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☆ Wildfire Smoke Is Damaging Our Children’s Lungs - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Alexander Rabin | Lisa Patel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When smoke from Canadian wildfires was descending upon parts of the Midwest and Eastern United States in early June, children and parents gathered in the courtyard of Burns Park Elementary in Ann Arbor, Mich., for a picnic celebrating the last week of school. Shannon Hautamaki was loath to cancel end-of-school activities for her 5-year-old son, Ian. But Ian has severe asthma and had been to the emergency room five times over the last two years, and she anticipated a flare-up from the smoke. As physicians who specialize in respiratory health and children, our first thought last week as wildfire smoke again engulfed parts of the United States was of little ones Ian’s age and younger because their developing lungs are particularly vulnerable to smoke inhalation. This new recurring threat of terrible air quality from wildfire smoke is one big reason we believe that for a child born today, climate change may be the single greatest determinant of health over the course of their lives.

Persons: Shannon Hautamaki, loath, Ian Organizations: Midwest, Eastern Locations: Eastern United States, Ann Arbor, Mich, United States

BRITISH COLUMBIA/OTTAWA, June 9 (Reuters) - Wildfires spread in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on Friday, while hundreds of fires continued to burn on the other side of the country in Quebec, sending wildfire smoke billowing across North American cities. Around 2,500 people were told to evacuate the community of Tumbler Ridge in northeastern British Columbia on Thursday afternoon. Temperatures in parts of British Columbia soared to more than 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) this week, nearly 10 degrees above the seasonal average. [1/2] Smoke rises from a wildfire in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, in this screen grab taken from a video, June 8, 2023. Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Albertans, François Legault, Nia Williams, Stephen Coates Organizations: British Columbia, BC Wildlife Service, REUTERS, Canadian Interagency Forest Fire, Thomson Locations: BRITISH COLUMBIA, OTTAWA, Canadian, British, Quebec, North, Tumbler, British Columbia, Peace, Alberta, Ridge, Canada, United States, Ottawa, Toronto , New York, Washington, Ontario, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, U.S

☆ Here’s Where the Smoke from Canada’s Wildfires Will Linger on Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Derrick Bryson Taylor | Judson Jones | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

People in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions will again face smoke from Canada’s wildfires on Friday, capping a chaotic workweek that brought hazy conditions and poor air quality to millions of people as far south as North Carolina. However, based on a New York Times analysis of the forecast models, there will be far less dense concentrations of wildfire smoke for most people on Friday. Pockets of dense smoke could significantly reduce air quality and lead to low visibility, the National Weather Service said early Friday, singling out areas around southern Ontario and across parts of Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia could be the two cities that see the worst of the smoke Friday, but even then it should be better than it has been. A wider region across the eastern United States of light to moderate haze may continue to lead to opaque skies and orange sunsets and sunrises, which have dotted social media profiles this week.

Organizations: New York Times, National Weather Service Locations: Great, North Carolina, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, United States

☆ Will Wildfires Like These Become the New Normal?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That has created the conditions for more frequent and intense heat waves. That extra heat in the atmosphere has created a greater likelihood of extreme, sometimes catastrophic, weather all over the world. While that doesn’t mean the same extremes in the same places all the time, certain places are more susceptible to certain disasters, by virtue of geography. In places that become hot and dry, wildfires can become more prevalent or intense. The unifying fact is that more heat is the new normal.

Organizations: Eastern Locations: Eastern United States, Australia

☆ 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

☆ Canada’s Ability to Prevent Forest Fires Lags Behind the Need
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Vjosa Isai | Ian Austen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Canada’s capacity to prevent wildfires has been shrinking for decades because of budget cuts, a loss of some of the country’s forest service staff, and onerous rules for fire prevention, turning some of its forests into a tinderbox. As residents braced for what could be the worst wildfire season on record, and one that is far from over, the air slowly cleared over the Northeastern United States on Friday, but hundreds of wildfires continued to burn across Canada. Thanks to some rain and cloud cover near wildfire areas, with scattered rains expected in parts of southern Ontario on Sunday, Steven Flisfeder, a warning preparedness meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, predicted that the weekend could bring better air quality in Toronto, the country’s largest city. “That’s going to help flush out the contaminants from the air a little bit,” he said. More than 1,100 firefighters from around the world have been dispatched across Canada to help combat the country’s raging fire season, officials said, including groups from France, Chile, Costa Rica, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Persons: Steven Flisfeder, “ That’s Organizations: Northeastern Locations: Northeastern United States, Canada, Ontario, Toronto, France, Chile, Costa Rica, United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa

Fires are burning across the breadth of Canada, blanketing parts of the eastern United States with choking, orange-gray smoke. So much wildfire smoke pushed through the border that in Buffalo, schools canceled outdoor activities. The average global temperatures today are more than 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than in the preindustrial era. The trees and grasses of eastern Canada turned to tinder. “We should expect a stunning year of global extremes,” he wrote.

Persons: It’s, El Niño, Justin Trudeau, ”, Alexandra Paige Fischer, Park Williams, Wiliams, Brendan Rogers, haven’t, La, Jeff Berardelli, El, Ada Monzón Organizations: Northern, University of Michigan, Stanford, University of California, Climate Research, El, Twitter Locations: Canada, United States, Puerto Rico, North America, El, Buffalo, Detroit, Los Angeles, Alberta, Vietnam, China, Siberia, WFLA, Tampa Bay, Fla, WAPA

☆ Record Pollution and Heat Herald a Season of Climate Extremes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Fires are burning across the breadth of Canada, blanketing parts of the eastern United States with choking, orange-gray smoke. Puerto Rico is under a severe heat alert as are other parts of the world. Human-caused climate change is a force behind extremes like these. Scientists are also warning that before the end of the year a global weather pattern known as El Niño could arrive, potentially setting new heat records. Taken together, the week’s extremes offer one clear takeaway: The world’s richest continent remains unprepared for the hazards of the not-too-distant future.

Persons: It’s, El Niño, Justin Trudeau, ” Organizations: Northern Locations: Canada, United States, Puerto Rico, North America, El

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

☆ Opinion | Orange Skies, Red Alerts and the Future
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Paul Krugman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Not with a bang — that is, a sudden, universal catastrophe — but with a series of smaller, more local catastrophes that keep getting bigger and more widespread. I’ve been seeing a surprising number of complaints about the amount of media space devoted to New York’s orange skies and red alerts. The recent intensified problem of wildfire pollution in the Western United States, by contrast, was indeed a harbinger of coming climate-related disaster, and should have been seen as such. The problem, however, isn’t that the air quality disaster in New York (and much of the Eastern United States) is receiving too much attention, but that its predecessors received too little. Yes, it’s unfair that smoke-filled skies in New York, still the center of the media universe, get noticed in a way that comparable crises elsewhere don’t.

Persons: I’ve, James Fallows Organizations: The, Western, Eastern Locations: Pacific, Western United States, New York, Eastern United States

REUTERS/Carlo AllegriJune 8 (Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O) said on Thursday that it was cutting delivery routes short for drivers in places affected by poor air quality, while Target also said its contactless order pickup service may not operate in the most affected areas. On Wednesday, New York City's air quality was considered the worst in the world. A spokesman for Amazon, the nation's most valuable retailer by market capitalization, said it was cutting routes short where air quality is hazardous, and providing N-95 masks to delivery workers. Drivers were also encouraged to return to delivery stations if they felt ill.Target Corp (TGT.N) said its contactless order pick-up service called "Drive Up" may be turned off at locations with poor air quality. Separately, Home Depot Inc (HD.N) on Thursday said it was shipping supplies of air filters, respirator masks, box fans and air scrubbers to meet increased demand in areas dealing with poor air quality.

