Transcripts For DW DocFilm 20240713

Germany where reign supreme there are 47000000 cars on its roads in a cities a choking on dangerously high levels of particulate matter nitrogen oxide and enormous c o 2 emissions the government has built to proposals for driving bans in speed limits now its decided electric cars will fix the problem. We need to rid transportation of it c o 2 footprint and electro mobility is a key part of that and as we have to go time going green on germanys roads electric my ability is promoted as the ticket to a clean future and one of the Fastest Growing sectors in the global markets. Seem to be some yeah thats france and germany and the e. U. Came to supply 30 percent of global battery demand by 2030. 2 in. Germany. Carmakers also have ambitions plans. As bishops in the same yard by 20251 in 5 models and the b. M. W. Group will be electric but our electric cars are really the solution. You know where you work up and then you can talk about clean energy for countries like germany if youre destroying peoples livelihoods elsewhere. How clean is electric my billet really. In his electric car roll insurance on his way to his bakery in the town of hilton in more drive is failing out every saturday a group of electric current meets the breakfast. U. S. Manufacturer tesla is still all the rage. To slot the space for test was a bit like a religion for me its like the sunshine its a real solution that offers a way out of the dilemma is on top certainly also the model that not. All of the electric car owners here are convinced that theyre helping the environment. Until it was told its great not to pollute we have solar panels at home and our utility supplies energy from renewable so yeah my conscience is green on by large drive an electric car because environmentally friendly america normal and that was key. There most by rolling sure and also drives an electric car to help protect the environment he feels up his electric car outside the bakery and his own charging station. For the selectric mobility is immensely important for saving the environment because at the moment theres no cheaper more environmentally friendly c o 2 friendly mode of private transport. The Breakfast Club drive as electric cars are the only way to marry personal car ownership with Environmental Protection is a good intervention of the people buying new cars should stop using Combustion Engines and refuse to be talked into buying a new diesel because it will soon be banned anyway. By electric now with our government should promote electric cars and develop Renewable Energy sources in parallel. And again then the problem would be solved. I just removed. Because compared to gasoline and diesel the electric car has one advantage its engine does not need any exhaust feeling electric cars powered by an electric motor the energy for this comes from a battery built into the car floor the battery is the central and largest element of an electric car depending on the model it weighs several 100 kilos very small materials and need it for the battery the most important of these is lithium so where does it come from. We set off for south america to argentina and the province of. More than 60 percent of the worlds lithium reserves located here in the endian highlands in the socalled lithium triangle that straddles argentina bolivia and chile. Its an inhospitable extremely dry region with sparse vegetation that only sees rain once a year river lets trickle for just a few kilometers before running dry water is a precious commodity the indigenous squalor have lived in the region for centuries today their people number more than 100000 carlo schools man animals that his farm up here in the mountains. Equality were brought to the gaelic well i represent the aperture to collective and we have opposed lithium mining because theres very little water here. Amounts of water are withdrawn from mining it compounds the arid conditions. Were all very concerned about the threat posed to our natural environment. And both if. We are a month looked up. Near guzmans farm the salt lake salata on overalls lots of now to choose a 4000 meters above sea level. Beneath its salt surface crust is a deep basin of brine it contains high concentrations of the cover to deposit lithium. Workers from the Mining Company salles to holy pump the brine to the surface this was the 1st major lithium mine here a 2nd company excise expanding another plant and test rolling is underway at other salt lakes in the region. Lithium is just booming right now we extract it from deep below the salt lake this well as 450 meters deep its currently pumping 55 liters per 2nd we plan to install 30 such wells in the coming months. The company pumps the brine into huge basins workers are constructing a new basin several 100 meters long and wide immense quantities of brine of removed for the production of lithium every year 10000000000 liters of processed this salt lake alone to extract lithium the brine is left to evaporate under the hot sun. After 6 months lithium makes up 6 percent of the concentrated brine. Its fed into the plant which processes it for industrial use. He was we had chemicals to separate the other minerals in the brine so that in the end all that remains is the highly concentrated lithium we think of as a somewhat up more doesnt it indeed. Its a protracted procedure. But its become highly lucrative fueled by the demand for batteries to Power Electric cars exploratory systems are being installed across the salt flats of chile bolivia and argentina not least because of the price for lithium has seen a 7 fold increase in recent years investors call it White Petroleum or white gold theres a thought that one of the ability of this is the Lithium Carbonate of our end product. Its a powder what it worth. Her. One time costs around 14000. 