Edition 25: Down came the rain and washed toxic waste into the lake
(This newsletter was sent to email subscribers on May 22, 2020.)
Happy Friday, muggles. Time and time again, we’ve heard how reading the news can contribute to stress. So, how do we balance staying informed with our well-being? In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re discussing all things #NewsWellness on our social channels through the end of May. Follow our team, journalists, and mental health experts as we review tips, habits, and findings from our first annual News Wellness survey. Here’s how:
- Tune into our live discussions on Instagram
- Comment on our News Wellness threads on Twitter
- Peruse our latest resource: The Ultimate Guide to News Wellness
INTERNATIONAL
Endangered wildlife have a new hero: a pack of poacher-stopping dogs
Wed May 13
Poachers beware: The Southern African Wildlife College has enlisted a whole host of dog breeds, from beagles to bloodhounds, to protect the country’s rhino population … and the program has been a huge success!
Since its launch in February 2018, these protective pups have saved roughly 45 rhinos from poachers — boosting the patrol team’s success rate drastically from three to five percent to 68%.
What makes these canine teams so effective?
Namely, their superior speed compared to their fellow human trackers.
Myanmar police pull off Southeast Asia’s largest ever synthetic drug-bust
Tues May 19
Over the course of three months, police in Myanmar seized the biggest haul of synthetic drugs ever recorded in Southeast Asia. This unprecedented haul included over $200 million worth of drugs, composed of …
- Almost 200 million methamphetamine tablets
- Nearly 300 pounds of raw opium
- 630 pounds of heroin
- 640 pounds of opium poppy
- 1,120 pounds of crystal methamphetamine
- 990 gallons of methyl fentanyl (which is used to make an opioid 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine)
What’s the global impact here?
Police arrested 33 suspects, who then told police that most of the drugs were going to be sold in Myanmar and surrounding countries. Myanmar is considered the largest source of methamphetamines in the world, a booming illegal trade that has contributed to a staggering epidemic in the U.S., killing, on average, 130 Americans per day.
TECHNOLOGY
Chrome develops a new ad-blocker to stop ads from stealing your computer’s power
Sun May 17
Have you noticed your computer slowing down or losing battery power without explanation? The culprit may be an online ad sneakily stealing power from your computer to mine for cryptocurrencies; the only evidence that may give it away is the significant amount of energy it siphons from your device.
Fortunately, this is a rare occurrence, but those few in number have an outsized impact on computers’ processing power. While only 0.3% of all ads fall into this category, they account for a whooping around 28% of your device’s processing power.
What can I do to prevent this?
Chrome developers have already devised a way to limit the number of resources that display ads can use. By the end of August, this feature will be automatically included in Chrome’s browser; the company delayed implementing the change as a courtesy to ad creators, so they’d have time to tweak their code to account for these limitations. In the meantime, users can manually switch on the feature for themselves here.
Faulty AI links job candidates to crimes they didn’t commit
Mon May 11
In an effort to cut administrative costs, companies reliant on “gig-workers” (Uber, Instacart, Postmates, etc.) have been using AI-powered background checks to screen potential hires.
While this system could help create a more efficient hiring process in the future, the current technology is incredibly flawed: mainly, it mistakenly matches applicants to criminal records of individuals with the same or similar names. In fact, one man who applied to be an Uber driver was wrongly linked to someone else’s murder conviction.
Airline customers wait to find out if their credit card information has been stolen
Tues May 19
Hackers recently obtained email addresses and travel details from European airline EasyJet’s nine million customers — along with at least 2,000 credit card numbers. Based on past incidents in which other airlines were breached, EasyJet may be fined millions of dollars by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The airline has also been slow to respond to customers affected by the data breach. EasyJet says it will inform all customers affected by the breach by May 26 … meaning, if your credit card info was stolen, you might not know until next week!
ENVIRONMENT
Indigenous tribe wins $3 million in reparations from timber companies
Tues Apr 28
After more than two decades, Brazil’s Ashaninka community has won a lawsuit against the Cameli family, whose timber companies illegally deforested the tribe’s land in the 1980s. The settlement, which was finalized on April 1, requires the timber companies to:
- Apologize for “all the ills caused” to the Ashaninka people
- Pay $3 million in reparations, which will fund projects protecting the Ashaninka and the Amazon rainforest
Why does this matter?
