Firefighters in Brazil say strong winds and hot dry weather are making it difficult to battle thousands of blazes burning in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said it spotted more than 3,100 fires in the first two weeks of August — five times as many as the same period last year. “We saw hundreds of fires along the journey throughout the day,” Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said Tuesday. “Places where the planes and firemen have fought the fires directly without stopping, but still the fires are causing great damage to fauna, flora and to the Pantanal region.”  The Pantanal is 10 times the size of Florida’s Everglades. The World Wildlife Fund says it is home to more than 4,700 plant and animal species, including some threatened animals. Experts blame the fires, in part, to higher than average temperatures and below average rainfall since mid-July.  
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Police on Mauritius have arrested the captain of the Japanese carrier that ran aground off the coast last month, spilling 1,000 metric tonnes of oil and causing possible irreparable damage to coral reefs.Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, the Indian captain of the MV Wakashio, was charged Tuesday with “endangering safe navigation.” He faces a bail hearing next week.The ship’s first officer was also arrested, and investigators say they are interviewing all crew members.The investigation will center on why the Wakashio went off course. It was supposed to stay at least 16 kilometers from the shore but was about two kilometers away when it ran aground on a coral reef.“The route set five days before the crash was wrong and the boat navigation system should have signaled that to the crew, and it seems the crew ignored it. The boat did also fail to send out an SOS (when it ran aground) and did not respond to attempts by the coast guard to get in touch,” a maritime official told Reuters.The Wakashio became disabled July 25 and started leaking oil almost two weeks later. Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth says bad weather is the reason crews didn’t start pumping oil from the ship almost immediately.About 1,000 metric tonnes leaked into the Indian Ocean surrounding Mauritius and another 3,000 was pumped out before the ship broke in two.The oil spilled into the precious waters of the Mahebourg Lagoon, and environmentalists fear the endangered reefs along the coast may be damaged forever.Half of the ship will be towed out to sea and allowed to sink while the other half will be towed away for scrap – a process officials say is likely to take months.Mauritius has declared an environmental emergency. Experts from Japan, the United Nations and France are working to clean up the oil. Mauritius is a former French colony.The spill is also likely to damage the island’s tourism industry, which is already under strain because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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A new study predicts major U.S. population areas will be seeing the most extreme increases in heat in the coming decades, some of which could experience 30 times more extreme heat than previously predicted.The study was conducted by researchers at Arizona State University and was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Researchers made projections for extreme heat and cold exposure in 47 major cities in the U.S., accounting for population size, warming caused by urban development, and local standards for extreme heat.To break down the local effects of global temperature rise, the research team measured the effect of heat in “person-hours” — defined as a human being exposed to extreme heat for one hour. They incorporated three metrics:1. Local definitions of what an “extreme” temperature is;2. How city environments change the effects of extreme heat;3. the effect of population migration and growth.The researchers considered local standards for extreme heat when making their calculations because, for example, a 100-degree day in locations like Pheonix or Austin, Texas, would feel not feel extreme to locals. The same heat in New York City could result in fatalities — especially among more vulnerable populations, like people who are elderly and homeless.With that in mind, the researchers came up with two categories — absolute increases and relative increases in extreme heat.Their top three cities for absolute increases in people affected by extreme heat include New York, Los Angeles, and Washington. The most intense relative increase — calculated by combining temperature factors with population growth — will be in places like Orlando, Miami, and Austin.The researchers say because those cities are growing rapidly, more residents inevitably will be exposed to extreme heat, creating a bigger change relative to the beginning of this century. Atlanta, Georgia, made both lists.The study team argues that cities must prepare at the local level to avoid the most serious illness and death resulting from extreme heat. They say key safety measures include having cooling centers and water available, as well as reliable sources of energy, as extreme heat can contribute to power outages. 
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The Washington State Department of Agriculture announced it has trapped a male Asian giant hornet – the first male of the invasive species to be detected in the United States.At a news conference late Tuesday, WSDA officials say the hornet was caught in a trap the agency set in a rural area of northwestern Whatcom County in late July. It was found near an area where a dead mated queen hornet was found earlier this year, and where suspected bee kill was found last year. State labs confirmed it was a male late last week.The Asian hornets, dubbed “murder hornets” for their aggressive nature, are the world’s largest hornet and a predator of honeybees and other insects. They are native to Japan but found their way to the U.S. last year.A small group of Asian giant hornets can kill an entire honeybee hive in a matter of hours, which is why they are of concern to agriculture officials. More than 1,000 traps have been placed to capture the hornets alive. That would allow entomologists to tag the hornets and hopefully trace them back to their colonies where they could be eradicated.Adults can be nearly two inches long, and have a distinctly light-orange head with prominent black eyes, a black thorax and a black-and-yellow striped abdomen. Although it is not typically aggressive toward humans, the state’s Agriculture Department says the monster hornet can inflict a powerful sting.Officials have found a total of seven Asian giant hornets in Washington state, all of them in Whatcom County. In addition to the traps that the WSDA has set to catch Asian giant hornets, citizen scientists and other cooperators have placed more than 1,400 traps throughout the state.The WSDA will be setting live traps in the area hoping to catch a live Asian giant hornet, tag it, and track it back to its nest. If WSDA can locate a nest, the agency will eradicate it. 
