Watch 1PM Weekly News - August 14, 2023
This week Shelby covers 8 breaking news stories--from the wildfires that devastated Maui to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization addressing how to end deforestation.
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Devastating Maui Fires
Fifty three deaths have been reported in Maui after wildfires devastated the city of Lahaina last week. The fires moved quickly, leaving little time for effective evacuation efforts. Residents noticed smoke and rushed to help each other escape and seek shelter. Reports state that quote “it looks like a bomb went off.” At the time of recording, this is still a developing story.
A Win for Indigenous Rights and Nature Rights
In global news, for the first time in fourteen years, eight member nations of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization met with the goal of addressing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Brazil has promised to end deforestation in their country, but they are pushing for a regional policy to do the same by twenty thirty. The meeting resulted in a one hundred and thirteen-point agenda of cooperation, which included the creation of the Amazon Alliance to Fight Deforestation, but the member countries failed to agree on goals to protect their own forests. The declaration did, according to Reuters, “strongly assert indigenous rights and protections, while also agreeing to cooperate on water management, health, common negotiating positions at climate summits, and sustainable development.”
- https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/09/americas/amazon-summit-deforestation-brazil-climate-intl-hnk/index.html
- https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/amazon-rainforest-nations-gather-forge-shared-policy-brazil-2023-08-08/
Warm Temps in Alaska Jeopardize Community
In the US, glacial flooding in Juneau, Alaska caused the total loss of two homes and damage severe enough to condemn six other buildings. A side basin of the Mendenhall Glacier typically acts as a dam for rain and melted snow, preventing it from overwhelming the Mendenhall Lake and River. But warming temperatures are melting the glacier and have caused floods each summer since two thousand eleven. Local residents are wondering if their homes and community can survive.
- https://apnews.com/article/alaska-glacier-dam-flooding-jokuhlaup-95f06f4e0d82445705d3126aac004f5a?user_email=b3b7986c6f25a888746db6e9e7baa3f8be25da4319f164a7b2b7660b580a3d1a&utm_medium=Morning_Wire&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_campaign=Morning%20Wire_8Aug_2023&utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20Subscribers
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/08/06/flooding-glacier-juneau-mendenhall-basin/
Lawsuit Against Water Polluters
Next, in Maryland, the state’s largest water utility just sued companies such as DuPont and 3M for polluting the water supply with PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” PFAS are linked to numerous poor health outcomes, including cancer and infertility. Thousands of other suits have been brought against 3M over PFAS pollution. 3M said in a statement that they have entered into quote “a broad class resolution to support PFAS remediation for public water suppliers.” But the Maryland utility’s suit wants to end the use of PFAS altogether.
Advanced Recycling or Dirty Greenwashing?
Meanwhile in Youngstown, Ohio the company SOBE Energy Solutions intends to use the process of pyrolysis to convert old tires to steam energy. This is an example of what the chemical industry refers to as quote “advanced recycling,” but US government researchers have found that this process requires significant amounts of energy to complete and emits pollutants and greenhouse gasses. In a community meeting in Youngstown, residents and environmentalists questioned the safety of having these processes occur in their downtown.
- https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07082023/youngstown-tire-pyrolysis-plant-called-recipe-for-disaster/
- https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/thermal-plant-meeting-to-be-held-in-youngstown/
Climate Misinformation Spreading in Florida
Next, Florida is following in the footsteps of other US states’ attempts to sow disinformation regarding climate change. Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, has come under fire for his education department’s newly released curriculum standards. Content approved under the new standards include videos from Prager University Foundation, or PragerU, an organization that produces educational videos that downplay the horrors of slavery, attack LGBTQ issues, and cast doubt on accurate climate science. PragerU has received millions of dollars in funding from individuals and foundations who oppose climate regulations.
Florida’s Hot Waters Have Ocean Wildlife in Hot Water
Florida’s climate miseducation is especially concerning as marine life in Florida’s coastal waters are facing record high water temperatures. In July, a buoy in Manatee Bay logged a measurement of one hundred and one degrees fahrenheit, or thirty-eight point three degrees celsius. This may be a global record high, and sealife from corals to fish are not adapted to the heat. Corals exposed to extreme temperatures will bleach. Repeated bleaching can kill whole reefs. And corals are part of a larger ocean ecosystem creating ripple effects to other species.
Nature Reconstruction in Southern US
But finally, some good wildlife news. In July of this year, the Biden administration committed to remediating lands that were damaged by the construction of the southern border wall. The commitment comes as a result of the settlement of a suit filed by a coalition of southern states against the Trump administration for illegal use of taxpayer funds to construct the wall. More than twenty-six million dollars from the settlement will fund environmental projects including management of endangered species like Peninsular Bighorn Sheep, ocelots, jaguars, and the elusive Sonoran pronghorn, also known as the desert ghost.
- https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/politics/2023/07/18/u-s--will-remediate-lands-damaged-by-border-wall-construction
- https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/win-desert-ghost-benefits-us-all