Media Today

[Rick Plant]

Heatwaves threaten marine life as Mediterranean reaches record temperature

France has seen searing temperatures in successive heatwaves over the past few weeks, but it’s not only on land that temperatures are insufferably high. The Mediterranean Sea’s surface temperature reached a record high 30.7°C in late July, and marine heatwaves are becoming increasingly common because of climate change – with dramatic consequences for biodiversity.

As Europe battles wildfires and record drought on land, rising sea temperatures pose another kind of threat. On July 24, the temperature in the Mediterranean reached a peak of 30.7°C off the coast of Alistro in eastern Corsica, according to the Keraunos meteorological observatory. The next day, in the bay of Villefrance-sur-Mer – an idyllic beach town a few miles from Nice – a researcher at the local oceanographic laboratory recorded a temperature of 29.2°C.

“It’s unprecedented,” said the researcher, Jean-Pierre Gattuso. The Mediterranean’s temperature is usually between 21° and 24°C at this time of year.

“What we’re seeing is a marine heatwave,” Gattuso said. “Like the heatwaves we get on land, it’s characterized by unusual temperatures for the season and can go on for several days or even weeks.”

In this case, Gattuso said, record temperatures have been continuing since the end of June and are affecting the entire western Mediterranean, from the heel of the Italian boot to Spain.

This climatic anomaly is linked to the successive heatwaves that have ravaged southern and western Europe in recent weeks.

“The temperature in the atmosphere and the temperature in the ocean work in tandem,” said oceanographer Carole Saout-Grit at Paris’s CNRS research institute. “When we talk about global warming, we’ve got to remember that 90 percent of the heat that has accumulated since the pre-industrial era has been absorbed by the ocean.”

“When you’ve got excess heat in the atmosphere, the ocean will try to suck it out, so that can cause the water to overheat,” Saout-Grit continued. But for the sea to overheat, there must be no wind. And that is “precisely the situation in the Mediterranean at the moment – otherwise, a gust of wind would allow the water at the surface to mix with the cooler water at the bottom, and the overall temperature would drop”.

These marine heatwaves don’t just happen in the Mediterranean. “The Pacific Ocean, particularly the North Pacific … has already been affected by this phenomenon,” Gattuso noted. Marine heatwaves have also been observed in the South Atlantic and even the Arctic.

These sudden, atypical spikes in temperature – which come on top of the long-term trajectory of the oceans warming – have disastrous consequences for aquatic fauna and flora. “With a team of 70 scientists, we’ve studied the impact in the Mediterranean for the period 2015-19. We found out that 90 percent of the area had been affected and that around 50 species had suffered deaths on a large scale,” Gattuso said.

On the other side of the world, marine heatwaves are also contributing to the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, turning the coral white. According to an Australian government report published in May, 91 percent of the reef has suffered bleaching due to a prolonged heatwaves during the southern hemisphere’s summer season.

Around 50 percent of the world’s coral reefs are considered to be under threat from climate change.

AFP

[Rick Plant]

Payrolls increased 528,000 in July, much better than expected in a sign of continued strength for jobs market

Hiring in July was far better than expected, defying multiple other signs that the economic recovery is losing steam, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 528,000 for the month and the unemployment rate was 3.5%, easily topping the Dow Jones estimates of 258,000 and 3.6%, respectively. The unemployment rate is now back to its pre-pandemic level and tied for the lowest since 1969.

Wage growth also surged higher, as average hourly earnings jumped 0.5% for the month and 5.2% from the same time a year ago.

Professional and business services was next with 89,000. Health care added 70,000 and government payrolls grew 57,000. Goods-producing industries also posted solid gains, with construction up 32,000 and manufacturing adding 30,000.

Retail jobs increased by 22,000, despite repeated warnings from executives at Walmart, Target and elsewhere that consumer demand is shifting.

Back to pre-pandemic

Despite downbeat expectations, the July gains were the best since February and well ahead of the 388,000 average job rise over the past four months. The BLS release noted that total nonfarm payroll employment has increased by 22 million since the April 2020 low when most of the U.S. economy shut down to deal with the Covid pandemic.

Previous months’ totals were revised slightly, with May raised by 2,000 to 386,000 and June up 26,000 to 398,000.

“The report throws cold water on a significant cooling in labor demand, but it’s a good sign for the broader U.S. economy and worker,” Bank of America economist Michael Gapen said in a client note.

The BLS noted that private sector payrolls are now higher than the February 2020 level, just before the pandemic declaration.

The unemployment rate ticked down, the result both of strong job creation and a labor force participation rate that declined 0.1 percentage point to 62.1%, its lowest level of the year.

AFP

[Rick Plant]

Anne Heche ‘expected to live’ after suffering severe burns in car crash: report



Actress Anne Heche is expected to survive after reportedly being involved in a series of car crashes in Los Angeles on Friday.

"Witnesses tell TMZ, she was driving a blue Mini Cooper and crashed into the garage of an apartment complex," TMZ reported. "Residents of the apartment complex tried getting Anne out of the vehicle but she put the car in reverse and then sped off. A short time later, she crashed into a nearby home, igniting a fire. The fire was significant and engulfed the house."

