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☆ Feds propose options for managing Colorado River water shortage: 'Failure is not an option'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Photo taken on March 13, 2023 shows the Colorado River near Hoover Dam on the Arizona-Nevada border, the United States. The Biden administration on Tuesday released a document exploring potential solutions for managing the ongoing drought in the Colorado River Basin, which could be a step forward to imposing water delivery cuts from the Colorado River. "The Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million Americans. The Colorado River has long been over-allocated, but climate change has worsened drought conditions in the region and reservoir levels have plummeted over the past couple decades. Responding to the drought will require compromise from all of the states that depend on the 1,450-mile-long Colorado River for water.

☆ Russian volcano erupts, spewing out a vast cloud of ash
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Shiveluch erupts in Russian far eastAsh shoots up 20 km into the skyVast ash cloud in Russian far eastAviation warning issuedResidents trudge through ash driftsVLADIVOSTOK, Russia, April 11 (Reuters) - One of Russia's most active volcanoes erupted on Tuesday shooting a vast cloud of ash far up into the sky and smothering villages in drifts of grey volcanic dust, triggering an aviation warning around Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. The Shiveluch volcano erupted just after midnight reaching a crescendo about six hours later, spewing out a ash cloud over an area of 108,000 square kilometres, according to the Kamchatka Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Geophysical Survey. "The ash reached 20 kilometres high, the ash cloud moved westwards and there was a very strong fall of ash on nearby villages," said Danila Chebrov, director of the Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Survey. He said the volcano would probably calm now, but that further major ash clouds could not be excluded. Scientists posted pictures of the ash cloud billowing swiftly over the forests and rivers of the far east and of villages covered in ash.

☆ I started making candles from a humble craft kit and grew it into a million-dollar business. Here are the steps I took to go from Etsy to Nordstrom.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Lola Christina Alao | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tamara Mayne started making candles as gifts for her family with a store-bought candlemaking kit. I thought: Why not try and make some extra cash from selling candles on the side? I also started selling on Scoutmob — a now defunct website where buyers could discover independent makers, while still selling on Etsy and Squarespace. After a few weeks of just selling candles, I decided to pick up some freelance art-directing work to cover the bills. Our candles cost between $28 and $38 because of our increased overhead, when I first started selling them I was charging only $16.

☆ Record snowpack in California poses severe flood risk, officials warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

California's statewide snowpack could top records after a recent series of powerful storms, state water officials said Monday, and melting snow from the Sierra Nevada range poses a severe flood risk to some areas. This year's major snowfall provides some relief to California, which was three years into a prolonged drought and grappling with plummeting reservoir levels. "This year's result will go down as one of the largest snowpack years on record in California," said Sean de Guzman, manager of DWR's Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit. California's snowpack levels varied by region, with the Southern Sierra snowpack reaching 300% of its April 1 average and the Central Sierra reaching 237% of its April 1 average, officials said. And the critical Northern Sierra, home to the state's largest surface water reservoirs, is at 192% of its April 1 average.

☆ Social media apps are all starting to look the same. Here are the 4 biggest consequences of that and why creators will only get more rich.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Alex Kantrowitz | Big Technology | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He writes that every social media app is unleashing the same pool of content, and one app will win. Social media feeds are melting together. This week, let's look at four key ways the growing homogenization of social media will likely play out:1. And though the U.S. has more to debate on its advisability, he's spot on regarding how the state of social media will factor. But when the format appears on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, that type of standardization is appealing.

☆ Colombia raises alert level for deadly volcano on increased seismic activity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] An aerial view of Nevado Del Ruiz volcano located on the border of Caldas and Tolima April 10, 2013. REUTERS/John Vizcaino/BOGOTA, March 31 (Reuters) - Colombian authorities have raised the alert level for the deadly Nevado del Ruiz volcano to orange, suggesting a greater probability of an eruption in the coming days or weeks, due to an increase in seismic activity. The Nevado del Ruiz is a stratovolcano, or composite volcano, which straddles the border between Colombia's Tolima and Caldas provinces. "We have an orange alert due to the change in seismology at the Ruiz volcano. Mayors must prepare the protocols for this state of alert," President Gustavo Petro said in a Twitter message on Friday.

