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☆ Brood XIII and Brood XIX: What to expect from 2024’s rare double brood emergence of cicadas
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The 13-year group, known as Brood XIX, or the Great Southern Brood, is the largest periodical cicada brood, stretching across the southeastern United States. The Northern Illinois Brood, or Brood XIII, emerges every 17 years. Periodical cicadas are smaller and mostly black, with bright red eyes and orange-tinged wings and legs. Billions of cicadas are expected this spring as two different broods — Broods XIX and XIII — emerge simultaneously. However, predictions of a cicadapocalypse — in which Brood XIII and Brood XIX show up at the same place at the same time — are probably an exaggeration.

Persons: hasn’t, Thomas Jefferson, —, “, ”, Jonathan Larson, don’t, XIII —, Jason Bergman, ” Larson, We’re, Chris Simon, XIII haven't, Chip Somodevilla, Larson, Cheney Orr, ” Simon, Kate Golembiewski Organizations: CNN, Southern, Northern Illinois, University of Kentucky, Midwest, University of Connecticut, Reuters Locations: United States, Indianapolis, Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky , Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina , Georgia, Alabama , Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Columbia , Maryland, America, Chicago

☆ A protester self-immolates outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Colbi Edmonds | More About Colbi Edmonds | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A protester self-immolated on Friday afternoon outside of the Israeli Consulate building in Atlanta, in what the police described as “likely an extreme act of political protest.”A security guard tried to intervene but was unsuccessful, officials said. “Our prayers are with the security officer who was injured while trying to prevent this tragic act.”The self-immolation occurred outside a building in the Midtown area of Atlanta that houses the consulate and several other offices. “It appears to have been focused outside the building. I’m not aware of an attempt to enter the building,” Chief Schierbaum said, adding: “I have met with the consul general. All the residents of this building are safe.”The Atlanta F.B.I.

Persons: Roderick M, Smith, Darin Schierbaum, ” Anat Sultan, Dadon, ”, “, I’m, Schierbaum Organizations: Consulate, Grady Memorial Hospital, Palestinian, Southeastern Locations: Atlanta, Grady, Israel, Southeastern United States, Midtown

☆ Birds in the Americas Will No Longer Be Named After People
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Katrina Miller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The American Ornithological Society, which is the organization responsible for standardizing English bird names across the Americas, announced on Wednesday that it would rename all species honoring people. The organization’s decision is a response to pressure from birders to redress the recognition of historical figures with racist or colonial pasts. The renaming process will aim for more descriptive names about the birds’ habitats or physical features and is part of a broader push in science for more welcoming, inclusive environments. “We’re really doing this to address some historic wrongs,” said Judith Scarl, the executive director of the American Ornithological Society. Dr. Scarl added that the change would help “engage even more people in enjoying and protecting and studying birds.”

Persons: James John Audubon, Winfield Scott, We’re, ”, Judith Scarl, Scarl Organizations: American Ornithological Society, U.S . Civil Locations: Americas, United States, Southwest, Mexico, birders

☆ Where This Summer Was Relentlessly Hot
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Zach Levitt | Elena Shao | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Where This Summer Was Relentlessly Hot The planet just experienced its hottest months on record, and by a large margin, scientists said. Some areas, including northern Canada and some of Greenland, show temperatures more than 6 degrees Fahrenheit (3.3 degrees Celsius) above average. Phoenix, which is known for its extreme heat, shows temperatures more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) above average. The global map spins to South America, where average daily temperatures were higher than normal for much of the continent. Areas of Sudan and Ethiopia show temperatures greater than 6 degrees Fahrenheit (3.3 degrees Celsius) higher than normal.

