‘We can’t afford an ounce of meat’: Economic crisis strangles Lebanon

WHY IS LEBANON STARVING

BECAUSE THE WORLD IS IGNORING THE CAPITALIST CRISIS THERE 

EVEN BEFORE COVID-19

Issued on: 03/07/2020 -

Omar al-Hakim speaks during an interview in Tripoli, northern Lebanon on July 1, 2020. © Mohamed Azakir, Reuters
Text by:NEWS WIRES
For Amer al Dahn, the idea of eating meat is now a dream. Today, he can't even afford bread and depends on credit from the local grocer to feed his wife and four children in the Lebanese city of Tripoli.

"We can no longer buy meat or chicken. The closest we get to them is in magazines and newspapers," said Dahn, 55, leafing through a supermarket brochure in his cramped apartment.

Living in one of the poorest streets of Lebanon's poorest city, Dahn and his family are feeling the full force of a financial meltdown that is fuelling extreme poverty and shattering lives across the country.

In the capital Beirut, a 61-year-old man shot himself in the head on the busy Hamra street on Friday. Reuters could not establish his motives, but local media attributed the suicide to hunger.

Struggling to walk because of diabetes, Dahn already faced a difficult life before the crisis which has sunk the Lebanese pound by 80% since October, driving up prices in the import-dependent economy.

"Life has become very difficult. The dollar is still climbing and the state is incapable of providing a solution.”

Even chickpeas, beans and lentils - a traditional part of the Lebanese diet - are out of reach for some.

>>Read: Food insecurity hits middle class amid Lebanon's economic crisis

The crisis is seen as the biggest threat to stability since the 1975-90 civil war.

"We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people who have fallen off the cliff," said Bojar Hoxja, country director at CARE International, an aid agency. Lebanon faces a humanitarian crisis that requires urgent international intervention, he said.

Bread price hike

Lebanon is already a big recipient of international aid, the bulk of it directed at the 1 million Syrians who fled from the war next door.

Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni Muslim city on the Mediterranean, is home to some of Lebanon's wealthiest politicians, who critics say only remember their constituents at election time.

"If it was not for the neighbours here sending food to each other, people would be dying of hunger," said Omar al-Hakim, who lives with his six children and wife in a one-room apartment.

The salary of 600,000 pounds a month he makes as a security guard now lasts just six days. Before the pound's collapse, it was the equivalent of $400 a month. Today, it is around $60.

Basics such as sugar, rice and lentils become harder to buy, he says. This week, Hakim was hit by a one third increase in the price of state-subsidised bread.

"We used to eat meat on Sunday, or fish, or chicken ... none of that now. We can't afford an ounce of meat," Hakim said.

The World Bank warned last November that the proportion of Lebanese living in poverty could rise to 50% if conditions worsened. Since then the crisis has only deepened and the economy has been further hit by a COVID-19 lockdown.
Many people depend on charity. Some are using social media to barter furniture or clothes for baby formula or diapers.

Shopkeeper Kawkab Abdelrahim, 30, is struggling to keep her store open as she extends more and more credit.

"Do you have the heart to turn them away if they want a bag of bread? Sometimes they ask for a tub of yoghurt or 1,000 pounds of labneh," she said, referring to a type of strained yoghurt that is a Lebanese staple.

"That is one spoonful that a mother spreads on bread to feed three children."

(REUTERS)

Air France to cut 7,580 jobs at French flagship carrier and regional unit Hop!

Under CEO Ben Smith, who joined from Air Canada in 2018, Air France-KLM has sought to cut costs
Issued on: 03/07/2020 -

An Air France plane is pictured on the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris on April 30, 2020. © Bertrand Guay, AFP/Archives
Text by:FRANCE 24

Air France confirmed plans to cut some 7,500 jobs including 1,000 at sister airline Hop! on Friday, as staff protested over its response to the collapse in travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The French flag carrier, part of Franco-Dutch group Air France-KLM, said it had lost €15 million a day during the worst part of the crisis, which also saw its revenues plunge by 95 percent. It did not see traffic returning to 2019 levels before 2024.

As a result, Air France plans to cut 6,560 or 16 percent of jobs at the main airline by the end of 2022, more than 3,500 of which will come through natural departures, it said after union talks.

Another 1,020 jobs will go over the next three years at Hop!, representing 42 percent of staff at the regional carrier based in the coastal city of Nantes, which has also been hit by job cuts at plane manufacturer Airbus.

The French government – which granted Air France €7 billion ($7.9 billion) in aid, including state-backed loans, to help it to survive – has urged the airline to avoid compulsory layoffs, though it has conceded Air France is "on the edge”.
"A successful labour reorganisation is one where there are no forced departures," junior economy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told Sud Radio on Friday.

In its statement, Air France said it would give priority to voluntary departures, early retirement and staff mobility. It did not rule out compulsory redundancies, however.

The reconstruction plan will be presented at the end of July, together with a plan for the wider Air France-KLM Group.

‘This is not how I wanted to leave’

Some 100 union members and employees, from cleaning staff to check-in assistants, demonstrated earlier outside the airline's base at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris against plans to cut staff after receiving state aid to absorb the pandemic fallout.

Air France employees gather to protest a restructuring plan that includes thousands of job cuts in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis outside the French airline's headquarters in Roissy-en-France near Paris on July 3, 2020. The sign at right reads, "Not born to end up in the dumpster.” © Gonzalo Fuentes, Reuters

"It's scandalous. The government is putting in €7 billion and the company is destroying jobs," said 62-year-old Annick Blanchemin, who works as ground staff for the airline.

"They'll push me to retire but I won't get my maximum pension this way. And this is not how I wanted to leave.”

In Nantes, where Hop! is based, employees also erected banners in protest on Friday.

The shake-up was expected after sources familiar with the matter said that at least half of the cuts were likely to entail voluntary departures and retirement plans.

The French government, which is being reshuffled under new Prime Minister Jean Castex, has also expressed concerns about Airbus's plans to cut some 15,000 jobs across Europe – with a third of those in France.

A wave of restructuring triggered by the virus outbreak is hitting airlines and industrial firms across Europe.

Under CEO Ben Smith, who joined from Air Canada in 2018, Air France-KLM has sought to cut costs, improve French labour relations and overcome governance squabbles between France and the Netherlands, each owners of close to 14 percent of the group.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

UPDATED
Mystery of hundreds of elephants found dead in Botswana

Issued on: 03/07/2020

An elephant carcass in Botswana, where 356 of the animals have been found dead by unknown causes in recent weeks. © Reuters / France 24
Text by:FRANCE 24Follow|
Video by:Sam BALL

Nearly 400 elephants have been found dead in Botswana in recent weeks but local authorities and wildlife experts are struggling to find an explanation, with disease and poisoning among the possible causes.

