Solar energy faced off against natural gas in a courtroom this week, and the greener of the two came out on top.
Minnesota administrative law judge Eric Lipman recommended a solar project to help Xcel Energy, one of the state's largest utility, provide 550 megawatts (MW) of new electricity generation by 2020. Lipman could have selected one of five natural gas projects instead, but he realized Geronimo Energy’s Aurora Solar Project was the better deal.
“It’s the first time that solar’s gone head-to-head with gas facilities in this sort of a proposal and has received this sort of a recommendation," Betsy Engelking, Vice President of Geronimo, told the St. Cloud Times.
Geronimo's project is a 100-MW distributed solar project, spread across 20 to 25 farms in 18 counties. Each site would be 2 to 10 MW.
A Minnesota judge made a monumental decision by recommending a collection of solar farms instead of any of five natural gas projects. Photo credit: Bob White/Flickr Creative Commons
The $250 million project will not receive state subsidies, but qualifies for a federal investment tax credit, according to Climate Progress. If approved, construction on the farms would begin in 2015.
"[Aurora Solar] will have numerous socioeconomic benefits, minimal impacts on the environment and best supports Minnesota's efforts to reduce greenhouse gases," Lipman wrote in his 50-page ruling.
Geronimo estimates 800 construction jobs and 30 permanent jobs. The farms, expected to have 60 to 70 solar panels, would take four to nine months to build.
"[Solar energy] has always been better for our environment ... rulings like this one in Minnesota are proving that it's better for our pocketbooks too," Greenpeace spokesman David Pomerantz told AlJazeera America.
"Electric utilities around the country should embrace the solar revolution that their customers are increasingly demanding, or they risk becoming fossils themselves."
Visit EcoWatch’s RENEWABLES page for more related news on this topic.
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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>
</p><p>
<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>
</p><p>
<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>
</p><p>
<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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If you get a call from a number you don't recognize, don't hit decline — it might be a contact tracer calling to let you know that someone you've been near has tested positive for the coronavirus. blackCAT / Getty Images
By Joni Sweet
If you get a call from a number you don't recognize, don't hit decline — it might be a contact tracer calling to let you know that someone you've been near has tested positive for the coronavirus.
<p>Ignoring calls from contact tracers could put you at risk of unknowingly transmitting the virus to your loved ones.</p><p>It can even land you in legal hot water if you knowingly avoid contact tracers.</p><p>Earlier this month, officials in Rockland County, New York, sent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/nyregion/rockland-coronavirus-party.html" target="_blank">subpoenas to eight people</a> who refused to participate in contact tracing and threatened them with thousands of dollars in fines.</p><p>Hearing the phrase "You may have been exposed to the coronavirus" coming from the other end of the line can be scary, but it's important to stay on the phone. Here's what to expect if you get a call from a contact tracer.</p>
Interviews With Contact Tracers
<p>Contact tracing is a public health strategy that involves identifying everyone who may have been in contact with a person who has the coronavirus. Contact tracers collect information and provide guidance to help contain the transmission of disease.</p><p>It's been used during outbreaks of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), Ebola, measles, and now the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.</p><p>It starts when the local department of health gets a report of a confirmed case of the coronavirus in its community and gives that person a call. The contact tracer usually provides information on how to isolate and when to get treatment, then tries to figure out who else the person may have exposed.</p><p>"We ask who they've been in contact with in the 48 hours prior to symptom onset, or 2 days before the date of their positive test if they don't have symptoms," said <a href="https://case.edu/medicine/healthintegration/people/heidi-gullett" target="_blank">Dr. Heidi Gullett</a>, associate director of the Center for Community Health Integration at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and medical director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health in Ohio.</p><p>If the person with the coronavirus hasn't left their home much, it's a relatively straightforward process.</p><p>The interview can get a lot more involved if the person has been traveling, working outside the home, socializing, and seeing lots of other people. The person might need to review their calendar, create a timeline of everywhere they've been, and figure out how long they spent with different individuals.</p><p>"We're not concerned about every single contact with others, just the high-risk contacts, defined as being within 6 feet of someone else for 15 minutes or more," said <a href="https://www.unlv.edu/news/expert/brian-labus" target="_blank">Brian Labus</a>, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' School of Public Health and a member of Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak's task force to advise on the scientific aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>The case interviews can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours, depending on the complexity.</p>
