| 1 big thing: Warming speeds up by 10 years
|
 |
|
|
|
A fire truck drives through Greenville, Calif., which was destroyed
last week by Northern California's Dixie Fire. Photo: Noah Berger/AP
|
| |
|
Released 4 a.m. ET: Global warming
is happening so fast that scientists now say we'll cross a crucial
temperature threshold as early as 2030 — up to a decade sooner than they
thought — Axios' Andrew Freedman writes from a sweeping UN-sponsored review of climate science out today. - Why it matters: The report arrives when it seems like the whole planet is on fire. The themes: faster, more urgent and more dangerous.
The findings:
Atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentrations were higher in 2019 than at
any time in at least 2 million years, according to the report by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). - The past 50 years saw the fastest temperature increases in at least 2,000 years.
- The report calls the connection between human emissions of greenhouse gases and global warming "unequivocal."
Between the lines: The
scientists make clear how starkly different the current climate already
is from that in which modern human civilization first thrived. - Compared with its first report in 1990, the IPCC's new study reflects global warming's transition from a far-off issue to a current crisis.
What's happening:
Warming is affecting every area of the globe, making the world a more
volatile place. The report connects the dots between extreme events and
long-term human causes. By the numbers: The
report projects that global warming at the end of the century will range
between about 1.3 to 5.7°C (2.34 to 10.26°F), relative to 1850-1900
levels, depending on greenhouse gas emissions. - Sea levels are
projected to increase, under intermediate- to high-emissions scenarios,
by between at least a foot and a half to more than three and a half
feet by the end of the century.
- A rise of seven feet by the year 2100, or even 16 feet by 2150, "cannot be ruled out."
Keep reading.
|
|
| |
| |
|
2. Scoop: Biden taps Russia hawk
|
 |
|
|
|
Then-Vice President Biden with Amos Hochstein at the Caribbean Energy
Security Summit in 2015. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
|
| |
|
President Biden has appointed close former adviser Amos Hochstein as a State Department energy envoy charged with implementing a U.S.-Germany deal allowing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to be completed, Jonathan Swan and Zachary Basu report. - Why it matters: Hochstein has been a leading voice against Nord Stream 2, a Kremlin priority that will allow Russia to bypass Ukraine and deliver gas directly to the heart of Europe.
The appointment
— which will not require Senate confirmation — lends the credibility of
a prominent Russia hawk to a Biden decision that's drawn intense criticism in Eastern Europe and on Capitol Hill, including from some Democrats. - Implementing the pipeline deal will be an immediate priority for Hochstein, known by key players in Eastern Europe as "Biden's guy."
Behind the scenes: Sources who know Hochstein are surprised he'd agree to take a job that seems in such inherent conflict with his stance that the pipeline is "the existential crisis facing Ukraine." - "They're trying to hide
this terrible deal behind his credibility in the hopes it will make
people forget just how bad this deal is," said a source who's worked
with Hochstein on energy matters.
A source familiar with the process told
Axios that "it's frankly good to have someone who is deeply suspicious
of the project and of Russian intentions because he will push hard ...
to manage the threat."
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
3. Biden team frustrated by CDC data hogs
|
 |
|
|
|
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
|
| |
|
Top Biden officials are privately frustrated by their lack of visibility into COVID vaccine data collected by the CDC, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports. - Why it matters: America is increasingly reliant on data from other countries — or from drug companies — about vaccine effectiveness.
The CDC's culture is to release data only when it's ready for publication. - That may make sense
for the public. But it's frustrating for policymakers trying to make
real-time decisions, said one top source familiar with internal
discussions.
- "That's where the tension is, like: 'Where the hell are the data?'" the source said.
The big picture: The data standoff reflects rising tensions between the CDC and the rest of the administration.
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
A message from Facebook
|
|
Internet regulations are as outdated as dial-up
|
| |
 |
|
| |
|
Facebook supports updated regulations, including four areas where lawmakers can make quick progress: - Reforming Section 230.
- Preventing foreign interference in our elections.
- Passing federal privacy law.
