COP27
Fossil fuel lobby waged $4m disinformation campaign during climate summit, report finds

Stuti Mishra
Tue, 24 January 2023 

Fossil fuel companies spent millions of dollars on advertisements containing climate disinformation and greenwashing attempts when leaders assembled for the United Nations climate summit in November, new research has claimed.

A report by the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition analysed fake information and misleading claims circulating online during the Cop27 summit in Egypt.

It found that a sample of fossil fuel sector-linked entities spent approximately $4m on Meta for paid advertisements to spread false, misleading claims on the climate crisis, net-zero targets and the necessity of fossil fuels prior to and during Cop27.

The analysis identified 3,781 adverts, the majority of which were from a PR group of the American Petroleum Institute called Energy Citizens, the report states. It also found that America's Plastic Makers alone spent over $1m and the Saudi Green Initiative ran 13 ads.

The report says there was a surprising increase in content related to outright climate denial, including a spike on Twitter for the hashtag #ClimateScam since July 2022, months before the summit began.

These adverts exploited issues like the cost of living to justify the use of fossil fuels, which remain the dominant cause of planet-warming greenhouse gases, and created false doubts about the reliability of green technology.

A broader scepticism over the climate crisis was also promoted through a “narrative playbook”, tying climate change concerns to “wokeness”.

The Independent approached Energy Citizens as well as the American Petroleum Institute for comment, but did not receive a response prior to publication of this story. In a mission statement on the organisation’s website, Energy Citizens described themselves as “passionate and determined to see our nation develop balanced energy policies that strengthen our communities, support our families and make our nation more secure”.

“The events of 2022 turbocharged a global ecosystem for disinformation,” said Jennie King, head of climate research and response at ISD. “Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on energy supply chains have renewed anti-climate attacks globally.

“State actors and lobbyists are attempting to ‘wokewash’ their opposition to climate action, and attacks on climate movements are becoming increasingly extreme,” Ms King added.

“The situation is hugely concerning and needs a coordinated response everywhere, from Big Tech to its regulators. At this pivotal juncture, tackling climate disinformation is an essential part of climate action.”

The loss and damage fund, a new financial facility for victims of climate crisis-induced disasters that received a green light at last year’s conference, was presented as “climate reparations”.

The report supports the growing concerns several climate activists and organisations raised during the summit over the rising denial of climate science and the influence of fossil fuel entities.

Cop27 was criticised for the presence of the highest number of executives from firms related to fossil fuels with the final deal failing to bring a stronger outcome in favour of the green energy transition.

It also comes as the United Arab Emirates, the host of this year’s climate summit which is set to be held in Dubai, announced Sultan Ahmed Jaber, a CEO of an oil giant, as the president.

“This research shows that climate disinformation isn’t going away and, in fact, it’s getting worse,” said Erika Seiber, climate disinformation spokesperson at Friends of the Earth US.

“Until governments hold social media and ad companies accountable, and companies hold professional disinformers accountable, crucial conversations around the climate crisis are going to be put in jeopardy.”

UK

Greenpeace accuses Treasury of distorting its stance on biomass burning


Fiona Harvey and Phoebe Cooke

The Guardian
Tue, 24 January 2023 

Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

Greenpeace has accused the government of misrepresenting its stance on burning trees for electricity, giving a minister the impression of public support for the highly controversial practice in meetings with the power company Drax.

Greenpeace is firmly opposed to most forms of biomass burning for power generation, and suspicious of claims that the resulting carbon dioxide can be captured.

But in a briefing note to a minister before a meeting with Drax – formerly a coal-fired power station operator and now a major burner of wood for electricity generation – officials cited Greenpeace as having “provided a statement in support of BECCS [bioenergy with carbon capture and storage]”.

The notes, seen by the Guardian, were obtained by the investigative journalism organisation DeSmog under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI).

Doug Parr, the chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, said the claim was misleading and damaging. Greenpeace, along with other green groups, opposes biomass burning for power, except in special circumstances, for several reasons: burning wood releases carbon dioxide now, but regrowing trees to reabsorb the carbon can take decades; growing trees for power generation takes up land that could be better used; cutting down trees destroys wildlife; and there are few safeguards to ensure that wood for burning comes from well-managed sources.

“It’s just not true, and it’s really annoying [to be cited in support of the practice],” said Parr. “We see no evidence for BECCS being a useful way of reducing emissions.”

The FoI documents, dating to last March, show that ministers have been subject to fierce lobbying from Drax, the UK’s biggest single carbon emitter. Drax has converted four of its six boilers to burn wood pellets rather than coal, and was asked by National Grid on Sunday to “warm” its remaining coal generators in case they were needed to reduce strain on the UK’s energy network.

Drax has received about £5.6bn in subsidies from energy-bill payers over the last decade for its switch to wood burning, and is hoping for billions more under a revamped subsidy system from 2027, the details of which will be set out in 2025.

The thinktank Ember has estimated that Drax could be in line for more than £30bn in future subsidies. But green campaigners including Greenpeace argue the subsidies are misplaced.

