Conceptual geological cross-section through the Hranice Abyss and Carpathian Foredeep Scientists first described the flooded cave in 2016 but determined its extraordinary extent years later the world's tallest building could fit inside it The Hranice Abyss — or "Hranická propast," in Czech — is the deepest known freshwater cave in the world Geologists think it could extend more than half a mile (1 kilometer) below Earth's surface which is more than twice as deep as the world's next-deepest freshwater cave The Hranice Abyss challenges a long-held scientific belief that deep caves open from the bottom up, with warm, acidic groundwater rising and dissolving the bedrock. According to a 2020 study in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface evidence shows water carved the cave from the top down Related: Deepest blue hole in the world discovered, with hidden caves and tunnels believed to be inside Scientists first described the Hranice Abyss in 2016 after conducting numerous dives inside the cave Researchers then deployed a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to explore the corners that divers couldn't reach and measured a maximum depth of 1,553 feet (473.5 m) This established the Hranice Abyss as the deepest freshwater cave in the world which descends 1,286 feet (392 m) below the surface the recorded depth was constrained by the length of a fiber-optic communication cable attached to the ROV The 2020 study used gravity and seismic imaging methods to investigate the true extent of the Hranice Abyss The results suggested the cave was more than twice as deep as the ROV had previously gone — and deep enough to fit the world's tallest building The opening of the Hranice Abyss is an inclined cavity with a small lake at the bottom The underwater portion of the cave is an irregular vertical cylinder ranging from 30 to 100 feet (10 to 30 m) in diameter Water temperatures in the cave vary between 58 and 66 degrees Fahrenheit (14.5 to 18.8 degrees Celsius) depending on the time of year Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox —China's 'heavenly pits': The giant sinkholes that have ancient forests growing within —Rainbow swamp: The flooded forest in Virginia that puts on a magical light show every winter —Cave of Crystals: The deadly cavern in Mexico dubbed 'the Sistine Chapel of crystals' The extended mapping also revealed that the bottom of the cave is connected to a nearby "fossil" sinkhole called the Carpathian Foredeep which is around 1.2 miles (2 km) from the cave's entrance opened roughly 19 million years ago and was subsequently filled with sediment meaning it is not visible at the surface today The Hranice Abyss formed after the sinkhole between 16 million and 14 million years ago as water at the surface began percolating down through soluble rocks such as limestone This created a cavity that deepened over time eventually forming a channel through which water flowed from the surface to the bottom of the sinkhole But when sediment eventually blocked the opening inside the sinkhole water began accumulating inside the channel paving the way for the cave to fill with water Sascha PareSocial Links NavigationStaff writer Sascha is a U.K.-based staff writer at Live Science She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southampton in England and a master’s degree in science communication from Imperial College London Her work has appeared in The Guardian and the health website Zoe bread-making and browsing second-hand shops for hidden gems El Cono: The mysterious sacred 'pyramid' hidden deep in the Amazon rainforest Yellowstone holds potentially untapped cache of 'carbon-free' helium for rockets Ancient jawbone dredged off Taiwan seafloor belongs to mysterious Denisovan This work, Guardsmen celebrate Victory in Europe Day alongside Czech partners, by SSG Jeff Clements, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. Volume 12 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2024.1339818 This article is part of the Research TopicLegacy & Emerging Contaminants in the Aquatic EnvironmentView all 12 articles The Hranice hypogenic karst region includes urban spa and agricultural areas and industry complexes that affect water quality in the region are released into the complex aquatic system These substances and their metabolites can affect aquatic and human life as well as the regional development of the wider area traditionally associated with the spa we conducted preliminary screening for pesticides and pharmaceuticals at 33 sampling sites and across different location types Sampling occurred between February 2022 and June 2023 The results generally confirm that current land use is causing pollution in the karst system The monitored substances were present in all water types and in most cases the concentrations of pesticides were lower than those of their metabolites Chloridazon desphenyl (DESPH) is the most widespread pesticide in surface Its concentrations in surface waters were 5.7 ng·L−1–2,230 ng·L−1 in groundwaters were 11.3 ng·L−1–1,490 ng·L−1 and in karst hypogenic waters 5.4 ng·L−1–378 ng·L−1 Diclofenac was the most widespread substance from the pharmaceutical group Its concentrations ranged from 5.6 ng·L−1–549 ng·L−1 in surface waters 8.4 ng·L−1–112 ng·L−1 in groundwaters and 5.1 ng·L−1–47.4 ng·L−1 in karst hypogenic waters the following EOCs were repeatedly detected: atrazine and its metabolites The initial research hypothesis is that hydrothermal karst waters are of sub-recent age and deep circulation and A certain component of these waters is therefore a shallow and shorter circulation Karstic aquifers supply 25% of all drinking water in the world, but they are highly vulnerable to contamination, and their preservation is constantly threatened in developing countries (Wilkinson, et al., 2022) Treating water contaminated by new artificial chemical compounds, mainly from pharmaceutical and personal care products, is a significant concern (Metcalfe, et al., 2011). Pharmaceutical findings are prevalent in surface waters (Bexfield, et al., 2019; Chopra and Kumar 2020) and also identified in karst aquifers (Morasch, 2013; Dodgen, et al., 2017) The occurrence of pesticide residues is repeatedly confirmed in agricultural soils (Karasali, et al., 2016; Hvězdová, et al., 2018; Silva, et al., 2019; Geissen, et al., 2021; Bakanov, et al., 2023; Riedo, et al., 2023) This study aims to determine the vulnerability of the hypogene karst study area to pesticide leaching and potential accumulation supported by geological and topological knowledge to evaluate the transfer of emerging organic pollutants into hypogene karstic waters Location of the Hranice Karst in the Europe and there are springs of hypogenic mineral water to the depth of 30 m Mean annual air temperature and precipitation within the study area are 8.5°C and 677 mm The Bečva River and its tributaries drain the whole study site In the Teplice nad Bečvou municipality the gauge is managed by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) with a contributing basin area of 1275.32 km2 the average annual flow of the Bečva River in Hranice is 14.8 m3·s−1 and the average water level is 0.89 m The screening aimed to determine whether and to what extent deep karst mineral waters (i.e. outflows of warm mineral waters) are contaminated with emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) Monitoring focused on EOCs in the area of interest Samples were collected at locations in the Hranice Abyss where warm mineral waters emerge presumed to be predominantly of hypogenic origin Locations of watercourses and shallow subsurface waters including drainage waters and shallow wells Those were suspected of contamination by agricultural and other anthropogenic EOCs Deep groundwater was sampled through boreholes mineral water samples were obtained from caves and warm outflows in the Hranice Abyss at 30 Waters in the Zbrašov Aragonite Caves lakes were also included in this study Total 32 locations (Figure 2) were selected for processing in the article, which was divided into three groups: “surface water” (S: 13 locations), “groundwater” (G: 8 locations) and “thermal karst water” (TKW: 11 locations) (Table 1) Depiction of the sampling sites within the study area List of the sampling sites including depth and geographical location (WGS 84) (KMW - karst mineral water) From February 2022 to June 2023, water monitoring focused on observing selected emerging EOCs—mainly pesticides and their metabolites, pharmaceuticals and their metabolites—was carried out in the Hranice Karst (Figure 2) depending on hydrometeorological conditions Due to the specific conditions and dependence on other subjects and circumstances (divers water sampling from the abyss and caves was not carried out regularly and took place at different times than the sampling of surface drainage waters and of boreholes and balneological wells Seasonal changes in EOCs concentrations were not part of this research During the monitored period from February 2022 to June 2023 30 groundwater and 45 TKW samples were taken The chart values represent the sums of EOCs substances measured during individual samplings at all monitored locations Upper whisker: max value of the dataset; lower whisker: min value of the dataset; the box boundaries from top to bottom are as follows: top: 75th percentile; first bar: median; bottom: 25th percentile The chart shows the cross-arithmetic mean; stars: outliers Box plot of all EOCs in the groups surface water (S) Box plot of all EOCs parent compounds and EOCs metabolites in S Sum of the contents of the pesticide parent compound and their metabolite in S Sum of the contents of the pharmaceutical parent compound and their metabolite shows in S In none of the cases were the maximum values of primary substances or metabolites associated with a watercourse but with drainages or shallow wells of about 3 m in depth many of which serve as local drinking water sources The highest total of all primary pesticide substances in a single collection (152.6 ng·L−1) was found at the shallow well S-6. The highest pesticide metabolites content (4070.2 ng·L−1) was detected at shallow well S-10 (Supplementary Table S3, Figure 5) For pharmaceuticals, the maximum values of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were in well S-8 (976 ng·L−1); antibiotics (ATB) and antidepressants (ATDe) were in the Bečva River and S-3 (79.7 and 62.6 ng·L−1) (Table 3) In S-3 and S-2, Bisphenol A (BPA) was also analysed (54.1 ng·L−1; 144 ng·L−1), and in well S-13, DEET was found (141 ng·L−1) (Table 3) The highest total of all primary pesticide substances in a single collection (226.3 ng·L−1) was detected at G-8. The highest total pesticide metabolites in a single collection (2,390.7 ng·L−1) was at G-1 (Figure 5) From the urea pesticides, Chlortoluron was detected in G-8 (43.3 ng·L−1) (Table 4) Chloroacetamide pesticides are represented here only by metabolites; the parent substances were not found in ground waters. The highest concentration of metabolite was found at borehole G-1 (1,050 ng·L−1 metazachlor ESA) (Table 4) In the pyridazone group, both parent substances and metabolites were found. The highest value of the parent substances was found at borehole G-6 (33.5 ng·L−1 chloridazon); the highest value of metabolites was found at borehole G-4 (1,490 ng·L−1) (Table 4) No substances from the strobilurin group were found here For pharmaceuticals, the maximum values of NSAIDs were in borehole G-4 (150 ng·L−1 ibuprofen); antibiotics were found only in borehole G-6 (115 ng·L−1 azithromycin) and in borehole G-7 (25.6 ng·L-1 sulfamethoxazole). No ATDe were detected at any groundwater sites (Table 4) BPA was repeatedly found in boreholes G-6 and G-4 at concentrations up to 268 ng·L−1 and 655 ng·L−1. DEET was detected in borehole G-6 (114 ng·L−1) (Table 4) This category included 11 sites encompassing thermal springs of mineral waters, cave lakes and outputs in abysses (Table 5) these are locations where the accumulation of EOC substances from areas “S” and “G” was assumed or they should be areas minimally influenced anthropogenically The highest sum of all primary pesticide substances within a single collection (20.6 ng·L−1) was found at T-10. The highest sum of all pesticide metabolites within one collection (576.1 ng·L−1) was at T-11 (Figure 5) In TKW, trace amounts of parent substances and metabolites of diazine and triazine pesticides were occasionally found. Specifically, these were atrazine and its metabolites, as well as simazine. The maximum value of parent substances of diazine and triazine pesticides was in T-10 (16.2 ng·L−1 atrazine), and the maximum concentration of metabolites was also in T-10 (18.5 ng·L−1 desethylatrazine) (Table 5) As for chloroacetate pesticides in TKW, only metabolite findings were present, with no parent substances of this group