shown to retain its quality for up to three times longer in laboratory trials. Coating+
is currently undergoing regulatory approval for their product and are ramping up
production capabilities with a leading global nutrition company. (THUMBS UP)
5.
WATER SECURITY
From India to Iran to Botswana, 17 countries around the world are currently under
extremely high water stress, meaning they are using almost all the water they have,
according to World Resources Institute. Today, among cities with more than 3 mil-
lion people, World Resources Institute researchers concluded that 33 of them, with
a combined population of over 255 million, face extremely high water stress, with
repercussions for public health and social unrest. By 2030, the number of cities in
the extremely high stress category is expected to rise to 45 and include nearly 470
million people. (THUMBS DOWN)
6.
CLIMATE /WEATHER
A study, published in a peer-reviewed journal and as a longer report by the Union of
Concerned Scientists, used 18 climate models to predict changes in the heat index
across the contiguous U.S. as global temperatures rise over the coming decades.
The study found that the number of days when the average temperature will feel
like 100 degrees in the Lower 48 states will more than double, from about two weeks
at the end of the last century to 30 days by mid-century, even with some efforts to
reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive global warming. And the number
of days with a heat index of 105°F or more will more than triple to nearly three weeks,
the study found. (THUMBS DOWN)
7.
OCEAN HEALTH
Sargassum infestation on beaches across the Caribbean Sea causes significant prob-
lems including issues for public health, and for the economy such as loss of income
from tourism, the cost of clean-up operations. The European Space Agency tracking
seaweed infestation using 19 years of satellite data showed that sargassum growth
hit a high in 2019, as a brown belt of this macroalgae stretch 8,850 km from west Af-
rica to the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists used computer simulations to confirm that this
seaweed forms its shape in response to ocean currents, and a new paper suggests
that deforestation and runoff from fertilizer into the Amazon river – which empties
into the Atlantic Ocean – have stimulated this growth. (THUMBS DOWN)
8.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
A range of technological solutions will be necessary to replace fossil fuels. At the
Reuter power plant in Berlin, which supplies 600,000 households in the capital with
heat, the solution now includes calcium oxide, also known as quicklime. Vattenfall
and Swedish start-up SaltX have been taking advantage of a simple chemical reac-
tion that occurs when quicklime becomes wet: the salt-like grains soak up the water,
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HUMAN FUTURES
HUMAN FUTURES
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