Porti & ambiente — le notizie raccolte

Compartir en redes sociales La comunidad global de la industria del bunker se reunirá en Nueva York entre el 10 y el 12 de noviembre para participar en laIBIA Annual Convention 2026, que se desarrollará en el New York Marriott Downtown.MundoMaritimoestará presente como Media Partner del evento organizado por laAsociación Internacional de la Industria del Bunker (IBIA). Considerado el principal encuentro internacional de laIBIA, la Convención reunirá a autoridades, armadores, compradores de combustible marino, proveedores de bunkering,traders, puertos, empresas tecnológicas y altos ejecutivos vinculados con la cadena de valor del sector. Durante tres jornadas de capacitación, discusión ynetworking, los participantes analizarán los principales acontecimientos que están configurando las industrias del bunker y del transporte marítimo, incluyendo normativas, dinámica de los mercados, desafíos operacionales, calidad de los combustibles, digitalización y los aspectos prácticos de la transición energética del sector marítimo. Uno de los principales componentes del programa será la participación de altos representantes vinculados con las políticas marítimas, las estrategias comerciales y el desarrollo de la industria.Laura DiBella, presidenta de la Comisión Marítima Federal de Estados Unidos (FMC), estará a cargo de la presentación inaugural, en el que entregará la perspectiva estadounidense sobre política marítima, dinámica de los mercados y la importancia estratégica del transporte marítimo y los combustibles marinos en un escenario global cambiante. A su vez,Sydney Plante, administradora asociada interina para Compromiso Estratégico de la Administración Marítima (MARAD), dependiente del Departamento de Transporte de Estados Unidos, ofrecerá una presentación sobre políticas marítimas, donde aportará una mirada sobre las prioridades normativas, comerciales y gubernamentales que están influyendo en el transporte marítimo internacional. El programa también contempla un encuentro especial con la ejecutiva líder de la industriaHouda Dabboussi, presidenta de Shell Marine, quien aportará una perspectiva de alto nivel en un momento marcado por cambios en las opciones de combustibles, mayores exigencias normativas y los desafíos comerciales asociados a la descarbonización. Eldirector ejecutivo de IBIA, Alexander Prokopakis, encabezará además un panel con representantes de asociaciones marítimas regionales y globales, mientras queStephen Gordon, director general de Clarksons, estará a cargo de la presentación principal sobre mercados, titulada “El estado de la industria”. La agenda de expositores incluye también al Capt.Christopher Roberts, de Minerva Bunkering (USA) LLC;Jonas Bentsen, de Peninsula;Georgia Kounalakis, de Bunker One;Anders Grønborg, de Bunker Holding;Lory Urdaneta, de Norwegian Cruise Line; yMark Tamsitt, de World Fuel Services. Los combustibles alternativos y la descarbonización tendrán igualmente un papel destacado, con intervenciones deNick de Haan, de Burando;Paula Nava, de Marquis Energy Global; y LawrenceNavin, de The Methanol Institute. En conjunto, los participantes abordarán la evolución del escenariomultifuels, la calidad y cantidad de los combustibles, la adquisición de bunkers, infraestructura, seguridad y los nuevos requerimientos que enfrentan armadores y operadores. La Convención también contempla instancias denetworkingmediante laRecepción de Bienveniday laCena de la Convención, espacios destinados a fortalecer relaciones existentes y establecer nuevas conexiones internacionales entre los participantes. Las inscripciones para delegados ya se encuentran abiertas, al igual que las oportunidades de patrocinio para organizaciones interesadas en reforzar su presencia, mostrar sus capacidades y establecer contacto directo con potenciales clientes y socios. Información y contactos en los siguientes enlaces:Agenda de la Convención;Registro;Oportunidades de Sponsors; Para consultas sobre patrocinio, contactar a Alex Corboude, responsable de Ventas de Patrocinio de IBIA, en[email protected]. Por MundoMaritimo CMA CGM acuerda la adquisición de terminales emblemáticos en el puerto de Nueva York y Nueva Jersey Nueva convención internacional entra en vigencia en noviembre 2008 Precio del búnker marca resultados mixtos en puertos referentes de América Latina 3721compañías registradas,51países,83empresas patrocinadas Agencias de Aduana Agencias Navieras Almacenamiento y Bodegaje Astilleros Compañías Navieras Consultores Marítimos Embarcadores Empresas Portuarias y Terminales Marítimos Equipos Naúticos Estiba y Desestiba Exportadores Importadores Ingeniería, Certificación e Inspección Organizaciones Otras Pesqueros Repuestos y Accesorios Terminales Terrestres y Aeroportuarios Transporte Aéreo Transporte Terrestre Turismo La política que en el presente documento se indica, tiene por objeto informar a los usuarios deMundoMaritimosobre el proceder de nuestra empresa respecto del tratamiento de los datos de carácter personal recogidos a través de nuestros portales. 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Amazon ha acquistato un’area nella contea di Pecos, nel Texas occidentale, sulla quale sta avviando la costruzione di un grande data center destinato all’intelligenza artificiale (IA). Il progetto completo prevede 35 turbine alimentate a gas naturale, quindi un combustibile fossile, con una capacità installata massima di 7,65 gigawatt. Il New York Times, nel rilanciare la notizia, ha sottolineato che questo impianto può diventare il più inquinante di tutti gli Stati Uniti. Bruciare gas naturale produce anidride carbonica e altri gas serra. Alimentare un gigantesco data center con una centrale a gas introduce quindi una nuova fonte di emissioni proprio mentre Amazon si è impegnata a ridurle. Scavando un po’ più in profondità, emerge anche che l’impronta carbonica di Amazon è aumentata nel corso degli ultimi 3 anni. Nel 2023 ammontava a 65,28 milioni di tonnellate metriche di CO₂ equivalente, nel 2024 è salita a 69,55 milioni per arrivare a quota 80,85 milioni nel 2025. La CO₂ equivalente è l’unità che permette di sommare l’effetto sul clima dell’anidride carbonica e degli altri gas serra. The Climate Pledge e gli obiettivi per il 2040 The Climate Pledge è un’iniziativa lanciata nel 2019 da Amazon insieme all’organizzazione ambientalista Global Optimism. Le aziende che aderiscono si impegnano a raggiungere entro il 2040 l’azzeramento netto delle emissioni di carbonio riducendo le emissioni prodotte dalle rispettive attività e neutralizzando quelle che non riescono a eliminare. Amazon ha esteso questo obiettivo all’insieme delle proprie attività mondiali e ora, in aggiunta alle maggiori emissioni prodotte nel corso degli anni, occorre prendere in considerazione l’ipotesi che il nuovo data center contribuirà a fare sì che Amazon disattenderà l’obiettivo che si è posta. Le aziende che hanno aderito a The Climate Pledge sono oltre 700 e, tra queste, figurano realtà protagoniste del calibro, oltre ad Amazon, di IBM, Salesforce e Microsoft. Non hanno aderito realtà quali Alphabet, Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic e SpaceXAI le quali, almeno in parte, si sono poste obiettivi ambientali promettendo di raggiungerli. Il lessico delle emissioni Le emissioni vengono spesso indicate usando i termini Scope 1, Scope 2 e Scope 3 che, in italiano, sono tradotti con “emissioni di gas a effetto serra di ambito 1, 2 e 3”, come risulta dalla norma europea e da documentazione a corredo. Le emissioni di ambito 1 sono quelle dirette, prodotte dagli impianti, dai generatori, dai veicoli e dagli edifici controllati da un’azienda. Le emissioni di ambito 2 sono indirette, ovvero generate per produrre l’elettricità, il riscaldamento o il raffreddamento acquistati dall’azienda, mentre quelle di ambito 3 sono tutte le altre emissioni indirette, comprese la fabbricazione dei chip, la costruzione dei data center, i fornitori, i trasporti, i viaggi di lavoro, l’utilizzo dei prodotti venduti, il loro smaltimento, eccetera. Inoltre, leggendo i report sulla sostenibilità, si incappa nel termine “market-based”, in italiano “metodo basato sul mercato”, secondo il quale le emissioni vengono calcolate considerando l’energia rinnovabile acquistata tramite contratti, anche se l’elettricità che alimenta gli impianti aziendali proviene da gas o carbone. In altre parole, un’azienda compra energia rinnovabile in quantità equivalente a quella prodotta con combustibili fossili e, nei propri rendiconti, può dichiarare basse (e persino nulle) le emissioni dell’elettricità consumata. Ciò non significa che le infrastrutture aziendali sono alimentate solo e interamente con energia pulita. Facendo leva su questi parametri ed entrando, laddove disponibili, nei dettagli di ogni Big delle IA, ci si trova al cospetto di dati che inducono un certo pessimismo. Microsoft è lontana da rispettare gli impegni Nel 2020 Microsoft si è impegnata a diventare “carbon negative” entro il 2030, ossia a raggiungere emissioni nette negative rimuovendo più CO₂ di quanta ne produce. Le emissioni nette negative si verificano quando la quantità di anidride carbonica rimossa dall'atmosfera supera quella emessa. Tra le principali strategie per raggiungerle vi sono la riforestazione, la cattura diretta della CO₂ e la valorizzazione dei residui vegetali. Il piano reso pubblico da Microsoft comprende, entro il 2030, una riduzione superiore al 50% delle emissioni dei tre ambiti rispetto al 2020 e, in aggiunta, entro il 2050 Microsoft vuole rimuovere una quantità di carbonio equivalente a tutte le emissioni dirette e legate all’elettricità prodotte dal momento della sua fondazione, avvenuta nel 1975. Tuttavia, il più recente Environmental Sustainability Report 2026 (relativo al 2025), mostra che le emissioni complessive market-based sono arrivate a 20,29 milioni di tonnellate di CO₂ equivalente, contro 12,881 milioni nel 2020, ovvero il 58% circa in più. Nel corso dell’ultimo anno sono cresciute di oltre il 25%, soprattutto a causa dell’espansione dei data center e dell’infrastruttura per le IA. Ciò significa che, alla fine del 2025, Microsoft non era in linea con il proprio obiettivo di raggiungere emissioni nette negative entro la fine del 2030. Vuole dire anche che, per centrare il traguardo, occorrono riduzioni massicce di emissioni. Google (Alphabet) non fa eccezione Google, principale società della holding Alphabet, vuole raggiungere emissioni zero entro il 2030. L’obiettivo è quello di ridurre del 50% la somma assoluta delle emissioni dei tre ambiti rispetto al 2019. Parallelamente, Big G punta ad alimentare le operazioni con energia a zero emissioni di carbonio, ovvero energia prodotta con fonti rinnovabili e nucleare. Il Google Environmental Report 2026, anch’esso riferito al 2025, registra però circa 14,5 milioni di tonnellate di CO₂, ossia il +18% rispetto all’anno precedente e l’81% in più rispetto agli 8 milioni del 2019. L’aumento è dovuto soprattutto alla catena di fornitura necessaria per costruire l’infrastruttura AI. Le emissioni operative sono invece diminuite del 2% nell’ultimo anno. Meta non si distingue Meta dichiara di volere raggiungere emissioni zero entro il 2030. Obiettivi di supporto prevedono una riduzione del 42% delle emissioni di ambito 1 e 2 entro il 2030 e il ritorno delle emissioni di ambito 3 non oltre il livello registrato nel 2021. Il relativo Environmental Data Index mostra che nel 2024 le emissioni lorde market-based sono state 8,201 milioni di tonnellate e quelle nette 8,151 milioni (dopo 50.000 tonnellate di rimozioni). Le emissioni di ambito 1 e 2 sono scese da 57.661 tonnellate nel 2021 a 48.826 nel 2024, circa il 15% in meno. Un passo avanti, certo, ma ancora ben distante da quel -42% promesso. Le emissioni di ambito 3 sono invece un problema più marcato, perché sono aumentate a 8,152 milioni di tonnellate rispetto ai 5,773 milioni dell’anno precedente. Anche nel caso di Meta, gli obiettivi previsti per il 2030 sembrano lungi dall’essere raggiungibili a meno di una netta accelerazione verso la riduzione delle emissioni. OpenAI è un’incognita Non risulta che OpenAI abbia pubblicato un impegno aziendale né un rapporto annuale di sostenibilità. Nella propria pagina ufficiale sull’impatto ambientale delle IA, aggiornata a giugno del 2026, l’azienda afferma di lavorare sull’efficienza di hardware e software ma non pone obiettivi misurabili di azzeramento. Anthropic e il dubbio sui progressi Anthropic ha formulato un impegno particolare, ovvero il mantenimento annuale di un impatto zero sul clima mediante crediti di carbonio. Un credito di carbonio è un certificato che rappresenta una tonnellata di gas serra evitata o rimossa dall’atmosfera mediante un progetto, per esempio, una nuova foresta o un impianto che cattura CO₂. L’azienda afferma di misurare ogni anno la propria impronta, compreso il cloud computing, e sottolinea di acquistare crediti sufficienti a compensare tutte le emissioni operative. È quindi, nel migliore dei casi, una neutralizzazione basata sulle compensazioni, non un impegno a portare materialmente a zero le emissioni. Nel pubblicare la propria impronta, tuttavia, non ci sono suddivisioni in base ai 3 ambiti. In altre parole, Anthropic si dichiara annualmente a impatto climatico netto zero, ma l’affermazione non è verificabile. xAI è un’altra incognita xAI, presentata attualmente sul sito aziendale come SpaceXAI (visto il rebranding), non ha pubblicato un obiettivo, una data per l’azzeramento, un rapporto di sostenibilità oppure un inventario relativo ai 3 ambiti. Nella pagina ufficiale dedicata agli impianti di Memphis la società parla di batterie, di due sottostazioni elettriche e un impianto di riciclo dell’acqua, ma conferma anche l’uso di 15 generatori a gas naturale. Un’altra pagina aziendale relativa agli stessi impianti afferma che questi generatori sarebbero impiegati come riserva o nei periodi di forte pressione sulla rete, senza però pubblicarne le emissioni annuali, il consumo di combustibile o le ore di funzionamento. Nello specifico, non esistono neppure dati aziendali sufficienti per misurare il peso climatico di Colossus, il supercomputer per l’addestramento delle IA ospitato proprio nel Tennessee. Conclusioni Tra le sette sorelle delle IA, Amazon, Microsoft, Google e Meta hanno obiettivi ambiziosi per le emissioni nette zero, ma i risultati complessivi, fino a oggi almeno, stanno andando nella direzione opposta, soprattutto a causa dei data center e della filiera delle IA. OpenAI e xAI non offrono obiettivi o rendicontazione adeguati, mentre ad Anthropic occorre credere sulla parola, perché dichiara una neutralità annuale ottenuta con compensazioni senza fornire dati sufficienti per verificarla.

Detroit Red Wings Given that the Red Wings are without a general manager and their captain wants to be traded, the anticipated problem with Detroit’s power play probably doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. But don’t think for a minute that Moritz Seider, Alex DeBrincat andLucas Raymondhaven’t thought about power play trigger manPatrick Kanebeing gone and bumper Dylan Larkin trying to follow him out of the door. Detroit’s lack of scoring (ranked 22nd in 2025-26) has been a major offseason discussion. Imagine how bad it would have been if Detroit did not have a decent power play (ranked 12th at 22.6%) last season? The Red Wings scored 56 power play goals last season. Only six teams scored more. In 2024-25, the Red Wings’ 64 power play goals were tied for the league lead. Kane contributed the goal or assist on 45.3% of the power-play goals in 2024-25 and 29.6% last season. Meanwhile, Larkin was involved in 42.1% two seasons ago and 42.8% last season. Larkin has scored 57 power-play goals over the past four seasons. Detroit’s significant offseason acquisition was Viktor Arvidsson. He scored 20 or more goals six times in his career, including 25 last season for Boston. However, he has never been a noteworthy power play scorer. He has only registered more than four power-play goals in a season once. Last season, he had nine power play points. If Michael Brandsegg-Nygard makes the team, he might get a shot on the power play, maybe even in the bumper position if Larkin is traded. Brandsegg-Nygard has a quick release and a sizzling shot. But counting on such an inexperienced player isn’t the preferred way to shore up the power play. That’s a let’s-see-what-we-have move. Whatever the new director of hockey operations and coach Todd McLellan cook up, they won’t have much time to implement changes. The preseason is cut in half this season because the league is launching its new 84-game regular season. Just one more problem Steve Yzerman’s replacement will have to deal with. When do the Red Wings believe goalieTrey Augustinewill be ready for the NHL? Bob Duff explores that question in the third installment of DHN’s series on Detroit Prospects. Coach Igor Larionov’s St. Petersburg team in the KHL acquired the rights to Detroit goalieDaniil Tarasov. It was a planning-for-the-future move. DefensemanAxel Sandin Pellikkawill have to compete for a roster spot at Red Wings training camp. Detroit’s 2026-27 backup goalie Cam Talbot, 39, still hasn’t found a job, but not all hope is lost. Sometimes, NHL general managers grow antsy about their goalie depth in training camp and add a veteran as an insurance policy. Talbot is coming off a poor season (3.19 GAA, .883 save percentage) but has been a consistent NHLer for a number of years. He boasts a .911 career save percentage. Boston: Jack Studley looks at how a Penguins’ contract will impact the Bruins’ salary structure.Boston Bruins. New Jersey: Quinn Hughes news is also Devils news. Elliotte Friedman still believes Hughes will re-sign with Minnesota for $18 million per season for three years. But each day that passes without a new Hughes deal gives Devils fans some hope that he will orchestrate a move to play with his brothers with theNew Jersey Devils. Pittsburgh: Dan Kingerski analyzes whether GM Kyle Dubas made a mistake by giving an eight-year contract to an unproven young player.Pittsburgh Penguins.

The company aims for a 25% reduction by 2029 compared to 2019, five points more and one year earlier than planned. August 7, 2026 Carnival Corp.aims to achieve a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 2029, measured on an available lower berth days basis compared to its 2019 baseline. After reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of schedule — cutting GHG emissions intensity by 20% in 2025 — the company raised its original target by five points and accelerated its timeline to achieve the goal a year earlier, in 2029. The efficiency work behind this milestone is also showing up on the bottom line with fuel-efficiency gains on track to save the company roughly $650m in 2026 versus 2019 levels. The progress, detailed in Carnival Corp.'s newly published2025 Sustainability Report, is driven by a comprehensivedecarbonizationstrategy focused on operational improvements, energy efficiency investments and low-GHG power generation. Since 2008, the company has reduced its GHG emissions intensity by 44%, meaning emissions associated with each passenger have been cut roughly in half during that period. “Achieving our 2030 GHG reduction goal five years early is a significant milestone that reflects years of disciplined investment, innovation and operational focus across our global fleet," Carnival Corp. CEOJosh Weinsteinsaid. "But we're not treating it as a finish line. Our new 2029 target ensures we're continuing to improve every part of the equation, from using less fuel to advancing the tools, technologies and infrastructure that will help us lower emissions even further over time." Operational enhancements, including smart itinerary planning and voyage optimization tools, help identify the most fuel-efficient routes and sailing patterns. Carnival Corp. is also integrating technologies that reduce energy demand, improve hydrodynamic performance and capture energy that would otherwise be wasted. These efforts range from power saver packs that reduce HVAC and lighting loads to waste heat recovery systems and air lubrication systems that help ships move with less friction through the water. Complementing these initiatives, seven new ships scheduled to join the fleet through 2033 are expected to deliver more than 20% greater efficiency per passenger than current ships. At the same time, Carnival Corp. is investing in a range of reduced GHG technologies and solutions. This includes a growing fleet ofLNG-powered ships, expandedshore powercapabilities, increasedbiofueluse as more supply comes online and peak energy use shaving with battery storage systems. Read more about: Anne Kalosh Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review Anne Kalosh covers global stories, reporting both breaking and in-depth news on cruising's significant people, places, ships and trends. A sought-after expert on cruising, she has moderated conferences around the world, including the high-profile State of the Industry panel at Seatrade Cruise Global multiple times, and appeared as the "cruise industry expert" on a cruise-themed episode of "Everybody's Live with John Mulaney" (Netflix LIVE March 19, 2025). Kalosh created and led the acclaimed itinerary-planning case study for Seatrade's cruise master classes held at Cambridge and Oxford universities. She has been the cruise columnist for AFAR.com, and her freelance stories have appeared in a wide range of publications, from The New York Times to The Miami Herald.

