Grim Irony: Curbing Air Pollution Is Warming the Earth Faster
Frank Landymore – June 25, 2024
Cool Factor
Have industrial emissions been counteracting the worst effects of global warming? Scientists are starting to think so.
Burning coal, oil, and gas warms our planet by dispersing greenhouse gases, like CO2, into the atmosphere. And before the introduction of more stringent environmental regulations, these fuel sources would often contain deadly pollutants like sulfur oxide that contribute to the deaths of millions of people globally.
World governments have rightly fought to curb pollutants. But as a growing body evidence is beginning to show, these airborne particles, or aerosols, have likely mitigated rising temperatures by reflecting sunlight and boosting the reflectivity of clouds — and as a result, concealed just how bad global warming actually is.
The extent of the cooling they’ve caused is more contentious. Nonetheless, it’s a grim irony that exemplifies the complexities of understanding — nevermind protecting — our climate.
“We’re starting from an area of deep, deep uncertainty,” Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist from the University of California, Berkeley, told The Washington Post. “It could be a full degree of cooling being masked.”
Abandon Ship
One of the biggest drop-offs in pollutants may come from the shipping industry, whose regulatory body in 2020 started limiting the use of the dirty, sulfur-spewing fuels its massive vessels once relied on, in favor of cleaner alternatives.
But with the resulting decrease in aerosols, recent research has shown that these cuts in shipping pollution has directly led to more solar radiation being trapped in our atmosphere, which could explain why 2023 was the hottest year on record by a margin that alarmed even scientists.
That doesn’t augur well for the future: the authors of the research suggested that as we curb these deadly pollutants, we could experience double the rate of global warming compared to the average since 1880.
As WaPo notes, however, many experts think the warming will be less pronounced, contributing somewhere between 0.05 degrees and 0.1 degrees Celsius of an uptick — which, of course, is still significantly worrying.
Clear the Air
There is, perhaps, a silver lining. The same cooling principle of these pollutants could be wielded in an experimental technique called marine cloud brightening, which would involve deliberately injecting safe aerosols into the atmosphere to cause clouds to reflect more sunlight and to increase cloud cover.
This is unproven and controversial, though, and the researchers behind the shipping study have suggested that their findings are an example of the downsides of pursuing that technique: the minute we stop pumping aerosols into the atmosphere, global temperatures will soar again, perhaps even more drastically than before.
At any rate, clarifying these gray areas will be paramount for climate scientists. The picture is more complicated than we once thought, and determining how much aerosols figure into it will be essential if humanity is to keep global warming short of even more disastrous levels.
“It’s not just a story of greenhouse gas emissions,” Robert Wood, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Washington, told WaPo. “Whether you clean up rapidly, or whether you just fumble along with the same aerosol emissions, could be the difference of whether you cross the 2-degree Celsius threshold or not.”
Why this week’s heat wave could be next summer’s normal
Zack Budryk – June 20, 2024
The extreme heat slamming the eastern U.S. this week may be a sign of things to come as monthly temperature records continue to give way.
A broad swath of the Midwest and eastern U.S. are currently under a heat dome, caused by a high-pressure system in the Earth’s upper atmosphere that compresses the air beneath it, making it expand into a dome shape.
Research published in March in the journal Science Advances found that since 1979, as climate change has intensified, heat waves have gotten hotter and more commonplace, and the physical area covered by heat domes has expanded as well. They’ve also slowed down by about 20 percent, leaving the people in their paths to contend with their effects longer.
“Every summer we get heat waves, and heat waves are getting more extreme and they’re getting more frequent and they’re lasting longer,” said Jonathan Overpeck, the Samuel A. Graham dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan.
In this specific heatwave, the system of warmth is moving north and east, but it’s part of a broader, more ominous pattern in which heat waves start from a warmer background, said Richard Rood, professor emeritus of climate and space science and engineering at the University of Michigan.
“The oceans have been extraordinarily warm all year, the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico in particular,” he said. “So when summer comes and you start seeing heat waves, you’re starting from a higher temperature background.”
As heat accumulates, Rood told The Hill, one consequence is higher temperatures earlier in the year, such as this week’s heat, which began before the official start of the summer Thursday but in earlier years might be more typical of July or August.
The extreme heat patterns began in the Midwest earlier this week, and are expected to extend into the Northeast over the rest of the week. More than 76 million people were under some form of heat advisory Tuesday morning in the U.S., and about twice that number faced temperatures of more than 90 degrees. The National Weather Service projects record-breaking heat in cities like Detroit and Philadelphia as well as parts of New England this week.
