A Climate Catastrophe & The Upside Of Video Games
October 28, 2022
An UN-Optimistic Outlook
It looks like the U.N. has turned doomer, at least on the climate front. In a report released Thursday, the U.N.’s environment agency stated that there is “no credible pathway to 1.5C in place.” Given humanity’s lack of changes made to address the climate crisis, the report says, the only way forward to protect against the worst effects of climate change is the “rapid transformation of societies.”
The main goal of the report was to examine the gap between world governments’ climate pledges and the actual changes needed to limit global warming to a rise of just 1.5C. According to the report, current climate pledges for 2030 would still cause a temperature rise of roughly 2.5C – and that’s if all governments meet their goals. The current temperature rise of 1C has already caused climate disasters worldwide, including in Puerto Rico and Pakistan.
Last year at the Cop26 climate summit, 197 countries from all over the globe promised to make their climate pledges stronger. Heading into this year’s Cop27 summit, only a couple dozen have done so, with those goals only looking to cut emissions by 1% by 2030. To keep the 1.5C target attainable, global emissions must be cut by almost 50% by 2030.
“This report tells us in cold scientific terms what nature has been telling us all year through deadly floods, storms and raging fires: we have to stop filling our atmosphere with greenhouse gases, and stop doing it fast,” said U.N. Environment Programme executive director Inger Andersen. “We had our chance to make incremental changes, but that time is over. Only a root-and-branch transformation of our economies and societies can save us from accelerating climate disaster.” According to the report, current climate policies are set to cause a rise in global temperatures of 2.8C, with pledged policies getting it down to 2.6C. Further pledges that are dependent on richer countries providing funds for developing countries might reduce the rise to 2.4C. (Guardian)
It’s time to play… Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader (if that 5th grader read a TON of news). Test your knowledge of recent world news with this short quiz. Submissions must be made by 12pm EST Monday, 10/31. The winner, announced Wednesday, will win bragging rights for the week as well as a free Daily Pnut t-shirt.
It’s Not Price Gouging, It’s Just Record Profits!
- European citizens might be staring down the barrel of a cold, cold winter with skyrocketing energy prices, but European energy companies are doing quite the opposite. According to new third-quarter earnings reports for London-based Shell and Paris-based TotalEnergies, both companies recorded red-hot profits during the end of summer – and with no sign of slowing down going into the colder months.
- Shell posted adjusted earnings of $9.45 billion in the third quarter of the year, while TotalEnergies reported profits of $9.9 billion. Those numbers are more than double what both companies made in the third quarter of 2021. Shell’s profits mark its second-highest earning quarter behind its $11.5 billion Q2 of this year.
- In other good news for Shell, the company managed to dodge Britain’s new “windfall” tax on oil and gas profits, which was enacted just earlier this year as gas prices and inflation both rose. According to the company’s chief financial officer, expenditures on developing projects in the British North Sea cut into the company’s profits juuuust enough to dodge the tax, though he expects that they will have to pay the tax beginning early next year. “I think we should be prepared and accept that our industry will be looked at for raising taxes in order to fund the transfers to those who need it most,” he said. But only after another record-profit quarter, right? (NYT, $)
Xi Wants Kids
- According to a social media post about a newlywed in China (and tens of thousands of other comments), the CCP is getting involved in Chinese citizens’ bedrooms. The stories seem to be in line with party policy – last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared at the CCP’s 20th Party Congress that the country would establish new policies to boost birth rates.
- The post on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, detailed a story about the poster’s newlywed colleague who received phone calls from her local government asking if she was pregnant. According to the post, the Nanjing municipal government said that it “wants newlyweds to be pregnant within a year and their target is to make a phone call every quarter.” The post blew up, garnering tens of thousands of comments, with many people sharing similar stories. It was eventually taken down, along with all of the comments.