Philadelphians who live near industrial land and major roads – those who live in the Port Richmond and Bridesburg neighborhoods along I-95, or the Delaware River port-industrial corridor, for example –face worse air pollution and are more likely to have asthmathan residents who live farther from those sites. Philly neighborhoods with a higher percentage of green areas, by contrast, have lower levels of diesel particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and other toxic air pollutants, which inflame and irritate the respiratory system. Many of them have lower asthma rates too. We areurban and regionalplanning professorsand agraduate research fellowwith expertise in environmental planning, environmental health and climate resilience. In 2025 we studied 766 census tracts across nine counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that fall within the Philadelphia metropolitan area. This region has a mix of cities, older suburbs and lower-density communities. We wanted to see how air pollution affects the Philadelphia metro area, how it relates to asthma rates, and whether high-pollution areas overlap with historically redlined neighborhoods.Redliningwas a discriminatory practice, formalized in the 1930s by federal agencies, by which banks and insurers marked minority neighborhoods as “high-risk” on maps and denied residents mortgages and other financial services. This cut off investment to these neighborhoods for decades. To do our analysis, we combinedland use and road datafrom the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission,demographic datafrom the U.S. Census Bureau,asthma estimatesfrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,pollution measuresfrom the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, andhistorical redlining mapsfrom the University of Richmond’s Mapping Inequality project. Among other findings, we were able to rank the tracts with the highest percentages of adults with asthma diagnoses. The top five in order were Franklinville in North Philadelphia, Stanton in North Philadelphia, Bartram Village in southwest Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion in North Philadelphia and West Chester University in Chester County. A significant difference in asthma rates between communities is the result of environmental and social pressures that accumulate year after year. For example, we found that neighborhoods in the Philadelphia metro area with more Black residents and more adults without high school diplomas had higher rates of asthma. These differences remained even after we statistically controlled for measured pollution levels, meaning pollution alone did not explain the gap. Greater Philadelphia earned straight Fs for its air pollution in the American Lung Association’s 2026State of the Air report. The region ranked 17th worst among more than 200 U.S. metropolitan areas for year-round particle pollution. This means that Philly residents face unhealthy air exposure throughout the year. Patients, families and physicians often think of asthma as a medical problem. Our findings show that it is also an urban planning problem. Zoning and infrastructure decisions shape where pollution sources are located and who lives near them. Industrial zoning can mean homes, schools and childcare centers end up close to factories, warehouses and other emission sources. Transportation investments can route highways, truck traffic and freight corridors through particular neighborhoods, which increases residents’ exposure to diesel particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. City planning decisions also determine where trees, parks and other green buffers are preserved or added. When industrial activity, heavy traffic and limited green space overlap, residents may face several environmental risks at once. These cumulative burdens are oftenconcentrated in communitiesthat have experiencedlong-term disinvestment, including limited infrastructure spending, fewer business loans and lower property investment, often rooted in practices such as redlining. Redlining maps were available for only four of our nine counties. For a more straightforward comparison, we grouped the fourfederal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation gradingsinto two categories: “Favorable” versus “Unfavorable.” We considered the “Best” and “Still Desirable” ratings as “Favorable,” and the “Declining” and “Hazardous” ratings as “Unfavorable.” Within those counties, asthma rates did not rise steadily as historical grades worsened, which is what we expected to see. Instead, the highest asthma rates appeared in neighborhoods where “Declining” or “Hazardous” grades covered a middling share of land, rather than in areas that were mostly redlined or mostly favorably graded. These in-between areas often contained a mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses, and many appear to have changed continuously in the decades since the maps were drawn in 1960s. They may have been especially exposed to later redevelopment, traffic growth, remaining industry and population turnover, as well as uneven reinvestment – where new investment reached some blocks but not others, or brought new burdens such as truck traffic alongside new development. Our data cannot pinpoint when these changes occurred, only that these areas today carry the heaviest combined exposures. This finding does not make historical discrimination less important. It suggests that the health consequences of discrimination unfold through decades of subsequent decisions about land use, housing and infrastructure. Our findings can be used to identify places where asthma risks are concentrated, but they do not explain any one person’s health. Our data could not measure indoor asthma triggers such as mold, pests or poor ventilation, and we lacked information on smoking, occupational exposure to pollutants or irritants, and how much time residents spend outside the neighborhood where they live. We also could not account for residents’ access to healthcare, including insurance coverage and the availability of nearby providers. These factors affect whether asthma gets diagnosed and treated in the first place. We observed neighborhoods at a single point in time and did not track how pollution or land use had changed in the years or decades prior. We hope that future studies capture more detailed pollution monitoring and land-use data collected over time. We would also like to see more research on how traffic, industry, housing and green infrastructure – such as parks, street trees and vacant lots converted to green space – interact to affect residents’ health in mixed-use and redeveloping neighborhoods such as Grays Ferry in South Philadelphia and Kensington in North Philadelphia. Stronger evidence from these areas can help local planning and health agencies choose the right mix of protections and investments for each community. Read more of our stories aboutPhiladelphia and Pennsylvania, or sign up for our Philadelphianewsletter on Substack.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes Navigator Gashas closed $121.8m in financing for two ammonia fuelled gas carrier newbuilds being developed withAmon Maritime, the New York listed company said on Monday, completing the funding for its six ship newbuilding programme. The financing covers roughly 70% of the combined $168m contract price for the two vessels, which are priced at about $84m each. The deal matters for the liquefied petroleum gas and ammonia shipping sector because it supports one of the first commercial scale ammonia fuelled carrier projects, a technology seen as critical for cutting maritime emissions in gas trades. The vessels will be able to carry both ammonia and LPG while burning ammonia as fuel, a dual capability that aligns with tightening environmental rules and growing demand for clean ammonia transport. The two 51,530 cubic metre carriers are under construction atNantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineeringin China. Deliveries are scheduled for June and October 2028. Each vessel has also secured a NOK90m ($9m) grant fromEnova, the Norwegian state funding agency, reducing the net capital burden on the joint venture. Navigator Amon Shipping, the project vehicle, is 80% owned by Navigator Gas and 20% by Amon Maritime. The Norwegian partner brings expertise in ammonia fuel systems and low carbon shipping projects. Yara Clean Ammoniahas taken both ships on five year time charters from delivery, the companies said. The contracts will fold the newbuilds into Yara’s existing ammonia shipping network, which includes a fleet of some 15 carriers and access to 18 terminals. The charters provide revenue visibility for Navigator and Amon while linking the vessels to one of the world’s largest clean ammonia producers and distributors. The financing closes the remaining gap in Navigator’s six ship newbuilding programme. The company said in June that funding had been completed for four vessels, leaving the two Navigator Amon ships as the final pair awaiting financing. With this deal, the entire programme is now fully funded. Ammonia is emerging as a leading candidate for zero carbon marine fuel because it contains no carbon and can be produced using renewable energy. However, the technology remains at an early commercial stage, with only a handful of ammonia fuelled vessels on order globally. The Navigator Amon project is among the most advanced in the gas carrier segment. The ships will enter service as the International Maritime Organization’s strengthened carbon intensity rules take full effect and as the European Union’s emissions trading system extends to maritime transport. Ammonia fuelled vessels could offer compliance advantages, though the availability of green ammonia bunkering infrastructure remains limited and will need to expand for the technology to scale. Go to top “Breakbulk.News publishes editorial content, including news, features and press releases supplied by third‑party companies, institutions and PR agencies. Third parties who submit material to us are solely responsible for ensuring that all text, images, logos and other content they provide are accurate and that they hold all necessary rights, licences and permissions for news use. By submitting content to Breakbulk.News, contributors represent and warrant that their material does not infringe the rights (including copyright and related rights) of any third party and agree to indemnify Breakbulk.News in respect of any claims arising from their submissions. If you believe any content on our site infringes your rights, please contact us at info@breakbulk.news with full details and we will investigate promptly..”

