A pumpjack in North Dakota. Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo / Moment / Getty Images
North Dakota has found a controversial use for federal coronavirus relief money: using it to fund fracking.
<p>The state legislature voted Wednesday to reallocate $16 million in pandemic relief to pay $200,000 grants to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil" target="_self">oil</a> companies to do fracking work on 80 incomplete wells, <a href="https://www.inforum.com/news/government-and-politics/6737422-North-Dakota-lawmakers-OK-16M-in-federal-pandemic-funds-for-fracking-grants" target="_blank">Inforum reported</a>.</p><p>"This is like a taxpayer bailout to the oil industry to get them to do something they would do anyway," leader of environmental group <a href="https://drcinfo.org/" target="_blank">Dakota Resource Council</a> Scott Skokos told <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28102020/north-dakota-coronavirus-stimulus-funding-fracking-oil-wells?fbclid=IwAR3_jU6Eu-1hxN-iVVsOtpeQzfO7xcl2KQ2wgWbZ7GFz5Vh1Ml3gGBxZo-M" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">InsideClimate News</a>. "It's like corporate welfare at the highest level."</p>
<p>The $16 million was part of a much larger $221 million in federal relief funds that the legislature voted to reallocate according to the budget approved by the North Dakota Emergency Commission Friday, Inforum and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-north-dakota-education-hydraulic-fracturing-2bc2a42c8f9af4a3c58aba4262ace32c" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. The money was awarded to North Dakota via the CARES Act in March, but the state had not been able to spend it for its intended purpose, Inforum explained. Because there is a year-end deadline for the use of CARES funds, the state had to reassign it or lose it.</p><p>However, the $16 million for fracking was the allocation that stirred controversy. That money had originally been intended to clean up abandoned oil and gas sites, InsideClimate News explained. But the approach of cold weather made the completion of the work by the end of the year impossible.</p>
<p>The idea to use that money for fracking grants came from North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms. Helms argued that the grants would create jobs and revitalize the oil industry, which was hit hard by the drop in prices at the beginning of the pandemic, according to The Associated Press. Officials also said the grants would boost state revenue, which relies on oil money.</p><p>But environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers criticized the decision. The <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> called it "totally inappropriate," while lawmakers said the funds should go to more urgent needs.</p><p>"We are at a point now where we are peaking every day as we try to battle this crisis, and I think any of the funds that we use need to be addressed to help us reduce the spread of this virus to help the lives and livelihoods of thousands of North Dakotans," Rep. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, said, as Inforum reported.</p>
<p>Skokos pointed to the irony of using money intended to clean up oil and gas wells to frack new ones. And he said the logic behind the decision was backwards.</p><p>"They're giving taxpayer dollars to the oil industry to frack wells with the hope it will bring the state more taxpayer dollars," Skokos told InsideClimate News, "rather than taking the taxpayer dollars and actually using it to benefit taxpayers."</p><p>This is not the first time the oil and gas industry has been <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/marathon-petroleum-2646438449.html" target="_self">awarded coronavirus relief</a>. Oil companies have received between $9 billion and $13.8 billion from the federal government in direct aid, according to Bailout Watch.</p><p>The news out of North Dakota comes as U.S. residents continue to suffer from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> events made more likely by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. Fires <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/california" target="_self">forced new evacuations</a> in Southern California this week, and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-zeta-louisiana-2648544989.html" target="_self">Hurricane Zeta</a> became the fifth named storm of the year to batter Louisiana on Wednesday.</p>
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Waves crash over Lake Pontchartrain as Hurricane Zeta makes landfall on Oct. 28, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images
Hurricane Zeta slammed into storm-weary Louisiana as a Category 2 storm Wednesday, killing at least one person and breaking the record for the most named storms to hit the state in a single season.
<p>Zeta is the fifth named storm to clobber Louisiana this year and follows the especially devastating one-two punch of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-laura-louisiana-gulf-of-mexico-2647106305.html" target="_self">Hurricanes Laura</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-delta-laura-louisiana-2648175286.html" target="_self">Delta</a> in August and October. Around 3,600 people are still displaced following the two previous storms and most of them are living in six hotels in New Orleans, which took a direct hit from Zeta, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/28/us/hurricane-zeta-wednesday/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p><p>"It's one (storm) after the other. We're just a target. I told my friend they're zeroing in on us. They're looking for us," 71-year-old Laura evacuee Billy Ewing, who has been staying in New Orleans hotels since August, told CNN. "And we can't control it. What's the matter right now is we can't control anything. I'm not in control of what my status is. I'm not in control of where I live."</p>
<p>Zeta made landfall near the fishing village of Cocodrie, Louisiana around 4 p.m. Wednesday, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/us/hurricane-zeta.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. It then tore through New Orleans and ripped along the Mississippi coast.</p><p>The storm killed at least one person, <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/dead-as-hurricane-zeta-barrels-northeast/2388048/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NBC News Bay Area reported</a>. A 55-year-old man was electrocuted by a downed power line in New Orleans.</p><p>New Orleans had been in the projected path of six different storms this season, but they had all veered east or west. This time, the city's luck ran out and it took a direct hit.</p><p>"This is not a drill," Mayor LaToya Cantrell warned residents ahead of the storm, as The New York Times reported.</p><p>The storm cut out power to more than 500,000 people in Louisiana, and most of New Orleans was dark after it passed, according to NBC News Bay Area. More than 200 trees were downed, and one person was hospitalized with minor injuries after a structure collapsed.</p>
<div id="ebd95" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6944cdac6522e9abb00edf77aabf3d99"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1321604205208129538" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Hurricane Zeta knocks out power on Bourbon Street. @FOX8NOLA https://t.co/sgu7JCzYuO</div> — Garland Gillen (@Garland Gillen)<a href="https://twitter.com/garlandgillen/statuses/1321604205208129538">1603929971.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"Although we have made it through, we have been damaged, we have been hit," Cantrell said.</p><p>The storm was and is fast moving. This means that high winds were the biggest safety hazard, even blowing the roofs off of some houses, The New York Times reported. However, the advantage of the fast pace meant that it did not stall and pour rain in one place. The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making storms <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-hurricanes-wetter-2619851055.html" target="_self">wetter</a>, and slow, wet storms have caused major <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> in recent years.</p><p>"It's not going to sit there and pound for hour after hour," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a briefing on Wednesday, as The New York Times reported. "It should move through the area relatively quickly."</p><p>However, this also means a wide range of the Southeast will feel its effects, CNN pointed out. Strong winds were projected to reach inland Mississippi and Alabama, while heavy rain was projected to pummel Georgia and the Carolinas Thursday.</p><p>Zeta weakened to a tropical storm over central Alabama early Thursday morning, the <a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/status/1321693259631001601" target="_blank">National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported</a>. However, it is still packing a punch. The NHC warned of wind gusts strong enough to down trees and cause power outages in northeastern Alabama, northern Georgia, the Carolinas and southeastern Virginia Thursday.</p>
