Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics published last week. This is usually a Tuesday evening regular post at GEI (but can be posted at other times).
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Note: Because of the high volume of news regarding the coronavirus outbreak, that news has been published separately:
- 15 Aug 2021 – Coronavirus Disease Weekly News 15August 2021
- 15 Aug 2021 – Coronavirus Economic Weekly News 15August 2021
New US Covid cases and deaths continued to rise, but the rate of increase of new cases and deaths globally has slowed considerably. In fact, the global Covid new case count would be going down were it not for the increase of new cases in the US.
New US Covid cases reported during the week ending August 14th were 9.3% higher than those reported during the week ending August 7th, which is now 955% more than the number of Covid cases reported during the week ending June 26th, ie, seven weeks earlier. That increase comes after new cases for the week ending August 7th were apparently revised about 10% higher, which is a rough estimate since I don’t have the data as it was originally published during that week. We have been averaging over 120,000 new cases a day this past week, 73% higher than during our worst week of last summer, or 28.5% more new cases each day than the 94,379 cases that China reported over the entire 20 months of the pandemic. New US cases during this past week were roughly equivalent to the new cases reported by India, Brazil, Indonesia, and the UK combined.
US deaths attributed to Covid during the week ending August 14th were 7.6% higher than those reported during the prior week, and that represents a 215% increase from the deaths now reported for the week ending July 10th, when our Covid death toll bottomed out after sliding all year. The US Covid death count is still 44.5% below that of the worst week of last summer, probably reflecting the impact of less severe cases contracted by those fully vaccinated.
New Covid cases reported worldwide during the week ending August 14th were just 0.5% higher than those reported during the week ending August 7th, but still 74.6% higher than those recorded during the week ending June 19th, the lowest week for global new cases this year. Without the US totals for both weeks, new Covid cases were down 1.3% globally from the week ending the 7th. Even without removing US totals, this week’s global Covid deaths were 0.2% lower than the prior week’s total, but still 23.1% higher than during the week ending July 3rd, when global death totals were at their low for this year.
Some of the COVID-19 graphics presented in the articles linked at the beginning of this post have been updated below.
Summary data graphics:
Below are copies of graphs WorldOMeters so you can get a visuallization of what the growth and decline of this pandemic looks like in the U.S. (data through August 17):
New cases and deaths data globally are shown in the Johns Hopkins graphics below (first two graphics). These graphics shows the daily global new cases (red) and deaths (white) since the start of the pandemic up through 17 August. The third graphic shows the cummulative total vaccine doses delivered to date.
Here’s the week’s environment and energy news. There are a handful of articles on Ohio’s utility corruption at the end:
Melioidosis confirmed in Georgia, one dead – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms one person has died of melioidosis in Georgia. The CDC said melioidosis is caused by a bacterium found in contaminated water and soil. The deadly infectious disease can infect humans and animals, and it is predominantly found in tropical climates, including Southeast Asia and northern Australia.According to the CDC, the new fatal case of the rare disease in Georgia is linked to three other cases of the disease in adults and children in Kansas, Texas, and Minnesota. Experts said genome sequencing shows the bacterial strains that made the four patients sick suggest a common source.They said that bacteria appears to be closely related to strains found in South Asia, even though none of the four patients had traveled internationally recently. Two of those four people, including one person in Georgia, have died.According to the CDC, the patients had no known risk factors for melioidosis. None of the 100 samples taken from products, soil, and water in and around those patients’ homes have tested positive for the bacteria that causes the illness. According to the CDC, melioidosis has “a wide range of signs and symptoms,” which can be mistaken for other diseases like common forms of pneumonia and tuberculosis.
Alarming CDC report says new tropical disease had killed two in US — Alongside the rampant delta variant outbreaks, public health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now contending with new incidents of a rare tropical disease that has emerged in parts of the continental U.S.Melioidosis, also known as Whitmore’s disease, is a bacterial infection usually found in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. The bacteria causing the infection is usually found in contaminated waters and soils and spread within both animals and humans through contact with the contaminated source. Ingestion and contact with skin abrasions are the most common vehicles of infection.Recent genome sequencing at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta confirms that four cases of melioidosis are in the U.S., with two being fatal.No other information on the patients has been released by the CDC. One case was confirmed in Georgia and was traced to three prior cases in different states, namely Kansas, Texas and Minnesota.After testing more than 100 soil and water samples near the patients’ homes, none came back positive for the bacteria that causes melioidosis. This leaves public health officials to believe that the cause is most likely an imported product or an ingredient found within an import, such as a food, beverage, cleaning product or medicine.Notably, it is rare to contract melioidosis from another person. “Although healthy people may get melioidosis, underlying medical conditions may increase the risk of disease,” the CDC wrote. “The major risk factors are diabetes, liver or kidney disease, chronic lung disease, cancer or another condition that weakens the immune system.”
Sunscreen Worries Grow as Another Potential Carcinogen Found -Researchers asked U.S. regulators to pull some sunscreens from the market, including brands such as Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena, saying they’ve found evidence of a potential carcinogen. Scientists petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to remove for sale all sunscreens containing the active ingredient octocrylene. Products made with the chemical may contain benzophenone, a suspected carcinogen that also can interfere with key hormones and reproductive organs, according to a group led by Craig Downs, executive director of the nonprofit Haereticus Environmental Laboratory that studies risks to health and the environment. Some 2,400 sun-protection products are made with octocrylene and “we don’t know what their safety is,” said Downs, who filed the petition Thursday. “The FDA doesn’t know what their safety is and it’s unconscionable that the FDA would allow something that we don’t know if it’s safe or not.” Concerns about sunscreens began heating up in 2019 when the FDA asked manufacturers for safety data on chemical ingredients, including octocrylene. In May, an independent testing lab found levels of another probable carcinogen, benzene, in several products, leading to some recalls. FDA research shows that the body absorbs enough of sunscreens’ chemical ingredients to warrant further testing. Yet there’s no indication companies have provided the safety data the FDA requested two years ago, said David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization. Working with researchers at the Paris-based Sorbonne University, Downs and Joe DiNardo, a toxicologist who formerly worked in the cosmetics industry, tested 16 octocrylene-based sunscreens purchased in France and the U.S. The brands included Beiersdorf AG’s Coppertone Water Babies spray, Edgewell Personal Care Co.’s Banana Boat SPF 50 lotion and a Neutrogena Beach Defense spray and lotion from Johnson & Johnson. All of them tested positive for benzophenone. Downs and DiNardo’s findings were published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology in March. Later, Belgian researchers published similar results after testing products containing octocrylene.
Microplastics destabilize lipid membranes by mechanical stretching – PNAS -Abstract: Estimated millions of tons of plastic are dumped annually into oceans. Plastic has been produced only for 70 y, but the exponential rise of mass production leads to its widespread proliferation in all environments. As a consequence of their large abundance globally, microplastics are also found in many living organisms including humans. While the health impact of digested microplastics on living organisms is debatable, we reveal a physical mechanism of mechanical stretching of model cell lipid membranes induced by adsorbed micrometer-sized microplastic particles most commonly found in oceans. Combining experimental and theoretical approaches, we demonstrate that microplastic particles adsorbed on lipid membranes considerably increase membrane tension even at low particle concentrations. Each particle adsorbed at the membrane consumes surface area that is proportional to the contact area between particle and the membrane. Although lipid membranes are liquid and able to accommodate mechanical stress, the relaxation time is much slower than the rate of adsorption; thus, the cumulative effect from arriving microplastic particles to the membrane leads to the global reduction of the membrane area and increase of membrane tension. This, in turn, leads to a strong reduction of membrane lifetime. This study demonstrates that microplastic beads ranging from 1 to 10 μm attach to lipid membranes. This attachment leads to significant stretching of the lipid bilayer without requiring any oxidative, or biological, e.g., inflammatory, reactions. This mechanical stretching can potentially lead to serious dysfunction of the cell machinery.
Microplastics: A trojan horse for metals -Scientists worldwide have already demonstrated the alarming ecological ubiquity and longevity of plastic particles. The particles measure between one micrometer and a half centimeter in size. They develop in part when larger plastic components break apart in the sea or wind up in the rivers and subsequently in the ocean directly from wastewater stemming from land. Microplastics are toxic in very high concentrations. In addition, they can also accumulate, transport and release other pollutants. While data has already been published on organic pollutants in this context, there is little known about the interactions between the microplastic particles floating in the water and dissolved metals. This is why scientists from the Institute of Coastal Environmental Chemistry at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon have now systematically studied these interactions in the laboratory.The team, which includes first author Dr. Lars Hildebrandt, studied the accumulation of fifty-five different metals and semi-metals on polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate particles, measuring 63 to 250 micrometers in size. “In regard to water polluted by plastics, the two types of plastics we studied play a vital role,” says environmental chemist Hildebrandt. “This is due to their wide range of application and the associated high production volumes. Most shopping bags, for example, are made of polyethylene (recycling code 4, LDPE), and plastic drinking bottles are almost without exception made of polyethylene terephthalate (recycling code 1, PET).” “In the study, we determined that the accumulation becomes stronger when the particles become smaller and that there are significant differences between the various elements (metals and semi-metals) in terms of the extent of enrichment,” says coauthor Dr. Daniel Pröfrock, department head of Inorganic Environmental Chemistry at Hereon. Some metals, or more precisely their ions, such as chromium, iron, tin and the rare earths attached themselves almost entirely to the microplastics. Others, such as cadmium, zinc and cooper, showed almost no accumulation on the plastic over the entire test period. In addition, the polyethylene particles showed significantly greater accumulation than the polyethylene terephthalate particles.In the second phase of the test, the Hereon scientists could show that the particles loaded with metals or semi-metals almost completely released the respective metal contents again under chemical conditions, such as those that prevail in the digestive tract. “Our test set-up in the laboratory was actually simplified and without model organisms. Nonetheless, the results provide important evidence that microplastic particles, when absorbed by the body, act as a type of trojan horse for metals and that these metals can possibly be introduced into organisms to a greater extent in that way,”
Environmental impact of bottled water ‘up to 3,500 times greater than tap water’ The impact of bottled water on natural resources is 3,500 times higher than for tap water, scientists have found.The research is the first of its kind and examined the impact of bottled water in Barcelona, where it is becoming increasingly popular despite improvements to the quality of tap water in recent years.Research led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) found that if the city’s population were all to drink bottled water, this would result in a 3,500 times higher cost of resource extraction than if they all drank tap water, at $83.9m (£60.3m)a year.Researchers also found the impact of bottled water on ecosystems is 1,400 times higher than tap water. The authors concluded that the reduction in environmental impacts more than offset the small risk of bladder cancer associated with drinking tap water. The process of treating drinking water generates low levels of trihalomethanes (THM), which have been associated with a higher risk of bladder cancer. THM levels in drinking water are regulated in the EU. The lead author of the study, the ISGlobal researcher Cristina Villanueva, said: “Health reasons don’t justify the wide use of bottled water. Yes, strictly speaking, drinking tap water is worse for local health, but when you weigh both, what you gain from drinking bottled water is minimal. It’s quite obvious that the environmental impacts of bottled water are higher compared to tap water.”In the US, 17m barrels of oil are needed to produce the plastic to meet annual bottled water demand. In addition, bottled water in the UK is at least 500 times more expensive than tap water.Villanueva added: “I think this study can help to reduce bottled water consumption, but we need more active policies to change that.“For example, in Barcelona, we could have more education campaigns to make the public aware that the health gains from drinking bottled water are minor compared to the environmental impacts. We need to improve access to public water, to public fountains, to public buildings where you can bring your own bottle and don’t need to buy one. We need to facilitate access to public water in public streets.
Coca-Cola Is #1 Most Littered Brand on UK Beaches – Coca-Cola is once again the brand name most likely to show up on trash collected from UK beaches, the latest installment in a yearly analysis has shown.The analysis was the result of a yearly brand audit conducted by ocean conservation group Surfers Against Sewage as part of a beach clean event. The group found that Coke was one of 12 parent companies responsible for more than 65 percent of all branded pollution.”Our annual Brand Audit has once again revealed the shocking volume of plastic and packaging pollution coming directly from big companies and some of their best known brands,” Surfers Against Sewage Chief Executive Hugo Tagholm said in a press release. “Serial offenders including Coca-Cola – which tops the leader board year on year as the worst offender – are still not taking responsibility.”The audit was based on the group’s Million Mile Clean, in which more than 50,000 volunteers cleaned a total of 350,000 miles and collected 26,983 items of packaging pollution from May 11 to 23. This effort revealed the “Dirty Dozen” companies whose various product names were most often found on bags and bottles: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Bush InBev, McDonalds, Mondelez International, Heineken, Tesco, Carlsberg Group, Suntory, Haribo, Mars and Aldi.Further, the analysis revealed the top 12 most polluting brands: Coca-Cola, Walkers, McDonalds, Cadbury, Tesco, Lucozade, Costa Coffee, Budweiser, Mars- Wrigley, Stella Artois, Haribo and Aldi. (Walkers is a UK chip company owned by Pepsi).There were many repeat offenders on the lists, including Coke, which has taken the top spot for every year since 2019. However, the coronavirus pandemic does seem to have influenced the lists somewhat.”Brands such as Stella Artois and Budweiser have moved up into the top 12 polluting brands with Anheauser-Bush InBev moving from eight to third in the Dirty Dozen companies ranking,” the report authors wrote. “This is likely to be due to the closure of pubs, bars and restaurants increasing personal alcohol consumption in public recreational settings during lockdowns.”
Record Levels of Harmful Particles Found in Great Lakes Fish — A record-setting fish was pulled from Hamilton Harbor at the western tip of Lake Ontario in 2015 and the world is learning about it just now.The fish, a brown bullhead, contained 915 particles – a mix of microplastics, synthetic materials containing flame retardants or plasticizers, dyed cellulose fibers, and more – in its body. It was the most particles ever recorded in a fish.”In 2015 we knew a lot less about microplastics and contamination in fish. I was expecting to see no particles in most fish,” Keenan Munno, then a graduate student at the University of Toronto, told EHN. Every sampled fish had ingested some particles. Munno’s 2015 master’s work has spun out into six years’ worth of research, including the new Conservation Biology paper that reports these findings.The findings point to the ubiquity of microplastics and other harmful human-made particles in the Great Lakes and the extreme exposure some fish experience – especially those living in urban-adjacent waters. While direct links between microplastics and fish and human health are still an issue of emerging science, finding plastics within fish at such high amounts is concerning.Researchers collected fish from three locations in both Lake Superior, Lake Ontario and the Humber River (a tributary of Lake Ontario). In all they gathered 212 fish and 12,442 particles.In Lake Ontario, besides the record-setting bullhead, white suckers from Humber Bay and Toronto Harbor had 519 and 510 particles, respectively. A longnose sucker from Mountain Bay in Lake Superior had 790 particles. In the Humber River even common shiners, minnows which rarely get to eight inches long, had up to 68 particles.”It was obviously concerning,” said Munno, now a research assistant at University of Toronto. She extracted and counted all the microplastics and other particles from the fish’s digestive tracts by hand. That includes all 915 record-setting particles.