Video from a Fox LA helicopter appears to show firefighters pushing a stretcher towards an ambulance. Shortly before they reached their destination, the person on the stretcher throws off the white sheet and flails their arms just before the stretcher entered the ambulance.

TMZ also obtained an image of Heche taken through the passenger side window.

"Look closely at the photo of Anne inside the car (above) ... there's a bottle with a red cap in the cupholder next to the gearshift, and it looks like a bottle of alcohol," TMZ reported. "We do no know the extent of her injuries or burns. We're told she's currently in the hospital intubated but expected to live."

Watch a slowed-down video of the stretcher below:

[Rick Plant]

Alex Jones hit with $45 million in punitive damages by Texas jury: report



One day after a Texas jury determined Alex Jones must pay two Sandy Hook parents $4.1 in compensatory damages, the same jury ruled in must also pay $45.2 million in punitive damages.

Jones was sued for defamation by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of Jesse Lewis, who was murdered in the 2012 fatal school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut which Jones falsely claimed was a hoax.

Heslin and Lewis were awarded a total of $49.3 million.

Elizabeth Williamson, the author the book Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth, attempted to put the verdict in context.

"Remember this is the first of three trials for damages against Jones," Williamson wrote.

"Two more are scheduled for next month-— one in Texas, and one brought by the families of eight victims in Connecticut, where laws governing damages favor plaintiffs more than in Texas," she reminded. "And Connecticut is where the shooting occurred."

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1555672916401917952

[Rick Plant]

Hurricane experts still expect more storms than normal as peak of season approaches



ORLANDO, Fla. — Although tropical storms have been off to slower start this year than anticipated, experts are still calling for the 2022 season to be an above-average year.

Both Colorado State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called for above-average seasons in their updated August forecasts of what the rest of the season may look like, which ends Nov. 30. So far, 2022 is producing the norm in storm production, three storms by Aug. 4. But meteorologists expect the tropics to start picking up steam as the peak of season approaches, or the time where the most tropical storms are typically observed.

“We’re just getting into the peak months of August through October for hurricane development, and we anticipate that more storms are on the way,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad.

The NOAA kept its storm-total predictions from May the same, forecasting a likely range of 14 to 21 named storms. NOAA defines an average season as having 14.

Of the predicted total, scientists are expecting to see six to 10 become hurricanes; with maximum sustained winds of 74 mph or higher, and three to six major hurricanes — also known as Category 3, 4 and 5 storms; with maximum sustained winds greater than 110 mph.

CSU adjusted its July prediction of tropical storms from 20 to 18. CSU also changed the amount of hurricanes it predicted from 10 to eight, and its count of major hurricanes from five to four.

But why did CSU adjust its count?

The answer is due to the subtropical Atlantic experiencing cooling along the sea surface, which could lead to increased vertical wind shear — a hurricane deterrent that breaks up organized winds from properly circulating and becoming tropical storms.

However, both CSU and the NOAA found the majority of Atlantic sea-surface temperatures to be warmer than normal, fueling their predictions for enhanced hurricane activity. Adding to that is the persistent, Pacific cooling presence of La Niña — an atmospheric current that can weaken vertical wind shear in the Atlantic. Experts predict La Niña to linger throughout the rest of the season.

As for major storms, CSU predicted the entire continental U.S. coastline has a 68% chance of seeing a Category 3 hurricane or higher make landfall. Meteorologists gave the U.S. East Coast, including the Florida peninsula, a 43% chance, which is higher than the full-season average of 31% from the last century. The Gulf Coast, from the Florida Panhandle to Brownsville, Texas also was given a 43% chance — higher than the full-season average of 30%.

“Communities and families should prepare now for the remainder of what is still expected to be an active hurricane season,” said Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service. “Ensure that you are ready to take action if a hurricane threatens your area by developing an evacuation plan and gathering hurricane supplies now, before a storm is bearing down on your community.”

So far, 2022 has three named tropical storms: Alex, Bonnie and Colin. Comparatively, by this time of the year, 2020 had nine named storms and a tropical depression — although that year is considered an outlier. The last two years saw record breaking storm production, with 2020 becoming the busiest recorded hurricane season in the Atlantic’s history totaling 30 named storms, and 2021 earning the third-place title for busiest year with 21 named storms.

© Orlando Sentinel

[Rick Plant]

Monkeypox is now a national public health emergency in the U.S. – an epidemiologist explains what this means
https://theconversation.com/monkeypox-is-now-a-national-public-health-emergency-in-the-u-s-an-epidemiologist-explains-what-this-means-188335

[Rick Plant]

Megalodon sharks ruled the oceans millions of years ago – new analyses of giant fossilized teeth are helping scientists unravel the mystery of their extinction

https://theconversation.com/megalodon-sharks-ruled-the-oceans-millions-of-years-ago-new-analyses-of-giant-fossilized-teeth-are-helping-scientists-unravel-the-mystery-of-their-extinction-185118