Atlantic

The worst nightmare of the Atlantic Alliance is more than an investment issue

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That Donald Trump is not a NATO enthusiast is nothing new. He already showed him during His first mandatewhen he slid the possibility that the US took a step back in the Atlantic Alliance, and has underlined it several times since then, like candidate and elected president. But as the relationship It is tense With Europe and within its own team Voices are raised in favor of Washington to break with the Treaty of 1949a question arises, increasingly stronger: what would happen if the US is detached from NATO? To answer it, you need to review a little recent history, geostrategy … and also mathematics. An NATO without the US? Only the fact that The question this On the table It is already significant. Especially since the clouds that overshadow the future of the US in NATO do not arise from speculation or rumors, but from comments from high positions of Washington, including Trump himself, who in December, still as elected president, He complained that the Atlantic Alliance is “taking advantage of the US.” “They take advantage of us in trade, our cars or our foods are not taken. They do not wear anything. It’s a shame. And we defend them, so the blow is double,” Trump charged during An interview In NBC News. And when the journalist asked him if she would consider excluding NATO US in case she concludes that her treatment towards the US is not “fair,” repliedresounding: “Yes, of course.” The continuity in the alliance, he stressed, is conditioned to the whole of its members “pay their bills.” A background rumor. It was not the first time that there was talk of NATO’s departure. It hasn’t been the last. Six years ago The New York Times public that in 2018 Trump already threatened with the withdrawal of NATO. And that was during his first term. The second has started just a month And it is already marked by distancing between Washington and some of its historical allies, such as Canada or the EU. The clearest (and graphic) test was the negotiating table created by the US and Russia to end the Ukraine War without reserving a seat for Ukraine or the Union. The trend seems to also go in Crescendo, without visos that it will break. In the last days We have seen Europe closing rows Around Ukraine, Trump and Zelenski showing Prime Time Your total lack of harmony Already Elon Musk, Trump’s great ally, Chairing the debate on the output of the US USA. Yesterday the businessman shared a tweet that he said “it’s time to leave NATO and UN” next to the next harvest message: “I Agree”. An NATO without the US? The same question of the principle, but with a different sense, that of viability: Is a NATO with Washington in profile or in which the US directly step back? A few days ago, during An interview In the BBC, the NATO general secretary, Mark Rutte, asked if the rest of the allies could replace the US hole in case he withdraws his military support from Ukraine, his response was revealing: that scenario is not raised. Click on the image to go to Tweet. A “100%risk”. After insisting that the US “wants to bring Ukraine to a lasting peace”, the high position of NATO slid: “We go beyond this issue. It is crucial that we all remain together in this: USA, Ukraine, Europe, that we take Ukraine to Peace. That is exactly why Trump struggles, so we all fight.” Zelenski, who It has been ambitioning for some time The adhesion of your country to NATO, a perspective that seems farther today, after contacts between Moscow and Washington, is even clearer. In Another talk Recent with journalists, he warned of the consequences that Trump would have to step back in NATO, not only for his country, but for the whole of the continent: “The risk of Russia from occupying Europe is one hundred percent if the United States withdraws from NATO.” Weight question. The key is the weight that Washington has in NATO. The agency’s estimates by 2024 provided that the US be The third country of the alliance that higher percentage of its GDP allocated to defense, 3.4%, only behind Poland and Estonia. Washington’s commitments go beyond the North Atlantic Treaty and given the size of its economy, it is estimated that US defense spending represents near two thirds of NATO total. As for costs, the body applies A cast Based on national income and the US stands out again as one of the greatest taxpayers, with almost 16%, like Germany. The United Kingdom is in third place with 11% and France occupies fourth place, with just over 10%. Of percentages to dollars. World Population Review has created A map in which the contribution of each country attached to NATO in 2023 is even more graphic, both in the percentage of GDP and in funds dedicated to investment in defense. The US stands out with 3.49% and 860,000 million of dollars, well above From the second country, Germany. As a picture is worth a thousand words, it is good to take a look at the graphic prepared in 2024 by Visual Capitalist to understand the weight of US investment in defense compared to the other 31 countries of the Alliance. The other approach. It matters what the United States contributes, but it also matters to what extent the rest of the countries attached to NATO contribute. Trump has already publicly demanded the rest of the nations that raise their contribution until reaching 5% of his GDP, even above what the US himself allocates. And he does not seem willing to change his strategy. “I told the countries ‘I will not protect them unless you pay,’ and they started paying. That amounted to more than 600,000 million dollars,” He presumed In December. The 5% barrier is well above the 2% that NATO itself has been marked, the latter percentage that probably not to … Read more

