Two 4.2-Magnitude Earthquakes Rattle Northern Oklahoma in a Single Evening
USGS recorded two 4.2-magnitude earthquakes near Enid, Oklahoma on March 4.
Two 4.2-magnitude earthquakes struck near Enid in northern Oklahoma Sunday at 5:17 p.m and 9:40 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). They are the largest recorded this year so far and even felt in neighboring Kansas.
The large quakes were followed by two smaller ones around the same area early Monday. The first was a magnitude 2.7 followed by 12:35 a.m. then magnitude 2.6 at 6:16 a.m.
At least one home in Breckinridge was damaged by the first earthquake. According to Enid News, the home had major brick separation from doors and windows and other structural damage.
The 4.2-temblors are the largest in the state since August 2017, when a swarm of earthquakes, including a magnitude 4.2, hit the central part of the state. There were five quakes of 4.0 or greater last year.
A tremor at that magnitude feels like a heavy truck striking a building, USGS describes on its website.
Oklahoma has seen an alarming uptick in seismic activity that's been linked to the injection of saltwater produced from oil and gas drilling activities into disposal wells.
State regulators have directed oil and gas producers in the state to close wells or reduce wastewater injection volumes. The regulations have worked to a certain degree. While the Sooner State has dropped from two earthquakes per day to fewer than one per day, some of the post-regulatory quakes have been large and damaging. Two big ones happened in 2016: the 5.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Cushing, one of the largest oil hubs in the world, and a 5.8 that hit near Pawnee, the largest ever recorded in the state.
Tulsa World reported this week that if oil and natural gas prices begin to soar, wastewater injection could climb 40 percent more under a regulatory cap.
Wastewater injection limit set due to earthquake worries, but Oklahoma could get shakier if oil prices soar again… https://t.co/KlgvPOIrQd— Corey Jones (@Corey Jones)1520261602.0
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The Dangerous Fringe Theory Behind the Great Barrington Declaration and Herd Immunity
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A memorial project installation of 20,000 American flags on September 22, 2020 in Washington, D.C. represents the more than 200,000 American lives lost to COVID-19. Win McNamee / Getty Images
By Derrick Z. Jackson
Officials at the highest levels are discussing the possibility of caving in on controlling the coronavirus and instead letting it run rampant throughout the United States until we reach "herd immunity," the point where the virus effectively runs out of people to infect. More than 6,200 scientists, health professionals, and research organizations say this is inhumane and have signed a memorandum rejecting herd immunity as a legitimate strategy.
<p>Published last week in the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2820%2932153-X" target="_blank"><em>The Lancet, </em></a>the document is named for John Snow, considered the father of modern epidemiology for mapping out the 1854 London cholera epidemic to pinpoint its source and cause, deadly water contaminated by sewage that was managed by a particular water company. The John Snow Memorandum, signed by the Union of Concerned Scientists (and individually by my wife, a physician and epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health), warns that many factors render herd immunity a "dangerous fallacy unsupported by scientific evidence."</p><p>Chief among them are that the coronavirus is <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/487086-coronavirus-10-times-more-lethal-than-seasonal" target="_blank">much deadlier</a> than the seasonal flu, and it remains unclear how long any immunity lasts after one recovers from an infection. That makes it likely that a herd immunity strategy, according to the memo, will surely cause a huge number of preventable deaths, run the risk of triggering recurrent epidemics, and potentially "overwhelm the ability of healthcare systems to provide acute and routine care."</p><p>The upwelling of concern behind the memorandum is the legitimacy being given in key corners of the White House to herd immunity, as represented in a new, high-profile document called The Great Barrington Declaration. It was written by three scientists with fringe views and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/covid-herd-immunity/2020/10/10/3910251c-0a60-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">concocted</a> in a gathering hosted by a libertarian think tank with ties to the climate-denying Koch Industries. The declaration's top authors were invited earlier this month to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/health/coronavirus-great-barrington.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">meet</a> with Scott Atlas, a member of the Coronavirus Task Force and an open advocate of herd immunity, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.</p><p>The declaration claims, with not a single fact or scientific study to back it up, that "current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health." Paternalistically oblivious to systemic and political reasons why Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people die from COVID-19 at higher rates than White people, the declaration says lockdowns are a "grave injustice" to the working class and school children and that keeping lockdowns in place until there is a vaccine "will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed."</p>
<p>Given all that so-called injustice, the authors say everyone who is "not vulnerable" should be free to move about the country and dance, sing, and play with the virus. They slyly skirt the notion that herd immunity is really about reopening the economy at all costs—which many governors did with catastrophic spikes in coronavirus cases. Instead, they say:</p><p>"Schools and universities should be open for in-person teaching;"</p><p>"Extracurricular activities, such as sports, should be resumed;"</p><p>"Young low-risk adults should work normally, rather than from home. Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts, music, sport and other cultural activities should resume."</p>
Herd Immunity’s Unacceptable Toll
