How COVID-19 is Aiding Endangered Leatherback Turtles and What it Could Mean for Tourists

With the pandemic occurring, many people are being forced to stay indoors, only allowed to go out to get the essentials. This is leaving many without jobs, family-run businesses having to permanently close, and an increase of those filing for unemployment. The Corona Virus has been infecting many, leading to their deaths. The situation at hand is horrible but there is a silver lining.

While many people are staying home and practicing social distancing, many animals have started to increase in numbers, one of them being the leatherback turtles, which is labeled as an endangered species. In Phuket, Thailand, Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong reports to CNN in this article that there have been 11 nests found on their beaches. Kittiwatanawong adds that “If we compare to the year before, we didn't have this many spawn”. David Godfrey, who is the Executive Director for the Sea Turtle Conservancy, adds on in this article that it takes roughly 60 days for a sea turtle to hatch.

So why are there so little of them that they are labeled as endangered? Well, Kittiwatawong continues, saying that “turtles have a high risk of getting killed by fishing gear and humans disturbing the beach”. Because of the shelter in place orders, however, there’s been a decrease in human interaction and those at the beach. This allows these turtles to nest in areas they previously couldn’t. However, in Florida, they’re deciding to reopen beaches with the intent of just exercising. 

This means an increase in the number of people at the beach and even if they aren’t there to sightsee, this still can lead to turtles being unintentionally harmed. Not only that, but Phuket is a major tourist attraction that is currently on lockdown. The main reason why these turtles have returned to the beaches of Phuket is because of the lack of people there currently. When Phuket inevitably lifts the lockdown orders, these turtles most likely will become a tourist site, with many wanting to see, touch, take photos of or with, or even take these turtles. Thus would lead to more money going to the hotels and transportation needed to get there. This creates a cycle: if these turtles continue to return to these beaches to nest, more tourists will pay to see them. And if the number of turtles goes down or they stop nesting there, fewer tourists will be going for that reason, leading to a decrease.

This connects to the course theme of "what are the challenges and benefits of the historical trend towards economic and environmental interdependence?”. These turtles can create a direct correlation to the number of tourists. The more “turtle” tourists there are, the more the money is spent to go to the Phuket beaches. The fewer turtles, the fewer “turtle” tourists, meaning less money spent there.

Questions:

1. Should there be anything done to protect these turtles from tourists? If so, what?
1. To what extent should they be protected?
2. Do you believe there should be restrictions and/or people to ‘guard’ the hatching turtles? What kind of restrictions?

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/18/us/thriving-sea-turtles-lockdown-florida-beaches-trnd/index.html

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/coronavirus-turtles-beaches-leatherback-tourists-nests-florida-thailand-a9474371.html?utm_source=reddit.com

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/19/florida-leatherback-turtles-coronavirus-beaches

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/thailand-sea-turtles-coronavirus-scli-intl-scn/index.html

The Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery

by: Johnny H. & Luke Quanbeck



The concept of Racism first appeared in the 1600s, and have since then become a very controversial topic. It doesn’t have a pretty history and often involved violence, disputes, and a source for feud between friends, families, and cultures. Since the start of racism, many have seen it to be capable of causing negative impacts to the world as a whole, and therefore tried to stop it from continuing. One famous example, which we discussed in our background guide, is Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech; the speech is entirely dedicated to evoking equality and the end of racism against Blacks in the US. The famous speech was delivered in 1963 in front of hundreds of thousands of people, but was heard around the country and the world. Acts like this help us “segregate” out our difference, so that we may unite as a whole-- but does Racism still exist today?


February 23rd was not remembered as a day of celebration for famous comedians like Aziz Ismail this year, but rather a much more tragic event which involved the murder of an innocent person: Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery can be considered, in many ways, a successful 25 years old: pursuing his dream as an electrician and being a well acclaimed football player in high school. According to this article, Arbery also had many friends and family members who actually “knew” and cared about him, and he himself never did any wrongful to anyone-- except for being who he is, a black man.


The 23rd was a pretty normal sunny day, and Arbery was just doing his normal Jogging in a south Georgia neighborhood in Brunswick. During his run, Arbery was also seen at a construction site according to this video footage. Arbery enters the construction site out of curiosity, and “ doesn’t take anything” at all from the site. The one thing that could get him in trouble is trespassing, though it does not classify as a felony. It would not justify his or anyone’s arrest, and definitely not a death penalty-- or does it? That afternoon, Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis, were also in the neighborhood of Brunswick, trying to “investigate” “a series of recent break-ins in the area” according to the CNN. Gregory 64, was a former police officer, said that he saw Arbery running in the neighborhood that day, and thought he “looked like a...suspect.” He then “chased [Arbery] down” with his son. After chasing him down in his white truck, Gregory armed himself with a .357 revolver and his son a shotgun, and “stopped in the right lane with its driver’s door open” according to the US news. When Arbery was just crossing from the back of the truck, a shot was fired. Arbery then was seen struggling with Travis, who’s holding the shotgun, before 2 more shots were fired and Arbery was seen falling to the ground. The wound Arbery received was fatal.





