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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

☆ Why the US ‘does not get to assume that it lasts forever’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

“We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” Greene said in a tweet on President’s Day this year. Blue state governors, legislatures and mayors might respond to such an offensive in forceful ways difficult to predict today. The Republican-appointed majority on the US Supreme Court has encouraged the red state social offensive with decisions that stripped away national rights – most prominently on abortion and voting. “Given the make-up of the courts, it’s difficult for blue states to be hopeful about this,” says Kettl. “The United States does not get to assume that it lasts forever.”

Persons: we’ve, ”, Donald Kettl, Donald Trump, I’ve, ’ “, Trump, Daniel Cox, Alan Wolfe, Wolfe, ” Wolfe, “, Joe Biden, Trump –, Abraham Lincoln, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kevin McCarthy, ” Greene, Susan Stokes, Stokes, he’s, Biden, Jim Crow, Cox, Michael Podhorzer, what’s, MAGA, Eric Liu, Liu, Richard Nixon’s, Liu’s, ” Liu Organizations: CNN, America, University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, Republican “, American Enterprise Institute, Boston University, Republican, Democratic, Chicago Center, Democracy, University of Chicago, CBS, Trump, National Guard, Fugitive, “, US, GOP, White House, AFL, Citizen University Locations: United States, States, America, Black, Confederate States, Georgia, Midwest, Heartland, Great, New York, Memphis, Austin, Blue, Michigan , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona

☆ U.S. maternal mortality more than doubled since 1999, most deaths among Black women - study
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Nancy Lapid | Thomson Reuters | Nancy Has Been A Health News Editor At Reuters For More Than A Decade. Previously She Was A Writer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 3 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. women who died within a year after pregnancy more than doubled between 1999 and 2019, with the highest deaths among Black women, researchers said on Monday. There were an estimated 1,210 maternal deaths in 2019, compared with 505 in 1999, according to a study published in the medical journal JAMA. Unlike previous U.S. studies of maternal mortality, which focused on national trends, the current study analyzed data state-by-state. To the researchers' surprise, Black women had the highest maternal mortality rates in some Northeast states. "Our findings provide important insights on maternal mortality rates leading up to the pandemic, and it's likely that we'll see a continued increase in the risk of maternal mortality across all populations if we analyze data from subsequent years," Bryant said.

Persons: Dr, Allison Bryant, Brigham, Bryant, Nancy Lapid, Michael Erman Organizations: American Indians, Alaska Natives, Blacks, Pacific Islanders, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Thomson Locations: Alaska, California, Massachusetts, Boston, Midwest, Great

☆ Severe Drought Stunts Great Plains Wheat Crops
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Shannon Najmabadi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/severe-drought-stunts-great-plains-wheat-crops-1b4d09a3

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ Here's why the 1930s Great Plains Dust Bowl drought-disaster hit so hard and lasted so long, and why it could happen again
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( James Pasley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

In the early 20 th century, farmers across the Great Plains harnessed new technology to cash in on a huge demand for wheat. But over-farming led to the removal of prairie grasses which had kept the topsoil in place. For years, the region was bombarded by monster dust storms called "black blizzards" that sometimes buried entire houses in grit. During the 1930s, after an intensive period of over-farming, dust storms regularly wreaked havoc, blanketing towns and farms in grit, destroying crops and making people sick. The drought and storms led to one of the largest mass migrations in a short period of time in US history.