Much like the heat waves of previous years in places like Europe and the Pacific Northwest, the heat is hitting regions that have little experience with such extremes, like northern New England. This means in many cases individuals are unprepared, as is broader community infrastructure of the kind that exists in historically hotter regions.
Both personal air conditioning and resources like cooling centers are “still inadequate in a lot of areas in the U.S. where access to air conditioning hasn’t been historically needed,” said Amy Bailey, director of climate resilience and sustainability at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
“Our infrastructure, our institutions and daily practices aren’t well-suited for these long stretches of extreme heat, and the longer it takes us to catch up the more lives are on the line,” Bailey added.
It also demonstrates “the criticality of having a grid that is resistant to extreme weather,” she added.
Overpeck said much of the extreme heat is attributable to the impact of climate change, but El Niño has also been a factor, and “we expect — hope might be a better word — that temperatures might start to ameliorate.”
The most recent El Niño, a climate phenomenon that causes unusually warm surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, began last June, which was also the warmest June on record.
The globe saw its overall hottest summer on record the same year and recently concluded a 12-month period in which every month set a temperature record.
“We’re really looking at the next few months to tell us whether something dramatic is surprising us in the global temperatures,” Overpeck said. “If it starts cooling off, [and] it hasn’t started to do that yet, we can ascribe [these] more unusual temperatures to the El Niño. If it keeps rocketing up, we’ll have to think about why climate change [is] accelerating.”
He noted that surface warming of oceans, where the majority of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases goes, has also accelerated lately.
While local authorities have urged people in affected areas to stay inside where possible, that is not an option for those who work outdoors or the homeless population of major metropolitan areas, Overpeck noted.
The temperatures of this week are likely to subside somewhat while remaining high throughout the summer, but ultimately they may be a vision of what summers look like in the longer term, Rood said. This week is almost certainly not a “one-off event,” he added. “We are probably going to see a series of events this summer.”
“I wouldn’t call it a new normal — I would call it perhaps a vision of 10, 20, 30 years,” he said. If the trend continues, he added, the extremes of this week won’t seem extraordinary years from now.
“You’re getting a glimpse into the future, warmer world,” he said.
Extreme heat, wildfires and climate change are causing Canadians to feel heightened sense of eco anxiety: ‘How are we going to live?’
Climate anxiety, ecological grief and solastalgia are terms used to describe the emotional distress caused by environmental changes.
Pia Araneta – June 19, 2024
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle.
As wildfires continue to burn across the country, Canadians are sharing their climate fears. (Photo by Cheyenne Berreault/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“There’s no way I can go back during the summers because I can’t handle the heat…People are dying every day in the summer,” said Malik, adding that she worries for her family.
Annie Malik, a 33-year-old living in London, Ont. said her biggest worry around climate change is her family in Pakistan. She can no longer visit during the hot summer months and she thinks about her family’s survival. (Image provided by Annie Malik)
Malik’s sentiments are echoed by many Canadians who are feeling eco-anxious, or emotional from the effects of climate change, especially since last year’s record-breaking wildfires. According to a 2023 survey by Unite For Change, 75 per cent of Canadians are experiencing anxiety about climate change and its impacts.
If the planet is inhabitable, how are we going to live?Annie Malik
Yahoo Canada recently spoke to Canadians about their eco-anxiety, as well as a mental health expert on how to cope.
What is climate anxiety?
Climate anxiety, ecological grief and solastalgia are all similar terms to describe the emotional distress caused by environmental changes. The American Psychological Association defines it as “a chronic fear of environmental doom” and recognizes it as a legitimate increasing mental health concern.
Cree Lambeck, clinical director at Cherry Tree Counselling, offers eco-counselling services and said some clients can present with both physical and mental health symptoms from ecological issues. For example, someone might struggle with asthma and breathing issues from air pollution. “Other times a person can feel stress or really powerless around climate change,” said Lambeck.
Grief and sadness over the loss of natural environments
Existential dread
Guilt related to your carbon footprint
Anger or frustration toward government officials
Obsessive thoughts about the climate
How to cope with climate anxiety
Heather Mak is a 42-year-old from Toronto who said she’s felt eco-anxious for well over a decade, which “can feel overwhelming.”
