UK
'Unsustainable, overwhelming' Covid burden on schools

Ofsted finds school staff 'exhausted' from ‘firefighting’ amid Covid crisis – and that 'last-minute' DfE decisions aren't helping

John Roberts
NOV 9, 2020



Headteachers are facing "unrealistic pressure" as a result of frequently changing and last-minute Department for Education advice on Covid-19, a new Ofsted report warns.

School leaders visited by the watchdog this term described the pressures they faced as "unsustainable" and "overwhelming" and said their school staff were tired or exhausted.

The findings are revealed in Ofsted's latest briefing on how schools are functioning this term following the return to full-time education after the first coronavirus lockdown.

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman has also warned that covering staff absences and enhancing cleaning regimes are placing financial pressure on school budgets and that school leaders are "firefighting".

The watchdog has published its second briefing report after visits to 380 schools between 29 September and 23 October.

It highlights the impact on school staff this term as they work through the pandemic.
Coronavirus: The impact on teacher workload

The Ofsted report says: "Some leaders noted that, despite the generally high levels of resilience among staff, their staff are tired or exhausted, and that workload had increased."

The report highlights balancing teaching both remotely and face-to face at the same time; supporting pupils who are not in school, "meticulously" applying new safety procedures to prevent Covid-19 from spreading and providing cover for members of staff who are self-isolating as examples of the extra work and pressure faced by school staff.

The report adds: "The pressures on senior leaders – including headteachers – across many schools have also increased. Leaders described these pressures as unsustainable, overwhelming or unrealistic."

In a section on why leaders believe their workload has increased, the report adds: "The messages and guidance in relation to Covid-19 from the Department for Education change frequently. These changes, often described as ‘last-minute’, do not give leaders enough time for re-planning and implementation, which results in ‘unrealistic' pressure falling on leaders."

Ofsted has also published a commentary today from Ms Spielman on the report findings.

"Currently, alongside some interventions such as small-group support, there are more widespread adaptations to the curriculum to focus on core subjects," she writes.

"It’s important that these adaptations are short term and do not slide into a more corrosive, longer-term narrowing of the curriculum. For now, though, school leaders recognised they were ‘firefighting’."

The chief inspector adds: "Budgets, as ever, are clearly on the minds of leaders across education and social care. Covering for staff absences and maintaining enhanced cleaning regimes are budgetary pressures most affecting schools and children’s homes."

James Bowen, director of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “School budgets were already incredibly tight.

'Unsustainable' Covid costs

"The government’s refusal to recognise the financial difficulties schools are now facing due to Covid-19 and fully reimburse them for the money they have been required to spend to make schools safe, means that not only is money being taken away from children’s education and wellbeing, it could push some schools over the edge financially."

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The government isn’t doing enough to support schools and colleges to stay open because of its continued refusal to reimburse them for the huge costs involved in managing Covid safety measures and hiring supply cover when staff have to self-isolate.

"These costs are completely unsustainable and the government must act.”

Ofsted is still carrying out "visits" to schools this term but they are being carried out remotely during the national lockdown.


John Roberts is North of England reporter for Tes

Possible COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough makes measures to stop virus spread now more urgent

Andre Damon
WSWS NOV 9, 2020

The announcement from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech Monday that there has been progress in the development of an effective vaccine against COVID-19 is a promising and encouraging development. It makes all the more necessary urgent measures to contain the spread of the virus and save lives until a vaccine is widely available.

Pfizer announced that patients in clinical trials who received two injections of the vaccine, spaced three weeks apart, had 90 percent fewer cases of COVID-19 than a control group. By way of comparison, the typical yearly flu vaccine is only 40–60 percent effective.

Pedestrians walk past Pfizer world headquarters in New York on Monday Nov. 9, 2020. 

(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

The findings were based on initial data from a clinical trial of over 43,538 participants, which were reviewed by an independent board, but which have not yet been made public. The company intends to file for an emergency use authorization once half of the participants in the study have been observed for safety issues for at least two months, sometime in the third week of November.

If approved, Pfizer’s vaccine (as well as that being developed by rival Moderna) would be the first mRNA vaccine in widespread use. This would open a new age for the rapid treatment of infectious diseases with a whole new class of low-cost vaccines.

The progress toward a vaccine is encouraging news. However, significant questions and issues remain.

In its report on the vaccine, medical journal Stat noted that “there is no information yet on whether the vaccine prevents severe cases, the type that can cause hospitalization and death. Nor is there any information yet on whether it prevents people from carrying the virus that causes Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, without symptoms.” The latter would be critical in determining how effective the vaccine is in lowering transmission rates.

