90% of people experiencing homelessness in California are from the state, rather than outsiders moving there for services

Eliza Relman
Fri, June 23, 2023

People wait in line for a morning meal at the Fred Jordan Missions Los Angeles, California on April 22, 2020.

Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images

California is home to 30% of people experiencing homelessness and half of those unsheltered in the US.


A major new study dispelled misconceptions that people move to California to take advantage of the safety net.


90% of unhoused people in California lived in the state before losing their housing, the report found.

California has long been home to a disproportionate share of unhoused people in the US. The state makes up less than 12% of the nation's total population, but is home to 30% of people experiencing homelessness and half of the unsheltered population in the US.

Despite lots of research to the contrary, some believe that unhoused people move to blue states like California from out of state to take advantage of the wider safety net available in more progressive places.

In reality, 90% of those experiencing homelessness in California lived in California before losing their housing, according to a major new study from the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco. Three-quarters of unhoused adults lived in the same county as they did before they lost their last home.

The researchers surveyed 3,200 people across the state and conducted 365 in-depth interviews with adults experiencing homelessness between October 2021 and November 2022.

The report also found that California's homeless population is aging — 47% are 50 years old or older, the study found. Black, Latino, and Native American people are significantly overrepresented among the state's homeless.

The study supports the conclusion that many other experts have come to: that homelessness is caused by a lack of affordable housing. Almost 90% of participants said that their main barrier to be housed was cost.

California is facing one of the most severe housing crises in the country. Housing costs have skyrocketed in the state in recent years, largely due to housing shortages brought on by high building costs, restrictive zoning and other regulations, and local opposition to new housing.

"The results of the study confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing," Dr. Margot Kushel, M.D., who directs the UCSF Homeless and Housing Initiative and led the study, said in a statement.

About half of the study's participants said they last lived in a home where their name wasn't on the lease or mortgage, 32% were last housed in a place with their name on the lease or mortgage, and 19% were last housed while incarcerated.

And they largely lost their last homes with little notice. Those with leases said they were given a median of 10 days notice before they were forced out of their homes, while the median timeframe for non-leaseholders was just one day, the report found.

The vast majority of those who participated in the study said that a Housing Choice Voucher — a federally-funded benefit that subsidizes rent — or similar housing assistance would have prevented them from becoming homeless.

The UCSF report recommended six policy changes, including creating more affordable housing for very low-income people, expanding rental assistance, and making it easier for people to access rental subsidies. It also recommended more financial, legal, and behavioral health support.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Earth's thermosphere reaches highest temperature in 20 years after being bombarded by solar storms

Harry Baker
Fri, June 23, 2023 

Green and pink auroras shine above trees


Earth's thermosphere recently hit a near 20-year temperature peak after soaking up energy from geomagnetic storms that bashed Earth this year. The temperature in the second-highest layer of the atmosphere will likely continue to climb over the next few years as the sun's activity ramps up, which could impact Earth-orbiting satellites, experts warn.

The thermosphere extends from the top of the mesosphere, at around 53 miles (85 kilometers) above ground, to the bottom of the exosphere, which begins at around 372 miles (600 km) above the ground, according to NASA. Beyond the exosphere is outer space.


For more than 21 years, NASA has measured the thermosphere temperature via infrared radiation emitted by carbon dioxide and nitric oxide molecules. Scientists convert data collected by NASA's Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite, into the Thermosphere Climate Index (TCI), which is measured in terawatts, or TW. (1 TW is equal to 1 trillion watts.)

The TCI value, which spiked on March 10, peaked at 0.24 TW, Martin Mlynczak, a leading researcher on the TIMED mission at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia and creator of the TCI, told Live Science. The last time the TCI was this high was Dec. 28, 2003. (The temperature spike data has been submitted to a journal but has not yet been peer-reviewed.)

Related: 10 solar storms that blew us away in 2022

The temperature spike was caused by three geomagnetic storms in January and February — major disturbances to Earth's magnetic field that are triggered by chunks of fast-moving magnetized plasma, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and less often by streams of highly charged particles, known as solar wind, which are both spat out by the sun.

"These 'storms' deposit their energy in the thermosphere and cause it to heat up," Mlynczak said. "The increased heating results in increased levels of infrared emission from nitric oxide and carbon dioxide in the thermosphere." Normally, infrared emissions after a storm cool the thermosphere, he added, but when the storms come back to back the temperature stays high.

Since the spike, at least two more geomagnetic storms have hit our planet — one on March 24, which was the most powerful solar storm to hit Earth for more than six years, and another equally powerful storm on April 24. The TCI values following these storms have remained high but have not yet passed the March peak, Mlynczak said.

A graph charting the TCI value over past solar cycles. The value is highest during each solar maximum

Geomagnetic storms become more frequent and intense during solar maximum, a part of the roughly 11-year solar cycle in which the sun is most active and covered in dark sunspots and plasma loops that spit out CMEs and solar wind.

As a result, Earth's thermosphere also follows a roughly 11-year cycle, Mlynczak said. Government scientists from NASA and NOAA predicted the next solar maximum will arrive in 2025, which means the warming trend will likely continue over the next few years.

Changes to the thermosphere can pose challenges for satellites in low-Earth orbit that are positioned around the thermosphere's upper boundary, Mlynczak said.

"The thermosphere expands as it warms," Mlynczak said, resulting in "increased aerodynamic drag on all satellites and on space debris." This increased drag can pull satellites closer to Earth, he said, which could cause satellites to crash into one another or completely fall out of orbit, as SpaceX Starlink satellites did in February 2022 after a surprise geomagnetic storm.

