Tháng: Tháng Tư 2022
Tropical forests have big climate benefits beyond carbon storage
Study finds that trees cool the planet by one-third of a degree through biophysical mechanisms such as humidifying the air.
Tropical forests have a crucial role in cooling Earth’s surface by extracting carbon dioxide from the air. But only two-thirds of their cooling power comes from their ability to suck in CO2 and store it, according to a study1. The other one-third comes from their ability to create clouds, humidify the air and release cooling chemicals.
How much can forests fight climate change?
This is a larger contribution than expected for these ‘biophysical effects’ says Bronson Griscom, a forest climate scientist at the non-profit environmental organization Conservation International, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. “For a while now, we’ve assumed that carbon dioxide alone is telling us essentially all we need to know about forest–climate interactions,” he says. But this study confirms that tropical forests have other significant ways of plugging into the climate system, he says.
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NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) at 73
On April 4, 1949, Secretary of State Dean Acheson and President Harry S Truman were present for the signing of the treaty that created North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
OVERVIEW
Formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington Treaty, NATO is a security alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe. NATO’s fundamental goal is to safeguard the Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means. NATO remains the principal security instrument of the transatlantic community and expression of its common democratic values. It is the practical means through which the security of North America and Europe are permanently tied together. NATO enlargement has furthered the U.S. goal of a Europe whole, free, and at peace.
Article 5 of the Washington Treaty — that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all — is at the core of the Alliance, a promise of collective defense. Article 4 of the treaty ensures consultations among Allies on security matters of common interest, which have expanded from a narrowly defined Soviet threat to the critical mission in Afghanistan, as well as peacekeeping in Kosovo and new threats to security such as cyber attacks, and global threats such as terrorism and piracy that affect the Alliance and its global network of partners.
In addition to its traditional role in the territorial defense of Allied nations, NATO leads the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and has ongoing missions in the Balkans and the Mediterranean; it also conducts extensive training exercises and offers security support to partners around the globe, including the European Union in particular but also the United Nations and the African Union.
MEMBER STATES
The NATO Alliance consists of 30 member states from North America and Europe. Article Five of the treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it should be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary.
Over the past two decades, the Alliance has developed a network of structured partnerships with countries from the Euro-Atlantic area, the Mediterranean and the Gulf region, as well as individual relationships with other partners across the globe. NATO pursues dialogue and practical cooperation with many partner countries and engages actively with other international actors and organisations on a wide range of political and security-related issues.
STRUCTURE
NATO is comprised of two main parts, the political and military components. NATO Headquarters is where representatives from all the member states come together to make decisions on a consensus basis. It also offers a venue for dialogue and cooperation between partner countries and NATO member countries, enabling them to work together in their efforts to bring about peace and stability.The key elements of NATO’s military organisation are the Military Committee, composed of the Chiefs of Defence of NATO member countries, its executive body, the International Military Staff, and the military Command Structure (distinct from the Force Structure), which is composed of Allied Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation, headed respectively by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and the Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation (SACT).
EXERCISES
The primary role of Alliance military forces is to protect peace and to guarantee the territorial integrity, political independence and security of the member states. Alliance forces must be able to deter and defend effectively. The Alliance remains subject to a wide variety of military and non-military risks that are multi-directional and often difficult to predict.
The term NATO Military Exercise includes all exercises for which NATO is the initiating or the joint initiating authority. Associated with NATO Military Exercises are building blocks, such as: seminars, study periods and workshops.
A NATO Military Exercise is scheduled by a NATO Commander. It aims to establish, enhance and display NATO’s Military Capability across the Alliance’s full mission spectrum which is based on the three Alliance military missions:
- Article 5 Collective Defence;
- Non-Article 5 Crisis Response; and
- Consultation and Co-operation.
OPERATIONS
NATO is an active and leading contributor to peace and security on the international stage. It promotes democratic values and is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. However, if diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military capacity needed to undertake crisis-management operations, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organisations. Through its crisis-management operations, the Alliance demonstrates both its willingness to act as a positive force for change and its capacity to meet the security challenges of the 21st century.
NATO MINISTERIALS
Foreign Ministers Meetings and Defense Ministers Meetings provide an opportunity for NATO Allies to address many of NATO’s most pressing security challenges at the some of the highest levels of government. Key strategic issues discussed at these meetings have included Afghanistan, Capabilities, Kosovo, and Missile Defense. Generally attended also by many of NATO’s partners, these meetings are a chance for NATO to strengthen its relationships around the world.
WHY NATO MATTERS
As a political and military alliance, what we do together at NATO directly contributes to the security, the prosperity, and liberty of the people of the United States and every Ally.Our NATO links are solid, forged over 70 years of history. NATO promotes democratic values and encourages consultation and cooperation on defense and security issues to build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict. NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military capacity needed to undertake crisis-management operations. These are carried out under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty — NATO’s founding treaty — or under a UN mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organizations. In the history of NATO, Article 5 has been invoked just once, and that was in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Chống lạm phát bằng lãi suất
XÊ NHO 2/4/2022 6:00 GMT+7
TTCT – Dân Mỹ nói riêng và dân tình cả thế giới nói chung đều hoang mang trước cơn bão giá đang ập đến. Dù chỉ số giá cả chính thức ở Mỹ tăng 7,9% vào tháng 2 so với cùng kỳ năm ngoái, giá cả thực tế tăng cao hơn thế nhiều lần: giá xăng đã tăng chừng 40%, giá món nào trong siêu thị cũng tăng vài ba chục phần trăm.
