California in the Dark Amidst Environmental Regulations

Californians are sweating, and in the dark as sweeping new environmental regulations, healthcare, and climate change contribute to rolling blackouts across the state. California is home to the world’s fifth-largest economy, boasting a GDP of more than 3.4 trillion USD. The state is occupied by more than 39 million people and accommodates more than 213 million people annually. 

This state has had its fair share of financial difficulties accommodating such large population sizes as global climate change continues to increase environmental pressures on the region’s resource accessibility. Many of California’s largest cities have suffered ongoing climate changes that have reduced accessible water, energy, and moderate temperatures. The majority of California’s resources are delegated to the densely populated lower two-thirds of the state, where problems were initially acknowledged more than 100 years ago when people started mass settling in the early 1900s. 

Sweeping environmental and renewable energy reforms over the last decade have put the state in a place where it can supply most of its energy needs with solar power during the day. However, the energy storage from the solar sources is insufficient to supply the large demographic at night and in the summer, leading to rolling blackouts and intermittent periods of energy shortages. These unfortunate events often happen during the summer when extremely high temperatures in the state's southern portion exacerbate high energy usage, often fueling high taxing air conditioning units in both the private and public sectors. 

The lack of adequate energy resources and continued climate change increasing environmental pressures on the region have forced lawmakers like California governor Gavin Newsom to sign bills facilitating the implementation of fossil fuel subsidies. The fossil fuel legislation contradicts many of the environmental principles California is slowly shifting toward as they move toward a green economy. The governor argues that the state’s use of fossil fuels is necessary and unavoidable as the current renewable sources do not have the facilities to accommodate the state’s needs effectively. He told reporters that these fossil fuel bills are simply buying time for the state’s residents until additional renewable storage facilities can be produced.

Proponents on the fossil fuel side of the debate argue that the governor’s new legislation proves the state needs to utilize already established oil and gas industries instead of completely switching prematurely to renewables before the industry is fully developed. Energy shortages can be extremely detrimental and even deadly, especially with summer temperatures often exceeding more than 86 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Environmental groups have also criticized the state’s decisions explaining there would have been adequate renewable storage facilities available in the state had moved faster to establish the industry amidst earlier concerns and initial environmental legislation. Many environmentalists also argue the new bills lack clearly observed limits to prevent fossil fuel expansion across the state, and reduced regulations on industry leader’s development protocols can significantly impact local environments. 

Building an electrical infrastructure will be an environmentally safe and effective method for reducing fossil fuel use. California is among the first states to lead the movement and the system’s complex logistical problems. There are many sides to the debate, but the current industry is not supplying enough energy for California residents and businesses. 

The Dangers of Public Wildlife Interactions in National Parks

National park officials and wildlife managers each year stress the importance of maintaining a safe distance from wildlife. Summer traffic causes wildlife encounters to be at an all-time high. Most wildlife encounters occur during the summer between May and September as more than 100 million visitors enter national parks across the United States. These parks host wildlife that can threaten human life, including snakes, mountain lions, moose, bison, bears, and wolves. Wildlife interactions only become dangerous when visitors disregard safety measures put in place by park officials, often getting too close while taking pictures for social media.

Many of these animals will only attack if someone invades their personal space. Far inside what national park officials recommend for safe viewing, a 25-year-old woman was gored to death by a bison in Yellowstone National Park after approaching the animal within less than 10 feet. The park officials stated the woman and two others were threatening the animal by coming within 25 feet, causing it to respond by stampeding and goring her to death. Witnesses stated the woman was tossed more than 10 feet into the air, while the two other people who also approached the animal escaped. 

The tragic encounter prompted officials to restate their recommended boundaries when encountering wildlife in hopes of preventing further interactions this season. Yellowstone officials recommend visitors stay at least 25 yards away when interacting with large animals like bison, deer, bighorn sheep, and elk. When interacting with predatory animals, they recommend maintaining more than 100 yards if possible to avoid deadly encounters with bears, wolves, and mountain lions.