☆ A popular brand of hoverboard was just recalled, nearly a year after two sisters died in a fire authorities linked to the toy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The 42-volt model of Jetson Rogue Hoverboard was recalled this week. Following the fire in April, the Hellertown Borough Fire Marshal determined the Jetson Rogue Hoverboard started the blaze, local station WPVI reported. In a notice posted on its website on Thursday, the CPSC urged customers to immediately stop using the 42-volt version of Jetson Rogue Hoverboard. The recalled Jetson Rogue hoverboards were sold at Target stores nationwide and on the Jetson Rogue website, according to the CPSC. The Kaufman family purchased the hoverboard at Walmart, Lehigh Valley Live reported.

☆ Elderly Swiss women bring European court's first climate case
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

STRASBOURG, March 29 (Reuters) - Thousands of elderly Swiss women have joined forces in a groundbreaking case heard on Wednesday at the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that their government's "woefully inadequate" efforts to fight global warming violate their human rights. More than 100 supporters and climate activists from Greenpeace gathered outside the courtroom, holding banners and flowers. Stefanie Brander, a member of the association Senior Women for Climate Protection, said that she felt the government had underestimated the group until now. [1/8] A group from the Senior Women for Climate Protection association hold banners outside the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France March 29, 2023. The Swiss government, which twice won in domestic courts in a six-year legal battle, has argued that the case is inadmissible.

☆ We're halfway to a tipping point that would trigger 6 feet of sea level rise from melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

An aerial view of meltwater lakes formed at the Russell Glacier front, part of the Greenland ice sheet in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, on August 16, 2022. New research published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters found that carbon emissions are halfway to a tipping point after which 6 feet of sea level rise from the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet would be unstoppable. The further the Earth overshoots the first tipping point of 1,000 gigatons of carbon emissions, the faster the Greenland Ice Sheet will melt. If total emissions of carbon stay below the 1,000 gigatons of carbon emissions threshold, then the melting Greenland Ice Sheet would "only" contribute tens of centimeters to total sea level rise, he added. Avoiding carbon emissions is in any case much cheaper than the energy required to capture this carbon again," Höning told CNBC.

☆ Rising Antarctic ice melt will dramatically slow global ocean flows, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( David Stanway | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Natalie Thomas/SINGAPORE, March 29 (Reuters) - Rapidly melting Antarctic ice is dramatically slowing down the flow of water through the world's oceans, and could have a disastrous impact on global climate, the marine food chain and even the stability of ice shelves, new research has found. The "overturning circulation" of the oceans, driven by the movement of denser water towards the sea floor, helps deliver heat, carbon, oxygen and vital nutrients around the globe. But deep ocean water flows from the Antarctic could decline by 40% by 2050, according to a study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. Ocean overturning allows nutrients to rise up from the bottom, with the Southern Ocean supporting about three-quarters of global phytoplankton production, the base of the food chain, said a second study co-author, Steve Rintoul. Reporting by David Stanway; Additional reporting by Gloria Dickie in London; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'Climate lockdown' anger drives Swiss grandmother to sue Bern at EU court
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Her frustration with what she calls "climate lockdown" is part of her motivation for suing the Swiss government alongside more than 2,000 other elderly women in the first ever climate case before the European Court of Human Rights this week. Some of the other women in the case described shortness of breath, nausea and even loss of consciousness during heatwaves which are becoming more frequent due to climate change. More broadly, Switzerland said it recognises that climate change is a problem for the country where temperatures are rising about twice the global rate. Observers acknowledge that it may be difficult to prove the women's suffering is the result of climate change, rather than something else. But due to the advanced age of the Swiss women (73 on average), several dozen of them have already died.

☆ Germany is overhauling its immigration rules to bolster a rapidly shrinking workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Currently, only people with EU passports, or those who have one parent from Germany, are eligible to hold German citizenship. Immigration reforms based on Canada's points system, meanwhile, will make it easier for skilled workers to enter the country without having professional qualifications recognized in Germany. A January survey showed that more than half of German companies are struggling to fill vacancies due to a lack of skilled workers. The number of people who can come and set up businesses will be huge and a huge benefit for the country. "The number of people who can come and set up businesses will be huge and a huge benefit for the country."