Trong bối cảnh đó, Cục Dự trữ liên bang (FED) nước này chỉ nâng lãi suất điều hành thêm 0,25 điểm phần trăm vào tuần trước, làm sao thuyết phục thị trường họ đang sử dụng vũ khí hạng nặng để chống lạm phát?
Lạm phát 14,8%, lãi suất phải trên 20%
Nếu đơn giản hóa mọi yếu tố khác chỉ còn tiền với hàng, sẽ dễ thấy nếu tiền nhiều lên mà hàng giữ nguyên, ắt hẳn giá sẽ tăng. Giá còn tăng mạnh hơn nữa nếu cùng lúc đó hàng giảm xuống.
NATO: Lịch sử một tổ chức quân sự
YÊN BA 26/3/2022 6:00 GMT+7
TTCT – Để hiểu được cuộc xung đột ở Ukraine hiện tại, không thể không nhìn lại một lịch sử rất dài, ít ra là từ những ngày ngay sau cuộc chiến lớn gần nhất ở châu Âu.
Ngày 5-3-1946, trong bài phát biểu tại Đại học Westminster, bang Missouri, Mỹ, Thủ tướng Anh Winston Churchill, người kiên định sự nghi kỵ không giới hạn với nhà lãnh đạo Liên Xô Joseph Stalin (ngược lại cũng thế), tuyên bố: “Từ Stettin ở Baltic tới Trieste ở Adriatic, một bức màn sắt đã buông xuống trên khắp lục địa”.
From Russia, with trepidation: will China sign a new gas deal to feed its energy needs?
- The Ukraine war is complicating the calculus of China’s energy security and the prospect of a new energy deal with Russia
- Can Beijing afford to be close to a Moscow that is increasingly politically and economically isolated?
Snow covers sections of connected pipework at the Gazprom PJSC Atamanskaya compressor station, part of the Power Of Siberia gas pipeline extending to China, near Svobodny, in the Amur region, Russia, in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg
Two recent developments reveal the possibility of a new energy agreement between China and Russia. First, Russian gas giant Gazprom PJSC announced a contract to design the Soyuz Vostok pipeline across Mongolia towards China. Second, Beijing is reported to be discussing with its state-owned companies opportunities to buy stakes in Russian energy companies, and is also looking at a Power of Siberia 2 pipeline to China.
With the exit of international energy companies from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Germany’s decision to halt the certification process of the Kremlin-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and rounds of sanctions on Russia, there are certainly new opportunities for the Chinese government and companies to strengthen their position in the Russian market.
However, even as domestic, regional and global factors may push China towards a new energy deal with Russia, Beijing could also face a range of challenges.
Firstly, Beijing’s ambition to be carbon-neutral by 2060 and replace much coal with gas is one of the most important domestic factors prompting China to further improve its relations with Russia.
Russian gas exports – whether liquefied natural gas or pipeline gas delivered through the original Power of Siberia, for example – would help China reduce greenhouse gas emissions as the country makes a green transition.
Secondly, the withdrawal of Western energy companies such as BP and Shell from Russia due to the Ukraine war creates opportunities for Chinese energy companies, especially state-owned ones, to invest in Russia and diversify their portfolio.
Thirdly, while China also imports gas from Turkmenistan, Russian gas is one of the cheapest options for Chinese consumers, making a new energy deal with Russia that much more attractive.
However, there could also be obstacles to such a deal. One problem could be the political and economic uncertainties now looming over Russia; the deterioration of the Russian business environment under current sanctions might discourage Chinese companies from investing in Russia.
Particularly, sanctions led by Washington seem to inspire caution in Beijing and Chinese companies. For example, the state-run Sinopec Group recently suspended talks about a major petrochemical investment and a gas marketing venture in Russia, apparently heeding a government call to tread carefully with Russian assets.
Russia’s war has chilling effect on climate science as Arctic temperatures soar
“And yet, just when the climate scientists and governments across the eight Arctic states should be working together to understand and address the climate crisis, Russia’s war on Ukraine has forced the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental group of Arctic states and Arctic Indigenous Peoples, to suspend their joint activities in protest of Russia’s unprovoked aggression.“
By Jessica McKenzie | March 29, 2022
Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia (Photo by Daniel Born on Unsplash)
Earlier in March, temperatures around the North Pole approached the melting point, right around the time of year that Arctic sea ice is usually most extensive. In some places, the Arctic was more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than average. It’s part of an alarming trend; over the past 30 years the region has warmed four times faster than the rest of the globe. The shift is transforming the Arctic land- and seascape, causing sea ice to melt, glaciers and ice sheets to retreat, and permafrost to thaw. And while the Arctic is particularly vulnerable to climate change, it also has an outsized potential to contribute to global warming, as melting permafrost releases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
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U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability
US State Department – Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations
Message from the Secretary of State
The United States is committed to strengthening global resiliency and democratic renewal, and promoting peaceful, self-reliant nations that become strong economic and security partners capable of addressing shared challenges. To that end, the U.S. Government is moving forward in the spirit of partnership with Haiti, Libya, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, and five countries in the Coastal West Africa region (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo) to implement the ten-year U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability.