Satellite operators can avoid these issues by positioning their spacecraft in a higher orbit when needed, but the unpredictability of space weather makes it hard to know when these manoeuvres are required until it is often too late.

related stories

—Hidden tide in Earth's magnetospheric 'plasma ocean' revealed in new study

—Mysterious aurora-like phenomenon 'STEVE' appears during strongest solar storm for more than half a decade

—Powerful X-class flare spat out a rare 'solar tsunami,' and you can hear it smashing into Earth

Solar maximum could also arrive sooner than predicted. A recent study published Jan. 30 in the journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences suggests that the solar activity peak could arrive as early as late 2023 and be more powerful than initially predicted. If this scenario plays out, then the risk of a satellite disaster further increases.

However, over longer timescales, temperatures in the thermosphere are declining, because excess CO2 in the thermosphere due to climate change increases infrared emissions into space, a May 8 study in the journal Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences found.

Northern Ontario is hotter than Florida, claiming Canada’s hot spot


Dennis Mersereau
Thu, June 22, 2023 



If you’re looking for bright sunshine and summery temperatures, pack your sunscreen and hop the next flight to Moosonee.

A firm ridge of high pressure parked over northern Ontario made the sunny shores of James Bay the national hotspot two days in a row this week. It’s not exactly a dry heat, either, which makes this rare spell of early summer warmth even more uncomfortable for the region.

DON’T MISS: Living in an Earthship, this Ontario couple inspired others to build their own

Thermometers in Moosonee registered a balmy 33.4°C on Thursday afternoon, making it the hottest town in Canada on June 22. That high is more than 10 degrees above seasonal for the first full day of summer.

Hudson Bay Heat

Thursday’s high in northern Ontario was also hotter than the afternoon high in most of Florida’s major cities, including Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Key West, though it was muggier in the Sunshine State than it was in Moosonee.

Despite the difference, there certainly is a touch of humidity in the air to accentuate the warmth up north. Moosonee’s afternoon dew point value registered around 16°C on Thursday. A dew point that high represents enough moisture for anyone to break a sweat beneath the toasty afternoon sun.

Humidex values in the area approached 40 at times on Thursday—a formidable reading for anywhere in Canada, let alone communities way up north.

WARMTHONSetup

The staying power of the ridge made this heat a multi-day affair. Wednesday’s national high temperature peaked not far from Moosonee, with Attawapiskat registering an afternoon high of 33.5°C.

Heat warnings issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) continue across northern Ontario for at least one more day.

Forecasters expect daytime highs to hit or exceed the 30-degree mark in far northern Ontario again on Friday before a cold front arrives to bump temperatures back down toward seasonal. Thunderstorms are possible across northern Ontario on Friday as the cold front plows into the warm, unstable air parked over the region.

FridayAnomaly

Communities throughout northern sections of Ontario and Quebec will have to closely monitor the potential for wildfire ignition and growth over the next couple of days. This spell of hot temperatures could exacerbate ongoing wildfires and allow additional blazes to spark throughout the region.
WATCH: What a ‘Rex block’ means for your weather

Click here to view the video

This is northern Ontario’s second stretch of impressive heat so far this season. We saw a similar run of 30-degree readings in Moosonee at the end of May, during which the town came close to breaking its all-time May temperature record.

Much like the heat we saw here a month ago, this week’s unusual warmth is the result of a Rex block over the eastern half of North America. This pattern occurs when an upper-level low essentially gets ‘stuck’ south of a ridge of high pressure aloft, jamming up the atmosphere with consistent weather for days on end.

RELATED: Seekers of heat and storms in southern Ontario may be disappointed, again

REX BLOCK

Folks beneath the ridge generally see calm conditions and unseasonable warmth, while those experiencing the trough see an extended period of cooler and unsettled weather.

Sure enough, that trough is keeping the summer heat away from southern Ontario and casting an unseasonable chill over much of the eastern United States. Charlotte, North Carolina, only hit 22°C beneath a grey sky on Wednesday, which is nearly 10 degrees below seasonal for the city around the summer solstice

This pattern will begin to progress as we head into the weekend, allowing the ridge to break down and finally move east toward the Atlantic provinces. We’ll likely see a trough take its place by next week, allowing cooler-than-seasonal temperatures and periods of rain to return to most of Ontario for the final week of June.
WATCH: This Canadian beach feels so tropical it's nicknamed 'Little Mexico'

Click here to view the video

Canada was an extreme global hotspot in an extremely hot May



Scott Sutherland
Fri, June 23, 2023 



Canada was an extreme global hotspot in an extremely hot May

Earth just experienced one of its hottest months of May of the past 172 years, but parts of Canada were so warm during the month that it pushed temperatures to a new record high for the entire continent of North America.

NOAA and NASA have ranked May 2023 as the third warmest month of May since record keeping began in the 1800s. From their data, only May of 2020 and 20216 were hotter. Meanwhile, Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service says that the month was tied for 2nd warmest with May 2015, and the data collected by the Japanese Meteorological Agency has it ranked even higher, as the hottest month of May since 1891.

May-2023-GISTEMP-Seasonal-graph-NASA-GISS

(NASA GISS)

According to NOAA, a major contribution to the month being so warm was the extreme heat of the planet’s oceans. Based on their records, sea surface temperatures in May were 0.85°C above the 20th century average — nearly one-tenth of a degree higher than the previous record, set during the super El Niño of 2016.

