More than 1,000 people were told to evacuate their homes when a wildfire ignited in the foothills west of Denver Monday, Colorado Public Radio reported.
<p><br/></p>
<p>The Elephant Butte Fire sparked in Evergreen, Colorado around 2:30 p.m., <a href="https://kdvr.com/news/local/elephant-butte-fire-in-evergreen-what-we-know/" target="_blank">KDVR reported</a>. As of Tuesday morning, it had spread to 50 acres and was zero percent contained, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office tweeted.</p>
<div id="ee717" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c382c3bf5156f3c108c5b46303ead1d1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1283030707460354051" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Day 2 Update on the #ElephantButteFire Fire is still at 50 acres in size with zero containment. No evacuation order… https://t.co/1BF7UMdl6f</div> — Jeffco Sheriff (@Jeffco Sheriff)<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffcosheriffco/statuses/1283030707460354051">1594733332.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>One of the families forced to evacuate Monday told <a href="https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/07/13/elephant-butte-fire-lincoln-family/" target="_blank">CBS4</a> the land they fled had been in the family for 100 years.</p><p>"It's completely made out of wood. It's a 104-year-old house. I've lived there all my life," teenager Aidan Lincoln told CBS4. "It's been there since before my dad was born. It means a lot to my family."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Right now we’re at 700 homes evacuated in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElephantButte?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ElephantButte</a> fire in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Evergreen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Evergreen</a>. I talked with a 17 year old who was in tears believing his family home has gone up.<br>Latest on <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSDenver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBSDenver</a> <a href="https://t.co/EAhaVawPN4">pic.twitter.com/EAhaVawPN4</a></p>— Alan Gionet (@AlanGTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlanGTV/status/1282824359397208067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Lincoln feared the family home had caught fire, but the sheriff's office says no homes have been lost. Fire officials also said no one had been injured as of 6:30 p.m. Monday, <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/07/13/evergreen-wildfire-elephant-butte-fire/" target="_blank">The Denver Post reported</a>.</p><p>The fire is burning in the Upper Bear Creek Road and Overlook Trail area, according to Evergreen Fire Rescue. The evacuation area initially covered a five-mile radius and around 250 homes but was later increased to cover around 1,000 homes. The Elk Meadow and Alderfer/Three Sisters parks were also both closed because of the blaze.</p>
<div id="e2b09" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e665c6f540754d83a6eb94ba8f6e04fa"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1282818933762875393" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Elk Meadow and Alderfer/Three Sisters Parks are both CLOSED due to the #elephantbuttefire #jeffco @efr_co https://t.co/nyHki32PjB</div> — Jeffco Sheriff (@Jeffco Sheriff)<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffcosheriffco/statuses/1282818933762875393">1594682842.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>There were more than 100 people fighting the fire Monday and at least three air tankers and several helicopters, Colorado Public Radio reported.</p>
<div id="ab90e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d20a60932bf9aa3d5c9336d1c31edb57"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1282863366071914496" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Though these images were taken about an hour ago, they give you a different perspective of what the… https://t.co/Rcvn7TtlCQ</div> — Jeffco Sheriff (@Jeffco Sheriff)<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffcosheriffco/statuses/1282863366071914496">1594693435.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Monday's weather made battling the flames more difficult. Firefighters on the ground had to pause in their efforts a little before 7 p.m. Monday because of lightning in the area, and wind pushed the fire up into the treetops of one ridge. There was a little rainfall, but it proved disappointing.</p><p>"Unfortunately the rain didn't help as much as we hoped," the sheriff's office wrote on Twitter, as Colorado Public Radio reported.</p><p>Conditions are expected to be more favorable Tuesday because of a cold front, KDVR reported.</p><p>The immediate cause of the fire is under investigation, according to The Denver Post. However, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> has helped to increase the size and frequency of wildfires in the Western U.S. Of the more than 40,000 fires that burned from Colorado to California between 1950 and 2017, 61 percent ignited in the last two decades, according to the <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/2830/six-trends-to-know-about-fire-season-in-the-western-us/" target="_blank">National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)</a>. At the same time, global temperatures have gotten hotter, encouraging ideal fire conditions like high temperatures and dry air.</p><p>"Those fire conditions all fall under weather and climate," NASA Langley Research Center wildfire expert Amber Soja said. "The weather will change as Earth warms, and we're seeing that happen."</p><p>Before the Elephant Butte Fire ignited, Jefferson County had implemented a burn ban because of hot, dry weather, Colorado Public Radio reported.</p>
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Accessibility to quality health care has dropped for millions of Americans who lost their health insurance due to unemployment. mixetto / E+ / Getty Images
Accessibility to quality health care has dropped for millions of Americans who lost their health insurance due to unemployment. New research has found that 5.4 million Americans were dropped from their insurance between February and May of this year. In that three-month stretch more Americans lost their coverage than have lost coverage in any entire year, according to The New York Times.
