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☆ ‘Forever chemicals’ in water: Nearly half of the tap water in the US is contaminated with PFAS, government study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Almost half of the tap water in the United States is contaminated with chemicals known as “forever chemicals,” according to a study from the US Geological Survey. Experts say it’s important for people to understand their risk of exposure through tap water. Water filters may help somewhat if tap water is contaminated, and there are moves to regulate some PFAS chemicals in US drinking water. This US Geological Survey map shows the number of PFAS detected in tap water samples from select sites across the nation. In August 2023, the EPA said it is conducting the “most comprehensive monitoring effort for PFAS ever” at large and midsize public water systems and hundreds of small water systems.

Persons: Jamie DeWitt, There’s, ”, DeWitt, They’re, Graham Peaslee, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, “, Peaslee, ” Peaslee Organizations: CNN, Geological Survey, National Institutes of Health, US Environmental Protection Agency, Survey, Eastern Seaboard, Environmental Health Sciences, Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Utilities, EPA, of Physics, University of Notre Dame, CNN Health Locations: United States, Great, Central, Southern California

An upcoming study from researchers at Stanford University offers a new way to trace far-flung smoke and pollution back to individual wildfires of origin. What’s burning in a wildfire determines what kind of pollution is in the smoke. Dr. Ford and others have studied wildfire smoke patterns, as well as the resulting exposure to particulate matter pollution. But the Stanford researchers have pulled off something new by putting the two together, she said, especially over so many years and so much land area. Aside from that, Dr. Lin thought the Stanford study would be very useful in figuring out the real human toll of wildfire smoke.

Persons: ”, Jeff Wen, Mr, Wen, Bonne Ford, it’s, Ford, John Lin, Lin, Stanford Organizations: Stanford University, Stanford, . Canadian Forces, Reuters, Seaboard, Colorado State University, University of Utah Locations: United States, U.S, Mistissini, Quebec, Georgia, Florida

☆ Extreme weather is hitting parts of the US. That’s bad news for the economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

All told, at least a third of the US population is currently grappling with costly extreme weather events. In 2022, extreme weather events cost the United States about $165 billion, according to the NOAA. Sector by sector: Extreme weather impacts the economy writ large, but certain sectors tend to suffer more than others. Agriculture, construction, tourism and renewable energy sectors also tend to feel the brunt of extreme weather events. “We’re really poorly adapted to the extreme weather and climate that we have right now,” said Mankin.

Persons: New York CNN — We’ve, ”, Justin Mankin, Nam, we’ve, Andrew Watterson, Ian, “ We’re, Mark Thompson, it’s, —, Vladimir Putin, Brent, That’s Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Dartmouth College, Sunday, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, Travelers, Southwest Airlines, O'Hare International, Agriculture, Rystad Energy, Western, Federal Reserve Bank of New, Consumer Locations: New York, Texas, United States, Chicago, Florida, Russia, China, India, Russian, Moscow, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

☆ Wildfires halt and delay flights from New York to North Carolina as smoke blankets the Eastern Seaboard
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jake Swearingen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Thick smoke from wildfires in Canada has halted or delayed flights at major East Coast airports. Haze from distant wildfires blanketed cities from New York to North Carolina, reducing visibility. Reduced visibility from wildfire smoke will continue to impact air travel today. The smoke originates from over 450,000 acres of active wildfires burning across central and eastern Canada, focused in Ontario and Quebec. Forecasts show the wildfire smoke will continue to impact visibility and air quality for the next 24 to 48 hours, depending on the wind shifts.

Organizations: Eastern Seaboard, Morning, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, Midwest, New York's LaGuardia, Philadelphia International Airport, D.C Locations: Canada, Coast, New York, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Washington, Charlotte, New York City, DC, Ontario, Quebec

☆ Explainer: Why are wildfires raging in Canada's eastern Nova Scotia province?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Nia Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Smoke rises from a wildfire in Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia, Canada, May 28, 2023 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. HOW UNUSUAL ARE WILDFIRES IN NOVA SCOTIA? Atlantic Canada received low snowfall this winter, followed by an exceptionally dry spring. Weather forecasts show a period of cooler, wetter air is moving into Atlantic Canada on Friday, providing much-needed relief. The Weather Network's longer-term forecast expects Nova Scotia temperatures to be slightly warmer than normal for the rest of the summer.

