A set of recommendations called Priorities for Action on AI and Climate Information Integrity was launched at the United Nations climate conference at Antalya in Turkiye.
Behind it stands the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change. The United Nations, UNESCO and Brazil lead that body together.
The document asks artificial intelligence companies to study how their systems affect the quality of climate information, to publish what they find, and to disclose their energy use along with their carbon, water and land footprints.
It urges governments to write information integrity into their national artificial intelligence strategies and their climate plans.
The United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on AI has warned that producing fluent text is easier than producing factual text.
The initiative notes that machine-made images and videos can spread faster than official warnings when a climate disaster strikes.
Germany has committed more than 2.2 million dollars towards research, communication strategies and public awareness work.
Co-chairs:United Nations, UNESCO and BrazilGerman commitment:more than $2.2 millionConference venue:Antalya, Turkiye
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the name of the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, its three co-chairs the United Nations, UNESCO and Brazil, and the Belem Declaration on which the new priorities build.
Kenya has started the forty-two day countdown that must pass without a new case before an Ebola outbreak can be declared over.
The outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus and was linked to the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The first case, confirmed on 6 October, was a Kenyan man who had travelled home from the Democratic Republic of the Congo through Uganda and who died in a Nairobi hospital.
There were nine confirmed cases in all, made up of that first patient, four family members and four health workers who had cared for him.
Seven patients recovered and two people died, according to the World Health Organization.
Virus strain:BundibugyoConfirmed cases:NineCountdown length:42 days
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus and the rule that an outbreak is declared over after forty-two days without a new case, which is twice the longest incubation period.
New World Health Organization advice sets out how adults living with type 1 diabetes should use insulin. It applies to ordinary care and to places where a crisis has disrupted health services.
The guidelines strongly recommend intensified insulin therapy using multiple daily injections, with doses adjusted to measured blood glucose values.
They accept that emergency and humanitarian settings may call for a different approach, and so set out context-adapted care.
Both human insulin and insulin analogues may be used, and human insulin is preferred because it generally costs less.
Main recommendation:Intensified insulin therapy with multiple daily injectionsPreferred insulin:Human insulin, as it is generally cheaperGlobal target year:2030
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that the World Health Organization's guidelines on adult type 1 diabetes strongly recommend intensified insulin therapy with multiple daily injections, prefer human insulin on cost grounds, and come from its Global Diabetes Compact.
The World Food Programme has asked for 520 million dollars to supply food and nutrition to 5.4 million people in Sudan through to April 2027.
Its new Executive Director, Luke Lindberg, made his first field visit to Sudan and set out the position.
In August the agency fed more than four million people in Sudan, including 880,000 in areas at risk of famine.
After funding cuts the agency now reaches just over three million people, so about 900,000 vulnerable people have lost their food assistance.
Insecurity, blocked roads and flood damage are also holding back deliveries as the fighting goes on.
Appeal:$520 millionPeople to be covered:5.4 millionPeople who lost assistance:about 900,000
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that Luke Lindberg is the Executive Director of the World Food Programme and that the agency's Sudan appeal is 520 million dollars to cover 5.4 million people to April 2027.
The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization is an intergovernmental fisheries science and management body. Its stated objective is the long term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in its Convention Area and, in doing that, the safeguarding of the marine ecosystems in which those resources are found. It was founded in 1979 as a successor to ICNAF, the International Commission of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, which the organisation dates from 1949 to 1978. Under the NAFO Convention on Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, most fishery resources of that ocean area are covered, but salmon, tunas and marlins, whales, and sedentary species such as shellfish are left out. The organisation currently has 13 Contracting Parties. They include Canada, Cuba, the European Union, Iceland, Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, with Denmark listed as a party in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The organisation gives its address on Lower Water Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Founded:1979Predecessor:International Commission of the Northwest Atlantic FisheriesContracting Parties:13Address:Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Why it matters for exams: The body ICNAF gave way to, the count of 13 Contracting Parties, the species left out of the convention and the Halifax address are the facts asked about this regional fisheries organisation.
Kitt Peak National Observatory was founded in 1958 and is a programme of NOIRLab, the national center for ground-based, nighttime optical astronomy in the US. The observatory lies 90 km southwest of Tucson in Arizona, at an altitude of 2100 metres. Its site is in the Schuk Toak District on the Tohono O'odham Nation, and NOIRLab gives the mountain's own name as l'oligam Du'ag, or Manzanita Shrub Mountain. NOIRLab describes Kitt Peak as the home of one of the world's largest arrays of optical and radio telescopes. The observatory operates the Mayall 4-meter Telescope on behalf of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument survey, a project the US Department of Energy Office of Science leads. It also operates the WIYN telescope, held in a partnership that brings together the National Science Foundation, NASA, Indiana University, Purdue University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Missouri-Columbia. Beyond those, the site hosts facilities belonging to consortia, which among them run two radio telescopes and more than a dozen optical ones. NOIRLab is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation, and the observatory has a visitor center open daily and nightly with daytime guided tours and evening stargazing programmes.