It is also still too early to say how long the vaccine protects against infection. Stat also noted that the results announced by Pfizer and BioNTech have not yet been peer reviewed by scientists or published in a medical journal.

Provided that the initial results hold, even under the best of conditions Pfizer said that only 50 million doses will be available by the end of the year, with 1.3 billion produced in 2021. The vaccine must be stored at super-cold temperatures, which could make it extremely difficult to deliver to many places.

The availability and distribution of the vaccine, moreover, will be hampered by the subordination of production to the profit motives of the giant pharmaceutical companies and the conflicting interests of competing nation-states.

That being said, it does appear that progress is being made. Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, noted that the initial results from Pfizer also bode well for the vaccine being developed by biotechnology firm Moderna and the National Institutes of Health based on similar technology. The Russian health ministry issued a statement indicating its Sputnik V vaccine would also be over 90 percent effective.

All of this means that an effective vaccine will likely be available for broad distribution sometime next year.

The progress toward a vaccine makes all the more criminal the policy of “herd immunity” that is being implemented by governments throughout the world. As one begins to see light at the end of the tunnel, the argument that it is necessary to “live with the virus” becomes absolutely unacceptable.

News of the vaccine comes as the pandemic is surging in the United States and Europe. The US has surpassed 10 million cases, and, within a matter of days, a quarter million people will have died in the United States alone. As of Monday, 43 states reported 10 percent more new COVID-19 cases than the week before.

Despite this disaster, there is no plan to contain the pandemic. US President Donald Trump, who remains in office for at least two-and-a-half more months, has publicly advocated “herd immunity,” all but declaring that the spread of the disease is a positive good. President-elect Joe Biden has rejected calls for more widespread lockdowns.

While the UK, France and Germany have announced minor restrictions on bars and gyms, they have categorically refused to close non-essential workplaces like factories and schools.

The current catastrophic state of the pandemic is the direct consequence of the fact that government policy has been determined not by public health but by the interests of profit. Once the bailout of the banks was secured in March, the ruling class worked to implement its back-to-work policy.

As a result, hundreds of thousands have died. If emergency action is not taken now, hundreds of thousands more will die before a vaccine is widely available.

The senseless loss of life must be stopped! Non-essential businesses must be closed, with full compensation for all lost wages for workers and income for small businesspeople due to the pandemic. The terrible trade-off between risking one’s life and one’s livelihood cannot be accepted.

Where production is essential to the functioning of society, safe working conditions must be overseen by workers’ rank-and-file safety committees and health care professionals, with no concern for corporate profit.

There must be a massive investment in public health infrastructure, including universal testing, contact tracing and free treatment for all. Once a vaccine is available, it must be freely distributed and not subject to the profit interests of private corporations or the competition of nation-states.

The working class must now intervene to ensure that hundreds of thousands do not needlessly die in the coming weeks and months because the capitalists must have their profits.

UK
Hancock labelled “corrupt” after handing another Covid contract to failing private healthcare company

Conservative MP Owen Paterson, who acts as a consultant for the firm, was party to a call between the company and the health minister responsible for coronavirus testing supplies.

 by Jack Peat
November 5, 2020
in News



Matt Hancock has come in for criticism after awarding a new £375 million testing contract to a Tory-linked private healthcare company whose testing kits had to be recalled over the summer because of concerns about contamination.

Randox was handed an extension to an existing contract – without other companies being invited to bid – leading to accusations of “corruption” and “cronyism”.

So far Hancock has now approved transfers of nearly half a billion pounds in taxpayer funds to the Northern Ireland-based company since the pandemic began.

Conservative MP Owen Paterson acts as a consultant for the firm for the princely sum of £100,000 a year. According to reports he was party to a call between the company and James Bethell, the health minister responsible for coronavirus testing supplies.
Independent inquiry

The Green party MP Caroline Lucas has called for an independent inquiry following the revelations into where public money is going.

“Many firms who have benefited seem to have links to the Tory party or individual ministers”, she said.

“The lack of transparency around Covid-related contracts is a scandal. At the very least, ministers owe MPs an explanation, and we are still not getting one.”

750,000 unused kits

Randox provides tens of thousands of kits a week to care homes and individuals testing themselves at home, which are then posted back to its laboratories in County Antrim.

In July the company was ordered to recall 750,000 unused kits when spot checks revealed some kits supplied by a Chinese manufacturer were not sterile.

The new deal was signed on 2 October and was expected to run for six months, until the end of March 2021, a spokesperson said.

Catholic leader won’t resign despite ‘damning’ child sex abuse findings
“I do what I’m told. The Holy Father put me here and he tells me to stay here – that’s enough for me.”

 by Henry Goodwin
November 10, 2020
in News



The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has refused to resign over a damning report into child sex abuse allegations.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster Diocese, said he recently offered his resignation to the Pope – only on account of his age and nothing else – but that he was told to stay in post.