Organizations: Phoenix, El, Democratic Locations: North America, Canada, Mexico, Greenland, United States, El Paso, Texas, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, La, Chilean, America, Paraguay, Europe, Croatia, Switzerland, Marseille, France, Spain, Romania, Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, East, Ethiopia, China, Turpan, Mongolia

A new global assessment has found that 41% of amphibian species that scientists have studied are threatened with extinction, meaning they are either vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. “Amphibians are the world's most threatened animals,” said Duke University's Junjie Yao, a frog researcher who was not involved in the study. But a growing percentage of amphibian species are now also pushed to the brink by novel diseases and climate change, the study found. The study identified the greatest concentrations of threatened amphibian species in several biodiversity hotspots, including the Caribbean islands, the tropical Andes, Madagascar and Sri Lanka. Other locations with large numbers of threatened amphibians include Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, southern China and the southeastern United States.

Persons: ”, Duke University's Junjie Yao, Michael Ryan, Patricia Burrowes, Juan Manuel Guayasamin, Guayasamin Organizations: University of Texas, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Northern, University San Francisco, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Madrid, Quito, Ecuador, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Forest, China, United States

Hurricane Idalia intensified overnight and is now a Category 4 storm heading toward Florida’s Gulf Coast. The strongest part of the storm will be over Florida’s Big Bend, where the state’s long peninsula curves to meet its Panhandle. More than half of Florida’s western coastline is at risk of life-threatening storm surges, as rising ocean water floods towns. Tallahassee is preparing for outages that could last days, expecting its strongest storm in decades. That’s partly because of human-driven climate change, which appears to have contributed to record-breaking ocean temperatures off the Florida coast.

Persons: Idalia, You’re, Ron DeSantis, ”, Heath Davis, “ Organizations: Carolinas, ”, Florida National Guard, California . Locations: Florida’s Gulf, Big Bend, United States, West, Central Florida, Georgia, Florida, Tallahassee, Tampa, Naples, Fla, California, U.S

☆ For Migrating Birds, It’s the Flight of Their Lives
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Simone NoronhaFor Migrating Birds, It’s the Flight of Their Lives Leer en españolAmerica’s birds are in trouble. If migrating birds lose their winter refuges, the consequences will ripple across the hemisphere. MissouriMissouri provides breeding habitats for many grassland bird species, which have been faring especially poorly in recent decades. “This is a classic Pacific Northwest to west Mexico species,” Mr. Jiang said. The birds breed at marshes and wetlands across the Western United States and Canada.

Persons: Simone Noronha, “, ”, Viviana Ruiz, Gutierrez, Jeremy Radachowsky, Ken Rosenberg, Deb Hahn, Hahn, Anna Lello, Smith, Sarah Kendrick, Nick Bayly, That’s, Andrew Stillman, Archie Jiang, Mr, Jiang, Dr, Stillman, Camila Gómez, ” Dr, Ruiz Organizations: Center, Avian, Cornell, of Ornithology, Wildlife Conservation Society, Partners, New, New York Metro Area, UNITED STATES, BERMUDA BAHAMAS MEXICO Maya, PERU Moderate, Forest, Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Southern Wings, The, Central, Mesoamerican Alliance for People, Forests Initiative, Forests Initiative . Missouri, CANADA UNITED STATES, BERMUDA CUBA MEXICO VENEZUELA COSTA RICA BRAZIL, U.S . Fish, Wildlife Service, Missouri Department of Conservation, Colorado Colorado, CANADA, ARGENTINA CANADA Colo, U.S, Bird Conservancy, Rockies, , Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, UNITED STATES Calif, Western Locations: North America, United States, Canada, Costa Rican, Caribbean, U.S, eBird, New York, BERMUDA BAHAMAS MEXICO, BRAZIL, PERU, CHILE, ARGENTINA, PERU Moderate CHILE, Forest BRAZIL, CHILE ARGENTINA, Forest BRAZIL PERU, New York City, Bahamas, The New York, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Central America, Central American, Forests Initiative ., Forests Initiative . Missouri Missouri, South America, BERMUDA MEXICO VENEZUELA COSTA RICA, Missouri, BERMUDA MEXICO VENEZUELA COSTA RICA BRAZIL, BERMUDA CUBA MEXICO VENEZUELA COSTA RICA, BERMUDA CUBA MEXICO VENEZUELA COSTA RICA BRAZIL PERU, Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, Central, South, SELVA, Colombia, Costa Rica, Plains, UNITED STATES MEXICO ECUADOR, Colorado, UNITED STATES Colo, MEXICO ECUADOR BRAZIL, Northern Mexico, Texas, California, West Coast, Alaska, Pacific, MEXICO, URUGUAY ARGENTINA Alaska, Salt, CHILE URUGUAY ARGENTINA Alaska, BRAZIL PERU BOLIVIA, URUGUAY ARGENTINA, Sierra Nevada, Chile, Western United States

