2023 hottest record year as Earth nears key limit
2023 hottest record year as Earth nears key limit
Taiwan unleashes robots on dengue-carrying mosquitoes
South Korea parliament passes bill banning dog meat trade
Taiwan unleashes robots on dengue-carrying mosquitoes
South Korea parliament passes bill banning dog meat trade
Transcript
00:00 Good day, I'm William Thieau and this is PTV News Now.
00:09 EU climate monitors said the year 2023 was the hottest on record, with the increase in
00:15 Earth's surface temperature nearly crossing the critical threat zone of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
00:21 The Copernicus Climate Change Service reported it is also the first year with all days over
00:27 1 degree warmer than temperatures during the pre-industrial period.
00:32 C3S Deputy Head Samantha Burgess added the average temperature during 2023 likely exceeds
00:39 those of any period in at least the last 100,000 years.
00:44 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on the other hand, said the year was a mere preview
00:51 of the catastrophic future that awaits us if we do not act now.
00:56 But even if Earth's average surface temperature breaches 1.5 degrees Celsius in 2024, as some
01:03 scientists predict, it does not mean the world has failed to meet the Paris Agreement target
01:09 of capping global warming under that threshold.
01:13 Meanwhile, researchers in Taiwan are using a special robot to hunt mosquitoes that carry
01:19 the virus-causing dengue fever.
01:21 In the southern city of Kaohsiung, Shelley Schendler has our story.
01:27 The World Health Organization says dengue fever is the world's fastest-growing mosquito-borne
01:32 disease.
01:33 In Taiwan, health officials here in the city of Kaohsiung are teaming up with local technology
01:38 firm GeoSat to develop this little robot to hunt dengue mosquitoes inside narrow, underground
01:44 rainwater ditches.
01:46 We can use the machine to find a hiding breeding source.
01:50 The robot is on the lookout for wiggly mosquito larvae like these.
01:55 Kaohsiung health officials have long urged residents to drain potted plants and tires,
02:00 anything holding water where mosquitoes can breed.
02:03 Officials used to not worry about insects breeding in the ditches back when they carried
02:07 household sewage, which dengue mosquitoes do not like.
02:11 Before, the water in these ditches used to be dirtier, more smelly.
02:18 Since the introduction of the new sewer system, it has become cleaner.
02:23 But ironically, this is when the problems started to arise.
02:27 Dengue-carrying mosquitoes prefer laying their eggs in the cleaner water.
02:35 Mosquitoes are like human mothers.
02:37 They want their children to grow up in their ideal environment.
02:44 A mosquito-catching gravitrap shows this street has a high dengue mosquito population.
02:50 And beneath this rainwater drain, there are puddles and larvae.
02:53 We can now put the machine in the ditch.
02:57 Into the narrow tunnel creeps the robot.
03:00 When it finds puddles, technicians mark the spot on a ditch database so the health department
03:05 will know where to blast insecticides to kill mosquito larvae and steam to kill eggs.
03:11 Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai says city health officials are working with Geosat developers
03:16 on the next generation of dengue fever robot.
03:19 New technology and application will change the strategy of prevention.
03:25 Improvements include enabling the robot to spray insecticides and steam on its own and
03:29 to use artificial intelligence to identify the mosquitoes that carry the virus that causes
03:34 dengue fever.
03:35 They plan to also use robots to release lab-borne mosquitoes containing biological controls
03:41 that prevent future generations from transmitting dengue fever.
03:45 Shelley Schlender, BOA News, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
03:52 In other news, a bill outlawing the sale of dog meat for consumption was approved in South
03:57 Korea's National Assembly by an overwhelming vote of 208-0 with two abstentions.
04:04 Anyone convicted of violating the ban which officially takes effect in 2027 faces up to
04:10 three years in prison or fines of more than $22,000.
04:14 Tuesday's passage of the bill was the culmination of a decades-long effort by animal rights
04:20 activists to end the centuries-long culinary practice.
04:26 This is William Thio.
04:28 Stay informed, get ahead, get the news right here.
04:31 (upbeat music)
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