<p>The report was compiled by the advocacy group <a href="https://www.familiesusa.org/" target="_blank">Families USA</a>, which looked at COVID-19's impact on workers under 65. It noted that recent increases in the number of uninsured adults are 39 percent higher than any annual increase ever recorded. The highest previous increase took place over the one-year period from 2008 to 2009, when 3.9 million non-elderly adults became uninsured, according to a Families USA statement.</p><p>In that time frame, at least 22 million Americans lost their jobs or left the workforce. The public health crisis also has stripped roughly 16 million workers and their families from employer-provided health plans, according to the <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/16-2-million-workers-have-likely-lost-employer-provided-health-insurance-since-the-coronavirus-shock-began/" target="_blank">Economic Policy Institute,</a> as <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-health-insurance-pandemic-families-usa-report-a9617226.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a> reported. However, some of those unemployed were able to join a family member's plan or buy private health insurance.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/new-study-health-insurance-record-losses-coronavirus-pandemic.html" target="_blank">Slate</a> noted, health coverage has long been treated as a luxury, linked to certain kinds of white-collar employment. Now, the coronavirus has made health coverage an amenity fewer can afford.</p><p>"We knew these numbers would be big," said Stan Dorn, who directs the group's National Center for Coverage Innovation and who wrote the study, as The New York Times reported. "This is the worst economic downturn since World War II. It dwarfs the Great Recession. So it's not surprising that we would also see the worst increase in the uninsured."</p><p>The complete picture of how many Americans are uninsured is still murky and will not become clear until mid- to late 2021, when the federal government publishes its health insurance estimates for 2020, according to The New York Times. Families USA is one of several groups putting together comprehensive estimates of just how many people lack insurance.</p>
<p>"Despite these historic coverage losses, no Covid-19 legislation yet signed into law has made a serious effort to protect comprehensive health insurance," Families USA reported.</p><p>As The New York Times reported, the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation has <a href="https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/eligibility-for-aca-health-coverage-following-job-loss/" target="_blank" title="">estimated</a> that 27 million Americans have lost coverage in the pandemic. That study took into account family members of the insured. <a href="https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2020/07/changes-in-health-insurance-coverage-due-to-the-covid-19-recession--preliminary-estimates-using-microsimulation.html?cid=xem_other_unpd_ini:quickstrike_dte:20200713_des:coverage%20changes;%20covid" target="_blank" title="">Another analysis,</a> published Monday by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, projected that by the end of 2020, 10.1 million people will no longer have employer-sponsored health insurance or coverage due to job loss during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Of course, a lot of this was avoidable. As businesses shuttered their doors and unemployment rates rose precipitously in March, the Trump administration refused to reopen the Affordable Care Act's federal exchanges — which are only open to new signups during a small six-week window at the end of each year — to allow Americans to buy coverage to protect themselves during the coming pandemic, as Slate reported.</p><p>The portions of the country that have the highest rates of uninsured, according to the Families USA study, are states that refused federal help in expanding Medicaid as part of Obamacare, as Slate reported.</p>
<p>"In the 37 states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, 23 percent of laid off workers became uninsured," the study found. "The percentage was nearly double that — 43 percent — in the 13 states that did not expand Medicaid, which include Texas, Florida and North Carolina."</p><p>While 80 percent of people who lost employer-provided health insurance during the coronavirus pandemic are eligible for free coverage, accessing it is a challenge since many people may not know they qualify for Medicaid or they cannot afford the premiums from their COBRA plan.</p><p>"Helping people keep their insurance through a public health crisis surprisingly has not gotten much attention," said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/us/politics/coronavirus-health-insurance-trump.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "This is the first recession in which the ACA is there as a safety net, but it's an imperfect safety net."</p>
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Heat waves are most dangerous for older people and those with health problems. Global Jet / Flickr / CC by 2.0
On hot days in New York City, residents swelter when they're outside and in their homes. The heat is not just uncomfortable. It can be fatal.
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<iframe style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/15116324/height/45/theme/standard/thumbnail/yes/direction/backward/" height="45" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>"Extreme heat is actually the deadliest extreme weather event we face in New York City," says Jainey Bavishi of the Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resiliency.</p><p>Heat waves are most dangerous for older people and those with health problems. Low-income residents are also vulnerable: They may not have air conditioning, and their neighborhoods tend to have more pavement and fewer trees, which makes them hotter.</p><p>So the city has <a target="_blank" href="https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/article/nyc-coolroofs">taken steps</a> to cool these areas by painting roofs with a coating that reflects sunlight.</p>
<p>"We've already painted 10 million square feet of rooftops white in New York City and we're concentrating those coatings in the most heat-vulnerable areas," Bavishi says.</p><p>The city is also working to ensure residents remain safe during a heat wave. It's providing air conditioners to tens of thousands of elderly, low-income residents, and it runs a program that pairs volunteers with vulnerable people – "just to make sure that the residents of our communities that are most likely to be impacted by the hot temperatures are being checked in on and staying safe," Bavishi says.</p><p>So from rooftops to living rooms, the city is working to protect residents as temperatures heat up.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/new-york-city-paints-rooftops-white-to-help-residents-stay-cool/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Nearly 250 U.S. oil and gas companies are expected to file for bankruptcy by the end of next year. Joshua Doubek / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
Fracking companies are going bankrupt at a rapid pace, often with taxpayer-funded bonuses for executives, leaving harm for communities, taxpayers, and workers, the New York Time reports.