This is quite remarkable, given that in May 2016 we were still in the midst of that record-setting El Niño event, while in 2023 the new El Niño had not even been officially declared.

Global-Ocean-Temp-Anom-May-2023-NOAA

Global ocean sea surface temperature anomalies for the month of May from 1850-2023, as compared to the 20th century average. May 2023 ranks as the hottest of the 173 monthly records. (NOAA NCEI)

From the first five months of global temperatures they’ve gathered, and with comparisons to how month-to-month temperatures progressed in previous years, NOAA scientists give 2023 a nearly 90 per cent chance of ending up as one of the top five warmest years in the record books. There is a roughly 50 per cent chance that it will be one of the top three hottest.
Canada sets climate extremes

During the month of May, the western half of Canada set new records due to a severe ‘heat dome’ that settled over the region.

Record-Temps-Northern-Canada-May13-2023

Although NOAA ranked the month as only the 11th warmest across the contiguous United States, due to this extreme heat across Canada, it was still the hottest month of May for the entire continent of North America.

The severity of the heat becomes more obvious when viewed on the global scale. The map below shows global temperature anomalies (compared to the 30-year average temperature from 1991-2020). Canada, and especially across eastern Northwest Territories and western Nunavut, stands out prominently.

May-2023-map-blended-mntp-NOAA

(NOAA)
Record-low Antarctic sea ice

After tracking at record-low levels through the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, Antarctic sea ice reached a new minimum extent at the end of February, beating out the previous record minimum set just a year earlier.

Since the beginning of May, sea ice extent in the Southern Ocean has, once again, been at record-low levels. As of June 22, the second day of southern winter, there is roughly 11.3 million square kilometres of ice in the waters around Antarctica. Compared to the same day in 2022, which had just barely set a new record low at the time, there is over 2 million square kilometres of ice ‘missing’ this year.

Antarctic-Sea-ice-Jun-22-2023-NSIDC

Antarctic sea ice extent, in millions of square kilometres, as of June 22, 2023, compared to the previous years, going back to 1979. The inset graph shows a close-up view to emphasize how much lower the extent is now compared to the previous record minimum from 2022. (NSIDC)
Record-high carbon dioxide

One of the driving forces behind the heat and loss of sea ice is the new record-high levels of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, “Carbon dioxide levels measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii peaked at 424 parts per million in May, continuing a steady climb further into territory not seen for millions of years, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Mauna Loa is the benchmark monitoring station in WMO's Global Atmosphere Watch network.”

Carbon dioxide June 23 2023 - mlo two years

The past two years worth of carbon dioxide measurements at Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in Hawaii show that the peak concentration (in May of each year) has exceeded 420 ppm, and reached 424 ppm in 2023. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)

“Measurements of CO2 obtained by NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory averaged 424.0 parts per million (ppm) in May, the month when CO2 peaks in the Northern Hemisphere. That's an increase of 3.0 ppm over May 2022.”

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, going back roughly 10,000 years, carbon dioxide levels fluctuated in the atmosphere, but remained around an average of about 280 parts per million (ppm).

Carbon dioxide June 23 2023 - mlo 10k years

Carbon dioxide levels measured from proxies (ice cores, tree rings, etc) are combined here with modern records to produce a look at the past 10,000 years. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)

With CO2 now consistently reaching a peak of over 420 ppm, this represents a more than 50 per cent increase compared to pre-industrial levels.

“The findings are of particular concern, given that the lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere lasts for many decades, thus committing the planet to future warming,” the WMO stated.

(Thumbnail courtesy NASA GISS)

Satellites observe record-breaking marine heatwave hit North Atlantic

Tereza Pultarova

SPACE.COM
Fri, June 23, 2023 

Satellite measurements show extremely high water temperatures around the coast of Britain and Ireland.

Ocean water temperatures around the U.K. and Ireland are over 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) above long-term averages for this part of the year, sparking concerns of marine life die-off later this year.

Satellite measurements show that the unexpected marine heatwave hit particularly hard around the northeastern coast of the usually cool Scotland and northwestern Ireland. Similar extremes have been detected in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Germany and Poland.

Climate scientists classify the current marine heatwave as an extreme to beyond-extreme category IV or V, which, according to the European Space Agency's (ESA) earth observation specialist Craig Donlon, is extremely unusual for this time of the year.

Related: 10 devastating signs of climate change satellites can see from space

"Extreme marine heatwaves are not an everyday event in U.K, waters," Donlon said in an ESA statement. "Satellite data, together with data on the ground, will allow us to document the impact of this marine heatwave including stress on the marine ecosystem, the impact on industries such as aquaculture and fisheries, modification of local wind patterns and potential rainfall events that may emerge later."

The current heatwave is a culmination of a period of rising temperatures across the North Atlantic ocean that began in April. The U.K. weather forecasting authority Met Office reported that ocean temperatures in the North Atlantic during the month of May were the warmest since records began in 1850, reaching on average 2.25 degrees F (1.25 degrees C) above the mean values for the 1961 to 1990 period.

According to professor Albert Klein Tank, the head of the Met Office Hadley Centre, unusually mild winds over the ocean contributed to the unexpected warming.

"Typically, airborne dust from the Sahara helps to cool this region by blocking and reflecting some of the sun’s energy; but weaker than average winds have reduced the extent of dust in the region’s atmosphere potentially leading to higher temperatures," Tank said in a Met Office statement.

The month of June is also turning out to be one of the warmest on record globally, adding further fuel to the heating oceans.

