extinction

A plant was on the verge of extinction in the Mojave Desert. So they built a solar park on top

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The Mojave Desert is not only a paradise when it comes to filming movies, setting video games and name operating systems: It is also home to thousands of plant species that are accustomed to an extremely hostile climate. It is estimated that there are about 2,000 species and a very specific one is in danger of extinction. Until they decided to build one of the largest photovoltaic plants in the United States on top of it. The Gemini Solar Project. In short. The journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution revealed a few weeks ago the results of a curious study. The ‘threecorner milkvetch’ plant (which has a name for everything except a plant) went from 12 specimens in the Mojave Desert to 93. This plant was being evaluated for inclusion in the Endangered Species Act in the United States and not only has its number multiplied: the new plants are larger and produce more flowers. And they have “only” had to build one of the largest photovoltaic plants in America on top of it, next to Guanchoi in Chileto achieve it. Threecorner milkvetch. It is a creeping plant that has curious needs: it only grows in sandy soils of the Mojave Desert. However, it is dependent on rainfall because its seed remains dormant in the soil and only germinates and reproduces with favorable rainfall. In dry years, it remains completely unnoticed, waiting for a little rain. And it is so rare that the species remains under evaluation for status as threatened or endangered under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulations. In the same desert there is another threatened species: the desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii. The habitat of the two species should be the last one on which it would be decided to build a photovoltaic plant, but there is the Gemini Solar Project. The plant Megaplant. When such an installation is to be carried out in the desert, a technique known as clearing and leveling is used. In essence, all vegetation is removed, the land is leveled and prepared for install the pillars of the solar panels. Not only is a lunar landscape created, but any type of latent seed beneath the surface, such as that of the threecorner milkvetch, is destroyed. However, the Gemini Solar Project’s approach was different. The company wanted the land because it is especially ‘fertile’ within the US to harvest sunlight, but concessions had to be made. One was to minimize the alteration of the habitat of both species to conserve the desert surface with all its biological resources, preserve the topsoil and adapt the facility to the natural relief. On the US Geological Survey website we can see photos of little turtles between the panels. Works. This is part of what we know as ‘ecovoltaics’, with a branch called ‘agrovoltaics’ that we have also talked about and that, although it can be used by companies as a facelift, it serves to unite energy activities with agricultural activities. In the study on the impact of the Gemini Solar Project and the evolution of the plant, researcher Tiffany Pereira discovered what we have mentioned: there were more plants and they were healthier. This showed that the energy company had done its part by not destroying the soil because the seeds had been able to germinate, but they found something else. The plants inside the installation evolved earlier than those outside it and grew not under the panels, but in the strips between the rows. This implies that they still need intense sunlight to mature. The yellow zone is where the Sun shines the most hours. The blue one is the stripe that varies depending on the position of the Sun. The red one is where direct light never shines. Okay, but then… what is the role of the panels in the improved evolution of these plants? The hypothesis used by the researchers is that the panels provide partial shade on the groundslowing down evaporation. We have already said that seeds are dormant until they have the necessary humidity conditions to germinate, and in this context, a more humid microclimate has allowed plants to grow more and produce more seeds. Not all the field is oregano. Now, like almost every scientific study, we look at the other side of the coin. The rainfall in recent years has been favorable and we will have to see what happens with periods of prolonged drought. In a few years we could talk about long-term effects. But, in addition, this absence of plants under the panels could indicate a possible loss of potential habitat in very humid years. In any case, Pereira’s study is not isolated. Other studies point to improvements in both the number of flowering plant species and pollinators in agrovoltaic installations in a state like Minnesota. AND in China there are also indicators that those photovoltaic plants in deserts is contributing to the moisture pocket construction in which plants can thrive more easily. As we said, it remains to be seen the impact of the panels on the creation of a “new” biodiversity in the long term, but for now, what is evident is that it is not necessary to raze land to build a photovoltaic plant. Images | DRI, Tiffany PereiraGemini Solar Project In Xatka | The biggest fiasco of solar energy is in the Nevada desert: it is useless and its promoter blames a Spanish company