The Atlantic has a ‘lost city’ with the key to life on other planets. Now is in danger

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The earth seems to have no secrets at this point. That if we talk about the earth’s part, of course, because although nWe are putting the batteries With the oceanic background, much remains to be known. And one of the examples is the lost city found in 2000, a set of structures in the middle of the Atlantic that are not only curious, but they help us with the most unexpected: Study extraterrestrial ecosystems. And, ultimately, determine the clues that must be followed to find life in the universe. Only. More than 700 meters deep west of the Mesoatlantic dorsalon December 4, 2000, some explorers in command of remote control submersibles found something surprising: a set of walls and monoliths that reached 60 meters high and had a curious bluish tone due to the foci of the submarines. These carbonated structures were something that the scientific community had never seen and was baptized as the ‘lost city’. Among that we love giving rimbombant names and that could resemble Atlantis, the marketing part was already made. Chimneys. The full name is, really, ‘Hydrothermal field of the lost city’, and it is the oldest oceanic ventilation site, at least what we know. It is estimated that he is about 120,000 years old and, during all that time, his chimneys have been expelling gases at temperatures between 40 and 90 degrees Celsius. These hydrothermal vents release methane and hydrogen, but are not volcanic, so they do not produce co₂, hydrogen sulfide or metals. With the passage of the millennia, that expelled material was accumulated in the form of columns and walls of Brucita, Aragonito and Carbonate of calcium, with a whitish color and very particular schegic texture. Point of interest. For the scientific community, the lost city is a mine. Its particular environment and the conditions of its formation, as well as its age, can provide clues about the origin of life on Earth, as well as a more detailed vision of the planet’s composition. Over the years they have been studying their materials and, in 2024, a group of scientists advertisement The recovery of a rock sample more than a meter long. With her, they hope to find crucial evidence about the origin of life on earth. There are some spectacular formations. Researchers at the University of Washington described some vents as structures that “cry” fluids that form carbonated structures of multiple tips as curious as the one we see in the photo that we leave just on these lines. But there are not only rocks in the lost city. Extraterrestrials. At that depth, without oxygen, with a highly alkaline and hydrogen, methane and other gases dissolved in water, we might think that it is a ‘lunar’ ecosystem in which life is impossible. Curiously, It is full of animals such as anemones, microbial communities, crustaceans, snails and, occasionally, deep fish. The question is how life can prosper when it comes to an environment in which there is no sunlight, there is no oxygen and both hydrogen and methane, they camp their wide. That is precisely what also called the attention Of the researchers because the study of this fact can give us clues about what kind of life or signs of life to look for in environments that can be similar, such as redry or Europe (Saturn and Jupiter moons). Threatened heritage. Writing this has given me to think about ‘Avatar‘Not only because the film has attractive extraterrestrial structures, but because its director, James Cameron, is a passionate about underwater expeditions. And something that happens in his film is that we arrive at another planet and sweep it to get resources. We must not go to Pandora -the planet of ‘avatar’-, we continue to see it in areas such as the Amazon. And that we destroy the lost city is something that researchers fear. Poland got In 2018, the exploitation rights of the seabed around the lost city and, although the hydrothermal field has no valuable resources for us, altering its surroundings could endanger the entire area. That’s why you are working so that the lost city is declared a World Heritage Site with the aim of protecting it as much as possible and being able to continue studying it. We will see what happens with an area that is not the only hydrothermal field in the world, but one whose particularities can help understand how life develops in extreme conditions and in similar extraterrestrial environments. Images | Cairns S, Kitahara M In Xataka | Half a year ago we discovered oxygen in one of the most remote places on the planet. Now we want to know more

“Festival of cycloogenesis in the middle of the Atlantic”.

