Earth's “vital signs” are weakening, scientists say

The planet's “vital signs” are weakening under the blows of the global economy, leading scientists warned Wednesday, worried that some climate “breaking points” might be imminent. The researchers, who are part of a group of more than 14,000 scientists who have called for the declaration of a global climate emergency, believe that governments have systematically failed to address the causes of climate change: “the overexploitation of the Earth.” Since a previous assessment in 2019, they have highlighted the “unprecedented increase” in climate disasters, from floods to heatwaves, cyclones and fires. Of the 31 “vital signs” of the planet, which include greenhouse gas emissions, the thickness of glaciers or deforestation, 18 are reaching record levels, according to this text published in the journal BioScience. Thus, despite the fall in greenhouse gas emissions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, CO2 and methane concentrations in the atmosphere reached record levels in 2021. Glaciers are melting 31% faster than fifteen years ago, and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon also reached a record in 2020, turning this crucial carbon sink into a net CO2 emitter

Covid: one French person out of two fully vaccinated but contaminations are rising

"hesitant”, elderly or frail people: the authorities are continuing the race to vaccinate against Covid-19 and the Delta variant to go beyond the threshold of 50% of fully vaccinated French people, just crossed on Tuesday as contaminations increase. But nearly 27,000 contaminations were recorded on Tuesday, a highest since the end of April, while intensive care hospitalizations are rising slightly with nearly 1,000 Covid-19 patients in these services, according to

Pegasus: Israeli Defense Minister in Paris

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz will travel to Paris on Wednesday to “update” the French authorities on the latest developments concerning NSO, an Israeli cybersecurity company whose Pegasus software is suspected of having been used to spy on President Emmanuel Macron. He will take stock with his counterpart on “strategic and security issues” and “keep her informed about the NSO,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said. Enabling the infiltration of computer systems, the Pegasus software is considered an offensive cybersecurity product and must therefore get the green light from the Military Export Control Agency (DECA), which depends on the Israeli Defense Ministry, to be sold to third countries, in the same

AT A GLANCE

Former US President Barack Obama has become a strategic partner of NBA Africa, which aims to increase the popularity of the North American basketball championship in Africa, the NBA announced on Tuesday.

Matthieu Androdias and Hugo Boucheron were crowned Olympic rowing champions in category two for couples on Wednesday, giving France its third title and eighth medal at the Tokyo Games.