Mak transitioned out of a marketing career into the sustainability field, hoping she could take control of some of her anxieties. She’s currently in corporate sustainability, working with large businesses on environmental and social issues, and she runs a nonprofit called Diversity in Sustainability.
Heather Mak is a 42-year-old living in Toronto and she changed careers from marketing to sustainability. Mak said taking action in her work helps her cope with her eco-anxiety, but a side effect is that she can get burnt out from ongoing crises. (Image provided by Heather Mak)
“How I try to deal with it is by taking action,” she said. “But then again, when you start working in this field, it’s almost like you can never sleep — because the scope of the issue just keeps getting bigger.”
How I try to deal with it is by taking action. Heather Mak
Last year, Mak heard about the Climate Psychology Alliance and started seeing a climate-aware psychologist to help her process some of her feelings from eco-anxiety, as well as burnout from her work.
As recommended by her psychologist, Mak tries to immerse herself in nature as much as possible to keep herself grounded. “There’s also groups called climate cafes,” said Mak. “I think just chatting with others who are going through the same thing really helps.”
Other times, Mak will channel her energy into writing letters to elected officials.
Set boundaries and concrete strategies: Expert
At Cherry Tree Counselling, Lambeck offers clients “walk and talk ecotherapy.” The sessions can be in-person or over the phone and both the therapist and client will chat outdoors.
Lambeck said many people access eco-counselling services, from adolescents to seniors. “People can experience [climate anxiety] throughout their lifespan and it can present in different ways — like with parenting,” said Lambeck. Some research has found that young adults are even hesitant to have kids due to climate change. “There’s a lot of existential worry associated with global crises.”
It’s important to take breaks and set those boundaries and practice self-care and find social support in those times.Cree Lambeck, clinical director at Cherry Tree Counselling
Considering environmental issues can impact many prongs in someone’s life, like family planning or lifestyle choices, Lambeck said she tries to offer clients practical tools and concrete strategies that might help tackle some of the turmoil. For instance, she might help target some ways a person can reduce their carbon footprint, identify some of their core values, or try to find opportunities or sustainable initiatives the person might be able to participate in.
“For some people, this can help provide a sense of empowerment or control if they’re feeling helpless. Engaging in meaning-focused coping and finding purpose,” Lambeck said.
Another strategy is to focus on boundary setting or limit the exposure of distressing news. “What is the balance between staying informed or excess consumption?” Lambeck said. Images of burning forests, oil spills and floods are plentiful and distressing and can exacerbate our eco-anxiety. “So it’s important to take breaks and set those boundaries and practice self-care and find social support in those times,” she adds.
Alito’s Wife Caught on Tape Spewing Venom at Everyone
Edith Olmsted – June 11, 2024
A secret tape has exposed what Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann, really thinks behind closed doors—and the truth isn’t pretty. In the span of just a few minutes, Alito promised revenge on the media, flung around terms like “femnazis,” lauded her German heritage, and went off about Pride flags. It was a mess.
Alito has been in and out of the news in the last month, after her high-ranking husband blamed her for hanging an upside-down American flag outside of their home, a symbol favored by the “Stop the Steal” movement following the 2020 presidential election. She supposedly hung the flag in response to a neighbor’s “F— Trump” sign, which sparked the rather unneighborly spat. Alito also engaged in some light menacing as part of the feud, prompting the neighbor to call the cops on the Alitos. Still, Justice Alito has refused calls to recuse himself from cases relating to the January 6 insurrection.
Journalist Laura Windsor recorded Martha-Ann’s and her husband’s comments during the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner earlier this month. A copy of the tape was published on Monday by Rolling Stone.
Windsor first approached Martha-Ann, posing as a Christian conservative, to express her sympathy over “everything that you’re going through,” referring to the highly publicized flag hanging.
“It’s OK because if they come back to me, I’ll get them,” Alito said cheerfully. “I’m gonna be liberated and I’m gonna get them.”
“What do you mean by ‘they?’” Windsor asked.
“There is a five-year defamation statute of limitations,” Alito said, letting out a laugh.
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘they’, like by ‘get them’?” Windsor pressed.
“The media!” Alito said, going on to complain about her coverage in The Washington Post style section from nearly two decades ago.
It appears Alito doesn’t forget about the journalists who’ve gotten on her bad side. In 2016, Alito was reportedly enthusiastic about Trump’s promise to expand U.S. libel laws to make it significantly easier to sue news outlets for their coverage, one GOP operative told Rolling Stone.
