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Extreme weather makes everything harder, except climate-risk analysis

The findings were hardly surprising to those who follow climate science closely, but the gravitas of the report, which summarizes work by thousands of academics, will shift the broader conversation on global warming for years to come.That we now acknowledge, without doubt, that rising global temperatures are causing more extreme weather underlines the importance of all the work being done to assess the financial costs of climate change. It is also a reminder that financial analysts, policymakers and economists can’t begin to capture the full scale and effect of a warming planet.

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9 trends to watch as aviation readies for post Covid-19 takeoff:Allianz

The sudden halt imposed on the aviation industry by the Covid-19 crisis hit the sector hard. In April 2020, two-thirds of the global commercial aviation fleet sat idle on the tarmac, while passenger traffic was down 90% year-on-year. Today, the aviation industry is slowly rebounding, led by domestic travel.

As more aircraft return to the skies, a new report from aviation insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS)  highlights some of the unique challenges airlines and airports face as they restart operations – ranging from “rusty” pilots to insect infestations. It also identifies a number of ways in which Covid-19 is reshaping the sector, driving long-term changes in fleet composition, flight routes and passenger demand.

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Building Climate Resilience in India – Challenges and Opportunities for the BFSI sector

In India, until a few years ago, the topic of climate change and related risks rarely found strong traction in the BFSI sector in India. Till date, most banks and insurers still do not take a sufficiently forward- looking view on climate change and its long-term financial impact. The Financial Stability Board published the second status report on adoption of the recommendations of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures on June 5, 2019. The report observed that disclosure of climate-related financial information has increased since 2016, but is still insufficient for investors, especially on the financial impact of climate-related issues on companies

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What is a breakthrough infection? Here’s a guide to what you need to know

No vaccine is 100 per cent effective. Dr Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was 80 per cent-90 per cent effective in preventing paralytic disease. Even for the gold standard measles vaccine, the efficacy was 94 per cent among a highly vaccinated population during large outbreaks. Comparably, clinical trials found the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were 94 per cent 95 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 much more protective than initially hoped.

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Pandemic Travel Rules

The best strategy isn’t yet clear, but one thing is common: Few are taking into consideration families as a unit.

Acknowledging the difficult balance between the realities of employment and family demands could become one of the most important steps to opening up economies. But until parents have more clarity about how to cross borders with their young children, or the hoops they have to jump through to be with them, there’s little hope of a full recovery.

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Harmonize guidance on radioactivity in food and drinking water reach milestone

The establishment of the new framework will also help in case there is radiological contamination of food and drinking water due to an accident.

“In the event of a nuclear or radiological accident anywhere in the world, the technical expertise to measure radionuclides in food will be essential for public reassurance and, in certain situations, the basis for imposing restrictions,” Colgan said.

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Checking Delta-Unvaccinated most at risk

“The biggest risk to the world at the moment is simply Delta,” said microbiologist Sharon Peacock, who runs Britain’s efforts to sequence the genomes of coronavirus variants, calling it the “fittest and fastest variant yet.”

Viruses constantly evolve through mutation, with new variants arising. Sometimes these are more dangerous than the original.

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How the world’s first carbon border tax may play out

The measure, which will affect producers of steel, cement and aluminum in countries with looser environmental rules, would boost commodity costs and reroute trade flows. But it will take years to implement and have a limited impact on global emissions.
The new levy is likely to do very little to curb greenhouse gas emissions. With a carbon border adjustment of $44 a metric ton, a United Nations body estimates emissions would only fall by 27 million tons, a meager 0.1% of the total. At $88, it would drop by 45 million tons. The price of carbon in the EU is currently about 53 euros ($62) a ton.

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