<p>Nearly 250 U.S. oil and gas companies are expected to file for bankruptcy by the end of next year — more than went under in the last five years combined — as demand craters due to the pandemic, a global price war, and falling renewable energy prices. These failing companies often neglect well maintenance and plugged well repairs to save money, causing tons of ultra-heat-trapping methane to continue gushing into the atmosphere. </p><p>Shale wells typically cost <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VWkCs-6l9bsnN6Fvt91xrcLcW430FVB4cv_DBN3rtP7m3p_9rV1-WJV7CgK5jW1cvRnF96Lb9mW3-JH6w3lfBlgW1ccv0l7xBKcfW8TfM3y1HKL3xVJqZTJ7rBh--W7P80KP8Fx9XlVl7YHW1_-HM4W49yBCC33jN_6W6hHB-t95SVMdW7xHdDg132FD6W5JzxgB8zc04dW9lm0z52xJznSW1088Bx7q5j4WN2VDzyf-K7GRW54Ss5s8lkH-sW6d2q4b16nZ9DW2fNdzP8Cm3SjW18y-jH4lwvZfN57dVMD9g0YfW4zqtt12dx4VKW7-MDt365lD7KW7WnM-n1bB8z9W1lRR3x3x462YW8YlmwM8wWZKdN2VvV06j0WDRW5Q-kNW5zjNc13dBQ1" target="_blank">$300,000</a> to close — far more than the estimates used by companies, regulators and financial analysts — and an analysis prepared for the Times found companies have failed to reserve sufficient funds, as required by law, to remediate their well sites, leaving taxpayers to foot the cleanup bill. </p>
<p>As a result, early estimates show substantial increases in methane concentrations over Texas and New Mexico oil fields in March and April 2020 compared to the previous year. The Trump administration is seeking to <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VWkCs-6l9bsnN6Fvt91xrcLcW430FVB4cv_DBN3rtP7G3p_9LV1-WJV7CgNjfW6tsRrP86lz1WV24BdG691GxFW3kN5SY57z0j7W8Fz7MQ2Kw_8jW1q753G63Rh18W5k-b-T4xRHhfW5T04893c2TPHW1TvN9-7YpC_-W6dczd13vPCKhW1tcxnz1BZDpTW3LZBZ44vHx98W2DFDmm2Xn_VdW7dZMT935GQSSW1WFcw36SxghNW6h5B924L1WWsW3DgH-r1TC9DzW7lrbKd62HZFvW5KtbhK9ctyG2W1kzwWk7VYyVkW6DPvxt45Dlc3W1794j06gn4-0W8Q_JQn2VC1-LN6n7_wTsGwdFW5vjCzs3KQBVqW1XPNDR7K0mWWW2gSBbp2ZGt4HW3lCd3v7rDyGDW4ksF1k4NF1Rw363l1" target="_blank">effectively eliminate</a> methane leak detection and repair requirements. </p><p>One drilling site, abandoned by Extraction Oil & Gas in Greeley, Colorado, is situated just 700 feet from an elementary school serving the community's fast-growing immigrant population where air pollution monitors recorded 100 periods of elevated levels of toxic benzene over the course of seven months last year. </p>
<p>Those wells were originally planned to lie closer to a more affluent, majority white charter school, but were moved after an outcry from that school's parents. Extraction Oil & Gas paid 18 of its officers and key employees a combined $6.7 million in "retention agreements" last month, three days before it filed for bankruptcy protection. </p><p>Extraction is hardly alone, Chesapeake Energy declared bankruptcy in May after paying $25 million in executive bonuses just weeks before. Diamond Offshore Drilling got a $9.7 million COVID-stimulus tax refund in March and then paid its executives the same amount as cash incentives to remain with the company as it undergoes bankruptcy proceedings. </p>
<p>"It seems outrageous that these executives pay themselves before filing for bankruptcy," Kathy Hipple, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and a finance professor at Bard College told the Times. "These are the same managers who ran these companies into bankruptcy to begin with." </p><p>The recent spate of oil & gas bankruptcies hurts the firms' workers as well, with lawsuits against the companies arising from workers injured and killed on the job put on hold.<span></span></p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/12/climate/oil-fracking-bankruptcy-methane-executive-pay.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=91332553&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_GKHS9MprgN7eHWZamF8Vev5zdDh1yAZeo7VDO6qeGZVhuazNzviysghDBRQE8PrEVvDIzbA9KlBYvSViFrSPFF62pGjhnWyij3xUztiV0-JTzDVk&utm_content=91332553&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">New York Times</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Trump introduces EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler during an event to announce changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Jan. 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. The changes would make it easier for federal agencies to approve infrastructure projects without considering climate change. Drew Angerer / Getty Images
A report scheduled for release later Tuesday by Congress' non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that the Trump administration undervalues the costs of the climate crisis in order to push deregulation and rollbacks of environmental protections, according to The New York Times.
<p>In one example, the administration estimated the cost of global heating for future generations seven times lower than previous federal estimates. By drastically lowering that number, which is known as the "social cost of the carbon," the administration could manipulate its cost-benefit analyses for deregulating carbon emissions, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/climate/trump-climate-change-carbon-cost.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>Every ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere imposes a cost on the economy, since it increases the likelihood from damage to infrastructure from <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise">sea level rise</a>, heat waves or storms. Or, it imposes a health care cost as increased pollution harms public health. However, calculating the cost of those effects is both politically contentious and economically challenging, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>Under estimates from the Obama administration, the social cost of carbon would be approximately $82 per ton of carbon by the year 2050, according to the forthcoming report. The Trump administration, upon entering office in 2017, quickly undid those numbers and changed the math of how the social cost of carbon was calculated. Under their revised system, the damages by 2050 are estimated to cost around $11 per ton of carbon.</p><p>One of the ways the math changed was keeping in line with Trump's narrow worldview. The report found that the administration brought the cost of carbon down by only looking at the effects on the U.S. rather than the global cost.</p><p>Another way it brought down the cost of carbon was by using something called the discount rate, which, according to The New York Times, assumes society should not pay much now to prevent harm from climate change to future generations.</p>
<p>"As a result, the current federal estimates, based on domestic climate damages, are about seven times lower than the prior federal estimates that were based on global damages," the report found.</p><p>The economic costs were supposed to be revised by the National Academy of Sciences, but the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scientists-epa-panel-air-pollution-2640669910.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">White House disbanded the working group</a> and has no intention of restarting them or revising the economic calculation, as The New York Times reported.</p><p>That refusal to update their calculations means future incarnations of the federal government "may not be well positioned to ensure agencies' future regulatory analyses are using the best available <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a>," according to the GAO report.</p>
<p>Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island and one of eight senators who requested the review, said, "Climate change is a massive threat to our economy. That threat will only grow in years to come, even if we take the action necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change," as The New York Times reported.</p><p>Michael Greenstone, an economist at the University of Chicago, said the Trump administration's calculations were not done in good faith.</p><p>"It was entirely a political act. I don't think anyone pretended that those moves were justified," he said.</p><p>Others see similarities between the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus and its approach to the climate crisis: deny its reality and then leave the country unprepared for its effects.</p><p>"This really parallels the mismanagement of coronavirus," said Michael K. Dorsey, a limited partner with IberSun, a renewable energy company, and a climate expert, to The New York Times. "There's this belief that by doing this you will have some effect of helping the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> industry. The only thing it does, unfortunately, is undermine the ability of the government to make prudent decisions about moving critical resources to communities that are experiencing the unfolding climate crisis."</p>
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The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA), and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, voiced support for safe reopening measures. www.vperemen.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA
By Kristen Fischer
It's going to be back-to-school time soon, but will children go into the classrooms?