There are signs the government is also prepared to rethink the subsidies. Last summer, the Guardian revealed that the then business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, told a private meeting of MPs that importing wood to be burned by Drax was “not sustainable” and “doesn’t make any sense”.

The Treasury briefing notes obtained by DeSmog were prepared before a meeting with Drax in early March 2022, just a few weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which sent gas prices soaring and the government scrambling to secure the UK’s energy supplies. Will Gardiner, the chief executive of Drax, had requested the meeting with Lucy Frazer, then exchequer secretary to the Treasury.

To prepare for the call, which after delays took place on 9 March, Frazer was given a briefing note on some of the issues surrounding BECCS and Drax’s operations. This included a discussion of the UK’s legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and Drax’s ability to provide 2GW of electricity a year.

The notes conclude: “Power BECCS is generally unpopular amongst climate activists and NGOs, who are sceptical of cutting down trees and burning them to help save the climate. Some, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, have written to the Treasury seeking for it to be blocked. However, Greenpeace have provided the following statement in support of BECCS: ‘A small proportion of emissions is likely to be unavoidable and must be offset by carbon dioxide removal, such as by tree-planting (afforestation/reforestation) or by technological approaches like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or direct air carbon capture with storage (DACCS).’ Greenpeace January 2021.”

Parr said the statement was not “provided” to the government, and was taken out of context. The sentence came from a report Greenpeace compiled regarding carbon capture technologies, discussing the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world’s leading climate scientists. The panel has said that ways of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would be needed to avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown.

Parr said: “This gives a false impression that there are environmentalists giving their support for biomass burning at a large scale. But civil society is strongly lined up against this.”

Elsewhere in the FoI documents, officials seem to be growing weary of pleas from Drax, noting “the next one in a series of lobbying attempts” at one point.

A Drax spokesperson said: “As the UK’s largest renewable power generator by output, Drax plays a vital role in keeping the lights on for millions of homes and businesses. It’s therefore essential for Drax to engage with government and other key stakeholders on matters relating to energy security and its future business strategy.

“Last year, at the request of the UK government, Drax agreed to extend the availability of its two remaining coal generating units to help bolster UK energy security as a result of the war in Ukraine.

“Drax plans to invest around £3bn by 2030 in critical renewable energy infrastructure projects, including BECCS and pumped hydro storage, which will support energy security, as well as efforts to meet the country’s climate targets whilst creating jobs.

“Biomass is the only source of reliable, renewable power which is available whatever the weather, displacing fossil fuels on the electricity grid and playing a vital role in maintaining energy security. Drax is a world leader in sustainable biomass and we adhere to all required legislation, regulations and standards which govern the energy sector, Drax’s businesses and supply chains in the UK, Canada, US and EU.”

A HM Treasury spokesperson said: “Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage is expected to play an important role in Britain’s future energy security and helping the UK to achieve its net zero target. The use of biomass in energy generation in the UK’s power sector has helped to dramatically reduce the use of fossil fuels. Drax is the largest renewable electricity provider, meeting 12% of UK renewable power demand.”

UK

New ‘fire and rehire’ rules will not stop another P&O-type scandal, union warns

Henry Saker-Clark, PA Deputy Business Editor
Tue, 24 January 2023

The TUC union has warned that new rules from ministers designed to tackle “fire and rehire” practices are “not going to stop another P&O-style scandal”.

The Government has said companies which sack workers who do not agree to accept worse working terms face compensation payments as part of a crackdown on rogue practices.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps announced the plans on Tuesday for a statutory code of practice for employers.

The announcement is partly in response to the actions of P&O Ferries, which last year sacked 786 seafarers without due consultation.

P&O was widely condemned for not providing staff with notice for the sackings, but an investigation by the insolvency service found their actions were not illegal.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the new rules from Government do not go far enough.

“This is a reheated, repeated announcement,” he said.

“A statutory code of practice is not going to stop another P&O-style scandal from happening, and it won’t deter bad bosses from treating staff like disposable labour.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps has outlined the plans (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

“If the Government really cared about workers’ rights it wouldn’t have abandoned its much-touted employment bill.”

The Government pledged the new code will protect employees and clamp down on employers that use controversial dismissal tactics.

Courts will be given power to increase compensation to employees by 25% in certain circumstances if employers do not abide by the set of rules.

Mr Shapps said: “Using fire and rehire as a negotiation tactic is a quick-fire way to damage your reputation as a business.

“Our new code will crack down on firms mistreating employees and set out how they should behave when changing an employee’s contract.

“We are determined to do all we can to protect and enhance workers’ rights across the country.”

Susan Clews, chief executive of Acas, said: “We will carefully consider the Government’s consultation on its new draft code of practice and respond to it in due course.

“Our own advice is clear that fire and rehire is an extreme step that can seriously damage working relations and has significant legal risks for organisations.”

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said: “This code isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

“It’s shameful that nearly a year after the P&O Ferries scandal the Conservatives can only offer this weak half-measure, which they admit will allow fire and rehire tactics to continue.”

