Nature based solutions climate change

As children growing up in Miami in the 1970s and 1980s, my brother and I often had skirmishes, typically brought about by frustrations from living with economic struggles and instability. Over the years, we grew closer as we both matured and had families of our own, and shared holidays and family gatherings. Admittedly we both have strong personalities and there were times we didn't see eye to eye, but our differences never got in the way of our respect and love for one another. Now in our fifties and both with stable lives and incomes, I was stunned at how much had changed between us, and in such a short amount of time. Just three years younger than me, my brother and I were raised in a close-knit Cuban immigrant family, and have always remained close as adults, sharing holidays and gathering regularly for family meals at his home, which had become the family gathering spot. Yet beginning in 2016, he seemed to be transformed from a sweet man with a passing interest in politics to … [Read more...] about “Trump changed my brother, I want him back”

The South Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) will organise the sixth edition of the SICCI CXO conclave for adopting Industry 4.0 processes, in the city on Friday. The aim of the convention is to help industries achieve manufacturing competitiveness in the changing technology world which was struggling to rise above the impact of the pandemic. The conclave set to the theme “Technology and Manufacturing - Trends, Policies and Perspectives” would be held at Hotel The Park on Friday. The aim of the conclave was to give a push for the manufacturing companies to make use of smart manufacturing and artificial intelligence-based solutions. The Industry 4.0 processes would help the industries make use of smart manufacturing framework to reap the benefits of increased productivity, higher efficiencies and lower costs. Ar. Rm. Arun, president of SICCI, and V.N. Shiva Shankar, vice-president of SICCI, would participate in the conclave. Prominent among the other speakers … [Read more...] about SICCI CXO conclave on May 20

This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Every Monday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Question of the Week Caitlin Flanagan’s masterful “ Chasing Joan Didion ” has me thinking about travel. What have you learned while away from home? Paint a picture of where you went and share your insights. Conversations of Note Top of the mind: the mass shooting Saturday in Buffalo, New York, in which a white-supremacist terrorist killed 10 people. My colleague Graeme Wood, an expert on murderous extremists , read the killer’s apparent manifesto and grappled with whether it ought to be shared or suppressed. The Los Angeles Times editorial board argued that “Americans have ignored the insidious creep of white supremacy into the public discourse to the point that it has become normalized.” … [Read more...] about Tucker Carlson Deserves Blame—But Not for Buffalo

Ministers have snubbed calls for systems to monitor the amounts of untreated sewage pumped into rivers. Campaigners hoped studying the volume of waste legally discharged into waterways would shame companies into cutting the practice. But, despite a demand from the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, the Government has refused to budge. The committee said today: “Following widespread criticism from members of the public, campaigners and parliamentarians, water companies have now committed to improve transparency around the industry’s use of storm overflows. Get a daily morning politics briefing straight to your inbox. Sign up for the free Mirror Politics newsletter “Improved overflow monitoring is essential to transforming understanding the frequency and nature of discharges of sewage from combined sewer overflows. Water companies are coming under increasing pressure to stop discharging sewage into water courses ( Image: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock) … [Read more...] about Ministers snub plea for systems to monitor amount of sewage pumped into rivers

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Four European Union countries plan to build North Sea wind farms capable of producing at least 150 gigawatts of energy by 2050 to help cut carbon emissions that cause climate change, Danish media reported Wednesday. Under the plan, wind turbines would be raised off the coasts of Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, daily Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten said. The project would mean a tenfold increase in the EU's current offshore wind capacity. “The North Sea can do a lot," Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen told the newspaper, adding the close cooperation between the four EU nations "must start now.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo are scheduled to attend a North Sea Summit on Wednesday in Esbjerg, 260 … [Read more...] about Reports: 4 European nations to build North Sea wind farms

