Author: The Nexus Report
[ad_1] Between widespread cuts to vital government agencies, various disease and illness outbreaks, and new environmental disaster vulnerabilities, the United States is facing a convergence of crises with widespread repercussions.Yet the Trump administration has hamstrung the federal government from addressing these crises – and in some cases is actively fanning them. Over the past year, the administration has moved to shrink the federal workforce, roll back environmental protections and policies intended to fight the climate crisis, reduced funding for scientific research and is seeking to advance legislation that would impose new voting restrictions.Just this week, Trump delivered an address casting…
[ad_1] In the deserts of the United Arab Emirates a sprawling clean energy project, stretching across an area roughly the size of 12,600 football fields, will play host to a breakthrough allowing solar energy to power the equivalent of half a million homes through the night.The Gulf state has been steadily combining 5.2GW of solar power capacity with 19GWh of battery storage to create the largest battery scheme in the world.Meanwhile, about 7,500 miles away, at the US’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory facility in Colorado, researchers and engineers are making some of the smallest batteries the world has ever seen.…
[ad_1] Amid a summer of dangerous heat, drought and floods, a majority of Americans are connecting increasingly severe weather to the climate crisis, new polling shows, despite efforts by Donald Trump to dismiss global heating as a “con job” and a “hoax”.It’s a sign that attempts to suppress polarize climate concerns may not be seeing full success, said Grace Adcox, senior climate strategist at Data for Progress.“We started with the question of our extreme weather events increasing, because we thought [that] if we can find consensus on that, that can be an entry point to being able to have a…
[ad_1] China’s government has said it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the decision to nationalise British Steel this week, 15 months after the UK government intervened to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs.On Thursday, British Steel was brought under public ownership to protect “the future of steel production”, the government announced.The Department for Business and Trade said the move was essential to maintain steel production at the company’s site in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, to protect the company’s future and UK supply chains.However, China’s Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) said the move dealt “a severe blow…
[ad_1] Hailstones the size of golf balls have been seen in French villages as, on top of the exceptional European heatwave, thunderstorms have struck across parts of Europe.While thunderstorms are typical during and after a period of extreme heat, the storms across countries such as France, Germany and Poland have been particularly severe, bringing flooding, strong winds and heavy showers with large balls of hail.Some people in France reported on social media seeing hailstones with diameters ranging between 5cm and 7cm in the south-east on Wednesday, around the towns of Aubenas, Vals-les-Bains and Lalevade-d’Ardèche, and streets were covered with a…
[ad_1] A Chinese human rights lawyer has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), raising concerns he could be deported to China where he would face persecution.Wu Shaoping fled China at the end of 2019 amid a crackdown on human rights lawyers. He travelled to the US on a tourist visa and made an asylum claim in 2020, for which he is still awaiting a decision.In the US, he found work as an Amazon courier while remaining active in China’s embattled human rights community.On Wednesday, Wu was stopped by ICE officers the Mount Holly Springs borough in Cumberland…
[ad_1] Seven American aid workers who had been in Congo to fight the Ebola outbreak are quarantining at a new isolation facility in Kenya after the US government introduced travel restrictions, the head of a US charity employing them told Reuters.The aid workers are the first known people to quarantine at the facility, which has sparked huge opposition in Kenya and is at the heart of a legal case in which a court has ordered the work to be suspended. Construction continued, however, according to US officials and satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters.Washington’s new policy says American citizens returning from…
[ad_1] An open-air show by the Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny was abandoned in Italy on Saturday night because of a violent hailstorm, but the organiser said ticketholders would be reimbursed.Videos posted on social media showed large hailstones hitting people at the sold-out show, along with strong winds and driving rain, after the star began his set at Milan’s Snai La Maura Hippodrome.“Due to adverse weather conditions, including thunderstorms and hail, Bad Bunny’s concert scheduled for 18 July at the Snai La Maura Hippodrome in Milan was interrupted and the area was safely evacuated,” the ticket operator Live Nation…
[ad_1] Escaped ornamental aquarium fish have integrated into a local ecosystem in the Philippines, but scientists say they may be threatening the native biodiversity of the lake.Flowerhorn cichlids – human-bred hybrid fish prized for their bright-gold colour and prominent head humps – are believed to have escaped from breeding facilities into Lake Sampaloc, which sits in a volcanic crater, during a typhoon.The lake’s main farmed fish is tilapia, which supports local food production and commerce. Research by Hannah Nicole C Gasmen and Dr Janice A Ragaza of Ateneo de Manila University has found that flowerhorns are being incorporated into the…
[ad_1] Restoring the deteriorating health of the UK’s population to the level of 2014 would boost GDP by 2% and generate a £72bn dividend for the public finances, research suggests.A paper by the Health Foundation thinktank, published on Sunday, argues the nation’s health should be valued by policymakers as an economic asset.“Good health enables people to live well for longer and contribute to their communities, helping to build a stronger society. A healthy labour force is also the engine that powers our economy – it determines whether people can participate in employment, how effectively they work and how long they…