Persons: Carlo Allegri, Deborah Sophia, Michael Perry Organizations: REUTERS, Target, Amazon, Target Corp, Depot Inc, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, New York City , New York, U.S, Canada, United States, New York, Bengaluru, Arriana

☆ Explainer: What are the health risks from wildfire smoke?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | 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: +4 min

More toxic than normal air pollution, wildfire smoke can linger in the air for weeks and travel hundreds of miles. Along with particles of soil and biological materials, wildfire smoke often contains traces of chemicals, metals, plastics and other synthetic materials. New data from California also show an increase in fungal infections in the months following wildfire smoke exposure, likely due to fungal spores in the smoke. But the health effects of wildfire smoke exposure over multiple seasons are not yet clear. Doug Brugge, who chairs the Department of Public Health Sciences at UConn School of Medicine, said wildfire smoke can be deadly.

Persons: Kent Pinkerton, Davis, Keith Bein, Doug Brugge, Nancy Lapid, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Center for Health, University of California, UC, Davis . Studies, Environment, UC Davis, U.S . Environmental Protection Agency, of Public Health Sciences, UConn School of Medicine, Thomson Locations: United States, Canada, New York City, California, U.S

☆ We're losing the battle against bird loss. Scientists estimate North America's bird population is down 3 billion and dropping fast in other countries worldwide.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Emily Sohn | Knowable Magazine | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

In North America, more than half of 529 bird species have declined, according to one study. Another study of 378 European bird species estimates numbers fell by as much as 19% from 1980-2017. There are birds on mountains, birds in cities, birds in deserts, birds in oceans, birds on farm fields and birds in parking lots. Bird numbers are falling across a broad range of habitats, as these graphs from Europe and North America show. A recovery program has boosted the species' numbers to more than 500, with several hundred living once more in the wild.

Persons: —, Peter Marra, It's, Alexander Lees, Lees, Christopher Michel, Marra, we're, Lees et, Philip McGowan, Glenn Simmons, McGowan Organizations: Service, Penguins, Earth Commons, Manchester Metropolitan University, Cornell, of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, Survey, US Geological Survey, Environment Canada, European Union, International Union for Conservation, Environment, Resources, Newcastle University, IUCN, California condor, Recovery Initiative Locations: North America, Antarctica, ptarmigan, Everest, Georgetown, England, Canada, United Kingdom, Gould Bay, eBird, United States, Science, Costa, India, Europe, California, Arizona, Brazil

☆ 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.

☆ Palantir dumps $50 million gold investment less than two years after buying precious metal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In August 2021, data analytics software vendor Palantir bought over $50 million worth of 100-ounce gold bars. Less than two years later, Palantir said goodbye to the precious metal. "During the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company sold all of its gold bars for total proceeds of $51.1 million," Palantir said in its first-quarter financial filing Tuesday. At the time of Palantir's investment in gold, the market was in a much different spot. Palantir shares soared 23% on Tuesday after the company reported earnings and revenue that topped analysts' estimates.

☆ Rising sea levels may have forced the Vikings out of a successful settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Why they abandoned a successful settlement is a mystery that historians never have been able to fully explain. The idea that sea levels would have been rising as temperatures fell is a little counterintuitive, according to the researchers. However, Earth’s oceans aren’t like a bathtub, and the study noted that changes in sea level don’t affect all areas equally. The Greenland Ice Sheet readvanced during Viking occupation of the eastern settlement and peaked in the Little Ice Age. That advance caused sea level rise near the ice margins because of the sinking of Earth’s crust, according to the study.

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

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

☆ 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.

☆ Brutal cold seizes northeast U.S., shattering record lows
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The air temperature at the peak reached minus 47 degrees F (-44 C), with winds gusting near 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour), according to the Mount Washington Observatory. In Providence, Rhode Island, the mercury dropped to minus 9 degrees F (-23 C), well below the previous all-time low of minus 2 degrees F (-19 C), set in 1918. Several cities took emergency measures to aid residents, including opening warming centers and conducting outreach to ensure homeless people were sheltered from the brutal cold. The frigid weather was expected to be short-lived, with temperatures forecast to be significantly higher on Sunday. The high temperature in Boston on Sunday will approach 47 degrees F (8.3 C), the NWS said.

☆ 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.

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