'Unseen' News and Views
3 May 2019 (UN Environment)* — Nearly 80 per cent of the air we breathe is nitrogen, a harmless inert gas. However, nitrogen also combines with other atoms to form chemical compounds—known as “reactive nitrogen” or “fixed nitrogen” (Nr)—that are essential for life on Earth but, at high concentrations, also hugely damaging to the environment.
By the 29 April 2019 — Total world military expenditure rose to $1822 billion in 2018, representing an increase of 2.6 per cent from 2017, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).*
The five biggest spenders in 2018 were the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, India and France, which together accounted for 60 per cent of global military spending. Military spending by the USA increased for the first time since 2010, while spending by China grew for the 24th consecutive year.
Either Bolsonaro’s social security reform is wiped out or “we bring Brazil to a halt,” workers organizations said.
Protester holds a Brazilian flag with President Jair Bolsonaro image and the words: “Shame, No to social security reform” in Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 1, 2019. | Photo: Reuters | Photo from teleSUR.
2 May 2019 (teleSUR)* — Brazil’s most powerful trade union federations announced Wednesday that a nationwide strike will be carried out on June 14 to reject the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and halt his neoliberal policies which are damaging the people’s most basic economic, social, cultural and political rights.
2 May 2019 (UN Environment)* — Burning plastic smells awful. It also gives you that choking feeling… which is no surprise when you know that plastic is basically made of oil and gives off toxic fumes when it burns.
Incineration of plastic waste in open fields is a major source of air pollution. About 12 per cent of most municipal solid waste is made up of plastic of one kind or another, and 40 per cent of the world’s garbage is burned, according to a the study “Toxic Pollutants from Plastic Waste – A Review.”
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 