Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 Tropical Storm Warnings Issued For Texas Ahead Of What Could Be The First Named Storm Of The Year
The National Hurricane Center officially designated a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico as Potential Tropical Cyclone One last night. The disturbance was around 360 miles southeast of La Pesca, Mexico as of 2 am, and if it strengthens to a tropical storm it’ll claim the name Alberto as the first named storm of the season. The tropical storm watch has been issued from Port O’Connor, Texas to the mouth of the Rio Grande, and extending south into the Mexican coastline. The system is expected to bring heavy rain to coastal Texas and southwest Louisiana starting later today.
2 California Firefighters Make Progress Battling Wildfires
The bad news is that the Post Fire, a wildfire that’s now consumed over 15,000 acres north of Los Angeles, is still burning. The good news is that firefighters made some progress yesterday in containing the blaze. Even with the improvement, the fire was only 20-percent contained as of last night, with high winds helping to spread the fire. While fire officials hope to hold the fire at close to its current size, Los Angeles County Fire Department section chief Kenichi Haskett said further growth is possible. Officials say there are two things helping the fire spread. Hot weather has dried out the area, and wind gusts as high as 50 mph over the tops of ridges are carrying embers a reported mile away from the main blaze, allowing the fire to spread. There’s another fire burning in the area, but the Hesperia Fire was about 30-percent contained yesterday after not growing overnight. It currently is around two square miles in size, compared to the Post Fire’s almost 23 square miles of coverage.
3 Surgeon General Wants Tobacco-Style Warnings For Teens On Social Media
The U.S. surgeon general is voicing his concerns over social media use in young people. In an essay published in “The New York Times” yesterday, Dr. Vivek Murthy calls for a warning label like those used on cigarettes and alcohol, but for social media platforms. He writes, "The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency -- and social media has emerged as an important contributor." Murthy proposes that a health warning could help, pointing out the success of surgeon general’s warning labels on cigarettes that Congress required starting in the 1960s. “It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents,” he writes. The surgeon general also asks for congressional action to “remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proven safe.” While Murthy notes that “a warning label would not, on its own make social media safe for young people,” he points out that the “priority should be for “policymakers, platforms and the pubic” to make platforms safer for kids. “Legislation from Congress should shield young people from online harassment, abuse and exploitation and from exposure to extreme violence and sexual content that too often appears in algorithm-driven feeds," he writes. “The measures should prevent platforms from collecting sensitive data from children and should restrict the use of features like push notifications, autoplay and infinite scroll, which prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use.”