Joint Operation’s News

Year 10 Vol.No: (113) June 2019 M O N T H LY N E W S

Al Khafji Joint Operations Holds a Greeting Ceremony for its employees

A delegation from Hafir Al Batin University visits Aramco Gulf Operations

The Department of Industrial Security and Safety holds a meeting with department managers

Sap Success Factors For Kjo

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My fellow brothers and sisters at Al Khafji Joint Operations

It is my pleasure to extend to you and your family the best congratulations and blessings on the occasion of the blessed Eid Al-Fitr, asking the Almighty Allah to return it to us and to you with all the good and blessings.

I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to all of you, and especially our shift working colleagues, during the Eid Al Fitr holiday, for their active role in the conduct of the company›s business and the preservation of its capabilities.

There is no doubt that the holiday of Eid al-Fitr is an occasion to strengthen the bonds of kinship and strengthen family and social relations and recreation for children and may require travel, therefore I urge everyone to abide by safety regulations at home and on the road as well as in the practice of entertainment and social events.

We look forward to returning to our business after the Eid holiday and we are at the highest level of readiness to redouble our efforts. To achieve excellence in all our careers we require cooperation, sincerity, teamwork, maintaining the highest standards of safety and striving to reach our goals, and the aspirations of Al Khafji Joint Operations.

Your brother: Azab bin Mohammed Al QahtaniChairman of the Joint Operational Committee

Al- Khafji Joint Operationsand its employees extends their sincere Eid greetings

to

The Custodian of the Two Holy MosquesH.R.H. King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

King of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

His Royal Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

Amir of the State of Kuwait

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al SaudCrown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Defense

His Royal Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

Crown Prince

Technical Support Supervisor Salem Al-DousariManaging Editor Falah Al-AjmiEditor-in-Chief Eng. Riyadh Al-Hassan Editing Supervisor Abdullah Al-Shammari

w w w . k j o . c o m . s a

Year 10 Vol.No: (113) June 2019Joint Operation’s News

DORRA I Newsletter2

On the morning of Monday, June 10, 2019, Al Khafji Joint Operations held a celebration in the Executive Hall to

exchange greetings on the occasion of Eid Al Fitr. The ceremony was attended by the Acting Chairman of the Joint Operational Committe Eng. Mohammed Al Khatib, Executive Director of Industrial Services Abdullah bin Mufleh Al Qahtani, and from Aamco Gulf Operations attended by Acting President and Chief Executive Officer Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman Al Dosari,

Executive Director of Operations Eng. Nasser Al Ardhi, and Executive Director of Human Resources Tawfiq Al Ateeq.

The ceremony was attended by departmental mangers and a large number of employees where they exchanged greetings and congratulations for the Eid in a wonderful family atmosphere.

The Department of Public and Government Relations had

previously called on all employees to participate in the celebration, set the time, and place. The message concluded by taking this opportunity to send all the employees and their families the best regards.

The greeting ceremony lasted for more than an hour. It started at 10:30 a.m. and lasted until 11:45 a.m., and witnessed a great presence.

On the first working day after Eid Al Fitr

Al Khafji Joint Operations Holds a Greeting Ceremony for its employees

Year 10 Vol.No: (113) June 2019 Joint Operation’s News

DORRA I Newsletter 3

Acting Chairman of the Operational Committee Eng. Mohammad Al-Khatib

along with the Executive Directors went on a safety inspection. The inspection consisted of two teams. The teams were divided into two groups according to the tasks assigned to them:

- Group I: Participated by the Acting Chairman of the Joint Operational Committee Eng. Mohammed Al Khatib, Executive Director of Projects & Engineering Eng. Mohammad Al-Hamdan, and a number of department

managers and specialists, where they inspected the Maintenance Support Services department.

The Executive Director of Industrial Services Abdullah Al Qahtani, the Executive Director of Human Resources and the A/Executive Director Business Administration Mubarak Al-Saeedi, the Executive Director of Projects at Aramco Gulf Operations and a number of department directors and specialists, attended the second group.

The two groups were directly acquainted with

the extent to which the staff at those sites were adhering to the safety standards and procedures adopted, the safety systems, and their readiness.