Young Turtles Are Ingesting Lots of Plastic, Study Confirms –The 8.7 million species that inhabit this Earth did not evolve in a world dominated by human activity, and this can cause problems when pollution transforms a previously advantageous environment into a perilous one.This is the case for juvenile sea turtles, a study published in Frontiers in Marine Science this month has found. The animals‘ natural development strategy puts them at greater risk of swallowing some of the eight million tons of plastic that enter the world’s oceans every year.”Once hatchlings leave the nesting beach all but one species enter in ocean currents to develop[] in open ocean areas,” “In the past this strategy was beneficial due to lower predator numbers and an abundance of food items. However now these are areas of high plastic accumulation therefore exposing them to higher ingestion risk.” What happens to juvenile sea turtles is what the study authors call an “evolutionary trap.” This, the study authors explained, is the word for situations in which large numbers of a species are attracted to a particular resource or habitat that ends up harming them. That young sea turtles tend to frequent parts of the ocean where they are more likely to encounter plastic is not a new observation, Sea Turtle Conservancy Executive Director David Godfrey, who was not involved with the research, told EcoWatch. Conservationists have been aware of the problem for at least 30 years. However, much of this awareness is based on anecdotal evidence, such as when large numbers of young turtles wash up dead after a storm. That difficulty is part of what makes the new research so important, according to Duncan. Her team was able “report the high incidence of plastic ingestion in this vulnerable and difficult to study life stage,” she wrote.They did this by examining 121 stranded and bycaught juvenile sea turtles from Queensland Australia, which borders the Pacific Ocean, and Western Australia, which borders the Indian. Their sample included members of five of the world’s seven sea turtle species: green, loggerhead, hawksbill, olive ridley and flatback turtles. They then recorded what percentage of each species had plastic in their stomachs, and which ocean they were found in. The results are as follows. Pacific Ocean
- Loggerheads: 86 percent
- Greens: 83 percent
- Flatbacks: 80 percent
- Olive ridleys: 29 percent
96,000 Fish Die in Chlorine Leak at Norwegian Fish Farm – Nearly 100,000 fish have died after one of the world’s largest salmon farming companies released 4,000 gallons of chlorine into a Norwegian fjord on Tuesday.Grieg Seafood, which is headquartered in Norway, said that the leak occurred in one of their fish slaughterhouses in the town of Alta in the Norwegian Arctic, as The Independent reported.”This is very sad,” harvesting plant manager Stine Torheim said in a statement. “Our focus is now first and foremost on cleaning up. We will get all facts about this incident on the table, to ensure that it will not happen again.”The company said that the leak did not harm any employees or other people. Further, police spokesperson Stein Hugo Jorergensen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that no toxic chlorine gas had been released on land, according to The Independent. However, the leak did kill 96,000 fish in holding pens at the time.In addition to contaminating the fjord, the chlorine also flowed into the Atlantic Ocean, Norwegian police said on Twitter, as The Independent reported.”The emergency services are working on site to get an overview of the incident,” the police said.The company said it did not yet know how the leak might impact the environment of the fjord, but had contracted an assessment from Akvaplan Niva. In general, chlorine tends to dilute and break down rapidly once it enters water. “According to what we know today, the leak had a short-term, acute impact on organisms that were in the water around the harvesting plant when the incident occurred,” the company said.
New Strain of Deadly Marine Mammal Virus Identified in Stranded Maui Dolphin – When a Fraser’s dolphin washed up dead in Maui in 2018, researchers did not suspect that this could be the first sign of a deadly outbreak.But now, a paper published in Scientific Reports on Monday reveals that the dolphin was infected with a previously unknown strain of morbillivirus, a disease related to human measles and smallpox that has killed off large numbers of cetaceans – whales, dolphins and porpoises – around the world.”This finding identifies an important threat to Fraser’s dolphins and to the approximately 20 other species of cetaceans that call Hawaii home,” study lead author and University of Hawaii at Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology associate researcher Kristi West told EcoWatch in an email.Cetacean morbillivirus is an airborne virus that can spread rapidly between very social species like whales and dolphins. It can also travel between different whale and dolphin species and between a pregnant mother and her calf. “Cetacean morbillivirus has been identified as one of the biggest disease threats because it has been responsible for mass mortalities of dolphins and whales that have occurred worldwide,” West said. “Morbillivirus has been show[n] to spread rapidly through populations – especially as cetaceans are especially social and travel in large groups – therefore if it were to spread through a population that was already classed as vulnerable it could have a devastating impact,” she wrote. In the case of the waters off Hawaii, this is a real risk, the study authors noted. That is because the islands are home to many unique populations that are already low in numbers. For example, the endangeredHawaiian false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) only number around 167.
Mass Death on Butte Creek: Record Spring Salmon Run on Sacramento River Tributary Turns into Disaster as Most Fish Die Before Spawning – In an extreme drought year where nearly all juvenile Sacramento River winter run Chinook salmon are expected to die before spawning due to alleged water mismanagement by the state and federal governments, the return of a record run of adult spring run Chinook salmon on Butte Creek this year was welcome news. But it didn’t stay that way. A record run of over 18,000 spring Chinook has returned to Butte Creek, a Sacramento River tributary, the second largest since 20,000 fish ascended the creek in 1998, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, or CDFW. Allen Harthorn, Executive Director of Friends of Butte Creek, estimates the size of this year’s run to be even larger, around 25,000 fish. Yet this has all changed recently. The potential of a successful spawn becomes increasingly dim as thousands of adult spring run salmon on Butte Creek die before spawning. “Disaster is really hitting home on Butte Creek, where over 12,000 adult spring run salmon have died prematurely,” said Harthorn. “There may be only a few thousand left to spawn if we’re lucky.” The CDFW detailed in their latest snorkel survey report on the creek that 12,370 salmon have died before spawning from June 1 to July 27, 2021. “The water is so turbid and they are so busy counting carcasses they can’t get a good estimate of how many fish are left,” noted Harthorn. The fish deaths were caused by heat-related oxygen deficiency and the outbreak of two fish diseases, ich and columnaris, as a result, according to the CDFW pathologist report. These two diseases were the same ones that killed over 38,000 adult fall run Chinook salmon on the lower Klamath River on the Yurok Reservation in September 2002. Spring run are a distinct run of Chinook salmon that have evolved over millions of years to ascend the high elevation tributaries of the Sacramento River to spawn every spring. They are river-maturing fish that don’t spawn until fall.
Thousands of fish killed by toxic red tide wash ashore on Florida beaches: – Hundreds of tons of dead marine life have washed ashore and wafted a putrid stench along Florida’s beaches in recent weeks amid a toxic red tide bloom spreading in its waters.“When I walk my dog in the morning, I can smell the dead fish,” Thomas Patarek told the Guardian. “I can feel the red tide in my throat.”While red tides occur naturally in the Gulf of Mexico, experts feared a large bloom was imminent after a toxic breach at the Piney Point phosphate plant in late May. In order to prevent a devastating collapse of the site’s reservoir – which held some 480 million gallons of wastewater – state officials pumped wastewater out of the reservoir and into storage containers and a local seaport, according to the Tampa Bay Times. On Thursday, the state’s environmental agency filed a lawsuit against the former phosphate mining facility’s owner over the breach. “Today, the department took a pivotal step to ensure this is the final chapter for the Piney Point site,” according to a statement by the agency’s secretary.The massive spill threatened nearby residents with a 20-foot wall of water and led to the evacuation of nearby residents and businesses. Experts now believe the wastewater that was dumped into Port Manatee, which leads into Tampa Bay, could be supplying a buffet of nutrients for bacteria to feast on, which could have caused the algae bloom. Warming waters due to climate change are also making red tides worse, according to experts. So far, the state has given $1m towards cleanup efforts for the fish killed by the red tide. Patarek and his group organized a protest calling for the state’s governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, to declare a state of emergency that would free up more resources to clean up the fish-clogged bay. The city council of St. Petersburg, one of the areas hardest hit by the scourge, also pushed for a state of emergency declaration to coordinate a state and federal response.
Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ has grown larger than Connecticut –A “dead zone,” or an area of low to no oxygen, in the Gulf of Mexico has grown larger than Connecticut, creating an uninhabitable environment for some commercial marine life, and scientists are saying the sparse amount of tropical activity has played a role. An hypoxic zone, also referred to as a dead zone, is formed when excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture and sewage from cities and farms upstream wash into the Gulf. Algae then feeds on these nutrients during the warmer months, and when that algae dies and sinks to the Gulf’s floor, the bacteria that then eats away at the large tangled masses depletes the oxygen in the surrounding water. The resulting area of low oxygen is called a hypoxic zone, or a dead zone as it becomes unable to support marine life, and it forms in the Gulf every year. Not only can it harm local wildlife, but it can also financially impact fisheries. Hypoxic waters have been found to alter fish diets, growth rates, reproduction, habitat use and availability of commercially harvested species such as shrimp, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Now, fisheries along the coast of Louisiana will have to deal with a larger-than-average dead zone. The hypoxic area had previously been forecast to reach 4,880 square miles, but when scientists at Louisiana State University and at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium had conducted the annual survey from July 25 to Aug. 1, they found a few anomalies. For one, the dead zone ended up measuring 6,334 square miles — and while that doesn’t appear much larger, the difference in square miles is roughly the size of Rhode Island. The scientists attributed the above-forecast size to a larger-than-average summer output of water from the Mississippi River, which meant more of the algae-feeding nutrients as well as more fresh water pumped into the basin.
Marine Protected Areas Are Less Effective Than We Thought – Illegal Fishing Is to Blame — Are Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) effective? Yes, but not as well as we thought, a new study finds.Globally, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is known as one of the biggest threats to the health and future of the oceans. MPAs attempt to protect enough critical marine habitat to ensure survival of ocean life despite this. Unfortunately, illegal fishers intentionally target reserves because they know that fish are more abundant within those areas, Pew Charitable Trusts reported. Now, this study shows how detrimental illegal fishing is even to nearby protected areas, because of an “edge effect.”Recently, IUU fishing has taken the global spotlight. To shed more light and galvanize collaborative solutions, the United Nations declared June 5 the International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.For decades, marine policies have advocated for MPAs as a critical tool in the fight against illegal fishing, citing the “spillover effect” as the crucial benefit. The idea is that protecting certain areas from fishing and development will allow fish and invertebrate stocks to recover and migrate out (or spillover) to unprotected areas where fishing is allowed. Thus, overall fish populations should increase within MPAs and immediately outside.For the most part, MPAs work. A new study, however, shows that fishing right outside of protected areas similarly has a negative spillover effect that moves backwards into MPAs. Human pressures have a detrimental effect on marine wildlife living close to the edges of such regions. Illegal fishing and overfishingare the main human actions causing this reverse spillover, the study showed. It was published in the journalNature Ecology & Evolution.
Neonicotinoids Harm Bees at Far Below the Label Recommended Dose, Study Finds – – Ornamental plant nurseries – with their high concentration of different flowers – are an important food source for pollinators. In fact, University of California (UC), Riverside entomologists Jacob Cecala and Erin E. Wilson Rankin counted more than 150 species of wild bees at nurseries in California alone. So Cecala and Rankin conducted an experiment to see how the use of a common neonicotinoid on ornamental plants would impact the solitary alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata). The answer? Quite a lot.When the pesticide was applied at just 30 percent of the recommended dose, it still reduced the bees’ reproduction by 90 percent.”This result reminds us that while ornamental plants serve as critical resources for solitary bees, we must be vigilant about how we manage these plants and the chemicals we apply to them,” Cecala told EcoWatch in an email. The research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B last month, was designed to determine how different nursery pesticide management practices might help or harm bees. In particular, Cecala and Rankin wanted to know if the amount of water the plants received would make a difference. Because neonicotinoids are water soluble, Cecala thought that watering the plants more would lessen the pesticides’ impact on bees, according to a UC Riverside press release. To test this, he and Rankin introduced bees to ornamental plants that had been treated with 30 percent of the label dose of a common neonicotinoid and plants that had not. Within each category, some of the plants were watered more, and some less. The particular pesticide they used was imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid sold as Marathon®. This is a pesticide designed for use in nurseries and greenhouses that has been on the market since 1994. What they found was a surprise, Cecala told UC Riverside. The pesticide-treated plants that had been watered more did have less imidacloprid in their nectar, but they were equally harmful to bee foraging and reproduction as the pesticide-treated plants that had been watered less.
African Faith Leaders to Gates Foundation: Drop ‘African Green Revolution’ –In August 2021, an alliance of African faith leaders delivered a powerful message to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Stop promoting failing and harmful high-input Green Revolution programs, such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).Their call comes at a critical time. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 66 percent of people (724 million) now suffer moderate to severe food insecurity, up from 51 percent in 2014, according to the State of Food Insecurity report recently released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. As food insecurity increases – intensified by the ongoing crises of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic – the United Nations is convening a Food Systems Summit in September to address global failures to reduce hunger in line with commitments made in the Sustainable Development goals. The summit, which is led by AGRA President Agnes Kalibata, is mired in controversy, accused by farmer groups of promoting the same kinds of industrialized agricultural development that have failed to address the hunger crisis.The letter to the Gates Foundation detailed the negative impacts that industrialized agriculture has had on the land and in the communities of faith leaders from around the continent. At the press conference, presenters emphasized the need for the Gates Foundation and other donors to break with the current agriculture agenda and instead invest in more regenerative, agroecological approaches.“Farmers have become wary of programs that promote monoculture and chemical-intensive farming. They have lost control of their seeds. Now, they say they are being held hostage on their own farms,” says Celestine Otieno, a permaculture farmer from Kenya. “Is this food security or food slavery?” South African agroecology farmer Busisiwe Mgangxela reiterated that farmers practicing agroecology “do not feed the soil with chemicals, we feed it with organic matter and fertility from other companion plants.” As the letter details, input-intensive monoculture agriculture damages ecosystems, threatens local livelihoods, increases climate vulnerabilities and undermines smallholder farmers engaged in more sustainable methods of production.
First water cuts in US West supply to hammer Arizona farmers (AP) – Climate change, drought and high demand are expected to force the first-ever mandatory cuts to a water supply that 40 million people across the American West depend on – the Colorado River. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s projection next week will spare cities and tribes but hit Arizona farmers hard.They knew this was coming. They have left fields unplanted, laser leveled the land, lined canals, installed drip irrigation, experimented with drought-resistant crops and found other ways to use water more efficiently.Still, the cutbacks in Colorado River supply next year will be a blow for agriculture in Pinal County, Arizona’s top producer of cotton, barley and livestock. Dairies largely rely on local farms for feed and will have to search farther out for supply, and the local economy will take a hit.The cuts are coming earlier than expected as a drought has intensified and reservoirs dipped to historic lows across the West. Scientists blame climate change for the warmer, more arid conditions over the past 30 years.Standing next to a dry field, his boots kicking up dust, farmer Will Thelander said “more and more of the farm is going to look like this next year because we won’t have the water to keep things growing everywhere we want.”His father, Dan, tried to steer his kids away from farming, not because water would be scarce but because development was expected to swallow farms between Phoenix and Tucson where their family grows alfalfa, corn for cows, and cotton, some destined for overseas markets.Thelander manages almost half of the 6,000 acres his family farms under Tempe Farming Co., much of it devoted to corn for cows. He’s not planning on growing that crop next year, opting for others that will be more profitable on less land. He didn’t plant anything on 400 acres this year to cut down on water use. Farmers’ Colorado River water comes by way of Lake Mead, which sits on the Arizona-Nevada border and serves as a barometer for water deliveries to Arizona, Nevada, California and Mexico, in the river’s lower basin.The nation’s largest reservoir already has hit the level that triggers mandatory shortages – 1,075 feet above sea level. The Bureau of Reclamation will issue the official projection for 2022 water deliveries Monday, giving users time to plan for what’s to come.Arizona is expected to lose 512,000 acre-feet of water, about one-fifth of the state’s Colorado River supply but less than 8 percent of its total water. Nevada will lose 21,000 acre-feet, and Mexico will lose 80,000 acre-feet. An acre-foot is enough water to supply one to two households a year.The cuts will be most deeply felt in Arizona, which entered into an agreement in 1968 for junior rights to Colorado River water in exchange for U.S. funding to build a 336-mile canal to send the water through the desert to major cities.Agriculture won’t end in Pinal County, but the cuts to farmers will force more of them to rely on groundwater that’s already overpumped. Hardly anyone expects a more than 20-year megadrought to improve. Models show the Colorado River will shrink even more in coming years because of climate change, leading to additional cuts that could ultimately affect home taps.