found. The highest amount of metabolites was detected in the balneological well T-1, specifically metazachlor ESA (63 ng·L−1) and metolachlor ESA (123 ng·L−1) (Table 5) The pyridazone group is also represented only by metabolites. The maximum metabolite value was in T-11 (378 ng·L−1 chloridazon-DESPH) (Table 5) Trace amounts of pharmaceuticals were found at most TKW sites during the monitoring period (Supplementary Table S3). In most cases, these were NSAIDs, with the highest value at the balneological well T-3 (47.4 ng·L−1 Diclofenac). The only finding of ATB was T-7 (73.8 ng·L−1). Pharmaceuticals in the ATDe group were not detected at any TKW sites (Table 5) BPA was found at TKW sites only in T-9 (242 ng·L−1). DEET was detected in HA at T-6 (132 ng·L−1) (Table 5) Elevated concentrations of EOCs, also in the µg·L−1 range, have been detected in groundwater (Figure 4) specifically in wells ranging from 10 s to 100 m deep These deep wells contained pesticide metabolites indicative of contamination originating from agricultural activities both likely derived from wastewater contamination Given the permeable substrate in these areas characterised by locally permeable sandy soils and underlying limestone the EOCs can disperse from these deep groundwater sources The sandy soils and limestone substrate facilitate the migration and dispersion of these contaminants in the groundwater and allow deep karst mineral waters contamination In wells G-6 and G-4, BPA was repeatedly detected, with concentrations reaching up to 655 ng·L−1 in G-4 and 268 ng·L−1 in G-6 (Table 4) These findings included trace amounts of diclofenac These monitoring results refute the initial hypothesis that deep hydrothermal karst waters are ancient and uncontaminated Among all the monitored pesticides and their metabolites within the scope of the Hranice Karst monitoring (refer to our table), metazachlor ESA and metolachlor ESA were among the substances with the highest GUS indices (Table 2) GUS is a technique to predict the ability of chemical compounds to contaminate groundwater and is also used for assessing the leaching potential of pesticides GUS is an experimentally calculated value that relates pesticide half-life and sorption potential (from laboratory data) EOCs with elevated GUS indices can contaminate wells at depths of 60 m and 101 m particularly within karst terrains and on permeable soils there should be thorough monitoring of the propensity of chemical compounds to contaminate groundwater application strategies should be adjusted based on these observations to mitigate contamination risks The GUS may be used to rank pesticides for their potential to move toward groundwater (Gustafson, 1989). Pesticides with a short half-life, low water solubility and high sorption potential may have less potential to move through soil. Pesticides with a long half-life, high water solubility and low sorption potential possess a more significant potential to move through soil (Wauchope, et al., 1992) Due to the polarity and solubility of metabolites they are regarded as mobile compounds which cause surface water and groundwater pollution Chloridazon-DESPH also possesses a notably high GUS index of 5.64 indicating a significant potential for movement toward groundwater it exhibits a high Screening Concentration In Ground Water (SCI-GROW) index of 9.25 μg·L−1 signifying a pronounced likelihood of appearing in groundwater due to its propensity for leaching and mobility in the soil–water environment These indices collectively suggest a need for careful management and monitoring of chloridazon-DESPH to prevent groundwater contamination Despite banned application, triazines and acetochlor are still detected (Baran, et al., 2021). Furthermore, in the lakes within the Zbrašov Aragonite Caves, trace amounts of chloridazon-DESPH, chloridazon-DESPH-ME, alachlor ESA, and the pharmaceutical diclofenac have been detected (Supplementary Table S3) Although intensively farmed fields are located on the slopes above the caves pharmaceuticals must be attributed to historical infiltration of wastewater or leaks from sewage systems in the past a modern sewage system was built in the village indicates the presence of anthropogenic contaminants within the karstic aquifer necessitating continued vigilance and monitoring to assess the environmental health and potential risks associated with these residues The highest concentrations of the pollutants were identified in well T-11 (Table 5) Given the lower water conductivity values’ decreased concentrations of bicarbonates (HCO3) and magnesium (Mg) compared to the other inputs (T-9 and T-6) it can be inferred that the water in T-11 is not purely mineral water involving surface waters (which are likely contaminated) blending with the deeper This mixing introduced pollutants into the deeper water strata which warrants careful and continuous monitoring to understand the extent and implications of such contamination for the water quality in the area adjacent to Hranice Abyss illegal or unregulated use might still be occurring or sources of contamination might not have been identified or mitigated This continued input can maintain the presence of alachlor and its metabolites in the environment The persistence of alachlor ESA and its metabolites in the water demands further investigation to understand the dynamics of water movement the degradation pathways of these compounds under local environmental conditions and potential unidentified sources of contamination Trace amounts of the NSAID diclofenac and the antibiotic azithromycin were detected in the waters of the Hranice Abyss. Notably, diclofenac was found at its highest concentration of 47.4 ng·L−1 in T-3. Azithromycin was detected in T-7 (73.8 ng·L−1) (Table 5) The presence of pharmaceuticals like diclofenac and azithromycin in aquatic environments is often attributed to the incomplete metabolism of these drugs in humans and animals and the insufficient removal of these compounds during wastewater treatment processes (Jones, et al., 2022) these pharmaceuticals can persist and be transported through water bodies leading to their detection in remote and deep-water locations like the Hranice Abyss The correlation between land use and concentrations of EOCs (specifically pharmaceuticals) was also confirmed by other studies (Schäfer, et al., 2016; Chen, et al., 2023) there is a pattern of positive correlation between contaminant concentrations and land use characterised by cropland and impermeable surfaces (when considering horizontal distribution) and a negative correlation between concentrations and areas covered with vegetation The monitoring of the Hranice Hypogenic Karst showed the presence of EOCs in all types of waters including trace concentrations in deep TKW and balneological wells The detected EOCs were represented by pesticides pharmaceuticals and their metabolites; BPA and DEET were occasionally found the results refute the original hypothesis that deep hydrothermal karst waters are ancient and uncontaminated The excessive permeability of the karst system leads to an enhanced vulnerability for retention and spread of contaminants The results generally confirm that current land use is associated with pollution in the karst system In groundwater and the Zbrašov Aragonite Caves lakes trace findings of atrazine and its metabolites were confirmed In the warm HA springs and Zbrašov Aragonite Caves lakes trace concentrations of alachlor metabolites were found these are substances whose application has been banned in the European Union for more than 10 years The unique environmental conditions in these areas might hinder the degradation processes of these substances and slow-moving or stagnant water bodies can thus act as reservoirs for these compounds especially in karst locations and on permeable soils one should monitor the ability of chemical compounds to contaminate groundwater this means monitoring the values of the GUS index of the substances used and adapting one’s application to these values This karst area is a highly vulnerable system to anthropogenic activities and it is recommended to be monitored beyond legal requirements more extensive sampling of source and ground waters through concerted campaigns or deployed samplers and higher resolution weather and land use measures would bring more certainty to understanding contamination of karst aquifers and their environmental The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author JŠ: Writing–review and editing The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research This research was funded by the Gregor Johann Mendel Grant Agency of the Mendel University in Brno (Czechia) within the project Landscape in Whole and Landscape in Detail - 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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Petra Oppeltová, b3BwZWx0b3ZhQG1lbmRlbHUuY3o= Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Eos Earth’s deepest freshwater cave is more than twice as deep as previously measured extending up to a kilometer into Earth’s crust is the deepest flooded cave in the world and a popular tourist attraction for cave divers Get the most fascinating science news stories of the week in your inbox every Friday divers used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to explore the cave and found it was at least 473 meters (1,552 feet) deep making it Earth’s deepest known freshwater cave The next-deepest flooded cave is Italy’s Pozzo del Merro The ROV’s tether wasn’t long enough for the vehicle to reach the bottom of the Hranice Abyss so scientists weren’t sure exactly how far down it went In a new study in AGU’s Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface scientists used several geophysical imaging methods to map the cave in greater detail They found the cave could be up to 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) deep more than twice as deep as the ROV had gone Most caves form by a top-down process in which water on Earth’s surface slowly percolates downward through soluble rock like limestone dissolving the rock and creating a cavity that deepens over time But many deep caves form by a reverse bottom-up process acidic groundwater slowly migrates upward and eats away at the surrounding rock Geologists suspected the Hranice Abyss formed by the bottom-up method like other deep caves with acidic groundwater carving out a deep column through the surrounding limestone researchers looked not only at the cave itself but at the geologic history of the surrounding region to figure out how it formed —Lauren Lipuma (@Tenacious_She) Lipuma, L. (2020), World’s deepest freshwater cave may be a kilometer deep, Eos, 101, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EO148708 Hannah Osborne is Nesweek's Science Editor Hannah joined Newsweek in 2017 from IBTimes UK She is a graduate of Goldsmiths University and King's College London You can get in touch with Hannah by emailing h.osborne@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content was found to be around 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) deep after researchers visited the site to perform a survey of the site In a study published in JGR: Earth Surface researchers have now reported the cave goes far deeper than was once thought—around 1km the team also performed multiple tests to work out how the system formed They found it was created by groundwater seeping down rather than water moving upwards—known as hypogenic formation—as was traditionally thought Researchers say the idea of hypogenic formation for systems like Hranice is based on the knowledge that present-day groundwater contains acidic elements that come from a deep source This water is thought to be heated by the mantle below and bubbles up The presence of carbon and helium isotopes from deep underground in Hranice Abyss had given weight to this theory the latest analysis suggests another method of formation The team's findings indicate the cave formed by water from the surface running underground This took place before the mid-Miocene transgression event when sea levels rose and the cave was flooded The carbon and helium isotopes can be explained by an upwelling of water at a later point The team say the formation model they created for the Hranice Abyss could be applied to other flooded cave systems across the world They said characteristic features of hypogenic formation are often missing in giant shafts "Detailed multidisciplinary studies of the world's deepest flooded cave systems and their associated formation mechanisms are rare," they wrote pointing to several cave systems that are currently considered hypogenic in origin "Geophysical imaging of these systems could reveal important new evidence of the geologic evolution and formation processes of these systems." told Science magazine the newly discovered depth of Hranice Abyss may mean other caves "could be even deeper." Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all New research suggests Hranice Abyss—the world’s deepest freshwater cave—is around 0.6 miles (1 km) deep which is more than twice the depth of previous estimates Hranice Abyss is our planet’s deepest freshwater cave Other notable examples of deep freshwater caves include Pozzo del Merro in Italy and Zacatón in Mexico which are 1,286 feet (392 m) and 1,099 feet (335 m) deep that distinction belongs to Veryovkina Cave in Georgia which extends down for 1.37 miles (2.2 km) Hranice Abyss is situated within a karst—terrain that forms when soluble rocks The abyss covers 5.8 square miles (15 square km) the entrance to which measures 341 feet long (104 m) and 112 feet wide (34 m) The width of the cave varies from 33 to 98 feet (10 to 30 m) Hranice Abyss is a popular destination for daring cave divers as the upper sections feature several chambers Klanica and his colleagues applied multiple approaches such as making gravity measurements to spot empty spaces setting off explosives to measure reflecting seismic waves and examining the ability of the limestone to conduct electricity in order to spot gaps and other subterranean features In addition to characterizing the shape and depth of the cave this approach allowed the researchers to reconstruct the hole’s geological history and acquire a better sense of how it formed Most caves form in an epigenic (top-down) process where surface water leaks down through the soluble rock Scientists thought that Hranice Abyss was produced by the hypogenic process The researchers discovered evidence of a former drainage system in the limestone bedrock pointing to an epigenic origin; water from an adjacent mountain range spilled onto an ancient basin The researchers say their “approach is readily applicable to similar flooded cave systems globally.” As for what types of organisms might exist at the bottom of the cave Sauro said: “We don’t know exactly what could be down there.” Sounds like a good excuse to explore Hranice Abyss even further scientists will have to bring a longer cable next time ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " The ad-free version is ready for purchase on iOS mobile app today we couldn't find that page";var n=e.querySelector("h2");return n&&n.remove(),{staticContent:e,title:t}},d=function(e){var t=document.createElement("button");return t.innerText=e,t.classList.add("error-page-button"),t},f=function(e){var t=document.createElement("div");t.id="recirculation-404",t.classList.add("brand-hint-bg");var n="\n \n \n Tick here if you would like us to send you the author’s response 19 FEB 2025BookmarkThere has been a surge in the seizure of illegal vapesParts of the UK have seen a huge surge in the seizure of illegal vapes in the last 12 months The latest data on illegal vape seizures has been released in a new report - and Essex has seen a staggering rise of over 14,000 per cent in the past 12 months revealed the ten counties with the highest seizures in the past 12 months and the percentage change versus 2023 Two illegal vapes were seized every minute in 2024 with almost £9million worth removed from UK streets The number of illegal vapes seized year-on-year since 2020 saw a dramatic 100-fold increase whose company has launched Riot Activist to defend the vape sector and protect smokers trying to quit claims the Government have a golden opportunity to reduce illegal vapes through the introduction of a licensing scheme the illegal vape black market is booming due to a lack of enforcement and the Government’s ongoing attempts to use prohibition A well executed licensing scheme for vapes which would be self-funded is the best option to crack down on illegal vapes and manage the youth vape problem Vapes have a vital role to play in the Government’s smoke free ambitions Their current approach is absolute self-sabotage and as these staggering figures show - they urgently need to wake up.” In England, London contributed to nearly half of all illegal vape seizures (47%), while Newport saw significant increases contributing to 70% of Wales’ total seizures - highlighting the need for more focus on the area Renfrewshire Council - the home of Glasgow airport - reported the highest number of seizures (3,814) added: “Innocent Brits who are using vapes as a legitimate tool to quit are being exploited by the black market Dangerously high nicotine levels and contaminated products are reaching consumers due to this illicit activity and the Government must reconsider its current position - and properly study the proposed retail and distributor licensing framework which is the most effective approach to solving the youth vape problem without impacting smokers who use vaping to quit smoking.” unregulated devices with unknown ingredients or much higher nicotine levels which can pose serious risks to health The tell tale signs to look out for include: a place on your bucket list should be the Hranice Abyss in the Czech Republic Exploring the abyss has proven challenging for both divers and machines. A couple years ago an unmanned underwater rover was lost and subsequently found at a depth of 195 meters (640 feet) The depth of the flooded part was recorded in 2016 to be 404 meters (1325 feet) with technical divers having reached a depth of 265 meters (869 feet) in 2015 They are mostly deep and relatively narrow none of the Hranice Karst speleologists doubts that interesting discoveries are still waiting for the Hranice Abyss.” Speleologists are working to produce maps of both the dry and flooded parts from top to bottom with photographic and video documentation to help refine the individual measurements For more info (with the help of Google Translate), check out the Hranicka Propast website (Image credits: Czech Speleological Organization) DeeperBlue.com is the World’s Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy, and Diving Travel We’ve been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996 Contact us: hello@deeperblue.com Thank you!We have emailed you a PDF version of the article you requested You can also addnewsletters@iflscience.comto your safe senders list to ensure you never miss a message from us IFLScience HomeThe True Size Of World's Deepest Freshwater Cave Is Still A MysteryComplete the form below to listen to the audio version of this article IFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out ourPrivacy Policy IFLScience HomeJoin for Exclusive FacebookemailTom is a writer in London with a Master's degree in Journalism whose editorial work covers anything from health and the environment to technology and archaeology. FacebookemailDOWNLOAD PDF VERSION Enter if you dare: the opening of the Hranice Abyss in the Czech Republic Image credit: Tomas Indrak/Shutterstock.com The Hranice Abyss in the Czech Republic is the deepest known freshwater cave on the planet It’s suggested that it could extend to a depth of 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) but scientists have never actually got the bottom of have deep it truly is.  a remotely operated vehicle swam into the bowels of the Hranice Abyss and managed to a depth of 473.5 meters (1,552 feet) That’s taller than the Empire State Building it’s now known that the mini-submarine could have gone much further but was held back by its fiber-optic communication cable.  In 2020, a study used a geophysical survey to understand the shape of the underwater cavern concluding that it extends to depths of around 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) that’s still a pretty rough estimate and the true extent of the flooded cave system remains a mystery ⓘ IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites there are some fascinating theories about why this underwater cavern runs so deep.  Cavernous underwater tunnels are typically carved by slightly acidic rainwater and meltwater that slowly dissolves away the surrounding limestone. Conversely, some have suggested that the Hranice Abyss might have been formed by bottom-up forces  the cave might have been formed by acidic groundwater that has been cooked deep underground by Earth’s mantle and seeped upwards dissolving the limestone from below.  Along with its sheer size, there are several other factors that make studying the abyss a nightmare, according to a diving blog post from 2021 and foliage that have fallen into the cave it’s also extremely acidic water and can sting divers' skin if it's not properly covered the air just above the water is so dense with carbon dioxide This minefield of annoying hurdles makes studying the Hranice Abyss difficult as remotely operated vehicles and geophysical survey techniques become more refined researchers will likely be able to hone in on a more accurate – and perhaps deeper – estimate than currently available environmentWhy Whale Wee Is Crucial To Healthy Oceans44 minutes agolink to article plantsWhat Is A Dinosaur Tree? The Living Fossil Dinosaurs Once Munched On That's Still Around Today17 hours agolink to article T. Rex Leather, Glow-In-The-Dark Gas Clouds, And Musical Sea Lionslink to article The Five Most Common Headacheslink to article © 2025 IFLScience. All Rights Reserved. RSS Robyn White is a Newsweek Nature Reporter based in London Robyn joined Newsweek in 2022 having previously worked at environmental publication LetsRecycle She has also worked on a range of consumer magazines at Damson Media focusing on pop culture She is a journalism graduate of Kingston University You can get in touch with Robyn by emailing r.white@newsweek.com flooded freshwater sinkhole—the Hranice Abyss—has now measured a little bit deeper A recent expedition to the cave in the Czech Republic found that it measures at least 1,476 feet deep Scientists have previously only guessed at the sinkhole's depth The new measurements exceeded previous estimates in 2016 Scientists were able to gauge the actual measurements by using a robot that was lowered into the sinkhole's depths The Hranice Abyss is actually thought to be deeper than this However scientists have still not managed to reach the bottom of the sinkhole scientists also gathered more data on the shape of the hole From this they were able to draw up a 3D map of its depths installed with six cameras and sonar beams "The most important thing for us is that we managed to create a map backed by data We can see from it that the Border Gap is one huge hole that leads vertically down; at 450 meters it then begins to turn to the southwest," Michal Guba the chairman of the Czech speleological society from the Hranice Abyss however they struggled with extremely poor visibility it would sting their body that was not protected by a dive suit Divers also reported the air just above the water to be unbreathable due to a high carbon dioxide content in the air bits of foliage and trees have also fallen inside the hole over the years which means they can occasionally block areas of the cave The shape of the hole also makes it difficult to guarantee a divers safety If a diver were to loose control of buoyancy "We focused on exploring the Mikáda restriction at a depth of 200 meters so we decided to go beyond this restriction The spaces we explored and mapped are huge and at a depth of 450 meters we were stopped by the technical limitations of the underwater robot," Guba told CT24 Newsweek has contacted the Czech speleological society for a comment IFLScience HomeWorld’s Deepest Freshwater Cave Is Way Deeper Than We ThoughtComplete the form below to listen to the audio version of this article The Hranice Abyss is located in the forests of P?erov District of the Czech Republic The Hranice Abyss in the Czech Republic is the deepest known freshwater cave on the planet. Back in 2016, a team led by renowned Polish cave diver Krzysztof Starnawski ventured into these murky depths and concluded that it extends for at least 404 meters (1,325 feet) underwater was simply as far as the diving equipment would allow them to go and its true depth remained a mystery researchers have beamed down a number of geophysical tests above the Hranice Abyss and estimated the cave system is at least 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) deep we still have no solid idea about how deep the underwater cave really is; it could be further Their research was recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface this new survey found evidence of structures that were formed by more convenient top?down processes People have been attempting to understand the scale of the Hranice Abyss for centuries. There are some historical reports that a person attempted to determine the depth of the cave in 1580 by holding their breath and diving to its base but development in technology has allowed divers and scientists to go deeper and deeper over the past century diving in the murky abyss remains a tricky feat not least because its acidic CO2-rich water can be an irritant for divers' skin and equipment scientists from the Czech Academy of Science used an array of geophysical techniques to assess the underground cave from above revealing it extends for at least 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) deep.  