Space is getting more crowded and more commercialized. This is leading to a growing risk of collisions between satellites and space junk, and means that new regulations on the use of space are urgently needed.
Those are some of the conclusions of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2022, which warns that if satellites fail, whether due to natural or human events, the consequences for life on Earth could be profound.
Global navigation and communication systems are heavily dependent on space technology, the report says, but so too are energy and water supplies, financial infrastructure, broadband internet and television and radio services.
Yet if a single piece of space junk strikes just one satellite, it could cause a cloud of debris that takes out many more and results in a “cascading effect” on critical services. That’s according to one theory, called the Kessler Effect.
Read more at:
Is the commercialization of space a risk too far? | World Economic Forum
Showing posts with label Dangers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dangers. Show all posts
4/15/22
Nuclear War: What the science says: Could humans survive a nuclear war between NATO and Russia?
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has suggested that he would consider using nuclear weapons if confronted with a NATO military response in Ukraine, or if faced with a direct threat to his person or regime. If the war spreads to a NATO country like Estonia or Poland a direct US-Russia confrontation would take place, with a clear danger of runaway nuclear escalation.
The world is therefore arguably now closer to nuclear conflict than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. So what would a full-scale nuclear exchange look like in reality? Is it truly global Armageddon, or would it be survivable for some people and places?
Many scientists have investigated this question already. Their work is surprisingly little known, likely because in peacetime no one wants to think the unthinkable. But we are no longer in peacetime and the shadows of multiple mushroom clouds are looming once again over our planet.
Read more at: What the science says: Could humans survive a nuclear war between NATO and Russia? - Alliance for Science
The world is therefore arguably now closer to nuclear conflict than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. So what would a full-scale nuclear exchange look like in reality? Is it truly global Armageddon, or would it be survivable for some people and places?
Many scientists have investigated this question already. Their work is surprisingly little known, likely because in peacetime no one wants to think the unthinkable. But we are no longer in peacetime and the shadows of multiple mushroom clouds are looming once again over our planet.
Read more at: What the science says: Could humans survive a nuclear war between NATO and Russia? - Alliance for Science
4/14/22
IMF chief: Ukraine war and inflation threaten global economy
The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday that Russia’s war against Ukraine was weakening the economic prospects for most of the world’s countries and called high inflation “a clear and present danger” to the global economy.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the consequences of Russia’s invasion were contributing to economic downgrades for 143 countries, although most of them should continue to grow. The war has disrupted global trade in energy and grain and is threatening to cause food shortages in Africa and Middle East.
Georgieva made her comments in a speech on the eve of next week’s spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington.
Read more at: IMF chief: Ukraine war and inflation threaten global economy | AP News
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the consequences of Russia’s invasion were contributing to economic downgrades for 143 countries, although most of them should continue to grow. The war has disrupted global trade in energy and grain and is threatening to cause food shortages in Africa and Middle East.
Georgieva made her comments in a speech on the eve of next week’s spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington.
Read more at: IMF chief: Ukraine war and inflation threaten global economy | AP News
9/6/21
The Netherlands: Climate change poses serious health risk for people in the Netherlands, says expert
The Dutch medicine journal NTvG joined 200 other medical journals worldwide in their call for world leaders to intensify their effort in combating climate change, NOS reported.
Climate change poses an immediate risk for public health, the experts said. “Climate change and the decline in biodiversity is a much larger problem than the pandemic”, NTvG editor-in-chief Olde Rikkert told NOS Radio 1 Journaal. “While you do have a vaccine for the coronavirus, you don’t have that for climate change and biodiversity.”
The experts said they believe the earth is steering towards a two degrees Celsius temperature increase.
Read more at: Climate change poses serious health risk for people in the Netherlands, says expert | NL Times
Climate change poses an immediate risk for public health, the experts said. “Climate change and the decline in biodiversity is a much larger problem than the pandemic”, NTvG editor-in-chief Olde Rikkert told NOS Radio 1 Journaal. “While you do have a vaccine for the coronavirus, you don’t have that for climate change and biodiversity.”
The experts said they believe the earth is steering towards a two degrees Celsius temperature increase.
Read more at: Climate change poses serious health risk for people in the Netherlands, says expert | NL Times
5/14/21
US Economy: Unfilled jobs, unemployment and price rises show Biden's spending plans carry major risks - by W. James Antle III
We're a long way from the stagflation of those bad old days under President Jimmy Carter, with the economy growing at a brisk 6.4 percent annual rate as the world reopens and the pandemic recedes. Still, a recent spate of bad economic news in what should be a fairly robust recovery is a warning that President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats' approach to fiscal policy could reap negative unintended consequences.