The marine heatwave in the North Atlantic ocean coincides with the onset of the warming El Niño pattern that has developed in the Pacific in recent months, but which tends to have wide-ranging consequences worldwide. Scientists worry that the current extreme marine heatwave is only a beginning of what might be a challenging summer of further weather extremes.

Related stories:

— Earth is getting hotter at a faster rate despite pledges of government action
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— Space station data show how dust contributes to climate change

"This is a really startling global situation because the additional surface heating we see at this time will eventually be mixed into the ocean water column," Donlon said. "Some of this excess heat will find its way into the Arctic Ocean via ocean currents through the Fram Strait and Norwegian Sea further exacerbating the demise of Arctic sea ice. We will be monitoring in detail to see how all these aspects evolve with great interest”.

Jules Kajtar of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, the U.K., told the Science Museum Group that the unusually warm sea temperatures may have devastating impacts on the marine ecosystem in the U.K. waters

"The reason we are worried is the ecosystem has not experienced these temperatures at this time of year before," he said. "Warming oceans can make waters more acidic and drive a decrease in oxygen levels in the water."

Watch the world choke on CO2 in eerie NASA videos of manmade emissions

Sascha Pare
Fri, June 23, 2023

A screenshot from a NASA video shows CO2 emissions across North and South America in 2021.


Earth is being choked by a thick, curling fog of carbon dioxide that coats the planet as the months go by, a series of NASA videos shows. The newly released animations visualize the astonishing scale of human carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over a year by coloring the invisible greenhouse gas.

The animations were produced by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio and show CO2 emissions, which are cooking the planet, during the year 2021, with contributions from various human and natural sources highlighted in different colors.

In the animations, emissions from fossil fuel combustion are shown in orange, and those from burning biomass — living or dead vegetation burned to clear land for agriculture or set on fire by lightning, for example — appear in red. Carbon dioxide produced by land ecosystems through plant respiration is depicted in green, and emissions escaping from the oceans are in blue.

The model also shows where CO2 is absorbed by marine and land ecosystems, such as rainforests, via photosynthesis (in the oceans, this is done by algae). Collectively, these natural ecosystems soak up half of human emissions every year and play a vital role in mitigating climate change by periodically acting as carbon "sinks."

Related: New map of methane 'super-emitters' shows some of the largest methane clouds ever seen

"Though the land and oceans are each carbon sinks in a global sense, individual locations can be sources at different times," scientists noted in a NASA statement.

The three videos present the ebb and flow of CO2 across different regions of the world and highlight where the gas is emitted and absorbed over the course of a year.

In an animation featuring North and South America, a yellowish-brown cloud representing emissions from fossil fuels and burning biomass gradually builds in the Northern Hemisphere. Even on such a large scale, emissions can be attributed to specific regions.

"Some interesting features include fossil fuel emissions from the northeastern urban corridor that extends from Washington D.C. to Boston in the United States," scientists wrote in the statement.

Small green streaks that show emissions from land ecosystems curl in and out of this cloud during the winter months. That's because plants that absorb CO2 through photosynthesis during the growing season release much of this carbon in the wintertime, according to the statement.

The dotted green surface pulsing across South America depicts the absorption of CO2 by trees, which occurs only during the day. "The fast oscillation over the Amazon rainforest shows the impact of plants absorbing carbon while the sun is shining and then releasing it during nighttime hours," the scientists wrote in the statement.

A second animation covers parts of Asia and Australia. "The most notable feature is fossil fuel emissions from China," the statement said. Australia acts mainly as a carbon sink — as illustrated by flashing, green dots across most of the country — because the relatively sparse population emits less CO2 than its neighbors. Toward the end of the animation, the cloud of fossil fuel emissions from the Northern Hemisphere drifts southward and envelopes Australia too.

What the NASA video doesn't show is that Australia has the world's highest CO2 emissions from coal per person.

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The third video highlights Africa, Europe and the Middle East, with the vast majority of fossil fuel emissions produced in Europe and Saudi Arabia. Wispy red clouds hovering over central Africa depict emissions from fires that people light to clear leftover crops, according to the statement.

While CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change, fires contribute to global warming by reducing the amount of carbon that land ecosystems will soak up in the future, according to the statement. That's because charred soils lock up less carbon, and because fires diminish the density and size of trees.

Hog Herds to Shrink as US Farms Lose Money, Smithfield Warns


Michael Hirtzer
Thu, June 22, 2023 


CORN IN US IS USED FOR BIOFUEL NOT FOOD

(Bloomberg) -- American pig farmers are losing so much money that some may soon start selling the corn they would normally use to feed animals, according to the world’s largest hog producer.

It’s a sign that producers will soon take steps to shrink their herds, with growers losing as much as $80 a head, said Shane Smith, chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods. Demand from top buyer China is waning as the cost to feed animals is surging.

A drought in the Midwest has deteriorated crops, with corn at its worst conditions for this time of year since 1992. That’s squeezing profits and making it more appealing for growers to sell the grain, which has risen more than 20% from its May lows.

“There’s a concentration of people in the industry who grow their own corn, they grow their corn and they feed it to the animal,” he said in an interview Wednesday at the Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum in Chicago. “They’re going to have to make a decision. Do I sell my corn and just forget about the animal?”

US growers usually only start shrinking herds when they face cash flow losses, and that is already happening, Smith said. He declined to comment on whether Smithfield, owned by Hong Kong-listed WH Group, is planning to cut back as well.

