On day seven of the Ukraine crisis, UN-led efforts to ramp up support to the country’s embattled health workers have continued, with the first shipment of lifesaving supplies due to arrive in neighbouring Poland in the coming hours.
Initial concerns about a lack of medicines to treat chronic conditions such as diabetes, gave way on Wednesday to an alert from the World Health Organization (WHO) that “people will die” if they do not get oxygen and other supplies for urgent emergency care.
“Some of us have been in this game a long time and we’ve developed very thick skins, but when you see nurses mechanically ventilating infants in basements of hospitals, even the toughest of us, we struggle to watch that,” said Dr Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s Emergencies Programme. “And those heroes that are there, (they’re) mainly women in those basements who are taking care of those kids.”
At a press conference in Geneva, head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that 36 tonnes of materials for trauma care and emergency surgery were on their way from a WHO hub in Dubai – enough to meet the needs of 1,000 patients.
Additional health supplies will also be available for another 150,000 people, the WHO Director-General added, and the UN agency is also hoping to deliver oxygen from neighbouring countries to where it’s needed.
Out of reach
Prior to the conflict, the UN health agency distributed emergency supplies to 23 hospitals in Ukraine, but Tedros cautioned that prepositioned materials in Kyiv were “currently inaccessible”.
At least three major oxygen plants in Ukraine have now closed, Tedros added.
“There is an urgent need to establish a corridor to ensure humanitarian workers and supplies have safe and continuous access to reach people in need,” insisted the WHO chief, who also expressed serious concern at “several” unconfirmed attacks on hospitals and health infrastructure, since the Russian offensive began last Thursday.
“Attacks on healthcare are in violation of international humanitarian law,” he said, before underscoring the “sanctity and neutrality” of health care, health workers, patients, supplies, transport and facilities. “The right to safe access to care, must be respected and protected,” he said.
Echoing concerns for Ukraine’s most vulnerable civilians who have been exposed to shelling and bombing, Dr Ryan noted that “if you’re a 65 or 70-year-old in ICU, no-one can carry you down the stairs to the basement…and they’re being cared for by doctors and nurses while the bombs are falling around them.”
He added: “People’s bodies and people’s bones have been broken and people’s lives are being lost and there isn’t a health service available to deliver lifesaving care, and we can’t supply that health service at the moment. So something has got to move and something has got to change to create the conditions in which that can happen.”
COVID surge
As the exodus of Ukrainians continues away from the conflict, Tedros explained that conditions were ideal for increased COVID-19 transmission both within Ukraine and beyond its borders.
Key priorities to prevent the spread of the coronavirus include ensuring that vaccinations are maintained where possible, and that COVID therapeutics and antivirals are made available, Dr. Ryan said.
Sikyong Penpa Tsering greets Tibetans on Losar, Tibetan New Year 2149. Image: Tenzin Jigme/CTA
Sikyong Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration extends Losar greetings to Tibetans inside and outside Tibet on the occasion of traditional Tibetan New Year- Losar 2149 – the year of the Water-Tiger. The Tibetan New Year begins from 3-5 March 2022.
As the newly elected 16th Kashag observes its first celebration of the joyous occasion of Tibetan New Year, the 2149th Water-Tiger Losar, I, on behalf of the Central Tibetan Administration, extend warm greetings to all the Tibetan brothers and sisters in Tibet and throughout the world celebrating Tibetan new year.
Wishing you a year loaded with good health and may all your aspirations, hopes, and wishes are fulfilled.
As the world’s most successful refugee community, we owe our success story principally to the sacrifices, guidance and visionary leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and secondly to the sacrifices being made by the Tibetans inside Tibet facing the persecution. We also owe our gratitude to the older generation of Tibetans whose lifelong hard work and contributions set forth the path of development in achieving the international recognition and acknowledgement that we enjoy today. Once again I would like to reassure you all that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is in excellent health.
As for my responsibility as the Sikyong since assuming the office on 27th May 2021, the 16th Kashag has as per the commitments outlined in my manifesto, performed and continued to perform the tasks diligently and lawfully while taking into account the strategies to swiftly achieve our long term vision. I urge the collective effort and cooperation of the Tibetan people in resolving the collective goal.