00. Whats a kilo worth i cant convert that ill apply. A white gold rush. With the devastating impact on the unique salt flats of the andes at an existential threat to dwindle in Water Resources in this era great. For their production Mining Companies need millions of latest of precious fresh water in addition pumping brine from the depths of salt lakes pushes scarce groundwater from the edges into the middle of the lakes where it mixes with the salt water and is rented unusable. Water that accumulated over tens of thousands of years and keeps the ecosystem in balance is wasted within the space of a few years. But that water is vital for the people who live around the salt lakes they depend on it to cultivate the barren soil and break llamas and goats every later counts now entire reserves are drying up in the near future farming will no longer be possible near the lithium pools and its not only water scarcity thats a problem some of the chemicals used during the lithium extraction process turn into toxic dust thats transported by. The wind. On the field we suffer from air pollution. A lot of things are carried on the wind like lime caustic soda and pot ash. One of the 3 chemicals together are more aggressive than one alone. That impacts agriculture on the few have plants that grow here but also the animals. Weve seen llamas go blind because of the dust in some places. But it. Farmers from other villages have also chronicled the effects of toxic dust on the eyes of the animals whose wool and meat a key to the livelihoods of the indigenous people. The color settled in this area even before the incas but now lithium is threatening their way of life. Our culture has a Spiritual Connection with the salt lake and you know what since time immemorial we have appreciated the richness of nature the many birds and also our llamas graze there and thats why we say no to lithium mining. Mining across the region cannot be stopped who needs all. This man is part of the answer. Must take billionaire and electric car pioneer. There are with his Company Tesla the law must show the world that electric mobility could be sexy in 2016 he introduced model 3 the 1st electric car for the mass market in terms of production the thing thats going to be a major challenge for us over the next 6. 00 to 9. 00. Yes. Heres deborah part. Of the key ingredient construction on Teslas Gigafactory one in the nevada desert near reno has been underway since 2014 we wanted to visit the factory ourselves but were not given permission to film. The plant 35 get done. More likely my batteries than the rest of production. But tesla isnt just building batteries in nevada its also got plants in new york and china with a 4th in the pipeline for europe. And the demand for batteries to Power Electric cars is not only growing at tesla and the Paris Motor Show in 2018 german car Makers Showcase their latest top of the ranks models like diamonds e. Q. See. Audi premier its brand new. And b. M. W. And failed its concept car the i x 325 models planned in the next few years according to Management Board member class for group this class for us its clear that by 2025 our entire portfolio ranging from the b. M. W. One series to the 7 series or the x 5 will be fully electric does us fall apart for you. When it comes to shifting to electric cars german manufacturers have put the pedal to the metal. d apart from b. M. W. Folks are going for cs 80 new electric models by 2025 porsche wants half of its fleet to be electric by then and diana is investing 10000000000 euros in the development of electric vehicles all telling the governments line for germanys Automotive Industry feel there must not and many of the governments measures have gained traction and i expect we will see a huge increase in the next few years and thats already evident from the plans the manufacturers have announced. To stimulate demand the government is offering incentives like a purchase rent tax breaks d free parking and funding for research and development all part of a strategy set out a decade ago in the National Electro Mobility Development plan it was drafted by a panel of experts from the fields of politics industry science and environmental groups penning cardamon heads the National Platform future of mobility and has direct access to the chancellor his brief is to get as many electric cars onto german roads as possible to achieve germanys climate goals for the transport sector by 2030. Soon bus most of course we have to see whats feasible you initially the government set a target of 6000000. 00 cars currently the model puts the figure in the range of 6. 00 to 7. 00 and a half 1000000 by the by the but theyre also demands that goes high is 10000000 well have to see how many cars the manufacturers can produce the book. But those cars will need customers carmakers have identified range as the Sticking Point dima says its q. C. Will cover 450 kilometers. Out easy tron 417 kilometers b. M. W. s i extremely well have a range of 400 kilometers. And b. M. W. I next unveiled in december trumps them all with a purported range of 650 kilometers what is striking is that all these models are s. U. V. S because you can only travel far and electric cars with large and heavy batteries and they need a lot of space in large bodies. Of us im sure frequent its a step towards customer acceptance in which were trying to explain to customers that electra mobility is actually nothing revolutionary so its not its just another way to drive a vehicle so now youre accustomed to. Driving a certain range with your internal Combustion Engine vehicle its logical to expect the same range from an electric car into bottom but. B. M. W. Sees its future here in the the very end countryside the group has established its electron mobility Competent Center in tingle thing its i nexus it to roll of the Assembly Line here in 2 years time will cohost my heads the plant. Those here on some of the office here its a dingle thing site the i next is a real opportunity its the 1st fully electric model will produce to that end the plant is currently being expanded to encompass 80000 square meters. To b. M. W. The mobility is the number one growth market. As bishops in the same year we estimate that by 22051. 