The US meat market is facing a glut that may take until the end of next year and into 2025 to normalize, he said. That’s all happening just as only 55% of the US corn crop was rated good to excellent, the lowest for this time of year in more than three decades, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.

California Rules

To make matters worse, California — which consumes about 15% of the nation’s pork — passed a law requiring meat sold in the state to come from animals raised in larger spaces, raising costs for producers. Beginning July 1, only meat from animals raised under the new regulations can be sold in the state, although pork that’s already in the supply chain by that date can be sold until the end of the year, the California Department of Food and Agriculture said Wednesday.

Smithfield stopped slaughtering hogs at its only California plant earlier this year. Smith said he’s now worried other states may add their own laws, forcing more costly farm conversions.

“My concern is that at some point without intervention from the USDA or other federal bodies, we’re going to end up with a patchwork of 50 different rules to govern how food is processed, it doesn’t just have to be pork or chicken,” he said.

Meanwhile, a lack of available workers for US meat plants and little movement in immigration policy means the labor issue won’t be solved any time soon, he said.

“This industry is in an incredibly difficult cycle,” Smith said.

FDIC accidentally reveals details about Silicon Valley Bank’s biggest customers

Matt Egan
Fri, June 23, 2023

Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The FDIC mistakenly revealed to Bloomberg News details on the biggest customers at Silicon Valley Bank, the failed bank whose depositors were rescued through emergency action by regulators.

An FDIC document posted online by Bloomberg News on Friday offers new insights into who benefited from that controversial rescue in March when SVB became the second biggest bank failure in US history. According to Bloomberg, that document was accidentally released unredacted by the FDIC in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

After SVB suddenly collapsed, the FDIC and other federal regulators decided to make all of the bank’s customers whole, including those with more funds than the $250,000 insurance limit.

That emergency move saved not only fledgling tech startups — some of which could have been wiped out by the SVB implosion — but some heavy hitters in the tech industry, too.

For instance, leading venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, held just more than $1 billion at SVB, according to the FDIC document. Sequoia, famous for its prescient investments in PayPal, Google, Apple and other tech firms, was SVB’s fourth-biggest depositor, according to the document.

Sequoia did not respond to a request for comment.

Another major SVB customer was Kanzhun, a Beijing tech firm that runs BOSS Zhipin, China’s largest online recruitment platform. The FDIC document indicates the Chinese firm held about $903 million at SVB.

The FDIC, charged with insuring deposits at banks, apparently did not intend to release the details on SVB’s biggest customers.

According to Bloomberg, the FDIC asked the media outlet to destroy and not share the depositor list, saying it meant to “partially” withhold some details from the document “because it included confidential commercial or financial information.”

The FDIC declined to comment to CNN.

Dennis Kelleher, CEO of financial reform nonprofit Better Markets, pushed back on the notion that the details should be hidden from public view.

“This is not, as regulators claim, ‘confidential commercial or financial information.’ It might be embarrassing information, but the American people have a right to know so there can be some oversight and accountability for regulators’ actions,” Kelleher told CNN in an email.

SVB’s biggest depositor was Circle Internet Financial, the stablecoin firm behind USD Coin. The FDIC document shows that Circle held $3.3 billion at SVB, a figure that the stablecoin company previously disclosed

The streaming platform Roku held $420 million at SVB, according to the FDIC document. Hours after SVB failed, Roku warned investors it held about $487 million — roughly a quarter of its total cash — with the bank and did not know if it would be able to recover the funds.

US officials have defended the rescue of SVB depositors as the necessary step to prevent panic from spreading and imperiling the broader financial system.

But critics of the US response to the bank failures have argued the SVB rescue amounted to a bailout, one that would help foreign companies.

“Americans will also be paying to guarantee the deposits of many Chinese companies that were SVB customers,” former Vice President Mike Pence wrote in an op-ed. “We have to stop the insanity of bailout out failing businesses.”

The FDIC estimates the SVB failure will cost its deposit insurance fund $16.1 billion. The agency plans to recoup those losses by assessing fees on banks.

“The American people are going to pay the $16 billion bill to prevent the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank,” Kelleher, the Better Markets CEO, said. “Those banks are not going to cut their executives’ bonuses…They are going to recover those costs in higher fees and rates for everyday banking services and products for Main Street Americans.”

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Swiss National Bank calls for new measures after Credit Suisse crash


Noele Illien
Wed, June 21, 2023 

Swiss National Bank building in Zurich

ZURICH (Reuters) -The Swiss National Bank (SNB) on Thursday said it was crucial to draw lessons from the Credit Suisse crisis that led to the bank's downfall and forced rescue by rival UBS and consider measures that would prevent such events in the future.

"These measures need to strengthen banks’ resilience in order to prevent a loss of confidence wherever possible, and ensure a broad range of effective options to stabilise, recover or wind down a systemically important bank in the event of a crisis," the central bank said in its 2023 financial stability report.

Among the measures, the SNB called for banks to be required in the future to prepare a minimum amount of assets that could be pledged for central banks, a step designed to help banks access emergency liquidity if worried customers rapidly withdrew cash.

Switzerland's largest bank recently grew even bigger, following its rescue of embattled Credit Suisse in a takeover engineered by Swiss authorities in March and formalised by UBS on June 12.

Politicians and economists have raised concerns whether Switzerland can effectively oversee a bank that now has a balance sheet of $1.6 trillion and 120,000 employees worldwide, and risks associated with that.

The SNB said it was not yet able to judge how resilient the newly merged bank would be.

"The currently available data are not sufficient for a comprehensive assessment of the combined bank’s resilience in such a forward-looking analysis," the report said.

