Study: Wildfires produced up to half of pollution in US West [Associated Press]
Wildfire smoke accounted for up to half of all health-damaging small particle air pollution in the western U.S. in recent years as warming temperatures fueled more destructive blazes, according to a study released Monday. Even as pollution emissions declined from other sources including vehicle exhaust and power plants, the amount from fires increased sharply, said researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, San Diego. … Air pollution experts say that residents of the West Coast and Northern Rockies in particular should expect major smoke events from wildfires to become more frequent.
Climate change causing one-third of flood damage in United States, Stanford study finds [San Francisco Chronicle]
Increasingly strong storms are responsible for more than a third of the nation’s flood costs, swelling the tab by billions of dollars a year as climate change continues to fuel more extreme weather, according to new research at Stanford University. The research, which is among the first to put a price tag on heavier rainfall, found that the changing weather is responsible for $75 billion of the cumulative $199 billion of U.S. flood damage between 1998 and 2017. Many of the losses over that period were in California.
State might reject effort to protect bumblebees [Marin Independent Journal]
A proposal to make bumblebees the first insects to acquire endangered species protections in California could be thrown out on Tuesday. The reason why — odd as it might seem at first glance — was a judge’s ruling last month that determined bees are not fish. … The Fish and Game Commission is set to meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday to consider removing the bumblebees as a candidate species for protection. … Xerces Society spokesman Matthew Shepherd said the organization is considering an appeal of the court ruling.
https://www.marinij.com/2021/01/11/state-might-reject-effort-to-protect-bumblebees/
Scientists decry death by 1,000 cuts for world’s insects [Associated Press]
The world’s vital insect kingdom is undergoing “death by a thousand cuts,” the world’s top bug experts said. Climate change, insecticides, herbicides, light pollution, invasive species and changes in agriculture and land use are causing Earth to lose probably 1% to 2% of its insects each year, said University of Connecticut entomologist David Wagner, lead author in the special package of 12 studies in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences written by 56 scientists from around the globe.
Tyson, Pilgrim’s agree to settle some chicken price-fixing claims [Wall Street Journal]
The two largest U.S. chicken producers said they have reached deals with a group of poultry buyers to settle price-fixing claims. Tyson Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. meat company by sales and the nation’s top chicken supplier, and Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., the second-largest U.S. poultry processor by sales, separately said Monday they struck agreements to help resolve a four-year legal battle over alleged collusion in the $65 billion chicken industry.
Taste of normalcy: Placer County’s mandarin orange growers are having another bountiful season [Comstock’s]
… Mandarins and other citrus are a commodity of local pride in Placer County, which has hosted the annual Mountain Mandarin Festival since 1994. But the county’s 2020-21 citrus season — which includes mandarin, navel and blood oranges; Meyer lemons; and grapefruit — has been a bit different. … The area’s citrus farmers say they are surviving despite the early harvest and the coronavirus pandemic, and they appreciate their customers’ loyalty. As farmers and event organizers adapt to climate change and the ongoing spread of the pandemic, mandarins have offered a bright taste of normalcy during such grim times.
https://www.comstocksmag.com/article/taste-normalcy
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