Organizations: Service

☆ Why the U.S. Electric Grid Isn’t Ready for the Energy Transition
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Nadja Popovich | Brad Plumer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. Power lines 100KV 345kV 500kV Data reflects the contiguous U.S. That makes it hard to build the long-distance power lines needed to transport wind and solar nationwide. To make the plan work, the nation would need thousands of miles of new high-voltage transmission lines — large power lines that would span multiple grid regions. Utilities are sometimes wary of long-distance transmission lines that might undercut their local monopolies. “The grid is already a critical element of our energy system,” said Matteo Muratori, an analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

☆ The Southern Tornado Alley: Where the deadliest twisters touch down in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Amy O'Kruk | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Some climate scientists call it the Southern Tornado Alley (STA): An area above the Gulf of Mexico that stretches from the western borders of Arkansas and Louisiana to eastern Georgia, encapsulating Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee in between. But in the Southern Alley, tornadoes are uniquely dangerous and often much more fatal. “The Southern Alley is where you get the human population to meet up with the storms. “Because when it gets down to it, the minutes matter.”Tornadoes that occur in the Southern Tornado Alley are far less predictable than in the Great Plains Tornado Alley, often making them more deadly. “A lot of times people hear Tornado Alley and they just think Kansas.

Persons: Oz ”, twisters, ”, John Gagan, who’s, Gagan, there’s Organizations: Southern Tornado, Tornados, CNN, National Weather Service, ”, Tornado, Rockies Locations: of Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, encapsulating Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas, Sullivan , Wisconsin, Mississippi

☆ Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules New Abortion Bans Unconstitutional
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jacey Fortin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Why It MattersOklahoma is among a number of Republican-led states that moved to ban abortion in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year. Legal challenges were quick to follow, and many cases ended up before state supreme courts. Those courts have become critical arbiters in deciding abortion access, and a new political front in the nation’s abortion battles. In some conservative states, courts have decided that their state constitutions protect abortion rights. Doctors in other states with abortion bans said they have struggled to provide care for patients without breaking the law.

Persons: Roe, Wade, ”, Rabia, “, ” Gentner Drummond, Emily Wales Organizations: Oklahoma, Republican, U.S, Center for Reproductive Rights, Reproductive, State of, Planned Locations: U.S ., Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Texas, Oklahoma, State, State of Oklahoma

☆ The world’s largest lakes are shrinking dramatically and scientists say they have figured out why
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Lake water levels fluctuate in response to natural climate variations in rain and snowfall, but they are increasingly affected by human actions. The Caspian Sea, between Asia and Europe – the world’s largest inland body of water – has long been declining due to climate change and water use. NASA NASA The Caspian Sea is rapidly shrinking due to climate change and human activity. NASAThe researchers used satellite measurements of nearly 2,000 of the world’s largest lakes and reservoirs, which together represent 95% of Earth’s total lake water storage. The report found losses in lake water storage everywhere, including in the humid tropics and the cold Arctic.

☆ A ‘Greenwich Village’ on the Prairie
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Carson Vaughan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Were I to write a Mari Sandoz biopic, I’d start with a shadow racing across her desk. I’d start at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 1935. I’d start with a 39-year-old hayseed — thin as a fence post and prickly as barbed wire — assaulting her typewriter on the ninth floor of the Nebraska State Capitol as a local bank teller plunges 135 feet to his death on the stone transept below. Perhaps I’d cut to the fingernail marks he left on the observation deck five floors above, or the note he left behind. “Why, I’d rather write my own way and dig ditches for my soup and hard tack than write lies for a yacht and sables.

☆ Bringing Back Bison Is a Genetic Challenge
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Christopher Preston | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

When American settlers arrived on the Great Plains in the 19th century, the bison they found seemed inexhaustible. Despite their numbers, however, the bison were no match for the settlers’ rifles. The prairie’s most perfectly adapted tenant was an easy source of meat and hides for the aggressive newcomers. By 1890, bison numbers had plummeted from an estimated 60 million to less than a thousand in just four decades of bloodletting. Native American reservations across the Great Plains support a growing number of the animals that the Blackfeet call Iinnii, and today the total U.S. bison population is estimated at 500,000.