<p>Resumption of normal life in the United States under a herd immunity approach would result in an enormous death toll by all estimates. Former CDC director Tom Frieden <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tom-frieden-herd-immunity-wrong-solution-coronavirus/2020/10/16/acb4ae8a-0fe6-11eb-8074-0e943a91bf08_story.html" target="_blank">estimates</a> that another 500,000 people would have to die to achieve 60 percent herd immunity. "And that's the best-case scenario," Frieden wrote in a <em>Washington Post</em> op-ed. "The number of deaths to get there could be twice as high."</p><p>Frieden said that is the best-case scenario because no one really knows if the <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/herd-immunity-and-coronavirus/art-20486808" target="_blank">actual percentage needed</a> to see the virus peter out is to have it <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/521834-covid-19-vaccine-barriers-efficacy-availability-and-acceptability" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">infect</a> more like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/08/31/herd-immunity-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">65, 70,</a> or even <a href="https://www.vox.com/21451282/herd-immunity-explained-covid-19-pandemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">75 percent</a> of the population. Even if immunity could be miraculously achieved at 50 percent, an estimate <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-020-00451-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">published</a> in <em>Nature Reviews Immunology</em> places the range of sacrifice somewhere between 500,000 and 2.1 million deaths.</p><p>That makes it little wonder that Anthony Fauci, the most respected scientist advising the Trump administration on the pandemic, called herd immunity for the coronavirus "total nonsense." Fauci is backed up by the likes of National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, who said herd immunity is a "dangerous" and "fringe" component of epidemiology. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Health <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/20/nation/scores-mass-scientists-doctors-sign-open-letter-against-herd-immunity-proposal/?outputType=amp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">called</a> herd immunity "junk science."</p><p>The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, <a href="https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---12-october-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said this month</a> that the only acceptable form of "herd immunity" is achieved through vaccination. "Herd immunity is achieved by protecting people from a virus, not by exposing them to it," the secretary general said. "Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic... Allowing a dangerous virus that we don't fully understand to run free is simply unethical. It's not an option."</p><p>Nowhere does the Great Barington Declaration acknowledge that <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/p0625-update-expands-covid-19.html" target="_blank">60 percent</a> of adults in the United States have at least one chronic medical condition that makes them more vulnerable for worse outcomes from COVID. That means that only 40 percent of adults would have the privilege of resuming normal breathing among work colleagues and shouting and singing in sports and worship.</p><p>Nor does the declaration acknowledge <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32009-2/fulltext" target="_blank">a study</a> in <em>The Lancet</em> that finds that less than 10 percent of people in the United States currently have the antibodies for the coronavirus. As proponents of herd immunity wax poetically about letting the virus loose among children and young adults, a grim reality is that <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm#AgeAndSex" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one out of every five</a> COVID deaths has occurred among people under the age of 65.</p><p>The herd immunity approach is also inherently racist, given the context of the systemic health, employment, residential, and environmental injustice inequities that make people of color more susceptible to the virus. Even though the virus is raging throughout nearly the entire nation, with cases increasing in 42 states and Guam, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">October 22 tracking</a> by the <em>New York Times</em>, any public health response to the virus must factor in the impact on people of color.</p><p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According</a> to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the COVID hospitalization rate for Latinx, Indigenous Americans, and African Americans, when adjusted for age, were all more than four times higher the hospitalization rate for white Americans, and the age-adjusted death rate for all three groups are triple the rate for white Americans, <a href="https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to the APM Research Lab. The lab says that if racial death rates were equal, nearly 22,000 Black people and about 11,400 Latinx would still be alive today.</p><p>And while proponents of rushing children back into classrooms say we can do so because young kids rarely get sick from coronavirus, nearly four out of every five children <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/15/covid-deaths-hispanic-black-children/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">who do die</a> are African American, Latinx, or Indigenous, according to the CDC, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6937e4.htm?s_cid=mm6937e4_w#F1_down" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">double</a> their combined share of the U.S. population.</p>
Herd Immunity is the National De Facto Strategy
<p>Somehow, none of that has culled herd immunity from being considered as a legitimate approach for fighting COVID-19. Rather, the Great Barrington Declaration has much in common with the Trump administration's approach to the coronavirus, which has led to more people dying from COVID-19 in the United States than in any other nation on Earth.</p><p>A de facto herd immunity approach is the only thing that can explain the push by governors of so many states to <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/the-push-to-relax-covid-19-protections-exposes-age-old-racial-wounds" target="_blank">reopen</a> bars, restaurants, beaches, bowling alleys, and gyms in states even as the virus has raged and case numbers have been increasing. It is the only thing that can explain the federal designation of meatpackers as essential workers and state demands that teachers go back into classrooms despite outbreaks and deaths related to those professions.</p><p>It also explains how so many of the nation's most respected scientific voices have been silenced. Despite the virus's current "uncontrolled spread" in 34 states and Puerto Rico, according to October 21 <a href="https://www.covidexitstrategy.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tracking</a> by CovidExistStrategy.org, the White House has pushed aside Fauci, Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Deborah Birx, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, and Robert Redfield, the head of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.