☆ Aldi to Buy 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket Stores
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Amanda Holpuch | More About Amanda Holpuch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The German supermarket chain Aldi is acquiring hundreds of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores in the southeastern United States, the company announced on Wednesday. Aldi said the deal included about 400 grocery stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Some of the locations will be converted into Aldi stores, while the others will remain operating under their current brands. Aldi, a discount retailer, opened its first stores in the United States in 1976. The chief executive of Aldi USA, Jason Hart, said in a statement that the company hoped to keep growing in the United States and that it aimed to add 120 new stores in the country this year.

Persons: Aldi, Jason Hart Organizations: Aldi, Dixie, Harveys, Aldi USA Locations: Winn, United States, Alabama , Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi

☆ Ocean temperatures around South Florida hit hot-tub levels
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Maria Cardona | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Citizen scientist from Mote Laboratories replants corals on Florida's Keys vulnerable reefs, in Key West, Florida, U.S., July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Maria Alejandra Cardona/File PhotoKEY LARGO, Florida, July 25 (Reuters) - The surface ocean temperature in and around the Florida Keys soared to typical hot tub levels this week, amid recent warnings from global weather monitors about the dangerous impact of warming waters on ecosystems and extreme weather events. The WMO and NOAA say temperatures like those in South Florida can be deadly for marine life and threaten ocean ecosystems. He's also been seeing more dead fish in waters around Key Largo. Reporting by Maria Alejandro Cardona in Key Largo and Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; editing by Donna BrysonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Maria Alejandra Cardona, Dustin Hansel, He's, Hansel, Maria Alejandro Cardona, Brad Brooks, Donna Bryson Organizations: Citizen, Mote Laboratories, REUTERS, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, National Data, United Nations, World Meteorological Organization, El Nino, WMO, Key Largo, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Key West , Florida, U.S, LARGO , Florida, Florida, Manatee, United States, South Florida, Key, Lubbock , Texas

A recently discovered letter written by President Abraham Lincoln that offers a glimpse into his thinking during the early part of the Civil War sold this week in Pennsylvania for $85,000, according to an autograph dealer. “Discovering unpublished, unknown letters of Abraham Lincoln is increasingly rare,” Mr. Raab said in a statement about the document on the Pennsylvania collection’s website. The letter, which measures 5 by 8 inches, was sold to a private collector in the southeastern United States on Wednesday, Mr. Raab said. Dated Aug. 19, 1861, the short letter is addressed to Charles Ellet Jr., an American civil engineer and Union Army colonel, who had met the president and lobbied him for the creation of a civil engineering corps. Colonel Ellet had insisted that immediate action be taken to understand the South’s infrastructure because he felt that Washington was vulnerable.

Persons: Abraham Lincoln, Nathan Raab, Raab, Mr, Charles Ellet Jr, Ellet Organizations: Pennsylvania, Union Army Locations: Pennsylvania, United States, American, Washington

☆ China: 'Hacker empire' US is 'spreading rumours' with talk of Cuba spy station
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, June 9 (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry on Friday said "spreading rumours and slander" is a common tactic of "hacker empire" the United States, after a media report that China has reached a deal with Cuba to set up an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island. Cuba and China have reached an agreement in principle, the U.S. officials said, with China to pay Cuba "several billion dollars" for the eavesdropping station, according to the Journal. "As we all know, spreading rumours and slander is a common tactic of the United States," said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry. "The United States is also the most powerful hacker empire in the world, and also veritably a major monitoring nation." The reported deal could raise questions about a near-term visit to China that U.S. officials say Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning.

