Latest news with #VUB
Euronews
08-05-2025
- Science
- Euronews
US scholars seek refuge in Brussels after Trump's assault on science
ADVERTISEMENT Radio Schuman spoke with VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) rector Jan Danckaert about the fallout of what has been described as a US "attack on science", the incentive to help scientists relocate to Brussels, and how this could spur mass migration of great thinkers to Europe. Several weeks after Donald Trump's inauguration, the university announced it would be welcoming US academics threatened by his policies. Within weeks, it received dozens of emails from worried academics. We will also look at the informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers - the so-called Gymnich - in Warsaw, which is entering its second day today. And finally, as outer space is becoming increasingly crowded, experts are sounding the alarm bell about the heightened risk of pieces of rocket and satellite re-entering Earth's atmosphere. This episode of Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Lauren Walker, with journalist Maïa de la Baume. Audio editing by Johan Breton. Music by Alexandre Jas.
Scoop
07-05-2025
- Science
- Scoop
A Third Of 5-Year-Olds Will Be Spared Unprecedented Lifetime Exposure To Dangerous Heat If World Meets 1.5°C Temperature
BRUSSELS, 7 May 2025 - Almost a third of today's five-year-olds - about 38 million children - will be spared a lifetime's "unprecedented" exposure to extreme heat if the world meets the 1.5°C warming target by 2100, Save the Children said. Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, research released by Save the Children and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) found that under current climate commitments - which will likely see a global temperature rise of 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels - about 100 million of the estimated 120 million children born in 2020, or 83%, will face "unprecedented" lifetime exposure to extreme heat. However, if the world limits warming to the 1.5°C Paris Agreement target, this would reduce the number of five-year-olds impacted to 62 million - a difference of 38 million - highlighting the urgency to protect children through rapidly phasing out the use and subsidy of fossil fuels. Dangerous heat is deadly for children, taking an immense toll on their physical and mental health, disrupting access to food and clean water and forcing schools to close . Researchers defined an "unprecedented" life as an exposure to climate extremes that someone would have less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of experiencing during their life in a world without human-induced climate change. The research, published in the report Born into the Climate Crisis 2. An Unprecedented Life: Protecting Children's Rights in a Changing Climate also found that meeting the 1.5°C target would protect millions of children born in 2020 from the severest impacts of other climate related disasters such as crop failures, floods, tropical cyclones, droughts and wildfires. The report found that, for children born in 2020, if global temperature rise is limited to 1.5°C rather than reaching 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels: About 38 million would be spared from facing unprecedented lifetime exposure to heatwaves; About 8 million would avoid unprecedented lifetime exposure to crop failures; About 5 million would be spared from unprecedented lifetime exposure to river floods; About 5 million would avoid unprecedented lifetime exposure to tropical cyclones; About 2 million would avoid unprecedented lifetime exposure to droughts; About 1.5 million children would be spared unprecedented lifetime exposure to wildfires. Climate extremes - which are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change - are increasingly harming children,forcing them from their homes, putting food out of reach, damaging schools and increasing risks like child marriage as they are forced out of education and into poverty and food shortages. Denise -, 16, and her family were forced from their home in Brazil when the country's worst floods in 80 years devastated their community last year. Their home, including Denise's bedroom, was severely damaged, and she was out of school for nearly two months. She said: "It really affected me mentally, and academically too. Catching up on all my grades to pass secondary school was really tough, especially at a state school. It massively impacted my schoolwork. My grades dropped significantly after the floods." Children impacted by inequality and discrimination and those in lower-and middle-income countries, are often worst affected . Meanwhile they have fewer resources to cope with climate shocks and are already at far greater risk from vector and waterborne diseases, hunger, and malnutrition, and their homes are often more vulnerable to increased risks from floods, cyclones and other extreme weather events. Haruka, 16, whose poem is featured in the report, is from Vanuatu, which recently experienced three of the most severe types of cyclone in just a year. She said:"Cyclones are scary. For me, they continue to destroy my home, every year - we don't even bother trying to fix the