<div id="d01e1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b31220072eb1b43fbf722e7c774396d4"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1321736884666556416" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here are the 4 AM CDT Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Zeta, which is racing across the southeastern United States… https://t.co/Yr7UBOTKMM</div> — National Hurricane Center (@National Hurricane Center)<a href="https://twitter.com/NHC_Atlantic/statuses/1321736884666556416">1603961604.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>As of 6:55 a.m., there were already more than 920,000 people without power in Georgia, <a href="https://www.wsbtv.com/weather/live-updates-zeta-brings-risk-flooding-damaging-wind-brief-tornadoes/MPUQUP55GNDLRI2L3GL2TDNYWU/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WSB-TV 2 Atlanta reported</a>.<br><br>Zeta is the earliest 27th named storm on record in an extremely active Atlantic hurricane season and the 11th hurricane, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/27/louisiana-hurricane-warning-mexico-yucatan" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. An average hurricane season has six hurricanes and 12 named storms. In addition to making storms wetter, the climate crisis is also making them <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storm-intensity-climate-crisis-2646033123.html" target="_self">more intense</a>.<br></p>
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A North Atlantic right whale feeds off the shores of Duxbury Beach, Massachusetts in 2015. David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
The population of extremely endangered North Atlantic right whales has fallen even further in the last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Monday.
<p>The agency said that there were only 366 of the whales as of January 2019, down from 412 in January of 2018, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/maine-f1d8dcf05131240f7203d8bec96dee3d" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. But their numbers are likely even lower than that. NOAA Fisheries has documented the deaths or likely fatal injuries of a further 15 whales since, the <a href="https://www.clf.org/newsroom/preliminary-estimate-366-endangered-right-whales-remain-on-earth/" target="_blank">Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) pointed out</a>.</p><p>"These population estimates are devastating," CLF senior attorney Erica Fuller said in response to the news. "The outlook is grim if we do not act today. We know human activities are decimating this population, what will it take for federal fishery managers to finally take action to protect these magnificent animals?"</p>
<div id="10051" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cbfd96c49775f44ea9e04797d5618651"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320791680052826113" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">In dire news for an already critically endangered species, @NOAAFisheries just announced that they're estimating th… https://t.co/PYM2rNAlXo</div> — David Abel (@David Abel)<a href="https://twitter.com/davabel/statuses/1320791680052826113">1603736250.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Atlantic right whales have been protected by the U.S. government since 1972, according to The Associated Press. Their numbers were initially devastated by commercial whaling. Today, the leading causes of death for the whales are being struck by vessels and getting entangled in fishing gear, Boston Globe reporter David Abel <a href="https://twitter.com/davabel/status/1320791684964372480" target="_blank">wrote on Twitter</a>.</p><p>Right whales have also struggled to reproduce in recent years, according to The Associated Press. Thirteen whales were born in the last two years, but two are already thought to have died, <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/26/metro/their-population-plummets-right-whales-verge-extinction/?event=event25" target="_blank">Abel reported in The Boston Globe</a>. One was actually found dead, and another was hit by a boat just hours after being born. Another alarming data point from NOAA Fisheries is that there are only 94 breeding females left in the species.</p><p>Further, the decline in numbers between 2018 and 2019 is partly because the whales' numbers were overestimated in 2018, NOAA marine mammal take reduction team coordinator Colleen Coogan told The Boston Globe. She said that updated photo identification data suggested there were only 383 whales in 2018, not 412. Coogan noted that the 2019 numbers were preliminary and would be reviewed before a federal assessment of the species due next year.</p>
<p>The population of right whales peaked in 2011 at 481. Since then, an average of 24 whales have died every year. But the population can only withstand less than one death a year to avoid extinction.</p><p>"Given the low population numbers … it is essential that we work together to protect every North Atlantic right whale in order to avoid extinction for this endangered species," Coogan wrote in an email to members of a federal advisory board organized to find ways to protect the whales from mortality.</p><p>CLF, the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a>, the <a href="https://www.humanesociety.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Humane Society of the United States</a> (HSUS) and other groups sued NOAA Fisheries to better protect right whales from getting entangled in lobster lines in the Gulf of Maine. A judge ruled in their favor, and the agency now has until May 2021 to issue new regulations.</p>
<p>"If we don't act quickly, right whales are headed rapidly toward extinction," HSUS marine issues field director Sharon Young told The Boston Globe. "It is appalling to think this nation would permit the extinction of a whale species in our waters. It's time to stop talking and take action."</p><p>The new NOAA figures weren't the only warning sign for North Atlantic right whales to be reported this week. For the first time in four decades, marine scientists with the New England Aquarium did not observe any right whales in the Bay of Fundy this year, the <a href="https://bangordailynews.com/2020/10/14/news/no-right-whales-found-in-the-bay-of-fundy-this-year/" target="_blank">Bangor Daily News reported</a>.</p><p>They were able to confirm that citizen scientists took pictures of two whales in or near the bay. However, in past years, as many as 50 to 150 whales would forage in the body of water between Maine, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The numbers have been falling since 2010 because of another threat: the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p>"It's just a reflection of how the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> is changing with climate change, and their food resource, plankton, they're not blooming at the same time and in the same areas that they used to, so it's a reflection that for them and for our oceans things are changing pretty dramatically," New England Aquarium researcher Amy Knowlton told the Bangor Daily News.
