When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
True Fiction

Roaring Twenties Redux: 12 Bold Predictions For A Decade To Come

Once again, we are entering the Twenties, a decade which, last century, saw an eruption of freedom caught between two immense tragedies. Here is a little taste of what might await us this time around.

Walking toward 2020
Walking toward 2020
Jacques Attali*

PARIS — Over the past ten years, we have witnessed an incredible number of improbable events. From an Islamic caliphate being established and then collapsing in Iraq and Syria, to a property developer being elected president of the United States and a complete unknown being elected president of France. We have made unbelievable progress in artificial intelligence, seen a global environmental movement spearheaded by a 14-year-old girl, and watched as the UK decided to leave the European Union. There have been terrorist attacks on the streets of Paris, fires spreading from the Amazon to Australia, and protests in Hong Kong, Santiago, Quito and Algiers, to name just a few.

Now we are once again entering the Twenties, a decade which, last century, saw an eruption of freedom and flapper girls, caught between two immense tragedies.

So here are twelve extreme, unlikely but by no means impossible, events that could take place before 2030 — some are negative, others positive, but all are events for which we must be prepared:

1. The global financial system could collapse amid a huge financial crisis. If the stock exchange were to crash and unlisted companies went bankrupt, banks and investment funds would fail, protectionist measures would be introduced and there would be a major recession in the United States, China and Europe.

2. North Korea could fire a nuclear missile at Tokyo or Washington, causing untold damage and a death toll reaching the hundreds of thousands.

3. The Roman Catholic Church could collapse, as the Soviet Union did, as its leaders become progressively more liberal.

4. Russia might invade the Baltic States, and the United States may not defend their sovereignty, destroying Europeans' firmly held trust in the NATO alliance.

5. A new Islamic caliphate could be established in parts of Libya, Niger, Mali and Nigeria, supported by Turkey. France and African countries would be powerless to stop it.

6. A far-right President could be elected in France, and work with Italy against the European Union.

7. The United States could elect a female, environmentally conscious Democrat President who would renew the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and introduce gun control laws.

We could see democratic revolutions in the countries where they seem most unlikely.

8. There might be new medical discoveries that allow us to cure the most resistant cancers and reduce the health risks associated with obesity.

9. Environmental issues might finally get the recognition they deserve. Governments could implement carbon pricing schemes to fix the price at 100 dollars per ton, make global efforts to recycle all the waste clogging up our oceans, and make a viable plan to combat deforestation and the desertification of the Sahel.

10. The world's 50 largest public and private investment funds could make a legally binding pledge to invest only in socially and environmentally responsible companies.

11. We could see democratic revolutions in the countries where they seem most unlikely, such as Russia, Turkey and China, where artificial intelligence technologies could be put to democratic use.

12. There may be some truly original works of art and new artistic movements that change how we see the world.

We must be prepared for all of this. Prepared to fight or dodge it, or to push change forward. However, it's likely that reality will again prove far more surprising than anything we could have predicted.


*Jacques Attali is a French economic and social theorist, writer and political adviser.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Green

Forest Networks? Revisiting The Science Of Trees And Funghi "Reaching Out"

A compelling story about how forest fungal networks communicate has garnered much public interest. Is any of it true?

Thomas Brail films the roots of a cut tree with his smartphone.

Arborist and conservationist Thomas Brail at a clearcutting near his hometown of Mazamet in the Tarn, France.

Melanie Jones, Jason Hoeksema, & Justine Karst

Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. Through this web, the story goes, trees share carbon, water, and other nutrients, and even send chemical warnings of dangers such as insect attacks. The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society.

But is any of it true?

The three of us have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media about the wood-wide web. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies, including several of our own, that looked at the role fungal networks play in resource transfer in forests. What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike.

First, let’s be clear: Fungi do grow inside and on tree roots, forming a symbiosis called a mycorrhiza, or fungus-root. Mycorrhizae are essential for the normal growth of trees. Among other things, the fungi can take up from the soil, and transfer to the tree, nutrients that roots could not otherwise access. In return, fungi receive from the roots sugars they need to grow.

As fungal filaments spread out through forest soil, they will often, at least temporarily, physically connect the roots of two neighboring trees. The resulting system of interconnected tree roots is called a common mycorrhizal network, or CMN.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest