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☆ Canadian wildfire smoke creates hazy skies and unhealthy air quality in New York City
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The sun is shrouded as it rises in a hazy, smoky sky behind the Empire State Building, One Vanderbilt and the Chrysler Building in New York City, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey, June 6, 2023. New York City has some of the worst air quality in the country this week because of smoke that has drifted south from wildfires burning in Canada. The ratings for air quality levels across the five boroughs reached into the 150s Tuesday, according to the U.S. government online platform AirNow. Officials warned residents to limit time outdoors and emphasized people with respiratory illnesses or heart disease are especially vulnerable to the dangerous air quality conditions. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued an air quality health advisory Tuesday for New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens and Richmond counties and the surrounding suburbs.

Organizations: Vanderbilt, Chrysler, World Health Organization, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Locations: New York City, Jersey City , New Jersey, Canada, New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond

☆ Shark attacks in the US occur most in these 12 states
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Rupendra Brahambhatt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Shark attacks are more common in the US than in any other place in the world. But if you think shark attacks are only limited to remote and isolated islands, you'd be surprised to know that the US has seen more unprovoked shark attacks than any other country, by far, and many of these attacks happen near crowded beaches. Where the most shark attacks occur in the USSince the 16th century, 1,604 unprovoked shark attacks have been reported in the US, according to the International Shark Attack File. That's more than double the number of shark attacks in Australia, which holds the second-highest number of attacks at 691. "Shark attacks are rare and it is extremely rare for people to be eaten when they occur," Sorensen said.

Persons: —, Alexis Rosenfeld, Peter Sorensen, WENDELL TEODORO, James Sulikowski, Gavin Naylor, Sorensen Organizations: Service, Turks, South Carolina, North Carolina, Department of Fisheries, University of Minnesota, Florida Department of Environment Protection, Coastal Oregon, Experiment, AP, Florida Program, Shark Research, University of Florida Locations: Florida, Caicos, Buchan, Australia, America, Hawaii, California, South, North, Texas, Oregon, New York, Georgia, New Jersey, Alabama, Massachusetts, Virginia , Louisiana , Delaware

☆ China is drilling a hole over 33,000-feet-deep to explore the Earth's crust
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

China has begun drilling a hole over 10,000 meters (32,808 feet) deep into the Earth's crust. Chinese President Xi Jinping named deep Earth sciences one of four strategic frontiers to explore. The drilling project, led by the country's largest oil producer China National Petroleum Corp., would be among the deepest ever drilled. In a 2021 speech addressing the nation's top scientists, Chinese President Xi Jinping named deep Earth sciences one of four strategic frontiers to explore. The deepest hole is still the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia, which reached 12,262 meters (40,230 feet) in 1989 after 20 years of drilling.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Wang Chunsheng Organizations: Service, Privacy, Scientists, China National Petroleum Corp, Xinhua, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Bloomberg Locations: China, Xinjiang, Xinhua, Russia

[1/4] Holly O’Neill, President of Retail Banking at Bank of America speaks during a Newsmaker interview with Reuters in New York City, New York, U.S., May 31, 2023. "The consumer is still very healthy," Holly O'Neill, Bank of America's president of retail banking, said at a Reuters Newsmaker event. U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in April, boosting the economy's growth prospects for the second quarter. Consumer spending on Bank of America cards fell 1.2 percent in April compared with a year earlier, the first year-on-year decline since February 2021, its data showed. The biggest shot O'Neill took in her career was moving to the consumer bank after serving as chief operating officer of the private-banking division.