</p><p>In their place, the administration has handed the pandemic podium to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-den-of-dissent-inside-the-white-house-task-force-as-coronavirus-surges/2020/10/19/7ff8ee6a-0a6e-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_to_your_health&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_tyh&wpmk=1&pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJjb29raWVuYW1lIjoid3BfY3J0aWQiLCJpc3MiOiJDYXJ0YSIsImNvb2tpZXZhbHVlIjoiNWE1ZDQ3N2M5YmJjMGYyNmNiMTViMmI0IiwidGFnIjoiNWY4ZGZhZmQ5ZDJmZGEwZWZiNGViMzQyIiwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2FzaGluZ3RvbnBvc3QuY29tL3BvbGl0aWNzL3RydW1wcy1kZW4tb2YtZGlzc2VudC1pbnNpZGUtdGhlLXdoaXRlLWhvdXNlLXRhc2stZm9yY2UtYXMtY29yb25hdmlydXMtc3VyZ2VzLzIwMjAvMTAvMTkvN2ZmOGVlNmEtMGE2ZS0xMWViLTg1OWItZjljMjdhYmU2MzhkX3N0b3J5Lmh0bWw_dXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXdwX3RvX3lvdXJfaGVhbHRoJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyJndwaXNyYz1ubF90eWgmd3Btaz0xIn0.MyoXrwQD-PwWqdbb70_JfrI_fxHO0be_O_tpTTMXBgE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scott Atlas</a>, a radiologist and conservative pundit with <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/public-wants-science-based-policies-for-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">no background</a> in infectious disease science or epidemiology in measuring disease prevalence. Inhumanely ignoring the more than half of U.S. adults having a pre-existing condition that could compromise them for COVID-19, he blithely praises herd immunity, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/public-wants-science-based-policies-for-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">saying,</a> "We can allow a lot of people to get infected. Those who are not at risk to die or have a serious hospital-requiring illness, we should be fine with letting them get infected."</p><p>He <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/521688-birx-confronted-pence-about-atlas" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pooh-poohs</a> expanded testing, saying, "you are destroying the workforce." Twitter recently took down one of Atlas's tweets for falsely claiming, "Masks work? NO" and then lying that the WHO says widespread mask use is "not supported." The first sentence of the WHO's <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">webpage</a> on masks says, "Masks are a key measure to suppress the spread of COVID-19 and save lives."</p><p>Atlas denies that the White House has a "wide-open strategy of achieving herd immunity." But there's little doubt that the White House is wide open to the idea. Last week, Atlas <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/trump-adviser-calls-nbc-town-hall-brazen-display-of-media-duplicity" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">appeared</a> on Fox News <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-touts-document-calling-for-herd-immunity-approach-to-covid-19-crisis-11603051550" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to say</a> the thrust of the Great Barrington Declaration "is exactly aligned with the president." That was seconded by a senior administration official who <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/covid-herd-immunity/2020/10/10/3910251c-0a60-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told reporters</a> in a conference call that the Great Barrington Declaration "is endorsing what the president's policy has been for months."</p><p>The freezing out of scientists on the Coronavirus Task Force reached deep space levels this week (a metaphoric minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit), with multiple buckets of ice dumped on Fauci. Atlas diminished Fauci as "just one person" on the force, offering only a "limited approach." President Trump called Fauci a "disaster," <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-fauci-campaign-biden/2020/10/19/30b2fe58-1226-11eb-82af-864652063d61_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">claiming,</a> "People are tired of hearing Fauci and these idiots, all these idiots who got it wrong."</p>Many Thousands of Lives Can Still Be Saved
<p>Atlas's malpractice already merits his dismissal. He should be forced to step down because his disregard for science will surely lead to incalculable disaster if a herd immunity approach becomes official government policy. Calls for his ouster have already begun even from inside the task force. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-den-of-dissent-inside-the-white-house-task-force-as-coronavirus-surges/2020/10/19/7ff8ee6a-0a6e-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html" target="_blank">According</a> to the <em>Washington Post</em>, Birx went to Vice President Mike Pence to suggest removing Atlas. All Pence reportedly did was ask Birx and Atlas to work out their problems on their own.</p><p>There is no time left for such discord within the task force and for discordant messages to come from the White House on how people should protect themselves from COVID-19. The thousands of scientists and public health professionals who signed the John Snow Memorandum say "it is critical to act decisively and urgently," to launch a "robust" response on the level of New Zealand, Vietnam, or Japan—all of which have shown success in containing the virus and keeping the numbers of cases and deaths relatively low.</p><p>The approach that has been proven effective starts with face coverings and social distancing and reducing the temptation we all will feel during the oncoming winter holidays to have extended family gatherings. Researchers from MIT and the Vancouver School of Economics <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.27.20115139v6.full.pdf" target="_blank">estimate</a> in a working paper that, if the United States had established a national mask mandate in mid-March, between 19,000 and 47,000 lives could have been saved by the end of May. Now that the nation's death toll approaches a quarter million lives lost, and is <a href="https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view=total-deaths&tab=trend" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">projected</a> to reach nearly 400,000 by February 1, according to the Institutes for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the institute estimates we could avoid 74,000 new deaths with universal mask use.</p><p>Importantly, masks protect others, including the most vulnerable among us. This week, the <em>Washington Post</em> reported how coronavirus outbreaks among college students partying in unmasked packs in LaCrosse, Wisconsin was found to have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/10/21/la-crosse-wisconsin-covid-outbreak-nursing-home-deaths/?utm_campaign=wp_to_your_health&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_tyh&wpmk=1&pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJjb29raWVuYW1lIjoid3BfY3J0aWQiLCJpc3MiOiJDYXJ0YSIsImNvb2tpZXZhbHVlIjoiNWE1ZDQ3N2M5YmJjMGYyNmNiMTViMmI0IiwidGFnIjoiNWY5MWU3YjU5ZDJmZGEwZWZiNTE3OGNmIiwidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2FzaGluZ3RvbnBvc3QuY29tL2hlYWx0aC8yMDIwLzEwLzIxL2xhLWNyb3NzZS13aXNjb25zaW4tY292aWQtb3V0YnJlYWstbnVyc2luZy1ob21lLWRlYXRocy8_dXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXdwX3RvX3lvdXJfaGVhbHRoJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyJndwaXNyYz1ubF90eWgmd3Btaz0xIn0.6Ep-AvkJkNqGTE08UsekVlNWR01vYzQe-qg5BPruSQM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">led to 19 deaths so far of people over the age of 60</a>. Before that, the city had gone without a single pandemic death in its nursing homes.