Dangerous Heat Wave to Bake Northwest Set Record Highs in Seattle Portland In what has become the summer of high-temperature woes, another harsh heat wave is on its way to the Northwest and states are doing all they can to prepare.On Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency ahead of the impending heat, urging residents to take proactive steps and make a game plan to keep cool. Such measures include preparing hydration, visiting one of the dozens of cooling centers across the state and checking in on friends and family.The northwestern United States has undergone a record-shattering, deadly heat wave and season of destructive fire activity this summer. While many residents are looking for extended relief, AccuWeather forecasters warn that more bad news is on the way for the region.A change in the overall weather pattern will allow temperatures to skyrocket across the northwestern U.S. and largely cut off chances for much-needed rainfall.”Yet another stretch of record-challenging high temperatures is in store for some across the Northwest this week as an expansive dome of high pressure settles over the region,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.Excessive heat watches and warnings went into effect across parts of Oregon and Washington on Tuesday, set to last into Wednesday. Seattle is expected to be under an excessive heat warning from 12 p.m. PDT Wednesday to 7 p.m. PDT Saturday, while an excessive heat warning has been issued for Portland, Oregon, from 12 p.m. Wednesday until 10 p.m. Saturday. Temperatures are forecast to peak at 104 on Thursday in Portland, which would tie the previous daily record of last set in 1994. In Seattle, while highs are forecast to fall just short of the century mark, a temperature of 98 is predicted on Friday, which would top the previous daily record of 92 from 2002.
East Coast And Pacific Northwest Hit By 100-Plus Degree Heat Waves : NPR – Some 195 million Americans – out of a population of more than 330 million – are facing dangerously high temperatures as much of the mainland U.S. is under excessive heat advisories beginning Thursday and expected to last until the weekend. Before relief arrives, temperatures will reach levels that feel hotter than 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the National Weather Service warns.Earlier this summer, a heat wave around the Portland, Ore., area and in Canada was blamed for the death of hundreds of people. This time around the oppressive heat will not only exacerbate drought conditions and wildfires in the West but also will make for dangerous conditions on the East Coast.The National Weather Service predicts the Interstate 95 corridor in the East could reach 100 F Thursday afternoon. Oppressive heat indexes, a measure of how hot it really feels outside, are expected to range between 105 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.Dew points, a measure of the amount of moisture in the air, could reach as high as 80 in the Boston area. That’s a number that is “basically record territory” for New England,according to WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station. Some parts of Massachusetts could reach a heat index of 110.Several states have opened cooling centers for residents to stay safe in the heat.In the Pacific Northwest, temperatures could hit 105 F on Thursday, according to earlier predictions by the National Weather Service in Portland. Just over a month agotemperatures skyrocketed to a record 116 F.By Friday, the “worst-case scenario” has the region reaching as high as 111 F in some parts of western Oregon before finally cooling down over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Portland.These conditions all come just days after climate scientists released a major reportexamining how fast the climate is warming, showing heat waves, extreme rain and intense droughts are on the rise.
As Massachusetts experiences heat wave, climate data from last 125 years suggests Northeast experienced most significant temperature increases – The Northeast has experienced more significant temperature increases than anywhere else in the continental United States, Michael Rawlins, associate director of the Climate System Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst told MassLive. Between 1895 to 2020, the commonwealth had a warming rate of 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, totaling 3.75 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 125 years, based on a best-fit trend line. This temperature increase signifies that the region of the U.S. containing Massachusetts is already closing in on a warming of two degrees Celsius, which exceeds the standards set in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, according to Rawlins. Other regions of the U.S. experienced different, less significant temperature increases. In January of 2017, Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center researchers Ambarish Karmalkar, a postdoctoral research associate with the NE CSC, and Raymond Bradley, NE CSC principal investigator and director of UMass’s Climate Systems Research Center, released a study also suggesting that temperatures across the Northeastern United States will increase much faster than the global average. “With the signing of the Paris Agreement to try and limit greenhouse gas emissions, many people have been lulled into a false sense of security, thinking that the 2-degrees C target is somehow a ‘safe’ limit for climate change. But the 2 C number is a global average, and many regions will warm more, and warm more rapidly, than the earth as a whole,” Bradley said. “Our study shows that the northeast United States is one of those regions where warming will proceed very rapidly, so that if and when the global target is reached, we will already be experiencing much higher temperatures, with all of the related ecological, hydrological and agricultural consequences.” Rawlins said the snow albedo complex is one explanation as to why the temperature increases are higher in the Northeast U.S. The snow albedo complex refers to how regions that have snow cover in the winter, like Massachusetts reflect a lot of sunlight. As snow is lost, darker surfaces are exposed. Those darker surfaces absorb more of the energy and warm the surface more and that tends to melt more snow. The cycle goes on and on. The same reason applies to why the Arctic is warming more than the rest of the world because the dark ocean is increasingly exposed to the sun.
Temperatures soar as Washington and Oregon endure another major heatwave – Washington and Oregon endured scorching temperatures, and a sense of deja vu hung in the air as the region baked in the second intense heatwave of the summer. Temperatures were expected to soar to triple digits again on Friday in Portland and Seattle. Forecasters said hot weather and wildfire smoke would pose a problem through the weekend. People sleep at a cooling shelter set up during an unprecedented heatwave in Portland, Oregon, 27 June. Temperatures in Portland reached 103F (39C) by late afternoon on Thursday – 20 degrees above average – and Seattle reached highs in the 90s. In Bellingham, Washington, the high hit 100F for the first time on record. Although the temperatures were not due to be as severe as during the heatwave in late June, when some areas exceeded 115F (46C), several cities declared excessive heat warnings. Much of the north-west was under such a warning through Saturday. The National Weather Service said heat advisories and warnings were also in effect from the midwest to the north-east and mid-Atlantic through at least Friday. In Beaverton, Oregon, where temperatures could reach 102F again on Friday, the community center was offering overnight air-conditioned shelter for those in need. Portland’s 102F on Thursday was hotter than temperatures recorded in Phoenix, where the high in the desert city was a below-normal 100F. Portland typically sees temperatures in the 80s during August. Volunteers scrambled to hand out water, portable fans, popsicles and information about cooling shelters to homeless people living in isolated encampments on the outskirts of the city. Oregon fire officials are braced for high temperatures and lightning raising the wildfire risk over the weekend. “We do have a large amount of fire across all of our lands. The next 72 hours will be critical,” Oregon’s fire marshal, Mariana Ruiz-Temple, told reporters. The huge Bootleg fire in southern Oregon has been almost entirely contained, with officials making efforts to keep it that way, amid more than a dozen wildfires alight in the state, many started by lightning strikes.
Seattle and Portland Aren’t Built for Extreme Heat Waves – – Road crews sprayed water on century-old bridges in Seattle on Thursday to keep the steel from expanding in the sizzling heat. In Portland, Ore., where heat has already killed dozens of people this summer, volunteers delivered water door to door. Restaurants and even some ice cream shops decided it was too hot to open. For the second time this summer, a part of the country known for its snow-capped mountains and fleece-clad inhabitants was enduring a heat wave so intense that it threatened lives and critical infrastructure. The region’s latest round of sweltering temperatures further exposed how communities built for the mild summers of decades past are grossly unprepared for the extreme heat stoked by a warming climate. The previous heat wave, which baked the Pacific Northwest in late June, shattered temperature records. This week’s weather has not quite reached those same levels, but the heat was still jarring by historical standards: Portland averages about one 100-degree day a year. Wednesday and Thursday brought the fourth and fifth of 2021. Friday will likely be the sixth. In Seattle, which has recorded three 100-degree days this summer – as many as it did in the entire century before – officials are once again encouraging people to visit libraries and community centers to stay cool. But not all of them are available to help, because most of the city’s community centers and some of the libraries don’t have air conditioning, something the city is looking to change in the coming years. “It’s a stunning shift, even in government,” said Stephanie Formas, the chief of staff to Mayor Jenny Durkan. “We have to fundamentally shift how we think about infrastructure here – roads, homes, office buildings.” It is not just a matter of comfort. The region is still tallying a death toll from the June heat wave, and mortality data analyzed by The New York Times shows that about 600 more people died in Washington and Oregon during that week than would have been typical. Officials in Portland’s Multnomah County pointed to a lack of air conditioning in homes as a key factor in deaths. Unlike large swaths of the country where air conditioning is now standard, many in the Pacific Northwest live without such relief. Just 44 percent of residents in Seattle reported having some sort of air conditioning in 2019, although those numbers have been on the rise, with installers struggling to keep up with demand. Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon declared a state of emergency heading into this week’s heat wave, and Portland’s emergency management department has mobilized 2,000 volunteers, trained to respond to natural disasters, to help manage cooling centers and misting stations and to deliver water to people who might need it.
Heat island research spotlights disparities, solutions –On another white-hot day in Kansas City, about 60 people spent Friday driving up and down streets registering the temperature and humidity every second.The goal? To know in granular detail what intuition tells us more generally: that some places in cities are hotter than others – possibly as much as 20 degrees, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 2017, in an attempt to demonstrate and understand that temperature differential, the agency began providing funds to cities to gather weather data. Grants this yearwent to nine cities including Kansas City and two communities in Indiana: Richmond and Clarksville. About 30 other cities, including Detroit and Cincinnati, have gathered this data since the initiative began.There’s some evidence that Kansas City has a worse-than-average urban heat problem. When it comes to the temperature difference between a city and the nearby countryside, Kansas City ranked seventh among 60 cities measured in a 2014 report by Climate Central. On a typical summer day, Climate Central estimated that Kansas City on average was 4.6 degrees hotter than surrounding rural land.The question now: Which parts of the city are the very hottest?A coalition of partners led by a University of Missouri-Kansas City researcher gathered the measurements and will now create a map combining tens of thousands of temperature and humidity measurements with a satellite map, allowing them to quickly learn the conditions in a given location.“We want to show how humans have impacted the weather,” said Fengpeng Sun, an assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at the university who is leading the project. “This is not natural.”His primary goal is to educate Kansas City residents “that climate change is happening in our neighborhood, not just in the Arctic.”The results also could direct corrective action more specifically to the neighborhoods most in need.“It could very well show us that the temperature is spiking in a particular area of Kansas City,” said Kristin Riott, executive director of Bridging the Gap, a nonprofit whose mission includes tree planting. “If we went there and found out it didn’t have enough tree cover, we could plant more trees.”
Highest recorded temperature of 48.8C in Europe apparently logged in Sicily -The highest temperature in European history appears to have been recorded in Italy during a heatwave sweeping the country, with early reports suggesting a high of 48.8C (119.85F).If this is accepted by the World Meteorological Organisation it will break the previous European record of 48C (118.4F) set in Athens in 1977. The temperature was measured at a monitoring station in Syracuse, Sicily, and confirmed soon after by the island’s meteorological authorities.The finding comes amid a fierce heatwave stretching across the Mediterranean to Tunisia and Algeria. Fires have blazed across much of the region for more than a week. Italy’s government has declared a state of emergency. Turkey and Greece have also been hit by devastating conflagrations. Trevor Mitchell, a meteorologist from MetDesk, said: “The Società Meteorologica Italiana say that the temperature report of 48.8C is genuine. However, with potential records such as these there is typically a process of verification before they can be declared officially.“Sicily has been experiencing a heatwave in the last few days. The foehn effect [a change from wet, cold conditions on one side of a mountain to warmer, drier conditions on the other] in the lee of the mountains to the west of Syracuse is likely to have assisted in generating the 48.8C observed there today.”Scott Duncan, a Scottish meteorologist, said more heat records were inevitable. “A dangerous heatwave spanning much of north Africa and into southern Europe is unfolding right now. The focus of heat will shift west and north slightly in the coming days,” he tweeted.
Tunis registers record-breaking 49 °C (120.2 °F), Kairouan hits 50 °C (122 °F), Tunisia — Tunisia’s Meteorological Institute registered 49 °C (120.2 °F) in capital Tunis on Tuesday, August 10, 2021, setting a new all-time highest temperature record for the city. The previous highest recorded temperature in Tunis was 46.8 °C (116.2 °F) set in 1982.Other parts of the country also registered very high and record-breaking temperatures, leading to increased demand for power supply and resulting in power outages.Temperatures remained very high on August 11, with maximums expected between 40 and 49 °C (104 – 120.2 °F).A new all-time highest temperature record was set in Kairouan on Wednesday, August 11 when the city registered 50 °C (122 °F). Its previous record was 48.1 °C (118.5 °F) set in 1960.The country’s all-time highest temperature record is 55 °C (131 °F) set in Kebili on July 7, 1931.