As better scientific processes become available it’s likely that researchers will be able to hone in on a more accurate — and no doubt deeper — estimate than currently available.  Analysts say that power play is motivated by competition over energy resources Kyrgyzstan has accused Uzbekistan of deploying troops at a disputed section of their shared border in retaliation for Bishkek’s continued control of a key reservoir The two countries have had a difficult relationship since the collapse of the Soviet Union particularly where competition over natural resources has been concerned On March 18 Uzbekistan deployed several armoured vehicles and 40 military personnel on a road between the Kyrgyz villages of Ala Buka and Kerben in the southern Jalalabad region Kyrgyzstan reacted by also moving its own armoured vehicles to that part of the border “Kyrgyz citizens travelling through this area are stopped by the Uzbek border guards who tell them ‘Welcome to Uzbekistan’ and let them continue their journey to Kyrgyz territory,” said Guljan Altymyshbaeva The Uzbek national security service border committee said that the deployment was part of a routine reinforcement due to Navruz the Kyrgyz state representative on border affairs told the Kloop news agency that the Uzbek action might have been connected with Bishkek’s recent refusal to let Uzbek specialists inspect and repair the Orto-Tokoy water reserve is located in Kyrgyzstan but was built with Uzbek resources and Iskandarov noted that Tashkent had repeatedly claimed it had rights to its waters Talks between the two sides led to the number of military personnel being reduced to eight from each side and the situation was  “relatively stable” a spokesman for the Kyrgyz state border service told IWPR on March 22 southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan Transport hubs and water supplies there are closely inter-connected a legacy of the Soviet Union when the region used to be a single economic entity However Uzbekistan is located downriver of the region’s water supplies and lacks irrigation capacity for its agriculture while Kyrgyzstan controls one third of Central Asia’s water sources.  Hydroelectricity is considered to be Kyrgyzstan’s principal national resource. (See: The Cost of Privatising Power in Kyrgyzstan) A large-scale dam project Kyrgyzstan is planning on the Naryn river is of particular concern to Tashkent The Kambarata scheme is designed to produce hydro-energy for export to neighbouring states which will give Kyrgyzstan significant leverage over Uzbekistan Uzbekistan has long been a vocal opponent of Kambarata as it fears it will limit or disrupt the flow of irrigation water essential to its farming sector political lecturer at the American University of Central Asia said that the recent Uzbek move was meant to clearly signal Uzbekistan's superior might He noted that Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambaev had chosen to champion the cause of energy independence “[The military deployment] could have been done for several reasons… to show how vulnerable Kyrgyzstan is to its neighbor… [Kyrgyz] hydro-power projects may be another reason for that We declared we are going to build [Kambarata] hydropower station whatever it takes and Uzbekistan strongly disagrees with that.” There are also tensions over other energy resources Uzbekistan sold gas to the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan and used this as an effective way of leveraging negotiations over water and other issues In late 2013, Bishkek sold its shares in state gas provider KyrgyzGas to Russian monopoly Gazprom, handing it the responsibility for providing gas to Kyrgyzstan. (See: Russia Factor Shifts Kyrgyz-Uzbek Power Balance) Once this agreement came into power in summer of 2014 Uzbekistan terminated its gas supply to Kyrgyzstan with the explanation that it had to sign a fresh deal with the newly- established Gazprom-Kyrgyzstan While northern Kyrgyzstan still receives fuel from Kazakstan as it always has the supply in southern regions has had to be supplemented through gas cylinders head of the Central Asia department at the Institute for Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Moscow said that Uzbekistan’s border maneuver was a further way of reminding Kyrgyzstan of its interests “You should always keep your neighbours in place and remind them from time to time that the Uzbek army is stronger than the Kyrgyz and Tajik ones combined,” Grozin told IWPR “This power play has been Uzbekistan’s standard position towards its weaker neighbours for the past 25 years,” he added Kyrgystan has explored ways of using diplomatic pressure to sanction Uzbekistan over the most recent incident On March 22 the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) accepted a Kyrgyz request to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the border situation Uzbekistan withdrew from the post-Soviet regional security pact in June 2012 but Juraev said that Tashkent remained an important partner for all this body’s member states Kyrgyzstan was testing the water to whether CSTO could help it out but the bloc members confined themselves to issuing a statement that they were concerned and would continue to monitor the situation “The CSTO meeting is a purely technical thing adding that Moscow favoured the current pro-Kremlin political regime in Kyrgyzstan  “despite the difficult personalities of the Uzbek leader and his circle Russia is trying to build partner relations [in Central Asia] without irritating the Uzbek side “The Kremlin values its relations with Tashkent at times even more than it does those with Bishkek and [the Kyrgyz] shouldn’t be deluded about that,” he continued the regional security pact was unlikely to take action to protect Kyrgyzstan from Uzbekistan “The only thing CSTO can do in this situation is to serve as a mediator,” Juraev concluded Timur Toktonaliev is IWPR's editor in Kyrgyzstan This publication was produced under two IWPR projects, Investigative Journalism to Promote Democratic Reform funded by the European Union; and Strengthening Capacities funded by the Foreign Ministry of Norway." Journalists need training and support to properly cover war crimes trials Activists warn that vulnerable domestic workers risk abuse often returning with serious health conditions sacrifice and luck secured a vital early win in the south-eastern campaign Some women face Adana's male-dominated traffic chaos for a living Recent murder highlights widespread discrimination and violence against LGBTI people Open source intelligence (OSINT) can provide facts – but impatient Tel +44 (0)20 7831 1030 Tel +1 202 393 5641 IWPR is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom (charity reg no: 2744185); in the United States as a not-for-profit organisation with tax-exempt status under IRS section 501(c)(3); and as a charitable foundation in The Netherlands The opinions expressed on iwpr.net are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting Site design by IWPR. Developed by AG Prime Stay informed with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy's weekly roundup of timely policy commentary Our independent Canadian think tank brings you the latest insights and analyses on pressing public policy issues Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace said in an email obtained by The Epoch Times that his reasons for leaving Greenpeace were very clear: “Greenpeace was ‘hijacked’ by the political left when they realized there was money and power in the environmental movement [Left-leaning] political activists in North America and Europe changed Greenpeace from a science-based organization to a political fundraising organization,” Moore said 15 years after he co-founded the organization “The ‘environmental’ movement has become more of a political movement than an environmental movement,” he said “They are primarily focused on creating narratives that are designed to instill fear and guilt into the public so the public will send them money.” He said they mainly operate behind closed doors with other political operatives at the U.N. all of which are primarily political in nature The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] is “not a science organization,” he said “It is a political organization composed of the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program “The IPCC hires scientists to provide them with ‘information’ that supports the ‘climate emergency’ narrative They are now a negative influence on the future of both the environment and human civilization.” the left has adopted many policies that would be very destructive to civilization as they are not technically achievable Only look at the looming energy crisis in Europe and the UK But it is of their own making in refusing to develop their own natural gas resources and adopting an impossible position on fossil fuels in general,” Moore wrote He said “green” for the environment and “peace” for the people were the organization’s founding principles “Many [so-called] ‘environmental’ leaders were now saying that ‘humans are the enemies of the Earth the enemies of Nature.’ I could not accept that humans are the only evil species This is too much like ‘original sin,’ that humans are born with evil He said the new dominant philosophy is that the world would be better if fewer people existed “But the people who said this were not volunteering to be the first to go away They behave as if they are superior to others This kind of ‘pride’ and ‘conceit’ is the worst of the Cardinal Sins,” Moore said and long-time leader in the international environmental field Patrick Moore is widely regarded as one of the world’s most qualified experts on the environment the world’s largest environmental activist organization in Ecology from the University of British Columbia in 1974 and an Honorary Doctorate of Science from North Carolina State University in 2005 He co-founded Greenpeace in 1971 and served as president of Greenpeace Canada for nine years Moore served as the Director of Greenpeace International a driving force shaping the group’s policies and directions Greenpeace became the world’s largest environmental activist organization a consultancy focusing on environmental policies Moore served as co-chairman of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition and Prosperity of Frontier Centre for Public Policy a non-partisan Canadian public policy think tank Moore served as the Chair of CO2 Coalition a U.S.-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group dedicated to disputing false claims on CO2 as relates to climate change “At the time I decided to leave Greenpeace I was one of 6 Directors of Greenpeace International I was the only one with formal science education My fellow directors decided that Greenpeace should begin a campaign to ‘Ban Chlorine Worldwide.’” Moore said it is true that elemental chlorine gas is highly toxic and was used as a weapon in World War I chlorine is one of the 94 [naturally-ocurring] elements on the Periodic Table and has many roles in biology and human health table salt (NaCl or Sodium Chloride) is an essential nutrient for all animals and many plants He pointed out that adding chlorine to drinking water and spas was one of the most significant advances in public health history in preventing the spread of water-borne communicable diseases such as cholera And about 85 percent of pharmaceutical drugs are made with chlorine-related chemistry and about 25 percent of all our medicines contain chlorine “Greenpeace named chlorine ‘The Devil’s Element’ and calls PVC ‘the Poison Plastic.’ All of this is fake [and] to scare the public this misguided policy reinforces the attitude that humans are not a worthy species and that the world would be better off without them I could not convince my fellow Greenpeace directors to abandon this misguided policy This was the turning point for me,” Moore said When asked how Greenpeace utilizes its massive donations, Moore said it was used to pay for “a very large staff” (likely over 2,000), extensive advertisements, and fundraising programs. And virtually all of the organization’s ads for fundraising are based on false narratives, which he had thoroughly disproven in his books, one example being the polar bears to ban unrestricted hunting of polar bears or politicians who say the polar bear is going extinct due to melting ice in the Arctic the polar bear population has increased from 6,000 to 8,000 in 1973 to 30,000 to 50,000 today “But now they say the polar bear will go extinct in 2100 as if they have a magic crystal ball that can predict the future this past winter in the Arctic saw an expansion of ice from previous years and Antarctica was colder during the last winter than in the past 50 years.” Moore said that he does not pretend to know everything and predict the future with confidence like many in the “climate emergency” business claim they can do “I believe the human population has always been vulnerable to people who predict doom with false stories,” Moore said and the Europeans and Americans burned women as witches for 200 years claiming this would ‘save the world’ from evil people This has been [referred to as] ‘herd mentality,’ ‘groupthink,’ and ‘cult behavior.’ Humans are social animals with a hierarchy and it is easiest to gain a high position by using fear and control.” Moore said the environmental apocalypse theory is mostly about “political power and control,” adding that he is dedicated to showing people that the situation is not as negative as they are told our descendants are making decisions that our grandchildren will have to pay for,” he said “Predictions that the world is coming to an end have been made for thousands of years “People are naturally afraid of the future because it is unknown and full of risks and difficult decisions I believe there is also an element of ‘self-loathing’ in this apocalypse movement.” Moore said the young generation today is taught that humans are not worthy and are destroying the earth This indoctrination has made them feel guilty and ashamed of themselves “Very few people believe the world is not warming The record is clear that the world has been warming since about the year 1700 150 years before we were using fossil fuels which was very cold and caused crop failures and starvation was the Medieval Warm period when Vikings farmed Greenland the Roman Warm Period when it was warmer than today and the sea level was 1–2 meters higher than today,” Moore said the amount of fossil fuel used and CO2 emitted were very small compared to today We do not know the cause of these periodic fluctuations in temperature Moore clarified that the “minority opinion” is not about the history of the Earth’s temperature but it is the relationship between the temperature and CO2 that is at the center of the dispute I agree that many believe CO2 is the main cause of warming so no one can actually see what it is doing And this ‘majority’ are mainly scientists paid by politicians and bureaucrats [The rest are] the public who believe this story even though they can’t actually see what CO2 is doing,” Moore said Moore provided a graph of temperature continuously measured over 350 years (from 1659 to 2009) in central England “If carbon dioxide was the main cause of warming then there should be a rise in temperature along the carbon dioxide curve Moore described the demonization of CO2 as “completely ridiculous.” He added that CO2 is the basis of all life on Earth and its concentration in the atmosphere today is lower than it has been for a large majority of life’s existence A study in 2013 found that increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have helped boost green foliage across the world’s arid regions over the past 30 years The Australian government agency CSIRO conducted the research in collaboration with Australian National University (ANU) The data was based on satellite observations from the year 1982 to 2010 across parts of the arid areas in Australia It found an 11 percent increase in foliage cover in the studied area due to what’s called “CO2 fertilization.” The study said a fertilization effect occurs when elevated CO2 levels enable a leaf during photosynthesis—the process by which green plants convert sunlight into sugar—to extract more carbon from the air or lose less water to the air or both “If elevated CO2 causes the water use of individual leaves to drop plants in arid environments will respond by increasing their total numbers of leaves These changes in leaf cover can be detected by satellite particularly in deserts and savannas where the cover is less complete than in wet locations,” according to Randall Donohue “Climate alarmists prefer to discuss climate knowledge only since 1850 The time before this they referred to as the pre-industrial age This ‘pre-industrial age’ was more than 3 billion years when life was on the Earth Many climate changes [occurred during that period] We are still in the Pleistocene Ice Age no matter how the climate alarmists wish to deny this.” He said the great irony of the present panic about the climate is that the Earth is colder today than it was for 250 million years before the Pleistocene Ice Age set in And CO2 is lower now than in more than 95 percent of Earth’s history “But you would never know this if you listen to all the people who benefit from the lie that the Earth will soon be too hot for life and that CO2 will become higher than in Earth’s history,” Moore said nearly all commercial greenhouse farmers worldwide buy CO2 to inject into their greenhouses to realize up to 60 percent higher crop yields “I was impressed when flying over South Korea [and seeing] how many greenhouses there are in the valleys Korea has a lot of mountains and not so much flat fertile farmland “I am sure the greenhouse farmers are putting more CO2 in their greenhouses up to double and triple what it is in the atmosphere today This is because nearly all plants growing outside in the natural atmosphere are starved for CO2 and it is what limits them from growing faster,” Moore added “Please refer to the chapter titled ‘Climate of Fear and Guilt’ in my book, [Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom] if you wish to gain a full understanding of these facts,” he said Moore said that most environmental activists, politicians, and so-called experts know that we cannot stop increasing the use of fossil fuels or reducing CO2 emissions within their proposed schedule while attending the COP (Conference of the Parties) in Paris I offered a public bet for $100,000 in a broadcast media release which went out on more than 200 media feeds that by 2025 global CO2 emissions would be higher than in 2015 “I know that more CO2 is entirely beneficial to both the environment and human civilization I am proud to be a director of the CO2 Coalition.” Moore said “carbon neutrality” is a political term “It is simply wrong to call CO2 ‘carbon.’ Carbon is an element that is what diamonds [And] CO2 is a molecule that contains carbon and oxygen and is an invisible gas that is the primary food for all life it is incorrect to refer to NaCl (table salt) as ‘chlorine,’ even though NaCl contains chlorine,” Moore said “He said when elements (atoms) combine with each other to form compounds (molecules) they always have very different properties than the elements they are made from “‘Net-Zero’ is also a political term made-up by activists who are not scientists the top leaders of this crusade are people like Al Gore and India are 40 percent of the human population and they do not agree with this anti-fossil fuel agenda it is a majority of the population who are not climate fanatics,” Moore added “Another great irony is that many countries with the coldest climates the average annual temperature in Canada is -5.35 degrees Celsius.” Moore also said that fumes from engines are not CO2; they are other substances Dust is also not CO2; it is soot and can be controlled with present technology And coal plants built today are much cleaner than ones built 20 years ago “Solar and wind power are both very expensive and very unreliable It is almost like a mental illness that so many people have been brainwashed to think entire countries can be supported with these technologies,” Moore said “I believe wind and solar energy are parasites on the larger economy they make the country poorer than if other more reliable and less costly technologies were used.” Moore said that wind and solar providers rely heavily on government subsidies where citizens are forced to buy wind and solar power even if it is more expensive on the pretext that it is “environmentally friendly.” “Millions of people pay more for wind and solar energy while a few people make millions of dollars It is a bit like a Ponzi scheme in the stock markets,” Moore added and require reliable energy such as nuclear and natural] gas to be available when wind and solar are unavailable.” the construction of wind and solar farms uses vast amounts of fossil fuels for mining they don’t produce nearly enough energy in their lifetimes as is required to build and maintain them “Why not use reliable energy [such as nuclear etc.] as the primary source?” Moore questioned “then wind and solar would be unnecessary.” That is why we package and wrap our food in it Plastic does not magically become toxic when it enters the ocean,” Moore said they say on one hand that plastic will never break down they say it will quickly decay into ‘microplastics,’ which are conveniently invisible so no one can observe or verify this for themselves our digestive system can tell the difference between “food” and plastic or tiny particles of sand Our body does not ingest sand into our bloodstream He said plastic floating in the ocean is like a tiny floating reef It provides a surface for marine species to lay their eggs on “Pollution is usually toxic or causes harm to life Plastic is simply ‘litter’ beside the road not because they are plastic but because they are shaped to catch fish The environmental community should work with the fishing industry to stop throwing damaged nets in the sea and bring them back to the dock This interview is a compilation of an email exchange between Moore and South Korean Professor Seok-soon Park professor of environmental science and engineering at Ehwa Womans University in Seoul It was provided to The Epoch Times by Park with the permission of Moore on July 7 Both he and Moore are among the 1,100 scientists and professionals that signed the World Climate Declaration (WCD) he founded the “Korea Alliance of Freedom and Environmental Groups,” dedicated to enlightening people on the truth of climate change the eco-friendliness of nuclear power energy the environmental advantage of a liberal democratic market economy in Zoology from Seoul National University (Seoul in Environmental Science from Rutgers University (New Brunswick Before joining as one of the founding professors at Ewha’s Environmental Science and Engineering Department in 1996 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University visiting professor at Princeton University and a tenured professor at Kangwon National University (Chuncheon He served as the President of the Korean Society of Environmental Education President of the National Institute of Environmental Research and a Presidential Advisory Committee member on Science and Technology He has published over 150 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and has written more than 20 books He received the Best Scientist and Engineer Award from Korea Science Foundation in 2007 and a Presidential Commendation in 2013 Original Article: EXCLUSIVE: Greenpeace Founder Patrick Moore Says Climate Change Based on False Narratives Author: Lee Yun-Jeong Reprinted with Permission from The Epoch Times (www.theepochtimes.com) Jul 17, 2023 | , , , , A Snapshot of Property Rights Protection in Canada After 10 years May 5, 2023 | , , The writ has been dropped and Albertans are off to the polls on May 29 That leaves just four weeks for political leaders and voters to sort out what is arguably the most divisive   Direct link to counter Canada is one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers but a lack of export options is quietly costing us billions of dollars a year Canadians are right to ask why governments are constantly short of money for hospitals Canada sells most of its oil and natural gas to the U.S at a discount of ~$20 per barrel and ~$2 per Gigajoule With over 2 million barrels and 12.3 million Gigajoules exported daily A revived push for the Northern Gateway pipeline has sparked fresh debate over Indigenous-led energy development Frontier Fellow Maureen McCall highlights how leaders like Calvin Helin and Dale Swampy argue that Canada’s energy future—and its global competitiveness—depends on Indigenous equity With support growing among First Nations for LNG and pipeline projects they are calling for the repeal of restrictive laws and the embrace of Indigenous leadership to advance both economic reconciliation and national energy security The Frontier Centre for Public Policy (FCPP) is an independent Canadian public policy think tank Website by Lexicom.ca Team led by Polish diver Krzysztof Starnawski says 404m Hranice abyss may be even deeper after test using robot A team of explorers say they have found