tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/leiden-university-935/articlesLeiden University2024-03-26T14:42:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265922024-03-26T14:42:09Z2024-03-26T14:42:09ZMicroplásticos encontrados em placas nas artérias associados a maior risco de ataque cardíaco, derrame e morte<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584207/original/file-20240321-28-qdlre2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3016%2C2004&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Há uma crescente preocupação com a ameaça que os microplásticos pode representar para a saúde humana</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-side-shot-microplastics-lay-on-1995649331">Deemerwha studio/ Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Os microplásticos e nanoplásticos estão por todo lugar em nosso ambiente, inclusive em nos <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.180667">oceanos</a> e <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06168-4">lagos</a>, terras agrícolas e até mesmo em <a href="https://theconversation.com/microplastics-weve-found-startling-quantities-in-the-ice-algae-that-are-essential-for-all-arctic-marine-life-204983">algas no gelo do Ártico</a>. </p>
<p>Os microplásticos também foram encontrados dentro de nós, com estudos que os detectaram em vários tecidos, inclusive nos <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126124">pulmões</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107199">sangue</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c07179">coração</a> e <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106274">placenta</a>. Diante disso, é compreensível que esteja aumentando a preocupação com os possíveis riscos dos microplásticos para a nossa saúde.</p>
<p>Entretanto, embora um número crescente de pesquisas tenha se concentrado nos microplásticos e nanoplásticos, ainda faltam evidências diretas de que sua presença nos tecidos humanos seja prejudicial à nossa saúde, e não se sabe ao certo se eles estão relacionados a doenças específicas. </p>
<p>Um <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822">novo estudo</a>, porém, descobriu uma correlação entre os microplásticos e a saúde do coração. Os pesquisadores descobriram que as pessoas que tinham microplásticos e nanoplásticos detectáveis nas placas em suas artérias apresentavam um risco maior de ataque cardíaco, derrame e morte.</p>
<h2>Saúde do coração</h2>
<p>Os pesquisadores analisaram 257 pessoas no total. Todos os pacientes já estavam sendo submetidos a uma cirurgia preventiva para remover a placa das artérias carótidas (as principais artérias que irrigam o cérebro com sangue). Isso permitiu que os pesquisadores coletassem amostras de placa e realizassem uma análise química. Eles então acompanharam os participantes 34 meses depois. </p>
<p>Dos 257 participantes, descobriu-se que 150 tinham a presença de microplásticos e nanoplásticos em sua placa arterial, principalmente fragmentos de dois dos plásticos mais usados no mundo, o polietileno (usado em sacolas de supermercado, garrafas e embalagens de alimentos) e o cloreto de polivinila (usado em pisos, revestimentos e canos).</p>
<p>Uma análise estatística desses dados revelou que os pacientes com microplásticos e nanoplásticos em suas placas tinham um risco maior de sofrer um ataque cardíaco, derrame ou morte por qualquer causa na comparação com aqueles que não tinham microplásticos ou nanoplásticos em suas placas arteriais.</p>
<p>Os pesquisadores também analisaram os macrófagos (um tipo de célula imune que ajuda a remover patógenos do corpo) nas artérias dos pacientes. Eles descobriram que os participantes que tinham microplásticos e nanoplásticos em suas placas também tinham evidências de fragmentos de plástico em seus macrófagos.</p>
<p>Eles também analisaram se determinados genes associados à inflamação (que pode ser um sinal de doença) estavam ativados nos participantes. Eles descobriram que os participantes que tinham microplásticos e nanoplásticos em suas placas também apresentavam sinais de inflamação em seus genes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Um desenho digital de placa em uma artéria." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Os microplásticos foram encontrados em amostras de placa extraídas da artéria carótida dos pacientes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/atherosclerotic-plaque-development-high-detail-image-181080389">Rocos/ Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Esses resultados podem sugerir que um acúmulo de nanoplásticos e microplásticos na placa carotídea poderia desencadear parcialmente a inflamação. Essa inflamação pode, subsequentemente, alterar a maneira como a placa se comporta no corpo, tornando-a menos estável e desencadeando a formação de um coágulo sanguíneo, que pode eventualmente bloquear o fluxo sanguíneo, levando a ataques cardíacos e derrames.</p>
<p>É interessante notar que os pesquisadores também descobriram que a presença de nanoplásticos e microplásticos era mais comum em participantes que tinham diabetes e doenças cardiovasculares. Isso levanta uma série de questões que ainda não foram respondidas, como, por exemplo, por que os microplásticos eram mais comuns nesses participantes e se pode haver uma correlação entre outras doenças e a presença de microplásticos no corpo.</p>
<h2>Outros riscos à saúde</h2>
<p>Este estudo concentrou-se apenas em pacientes com doença da artéria carótida e que já estavam sendo submetidos a cirurgia para remover o acúmulo de placa. Dessa forma, não está claro se as descobertas desse estudo podem ser aplicadas a uma população maior ou diferente de pessoas.</p>
<p>Entretanto, esse não é o primeiro estudo a mostrar uma ligação entre microplásticos e nanoplásticos e males à saúde. Pesquisas sugerem que parte desse dano pode ser devido à forma como os microplásticos e nanoplásticos interagem com as proteínas do corpo.</p>
<p>Por exemplo, algumas proteínas humanas aderem à superfície dos <a href="https://jnanobiotechnology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12951-020-00676-5">nanoplásticos de poliestireno</a>, formando uma camada <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33340622">que envolve a nanopartícula</a>. A formação dessa camada pode influenciar a <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c05772#">atividade e transferência</a> dos nanoplásticos nos órgãos humanos.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi8716">Outro estudo</a> sugeriu que os nanoplásticos podem interagir com uma proteína chamada alfa-sinucleína, que, em estudos com ratos, demonstrou desempenhar um papel crucial na facilitação da comunicação entre as células nervosas. Esses aglomerados de nanoplásticos e proteínas podem aumentar o risco da doença de Parkinson. </p>
<p>Minha <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023001381?via%3Dihub">pesquisa publicada de doutorado</a> com embriões de galinha descobriu que os nanoplásticos podem causar malformações congênitas devido à forma como interagem com uma proteína chamada cadherin6B. Com base nas interações que eu e outros pesquisadores observamos, essas malformações podem afetar os olhos e o tubo neural do embrião, bem como o desenvolvimento e a função do coração. </p>
<p>Considerando o fato de que nanoplásticos e microplásticos são encontrados na placa carotídea, agora precisamos investigar como esses plásticos chegaram a esses tecidos. </p>
<p>Em camundongos, foi demonstrado que os <a href="https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112346">macrófagos intestinais</a> (um tipo de glóbulo branco) podem absorver microplásticos e nanoplásticos em sua membrana celular. Talvez um mecanismo semelhante esteja ocorrendo nas artérias, já que os nanoplásticos foram identificados em amostras de macrófagos da placa carotídea.</p>
<p>As descobertas desse último estudo se somam a um conjunto crescente de evidências que mostram uma ligação entre os produtos plásticos e a nossa saúde. Agora é importante que os pesquisadores investiguem os mecanismos específicos pelos quais os microplásticos e os nanoplásticos causam danos ao corpo.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226592/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meiru Wang não presta consultoria, trabalha, possui ações ou recebe financiamento de qualquer empresa ou organização que poderia se beneficiar com a publicação deste artigo e não revelou nenhum vínculo relevante além de seu cargo acadêmico.</span></em></p>Descobertas de estudo recente se somam a um conjunto crescente de evidências que associam os microplásticos a danos à saúdeMeiru Wang, Postdoctoral Researcher, Molecular Biology and Nanotoxicology, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2259372024-03-21T18:01:46Z2024-03-21T18:01:46ZMicroplastics found in artery plaque linked with higher risk of heart attack, stroke and death<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583446/original/file-20240321-28-qdlre2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3016%2C2004&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There is growing concern about the threats microplastics may pose to human health.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-side-shot-microplastics-lay-on-1995649331">Deemerwha studio/ Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Microplastics and nanoplastics are everywhere in our environment – including in our <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.180667">oceans</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06168-4">lakes</a>, farmland, and even <a href="https://theconversation.com/microplastics-weve-found-startling-quantities-in-the-ice-algae-that-are-essential-for-all-arctic-marine-life-204983">Arctic ice algae</a>. </p>
<p>Microplastics have also been found inside of us – with studies detecting them in various tissues including in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126124">lungs</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107199">blood</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c07179">heart</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106274">placenta</a>. Understandably, concern is rising about the potential risks of microplastics on our health.</p>
<p>However, while a growing body of research has focused on microplastics and nanoplastics, there’s still a lack of direct evidence that their presence in human tissues is harmful to our health – and it’s uncertain if they are related to particular diseases. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822">new study</a> has uncovered a correlation between microplastics and heart health, though. The researchers found that people who had detectable microplastics and nanoplastics in the plaque in their arteries had a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and death.</p>
<h2>Heart health</h2>
<p>The researchers looked at 257 people altogether. All of the patients were already undergoing preventative surgery to remove plaque from their carotid arteries (the main arteries that supply the brain with blood). This allowed the researchers to collect plaque samples and perform a chemical analysis. They then followed up with participants 34 months later. </p>
<p>Of the 257 participants, 150 were found to have the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in their arterial plaque – mainly fragments of two of the most commonly used plastics in the world, polyethylene (used in grocery bags, bottles and food packaging) and polyvinyl chloride (used in flooring, cladding and pipes).</p>
<p>A statistical analysis of this data found that patients with microplastics and nanoplastics in their plaque had a higher risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke or death from any cause, compared with those who had no microplastics or nanoplastics in their plaque.</p>
<p>The researchers also analysed the macrophages (a type of immune cell that helps remove pathogens from the body) in the patients’ arteries. They found that participants who’d had microplastics and nanoplastics in their plaque also had evidence of plastic fragments in their macrophages.</p>
<p>They also looked at whether certain genes associated with inflammation (which can be a sign of disease) were switched on in the participants. They found that the participants who’d had microplastics and nanoplastics in their plaque also had signs of inflammation in their genes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A digital drawing of plaque in an artery." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583449/original/file-20240321-26-hgrfsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The microplastics were found in samples of plaque extracted from the carotid artery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/atherosclerotic-plaque-development-high-detail-image-181080389">Rocos/ Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These results may suggest an accumulation of nanoplastics and microplastics in carotid plaque could partly trigger inflammation. This inflammation may subsequently change the way plaque behaves in the body, making it less stable and triggering it to form a blood clot – which can eventually block blood flow, leading to heart attacks and strokes.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the researchers also found the presence of nanoplastics and microplastics was more common in participants who had diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This raises a lot of questions which have yet to be answered – such as why microplastics were more common in these participants, and if there may be a correlation between other diseases and the presence of microplastics in the body.</p>
<h2>Other health risks</h2>
<p>This study only focused on patients who had carotid artery disease and were already having surgery to remove the build-up of plaque. As such, it’s unclear whether the findings of this study can be applied to a larger population of people.</p>
<p>However, it isn’t the first study to show a link between microplastics and nanoplastics with poor health. Research suggests some of this harm may be due to the way microplastics and nanoplastics interact with proteins in the body.</p>
<p>For example, some human proteins adhere to the surface of <a href="https://jnanobiotechnology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12951-020-00676-5">polystyrene nanoplastics</a>, forming a layer <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33340622">surrounding the nanoparticle</a>. The formation of this layer may influence the <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c05772#">activity and transfer</a> of nanoplastics in human organs.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adi8716">Another study</a> suggested that nanoplastics can interact with a protein called alpha-synuclein, which in mouse studies has been shown to play a crucial role in facilitating communication between nerve cells. These clumps of nanoplastics and protein may increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nanoplastics-linked-to-parkinsons-and-some-types-of-dementia-new-study-218188">Nanoplastics linked to Parkinson's and some types of dementia – new study</a>
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<p>My <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023001381?via%3Dihub">published PhD research</a> in chicken embryos found that nanoplastics may cause congenital malformations due to the way they interact with a protein called cadherin6B. Based on the interactions myself and fellow researchers saw, these malformations may affect the embryo’s eyes and neural tube, as well as the heart’s development and function. </p>
<p>Given the fact that nanoplastics and microplastics are found in carotid plaque, we now need to investigate how these plastics got into such tissues. </p>
<p>In mice, it has been demonstrated that <a href="https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112346">gut macrophages</a> (a type of white blood cell) can absorb microplastics and nanoplastics into their cell membrane. Perhaps a similar mechanism is taking place in the arteries, since nanoplastics have been identified in samples of carotid plaque macrophages.</p>
<p>The findings from this latest study add to a growing body of evidence showing a link between plastic products and our health. It is important now for researchers to investigate the specific mechanisms by which microplastics and nanoplastics cause harm in the body.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225937/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meiru Wang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The findings of this recent study adds to a growing body of evidence linking microplastics with health harms.Meiru Wang, Postdoctoral Researcher, Molecular Biology and Nanotoxicology, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2258022024-03-14T11:11:59Z2024-03-14T11:11:59ZAsí consiguió Finlandia reducir a la mitad su tasa de suicidios<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581881/original/file-20240306-24-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5442%2C3601&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-mature-couple-life-vests-canoeing-1952066041">Aleksandra Suzi/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>El final del siglo XX fue un periodo especialmente sombrío para Finlandia. Las tasas de suicidio se encontraban entre las <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/02/21/finnish-men-defy-experts-maintain-lead-in-suicides/9bb6bdba-51e3-4c82-a4ab-8b827443edf4/">más altas del mundo</a>, y alcanzaron su punto máximo en 1990 con más de 30 muertes por cada 100 000 ciudadanos, frente a una media europea de diez por cada 100 000. </p>
<p>Finlandia reaccionó de forma agresiva, poniendo en marcha una estrategia nacional integral y, en última instancia, reduciendo esta tasa a más de la mitad, hasta aproximadamente <a href="https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/age-standardized-suicide-rates-(per-100-000-population)">13 muertes por cada 100 000</a>. ¿Cómo lo logró?</p>
<h2>No existe una receta universal</h2>
<p>Cada suicidio es único, con muchos factores determinantes y características personales, sucesos adversos y fallos a la hora de obtener ayuda. Estos factores sumados suelen derivar en un desenlace fatal. </p>
<p>Por eso no existe una única receta para prevenir el suicidio. Sin embargo, hay varios factores que pueden haber contribuido al descenso de la tasa en Finlandia. </p>
<p>La <a href="https://www.julkari.fi/handle/10024/77888">estrategia principal</a> emprendida por el gobierno finlandés incluía instruir a los trabajadores de la salud y a otros profesionales sanitarios para llevar a cabo un proyecto de investigación exhaustivo que recopilara datos sobre todos los suicidios ocurridos durante un periodo de un año. </p>
<p>El proyecto de investigación en sí fue una intervención de gran envergadura, que abarcó los más de 400 municipios de Finlandia, y proporcionó información directa sobre las tasas de suicidio y las acciones preventivas específicas, concienciando al mismo tiempo sobre los riesgos. </p>
<h2>Nuevos antidepresivos y limitar el acceso a armas de fuego y venenos</h2>
<p>Los medios de comunicación aprendieron a informar sobre los suicidios de forma neutral, sin glorificarlos ni idealizarlos. Se aplicaron políticas para limitar el acceso a las armas de fuego y los venenos. Y la llegada de una <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/ssris/art-20044825">nueva generación</a> de antidepresivos, con menos efectos secundarios, en los años 90 también pudo haber contribuido a reducir la tasa. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Un blíster de antidepresivos" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">La nueva generación de antidepresivos, como el Prozac, tenía menos efectos secundarios.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/green-white-10-packet-pills-depression-666180598">callumrc/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>En contra de lo que cabría imaginar, el rápido auge de los teléfonos móviles en los años 90 también puede haber sido de gran ayuda. Aunque ahora vemos los dispositivos móviles y las redes sociales como una fuente de disminución de los contactos sociales físicos, probablemente ayudaron a la gente a mantenerse en contacto con otras personas en este gran país escasamente poblado (la soledad y la falta de sentido de pertenencia son <a href="https://doi.org/10.1192%2Fj.eurpsy.2022.2320">factores de riesgo conocidos</a> en el suicidio).</p>
<p>Pero ¿hasta qué punto fue Finlandia el único país que experimentó un descenso de las tasas de suicidio? </p>
<h2>Cómo les ha ido a otros países</h2>
<p>Durante aproximadamente el mismo periodo, las tasas disminuyeron también <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep20256">en el resto de Europa</a>. Nunca sabremos con certeza a qué se debe, pero una buena hipótesis podría ser que ahora existe una mayor concienciación sobre el suicidio y <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/05/mental-health-survey">una mayor disposición</a> a hablar sobre la salud mental. Adicionalmente, al igual que en Finlandia, los medios de comunicación informan sobre el suicidio <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240076846">de una forma más neutral</a>. </p>
<p>Además, como ya se ha mencionado, la nueva generación de los llamados fármacos antidepresivos ISRS puede haber desempeñado un papel importante en el descenso de los suicidios, junto con tratamientos de salud mental más eficaces, como la <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445507304728">terapia cognitivo-conductual</a>. </p>
<h2>En Estados Unidos los suicidios están aumentando</h2>
<p>Por desgracia, las perspectivas globales no son tan halagüeñas, ya que la mortalidad por suicidio está aumentando en algunas partes del mundo. Por ejemplo, la tasa de suicidios en EE. UU. ha <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-051920-123206">aumentado un 35 %</a> en las primeras décadas del siglo XXI, y ahora asciende a unas 14 muertes por cada 100 000 habitantes. </p>
<p>¿Por qué algunos países parecen prosperar en la era moderna y otros parecen sumidos en la desesperación? Probablemente se deba a la desigualdad en la distribución del bienestar, que deja a algunos grupos vulnerables y desprotegidos. </p>
<p>En Estados Unidos, los grupos de riesgo parecen incluir a los jóvenes marginados y con escasa formación, muchos de los cuales son víctimas de la epidemia de opiáceos. Sabemos que el riesgo de suicidio es mayor entre las personas más pobres. Por eso, países con un Estado del bienestar más amplio, como los nórdicos, pueden estar mejor preparados cuando se trata de la difícil tarea de reducir el suicidio.</p>