In the course of the safety tour, Al Khatib delivered Al Rushid Contracting Company a certificate of appreciation to achieve 6.7 million working hours without injuries. He also honored three employees selected by the Industrial Security and Safety Department during the month of June 2019 within the Safe Driving Campaign for their exemplary

leadership and outstanding commitment. The safe driving winners are: Abdullah Al-Qahtani, Ibrahim Al-Shehab and Abdullah Al-Ruwaili, where he handed them their certificates of appreciation and photographed them with commemorative pictures on this occasion.

For the importance of public safety, the Executive Directorate conducts a periodic review of comprehensive safety at the joint operations facilities to reflect the commitment of all continuing personnel to safely implement loss prevention processes and programs.

To achieve the highest safety standards and procedures in Al Khafji Joint OperationsExecutive Management inspect safety procedures on the ground

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aramco Gulf Operations Eng. Azab bin Mohammed Al-Qahtani reciweved in his office on

Monday, 20 May 2019, Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Hafir Al-Batin, Advisor to the Rector Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Hermas, and his companions: Director General of Finance and Administration Fayez bin Mohammed Al-Shammari and the General Supervisor of the General Department of Technical Affairs Eng. Salem bin Hamad Al-Najran, in the context of their visit to the province of Al Khafji.

The meeting was also attended by Acting Director of Human Resources Tawfiq Al Ateeq, and Project Manager Mohsen Al Otaibi from Aramco Gulf Operations.

During the meeting, Dr. Hermas gave a presentation on the university and its achievements and the impact it has on academic and community service.

The meeting dealt with the work of AGOC, which plays an important role in the service, and development of the society.

To achieve the highest safety standards and procedures in Al Khafji Joint Operations

A delegation from Hafir Al Batin University visits Aramco Gulf Operations

Year 10 Vol.No: (113) June 2019Joint Operation’s News

DORRA I Newsletter4

On the morning of Thursday, May 16, 2019, the Industrial Security and Safety Department implemented an unspoken

fictional hypothesis to extinguish the fires. The scenario was based on a report to the fire station in the southern region that a flammable petroleum fluid was leaking with an injured person at the site. The situation was controlled in record time, the injured was saved and first aid work was given to him on

site, awaiting the arrival of the ambulance team from the Joint Operations Hospital.

The scenario was prepared by specialists in the planning and training department and with the participation of the fire department. They worked on implementing the plan in order to identify the preparations of the KJO fire stations and their support agencies in emergency situations. It also helps to raise

the level of coordination between all the relevant authorities and to raise the level of readiness and efficiency of the firefighters in how to deal with the potential fires in the area of KJO operations. The hypothesis situation was followed up by close from the Industrial Security and Safety Department Manager Sultan Al-Sadoun.

The Department of Industrial Security and Safety implements a fire extinguishing hypothesis

On Sunday, May 26, 2019, the Industrial Security and Safety Department held

a meeting with the department managers to discuss their preparedness in case of emergency and to ensure its commitment to implement the approved plan for KJO.

The meeting was chaired by Industrial Securtiy and Safety manager Sultan Al-Sadoun, and attended by KJO Managers.

At the beginning of the meeting, Al-Sadoun welcomed the participants and pointed out the purpose of the meeting and its importance in the implementation of the emergency response plan for Al-Khafji Joint Operations. He stressed the utmost necessity for each department to understand and adhere to its detailed tasks in emergency plans.

Then the Acting Superintendent of Loss Prevention Muqbil Al-Thifeeri presented a

visual presentation entitled «Preparedness of Emergency and Evacuation Plans» which included a statement of the main elements, the purpose of the plan, and in any case the activation and application of the plan, a statement of the functions of all concerned departments and participation in the emergency plan supported for joint operations with reference number 6400-08-01 KJO-ERP. He also highlighted the procedural details of the General Evacuation Plan in case of extreme necessity for non-operational situations and reviewed the communication and communication mechanisms with the Emergency Control Center of Al Khafji Joint Operations under the direct chairmanship of the Chairman of the Joint Operational Committee in case of emergency when the situation is catastrophic. The tasks of all the departments involved in the emergency plan for Khafji Joint Operations were also discussed.

To discuss contingency plans and confirm readiness in accordance with the approved plan for KJO

The Department of Industrial Security and Safety holds a meeting with department managers

Year 10 Vol.No: (113) June 2019 Joint Operation’s News

DORRA I Newsletter 5

Information Technology Department conducted a demo for the SAP

SuccessFactors solution for the EDH Business Line (TDD,ERD, POD) on the 5th of May, 2019 at TDD Auditorium. Over the past couple of months ITD Application Support Division has been working in close coordination with the business to identify their urgent concerns and accordingly we have worked with SAP to find the solution that would address these concerns. Subsequently the demo for SAP SuccessFactors solution was organized to familiarize the key business users with the functionalities of this system.

