs acumen!
“No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.” – Alfred North Whitehead
No Holes In This Swiss Lawsuit
As the earth continues to warm, the European Court of Human Rights is turning up the heat on European governments. In a key ruling, the court decided that the KlimaSeniorinnen, a group of 2,400 older Swiss women, had their rights violated by the Swiss government because the government didn’t act quickly to lower the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and heatwaves. Because older women are more likely to die in heat waves than other groups, it was determined that Switzerland essentially restricted the KlimaSeniorinnen’s fundamental human right to life. “We expect this ruling to influence climate action and climate litigation across Europe and far beyond,” said one climate lawyer.
This ruling comes at a great time, because the planet is only getting hotter. According to European Union climate agency Copernicus, March marked the tenth month in a row with record-setting heat, and ocean temperatures hit record highs as well. “The trajectory will not change until concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop rising,” said one climate scientist, “which means we must stop burning fossil fuels, stop deforestation, and grow our food more sustainably as quickly as possible.”
They Clearly Weren’t Listenin’ To Her Yellen
We wrote yesterday about U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s diplomatic visit to China. While visiting Guangzhou and Beijing, she warned that any Chinese companies that send material aid to help Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would face “significant consequences.” Apparently, Beijing heard what she said, did some math, and then decided to immediately push those boundaries.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Beijing, which the media suspects will lay the groundwork for a future visit to China by Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as next month. China and Russia have been joined in a “no limits” partnership (is that a euphemism for something?) since 2022, though Beijing has cast itself as a neutral party in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Before Xi met with Lavrov, the Russian minister also met with Wang Yi, his Chinese counterpart. After the meeting, Lavrov said they’d discussed efforts to resist the West’s “anti-Chinese” and “anti-Russian orientation.” Wang similarly said that the two allies would “oppose all hegemonic and bullying behaviors” and “oppose the Cold War mentality.” While he didn’t mention the U.S. by name, you can probably guess who the remarks were aimed at.
Super Swimmers Versus Pooper Bacteria
- If you’ve lived in a major city with a river running through it, you probably know that you shouldn’t take a dip in that water unless someone paid you a large sum of cash…up front. Paris, the host of the upcoming Summer Olympics, is one of the biggest cities in the world and is also home to the River Seine.
- At the games, the city has promised that open-water athletes (marathon swimmers, triathlon-ers, surfers, canoers, and others) will pursue their disciplines in the waters of the river. The only problem? According to one waterway conservation group, the Seine is too dirty to swim in. On Monday, the Surfrider Foundation released a report showing that water tested from the river between September and March showed high levels of E. coli and enterococci bacteria, which could be an indicator of fecal matter in the water.
- The group called its findings “alarming,” and warned that swimmers might face health consequences if the water isn’t cleaned up by July. So far, the Open Water Swimming World Cup and two Olympic test events scheduled to take place in the river have been canceled due to low water quality. Olympic officials, for their part, say that major cleanup efforts have not yet started, and also pointed out that winter rains might have degraded the water quality temporarily but won’t affect the summer games.
Pana-mania In The Court
- This week, the trial of 27 people linked to the Panama Papers kicked off. In case you forgot, the Panama Papers were a collection of documents revealing many of the clients of Mossack-Fonseca law firm, which helped the wealthy stash their money in offshore bank accounts to hide fraud, evade taxes, or avoid sanctions.
- Leaders from Ukraine, Australia, Iceland, and multiple Gulf nations were named as clients of the firm. Lawyers Juergen Mossack, Ramón Fonseca, and other employees of the firm went on trial Monday at a Panamanian criminal court. They claim that the firm, which closed in 2018, had no control over what its clients did with their offshore accounts once they were set up.
