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Oil Spill in Russia Draws Criticism from Putin, Sparks Investigation

A massive oil spill that occurred a week ago in Russia’s Arctic region has resulted in an emergency declaration by the country’s president and a government response to assess and clean up the damage.  Approximately 20,000 tons of diesel oil leaked from a storage tank on May 29, seeping into the Ambarnaya River in a part of Siberia located above the Arctic Circle, authorities said.   The tank was at an industrial plant operated by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of palladium and one of the largest producers of nickel, platinum and copper. The incident was reportedly caused by “abnormally mild temperatures” that caused the permafrost beneath the tank to thaw, leading to its structural collapse, according to a company official. A government investigation into the cause is being conducted. The French news agency AFP reports the spill has been contained. “The company is working painstakingly to understand what happened … we suspect that abnormally mild temperatures caused the permafrost beneath the support to thaw, and even a slight skewing in weight distribution would lead to the structure’s collapse due to the tank’s weight.“ pic.twitter.com/C7mUUHTRLH
— Nornickel (@NornickelGroup) June 2, 2020The spillage was reported by the plant’s employees two days after it happened, drawing criticism from Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Why did government agencies find out about this only after two days?” Putin asked during a televised government conference on Wednesday. “Are we going to find out about emergencies from social media now?” The Russian president then approved the state of emergency to manage the spill. Government teams, including the Siberian branch of Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies and Russia’s Maritime & River Transport Agency, have been involved in cleanup efforts.“I think decontamination will cost Nornickel billions of roubles, but I’m speaking not as a businessman, but as a human being concerned about the situation: whatever the cost, we will pay it,” said Nornickel’s CEO Vladimir Potanin in a televised call with Russian president Putin. pic.twitter.com/IoD2mfvKge
— Nornickel (@NornickelGroup) June 5, 2020Vladimir Potanin, the billionaire president of Norilsk Nickel, said the company would pay the costs, estimated at $146 million.The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation is interrogating individuals about delayed warnings to the public about the spill.
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Science & Health
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Climate Change Reaches New Heights: WMO    

Weather scientists said May was the warmest month on record worldwide, with one observing station reporting carbon dioxide levels hitting a record high.The World Meteorological Organization warned that will have a major impact on biodiversity and nature as well as on people’s socioeconomic development and well-being.    Pandemic won’t affect climateAt the same time, lockdowns due to the COVID-19 virus have led to improvements in air quality and cleaner skies in many places.  But WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis said scientists agree the effects are temporary and the pandemic will not affect climate change in the long term.    “The industrial and economic slowdown from COVID 19 is not a substitute for sustained and coordinated climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Nullis said. “Unfortunately carbon dioxide concentrations measured at the Mauna Loa observing station in Hawaii reached a new record in May.”   The WMO noted the atmospheric carbon dioxide measured at the observatory is a seasonal peak, not a global average.  Nevertheless, it said that is indicative of the continuing increase in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. As a consequence of rising concentrations of CO2, Nullis said, temperatures are rising, with records set throughout the world in May. “The most above average temperatures were recorded over parts of Siberia where they were up to 10 degrees Celsius above average,” Nullis said. “That is absolutely huge.  It is breathtaking.  It shattered records.” Records in Alaska, AntarcticaNullis said temperature records also were shattered in Alaska and Antarctica.   The WMO reported more than 90% of the excess energy from increased concentrations of greenhouse gases goes into the ocean.  It said ocean heat is at record levels and sea level increases continue unabated. Scientists see deoxygenation alongside ocean warming and acidification as a major threat to ocean ecosystems and the well-being of people that depend on marine life. 
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Arts & Entertainment/Economy & business
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Black Birdwatchers Face Racism Too

The day that George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a white woman called the police on an African American man birdwatching in New York’s Central Park.”I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” the woman is heard in a video of the incident posted on Twitter that went viral.Oh, when Karens take a walk with their dogs off leash in the famous Bramble in NY’s Central Park, where it is clearly posted on signs that dogs MUST be leashed at all times, and someone like my brother (an avid birder) politely asks her to put her dog on the leash. pic.twitter.com/3YnzuATsDm
— Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) May 25, 2020In the outrage that followed, the woman was fired from her job.But the incident could have gone another way, said Tykee James.”As a black man in America, I know that that kind of discrimination is an easy route to police interaction that could end fatally,” he said.James is a birder himself, and a government affairs coordinator at the National Audubon Society, the nation’s leading bird conservation and advocacy group.As demonstrations against police violence draw thousands to the streets of cities across the United States, James and a group of African American scientists, naturalists and birdwatchers have taken to social media to launch another protest against systemic racism.It’s called #BlackBirdersWeek.’Not for us’With tweets, livestreams and Q&As, the group aims to change the perception that black people are not “outdoorsy” types.”For far too long, black people in the United States have been shown that outdoor exploration activities such as birding are not for us,” Georgia Southern University biology graduate student Corina Newsome said in a Twitter video launching the event.MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!
We at @BlackAFinSTEM are starting the inagural #BlackBirdersWeek to celebrate Black Birders and nature explorers, beginning 5/31!!!!!
Follow the whole group of us here: https://t.co/I23zoT3fFh
Take a look at the thread for the schedule of events! pic.twitter.com/yDsAtwR8te
— Corina Newsome (@hood_naturalist) Black Birders Week is not just for birders. Earyn McGee poses with a Yarrow’s spiny lizard. (Photo courtesy of Earyn McGee/Noel Hamideh)”That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, this is awesome,'” she said.Her love of lizards and the outdoors has persisted. Each Wednesday, she shares lizard facts and photos on her Twitter account, @Afro_Herper, under the hashtag, #FindThatLizard. She may not be a birder, but she is co-organizing Black Birders Week as an African American naturalist.At Howard, she said, “it wasn’t unusual for black people to be interested in science and wildlife.” But going to scientific conferences, she said, she could not help noticing, “the only black people I see, really, are the people who came with me from my university.””It’s really isolating and lonely,” she said. “You worry about, ‘Do I even deserve to be here, or do I belong?'”It’s the same on television, she added.”If you look on Discovery Channel or Animal Planet, most of what you see is white males. … You don’t really get to see a whole lot of stories from black people.”The outpouring of support on social media for Black Birders Week has been great, McGee said, but “we just hope that the support doesn’t stop at Twitter posts.”  
 
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Science & Health
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NASA Celebrates Successful American Launch to ISS

After an initial cancellation due to weather conditions, NASA and SpaceX achieved a historic launch Saturday, marking the first time in nine years that astronauts went to orbit from U.S. soil.  Many moving parts behind the scenes ensured the launch’s success.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi spoke with two teams keeping travelers safe in This Week in Space.
 
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