ITD Application Support Division Superintendent Eng. Mohammad Abdullah Al Nufaey welcomed the attendees and introduced the SAP team comprising of Fadi Toumeh (SAP HCM Solution Executive) and Alanoud A. Alsalman (SAP HCM Solution Advisor). He highlighted the global trend in

software applications and especially in hiring, developing, and retaining Human Capital in companies. He also underscored how such a system will positively impact KJO. He also explained to the audience the purpose of this session and encouraged them to actively get involved and clarify any doubts they may have. Miss Alanoud then proceeded to give a detailed demo about the SAP SuccessFactors solution. The session included a general overview first, followed by a more KJO specific solution brief, which included

1.Learning and Competency Management: Improve employee skills, reduce compliance risk, and effectively engage any learning audience with one comprehensive, modern Learning solution that improves engagement and reduces complexity and cost. Have the ability to deliver any modality of training anytime, make the path to learning more personalized,

and easily measure the learning outcomes. Create development plans and link them to competencies.

2.Succession Planning and Development: Identify and develop the talent needed to improve organizational strength and achieve today’s business goals, while providing visibility and planning for future growth at all levels. Improve employee engagement and retention with continuous development and career planning.

3. Performance Management/ Goals: Put employee performance at the center of the process so the people can perform at their best. Keep the workforce constantly focused on the right business objectives, help employees improve and succeed with ongoing feedback and coaching, and accurately measure the value and impact of your employees.

During and after the session several questions were asked by the attendees which were duly answered by the SAP Team. Mr. Jaber Haider from TDD explained about the IHRDC Competency Management System that KJO is currently using and about the competency library it has. He explained how it is working and wanted to know how this can be handled in SAP SuccessFactors. It was decided that we would be having another focused session for TDD to help better map the business requirements to the corresponding features of the system. Mr. Abdullah Ibrahim from ITD closed the session and thanked all the participants for attending and contributing in what was a highly informative and interactive session. He reiterated the commitment of ITD Application Support Division in ensuring that the KJO business get the top notch and innovative technologies that help us become the model Oil and Gas Company in the region.

Sap Success Factors For Kjo

Year 10 Vol.No: (113) June 2019

| Management |

The success of the organization depends on

its employees and the ones to whom they are accountable, i.e. Managers and Supervisors. These are two important positions in an organization, which guide the entire team of workers, in the pursuit of common goals of the organization. Managers are the ones who control and administer the entire enterprise, On the other hand, Supervisor is someone who is the leader in the first line management of the organization and thus looks after the work and performance of the employees. While Manager belongs to business level management, Supervisor is a part of the functional level management of the organization. He/She instructs and monitors his subordinates at work. When one wants to know about various managerial positions in the corporate ladder, he/she should understand the difference between manager and supervisor.Definition of SupervisorA supervisor is an employee and the head of the front line management who watches

the employees and their activities working under him/her. He/She has the authority to delegate the task to the individual workers, approve working hours and to resolve the payroll issues. The duty of the supervisor is to oversee his men working at the workplace and analyze their performance and productivity.The major responsibility of a supervisor is to look after his men that they reach the targeted production level in the stipulated time. They help in the smooth functioning of the day to day operations of the enterprise. The given are some tasks performed by the supervisor in general:To implement the policies made by the upper-level management.To make short action plans as a stepping stone to achieve targets.Assigning work to workers.Coordinate the people at work.Motivating, guiding and training s u b o r d i n a t e s .

Preparing timely reports regarding the performance of the employees.Listening and resolving the worker complaints and grievances.Definition of ManagerA manager is a person who manages the resources of the organization. By resources, we mean men, money, material, method and machinery. But not only the resources, but a manager is in charge of the entire management of the organization.There are mainly five functions of a manager, indicated below:PlanningOrganizingStaffingMotivating & LeadingControllingCoordination.In general, a manager does not do any work himself but gets it done by his subordinates. He/She is the representative of the whole department, unit or division of the second level or top level management. He/She has got the authority to recruit employees and terminate them as well.There are some managers in a single organization, i.e. general manager, production manager, finance manager, sales manager, customer relationship manager, etc. The function of these managers is based on the department they head.