Persons: Bill Blair, Michael Carter, Ellen Whitman, Whitman, Nia Williams, Michael Perry Organizations: REUTERS, Public Safety, Atlantic Canada, Halifax, Weather Network, Canadian Forest Service, Atlantic, Thomson Locations: Hammonds Plains , Nova Scotia, Canada, Nova Scotia, Nova, Acadian, Nova Scotia's, Halifax, Hurricane, Atlantic Canada, North America

☆ Nova Scotia: Why are wildfires raging in Canada's eastern province?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Nia Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

☆ This LA talent manager started her own business only using handshake deals. Here's how she landed top clients and helped them achieve what they care about most.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But she doesn't sign contracts with her clients, instead focusing on genuine relationships. Talent managers might have a bad rep with overbearing contracts and hefty fees, but for Perice and Made By All, clients are only held to a handshake. "I don't believe in contracts, so everything is a handshake for me, and my word is my contract," she said. Deals between clients and brands are done with signed contracts, but Perice still communicates with the NFL via DMs and texts. "Adam loves giving back, so we're able to really tie in the things that he cares about his brand."

Persons: Leanne Perice, She's, —, I'm, Teyana Taylor, Perice, –, Kanye, Taylor, Ugo Mozie, There's, influencer Helen Owen, Adam Waheed, it's, Waheed, Adam Organizations: Service, Interscope Records, NFL, DMs, CMO, UPS, Spice, Forbes Locations: Bali, West Coast, Los Angeles, Europe, Florence, Italy, Fairfax

☆ Southeast Asia’s worst-performing stock market is UBS’s ‘top pick’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Audrey Wan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Move Forward Party, attends a press conference of the Thai pro-democracy parties in Bangkok. While the benchmark SET index initially rose when the results came through, but eventually gave up those early gains. In fact, Thai stocks are the worst performers in Southeast Asia this year, but Tay says Thailand is his "top pick" in the region. Thailand's SET index is down 9.22% this year, the biggest laggard in the broader Asia Pacific region. The Move Forward party has called for reforms to the monarchy, including changing its defamation law.

☆ Our family loved living out of a converted van and bus so much that we started a business so others can share in the joys of #vanlife
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Jake and Gianna Bachowski spent years traveling the country and living on the road with their kids. The couple lived in a van when their oldest child was a baby and a bus when they had their second. As van and bus conversion experts, they help others do the same with their business Our Van Quest. Gianna: Before the van, we'd been trying to figure out how to spend more time together as a family. The Bachowskis' oldest child, Luna, sitting in the van her family lived in while traveling across the country.

☆ Our family is living on a four-bedroom boat while cruising the eastern seaboard for a year. It's not like the 'fabulous lifestyles of the rich and famous' that might come to mind.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Cinda: We're doing what's called the Great American Loop, which is a way to circumnavigate around the eastern seaboard of the US and Canada. A 6,000-mile journey around the eastern seaboardCinda: We started in Stuart, Florida, which is just north of the Palm Beach area. When you think of living on a boat, most people think fabulous lifestyles of the rich and famous. Mark: Some people go all in and sell everything and buy the boat, and the boat is their home residence. We bought our boat specifically to do the loop and we'll sell it when we're done with the loop.

☆ These US port cities are fighting to restrict cruise ships. It's easier said than done.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The pandemic offered coastal communities across the US a taste of life without cruise ships. Now, port cities in Florida, Maine, Alaska, and California are fighting to limit or ban the vessels. A few weeks prior, Juneau, Alaska's city assembly voted to cap the number of cruise ships visiting the capital's downtown port at five per day. According to one study commissioned by Stand.earth, an environmental organization, found that cruise passengers visiting Victoria, a major Canadian cruise port, were responsible for less than 2% of tourism spending. Do you live or work near a US cruise port?