☆ 4 reasons to buy Kia's super-quick $63,000 electric SUV and 3 ways it falls short
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I drove Kia's high-performance electric SUV: the 2023 EV6 GT. Pro: Impeccable styleThe 2023 Kia EV6 GT. Con: Stiff rideThe 2023 Kia EV6 GT. Tim Levin/InsiderThe EV6's saving grace is it offers some of the quickest charging on the electric-car market. Tim Levin/InsiderThe EV6 GT comes loaded with impressive features that make driving it feel safe and convenient.

☆ These eight charts show why climate change matters right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment ReportGlobal warming is caused when greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane trap heat in the atmosphere. Climate change is already having impacts on human life and well-beingZoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards This chart shows the various impacts climate change has on water availability, food production, health and well-being, cities and infrastructure and biodiversity and ecosystems. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment ReportMany of the worst impacts of climate change will come to pass in the lives of the youngest humans. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment ReportThe globe has warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the IPCC report says. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment ReportA slight change in the average change of the earth's temperature will impact different populations differently.

☆ Texts from the Dominion lawsuit reveal the real Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Rebecca Zisser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Among the messages is a thread where Tucker Carlson privately bashes Trump. Dominion captured a number of texts that show Fox employees' apprehension about the growing conspiracy claims about the company's voting machines in the wake of the election. Top Fox News hosts, including Tucker Carlson, privately insulted Chris Wallace and hatched a plot for a rebellion — November, 16, 2020. In a group chat between the three biggest hosts, Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham, few colleagues, including then-"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace, were spared. In a group chat between the three biggest hosts, Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham, few colleagues such as then-"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace were spared.

☆ Candida auris is just one infection fueled by rising temperatures. See how extreme climate helps spread disease, in 3 simple charts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Climate change may be driving the rapid spread of Candida auris, a deadly fungus, across the US. Three charts show how extreme weather and environmental changes help spread disease. Nicolas Armer/picture alliance via Getty ImagesA leading theory on this fungus's sudden emergence and wide spread is that it's fueled by climate change. Whatever survives, however, is adapted to extreme heat — including the fever our bodies produce to kill off pathogens. David Ryder/Getty ImagesHumans and their infrastructure are more vulnerable to the devastating impacts of disease when they're compromised by extreme weather.

☆ The Earth has tilted on its axis differently over the last few decades due to melting ice caps
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Aylin Woodward | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Earth's axis — the invisible line around which it spins — is bookended by the north and south poles. But their geographic locations aren't fixed: As the Earth's axis moves, so do the poles. If you average out thousands of years of observation the Earth's axis points in a single direction — toward the North Star, also known as Polaris. The recent change to Earth's axis won't affect our everyday lives, but it could slightly tweak the length of our days. But let's be clear that this would be a tiny, tiny, tiny effect," he said.

☆ Wet winter eases California drought, giving way to spring flood risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Climate change is driving both wet and dry extremes," NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement. "We're not calling for catastrophic and major widespread flooding," said Ed Clark, director of NOAA's National Water Center. California's winter was marked by a punishing succession of so-called atmospheric river storms, the product of vast, dense airborne currents of water vapor funneled in from the tropical Pacific. The storms have unleashed widespread flooding, mudslides, power outages, fallen trees, surf damage, road wash-outs and evacuations since late December. "Winter precipitation, combined with recent storms, wiped out exceptional and extreme drought in California for the first time since 2020, and is expected to further improve drought conditions this spring," NOAA said.

The Nor'easter left about 190,000 homes and businesses in New York and New England without power as of Wednesday morning, according PowerOutage.com, a tracking service. In California, about an equal number of customers had no electric service on Wednesday in the wake of the latest in a series of atmospheric river storms to churn through the state this winter. [1/3] A California plate is seen at an area affected by floods after days of heavy rain in Pajaro, California, U.S., March 14, 2023. Along California's coast and lower inland areas, the heavy rain and melting alpine snow triggered renewed flooding from rain-swollen rivers and streams, compromising levees. "It's a little too soon to say for sure if it's another atmospheric river, but the storm is coming," he said.

