All posts tagged: Melting

Analysis-Venezuela’s Melting ‘Permafrost’ Draws Debt Investors’ Optimism

Analysis-Venezuela’s Melting ‘Permafrost’ Draws Debt Investors’ Optimism

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON, April 20(Reuters) – Venezuela, a country subject to Western sanctions and saddled with billions in ⁠debt, ⁠was the biggest cause for optimism at last week’s otherwise sombre ⁠IMF-World Bank meetings, investors and officials said.  Expectations for an economic revival for the formerly Socialist republic, whose ousted President Nicolas Maduro was placed ​in a New York prison in January, dominated conversations on the sidelines of the meetings, attendees told Reuters.  “The permafrost is melting. And that is why investors are optimistic,” said Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal, a professor at Queen Mary ‌University, who advises governments on debt and attended the Spring ‌Meetings.  Although Venezuela was not mentioned on any formal agenda in advance of the meetings, at least six banks and organisations held crowded investor briefings in Washington, including Bank of America, Barclays, JPMorgan and Morgan ⁠Stanley, according to three sources ⁠who attended them and agendas seen by Reuters. Late on Thursday, the IMF and the World Bank said they had ​resumed dealings with Caracas for the first time since 2019 – a major step towards re-engagement with …

Why Does It Suddenly Feel Like OpenAI Is Melting Down Into Disaster?

Why Does It Suddenly Feel Like OpenAI Is Melting Down Into Disaster?

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech OpenAI is gearing up for a potential IPO later this year at a staggering valuation of up to $1 trillion — a meteoric rise from a mere $29 billion in January 2023, months after launching ChatGPT. Just under three and a half years after its watershed moment, OpenAI seems almost unrecognizable. This year, in particular, has been a rude awakening for the Sam Altman-led company, with a string of bad news and controversies raising some hard-to-ignore questions about its long-term viability and ability to keep up with increasingly steep competition. Kicking off a bruising year was OpenAI diving in to snap up a lucrative Department of Defense contract in late February after Anthropic walked away from the table. The latter company’s CEO, Dario Amadei, made it clear that its AI models shouldn’t be used for mass surveillance of Americans and autonomous weapon systems — a principled stand that the Pentagon refused to agree to. It was a PR …

Record heat, melting snow: What does it mean for California’s reservoirs

Record heat, melting snow: What does it mean for California’s reservoirs

Published by Sam Flores

A record-breaking heat wave is scalding California, with major consequences for the state’s most important reservoir: its snowpack. Providing about a third of the state’s water supply, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is a vital source of spring and summer runoff that refills reservoirs when the state needs the water most. But a warm wet storm followed February’s snow, and now, March temperatures are shattering records — prompting warnings of rapid snowmelt and swift rivers. Historically, the snowpack is at its deepest in April. But climate change is shifting runoff earlier, leaving less water trickling down the mountains in warmer months for homes, farms, fish, hydropower and forests. “In an ideal world, you’d have your reservoir full right now, and this additional huge snowpack reservoir that we know will help replenish and provide more water supply,” said Levi Johnson, operations manager for the Central Valley Project, the massive federal water system that funnels Northern California river water to the Central Valley and parts of the Bay Area. This year, he said, “we’re not going to have …

How a Melting Glacier in Antarctica Could Affect Tens of Millions Around the Globe

How a Melting Glacier in Antarctica Could Affect Tens of Millions Around the Globe

Published by Sam Flores

Scientists spent the first weeks of the year on an expedition to Antarctica to study Thwaites Glacier, which is melting at an alarming rate. If it breaks apart entirely, it could push up global sea levels by two feet over the course of several decades, affecting tens of millions worldwide, according to a New York Times analysis. The maps below show some of the coastal cities at risk and populated, low-lying areas that could be threatened if the glacier were to collapse today. Kolkata, India 1.7 million Note: Areas below high tide may be protected by seawalls, levees or other coastal defenses. Sources: Climate Central; Worldpop; Jerry Mitrovica, Harvard University. These are just the minimum effects that Thwaites’s disintegration would be likely to have on the world’s coastlines. As the glacier breaks apart, global warming will raise sea levels even higher by melting the ice from Greenland and causing oceans to expand in volume. And Thwaites acts as a plug, holding back many of the Antarctic glaciers on land around it. If it collapses, they …

Scientists Scramble to Set Up Outpost on Rapidly Melting Glacier

Scientists Scramble to Set Up Outpost on Rapidly Melting Glacier

Published by José Betancourt

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images Braving poor visibility, high winds, and frigid temperatures, a team of researchers has finally established a foothold on Antarctica’s fastest melting glacier. According to the New York Times — which embedded with the polar expedition — 10 drilling personnel and roughly 17 tons of gear have been safely deposited on top of the Thwaites Glacier on Monday. Their goal is to plant scientific instruments into the rapidly-melting berg over the next few days, in order to observe, and hopefully better understand, its faster-than-expected disintegration. During a rare break in the weather, the NYT says helicopters airlifted the researchers and their equipment 19 miles to their planned outpost site on top of the glacier. The two helicopters involved flew a dozen total loads of cargo from the icebreaker ship to the camp site, while glacial scientists and engineers erected a small tent city, complete with bathrooms, generators, and a mess hall. The stakes are high. At worst, experts fear that the destruction of the Thwaites — evocatively …

These maps show why a melting Arctic is influencing geopolitics

These maps show why a melting Arctic is influencing geopolitics

Published by Sam Flores

The Arctic is warming around four times faster than the rest of the globe, exposing natural resources, opening up potential shipping routes and prompting an increase in activity among military powers. The changing landscape has created a region ripe for opportunity — and potential conflict — factors that may play a role in President Donald Trump’s sudden quest to obtain Greenland. Source link

Melting Antarctic ice could cripple a deep ocean climate engine

Melting Antarctic ice could cripple a deep ocean climate engine

Published by Jenni Sidey

Cracking, creaking ice at the bottom of the world is quietly shaping the future climate you live in. New research from Australian scientists shows that melting Antarctic ice shelves and changing sea ice are disturbing one of the planet’s most important deep ocean engines, with potential ripple effects for rainfall, heat waves and storms far from the poles. A team led by Dr David Gwyther at The University of Queensland has pinpointed competing forces around East Antarctica that control the birth of some of the coldest and densest water on Earth. This icy water mass, called Antarctic Bottom Water, helps drive global ocean circulation, like a hidden conveyor belt running along the sea floor. When that conveyor slows, the entire climate system can shift. “This very cold, salty water, called Antarctic Bottom Water, is formed by the freezing of the ocean surface in sea ice factories that we call polynyas,” Dr Gwyther said. Bathymetry map of Cape Darnley, the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) and Prydz Bay with grounding line and calving front (orange line), fast …