☆ How this 26-year-old went from running bitcoin trading desks in Taco Bells to creating the largest crypto exchange in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +28 min

Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice just before meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Accra, Ghana. Chris MauriceFrom there, Yellow Card users can send or receive digital cash in eligible markets. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice in Accra, Ghana loading cash onto his Mobile Money account, MoMo. Yellow Card has facilitated $1.75 billion in transactions since launching in 2019 and has about 220 employees – mostly in Africa. A resident checks his phone outside a mobile money kiosk in the Kibera district of Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.

☆ People want to move to Florida's more affordable smaller towns, which some brokers predict will be more popular than cities like Miami this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Cities with small-town charm are seen as the places to be in Florida this year. Like many who were moving to the Sunshine State, it wasn't the big, expensive cities like Miami or Tampa that drew the Jones family. Small Southern cities within driving distance of major ones — and suburbs right outside big cities — were some of the most popular ZIP codes to move to in the past year, Opendoor data found. In short, areas like this have usurped big cities like Tampa and Miami as the places to be. But if people are moving to the area for peace and quiet, they might lose that in the future.

Power giant Orsted aims to build a huge offshore windfarm to help the country meet renewable goals. Last year the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates offshore energy activity, concluded that large crossovers between such ventures were unfeasible with current technology. This largely unreported clash risks undermining Britain's drive to meet its climate goals, according to the companies involved and a North Sea green transition expert. The BP-Orsted showdown could also presage similar disputes elsewhere in an increasingly crowded North Sea, the experts told Reuters. There is hope on the horizon for wind and CCS projects that share ground, say regulators and industry experts.

☆ VCs are investing in these hot areas of climate tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tens of billions of dollars are up for grabs for startups trying to solve the climate crisis. That means tens of billions of dollars are up for grabs for startups trying to solve the climate crisis. Industries known to be big polluters, such as agriculture, utilities, and commercial shipping, are ripe for change, the VCs said. Maxwell added that the influx of cash was encouraging more entrepreneurs and former Big Tech employees to enter the field. Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so sizable reductions could be a climate win.

A cold air mass over Alaska and western Canada was expanding to the south and east Sunday through the holiday week, the National Weather Service said Saturday. Icy "upper-level energy" ahead of the mass has already triggered winter weather advisories for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, forecasters said. It will eventually impact the northern Rocky Mountains, the Midwest, the Northeast and areas in between, the National Weather Service said. In all, more than 144,000 utility customers from New York state to New England were blacked out by the storm, according to NBC News estimates. As the night deepened Saturday, temperatures dove below freezing even in areas below the Mason-Dixon Line, with even colder weather en route.

☆ East Coast ports including New York are winning a domestic trade war at the expense of California
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

According to ITS Logistics which monitors rail cargo trends, the volume of freight moving out of the East Coast doubles that of the West Coast. East Coast ports making major investments East Coast ports like Georgia, Virginia and Maryland have been increasing their investment to accommodate the increase in rail capacity. "CSX continues to see the East Coast ports as a growth opportunity as volumes shift from congested West coast gateways," said Cindy Schild, CSX spokesperson. West Coast port declinewatch nowCargo volumes on the West Coast remained soft at the Port of Los Angeles in November, which saw a 21% decrease year over year in volumes. While the East Coast gains are significant, there was a "leveling" off of imports detected on the East Coast in November, according to port TEU data from the CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map.

☆ A 'California girl' settled down in a remote Canadian city with her husband. They were finally able to buy a home and have a slice of the American dream.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Bill Murphy Jr. | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Erin Ventura had no intention of leaving Los Angeles — until she met her Canadian husband, Justin Chiang. Erin Ventura grew up in Los Angeles, and she describes herself as "a California girl" through and through. But since Chiang was a Canadian citizen and Ventura was American, they had to choose which country to live in. Ventura said her husband was making a bit over 60,000 Canadian dollars a year playing in the military band. But I think in this case it's more of a 'big city, small city' kind of thing.

