Ripped from the Headlines: April 2022: This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 2–April 8, 2022

A group of climate change experts released a report on April 4 warning that countries worldwide must accelerate their efforts to reduce emissions in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that only by speeding up the rate at which nations slash their carbon output will the earth avoid reaching a temperature that will cause heat waves, malnutrition, and water scarcity for millions of people.

A Native American tribe has reacquired 465 acres of its ancestral land in eastern Virginia, more than 350 years after it was displaced by English settlers. The chief of the Rappahannock tribe, Anne Richardson, said the land is especially meaningful "because the bones of our ancestors are there." Before Europeans arrived in the 1600s, generations of tribal members lived in villages along Fones Cliff, fishing in a nearby river. Ancestral has a root meaning "to go before."

Western leaders, shocked by images of atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine, promised even harsher sanctions in response. There is growing evidence that soldiers killed hundreds of civilians before withdrawing from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. The bodies of adults and children were left in the streets, a horrifying discovery for those returning to the city after Russia's withdrawal. Atrocity is from a Latin root that means "cruel."

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the autocratic leader of Hungary, declared victory in a national election on April 3. It will be the fourth term for Orban, who is known for silencing dissenting voices in the media and heavily gerrymandering voting districts to favor his own right-wing political party. He is also outspoken about his opposition to LGBTQ+ rights and immigration by Muslims . The Greek root of autocratic is autokrates, "ruling by oneself."

The Whitney Biennial opened on April 6. Titled Quiet as It's Kept, the multimedia show features works by more than 60 artists. The contemporary exhibition is normally held every other year, but the 2021 show was delayed due to the pandemic. The 2022 Biennial consists of installations, videos, photography, sculpture, and paintings representing new American art, which this year includes artists from Mexico and Canada, as well as the U.S.

In the face of a growing economic crisis and mass protests, the entire Sri Lankan cabinet resigned on April 3. All 26 ministers stepped down from their roles as leaders of the executive branch, leaving only President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, in their government positions. Shortages of food, medicine, and fuel in Sri Lanka have led to increasingly angry demonstrations against the government and the politically powerful Rajapaska family.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared in a cameo during the Grammy Awards ceremony on April 3. The brief appearance was a prerecorded video plea for support as his country defends itself against Russia's invasion. “What is more opposite to music?” Zelensky asked. “The silence of ruined cities and killed people.” His short speech was followed by a musical performance by John Legend featuring a Ukrainian singer and a poet who recently fled the country.

Josh Wardle, the creator of the beloved online word game Wordle, hosted its first live competition at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut. Wardle, who works as a software engineer, designed Wordle as a gift for his puzzle-loving partner. The game gives players six tries to guess a five-letter word, and it can only be played once a day. In his speech at the tournament, Wardle emphasized the shareable nature of his creation as the key to its popularity.

A man who used a metal detector to find a valuable 350-year-old ring in Nottinghamshire, England two years ago has sold it at auction for £8,500. In 2020, Graham Harrison was searching farmland alongside other detectorists when his device began signaling the presence of metal. He and his dog Morgan began to dig, unearthing a gold ring that belonged to the 17th-century Sheriff of Nottingham. The Latin root of detector means "uncover or expose."

Preliminary studies suggest that people with diabetes are especially vulnerable to Covid-19. Researchers estimate that 30 percent of U.S. coronavirus deaths have occured in diabetics, who have a condition that harms the body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels. Though the Covid connection isn't fully understood, experts say that unregulated diabetes affects the immune system and can cause high blood pressure and other health conditions that make people susceptible to disease.

Hundreds of people gathered in Times Square on April 2 to mark the beginning of Ramadan and break the first day's fast. Muslims observe the holiest month of the year with prayers — and by abstaining from eating or drinking from sunrise until sunset each day. In New York, 1,500 meals were served as organizers educated the public about Islam and conveyed a message of unity and peace. The verb fast evolved to mean "have firm control of one's self."

Research into the millions of tons of plastic that ends up in the ocean annually has revealed that microscopic bits have found their way into the "marine snow" which provides the deep sea's main food source. One result of microplastics infiltrating the ocean's food web, scientists say, may be a reduction in its ability to cool the planet. As plastic creeps into the complex system of marine life, it seems to increase the ocean's carbon and curb its capacity to regulate Earth's temperature.

Amazon workers at a Staten Island warehouse voted to unionize last week, a move seen by many as the most decisive win for organized labor in decades. Despite relentless lobbying efforts by the company, the pro-union proposal won by a wide margin. It's the first union formed by Amazon employees, and supporters say it will give laborers new leverage in negotiations about salary, working conditions, and more. Amazon plans to challenge the outcome. Labor means "work" in Latin.

Bad weather and a technical snafu led NASA to abandon a launch rehearsal scheduled for April 3. The event was intended to practice the countdown of its Space Launch System, a new megarocket that will be used to propel upcoming moon missions. Launch is derived from the Old French lancier, "to fling or throw," and its root, meaning "spear."

According to a new study, people who grow up in cities where streets form a predictable grid have a much harder time navigating in unfamiliar areas, even years later. Starting out in a city like Chicago or New York was found to affect a person's ability to find their way around as an adult, especially in places with meandering, curved streets and irregular layouts. Coming from a rural area or non-grid city seems to impart a lasting ability to navigate new terrain.

After their lackluster start in the April 4 NCAA men's basketball championship game, Kansas made a historic rally in the second half, beating UNC. The Jayhawks were down by 15 points at halftime, but they bounced back to score 20 points in seven minutes and defeated the Tar Heels 72-69. The comeback was the largest in national championship history, and the victory was the first for Kansas since 2008.

After an ecology student at Northern Michigan University noticed that blue-spotted salamanders were regularly being hit by cars on a road in Presque Isle Park, he began researching how many of the migrating, lizard-like amphibians were killed annually. Eli Bieri's study, which showed that hundreds of salamanders died each year, inspired officials to close the park road during their migration. Thanks to Bieri's efforts, only three salamanders died on the road this year.

Authorities seized 13 South Asian artifacts from the Yale University Art Gallery found to be linked to a smuggler. The items were part of an investigation into a former art dealer, Subhash Kapoor, who is accused of stealing and illegally trading thousands of antiquities over more than 30 years. Kapoor is currently imprisoned in India and faces extradition to the U.S. on smuggling charges. The Yale artifacts are valued at $1.29 million. The root of smuggler means "to sneak."

The American Library Association announced that efforts to ban books jumped four-fold last year, from 156 challenges in 2020 to 729 in 2021. The unprecedented increase in attempts to ban library and school materials included 1,597 specific titles, as each challenge often mentions more than one book. An ALA spokesperson said the group has never received more than 500 requests to restrict books in one year. The roots of unprecedented mean "not come before."