00 in 5 b. M. W. Models will be electric that means electric power trains will account for 20 percent sales across the group. On the road to an electrically powered chicha. Big enough for now we expect worldwide demand for battery cells to increase more than 10 fold in the next 11 years. I demand fueling the need for lithium. Back in the andean highlands of argentina. We are in britain khana d. S. Here on the edge of the salt lake the disastrous effects of lithium mining are already apparent. The village is one of 33. 00 communities in the region that have joined forces to fight the corporations. And an imbecilic economy media when i started mining lithium here the water in the village became increasingly scarce young man them. And yeah man how there used to be enough water to irrigate our gardens but to do. No there isnt enough. But Mining Companies have only just begun to drill here the locals are not prepared to sit back and accept the destruction of their Ancestral Lands the arid region has been their home for centuries. Weve begun building up Rural Tourism here in this community and also in neighboring villages around the lagoon and when alone. If they start drilling it will jeopardize everything weve achieved. Because theyll leave their toxic waste behind here with us. When i get out and thats one. Protest action by the villagers has made waves across the country. Theyve set up roadblocks and staged demonstrations at home and taken their case to court in the capital point to say arrests as a result some applications for drilling have been temporarily denied. But the government continues to carve the land up among the multinationals violating their human and civil rights. The leader of the resistance Clemente Flores is himself a llama breeder and pharma. Hes also had 1st hand experience of the threat of lithium mining poses. The water he needs to sustain his small farm is getting scarcer and scarcer. Well billboard this well is 12 meters deep down there the water used to be about one and a half meters deep in august we took a new measurement there were only 50 centimeters the water table has dropped drastically. There is a miracle of nature here freshwater springs in the middle of a white salt crossed the springs form small lakes in this hostile desert environment but this unique ecosystem is under threat experts from the german n. G. O. Prayed for the world have studied the impact of lithium mining. Tonally a tonne of lithium requires burning off 2000000 liters of water the problem is this is such an extremely arid region that in the long run will be pumped dry. For the back of a single electric car up to 80000 liters of precious water disappear from here forever. And its not just the land of farmers and their animals thats under threat. Of an argentinian and when we were in argentina we also travelled to the quieter oakleigh goun and we saw this incredible sight i mean hundreds of flamingoes the whole lagoon is full of flamingoes its get us a logan is as good as sold to Mining Companies so in the next few years itll be covered with concrete pools and its very clear the farming goes will disappear on his guns bad as the flamingo especially. The government recently auctioned off mining concessions for the extraction of lithium in the massive salt flats salinas glanders the indigenous population feels transported back to the time when colonial powers robbed the land beneath their feet today its their own government thats in the past they have no formal land rights its land that they have cultivated for centuries. But it belongs to the government and whoever owns the land controls the water. And the group was in its a matter of life and death if they pump so much water out of here in such a short space of time and we know what a huge amount it is then in the next 5 or 6 years we will lose so much water that the land here will turn into a real desert. That it wont just be impossible to farm or herd animals we wont be able to live here at all. In the near future lithium mining could spell the end of a centuries old culture and a unique ecosystem scientists like harold lish are alarmed. Hold on to we used to get oil from somewhere and accepted in inverted commas the environmental damage there we didnt care i doubt lithiums if you ask industry where do the Raw Materials actually come from it answers oh theyre just delivered its just business as usual this is basically we dont want to hear anything at all about the environmental damage were causing with our transport modes in europe or north america and many other countries are being bussed a visual version that unleashed. Germanys economy is the worlds 5th Largest Consumer of Metal Resources its Automotive Industry acquires them so a network of supply as its virtually impossible to control the side has it would have its a very good question whether the sources are sustainable and above all whether the mining methods are in line with roughly german standards the industry will have to make sure that it imposes appropriate requirements and ensures transparency in the countries where its source is the Raw Materials it has in fact made that commitment says hell finish that. How do german carmakers ensure their suppliers are maintaining Environmental Standards audi and said. d since we do not do business directly with raw material producers we have integrated sustainability requirements into our contracts with direct