Scientists believe they’ve found a window into the dawn of time on Earth, and it’s hidden beneath the Pacific Ocean.
A team led by geophysicist Simon Lamb, of the University of Wellington and scientist Cornel de Ronde, of GNS Science, said the key to our past lies in a remote corner of South Africa and way down on the seafloor off the coast of New Zealand.
So what do these two sites, on opposite sides of the world, have in common?
Writing for The Conversation, the scientists explained that their work began after de Ronde created a new, detailed geological map of an area known as the Barberton Greenstone Belt, which lies in South Africa’s highveld region.
“The geological formations in this region have proved difficult to decipher, despite many attempts,” the pair write. READ MORE...
New Zealand authorities have recovered 3.2 tonnes of cocaine, worth more than $300 million, found floating in the Pacific Ocean and believed to be bound for Australia. Police said the haul of 81 bales, which was drifting hundreds of kilometres northwest of New Zealand, was recovered in a joint operation with the New Zealand Customs Service and Defence Force acting on intelligence from the Five Eyes alliance, which also includes Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
“This is the largest find of illicit drugs by New Zealand’s agencies by some margin,” said Commissioner of New Zealand Police Andrew Coster. Officials believe the drugs were dropped at a “floating transit point” in the Pacific Ocean where they would have been picked up and taken to Australia. “We believe it was destined for Australia, where it would have been enough to service the market for one year,” Coster said. “It is more than New Zealand would use in 30 years.”
A police photo showed the massive haul was bound by netting and covered in yellow floats. Some of the bales had a Batman symbol on them, with the packages of cocaine inside labelled with what appeared to be a print of a four-leaf clover. Coster described the bust as a “huge result” for police in both New Zealand and Australia. “There is no doubt this discovery lands a major financial blow right from the South American producers through to the distributors of this product,” he added. Officials said it was too early to say where the drugs came from.
Two years after the US went into its first lockdown, the country is getting nearer to a pre-pandemic existence. But what about the rest of the world?When California issued a statewide stay-at-home order on 19 March 2020, most people thought that life would return to normal relatively quickly.A full 24 months later, people are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, with restrictions being eased in the US and several other countries.But with some places experiencing record numbers of cases yet again, it's clear that the pandemic isn't ready to let go its grip just yet.We asked our correspondents in the UK, Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, Peru and the US to give us a snapshot.
A very light touch - England
Nick Triggle, LondonEngland's last remaining Covid restriction - the legal requirement to isolate after a positive test - was lifted at the end of February.It came a month after the government lifted the requirement to wear masks in places such as shops and on public transport and the advice to work from home where possible.But the truth is England has had a pretty light-touch approach to regulations compared to many places since the summer.The masks mandate and working from home advice was only reintroduced in late 2021 as the Omicron variant took off.The approach is based on the fact that vaccines are providing great protection and England has seen very good uptake among those groups most at risk - 95% of over-60s have had a booster jab.It has meant that despite the surge in infections caused by the Omicron variant, the number of people dying has been similar to what would normally be seen during a normal winter.There are signs infections may be starting to climb again, but it is causing little concern at the moment.
New Zealand, Iceland, the UK, Tasmania and Ireland are the places best suited to survive a global collapse of society, according to a study.
The researchers said human civilisation was “in a perilous state” due to the highly interconnected and energy-intensive society that had developed and the environmental damage this had caused.
A collapse could arise from shocks, such as a severe financial crisis, the impacts of the climate crisis, destruction of nature, an even worse pandemic than Covid-19 or a combination of these, the scientists said.
To assess which nations would be most resilient to such a collapse, countries were ranked according to their ability to grow food for their population, protect their borders from unwanted mass migration, and maintain an electrical grid and some manufacturing ability. Islands in temperate regions and mostly with low population densities came out on top.
The researchers said their study highlighted the factors that nations must improve to increase resilience. They said that a globalised society that prized economic efficiency damaged resilience, and that spare capacity needed to exist in food and other vital sectors.
Billionaires have been reported to be buying land for bunkers in New Zealand in preparation for an apocalypse. “We weren’t surprised New Zealand was on our list,” said Prof Aled Jones, at the Global Sustainability Institute, at Anglia Ruskin University, in the UK.
Jones added: “We chose that you had to be able to protect borders and places had to be temperate. So with hindsight it’s quite obvious that large islands with complex societies on them already [make up the list]. READ MORE
(AFP) — New Zealand unveiled a blueprint Sunday to phase out petrol-powered cars while its dairy industry, a key pillar of the economy, must slash cow numbers under the ambitious plan to be carbon neutral by 2050.
The changes are among a raft of recommendations presented to the government by the Climate Change Commission on steps New Zealand must take to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change.
Commission chairman Rod Carr acknowledged the advice was ambitious but said it was realistic and made a clear case for “immediate and decisive” action.
“As a country, we need transformational and lasting change to meet our targets,” he said.
“There are a few actions that are critical to meeting our targets: electric vehicles, accelerated renewable energy generation, climate-friendly farming practices and more permanent forests, predominantly natives.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the document, which will now go out for public consultation, showed the impact of the reforms would not be an economic burden.
“The cost of action on the economy is not as great as many have previously thought. In fact, action on climate change is an economic opportunity for New Zealand,” she said.
“Action on climate change is critical to our ongoing economic success. New Zealand exporters rely on our clean, green brand and there will be new opportunities for Kiwi businesses as we adapt to a zero-carbon economy.”
The commission found New Zealand’s current climate commitments were not compatible with global efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but said change was achievable at little cost.
A switch from fossil fuels would see hundreds lose their jobs in the coal, oil and gas industries but the commission expected many workers to be re-employed “in the circular economy, development of biofuels and hydrogen, and in deploying and supporting new technologies”.
The commission wants to end imports of petrol-powered cars by 2032 and projects that more than half of all light vehicle travel would be in electric vehicles by 2035.
To reduce methane gas levels, the report said farmers needed to improve animal performance while reducing stock numbers by around 15 per cent from 2018 levels by 2030.
“If farmers can continue to achieve productivity improvements in line with historic trends, these outcomes could be achieved while maintaining total production at a similar level to today,” the report said.
Following the public consultation, the government is due to make a final decision by the end of 2021 on whether to adopt the measures.
