Today: October 06, 2024
Today: October 06, 2024

Latest From The Los Angeles Post

Environment

Deadly wildfires burn across Maui – it's a reminder of the growing risk to communities that once seemed safe

Fires burn in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 8, 2023. Zeke Kalua/County of Maui via AP Thousands of people were evacuated along Maui’s popular west coast as wildfires spread through buildings and hillsides starting Aug. 8, 2023, powered by strong winds from an offshore hurricane. Large parts of Lahaina, a tourist town of over 13,000 residents that was once the royal capital, burned, and at least six people died, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen told reporters. Most fires in the U.S. are suppressed before they have a chance to threaten communities, but the winds were too strong to send helicopters to help

Deadly wildfires burn across Maui – it's a reminder of the growing risk to communities that once seemed safe
Environment

Maui wildfires burn through Lahaina – it's a reminder of the growing risk to communities that once seemed safe

Fires burn in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 8, 2023. Zeke Kalua/County of Maui via AP Thousands of people were evacuated along Maui’s popular west coast as wildfires spread through buildings and hillsides starting Aug. 8, 2023, powered by strong winds from an offshore hurricane. Much of Lahaina, a tourist town of over 13,000 residents, was in flames. Most fires in the U.S. are suppressed before they have a chance to threaten communities, but the winds from Hurricane Dora were too strong to send helicopters to help contain the blazes on the first day, leaving firefighters to battle the fires from

Maui wildfires burn through Lahaina – it's a reminder of the growing risk to communities that once seemed safe
Environment

AI can help forecast air quality, but freak events like 2023's summer of wildfire smoke require traditional methods too

Thick smoke rolling in from Canada’s 2023 wildfires was a wakeup call for several cities. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images Wildfire smoke from Canada’s extreme fire season has left a lot of people thinking about air quality and wondering what to expect in the days ahead. All air contains gaseous compounds and small particles. But as air quality gets worse, these gases and particles can trigger asthma and exacerbate heart and respiratory problems as they enter the nose, throat and lungs and even circulate in the bloodstream. When wildfire smoke turned New York City’s skies orange in early June 2023, emergency

AI can help forecast air quality, but freak events like 2023's summer of wildfire smoke require traditional methods too
Environment

The heroic effort to save Florida’s coral reef from devastating ocean heat

Elkhorn coral fragments rescued from overheating ocean nurseries sit in cooler water at Keys Marine Laboratory. NOAA Armed with scrub brushes, young scuba divers took to the waters of Florida’s Alligator Reef in late July to try to help corals struggling to survive 2023’s extraordinary marine heat wave. They carefully scraped away harmful algae and predators impinging on staghorn fragments, under the supervision and training of interns from Islamorada Conservation and Restoration Education, or I.CARE. Normally, I.CARE’s volunteer divers would be transplanting corals to waters off the Florida Keys this time of year, as part of a national effort to

The heroic effort to save Florida’s coral reef from devastating ocean heat
Environment

July was Earth's hottest month on record: 4 factors driving 2023's extreme heat and climate disasters

2023’s weather has been extreme in many ways. AP Photo/Michael Probst Between the record-breaking global heat and extreme downpours, it’s hard to ignore that something unusual is going on with the weather in 2023. People have been quick to blame climate change – and they’re right, to a point: Human-caused global warming does play the biggest role. A recent study determined that the weekslong heat wave in Texas and Mexico that started in June 2023 would have been virtually impossible without it. However, the extremes this year are sharper than anthropogenic global warming alone would be expected to cause. July

July was Earth's hottest month on record: 4 factors driving 2023's extreme heat and climate disasters
Environment

Yellow jerseys of the fireline: A day fighting wildfires can require as much endurance as riding the Tour de France

Ruby Mountain hotshots construct a fire line during the Dixie Fire in 2021. Joe Bradshaw/BLM For three weeks in July, the world’s most elite bike racers climb steep mountains and sprint along historic cobblestones to capture the coveted yellow jersey or the race leader in the Tour de France. It’s a 22-day feat of human endurance that requires constant eating and drinking to manage the average daily energy demand of about 6,000 calories, equivalent to around 12 McDonald’s Happy Meals, and just over 1.5 gallons of water. Nearly 5,000 miles away in the mountains of North America, radios crackle with

Yellow jerseys of the fireline: A day fighting wildfires can require as much endurance as riding the Tour de France
Environment

