Easter

Possible ways to mitigate the risk include armouring the coastline and building breakwaters to relocating the monuments.

The Journal of Cultural Heritage has published a new study indicating that rising sea levels could push powerful seasonal waves into Easter Island’s 15 iconic moai statues, in the latest potential peril to cultural heritage from climate change.

“Sea level rise is real,” said Noah Paoa, lead author of the study published on Wednesday and a doctoral student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “It’s not a distant threat.”

About 50 other cultural sites in the area are also at risk from flooding.

Paoa, who is from Easter Island – a Chilean territory and volcanic island in Polynesia known to its Indigenous people as Rapa Nui – and his colleagues built a high-resolution “digital twin” of the island’s eastern coastline and ran computer models to simulate future wave impacts under various sea level rise scenarios. They then overlaid the results with maps of cultural sites to pinpoint which places could be inundated in the coming decades.

The findings show waves could reach Ahu Tongariki, the largest ceremonial platform on the island, as early as 2080. The site, home to the 15 towering moai, draws tens of thousands of visitors each year and is a cornerstone of the island’s tourism economy.

Beyond its economic value, the ahu is deeply woven into Rapa Nui’s cultural identity. It lies within Rapa Nui National Park, which encompasses much of the island and is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The roughly 900 moai statues across the island were built by the Rapa Nui people between the 10th and 16th centuries to honour important ancestors and chiefs.

The threat isn’t unprecedented. In 1960, the largest earthquake ever recorded – a magnitude 9.5 off the coast of Chile – sent a tsunami surging across the Pacific. It struck Rapa Nui and swept the already-toppled moai further inland, which damaged some of their features. The monument was restored in the 1990s.

While the study focuses on Rapa Nui, its conclusions echo a wider reality: Cultural heritage sites worldwide are increasingly endangered by rising seas. A UNESCO report published last month found that about 50 World Heritage sites are highly exposed to coastal flooding.

A UNESCO spokesperson told The Associated Press news agency that climate change is the biggest threat to UNESCO’s World Heritage marine sites. “In the Mediterranean and Africa, nearly three-quarters of coastal low-lying sites are now exposed to erosion and flooding due to accelerated sea level rise.”

Possible defences for Ahu Tongariki range from armouring the coastline and building breakwaters to relocating the monuments.

Paoa hopes that the findings will bring these conversations about now, rather than after irreversible damage. “It’s best to look ahead and be proactive instead of reactive to the potential threats.”

“7 a.m.,” the pilot episode of “The Pitt,” introduces viewers to the organized chaos of a Pittsburgh hospital emergency room and the doctors and nurses who spend their days going from medical crisis to medical crisis.

“At the center of that wheel with all the spokes” is Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, says Noah Wyle, who plays the caring and beleaguered chief attending physician. “You can identify who is who in the show by how Robby is treating them. Am I being deferential to their expertise and education, or do I assume that they don’t know s— and I have to babysit them?”

The episode, written by series creator and executive producer R. Scott Gemmill and directed by executive producer John Wells, also hints at story arcs that will play out over the 15-episode first season. “There’s all kinds of little Easter eggs in there if you go back and look,” Gemmill says.

The Envelope chatted with Wyle, who also serves as an executive producer on the series, Wells and Gemmill about how the Emmy-nominated “7 a.m.” establishes “The Pitt’s” core characters.

Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle)
“This is an emergency department. Not a Taco Bell.”

The series begins with Robby walking to work listening to “Baby” by Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise. “One of the things that you’re always trying to do is just tell the audience who you’re going to follow,” Wells says. “Who’s going to be your character that introduces you to this world?”

Robby is the only character viewers see arriving to work. “We really wanted our characters to be learned about through the exposition of their workplace environment,” Wyle says.

“It was a conscious and thoughtful decision to not wake up in his apartment, not get a sense of his home decor, what his diet is, who he sleeps with,” he adds. “Those were all defining things that would immediately take him from being an everyman to being a specific man.”

Nurse Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa)
“You sure you’re cool being here today?”

The first person Robby checks in with is Dana, the charge nurse, who Gemmill refers to as both the “den mother” and “air traffic controller” of the ER. “Robby’s relationship with Dana is very special,” he says.

Dana and Robby’s first conversation is about Dr. Jack Abbot (Shawn Hatosy), the ER doctor who works the night shift. Dana tells Robby that Abbot has gone to get “some air.” Her choice of words is significant because Abbot is actually standing on the hospital roof on the wrong side of the guardrail. “You know from the look on Robby’s face that he knows what ‘getting some air’ means,” Gemmill says. “There’s a lot of things that are not said but that are understood between these two characters.”

The creative team cut a scene from the pilot that revealed too much about the arc of Dr. Langdon, played by Patrick Ball.

(Warrick Page / HBO Max)

Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball)
“If you need me, I’ll be saving lives.”

Immediately introduced as the cocky senior resident , Langdon is later revealed to be stealing prescription drugs. But they were cognizant of keeping Langdon’s story arc a secret from viewers. “There was one sequence where we showed him with a slightly shaking hand,” Wyle says. “We felt like it tipped a bit too much. We ended up taking it out.”

Dr. Cassie McKay (Fiona Dourif)
“I’m a 42–year–old R2. So I have my own haters. Trust me.”