Source: Shows the confrontation between Arbery and Travis, who had the shotgun




Gregory McMichael claims that “Arbery began to ‘violently attack’ his son, fighting him for the shotgun,” which is why his son was prompted and did fire the gun. Prosecutors also argued that there weren’t any probable causes for the arrest of the McMichaels, and that “they were legally carrying firearms, had a right to pursue a burglary suspect and use deadly force to protect themselves.” (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Sandra Maler and Leslie Adler). Many others, such as Arbery’s family attorney S.Lee Merritt, however, says that “the McMichaels saw a black man jogging through their neighborhood, assumed the worst and tracked him down and killed him,” according to the CNN. Gregory McMichael ‘declined'' any comment about the incident when questioned on the week of May 8th, saying that he was “busy.” There weren’t any true motives behind the suspicion and killing of Arbery, except for their racism against blacks. According to Fox News, right after Gregory saw Arbery jogging, he dialed 911 and reported “a black man running down the street.” It “was a hate crime” says Jasmine Arbery, Ahmaud Arbery’s sister. “Arbery was black and the men involved in the shooting incident are white” is not a mere coincidence, but a cruelty-planned racist murder.


Arbery’s family, friends, and the whole community is understandable infuriated at this seemingly forbidden offence, especially because of the fact that “it took 74 days” for the McMichaels to be found guilty and arrested. 

Source: Arbery family attorney says on Twitter



-- According to this article, many people have been trying to pay respect to Arbery, as well as to raise “concerns about what it’s calling social injustice in the case.” People of “all colors, ages, women and men” have participated in the lamentable tragedy that befell Ahmaud Arbery, as well as to celebrate the justice for the arrest of the McMichaels. Arbery’s Sister says to CNN that “her family hasn’t had time to grieve. On Friday, they will honor her brother and his birthday by going to Brunswick and releasing balloons.”

Arbery family attorney Benjamin Crump also raises the question of how well the law is actually performing in the contemporary world. He argues that “ ‘guns create a dangerous situation and avail themselves of stand your ground or self defence. That’s just not how the law’s designed to work.’” From what happened in Arbery’s case, it definitely shows the law to be poorly designed and can give rise to adverse incidents like that of Arbery’s. Arbery had done nothing wrong on that day, yet someone was able to come up with a feasible reason for shooting and killing him. The shooter/shooters were also able to justify what they’ve done with the simple reason of “self defence” and actually get away with it, at least for a while. “His parents are denied the simple joy of celebrating with their son” on Arbery’s birthday, which is on Friday the 8th, says Crump.


After the district attorney “insistently” insisted that “he thought the McMichaels had used their citizen’s arrest rights,” which upholds their early actions towards Arbery, the community was not happy. According to the CNN, Tom Durden of the atlantic Judicial Circuit said that “he would present the evidence to a grand jury,” in confidence that he can vindicate the McMichaels. Later, however, he requested the agency to take over instead. On Tuesday May 5th, demonstrators gathered on the Satilla Shores neighborhood where Arbery was killed and stated that:


“‘You want to chase somebody down? We got over 100 bodies out here. Chase us down,’ said a man leading the demonstration. ‘We're a community. We're not going to keep allowing this to go on in Glynn County.’" (Source: CNN)


These demonstrations of hundreds of people conveys the course theme of “ Is history shaped more by individual people or by systemic forces beyond any one person’s influences.” Though all this demonstration and questioning of the integrity of our Laws all sparked from the murder of one person, Ahmaud Arbery, in order to achieve real “history,” a systemic force is required. “There is always strength in numbers” once said Mark Shields, and that’s exactly what would be needed in order for changes to happen, even small ones. Intuitively, it’s pretty clear that reforms which would satiate many’s wishes would be better focused on, as opposed to only one person’s, by the government. In this case, it not only somewhat influenced the deeper look into Arbery’s case, but also raised awareness regarding the decency of the law to both the citizens and the government.


Discussion Question:


Why do you think Racism still exists to this day? No one really benefits from it, right?

Would you consider what the McMichaels have done to be self defence?

Do you think whether or not chasing down a random person and pointing a gun at them just because they look “suspicious” is rational?