The reports of the deaths in the northern Okavango Delta region first began in early May. Since then, the government has confirmed 275 deaths.

But aerial surveys by wildlife group Elephants Without Borders have counted some 356 elephant carcasses.

Poaching has been ruled out as a cause, as the ivory has not been removed from the elephants.

Infectious disease as well as poisoning by farmers have also been considered and samples from the elephants have been sent to labs in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada for testing.

"At this stage it’s difficult to really tell what could be the cause of the mortality,” Mmadi Reuben, head veterinarian at the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks, told AFP.

“We have eliminated from the local labs the possibility of anthrax being the cause of the mortality, but there are still of a lot of infectious diseases and potentially other toxins that are still being investigated by the laboratory samples that have been collected."

The unexplained deaths have sparked concern among wildlife groups, with Botswana previously considered a safe-haven for elephants.

The country is home to almost a third of Africa’s elephants and although numbers are declining across the continent due largely to poaching, Botswana’s elephant population has grown to 130,000 from 80,000 in the late 1990s.

But elephants are seen as a growing nuisance by farmers whose crops have been destroyed by the animals, while last year the country controversially lifted a five-year ban on elephant hunting.

350 elephants found dead in Botswana within past two months  

Scientists in Africa have reported more than 350 elephants have died within the last two months in what has been described as a "conservation" disaster in Botswana. File Photo by Gernot Hensel/EPA-EFE
July 1 (UPI) -- More than 350 elephants have died in Botswana within the past two months in what experts have described as a "conservation disaster."

Niall McCann of British charity National Park Rescue said his colleagues first discovered 169 dead elephants in early May during a 3-hour flight over the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the southern African country which is home to one-third of the continent's elephant population.

"To be able to see and count that many in a 3-hour flight was extraordinary. A month later our, colleagues did another flight over and spotted 187 new carcasses, bringing the total to over 350," McCann said. "This is totally unprecedented in terms of numbers of elephants dying in a single event unrelated to drought."

Acting director of Botswana's department of wildlife and national parks, Cyril Taolo, said the government has confirmed 280 deaths and has sent samples for testing but said COVID-19 restrictions have delayed the process, so causes for the deaths are not yet known.

RELATED WHO: Ebola outbreak that killed more than 2,000 in Congo is over

Poisoning or an unknown pathogen are considered the most likely possibilities as the government has ruled out anthrax and poaching, noting the tusks had not been removed.

Male and female elephants of all ages have died and witnesses have said some were seen walking in circles, indicating possible neurological impairment, while others have appeared weak and emaciated, suggesting more forthcoming deaths.

"If you look at the carcasses, some of them have fallen straight on their face, indicating they died very quickly. Others are obviously dying more slowly, like the ones that are wandering around. So it's very difficult to say what this toxin is," McCann said.

upi.com/7018562


Botswana reports mysterious deaths of hundreds of elephants

Issued on: 02/07/2020 -

Botswana is home to some 130,000 elephants

 MONIRUL BHUIYAN AFP/File

Gaborone (Botswana) (AFP)

Hundreds of elephants have died mysteriously in Botswana's famed Okavango Delta, the head of the wildlife department said Thursday, ruling out poaching as the tusks were found intact.

The landlocked southern African country has the world's largest elephant population, estimated to be around 130,000.

"We have had a report of 356 dead elephants in the area north of the Okavango Delta and we have confirmed 275 so far," Cyril Taolo, the acting director of the department of Wildlife and National Parks, told AFP in a text message.


He said the cause of the deaths was yet to be established with anthrax having been ruled out.

"We do not suspect poaching since (the) animals were found with tusks," he said.

Samples have been collected and sent to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada for testing.

Similar deaths were first reported in May when authorities found 12 carcasses in just a week in two villages in the northwest of the country.

The latest discoveries were flagged by a wildlife conservation charity, Elephants Without Borders (EWB), whose confidential report referring to the 356 dead elephants, was leaked to the media on Wednesday.

EWB suspects the elephants have been dying in the area for about three months.

According to the report dated June 19, 2020, "70 percent of elephant carcasses were considered recent, having died about a month ago, and 30 percent of the carcasses appeared fresh, ranging from one day to two weeks old".

"There was good evidence to show elephants of all ages and sex appear to be dying," said the report penned by EWB director Mike Chase.

Several live elephants appeared to have been weak, lethargic and emaciated, with some showing signs of disorientation, difficulty in walking or limping, EWB said.

"One elephant was observed walking in circles, unable to change direction although being encouraged by other herd members," said the report.

© 2020 AFP

‘Our pride is political’: Thousands march in Paris for LGBT rights

Issued on: 04/07/2020 -

Young People attend an LGBT rights march despite social distancing restrictions forbidding gatherings of more than 10 people in Paris, France on July 4, 2020. © Charles Platiau, Reuters

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people turned out Saturday in Paris for a politically engaged Gay Pride march, a week after the officially scheduled event was cancelled because of coronavirus restrictions

A young, multicultural crowd marched behind a lorry bearing a banner declaring "our pride is political", carrying rainbow flags, coloured hair and some dressed in drag.

Among the banners were ones calling for "a radical pride" and others denouncing transphobia.

The official Gay Pride march due to take place on June 27 was cancelled because of restrictions on large gatherings as a result of the coronavirus crisis. It is now due to go ahead on November 7.

But Emma Vallee-Guillard said Saturday's rally was in response to a call made by several LGBT groups and it was important to mark the event.

"Pride, in the beginning, was a riot," she said.

The first Gay Pride march was held in 1970 in New York to mark the first anniversary of the city's Stonewall riots, a landmark event in the gay rights struggle, sparked by a police raid on a gay bar.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of that first Gay Pride march.

"The danger of rolling back our fundamental rights is very present and the epidemic has revealed multiple factors of exclusion, discrimination and violence," Giovanna Rincon, director of the association Acceptess-T, which defends transgender people, told AFP.

>>Read: France reports 36 percent rise in victims of anti-LGBT attacks, offences

Many Gay Pride events around the world went online this year, to get around restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

(AFP)

 COVID-19 MAKING THE POOR POORER


REPORTERS 
FRANCE24/AFP VIDEO
By: DELANO D'SOUZA

Every day thousands of people around the world continue to become direct casualties of the Covid-19. But there’s another group slowly emerging – indirect victims who have not contracted the virus but are suffering its consequences. Our reporter Julie Dungelhoff went to meet a temporary worker and cleaner who have been hard hit by the crisis.