The bison in Yellowstone park have injured more people than any other animal as they stand more than 6 feet tall, weigh more than 2,000 pounds, and can easily run three times faster than a human. They often graze in highly trafficked areas near roads and buildings, leading to more frequent close encounters than other types of wildlife—the bison population numbers more than 20,000 across the United States National Parks. High population densities in some parks have posed challenges for effectively managing human interactions, leading to proponents advocating for population control in certain park areas. 

Dangerous wildlife encounters occur every year in the national parks. Recent wildlife encounters this season have caused the same concerns as many national parks across the United States have begun enforcing daily reservations and timed entry tickets. Reservation implementation originated from efforts to limit the spread of covid amongst park visitors. Park officials are investigating all efforts to keep people safe and continue managing their wildlife.

Here are three safety tips to keep in mind if you venture out into the wilderness this summer. 

1. Do not feed the animals because this could lead to incitement resulting in small bites from even the smallest animals to an all-out predatory attack.

2. Do not pet or approach wild animals as they can be unpredictable and easily provoked.

3. Report close animal encounters to park officials so they can be attentive and monitor the animal's behavior. 

Monkeypox Silently Spreading Around the World

Officials are on high alert as monkeypox outbreaks continue to appear in various parts of the world. These new cases are particularly alarming because of the high transmissibility, and amidst the ongoing covid-19 pandemic still crippling many parts of global society. 

The Monkeypox virus is historically localized to western and central regions in Africa, but scientists think they have traced the current spread to an outbreak in 2017. The World Health Organization has recorded 643 cases in more than a dozen countries. The rapid outbreaks suggest the disease may have undetected transmission, allowing it to spread and appear simultaneously in different locations. The 2017 outbreak resulted in clusters of cases in Singapore, Africa, Israel, and the UK.

Other experts disagree with initial findings stating we do not know how long this virus has spread. Initially, it was thought the disease spread from direct contact with an infected animal like a rodent; however, reports now suggest there are sustained transmission events between humans and back to animals. The rapid transmission between humans and animals contributes to the inconclusive of the outbreak’s origins. If outbreaks continue expanding, it is likely to be transferred from humans into other wildlife populations outside infected regions, resulting in additional undetectable transmissions to larger global populations. 

Most historical breakouts of monkeypox ended after a short period of transmission between humans, while recent cases in new places and populations are cause for concern. The former 2017 cluster was prevalent in men and appeared as lesions on genitalia transmitted through sexual contact. The current outbreak appears as lesions on various parts of the body, and the sexual transmissibility of the disease is inconclusive and not fully understood. This virus is similar to smallpox but much less deadly with treatment. Poverty-stricken areas may experience higher rates of complications resulting in deaths due to the lack of accessible resources. 

The US Centers for Disease Control continues to monitor its spread because it is too early to understand its origins or long-term impacts fully. The response may escalate if it evolves into a human-born pathogen spreading directly to the immunocompromised, young, and elderly, where it will cause the most severe damage. Still, many people following the news coverage and disease investigations feel the stress, as daily life has only recently returned to a sense of normalcy.

If the covid-19 pandemic proved one thing, the world is poorly prepared to deal with any global disease outbreak. Humans have few options to prevent widespread outbreaks of highly transmissible diseases effectively. Officials not wanting a repeat of the global pandemic over the last two years are approaching these cautionary cases with the utmost urgency and attempting to instill measures to prevent another global catastrophe.

Correlation Between Marijuana Legalization and Increased DUIs

Marijuana and the use of Cannabis have long been touted to offer certain health benefits for the immunocompromised and chronically ill, except it is still illegal in most of the world. Countries like the Netherlands, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Spain, and a few others have legalized the sale of recreational marijuana among rising public popularity. The main psychoactive component of cannabis is THC which produces the high sensation and can be inhaled or ingested. Users exposed to THC experience relaxing effects, including heightened sensory perception, euphoria, and an altered perception of time. THC can also be directly ingested, delaying the effects by more than 30 minutes. The effects of cannabis usually last up to 3 hours, although evidence of THC can remain in the body for days after initial use. 

