Day: August 22, 2023

The World Meteorological Organization reports scorching heat waves that are causing deaths and discomfort for millions of people around the world will likely peak in certain regions by the end of the week.

“It is the end of the meteorological summer at the end of August … the projections that we have got at the moment, certainly for central parts of Europe, is that these extreme temperatures should peak later this week,” said Clare Nullis, WMO spokesperson. 

“But I do not have a crystal ball for what is happening in the rest of the season,” she said Tuesday.

In the meantime, a forecast of extreme weather patterns gripping some parts of the world show that the heat waves, which have had a devastating impact this summer, principally in Greece, Italy, and Spain, have caught up with Switzerland with a vengeance.

WMO reports that heat in Switzerland has reached new heights with much of the country under a level-three amber alert or “the top-level red alert — as with the case of Geneva — until Thursday.” 

On Monday, Meteo-Suisse reported that Switzerland has a new altitude record for the freezing point of 5,298 meters or 17,381 feet. That means ice will not form on mountains below that altitude. 

WMO glacier expert Matthius Huss said Monday that the expected altitude rise in the Alps during this ferocious heat wave is another blow for glaciers that have already strongly suffered this year.

“Snow coverage is only present on the highest elevations,” he added.

WMO reports that temperatures in much of the southern half of France are forecast to reach a peak of 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit) in the Drome region. It says heat alerts have been issued for parts of France, as well as Italy, Croatia, Portugal, and neighboring countries. 

While no statistics are yet available, Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization, said the death toll related to this summer’s heat waves is likely to be significant.

“There was a study published on July 10 by researchers from European health institutes,” he said. “And in this study, there is an estimate that more than 61,000 people died from heat-related causes across 35 European countries in summer 2022.” 

Nullis noted that weather conditions in Europe are “not uniform.”

“We have been talking a lot about heat,” she said. “Parts of Europe, in particular Scandinavia, have seen unusually heavy rainfall.”

Meanwhile, she noted that much of the central and southern U.S. also was struggling under blazing hot temperatures. “There are multiple excessive heat warnings being issued in the central plains states and Texas,” she said.

While the European heat waves are in the process of winding down, Nullis said “tropical activity is ramping up as we near the traditional peak of the Atlantic hurricane season,” which is September 10, with most activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October.

According to the U.N. National Hurricane Center, three tropical systems in the Atlantic — Gert, Franklin, and Harold — are of particular concern.

Nullis said Franklin posed risks of flooding to Haiti and the Dominican Republic and Harold threatened to bring very heavy rainfall and the risk of flash flooding to southern Texas, “at a time when Texas is battling extreme heat and drought.”

She said the impact of Hurricane Hilary has now dissipated, but while it was active, Hilary brought record-breaking rainfall to normally arid areas such as Los Angeles and Death Valley, “which saw its all-time wettest day on August 20.”

Though the worst of the extreme temperatures and torrential rains may soon be over, Nullis said this was no time to relax.

“You know, we have got the southern hemisphere that will come into play,” she said. “We are already seeing unusual heat in parts of South America. And this is in the early stages of El Nino.” 
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Meta Platforms on Tuesday launched the web version of its new text-first social media platform Threads, in a bid to retain professional users and gain an edge over rival X, formerly Twitter.

Threads’ users will now be able to access the microblogging platform by logging-in to its website from their computers, the Facebook and Instagram owner said.

The widely anticipated roll out could help Threads gain broader acceptance among power users like brands, company accounts, advertisers and journalists, who can now take advantage of the platform by using it on a bigger screen.

Threads, which crossed 100 million sign-ups for the app within five days of its launch on July 5, saw a decline in its popularity as users returned to the more familiar platform X after the initial rush.

In just over a month, daily active users on Android version of Threads app dropped to 10.3 million from the peak of 49.3 million, according to a report, dated August 10, by analytics platform Similarweb.

The company will be adding more functionality to the web experience in the coming weeks, Meta said.
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Indian scientists are aiming to put a lander on the moon Wednesday, hoping that the country will become the first to touch down on the lunar surface’s south pole.   

India’s attempt will be made days after Russia’s Luna-25 lander, also headed for the unexplored south pole, crashed into the moon.  