Tiếp tục đọc “U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability”The Aboriginal Tent Embassy at 50: the history of an ongoing protest for Indigenous sovereignty in Australia – podcast
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. Ellen Duffy, The Conversation
Published: March 31, 2022 9.26am BST
Authors
- Carissa LeeFirst Nations and Public Policy Editor, The Conversation
- Daniel MerinoAssistant Science Editor and Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast
- Gemma WareEditor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast
Interviewed
- Bronwyn CarlsonProfessor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University
- Catherine PorterSenior Lecturer in Economics, Lancaster University and Director, Young Lives Study, University of Oxford
- Lynda-June CoePhD Candidate, Macquarie University
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers and listeners are advised this article and podcast contain names of deceased people.
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy – a site of First Nations protest in Canberra, Australia – marks its 50th anniversary this year. In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we hear about its history and how the ongoing protest has influenced a new generation of Indigenous activism.
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Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
The Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report assesses the impacts of climate change, looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change.
Summary for Policymakers
The Summary for Policymakers (SPM) provides a high-level summary of the key findings of the Working Group II Report and is approved by the IPCC member governments line by line.
DOWNLOAD 40 PAGES
Technical Summary
The Technical Summary (TS) provides extended summary of key findings and serves as a link between the comprehensive assessment of the Working Group II Report and the concise SPM.
DOWNLOAD 96 PAGES, 22 MB
Full Report
The 18 Chapters and 7 Cross-Chapter Papers of the Working Group II Report assess the impacts of climate change on nature and humanity, and their capacities and limits for adaptation.
Gen. Jack Keane: Biden admin doesn’t want Putin to lose – Gen. Petraeus calls on US to send ‘game-changer’ equipment to Ukraine
Horror at ‘mass killings’ in Ukraine as men slaughtered with bodies littering streets
As Russian forces withdraw from the areas around the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, some of the horrors of what they have done are being revealed with bodies being discovered littering the streets of towns
A Ukrainian soldier walks past the body of a civilian, who according to residents was killed by Russian army soldiers, as it lies on the street in Bucha (Image: REUTERS)
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US CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
Release Of 2021 Annual Report
March 31, 2022
(WASHINGTON, DC)—U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and U.S. Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chair and Cochair of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), issued today the Commission’s 2021 Annual Report on human rights conditions and rule of law developments in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The full report and an executive summary are available for download on the CECC’s website.
“The Chinese government’s horrific abuse of human rights and trampling of human dignity make it more important than ever that the Congressional-Executive Commission on China document abuses of human rights and the rule of law in China, as the Commission has done for the past 20 years,” said CECC Chairman Merkley. “This report calls attention to the limitations of China’s model of governance in meeting the needs of the Chinese people and in respecting fundamental rights both in China and globally. It should serve as a call to action. Those fleeing persecution, facing arbitrary detention, fighting coercion, or fearing the destruction of their culture need to know the United States has their back, and I hope Congress and the Biden Administration will continue to act on the CECC’s recommendations to do so.”
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In international law, genocide has nothing explicitly to do with the enormity of criminal acts but, rather, of criminal intent.
newyorker – March 13, 2022
“We have to call this what it is,” Volodymyr Zelensky said, late last month, a few days after Vladimir Putin had ordered the invasion and conquest of Ukraine. “Russia’s criminal actions against Ukraine show signs of genocide.” President Zelensky, who lost family members during the Holocaust, and who also happens to have a law degree, sounded suitably cautious about invoking genocide, and he called for the International Criminal Court in The Hague to send war-crimes investigators as a first step. But such investigations take years, and rarely result in convictions. (Since the I.C.C. was established in 1998, it has indicted only Africans; and Russia, like the United States, refuses its jurisdiction.) The only court that Zelensky can make his case in for now is the court of global public opinion, where his instincts, drawing on deep wells of courage and conviction, have been unerring. And by the end of the invasion’s second week—with Putin’s indiscriminate bombardment of civilian targets intensifying, and the death toll mounting rapidly; with more than two and a half million Ukrainians having fled the country, and millions more under relentless attack in besieged cities and towns; and with no end in sight—Zelensky no longer deferred to outside experts to describe what Ukrainians face in the most absolute terms. “I will appeal directly to the nations of the world if the leaders of the world do not make every effort to stop this war,” he said in a video message on Tuesday. He paused, and looking directly into the camera, added, “This genocide.”
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CVD 