NUKE NEWZ

Czech support for nuclear rises in energy crisis

23 December 2021

Support for nuclear energy has jumped to 65% in the Czech Republic with some 93% of people in the country wanting it to remain self-sufficient in electricity generation, according to a recent poll by IBRS.

The Temelin nuclear power plant (Image: ČEZ)

The figure of 65% support for nuclear represents a significant jump on the previous level of 59% in the second quarter of this year. IBRS put this down in part to the ongoing European energy crisis and its effects, including the collapse of alternative supplier Bohemia Energy.

Support for renewables reduced just slightly from 66% to 64% since the previous poll, while 39% of people said they support both kinds of low-carbon generation, up one percentage point.

IBRS asked people to choose which generation technology they would prefer to see take the largest share in the Czech power sector. Nuclear was preferred by 48% of people, with renewables preferred by 42%, the biggest divergence between them since 2016 when renewables scored 46% to nuclear's 40%. However, both of the clean technologies were preferred by far over fossil fuels coal and gas, which were the preference of only 4% and 6% of people respectively.

IBRS conducted the poll between 28 October and 26 November via face-to-face, online and telephone interviews with a representative sample of 500 people. It shared the summary results with World Nuclear News.

Unsurprisingly, energy security was a top concern. Some 93% of people said they think the Czech Republic should remain self-sufficient in electricity generation. In a scenario where the country relies on electricity imports their concerns were an increase in prices (76%), stability of supply (55%) and security risk (34%).

ONTARIO

Bruce 6 steam generators lifted into place

22 December 2021

The last of eight replacement steam generators has been lifted into place at Bruce unit 6, marking an important milestone in the ongoing Major Component Replacement (MCR) project which will add 30-35 years to the Candu unit's operational life.

Bruce 6's final steam generator is lifted into place 6 (Image: Bruce Power)

Unit 6 contains eight steam generators, each weighing some 320,000 pounds (145 tonnes). The steam generators were lifted through the powerhouse roof enclosure using Mammoet's PTC-35 crane, one of the largest in the world, and set into place with only millimetres of tolerance. Before the first lift, a 3D layout was prepared of the steam generators by laser topography to verify dimensions.

The new steam generators were fabricated at BWXT in Cambridge, Ontario and shipped to the Bruce site late last year. This 'Made in Ontario' nuclear injects billions into Ontario's economy and creates and sustains 22,000 high-skilled jobs annually, said Bruce Power Executive Vice President, Projects & Engineering Eric Chassard.

"These new steam generators will be in service for many decades providing clean, reliable power to Ontario homes and businesses," he said. "This is a culmination of many years of hard work and collaboration between Bruce Power and our partners like SGRT, BWXT, Mammoet, Nuvia and the Building Trades Unions."

The vendor responsible for replacing the Unit 6 steam generators is the Steam Generator Replacement Team (SGRT), a 50:50 joint venture between Aecon and SGT (a partnership between Framatome and United Engineers & Constructors). The consortium has also been awarded a contract for the same scope on Bruce units 3 and 4 which are yet to undergo MCR.

The MCR project is part of Bruce's Life-Extension Program, a long-term investment programme to update all eight Bruce reactors and secure the site's operation until 2064. Bruce 6 is the first of six units to undergo MCR, which includes the replacement of key reactor components such as steam generators, pressure tubes, calandria tubes and feeder tubes. The MCR of Bruce 6 began in January 2020, and is expected to be finished in 2024. Refurbishment of the final reactor, unit 8, is scheduled to be completed in July 2033. Units 1 and 2 have already been refurbished.

Europe's first EPR reaches criticality

21 December 2021

Finland's fifth nuclear reactor, Olkiluoto 3 (OL3), has reached first criticality. The EPR is the first new nuclear unit to be commissioned in Finland in over 40 years, and will eventually produce some 14% of the country's electricity.

Inside OL3, Finland's newest nuclear plant (Image: TVO)

"First criticality of the OL3 EPR plant unit was reached on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 3.22 a.m.", utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) announced. Electricity production will begin when the unit is connected to the national grid, which is expected to happen at the end of January 2022.