Issue 239 – August 2026 9780 words, novelette byJordan Alexander I was a month into the Endangered Species Initiative when my case manager decided I was acclimated enough to Martian society to start working. When she told me what the job was, I almost told her to keep it. Laboratory Mechanics Specialist—a glorified repair technician. But money was tight. I’d been sending most of the ESI stipend back to Earth for Mama. Being the second human on Mars in five hundred years had its perks; so far, I’d been able to survive on food from my curious neighbors who’d wave to me through the glass of the Biosphere and leave offerings outside the airlock like I was a stray cat. I’d tasted all the Martian staples: potato and protein paste stew, tofu tacos made with cricket flour tortillas, and so many bags of candied grasshoppers. I had enough cricket bread to outlast an apocalypse. But their generosity was running out, and I needed to eat. I called Mama on the holo to tell her about the job. I paced the cramped studio apartment the ESI paid for in a frenzy. I kept hitting my head on the doorways because I was too tall for the buildings here, even the ones designed to mimic Earth. Mama’s hologram flickered in the dim light. There were no windows. The signal was terrible, so Mama’s figure glitched like a reflection caught in a river rapid. My brain filled in the details: the stern lines of her face, that critical glare, those lips pursed for argument, her hair cropped in short, contained curls. “I feel like a Neanderthal,” I said as I rubbed my bruised forehead. Mama crossed her arms, refusing to spare me any sympathy. “It’s only natural to feel a little out of place.” Her voice crackled out the apartment speakers, so I was submerged in the sound. That was another thing that made me a dinosaur here; every Martian had implants in their heads, so they didn’t need to use external computers or phones. Back on Earth, we were still trying to standardize interplanetary communications. If the ESI wasn’t footing the bill, Mama and I wouldn’t even be able to communicate. “That’s the point, Mama,” I said. “I’m the best robotics engineer on Earth, and they’ve got me fixing automatic doors.” “You may have been the best here, but you’re one in three billion there. Thank the Ancients they gave you anything.” My predecessor—we dared not speak her name—the first human in the ESI, failed the initiative after three months. She failed not only herself but the entire human race in the process. We’d needed her. All eleven thousand of us were in such need; the Earth shuddered under the weight of it. We needed the ESI because we needed the Martians, and we needed the Martians because they promised a human haven on the red planet. We needed a haven because we were living at the edge of extinction, and Martians, in all their humility, needed proof that we were worthy of being saved. I slumped on my bed and gazed at the pockmarked ceiling. Martian constructions were made of mycelium brick, so I always felt like the walls were breathing. My predecessor was an architectural engineer, and in her short time on Mars, she’d designed a prototype human complex with artificial grass to mimic Earth’s landscapes and holo-screen ceilings that showed Earth’s sky in real time. I wished she’d lasted long enough to build it. I shut my eyes to picture the night sky over Cape Canaveral back home. Endless stars. Ocean air. Breeze that whipped up sand instead of dust. But when I opened my eyes, all I saw were spores. Then Mama’s fuzzy face leaned over me. “Sit up,” she said. “You’re too blessed to slouch.” Shoulders back, I met her holo eyes. “I can do more than repairs.” “Of course. But you do what they tell you to do. The Earth watches, Teri.” My first day of work, I didn’t have to take the public shuttle. My new employers—the engineering department at Eberswalde University—booked me a private cruiser, and I was grateful because the shuttle pilots flew like mosquitoes buzzing over a pond. The zipping back and forth always made me sick, and I couldn’t afford one of the anti-motion sickness implants the Martians had. The shuttle passengers—and all Martians, really—always looked at me with an odd mixture of pity and disgust. Last time I took the shuttle, someone asked me if I had a “human illness” and if it was contagious. I’d been tempted to put on my EV suit and walk. I got in the back seat of the cruiser and strapped in for the hour-long ride. My place in Landfall, Mars’ largest port city, was halfway across the colony from work and my ESI case manager, but I liked living near a port. Mama always said humans like to stay close to the lifeboats. Every Martian city was built into a crater. Landfall was nestled in Schiaparelli. My apartment lay in the city’s center inside the Biodome, an ancient terrarium built when humans first settled on Mars. Landfall’s founders modeled the quaint, Earthlike village after an American city block (one of the founders was from New York). It was just Central Park, built from the memory of a rich colonist with the resources they brought from Earth. This meant my neighborhood was full of plastic trees and too many nonfunctioning fire hydrants and a fountain that’d been dry for centuries. Martians didn’t need the Biodome any longer; centuries of genetic engineering and isolation from Earth had transformed their human ancestors into an entirely new species, one capable of braving the planet’s harsh environment without the oxygenated Biodome. Now the place was nothing but empty houses and monuments to long-dead settlers—oh, and the only place I could survive without an environmental suit on. Surrounding the Biodome were Landfall’srealbuildings, abstractly shaped mycelium towers. The mycelium gave the city a warm, beige hue, and apparently, the Martians’ ancestors didn’t think to bring a can of paint with them when they abandoned Earth five hundred years ago, so Landfall was dotted with spongy, mushroom-brick sandcastles. On my cruiser rides, I liked to look out the window and watch the city shrink away; Landfall was just a big termite hill. Mama said that was a rude observation, but why would Martians care about being compared to an insect so extinct even their ancestors never saw one? Really, I was being rude to the bugs, who, as a zoologist, Mama should’ve respected more than genetically engineered clowns cheating at the evolutionary game. On the ride, I got a message from Mama. A picture of a gorilla flashed across my phone screen along with the caption: “mountain gorilla.” I asked her why she sent it, but she didn’t respond. It was probably related to her work. The monkey frowned at me, seemingly as confused as I was. I looked out the cruiser window and tried to imagine him out there in the crater. There were no animals on Mars besides the insects and fish raised for food. Ever since communications with Earth were reestablished, Martians had been clamoring for animals to be imported. They wanted cows and dogs and giraffes and whatever else they’d seen in old Earth nature photography. Maybe they’d bring a mountain gorilla. I could picture its silver-black hair against the desert landscape: a shadow of life in the barren wastes. The cruiser landed outside Eberswalde before I could think any more about gorillas. As I clambered out the door, I bumped my head on the ceiling. “All this empty space in the crater, and they can’t make room for you,” the cruiser pilot said. I knew that voice. The pilot was concealed in an EV suit with a darkened faceplate. I could tell they were short like most Martians because their knees didn’t bump against the dashboard, and they didn’t have to contort to fit into the seat the way I did. But that voice—I’d heard it on radio broadcasts and in interviews and on speakerphone last year as Mama, the rest of our community, and I gathered to hear the first human on Mars announce her arrival. I couldn’t say anything, though there were so many things I wanted to ask. I didn’t know she was still alive; everyone on Earth spoke of her as if she were dead. Where was she living, if not in the Biodome where they stuck me? Why hadn’t I seen her? But I knew what Mama would want me to do. I backed out of the cruiser without responding to her, as if her failure would somehow contaminate me. She deflated as I backed away. “Mind your head,” she said before the doors shut. The university grounds spanned a series of towers, each one designed by a different Martian architect. The shapes of the towers were meant to read artsy and non-Euclidean, but they just looked like the washed-up sea pork Mama and I used to find on the beach. Impressive, for a living building to look so dead. All these towers were engineering nightmares, but that was Mars—style over substance. The engineering tower had far too many windows, so everyone was always sweating. Thankfully, the micro-engineering lab was on the floor with the fewest. I was crouched in the corner of a laboratory the size of a swimming pool and just as cold in design. Rows of 3D printers lined the east end of the lab, looking like a bunch of overdesigned ovens. My knees hurt if I spent too long kneeling on the stone floor, so I was in an awkward squat, leaning against the printer I was repairing. “I didn’t know they taught things like this in Earth universities,” my new manager, Thames, said. His skin was the color of a bad spray tan and stained with this awkward, plastic smile. He was squat, probably five foot two, tall for a Martian. “And with such quaint technology.” I was using a soldering gun from my tool kit—one of the only things I brought from Earth, since weight restrictions on interplanetary flights were harsh—and everyone kept looking at it like it was some ancient artifact. I hoped they stopped gawking soon. After I finished here, I needed to troubleshoot the holoprojectors in the lecture halls. “University,” said Dr. Adri, who oversaw the micro lab. “There’s only one.” Dr. Adri was bald, squat, and round, an orange come to life. “Right. I mean there’s only, what . . . ” Thames looked at me. “A few thousand of you left?” I shot him a polite smile and ducked behind the printer to avoid more questions, burrowing into the clumps of wires spewing from the broken machine. I busied myself with work and held my tongue so hard I drew blood. “It’s just curiosity,” Mama would say, “like the rover.” The lab doors opened—and opened well, if I do say so myself—and someone new shuffled in. Dr. Adri spoke to the new person, “Oh, you got my ping. You’ve got to see this old tech. The kind of stuff your xenoarchaeologist friends would love.” The stranger said, “You called me out of office hours to look at a soldering gun?” “Just thought it might interest you. I know you’re into all that human stuff.” “She’s right there, Adri,” the stranger said. Then she crouched behind the printer with me and held out a hand, the first handshake a Martian ever offered me. They weren’t big on physical touch here, a relic of living in EV suits for so long before they figured out how to alter their genomes. My chivalrous stranger was a slender Martian woman with skin the color of the desert at sunset, glistening with drops of recycled water. I was lost—either in the image or her bright, emerald eyes—for a moment before I remembered her outstretched hand. I shook it. “Nile,” she said. “You’re Teri, right?” I nodded because I could not speak. I was still roaming her sunset skin, tracing the way her body curved like sand dunes, floating in the cloud of curls atop her head. “Teach me how to use your oh so ancient Earth tech?” she asked with a grin that nearly killed me. I nodded again and hoped she only asked yes or no questions until my voice returned to me, which I anticipated would be a long while. Nile took me out for drinks—or rather, drink, since I couldn’t survive outside my suit long enough for a single shot—after work to a bar I’d avoided thus far. Curiosity’s Bar was close to Eberswalde and therefore frequented mostly by college students. Tonight was slow. “These are the best times to come here,” Nile said when we entered. Curiosity’s had the same strange, abstract art character as every other place cursed by Martian design. But the bar also had a gimmick: Curiosity’s Frankensteined corpse sat on a pedestal in the center of the bar. The poor rover reeked of vodka. Some drunk students were pressing a button on the pedestal that made Curiosity sing a facsimile of its once poignant rendition of “Happy Birthday.” “Such a disrespectful way to treat artifacts, don’t you think?” Nile asked. I agreed, but I was used to shrugging off disrespect. “It’s just a robot,” I said. Nile looked surprised. She seemed to appraise me. “Interesting.” We settled into a pod in the back corner. My knees hit the chrome tabletop. She told me she was a PhD candidate studying human society and culture. When she completed her degree, she would become Eberswalde’s youngest doctoral degree holder. Her thesis tracked the rise in human culture in Landfall since Mars and Earth reestablished contact twenty years ago. “Human history has always fascinated me,” she told me. She sipped a deep blue cocktail called Martian Sunset. The dim lights of the bar cast indigo shadows across her tangerine skin. “I mean, it’s everyone’s history after all. We should all be fascinated by it.” She gestured around the bar, spilling a little of her drink on the table. “At our core, we’re all human.” “I keep trying to tell people that. They just don’t listen,” I said. “Sorry everyone here’s so ignorant. Don’t mind the faculty. Dr. Adri is self-centered, and Thames tries. Just not enough. They’re good people once you get to know them.” Synth music hummed over the muffled sounds of bar patrons. Even tucked away in the back, I could not escape the prying eyes of Martians whose parents never taught them not to stare. I sank into the pod’s squeaky, faux-leather seat. “Back at the campus, you didn’t have to do that,” I said. “I’m resisting the urge to reference an old Earther quote. Something about the triumph of evil, and good people doing nothing?” “Sorry, never heard of it.” If I wasn’t so stunned by her, I would’ve asked why everyone assumed I understood all their Earth references. “Well, I suppose being human doesn’t automatically mean you know every famous thing a human has ever said.” That smile blossomed. White teeth flashed against coral skin. “I suppose it doesn’t.” “So, tell me, Teri,” she said, and I braced myself for the questions Martians always had about humans. But then she asked, “What’s your favorite ocean?” Martians never wanted to know anything about Earth because they thought they already knew everything. All their questions were about humanity. “Is it true humans are living in caves again?” “How do your people survive without neural implants?” “Are your eyes naturally that color?” I remembered Mama reading me poems written by the first poet on Mars. There’s a monument to them somewhere in the Crater. There was a long line in there about blue sunsets. Before I left Earth, I told Mama I’d tell all these Martians aboutrealsunsets, when the red dusk bleeds into night. But no one here cared about nature or classic poetry. Except for Nile. “Don’t have one,” I said. “Really? Mine’s the Atlantic.” I looked at her sideways, and she continued, “It’s where all the space junk landed when the satellites went down.” I remembered space junk washing up on the shore in Cape Canaveral, fishing it out of the sea to scrap the once-space-bound hunks of metal for parts, designing water purifiers to cleanse the lakes and rivers infested by the fallen waste. It made me sick to think about. But then I looked at Nile, and she was giddy. “God, it’s my dream to take a team to Earth and fish those out of the ocean. It would be the archaeological find of the century. In collaboration with human researchers, of course. Underwater archaeology is a lost art. I can’t imagine it. A real ocean!” She motioned wildly with her hands and banged on the table when she wanted to emphasize something. I’d seen Martians get excited about water before. They had this thing for it. I guess I understood; few people on this planet had ever seen an ocean or lake or river in person. They even named their kids after bodies of water on Earth, some odd means of reverence. I wondered how many of them knew twenty percent of the oceans had dried up in the last century, and most of the rest of the water was too polluted to drink. I thought of mentioning it, but Nile’s eyes were shimmering like the sunlight on her favorite ocean, so I kept my mouth shut. That night, my too-short bed felt like the soft sand along the Cape. I was dizzy, like I’d been floating in water all day, and I closed my eyes to imagine waves rocking me back and forth. I was picturing Nile’s sea green eyes when I got another message from Mama. “Hawksbill turtle.” In the picture, the little guy was covered in sand. He would fit right in on Mars, I thought before I fell asleep. In the weeks following, I spent almost every day after work with Nile. I didn’t feel time moving, unlike before I met her, when each moment spent on this planet weighed on me like gravity. The only reference I had for days passing was Mama’s texts. Black rhinos the morning Nile and I had our first official date. Asian elephants the night I invited her over and cooked a “human delicacy”—it was just spaghetti, with cloned beef, of course. Woolly mammoths when she stayed the night. Sea lions the day Nile tried to make her own Martian spaghetti using ground crickets—it tasted like cardboard, but I didn’t tell her that. The day Mama sent sea cows, I had an evaluation with my ESI case manager. The Department of Human Affairs was near the university, so Nile walked me there after work. The DHA offices were in the back room of the Transportation Administration tower. The tower was wide at the bottom to accommodate the curving line of Martians renewing their pilot licenses, and it narrowed into a curly loop for what Nile said was some greater aesthetic purpose. Something about the swirls being reminiscent of ocean waves. I just thought of soft serve—oh, how I missed dairy ice cream. The sign outside read: “Transportation Administration Services” and in much tinier print: “Department of Human Affairs.” They’d stuffed the DHA in some converted storage room. Nile waved dismissively at the sign as though shewing away a pesky insect. I’d told her how overqualified I was for my job at the university, and I think she was angrier about it than I was. “This is ridiculous,” she said. “You have to demand more. I’m sure there’s a better opportunity available for you. “I don’t want to cause any trouble,” I said quickly. “Standing up for yourself isn’t trouble. When my classmates—and even a few of my professors—said I was too young to pursue my degree, I still applied, got in, and every day I prove them wrong.” I bristled. I guess Nile noticed because she added, “But I understand that can be scary.” After delivering that understatement, she took my hands. She’d changed the LEDs on her EV suit to match mine, so behind the faceplate, her cheeks held a cerulean glow. “Just try?” She squeezed my hands, her grip even tighter against my EV suit gloves. “I’ll do my best.” My case manager Loch’s office was larger than my apartment despite being essentially a closet. Her walls were covered in inaccurate illustrations of oceans and rivers. They were too blue, almost indigo, and so sparkly. When I met her, I said I liked her nebula art, which offended her greatly. “Have you learned anything interesting about Martian society?” Loch asked. Every time I met with her, she wore her EV suit. Martians didn’t really need the suits, seeing as centuries of genetic engineering made them perfectly suited to the planet’s rough environment, but most wore them anyway. I asked Nile once if it was a fashion choice. “No,” she’d answered, “it’s much deeper. It’s cultural. Our ancestors lived in these suits, and we honor them by wearing them.” I wondered if my case manager was truly honoring her ancestors right now or if she just didn’t want to breathe the same air as me. “I’ve learned a lot about the significance of environmental suits,” I said. She took diligent notes as I spoke. Her data pad linked to her neural implant, so she only had to think, and the words appeared on the screen. I added, “I guess I understand it, the whole ancestor reverence thing.” “Don’t you have something similar on Earth? The Ancients?” I smiled and nodded, but in my head, I was cringing. Our beliefs were similar in the way Mars and Earth were similar: both planets in our solar system with at least one human milling about on top. We didn’t revere the Ancients. We feared them. We remembered them only to avoid their mistakes. Martians had an unquestioning love for their ancestors that made me uneasy. But Loch needed to think Martian beliefs complemented my human culture, so I did not disagree with her. “I’m pleased with your progress, Teri. We’ll make a Martian of you yet.” She blinked, and new words scrolled across her data pad, but she angled it so I couldn’t read them. “Even found yourself an interspecies relationship. Interesting.” My pocket dinged. I sneaked a peek at my phone while my case manager finished her notes. A message from Mama: “Sea cow.” Then I received another message, this one from Nile: “You are stronger than you think.” “Are there any other job positions open?” I asked tentatively. “I just feel like my skills are being underutilized.” “Well, think about the big picture. You have no history on Mars—work history, I mean. Working hard in an entry-level position will pay off down the line.” “But I can do more. My predecessor, she did more.” I felt a pang in my stomach as I spoke; despite the millions of miles, the Earth was holding me back. “Whatever happened to her anyway?” She stared into me. “It’s best to mind the sinkholes, Teri,” she said. She saw the confusion on my face and added, “Your people would say, ‘let sleeping dogs lie.’” She continued to stare like she was awaiting a response. “Sure, but I’m just curious. We don’t talk about her back home. No one ever told me exactly what—” “Perhaps the rest of your species has the right idea then.” She leaned in. “You are making such progress.” I wanted to insist. But for a moment, I caught a glimpse of her data pad. The bottom of the screen read: “OBSTINANCE.” “You’re right,” I said. “Forget I said anything.” She concluded the meeting and rushed me out of her office. In her hurry, she left the door cracked. I caught a glimpse of her through the opening before I walked away. She slipped out of her EV suit and took a deep breath. After my meeting, my trial period was extended an extra month. “An extended cultural adjustment period.” Nile was furious. She didn’t understand, but I did. Mama was right. Nile’s stand your ground advice was going to get me kicked out of the ESI altogether. “I need you to know I completely disagree with the way the ESI is going about all this,” Nile said on the cruiser ride back to my place. She gestured wildly, her indignation too big for the small vehicle. “I mean, why should they force you to be more Martian when really, we should be acting more human?” “I just want to keep my head down until my trial period is up. Then, maybe, they’ll finally start bringing in more of us.” She pulled her data pad from the pocket of her suit and started searching for something. “The first human, she’s still here. Perhaps you and she may find some common ground? I’m sure I know someone who can put you in contact with her. Her name is—” “No. I can’t speak to her,” I said. “It’s not allowed.” Nile looked confused, so I continued. “She’s dead to the Earth—she failed us, so we pretend she doesn’t exist. We don’t even say her name.” I could tell Nile was stunned. She opened her faceplate as though getting a better look would explain my predecessor’s shunning. Apparently, it didn’t. “That’s a rather cruel cultural practice,” she said. “The stakes are high,” I responded. She nodded, but I wasn’t sure if she truly understood. If I angered the ESI, my entire species would suffer for it. The Martians barely wanted to help as it was, and they would not waste resources on a species that could not manage a few months of assimilation. I’d be trapped here, cut off from my family, forced to pilot pretentious Martians in cruisers. Humanity would die the worst kind of death, the slow violence of a prolonged extinction. The way the dinosaurs choked to death on smog, long after the meteor hit. But there was no way to say all that, no way that wouldn’t feel like an attack. If I started speaking, I knew I wouldn’t stop until a lifetime of anger poured out of me in a wave. I looked out the back window of the cruiser. We were moving faster than any of the cruisers or shuttles on Earth were capable of. How long would our civilization remain stuck in the technological past, dust kicked up in the cruiser’s wake? I glanced down at the data pad on Nile’s lap. She’d added a note without ever taking her eyes off of me. It read: “For dissertation: humans and shunning. Pressures of extinction?” “Is something wrong?” she asked. I shook my head. “Sometimes,” I muttered. “I just think about the dinosaurs.” She rested her head on my shoulder, stroked my knee, and said, “Me too.” The engine hummed. I placed my hand over hers. “I think a lot about the stegosaurus,” she said. With Nile at my side, I never needed to stand up for myself. She was always ready to stick up for me, even for minor things. When people avoided me on the shuttles, she’d call them ignorant and tell them to readA Human Perspective of Marsor watchEarth after Exodus: How Humanity Persisted, which had brought her such enlightenment as an undergraduate. When her fellow xenoanthropologists found me at work and tried to watch me use my “old Earth tools,” she’d tell them to stop gawking because I wasn’t a museum exhibit. When my coworkers joked about humans being unable to fly space shuttles because we had no space technology, Nile would jump in before I could and say, “That is a xenophobic stereotype.” She would only ever use the word xenophobic for the way people spoke to me because she said “speciesist” was dehumanizing and “racist” brought up too many negative, pre-Collapse memories. Well, she said Exodus, not Collapse. Humans called it the Collapse. Martians called it the Exodus. Nile asked if I’d prefer she use the term Collapse, then decided against it before I could answer. “That’s your word. I won’t co-opt it,” she said. I didn’t really give a damn, but Collapse was more accurate. If they had to go Biblical with the term, the Flood made more sense. The entirety of human civilization faced an unprecedented cataclysm: global water shortages and rising temperatures threatened to wipe out our entire species. Those who could afford the space shuttle ride to the then-fledgling Mars colony left in a hurry. It was no Exodus. No Pharaoh angrily chased the Martians’ ancestors down when they fled Earth. It was just millions of starving people, begging for a seat on the ark. But Martians didn’t care much for Earth religions or poetry, so it figured they got their metaphors mixed up. “I appreciate your sensitivity,” I said to her. “No need to thank me. It’s the bare minimum.” Nile was weird with compliments. She didn’t compliment me much. Sometimes she would start but get in her head about it and stop herself. Once when she was staying over at my place, we were lying in bed, and she was tracing the freckles on my arms like a game of connect the dots. “I love these. Little sunspots. No one has these anymore. They make you so unique. Ex-tra-or-di-nar-y.” She tapped out each syllable on my skin like she was playing piano. “That’s sweet,” I said. She went quiet for a moment, then sighed. “But I don’t want you to think I see you as a curiosity.” “It was a good compliment, Nile.” I wanted her to stop overthinking it. It made me feel strange complimenting her. If she couldn’t call my freckles sunspots without kicking herself, how could I tell her that I loved the way her grapefruit skin turned indigo in the evening sunlight? “No, no. I need to do better.” Then she turned over and pulled out one of her textbooks. “So much unlearning to do.” I read physical books, so Nile started reading them too. I just collected them out of habit. After I sent money back to Mama, I used the rest of my paycheck to buy books at the vintage stores. They were a luxury on Mars, where everything was digitized, and no one had to worry about the power grid failing periodically. Nile started buying me books too. Nothing I liked, just any book. But she was trying, which was endearing. I was falling asleep when I got another message. “Your mom again?” Nile asked. “Yep. She’s been sending me random animal names. This time it’s ‘Tasmanian tiger.’ Never heard of it.” “I have. It was native to Tasmania when it was still above water. It went extinct sometime after the first settlers arrived in Australia.” She sat her book down and turned to face me. “What other animals did she send you?” I listed them out. The gorilla, the turtle, sea cows. And like the freckles on my skin, Nile connected the dots. Each animal had gone extinct before the Collapse. Mama was sending me wildlife obituaries. “Is this a human tradition I’m not familiar with?” Nile asked. “Do you have some kind of connection to these animals?” “No,” I said. “Then why is she sending you these?” “I’m not a mind reader,” I answered. But I had an idea. Mama wasn’t sending me names of extinct animals as some kind of spiritual memorial. No, it was a crypticmemento mori. As if to say, “This is what’s at stake. Here is why you cannot fail.” A couple days later, Nile sent me a file with the message, “Happy One Month! You are an inspiration. I hope this distracts you from all those extinct animals.” The name of the file turned my blood cold: Dunia Amal, my predecessor. Her name still felt like a curse. Nile had gathered the information on Dunia even though I told her not to. I hesitated to open the file but curiosity got the better of me. I displayed the documents on the holo in my apartment. Pages upon pages stretched from the floor to the ceiling. I closed the files and began dictating a reply to Nile. I thought of calling her, but I was too afraid of how I’d sound, how my face would twist in resentment. “If I had wanted to learn any of this, I would have found a way. I told you no. Why couldn’t you respect that?” I stopped. I called Mama instead; she’d be angry for me. Maybe then, I’d be more articulate in my response. As soon as her holo appeared, Mama put one hand on her hip and looked at me like I was a nuisance. I’d forgotten she was at work. “Other people have jobs too, you—” Mama stopped. She was looking at something on her side of the call that I couldn’t see. “Teri, you know better,” she said. Then I realized I’d left a file open and accidentally shared it with Mama on the call. Dunia’s first paystub—a whole dollar more than what I made—lurked in the corner. I explained to Mama what Nile had done, and after I did, her anger melded into understanding. “She was just trying to be helpful,” Mama said. “You should thank her, then delete these files.” “Helpful?” I half-shouted. Mama glared, and I lowered my voice. “I told her no.” “She doesn’t understand our customs. How could she?” “She’s an anthropologist!” “Don’t raise your voice to me.” Mama stepped closer to me. She held her hands over my head and mimed stroking my hair. I cried for the first time in months. “Don’t cry. Tears are a waste of water,” she cooed. “You just have to be patient.” I tried to sink into her holo like I’d sink into her arms at the beach when she taught me how to swim. I imagined the certainty of her embrace. I tried to trust Mama the way I had back then, when I believed she knew everything. Mama held a catalog of nearly every animal that walked the Earth in her mind. Surely, she held all the answers to my questions. Surely, she wouldn’t let me drown. “Did you get the pictures I sent?” she asked, her digital hand disappearing into my shoulder. “The extinct animals?” “Yes. You understand why I sent them, don’t you?” I stepped away from her and studied the cracks in the floor. I couldn’t meet her gaze while I was still sobbing like a child. I bottled up my tears and anger and put them on a shelf with the rest. “We’re not sea cows, Mama.” She tented her fingers, and I knew she was preparing for a lecture. “We may have lost the last alligator today. Some incompetent intern contaminated the enclosure. It took us a week to notice. By then, the entire congregation was infested withSebekia oxycephala. Half of them are anorexic now, the other half have permanent respiratory damage. It’s in the hatchlings too. We’ll be dealing with the ramifications of this infestation for years. If only the parasites died as easily as their hosts.” When I was a kid, Mama never let me meet the animals she cared for, no matter how much I begged. As a teenager, she told me not to follow in her footsteps. She said I wouldn’t be able to handle the “realities of this line of work.” I resented her for it then, but now I was glad I wasn’t her. I was glad I didn’t have to watch those hatchlings suffocate. She was right. I wasn’t strong enough. Mama continued, “Eighty-five million years of evolution, beaten by some stupid kid who doesn’t know how to properly decontaminate a uniform.” Another voice came through the speakers; someone was calling for her. “I have to work. Remember: no one is above extinction.” After Mama hung up, I deleted my unsent message to Nile. Instead, I sent, “Thanks,” and congratulated myself on my cool headedness. Some things weren’t worth ruining. Work was better when I knew Nile was nearby. Her presence in the building comforted me. She wasn’t there often; the anthropology building was on the other side of the campus, but she’d still bring me lunch (she kept forgetting I couldn’t eat outside of the Biodome). I was filling out maintenance reports in the empty office I’d claimed on the least-windowed floor. The desk was too short, and all the furniture was trying and failing to look like wood. They’d “humanized” the room for me. Thames knocked on my door but entered without waiting for an answer. “It’s so damn quaint in here,” he said. He took a long sip from a metal tumbler full of sparkling water, unflavored. I didn’t know if his taste in beverages was a Martian quirk or just a Thames problem. I’d have to ask Nile. “What can I do for you?” I asked. I pasted a smile on my face. “You probably think about extinction a lot, huh? Yeah, I’m sure you do. But how much do youreallyknow about it?” I braced myself for this discussion. He did this a couple times a week, interrupting my work to intimidate me with his vast knowledge of my own history. Last time, he asked me if I knew that after the Exodus, humans had to start living in caves again. I told him I hadn’t heard that before, which was true, because he’d certainly made that “fact” up. Nile said he’s a nice guy deep down. I wondered how deep I’d have to dig. “I know a fair amount,” I said. We were wearing matching fake smiles. “Humanity almost went extinct before, one million years ago. Ninety-eight percent of the whole species,” he snapped his fingers, “gone just like that. No one’s exactly sure what caused it, but the leading theory? Climate change. What’s that thing you guys say? Fool me once,” he paused and waited for me to complete the phrase. I did not. “Anyway, I’m really rooting for you guys this time around. So I’d encourage you not to blow your second chance.” He sipped his drink, hiding his smug smile behind the cup. “I’m not sure what you mean by that,” I said. Thames swallowed, walked toward my desk, and sat his mug on the faux wood with a loud clang. “I’ve heard some things. You know, crater walls hold whispers. That’s an idiom.” “I gathered.” “Someone said you’ve been digging in the wrong sandpits. That’s—” “Another idiom?” “You’re quick. So you should be able to follow this advice, superior to,” he clicked his tongue, “employee. Some business is better left buried.” I breathed in the filtered air of my EV suit. I remembered the sand-covered turtle, lost to time. “Thank you, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.” Thames picked up his cup, leaving a wet ring on the tabletop. He paused in the doorway. “I really am rooting for you. If someone had told me twenty years ago that I’d be talking to a human right now, I’d’ve said the radiation had gotten to their head. You’re a living relic.” He shut the door before I could tell him how flattered I was. When I got home, I peeled my suit off immediately. I got in the shower and turned the water as hot as I could stand. Mama spent her days holding dying baby gators, but at least she didn’t have to endure Thames or Loch or even Nile, in all her helpfulness. She didn’t have to fold away her emotions into the corners of her mind. Mama and her team would cure the gators, but there was no treatment that would make life on Mars easier. I lay on the apartment floor, still wet. I wondered if the mycelium would sprout mold. Maybe the fungus would do me in before the end of my contract. Mama would find that morbid, but she wasn’t here. I opened Dunia’s file. I felt like a misbehaving child, sitting on the floor in the corner with all the lights off, reading forbidden texts, defying Mama and Thames and Loch with this small act of rebellion. Dunia worked in the biology department at Eberswalde. At first, she was well-liked. Her performance reviews emphasized her ingenuity and competence. But after a couple months, opinions shifted. Coworkers said Dunia was too full of herself, too good at her job, as though her competence had mutated into arrogance. There were five documented disputes between her and her coworkers. One anonymous review read, “Amal is an alright architect, but she won’t get far with that attitude.” Dunia’s caseworker told her to “adjust her personality to better suit Martian culture.” Dunia did not heed that advice. Right when production began on her human habitat prototype, the fifth dispute occurred, this time with her supervisor. Witnesses saw them arguing. They say Dunia became violent, that she started yelling at her boss. The lab had this industrial 3D printer, large enough to build entire habitats. Then—and this part had conflicting reports—she pushed him into one of the printers. Or, he fell, depending on who you believe. The authorities believed the majority of employees who insisted that Dunia, in a fit of rage, used “her far superior height and strength” to shove her supervisor. He got caught under one of the lasers as it fired. Reconstructive surgeries repaired his superficial burns but with his skin barrier compromised, he became hypersensitive to solar radiation. And it’s almost funny. Martians were so terrified of catching human diseases. Then Dunia went and gave her supervisor cancer. Something about the story clashed with my memories of Dunia. When she was accepted into the ESI, she toured Earth’s remaining cities and spoke of her plans to bring more humans to Mars. Her joy radiated off of her. She spoke of humanity’s Collapse, the Ancients’ arrogance and their subsequent downfall, their failure to safeguard our future. She would not be so prideful. We all chanted with her, “Remember the Ancients. The Earth watches.” Surely, she felt the same pressure I did. How could she risk all our hopes? I put some clothes on and dried the wet spot on the floor before I called Mama. I didn’t bother lying. I confessed to reading the documents. She refused to look at me. “By the Ancients, Teri! Your boss tells you not to meddle, and what do you do? I don’t understand you, child. You have a job! You have friends. You have a future. They accept you. Isn’t that enough?” Mama shook with frustration. The glitching holo made her appear as if the anger was clawing its way out of her, breaking her stone façade. The light of the holo display was so bright it hurt my eyes. “Did you know she was still alive? Did you know she’s a cruiser pilot? Did you know she hurt someone? It just doesn’t make any sense.” “She’s dead to the Earth,” Mama snapped. “Remember, failure kills. We are all at risk.” She hung up, plunging my apartment into darkness. Not long after the call, while I was sitting on the floor by my bed trying to slow my breathing with pictures of gorillas, I got a message from her: “Denisovans.” But there was no animal accompanying it. Just the top half of an archaic skull. Almost human. Dunia wouldn’t be hard to find. I knew at least one of her cruiser routes, since it was the route I was meant to be taking to work, but I’d started taking the public shuttle instead to reduce the chances of seeing her again. I wasn’t as superstitious as Mama, but still, something about her felt like bad luck. So, on the way home from work, I called cruiser after cruiser until I got hers. It only took four attempts and too much money in cancellation fees. I ducked into the cruiser and sat in the passenger seat. I fiddled nervously with my seatbelt. “Dunia,” I said. “Teri,” she replied. “Are you sure you should be speaking to me? My failure might rub off on you.” “I’m sorry about before. I was rude.” “It’s alright. I’m used to being ignored.” She started flying us back to the Biodome. I studied her EV suit while I tried to figure out what to say next. Hers was a different model than mine—the faceplate was smaller, so her field of vision was reduced. Still, both our suits were hand-me-downs, designed years ago and retrofitted for modern needs. “Is there something you wanted?” Dunia asked. She seemed calm enough. She kept her eyes trained ahead and her hands on the controls. She was so different than I remembered, as emotionless as the robots I repaired. I asked the only thing that came to mind. “Where do you live?” “Same place you do, except I enter through the maintenance door. We work opposite hours.” “Didn’t want to show your face?” Dunia finally looked at me, and I realized how much I’d missed being seen. “It wasn’t up to me,” she said. “It’s part of my rehabilitation. I’m allowed limited contact with others. Especially with you. I guess they didn’t consider the cruiser loophole.” She started to laugh, but the sound died like a balloon losing air. Still, I got the sense that she might actually have been happy to see me. I tried to imagine Dunia’s life: limited contact, shunned by the Earth, reviled by Martians, ignored by the only other person who could possibly understand. “Sorry,” I said. “Not your fault.” “Right, I’m not the one that pushed a man into a printer. Just tell me, it was an accident, right?” “Does it matter? You still wouldn’t understand.” “I’m in the same position you were in; of course, I’ll understand,” I said. “No.” Dunia’s voice remained level and calm, like she was just giving one of her old radio updates. “You still think these people see you, and they don’t. You are a project. You’re just as real to them as those monuments outside the Crater.” We were nearing Landfall, and I was glad for it because I was growing frustrated enough with her vagueness and condescension to pushherinto a 3D printer. Dunia’s life was so sad. This was why Mama wanted me to stay away from her. Failure was poison. “They’re not all like that,” I said, my voice shaking. “Maybe your supervisor was an ass, but that doesn’t mean every person on this planet is. Even if you were right, it doesn’t change the fact that we need them, so we endure. Because that’s what humanity does, right?” “There are worse things than extinction, Teri.” After three months of dating, Nile finally decided I could meet her friends. She said she had to make sure they were ready to check their biases. Thames was included in that list of friends, so I wasn’t sure how ready they were. I wished she’d put it off for a few more months. My interaction with Dunia had soured my mood and left me ill-equipped to endure questions from curious Martians. And all of Nile’s friends were curious. They were fellow grad students, dedicated to appreciating human culture and society. I was sick of them. Sick of researchers and archaeologists and goddamn linguists who were always so impressed by how similar human and Martian English were and so surprised by my ability to hold conversations with them. I was sick of history, sick of the pressure to persevere lest my whole species die and fade from memory. I was sick of being preserved like some caveman on ice. If cryogenic freezing wasn’t still in its infancy, I’m sure they’d have put me in a museum freezer already to show me off to some school child a century from now. But I wasn’t sick of Nile, so I put on the happy-go-lucky mask I’d been wearing for my entire stay on Mars. At least with my EV suit on, it was hard to see me rolling my eyes. We were touring the sand sculptures in the outskirts of Schiaparelli Crater, where the first Mars mission landed. There was a collection of statues of the astronauts who visited pre-Collapse. The tour started on the ridge above the Crater. The sculptures were elevated above the actual landing site, so the figures could be seen from a distance. Their faceless bodies loomed over Landfall’s lumpy skyline. The Biodome shone in the distance, sunlight catching the metal and glass so beautifully that the Biodome finally reminded me of Earth. I could make this planet home. I would. I had no other choice. One of Nile’s friends dragged her off to look at a statue of some famous ancestor they had. I stayed back to find the statue of Mama’s astronaut-poet, but all the statues looked the same. Only their poses varied. I decided the one resting their hand on their chin looked artistic. Or, maybe the one staring up at the sky? No, it was definitely the sculpture at the end of the line, reaching a hand West, toward the Biodome. I wished we were visiting during sunset. I wanted to tell Mama I had seen the same horizon as her poet. Thames hovered near me, taking sips of sparkling water from his tumbler. I tried to ignore his staring and take pictures of the statues. I knelt in the dirt to get a shot from below. He came up behind me and said, “You know, I’ve been wondering something ever since you and Nile started dating.” He put air quotes around “dating.” “Yeah?” I said. He took a long sip from his tumbler. “What are your reproduction plans?” “I’m sorry?” I responded. “I’m thinking of writing an article on the possibilities for guided human reproduction,” he said, as though that clarified anything. I stood up slowly, so I was face-to-face with the poet statue. “Guided?” I asked. “You know, to encourage repopulation. It’s important that the population grows at a steady rate. Don’t want your kind going the way of the Denisovans. So, are you going for synth-surrogacy or lab grown? Maybe even natural? Though natural birth is quite the ordeal for your people.” I turned away from the statue to face him. He wasn’t wearing his EV suit, so I could clearly see his self-satisfied grin. “Did you say Denisovans?” “Yeah, Nile was telling me about the significance of extinct animals in human culture. I had no idea.” My fists clenched involuntarily. I tried to relax. I tried thinking of dodos. “Did she now?” I asked. I could tell by his reaction that I wasn’t concealing my anger well. He looked confused, but he kept talking. “Do you think you two will try and reproduce? That would be quite the scientific achievement. The articles Nile could publish . . . ” He trailed off, and I prayed to the Ancients he was done speaking. But he wasn’t. “It’s likely half-breed offspring are sterile.” Dodos and Denisovans and damned gorillas fled my mind. I clenched my fist tighter and punched him square in the face. Nile returned to find Thames groaning in the dirt, blood dripping from his nose and turning the regolith a deep burgundy. I told Nile that Thames had agitated me, and she believed me, or at least she wanted to. She convinced my case manager that I wasn’t a danger to anyone else. That it had just been a clash of cultures. That I needed even more time to adjust, maybe a new work assignment under different leadership. After all the shit she’d talked about the ESI, I didn’t expect her to plead and pander and beg their forgiveness on my behalf, but at least it worked. There were no prisons on Mars because they believed in restorative justice, so initially my punishment was helping the nurses patch up that racist asshole’s face. But then Nile told the ESI that would be triggering for me, and they were so worried I’d punch someone else that they listened to her and had me volunteer at Landfall Memorial Hospital instead. Nile insisted on volunteering with me. Landfall Memorial was the only building besides the Biodome that wasn’t made of mycelium. Turned out mushrooms weren’t great for maintaining sterile fields. The hospital predated most of the other constructions, which meant it was shaped like a normal fucking building, so I didn’t have to see any more shapes that contradicted the principles of engineering. The walls were limestone, and even though I was still furious, the familiar material comforted me. I was reminded of limestone caves I once visited with Mama. I could close my eyes and pretend I was on Earth. Unfortunately, when I opened them, I was greeted by overwhelming white light and chrome floors. Nile and I were in the oncology wing repairing radiosurgery machines used to treat cancer. I was shocked they even let me in this part of the hospital; anything to do with radiation damage was especially important on Mars. Then I learned the machines weren’t really in need of repair; I was just doing preventative maintenance. I was examining the gantry, a large robotic arm hanging from the ceiling in the proton beam therapy lab. Nile was standing on a step stool and pretending to help while I made sure all the bolts were tight and the sprockets were in good condition. I didn’t want to talk about it. I hoped she wouldn’t, but she asked anyway. “Why did you hit him?” “He looked at me like he wanted to dissect me,” I answered without looking up from my work. “If you would’ve just waited for me—” “I can fight my own battles, Nile.” I overtightened a bolt and lost my grip on my wrench. It clattered to the ground, and I didn’t bother to pick it up. “I would’ve said something. I would’ve educated him,” Nile said. “Like you educated him on the messages from my mom?” She stepped off the stool. I abandoned the gantry and studied her. She kept starting to speak and stopping herself. She gesticulated nervously and said, “It was purely an academic discussion. We were theorizing ways human societies cope with the threat of extinction. I merely provided an example.” “An example? I thought I wasn’t an exhibit.” “Teri, you’re misunderstanding me. I’m just looking out for you. They’ll never see your potential at this rate!” “Who is ‘they’?” “The ESI, my friends, my colleagues, all of Mars!” She counted off each group and spoke slowly like I was a toddler. “You have to meet them where they are.” “I’m sick of meeting you all where you are! Why don’t any of you ever come to me?” Nile flinched. She backed away, hands raised defensively. “Calm down, can we talk about this?” she said. I hated the condescension in her coaxing tone. “Can we? Because when we talked, and I told you not to look into Dunia, you did it anyway.” “I was only trying to help.” Nile shook her head, looking helpless. “Honestly, I don’t know what you want from me. I’ve done so much for you. Iinvestedin you when no one else did. And this is how you thank me, by violently attacking my friend?” “What happened to standing up for myself?” “You punched him, Teri! That’s not how we settle disputes here. I understand human culture is different but—” “Stop talking.” “What? What did I say now?” “I just need to go outside before I punch something else. Since my culture is so violent.” I grabbed my tool kit and left Nile there with the machinery. I went to clock out of the hospital early. The secretary at the counter—more goddamn chrome—looked at me sadly. Earrings in the shape of cartoon grasshoppers dangled from her ears. They smiled at me, and I pictured the Rocky Mountain locust, its paper wings crumbling as some scientist pinned it to a board. “What?” I asked. “An unaltered genome. Poor thing. It must be so hard for you.” “I do just fine, thanks.” “But aren’t you worried you’ll get cancer or something?” I turned and left without finishing my checkout. The ESI wouldn’t appreciate it, but I didn’t have it in me to care. I caught a cruiser home, not ready to deal with more nosy Martians. The silver panels of the cruiser captured the fading sunlight. The sun was setting. I watched the sun’s blue halo bloom in the cruiser’s reflection. Then the door slid open, the sun split, and I was staring face-to-face with Dunia, her faceplate clear so I could see her eyes. I froze in the doorway. I finally recognized the emptiness and apathy in her gaze. Extinction was coming, and she didn’t care. I couldn’t blame her, not anymore. Look where caring had gotten her: exiled from two societies, stuck in the middle of divergent worlds like Thames’ fucked up hybrids. “Does it ever get any easier?” I asked because I didn’t know what else to say. “When have our lives ever been easy?” she answered in a soft voice. “Shit,” I said. Then I collapsed to the ground outside the cruiser in a fit of sobs. Tears clung to my faceplate. I couldn’t even wipe my eyes. “They gave me this awful job. They keep asking me all these questions . . . ” And I explained everything about the past few months. Mama’s extinct animals. Thames’ bloodied face. Nile. At some point, Dunia sat next to me and rubbed small circles on my back. I understood now. I was an artifact, and my life was their dig site. What did it matter to them whether I lived or died? They’d get to study my bones either way. We sat in the dust as the sky turned indigo. My phone chimed irreverently. Mama again. “Passenger pigeons” and a picture of a couple dozen stuffed bird skins lying in a drawer. They looked like they were sleeping; I wished they were. I tried to imagine how they looked when they swarmed in the thousands, their peach underbellies painting the midday sky into a sunset. The blue was washed away by Martian earth. Jordan Alexander (she/they) is an Afrofuturist writer, PhD candidate at University of Denver, and their ancestors’ wildest dreams. She holds an MFA from the University of Central Florida, where she acted as the Senior Associate Editor ofThe Florida Review.She emanates from the Florida Panhandle but currently resides in Orlando, Florida with her cat Uhura. You can read her short fiction inFIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction.You can find her on Instagram @jordan.alexander.writes Browse By Fiction Audio Fiction Articles Interviews Editorials Awards & Recognition Authors & Artists Random Story Random Podcast Follow Us On SUBSCRIBE AT B&N Nook Newsstand Patreon ClarkesworldCitizens Weightless Books ISSN 1937-7843 · Clarkesworld Magazine © 2006-2026 Wyrm Publishing. Robot illustration by Serj Iulian.