French bakers unable to earn their crust protest energy price hikes

Issued on: 24/01/2023 

AFP - THOMAS SAMSON

A protester holds a cardboard cutout of a coffin with the words "Artisan baker killed by France" during a march in Paris on January 23, 2023. 

Text by: Amanda Morrow with RFI

French bakers on Monday staged an angry march through the streets of Paris to demand the government step up financial support to compensate for hikes in electricity bills and the cost of raw materials such as flour, sugar and butter.

Bakers are among the small French businesses not protected by government-imposed tariff caps on energy prices. As a result they complain their months bills have multiplied by up to 10 times the normal amount.

Calling for "tariff caps for all", the Collective for the Survival of Bakers and Crafts led a procession of bakers from Place de la Nation, in the east of the capital, to the Finance Ministry in Bercy.

"There have been significant increases in the cost of raw materials since September, while electricity bills have already closed down the most fragile businesses," co-founder of the collective, Frederic Roy, told Sud Radio.

Roy wants bakers to benefit from the same 15 percent tariff cap the government has granted to individual households.

Businesses battling

Bakers say they’ve been forced to drastically reduce their margins, laying off staff and putting up the price of baguettes in order to cope.

While the government has put in place various aid packages for the country’s 33,0000 bakers, those in the industry say most are missing out because the process of accessing aid is too complicated.

Catherine Maillard, who managers a bakery in the upmarket Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret told Europe 1 radio that 80 percent of bakers were not even eligible for aid. How an African pastry chef brought Chadian chic to Paris

Meanwhile Vincent Chartier, a baker from the north-western town of Mayenne, said passing on huge prices increases to customers would be detrimental to the business.

"If we doubled the price of a baguette, we would sell fewer baguettes - and if we sell fewer baguettes we need fewer employees," Chartier told France Bleu.

Without the usual margins, Chartier said his business could not invest in new equipment, upgrade existing machines or buy new molds.

Union steps in

According to a report by RMC, the CGT energy union in the southern city of Marseille has been providing bakers in distress with 60 percent cheaper electricity.

Conceding the practice of "manipulating the meter" fell foul of the law, the union said the move remained "completely moral" even if it was "completely illegal".

Despite widespread anger from bakers in regions across France, the president of the National Confederation of French Bakeries, Dominique Anract, confirmed he was not among those protesting.France’s bakers to get tax leeway to offset soaring energy bills

French bakers enjoyed more government support than bakers elsewhere in the world, Anract told Ouest-France.

"We are working with the presidents of our 96 federations to explain the aid, the terms and conditions, everything we can do," Anract said, adding that negotiations with the government were still ongoing.

"People have the right to demonstrate, but many of them are not informed and think it is complicated. It's case by case."

UK
Security guards to join huge day of strikes

Feb 1

Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Wed, 25 January 2023 at 1:45 am GMT-7

Security guards are the latest group of workers planning to strike next week on what will be the biggest day of industrial action in decades.

Members of the IWGB union working for contractors at London university UCL will walk out on February 1 as part of a campaign for a wage rate of £15 an hour.

On the same day, teachers, train drivers, civil servants and university lecturers will be on strike in worsening disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.


The TUC is also organising nationwide events on February 1 to protest against the Government’s controversial planned law on making unions agree to provide minimum levels of service during industrial action.

Unions believe the planned legislation would lead to workers being sacked even if they had lawfully voted to strike.

Industrial unrest has been growing for months across the country involving rail workers, nurses, other NHS staff, teachers, civil servants, council workers and others.

Some union leaders have been pressing for co-ordinated action to try to break deadlocked disputes and believe that February 1 could be the start of a wave of different groups of workers going on strike on the same day.


Unions involved in next week’s walkouts are the National Education Union, the Public and Commercial Services union, the University and College Union, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, and Aslef.

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has announced that its members working as outsourced security guards at UCL will also strike on February 1.

Henry Chango Lopez, general secretary of IWGB said: “UCL’s use of outsourcing is outdated and exploitative.

“Workers face systemic discrimination in the form of poor pay and treatment from their subcontractors, and are ignored and belittled when they demand change.”

NHS pay dispute shows no sign of ending as North West ambulance workers strike

Ella Pickover, PA Health Correspondent
Tue, 24 January 2023

NHS pay dispute shows no sign of ending as North West ambulance workers strike

Almost 2,000 ambulance staff have embarked on another day of strike action as the bitter dispute over pay for NHS staff shows no sign of being resolved.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that he is not able to “wave a magic wand” and that giving pay rises to striking staff would lead to money being taken away from “elsewhere in the NHS budget”.

But he insisted that the Government would continue to “engage in dialogue with the unions”.

It comes as almost 2,000 ambulance workers in the North West of England have begun a fresh strike.

The GMB union said that paramedics, emergency care assistants and call handlers began their 24-hour walkout just after midnight on Tuesday morning.

“North West ambulance workers are angry,” said GMB representative and North West Ambulance Service paramedic Paul Turner.

“Instead of talking about pay for this year to resolve this dispute, ministers are demonising us and belittling our efforts to save lives.

“The NHS is collapsing, yet we have been waiting two weeks today for another meeting with ministers.