Persons: John Kirby, Wang Wenbin, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, Liz Lee, Ryan Woo, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Wall Street Journal, White House National Security Council, Reuters, Cuban, Foreign, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, United States, China, Cuba, Beijing, U.S, Washington, America, Caribbean

Such a spy installation would allow Beijing to gather electronic communications from the southeastern United States, which houses many U.S. military bases, as well as monitor ship traffic, the newspaper reported. The countries have reached an agreement in principle, the officials said, with China to pay Cuba "several billion dollars" to allow the eavesdropping station, according to the Journal. The intelligence on the plans for a Cuba station was gathered in recent weeks and was convincing, the Journal reported. Cuba, an old Cold War foe of the United States, has long been a hotbed of espionage and spy games. It backed down and removed the missiles, but it is widely regarded as the moment when the United States and the Soviet Union came closest to a nuclear confrontation.

Persons: Fort Bragg, John Kirby, Biden, Antony Blinken, Washington's, Bob Menendez, ”, Vladimir Putin, Doina Chiacu, Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom, Patricia Zengerle, Dave Sherwood, Jonathan Landay, Nick Zieminski, Alistair Bell Organizations: Wall Street, U.S, U.S . Central Command, Tampa . Fort Liberty, Fort, White House National Security Council, Embassy, Senate Foreign Relations, Capitol, Reuters, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, Cuban, Moscow, Soviet Union, Thomson Locations: China, Cuba, Florida, Beijing, United States, Tampa . Fort, North Carolina, People’s Republic, Washington, Cuban, U.S, America's, Coast, South, Taiwan, South China, Havana, Soviet, Lourdes, Russian

☆ As South Carolina governor signs new law, abortion restrictions strain providers in U.S. South
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The South Carolina House of Representatives is called back by Gov. "This is a great day for life in South Carolina, but the fight is not over. We stand ready to defend this legislation against any challenges and are confident we will succeed," Republican South Carolina Gov. The new law signed by South Carolina governor's will change that status, according to Caitlin Myers, an economics professor at Middlebury College. Over the past two months, Republican officials in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida have pushed Virginia closer to being a regional outlier as a place with relatively permissive access.

☆ Rice. Half of Humanity Eats It. And Climate Change Is Wrecking It.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

Sometimes there’s not enough rain when seedlings need water, or too much when the plants need to keep their heads above water. Rice farmers are shifting their planting calendars. On top of that, there’s climate change: It has upended the rhythm of sunshine and rain that rice depends on. That’s a fraction of the emissions from coal, oil and gas, which together account for 35 percent of methane emissions. His experiment, carried out over seven years, concluded that by not flooding the fields continuously, farmers can reduce rice methane emissions by more than 60 percent.

☆ These Spiders Look Frightening, but They May Be Scaredy-Cats
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Joro spiders are the size of your palm. “If you’re an arachnophobe, they’re the stuff of your nightmares,” said Andy Davis, a biologist at the University of Georgia who studies them. But, Dr. Davis said, joros are “gentle giants” that are prone to shyness and are more inclined to freeze than to fight. By comparison, smaller spiders appeared relatively unfazed, indicating that even big, scary spiders can be scaredy-cats. Joros were first spotted in northeastern Georgia in 2013; Dr. Davis’s best guess is that the spiders’ eggs arrived in shipping containers, because they tended to show up around highways.

☆ Pablo Escobar and the real story behind 'Cocaine Bear'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Chris Dalby | Insight Crime | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"Cocaine Bear" depicts an ursine rampage through Georgia's Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. The film is a fictionalization of a real event involving a bear finding cocaine thrown from a drug-laden airplane. Plenty has been written on the film's fictionalization of a real event involving a bear finding cocaine thrown from a drug-laden airplane. The real bear, which found packets of cocaine in the forest in 1985, never got a chance to go on a murder spree. The companyFor all its insanity, Cocaine Bear screenwriter Jimmy Warden does include elements of the real story.