There are some that practice ‘partner exchange’ to avoid extinction

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For decades, popular culture and a certain anthropocentric vision have projected the idea that the traditional family It was the most normal thing in the animal kingdom. However, biology has a habit of contradicting us and if we look Alaskan watersand specifically the belugas From Bristol Bay, monogamy is not only rare: it is evolutionarily inefficient. The study. It has had as its objective analyzing the DNA of hundreds of these cetaceans for more than a decade, and confirms what we could call, in human terms, a lifestyle “swinger” either polyamorous among these animals. Although this word is more for our daily life, since in a scientific way it is called polygynandryand it is the secret of these whales to stay genetically healthy and resilient. The myth of the “better half”. Choosing a life partner for whales is something that is not the norm in this case. To reach this conclusion, the researchers They didn’t just watch what they did.but carried out an exhaustive analysis of 623 genetic samples collected over 13 years in the Bristol Bay beluga population. And we are facing a very interesting population because it is geographically isolated and has about 2,000 individuals. What they found was a mating system where both males and females mate with multiple partners. There is no “alpha male” that monopolizes females (polygyny), nor females that have only one consort. It is a constant and strategic exchange. Stepbrothers everywhere. The definitive proof of this behavior is in the family trees that the study managed to reconstruct. When analyzing kinship, scientists came across a revealing fact: there were many half-siblings who shared a mother or father but not both. The fact that it is very difficult to find full siblings indicates that season after season, females do not repeat partners, but rather change. A strategy that is aimed at maximizing reproductive success, since otherwise a few males would dominate the genetics and cause less genetic diversity. ‘Swinger’ as an advantage. We might think that this behavior is chaotic, but it is actually a very sophisticated biological defense mechanism. And constantly mixing genes with different partners ensures greater variability in the offspring to avoid serious diseases such as those that historically occurred. we have had in the European monarchies. But the interesting thing is that it is a choice of the females who play an active role. In this case they are not passive, but actively choose the males to mate with to have great variability, possibly to ensure that their offspring have the best possible genetic combinations. Its longevity. One of the characteristics of this species is that it can last for many years, and that is why maintaining genetic diversity through polygynandry allows them to adapt to long-term changes in their ecosystem. And it is a finding that aligns with previous research, since a high diversity in the microbiome and population structure of these whales was already pointed out, but the mating system had never been confirmed. A genetic lifesaver. The most fascinating thing about this discovery is how it rewrites our understanding of cetacean sociality. We often assume that highly intelligent and social animals tend toward monogamy (as is the case with certain birds), but the reality is that belugas demonstrate that you can have a complex society, care for offspring, and at the same time have a promiscuous sex life for the good of the species. For conservationists, this is good news. Knowing that this population maintains high genetic diversity and avoids inbreeding itself means that they have better biological tools to cope with climate change and human pressure than other more “faithful” but genetically poorer species. Images | Todd Cravens In Xataka | Going to the mountains to go hiking is increasingly popular in Spain. And those who are suffering are the golden eagles