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) thinks so, but only as long as safety measures are in place.
<p>The group's recent recommendations include social distancing protocol based on different grades. For example, it's more feasible to keep preschoolers in small groups (known as "cohorting") with the same teacher throughout the day. Older children should have desks 3 to 6 feet apart and wear masks.</p><p>They also say schools should limit unnecessary visitors to the buildings and utilize outdoor spaces for learning. The guidelines recommend safer bussing, hallway traffic monitoring, cafeteria use, cleaning, and screening protocols among other recommendations.</p><p>The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA), and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, also voiced support for safe reopening measures.</p><p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html" target="_blank">guidelines</a> for reopening schools.</p><p>Despite calls for them to be revised by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-criticizes-cdc-guidelines-for-schools-reopening-11594225571" target="_blank">President Donald Trump</a>, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said <a href="https://time.com/5865108/cdc-reopening-guidelines-schools-trump-coronavirus/" target="_blank">they will not change</a>, but the CDC will soon publish additional documents on symptom monitoring and mask usage.</p><p>But school administrators, parents, and teachers remain wary of going back to school full time as they fear becoming the site of super spreader events.</p>
Keeping Schools Safe
<p>What will safer schools look like?</p><p>In a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2766822" target="_blank">JAMA article</a> published last month, <a href="https://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/1781/joshua-m-sharfstein" target="_blank">Dr. Joshua Sharfstein</a>, a pediatrician and professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, outlined suggestions — many of which are similar to AAP's.</p><p>Remote learning protocols must stay in place, especially as some schools stagger home and in-building learning. If another shutdown needs to occur, children will rely on distance learning completely, so it must be easy to switch to, he said.</p><p>He suggested giving parents a daily checklist to document their child's health. Kids should be screened quickly on arrival and be given hygiene supplies. Maintenance staff should use appropriate PPE and have regular cleaning schedules. A notification system should be in place if a case is identified, Sharfstein recommended.</p><p><a href="https://www.albany.edu/rockefeller/faculty/erika-martin" target="_blank">Erika Martin</a>, PhD, an associate professor of public administration and policy at University at Albany, said nutrition assistance and health services should be included. She called for tutoring programs with virtual options as well as technology access.</p><p>Not all recommendations will be achievable for schools in certain areas, noted <a href="https://www.albany.edu/rockefeller/faculty/lucy-sorensen" target="_blank">Lucy Sorensen</a>, PhD, an assistant professor of public administration and policy at University at Albany.</p><p>"It may not be feasible to space desks six feet apart or have windows open in classrooms in a New York winter," Sorensen explained.</p><p>Other strategies to safeguard school communities can include high-intensity ultraviolet light, thermal cameras, and conferencing systems.</p><p>"Social distancing will be hard for students," said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-pascoe-2a24aa63/" target="_blank">Tina M. Pascoe</a>, a nurse and co-founder of <a href="http://www.nursesfordaycare.com/Home.html" target="_blank">Nurses for Day Care</a>, who has been involved with efforts to keep day care centers open during the pandemic.</p><p>Limiting class size, and not having special activities that require students to leave the room, will be key. "This keeps students stay in one cohort or like a family unit," she told Healthline.</p>
Supporting Staff
<p>Teachers and staff will be affected by safeguarding measures, noted <a href="https://directory.sph.umn.edu/bio/sph-a-z/rachel-widome" target="_blank">Rachel Widome</a>, PhD, an associate professor of epidemiology and community health at University of Minnesota.</p><p>"In order for all of the in-school precautions to work well, we'll be asking a lot of teachers and staff," Widome told Healthline. In addition to their usual workload, they'll now be asked to monitor mask-wearing, ensure children are keeping distance, and be aware of any symptoms.</p><p>Along with Sharfstein, Widome called for an increase in financial support. More employees will likely be required so teachers and staff members can keep up with the added demands.</p>Should Kids Go Back?
<p>While these guidelines may help get some schools to reopen, many people don't think children should go back to school over fears they could contract the disease and spread it to other vulnerable family members like grandparents, infant siblings, or their parents.</p><p>In a <a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/07/08/peds.2020-004879" target="_blank">Pediatrics</a> commentary, <a href="https://www.md.com/doctor/william-raszka-md" target="_blank">Dr. William V. Raszka, Jr.</a>, an infectious disease specialist at The University of Vermont Medical Center, argued that schools should open because school-aged children are far less important drivers of COVID-19 than adults.</p><p>But he says the risk and benefit is not equal among all students ages 5 to 18.</p><p>"Elementary schools are arguably higher priority for face-to-face schooling, since younger children are at lower risk for infection and transmission, and since parental supervision of younger children's distance learning may be particularly challenging," added Sorensen, who penned a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/channels/health-forum/fullarticle/2767411" target="_blank">June article in JAMA</a> with reopening tips. "That means middle and high schools are more likely to emphasize distance learning."</p><p>Specific student populations, such as special education students and students with disabilities, would also benefit greatly from more time spent in face-to-face environments, Sorensen said.</p>What Parents Can Do
<p>Parents should ask for and receive frequent updates from schools about plans for the fall. They should also be informed about plans if and when COVID infections are identified, Sharfstein said.</p><p>"I'd like to see parents investing now, during the summer, in doing things that can slow and stop the spread of the virus in their communities," Widome said.</p><p>"Now is a good time for kids to practice wearing masks and get used to them as they may be wearing them for longer stretches if school starts up in person," Widome suggested.</p><p>She recommends parents try different mask designs and materials to see what children are more comfortable wearing.</p><p>"If you are using cloth face coverings, it's good to have extras on hand," Widome added.</p><p>Parents should model healthy behavior at home and while out in public — another thing that could affect how well children adapt to reopening practices, Sorensen said.</p><p>"Children may want to know more about face coverings," added <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leescott/" target="_blank">Lee Scott</a>, chairwoman of the Educational Advisory Board at <a href="https://www.goddardschool.com/" target="_blank">The Goddard School</a>. "Dramatic play, such as creating or wearing a face covering, may help some children adjust to this concept." Schools can also show children photos of what faculty members look like in their masks so the students are familiar with that appearance.</p><p>Johns Hopkins University recently released its eSchool+ Initiative, a slew of resources surrounding education during the pandemic. These include a <a href="https://equityschoolplus.jhu.edu/reopening-checklist/" target="_blank">checklist for administrators</a>, report on <a href="https://equityschoolplus.jhu.edu/ethics-of-reopening/" target="_blank">ethical considerations</a>, and a tracker of <a href="https://equityschoolplus.jhu.edu/reopening-policy-tracker/" target="_blank">state and local reopening plans</a>.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Critics charge the legislation induces poor communities to sell off their water rights. Pexels
By Eoin Higgins
Over 300 groups on Monday urged Senate leadership to reject a bill currently under consideration that would incentivize communities to sell off their public water supplies to private companies for pennies on the dollar.