"This moment will forever be remembered as a demonstration of persistent work for the commissioning of our new plant unit. It reflects strong nuclear professionalism and a will to make Finland's greatest act for the climate a reality," TVO Senior Vice President for Electricity Production Marjo Mustonen said.

Bernard Fontana, CEO of Framatome, thanked the project teams from Framatome and Areva for their perseverance. "This milestone paves the way for safe, reliable, low-carbon electricity generation to the residents of Finland," he said, adding that the company will continue to support the unit with services ranging from fuel fabrication to long-term operational and outage support.

"I would like to congratulate TVO and all its partners on the completion of Olkiluoto 3," World Nuclear Association Director General Sama Bilbao y Léon said. "This reactor will serve the people of Finland for many decades, providing abundant, round-the-clock clean, reliable and affordable electricity - the importance of which we are painfully reminded of right now."

Finland's parliament in 2002 approved building the country's fifth nuclear power reactor. The vote was seen as highly significant, in that it was the first such decision to build a new nuclear unit in Western Europe for more than a decade. TVO's Olkiluoto site - already home to two operating boiling water reactors - was subsequently selected to host the new reactor.

Framatome ANP's 1600 MWe EPR was selected as the preferred reactor based on operating cost, with Siemens selected to provide the turbines and generators. TVO signed a fixed-price EUR3.2 billion turnkey contract with Areva NP and Siemens for the unit in December 2003, and construction began in 2005. Commercial operation was originally scheduled for 2009, but the project has encountered various delays and setbacks.

The Finnish Government granted an operating licence for OL3 in March 2019. Finland's nuclear regulator, STUK, granted a fuel loading permit in March of this year. Fuel loading was completed on 1 April, at which point an October start-up was envisaged. However, this was postponed to allow for extra turbine overhaul and inspection works by the plant supplier.

Now the unit has started up, its power level will be gradually increased and commissioning tests will be carried out at every power level. Electricity production will start when a 30% power level is reached, TVO said. This is expected at the end of January, with regular electricity production expected to start in June. OL3 is then expected to produce around 14% of Finland's electricity.

The first EPR units came online at Taishan in China, where unit 1 became the first EPR to enter commercial operation in 2018 followed by Taishan 2 in September 2019. In Europe, EPRs are currently under construction in France and the UK: Flamanville 3, currently expected to start up in 2023 with commercial operation in 2024; and two units at Hinkley Point C, currently slated for commercial operation in 2026 (unit 1) and 2027 (unit 2).

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Canada wasn't prepared for natural disasters in 2021 — and next year threatens a repeat

Nick Boisvert 

After a year that saw deadly heat domes, massive wildfires and historic flooding, Ottawa is being pressed to do more to help Canadians prepare for the effects of an increasingly volatile and dangerous climate.

Few Canadian cities know the price of climate change better than Kamloops, B.C., which experienced temperatures above 40C for nearly a full week this summer and — not long after — massive wildfires that put hundreds of residents under evacuation notices.

Months later, Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian reflected on his city's stressful year and the lack of preparation and infrastructure he believes aggravated the damage caused by the heat and fires.

"I think what's really missing is that whole support for local infrastructure and, in particular, some of the protective infrastructure," Christian told CBC News.

"We were not as prepared as we needed to be, and we look to both the provincial and the federal government."

According to a 2019 report often cited by the federal government, Canada's climate is warming two times faster than the global average — three times faster in the North.

The rapidly changing climate is acknowledged — in the words of one government report — to be increasing "the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme events like heat waves, wildfires, and floods." The trend is expected to continue for several decades, even if climate-warping emissions are reduced globally.

© Maggie MacPherson/CBC Soldiers deployed in response to November's record-setting B.C. floods fill sandbags to help protect dikes in Princeton, B.C.

To better cope with the effects of climate change, Ottawa plans in 2022 to finalize its National Adaptation Strategy, an overarching set of plans and procedures to improve Canada's climate resilience.

"As climate impacts continue to rise, the government recognizes that a more ambitious, strategic and collaborative approach is required to adapt and build resilience to the changing climate," said a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada in an email.