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) expressed optimism about its moon mission on Tuesday. “The mission is on schedule. Systems are undergoing regular checks.  Smooth sailing is continuing. The Mission Operations Complex (MOX) is buzzed with energy & excitement!,” it said on X.

It is India’s second attempt to reach the south pole — four years ago, India’s lander crashed during its final approach.  

If the mission is successful, India would become the fourth country to achieve what is called a “soft-landing” on the moon – a feat accomplished by the United States, China and the former Soviet Union.  

However, none of those lunar missions landed at the south pole. “If you look at the spacecrafts that went to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s, they all landed in latitudes somewhere around the equator or the center of the moon as we view it from the earth, because those are relatively easy to access,” explained Chaitanya Giri, Associate Professor, Environmental Sciences at Flame University, Pune.  

The south side, where the terrain is rough and rugged, has never been explored.  

The current mission, called Chandrayaan-3, that blasted into space on July 14 follows the earlier one that could not put a lander on the moon. Chandrayaan means moon vehicle in Sanskrit and Hindi.   

Space experts say scientists have taken into account the factors that led to the failed landing in 2019.  

“It’s a complex maneuver.  As far as possible ISRO has made changes and taken care to ensure that the descent to the moon’s surface happens safely and in an expected manner,” said Giri. “The rest, of course, depends on any technical glitch that may arise.” 

The space agency has released Images of the far side of the moon — it said it has been mapping the area to locate what it called “a safe landing area — without boulders or deep trenches.” 

“All systems are working perfectly and no contingencies are anticipated,” ISRO Chairman S. Somnath said on Monday, according to a government statement. 

If the mission goes according to plan, a rover being carried by the lander will stay on the moon for two weeks examining the lunar surface for the presence of water, minerals and studying its topography.  Scientists believe the polar craters may contain water which would be critical to support human settlements on the moon that may be planned in the future.  

This is India’s third mission to the moon and is part of its ambitions to be counted among a major space faring nation. The first one in 2008 that involved orbiting the moon helped confirm evidence of water on the lunar body.  

Anticipation is growing about the mission in the country, especially after Russia’s mission failed after encountering problems as it moved into its pre-landing orbit. 

Jitendra Singh, science and technology minister, expressed hope that “it will script a new history of planetary exploration.”  

The landing is scheduled for 6:04 pm Indian time on Wednesday and will be livestreamed on ISRO’s website, its YouTube channel and by India’s public broadcaster.
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Google, Facebook, TikTok and other Big Tech companies operating in Europe are facing one of the most far-reaching efforts to clean up what people encounter online.

The first phase of the European Union’s groundbreaking new digital rules will take effect this week. The Digital Services Act is part of a suite of tech-focused regulations crafted by the 27-nation bloc — long a global leader in cracking down on tech giants.

The DSA, which the biggest platforms must start following Friday, is designed to keep users safe online and stop the spread of harmful content that’s either illegal or violates a platform’s terms of service, such as promotion of genocide or anorexia. It also looks to protect Europeans’ fundamental rights like privacy and free speech.

Some online platforms, which could face billions in fines if they don’t comply, have already started making changes.

Here’s a look at what’s happening this week:

Which platforms are affected?

So far, 19. They include eight social media platforms: Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Snapchat.

There are five online marketplaces: Amazon, Booking.com, China’s Alibaba AliExpress and Germany’s Zalando.

Mobile app stores Google Play and Apple’s App Store are subject, as are Google’s Search and Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

Google Maps and Wikipedia round out the list.

What about other online companies?

The EU’s list is based on numbers submitted by the platforms. Those with 45 million or more users — or 10% of the EU’s population — will face the DSA’s highest level of regulation.

Brussels insiders, however, have pointed to some notable omissions from the EU’s list, like eBay, Airbnb, Netflix and even PornHub. The list isn’t definitive, and it’s possible other platforms may be added later on.

Any business providing digital services to Europeans will eventually have to comply with the DSA. They will face fewer obligations than the biggest platforms, however, and have another six months before they must fall in line.

Citing uncertainty over the new rules, Meta Platforms has held off launching its Twitter rival, Threads, in the EU.