To hinder our remarkable progress, China has repeatedly penetrated its tentacles in our community often by planting spies to sabotage our cause. Keeping this in view, we have to be mindful not to indulge in the pettiness of regionalism and parochialism, and instead deviate all our focus and effort to speak out against the human rights crimes committed by China against Tibetans and other ethnic minorities. Likewise, the administration assures transparency, credibility and efficiency in its activities.
To uphold the smooth running of our democracy in exile, I strongly urge each of us to diligently perform our fundamental responsibilities in accordance with the noble wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Once again I wish you all peace, prosperity and happiness and pray for the longevity of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I also hope that the issue of Tibet is swiftly resolved and the Tibetans inside and outside Tibet reunite soon.
Commission proposes temporary
protection for people fleeing war
in Ukraine
Today, the Commission is proposing to activate the Temporary Protection Directive to offer quick and effective assistance to people fleeing the war in Ukraine. Under this proposal, those fleeing the war will be granted temporary protection in the EU, meaning that they will be given a residence permit, and they will have access to education and to the labour market.
At the same time, the Commission is also putting forward operational guidelines intended to help Member States’ border guards in managing arrivals at the borders with Ukraine efficiently, while maintaining a high level of security. The guidelines also recommend that Member States set up special emergency support lanes to channel humanitarian aid and recall the possibility of granting access to the EU on humanitarian grounds.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “Europe stands by those in need of protection. All those fleeing Putin’s bombs are welcome in Europe. We will provide protection to those seeking shelter and we will help those looking for a safe way home.”
Temporary Protection Directive
Since the Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, over 650,000 people have fled to neighbouring EU Member States. The Temporary Protection Directive was specifically conceived to give immediate protection to the persons who need it and to avoid overwhelming Member States’ asylum systems.
Under this proposal, Ukrainian nationals and people who have made Ukraine their home as well as their family members displaced by the conflict will be entitled to protection across the European Union. Non-Ukrainian nationals and stateless people legally residing in Ukraine who cannot return to their country or region of origin, such as asylum seekers or beneficiaries of international protection and their family members, will also be granted protection in the EU. Others who are legally present in Ukraine for a short-term and are able to return safely to their country of origins will fall outside the scope of this protection. Nevertheless, should be allowed access to the EU to transit prior to returning to their countries of origin.
Given the extraordinary and exceptional nature of this attack and the scale of new arrivals to the EU, the Temporary Protection Directive offers the appropriate response to the present situation by:
Providing immediate protection and rights: this includes residency rights, access to the labour market, access to housing, social welfare assistance, medical or other assistance, and means of subsistence. For unaccompanied children and teenagers, temporary protection confers right to legal guardianship and access to education.
Reducing pressure on national asylum systems by creating a protection status with reduced formalities. This will avoid overwhelming national asylum systems and allow the Member States to manage arrivals in an orderly and effective way in full respect for fundamental rights and international obligations.
Enhanced solidarity and responsibility sharing: The rules under the Temporary Protection Directive promote a balance of efforts between the Member States in hosting displaced persons from Ukraine. A ‘Solidarity Platform’, where Member States can exchange information about reception capacity will be coordinated by the Commission.
Further support from EU Agencies: Frontex, the European Union Asylum Agency and Europol can provide further operational support at the request of Member States to ensure smooth implementation of this decision.
Guidelines on border management
The guidelines on external border management clarify the facilitations available to Member States’ border guards under the Schengen rules in conducting border controls. This will help ensure efficient border management to help those fleeing the war find shelter without delay whilst maintaining a high level of security checks.
The facilitations available include:
Simplification of border controls at the EU’s borders with Ukraine: Under the Schengen rules, border guards can temporarily relax border checks in exceptional circumstances for certain categories of persons. The guidelines lay out criteria to help Member States decide whom this could apply to, addressing the needs ofvulnerable travellers such as children. Where the identity of the person arriving cannot be established, the regular border check should apply. In addition, Member States can also decide to perform border checks during or after the transport of the travellers to a safe location, and not at the border crossing point. These two measures will help reduce waiting time at the border so that people can reach a place of safety without delay.