Still, lessons needed to be learned "in view of the higher systemic importance of the combined bank and the associated risks for Switzerland," the SNB said.

The central bank said there were, however, three key observations to come from the crisis, including that compliance with capital requirements is necessary but not sufficient to ensure confidence in a bank.

Capital instruments designed to absorb early losses were not effective, the SNB said.

"AT1 capital instruments absorbed losses only as the point of non-viability was imminent and state intervention became necessary," the report said.

The SNB also said that the scale and pace of deposit outflows at Credit Suisse that resulted from the loss of confidence were unprecedented and more severe than assumed under the liquidity regulations.

In a statement published the day the biggest banking deal since the 2008 financial crisis officially closed, Swiss regulator, FINMA, said one of the most pressing goals for the new merged bank was to quickly reduce the risk of the former Credit Suisse investment bank, but was confident this could be achieved.

(Reporting by Noele Illien and John Revill Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

Three former Credit Suisse CEOs blamed for excessive risk-taking in bondholder suit
Reuters
Thu, June 22, 2023


ZURICH (Reuters) -A group of Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders has filed a class action suit accusing former executives at the Swiss bank, including three past CEOs, of being responsible for the bank's downfall.

A lawsuit filed in a New York court on Tuesday accused former bosses Thomas Gottstein, Tidjane Thiam and Brady Dougan, and several other executives of doing excessively risky trades to achieve high short-term returns and bonuses.

"Credit Suisse’s directors and senior executives, and the rotten culture they instilled and fostered, destroyed trust in the bank, which led to its collapse," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also accused executives of "creating and perpetuating a culture at Credit Suisse that placed profits, excessive risk-taking, and self-dealing over sound risk management and compliance with the law."

It did not specify the amount of compensatory damages the plaintiffs were seeking.

UBS, which earlier this month became Credit Suisse's new owner following a government-engineered rescue in March, said it would not comment on the court case.

Representatives of Exos Financial, a financial firm founded and led by Dougan, did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment, while the two other former chief executives could not be immediately reached for comment.

As a part of Credit Suisse's rescue, Switzerland's regulator decided to render around $18 billion of Credit Suisse's Additional Tier 1 (AT1) debt worthless, which stunned markets and alerted litigators.

The deal upended a long-established practice of giving bondholders priority over shareholders in a debt recovery, triggering hundreds of lawsuits.

Last month, Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court said it has received 230 claims against the country’s financial regulator FINMA after it wrote off the value of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds.

(Reporting by Noele IllienEditing by Tomasz Janowski)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Deloitte Quits as Byju’s Auditor Piling Pressure on Tech Startup

Alex Gabriel Simon and Anto Antony
Thu, June 22, 2023 




(Bloomberg) -- The auditor for Indian tech firm Byju’s quit, the latest setback for the once high-flying startup that’s had its offices searched by anti-money laundering officials and is embroiled in a tussle with creditors over a $1.2 billion loan

Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned as auditors to Think & Learn Pvt., better known as Byju’s, citing a delay in submitting financial statements, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by officials who declined to be identified.

Deloitte hasn’t been able to start an audit due to the delays and that will have a “significant impact” on its ability to “plan, design, perform and complete” the audit as per standards, it said in the letter sent to India’s Registrar of Companies.

The resignation compounds troubles at the Indian ed-tech company started by former teacher Byju Raveendran, which once touched a valuation of $22 billion as a prime example of India’s fledgling internet economy.

Business boomed during the pandemic, with the number of users of its flagship app topping 100 million. The startup spent heavily on marketing, such as sponsorship of India’s national cricket team and the FIFA World Cup.

But demand for online tutoring dropped off after schools reopened, and Byju’s has for months been in talks with lenders of its $1.2 billion debt after it breached investor protections by missing a deadline to disclose annual financial results.

There is no earnings statement for Byju’s for 2022 in the public domain. The most recent available shows expenditure more than doubled in the year to March 31, 2021, while revenue fell.

Byju’s said in a statement on Thursday it appointed MSKA & Associates, a member of international accounting network BDO, as statutory auditors. A spokesperson for Deloitte wasn’t available for comment.

The Economic Times newspaper also said several board members of the company, including early backer G.V. Ravishankar, had tendered their resignations, a report which Byju’s called “entirely speculative.”

Legal Action


India’s anti-money laundering investigation agency conducted searches at offices of Byju’s in April as part of a probe. Then the standoff over the loan taken out in 2021 with a due date of 2026 heated up in May, when an agent for the lenders sued Byju’s in the US state of Delaware.

In a court hearing that month, lenders accused the tech company of hiding $500 million. Byju’s was trying to protect the money from predatory lenders, Joe Cicero, a lawyer for the Indian firm, said during the hearing. Delaware Chancery Court Judge Morgan Zurn didn’t make any ruling about whether moving the money was appropriate.

On June 6, Byju’s said it “elected” to halt making any payments on the $1.2 billion term loan and skipped a $40 million interest payment due that day.

It also filed a lawsuit in New York, alleging a group of investors manufactured a fake debt crisis to extort money from it. The lenders’ group has called the lawsuit meritless.

The loan is being quoted at 63.8 cents on the dollar, Bloomberg-compiled data show. A level below 70 is generally considered distressed.

--With assistance from P R Sanjai and Advait Palepu.

