World Futures Fall 2021

A variety of factors affecting us economically that seemed to be related to the pandemic or the slow recovery from the pandemic to include shippin bottlenects, slower growth, longer recoveries, etc.

Article/presentation by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva where she talks about the current state of things--vaccinations, the economy, and a divergence in economic fortunes around the world is even more evident today.

Describes how 1.7 billion people are still very limited financially--no bank acounts or ability to obtain credit. This limitation stifles growth in various parts of the world. Technology can change this by sharing informatoin digitally between consumers and institutions.

It seemed that once the pandemic ended, we would pick up where we left off when it started. Apparently not so. There have been several changes over the past year plus that have made changes more lasting than what was expected.

Just as there is talk of automated self driving cars, the same is for cargo ships. Only the reality is that autonomy will start with smaller ships, whith shorter hauls.

Describes pressure on retailers (primarily the mega retailers) to reduce emissions from shipping efforts. Target/goal is ZERO emissions by 2030.

Bottlenecks are happening at many ports. Demand is exceeding capacity to where shippers are seeking alternate ports to ship to. Some say bottlenecks will easily last through the fall and possibly up until 2023. US west coast ports traditionally see a higher volume of throughput than the east coast ports, but with bottlenecks, traffic is being redirected to the east coast ports and will likely be into the future.

Article talks about the rising sea levels if climate change goes unchecked. It touches on everything from eliminating certain species to ruining many coastal cities around the world. Mentions that there is still time to recover from the current path with the right measures.

The growth of the shipping industry and its corresponding carbon emissions. If he shipping industry were its own country, it would be th 6th largest producer of carbon emissions. It calls on investments from private sector to governments for the maritime industry to meet its 2050 net 0 carbon emission target

"In Gallup polling throughout the first quarter of 2021, an average of 49% of U.S. adults identified with the Democratic Party or said they are independents who lean toward the Democratic Party. That compares with 40% who identified as Republicans or Republican leaners. The nine-percentage-point Democratic advantage is the largest Gallup has measured since the fourth quarter of 2012." What I found to be more significant was the following: "The 44% of Americans who identify as political independents, whether they subsequently express a party leaning or not, is up from 38% in the fourth quarter of 2020 and is above 40% for the first time since 2019. This is consistent with the historical pattern whereby independent identification typically declines in presidential election years and increases in odd-numbered years. However, the percentages identifying as independent in 2020 and thus far in 2021 have been unusually high compared with prior presidential election and odd-numbered years. Thus, the current level of independent identification ranks among the highest Gallup has measured in any quarter since 1988" More people relate to neither party than to one, so why do they both continue on a trajectory of not satisfying the public? Is the message never heard that the Center is where most of America lives?

"Americans desperately want less fighting in politics and more cooperation carried out with a sense of shared purpose that is focused on the building blocks of national economic improvement and the well-being of all people." I continue to struggle with why the 'will of the people' continues to be difficult to make happen. I'll temper that with the comment that just because a 'random' poll reflects something, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is a true representation of 'the people.'

Fully autonomous cars, trucks, and buses, able to operate across wide geographical areas with no drivers necessary, would revolutionize ground transportation. The number of accidents and fatalities could drop significantly.

An autonomous future doesn't necessarily mean a future without truck drivers

"Through the framework of Collaborative Innovation Groups (CIGs), the Ocean Power Innovation Network (OPIN) offers support to SMEs to collaborate with other organisations, to solve problems which are barriers to the deployment of ocean energy. CIGs focus on challenges which cannot or have not been solved by one SME alone. The OPIN Team have supported a Collaborative Innovation Group (CIG) focussing on creating awareness on the impact of corrosion on offshore renewable projects and how corrosion monitoring can improve corrosion management."

"An interdisciplinary approach is needed to find new solutions to a problem that costs the US economy $276 billion per year. What's already happening in one industry could be the solution to another's problem. A great example of this is the use of NASA's analytical methods to examine bacteria in spacecraft in a breast cancer study looking at the links between the disease and bacteria."

Autonomous technology will not only transform how fleets operate, but it also will offer huge efficiency and productivity boosts for shippers as well.

"Work together to harmonize standards and practices around the world and to communicate and share corrosion mitigation technologies. Now is the time to make a major impact to protect the environment, preserve resources, and protect our fellow human beings."

usted iron pipes can react with residual disinfectants in drinking water distribution systems to produce carcinogenic hexavalent chromium in drinking water, reports a study by engineers at UC Riverside. Chromium is a metal that occurs naturally in the soil and groundwater.

Indeed, the era of big data and data analytics has arrived and is already underway in many places (medicine, materials, and elsewhere).16-19 Schools of data science have emerged at many universities.20 Past knowledge and existing data allow us to use algorithms in order to attempt to recognize patterns identifying future corrosion performance. The hope is that these approaches are helpful for predicting not only corrosion performance but failures, too.4 Such approaches are logical as long as existing data cover a wide range of possibilities and there are no required extrapolations into sparsely populated data spaces.

he global corrosion protection coatings market size is projected to grow from USD 6.9 billion in 2020 to USD 8.9 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 5.3%.The global corrosion protection coatings market is growing due to the end-use industries such as marine, oil & gas, petrochemical, infrastructure, power generation, and water treatment. Hence, the rapid growth of these industries is expected to contribute to the growth of the corrosion protection coatings market. However, the market is expected to decline in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.