It has been an historic year for natural disasters, as human-amplified climate change (paired with some more periodic events like El Niño) have made storms and droughts and floods more intense—and the US in particular has been having a bad, expensive time, in part (based on current analysis) because of a lack of preparation, aging infrastructure, and relatively expensive repair and replacement costs.
Speaking of the climate, one current UN goal is to provide $100 billion to newly disaster-prone, poorer nations, by asking wealthier nations to pay-out a portion of their wealth; some nations have been more on the ball with this than others, with Norway leading the way, and Greece providing a somewhat piddly portion of their overall GDP to this cause.
Uranium is back in the news these days, as the global nuclear power industry kicks back into higher-gear, governments keen to lock-in reliable sources of steady, baseline power alongside all the solar and wind (intermittent sources of energy) they’re also deploying; relatively few countries have the lion’s share of this resource, and those that play well with others internationally are especially popular right now (as some traditional sources, like those in Russia, are less feasible options, diplomatically).
Some pandemic trends, like opting for outdoorsy vacation options, have been sustained over the past few years: in the US, for instance, National Parks have seen an impressive uptick in popularity, and though there was a downswing for a moment when the Park Service had to keep people from visiting as much as they might like, the overall trend that began back in the mid-20th century has persevered.