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Behind him Vodevil of the ‘Beast of the East’ and the anticyclonic wall last week, the thing will change radically in the Atlantic. And, in the next few days, the polar jet “He will take run“And the ocean will live an authentic”Festival of cycloogenesis“ It will only need a little luck so that this “festival” passes over Spain. “Festival of Cycogenesis”? Yes, we return to another week of creativity in terms of weather communication. However, as usual, the expression is not free: in the next few days the “anticyclonic wall” will disappear, but Blocking anticyclone in Scandinavia It will continue to entry next week. That opens a route so that, from the Atlantic, storms enter more easily. And they will take advantage of it. It is expected that, in the middle of the week, a cold air embolism will join a small storm from the Azores and will impact with the west of the peninsula. Right now, the models indicate that it will arrive weakened; But, as with these structures, it is very difficult to know what will happen until we know where exactly will be located. But that’s not the fat. The “fat” is a true turn to the country’s meteorological situation. Because shortly after, the Scandinavian anticyclone will begin to move towards Greenland and that will make LA stream current down more than usual. That can end up generating a huge storm train entering the west. In fact, today, the most likely scenario is that: the successive impact of a series of deep depressions from the Atlantic. The problem is that it remains Even too much time. That is, we do not know the details: it can be a fantastic week of water in abundance or a huge succession of storms that put in trouble in the middle country. What can we expect? Little for now. In the most likely stage, we will see how the fronts will happen throughout the week and The rain will reach the whole country (with lower incidence in the Canary Islands and the southeast of the Peninsula). For the rest, little is known: They are not clear either the temperatures or the most affected areas. Only a few days are coming and that, since The ghost of drought never abandons usIt is not bad news. Image | Tropical tidbits In Xataka | The Arctic is living a very anomalous situation: temperatures above zero in the middle of winter and a 30º thermal anomaly

We have been fearing the arrival of the ‘Beast of the East’ a week and in the end an Atlantic front has sneaked into the squad

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In recent days, the big topic of weather conversation has been the ‘East beast‘. Many things have been said: from Nieves generalized throughout the country to a simple decrease in temperatures. What we did not expect was the “extraordinary turn” that the situation has taken. What do we talk about when we talk about the ‘Beast of the East’? As we explained yesterdaybeyond the controversy by name, the phenomenon is very simple: a mass of polar air that takes advantage of an Atlantic blocking situation to move from the northeast of the European continent to the southwest. That is, towards us. From ‘beast’ a ‘bestiecilla’. Unlike the ‘Beast’ of 2018the mass that was approaching had no capacity to form a cold and snow storm worthy of that name. However, since these situations are rare and difficult to model, there were many doubts and uncertainties. Beyond that We were going to notice the closeness of that mass of cold airnobody was very clear about what was going to happen. The unknown is clearing. On the one hand, the mass of air has started doing something that was as far as possible: cycloogenesis. These types of masses are very dry, but on their way to the southwest they can generate cold danas or storms. On the other, an Atlantic Front It has sneaked by the northwest and is on the way to the Southeast leaving generalized rains throughout the Peninsula (less on the Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands). And what will happen? The interaction of the two phenomena will leave a lot of snow in the Pyrenees (already very low levels). The front will leave some water in most of the country. However, the great turn is that the instability that the front is creating will help moderate the cold peaks. That does not change the general image (it will be colder than usual), but it does make The worst forecasts are diluted Between the rain. In fact, as the front passes the temperatures will tend to rise. Be that as it may, care in the north third: snow, fog and ice will roast a few days between us. Image | ECMWF In Xataka | The Arctic is living a very anomalous situation: temperatures above zero in the middle of winter and a 30º thermal anomaly

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