For two months from March 17 to May 11, 2020, the French economy ground to a near standstill due to a lockdown imposed by the government to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, almost 12 million people in France became partially employed with average wage losses of up to 16 percent. Others, like temporary workers, were made redundant overnight, while thousands more casual workers lost their livelihoods.

Many of these women and men were already in financial hardship before the pandemic hit. Now they have been pushed into poverty.

With the closure of schools and canteens some families have struggled to provide three to four meals for their children. Many have had no choice but to turn to food banks, whose demand for aid has surged.

Though the economy is picking up, many in France are still without work. The threat of a second wave of the virus and plans for mass layoffs pose further risks.

Our reporter travelled to Argentan, Orne, and Seine-Saint-Denis to meet two women – one a temporary worker, the other an "illegal" paid housekeeper – who are both indirect casualties of the virus.

Area C, the chunk of the West Bank the Israeli right has long coveted
Issued on: 04/07/2020 -

A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag before Israeli troops during an anti-annexation protest in the West Bank on June 5, 2020. © Mohamad Torokman, REUTERS
Text by:Marc DAOU

Encouraged by US President Donald Trump’s so-called “deal of the century”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in a position to start his controversial West Bank annexation plan since July 1. The prime, fertile Jordan Valley, located in the West Bank’s Area C are in the Israeli leader’s sights and have long been coveted by his hard-right supporters.

Netanyahu has been able, in principle, to start the annexation of one-third of the West Bank any time since July 1, delivering on an election campaign promise that is in line with Trump’s Middle East “peace plan”.

The plan envisions the Israeli annexation of a vast strip of agricultural land that spans the breadth of the fertile Jordan Valley, which runs roughly from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea and includes areas abutting the Israeli settlements near Jerusalem. If realised, the annexation of a chunk of the West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, would be the final nail in the coffin of a two-state solution, killing any scope for a contiguous, viable Palestinian state.

"Benjamin Netanyahu has made this project a personal affair. He wants to go down in history as one of the prime ministers who validated a form of annexation – like Menachem Begin with the Golan Heights in 1981, or Levi Eshkol with East Jerusalem after the 1967 war," said David Rigoulet-Roze of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS), in an interview with FRANCE 24.

The territories coveted by Netanyahu are in Area C of the West Bank, which was divided into three sectors under the Oslo Accords. Under the interim 1990s agreements, the West Bank was divided into these areas of control pending a final accord. Area A is under exclusive Palestinian control, Area B is under Palestinian administration and Israeli security control, and Area C, defined as “areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B”, the largest area, which constitutes around 60 percent of the West Bank, is an area to be “gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction”.

More than a quarter century later, that plan appears to be going up in smoke since Netanyahu’s plan to annex 30 percent of the West Bank is equivalent to around 50 percent of Area C.

'Unique, one-off opportunity'

"Originally, the idea was that Area C would gradually become part of the Palestinian Authority, then eventually part of Palestine when there would be a permanent agreement," Yossi Beilin, one of the Israeli negotiators of the Oslo Accords, told AFP. But the Israeli right now views Area C as Israeli territory, which constitutes an abuse of Oslo, Beilin noted, by turning something "interim" into something "forever".

For the Israeli right, which has often debated the annexation of Area C, the region is not viewed as Palestinian territory. The right views this zone merely as a "disputed" area in "Judea-Samaria" referring to the biblical name used by the Israeli government for the occupied West Bank.

In recent years, several figures of the Israeli far right – such as former defence minister Naftali Bennett and Uri Ariel, a former agriculture minister – have called for the annexation of Area C.

Some, such as Moshe Feiglin, a former Likud Knesset member and current head of the libertarian Zionist party Zehut, have even proposed a complete West Bank takeover by paying Palestinian families $500,000 each to emigrate.

Netanyahu had kept his distance from this debate, before he promised last September – a week before hotly contested legislative elections – to realise the dream of his right-wing supporters. "If I receive from you, citizens of Israel, a clear mandate to do so... today I announce my intention to apply, with the formation of the next government, Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea," he said in a televised speech.

Seizing on what he called the “unique, one-off opportunity” afforded him by the Trump administration, Netanyahu noted that, “We haven’t had such an opportunity since the [1967] Six Day War, and I doubt we’ll have another opportunity in the next 50 years”, before imploring voters to “give me the power to guarantee Israel’s security. Give me the power to determine Israel’s borders”.

An annexation of a de facto situation on the ground

But the plan still divides Israeli society and the political class. According to an Israel Democratic Institute poll published in early June, only 50 percent of Israelis support the annexation project.

For their part, a number of Israeli security officials, both current and retired, oppose annexation behind the scenes, believing that there is nothing to be gained by enshrining into law a situation that, in any case, already exists de facto on the ground.

Indeed, from a demographic point of view, the colonisation of the West Bank, which has accelerated under Netanyahu – who has been in power continuously since 2009 – has changed the situation in Area C. Around 450,000 settlers live in Area C – more than the number of Palestinians estimated at between 200,000 to 290,000, according to Israeli media figures.

Moreover, from an administrative point of view, the Jewish State retains control over security, planning and construction, and imposes restrictions on movement, access and construction of Palestinian homes. Israel rarely grants Palestinians building permits in that zone.

In 2016, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found that Israeli policy in Area C creates a "highly coercive environment that forces [Palestinians] to leave". A policy deemed "systematic and general", which, according to the UN, prevents the Palestinian population from developing, from having access to water resources, pasture, agricultural land and even basic services.

"All these policies, which have been carried out for years – whether it's the transfer of Palestinians, the construction of settlements, the classification of land as a military zone – were aimed at taking as much land as possible with as few Palestinians as possible," Majed Bamya, a Palestinian diplomat at the UN, told FRANCE 24.

It remains to be seen whether Netanyahu will opt for a maximalist approach with the annexation of the Jordan Valley and a hundred or so settlements, or a minimalist approach by targeting a handful of settlements in zone C.

Whatever his choice, he will have to speed up the process despite international criticism and objections, particularly from European leaders and the UN, because a Trump defeat in November's US presidential election could throw a spanner in his annexation works.

This article has been translated from the original in French.