<p>En Finlandia no se conforman con lo que ya han conseguido. La actual <a href="https://stm.fi/en/mental-health-policy-guidelines">estrategia de salud mental</a> incluye un programa de prevención del suicidio con enfoques similares a la agenda anterior, con un énfasis añadido en la mejora de los servicios de crisis. Además, están llevando a cabo un estudio nacional sobre <a href="https://ulosepatoivosta.fi/en/">suicidios de jóvenes</a>. La síntesis de estos hallazgos, junto con los esfuerzos continuados, tiene el potencial de reducir aún más la tasa.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225802/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Las personas firmantes no son asalariadas, ni consultoras, ni poseen acciones, ni reciben financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y han declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado anteriormente.</span></em></p>En un par de décadas, Finlandia ha reducido su tasa de suicidios a la mitad. ¿Cuál ha sido su fórmula mágica? ¿Podemos emularles?Leah Prencipe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Public Health, Leiden UniversityMarieke Liem, Professor of Violence and Interventions, Leiden UniversitySami Pirkola, Professor of Social Psychiatry, Tampere UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2247082024-03-13T16:20:55Z2024-03-13T16:20:55ZFinland managed to halve its suicide rate – here’s how it happened<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580125/original/file-20240306-24-fgv5q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5442%2C3601&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-mature-couple-life-vests-canoeing-1952066041">Aleksandra Suzi/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The end of the 20th century was a particularly grim period for Finland. Suicide rates were among the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/02/21/finnish-men-defy-experts-maintain-lead-in-suicides/9bb6bdba-51e3-4c82-a4ab-8b827443edf4/">highest in the world</a>, peaking in 1990 with over 30 deaths per 100,000 citizens, compared with a European average of ten per 100,000. </p>
<p>Finland responded aggressively, implementing a comprehensive national strategy, and ultimately cutting this rate by more than half, to about <a href="https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/age-standardized-suicide-rates-(per-100-000-population)">13 deaths per 100,000</a>. </p>
<p>Each suicide is unique, with many precipitating factors and personal characteristics, adverse occurrences and failures to get help. These things add up and finally cluster in a lethal way. </p>
<p>That is why there is no single remedy when it comes to suicide prevention. There are, however, several factors that may have contributed to the decline in the Finnish suicide rate. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.julkari.fi/handle/10024/77888">main strategy</a> undertaken by the Finnish government included educating health and other care workers to conduct a comprehensive, nationwide research project that collected data on all suicides that occurred during a one-year period. </p>
<p>§The research project itself was a huge intervention, spanning Finland’s 400-plus municipalities, which provided direct feedback on suicide rates and specific preventive actions, simultaneously raising awareness of suicide risks. </p>
<p>The media learned to report on suicides in a neutral way – without glorifying or romanticising language. Policies were implemented to limit access to firearms and poisons. And the arrival of a <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/ssris/art-20044825">new generation</a> of antidepressants, with fewer side-effects, in the 90s may also have contributed to bringing down the rate. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A blister pack of antidepressants" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580127/original/file-20240306-18-21a9k5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The newer generation of antidepressants, such as Prozac, had fewer side-effects.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/green-white-10-packet-pills-depression-666180598">callumrc/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Counterintuitively, the fast rise of mobile phones in the 90s may have given a big helping hand, too. While we now look at mobile devices and social media as a source of decreasing physical social contacts, they probably helped people keep in touch with others in this large, sparsely populated country. (Loneliness and a lack of sense of belonging are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1192%2Fj.eurpsy.2022.2320">known risk factors</a> in suicide.)</p>
<p>But to what extent was Finland unique in experiencing a decline in suicide rates? </p>
<h2>How other countries fared</h2>
<p>Over roughly this same period, suicide rates have fallen <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep20256">across Europe</a>. We can never be certain why this is the case, but a good guess might be that there is now better awareness of suicide and <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/05/mental-health-survey">greater willingness</a> to talk about mental health. As in Finland, suicide is also reported in a <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240076846">more neutral way</a> in the media. </p>
<p>And, as mentioned above, the new generation of so-called SSRI antidepressant drugs may have played a large role in the fall in suicides, along with more effective mental health treatments, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445507304728">cognitive behavioural therapy</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the outlook is not universally bright, as death by suicide is increasing in some parts of the world. For example, suicide rates in the US have <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-051920-123206">increased by 35%</a> in the first decades of the 21st century, now amounting to about 14 deaths per 100,000. </p>
<p>Why are some countries seemingly thriving in the modern era and others seemingly seeped in despair? This probably points to inequality in wellbeing distribution that leaves some groups vulnerable and unprotected. </p>
<p>In the US, the risk groups seem to include under-educated, marginalised younger people, many of whom are victims of the opioid epidemic. We know that suicide risk is higher among poorer people, and Finland, with its more extensive Nordic welfare state, may be better equipped when it comes to the difficult task of suicide reduction.</p>
<p>The story continues in Finland, where the current <a href="https://stm.fi/en/mental-health-policy-guidelines">mental health strategy</a> includes a suicide-prevention programme with similar focuses to the previous agenda, with an added emphasis on improving crisis services. And they’re conducting a nationwide suicide study on <a href="https://ulosepatoivosta.fi/en/">young people’s suicides</a>. The synthesis of these findings, coupled with continuing endeavours, has the potential to further decrease the rate.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts, the following services can provide you with support:</em></p>
<p><em>In the UK and Ireland – call Samaritans UK at 116 123.</em></p>
<p><em>In the US – call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or IMAlive at 1-800-784-2433.</em></p>
<p><em>In Australia – call Lifeline Australia at 13 11 14.</em></p>
<p><em>In other countries – visit IASP or Suicide.org to find a helpline in your country.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224708/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marieke Liem receives funding from the Dutch Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah Prencipe and Sami Pirkola do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Putting Finland’s precipitous drop in suicides in context.Leah Prencipe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Public Health, Leiden UniversityMarieke Liem, Professor of Violence and Interventions, Leiden UniversitySami Pirkola, Professor of Social Psychiatry, Tampere UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250962024-03-11T02:13:34Z2024-03-11T02:13:34ZMenghindari daging dapat membuka lahan penting untuk menghasilkan energi dan menyerap karbon dari atmosfer – riset<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579807/original/file-20240222-18-kxgnpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4985%2C2844&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">danymages / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Suplai daging, susu, dan produk lain yang bersumber dari hewan mungkin akan jauh berkurang pada beberapa dekade mendatang. Sebab, semakin banyak orang-orang beralih ke berbagai produk alternatif. Berkurangnya produk daging bisa membuka peluang penggunaan lahan luas yang saat ini masih digunakan untuk beternak hewan dan bercocok tanam untuk memberi makan mereka.</p>
<p>Baru-baru ini, kami menerbitkan <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.12.016">penelitian</a> untuk melihat apa yang mungkin terjadi jika permintaan produk hewani benar-benar menurun sehingga lahan untuk produksi serta kebutuhan pendukungnya digunakan untuk menghasilkan sumber energi terbarukan dan penghilangan karbon. </p>
<p>Ternyata, potensi manfaatnya sangat besar.</p>
<p>Penggantian produk hewani dalam skala besar mungkin tampak mustahil saat ini. Namun, alternatif baru, seperti daging tiruan nabati atau daging hasil laboratorium, bisa sangat mirip daging asli dalam hal rasa dan tekstur. Seiring waktu, bukan tidak mungkin keduanya mengalahkan daging betulan dalam hal <a href="https://web-assets.bcg.com/a0/28/4295860343c6a2a5b9f4e3436114/bcg-food-for-thinking-the-protein-transformation-mar-2021.pdf">biaya</a>.</p>
<p>Untuk saat ini, penggantian produk berbasis hewan masih berbiaya mahal dan sering mengorbankan rasa. Mayoritas konsumennya adalah kelompok-kelompok tertentu yang peduli terhadap kesehatan, lingkungan, atau kesejahteraan hewan. </p>
<p>Namun, di masa depan, pengalaman serupa dengan biaya lebih rendah bisa jadi akan menjadikan ‘daging’ alternatif lebih populer.</p>
<h2>Membuka potensi lawas</h2>
<p>Pengurangan daging dapat membebaskan lahan dan mengurangi kebutuhan air dalam jumlah besar. Sebab, kebutuhan lahan ternak sapi, ayam, babi, atau lahan produksi tanaman pakan juga berkurang. </p>
<p>Riset kami memperkirakan bahwa penggantian sepenuhnya produk-produk hewani akan membebaskan lebih dari 60% lahan pertanian dunia. Peneliti lain bahkan mengungkapkan potensi yang lebih besar, yaitu <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00603-4">sebanyak 75%</a>.</p>
<p>Peternakan mungkin tidak akan hilang sepenuhnya. Namun, <a href="https://www.kearney.com/industry/consumer-retail/article/-/insights/when-consumers-go-vegan-how-much-meat-will-be-left-on-the-table-for-agribusiness">laporan</a> dari <a href="https://esginvesting-cdn-1.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/%2013134738/CSRI-sustainable-food-final.pdf">sejumlah</a> <a href="https://www.ey.com/en_us/food-system-reimagined/protein-reimagined-challenges-and-opportunities-in-the-alternative-meat-industry">lembaga konsultan</a> setidaknya menunjukkan bahwa pasokan daging dapat menurun hingga 10%-30% pada 2030 atau 30%-70% pada 2050. </p>
<p>Jumlah segitu, tetap saja, akan membuka lahan pertanian yang luas.</p>
<p>Apa yang akan kita lakukan dengan seluruh lahan itu? Dalam banyak kasus, membiarkannya saja mungkin menjadi solusi paling masuk akal. Dengan cara ini, lahan dapat kembali secara bertahap ke keadaan aslinya, menyimpan karbon, mengatur iklim, dan menyediakan habitat bagi satwa liar.</p>
<p>Namun, kita juga dapat memanfaatkan lahan tersebut untuk menghasilkan energi sekaligus menghilangkan karbon dioksida dari atmosfer, melalui proses yang dikenal sebagai bioenergi dengan penangkapan dan penyimpanan karbon (Beccs).</p>
<h2>Beccs sudah ketinggalan zaman</h2>
<p>Tanaman energi, yang ditanam di lahan pertanian yang baru dibebaskan, akan menangkap CO₂ dari atmosfer dan menyimpannya sebagai karbon (tumbuhan dan hewan sebagian besar tersusun dari air dan karbon). Hasil panen akan digunakan sebagai bahan bakar untuk menghasilkan energi, yang akan mengubah karbon kembali menjadi CO₂.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Lapangan dengan tiang di latar belakang" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lapangan untuk ternak dan makanannya bisa digunakan untuk menanam tanaman bioenergi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/green-grass-field-under-white-clouds-during-daytime-FEKIdohn3lA">Angela Lo / unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Namun, alih-alih melepaskannya kembali ke atmosfer (seperti yang dilakukan sistem bioenergi konvensional saat ini), CO₂ dapat ditangkap dan disimpan secara permanen jauh di bawah tanah. Dengan cara ini, sistem Beccs akan menghasilkan penyerapan bersih CO₂ dari atmosfer.</p>
<p>Sejak Beccs pertama kali diusulkan dua dekade lalu, banyak ilmuwan yang menerima gagasan tersebut dan memasukkannya ke dalam rencana untuk mengatasi perubahan iklim. Namun, dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, mereka menyarankan untuk tidak melakukan hal tersebut karena menanam lebih banyak tanaman berarti <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05340-z">mengonversi lebih banyak hutan</a> dan ekosistem alami lainnya menjadi lahan pertanian. Sementara <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720303661">air yang digunakan untuk mengairi hasil panen</a> berarti mengurangi jatah bagi manusia dan ekosistem. Mereka menekankan bahwa persaingan lahan dapat mengancam ketahanan pangan.</p>
<h2>Beccs dapat mengatasi tantangan utamanya</h2>
<p>Penelitian kami memperkirakan bagaimana peralihan dari produk hewani dapat membantu mengatasi tantangan persaingan lahan tersebut dan membuka potensi besar bagi Beccs. </p>
<p>Dengan menggunakan lahan peternakan menganggur, Beccs dapat menghindari kebutuhan perluasan lahan pertanian atau kekurangan air. Artinya, masih tersedia cukup makanan untuk semua orang.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing energy crops could replace animal agriculture across much of eastern North America, Central and South America, sub-Sarahan Africa, Europe, southern Russia, India, south-east Asia, eastern China, and south-western and south-eastern Australia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kami memperkirakan Beccs dapat menggantikan peternakan di sebagian besar dunia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/pdf/S2590-3322(23)00600-0.pdf">Rueda et al (2024) / One Earth</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jika 50% produk hewani digantikan pada tahun 2050, akan ada lahan yang cukup bagi Beccs untuk menghasilkan listrik sebanyak yang dihasilkan pembangkit listrik energi batu bara saat ini (sekitar sepertiga dari total produksi global). Listrik tersebut turut menghilangkan jumlah karbon yang hampir sama dengan emisi batu bara saat ini. </p>
<p>Alternatifnya, Beccs dapat memproduksi sekitar setengah dari proyeksi permintaan hidrogen global pada tahun 2050, dengan jumlah “emisi negatif” — emisi yang tak jadi terlepas — yang serupa.</p>
<p>Kami menaksir emisi negatif dengan menghitung jumlah karbon yang diambil Beccs dari atmosfer dan disimpan di bawah tanah, lalu dikurangi emisi dari penanaman tanaman bioenergi dan konversinya menjadi energi. Jumlah itu lalu kami kurangi dengan jumlah karbon yang tersimpan dalam tanaman — jika kita hanya membiarkan lahan peternakan yang dibebaskan.</p>
<p>Kami juga menemukan bahwa banyak negara, termasuk para penghasil polusi terbesar, dapat menyimpan semua CO₂ yang ditangkap jauh di bawah tanah di dalam wilayah mereka.</p>
<p>Semua ini terdengar sangat menarik. Kita tidak bisa menganggap remeh potensi yang dimiliki Beccs untuk benar-benar dimanfaatkan.</p>
<p>Tantangan keberlanjutan produk hewani yang ada mungkin dapat kita atasi dengan mengurangi konsumsi daging. Namun, berbagai tantangan teknis, sosial, dan politik bisa saja menghambat penerapannya. </p>
<p>Kita juga masih belum mengetahui secara pasti bagaimana daging nabati dan daging hasil bioteknologi akan dikonsumsi dan apa dampaknya.</p>
<p>Kabar baiknya, alternatif daging nabati yang tersedia saat ini sudah menawarkan potensi yang lebih pasti untuk membebaskan lahan dan air dalam jangka pendek. Seberapa jauh pemanfaatannya akan tergantung pada negara dan individu.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Para penulis tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi di luar afiliasi akademis yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Pengurangan emisi karbon dari bioenergi menghadapi banyak masalah. Namun, ini bisa diatasi dengan diet daging.Oscar Rueda, Doctoral Researcher, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden UniversityLaura Scherer, Assistant Professor, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2228412024-02-26T13:09:08Z2024-02-26T13:09:08ZDitching meat could release vital land to produce energy and remove carbon from the atmosphere – new study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577319/original/file-20240222-18-kxgnpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4985%2C2844&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">danymages / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A radical reduction in the amount of meat, dairy and other products sourced from animals is possible in the coming decades, as people turn to an increasing variety of alternatives. This would unlock vast amounts of land currently used to rear animals and to grow crops that feed them. </p>
<p>We recently published <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.12.016">research</a> that considered what might happen if demand for animal products really did decrease and the newly released agricultural land was instead used to grow crops for renewable energy and carbon removal. In short, we found the potential benefits are huge.</p>
<p>Replacing animal-sourced products at a large scale may seem unthinkable at present. But new alternatives, such as plant-based mock meat or lab-grown meat, could closely match the real thing in taste and texture. With time, they may even beat them in <a href="https://web-assets.bcg.com/a0/28/4295860343c6a2a5b9f4e3436114/bcg-food-for-thought-the-protein-transformation-mar-2021.pdf">costs</a>. </p>
<p>For now, replacing animal-sourced products often means paying a premium and sacrificing taste. It is niche groups concerned about their health, the environment, or animal welfare who are willing to pay. But in the future, a similar experience at a lower cost may make these alternatives go mainstream. </p>
<h2>Unlocking the potential of an old climate friend and foe</h2>
<p>All this would free up huge amounts of land and water, since there would be less need for fields full of cows, chickens or pigs, or for crops grown to feed them. In our research, we estimated that fully replacing animal-sourced products would release more than 60% of the world’s agricultural land. Other researchers think <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00603-4">as much as 75%</a> might be released.</p>
<p>While a full replacement is unlikely, <a href="https://www.kearney.com/industry/consumer-retail/article/-/insights/when-consumers-go-vegan-how-much-meat-will-be-left-on-the-table-for-agribusiness">studies</a> by <a href="https://esginvesting-cdn-1.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/13134738/CSRI-sustainable-food-final.pdf">various</a> <a href="https://www.ey.com/en_us/food-system-reimagined/protein-reimagined-challenges-and-opportunities-in-the-alternative-meat-industry">consultancies</a> suggest a more modest amount of meat might be phased out, perhaps 10%-30% by 2030 or 30%-70% by 2050. But even these would free up extensive agricultural areas.</p>
<p>What would we do with all that land? Simply leaving it alone might be the most sensible solution in many cases. This way, the land can gradually return to its natural state, storing carbon, regulating the climate and providing habitat for wild animals.</p>
<p>But we could also use that land to produce energy while removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, through a process known as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (Beccs). </p>
<h2>Beccs has gone in and out of fashion</h2>
<p>Bioenergy crops, grown on newly freed agricultural land, would capture CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it as carbon (plants and animals are mostly made of water and carbon). The crops would be used as fuel to produce energy, which would turn the carbon back into CO₂. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Field with pylons in background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577591/original/file-20240223-22-jlw34u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fields for livestock and their food could instead grow bioenergy crops.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/green-grass-field-under-white-clouds-during-daytime-FEKIdohn3lA">Angela Lo / unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, instead of simply releasing it back to the atmosphere (as conventional bioenergy systems do today), the CO₂ would be captured and permanently stored deep underground. This way, the system would generate a net removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere in many cases.</p>
<p>After Beccs was first proposed over two decades ago, many scientists embraced the idea and included it in plans to address climate change. In recent years, however, they have increasingly advised against it. </p>
<p>These scientists say that growing more crops would mean <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05340-z">converting more forests</a> and other natural ecosystems into agricultural land, while the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720303661">water used to irrigate the crops</a> would mean less left for people and ecosystems. And they point out that competition for agricultural land with food crops could threaten food security. </p>
<h2>Beccs could overcome its main challenges</h2>
<p>In our research, we have estimated how a move away from animal-sourced products could help overcome those challenges and unlock substantial potential for Beccs. By using agricultural land that is no longer needed, Beccs would avoid any need for agricultural expansion or water stress, and it would mean enough food could still be produced for everyone. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing energy crops could replace animal agriculture across much of eastern North America, Central and South America, sub-Sarahan Africa, Europe, southern Russia, India, south-east Asia, eastern China, and south-western and south-eastern Australia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577330/original/file-20240222-18-vtfok5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=345&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The authors estimate that Beccs could replace animal agriculture across much of the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/pdf/S2590-3322(23)00600-0.pdf">Rueda et al (2024) / One Earth</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If 50% of animal products were replaced by 2050, that could release enough land for Beccs to generate as much electricity as coal power does today (about a third of the global total), while removing almost the same amount of carbon as coal currently emits. Alternatively, Beccs could produce around half the projected global hydrogen demand in 2050, with a similar amount of “negative emissions”. </p>
<p>We estimated these negative emissions by adding up how much carbon Beccs would take from the atmosphere and store underground, minus the emissions from growing the bioenergy crops and converting them into energy. And we then deducted the carbon that would have been stored by regrowing plants if we left the released agricultural land alone and did nothing.</p>
<p>We also found that many countries, including the biggest polluters, could store all the captured CO₂ deep underground within their territories. </p>
<p>All this sounds highly attractive. However, we cannot take for granted that the potential of Beccs will actually be harnessed. </p>
<p>Its sustainability challenges might be tackled by people eating less meat, but various technical, social, and political challenges may still hinder its adoption. We also still don’t know exactly how plant-based and cultivated meats will be adopted and what their impact will be.</p>