A screengrab from a video on the Propel NY Energy website promoting its high-voltage electric cable project.Credit: Propel NY Energy Three North Shore public school districts that oppose a state-backed plan to construct high-voltage power cables through their areas have filed new papers asking the state to deny or dismiss the developer’s application for the $3.26 billion project. The move by the districts representing 13,000 students and more than 70,000 residents and taxpayers on the North Shore comes as developers of the Propel NY Energy cable project continue to file work plans and hire contractors for the five-year construction project ahead of receiving needed state and federal permits to begin the work. The developers, the New York Power Authority and New York Transco, say they want to start construction later this year. But opponents aren't giving up. In a 62-page joint brief filed with the state Public Service Commission Wednesday, the Roslyn Union-Free, Syosset Central and North Shore Central school districts took issue with the "flawed" record filed in support of the 90-mile series of cables, charging the plan "wholly fails to adequately identify and evaluate the project's probable environmental impacts to the school districts." Among potential impacts from the multiple 345,000-volt power lines and the five-year construction plan, according to the districts, were effects on "student health and safety, and significant impacts to transportation operations, instructional and educational programs, and the school districts' ability to fulfill their statutory mandates." Get the latest political news stories, from local elections and legislation to reaction to national events. By clicking Sign up, you agree to ourprivacy policy. Some residents in the region who oppose the power lines near homes and schools said the state hasn’t adequately responded to their requests for specific studies that examine the health impacts from electromagnetic fields emanating from the 345,000-volt power lines. The developers say the project is within state standards for the fields, that they have engaged the public at meetings and that the project will benefit the electric grid through greater reliability. In an email, Christine Durant, a lawyer for the districts at the firm Ingerman Smith, wrote that the project plan "fails to address crucial questions concerning the impact to the safety, health and welfare of students and staff." Despite two years of state proceedings, she added, "the project still lacks the detail needed to evaluate its impact on school operations, and to design appropriate and enforceable mitigation mechanisms." NYPA in a statement said Propel is "critically needed energy infrastructure that will significantly boost grid reliability and resiliency," and is supported by more than 1.000 organizations. The motion to dismiss is the latest escalation in the North Shore communities’ opposition to the project, whose cables would run from western Suffolk and Nassau’s South Shore to a convergence point in the communities of Glen Head, Glenwood Landing and others on the North Shore. The cables would then travel under the seabed of Hempstead Harbor and Long Island Sound on their way to Westchester. Another leg of the line would travel from Uniondale to Queens and the Bronx. Gov. Kathy Hochul has called the project "critical" to address "potential power shortages in coming years." Cable representatives have yet to provide Newsday with a list of power generating stations upstate that have excess power to send to Long Island, and there are certain restrictions on NYPA hydropower plants sending their power to LIPA. Construction companies and unions are big supporters of Propel and will be the beneficiaries of the billions of dollars in building contracts and labor agreements. Green-energy advocates say Propel would allow for the smoother transfer of renewables, even though the project's originally stated purpose — to export excess wind power from downstate to upstate — has been disrupted by the Trump administration’s freeze on wind-power permits. Developers say the cable will be power agnostic and unclog a bottleneck between upstate and downstate that leads to higher energy prices during high demand times. North Shore business groups, the Village of Sea Cliff, the Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi joined the Towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in registering concerns or opposition to the project plan. A list of 1,627 citizens have filed a petition with the PSC expressing opposition. In addition to criticizing the project’s deficiencies, the school districts also took aim at the state process that may ultimately award project developers a needed certificate of public convenience and necessity to complete the project. The districts called the PSC-run process "flawed," and charged that it "evades statutory mandates, subverts robust public participation, and shields critical details from public scrutiny." PSC spokeswoman Kim Mashke, in an email, said the commission is "in the process of reviewing all comments filed," and that robust public input, including opportunities to comment in writing and during public hearings, is required by law" and is a critical component of the state process, known as Article VII. In asking for a denial or dismissal of the project’s application, the school districts noted that they are "political subdivisions of the state," each charged with "fulfilling the state’s educational mandates and protecting the health and welfare of thousands of school-aged children." All three were party to the Article VII process that resulted in a joint proposal, but refused to sign on. The districts said the potential impacts to the districts "should be afforded great weight, demand serious consideration, and cannot be ignored." Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries. Out East Show: A trip to Splish Splash, Dining al fresco, Arts Center at Duck CreekNewsdayTV's Doug Geed takes us 'Out East' and visits a few popular spots and a few local gems. Get more on these and other NewsdayTV stories Out East Show: A trip to Splish Splash, Dining al fresco, Arts Center at Duck CreekNewsdayTV's Doug Geed takes us 'Out East' and visits a few popular spots and a few local gems. Get more on these and other NewsdayTV stories

ByRACHEL SHARP, CRIME CORRESPONDENT Published:22:09 BST, 31 July 2026|Updated:01:07 BST, 1 August 2026 It was a bright, sunny day in the South Shore ofMassachusetts- typical of late July when visitors and locals flock to the picturesque coastal towns for summer vacations. But the weather contrasted with the mood as the 18 men and women with the grueling task of deciding Lindsay Clancy's fate were taken to the scene where she strangled her three young children. Clancy is accused of murdering Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months old, inside the family home in the affluent suburb of Duxbury, Massachusetts, on January 24, 2023. The former delivery nurse strangled the children with exercise bands in the basement then tried to kill herself - cutting her wrists and neck before jumping from the second-floor bedroom window. It is a case where postpartum mental illness and criminal responsibility have taken center stage. Prosecutors allege she murdered her children, planning thecrimewhen she was of sound mind. Meanwhile Clancy's defense argues she is not guilty by reason of insanity, because she was suffering severe postpartum depression and psychosis at the time. Over the course of a highly emotional first week, jurors heard devastating testimony from Clancy's ex-husband Patrick Clancy as well his gut-wrenching 911 call from the moment that he returned home to find his wife injured and his three children dead. Lindsay Clancy is on trial charged with the murders of her children Cora, Dawson and Callan (pictured in court on Friday) Clancy jumped out of the top far-right window on the evening of January 24, 2023, trying to kill herself On Friday, the jury retraced his footsteps as they were taken to tour the Clancy family's former home. The blue-painted two-story house was once a place where Cora, Dawson and Callan played, laughed and marked childhood milestones. Heartbreaking images shown in court revealed how the children's drawings and family photos once decorated the home. It then became the place where they took their last breaths. More than three years on, a new family now lives there and the inside of the home looks different. The three-bedroom property was quietly sold to a local attorney in 2024, when Patrick relocated to New York City to try to rebuild his life after the tragedy. At around 9.30am, the jurors - 12 women and six men - traipsed onto a large coach outside the courthouse and set off on the route to visit the scene. As reporters piled into cars to follow the route, a motorcade of Massachusetts State Police motorbikes - with blue flashing lights - left the court. The tour involved the jurors somewhat retracing the footsteps taken by Patrick that tragic evening. On the evening of the killings, Clancy had called ThreeV Restaurant in Plymouth and placed a takeout order for a Mediterranean power bowl for herself and a scallop and pork belly risotto for Patrick. Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan were strangled at the family home in January 2023 The stairs leading down to the basement of the Clancy home where the children were found Crime scene photos show the inside of the basement where the children were found strangled She asked Patrick to drive and collect the order and stop at the local CVS to pick up medication for Cora. Patrick left the home sometime after 5pm, last seeing Dawson eating chicken nuggets on the couch and his wife standing in the living room by the doorway that led down to the basement, he testified. First, he went to CVS where, unable to find the right medication, he briefly called Clancy. She didn't pick up but called back one minute later at 5.34pm. She sounded like she was 'busy' in the middle of something, he said. He then drove to 3V and picked up their takeout order before arriving home just after 6pm and finding the place 'really quiet.' After searching for his family upstairs, he found Clancy injured in the backyard and called 911. When emergency responders arrived, he went inside to find his three children dead in the basement, strangled with colored exercise bands. Retracing the events of that tragic evening, the jurors drove by 3V restaurant and CVS before arriving at the house around 25 minutes later - just before 10am. The timeline is a key factor in the state's case against Clancy. Prosecutors are arguing that Clancy intentionally sent Patrick out of the home, that she checked how long the drive would take him, and picked a restaurant far away - that they had never ordered from before. Jurors were able to tour the outside of the home as well as the first and second floors - as well as the basement Clancy speaks to her attorney inside Plymouth County Superior Court in Massachusetts on Friday Along the route to 3V, there are several other restaurants that they could have ordered takeout from. Meanwhile, the CVS is just a roughly five minutes' drive from the home. It's an argument that prosecutors are using to push their claim that the killings were planned and premeditated - meaning she was of sound mind at the time. Yet, experts say that women in the throes of postpartum psychosis are still able to plan. After a brief drive-by 3V and CVS - where they did not disembark the bus - jurors drove to the home. Before the police cordon was set up outside the home, reporters walked down the road. A man drove past and shouted out the window: 'She's innocent!' The media was then kept back at a far distance - seemingly further than the 100 yards stipulated in the court order - by a heavy police presence. The family home is on a busy forked T-junction - with all three roads blocked off. There were police blockades, flashing blue light Duxbury Police cars and Massachusetts State Troopers on motorbikes and foot. One thing that stood out was how terrible the signal was - an issue that Patrick mentioned during his testimony. The father-of-three told the court that it took him a few minutes to call 911 when he found his wife injured because of the spotty signal and WiFi. An exercise band used to strangle Dawson is seen on the floor in Patrick's office in the basement The snow on the ground in the backyard of the Clancy home. The mom-of-three was paralyzed after landing on the ground The bedroom window from which Clancy jumped. Jurors were able to view the height for themselves during the tour A floor plan shows the family's basement, including the living room area and office where the children's bodies were found The jury bus arrived at the home just before 10am, staying in total around 40 minutes - leaving just after 10.40am. The jurors went inside in groups of six - spending around 10 minutes each on the property, touring the outside of the home, including the backyard where Clancy was found that evening. From the backyard, they had a clear view of the second-floor bedroom window from which she had jumped - giving them a better sense of the distance she fell. They were also able to tour inside the home, viewing each room on the first and second floors. That way they could see the inside of the bedroom and the window she jumped from. The jurors could also see inside the basement where Cora, Dawson and Callan died. Crime scene photos presented in court previously revealed the layout with the basement stairs leading to a living room area on the left - where Cora and Callan were found - and Patrick's office on the right - where Dawson was found. While they could view the space, the jury could not open closet doors or touch any items inside the home. The jury bus on the scene outside Lindsay Clancy's home in Duxbury during a visit on Friday The jury bus outside 3V restaurant where Patrick went to pick up a takeout order for them that night Jurors also drove by the CVS store where Patrick went to pick up medicine for Cora at Clancy's request The three-bedroom home in the wealthy suburb of Duxbury is now owned by a local attorney and his family Despite their objections that the property no longer looks the same as it did in January 2023, the current owner had been ordered to grant access for a view involving the jury, defense attorneys, prosecutors, the judge, necessary court staff - and Clancy herself. Clancy, who is wheelchair-bound after the jump from the window left her paralyzed from the waist down, chose not to attend. Due to the trial's length and distressing nature, Judge William Sullivan seated 18 jurors including six alternates to hear the case. They will decide whether Clancy is guilty of three counts of first-degree murder or is not guilty by reason of insanity. The trial continues.