Difference Between Supervisor and Manager

https://keydifferences.com

Panorama

Various versions of the intermittent fasting diet appear to have weight loss benefits. A new study investigating

why they work concludes that circadian rhythms are key.Drinking water jugIntermittent fasting has become popular, but how does it work?While the modern world appears awash with fad diets, people seem to be giving a fair bit of attention to intermittent fasting.As its name implies, intermittent fasting involves eating nothing for extended periods of time.Some studies have found that this type of diet is beneficial, but exactly why it benefits health is not yet clear.Recently, a group of scientists at the University of California, Irvine investigated the impact of fasting on our circadian clock.Daily sleep–wake cycles, or circadian rhythms, drive the ebb and flow of human life; they control much more than just our sleepiness levels. Our 24-hour cycles involve metabolic, physiological, and behavioral changes that impact every tissue of the body.Perhaps the most well-known way to influence the clock is via exposure to bright lights, but this isn›t the only way; food intake also impacts the clock.We are slowly beginning to understand how eating plays a role in modulating circadian rhythms, but we know even less about how a lack of food might affect rhythms.Fasting and circadian rhythmsThe authors of the new study were particularly interested in learning about how fasting influenced circadian rhythms in the liver and skeletal muscles. The researchers published their findings in the journal Cell Reports.Fasting is a natural phenomenon for most animals, because food is not always readily available. In times of hardship, certain metabolic changes occur to allow the body to adapt.For instance, when glucose is scarce, the liver begins to create ketones from fatty acids, which the body can use as an emergency energy source.A host of fasting-induced transcription factors drive these metabolic changes. These transcription factors also seem to influence circadian rhythms.As an example, one study split mice into two groups; the researchers put one on an intermittent fasting regime, and they allowed the second to eat whenever it liked.Both groups consumed the same amount of fat and calories; however, despite having the same energy intake, mice in the fasting group did not develop obesity or metabolic disorders as the other mice did.Also, importantly, the authors noted that the animals› circadian oscillations were more robust in the fasting group.As the authors of the recent study point out, «[F]asting appears to be a strong metabolic cue to entrain rhythmic gene expression.»Scientists believe that having more clearly defined cycles might be part of the reason that fasting promotes good health.How might this benefit us?Having assessed the gene changes that occur with fasting, the scientists now need to explain how they might benefit health.Prof. Sassone-Corsi suggests that «the reorganization of gene regulation by fasting could prime the genome to a more permissive state to anticipate upcoming food intake and thereby drive a new rhythmic cycle of gene expression.»He adds, «In other words, fasting is able to essentially reprogram a variety of cellular responses. Therefore, optimal fasting in a timed manner would be strategic to positively affect cellular functions and ultimately benefitting health and protecting against aging-associated diseases.»Over the years, it has grown increasingly clear that disrupting circadian rhythms can increase the risk of obesity and metabolic disorders, such as diabetes. This new work brings us closer to understanding why that might be.Though understanding the influence of fasting on circadian rhythms and gene expression is still in its infancy, the authors hope that one day, their work will help find the optimum fasting regime for health.

| Health |

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com

DORRA I Newsletter6

Intermittent fasting boosts health by strengthening daily rhythms

| Safety |

Decision fatigue explains why it’s harder to stick to a diet after a long

day—our mental reserves have been depleted and we have less energy to stave off cravings. It’s the same with choosing whether to exercise. It gives credence to something I hear frequently from safety professionals: Workers are more lax with following the rules towards the end of the workday, the end of a project, or the end of the week. And it could also point to why obvious procedures like LOTO can be overlooked.

When workers are suffering from decision fatigue, they may be more likely to make an error in judgment, such as thinking they can get away with not locking machinery out “just this once” or taking a shortcut that they perceive is a lot less risky than it actually is. Ask yourself when most LOTO violations happen. I’m willing to bet that the vast majority occur at the latter half of a shift after employees have had to make a number of decisions that have depleted their mental reserves. Or perhaps they’ve had an ongoing struggle with a piece of equipment—they locked it out the first few times but at some point fatigue and complacency started to set in.Locked-out machineryIf you don’t think your employees have to make many (or any) decisions at work, consider that even the most basic jobs require a constant stream of decisions to be made. Which tool to use, which route to walk across a construction site, or the best way to execute a task all seem like basic choices, but nonetheless they tax our decision-making muscles. Additionally, our willpower—or ability to make strong decisions—is strained in the same way regardless of a decision’s magnitude. This means that a series of small decisions can be just as taxing as a set of larger choices. It also doesn’t matter whether it’s job-related or personal. So when employees are forced to make more decisions than normal off the job, such as choosing details like paint color and carpet