</p><p>That is on the heels of the wedding in Millinocket, Maine that resulted in an outbreak that <a href="https://bangordailynews.com/2020/09/19/news/eight-deaths-now-tied-to-millinocket-area-wedding-outbreak-including-seven-at-nursing-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">killed eight elderly people</a>, none of whom attended the event, and the 500,000-person Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally that is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/10/17/sturgis-rally-spread/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">now tied</a> to the massive coronavirus outbreak in the Upper Midwest and Mountain States. The Germain IZA Institute of Labor Economics estimates that the illness generated from the rally <a href="https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13670/the-contagion-externality-of-a-superspreading-event-the-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-and-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">will cost</a> the nation $12.2 billion in health care costs.</p><p>Atlas and the proponents of the Great Barrington Declaration have not yet said why this is just fine. That is why they must be unmasked for the charlatans that they are.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Purdue researcher Joseph Peoples uses an infrared camera to compare the cooling performance of white paint samples on a rooftop. Purdue University photo / Jared Pike
By Kayla Wiles
What if paint could cool off a building enough to not need air conditioning?
<p>Purdue University engineers have created white paint that can keep surfaces up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than their ambient surroundings – almost like a refrigerator does, but without consuming energy.</p><p>According to the researchers, the paint would replace the need for air conditioning by absorbing nearly no solar energy and sending heat away from the building. Without the building heating up, air conditioning wouldn't have to kick on.</p><p>"It's very counterintuitive for a surface in direct sunlight to be cooler than the temperature your local weather station reports for that area, but we've shown this to be possible," said <a href="https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/People/ptProfile?resource_id=29343" target="_blank">Xiulin Ruan</a>, a Purdue professor of <a href="https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical engineering</a>.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="835862ffe8b025c2f0ae633c999ecb08"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/caFzYvYAUo4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>The paint would not only send heat away from a surface, but also away from Earth into deep space where heat travels indefinitely at the speed of light. This way, heat doesn't get trapped within the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. A video about this project is available on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caFzYvYAUo4&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.</p><p>"We're not moving heat from the surface to the atmosphere. We're just dumping it all out into the universe, which is an infinite heat sink," said Xiangyu Li, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who worked on this project as a Ph.D. student in Ruan's lab.</p><p>Earth's surface would actually get cooler with this technology if the paint were applied to a variety of surfaces including roads, rooftops and cars all over the world, the researchers said.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDU4OTQ2My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMDU3NDQwMn0.xNNLbN-QJDjH_tm0v2mGlBVP3w2F0UrMGiUhBtkpdQY/img.png?width=980" id="b3aaa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3179d1bb2c45edb948b3ca392a64bb31" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
An infrared camera image shows that white radiative cooling paint developed by Purdue University researchers (left, purple) can stay cooler in direct sunlight compared with commercial white paint. Purdue University image / Joseph Peoples
<p>In a paper published Wednesday (Oct. 21) in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2020.100221" target="_blank">Cell Reports Physical Science</a>, the researchers show that compared with commercial white paint, the paint that they developed can maintain a lower temperature under direct sunlight and reflect more ultraviolet rays.</p><p>Their proof is infrared camera images taken of the two paints in rooftop experiments.</p><p>"An infrared camera gives you a temperature reading just like a thermometer would to judge if someone has a fever. These readings confirmed that our paint has a lower temperature than both its surroundings and the commercial counterpart," Ruan said.</p><p>Commercial "heat rejecting paints" currently on the market reflect only 80%-90% of sunlight and cannot achieve temperatures below their surroundings. The white paint that Purdue researchers created reflects 95.5% sunlight and efficiently radiates infrared heat. </p><p>Developing this paint formulation wasn't easy. The six-year study builds on attempts going back to the 1970s to develop radiative cooling paint as a feasible alternative to traditional air conditioners.</p><p>The researchers considered over 100 different material combinations, narrowed them down to 10 and tested about 50 different formulations for each material. They landed on a formulation made of calcium carbonate, an earth-abundant compound commonly found in rocks and seashells.</p><p>This compound, used as the paint's filler, allowed the formulation to behave essentially the same as commercial white paint but with greatly enhanced cooling properties. These calcium carbonate fillers absorb almost no ultraviolet rays due to a so-called large "band gap," a result of their atomic structure. They also have a high concentration of particles that are different sizes, allowing the paint to scatter a wider range of wavelengths.</p>