Sources:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CDT5o8dOfP7AxnQGx_jSoexplbtAakwSXZRMKXTeF88/edit

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2020-05-07/georgia-father-son-arrested-on-murder-charges-in-shooting-of-unarmed-black-man

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/07/us/ahmaud-arbery-arrests-mcmichaels/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/10/ahmaud-arbery-surveillance-video-construction-savidge-vpx.

Cnn

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/opinion/ahmaud-arbery-justice.html

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2020/05/10/group-drives-from-savannah-to-brunswick-to-pay-respects-to-ahmaud-arbery/

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/08/852719660/more-arrests-possible-in-the-killing-of-ahmaud-arbery-state-investigators-say

https://twitter.com/AttorneyCrump/status/1258555465732104196?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1258555465732104196&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2020%2F05%2F08%2F852719660%2Fmore-arrests-possible-in-the-killing-of-ahmaud-arbery-state-investigators-say

"Mark Shields Quotes." BrainyQuote.com. BrainyMedia Inc, 2020. 11 May 2020. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/mark_shields_226003

The Global Food Crisis

by: Luke Quanbeck

The COVID-19 pandemic has shocked the world since the start of 2020. Along with it, 280,000 people have died, the global economy has crashed, schools are cancelled, and millions are out of work (JOHNS HOPKINS). But the most deadly issue that has come along with this pandemic isn’t the virus itself but the Global Food Crisis that it has contributed to. National lockdowns are keeping people out of work and drying up incomes. This virus has a tremendous effect on people in poorer nations as they were barely making enough to survive before the pandemic. But not only 3rd world countries are a part of this food crisis. A shocking 59% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, this means that they don’t have savings accounts to access in the case of an income reduction or loss in a situation like this(CHARLES SCHWAB).



Unlike hunger crises in the past which were regional and caused by weather, economic downturns, wars, or political instability, this crisis is worldwide and caused by a virus. These past hunger crises were fixed easily as the rest of the world would come together and send food to the certain areas affected by the crisis. This time, almost every country in the world is fighting their battle against hunger so they cannot afford to help countries that are in a more dire situation. Before the Pandemic there were 135 million people facing hunger, now there is an estimated 130 million more people that will face hunger by the end of 2020.




“Already, 135 million people had been facing acute food shortages, but now with the pandemic, 130 million more could go hungry in 2020”

-Arif Husain, chief economist at the World Food Program.




Experts say that this hunger crisis was caused by multiple factors connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors include the collapse in oil prices, loss of income for millions of people living paycheck to paycheck, widespread shortages of hard currency from tourism dying out, overseas workers not having earnings to send home, and other ongoing issues. Another big factor is that 368 million students worldwide who got free or reduced price lunch are no longer recieving it(NY TIMES). This adds extra stress on the families because now they have to worry about feeding themselves and their children with no income source. There is no shortage of food yet in the world or mass starvation yet. Logistical problems in harvesting, planting, and transporting food are bound to happen in the coming months.




This connects to the course theme of “Explain the interconnected nature of global problems and their economic development” as the pandemic which started in China has spread worldwide and crippled the global economy.

Discussion Questions:

Are wealthier countries responsible for helping the 3rd world countries in this food crisis?

Should the Federal Government be responsible to aid states that are struggling with this food crisis?




Sources:

https://www.vox.com/2020/5/9/21251895/food-banks-lines-pandemic


https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/08/14/paycheck-to-paycheck-most-americans-struggle-financially-survey-says/39940123/


https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/world/africa/coronavirus-hunger-crisis.html

Real or Fake news?

by: Johnny H

There are a lot of events happening in the world right now, and a lot of them are newsworthy. Whether the news is about politics, scientific achievements, or social events relating to celebrities, they are all made much easier to spread because of modern social media platforms. However, not all of these “news” being uploaded onto the internet are true; even information widely shared by the public can be false and misleading. Fake news has always been a “hot topic since 2017,” though recently worsened due to the coronavirus issue. Since people aren’t allowed to really consult with each other face-to-face, they have to get all their information off the internet-- which is how false news gets caught and spret. The associated press by April 24, decided to look at some of these recent “stories and visuals of the week,” and sort out what really is legit. 

In the Article NOT REAL NEWS: A Look at What Didn't Happen This Week, the associated press evaluated various claims, rumors, and photos produced by the public, and straightened out the facts from the lies.

Claim: “Worst pandemic in 100 years, what does congress do? Takes a paid vacation.”- Facebook post April,24th.