It comes as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report into the Catholic Church, published on Tuesday, found Cardinal Nichols “seemingly put the reputation of the church” above his duty to sex assault victims.

It added that he had demonstrated “no acknowledgement of any personal responsibility to lead or influence change”.
‘I’m staying’

The report findings were met with calls for Cardinal Nichols to resign – something he says he will refuse to do.

“I was 75 very recently. A few weeks ago, as according to the law of the Church, I sent my resignation into Pope Francis and I have received a very unequivocal reply, and that is that he tells me to stay in office here,” he told PA.

“So that is what I will do, that is where my orders come from. I’m staying.”

Asked if he was the right person to lead the Catholic Church in England and Wales, despite the report’s findings, Cardinal Nichols said: “I do what I’m told. The Holy Father put me here and he tells me to stay here – that’s enough for me.”

The report found that the Catholic Church repeatedly failed to support victims and survivors, while taking positive action to protect alleged perpetrators, including moving them to different parishes.

It highlighted the case of Father James Robinson, a serial paedophile, who was moved to another parish within the Archdiocese of Birmingham after complaints were first made in the 1980s. He was later jailed for 21 years.

The report also identified how senior leaders were resistant to external oversight and have only partially implemented the recommendations of previous reviews.
‘Lack of understanding’

Focusing on Cardinal Nichols, the report said: “In the cases of (two complainants), Cardinal Nichols demonstrated a lack of understanding of the impact of their abuse and experiences and seemingly put the reputation of the church first.”

The report also found Cardinal Nichols demonstrated “no acknowledgement of any personal responsibility to lead or influence change”.

It added: “The responses of church leaders over time were marked by delay in implementing change as well as reluctance to acknowledge responsibility, to hold individuals to account or to make sincere apologies.

“They conveyed on occasions a grudging and unsympathetic attitude to victims. Failure in some of these areas contributed to more children experiencing actual abuse and many others being exposed to the risk of sexual abuse.”
‘He needs to go’

One survivor who gave evidence before the inquiry said of the report: “The head of a church should have the greatest morals of all, but instead they were sending paedophiles to other areas of the country – and America – in an attempt to cover the abuse up. How ‘Christian’ is that?

“It was bad enough being abused in the first place but then to have it dismissed and covered up just takes even more of a toll on you.”

Richard Scorer, specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon representing survivors at the inquiry, said: “This is an absolutely damning report.

“Cardinal Nichols needs to go right away – in any other walk of life he would be gone immediately. This is a church that cannot be trusted to protect children.”

The inquiry also criticised the Holy See – the Pope and the offices of the Catholic Church based in Rome – for a lack of cooperation during the investigation.

Norwegian Air unsure of future as government refuses support


‘This would not be a responsible use of public funds’ says Norwegian industry minister

Turbulence: Norwegian Air has had its request for government assistance rejected. 

Photo: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Terje Solsvik
November 10 2020 05:00 AM

THE Norwegian government will not provide additional financial support for Norwegian Air, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the industry ministry and the ministry of transportation said yesterday.

Norwegian Air, which has grounded most of its fleet, said in August it would run out of cash in the first quarter of 2021 unless it could secure fresh funds and has held talks with the government in the hope of winning support.

"That the government has decided to reject the request for funds is disappointing and feels like a punch in the gut for everyone at Norwegian," said CEO Jacob Schram. "The company and the board will turn every stone to get through this situation," he told a news conference yesterday, adding that the budget airline is not out of cash yet.

Asked whether the company was at risk of bankruptcy, Mr Schram said he would not rule out any potential outcomes.
"But we need ventilator support to get through the winter," he added.

Creditors and lessors took control of the airline in May with a financial rescue that allowed it to access state-guaranteed loans of three billion Norwegian crowns (€281m) and thus prevent a collapse.

"Norwegian Air has asked for billions of crowns in additional support, and the government has concluded that this would not be a responsible use of public funds," said Industry Minister Iselin Nyboe.

The airline industry is likely to provide sufficient services and will still see healthy competition in the time ahead, she said.

Scandinavian carrier SAS is a major competitor in Norway, and Hungary's Wizz Air recently launched several domestic routes.

"Norwegian is currently evaluating the effects of the current situation with the aim of safeguarding the interest of all stakeholders," the company said.

More funding could come from the sale of aircraft, conversion of more debt to equity or from its owners and the Norwegian government, it said, while declining to specify the amount it might seek.

