October 2023

Responsibility for the damages caused by climate change and attribution science

Pubblicato il 02/10/2023

Disputes and legal actions concerning climate change are on the rise, as are those aimed at obtaining compensation for damages caused by specific atmospheric events from parties believed to be responsible. This is a result of the findings of attribution science, a discipline aimed at clarifying the causal relationship between the occurrence of extreme weather events and climate change.

Image credits: Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Climatology

In an article from ten years ago, addressing the issue of climate litigations, the legal disputes concerning climate change, the author noted that most of them were brought against governments to introduce limits or controls on greenhouse gas emitting activities or against companies involved in their production (especially oil multinationals) to comply with existing regulations.

The embarrassing Covid

di Stefania Salmaso

Pubblicato il 02/10/2023

There's a certain discomfort in having to talk about Covid-19 again, as demanded by the increase in cases that is also recorded in Italy. The reason, writes epidemiologist Stefania Salmaso, might perhaps be identified in the lack of a transparent process that allows understanding on what basis the health authority formulates recommendations, leading to reliance on pundits.

Image credits: visuals/Unsplash

Epidemiology

“An embarrassing Covid-19”: It could be the title of a short story by Calvino or a rhyme by Rodari, but it's what we're witnessing these days. The increasing frequency of SARS-CoV-2 infections in various areas of the world, including Italy, has forced mainstream media to address it again. However, it's often discussed with a sort of embarrassment and only for the sake of reporting. When discussing possible countermeasures, the discomfort becomes even more apparent.