 
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The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general Tuesday issued another warning against “vaccine nationalism,” — countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to secure supplies of a possible vaccine.  At the agency’s regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Nationalism exacerbated the pandemic and contributed to the total failure of the global supply chain,” noting shortages of protective gear when the pandemic first hit caused by some nations hoarding resources.The WHO chief said that countries needed to work together to “prevent vaccine nationalism,” so in the event a vaccine or vaccines are developed, those at the highest risk will have equal access.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a session of the WHO Executive Board held virtually by video-conference, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, May 22, 2020, in this image provided by the World Health Organization in Geneva.Tedros said the world is so interconnected we will need each other more than ever once a vaccine or vaccines are approved for use. As an example, he said “a vaccine developed in one country may need to be filled in vials with stoppers that are produced in another, using materials for the high-grade glass that is only available from yet another country.”Meanwhile, WHO officials warned the world’s young people they are not immune to COVID-19 and their behavior is putting everyone else at risk.WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove noted the proportion of younger people among those infected had risen globally in the past month, putting at risk vulnerable sectors of the population worldwide, including the elderly and sick people in densely populated areas with weak health services.Officials in countries from Asia to Europe over the past month have noted “hotspots” in their nations where COVID-19 cases were surging were in night clubs or other areas where young people like to congregate.Kerkhove said that people should not be blamed for wanting to live normal lives but people, especially the young, are not invincible amid the coronavirus pandemic. She urged everyone to consider the risks and the consequences of their actions.More than 21.9 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 772,647 have died, according to a Reuters tally. 
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One of the hottest air temperatures recorded anywhere on the planet in at least a century, and possibly ever, was reached on Sunday afternoon at Death Valley in California’s Mojave Desert where it soared to 130 Fahrenheit (54.4 Celsius).
An automated observation system run by the U.S. National Weather Service in the valley’s sparsely populated Furnace Creek reported the record at 3:41 p.m. at the crest of an extreme heat wave, a more frequent occurrence because of climate change.
It was a dry heat: Humidity fell to 7%. But it felt “insanely hot” all the same, according to meteorologist Daniel Berc at the weather service’s Las Vegas bureau. A heat wave roasting much of the Western United States would continue all week, he said on Monday.
“It’s literally like being in an oven,” he said in a telephone interview. “Today is another day we could take another run at 130F.”
Tourists on Monday took selfies by an outdoor thermometer at the Death Valley visitor center while avoiding touching metal surfaces with bare skin.
Those who live and work in Furnace Creek, which had a population of 24 in the 2010 census, saw cause for pause in the record.
“We are seeing more records being broken at a daily and monthly level,” said Brandi Stewart, a public information officer for Death Valley National Park who can see the Furnace Creek weather station from her window. “It is significant that we’re seeing more records breaking.”
A temperature of 134F (56.7C) was recorded in Death Valley in July 1913, and Kebili, Tunisia, is said to have hit 131F in July 1931, according to the World Meteorological Organization. But recent research by Christopher Burt, an extreme weather expert, has led some meteorologists to view these older records as the results of observer error.
Climate change has pushed global temperatures to new highs. In Europe, northern Spain broke local heat records in July, while wheat fields in France caught fire.
Forests across Siberian Russia are seeing unprecedented wildfires, while the Arctic sea ice shrank to a record low for July due to melting.
In Furnace Creek, staff and guests at The Oasis hotel were being urged to wear hats and sip water relentlessly while outside, according to general manager John Kukreja.
He tells guests that extreme heat does strange, deceptive things to the body.
“You’re going to sweat and the sweat’s going to dry instantly and you’re never going to know you actually felt hot,” he said. “Your hair stands on end. It’s almost like you feel like you’re cold, like goose bumps.” 