Reuters

BREAD AND CIRCUSES

Vietnam's Formula One Debut Grand Prix In Doubt After Corruption Scandal

Vietnam signed up for Formula One hoping the glamour of the sport could reflect the country's economic lift-off and reshape Hanoi's staid image, much as it has done for Singapore.

Agence France-Presse
Updated: November 10, 2020

Vietnam Grand Prix's track site in Hanoi© AFP

Highlights

Vietnam's 5.565-kilometre track in Hanoi was ready ahead of schedule

Vietnam last month formally cancelled the 2020 grand prix

The communist nation inked a 10-year deal with Formula One in 2018

Vietnam's inaugural Formula One Grand Prix "might not happen" next year, a source told AFP on Tuesday, as a report said it had been dropped from the 2021 calendar following the arrest of a key official. Doubts about the race arose after Nguyen Duc Chung, who was Hanoi's mayor and a major supporter of the grand prix, was arrested on corruption charges in August. "Without Chung, the future of the race in Hanoi is gloomy. It might not happen," a source close to the race told AFP on condition of anonymity.

There has been no word from Vietnamese authorities on whether the race, postponed from April and then cancelled because of the coronavirus, would make its belated debut next year.

Some spectator stands have been removed from beside the track.

And the BBC said the date of the grand prix, April 25, has been left blank on a 22-race 2021 schedule to be published on Tuesday.

The report said the move was triggered by the arrest of Chung, who struck the deal to host the race, for the alleged "appropriation of secret state documents".

Three others including his driver were arrested in the case, which is not related to the grand prix.

Chung, 53, was suspended as mayor two weeks before his arrest. The one-time director of Hanoi's police department was appointed chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee in 2015.

Vietnam signed up for Formula One hoping the glamour of the sport could reflect the country's economic lift-off and reshape Hanoi's staid image, much as it has done for Singapore.

]
The communist nation inked a 10-year deal with Formula One in 2018. State media said it would cost the country $60 million per year.

The fee has been picked up in full by the country's largest private conglomerate, VinGroup, which had been hoping to dazzle with a night race.

Officials said the 5.565-kilometre track in Hanoi was ready ahead of schedule.

Vietnam last month formally cancelled the 2020 grand prix due to concerns that teams and fans coming from overseas could spark a new outbreak of Covid-19.

Authorities have allowed very few commercial flights into Vietnam since borders were largely closed in March, and tourist visas are still suspended.

The country has gained plaudits for its handling of the coronavirus, with just 1,215 recorded cases and no community transmission for more than two months.

GREEN CAPITALI$M

Rishi Sunak: UK to issue first green bond and require firms to disclose climate risk
Chancellor unveils raft of green finance plans


Rishi Sunak said the government will issue the UK's first Sovereign Green Bond in 2021
Michael Holder
10 November 2020

The government plans to cement the UK's position as a global centre for green finance received a significant boost yesterday (9 November), with the Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiling proposals to issue the country's first sovereign green bond next year and make climate risk disclosure mandatory for major companies from 2025

In a statement to Parliament yesterday, Sunak said the government would issue the UK's first Sovereign Green Bond in 2021, subject to market conditions. He also promised that the initial bond would be followed by a series of further issuances designed to meet growing investor demand for green bond instruments.

"This will be the first in a series of new issuances as we look to build out a green curve over the coming years, helping to fund projects to help tackle climate change, finance much needed infrastructure and investment and create green jobs across this country," said Sunak.

The global green bonds market has surged in recent years, with analyst Moody's recently projecting total issuance worldwide could grow to between $175bn and $225bn by the end of 2020. But while a growing number of countries, including the likes of Germany and Sweden have issued sovereign green bonds, the UK has yet to do so.

Meanwhile, the fast-growing sector has been dogged by concerns that a lack of clarity over what constitutes a green or climate bond could result in some nominally green funding being channelled to support polluting infrastructure.

However, Sunak this afternoon said the UK would, in addition to issuing its first green gilts, seek to implement a green taxonomy that he hoped would provide a common framework for determining which activities can be defined as environmentally sustainable, building on the EU's on-going efforts to develop its own green taxonomy.

The UK taxonomy would take the scientific metrics established by the EU taxonomy as its basis, with a new UK Green Technical Advisory Group established to ensure the approach is fit for purpose for the UK market, according to the Treasury. Sunak said the efforts were aimed at "robustly classifying what we mean by green to help firms and investors".

Moreover, the Chancellor confirmed plans set out earlier today by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to introduce stricter rules on climate risk disclosure for large companies and investors, in line with the guidelines developed by the global Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFDs).

First outlined by the FCA earlier this year, the new rules require all large UK companies with a premium listing - currently representing a market capitalisation of around £1.9tn - to publicly disclose the risks they face from climate change and the net zero transition, or explain why not, by the end of 2023.