How a mummified wolf has solved the mystery of the woolly rhino’s extinction

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14,400 years ago, a barely nine-week-old wolf cub feasted on the Siberian stage. Shortly after gobbling that piece of meat, the puppy died and was buried in the permafrostnear the village of Tumat in northeastern Siberia. Something that at first seems insignificant, has given one of the most important milestones in modern paleogenetics. And this one was in this puppy’s stomach. The study. A team of scientists from the Center for Paleogenetics at Stockholm University has achieved what seemed impossible: Recover the complete high-coverage genome of a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) from the undigested remains in that wolf’s stomach. The results, published in Genome Biology and Evolutionforce us to rewrite the books on how and why this megafauna became extinct, since until now we had a very different idea. A biological miracle. The discovery of this puppy is not something recent, since it was found in 2011, and received the nickname Tumat-1. Being mummified in ice, the reality is that it was in perfect condition, but during the autopsy the researchers found a 3-centimeter piece of tissue with remains of blonde fur. Due to the area in which it was initially found, it was thought that it was a cave lion. But the reality is that genetics has said something very different: it was a woolly rhinoceros. Something that is incredible, since it is the first time in history that the complete genome of an Ice Age animal has been sequenced from the stomach contents of another animal. A great milestone. For science to recover the genetic material of a species in these conditions, the truth is that it is something incredible because of the doors it opens. And DNA is where we can find practically everythingeven the genetic health of the species before its end. Genetic decline. For decades, the dominant theory suggested that woolly rhinos disappeared due to slow genetic erosion. It was believed that, as its population was reduced, inbreeding accumulated harmful mutations that doomed the species due to the many diseases caused by having children between relatives. But this is something that has now been completely debunked. When comparing the genome with samples from 18,000 and 48,500 years ago, the researchers found no decline in diversity. Furthermore, there was no indication that the species was in a state of inbreeding as there was no genetic crossing between close relatives. That is why the effective population remained stable at about 1,600 individuals until just a few centuries before its total disappearance. The culprit. If it was not genetics and inbreeding that condemned the species and not human hunting (because thousands of years passed together without it happening)… what happened? Science now points to Bølling-Allerød Interstadial, a period of abrupt climate warming that occurred about 14,000 years ago. This phenomenon transformed the dry, cold steppe (the rhino paradise) into a landscape of bushy vegetation and, most critically, deep snow. Without being able to live. The woolly rhino, with its short legs and heavy body, was not designed to walk on soft snow or dig for grass under thick layers for food. In this way, it was an environmental trap that caused the animals to not be able to adapt correctly to the new habitat that had been generated around them due to how quickly it happened. Looking to the future. What we learn in the past can also be applied today and tomorrow. And this study does not only speak of the past, since in a context of current climate crisis, the case of the woolly rhinoceros is a warning. It shows that even a species with a stable population and robust genetics can collapse almost instantly if the ecosystem changes abruptly. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | Whale vomit: a rare substance that looks like floating garbage, but can cost up to $71,000 per kilo

The extinction of Neanderthals has always been a mystery. Science now believes that they are still with us

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For decades, the disappearance of Neanderthals has been one of the biggest mysteries of human evolution. It happened about 40,000 years ago, suspiciously coincident with our species Homo sapiens to Eurasia… But now we are thinking that they did not become extinct. What was thought. Classical theories paint a replacement scenario: either we wiped them out in direct competition, or they couldn’t withstand brutal climate change. But now a study published in Scientific Reports offers a much more fascinating answer: we absorb them among ourselves. And the key to all this is genetic dilution. The hypotheses. To go deeper, the competition hypothesis suggests that Homo sapiens We were simply superior: we had better hunting strategies, a broader diet or more advanced social structures that allowed us to monopolize all the resources, driving the Neanderthals to extinction. On the other hand, the environmental hypothesis blames the drastic climate changes that occurred just at that time. According to this idea, Neanderthals could not adapt to extreme fluctuations and their populations fragmented until they disappeared permanently. However, the new study presents a mathematical model that leaves both factors aside and focuses on the most basic of all: demographics and sex. The new model. The authors of the study propose an analytical model that demonstrates how Neanderthals could disappear without the need for the Homo sapiens had any selective advantage over them. The model does not require “catastrophic events” or cognitive superiority. Instead, it relies on a concept called “species-neutral drift” and a key factor: small, recurring immigrations of Homo sapiens in Neanderthal territories. There were many more of us. One of the first ideas pointed out in this case is that the population Homo sapiens that left Africa was much larger in number than the Neanderthal, acting as a “practically infinite demographic reservoir.” By going together, because friction makes affection, and between the species they began to intersect and had very fertile offspring. The model assumes that this was not a one-time event, but rather a “sustained gene flow” that occurred every time a small group of modern humans arrived in an area. So, adding that the Neanderthal population was much smaller and there was a constant influx of genes from Homo sapiensthe result is the dissolution of the gene pool. It’s literally like pouring a glass of Neanderthal water into an ocean of Homo sapiens. In the end his presence is completely diluted. The time. The most powerful thing about the study is that its calculations fit with the archaeological record. The mathematical model shows that this process of “almost complete genetic replacement” could have occurred within a period of 10,000 to 30,000 years, something that aligns with the long period of coexistence that both species had in Eurasia. Were they extinct? This is the question we ask ourselves. Know if the word ‘extinction’ is appropriate for this paradigm. This model offers what scientists call a “parsimonious explanation” (the simplest). In words we understand, it does not deny that other factors, such as competition or weather, could have contributed. But it shows that this genetic dissolution alone is something that may have explained the disappearance of the Neanderthals. That is why, rather than an extinction, we speak of a fusion by absorption. This perfectly explains why the Neanderthals disappeared as a genetically distinct group, but their legacy endures: modern humans of Eurasian ancestry conserve in our DNA a small percentage of their genetic heritage (although very diluted). Images | mostafa meraji In Xataka | Human evolution has not stopped: in fact, there are reasons to think that it is more accelerated than ever

