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Il collasso dell’AMOC diventa un rischio reale

  Il collasso dell’AMOC diventa un rischio reale Quando un governo considera una corrente oceanica un problema di sicurezza nazionale, significa che qualcosa è cambiato davvero. L’Islanda ha ufficialmente classificato il possibile collasso dell’AMOC — la grande circolazione che porta calore dall’Atlantico ai mari del Nord — come minaccia esistenziale. Una decisione rara. E un segnale forte per l’Europa. Perché l’AMOC è così importante L’AMOC funziona come un gigantesco nastro trasportatore: acqua calda dai tropici sale verso nord, si raffredda, affonda e torna indietro in profondità. È questo flusso a rendere gli inverni europei sorprendentemente miti per la latitudine. Il problema è la velocità del cambiamento. L’acqua dolce proveniente dallo scioglimento della Groenlandia sta “diluendo” l’Atlantico del Nord, disturbando il meccanismo che permette all’acqua salata di affondare. Se l’affondamento rallenta, l’intero circuito si indebolisce. Se si ferma, collassa. Gli scienzia...
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Vital Surveillances: The Epidemiological Characteristics of an Outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19) — China, 2020

The Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Emergency Response Epidemiology Team ,  Abstract Background:  An outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China has spread quickly nationwide. Here, we report results of a descriptive, exploratory analysis of all cases diagnosed as of February 11, 2020. Methods:  All COVID-19 cases reported through February 11, 2020 were extracted from China’s Infectious Disease Information System. Analyses included the following: 1) summary of patient characteristics; 2) examination of age distributions and sex ratios; 3) calculation of case fatality and mortality rates; 4) geo-temporal analysis of viral spread; 5) epidemiological curve construction; and 6) subgroup analysis. Results:  A total of 72,314 patient records—44,672 (61.8%) confirmed cases, 16,186 (22.4%) suspected cases, 10,567 (14.6%) clinically diagnosed cases (Hubei Province only), and 889 asymptomatic cases (1.2%)—contributed ...
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Nigeria: 3 miti sul settore FinTech

Negli ultimi mesi, c'è stata una grande eccitazione per il dinamismo e la promessa del settore fintech della Nigeria, in gran parte a causa di numerosi importanti investimenti cinesi. Solo a novembre, le start-up nigeriane di fintech hanno attirato $ 360 milioni, equivalenti a un terzo degli investimenti di capitale di rischio totali raccolti in tutta l'Africa nel 2018 (oltre la metà proveniva da investitori cinesi). Il forte interesse per il fintech nigeriano aiuta a sostenere lo sviluppo dell'ecosistema tecnologico del continente.  Ma il recente flusso di capitali sembra dipendere eccessivamente da tre miti sul settore, che devono tutti essere affrontati in modo che il fintech possa raggiungere il suo pieno potenziale. Mito n. 1: Fintech sta guidando l'inclusione finanziaria in Nigeria La sola Fintech non può catalizzare l'inclusione finanziaria diffusa in Nigeria.  Per ovvi motivi, i prestiti erogati dai servizi fintech nigeriani possono raggiungere so...
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Sokowatch raccoglie $ 14 milioni per digitalizzare la catena di fornitura B2B informale dell'Africa

Jake Bright  @  JakeRBright  Kenia  Sokowatch, una  startup di e-commerce  B2B con  sede in  S  ha raccolto 14 milioni di dollari in serie A per la sua missione di rinnovamento dei mercati della catena di approvvigionamento per i rivenditori informali africani. Da Nairobi, la società ha creato una piattaforma che collega i commercianti direttamente ai fornitori locali e multinazionali, come  Unilever  e Proctor and Gamble - e digitalizza ordini, pagamenti e logistica di consegna. Dal lancio nel 2016 e dalla raccolta di un seme di $ 2 milioni nel 2018,  Sokowatch  si è espanso in Kenya e in Ruanda, Tanzania e Uganda. Sokowatch joins other B2B oriented ventures like @kobo_360 @lorisystems @SendyMobile and @TwigaFoods that have drawn significant capital over the last 12 months. These four startups raised $100m in total in this period. https://t.co/Hmmg4xmPnv — Insider PR (@InsiderPR1) February 24, 2020
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There's One Factor That Can Tell Us if The Coronavirus Outbreak Is Slowing Down