the world’s deepest underwater cave, in the Czech Republic The Polish cave diver Krzysztof Starnawski said he felt like a “Columbus of the 21st century” to have made the discovery of the cave which is at least 404 metres (1,325ft) deep Starnawski dived to 200 metres down the flooded limestone Hranice abyss then used a remotely operated underwater robot to reach a further 204 metres the robot did not seem to have hit the bottom of the abyss which required him to spend more than six hours in a decompression chamber Speaking on the phone from his home in Kraków was 12 metres deeper than the previous record holder a flooded sinkhole in Italy called Pozzo del Merro The Czech Speleological Society said it believed the cave was deeper than 404 metres “It [the robot] was as deep as its rope could go but the bottom was still nowhere in sight,” the society said in a statement Mud and a water temperature of 15C (59F) make diving in the cave difficult The water’s mineral composition damaged both equipment and exposed skin “but that is the only price to be paid for this discovery and it was worth paying” he planned to dive to 200 metres again to bring the robot back through the narrow passage leading to the bottom of the abyss The device was made for the expedition and operated by the Polish company GRALmarine Czech Republic: Engineering company Aliacem started trial operation in February 2024 of an upgrade project to the preheater at Cement Hranice’s integrated plant The project was reportedly completed on schedule met quality standards and occurred without any injuries Cement Hranice is a subsidiary of Italy-based Buzzi or are planning to open their doors to travelers ASAP According to EBD it picked "some of the destinations least affected by COVID-19" that it says have seen up 600 times fewer COVID-19 cases than more hard-hit European countries as well as those destinations that have implemented strict protocols on hygiene and social-distancing measures and that have a higher number of hospital beds per inhabitant than other European countries.  Keep scrolling to see some of EBD's best European destinations to visit when it is safe to do so And keep in mind that these restrictions and reopenings are subject to change as countries continue to monitor the pandemic will face COVID-19 testing and potential quarantine until at least July 1 EBD says that Greece was one of the least-affected European countries and that it has more hospital beds per capita than the UK and Canada thus making travel to and within Greece cheaper when it will also put an end to quarantine requirements for visitors from 20 European countries.  According to the Telegraph Austria's foreign minister said at a news conference: "We are opening Austria's borders to all EU EFTA (European Free Trade Association) and EEA (European Economic Area) states with four notable exceptions — those are Sweden Spain and Austria are expected to mutually lift restrictions to each other on July 1, which is when, according to Euronews Countries with worse outbreaks will continue to be restricted and it's unclear at the time of writing when travelers from other places will be allowed.  Georgia plans to open to international travelers July 1. According to EBD Georgia has more hospital beds per inhabitant than most European countries According to Johns Hopkins Malta has seen 630 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine related deaths at the time of writing Malta's prime minister said that more destinations will be announced as they are cleared by health authorities that's "20 times fewer infected people per million inhabitants than other European countries." EBD also says that Croatia has one of the highest number of hospital beds per inhabitant in Europe Croatia has already reopened to tourists from EU member countries. According to Euronews the European Commission is pushing for non-EU countries such as Albania and Serbia to be allowed to enter from July 1 though at the time of writing it's unclear when travelers from other places will be allowed On June 2, Croatia's tourism minister, Gari Cappelli, said there were currently 33,000 tourists in Croatia.  self-isolating until they obtain the results "Tourists are welcome in Portugal," Portugal's foreign minister said on March 22, adding that health checks will be implemented at airports.  "Montenegro has more available hospital beds per capita than Norway The country declared itself coronavirus-free on May 25 It opened its borders to countries with a rate of active coronavirus cases of less than 25 per 100,000 inhabitants on June 1 and that currently does not include the US and UK.  it has more hospital beds per inhabitant than the majority of European countries.   Romania has seen 20,604 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,339 related deaths at the time of writing While Romania has reopened hotels and plans to allow indoor dining by June 15, according to The Points Guy reports suggest that the country will reopen to all visitors by July 1 saw up to 20 times less contamination than the most affected Western European countries and that it has more hospital beds per inhabitant than the Netherlands or Switzerland like the US and Canada," but that more information will be available later in June The deepest dived underwater cave on the planet It took the Polish extreme diver a lifetime to finally hit bottom at the legendary Abyss of Hranice located in the Czech Republic an hour’s drive from the Polish border had been teasing Starnawski and his team of volunteers for decades the storied abyss finally gave up her secrets: a tangle of fallen trees Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote that when you look into the darkness of the abyss the abyss looks into you We checked in with Krzysztof Starnawski to find out what Hranice Abyss meant to him and what it took to dive it part 1: The technology of extreme cave diving and an interesting comparison between the sport and high altitude mountaineering Your expedition proved The Abyss of Hranice is the deepest underwater cave on the planet how did it feel to finally reach “the bottom” I scuba dived 200 meters to a narrowing between two large chambers of the cave and installed a line to guide the Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) along it I ascended to the surface and navigated the ROV operator from there The machine was fitted with cameras and when it reached 404 meters depth we could see a steep corridor cluttered with tree stumps and loose rocks There was a risk the ROV would tangle around rocks and stumps We proved that Hranička Abyss is deeper than 404 meters but its accurate depth has not been measured yet Cameras showed that it certainly goes about 30 m further down but I have a feeling this cave might be even deeper judging from the geological characteristics of the area The September 27th ROV descent was supposed to be only training but suddenly all started working so well that we finally decided to set it to bed record not comparable to anything I have ever felt before I was very relieved to have closure on this part of my life Explorersweb/Pythom: 20 years in a cave is a long time Krzysztof Starnawski: I scuba dived Hranička Abyss in 1997 for the first time I submerged to 181 meters in the next few years but the OC gear had its limits: the deeper I went the more gas cylinders were used and I had to switch them one by one Operating the OC was so involving that I couldn’t focus on exploration It took twelve years to successfully shift to the closed circuit and re-engineer it into a dual CCR system I was finally ready to dive really deep and extend the dive time. The only substantial limit left was my own physical endurance to HPNS (high pressure neurological syndrome) and decompression disease My body and mind both seemed quite resistant to these disorders but I still had to train for the challenge I did other expeditions and adventures in those 20 years but Hranička Abyss remained my focus. I kept coming back because, for several reasons, I believed that Hranička might turn out to be deeper than the Italian cave Pozzo del Merro then considered the deepest submerged (392 m) cave in the world Hitting 181 meters in 2000 made me realize I was ready to organize and perform extremely difficult dives I also began to have a feeling that I was meant to do it I discovered the passage leading through the narrowing into the deepest parts of the cave during a dive in 2013 if only I tried hard enough and would think out of the box I have been moving deeper for twenty years It makes you resistant to doubt and discouragement Explorersweb/Pythom: What got you into extreme cave diving in the first place Krzysztof Starnawski: I began to climb mountains almost thirty years ago. Soon after I got myself into speleology (ed note: scientific cave studies) I quickly discovered that there were many caves that had never been explored even in my native Tatra Mountain and few people were qualified and willing to explore them I figured that someone already reached the highest peak of the Earth and even stood on the Moon: If I wanted to be a pioneer I needed to focus on what had not yet been explored – submerged caves became the obvious choice My older colleagues had explored everything below a certain level of technical difficulty My scientific mind helped me solve technical issues such as equipment engineering And to explore safe and efficient enough to enjoy it Explorersweb/Pythom: Cave diving is very different from open water diving “fix the route” with guide lines underwater there is the use of supplementary oxygen (different gas mixtures) bad visibility and (water) temperatures to deal with there are The Bends (sort of reverse high altitude sickness) you must save lots of resources to make it back Krzysztof Starnawski: It’s true that cave diving is by many means similar to alpinism such as HACE (high altitude cerebral edema) or HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) and while diving HPNS (high pressure neurological syndrome) or decompression sickness may occur all the disorders are more likely to develop the higher you climb or the deeper you dive Their development is just a matter of time at 8000 meters altitude or 200 meters below sea level It has been observed that some people are more resilient than others due to factors such as general physical condition or even quality of sleep the night prior to diving I find myself somehow predetermined to the endurance so I think my organism adapted to the depth I also take appropriate anesthetics (ed note: a drug to prevent pain during surgery) which considerably decrease HNPS syndromes because they may lead to unconsciousness and death Explorersweb/Pythom: Walk us through deep dive “acclimatization” descend to rest and go up again to acclimate Humans can’t breathe under water; using breathing apparatus and gas and decompress after diving is essential It takes me only up to 12 minutes to dive 200 m deep The reason is the diver inhales the gas under the same pressure as ambient pressure Inert gas bubbles (such as nitrogen and helium) are squeezed and become small enough to easily penetrate all of the diver’s body – neither the respiratory nor the cardiovascular systems are able to stop these tiny bubbles the ambient pressure decreases and the bubbles expand I get rid of them by exhaling them but it takes time During decompression stops I use pure oxygen to accelerate the process If I quit the stop too early and ascend fast first shaken and then opened – no one would survive that Explorersweb/Pythom: Does weather affect submerged cave divers at all Bad weather can become severe jeopardy for alpinists Water temperature and general environment don’t change that much in submerged caves obstacles you could get stuck in for good… Breathing gear malfunction remains the most severe hazard though endure a night at 8000 meters above sea level but no one can survive more than a few minutes underwater Of course the temperature itself may be lethal Deep cave diving we protect ourselves by using dry suits filled with argon (due to the low thermal conductivity of this gas) the very same as those used by winter climbers Explorersweb/Pythom: How would you compare cave dives to open water dives Open water diving differs from cave diving basically by the fact that in a cave you simply cannot resurface in case of problems may mess with your mind: It could either cause over-confidence or increase your fear so it turns into a panic attack Explorersweb/Pythom: The Hranice Abyss lake stays 15 C year round and never freezes Krzysztof Starnawski: This is caused by the geological structure of the cave and the way it was created by rainwaters mixed with CO2 eluting the rock crevices Hranicka Propast was created “bottom-up” by mineralized thermal waters that drilled the rock from deeper to shallower