"Record-Setting Heat Waves Are Baking The Arctic Region"
"Parts of the Arctic are enduring exceptionally high temperatures — up 30 to 40 degrees above normal — because of multiple intense heat domes."
Source: Washington Post, 08/16/2024
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"Plastic Pellets Known As “Nurdles” Are Accumulating Along Texas Coasts"
"On a humid summer afternoon in July, about 40 minutes from Houston, children are running up and down the Texas coastline of Sylvan Beach. Families make camps for the day with coolers filled with drinks and snacks. It doesn’t take more than a few steps near the shore to realize plastics have overtaken the beach."
Source: EHN, 08/16/2024When Is “Recyclable” Not Really Recyclable? Don't Ask the Plastics Industry
"Companies whose futures depend on plastic production are trying to persuade the federal government to allow them to put the label “recyclable” on plastic shopping bags and other items virtually guaranteed to end up in landfills and incinerators."
Source: ProPublica, 08/16/2024As Millions of Acres Burn, Firefighters Say USFS Has Left Them With Shortages
"The agency recently said that it had reached 101% of its firefighter hiring goal for 2024, but those on the front lines say the agency is understating how badly depleted their ranks are, especially for experienced firefighters."
Source: ProPublica, 08/16/2024EPA Faults Miss. State Communications On Water Risks Before Jackson Crisis
"Mississippi’s state health department did not adequately enforce the Safe Drinking Water Act in Jackson, contributing to the 2022 crisis that left 150,000 residents without drinking water, according to a report released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG)."
Source: The Hill, 08/16/2024"Wind Beat Coal Two Months in a Row for U.S. Electricity Generation"
"Wind turbines generated more electricity than coal-burning power plants across the United States in March and April, outstripping the dirtiest fuel for two consecutive months for the first time, according to the Energy Information Administration."
Source: NYTimes, 08/16/2024WHO Declares New Mpox Outbreaks In Africa A Global Health Emergency
"The World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency on Wednesday, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent."
Source: AP, 08/16/2024"How The World’s Last Wild Red Wolves Are Avoiding Extinction"
"ALLIGATOR RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.C. — In April, the latest glimmer of hope appeared here in the only spot on Earth where endangered red wolves remain in the wild. Five pups were born to a pair of wolves — a female known as 2413, and a male known as 2444 — marking the third year in a row that at least one new litter began life in this corner of coastal North Carolina."
Source: Washington Post, 08/16/2024In Shift, US Backs Global Target To Reduce Plastic Production, Source Says
"The United States, one of the world's biggest plastic makers, will support a global treaty calling for a reduction in how much new plastic is produced each year in a major policy shift, a source close to U.S. negotiators told Reuters on Wednesday."
Source: Reuters, 08/15/2024"Hurricane Ernesto Leaves Half Of Puerto Rican Customers Without Power"
"About half of all homes and businesses on Puerto Rico were without power on Wednesday as Hurricane Ernesto churned north into the warm waters of the Atlantic after dumping torrential rain on the U.S. territory."
Source: Reuters, 08/15/2024Nearly $10B In Hurricane Debby Damage Was In Areas Without Flood Insurance
"Hurricane Debby left billions of dollars of damage in its wake as it moved across the southeastern U.S. last week — losses made all the more devastating because so many of them may have been uninsured."
Source: The Hill, 08/15/2024"Texas Oil Regulator Under Scrutiny As Zombie Wells Gush Back To Life"
"On a sprawling ranch in Pecos County in late July, oil well control specialist Hawk Dunlap used a backhoe to uncover an abandoned or so-called zombie well that had sprung back to life despite being plugged just over a year earlier, hissing gas and bubbling toxic water into the dry Texas dirt."
Source: Reuters, 08/15/2024"The Climate Law’s $8.8B In Home Energy Rebates Are Starting To Roll Out"
"New York and Wisconsin are the first to launch their long-awaited Inflation Reduction Act programs meant to deploy everything from heat pumps to insulation."
Source: Canary Media, 08/15/2024"Texas Likely Undercounting Heat-Related Deaths"
"Deaths from heat are notoriously difficult to quantify because of how complex and subjective the process is. It leaves officials with an incomplete picture of who heat kills."
Source: Inside Climate News, 08/15/2024Podesta Concerned Over ‘Problematic’ Elements Of Permitting Reform Bill
"White House climate adviser John Podesta raised concerns about some elements of a bipartisan bill aimed at speeding up the nation’s energy projects Tuesday — and declined to say whether President Biden would sign it."
Source: The Hill, 08/15/2024