“You’ve Been Exposed”
<p>After the case interview, contact tracers will get to work calling the folks who may have been exposed to the coronavirus by the person who tested positive.</p><p>"We give them recommendations about quarantining or isolating, getting tested, and what to do if they become sick. If they're not already sick, we still want them to self-quarantine so that they don't spread the disease to anyone else if they were to become sick," said Labus.</p><p>Generally, the contact tracer won't ask for additional contacts unless they happen to call someone who is sick or has a confirmed case of the virus. They will help ensure the contact has the resources they need to isolate themselves, if necessary. The contact tracer may continue to stay in touch with that person over the next 14 days.</p><p>"We follow the percentage of people that were contacts, then converted into being actual cases of the virus. It's an important marker to help us understand what kind of transmission happens in our community and how to control the virus," said Gullett.</p>Why You Should Participate (and What Happens If You Don’t)
<p>A <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30457-6/fulltext" target="_blank">Lancet study</a> from June 16, which looked at data from more than 40,000 people, found that COVID-19 transmission could be reduced by 64 percent through isolating those who have the coronavirus, quarantining their household, and contacting the people they may have exposed.</p><p>The combination strategy was significantly more effective than mass random testing or just isolating the sick person and members of their household.</p><p>However, contact tracing is only as effective as people's willingness to participate, and a small number of people who've contracted the coronavirus or were potentially exposed are reluctant to talk.</p><p>"Contact tracers have all been hung up on, cussed at, yelled at," said Gullet.</p><p>The hesitation to talk to contact tracers often stems from concerns over privacy — a serious issue in healthcare.</p><p>"These investigations are all conducted through health departments which have strict laws about what can and can't be shared. Protecting people's privacy is a core part of what we do, and we don't release the information you share to the public or tell other people about your medical history," said Labus.</p><p>The Federal Trade Commission has <a href="https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/06/help-covid-19-contact-tracers-not-scammers" target="_blank">guidance</a> on how you can protect your privacy and make sure you're speaking to a legitimate contact tracer. Remember: A contact tracer will never ask for your immigration status, Social Security number, or any sort of payment.</p><p>While legal action against people who refuse to talk to contact tracers (like the eight people who received subpoenas in Rockland County) is rare, it can happen. The bigger risk of avoiding these calls is the potential for you to miss out on important guidance about your own health, undermine your state's ability to reopen safely, and transmit the virus to others.</p><p>"If you're doing contact tracing and you're getting a bad filtering rate — meaning you're only getting in touch with a fraction of the people you try to contact — then the program isn't effective or useful. The coronavirus is extremely contagious, so missing a few cases can lead to an outbreak," said <a href="https://sph.cuny.edu/people/bruce-y-lee/" target="_blank">Dr. Bruce Y. Lee</a>, professor of health policy and management at the City University of New York's Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy.</p><p>"We shouldn't sit here and think that the only options are to ride it out or get a vaccine," he added. "There are other public health measures we can take, and contact tracing is one of them."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from<a href="https://www.healthline.com/" target="_blank"> Healthline</a><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-to-expect-if-a-covid-19-contact-tracer-calls-you#Why-you-should-participate-(and-what-happens-if-you-dont)" target="_blank"></a>. For detailed source information, please view the original article on <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-to-expect-if-a-covid-19-contact-tracer-calls-you#Why-you-should-participate-(and-what-happens-if-you-dont)" target="_blank">Healthline</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Aerial view of burnt areas of the Amazon rainforest, near Porto Velho, Rondonia state, Brazil, on Aug. 24, 2019. CARLOS FABAL / AFP via Getty Images
NASA scientists say that warmer than average surface sea temperatures in the North Atlantic raise the concern for a more active hurricane season, as well as for wildfires in the Amazon thousands of miles away, according to Newsweek.