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Scientists Say Methane Release Is Starting in Arctic Ocean. How Concerned Should We Be?
28 October
Climate
Researchers say they have observed methane being released along a wide swath of the slope of the Laptev Sea. Aerohod / CC BY-SA 4.0
Arctic Ocean sediments are full of frozen gases known as hydrates, and scientists have long been concerned about what will happen when and if the climate crisis induces them to thaw. That is because one of them is methane, a greenhouse gas that has 80 times the warming impact of carbon dioxide over a 20 year period. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey has listed Arctic hydrate destabilization as one of the four most serious triggers for even more rapid climate change.
<p>Now, scientists onboard the Russian research ship R/V Akademik Keldysh have told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/oct/27/sleeping-giant-arctic-methane-deposits-starting-to-release-scientists-find" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> that there is evidence this destabilization has already begun off Siberia's eastern coast.</p><p>"The discovery of actively releasing shelf slope hydrates is very important and unknown until now," vessel chief scientist Igor Semiletov of the Russian Academy of Sciences told The Guardian. "This is a new page."</p><p>The international team of 60 researchers said Tuesday they were the first to observe methane release over a wide area of the continental slope off of Eastern Siberia. They observed bubbles being released from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> sediment at six different observation points over a 150 kilometer (approximately 93 miles) by 10 kilometer (approximately 6 miles) stretch of the slope.</p>
<p>They also recorded methane concentrations of as much as 1,600 nanomoles per liter at a depth of around 300 meters (approximately 984 feet) on the slope of the Laptev Sea. That's 400 times higher a concentration than would be expected in normal circumstances.</p><p>While the methane bubbles are still being absorbed by the ocean, the researchers did measure methane concentrations near the surface that were four to eight times higher than normal, and said this methane would make it into the atmosphere.</p><p>"At this moment, there is unlikely to be any major impact on global warming, but the point is that this process has now been triggered. This East Siberian slope methane hydrate system has been perturbed and the process will be ongoing," Swedish scientist Örjan Gustafsso of Stockholm University told The Guardian.</p>
<p>This isn't the first alarming find that Semitelov's expedition has turned up. Last fall, they released images of a methane fountain bubbling up from the floor of the East Siberian Sea, <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/10/28/new-methane-discharge-discovered-in-russias-arctic-guardian-a71877" target="_blank">The Moscow Times reported</a>.</p><p>However, the researchers urged caution in responding to their findings. They stressed that they needed to be confirmed once the expedition is over and the data can be reviewed and written up in a peer reviewed journal.</p><p>"Potentially they can have serious climate consequences," Semitelov told The Guardian of his discoveries, "but we need more study before we can confirm that."</p><p>Scientists who were not involved with the study responded with skepticism to The Guardian story, <a href="https://theweek.com/speedreads/946300/climate-scientists-throw-cold-water-arctic-methane-bomb-report" target="_blank">The Week reported</a>.</p><p>Climate scientist Zeke Hausfather pointed to a major study of global methane emissions that relied on both satellite data and on-site observations and found that there was no increase in Arctic Ocean methane emissions as of 2017.</p>
<p>Gavin Schmidt, a climatologist and director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, argued that there was no evidence that Arctic methane had had a significant climate impact in earlier eras when the region was even warmer than it is today. </p><p>"This story is ... unconvincing," he <a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateOfGavin/status/1321152148399362055" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tweeted</a>. "First off it's just two scientists (no publication), one of whom has made similar (unsupported) claims before & ignores the context that permafrost & methane have been degrading in this region since it was inundated in the early Holocene."</p>
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Chipotle's "Real Foodprint" will tell you the ecological footprint of each menu item compared to the industry standard. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
How does your burrito impact the environment? If you ordered it from Chipotle, there is now a way to find out.
<p>The chain on Monday launched a first-of-its kind <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sustainability" target="_self">sustainability</a> tool called the <a href="https://realfoodprint.chipotle.com/" target="_blank">Real Foodprint</a>, which allows customers to see how each of its 53 intentionally sourced ingredients compares to the industry average when it comes to key environmental metrics like <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/carbon-emissions" target="_self">carbon emissions</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water" target="_self">water</a> use.</p><p>"Just by eating real, responsibly raised <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/food/" target="_self">food</a>, you can do a little something to help cultivate a better world," Bill Nye of Science Guy fame said in a video promoting the feature.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="edb1a1f60298c73efc6d7f5193a64a50"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fqWINfwdP_A?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 Real Foodprint works like this, as <a href="https://retailleader.com/chipotle-sets-higher-bar-sustainability" target="_blank">Retail Leader explained</a>. When you place an order on the Chipotle app or on the website, the tracker will show you the environmental impact of each ingredient you select compared to the conventional equivalent. The ingredients are assessed according to five metrics:</p><ol><li>Less carbon emitted (measured in grams)</li><li>Water saved (in gallons)</li><li>Improved <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/soil-health" target="_self">soil health</a> (in square feet)</li><li>Organic land supported (in square feet)</li><li>Antibiotics avoided (in milligrams)</li></ol><p>So, for example, Nye's chicken bowl emits 0.8 fewer grams of carbon dioxide, saves 0.4 gallons of water, supports 1.7 square feet of improved soil health, supports 0.9 square feet of organic land and avoids 42.3 milligrams of antibiotics compared to a similar order made with conventional ingredients.</p>
<div id="e2a10" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ba6130b414a0ff5ec3fbe005c4232d31"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320698022594920453" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">*wheels tv into classroom*