ceiling anymore. "The past few years, I've seen ceaseless destruction and constant rebuilding. This seemingly never-ending cycle has become our reality, and most people aren't even aware that it's not just nature doing its thing, but it's us bearing the brunt of a crisis that we did not cause." As well as comparing conditions under 1.5°C and 2.7°C scenarios, the report also examines a scenario in which global temperatures rise to 3.5°C by 2100, which will lead to about 92% of children born in 2020 - about 111 million children [5] - living with unprecedented heatwave exposure over their lifetime. While we need a rapid phase-out of the use and subsidy of fossil fuels to stick to the 1.5°C target, we must not lose sight of solutions, Save the Children said. The report highlights initiatives like increased climate finance, child-centred and locally led adaptation and increasing the participation of children in shaping climate action. Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said: "Across the world, children are forced to bear the brunt of a crisis they are not responsible for. Dangerous heat that puts their health and learning at risk; cyclones that batter their homes and schools; creeping droughts that shrivel up crops and shrink what's on their plates. "Amid this daily drumbeat of disasters, children plead with us not to switch off. This new research shows there is still hope, but only if we act urgently and ambitiously to rapidly limit warming temperatures to 1.5°C , and truly put children front and centre of our response to climate change at every level." As the world's leading independent child rights organisation, Save the Children works in about 110 countries, tackling climate across everything we do. Save the Children supports children and their communities globally in preventing, preparing for, adapting to, and recovering from climate disasters and gradual climate change. We have set up floating schools, rebuilt destroyed homes and provided cash grants to families hit by disasters. We also work to influence governments and other key stakeholders on climate policies, including at the UNFCCC COP summits, giving children a platform for their voices to be heard. Summary of Save the Children's recommendations: Leaders must: Take ambitious and urgent action now to limit warming to a maximum of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, including by rapidly and equitably phasing out the use, subsidising and financing of fossil fuels, with high-income and historically high-emitting countries leading the way. Urgently close the adaptation gap and provide loss and damage funding through the provision of new and additional climate finance, prioritising children and child-critical social services, with a particular focus on reaching children most at risk. Climate finance should be delivered primarily in the form of grants, particularly for adaptation and loss and damage. Children, their rights, voices and unique needs and vulnerabilities must be centred in international climate plans and agreements, including the upcoming submission of new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0), as well as building and investing in the climate resilience of child-critical services such as health and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), education, child protection, and social protection. Endnotes: [1] For this research, scientists have defined a heatwave as: when the daily Heat Wave Magnitude Index of that year exceeds the 99th percentile of pre-industrial Heat Wave Magnitude Index distribution for the specific climate model grid cell. The Heat Wave Magnitude Index measures how intense a heatwave is during a year. It looks at the hottest stretch of at least three days in a row when temperatures are much higher than what was normal before industrial times. The higher the number, the more extreme the heatwave. [2] Ten years ago, world leaders at the UNFCCC COP21 summit in Paris agreed on a long-term goal to limit global temperature rise to 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. The treaty also states that preferably this would be limited to below 1.5°C. To achieve these emissions reductions, signatories to the Paris Agreement must pledge NDCs and update these every five years. According to the latest available data , the pledges currently being implemented will see global temperatures rising to 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. We also look at a 3.5°C scenario, a near-worst-case outcome that assumes continued high emissions and insufficient mitigation efforts which is worryingly close to the 3.2°C warming we are currently headed towards. Both these scenarios will have an unacceptable and deadly impact on children. Some signatories to the Paris Agreement submitted new NDCs earlier this year, but many are delayed in their submission and the full picture won't be available before the end of 2025. [3] This new report follows a groundbreaking report from 2021 looking at the projected increase in climate extremes faced by children. [5] 111 million is 92% of the 2020 birth cohort of about 120 million children. Global emergence of unprecedented lifetime exposure to climate extremes , the research underpinning this report.
