Hard Numbers: Endangered penguins, Chinese bots strike again, Athens choking, Nigeria targets Biafran separatists

Hard Numbers: Endangered penguins, Chinese bots strike again, Athens choking, Nigeria targets Biafran separatists

80: If polar ice caps continue to melt at their current pace due to climate change, 80 percent of all emperor penguins will be wiped out by the end of the century because they need the ice for breeding and keeping their offspring safe. American authorities want to list emperor penguins, which only live in Antarctica, as an endangered species so that US fishing vessels will be required to protect them when operating in their habitat.

350: A network of over 350 fake accounts is amplifying pro-China propaganda on Western social media, according to a new study. Although there's no concrete evidence that the Chinese government is behind it, the matrix resembles previous ones taken down by Facebook and Twitter, and its bots have posted cartoons mocking enemies of Beijing like exiled tycoon Guo Wengui and whistleblower virologist Li-Meng Yan.

465: Clouded in smoke as multiple fires rage across Greece, Athens is reporting 465 micrograms of fine dust per cubic meter (35 cubic feet) in the city center, almost 10 times the level deemed safe by the EU. Thousands of residents have been evacuated due to the blazes, the worst seen in decades, amid a blistering heatwave that has also hit neighboring countries Turkey, North Macedonia, Albania, and Italy.

115: Amnesty International says Nigerian security forces have killed at least 115 people in the year leading up to June 2021 in their campaign against Biafran separatists in the country's southeast. Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the pro-independence Indigenous People of Biafra movement, was extradited last month from Kenya to face trial for treason, which carries the death penalty.

More from GZERO Media

Five years ago, Microsoft set bold 2030 sustainability goals: to become carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste—all while protecting ecosystems. That commitment remains—but the world has changed, technology has evolved, and the urgency of the climate crisis has only grown. This summer, Microsoft launched the 2025 Environmental Sustainability Report, offering a comprehensive look at the journey so far, and how Microsoft plans to accelerate progress. You can read the report here.

Punjab, Pakistan - Photos show flood-hit areas in Punjab, Pakistan, on August 26, 2025. Pakistan has evacuated tens of thousands of people to safer areas after neighboring India released water from overflowing dams and swollen rivers into low-lying border regions, officials said Tuesday.

150,000: Pakistan has evacuated at least 150,000 people from areas around three rivers of the Punjab province. Flooding risks are driving the evacuations, as monsoon rains continue to batter large portions of South Asia.

Graph of new college graduate unemployment compared to the national average, with new graduate unemployment surpassing the national average for the first time in 2022, when ChatGPT was released and the AI revolution began.
Eileen Zhang

You can’t step outside these days without hearing someone talking about AI’s impending slaughter of white-collar jobs.

- YouTube

The world is shifting from an “Age of Impunity” to an “Age of Cruelty,” says David Miliband on GZERO World, where power is exercised without accountability, human rights are ignored, and civilians increasingly suffer the consequences.

- YouTube

America’s retreat from global aid is leaving a massive funding gap that no other country is stepping in to fill, leaving the world’s poorest to pay the price, warns IRC president & CEO David Miliband on GZERO World with Ian Bremmer.

College graduate unemployment rate.
Eileen Zhang

“Pain and agony and suffering,” wrote Sam Angel, about his job hunt. He recently graduated with a masters in Cold War military history from Columbia University in New York, having decided to go right into a masters program after finishing undergrad.