Facts: Recently, false posts regarding the members of congress taking vacations in this time where millions of Americans are losing their jobs, have been spreading. This, however, is not true, as congress members-- Democratic house speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican senate leader Mitch Mcconnell and others-- have been trying to solve this issue according to the AP news. Infact, on Tuesday April 21st, the Senate agreed to “pass a 483 billion package that will help fund small business payrolls and hospitals,” clearly aiming to provide aid to those in need in this time of crisis. Then on Thursday the 23rd, members of the house gathered to discuss “social distancing rules.” U.S. representative Steny Hoyer explained in Thursday’s meeting session, that “members have been working round-the-clock to make sure their communities are safe,” and are indeed hard at work, just at home like the others. In addition, Republican president Donald Trump actually helped fuel this false conspiracy, by tweeting “ Do nothing democrats… End your ENDLESS VACATION!”



Source: The BL

Claim: Any virus that originated from nature has its remedy and cure from nature. Only viruses made in laboratories require vaccines.

Facts: This myth is definitely false, as “vaccination has been used to protect against viruses that have originated from nature for years” says AP news. This false statement is again, widely shared on social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and so on. This false statement was intended to “sow doubt around the coronavirus as researchers rush to develop a vaccine for it.” Vincent Racaniello, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University also strongly disagrees with the claim, as “all human viruses came from nature, and that we have made vaccines for many of them.” Many diseases like the yellow fever, mostly found in subtropical areas in Africa and South America, have a vaccine-- yellow fever vaccines have been around since the 1930s.

Claim: Trader Joe’s has announced that it is giving away free groceries worth $250 to everyone due to “Corona Pandemic.”

Facts: According to this article, Trader Joe’s are not offering any free groceries, and this again is false news. Social media users have actually been using this as a way of scamming people, by telling them to“Hurry up! Collect your FREE voucher here.” Upon hearing these fake announcements, the company “ actively attempted to get [their] name removed,” in hopes of containing this lie from spreading, and to save people from falling into scams. These scams most oftenly end badly for the user, as “scammers can gather traffic to a website, upload malware to your device, or steal your personal information or even money, according to Katherine R. Hutt, national spokesperson for the International Association of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.” Hutt explains that these scams “are often recycled online and then tied to the latest breaking news event like coronavirus to hook people,” which is how they attract attention. She encourages people to act intuitively and avoid things that are too good to be true-- “ is Trader Joe's really going to be giving away $250?”



More examples of facts “Claims and Facts” can be found in this article. In addition, other “news” can be checked for their authenticity through this website, which is a feature of AP news.

Connections?

This article actually connects to two course themes we’ve been studying throughout the year: “how perception is more important than reality in politics”, and “how has the changing nature of media as a platform for human interaction from print to radio/TV to internet/social media affected politics, economics, and social affairs.” As explained previously, and in the article, none of these claims seemed to be true-- yet they are widely believed by people. This proves perception to be more important than reality, not only in politics, but in everyday life. Even though this “perception” is not real, people still believe it; some even take “perceptions” to be “facts,” completely ignoring the “reality,” ironically. It not only proves perception to be a powerful concept, but also that it’s sometimes “more important than reality.” On the other hand, the advancement of social media platforms and social interactions is also a relevant factor according to the article, especially with perceptions. Most of these false claims derived from social media-- which is the factor of why these false claims spread. With technology and social media platforms being more and more advanced, it’s easier to spread information of any kind -- in the olden days, people went through the troubles of writing letters, which took time. This article then goes to show that the “changing nature of media,” is causing news and “perceptions” to spread around much more quickly; this “perception,” can then be viewed as a factor, to whatever outcomes of social, economical, or political affairs.




Questions:


How Come some people believe whatever they see on the internet?

Do you think there is a reason behind why people put up fake news?

As of May 11, Elon Musk has gained the right to reopen Tesla with minimum operation. On March 16, Alameda County ordered a countywide lockdown, requiring people to stay at home and closing all non-essential businesses, Tesla being one of them.  Tesla continued operations at its factory in Fremont until March 23^rd when it was forced to stop by Alameda County Health officials.   Since then, Musk has been very vocal against the lockdown, frequently tweeting messages such as “Give people the freedom back!” and “The coronavirus panic is dumb”.Musk also tweeted controversial information regarding the coronavirus itself, including promotion of the malaria medication chloroquine for treating COVID-19(Also promoted by President Trump), which has been proven to be ineffective.