@BillNye wants to show you how Chipotle ingredients can help reduce the impact on the… https://t.co/Ddedz1FdeO</div> — Chi-vote-le (@Chi-vote-le)<a href="https://twitter.com/ChipotleTweets/statuses/1320698022594920453">1603713920.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The data points are provided by HowGood, an independent research company that draws on more than 450 peer-reviewed and scientific studies to compare Chipotle's ingredients to conventional options, the website explained. Chipotle is the first restaurant to partner with HowGood, the company said in a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chipotle-launches-real-foodprint-introduces-sustainability-impact-trackers-for-digital-orders-301159499.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">press release</a>. The data points will be updated on a regular basis, so customers can see if Chipotle's environmental impact lessens or increases over time, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90567802/is-your-burrito-bad-for-the-environment-chipotle-has-a-tool-for-that" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fast Company reported</a>.</p><p>"Beyond asking people to make the right choice for the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate</a> based on a carbon label, we are demonstrating the impact of our sourcing practices through data computed based on the ingredients in our guests' orders," Chipotle's head of sustainability Caitlin Leibert said in the press release. "While our guests can make good choices for the planet by simply eating at Chipotle, the radical transparency provided by Real Foodprint also holds us accountable to improve our practices and source more sustainably over time. It is the combination of transparency for our guests and Chipotle's commitment to higher standards that make Real Foodprint so impactful."</p>
<p>Other restaurant brands have taken steps to provide environmental information to their customers, Fast Company pointed out. Meat alternative brand Quorn prints the carbon footprint of its products next to the nutrition label. And, two weeks ago, Panera started pointing out the "Cool Food Meals" on its menu, meals that have a lower carbon footprint. But Chipotle's Foodprint is the most specific and detailed Fast Company has encountered, writer Mark Wilson pointed out.</p><p>"You can literally measure the impact of adding pinto beans or a scoop of pico de gallo," Wilson wrote. "(Btw, order those beans! They capture carbon and fertilize soil with nitrogen naturally!)"</p><p>One downside to the Chipotle tool is the fact that it compares its own ingredients specifically to the industry standard, Wilson noted. This means that it tells you that choosing Chipotle-sourced steak saves 150 milligrams of antibiotics, while choosing tofu saves none, because conventional tofu requires none. The impact of the beef is compared to the industry standard for beef, but does not account for the huge environmental difference between choosing meat and choosing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vegetarian" target="_self">vegetarian</a> options.</p><p>Chipotle chief marketing officer Chris Brandt said this was done to avoid passing a value judgement on individual foods.</p><p>"There's a lot of other metrics that say meat is bad, vegetarian is good. If you wanna live your life that way that's great ... everything is relevant to an industry average rather than a value judgment as to whether you eat meat or not," Brandt said.</p>
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The Silverado Fire rages near a home in Irvine, California on Oct. 26, 2020. Mario Tama / Getty Images
California's devastating wildfire season raged on Monday as new blazes in Orange County injured two firefighters and forced around 90,800 people to flee their homes, The New York Times reported.
<p>The two firefighters suffered second and third degree burns over most of their bodies while battling the larger Silverado Fire and had to be intubated. They are 26 and 31 years old.</p><p>"They are gravely injured. Their families are with them," Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) Fire Chief Brian Fennessy said, as <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/26/california-wildfires-60-000-evacuated-irvine-silverado-fire/6042915002/" target="_blank">USA TODAY reported</a>. "We are giving them all the support we can."</p>
<p>The Silverado Fire was first reported at 6:47 a.m. near Irvine, <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/10/26/irvine-fire-silverado-wildfire-evacuations/" target="_blank">California, CBS Los Angeles (LA) reported</a>. At first, it was only 10 acres, and firefighters hoped it could be limited to the brush in a less populated area of the city, USA TODAY reported. But the flames were fanned by strong winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 70 miles per hour. In three hours, it grew to 2,000 acres, CBSLA reported.</p><p>"The wind is crazy, my family has been through it in Malibu," evacuee Ruby Johnson told CBSLA. "It's a crazy thing, never had to experience it ourselves. You can replace clothes and things, but you can't replace your lives. I've got all the pictures and valuables, so we're ready to go."</p>
<p>As of Monday evening, 500 firefighters were battling the blaze, which had spread to 7,200 acres and was zero percent contained, <a href="https://twitter.com/OCFA_PIO/status/1320945060968419328" target="_blank">OCFA tweeted</a>.</p><p>The second fire of the day was the Blue Ridge Fire, which ignited just before 1 p.m., as <a href="https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/10/26/blue-ridge-fire-threatens-yorba-linda-homes/" target="_blank">CBSLA reported further</a>. It broke out in the Chino Hills above Yorba Linda, according to USA TODAY. On its own, it prompted almost 5,000 evacuations, according to CBSLA. It seriously damaged at least one residence.</p><p>By the end of the day, there were around 200 firefighters working on it and it was zero percent contained, OCFA tweeted. By late Monday night, it <a href="https://twitter.com/OCFA_PIO/status/1320972199742697472" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">had spread</a> to 6,600 acres.</p>
<p>As with every <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> event during the 2020 hurricane and fire seasons, evacuations were complicated by the ongoing spread of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic. Fire evacuee Kelsey Brewer told USA TODAY how she and her three roommates had to make a plan for where they could safely shelter. They decided to head to the home of her girlfriend's mother because it was spacious and she lived there alone.</p><p>"We literally talked about it this morning," Brewer said. "There's nowhere you can go to feel safe."</p><p>The new blazes also come amidst a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/wildfires-california-washington-oregon-photos-2647585008.html" target="_self">devastating fire year</a> for the U.S. In California, fires since August have killed more than 30 people and forced thousands to flee, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54694971" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. Fires in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington State have scorched more than five million acres, The New York Times reported.</p>
<p>And the nightmare is far from over for Southern California, as the arrival of the Santa Ana winds brings low moisture, National Weather Service Sacramento meteorologist Jim Mathews told USA TODAY. He said the weather conditions now were similar to those that had fueled destructive fires in the past, like the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/california-wildfires-kincade-2641099755.html" target="_self">Kincade Fire</a> in 2019 or the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/camp-fire-cost-paradise-california-2625457443.html" target="_self">Camp Fire</a> in 2018.</p><p>"This is our severe weather season right now: fire weather," he told USA TODAY.</p><p>Scientists say the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making fire seasons more extreme as warmer, drier weather makes plants more likely to burn, The New York Times reported.</p>
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An Asian giant hornet taken from the first U.S. nest to be discovered. ELAINE THOMPSON / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
The first U.S. "murder hornet" nest has been discovered and eliminated.