Polish President Andrzej Duda,  wants to ban adoption by same-sex couples

POLISH PRIDE MARCH 

Warsaw (AFP)

Poland's President Andrzej Duda, who is running for re-election in the conservative, Catholic EU member, on Saturday said he wanted the constitution to explicitly forbid the adoption of children by same-sex couples.

He said he planned to propose a constitutional amendment on Monday.

The announcement marked the head of state's latest reference to gay rights in the electoral campaign, after he stoked controversy by likening "LGBT ideology" to communism before the first round of the vote last month.

"In Poland's constitution, it should be explicitly stated that anyone in a same-sex relationship is forbidden from adopting a child," Duda said at a campaign event in the southern town of Szczawno-Zdroj.
"To ensure the safety of the child and a proper upbringing, for the Polish state to safeguard the rights of children... I believe such an entry should exist," he added.

Duda, who is from the governing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, said he would sign a presidential draft amendment to the constitution on the matter on Monday and submit it to parliament.

The incumbent and his rival in the run-off next weekend, centrist Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, are currently polling neck to neck, with opinion surveys divided as to who has the edge.

On Saturday, Trzaskowski told reporters that he is also "against same-sex couples adopting children".

"I believe that is the stance of most of the political parties.... On this particular matter I agree with the president," he added in the central city of Kalisz.
Trzaskowski is generally seen as favourable to gay rights. He has said he is open to the idea of civil partnerships between same-sex couples, which are currently banned in Poland.

He also signed an "LGBT+ Declaration" promising to protect gay people when he was elected mayor of Warsaw.

Just nine percent of Poles believe that gay and lesbian couples should have the right to adopt children, according to a 2019 opinion poll by the CBOS institute. Twenty-nine percent support gay marriage.
Gay rights were also a key issue ahead of Poland's parliamentary elections in October.

© 2020 AFP

DUDA VISITED TRUMP LAST WEEK NON MASK WEARING MEETING 

ONLY FORMAL MEETING TRUMP HAS HAD WITH A FOREIGN LEADER SINCE LOCKDOWN.

HE VISITED BEFORE THIS RUNOFF ELECTION TO SHOW OFF HIS POWER CONNECTIONS IDEOLOGICALLY WITH TRUMP FASCISM IE. MORE RIGHT WING ASSAULTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN EASTERN EUROPE.

IT WAS NEVER STALINISM IT WAS ALWAYS CATHOLICISM IN THE EAST AND ORTHODOXY IN THE WEST. STILL IS. 

https://monoskop.org/File:Bakunin_Mikhail_God_and_the_State.pdf

IT TOOK LITTLE FOR THEM TO ALIGN WITH THE NAZI'S ON A COMMON POGROM.

THE CATHOLIC NATIONALISTS DESTROYED POLISH SOLIDARITY WITH THE MUTUAL COOPERATION OF THE CIA AND THE VATICAN AND THE LEADERSHIP OF SOLIDARNOSC.

TODAY THE AUTHORITARIANS ARE BACK IN POWER ATTACKING WOMEN AND LGBTQ RIGHTS.

#CIVILIZATION 

Canadian researchers help find evidence of ancient ochre mine in Mexican caves

Caves hold some of the best-preserved evidence of earliest humans in western hemisphere

CBC/ The Associated Press · Posted: Jul 03, 2020

A diver from Centro Investigador del Sistema Acuífero de Q Roo (CINDAQ A.C.) examines the oldest ochre mine ever found in the Americas, used 10,000-12,000 years ago by the earliest inhabitants of the Western hemisphere to procure the ancient commodity. (CINDAQ.ORG)


The caves are vast, pitch-black, full of twists and turns and treacherously tight in spots.

New research reveals why ancient inhabitants of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula may have ventured deep into the underground labyrinths despite the danger: to mine red ochre.

A paper published Friday in the journal Science Advances says there is evidence of people prospecting for the red pigment thousands of years ago in what is today the state of Quintana Roo.

It seems the resource was especially abundant in a part of the cave network known as La Mina Roja, said Eduard Reinhardt, one of the study's authors.

"This was a bonanza," said the McMaster University geo-archaeologist and expert cave diver.

A diver collects charcoal samples from the ochre mine. (CINDAQ.ORG)

"This activity of mining, finding the ochre, extracting the ochre would have been a pretty big endeavour."

For a hunter-gatherer society to put in so much effort, he said, "it must have been pretty valuable."

The researchers say humans were frequenting the cave networks between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. They would have shared the landscape with now-extinct megafauna like sabre-toothed tigers and giant ground sloths.

Back then, the caves were dry and farther inland. Today, they are underwater and accessible via openings called cenotes.
Caves like a 'rabbit warren'

Ancient human remains have previously been found in Quintana Roo caves, including the 13,000-year-old skeleton of a teenage girl in the Hoyo Negro cavern in 2007. But until now, scientists didn't know the reasons behind the risky subterranean excursions.

A landmark of piled stone and broken speleothems left 10,000-12,000 years ago by the earliest inhabitants of the Western hemisphere to find their way in and out of the mine. (CINDAQ.ORG)

Members of CINDAQ, a local cave diving team, were exploring an area of deep tunnels in 2017 and found what they thought could be human disturbances. They reached out to Mexican cultural authorities and academic experts were brought in to investigate.

Reinhardt, who has been in the caves, compared them to "Swiss cheese" or a "rabbit warren."

"You have to be very, very careful about not getting lost," he said. "You've got passages that kind of loop around and interconnect and then branch off and then connect into other systems."

A diver examines an ochre mine pit and mining debris. (CINDAQ.ORG)

Many of the passages are a comfortable 25 metres wide but have ceilings less than two metres high.

Some areas are a tight squeeze at just 70 centimetres wide.

"You've really got to basically get on your back and kind of wiggle your way through."
Tools, fire pits found

The paper describes cairns and broken-off stalagmites and stalactites that could have been used as route-markers, as well as the remnants of fires likely used to illuminate passages up to 650 metres away from sunlight.

At mining sites, divers have found orderly rock piles and tools used to smash up the stone.

The hot, humid climate of the Yucatan has destroyed most above-ground evidence of those who lived there during an age known as the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

WATCH | Canadian researchers help find evidence of earliest humans in western hemisphere


Watch
Canadian team helps find evidence of earliest humans in western hemisphere
16 hours ago 7:10

Researchers find 12,000-year-old tools, fire pits preserved in cave in Mexico 7:10

But artifacts have been remarkably well preserved in caverns that became submerged as sea levels rose 7,000 to 8,000 years ago.

"It's this kind of time capsule," said study co-author Brandi MacDonald, an archaeological scientist at the University of Missouri who studies ochre deposits around the world.

