Ohio is experiencing an unprecedented year for tornadoes, with the latest confirmed touchdown occurring on Wednesday.
In 2024, Ohio has seen its 66th tornado, surpassing the previous record of 62 set in 1992. The state experienced a notable surge in tornadoes in May, with 23 reported.
Logan Clark, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, attributes this increase to an unusually warm winter, minimal ice on the Great Lakes and warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
"We're certainly on a record pace so far this year from the state of Ohio. We've just been in a time of year where we still have really strong wind fields. During the winter months, we see typically a stronger jet stream that shifts more towards the equator," he explained.
The increase in tornadoes is linked to shifting weather patterns. Strong wind fields that typically diminish by late winter and early spring have persisted this year, contributing to more frequent and intense tornadoes. The combination of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico with these persistent winds has created favorable conditions for severe storms.
As Ohio deals with these extreme weather events, preparedness is crucial.
Helen Norris, Logan County emergency management director, stressed the importance of having multiple methods for receiving weather alerts, including as phone apps and all-weather radios.
"Sirens are only meant to be heard outdoors," she said. "Sometimes you can hear it inside, but that's not a guarantee."
Ongoing efforts aim to ensure full coverage with outdoor sirens, although Norris noted some were damaged in the March 14 storm. She said with the state experiencing unprecedented tornado activity, there is a need for vigilance and adaptability.
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Methane pollution is increasing at the fastest rate in decades, according to a new report, and that's making it harder to turn the tide on climate change and protect public health. Oil and gas operations are the single biggest source of methane pollution.
Megan Kemp, director with Healthy Air and Water Colorado, said when operators release methane, they are also releasing other toxins into the air known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
"Alongside methane, benzene and other VOCs can worsen asthma and other respiratory diseases, it can even increase the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular diseases, the risk of cancer, it can cause immune system damage, and even developmental problems in children," she explained.
On hot summer days, methane and other VOCs combine with sunlight to create ground-level ozone pollution, which has plagued Colorado's Front Range for years, and has led the Environmental Protection Agency to charge the state as a severe violator of clean-air standards.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association says operators have cut methane and other ozone-related pollution by at least 50%, through regulation and new technologies.
The report's researchers have called for immediate action to cut methane pollution to slow an accelerating climate crisis. Kemp believes state regulators can do more to limit methane emissions, which are more than 80 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2.
"So, in addition to this ozone formation, it is contributing to the acceleration of extreme heat, increased vector-borne illnesses, decreasing water supply, water quality, and the list goes on," she continued.
The U.S. is the leading producer of crude oil, which ramped up with new fracking technologies. The rise in fracking also tracks with the rise in global methane emissions. Kemp said while cutting emissions is critical for a future livable climate, more attention needs to be paid to communities that have long lived in the shadows of refineries and other polluters.
"It is in our state statute to minimize adverse impacts from oil and gas for disproportionately impacted communities. And we see time and time again that our regulatory agencies are not stepping up and meeting the mandate," Kemp explained.
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By Grace Hussain for Sentient.
Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the Sentient/Public News Service Collaboration
A new feed additive intended to reduce methane emissions in dairy cows is now the first of its kind to be allowed for sale in the United States. Sold under the brand name Bovaer, the drug passed FDA review in just under twelve months, far shorter than industry standard. Now some lawmakers want to make this fast-tracked process standard for the entire feed industry - an industry that has billions of dollars riding on the so-called "climate-friendly" meat and milk market.
Bovaer's manufacturer, Elanco, may not be a household name, but the veterinary pharmaceutical maker is poised to play a critical role in marketing industrial meat and dairy as sustainable. If the proposed law were to pass, it would be a financial boon to an industry that is projected to be valued at nearly $100 billion by 2027.
Feed companies like Cargill and their trade associations back the policy change. Cargill spent over $1.3 million on lobbying in 2023, and the American Feed Industry Association employed four DC lobbyists last year to help push for the proposed legislation.
New Drug Touts Climate Benefits to Pass FDA Review
Bovaer, or 3-nitrooxypropanol or 3-NOP, is already being sold for use in both beef and dairy production in more than 50 countries. The drug's compound works by inhibiting the enzyme responsible for producing methane inside the cows' intestines. And according to Elanco's testing, the drug can cut methane emissions by 30 percent for dairy cattle. But the FDA did not independently test these claims and a metaanalysis of 3-NOP trials has found a wider range of results. Sentient has submitted a public records request to review what Elanco subitted to the FDA.