While maintaining her cheerful tone, Alito also took aim at any woman who suggested her husband should’ve prevented her from hanging an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, a symbol revived by a Christian nationalist sect and favored by January 6 insurrectionists, at their vacation home.
“The other thing the femnazis believe, that he should control me,” Alito said about her husband. “So, they’ll go to hell. He never controls me.”
When Windsor asked what someone who has the same flag should do, Alito responded simply, “Don’t get angry, get even.”
There was one group that Alito seemed to admire, and it’s not exactly one that people are often openly praising. “Look at me, look at me. I’m German, from Germany. My heritage is German. You come after me. I’m gonna give it back to you. And there will be a way, it doesn’t have to be now, but there will be a way they will know. Don’t worry about it,” she said.
When Windsor tried to ask Alito about the political divide in the United States and her thoughts on the “radical Left,” about which her supposedly nonpolitical husband had plenty to say, Alito cut her off to complain about Pride flags.
“You know what I want? I want a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag because I have to look across the lagoon at the Pride flag for the next month,” she said.
“And he’s like, ‘Oh please, don’t put up a flag.’ I said, ‘I won’t do it because I’m deferring to you. But when you are free of this nonsense I’m putting it up, and I’m gonna send them a message every day. Maybe every week I’ll be changing the flags. They’ll be all kinds,’” she said, fantasizing about the day when she could finally antagonize her neighbors who support the LGBTQ+ community.
Alito even explained she had invented a flag that says, “Vergogna,” which means “shame” in Italian. “Shame, shame, shame on you,” Alito added darkly.
One can scarcely believe that her husband ruled in favor of allowing businesses to discriminate against people who identify as LGBTQ+.
The Success Narratives of Liberal Life Leave Little Room for Having Children
By Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman – June 10, 2024
Dr. Berg and Ms. Wiseman are the authors of the forthcoming book “What Are Children For?: On Ambivalence and Choice.”
Credit…Andrea Settimo
For young, secular, politically progressive men and women, having children has become something of an afterthought. Liberal conventional wisdom encourages people to spend their 20s on journeys of personal and professional self-discovery and self-fulfillment. Children are treated as a bonus round, something to get to only after completing a long list of achievements: getting a degree, forging a satisfying and well-established career, buying a house, cultivating the ideal romantic partnership.
The standards of readiness for family are at once so high and so vague that it’s hardly a surprise when people fail to reach them. Indeed, the data suggest that people are having children later than they used to and are having fewer than they’d like.
For progressives, waiting to have children has also become a kind of ethical imperative. Gender equality and female empowerment demand that women’s self-advancement not be sacrificed on the altar of motherhood. Securing female autonomy means that under no circumstances should a woman be rushed into a reproductive decision — whether by an eager partner or tone-deaf chatter about ticking biological clocks. Unreserved enthusiasm for having children can come across as essentially reactionary.
Over the past four years, we’ve conducted interviews and surveys with hundreds of young Americans about their attitudes toward having children. These conversations revealed that the success narratives of modern liberal life leave little room for having a family. Women who want kids often come to that realization belatedly, at some point in their early 30s — the so-called panic years. If they are lucky, their partner (if they have one) will fall in line. If they are not, they face a choice of returning to the dating pool, freezing their eggs (if they haven’t done so already), single parenting or giving up their hope of having kids of their own.
In this way, the logic of postponement that has been promoted by liberals and progressives — and bolstered by overblown optimism about reproductive technologies — robs young people of their agency. How many children they have, and even whether they have them at all, is increasingly a decision made for them by circumstance and cultural convention.
This is not just a recipe for unhappiness; it also reflects a deep confusion. There is nothing inherently unprogressive about embracing the prospect of children. Even Simone de Beauvoir, the philosopher who was among the first to critique reproduction and family as instruments for the oppression of women, acknowledged that shaping the character and intellect of another human being was “the most delicate and the most serious undertaking of all.” While certain conservative visions of family life — such as “trad wives” and Silicon Valley pronatalism — no doubt have little to offer those on the left, our fellow progressives need to stop thinking of having children as a conservative hobbyhorse and reclaim it for what it is: a fundamental human concern.
The family — recognized as the seat of customs and traditional values — has long been central to the appeal of conservatism. Yet it wasn’t that long ago that Republicans and Democrats fought over who could rightfully claim to be the party of “family values.” Bill Clinton, while campaigning for president against George H.W. Bush in 1992, assailed the Republican Party’s commitment to families as little more than hypocrisy. “Where are they,” he asked, “when there is no health care for pregnant women? When too many children are born with low birth weights?” Mr. Clinton went on to announce a 14-point “American Family Values Agenda.”