This 2010 Ford E-350 Super Duty ambulance was purchased by the current owner in December 2023, and it has 130k miles. Finished in white with red and blue accents, it is equipped with telescoping tow mirrors, emergency lighting, fog lights, diamond plate side and rear steps, and 16″ chrome eight-lug wheels. Inside, the captain’s chairs are trimmed in Medium Flint cloth, and features include a Whelen siren controller and PA system, as well as a Road Rescue switch panel, cruise control, power windows, and an Alpine touchscreen head unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The rear cabin has been equipped for use as an ambulance and has been partially modified. It is equipped with an Alpine sound system, vinyl flooring, overhead lighting, bench seating, and storage compartments. Power is provided by a 6.0-liter Power Stroke turbodiesel V8 that is linked with a five-speed automatic transmission and a limited-slip rear differential. This E-350 ambulance is now offered at no reserve in New York by 1600Veloce,aBaT local partner, on behalf of the current owner with a clean Connecticut title in the owner’s name. The ambulance is finished in white with blue and red accents. Further details include telescoping tow mirrors, emergency lighting, fog lights, a chrome front bumper, diamond plate side and rear steps, equipment compartments, shore power input, and sealed-beam halogen headlights. The Carfax report lists accident damage in January 2015, December 2017, December 2020, May 2022, and May 2023 entries. Detailed photos of the exterior, including imperfections, have been provided in the gallery. This is a relist after the vehicle was previously soldon BaT in June 2026and the winning bidder failed to follow through with their commitment to purchase. This was not due to any fault with the vehicle. The winner’s participation on BaT has been restricted. The 16″ chrome eight-lug wheels are mounted with Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse HT tires, which were said to have been installed under current ownership. The van rides on a twin-I-beam independent front suspension and rear leaf springs, and it is equipped with power steering. Stopping is handled by four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes. The front captain’s chairs are upholstered in Medium Flint cloth, and interior appointments include a Whelen siren controller and PA system, as well as a Road Rescue switch panel, cruise control, power windows, and an Alpine touchscreen head unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The air conditioning does not blow cold and the shifter is loose. Instrumentation includes a 100-mph speedometer, a tachometer, and gauges measuring fuel level, coolant temperature, oil pressure, and battery charge. The digital odometer indicates 130k miles. Portions of the rear compartment have been stripped, and an Alpine sound system has been installed along with replacement flooring. Further details include bench seating, overhead lighting, storage cabinets, and locking side and rear doors. The 6.0-liter Power Stroke turbodiesel V8 was factory rated at 235 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque. An August 2021 entry in the Carfax report notes that the engine was replaced, and the seller reports a leak from the left valve cover. Power is routed through a five-speed automatic transmission with overdrive and a limited-slip rear differential with 4.10:1 gears. The Carfax report shows the aforementioned damage. The winning bid does not include shipping. It is the buyer's responsibility to arrange the details of any shipping or delivery, and to pay any taxes, duties, or charges associated with shipping or delivery.View our third-party shipper recommendations. 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If you win the auction, your card will be charged for the service fee and you pay the seller directly for the vehicle. If you don't win, the pre-authorization will be released. *Exchange Rates You are bidding for this item in USD. This means, if you have the winning bid, you will need to make your payment to the seller in USD. It is your responsibility to check the conversion rate, and you should also note that exchange rates may fluctuate between now and the due date of your payment after the end of the auction. Taxation If you are the highest bidder, you will also need to pay the seller any applicable taxes/VAT. Your bid may not be inclusive of these amounts. Relevant details are included in the listing, so please ensure you have read and understood this information before placing your bid. Note that, if you will need to import the vehicle to your country, you may be responsible for import-related taxes. For more info,read about our auctionsoremail uswith any questions. 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Two days after the Senate rejected his demand that Canada pay damages over wildfire smoke, President Trump's allies in Congress are still pushing legislation to sanction Canadian officials, block their assets, and revoke their visas — while climate scientists from Stanford to Penn say the bill targets the wrong cause. The legislation, formally titled the Countering Atmospheric Nuisances Arising from Drifting Airborne Foreign Incendiary Residual Emissions Act — or theCANADA FIRE Act— was introduced in the Senate on July 20 bySen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio). It reached Washington the same week that smoke from wildfires in northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota pushed air quality in Chicago, Detroit, and a dozen other cities into ranges the Environmental Protection Agency classifies as "Hazardous" — the worst possible category — in what scientists at Yale Climate Connections documented as themost extreme wildfire smoke pollution eventin at least 25 years for the Great Lakes region. At 8:00 a.m. on July 16, Duluth, Minnesota recorded an Air Quality Index of 934 for fine particulate matter — a reading that shatters the city's previous record of 159, set in July 2021. The AQI scale classifies anything above 300 as "Hazardous," meaning it is unsafe for everyone, not just sensitive groups. Duluth's reading was more than three times that threshold. The number is not an abstraction: a single hour at those concentrations can trigger asthma attacks in otherwise healthy adults, while long-term chronic exposure to wildfire fine particulate matter — particles 2.5 micrometers or smaller, smaller than a human hair — islinked to cardiovascular disease and neurological damage. Read more:Wildfire Smoke Breaks Air Records as First Nation Burns Without Warning At one point, Marquette, Michigan recorded anAQI of 1,008. Toledo climbed to 624. Chicago and Grand Rapids both exceeded 480. Detroit ranked as the most polluted major city in the world for most of July 16 before Chicago surpassed it that night, according to IQAir rankings. The following morning, the top five most polluted cities in the world were all in North America: Detroit, Chicago, Washington D.C., Toronto, and New York City. By July 17,more than 100 million Americans were under air quality alerts, and at least 50 EPA air quality monitors in five U.S. states recorded 24-hour AQI readings in the "Hazardous" range — compared with roughly three monitors reaching that level during the 2023 Quebec fires, the previous most extreme regional event. The smoke closed schools, canceled outdoor events in multiple Great Lakes cities, and battered Michigan's summer tourism economy during its peak season. Studies published in peer-reviewed journals estimate that long-term exposure to wildfire fine particulate matter causes approximately24,100 all-cause deaths per yearin the contiguous United States, with no evidence of a "safe" exposure threshold — meaning every additional unit of smoke exposure increases risk. The CANADA FIRE Act would reach for a tool of American foreign policy that has historically been pointed at countries like Russia, Iran, and North Korea, and aim it at the United States' closest ally and largest trading partner. The bill's legal authority derives from theInternational Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA(50 U.S.C. 1705) — the same statute the Trump administration has used for tariff escalations and that has been the subject of recent legal challenges over the scope of presidential power in trade. IEEPA allows a president who has declared a national emergency to restrict financial transactions, freeze assets, and block property transfers involving a designated foreign entity. Under the bill as introduced, the president would be required within 30 days of enactment to determine whether wildfire smoke from Canada caused a "material transboundary smoke event" over the preceding year and whether Canadian officials failed to respond adequately. An affirmative finding triggers mandatory sanctions. If the president fails to make a determination within the deadline, thebill deems the finding affirmative automatically. Three sanctions would apply automatically once triggered: a ban on U.S. government contracts with Canada's government, a cutoff of Export-Import Bank financing for Canadian government exports, and a requirement that U.S. representatives at international financial institutions oppose loans to Canada. The president would then select at least three additional measures from a menu that includes prohibiting U.S. banks from lending to Canada's government, blocking Americans from purchasing new Canadian government debt, and freezing Canadian state-owned entities' U.S. property. The bill would also revoke visas for all sanctioned individuals and direct Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider declaring the Canadian ambassador persona non grata — formally unwelcome — until the president certifies that the Air Quality Index in affected U.S. communities has stayed below 100 for 90 consecutive days. "Thanks to Canada's failed leadership, Ohio's skies are seeing the worst pollution on record and Ohioans across the state are being subjected to hazardous conditions — we will not tolerate this incompetence,"Moreno said. The bill arrived just as the broader political push to hold Canada financially responsible was running into resistance — including from members of Moreno's own party. On July 27, senators from both parties publicly rejected Trump's call for Canada to pay damages or face new wildfire-related tariffs, withSen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) telling Fox News Digitalthat the idea was "ridiculous," and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) adding: "Nobody can control the direction of the wind. Even President Trump can't do that." The rebuke followed Trump's July 20 statement at Joint Base Andrews — made the night of the FIFA World Cup Final, where he had sat alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney — in which the president told reporters that Canada had been "poisoning" American air and suggested the country might face damages or new tariffs. Trump had also posted on Truth Social on July 17 accusing Canada of "Willful Negligence" and suggesting the economic costs of the wildfire smoke should be added to existing tariffs. On July 20 — the same day as the World Cup Final — the administration separatelyimposed new 50 percent tariffson a range of Canadian goods including wine, hockey sticks, and cement under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, citing what it called discriminatory Canadian treatment of U.S. alcohol, automobile, and dairy exports. Those tariffs are separate from the wildfire-smoke threat and are scheduled to take effect in approximately 30 days from announcement. The combined tariff and sanctions pressure came at a particularly fraught moment in the bilateral relationship: on July 1, the scheduled review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement passed without renewal, leaving the trade pact subject to annual reviews and significant uncertainty. Moreno's legislation followed a pattern of escalating congressional pressure that has built over three consecutive wildfire seasons. On July 17, four Michigan Republican House members — Reps. Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain, and John Moolenaar —sent a sharply worded letterto Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney demanding an immediate meeting to discuss wildfire containment. It was, they noted, the third such letter sent to Ottawa in as many years. "We are done accepting apologies in place of action," the letter stated. "If Canada will not manage its forests to prevent these fires, the United States will look elsewhere, and act on our own, to protect our people." Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), chair of the House Republican conference, separately posted on social media: "YEAR AFTER YEAR the smoke crosses the border while Canada does nothing. Stop exporting your smoke into our skies. Enough is enough." Read more:Canadian Wildfire Smoke Grounds Flights, Cancels FIFA Events as PM2.5 Hits 100 Million Americans The CANADA FIRE Act's legal theory is not entirely without precedent in international law — but the precedent has a structural limit the bill does not address. In 1941, aninternational arbitration tribunalfound Canada liable to the United States in what became known as the Trail Smelter case: a privately-owned smelter in Trail, British Columbia had been emitting sulfur dioxide that damaged farmland in Washington State, and Canada was required to pay compensation and prevent future harm. The ruling established what lawyers call the "polluter pays" principle — that no state may permit the use of its territory in ways that cause significant harm to another state's territory. The problem, climate scientists and legal analysts note, is that the Trail Smelter case involved an identifiable point source: a specific industrial facility that a specific government failed to regulate. The July 2026 Ontario wildfires were driven by lightning ignition in remote boreal forest under atmospheric conditions made significantly more extreme by global warming — warming to which the United States has been a leading historical contributor. "The main cause of worsening fires in Canada is not mismanagement — most Canadian forests are remote and haven't been managed at all, unlike the U.S. — but instead a warming climate that has made large and extreme wildfires more common," saidMarshall Burke, an environmental policy expert at Stanford University. "These fires are not the result of Canadian action nor inaction, but instead largely the result of forces outside their control. So, punishment here would do nothing." Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, offered a pointed analogy: "This is like crashing into the car in front of you because you were speeding and tailgating, and then demanding they pay for the damage to your headlights." Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, went further: "If anything, Canada should be blaming the U.S. for their increased fires." Yale Climate Connections documented that the conditions fueling the July 2026 Ontario fires were made significantly more likely — possibly up to five times more likely — by human-caused climate change. Prime Minister Carney named this dynamic directly when responding to congressional pressure: "Climate change is the responsibility of everyone, truly everyone, including the United States,"he said, pointing to Canada's investments in clean energy while contrasting them with what he characterized as U.S. obstruction of wind energy development. The Canadian government did not respond directly to the specifics of Moreno's bill. But officials pushed back against the broader negligence narrative. Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski cited what she described as C$12 billion (approximately $8.5 billion USD) in investment in forest sustainability and fire prevention since 2020. She also pointed to the long history of cross-border firefighting cooperation between the two countries: Canadian crews regularly assist U.S. wildfires, and aCanadian helicopter pilot died earlier this summerwhile helping fight a wildfire in Colorado. Canada has received wildfire smoke from U.S. fires as well. During a 2020 stretch, blazes in California, Oregon, and Washington state sent smoke north across the border for weeks. Canadian officials and wildfire experts note that the cross-border smoke problem has never been a one-directional issue. Ontario Premier Doug Ford called Trump's wildfire tariff threats"a bunch of rubbish." Dr. Rebecca Saari, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Waterloo and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Global Change, Atmosphere, and Health, has studied the long-term trajectory of wildfire smoke risk. Her research shows that annual wildfire smoke health damages in Canada alone already range from roughly C$500 million to over C$6 billion (approximately $354 million to $4.3 billion USD) per year — and that without significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, many people in the United States could come to experience poor air quality as a normal feature of summer. "If we don't reduce emissions, if we allow unabated climate change, we found that many in the United States would experience poor air quality as the norm in the summer,"Saari said. The CANADA FIRE Act's fate depends on whether it can attract the votes to move out of committee — and the bipartisan Senate rebuke of July 27 suggests that may not be straightforward. Regardless of the legislation's trajectory, millions of Americans face ongoing wildfire smoke exposure with real health consequences. Protective steps public health experts recommend: stay indoors with windows closed during high-AQI events; use HEPA-filter air purifiers in living and sleeping areas; wear KN95 or N95 respirators when outdoor exposure cannot be avoided; and monitor local AQI in real time via AirNow.gov (for the U.S.) or IQAir.com. The deeper policy question — whether wildfire smoke from Canada constitutes a legally remediable transboundary harm that U.S. sanctions law can address, or whether the root cause is a global climate crisis for which both countries bear responsibility — is one this legislation does not resolve. A bill that sanctions Canadian officials for a natural phenomenon substantially driven by global greenhouse gas emissions, without acknowledging the United States' own contribution to that warming, creates a legal and diplomatic contradiction that experts say could weaken, not strengthen, America's standing to demand action from its allies. (Exchange rate as of July 28, 2026; Canadian dollar conversions in this article are approximate.) The CANADA FIRE Act is Senate legislation introduced by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) that would apply the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) against Canada — the same sanctions statute the U.S. typically uses against adversaries like Russia and Iran. If triggered, it would ban U.S. government contracts with Canada's government, cut off Export-Import Bank financing, block U.S. banks from lending to Canada's government, potentially freeze Canadian state-owned entities' U.S. property, revoke visas for sanctioned officials, and direct the State Department to consider declaring the Canadian ambassador persona non grata. Sanctions would remain in place until the president certifies that the Air Quality Index in affected U.S. communities has stayed below 100 for 90 consecutive days. Scientists from Stanford, Penn, and multiple Canadian institutions point out that the July 2026 Ontario fires were ignited primarily by lightning in remote boreal forest under extreme heat conditions that independent research shows were made significantly more likely — possibly up to five times more likely — by human-caused global warming. Most of the burning forests are in areas too remote to be reached by any realistic program of prescribed burns or fuel reduction. Because the fires are driven by warming temperatures and drought rather than by any particular management failure, sanctions against Canadian officials would impose costs on Canada without addressing the atmospheric and climatic causes of the smoke. As Stanford's Marshall Burke put it: "punishment here would do nothing." Yes — but with important limits. The 1941 Trail Smelter case established that Canada was responsible for pollution from a privately owned smelter in British Columbia that damaged farms in Washington State, and Canada paid compensation. That ruling is now foundational to international environmental law. However, it involved an identifiable point-source industrial facility, not naturally-occurring wildfires. Applying the same principle to climate-amplified wildfire smoke would require establishing that Canada's forest management decisions — rather than global warming — are the proximate cause of the harm, a threshold the scientific community does not currently support. During high-AQI events, public health agencies recommend staying indoors with windows and doors closed; using HEPA-filter air purifiers in living and sleeping areas; wearing KN95 or N95 respirators if outdoor exposure is unavoidable; and monitoring local air quality in real time at AirNow.gov. People with existing respiratory or cardiovascular conditions, elderly adults, children, and outdoor workers face elevated risk. Research shows that even brief acute exposures to hazardous PM2.5 levels carry measurable health consequences, and that mortality effects from wildfire smoke can be detected up to three years after an acute exposure event. ⓒ 2026 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Ha atteso il momento ideale per spiccare il volo da sola e, adesso che è diventata una giovane donna indipendente, ha deciso di tagliare l'ultimo cordone ombelicale che la legava a una delle figure più ingombranti di Hollywood. Suri Cruise, la ventenne figlia di Tom Cruise e Katie Holmes ha ufficialmente e legalmente abbandonato il celebre cognome paterno, registrandosi all'anagrafe come Suri Noelle. Un cambio d'identità radicale che sancisce in modo definitivo la frattura con il divo di Top Gun, con il quale non ha più alcun tipo di contatto da anni, e che al tempo stesso rappresenta una vera e propria dichiarazione d'amore verso la madre, da cui ha ereditato proprio il secondo nome, Noelle. A lanciare l'indiscrezione bomba è stato il portale Page Six, che ha scovato la prova schiacciante nei registri elettorali della contea di Allegheny, in Pennsylvania. Proprio lì, dove la ragazza frequenta il corso di teatro musicale presso la prestigiosa Carnegie Mellon University, Suri si è iscritta alle liste elettorali nell'ottobre del 2024 firmandosi esclusivamente con il suo nuovo nome legale. Una scelta burocratica che ha confermato ciò che nell'ambiente dello spettacolo era ormai un segreto di Pulcinella. Già nel giugno del 2024, infatti, in occasione della cerimonia di diploma alla LaGuardia High School di New York, la giovane attrice aveva fatto stampare sul libretto dell'evento il nome Suri Noelle, scatenando un'ondata di curiosità e indiscrezioni. Dietro questo addio al cognome Cruise non c'è soltanto la volontà di lasciarsi alle spalle un rapporto paterno del tutto inesistente, ma anche il desiderio profondo di costruirsi una carriera artistica al riparo dai riflettori invasivi dei paparazzi e dall'ombra ingombrante del nepotismo. Fin dai tempi del liceo, quando ha conquistato il pubblico interpretando Morticia Addams nel musical dedicato alla Famiglia Addams, la giovane ha dimostrato di voler fare sul serio nel mondo della recitazione. Il suo percorso universitario a Pittsburgh la vede infatti costantemente impegnata sul palcoscenico, tra letture sceniche al New Hazlett Theater e ruoli da protagonista in rivisitazioni moderne dei classici di Shakespeare. Nel frattempo, l'asse indissolubile con mamma Katie Holmes rimane il vero punto fermo della sua vita. Le due hanno sempre vissuto in totale simbiosi a New York dopo il burrascoso divorzio della coppia d'oro avvenuto nel 2012, condividendo passeggiate, set cinematografici e una riservatezza ferrea. Una complicità protetta a denti stretti dalla stessa Holmes, che non ha mai esitato a intervenire pubblicamente per smentire le continue speculazioni mediatiche attorno alla figlia, come quando ha stroncato sui social le voci relative a presunti e milionari fondi fiduciari ereditati dal padre. Oggi, con la scelta di diventare ufficialmente Suri Noelle, la ragazza si riprende il proprio futuro, pronta a conquistare la scena solo ed esclusivamente con le sue forze.

