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Once Fruitful, Libyan Village Suffers Climate Crisis

M'hamed Maakaf stands near trunks and branches of trees dried out from drought in his field in the Libyan village of Kabao in the Nafusa mountains on May 26, 2024. (AFP)
M'hamed Maakaf stands near trunks and branches of trees dried out from drought in his field in the Libyan village of Kabao in the Nafusa mountains on May 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Once Fruitful, Libyan Village Suffers Climate Crisis

M'hamed Maakaf stands near trunks and branches of trees dried out from drought in his field in the Libyan village of Kabao in the Nafusa mountains on May 26, 2024. (AFP)
M'hamed Maakaf stands near trunks and branches of trees dried out from drought in his field in the Libyan village of Kabao in the Nafusa mountains on May 26, 2024. (AFP)

In the Libyan village of Kabaw in the Nafusa Mountains, M'hamed Maakaf waters an ailing fig tree as climate change pushes villagers to forsake lands and livestock.

Once flourishing and known for its figs, olives, and almonds, fields around Kabaw, located some 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest of Tripoli, are now mostly barren and battered by climate change-induced drought.

The area was once "green and prosperous until the beginning of the millennium," Maakaf recalled. "People loved to come here and take walks but today it has become so dry that it's unbearable."

"We no longer see the green meadows we knew in the 1960s and '70s," added the 65-year-old, wearing a traditional white tunic and sirwal trousers.

Kabaw, like many villages in the Nafusa Mountains, is primarily inhabited by Amazigh people, a non-Arab minority.

Pounded by the sun and dry winds, the mountainous area now struggles to bear fruit, facing a lack of rainfall and temperatures high above seasonal norms.

Libya -- where around 95 percent of land is desert -- is one of the world's most water-scarce countries, according to the United Nations.

Its annual precipitation in coastal areas has fallen from 400 millimeters in 2019 to 200 millimeters today, with water demand higher than what is available.

The Nafusa Mountains, sitting at an altitude of almost 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) in western Libya, are home to around half a million people out of Libya's population of seven million.

Driven out by increasing water stress, local villagers and their livestock have been gradually moving out of the Nafusa Mountains and surrounding plains.

A tanker delivers water drawn from a well, to an inhabitant of the Libyan village of Kabao in the Nafusa mountains on May 26, 2024. (AFP)

- 'Exodus' -

Mourad Makhlouf, mayor of Kabaw, says that drought in the last decade has pushed hundreds of families to leave for the capital Tripoli and other coastal cities, where water is easier to access.

"It's not just about water scarcity or crops dying due to drought," said Makhlouf. "There is a demographic and human dimension with the exodus of hundreds of families towards the capital and coastal towns."

Suleiman Mohammed, a local farmer, fears that climate change will soon cause everyone to leave, as "living without water is certain death".

"How can we be patient?" he said. "It has gotten to the point where breeders sell their livestock because keeping them costs twice their value."

Standing by a cluster of dead tree trunks, Maakaf decries the loss of "thousands of olive trees".

"Some were 200 years old and inherited from our grandfathers," he said.

Hoping to alleviate the burden, local authorities began selling subsidized water for 25 Libyan dinars (about $5) per 12,000 liters.

Tanker trucks make the trip between the water stations and the village, travelling up to 50 kilometers and allowing some of those in need to hold on.

"We manage to water our fields two to three times a week but water is expensive," Maakaf said, adding that they also rely on private tanker trucks selling the same amount for up to 160 dinars.

Sheep graze in an arid field in the Libyan village of Kabao in the Nafusa mountains on May 26, 2024. (AFP)

- 'Emerging threats' -

The hydrocarbon-rich country hosts the world's largest irrigation project, the Great Man-Made River, its main source of water supply built in the 1980s under the rule of longtime leader Moammar al-Gaddafi.

Drawing fossil water from aquifers in the heart of the southern desert, the network of pipes supplies about 60 percent of the national need.

But the supplies remain insufficient amid increasing drought.

According to the World Resources Institute, an environmental research organization, Libya will face "extremely high" water stress by 2050.

The World Bank predicts that by 2030, the Middle East and North Africa region will fall below the "absolute water scarcity" threshold.

"Water scarcity is one of the greatest emerging threats facing Libya," the UN Development Program said in a study.

"The country needs to ensure equitable access to water for domestic and economic purposes."

"Climate smart agricultural methods should reduce the overuse of water resources and... practices that contribute to soil erosion and desertification, which further impact productive sectors and food security."