We thought dinosaurs were on the verge of extinction before the meteorite. we were wrong

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The most emblematic mass extinction in Earth’s history without a doubt occurred up to 66 million years ago. It marked the end of an era like the Cretaceousand with it, the disappearance of dinosaurs that were not birds. But what was that extinction really like? This is the big question that experts have asked themselves and that it is already beginning to have light. For decades the scientific community has debated whether dinosaurs were already in decline before they abruptly went extinct or whether they were wiped out while they were still thriving. This is where the new has had an impact published study in the magazine Science in which the Spanish researcher Jorge García-Girón from the University of León participates, who sheds light on this debate. Simply put, the research refutes the idea of ​​a prolonged decline and suggests that dinosaurs were diverse and divided into distinct ecological regions just before the asteroid impact. The fossils of the south. Much of the uncertainty about this issue comes from a bias in the fossil record. The only well-dated faunas that span the extinction boundary come from northern North America (in the famous Hell Creek Formation). This made it impossible to know whether the extinction pattern observed there was a global or local phenomenon. In this case, the research team focused on a fossil-rich unit much further south, in the San Juan basin of New Mexico, known as the Member Naashoibito. The age of this formation has been a matter of controversy for years and was often considered much older. But now by applying geochronology techniques with Argon dating and magnetostratiography, the study has finally achieved precise dating. The results are conclusive: the Naashoibito Member dates back to the latest Cretaceous, which corresponds to up to 66 million years. This means that the fossils found there, which include a variety of species, preserve some of the last known non-avian dinosaurs. They lived a maximum of 340,000 years before the asteroid impact and were contemporaries of the Hell Creek fauna. Separated by weather. This finding is crucial because, for the first time, it allows us to compare two different faunas from the same end of the Cretaceous. And the result refutes the idea that we had all about decline in our minds. And the study not only dates the fossils, but also uses powerful ecological models to analyze the diversity of terrestrial vertebrates throughout North America. The results show that, far from forming a homogeneous and cosmopolitan fauna, the dinosaurs maintained high diversity and clear endemism until the end. In other words, it can be said that the dinosaurs were “strong” and divided into distinct regional assemblages. In this case, the study identifies two clear bioprovinces in the north and south that remained stable during the late Cretaceous. What separated these faunas? The analysis suggests that the main factor was temperature. More than a simple geographic division, different dinosaur communities were adapted to different climates. For example, the data propose that warmer southern regions may have been more tolerable for sauropods, while colder, more temperate northern regions were more suitable for hadrosaurines. The conclusion. The sum of the evidence points directly to the fact that non-avian dinosaurs were abruptly annihilated at the end of the Cretaceous. They were not in a decline as was thought, so they did not have this factor on top of them that would already condemn them to extinction if the disastrous event on Earth had passed. Instead, it has been seen that its ecosystem was diverse and biogeographically compartmentalized. Extinction in this way was sudden and, as the later fossil record demonstrates, was followed almost immediately by the rapid diversification and rise of mammals. Images | Vaibhav Pixels In Xataka | A museum kept bones for 20 years that they thought were rubble. Now we know that Mexico had its own T-Rex

