An Asian megacity partially locked down because of pollution. Acres of farms in Africa destroyed by extreme weather. Ancient Arctic cultures disappearing with melting ice.
This isn’t the future. It’s happening now.
“I have a lot of problems with coughing as soon as I go out of the room,” says Mukesh Khare, professor emeritus at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. In November 2021 authorities in New Delhi closed schools, temporarily banned construction activities and advised people to work from home. A response to choking smog.
In Africa, extreme weather has become far more common than it once was, from blistering heat and drought to erratic, torrential rainfall and the devastating floods that ensue, says Dr Catherine Nakalembe at the University of Maryland, in the US. “These extreme 1-in-30-year events have become one-in-every-three-year events. People don’t have time to adjust.”
And in the cultural region of Sápmi, which stretches across parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, Saami reindeer herders have told postdoctoral researcher Dr Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi at the University of Oulu in Finland that the threat of climate change is dissuading young people from learning traditional herding techniques. “They fear the effects and the future,” one of his sources told him. “If they don’t start, then our reindeer herding culture will disappear.”
Bu hikaye BBC Science Focus dergisinin New Year 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye BBC Science Focus dergisinin New Year 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
5 SIMPLE WAYS TO RECLAIM YOUR ATTENTION
Primed for constant interruptions, your brain is now distracting itself, says science. It's time to break the cycle and retrain your focus
GOING ROGUE
Some planets are stuck following the same orbital paths their entire lives. Others break free to wander alone through the vast, empty darkness of interstellar space and there's a lot more of them than you might think
BED BUGS VS THE WORLD
When bloodthirsty bed bugs made headlines for infesting Paris Fashion Week in 2023, it shone a spotlight on a problem that's been making experts itch for decades: the arms race going on between bed bugs and humans. Now, with the 2024 Summer Olympics fast approaching, the stakes are higher than ever
THE EYES THAT WATCH THE SKY
When it launches in 2026, the Copernicus programme's Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring satellite will give us a new window on to Earth's atmosphere... And how we're altering it
TIME-RESTRICTED EATING LINKED TO HIGHER RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DEATH
Skipping breakfast might not be so good for your health, after all
INSIDE THE PROJECT TO SCAN THOUSANDS OF RARE SPECIMENS
A major collaborative project has created 3D reconstructions of previously locked away museum specimens
VIDEO IS FIRST EVIDENCE OF AN ORCA KILLING A GREAT WHITE
Tourists sailing off the South African coast film a never-before-seen event: a lone orca attacking a 2.5m shark
AI REVEALS PROSTATE CANCER IS NOT JUST ONE DISEASE
DNA analysis carried out by artificial intelligence has helped scientists make a discovery that could revolutionise future treatment
MYSTERIOUS WAVES DETECTED IN JUPITER'S CORE
Scientists hope unusual fluctuations in the gas giant's magnetic field might reveal what's inside
MINI ORGANS GROWN FROM UNBORN BABIES MARK A BREAKTHROUGH IN PRENATAL MEDICINE
A new technique could allow congenital conditions to be diagnosed and treated before birth