Libya signed the 2015 United Nations framework convention on climate change and ratified the Paris Climate Accord in 2021.

Yet the North African country has shown little progress towards the development of disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation strategies, as it continues to grapple with divisions and conflict after the fall of Gaddafi in 2011.

"The drought does not only concern the Nafusa Mountains, but the entire country," said Mayor Makhlouf.

"Libya needs a relief plan, which will not be the solution to everything, but will allow us to adapt."

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Varieties

Small Part of Sunshine State Becomes Snowy State as Florida Gets Snow Second Year in a Row

A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
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Small Part of Sunshine State Becomes Snowy State as Florida Gets Snow Second Year in a Row

A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)

A small part of Florida is the Snowy State for the second year in a row.

Snow briefly covered the grass and rooftops in parts of the western Florida Panhandle on Sunday morning as just enough frigid air rushed in behind a cold front to turn the last rain showers into snowflakes in the Sunshine State.

And it wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Less than a year ago, on Jan. 21, 2025, some of those same areas saw up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow in what was the most significant snowfall in many places since the late 1800s.

Snow photos flooded social media. There were a few flakes on the beach and snow nestled into palm fronds. It was too warm to stick to the roads, but a dusting of snow sat on the grass for a little while before mostly melting.

The rare snow in the South wasn't just in Florida. Southeastern Alabama and southern Georgia also reported snow in areas that also got to celebrate a second winter wonderland in less than a year.

Snow covered the ground in Columbus and Macon, Georgia, and officials warned enough might fall to make travel treacherous.

Varieties

Shark Mauls Boy in Sydney Harbor

This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
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Shark Mauls Boy in Sydney Harbor

This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)

A shark mauled a boy swimming in Sydney Harbor on Sunday, leaving him in critical condition with serious leg injuries, authorities said.

The predator bit the boy, believed to be about 13 years old, during the late afternoon off Shark Beach, New South Wales state police said.

"The injuries are consistent with what is believed to have been a large shark," police said in a statement.

Officers pulled the boy from the water off the harbor beach within minutes of being alerted to the incident, police said.

They gave the boy first aid for "serious" leg injuries while he was aboard a police boat, applying two medical tourniquets.

Paramedics transported him to Sydney Children's Hospital, where he was said to be in critical condition.

"Swimmers are advised to avoid entering nearby waters at this time," police said.

Shark Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburb of Vaucluse, was closed and police evacuated nearby beaches in the harbor, the state government said.

Wildlife experts were working to identify the shark species involved, it said in a statement.

"This is a tragic shark attack on a young boy having a swim on a Sunday afternoon near a harbor beach in Sydney's east," New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said.

"Our thoughts are with the young boy and his family. I understand there were also other young people with him at the time of the attack, our thoughts are also with them."

There have been more than 1,280 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, of which more than 250 resulted in death, according to a database of the predators' encounters with humans.

Increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures that appear to be swaying sharks' migratory patterns may be contributing to a rise in attacks despite overfishing depleting some species, scientists say.

A great white shark mauled surfer Mercury Psillakis to death at a popular northern Sydney ocean beach in September.

Two months later, a bull shark killed a woman swimming off a remote beach north of Sydney.

Varieties

Social Media Addiction's Surprising Challenger? Anti-doomscrolling Influencers

A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
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Social Media Addiction's Surprising Challenger? Anti-doomscrolling Influencers

A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)

It’s simple to accidentally become entranced by an endless loop of videos on Instagram or TikTok. But sometimes, that mindless scroll is interrupted by a reminder that what you thought was a 10-minute break spent on your phone was closer to 30 minutes.

Olivia Yokubonis, armed with a kind voice and scientific research, often pops up in feeds on social platforms, gently reminding viewers that they might not remember the video they saw two videos before she appeared on the screen.

Yokubonis is a content creator who goes by the name Olivia Unplugged online, making videos to combat overuse or mindless use of social media. For the most part, people who view her videos welcome the disruption from the endless loop of content, treating it as a wake-up call to get off their phones. Other times, they are snarky, The Associated Press said.

“People will comment and they’ll be like, ’Oh, (it’s) ironic that you’re posting. And I’m like, ‘Where else am I supposed to find you, Kyle? Outside? You’re not outside. You are here, sitting here,’” she said. “For us to actually be seen, we have to be where people are.”

Yokubonis’ content responds to the feeling many people have, that they spend too much time on social media or apps.