<p><br/></p>
<p>"This bill is an egregious handout to giant water corporations which would embolden them to manipulate and fleece struggling communities—particularly communities of color," said Food & Water Action executive director Wenonah Hauter. "The fact that this bill is being touted as an 'environmental justice' measure makes it all the more nefarious."</p><p>Food & Water Action led the demand in a <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/sites/default/files/opposition_to_the_voluntary_water_partnerships_for_distressed_communities_act.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> taking aim at the "Voluntary Water Partnership for Distressed Communities Act," described in the document as "inappropriate, unjust, and unreasonable."</p><p>"From California to Montana to New Jersey, we've seen how privatizing water harms communities, whether it's higher bills or dirtier water," Donald Cohen, executive director of In the Public Interest, said in a statement. "It's simple: water is a basic human right, which means let's keep it in public hands."</p><p>The bill was introduced by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and acts as an amendment to the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2020. Critics charge the legislation induces poor communities to sell off their water rights. </p>
<div id="fea63" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9a6f211c2bc5aedd34837944cb8eeedf"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1281000111481294849" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Water in Illinois is overwhelmingly public. Why is Tammy Duckworth sponsoring a bill that aims to change that? https://t.co/1V36Kkd99s</div> — The American Prospect (@The American Prospect)<a href="https://twitter.com/TheProspect/statuses/1281000111481294849">1594249201.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>As the <em>American Prospect</em>'s Robert Kuttner <a href="https://prospect.org/environment/privatizing-our-public-water-supply/" target="_blank">explained</a>, doing so would likely spell disaster for affected communities:</p><blockquote>Privatized systems are typically less reliable, far more expensive, and prone to corrupt deal-making. The average community with privatized water paid 59% more than those with government supplied water. In New Jersey, which has more private water than most, private systems charged 79% more. In Illinois, they charged 95% more. Private water corporations have also been implicated in environmental disasters. The French multinational, Veolia, issued a report in 2015 certifying that Flint, Michigan's water system met EPA standards, but neglected to mention high lead concentrations.<br></blockquote><p>"We know that Wall Street actors target Black and brown communities in moments of crisis to enrich themselves and Wall Street-backed water companies see opportunity in this moment," Maurice BP-Weeks, co-executive director of letter signatory Action Center on Race and the Economy, said in a statement.</p><p>BP-Weeks added that incentivizing water privatization at such a vulnerable moment for poor communities in the country is exactly the wrong move for what the crisis demands. </p><p>"As communities across the country search for relief from the ongoing pandemic, it would be short sighted and misguided to pass a bill that encourages the privatization of water systems," said BP-Weeks. "It is our government's job to protect our most vulnerable communities, not put them up for sale."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/13/inappropriate-unjust-and-unreasonable-300-groups-slam-duckworth-water-privatization?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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California Walks Back Reopening as Coronavirus Cases and Hospitalizations Surge
14h
Health + Wellness
People enjoy outdoor dining along Pier Ave. in Hermosa Beach, California on July 8, 2020. Keith Birmingham / MediaNews Group / Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images
California is reversing its reopening plans amidst a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
<p>Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that businesses like restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, cardrooms, zoos and museums must no longer welcome people inside and bars must close altogether, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/13/890602390/california-closes-indoor-businesses-statewide-as-covid-19-cases-surge" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>. In addition, gyms, places of worship, hair and nail salons, malls and non-essential offices must close in 29 counties representing 80 percent of the state's population, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-13/newsom-california-county-rollback-reopening-coronavirus" target="_blank">the Los Angeles Times reported</a>.</p><p>"We're going back into modification mode of our original stay at home order," Newsom said, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/world/coronavirus-updates.html#link-1acfaa7f" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. "This continues to be a deadly disease."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NEW: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a> cases continue to spread at alarming rates.<br> <br>CA is now closing indoor operations STATEWIDE for:<br><br>-Restaurants<br>-Wineries<br>-Movie theaters, family entertainment<br>-Zoos, museums<br>-Cardrooms<br><br>Bars must close ALL operations.</p>— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) <a href="https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1282752861835649024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The news comes as coronavirus infections have been rising in about 40 of 50 U.S. states, according to <a href="https://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKCN24E23E" target="_blank">Reuters</a>. California has emerged as one of the epicenters of the U.S. outbreak, along with Arizona, Florida and Texas. As of Sunday, California has been averaging more than 8,000 new cases a day, more than two times its daily average last month, The New York Times reported. In total California has seen 331,626 cases, the second highest caseload in the nation, according to New York Times figures. More than 7,000 Californians have died of the new disease.</p><p>California began its reopening process in early May and saw cases begin to rise in June, mostly due to a surge in Los Angeles County, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/13/890602390/california-closes-indoor-businesses-statewide-as-covid-19-cases-surge" target="_blank">NPR </a>reported. Newsom first responded by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/california-face-masks-mandatory-2646207535.html" target="_self">requiring face masks in public</a> from June 18 and then by shuttering bars and other indoor venues in 19 counties July 1.</p>