ARIA BENDIX, BUSINESS INSIDER It has been more than seven weeks since  the coronavirus outbreak  started in Wuhan, China. Since then, at least 2,250 people have died and more than 76,000 have gotten sick. The virus' continued spread prompts an obvious question: When will this end? A  recent study from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control  found that  illnesses in China may have peaked on February 1 , when the largest number of patients started showing symptoms. That could be a sign that the outbreak is already tapering off, but the researchers also warned that it could rebound once Chinese residents return to school and work. "The data from China continue to show a decline in new confirmed cases," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organisation, said at a press conference on Thursday.
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Yes, you’ll likely get it – Harvard epidemiologist says most of the world will be infected by next year

The Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch is exacting in his diction, even for an epidemiologist. Twice in our conversation he started to say something, then paused and said, “Actually, let me start again.” So it’s striking when one of the points he wanted to get exactly right was this: “I think the likely outcome is that it will ultimately not be containable.” Containment is the first step in responding to any outbreak. In the case of  COVID-19 , the possibility (however implausible) of preventing a pandemic seemed to play out in a matter of days. Starting in January, China began cordoning off progressively larger areas, radiating outward from Wuhan City and eventually encapsulating some 100 million people. People were barred from leaving home, and lectured by drones if they were caught outside. Nonetheless, the virus has now been found in 30 countries. The Atlantic
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Thousands line up for face masks in S. Korea – Garrett warns “if Singapore fails to control their outbreak; we’re screwed”

Thousands of people have been filmed queuing up to buy face masks in the city at the center of South Korea's coronavirus outbreak. A long line of people snaked out the doors of a supermarket in the city of Daegu on Monday as people tried to protect themselves against the spread of the disease amid fears of a global pandemic. South Korea now has the largest number of confirmed cases outside of mainland China after infections spiked at the weekend, standing at 830 by Monday morning. Eight people have also died from the disease in the Asian country. Thousands stood in line for face masks in South Korea - something the American public would likely never do - but that too, may change if this coronavirus outbreak continues to worsen.
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Scientists Are Deeply Concerned These 5 Cascading Crises Threaten Future Generations

ANTHONY CAPON, THE CONVERSATION The bushfires raging across Australia this summer have sharpened the focus on how climate change affects human health. This season bushfires have already claimed more than  30 human lives , and many people have grappled with smoke inhalation and mental health concerns. The changing nature of bushfires around the world is one of the tragic consequences of climate change highlighted in  Our Future on Earth, 2020  – a report published on Friday by  Future Earth , an international sustainability research network.
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New Telescope Images of Betelgeuse Reveal Details of Its Mysterious Dimming FRASER CAIN, UNIVERSE TODAY

Near the end of 2019, astronomers watching the red giant Betelgeuse noted  how much the star had dimmed , continuing to steadily fade for months. It's a variable star, and it's known to get dimmer and brighter, but the big surprise is that it's still continuing to dim, recently passing magnitude 1.56 and still getting dimmer. This is unprecedented in the decades that astronomers have been watching the star. The world's biggest telescopes are on the case, and the European Southern Observatory released dramatic new images of Betelguese, resolving features on the star's surface and surrounding area showing how it's dramatically changed over the course of 2019.
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Scientists Warn That We Must Prepare For The Next Global Viral Outbreak Now

DAVID E. BLOOM & DANIEL CADARETTE, THE CONVERSATION The coronavirus outbreak is officially a crisis – let's not waste it. Undeniably, the international community is taking the matter very seriously, as it should given that the death total from the COVID-19 epidemic  already well surpasses that from SARS  in the early 2000s. The World Health Organization  declared  the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, researchers across the globe  are furiously working  on  vaccines  against COVID-19, and governments including the US and UK  have allocated  more funds to  boost research and development .
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Scientists Have Discovered a Brand New Electronic State of Matter

DAVID NIELD 22 FEB 2020 Scientists have observed a new state of electronic matter on the quantum scale, one that forms when electrons clump together in transit, and it could advance our understanding and application of quantum physics. Movement is key to this new quantum state. When electric current is applied to semiconductors or metals, the electrons inside usually travel slowly and somewhat haphazardly in one direction.
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New NASA Photos From Antarctica Reveal Shocking Levels of Ice Melt