However, after the county extended the lockdown through the end of May, forcing Tesla to call off their plans to reopen on May 4^th, the tesla executive escalated the intensity of his tweets,  going on rants claiming the lockdown is “de facto house  arrest”, and demanding to “give people back their FREEDOM”. Musk  also sued Alameda county to attempt to gain the right to reopen Tesla’s factory in Fremont, and on May 11^th tweeted that the factory would be reopening against the county’s rules. The county did not take any action against Musk, and stated that they were discussing plans for reopening. Musk also  threatened to move his Fremont factory to a different state in order to continue operating. Finally, on May 12^th Alameda county issued a statement that said “..we have agreed that Tesla can begin to augment their Minimum Business Operations this week in preparation for possible reopening as soon as next week.” Despite Musk’s controversial tweets, Tesla’s shares are still doing very well: the shares went up 250% over the past year, and is expected to grow even more due to the growing demands for electric cars and the new Model Y that they are offering.

Questions:
Should Alameda County and other counties consider the economy over the well being of their residents, or should it ever be justified?
Why might Elon Musk be so adamant about reopening Tesla Factories?


Sources:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/11/cars/elon-musk-tesla-factory-tweet/index.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/05/13/elon-musk-wins-battle-with-alameda-county-tesla-factory-allowed-to-reopen/#16d8a8843d11
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/12/elon-musk-tesla-reopening-lockdown-timeline

Britian's "Iron Lady" dies at the age of 87

Zeke Wang

The first female Prime Minister and a powerful political figure, Margaret Thatcher, dies at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke on April 8. British prime minister's office announces that Thatcher’s funeral will be held at St. Paul’s Cathedral, with military honors and private cremation.  Thatcher ruled Britain for 21 years, from 1979 to 1990, she was a controversial leader and was a very strong politician when there were very few women in politics, and was also given the nickname “Iron Lady” by the Soviet press.

Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925, in England. Thatcher lived in an apartment above a grocery store her father owned, which is unlike many politicians at the time who came from wealth. Thatcher studied chemistry at Oxford University and later became a member of Parliament. She became the Prime Minister at the age of 53 and was dominant until 1990. President George Bush awarded Thatcher a U.S. Medal of Freedom in 1991, she also suffered from many small stokes and her husband died in 2003, despite all this, she still attended Ronald Regan’s funeral in 2004, calling Regan a “dear friend.”

Margaret Thatcher connects to the course theme of an individual’s relationship with mass society. Margaret was the first woman to become Prime Minister and was a firm politician, that’s how she got the nickname “Iron Lady” from a Soviet Journalist. Some argue that she was the best Prime Minister in history while others say she was the worst, and arguments became more fierce after her death. Russians still consider Margaret Thatcher one of the most respected British politicians today, and there was even a movie made by her, see the trailer here.

Questions: 

1. Do you think the nickname “Iron Lady” fits Margaret Thatcher?

2. Do you think people like Margaret Thatcher encourage more women in politics?

Sources:
x

https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/08/world/europe/uk-margaret-thatcher-dead/index.html

https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/margaret-thatcher

https://www.rbth.com/business/2015/10/13/russians_pay_tribute_to_the_iron_lady_50035.html

More News on the Coronavirus

Colin Beach and Zeke Wang

Background:

Coronavirus, a.k.a COVID-19, is a RNA virus that first started showing up in the city of Wuhan China. Because coronavirus is a RNA virus, it bypasses many of the cell's safety measures when making proteins. But since it is RNA, that means the strand of its genetic code goes straight into the ribosome which makes protein. So the genetic code of the virus does not get checked during transcription. The ribosome will then start cranking out tons of the coronavirus protein, and it will be sent out in vacuoles throughout the body and into other cells which just makes it worse.

Just this week, the amount of Coronavirus cases have passed 4 million worldwide and more than 250 thousand people have died to COVID-19. Countries all over the world are having small patches of the virus pop up here and there. Near the border of Russia, a small Province in China, Jilin Province Shulan, recorded 11 cases this past Saturday and South Korea has had 34 new cases this past Saturday too. Tensions in other nations due to the Coronavirus is very high because of the quarantine. Hundreds of protests in Hong Kong protest anti-government chants because of the quarantine which caused police officers to fire pepper balls to stop the protest. This ties into the course theme of what is the difference between hard power and soft power and what mix of policies best advances the interests of a state in a given situation. I chose this theme because during this coronavirus pandemic and quarantine that pretty much the whole entire world is doing. Many nations are having to use force to keep people inside just like the riots in Hong Kong, and in the U.S. there are many people that are going out onto the street in their cars and on the streets that are saying that the quarantine is fake and is just propaganda. The U.S. isn’t forcefully stopping these protestors because it would just feed into the people’s views of the quarantine. But, like most of the world, many people are doing what their country is telling them to do to help combat the coronavirus.

