Tác giả: Đào Thu Hằng

I'm from Hanoi, Viet Nam. I'm an author of Dot Chuoi Non (dotchuoinon.com/author/hangbelu/), a blog on Positive thinking, founded by Dr. Tran Dinh Hoanh, an attorney in Washington DC. I'm a co-founder of Conversations on Vietnam Development - cvdvn.net, a virtual think tank. I am a co-founder of two companies in Viet Nam working on children education services. I advise companies on STEAM education, English language education for children and students in Vietnam. I'm studying the Buddha's teaching and the teaching of Jesus. I practice mindful living including meditation. I hold a PhD on Sustainable Energy Systems from University of Lisbon and Aalto University. I graduated from Hanoi University of Technology on Environmental Engineering. I obtained a Master degree of the same major from Stanford University and Nanyang Technological University. My English-language blog at: hangbelu.wordpress/. I play table tennis as a hobby.

Why it is so hard to predict where and when earthquakes will strike

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

April 28, 2015 6.27am BST

https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/79494/width926/image-20150427-18128-13s2szx.jpg

There is currently no technique that could have helped Nepal predict when the recent earthquake would strike. AP/PA/Niranjan Shrestha

theconversation – Can earthquakes ever be predicted? This question is timely after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Nepal recently. If authorities had more warning that the earthquake was coming, they may have been able to save more lives.

While Nepal is a documented area of previous seismic activity, at the moment there is no technique that provides predictions of sufficient clarity to allow for evacuations at short notice. So if we cannot predict these events now, are there avenues of research to provide useful predictions in the future?

The key word here is “useful”. It is possible to make long-term forecasts about future earthquake activity, partly by using the past record of earthquakes as a guide. There is no reason to believe that a region of the Earth is going to behave differently in the next few thousands of years from its pattern over the same range back in time. In the short term, seismologists can draw on data from recording stations, with records going back roughly 40 years on a global scale. Tiếp tục đọc “Why it is so hard to predict where and when earthquakes will strike” →

Turkey-Syria earthquake death toll likely to ‘more than double’, UN says: At least 24,596 people have been confirmed dead after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck on Monday

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

theguardian.com

Jane Clinton and agencySat 11 Feb 2023 14.14 GMT

The death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria is likely to “more than double”, according to a United Nations emergency relief coordinator.

Martin Griffiths, speaking to Sky News on Saturday, said he expected tens of thousands more deaths.

At least 24,596 people have been confirmed dead after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and north-western Syria on Monday, with multiple aftershocks.

Griffiths said: “I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble, but I’m sure it will double or more,” said Griffiths.

“That’s terrifying. This is nature striking back in a really harsh way.

“It’s deeply shocking … the idea that these mountains of rubble still hold people, some of them still alive.

“We haven’t really begun to count the number of dead.”

He said that a 72-hour period after a disaster was usually the “golden period” for rescues, which had now expired, but that survivors were still being pulled out of the rubble.

“It must be incredibly difficult to decide when to stop this rescue phase,” he said.

Griffiths said he was launching a three-month operation for Turkey and Syria to help pay for the costs of operations there.

Griffiths also told Reuters he hoped in Syria aid would go to both government and opposition-held areas, but that things with this regard were “not clear yet”.

Earlier on Saturday, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that negotiations were continuing to gain access to more areas in Syria and called for “solidarity” in the relief effort.

Mesut Hançer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter, Irmak

He said: “Our message is clear, it’s time to put all politics aside. Just focus on the men, women and children who desperately need help in Syria and in southern Turkey.

“Wherever we work, we have to work with the authorities in charge. That’s just the way that UN humanitarian aid is structured. So in the rebel-held territories, we work with the authorities there; in the government-held areas, we work with the government.”

Responding to criticism of the UN’s response to the urgent need in Syria after the earthquake, he added:

“I think if I was standing in the middle of devastation and my community had been hit, I would be unhappy and I would be critical because aid never comes quickly enough. But I can tell you that the UN stands with the people of Syria, whether they live in rebel territories, whether they live in government-held territories.”

Vietnam’s environmental NGOs face uncertain status, shrinking civic space

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ 1 bình luận

news.mongabay.com

by Hướng Thiện on 13 February 2023

  • A wave of recent closures of environment organizations in Vietnam, as well as the arrests of NGO leaders, reflects the difficult position that activists face in the one-party state.
  • Nonprofit organizations have an unclear legal status in the country, and are vulnerable to pressure from the state as well as from powerful private interests.
  • Though the communist-led government has at times recognized the value of NGOs as partners in implementing social and environmental programs, it has also attacked the concept of civil society as a threat to official ideology and morality.