suppliers we take all indications of infringements very seriously and investigate them directly and consistently. Dima responded to control supply chains maceda spends cost conducts risk based supply chain. In other words supplier inspections it starts with a direct supplier and proceeds along critical points in the supply chain if necessary all the way to the mining. Folks wagon says. d our suppliers are also obliged to pass on the requirements to this sub suppliers such as rule material produces. All of the Car Manufacturers rely on a jointly develop standardized questionnaire for their suppliers with multiple choice questions b. M. W. Says it prevents exploitation and practices that Waste Resources at least not always and initially ruled that out because years ago we voluntarily committed ourselves to checking from the outset that the Raw Materials we use actually meet our sustainability requirements to the highest degree and. However b. M. W. Has no idea how the lithium in its batteries is produced or where it comes from they tell us. This is not always possible especially when companies in the supply chain cannot guarantee full transparency for reasons of competition. Community leaders of the villages we visited in the argentinean and hes says no company has consulted them on the Environmental Impact of their operations. Currently we get a lot of new representatives from the Mining Companies telling us what theyre up to but actually the government has to consult us 1st before it grant. Concessions to the companies thats what the law actually says theyre supposed to ask us for permission 1st before any drilling begins theyre also required to conduct an Environmental Impact assessment but it doesnt do that either and. In fact the Regional Government has a stake in the largest Mining Company not the best prerequisite for the enforcement of Environmental Protection standards the german n. G. O. Power shift says its Research Shows coming a too passive groan of eggs the author of a study on the effects of resource extraction for let treat mobility. Lets end this most of those argument lee you need more than questionnaires Car Manufacturers cant be allowed to simply hand over their responsibility to suppliers to your fingers and if they need to go to the mines themselves and evaluate the situation its not enough to simply took a few boxes because the question is who checks what goes on as their contributors and Political Economic policy lies at the heart of german politics and it turns a blind eye to the human tragedies environmental disasters and deprivations occurring elsewhere toward. Collateral damage abroad so to speak for better air in germany. And says if the cars with Combustion Engines have an enormous ecological footprint in normal use up look its true that the production of electric cars does too but on the road and above all the longer electric cars are on the road the further they arrange the longer their use the better the ratio gets. But the numbers dont add up quite so nicely because almost all battery cells for german electric cars are produced in china and south korea and their electricity used in battery production comes largely from coal fired power plants and that is bad for the climate battery cell production is highly Energy Intensive swedens i. V. L. Institute says the production of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles releases between 150. 20 kilos of Carbon Dioxide per kilowatt hour battery so for one electric car with a battery of around 100 kilowatt hours which is what german manufacturers are aiming for 17 tons of c o 2 are released into the atmosphere before the car even hits the road by comparison a mid range Combustion Engine car consuming an average of 6 liters will have already travelled 100000 kilometers before reaching that value. But its certainly true that the battery is not particularly Climate Friendly during production and the larger the battery the smaller the advantage can be that is correct for us. But the 2nd point is the more Renewable Energy we have the more environmentally friendly it becomes for us. But its not just electricity that determines how environmentally friendly a car is to produce and operate the vocal Style Institute for Climate Research factors resource extraction into the life cycle assessment of electric cars after all its not only lithium mining thats causing environmental degradation. In bahrain chinas border with mongolia large swathes of land are being destroyed for the mining of rare earth metals for electric cars toxic chemicals and radioactive substances pollute the environment and contaminate the water it takes a lot of copper cobalt and other hard to extract Raw Materials to build electric cars and with that he has columns for if we look at the Production Phase the cumulative material costs for Battery Powered electric vehicles are about twice as high this is mainly due to the battery the production of which is more material intensive to montreal of the news. Its twice as damaging to the environment to produce an electric car than a Combustion Engine car gasoline and diesel powered cars are largely built with steel Steel Production has a comparatively low Environmental Impact but the extraction of the many Raw Materials needed to make batteries is a major factor in environmental degradation and the bigger the battery the greater the damage to the environment ecologically speaking the push to increase the range of electric cars is nonsense to the environment and the climate simply replacing the fuel tank with a battery is not enough. To make the most of all there needs to be honest and proper information about what risks are actually associated with these technologies there must be a clear discussion not only about the opportunities but also about the problems they present for. Germany