"Climate heating caused by fossil fuel pollution supercharged Hurricane Beryl during its unusually early July push from the heart of the tropical Atlantic Ocean to the coast of Texas, scientists said Friday."
"As Hurricane Beryl batters Texas and extreme heat blankets much of the U.S. South and West, the world is set for another week of wild weather that human-caused climate change makes more likely."
A major intergovernmental gathering later this year will address plastic pollution, including in oceans. But an overview from our Issue Backgrounder notes that the likelihood of solving the problem may be small. One reason? Petrochemical industry lobbying. Another? The shifting world market for plastic waste. And there are more concerns, such as the effectiveness of incineration and chemical recycling techniques. More, including questions to ask, in Backgrounder.
"Cities across the West rely on fragile water sources — and aging infrastructure."
"Incarcerated people in southern states had the greatest exposure to extreme temperatures, yet do not have access to universal air conditioning, researchers found."
"A single line included in the proposed annual appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Labor and other agencies could — if adopted by congress later this year — halt the implementation of a newly finalized rule limiting the amount of silica dust miners are exposed to while working underground."
Pesticides are a major environmental and public health issue — harming vulnerable human populations, as well as contributing to declines in insect populations and even the birds that feed on them. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explores an invaluable government database that reports estimates of county-level use of a wide array of these chemicals, but which recently faced severe cutbacks. Read more about the Pesticide National Synthesis Project.
"Hurricane Beryl barreled toward Jamaica as a powerful Category 4 storm on Tuesday after battering smaller islands in the eastern Caribbean, and scientists cited human-caused climate change as the likely culprit for the storm's rapid strengthening."
"President Joe Biden on Tuesday proposed a new rule to address excessive heat in the workplace, warning — as tens of millions of people in the U.S. are under heat advisories — that high temperatures are the country’s leading weather-related killer."
"The long-awaited rule could be finalized before November, but it faces political hurdles either way."
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