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A U.S. based vaccine development company is set to begin the second phase of human testing for its COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa, which is in the midst of a surge in coronavirus cases.  Novavax said in a statement that the clinical trials will include 2,665 healthy adults in South Africa. The trials will also compare the vaccine’s effect on 240 medically stable adults with HIV whose immune responses may differ from individuals without HIV. Preliminary findings from the first trial showed people receiving the two doses generated neutralizing antibodies, which can prevent the virus from entering cells, after receiving a second dose of the vaccine.  Along with evaluating the immune response in the phase 2b trial in South Africa, Novavax will also organize a phase 2 trial in the United States and Australia in the near future. In Novavax’s statement, Dr. Gregory Glenn, president of research and development at Novavax said, South Africa’s surge in COVID-19 cases lends importance to the Phase 2b clinical trial, with the potential to provide an early indication of efficacy, along with additional safety and immunogenicity data for the vaccine. South Africa is the fifth most affected country worldwide, with more than 583,000 coronavirus cases and more than 11,600 deaths. Novavax said the trial in South Africa is made possible in part from a $15 million grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations is providing money to manufacture doses of the vaccine needed for the trial.  Last month, the U.S. government awarded Novavax a $1.6 billion contract to cover testing and development of a vaccine for the coronavirus in the United States with the goal of providing 100 million doses by January. 
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Work began Monday to remove the two pieces of a grounded Japanese ship that leaked tons of oil into the protected coast of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius and broke apart.
Tug boats will pull the bow — the smaller part of the shipwrecked MV Wakashio — out to sea and allow it to sink, according to environmental experts on the island. The larger part of the ship will be dragged off the coral reef where it ran aground and towed away, possibly to India for salvage.
“When the ship split in two, there was further leakage of oil, but it appears most of that fuel was on the other side of the coral reef and was in the high seas,” Sunil Dowarkasing, an environmental consultant and former parliament member in Mauritius. “With the sea currents, we don’t know if the new leakage will stay outside the lagoon or not.”  
Oil barriers were in place and a skimmer ship to scoop up the fuel was nearby.
The Mauritius government has closed off the coastal area of the eastern part of the island, where thousands of civilian volunteers worked for days to try to minimize damage to the Mahebourg lagoon and protected marine wetlands polluted by the spilled fuel.  
Only officials and hired workers are permitted to work in the coastal area and the waters surrounding the grounded ship.
Experts from France, Japan and the United Nations are also involved in the clean-up work.  
“Now, we must rely on the government as our only source of information about the situation, so we are only getting one side of the story,” Dowarkasing said.
“We know that the damage to the area is substantial,” he told The Associated Press. “The mangroves are heavily impacted by the fuel. The extent of the damage to the coral reefs will only be known much later, but it is expected to be serious.”
The Wakasio ran aground a coral reef on July 25. After being pounded by heavy waves, the vessel cracked and it starting leaking oil on August 6. The damaged ship spilled more than 1,000 tons of its cargo of 4,000 tons of fuel into the turquoise waters of the Mahebourg Lagoon, one of the island’s most pristine coastal areas.
Most of the remaining 3,000 tons of fuel had been pumped off the ship in the past week as environmental groups warned that the damage to coral reefs could be irreversible.
The Mauritius government is under pressure to explain why immediate action wasn’t taken to empty the ship of its fuel before it began to leak. Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth earlier blamed bad weather for the slow response.
Owner Nagashiki Shipping has said “residual” amounts of fuel remained on the ship after pumping. It is investigating why the ship went off course. The ship was meant to stay at least 10 miles (16 kilometers) from shore. The company has sent experts to help clean up the damage.
The Mauritius government is seeking compensation from the company.
After the government declared an environmental emergency, thousands of volunteers rushed to the shore to create makeshift oil barriers from tunnels of fabric stuffed with sugar cane leaves and even human hair, with empty plastic bottles tucked in to keep them afloat.
The island nation of some 1.3 million people relies heavily on tourism and already had taken a severe hit due to travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.
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NASA scientists say a small but significant “dent” in Earth’s magnetic field is expanding and splitting and continuing to weaken intensity, which could impact low-orbit satellites circling the globe.According to scientists, Earth’s magnetic field acts like a protective shield, blocking and trapping charged particles — or radiation — from the sun that could otherwise cause harm but are more likely to affect electronic equipment, like satellites.But the “dent,” or weak spot, in the magnetic field over South America, known to scientists as the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), allows radiation to penetrate Earth’s surface. The scientists have observed no ill effects to daily life on the planet. But they have observed the anomaly is moving westward and appears to be splitting.Scientists say Earth is a bit like a bar magnet with north and south poles that represent opposing magnetic polarities and invisible magnetic field lines encircling the planet between them.Earth’s magnetic field is generated from its outer core, 1,800 miles below the surface, comprised of molten iron and other metals that are constantly churning and acting like a giant generator – known as geodynamo — that generates electric currents that produce the magnetic field. Because of the constant motion, the magnetic field is not perfectly aligned throughout the globe, nor is it perfectly stable.Scientists say these fluctuations, along with the tilt of Earth’s magnetic axis, are what causes the SAA. Because of the radiation it allows, the region can be hazardous to satellites that pass through it. They can short-circuit a satellite’s onboard computer or cause other glitches.Scientists will monitor the changes in the SAA because it tells them about changes in the Earth’s core and how its dynamics influence other aspects of Earth’s systems.
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