“The only way to solve this dispute is a proper pay offer. We are waiting.”

It is the second day of strike action for ambulance staff in the region after members of the Unison and Unite unions walked out on Monday.

North West Ambulance Service said that “resources will be severely restricted” as it urged the public to only call with life-threatening emergencies.

On Monday, the Prime Minister told ITV News: “Taking a step back, of course it would be lovely to be able to wave a magic wand and just give everyone what they were demanding when it came to pay.

“But my job as Prime Minister is to make the right decisions for the country, and they are, more often than not, not easy decisions.

“But that’s my job, and that’s what I will always do in this job, and… when you think about this, how would we pay for these things? Where’s the money going to come from?

“Actually, it’s probably going to have to come from elsewhere in the NHS budget, and that means fewer nurses, fewer doctors, fewer MRI scanners and CT scanners that are diagnosing people with cancer or indeed fewer mental health ambulances that we’re announcing today that are going to save people from going to A&E.

“My job is to balance all of those things and do what I believe is right for the country.”

But he said the Government would continue talks with unions.

(PA Graphics)

It follows a day of strikes by thousands of ambulance workers across England and Wales on Monday.

Combined walkouts in early February could lead to the biggest walkouts the NHS has ever experienced.

Thousands of nurses and ambulance workers are due to stage walkouts on February 6 if no deal has been reached by then.

And as nurses take strike action on February 7, they will be joined by midwives in Wales.

Members of the Royal College of Midwives in Wales are to stage an eight-hour walkout from 8am to 4pm but will provide “bank holiday cover” for women in labour.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has described “constructive talks with unions about this coming year’s pay process for 2023/24”, but unions have been calling for the 2022/23 pay award to be reviewed.

Teacher strikes: How do teachers' salaries compare across Europe?

Servet Yanatma

Tue, 24 January 2023 

Teachers are often hailed as heroes that are to be celebrated, but in many countries across Europe, they're feeling undervalued and are even taking to the streets.

Thousands of schools in England and Wales are set to close in February after teachers' unions voted to strike.

In Hungary, thousands of teachers marched in Budapest late last year, calling for higher salaries and urgent reforms from the government following strikes in September. Around 50 teachers have even been fired for "civil disobedience" after staging walkouts.

It's part of a wider picture of malaise in education, with a growing teacher shortage spreading across Europe. In France, there are currently 4,000 vacancies, with the latest estimates in Germany suggesting a shortfall of 25,000 teachers by 2025.

• Which countries have the most strikes in Europe and what is the impact on the economy?

The situation is largely due to working conditions, including stagnant wages that are being exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.

So, how much are teachers paid in Europe? Which countries pay teachers the most and the least? And how much have teacher salaries changed in the last decade?

There are significant differences in teacher salaries across European countries.

The official annual gross starting salaries in public schools in lower secondary education (ISCED 2) ranged from around €4,233 in Albania to €69,076 in Luxembourg in 2020/2021, according to country data compiled by the European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice.

The average pay for teachers across European Union (EU) countries is €25,055.

Teachers in France and Italy earn half what they do in Germany

Leaving aside Luxembourg, the annual starting salary was above €50,000 in just two countries, namely Switzerland (€66,972) and Germany (€54,129).

The annual salary in France and Italy was less than half the German figure.

Bulgaria had the lowest annual starting teacher salary among EU countries, at €7,731. The figure is also below €10,000 in several other EU countries such as Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Poland.

The purchasing power standard (PPS) is “an artificial currency unit” defined by Eurostat, where one PPS unit can theoretically buy the same amount of goods and services in each country. Looking at salaries in PPS irons out some of the cost of living differences between countries, but there are still wide disparities.

• Doctors' salaries: Which countries pay the most and least in Europe?

• UK nursing strikes: Which countries pay nurses the most and the least in Europe?

Teacher salaries seen through this lens ranged from 7,824 PPS in Albania to 50,357 PPS in Germany. While the annual gross starting salary of teachers is generally between 20,000 and 30,000 PPS, it is still below 20,000 PPS in 10 EU countries: Estonia, Malta, Czechia, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Latvia and Slovakia respectively.

The Balkan countries Montenegro and North Macedonia, which are outside the EU, have higher teacher salaries in PPS than several EU countries. Surprisingly, Turkey ranks significantly better in PPS (28,455) than in nominal salary (€8,330): while it ranked 28th out of 36 countries in nominal figures, it came 11th in PPS.

How do European teachers’ salaries compare to the minimum wage?

The ratio of teacher salaries to minimum wage shows how much teachers earn compared to the minimum wage in each country. The ratio is calculated by dividing the gross teacher salary by the gross minimum wage.

That ratio is the highest in Germany, with 2.8, whereas Poland has the lowest ratio with 1.1.

In other words, the starting salary of teachers in Poland is very close to the minimum wage, while teachers starting in German state schools earn nearly three times the minimum wage.

The average ratio across 21 EU countries is 1.86 while it is just 1.4 in France and Greece.