<p>The good news is that the plant-based alternatives that are currently available already offer a more certain potential to release vast land and water in the short term. It is up to nations and individuals to make the most of it.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘Beccs’ faces lots of problems. A global switch away from meat could help address them.Oscar Rueda, Doctoral Researcher, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden UniversityLaura Scherer, Assistant Professor, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234042024-02-23T12:57:14Z2024-02-23T12:57:14ZNanotechnology promises to help farmers cut pesticide use – but could also make chemicals more toxic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576824/original/file-20240220-23-kaqnct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nano-enabled pesticides may be efficient but could be hazardous to the surrounding environment beyond target crop pests. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/farmer-agronomist-spraying-pesticide-on-field-1843140232">NataliAlba/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nanotechnology has pervaded numerous industrial sectors over the past decades. Although many of us may not be aware of it, nanomaterials are now embedded within <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-guide-to-the-nanotechnology-used-in-the-average-home-59312">many of the the products</a> we use in our daily lives. <a href="https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=5829">Recent developments</a> suggest that agriculture could be next in line. </p>
<p>Pesticide products based on nanoscale materials – nano-enabled pesticides – are currently heralded as a promising new solution that could enhance the protection of crops from pests and disease, while posing minimal risk to the environment.</p>
<p>But, together with a team of environmental scientists, we argue in this <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c10207">new study</a> that despite <a href="https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=38847">claimed sustainability benefits</a>, adding nanomaterials to this equation is likely to do more harm than good. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=7853.php">High expectations and bold promises</a> of enhanced efficiency and sustainability have surrounded nanotechnology since its initial large-scale commercialisation two decades ago. There is little doubt that nanotechnology has delivered on some of these criteria. Spectacular examples include <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-nanotechnology-is-securing-your-future-55254">applications in solar cells</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/lithium-air-a-battery-breakthrough-explained-50027">batteries</a> that help society transition away from fossil fuels. </p>
<p>At the same time, there is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nanotechnology-is-more-than-just-a-buzzword-97376">ample evidence</a> of cases where the prefix “nano” has been over-hyped for <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-bs-and-the-science-of-nanotechnology-97317">marketing</a> rather than scientific purposes. These range from overpromised efficacy of nanoparticles for <a href="https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/nanoparticles-mix-it-reality">cancer-targeting applications</a> to downright scams where nano-products are sold under the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/12/28/feds-crack-down-on-nano-silver-covid-treatmentonly-the-latest-unproven-cure/?sh=5071fdbf3bbf">claim of curing COVID</a>. </p>
<p>More importantly, there are instances where the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nanomaterials-are-changing-the-world-but-we-still-dont-have-adequate-safety-tests-for-them-101748">risks</a> of nanomaterials to human and environmental health outweigh their benefits. Concerns regarding genotoxicity – or damage to DNA – recently resulted in a <a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/news/titanium-dioxide-e171-no-longer-considered-safe-when-used-food-additive">ban of titanium dioxide nanoparticles</a> for use as food colourants in the EU. </p>
<p>Pesticides of any class warrant particular caution when it comes to risks to human health and the environment. In contrast to the majority of chemicals we produce, pesticides are designed to be toxic and are purposefully released to the environment. </p>
<p>Only a small fraction of pesticide applied reaches the pests being targeted under conventional agricultural practices – on average that volume ranges from <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10668-011-9325-5">less than 1%</a> up to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wenjun-Zhang-10/publication/323302056_Global_pesticide_use_Profile_trend_cost_benefit_and_more/links/5a8cda3fa6fdcc786eafe3d7/Global-pesticide-use-Profile-trend-cost-benefit-and-more.pdf">approximately 25%</a>. The remaining fraction of applied pesticides often ends up <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-03-global-farmland-high-pesticide-pollution.html">polluting soils, groundwater and surface water</a>. This poor efficiency represents a significant loss from both an economic and environmental perspective. It’s a waste. </p>
<h2>The promise of nano-enabled pesticides</h2>
<p>Nano-enabled pesticides claim to address this lack of efficiency. Packaging pesticide molecules in nanoscale carriers – less than <a href="https://youtu.be/38Vi8Dm0kdY?feature=shared">one hundredth of the size of a grain of sand</a> – could make pesticides stick or adhere better to crops. It could also improve their absorption into the tissues of pests.</p>
<p>The nanoscale carriers can be tailored to release the pesticide molecules they carry more slowly or restrict their release to occur only under the desired conditions. Consequently, nano-enabled pesticides could be equally or even more effective than conventional pesticide products when applied in lower volumes and less frequently. This cuts the amount of pesticide being released into the surrounding environment.</p>
<p>But reducing volumes is only part of the solution. As illustrated in our paper, many of the properties that improve the performance of nano-enabled pesticides in pest control may equally exacerbate their impacts on organisms other than the pests being targeted. Plainly put, little is gained from lowering levels of pollution, when the pollutants themselves are more harmful. </p>
<p>To illustrate, nano-enabled pesticides that are more readily taken up in the tissues of targeted pests can often be assumed to be more readily taken up by other organisms as well. Similarly, using nanoscale carriers to extend the durability of pesticides after application also increases the time pesticides will pollute the soil and freshwater. This has an impact on aquatic life, pollinators and natural predators of pest organisms. </p>
<p>The nanoscale carriers that are used may affect the environment as well. In a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749123008965?via%3Dihub">study published last year</a>, we demonstrated that nanoscale carriers can adversely affect freshwater zooplankton in the long term. The behaviour of nanomaterials in the environment also tends to be less well known and harder to predict than for conventional chemicals. Due to their minuscule size, accurate routine monitoring of nanomaterial residues in the environment or on food is unfeasible. </p>
<h2>Proceed with caution</h2>
<p>The first nano-enabled pesticides have already entered the market in <a href="https://farmtario.com/news/vive-crop-protection-receives-first-canadian-product-registration/">Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vive-crop-protection-receives-epa-approval-for-the-worlds-first-three-way-biological-chemical-and-allosperse-fungicide-301286798.html">US</a>. More products and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-0110-1">other regions</a> such as the EU are likely to follow soon. </p>
<p>For better or worse, the agricultural sector could be on the cusp of a new era for pesticides. By acting now, regulators can prevent nano-enabled pesticides from becoming a regrettable path in the future of farming. Our paper outlines the benefits of nano-enabled pesticides, but emphasises their environmental risks and how these should be assessed.</p>
<p>While our role as environmental scientists is to improve our understanding of these consequences, we urge regulators to consider these risks when evaluating whether nano-enabled pesticides should be bought to market. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martina G. Vijver receives funding from European Union's ERC-consolidator grant agreement No 101002123.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Nederstigt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nano-enabled pesticides could pose huge risks and they aren’t being regulated effectively enough yet.Tom Nederstigt, Postdoctoral research fellow, Leiden UniversityMartina G. Vijver, Professor of Ecotoxicology, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219312024-01-31T00:40:50Z2024-01-31T00:40:50ZA 365-million-year-old fish with an extreme underbite showcases vertebrate diversity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572031/original/file-20240129-25-h41utn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C40%2C3000%2C2465&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artist reconstruction of Alienacanthus malkowskii, a 365-million-year-old placoderm fish from Poland and Morocco.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Beat Scheffold & Christian Klug)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/a-365-million-year-old-fish-with-an-extreme-underbite-showcases-vertebrate-diversity" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Vertebrates are defined as all animals that possess a vertebral column, or backbone. Most living vertebrates also possess jaws, teeth and paired fins or limbs.</p>
<p>Fossils of the earliest vertebrates help us understand not only how these features originated, but also how they evolved and diversified over time. </p>
<p>Our study, <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231747">published in <em>Royal Society Open Science</em></a>, examines 365-million-year-old fossils of a fish with the world’s longest underbite, called <em>Alienacanthus malkowskii</em>. These fossils demonstrate the diversity of jawed vertebrates early on during their evolution.</p>
<p><em>Alienacanthus</em> is a member of an extinct group of fish called <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/basalfish/placodermi.html">placoderms</a>, which are some of the first jawed vertebrates. They are armoured fish of various shapes and sizes and are essential to understanding the evolution of vertebrates and their features, particularly jaws and teeth.</p>
<p>Together, placoderm jaws and teeth hold evidence of feeding strategies and diets, giving us insights into what and how some of our fishy ancestors ate. </p>
<h2>From spine to jaw</h2>
<p>In 1957, Polish paleontologist Julian Kulczycki <a href="https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app02-285.html">described fossil fishes</a> from the Polish Holy Cross mountains. Among these finds were two partially broken long thin bones which he thought were some weird-looking fin spines from a fish. The odd shape of the so-called spines gave the animal its name, <em>Alienacanthus</em>. </p>
<p>In the late 1990s to early 2000s, members of our research team came across some Moroccan specimens in the collections of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris that included the same bony elements. The team later encountered more specimens from Poland and Morocco, which we identified as belonging to a placoderm.</p>
<p><em>Alienacanthus</em> had a massive, rounded head with a pointy snout and large eyes. What Kulczycki had identified as spines turned out to be the lower jaws, which extended way past the closing of the mouth, unlike the upper jaws. The teeth were sharp, slightly curved towards the back to trap live prey, and the teeth continued past the closing of the mouth. </p>
<p>Unlike in other placoderms, the upper jaws of <em>Alienacanthus</em> were capable of a slight movement independently of the skull, helping to accommodate the lower jaw.</p>
<h2>Most extreme case</h2>
<p>The extended lower jaw of <em>Alienacanthus</em>, twice as long as the skull, is unique among placoderms and extremely rare in other living and fossil groups. In most animals, jaw protrusion is seen in the upper jaw, like in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/swordfish-fish">swordfish</a>, or both upper and lower jaws like <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-climate-change-killed-the-dinosaurs-underwater-cousins-55803">ichthyosaurs</a> or <a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/gharial">gharials</a>. </p>
<p>Among living species, only a tiny fish called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/halfbeak">halfbeak</a> shows an elongated lower jaw. The halfbeak measures just five to 10 cm in length, while <em>Alienacanthus</em>’ head and jaws alone reach 80 cm. The relative length of the lower jaw is also 20 per cent greater than in the halfbeak.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572030/original/file-20240129-29-wk61fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a small fish with an elongated lower jaw" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572030/original/file-20240129-29-wk61fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572030/original/file-20240129-29-wk61fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572030/original/file-20240129-29-wk61fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572030/original/file-20240129-29-wk61fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572030/original/file-20240129-29-wk61fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572030/original/file-20240129-29-wk61fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572030/original/file-20240129-29-wk61fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Of currently living species, only the halfbeak shows an elongated lower jaw.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Alienacanthus</em> also holds the title of the oldest case of lower jaw elongation. The previous record belonged to the 310-million-year-old shark <a href="https://archive.org/details/newsharkoffamily161zang/page/n9/mode/2up"><em>Ornithoprion</em></a>. </p>
<h2>The Age of fishes</h2>
<p><em>Alienacanthus</em> and relatives lived during <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Devonian-Period">the Devonian period</a> (358 to 419 million years ago), also referred to by paleontologists as the <a href="https://eartharchives.org/articles/when-monsters-ruled-the-water-the-age-of-fishes/index.html">Age of fishes</a>. During this time, a variety of fish groups ruled the oceans, including <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/shark-evolution-a-450-million-year-timeline.html">sharks</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-less-than-2cm-long-but-this-400-million-year-old-fossil-fish-changes-our-view-of-vertebrate-evolution-96419">bony fishes</a>, <a href="https://eartharchives.org/articles/ostracoderms-armored-fishes-without-jaws/index.html">jawless fishes</a> and placoderms, which together illustrated a wide range of body, head and jaw shapes. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-fishes-kept-their-young-in-a-nursery-65400">Ancient fishes kept their young in a nursery</a>
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<p><em>Alienacanthus</em> stretches that diversity to the limit with such a unique look. Fifteen million years after this animal’s occurrence, placoderms met their demise. </p>
<p>The evolution of more complex jaws allowed for a wider range of feeding and hunting methods. The oldest placoderms favoured a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2006.0569">fast-closing mouth</a> for catching prey. But some placoderms started <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1980.tb01932.x">feeding on durophagous animals, with hard shells and exoskeletons</a>, and others may have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200272">filter-feeders</a>. </p>
<p><em>Alienacanthus</em> used its sharp teeth to catch and trap live prey, possibly using its elongated jaw to confuse or injure its future meal, as seen in swordfish and some ichthyosaurs. </p>
<h2>Learning more</h2>
<p>The further back in time we go, the more our planet’s continents looked different. During the Late Devonian period, when <em>Alienacanthus</em> lived, Poland was situated on the northeastern coast and Morocco on the southern coast of a vast ocean. The presence of the same species on both ends shows that migration occurred in that ocean at that time, despite sea level fluctuation. </p>
<p><em>Alienacanthus</em> comprises just one of numerous recent finds in Poland and Morocco from the Late Devonian period. Such discoveries illustrate the remaining high potential for deposits of this age to reveal critical insights about early vertebrates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221931/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melina Jobbins received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christian Klug receives funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF (grant nr. 200020_184894).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Rücklin received funding from Dutch Research Council (NWO).</span></em></p>What paleontologists had believed to be spiny fins turned out to be elongated jaws. New examination of fossils that were 365 million years old revealed a fish with a remarkable lower jaw.Melina Jobbins, Researcher, Evolutionary Biology, University of ZurichChristian Klug, Professor, Curator of the Palaentological Museum, University of ZurichMartin Rücklin, Research group leader, Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Senior researcher, Instituut Biologie Leiden, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2220152024-01-29T08:32:00Z2024-01-29T08:32:00ZLe procès pour génocide intenté contre Israël est le moment le plus glorieux de la politique étrangère de l'Afrique du Sud depuis trois décennies<p>Le 11 janvier 2024, l'Afrique du Sud a <a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/case/192">traduit</a> Israël devant la Cour internationale de justice (CIJ) pour violation de la <a href="https://www.un.org/fr/genocideprevention/genocide-convention.shtml">Convention sur le génocide de 1948</a>. Cette accusation porte sur les bombardements indiscriminés et le siège de Gaza par Israël à la suite de l'attaque meurtrière du 7 octobre contre Israël par le Hamas, qui a coûté la vie à 1 200 Israéliens.</p>
<p>Plus de 25 000 Palestiniens, dont au moins la moitié sont des enfants, <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2043356/gaza-plus-25000-morts-israel-poursuit-bombardements">auraient été tués</a> dans les attaques de représailles israéliennes. Le siège a provoqué une crise humanitaire, avec des civils ayant du mal à se procurer de la nourriture et n'ayant pas accès aux hôpitaux, qui ont été <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/fr/monde/gouvernement-de-gaza-isra%C3%ABl-a-d%C3%A9truit-plus-de-61-des-maisons-dans-la-bande-de-gaza/3079004">presque totalement détruits</a>.</p>
<p>L'équipe d'avocats sud-africains a plaidé auprès de la Cour pour l'instauration de <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-genocide-case-against-israel-expert-sets-out-what-to-expect-from-the-international-court-of-justice-220692">mesures provisoires</a> - des ordonnances temporaires visant à mettre fin à des dommages irréparables, incluant un cessez-le-feu immédiat - pendant que la Cour examine le bien-fondé de l'affaire.</p>
<p>En tant qu'observateurs des relations internationales de l'Afrique du Sud, nous considérons cette initiative comme le couronnement de la politique étrangère du pays depuis la fin de l'apartheid en 1994.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-foreign-policy-under-ramaphosa-has-seen-diplomatic-tools-being-used-to-provide-leadership-as-global-power-relations-shift-218966">South Africa's foreign policy under Ramaphosa has seen diplomatic tools being used to provide leadership as global power relations shift</a>
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<p>La libération de l'Afrique du Sud est parfois présentée comme le <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/postscripts-on-independence-9780199479641?cc=us&lang=en&%20;">dernier acte</a> de la décolonisation du XXe siècle : l'apogée de la solidarité du <a href="https://perspective.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/servlet/BMDictionnaire/1517">tiers-monde</a>. La nouvelle approche du pays en matière de politique étrangère symbolisait les espoirs des pays qui luttaient pour la liberté. Le document de discussion de l'ANC (aujourd'hui au pouvoir) de 1994 <a href="https://www.anc1912.org.za/policy-documents-1994-foreign-policy-perspective-in-a-democratic-south-africa/">déclarait</a> : </p>
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<p>une Afrique du Sud démocratique sera solidaire de tous ceux dont la lutte se poursuit.</p>
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<h2>De Mandela à Ramaphosa</h2>
<p>Nelson Mandela, le premier président de l'Afrique du Sud démocratique, <a href="https://www.dakaractu.com/Les-combats-de-Mandela-pour-la-paix-et-la-justice-en-Afrique_a57484.html">plaidait en faveur des droits de l'homme</a>, parfois même aux dépens des <a href="https://www.icirnigeria.org/mandela-begged-abacha-not-to-execute-ken-saro-wiwa-and-companions/">partenaires africains</a>. Cette promesse initiale a été progressivement mise en veilleuse. </p>
<p>En 1995, par exemple, Mandela a supplié le chef d'État militaire nigérian de l'époque <a href="https://www.liberation.fr/planete/1998/06/09/nigeria-mort-brutale-du-dictateur-abacha-le-chef-d-etat-aurait-ete-victime-d-une-crise-cardiaque_240764/">Sani Abacha</a> d'épargner la vie de <a href="https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/ken-saro-wiwa/">Ken Saro-Wiwa</a> et de huit autres militants Ogoni. Ils étaient des critiques de l'inaction du gouvernement nigérian à l'égard des compagnies pétrolières étrangères qui causent des dommages à l'environnement, ils furent accusés d'avoir assassiné des chefs ogoni. Les supplications de Mandela étaient restées lettre morte et ils furent <a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/french/reports/nigeria96/6.htm">exécutés</a>.</p>
<p>Dans sa <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1995/11/12/le-commonwealth-suspend-le-nigeria-apres-la-pendaison-d-opposants-l-ecrivain-ken-saro-wiwa-et-huit-autres-militants-de-la-cause-ogonie-ont-ete-executes-vendredi-10-novembre_3883656_1819218.html">réponse cinglante</a>, Mandela avait demandé que le Nigeria soit exclu du Mouvement des non-alignés et du Commonwealth jusqu'à ce qu'il établisse un régime démocratique. L'Afrique du Sud avait également rappelé son ambassadeur à Lagos pour consultations.</p>
<p>Depuis la fin des années 1990, sous les présidences successives de Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma et Cyril Ramaphosa, le gouvernement sud-africain a souvent apporté son soutien à des régimes autoritaires dans le Sud, souvent au détriment des luttes populaires. Parmi les exemples, on peut citer la <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/27/dalai-lama-banned-south-africa">Chine</a>, la <a href="https://www.actionsa.org.za/human-rights-will-be-the-light-that-guides-actionsas-foreign-policy/">Russie</a>, le <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2017/07/07/arrestation-d-al-bachir-la-cpi-juge-que-l-afrique-du-sud-a-manque-a-son-devoir-mais-s-abstient-de-sanction_5157268_3212.html">Soudan</a> et le <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/6/8/south-africa-is-failing-and-its-failing-zimbabwe-too">Zimbabwe</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-and-russia-president-cyril-ramaphosas-foreign-policy-explained-198430">South Africa and Russia: President Cyril Ramaphosa's foreign policy explained</a>