type in a newly built home or continually deciding to resist the urge to overeat because they’re on a diet, they may be less capable of choosing to wear personal protective equipment or following LOTO procedures at work.It’s impossible to eliminate every decision your workers make over the course of a day, but there are a number of ways that management can unwittingly increase the number of decisions their employees have to make, ratcheting up the risk of mental fatigue and compromising processes like LOTO. For example, when workers are asked to work faster to meet a ramped-up production schedule they’re also forced to make a number of mental calculations on the fly in the quest to find increased efficiency. The end result is that rushing workers spend brainpower at a much faster rate as they hustle to find ways to execute their normal tasks more quickly. Each additional decision may

seem small—many people wouldn’t even recognize these as discrete decisions—but collectively they can deteriorate a worker’s ability to make cogent choices that affect his or her safety.The best way to prevent the poor decision to circumvent a safety procedure is to cut the decision out of the process. That means coaching workers on essential procedures like LOTO until they become habits. While habits can still fail, especially when workers are in the sway of human factors that affect their performance, they are an effective way to standardize behavior. By teaching a habit rather than forcing workers to choose to follow a rule, employers help workers save their decision-making energy for when they need it more.Cartoon of a man inserting his head into a machineBut habits can be notoriously difficult to instill in a large workforce—the next-best option is to cut down on the stressors that contribute to making the decision. Even simple awareness of the states of mind that affect the decisions we make can help workers recognize when they may be compromised by human factors, and they can take an extra few seconds to ensure they’re properly thinking through the process.In the end, there’s no obvious single solution. One thing that’s clear, though, is that one of the biggest factors driving an increased risk to workers is compromised decision-making abilities. If your LOTO training doesn’t deliver at least some communication and awareness to all staff members that addresses how decisions and team influence can affect compliance and increase the risk of a serious injury, you’re really missing a critical step.It’s time to rethink how we view LOTO and see it as a process that starts with a decision. Viewed in that light, it’s a process that’s a lot more complicated than the act of attaching a lock to a piece of machinery. And LOTO issues become a lot easier to deal with once you accept that problems with the process are often a result of decisions—and that there are ways we can support employees’ critical faculties and cut down on decision fatigue.

Locking Out Decision Fatigue

https://safestart.com/articles

DORRA I Newsletter

Year 10 Vol.No: (113) June 2019

Mike Massimino is best known for being the first person to tweet from space, but he seems

nearly as proud as another superlative from his time in NASA›s shuttle program: he actually gained weight eating astronaut food.“I really liked the mac and cheese,” he told a group of reporters gathered at Orwashers bakery in Manhattan’s Upper West Side in June. Surrounded by such fare as gourmet pigs-in-a-blanket and elegantly displayed charcuterie, he still had high praise for NASA staples such as reconstituted shrimp cocktail and gooey rice dishes designed to stick to spoons in zero gravity. “Are we getting any of the mac and cheese today?” he asked, appearing genuinely disappointed when the event hosts just chuckled. “Well,” he said with a shrug, “I liked it.”Massimino›s staunchly pro-space-food position is notable precisely because of the cuisine›s many shortcomings: most meals are dehydrated in pouches for maximum shelf-life, menus favor gummy textures to avoid floating spills and crumbs, and options are limited, to name just a few of them.That makes him a somewhat unlikely spokesperson for an upcoming initiative from Hilton Doubletree. To improve astronauts› dietary options and herald the start of new hospitality ventures in space, the branded task force recently announced it›ll be baking the first-ever low-orbit cookie. Zero G Kitchen, a rather whimsical company founded by husband and wife team Ian and Jordana Fichtenbaum, has designed an oven made to slot right into the International Space Station›s existing suite of experimental instruments. With the help of NanoRacks, a company that creates and hosts research equipment on the ISS, they›ve built their first space stove and plan to send it into orbit sometime in 2019. Hilton Doubletree is chipping

in and offering up their own cookie recipe for the appliance›s debut experiments.Baking in space sounds kind of silly at first—and sounds even sillier when you realize just how many hurdles a baker has to clear to make it happen. One does not simply bake a cookie in space. The results of this upcoming experiment may turn out to be interesting and perhaps even useful, but they certainly won›t feed any homesick astronauts.They›re starting small, but Zero G Kitchen›s stated purpose is to eventually put a full kitchen into space, thereby allowing celestial sojourners to cook fresh meals. There›s lots of talk of the culinary needs of orbital hotels and long term missions to Mars, but the founders› primary goal is to create a version of spaceflight that anyone can imagine enjoying. The ISS is essentially a giant lab—Ian, who works in finance and business development for Bradford Space, is well aware of this fact—but while talking to Jordana, who works in the restaurant industry, he realized a possible connection to everyday life.

