Scientific news in small doses

A few milligrams of all the science news of the week.

Living longer in a carbon neutral world?

Could achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 improve life expectancy? This is suggested by a study recently published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health. The Lancet Planet Health. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine estimated that reaching this target could translate to an extra 2 million years for people in England and Wales. The decrease in atmospheric pollution will be the main factor contributing to the increase in life expectancy. With healthy lifestyle habits, the study authors estimated the potential gain at 2 million years for a population of about 60 million people.

Test

What percentage of the UAE population believes that human activities cause climate change?

According to a survey conducted last November by the French company Elabe and Veolia, only 61% of Emiratis believe that climate change is of human origin. Of the 25 countries surveyed, the UAE ranks second to last in this question, ahead of Saudi Arabia (59%) and only after the United States (62%). Remember, the next international climate conference COP28 will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at the end of the year.

the number

313 billion

According to Aon, natural disasters in 2022 caused economic losses of 313 billion US dollars globally. Total losses paid out by insurers amounted to 132 billion, or less than half of the total bill.

A plea for sobriety

To achieve electrification of transportation, you will need lithium, and a lot of lithium, which is an essential metal for the production of electric vehicle batteries. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global demand for lithium will increase 40 times by 2040. However, according to an analysis by the Institute for Social, Economic and Information Research (IRIS), at this pace, 30% of the world’s lithium reserves by 2050 are calculated. A recent study by the Climate & Society Project and the University of California found that the US could still reduce its lithium needs by 92% from lithium. How do ? By adopting public policies in favor of public transportation, reducing urban sprawl and establishing a real battery recycling system for electric vehicles. This solution will only be viable if we also limit the weight of the cars in order to produce smaller batteries that consume less lithium.

A new type of fertilizer

Fertilizers made from human urine and feces to produce fruits and vegetables? A team of Swiss researchers conducted experiments using “man-made” fertilizers for growing cabbage plants, and compared them with other types of fertilizers more commonly used in growing vegetables. result ? Both cultures gave similar yields, with a slight advantage to the product made from human urine compared to the product made from feces or a mixture of feces and urine. Scientists believe, however, that using the mixture can increase soil carbon content in the long term. The study has been published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Sciences.