Tootfinder

The UK proposes new rules requiring tech firms to remove nonconsensual abusive content within 48 hours or risk blocking and fines of up to 10% of global revenue (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/f

"Nearly three-quarters of the global population reside in nations deemed "water insecure" or "critically water insecure", UN researchers said"
The world is facing irreversible water ‘bankruptcy’. Billions of people are at risk | The Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/world-water-supplies-bankruptcy-un-b2904219.html

The IMF says the "surprisingly resilient" global economy is at risk of a sharp AI boom reversal, but the "levels of market frothiness" are below the dotcom bust (Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/2af4d92a-452c-4d35-ab55-3afce930f98a

Study finds climate change set the stage for devastating wildfires in Argentina and Chile https://phys.org/news/2026-02-climate-stage-devastating-wildfires-argentina.html

Study finds climate change set the stage for devastating wildfires in Argentina and Chile
Human-caused climate change had an important impact on the recent ferocious wildfires that engulfed parts of Chile and Argentina's Patagonia region, making the extremely high-risk conditions that led to widespread burning up to three times more likely than in a world without global warming, a team of researchers warned on Wednesday.

"Study finds climate change set the stage for devastating wildfires in Argentina and Chile"
#Argentina #Chile #Environmen

Study finds climate change set the stage for devastating wildfires in Argentina and Chile
Human-caused climate change had an important impact on the recent ferocious wildfires that engulfed parts of Chile and Argentina's Patagonia region, making the extremely high-risk conditions that led to widespread burning up to three times more likely than in a world without global warming, a team of researchers warned on Wednesday.

US plans to exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves could by 2050 consume 🔥more than a tenth of the world’s remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to an exclusive analysis.
The calculation highlights how any moves to further exploit the
South American nation’s oil reserves
– the largest in the world,
at least on paper
– would put increasing pressure on climate goals,
and risk plunging the globe further into climate catastrophe.
<…

I wouldn't normally post a link to LinkedIn, but this is an important republished piece on AMOC collapse from Johan Rockström.
Climate risk becomes a matter of security
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/climate-risk-becomes-matter-sec…

Climate risk becomes a matter of security
The destabilisation of the #AMOC is no longer a distant scenario - it’s a national and global security risk. Iceland’s Climate Minister Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson and I outline actions to tackle this threat in this article first published in Dagens Nyheter and Vísir.

Study finds climate change set the stage for devastating wildfires in Argentina and Chile https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/study-finds-climate-change-set-the-stage-for-devastating-wildfires-in…

Study finds climate change set the stage for devastating wildfires in Argentina and Chile
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A team of researchers say that human-caused climate change had an important impact on the recent ferocious wildfires that engulfed parts of Chile and Argentina’s Patagonia region, making the extremely high-risk conditions that led to widespread burning up to three times more likely than in a world without global warming. […]

The US military has always had a massive global advantage against enemies by having bases all over the world. There are bases in every NATO country. This would appear to be a powerful threat to anyone willing to oppose American hegemon, and under normal conditions it would be.
But a lot of those kids serving on those bases joined, not because they love America but, because they needed a ticket out of poverty. They joined for the education, for the money, maybe a bit for the adventure, but, more than anything, to escape the ghetto or podunk backwater that trapped them. Under normal times, this is the best deal they could expect. Maybe they risk their lives, usually they sit around being bored for a few years, and they get to come out with respect and paid college.
But what they are being offered is normal in most of the countries they're stationed in. Free healthcare, cheap or free education, is just what citizens in a lot of countries have come to expect. If the US attacked a NATO country, how many would snap up citizenship if they were given a chance to defect? Bonus points for taking some hardware with you, I'm sure.
But there are some who love their country. There are some patriotic Americans on those bases. Some of them joined specifically to protect the US from all enemies, foreign *and* domestic. Given a chance to fulfill that oath or violate international law, what happens?
There are a good number of former military folks too who now are unsafe in the countries they served, who would do just about anything for citizenship in any EU country and almost any NATO ally. Some of those folks know things they swore an oath to never share, but the country they swore an oath to has betrayed them. Today there's no value in leaking those secrets, but in a war between the US and NATO allies things would be different. Some of those former military folks still believe in their oath, and know exactly who the real enemy is. What happens when there's a real threat of war, when they can use their knowledge to fulfill that oath to protect the US against those domestic threats?
There are a bunch of civilian tech workers who have become targets of the regime. Some of them had clearance, or know about the skeletons in the closet. They know about critical infrastructure, classified systems, all sorts of things that would be extremely valuable to an opponent. But the opponents of the US have always been a frightening *other*, never familiar societies these folks look up to, have visited, have thought about moving to, are trying to escape to.
All I'm saying here is that invading Venezuela and kidnapping the president has a very different calculus than does attacking Greenland. I don't know if Trump or his people are able to understand that, but if he and his folks aren't then I hope European leaders are. But more than that, I hope it never comes down to finding out.
But perhaps we should all think about what we would do to make sure things ended quickly if American leadership ever made such an incredible mistake.