"We're able to see what it looked like more or less as it was when it was abandoned."

MacDonald, who completed her PhD at McMaster, said evidence of the mine's intensive use over a 2,000-year span suggests knowledge and skills were being passed generation to generation. It's also possible ochre-mining was a large-scale regional industry, as there is evidence of prospecting in multiple locations.

A diver explores the ochre mine, which holds some of the best-preserved evidence of ancient peoples in the western hemisphere. (CINDAQ.ORG)

Reinhardt and MacDonald said further exploration of the caves could reveal how extensive and long-lasting ochre-mining was. The research team which also included cave exploration expert Fred Devos, originally from Stratford, Ont.

MacDonald said ochre — a mix of iron oxide, clay and other minerals — is most often associated with ancient cave and rock paintings.

The researchers don't know how early Yucatan residents used the material, but elsewhere in the world there is evidence of it being used in mortuary practices and rituals.

It might have had utilitarian uses on top of religious ones. The ochre found at La Mina Roja, for instance, contained enough arsenic to perhaps be an effective insect repellent.

"It's the kind of material that humans have been using for literally hundreds of thousands of years," said MacDonald.

"Ochre is such a universal material in terms of human history."


ANCIENT HUMAN CIVILIZATIONS DID NOT JUST CREATE TOOLS BUT TECHNOLOGY FOR MASS PRODUCTION IN THE CASE OF OCHRE THIS ALSO OCCURS IN FINDS IN SOUTH AFRICA THAT DATE 
BACK EARLIER THAN MEXICO RECENT FINDS HAVE REVEALED INDUSTRY MEANS CIVILIZATIONS,  COMMUNITIES THAT ALLOWED FOR MORE NOMADIC HUNTER GATHERS TO COME AND TRADE FOR OCHRE

THOUGH YOU CAN BE SURE SOMEONE WILL COME UP WITH AN ATLANTEAN UFO CRYSTAL SKULL HYPOTHESIS LOOKING TO BECOME A THEORY 

How to watch the Fourth of July weekend's "buck moon" lunar eclipse

BY SOPHIE LEWIS

JULY 3, 2020 / 12:51 PM / CBS NEWS

Fourth of July celebrations look a little bit different this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but skywatchers are still in for a special Independence Day treat. The weekend brings not only a full moon, but also a lunar eclipse. 

The "buck moon" lunar eclipse will be visible the night of July 4 into the morning of July 5. Viewers across most of North and South America, as well as parts of southwestern Europe and Africa, will be able to spot the celestial phenomenon.

The event will be a penumbral eclipse, not a total lunar eclipse, meaning part of the moon will pass through the outer part of Earth's shadow.

According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, July's full moon is called the "buck moon," because early summer is when male deer grow new antlers. It's also called the thunder moon — because of summer storms that occur in July — the guru moon and the hay moon.

On the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the full buck moon rises above the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City on July 16, 2019 as seen from Kearney, New Jersey.GARY HERSHORN / GETTY IMAGES

According to NASA, the full moon will peak early Sunday morning, at 12:30 a.m. EDT. At that time, about 35% of the moon will be in the partial shadow.

The full moon peaks just a few minutes later, appearing opposite the sun at 12:44 a.m. EDT. However, it will appear full all weekend, from Friday evening into Monday morning.

Clear skies will reveal the moon in all its glory, but moon gazers may need the help of a telescope or binoculars for the full effect. It's also possible the events could be overshadowed by Fourth of July fireworks across the U.S. — despite warnings from officials.

Not only does the Fourth of July weekend mark a full moon and lunar eclipse, it also highlights the closest grouping of Saturn, Jupiter and the moon, forming a triangle of celestial celebration.

First published on July 3, 2020 / 12:51 PM
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-to-watch-fourth-of-july-weekend-buck-moon-lunar-eclipse/

Trump supporters shouted ‘go home’ at Native Americans protesting Mount Rushmore rally on their land: report

 July 3, 2020 By Bob Brigham



Oglala Sioux protesters were arrested protesting against President Donald Trump’s Independence Day event at Mount Rushmore on Friday.

The protesters argued that it is their land after the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1868, which was ratified by the U.S. Senate.

The Black Hills of South Dakota, where Mount Rushmore is located, was among the lands the tribes received to bring about an end to Red Cloud’s War, which is also known as the Bozeman Trail War.

MSNBC’s Cal Perry was interviewed by Ali Velshi about what he saw.

“It is their land according to the U.S. government, according to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in 1980 that the original Laramie Treaty of 1868 was not held up by the U.S. government, the U.S. government did not hold up their end of the bargain,” Perry reported. “That treaty ended a lot of the conflict in the northwestern part of this country, it wasn’t even fully formed at that point, but these Black Hills were given to the Lakota people, and it was less than ten years later when people searching for gold came across these hills and the Lakota people were starved and killed and run out of these hills, and ever since then they’ve been on reservations and they’ve been fighting for their land back.”

“So you had this very ugly and frankly, very sad scene where, as folks were being taken away and they were under arrest, you had Trump supporters yelling at them, ‘Go home, go home!’ and you had these Native American protesters, activists yelling back, ‘This is my home, this is my land!’ and I think there’s just not a common understanding between the two groups of each other,” Perry explained.

Watch:

WATCH: Native American protesters ‘reclaimed the road’ to Donald Trump’s speech at Mount Rushmore

 July 3, 2020 By Bob Brigham

Police in camouflage fatigues and riot gear faced off against protesters in South Dakota on Friday evening.

“More than 100 protesters gathered on a highway leading to Mount Rushmore on Friday ahead of President Donald Trump’s speech at the monument,” Indian Country Today reports. “Native women in ribbon skirts created a line across the highway, behind them members of NDN Collective, a nonprofit Native advocacy organization, parked white vans across the road.”

Officers have threatened arrest protesters who do not disperse, in violation of the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1868, which was ratified by the United States Senate.
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Nick Tilson of NDN Collective said the group had “reclaimed the road

“We don’t need them to give us permission to do this on our land; we intend to stay here indefinitely throughout the night,” he explained.
Said by Nick Tilsen of the NDN Collective.
— Erin Bormett (@EEBormett) July 4, 2020

All people staying to get arrested are told to meet in the middle. One of the military lines has moved to the side. pic.twitter.com/IYPRC2foTO
—Erin Bormett (@EEBormett) July 4, 2020

“The Black Hills are part of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, and the country’s highest court ordered compensation in the millions of dollars to the Lakota for the illegal seizure of the Black Hills, an offer the Lakota have refused for decades. They instead want the Black Hills returned to tribal authority,” Indian Country Today reminded.

