Day: July 29, 2021💾

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NPR

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Reducing Climate Pollution Saves Lives, Study Finds : NPR

Cutting greenhouse gas emissions quickly would save tens of millions of lives worldwide, a new study finds. It's the latest indication that climate change is deadly to humans, and that the benefits of transitioning to a cleaner economy could be profound.

In recent years, the connection between a hotter planet and human death and disease has become clearer, thanks to a series of research papers. A study published in 2021 found that about a third of heat-related deaths worldwide can be directly attributed to human-caused climate change. A 2020 Lancet report warned that climate change is the biggest global public health threat of the century.

But those findings have not been factored into one of the three major computer models that scientists, economists and the federal government use to calculate the societal costs of carbon emissions. That means economists and policymakers may be underestimating the cost of climate change to human life.
Thematic Map: The Barns of Schoharie County

Census won’t release key annual survey because of pandemic’s impact on data

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Census won’t release key annual survey because of pandemic’s impact on data

The Census Bureau announced Thursday that it will not produce its annual American Community Survey, which provides detailed demographic data widely used for research and billions of dollars in federal funding decisions, because of how the coronavirus pandemic skewed survey results.

The data for the 2020 ACS did not meet agency standards, Census officials said. Instead, the agency will release an “experimental” dataset that includes less information than the normal release.

As a result of the pandemic, ACS responses skewed toward wealthier, more educated individuals — too many to account for with statistical adjustments, Donna Daily, chief of the bureau’s ACS office, told reporters. The Census Bureau could not move ACS data gathering from the height of the pandemic lockdowns last spring, unlike the delay the agency used for the decennial census.

The stupidity of the Capitol Insurrection Hearings ✊🏻🇺🇲✊🏿🏦

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It’s dumb that the focus on the Capitol Insurrection Hearings so far has been about the failure to protect the building made of gold and marble and the disorderly environment the millionaires who dominate the halls of congress faced.

The real problem is why wasn’t there sufficient policing and crowd management to ensure Stop the Steal and other protestors could get out their message in an orderly, safe fashion that minimized harm to people and property. Arrests and violence by the police should be the last resort but also protestors shouldn’t be allowed to get into dangerous situations where they can harm themselves or others.

Hatred of the message makes it easy for law enforcement and politicians to abuse the protestors. But no matter how idiotic their message is, they have the right to be heard. Stop the Steal is dumb and conspiracy minded but they still have a message worth hearing but maybe not taken seriously. We the taxpayers pay cops to keep everyone safe – and keep protests relative orderly. Not just to guard the people in the house of gold, but the protestors too.

What happened at the US Capitol was very bad, but it’s not the fault of the protestors primarily but that of law enforcement and those who deprived them of the necessary resources to keep people safe. The trumped up charges against protestors is unjustified when the people ultimately responsible are those who work at the Capitol and failed to create a safe environment for people – many very unhappy with the election result – to get out and be heard.