Persons: Holly O’Neill, Mike Segar, Holly O'Neill, O'Neill, Erica, Lananh Nguyen, Saeed Azhar, Nupur Anand, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Retail Banking, Bank of America, Reuters, REUTERS, Bank of America Corp, Bank of, JPMorgan Chase &, First, Bank, Thomson Locations: New York City , New York, U.S

☆ 3 New York teens arrested in connection with killing and ‘consuming’ beloved village swan, police say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Zenebou Sylla | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Three teenagers have been arrested in connection with killing and “consuming” a beloved swan in a Syracuse, New York, suburb, and stealing four young swans this week, police said. A mature female swan named Faye and her four young swans, also known as cygnets, were reported missing from the swan pond Monday, police in the village of Manlius said. The three friends, who attend the same high school, hopped over the fence surrounding the swan pond in the middle of the night, Hatter said. We will continue to have swans,” Whorrall said. The swans have been in Manlius since 1905, according to Whorrall, and the village cares for and feeds them.

Persons: Faye, Tina Stanton, Stanton, Ken Hatter, Hatter, ”, Manlius Mayor Paul Whorrall, Faye’s, Manny –, Whorrall, ” Whorrall, “ We’ll, Manlius, old’s, ” Hatter Organizations: CNN, Police, Manlius Mayor, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation Locations: Syracuse , New York, Manlius, New York

☆ A pledge to fight climate change is sending money to strange places
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

That failure has helped keep climate finance at the top of the agenda at annual U.N. climate conferences, such as last year’s COP27, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Some officials from potential recipient countries say that, before more money starts to flow, clearer definitions of what qualifies as climate finance and more transparency in reporting contributions are needed. A SIMEST official said that the agency’s work is not focused on climate change and that it is not involved in Italy's climate finance reporting. Source: Reuters analysis of climate finance data nations reported to the U.N. Japan’s foreign ministry, not JICA, is responsible for reporting climate finance to the U.N., Takeda said.

Persons: COP27, Matthew Samuda, Venchi, hasn’t, Fred Béliard, Nicolas Fierens Gevaert, Mohammad Hossain, Sachiko Takeda, Takeda, Hiroshi Onuma, Matarbari, “, ” Organizations: Jamaica's Ministry of Economic, Reuters, Italy's Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, United, Marriott, Fatima Group, U.S . State Department, Roja, French Development Agency, U.S, Power Cell, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Locations: Paris, Sharm el, Sheikh, Egypt, Dubai, Jamaica's, Japan, China, Indonesia, Asia, SIMEST, Italy, United States, Haitien, Haiti, Marriott, U.S, Belgium, Argentina, France, Mexico, Kenya, South Africa, Bangladesh, San Francisco, Germany, “ Japan

☆ Steakholder Foods and Umami Meats have teamed up to create the world's first 3D-printed cultivated fish fillet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Michelle Cohan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A “Star Trek“-like, food-on-demand 3D printer has just served up a real, cultivated fish fillet for the first time. Steakholder Foods, a startup based in Israel, produced the 3D-printed cut of grouper – “a significant milestone in the food industry,” says Arik Kaufman, CEO of Steakholder Foods. Chicken nuggets from Steakholder Foods, pictured, are considered a hybrid product, containing both plant-based and cultured ingredients. At the time of writing, Singapore is the only country in the world where cultivated meat products are commercially available. “One way is to create hybrid products, so something that (combines) cultivated meat with plant-based meat or conventional meat,” Block tells CNN.

Persons: ”, Arik Kaufman, Mihir Pershad, ” Kaufman, we’ve, Orit Goldman, Liz Specht, Davis, Ronen Mangan, David Block, GFI’s Specht Organizations: CNN, Steakholder Foods, Good Food Institute, UN, of California, NASA, Foods, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, UC Davis, Consortium Locations: Israel, Singapore, bioreactors, California

☆ Earth is 'really quite sick now' and in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Earth is in the scientific "danger zone" for all environmental measures by air pollution, according to a new study. If the planet got an annual check-up like a person, scientists say Earth is "really quite sick right now." Only air pollution wasn't quite at the danger point globally. About two-thirds of Earth don't meet the criteria for freshwater safety, scientists said as an example. "We are in a danger zone for most of the Earth system boundaries," said study co-author Kristie Ebi, a professor of climate and public health at the University of Washington.