Computer science can help farmers explore alternative crops and sustainable farming methods

Chick peas intercropped with flax on a farm in Stanford, Mont. USDA NRCS Montana Humans have physically reconfigured half of the world’s land to grow just eight staple crops: maize (corn), soy, wheat, rice, cassava, sorghum, sweet potato and potato. They account for the vast majority of calories that people around the world consume. As global population rises, there’s pressure to expand production even further. Many experts argue that further expanding modern industrialized agriculture – which relies heavily on synthetic fertilizer, chemical pesticides and high-yield seeds – isn’t the right way to feed a growing world population. In their view,

Computer science can help farmers explore alternative crops and sustainable farming methods
Environment

4 factors driving 2023's extreme heat and climate disasters

2023’s weather has been extreme in many ways. AP Photo/Michael Probst Between the record-breaking global heat and extreme downpours, it’s hard to ignore that something unusual is going on with the weather in 2023. People have been quick to blame climate change – and they’re right, to a point: Human-caused global warming does play the biggest role. A recent study determined that the weekslong heat wave in Texas and Mexico that started in June 2023 would have been virtually impossible without it. However, the extremes this year are sharper than anthropogenic global warming alone would be expected to cause. Human

4 factors driving 2023's extreme heat and climate disasters
Environment

The nuclear arms race's legacy at home: Toxic contamination, staggering cleanup costs and a culture of government secrecy

Packaging excavated radioactive materials at the Hanford site in Washington state. USDOE Christopher Nolan’s film “Oppenheimer” has focused new attention on the legacies of the Manhattan Project – the World War II program to develop nuclear weapons. As the anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, approach, it’s a timely moment to look further at dilemmas wrought by the creation of the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project spawned a trinity of interconnected legacies. It initiated a global arms race that threatens the survival of humanity and the planet as we know it.

The nuclear arms race's legacy at home: Toxic contamination, staggering cleanup costs and a culture of government secrecy
Environment

Ever-larger cars and trucks are causing a safety crisis on US streets – here's how communities can fight back

Retractable bollards can be used to signal priority areas on streets for smaller vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. Eugene Nekrasov/Getty images Plus Deadly traffic incidents have declined in most developed countries in recent years. But in the U.S. they’re becoming more common. Deaths in motor vehicle crashes rose more than 33% from 2011 to 2021. Since 2010, pedestrian deaths nationwide have climbed a shocking 77%, compared with a 25% increase in all other types of traffic fatalities. Light trucks injure pedestrians more severely than passenger cars in crashes, and the size of cars and trucks sold in the U.S. continues to

Ever-larger cars and trucks are causing a safety crisis on US streets – here's how communities can fight back
Environment

Extreme heat is particularly hard on older adults – an aging population and climate change are putting ever more people at risk

Without home cooling, Phoenix’s weeks with temperatures over 110 F in July 2023 became dangerous. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Scorching temperatures have put millions of Americans in danger this summer, with heat extremes stretching from coast to coast in the Southern U.S. Phoenix hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) or higher every day for three weeks in July. Other major cities, from Las Vegas to Miami, experienced relentless high temperatures, which residents described as “hell on earth.” While the evening news runs footage of miserable sunbathers on Miami Beach and joggers in Austin, Texas, dousing themselves with water, these images conceal

Extreme heat is particularly hard on older adults – an aging population and climate change are putting ever more people at risk
Environment

In search of the world's largest freshwater fish – the wonderfully weird giants lurking in Earth's rivers

Alligator gar can grow to gargantuan sizes. Zeb Hogan Rivers have been the lifeblood of human civilization throughout history, and yet we know surprisingly little about what lives in many of them – including the giant creatures that prowl their depths. While we know the biggest animal in the ocean is the blue whale and the largest marine fish is the whale shark, the identity of the world’s largest freshwater fish species long remained a mystery. Until 2022, that is, when fishers in Cambodia caught a giant freshwater stingray in the remote reaches of the Mekong River. Weighing an astounding

In search of the world's largest freshwater fish – the wonderfully weird giants lurking in Earth's rivers
Environment

Decades of public messages about recycling in the US have crowded out more sustainable ways to manage waste