But in time, liberals and progressives came to shy away from publicly embracing the American family as a symbol and an ideal. After Mr. Clinton was impeached in the wake of his own family-values hypocrisy and George W. Bush was elected with the help of energized evangelical voters, family-friendly rhetoric became anathema to liberals — perceived as phony, intrusive and toxic. (The notable exception was gay marriage, whose legalization was won with the help of arguments that promoted the virtues of families.) Today, the left proudly defends the sacrosanct right to abortion and reproductive justice while almost entirely sidestepping the question of whether having children is a worthy project to begin with.
The stark polarization of today’s public discourse has only heightened the left’s wariness of children, both privately and politically. Progressive policy defeats are often met with anti-natalist grandstanding. Members of the ecological activist group BirthStrike, founded in 2018, declared that they were protesting climate inaction by refusing to have kids. The following year, shortly after proposing legislation for a Green New Deal, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York broadcast progressives’ hesitancy to reproduce in the face of climate change to her 2.5 million Instagram followers when she said, “It does lead young people to have a legitimate question: Is it OK to still have children?”
The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, has also made liberals and progressives more uneasy with the idea of starting a family. A year after Dobbs, the reproductive-rights journalist Andrea González-Ramírez wrote that she had been contemplating having children in her early 30s, before the Supreme Court’s decision put an end to all that: “I have never been sure that I desire to be a mom, let alone that I desire it enough to assume the risks. These days, however, that door is shut. I choose myself.”
That choice is not uncommon. In a recent study, 34 percent of women ages 18 to 39 reported that they or someone they know had “decided not to get pregnant due to concerns about managing pregnancy-related medical emergencies.” That might sound like a worry about abortion access, but the study suggested that Dobbs intensified ambivalence about having children more generally. Indeed, of the women who said they were forgoing having children because of the Dobbs ruling, about half lived in states where abortion rights were still protected.
One can’t help noting the irony: In permitting the conservative movement to alienate them from the question of whether they want to have and raise children, these liberals and progressives are allowing the right to shape their reproductive agendas in yet another way.
But the partisan framing of the issue is flawed at a more fundamental level. The question of children ultimately transcends politics. In deciding whether to have children, we confront a philosophical challenge: Is life, however imperfect and however challenging — however fraught with political disagreement and disaster — worth living?
To be sure, having children is not the only way to address this question. But having children remains the most basic and accessible way for most of us to affirm the value of our lives and that of others. This is in part because becoming a parent represents one of the greatest responsibilities one human being can assume for another. And it is also because the perpetuation of human life is the condition of possibility for every other thing we care about.
Committing oneself to long-term leftist causes like economic, environmental, racial and social justice is more than just compatible with embracing children and family life. It presupposes a willingness to take personal and collective responsibility for the next generation — raising, nurturing and educating those who will decide the fate of our country and our planet.
Surely, progressives and conservatives will give as vastly different answers to the question of what raising children ought to look like as they will to the question of how American society ought to be governed. But progressives must not let partisan loyalties stop them from thinking about the ways in which having children does or does not express their values, and what shape they really want their lives to take. Children are too important to allow them to fall victim to the culture wars.
Anastasia Berg is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of California, Irvine, and an editor of the magazine The Point, where Rachel Wiseman is the managing editor. They are the authors of the forthcoming book “What Are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice.”
Records tumble across Southwest U.S. as temperatures soar well into triple digits
Scott Sonner – June 6, 2024
Sofia Ramirez, left, of Mexico drinks water as she waits in line to take a photo at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign in Las Vegas Thursday, June 6, 2024. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)Dean Leano takes a water break while photographing tourists at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign in Las Vegas Thursday, June 6, 2024. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Records tumbled across the U.S. Southwest on Thursday as temperatures soared past 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) in some areas, and the region’s first heat wave of the year was expected to maintain its grip for at least another day.
Although the official start of summer was still two weeks away, roughly half of Arizona, California and Nevada were under an excessive heat alert, which the National Weather Service said it was extending until Friday evening.
At a campaign rally for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Phoenix, 11 people fell ill from heat exhaustion by late afternoon and were taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released, fire officials said.
The weather service in Phoenix described the city experiencing “dangerously hot conditions.”