Flexibility as regards entry conditions: Under the Schengen rules, border guards can authorise non-EU nationals to enter a Member State’s territory on humanitarian grounds even if they do not fulfil all entry conditions (for instance, even if they do not have a valid passport or visa with them). Member States could apply this derogation to allow entry to all those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
Allowing crossings at temporary border crossing points, outside official border crossing points: This could help reduce delays at the border in the current situation, for example in case the roads to official border crossing points are blocked by abandoned cars.
Easy access for rescue services and humanitarian assistance: Member States should make special arrangements to facilitate the entry and exit of rescue services, police and fire brigades, including to provide medical assistance, food and water to people waiting to cross the border. Member States should also set up special lanes at border crossing points to ensure access and return of organisations providing humanitarian assistance to people in Ukraine.
Personal belongings and pets: Those displaced from Ukraine can bring personal belongings without any customs duties. The guidelines also clarify the facilitations available for those coming with their pets.
The guidelines strongly recommend Member States make use of the support EU Agencies can provide – with Frontex able to assist on identifying and registering people arriving and Europol available to deploy officers supporting Member States with secondary checks.
Next Steps
It is for the Council to adopt the Temporary Protection proposal. The Council already expressed broad support for both measures at the extraordinary meeting of Sunday 27 February and has committed to discussing the two documents at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on Thursday, 3 March. Once adopted, temporary protection would start applying immediately and run for 1 year. This period is extended automatically by six monthly periods for a further year.
The Commission can propose at any time to the Council to end the temporary protection, based on the fact that the situation in Ukraine allows the safe and durable return of those granted temporary protection, or extend it, by one further year.*
The guidelines on external border management is a non-binding document intended to support border guards in their work. Member States’ border guards can immediately start making use of the clarifications it provides.
The Europeans have further tightened sanctions against Russia on Tuesday. The EU-27 gave the green light to ban the broadcasting of Russian state media RT and Sputnik in the EU and to exclude “certain Russian banks” from the Swift messaging system, the French EU Presidency announced.
The representatives of the member states in Brussels also approved a ban on Europeans participating in projects co-financed by the Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF. These measures will come into force on Wednesday after publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the EU, which will specify the names of the banks targeted.
Swift, a financial weapon The Western allies had announced Saturday to exclude Russian banks from Swift, so as to inflict on Moscow “costs that will further isolate it from the international financial system and our economies. The sanction is considered a financial “atomic weapon”: the Swift system allows operations such as the transit of payment orders and fund transfer orders between banks, and some 300 Russian banks and institutions use it.
Germany and Italy, which are highly dependent on Russian gas deliveries, have finally aligned themselves with this measure.
Hollywood film studios are temporarily suspending their production in Russia
The major film studios Warner Bros., Walt Disney and Sony Pictures have decided to pause the distribution of their productions in Russia, the Associated Press reported.
In the coming weeks, they are preparing to present long-awaited titles, which, however, will not reach the Russian market. As early as this Friday, Warner Bros. is releasing Batman in theaters in North America and abroad. Initially, the new adventures of the superhero were planned to reach Russian viewers. However, due to the invasion of Ukraine, the distribution of Hollywood productions temporarily stopped.
“In the light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, WarnerMedia has stopped the distribution of its Batman film in Russia,” a studio spokesman said. “We will continue to monitor the situation. We hope for a speedy and peaceful resolution of this tragedy,” he added.
Warner Bros. followed the decision of Walt Disney, which announced yesterday that Pixar’s May Red Panda animation would not be released in Russia on March 10, as originally planned. The production will be released directly on the Disney Plus streaming platform.
Before Walt Disney announced its decision, Warner Bros. was expected to release Batman in Russian theaters.
“Because of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are suspending the release of films in Russia, including the upcoming May Day Red Panda by Pixar,” a Disney spokesman said. “Future business decisions will be made according to the evolving situation. Meanwhile, due to the scale of the impending refugee crisis, we are working with our NGO partners to provide emergency assistance and other humanitarian assistance to refugees.”
Hollywood is looking for a solution to the Russian market due to increased global pressure to sever business ties with the country due to the war in Ukraine.
