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Wyświetlanie postów z grudzień, 2022

US winter storm

The massive storm caused fierce winds,blizzard conditions,huge disruption,power outages,lots of flight delays,dangerous roads and citizens being trapped in their own homes or cars. It also killed at least 48 people and is expected to wipe out even more. That’s why forecasters called it a „once in a generation” weather incident. Western New York state was the most damaged area - 43in of snow was falling from the sky for 48 hours during a hurricane. It caused tremendous snowdrifts,zero-visibility and people’s houses being stuck in the dark. There were 27 deaths in this state(victims age - from 26 to 93). Even the rescuers needed help because they couldn’t deal with such devastating storm. City mayor Byron Brown emphasized that people should stay home and remain off the roads Extreme weather stretched from the Great Lakes on the Canadian border to the Rio Grande on the Mexico border. About 60% of the US population dealt with some sort of warning and temperatures decreased drastically belo...

Reindeer eyes change color in different seasons

Reindeers have the ability to change the color of their eyes to help them get through dark, northern winters. Glen Jeffery - professor of neuroscience at the Institute of Opthamology at UCL- explains why most of the time we see glowing, golden eyes of animals. Tapetum lucidum is a part of an eye which produces that golden reflection and thanks to it they have better sight in the dark by bouncing light from the back of the eye through the retina a second time. Everything changed when the slaughterhouse in Norway sent Jeffery two jars - the first one from winter and the second one from summer - filled with reindeer eyes.He was shocked when he opened the winter ones because the eyes were blue. He discovered that it’s a miraculous bit of evolution that gave this animals the most intriguing eyes in the world. source:theconversation.com

Five options for restoring global biodiversity after the UN agreement

  Almost 200 countries signed an agreement in Montreal,Canada promising to live in harmony with nature by 2050. This consensus will require signatories to report their progress in protection of 30% of Earth’s surface by 2030 and restoration of degraded habitats. But many people are still not convinced to this settlement so the reseachrers have found other ways to slow down mass extinctions and revive biodiversity: 1.Scrap subsidies Countries should stop paying for the destruction of ecosystems .There are 2 ways of reducing excess fishing - ending fuel and maintenance subsidies (fisheries would cut emissions and become profitable) Scrappung policies in many industries like agriculture,forestry and fossil fuels are the best idea to save biodiversity. 2.Protect the high seas The high seas around the world belong to no one.In the twilight zone in the ocean fish and krill migrate downwards to rest during the day and upwards to feed at night.It brings carbon to the depths of the ocean wh...

As homelessness grows, its stark impact on health is becoming clearer across Europe

Recent data show that the number of homeless people has grown by 25% in Spain in the last decade.This social problem affected 23,000 ppl in 2012 and the number increased to 28.500 in 2022. Meanwhile the  European Parliment  highlights the precarious living situation of more than 700,000 people facing homelessness every day across this continent.( 70% more than 10 years ago) There are many factors that cause this issue- fe. difficulty to access affordable housing,unemployment,discrimination and sometimes they are individual or family related(divorces,mental illness,domestic violence,substance abuse). The FEANTSA stresses that institutional factors - lack of coordination between services or an inadequately structured welfare also lead to homelessness According to Polish study homeless ppl live 17.5 years less than the rest of the society. The average age of death is 52 years for women and 56 for men. They are also more miserable to multiple chronic diseases.(chronic stress,poor ...