Rare Earth Metals Production By Country: Top 10 Countries

Sana Ijaz

INSIDER MONKEY
Thu, June 22, 2023

In this in-depth article, we'll list the top countries producing rare earth metals to see how they are impacting this market. If you want to skip the detailed knowledge of rare earth metals' use, market trends, and mining developments.

China leads the pack with regard to rare earth metals production by country and will stay ahead of others in the foreseeable future. Other leading producers of rare earth metals are the United States, Australia, Myanmar, and Thailand, among others. Where China accounts for 70% of the global production of rare earth metals, the United States, Australia, and Myanmar collectively make up 24% of the world's total throughput of rare earth metals.

Rare earth metals comprise a group of 17 chemically similar metallic elements, including the 15 lanthanides, along with scandium and yttrium. REEs are used in consumer electronics, renewable energy systems, and military equipment. Moreover, certain REEs like neodymium and dysprosium are used to manufacture permanent magnets used in wind turbines and electric vehicles.

High heat resistance, electrochemical and magnetic characteristics, and specific luminescent properties of rare earth metals make them useful in an array of advanced technological fields. For instance, REEs are integral to the production of high-strength magnets used in wind turbines and electric vehicles, thereby playing a crucial role in green energy solutions. Their magnetic properties also serve a vital role in miniaturizing components in digital technology, like hard drives, smartphones, and other electronic devices.

Which Country Is The Largest Producer Of Rare Earth Metals?

China is the largest global producer of rare earth metals. China generated approximately 0.21 million metric tons of these elements in 2022. Further, China possesses 44 million metric tons of reserves of rare earth elements, which are yet to be exploited. So doubtlessly, China is the largest producer of rare earth metals, owing to its diverse mining sector and geological treasure.

Where Are Rare Earth Metals Found In The World?

The primary global source of REEs is China, which accounts for approximately 70% of the global REEs mining output. China's dominance in rare earth metal production by country comes largely from the Bayan Obo Mining District in Inner Mongolia, the world's largest known REEs deposit.

Outside of China, the Mountain Pass Mine, situated in southeastern California, is the primary rare earth metal deposit in the United States. Moreover, the Mount Weld Mine in Australia represents a significant source of REEs in the country.

Exploration efforts have also identified substantial REEs deposits in Canada (8.3 million metric ton reserves), South Africa (0.79 million metric ton reserves), Tanzania (0.89 million metric ton reserves), and Greenland (1.5 million metric ton reserves of REEs), among others. However, these countries are not actively mining REEs because of the complexity of extraction and separation processes, alongside environmental considerations and cost-prohibitiveness.

What Is The Main Issue With Rare Earth Extraction?

Irrespective of their name, rare earths are relatively abundant within the Earth's crust. However, they're often found dispersed in low concentrations. Therefore, their extraction and processing are economically challenging and environmentally detrimental. As the widespread distribution necessitates large-scale and invasive mining operations to obtain economically viable quantities, it results in high extraction costs. Further, the scatter and consequent low concentration make rare earth deposits less commercially viable to mine compared to other minerals, as more extensive energy and resources are required for extraction and subsequent refinement.

Another chief issue in rare earth extraction is the extensive environmental degradation and public health risks it poses. Most extraction methods consist of significant physical disruption of landscapes through open-pit mining and create large quantities of waste material.

Rare earths refinement is an energy-intensive and chemically complex process involving hazardous substances like concentrated acids. Accidental leaks or inappropriate disposal of these substances can lead to devastating ecological impacts and human health hazards. One infamous example is the Bayan Obo mining district in China which has witnessed severe groundwater contamination and associated health risks.
The Financial Side of Rare Earth Metals

The rare earth metals industry was valued at $7 billion in 2021. Moreover, forecasts predict this market will reach $15 billion by 2030, advancing at a solid CAGR of 9.1%, indicating rapidly increasing demand. Such growth stems from the role these metals play in advanced technology applications like renewable energy, electronics, and defense technologies, among others.

Furthermore, the world trade value for rare earth metals was reported to be approximately $2.71 billion in 2021. Burma (Myanmar), despite its complex socio-political landscape, surfaced as the top exporter of rare earth metals in 2021, with net exports valued at around $803 million. Since the country has abundant rare earth reserves and is possibly aided by foreign investment, it's a leading exporter of REEs.

Conversely, China, despite being the largest producer of rare earth metals, was the largest importer of these resources in 2021, as its net imports were valued at an identical figure to the global trade value of $2.71 billion. Such intense imports of rare earth elements might appear paradoxical at first, but it can be rationalized by analyzing China's domestic and international strategic policies.

Major Rare Earth Mining Companies and Stocks

Energy Fuels Inc (NYSE:UUUU) is a leading US uranium company with a current current market cap of $1.01 billion that works in the uranium supply line for nuclear facilities. And since uranium is also present as a by-product in rare earth metals, Energy Fuels Inc (NYSE:UUUU) is expanding its REE (rare earth element) capabilities. In 2021, Energy Fuels Inc (NYSE:UUUU) sold its three wholly owned subsidiaries to enCore Energy for $120 million. Energy Fuels Inc (NYSE American:UUUU) aims to utilize this cash to expand its REE, uranium, vanadium, and medical isotope business plans for the next two to three years.

Moreover, Mp Materials Corp (NYSE:MP) is the biggest producer of rare earth metals outside China. The company focuses on high-purity separated neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) oxide. The market cap of Mp Materials Corp (NYSE:MP), as of the writing of this article, is $4.044 billion, which is substantial given the curtailed market footprint of REEs. Mp Materials Corp (NYSE:MP) operates Mountain Pass, which is the only integrated rare earth mining and processing site in North America.