The Russian market is not leading for the big Hollywood companies, but the country usually ranks in the top 12 countries in the world box office rankings. Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, for example, grossed $ 1.85 billion worldwide, with $ 46.7 million from ticket sales at Russian theaters. Sony’s latest film, Uncharted: Off the Map, has grossed $ 20 million in Russia in the past two weeks.
The company followed the decisions of Disney and Warner Bros. to stop the distribution of its films on Russian territory.
Due to the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine and the resulting uncertainty and humanitarian crisis in the region, we will suspend planned productions in Russia, including the upcoming release of Morbius, Sony said in a statement for “The Hollywood Reporter”. Jared Leto is expected to hit theaters in early April.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected, and we hope that this crisis will be resolved quickly,” the company added.
In connection with the Russian special operation to demilitarize Ukraine, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry withdrew the accreditations of Russia’s honorary consuls in the republic, Minister Anze Logar said on Twitter, cited by Radio Sputnik (Moscow) yesterday.
“Russia no longer has honorary consuls in Slovenia. I signed decrees on the withdrawal of consent to their appointments,” the minister said.
The government of the Balkan republic actively supports Kyiv with public statements in connection with the military operation carried out by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to demilitarize Ukraine.
Slovenian authorities have previously joined the pan-European initiative to close airspace for Russian aircraft.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to conduct a special military operation to demilitarize Ukraine.
In an address to the Russians, the head of state justified this decision by the UN Charter, the sanction of the Federation Council and the agreements signed earlier with the republics of Donbass.
The Russian leader stressed that the responsibility for possible bloodshed would be on the conscience of the Ukrainian authorities. Putin also urged Ukrainian soldiers to “lay down their weapons and go home.”
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that the Russian army, during the ongoing special operation, disables exclusively military infrastructure and does not strike at residential areas.
Earlier, Sputnik radio reported that Finnish retailers had announced a boycott of Russian-made products.
Living fossils – white-tailed deer, zebra, hedgehog, flamingo, Canadian crane, aardvark, possum, Indian purple frog.
White tailed deer
3.5 million years is not the greatest age of the species by evolutionary standards, but among other deer, the white-tailed deer is the record holder. White-tailed deer are able to digest not only plant food, but also animal food. They are excellent runners, so they easily escape from the chase, and besides, they confuse the tracks. They are able to dive into rivers and even swim into the ocean. This is probably why the survival rate of this species of deer has such a long history.
Zebra
Martin’s striped ancestors from the cartoon “Madagascar” split from the equine about 4 million years ago. Today we know of three main types of zebras and more than ten subspecies. They have one thing in common: a characteristic ruffled mane and, of course, stripes. Despite this, crossing, for example, Grevy’s zebra and mountain zebra did not work. Only zebras of the same species can mate and have offspring.
Crane
There are 15 species of cranes in the world. The most common of these is Canadian. Previously, scientists believed that it was only 2.5 million years old, but recently paleontologists have found remains that are 10 million years old. The skeleton of the found crane completely coincides with the skeleton of the modern one. Therefore, the Canadian crane is the most ancient bird living on Earth today.
Hedgehog
Paradoxically, the familiar hedgehogs have been living on the planet in the form that we are familiar with for 15 million years. The hedgehogs’ needles have become their evolutionary achievement, from which they do not even think to get rid of. In addition to such a formidable weapon against predators, hedgehogs have shown themselves to be rapidly multiplying, unpretentious animals in food, and even very caring parents. It is not surprising that hedgehogs turned out to be such a stable “form” of life.
Flamingo
This beautiful and seemingly such exquisite bird is actually an evolutionary “old lady”. Scientists dug up a clutch of eggs 18 million years old in the limestone deposits of the Miocene. The nest is made of leaves and twigs and does not resemble the mud turret (which modern flamingos build). However, even from the shape of the eggs, paleontologists concluded that the ancestors of flamingos were very similar to their modern descendants.
