Earthweek: a diary of the planet

For the week ending Friday, Nov. 11.

Viral ‘spillover’

The melting Arctic could soon become “fertile ground” for new viral pandemics to emerge, according to a Canadian study of an Arctic lake bed. A team from the University of Toronto sequenced DNA and RNA from samples taken at Lake Hazen and looked at the family tree of its viruses to determine the threat they pose to other organisms as polar melt allows them to mingle. Altered landscapes have pushed pathogens, parasites and hosts together in new ways. The study suggests that increased melting in the Arctic could similarly bring greater chances of viruses

“spilling over” into other hosts.

Climate refugees

Latin America’s first residents to be moved by the government because of rising sea levels will soon abandon Panama’s Gardi Sugdub Island as it is slowly engulfed by the Caribbean. “When the tide goes up, the water enters some houses and the people have to move their belongings to higher ground,” said local teacher Pragnaben Mohan. Students and teachers on the tightly packed small island already have to wade through floodwaters with rubber boots at times. The move to modern homes in the new mainland community of La Barriada late next year has been planned for more than a decade, according to the Wall Street Journal. Three other nearby islands will also soon have to be evacuated.

Paintball aversion

Wolves in one area of the Netherlands have become so unafraid of humans that authorities are authorizing the use of paintballs to scare them away. The move followed the emergence of a video that showed a wolf confidently walking past a clearly nervous young family in the Hoge Veluwe national park. The animal rights group De Faunabescherming says wolves are naturally wary of humans and believes park wardens are taming them by deliberately feeding the predators to keep them away from sheep and other animals.

Andean blasts

Ecuador’s Sangay volcano spewed columns of ash and vapor high above its 17,160-foot summit in the south of the country during 122 explosions in one day. Ash later rained down and destroyed 4,500 acres of crops while sickening more than 23,000 cattle. “There are many greenhouses that are covered with ash, and the weight can cause the structures to collapse,” local Gov. Iván Vinueza told El Universo. Sangay is one of the country’s 50 volcanoes and has been active since 2019.

‘Chronicle of chaos’

U.N. chief António Guterres told those attending the COP27 climate summit in Egypt that the world must quickly cooperate to curb global heating or face “collective suicide.” He described the World Meteorological Organization’s provisional 2022 State of the Global Climate report as a “chronicle of chaos” because it details the catastrophic speed of a changing climate that is devastating lives and livelihoods on every continent. Guterres says nations must rush to develop early warning systems before disasters strike.