<p>According to the researchers' cost estimates, this paint would be both cheaper to produce than its commercial alternative and could save about a dollar per day that would have been spent on air conditioning for a one-story house of approximately 1,076 square feet.</p><p>"Your air conditioning kicks on mainly due to sunlight heating up the roof and walls and making the inside of your house feel warmer. This paint is basically creating free air conditioning by reflecting that sunlight and offsetting those heat gains from inside your house," said Joseph Peoples, a Purdue Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering and a co-author of the work.</p><p>Cutting down on air conditioning also means using less energy produced by coal, which could lead to reduced carbon dioxide emissions, Peoples said. The researchers have further studies underway to evaluate these benefits.</p><p>The researchers are working on developing other paint colors that could have cooling benefits. The team filed an international <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2020072818&tab=PCTBIBLIO" target="_blank">patent application</a> on this paint formulation through the <a href="https://www.prf.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Purdue Research Foundation</a> <a href="https://www.prf.org/otc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Office of Technology Commercialization</a>. For further discussion on this intellectual property, please contact D.H.R. Sarma at <a href="mailto:dhrsarma@prf.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dhrsarma@prf.org</a> and reference track code 2020-ABDE-68815.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2020/Q4/this-white-paint-could-reduce-the-need-for-air-conditioning-by-keeping-surfaces-cooler-than-surroundings.html" target="_blank">Purdue University</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Tropical Storm Zeta could be the fifth storm to hit Louisiana this season. National Hurricane Center
The extremely active 2020 hurricane season has another storm in store for the beleaguered Gulf Coast.
<p>Tropical Storm Zeta, the earliest 27th named storm of any hurricane season, is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane Monday, <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/zeta-likely-to-become-hurricane-before-hitting-yucatan-later-gulf-coast/2311873/" target="_blank">NBC6 South Florida reported</a>. It will likely remain at or near hurricane strength when it nears the U.S. Gulf Coast Wednesday, <a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1320653142271291394" target="_blank">according to a 5 a.m. EDT update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC)</a>.</p><p>"It is unfortunate we face another tropical threat this late in a very active season," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/zeta-likely-to-become-hurricane-before-hitting-yucatan-later-gulf-coast/2311873/" target="_blank">in a statement Sunday</a>. "We must roll up our sleeves, like we always do, and prepare for a potential impact to Louisiana."</p>
<div id="f8b4d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="07a8f5b962dcee1052414695d13a244d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320413961926356992" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This storm is expected to make landfall somewhere on the Gulf Coast by midweek, meaning we have a few days to prepa… https://t.co/DNiY0VpHCI</div> — John Bel Edwards (@John Bel Edwards)<a href="https://twitter.com/LouisianaGov/statuses/1320413961926356992">1603646195.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Louisiana has been especially hard hit during the 2020 hurricane season, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/26/us/tropical-storm-zeta-louisiana/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. Late August's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-laura-louisiana-gulf-of-mexico-2647106305.html" target="_self">Hurricane Laura</a> was the strongest storm to strike Louisiana since 1856. It killed at least 25 people in Louisiana and Texas and forced thousands to evacuate.</p><p>More than 8,000 of these evacuees were still living in shelters when <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-delta-laura-louisiana-2648175286.html" target="_self">Hurricane Delta</a> arrived six weeks later, flooding roads, downing power lines and killing at least four people in total.</p><p>If Zeta does make landfall in Louisiana Wednesday, it will be the fifth to do so this year and it would break the record for the most named storms to hit Louisiana in one season.</p><p>The storm could also make landfall along the Florida Panhandle, which was drenched in September by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-sally-flooding-2647677628.html" target="_self">Hurricane Sally</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/25/us/tropical-storm-zeta.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p>
<p>"There's no question there's a lot of hurricane fatigue, but we're still going to have to prepare," NHC meteorologist and spokesman Dennis Feltgen told The New York Times.</p><p>Before it menaces the U.S., though, Zeta is forecast to move over or near the Yucatan Peninsula Monday. The government of Mexico's Quintana Roo state is preparing 71 shelters for residents and tourists, NBC6 South Florida reported. The government is still providing aid to people in the Yucatan who were impacted by Hurricane Delta and Tropical Storm Gamma.</p>
<div id="d1466" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fec06e280e1a846e21135e60632542d1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320653142271291394" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here the 5 AM EDT Monday Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Zeta. Zeta is expected to become a hurricane later this… https://t.co/HJtPl4d9SJ</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1320653142271291394">1603703220.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>2020 is in the running to dethrone 2005 as the most active hurricane season on record. The 2005 season had 28 named storms — 27 that were named as they occurred and one that was discovered after the fact and became an "unnamed named storm," Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach told NBC6 South Florida.</p>
<div id="a9ccc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="eaa5510d6ed3a84110e165e17bf58275"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320251178244952066" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Zeta has formed in the NW Caribbean - the 27th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic #hurricane season to date and earl… https://t.co/KImnD2m5dJ</div> — Philip Klotzbach (@Philip Klotzbach)<a href="https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/statuses/1320251178244952066">1603607384.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making hurricanes <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-hurricanes-wetter-2619851055.html" target="_self">wetter</a> and more <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-intensity-climate-crisis-2646033123.html" target="_self">intense</a>. Scientists <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-crisis-extreme-weather-2647096018.html" target="_self">are not sure</a> how it will impact the total number of storm systems, but the most destructive ones are likely to become more frequent. Hurricanes and tropical storms are fueled in part by warm water, and almost all of the tropical Atlantic Basin has seen higher temperatures than normal this season.</p>
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Plain Naturals offers a wide variety of CBD products including oils, creams and gummies.