Each person reacts differently to THC ingestion, but increased popularity and legalization around the world have contributed to concerns about its impact on driver safety. In the United States, more than 1.5 million people are arrested for driving under the influence each year. Studies in Colorado suggest an increase of marijuana-related DUIs by more than 48% last year, with an increasing trend over the last five years. The rising frequency DUIs is concerning because a large percentage may correlate with areas that have legalized marijuana. In recent years, the same study also identified increased frequency in marijuana-impaired drivers’ roles in deadly car accidents. 

Assessing impairment from a marijuana user is much harder than in individuals under the influence of alcohol. Despite recent increases in legalization and recreational use of marijuana, law enforcement has yet to identify an accurate and reliable test to determine a driver’s level of intoxication. The equivalent test for alcohol impairment is the breathalyzer test used to determine the blood alcohol content as it corresponds to legal limits. There are blood tests used for THC identification, but they do not provide an accurate assessment of an individual’s level of impairment because of the chemical’s varying effects with each person. New developments in law enforcement have focussed on creating behavioral tests to assess individual impairment, similar to methods used to confirm alcohol intoxication. 

Developing accurate tests is vital for driver’s safety and the ability of law enforcement to assess impaired individuals. Regular marijuana users have produced blood profiles that indicate stores of THC can remain detectable in the blood for 30 days in some cases. These THC levels are often higher than local DUI limits, even though the individual has not recently ingested marijuana. 

Factors impacting DUI statistics include regional THC blood limits, driving laws, past offenses, and law enforcement discretion. The consequences of driving under the influence are also different depending on the region but can implicate an individual up to a year in jail. 

Understanding the use of marijuana as it impacts drivers’ abilities and law enforcement methods for impairment detection are quickly becoming an increasingly vital area of research. Investments will continue to increase as recreational use becomes legalized in other parts of the world.

Massive Tongan Eruption Sends Tsunamis Across the Pacific

A massive underwater volcano erupted Saturday, January, 15th near the remote Tonga nation in the south Pacific. The eruption generated immediate buzz across the internet from dramatic satellite imagery and tsunami warnings spread as far as the west coast of the United States. The massive Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano is particularly active, and smaller hydromagnetic eruptions like this event are commonly observed. The violent eruption is generated from a flash vaporization chemical reaction between extruded magma and seawater, causing an explosion. The United States Geological Survey measured the resulting shockwaves as a 5.8 magnitude earthquake. 

The volcano lies 40 miles away from Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu, and its eruption was heard in New Zealand as far as 1,400 miles away. The violent eruption generated a volcanic plume of ash, gas, and steam extending more than 12 miles into the atmosphere, where satellite images were able to reveal their expanse over the event duration and indicate the presence of tsunamis. 

A four-foot tsunami wave crashed into the Tongan capital on its northernmost island, Nuku'alofa, where boats and debris washed ashore. Videos across social media captured the powerful wave easily overcoming seawalls, roads, and fences inundating people’s properties. The impending threat left many Tongan residents rushing to higher ground as tsunamis can often increase with each generated wave. The eruption impacted undersea cable networks leaving many areas of Tonga in a blackout, impacting the island nation’s telecommunications. 

Tsunamis spread rapidly across the Pacific, extending warnings to Japan, Hawai’i, American Samoa, Chile, and the west coast of the USA. Waves up to 5 feet arrived Sunday morning in Chile, Japan, and California ports. Witnesses described the incoming tsunamis as water surges instead of the giant waves depicted in popular films like San Andreas (2015). 

New Zealand has committed an initial aid of more than $300,000 in supplies, technical support, and defense assistance. The eruption is one of the biggest to occur within the last decade, according to the volcanic explosivity index (VEI), used by volcanologists to categorize eruption scale. The VEI measures the plume height and quantity of ejected materials like ash, gas, and magma following an eruption. A VEI closer to 6 would indicate one of the rarest and largest eruptions, capable of sending materials high into the atmosphere generating global cooling effects as sunlight is reflected away from Earth’s surface. Scientists previously estimated this volcano to be capable of only producing eruptions up to a maximum of 2 VEI, but the recent event has not yet been measured.