​Despite the war, Russia supplied France with equipment for the largest thermonuclear reactor ● Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, will disappear under water in a few decades ● Blue whales swallow up to 45 kilograms of plastic every day ● The river has more than 460 kilograms of water. kilometers was discovered in Antarctica, and this is not good

Despite the war, Russia supplied France with equipment for its largest thermonuclear reactor

One of the six giant magnets needed for the world’s largest fusion reactor ITER, the construction of which has already begun in France, left St. Petersburg two days ago. Thus, Russia undertakes to respect the agreement concluded in 1985 between American President Ronald Reagan and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev.

The 200-ton magnet was built under the supervision of Rosatom, Russia’s National Atomic Energy Agency, and was due to be delivered to France as early as May. However, the sanctions imposed on Russia led to a delay in the departure of ships from this country, which means the part without which the ITER project could not be launched.

35 countries, including Romania, are cooperating in commissioning the world’s largest thermonuclear reactor, ITER, located 60 kilometers northeast of the city of Marseille. Representatives of the Russian “Rosatom” stated that “from this point of view, there is no competition between Russia and other countries of the world. And if the project is suspended, the whole world will lose.”

The second largest Egyptian city, Alexandria, will disappear under water in a few decades

Hundreds of residents of Alexandria, Egypt’s second-largest city and the country’s largest port, have already fled their homes after floods in 2015 and 2020. And this is just the beginning, UN experts warn.

The level of the Mediterranean Sea is rising at an alarming rate, and experts believe that, in the best-case scenario, it will rise by 50 centimeters in just 28 years. Despite this, in 2050, a third of Alexandria will be under water, and the number of those who will have to leave the metropolis will reach 6 million people.

If the most pessimistic forecasts become reality, which means a rise in the level of the Mediterranean Sea by about one meter over the next three decades, then not only Alexandria will be under water, but also a third of Egypt’s agricultural land located on the Nile. delta.

From 1960 to today, the sea has moved three kilometers deep into the delta, covering agricultural areas and important archaeological sites. In response, Egyptian authorities have already built barriers of concrete blocks to prevent the waters from advancing towards Alexandria or other historic cities, and say they will do everything possible to prevent them from reaching the seabed. If they want to succeed, we will see it in the coming years.

Blue whales swallow up to 45 kilograms of plastic every day

About 45 kilograms of plastic, or about 10 million microparticles, are swallowed by a blue whale every day. The information was published in the journal Nature Communications by a group of marine biologists from Stanford University and once again emphasizes the enormous degree of pollution of the world’s seas and oceans.

In fact, plastic microparticles no bigger than a grain of sand are so common on Earth that they have even been found in human organs and blood. In the case of whales, what’s even worse is that 99% of the plastic consumed is already their prey, be it sardines, anchovies or marine invertebrates.

The researchers observed 191 specimens from among the species of blue whale, fin whale or humpback whale. It turned out that they feed at a depth of 50-250 meters, where the highest concentration of plastic microparticles was found. That’s about 4 million plastic microparticles ingested daily by fin and humpback whales, and up to 10 million microparticles by blue whales.

It is not yet known how whales are affected by the huge amount of plastic consumed every day. That remains to be determined. But there is no doubt that their prey is also consumed by humans on a large scale, and marine invertebrates, or krill, are the backbone of the ocean’s food chain. In short, the entire food chain is slowly but surely being poisoned by plastic.

A river more than 460 kilometers long was discovered in Antarctica, and this is not good

When the first lakes under the Antarctic ice sheet were recorded more than ten years ago, experts believed that they were isolated cases, and not part of a very complex system interconnected by a network of large rivers. Obviously they were wrong. At least this is what new data obtained using a radar capable of providing clear images of the terrain located thousands of meters under the ice suggest.

The study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, claims that the river, which is more than 460 kilometers long, has just been mapped, meaning that the vast area of ​​the Antarctic ice sheet is on unstable and slippery ground. If only this surface melted, the level of ocean waters on the planet would rise by about 4.3 meters.

It is the instability of this region that makes it much more susceptible to accelerated melting in the next period. Researchers believe that the network of rivers and lakes is one of the missing links in the entire process of melting Antarctic ice, and how it affects the entire mechanism is still far from fully understood.

There is no doubt that the newly discovered hydrographic network is responsible for the breakup of the cap, creating cracks and fissures through which surface meltwater can reach the base of the cap. Once there, the water will speed up the ice melting process. Like I said, it’s not good at all.

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