The government started work on the plan in the spring of 2021 and is scheduled to release the final report in the fall of 2022.

2021 revealed 'the best and the worst' of climate policy

Paul Kovacs, founder and executive director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction at Western University, said the disasters of 2021 demonstrated the urgent need for a stronger climate plan.

"In the current year, we have seen the best and the worst of what Canadian policy does in terms of dealing with disasters," Kovacs told CBC News.

While he said Canada has become adept at responding to emergencies as they happen, more must be done to prevent disasters and help communities recover from them.

B.C. Premier John Horgan described his province's fall flooding disaster as a once-every-500-years event — but Kovacs said equally extreme floods, heat, fires, tornadoes and hurricanes should be expected in the coming years.

"These will be enormously bigger than anything we've experienced in the past when they do occur," he said.

Communities still 'too busy responding to natural disasters'

Chirstian's wish list of climate projects and infrastructure upgrades for Kamloops is a long one. It includes new emergency centres to protect residents during periods of extreme heat or poor air quality, more protective dikes and better wildfire protection.

In 2018, the federal government created a disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, now backed by $3.375 billion. Christian said federal money to pay for major projects has not yet arrived in his city.

"We're too busy responding to natural disasters to actually do planning and exercises and logistics," Christian said.

Coastal communities also need more protection. A report released this month by the Intact Centre on Climate Adaption at the University of Waterloo found that Canada lacks a national system to assess risk in coastal areas.

The report called on the federal government to fund more natural infrastructure projects — such as stabilizing cliffs and restoring wetlands — to protect communities from rising sea levels.

FUSION

HOT TO TROT
China fires up ‘artificial sun’ 7 times warmer than the real sun to make unlimited energy – and wants to make it HOTTER

Fiona Connor
Dec 23 2021

CHINA has fired up a machine designed to make unlimited energy known as the "artificial sun" - and wants to make it even hotter than the real sun.

Tests being run on the Experiential Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) trying to get a higher temperature and longer duration at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science research centre.

2China has fired up its 'artificial sun' to raise its temperature higherCredit: Xinhua

The device is already close to seven times warmer than the sun, but scientists are trying to upgrade the EAST's auxiliary heating system to make it more "hot" and "durable", local media Xinhua News Agency reported.

Designed and developed by the Chinese, the EAST has been used since 2006 by scientists from all around the world to conduct fusion-related experiments.

More than 10,000 Chinese and foreign scientific researchers have worked together to bring to life the artificial sun.

The EAST harnesses extremely high temperatures to boil hydrogen isotopes into a plasma, fusing them together and releasing energy, Reuters reports.

China has already spent around 6 billion yuan (£701 million) on the project.

The energy will create almost no radioactive waste and only require small amounts of fuel.

Song Yuntao, deputy director of the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Hefei Institute of Physical Science, said he hopes to generate power by 2040.

He said: “Five years from now, we will start to build our fusion reactor, which will need another 10 years of construction.

"After that is built we will construct the power generator and start generating power by around 2040."

This would bring humanity a step closer to creating "unlimited clean energy", by mimicking reactions that naturally occur inside the solar system's sun.

The custom-built fusion reactor set a world record in June by running at a temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds.

The planetary sun hits temperatures of around 15 million degrees Celsius at its core.


The artificial sun was first announced by Chinese researchers in November 2018.

Nuclear Fusion – what is it?

Here's what you need to know...
Nuclear fusion is a process where two light nuclei (parts of an atom) are used to create a single "heavy" nucleus
This "nuclear reaction" releases huge amounts of energy
That's because the "heavy" nucleus is not as heavy as the mass of the two "light" nuclei combined
This "lost mass" can then be changed into huge amounts of energy
Fusion is a common occurrence inside stars, like the Sun at the centre of our own galaxy
This is how the Sun is able to provide so much heat and light
But kickstarting a nuclear fusion reaction on Earth is difficult
The goal is to start a nuclear reaction that releases more energy that you needed to start the reaction
The problem is that both nuclei have positive charges, and repel each other
To stop this, you need to make them hit each other at very high speeds – requiring high pressure and temperature
If scientists can develop a low-energy way of making this happen, they could generate enormous (and potentially "unlimited") amounts of clean energy

2Our sun hits temperatures of around 15million degrees Celsius at its coreCredit: Brand X - Getty

A Novel Carbon-Based Biosensor Could Revolutionize Brain-Controlled Robotics

It overcame three significant challenges.