Many experts are saying that the coronavirus is not going to be going anywhere anytime soon. An infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard's Chan School of Public Health said, “It’s going to be a matter of managing it over months to a couple of years. It’s not a matter of getting past the peak, as some people seem to believe”. There have been 3 scenarios of which the coronavirus could lead into. The one that we need to be worried about the most is the Fall Peak. This Scenario depicts a massive spike of cases during the fall of 2020. This would be very bad because people will have to stay inside a lot longer and many more people will get infected and many more will die. The authors of the scenarios are saying, “We must be prepared for at least another 18 to 24 months of significant Covid-19 activity, with hot spots popping up periodically in diverse geographic areas”. This link to the course theme, the dilemma between a nation-state’s immediate self interest and a longer term enlightened self interest that considers the welfare of other nations and of future generations. This fits very well with this because many people are theorizing of what will happen to the world until this virus settles down. The children and people growing up during this time, will be very different to others, and will most likely influence them into doing things differently in the future. This will also cause many new laws and rules to be implemented and things will change for the better or the worse. But every nation in which the coronavirus is in, is trying everything they can to make sure the people are safe and away from the virus and making sure that they are ok.

Coronavirus is not only a deadly disease, it also has other effects as well. The Coronavirus has been having significant impacts on the economy, a lot of money is lost due to Coronavirus. According to the Bureau Labor Statistics, the GDP of 2020 is down almost 5 percent, the most since 2008.

According to this Guardian article, Donald Trump has reported a billion-dollar loss during the past month. It's estimated that 20 million Amerians lost their job in April, and the unemployment rate goes up to 14%, the highest since the Great Depression (Bureau Labor Statistics).  This was because in late march, business closed because of the new stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of Coronavirus. The impacts are also evident in the stock market; the stock markets saw the biggest declines in a single week since the economic crisis in 2008, the market has also been halted many times because S&P 500, or a stock of the 500 biggest stocks in America, was down so much. The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk, recently threatened to move Tesla headquarters out of California because Alameda country refused to let the factory in Fremont operate. The airlines are also getting hit hard. As countries close their borders and go into lockdown, there is much less demand for flights and travels. This means a disaster for airlines and the tourism industry, and some have already collapsed. Coronavirus means a disaster for the economy.

Coronavirus may be a terrible thing that leads to many disappointing things, such as restricted travel, staying at home for quarantine, and distant social life. But good things are also happening. According to NASA, During the lockdown in China the air pollution decreased by 30%. This was because of all the coal powered power plants and industrial factories closed, employees stayed home, and there were no cars in the streets. Nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant produced from burning fossil fuels, was down by as much as 30%. More than one million premature deaths was caused by air pollution, and if it's for a short period of time, better air quality makes a huge difference. This also shows that a healthier planet is possible as long as the people in charge are willing to make certain sacrifices. That’s not the only thing, we also see strong bonds build. China and Japan did not have the best relationship because of what happened during WW2, the Rape of Nanking brought their relations to a low point. But recently, Japan sent medical supplies to China for free, with a poem on it that said, "Even though we live in different places, we live under the same sky." It’s said that the Japanese emperor sent this poem to China over a thousand years ago, which inspired a high ranking Chinese monk to travel to Japan to spread Buddhism. This went on social media and touched many Chinese, and it increased the positive views of Japan. Also recently in New York, firefighters gathered to applause for doctors, who are working tirelessly to save lives. This took place outside of Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, Mount Sinai Morningside, and New York Presbyterian Hospital. What happened was very touching and it shows people coming together to overcome something difficult.

Because of the Coronavirus, the whole world is in a mess. This connects to the course theme of economic and political development including ‘globalization.’ Even when the Coronavirus was only in China and didn’t spread to other countries, it was a global issue. An impact on China’s economy would mean an impact on the world’s economy. We live in a mutually interdependent world and other countries matter. It also connects to the theme of individual’s relationships with mass society. Social media has become more popular than ever and it has become a way to get help and attention. Although the Coronavirus is a huge problem right now and causes lots of unfortunate things, it proves that humans come together and solve issues together, and together we can come back, as we always do.

Questions:

1. Should people start working again because of the economic losses? Or should public health be a priority and not work until the disaster is over?

2. Do you think that the corona virus will get worse or not depending on the information available?

Sources:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/coronavirus-fdny-new-york-city-firefighters-hospital-covid-19-andrew-cuomo-a9446721.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/25/asia/japan-china-coronavirus-enemies-to-friends-hnk-intl/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/world/coronavirus-live-world-news-tracker.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/health/coronavirus-pandemic-curve-scenarios.html

A 25 year-old African-American gets shot by father and son in Georgia

Colin Beach

“It's not the gun you should be scared of—it's the crazy man with the gun”

― Jennifer McMahon, The Invited Link

Even during quarantine and everything that is going on around the world, there are still horrible things that are happening and people just don’t know it. Three days ago, a father and a son were arrested for being linked to the murder of 25 year old Ahmaud Arbery. Gregory and Travis McMichael allegedly shot the 25 year old because they thought that he had stolen something from houses and from a construction site that he went into. Even though the arrest happened three days ago, the shooting was done 74 days before the arrest, which got a lot of people talking. 

