Por Laura Paddison

El funeral del glaciar Pizol en Suiza, celebrado en 2019, marcó un momento simbólico de la crisis climática global. Cientos de personas se congregaron solemnemente para despedirse de esta masa de hielo, que había existido por 700 años. Los dolientes, vestidos de negro, depositaron flores mientras un sacerdote pronunciaba unas palabras, reconociendo oficialmente que el cambio climático causado por el ser humano había reducido el Pizol a solo unos pocos trozos de hielo dispersos.

Pizol no es ni mucho menos el primer glaciar que desaparece. Miles de ellos han desaparecido en las últimas décadas y, a medida que el mundo sigue calentándose, se prevé que desaparezcan a un ritmo cada vez mayor. Una nueva investigación nos da una idea de lo rápido que podría ocurrir esto, y es desolador.

Según un estudio publicado este lunes en Nature Climate Change, si los seres humanos siguen generando contaminación climática, a mediados de siglo el número de glaciares que desaparecerán alcanzará un máximo de hasta 4.000 al año. Eso equivale a perder todos los glaciares de los Alpes europeos en solo un año.

Las investigaciones se han centrado principalmente en la cantidad total o la superficie de hielo perdida por los glaciares a medida que aumentan las temperaturas, en lugar de en los cambios en su número total. Esto se debe en parte a que el número de glaciares es una medida menos clara. Depende de las evaluaciones de lo que constituye un glaciar y los inventarios actuales a veces tienen dificultades para detectar masas de hielo más pequeñas o cubiertas de escombros. Las mejores estimaciones indican que actualmente hay más de 200.000 glaciares en la Tierra.

Sin embargo, los autores del estudio afirman que es importante saber dónde y cuándo desaparecerán los glaciares individuales. Esto demuestra que “el cambio climático no solo genera el derretimiento del hielo, sino que conduce a la extinción completa de muchos glaciares”, dijo Matthias Huss, autor del estudio y glaciólogo de la universidad suiza ETH Zürich, quien habló en el funeral de Pizol en 2019.

Los científicos analizaron los glaciares del planeta utilizando una base de datos global para determinar el “pico de extinción de glaciares”, es decir, el período durante el cual desaparece el mayor número de ellos.

Utilizaron modelos para determinar cuándo cada glaciar individual se volvería demasiado pequeño para ser clasificado como glaciar: definido como cuando su superficie es inferior a 0,01 kilómetros cuadrados o alcanza menos del 1 % de su volumen inicial, medido alrededor del año 2000.

Su análisis reveló que la extinción de los glaciares alcanzará su punto álgido a mediados de siglo, aunque el momento exacto y el alcance dependerán del nivel de calentamiento global.

Si el mundo logra mantener el calentamiento en 1,5 grados centígrados por encima de los niveles preindustriales, algo que no parece que vaya a suceder, el número de glaciares que desaparecerán alcanzará su punto máximo alrededor de 2041, con aproximadamente 2.000 al año.

Con un calentamiento de 4 grados, ese tope se desplaza a mediados de la década de 2050 y se intensifica hasta alcanzar unos 4.000 al año. Esto supone entre 3 y 5 veces más que la tasa actual de pérdida global, según el informe.

Si se cumplen los compromisos climáticos, el mundo se encamina actualmente hacia un calentamiento de alrededor de 2,7 grados. A este nivel, el pico de extinción se producirá durante un período más largo, y el mundo perderá alrededor de 3.000 glaciares al año entre 2

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — Ford on Monday said it is pulling back on its electric vehicle plans, a move that will result in a $19.5 billion charge against its earnings to be taken mostly in the current quarter.

But excluding that charge, the company said this should actually be a fairly good quarter due to strong sales of its traditional gasoline-powered trucks and SUVs. It raised its operating profit target for the year by $7 billion.

But the pullback on its EV plans also means its flagship electric vehicle, the F150 Lightning, will be on hold indefinitely. Ford said the next generation of the F150 will have a 700-mile range and improved heavy-duty towing. It announced Monday that it had halted production of its original F150 Lightning model this month. But it did not give any details on when production of the new model would begin.

Demand for electric vehicles surged through the summer and September due to the scheduled expiration of a $7,500 US tax credit for EV buyers. Ford’s EV sales jumped 30% in the third quarter, compared to a year earlier, the company said in October. But those sales only came to 30,600 vehicles, or just less than 6% of its total US sales. While the company has not reported fourth-quarter EV sales, outside estimates are that all US EV sales fell sharply.

Ford and other automakers invested heavily in EV plans in anticipation of stringent environmental regulations put in place during the Biden administration. They also expected some states to follow the lead of California and ban gas-powered vehicle sales within a decade.