Plain Naturals is making waves in the CBD space with a new product line for retail customers looking for high potency CBD products at industry-low prices.
<p><a href="https://plainnaturals.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">PlainNaturals.com</a> manufactures 95% of their products in the USA and has been offering wholesale CBD oil, CBD isolate and other hemp products to retailers since 2019 and has recently launched their own high-potency, low price product line via their website <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">PlainNaturals.com</a>. </p><p>Plain Naturals has CBD oil tinctures in 3 strengths: 1000mg, 1500mg and 5000mg, all in a 30ml or 1 fluid ounce bottle. <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/shop/ols/categories/cbd-oils" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">5000mg tinctures</a> typically sell for $225 or more per bottle. Plain Naturals offers a 5000mg tincture for just $99.99. The rest of their prices are also very low by industry standard. </p><p>They attribute this to their "no frills" approach to packaging and distributing their product. Rather than spend what many sellers do on packaging (up to $20 per bottle), Plain Naturals packages their product for less than $5 per bottle. The same philosophy is applied to their other products like <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/shop/ols/categories/cbd--hemp-creams--lotions" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">CBD Creams</a> and CBD Gummies.</p>
Is More CBD Really Better?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDU2ODQyNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzYxMDMzN30.6B08i5QYW_Iq5bUf3qtm8oK8o6FKsRUZ74gdakgJ_TY/img.jpg?width=980" id="0ef5b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bac86abf3ce246742b18b0dc4052f4dd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Plain Naturals offers a 5000mg CBD oil tincture in 30ml bottle for $99.99.
<p>Consumers have gotten used to paying high prices for low amounts of cannabidiol. Plain Naturals is beginning to change that. There are myriad <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5569602/%23:~:text=Chronic%2520use%2520and%2520high%2520doses,be%2520well%2520tolerated%2520by%2520humans.&text=Nonetheless%252C%2520some%2520side%2520effects%2520have,vitro%2520or%2520in%2520animal%2520studies." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">studies</a> showing that low doses of CBD (less than 50mg per day) are ineffective for many users. And many clinical <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5569602/%23:~:text=Chronic%2520use%2520and%2520high%2520doses,be%2520well%2520tolerated%2520by%2520humans.&text=Nonetheless%252C%2520some%2520side%2520effects%2520have,vitro%2520or%2520in%2520animal%2520studies." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">studies</a> have shown effective dosages of 100 - 800mg per day to be effective for many conditions ranging from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5569602/%23:~:text=Chronic%2520use%2520and%2520high%2520doses,be%2520well%2520tolerated%2520by%2520humans.&text=Nonetheless%252C%2520some%2520side%2520effects%2520have,vitro%2520or%2520in%2520animal%2520studies." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">anxiety and depression to Parkinson's disease and cancer</a>. And several <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5569602/%23:~:text=Chronic%2520use%2520and%2520high%2520doses,be%2520well%2520tolerated%2520by%2520humans.&text=Nonetheless%252C%2520some%2520side%2520effects%2520have,vitro%2520or%2520in%2520animal%2520studies." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">studies</a> published by the National Institutes of Health have shown up to 1500mg per day to be consistently "well-tolerated" by adults. </p><p>Now it is always recommended to begin with a lower dosage and increase until an effective dose has been reached. But the advantage of starting with a higher potency CBD oil is that it is much easier to use less to start with and increase over time than to buy very low dose CBD oil and ultimately end up buying more and more stronger products. To start at 50mg per dose of a 5000mg oil, you would simply use ⅓ dropper or about 10-12 drops.</p>The Truth About CBD Product Potency
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDU2ODMyNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDc2NTg1N30.OAm3iOTO_pKZLXi7KdJ7n0DGOFMdOmIYuG4ArGooFC4/img.jpg?width=980" id="d657c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ee016a81b29caa699b9185b64ce345d6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />CBD gummies from Plain Naturals are 100% vegan and sugar free.