I was showing how media is blocked by military from the arrests, and a sheriff’s department employee responded to a question of why he wasn’t in a mask during a pandemic with “I am immune” pic.twitter.com/PqseOjVSkX
— Erin Bormett (@EEBormett) July 4, 2020


Some more people got arrested nearby. Unclear why. pic.twitter.com/tOP77JanBT
— Arielle Zionts (@Ajzionts) July 4, 2020


Protesters put three vans in the middle of one of the two entryways into the park and disabled them which has stopped traffic for two hours. pic.twitter.com/03zpH40mxN
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) July 4, 2020

SEE MORE VIDEOS AT NDN FACEBOOK PAGE

https://www.facebook.com/ndncol/videos/312524243247578/

Trump’s Thinks 2020 Will Be a Repeat of 1968
Nixon’s call for “law and order” resulted in a resounding victory. That may not work this time around.
by Nancy LeTourneau July 2, 2020

The White House/Flickr

On the day that Trump staged his photo-op in front of a church, Tucker Carlson ranted that the president should return to his instincts when it comes to responding to the protests against police brutality. There is one person in particular that Carlson blamed for the fact that Trump strayed from that path.

Claiming Trump will lose in November if he doesn’t ratchet up his response to the protests, Carlson blamed Kushner for not understanding the gravity of the situation and advising Trump not to address the situation.

“No one has more contempt for Donald Trump’s voters than Jared Kushner and no one expresses it more frequently,” Carlson said.

Adding that Trump’s “law and order” worldview remains “fundamentally unchanged” since he first ran for president, Carlson insisted that the president’s “famously sharp instincts” have been “subverted at every level” by Kushner.

While Trump appears to sense that Kushner is leading him in the “wrong direction,” Carlson said, Kushner convinced the president to pass criminal justice reform in order to win over black voters.

“Several times over the past few days, the president signaled he was very much liking to crack down on rioters,” he continued. “That is his instinct. If you watch it—you believe it. But every time he’s been talked out of it by Jared Kushner and by aides that Kushner has hired and controlled.”

That is the context for a report from Jonathan Swan that Trump regrets taking advice from Kushner.

President Trump has told people in recent days that he regrets following some of son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner’s political advice — including supporting criminal justice reform — and will stick closer to his own instincts, three people with direct knowledge of the president’s thinking tell Axios.

…One person who spoke with the president interpreted his thinking this way: “No more of Jared’s woke s***.” Another said Trump has indicated that following Kushner’s advice has harmed him politically…

Trump has made clear he wants to support law enforcement unequivocally, and he won’t do anything that could be seen as undercutting police.

We can all enjoy the spectacle of Trump taking Carlson’s advice over Kushner’s. But not many of us have a dog in that fight. The more salient point is that, even though Trump has consistently touted criminal justice reform whenever the topic of Black voters comes up, he now seems to have decided that it hurt him politically. That is because, as one person told Swan, “He truly believes there is a silent majority out there that’s going to come out in droves in November.”

All of that talk about “law and order” and a “silent majority” makes it clear that Trump’s instincts are to assume that he can do a repeat performance of Nixon’s victory in the 1968 election. It also tells us that the president’s instincts are racist. In a confrontation between African Americans and police brutality, Trump is clear about which side he stands on.

Numerous people have weighed in on the question of whether 2020 is a repeat of 1968. I recently watched the PBS documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution and many parallels were striking, not the least of which was then-California Governor Ronald Reagan objecting to the efficacy of the Panthers protesting at the state capital while armed. One has to wonder what he would have said about white people doing to same thing to protest precautions taken during a pandemic.

But the documentary is a good reminder of the fact that the Black Panthers were founded in Oakland, California for the specific purpose of protecting African Americans in that city from police brutality. They did so armed and unapologetically, which is why they were viewed as such a threat.

When it comes to comparisons to 1968, the centrality of police brutality hasn’t changed. But is there a “silent majority” out there ready to support a president who vows to impose “law and order” by supporting law enforcement unequivocally? Ta-Nehisi Coates doesn’t think so, which is why he is uncharacteristically hopeful.

I don’t want to overstate this, but there are significant swaths of people and communities that are not black, that to some extent have some perception of what that pain and that suffering is. I think that’s different.

In the 1968 presidential election, voters gave Nixon’s “law and order” response a resounding victory. It’s clear that Trump’s instincts are to attempt a repeat performance in 2020. In about four months we’ll find out whether America has changed over the last 52 years.

Nancy LeTourneau is a contributing writer for the Washington Monthly. Follow her on Twitter @Smartypants60.

Trump’s Bungled Pandemic Response Is Crushing American Incomes

New data shows the costs of the administration’s failure to stem the coronavirus outbreak.

by Robert J. ShapiroJuly 1, 2020

The White House/Flickr

Donald Trump may have normalized cognitive dissonance for many of his supporters and some young people. But wishing away the pandemic does not affect reality. The May data on personal incomes released last week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is a serious case in point. The data show that our nearly singular failure to wrestle the pandemic to manageable proportions has cut quickly and deeply into wage and salary income across the country. The only force staving off desperate conditions for many households was the one-time checks the government sent most Americans and the temporary expansion of jobless benefits.

Now with the resurgence of COVID-19 infections, Congress has little choice but to approve another round of checks and extend the generous unemployment benefits. If Congress does approve a lot more help, millions of American households will still face financial peril – and if Congress fails to step up again, tens of millions of Americans could confront financial ruin.

As a dose of reality, the new income data show that our current conditions are roughly three times as severe as the Great Recession. All personal income fell 4.2 percent in May and 3.0 percent over the three months from March through May. It took nine months for personal income to fall that much during the Great Recession. Wage and salary income actually increased by 3.3 percent in May, as the payroll grants under the CARES program kicked in and businesses began to reopen. Even so, wage and salary income fell 7.9 percent from March through May, again more than during the entire Great Recession.

The reason that total personal income fell “only” 3.0 percent over the three months—the steepest drop on record—while total wage and salary income fell an astounding 7.9 percent in three months was due almost entirely to those government checks and jobless benefits. After setting aside government transfers, the BEA reports that total personal income fell 7.5 percent in three months.

We seem headed now for another round of the pandemic that looks much like March through May. In March, as the virus quickly spun out of control, businesses began to shut down by mid-month and Congress expanded jobless benefits. By April, with millions of businesses shuttered or struggling, and wage and salary income falling 7.7 percent in one month, the government sent out the emergency checks. By May, as the spread of the virus slowed after physical-distancing measures were imposed across the country, many businesses began to reopen, so wage and salary income rose.