Aardvark
This amazing animal, reminiscent of both a pig and a kangaroo at the same time, has been living on our planet for 35 million years. And it doesn’t change at all. This creature is so ancient that science knows neither its known ancestors, nor any close relatives. The aardvark has no clavicle and primitive teeth. But, despite this, he perfectly digs the ground, and his diet includes, perhaps, an inexhaustible resource – ants and termites.
Opossum
Marsupials – means ancient, it is not difficult to guess about it. But not so much! Possums are 70 million years old. They have lived on Earth since the days of the dinosaurs and are considered the oldest mammalian species on the planet. At all times, possums have survived thanks to their cunning. When the enemy approached the animal, they did not try to run, but, on the contrary, rolled their eyes, grew cold, and froth from their mouths, pretending to be dead. In this state, they are able to spend up to six hours. If you look closely, you will notice that some of the representatives of Homo sapiens have mastered this “possum” tactic of behavior quite well. In a figurative sense, of course.
Indian lilac (purple) frog
Before you is the absolute champion of today’s top-list. This funny frog has been crawling on the ground (or rather, underground) for 134 million years! Her ancestors jumped next to the dinosaurs and successfully survived all the great extinctions. The frog’s secret is simple: it lives underground, feeding on termites. And it crawls to the surface only once a year for two weeks – for mating.
In the Atacama desert, ancient civilizations buried the dead with parrots
The main feature of these birds is that they were mummified in an unusual position, some with open mouths, others with outstretched wings.
When studying ancient civilizations, burials of dignitaries are a great place to get an idea of what was considered valuable to them when they were alive, writes IFLS.
From alcohol to jewelry and even pets, they were all buried next to a once wealthy man. Among the mummified animals of the ancient Egyptians, cats, ibises and dogs abounded, but in other parts of the planet, parrots were the favorite companions of the dead.
In a new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have worked hard to retrieve the remains of mummified parrots and macaws that existed in the Atacama Desert (northern Chile) between 1100 and 1450 AD. NS.
These birds were not native to this region, but their mummified remains have been found in ancient burials, which testifies to the impressive distances that ancient civilizations were ready to cross in pursuit of feathered friends.
“Tropical feathers are often found in burials. They were very important symbols of wealth for the people of that time. In addition, in the early 1900s, an amateur Chilean archaeologist sent a complete tomb and offerings to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, including a mummified Amazon. from the same place, “said Jose M. Capriles, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Despite the fact that the Atacama Desert is the driest desert in the world, archaeological records indicate the presence of many feathers in burial sites located in this region. Moreover, some of them have been protected and preserved inside boxes, which demonstrates their value for ancient civilizations.
To conduct their analysis, the team examined the museum’s collections, examining the remains of birds that were found between 1000 and 1460 AD. NS.
Studying 27 complete and partial remains of red macaws and Amazons from five locations in the Atacama, they used zooarchaeological analysis, isotope reconstructed diet, radiocarbon dating, and ancient DNA analysis to establish which bird species and how many made the 483 km journey from the Amazon. …
The condition of these animals, even after so many centuries, indicates that caring for animals was not on the list of priorities of the inhabitants of the Atacama, since they, apparently, regularly plucked their feathers during life. In addition, the position of the mummified birds was unusual: some survived with open mouths and protruding tongues, others with outstretched wings.
“We have no idea why they were mummified in this way. They were wrapped in cloth or sacks many times. Obviously, people appreciated these birds, and so do we, as their remains provide a glimpse into the past of civilizations and animals. We hope to continue studying various aspects of the complex interactions between humans and animals that have developed in the Atacama Desert and other regions of South America over time, “concluded Capriles.
Photo: Calogero Santoro, Universidad de Tarapacá and José Capriles, Penn State
Despite the fact that thousands of people died in the Crusades, archaeologists are incredibly rare in their mass graves. According to one of the versions, those killed, found this time, were buried personally by Saint Louis IX, King of France, leader of two crusades.
History
In 2019, archaeologists were in luck: they found a mass grave of crusaders in Sidon (now called Sayda), Lebanon. The collection, study and analysis of the finds took time, so the scientific work describing them came out only now, as reported in a press release from the University of Bournemouth (UK).