needs new strategies. To meet its climate targets by 2030 electric vehicles can pull their weight in mass transit buses or taxis cockup high kilometer or passenger numbers the disadvantages associated with their production are outweighed by their contribution towards cutting emissions and its too early to write off the personal car. But to minimize their Environmental Impact electric cars need to be small in size in the western city of our home the start up ego believes the solution lies in short distance traffic last year it began rolling out its life model a compact car designed soley for the in a city. Going to shoe is the companys founder and c. E. O. Is also a professor in Athens Technical University and a member of its board of directors in the in traffic in our cities needs to be as a mission free as possible as soon as possible for the time being electric vehicles are the only way to achieve that one of the required range in urban settings is limited so we only need relatively small batteries youve been. Going to shoot knows what hes talking about before starting a go he spent decades researching for the Automotive Industry and helped develop an electric delivery vehicle the street scooter. The sale of that company to the German Postal Service provided the capital to start his new company. Egos smallest model life has a range of only 100 kilometers and a small 15 kilowatt hour battery an ecological Balance Sheet the compact car overtakes a conventional car after just 25000 kilometers. Of recent study by the German Ministry of transport confirms that 100 kilometer range suffices for most drivers on average germans do not travel more than 39 kilometers a day per. Still the life is not climate neutral. Videos are currently neither the production chain nor the charging power are particularly environmentally friendly we need to be clear about that the mining of Raw Materials has a high Environmental Impact. But were fully aware of this and it must be honestly figured into the ecological Balance Sheet of the aleutian fortune which meant. Recycling is one way to improve those Balance Sheet numbers and belgium the 3rd only coal recovers rule materials from spent batteries on an industrial scale christian hog lucan is the companys recycling. Your focuses on functional metals namely cobalt nickel copper and lithium in the 1st 3 we achieve recycling rates are yields of 95 percent so virtually nothing is lost in the case of lithium we were treating more than 50 percent of the panic spec to significantly improve that rate as. The technology to recycle lithium is new the passion and focus the 1st of its kind retrieving metals for the production of new rechargeable batteries the plant processes cell phone batteries but in future it will turn to electric car batteries a shift that could significantly relieve the burden on the environment. If you look at modern recycling plants the energy and water consumption as well as the spatial requirements are a fraction of what they are in mining so the life cycle assessment of a raw material improves considerably through recycling and this is a key reason why recycling is so important especially for electric mobility what germany lacks a clear laws on Battery Recycling the e. U. Spectra directive is 14 years old and outdated lithium ion battery is currently the most prevalent Battery Technology and not even listed. Thats because in 2006 they were hardly in use. Today the requirement says that 50 percent of the battery has to be recycled but thats not enough you can achieve that 50 percent today by recycling the casing and certainly tiriel without having to recycle the cobalt or lithium it contains so i can. Record police officers. Out of sight out of mind much of germanys electronic waste ends up in garbage dumps in ghana and nigeria with devastating consequences for the people and the environment there just 10 percent of all the trees in europe are currently recycled without appropriate additional regulations electric cars will compound the problem but to date theres been no government action. I havent missed this as much stuff what we need 1st is the possibility to even recycle batteries as soon as thats possible we can think about legal requirements and regulations which to an extent do exist today for gobbled legally wed 1st we have to create the possibilities for this and well only be able to make it economically viable and continue research when there are more electric cars on our roads before she vanished so 1st we have to get more electric cars onto the market which could then undoubtedly theyll be a raft of other questions to address the done that months ahead. As under their share in view of the damage to nature wildlife and the populations in the affected regions its presumptuous to believe that we can save the climate with electric mobility and one has to ask oneself why politicians and german politicians in particular are still so committed to this model and are jubilantly pushing us all to go electric youve got to take your boot youre missing. Why is the German Government promoting technology that with its trend toward large backtrace has been proven to be more damaging to the environment than conventional cars. If you thought a moment i well were currently promoting the introduction of electric mobility and i think thats important. We have vehicles they meet customers needs and not vehicles that some studies may say are great but which nobody buys them. Or many customers want cars to have a range that they can rely on for the commute to work we need to acknowledge that concern and take it seriously but. Thats why we need to have organized systems of electric mobility in place and at the same time develop alternatives trains local public transport and alternatives like car sharing cycling and so on for the short