Topic Reading-Vol.4727-4/3/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

What’s the riskiest part of your flight? It isn’t cruising at 40,000 feet

After checking in luggage, clearing security check, waiting for boarding, and fighting space for overhead bin, you are seated and relaxed for flight. When the airplane starts descending for landing, you feel relieved from the stress of the flight and are looking forward to the next event. But these are the most critical moments for air travel. In the USA, there were 1,468 accidents last year alone, 770 of which occurred on landing and 124 during take off. When descending for landing, the aircraft is losing altitude, speed, and maneuverability, thus, it is left with limited options to cope with challenging conditions like turbulence, bird strike, functional failure, or human error. In fact, since descending and landing are the most dangerous moments, unnecessary conversation or activity is not permitted in the cockpit below 10,000 feet to ensure pilots are fully focused on controlling the aircraft. What passengers can do during these critical moments is to fasten their seatbelts tightly and follow any instructions given by the crew members.

Read the article and learn about the risks of air travel.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/29/travel/takeoff-landings-riskiest-part-of-your-flight/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4726-4/2/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

The world's strongest ocean current should be getting faster – instead, it is at risk of failing

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is a wind-driven surface oceanic current encircling Antarctica that flows clockwise from west to east. It’s like a moat around the icy continent that helps to keep warm water away from Antarctica’s ice sheets and protect its biodiversity from invasive species. As the strong current connects the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans like a conveyor belt, it also plays a vital role in regulating the global climate. New research has found that this current is slowing as cool water from melting Antactica’s ice dilutes the salty water of the ocean, allowing warmer water to come closer to Antarctica and melt its ice shelves. This ice-melting and weakened circumpolar current spiral would further weaken the ocean’s ability to regulate climate change and disrupt global climate patterns. Studying this remote and vast ocean current seems to help us learn more about global climate, but reducing fossil fuel emissions is more essential and imminent to curb global warming.

Read the article and learn what the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is about and what it does to the global climate.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250303-the-worlds-strongest-ocean-current-is-at-risk

Topic Reading-Vol.4725-4/1/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

EU urges citizens to stockpile 72 hours’ worth of supplies amid war risk

It took nearly three years for the US to get involved in WWI and took over two years in WWII. In 1949, member states of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) signed article 5, which states an attack on one member is considered an attack on all and reaffirms the member states’ commitment to collective defense. However, due to the uncertainty and unpredictability of the US president’s foreign policies, the US's support to maintain peace in Europe is becoming questionable, which made European leaders feel the need to upgrade readiness for hostile events. They’ve already started improving military mobility, stockpiling, and fostering operational cooperation across the union. Recently, citizens of the 27 EU states were advised to store enough water, food, and other essential supplies for at least three days to prepare for an emergency, including Russia’s military aggression, disruption of critical infrastructure, and electronic warfare. In 1939, Nazi Germany invated and occupied the Czech after previsouly acquiring the Sudetenland via the Munich Agreement in 1938. In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and invaded the country in 2022. History seems to repeat itself.

Read the article to learn what European leaders are preparing for.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/26/europe/european-union-stockpile-member-states-intl-latam/index.html