Two days after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case, the two men were charged with murder and aggravated assault. Along with protestors for Ahmaud, there were also protestors for the McMichael’s. Susan Kohler, a 54 year old white woman said, “They let us down - the chief of police, the police department, the prosecutors”. Many people also argued that the shooting was justified because he was believed to be in multiple burglaries and it was just self defense. During the case, there was a video leaked of Michaels and another man in a pickup truck, surrounding Ahmaud, and firing three shots with his shotgun. Many celebrities and politicians came out on social media to voice their opinions on this. Joe Biden compared it to a lynching and Georgia’s governor called the video disgusting and horrible.

The course theme that is linked to this story is how individualism can be said to have liberated people but also be criticized as alienating. This story is an extreme version of this due to the amount of prejudice and violence and many people thought that in modern time, this stuff should not be happening, but no matter what, there will always be people that hold their own views even if the people around them don’t.

Questions

1. Do you think that racism played a key role in this shooting?

2. Should laws be changed and adapted due to them saying that it was in self defense?

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-shooting-georgia.html

Oil Prices Drop Into Negatives for the First Time Ever, Just in Time for Earth Day

As the pandemic sweeps across the world, a giant wrench has been thrown into the ever-turning gears of the economy. With the order to stay at home, America itself has seen a 47% drop in personal passenger travel (3/28-4/3 INRIX). While environmentalists rejoice, the oil industry has gone up in flames. Starting the year at $60 a barrel, the crushing lack of demand spirals it to its apotheosis on Monday, April 20th, where one barrel cost -$37 (NYTimes).

 Background Guide

Graph of crude oil prices since 2000. Source: The New York Times

 The world has an estimated 6.8 billion barrels of storage, but oil storages are already filled by 60%. To counteract the problem of the dwindling space, countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia have made deals to cut production by 10%. This cut in production is also meant to stabilize the market. Should this cut in production bring the supply of oil down to meet the demand, then the price can bounce back, but this change will take months to take effect in the market. 

With these changes to the oil industry, the question at hand is how will this affect the economy? No event has ever brought oil down to a negative price and this is detrimental to the world economy. With the world economy being 3.8% oil and gas alone (Investopedia), many nations are affected by these prices. Most notably, countries that have a high export of oil. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, and the US are the top 4 distributors of oil. 

This drop in price also affects many workers. Scott Sheffield, chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources says that if the price of oil stayed around $20 a barrel for a while, 80 percent of the hundreds of independent oil companies would be forced into bankruptcy and 250,000 workers would lose their jobs. This projected unemployment would only add to the 4.4% unemployment rate from March 2020 (Bureau of Labor Statistics) as well as damage the US oil industry. However, for now, Sheffield says that $30 a barrel will leave many companies crippled, “But at least the industry will survive”(NYTimes). 

In the path of technological advancement, oil is the fuel that has driven us into modern times. With the upping of technology and the subsequent dreadnoughts and war machines that have resulted, oil has become a powerful resource sought after by superpowers. Acquisition of oil has been the center of numerous social, political, and economic conflicts and has remained the lifeblood of the technological era.

Discussion:

But do we want the oil industry to survive?

Could this finally be an opportunity to pursue alternative energy?

Once we emerge from the pandemic, what aspects of life will stay the same? What will change? 

Global Themes:

VI E. Explain the interconnected nature of global problems and their impact on economic development

Second Wave of Locusts, COVID-19 Present Dilemma to East Africa

Written by Natalie Teng and Halle Ichiuji

Sven Torfinn/FAO via AP

Locust Background Guide

A second wave of locusts is hitting East Africa, just as farmers have planted their crops and amidst a global pandemic, that officials say to be twenty times worse than the first. The locusts come just two months after the worst swarm of locusts in the area in over seventy years (Guardian). In an interview with the Associated Press, Uganda farmer Yoweri Aboket said, “Once [the locusts] land in your garden they do total destruction. Some people will even tell you that the locusts are more destructive than the coronavirus” (AP).