Sunak said that from 2025 the rules would be tightened further to make the TCFD guidelines fully mandatory, going beyond the 'comply or explain' approach, and making the UK the first country in the world to make climate risk disclosures obligatory.

The upcoming rules will capture a significant portion of the economy, including listed commercial companies, UK registered large private companies, banks, building societies, insurance companies, UK-authorised asset managers, life insurers, FCA-regulated pension schemes, and occupational pension schemes, according to the Treasury.

Sunak said the green finance measures announced today would help position the UK as a "world leader in green finance".

"As we leave the EU we have an opportunity to set out a new vision for this sector - a vision based not on a race to the bottom, but on a financial services industry that is open, innovative and leads the world in the use of green finance," he told MPs. "This new chapter means putting the full weight of private sector expertise, innovation and capital behind the critical global effort to tackle climate change and protect the environment."

Reacting to Sunak's statement in Parliament yesterday afternoon, Labour's Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said action to ramp up green finance "can't come soon enough", but called on the Treasury to go further and not wait until 2025 to bring in mandatory TCFD reporting rules.

She also urged the government to ban overseas fossil fuel financing and loans through UK Export Finance, and criticised the UK's £5bn green recovery commitments, which she argued paled in comparison with the green stimulus plans from France and Germany that have assigned £27bn and £36bn respectively to climate-related projects.

"Where is this government's ambition for a green recovery from the coronavirus crisis?" she asked. "And where is the replacement for the Green Investment Bank that the Conservatives sold off?"

Reaction elsewhere to Sunak's green finance announcements tended towards cautious optimism. Greenpeace UK's policy director Doug Parr broadly welcomed moves to make climate risk disclosure mandatory, but warned the new rules must be "compulsory and thorough".

"The real win would be to make all financial institutions put in place plans to meet the Paris Agreement by the end of next year, steadily choking off the supply of cash to planet wrecking activities," he said. "Disclosure is a route to making that happen, but not an end in itself."

Similarly, former Bank of England senior economist Carsten Jung, who now works for the IPPR think tank, said Sunak's announcements today were "really just a bare minimum of what would be needed to make finance support the climate transition" and labelled green bonds as "largely a cosmetic move".

He argued the climate risk disclosure rules should also include Scope 3 emissions disclosures for company supply chains and products sold, but that disclosure in itself would "not do much to advance the climate transition". Firms should additionally be forced to set binding targets for emissions reductions, he said.

But Stephanie Pfeiffer at the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change offered a more effusive welcome to the new proposals.

"Investors applaud the measures on green finance announced by the Chancellor today," she said. "The financial impacts of climate change are colossal and pose an unprecedented systemic risk to the UK economy as a whole. Plans for UK green gilts will help to unlock investment in the net zero economy while also supporting the country's recovery from the pandemic. Mandatory TCFD reporting will help to ensure robust governance and reporting on climate-related risks.

"The UK was one of the first countries to enshrine a commitment to achieve net zero emissions in law. Investors now have greater clarity that the UK is serious about delivering a net zero economy and secure its future as a global leader in sustainable finance. They can count on the support of the investment sector in getting there."

The moves came as Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey yesterday (9 November) confirmed plans to carry out a climate risk 'stress test' for financial institutions in June next year, having been forced to delay the move by a year as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

"Our goal is to build a UK financial system resilient to the risks from climate change and supportive of the transition to a net-zero economy," he said. "Compared to the financial crisis and the pandemic, the risks from climate change are even bigger and more complex to manage. And acting now gives us the best opportunity to manage those risks."

Meanwhile, Business Secretary and COP26 President Alok Sharma said global climate action had reached an "important inflection point", with the torrent of net zero pledges announced by state and private actors in recent months providing evidence of a growing consensus in support of a zero carbon future.

Speaking at the launch of the 'Race to Zero Dialogues' yesterday - a series of virtual events being hosted by UN climate change secretariat UNFCCC over the next fortnight - Sharma urged more organisations to commit to achieving net zero emissions and called on countries to boost their short-term climate ambition.

"We know, that to achieve the Paris goals we must halve global emissions over the next decade, and rapidly adapt to our warming climate," he said. "To do this we must all move faster. Now whilst I recognise that time is short, and that the world is facing an immense challenge with Covid-19 we urgently need to raise our ambition."

The UK alongside the UN and several other major economies are set to host a Climate Ambition Summit next month aimed at encouraging countries to come forward with more ambitious climate action commitments in support of the Paris Agreement.

Sharma urged regions, cities, businesses and universities to join the UNFCCC-backed Race to Zero coalition, a global alliance of organisations committed to reaching net zero by mid-century at the latest, and called on governments to submit enhanced 2030 climate targets that would put nations on track to reaching net zero.