Grid emergency declared in New Zealand, cities plunge into darkness as polar blast brings nationwide all-time power demand –Power supply demand in New Zealand reached a nationwide all-time high on Monday, August 9, 2021, after a rapidly deepening low-pressure system moved east across central parts of the country, bringing heavy snow, severe gale southerlies, and frigid temperatures. As a result, the country’s national grid operator – Transpower declared a ‘grid emergency at 19:00 local time (07:00 UTC) on August 9.”Tonight we have reached an all-time high in demand on the electricity system, but unfortunately we have not had enough generation in the system to maintain it,” the company said.”Insufficient generation has been made available to meet demand and manage a secure system.”Transpower in our capacity as managers of the power system (the System Operator) has asked the distribution companies to reduce load across the country. Different companies will do this in different ways, some manage via load control on hot water, some manage via customer disconnections. The situation is expected to resolve at 09:00 pm tonight once peak demand for electricity has passed.”1On one of the coldest nights of the year, cities and towns across the North Island were plunged into darkness, Stuff reported, adding that this was the first time in 10 years that such an emergency has happened.2Power distribution companies managed to increase available power by 5% by 20:20 LT and resolve supply shortages by 21:00, their report added.While the total number of affected customers remains unclear, reports mention up to 20 000 homes were left without ‘heating after high winds brought down power lines and cold weather saw power use surge beyond generation capacity.’3“The low dragged up cold air all the way from Antarctica,” said MetService Meteorologist Stephen Glassey.4 “Snow has been falling in parts of both the North and South Islands, affecting many roads.”Temperatures in most parts of Auckland dropped to 5 °C (41 °F) at 21:00 LT on August 9, with the coldest in Ardmore at 3.3 °C (37.9 °F). Hamilton hit 0 °C (32 °F) at 22:00 LT.Capital Wellington dropped to 5 °C (41 °F) by 17:00 LT and to 2.6 °C (36.6 °F) at 18:00 in Lower Hutt.On the morning of August 10, Hanmer Forest was at -5.7 °C (21.7 °F), Reefton at -4.1° C (24.6 °F), Hamilton at -3.1 °C (26.4 °F), Lake Tapo at -2.8 °C (26.9 °F), Upper Hutt at -0.5 °C (31.1 °F) and Auckland at 1.4 °C (34.5 °F).Luckily, this event was short-lived and power outages were mostly resolved within 12 hours. This wasn’t the case in Texas in February 2021 when hundreds of people died after a major polar blast brought exceptionally cold temperatures for a prolonged period of time.5, 6, 7
‘Where do I go?’ Thousands flee as Dixie Fire morphs into third-largest blaze in California’s history –Teresa Hatch, 61, had evacuated her rural Northern California town several days ago as the Dixie Fire menaced, but soon was allowed back. Then the alerts started lighting up her cellphone Wednesday, telling her to get out again – fast. She said she grabbed her dog, Scooby, filled three plastic bags with clothes and hopped into the first car that passed. Hatch, a fourth-generation Greenville resident, is among more than 18,000 people ordered evacuated around California as firefighters struggle to control two fast-growing wildfires. The Dixie Fire mushroomed in size overnight to become the largest wildfire burning in the United States and the third-biggest in California’s history, decimating century-old buildings in Hatch’s historic town. The smaller River Fire also threatened thousands of homes. The Dixie Fire covers more than 432,000 acres in Butte and Plumas counties, rapidly expanding from about 362,000 acres Thursday evening and fueled by hot, arid and windy conditions. The wildfire was 35 percent contained by Friday, pushing toward firefighters’ control lines. Fire officials expressed hope Friday that higher humidity would help them counter the blaze. “The potential was high this year for these kinds of conditions, and once you get an ignition, especially in areas that are a little bit difficult to access and with new communities all around there, it stresses the system.”The Dixie Fire’s status as California’s largest wildfire since last August is fueling concern in a year on track to break last year’s undesirable records. Climate change and a severe drought have worsened the state’s wildfire season, prompting alarms from scientists and concern about the challenging picture for firefighters and residents across the region.For Greenville, any progress containing the fire will come too late. Little of the sparsely populated mountain town remained after flames reached it Wednesday evening.The town library, torched. Abandoned cars, smoldering. The air, thick and gray. “The Dixie Fire burnt down our entire downtown,” Plumas County Supervisor Kevin Goss wrote on Facebook. “Our historical buildings, families homes, small businesses, and our children’s schools are completely lost. Every square inch of downtown holds countless memories for each member of our small community and ample amount of history from our ancestors.”The Dixie Fire has destroyed roughly 91 buildings and damaged five others since it broke out more than three weeks ago, officials said. In Greenville, the U.S. Forest Service estimated that only about a quarter of structures had been saved. Among them were a Dollar General store and Greenville High School.
Dixie Fire Grows to Second-Largest Wildfire in California’s History – The Dixie Fire ballooned in size over the weekend, polluting air quality to dangerous levels across the West.The fire, the 6th-largest on record in California history just last Thursday is now the second-largest fire in California history and the state’s largest-ever single-source fire with nearly 500,000 acres burned as ofSunday evening. At least five people are currently missing though that number could grow as residents, some armed, refuse to evacuate.Heat and drought, both of which are being made worse by human-caused climate change, have dried out the fire’s fuel sources, leading to “fire activity that even veteran firefighters haven’t seen in their career,” Edwin Zuniga, a spokesman for Cal Fire told The Washington Post. “We’re just in really uncharted territory.”Smoke from fires in California and across the West has dangerously polluted air in multiple major cities, including Denver and Salt Lake City where air quality levels were among the worst in the world. That smoke, ironically, kept the fire from growing even faster over the weekend, but conditions are likely to clear and become more dangerous in the coming days.As reported by The Associated Press: The fire’s cause was under investigation. The Pacific Gas & Electric utility has said it may have been sparked when a tree fell on one of its power lines. A federal judge ordered PG&E on Friday to give details by Aug. 16 about the equipment and vegetation where the fire started.Cooler temperatures and higher humidity slowed the spread of the fire, and temperatures topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) instead of the triple-digit highs recorded earlier in the week.But the blaze and its neighboring fires, within several hundred miles of each other, posed an ongoing threat.
Dixie Fire destroys 893 structures, threatens 16 000 more, California – (videos) The massive Dixie Fire burning in Northern California since July 13, 2021, has destroyed 893 structures, damaged another 61 and threatens 16 000 more.At 198 378 hectares (490 205 acres) as of August 10, Dixie Fire is the second-largest fire in California history.1 The state’s largest wildfire is the August Complex of 2020 at 198 978 ha (1 032 648 acres) – 935 structures destroyed and 1 fatality.California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the counties affected by the fire — Butte, Plumas, Lassen, and Tehama — along with the McFarland and Monument Fires, which collectively burned an additional 34 499 ha (85 000 acres).Last week, the fire destroyed much of the town of Greenville2, leaving 31 people unaccounted for. Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said 27 people were found safe but 4 remain missing. The sheriff’s office urged residents not to return to the town before evacuation orders are lifted.More than 12 000 people across 8 counties (11 large fires) are under evacuation orders, with the majority caused by Dixie Fire (9 500).”We’re seeing truly frightening fire behavior, I don’t know how to overstate that,” said Plumas National Forest Supervisor Chris Carlton.3″We have a lot of veteran firefighters who have served for 20, 30 years and have never seen behavior like this, especially day after day, and the conditions we’re in. So we really are in uncharted territory around some of these extreme, large fires and the behavior we’re seeing.”As of August 10, wildfires in California have burned 371 103 ha (917 016 acres) in 6 272 incidents, damaging or destroying 1 564 structures. No fatalities have been reported.4Wildfire smoke will continue to plague parts of the West Coast, the Intermountain West, and High Plains with poor air quality through Wednesday.Dangerous heat continues to impact a large portion of the U.S. as widespread excessive heat warnings and heat advisories are in effect, especially in several major metro areas from the Northwest coast to the Northeast coast.Numerous record warm lows are expected to be broken along the West Coast and east of the Mississippi River both Wednesday and Thursday mornings.This heatwave looks to stick around into Friday before gradually loosening its grip over these regions this weekend, NWS said.
PG&E Wildfire Victims Still Unpaid as New California Fires Weigh on Company’s Stock – WSJ – A year after PG&E Corp.funded a trust to compensate victims of California wildfires with company stock, most have yet to be paid, and the shares have fallen in value after the utility acknowledged it might have started this year’s worst fire.As part of its plan to exit bankruptcy last year, the San Francisco-based company agreed to use cash and stock to fund a $13.5 billion trust to compensate roughly 70,000 individuals who lost homes, businesses and family members in fires sparked by its equipment. Some victims expressed concern at the time that the deal carried steep risks for them, noting that the shares weren’t guaranteed to rebound and could fall if PG&E started more fires.Those concerns so far have proved prescient. PG&E shares are worth approximately the same as when the trust was funded, threatening victims’ ability to receive full compensation. Their value is down roughly 25% this year and fell steeply last month when the company disclosed that its equipment might have ignited this summer’s continuing Dixie Fire, which has consumed nearly 490,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills and destroyed the town of Greenville.So far, the trust has made partial payments to fewer than 3,300 victims, or less than 5% of the total. It had distributed about $600 million in cash to victims at the end of July, nearly half of which amounted to preliminary payments to help victims address acute hardships, records show. It hasn’t sold any stock to help make payments as it grapples with challenges in estimating claims as well as unforeseen tax issues. Its assets are now worth around $10 billion.‘People thought they were going to get that money right away, and there was just no way.’A retired federal judge overseeing the trust said the tax and other issues are being resolved, and he expects it could begin selling company shares sometime next year. The trust faces restrictions in how much it can sell at one time, given its large ownership stake. With 478 million shares, the trust owns more than 20% of PG&E, making it the company’s largest shareholder.The situation has left many fire victims anxiously watching PG&E’s stock price, fearful that their compensation could be jeopardized further if the company starts more fires. California wildfire season typically peaks in the fall, and the state is facing a crippling drought that has heightened the risk of rapid fire spread through dry trees and brush.Cheri Cottrell’s home was among those destroyed in California’s 2018 Camp Fire, which was sparked by a PG&E transmission line, burned the town of Paradise and killed 84 people. She lived for eight months in a Best Western hotel and then moved into a trailer at a camp run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She returned to Paradise in April when the nonprofit Samaritan’s Purse built a small modular house on her property, which is still bare of trees and grass.Ms. Cottrell has received a preliminary hardship payment but is still waiting for more. She said she fears it might no longer be enough to cover the cost of rebuilding on the site, which once had a log cabin with a wooded yard she carefully tended. With this year’s Dixie Fire burning to her northeast, she said she has packed and unpacked several times in recent weeks out of concern she would have to evacuate again.“I feel like I’m still in the FEMA camp, which was nothing but rock and gravel,” Ms. Cottrell said. “Without this money, I can’t rebuild my environment around me to try and feel normal again.”
Thousands forced to evacuate as massive wildfire spreads through Greek island of Evia – A massive wildfire burning in the northern part of the island of Evia, Greece since August 3, 2021, has forced more than 2 500 people to evacuate their homes. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed but the full extent of the damage caused by the fire burning for 7 days now is still unknown.While residents and officials called for more help, the mayor of the municipality of Istiaia in the northern part of Evia, said that it’s already too late. “The area has been destroyed.”1Nikos Hardalias, Greece’s deputy civil protection minister, said emergency crews are undertaking ‘superhuman efforts’ against multiple fronts.2Water-bombing aircraft in the region faced several hurdles including low visibility caused by the thick plumes of smoke rising over the mountains and turbulence, Hardalias said.More than 2 500 people have evacuated their homes since the fire started on August 3. One of the evacuees compared the scenes to a horror movie:More than 600 firefighters are battling the flames on Evia, helped by 5 helicopters and 5 water-dropping planes.This is the most severe of dozens of wildfires that have broken across Greece in the past 7 days.3The fires hit the country during its worst heatwave in more than 30 years. 1 volunteer firefighter has lost its life and 4 others were injured.According to the European Forest Fire Information System, Greece has lost 56 655 ha (139 997 acres) to fires from July 29 to August 7. The average area burnt over the same 10 summer days between 2008 and 2020 was 1 700 ha (4 200 acres).4
Wildfires rage in Greece and Italy as EU mounts firefighting operation — The devastating scale of destruction from a week of wildfires in Greece and Italy was being assessed as the EU mounted one of its largest firefighting operations ever and smoke from forest fires in Siberia reached the north pole. As UN experts on Monday said global warming was advancing faster than feared and that humanity was “unequivocally” to blame, firefighters and local residents battled massive blazes on the island of Evia, east of Athens, for a seventh straight day. The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, apologised for failings in tackling the blazes in a televised address to the nation. He said burnt areas would be reforested with more fire-resistant trees and compensation would be paid from a €500m emergency relief fund.Mitsotakis said 586 fires had erupted in the past week “in all corners of Greece” and that the resulting destruction had “darkened the hearts of all of us”. He praised the professionalism of the emergency services but acknowledged “misjudgments”, saying: “I personally want to say sorry for any weaknesses that have appeared.”More than 2,600 people have so far been evacuated from Evia, the country’s second largest island, on a flotilla of boats, with elderly people and infirm being forced overnight Sunday to seek refuge on ferries or sleep on sun loungers on the beach.Greek media reported that multiple previously extinguished fires had reignited on Evia and were moving at speed towards yet more villages and the 7,000-population town of Istaia.
Destructive wildfires leave at least 65 dead in northern Algeria —Algerian authorities are reporting at least 65 lives were lost in wildfires raging through the mountainous region in the country’s north over the past couple of days. As many as 50 fires broke out in a short period of time and spread rapidly due to high winds, very hot temperatures, and tinder-dry conditions.The deaths occurred around Tizi-Ouzou, capital of the Kabyle region, located about 100 km (62 miles) E of Algiers, and in Bejaia, on the Mediterranean coast.President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said 28 were soldiers deployed to help fight the fires and rescue villagers. Tebboune said soldiers saved more than 100 citizens in two areas, adding that some villagers were fleeing, while others tried to hold back the flames themselves, using buckets, branches, and rudimentary tools.1According to Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane, 50 fires broke out simultaneously across several localities, suggesting this was a criminal act.2Several arrests have been announced, but identities or suspected motives have not been released.Since the region has no water-dumping aircraft, authorities hired two firefighting planes, previously used to battle fires in Greece. Neighboring countries also offered help.
Siberian wildfires dwarf all others on Earth combined – Smoke from massive wildfires in Russia’s Siberia region has reached the geographic North Pole “for the first time in recorded history,” according to NASA – while the forest blazes themselves are bigger than all the other wildfires currently burning in the world combined, one expert said. The U.S space agency published a photograph Saturday (Aug. 7) from one of its satellites that shows the acrid blanket of smoke stretching more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers), from the Yakutia region in the northeast of Siberia up to the North Pole. According to their records, this may be the first time this has ever happened.Wildfires occur every summer in the heavily forested region – a landscape known as the taiga – but this year has been especially bad. Last year, the wildfires in Siberia were described by the Russian authorities as “very severe” and estimated to have caused the equivalent of 450 million tons (410 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide to be released throughout the whole season; but this year the wildfires have released an equivalent of more than 505 million tons (460 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide, and the wildfire season isn’t over yet.NASA estimated the cloud of smoke from the wildfires measured more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from east to west and 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from north to south. The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the smoke could be seen in the sky above Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km) away.The Yakutia region, or Sakha Republic, where the Siberian wildfires are mainly taking place is one of the most remote parts of Russia. The capital city, Yakutsk, recorded one of the coldest temperatures on Earth in February 1891, of minus 64.4 degrees Celsius (minus 83.9 degrees Fahrenheit); but the region saw record high temperatures this winter. The Siberian Times reported in mid-July that residents were breathing smoke from more than 300 separate wildfires, but that only around half of the forest blazes were being tackled by firefighters – including paratroopers flown in by the Russian military – because the rest were thought to be too dangerous.The wildfires have grown in size since then and have engulfed an estimated 62,300 square miles (161,300 square km) since the start of the year. Russia’s weather-monitoring institute Rosgidromet reported on Monday that the situation in the region “continues to deteriorate,” with around 13,100 square miles (34,000 square km) of forest currently burning.
‘Airpocalypse’ smoke reaches North Pole for the first time ever – For the first time in recorded history, hazy smoke from raging wildfires in the Arctic has reached the North Pole, and NASA satellites have the images to prove it. On Aug. 6, the space agency’s MODIS, an imaging sensor on the Aqua satellite, captured true-color images of what NASA called a “vast, thick, and acrid blanket of smoke” that clouded the North Pole. The smoke originated from enormous blazes in the Siberian region of northern Russia. According to China’s Xinhua news agency, the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar was blanketed in “white smoke,” NPR reported. The republic of Yakutia – home to Oymyakon, the coldest inhabited place on Earth – has also been shrouded in smoke, as captured by MODIS images on Aug. 8. The thick smoke in Yakutia sent air quality measurements in recent weeks plummeting to an extreme category dubbed “airpocalypse,” a category described by officials to have “immediate and heavy effects on everybody,” The Guardian reported. In the images captured on Aug. 6, that “airpocalypse” inducing smoke was shown to have traveled 1,864 miles from Yakutia to the North Pole, according to NASA. “The smoke, which was so thick that most of the land below was obscured from view, stretches about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from east to west and 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from south to north,” the agency wrote. “But it captures only a small part of the smoke from the Russian fires.” To reach Ulaanbaatar on Aug. 4, NASA added that the smoke needed to have traveled more than 1,200 miles. From there, it appeared to waft over nearly the entire Arctic Circle, impacting Nunavut, Canada, and areas of western Greenland. Wildfires have been burning in Siberia more frequently than ever before. While the total number of burned acreage is difficult to determine in the remote area, Russia’s weather monitoring institute, Rosgidromet, said this week that close to 8.4 million acres were burning and more than 34.5 million total acres have been destroyed this season, the second-worst on record. For comparison, during the 2020 California wildfire season, which was the worst on record, just under 4.4 million acres were burned.