Archaeological excavations near the Castle of St. Louis have revealed two mass graves. Both were in a dry ditch near the city walls. The remains of the people were partially mixed, but the researchers concluded that at least twenty-five people were buried there – and exclusively men or adolescent males (at an age when they could already hold a weapon). Radiocarbon dating dates the event to the middle of the 13th century.
Dr. Richard N. R. Mikulski of the University of Bournemouth, who excavated and analyzed the skeletal remains, explained: “All the bodies belonged to adolescents or adult males, indicating that they were fighters who fought in the Battle of Sidon. When during the excavations we found so much damage from weapons on the bones, I realized that we had made an unusual discovery. “
In addition, the study showed that the victims were not buried immediately after death: for some time they remained unburied. There is also an assumption that scavengers snatched their part of the prey. On some of the bones of the cervical spine of the deceased, traces remained, indicating decapitation by a blow from the back (probably execution). Finally, there are traces of charring on the remains – they tried to burn the bodies, not bury them.
Against whom did the crusaders of Sidon fight, by whom were they defeated, and who nevertheless betrayed their bodies to the earth?
Originating in the early Bronze Age, Sidon was already a fairly large trade center by the time of the Crusades in the Levant (1097-1291). As a result of the First Crusade, the Crusaders first captured Sidon in 1110. The city (and especially its harbor) became a key strategic port in a series of coastal settlements that formed the basis of Christian states in the Latin East. In the middle of the 13th century, Sidon, held by Christians, was twice ravaged by enemies. The first time this happened in 1253 – the fortress was captured (and then abandoned) by the Mamluks, who had recently taken power in Egypt and founded the Mamluk Sultanate there. The medieval chronicle “L’Estoire de Eracles” tells about this assault on Sidon.
Just a few years passed and enemies again came to the city walls. The Chronicle of “The Templars of Tire” tells how, in August 1260, Sidon was again attacked. This time it was plundered by Mongol troops led by Kitbuki. Many defenders were killed, some of them were captured. After these events, the city remained under the control of the Crusaders until it was abandoned in 1291.
As we can see, the situation is about the same: in both cases there could be executions, in both cases the winners were clearly not going to bury the defeated, and this was done later, when the invaders left the city.
It is, of course, difficult to draw an exact conclusion about exactly when those found in the mass grave were killed. But there is a detail that tells us that most likely the remains belong to people who died at the hands of the Mamluks, and not the Mongols.
Jean Joinville in his chronicle says that after the attack of the Mamluks, Saint Louis IX, the leader of the Seventh (and then the Eighth) Crusade, came to the city. The author of the chronicle was a contemporary and biographer of the king, so he wrote about the events that he himself saw. He says that King Louis IX helped other crusaders to collect decomposing corpses and bury them: “We found that the king himself made sure that the bodies of Christians killed by the Saracens (as described earlier) were buried. He personally carried the bodies, all rotting and fetid, to put them in trenches in the ground, and never once covered his nose, although others did. ” The manuscript “The Book of Hours of Jeanne d’Evre”, although it was created several decades after these events, depicts specific details regarding the burial of the victims, in which Louis IX participated.
And although scientists refrain from final conclusions, the coincidence of details from written sources and archaeological finds suggests that the graves of the crusaders found most likely date back to 1253 – the capture of Sidon by the Mamluks. The Mamluks are the personal army of the sultans of Egypt, at that time recruited mainly from Kipchak slaves (Polovtsians) who were sold in slave markets and eventually ended up in Egypt. Around 1250, this elite army of the sultans seized power in the country, establishing their own dynasty.
For millennia, people around the world have reported alarming animal behavior before natural disasters
In 2004, a tsunami caused by a magnitude 9.1 underwater earthquake off Indonesia destroyed coastal communities around the Indian Ocean, killing at least 225,000 people in several countries. The huge death toll was partly due to the fact that many communities did not receive early warning. This was reported by the BBC.
According to eyewitnesses, minutes and hours before the natural disaster, the animals in the affected coastal communities began to behave differently than usual.
Elephants ran to higher ground, flamingos abandoned low-lying nesting sites, and dogs refused to go outside.