[1/7] Floodwaters from the Pajaro River are seen flowing under Highway 1, currently closed by officials, in Monterey County, California, U.S. March 14, 2023. read moreNine atmospheric rivers already lashed California in rapid succession from late December through mid-January, triggering widespread flooding, levee failures, mudslides and punishing surf. Massive flooding from failed levees on the Pajaro River in Monterey County this weekend prompted hundreds of evacuations and dozens of water rescues. Mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect for residents in 10 California counties on Tuesday, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Nathan Frandino in Monterey County, California; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Trans-Arctic Cable Poses New Challenges for Subsea Operators
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The techniques for laying undersea cable have largely stayed the same for the past 70 years, but an effort to lay cable through the Arctic could require cable-layers to reimagine some parts of the decades-old process. A joint venture of Alaskan, Finnish and Japanese telecommunications carriers has contracted Alcatel Submarine Networks to lay a cable that will go west from Europe, through the Northwest Passage in Canada, and land in Japan—a new route enabled in part by the region’s melting due to climate change.

[1/3] A truck drives through a flooded road after an atmospheric river storm system in Hayward, California, U.S. March 10, 2023. As much as 5 inches (13 cm) of rain has already fallen in some spots across the county, with some seeing as much as 7 inches. U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday declared an emergency in California, ordering federal assistance to help local, tribal and state officials respond to the severe weather. The heavy rains in northern and central California raised concerns that melting snow from a spate of blizzards in mid-elevation mountains could add to runoff and cause flooding downstream. Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles, Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ California flood watch issued as next atmospheric river looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Reuters) - Flood watch notices were posted across northern and central California for Thursday ahead of an atmospheric river storm expected to douse much of the state with heavy rain, including mountain areas still buried from a near-record snowfall. But smaller, waterfront communities along several major rivers and their tributaries also braced for the possibility of overflowing streams swollen by heavy showers and runoff of melting snow. Elsewhere, the NWS issued "prepare now" alerts for residents along the Big Sur, Carmel, Salinas and Pajaro rivers. "It's really a combination of all this heavy rainfall coming and also rapidly melting snow." The looming deluge follows a three-week barrage of nine atmospheric river storms that struck California in late December through mid-January, triggering widespread flooding as well as hundreds of mudslides, rockfalls and sinkholes across the state.

☆ Pentagon chief visits Israel amid West Bank violence, anti-Netanyahu protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Idrees Ali | Thomson Reuters | National Security Correspondent Focusing On The Pentagon In Washington D.C. Reports On U.S. Military Activity | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Hours earlier, Israeli forces killed three Islamic Jihad gunmen in the West Bank, among territories that have seen simmering violence amid the Palestinians' long-stalled goal of statehood. "We’re especially disturbed by violence by settlers against Palestinians," Austin said, adding that his discussions were frank and candid. Austin had originally been due to arrive on Wednesday and stay overnight in Tel Aviv, where Israel's Defence Ministry is based. FLASHPOINTSAmong West Bank flashpoints concerning the United States is the village of Huwara, where the Feb. 26 killing by a Palestinian gunman of two brothers from a Jewish settlement triggered revenge riots by settlers. The rampage triggered worldwide outrage and condemnation, which increased when ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has responsibility for aspects of the West Bank administration, said Huwara should be "erased".

☆ Israeli reservist colonel dismissed over judicial reform protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, March 9 (Reuters) - The Israeli air force said on Thursday that it had dismissed a reservist officer in the military for trying to orchestrate group walkouts from training flights as part of a spreading protest at judicial reforms planned by the government. Separately, air force chief Major-General Tomer Bar said the colonel "took upon himself inappropriate authority in his contact with the IAF pilots. Netanyahu says this will restore balance between branches of government but critics see it as an effort to hollow out judicial independence. The protest in the ranks jarred Israelis, who see their conscript-based military as a melting-pot that should be kept free of politics. Air force crews in the reserves take part in training as volunteers, without a legal obligation to attend.

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