Severe flash floods hit Coahuila and Durango, Mexico (videos) Heavy rains hit the border region between the Mexican states of Coahuila and Durango early August 5, 2021, causing destructive flash floods. Ragging floodwaters swept away numerous cars and severely damaged at least 50 homes. One of the worst affected areas was the city of Torreón, Coahuila where a stream running through parts of the city overflowed. The flood was exacerbated by the illegal construction of homes and the accumulation of garbage and debris in the stream.
Over 350 villages inundated across Uttar Pradesh, India – (videos) Heavy monsoon rains affecting the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh over the past couple of days have inundated at least 357 villages across 21 districts, as of August 9, 2021.The worst-affected are the districts of Hamirpur and Jalun in the region of Bundelkhand, which usually experiences below normal to normal rain.According to NDTV, the Yamuna river in the region is flowing above the danger mark in at least 5 places. In addition, a primary school in the Gonda district of eastern Uttar Pradesh was washed away on August 8 after a rise in the water levels of the Ghahara river.97 of 357 affected villages have been completely cut off.Ganga river is currently flowing about 2 m (6.5 feet) above the danger level due to the discharge of large amounts of water from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, leading to flooding of 50 villages.The Uttar Pradesh government asked all concerned officials to maintain a close vigil on the situation. People living in low-lying areas have started shifting to safer places, ANI News reports.
More than 40 feared buried under rubble after major landslide in Himachal Pradesh, India — A major landslide took place on the Reckong Peo-Shimla Highway in Kinnaur District of Himachal Pradesh, India at around 07:15 UTC (12:45 LT) on August 11, 2021. The slide hit and buried a Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus with 40 people on board, one truck, and several other vehicles, according to local media reports and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Search and Rescue (SAR) operations started soon after the event and the National Disaster Response Force was placed on alert. ITBP said 10 bodies have been retrieved and 14 people rescued by 16:30 UTC. While there is no problem with manpower, the bus has not been traced yet. The wreckage of the bus was found at 23:55 UTC (05:25 IST, first light LT, August 12) at approximately 500 m (1 640 feet) below the road and 200 m (655 feet) above Sutley River. SAR operations were halted at around 07:30 UTC on August 12 due to shooting stones from uphill. 13 bodies have been retrieved so far, ITBP said.
Destructive flash floods hit Turkey’s Black Sea Region – (video) Deadly flash floods hit Turkey’s Black Sea Region this week, causing widespread damage and leaving at least 27 people dead and one missing. The event comes less than a month after 6 people died in floods in the northeast Rize province. Heavy rains started affecting the region on August 10 and continued through August 12, turning streets into raging rivers, causing landslides, and destroying buildings, roads and bridges. Search and rescue crews were deployed in areas affected by floods, evacuating people stranded in their houses and cars, and distributing aid to survivors.1 Rescuers were forced to evacuate a regional hospital holding 45 patients on August 11 in the region around the coastal city of Sinop on Wednesday. Four of them were in intensive care. “We are perhaps facing a disaster that we had not seen in 50 or 100 years,” Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said of the flooding and heavy rains on Wednesday.2 In 24 hours to August 11, Ulus in Bartin Province recorded 302.4 mm (11.9 inches) of rain, while Ayancik in Sinop saw 240.5 mm (9.4 inches)and Küre in Kastamonu recorded 198.9 mm (7.8 inches). In the previous 24 hour period, Çayeli in Rize Province recorded 123 mm (4.8 inches) of rain, according to Turkey’s General Directorate of Meteorology.3 The country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) confirmed on Friday, August 13, 25 people were killed in Kastamonu and 2 in Sinop.4 The search for one missing person in the Ulus Akörensökülar Village of Bartin Province continues.
Deadly floods hit Hubei, 774 reservoirs exceed flood warnings, China (videos)-At least 21 people have been killed and 4 others remain missing after heavy rains hit the central Chinese province of Hubei on August 11 and 12, 2021. In addition, at least 774 reservoirs in the province have exceeded flood warning levels, as of late August 12.At least 5 cities declared ‘red alerts’ over the past couple of days after heavy rains, in parts record-breaking, hit the province.The heaviest rains fell in the city of Yicheng’s (Banqiaodian Town) where record-breaking 400 mm (15.7 inches) of rainfall fell on August 13. Rainfall in Yicheng’s urban area is close to 300 mm (11.8 inches), the maximum in the city’s recorded meteorological history.1The worst-affected cities include Liulin, part of the city of Suizhou where all of the fatalities were reported, Xiangyang and Xiaogan, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said.The storms caused widespread power cuts and damaged more than 3 600 houses and 8 110 ha (20 040 acres) of crops. The total losses are estimated at 16.57 million USD (108 million yuan), Hubei’s emergency management bureau reported.2In some parts of the region, floodwaters were as deep as 5 m (16.4 feet). According to the official China News Service, as many as 774 reservoirs in Hubei had exceeded their flood warning levels by Thursday evening.
Lupit brings more than 1 300 mm (51 inches) of rain in just 2 days, Taiwan – (videos) Tropical Storm “Lupit” combined with seasonal southwesterly winds to bring extremely heavy rains to parts of Taiwan from August 5 to 7, 2021, causing destructive floods and landslides. Lupit made 2 landfalls in China — the first in Shantou, Guangdong Province, and the second in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province — before moving over Hsinchu and Miaoli counties in northeastern Taiwan on August 7. From 12:00 LT on August 5 to 18:00 on August 7, Xinmajia recorded 1 329 mm (52.3 inches) of rain, Jiamu 1 197 mm (47.1 inches), Xinfa 1 005 mm (39.5 inches), and Dahanshan 875 mm (34.4 inches).In 24 hours to 12:40 on August 7, Akushan in Chiayi County received 422 mm (16.6 inches) of rain, Fencihu 347 mm (13.5 inches), and Lijia 302.5 mm (11.9 inches)A section of a 100 m (328 feet) bridge in New Taipei City’s Chajiao Borough near Dongyanshan collapsed, trapping some 300 people in the borough. The city government said the bridge’s pillars had been reinforced but ‘continuous rains and recent earthquakes caused the collapse of a 5 m [16.4 feet] section.’Landslides were also reported in Nantou County’s Renai Township, cutting off transportation between Cueiluan and Rueiyan villages, the Taipei Times reports.A large section of the Minbaklu Bridge in Taoyuan District collapsed, effectively cutting off the district.At 09:00 UTC on August 8, the center of Tropical Storm “Lupit” was located about 324 km (201 miles) SSW of Sasebo, Japan. Its maximum sustained winds were 75 km/h (45 mph) with gusts to 110 km/h (70 mph). 1-minute maximum sustained winds were 85 km/h (50 mph).The minimum central barometric pressure was 990 hPa, and the system was moving northeast at 37 km/h (23 mph).
Tropical Storm Fred breaks Atlantic lull –The sixth-named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season developed on Tuesday evening, breaking the basin’s month-long lull. Tropical Storm Fred was named as it lingered just south of Puerto Rico at 11 p.m., local time, Tuesday. AccuWeather meteorologists had been tracking the disturbance that became Fred since last week, before it was even designated Potential Tropical Cyclone Six by the National Hurricane Center (NHC).The storm was blamed for power outages in Puerto Rico Tuesday night. The island’s power grid remains fragile following the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria in 2017, The Associated Press reported. Eight shelters were opened across Puerto Rico, officials told the AP.Fred will track through the northern Caribbean before eyeing the United States as early as this weekend. Floridians are being urged to remain vigilant as the AccuWeather Eye Path® will bring the system close to the Sunshine State with the potential for heavy rainfall, gusty winds and severe weather and dangerous seas.The exact future track and intensity of the tropical system will determine the extent of the heavy rain and severe storm risks in the southeastern United States mainland next week, AccuWeather forecasters say.As of 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday morning, the center of Tropical Storm Fred was moving just south of the eastern Dominican Republic. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, up from 40 mph at 8 a.m., and was moving west-northwest at a speed of 16 mph. Fred was located about 25 miles south-southeast of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.Tropical storm warnings have been discontinued for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, but remain in place for most of the Dominican Republic’s coastline. A tropical storm watch is in effect for parts of Haiti, the Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas.The system is forecast to continue on a generally west-northwest path near or over some of the islands in the north-central and northwestern Caribbean into Friday before it takes a turn toward the northwest and north that would bring the system northward toward the U.S. this weekend. How soon that northward turn begins will determine if the system strikes Florida or areas farther west along the Gulf of Mexico coastline.
Fred is likely to hit Florida as a tropical storm – – Fred hasn’t dropped dead yet.Despite looking disorganized on satellite, the tropical depression may strengthen back into a tropical storm before impacting Florida as soon as early Saturday, the National Hurricane Center predicts. All while, the next named system that could impact the US is forming in the Atlantic. The forecast for Fred prompted tropical storm warnings Friday for the southwest Florida coast, including Key West and Naples. A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours.The warnings stretch from the Florida Keys west of Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas and all of Florida Bay. A tropical storm watch covers the southwest coast of Florida from Englewood south and east to Ocean Reef, as well as the Cuban provinces of Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin and Granma.Fred on Friday morning was along the northern coast of Cuba with winds of 35 mph.From there, “the storm should track just north of eastern and central Cuba through tonight and near or across the Florida Keys on Saturday,” says the National Hurricane Center. After passing the Keys, it should move into the Gulf of Mexico and toward Florida’s Big Bend. Some computer models show Fred moving into the Florida Peninsula, while others put it as far west as the Alabama-Florida border.”The models continue to show a slow strengthening of Fred before making landfall in the eastern panhandle or Big Bend area of Florida,” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said midmorning Friday. “None of the global models take Fred to hurricane strength, but we all too often watch rapid intensification with Gulf of Mexico storms.”Heavy rain was falling Friday morning across eastern Cuba. Heavy rain is the main threat from this storm, as Cuba could see up to 5 inches of rain in some isolated areas.Even heavier totals are forecast across Florida.”Heavy rainfall could lead to flooding across southern and central Florida into the Big Bend region through the weekend,” CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar said.”Much of the Florida peninsula is expected to be on the east side of Fred, which is where the heaviest rains and s trongest winds will be,” the hurricane center said.
Series of pyroclastic flows at Merapi, heavy ashfall blankets nearby communities, Indonesia —At least 7 pyroclastic flows descended down the slopes of Merapi volcano, Indonesia starting at 21:58 UTC on August 7, 2021, with ash rising up to 3.6 km (12 000 feet) above sea level. No casualties were reported. The Aviation Color Code remained at Orange.According to the Merapi Volcano Observatory, series pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) were recorded on a seismogram with a maximum amplitude of 20 mm (0.78 inches) and a duration of 222 seconds (3.7 minutes).Ash-cloud generated by PDCs was estimated by ground observer reaching a height of 3.6 km (12 000 feet) a.s.l. and moving W.1The farthest sliding distance was 3 km (1.8 miles) to the southwest (Kali Bebeng).The rumbling sound of the eruption could be heard several kilometers away from the volcano, said Hanik Humaida, head of Yogyakarta’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center.2Humaida said Merapi has seen increased volcanic activity in recent weeks, with the lava dome growing rapidly before partially collapsing during this eruption.Ash blanketed several villages and nearby towns.The volume of SW rim lava-dome at the end of July 2021 was estimated at 1 878 million m3 [1.9 km3 / 0.45 mi3] and material continued to collapse down the flank, USGS Volcanologist Sally Sennert noted.3The volume of the summit lava dome was 2 817 million m3.Four PDCs were reported from July 23 to 29, with the longest traveling down the SW flank as far as 2.5 km (1.5 miles).Avalanches of material that descended the W flank originated from lava emplaced in 1992 and 1998, and material that descended the NW flank is from 1948 lava, Sennert said.The Alert Level remains at 3 (on a scale of 1 – 4), and the public is warned to stay 5 km (3.1 miles) away from the summit.The current eruptive episode started on December 31, 2021 (VEI 1).The last major eruption of this volcano (VEI 4) took place in 2010, claiming the lives of 347 people.
Etna grows to record height of 3 357 m (11 014 feet), Italy – With approximately 50 paroxysmal eruptive episodes since February 16, 2021, Mount Etna has increased its height to a record 3 357 m (11 014 feet). Eruptive events that took place in 2021 have accumulated significant amounts of pyroclastic material and lava layers on the cone of the Southeast Crater – the youngest and most active of the four summit craters of Etna, leading to a significant transformation of the shape of the volcano, INGV-OE reports.1 Thanks to the analysis and processing of satellite images, the Southeast Crater reached 3 357 m (11 014 feet) and is now far taller than its ‘older brother’ – the Northeast Crater, an undisputed summit of Etna for 40 years. This historical data, which has a 3-meter (9.8 feet) uncertainty, was obtained through the processing of two Pléiades satellite images acquired on July 13 and 25, 2021, as part of the international partnership with Geohazard Supersites and Natural Laboratories (GSNL/), allowing Etna’s digital surface model (DSM) to be updated. To eliminate the effect of cloudiness, as well as the gas plume emitted by the summit craters, the DSM derived from the July 25 acquisition was supplemented with the DSM derived from the July 13 acquisition for the southeastern portion covered by gas in the summit area. From the digital model obtained, the highest point of the volcano is now on the northern edge of the South-East Crater at 3 357 (± 3 m).
Elon Musk to launch a satellite that will beam advertisements into space – A Canadian technology startup will be partnering with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to make space advertisements a thing of the future, according to a report by Business Insider. Samuel Reid, the CEO and co-founder of Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC), told the outlet that the company is working to create a satellite called CubeSat. One side of the CubeSat will be used to promote ads, art and logos. People and companies will be able to pay to place their ads there by buying pixels on the display screen with cryptocurrency. America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news. The GEC is planning on launching CubeSat into space via one of Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, which will release it to orbit in space before the rocket heads to the moon.
NASA ups the odds of Bennu asteroid hitting Earth – A NASA scientist said Wednesday that the likelihood of the Bennu asteroid hitting Earth within the next century or two has increased. However, Davide Farnocchia stressed that Earthlings shouldn’t be too worried. Scientists previously said that the odds that Bennu would strike the Earth into 2200 was 1 in 2,700, but those figures were adjusted to 1 in 1,750 into the year 2300, The Associated Press reported. Farnocchia works with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and told reporters that the Osiris-Rex spacecraft, which landed on Bennu in 2018 to collect samples, has given them a better idea of the asteroid’s future orbital path, according to the wire service. The spacecraft is slated to arrive back to Earth in 2023. “We shouldn’t be worried about it too much,” Farnocchia said, who was the lead author of the findings, which were published in the Icarus journal. Scientists say that Bennu will get within close proximity of the planet by 2135. Scientists said that the Earth’s gravity could affect Bennu’s orbit and create a collision with the planet in the next two centuries. However, they said that based on the data from Osiris-Rex spacecraft, the chances of gravity interfering with its trajectory are slimmer now. Lindley Johnson, a planetary defense officer for NASA, predicted that if the Earth was struck by the asteroid, the amount of area destroyed would equal the asteroid’s size 100 fold, according to the AP. If the asteroid hit the East Coast of the U.S., it “would pretty much devastate things up and down the coast,” Johnson added.