that supernovae are behind two mass extinction events on Earth

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When we think about mass extinctions, we almost always The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs comes to mind. But the universe has much more spectacular ways of reconfiguring life, as pointed out a scientific study which suggests that at least two of the ‘Big Five‘Earth extinctions were not caused by space rocks, but by the lethal radiation of stars exploding very close to our solar system. The study. The research, led by Alexis L. Quintana of the University of Alicante, has complicated the most complete census to date of OB type starsthe “heavyweights” of the galaxy. These stars are incredibly large, hot and luminous, and they live fast and die young, ending their lives in titanic explosions known as core collapse supernovae (ccSN). Space bombs. The team in this case has mapped 24,706 of these stars within a radius of 1 kiloparsec (about 3,260 light years) around the Sun. And with this map, they have been able to calculate something crucial: the frequency with which one of these cosmic bombs explodes in our neighborhood. The key fact is chilling: they estimate that a supernova close enough (about 20 parsecs or 65 light years) to wreak havoc on Earth that occurs about 2.5 times every billion years. This figure, which may seem low, fits eerily into the fossil record. A death mechanism. How exactly would a nearby supernova kill you? It’s not the blast wave, but the radiation. Such an energetic and upcoming explosion would bathe our planet in a torrent of gamma and cosmic rays, tearing apart our ozone layer. Without that protective shield, ultraviolet radiation from our own Sun became lethal, sterilizing the planet’s surface and causing ecological collapse. Specifically, the study points out that this rate of 2.5 events per billion years is “consistent” with the fact that one or more of the mass extinctions recorded on Earth were caused by this mechanism. Specifically, they point to two devastating events: Both extinctions have been linked by other studies to periods of intense glaciation and, crucially, a drastic reduction in atmospheric ozone, a “murder weapon” that points directly to a cosmic culprit. Updates. Beyond the threat to Earth, the new OB star census has allowed the team to recalculate the overall supernova rate for the entire planet. Milky Way. And here there has been a surprise: it is lower than we thought. Previous calculations put the rate at 1 or 2 explosions per century. The new study lowers it to 0.4 – 0.5 supernovae per century. The authors attribute this difference to the fact that their census is more precise and reliable thanks to Gaia data, since the models of how stars evolve have improved. This new figure is not just an astronomical curiosity; It is fundamental data for other fields of physics. For example, it is vital for calculating the frequency with which we should be able to detect gravitational waves coming from these explosions within our own galaxy. Our protection. Fortunately, a look at our current stellar neighborhood is reassuring. Although there are massive stars that we know will explode “soon” (in astronomical time), such as the famous red supergiants Antares and Betelgeuse, both are hundreds of light years away. They are too far away to fry us with their radiation, but close enough that when they finally detonate (which could happen tomorrow or 100,000 years from now), they will give us a light show in the sky that will last for weeks. Meanwhile, we now have a new suspect to blame for some of the worst catastrophes in the history of life, long before humans came along to witness it. Images | Aron Visuals 愚木混株 Yumu In Xataka | We could think of space as a place without climate threats to Earth. We could ignore the “space tornadoes”

74,000 years ago, a volcanic eruption led humanity to the edge of extinction. We begin to understand how we survive

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74,000 years ago, in a remote lake north of Sumatra, a volcano erupted. But it wasn’t a normal volcano. According to archaeologist Jayde N. Hiniak“The Toba expelled 2,800 cubic kilometers of ash to the stratosphere, created a crater of 1,000 soccer fields” and caused a global winter. That could take our species to the edge of extinction: for more than half a century, many anthropologists are convinced that it was that eruption (one of the greatest known eruptions) that reduced the human population to about 10,000 fertile couples. It would be the most critical moment of Homo Sapiens since it arose. It is true that the theory is controversial and the debate around the real climate change that the Toba created is still very alive; However, no one doubts that what happened that day in Sumatra was a huge catastrophe. And that can be seen in archaeological remains. As Hiniak pointed out“Most archaeological sites show a history of resistance.” In areas such as South Africa or the lowlands of Ethiopia these climatic changes led to the adoption of technological innovations such as the development of arches and arrows. In much closer places (such as Indonesia, India or China), the population also suffered deep changes that allowed him to survive. All this can be known because the Toba left many geological samples distributed throughout the world. Studying the deposits before and after the ash of the volcano gives a lot of information on how these societies changed socio-technologically. The flexibility was key. Regardless of what Toba will cause (or not) drastic reduction Of the population, what is clear is that it allows us to draw conclusions about what was the fundamental feature that explains the survival of human communities: behavioral flexibility. Something that allows Image | Tetiana Grypachevska In Xataka | When Newton reached the fundamental laws of physics there was already a sign that said “Leonardo was here”

They are fires “out of extinction”