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<p>La politique étrangère sud-africaine est souvent décrite comme <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/items/9dbfd78a-e95b-469c-8131-f2bd263f385d">incohérente</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.18772/22010105027.14">peu claire et peu sincère</a>. </p>
<p>La Palestine demeure le seul dossier de libération d'un peuple sur lequel le soutien de l'Afrique du Sud a été indéniablement constant. </p>
<h2>Solidarité avec la Palestine</h2>
<p>Pendant la guerre froide, les États sud-africain de l'apartheid et israélien ont <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/unspoken-alliance-israels-secret-relationship-apartheid-south-africa-sasha-polakow-suransky">collaboré</a> sur des questions militaires, diplomatiques et nucléaires. Les mouvements de libération de ces deux pays - à savoir l'Organisation de libération de la Palestine (OLP) et le Congrès national africain (ANC) - pratiquaient une forme alternative d'internationalisme. Il s'agissait d'un internationalisme subversif, inspiré par la solidarité des peuples du tiers-monde. </p>
<p>En 1974, lorsque le chef de l'OLP, Yasser Arafat, <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/1974/11/a238ec7a3e13eed18525624a007697ec_French.pdf">s'est adressé</a> à l'Assemblée générale des Nations unies, devenant ainsi le premier dirigeant de mouvements de libération à le faire, il a demandé que ce droit soit étendu à d'autres mouvements de libération. Arafat avait profité de l'occasion pour dénoncer le régime d'apartheid avec la même véhémence que celle qu'il mettait à critiquer Israël.</p>
<p>Deux ans plus tard, le président de l'ANC de l'époque, <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-anc-is-celebrating-the-year-of-or-tambo-who-was-he-85838">Oliver Tambo</a>, a pris la parole devant la même instance et a <a href="http://www.gutenberg-e.org/pohlandt-mccormick/pmh03i.html">salué</a> le leadership d'Arafat sur cette question tout en exprimant sa “solidarité inébranlable” avec les Palestiniens.</p>
<p>Outre le soutien diplomatique, les deux mouvements partageaient les mêmes tactiques de résistance.</p>
<p>La faction d'Arafat au sein de l'OLP, le Fatah, a aidé l'ANC et d'autres mouvements de résistance <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/armed-struggle-and-the-search-for-state-9780198292654?lang=en&cc=gb">à acquérir des formations et des armes</a>. Il est important de noter que les relations entre Tambo et Arafat étaient basées sur la confiance. En 1988, Tambo a demandé à Arafat de l'aider à obtenir des fonds des pays du Moyen-Orient et a demandé à l'OLP de devenir l'administrateur financier des fonds provenant de cette région. </p>
<h2>Le pilier</h2>
<p>Cette cohérence d'approche et de soutien s'est reflétée dans le dossier de l'Afrique du Sud devant la Cour Internationale de Justice, ramenant ainsi la promesse de libération au coeur de la conscience nationale sud-africaine. Cette initiative illustre une clarté souvent négligée dans la politique étrangère du pays en raison de ses <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/items/9dbfd78a-e95b-469c-8131-f2bd263f385d">incohérences</a> qui ont abouti à des choix contradictoires au 21e siècle. </p>
<p>Elle reste fidèle aux <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-africa/1993-12-01/south-africas-future-foreign-policy">principes fondateurs</a> de la politique post-apartheid. Non seulement cela était nécessaire dans l'approche du pays sur les questions internationales, mais cela revêt également une importance capitale pour la restauration de l'estime de soi. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-foreign-policy-new-paper-sets-the-scene-but-falls-short-on-specifics-188253">South Africa's foreign policy: new paper sets the scene, but falls short on specifics</a>
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<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-legal-team-in-the-genocide-case-against-israel-has-won-praise-who-are-they-221019">L'équipe sud-africaine</a> à La Haye comprenait des opposants au gouvernement de l'ANC. Alors que les membres de l'équipe exposaient les arguments juridiques et éthiques contre les ambitions génocidaires d'Israël, la nation les observait avec espoir. </p>
<p>Pouvait-on enfin s'attendre à ce que sa diplomatie soit à la hauteur des idéaux élevés que le pays s'était fixés à la fin de l'apartheid? </p>
<p>La comparution de l'Afrique du Sud devant la Cour internationale de Justice confirme le besoin de retrouver la boussole morale que le gouvernement de l'ANC a <a href="https://pari.org.za/new-book-state-capture-in-south-africa-how-and-why-it-happened/">perdue</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222015/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>La uestions palestine demeure le seul dossier de libération d'un peuple sur lequel le soutien de l'Afrique du Sud a été indéniablement constant.Peter Vale, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria., University of PretoriaVineet Thakur, Assistant Professor, International Relations, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2215122024-01-24T12:34:21Z2024-01-24T12:34:21ZSouth Africa’s genocide case against Israel is the country’s proudest foreign policy moment in three decades<p>On 11 January 2024, South Africa <a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/case/192">hauled</a> Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the charge of violating the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf">1948 Genocide Convention</a>. This was for Israel’s indiscriminate bombing and siege of Gaza following the deadly 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas which claimed 1,200 Israeli lives.</p>
<p>More than 25,000 Palestinians, at least half of them children, have reportedly <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-health-ministry-health-death-toll-59470820308b31f1faf73c703400b033">been killed </a>in Israeli retaliatory attacks. The siege has led to a humanitarian crisis, as civilians struggle to get food and and have no access to hospitals, which have been <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/10/21/analysis-the-military-logic-behind-israels-total-gaza-siege">all but totally destroyed</a>.</p>
<p>The South African team of lawyers pleaded with the court to impose <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-genocide-case-against-israel-expert-sets-out-what-to-expect-from-the-international-court-of-justice-220692">provisional measures</a> – temporary orders to stop irreparable harm, including an immediate ceasefire – while the court considers the merits of the case.</p>
<p>As observers of South Africa’s international relations, we believe this move to be the high-water mark in the country’s foreign policy since the end of apartheid in 1994.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-foreign-policy-under-ramaphosa-has-seen-diplomatic-tools-being-used-to-provide-leadership-as-global-power-relations-shift-218966">South Africa's foreign policy under Ramaphosa has seen diplomatic tools being used to provide leadership as global power relations shift</a>
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<p>South Africa’s liberation is sometimes portrayed as the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/postscripts-on-independence-9780199479641?cc=us&lang=en&">last act</a> of 20th century decolonisation: the crowning moment of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/topic/Third-World">“Third World”</a> solidarity. The country’s new approach to foreign policy symbolised the hopes of countries that struggled for freedom. The (now governing) ANC’s discussion document of 1994 <a href="https://www.anc1912.org.za/policy-documents-1994-foreign-policy-perspective-in-a-democratic-south-africa/">stated</a>: </p>
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<p>a democratic South Africa will be in solidarity with all those whose struggle continues.</p>
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<h2>From Mandela to Ramaphosa</h2>
<p>Nelson Mandela, the first president of democratic South Africa, <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-africa/1993-12-01/south-africas-future-foreign-policy">advocated for human rights</a>, sometimes even at the expense of <a href="https://www.icirnigeria.org/mandela-begged-abacha-not-to-execute-ken-saro-wiwa-and-companions/">African partners</a>. That early promise was progressively whittled down. </p>
<p>In 1995, for example, Mandela pleaded with then Nigerian military head of state <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sani-Abacha">Sani Abacha</a> to spare the lives of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ken-Saro-Wiwa">Ken Saro-Wiwa</a> and eight other Ogoni activists. Critics of the Nigerian government’s failure to act against foreign oil companies causing environmental damage, they were accused of murdering Ogoni chiefs. Mandela’s pleas fell on deaf ears and they were <a href="https://www.icirnigeria.org/mandela-begged-abacha-not-to-execute-ken-saro-wiwa-and-companions/">executed</a>.</p>
<p>In his <a href="https://archive.nelsonmandela.org/index.php/za-com-mr-s-1576">scathing response</a>, Mandela called for Nigeria to be expelled from the Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth until it established democratic rule. South Africa also recalled its High Commissioner to Lagos for consultations.</p>
<p>From the late 1990s, under the succeeding presidencies of Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African government has often supported authoritarian regimes in the global south, often in repudiation of people’s struggles. Examples are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/27/dalai-lama-banned-south-africa">China</a>, <a href="https://www.actionsa.org.za/human-rights-will-be-the-light-that-guides-actionsas-foreign-policy/">Russia</a>, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/7/6/icc-s-africa-broke-rules-by-failing-to-arrest-bashir">Sudan</a> and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/6/8/south-africa-is-failing-and-its-failing-zimbabwe-too">Zimbabwe</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-and-russia-president-cyril-ramaphosas-foreign-policy-explained-198430">South Africa and Russia: President Cyril Ramaphosa's foreign policy explained</a>
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<p>South African foreign policy is often described as being <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/items/9dbfd78a-e95b-469c-8131-f2bd263f385d">inconsistent</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.18772/22010105027.14">unclear and insincere</a>. </p>
<p>Palestine remains the single issue on which South Africa’s support for a people’s struggle has been unquestionably consistent. </p>
<h2>Solidarity with Palestine</h2>
<p>During the Cold War, the apartheid South African and Israeli states <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/unspoken-alliance-israels-secret-relationship-apartheid-south-africa-sasha-polakow-suransky">collaborated</a> on military, diplomatic and nuclear issues. The liberation movements of these two countries – namely the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the African National Congress (ANC) – practised an alternative form of internationalism. This was subversive and inspired by people’s solidarity in the Third World. </p>
<p>In 1974, when the PLO leader Yasser Arafat <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2535860?seq=1">addressed</a> the United Nations General Assembly, the first liberation leader to do so, he called for the same right to be extended to other liberation movements. Arafat used the occasion to denounce the apartheid regime with the same vehemence as he used to criticise Israel.</p>
<p>Two years later, the then ANC president, <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-anc-is-celebrating-the-year-of-or-tambo-who-was-he-85838">Oliver Tambo</a>, stood before the same body and both <a href="http://www.gutenberg-e.org/pohlandt-mccormick/pmh03i.html">applauded</a> Arafat’s leadership on this matter and expressed “unswerving solidarity” with the Palestinians.</p>
<p>In addition to diplomatic support, the two movements shared resistance tactics.</p>
<p>Arafat’s own faction within the PLO, Fatah, assisted the ANC and other resistance movements <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/armed-struggle-and-the-search-for-state-9780198292654?lang=en&cc=gb">to acquire training and arms</a>. Importantly, the relations between Tambo and Arafat were based on trust. In 1988, Tambo asked Arafat to help with securing funding from the Middle Eastern countries and requested the PLO to become a financial trustee of funds from that region. </p>
<h2>The lodestar</h2>
<p>This consistency of approach and support was reflected in South Africa’s case before the ICJ. It has put the promise of liberation back into South Africa’s national consciousness. This imaginative initiative reveals a sense of clarity that the country’s foreign policy has lacked due to its <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/items/9dbfd78a-e95b-469c-8131-f2bd263f385d">inconsistencies</a> which resulted in contradictory choices in the 21st century.</p>
<p>It stays true to the <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-africa/1993-12-01/south-africas-future-foreign-policy">founding principles</a> of the post-apartheid polity. Not only was this needed in the country’s approach to international affairs, but it is vitally important to restore its self-image. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-foreign-policy-new-paper-sets-the-scene-but-falls-short-on-specifics-188253">South Africa's foreign policy: new paper sets the scene, but falls short on specifics</a>
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<p>South Africa’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-legal-team-in-the-genocide-case-against-israel-has-won-praise-who-are-they-221019">team</a> at The Hague included opponents of the ANC government. As they argued the legal and ethical case against Israel’s genocidal ambitions, their country watched in hope. </p>
<p>Could its international relations finally live up to the high ideals the country set for itself when apartheid ended? </p>
<p>South Africa’s appearance before the ICJ is an affirmation of the moral compass that the ANC government has <a href="https://pari.org.za/new-book-state-capture-in-south-africa-how-and-why-it-happened/">lost</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221512/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Palestine remains the single issue on which South Africa’s support for a people’s struggle has been unquestionably consistent.Peter Vale, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria., University of PretoriaVineet Thakur, Assistant Professor, International Relations, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2204722024-01-22T09:34:04Z2024-01-22T09:34:04ZKenali jenis-jenis misinformasi Orang dengan Gangguan Jiwa (ODGJ) ketika pemilu<p>Menjelang Pemilu, masyarakat kerap menjumpai beragam misinformasi di media sosial, salah satunya <a href="https://jogja.tribunnews.com/2023/10/23/hoax-beredar-video-di-tiktok-yang-menyatakan-orang-gila-didata-untuk-ikut-pemilu-2024#google_vignette">isu tentang keterlibatan Orang Dengan Gangguan Jiwa (ODGJ) dalam pemilu secara tidak sah</a>. Bentuk misinformasi seperti ini tidak hanya berpotensi merugikan ODGJ secara langsung, namun juga merusak integritas dan kepercayaan masyarakat terhadap Pemilu.</p>
<p>Jumlah penderita kesehatan jiwa di Indonesia sendiri cukup banyak. Saat ini <a href="https://sehatnegeriku.kemkes.go.id/baca/rilis-media/20211007/1338675/kemenkes-beberkan-masalah-permasalahan-kesehatan-jiwa-di-indonesia/">prevalensi atau angka kejadian</a> orang dengan gangguan jiwa di Indonesia adalah 1 dari 5 penduduk. Artinya, sekitar <a href="https://sehatnegeriku.kemkes.go.id/baca/rilis-media/20211007/1338675/kemenkes-beberkan-masalah-permasalahan-kesehatan-jiwa-di-indonesia/">20% populasi di Indonesia mempunyai potensi masalah gangguan jiwa</a>.</p>
<p>Hoaks terkait ODGJ pernah terjadi menjelang Pemilu presiden 2019 lalu. Ketika itu, muncul <a href="https://www.kominfo.go.id/content/detail/17912/hoaks-pembuatan-ktp-orang-gila-demi-ambisi-kekuasaan/0/laporan_isu_hoaks">kabar hoaks</a> berbentuk foto yang menggambarkan proses pembuatan e-KTP sekelompok individu, di WhatsApp (WA). Narasi yang menyertainya mengungkapkan kekhawatiran mengenai praktik-praktik tidak etis untuk meraih suara, khususnya penerbitan kartu identitas bagi individu yang memiliki masalah kesehatan mental. Peristiwa ini diklaim terjadi di Bekasi, Jawa Barat.</p>
<p>Klaim pembuatan Kartu Tanda Penduduk Elektronik (e-KTP) yang tidak wajar, menunjukkan kekhawatiran adanya praktik tidak etis untuk mendapatkan pengaruh, kendali, atau kekuasaan politik. Situasi ini berpotensi mendorong beredarnya spekulasi dari masyarakat terkait manipulasi suara untuk kandidat tertentu sehingga menciptakan keresahan. </p>
<p>Pasalnya, walaupun kepala Dinas Kependudukan dan Pencatatan Sipil (Dukcapil) sudah mengklarifikasi bahwa proses perekaman e-KTP, termasuk bagi ODGJ, merupakan bagian dari pelayanan administrasi kependudukan yang wajar dan penting, juga penegasan dari <a href="https://www.kominfo.go.id/content/detail/17912/hoaks-pembuatan-ktp-orang-gila-demi-ambisi-kekuasaan/0/laporan_isu_hoaks">pihak KPU bahwa mereka tidak mendata warga yang dinyatakan gila sebagai bagian dari daftar pemilih</a>, isu bahwa orang gila juga didata untuk memilih sudah terlanjur berkembang.</p>
<p>Jadi, apa saja misinformasi terkait ODGJ yang berkembang di masa Pemilu?</p>
<h2>ODGJ tidak mampu membuat keputusan</h2>
<p>Hoaks yang sering muncul tentang ODGJ biasanya berkaitan dengan kemampuan mereka dalam membuat keputusan yang rasional. Terdapat anggapan bahwa ODGJ tidak mampu memahami proses pemilu atau mudah dipengaruhi. <a href="https://saberhoaks.jabarprov.go.id/v2/klarifikasi/detail/PTN002370/KPU-MENDATA-ORANG-GILA-UNTUK-PENCOBLOSAN-PEMILU">Mereka dianggap tidak memiliki kemampuan untuk berkarya, bersosialisasi, atau menentukan calon mana yang cocok menjadi pemimpin</a>. </p>
<p>Hoaks ini menyebar melalui media sosial, percakapan sehari-hari, dan kadang-kadang, melalui kampanye politik yang tidak bertanggung jawab. Hoaks ini dapat mempengaruhi masyarakat umum yang tidak memiliki informasi yang cukup tentang ODGJ, serta ODGJ itu sendiri yang mungkin merasa terstigmatisasi oleh misinformasi yang tersebar.</p>
<p>Jenis misinformasi di atas juga berkaitan dengan keyakinan bahwa ODGJ tidak memiliki kemampuan untuk membuat pilihan yang tepat. Kesalahpahaman ini dapat berakibat pada tersingkirnya mereka dari proses demokrasi, dan hilangnya hak dasar mereka untuk ikut serta dalam sistem pemilu.</p>
<p>Padahal, <a href="https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-020-02756-0">sebuah penelitian tahun 2020 yang terbit di jurnal <em>BMC Psychiatry</em></a>, menunjukkan bahwa pasien psikiatri yang stabil memiliki kapasitas yang sama dengan pasien nonpsikiatri dalam membuat keputusan terkait perawatan kesehatan.</p>
<p>Selain itu <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hsr2.179"><em>Health Science Report</em></a> juga melaporkan bahwa individu dengan skizofrenia dan gangguan bipolar terbukti memiliki kompetensi yang sama dengan individu nonpsikiatri dalam mengambil keputusan tentang pengobatan mereka dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Skizofrenia yang bisa dikategorikan sebagai ODGJ berat dianggap masih bisa pulih dan stabil. <a href="https://prebunking.cekfakta.com/prebunking-hoaks-yang-sering-beredar-jelang-pemilu-odgj-diintervensi-dalam-memilih">Penderita seperti ini tetap mampu berpikir, memahami situasi, menentukan pilihan dan bersikap dengan baik</a>.</p>
<p>Kedua hasil penelitian tersebut mendukung gagasan bahwa <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5318/2/2/10">individu dengan gangguan mental memiliki kapasitas untuk membuat keputusan yang tepat</a>. Oleh karena itu, sangatlah penting untuk memusatkan upaya kita dalam memberikan bantuan yang diperlukan agar mereka dapat menggunakan hak dasar mereka untuk memilih. Terlebih, hak pilih ODGJ pada dasarnya dijamin dalam UUD 1945, UU Hak Asasi Manusia, dan <a href="https://www.mkri.id/public/content/infoumum/penelitian/pdf/hasilpenelitian_105_Laporan%20Penelitian%20Kompetitif%20Jember.pdf">UU Pengesahan Konvensi Hak Penyandang Disabilitas.</a></p>
<p>Memang ada beberapa ODGJ yang tidak diperbolehkan memilih dalam Pemilu yaitu ODGJ yang sedang mengalami halusinasi dan delusi yang kuat sehingga tidak dapat membedakan kenyataan. <a href="https://prebunking.cekfakta.com/prebunking-hoaks-yang-sering-beredar-jelang-pemilu-odgj-diintervensi-dalam-memilih/">Biasanya kondisi ini membuat ODGJ kesulitan berpikir, dan harus disertai juga dengan surat keterangan dari Dokter Spesialis Kejiwaan (Psikiater)</a>.</p>
<p>Situs resmi Perhimpunan Dokter Spesialis Kedokteran Jiwa Indonesia (PDSKJI) <a href="https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1812363/ketua-kpu-orang-dengan-gangguan-jiwa-dapat-hak-pilih">menyebutkan, seseorang boleh dicoret dari daftar peserta Pemilu jika dibekali surat keterangan dari profesional bahwa, orang tersebut menderita gangguan jiwa permanen</a>.</p>
<p>Artinya, selama ODGJ dalam kondisi stabil dan cukup baik, maka individu tersebut masih boleh memilih secara langsung sesuai ketentuan yang berlaku. Surat dari psikiater juga tidak diperlukan, karena surat keterangan dari psikiater hanya untuk menegaskan bahwa yang bersangkutan tak bisa memilih karena kondisinya.</p>
<h2>ODGJ rentan melakukan penyerangan</h2>
<p>ODGJ merupakan <a href="https://jurnal.syntaxliterate.co.id/index.php/syntax-literate/article/view/10355">kelompok yang sering mendapat stigma dan diskriminasi</a>. Stigma ini menimbulkan <a href="https://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/JKJ/article/view/9265">kekerasan dan ketakutan</a>, yang bahkan bisa <a href="https://jkb.ub.ac.id/index.php/jkb/article/view/1973">berdampak pada keluarga penderita</a>.</p>
<p>Contoh dari misinformasi ini adalah maraknya isu penyerangan terhadap kaum ulama, yang menyudutkan ODGJ sebagai pelaku penyerangan tersebut. </p>
<p>Kasatgas Nusantara, yaitu satuan tugas yang dibentuk oleh Polri untuk mencegah terjadinya polarisasi hingga pemberantasan hoaks pada Pemilu 2024, Gatot Eddy Pramono, mengatakan prihatin dengan adanya pemberitaan maupun isu yang <a href="https://www.nu.or.id/nasional/kepolisian-prihatin-odgj-jadi-korban-penyebaran-hoaks-h16O8">menyudutkan ODGJ sebagai pelaku penyerangan terhadap kiai maupun pesantren</a>.</p>
<h2>Apa dampaknya?</h2>
<p>Isu-isu yang menyudutkan ODGJ sering kali menjadi bahan bakar untuk penyebaran hoaks. Masyarakat yang tidak kritis terhadap informasi dapat lebih mudah terpengaruh oleh narasi negatif, sehingga memperkuat persepsi buruk terhadap ODGJ. Situasi ini dapat menciptakan perpecahan sosial antara ODGJ dan masyarakat umum. </p>