Read more at: W. James Antle III: Unfilled jobs, unemployment and price rises show Biden's spending plans carry major risks
Read more at: W. James Antle III: Unfilled jobs, unemployment and price rises show Biden's spending plans carry major risks
3/21/20
USA: Trump did not heed to early warnings about impending dangers of Coronavirus
What a difference a real leader makes if you watch Andrew Cuomo holding his daily press
conference about the Coronavirus. The man is cool, intelligent, to the point, and informative.
Now compare Cuomo's performance with the rambling and self adulation of Trump at his
press conferences.
Always blaming everyone else but himself.
To make matters worse, we have also learned recently that Trump was warned about the Coronavirus already in January and February, by US Intelligence Services, but did nothing about it, except denying the potential threat that the virus posed to the country.
Consequently , it is fair to assume, that those families of Coronavirus patients, who lost their lives, as a result of the negligence by the Trump Administration to act upon these early warnings, should consider legal action against those ,who were negligent by not providing advance warning of the Coronavirus danger to the US nation.
Reprint of this article only allowed if EU-Digest is referred to as the source
EU-Digest
 |
| Donald Trump Press meetings : rambling, self adulation, lying |
Always blaming everyone else but himself.
To make matters worse, we have also learned recently that Trump was warned about the Coronavirus already in January and February, by US Intelligence Services, but did nothing about it, except denying the potential threat that the virus posed to the country.
Consequently , it is fair to assume, that those families of Coronavirus patients, who lost their lives, as a result of the negligence by the Trump Administration to act upon these early warnings, should consider legal action against those ,who were negligent by not providing advance warning of the Coronavirus danger to the US nation.
Reprint of this article only allowed if EU-Digest is referred to as the source
EU-Digest
8/21/17
ECB concerned stronger euro could derail economic recovery
European Central Bank (ECB) governors are concerned that a further hike
in the value of the euro, making exports less attractive and imports
cheaper, could derail the economic region’s recovery. In minutes
from their meeting on 19-20 July 2017, released on Thursday, they said
there is a "risk of the exchange rate overshooting in the future". Some
concerns were also voiced about "policy uncertainty in the United
States".
Read more: ECB concerned stronger euro could derail economic recovery
Read more: ECB concerned stronger euro could derail economic recovery
2/2/15
The $4 trillion question for the US economy - by Jeff Cox
Business investment has played an integral role in hopes that a
bustling U.S. economy would light the way for the rest of the world in
2015.
Tumbling gas prices, a newly resurgent U.S. dollar and a weak-spending consumer have taken considerable luster off that picture.
In fact, companies reporting quarterly earnings are predicting not robust times ahead but rather tepid profit growth, with a cornerstone of those forecasts being a drop, not a rise, in capital expenditures, or capex.
Goldman Sachs lowered its capex forecast from a gain of 6 percent to a decline of 3 percent, a stunning turnaround that the firm attributed primarily to weakened energy companies that have suffered from oil's decline. The number represents the worst figure since the financial crisis days of 2009.
"We expect total energy capex will collapse by 25 percent in 2015," Goldman said in a report for clients. "The sector accounts for 33 percent of S&P 500 capex and should drag total S&P 500 capital expenditure growth into negative territory."
"Consumers appear to be somewhat fatigued in their spending patterns, pulling back noticeably at the end of the year despite lower gas prices," Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Sterne Agee, said in a note. "In the end, low gas prices will provide only a temporary boost while the key equation in terms of long-term success remains organic job and sustainable income growth."
Read more: The $4 trillion question for the US economy
Tumbling gas prices, a newly resurgent U.S. dollar and a weak-spending consumer have taken considerable luster off that picture.
In fact, companies reporting quarterly earnings are predicting not robust times ahead but rather tepid profit growth, with a cornerstone of those forecasts being a drop, not a rise, in capital expenditures, or capex.
Goldman Sachs lowered its capex forecast from a gain of 6 percent to a decline of 3 percent, a stunning turnaround that the firm attributed primarily to weakened energy companies that have suffered from oil's decline. The number represents the worst figure since the financial crisis days of 2009.