"The shift to a zero-carbon economy is underway," Sharma said. "Only by continuing to come together can we build the zero carbon, climate resilient future that is essential for our people and our planet."

The UK government is expected to publish its own 10 point green recovery plan ahead of the December event, while hopes are also building that Joe Biden's election victory and his promise to return the US to the Paris Agreement with immediate effect next January will help encourage more countries to announce their own net zero strategies in the coming weeks and months.

This story first appeared on Professional Adviser's sister title Business Green

Loss of permafrost - a global cause for concern
 

Permafrost is present above 2,500 metres. Melting permafrost was the cause of a landslide on the Matterhorn (pictured), at Zermatt in southern Switzerland, in summer 2003.

 Keystone / Alessandro Della Bella

Switzerland is a pioneering country in the study of permafrost. The thawing of terrain that used to be permanently frozen is becoming more and more prevalent, and it has planet-wide repercussions. 

 This content was published on November 10, 2020 - 

The locals call it "Hell’s Gate" because of the noises that seem to come from the bowels of the earth. For scientists, the Batagaika crater, in Eastern Siberia, has nothing very diabolical about it. The sounds it makes are the result of a geophysical phenomenon that has been known for quite some time: the melting of permafrost, the layer of permanently frozen ground.
 

The Batagaika crater in northeast Russia is 1.5km wide and up to 100 metres deep. It is the largest crater in the world and was caused by the thawing of permafrost. ©yuri Kozyrev / Noor

This change, driven by global warming, is happening not just on the Siberian tundra, but throughout a northern hemisphere area of about 23 million square km, or twice the size of the US. Found mainly in the Arctic regions, from Russia to Canada, permafrost is also present in the high mountain terrain right across the Alps. In Switzerland, it is found above an altitude of 2,500 metres.

As well as causing major disturbances to the terrain itself, thawing of permafrost can undermine the stability of mountain slopes and trigger natural disasters. These developments are a worry to people living in the affected regions, but the potential repercussions around the world are also a major cause of concern. According to a 2019 report by the United Nations, the loss of permafrost is one of five major threats to the environment that have hitherto been underestimated.

Permafrost warms up

Some 5% of Switzerland’s national territory is made up of permafrost, mostly in terrain covered by rock debris and on cliff walls at high altitudes. In comparison, the proportion covered by glaciers is about 2.5%.

"It is clear that in the past twenty years, the temperature of permafrost has been rising throughout the Swiss Alps", says Jeannette Noetzli of the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

It’s not just the temperature of the surrounding air that determines the condition of the permafrost, she points out. The sun’s rays and the snow cover have to be taken into account as well.

Unlike peaks above the 4,000-metre level and the polar regions, where permafrost is really cold, in Alpine regions most of its temperature is close to zero, Noetzli explains. "So we have less of a thermic 'reserve' and we are that much closer to melting point."

What is known as the “active layer” is getting thicker. This is the top level of the permafrost which melts during the summer and freezes again in the winter.
External Content

Sensors and cameras on the Matterhorn

Jeannette Noetzli heads PERMOS, the permafrost monitoring network in Switzerland. Created in 2000, it is the first national network dedicated to studying change in permafrost. Switzerland has the world’s largest collection of data on high-altitude permafrost, and it includes a chronological series covering a period of over 30 years.

Researchers are able to make use of advanced technologies: probes that go down a hundred metres, devices to measure the terrain’s electrical resistance, GPS, wireless sensors and high-resolution video cameras. On the Hörnli ridge of the Matterhorn, 3,500 metres up, a network of 17 sensors is transmitting data in real time to the computing centre at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (this is the PermaSense project).
 

Replacement of a temperature-measuring device above the Corvatsch-Murtèl glacier in canton Graubünden in southeast Switzerland. Jeannette Noetzli, PERMOS

Risk of landslides

The unfreezing of the permafrost has a negative impact on the stability of mountainsides, because it takes away their “stickiness”, as Cécile Pellet of the geosciences department at the University of Fribourg explains.

"Losing the permafrost can lead to rockslides", she told the Valais newspaper Le Nouvelliste. However, as the PERMOS researcher points out, there can be more than one reason when this kind of event happens, as was the case in Bondo in 2017. The geology of the place itself may be a contributing factor.

It would be too much of a generalisation to say that the Alps are going to become a more dangerous place due to global warming and the melting of permafrost, thinks Noetzli. "But we are noticing major changes in sensitive areas. As a result, mountain climbers may have to look for different routes to take in some places".

