Science - USA (2020-01-17)

sciencemag.org SCIENCE

PHOTO: ANDREJ IVANOV/THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP IMAGES

Second hottest year was 2019

CLIMATE | This past year was the planet’s

second hottest in modern history, after

2016, the European Union’s Copernicus

Climate Change Service announced last

week. Driven by humanity’s ever-rising

emissions of greenhouse gases, the 2019

surface temperatures capped a stretch

of 5 years that have been the warmest

on record, averaging 1.1°C to 1.2°C above

preindustrial levels. The year saw near-

record summer melt in Greenland and

ice-free spots in the Arctic that lingered into

the fall. For some regions, including Europe

and Australia—now battling devastating

bush fires—2019 was their warmest on

record. What is more, heat in the world’s

oceans set a new record high in 2019,

according to a separate analysis published

on 13 January in Advances in Atmospheric

Sciences. The seas absorb 90% of the heat

trapped by rising greenhouse gases, and

ocean temperatures have shown a steadier

upward climb than surface ones.

Indonesian leader’s cure criticized

BIOMEDICINE | Indonesian Minister of

Health Terawan Agus Putranto alarmed the

country’s medical community last month

by suggesting that hospitals nationwide start

to use a controversial treatment for stroke

S

everal dozen researchers and graduate students were

killed on 8 January when Iran shot down a passenger

jet shortly after it took off from Tehran, killing all

167 passengers and nine crew members on board. The

Iranian government first denied responsibility but

later acknowledged accidentally targeting the plane.

Many victims held dual citizenship in Canada and Iran

and were working or studying at Canadian universities; they

were returning after visiting Iran during a holiday break.

They included two engineering professors at the University

of Alberta, Edmonton: Mojgan Daneshmand, an internation-

ally recognized expert in radio frequency microsystems,

and her husband, Pedram Mousavi. In all, 10 Canadian uni-

versities have reported losing students and faculty members

in the crash. A full list of all victims was not available when

Science went to press.

DISASTERS

Researchers die in Iranian missile strike

NEWS

IN BRIEF

Edited by

Jeffrey Brainard

230 17 JANUARY 2020 • VOL 367 ISSUE 6475

Members of Montreal’s Iranian

community attend a vigil

for the airplane crash victims.

“

This policy is as clear as mud.

”

Immunologist Scott Kitchen, in The Washington Post, about the Trump administration’s

2019 guidelines on U.S. funding for research using fetal tissue from elective abortions.

An ethics panel to review new research proposals and renewals has not been appointed.

Published by AAAS