"We expect total energy capex will collapse by 25 percent in 2015," Goldman said in a report for clients. "The sector accounts for 33 percent of S&P 500 capex and should drag total S&P 500 capital expenditure growth into negative territory."
"Consumers appear to be somewhat fatigued in their spending patterns, pulling back noticeably at the end of the year despite lower gas prices," Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Sterne Agee, said in a note. "In the end, low gas prices will provide only a temporary boost while the key equation in terms of long-term success remains organic job and sustainable income growth."
Read more: The $4 trillion question for the US economy
10/6/14
ISES: The European Union Must Face the Islamic State
Diplomatic missions, think tanks, and the media are rife with
analyses of the Islamic State. Assessments of how to deal with the
jihadist group range from “wait and see” to “degrade and destroy,” and
there are even mundane controversies about whether the entity should be
called the Islamic State (IS), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or Da’esh (the
movement’s Arabic acronym)—even though these names carry almost
identical meanings.
The bottom line is that the self-proclaimed Islamic State, which has now taken hold in large parts of Iraq and Syria, is posing unprecedented challenges to the Western community of nations. The group is a particular threat to European states. To cope with those aspects of the situation that are specific to Europe, EU leaders must focus their efforts on five key areas: counterterrorism cooperation, the interruption of financial flows to the Islamic State, humanitarian assistance, political dialogue, and long-term policy reforms.
There are striking differences between the Islamic State’s modus operandi and that of other jihadist movements active in recent years, namely al-Qaeda from September 2001 onward and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in 2013. Three particular contrasts are discernible.
First, the Islamic State’s current military strategy—including its funding, equipment, manpower, and operational capabilities—is much more sophisticated than anything the West has witnessed from similar groups. The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington in 2001, in Djerba in 2002, in Madrid in 2004, or in London in 2005, as tragic as they were, were one-off and localized. Some were suicide operations, while others were hit-and-run bombings. In January 2013, AQIM conducted a military surge in Mali, in an attempt to “acquire” an entire country by force and turn it into a base for further operations in the region, using captured airfields and military or communication facilities; but even that attack was very modest compared with current IS operations.
The second element that distinguishes the Islamic State from other terrorist groups is the deep roots it has developed in Western Europe, the Maghreb, and Turkey, as well as the Middle East, where it has recruited several thousand jihadists. Data show that the larger contingents come from the Middle East (5,800), the Maghreb countries (5,300), the EU (2,600 to 3,000), and Turkey (anywhere between 400 and 1,000). Numbers given by official agencies are substantially higher.
More importantly, the Islamic State’s power to attract young, underemployed, loosely indoctrinated people can be very high. The combination of recruitment circuits, networks of sympathizers, and returnees from the Middle East with a mission to recruit more jihadists produces a substantial potential for social destabilization, especially as radicalized Muslim communities tend to be geographically concentrated. What is more, this radicalization is happening in a political context in which xenophobia and extreme right-wing political parties are rising at an accelerated pace.
Thirdly: The EU’s 28 countries have a total population of 505 million. Counting citizens and immigrants, these states’ Muslim population is about 20 million. For 2,600 to 3,000 young men and women to be actively involved in jihadist movements may therefore seem almost negligible.
This would be an erroneous assessment, in part because estimates are growing by the day.Given this context, the overwhelming aims for European governments must be to severely curtail the recruitment of European jihadists by the Islamic State, impede the recruits’ transit to Syria and Iraq, and put returnee militants under strict surveillance. Preventing jihadists from leaving Europe is also key. The European countries concerned have already revamped procedures and launched new forms of cooperation to address these tasks, but they should do more. The implications of such steps are momentous and concern many domains: freedom of movement within the EU, management of the Schengen area, counterterrorism coordination, antiterrorism legislation, regulation of political activities, and even freedom of expression.
Read more: The European Union Must Face the Islamic State
The bottom line is that the self-proclaimed Islamic State, which has now taken hold in large parts of Iraq and Syria, is posing unprecedented challenges to the Western community of nations. The group is a particular threat to European states. To cope with those aspects of the situation that are specific to Europe, EU leaders must focus their efforts on five key areas: counterterrorism cooperation, the interruption of financial flows to the Islamic State, humanitarian assistance, political dialogue, and long-term policy reforms.
There are striking differences between the Islamic State’s modus operandi and that of other jihadist movements active in recent years, namely al-Qaeda from September 2001 onward and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in 2013. Three particular contrasts are discernible.