Early warning systems do not exist in many areas regularly affected by natural disasters. In 2017, the World Meteorological Organization found that the governments of about 100 countries still did not have early warning systems for natural disasters to which they were prone.
Stories of animal behavior before disasters have led some researchers to pay close attention to the theory that animals may have “embedded systems” that warn them of impending natural disasters.
This raises the question – Can animals provide natural early warning systems to humans?
One of the most important studies on how animals can predict disasters was conducted five years ago by a team led by Martin Wickelski of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Germany. The study involved recording patterns of movement of various animals (cows, sheep and dogs) on a farm in the Marche earthquake region of central Italy. Chip collars were attached to each animal that sent movement data to a central computer every few minutes between October 2016 and April 2017.
During this period, official statistics recorded more than 18,000 earthquakes in the region, from small earthquakes of magnitude 0.4 to more than 10 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or more – including the devastating earthquake in Norway with a magnitude of 6.6.
Researchers have found evidence that farm animals began to change their behavior up to 20 hours before the earthquake.
Each time the observed farm animals were 50% more active for more than 45 minutes, the researchers predicted an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 4.0. Seven of the eight major earthquakes were properly predicted in this way.
“The closer the animals were to the epicenter of the impending shock, the earlier they changed their behavior,” Wickelski said in 2020, when the study was published.
Another study by Wickelski, which observed the movements of marked goats on the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, also found that the animals appeared to have a premonition of when Mount Etna would erupt.
In South America, behavioral ecologist Rachel Grant – now at the University of South Bank in London – found similar results. She conducted a biological study of animal movement patterns using motion-triggered cameras in the Yanachaga National Park in the Peruvian Andes for a period that included the 2011 magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Contaman.
“The number of animals recorded by the cameras began to decline about 23 days before the quake – with the decline accelerating eight days before the quake,” Grant said in his 2015 study paper, 10, 6, 5, 3 and 2. days before the earthquake – and on the day of the earthquake – no animal movements were recorded, which is very unusual. “
Most importantly, Grant also found evidence of what could cause changes in the behavior of local animals, in the form of a series of strong disturbances in local atmospheric charges every two to four minutes, starting two weeks before the earthquake. A particularly large fluctuation was registered about eight days before the earthquake in Contamana – coinciding with the beginning of the second stage of the disappearance of animals from view.
Scientists are now investigating whether these pre-earthquake electromagnetic disturbances could be a warning sign of impending earthquakes that animals may be feeling.
Earthquakes are invariably preceded by a period in which deep stresses occur in deep rocks – voltages known to create electronic charges. These highly mobile electronic charge carriers can travel rapidly to the earth’s surface, where they ionize air molecules above where they appear. Such ionization was observed before earthquakes around the world.
“The harbingers of the earthquake are not well documented scientifically,” said Matthew Blackett, an associate professor of physical geography and natural hazards at Coventry University. According to him, some scientists believe that the animals could develop a seismic escape mechanism. “Maybe they detect pressure waves before earthquakes arrive, maybe they detect changes in the electric field. Animals also contain a lot of iron, which is sensitive to magnetism and electric fields.
Many animals are equipped with a highly developed sensor apparatus that can read a set of natural signals on which their lives may depend – so it seems quite possible that some animals may be able to capture the precursors of earthquakes.
In a 2020 paper, Wickelski and colleagues presented a prototype for an earthquake early warning system, using animal activity monitoring sites based on data from his research in Italy.
China, meanwhile, has already set up an earthquake warning system at its earthquake office in Nanning, monitoring the behavior of animals, particularly snakes on farms in an earthquake-prone region. Snakes have a powerful set of sensory mechanisms aimed at detecting small changes in aspects of their environment and, in part, sudden changes in the behavior of snakes and other animals that led authorities to evacuate the Chinese city of Haicheng in 1975 just before a major earthquake countless lives.
“Of all the creatures on earth, snakes are perhaps the most sensitive to earthquakes,” the then-Nanning bureau director told China Daily in 2006. “When an earthquake is about to happen, snakes will come out of their nests, even in the cold winter. “
Earthquakes are not the only environmental hazards that animals seem to warn about. Birds are increasingly in the spotlight, as they can obviously detect other impending natural hazards.