In most European countries, teachers who start working in state schools also earn, on average, significantly less than the national gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Their annual gross statutory starting salary was higher than the GDP per capita in just seven out of 36 countries. The highest ratio of salary to GDP per capita was recorded in North Macedonia with 1.28, whereas it was the lowest in Ireland with 0.45.

While Germany is one of the countries with the highest GDP per capita in Europe, the ratio is 1.26, meaning that junior teachers still earn more than the average GDP per capita. In contrast, this ratio is just 0.71 in France.

How have teacher salaries changed in the last decade?

The latest Eurydice report also provides figures for the 2009/2010 period. At the time, the annual gross starting salaries of teachers varied from €2,743 in Romania to €63,895 in Luxembourg.

The average across 26 EU countries was €19,563 in 2009/2010. However, it was below €5,000 in six EU countries, namely Slovakia (€4,824), Poland (€4,462), Lithuania (€4,275), Latvia (€4,166), Bulgaria (€2,761) and Romania (€2,743).

In other EU countries, it generally ranged from €18,000 to €30,000 while starting salaries in Germany and Denmark were over €35,000.

The change in annual gross starting salaries of teachers between 2009/2010 and 2020/2021 was the highest in Lithuania, where wages rose by 269 per cent in those 11 years. Recent EU member states Romania and Bulgaria also saw dramatic increases in teacher salaries over the last decade, of 193 and 180 per cent respectively.

The starting teacher salary also rose by 42 per cent in Germany, which already had the second highest salary in the 2009/2010 period. The change was below 10 per cent in six EU countries - Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Luxembourg.

Turkey is the only country on the list where starting teaching salaries decreased over the decade, falling by €876, or 10 per cent, likely due to the collapse of the Turkish lira in recent years.

In nominal terms, Iceland saw the annual gross starting salaries of teachers rise by €25,720 between 2009/2010 and 2020/2021, the highest increase among the countries studied, followed by Germany (€15,915) and Sweden (€15,135).

Starting salaries also rose by more than €10,000 in Austria, Lithuania and Denmark.

• Pension reform in France: Which countries have the lowest and highest retirement ages in Europe?

Are teachers satisfied with their salaries?

The short answer is no.

According to the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) in 2018, on average only 26 per cent of teachers in OECD countries and economies participating in TALIS thought their work was valued by society, and 39 per cent were satisfied with their pay.

How much have countries spent on education?

In 2020, general government expenditure on education in the EU amounted to €671 billion, or 5 per cent of GDP.

The EU countries spending the highest share of GDP on education were Sweden (7 per cent), Belgium and Estonia (6.6 per cent), followed by Denmark (6.4 per cent) in the EU.

Outside of the bloc, Iceland spent 7.7 per cent of its GDP on education. The lowest levels of expenditure on education as a share of GDP were seen in Ireland (3.1 per cent), Romania (3.7 per cent), and Bulgaria (4 per cent).

• Oxford topped the World University Rankings 2023. Where else in Europe made the cut?

How many pupils do teachers look after?

In the EU, the average number of pupils per teacher at primary level was 13.6 in 2020 but once again, there are significant country-by-country variations.

The lowest ratios - which some would call ideal - were registered in Greece (8.4), Luxembourg (8.9), and Hungary (10), whereas the United Kingdom (19.9), Romania (19.2) and France (18.4) had the highest average number of pupils per teacher.

The pupil-teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the number of full-time equivalent pupils by the number of full-time equivalent teachers.

A worrying shortage of teachers

Last but not least, there is a worrying shortage of teachers in European countries.

More than 30,000 teacher positions remained unfilled in Germany at the beginning of this academic year.

There is a shortage of 20,000 teachers in Poland and 16,000 in Hungary, and the French Ministry of Education stated that 4,000 of some 27,300 new teacher positions remain vacant.

Earth’s core might be reversing its spin. It ‘won’t affect our daily lives,’ expert says

Sergei Korsakov/AP

Brendan Rascius
Mon, January 23, 2023 

Earth’s inner core, a red-hot ball of iron 1,800 miles below our feet, stopped spinning recently, and it may now be reversing directions, according to an analysis of seismic activity.

The discovery indicates that the Earth’s center regularly pauses and reverses its rotation, researchers in China wrote in a study published Jan. 23 in the journal Nature Geoscience.

“We show surprising observations that indicate the inner core has nearly ceased its rotation in the recent decade and may be experiencing a turning back in a multidecadal oscillation, with another turning point in the early 1970s,” Dr. Yi Yang and Dr. Xiaodong Song, scientists at Peking University, wrote in the study.

Just as the Earth spins, the planet’s inner core turns, though not necessarily at the same speed, and some research indicates the core moves faster, according to the National Science Foundation. The inner core can spin independently because it is encased in a liquid outer core, similar to an egg yolk inside the more fluid egg white.


By analyzing earthquake data from across the globe over the last 28 years, researchers confirmed that the inner core’s rotation relative to the Earth’s mantle — the bulk of the planet’s interior between the core and the outer crust — had ceased around 2009, according to a story about the study in Nature Geoscience.