All of a sudden: Climate change tipping points appear with a vengeance – Across the world climate change seems to have arrived earlier than expected. We are now reaching tipping points in the direct, destructive and destabilizing effects of climate on humans and their infrastructure. We can no longer simply ignore these effects. We can no longer simply bask obliviously in the sunshine of unseasonably warm winter days without acknowledging their terrible message as many of my fellow Washingtonians did when I first arrived in the city in 2018. There are hidden tipping points waiting for us to hit them. And, there are ones that are out in the open and well-studied. When most viewers watched the 2004 fictional film “The Day After Tomorrow,” they marvelled at the special effects while dismissing the collapsed timeline for a dramatic, sudden and overwhelming freeze in Europe and North America – within a week in the film. The freeze depicted results from the collapse of the Gulf Stream which pumps heat from tropical waters northward, keeping the American and Canadian eastern coasts and much of northern Europe far warmer than they would otherwise be. A cessation of this current is believed to be one of the possible outcomes of climate change.What scientists now suspect is that this critical river of water and heat in the Atlantic Ocean is not only slowing, but also losing its stability. The fear is that the current could shut down unexpectedly and suddenly and that effects would be felt within months – not as quickly as in a Hollywood movie, but quickly enough to create catastrophic consequences for the food supply, economic activity and human migration even while all those reading this sentence are still alive. And that is just one key tipping point.
A Hotter Future Is Certain, According to U.N. Climate Report – Nations have delayed curbing their fossil-fuel emissions for so long that they can no longer stop global warming from intensifying over the next 30 years, though there is still a short window to prevent the most harrowing future, a major new United Nations scientific report has concluded.Humans have already heated the planet by roughly 1.1 degrees Celsius, or 2 degrees Fahrenheit, since the 19th century, largely by burning coal, oil and gas for energy. And the consequences can be felt across the globe: This summer alone, blistering heat waveshave killed hundreds of people in the United States and Canada, floods have devastated Germany and China, and wildfires have raged out of control in Siberia, Turkey and Greece.But that’s only the beginning, according to the report, issued on Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body of scientists convened by the United Nations. Even if nations started sharply cutting emissions today, total global warming is likely to rise around 1.5 degrees Celsius within the next two decades, a hotter future that is now essentially locked in.At 1.5 degrees of warming, scientists have found, the dangers grow considerably. Nearly 1 billion people worldwide could swelter in more frequent life-threatening heat waves. Hundreds of millions more would struggle for water because of severe droughts. Some animal and plant species alive today will be gone. Coral reefs, which sustain fisheries for large swaths of the globe, will suffer more frequent mass die-offs.“We can expect a significant jump in extreme weather over the next 20 or 30 years,” said Piers Forster, a climate scientist at the University of Leeds and one of hundreds of international experts who helped write the report. “Things are unfortunately likely to get worse than they are today.” Humanity can still prevent the planet from getting even hotter. Doing so would require a coordinated effort among countries to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by around 2050, which would entail a rapid shift away from fossil fuels starting immediately, as well as potentially removing vast amounts of carbon from the air. If that happened, global warming would likely halt and level off at around 1.5 degrees Celsius, the report concludes.But if nations fail in that effort, global average temperatures will keep rising – potentially passing 2 degrees, 3 degrees or even 4 degrees Celsius, compared with the preindustrial era. The report describes how every additional degree of warming brings far greater perils, such as ever more vicious floods and heat waves, worsening droughts and accelerating sea-level rise that could threaten the existence of some island nations. The hotter the planet gets, the greater the risks of crossing dangerous “tipping points,” like the irreversible collapse of the immense ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica.
Landmark U.N. report delivers stark warning on climate change, says it’s ‘code red for humanity’– The world’s leading climate scientists on Monday delivered their starkest warning yet about the deepening climate emergency, with some of the changes already set in motion thought to be “irreversible” for centuries to come. A highly anticipated report by the U.N.’s climate panel warns that limiting global warming to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius or even 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels “will be beyond reach” in the next two decades without immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. To be sure, the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold is a crucial global target because beyond this level, so-called tipping points become more likely. Tipping points refer to an irreversible change in the climate system, locking in further global heating. At 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, the report says heat extremes would often reach critical tolerance thresholds for agriculture and health. U.N. Secretary-General, António Guterres described the report as “a code red for humanity.” “The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk,” Guterres said. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest findings, approved by 195 member states on Friday, deals with the physical science basis of climate change and outline how humans are altering the planet. It is the first installment of four reports released under the IPCC’s current assessment cycle, with subsequent reports scheduled to be published next year. The first part of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report provides world leaders with a gold standard summation of modern climate science ahead of U.N. climate talks, known as COP26, in early November.
Reduce methane or face climate catastrophe, scientists warn — Cutting carbon dioxide is not enough to solve the climate crisis – the world must act swiftly on another powerful greenhouse gas, methane, to halt the rise in global temperatures, experts have warned. Leading climate scientists will give their starkest warning yet – that we are rushing to the brink of climate catastrophe – in a landmark report on Monday.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will publish its sixth assessment report, a comprehensive review of the world’s knowledge of the climate crisis and how human actions are altering the planet. It will show in detail how close the world is to irreversible change. One of the key action points for policymakers is likely to be a warning thatmethane is playing an ever greater role in overheating the planet. The carbon-rich gas, produced from animal farming, shale gas wells and poorly managed conventional oil and gas extraction, heats the world far more effectively than carbon dioxide – it has a “warming potential” more than 80 times that of CO2 – but has a shorter life in the atmosphere, persisting for about a decade before it degrades into CO2. Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development and a lead reviewer for the IPCC, said methane reductions were probably the only way of staving off temperature rises of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, beyond which extreme weather will increase and “tipping points” could be reached. “Cutting methane is the biggest opportunity to slow warming between now and 2040,” he said. “We need to face this emergency.”Cutting methane could balance the impact of phasing out coal, a key goal at Cop26 because it is the dirtiest fossil fuel and has caused sharp rises in emissions in recent years. However, coal use has a perverse climate effect: the particles of sulphur it produces shield the Earth from some warming by deflecting some sunlight.
Key Takeaways From the New IPCC Report – Eight years of research from more than 14,000 papers have been telescoped into the exhaustive new report, part of the sixth comprehensive assessment in the IPCC’s 33-year history.The report finds that Earth is on the doorstep of the much-discussed 1.5°C threshold, more likely than not to be reached by 2040. The hazards of compound impacts – such as heat and drought together – have risen to new prominence since the last assessment, and the risks of cataclysmic tipping points continue to loom.“Unless there are immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to 1.5°C will be beyond reach,” said Ko Barrett, senior advisor for climate for NOAA’s Office of Atmospheric Research and one of three IPCC vice-chairs, in a press briefing on Sunday, IPCC is one of the most expansive science review efforts in global history. Rather than conducting its own research, the panel evaluates studies by thousands of scientists from around the world. The idea is to gauge which findings represent the most solid guidance needed for policymakers, governments, businesses, and individuals to address climate change.The most startling conclusions from IPCC tend to be contextual: how a range of recent studies fit together into a coherent picture. Like a jigsaw puzzle, the result of a complete IPCC assessment can be more illuminating than any single piece. The newly appreciated threats from compound impacts are a prime example.Notably, the IPCC has stepped up its graphics game in the new report, which has a number of crisp, striking visualizations (see below).As always, the IPCC makes clear that the amount of climate change ahead depends crucially on if and how quickly the world ramps down greenhouse gas emissions. Many impacts, including the most fearsome weather extremes, are expected to increase roughly in proportion with emissions, and that’s not even counting the most fraught tipping points (see below).What do the high- and low-end scenarios indicate? Emissions growth slowed to a crawl in the 2010s, and COVID-19 brought emissions in 2020 down by a few percent, roughly to the same level as a decade ago. Experts assume a sharp rebound this year and next. Given longer-term global trends that include a dramatic swing away from coal, though, it now seems unlikely that the world will follow a high-end emissions path similar to SSP5-8.5.On the other hand, following the lowest-end SSP1-1.9 scenario would take an extraordinary global effort. SSP1-1.9 assumes that total global CO2 emissions will drop by roughly 25% by 2030 and about 50% by 2035. A total of 137 countries have already thrown themselves behind a goal of carbon neutrality, most of them targeting 2050. If enough countries line up behind a roughly 50% cut by 2030 – with similar goals already set by the European Union, United Kingdom, and United States – then the SSP1-1.9 path could be within reach.It’s unsettling, however, that all five of the new emission scenarios bring the planet to at least 1.5°C of warming over preindustrial levels between now and 2040.It’s even possible that global temperature could briefly hit the 1.5°C threshold as soon as 2025,especially with any bump-up from a strong El Niño event. This result would likely precede crossing the threshold in a more sustained way. (Likewise, any volcanic eruption on the scale of 1991’s Mt. Pinatubo would tamp down global warming for one to three years, but it wouldn’t change the long-term picture.)
Opinion | To Address the Climate Crisis, Focus on More Than Carbon Dioxide – By Kathy Castor, chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.In conversations around the climate crisis, there’s often a focus on carbon dioxide. It is trapping heat and warming our atmosphere, fueling deadlier climate disasters than normal and costing billionsyear after year. We are right to focus on carbon dioxide. In 2019, it made up about 80 percent of human-caused, heat-trapping pollution in the United States. Reducing it remains the key to achieving as soon as possible a net-zero economy.But an alarming new report, released today, by the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sheds light on the urgent need to cut down on another harmful pollutant: methane. Over a 20 year period, methane has more than 80 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide, making it a major contributor to the climate crisis.The new report makes it clear: If we are to keep global temperatures in check, we urgently need to focus on cutting methane pollution. When every fraction of a degree counts, moving quickly to reduce this super pollutant is one of the most immediate and powerful ways to start solving the climate crisis. And because of methane’s relatively short life span – it lingers in the atmosphere for around 12 years, while carbon dioxide hangs around for hundreds of years – bringing down our methane emissions will help clear the atmosphere, helping to moderate temperatures and making a real impact on our near-term climate goals.The panel’s findings have important implications for our clean energy future. When it comes to generating electricity in the United States, increased use of so-called “clean” natural gas hasoften made up for decreased use of carbon-intensive coal. This has led some of my Republican colleagues to call for expanded natural gas production and the easing of restrictions on exporting the resource abroad. But the natural gas we use is made up of 85 to 90 percent methane. Yes, natural gas often emits somewhat less carbon dioxide than does coal when burned at power plants. Methane, however,escapes at every point of its production and distribution, from when it’s extracted from drilling or fracking sites to when it’s transported through gas pipelines to when it’s purified at refineries. These leaks undermine the potential climate benefit of natural gas.
‘Answer to the code red’: Dems cite IPCC for climate agenda – Congressional Democrats are pointing to yesterday’s major U.N. climate change report as new justification for their legislative proposals to slash greenhouse gas emissions and enact President Biden’s climate agenda. Republicans, on the other hand, had less to say about the report, with one member warning that “flawed policies” would only benefit China and Russia. The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found, among other conclusions, that many impacts of human-induced global warming are now “irreversible” and there’s a small window for world leaders to dial back emissions and avoid the worst results (Climatewire, Aug. 9). As Senate Democrats prepare this week to start considering a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package that would include a Clean Electricity Payment Program to cut the power sector’s emissions, the party sees the report as evidence their plans are needed. “An intergenerational movement of climate leaders are calling on Congress to include major climate action in the budget reconciliation package – which is our best opportunity to respond with solutions to the impacts outlined by the IPCC,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said in a statement. He added: “With policies to drive deep cuts in emissions, protect communities from climate impacts, and provide equity and justice to overburdened communities, we can respond to overwhelming evidence and take the necessary action to save our people and our planet.” In a video posted to Twitter, Markey said the budget resolution “is the answer to the code red, which the U.N. IPCC issued for the planet today. “A green budget resolution that we pass this week can begin to solve this code red. Wind, solar, all electric vehicles, Civilian Climate Corps, a clean energy revolution. That’s the answer to what Exxon Mobil and all the polluters have been shooting up into the atmosphere for generations,” Markey said. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said he hopes the report will help put the concerns of people affected by climate change above those of the fossil fuel industry. “My hope is that this report will also translate into strong commitments from the international community at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in November – and that the United States steps up to do its fair share,” he said. “I’m going to do all that I can to ensure that happens, while we still have a shot at avoiding the very worst of climate chaos’s impacts.”
Democrats Will Ruin the Climate – WSJ – Notwithstanding that we are passing the 18th month of a global Covid-19 pandemic that has killed 4.3 million people and crushed national economies, the United Nations decided that what the world needs just now is more bad news, as summarized by the New York Times : “The new report leaves no doubt that humans are responsible for global warming, concluding that essentially all of the rise in global average temperatures since the 19th century has been driven by nations burning fossil fuels, clearing forests and loading the atmosphere with greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane that trap heat.” What’s more, the report says climatic destruction is going to get worse no matter what we do. I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to be alive when the world ends. The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change even includes an interactive atlas depicting that global warming’s ruin will be everywhere, meaning there’s nowhere to hide. Now what? My short answer: Don’t put the Democrats in charge of Noah’s Ark. It will sink. If only for the sake of discussion, let’s stipulate the U.N.’s climate report may be right that warming is a problem. One still may pose a practical political question: Instead of mitigating the world’s climate challenge, what evidence exists that these progressive advocates – Democratic politicians or affiliated scientists – would do anything other than make it worse if we put them in charge of the solutions?
The amount of warming that world leaders collectively agreed to avoid? It’s inevitable in the next 20 years, a new report shows. – When world leaders from 195 countries gathered in Paris almost six years ago, they agreed to try to cut greenhouse-gas emissions enough to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.According to a new climate report, however, Earth’s temperature is set to blow past that mark in the next 20 years – under any conceivable scenario of future emissions.The findings, released on Monday, come from the sixth climate assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – a United Nations body that recruits hundreds of scientists from across the globe to synthesize years of climate research and modeling.The report found that human-driven emissions have already caused the planet to warm by 1.1 degrees in the last 170 years, and that warming trend will continue until over the next two to three decades to some degree, regardless of how much emissions drop.Global temperatures have risen faster in the last 50 years than any other 50-year period in the last 2,000 years. That’s because humanity emitted about 2.4 trillion tons of carbon dioxide between 1850 and 2019. Every trillion tons causes the world’s average temperature to increase roughly 0.45 degrees Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit).The IPCC report outlined five potential future scenarios, each of which assumes a different quantity of carbon emissions between now and the year 2100. So the scenarios all result in different levels of warming. Even if emissions drop to net zero in the next 30 years – the IPCC authors’ best-case scenario – the global temperature will rise at least 1.5 degrees between now and 2040, the report found. In the worst-case scenario, in which emissions double by 2050, temperatures would rise 2.4 degrees above pre-industrial levels between 2041 and 2060. Then that increase would nearly double by 2100.
Is Childbearing Immoral Amid Climate Change? -One of the most fascinating existential questions has been posed on the business news channel CNBC, of all places, as would-be parents consider the wisdom of having children. While there are climate deniers like most of the US Republican Party and other reality-challenged individuals, most reasonable people accept the premise that global temperatures are rising due to human activity. The recent IPCC report leaves us in no doubt that things are getting worse in this regard. Already, we are witnessing severe climate change negatively affecting human life. So, the question is: Does it make sense to have children who will grow up on a degraded planet?The article is interesting in probing a number of angles on this question, the answer to which will ultimately have significant implications on the future of humanity:
- 1. What is the carbon footprint of raising a child?