In the pilot, McKay, who is older than the other residents, gets involved with two cases. She immediately picks up that something isn’t right between a mother who has come in with her sullen adolescent son. She also instantly knows that the mother who burnt her hand on a Sterno is unhoused. “What she lacks in not having [started] at a younger age, she makes up for with life experience.” Gemmill says.

Isa Briones as Trinity Santos in “The Pitt.”

(Warrick Page / HBO Max)

Dr. Trinity Santos (Isa Briones)
“I got 50 bucks says she doesn’t last through this shift.”

Intern Trinity Santos comes in hot with a palpable ambition. She openly mocks her fellow residents with derogatory nicknames, but her outward bravado belies her backstory. “She has a history of abuse and trauma that has made her want to wear a suit of armor and tell the world to go f— itself before she has a chance to be hurt again,” Wyle says. “And we peel that layer to the very end of the run when you find out about what happened to her. Her compassion and empathy really comes into the fore in the latter half of the season.”

Dr. Melissa King (Taylor Dearden)
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here today.”

Nothing seems to get in the way of second-year resident Mel King’s outwardly cheerful demeanor. “She was a tricky one,” Gemmill says. “We walk a fine line with her. She’s fairly obviously neurodivergent, and I just wanted to really introduce a character like that and do it justice and do it properly, and Taylor has done a great job embodying that.”

Shabana Azeez and Gerran Howell in “The Pitt.” The latter’s Dr. Whittaker provides “comic relief” in the early episodes through the indignities he suffers.

(Warrick Page / HBO Max)

Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell)
“I’ll be this lady’s age by the time I pay off my student loans.”

Fourth-year medical student Whitaker doesn’t start off well. His phone rings during a moment of silence for a deceased patient and he injures his finger moving a patient off a gurney.

“He’s very much the comic relief in the early episodes,” Wyle says. “He’s the guy that we put through a series of degradations and humiliations, but like the Energizer Bunny, he keeps coming back. By braving all of these things, he becomes extremely endearing.”

Dr. Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez)
“I’ve earned the right to be here.”

Twenty-year-old prodigy Dr. Victoria Javadi is the daughter of two doctors. In the pilot, the third-year medical student faints the first time in the exam room and has painfully awkward exchanges with her peers. “You imagine that she was never with anyone her age,” Gemmill says. “Imagine a study group when she was in med school and she’s 14 or 15 years old. No one’s going to want to hang out with her. She becomes like a mascot to them. Her thing is to overcome that mascot image and become a person unto herself.”

The latest episode featured a subtle scene that could hint at Belly’s endgame

*Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3*

The Summer I Turned Pretty’s latest episode featured an Easter Egg that could be good news for Team Conrad.

Based on the much-loved YA novels by showrunner Jenny Han, the latest season follows Belly (portrayed by Lola Tung) as she navigates life at university. In addition to her education, she’s also wrapped up in a long-term relationship with Jeremiah Fisher (played by Gavin Casalegno).

However, when Belly’s ex-boyfriend and Jeremiah’s elder brother, Conrad (played by Christopher Briney), re-enters their lives, she is forced to reconsider her feelings for the older Fisher boy.

Episode three, released on Prime Video on July 23, sees the trio reunited for Susannah Fisher’s memorial. Viewers see the Conklins and Fishers at lunch, where Belly’s mother Laurel (played Jackie Chung) announces she is footing the bill.

Upon hearing this, Adam Fisher (Tom Everett Scott) orders the most expensive entrée on the menu, the Surf n Turf. Jeremiah follows suit, echoing his father’s $75 request.

However, Conrad takes note that Belly had ordered an affordable starter for her main, and opts for the cheapest item on the menu, the Seared Salmon Fillet.

The scene is significant because the Fishers are portrayed as far wealthier than Belly’s family. Therefore, they could have ordered inexpensive items out of consideration for Belly’s single mother.

Although the scene is fleeting, viewers have noted that it signifies that Conrad is a better partner for Belly because he is more attentive to her family dynamic. This has left supporters of ‘Bonrad’ theorising that this scene is yet another Easter Egg teasing the pair’s eventual reunion.

Get Prime Video free for 30 days

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

£8.99

£0

Amazon

Get Prime Video here

TV lovers can get 30 days’ free access to tantalising TV like The Boys, Reacher and Clarkson’s Farm by signing up to Amazon Prime. Just remember to cancel at the end and you won’t be charged.

Taking to Reddit, one viewer voiced: “Not Conrad choosing the cheapest entrée. I can’t. I let out a squeak and cry. Oh my goodness this boy. I love him too much.”

Others were quick to praise the Fisher brother, with a second writing: “He knows Laurel and is so considerate. I love this man.” A third viewer, who completely missed the Easter Egg, penned: “Oh. That’s what that was about.”

“It’s the little things like attentiveness and thoughtful consideration that make Conrad so amazing. He is so in-tune with her needs,” said a fourth.

But others defended Jeremiah, with one arguing: “Don’t offer to pay at an expensive restaurant like that with a table full of young men who will eat you out of house and home if you cannot afford it. It was a silly gesture that Adam won’t even appreciate. Let him pick up the tab, it’s the least he can do.”

While the lunch exchange may have scored points for Conrad, Jeremiah and Belly later revealed to their families that they are engaged. And, as of episode three, the pair intend to go through with their marriage.

The Summer I Turned Pretty streams Wednesdays on Prime Video