☆ See how a couple got an abandoned home for free — then moved it, rodents and all. They're about to fix it up all by themselves.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A historic home in Lincoln, Kansas, was up for demolition until a group of locals intervened. In August 2022, Julie and Eddie Flores won the home from the local group and a corporate owner. Flores explained how she is renovating the house with a strict budget of $250,000. The over-100-year-old home gained notoriety after local residents created a special committee tasked with the salvation of the decaying house. The family moved to Lincoln in January as they've continued their renovations, an experience they write about on the blog Nursing Back to Life.

The tornado struck Pasadena, southeast of Houston, seriously damaging homes and other buildings and knocking out power to thousands in the city and its surrounding areas. More than a dozen other tornado sightings were reported as the storm moved across the Gulf Coast, although they have yet to be confirmed by the National Weather Service. The spate of reported tornadoes adds to changes that experts have been observing in recent years — specifically, that where and when tornadoes occur has begun to shift. Historically, tornadoes were most likely to strike within a column of the central U.S. that was nicknamed “Tornado Alley.” The area includes parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. In areas with tightly packed cities, lots of trees and less open space, for example, a tornado can cause more catastrophic damage.

☆ Flash floods inundate highways in the Bay Area and the Midwest is under winter weather watch as extreme weather hits parts of US to start 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A major highway was shut down in the Bay Area on New Years Eve after heavy rains led to flooding. Meanwhile, the Midwest and Plains region is under a winter weather watch as storm moves east. This is the 2nd major weather event since Christmas, when Winter Storm Elliot tore through the US. Since Saturday morning, about six miles of Interstate 580 in the Bay Area near Oakland has remained closed due to flooding, the San Francisco Gate reports. Another one is expected in the Bay Area on January 2, the San Francisco Gate reported.

[1/6] Hoak's restaurant is covered in ice from the spray of Lake Erie waves during a winter storm that hit the Buffalo region in Hamburg, New York, U.S. December 24, 2022. Twenty-eight people have died so far in weather-related incidents across the country, according to an NBC News tally. The Buffalo airport had recorded 43 inches (109 cm) of snow as of 7 a.m ET (1200 GMT) on Sunday, Otto said. "Another one to two feet in general before Monday morning in the Buffalo area is expected," Otto said. "I guess you can say in some ways, the worst of it is over but there's still some pretty significant snowfall that's ongoing around the Buffalo region today."

☆ Massive winter storm threatens holiday travel for millions of Americans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In its wake, the cyclone could spawn snowfalls of a half inch an hour and winds of more than 50 mph (80 kph) in the Upper Midwest and interior Northeast, the weather service said. "This will lead to dangerous, to at times impossible, land and air travel leading up to the holiday weekend," the agency said on its website. Temperatures in parts of the Southern Plains and Southeast could stay below freezing -- 30-plus degrees less than normal -- for multiple days, the weather service predicted. The weather service also warned of freezing rain in parts of Oregon and Washington in the Northwest, where the storm originated, late Thursday. That would be the biggest daily drop in output since the freeze of February 2021 when a winter storm cut gas supplies from Texas and forced the Texas electric grid operator to impose rolling power outages.

☆ Biden urges Americans to travel early if possible with a massive blizzard slated to hit the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

President Joe Biden warned Americans traveling ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend to be careful and leave early if possible to avoid the massive storm expected to hit several states Thursday night. Large swaths of the continental U.S. are under blizzard, ice storm and winter storm warnings. The storm will "produce widespread disruptive and potentially crippling impacts across the central and eastern United States." Regardless of how they plan to travel, Biden encouraged Americans to listen to guidance and be careful. Biden said the White House has tried to contact governors of 26 states slated to be hit by the storm.