<p>"Murder hornets," or Asian giant hornets as they are officially called, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/murder-hornets-honeybees-us-2645912097.html" target="_self">first emerged</a> as a concern after four sightings of the bee-slaughtering <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/insects" target="_self">insects</a> were verified in Washington State in December 2019. Since then, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has been working to prevent the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/invasive-species" target="_self">invasive species</a> from establishing a presence in the state, and they made headway towards that goal Saturday when they removed a nest newly discovered near Blaine, Washington.</p><p>"Got 'em," the WSDA wrote in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WAStateDeptAg/posts/10158596587562906" target="_blank">Facebook post</a>.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7728c1de4b7ce306f2afe8918f938293"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/WAStateDeptAg/videos/3411169195635580" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p>WSDA workers vacuumed the hornets out of the tree cavity where their nest was found and into canisters, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/insects-washington-asia-agriculture-united-states-c235c7f6725460b463af968bb1355445" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. They donned protective gear thick enough to defend them against the hornets' six-millimeter long stingers. The suits also included face shields because the hornets can spit venom.</p><p>The tree will now be cut down and the nest searched for newborn hornets and to see if any queens have already left. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">Scientists</a> think there may be other murder hornet nests in Washington State.</p>
<div id="a3b24" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="38572c61a5ebaf7cbdae52cd9f3cf21d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320151317495439361" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Quite a morning shooting Asian giant hornets and our WA Ag workers taking them out in Blaine. Love those sting-resi… https://t.co/uooInt70T9</div> — Elaine Thompson /// journalism matters (@Elaine Thompson /// journalism matters)<a href="https://twitter.com/ElaineMThompson/statuses/1320151317495439361">1603583575.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Murder hornets earned their nickname because they attack in groups and can inject a victim with as much venom as a snake bite. They are native to China, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam and other Asian countries, where they kill as many as three dozen people every year.</p><p>While that may sound like a lot, species of wasps, hornets and bees already common in the U.S. kill an average of 62 people a year, The Associated Press pointed out.</p><p>The main danger that Asian giant hornets pose is to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/honeybees" target="_self">honeybees</a>: A small group of them can kill an entire hive within hours, the <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/about-wsda/news-and-media-relations/news-releases?article=31875" target="_blank">WSDA said</a>.</p>
<p>Honeybees in Japan have evolved to surround invading hornets and vibrate until they cook the intruder alive, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/23/murder-hornet-us-first-nest-found-washington-state" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. But North American honeybees have not evolved with Asian giant hornets, so they would not have any such defense strategies. Farmers are concerned that the hornets could devastate U.S. honeybee populations if they were to spread. This would also have serious consequences for all the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/food" target="_self">foods</a> that bees pollinate.</p><p>The WSDA discovered the first U.S. Asian giant hornet nest around 4 p.m. on Oct. 22. The nest was located after the WSDA tied radio trackers to some captured hornets with dental floss, The Associated Press reported.</p>
<div id="ef0b1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4b5bd1f1de8027364b6a15f8bfb6a358"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1319651074744094720" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The rumors are true - our entomologists located the first-ever #AsianGiantHornet nest in the U.S. late yesterday. P… https://t.co/0LmpZToVHj</div> — WA St Dept of Agr (@WA St Dept of Agr)<a href="https://twitter.com/WSDAgov/statuses/1319651074744094720">1603464308.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The first Asian giant hornet was trapped in the U.S. in July, the WSDA said. Since then, its entomologists have been working to locate and eliminate any nests.</p>
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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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Coast Guard members work to clean an oil spill impacting Delaware beaches. U.S. Coast Guard District 5
Environmental officials and members of the U.S. Coast Guard are racing to clean up a mysterious oil spill that has spread to 11 miles of Delaware coastline.
<p>When the spill was first discovered Monday, it covered only three-fourths of a mile along Broadkill Beach, <a href="https://eu.delmarvanow.com/story/news/2020/10/21/delaware-bay-oil-spill-affects-wider-area-day-three/6004537002/" target="_blank">Delaware Now reported</a>. However, the tides have extended the reach of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil" target="_self">oil</a> every day, spreading it along seven miles of Delaware Bay coastline by Tuesday and 11 by Wednesday.</p><p>"We are focused on cleanup operations and getting the oil off our beaches and out of our coastal communities as quickly as possible," Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary Shawn Garvin said in a <a href="https://news.delaware.gov/2020/10/21/unified-command-incident-command-post-established-for-oil-cleanup-efforts-on-delaware-shore/" target="_blank">Wednesday press release</a>. "Expediency is key. We want to capture as much of the oil as we can before it disperses further and causes more environmental harm."</p>
<p>DNREC is working under unified command with the U.S. Coast Guard to clean the spill, which now extends from Fowler Beach, which borders the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, to Cape Henlopen State Park. It was estimated initially that more than 215 gallons of oil had spilled, but the actual amount may be larger, <a href="https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2020/10/22/oil-spill-off-delaware-beach-appears-to-be-spreading/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CBS Philly reported</a>.</p>
<div id="d251e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7e03c3596cb3f2b3cf90bb8da0df1a82"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1318672504018317314" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The oil line from the spill now extends approximately 11 miles from Fowler Beach bordering Prime Hook National Wild… https://t.co/c4TfENSvGw</div> — DNREC (@DNREC)<a href="https://twitter.com/YourDNREC/statuses/1318672504018317314">1603230999.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>As of Tuesday, recovery efforts had removed around two tons of oily sand and debris, according to DNREC. There are currently more than 75 contractors, DNREC workers and Coast Guard members responding to the spill.</p>
