Aug 24 Thousands allowed to bypass environmental rules in pandemic By Ellen Knickmeyer, Cathy Bussewitz, John Flesher, Matthew Brown, Michael Casey, Associated Press The AP's findings run counter to statements in late June by Susan Bodine, EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement, who told lawmakers the pandemic was not causing "a significant impact on routine compliance, monitoring and reporting" and that industry wasn't widely… Continue reading
Aug 23 Watch 4:44 Climate change is driving wildfires, giving ‘rocket fuel’ to tropical storms By PBS NewsHour As hundreds of wildfires in California continue to blaze and thousands of people evacuate, this year’s hurricane season is on track to become one of the busiest on record. Andrew Freedman, editor of Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang joins Hari… Continue watching
Aug 23 Trump to announce plasma treatment authorized for COVID-19 By Jonathan Lemire, Mike Stobbe, Associated Press After expressing frustration at the slow pace of approval for coronavirus treatments, President Donald Trump was set to announce on Sunday the emergency authorization of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 patients. Continue reading
Aug 22 Reinforcements arriving to help in deadly California fires By Olga R. Rodriguez, Janie Har, Associated Press Firefighters and aircraft from 10 states began arriving in California Friday to help weary crews battling some of the largest blazes in state history as weekend weather threatened to renew the advance of flames that have killed six people and… Continue reading
Aug 21 How mud shaped life on Earth By Laura Poppick, Knowable Magazine For most of Earth’s history, hardly any of the mucky stuff existed on land. It finally started piling up around 458 million years ago, changing life on the planet forever. Continue reading
Aug 21 Hit by virus surge, Hong Kong offers free tests to everyone By Zen Soo, Associated Press Leader Carrie Lam says the testing program, which will last up to two weeks, will allow residents to be tested on a voluntary basis. The testing is aimed at identifying people who are infected with the coronavirus but have exhibited… Continue reading
Aug 20 In a record melt, Greenland lost 586 billion tons of ice in 2019 By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press A new satellite study finds that Greenland lost 586 billion tons of ice in a record melt last year. That's 140 trillion gallons of water or enough to cover all of California in more than four feet of water. Continue reading
Aug 20 California’s wildfire-prone landscape stoked by human actions By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press Scientists say California has a really flammable ecosystem and global warming is making it worse. Continue reading
Aug 19 Scientists on Arctic mission reach the North Pole after an unplanned detour By Frank Jordans, Associated Press Expedition leader Markus Rex said Wednesday that the icebreaker was able to reach the geographic North Pole because of large openings in sea ice that would normally make shipping in the region above Greenland too difficult. Continue reading
Aug 19 Pharmacists can give childhood shots, U.S. officials say By Mike Stobbe, Associated Press Public health officials have been worried that vaccination rates would fall because doctors' offices were closed by the pandemic. The authorization allows state-licensed pharmacies to administer childhood vaccines without a doctor's prescription. Continue reading