parts Warm mineral waters constantly flow up from below leaving the water temperature in the cave unchanged Explorersweb/Pythom: This was a team effort: over the years your expedition mates helped reach 181 meters and finally 265 meters last year – a dive demanding 8-10 hours of decompression That’s crazy – how did you decompress for so many hours And how important are the expedition members for success Krzysztof Starnawski: To ascend safely after deep diving I need to decompress I install a habitat (sort of a diving bell) at about 8-10 meters depth They also dive down to check if everything is all right with me at the decompression steps I always dive alone below 100 meters though Almost a hundred people were involved in the project through the 20 years: Polish and Czech divers and my colleagues from the Tatra Mountain Rescue Service None of my descents would have been possible without my friends and supporters Even trivial things like preparing food mattered when I was sitting exhausted by the cave wall after my dive Tomorrow: Don’t miss the second and last part of this interview, about the final robot-dive to record depths and a mind-ride into closed oceans on other planets Previous Vote for Krzysztof Starnawski at National Geographic adventurers of the year One Breath at the North Pole: Exweb interview with Free-diver, Christian Redl “Flight of the Century”: Chat with Broad Peak Birdman Antoine Girard Instant Expeditions: Everest in 3 Days Risking it all: Basejump/Climbing Study by Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Erik Monasterio Lhotse South Wall: Interview with Korean Seong Taek Hong Explorers vs Payloads: The Difference and Why it Matters Sign up to receive ExplorersWeb content direct to your inbox once a week a remotely operated vehicle was descending down into a freshwater cave system new estimates taken from up at the surface suggest we'd need more than twice as much slack to get all the way to the bottom of this profound underwater cavern Using recent geophysical surveys of this national gem, known as the Hranice Abyss scientists have traced the remarkable system of trench-like caves roughly a kilometre down (over half a mile down) The findings are based on numerous types of geophysical data, including measurements with a gravimeter in addition to checking electrical conductivity and natural geomagnetic fields in Earth's subsurface this can tell scientists the general locations of rocks it does suggest the Hranice Abyss extends much deeper than other estimates Map of the world's deepest underwater cave, the Hranice Abyss. We still don't know how deep it really is... pic.twitter.com/ywbsNd0eAA It also calls the cave's origin into question The world's deepest flooded cave systems are notoriously difficult and dangerous to study directly and even with the help of remotely operated vehicles Research has shown that many of these caves contain temperate waters with acidic elements originating from a deep source. The thermal water in the Hranice Abyss, for instance, was found in a 2019 study to contain only five to 10 percent 'modern water' This has led many to suppose these caves were formed from the bottom-up with the acidic inner core of our planet slowly eating away at the limestone rock above doesn't take into account each region's specific geology or tectonic activity Underneath the Hranice Abyss, the authors of the new research have found evidence for a large-scale network of underground structures made from soluble rock, known as a karst system to geologists Conceptual geological cross section showing the Hranice Abyss and a large sedimentary basin called Carpathian Foredeep in the mid-Miocene (above) and today (below) Some of these underground caverns are filled with freshwater but the reappraisal suggests they were created by erosion from the top down – at least at first In the mid-Miocene the authors think water probably ran from the mountains into a basin which gradually carved out caverns in the limestone through erosion "Subsequent sediment deposition (via sea‐level rise) and infill of these canyons caused spring outflows to become blocked and the cave systems to be flooded with fresh water," the authors suggest Only after this would acidic water have welled up from below bringing deep Earth isotopes up to the surface for us to find later which we assumed were formed from the bottom up the authors admit it's very possible that the top-down erosion is somehow masking earlier bottom-up sculpting making it appear as though the cave was created from above Geologist Francesco Sauro from the University of Bologna, who was not involved in the study, told Science it was worth re-examining other sites in light of these new and "impressive" estimates The study was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface Subscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret DownWorld's Deepest Underwater Cave Discovered In Czech RepublicIt's so deep you could stack four Statues of Liberty and still not reach the surface Czech Republic is seen examining the limestone crevasse in the flooded Hranicka Abyss four Statues of Liberty could be stacked on top of each other and still not reach the surface could still set more records since the underwater robot sent down to explore the deepest area was constrained by its cord — before reaching the bottom Polish explorer Krzysztof Starnawski told the Associated Press on Friday that he felt like a "Columbus of the 21th century." made the discovery on Tuesday after scuba diving down to a narrow passage in the cave about 200 meters down where he then launched an underwater robot that made it 404 meters The Czech Speleological Society said "it was as deep as its rope could go but the bottom was still nowhere in sight," the AP reported Starnawski's discovery makes Hranice Abyss the world's deepest known underwater cave Starnawski told the National Geographic, which first reported the discovery that hot water saturated with carbon dioxide bubbled up and wore away the rock But the water's composition also damages equipment and injures exposed skin Add to that muddy waters and a temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit "that is the only price to be paid for this discovery A remotely-operated underwater robot explores for the cave's bottom Looking to access paid articles across multiple policy topics Interested in policy insights for EU professional organisations Danish police closed a motorway and rail links with Germany yesterday (9 September) in a bid to stem the flow of refugees heading north to Sweden as Europe’s migrant crisis spreads northward Danish customs officers watch traffic at a checkpoint on the German-Danish border as Europe's migrant crisis spreads northward a vital traffic artery for people and goods between the two countries Police tried to persuade them to leave but appeared reluctant to use force "We are trying to talk to them and tell them that it is a really bad idea to walk on the motorway," a police spokeswoman said Police also asked the state-owned railway operator to stop all trains between Germany and Denmark until further notice many fleeing war and Islamic State in Syria are trying to reach safety in EU countries willing to have them but Sweden is also a favourite destination Both countries have more generous policies for refugees than their EU neighbours TV footage showed a refugee explaining that he didn’t want to stay in Denmark as this country required at least one year before family reunification is allowed Sweden allows family reunification much faster Denmark has in fact published advertisements in Lebanese media aimed at discouraging migrants from coming to the country note that Denmark has reduced social benefits to migrants significantly that those given asylum will not be allowed to have their families brought to the country during the first year that a residence permit is delivered only to those who speak Danish and that rejected asylum seekers are swiftly sent back to their home countries >> Read: Denmark advertises how bad the country is to refugees where borders are meant to be open to allow free movement When asked by Reuters whether blocking the road and rail links meant breaking with the Schengen system a police spokesman he did not think so as he expected to traffic to start moving again soon where train ferries arrive in Denmark from Germany two trains carrying about 240 people were stopped by police Refugees on board were refusing to leave the train Around 100 foreign passengers left a train that was still on a ferry and were transferred to a school for registration Many refugees are reluctant to register in Denmark where a centre-right government has cut benefits "We know that many of them want to go to Sweden but naturally we cannot let that happen," police spokesman Carsten Andersen said We are waiting patiently for some of them to agree to that and stick their heads out of the trains." Justice Minister Søren Pindsaid he was cutting short a trip to the United States to return to Denmark decided that for the near future no travellers from Syria etcetera will arrive in Denmark by ferry to Rødby," police said in a statement Did Britain seriously consider threatening Argentina with submarine-launched nuclear missiles Was Argentina dissuaded from launching an earlier invasion of the islands by Margaret Thatcher's less bellicose but militarily shrewder predecessor who despatched a submarine to the south Atlantic as a deterrent why exactly was the elderly Argentinian cruiser Belgrano sunk by a British submarine in May 1982 killing 323 sailors and hugely escalating the Falklands conflict This book touches tantalisingly on the first two questions but only seriously addresses the third whose history and on-board culture he describes with compelling intimacy but sometimes questionable reverence but also slid through the oceans semi-blind Their tightly bonded crews habitually kept quiet about their missions whenever they resurfaced "Submariners have an air about them," he writes "which seems to hint that they know things the rest of us can never know." The stories Prebble has prised from its crewmen go beyond the Belgrano incident and its highly charged aftermath and into waters previously uncharted by journalists and historians guardedly described research - there are no footnotes or lists of primary sources only a brief bibliography made up mostly of standard histories - he has extracted quite a scoop: that both shortly before and shortly after the Falklands war the Conqueror undertook a bizarre but ultimately successful cold-war mission which has remained secret ever since probably near the Soviet naval base of Murmansk the submarine stole a giant eastern bloc undersea listening device thick metal cable strung with unusually effective underwater microphones and designed to be towed by a submarine or surface vessel the stolen device was an important component in both the maritime balance of power and east-west espionage needed to know whether the cable had been developed by the Russians or copied from similar western technology by Soviet agents the Royal Navy called the undersea heist Operation Barmaid and in the introduction he talks up his exclusive in the style of a press release or the breathless opening minutes of a modern documentary as "a tale as incredible as the exploits of James Bond Some of the story of how Prebble got it is threaded through the book mildly self-congratulatory journalistic reminiscences running alongside the sterner military history he had made a Belgrano film based around an interview with an unusually forthcoming former junior officer from the Conqueror who had kept a diary that dealt in detail with the Argentinian ship's sinking Sethia and his diary had been drawn into the vortex of smears cover-ups and revelations that followed the torpedoing but he had been happy with Prebble's programme and afterwards invited him to his wedding in south London "Later that day I found myself in a nearby public house with several of the former crew of the Conqueror," writes Prebble The conversation turned to an infamous missing six months in the official log of the submarine's activities which Sethia – wrongly – had been accused of stealing With a little prompting from the ex-submariners Much more of the log had disappeared than the few days dealing with the Belgrano: "Perhaps what was being hidden was not to do with the [Falklands] war." He cagily continues: "One way and another in the course of the remainder of that evening and after some other enquiries in the following days I learned about … Operation Barmaid." – decided that Barmaid was too sensitive to "national security" to reveal to the public He would wait until a less delicate moment the reader waits for the story of Barmaid too Nonfiction books that are labours of love can have their disadvantages such