Additionally, their findings suggests the inner core may be in the process of reversing the direction of its spin, leading researchers to hypothesize a pattern.

“We infer the inner core rotation changes direction every 35 years,” Dr. Song told McClatchy News.

Why exactly this phenomenon occurs is not clear to researchers. The gravitational and magnetic forces that factor into the inner core’s movement are likely partly responsible, they said.

Importantly, their findings also imply a strong connection between the crust, the thin surface slice that we inhabit, and the deepest parts of the globe, researchers said.

The core’s multi-decade rotational pattern “coincides with several important geophysical observations,” researchers wrote, including changes in the magnetic field and the length of the day, meaning the inner workings of the planet could impact the duration of our days.

Still, we have no reason to be concerned, as these changes will not be noticeable to us, researchers said.

“The phenomenon does not affect our daily lives,” Dr. Song said.

Though more research is needed, these results represent another step in the process of unraveling the complex mechanisms of the inner Earth, an untraversable inferno that remains very difficult to study.

Earth's inner core may have started spinning other way: study

Daniel Lawler
Mon, January 23, 2023 


Far below our feet, a giant may have started moving against us.

Earth's inner core, a hot iron ball the size of Pluto, has stopped spinning in the same direction as the rest of the planet and might even be rotating the other way, research suggested on Monday.

Roughly 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) below the surface we live on, this "planet within the planet" can spin independently because it floats in the liquid metal outer core.

Exactly how the inner core rotates has been a matter of debate between scientists -- and the latest research is expected to prove controversial.

What little is known about the inner core comes from measuring the tiny differences in seismic waves -- created by earthquakes or sometimes nuclear explosions -- as they pass through the middle of the Earth.

Seeking to track the inner core's movements, new research published in the journal Nature Geoscience analysed seismic waves from repeating earthquakes over the last six decades.

The study's authors, Xiaodong Song and Yi Yang of China's Peking University, said they found that the inner core's rotation "came to near halt around 2009 and then turned in an opposite direction".

"We believe the inner core rotates, relative to the Earth's surface, back and forth, like a swing," they told AFP.

"One cycle of the swing is about seven decades", meaning it changes direction roughly every 35 years, they added.

They said it previously changed direction in the early 1970s, and predicted the next about-face would be in the mid-2040s.

The researchers said this rotation roughly lines up with changes in what is called the "length of day" -- small variations in the exact time it takes Earth to rotate on its axis.

- Stuck in the middle -

So far there is little to indicate that what the inner core does has much effect on surface dwellers.

But the researchers said they believed there were physical links between all Earth's layers, from the inner core to the surface.

"We hope our study can motivate some researchers to build and test models which treat the whole Earth as an integrated dynamic system," they said.

Experts not involved in the study expressed caution about its findings, pointing to several other theories and warning that many mysteries remain about the centre of the Earth.

"This is a very careful study by excellent scientists putting in a lot of data," said John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Southern California.

"(But) none of the models explain all the data very well in my opinion," he added.

Vidale published research last year suggesting that the inner core oscillates far more quickly, changing direction every six years or so. His work was based on seismic waves from two nuclear explosions in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

That timeframe is around the point when Monday's research says the inner core last changed direction -- which Vidale called "kind of a coincidence".

- Geophysicists 'divided' -

Another theory -- which Vidale said has some good evidence supporting it -- is that the inner core only moved significantly between 2001 to 2013 and has stayed put since.

Hrvoje Tkalcic, a geophysicist at the Australian National University, has published research suggesting that the inner core's cycle is every 20 to 30 years, rather than the 70 proposed in the latest study.

"These mathematical models are most likely all incorrect because they explain the observed data but are not required by the data," Tkalcic said.

"Therefore, the geophysical community will be divided about this finding and the topic will remain controversial."

He compared seismologists to doctors "who study the internal organs of patients' bodies using imperfect or limited equipment".

Lacking something like a CT scan, "our image of the inner Earth is still blurry", he said, predicting more surprises ahead.

That could include more about a theory that the inner core might have yet another iron ball inside it -- like a Russian doll.

"Something's happening and I think we're gonna figure it out," Vidale said.

"But it may take a decade."

dl/gil

The mysterious iron ball at the center of the Earth may have stopped spinning and reversed direction


Chris Panella,Morgan McFall-Johnsen
Tue, January 24, 2023 

A 3D rendering of the Earth's layers, including its inner core.Getty Images

Earth's inner core may have paused and reversed its spin, a new study suggests.

Earthquakes and nuclear blasts can send seismic waves through the mysterious solid-iron core.

Those waves hint that the core changed direction in the 1970s, and may be undergoing another reversal today.

Living on Earth's surface, we only see about 0.5% of the planet. Deep below the crust, then the hot rock mantle, then the liquified outer core, lies one of our planet's biggest mysteries: the solid iron core at the center.

That iron ball — Earth's inner core — may have recently stopped rotating, then reversed direction for no apparent reason, a new study found.

That may sound apocalyptic, but don't worry. Scientists don't think it will significantly change life on the surface, except by befuddling them.

