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☆ 5 Numbers to Know About the Coming Heat Wave
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Jill Cowan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Millions of Americans from Texas to Maine will face sweltering conditions this week as a heat wave takes hold in the eastern half of the United States, according to forecasters. Beginning Sunday, rising temperatures will hit the South, then stretch over the Midwest before spreading to the East Coast by midweek. Here are five numbers to help put this coming heat wave — and our warming climate — in context. (In Pittsburgh, he added, there are temperature records dating back to 1875.) That figure would be just one of what Mr. Weiss said could be dozens of temperature records broken this week in cities across the northeastern United States.

Persons: It’s, Josh Weiss, Weiss Organizations: Prediction Locations: Texas, Maine, United States, East Coast, Pittsburgh, Ohio

☆ May’s full flower moon will light up the sky this week
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

May’s full moon is known as the flower moon, a reference to its appearance in late spring, when many flowering plants begin to bloom again after their winter slumber. The flower moon will begin to rise after sunset on Wednesday, reaching its highest point after midnight, per EarthSky. The flower moon played a minor role in a particularly dark period of US history. Martin Scorsese’s recent Oscar-nominated historical drama “Killers of the Flower Moon” explores a series of murders of Osage people in Oklahoma. The killings began in May 1921, the month of the flower moon.

Persons: CNN —, St, Bede, Venerable, Martin Scorsese’s, Buck Organizations: CNN, NASA, Washington Locations: Washington ,, Algonquin, Canada, United States, Plains, Dakota, Osage, Oklahoma

☆ Viral shop sold $9,800 of NYC earthquake T-shirts in 21 hours—it's run by an ex-JPMorgan Chase banker who quit from burnout
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

It took 15 minutes for Colley and his team to make the shirt and hang it outside his customizable apparel shop, in New York's Upper West Side neighborhood. Colley didn't advertise it on social media, and priced the shirt at $10, not expecting to turn a large profit, he says. A customer told him that the shirt had been viewed almost 2 million times on social media platform X, he adds. The shop sold roughly 1,000 earthquake shirts over 21 hours on Friday and Saturday, resulting in more than $9,800 in revenue, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Tourists stopped by because their friends had seen videos of his shop on local news channels in Italy, says Colley.

Persons: Kerry Colley glanced, Colley, Colley didn't, —, Colley —, he's, haven't Organizations: CNBC, JPMorgan Chase Locations: United States, New York's, Italy

☆ Nor’easter to Bring Springtime Snow to New England This Week
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Christine Hauser | More About Christine Hauser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A nor’easter is forecast to bring an April onslaught of snow, rain, high winds and coastal flooding to the Northeastern United States this week, the National Weather Service said. Rain will lash areas of New York, Southern Connecticut and Northern New Jersey starting on Tuesday. Heavy, wet snow is expected to blanket mainly parts of inland New England starting on Wednesday before tapering off into a light dusting on Friday, the weather prediction center said. “The biggest impact we are worried about from this storm is the heavy, wet nature of the snowfall” in northern New England, said Donald Dumont, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. “All of New England is going to get it, but probably more rain in southern New England.”Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey could all, to varying degrees, feel the brunt of the stormy weather.

Persons: “, Donald Dumont Organizations: Northeastern, National Weather Service Locations: Northeastern United States, New York, Southern Connecticut, Northern New Jersey, New England, Gray , Maine, England, ” Maine, New Hampshire , Connecticut , Vermont , Massachusetts, New Jersey

☆ Constantly pretending your boss's dumb jokes are funny can lead to emotional exhaustion and lower job satisfaction, academics found
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The study, from academics at three elite universities, looked at the impacts of fake positive reactions to jokes by employees. It found that bosses who make too many jokes actually increase the amount of surface acting employees do, which can then lead to emotional exhaustion or burnout, and lower levels of job satisfaction. AdvertisementThe study found that the leaders who frequently made jokes increased surface acting in followers, which subsequently resulted in poor well-being outcomes, including emotional exhaustion. AdvertisementThe surface acting can trigger a cycle of negative well-being outcomes for employees, per the study. When leaders are more thoughtful about their humor, it actually alleviates the pressure of surface acting.

