Nature

The University of New South Wales has identified a marked acceleration in global ocean temperature rise over the past three decades. The trend reached its highest levels this year.

Over 90 per cent of the excess heat produced by humans is absorbed by the ocean. This is helping to curb planetary warming, but it also has negative consequences. Marine ecosystems are facing severe heat stress, with the potential for extinction of many species.

Researchers analysed ocean temperature data from the 1950s to the present. They found that warming since 2010 has been twice as fast as from 1990 to 2000.

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After 40 years of observation and research, scientists note that the Atlantic Ocean, which fringes the Bermuda Archipelago, is undergoing warming, loss of oxygen, increased salinity and increased acidity.

According to oceanographer Nicholas Bates from Arizona, the ocean surface in the subtropics of the North Atlantic has become warmer by about one degree Celsius over the past four decades. On top of that, the water has become saltier, depleted of oxygen. And acidity has increased markedly since the 1980s.

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The new rules state that tourists will have to pay at least an extra 1.5 euros for every night they stay in a hotel.

Previously, the amount of the hotel tax was three times less – only 50 eurocents.
Now, if a tourist stays in a 3-star hotel, the tax will be 3 euros, in a 4-star four, and in a 5-star all ten.

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A survey of large farm owners confirmed that agricultural production is increasingly challenged by ragweed, kochia and other weeds. The latter are already visibly crowding out crops in at least some states such as North Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Experts say that weed flora often becomes resistant to the impact of several herbicide preparations at once.

Industry representatives state that over the past two decades, chemical companies have cut budgets for the development and research of PPPs (crop protection products).

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Storm Isha has brought powerful winds to the UK. In some regions in the north of Scotland the speed of gusts reached 45 metres per second. About 8,000 residential buildings were deprived of electricity, and repair teams are far from being able to reach emergency locations everywhere.

Citizens of the affected areas are promised that electricity supply will be restored by Tuesday evening, 23 January (approximately 20:00 Moscow time).

The storm also disrupted the work of railway transport, as the fallen trees blocked the tracks.

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