<p>Selain berdampak pada masyarakat umum yang tidak memahami fakta-fakta terkait ODGJ, ODGJ sendiri juga mungkin menginternalisasi misinformasi tersebut, yang membuat kesehatan mental mereka justru semakin buruk. Misinformasi tentang ODGJ tidak hanya menghambat masyarakat untuk memberikan kesempatan kedua kepada mereka agar dapat hidup harmonis dan produktif, tapi juga membatasi hak-hak mereka, termasuk hak untuk memilih dalam pemilu.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220472/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Selain sebagai Dosen DKV ISI Surakarta, Fitri juga anggota Devisi Litbang Mafindo.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Finsensius Yuli Purnama dosen Fikom, Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala Surabaya dan terlibat sebagai peneliti di Divisi Litbang Mafindo. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loina L. K. Perangin-angin terafiliasi dengan Swiss German University sebagai Kaprodi dan dosen tetap, selain itu menjadi Presidium Komite Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (Mafindo).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nuril Hidayah terafiliasi sebagai dosen di STAI Miftahul 'Ula Nganjuk. Ia juga terlibat sebagai peneliti di Komite Litbang Mafindo. </span></em></p>Maraknya misinformasi tentang ODGJ saat Pemilu dapat berakibat pada hilangnya hak dasar mereka untuk ikut serta dalam memilih. Apa saja jenis misinformasi ini?Fitri Murfianti, Leiden UniversityFinsensius Yuli Purnama, Lecturer, Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala SurabayaLoina L. K. Perangin-angin, Swiss German UniversityNuril Hidayah, Stai Miftahul ' Ula NganjukLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2209202024-01-18T12:14:15Z2024-01-18T12:14:15ZEcuador’s crackdown on violent crime helped turn the country into a narco state<p>An unprecedented surge in violence in Ecuador recently has captured global attention, especially after a gang took control of a television station <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/9/several-police-kidnapped-in-ecuador-after-state-of-emergency-declared">during a live broadcast</a> on January 9. Once considered to be a haven for peace and stability in the region, as of 2023 Ecuador has earned the infamous distinction of being <a href="https://www.nuso.org/articulo/como-ecuador-descendio-al-infierno-homicida/">the most violent country</a> in Latin America.</p>
<p>The recent gang violence in Ecuador is just a symptom of a deeper issue affecting countries across the region. The unrest is rooted in the erosion of state capacity as a result of government austerity measures across Latin America. It has created fertile ground for the growth of criminal gangs. </p>
<p>Austerity, the recipe adopted by recent governments in Ecuador, has enmeshed the country into global financial capital networks, compromising its sovereignty. As the painful consequences of austerity have become evident, the state now is <a href="https://www.planv.com.ec/historias/cronica/el-estatuto-la-permanencia-tropas-eeuu-ecuador-esta-pactado#:%7E:text=Ecuador%20y%20EE.UU.%20firmaron%2C%20el%206%20de%20octubre,si%20este%20debe%20ser%20aprobado%20por%20la%20Asamblea.">inviting foreign military intervention</a> and has signed an agreement with Washington for the permanent deployment of US troops in the country.</p>
<p>But austerity alone does not explain the escalation of violence. There are other variables that should be considered. One of them is financial deregulation as part of increased capital needs of <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/seven-myths-about-dollarization-latin-america">dollarisation</a>. As Ecuador adopted the US dollar as its currency, it made foreign investors more likely to invest in the country. </p>
<p>However, dollarisation facilitated also money laundering, and made Ecuador appealing for drug traffickers and international mafias. It is no surprise that Ecuador is now the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-58829554">primary conduit</a> for the shipment of cocaine to Europe from across the region.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the declaration of an “<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/understanding-ecuadors-internal-armed-conflict/a-67969203">internal armed conflict</a>” by the current administration may align with the Ecuadorean people’s plea for immediate solutions. But this tends to obscure the responsibility for the failure of previous and current governments in dealing with structural violence.</p>
<h2>Looking at the past to understand the present</h2>
<p>Regrettably, the current challenges in Ecuador partly stem from efforts to address criminality. For example, during the administration of Rafael Correa between 2012 and 2017, there was a <a href="https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-01-13/violence-in-ecuador-a-new-long-standing-problem.html">surge in the prison populations</a>. </p>
<p>This had the unintended effect of prisons evolving into focal points for criminal organisations. They have duly become centres for networking between criminals and dubbed <a href="https://www.nuso.org/articulo/como-ecuador-descendio-al-infierno-homicida/">“universities of crime”</a>. They host a spectrum of illicit activities, fostering coordination among various criminal organisations.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, violence decreased, <a href="https://www.primicias.ec/primicias-tv/seguridad/claves-caso-metastasis-ecuador/">the ties between criminal organisations and some state actors</a> grew stronger. Ironically, during Correa’s administration, efforts to combat narco politics coincided with the rise of “<a href="https://insightcrime.org/ecuador-organized-crime-news/los-choneros/">Los Choneros</a>”, Ecuador’s leading drug-trafficking gang.</p>
<p>The escape of the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/who-is-fito-jose-macias-ecuador-gang-leader-rcna133435">Los Choneros leader known as “Fito”</a>“ this month exemplifies the depth of the problem, revealing the power of organised crime both inside and outside prisons. </p>
<p>After the election of Correa’s vice-president, Lenín Moreno, to the presidency from 2017 to 2021, the previous equilibrium with between some state actors and criminal networks seems to have changed. This has resulted in chaos in prisons and violence spilling on to the streets. </p>
<p>The situation was exacerbated by widespread <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2019-10-22-00-people-in-ecuador-have-woken-up-to-a-fragmented-and-polarised-society/">social turmoil</a>. During this period as a result of austerity measures, and the shocks due to the pandemic precarity increased. </p>
<p>Guillermo Lasso’s government -between 2021 and 2023, declared a <a href="https://gk.city/2023/02/22/entrevista-luis-cordova-estados-unidos-guillermo-lasso/">war on drugs</a>, leading to a surge in homicides. This shift towards a militarised approach achieved a <a href="https://insightcrime.org/news/ecuadors-explosive-war-on-gangs-lacks-exit-strategy/">limited success</a> in eradicating gang violence, and exhibited <a href="https://www.planv.com.ec/historias/analisis/el-presidente-lasso-el-gobierno-ingenuos-se-va-la-guerra">authoritarian responses</a> against the social protests denouncing the reduction of the social protection in the country.</p>
<p>In declaring an internal armed conflict, the current president Daniel Noboa’s strategy echoes the approach taken by El Salvador’s president <a href="https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-01-10/from-drug-routes-to-bukeles-influence-keys-to-the-security-crisis-in-ecuador.html#">Nayib Bukele</a>. This approach echoes the experiences of <a href="https://criticallegalthinking.com/2022/09/13/politics-in-the-streets-colombian-peoples-resistance-to-the-state-of-exception/#:%7E:text=Between%201949%20and%201991%2C%20the,that%20is%2C%20for%2017%20years.">Colombia’s attempts to</a> to combat violence by using the figure of a state of emergency. </p>
<p>The declaration of "internal war”, aligning with the population’s desperate need for <a href="https://insightcrime.org/es/noticias/analisis-primeros-dias-guerra-contra-pandillas-ecuador/">immediate solutions to tackle insecurity</a>, gives more authority to military forces, but it <a href="https://insightcrime.org/news/ecuadors-explosive-war-on-gangs-lacks-exit-strategy/">lacks an strategy</a> beyond the promise to defeat armed groups.</p>
<p>The militarisation of public security can lead to an escalation in the <a href="https://gk.city/2024/01/12/estos-son-muertos-durante-conflicto-armado-interno-ecuador/">violence as criminal groups will more likely respond to violence in kind</a>. This escalation, can lead to a cycle of violence and repression in which civilians will inevitably end up in the crossfire of multiple armed actors. </p>
<h2>Poverty, precarity and the explosion of violence</h2>
<p>The focus on violence overshadows what makes easier for armed groups to recruit cadres: the precarity of marginalised communities. For example, the national <a href="https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/documentos/web-inec/POBREZA/2023/Junio/202306_Boletin_pobreza_ENEMDU.pdf">poverty rate</a> has been on an upward trend from 24,5% in 2018 to to 27% in 2023. This phenomenon has disproportionately hit historically marginalised groups in the country (Indigenous people, Afro-Ecuadorians, and Montuvians), with almost 50% of these communities living in poverty. Yet, these same marginalised communities and the vulnerable youth are now facing vilification for being more vulnerable to being recruited by gangs.</p>
<p>The COVID pandemic made things much worse for many of these communities, making them even more susceptible to poverty or <a href="https://laperiodica.net/desercion-escolar-forzada-la-realidad-de-ninos-ninas-y-adolescentes-en-esmeraldas/">recruitment into armed groups</a>.</p>
<p>The recruitment of marginalised youth into criminal gangs sheds light on how austerity and external shocks are fuelling the growth of illicit activities. Increased precarity after the pandemic, withdrawing social protection, individualism and the <a href="https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/seguridad/snai-explica-grabacion-de-corrido-de-alias-fito-nota/">glamourisation of criminal figures in the media</a>, have contributed to the erosion of the social fabric. This in turn has facilitated the recruitment of people into organised crime.</p>
<p>The crisis of violence has unfolded in tandem with the retreat of the state in guaranteeing social and economic rights. While, armed groups emerge where states are seen as less legitimate, we must remember that the source of legitimacy of a state cannot be derived solely from violence. </p>
<p>The response to this crisis necessitates a strong state that can challenge armed groups on multiple fronts: the monopoly of violence and the welfare of the population. Stability entails the commitment to providing protection beyond just meeting violence with violence. In the 21st century, legitimacy cannot be dictated by raw violence alone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220920/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Poverty, insecurity and a naive and misguided drugs policy have led to a virtual civil war in Ecuador.Maria Gabriela Palacio, Assistant Professor in Development Studies, Leiden UniversityFabio Andrés Díaz Pabón, African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR), University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2188232023-12-18T04:17:49Z2023-12-18T04:17:49ZRiset ungkap tiga prediksi terkait hoaks di Pemilu 2024<p>Pada Pemilihan Presiden (Pilpres) 2019,<a href="https://v1.mafindo.or.id/komite-korwil/"> tim penelitian</a> Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (<a href="https://www.mafindo.or.id/">Mafindo</a>), organisasi yang tersertifikasi oleh <a href="https://ifcncodeofprinciples.poynter.org/profile/mafindo"><em>International Fact Checking Network</em> (IFCN)</a> dan aktif melakukan berbagai kegiatan untuk melawan hoaks, melakukan analisis pemetaan hoaks. <a href="https://mafindo.or.id/publikasi-riset/riset/tipologi-hoaks-pilpres-2019/">Penelitian ini</a> menggunakan metodologi analisis isi kuantitatif yang mengkaji 128 narasi hoaks Pilpres 2019. Data tersebut diambil dari laporan masyarakat dan hasil penelusuran <em>fact chekcer</em> di laman <a href="https://cekfakta.com/">cekfakta.com</a>.</p>
<p>Dari hasil pemetaan hoaks Pilpres 2019 tersebut, dapat dilihat beberapa prediksi hoaks untuk Pemilu 2024 sebagai berikut:</p>
<p><strong>1. Jumlah hoaks akan meningkat pascapemungutan suara, terutama jika terjadi sengketa pemilu</strong></p>
<p>Pemetaan tipologi hoaks pada pemilu 2019 menunjukkan bahwa aktivitas hoaks tertinggi terjadi pada fase pascapemilu, terutama dipicu adanya sengketa hasil pemilu, yaitu sebanyak 94 narasi hoaks. Jumlah ini hampir 3 kali lipat dari hoaks yang beredar di masa pra pemilu (34 narasi hoaks).</p>
<p>Besar kemungkinan, tren ini juga akan terjadi di Pemilu 2024. Selain peluang terjadinya sengketa hasil pemungutan suara, peningkatan jumlah hoaks juga bisa didorong oleh kemungkinan terjadinya Pilpres putaran kedua.</p>
<p>Prediksi tersebut setidaknya menguat di media massa, baik dari perspektif <a href="https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/12/11/21372991/survei-poltracking-indonesia-prediksi-pilpres-berlangsung-2-putaran">lembaga survei</a>, <a href="https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20231211122742-617-1035618/pengamat-yakin-pilpres-dua-putaran-prabowo-gibran-melaju">pengamat</a>, sejumlah <a href="https://www.detik.com/bali/nusra/d-7084439/pkb-yakin-pilpres-2024-dua-putaran-anies-cak-imin-vs-prabowo-gibran">politikus</a>, termasuk juga langkah antisipatif yang sudah disiapkan <a href="https://www.kompas.tv/nasional/445258/kpu-antisipasi-bila-pilpres-2024-berlangsung-dua-putaran">Komisi Pemilihan Umum (KPU)</a>.</p>
<p><strong>2. Penyelenggara pemilu rawan diserang hoaks</strong> </p>
<p>Selain potensi naiknya jumlah hoaks sebagai akibat dari proses pemilu yang semakin panjang, serangan kepada penyelenggara pemilu juga berpotensi meluas.</p>
<p>Salah satu temuan penting dari <a href="https://mafindo.or.id/publikasi-riset/laporan-tahunan/hoaks-di-indonesia-tahun-2022/">riset pemetaan hoaks tahun 2022</a> adalah bahwa lembaga pemilu, termasuk KPU dan Badan Pengawas Pemilu (Bawaslu), tidak luput dari serangan hoaks.</p>
<p>Trend tersebut muncul sejak Pilpres 2019. Sebelumnya, pada Pilpres 2014, hoaks yang menyerang lembaga penyelenggara pemilu bisa dikatakan sangat minim. Risiko dari serangan hoaks terhadap entitas ini cukup serius karena berpotensi melemahkan kepercayaan masyarakat terhadap lembaga penyelenggara pemilu.</p>
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Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/3-dampak-negatif-hoaks-pemilu-yang-perlu-kamu-tahu-218831">3 dampak negatif hoaks pemilu yang perlu kamu tahu</a>
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<p>KPU sebagai lembaga penyelenggara pemilu menjadi sasaran hoaks terutama di masa pascapemilu. Isu-isu yang disasar berkisar pada proses pemungutan suara (14,1%) dan proses perselisihan pemilu (39,8%). Di fase ini, KPU merupakan entitas ketiga yang paling banyak disasar (15,6%), diikuti oleh kepolisian (11,7%) dan pemerintah pusat (7%).</p>
<p>KPU dapat mengantisipasi kerawanan ini dengan menyiapkan perangkat pengecek fakta dan berkolaborasi dengan koalisi sipil dan organisasi cek fakta.</p>
<p><strong>3. Hoaks dengan format video dan penggunaan kecerdasan buatan akan semakin meningkat.</strong></p>
<p>Kekuatan hoaks, salah satunya, terletak pada perpaduan teks dan visual.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/4-alasan-kuat-mengapa-hoaks-begitu-memikat-218830">4 alasan kuat mengapa hoaks begitu memikat</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.mafindo.or.id/2023/10/16/hoaks-di-indonesia-tahun-2022/">Penelitian Mafindo pada tahun 2022</a> mengungkap bahwa konten berupa kombinasi antara teks dengan gambar atau video mendominasi komposisi temuan <a href="https://www.mafindo.or.id/2023/10/16/hoaks-di-indonesia-tahun-2022/">dengan persentase hingga 79,2%</a>.</p>
<p>Salah satu hoaks yang cukup ikonik setelah masa pemungutan suara pada Pemilu 2019, misalnya, adalah gambar “<a href="https://cekfakta.com/focus/2759">Prof. Tokuda tersenyum memperlihatkan data kecurangan KPU</a>” (22 Juni 2019) yang dibagikan lebih <a href="https://aceh.tribunnews.com/2019/06/23/hoaks-foto-pria-tua-disebut-pegang-data-kecurangan-kpu-ternyata-itu-kakek-sugiono-bintang-porno?page=all">dari 8.300 kali di Facebook</a>.</p>
<p>Dinarasikan dalam hoaks tersebut bahwa “Prof. Tokuda adalah ahli demokrasi di Jepang, sejak kecil ia merasa bersalah karena kakek neneknya dulu menjajah Indonesia”.</p>
<p>Hasil cek fakta menunjukkan bahwa gambar tersebut merupakan aktor video porno dari Jepang, Shigeo Tokuda. Hoaks ini termasuk dalam kategori <em>manipulated content</em> (jenis hoaks yang secara konten sudah ada, namun dimanipulasi) yang bersifat <a href="https://turnbackhoax.id/2019/06/22/salah-prof-tokuda-terseyum-ketika-memperlihatkan-data-kecurangan-kpu/">parodi</a>.</p>
<p>Selain itu, hoaks sering menggunakan bukti-bukti palsu untuk meyakinkan audiens. Penelitian kami menunjukkan bahwa gambar atau video adalah <a href="https://www.mafindo.or.id/2023/10/16/hoaks-di-indonesia-tahun-2022">jenis bukti yang paling banyak digunakan yaitu sebesar 67% untuk memperkuat klaim hoaks</a>.</p>
<p>Dengan adanya perkembangan teknologi, gambar dan video dapat dibuat lebih menarik sekaligus lebih manipulatif sehingga membuat deteksi hoaks menjadi lebih sulit untuk dilakukan. Hal ini sesuai temuan <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/memory-mind-and-media/article/identifying-and-minimising-the-impact-of-fake-visual-media-current-and-future-directions/05238C440ED9F72B2761542EB542B9CB?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=bookmark#">sebuah penelitian tentang psikologi dan media di Inggris tahun 2022</a> yang menunjukkan bahwa perkembangan teknologi, seperti kecerdasan buatan, telah mengaburkan batas antara citra visual yang nyata dan palsu sehingga asli dan rekaan semakin susah untuk dibedakan.</p>
<p>Hal ini tentunya memerlukan cara-cara baru yang lebih efektif untuk melawan hoaks. </p>
<p>Selain meningkatkan kerja sama antara lembaga pengecek fakta, koalisi masyarakat sipil dan pemerintah, diperlukan juga inisiasi kerja kolaboratif yang menggabungkan pengamatan <em>fact checker</em> dan kecerdasan buatan dalam melakukan identifikasi awal hoaks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218823/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Finsensius Yuli Purnama terafiliasi dengan Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala Surabaya dan divisi Penelitian dan Pengembangan, Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (Mafindo). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fitri Murfianti, selain terafiliasi sebagai Dosen DKV ISI Surakarta, juga terafiliasi dengan Divisi Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (MAFINDO). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loina L. K. Perangin-angin terafiliasi dengan Swiss German University sebagai Kaprodi dan dosen tetap, selain itu menjadi Presidium Komite Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (Mafindo). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nuril Hidayah, selain terafiliasi dengan STAI Miftahul 'Ula Nganjuk, juga terafiliasi dengan Komite Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Antifitnah Indonesia (Mafindo). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis. </span></em></p>Apa yang bisa kita pelajari dari maraknya hoaks pada Pemilu Presiden 2019?Finsensius Yuli Purnama, Adjunct assistant professor, Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala SurabayaFitri Murfianti, Leiden UniversityLoina L. K. Perangin-angin, Swiss German UniversityNuril Hidayah, Stai Miftahul ' Ula NganjukLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2188302023-12-14T03:18:11Z2023-12-14T03:18:11Z4 alasan kuat mengapa hoaks begitu memikat<p><a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.31.2.211">Penelitian tentang hoaks dalam perilaku <em>voters</em> di Amerika Serikat (AS) pada Pemilu 2016</a> menunjukkan adanya korelasi kuat antara hoaks dan pengambilan keputusan politik. <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3402913">Hasil penelitian di Italia tahun 2018</a> juga menunjukkan fenomena yang sama.</p>
<p>Dampak yang muncul dapat berupa <a href="https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-020-00252-3">sikap memilih berdasarkan emosi</a>, bukan <em>track record</em>, visi, atau program kerja. Sikap ini dapat memperbesar <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3637866">peluang lahirnya pemerintahan yang tidak berkualitas</a>, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3637866">meningkatnya apatisme</a>, dan <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3395046">menurunnya tingkat kepercayaan</a>.</p>
<p>Berbagai dampak tersebut memperkuat urgensi untuk memahami cara kerja hoaks. Apa sebenarnya yang membuat hoaks memiliki daya pikat yang begitu besar?</p>
<p><strong>1. Perpaduan teks dan visual</strong></p>
<p>Hoaks kerap berupa paduan antara teks dengan grafis yang menarik. Penelitian <a href="https://mafindo.or.id/">Mafindo</a>, organisasi kemasyarakatan yang bertujuan mensosialisasikan bahaya informasi bohong (hoaks) dan menciptakan imunitas terhadap hoaks di masyarakat Indonesia, pada tahun 2022 mengungkap bahwa konten berupa kombinasi antara teks dengan gambar atau video mendominasi komposisi temuan <a href="https://mafindo.or.id/publikasi-riset/laporan-tahunan/hoaks-di-indonesia-tahun-2022/">dengan persentase hingga 79,2%</a>.</p>
<p>Dominasi konten kombinasi ini difasilitasi oleh perkembangan teknologi yang semakin memudahkan kreasi konten grafis dan video. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/memory-mind-and-media/article/identifying-and-minimising-the-impact-of-fake-visual-media-current-and-future-directions/05238C440ED9F72B2761542EB542B9CB?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=bookmark">Sebuah penelitian tentang psikologi dan media di Inggris tahun 2022</a> bahkan menyimpulkan bahwa teknologi telah mengaburkan batas antara citra visual yang nyata dan palsu.</p>
<p>Selain itu, penelitian Michael Hameleers, asisten profesor di Universitas Amsterdam, Belanda, mengungkap bahwa <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10584609.2019.1674979">disinformasi berbentuk visual lebih memengaruhi audiens dibanding konten yang berupa teks saja</a>.</p>
<p><strong>2. Menyentuh emosi</strong></p>
<p>Hoaks dapat mengeksploitasi emosi audiens melalui berbagai tipe konten. </p>
<p>Pemetaan yang dilakukan oleh Mafindo menunjukkan bahwa <a href="https://mafindo.or.id/publikasi-riset/laporan-tahunan/hoaks-di-indonesia-tahun-2022/">hoaks paling banyak menggunakan tipe narasi <em>wedge driver</em> yaitu narasi yang cenderung mendiskreditkan pihak tertentu (38,3%), diikuti oleh tipe narasi <em>pipe dream</em> yang membangkitkan harapan (35,5%) dan <em>bogies</em> yang cenderung menakut-nakuti (7.4%)</a>.</p>
<p>Tipe-tipe ini diadopsi dari konsep yang diperkenalkan Robert H. Knapp, mendiang profesor Psikologi di Universitas Wesleyan, AS, pada tahun 1944 tentang <a href="https://academic.oup.com/poq/article-abstract/8/1/22/1914214?redirectedFrom=fulltext">psikologi rumor</a>.</p>
<p>Menurut <a href="https://academic.oup.com/poq/article-abstract/10/4/501/1861351">sebuah penelitian tentang rumor di (AS)</a>, tipe-tipe tersebut menunjukkan cara rumor mengikat audiens melalui emosi sehingga mereka merasa <a href="https://academic.oup.com/poq/article-abstract/10/4/501/1861351">hal itu penting dan lantas memercayainya</a>. </p>
