Topic Reading-Vol.2486-1/31/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Climate change will affect the ratio of male-to-female newborns

Usually, more boys are born than girls, about 103 to 106 boys for every 100 girls. Since boys are more vulnerable to diseases and environment than girls, more boys need to be produced to maintain the sex ratio to be 50:50 by reproductive age. However, this ratio seems to fluctuate when extreme or stressful environmental changes occur, such as a big earthquake or cold weather, according to some studies. For example, fewer boys were born after devastating earthquakes in Japan. The same change was observed when the weather was cold in northern European countries. These suggest that boys are more vulnerable not only after birth but also during the gestation period and/or at the time of conception.

So, does global warming affect human reproduction? Not so likely because the environment doesn’t change in all places at once. Also, humans, just like other creatures on the planet, are quick to adapt to the changes in more extreme environmental conditions, like the Great Ice Age.

In any case, humans are adaptable yet vulnerable to changes. But actually, selective birth control has a greater impact on a male-female ratio like China and India. And they are the world’s two most populous countries, representing over one-third of the world population.

Enjoy reading and think what affects more to human reproduction.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/23/health/climate-change-infant-sex-ratio-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2485-1/30/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

China will overtake the US as the world's biggest retail market this year

Even though the speed for growth is slowing down, China’s retail sales are expected to show a hefty growth of 7.5% to $5.6 trillion this year. China will then be the world largest retail market, surpassing the U.S. by $100 billion. With twice the size of the middle-class population compared to the U.S.’s, China’s automobile and smartphone markets are already the largest in the world. What’s surprising about China’s retail is the share of online retail, which is expected to exceed one-third of the total retail spending this year. You may know the Singles Day on November 11^th, Alibaba’s annual online sales blitz generates much bigger sales than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined in the U.S. The Hangzhou based group of e-commerce businesses, including B2B web portals, retail marketplaces like Taobao and Tmall, payment services like Alipay, Alibaba is estimated to own over half of all online sales in China. And they are expanding their business in offline business.

With increasing dependence on smartphones, online retail business in China is going to reach another milestone this year and beyond.

Enjoy reading and think how much more or less you spent online than at brick-and-mortar stores.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/23/business/china-retail-sales-us/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2484-1/29/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

'The only thing we can do is adapt': Greenland ice melt reaching 'tipping point'

Greenland has little or no green but has a lot of ice. That is why researchers have been studying this world’s largest but the least densely populated island. This autonomous constituent country of Denmark is inhabited by only 56,000 residents, mostly Inuit who have little or nothing to do with global warming, which has been melting the ice on their island. In fact, nearly 80% of the surface of Greenland is covered with a massive ice sheet, which is as thick as two to three kilometers. Should the entire 2,850,000 cubic kilometers of ice be to melt, it would raise the global sea level by seven meters. This would affect nearly half of the world population who live in or near coastal regions.

A new study found that Greenland’s ice sheet is melting faster than was previously estimated, and has passed the point of no return, meaning there is no chance for the ice be restored.

How much longer will convenience win over the environment? Who will be affected by global warming, us, our children, or grandchildren?

Enjoy reading and think when the environment becomes the hottest topic in elections.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/21/health/greenland-ice-melt-study-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2483-1/28/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The top 26 billionaires own $1.4 trillion — as much as 3.8 billion other people

How many billionaires do you think there are in the world? According to a report released by Oxfam, a charitable organization focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, there are over 2,200 individuals whose net worth exceeds one billion US dollars. To your surprise, the report says as much as 1.4 trillion dollars is owned only by 26 top billionaires. That amount is equivalent to the total wealth of the poorest half of the world population.

Redistribution of the fortune of the wealthiest is one way to improve the living standards of the poor. However, the organization recommends providing quality health care, decent education, and more participation of female workforce to narrow the inequality in the long run. For example, especially in poorer countries, it is often the girls and women who are forced to care family members and do house chores unpaid instead of attending school or earning money.

Will this matter, and possibly the global climate change, be discussed in the annual World Economic Forum in Davos by the most wealthy and influential people in the world?

Enjoy reading and think what the private fortune could do to help the people and the planet.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/20/business/oxfam-billionaires-davos/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2482-1/27/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Internet shutdowns aren't just Africa's problem. They're happening worldwide

The Internet is an open, public medium whose connection and accessibility, if not privacy, are supposedly guaranteed by the government. However, more targeted blockades or even total blackouts were enforced in countries especially in Asia and Africa last year. If you traveled to or stayed within the Firewall of China, you must have experienced difficulty in connecting to certain social media or accessing to some news websites. Such access control is the easiest way to control public interactions and stop uprisings to the authorities, and more governments implementing it recently.

Indeed, controlling, limiting, or excursing influence over media has been practiced everywhere in the world and anytime in history. Newspapers and publications, radio and TV broadcasts are typical examples of such interventions. Also, censorship of mail exchanges and phone conversations is another example of communication control. But nowadays, a single touch on a screen by the authority can do all these at once. Yes, the Internet. It’s so easy for the government to blockade to blackout internet access and traffic within its country. No manpower, expense or deployment is needed to implement such comprehensive and effective control instantly especially when people are becoming more dependent on online services via their smartphones.

Enjoy reading the article and learn what could be done to interrupt or disrupt public services by the government.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/17/africa/internet-shutdown-zimbabwe-censorship-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2481-1/26/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Nearly 3 billion trips forecast for holiday travel rush

Over 1.3 billion people in China celebrate the beginning of a new year on the traditional Chinese calendar. This year, February 5^th is the New Year’s Day and two weeks before and after the day is referred to as the Spring Festival. During the 40-day long period until the end of February, many people travel across the country to reunite with their families that live away from them. It creates the world’s largest annual human migration called Chunyun or referred to as the Spring Festival travel season. Nearly three billion trips are expected to be made during the period this year, a slight increase from the previous year. Though the majority of the trips are seen on the roads and highways, over 400 million train trips and 73 million air travels are going to be made.  

China added 4,100 kilometers of high-speed railways last year alone, extending the total length of the network to 29,000 kilometers. This has made long road or train travels much easier and more comfortable and is expected to help reduce long-haul bus rides and air travels. Still, nearly 1,000 flights are being added to 15,600 daily flights to during the period.

No matter how crowded and busy on the road, rails and at the airport might be, this is the time to travel to meet their families.

Enjoy reading about this largest seasonal human migration.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/19/WS5c4220afa3106c65c34e5567.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2480-1/25/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

World's coffee under threat, say experts

Of the 120 plus known coffee species, only two are used for consumption, Arabica and Robusta. If so, do we need to worry about the rest of the wild coffee species?

Coffee species grow in tropical climates, mostly in Africa and Madagascar, and some in India, Sri Lanka, and Australia and keep evolving in the wild. Since they are genetically related to the two cultivated coffee crops, they’ve been crossed with these domesticated crops to improve the yields, resistance to diseases, and endurance to climate changes. So, the existence of the wild coffee species, though they are not drinkable, is essential for our coffee. However, a new study found that 60% of those wild coffee species are on the brink of extinction. And only about a half of those wild species are kept outside the wild for backup.

As the global climate changes faster and more drastically, how long will those wild coffee species last in the wild? Switching to tea doesn’t seem to be so safer as half of the wild tea species are also threatened with extinction. Yes, actions are needed for the future.

Enjoy reading the article and learn how threatened coffee species are.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46845461