distances. Distance theres one thing all the experts agree on only a total overhaul of transport policies can make traffic Climate Friendly ismails from fortune from our vantage well past the 11th hour when it comes to devising Mobility Concepts for german cities if you look at transportation its the only sector in germany in which Greenhouse Gas emissions having creased over the last 25 years so theres an urgent need to catch up after. Other countries have managed to win the urban population of cars in copenhagen amsterdam for example bicycles have the right of way vilnius took a different approach in 2017 the little whiny in capital introduced one of the most advanced mobility apps on the market. Just patrollers from the platform traffic shows us how it works. If we want to go somewhere lets say. Lets try here i want to find all available options that could take me there so i just use route search and then we can see that there are a myriad of different transferred options. The app uses Real Time Data from buses trains taxis and car sharing vehicles to generate routes suggestion. That combined the various options. For his planned route patrollers will 1st take the bus and then a car sharing vehicle to get to his final destination is so were in the bus starting. Near gala street. And actually it says that charley bus number 2 is due any minute now yes actually coming. To train us waited less than 2 minutes for the bus it works so well because the citys administration supplies the Mobility Platform with all real time public transport data. The most radical open data set in europe are difficult to measure but not with there to challenge me so far so we have better the open data policy and of course the words but the most use of the most important value is of course transportation in return the city has access to platform users Movement Press faster Traffic Management to regulate traffic lights adapt bus intervals to passenger demand and to avoid congestion the city says its not encroaching on Data Protection rights. Actually the data we share its a very generic data or its its not personal data i mean its not a new thing going to more but both in the data of actual online Real Time Data of all the mobility of all the traffic live pictures of riots of a car sharing station by taking the bus he was able to avoid a traffic jam ok. Unlocking the entire route was booked and paid for via the app inside the car the app also takes 7 navigation its all very convenient one in 5 people in vilnius already uses the app which means that increasingly personal cost of being left behind. When you give people the best options around them via routing or nearby so. Lucians then you empower people and thats a great feeling when you feel like a sort of a superhero traveling within a city and you have the small device in your hand thats thats their magic super bowl. Trance he now provides services to 10 cities worldwide. The app went live in berlin in cooperation with the citys public transport provider the big as manager of the platforms mobility lab the train is involved in the development of the user interface well this is a working progress this is the prototype for this whole gear application were working on currently. When we start to see socking about this project internally weve noticed that naturally berlin has a myriad of transport options and you can definitely see that in comparison for example if i would just open up our traffic up now right you have only a couple of options right within the city does better but in berlin of course have trams buses ferries to bounce bond and so forth so we try to explore a solution where you would be able to fit everything and it would still make sense and the goal is to create a city where or to have a city basically where. Transport is integrates holistic. You wouldnt need to have your own private to be called because there would be one readily available. And the 2nd thing of course a natural follow up to and goal is to reduce Carbon Emissions because we are dealing with Global Climate change. One way or another that can only be done with fewer costs because what is too quick short sighted just to change the propulsion system electric mobility only makes sense of the energy used to power it isnt. Are mentally friendly less material intensive and just one part of a new concept for mobility which we so urgently need in germany watch and. Its high time to rethink the mobility we take for granted a comprehensive strategy is needed with smaller cars less traffic and a high recycling right only then will electric cars be on a course that can help save the planet. Last. Climate neutrality the 25th. Energy pioneers are preparing for. The green deal is attracting real money from. The sand guys c o 2 is just one way the climate killer can even be recycled and replace crude oil. Made in germany. 30 minutes on d w n during the conflict zones after the mud to be a Journalist Company car on a going to see a photo itself has become the firewood for violence and corruption my guess this week is the countrys foreign minister every spatola he says he wants to improve motos tarnished image from how many more secret stuff to come out before that will be possible. Conflicts of. 90 minutes on d w. Is the human race to destroy itself. We are ruining the basic elements of our existence. Were using too much water and putting a. Lot more dirt juice along. We may think only Water Supplies will last forever. But they. Are going to when the rain stops and starts march 20th on to w. This is news and these are our top stories the Italian Government has ordered the closure of all shops except food stores and pharmacies all bars and restaurants are also to remain shut as part of efforts to halt the spread of the corona virus italy has the largest number of infections outside of china