Yet through it all, the Trump administration never put in place nationwide testing and contact tracing. Lulled by the president’s baseless assurance that he had beaten back the pandemic, millions of people resumed their lives without bothering to social distance, wear masks, and take other basic precautions. So now, in late June, we find ourselves headed back to where we were in March. Across much of the country, the virus is spinning out of control again, and state governments are beginning to shut down businesses they let reopen in late May and early June. The business shutdowns will likely spread again until new cases of COVID-19 fall sharply again, perhaps in August or September.

For a measure of what this could mean for the incomes of millions of Americans, especially if Senate Republicans continue to reject another round of emergency checks, recall the recent findings by the Federal Reserve that 37 percent of households cannot handle an unexpected $400 expense on their own. The agency recommended those people either charge it to their credit card debt, sell off some possessions, or try to borrow it from family, friends, a payday lender, or a bank – and that was in good economic times.

To be sure, the 3.0 percent drop in total personal income over three months has not hit everyone. Investors are fine, thanks to support from the Federal Reserve and Treasury: The S&P 500 was nearly 100 points higher on June 29 (3,053.24) than on February 28 (2,954.22). Alas, the 58 percent of households those earning less than $50,000 account for 1.8 percent of all capital gains income. But set that aside and approach what’s happening to personal income as an average income loss of 3.0 percent for everyone. That would translate into a $1,858 shortfall for a median-income household ($61,937 in 2018)– nearly five times what 37 percent of Americans said they couldn’t handle when the economy was growing.

If phase two of the pandemic unfolds like phase one, personal income and total wages and salaries will fall substantially further. If income losses over the next three months are comparable to what already happened in March through May, a median income household could face an average income hit of $3,718 with another round of government assistance and an average hit of $6,503 if government help doesn’t come through a second time.

Congress will likely step up again, and the president will try to claim credit. But for the majority of Americans with few resources beyond their paychecks and home equity, this pandemic and the administration’s bafflingly inept response will scar their financial well-being for a long time.

Robert J. Shapiro
 a Washington Monthly contributing writer, is the chairman of Sonecon and a Senior Fellow at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He currently advises Future Majority, a Democratic strategy center, and previously served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs under Bill Clinton.

Young People Really Don’t Like Donald Trump
That doesn’t bode well for the future of the Republican Party.

by Nancy LeTourneau July 3, 2020

The White House/Flickr

Pew Research published a national poll this week that showed Biden with a ten point lead over Trump, much as we’ve seen from other polls. But when they broke the responses down by age, the most startling result was that with 18-29 year-olds, Biden’s lead is 40 points (68-28). That might not be surprising. But here is a comparison to previous Democratic candidates.

For comparison, past Democratic performance among 18-29 year olds:

1992: Clinton +9
1996: Clinton +18
2000: Gore +1
2004: Kerry +9
2008: Obama +34
2012: Obama +23
2016: Clinton +19
Today's Pew poll: Biden +40 https://t.co/uC3XZJ5Ct0

— Brandon (@Brand_Allen) July 1, 2020

Pew also found that for Biden supporters, 67 percent said that their choice is more about opposition to Trump. I’m sure that is probably true for the subset of voters under 30 years of age. In other words, young people really don’t like Donald Trump.

We watched that play out when young people used social media to troll the Trump campaign into thinking there would be a massive crowd at his Tulsa rally. The small attendance was related to people’s concerns about the coronavirus, but the groundswell requesting tickets lured the campaign into boasting about all of the enthusiasm for the president—which crashed spectacularly. It was an excellent reminder that young people will find their own ways of making their voices heard in the political arena.

As always, the concern about young people is whether or not they will actually show up at the polls to vote. We’ve already seen that, for all of the emphasis the Sanders campaign put on that demographic group, they didn’t show up for the primaries in great numbers. So that will remain a concern in 2020.

But the Trump presidency has solidified the fact that young people are being repelled by the Republican Party. Contrary to the myth about voters getting more conservative with age, this is what the research tells us.

On an individual level, of course, many people’s political views evolve over the course of their lives. But academic research indicates not only that generations have distinct political identities, but that most people’s basic outlooks and orientations are set fairly early on in life. As one famous longitudinal study of Bennington College women put it, “through late childhood and early adolescence, attitudes are relatively malleable…with the potential for dramatic change possible in late adolescence or early adulthood. [B]ut greater stability sets in at some early point, and attitudes tend to be increasingly persistent as people age.”

The distinct political identities of Millennials and Generation Z are being formed and solidified in the Trump era. That doesn’t bode well for the future of the Republican Party.

CEO promises to eliminate 'toxic behaviours' at Ubisoft
THEY NEVER MENTION BEING A CAPITALIST 
AS A TOXIC BEHAVIOUR

Ubisoft pledged to take 'appropriate action' after investigations into the allegations are completed

The head of Ubisoft has promised a "structural shift" to eliminate toxic behaviour following allegations of sexual assault and harassment by managers at the French video game publisher.

Ubisoft, whose games portfolio includes Assassin's Creed, Tom Clancy's, Far Cry and Watch Dogs, and is one of the world's top gaming companies, apologised last week and launched an investigation after the claims were made on social media.

In a letter to employees on Thursday, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the company is "not looking for a quick fix, but rather a structural shift at Ubisoft that fully aligns with our values -– values that do not tolerate toxic behaviours and where everyone feels safe to speak out."

Guillemot acknowledged that employees were eager for the probes to wrap up, but said it was important they are conducted with rigour.

"When they are concluded, all appropriate actions will be taken," he said.

Ubisoft representatives were unable to say Thursday if anyone had been suspended pending the outcome of the investigations.

The French firm which counts 18,000 employees worldwide will also conduct a survey and employee listening sessions. A senior manager has been appointed to examine the company's workplace culture.

Ubisoft is the latest player in the gaming industry to be the target of such accusations, after staff and former staff in other companies took to social media recently to denounce predatory behaviour by powerful managers.

Incidents alleged on Twitter include a Ubisoft creative director licking the face of a female co-worker during an office party, and a manager demanding oral sex from a colleague.

"I am a former employee and they swept every claim of sexual harassment under the rug," read one tweet.

Guillemot acknowledged "the situations that some of you have experienced or witnessed are absolutely not acceptable."