Under President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, policies meant to protect indigenous communities and limit deforestation have been largely ignored, encouraging farmers and loggers to clear away large swatches of the rainforest. However, this legal win for the Ashaninka tribe could serve as a legal precedent and pave the way for other successes in indigenous and environmental lawsuits in Brazil.
Previously on Below the Fold: Two leaders of the Guajajara tribe — the Amazon’s largest indigenous group — were killed during a drive-by shooting back in December, in one of many violent clashes between the rainforest defenders and the miners, ranchers, and loggers attempting to claim the land for profit.
EPA ignores scientific proof that current regulations on air pollutants aren’t enough to protect public health
Fri May 1
Scientific research conducted over the past several years has confirmed that current EPA standards fail to protect public health from fine particle air pollution. Yet, last month, the EPA decided *not* to change any of its existing regulations.
Why didn’t they change regulations?
This is not the first instance in which the Trump administration has relaxed the role of scientists when establishing standards for air quality. In fact, the EPA has several pending lawsuits over its relaxed air pollution regulations, such as the lowered motor vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards. Unless the EPA changes its fine particle regulations, at least one scientist believes there may be another court case in its future.
What makes fine particle air pollution dangerous?
Fine particles from vehicle emissions and the burning of fuels are capable of penetrating deep into the bloodstream and lungs, irritating the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Long-term exposure has been known to exacerbate conditions such as asthma and heart disease. EPA scientists also estimate that at least 13,500 people die prematurely each year from exposure to these particles.
Heavy rainfall risks spurring more toxic algae in the Great Lakes
Wed Apr 20
Pollution in the Great Lakes isn’t new, but a recent rise in precipitation could threaten existing supplies of clean drinking water.
Some background …
The Great Lakes hold more than enough freshwater to nourish the region’s 48 million residents, but decades-worth of waste dumped in the surrounding area have seeped into the lake water. This pollution contained high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus — two essential nutrients for healthy plant growth that, unfortunately, also nourish the growth of harmful algal blooms in the Lakes. Not all algal blooms are dangerous, but some produce microcystin, a liver toxin that can’t even be destroyed by boiling.
Back to the present …
Although strict regulations have been implemented to clean up large sources of phosphorus, the mineral is also a key component in commercial fertilizers. During heavy rain — which has grown more frequent during recent years — the nutrient-rich runoff from farms and suburban lawns seeps down to the Lakes and spurs more algal blooms. In the short-term, the algae stinks up the lake water and sometimes makes it dangerous to drink. Long-term, these contaminants suck oxygen from the water, which:
- Kills fish
- Fosters conditions for more algal growth
- Corrodes pipes in drinking water systems, which allows trace metals to also contaminate the water
Possible solutions …
Several cities are preparing for the incoming storms by improving sewage systems and restoring coastal wetlands, which will help absorb some of the toxic runoff before it reaches the Lakes.
Previously on Below the Fold: Ironically, wetlands are being destroyed by commercial phosphate miners to produce the very fertilizers causing these algal blooms. Phosphate mining, even with the massive quantities of dangerous waste products and ecological destruction has yet to subside as an integral part of the $1.8 billion commercial fertilizer industry.
GOVERNMENT
China announces plans to blacklist Qualcomm and other U.S. companies
Wed May 20
A year ago, the Chinese smartphone company Huawei was blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Now, China is preparing its own form of retaliation by creating an “Unreliable Entity List” to target American companies such as Apple, Qualcomm, Boeing, and Cisco, which rely on Chinese resources. We still don’t know how companies will be impacted legally or financially by the list, but at the very least, the Chinese government will likely warn residents to avoid these brands.
Justice Department claims Apple delayed investigations into a shooting in Florida
Tues May 19
U.S. law enforcement agents recently announced that a Saudi aviation student responsible for three deaths last year had extensive ties to al Qaeda — and are blaming Apple for prolonging the investigation.
The FBI and Justice Department say …
Apple provided practically zero assistance in unlocking the student’s encrypted phones, which could have jeopardized public safety. This brought up a long-standing argument between law enforcement and tech companies: that tech developers should create “backdoors” that agencies such as the FBI can access during emergency circumstances to avoid third-party contracting.
Apple argues …
That it had, in fact, provided “every piece of information available” to the company, including account information, iCloud backups, etc. Apple also emphasizes that creating these digital backdoors would weaken national security by making all users more vulnerable to hackers.
That’s all for this week. Have a magical weekend.✨
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