“When you think about what kind of laboratory people have in their own homes, for most people it’s a kitchen,” he said. “So our idea was, let’s put something, or a collection of somethings, into space that people on Earth can relate to.”The question of why someone would send cookie dough and an oven to space isn’t one any of the parties involved will get much deeper into. It will provide the Earthly comfort astronauts crave on longer missions, Massimino said. It’s a preview of the future of Doubletree Hotels in orbit, added representatives from Hilton. In

other words, the great baking lift-off will be more about PR buzz than a direct step toward feeding hungry astronauts en route to Mars.NASA might never bother with the logistics of fresh cookies in orbit, but it’s true that the space agency is increasingly concerned with creature comforts. “For a short period of time you can live almost anywhere,” Massimino said. “The first flight into space was only 15 minutes long, so we didn’t need to bring anything with us.” As missions get longer, he said, “you need more of these comforts, more hospitality. We call it habitability, and it’s gotten better and better.”“It’s not just keeping them alive, it’s keeping them happy. And it’s not just that you want to keep people happy, they’re more productive when they’re happy.” Despite all the hype, those involved in the space cookie endeavor realize their first batch (or five) is doomed to fail. But Mary Murphy, Senior Internal Payloads Manager at NanoRacks, says shooting for

the stars with an untweaked recipe seemed like the smartest choice.“This is the first time we’re trying this, so the fundamental question is how it will be different,” she said. The teams could try to figure out how conditions on the ISS will affect the cookie and adjust their ingredients accordingly. But if those cookies were less than perfect, how would they know which change to blame? “In any experiment, you want to try to change just one variable,” Murphy said. “Perhaps once we have these results, we can ask how we might develop a truly zero-g version of the cookie.”Members of this cosmic cookie coalition wouldn›t say how much dough it›ll take to get the experiment to space, or who›s covering the cost. NanoRacks lists the cost of deployment for similar systems at $35,000 and up, which doesn›t include the return trip for any non-digital experimental results (i.e. cookies). But even if costs keep them from honing in on the perfect extraterrestrial treat with repeat tests, the oven could find use in other foodie experiments—or even entirely different purposes.Murphy suggests the apparatus could come in handy with 3-D printed tools. Many space-bound objects undergo baking on Earth to keep them from off-gassing once they›re in orbit, where shed molecules can put astronauts or hardware at risk. Now that there’s a heating element onboard the ISS, Murphy said, passengers might be able to print and cure tools on demand. So yes: it’s quite possible that something as seemingly silly as a space-bound cookie could provide serious technological insight. But will it ever provide dessert? Debatable.

| Science |

| Environment |

There›s a lot of high-tech proposals out there to avert climate catastrophe:

sucking up carbon and storing it underground, carpooling to work in flying taxis, and even converting methane to carbon dioxide. But one of the most important actions is also one of the most mundane: planting trees.In fact, the International Panel on Climate Change in its 2018 special report says that we need to plant around 1 billion hectares (or about 2.5 billion acres) of trees—in addition to cutting our emissions—to stop the planet from warming beyond 1.5 ºC. A number of programs have sprouted up to commit countries to restoring their forests and hopefully upping their carbon-storing capacities.

