News roundup for Tue, Mar 1, 2022 – The Prepared

Ukraine invasion: Russia has taken over Chernobyl and is stirring up radioactive dust and debris by occupying the area. Radiation levels are exceeding known control readings in multiple places. There is concern that radioactive material from Chernobyl and from other, damaged Ukrainian nuclear facilities could be weaponized against Ukrainians.

“This morning, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine reported that radiation levels in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone were “exceeded at a significant number of observation points” since Russian forces assumed control,” writes @susan_dagostino. https://t.co/JMUR53Flsr pic.twitter.com/Ln031l6CJ1

— Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (@BulletinAtomic) February 25, 2022

In the wake of Putin’s escalation of nuclear readiness stance, the NATO Response Force has been activated for the first time. The force is on standby and has not yet been deployed. In the meantime, the US, multiple EU countries, and even a few traditionally neutral countries are supplying Ukraine with assets and weapons to help fight against the invasion.

The WHO is releasing $3.5 million to help bolster access to humanitarian aid and much-needed medical supplies to Ukraine.

Economic sanctions from all around the globe are going to cripple the Russian economy. Russian markets are in a panic, and so are the people–lines for ATMs are reminiscent of the Soviet bread lines of the past:

People stand in line to use an ATM machine in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Sunday.https://t.co/0Hw9hpkKZF

📷 Anton Vaganov / Reuters pic.twitter.com/XTZDkwqqXA

— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 27, 2022

Even oil companies are divesting from Russia:

BREAKING: And wow!!! After BP, the deluge. Shell announces it’s exiting all its joint-ventures with Gazprom, including its 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 LNG facility. Shell carries those JV at $3 billion valuation on its books, and it’s warning of impartments #Ukraine

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) February 28, 2022

The invasion is not going how Putin expected, and as the EU and other countries unite against this campaign, Putin has his back to the wall. There are very few offramps for de-escalation here, and Ukraine doesn’t seem to have capitulated to Putin in meetings today. It’s possible that Putin will escalate his attacks on Ukraine, particularly in light of the mounting economic pressure his country is facing:

This is the most dangerous moment in 60 years#Putin’s is facing a humiliating military fiasco & he has triggered extraordinary consequences on #Russia’s economy & people that will not be easy to reverse

And his only options to reset this imbalance are catastrophic ones

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 28, 2022

Supply chain: Chipmaker Nvidia is investigating a potential cyberattack that impacted operations this week. The company is being cagey about the nature of the attack and is not releasing a lot of information about it. It’s unclear if it’s related to the Russia/Ukraine conflict, but cyberattacks are a known part of Russia’s campaign of aggression.

Joliet, Illinois, a major supply chain hub, is running out of water. There’s a billion-dollar proposal to connect the city to Lake Michigan, but the proposal is controversial and contested. Joliet’s current water infrastructure is old, lead-lined, and leaking up to one-third of its supply. Community members are being overcharged for this terrible, leaky infrastructure, and they don’t trust the stakeholders involved to operate in good faith with the new pipeline.

Climate, environment, and energy: As the Russia/Ukraine conflict rages, the EU is being forced to turn away from Russian gas. The EU’s interest and investments in renewables are skyrocketing, with renewables stocks making strong gains despite a conflict-nervous market. Germany is accelerating its renewables goals.

California is about to test solar canals as a means to both protect the water supply from evaporative loss and to strengthen renewable energy utilization. Researchers from UC Merced are working on scaling up this program.

The new UN Climate Report is out, and it’s pretty dire. Deadly, extreme weather events are going to get worse and more frequent. If we don’t act quickly, we could be locked into irreversible climate trouble.

Pandemic: The world has over 436.8 million COVID cases. The world has gained 39 million cases in the last three weeks. There have been nearly 6 million deaths in total. The US has had over 80.6 million cases cumulatively. The US gained about 2.4 million cases in the last three weeks, which is a significant slowdown compared to the beginning of the month. Over 974,000 Americans have died during the pandemic—over 10,600 in the last week. The US gained over 18,000 new cases on Sunday and over 19,700 by late afternoon Monday. Not all states are reporting daily anymore.

As this most recent pandemic wave wanes, so too are mask mandates. The CDC is issuing new, more relaxed guidance:

The majority of healthy Americans, including students in schools, can safely take a break from wearing masks under new U.S. guidelines released Friday. https://t.co/Tkn2f3tTHk

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 25, 2022

Longer intervals between COVID vaccine doses can help some people be protected longer. There is some risk in this tactic as well, as protection can dip during the waiting period between doses, but in times of low community prevalence, it might be a strategy worth following.