"It's probably benign, but we don't want to have things we don't understand deep in the Earth," John Vidale, a geophysicist at the University of Southern California, told The Washington Post.

Published in the journal Nature Geoscience on Monday, the peer-reviewed research suggests that the solid inner core of the Earth could experience changes in its rotation every several decades.

Clues from earthquakes and nuclear blasts hint at a change around 2009

The light from an atomic bomb test explosion is reflected in the waters of Enewetak Atoll on May 30, 1956.STR New / Reuters

Scientists can't look directly at the inner core, but they can get hints of its activities from powerful earthquakes and Cold War nuclear-weapons tests, which have sent seismic waves reverberating through the center of the Earth.

Those deep seismic waves have shown that the core is mostly composed of pure, solid iron and nickel, and that it may spin a little faster than the rest of the Earth.

If the inner core was inert, spinning in line with the outer layers of the planet, similar waves should travel similar paths through it. But over time, the movement of those waves changes, indicating that the core itself is changing. Spinning is one of the leading explanations for these seismic mismatches.

The new study throws a wrench in the core's spin. It looks closely at seismic waves from the 1960s to the present day. The researchers found a quirk starting in 2009: In the last decade, the paths of similar seismic waves did not change. That suggests the inner core may have stopped spinning around that time.

Data from two pairs of nuclear blasts hint at a similar pause around 1971, with the core spinning eastward afterwards, leading the researchers to believe that the inner core may pause and reverse its spin about every 70 years.

The theory is that Earth's magnetic field pulls the inner core and causes it to spin, while the gravitational field of the mantle creates a counter force, dragging on the inner core. Every few decades, one force may win out over the other, changing the spin of the great iron ball.

The inner core is a major mystery, and we may never solve it

An artist's conception of the different layer's of our planet, including the crust, mantle, and inner and outer cores.Getty

Explaining these quirks in the seismic record is difficult, and involves speculation, since there is so little information about the inner core.

Another explanation is that the surface of the inner core is changing over time, rather than the whole iron ball spinning. Lianxing Wen, a seismologist at Stony Brook University, discussed this theory in a 2006 paper and still stands by it today. He told The Washington Post that would explain the pauses in 1971 and 2009.

"This study misinterprets the seismic signals that are caused by episodic changes of the Earth's inner core surface," Wen told the Post.

The new study may help shed further light on the mysterious nature of the inner core and how it interacts with Earth's other layers. It could be a long time before scientists piece together the full picture, though — if they ever do.

"It's certainly possible we'll never figure it out," Vidale told The New York Times.

An illustration of Earth's core.Getty

Still, he said, "I'm an optimist. The pieces are going to fall into place someday."

Until then, Vidale and his colleagues will just keep listening to seismic waves that travel from one side of the planet to the other, straight through the iron core that the 

3,600-year-old hoards may contain the earliest silver currency in Israel and Gaza

Tom Metcalfe
Mon, January 23, 2023 




The hacksilver hoard from Tell el-ʿAjjul in Gaza is the earliest known example of silver used as currency by weight in the region, about 3,600 years ago.

Ancient silver hoards from Israel and Gaza, which contain not coins but irregularly cut pieces of the precious metal, may be the earliest known silver currency in the region and likely came from the faraway regions of what is now Turkey and Europe, a new study suggests.

These newly analyzed hoards date to about 1550 B.C., hundreds of years earlier than other discoveries of silver currency in what is now Israel and Gaza, the researchers said. However, not everyone agrees that this is a new finding, with some experts noting that other research has already found that silver currency was being used during the Middle Bronze Age in this region.

The practice of using cut silver as currency may be a sign that administrators in the region — part of the "southern Levant" — were more numerically literate than their predecessors, which enabled them to accurately measure the weight of silver when making payments.

"We know that the Middle Bronze Age is a period of [making] large ramparts and fortifications," Tzilla Eshel, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa, told Live Science. "But how do you pay your workers?"

It's possible that workers would have been paid an agreed-upon weight of silver, following the practice already in use in the northern Levant, a region now covered by Lebanon and Syria, Eshel and her colleagues reported in the new study, published in the January issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.

The practice of exchanging silver by weight for other objects of value was also common during the Viking Age in Europe, where silver for this purpose came to be known as "hacksilver" (or "hacksilber").

"The use of silver as currency [in the southern Levant] came in this period because it was needed," Eshel said, "[and] there was a big enough organization that could manage it."

Related: 10 dazzling gold and silver treasures dug up in 2022

Ancient silver

Eshel and her colleagues studied 28 pieces of silver from four hoards found at Bronze Age archaeological sites: one from Gezer in the Judaean Mountains, one from a tomb at Megiddo in northern Israel, one from Shiloh in the West Bank, and one from Tell el-ʿAjjul in Gaza.

The authors reported that the silver hoards from Gezer, Shiloh and Tell el-ʿAjjul were not found alongside silversmith tools — a fact that they interpreted as evidence that the hoards were being used only for exchange, and not to create other silver objects.

That indicated that weights of silver had been used as a currency in the region since at least the approximate date of those hoards, which span from 1600 B.C. to 1550 B.C., Eshel said.