<p>Newsom said his decision Monday was informed by a rise in hospitalizations, people in intensive care units (ICUs) and the rate of positive test results. Over the last two weeks, the number of people hospitalized has increased 27.8 percent while the number of people in the ICU has increased 19.9 percent, state hospitals said Monday.</p><p>"We're seeing an increase in the spread of the virus, so that's why it's incumbent upon all of us to recognize soberly that COVID-19 is not going away any time soon until there is a vaccine or an effective therapy," Newsom said Monday, as the Los Angeles Times reported.</p><p>Counties currently subject to increased restrictions include some of the state's most populous.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NEW: As <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a> cases and hospitalizations continue to rise, 30 counties will now be required to CLOSE INDOOR OPERATIONS for:<br><br>-Fitness Centers<br>-Places of Worship<br>-Offices for Non-Critical Sectors<br>-Personal Care Services<br>-Hair Salons and Barbershops<br>-Malls</p>— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) <a href="https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1282753656983449600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Counties are added to a watch list if they see rising hospitalizations, community spread or decreasing hospital capacity for three days in a row. The idea is for counties to be added or removed from the list as local conditions change, allowing the state to flexibly adjust restrictions like a "dimmer switch," Newsom explained. But some business owners found the constant readjustments hard to cope with.</p><p>"Everyone is frustrated with the on/off switch in their personal and professional lives," Los Angeles-based public affairs firm President Fiona Hutton told the Los Angeles Times.</p>
<p>Still, some California businesses and localities have voluntarily adopted restrictions, NPR pointed out. Disney said it would keep its Southern California parks closed for the foreseeable future, and the public school districts of Los Angeles and San Diego said Monday they would start the year entirely remotely.</p><p>This puts them at odds with the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trump-administration" target="_self">Trump administration</a>, which has pushed for schools nationwide to open as normal in the fall.</p><p>"Schools should be opened," President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> said in response, as The New York Times reported. "You're losing a lot of lives by keeping things closed."</p><p>The Times noted it is unclear what Trump meant because the virus tends to spread in poorly-ventilated, indoor areas like schools, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> experts have said.</p><p>The Los Angeles teachers union, meanwhile, applauded its district's decision.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Full statement👉🏼<a href="https://t.co/QKrhYxAZLK">https://t.co/QKrhYxAZLK</a> <a href="https://t.co/MXkvkRBnzC">pic.twitter.com/MXkvkRBnzC</a></p>— United Teachers Los Angeles (@UTLAnow) <a href="https://twitter.com/UTLAnow/status/1282780635359133696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>"In the face of the alarming spike in COVID cases, the lack of necessary funding from the government to open schools safely and the outsized threat of death faced by working-class communities of color, there really is no other choice that doesn't put thousands of lives at risk," United Teachers Los Angeles said in a statement reported by Reuters.</p>
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Trending
A protest against the name of the Washington Redskins in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Nov. 2, 2014. Fibonacci Blue / CC BY 2.0
The Washington Redskins will retire their controversial name and logo, the National Football League (NFL) team announced Monday.
<p>The decision follows a review of the name and logo that the team <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/Redskins/status/1279092759052398592" target="_blank">announced July 3</a> "in light of recent events around our country."</p><p>"Today, we are announcing we will be retiring the Redskins name and logo upon completion of this review," the team said in a statement.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vbWVkaWEucmJsLm1zL2ltYWdlP3U9JTJGbWVkaWElMkZFY3p0TmdCV0FBQTVXRl8uanBnJTNBbWVkaXVtJmhvPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGcGJzLnR3aW1nLmNvbSZzPTEwMDYmaD01YzQzMGNiZDI5ZDY4MTAyZWFiNGExM2M0OTExMDM4ZDdiMmFiNzk3ZGY4MTA5ZmM0YTBiY2Y4NzA3MGMyNDU2JnNpemU9OTgweCZjPTM5OTU2ODk3NTkiLCJleHBpcmVzX2F0IjoxNjMwMTM2OTg4fQ.YgodhwGfPgtLqye6G6kOJ-n5NtdkmedcHTjK730PwJc/img.jpg" id="dca13" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9c1d93c5c08249b98780571ea279d7b1" />
<p>The announcement comes as a swift and sudden reversal from team owner Dan Snyder. In 2013, he told USA TODAY to "put it in all caps" that he would never change the name, <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29454868/washington-nfl-team-says-retire-redskins-name-logo" target="_blank">ESPN reported</a>. But then came the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/protestors-publich-health-coronavirus-covid-19-testing-2646141562.html" target="_self">massive protests</a> following the police murder of George Floyd, which prompted a nationwide reckoning over racial justice. A few weeks later, multiple sources said Snyder had been discussing the team's name with the NFL for weeks.</p><p>The team also faced increased corporate and activist pressure. Eighty-seven investors and shareholders signed a letter to team sponsors FedEx, PepsiCo and Nike asking them to stop doing business with the team until the name was changed. All three responded with statements saying they had told the team to change its name, and FedEx said it would take its name off the stadium if this did not happen.</p>
<p>When the team announced it was considering a change, activist group <a href="https://www.changethemascot.org/" target="_blank">Change The Mascot</a> urged it to abandon the name immediately.</p><p>"There is no reason not to immediately announce that the team is changing the mascot, since any real review will lead to the inevitable conclusion that the deeply offensive and racist name of Washington's NFL team must go now," Change the Mascot leader Ray Halbritter said in a press release. "Team owner Dan Snyder can stand on the right side of history and create a new, positive legacy for his team, or instead continue embracing a bigoted slur that denigrates Native Americans and people of color."</p>
<p>The team has not yet announced a new name or logo, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that it would no longer use Native American imagery.</p><p>"Dan Snyder and Coach [Ron] Rivera are working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition-rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans and community for the next 100 years," the team said Monday.</p><p>The team has used the Redskins name for 87 years and the logo was designed by a Native American in 1971.</p>
<p>While the change was precipitated by recent protests, the movement to end the use of Native American imagery for names and mascots began in the 1970s, <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/retired-washington-nfl-team-leaves-racist-name-behind-pa0kLXIJ70uvMgEntv-xag" target="_blank">Indian Country Today reported</a>. Native American groups have targeted the Redskins name specifically for decades, and a recent UC Berkeley study found that 67 percent of respondents who strongly identified as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous" target="_self">Indigenous</a> thought the name was offensive.</p><p>While hundreds of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/maine-bans-native-american-mascots-2637401197.html" target="_self">universities and schools</a> have retired Native mascots in recent years, professional sports teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians have resisted, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/sports/football/washington-redskins-new-name.html" target="_blank">The New York Times pointed out</a>.</p><p>But activists vowed to keep fighting.</p><p>"Dear @Braves, @Chiefs, @NHLBlackhawks: The target on your backs just got much larger," the group Not Your Mascot tweeted.</p>
<div id="70d0a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6ca68952828cd7d57b80238aacaed935"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1282681032379174915" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Dear @Braves, @Chiefs, @NHLBlackhawks:
The target on your backs just got much larger.
