Ripped from the Headlines: December 2021: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for December 4–December 10, 2021

In New York City, one result of global supply chain problems can be found behind the counter of nearly every bagel shop. The chewy, doughnut-shaped bread rolls are traditionally served with cream cheese, a dairy-based spread that’s in short supply. While most bagel sellers have yet to run out completely, they say they’re just days away from being unable to offer the preferred topping for their sesame, pumpernickel, and plain bagels. The word has a root that means "ring."

The National Park Service announced that 900 bison will be removed from Yellowstone National Park to prevent overgrazing. After a century focused on restoring the enormous, hoofed animals to the area, conservationists now say managing their population will preserve the ecosystem and prevent the spread of disease to cattle. In 1904, there were only about 100 bison in the Great Plains; today Yellowstone alone has more than 5,000. In Latin, bison means "wild ox."

The Biden administration will stage a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in February. While U.S. athletes will compete in the Games, there will be no governmental or diplomatic representation. By officially refusing to participate in this way, the U.S. is signaling its disapproval of human rights abuses in China. Boycott is from Charles Boycott, who was ostracized by his 17th-century community in protest of proposed evictions from land he managed.

In Myanmar, confrontations between the country's military forces and protesters turned violent on December 5 when soldiers drove a tank into a crowd of demonstrators. An unknown number of people were injured or killed in the clash. As citizens continue to protest a February coup and the military pushes back, the conflict is becoming increasingly dangerous. Confrontation comes from a Latin word that means "bring face-to-face," from roots meaning "together" and "forehead."

A new study shows that the earth’s strongest ocean current, which circulates around Antarctica, is speeding up. The continuously flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current carries water clockwise around the planet and keeps Antarctica cold. Researchers found that as human activity has caused the oceans to warm, the ACC has increased its speed. Faster-moving water is likely to change the distribution of heat in the world's oceans and affect marine life, scientists say.

As a teenager, Alhaji Siraj Bah lost his entire adoptive family to a mudslide in Sierra Leone, a disaster that took the lives of more than 1,000 people. Four years later, at the age of 22, Bah is working to combat the deforestation that makes mudslides more likely. His business has created a coconut shell-based alternative to charcoal, which is made from wood. Bah's fuel uses scraps of shell and husk that juice sellers discard, rather than relying on massive numbers of trees.

On December 7, President Biden had a two-hour diplomatic video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting was part of the U.S. effort to discourage Russia from escalating its military threat on the border it shares with Ukraine. Defusing the tense situation is seen as a major foreign policy challenge for the United States, with enormous consequences for its allies. Though Biden and Putin were cordial and friendly with each other, the call did not resolve the crisis.

A dissident theater troupe will leave their home country of Belarus, where they are officially banned. The Belarus Free Theatre has performed underground for 16 years, defying dictator Alexander Lukashenko. The troupe's productions, staged at secret locations, challenge Belarus's authoritarian regime and have led to regular arrests of performers and audience members. The troupe will continue to stage shows outside their home country and say they hope to get asylum in Poland.

In an attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions, British Airways will begin using fuel made from recycled cooking oil and other waste materials. The airline announced that at least ten percent of all flights will use the sustainable fuel by 2030. Traditional jet fuel releases 80 percent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the new recycled product. Emission is derived from the Latin emittere, "send out."

On December 4, a volcanic eruption on the Indonesian island of Java left dozens of people dead and thousands homeless. When Mount Semeru erupted, it sent hot volcanic material flowing down its sides and ash spewing 40,000 feet into the air. Lava enveloped buildings and vehicles in nearby villages, and the thick, gray ash continued to fall for days after the eruption. The word eruption shares a root with rupture.

Floods in the northwestern part of Washington state have been especially devastating to the region’s dairy farms. A month of record-setting torrential rain caused rivers to overflow their banks, marooning some farms and stranding terrified cows. The flooding came at an already difficult time for farmers, who are struggling to hire workers and obtain supplies of equipment and animal feed. Flood derives from a root word that means "to flow."

The Natural History Museum in London has outfitted its huge animatronic T. rex in holiday garb. The replica dinosaur, built to scale at about 60 percent of the real creature's size, is normally an intimidating presence, looming over visitors and roaring unpredictably. As of December 6, though, T. rex is less ferocious, as it's now dressed in a Christmas sweater, festooned with snowflakes and Santa. The festive outfit is part of a new push to attract in-person museum patrons.

A preliminary study of a new Covid variant suggests that it shares a significant amount of genetic material with the common cold. Some researchers suspect that the original mutation occurred in someone infected with both viruses at the same time. The shared genes may help explain why omicron appears to be more infectious than earlier strains. Genetic is from the Greek genesis, "origin."

Eight years after he discovered a trove of jewels on a French glacier, a mountaineer was given half of them as a reward. The anonymous climber was scaling Mont Blanc in 2013 when he found a metal box containing rubies, emeralds, and diamonds lodged in the alpine surface. Experts guess the treasure had been buried since a plane crash 50 years ago. As the icy surfaces of mountain glaciers melt, similar discoveries have been made around the world.

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio issued a mandate requiring all private-sector workers to be vaccinated. The new regulations state that employees must provide proof they've had two vaccine doses, and that children over the age of five need at least one to enter restaurants, gyms, and entertainment venues. The mandate is the first in the U.S. that affects private businesses. The Latin root of mandate means "order or command."

A study published in Current Biology shows that baby bats learn to navigate while being carried to the same location, night after night, by their mothers. The babies travel upside down, clinging to their mother’s fur as she speeds through the air, until she drops them off to wait while she hunts for food. After about 10 weeks, the babies are able to find their way back to the same drop-off spot alone. Navigate, first used for ships, has a root meaning "boat."

In the midst of a record December heat wave, unusual prairie fires have swept across the grassy, treeless land of central Montana this month. Climate experts say the state hasn't been this dry in thousands of years. Once the drought-stricken prairie grasses ignited, high winds spread the fire into several towns, including Denton and Great Falls. Normally, snowfall in November puts an end to fire season. Prairie has a Latin root meaning "meadow."

Scientists have successfully repurposed frog cells to form what they call biological robots. These living mechanisms can move automatically and heal themselves, and researchers believe they will be able to reproduce for several generations. Experts say the robots' potential future uses include delivering medicine to specific locations in the human body and collecting microplastics from the ocean.

Taiwanese volunteers are carefully collecting poisonous cane toads to protect people, pets, and wild animals. Considered good luck in Taiwan, the toads are also toxic, emitting a poison that can be deadly if it enters a person’s mouth or eyes. Officials say several dogs have been killed by the toxin. The toads are native to South America and are considered an invasive species in Taiwan. The Greek root of toxic is toxikon, "poison for use on arrows."

The rapper and singer Drake withdrew from Grammy consideration this week in protest of the Recording Academy’s nomination methods. Two of his songs had been nominated for awards before he pulled out of the competition. Drake is just the latest of many musicians who have boycotted the Grammy Awards alleging an absence of transparency in the voting process and a lack of diversity among nominees.