JACINTA BOWLER 24 FEB 2020 Antarctica is supposed to be an extremely cold place.  The annual mean temperature  of the snow-laden continent's central area is -57 degrees Celsius (−70.6°F); even the coast averages around -10°C (14°F). But on February 6, the weather station at  Esperanza Base  on the Antarctic Peninsula - the northernmost tip of the content - logged the hottest temperature  ever recorded on the mainland , at 18.3°C (64.9°F).
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There's One Factor That Can Tell Us if The Coronavirus Outbreak Is Slowing Down

ARIA BENDIX, BUSINESS INSIDER 24 FEB 2020 It has been more than seven weeks since  the coronavirus outbreak  started in Wuhan, China. Since then, at least 2,250 people have died and more than 76,000 have gotten sick. The virus' continued spread prompts an obvious question: When will this end? A  recent study from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control  found that  illnesses in China may have peaked on February 1 , when the largest number of patients started showing symptoms. That could be a sign that the outbreak is already tapering off, but the researchers also warned that it could rebound once Chinese residents return to school and work. "The data from China continue to show a decline in new confirmed cases," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organisation, said at a press conference on Thursday. "We're encouraged by this trend, but this is no time for complacency." Lauren Ancel Meyers, an e...
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How do you disinfect a city five times the size of London? by Xinhua reporter

How do you disinfect a city five times the size of London? Follow Xinhua reporter @XuZeyu_Philip as he shadows a water cannon squad in #Wuhan #WuhanToday epi.06 #eyewitness   How do you disinfect a city five times the size of London? Follow Xinhua reporter @XuZeyu_Philip as he shadows a water cannon squad in #Wuhan #WuhanToday epi.06 #eyewitness pic.twitter.com/aBkkkKG6ov — China Xinhua News (@XHNews) February 19, 2020
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Looming Disaster: Locusts could be the next plague to hit China

HONG KONG   — Swarms of desert locusts have devastated crops in East Africa, hit   the   Middle East and moved into South Asia. They’re breeding fast thanks   to   changes in global climate patterns that have brought about major cyclones and heavy rains, and they are feeding off human food supplies across continents. So far, India has managed   to   prevent   a   swarm of biblical proportions from spilling over into Bangladesh, Burma, and then China—where   the   coronavirus has already paralyzed much of   the   country’s activity. But it’s not clear how long that line will hold. Eastern Africa has been hit  the  hardest by  the  xanthic bugs, with fields in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia ravaged by 360 billion locusts. Swarms can be city-sized, and one of  the  largest—located in Kenya—covers about 37 miles by 25 miles. It is so dense that it turns ...
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First documented case: 20-year-old asymptomatic woman infects 5 members of her family

Deadly transmission :  The   SARS-CoV-2   virus can be transmitted person- to -person via  the  aerosol route by an asymptomatic carrier - which is why everyone should be wearing masks. A  20-year-old woman, who showed no symptoms of  the  new coronavirus and had normal chest CT imaging results but ended up passing  the  infection  to  five of her relatives. Ever since scientists have been asking if  a  person can have this infection and not be ill.  The  new case study offers decisive evidence that  the  virus can be spread asymptomatically, which could make efforts  to  curb  the  outbreak even more challenging, say experts.  The  researchers of  the  current study are calling it  the  first documented case of transmission from an asymptomatic person with normal chest CT findings. “ A  novel coronavirus has resulted in an ongoing outbre...
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Mystery deepens in Italy on how the coronavirus is spreading – alleged patient zero tests ‘negative’

How is it spreading ?  Italy raced on Sunday (Feb 23)  to  contain  the  biggest outbreak of coronavirus in Europe, sealing off  the  worst affected towns and banning public gatherings in much of  the  north as  the  number of those infected jumped above 100. Authorities in  the  wealthy regions of Lombardy and Veneto, which are  the  focal point of  the  flare-up, ordered schools and universities  to  close for at least  a  week, shut museums and cinemas and called off  the  last two days of  the  Venice Carnival. “As of this evening, there will be  a  ban on  the  Venice Carnival as well as on all events, including sporting ones, until March 1 inclusive,”  the  regional governor of Veneto, Luca Zaia, told reporters. He said Sunday’s festivities in  the  packed lagoon city would continue  to  prevent any pub...
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