By Derya Ozdemir

Dec 22, 2021

A novel carbon-based biosensor.

Andy Roberts

A team of researchers from the University of Technology Sydney's Faculty of Engineering and IT has created a biosensor that clings to the skin of the face and head to detect electrical signals transmitted by the brain. Then, these signals are translated into commands to control autonomous robotic systems.

The novel biosensor has overcome three major challenges of graphene-based biosensing: corrosion, durability, and skin contact resistance. This is thanks to the sensor's construction, which consists of many layers of very thin, very strong carbon grown directly onto a silicon-carbide-on-silicon substrate.

"We’ve been able to combine the best of graphene, which is very biocompatible and very conductive, with the best of silicon technology, which makes our biosensor very resilient and robust to use,” explained Professor Francesca Iacopi, who developed the biosensor with her team.

But first, let's take a step back and define what biosensors are. A biosensor is a device that measures biological or chemical processes by generating signals proportional to an analyte concentration in the reaction, thus diagnosing diseases. This allows for appropriate management and therapy. Graphene is commonly employed in the development of biosensors; nevertheless, it has limitations because many of these devices were designed for single-use applications and are prone to delamination when in touch with perspiration and other kinds of moisture on the skin.

By contrast, the UTS biosensor can be used for prolonged periods and reused multiple times, even in highly saline environments – an unprecedented result. Further, the sensor has been shown to dramatically reduce what’s known as skin contact resistance, where non-optimal contact between the sensor and skin impedes the detection of electrical signals from the brain.


The novel biosensor, on the other hand, can be used for extended periods of time and reused multiple times, even in very saline settings. It's because of these reasons that it was called "an unparalleled finding" in the press release. Also, skin contact resistance, a problem that occurs when the sensor is not in optimal contact with skin, has been found to be greatly reduced by the sensor.

“This means the electric signals being sent by the brain can be reliably collected and then significantly amplified, and that the sensors can also be used reliably in harsh conditions, thereby enhancing their potential for use in brain-machine interfaces," explained Professor Iacopi.

It’s Time To Start Thinking About Robot Swarms Again 

For a glimpse of the robot swarm of the future, Will Smith explains the secrets of swarming behavior on "Welcome to Earth," an original new documentary series unspooling on Disney+ featuring Will Smith (screenshot courtesy of Disney+).

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

ByTina Casey

The new TV series Welcome to Earth from Nutopia is full of surprises, and among them is “The Mind of the Swarm,” a closeup look at the dynamics of swarm behavior. That episode unravels the mystery of why a wildebeest chooses to jump into a river full of hungry crocodiles (spoiler alert: swarm behavior), and the broader message ripples out to the world of robot swarms and their potential use for good, not evil.

Welcome To Earth: The Mind Of The Swarm

Before we get to that thing about robot swarms, CleanTechnica had a chance to speak with the person behind the series, Jane Root, who is the President of Discovery Networks and the founder of the well-known US production company Nutopia, which is credited with creating the “mega-doc” action-driven documentary format.

That’s a perfect approach for an examination of swarm behavior, especially when your subjects are tens of thousands of 600-pound wildebeest.

“When you explore the energy of crowds, it’s much more than a mob. There’s a sense of purpose, whether its an orchestra or a herd of wildebeest,” Root explained. “They tramp for hundreds of miles across the savanna, all moving in the same direction. But, like an orchestra they don’t look at each other for clues. There is no gap between thinking and doing. It’s perfectly calibrated how the swarm becomes one thing.”

See for yourself — Welcome to Earth is a 6-part original limited series from National Geographic streaming exclusively on Disney+, directed by Darren Aronofsky and featuring the intrepid Will Smith with a cast of experts.

So, About Those Robot Swarms

Not to give anything away, but parts of the Mind of the Swarm episode rely on drones, which Root describes as “military grade technology never used on wildlife before.”