<p><br/></p>
<p>As NASA pointed out in a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/conditions-ripe-for-amazon-fire-us-hurricanes" target="_blank">statement</a>, warm <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">ocean</a> temperatures near the equator draw the water northward. As the water moves away from the Amazon, the landscape becomes drier and more flammable. That means that fires set for agriculture and clearing land have an increased potential to grow out of control. Meanwhile, the additional moisture traveling north aids the development of hurricanes.</p>
<p>"The fire season forecast is consistent with what we saw in 2005 and 2010, when warm Atlantic sea surface temperatures spawned a series of severe hurricanes and triggered record droughts across the southern Amazon that culminated in widespread Amazon forest fires," said Doug Morton, chief of the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in the NASA statement.</p><p>Morton, who co-created the Amazon fire season <a href="https://www.ess.uci.edu/~amazonfirerisk/ForecastWeb/SAMFSS2020.html" target="_blank">forecast</a>, analyzes the relationship between climate conditions and active fire detections from NASA satellite instruments to predict fire season severity.</p><p>"Our seasonal fire forecast provides an early indication of fire risk to guide preparations across the region," Morton, noting that the forecast is most accurate three months before the peak of burning in the southern Amazon in September. "Now, satellite-based estimates of active fires and rainfall will be the best guide to how the 2020 fire season unfolds."</p>
<p>Their model suggests that the regions that were hardest hit by the 2019 wildfires are at the highest risk again. Furthermore, the depleted resources as South American countries try to combat the COVID-19 crisis will exacerbate the problem by diminishing firefighting and emergency responder capabilities, according to Newsweek.</p><p>"You have a perfect storm: drought, the recent increase in deforestation, and new difficulties for firefighting. 2020 is set up to be a dangerous year for fires in the Amazon," Morton said.</p><p>The COVID-19 crisis has also allowed deforestation in the tropics to surge as environmental enforcement has weakened, according to recent report from <a href="https://www.conservation.org/blog/poaching-deforestation-reportedly-on-the-rise-since-covid-19-lockdowns" target="_blank">Conservation International</a>.</p><p>"Fire season in the Amazon is influenced by ecological, climatic, social, cultural and economic factors, from sea surface temperatures that influence rainfall in South America, to commodity-driven deforestation and the COVID-19 pandemic," said Karyn Tabor, senior director of ecological monitoring at Conservation International, in a <a href="https://www.conservation.org/press-releases/2020/07/07/conservation-international-reports-on-elevated-2020-fire-risk-in-amazonian-region" target="_blank">recent statement</a>. "Some governments have used widespread focus on the pandemic to quietly roll back environmental protections designed to prevent deforestation which in turn fuels the capacity for future fires to take hold."</p>
<p>Despite the COVID-19 crisis, changing conditions as the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> bears down on the planet is the largest risk for wildfires, along with human activity, according to Yang Chen, Earth scientist at the University of California, Irvine, and co-creator of the Amazon fire season forecast.</p><p>"Changes in human fire use, specifically deforestation, add more year-to-year variability in Amazon fires," Chen said in a NASA statement. "In addition, climate change is likely to make the entire region drier and more flammable – conditions that would allow fires for deforestation or agricultural use to spread into standing Amazon forests."</p>
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A baby receives limited treatment at a hospital in Yemen on June 27, 2020. Mohammed Hamoud / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
By Andrea Germanos
Oxfam International warned Thursday that up to 12,000 people could die each day by the end of the year as a result of hunger linked to the coronavirus pandemic—a daily death toll surpassing the daily mortality rate from Covid-19 itself.