Sincerely:
Everyone</div> — Not Your Mascot (@Not Your Mascot)<a href="https://twitter.com/NotYourMascot/statuses/1282681032379174915">1594649963.0</a></blockquote></div>
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The survival tools northern fish have used for millennia could be a disadvantage as environmental conditions warm and more fast-paced species move in. Istvan Banyai / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
By Alyssa Murdoch, Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle and Sapna Sharma
Summer has finally arrived in the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, liberating hundreds of thousands of northern stream fish from their wintering habitats.
<p>Through the long winter, many have endured cramped, icy quarters with perilously low oxygen levels. Others have recently journeyed incredible distances from large rivers and lakes to small summer habitats upstream.</p><p>Northern stream fish come from a long line of hardy adapters. Their ancestors were well equipped to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1352-8_2" target="_blank">survive multiple ice ages and then go on to colonize some of the coldest newly accessible northern habitats</a>. They thrive in some of the most dynamic conditions on the planet, from short intense summers, with up to 24 hours of sunlight, to long cold winters with limited light and food.</p><p>But the survival tools these fish have used for millennia — exceptional tolerance to cold, slow growth rates and long lifespans — could be a disadvantage as environmental conditions in the north warm and more fast-paced species move in.</p><p>Our research team set out to see how stream fishes were responding to unprecedented environmental changes across their northern ranges. Ultimately, we wanted to know how these changes might affect the hundreds of thousands of people in Alaska and northern Canada that rely on local fisheries for food, culture and economic security.</p>
A Good News Story?
<p>On the surface, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13569" target="_blank">results from our study</a> appear to provide a "good news" story. Warming temperatures were linked to higher numbers of fish, more species overall and, therefore, potentially more fishing opportunities for northerners.</p><p>Initially, we were surprised to learn that warming was increasing the distribution of cold-adapted fish. We reasoned that modest amounts of warming could lead to benefits such as increased food and winter habitat availability without reaching stressful levels for many species.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ1MzA0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzk5MDY3NX0.IjplojcI7x34IWnPz7YlA72ZVLhHBb1AjpXt7GiudvU/img.jpg?width=980" id="e1628" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="128684685dc318c8600631cba0d7aee1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Photo of Arctic grayling (left) and Dolly Varden trout (right). Alyssa Murdoch / Lilian Tran / Nunavik Research Centre and Tracey Loewen / Fisheries and Oceans Canada
<p>Yet, not all fish species fared equally well. Ecologically unique northern species — those that have evolved in colder, more nutrient-poor environments, such as Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden trout — were showing declines with warming.</p>Fish Strandings and Buried Eggs
<p>Recent news headlines run the gamut for Pacific salmon — from their increased escapades <a href="https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/more-pacific-salmon-showing-up-in-western-arctic-waters/" target="_blank">into the Arctic</a> to <a href="https://www.juneauempire.com/news/warm-waters-across-alaska-cause-salmon-die-offs/" target="_blank">massive pre-spawning die-offs</a> in central Alaska. Similarly, results from our study revealed different outcomes for fish depending on local climatic conditions, including Pacific salmon.</p><p>We found that warmer spring and fall temperatures may be helping juvenile salmon by providing a longer and more plentiful growing season, and by supporting early egg development in northern regions that were previously too cold for survival.</p><p>In contrast, salmon declined in regions that were experiencing wetter fall conditions, pointing to an increased risk of flooding and sedimentation that could bury or dislodge incubating eggs.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ1MzAzMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTU1Nzk3OX0.cEBVXfCGyyk0dvV6j9caHJlnS1qfbyBIjv8IukxDrDY/img.jpg?width=980" id="7dfe7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="446709f805ed143541f429131803df26" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Headwaters of the Wind River within the largely intact Peel River watershed in northern Canada. Don Reid / Wildlife Conservation Society Canada / Author provided
<p>Interestingly, we found that certain climatic combinations, such as warmer summer water temperatures with decreased summer rainfall, were important in determining where Pacific salmon could survive. Summer warming in drier watersheds led to declines, suggesting that lowered streamflows may have increased the risk of fish becoming stranded in subpar habitats that were too warm and crowded.</p>The Fate of Northern Fisheries
<p>The promise of a warmer and more accessible Arctic has attracted mounting interest in new economic opportunities, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103637" target="_blank">including fisheries</a>. As warming rates at higher latitudes are already <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/" target="_blank">two to three times global levels</a>, it seems probable that northern biodiversity will experience dramatic shifts in the coming decades.</p><p>Despite the many unknowns surrounding the future of Pacific salmon, many fisheries are currently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03632415.2017.1374251" target="_blank">thriving following warmer and more productive northern oceans</a>, and some <a href="https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic68876" target="_blank">Arctic Indigenous communities are developing new salmon fisheries</a>.</p><p>As warming continues, the commercial salmon fishing industry is poised to expand northwards, but its success will largely depend on extenuating factors such as <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060023067" target="_blank">changes to marine habitat and food sources</a> and <a href="https://www.yukon-news.com/news/promising-chinook-salmon-run-failed-to-materialize-in-the-yukon-river-panel-hears/" target="_blank">how many fish are caught during the freshwater stages of their journey</a>.</p><p>Even with the potential for increased northern biodiversity, it is important to recognize that some northern communities may be unable to adapt or may <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/searching-for-the-yukon-rivers-missing-chinook/" target="_blank">lose individual species that are associated with important cultural values</a>.