Sunday Round-Up - November 24, 2013

This is the weekly selection of news and opinion from sources outside the US mainstream media.  Today we look at the European Space Agency's SWARM project, cleanup at the Fukushima nuclear plant, Scandinavian countries' offer to help in the removal of Syrian chemical weapons, China's efforts to reduce its air pollution, and the final draw of the 2014 World Cup. 



"The European Space Agency on Friday launched three satellites it hopes will help understand why the magnetic field that makes human life possible on Earth appears to be weakening." [New Straits Times]  The ESA's Swarm project will collect data to "improve scientists' relatively blurry understanding of the magnetic field that shields life on Earth from deadly solar radiation and helps some animals migrate. Scientists say the magnetosphere is weakening and could all but disappear in as little as 500 years as a precursor to flipping upside down."  The last time the magnetic poles flipped was 800,000 years ago.  We are apparently long overdue for another flip - previous flips occurred about once every 250,000 years.

Reuters reported Thursday on a "rare success in the often fraught battle to control the [Fukushima nuclear reactor] site."  The first batch of fuel rods were successfully removed after a four-day operation - a difficult key step in the decommissioning of the nuclear facility destroyed by the earthquake/tsunami in March 2011.  "The batch of 22 unused fuel assemblies, which each contain 50-70 of the fuel rods, was transferred by a trailer to a safer storage pool, the last day of a four-day operation, Tokyo Electric Power Co, or Tepco, said in a statement.  The company must carefully pluck more than 1,500 brittle and potentially damaged assemblies from the unstable reactor No.4....Tepco estimates removing the damaged assemblies from reactor No.4 alone will take a year."

Denmark announced that it would provide major support in the removal of Syria's chemical weapons.  Denmark told the United Nations that "it is prepared to provide maritime help and bodyguards in connection with the removal of chemical weapons from Syria.  Following a meeting of the Foreign Policy Committee [on November 8], Defence Minister Nicolai Wammen said Denmark would agree to a request from the United Nations to provide shipping and warship support to remove Syrian chemical weapons. At the same time Denmark would provide a military bodyguard unit to protect the UN’s weapons inspector in Syria." [Politiken website]  Sweden and Norway have also offered to help in the removal.


In a week with some frustrating news on the UN Climate Change talks in Warsaw, there has been at least one glimmer of hope.  "The latest Climate Change Performance Index published by Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe suggests that China is taking action to clean up its act as it tries to deal with its hazardously high levels of air pollution."  This is good news since rapidly developing China was responsible for 27% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions last year.  The report indicates both a slower growth rate in the emissions and a decoupling of emissions growth from GDP growth.  China's slower growth of emissions is linked to its attempts to combat its air pollution.  The report notes that China's "heavy investments in renewable energies and a very critical debate on coal in the highest political circles, resulting from the heavy smog situation in many towns, give hope for a slower emission growth in the future."   [The Guardian, Nov 21]

Finally, in the world of sports, the final draw has been completed for the FIFA 2014 World Cup to be held in Brazil.  Of the 32 qualified teams, Bosnia-Herzegovina is represented for the first time and Colombia returns for the first time since 1998.  I can't say how soccer crazy Bosnia-Herzegovina is, but I am sure people in Colombia are very, very happy.  I was in Colombia at the time of the 1998 World Cup and saw my colleagues suffer as the Colombian team was eliminated at the group stage - managing just a single win against two losses.  Other 2014 qualifying sides that were not in the field of 32 in 2010 are Ecuador, Costa Rica, Belgium, Croatia, Iran, and Russia.  Here's the complete field from the FIFA website.  Congratulations, all!

 

  

Images
The Russian Rokot lifting the three SWARM satellites into orbit is from the ESA website.
Tepco provided the handout image of the fuel rod removal operation at Fukushima.
The photo of Chinese wind turbines is by Yi Lu/Corbis and is taken from The Guardian article.