“Flying a drone is difficult, and flying it at night is even more difficult,” she explained. “You’re getting close to things that nobody else can. There is no big noise, no helicopter, so there is a sense of intimacy, born from technology.”

If that sounds like someone talking about the advantages of robot swarms for environmental monitoring, you’re on the money. One gigantic research vessel or vehicle with a noisy engine can only get so much done before it disrupts the environment it seeks to study. Electric technology can help reduce the noise, but the sheer bulk of conventional research equipment can be an obstacle, and that’s where the idea of spreading tasks among swarms of silent, tiny robots comes in.

Back in 2009 CleanTechnica took note of 7 robots with green jobs, one of which involved ball-shaped robots designed to drift on the ocean in swarms, to collect data on microorganisms.

“They could also guard sensitive areas or provide on-the-spot information about oil spills, plane crashes and other marine emergencies,” we wrote.

In 2012 we checked out the “Scalybot 2” robot project under way at Georgia Tech, which was an energy efficient search and rescue robot based on the movement of snakes. The research team was also examining the swarming behavior of fire ants. Individual fire ants cannot swim, but they can swarm into formations of floating balls in order to cross water.

That gave rise the possibility of swarms of robotic ant-snakes.

“In combination with robots like Scalybot 2, the result could be swarms of small robots that can navigate tricky terrain and can autonomously assemble into larger formations to overcome obstacles that are beyond the capabilities of an individual,” we wrote.

If that seems a little farfetched, take a look at the self-fueling robotic jellyfish surveillance device under development that same year, in a joint hookup between Virginia Tech and the US Navy.

“…the finished concept is for a device that can supply its own energy through a reaction between oxygen and hydrogen in seawater, using platinum as a catalyst. The reaction creates enough energy in the form of heat to operate the robot’s propulsion system, without the need for batteries or any external fuel source,” we wrote.

Onward & Upward For The (Good) Robot Swarm Of The Future

The year 2012 certainly was a banner one for robot swarms. Johns Hopkins University chipped into the research with plans for developing a micro aerial vehicle no bigger than a bug.

“As highly fuel efficient micro machines, MAV’s could become an essential part of the sustainable tech landscape, for example in wind turbine maintenance and other clean energy tasks, data collection, and environmental monitoring. They could also be useful in emergency response, especially as the ‘search’ part of a search and rescue operation.”

For whatever reason, the whole idea of robot swarms fell off the CleanTechnica radar shortly after. In 2014 we covered a swarming robotics project involving ocular technology based on bees, and that was that.

Much has happened since then. Just yesterday our friends over at Inc. Magazine waxed enthusiastically over robot swarms.

“Army ants are a good example: Millions of them work together to complete tasks, such as building nests, without any leader in charge,” they wrote. “The insects will even create bridges and ladders out of their own bodies to allow fellow ants to traverse gaps and rough terrain. Other organisms, from cells to flocks of birds to schools of fish also exhibit collective intelligence as they move in sync with one another.”

In a rather odd coincidence of names, the Inc. article cites Radhika Nagpal, founder of the educational robotics company ROOT Robotics (acquired by iRobot in 2019). Go figure!

Not for nothing, but Nagpal is also Fred Kavli Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a founding Faculty Member of the Harvard Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

Meanwhile, last month word dropped of a robot swarm project at Texas A&M University, where the focus is on solving the problem of “smart” agriculture systems that rely on heavy machinery that compacts the soil and may have other environmental consequences — so maybe they aren’t so smart after all.

“The use of adaptive swarm robotics has the potential to provide significant environmental and economic benefits to smart agriculture efforts globally through the implementation of autonomous ground and aerial technologies,” TAMU explains, adding that this approach “could result in long-term benefits thanks to reduced waste through better logistics, optimal use of water and fertilizer, and an overall reduction in the use of pesticides.”

“The research team believes that by utilizing smaller machines to reduce soil compaction and working to avoid herbicide-resistant weeds through nonchemical methods of control, significant ecological and environmental benefits can be achieved,” they add even more.