</p><p>For example, many Yukon First Nations, including Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in, <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/trondek-hwechin-first-nation-aims-revitalize-critical-salmon-stocks-yukon" target="_blank">have voluntarily refrained from fishing their main traditional food of chinook salmon</a> to help stocks recover. Other communities that rely on increasingly vulnerable <a href="http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/techpap/TP373.pdf" target="_blank">northern-adapted species such as Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden trout</a> may also be at risk to future changes.</p><p>Although climate change action is urgently required at the global level, there are still tools that environmental managers can employ locally to reduce some of the effects. For example, watersheds with an elevated risk of flooding during the salmon incubation period could have more stringent streamside habitat protections, such as preserving larger areas of streamside vegetation from development, actively revegetating disturbed areas and conducting site-specific erosion and sediment control studies. In dangerously warm and dry years, fishing quotas could be reduced to limit salmon die-offs.</p><p>Ultimately, we advise that getting ahead of these impending changes by preserving the integrity of large intact watersheds will be key for protecting these evolutionary superstars from new human-driven pressures.</p>
<p class="">
<em></em>
</p><p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alyssa-murdoch-866709" target="_blank">Alyssa Murdoch</a> is a </em><em>PhD candidate and Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Weston Fellow, York University, Canada.</em>
</p><p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chrystal-mantyka-pringle-187054" target="_blank">Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle</a> is a </em><em>Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Conservation Planning Biologist and Adjunct Professor of Conservation Biology, University of Saskatchewan.</em>
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<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sapna-sharma-416603" target="_blank">Sapna Sharma</a> is an </em><em>Associate Professor and York University Research Chair in Global Change Biology, York University, Canada.</em>
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<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Alyssa Murdoch received funding from a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canada Graduate Scholarship and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. </em><em>Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle receives funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Chrystal is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saskatchewan and a Conservation Planning Biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. </em><em>Sapna Sharma receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant, Ontario Ministry of Innovation Early Researcher Award, Genome Canada, and the York University Research Chair Program. Sapna is a York Research Chair in Global Change Biology and Associate Professor at York University and a Trustee at the Royal Canadian Institute for Science.</em>
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<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/northern-fish-are-tough-but-climate-change-is-causing-some-to-dwindle-138676" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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A mother walks her children through a fountain on a warm summer day on July 12, 2020 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Gary Hershorn / Getty Images
A heat wave that set in over the South and Southwest left much of the U.S. blanketed in record-breaking triple digit temperatures over the weekend. The widespread and intense heat wave will last for weeks, making the magnitude and duration of its heat impressive, according to The Washington Post.
<p>The heat wave brought temperatures that soared above 110 degrees to some parts of the South over the weekend. While it scorched that part of the country, it is expected to linger around the nation's heartland as it moves north and east over the Ohio Valley this week, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/heat-wave-across-united-states-multiple-weeks/" target="_blank">CBS News</a>.</p><p>Last week, the National Weather Service predicted 75 or more record-high temperatures would be approached or broken from Friday to Tuesday alone, and that number is likely to grow significantly into this upcoming week, as CBS News reported.</p>
<p>"The heat wave will be very long-lived, lasting multiple weeks in some areas with only a few days of near-normal temperatures during that span," said Jeff Masters, Ph.D., founder of the popular site Weather Underground and a regular contributor to Yale Climate Connections, to CBS News. "This will increase the odds of heat illness and heat-related deaths."</p><p>The high temperatures in many parts of the country were 10 degrees above normal over the weekend. Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson all saw temperatures over 110 degrees. Dallas, San Antonio and Lubbock all exceeded 100 degrees. In New England, Boston and Providence had a heat index of 96 degrees. Other hot locations included Orlando, Florida, Montgomery, Alabama and Columbia, South Carolina, which all saw temperatures around 95 degrees Sunday, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/12/weather/heat-wave-arizona-nevada-texas-forecast-sunday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>Lara Pagano, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/12/us-south-heatwave-warnings" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> that the heatwave is being caused by high pressure over the area that is being exacerbated by unusually low monsoonal moisture.</p><p>"Typically this time of year we tend to see more monsoonal moisture moving into the south-west so that can help temper some of the higher temperatures," she said. "It's been delayed."</p>
<p>The Washington Post reported that by the middle of this week, a zone of high pressure coming down from southeast Canada will merge with a similar system in the west, combining into a synergistic continental-scale heat dome.</p><p>The bigger these heat domes grow, the hotter and longer-lasting heat waves become. And this will be a big one, according to CBS News. More than 80 percent of the nation — 265 million people — will see highs above 90 within a week. Another 50 million will experience triple-digit temperatures, with high-temperature alerts in every southern state from California to Florida.</p><p>That heat will also bring the possibility of moderate to severe windstorms in some parts of the country.</p>
<p>As the climate crisis continues to worsen, it ushers in more severe and intense heat events. A recent analysis by Climate Central found that the number of days each year with both high heat and humidity has doubled across much of the United States since 1980, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/07/10/heat-wave-lower-48/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>"Another decade of global warming, combined with natural variability, should produce a July heat wave in the U.S. capable of beating most of the Dust Bowl extreme temperature records," said Masters to CBS News.</p><p>Long-term computer model projections point to a continuation of heat into the end of July.</p>
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