<div id="2bfe2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="96675d12f78afda6e8606f0fb7d1fe93"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1319010494993358849" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Approximately two tons of oily sand and debris was removed from the affected areas as of 7 p.m., Tuesday. https://t.co/bdCxr8ZNda</div> — DNREC (@DNREC)<a href="https://twitter.com/YourDNREC/statuses/1319010494993358849">1603311582.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The oil has already impacted some <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a>. <a href="https://tristatebird.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research</a> had responded to reports of 24 seagulls covered in oil as of Wednesday.<br></p><p>The spill has mostly taken the form of oil patties that range in size from a quarter to a manhole cover, the <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/bulletins/2a6cad4?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=01335c08-da44-4982-a064-9551c1d7e263&utm_content=&utm_campaign=" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Coast Guard said Tuesday</a>.</p><p>Cape Henlopen park watch volunteer Julie McCall got a first-hand view of the strange black blobs when she was conducting a bird count on Beach Plum Island Monday.</p><p>"On the way back, after the tide had gone out quite a bit, I started seeing these bigger patches, and I thought, 'That looks like oil,'" McCall <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/seven-mile-oil-spill-fouls-delaware-coastline/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told WHYY</a>. "Some were bigger than my foot."</p><p>The Coast Guard said it would use the blobs to try and determine the source of the spill.</p><p>"Working with our partners at DNREC and state agencies, we will continue to monitor the future potential to the Broadkill Beach area, continue cleanup operations and conduct an investigation to try and determine the source," Capt. Jonathan Theel, the commanding officer of Sector Delaware Bay, said in a press release.</p><p>However, officials think the oil is probably heavy fuel oil that leaked from a vessel, WHYY reported.</p><p>McCall said she was worried about how the oil would impact people and animals.</p><p>"It's very scary," she told WHYY. "Of course, we're always concerned about the marine animals, and any kind of toxic material in the water. I'm also concerned about <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/birds" target="_self">birds</a>, any kind of wildlife. A lot of people fish at Beach Plum Island and people walk their dogs and there are kids on the beach. So I'm concerned about exposure to people and animals."</p>
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Smoke from the East Troublesome fire in Colorado on Oct. 22, 2020. RubyT / Flickr
Thousands of homes were evacuated Wednesday after a Colorado wildfire exploded in size, growing at a rate of 6,000 acres per hour.
<p>The East Troublesome fire had been burning since Oct. 14, but suddenly took off Wednesday in a more erratic manner than even worst-case-scenario predictions had anticipated, Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin said, as <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2020/10/22/east-troublesome-fire-grand-lake-destruction/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Colorado Sun reported</a>. The fire had grown to 125,600 acres by Thursday morning and 170,163 acres by Thursday evening, making it the second-largest wildfire in Colorado history. It is only five percent contained, according to <a href="https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7242/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">InciWeb</a>.</p><p>"The growth that you see on this fire is unheard of," Schroetlin said during a Thursday press conference reported by <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/22/926838887/colorado-fire-grows-by-over-100-000-acres-in-1-day-hits-rocky-mountain-national-" target="_blank">NPR</a>. "We plan for the worst. This is the worst of the worst of the worst. And no matter how we look at it, we can't control Mother Nature."</p>
<div id="85e11" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3577a8e0d4e8a731bf0b62ac772fc8c1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1319181412315107333" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Heartbreaking video of homes burning in the #EastTroublesomeFire overnight. Listening to scanners right now and fir… https://t.co/y82wWnmchu</div> — Emily Allen (@Emily Allen)<a href="https://twitter.com/EmilyAReports/statuses/1319181412315107333">1603352332.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Schroetlin said Thursday morning that there was "lots of structure loss," according to The Colorado Sun, though no official tally of damage has been reported. As many as five people were unaccounted for by Thursday evening. However, there have been no reports of deaths or injuries.</p><p>The fast-moving fire was first driven by high winds into the town of Grand Lake Wednesday night, <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/10/22/grand-county-braces-for-another-large-growth-day-for-the-east-troublesome-fire/" target="_blank">Colorado Public Radio (CPR) reported</a>.</p><p>"It was basically out of a movie," retired newscaster Ernie Bjorkman told CPR. "It was a firestorm in downtown Grand Lake. Smoke and embers flying around. It was just a chaotic scene. We locked the door and said, 'hopefully, house, we'll see you when we get back.' "</p><p>As of Thursday, town manager John Crone told CPR that the town's historic Grand Lake Lodge and downtown area had not burned.</p><p>The fire then crossed the Continental Divide by 1:15 pm Thursday, according to The Colorado Sun. It also entered Rocky Mountain National Park, forcing it to close.</p>
<div id="0784c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="083c554cdc624bc22b52ef91e2646fb9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1319357789836353544" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Latest satellite info shows increased fire intensity on the #EastTroublesomeFire early this afternoon. The fire has… https://t.co/GZC77SWXqB</div> — NWS Boulder (@NWS Boulder)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWSBoulder/statuses/1319357789836353544">1603394384.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The flames also menaced the park gateway town of Estes Park, filling it with smoke Thursday morning.</p><p>"The air quality has just decreased to a level that's almost unsafe to go outside," resident Alec Rogers told CPR.</p><p>Estes Park was also put under an evacuation order Thursday, and traffic stalled as people tried to leave.</p>
<div id="93884" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="87faed3af4a1f8c5665138a79cb37558"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1319381273757028375" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">PHOTOS: The sky has gone from yellow to orange. There is a long line of cars waiting to leave Estes Park.… https://t.co/tsKRcONrNk</div> — Matthew Jonas (@Matthew Jonas)<a href="https://twitter.com/photojmatthew/statuses/1319381273757028375">1603399983.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>However, incident commander Noel Livingston said Thursday that a cold front had checked the fire somewhat as it burned inside Rocky Mountain National Park and that it was no longer headed towards Estes Park, The Colorado Sun reported.</p><p>The concern is now that the fire will merge with the Cameron Peak fire, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/colorado-wildfire-cameron-peak-2648215765.html" target="_self">largest fire in Colorado history</a>, which is burning only 10 to 12 miles away. Livingston said he thought a merger was unlikely, but not impossible.</p><p>"This year has been one of those years when low-potential events seem to be happening with high frequency," Livingston said, as The Colorado Sun reported.</p><p>Officials are hopeful that snow forecast for this weekend will help them to get the fire under control, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/22/us/colorado-evacuations-west-coast-fires/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p>
<p>The rapid growth of the East Troublesome fire is only the latest development to scorch the fire-weary Western U.S. this year. Its explosion to the second-largest fire in state history means that three of Colorado's five largest fires have now ignited in 2020.</p><p>The fire was driven quickly east by a combination of high winds, dry air and the fuel provided by lodgepole pines killed by beetles, InciWeb said. However, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is creating ideal conditions for fire across the West. Almost all of Colorado was experiencing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">drought</a> by the end of September, according to NPR. Fire scientists told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/us/colorado-wildfires.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> that fires burning so close to winter in Colorado show how the season has grown because of changing conditions.</p><p>"People have built and developed in these areas without recognizing the hazard they're in, and climate change is notching that up every year," University of Montana fire ecologist Philip Higuera told The New York Times. "It has me concerned for communities across the West that are in increasingly flammable landscapes."</p>
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Mouthwash Can Inactivate Human Coronavirus in a Lab, but What Does This Really Mean?