Persons: U.S . West —, Kristie Ebi, Joyeeta Gupta, It's, Johan Rockstrom, Indy Burke, Rockstrom, Gupta, Chris Field, Lynn Goldman, George Washington Organizations: Service, Earth, U.S, University of Washington, Earth Commission, University of Amsterdam, Potsdam Institute, Climate, Research, Yale School of, Environment, Stanford Locations: guardrails, Eastern Europe, South Asia, East, Southeast Asia, Africa, Brazil, Mexico, China, U.S . West, Germany, Paris

☆ 1.5-degree climate threshold won't prevent 'significant harm,' scientists report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —For years, the world has been focusing on a key climate change threshold: limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. But even at that threshold – which could begin to be breached within the next five years – millions of people will still face “significant harm,” including death, displacement and food and water scarcity, an international commission of researchers reported Wednesday. In a study published in the journal Nature, the panel of more than a dozen researchers integrated environmental justice – the idea that climate thresholds should minimize significant harm – with climate science. And they said that the key climate threshold nations pledged to meet in the Paris Agreement in 2015 – one that would ensure a “safe and just” world – should have been 1 degree Celsius. “We argue that there is no safe planet without justice,” Gupta said, underscoring that incorporating justice to the Earth system’s boundaries reduces significant harm to communities and individuals.

Persons: ”, Johan Rockström, Joyeeta Gupta, “, ” Gupta, Kim Cobb, ” Cobb Organizations: CNN, Potsdam Institute, Climate Impact Research, Earth Commission, University of Amsterdam, Brown University Locations: Paris

☆ Manchin's Mountain Valley Pipeline would get the green light debt ceiling deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The conservative Democrat from West Virginia, who has been critical of the Biden administration’s environmental goals, praised the White House and congressional Republicans this week. “All of a sudden, [the White House] did their job, they negotiated. Manchin has been critical of Biden's climate goals, but praised the White House and congressional Republicans this week for their work on the debt ceiling deal. White House officials backed Manchin’s effort last year, and climate and energy officials – including White House senior adviser John Podesta and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm – voiced support for approving the pipeline more recently. A Hail Mary effort to remove itThere could be a last-ditch effort to undo the pipeline piece of the debt ceiling bill.

Persons: CNN — Sen, Joe Manchin’s, Virginia –, Manchin, Kevin McCarthy, ” Manchin, “, Joe Biden’s, Justin Pearson, Kent Nishimura, Biden, ”, Abdullah Hasan, West Virginia’s Marcellus, James Van Nostrand, John Podesta, Jennifer Granholm –, Chuck Schumer, Mary, Sen, Tim Kaine, “ Sen, Kaine Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Democrat, Biden, White, Republicans, West, Appeals, Fourth Circuit, Keck, Environmental, Los Angeles Times, West Virginia University, White House, Energy, DC, Senate, Virginia Democrats, House, Republican, Kaine Locations: West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, clawing, West, Utica, Texas

☆ Opinion | Three Years After a Fateful Day in Central Park, Birding Continues to Change My Life
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Christian Cooper | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Birding, however, offers things those other passions do not. With birds, no matter the time of year, there’s always something to see. Imagine watching land and sea unfold beneath you not through the windows of an airplane but under your own power. The things that you’ve left behind recede to insignificance, put into new perspective by a towering vantage point. In 2021, National Geographic invited me to host a television show on birding, “Extraordinary Birder,” and I said yes.

☆ Some climate-tech startups want you to believe AI tools can save the planet — but it's not that simple
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

AMP Robotics is just one of more than 44,500 climate tech startups that have emerged since 2010. Last year investors poured $70.1 billion into climate tech, an 89% rise compared with 2021, according to HolonIQ Global Impact Intelligence. While AI tools like Horowitz's waste-sorting robots have been around for years, the advent of generative-AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT has reignited conversations around deploying AI to address societal issues. PersefoniBut researchers warn AI may do more harm than goodResearchers, activists, and climate tech execs agree that AI can't single-handedly cool the planet. AMP RoboticsEven AI climate tech executives see limits to their impactEven climate tech executives believe there are limitations to AI.