More Mixed Nuts
- UN atomic watchdog says the status of Russian-occupied Ukraine nuclear plant is ‘extremely serious’ (ABC)
- Simon Harris becomes Ireland’s youngest-ever leader (CNN)
- Trial opens in Thailand for the son of Spanish actors over the killing of a Colombian surgeon (NBC)
- Jacob Zuma wins court battle to stand in South Africa’s election (BBC)
Middle East Mixed Nuts
- Turkey restricts exports to Israel, saying its request to airdrop aid to Gaza was denied (CNN)
- Israel’s security at core of German foreign policy due to Holocaust, ICJ hears (Guardian)
- CNN finds new information contradicting IDF’s account of night over 100 died in Gaza (CNN)
- US has seen no evidence that Israel has committed genocide, Austin says (Politico)
The Worst Kind Of Retro
- The Arizona Supreme Court ruled yesterday that an 1864 law, which makes it a felony punishable by two to five years in prison to perform or help a woman obtain an abortion, is enforceable. It outlaws abortion from the moment of conception but includes an exception to save the woman’s life.
- The law is from about 50 years before Arizona even became a state and, unsurprisingly, before women had the right to vote. This undoes the 15-week abortion ban from March of 2022 in the state. Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said after the ruling that she would not enforce the law. The court has put the decision on hold for 14 days.
We Owe You $600 Million, But We Didn’t Do Anything Wrong
- Norfolk Southern has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit tied to the derailment of one of its trains in East Palestine, Ohio last year. The company has agreed to pay $600 million dollars as part of the settlement, but it will not have to admit any wrongdoing or liability for the incident.
- In February of last year, 38 train cars derailed just outside of town, including 11 carrying hazardous chemicals. The derailment caused a fire, which leeched toxic smoke into the air, leaving almost half of the town’s residents to evacuate. Norfolk Southern has already spent more than $800 million on a massive environmental cleanup.
More Nuts In America
- Appeals court rejects Donald Trump’s latest attempt to delay April 15 hush money criminal trial (AP)
- Idaho teen arrested for allegedly plotting to attack church in name of ISIS (CBS)
- US Supreme Court won’t halt execution of Brian Dorsey for 2006 double murder amid mercy bid backed by 70 corrections officers (CNN)
- Senate to begin Mayorkas impeachment trial this week. Here’s what you need to know (NPR)
- Baby found dead on Los Angeles highway linked to family’s murder-suicide, police say (ABC)
- Severe storms threaten flooding, tornadoes and large hail in South and parts of Mississippi Valley today (CNN)
Elon Dreams Of The Red Planet
- Elon Musk really, really wants to go to Mars (and we say, let him go!). He’s talked about his ambitions for the Red Planet publicly since 2016, but in a presentation at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in South Texas, he outlined tangible goals for the company to bring that dream closer to reality.
- In the presentation, Musk announced a new phase of testing for SpaceX’s Starship and the Super Heavy booster that propels it, which involves increasing the number of test launches over the next few years. In the company’s next Starship launch, it will try to land the returning module on a virtual tower in the Gulf of Mexico. If that stunt works, SpaceX will later try to land the rocket on chopstick-like landing mechanisms attached to the Starship launch tower.
- He also announced new production and infrastructure goals for SpaceX, including new Starship launch towers in Texas and Florida and the development of six new Starship vehicles this year. The goal of all this is to create a critical mass of space vehicles using the reusable parts of the Starship to ferry hundreds of tons of goods and equipment to Mars. That cargo, according to Musk, will be needed to support a Martian (but human) population of about 1 million people, which he says is the number of people needed to build a sustainable population on the “fixer-upper” planet.
More Loose Nuts
- A teacher promised his 1978 class an eclipse party. He just hosted it. (WaPo, $)
- Zoo animals got quiet, exhibited nighttime behavior during total solar eclipse (CBS)
- International Booker Prize shortlist for 2024 spans three continents (NPR)
- Rare six-legged gazelle spotted in Israel (CBS)
- Elon Musk predicts superhuman AI will be smarter than people next year (Guardian)