<p>April saw the highest global daily mortality rate for Covid-19 thus far with just over 10,000 deaths per day.</p><p>Oxfam's warning comes in a new report entitled <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/hunger-virus-how-covid-19-fuelling-hunger-hungry-world" target="_blank"><em>The Hunger Virus</em></a>, which the humanitarian group says "shines a light on a food system that has trapped millions of people in hunger on a planet that produces more than enough food for everyone" and that has enabled global food and beverage giants to lavish billions on shareholders since the coronavirus crisis erupted.</p><p>Kadidia Diallo, a female milk producer in Burkina Faso quoted in the report, puts the crisis in stark terms.</p><p>"We are totally dependent on the sale of milk, and with the closure of the market we can't sell the milk anymore," she said. "If we don't sell milk, we don't eat."</p>
<p>The publication says the hunger crisis is set to deepen in already existing "hunger hotspots" like Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Afghanistan, and Syria. In those locations, the pandemic "has added fuel to the fire of an already growing hunger crisis." But millions of people in other countries are poised to be "tipped over the edge" as the virus rages, with nations including Brazil and India likely to emerge as new hunger hotspots.</p><p>"Covid-19 is the last straw for millions of people already struggling with the impacts of conflict, climate change, inequality, and a broken food system that has impoverished millions of food producers and workers," Oxfam interim executive director Chema Vera said in a <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/12000-people-day-could-die-covid-19-linked-hunger-end-year-potentially-more-disease" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Meanwhile, those at the top are continuing to make a profit: eight of the biggest food and drink companies paid out over $18 billion to shareholders since January even as the pandemic was spreading across the globe—10 times more than the U.N. says is needed to stop people going hungry."</p><p><em>Hunger Virus</em> attributes the projected daily death toll to "spiraling unemployment and the economic disruption" as a result of measures to contain the pandemic, citing lost wages; lack of unemployment insurance; an estimated 20% drop in remittances—which are "a lifeline for millions of families that are living in poverty"; insufficient or absent social protection policies; evictions that lead to loss of land on which to grow crops; and restrictions that have slowed or barred the delivery of crucial humanitarian aid.</p>
<p>There also appear to be bad actors exacerbating the crisis. From the report:</p><blockquote>There are also worrying signs that some companies are using the pandemic to take advantage of consumers. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index, which tracks the average price supermarkets and other retailers pay for a basket of basic goods, has fallen steadily since January 2020. However, consumer prices are going up in many countries as a result of disruption to local production and supply chains, inflation, panic buying, and potential price gouging (where goods are sold at a much higher price than is considered reasonable or fair). In the USA, for example, consumer prices increased by 2.6% for groceries, on average, but farm income fell.<br></blockquote><p>Many of the issues fueling the fears of starvation existed well before the coronavirus crisis emerged. The report points to "our industrial model of agriculture production, heavily reliant on chemical inputs to grow vast monocrops for export," which "was failing to provide food security and alleviate poverty for millions of people." Further, "the powerful agricultural traders, food and beverage corporations, and supermarkets that dominate the food sector are able to dictate the price and terms of food trade."</p>
<p>The climate crisis was affecting food insecurity before the pandemic, as were conflicts, such as in Syria and Yemen, where millions are facing humanitarian disaster, including insecure, at best, access to food. "Hunger can also be a weapon of war," adds the report. "Warring parties can destroy markets and warehouses, suspend food imports, and cut transportation links to gain power."</p><p>Deep inequality was another standing issue. The report notes:</p><blockquote>[P]rofound inequalities extend to the food system, where unequal access to food rather than insufficient global production is leaving people hungry. Financial investments in large-scale agribusiness are often prioritized, while investments in small-scale producers are woefully neglected. Meanwhile, supermarkets and food and drink companies continue to keep the lion's share of the price consumers pay for their products.</blockquote><p>Urgent action is required, Oxfam says, not only to address the immediate hunger crisis but to "build more resilient and sustainable food systems that work for all people and the planet."</p>
<p>"Governments must contain the spread of this deadly disease," said Vera, "but it is equally vital they take action to stop the pandemic killing as many—if not more—people from hunger."</p><p>The report lays out a number of actions governments should take, including providing emergency assistance; actively engaging women—"the backbone of local food systems"—in joining and leading decisions on fixing food systems; canceling poorer counties' debts, backing U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres's global ceasefire <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/24/fury-virus-illustrates-folly-war-un-chief-calls-global-ceasefire" target="_blank">call</a>; and taking swift measures to tackle the climate crisis.</p><p>"Governments can save lives now by fully funding the U.N.'s Covid-19 appeal, making sure aid gets to those who need it most, and cancelling the debts of developing countries to free up funding for social protection and healthcare," said Vera.</p><p>"To end this hunger crisis," she continued, "governments must also build fairer, more robust, and more sustainable food systems, that put the interests of food producers and workers before the profits of big food and agribusiness."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/09/last-straw-pandemic-rages-oxfam-warns-12000-could-die-day-hunger" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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The 2006 oil spill was the largest incident in Philippine history and damaged 1,600 acres of mangrove forests. Shubert Ciencia / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
By Jun N. Aguirre
An oil spill on July 3 threatens a mangrove forest on the Philippine island of Guimaras, an area only just recovering from the country's largest spill in 2006.