But where should they all go?This week, two studies try to answer that question. The first, published Thursday in Science, addresses the IPCC goal head on by trying to determine if there is room for that many trees in the first place. To find this out, scientists studied satellite images of tree cover across natural preserves and considered how the soil and climate of a given area influenced tree growth. After analyzing how those factors affect trees in preserves, they used that information to predict how well trees would grow in other areas across the globe. Based on the soil and climate of a site, their model could predict tree growth.The study reports that even if we avoid land that’s currently developed or used for agriculture, there’s still 0.9 billion hectares of area available for tree-planting—an area about the size of the United States. This includes degraded forest lands, logged areas, and grasslands. Half of these lands are found in six countries: Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and China.“Restoring ecosystems and planting trees is not

something new,” says Jean-Francois Bastin, ecologist at ETH Zurich, who notes that there are many international agreements on tree-planting. “Our data can guide [commitments] to improve by making them be more realistic. Sometimes they can be bolder, by doing more than they pledge, but we saw that countries were pledging an area that overcame their current capacities.” And countries with the space aren’t aggressive enough.In the Bonn Challenge, an effort led by Germany and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 10 percent of countries have committed to planting more trees then feasible, while 43 percent aren›t pulling their weight, by committing to far less than restorable area that exists, according to the Science study. That puts the Bonn Challenge›s ultimate goal to plant 3.5 million hectares of trees by 2030 at risk.It’s a seductively simple idea, that we can stop climate change just by filling in all these landscapes with trees. But there’s a lot more to it if we want to plant trees right.At the behest of environmentalists, we›ve already been planting trees for a long time. We have more trees on the planet today than 30 years ago. In the past 20 years, China has restored more than 108,000 square miles of forests. But 45 percent of commitments under the Bonn challenge are monoculture plantations, according to an April report in Nature. That means we›re planting vast acres of the same tree species, often fast-growing varieties like eucalyptus that can be harvested for paper. Not only do these forests not store as much carbon as natural forests, they don›t foster good habitat for native species—a blow to biodiversity.Bastin is doing his part to correct our wayward tree-planting tendencies, and he’s finding ways to bring others along with him. “Restoring the ecosystem needs to be done by respecting the local composition of species and the local biodiversity,” he says. Government officials, NGO leaders, and others can use his maps to see how much tree canopy a given area can support,

but they still need to identify the best trees to plant. Toward that end, Bastin says he’s helping build a database of common species for each degraded area.Pedro Brancalion is a forestry professor at the University of São Paulo, and the leader author of another new study, published Wednesday in Science Advances. Where Bastin and his colleagues focused on carbon storage, Brancalion and his co-authors detail other reasons for valuing forests. The new methods also consider the unique costs of rainforest restoration, like how much potential profit will be lost by returning an area from agriculture back to its natural state. With a focus on tropical rainforests, it identified «hotspots» in 15 countries—over 100 million hectares of land in Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia—and proposed strategies for their restoration.A typical hotspot has these three qualities: the existing forest is heavily degraded or gone, it’s home to many species, and it’s close to where people live. Not only can these areas store carbon and provide habitat, healthy forests clear water of sediments and pollutants, a boon to humans.To identify these locations, the scientists overlaid data on the potential for trees to benefit biodiversity, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and water security. They picked out the 10 percent of areas with the most overlap in benefits and lowest costs associated with restoring forests. “The opportunity for restoration is heterogeneously distributed over space,” says Brancalion. “There needs to be a knowledge basis for supporting these initiatives, and that’s what we tried to do.”Of course, just having a tool that lets you assess all the benefits of trees doesn’t directly translate to trees being planted. “We basically have to transform [forest restoration] into a more economically viable activity,” says Brancalion.To that end, he’s investigated some solutions. In a study in Brazil, he found that if landowners can restore a plot of land with a mix of native trees and eucalyptus, then

the money they make from eucalyptus timber would offset much of the costs of restoration. He adds that if there was a way to pay landowners for providing ecosystem services—carbon storage, clean water and air—that could help change current incentives, too. Restoring natural forests, then, is part finding creative ways to make money off restored land and part changing how we value restoration by recognizing the tangible benefits that these ecosystems provide.It›s a daunting task, but it will only get more challenging as the climate warms. As the Science study shows, climate change will scale back the potential area for trees. But we need to move carefully if we›re to realize the intended benefits. It›s not just about planting trees, but restoring actual forests.

7

Panorama

https://www.popsci.com

Yes, astronauts are baking cookies in space. No, they can’t eat them

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Year 10 Vol.No: (113) June 2019

DORRA I Newsletter

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| Technology |

What’s better than a pickup truck – or even Jeep

Gladiator – loaded with motorcycles? A mystical BMW pickup truck with a BMW adventure bike strapped atop its teak-lined bed. It’s not the BMW pickup truck teaser that some fans might like, but it’s a cool little X7 pickup project, nonetheless.It wasn›t so long ago that we saw a ruggedized, one-off modern Mini pickup, and now parent company BMW has tried its hand at rolling out a tough-but-luxurious truck built to keep up with changing times. The one-of-a-kind conversion was performed by vocational trainees under the guidance of BMW›s Concept Vehicle Construction and Model Technology divisions in Munich.Over the course of just 10 months, the 12 apprentices transformed a standard 340-hp BMW X7 xDrive40i

SUV into a crew cab X7 pickup that BMW promises is a proper road-legal, show-car-grade work truck. The project saved an old test X7 that was headed to the scrapheap.The trainees clearly spent most of their time in back, transforming the X7›s third row and load area into a fully functional 4.6-ft (1.4-m) load bed that extends to 6.6 ft (2 m) once the tailgate drops. By using carbon fiber construction on areas including the roof and rear doors, they were able to cut weight by 440 lb (200 kg), even with the addition of 4 in (10 cm) of length.BMW, in turn, made use of that extended length to tie the X7 Pick-up concept to its debut venue at Motorrad Days, showing how easily the truck loaded an F 850 GS adventure bike. The two vehicles make fitting bedfellows, as the 850

is designed to offer much the same long-distance touring comfort, on/off-road capability and adventurous spirit as a pickup truck with flagship-level BMW cabin and height-adjustable air suspension. Once the road narrows too much for the X7 Pick-up, the journey continues aboard the F 850 GS.The world of yachts helped inspire the finish of the custom truck, with a fine-polished teakwood bed lining and seaworthy shade of tanzanite blue metallic paint. While BMW doesn’t highlight it in the photos, we’re sure the five-seat cabin is equally luxurious, thanks to its X7 basis.BMW describes the X7 Pick-up as a one-off special project and makes a point of saying that production isn’t planned – but similarly strange things have indeed happened in the past.

The adoption of the fifth generation (5G) of cellular technology will be slower than 4G in the consumer space due to various

factors, an industry expert said. Speaking to TechRadar Middle East, Sukhdev Singh, vice-president at market research and analysis services provider Kantar AMRB, said that the growth of 5G in the consumer space will be limited due to the lack of devices such as smartphones and routers, apart from the high price point.The cost of ZTE Axon Pro 5G smartphone is AED 5,833 in the UAE. Huawei and Oppo will be launching their own 5G devices soon but prices are not yet published. Pricing for the Huawei Mate 20 X 5G is expected to be similar to the 4G model which currently retails at AED 3,699. Huawei is expected to formally announce the pricing and availability for the Mate 20 X 5G next week.According to research firm IHS Markit, 37 million first-generation 5G smartphones are expected to be shipped this year globally and will increase to 120 million devices in 2020, reaching over 525 million devices in 2023.Bit of a ‘chicken and egg’ situationSingh said that consumers may not see a huge benefit from 5G as 4G is adequate for most consumers. “It is a bit of a ‘chicken and egg’ situation. 5G will enable new technologies and if these new technologies find ground, then it will help 5G grow. There was a big shift from 3G to 4G technology that offered a completely a new user experience. The current 4G is more than enough for a device to stream 4K videos or have a voice or video chat,” he said.Previous cellular technologies such as 3G and 4G were meant for human interactions but 5G is the platform for machine-to-machine communications. Moreover, he said that 5G is for extremely heavy bandwidth or data-hungry applications such as cloud-based augmented reality and virtual reality applications.The real change will be on the enterprise side, he said, through a combination of productivity gains from businesses automating processes, They will not only benefit from the high speed but also the lower latency which will improve efficiency, reliability and the number of connected devices.4G still has room for growthThe latency for 4G is between 15-20 milliseconds but for 5G, it is one millisecond, and the data speeds are about 100 times faster than 4G and provide speeds of up to 20Gbps.So, Singh said the growth will come from the business-to-business side rather than the business-to-consumer side.“The consumers’ shift from 4G to 5G will happen only after 2020 as telecom operators haven’t launched plans for 5G and, at the same time, the network coverage will be limited and it could also be more expensive. There is still room for 4G penetration rate to grow as there are still people at the bottom end of the pyramid still on the 3G space, especially in some Middle Eastern countries, as they still lack wider coverage,” he said.The 5G network will, initially, be available in certain hotspots only.

BMW drops a pickup bed on an X7 to make it a motorcycle hauler

Consumers won’t flock to 5G as quickly as they did with 4G

8

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LTE is more than enough to serve consumers’ needs in the near future

Side of the Family Accommodation (2005)

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