<p>Misalnya, tipe <em>wedge driver</em> yang menarasikan pihak tertentu secara negatif sehingga menimbulkan ketidaksukaan atau kebencian, dapat dilihat pada hoaks yang mengklaim bahwa Wiranto, Menteri Koordinator Bidang Politik, Hukum, dan Keamanan (Menkopolhukam) tahun 2019, <a href="https://turnbackhoax.id/2019/05/22/salah-tanggal-22-mei-pendukung-02-kepung-kpu-wiranto-biarkan-saja-untuk-bahan-berburu-menembak-tni-polri/">mengizinkan TNI menembaki pendemo</a> ketika pendukung calon presiden no 2 waktu itu, Prabowo Subianto, mengepung KPU di Jakarta. Narasi pada hoaks tersebut dapat menimbulkan kebencian kepada Wiranto meski faktanya, tidak ditemukan pernyataan seperti yang tertulis di situs tersebut.</p>
<p>Sementara tipe <em>pipe dream</em> atau yang sering disebut juga sebagai <em>wish-based content</em> dan berisi informasi yang menimbulkan rasa senang atau harapan, dapat dilihat pada klaim bahwa ribuan suku Baduy datang ke Jakarta untuk mendukung <a href="https://www.voaindonesia.com/a/aksi-22-mei-amplop-dolar-hoaks-penembakan-masjid-3-hal-lain-perlu-anda-tahu/4928426.html">Aksi 22 Mei 2019</a> dan <a href="https://turnbackhoax.id/2019/05/21/salah-sore-tadi-ribuan-baduy-sudah-tiba-di-jakarta-perwakilan-pimpinan-baduy-diterima-prabowo-di-kertanegara/">diterima dengan hangat oleh Prabowo di Kartanegara, Jakarta</a>.</p>
<p>Bagi pendukung Aksi 22 Mei, hal ini tentu memberikan harapan dan rasa senang. Faktanya, foto yang diunggah oleh sumber klaim adalah foto yang sudah ada sejak tahun 2016. Warga suku Baduy yang ada di foto tersebut adalah warga yang berjualan madu hutan dan tas anyaman serta baju.</p>
<p><em>Bogies</em>, sebagai konten yang bertipe <em>fear-based</em> atau menimbulkan rasa takut dan kecemasan, biasa muncul pada hoaks yang berisi ancaman bencana alam atau modus kejahatan. </p>
<p><strong>3. Manipulasi bukti</strong></p>
<p>Hoaks seringkali menyajikan bukti untuk mendukung klaimnya agar audiens yakin. Bukti yang disertakan seringkali palsu atau tidak relevan. </p>
<p>Ada beragam jenis bukti yang biasanya menyertai klaim hoaks, mulai dari pengalaman langsung, kutipan (baik yang dapat diverifikasi maupun tidak), penyertaan tautan URL, penyematan gambar atau video, dan penggunaan alasan (<em>reasoning</em>). Namun, ada juga <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150989">hoaks yang tidak menyertakan bukti sama sekali</a>.</p>
<p>Bukti berupa pengalaman langsung banyak ditemui pada hoaks kesehatan. Umumnya berupa <a href="https://turnbackhoax.id/2022/02/26/salah-jus-campuran-nanas-lobak-dan-kemiri-dapat-menyembuhkan-asam-urat/">testimoni dari seseorang tentang kemanjuran pengobatan tertentu</a>. Hoaks terkadang juga menyertakan <a href="https://turnbackhoax.id/2023/01/24/salah-hanya-dengan-obat-sirup-dapat-menyembuhkan-berbagai-penyakit-paru-paru/">tautan (URL) agar terkesan seolah informasi di dalamnya mengacu pada sumber kredibel</a>.</p>
<p>Cara lain meyakinkan audiens adalah dengan mencatut pernyataan pihak tertentu. Terkadang nama pihak tersebut jelas, sehingga dapat dimintai klarifikasi, namun seringkali tidak jelas. Contohnya penggunaan frase-frase seperti “info A1”, “info ring 1”, “kata profesor Amerika”, dan sebagainya. </p>
<p>Dari berbagai bukti yang disajikan oleh produsen hoaks, penggunaan gambar atau video merupakan cara favorit. Data-data dari pemetaan hoaks 2022 oleh Mafindo mengungkap bahwa jenis bukti favorit adalah penggunaan gambar atau video. <a href="https://mafindo.or.id/publikasi-riset/laporan-tahunan/hoaks-di-indonesia-tahun-2022/">Jenis bukti klaim ini ditemukan sebesar 67%</a>.</p>
<p><strong>4. Memanfaatkan ketidaktahuan audiens</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://mafindo.or.id/publikasi-riset/riset/tipologi-hoaks-pilpres-2019/">Temuan penelitian kami</a> menunjukkan adanya isu-isu dalam konten hoaks yang berangkat dari kurangnya informasi yang diterima masyarakat terkait regulasi pemilu. Termasuk kurangnya informasi tentang hak memilih yang dimiliki oleh orang dengan gangguan jiwa (ODGJ) serta prosedur penghitungan suara berdasarkan penghitungan manual.</p>
<p>Produsen hoaks memanfaatkan ketidaktahuan masyarakat untuk menyebarkan klaim bahwa ODGJ <a href="https://turnbackhoax.id/2018/12/25/salah-simulasi-orang-gila-di-bawa-ke-tps-saat-pemilu-nanti/">dimobilisasi untuk memenangkan kandidat tertentu</a>; <a href="https://turnbackhoax.id/2019/05/04/salah-bareskrim-polri-gambir-jadi-pusat-kendali-situng-kpu/">perolehan suara dapat dimanipulasi melalui rekayasa siber oleh pihak tertentu </a>; atau bahwa <a href="https://www.kominfo.go.id/content/detail/17593/hoaks-penggunaan-kotak-suara-berbahan-kardus-sengaja-dirancang-agar-mudah-ditukar/0/laporan_isu_hoaks">surat suara sengaja disimpan di kotak kardus agar mudah ditukar</a>.</p>
<p>Modus ini tampaknya tetap digunakan menjelang pelaksanaan Pemilu 2024. Ketidaktahuan masyarakat tentang regulasi dan data kependudukan juga dimanfaatkan produsen hoaks untuk menyebarkan klaim menyesatkan terkait Pemilu 2024. </p>
<p>Contohnya klaim bahwa <a href="https://turnbackhoax.id/2023/01/14/salah-ribuan-wna-china-diberi-ktp-elektronik-untuk-pemilu-2024/">Warga Negara Asing (WNA) diberikan Kartu Tanda Penduduk (KTP) untuk memenangkan kandidat tertentu</a>. Ada juga klaim bahwa <a href="https://turnbackhoax.id/2023/05/24/salah-mulai-kpu-menjalankan-aksi-kotornya-dia-memberi-kode-00-berarti-itu-untuk-suara-yang-dikondisikan-pemenangnya/">kode 00 pada data pemilih merupakan kode KPU untuk mengondisikan pemenang pemilu</a>.</p>
<p>Faktanya, WNA memang diberikan KTP elektronik, akan tetapi tidak memiliki hak memilih. Adapun kode 00 yang dipermasalahkan tersebut merupakan kode RT sebagaimana tertulis dalam KTP dan
Direktorat Jenderal Kependudukan dan Pencatatan Sipil yang kemudian dimasukkan ke dalam data KPU.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nuril Hidayah, selain terafiliasi dengan STAI Miftahul 'Ula Nganjuk, juga terafiliasi dengan Komite Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Antifitnah Indonesia (Mafindo). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Finsensius Yuli Purnama terafiliasi dengan Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala Surabaya dan divisi Penelitian dan Pengembangan, Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (Mafindo). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fitri Murfianti, selain terafiliasi sebagai Dosen DKV ISI Surakarta, juga terafiliasi dengan Divisi Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (MAFINDO). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loina L. K. Perangin-angin terafiliasi dengan Swiss German University sebagai Kaprodi dan dosen tetap, selain itu menjadi Presidium Komite Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (Mafindo). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis.</span></em></p>Mengapa hoaks sangat mudah memperdaya pembaca?Nuril Hidayah, Stai Miftahul ' Ula NganjukFinsensius Yuli Purnama, Adjunct assistant professor, Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala SurabayaFitri Murfianti, Leiden UniversityLoina L. K. Perangin-angin, Swiss German UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2188312023-12-12T08:45:45Z2023-12-12T08:45:45Z3 dampak negatif hoaks pemilu yang perlu kamu tahu<p>Mudahnya berbagi informasi di era digital membuat penyebaran hoaks semakin marak. Selama tahun 2022, peneliti <a href="https://www.mafindo.or.id/">Mafindo</a>, organisasi kemasyarakatan yang bertujuan mensosialisasikan bahaya informasi bohong (hoaks) dan menciptakan imunitas terhadap hoaks di masyarakat Indonesia, <a href="https://mafindo.or.id/publikasi-riset/laporan-tahunan/hoaks-di-indonesia-tahun-2022/">menemukan 1698 hoaks yang beredar di media sosial</a>.</p>
<p>Jumlah ini meningkat cukup signifikan di tahun 2023. Penelitian yang sedang kami lakukan (belum dipublikasikan) menemukan bahwa sampai akhir November 2023, sudah lebih dari 2100 hoaks yang ditemukan. Artinya, ada kenaikan lebih dari 400 hoaks dalam setahun. Situasi ini membuktikan bahwa menjelang pemilu terjadi <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w23089/w23089.pdf">kenaikan jumlah hoaks yang menyebar melalui berbagai saluran, terutama media sosial</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/ICWSM/article/view/14976">Penelitian dari <em>Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute</em></a>, Amerika Serikat (AS) mengindikasikan bahwa informasi palsu terkait kandidat dan kebijakan merupakan hoaks yang sering viral selama pemilu.</p>
<p>Hoaks juga dapat berisi konten sensasional atau bermuatan emosi untuk memanipulasi opini publik atau mendiskreditkan lawan politik. </p>
<p><a href="https://mafindo.or.id/publikasi-riset/riset/tipologi-hoaks-pilpres-2019/">Penelitian kami tahun 2019</a> menemukan setidaknya tiga dampak negatif dari penyebaran informasi palsu atau hoaks selama pemilu: </p>
<h2>1. Pembunuhan karakter</h2>
<p>Dampak hoaks pemilu yang paling signifikan adalah pembunuhan karakter. Dalam konteks hoaks pemilu, istilah ini mengacu pada <a href="https://ejournal2.undip.ac.id/index.php/jiip/article/view/5433">penyebaran informasi palsu atau menyesatkan dengan sengaja untuk merusak reputasi tokoh atau partai politik</a>. <a href="https://ejournal2.undip.ac.id/index.php/jiip/article/view/5433">Penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Lusia Astrika dan Yuwanto Yuwanto</a> dari Universitas Diponegoro, Jawa Tengah, menunjukkan bahwa pembunuhan karakter bisa memengaruhi persepsi pemilih.</p>
<p>Pembunuhan karakter dilakukan dengan menyebarkan cerita yang dibuat-buat atau dibesar-besarkan, yang secara negatif menggambarkan karakter, etika, atau kemampuan kandidat. Tujuannya adalah untuk menciptakan atau memperbesar keraguan di kalangan pemilih mengenai kesesuaian individu yang dituju untuk menduduki jabatan tertentu. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448211012377">Sebuah penelitian eksperimental di Italia dan AS pada tahun 2021</a> menegaskan bahwa tuduhan palsu dapat merusak reputasi politisi dan menyebabkan hilangnya dukungan di kalangan pemilih. Sekalipun informasi tersebut kemudian terbukti salah, kerusakan awal mungkin sulit untuk diperbaiki karena kesan mendalam yang ditimbulkan. </p>
<p>Kasus Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama dalam Pemilihan Kepala Daerah Jakarta tahun 2017 merupakan contoh nyata bagaimana hoaks berdampak pada pembunuhan karakter. </p>
<p>Lawannya <a href="https://www.voaindonesia.com/a/jaksa-dakwa-ahok-menistakan-agama-/3634661.html">menuduh</a> Ahok menghina Al-Qur'an dan pemilih Muslim dalam sebuah pidato. Hoaks ini berawal dari video yang diedit sedemikian rupa sehingga mengesankan Ahok mengatakan bahwa pemilih tidak perlu mengikuti ajaran Al-Qur'an khususnya surah Al Maidah 51 yang berisi tentang larangan umat Islam mengangkat kaum Nasrani dan Yahudi sebagai awliya’ (pemimpin). Padahal, dalam konteks yang lebih lengkap, dia tidak menyerang isi kitab suci tersebut. </p>
<p>Tuduhan penistaan agama ini memiliki dampak besar pada elektabilitas Ahok. Ahok, yang sebelumnya populer dan memiliki peluang kuat untuk terpilih, mengalami <a href="https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4425584/kasus-penistaan-agama-hantui-karir-politik-ahok">penurunan dukungan yang signifikan, bahkan kasus ini terus menghantui karir politiknya</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Ketidakpercayaan terhadap badan penyelenggara pemilu</h2>
<p>Hoaks juga bisa melemahkan kepercayaan terhadap lembaga pemilu secara signifikan. Artikel dari <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/misinformation-is-eroding-the-publics-confidence-in-democracy/"><em>Brookings Institution</em></a>, sebuah organisasi nonprofit yang berpusat di Washington, AS, menyoroti bahwa misinformasi, seperti klaim kecurangan pemilu, dapat membingungkan pemilih, sehingga menyebabkan menurunnya kepercayaan terhadap sistem pemilu. </p>
<p>Di AS, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/misinformation-is-eroding-the-publics-confidence-in-democracy/">survei media menemukan bahwa hanya 20% yang merasa “sangat yakin” terhadap integritas sistem pemilu AS, dan 56% responden dalam jajak pendapat CNN mengatakan mereka “sedikit atau tidak yakin” bahwa pemilu mewakili keinginan rakyat</a>.</p>
<p>Misinformasi mengenai proses pemilu, seperti prosedur pemungutan suara, penghitungan suara, atau hasil pemilu dapat membuat masyarakat mempertanyakan integritas lembaga penyelenggara pemilu.</p>
<p>Pada Pemilihan Presiden Indonesia 2019, contohnya, <a href="https://mafindo.or.id/publikasi-riset/riset/tipologi-hoaks-pilpres-2019/">banyak hoaks dan informasi palsu beredar mengenai penipuan dan manipulasi pemilu</a>, termasuk klaim adanya <a href="https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2019/06/20/09414781/ahli-prabowo-sandi-sebut-ada-27-juta-ghost-voters-dalam-pemilu-2019"><em>ghost voters</em> atau nama-nama dalam daftar pemilih yang tidak boleh tercantum, baik karena duplikasi, fiktif, milik individu yang sudah meninggal atau tidak memenuhi syarat untuk memilih</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://aji.or.id/upload/article_doc/FIX_Layout_Buku_Gangguan_Informasi,_Pemilu,_dan_Demokrasi_compres1.pdf">Keraguan yang terus-menerus ini dapat memperdalam perpecahan politik, yang berujung pada konflik dan ketidakstabilan masyarakat</a>.</p>
<p>Hoaks juga <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733322001494">dapat mengganggu aspek operasional pemilu</a>. Penyebaran informasi yang salah mengenai tanggal dan lokasi pemungutan suara, misalnya, dapat menyebabkan kebingungan di kalangan pemilih.</p>
<p>Klaim palsu mengenai integritas alat pemungutan suara, penanganan surat suara, dan proses penghitungan suara juga dapat menimbulkan keraguan mengenai aspek teknis pemilu, sehingga membuat masyarakat mempertanyakan legitimasi hasil pemilu. </p>
<p>Salah satu contohnya adalah penggunaan kardus sebagai bahan pembuatan kotak suara pada Pemilu 2019. Kasus ini mencerminkan bagaimana informasi yang disalahpahami atau disajikan secara tidak lengkap dapat menciptakan keraguan, kontroversi, dan spekulasi mengenai aspek-aspek teknis pemilu. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.kominfo.go.id/content/detail/17593/hoaks-penggunaan-kotak-suara-berbahan-kardus-sengaja-dirancang-agar-mudah-ditukar/0/laporan_isu_hoaks">Beberapa pihak bahkan menginterpretasikan penggunaan bahan ini sebagai upaya untuk memudahkan manipulasi suara</a>.</p>
<p>Meskipun KPU segera menanggapi isu ini dengan menjelaskan bahwa kotak suara kardus tersebut telah dirancang tahan air dan cukup kuat, serta memenuhi semua standar keamanan yang diperlukan, isu ini tetap menimbulkan keraguan dan perdebatan di masyarakat.</p>
<h2>3. Manipulasi citra</h2>
<p><a href="https://ojs.uma.ac.id/index.php/perspektif/article/view/3458">Sebuah penelitian tahun 2019</a>, menemukan bahwa tujuan propaganda politik hoaks, selain untuk memengaruhi masyarakat juga untuk mengubah citra negatif menjadi positif. Hoaks juga bisa digunakan untuk meningkatkan elektabilitas dan popularitas calon yang didukung, atau menurunkan suara lawan. </p>
<p>Penyebaran informasi negatif atau salah tentang lawan politik biasanya berupa rumor, skandal yang dibuat-buat, termasuk latar belakang keluarga, atau penafsiran yang keliru mengenai kebijakan atau tindakan kandidat di masa lalu. Tujuannya adalah untuk mencoreng citra lawan di mata pemilih, sehingga mempengaruhi opini publik dan keputusan mereka untuk memilih kandidat tersebut.</p>
<p>Salah satu contohnya adalah hoaks yang menyerang Joko “Jokowi” Widodo pada Pemilu 2019. Saat itu, kebohongan yang tersebar luas mengenai Jokowi adalah bahwa <a href="https://www.kominfo.go.id/content/detail/17065/hoaks-innalillahi-ternyata-presiden-sekarang-sebenarnya-kristen-dan-pemerintahan-sekarang-di-kuasai-kristen/0/laporan_isu_hoaks">ia merupakan warga keturunan Tionghoa dan beragama Kristen</a>.</p>
<p>Misinformasi ini ditujukan untuk mempertanyakan kesetiaannya pada agama dan kebangsaan, yang merupakan topik sensitif dalam konteks sosial politik Indonesia di mana mayoritas beragama Islam dan beretnis Jawa. Hoaks ini dirancang untuk memengaruhi opini pemilih Muslim konservatif. Keraguan atas latar belakang dan agama Jokowi, diyakini dapat mengurangi daya tarik dan dukungan dari para pemilih tersebut.</p>
<p>Sementara untuk menaikkan citra positif, tim kampanye biasanya membuat informasi positif namun tidak akurat atau berlebihan tentang seorang kandidat. Misalnya, cerita palsu tentang pencapaian pribadi, statistik yang menyesatkan tentang kinerja, atau manipulasi gambar dan video. Tujuannya adalah untuk menciptakan gambaran kandidat yang ideal dan seringkali tidak realistis, sehingga dapat mempengaruhi persepsi publik secara positif.</p>
<p>Kampanye yang dilakukan oleh Donald Trump, mantan presiden AS, merupakan contoh dari praktik ini. Tim kampanyenya berusaha menaikkan citra positif dengan <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all">mengklaim bahwa Trump sukses sebagai pengusaha sehingga mampu menegosiasikan perjanjian perdagangan yang lebih baik untuk AS</a>.</p>
<p>Kedua taktik ini mempunyai implikasi yang signifikan terhadap integritas pemilu, karena keduanya menghalangi pemilih untuk mengambil keputusan berdasarkan informasi faktual.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218831/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fitri Murfianti, selain terafiliasi sebagai Dosen DKV ISI Surakarta, juga terafiliasi dengan Divisi Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (MAFINDO). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Finsensius Yuli Purnama terafiliasi dengan Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala Surabaya dan divisi Penelitian dan Pengembangan, Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (Mafindo). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loina L. K. Perangin-angin terafiliasi dengan Swiss German University sebagai Kaprodi dan dosen tetap, juga sebagai Presidium Komite Penelitian dan Pengembangan, Masyarakat Anti Fitnah Indonesia (Mafindo) Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nuril Hidayah, selain terafiliasi dengan STAI Miftahul 'Ula Nganjuk, juga terafiliasi dengan Komite Penelitian dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Antifitnah Indonesia (Mafindo). Penelitian ini terlaksana atas dukungan dana USAID-MEDIA melalui Internews. Isi sepenuhnya merupakan tanggung jawab penulis. </span></em></p>Hoaks telah terbukti berdampak negatif di masyarakat. Apa saja dampak dari maraknya persebaran hoaks ketika pemilu?Fitri Murfianti, Leiden UniversityFinsensius Yuli Purnama, Adjunct assistant professor, Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala SurabayaLoina L. K. Perangin-angin, Swiss German UniversityNuril Hidayah, Stai Miftahul ' Ula NganjukLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2165432023-10-29T22:10:22Z2023-10-29T22:10:22ZDetectado el resplandor de una colisión entre dos planetas gigantes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556457/original/file-20231029-15-y7glia.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C48%2C1874%2C1385&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Visualización de un enorme cuerpo planetario brillante producido por una colisión planetaria. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1001427">Mark Garlick/Eurekalert</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Los datos apuntan a que se ha detectado por primera vez el resplandor resultante de la colisión masiva entre dos planetas gigantes. Los restos de la colisión podrán enfriarse y formar un planeta completamente nuevo. Si se confirma, supondrá una oportunidad asombrosa para observar el nacimiento de un nuevo mundo en tiempo real, además de abrir una ventana al conocimiento de la formación de los planetas.</p>
<p>En diciembre de 2021, los astrónomos observaron una estrella similar al Sol, por lo demás anodina. De pronto, se dieron cuenta de que <a href="https://astronomerstelegram.org/?read=14879">parpadeaba de un modo inusual</a>. Durante unos meses, la luz visible que llegaba de la estrella seguía cambiando. A veces prácticamente desaparecía, se oscurecía, antes de recuperar su brillo anterior. </p>
<p>La estrella, que se encuentra a unos 1 800 años luz de la Tierra, recibió el nombre de ASASSN-21qj, en honor al <a href="https://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/asassn/">proyecto ASASN-SN </a> liderado por la Universidad Estatal de Ohio (EE. UU.). </p>
<h2>Un apagón extraño</h2>
<p>Este tipo de oscurecimiento no es infrecuente. Generalmente se atribuye al momento de transferencia de material entre la estrella y la Tierra. Si no hubiera sido por un astrónomo aficionado llamado <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/people/arttu-sainio/">Arttu Sainio</a>, ASASSN-21qj se habría añadido sin más repercusión a una lista cada vez más larga de observaciones similares.</p>
<p>Pero Sainio comentó en redes sociales que, alrededor de dos años y medio antes de que se viera el apagón, la emisión de una luz infrarroja procedente de su ubicación había aumentado aproximadamente un 4 %. Y esto no era lo acostumbrado. La luz infrarroja la emiten con mayor intensidad objetos a temperaturas relativamente altas, de unos cientos de grados centígrados. </p>
<p>El matiz destacado por Sainio planteó dos preguntas: ¿estaban relacionadas las dos observaciones? y, de ser así, ¿qué demonios estaba ocurriendo alrededor de ASASSN-21qj?</p>
<h2>Cataclismo planetario</h2>
<p>En un artículo publicado <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06573-9">en <em>Nature</em></a> proponemos que ambos conjuntos de observaciones podrían explicarse si lo que observamos no es una estrella, sino el destello resultante de una colisión cataclísmica entre dos planetas. </p>
<p>Se cree que los impactos gigantes, como se conoce a este tipo de colisiones, son comunes en las etapas finales de la formación de los planetas. Determinan el tamaño final, la composición y el estado térmico de los planetas y moldean las órbitas de los objetos de esos sistemas planetarios. </p>
<p>En nuestro sistema solar, atribuimos a impactos masivos la <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/uranus/facts/">extraña inclinación de Urano</a>, la <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mercury/facts/">alta densidad de Mercurio</a>, o incluso la <a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/formation-earth-and-moon-explained#moonform">formación de la Luna</a>. </p>
<p>Sin embargo, hasta ahora teníamos pocas pruebas directas en la galaxia de impactos masivos en curso. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Impresión artística del telescopio WISE." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">El telescopio WISE de la NASA observó un aumento de la luz infrarroja procedente de la estrella.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17254">NASA/JPL-Caltech</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cómo explicamos que lo observado es un destello</h2>
<p>Consideramos que la colisión masiva entre dos gigantes habría necesitado liberar más energía en las primeras horas tras el impacto. El material de los cuerpos en colisión se habría sobrecalentado y fundido, vaporizado o ambas cosas. El impacto habría formado una masa de material caliente y brillante cientos de veces mayor que los planetas originales. </p>
<p>El brillo infrarrojo de ASASSN-21qj fue observado por <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/wide-field-infrared-survey-explorer-wise">el telescopio espacial WISE de la NASA</a>. WISE sólo observa la estrella cada 300 días aproximadamente, por lo que probablemente no vio el destello inicial del impacto. </p>
<h2>Un nuevo planeta</h2>
<p>Sin estamos en lo cierto, el cuerpo planetario expandido producido por el impacto tardará mucho tiempo, quizá millones de años, en enfriarse y encogerse hasta convertirse en algo que podríamos reconocer como un nuevo planeta. </p>
<p>Al principio, cuando este “cuerpo post-impacto” estaba en su máxima extensión, la luz emitida podría haber producido el brillo infrarrojo que vimos.</p>