Thinking ahead, it’s possible that the field of robot swarms will intersect with the emerging field of agrivoltaics, which provides for growing crops within arrays of solar panels. The challenge is how to maneuver conventional farming machinery around the solar panels, but an automated swarm of ag-robots could do the trick.

Follow me on Twitter @TinaMCasey.

Image (screenshot): Swarming behavior in wildebeest courtesy of Disney+ Originals.

Farmed fish breeding with wild fish is changing the life cycle of wild fishAtlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Credit: Eva Thorstad

A team of researchers from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and Rådgivende Biologer, has found that interbreeding between farmed salmon and wild salmon is changing the life cycle of the wild salmon. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their study of scale growth patterns in thousands of salmon taken from rivers in Norway over the years 2010 to 2017.

In this effort, the researchers looked at the impact of escaped farmed salmon breeding with wild salmon. To that end, they collected and studied scales obtained from 6,900 adult wild Atlantic salmon living in 105 rivers in Norway over a seven-year period. They analyzed each of the scale sample patterns and compared them with other fish. The researchers also conducted genetic tests on the scales to learn the genetic history of the fish that donated them.

The researchers found that the biggest impact on the wild salmon came early in life, when they were in the process of adapting themselves to live in saltwater. The researchers found it happened in fish with farmed ancestors earlier than in wild fish with no farmed ancestry. The researchers also found that the salmon with farmed fish backgrounds aged at a faster pace and also returned to rivers earlier to lay their eggs. Taken as a whole, the researchers found that female salmon with farmed ancestors grew to maturity 0.29 years earlier than native wild fish, and the number for males was 0.43 years.

The researchers suggest an accelerated maturation process puts the salmon at higher risk from predators because they are less well-equipped to evade capture by large, fast creatures such as sharks or halibut. They also note that prior studies have shown that salmon with farmed ancestry are less afraid of predators and are bolder and more aggressive in general. They suggest that the overall impact of the interbreeding of salmon will be reductions in wild populations and note that such reductions have already been observed in some areas.Domesticated salmon have smaller eyes in the farm but not in the wild

THEY NEED GLASSES

More information: Geir H. Bolstad et al, Introgression from farmed escapees affects the full life cycle of wild Atlantic salmon, Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj3397

Journal information: Science Advances 

© 2021 Science X Network

Tonga volcano grows in size as eruption continues for sixth day

• 25/12/2021
• RNZ

While observations have had to be kept to a distance, new satellite imagery shows the island's landmass has grown since Monday.

"The island has grown 300-600 metres to the eastern side. So it has widened up a bit. [The debris] has been building up the island, building up the rim of the vents," Kula said.

Today's ash clouds had fallen back into the ocean in a 10km radius, he said.

The volcano has an active history, last erupting in 2014/15 and before that in 2009.

In 2015, Tongan government officials said eruptions at Hunga Ha'apai had formed a new island more than a kilometre long, joined to the existing island.

It has reportedly become a home for plants and birds.

More satellite footage will be sent to Kula and his team monitoring the eruption this afternoon.

RNZ

Letters to the Editor

Opinion: The coming collapse

Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier in 2019. (Jeremy Harbeck/OIB/NASA)
Yesterday at 4:16 p.m. EST

Immediate follow-up is needed to the Dec. 15 front-page article “Destabilized poles endanger rest of the planet, research shows” that warned total collapse of the Thwaites Glacier could result in several feet of sea-level rise endangering communities in coastal areas. What a powerful follow-up it would be to add a countdown clock to the daily front-page weather summary so readers can’t forget this cataclysmic event is coming and the need for immediate action. 

“Today: Cloudy 58/45. 1,818 days until Thwaites collapse.”

Nancy Ilgenfritz, Bethesda

 
Massive Antarctica ice shelf melting faster than expected; could raise sea levels sharply
Dec 24, 2021
KPBS Public Media

California researchers say a faster than expected melt of a major glacier in western Antarctica could impact local sea levels. KPBS Environment Reporter Erik Anderson has details.

Antarctica's 'doomsday' glacier: How its collapse could trigger global floods and swallow islands

by Ella Gilbert, The Conversation

Glaciers like Antarctica’s Byrd Glacier are showing cracks and movement. 