Most of the time, locusts are solitary creatures, but under the right circumstances, enter a gregarious phase that causes them to seek other locusts and to form massive and destructive swarms. In a single day, a single locust can eat its weight in plants and travel up to ninety miles. On that same day, a swarm of locusts covering just a third of a square mile can devour the crops needed to feed 35,000 people (Guardian). Some of the largest swarms can cover up to 460 square miles, or about twice the size of San Francisco (National Geographic). The locusts currently infesting East Africa were thought to have originated in the Empty Quarter, a sparsely populated desert region on the Arabian Peninsula. In a span of just 18 months, beginning in May 2018, three cyclones hit the area, providing the ideal conditions for the locusts to breed and jump over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden into the Horn of Africa. With each generation, the swarms increase exponentially in size and volume. As locusts have a short breeding cycle of about just three months, they have already multiplied by a factor of 8000 since the first cyclone, and estimates suggest by June, they will have increased by another 400-fold from current numbers (National Geographic). With the rainy season hitting the region now, the situation is almost assuredly going to worsen. A third outbreak of locusts is expected to hit Africa in biblical proportions this summer.

“While the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the United Nations food agency warned on Tuesday that a looming ‘hunger pandemic’ will bring ‘the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II’” 

- Linda Givetash, NBC News

The locusts and their voracious eating habits in this region are deeply concerning, as massive crop losses will lead to mass starvation and economic hardship. If the current crop, which has just been planted, fails because of the locust swarms, then it could wreak havoc on a region extremely vulnerable to famine. According to FAO, more than 13 million people in the Horn of Africa experience “severe acute food insecurity” with an additional 20 million barely above this threshold (National Geographic). Combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is estimated that an additional 130 million people could be facing starvation by the end of this year (NBC News). In many villages, residents must choose between going outside to try to scare away the locusts and risk becoming a vehicle for the virus, or complying with lockdown orders and watching their food supply being devoured by the locusts (AP). The decrease in crops and food supply potentially has economic implications as well: inflation and the depreciation of currency in the region. This is concerning, as Vincent Phriri, an economist at NKC Afrikan Economics noted in an interview with CNBC, because a depreciation would “[pose] significant risks to public debt sustainability, as most East African countries already have considerable external debt stocks and have to pay down that debt in foreign currency, meaning that depreciating currencies make debt more unsustainable” (CNBC). The combination of locust and coronavirus provides a destabilizing environment for the states in the region.

Countries in the region are strapped for the necessary supplies and materials needed to combat locusts of this size and volume. Many countries are finding it difficult to acquire much-needed pesticides and supplies of personal protective equipment, as travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus are delaying the deliveries and preventing experts from traveling to train people on how to deal with the locusts (AP). Somalia's March order of pesticides has been delayed, leaving no resources to fight the locusts (Left Voice). Not only are these countries lacking pesticides, but also in a sufficient number aircrafts, as aerial spraying is one of the most effective techniques to fight the infestation (BBC). Helicopter surveillance to locate locust swarms have also been hampered by mandatory lockdowns in Kenya where pilots were quarantined for 14 days due to the coronavirus (Left Voice). The region will most likely need to be dependent on international support to weather the swarms and the destruction they leave in their wake. However, with the coronavirus, the locust issue will have trouble receiving enough global attention and humanitarian aid (Wired). If response to the situation is too far delayed, the spread of locust swarms show no sign of slowing until all the food and crops in the area have been devoured, the same food and crops that sustain the farmers and residents in the area.

Combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people will face food shortages and economic catastrophe. This plays to the interconnectedness of global problems and their impact on economic development (VI.E), as not only is the pandemic going to staunch the economy, but it has also inadvertently slowed the response to the locusts through lockdowns and travel bans, and inevitable enabled a further spread of the swarms and additional economic losses. While not to detract from the severity of the coronavirus, intergovernmental agencies are currently pouring more money into wealthier states than poorer ones addled with additional debilitating issues, such as those in East Africa, relating to the theme of to what extent these organizations serve the interests of the global elite rather than of humanity (II.F). Without the financial assistance from wealthy nations and the aid from humanitarian organizations, the people of Africa will suffer from severe food shortages when the locust plague destroys their crops. With Africa’s international debt, wealthy nations have a vested interest in Africa’s economic stability. Historically, humanitarian aid from organizations, such as WHO and FAO, have come to Africa’s aid during a time of crisis and inevitably protected the financial interests of the global elite. The locust plague combined with the coronavirus highlights the need for developed nations to commit to helping African countries attain economic stability, thus ending international dependency.

Discussion Questions

1. How much funding and attention should be allocated to combatting the locusts in this region amidst a global pandemic? 
2. Why might countries be reluctant to provide aid to others in today’s age?
3. How has African nations’ dependence on international support helped perpetrate this issue?