Global coal industry could lose almost a million jobs by 2050
The Global coal industry could shed almost a million jobs between now and 2050, as existing mines around the world shutter while cheaper wind and solar power become more readily available, the Global Energy Monitor said in a report Tuesday.
The Losses, projected to affect more than a third (37 percent) of the industry’s 2.7 million coal miners worldwide, could occur even without ambitious climate targets or pledges to phase out coal. More than 400,000 workers operate mines that could be depleted or discontinued after 2035, and up to 100 miners a day could be laid off over the next 12 years.
Japan’s dairy farming isn’t faring well
Japan’s dairy farmers are facing a tough financial situation. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the number of dairy farmers in the country declined by 5.3 percent —faster than the average rate of 4 percent — over the past 10 years. Two major factors caused these difficulties: soaring production costs and cutbacks in milk production promoted by the Japanese government.
Soaring production costs — especially for feed — are mainly triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war. The war drastically decreased crop production in Ukraine, one of the biggest crop exporters in the world, which lifted international feed prices. A weak yen that led to increasing feed prices and electricity bills in Japan poured salt on the wound. In June 2023, the average feed price had increased by 48.4 percent compared to 2020.
India transforms wheat for the world
India can applaud a hallmark in national food production: in 2023, the harvest of wheat—India’s second most important food crop—will surpass 110 million tons for the first time.
This Maintains India as the world’s number-two wheat producer after China, as has been the case since the early 2000s. It also extends the wheat productivity jumpstart that begun in the Green Revolution—the modernization of India’s agriculture during the 1960s-70s that allowed the country to put behind it the recurrent grain shortages and extreme hunger of preceding decades.
“Newer and superior wheat varieties in India continually provide higher yields and genetic resistance to the rusts and other deadly diseases,” said Distinguished Scientist Emeritus at CIMMYT, Ravi Singh. “More than 90 percent of spring bread wheat varieties released in South Asia in the last three decades carry CIMMYT breeding contributions for those or other valued traits, selected directly from the Center’s international yield trials and nurseries or developed locally using CIMMYT parents.”
Israel, Hamas, and 30 million barrels of oil
The Middle East accounts for 31 percent of global oil production, 18 percent of natural gas production, 48 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves, and 40 percent of the world’s proven natural gas reserves. Therefore, it is easy to understand why any military activity in the region affects oil and natural gas markets. Typically, oil prices spike as soon as news breaks of violence that could destabilize the region. Most of the time, that price spike proves fleeting because it soon becomes apparent that the event will not affect major oil players or energy-strategic areas. Such was the case during Hamas’s past attacks on Israel, and after Syria’s recent assaults on militant groups in that country.
China’s gift to the world: the perfect cup of tea
China was the first country to cultivate tea and remains the biggest grower of the Camellia sinensis shrub which most tea varieties are extracted from.
Tea spans multiple cultures, but China can rightfully claim to be its historic home. For thousands of years, the country grew, picked and drank the tannic brew before it was discovered by the rest of the world.
But now, across all continents and many, many other cultures, it lies at the centre of a centuries-old social ritual. Today the offer of a cup of tea still encourages people to pause their busy lives, meet with each other and sit down and chat, wherever they are in the world.
In 2022 UNESCO even added China’s traditional tea processing techniques, and the social rituals associated with drinking it, to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
World crude steel production grew tenfold in past seven decades
The Steel sector operates on a worldwide scale, with significant global trade in raw materials like iron ore and scrap, as well as steel products. Globally, there has been a remarkable surge in crude steel production. Over the span of seventy years, starting from 1950, worldwide production has multiplied tenfold, increasing from 189 million metric tons to a staggering 1,885 million metric tons by 2022. This growth is most likely due to an unprecedented rise in demand for steel owing to rapid urbanization.
The Average growth rate per annum between 1950-55 stood at 7.4 percent, the highest in all these seven decades. It is followed by 6.2 percent between 2000-05. In the twentieth century, the average growth rates per annum stood between 2005-10 stood at 4.6 percent, 2010-15 at 2.5 percent, and 2015-20 at 3 percent respectively. The global steel production experienced a slump due to COVID-19, with the growth rate per annum between 2020-22 being merely 0.2 percent.
Niger did not hike Uranium price to 200 Euros per kg after 2023 coup
Niger did not raise the price of uranium from 0.80 euros per kilogram to 200 euros per kg following its July 2023 coup, contrary to claims made online. Uranium is traded in an open market and governments do not directly control uranium prices, experts told Reuters.
Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted from power on July 26. The coup in the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium, per the World Nuclear Association (WNA), posed no immediate risk to nuclear power production, European Union nuclear agency Euratom said.