Danger for tourist infrastructure

One thing is certain, however: the decline of the permafrost and the increasing movement seen in rock debris has the potential to be a problem for buildings and structures of all kinds sited at a high altitude: chalets for mountain-climbers, cableways, railways, telecommunications equipment, avalanche barriers, and so on.

All this infrastructure is important for tourism, communication, power supply, and prevention of natural hazards in Switzerland. For example, the Gornergrat railway near the Matterhorn and the Jungfrau railway in the Bernese Alps were built partly over permafrost.

Cable-car operators will need to invest in new construction to strengthen the pillars supporting their infrastructure. In canton Uri, for exmaple, a new concrete base has had to be put in for the Gemsstock cable car line, which goes up to an altitude of almost 3,000 metres.
Worrying global trends

The repercussions of the thawing of permafrost will be seen not just at local or regional level.

As the permafrost melts, ancient microorganisms trapped inside the ice could get out into the atmosphere and become reactivated, infecting humans and animals. To learn more, see our article on this topic featuring Swiss expert Beat Frey, who is a researcher at the Snow and Avalanche Institute studying Alpine permafrost. He calls this issue "a major unknown".

Furthermore, organic carbon which has accumulated over the course of millennia in the ice layer will increasingly find itself being released into the atmosphere in the form of CO2 and methane, which is likely to add to global warming – a vicious circle.

This issue concerns above all the Arctic regions, where rising temperatures (two to four times the global average) are bringing the collapse of the permafrost that much closer, experts warn. According to the estimates, frozen terrain holds about 1,600 billion metric tons of carbon – double what is in the atmosphere.

Toshiba stops taking orders for coal-fired power plants

Company plans $1.5bn investment in renewables as PM Suga targets zero-carbon goal

Toshiba is ditching its coal-related businesses for cleaner sources of energy. (Source photos by AFP/Jiji and AP) 

Nikkei staff writers November 10, 2020 

TOKYO -- Toshiba will stop taking orders for coal-fired power plants in line with growing global trends toward reducing carbon emissions, Nikkei learned on Tuesday, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pledges to reduce Japan's greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.

Shifting its priority in the energy business to renewables, Toshiba will increase investment in them fivefold to 160 billion yen ($1.52 billion) by fiscal 2022.

With Mitsubishi Heavy Industries joining American and European heavy-machinery makers in reducing their coal-energy businesses, competition in the renewable energy sector is likely to be driven by the ability to adapt to rapidly changing demand.


Toshiba holds 11% of the global thermal-power generation market, excluding China. This includes building power plants, producing steam turbines and providing maintenance. While the company will stop accepting new orders for coal-burning plants, it will build 10 stations under existing orders in Japan, Vietnam and other countries.

Toshiba chalked up nearly 3.4 trillion yen in consolidated sales in fiscal 2019 ended March. Sales related to construction of thermal and hydraulic power plants totaled 223 billion yen, or about 40% of the global energy sector. Although the company will continue producing turbines mainly for replacements, it will drastically reduce sales in its thermal-power generation business.

The increased use of renewable energy -- along with more attention to environmental, social and corporate governance -- is weakening global demand for coal-fired power plants, which generate large amounts of greenhouse gases.

Suga has pledged that Japan will reduce the country's net carbon emissions to zero by 2050, while presumed incoming U.S. President Joe Biden has also declared a similar goal.

Demand for coal-fired power remains strong among countries in Southeast Asia. In January, however, Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said he would call for reviewing a Japanese-led project to build a coal-fired power plant in Vietnam.

In 2019, Toshiba won orders for building the plants overseas. But as the number of projects dwindled, the company has decided to stop the construction of new coal-burning power plants.

Toshiba will boost investment in research and development of offshore wind power and next-generation photovoltaic cells. It also hopes to expand its renewable energy business to 650 billion yen by 2030, from 190 billion in 2019.

Earlier this month, Toshiba decided to enter the "virtual power plant" business, buying electricity from renewable-energy power plants across Japan for resale to local power companies.

Among Japanese companies, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which holds a 12% share of the global thermal power generation market, is also facing headwinds. Mitsubishi Power, a subsidiary established from the integration of Hitachi's power-generation businesses in 2014, has struggled to find business as demand for coal-fired thermal power plants falls. Sales of turbines and other power-generation facilities have also remained sluggish.

Maintenance and other services generate 40% of Mitsubishi Heavy's sales of coal-fired thermal power-generation facilities. The company plans to raise the ratio to about 80%. The company has also decided to cut about 20,000 employees by around 30% by curbing hiring and reshuffling personnel in fiscal 2021 and beyond.

Overseas heavy electric machinery makers are also scaling back businesses. General Electric in September announced that it will stop building new coal-fired thermal power stations and supplying facilities. The U.S. company will shift its focus from the building of new power stations to maintenance and other services.