Sawdust will be a key component in tomorrow's toilets. It is part of the basic kit that makes up a composting toilet, at least those created by S'Klo, a company from the Black Forest in Germany. Most other firms in the business use a similar model. Fridolin Einwald and Michael Heizmann build the toilets themselves and deliver them when clients order them for use at a wedding, say, or a company party or to be dotted along a hiking trail. According to Einwald, many of their clients are "nature-oriented and environmentally aware". The thinking with this kind of toilet is to save water by using sawdust instead of flushing away the waste. The sawdust stops faecal odours from forming, says Einwald. "At worst, it smells like a farm." His concern is not to waste drinking water. "A lot of people don't even think about what happens when we flush the toilet." After using this composting toilet, you cover the waste with sawdust, instead of flushing it away. Every day, each … [Read more...] about Composting toilets help to conserve water

Disruptive humans have played a major role in wiping out at least 187 species of birds since 1500. Two natural enemies – rodents and cats – have almost been as lethal. According to the State of the World’s Birds, a global study on the status of avian species, introduced mammals or invasive predators are the primary driver of extinctions of localised bird species. While rodents have been linked to the extinction of 52 bird species, cats have accounted for 40. “At least 187 avian extinctions have been confirmed or suspected since 1500 [baseline year for the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature], 90% of which pertain to endemic insular species concentrated on the Hawaiian Islands, mainland Australia and islands, the Mascarene Islands, New Zealand, and French Polynesia,” the study says in the section on patterns and trends of extinctions. The birds that vanished from these islands belonged to 109 taxa or taxonomical groups, most of them (33) in the Hawaiian … [Read more...] about Together, rodents and cats wiped out 92 species of birds, says study

Left-wing challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner holds a commanding lead over incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) in the primary race for Oregon’s 5th congressional district, with over 60% of the vote as ballots continued to be tallied Wednesday. The 5th congressional district was redrawn to include more Republican areas, making Schrader vulnerable in the fall in a tough environment for Democrats. But the increasingly polarized nature of national politics meant that Schrader, one of the few fiscally conservative Democrats left in the caucus, was also vulnerable to a challenge from the increasingly radical left. The Wall Street Journal noted last week: Mr. Schrader must make it through a May 17 primary where he is being challenged from his left over not doing more to move the Democratic agenda through Congress. Mr. Schrader raised concerns about the cost of Democrats’ social-policy and climate package and in committee opposed a bill to allow the government to negotiate the price … [Read more...] about Oregon Primary: Left-wing Challenger Holds Big Lead over Incumbent Dem Kurt Schrader

Luxury automobile makers like Lamborghini, Mercedes Benz, and BMW, are all seeing strong demand for their models in the premium end, despite the COVID-related disruptions, largely due to a shift in customer profile to younger, first-generation entrepreneurs, who believe in the ‘you only live once’ philosophy. Varun Kalyanasundaram, a 33-year-old director at Chennai-based Polimer Media, bought his first luxury car nearly 10 years ago “because of the sheer driving pleasure, technology and most importantly comfort.” Mr. Kalyanasundaram currently owns a BMW X7, Mercedes Benz S class, Mercedes Benz GLS, an Audi E-tron, and is now eyeing the Mercedes Benz Maybach GLS. “I drive by myself. I don’t have a chauffeur. I like long drives and the pleasure of driving is most important. The technology should be included, but I need comfort. That is it.,” he says. Sharad Agarwal, Head, Lamborghini India, says there has been a shift in the customer profile over the years. “We are seeing younger, … [Read more...] about Younger clientele driving luxury car sales in India

This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic , Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here. “T hink of this as a travel piece,” she might have written. “Imagine it in Sunset magazine: ‘Five Great California Stops Along the Joan Didion Trail.’ ” Or think of this as what it really is: a road trip of magical thinking. I had known that Didion’s Parkinson’s was advancing; seven or eight months earlier, someone had told me that she was vanishing; someone else had told me that for the past two years, she hadn’t been able to speak. I didn’t want her to die. My sense of myself is in many ways wrapped up in the 40 essays in Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album . I don’t know how many times I’ve read Democracy . “Call me the author,” she writes in that novel. “Let the reader be introduced to Joan Didion.” There are people who admire Joan Didion, and people who … [Read more...] about Joan Didion’s Magic Trick