22 October
Health + Wellness
Could mouthwash help stop the spread of the new coronavirus? Craig F. Walker / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Could mouthwash help stop the spread of the new coronavirus?
<p>A study published in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmv.26514" target="_blank">Journal of Medical Virology</a> last month found that some common mouthwashes and nasal rinses could inactivate a type of human coronavirus in the lab. This led the authors to hypothesize that the same products might be an additional line of defense against SARS‐CoV‐2, the virus that causes COVID-19.</p><p>"While we wait for a vaccine to be developed, methods to reduce transmission are needed," research leader Dr. Craig Meyers of Penn State College of Medicine said in a <a href="https://news.psu.edu/story/635101/2020/10/19/research/mouthwashes-oral-rinses-may-inactivate-human-coronaviruses" target="_blank">press release</a>. "The products we tested are readily available and often already part of people's daily routines."</p>
<p>The idea behind the study is that using these products might reduce the amount of coronavirus spread by people who are infected.</p><p>The researchers tested several products including a neti pot, several popular mouthwashes and a one percent baby shampoo solution commonly used by head and neck doctors to rinse the sinuses. They exposed a human coronavirus to the various solutions for 30 seconds, one minute and two minutes. Then, they exposed human cells to the various solutions in order to determine how much of the virus had been inactivated.</p>
<p>The neti pot did not succeed in inactivating any virus, according to the study, but the shampoo solution inactivated more than 99 percent of the virus after 30 seconds and more than 99.9 percent of the virus after two minutes.</p><p>Several common mouthwashes were also very successful at inactivating the virus. Crest Pro Health, Listerine Ultra, CVS Antiseptic Mouthwash and Betadine 5% all inactivated 99.9 to greater than 99.9 percent of the virus after 30 seconds. Listerine Antiseptic was the most effective, inactivating more than 99.9 percent of the virus after 30 seconds.</p>
<p>Outside experts, however, cautioned against a too-enthusiastic response to the findings.</p><p>For one thing, the researchers did not test SARS-CoV-2 itself, which requires extra levels of training and security. Instead, they looked at 229E, a coronavirus that causes human colds, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/health/covid-mouthwash.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. While it has a similar structure to the new coronavirus, it is not guaranteed that the two will always act the same way, Columbia University virologist Angela Rasmussen told The New York Times. However, Meyers pointed out in the press release that a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/222/8/1289/5878067" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">similar study</a> had managed to use mouthwashes to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 itself.</p><p>For another thing, it isn't really possible to test if something will stop the spread of a virus until it is tested on the actual human mouth, which is more complicated than a petri dish. Yale University infectious disease expert Dr. Maricar Malinis told The New York Times that the effectiveness of the products could not be proved without clinical trials on human subjects. This is something the research team is now seeking funding to do, according to <a href="https://fusion.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-mouthwashes-nasal-rinses-virus-transmission-20201021.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Philadelphia Inquirer</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, a mouthwash could never totally prevent an infected person from shedding virus because the virus would continue to replicate in their cells after the rinse.</p><p>"If you have virus in your lungs, you just cough it back up into your mouth," Thomas E. Rams, director of the oral microbiology testing lab at Temple University's Kornberg School of Dentistry, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "You'd have to be rinsing on such a frequent basis. And what I fear is that some people would think they don't need masks because they gargled with Listerine."</p><p>Meyers said he is not proposing mouthwash as a replacement for measures like masks or social distancing, but rather another line of defense. And he acknowledged that it would only be effective for a limited amount of time.</p><p>"We have an educated guess because we know how long the virus takes to replicate in culture — 6 to 12 hours,'" Meyers told The Philadelphia Inquirer.</p>
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This Beetle Can Survive Being Run Over by a Car. Could It Lead to Crash-Proof Human Designs?
22 October
Animals
A diabolical ironclad beetle. Heather Broccard-Bell / iStock / Getty Images Plus
The aptly named diabolical ironclad beetle (Phloeodes diabolicus) has an exoskeleton so strong, it can survive being pecked by birds and even run over by cars. When early entomologists tried to mount them as specimens, BBC News explained, that exoskeleton would snap or bend their pins.