Explore furtherChina's Tencent to take stake in Ubisoft games maker

© 2020 AFP
Citation: CEO promises to eliminate 'toxic behaviours' at Ubisoft (2020, July 3) retrieved 4 July 2020 from https://techxplore.com/news/2020-07-ceo-toxic-behaviours-ubisoft.html

Why it’s so damn hot in the Arctic right now

Siberia’s triple-digit heat wave and wildfires are a glimpse into the future of the Arctic.

By Umair Irfan Updated Jul 1, 2020, 3:42pm EDT

A firefighter in Siberia on June 2 monitors a controlled burn to reduce the threat from wildfires. Amid record heat, the region is bracing for more blazes. Yevgeny Sofroneyev/TASS via Getty Images

The Arctic is continuing to swelter in a heat wave, as temperatures around the Arctic Ocean this week top 93 degrees Fahrenheit.

Extremely hot again on the fringe of the Arctic Ocean.

An astonishing + 34 °C has just been recorded at a latitude of 73 °N today in Russia. This is about + 20-25 °C warmer than normal.

Note how much open water there is compared to normal. Sea ice is taking a hit. pic.twitter.com/y0w5PLjkHx— Scott From Scotland (@ScottDuncanWX) June 30, 2020

The recent heat follows an even more stunning data point: Last month, Verkhoyansk, Russia, hit a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Researchers are still working to confirm the result, which may be recognized as a record high for the Arctic Circle. This is a town that holds the record for the coldest temperature above the Arctic Circle, -90 degrees Fahrenheit in 1892.

“That is a fantastical degree,” said Roman Vilfand, head of Russia’s weather service, during a press conference this week.

And the small Siberian town isn’t alone. Much of Russia has been facing a heat wave in recent weeks, with multiple locations reporting temperatures as high as 113 degrees on June 19. The surprising warmth was also felt in other parts of the Arctic like northern Canada and Scandinavia.

It’s part of a pattern of soaring temperatures this year in what are ordinarily some of the chilliest parts of the planet. The current searing weather of the region stands to have global consequences and foreshadows the future of the Arctic, and the planet, as the climate changes.

Russia is emerging from its hottest winter on record, and since the beginning of the year, temperatures have averaged 12.4 degrees Fahrenheit above what’s typical in Siberia.

And this polar heat has led to a string of woes for the region, from a major oil spill stemming from thawing permafrost to early wildfires north of the Arctic circle in Russia and Alaska.

Several key factors aligned in recent months to heat up the Arctic. And they’re building on top of long-term warming trends. That means more of this kind of heat is likely in the future, and so are thawing, fires, and climate disruption.
Why parts of the Arctic are searingly hot right now

The term “heat wave” is a relative measure. What temperatures count as a heat wave differ depending on the regional climate. It’s usually defined as temperatures above the 95th percentile of the historical distribution for a region.

So the bar for a heat wave in the Arctic is considerably lower than in lower latitudes. But the recent temperatures in the far north would be sweltering just about anywhere.

A heat wave begins with high atmospheric pressure building up over an area. A downward-moving air column compresses the air that’s closer to the ground, holding it still and heating it up. That high pressure also forces clouds away and around the column, creating an unobstructed line of light between the ground and the sun.

Over a period of days and weeks, the ground absorbs sunlight, and with stagnant air, heat accumulates and temperatures rise. “There’s nothing coming in and nothing going out,” explained Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. “It’s kind of like an oven basically.”

That’s the general formula for heat waves around the world. But there are also several unique ingredients contributing to the Arctic one.

In northern latitudes during the summer, there is near-continuous sunlight — even at night. That allows heat to accumulate faster than in areas that experience sunsets and can cool off in the evening.

Number of wildfires in the Arctic part of Yakutia continues to rise, with towns as high north as Chersky and Srednekolymsk reporting fires getting really close and threatening power lines #wildfires2020 #wildfires2020Siberia pic.twitter.com/cJtVbxrKox— The Siberian Times (@siberian_times) June 23, 2020

Another factor this year was the lack of snow. With an unusually warm winter, less snow built up across parts of the Arctic, and with a warm spring, much of it melted away sooner than usual. “The snow is very reflective of the sunlight,” said Meier. “This year, the snow went away earlier, so then you have the bare ground that can absorb more solar energy.”

The warmer ground also dries out in the heat. With less moisture, there is less evaporation that can cool the surrounding air. “The drier ground and the air over the top of it makes it more susceptible to rapid warming when you have the right conditions like we’re seeing now,” Meier said.
The Arctic heat wave highlights the impacts that lie ahead from climate change

For Siberia’s heat wave, past may be prologue. Last year, amid temperatures that were 14 degrees Fahrenheit above the long-term average for the region, forest fires burned over a near-record area, sending choking smoke into cities like Novosibirsk, Russia’s third-largest city. The plumes even reached the western United States.

Siberia also saw massive fires in 2018, 2017, and 2016. Forest fires naturally occur in Siberia and can occasionally spark north of the Arctic circle, often ignited by lightning in dry forests in summer months. But the blazes in recent years were unusually large and close to population centers. The fires burning in the region now could continue to spread as the summer season warms the region further.

One of the overarching trends behind the heat wave and the wildfires is climate change. Earth as a whole is warming up due to human emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. But every place isn’t warming up at the same rate; the Arctic is warming at double the rate of the rest of the planet, which is why some of the earliest effects of climate change are felt in the region. The north pole also presents a window into the future for the rest of the world.Workers in Norilsk, Russia, clean up an oil spill caused in part by thawing permafrost. Denis Kozhevnikov/TASS via Getty Images

Those higher average temperatures mean extreme heat will become even more likely and more intense, exacerbating threats like forest fires as vegetation dries out. “The wildfires definitely come from the extreme heat and the dryness,” Meier said.

The loss of these ancient, slow-growing forests will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that will take decades to reabsorb, further warming the planet. Warming in the Arctic is also thawing permafrost, which releases even more carbon into the atmosphere.

And while it’s summer in the Arctic right now, the region has also experienced heat waves in the winter. In fact, researchers have found that in general, winters are warming faster than summers. That’s part of the reason why the Arctic is now losing sea ice at its fastest rate in 1,500 years. 

 

Christina Animashaun/Vox

Antarctica is also warming up. Earlier this year, the continent broke two high-temperature records within a week.

With average temperatures poised to rise further, more heat, thawing, melting, and fire lie ahead for the Arctic. “This year it’s in Siberia. Next year it might be in Alaska or northern Canada or it might be in Scandinavia,” Meier said. “On average, what we consider to be extreme events are going to become more and more normal.”