Credit: United States Geological Survey , CC BY-SA

The massive Thwaites glacier in West Antarctica contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by 65cm if it were to completely collapse. And, worryingly, recent research suggests that its long-term stability is doubtful as the glacier hemorrhages more and more ice.

Adding 65cm to global sea levels would be coastline-changing amounts. For context, there's been around 20cm of sea-level rise since 1900, an amount that is already forcing coastal communities out of their homes and exacerbating environmental problems such as flooding, saltwater contamination and habitat loss.

But the worry is that Thwaites, sometimes called the "doomsday glacier" because of its keystone role in the region, might not be the only glacier to go. Were it to empty into the ocean, it could trigger a regional chain reaction and drag other nearby glaciers in with it, which would mean several meters of sea-level rise. That's because the glaciers in West Antarctica are thought to be vulnerable to a mechanism called Marine Ice Cliff Instability or MICI, where retreating ice exposes increasingly tall, unstable ice cliffs that collapse into the ocean.

A sea level rise of several meters would inundate many of the world's major cities—including Shanghai, New York, Miami, Tokyo and Mumbai. It would also cover huge swathes of land in coastal regions and largely swallow up low-lying island nations like Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Maldives.

Glaciers like Antarctica’s Byrd Glacier are showing cracks and movement. 

Credit: United States Geological Survey , CC BY-SA

As big as Britain

Thwaites is a frozen river of ice approximately the size of Great Britain. It already contributes around 4% of the global sea-level rise. Since 2000, the glacier has had a net loss of more than 1000 billion tons of ice and this has increased steadily over the last three decades. The speed of its flow has doubled in 30 years, meaning twice as much ice is being spewed into the ocean as in the 1990s.

Thwaites glacier, the widest in the world at 80 miles wide, is held back by a floating platform of ice called an ice shelf, which restrains the glacier and makes it flow less quickly. But scientists have just confirmed that this ice shelf is becoming rapidly destabilized. The eastern ice shelf now has cracks criss-crossing its surface, and could collapse within ten years, according to Erin Pettit, a glaciologist at Oregon State University.

This work supports research published in 2020 which also noted the development of cracks and crevasses on the Thwaites ice shelf. These indicate that it is being structurally weakened. This damage can have a reinforcing feedback effect because cracking and fracturing can promote further weakening, priming the ice shelf for disintegration.

If Thwaites' ice shelf did collapse, it would spell the beginning of the end for the glacier. Without its ice shelf, Thwaites glacier would discharge all its ice into the ocean over the following decades to centuries.

New research on Thwaites glacier and its future.

Other unstable glaciers

The ice shelf—which can be thought of as the floating extension of Thwaites glacier—is one of several that scientists are watching closely in the Amundsen Sea Basin, West Antarctica. Several ice shelves that hold back glaciers there, including Thwaites and its next-door neighbor, the Pine Island glacier, are being eroded by rising ocean temperatures.

Warmer ocean water is able to undercut these floating ice shelves, driving melting from below that can thin the ice and weaken it, allowing the cracks and fractures that have been observed at the surface to develop. This ocean-driven melting at the bottom of the ice shelf also pushes the anchoring point where the ice meets the seabed backwards. Because the seabed slopes downwards in the Amundsen Sea, that could eventually trigger a shift as the glaciers lose their footing and retreat rapidly.

Ultimately, if the ice shelves retreat, it means there is less holding the West Antarctic glaciers back—allowing them to accelerate and add more to global sea levels.

However, scientists are still getting to grips with MICI and questions remain about the future of West Antarctic glaciers. While the collapse of Thwaites certainly could trigger a wholesale collapse event, not everyone believes this will happen.

Other work suggests that the destabilization of the Thwaites ice shelf and glacier may not lead to the kind of catastrophic outcomes that some fear. Sea ice and chunks of ice that break away from the collapsing ice shelf and glacier might have a similar restraining effect to the intact ice shelf, nipping the chain-reaction in the bud and preventing the sustained collapse of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet.