Ex-Fed chairs condemn Trump’s bid to weaken central bank’s independence
Statement signed by 13 former senior officials condemns ‘unprecedented’ assault on Fed’s independence

Trump’s attempts to influence Fed risk ‘70’s-style inflation and global backlash’

Nils Pratley: US bond markets should be in revolt. Fed independence matters

How the global fish trade is spreading 'forever chemicals' around the world #AnimalRights

How the global fish trade is spreading 'forever chemicals' around the world
Eating fish may well be good for you, but it carries a hidden risk of exposure to so-called "forever chemicals." A new study published in the journal Science has revealed that the global seafood trade is acting as a massive delivery system for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), industrial pollutants that persist in the environment for decades.

"We have to build industrial-level security for AI agents in that particular area. To me, that's still a gap that somebody needs to work on," Raj Sharma, EY's global managing partner of growth and innovation said.
Execs at Davos say AI's biggest problem isn't hype — it's security

Execs at Davos say AI's biggest problem isn't hype — it's security
EY and KPMG executives at Davos said that AI security is a big risk, especially AI agents and, looking ahead, quantum computing.

"We are now at a critical juncture. We are at or very close to human caused environmental change that will fundamentally unpick the life-sustaining systems on Earth. These risk triggering feedback loops...
Ultimately that could cause the planet to drift away along the pathway to “hothouse Earth”, a scenario where even if emissions were reduced, self amplifying feedback loops would drive global temperature increases up to or even beyond 5°C"

Efforts to repress climate and environmental protest are growing worldwide
through a combination of new legislation,
novel uses of existing legal processes,
police actions,
vilification of activists,
and both violence and killings.
Acts of repression are likely to expand and intensify
as authoritarian regimes roll back climate policies,
with a particular focus on Trump’s actions in office
criminalizing protest,
increasing police po…

Here's the global playbook being used to crack down on climate protest
A new study finds that repression of environmental protest is rising worldwide and Indigenous land defenders face the greatest risk.

Doctors are being arrested in Iran
for helping save the lives of some of the tens of thousands injured
during Iran’s brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests,
with at least one surgeon now at risk of being sentenced to death.
The arrests and death sentence are part of a campaign of “revenge”,
say human rights groups,
after healthcare workers and doctors refused to ignore the plight of badly injured protesters shot or stabbed at close range,
and in so…

"For every dollar we spend protecting nature, we spend $30 destroying it: Report"
#Nature #Climate #ClimateChange

For every dollar we spend protecting nature, we spend $30 destroying it: Report
For every US$1 the world invests in protecting nature, it spends US$30 on destroying it. This stark imbalance is the central finding of a new UN Environment Program (UNEP) report released today. It calls for a major shift in global financing of nature-based solutions and phasing out harmful investments to deliver high returns, reduce risk exposure, and enhance resilience.

"World on track to breach 1.5°C target by 2030"
#Climate #ClimateChange #ParisAgreement

World on track to breach 1.5°C target by 2030
Global average temperature increases could pass the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold outlined in the Paris Agreement by the end of the decade, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, putting the world at greater risk of never-seen-before extreme weather events.

Protecting public health abroad benefits Americans.
In a globalized world, diseases and their social and economic impacts do not stay within national boundaries.
Increased rates of untreated HIV in any part of the world increase the risk of transmission for U.S. citizens.
Changes made in the first year of Trump’s second term to address the global HIV epidemic won't keep Americans safe.
In September 2025, the U.S. Department of State announced its "America First…

HIV knows no borders, and the Trump administration’s new strategy leave Americans vulnerable – an HIV-prevention expert explains
The America First Global Health Strategy aims to secure US interests but may instead undermine it by design.

For every dollar we spend protecting nature, we spend $30 destroying it: Report #nature

For every dollar we spend protecting nature, we spend $30 destroying it: Report
For every US$1 the world invests in protecting nature, it spends US$30 on destroying it. This stark imbalance is the central finding of a new UN Environment Program (UNEP) report released today. It calls for a major shift in global financing of nature-based solutions and phasing out harmful investments to deliver high returns, reduce risk exposure, and enhance resilience.

Donald Trump abruptly, and very imprecisely announced in a social media post,
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.”
The suggestion that the United States might break with a more than three decade-long moratorium on explosive tests sparked a global wave of uncertainty, anxiety, and speculation about the impacts of a potential return to explosive nuclear testing.
This com…

Scientists Say Public Engagement and Pressure Are Key to Reducing Nuclear Risks
Nuclear experts are urging the public to demand concrete steps to reduce the risk of devastation due to nuclear weapons.

World on track to breach 1.5°C target by 2030 #climate

World on track to breach 1.5°C target by 2030
Global average temperature increases could pass the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold outlined in the Paris Agreement by the end of the decade, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, putting the world at greater risk of never-seen-before extreme weather events.

"How Trump’s EPA rollbacks could harm our air and water – and worsen global heating"
#US #USA #America #Pollution