If you’ve been pondering what recent Cyclospora, Legionella and Ebola outbreaks tell us about the state of preparedness for future pandemics, Backgrounder has some sobering insights. A reminder of the uneven response to COVID-19 and a look forward at how current Trump administration policy has weakened public health structures and likely left us unready for what’s ahead.
As wildfires rage in the U.S. West, Canada and other hot spots around the globe, reporters covering this environmental hazard in the United States can access high-quality data of exceptional timeliness via the Watch Duty app, finds the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. The tool offers everything from emergency notifications to data deep dives, all smartly integrated in its mapping interface.
"The Trump administration pushed out thousands of veteran U.S. Forest Service staff. An ‘extraordinary’ fire season is testing those who are left."
"Hurricane Lala skirted Hawaii’s Big Island Saturday without making landfall and is expected to gradually weaken after lashing the region with strong winds and drenching rain that flooded roads and turned rivers into raging torrents."
"U.S. citizens in San Juan, Puerto Rico, are spending hours waiting for water trucks after water rationing went into effect amid drought on the island archipelago. Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González declared a state of emergency in late July as the water in key dams dropped below levels that can support communities."
"Tropical Storm Lala formed Thursday in the Pacific Ocean and a hurricane watch has been issued for the Big Island of Hawaii, where it could bring heavy rain and flooding this weekend, forecasters said."
"While we think of predators as being dangerous, an otherwise harmless deer meandering into the road is far more likely to take you out than a bear or a wolf or a mountain lion is to stalk and eat you. Occasional news stories about pumas (Puma concolor) might suggest that they are a significant threat to humans. They are not—only around 30 deaths have been recorded since official record-keeping began in 1868."
"As a wildfire in May approached the site of one of the worst nuclear meltdowns in U.S. history, state and local officials scrambled to respond to the blaze and to establish proper real-time radiation and air monitoring to protect Southern California families, internal emails show."
"A vast oil spill from a leaking tanker has started to hit Oman's coastline, its environment agency confirmed on Wednesday, in what threatens to become one of the world’s worst in years after spreading largely unchecked for weeks."
"After nearly two weeks on the road with her five children, Luul Mohamed finally arrived in the southwestern Somali city of Baidoa with no food and little sense of what would happen next."