<p>El impacto también habría expulsado grandes penachos de escombros en distintas órbitas alrededor de la estrella. Una parte de estos restos se vaporizó por el choque y se condensó en nubes de diminutos cristales de hielo y roca. </p>
<p>Con el tiempo, parte de esta nube de material pasó entre ASASSN-21qj y la Tierra, bloqueando una fracción de la luz visible de la estrella y produciendo el oscurecimiento errático. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Neptuno." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Los planetas pueden haber sido similares a Neptuno en el sistema solar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01492">NASA/JPL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Si nuestra interpretación de los acontecimientos es correcta, el estudio de este sistema estelar podría ayudarnos a comprender un mecanismo clave para la formación de planetas. </p>
<p>A partir del limitado conjunto de observaciones que tenemos hasta ahora, hemos aprendido algunas cosas muy interesantes. En primer lugar, para emitir la cantidad de energía observada el cuerpo post-impacto debe haber sido varios cientos de veces del tamaño de la Tierra. </p>
<p>Para crear un cuerpo tan grande, los planetas que colisionaron debían tener cada uno varias veces la masa de la Tierra. Posiblemente serían tan grandes como los <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/outer_planets.pdf">“gigantes de hielo”</a> Urano y Neptuno. </p>
<p>En segundo lugar, estimamos que la temperatura del cuerpo tras el impacto era de unos 700 ⁰ C. Para que la temperatura descendiera tanto, los cuerpos que colisionaron no podían estar hechos totalmente de roca y metal. </p>
<h2>Gigantes de hielo</h2>
<p>Las regiones exteriores de al menos uno de los planetas deben haber contenido elementos con bajas temperaturas de ebullición, como el agua. Por tanto, pensamos que hemos asistido a una colisión entre dos mundos similares a Neptuno, ricos en hielo. </p>
<p>El retraso que se observó entre la emisión de luz infrarroja y la observación de los restos que cruzaban la estrella sugiere que la colisión tuvo lugar bastante lejos de la estrella, más lejos de lo que la Tierra está del Sol.</p>
<p>Un sistema de este tipo, en el que hay gigantes de hielo alejados de la estrella, se parece más a nuestro sistema solar que a muchos de los sistemas planetarios apretados que los astrónomos suelen observar alrededor de otras estrellas.</p>
<p>Lo más emocionante de todo esto es que podremos seguir observando la evolución del sistema durante muchas décadas y poner a prueba nuestras conclusiones. </p>
<p>Futuras observaciones, con telescopios como <a href="https://webbtelescope.org/home">el JWST de la NASA</a>, determinarán los tamaños y composiciones de las partículas de la nube de escombros, identificarán la química de las capas superiores del cuerpo que se formó tras el impacto y seguirán la pista de cómo se enfría esta masa caliente de escombros. Puede que incluso veamos aparecer nuevas lunas. </p>
<p>Todo ello nos ayudará a comprender mejor cómo los impactos gigantes dan forma a los sistemas planetarios. Hasta el momento, los únicos ejemplos que teníamos eran los ecos de los impactos en nuestro propio sistema solar. Ahora podremos ver el nacimiento de un nuevo planeta en tiempo real.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Artículo traducido gracias a la colaboración con <a href="https://www.fundacionlilly.com/">Fundación Lilly</a></em>.</p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216543/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Lock recibe fondos de UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/V014129/1).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Leinhardt recibe fondos de UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (grant number ST/V000454/1).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Kenworthy no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.</span></em></p>Los datos apuntan a que se ha detectado por primera vez el destello resultante de la colisión entre dos planetas gigantes.Simon Lock, NERC Research Fellow, School of Earth Sciences, University of BristolMatthew Kenworthy, Associate professor in Astronomy, Leiden UniversityZoe Leinhardt, Associate Professor, School of Physics, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2154662023-10-11T15:14:41Z2023-10-11T15:14:41ZThe afterglow of an explosive collision between giant planets may have been detected in a far-off star system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553243/original/file-20231011-25-y5wvfs.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C1914%2C1431&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A visualisation of the huge, glowing planetary body produced by a planetary collision.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/1001427">Mark Garlick</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The afterglow of a massive collision between two giant planets may have been detected for the first time. The wreckage of the collision could eventually cool and form an entirely new planet. If the observation is confirmed, it provides an amazing opportunity to watch the birth of a new world in real time and open a window into how planets form.</p>
<p>In December 2021, astronomers watching an otherwise unremarkable sun-like star <a href="https://astronomerstelegram.org/?read=14879">saw it begin to flicker</a>. For a few months, the visible light (the light we can see with our eyes) from this star continued to change. At times it would almost disappear, before returning to its previous brightness. </p>
<p>The star, which sits roughly 1,800 light years from Earth, was given the identifier ASASSN-21qj, after the <a href="https://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/asassn/">ASASN-SN astronomy survey</a> that first observed the star’s dimming. </p>
<p>Seeing stars dim like this is not uncommon. It’s generally attributed to material passing between the star and Earth. ASASSN-21qj may just have been added to a growing list of similar observations had it not been for an amateur astronomer, <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/people/arttu-sainio/">Arttu Sainio</a>. Sainio pointed out on social media that some two and a half years before the star’s light was seen to fade, the emission of infrared light coming from its location rose by roughly 4%. </p>
<p>Infrared light is most strongly emitted by objects at relatively high temperatures of a few hundred degrees Celsius. This posed the questions: were these two observations related and, if so, what the heck was going on around ASASSN-21qj?</p>
<h2>Planetary cataclysm</h2>
<p>Publishing our findings <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06573-9">in Nature</a>, we propose that both sets of observations could be explained by a cataclysmic collision between two planets. Giant impacts, as such collisions are known, are thought to be common in the final stages of the formation of planets. They dictate the final sizes, compositions, and thermal states of planets and mould the orbits of objects in those planetary systems. </p>
<p>In our solar system, giant impacts are thought to be responsible for the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/uranus/facts/">odd tilt of Uranus</a>, the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mercury/facts/">high density of Mercury</a> and the <a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/formation-earth-and-moon-explained#moonform">existence of Earth’s Moon</a>. However, until now, we had little direct evidence of giant impacts ongoing in the galaxy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Artist's impression of the WISE telescope." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553260/original/file-20231011-19-jdcjpm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nasa’s WISE telescope observed an increase in the infrared light coming from the star.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17254">NASA/JPL-Caltech</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In order to explain the observations, a collision would have needed to release more energy in the first few hours after impact than would be emitted from the star. Material from the colliding bodies would have been superheated and melted, vaporised or both.</p>
<p>The impact would have formed a hot, glowing mass of material hundreds of times larger than the original planets. The infrared brightening of ASASSN-21qj was observed by <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/wide-field-infrared-survey-explorer-wise">Nasa’s WISE space telescope</a>. WISE only looks at the star every 300 days or so, and probably missed the initial flash of light from the impact. </p>
<p>However, the expanded planetary body produced by the impact will take a long time, perhaps millions of years, to cool and shrink to something we might recognise as a new planet. Initially, when this “post-impact body” was at its greatest extent, the light emitted from it could still be as high as several percent of emission from the star. Such a body could have produced the infrared brightening that we saw.</p>
<p>The impact would also have ejected great plumes of debris into a range of different orbits around the star. A fraction of this debris would have been vaporised by the shock of the impact, later condensing to form clouds of tiny ice and rock crystals. Over time, some of this clumpy cloud of material passed between ASASSN-21qj and Earth, blocking out a fraction of the visible light from the star and producing the erratic dimming. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Neptune." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/553274/original/file-20231011-25-9485zg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The planets may have been similar to Neptune in the solar system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01492">NASA/JPL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If our interpretation of the events is correct, studying this star system could help us understand a key mechanism of planet formation. Even from the limited set of observations we have so far, we have learned some very interesting things. </p>
<p>Firstly, to emit the amount of energy observed, the post-impact body must have been many hundreds of times the size of Earth. To create a body that large, the planets that collided must each have been several times the mass of Earth – possibly as large as the <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/outer_planets.pdf">“ice giant”</a> planets Uranus and Neptune. </p>
<p>Secondly, we estimate the temperature of the post-impact body to be around 700°C. For the temperature to be that low, the colliding bodies could not have been entirely made of rock and metal. </p>
<h2>Ice giants</h2>
<p>The outer regions of at least one of the planets must have contained elements with low boiling temperatures, such as in water. We therefore think that we have seen a collision between two Neptune-like worlds that are rich in ice. </p>
<p>The delay that was seen between the emission of infrared light and the observation of debris crossing the star suggests that the collision took place quite far away from the star – further away than the Earth is from the Sun. Such a system, in which there are ice giants far from the star, is more similar to our solar system than to many of the tightly-packed planetary systems astronomers often observe around other stars.</p>
<p>The most exciting aspect of this is that we can continue to watch the system evolve for many decades and test our conclusions. Future observations, using telescopes such as <a href="https://webbtelescope.org/home">Nasa’s JWST</a>, will determine the sizes and compositions of particles in the debris cloud, identify the chemistry of the upper layers of the post-impact body and track how this hot mass of debris cools down. We may even see new moons emerge. </p>
<p>These observations can inform our theories, helping us understand how giant impacts shape planetary systems. So far the only examples we’ve had are the echoes of impacts in our own solar system. We will now be able to watch the birth of a new planet in real time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Lock receives funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/V014129/1).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Leinhardt receives funding from UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (grant number ST/V000454/1). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Kenworthy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The discovery provides a way to study the birth of an entirely new planet in real time.Simon Lock, NERC Research Fellow, School of Earth Sciences, University of BristolMatthew Kenworthy, Associate professor in Astronomy, Leiden UniversityZoe Leinhardt, Associate Professor, School of Physics, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2064732023-05-26T16:55:19Z2023-05-26T16:55:19ZTurkey’s presidential runoff: 4 essential reads on what’s at stake<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528620/original/file-20230526-23155-b6trtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C53%2C5858%2C3870&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Erdoğan or Kılıçdaroğlu -- which one will be flying high after the runoff? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/flags-fly-over-taksim-square-showing-turkeys-president-news-photo/1489812545?adppopup=true">Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Turkish voters will <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-election-2023-whats-stake-runoff-2023-05-26/">head to the polls on May 28, 2023</a>, for the second time in the month – this time facing a choice between a winnowed field of two candidates, each of whom is vowing to take the country in a very different direction.</p>
<p>The fact that the presidential vote has gone to a runoff is no great surprise – polls <a href="https://globeelectionshistorysociety.wordpress.com/2023/05/15/tr-pe2023-final-projection-r1/">had predicted</a> that none of the initial candidates would get above the 50% mark needed to be declared the outright winner. Nor is the binary choice in front of voters a shock. Turkish people have long known that the likely option would be between sticking with <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/erdogans-milestones-before-turkeys-election-2023-05-07/">incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan</a>, who has ruled the country for two decades, or throw their lot in with main <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/03/1172704065/turkey-election-candidate-kemal-kilicsdaroglu-erdogan-challenger">opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu</a>.</p>
<p>But the fact that Erdoğan enters the runoff as the favorite, having secured more votes in the first round, is something that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-erdogan-lags-election-rival-closely-watched-poll-2023-05-11/">earlier polls had not predicted</a>.</p>
<p>Here are four stories from The Conversation’s Turkish election coverage that help contextualize the choice in front of voters, and how it could impact the future direction of the nation.</p>
<h2>1. Erdoğan defies the polls</h2>
<p>How did Erdoğan enter the runoff weekend in such a strong position? </p>
<p>The assumption was that he might have sunk under the combined weight of a faltering economy, concerns about his authoritarian style and a widely held perception that he mishandled a devastating earthquake just months before the vote.</p>
<p>But as <a href="https://polisci.indiana.edu/about/graduate-students/yasun-salih.html">Salih Yasun</a>, an expert on Turkish politics at Indiana University, noted, Erdoğan <a href="https://theconversation.com/turkeys-presidential-election-how-erdogan-defied-the-polls-to-head-into-runoff-as-favorite-205719">had some things going for him</a> as the campaign took shape. First off, he was able to use state resources, and utilized control over a large section of the media to bolster his bid for reelection.</p>
<p>He has also mitigated falling support for his AKP party by adding smaller Islamist and nationalist parties to his coalition. </p>
<p>“By doing that, he has allowed his base to vote for coalition parties other than the AKP while maintaining their support for his own candidacy within the presidential race,” wrote Yasun. </p>
<p>Meanwhile his main opponent made several missteps, such as not agreeing to public debates and bypassing primary elections to secure his candidacy as opposition leader. In addition, under Kılıçdaroğlu, the opposition party has become more of a catchall organization at the cost of presenting a clear social democratic message, Yasun argued.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/turkeys-presidential-election-how-erdogan-defied-the-polls-to-head-into-runoff-as-favorite-205719">Turkey's presidential election – how Erdoğan defied the polls to head into runoff as favorite</a>
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<h2>2. Claiming counterterrorism success</h2>
<p>There is another potential factor in Erdoğan’s outperforming of the polls in the first round: his political use of counterterrorism.</p>
<p>Just as it looked like the long-standing Turkish leader was struggling to achieve any momentum, events played into his hands. On April 30, 2023,
the suspected leader of the Islamic State group, Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi, was said to have been killed in an apparent Turkish strike in Syria.</p>
<p>Terrorism and political science scholars <a href="https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/graig-klein#tab-1">Graig Klein</a> and <a href="https://www.gettysburg.edu/academic-programs/political-science/faculty/employee_detail.dot?empId=011229447120013384&pageTitle=Scott+Simon+Boddery">Scott Boddery</a> noted how <a href="https://theconversation.com/turkeys-erdogan-took-a-page-from-us-presidents-and-boosted-reelection-campaign-by-claiming-to-have-killed-a-terrorist-205369">Erdoğan claimed credit for the operation</a>, echoing a tried and tested tactic by leaders around the world.</p>
<p>“The targeted killing of al-Qurashi was announced three days after Erdoğan fell sick on national TV and the same day he returned to the campaign trail. The counterterrorism strike created an opportunity for Erdoğan to focus domestic attention on his national security credentials, his role in the anti-Islamic State coalition, and his abilities to be an authoritative and strong leader,” Klein and Boddery wrote.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/turkeys-erdogan-took-a-page-from-us-presidents-and-boosted-reelection-campaign-by-claiming-to-have-killed-a-terrorist-205369">Turkey's Erdoğan took a page from US presidents and boosted reelection campaign by claiming to have killed a terrorist</a>
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<h2>3. Pushing science and tech credentials</h2>
<p>But it wasn’t only his self-proclaimed counterterrorism credentials that Erdoğan was pushing to the electorate. As <a href="https://www.lborolondon.ac.uk/about/staff/dr-merve-sancak/">Merve Sancak</a>, a lecturer in political economy at the U.K.’s Loughborough University, noted, the incumbent centered much of his campaign around what <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-erdogan-framed-his-science-and-tech-great-achievements-as-part-of-election-campaign-206029">he framed as his “great achievements</a>” in putting Turkey firmly on the science and tech map.</p>
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<img alt="A man in suit and tie exits a red car." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528632/original/file-20230526-25028-1dir73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528632/original/file-20230526-25028-1dir73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528632/original/file-20230526-25028-1dir73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528632/original/file-20230526-25028-1dir73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528632/original/file-20230526-25028-1dir73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528632/original/file-20230526-25028-1dir73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528632/original/file-20230526-25028-1dir73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Erdoğan stands next to his Togg T10X, Turkey’s first domestically produced electric car.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/turkeys-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan-stands-next-to-his-news-photo/1250748150?adppopup=true">Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>As others pointed to soaring inflation and a sluggish economy, Erdoğan trumpeted a series of initiatives in the lead-in to the first-round vote. These included plans to send a Turkish astronaut to the International Space Station, the launching of an aerospace and technology festival, and state-of-the-art military projects. He even took to driving around in the first “Togg” car – the result of a project to produce a domestically made Turkish national car.</p>
<p>“Erdoğan clearly hoped that these announcements would boost his popularity by creating an image of Turkey becoming a world leader in science and technology,” wrote Sancak.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-erdogan-framed-his-science-and-tech-great-achievements-as-part-of-election-campaign-206029">How Erdoğan framed his science and tech 'great achievements' as part of election campaign</a>
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<h2>4. After 100 years, what’s next for Turkey?</h2>
<p>Later in 2023, Turkey is set to celebrate its centenary as a modern republic. <a href="https://politicalscience.sdsu.edu/people/kuru">Ahmet Kuru</a>, a political scientist at San Diego State University, argued that <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-centennial-year-turkish-voters-will-choose-between-erdogans-conservative-path-and-the-founders-modernist-vision-202554">what is presented to the electorate</a> is two distinct visions ahead of that landmark occasion: a future in line with that of the country’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or one that takes Turkey further down an autocratic, religious path.</p>
<p>“Erdoğan seeks to win the election to present himself as the founder of ‘a new Turkey,’ where populist Islamism prevails. Kılıçdaroğlu, on the other hand, wants to revive Atatürk’s secular vision, with certain democratic revisions,” Kuru wrote.</p>
<p>Which way Turkish voters turn will have ripple affects across the world, Kuru added.</p>
<p>“An Erdoğan win will signal that the global rise of right-wing populists is still robust enough to dominate a leading Muslim-majority country. A victory for Kılıçdaroğlu, meanwhile, may be celebrated by democrats worldwide as a defeat of a populist Islamist leader, despite his control over the media and state institutions.”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-centennial-year-turkish-voters-will-choose-between-erdogans-conservative-path-and-the-founders-modernist-vision-202554">In centennial year, Turkish voters will choose between Erdoğan’s conservative path and the founder’s modernist vision</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206473/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan faces opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a second-round vote that will decide the future trajectory of Turkey’s politics.Matt Williams, Senior International EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2053692023-05-24T12:18:30Z2023-05-24T12:18:30ZTurkey’s Erdoğan took a page from US presidents and boosted reelection campaign by claiming to have killed a terrorist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527549/original/file-20230522-4578-qb5exw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C12%2C8013%2C5314&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Man on track: Turkish President Erdoğan, center, did better in his reelection campaign than predicted.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/turkish-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan-attends-the-debut-of-news-photo/1252478070?adppopup=true">Emin Sansar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed credit on April 30, 2023, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/1/erdogan-says-turkey-has-killed-suspected-isil-leader">for killing</a> Islamic State group leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi in Syria, it may not have been simply a straightforward announcement of victory over the leader of a terrorist group. </p>