First, the Islamic State’s current military strategy—including its funding, equipment, manpower, and operational capabilities—is much more sophisticated than anything the West has witnessed from similar groups. The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington in 2001, in Djerba in 2002, in Madrid in 2004, or in London in 2005, as tragic as they were, were one-off and localized. Some were suicide operations, while others were hit-and-run bombings. In January 2013, AQIM conducted a military surge in Mali, in an attempt to “acquire” an entire country by force and turn it into a base for further operations in the region, using captured airfields and military or communication facilities; but even that attack was very modest compared with current IS operations.
The second element that distinguishes the Islamic State from other terrorist groups is the deep roots it has developed in Western Europe, the Maghreb, and Turkey, as well as the Middle East, where it has recruited several thousand jihadists. Data show that the larger contingents come from the Middle East (5,800), the Maghreb countries (5,300), the EU (2,600 to 3,000), and Turkey (anywhere between 400 and 1,000). Numbers given by official agencies are substantially higher.
More importantly, the Islamic State’s power to attract young, underemployed, loosely indoctrinated people can be very high. The combination of recruitment circuits, networks of sympathizers, and returnees from the Middle East with a mission to recruit more jihadists produces a substantial potential for social destabilization, especially as radicalized Muslim communities tend to be geographically concentrated. What is more, this radicalization is happening in a political context in which xenophobia and extreme right-wing political parties are rising at an accelerated pace.
Thirdly: The EU’s 28 countries have a total population of 505 million. Counting citizens and immigrants, these states’ Muslim population is about 20 million. For 2,600 to 3,000 young men and women to be actively involved in jihadist movements may therefore seem almost negligible.
This would be an erroneous assessment, in part because estimates are growing by the day.Given this context, the overwhelming aims for European governments must be to severely curtail the recruitment of European jihadists by the Islamic State, impede the recruits’ transit to Syria and Iraq, and put returnee militants under strict surveillance. Preventing jihadists from leaving Europe is also key. The European countries concerned have already revamped procedures and launched new forms of cooperation to address these tasks, but they should do more. The implications of such steps are momentous and concern many domains: freedom of movement within the EU, management of the Schengen area, counterterrorism coordination, antiterrorism legislation, regulation of political activities, and even freedom of expression.
Read more: The European Union Must Face the Islamic State
6/3/14
The Syrian War Comes Home to Europe
It is a scenario that counter-terrorism experts have been warning about
for the past two years: a European citizen who travelled to Syria in
order to join up with jihadist groups returns to Europe in order to
carry out a terrorist attack. It is something we all knew eventually
would become a reality and, more worryingly, knew we could not prevent.
On May 24, a lone gunman opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing an Israeli couple and a French woman before escaping. On May 30, a 29-year old French national by the name of Mehdi Nemmouche was arrested getting off a bus in Marseille after a routine customs search found guns and ammunition in his luggage. They were of the same kind used in the shooting—and with them, reportedly, was a 40-second video claiming responsibility.
It turns out that Nemmouche had travelled previously to Syria and fought alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (abbreviated to ISIL or ISIS) before returning to his native France. Prior to his Syria trip he served time in a French prison for armed robbery, among other offenses. It was during his stint in prison that he is believed to have become radicalized and there have been reports that he proselytized extremist ideology while he was incarcerated.
Nemmouche has not been convicted of the Jewish Museum shooting yet, but the evidence pointing in his direction, thus far, is fairly damning. Already, debates about “lone wolf” terrorists, prison radicalization and European-Syrian foreign fighters have been revived. The target, a Jewish Museum, should not come as any surprise either, since anti-Semitism is a central part of jihadist ideology.
Read more: The Syrian War Comes Home to Europe - The Daily Beast
On May 24, a lone gunman opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing an Israeli couple and a French woman before escaping. On May 30, a 29-year old French national by the name of Mehdi Nemmouche was arrested getting off a bus in Marseille after a routine customs search found guns and ammunition in his luggage. They were of the same kind used in the shooting—and with them, reportedly, was a 40-second video claiming responsibility.
It turns out that Nemmouche had travelled previously to Syria and fought alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (abbreviated to ISIL or ISIS) before returning to his native France. Prior to his Syria trip he served time in a French prison for armed robbery, among other offenses. It was during his stint in prison that he is believed to have become radicalized and there have been reports that he proselytized extremist ideology while he was incarcerated.