Alan Michelson,The Oyster, 2026. (Install progress detail). Commissioned by More Art in partnership with Billion Oyster Project and Governors Island Arts.Photo courtesy Alan Michelson. When Dutch colonists arrived in New York Harbour in the early 17th century, they settled on Paggank, a small plot of land now known as Governors Island. At the time, they encountered an estuary teeming with oyster reefs and land covered in shells and middens, piles with food remnants and cultural artefacts formed by Lenape people for generations. As European settlers continued to arrive, Governors Island became a contested area, the Lenape were displaced and their middens slowly disappeared. Over time, the island became a colonial military outpost, then a headquarters to the Coast Guard, before becoming a public park and cultural destination. While reminders of this history remain throughout Governors Island, a new art installation opening 30 July brings the site’s Indigenous legacy to the fore. CalledThe Oyster, the sculpture by the Mohawk artist Alan Michelson (Six Nations of the Grand River) is filled with shells and resembles a “contemporary Indigenous geoglyph, a monumental earthwork in the shape of an oyster shell”, the artist explains. Visitors can walk through and sit on the structure, which is surrounded by texts reflecting on the oyster, from its history to its environmental and cultural significance. “I wanted to work with shell, being a quintessentially Indigenous material prized for its opalescence,” Michelson says. “I also wanted to commemorate the Indigenous middens that once dotted the harbour, lost evidence of its abundance over eons of Indigenous stewardship.” Commissioned by the non-profitMore Artin partnership withBillion Oyster ProjectandGovernors Island Arts, the project is part of“Reframing 1776: Land, Water, and the Work of Repair”, More Art’s initiative to centre Indigenous voices and environmental histories on the occasion of the250th anniversary of US independence. “Michelson's practice has long examined the intersections of history, memory and place, andThe Oysteroffered an extraordinary opportunity to bring those conversations into the public realm through a work that is at once sculptural, ecological and civic,” says Micaela Martegani, More Art’s executive director and chief curator. “Governors Island emerged as the ideal setting because it sits at the convergence of so many of the project's concerns.” Alan Michelson,The Oyster,2026. (Install progress detail). Commissioned by More Art in partnership with Billion Oyster Project and Governors Island Arts.Photo courtesy Alan Michelson. For centuries, Governors Island and the surrounding New York Harbour were shaped by industry, a story embodied by the oyster. As New York grew into a global port, oysters became a defining commodity. With industrialisation came pollution and the harbour was transformed beyond recognition. As water quality deteriorated, reefs disappeared, and by the 1920s, New York's oyster population—once representing half of the world's oysters by some estimates—had effectively collapsed. “The Oysteracknowledges an unsettling past that through collective effort can alchemise into a better and more just future for all the interdependent beings of Turtle Island,” Michelson says. Today, Governors Island and oysters are part of New York’s story of revitalisation. Organisations like Billion Oyster Project are restoring reef systems throughout the harbour, recycling discarded restaurant shells and cultivating oysters. Restored reefs serve as living infrastructure, cleaning the water, reducing erosion and increasing coastal resilience as sea levels rise. When Michelson’s installation closes in November, some components will be returned to the water, becoming part of the revitalisation efforts. “One of the qualities we admire in Alan's work is its ability to make layered histories visible without resolving them into a single story,” says Martegani. “Rather than offering easy conclusions, the work holds ecological, Indigenous, colonial and civic histories together in productive tension, inviting visitors to consider how they continue to shape one another today.” Michelson’s project is one of a handful of artistic endeavours related to the environment on view throughout Governors Island this summer. Visitors who arrive on the Harbor Charger, the first hybrid-electric ferry in the state, might see Anna Valdez’s muralSpring Migration(2026), which features migratory and non-migratory birds to symbolise the history of Indigenous and settler communities in the harbour. Leslie Wayne standing in front of the finished paintingThe Unintended Blues(2026) in her studioPhoto by Don Porcaro. Courtesy Leslie Wayne On the island, the artist Leslie Wayne’s exhibition at the Arts CenterThe Unintended Blues(until 27 September), presented by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), ushers in crucial conversations on the impact of climate change. Inspired by aerial photographs and climate science, Wayne’s work juxtaposes the beauty of landscapes with their fragility, inviting viewers to consider the urgent environmental challenges facing coastal communities worldwide. Part of LMCC’s 25th River To River Festival, the exhibition includes monumental paintings of melting Arctic glaciers and vulnerable American coastlines, including New York Harbour, as well as a sculpture, handouts on climate science and a video projection of lapping water intended to give viewers the feeling of trying to stay afloat. “What I’m hoping is that all of these elements together will create an experience that is multi-dimensional, thought provoking and profound,” says Wayne. “As an artist all I can do is hold up a mirror to ourselves and hope we see that the splendour of life on this planet is inextricably tied to what we do on it.” Leslie Wayne working on the paintingThe Unintended Blues(2026) in the summer of 2024Photo by Don Porcaro. Courtesy Leslie Wayne Jenny Kendler’s multidisciplinary project seeks kinship between humans and other animals A new regenerative installation by Jordan Weber raises awareness of environmental racism Lin’s project, along with other timely shows and programmes around the city, uses art to address the climate crisis Oscar Tuazon’s new commission for the New York City Aids Memorial revisits Burton’s final public work

For four years, Donovan Catholic's Bella Maria has been one of the premier representatives of Shore softball. Now, she'll carry that torch to the national stage as the lone New Jersey player in the Premier Girls Fastpitch All-American game at 10 p.m. EST Saturday on ESPNU. It's the culmination of a storied prep career driven in equal parts by work ethic and ambition, plus a dose of rare athleticism. The dual roles of the moment —being a star representative of the Garden State and one of the gems ofAuburnUniversity's recruiting class—provide the right lens to look at one of the Shore's most impressive athletic journeys. "The sport is growing so quickly and I know New Jersey softball, like high school softball, it's growing immensely and the talent just gets better and better," Maria said. "I really just want to inspire the next group of girls, because I know the competition will just get better." The journey is hardly finished, merely moving into a new chapter. But it's already been a long way for the girl from Barnegat. "Once I committed to Auburn, I realized that all my hard work has finally paid off. But that doesn't mean it stops," Maria said. "There's so many other things I want to accomplish. But I'm really proud of where I'm from and where I started—I'm from a small town, I live in Barnegat." She was already on her way to the big time, but her selection to the All-American game is a reflection that she's no longer the big fish in the small pond. She's still the big fish, even as the water gets deeper. "I wasn't even expecting to be selected in the PGF All-American game," Maria said. "It's so crazy how far I've come and I've really worked my butt off because nothing is ever given to you. So I'm proud to be representing New Jersey." From the moment Bella Maria stepped onto the field for Donovan Catholic, it was clear she was destined for great things even in a program that had produced countless stars. Her freshman year still stands out of an example of what she can do as a purely additive piece in a lineup, producing unmatched highs in RBIs (32), home runs (9) and batting average (.535). But even as Maria profiles as an outstanding five-tool athlete, the cerebral part of her game was evident as she became a cornerstone leadoff hitter. She went from five walks as a freshman to 20 as a senior, and doubled her stolen base total from her junior to senior campaigns to finish with 32. She was a perennial All-Shore selection, but her game always pointed to an endless upward arrow because of her combination of intelligence and athleticism. Although she has always taken pride in competing for Donovan, winning a Shore Conference title as a freshman and sectional title as a junior, she knew she had to seek out the toughest competition on the travel circuit. Competing for Intensity since 2018, she knew it would provide the additional level of experience to play at the highest level of college softball. "High school ball is definitely like very competitive in New Jersey, but the SEC is like a whole different monster," Maria said. "I really do do think playing your travel season to get your prepared for college is very important because you are seeing a different level of competition, and it is definitely a higher level on the travel circuit. A bunch of these girls I faced, I will be playing them in the SEC. So it's a great way to prepare to go to college." The exposure to elite competition from across the country provides a clearer understanding of the traits of different talent hotbeds and how New Jersey compares. Maria sought to broaden her horizons, and it's given her unique appreciation for the local talent as well as an astute understanding of the sport at a national level. "California, they're really good at taking extra bases, slapping, they're all really fast. And then Texas, it's like the power hitters. And then in Florida, they're just amazing defensively," Maria said. "It's just really cool to see the differences in everyone's playing style from everywhere across the country. It's really nice to see the kids in New Jersey—high-level athletes are coming out of here. I know Mackenna Savage, she's really good. I know Jules Jackson, she goes to Paul VI. She's really good slapper, getting all the recognition. Then like a lot of seniors, like Madison McDougall. It's awesome to see the attention they're bringing to the sport of softball." For Auburn softball co-head coaches Chris and Kate Malveaux, the physical traits are not the most exciting aspects of adding a recruit like Maria. It's her intelligence and mental approach that aligns with the culture they continue to build in year three of leading the Tigers. Maria was first on their radar just as she was entering high school, but it was clear that she was on the path to developing into a unique prospect. "She had a level of physicality and athleticism to what she did," Chris said. "The more you get to know her, she was a very hard worker. She really was chasing to be the best. You could see there's a slight obsession in it for her, and it was pretty cool to see." For an SEC program with national visibility into elite softball players across the country, athleticism is less of a separating factor. It is Maria's mentality that is the thread across all the different banners that she represents. "It's her mentality and how competitive she is," Kate said. "The work she puts into her craft just kind of sets her apart to be honest with you. Everybody works hard, but that one will run through a brick wall to make some things happen." It's high praise coming from Kate Malveaux, who was recently inducted into the Illinois Sports Hall of Fame. She understands what it's like to be slightly overlooked and have the ambition to pursue the pinnacle of one's craft. At Heartland Community College, she established a brand new softball program in her first season. In year two, she helped lead that time to a junior college national championship and finished her career at Division I Bradley University. The mental traits are especially important in the grind of a long college softball season. In their first year leading Auburn, the team reached the NCAA Regionals before faltering to powerhouse host Florida State. Last year the Tigers were 23-10 on March 25, but ran out of gas. They finished the season 4-18 and lost to Florida in the SEC tournament. Mental toughness and resilience are a prerequisite for a competing in the top conference in the country. "There's some points in the season where the season will kind of beat you up and it takes a toll on you," Chris said. "Bella has this hunger to always get better. She celebrates good moments, but she has this hunger to always get better. If she hits a double,she's still thinking about, what can I have done better? How do I get better at this?If you don't have that, if you're not wired in that type of mindset, you don't have a shot. You look at a lot of these great players that are playing in the World Series or you see them playing in the AUSL, you watch these high-level athletes. They're always training and looking for ways to get better." With Maria's storied prep career in her home state concluded, the PGF All-American game is a unique moment amidst the transition to college. She represents New Jersey in the game, but is perhaps even more notably representing Auburn alongside future teammate Leah Byrd. Auburn is one of 11 colleges with multiple players in the game, eight of which are in the SEC. For those operating at the highest levels of the sport, being chosen as one of the 44 players in the game is a serious honor. It reflects Maria's unwavering commitment to her craft and unabashed pursuit of her dreams. "It's a huge thing for our program to have representation there because not every athlete gets to do that in the course of their career," Kate said. "For Bella to have that opportunity says a lot about what her peers and fellow coaches that watch her play think about here. And that's a testament to how intentional she is what she does and how she goes about her business." Kate and Chris both know that there are no guarantees at this level of softball. Past performance is not purely indicative of future success. The mental gears must always be turning, and those traits in Maria are promising. "It's hard to say,okay yeah somebody's gonna be the next All-American or somebody for sure is gonna be this level of player once they get here. What we can say is that she has a lot of the pieces to give herself a chance," Chris said. "That other piece of the character and who she is, who her family really is and stands for, you want that in your locker room as well. Both of those sides really excite us." While the PGF All-American game is an honor and celebration within itself, it's also another way to prepare for the step up in competition in college. Maria has still been a staple competitor on the travel circuit this summer, and will be competing right up until Saturday evening's event on ESPNU. In addition to competing on the national stage, it's another opportunity to be ready to hit the ground running at the college level in the fall. "I'm going there in less than a month and I feel pretty ready," Maria said. "There will definitely be challenges, and I'm not going to take anything for granted. But the travel circuit definitely helps me get prepared." And as much as Maria has been a player that has left an indelible mark on softball in New Jersey, her attitude and approach can help lay a new foundation at Auburn. It takes the type of ambition that has driven the Barnegat product from a small town to the big stage. "We're excited for her to kind of reshape what Auburn softball is, help creeate that culture," Kate said. "Because she's an incredibly competitive kid who wants to win, who wants to work hard, who's not gonna stop until she gets it figured out. And that's really cool recipe for success in the long run being in an SEC program." The proof will come with results, but Maria always has proved herself right. As she envisioned success for herself and made it a reality, she doesn't view at a singular shooting star event. She expects to be the first of many in a state where she has set a new standard for softball. "The kids that are playing in New Jersey right now, the younger kids, there's some freshmen and sophomores that have really caught my eye," Maria said. "It's really inspiring to see these groups of kids. They keep working harder and harder. And I really do think New Jersey will just keep growing and be like a powerhouse."