And in Las Vegas, the Clark County Fire Department said it has responded to at least 12 calls for heat exposure since midnight Wednesday. Nine of those calls ended with a patient needing treatment in a hospital. A spokesperson for the county said the number is likely higher, as the heat can also play a role in other types of calls to the fire department, including those related to alcohol intoxication or when conditions like fainting, dizziness or nausea are reported.
New record highs Thursday included 113 F (45 C) in Phoenix, breaking the old mark of 111 F (44 C) set in 2016, and 111 F (44 C) in Las Vegas, topping the 110 F (43 C) last reached in 2010. Other areas of Arizona, California and Nevada also broke records by a few degrees.
The heat has arrived weeks earlier than usual even in places farther to the north at higher elevations — areas typically a dozen degrees cooler. That includes Reno, Nevada, where the normal high of 81 F (27 C) for this time of year soared to a record 98 F (37 C) on Thursday.
The National Weather Service in Reno forecast mild cooling this weekend, but only by a few degrees. In central and southern Arizona, that will still means triple-digit highs, even up to 110 F (43 C).
____
Associated Press writers Anita Snow and Ty O’Neil in Phoenix, and Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
The Pesky Natural Mineral Shaking The Foundations Of Massachusetts Real Estate
Eric McConnell – June 2, 2024
The Pesky Natural Mineral Shaking The Foundations Of Massachusetts Real Estate
A mineral known as pyrrhotite, which occurs naturally in New England, is wreaking havoc on homeowners across Massachusetts. Pyrrhotite causes concrete, the foundation material for many homes in Central Massachusetts, to deteriorate and then crumble. When pyrrhotite deterioration is discovered, the homeowner has two equally undesirable choices: make expensive repairs or risk the home’s foundation crumbling.
Because of the extensive scope of the necessary work, it’s not uncommon for the repairs to cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to a FEMA case study on pyrrhotite in neighboring Connecticut, the only way to properly repair a foundation where pyrrhotite has been discovered is to “lift the house off the foundation and completely replace all the concrete.”
Many homeowners get an even nastier surprise when they discover their home insurance won’t cover the repairs. Many others don’t have insurance at all. Even if they did, the issue for insurers regarding covering pyrrhotite-related damages is that it does its devastating work slowly over time. If it destroyed the foundation immediately, catastrophic loss coverage might kick in.
However, pyrrhotite takes years to destroy a foundation. Because of this, area insurers have adopted a policy of refusing to cover repair costs associated with pyrrhotite-related damage. This exacerbates the problem for homeowners. Many area banks and lenders are reluctant to lend homeowners the money they need to make the repairs, even if they have home equity.
Loan underwriters take a purely risk and numbers-based approach to loan approvals. Given this, why would they lend money on an asset where the foundation is crumbling? If the homeowner defaults, the bank will be stuck foreclosing on an investment with a crumbling foundation and trying to recoup that money at a public auction. It sounds like a recipe for losing money.
All of this is having a devastating effect on homeowners. Many have horror stories about suddenly being in a position where their most valuable asset is rendered worthless unless they make repairs they can’t afford. Even if they try to sell, real estate disclosure laws will mandate they inform the buyer of the presence of pyrrhotite in the foundation. Decades of asset appreciation are being wiped away.
Few things make a house less desirable than the knowledge it has a crumbling foundation that could cost several hundred thousand dollars to repair. The saddest aspect of this story is that the fates of many affected homes were sealed the day their foundation was poured. Because pyrrhotite is naturally occurring, it inevitably made its way into the concrete supply of quarries statewide.
Over several decades, developers across Massachusetts ordered and poured countless tons of pyrrhotite-contaminated concrete. Unfortunately for affected homeowners, the slow pace of pyrrhotite destruction means they are well beyond the time limit within which they could still hold their homebuilders liable for the damages.
State laws have also been updated, and quarries are now required to test for the presence of pyrrhotite in their concrete before shipping it. However, that only provides future relief and residents dealing with pyrrhotite-related foundation decay are suffering right now.
Many are banding together to fight back by seeking legislative relief by having Massachusetts adopt a solution similar to the one Connecticut employed to handle its pyrrhotite problem. State Sen. Ryan Fattman is one of the most vocal proponents of the proposed legislation.
During a meeting with affected homeowners, he said, “That is the main mechanism for which we can create a statewide program similar to what Connecticut did, where they added a fee onto homeowners’ insurance and then seeded that money with a fund to fund out the change of foundations for homes that have this pyrrhotite crumbling foundation. And that’s what we hope to do here.”
