Hurricane Dorian ravages Bahamas, still threatens Florida

The Bahamas have been devastated by the storm scientists are calling Hurricane Dorian, and now Dorian is bearing down on the southeast coast of the United States, including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Check here for more updates throughout the day and week.

Amazon afire is product of arson encouraged by Brazilian administration

The Amazon is a mammoth of an area in South America that spans across eight countries, containing one in 10 known species on Earth and half the planet’s remaining tropical forests. It is a rich and diverse region that stabilizes both the local and global climate because of its 90 to 140 billions metric tons of carbon, according to World Wildlife Fund.

It is on fire.

At the hands of an environmentally careless Brazilian government, deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has increased eightfold in the last year. In addition, environmental policy violations have pushed indigenous people out and economic development in.

Social media users expressed their frustration with the news media on Twitter, claiming a lack of media coverage contributed to the prolonged fires in the Amazon. However, media outlets like CNN, The New York Times and more have covered the fires as early as June. It brings to light the effect social media news can have on its users with people developing echo chambers for information instead of seeking out news actively and looking at updates for issues that concern more than just the United States.

Much of the outcry regarding the Amazon fires claim inaccuracies, such as the argument that the Amazon provides 20 percent of the world’s oxygen. In actuality, the Amazon is not the Earth’s lungs as it produces 6 percent of oxygen that contributes to the world’s unusual abundance of free oxygen largely upheld by underground fossil fuels, according to researcher and science writer Peter Brannon. Read more about it in The Atlantic.

215 respiratory illness cases possibly tied to vaping

Dani Ramos, Unsplash

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the number of respiratory illness cases possibly tied to vaping and usage of e-cigarettes to 215 on Aug. 27, releasing a statement in conjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The cases span a total of 25 states. Pulmonary illnesses are also being investigated for ties to vaping and e-cigarette usage.

“While some cases in each of the states are similar and appear to be linked to e-cigarette product use, more information is needed to determine what is causing the respiratory illnesses,” the U.S. CDC and the Food and Drug Administration said.

On Aug. 23, the Illinois Department of Public Health released a Twitter statement attributing the death of a man to a severe respiratory illness that could be tied to vaping: “The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) learned of the death of an individual who had recently vaped and was hospitalized with severe respiratory illness. Learn more about the dangers of vaping here: https://t.co/iN7VRoVABs.” The possible vaping death could be the first reported in the nation.

The vaping and Juuling phenomenon is primarily tied to the demographic of youth and young adults, with 4.9 million junior high and high school student consumers, according to the CDC’s 2018 Vital Signs report. As the tobacco industry continues to be dominated by vaping products and e-cigarettes, consumption of them by children, adolescents and young adults continues to show dangerous trends and effects.