Now that Bovaer is available for use in the U.S., Elanco can allow the farmers who participate in the carbon credit market it funds, Athian, to feed the new drug to dairy cows and claim the carbon credits.
Athian is a different model of carbon market. Typical carbon markets work by allowing companies and groups to monetize various forms of climate action. Even though touted as an essential part of global climate action by the United Nations, many carbon markets have been criticized for high rates of fraud and worthless credits.
Earlier this year, Athian hosted its first sale of carbon credits, at the time generated by a dairy farm that fed its cows a different Elanco-owned feed additive. Called Rumensin, this drug is used to stimulate increased milk production in dairy cows.
Athian works differently, by selling what are called "carbon insets," which are different from the traditional model of "carbon offsets." Typical offsets allow companies to pay someone else, like a conservation group, to plant trees or rewild barren farmland as a way to offset their own pollution. Carbon insets, on the other hand, are a newer idea: these allow polluting companies the ability to trade on their own efforts to slash emissions in their supply chain.
Critics of insets say that many of these reductions should be taking place across polluting industries anyway, not giving the companies even more financial incentives to do what is necessary to reduce food sector emissions. Feed additives are a perfect example. The dairy industry is fueling 11 percent of methane emissions each year - with a single dairy cow able to emit up to 264 pounds of methane in that time. If feed additives work even a little, they should be industry standard, these critics say.
New Legislation Would Fast-Track Feed Additive Approval
For now, feed additives like Bovaer that "affect the structure or any function of the body of an animal" are regulated as drugs, which usually require manufacturers like Elanco to submit to a lengthy and expensive review by the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine. The typical review process for new animal drugs can take almost a decade and cost tens of millions of dollars.
The new law would drastically scale back the FDA's review. Called the Innovative FEED Act, the proposed legislation is supported by leading livestock industry groups, including the American Feed Industry Association. Congressman Greg Pence (R-IN) is among the bipartisan group of lawmakers who introduced the bill in December 2023. One of the lawmakers, Angie Craig (D-MN), has received $14,300 in funds associated with feed company Cargill this year. If passed, the FEED Act would allow fast-track review for all feed additives, by reclassifying them as "zootechnical animal food substances," not drugs.
The new law would make it easier to commercialize feed additives. Yet Jennifer Molidor, PhD who leads Center for Biological Diversity's sustainable food campaigns, says there is little evidence showing these additives are effective. "[Many] of the claims about feed additives are speculative (and largely overblown)," Molidor told Sentient in an email.
Earlier this year, 200 experts surveyed by Harvard University said they overwhelmingly agreed. The researchers called for a broader food system shift to truly address climate change, one that moves away from eating too much meat and dairy - with or without drugs like Bovaer - in favor of eating a more plant-forward diet.
Grace Hussain wrote this article for Sentient.
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The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the South Bronx $500,000 for climate resiliency planning, and local environmentalists say it couldn't have come at a better time.
The grant will go toward a new climate resilience and emergency preparedness project in the South Bronx.
Siddhartha Sánchez, executive director of the Bronx River Alliance, said the project will give community residents the skills to prepare for climate change and associated impacts such as flooding, blackouts and the urban heat island effect.
"The idea that this is not decided 'top-down' also applies to the organizations," Sánchez explained. "We're trying to make sure this is not 'grass tops,' as they say, but grassroots, and really getting input from the most impacted communities throughout the Bronx."
The grant will also support improvements to physical infrastructure in the form of hubs. Local climate resiliency hubs at three public sites will be equipped with solar panels, wireless charging stations, water catchment systems and more. They will serve as havens during emergency and climate-related events.
Sánchez pointed out the projects planned under the program will involve three components: community engagement, planning and advocacy. He noted the community had been planning long before the grant arrived.
"Our partner orgs have been advocating for improvements locally and statewide for some time now," Sánchez emphasized. "Including advocating with New York Renews and asking for dedicated budgets for communities such as ours."
He stressed in the past, the community feels it has been neglected by government agencies but is heartened by the possibilities the program will bring.
"I think this investment represents hope," Sánchez observed. "I think it represents a new way of engaging with federal, state and city issues and projects and proposals but also not just reactive and responsive to existing proposals but solutions."
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