<p>History suggests the operation against al-Qurashi could have been an effort to boost Erdoğan’s reelection campaign.</p>
<p>When the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/5/15/turkey-election-results-live-run-off-likely-with-erdogan-leading">results from Turkey’s presidential election</a> on May 14, 2023, came in, they showed no clear winner. Neither long-serving President Erdoğan nor the main challenger, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, won 50% of the votes. But Erdoğan came close and did better than predicted. Polls leading up to the election <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2023/03/14/turkey-opinion-poll-tracker-erdogan-vs-kilicdaroglu">had shown Kılıçdaroğlu consistently leading by 5 to 10 percentage points</a>. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-election-runoff-2023-what-you-need-know-2023-05-18/">A runoff is scheduled</a> for May 28.</p>
<p>So what changed and how did Erdoğan make up so much ground so quickly?</p>
<p>One answer is Erdoğan’s <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2380151">political use of counterterrorism</a>. </p>
<h2>Tough conditions for reelection</h2>
<p>Leading up to the election, <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/turkey/overview">Turkey’s domestic economy was in decline</a>. Erdoğan’s tenure appeared uncertain because of a series of political missteps. It was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/14/erdogans-grip-on-power-tested-as-turkey-goes-to-the-polls">a difficult path to reelection</a>. </p>
<p>Adding to these hurdles, Erdoğan <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/28/1172836561/turkeys-erdogan-cancels-election-appearances-after-falling-ill">had to demonstrate he was healthy enough</a> to continue in office. He had <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65409951">fallen ill when he was on TV</a> on April 27 and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/29/erdogan-returns-from-three-day-campaign-absence-due-to-illness">suspended his campaign for three days</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mX4CH8cAAAAJ&hl=en">political scientists</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=g0xQ--gAAAAJ&hl=en">who study</a> foreign policy decision-making, we know that, faced with such scenarios, elected leaders are often motivated to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2111408">gamble for resurrection</a> by <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3693556">demonstrating strength</a>, resolve and capability. They do this through a kind of aggressive foreign policy known in our field as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1958273">political use of force</a>, or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2111653">diversionary use of force</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527552/original/file-20230522-25-ua8yux.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large white building with rubble near it and farm fields behind it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527552/original/file-20230522-25-ua8yux.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527552/original/file-20230522-25-ua8yux.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527552/original/file-20230522-25-ua8yux.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527552/original/file-20230522-25-ua8yux.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527552/original/file-20230522-25-ua8yux.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527552/original/file-20230522-25-ua8yux.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527552/original/file-20230522-25-ua8yux.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The building in Syria where Turkey claims it killed the so-called leader of the Daesh/ISIS terrorist organization, al-Qurashi, in an operation carried out by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-aerial-view-of-the-building-where-the-so-called-leader-news-photo/1252469437?adppopup=true">Bekir Kasim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Ultimate diversion</h2>
<p>Leaders who undertake this kind of action hope a successful military endeavor will divert the public’s attention from the administration’s domestic shortcomings. </p>
<p>Such shortcomings come in a variety of forms – high unemployment, high inflation, a stalled legislative agenda or even political scandal. These leaders have little power to rectify the problems alone, and the incentive to use military force is heightened further by the uncertainty of an approaching election. </p>
<p>This is not only a theoretical argument. In the U.S., presidents are more likely to break covert mission protocol and claim credit from <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2380151">successful drone strikes</a> when they have political incentives to distract the public from a weak economy or negative domestic debates.</p>
<p>Historically – and routinely – national leaders have attempted to garner political support through the use of military force that predictably boosts domestic sentiments of nationalism and patriotism. For example, President George H.W. Bush’s 1989 invasion of Panama aimed to “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/48608710">cure his political image problems at home</a>,” as political scientist Jane Kellett Cramer wrote. </p>
<p>At the height of his impeachment scandal in 1998, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/45346926">President Bill Clinton ordered counterterrorism airstrikes</a> against al-Qaida. The 2011 U.S. <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/19/barack-obama-libya-airstrikes-1224550">airstrikes on Libya were ordered</a> by President Barack Obama in the depths of economic turmoil – high unemployment and a negative economic growth rate.</p>
<p>This phenomenon extends beyond the U.S. In May 1978, Belgium faced an economic crisis. Uniformed soldiers were protesting on the streets. Government was gridlocked. Prime Minister Leo Tindermans <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4621715">tried to overcome those problems by deploying soldiers</a> to evacuate Europeans threatened by fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then called Zaire. </p>
<p>In 1982, Argentina’s military junta was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09636410601028354">facing escalating public disorder and declining support</a>. President Leopoldo Galtieri announced the country’s invasion of the Falkland Islands and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804784931-006">crowds cheered on the streets</a>. </p>
<p>But the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2020.1693618">junta overlooked</a> British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s own domestic political turmoil. The British military quickly responded and retook the islands. Thatcher flaunted the successful operation, rallying the British public behind her government.</p>
<h2>A new frontier</h2>
<p>Studying political use of force is notoriously difficult for a variety of reasons. Not all presidents have the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/106591299604900306">opportunity</a> to use force abroad. And when political leaders are under pressure and most likely to seek a diversion with an attack, potential targets often de-escalate to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2508.t01-1-00123">avoid confrontation</a>.</p>
<p>But counterterrorism efforts have created a unique scenario in which there is always opportunity to strike. Successful operations against terrorist targets produce a comparatively pronounced increase in public support.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680211019904">Our research</a> investigates modern-day counterterrorism tactics, which we find can generate a larger bump in approval than traditional military operations. </p>
<p>In an experiment, we asked a sample of Americans to evaluate their support for a president in office during a declining economy and increasing unemployment. The approval ratings were predictably quite low. </p>
<p>Approval ratings increased under those same domestic conditions when respondents were also informed that a successful counterterrorism operation had just occurred. And when the counterterrorism operation involved a drone strike, and thus little risk to service members, support was at its highest and changed from disapproval to approval of the president’s performance.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527553/original/file-20230522-14734-sl0ado.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A huge crowd, with many carrying red flags." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527553/original/file-20230522-14734-sl0ado.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527553/original/file-20230522-14734-sl0ado.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527553/original/file-20230522-14734-sl0ado.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527553/original/file-20230522-14734-sl0ado.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527553/original/file-20230522-14734-sl0ado.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527553/original/file-20230522-14734-sl0ado.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527553/original/file-20230522-14734-sl0ado.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Supporters wave flags and chant slogans while waiting for CHP Party presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to arrive at a campaign rally on April 30, 2023, in Izmir, Turkey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-wave-flags-and-chant-slogans-while-waiting-for-news-photo/1486600794?adppopup=true">Burak Kara/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>For Erdoğan, favorable timing and conditions</h2>
<p>Erdoğan’s claim of the targeted killing of the Islamic State’s al-Qurashi fits the profile of political use of counterterrorism in two important ways: Turkey’s domestic economic and political conditions and the strike’s timing. </p>
<p>In the lead-up to the 2023 presidential election, with the domestic economy in decline, his physical health questioned and a credible challenger, Erdoğan was faced with an extraordinarily tough reelection environment. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Recep-Tayyip-Erdogan">Erdoğan was first elected in 2014</a>. Since then, Turkey has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-election-runoff-2023-what-you-need-know-2023-05-18/">seesawed between economic expansion and decline</a>. Erdoğan championed Turkish nationalism and religious identity and escalated ethnic <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-between-turkey-and-armed-kurdish-groups">tensions with the Kurdish minority</a> – including conflict with and counterterrorism against the Kurdish groups known as PKK. Erdoğan has sometimes played an <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/01/13/turkey-erdogan-nato-crucial-corrosive-ally/">oversize role in international politics</a> and at others times has been a political pariah, particularly after <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/7/15/turkeys-failed-coup-attempt-all-you-need-to-know">his response to the 2016 coup</a> attempt.</p>
<p>Since May 2022, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/we-cant-afford-anything-turkeys-cost-of-living-crisis-threatens-erdogans-re-2023-05-08/">currency devaluation</a> has created a significant cost-of-living problem in Turkey. The Turkish lira has declined by nearly 27% against the euro and slightly over 22% against the U.S. dollar. The weak economy and socioeconomic struggles were <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/10/turkey-erdogan-economy-election-earthquake-recovery/">exacerbated by earthquakes in February 2023</a> that caused extraordinary human and physical destruction. </p>
<p>Erdoğan is the <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/13/turkey-syria-earthquake-erdogan-elections-negligence/">face of government corruption</a> and inadequate oversight and regulation of construction contracts blamed for the devastation. </p>
<p>And the <a href="https://theconversation.com/turkish-president-erdogans-grip-on-power-threatened-by-devastating-earthquake-200033">government is criticized</a> for <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/01/turkey-erdogan-earthquake-apk-strongman-authoritarianism-democracy-military-disaster-relief/">slow and insufficient disaster response</a> and relief operations. </p>
<p>While Erdoğan is <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-20-year-rule-of-recep-tayyip-erdogan-has-transformed-turkey-188211">criticized and lauded</a> for many <a href="https://apnews.com/article/turkey-elections-issues-erdogan-947c641990cb6a88d9c332fca184e062">domestic</a> and <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/turkeys-growing-foreign-policy-ambitions">international policies</a>, the domestic issues are potentially insurmountable and are difficult to solve through standard policymaking.</p>
<p>The targeted killing of al-Qurashi was announced three days after Erdoğan fell sick on national TV and the same day he returned to the campaign trail. The counterterrorism strike created an opportunity for Erdoğan to focus domestic attention on his national security credentials, his role in the anti-Islamic State coalition, and his abilities to be an authoritative and strong leader. </p>
<p>Counterterrorism has long played a pivotal role in Turkish politics. An <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10242694.2021.1940457">analysis of Turkey-PKK conflict data</a> from 2004 to 2018 shows that when the Turkish government was challenged by domestic economic decline and needed to generate political support, the number of Turkish Armed Forces operations against the PKK increased. </p>
<p><a href="https://dronewars.net/tag/turkey/">Turkey’s</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09592318.2020.1743488">rapid proliferation</a> and <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/international-security/reports/world-drones/the-future-of-drone-warfare-striking-at-home/">use of weaponized drone technology</a> could usher in more political uses of counterterrorism. Indeed, al-Qurashi’s targeted killing in the midst of a looming, uncertain election fits this model perfectly. Erdoğan’s gambit could very well secure his reelection. And the May 14 election suggests it almost worked.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Invading, attacking and killing adversaries abroad can boost the political prospects of leaders doing poorly at home.Graig Klein, Assistant Professor of Terrorism & Political Violence, Leiden UniversityScott Boddery, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Law, Gettysburg CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1992442023-02-22T14:47:08Z2023-02-22T14:47:08ZLes plantes aquatiques, trésors cachés trop souvent oubliés<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508139/original/file-20230203-13477-2ubj7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C3970%2C3000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Les berges des zones humides sont souvent colonisées par une végétation émergente qui est progressivement remplacée par une végétation flottante et submergée lorsque l'eau atteint une plus grande profondeur. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Lars L. Iversen)</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Les écosystèmes aquatiques intérieurs (rivières, lacs, zones humides) connaissent un <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/brv.12480">déclin alarmant en raison de perturbations d’origine anthropique</a>. La pollution, l’introduction d’espèces envahissantes et la destruction des habitats menacent le fonctionnement, l’intégrité et la biodiversité de ces écosystèmes, qui sont considérés comme les <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12771">plus sensibles et les plus menacés de la planète</a>.</p>
<p>Les plantes aquatiques remplissent des fonctions essentielles pour assurer la dynamique naturelle des écosystèmes d’eau douce, en particulier face aux impacts croissants du changement climatique, selon une récente <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/fulltext/S1360-1385(22)00336-3">étude</a> que nous avons menée. </p>
<h2>Piliers de la vie aquatique</h2>
<p>Ces organismes photosynthétiques sont considérés comme les « ingénieurs » de leurs écosystèmes, fournissant nourriture et abri aux animaux terrestres et aquatiques. Ils <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0304377086900318">contrôlent également les processus de sédimentation et d’érosion dans les zones côtières</a> et sont un <a href="https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/5844/">élément central des cycles du carbone et de l’azote</a> dans les eaux intérieures.</p>
<p>Les plantes aquatiques, telles que les nénuphars, les <a href="http://floreduquebec.ca/pontederia-cordata">pontédéries</a> ou les quenouilles, présentent des adaptations uniques à la vie dans l’eau. Ces adaptations leur ont permis de coloniser, de se développer et de <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10750-007-9154-6">survivre dans des zones temporairement ou définitivement inondées</a>. </p>
<p>Le fait d’avoir des feuilles divisées avec de fines cuticules protectrices et une très faible proportion de tissus ligneux dans leurs structures physiques permet à ces plantes d’optimiser la photosynthèse et les échanges gazeux dans le milieu aquatique.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506427/original/file-20230125-12-8y1v33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506427/original/file-20230125-12-8y1v33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506427/original/file-20230125-12-8y1v33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506427/original/file-20230125-12-8y1v33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506427/original/file-20230125-12-8y1v33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506427/original/file-20230125-12-8y1v33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506427/original/file-20230125-12-8y1v33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506427/original/file-20230125-12-8y1v33.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Exemples de plantes d’eau douce reflétant leurs adaptations à la vie aquatique.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/fulltext/S1360-1385(22)00336-3">(Yingji Pan, Jorge García-Girón, Lars Lønsmann Iversen)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Menacé par l’action humaine</h2>
<p>Les plantes aquatiques sont menacées par l’action combinée et synergique de <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2018.01001/full">multiples facteurs de stress associés aux activités humaines</a>. </p>
<p>Notre étude met en évidence la façon dont la pollution due au ruissellement urbain et agricole, la construction de barrages et les graves <a href="https://theconversation.com/pour-sauver-les-cultures-de-la-secheresse-voici-les-aromes-microbiens-109470">sécheresses</a> saisonnières, entre autres, compromettent la survie des plantes aquatiques dans leurs environnements, menaçant ainsi l’intégrité et la persistance des écosystèmes d’eau douce dans le monde entier.</p>
<p>Par exemple, la construction de barrages perturbe la connectivité longitudinale des rivières, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/fwb.13493">interférant avec les flux biotiques naturels qui assurent la diversité des paysages</a>.</p>
<p>Les sécheresses prolongées favorisent un passage accéléré des communautés dominées par des plantes submergées et flottantes à des environnements dans lesquels <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0379-0">seuls quelques individus d’espèces émergentes à croissance rapide prospèrent</a>.</p>
<h2>Grandes inconnues</h2>
<p>Le peu d’informations biologiques disponibles pour ce groupe d’espèces floristiques empêche les scientifiques de délimiter, définir et prévoir les réponses des plantes aquatiques aux perturbations environnementales dans lesquelles nous sommes actuellement plongés. </p>
<p>À cet égard, la communauté scientifique a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304377020301352">mis en garde depuis un certain temps</a> sur la nécessité d’unir les forces pour étudier en profondeur la biologie de ces organismes clés pour le fonctionnement des eaux intérieures.</p>
<p>Jusqu’à présent, cependant, on ne dispose d’<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304377021001030">informations écologiques</a> que pour une infime partie des plus de 3 400 espèces de plantes aquatiques dans le monde. À titre comparatif, des données sont déjà disponibles et informatisées pour plus de 46 000 espèces de plantes terrestres.</p>
<p>La profonde méconnaissance de la biologie des plantes aquatiques est encore plus dramatique en dehors des frontières de l’Europe et de l’Amérique du Nord, notamment dans les zones subtropicales où ces organismes particuliers <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720315345">jouissent de la plus grande diversité</a>.</p>
<p>Les auteurs de cette brève étude soulignent que le fait d’ignorer cette réalité compromet non seulement nos modèles de prédiction des scénarios possibles de changement planétaire pour les écosystèmes d’eau douce, mais met également en péril la survie même des rivières et des zones humides qui nous entourent et nous fournissent des services d’une grande valeur sociale et économique. </p>
<p>Il est temps d’inverser la <a href="https://theconversation.com/podcast-la-cecite-botanique-ou-pourquoi-nous-voyons-mieux-les-animaux-que-les-plantes-133311">cécité botanique</a>, qui touche tant les membres de la communauté scientifique que la société dans son ensemble, et de reconnaître les plantes aquatiques comme une pierre angulaire de la conservation et de la protection des écosystèmes les plus menacés de la planète.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199244/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lars Iversen a reçu des financements du CRSNG et du FRQNT.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yingji Pan a reçu des financements de l'Académie chinoise des sciences.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jorge García Girón ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>La pollution urbaine et agricole, la construction de barrages et les sécheresses menacent la survie des plantes aquatiques, qui sont essentielles à la vie dans les rivières, les lacs et les zones humides.Jorge García Girón, Investigador postdoctoral en Ecología, Universidad de LeónLars Iversen, Assistatn Professor, McGill UniversityYingji Pan, Researcher, Leiden UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.