<p>Unlike most CBD brands which can be much smoke and mirrors when it comes to stating their product quality, potency and consistency, PlainNaturals.com has <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/product-information" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">lab tests</a> conducted by FDA/DEA approved laboratories and publishes their product lab test <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/product-information" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">reports</a> right on their website so customers know the quality of the product they are buying. </p><p>In a recent <a href="https://crnusa.org/sites/default/files/RAC%2520attachments/CBD/CBD%2520RTC%2520Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">report</a> published by the Food and Drug Administration, FDA tested 147 cbd oils and cbd products. They found that of the 102 products that indicated a specific amount of CBD, 18 products (18%) contained less than 80% of the amount of CBD indicated; 46 products (45%) contained within 20% of the amount of CBD indicated; 38 products (37%) contained more than 120% of the amount of CBD indicated and of those 147 products, the FDA also found nearly half contained levels of THC above the limit of 3.1 mg per serving (or .3%). </p><p>So there's a 70% chance that a CBD consumer is not getting what they pay for and a 50% chance that the product they are buying may not be legal.</p><p>When you buy CBD oil online from <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">PlainNaturals.com</a>, you also get an unconditional money back guarantee and the manufacturer's warranty of the product quality and potency.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDU2ODMyNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjM0NDE0NX0.qIzczGtfutUMoBXBaEyPrTbuBp9dlvMMEM_XYDAoMv8/img.jpg?width=980" id="33a83" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1aa7568d76a665696d24b45fa6c1f065" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
CBD and Hemp Creams offer high-benefit, low-cost options to consumers.
<p>Plain Naturals has taken the uncertainty out of the online CBD store process. By offering detailed laboratory reports on all their products and offering a money back guarantee, PlainNaturals.com online CBD store puts control back in the hands of the consumer when it comes to making their decision about where to buy CBD online.</p><p>In all 50 states and at the federal level it is 100% legal to <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/shop/ols/categories/cbd-oils" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">buy CBD oil online</a> from an online CBD store provided that the product meets the standards set forth in federal regulations, containing not more than 0.3% THC and manufactured from industrial hemp.</p><p><a href="https://plainnaturals.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">PlainNaturals.com</a> offers CBD (Cannabidiol) products like <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/shop/ols/categories/cbd-oils" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CBD Oils</a>, <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/shop/ols/categories/cbd-gummies--edibles" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CBD gummies and edibles</a>, <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/shop/ols/categories/cbd-isolate-powder" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CBD isolate powder</a>, wholesale CBD, <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/shop/ols/categories/cbd--hemp-creams--lotions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CBD and hemp cream</a> and <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/shop/ols/categories/essential-oils--aromatherapy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">essential oils</a>. <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">PlainNaturals.com</a> continues to be a top supplier of wholesale CBD products to retailers and has also opened a retailer online portal for stores and CBD dealers to buy CBD in bulk.</p><p>EcoWatch readers can take advantage of a special offer from <a href="https://plainnaturals.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">PlainNaturals.com</a> and save an additional 25% off any purchase of $99 or more through 10/31/20 with coupon code <strong>ecowatch25</strong>.</p>
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The Trump administration has weakened fuel-efficiency requirements for the nation's cars and trucks. Drew Angerer / Getty Images
As the days tick down to next month's presidential election, debate rages over the U.S. government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic with critics of President Donald Trump calling for his ouster due to his failure to protect the American public.
<p>And yet as mass media runs daily tallies of COVID-related cases and deaths, a more sinister threat to public health looms as the Trump administration rolls back regulations that govern the quality of our air, land and water. And though these actions are garnering little public outcry now, they pose grave danger to our children and their children for decades to come. It's a simple truth — a poisoned environment means poisoned people.</p><p>In recent months the Trump administration <a href="https://news.osu.edu/a-watershed-moment-for-us-water-quality/" target="_blank">has stripped protections</a> from wetlands in ways that allow for the dumping of pesticides and other pollutants directly into millions of miles of streams and other waterways; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/climate/epa-mercury-coal.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">relaxed rules on power plants</a> designed to curb air emissions containing brain-damaging heavy metals <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mercury-and-health" target="_blank">such as mercury</a>; altered automobile fuel efficiency standards to be <a href="https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/regulations-greenhouse-gas-emissions-passenger-cars-and" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">"less stringent,"</a> allowed more emissions of climate-damaging carbon dioxide; and rolled back requirements governing how coal-fired power plants <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-finalizes-power-plant-effluent-limitation-guidelines-save-money-and-reduce" target="_blank">dispose of toxic wastewater</a>, a move <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/climate/trump-coal-plants.