<p>"This beetle is super tough," Purdue University civil engineer Pablo Zavattieri told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/beetle-armor-stronger-planes-cb50dd9573d65437de4b5209ccd4a2d8" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>.</p><p>Now, in a study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2813-8" target="_blank">Nature</a> Wednesday, Zavattieri and a team of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">scientists</a> have discovered exactly what makes the diabolical ironclad beetle so strong.</p><p>The diabolical ironclad beetle is found in the forests of North America's Pacific coast. It has lost the ability to fly, so its super-strong exoskeleton is evolution's compensation for the fact that it can't flee its predators.</p>
<p>To understand how this exoskeleton works, the researchers first determined how much stress it could take. The answer? Quite a lot. The beetle can withstand a load of around 39,000 times its own body weight. To put that in perspective, it would be the equivalent of a 90 kilogram (approximately 200 pound) person surviving the weight of around 280 doubledecker buses, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/21/scientists-reveal-diabolical-ironclad-beetle-bear-huge-weights" target="_blank">The Guardian explained</a>.</p><p>"We were impressed. Especially given that this beetle does not contain any mineral – just organic components," study coauthor and University of California, Irvine professor David Kisailus told The Guardian.</p>
<p>The team then examined how the beetle was able to withstand such a heavy load. They used electron microscopes and CT scans to look at it up close, The Associated Press explained. The beetle's elytra, which are normally protective casing for wings, had hardened. This is common for flightless beetles, but the diabolical ironclad beetle's elytra were unique. They had a greater number of interlocking sections than those of other beetles, resembling a jigsaw puzzle, The Guardian explained. This helps the elytra to distribute the stress of heavy loads.</p><p>Further, the elytra was protein-rich and made of layers. When stress was put on one join, the layers would peel apart to relieve the pressure.</p><p>"When you pull them apart," Zavattieri told The Associated Press, "it doesn't break catastrophically. It just deforms a little bit. That's crucial for the beetle."</p>
<p>The scientists are hoping to take inspiration from the beetle's strength to improve human designs. In fact, the study was part of a U.S. Air Force-funded project to learn from nature in order to make materials that better resist impact.</p><p>As part of the experiment, the scientists made joints from metal and composite materials based on the beetle's elytra, BBC News explained. Their designs did make the materials stronger.</p><p>"Given that nature has been optimising and performing experiments for hundreds of millions of years, there are abundant resources to provide inspiration for next-generation materials," Kisailus told The Guardian.</p>
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A new study has revealed that Earth's biggest mass extinction was triggered by volcanic activity that led to ocean acidification. Illustration by Dawid Adam Iurino (PaleoFactory, Sapienza University of Rome) for Jurikova et al (2020)
The excess carbon dioxide emitted by human activity since the start of the industrial revolution has already raised the Earth's temperature by more than one degree Celsius, increased the risk of extreme hurricanes and wildfires and killed off more than half of the corals in the Great Barrier Reef. But geologic history shows that the impacts of greenhouse gases could be much worse.
<p>In fact, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">scientists</a> from <a href="https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/great-dying-what-caused-earths-biggest-mass-extinction/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=univofstandrews&utm_content=research&utm_campaign=research" target="_blank">Scotland's University of Saint Andrews</a> and two major German research centers have for the first time determined a "conclusive picture" of the initial trigger and subsequent processes responsible for Earth's biggest mass <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extinction" target="_self">extinction</a>. The answer? Massive amounts of carbon dioxide spewed into the atmosphere from a volcanic eruption.</p><p>"We are dealing with a cascading catastrophe in which the rise of CO2 in the atmosphere set off a chain of events that successively extinguished almost all life in the seas," study lead author Dr. Hana Jurikova told <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mass-extinction-greenhouse-gas-triassic-carbon-dioxide-volcanoes-b1183299.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a>.</p>
<p>The study, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-00646-4" target="_blank">Nature Geoscience</a> Monday, sought to understand the mechanisms behind an event known as the "Great Dying," the University of Saint Andrews explained in a press release. This was a period around 252 million years ago between the Permian and Triassic epochs in which 95 percent of marine species were wiped out within tens of thousands of years. It is the closest life on Earth has come to total extinction.</p><p>Scientists have advanced many theories for what caused this turn of events, including a release of methane from the seafloor and volcanic activity, but this is the first time a group has determined the exact cause, the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, one of the research centers involved in the new study, <a href="https://www.geomar.de/en/news/article/ausloeser-fuer-groesstes-massenaussterben-der-erdgeschichte-identifiziert" target="_blank">said</a>.</p>
<p>The extinction process went something like this, as Saint Andrews explained.</p><ol><li>A volcanic eruption in what is now Siberia sent 100,000 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.</li><li>This release led to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ocean-acidification" target="_self">ocean acidification</a> and warming, which was especially deadly to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life" target="_self">marine life</a> that requires calcium carbonate for their shells and skeletons.</li><li>The atmospheric warming increased the rates of chemical weathering on land.</li><li>This caused more nutrients to run off into the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ocean" target="_self">ocean</a>, depleting it of oxygen and perhaps also poisoning it with sulphide.</li></ol><p>"It took several hundreds of thousands to millions of years for the ecosystem to recover from the catastrophe, which profoundly altered the course of evolution of life on Earth," Jurikova said.</p>
<p>The researchers, who also included members of the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, were able to reach their conclusions by examining the shells of fossil brachiopods.</p><p>"These are clam-like organisms that have existed on Earth for more than 500 million years," Jurikova explained in the GEOMAR press release.</p><p>The researchers were able to assess the pH levels in the ocean based on the different isotopes of boron in the fossilized shells. Because oceanic pH levels are tightly linked to atmospheric carbon dioxide, the team could then create a model of the atmosphere at the time.</p><p>"With this technique, we can not only reconstruct the evolution of the atmospheric CO2 concentrations, but also clearly trace it back to volcanic activity," study coauthor Dr. Marcus Gutjahr of GEOMAR said in the press release.</p>
<p>The amount of carbon dioxide released by the Siberian volcano was more than 40 times all the carbon dioxide currently held in fossil fuel reserves, including everything that has been released since the start of the industrial revolution, according to Saint Andrews.</p><p>Still, the researchers told The Independent that the study offered "bleak lessons" for humanity as we face the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sixth-mass-extinction-accelerating-land-animals-2646147181.html" target="_self">sixth mass extinction</a>.</p><p>"Ancient volcanic eruptions of this kind are not directly comparable to anthropogenic carbon emissions, and in fact all modern fossil fuel reserves are far too insufficient to release as much CO2 over hundreds of years, let alone thousands of years as was released 252 million years ago," Jurikova told The Independent. "But it is astonishing that humanity's CO2 emission rate is currently fourteen times higher than the annual emission rate at the time that marked the greatest biological catastrophe in Earth's history."</p>
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