Новости за 03.03.2024

Big corporations could drive a worldwide shift towards more sustainable supply chains that limit damage caused by deforestation. But progress is being slowed down by weak or non-existent commitments to ensure that supply chains for commodities such as soy, palm oil, and beef have not contributed to tropical deforestation, according to an analysis recently published by the environmental organization Global Canopy.

Hedgerows in mid-February might have traditionally appeared white with snow; this year the white was the work of blackthorn blossoms—a harbinger of spring. Although a welcome sign after a wet and gloomy winter, the early flowering brings unease for experienced season watchers. Has this plant always flowered in mid-February, I wondered, or is something changing?

Strong winds spread the largest wildfire in Texas history across more than 1 million acres of rangeland in the Panhandle, the heart of the state's cattle-producing region, and into Oklahoma in late February 2024. Light precipitation on Feb. 29 helped firefighters as they tried to contain the Smokehouse Creek Fire and other blazes threatening homes and livestock, but the heat and winds were forecast to pick up again. At least two people have died.

Put the word "evolution" into Google images and the results are largely variations on one theme: Ralph Zallinger's illustration, March of Progress. Running left to right, we see a chimp-like knuckle walker gradually becoming taller and standing erect.

In December 2023, WIRED reported that Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire CEO of Meta and one of the foremost architects of today's social-media-dominated world, has been buying up large swathes of the Hawaiian island Kauai.