Persons: —, Randall Peterson, Xiaoran Hu, Michael Parke, Grace Simon, Peterson, they're Organizations: Service, Academy of Management, London Business School, London School of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, US Army Locations: United States

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The number of western monarch butterflies overwintering in California dropped by 30% last year, likely due to how wet it was, researchers said Tuesday. Volunteers who visited sites in California and Arizona around Thanksgiving tallied more than 230,000 butterflies, compared to 330,000 in 2022, according to the Xerces Society, an environmental nonprofit that focuses on the conservation of invertebrates. Scientists say the butterflies are at critically low levels in western states because of destruction to their milkweed habitat along their migratory route due to housing construction and the increased use of pesticides and herbicides. On the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, another monarch population travels from southern Canada and the northeastern United States to central Mexico. Scientists estimate that the monarch population in the eastern U.S. has fallen by about 80% since the mid-1990s, but the drop-off in the western U.S. has been even steeper.

Persons: Emma Pelton Organizations: FRANCISCO, Volunteers, Xerces Society Locations: California, Arizona, Pacific Northwest, Rocky, Canada, United States, Mexico, U.S

BRITISH COLUMBIA/OTTAWA, June 9 (Reuters) - Wildfires spread in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on Friday, while hundreds of fires continued to burn on the other side of the country in Quebec, sending wildfire smoke billowing across North American cities. Around 2,500 people were told to evacuate the community of Tumbler Ridge in northeastern British Columbia on Thursday afternoon. Temperatures in parts of British Columbia soared to more than 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) this week, nearly 10 degrees above the seasonal average. [1/2] Smoke rises from a wildfire in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, in this screen grab taken from a video, June 8, 2023. Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Albertans, François Legault, Nia Williams, Stephen Coates Organizations: British Columbia, BC Wildlife Service, REUTERS, Canadian Interagency Forest Fire, Thomson Locations: BRITISH COLUMBIA, OTTAWA, Canadian, British, Quebec, North, Tumbler, British Columbia, Peace, Alberta, Ridge, Canada, United States, Ottawa, Toronto , New York, Washington, Ontario, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, U.S

☆ Canada’s Ability to Prevent Forest Fires Lags Behind the Need
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Vjosa Isai | Ian Austen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Canada’s capacity to prevent wildfires has been shrinking for decades because of budget cuts, a loss of some of the country’s forest service staff, and onerous rules for fire prevention, turning some of its forests into a tinderbox. As residents braced for what could be the worst wildfire season on record, and one that is far from over, the air slowly cleared over the Northeastern United States on Friday, but hundreds of wildfires continued to burn across Canada. Thanks to some rain and cloud cover near wildfire areas, with scattered rains expected in parts of southern Ontario on Sunday, Steven Flisfeder, a warning preparedness meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, predicted that the weekend could bring better air quality in Toronto, the country’s largest city. “That’s going to help flush out the contaminants from the air a little bit,” he said. More than 1,100 firefighters from around the world have been dispatched across Canada to help combat the country’s raging fire season, officials said, including groups from France, Chile, Costa Rica, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Persons: Steven Flisfeder, “ That’s Organizations: Northeastern Locations: Northeastern United States, Canada, Ontario, Toronto, France, Chile, Costa Rica, United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa

☆ Explainer: What are the health risks from wildfire smoke?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Nancy Lapid | Thomson Reuters | Nancy Has Been A Health News Editor At Reuters For More Than A Decade. Previously She Was A Writer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

More toxic than normal air pollution, wildfire smoke can linger in the air for weeks and travel hundreds of miles. Along with particles of soil and biological materials, wildfire smoke often contains traces of chemicals, metals, plastics and other synthetic materials. New data from California also show an increase in fungal infections in the months following wildfire smoke exposure, likely due to fungal spores in the smoke. But the health effects of wildfire smoke exposure over multiple seasons are not yet clear. Doug Brugge, who chairs the Department of Public Health Sciences at UConn School of Medicine, said wildfire smoke can be deadly.