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Spain faces a crisis for which it is difficult to find precedents. The fires have always been present in our summers, but this year it could be thought that their voracity would have caught us off guard. Fire extinction teams have often had problems supplying in their work in the fight against fire. And it is not for less, the situation has been extreme and, in part, the fault is in the very nature of these fires. The magnitude of a crisis. The most recent data indicate that fires this year have already devastated plus 340,000 hectaresthe worst data in several decades. The fires They have cost life to several people, eight according to more recent databut they have also caused injuries and have forced thousands of people to move to safer areas. According to data from the emergency management system of the European Terrestrial Observation Program Copernicus (Copernicus ems), this summer the fires have devastated with a much greater area than usual in Spain, approximately 6.5 times the average of previous years. Another fact that allows us to illustrate the seriousness of the problem is that of the almost six million tons Carbon dioxide (CO2) that these fires have released the atmosphere only in Spain, a figure that almost doubles the records of previous years and multiplies the previous average several times. Sixth generation. The voracity of some of the fires we have seen responds to its nature as fires called “Sixth Generation”. In this type of fire the fire reaches an intensity so that it alters the circulation of air in its environment, it generates important convective movements and even pyrocumuli, “clouds of fire”. All this makes the displacement of fast and unpredictable fire, making it difficult to control and extinction. Not all the fires that are currently produced are of this type, but the current conditions favor the appearance of this type of fires. An extreme heat wave as lived in recent weeks, added to the presence of abundant fuel matter, is the broth of Ideal culture for appearance Fifth and sixth generation fires, the most dangerous we catalog. “After a spring as wet as this year in which the vegetation has grown a lot, now we find an extreme heat situation, strong winds and a lot of time (in some cases several months) without rain,” explained to Science Media Center Cristina Santín Nuño, Head of the Department of Biodiversity and Global Change of the Mixed Institute of Biodiversity Research (University of Oviedo-CSIC). “We have all the ingredients for the ‘Molotov cocktail’ that we are seeing right now not only in Spain.” Prevent, better than turns off. Experts agree that our resources when fighting this type of fires are very limited due to their extreme intensity. Often the tools we have to fight fire lacks utility due to the enormous accumulation of energy in these fires, which implies the need to wait and focus on preventing the situation from getting worse. “We cannot forget that, in many cases, when the fires are very large, fast and intense, they cannot be fully controlled by many means of extinction that are dedicated to them. In principle, it seems that the current heat wave will begin to refer in a couple of days, so that could give a truce,” Santín Nuño added. In A recent interview In the newspaper The worldPaco Castañares, who was the General Director of the Environment The Board of Extremadura in the early 90s, also emphasized the impossibility of fighting these events. The reason is that the fires of this magnitude “reach temperatures of 1,200 degrees Celsius in their pirocumulus.” As if this were not enough, it is “fires that have neither head or fronts because they come and go from one place to another,” he added. Not only the voracity of fires. The lack of means when facing fires has been one of the great debates during this fire cycle. The impossibility of fighting this type of fire can make us fall into a false sense of inevitability, but the truth is that the means of extinction are more necessary than ever for several reasons. The first and most obvious is that not all forest fires we are seeing get into an inextinguishable phase: the fires of lower generations are manageable and require the work of the troops destined to the fight against fire. In Spain There are still numerous active fireseach with own characteristics and intensity. Secondly, it must be remembered that sixth generation fires are not inextinguishable from beginning to end although they can be in its intermediate stages. Getting control a fire before acquiring characteristics that make it indomitable is a way to prevent the worst consequences of these events. In addition, after this peak of intensity, the fire refers facilitating its extinction. Finding this moment and taking advantage of it requires these media. Beyond the border of fire. To this is added the importance of having means beyond the limits of the fire, both in space; to protect vulnerable places before the arrival of the flames; And in time, out of the fire season. Regarding the latter case, the present fires have revealed the need to take care of the rural environment Also during winter. The key is also in how the means destined to protect people and the fire environment are distributed. According to Castañares himself explained“Above all, the media have to be inside the people protecting people, with them, it didn’t.” In Xataka | The heat wave and forest fires have another face: the agricultural sector is the one that has to lose in this crisis Image | Copernicus / Ministry for Ecological Transition