Thuý, who helped run environmental programs at a nonprofit based in Ho Chi Minh City, had for weeks pondered quitting her job to pursue an advanced degree. The 24-year-old, who like all NGO workers interviewed for this story used a pseudonym due to fear of reprisals, was at a loss as to how to communicate her hard decision to her supervisors. While she felt it was time to move on, Thuý was grateful for the open-minded and dynamic working environment that had allowed her to grow tremendously.

Much to Thuý’s surprise, it was her supervisors who initiated a conversation about her career, advising her to be prepared to leave soon, because their organization was being told “from above” to shut down.

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Artificial Intelligence and education: Guidance for policy-makers

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

See UNESCO full report, here

SHORT SUMMARY

AI and education: Promise and implications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to address some of the biggest challenges in education today, innovate teaching and learning practices, and ultimately accelerate the progress towards SDG 4. However, these rapid technological developments inevitably bring multiple risks and challenges, which have so far outpaced policy debates and regulatory frameworks. This publication offers guidance for policy-makers on how best to leverage the opportunities and address the risks, presented by the growing connection between AI and education. It starts with the essentials of AI: definitions, techniques and technologies. It continues with a detailed analysis of the emerging trends and implications of AI for teaching and learning, including how we can ensure the ethical, inclusive and equitable use of AI in education, how education can prepare humans to live and work with AI, and how AI can be applied to enhance education. It finally introduces the challenges of harnessing AI to achieve SDG 4 and offers concrete actionable recommendations for policy-makers to plan policies and programmes for local contexts.

The Nord Stream gas pineline leaks the worst ever greenhouse gas event? Why it happened and what are the damages to the climate?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

*Nord Stream is a network of natural gas pipelines run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany

Nord Stream gas leaks may be biggest ever, with warning of ‘large climate risk’

theguardian.com

‘Colossal amount’ of leaked methane, twice initial estimates, is equivalent to third of Denmark’s annual CO2 emissions or 1.3m cars

gas leak bubbling to surface of Baltic Sea
Scientists estimate the leaks could release up to 400,000 tonnes of methane into the atmosphere. Photograph: Danish Defence/AFP/Getty

Seascape: the state of our oceans is supported by

Scientists fear methane erupting from the burst Nord Stream pipelines into the Baltic Sea could be one of the worst natural gas leaks ever and pose significant climate risks.

Neither of the two breached Nord Stream pipelines, which run between Russia and Germany, was operational, but both contained natural gas. This mostly consists of methane – a greenhouse gas that is the biggest cause of climate heating after carbon dioxide.

Tiếp tục đọc “The Nord Stream gas pineline leaks the worst ever greenhouse gas event? Why it happened and what are the damages to the climate?” →

Can Chinese Firms Be Truly Private?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

bigdata.csis.org

As China’s economy moved away from state planning and policymakers introduced market reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, many observers expected that in addition to promoting the growth of the Chinese economy, privatization would also have substantial political implications. Most importantly, it was thought that the rise of the private sector could lead to the establishment of an independent business class that would seek to defend its interests, both in the short term through greater policy lobbying and over the longer term by pushing for institutionalized political change, including democratization. The actual economic and political trajectory of China’s private sector has been more complicated and has been a central area of contestation for economic and political power between firms and the Chinese party-state. Although Chinese companies have pushed to have greater autonomy, they have also faced immense pressure to adapt and cede authority in order to survive and grow.

Flourish logo

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Hà Nội nằm trong 10 thành phố chất lượng không khí kém nhất thế giới

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

cand.com.vn

Chiều nay (10/1), trên trang IQAir, với chỉ số AQI trung bình 173 đơn vị, Hà Nội xếp thứ 5 trong 10 TP có chất lượng không khí kém nhất trên thế giới. Sáng nay, Hà Nội còn bị xếp thứ 4 với chất lượng không khí rất kém.

Trong ngày 10/1, chất lượng không khí ở nhiều nơi trên địa bàn Hà Nội rất kém. Toàn TP chìm trong sương mù. Dự báo, trạng thái này còn có thể kéo dài.