The future of the legislation isn’t clear; however, it does appear there is a consensus that something must be done. If not, Massachusetts homeowners could continue to see their property values decline while pyrrhotite slowly destroys their home’s foundation from within. That would eventually hit county budgets all over the state because assessments on private property are how most Massachusetts counties fund vital services like public education, fire, and police.
Pyrrhotite is a naturally occurring problem that few people could have seen coming. Now that it’s here, Massachusetts lawmakers, homeowners, and insurance companies must arrive at a mutually amenable solution. If not, this pesky natural mineral could potentially threaten the foundations of Massachusetts’ real estate market.
Louisiana graduate finishes high school as valedictorian while being homeless
Ashley R. Williams, CNN – June 1, 2024
A Louisiana high school senior experiencing homelessness recently graduated at the top of his class with the highest-earned GPA.
Elijah Hogan, 19, was named valedictorian of Walter L. Cohen High School in New Orleans and graduated May 24 with a 3.93 GPA, he told CNN.
Hogan, who became homeless a year and a half ago, says he was in disbelief when he learned of his academic achievement.
“I thought they were mistaking me for someone else, but when I looked at it and I was shown evidence that it was me, I was in awe, like, I was jaw dropped,” said Hogan, who was born in New Orleans and raised mostly in Houston.
Hogan was one of four Black male students who achieved valedictorian status at their New Orleans schools this spring, CNN affiliate WDSU reported.
Hogan, who previously lived with his grandmother since he was 11, says he became homeless after the lease on his grandmother’s house expired when the homeowner decided to sell the property.
He and his grandmother were given 30 days to vacate the house, according to Hogan.
“From there, I made the executive decision to live on my own to lighten my grandmother’s burden,” Hogan told CNN.
While his grandmother went to live in a care home for the elderly, Hogan was left without permanent housing.
His grandmother told him about the Covenant House, a homeless shelter in New Orleans serving youth and young adults ages 16-22. Hogan has been living at the shelter as part of its transitional housing program since he became homeless, he said.
Elijah Hogan, center, proudly holds up his high school diploma from Walter L. Cohen High School. – Courtesy Kewe Ukpolo
The program allows young people to stay at the shelter up to 24 months rent-free, giving them an opportunity to focus on education or to save money while working, Covenant House New Orleans chief executive officer Rheneisha Robertson told CNN.
“It really allows them to get stable and identify more permanent, stable housing,” said Robertson, who added the homeless shelter had five other high school graduates this year.
Hogan, who addressed his graduating class with an uplifting valedictorian speech last week, said dealing with homelessness while completing his education was challenging but he found support from the homeless shelter’s employees and his high school’s staff.
“As time went on, I started to open up to people over at Covenant House as well as Cohen, people were there to support me and give me a guiding hand,” Hogan said. “Without them, I wouldn’t (have) become who I am today.”
He credits his Covenant House case manager, Jarkayla Cobb, with never giving up on him.
“She helped me get through it even when I was showing a lack of faith in myself,” Hogan said. “She’s been there no matter what I needed.”
Hogan, who lost his mother just before he turned 12, says her death encouraged him to push forward with his education for his grandmother’s sake.
“I know that’s what (my mother) would have wanted,” he said.
Hogan plans to attend Xavier University in New Orleans in the fall to study graphic design and has been granted a scholarship to cover his tuition fees, he says.
“Elijah’s accomplishments are worth celebrating. We know that they are a product of his character and the choices he made day after day to pursue his dreams,” Jerel Bryant, chief executive officer of Collegiate Academies, which operates Hogan’s former high school, said in a statement.
“His success is also a testament to how capable and excellent our Black youth are, in New Orleans and across this country,” Bryant said.
Hogan offered these words of encouragement for other young people:
“To any race, no matter what color or accent you have, you are your own guiding light,” Hogan said. “You are your own storybook that you write. Let yourself be the pen that you write on paper.”
Southern US city tops list of dirtiest in the nation, study says
Pilar Arias – May 29, 2024
Southern US city tops list of dirtiest in the nation, study says
A recent survey named the “dirtiest” city in the U.S., and earning the top spot this year is none other than Houston, taking the crown from last year’s dirtiest, Newark, New Jersey.