- 2. How does a warming planet impact fertility rates?
- 3. Is it ethical to bear children knowing their quality of life will be negatively impacted by worsening climate change?
As a Catholic educator, the third question is the most interesting one to me. The obvious “Christian” answer would be that we should not presume things will get worse: It is still within the current generation’s abilities to limit the future negative effects of climate change on future generations, although that window of opportunity is rapidly closing (see Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si). Given the massive collective action problems we have, though–including a main political party in the world’s second-largest carbon emitter the United States denying the very existence of climate change–what are the chances of global citizens clamoring and working towards improvement? As the article suggests, more thoughtful would-be parents are giving these considerations a lot of though provided the almost non-existent progress on arresting warming trends observed around the world. There are no easy answers going forward.
Climate alliance suspends Exxon over lobbyist’s comments on carbon tax support – The bipartisan Climate Leadership Council announced Friday that it has suspended ExxonMobil months after a lobbyist for the company told an undercover activist it only backed a carbon tax for the good publicity. “After careful consideration, we have decided to suspend ExxonMobil’s membership in both the Council and Americans for Carbon Dividends, our advocacy arm,” CEO Greg Bertelsen said in a statement Friday. “We continue to believe that we will establish lasting climate solutions by bringing together a broad and diverse group of stakeholders who can work together to address this enormous challenge. This will continue to be our guiding principle.” In the June recording, senior lobbyist Keith McCoy told a Greenpeace activist “the cynical side of me says, yeah, we kind of know that but it gives us a talking point that we can say, well what is ExxonMobil for? Well, we’re for a carbon tax.” Exxon was a founding member of the organization in 2017. The announcement also comes amid reports that the nation’s largest oil producer is considering announcing a net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050. The consideration reportedly comes amid pressure to take more aggressive action to reduce emissions from three members of its board of directors who also work with the hedge fund Engine No. 1. The Climate Leadership Council’s “decision is disappointing and counterproductive,” Exxon said in a statement to The Hill. “It will in no way deter our efforts to advance carbon pricing that we believe is a critical policy requirement to tackle climate change. It’s more important than ever for organizations to work together to advance meaningful policy solutions to address shared challenges and society’s net zero ambitions.” The company also pointed to the council’s comments in the immediate wake of the recording, when it said, “ExxonMobil has helped bring other organizations on board in support of carbon pricing, and its senior executives regularly join us on Capitol Hill to advocate for this climate solution.” The decision is reportedly the result of internal deliberations that have been underway since the release of the recording.
Bill Gates Pledges $1.5 Billion for Infrastructure Bill’s New Climate Projects – WSJ –A roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by the Senate this week would give the Energy Department $25 billion for demonstration projects funded through public-private partnerships, part of more than $100 billion to address climate change. The House hasn’t yet approved the legislation.Mr. Gates, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, said a fund run by his Breakthrough Energy could spend the money over three years on projects aimed at slowing thegreenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change. The Breakthrough projects, which would have to compete with other applicants for the funds, could include emissions-free fuel for planes and technology to suck carbon dioxide out of the air.. “Critical for all these climate technologies is to get the costs down and to be able to scale them up to a pretty gigantic level,” Mr. Gates said. “You’ll never get that scale up unless the government’s coming in with the right policies, and the right policy is exactly what’s in that infrastructure bill.” Breakthrough will likely shift funding for the biggest projects to Europe and Asia instead if the package doesn’t become law, he added. The Energy Department program hasn’t been a flashpoint in debate over the legislation, but some Republicans have criticized the overall bill for what they see as excessive spending and an increase in federal powers. The bill passed the Senate in a 69-30 vote Tuesday, with only Republicans opposed. “Washington must learn to live within its means,” said a statement this week from Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee. To address climate change, the bill includes more than $100 billion for programs that improve the electrical grid, harden infrastructure against natural disasters and subsidize a transition to emissions-free cars, trucks and buses. The public-private partnership program is one way the bill embraces industrial policy, the idea that governments direct critical industries rather than leaving things to the market. Gregory Nemet, a University of Wisconsin professor who has written a book about recent innovation in solar power, said the policy shift will put pressure on government officials who will have to sort through complex market dynamics while managing demands from companies seeking profits and lawmakers pushing for home-state handouts. Industrial policy “is really a good way of accelerating innovation, but it’s risky because it goes beyond anything we’ve done in the last four decades,” Mr. Nemet said, referring to the U.S. Public-private partnerships have helped commercialize nascent energy technology before, going back to the U.S. nuclear-power industry in the mid-20th century. But the results were mixed and politically controversial when financial-crisis recovery funds went to similar efforts at the Energy Department a decade ago.
Exclusive: U.S. weighs 2050 target in bid to wean airlines off fossil fuels (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is quietly discussing a target date of 2050 for weaning aircraft off fossil fuels as part of the White House’s broader push to fight climate change, sources familiar with the matter said. The White House in recent days has stepped up efforts aimed at transforming the U.S. economy, including promotion of climate-directed infrastructure spending and bringing auto companies on board for its push for more electric vehicle use. The Biden administration is contemplating incentives to support private-sector production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as it searches for ways to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions in the hard-to-electrify aviation industry. The administration is looking at a 2050 target for airlines to fly on 100% jet fuel from renewable sources, said two sources, who spoke anonymously to be candid about the discussions. The discussions are still in the early stages with few details available, the sources said. The United States and Europe are trying to find ways to encourage production and adoption of SAF, which is two to five times more expensive than standard jet fuel. Sustainable aviation fuel, made from feedstocks such as used cooking oil and animal fat, at present accounts for only a miniscule amount of overall jet fuel use. The administration confirmed that SAF is on its radar but did not comment on or confirm the 2050 target. “As part of the Build Back Better agenda, President Biden proposed catalytic investments to propel innovation and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels,” said Ali Zaidi, the Deputy National Climate Advisor for the White House. “The administration is committed to advancing climate solutions in every sector and segment of the economy – with the urgency that the climate crisis demands.” The aviation sector cannot count on electrification as a near-term solution because of the weight of the batteries. Biden’s administration, which has set a goal for net-zero emissions by 2050, has discussed incentives and targets to increase SAF. It is currently taking a different approach than Europe, where regulators are seeking to force suppliers to blend rising amounts of SAF into their kerosene, a move opposed by U.S. airlines. The White House and industry groups are expected to meet virtually later this month to promote alternative jet fuels, although specific actions that might be taken are not clear, three sources said. Environmentalists say a European-style mandate is needed to raise production and bring down SAF’s price. However, Angel Alvarez Alberdi, secretary general of the European Waste-based and Advanced Biofuels Association, fears the EU’s mandate will redirect the limited pool of affordable feedstocks available to make SAF.
Maritime shipping causes more greenhouse gases than airlines – Ships transport more than 10 billion metric tons of cargo each year, including clothing, electronics, and oil. Almost all of these ships run on fossil fuels, so they emit a lot of carbon pollution. Maritime shipping causes about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions – even more than airplanes. In 2018, the U.N. agency that regulates global shipping set a goal of reducing ships’ carbon emissions to half of 2008 levels by mid-century. But Bryan Comer of the International Council on Clean Transportation says little progress has been made. “Currently, the global shipping sector is not on track to meet even its initial greenhouse gas strategy goals,” Comer says. He says there are promising technologies – such as hydrogen fuel cells – that could dramatically cut ships’ emissions. But they’re still expensive and not widely used. “There’s an opportunity now to start using cleaner fuels,” he says. “But right now what’s missing is that there’s … no regulations at the global scale that would incentivize that change.” So he says we need policies and enforceable standards to motivate the shipping industry to invest in cleaner technologies.
How Much Carbon Comes From a Liter of Coke? Companies Grapple With Climate Change Math – WSJ –From farm to bottler to supermarket cooler, a liter of Coca-Cola creates 346 grams of carbon dioxide emissions, the company’s data show.That’s less than half the tree-to-toilet 771-gram carbon footprint of a mega roll of Charmin Ultra Soft toilet paper, as measured by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.Math like this is fast becoming obligatory. Investors are increasing pressure on businesses to disclose the emissions of greenhouse gases related to their products and services. Regulators are starting to ask about that, too. Within the next couple of years, every public company in the U.S. might well be required to report climate information.Such an effort would be the biggest potential expansion in corporate disclosure since the creation of the Depression-era rules over financial disclosures that underpin modern corporate statements. Already it has kicked off a confusing melee as companies, regulators and environmentalists argue over the proper way to account for carbon.U.S. and European regulators already demand or are expected to require that public companies disclose their greenhouse-gas emissions. That might include the emissions produced by their suppliers and customers.Regulators also want better disclosure of climate-related risks for public companies. These can range from physical ones such as effects from extreme weather to financial risks such as if a fossil-fuel asset like a coal mine loses value.“When it comes to disclosure, investors have told us what they want,” Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said in a speech last week. “It’s now time for the commission to take the baton.”The demands from some investors for more and better climate-related information carry increasing weight as “green” financial products surge in popularity. Some $51 billion poured into sustainable U.S. mutual funds and exchange-traded funds last year, according to data provider Morningstar Inc. That was almost 10 times the level of 2018 and represented nearly a quarter of the cash that went into all U.S. stock and bond funds last year, Morningstar said.The SEC is working on a potential climate-disclosure regulation and has sought public comment. It has the backing of the White House, which has called for drastic cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions. Countries in Europe already require that companies doing business there honor governments’ demands for climate disclosures.The SEC and other regulators say climate change poses specific risks to companies that investors should be told about. Among them is the risk that companies producing a lot of greenhouse gases could be avoided by some lenders, insurers or investors, either because those parties see the companies as harming the environment or because they view the companies’ businesses as vulnerable. A scientific panel working under the auspices of the United Nations stated in a report Monday that effects of a warming climate are unequivocally driven by greenhouse-gas emissions from human activity.
Biden-backed ‘blue’ hydrogen may pollute more than coal, study finds – The large infrastructure bill passed by the US Senate and hailed by Joe Biden as a key tool to tackle the climate crisis includes billions of dollars to support a supposedly clean fuel that is potentially even more polluting than coal, new research has found.The $1tn infrastructure package, which passed with bipartisan support on Tuesday, includes $8bn to develop “clean hydrogen” via the creation of four new regional hubs. The White House has said the bill advances Biden’s climate agenda and proponents of hydrogen have touted it as a low-emissions alternative to fuel shipping, trucking, aviation and even home heating. But a new study has found surprisingly large emissions from the production of so-called “blue” hydrogen, a variant being enthusiastically pushed by the fossil fuel industry and probably falling under the definition of clean hydrogen in the Senate bill.Blue hydrogen involves splitting gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide and then capturing and storing the CO2 to ensure it doesn’t heat the planet. But this process involves the incidental release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and uses a huge amount of energy to separate and then store the carbon dioxide, some of which escapes anyway.This means that the production of this hydrogen actually creates 20% more greenhouse gases than coal, commonly regarded the most polluting fossil fuel, when being burned for heat, and 60% more than burning diesel, according to the new paper, published in the Energy Science & Engineering journal.“It’s pretty striking, I was surprised at the results,” said Robert Howarth, a scientist at Cornell University who authored the paper alongside Mark Jacobson, a Stanford University researcher. “Blue hydrogen is a nice marketing term that the oil and gas industry is keen to push but it’s far from carbon free. I don’t think we should be spending our funds this way, on these sort of false solutions.” The Hydrogen Council, a group that includes the oil companies BP, Total and Shell among its members, has said that hydrogen has a “key role to play in the global energy transition” by replacing more polluting fuels, predicting it will account for 18% of total energy demand by 2050.Dozens of gas companies in the US have started producing hydrogen or testing its viability in existing gas pipelines, which some climate campaigners have said is a step towards entrenching fossil fuel infrastructure at a time when the world needs to rapidly move to net-zero emissions.
Dingell, reps say bipartisan Senate bill ‘falls far short’ on EV charging infrastructure – U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell led over two dozen of her colleagues this week in saying the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed Tuesday by the Senate “falls far short” when it comes to funding to build out an electric-vehicle charging network across the nation. Dingell, a Dearborn Democrat, wrote to Democratic leadership with New York Rep. Yvette D. Clarke and 26 other House Democrats, who want to see $85 billion included in an infrastructure package toward the effort, rather than the $7.5 billion passed by the Senate. They said the larger spending amount would create tens of thousands of jobs and would boost adoption of clean energy transportation options.”(A) rapid and extensive build-out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure supported by the federal government is crucial if consumers are to adopt zero-emission vehicles at the scale and pace needed to stave off climate catastrophe and ensure an equitable transition,” wrote the lawmakers, including U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit and Brenda Lawrence of Southfield. Dingell in an interview said $85 billion is what she wants to see incorporated into the Senate Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget bill that senators are taking up next. “We have to have enough money in there to support the goal that was set out last week,” Dingell said. She was referring to an event at the White House on Thursday, where the CEOs of Detroit’s three automakers joined President Joe Biden as he announced a goal to make half of all new vehicles sold by 2030 emissions-free. The automakers said they are aiming sell 40%-50% electric vehicles in the same time period, including battery electric, fuel cell and plug-in hybrids. The automakers’ pledges are voluntary.The Biden administration last week also issued new, long-awaited rules requiring 5% annual emissions reductions for Model Years 2024 through 2026.Dingell said the goals can’t be reached if the the appropriate resources aren’t there, including charging stations to combat so-called “range anxiety.” The lawmakers, including House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio of Oregon, sent the letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Michigan lawmakers also are eyeing other EV-related priorities for the Senate budget bill. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, told The Detroit News on Monday that she’s pushing to include her legislation an increase in consumer tax credits for EVs to up to $12,500 for the next five years.
Billionaire-backed mining firm to seek electric vehicle metals in Greenland (Reuters) -Mineral exploration company KoBold Metals, backed by billionaires including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, has signed an agreement with London-listed Bluejay Mining to search in Greenland for critical materials used in electric vehicles.KoBold, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to hunt for raw materials, will pay $15 million in exploration funding for the Disko-Nuussuaq project on Greenland’s west coast in exchange for a 51% stake in the project, Bluejay said in a statement. The license holds metals such as nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum and the funding will cover evaluation and initial drilling.KoBold is a privately-held company whose principal investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate and technology fund backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.Other KoBold investors include Silicon Valley venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz and Norwegian state-controlled energy company Equinor.BlueJay said previous studies found the area in western Greenland has similarities to the geology of Russia’s Norilsk region, a main producer of nickel and palladium.