Các điểm có chỉ số AQI rất cao như Cầu Giấy 433, phố Phạm Tuấn Tài 305, Trường mầm non thực hành Hoa Sen 451, Thanh Xuân 318, Hoàn Kiếm 376. Cá biệt, Khu đô thị Time City lên tới con số 500.

1.png -0
Chất lượng không khí ở Hà Nội đang ở mức ô nhiễm.

Tiếp tục đọc “Hà Nội nằm trong 10 thành phố chất lượng không khí kém nhất thế giới” →

Why rivers shouldn’t look like this

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkmJRJaPBXE

The quintessential image of a river you might recognise from post cards and paintings – nice and straight with a tidy riverbank – is not actually how it is supposed to look. It’s the result of centuries of industrial and agricultural development. And it’s become a problem, exacerbating the impact of both extreme flooding and extreme drought. Josh Toussaint-Strauss looks into how so many rivers ended up this way, and how river restoration is helping to reestablish biodiversity and combat some of the effects of the climate crisis

‘This is what a river should look like’: Dutch rewilding project turns back the clock 500 years

‘We make nature here’: pioneering Dutch project repairs image after outcry over starving animals

Josh Toussaint-Strauss Ali Assaf Joseph Pierce Nick Hildred Ryan Baxter, Source: The Guardian

Pakistan’s nationwide power cuts highlight escalating economic crisis

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Washingtonpost.com

By Pamela Constable and Shaiq Hussain January 24, 2023 at 4:39 a.m. EST

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Three weeks ago, Pakistani authorities ordered all markets, restaurants and shopping malls to close early, part of an emergency plan to conserve energy as the country of 220 million struggled to make overdue payments on energy imports and stave off a full-fledged economic collapse.

But the measures were too little, too late. On Monday morning, the country’s overburdened electrical system collapsed in a rolling wave of blackouts that began in the desert provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh but quickly spread to nearly the entire country, including the densely crowded cities of Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

Tiếp tục đọc “Pakistan’s nationwide power cuts highlight escalating economic crisis” →

China Belt and Road dreams fade in Germany’s industrial heartland

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Geopolitical tensions derail Duisburg’s hopes of trade bonanza

asia.nekkei.com

DUISBURG, Germany — Suad Durakovic, the owner of a truck driving school on the outskirts of the western German city of Duisburg, made it into Chinese newspapers in 2019 by testifying that Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative had triggered a local logistics industry boom.

Today, his business benefits from a shortage of qualified truckers, but not because of China’s global infrastructure development strategy.

“The Silk Road has not developed for us,” Durakovic told Nikkei Asia. “First it was COVID, then it was the Ukraine war, so the boom is no longer about Silk Road logistics.”

Duisburg, a city of half a million people, is located in Germany’s industrial heartland at the junction of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers. A downturn in the country’s steel and coal industries in the 1990s and early 2000s battered its economy.

But the city found a savior in Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited Duisburg in 2014 to officially make its inland port Europe’s main Belt and Road hub. While this fueled anticipation of a new heyday, recent events suggest the prospects are dimming.

Much of this stems from the Ukraine war and Germany’s awkward relationship with China.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz was the first European leader to visit Beijing since Xi secured a third term as party leader at the Communist Party Congress in October. But German attitudes have soured recently over China’s cozy relationship with Russia, Taiwan and human rights, as well as its growing trade deficit with the world’s second-biggest economy.

Tiếp tục đọc “China Belt and Road dreams fade in Germany’s industrial heartland” →

The New Industrial Age

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

America Should Once Again Become a Manufacturing Superpower

foreignaffairs.com

By Ro Khanna

January/February 2023

Taylor Callery

Download Article

For many citizens, the American dream has been downsized. In recent decades, the United States has ceased to be the world’s workshop and become increasingly reliant on importing goods from abroad. Since 1998, the widening U.S. trade deficit has cost the country five million well-paying manufacturing jobs and led to the closure of nearly 70,000 factories. Small towns have been hollowed out and communities destroyed. Society has grown more unequal as wealth has been concentrated in major coastal cities and former industrial regions have been abandoned. As it has become harder for Americans without a college degree to reach the middle class, the withering of social mobility has stoked anger, resentment, and distrust. The loss of manufacturing has hurt not only the economy but also American democracy.