☆ Hazardous storm system hits United States ahead of winter holidays
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The National Weather Service forecasts potentially hazardous weather conditions into the middle of the week, extending from the Northwest and Great Plains regions of the country to the central and southern Appalachian area. "With such a large and powerful storm system... it is imperative that travelers check the latest forecast before venturing out," the Service said in a short range forecast posted on its website on Tuesday. Residents of the affected areas fretted on social media about travel disruptions, the prospect of getting trapped in their houses, and the plight of their neighbors without homes. U.S. winter storms have shifted northward and increased in frequency and intensity over the past 70 years, according to the U.S. Reporting by Julia Harte in New York; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Snowstorm halts flights at Canada's second busiest airport in Vancouver
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OTTAWA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Heavy snowfall and low visibility from a strong winter storm blanketing Pacific Canada forced the country's second busiest airport in Vancouver to halt all flights on Tuesday morning, with disruptions expected to continue ahead of the Christmas weekend. The Vancouver International Airport said the storm has had "an unprecedented impact on flights" and caused mass cancellations overnight. Crews were clearing the airfield and aircraft of snow and ice to get planes and people moving again, the Vancouver airport said. The Vancouver region was experiencing a "significant winter storm" that is expected to bring more snow in the morning before the weather clears out by noon, Environment Canada meteorologist Ross MacDonald said. It will likely lead to flight delays and impassable roadways during one of the busiest travel periods of the year, the National Weather Service warned.

☆ Americans are flocking to wildfire country
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"Our main finding is that people seem to be moving to counties with the highest wildfire risks, and cities and suburbs with relatively hot summers. This is concerning because wildfire and heat are only expected to become more dangerous with climate change," Mahalia Clark, the lead author of the study, told CNBC. "People tend to think of wildfire as something that affects the West, but it also affects large areas of the South and even Midwest." On the other hand, sometimes high risk areas are more affordable, creating an unfortunate incentive for people to move there." But homebuyers also need to be doing their due diligence on the climate risks associated with the location where they are considering buying a new home.

A cross-country winter storm system is expected to bring severe weather conditions to the South and Northeast. Jackson, Mississippi, is in the center of the severe weather risk area, with other cities to watch being Memphis, Tennessee; New Orleans; Birmingham, Alabama; and Shreveport, Louisiana. The storm system will shift east on Wednesday, bringing strong thunderstorms, heavy rain and wind to the East Coast. Atlanta; Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans; and Tallahassee, Florida, could all see strong storms, especially in the first half of the day. The northern side of this cross-country storm system will bring snow, which will affect the Upper Midwest.

Heavy rain and strong winds are expected in the southern Great Plains this weekend from Texas stretching to Mississippi where it's already raining, threatening post-Thanksgiving travel plans, according to the National Weather Service. Nearly 55 million people were expected to travel 50 miles or more from their homes this Thanksgiving weekend — 98% of pre-pandemic levels, according to AAA. Although the severe weather risk is very low on Sunday, there will be the potential for strong winds and frequent lightning that could impact travel, especially in the Northeast. Another developing storm system will also continue to bring heavy rain in addition to mountain snow to the Pacific Northwest this weekend, according to the weather service. Winter weather advisories are in place for parts of the Cascades and Northern Rockies, including northern Idaho, Montana, and southeast Wyoming.

☆ Fargo Forges New Downtown Out of Old Parking Lots
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Joe Barrett | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fargo, N.D., Mayor Tim Mahoney stands in a new public area next to the state’s second-tallest building, built on a former parking lot and neglected downtown site. FARGO, N. D.—Here on the edge of the Great Plains, city leaders have been working to revitalize their downtown by tearing up one parking lot at a time. For years, though, people didn’t want to give up their parking lots.

FILE PHOTO: Boats make their way along the Mississippi river in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., August 28, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/Oct 20 (Reuters) - Low water levels on the Mississippi River are likely to persist this winter as drier-than-normal weather is expected across the southern United States and Gulf Coast, U.S. government forecasters said on Thursday. Crucial shipments of fertilizer, farm chemicals and road salt that move up the Mississippi River ahead of the winter have also been disrupted. "Across the lower Mississippi Valley, we are favoring continuation of below-normal precipitation," said Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. "That would certainly, if the prediction is realized, lead to continued low water levels and exacerbate drought conditions there."

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