A worker sorts cardboard at a recycling center in Newark, N.J. Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images You’ve just finished a cup of coffee at your favorite cafe. Now you’re facing a trash bin, a recycling bin and a compost bin. What’s the most planet-friendly thing to do with your cup? Many of us would opt for the recycling bin – but that’s often the wrong choice. In order to hold liquids, most paper coffee cups are made with a thin plastic lining, which makes separating these materials and recycling them difficult. In fact, the most sustainable option isn’t

Decades of public messages about recycling in the US have crowded out more sustainable ways to manage waste
Environment

Global shipping has a new climate strategy – it's vague, obscure and almost noncommittal, but it may be pointing the industry in the right direction

International shipping accounts for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Richard Ross/The Image Book via Getty Images The world’s largest shipping companies are starting to update their fleets for a greener future. Maersk received the world’s first dual-fuel methanol container ship in July 2023, and dozens more container ships that can run on alternative fuels are currently on order. The industry – responsible for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than Canada and Ireland combined – has reasons to act and to have some confidence in its multimillion-dollar investments. On July 7, the 175 member countries of

Global shipping has a new climate strategy – it's vague, obscure and almost noncommittal, but it may be pointing the industry in the right direction
Environment

Rip currents are dangerous for swimmers but also ecologically important – here's how scientists are working to understand these 'rivers of the sea'

The gap between breaking waves in North Carolina indicates a rip current flowing away from shore. National Weather Service If you’ve ever waded into the ocean for a swim and suddenly realized that the shore is getting farther away, not closer, you may have encountered a rip current. Common at beaches worldwide, these powerful currents flow from the shore toward the sea at speeds up to several feet per second. It’s important to know what rip currents are and how to look for them, because they are a leading cause of drownings in the surf zone near shore. According to

Rip currents are dangerous for swimmers but also ecologically important – here's how scientists are working to understand these 'rivers of the sea'
Environment

When Greenland was green: Ancient soil from beneath a mile of ice offers warnings for the future

Water and sediment pour off the melting margin of the Greenland ice sheet. Jason Edwards/Photodisc via Getty Images About 400,000 years ago, large parts of Greenland were ice-free. Scrubby tundra basked in the Sun’s rays on the island’s northwest highlands. Evidence suggests that a forest of spruce trees, buzzing with insects, covered the southern part of Greenland. Global sea level was much higher then, between 20 and 40 feet above today’s levels. Around the world, land that today is home to hundreds of millions of people was under water. Scientists have known for awhile that the Greenland ice sheet had

When Greenland was green: Ancient soil from beneath a mile of ice offers warnings for the future
Environment

As heat records fall, how hot is too hot for the human body?

Outdoor workers face higher risks on hot, humid days. AP Photo/Swoan Parker Extreme heat has been breaking records across Europe, Asia and North America, with millions of people sweltering in heat and humidity well above “normal” for days on end. Death Valley hit 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.3 degrees Celsius) on July 16, 2023 – not quite the world’s hottest day on record, but close. Phoenix broke a record heat streak with 19 straight days with temperatures above 110 F (43.3 C), accompanied by a long string of nights that never got below 90 F (32.2 C), leaving little opportunity for

As heat records fall, how hot is too hot for the human body?
Environment

Solving water challenges is complex – learn how law, health, climate and Indigenous rights all intersect in developing solutions

Americans have come to expect abundant clean water, but there are many stressors on water quality and availability. Jessica/flickr, CC BY-NC-ND In the U.S., most consumers take clean and available fresh water for granted, and water usually becomes front-page news only when there’s a crisis. And the past year has seen its share of water-related crises, whether it’s the effects of a prolonged drought in the U.S. Southwest or floods that covered more than one third of Pakistan last year. But seeing water problems as only environmental disasters does not capture the deeply interconnected nature of water in our society.

Solving water challenges is complex – learn how law, health, climate and Indigenous rights all intersect in developing solutions
Environment

Just in time for back-to-school shopping: How retailers can alter customer behavior to encourage more sustainable returns

Retail returns have become big business for UPS. AP Photo/Toby Talbot Back-to-school sales are underway, and people across the country will be shopping online to fill up backpacks, lockers and closets – and they’ll be taking advantage of free returns. Making it easy for customers to return items at no cost started as a retail strategy to entice more people to shop online. But it’s getting expensive, for both retailers and the planet. In 2022, retail returns added up to more than US$800 billion in lost sales. The transportation, labor, and logistics involved raised retailers’ costs even higher. Product returns