Tiếp tục đọc “The New Industrial Age” →

The Global Energy Crisis 2021-2023 and Political Upheaval: Could It Get Worse?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

energytracker.com

What started as a sharp post-pandemic rise in energy prices in mid-2020 has turned into a full-blown global energy crisis. How is this affecting the political stability of countries?

17 January 2023 – by Heba Hashem

Last updated on 24 January 2023

The world is going through a global energy crisis. Fuel costs affect many parts of daily life, including energy for heating and lighting, individual travel and commodities transportation.

The world is now facing a cost-of-living catastrophe. Millions of households are struggling to cover basic needs after energy prices spiked to levels not seen in decades.

Is There a Global Energy Crisis Today in 2023?

Actually, there is a global energy crisis. From Indonesia to the UK and Peru, people across the globe have taken their anger to the streets. As many as 92 countries witnessed protests against high fuel prices between January and September 2022. These include developed European countries like France, Spain and the UK.

Tiếp tục đọc “The Global Energy Crisis 2021-2023 and Political Upheaval: Could It Get Worse?” →

Arctic Ocean acidifying up to four times as fast as other oceans, study finds

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

theguardian.com

Scientists ‘shocked’ by rate of change as rapid sea-ice melt drives absorption of CO2 – with ‘huge implications’ for Arctic sea life

A thin layer of grey ice on a rocky shore
Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. Melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is driving faster warming and acidification, in a feedback loop known as Arctic amplification. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty

Acidification of the western Arctic Ocean is happening three to four times faster than in other ocean basins, a new study has found.

The ocean, which absorbs a third of all of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, has grown more acidic because of fossil fuel use. Rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic region over the past three decades has accelerated the rate of long-term acidification, according to the study, published in Science on Thursday.

Tiếp tục đọc “Arctic Ocean acidifying up to four times as fast as other oceans, study finds” →

Nuclear Power in China

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

world-nuclear.org

(Updated January 2023)

  • The impetus for nuclear power in China is increasingly due to air pollution from coal-fired plants.
  • China’s policy is to have a closed nuclear fuel cycle.
  • China has become largely self-sufficient in reactor design and construction, as well as other aspects of the fuel cycle, but is making full use of western technology while adapting and improving it.
  • Relative to the rest of the world, a major strength is the nuclear supply chain.
  • China’s policy is to ‘go global’ with exporting nuclear technology including heavy components in the supply chain.

Operable Reactors : 53,150 MWe

Reactors Under Construction: 21,867 MWe

Reactors Shutdown: 0 MWe

Electricity sector

Total generation (in 2019): 7541 TWh

Generation mix: 4899 TWh (65%) coal; 1304 TWh (17%) hydro; 406 TWh (5%) wind; 348 TWh (5%) nuclear; 226 TWh (3%) natural gas; 225 TWh (3%) solar; 121 (2%) biofuels & waste.

Import/export balance: 4.4 TWh net export (17.2 TWh imports; 21.7 TWh exports)

Total consumption: 6568 TWh

Per capita consumption: c. 4700 kWh in 2019

Source: International Energy Agency and The World Bank. Data for year 2019

Most of mainland China’s electricity is produced from fossil fuels, predominantly coal – 69% in 2019. Wind and solar capacity in 2019 was 21% of total installed generating capacity, but delivering under 9% of the electricity.

Rapid growth in demand has given rise to power shortages, and the reliance on fossil fuels has led to much air pollution. The economic loss due to pollution is put by the World Bank at almost 6% of GDP,1 and the new leadership from March 2013 prioritized this.* Chronic and widespread smog in the east of the country is attributed to coal burning.

* Official measurements of fine particles in the air measuring less than 2.5 micrometres, which pose the greatest health risk, rose to a record 993 micrograms per cubic metre in Beijing on 12 January 2013, compared with World Health Organization guidelines of no higher than 25.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) notes that since 2012, China has been the country with the largest installed power capacity, and it has increased this by 85% since then to reach 2011 GWe in 2019, about a quarter of global capacity.

In August 2013 the State Council said that China should reduce its carbon emissions by 40-45% by 2020 from 2005 levels, and would aim to boost renewable energy to 15% of its total primary energy consumption by 2020. In 2012 China was the world’s largest source of carbon emissions – 2626 MtC (9.64 Gt CO2), and its increment that year comprised about 70% of the world total increase. In March 2014 the Premier said that the government was declaring “war on pollution” and would accelerate closing coal-fired power stations.

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