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
How much will climate change affect YOU? Scientists predict your lifetime exposure to heatwaves, floods, droughts, and wildfires - and it's bad news for Gen Alpha
Climate change is already having a catastrophic effect around the world, evident from European heatwaves to violent typhoons in the Pacific. But the younger you are, the more likely these climate disasters will become the norm. Researchers at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Belgium warn that climate change will have a 'disproportionate burden' on the youth. Today's children – so under 18s born in 2007 or later known as 'Gen Alpha' – will endure more climate extremes then any previous generation. Depending on whether we curb our greenhouse gas emissions, up 1.5 billion children alive today face 'unprecedented lifetime exposure' to heatwaves, for example. And 431 million of today's children face a lifetime of food shortages due to crop failures, the researchers predict. Study author Wim Thiery, professor of climate science at VUB, said 'vulnerable children experience the worst escalation of climate extremes'. 'World leaders must step up to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lessen the climate burden on today's youth,' he said. This graph shows the cumulative number of heatwaves faced since birth by children born in Brussels, Belgium, in 2020 under three climate change scenarios - 1.5°C (blue), 2.5°C (orange), and 3.5°C (red). The unprecedented exposure threshold (dashed grey line) is largely surpassed, implying that children in this location will face unprecedented lifetime heatwave exposure regardless of the scenario For the new study, the team combined demographic data and climate model projections of the climate extremes around the world. The team looked at six different climate extremes – heatwaves, crop failures, wildfires, droughts, floods and tropical cyclones. They then calculated the number of children globally aged 5-18 in 2025 who will face 'unprecedented lifetime exposure' to the six climate extremes. They define 'unprecedented lifetime exposure' as a stringent threshold that varies by location and type of climate extreme. 'It identifies populations facing climate extremes far beyond what could be expected without man-made climate change,' said lead author Dr Luke Grant at VUB. They imagined three different scenarios – where humans manage to limit global warming by 1.5°C (2.7°F), 2.5°C (4.5°F) and 3.5°C (6.3°F) by the year 2100. At present, the world is only 0.2°C away from the 1.5°C threshold, which the legally-binding Paris Agreement is forcing global powers to try and avoid. Overall, the team found there's an 'urgent need' to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect the wellbeing of current and future young generations. In all, 855 million children worldwide will face unprecedented exposure to heatwaves even if we manage to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F), they reveal. But if global warming reaches a more serious 3.5°C by 2100, a whopping 1.5 billion children worldwide will be similarly exposed. Although heatwaves will be the most prominent threat, the five other extremes will affect many millions of today's children, regardless of warming scenario. For example, under a 1.5 °C warming scenario, 119 million children aged 5-18 in 2025 will face unprecedented lifetime exposure to wildfires – but this increases to 147 million under a 3.5°C scenario. Similarly, under a 1.5 °C warming scenario, 132 million children aged 5-18 in 2025 will face unprecedented lifetime exposure to river floods – but this increases to 191 million under a 3.5 °C scenario. Overall, the highest fraction of children facing unprecedented lifetime exposure is for heatwaves (92 per cent of 2020 birth cohort with 3.5°C of warming), followed by crop failures (around 30 per cent) and river floods (around 15 per cent). Even if we successfully limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2100, 52 per cent of children born in 2020 will face unprecedented heatwave exposure, compared to only 16 per cent of those born in 1960. 'The numbers vary per climate extreme, but the general pattern is the same,' Professor Thiery told MailOnline. 'The younger the generation, and the higher the warming pathway, the higher the percentage of the birth cohort facing unprecedented lifetime exposure to the considered climate extreme.' Also, the team highlight that the most 'socioeconomically vulnerable' children, such as those living in impoverished communities around the world will 'experience the worst escalation of climate extremes'. Under current climate policies, the most socioeconomically vulnerable children born in 2020 will almost all (95 per cent) endure unprecedented exposure to heatwaves in their lifetime, compared to 78 per cent for the least vulnerable group. The study, published today in the journal Nature, highlights the 'social injustice' of climate change and its impacts. Those born in the last five or 10 years, who are not responsible for the current rate of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, will 'bear the brunt'. Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said: 'Across the world, children are forced to bear the brunt of a crisis they are not responsible for. 'Dangerous heat that puts their health and learning at risk; cyclones that batter their homes and schools; creeping droughts that shrivel up crops and shrink what's on their plates. 'Amid this daily drumbeat of disasters, children plead with us not to switch off. 'This new research shows there is still hope, but only if we act urgently and ambitiously to rapidly limit warming temperatures to 1.5 °C, and truly put children front and centre of our response to climate change.' Carbon emissions and the greenhouse effect: A primer The greenhouse effect is the reason our planet is getting too hot to live on. CO2 released by human activity is accumulating as an 'insulating blanket' around the Earth, trapping more of the sun's heat in our atmosphere. CO2 - and other greenhouse gases - are emitted by actions such as burning fossil fuels like coal for energy, burning forests to make way for livestock and Fertilisers containing nitrogen produce nitrous oxide emissions - another greenhouse gas. Meanwhile, fluorinated gases are emitted from equipment and products that use these gases. Such emissions have a very strong warming effect, up to 23,000 times greater than CO2.
Euronews
05-05-2025
- Business
- Euronews
EU-US trade negotiations: where do we stand?
ADVERTISEMENT Almost one month ago, US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause in imposing additional tariffs on all countries, excluding China. In response, the EU executive put its trade retaliation measures on hold for 90 days "to give negotiations a chance". One month into this pause, are talks progressing? What is the EU's tactic? And is it possible no agreement will be found? We put these questions and more to Sven Van Kerckhoven, professor of political economics at Brussels university VUB. We also head to Strasbourg for the European Parliament's plenary sessions, which start today and will see MEPs discuss burning topics from just peace in Ukraine to the power outage in Spain and Portugal. And finally, we explore where in Europe workers pay the highest, and lowest, income tax. This episode of Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Lauren Walker. Audio editing was by Johan Breton. Music by Alexandre Jas.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gadsden State's veterans program relocates to improved space
GADSDEN — The Veterans Upward Bound program at Gadsden State Community College has moved to a larger, more accessible location in the basement of Naylor Hall on the Wallace Drive Campus in Gadsden. The program, previously located in Beck Field House, now occupies a space designed to better serve veterans' unique needs. "The improvements represent our commitment to providing the best possible support to our veterans," said Sarah Aultman, director of Veterans Upward Bound. "After all, our goal is to assist veterans in a seamless transition from military service to civilian life." Veterans Upward Bound is a federally funded TRIO program dedicated to helping veterans achieve academic and career goals. The program provides free services such as assistance with educational benefits, academic preparation, computer skills training, financial management education and help with enrolling at the college or university of their choice. "There are a wide variety of free services provided to those who bravely served our country," Aultman said. "Eligible veterans also have the opportunity to receive a monthly stipend by participating in educational activities through the VUB program." The new VUB office, formerly home to the Alabama Language Institute, has undergone several updates to improve accessibility and functionality. These include a resurfaced ADA-accessible ramp at the main entrance, renovated accessible bathrooms and designated "Veterans Only" parking spaces behind Naylor Hall near the office entrance. The updated space also features a computer lab, a quiet study area and a meeting room for collaboration with community partners. "The new space is not only more accessible, but it also creates a better environment for veterans to focus on their studies, access resources and connect with important community and college partners," Aultman said. "We want to ensure that our veterans have the resources they need to succeed." In addition to the physical improvements, the VUB program is expanding its online Veterans Resource Guide. This comprehensive guide provides information on education, housing, legal services and mental health support for veterans and community members. "We encounter so many wonderful organizations and resources in our work," Aultman said. "This expanded guide is a central place where veterans and community members can easily access information related to the needs they might have. We hope this will empower our veterans to succeed and build stronger connections with positive resources." For more information about Veterans Upward Bound or to access the Veterans Resource Guide, visit