Professional CEOs are a species in extinction. Who tries it does not repeat

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“CEO is sought for a large company. Leadership capacity is valued and being able to work under pressure. Salary above the average.” If vacancies for the positions of the executive director of the large companies will be announced Like the rest of the positionsthey would probably be something similar to this. However, there are less and less “ceos to serir”, as they defined them In an article of The Wall Street Journal Two decades ago, referring to a lineage of executive directors capable of Change company Every four years, and even sector. The important thing is to direct. What does not matter so much. Ceos for everything. There was a time when the executive directors jumped from one company to another every four or five years. It was almost a mythical figure in the halls of global capitalism. These leaders, known as CEO in seriesthey were sought to lead deep transformations, implement aggressive cuts or save drifting companies. However, that figure is running out of generational relief. However, there are still some managers that fit into the classification of CEOs in series. Names like Luca de Meowho was head of Fiat and Alfa Romeo before becoming CEO of Renault, and is now emerging to lead the transformation of Kering, luxury fashion holding that markets marks such as Gucci, Balenciaga or Boucheron. Brian Niccolcurrent CEO of Starbucks, which had previously directed Chipotle and Taco Bell. Be CEO. Instead, such and as he points out he Financial Timesthe predominant model is the “One and Done”, in which many executive directors choose to occupy that position only once in their career, exhausted by pressure, extreme public exposure and wear that implies exercising the leadership of a large company today. The CEO of a British company quoted in the stock market reflected this feeling by declaring the Financial Times: “After this work, I will have finished. It is very rewarding, but it leaves you exhausted. I will never occupy the position of executive director ever again.” According to data From Russell Reynolds, in 2024 there were 220 changes in the dome of large companies in the main 13 global markets. Of these, in 187 cases (85%) were appointments of people who assumed the position of CEO for the first time. This phenomenon has accelerated since 2018 and highlights a substantial change in the criteria of choice of new CEO. As Laura Sanderson, director at Russell Reynolds, explains, “the decline of the CEO in series probably reflects the nature of the current position. It is high pressure, high risk and is very exposed. The path to a retirement with the intact reputation is complicated and, for many leaders, a single experience like CEO is sufficient.” Chiefs of the quarry. Given the shortage of profiles experienced in the direction of large companies, many companies have begun to invest in their internal talent quarries. He Ascent from other high positions of management as directors of operations, financial directors or area leaders has become a usual formula to ensure a less traumatic relief because Who ascends already knows the company. However, it is no longer enough to know the company and the sector in which it moves, but as it summarizes A study From Miltown Partners and The Chief of Staff Association, “today’s leaders have become executive directors who do everything, everywhere and at the same time.” The position now also requires other skills that the quarry managers cannot always offer: the advance of AI, the constant pressure of the shareholders, the political and cultural atmosphere. Any phrase out of place can become A reputational crisis for the company and even at a real risk for the manager, which can become target of attacks as was the case of the executive director of United Healthcare More difficult, more salary. The increase in the requirement of responsibility for executive directors has also been accompanied by A salary increase equivalent. He Average salary of the CEOs Of the large US companies reached 30.9 million dollars in 2024, which means “more than one fifth part of the average salary of 2023”, according to Indicates the study Made by Equila and Associated Press. However, neither money nor The extraordinary benefits have managed to stop the Trend to abandonment of the management positions. It is increasingly common for candidates to reject these positions if other companies have already directed before or if the conditions seem especially demanding. Power wears. Faced with this continuous stress situation suffered by the company’s first representative, a new form of early retirement is being imposed: that of the “portfolio race”. With this new modality, the Executive takes a step to the side as a visible face of the company, but remain linked to it taking advantage of its experience as an advisor or defending the interests of the company participating in the board of directors of third parties. An example would be Noel Quinn, who, after a prolific Race at the head of the Swiss Bank HSBChe decided to retire in 2024: “Now is the right time to achieve a better balance between my personal and business life,” explained after Assume the presidency of the Swiss bank Julius Baer. In Xataka | The best paid CEOs of the technology industry, gathered in a simple graphic Image | Wikimedia Commons (Alejandro Migl), Flickr (ACC District), Unspash (Pablo Varela)

Japan has found the number of children per woman to avoid demographic extinction. Two thirds of the planet are very far