Another REE stock to look out for is Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX), a manufacturer of virtually integrated titanium dioxide (TiO2), that is used in paints, plastics, and coatings. The current market cap of Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX) is $2.017 billion, owing to its expansive operations in the US, UK, Africa, and Australia. As rare earth metals are expected to stay in demand, Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX) is smart to invest in.

Rare Earth Metals Production By Country: Top 10 Countries

Our Methodology

We referred to the 2022 USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries published in 2023 to rank rare earth metals production by country. This document provided credible data on rare earth metals, as USGS is a leading authority in the mining and mineral industry. The 2023 edition provided a country-by-country breakdown of rare earth metals production so we could precisely map global production trends. Our sources for financial data and forecasts about rare earth metals included OECD and MarketWatch, among others.

Based on the USGS data, here is rare earth metals production by country:

10. Brazil

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 80 metric tons

Brazil's rare earth metal production in 2022 was 80 metric tons, making it the 10th largest rare earth metal producing country. This mine yield came down from 500 metric tons and 600 metric tons in 2021 and 2020, respectively. However, this contraction does not reflect a depletion of resources as Brazil has expansive reserves, estimated at approximately 21 million metric tons of rare earth metals.

9. Madagascar

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 960 metric tons

The island nation of Madagascar registered 960 metric tons of rare earth metal production. While considerable, this output decreased from 3,200 metric tons reported in 2021. This drastic drop in production represents a decrease of over 70% and suggests a consequential shift in Madagascar's mining industry, with potential implications for the global supply chain of these critical components.

8. Russia

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 2,600 metric tons

When it comes to rare earth metals production by country, Russia ranks eighth on our list. Russia contributed notably to the global supply of rare earth metals by producing 2,600 metric tons in 2022. Notably, this is just a fraction of the country's potential output, owing to its significant reserves. As of recent estimates, Russia harbors 21 million metric ton reserves of these invaluable elements, which will impact the global mining sector in the foreseeable future.

7. India

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 2,900 metric tons

India is amongst the leading rare earth metals producing countries, owing to its 2,900 metric tons yield in 2022. India's efforts towards locating rare earth elements have resulted in the identification of a considerable reserve of these metals. As per current estimations, India has a stockpile of 6.9 million metric tons of rare earth metals. Given these generous reserves that are yet to be exploited, India is surely a key player in meeting the global demand for rare earth metals. Future trajectories in this field will also significantly influence the global supply chain, given the expanding demand for these vital resources.

6. Vietnam

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 4300 metric tons

Vietnam's mine throughput for rare earth metals was 4,300 metric tons in 2022, up from a humble mine yield of 400 metric tons in 2021. This achievement shows the country's growing expertise and commitment to rare earth extraction. Concurrently, the country holds substantial potential with an estimated reserve base of 22 million metric tons of these crucial elements, asserting itself as a potential powerhouse in rare earth resources.

5. Thailand

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 7,100 metric tons

When it comes to rare earth metals production by country, Thailand is among the top five. Its reported production volume of rare earth metals was 7,100 metric tons in 2022. Notably, Thailand’s rare earth metals output reached 8,200 metric tons in 2021, more than double the production in 2020, which stood at 3,600 metric tons. However, following this unprecedented increase, the production experienced a decrease, sliding to 7,100 metric tons in 2022. Such a shift might be indicative of a level of volatility in Thailand’s rare earth metals production over the observed period.


4. Burma / Myanmar

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 12,000 metric tons

Burma’s mine output of rare earth metals was recorded to be 12,000 metric tons in 2022. The country’s production volumes primarily consist of dysprosium and terbium, with minor outputs of scandium and yttrium. Burma’s production yield indicates its potential to offer diversified supply sources, mitigating the risks associated with the concentration of these critical resources. Moreover, Burma is amongst the largest exporters of rare earth metals worldwide. Its export of REEs reached $803 million in 2021, despite the country’s complex socio-political landscape and developing mining infrastructure.

3. Australia

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 18,000 metric tons

Australia is the third-largest producer of rare earth metals, only behind the US and China. The country mined 18,000 metric tons of rare earth metals in 2022, which is a slight drop from the country’s yield of 24,000 metric tons in 2021. This generous rare earth metals output indicates the country’s immense rare earth potential, as its reserves are estimated to be 4.2 million metric tons. Australia’s most prominent rare earth metals mine is the Mount Weld Mine, which has state-of-the-art infrastructure to extract REEs from other minerals. Also, despite having the world’s sixth largest reserves of rare earth metals, Australia’s mining efforts in this sector remain relatively curtailed.

2. United States

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 43,000 metric tons

The United States saw mine production of 43,000 metric tons of rare earth metals in 2022. Also, the current estimates suggest that the country holds approximately 2.3 million metric tons of reserves of rare earth metals. This substantial reserve capacity indicates the potential for continued and amplified domestic production in the future. Currently, the largest rare earth metals mine in the US is the Mountain Pass Mine in southeastern California, which is an open-pit mine with substantial mining capacity.

1. China

Rare Earth Metal Mine Production in 2022: 0.21 million metric tons

China is the largest rare earth metals producing country that accounts for over 70% of of rare earth metals’ global production. The country’s mine yield of rare earth metals was recorded at 0.21 metric tons in 2022. China also has the largest deposits of rare earth metals, amounting to 44 million metric tons. The main REEs deposit in China is the Bayan Obo Mining District in Inner Mongolia, which is also the world’s largest known REEs deposit.