<p>This latest spill stems from an explosion onboard a floating power barge in the 13-kilometer (8-mile) waterway between the city of Iloilo and Guimaras Island. Operator AC Energy Inc. said the incident spilled 48,000 liters (12,700 gallons) of fuel oil into the Iloilo River and its tributaries before being contained eight hours later. But the Philippine Coast Guard said around 251,000 liters (66,300 gallons) of oil had spread around the waterway. The day after, July 4, the Coast Guard estimated it had collected 130,000 liters (34,300 gallons) of oil.</p><p>Some of the oil was swept out of the containment area by strong waves and carried across to communities in Guimaras.</p><p>"The root cause has yet to be determined," AC Energy said in a statement. "But initial findings reveal that the discharge is due to the ignition of fuel oil in storage which ruptured the barge's fuel tank."</p><p>AC Energy said it took responsibility for the explosion and that the cleanup could take around two weeks.</p>
<p>Reports from the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (ICDRRMO) state that the oil spill has affected 321 families along the coast. The provincial office has ordered an immediate evacuation.</p><p>The spill comes as a blow to residents of Guimaras, who, nearly 14 years ago, suffered <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/saving-an-island-from-the-worst-oil-spill-in-the-philippines-the-case-of-guimaras/" target="_blank">a similar disaster on a bigger scale</a>. On Aug. 11, 2006, the oil tanker M/T Solar, owned by Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. and chartered by Petron, the Philippines' largest oil company, sank off the southern coast of the island, leaking 500,000 liters (132,000 gallons) of bunker fuel.</p><p>The incident was the largest oil spill incident in Philippine history and also considered the worst environmental disaster to hit the country this century. It damaged 648 hectares (1,600 acres) of mangrove forests and seagrass areas, according to the country's environment department. The mangroves only began to show signs of recovery last year, but are now threatened by this latest incident.</p>
<p>To keep the oil from spreading to the mangroves and to protect its 23 coastal villages, Guimaras Governor Samuel T. Gumarin called an emergency meeting. He later ordered spill booms deployed and clearing operations carried out. "We are also still studying the health and environmental impact of the incident," he told Mongabay.</p><p>The spill has disrupted the area's fishing sector, with fishers no longer going out to sea and aquaculture culture farms contaminated. Residents have reported milkfish and lobsters swimming in the oil slick and have reached out to their municipal offices for support.</p><p>Greenpeace Philippines says the oil spill piles environmental and economic pressure on communities already hard hit by the pandemic lockdown. "This oil spill is a big threat to marine life and to the health and livelihoods of communities in Iloilo and Guimaras," campaigner Khevin Yu said in a statement. "Fisherfolk and coastal communities are already struggling to adjust to the logistic and economic impacts of the pandemic that have caused big losses in their sources of income and food security."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/oil-slick-threatens-philippine-mangrove-forest-recovering-from-earlier-spill/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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