☆ Alligator captured in Brooklyn's Prospect Park Lake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Members of the Parks Enforcement Patrol and Urban Park Rangers capture an alligator from a lake in Prospect Park in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, U.S., February 19, 2023. Courtesy of NYC Parks/Handout via REUTERSFeb 20 (Reuters) - New York City park staff stumbled across a sickly alligator in Brooklyn's Prospect Park this weekend, the Parks Department said, and rangers captured the lost reptile and brought it to the Bronx Zoo for care. Park maintenance staff found the alligator in Prospect Park Lake on Sunday morning, in the heart of the concrete jungle, and noted that it appeared lethargic and in a state of cold shock. The New York City Parks department issued a public warning against releasing non-native animals into the city's environment, which is illegal. New York City Urban Park Rangers respond to about 500 calls regarding animals in poor condition each year.

☆ Exclusive: Huge chunk of plants, animals in U.S. at risk of extinction
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Brad Brooks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Luisa GonzalezFeb 6 (Reuters) - A leading conservation research group found that 40% of animals and 34% of plants in the United States are at risk of extinction, while 41% of ecosystems are facing collapse. Importantly, the report pinpoints the areas in the United States where land is unprotected and where animals and plants are facing the most threats. Nearly half of all cacti species are at risk of extinction, while 200 species of trees, including a maple-leaf oak found in Arkansas, are also at risk of disappearing. The threats against plants, animals and ecosystems are varied, the report found, but include "habitat degradation and land conversion, invasive species, damming and polluting of rivers, and climate change." California, Texas and the southeastern United States are where the highest percentages of plants, animals and ecosystems are at risk, the report found.

☆ In Texas, hunters shoot feral pigs from helicopters
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Evan Garcia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRYAN, Texas, Feb 3 (Reuters) - On a bitterly cold January morning, a helicopter soars above central Texas farmland. The four passengers hanging outside the aircraft are hunting - going after feral hogs, an invasive species in the southeastern United States. First introduced to North America by early explorers hundreds of years ago, feral hogs can wreak havoc on agriculture, tearing up soil and eating plants. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, an estimated 6.9 million feral hogs roamed the United States in 2016 – with more than one-third of that population, 2.6 million hogs, living in Texas. For hunters like Mitchell Birkett, a 21-year-old Texas A&M University student, going after the hogs was a chance to combine pleasure with purpose.

☆ BNP Paribas' $16 bln U.S. sale to BMO wins regulatory OK
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), France's biggest listed bank, said on Wednesday that it had received all the necessary regulatory approvals to complete its previously announced sale of Bank of the West to Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO). BNP Paribas added that this transaction was expected to close on Feb 1. "The closing of the Bancwest sale has been long-awaited ... and is a significant positive catalyst for BNP shares in our view," Jefferies analysts said in a note. Once the deal closes, it will bring nearly 1.8 million commercial, retail, wealth management and business banking customers and over 9,300 Bank of the West employees to BMO. Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Silvia Aloisi and Manya Saini in Bengaluru editing by Jason Neely and Chizu NomiyamaOur 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.

☆ Fed up with high gas prices and slow Amazon deliveries? Blame these 2 century-old laws that need to be repealed.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-13 | by ( Colin Grabow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

A well-oiled transportation system is vital to keeping the economy humming — especially in a country as large as the United States. Unfortunately, Americans' ability to get resources where they need to go has been crippled by a pair of outdated laws: the Jones Act and the Foreign Dredge Act. As with Jones Act ships, hopper dredges constructed in US shipyards are significantly more expensive than those built abroad. But despite these huge costs, the Jones Act and the Foreign Dredge Act survive largely intact. The Jones Act and the Foreign Dredge Act are just two examples among many, and behind each one lies an entrenched interest group dedicated to its preservation.

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