☆ Hurricane Nicole bears down on Florida's Atlantic coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] A car drives by a flooded street ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Nicole, in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S., November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Marco BelloMIAMI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Hurricane Nicole closed in on Florida's Atlantic shoreline early on Thursday with a brew of heavy downpours, fierce winds and a treacherous surge of ocean surf that threatened coastal areas still reeling from the last major storm six weeks ago. Nicole is expected to pack less punch at landfall than Ian, which struck Florida as a major Category 4 storm. Authorities warned, however, that Nicole still posed a formidable threat, especially to structures and coastal foundations weakened by Ian. "We have had a lot of flooding within the last couple of storms," Leanne Hansard, 53, a Daytona Beach resident, said as she was boarding up windows to her family's insurance office.

☆ Hurricane Nicole barrels into Florida's Atlantic coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nicole was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane as it thrashed the Bahamas on Wednesday. It was packing sustained winds of up to 75 mph (120 kph) as it made landfall along the east coast of Florida north of Miami, according to the National Hurricane Center. read moreThe hurricane center also issued storm-surge advisories for much of Florida's Atlantic coast, warning that wind-driven waves would wash over beaches and rush inland to flood low-lying areas well beyond the shore. Nicole is expected to pack less punch at landfall than Ian, which struck Florida as a major Category 4 storm. 'LAST OPPORTUNITY'[1/5] A car drives by a flooded street ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Nicole, in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S., November 9, 2022.

☆ Hurricane warning is issued for parts of Florida's east coast as Tropical Storm Nicole expected to strengthen
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Mirna Alsharif | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kathryn-Prociv.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Nicole on Tuesday was upgraded to a tropical storm and is expected to strengthen, prompting a hurricane warning for parts of east central Florida and the southeast coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane conditions including strong winds, rainfall and storm surge are expected in the northwestern Bahamas and along Florida's east coast on Wednesday, with tropical storm conditions possible in Georgia along the east coast as well. "Dangerous storm surge" anywhere from 3 to 5 feet is also expected along Florida and Georgia's east coast from North Palm Beach to the Altamaha Sound including. The northwest Bahamas can also expect storm surge of 4 to 6 feet above normal tide along the coast. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Monday for 34 counties in the path of the storm, including Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Orange and Sarasota counties.

☆ Storm Nicole churns toward Bahamas en route to Florida and hurricane status
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Beachgoers are shown as tropical storm Nicole approaches the state in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S., November 8, 2022. A hurricane warning was posted for Grand Bahama Island, Bimini, the Berry Islands and the Abacos in the northwestern corner of the West Indies archipelago nation, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. A 240-mile expanse of Florida's Atlantic shoreline from Boca Raton north to around Flagler Beach was likewise placed under a hurricane warning. "It's going to take more than a Category 1 hurricane or so to really move stuff and have them flying around." Forecasters said Nicole would likely sweep across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia on Thursday.

There are early signs that this year's flu shot appears to work well at keeping people out of the hospital. A report on Chile's flu season, released Thursday by the CDC, found the vaccine was 49% protective against flu-related hospitalizations. That might seem low, but from 2015 to 2020, flu shot effectiveness in the U.S. ranged from 29% to 48%. It's unclear whether this year's flu shots in the U.S. will be as effective as was found during Chile's flu season. Only about half of the population gets an annual flu shot, typically.

☆ A Third La Niña Winter Will Likely Extend Record Drought in U.S. West
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Talal Ansari | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Forecasters expect more drought for the U.S. West. La Niña will return to the U.S. for the third winter in a row, bringing with it warmer temperatures for the Southwest, Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center on Thursday forecast a drier-than-average winter across the South, but wetter-than-average conditions for areas including the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest.

Another key alumina supply channel was shut off by the closure, also in March, of the Nikolaev refinery in Ukraine. CONTINUED METAL FLOWSCertainly, the flow of Russian metal into Western markets has been robust since march. That extreme premium sucked in every spare unit of aluminium, including a lot of surplus Russian metal. A partial boycott will coincide with increased Russian supply as Rusal's domestic market weakens further under the broader economic sanctions package. You can understand why the aluminium market is starting to worry about the prospect of large volumes of unsold Russian metal being dumped into LME warehouses.

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