- After implementing a one-child policy from 1980 to 2015, China’s population has begun shrinking a bit too fast for the government’s taste. Births in 2022 are set to dip below 10 million compared to last year’s 10.6 million, which was an 11.5% decrease from 2020’s birth levels. The government has already begun pushing rhetoric about women’s traditional roles and scaling back abortion protections, but the check-ins with newlyweds are a new development. (Reuters)
Additional World News
- A high-profile Australian #MeToo trial ended unexpectedly — and without a verdict (NPR)
- French leader vows to raise retirement age to 65, up from 62 (AP)
- Iran’s Khamenei vows revenge after deadly attack on Shi’ite pilgrims (Reuters)
- Clashes in Iran as thousands gather at Mahsa Amini’s grave, 40 days after her death (CNN)
- Amid fierce battles, Russia warns it could hit US satellites (AP)
- Fighting rages in Ukraine’s Bakhmut as battle for Kherson looms (Al Jazeera)
- Chinese cities double down on zero-COVID as outbreaks widen (Reuters)
“In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” – Immanuel Kant
Rail Against The Machine
- The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, which represents over 6,000 workers in the U.S., has voted against ratifying the tentative agreement brokered between the Biden administration and railroad managers and unions, making a national strike next month more likely. The national supply chain would see a significant breakdown if such a strike occurs.
- The BRS represents the second union to vote against the agreement, and in a statement, union president Michael Baldwin notes that it’s the first time the union has voted against ratifying an agreement. While the presidential emergency board (PEB) appointed by President Biden negotiated increases in wages, unions argue current policies don’t address a key issue – allowing workers to take personal or sick time off.
- “I have expressed my disappointment throughout the process in the lack of good-faith bargaining,” Baldwin said in the statement, adding that “the highest offices at each Carrier, as well as their stockholders, seem to forget that the rank-and-file of their employees continued to perform their job each day through an unprecedented pandemic, while the executives worked from home to keep their families safe.” (NPR)
Checking The Checks And Balances
- Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar of the Biden administration wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court encouraging them to reject the “independent state legislature” theory pushed by Republicans in an upcoming elections case from North Carolina that could strip state courts of their ability to oversee federal election-related disputes. The case is set to be argued on December 7.
- The state of North Carolina and voting rights advocates are defending a state Supreme Court decision to throw out a congressional district map drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature. The state court adopted a map drawn by experts that is less favorable to Republicans, basing its decision on protections in North Carolina’s Constitution. The Supreme Court’s ruling, due by the end of June, would have “extraordinarily disruptive consequences” for the 2024 presidential election.
- Republican lawmakers argue that the state court did not have the authority to adopt the new maps and that legislatures have unique power derived from the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution, giving state legislatures the power to set the “time, place and manner” in which federal elections are held in that state. (NBC)
Additional USA News
- US military conducts test launch of hypersonic experiments for weapons development (CNN)
- Georgia sheriff is found guilty of violating the rights of detainees by strapping them into restraint chairs (NBC)
- Latest GDP report shows the US economy bounced back last quarter after shrinking in the first half of the year (CNN)
- Jayapal draws ire of fellow Democrats over bungled Ukraine letter (WaPo, $)
- St Louis school shooting suspect had gun confiscated days before attack (Guardian)
- 1 dead, 3 injured after Missouri bridge collapses during construction (NBC)
- Herschel Walker to be joined by Ted Cruz as GOP stands by its man after new abortion allegation (CNN)
But Mom, Shooting People Online Is Making Me Smarter!
- Don’t tell Timmy to stop playing that game and do his homework – he’s actually learning to control impulsive behavior and improving his ability to memorize information (maybe). According to a new study, playing a lot of video games is associated with some cognitive benefits in children.
- The study, conducted with 2,000 children ages 9 and 10, tested differences between children who played over 21 hours of video games per week and those who didn’t play games at all. Researchers found that gamers performed better than non-gamers in tests for controlling impulsive behavior and memorizing information, and that gamers showed more activity in areas of the brain associated with attention and memory during the tests. Researchers controlled for many other variables including gender, parental income, and video viewing.
- Despite showing the difference in cognitive activity between gamers and non-gamers, researchers can’t say if games grant cognitive benefits to kids, or if the kids with cognitive benefits sought out games more than their peers. At the very least, the study adds to a body of research that indicates that video games aren’t actually melting our kids’ brains. Some companies are developing video games that can treat trauma, and the FDA has even approved some video games as a treatment for ADHD. (Axios)
Additional Reads
- The Powerball jackpot climbed to $800 million after no ticket matched all winning numbers in Wednesday’s drawing (CNN)
- TikTok immune from lawsuit over girl’s death from ‘blackout challenge’ (Reuters)
- A new group of TikTok-savvy Palestinian fighters tests Israeli forces in the West Bank (NPR)
- Transgender businesswoman buys Miss Universe pageant for $20M (NBC)
- More kids to ride in ‘clean’ school buses, mostly electric (AP)
- Skechers executives escort Kanye West out of building, company says (CNN)
- Russia may again block Antarctic marine protections (AP)