“Most people have no clue how much time they spend on social media,” said Ofir Turel, a professor of information systems management at the University of Melbourne who has been studying social media use for years. Through his research, Turel found that when he presented people with their screen time information, they were practically “in a state of shock” and many people voluntarily reduced their usage afterwards.

Yokubonis is part of a growing group of content creators who make videos encouraging viewers to close out the app they’re on. Some are aggressive in their approach, some more tame; some only occasionally post about social media overuse, and some, like Yokubonis, devote their accounts to it.

She works for Opal, a screen time app designed to help users “reclaim their focus,” she said, but those who engage with her content might not have any idea she is working for the company. Brand logos, constant plugs to download the app and other signs of branding are almost entirely absent from her page. “People love hearing from people,” she said. Millions of views on her videos point to that being true.

“It’s a fine line and a balance of finding a way to be able to cut through that noise but also not adding to the noise,” she added.

Ian A. Anderson, a postdoctoral scholar at California Institute of Technology, said he finds this kind of content interesting, but is curious whether it's disruptive enough to prompt action. He also said he wonders whether those with the strongest scrolling habits are “thoughtless about the way (they're) intaking information.”

“If they're paying full attention, I feel like it could be an effective disruption, but I also think there is a degree to which, if you are really a habitual scroller, maybe you aren’t fully engaging with it,” he said. “I can think of all sorts of different variables that could change the effectiveness, but it does sound like an interesting way to intervene from the inside.”

With billions of active users across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other social media platforms, talk of cutting down on screen time is perennial, as is the idea of addiction to social platforms. But there’s tremendous disagreement over whether social media addiction actually exists.

Is social media “addiction” real? Researchers, psychologists and other experts agree some people spend too much time on social media, but the agreement tends to stop there. Some researchers question whether addiction is the appropriate term to describe heavy use of social media, arguing that a person must be experiencing identifiable symptoms, like strong, sometimes uncontrollable urges and withdrawal, to qualify as addiction. Others, like Turel, acknowledge the term seems to resonate with more people and is often used colloquially.

Anderson said he recognized the prevalence of casual mentions of being addicted to phones and was curious to see if that talk was “benign.”

A recent study of his suggests the debate extends further than academic discourse. In a representative sample of active Instagram users, Anderson found that people often overestimate whether they are “addicted” to the app. On a self-report scale, 18% of participants agreed that they were at least somewhat addicted to Instagram and 5% indicated substantial agreement, but only 2% of participants were deemed at risk of addiction based on their symptoms. Believing you are addicted also impacts how you address that issue, Anderson said.

“If you perceive yourself as more addicted, it actually hurts your ability to control your use or your perception of that ability and makes you kind of blame yourself more for overuse,” Anderson said. “There are these negative consequences to addiction perception.”

Cutting down on screen time

For those looking to curb their social media habits, Anderson suggests making small, meaningful, changes to stop from opening your social media app of choice. Moving the app’s place on your phone or turning off notifications are “light touch interventions,” but more involved options, like not bringing your phone into the bedroom — or other places where you often use it — could also help.

Plenty of intervention methods have been offered to consumers in the form of products or services. But those interventions require self awareness and a desire to cut down on use. Content creators who infiltrate social media feeds with information about the psychology behind why people scroll for hours a day can plant those early seeds.

Cat Goetze, who goes by CatGPT online, makes “non-pretentious, non-patronizing” content about artificial intelligence, building off her experience in the tech industry. But she’s also been on a lengthy road to cut down her own screen time. She often makes videos about why the platforms are so compelling and why we tend to spend longer than we anticipate on them.

“There’s a whole infrastructure — there’s an army of nerds whose only job is to get you to increase your time spent on that platform,” she said. “There’s a whole machine that’s trying to get you to be that way and it’s not your fault and you’re not going to win this just (through) willpower.”

Goetze also founded the business Physical Phones, which makes Bluetooth landline phones that connect to smartphones, encouraging people to spend less time on their devices. The inside of the packaging reads “offline is the new luxury.”

She was able to build the business at an accelerated pace thanks to her social media audience. But the early success of Physical Phones also demonstrates the demand for solutions to high screen time, she said.

“Social media will always play a part in our lives. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. If we can get the average screen time down from, if it’s 10 hours for a person to one hour, or from three hours to 30 minutes, that is going to be a net positive benefit for that individual and for society,” Goetze said. “That being said, I’d love to be the person that they’re watching for those 30 minutes.”