But while uncertainty remains about exactly what will happen in West Antarctica, one thing is for sure—the retreating Thwaites glacier will continue to add to global sea levels for many years to come.The threat from Thwaites: The retreat of Antarctica's riskiest glacier

Provided by The Conversation 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

World economy to top US$100 trillion in 2022 for first time: report

cheongli11 hours ago

LONDON : The world’s economic output will exceed US$100 trillion for the first time next year and it will take China a little longer than previously thought to overtake the United States as the No.1 economy, a report showed on Sunday.

British consultancy Cebr predicted China will become the world’s top economy in dollar terms in 2030, two years later than forecast in last year’s World Economic League Table report.

India looks set to overtake France next year and then Britain in 2023 to regain its place as the world’s sixth biggest economy, Cebr said.

“The important issue for the 2020s is how the world economies cope with inflation, which has now reached 6.8per cent in the U.S.,” said Cebr deputy chairman Douglas McWilliams.

“We hope that a relatively modest adjustment to the tiller will bring the non-transitory elements under control. If not, then the world will need to brace itself for a recession in 2023 or 2024.”

The report showed Germany was on track to overtake Japan in terms of economic output in 2033. Russia could become a Top 10 economy by 2036 and Indonesia looks on track for ninth place in 2034.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, Editing by Paul Sandle)

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Westons sells Selfridges to Thai JV for $7.4 billion

anirudhjadhav3 hours ago

LONDON (BLOOMBERG) – The billionaire dynasty behind Selfridges & Co. has sold the British department store operator to a Thai-Austrian joint venture for about £4 billion (S$7.4 billion) in one of the biggest U.K. retail deals in years.

The Weston family said Central Group, which is owned by the Chirathivats, one of Asia’s wealthiest families, and Signa Holding of Austria, have formed a joint venture to buy the retail group. Central and Signa will own the chain in a 50-50 partnership, according to a statement late Thursday (Dec 23) London time.

The purchase price was not formally disclosed but is close to 4 billion-pounds, according to two people with knowledge of the transaction who asked not to be named because the information is confidential. This makes it one of the top 10 biggest takeovers targeting a U.K. company this year, according to Bloomberg data.

Bloomberg previously reported the Weston family was considering a sale following an approach from an interested party and appointed Credit Suisse as an adviser in June.

Selfridges, founded in 1908 by Harry Gordon Selfridge, is best known for the giant store on London’s Oxford Street that has long been a mecca for fashion enthusiasts. There are also Selfridges stores in Manchester and Birmingham.

The business was bought by the Canadian businessman Galen Weston for almost 600 million pounds in 2003 and has since expanded to include other department store chains, including Arnotts and Brown Thomas in Ireland, Holt Renfrew in Canada and De Bijenkorf in the Netherlands.

Overall the group operates 25 stores worldwide across its five brands. The sale to Central and Signa doesn’t include Holt Renfrew, which will remain with the Weston family. Central Group is a fourth generation family-owned company involved in a host of industries from real estate and retailing to hospitality and restaurants. The Chirathivat family had the 20th-largest fortune in Asia, worth US$12.9 billion, according to a ranking compiled in November 2020 by Bloomberg News.

Famous Properties Signa was founded by retail and real estate entrepreneur Rene Benko, who owns or has stakes in some of the world’s most famous properties including the Chrysler building in New York.

Trophy assets in the U.K. have attracted interest even as retail business on major shopping streets suffers. Retail property values have declined in recent years, and the industry was hammered by the pandemic and the shift to online shopping.

Selfridges is among the world’s most famous department stores and has weathered the pandemic well. A considerable part of the retailer’s value lies in the significant chunk of London real estate it owns on Oxford Street. This includes an undeveloped site at the back of the store where there were once plans for a hotel, leisure and office complex.

Selfridges Group will become part of the combined Central and Signa portfolio of luxury department stores, which owns Rinascente in Italy, Illum in Denmark, Globus in Switzerland and KaDeWe in Germany.

Selfridges’ founder was the subject of a TV series from ITV Studios and PBS that ran for four seasons through 2016. Called “Mr Selfridge,” the series focused on the real-life story of the American who started the company and starred Jeremy Piven

Westons sells Selfridges to Thai JV for $7.4 billion Source link Westons sells Selfridges to Thai JV for $7.4 billion