What happens to the planet without humans reveals how fast nature reclaims cities, wildlife rebounds and infrastructure collapses once people vanish Credit: Romeo Varga / Unsplash Humans shape almost every visible surface of Earth, from the pavement under a commuter's feet to the chemical balance of the atmosphere overhead. The question of what happens to the planet without humans is not just a thought experiment for disaster films. Scientists, urban planners and ecologists have studied it seriously, using real-world stand-ins — the Chernobyl exclusion zone, the abandoned temples of Angkor, the measurable dip in pollution during COVID-19 lockdowns — to map out what would actually unfold if people disappeared tomorrow. The answer breaks into two very different timelines. Some changes happen within days: subways flood, food-dependent animals go hungry, and the air over major cities starts to clear. Other changes take centuries or millennia: plastic keeps drifting through oceans, radioactive waste stays dangerous, and the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere keeps warming the planet long after the source of new emissions has gone quiet. In between sit the decades-long stories of steel corroding, forests swallowing skyscrapers, and wildlife populations swelling in places people once dominated. This list draws on documented science rather than speculation. The Chernobyl studies on wolf and elk populations are real, peer-reviewed research. The NYC subway flooding estimate comes from infrastructure engineers who track how much water the system pumps out every day just to stay dry. The ozone layer's recovery timeline comes from United Nations environmental assessments already in motion, humans or not. Reading through what happens to the planet without humans is also, in a roundaband way, a portrait of how much daily maintenance keeps the modern world running. Bridges don't fail because they were poorly built — they fail because nobody tightens the bolts anymore. Cities don't flood because of some hidden design flaw — they flood because pumps stop. Removing people doesn't reveal a fragile planet. It reveals a heavily managed one. Credit: Wolfgang Weiser / Pexels Nuclear plants require constant human oversight, and without it, several reactors would overheat within days to weeks as cooling systems lose power and backup generators run out of fuel. Roughly 440 commercial nuclear reactors operate worldwide, and each one depends on continuous electricity, water flow and staff intervention to keep radioactive fuel from overheating. Most reactors are designed with passive safety features that trigger automatic shutdowns, called scrams, when they lose external power or operator input. That shutdown stops the primary fission reaction quickly. The problem is what happens next. Spent fuel rods and the reactor core itself keep generating decay heat for days or weeks after shutdown, and that heat has to go somewhere. Cooling pumps need electricity, and backup diesel generators typically carry only about a week's worth of fuel. Once the generators run dry, cooling water stops circulating, and the fuel begins to heat the surrounding water until it boils away. That is functionally the same failure sequence that caused the meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi in 2011, after a tsunami knocked out the plant's backup power. In a scenario with no humans at all, no one would be available to truck in replacement fuel or restore power, so a similar failure would likely play out at reactors across the globe within roughly one to two weeks of the last operator leaving. Spent fuel storage pools pose a longer-term version of the same risk. Plants store used fuel rods in deep pools of water for years after removing them from the reactor because the rods stay hot and radioactive for a long time. Without power to keep the pools circulating and topped up, water would eventually evaporate, exposing the rods to air and risking a fire that could scatter radioactive material into the atmosphere. The scale matters here. Even a small fraction of the world's reactors failing this way would release far more radioactive contamination than Chernobyl and Fukushima combined, because those were isolated single-site accidents rather than a simultaneous, unattended global failure. It is one of the fastest and most consequential changes on this list, and one of the only ones driven entirely by the absence of ongoing maintenance rather than the passage of time. Credit: Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) New York City's subway system would begin flooding within roughly a day and a half without power to run its pumps, because the tunnels sit below the water table and groundwater seeps in constantly. Transit engineers have long cited a figure of around 13 million gallons of water pumped out of the system on an average day, even when it isn't raining. That water comes from several sources: groundwater seepage through tunnel walls, water mains, and storm runoff that finds its way underground through vents, stairwells and construction gaps. The system relies on hundreds of pump rooms distributed throughout the network, each one drawing power from the same electrical grid that runs the trains and signals. When that grid goes dark, every pump stops at once. Without continuous pumping, groundwater has nowhere to go but up. Engineers who have studied the system's vulnerability, including during planning for Hurricane Sandy in 2012, have pointed to the same basic math: remove the pumps, and the tunnels return to their natural state as underground waterways within one to two days. Sandy itself offered a preview, flooding several tunnels and stations with saltwater and knocking parts of the system out of service for weeks even with a functioning recovery effort behind it. Flooding does more than fill the tunnels with water. Standing water corrodes steel rails, rots wooden ties, and short-circuits the electrical and signal equipment embedded throughout the system. Within a few years, unmaintained tunnels would likely see partial ceiling collapses as water works into cracks in the surrounding rock and concrete, especially in older sections of the system that date to the early 1900s. New York is not unique here. Any subway or underground rail system built below the local water table faces the same basic vulnerability, including systems in London, Washington D.C. and Boston. The specific timeline varies with local geology and rainfall, but the underlying mechanism is the same everywhere: modern underground infrastructure isn't naturally dry, it's actively kept dry, every single day, by machines that need people to run them. Credit: Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz / Pexels Wildlife populations inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine have grown substantially since the 1986 nuclear disaster forced roughly 350,000 people to evacuate, giving researchers a real, already-running experiment in what happens to animals once people leave an area entirely. A 2015 study published in the journal Current Biology, led by researcher Tatiana Deryabina, used long-term census data and helicopter surveys to compare wildlife density inside the zone to nearby uncontaminated nature reserves. The results showed elk, roe deer, and wild boar populations in the exclusion zone at levels similar to or higher than those in the comparison reserves. Wolf density came in about seven times higher than in the surrounding reserves. The researchers concluded that whatever harm lingering radiation was doing to individual animals, it mattered far less to overall population numbers than the removal of human activity — hunting, farming, and construction — that normally suppresses wildlife in populated areas. Camera trap studies conducted in the years since have documented lynx, brown bears and even the Przewalski's horse, a rare wild horse species, moving through the zone. None of these species had been regularly recorded in the area before the evacuation. Radiation does carry real costs — some studies have found elevated mutation rates and reduced lifespans in certain rodent and bird populations close to the reactor itself — but at a landscape level, the absence of people has outweighed those costs for most large mammal populations. The Chernobyl case offers the clearest available evidence for how quickly and dramatically wildlife rebounds once human pressure disappears, because it removed people from a large, ecologically varied landscape all at once and left scientists decades to observe what followed. Fukushima's own exclusion zone in Japan, evacuated after the 2011 disaster, has shown a similar pattern with wild boar, Japanese macaques and other species expanding into abandoned towns and farmland. Both sites suggest that a planet without humans would see wildlife numbers climb steadily within the first decade, well before radiation levels or other lingering effects had meaningfully declined. Credit: Chris F / Pexels Pavement begins breaking apart within just a few years of losing regular maintenance, as freeze-thaw cycles, plant roots and unchecked drainage attack surfaces that road crews normally repair before small problems become large ones. Asphalt and concrete are not permanent materials. They are maintained materials, resurfaced, patched and drained on a routine schedule that keeps minor cracks from becoming structural failures. Water is the main driver of the damage. Rain that would normally run off into storm drains instead pools on the surface, seeping into any existing crack. In climates that freeze, that water expands as it turns to ice, widening the crack a little more with every cycle. Repeat that process for a few winters and a hairline crack becomes a pothole, then a missing section of road. Vegetation moves in just as fast. Grass seeds and tree seedlings that blow onto pavement normally get mowed, weeded or paved back over. Left alone, their roots find their way into the same cracks that water is already widening, and roots exert enough force over time to lift and shatter concrete slabs. Photographs of the Pripyat, the Ukrainian city evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster, show this process well underway: streets and building foundations there are visibly buckled and overgrown after roughly four decades without upkeep. Storm drains present a related failure. Drains clog with leaves, sediment and debris under normal conditions and need periodic clearing to keep functioning. Without that clearing, water backs up onto roads instead of draining away, accelerating the freeze-thaw damage and, in low-lying areas, turning streets into shallow ponds after almost every significant rainfall. Within about 10 to 20 years, most paved surfaces in temperate and wet climates would be substantially broken up, with grass and small trees growing directly through what used to be roads and parking lots. Drier climates would see slower degradation, since less water means fewer freeze-thaw cycles and less plant growth, but ultraviolet exposure and temperature swings would still gradually make asphalt brittle and prone to cracking even without any water at all. Credit: Liam Andrew / Unsplash Skyscrapers would start showing serious structural damage within about 10 to 20 years, not because their steel frames collapse quickly, but because water intrusion attacks the building from the inside once climate control and drainage systems stop running. Modern high-rises depend on a continuous, powered system of pumps, seals and ventilation to manage moisture, and without electricity, that system fails almost immediately. Roof drains and gutters clog the same way street-level storm drains do, but the consequences compound faster in a tall building. Water that can't drain off a roof pools and eventually finds its way through roofing membranes, seeping into the floors below. Once water gets behind a building's exterior cladding or curtain wall, it accelerates corrosion in the steel reinforcement bars inside concrete floors and columns, a process that engineers call spalling, where rusting rebar expands and cracks the concrete around it from within. Glass curtain-wall towers, the glass-heavy skyscraper style common since the 1960s, face a particular vulnerability. The sealant between glass panels degrades under ultraviolet light and temperature swings within a matter of years even under normal conditions, which is why buildings need periodic resealing. Without that maintenance, panels loosen and eventually fall, letting rain and snow into the building's interior and dramatically accelerating water damage to floors below. Heating and cooling systems matter more than people tend to assume. Without climate control, temperature and humidity swings inside a sealed building can be more extreme than outdoors, since heat has nowhere to escape in summer and no source in winter. That swings encourage mold growth, wood rot in interior finishes, and faster corrosion of exposed metal fixtures, elevator cables and mechanical equipment. Detroit's abandoned skyscrapers, several of which sat empty for two to three decades before recent redevelopment efforts, offer a real-world preview: collapsed ceilings, rusted structural elements, and trees growing out of upper-floor windows where wind-blown seeds took root in accumulated debris. Left unattended for a century or more, most steel-framed towers would eventually fail structurally, though the exact timeline depends heavily on local climate, construction quality and each building's specific design. Credit: Shaojie / Unsplash Most modern bridges would remain structurally intact for decades without maintenance but would likely fail within roughly 100 to 300 years, as corrosion attacks the steel and rebar that give them their strength. Bridges are engineered with safety margins that account for gradual wear, which is exactly why they don't fail the moment inspections stop. Steel bridges face a straightforward enemy: rust. Paint and protective coatings on steel bridge components typically need reapplication every 10 to 25 years under normal maintenance schedules specifically because unprotected steel corrodes when exposed to moisture and oxygen. Once that protective coating fails and isn't replaced, rust spreads steadily, thinning the steel and weakening load-bearing cables, trusses and connections over the following decades. Suspension bridges, including large examples like the Golden Gate Bridge or the Brooklyn Bridge, depend on steel cables under enormous tension to hold up the roadway. Those cables are built with multiple redundant strands specifically so that individual strand failures don't bring down the whole structure, but corrosion doesn't respect that redundancy forever. As more strands fail over the decades, the remaining ones bear increasing load until the cable's overall margin of safety disappears. Concrete bridges face a related but distinct failure mode. Water works its way into the concrete through hairline cracks that form naturally as the material ages, reaching the steel rebar inside. Once that rebar starts rusting, it expands, cracking the surrounding concrete from within and exposing more rebar to moisture in a self-accelerating cycle that engineers already monitor closely on aging infrastructure today. Vegetation adds a slower but steady threat. Seeds landing in expansion joints, drainage channels and deck cracks put down roots that widen existing gaps over years, much like they do on roads and sidewalks. Combined with unmanaged storm drainage, this vegetation growth speeds up the water infiltration that ultimately drives most bridge failures. Bridges built with corrosion-resistant materials, like the stainless steel rebar used in some modern designs, would likely outlast conventional structures by a wide margin, but the great majority of bridges standing today would not survive past a few centuries without people to maintain them. Credit: Regan Dsouza / Pexels Air pollution over major cities would drop sharply within days of vehicle traffic and industrial activity stopping, a pattern already documented during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. Satellite data collected by NASA and the European Space Agency showed nitrogen dioxide levels, a pollutant closely tied to vehicle exhaust and power generation, fall by 20 to 30% or more over major cities in China, India and parts of Europe within the first few weeks of lockdown measures. Nitrogen dioxide clears from the atmosphere relatively fast because it doesn't linger the way carbon dioxide does; it breaks down or gets absorbed within days to a couple of weeks once the source stops. That is why cities like Delhi and Los Angeles, both known for persistent smog, saw visibly clearer skies and longer sightlines within roughly two to three weeks of reduced traffic in 2020, based on both satellite readings and ground-level air quality monitors. Particulate matter, the fine soot and dust particles linked to respiratory illness, followed a similar but slightly slower pattern, since some particulates come from sources beyond daily traffic, including construction, agriculture and natural dust. Even so, several major cities recorded measurable drops in fine particulate readings within the first month of reduced human activity. Without any humans at all, every combustion source driving urban air pollution would disappear at once: car engines, power plants, factories and heating systems. The exception would be wildfires, which would likely become more frequent and larger without firefighting crews to suppress them, adding smoke pollution back into the mix in fire-prone regions during dry seasons. Within a matter of months, most cities would likely see air quality readings return to levels not recorded since before large-scale industrialization, roughly comparable to rural background levels today. That change would happen far faster than almost any other item on this list, precisely because the pollutants responsible clear from the atmosphere quickly once their source disappears, unlike the carbon dioxide already built up from more than a century of fossil fuel use. Credit: Dns Dgn / Unsplash The night sky would go dark within hours of the electrical grid failing, since streetlights, building lights and illuminated signage all depend on continuous power that no plant would keep generating without human operators. Roughly 80% of the world's population currently lives under skies bright enough to obscure the Milky Way, according to a widely cited 2016 study published in Science Advances that mapped global light pollution using satellite data. Power grids don't fail instantly everywhere at once, since some plants would keep running briefly on automated systems or stored fuel, but most electrical generation requires active human oversight to maintain the balance between supply and demand. Once that oversight disappears, grids would likely fail within hours to at most a few days, cutting power to the artificial lighting that currently washes out star visibility across most inhabited regions. The effect would be immediate and dramatic in places that are currently among the most light-polluted on Earth, including major metro areas across the U.S. East Coast, Western Europe, and East Asia. Areas that already have naturally dark skies, like remote parts of Chile's Atacama Desert or northern Canada, wouldn't see much change since they were never heavily affected by artificial lighting. Beyond aesthetics, the disappearance of light pollution would affect wildlife behavior almost immediately. Migratory birds, many of which navigate partly by starlight and lunar cues, currently suffer disorientation and fatal building collisions in brightly lit urban areas during migration seasons, a well-documented pattern tracked by ornithologists in cities including Chicago and Toronto. Removing that artificial light would likely reduce those collision deaths within the very first migration season after the lights went out. Sea turtle hatchlings offer another documented example. Hatchlings instinctively crawl toward the brightest visible horizon, which under natural conditions is moonlight reflecting off the ocean. Artificial lighting from coastal development currently draws many hatchlings inland instead, a problem conservation groups in Florida have worked to fix for decades through targeted lighting ordinances. Without electric lighting at all, that particular danger to hatchlings would simply end, restoring one of the clearest survival advantages nesting turtles had before coastal development began. Credit: Pixabay / Pexels The ozone layer would continue recovering largely on the same timeline it is already following today, since that recovery is driven by an international ban on ozone-depleting chemicals that took effect decades ago rather than by any ongoing human presence. The Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987 and since ratified by every United Nations member state, phased out the production of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, the chemicals mainly responsible for thinning the ozone layer. A 2022 scientific assessment coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme projected that ozone levels over most of the world would return to 1980 levels, before major depletion began, by around 2040. The assessment projected recovery over the Arctic by around 2045 and over Antarctica, where the seasonal ozone hole is largest, by around 2066. Because CFC production is already banned worldwide and most existing CFCs have either broken down or are slowly being released from old refrigeration and insulation equipment, removing humans from the picture wouldn't meaningfully speed up or slow down this recovery. The chemicals already in the atmosphere would continue breaking down at the same rate regardless of whether anyone is around, since that breakdown depends on stratospheric chemistry and sunlight, not human activity. One modest acceleration is plausible. Certain industrial processes, along with specific banned uses of CFCs that persist illegally in a small number of countries, currently add a small trickle of new ozone-depleting emissions each year, an issue confirmed by atmospheric monitoring stations that detected unexpected CFC-11 emissions from parts of China between 2013 and 2017, later traced to unauthorized manufacturing. Removing all human industrial activity would eliminate even that small ongoing source, marginally speeding up full recovery. The ozone layer stands out on this list as one of the few global environmental systems already on a firm, monitored path to recovery, independent of whether humans stick around to see it finish. It is a rare case where past environmental policy, not the absence of people, is doing most of the work. Credit: Sergey Guk / Pexels Global average temperatures would likely keep climbing for years to decades even after every human-caused source of new emissions stopped completely, because carbon dioxide already released into the atmosphere doesn't disappear quickly. A meaningful share of the CO2 emitted since industrialization began will remain in the atmosphere for centuries, according to climate science consensus reflected in reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Carbon dioxide differs from short-lived pollutants like nitrogen dioxide in one crucial way: the ocean and land absorb it slowly, over decades and centuries, rather than the days or weeks it takes shorter-lived gases to clear. Even with zero new emissions starting immediately, the CO2 already in the atmosphere would continue trapping heat for a long time, meaning temperatures would likely keep rising for at least another decade or two before beginning a very gradual decline. Some warming already locked into the system would also continue playing out regardless of emissions. Oceans absorb the vast majority of excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases, and that heat takes time to fully transfer through ocean layers and influence surface temperatures, a lag climate scientists call thermal inertia. That means some warming already "in the pipeline" from past emissions would still show up even in a world with no new human activity at all. Methane, a shorter-lived but more potent greenhouse gas mostly released through agriculture, livestock and fossil fuel extraction, would clear from the atmosphere much faster than CO2, breaking down within roughly a decade. Its removal would provide a faster, if smaller, cooling effect earlier in the process than carbon dioxide's slower decline would allow. Over centuries, natural carbon sinks including forests, soil and the ocean would gradually draw down atmospheric CO2 toward pre-industrial levels, a process that unfolds on a timescale measured in hundreds of years rather than decades. Regrowing forests on formerly farmed and deforested land, something that would happen quickly without agriculture to maintain cleared fields, would meaningfully speed up that carbon drawdown compared to a scenario where land stayed cleared. Credit: Collab Media / Pexels Plastic waste already in the environment would persist for centuries regardless of what else changes, since plastic doesn't biodegrade the way organic material does and instead breaks down slowly into smaller and smaller fragments called microplastics. Estimates from environmental scientists commonly put the breakdown time for a plastic bottle at 450 years or more, and some plastic types are expected to persist far longer than that. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a concentration of floating plastic debris in the North Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, illustrates the scale of the problem. Research led by the nonprofit Ocean Cleanup and published in Scientific Reports in 2018 estimated the patch covers an area roughly three times the size of France and contains an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic. That plastic wouldn't meaningfully diminish just because no new plastic entered the ocean, since the material already there would keep circulating and slowly fragmenting for generations. Microplastics present a particularly stubborn problem because they have already worked their way into soil, freshwater systems, Arctic ice and the deep ocean floor, based on sampling studies conducted over the past two decades. Fragmentation from sunlight exposure and wave action doesn't eliminate plastic, it just makes the pieces smaller and easier for marine organisms to ingest, a process already documented in fish, seabirds and shellfish across ocean basins worldwide. Landfills packed with plastic waste would remain largely intact for centuries as well, since burying plastic in a landfill mostly stops it from breaking down at all by limiting its exposure to sunlight and oxygen. Archaeologists studying older landfills have found decades-old plastic packaging, including newspapers and food wrappers, still legible and intact after 40 or more years underground. Without new plastic production, the total volume in circulation would at least stop growing, which is itself a meaningful change from the roughly 400 million metric tons produced globally each year in recent data from the United Nations Environment Programme. But the plastic already spread across oceans, rivers, soil and landfills would remain one of the most durable traces of human presence on the planet, likely outlasting most buildings, roads and even some nuclear waste in terms of sheer physical persistence. Credit: Arseniy Smaragdov / Unsplash Dams would begin failing within decades as concrete cracks, spillway gates rust shut, and sediment buildup behind the dam wall increases pressure on aging structures no one is monitoring. The Hoover Dam and similar large concrete gravity dams are built with wide safety margins and could likely stand for a century or more, but many smaller dams, especially older earthen dams, would fail much sooner. Earthen and small concrete dams face the fastest failure risk because they depend on active maintenance of spillways and drainage systems to manage the constant pressure of the water held behind them. The U.S. alone has more than 90,000 dams tracked by the National Inventory of Dams, and a meaningful share of those are already classified by federal inspectors as needing repair even with regular human oversight in place. Without any maintenance at all, erosion around spillways and clogged drainage systems would likely cause a rising number of failures within the first 20 to 50 years. When a dam fails, the river behind it doesn't just flow differently, it often reclaims a channel closer to its natural, pre-dam path, particularly in cases where the dam had backed up a reservoir over what used to be a narrower river valley. Sediment that built up behind the dam over years or decades gets released downstream all at once during a failure, temporarily reshaping the riverbed and floodplain in ways that can look dramatic but generally mirror the river's undammed historical behavior. Large hydroelectric dams add another layer of risk during failure because of the sheer volume of water they hold back. A catastrophic failure at a major dam could release a flood wave capable of reshaping miles of downstream terrain within hours, a scenario dam safety engineers plan around today specifically because of how destructive an uncontrolled release can be. Over one to two centuries, most dams without ongoing maintenance would likely fail or become so degraded that they no longer meaningfully hold back water, and the rivers behind them would settle back into channels shaped primarily by natural sediment flow and terrain rather than human engineering. Reservoirs, meanwhile, would gradually fill with sediment and revert toward wetlands or floodplains resembling what existed before the dam was built. Credit: Gáspár Ferenc / Pexels Vegetation would begin visibly overtaking urban areas within just a handful of years, and within a few decades, many cities in temperate and tropical climates would be substantially covered by trees and undergrowth. Ta Prohm, a 12th-century temple at Angkor in Cambodia, offers one of the clearest real-world examples: massive silk-cotton and strangler fig trees have grown directly through the temple's stone walls and rooftops over the centuries since it was abandoned, their roots prying stone blocks apart as they grew. The process starts small. Wind-blown seeds land in gutters, cracks and unmaintained planters, and without anyone weeding or mowing them out, some take root. Trees grow fastest in climates with regular rainfall and warm temperatures, which is why tropical and humid temperate cities would see forest reclaim buildings and streets faster than dry or cold climates would. Detroit offers a modern preview of the early stages of this process. Large sections of the city lost population steadily from the 1950s through the 2010s, leaving thousands of vacant lots and abandoned buildings. Over just two to three decades, many of those lots reverted to meadow and, in some cases, young forest, with trees growing through abandoned houses and cracked driveways in neighborhoods that once held dense residential blocks. Root systems do most of the structural damage. As trees mature over 20 to 50 years, their roots expand outward and downward, cracking foundations, buckling pavement and, in some cases, toppling smaller structures entirely as roots undermine what they were built on. Ivy and other climbing vines add a faster, if less structurally damaging, layer of cover, often blanketing building exteriors within just five to 10 years of being left unchecked. By the century mark, most cities in wetter climates would likely be substantially forested, with building foundations, road grids and utility infrastructure visible mainly as buried or overgrown outlines rather than functioning structures, much like Ta Prohm's walls are now more a scaffold for trees than a freestanding building. Arid cities, including many in the U.S. Southwest, would see a slower, sparser version of the same process, since less rainfall limits how quickly and how much vegetation can establish itself. Credit: Aliaksei Semirski / Pexels Domestic pigs would revert to wild behavior within a single generation, based on the well-documented example of feral hogs already spreading across the United States after escaping or being released from captivity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the country's feral hog population at more than 6 million animals spread across at least 35 states, most of them descended from domestic pigs that escaped confinement decades or, in some regions, centuries ago. Pigs adapt unusually fast because they retain much of their wild ancestor's biology even after generations of domestication. Within a matter of months without human feeding, domestic pigs develop longer bristles, grow tusks, and shift toward a leaner, more muscular build suited to foraging rather than the fast weight gain bred into commercial livestock. Their diet becomes opportunistic almost immediately, since pigs are natural omnivores capable of eating roots, insects, small animals and crops without any human-provided feed. Cattle would fare differently. Most modern beef and dairy cattle breeds have been selectively bred for traits like rapid growth and high milk output that depend on regular feeding and, for dairy cows specifically, regular milking to avoid painful and potentially fatal complications from unmilked udders. Without human care, many dairy cattle would likely die within the first year, while beef cattle bred for less human-dependent traits would have somewhat better odds, particularly breeds already raised on open range with minimal intervention. Horses have the strongest track record of reverting successfully, based on real populations of feral horses already established across the western U.S. and Australia. Descendants of horses brought by Spanish colonizers centuries ago now live as wild mustangs across states including Nevada and Wyoming, sustaining stable populations without any human management beyond periodic culling to control their numbers. Sheep and goats sit somewhere in between. Wool sheep bred to grow continuous fleece can develop serious health problems without periodic shearing, a real issue documented in escaped sheep found matted with years of overgrown wool. Goats, by contrast, already establish successful feral populations in various parts of the world, including on several isolated islands, and would likely adapt to life without humans about as readily as pigs do. Credit: cottonbro studio / Pexels Urban rat and pigeon populations would drop significantly within the first year or two, a counterintuitive outcome given how strongly both species are associated with cities, because both rely heavily on food waste and shelter that only exist because of ongoing human activity. Studies of urban rat populations have consistently found that food availability, mostly garbage and discarded food, is the single biggest factor limiting or enabling rat population growth in any given city. Without functioning waste systems, restaurants, or households generating food scraps, the calorie-dense, easily accessible food source that currently sustains dense urban rat colonies would disappear almost overnight. Rats are adaptable omnivores capable of eating a wide range of food, including insects, plant matter and even each other under food stress, but the population densities seen in major cities today depend specifically on the abundance and convenience of human food waste, not on rats' general dietary flexibility. Pigeons face an even steeper decline. Feral pigeons descend from domesticated rock doves originally bred for food and message-carrying, and they have spent centuries adapting to depend heavily on human handouts and discarded food in public spaces. Multiple studies of urban pigeon diets have found that direct feeding by people and scavenged food waste make up the majority of calories for pigeons in major cities, far more than any natural foraging. Building ledges and architectural features that pigeons use for nesting would remain available for a long time even as buildings deteriorate, so shelter wouldn't be the limiting factor. Food would be. Within a couple of breeding seasons, a lack of reliable food would likely cut urban pigeon populations dramatically, pushing survivors back toward the more limited diet of seeds, grain and insects that supported their wild rock dove ancestors before domestication. Both species wouldn't disappear entirely. Rural and cliff-dwelling rock dove populations, along with rat populations that already survive in agricultural and wild settings without depending on cities, would likely persist and could eventually recolonize abandoned urban areas at much lower densities than today, once forests and grasslands reclaim enough of the urban landscape to support a more natural diet. Credit: adiprayogo liemena / Pexels Fish populations would begin recovering within just a few years of commercial fishing stopping worldwide, based on real historical evidence from periods when fishing pressure dropped sharply. Fisheries scientists studying the North Sea found that several fish stocks, including plaice and sole, increased notably during and immediately after World War II, when large-scale commercial fishing across much of the North Sea and North Atlantic was disrupted for roughly six years. The mechanism is straightforward. Overfishing reduces populations mainly by removing more fish, particularly larger, reproductively mature individuals, than natural reproduction can replace. Once that removal stops, fish that would otherwise have been caught are left to reproduce instead, and populations of most commercially fished species can rebound within five to 15 years given the chance, according to stock assessments tracked by fisheries management bodies like the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Species with longer lifespans and slower reproduction, including several shark and ray species, would take considerably longer to recover, sometimes multiple decades, since their populations grow more slowly even under ideal conditions. Species that reproduce quickly and in large numbers, like many smaller fish species and some cephalopods, would likely show visible population increases within just a handful of years. Coral reefs, while not fish themselves, would benefit indirectly from the end of destructive fishing practices including bottom trawling and dynamite fishing, both of which physically damage reef structures that take decades to regrow even once the immediate threat stops. Reduced fishing pressure wouldn't reverse the larger threat coral reefs face from ocean warming and acidification tied to atmospheric CO2, since that pressure would persist for decades regardless of fishing activity. Larger marine predators, including several tuna species and various shark populations that have declined sharply due to commercial and recreational fishing, would likely see some of the most dramatic proportional recoveries, since these species sit at the top of ocean food chains and their declines have been particularly steep in recent decades. Fisheries scientists generally view the end of fishing pressure as one of the single fastest ways to restore ocean ecosystems compared to slower-moving threats like warming water and acidification. Credit: Ben Phillips / Pexels Ocean noise pollution from ships would disappear within days of global shipping stopping, and marine mammals that communicate over long distances would benefit almost immediately, based on measurements taken during the sharp, if temporary, drop in ship traffic during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. Researchers monitoring underwater sound off the coast of Vancouver, Canada, recorded a measurable drop in low-frequency ocean noise as shipping traffic slowed, and linked that quieter environment to reduced stress hormone levels in nearby whale populations based on sampling of their waste. Commercial shipping is one of the largest sources of underwater noise pollution, since ship engines and propellers generate continuous low-frequency sound that travels extremely far underwater and overlaps with the frequency range many whale species use to communicate over long distances. Blue whales and fin whales, in particular, rely on low-frequency calls that can travel hundreds of miles in ideal ocean conditions, a range that shipping noise currently interferes with significantly in busy shipping lanes. Without any ships at all, that interference would end immediately, letting whale calls travel their full natural range again. Researchers who study whale communication have suggested this could make it easier for whales to locate mates, coordinate feeding, and navigate over long distances, functions that current shipping noise measurably disrupts in heavily trafficked areas like the English Channel and the shipping lanes off major Asian ports. Ship strikes represent a separate but related risk that would disappear alongside the noise. Collisions with large vessels are already a documented leading cause of death for several whale species, including the North Atlantic right whale, a species with fewer than 350 individuals remaining according to recent population estimates from NOAA Fisheries. Removing all ship traffic would eliminate this risk entirely and could meaningfully support recovery for the most severely depleted whale populations. Underwater seismic surveys used in oil and gas exploration, along with military sonar exercises, add further noise sources that have been linked in various studies to disrupted feeding and, in some documented cases involving sonar, to mass whale strandings. The complete absence of both activities would remove two more significant, if less constant, sources of acoustic disruption from ocean environments that whales and other marine mammals rely on for navigation and communication. Credit: Rahime Gül / Pexels Cats would adapt to life without humans faster and more successfully than almost any other domesticated species, largely because they retain nearly all of their wild hunting instincts even after generations of domestication. Studies tracking outdoor and feral cat behavior have found that cats hunt effectively with little to no learning curve, since the behavior is largely innate rather than taught by human owners. The ecological impact would be significant. Research published in Nature Communications in 2013 estimated that domestic and feral cats in the U.S. alone kill somewhere between 1.3 billion and 4 billion birds and up to 22.3 billion mammals annually, making cats one of the largest human-linked causes of wildlife mortality in the country even today, while people are still around to provide most cats with food. Without human-provided food, that hunting pressure would likely intensify rather than ease, since cats currently supplement rather than fully rely on hunting for calories in many settings. Feral cat colonies already established on islands around the world offer a preview of the ecological effect at scale. On several islands with no native predators, introduced cats have been directly linked to the extinction or severe decline of ground-nesting seabird species that evolved with no defense against a mammalian predator, a pattern documented on islands from New Zealand to the sub-Antarctic. Cat populations themselves would likely grow initially, given an abundant and newly undisturbed prey base of birds, rodents and small reptiles, before leveling off once prey populations adjusted to the increased predation pressure, a standard predator-prey dynamic that ecologists have documented in other introduced-predator scenarios. Interbreeding with other feral cat populations would continue much as it already does in cities and rural areas worldwide, since domestic cats already interbreed freely with existing feral populations. Over the following decades, cats would likely establish themselves as a dominant small predator across a wide range of climates and terrains, similar to the ecological role they already occupy on many islands and in rural areas globally, given their proven ability to survive across nearly every continent and climate zone humans have introduced them to over the past several thousand years. Credit: Abdallah Egbareia / Pexels Dogs would split into two distinct groups within the first few generations: a smaller number that successfully form self-sustaining feral packs, and a larger number of specialized breeds that would struggle or fail to survive without human care. Feral dog populations already exist in various parts of the world, including India, where free-ranging dogs number in the tens of millions and survive largely without direct human ownership, offering a real preview of how the more adaptable dog breeds might fare. Medium-sized, less specialized breeds and mixed-breed dogs would have the best odds, since they retain enough of the wolf ancestor's physical build and hunting instinct to form functional packs capable of scavenging and hunting small prey. Research on free-ranging dog populations has found that these dogs typically revert to a loose social structure resembling that of wolves within a relatively short number of generations, forming packs with informal hierarchies centered on access to food and mates. Highly specialized breeds would face steeper odds. Brachycephalic breeds with shortened snouts, including bulldogs and pugs, already suffer breathing difficulties that complicate strenuous activity like sustained hunting, making survival without human care considerably harder. Very small breeds bred primarily as companions, along with breeds selectively bred for extreme physical traits like elongated backs, would likely see high mortality rates within the first year, since many of these traits create health complications even with veterinary care readily available. Interbreeding between surviving dogs and wild canid populations, including wolves and coyotes in North America, has already been documented in limited cases and would likely increase over subsequent generations, gradually blending domestic dog genetics back into wider wild canid gene pools in regions where the two populations overlap geographically. Within a handful of generations, surviving dog populations would likely converge toward a more uniform, medium-sized build resembling generalized wild canids, a pattern already observed in long-established feral dog populations around the world, including dingoes in Australia, which descended from domestic dogs introduced by early human settlers thousands of years ago and have since evolved into a distinct, self-sustaining wild population. Credit: SpaceX / Pexels Satellites in low Earth orbit would begin falling out of the sky within a few years of losing the periodic engine burns that currently keep them in place, while satellites in higher orbits would remain in place for centuries or longer. Every satellite orbiting close to Earth, generally below about 1,200 miles altitude, experiences a small amount of atmospheric drag from the thin remnants of atmosphere that extend far higher than most people realize. That drag gradually slows a satellite down, causing its orbit to decay over time unless the satellite fires small thrusters periodically to boost itself back up, a routine maintenance task performed by ground control teams for active satellites and the International Space Station alike. The ISS itself requires regular reboosts roughly every one to three months to counteract this drag and stay in its intended orbit, a maintenance need that would disappear the moment ground control stopped operating. Without those periodic boosts, the ISS and most other low Earth orbit satellites, a category that includes the bulk of the roughly 10,000 active satellites currently in orbit according to tracking data from the U.S. Space Force, would gradually lose altitude and burn up in the atmosphere within a time frame ranging from a few years to a couple of decades, depending on each satellite's starting altitude and mass. Satellites in geostationary orbit, roughly 22,000 miles above Earth, face far weaker atmospheric drag because the atmosphere is dramatically thinner at that distance. These satellites, which include most communications and weather satellites, would likely remain in orbit for thousands to millions of years, drifting gradually out of their precise assigned positions over the surface but not falling to Earth on any meaningful human timescale. Space debris already in orbit, including spent rocket stages and fragments from past collisions, would follow the same basic pattern: lower debris would gradually reenter and burn up over years to decades, while debris in higher orbits would persist far longer, continuing to pose a collision risk to any remaining functional satellites for a very long time after the last human stopped tracking it.