Houston’s ranking in the study from LawnStarter came after a comparison of 152 U.S. cities in the categories of pollution, living conditions, infrastructure and customer satisfaction.
The study says Houston, also known as Space City, is the third most polluted of all the cities ranked, behind San Bernardino, California, and Peoria, Arizona. It cites another study that “found that the city’s petrochemical facilities severely violate EPA safety guidelines.”
LawnStarter data says Houston ranks “third worst in greenhouse gas emissions from large industrial facilities,” and the city has “the biggest cockroach problem, too.”
A spokesperson for the Houston Solid Waste Management Department — which is in charge of waste collection, disposal and recycling — did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Last year’s reigning champion, Newark, slipped to the overall rank of No. 2.
Rounding up the top 10 are San Bernardino; Detroit; Jersey City, New Jersey; Bakersfield, California; San Antonio; Fresno, California; Oklahoma City; and Yonkers, New York. New York City came in at No. 12.
The Houston skyline and I-45 commuter traffic at dusk.
So why does any of this matter? LawnStarter said the study is meant to have people look beyond garbage, pests and poor waste management, saying the negative effects from living in dirty cities can be worse than people realize, citing health problems such as lung cancer, heart disease and stroke that can stem from air pollution.
“Here’s the bottom line: Dirty cities aren’t just an eyesore — they also damage our bodies and our wallets,” LawnStarter says.
New York City, where a store is seen after a looting in 2022, did not even make the top 10 list of dirtiest cities in the U.S.
LawnStarter provides lawn care providers to customers via its website and mobile application. The company used the survey as an opportunity to attract new business.
“Clean cities tend to have lots of tidy, healthy, green lawns,” they said.
America’s dirtiest city is revealed — and it’s not NYC or anywhere near the north
Mary K. Jacob – May 28, 2024
The dirtiest city in America is not exactly what you would expect it to be.
Do you think New York’s filthy sidewalks, gross subway cars and rat infestations make it America’s dirtiest city? You’re in for quite a surprise.
A recent study by LawnStarter has crowned Houston, Texas, as the nation’s dirtiest city — bumping Newark, New Jersey from the top spot.
New York City, despite its notorious grime, didn’t even crack the top 10. It landed in 12th place. While the Big Apple dodged the title of dirtiest, it’s still grappling with its trash and pest problems.
The dirtiest city in America is not exactly what you would expect it to be. NY Post compositeA recent study found that Houston currently stands as the dirtiest city in America. Houston Chronicle via Getty ImagesTrash floating around a construction barge at Buffalo Bayou in Houston. Houston Chronicle via Getty Imag
Houston’s new dubious honor stems from its terrible air quality, infrastructure woes and a staggering number of pests invading homes.
LawnStarter’s sister site PestGnome pulled data showing Houston has the worst cockroach problem, with the city crawling with the creepy critters.
It’s not just Houston; southern cities seem to be a haven for cockroaches. San Antonio, Texas and Tampa, Florida, join Houston in the top three for cockroach infestations.
If cockroaches aren’t your nightmare, steer clear of Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. These cities top the list for rodent-infested homes.
A chart showing the nation’s worst offenders. Lawn Starter
Despite California’s hefty spending on cleaning efforts, several of its cities still rank poorly. San Bernardino, notorious as the “armpit” of California, ranks fourth dirtiest due to atrocious air quality.
Riverside and Ontario, also in the LA metro area, share this dismal air status, now plagued by pollution-heavy warehouses that have replaced orange groves and vineyards.
San Francisco, however, shines as a cleaner gem in California. With a $72.5 million street cleaning spree in 2019 and an additional $16.7 million budget in 2023, it’s among the cleaner half of US cities.
Newark, New Jersey ranked second of the dirtiest cities in America. mandritoiu – stock.adobe.com
But this doesn’t account for the rising homeless and drug epidemic facing the city.
Dirty air isn’t the only issue — drinking water contamination is rampant in the southwest. Except for Salt Lake City, every major southwest city violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2020. Las Vegas, ranking 19th dirtiest overall, has the most unsafe water in the region.
Ohioans have a particular knack for littering cigarette butts. With five Ohio cities boasting the highest share of smokers, the state is battling an onslaught of discarded cigarettes, despite local campaigns urging residents to kick the habit.
Surprisingly, many of the cleanest cities are coastal, with Virginia Beach topping the list.
However, being near water isn’t a cleanliness guarantee — Fremont, California, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, also rank among the most pristine cities despite their inland locations.