- Setting rules that allow people to safely transfer data between services.
|
| |
| |
|
4. Pic du jour: Team USA comes home
|
|
|
Photo: David Berding/USA Today Sports via Reuters Gymnastics triple medalist Suni Lee, 18, the first Hmong American to win gold, waves to fans during a parade in her native St. Paul yesterday.
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
5. N.Y.'s lieutenant governor gets ready
|
|
|
Photo: CBS News Above: Brittany Commisso, an executive assistant who accused
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of groping her breast at the governor's mansion, goes
public on "CBS This Morning," saying he "groped me, he touched me, not
only once, but twice." - She's the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Cuomo.
With impeachment increasingly likely, New
York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is already seeking advice on first steps in
office, including which Cuomo officials to keep, The Wall Street
Journal's Jimmy Vielkind reports. - In the most acute sign yet of Cuomo's isolation, top aide Melissa DeRosa quit last night — with a statement that didn't mention him.
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
6. Map of the day: COVID hot spots
|
|
|
Another way the country is on fire! - The CDC bases "community transmission" on the number of cases per 100,000, and the number of positive tests, for the last week.
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
7. Want to pretend to live on Mars? For a year?
|
 |
|
|
|
Photo: ICON/NASA via AP
|
| |
|
To prepare to send astronauts to Mars, NASA is taking applications for four people to live for a year in a 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat (rendering above), created by a 3D-printer, in a building at Johnson Space Center in Houston. - The paid volunteers will
work a simulated Martian exploration mission — complete with
spacewalks, limited communications back home, restricted food and
equipment failures, AP reports.
NASA plans three of these experiments. The first starts fall 2022. |
Photo: ICON/NASA via AP Above: The Mars Dune Alpha habitat is being made by a 3D-printer at Johnson Space Center.
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
8. Mapping's moment
|
 |
|
|
|
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
|
| |
|
Digital maps breakthroughs are enabling real-time navigation details for pedestrians, 3D geolocation for drones and augmented reality for gaming, Axios transportation correspondent Joann Muller writes. - For autonomous vehicles, HD
maps do more than just provide a high-def view of the world — they also
enable a self-driving car to know precisely where it is, down to a few
centimeters.
Most AV developers get to know a test city the same way any new resident does — by driving around. - They spend a few weeks manually annotating everything about the streetscape, from lane markings to crosswalks and speed limits.
- AVs can be taught to drive below the speed limit on a certain stretch, or stop beyond the line for better visibility at a bad intersection.
Keep reading.
|
|
|
| |
| |
9.  Inside Obama's 60th
|
|
|
President Obama on his first full day in office — Jan. 21, 2009. Photo: Pete Souza/The White House, as seen in the new HBO documentary, "Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union." About 200 people joined President Obama's scaled-back 60th birthday bash on Martha's Vineyard this weekend. A source gives this glimpse: - President Biden, the Dalai Lama, Justin Trudeau and other world leaders sent video greetings that were played at the party.
- John Legend sang "Happy Birthday."
- Lifelong friends from Hawaii and Marty Nesbitt gave toasts, with gentle ribbing.
- Valerie Jarrett, Eric Holder, Elizabeth Alexander, Arne Duncan and Pete Souza (who took the picture above) were in attendance.
Officials said the event followed CDC public-health protocols, including a testing regimen managed by a COVID coordinator. - NIH Director Francis Collins said on CNN: "I think they're doing everything they can to minimize the likelihood that this will be an occasion where infections happen."
|
|
|
| |
| |
10.  1 for the road: Final Tokyo count
|
 |
Data: IOC. Chart: Connor Rothschild/Axios. ROC = Russian Olympic Committee.
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
A message from Facebook
|
|
Why Facebook supports reforming Section 230
|
| |
 |
|
| |
|
The internet has changed a lot in the last 25 years — the last time comprehensive internet regulations were passed. Facebook supports updated regulations — like reforming Section 230, to set standards for the way larger tech companies enforce rules about content. |
to choose your favorite topics and see your list grow in tomorrow’s email.
Wow: The
Wholesome:
Chill out: Enjoy a game of
Cure boredom: Check out the 
On this day: In 2012, Jamaican Olympian Usain Bolt 
No comments:
Post a Comment