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">praised by coal industry executives</a> but expected to add increased levels of lead, arsenic and other harmful contaminants to the environment. </p><p>If there was any doubt about how little Trump cares for the health of our children, that was made clear last month when the Environmental Protection Agency <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-takes-next-step-review-process-insecticide-chlorpyrifos-making-draft-risk-assessments" target="_blank">(EPA) announced</a> it would continue to allow <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/08/california-pesticide-ban-chlorpyrifos-agriculture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the neurotoxic chemical chlorpyrifos</a> to be used to grow food despite years of <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/prenatal-exposure-insecticide-chlorpyrifos-linked-alterations-brain-structure" target="_blank">scientific research</a> showing the pesticide damages babies' brain development. Residues of chlorpyrifos are commonly found in food consumed by young children. A <a href="https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/2018PDPAnnualSummary.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">USDA report</a> released last year documented chlorpyrifos residues in raisins, peaches, mangoes and asparagus, among other foods. </p>
<p>Amid the rush to ease regulations before the end of Trump's term, the EPA is also working to appoint new <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/521044-shuffle-of-epas-science-advisors-elevates-those-with-industry-tries" target="_blank">industry-friendly individuals</a> to its scientific advisory board. In an October 14 announcement, the agency said the new vice chair of the board would be Dr. Barbara Beck, who works for an industry <a href="https://gradientcorp.com/" target="_blank">consulting company</a> with a history of defending controversial chemicals and other substances. Beck has <a href="https://gradientcorp.com/alerts/pdf/Testimony_040711.pdf" target="_blank">advocated</a> for loosened restrictions on lead despite the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/health-effects.htm" target="_blank">says lead exposure</a> damages a child's brain and nervous system and can cause learning and behavior problems.</p><p>"Trump is burning down the house," Tim Whitehouse, a former senior attorney with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), told me. Whitehouse now heads an organization representing thousands of government employees called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), and says government scientists are being ignored as the administration pushes through favors for influential industries.</p><p>"I think it's beyond a difference in policy. It is a feeling that the people who are put in charge are robbing the house," Whitehouse said. "We're in a period of massive biodiversity loss and increasing chemical and toxic burdens on individuals, and the EPA is not responding to the crises at hand." </p>
<p>PEER has joined with other groups in suing the EPA over its elimination of clean water protections, charging in a <a href="https://www.peer.org/epa-political-appointees-violate-science-integrity-rules/" target="_blank">formal complaint</a> that Trump's political appointees are ignoring scientific evidence of the harms certain to be wrought by the rule changes.</p><p>To be sure, the EPA's fealty to industry is not unique to the Trump Administration. Indeed, the agency's loyalty to companies over consumers seems to be a longstanding bipartisan tradition. Trump's predecessor President Barack Obama also <a href="https://www.peer.org/epa-posts-pathetically-weak-scientific-integrity-proposal/" target="_blank">faced criticism</a> for actions – and inaction – by his EPA. </p><p>And numerous administrations are to blame for allowing the broad spread of toxic chemicals known <a href="https://theintercept.com/collections/bad-chemistry/" target="_blank">as PFAS</a> (short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that are linked to an array of serious health problems. </p>
<p><span style="background-color: initial;">But we simply cannot afford this political bargaining with our health anymore. In taking more than 200,000 lives in less than a year, t</span>he COVID-19 virus has underscored the already fragile condition of our health. People suffering from cancer, chronic kidney disease, obesity, and other problems are at increased risk of becoming seriously ill or dying if stricken with COVID-19, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html" target="_blank">according to the CDC.</a> Scientists <span style="background-color: initial;">have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004896972032221X" target="_blank">rightly pointed out</a></span> that <span style="background-color: initial;">environmental pollution is a contributing factor to the vulnerability of many people to the COVID-19 virus.</span></p><p>Adding more toxins into the air we breathe and water we drink only ensures more vulnerability and more deaths. </p><p>We already are facing frightening levels of neurodevelopmental disorders, cancer and disease in our population: Autism spectrum disorder is now effecting roughly <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/ss/ss6904a1.htm?s_cid=ss6904a1_w" target="_blank">1 in every 54 children</a>, far more prevalent than 20 years ago. The rate at which children are diagnosed with cancer has <a href="https://www.cancerfreeeconomy.org/childhood_cancer_prevention/?fbclid=IwAR2GKNud8wrvPjqvkeyDy03bJsDQK2z0wDVYHwyuQDmz_WgqfLyPosIVgs8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased 34 percent</a> since 1975; in 2020 more than 16,800 kids are expected to be newly diagnosed. Overall, <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics#:~:text=Approximately%252039.5%2525%2520of%2520men%2520and,will%2520die%2520of%2520the%2520disease." target="_blank">close to 40 percent</a> of men and women in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. More than 600,000 people are <a href="https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/common.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dying every year</a> from cancer and more than 1.7 million are diagnosed with new cancers each year. </p>
<p>As an environmental journalist, I am astonished at the brazenness with which this administration has made clear that corporate well-being is more valuable than the health and well-being of citizens.</p><p>And as a mother, I agonize over the suffering, sickness and struggles I know lie ahead for our future generations. </p><p>Years from now, when our children tell their children about this time, when they try to explain how much was lost, how cavalierly we allowed their health to be traded for the health of corporate profits, they will be right to blame us. They will also be right to not forgive us. </p>
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