Persons: Kent Pinkerton, Davis, Keith Bein, Doug Brugge, Nancy Lapid, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Center for Health, University of California, UC, Davis . Studies, Environment, UC Davis, U.S . Environmental Protection Agency, of Public Health Sciences, UConn School of Medicine, Thomson Locations: United States, Canada, New York City, California, U.S

☆ Palantir dumps $50 million gold investment less than two years after buying precious metal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In August 2021, data analytics software vendor Palantir bought over $50 million worth of 100-ounce gold bars. Less than two years later, Palantir said goodbye to the precious metal. "During the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company sold all of its gold bars for total proceeds of $51.1 million," Palantir said in its first-quarter financial filing Tuesday. At the time of Palantir's investment in gold, the market was in a much different spot. Palantir shares soared 23% on Tuesday after the company reported earnings and revenue that topped analysts' estimates.

☆ Rising sea levels may have forced the Vikings out of a successful settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Why they abandoned a successful settlement is a mystery that historians never have been able to fully explain. The idea that sea levels would have been rising as temperatures fell is a little counterintuitive, according to the researchers. However, Earth’s oceans aren’t like a bathtub, and the study noted that changes in sea level don’t affect all areas equally. The Greenland Ice Sheet readvanced during Viking occupation of the eastern settlement and peaked in the Little Ice Age. That advance caused sea level rise near the ice margins because of the sinking of Earth’s crust, according to the study.

☆ Brutal cold seizes northeast U.S., shattering record lows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The air temperature at the peak reached minus 47 degrees F (-44 C), with winds gusting near 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour), according to the Mount Washington Observatory. In Providence, Rhode Island, the mercury dropped to minus 9 degrees F (-23 C), well below the previous all-time low of minus 2 degrees F (-19 C), set in 1918. Several cities took emergency measures to aid residents, including opening warming centers and conducting outreach to ensure homeless people were sheltered from the brutal cold. The frigid weather was expected to be short-lived, with temperatures forecast to be significantly higher on Sunday. The high temperature in Boston on Sunday will approach 47 degrees F (8.3 C), the NWS said.

☆ Premarket stocks: The Federal Reserve is testing how climate change could hurt big banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —The largest six banks in the United States have been given until July to show the Federal Reserve what effects disastrous climate change scenarios could have on their bottom lines. The Federal Reserve first announced the pilot program in September, noting that Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo would participate. In its announcement the Federal Reserve stressed that the exercise “is exploratory in nature and does not have capital consequences.” It also said that it would not publish individual banks’ results. San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly told CNN in October Thursday that this was a learning and exploratory exercise for the Federal Reserve. The other side: Critics of the pilot program have argued that the Federal Reserve was overstepping its boundaries and that they might soon begin to enforce financial penalties.

☆ German health minister voices concern over new COVID variant
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Germany's health minister has expressed concern over a new COVID-19 subvariant linked to growing hospitalisations in the northeastern United States, adding that Berlin was watching the situation closely. As much of the world looks to rising COVID cases in China, infectious disease experts have also been increasingly worried about the highly contagious Omicron XBB.1.5, which made up more than 40% of U.S. cases, official data showed last week. "Hopefully we get through the winter before such a variant can spread among us," the minister, Karl Lauterbach, wrote on Twitter late on Wednesday. "We are monitoring whether, and to what extent, XBB.1.5 occurs in Germany." Writing by Rachel More; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A blast of Arctic air will also plunge much of the country into bitter and, in some cases, dangerous cold, forecasters say. In some parts of this area, the wind chill could reach as low as minus 70 degrees, according to the Weather Service. Brief bursts of moderate to heavy snow lasting an hour or two are likely to occur immediately behind the Arctic front. Strong southerly winds, combined with the new moon-tide cycle, could also bring coastal flooding from northern New Jersey to northeast Massachusetts, the Weather Service said. Meteorologists warned local residents that this is not a normal lake effect event with a narrow band of heavy snow.

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