Persons: Matanya Horowitz, Horowitz, ChatGPT, Carling Spelhaug, Sasha Luccioni, Luccioni, David Rolnick, Banks, James Newsome, Newsome, Rolnick, Bill McKibben, McKibben, Helena Norberg, Hodge, Norberg, OpenAI's ChatGPT Organizations: AMP Robotics, Caltech, Global, Intelligence, Carling, UN, McGill University, Research, Tech, Greenpeace, AMP Locations: Colorado, Africa, South America

☆ Not just Disney: DeSantis brings history of business battles to the presidential campaign
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Ron DeSantis officially launched his presidential campaign Wednesday, putting his blend of pro-business conservativism and culture-war populism to the test at the national level. In the most recent legislative session, DeSantis signed a bill that stopped union dues from being automatically deducted from public employees' paychecks. Ron DeSantis, a critic of environmentally sensitive investing, didn't succeed in protecting his constituents from the ravages of Hurricane Ian, which may have been intensified by global warming. DeSantis signed a bill in early May barring state and local officials from making ESG-based investment decisions. The Disney sagaApparel promoting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sit on a table before a book tour event at the North Charleston Coliseum on April 19, 2023 in North Charleston, South Carolina.

☆ Failures in Ukraine haven't left 'cracks' in Putin's hold on power, German spy chief says, warning Russia has what it needs to wage a long war
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Germany's spy chief, Bruno Kahl, said there are no "cracks" in Putin's system despite Russia's failures in Ukraine. The Kremlin has gone to extraordinary lengths to stifle opposition to the war in Ukraine. Kahl warned that "Russia is still capable of waging a long-range war" in Ukraine. In this kind of environment, it's difficult to get an accurate read on public sentiment toward the war in Russia. Russia was expected to easily defeat Ukraine, and its failures in the war have raised questions as to whether Putin's firm grip on power in Russia might slip.

☆ EVs to avoid if you want to dodge battery replacements that can cost up to $20,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

EV battery replacements could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000, according to Recurrent. One of the biggest concerns that prospective electric-car buyers have is if they'll ever have to make a costly battery replacement. Excluding major recalls for the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV and Hyundai Kona Electric, of the EVs studied by battery health reporting firm Recurrent, only 1.5% have received battery replacements. Including the two well-known EV battery pack recalls raises that percentage of battery replacements to 6.5%, according to Recurrent, or 975 of the 15,000. Automakers have a variety of EV battery warranties to assuage fears about potential replacements.

☆ 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.

☆ Greenpeace to shut down in Russia after being declared 'undesirable organisation'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) - The Russian branch of environmental group Greenpeace on Friday said it would shut down after authorities declared the group an "undesirable organisation", effectively banning it from operating. The label "undesirable" has been applied to dozens of foreign groups since Moscow began using the classification in 2015, and effectively bans an organisation outright. "This decision makes it illegal for any Greenpeace activity to continue in Russia. Therefore, the Russian branch of Greenpeace is forced to close," Greenpeace Russia said in a statement posted on Telegram. Later, Russia chief executive Sergei Tsyplenkov said he would take legal advice before deciding whether to appeal the ruling.

☆ Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman to step down within next 12 months
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman will step down as the company’s head within the next 12 months, he said Friday at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting. He will assume the role of executive chairman for “a period of time” to help Morgan Stanley transition to its next era of leadership, Gorman, 64, said. The board of directors has three senior internal candidates in the pipeline to potentially take over as the next chief executive. Gorman also said that he believes Morgan Stanley is well insulated from turmoil in the banking sector after the collapses of three regional lenders. “I remain extraordinarily optimistic about the future Morgan Stanley and broader economy.”Shares of Morgan Stanley fell 0.9% on Friday.