"There would have been different means of exchange, which is always true," she said. But "silver was the means of reference … so if you wanted to value your wheat, or to value your textiles, you would have valued them in silver shekels." A shekel was an ancient measurement of weight, in use since Mesopotamian times, that was equal to just over a third of an ounce, or about 9.6 grams.

Silver sources

Eshel and her colleagues also attempted to determine the origins of the silver in the hoards by studying their chemical impurities and isotopes — variations in the number of neutrons in the nuclei of particular elements, which change over time at known rates due to radiation.

The analysis revealed signs of a widespread transition between sources in about 1200 B.C., possibly from silver mined in Anatolia — now Turkey — to silver mined in southeastern Europe, which was then brought to the Levant by long-distance trade.

The silver of later origin was surprisingly similar to silver found in famous graves from the Bronze Age Mycenaean culture in Greece; these burials might have the same silver source as the hoard from Tell el-ʿAjjul, the researchers said.

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"As the silver items from Tell el-ʿAjjul are isotopically similar to silver from the [Mycenaean] Shaft Graves, it is possible that both contemporaneous assemblages originated from the same source," the authors wrote in their study.

Raz Kletter, an archaeologist at the University of Helsinki who has studied ancient economies and silver hoards from the Levant but was not involved in the new research, told Live Science in an email that the new study "advances our knowledge." However, he said scholars had pointed out 20 years ago that silver must have been used for weight economy since the late Middle Bronze period in the southern Levant, based on studies of the same hoards.

Kletter is also concerned that hoards found without metalworking tools were interpreted in the study as being only for exchange. "We cannot identify the owners," he said, "and the places where hoards are hidden ... do not necessarily tell us about their origins."

Stunning CT scans of 'Golden Boy' mummy from ancient Egypt reveal 49 hidden amulets

Jennifer Nalewicki
Mon, January 23, 2023 

A mummy wearing a gilded face mask.

Incredibly detailed computed tomography (CT scans) of the so-called "Golden Boy" mummy from ancient Egypt have revealed a hidden trove of 49 amulets, many of which were made of gold.

The young mummy earned its nickname because of the dazzling display of wealth, which included a gilded head mask found in the mummy's sarcophagus. Researchers think he was about 14 or 15 years old when he died because his wisdom teeth had not yet emerged.

The Golden Boy was originally unearthed in 1916 at a cemetery in southern Egypt and has been stored in the basement of The Egyptian Museum in Cairo ever since. The mummy had been "laid inside two coffins, an outer coffin with a Greek inscription and an inner wooden sarcophagus," according to a statement.

While analyzing the scans, the researchers found that the dozens of amulets, comprised of 21 different shapes and sizes, were strategically placed on or inside his body.

Those included "a two-finger amulet next to the [boy’s] uncircumcised penis, a golden heart scarab placed inside the thoracic cavity and a golden tongue inside the mouth," according to the statement.

Related: Ancient Egyptian mummification was never intended to preserve bodies, new exhibit reveals

The mummy was also wearing a pair of sandals, and a garland of ferns was draped across his body, according to the statement.

"This mummy is a showcase of Egyptian beliefs about death and the afterlife during the Ptolemaic period," Sahar Saleem, the study's lead author and a professor of radiology at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University in Egypt, told Live Science in an email.

While researchers aren't sure of the mummy's true identity, based on the grave goods alone, they think he was of high socioeconomic status.

The amulets served important roles in the afterlife.

A series of images, including CT scans of a mummy.

"Ancient Egyptians believed in the power of amulets … and they were used for protection and for providing specific benefits for the living and the dead," Saleem said. "In modern science, this is explained by energy. Different materials, shapes and colors (e.g. crystals) provide energy with different wavelengths that could have [an] effect on the body. Amulets were used by ancient Egyptians in their lives. Embalmers placed amulets during mummification to vitalize the dead body."

For example, the teenage mummy's tongue was capped in gold "to enable the deceased to speak" and the sandals "were to enable the deceased to walk out of the tomb in the [afterlife]," Saleem said.

However, one amulet in particular stood out to Saleem: the golden heart scarab placed inside the torso cavity. She wound up creating a replica of it using a 3D printer.

"It was really amazing especially after I 3D printed [it] and was able to hold it in my hands," Saleem said. "There were engraved marks on the back that could represent the inscriptions and spells the priests wrote to protect the boy during his journey. Scarabs symbolize rebirth in ancient Egyptians and [were] in the form of a discoid (disc-shaped) beetle."

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She added that the heart scarab measured about 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) and was inscribed with verses from "The Book of the Dead," an important ancient Egyptian text that helped guide the deceased in the afterlife.

"It was very important in the afterlife during judging the deceased and weighing of the heart against the feather of Maat (the goddess of truth)," Saleem said. "The heart scarab silenced the heart [on] judgement day so not to bear witness against the deceased. A heart scarab was placed inside the torso cavity during mummification to substitute for the heart if the body was ever deprived [of] this important organ for any reason."

The findings were published Jan. 24 in the journal Frontiers of Medicine.