But the Trump administration has rolled back those emissions rules along with the financial support for EVs, and is challenging states’ authority to set tougher rules. So Ford is looking for ways to use some of those assets besides strictly powering electric vehicles. One of the plans the company announced Monday is to have some of its EV battery capacity repurposed for energy infrastructure and growing data center demands.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Ford takes $19.5 billion hit as it pulls back on electric vehicle plans, halts F-150 Lightning production appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

The post Dance Review | Winter Suite is a Delightful Holiday Treat appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

By Kit Maher, Steve Contorno, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump said Monday that the White House is “very strongly” considering signing an executive order to reschedule marijuana to a lower drug classification, which would ease federal restrictions.

“We are considering that because a lot of people want to see it — the reclassification, because it leads to tremendous amounts of research that can’t be done unless you reclassify. So, we are looking at that very strongly,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump’s comments come a year after he suggested his return to the White House would usher in a new era for marijuana, one that would make it easier for adults to access safe products and give states greater leeway to pursue legalization.

Two sources told CNN the White House has been involved in discussions about reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug, which the Drug Enforcement Administration defines “as drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”

The DEA defines Schedule I drugs as those “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Marijuana is in the same drug classification as heroin, LSD and meth.

People familiar with the matter said the White House has been involved in discussions with industry groups about an announcement on rescheduling as early as this week, though a White House official insisted Friday no final decisions have been made. CNN reached out to the White House again Monday.

Trump discussed the issue at a more than two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on December 9, two sources told CNN.

Among the attendees were chief of staff Susie Wiles, deputy chief of staff James Blair, White House counsel David Warrington, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, and White House Domestic Policy Council deputy director Heidi Overton, the sources said.

Also in the room, according to the sources, were Kim Rivers from cannabis company Trulieve; Jim Hagedorn, the CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro, which has a cannabis division; and Howard Kessler, a Trump ally and advocate for expanded medical cannabis access.

The Washington Post first reported on the Oval Office meeting.

Trump first declared his support for changing federal marijuana policy in the 2024 presidential race amid an aggressive courtship of younger voters, saying he wanted to allow for weed companies to obtain bank accounts and for universities to research the drug.

Trump announced at the time that he intended to vote for a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in his home state of Florida. He then added that, as president, he would “continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug.”

Privately, the White House has spent much of 2025 researching whether and how to move ahead with rescheduling marijuana. CNN previously reported that Wiles requested affected agencies to weigh in, and their responses, compiled by Trump’s Domestic Policy Council, were presented to her over the summer.

CNN also reported in August that Trump told a small gathering of donors that the White House needed to look into loosening federal restrictions on the drug.

The internal debate over whether to proceed on rescheduling marijuana comes as Trump’s standing with young people is deteriorating heading into the 2026 midterms. Read more

By Eric Bradner, Nicky Robertson, CNN

(CNN) — Students and staffers at Brown University described a deep sense of fear and anxiety Monday as police continued searching for the shooter who killed two and injured nine Saturday on the university’s campus in Providence, Rhode Island.

With exams at the Ivy League school canceled, the university told students they were free to go home for the holiday break immediately — leading to what some students said was an eerie sense of vacancy on the snow-blanketed campus, with temperatures in the 20s on Monday. Those who remained on or near the university Monday told CNN they are on constant alert — particularly after police announced late Sunday that they were releasing a person of interest and continuing their manhunt.

“The fact that that person is still out there and they’re at large — it’s terrifying,” said Kerem Koyluoglu, a junior at Brown majoring in international and public affairs.

He said he and his friends are walking together to “make sure nobody’s alone.”

“I think people are a little bit scared also, just to see people who are walking by themselves,” Koyluoglu said. “There’s always that ‘What if?’ factor.”

Brown senior Anika Mahns — who was working at the gym on campus, which became a spot many ran for cover when the shooting took place before she and other colleagues barricaded the doors — said once classes resume after winter break, things on campus won’t be the same.

“I think scared is the only way to put it,” Mahns told CNN. “I think a lot of people are very paranoid, too, rightfully so.”

“It’s just hard to be able to walk around and live your life knowing that someone’s out there,” Mahns said.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley told CNN there have been no credible threats in the area since the shooting late afternoon Saturday. However, with no firearm recovered at the scene, the shooter is still considered armed and dangerous, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha told CNN.

‘We are very angry’

The anxiety members of the Brown community described had intensified after a person of interest was released by authorities on Sunday.

Owen Tower, who is pursuing his PhD in physics and was in the Barus and Holley engineering building where the shooting took place about an hour beforehand, said he attended a vigil for the victims Sunday night — but if he’d known the shooter was still at large, he would have remained home.

He’s largely stayed at home since the shooting, but he described the anger in the community after a person of interest was released by police late Sunday night.

“I think we’re all pretty pissed off. Like, we’re very angry over the fact that this person has not been caught because Brown is really, really tight knit,” Tower said.

Cole Francis, a senior at Brown University who was inside the Barus and Holley building when the shooting occurred, said the situation is “terrifying.”

“I think that a lot of people found a lot of relief in knowing that the authorities had caught this person and recovered the weapons that this person may have used. And now to know that he may still be on the street is, is extremely scary and worrisome for a lot of people,” he told CNN.

Vanessa Orozco, a Providence resident who lives near the B