☆ Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman plans to step down after years of making the bank the envy of Wall Street. Here's a look at his legacy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Alex Morrell | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said he will step down in the next 12 months. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman was giddy. Seeking stabilityTo understand where Morgan Stanley is now, you need to return to the peak of the financial crisis. It didn't take long before Morgan Stanley began utilizing its new license to acquire clients' deposits, reducing its reliance on wholesale funding. Mack, who helped design the 1997 Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter merger, had been pushed out by Purcell in 2001.

☆ In New Mexico, an unlikely wildfire thinning alliance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Andrew Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Near Taos in northern New Mexico, Vicente Fernandez, a mayordomo, or forest caretaker, cut saplings and seedlings crowding a mature fir tree. In an about-face, the Forest Service is now paying local woodcutters or leñeros $300 an acre to cut these trees for personal use or sale. Some environmentalists oppose Taos County's so called Mayordomo Program, and other thinning, saying it is a waste of time, harms forests and is often a guise for logging. "The Forest Service believes in helping communities to wisely use the forests," the agency said in a statement. "We cannot fireproof forests, we can fireproof communities," said Horning, who has lived in northern New Mexico for 30 years.

☆ Bats carry killer viruses. Scientists suggest ways to cope.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

“I have to think on a landscape scale.”Research in Australia also is deepening scientists’ understanding of bats. Flying foxes travel long distances in search of food, dispensing seeds and pollinating trees along the way. As deforestation destroyed habitats and further disrupted the food supply, the bats have increasingly formed year-round roosts near people, they noticed. Native gums flowering around Gympie lured the flying foxes away from horse paddocks and more urban areas. In fact, the most dangerous areas for spillover aren’t rare, pristine habitats absent of humans, scientists say.

[1/4] Military officers assist a person on a dinghy after heavy rains hit Italy's Emilia Romagna region, in Faenza, Italy, May 18. "Climate change is here and we are living the consequences. Last July, an ice avalanche in the Italian Alps killed 11 people following a heatwave that exacerbated the worst drought that Italy has suffered for at least 70 years. "A climate change adaptation policy that goes beyond how to handle emergencies and considers the effects of ordinary planning is increasingly urgent," it said in a statement. Italy's national civil protection agency estimates that 94% of the country's municipalities are prone to natural disasters - making it inconceivable to protect everyone from the dangers of climate change.

☆ The Plan to Build a New Capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Today, 40 percent of Jakarta lies below sea level, and flooding is increasingly common. To deal with that threat, Indonesia’s popular president — Joko Widodo, in his ninth year in office — has devised an audacious solution: He is moving the country’s capital. The new capital, now under construction, is called Nusantara. It is being built from the ground up, about 800 miles from the current capital. Joko promises that the city will be a model of environmental stewardship, carbon neutral within a few decades.

☆ Human DNA can now be pulled from thin air and sequenced
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Scientists have been able to collect and analyze detailed genetic data from human DNA from all these places, raising thorny ethical questions about consent, privacy and security when it comes to our biological information. Environmental DNA has been obtained from air, soil, sediment, water, permafrost, snow and ice cores and the techniques are primarily being used to help track and protect endangered animals. However, the ability to capture human DNA from the environment could have a range of unintended consequences — both inadvertent and malicious, they added. They termed this information “human genetic bycatch” and decided to study the phenomenon in greater depth. We cannot avoid shedding DNA in the public space,” Moreau, who was not involved in this study, said via email.

☆ Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he must approve all new hires in internal email
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk meets with France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on May 15, 2023. Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent an email to "everybody" at his electric vehicle maker on Monday, expressing concern over the company's current hiring practices. "I would like to gain a better understanding of our hiring," Musk wrote in the email. "Think carefully before sending me a request," Musk wrote in Monday's email. Here's Monday's email from Musk:To: Everybody From: Elon Musk Subj.

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