What’s changing?

Platforms have started rolling out new ways for European users to flag illegal online content and dodgy products, which companies will be obligated to take down quickly and objectively.

Amazon opened a new channel for reporting suspected illegal products and is providing more information about third-party merchants.

TikTok gave users an “additional reporting option” for content, including advertising, that they believe is illegal. Categories such as hate speech and harassment, suicide and self-harm, misinformation or frauds and scams, will help them pinpoint the problem.

Then, a “new dedicated team of moderators and legal specialists” will determine whether flagged content either violates its policies or is unlawful and should be taken down, according to the app from Chinese parent company ByteDance.

TikTok says the reason for a takedown will be explained to the person who posted the material and the one who flagged it, and decisions can be appealed.

TikTok users can turn off systems that recommend videos based on what a user has previously viewed. Such systems have been blamed for leading social media users to increasingly extreme posts. If personalized recommendations are turned off, TikTok’s feeds will instead suggest videos to European users based on what’s popular in their area and around the world.

The DSA prohibits targeting vulnerable categories of people, including children, with ads.

Snapchat said advertisers won’t be able to use personalization and optimization tools for teens in the EU and U.K. Snapchat users who are 18 and older also would get more transparency and control over ads they see, including “details and insight” on why they’re shown specific ads.

TikTok made similar changes, stopping users 13 to 17 from getting personalized ads “based on their activities on or off TikTok.”

Is there pushback?

Zalando, a German online fashion retailer, has filed a legal challenge over its inclusion on the DSA’s list of the largest online platforms, arguing that it’s being treated unfairly.

Nevertheless, Zalando is launching content flagging systems for its website even though there’s little risk of illegal material showing up among its highly curated collection of clothes, bags and shoes.

The company has supported the DSA, said Aurelie Caulier, Zalando’s head of public affairs for the EU.

“It will bring loads of positive changes” for consumers, she said. But “generally, Zalando doesn’t have systemic risk [that other platforms pose]. So that’s why we don’t think we fit in that category.”

Amazon has filed a similar case with a top EU court.

What happens if companies don’t follow the rules?

Officials have warned tech companies that violations could bring fines worth up to 6% of their global revenue — which could amount to billions — or even a ban from the EU. But don’t expect penalties to come right away for individual breaches, such as failing to take down a specific video promoting hate speech.

Instead, the DSA is more about whether tech companies have the right processes in place to reduce the harm that their algorithm-based recommendation systems can inflict on users. Essentially, they’ll have to let the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm and top digital enforcer, look under the hood to see how their algorithms work.

EU officials “are concerned with user behavior on the one hand, like bullying and spreading illegal content, but they’re also concerned about the way that platforms work and how they contribute to the negative effects,” said Sally Broughton Micova, an associate professor at the University of East Anglia.

That includes looking at how the platforms work with digital advertising systems, which could be used to profile users for harmful material like disinformation, or how their livestreaming systems function, which could be used to instantly spread terrorist content, said Broughton Micova, who’s also academic co-director at the Centre on Regulation in Europe, a Brussels-based think tank.

Under the rules, the biggest platforms will have to identify and assess potential systemic risks and whether they’re doing enough to reduce them. These risk assessments are due by the end of August and then they will be independently audited.

The audits are expected to be the main tool to verify compliance — though the EU’s plan has faced criticism for lacking details that leave it unclear how the process will work.

What about the rest of the world?

Europe’s changes could have global impact. Wikipedia is tweaking some policies and modifying its terms of service to provide more information on “problematic users and content.” Those alterations won’t be limited to Europe, said the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, which hosts the community-powered encyclopedia.

“The rules and processes that govern Wikimedia projects worldwide, including any changes in response to the DSA, are as universal as possible. This means that changes to our Terms of Use and Office Actions Policy will be implemented globally,” it said in a statement.

It’s going to be hard for tech companies to limit DSA-related changes, said Broughton Micova, adding that digital ad networks aren’t isolated to Europe and that social media influencers can have global reach.

The regulations are “dealing with multichannel networks that operate globally. So there is going to be a ripple effect once you have kind of mitigations that get taken into place,” she said.
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