Siemens of Germany in April spun off its electricity and gas division, with plans to scale back its coal-fired power generation business, including a possible withdrawal.

Japan's coal-fired power generation industry has pointed to its environmental performance, but a movement toward decarbonization is causing companies to review the use of coal itself.

General trading houses have helped Japanese makers win orders for building power stations overseas. As far as facilities are concerned, IHI and Sumitomo Heavy Industries have produced boilers, while Mitsubishi Electric have made generators. These companies will also be forced to shift their strategies, including expanding their renewable energy business.

SECRETS OF THE DRUIDS

Trees set sixth-graders up for success

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Research News

 

URBANA, Ill. - The transition to middle school is undeniably tough for many sixth-graders, even in the best of times. Mounting academic demands, along with changes in peer dynamics and the onset of puberty, result in a predictable and sometimes irreversible slump in academic performance.

A new University of Illinois study suggests an unexpected but potentially potent remedy: trees.

"Hundreds of studies show a positive link between contact with nature and learning outcomes, but the studies on nature near schools focus on young children or older learners. We wanted to make sure the same pattern was true in this vulnerable and overlooked population," says Ming Kuo, associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at Illinois.

It was. Even after taking a whopping 17 variables into account including student demographics, school resources, and neighborhood characteristics, Kuo and her co-authors found that the more tree cover around a school, the better its standardized test scores in both math and reading. The study included 450 middle schools and nearly 50,000 students in urban, suburban, and rural communities in Washington State.

But why would trees boost test scores? Kuo's previous work points to a cause-and-effect relationship between nature and learning, with more exposure to nature resulting in improved concentration, greater classroom engagement, and less disruptive behavior. No surprise, then, that greener schools perform better.

Samantha Klein, a master's student who worked with Kuo on the study, made a point to compare different kinds of vegetation at different distances from schools.

"We wanted to offer concrete guidance to landscape architects, principals, and school boards interested in putting the greenness-achievement link to work, giving them clues as to what should be planted, and where," Klein says.

Kuo, Klein, and their team were able to differentiate tree cover from grass and shrubs using satellite imagery. "From a practical standpoint, trees cost more to install than grass. So if school districts could get away with just putting grass everywhere, that would be really helpful to know," Klein explains.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Trees were far and away more impactful for test scores than other types of vegetation. Still, Kuo emphasizes that compared with other school resource investments planting trees around a schoolyard is still an incredibly cheap and effective intervention. But it could take a sea change before school districts accept school greening when other demands seem so much more pressing.

"I think school boards have always been faced with distributing very limited funds, especially in the poorest areas. They might think that, with all the other pressing needs for funding, school landscaping is the least of their concerns. Little do they suspect that a treeless schoolyard may actually be contributing to poor school performance," Kuo says.

The satellite images also helped Kuo's team pinpoint where tree cover mattered most. They compared the importance of greenness in different buffer zones around schools, within 250 meters (around two blocks) and 1000 meters. It turned out trees closer to the schools made all the difference, even when controlling for greenness at farther distances. In other words, even if the larger neighborhood was leafy, students were no better off if the schoolyard wasn't.

These findings extend previous discoveries in Chicago public schools. Kuo's work there showed the importance of tree cover near schools in low-income urban districts. But since her current study includes 450 schools across a wide spectrum of populations, she's confident her results apply more broadly.

"One of the nice things about this study is not only the sheer number of schools and students we're looking at, but the huge range in Washington State. We've captured everything from extremely urban to totally rural areas; rich schools and poor schools; schools with predominately white, Hispanic, Black, or American Indian student bodies; and every level of greenness represented within each of those samples," Kuo says. "The fact that the greenness-achievement link is true here is encouraging to me. It gives us some confidence that our recommendations apply to a whole variety of schools."

How does all this apply against the backdrop of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic? School greenness won't make much of a difference if kids aren't leaving the house. But whether they are physically in school or not, Kuo thinks contact with nature could be critical right now.

"I think the need for trees is more acute at this time. One of the big benefits of greenery, and one of the reasons we think it affects academic achievement, is it's a really potent stress reliever. Kids are aware that things are weird and that a lot of adults are kind of freaked out. And so having access to nature might be even more important than usual."

###

The article, "Greening for academic achievement: Prioritizing what to plant and where," is published in Landscape and Urban Planning [DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103962]. Authors include Ming Kuo, Samantha Klein, Matthew H.E.M. Browning, and Jaime Zaplatosch. Support for this research was provided by a USDA NIFA McIntire-Stennis capacity grant (ILLU-875-972).

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences is in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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