Just in time for back-to-school shopping: How retailers can alter customer behavior to encourage more sustainable returns
Environment

'Zombie fires' in the Arctic: Canada's extreme wildfire season offers a glimpse of new risks in a warmer, drier future

Thick smoke rises from a peat bog fire in June 2023. Bernd Wüstneck/picture alliance via Getty Images The blanket of wildfire smoke that spread across large parts of the U.S. and Canada in 2023 was a wake-up call, showing what climate change could feel like in the near future for millions of people. Apocalyptic orange skies and air pollution levels that force people indoors only tell part of the story, though. As global temperatures rise, fires are also spreading farther north and into the Arctic. These fires aren’t just burning in trees and grasses. New research on the exceptional Arctic

'Zombie fires' in the Arctic: Canada's extreme wildfire season offers a glimpse of new risks in a warmer, drier future
Environment

Using green banks to solve America’s affordable housing crisis – and climate change at the same time

Retrofitting apartment buildings for energy efficiency and solar power can boost affordable housing and climate protection. AP Photo/Steven Senne Green banks are starting to draw attention in the U.S., particularly since the federal government announced its first grant competitions under a national green bank program to bring clean technology and more affordable energy to low-income communities. But installing more solar and wind electricity generation isn’t the only way green banks can help. Massachusetts is launching an innovative new green bank that could become a model as states try to manage two crises at once: lack of affordable housing and climate

Using green banks to solve America’s affordable housing crisis – and climate change at the same time
Environment

Climate change is increasing stress on thousands of aging dams across the US

Flood damage in Edenville, Mich., after a dam failed on May 19, 2020. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio Heavy rainfall in the Northeast on June 9-11, 2023, generated widespread flooding, particularly in New York’s Hudson Valley and in Vermont. One major concern was the Wrightsville Dam, built in 1935 on the Winooski River north of Vermont’s capital city, Montpelier. The reservoir behind the dam rose to within 1 foot of the dam’s maximum storage capacity, prompting warnings that water could overtop the dam and worsen already-dangerous conditions downstream, or damage the dam. Hiba Baroud, associate professor and associate chair in the department

Climate change is increasing stress on thousands of aging dams across the US
Environment

Removing dams from the Klamath River is a step toward justice for Native Americans in Northern California

Water spills over the Copco 1 Dam on the Klamath River near Hornbrook, Calif. AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus The Klamath River runs over 250 miles (400 kilometers) from southern Oregon to the Pacific Ocean in Northern California. It flows through the steep, rugged Klamath Mountains, past slopes of redwood, fir, tanoak and madrone, and along pebbled beaches where willows shade the river’s edge. Closer to its mouth at Requa, the trees rising above the river are often blanketed in fog. The Klamath is central to the worldviews, history and identity of several Native nations. From headwaters in Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin-Paiute

Removing dams from the Klamath River is a step toward justice for Native Americans in Northern California
Environment

Sawfish, guitarfish and more: Meet the rhino rays, some of the world's most oddly shaped and highly endangered fishes

An Atlantic guitarfish swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory/Flickr, CC BY “Shark!” When you hear this word, especially at the beach, it can conjure up images of bloodthirsty monsters. This summer – particularly on July 14, which is Shark Awareness Day – my colleagues and I are eager to help the public learn more about these misunderstood, ecologically important and highly threatened animals and their close relatives – rays and chimaeras. As a marine biologist focused on conserving sharks, I want people to know that an estimated one-third of them are at risk of extinction. Second,

Sawfish, guitarfish and more: Meet the rhino rays, some of the world's most oddly shaped and highly endangered fishes
Environment

How climate change intensifies the water cycle, fueling extreme rainfall and flooding – the Northeast deluge was just the latest

People were trapped in stores as floodwater swept through Highland Falls, N.Y., on July 9, 2023. AP Photo/John Minchillo A powerful storm system that hit the U.S. Northeast on July 9 and 10, 2023, dumped close to 10 inches of rain on New York’s Lower Hudson Valley in less than a day and sent mountain rivers spilling over their banks and into towns across Vermont, causing widespread flash flooding. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said he hadn’t seen rainfall like it since Hurricane Irene devastated the region in 2011. Extreme water disasters like this have disrupted lives in countries around the

How climate change intensifies the water cycle, fueling extreme rainfall and flooding – the Northeast deluge was just the latest

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