TOMS RIVER – Residents watching Township Council meetings on YouTube have learned to recognize the moment public comment is about to begin. The livestream abruptly ends and resets to the beginning of the meeting just as Mayor Daniel Rodrick leaves the dais with a ceremonial bow. While the meeting continues inside council chambers, viewers at home miss the portion where residents comment and question elected officials on municipal issues ranging from taxes and development to staffing and public spending. During the most recent council meeting, a resident said he came to Town Hall after discovering the livestream had once again ended before public comment. “This is my fourth consecutive time coming here from my house because the live feed has been cut,” he told council members. Referring to discussions involving dune issues and asbestos remediation, the same man added, “I can see why the live feed would be cut now… You wouldn’t want a lot of people to know about that, which is pretty disappointing.” When Council Rules Become The Issue Several residents have expressed concern about the public portion of the meeting being cut. Phil Brilliant, a frequent critic of the mayor, has taken the issue to Superior Court, alleging the township violated its own procedural rules by ending the broadcast before residents have an opportunity to address elected officials. What began as a dispute over a YouTube livestream has since evolved into a broader legal battle over who controls Township Council meetings, whether the mayor is bound by procedural rules adopted by the council, and where the balance of power lies under Toms River’s Faulkner Act form of government. New Jersey’s Open Public Meetings Act requires governing bodies to conduct meetings in public but does not require municipalities to livestream or otherwise broadcast them remotely. However, at its annual reorganization meeting, the Township Council voted 4-3 to adopt rules of procedure by resolution. Rule 14 requires all council meetings to be recorded, livestreamed on the township’s YouTube channel and remain available online for public viewing. Brilliant’s lawsuit alleges township officials violated that rule by ending the livestream before public comments. The initial filing names the Township of Toms River, the Township Council, Mayor Daniel Rodrick, Acting Business Administrator Drew Chabot and Township Clerk Stephen Hensel as defendants. When the case first came before the court, Assistant Township Attorney Jonathan Penney appeared on behalf of all the defendants. However, council majority members later argued the executive and legislative branches have conflicting legal positions requiring separate counsel. The council majority is often at odds with the mayor. The differing legal positions became more apparent during the June 4 hearing before Superior Court Judge Craig L. Hodgson. Penney argued that the Township Council’s January resolution adopting its rules of procedure, including Rule 14, was not legally binding because it had not been enacted by ordinance. “They’re just council rules,” he said. Penney further argued that “the mayor has full control of administrative employees in our form of government,” including the township’s information technology staff. He said that extending the livestream after the business portion of the meeting concluded would increase overtime and compensatory costs that ultimately fall on taxpayers. Judge Hodgson declined to resolve the issues during the preliminary injunction hearing. He explained that Brilliant had not satisfied the legal standard for emergent relief and denied the request for a preliminary injunction. He relisted the matter for July 2, while making clear the underlying legal issues would be addressed as the case moved forward. Who Speaks For The Council? On July 1, Council President David Ciccozzi asked the court for time to retain independent counsel, arguing New Jersey’s conflict-of-interest rules prevented one attorney from representing both the council and the mayor’s administration. The dispute moved from the courtroom to the council dais during the Township Council’s July 8 meeting. Before taking public action, the council majority entered executive session to meet with Archer & Greiner attorney Jason Sena regarding his potential representation in the litigation. Because Mayor Rodrick and Township Clerk Stephen Hensel are named defendants whose legal interests had become adverse to those of the council majority, they were excluded from the closed-door discussion. A council member present at the meeting took the executive session minutes. When the council returned to open session, members voted to appoint Sena as special counsel. Penney objected, arguing that under Toms River’s Faulkner Act form of government, only the mayor has authority to direct litigation and retain outside counsel on behalf of the township. Rodrick agreed, calling the appointment unauthorized. Penney also questioned the executive session itself, including the exclusion of the mayor and clerk and the procedure used to record the meeting. Sena maintained that the Open Public Meetings Act expressly permits executive sessions to discuss pending litigation and attorney-client privileged matters. Because the mayor and clerk were defendants whose interests had become adverse to those of the council majority, Sena said they could not participate in privileged discussions concerning the council’s legal strategy. Sena said the appointment was far more limited than Penney suggested. “The council retained us for a specific limited purpose of representing them in their dispute with the mayor over who has the power to do what in the town,” Sena said in an interview. He described the matter as a separation-of-powers dispute between the township’s legislative and executive branches rather than simply a disagreement over livestreaming council meetings. Penney also relied on a New Jersey appellate precedent case that he argued supported the mayor’s position. Sena disagreed, saying the opinion “also says when it’s applicable,” and argued the language Penney omitted distinguishes the Toms River dispute. The Mayor’s Position Rodrick maintains that his decision to end the livestream before public comment was driven by both legal authority and fiscal responsibility. He further argued litigation decisions belong exclusively to the mayor under the Faulkner Act and said extending the livestream forces police officers, department heads and other employees to remain at meetings, increasing overtime and compensatory time. He called the lengthy public comment sessions “a very costly staged political stunt” and said “there is no legal requirement to broadcast the video.” “I have four police officers who are getting overtime and then every single division manager and department head getting time and a half in comp time,” Rodrick said, adding, “They are forcing me to give an extra 2 1/2 weeks vacation to people who are already entitled to five weeks.” Rodrick’s assertions regarding staffing have been disputed. Multiple sources familiar with township operations told this publication that officers assigned to council meetings generally work their regular shifts and are not brought in solely because meetings continue into public comment. Those sources also said police officers were not routinely assigned to council meetings before the current administration. This publication has not independently reviewed staffing records to verify either position. What began with an abruptly ending YouTube livestream has become a court battle that could define the balance of power between Toms River’s two governing bodies. The matter is scheduled for a remote hearing before Judge Hodgson on August 14.

ANCONA - “Non di solo pane vive l’uomo” ma anche di musica. E se la musica, poi, si fa strumento di solidarietà, il suo valore diventa grande come la kermesse che lo IOM, Istituto Oncologico Marchigiano, ha organizzato per giovedì 23 luglio, dalle ore 18.30 alle 23.15 in Piazza Cavour. L’evento, organizzato per il 40° anniversario di attività dell’Istituto, vedrà sul palco allestito al centro della piazza, il susseguirsi dei più noti successi musicali dei Queen, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner. A eseguire i brani saranno le più conosciute band del momento The Golden Boys - Queen Tribute Band, PYT - Michael Jackson Tribute Band, Still For Tina Turner - Tina Turner Tribute Band e il noto cantautore anconetano Stefano Spazzi. I PYT nascono nel 2013 come Michael Jackson cover band. Formata per lo più da musicisti ex turnisti con esperienza decennale, oggi propongono i maggiori successi della storia del POP a partire dagli anni 80 includendo anche brani rock che sono rimasti nel cuore dei fan. Dalla grande passione per i Queen, nel 2024 nascono i "The Golden Boys": musicisti da molti anni con numerosi live all'attivo che vi offriranno un viaggio esperienza tra i più grandi successi della band di Londra. i The Golden Boys vi faranno cantare e rivivere i Queen attraverso aneddoti, una accurata ricerca dei suoni e tanta energia. Still for Tina E’ un progetto degli Still Together, band di 7 elementi che condividono da 30 anni la passione per la musica. Una famiglia che ha deciso di rendere omaggio ad un grande idolo: Tina Turner. Una donna incredibile, una fucina di energia positiva, un simbolo di riscatto e di rinascita, l'emblema della dedizione al proprio pubblico. Per omaggiare un personaggio così grande, gli Still Together hanno deciso di ampliare la famiglia, con una seconda chitarra, e 3 ballerine. 10 elementi sul palco per grande spettacolo, immagini, coreografie, ispirate ai più grandi live della Regina del Rock, percorrendo attraverso la sua stessa musica, il suo cammino emotivo, spirituale, le sue conquiste. Stefano Spazzi è un cantautore anconetano che ha realizzato molti dischi da solista anche attraverso collaborazioni con figure di primo piano del panorama musicale italiano come Pino Gulizia, già con Fausto Leali o Antonello Mazzeo, batterista di Franco Califano. Molte le canzoni incise da Spazi negli anni che gode di una particolare notorietà negli Stati Uniti ed in particolare a New York. A presentare la serata ci sarà Alvin. L’evento è stato organizzato per raccogliere fondi che lo IOM destinerà all’assistenza domiciliare dei malati oncologici e delle loro famiglie.

A string of fierce storms battered Monmouth and Ocean counties on July 16, bringing with them heavy rain, flash floods and a tornado watch that remained in effect until 9 p.m. The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for parts of both counties until 7:45 p.m., sending alerts to residents to be wary for a potentially dangeous and life-threatening situation. The severe weather knocked out power for more than 7,600 Jersey Central Power & Light customers as of 5:00 p.m. The bulk of those outages are in Long Branch, according to the utility's outage map, adding that power was expected to be restored by 9:00 p.m. "We just have a strong system coming through and the ingredients are just overlapping for a multi-threat kind of day," Mike Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, said. The storms were the latest in a series of weather events that have broughtheat waves,flash floods,power outagesandhazardous smokefrom wildfires, disrupting the Shore's summer tourism season. This one prompted several cancelations, although one of the area's signature events, the Haskell Stakes, was still scheduled for a post time of 5:45 p.m. More:Why does JCP&L take so long to fix Jersey Shore power outages? | Exclusive Heavy rainfall had skirted Monmouth and Ocean counties to the north earlier in the day. But the National Weather Service said at least parts of both counties were under flash flood warnings until 7:45 p.m. with up to 2 inches of rain falling in an hour. The storms brought more flooding to the Bayshore, forcing parts of Route 35 in Keyport and Aberdeen and Route 36 in Union Beach, Middletown and Highlands to close. And another storm band left parts of Route 35 in Belmar and Route 71 in Manasquan closed due to floods, according to 511.com. The National Weather Service expected multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms, some of which could produce damaging wind gusts; heavy rainfall and flash flooding; hail; and strong tornadoes. Monmouth and Ocean counties also continued to have unhealthy air quality due to smoke from the Canadian wildfires. The New Jersey Department of Health on Friday, July 17, urged residents to limite their outdoor activity. To monitor air quality in your town, go toAirNow.gov. The weather forced delays and cancelations.The Stone Pony in Asbury Parksaid the Billy Currington & Kip Moore show schduled for the Summer Stage was postponed to Sunday, July 19. PNC Arts Center in Holmdel postponed its show featuring Toto, Christopher Cross and Romantics. And a downtown street festival in Toms River was canceled. Monmouth Park said the Haskell would be run rain or shine unless the track conditions posed a threat to the horses and jockeys. The storms are expected to end after 2 a.m. on Sunday, July 19, clearing out for the World Cup final scheduled for 3 p.m. at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

A darne notizia è stato lo stesso Gruppo Duferco, ricordando il proprio fondatore come “l’uomo che ha dato vita ai nostri progetti e ci ha resi grandi”, sottolineandone il tratto umano, lo stile sobrio e la capacità di guardare sempre oltre gli orizzonti del mercato. La storia imprenditoriale di Bolfo prende avvio alla fine degli anni Settanta, quando lascia Siderexport, la trading company dell’allora Italsider, per fondare a San Paolo del Brasile una nuova società specializzata nell’esportazione di acciaio. In pochi anni Duferco diventa il primo esportatore brasiliano di prodotti siderurgici verso i mercati asiatici, per poi spostare il proprio baricentro prima a New York e successivamente in Europa, intercettando le opportunità offerte dalla liberalizzazione dei mercati dell’Est europeo. La vera intuizione strategica arriva però negli anni Novanta. Comprendendo che internet avrebbe progressivamente ridotto il valore aggiunto del solo trading, Bolfo decide di integrare il gruppo nella produzione industriale. Una scelta che porterà Duferco a diventare, nel 2004, uno dei maggiori produttori mondiali di acciaio, con stabilimenti distribuiti tra Europa, America e Africa e investimenti miliardari, in particolare in Belgio. Ma è proprio in quella fase che emerge un’altra caratteristica dell’imprenditore genovese: la convinzione che il controllo della logistica fosse un fattore competitivo tanto importante quanto quello della produzione. Per un gruppo che movimentava ogni anno milioni di tonnellate di minerali, carbone, coils, semilavorati e prodotti finiti, il trasporto marittimo non rappresentava un semplice servizio, bensì un asset strategico. Da questa visione nasce il progressivo ingresso di Duferco nello shipping, destinato negli anni a diventare uno dei pilastri della diversificazione del gruppo. L’investimento più significativo è quello sviluppato insieme all’armatore Vincenzo Romeo attraverso Nova Marine Carriers, società che negli anni è cresciuta fino a diventare uno dei principali operatori mondiali nel trasporto di rinfuse secche, con una flotta di oltre 100 navi, successivamente ampliata anche nel segmento delle cementiere grazie alla partnership con il gruppo canadese Algoma Central Corporation. Lo shipping diventa così una delle tre grandi gambe del gruppo, insieme alla siderurgia e all’energia. La scelta di investire direttamente nell’armamento rifletteva perfettamente il metodo imprenditoriale di Bolfo: integrare la filiera, ridurre la dipendenza dai mercati esterni e costruire valore attraverso attività complementari al core business. Una filosofia che negli anni ha portato Duferco a investire anche nella logistica portuale, nei terminal e nel trading energetico, trasformando un gruppo nato come trader siderurgico in una piattaforma industriale e infrastrutturale diversificata. Negli ultimi anni Bolfo aveva completato con discrezione anche il passaggio generazionale, cedendo il controllo del gruppo ad Antonio Gozzi e ai figli Vittoria e Augusto, garantendo continuità a un progetto imprenditoriale costruito in oltre quattro decenni. Per il settore marittimo italiano Bruno Bolfo lascia l’eredità di un imprenditore che ha saputo comprendere prima di molti altri come acciaio, energia, logistica e shipping fossero destinati a convergere in un unico sistema industriale globale. Una visione che ha contribuito alla crescita di Nova Marine e che ha fatto di Duferco uno dei principali gruppi industriali italiani con una presenza significativa anche nel trasporto marittimo internazionale.