as the desire to include every scrap of material extraneous passages about the off-duty exploits of the Conqueror's sailors his family background and his post-navy life running a yachting business in the Carribbean this could add up to more than padding and colour: there is clearly a connection between the elaborate pranks played on each other by the submariners and the slyness and cheek of the Barmaid plan but Prebble is too fond of blokey anecdotes about naughty sailors in "some of the most exotic locations in the world" to properly draw it out Excited stuff about the Conqueror as "a state-of-the-art fighting machine" and submarines as "the chariots of modern war" also mars the early pages But once the submarine puts to sea for its cold war and Falklands missions Prebble writes concretely and well about the vessel and life on board it: the impossibly tight spaces the absence of nature except for the potentially crushing mass of water all around The attack on the Belgrano is described clearly "Late that morning … the captain announced to the crew that they had orders to sink the Belgrano and that after lunch they would be going to action stations." Before condemning the Argentinians to burn the submariners ate "roast pork with all the trimmings" some of the submariners were "all pumped up"; others were stunned and introspective in two dozen concluding pages on Operation Barmaid Back at base in Scotland after the Falklands the Conqueror was secretly fitted with two pairs of giant pincers Then it slipped out to sea to intercept an eastern bloc trawler that had been spotted towing one of the sought-after listening cables the submarine rose slowly upwards beneath the trawler to within "a few feet" of its engine propellers Then one pair of pincers cut through the cable The other pair grabbed the severed section before it sank to the sea floor And the Conqueror ghosted away with its precious cargo Once the submarine docked in Scotland again "within hours" the cable "was on its way to Prestwick airport for a flight across the Atlantic for analysis" What our American allies learned from the seized listening device and whether the Russians saw its disappearance as suspicious despite his own impressive display of patience and ingenuity here Andy Beckett's When the Lights Went Out is published by Faber Czech National Championship 2015 will be held in Hranice (27th February to 1th March 2015) The 2014 titles winners in singles are Tomáš KONECNY in the Men’s and Iveta VACENOVSKA in Women’s Event In Plzen Tomáš KONECNÝ overcame Dmitrij PROKOPCOV in the In Plzen Tomáš KONECNÝ overcame Dmitrij PROKOPCOV in the final (Men’s Singles winner in 2013) 4:2 the top seed Iveta VACENOVSKÁ in final overcame Katerina PENKAVOVÁ 4:1 Czech National Championship 2015 in Hranice: Friday 27th February – qualification Saturday 28th February – Main draw Sunday 1th The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body of the sport of table tennis in Europe and is the only authority recognized for this purpose by the International Table Tennis Federation The ETTU deals with all matters relating to table tennis at a European level including the development and promotion of the sport in the territories controlled by its 58 member associations and the organization of continental table tennis competitions Cizinci, kteří v posledních 14 dnech před příjezdem do České republiky pobývali na území státu s vysokým rizikem výskytu onemocnění COVID-19 podle hodnocení Ministerstva zdravotnictví, zveřejněného na našich webových stránkách a kteří projevují příznaky onemocnění COVID-19 se provede odběr biologického vzorku za účelem zjištění přítomnosti onemocnění COVID-19 je cizinec oprávněn pokračovat ve své cestě avšak v případě zjištění přítomnosti onemocnění COVID-19 nařídí místně příslušná krajská hygienická stanice karanténu v délce 14 dnů „Doposud se mimořádné opatření vztahovalo pouze na osoby s trvalým pobytem v ČR či přechodným nad 90 dnů včetně cizinců u nás pracujících Nově pokud budou zjištěny u běžného turisty na hranicích zdravotní příznaky bude mu udělán odběr a v případě pozitivity mu nařídí Krajská hygienická stanice karanténu,“ vysvětlil ministr Adam Vojtěch Mimořádné opatření je vydáváno vzhledem k výskytu čtyř desítek případů tohoto onemocnění na území České republiky Na základě postupného šíření tohoto onemocnění v sousedních či blízkých zemích že se toto onemocnění bude dále významně na území České republiky šířit 47-year-old Polish diver Krzysztof Starnawski currently holds a world record for the deepest dive with a rebreather Going to such depths takes a toll on the human body “If I spend three or four minutes at the bottom, I need six to seven hours to decompress,” Starnawski recently told National Geographic Starnawski has plunged into caves throughout the world but one of the most interesting ones is close to home: the diver has been exploring a cave in Hranice Starnawski discovered something interesting When exploring what he previously thought was the bottom of the cave at just shy of 200 meters below the surface he noticed a small shaft that he was able to squeeze through instantly making it the second-deepest underwater cave in the world but at the time Starnawski lacked the equipment to prove it The current record holder for deepest underwater cave is Italy’s Pozzo del Merro Starnawski and his team received a research grant from National Geographic to further explore the cave he returned to find that the passageway he previously squeezed through had now collapsed the team will again attempt to reach the bottom of the cave this time using a custom-built probe to navigate the very bottom You can follow the exploration of Krzysztof Starnawski and his team at the Facebook page Hranicka Propast – step beyond 400m never surfaced after exploring a shipwreck in the Baltic sea Starnawski has dedicated the new passage to his friend Your morning coffee deserves a great companion. Why not enjoy it with our daily newsletter? News from Czechia, curated insights, and inspiring stories in English. V důsledku doznívajících evropských změn po rozpadu monarchie vypukl na den přesně před 100 lety na jehož základě byla stanovena státní hranice mezi nedávno vzniklým Československem a Polskem Ta mimo jiné rozdělila tehdejší Těšín na dvě části V listopadu předchozího roku (1918) bylo podepsáno příměří jež je všeobecně považováno za konec první světové války podobně jako v dalších příhraničních oblastech Československa se definitivní hranice teprve tvořily přičemž někde se část žádaného území násilím anektovalo Menších ozbrojených konfliktů se tehdy v Evropě současně vedlo hned několik kde právě kvůli stanovení hranice mezi Československem a Polskem vypukl na konci ledna 1919 krátký válečný konflikt známý jako Sedmidenní válka o Těšínsko Proč republika nekončí u Ostravy? Před 98 lety Češi uspěli v bitvě o Těšínsko které by bylo možné připojit k tomu či onomu státu Bylo prokazatelně součástí Rakouského Slezska kterou československá vláda podle dřívějších diplomatických ujednání Československého národního výboru s vládami dohodových spojeneckých zemí považovala za součást ČSR Čtěte také obsáhlý dokument Muzea Těšínska Legionáři a hranice Československa v letech 1918 až 1920 Protože ale ve východní – těšínské – části Rakouského Slezska žilo podle posledního rakouského sčítání lidu z roku 1910 celkem 427 tisíc lidí přičemž víc než 55 procent z nich mluvilo polsky Město Těšín a další důležitá místa v zemi záhy obsadili jednotkami své armády a četnictva soudy i nádraží a přistoupili k zavádění polské administrativy a organizovali dokonce i odvody branců do polské armády a s nimi dokonce i nemalá část polsky mluvícího obyvatelstva – však představy národně uvědomělých Poláků nesdíleli Především se však s těmito představami neztotožňovala československá vláda A protože se Poláci chystali vypsat na leden 1919 parlamentní volby které měly proběhnout také na území celého Těšínského Slezska Na společném zasedání vlády a prezidenta T ledna 1919 se rozhodlo o obsazení území Československou armádou s cílem vytlačit všechny polské vojenské jednotky za hranice Ještě pár hodin před termínem stanoveným pro zahájení operace (23 hodin) se k polskému vojenskému veliteli v Těšíně tehdejší podplukovník Josef Šnejdárek se skupinou důstojníků Dohody a s ultimátem podle kterého měli Poláci vyklidit sporné území až za řeku Bialu Termín byl šibeniční a prakticky nesplnitelný - dvě hodiny Československá armáda proto zahájila obsazování Těšínska se stejným úkolem jaký dostaly její jednotky dříve na Slovensku a v oblastech obývaných převážně Němci Silnější československé jednotky postupovaly vpřed a Poláci se stáhli za řeku Bialu a ke Skoczówu kterým se vidina další války ve střední Evropě nijak nelíbila Československá armáda na Těšínsku obdržela z Prahy rozkaz k okamžitému zastavení všech operací 30 Spojenecké velení v Paříži nařídilo oběma stranám zastavení všech vojenských operací a přimělo je k uzavření příměří Konečný verdikt neuspokojil ani jednu stranu Čechoslováci zase přišli o část historického území Důležitou bohumínsko-košickou dráhu a uhelná pole pod Karvinou vpadla na sporná území polská vojska znovu Pro operace v severozápadní části Těšínska byl vyčleněn 21 střelecký pluk francouzských legionářů se třemi prapory (s francouzským velením) myslivecký prapor z Fryštátu a také několik dobrovolnických praporů - bohumínský byly určeny dva prapory italských legionářů a další jednotky domácího československého vojska Prvosledové pluky měly zajištěnou podporu praporů domácího vojska obrněného vlaku i dvou baterií dělostřelectva a jezdecké roty Velitel polských vojsk Franciszek Latinik měl k dispozici na Těšínsku pět praporů pěchoty asi 550 příslušníků polského četnictva a několik dobrovolnických jednotek ale jejich bojová hodnota se s československými legionáři nedala srovnat Polské zdroje uvádí počet milicionářů od 600 do 1300 2 000 polských vojáků a neurčený počet civilistů Síla československé armády je pak udávána na 16 tisíc mužů zraněných 855 a nezvěstných 813," vypočítává historik Muzea Těšínska Jan Saheb Československé jednotky navíc 576 Poláků zajaly Velvyslanci vítězných válečných mocností navrhli v belgickém Spa rozdělení Těšínska na dvě části – polskou „východní" část o rozloze přibližně tisíc kilometrů čtverečních a československou „západní" část velkou zhruba 1300 kilometrů čtverečních Nová hraniční linie tvořená řekou Olší rozdělila v roce 1920 i samotné město Těšín Přesto rozpory o Těšínsko zdaleka neskončily a probíhaly s různou intenzitou až do roku 1958 Smlouva mezi Československou republikou a Polskou lidovou republikou o konečném vytýčení státních hranic byla podepsaná ve Varšavě 3 ledna 1919 ve 13 hodin české vojsko zahájilo útok na Těšínsko z pověření československé vlády uzavřel příměří s velitelem polské armády února 1919 byla v Paříži podepsaná smlouva o nové demarkační linií mezi Československem a Polskem.12 února 1919 zahájila v Těšíně činnost spojenecká kontrolní komise která měla za úkol dohlížet na dodržování podepsané smlouvy o demarkační linii.26 února 1919 se československá vojska stáhla na novou demarkační linii července 1920 česká i polská strana souhlasila že o příslušnosti sporného těšínského území nerozhodne plebiscit ale arbitrážní rozhodnutí hlavních vítězů 1 července 1920 konference velvyslanců vydala rozhodnutí o československo-polských hranicích se závěrem rozdělit Těšínsko na polskou a českou část Československé požadavky týkající se uhelného revíru a Košicko-bohumínské dráhy byly v podstatě respektovány.1 října 1938 Československá vláda přistoupila na polské ultimátum a vyslovila souhlas s odstoupením části Těšínska o rozloze 869 kilometrů čtverečních.13 června 1958 byla ve Varšavě podepsaná Smlouva mezi Československou republikou a Polskou lidovou republikou o konečném vytýčení státních hranic.14 února 1959 Smlouva nabyla platnost a udělala tečku v územních sporech o Těšínsko února se bude ve 14 hodin konat rekonstrukce bitvy pod Skočovem a to v lokalitě poblíž ulice Kossak-Szatkowskiej ve Skočově Diváky čeká historická inscenace průběhu střetnutí českých a polských oddílů z roku 2019 Účastnit se jí budou i české skupiny vojenské historie - KVH Karla Vasatka či KVH Slovacko.Připraven je také doprovodný program Velmi temnou stránkou sedmidenní války je „Stonavský masakr“ střeleckého pluku (legionáři) měli povraždit již jako zajatce K podobným událostem mělo docházet i jinde Šnejdárka na Polácích“ (Biała Księga zbrodni wojsk gen která tyto a podobné události popisuje a opírá se o výpovědi svědků a fotografie obětí že zvláště v oblasti karvinského revíru se polské dobrovolnické milice velmi často uchylovaly k záškodnickému či guerillovému vedení boje vojska byla odstřelována ze zálohy z obytných domů polskými civilisty byli bez soudu a okamžitě pověšeni nebo zastřeleni Obě strany se pak vzájemně obviňovaly z dobíjení raněných