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A group of researchers in Japan He started studying What number of children by women could be understood as a key to “avoid extinction”, understanding this, not as prevention before a total apocalypse of our civilization, but as the prevention of statistical extinction of the lineages or family lines over time. They found two things: that the number that was presupposed above was very low, and that a large part of the population is late. Beyond the threshold. For decades, the magic number to keep the human population “stable” It has been 2.1: It was believed that, on average, each woman should have just over two children to ensure The generational replacement and avoid population decline. However, a New study warns that this threshold is outdated and insufficient. According to Japanese researchers, the true level of fertility necessary to guarantee the long -term survival of a human population is not 2.1, but of 2.7 children per woman. The reasons? This adjustment is due to the fact that the traditional calculation does not contemplate the Stochastic variability (that is, randomness) in factors such as individual fertility, mortality, sex proportions at birth and the probability that some people simply never have offspring. By incorporating these real fluctuations into population mathematical models (through Galton-Watson Model), The authors concluded that a higher rate is needed for Avoid progressive extinction of family lineages in generations of the future, especially in societies with low sustained birth. Map of when European fertility rates fell below replacement levels Ignored warning. The finding is especially alarming because currently two thirds of the population World Cup lives in countries with fertility rates below the old 2.1 threshold, and well below the new estimated 2.7. Among the most affected, many highly developed, are South Korea (0.87), Italy (1.29), Japan (1.30), Canada (1.47), Germany (1.53), United Kingdom (1.57), France (1.79) or the United States, with a rate of just 1.6 children per woman. These levels, which have remained low for decades, mean that almost all family lines in these countries are intended, statistically, to extinguish at some point in the future. Plus: The study clarifies that A slight bias Towards female births (that is, a slightly greater proportion of girls than boys) could marginally decrease the risk of extinction, increasing the probability of reproduction in future generations. But even that factor, by itself, would not be enough to compensate for a persistently low fertility rate. Map of countries according to global fertility rate Pronatalists Interestingly, this information reinforces the alarms that have sounded from certain sectors concerned about the future demographic. One of the most visible faces of pronatalism contemporary It’s Elon Muskwho has repeatedly warned that the low birth rates “will end civilization” and whose prolific paternity (at least 11 known children) is presented as a deliberate act in this fear. For pronatalists, raising birth rate is a Existential priority. However, this position is not widely shared by the general population. United Nations Population projections by location (the vertical axis is logarithmic and represents millions of people) Social realism. Fortune told that a Population Connection survey carried out at the beginning of the year showed that most people do not consider low birth rate An urgent problem. Only 15% perceived it as one of the main global challenges, while 45% expressed more concern about excessive population growth, given the fear that children are born in poverty conditions or with exhausted natural resources. More perceptions. Another more recent survey, Made by Yahoo News and Yougov revealed that only 8% of Americans were “very concerned” about the fall in the country’s birth rate, and only 32% expressed any degree of concern about it. In the background, another reality that We have been counting: a majority of those who do not have children, or have few, do not do it for apathy towards the future of humanity, but For practical reasons: The lack of institutional support, the loss of life, the high cost of parenting or the perception that the world is not a conducive place to form large families, they are also key. In addition, it generates an increasingly acute contrast between the demographic predictions of experts and the immediate priorities of the population. So? The warning of Japanese researchers seems clear: without a change of course, demographic extinction will be slow but inevitable in many regions of the world. And although the term “extinction” may sound apocalyptic, what is at stake, according to scientists, is not the sudden disappearance of the human species, but the progressive erosion of family and cultural continuity, in a process where future generations will be more scarce, more isolated and, in many cases, non -existent. From that prism, reproducing is more conditioned than ever to social, economic and environmental factors, and the figure of 2.7 children per woman may seem more a demographic utopia than an attainable objective. It does not seem that we are going to extinguish in the short term, at least not through “fertility”, but The study It puts the focus on the population growth to which many regions point out. Image | Pexels, JOHNSONRED, Korakys In Xataka | We thought we were 8,000 million people throughout the planet. Until some researchers began to make numbers In Xataka | In Japan there is no doubt that they live worse than 30 years ago. Literally, houses are getting smaller and smaller

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