Nemmouche has not been convicted of the Jewish Museum shooting yet, but the evidence pointing in his direction, thus far, is fairly damning. Already, debates about “lone wolf” terrorists, prison radicalization and European-Syrian foreign fighters have been revived. The target, a Jewish Museum, should not come as any surprise either, since anti-Semitism is a central part of jihadist ideology.
Read more: The Syrian War Comes Home to Europe - The Daily Beast
4/16/14
Your cellphone is killing you: What people don’t want you to know about electromagnetic fields - by Martin Blank
You may not realize it, but you are participating in an
unauthorized experiment—“the largest biological experiment ever,” in the
words of Swedish neuro-oncologist Leif Salford. For the first time,
many of us are holding high-powered microwave transmitters—in the form
of cell phones—directly against our heads on a daily basis.
Cell phones generate electromagnetic fields (EMF), and emit electromagnetic radiation (EMR). They share this feature with all modern electronics that run on alternating current (AC) power (from the power grid and the outlets in your walls) or that utilize wireless communication. Different devices radiate different levels of EMF, with different characteristics.
Read more: Your cellphone is killing you: What people don’t want you to know about electromagnetic fields - Salon.com
Cell phones generate electromagnetic fields (EMF), and emit electromagnetic radiation (EMR). They share this feature with all modern electronics that run on alternating current (AC) power (from the power grid and the outlets in your walls) or that utilize wireless communication. Different devices radiate different levels of EMF, with different characteristics.
Read more: Your cellphone is killing you: What people don’t want you to know about electromagnetic fields - Salon.com
2/3/14
5 secrets every smartphone user needs to know -by Kim Komando
Can you believe the modern smartphone has only been around for 6
years? In that short time, it's changed the way society does business,
communicates, flirts, gets news, makes news, plays games and so much
more. According to a Pew survey, more than half of adults in the U.S.
own a smartphone.
That isn't to say most people are smartphone experts. Just owning a smartphone doesn't mean you know all the tricks. In fact, here are five that you might not know, but really should.
Read more: 5 secrets every smartphone user needs to know | Fox News
That isn't to say most people are smartphone experts. Just owning a smartphone doesn't mean you know all the tricks. In fact, here are five that you might not know, but really should.
Read more: 5 secrets every smartphone user needs to know | Fox News
11/15/13
Do migrants to Europe know what they're getting into? - by Eugenio Facci
Another deadly shipwreck of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean, this time off the coast of Greece, is drawing new scrutiny of immigrants' motives to make the dangerous trip to a Europe still wracked by unemployment.
The latest tragedy took place on the Greek island of Lefkada, where a boat overturned in calm weather, killing 12 migrants, who the Associated Press reports are believed to be Syrian. Another 15 migrants survived the incident.
The boat was thought to be headed to Italy, the destination of two ships carrying migrants that capsized early last month near the island of Lampedusa. More than 300 migrants, mostly Eritreans, died in a wreck on Oct. 3. A boat carrying Syrian refugees capsized just a week later, killing more than 30 people.
The scale of the latest accidents have once again reignited the European debate about immigration, leaving Europeans puzzled as to why thousands of people every year choose to face treacherous sea journeys in makeshift boats.
"This cannot be easily understood from a Western perspective," says Franck Düvell, a senior immigration researcher at Oxford University, who points out that those who emigrate are not only fleeing war zones or trying to improve their lives. In many cases, for instance, an individual is not really given the choice of whether to emigrate or not.
Read bmore: Do migrants to Europe know what they're getting into? - CSMonitor.com
The latest tragedy took place on the Greek island of Lefkada, where a boat overturned in calm weather, killing 12 migrants, who the Associated Press reports are believed to be Syrian. Another 15 migrants survived the incident.
The boat was thought to be headed to Italy, the destination of two ships carrying migrants that capsized early last month near the island of Lampedusa. More than 300 migrants, mostly Eritreans, died in a wreck on Oct. 3. A boat carrying Syrian refugees capsized just a week later, killing more than 30 people.
The scale of the latest accidents have once again reignited the European debate about immigration, leaving Europeans puzzled as to why thousands of people every year choose to face treacherous sea journeys in makeshift boats.
"This cannot be easily understood from a Western perspective," says Franck Düvell, a senior immigration researcher at Oxford University, who points out that those who emigrate are not only fleeing war zones or trying to improve their lives. In many cases, for instance, an individual is not really given the choice of whether to emigrate or not.
Read bmore: Do migrants to Europe know what they're getting into? - CSMonitor.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)