Founded:1958Location:90 km southwest of Tucson, ArizonaAltitude:2100 metresDistrict and nation:Schuk Toak District, Tohono O'odham NationParent:NOIRLab
Why it matters for exams: The state and nation the observatory sits on, its altitude, the Mayall telescope's link to the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument survey and the role of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy are the durable facts here.
NOIRLabNational Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory — The national center for ground-based, nighttime optical astronomy in the US.
AURAAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy — The university association that manages NOIRLab under an agreement with the National Science Foundation.
eu-LISA is the European Union agency that runs the large-scale IT systems used in the area of freedom, security and justice. It was set up by Regulation (EU) 1077/2011, a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, and its own page says the agency has been operational since 1 December 2012. In 2018 the agency's mandate was reinforced with a further regulation of the Parliament and the Council, Regulation (EU) 2018/1726. The page describes it as a regulatory agency having legal personality, which in each Member State has the most extensive legal capacity that national law accords to legal persons. The systems it runs include Eurodac, which collects and compares digitalised fingerprints to help process asylum applications, SIS for exchanging information on people and objects of interest, VIS for visa applications, EES for the entry and exit records of third-country nationals, ETIAS for pre-travel authorisations, and ECRIS-TCN for criminal records. It also runs e-CODEX, which enables secure communication between courts, citizens and businesses, and JITs CP, which lets prosecutors and judges in different European Union countries work together. The agency says it is the interconnecting of all those systems through Interoperability that makes it the Digital Heart of the Schengen Area, and that it facilitates the implementation of one of the fundamental rights of European Union citizens, the right to free movement, for more than 400 million people. Its page adds that once the new Interoperability architecture is fully functional, national authorities of Member States will have fast access to data stored in all those systems for cross-checking, within the limits defined in the legal basis of each system.
Established by:Regulation (EU) 1077/2011Operational since:1 December 2012Mandate reinforced by:Regulation (EU) 2018/1726Systems run:Eurodac, SIS, VIS, EES, ETIAS, ECRIS-TCN, e-CODEX and JITs CP
Why it matters for exams: The founding regulation, the date the agency became operational, the systems it runs and its own description as the Digital Heart of the Schengen Area are the examinable facts here.
eu-LISAEuropean Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice — The agency that runs the European Union's big border, asylum, visa and justice databases.
third-country national — In European Union law, a person who is not a citizen of any European Union Member State.
SISSchengen Information System — The system through which authorities exchange information on people and objects of interest in the Schengen Area.
VISVisa Information System — The system embassies and national authorities use to exchange data and manage visa applications.
EESEntry and Exit System — The system that records when and where third-country nationals enter and leave the Schengen Area.
ETIASEuropean Travel Information and Authorisation System — The online pre-travel authorisation system for third-country nationals who need no visa for the Schengen Area.
The Community Plant Variety Office is a self-financed agency of the European Union responsible for the management of the Community Plant Variety Rights System. It is located in Angers in France. The office was created by Council Regulation 2100/94 and has been operational since April 1995. Its task is to administer the plant variety rights system in Europe, a system that gives protection with an intellectual property right for new plant varieties. The office calls this system the largest in the world. Its own page says that since the office was created over 53,000 applications have reached it, and that over 41,000 titles are in force at present. The legal unit of the office represents it in appeal proceedings before the Board of Appeal and before the Court of Justice of the European Union, and also advises on the register of rights, on public access to documents and on procurement.
Headquarters:Angers, FranceFounding regulation:Council Regulation 2100/94Operational since:April 1995Titles in force:Over 41,000
Why it matters for exams: The Angers location, the founding Council Regulation 2100/94, the April 1995 start and the subject matter of plant variety rights are the durable facts about this European Union agency.
The Australian Electoral Commission maintains an impartial and independent electoral system for eligible voters in Australia. Its own page says it does this through active electoral roll management, the efficient delivery of polling services, and targeted education and public awareness programs. The page describes the commission's purpose as delivering the franchise, by which it means the right of an Australian citizen to vote, a right the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 established. The legislation that governs the conduct of federal election events is that same Act, while federal referendums are administered under the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984. The page records that the body was known as the Australian Electoral Office between 1973 and 1984, and that it had first come into being in 1902 as a branch within the Department of Home Affairs. Major amendments to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 then led, on 21 February 1984, to the setting up of the Australian Electoral Commission as an independent statutory authority. Elections for states, territories and local councils are conducted by other electoral management bodies in accordance with separate legislation. The page names the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters as the parliamentary committee most relevant for electoral purposes.
Governing Act:Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918Referendums Act:Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984Became an independent statutory authority:21 February 1984Earlier name:Australian Electoral Office
Why it matters for exams: The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, the separate referendum Act, the earlier name of the body and the division of work between the federal commission and state bodies are the durable facts here.