Power-guzzling crypto miners racing to find cheaper energy sources — Even after bitcoin mining activity dipped in recent months, the cryptocurrency network consumed almost as much energy as the entire nation of Chile and more than twice what homes and businesses in Denmark use in a year, real-time estimates show. Such heavy power consumption explains why operators of the sprawling and lucrative data centers used to verify, process and record transactions of cryptocurrencies are racing to find inexpensive energy to keep their costs down. If the energy is clean, so much the better. China cracked down on its massive bitcoin industry in June, citing environmental and regulatory concerns. The decision accelerated an exodus of crypto miners heading to new and affordable nations such as Kazakhstan, Russia and Canada. Crypto miners are also moving their operations to energy-producing U.S. states like Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming. The U.S. this year surpassed Russia to become the second-largest market after China for miners of bitcoin and other much smaller cryptocurrencies known as altcoin, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. “The trend is clearly for the U.S. to be gaining market share,” said Anton Dek, a co-author of the well-respected index. Whereas Chinese provinces were concerned that energy-guzzling bitcoin mining centers would undercut their climate goals, Texas has used incentives like generous demand response programs for large industrial and commercial customers to lure crypto miners to the Lone Star State. Under such programs, miners that offer to turn off their computers and curtail their energy consumption by at least 100 kWh on days when energy demand peaks can expect to receive tens of thousands of dollars annually from the state. Such arrangements can offset whatever business miners lose by turning off their computers and ease energy costs. The demand response programs serve as a magnet for bitcoin miners, said Katie Coleman, a Texas energy attorney and expert on the state’s electricity market. “Electricity is the largest overhead cost for most of these facilities,” Coleman said. “Texas provides unique opportunities for demand response providers compared to other regions that are not fully deregulated and have a different resource mix. It is a huge draw not only for bitcoin mining but for any energy-intensive industry.”M
Transmission corridor in jeopardy after judge vacates lease of public land to CMP – A state judge has vacated a lease of public land to Central Maine Power Co. for a 1-mile section of a planned 145-mile transmission corridor through western Maine, jeopardizing the entire project. Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy said in her ruling Tuesday that state public land officials failed to make a required finding that the lease would result in no reduction or substantial alteration to the public lands being leased and, therefore, the agreement was not valid.Thorn Dickinson, head of the company that will build the corridor, NECEC Transmission, issued a terse statement saying the company is “reviewing the Superior Court’s decision to determine our next steps on the matter.” Opponents, meanwhile, said the ruling will, at the least, create a substantial hurdle for the company’s plan. CMP holds the lease for the land in question, but is transferring it to NECEC Transmission, the company that was formed to oversee construction of the project. Both CMP and NECEC Transmission are owned by Avangrid, the U.S. subsidiary of Iberdrola Group, a multinational energy company based in Spain. The decision means corridor-builder NECEC Transmission will have to go back to the state to negotiate the lease of the public land that will be used for part of the corridor, which would connect hydroelectric power generated in Quebec with the New England power grid in Lewiston. Most of the electricity being generated is intended for Massachusetts power customers, who are paying for the project.
Hydrogen pilot projects advance, evolve at gas utilities | S&P Global Market Intelligence — Gas utilities continue to advance hydrogen pilot projects as the industry focuses on long-term solutions for decarbonizing pipeline networks. Local distribution companies offered updates on their programs during a packed day of quarterly earnings conference calls Aug. 5. The commentary illustrated how utility operators around the country are tailoring their early phase efforts to meet state climate goals, leverage existing assets, and respond to industrial demand for the low- or zero-carbon hydrogen supplies. New Jersey Resources Corp., or NJR, announced that construction has begun at the company’s first green hydrogen project, located in Howell, N.J. The power-to-gas project will use electricity from an adjacent solar facility to power electrolyzers, which split water into hydrogen and oxygen. NJR will then blend the green hydrogen into its gas distribution system. When the project goes into service in the fall, NJR will be the first East Coast gas utility to directly inject green hydrogen into its system, according to NJR President and CEO Stephen Westhoven. During its November 2020 analyst day, NJR reported plans to spend $23 million to $24 million for renewable natural gas and renewable hydrogen projects in 2021 and $19 million to $20 million for investments in 2022. The capital spending plans come as NJR seeks to align its business with New Jersey climate policy. Also on Aug. 5, South Jersey Industries Inc. signaled it would move forward with its green hydrogen pilot project with Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind LLC. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, or BPU, on June 30 awarded Atlantic Shores a contract to develop 1,510 MW of offshore wind energy, part of the largest-ever combined U.S. offshore wind award, totaling 2,658 MW. The award enables SJI and Atlantic Shores to execute an agreement to pilot green hydrogen production using excess electric power from the offshore wind development. In granting the award, the BPU cited the pilot project as an additional benefit of the contract.
WV environmentalists condemn Gov. Justice for fossil fuel-favoring energy appointments following sobering climate change report – Monday brought a tale of two messages to West Virginians about the urgency of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.The first message came from 234 scientists from 66 countries who reviewed more than 14,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers to produce a long-awaited United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that urged reaching net zero carbon dioxide emissions to stabilize the global climate and reduce extreme rainfall and flooding in West Virginia and throughout the eastern United States for generations to come.The second message came from Gov. Jim Justice.“In the country today, again, whether it be coal, oil or gas, our energy industry is under attack,” Justice said, reading at a news briefing on the state’s COVID-19 response from a press release his office released Saturday announcing hisreactivation of a potentially powerful state board that had been dormant for the past decade in an effort to foster fossil fuel development.Justice, a coal magnate whose companies have been assessed millions of dollars for environmental violations, added that he also wanted to embrace renewable energy sources.But environmentalists view Justice’s latest moves as signals that he is kowtowing to the coal industry rather than taking climate change seriously.
Adams County lawmaker wants ‘all questions answered’ on coal plant cleanup – A state lawmaker from Adams County is demanding answers from the Ohio EPA after the WCPO 9 I-Team revealed the owner of the retired Killen Generating Station pumped untreated coal ash into the Ohio River last summer. Rep. Brian Baldridge, a Republican from Winchester, wants to learn more about the incident and make sure EPA officials are closely watching the cleanup at Killen and J.M. Stuart Station, which Commercial Liability Partners also owns. “We’re left with over 500 acres of ash ponds for all those years of service to the state of Ohio for energy generation,” Baldridge said. “I just want to make sure that we are not left with a nightmare on into our future.” Baldridge asked for a formal inquiry into plant owner CLP four days after the I-Team reported CLP workers placed a drainage pump too deep in an ash pond, causing sediment to follow into the river in July and August of 2020. In the July 22 report, CLP said it self-reported the violations as required and no fine was imposed. Ohio EPA said the incident did not have a significant impact on the river’s water quality. But a former Ohio EPA official, George Elmaraghy, said the company could have been fined for federal Clean Water Act violations.
Climate change means more flooding, raising concerns about Missouri coal ash ponds. Our warming planet is the catalyst behind heavier rains that threaten to bring about a hidden danger – rising water tables seeping into unlined coal ash pits, mixing with and contaminating groundwater used not only for agriculture, but as drinking water. In Missouri, out of the 16 coal-fired power plants and 41 coal ash ponds, almost every major coal-fired power plant is located alongside a river. These plants are located in close proximity to rivers because they use the water for cooling processes. Everyday, for instance, over a billion gallons of water is pumped from the Missouri River. It is used to generate steam that turns the coal plant turbines and generates electricity. After it is used, the water is pushed back out into the river. “It’s a very old technology of cooling a power plant that as a result, everything they do is right near the water,” “The coal ash ponds, which have operated for decades and in some places as many as six decades, were all built along the rivers and they’re in the water table,” The coal ash ponds are dug deep into the ground near rivers, exposing the groundwater to harmful toxins. A study from the Environmental Integrity Project shows 91% of coal plants have unsafe levels of one or more coal ash toxins in groundwater on or around the property.Climate change could make contamination from ash ponds worse throughout the Missouri flood plains. With heavy rainfall events increasing due to climate change, flooding in the Midwest has become even more prolific. Missouri is home to three major rivers: the Missouri, Mississippi and the Meramec. The rivers converge on the borders of the state, which means that anything throughout the floodplains is susceptible to high and intense flood waters.
‘It is Peabody’s duty’: Activists say Peabody is not cleaning up mines on Black Mesa – Navajo Times – Environmental activists want to ensure Peabody Western Coal Company cleans up harmful environmental impacts at Kayenta Mine, where low sulfur coal was produced and shipped to the Navajo Generating Station for more than four decades. Activists Nicole Horseherder and Ben Nuvamsa say they have not seen remediation actions since the mine closed in August 2019. Peabody Energy is inching closer to filing for bankruptcy protection, delaying reclamation work. Nuvamsa said thousands of acres of Navajo and Hopi lands and the water supply have been destroyed by Peabody’s mining since 1970, when the Kayenta operation began on Dziły’jiin. “Both mines are now closed after having dug up and damaged more than 20,000 acres of our land,” said Nuvamsa, former chairman for the Hopi Tribe, in a recent meeting with the House Committee on Natural Resources on environmental justice for coal country. “Lands that our people lived on for centuries, lands that we use for farming, and where we raise our families,” Nuvamsa said. “Now these lands are not suitable for habitation and are now unusable.” Horseherder, executive director of Dziły’jiin-based Tó Nizhón’ Án’, said the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement is supposed to oversee reclamation. “But (OSMR) today has been completely unhelpful in ensuring that reclamation proceeds in a timely and adequate manner,” Horseherder said. “(It) has allowed Peabody to leave a mess at Black Mesa Mine and has taken no action to move along reclamation work at Kayenta Mine.”M
State regulators poised to set Georgia Power’s toxic coal ash storage legacy – Sometime next year, Pam Wolff hopes to stop lugging heavy five-gallon jugs of clean water into her home every week so she can cook meals, brew her coffee and her grandkids can brush their teeth. Wolff says next year is probably as soon as she can expect to connect her home to a new Monroe County water line being rolled out on the county dime to give residents living in the more than 850 homes near Plant Scherer the choice of clean water. About 300 homes have been connected so far. But Wolff says the $20 million county water line won’t be enough to quiet her. She said she remains concerned about Georgia Power’s plans to leave about 16 million tons of toxic coal ash in an unlined pit, where it sits in as much as 25 feet of groundwater. “I’m sure there will be some people who will get complacent with it. ‘Oh well, I’m good now’ kind of thing,” she said. “The ones who have been so long-term medically and financially hurt by it will not be backing off. We’ll be fighting it to the end.” Wolff was among the dozens of Juliette residents who showed up at the state Capitol last winter – before the COVID-19 pandemic upended life – to pressure lawmakers to require the state’s largest electric utility to excavate all its coal ash waste and move it to lined landfills. Republican lawmakers have resisted those calls. And this year, a GOP measure requiring utilities to monitor the groundwater near coal ash ponds for 50 years after closure – as opposed to 30 years – cleared the House before stalling in the Senate. The bill remains alive for next year. Wolff says she is baffled by Georgia Power’s decision to move coal ash to lined landfills at some locations, like Plant Branch in Milledgeville, but not all. “I get that it is more cost involved and all that but when you’re talking about people’s lives and having viable water, money shouldn’t be a thing – especially for a power company that has massive forces behind them,” she said.
Claxton playground contaminated with radioactive dust still open — For two decades, children in Anderson County have been playing – unaware – on a sports field constructed with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s radioactive coal ash waste, Knox News confirmed this week. The nation’s largest public power provider is now acknowledging it used a mix of dirt and “bottom ash” – the most toxic and radioactive form of TVA’s coal ash waste – to build a ball field that’s part of a larger park that contains a playground, as well. The ball field has played host to youth sports games since it opened in 2001. Coal ash is the byproduct of burning coal to produce electricity, and it contains a toxic stew of 26 cancer-causing pollutants and radioactive heavy metals. Duke researcher Dr. Avner Vengosh – a renowned expert in coal ash detection and testing – noted the “absolute concentrations” of toxic heavy metals in the soil of the adjacent playground were low. TVA did not install a clay liner – a thick layer of compacted clay typically used to seal off TVA’s coal ash waste in its dumps – on top of the ball field to protect children from direct exposure to coal ash dust. Instead, TVA said in a statement to Knox News that the radioactive fill dirt mixture was topped with gravel, mulch and slope stabilizers known as “geofibers.” TVA did not notify residents or Anderson County leaders that the ball field contains coal ash. The utility also did not warn residents or Anderson County leaders that its coal ash contains concentrated levels of radioactive heavy metals or that coal ash dust is dangerous to breathe.
FirstEnergy bribery scandal raises questions about vetting at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio – – Revelations that Sam Randazzo was hired to run the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio without first disclosing the millions he’d recently been paid by FirstEnergy, one of the companies he was supposed to regulate, raise questions about the vetting process for PUCO nominees. And especially now that FirstEnergy has said the payment was a bribe given in exchange for favorable state treatment, some advocates have renewed calls to reform the PUCO appointment process, including proposing electing commission members or taking other steps to limit utility influence on the commission. In a mandatory state ethics forms he filed in April 2019, shortly after Gov. Mike DeWine hired him, and again in 2020, Randazzo disclosed making money consulting through two companies he owned – the Sustainability Funding Alliance of Ohio and the IEU Administration Company. But he didn’t list the amounts. State officials only must disclose the amount they made if it came from an entity looking to do business with the agency where they work. Randazzo didn’t mention that FirstEnergy was a major client. And so, Gov. Mike DeWine has said he didn’t know FirstEnergy had paid Randazzo, through the consulting company, more than $20 million over the past decade, including $4.3 million just weeks before he was hired. The payment came to light as part of the scandal surrounding House Bill 6, the energy bill that’s the center of an ongoing corruption probe. Randazzo has denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged with a crime. FirstEnergy has called the payment a bribe in a deal it filed in court last month with federal prosecutors Paul Nick, director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, which investigates and enforces state ethics laws, said his agency has followed legal developments and media reports detailing payments Randazzo received from FirstEnergy. He indicated Randazzo may have broken state law by not listing the $4.3 million he’d been paid by FirstEnergy on his disclosure form. Falsely filling out a state disclosure form is a first-degree misdemeanor. “Understanding the facts as they’re becoming known, I think you could say it creates a question whether he should have, but it’s a question of fact,” Nick said.
Environmental groups tried tenviroo warn DeWine not to appoint regulator accused embroiled in scandal – Late last year, as his administration was plunging deeper into a scandal over a nuclear bailout, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he supported keeping the billion-dollar ratepayer subsidy even though the original deal creating it was part of a $61 million bribery and money-laundering scheme.The governor said he supported scrapping the law creating the billion-dollar subsidy, but the subsidy itself should be kept in place for environmental reasons.“One (reason) is at least 85% of our non-carbon production in the state of Ohio is nuclear,” DeWine said. “If you get rid of that, you’ve totally changed your percentage that is non-carbon. You’re virtually down to nothing. So that doesn’t seem like a great idea.”But the governor didn’t seem so concerned with carbon-free energy production when he appointed Sam Randazzo to the state’s top regulator, the Public Utility Commission of Ohio. Before Randazzo’s appointment, five environmental groups on Feb. 1, 2019 took a possibly unprecedented step: They sent a letter to DeWine urging him to pick somebody else. Even when they’re unhappy with prospective regulators, the groups are reluctant to publicly oppose them. That’s because they want to be heard as regulators make far-reaching decisions about renewable energy, conservation and the like. But they judged Randazzo, who had long experience representing industrial customers before the PUCO, to be so bad that they had to speak up.
Ohio AG freezes former PUCO chair’s assets in FirstEnergy probe | wkyc.com – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told 3News today that his office filed legal papers to garnish assets of ex-Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Sam Randazzo. Yost earlier filed a lawsuit to force Randazzo to return a $4.3 million he received from FirstEnergy Corp. The company recently admitted the payment to Randazzo was bribe. “One thing we did yesterday that has not been reported yet is we went to court to freeze accounts of Sam Randazzo, the former PUCO chairman who FirstEnergy has admitted paid a $4 million bribe to,” Yost told 3News in an exclusive interview. “We filed that today – the garnishment — and so far frozen a little over $300,000. We are still working through the bank accounts and looking for other assets. But this is the first action to freeze assets that flowed out of this corrupt deal.”You can watch comments from Yost in the player below: (Click link to article, above.)
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