Stuff YOU Should Know
Cold Start to 2018
Did you miss any school last week due to snow and freezing temperatures? Over a million students did, particularly along the East Coast, where an intense winter storm–known as a “bomb cyclone,” a “winter hurricane,” or a “nor’easter”–shut down schools and airline flights, and led to floods and even several fatalities.
At least six people are dead in the northeast as a result of the storm. Three people have been killed in North Carolina, one in South Carolina, and one in Philadelphia. The brutal weather has taken a toll on wildlife, too. In Massachusetts, great white sharks are freezing and washing up along the shores of Cape Cod. As far south as Florida, sea turtles are dying from the cold, and iguanas, stunned (but not killed) by the rapidly dropping temperatures are falling from trees.
In Boston, the supermoon and storm surge combined to cause one of the highest tides ever recorded, as well as widespread flooding of the city. Up to 15 inches of snow fell in New York City, and in Maine, people living along the coast faced hurricane-force winds. Snow came down even in the deep South, where people joked about the “Blizzard on the Beach.”
So what caused these icy conditions? A so-called “bomb cyclone” occurs when warm air hits cold air dipping down from the Arctic, causing a drastic drop in barometric pressure (at least 24 millibars in 24 hours). The air begins to rotate, causing a slow-moving, hurricane-like effect. Scientists are studying whether or not climate change plays a role in these cold spells.
Dig Deeper Using internet resources, find the furthest point south that received snowfall this past week. How low did the temperature drop in this area? By comparison, what was the warmest city or town in the United States last week? What was the temperature there?
New Offshore Drilling Permissions
Last Thursday, the Trump administration announced that it will now allow offshore gas and oil drilling in all waters off the coast of the United States. This proposal undoes many of the environmental protections put into place by President Obama.
Trump’s proposal would open 25 out of 26 regions of the outer continental shelf (the submerged offshore area between state coastal waters and the deep ocean). Seven of these areas will be in the Pacific off the coast of California. Supporters of the plan, including leaders of the oil industry, say that it will promote increased energy production and lead to billions of dollars in new revenue, as well as thousands of potential new jobs.
But the plan has already met with heavy opposition. Offshore drilling can lead to environmental disasters such as oil spills, as well as threaten local industries such as tourism and commercial fishing. Sixty-four environmental groups have already come forward with a joint statement against the propsal, and said that they would explore legal options to stop it if necessary. Trump’s plan is also opposed by the governors of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Oregon, and Washington–Democrats and Republicans alike–who say they will do whatever is necessary to protect their state’s natural resources.
This is just the latest step in the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back Obama-era environmental protections. Last month, Congress opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. And last week, the Department of the Interior made the decision to allow fracking on federal and tribal lands. Luckily for opponents, this latest proposal won’t pass overnight. In fact, finalizing it could take as long as 18 months, or even longer if it is challenged (as it is expected to be) in the courts and Congress.
What Do You Think? In your opinion, which is more important: protecting the environment, or generating new jobs and billions of dollars for the U.S. economy? Respectfully explain your point of view.
Winter Olympics Draws Controversy
The upcoming Winter Olympics may wind up being about a lot more than gold medals this year.
The Winter Olympics are coming to South Korea. Credit: ivanmiladinovic/Shutterstock
This year’s games will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, beginning on February 9 and running for two weeks. Months ago, South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent an invitation to neighboring North Korea to participate in the Winter Olympics, in an attempt to bring unity to the region and to reduce the threat of a North Korean missile or terror attack during the games. In his New Year’s address, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un responded by saying that he is considering sending a team to participate in the games.
South Korean officials say they would like to hold high-level talks with North Korea beginning next week, potentially in Panmunjom, a neutral village in the center of the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas. This would be the first such talks between the nations since December 2015.
The announcement was met with mixed results around the planet. China’s leadership has said that it supports talks between the Koreas, and that improving communications could lead to an easing of tensions and the eventual removal of nuclear weapons from North Korea. Other analysts have expressed concern that North Korea’s plan may be to use the games as political leverage, saying that they will only agree to participate if South Korea lifts economic sanctions, halts military drills with the U.S., removes American forces from the Korean Peninsula, and provides financial assistance. Last week, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina threatened that the United States would not participate in the Olympics if North Korea is permitted to.
Dig Deeper South Korea last hosted the Summer Olympics in 1988. Which nation boycotted the games that year? Why? In your opinion, should the U.S. boycott this year’s winter games if North Korea is allowed to attend? Explain.
Do NOT Disturb?
The happiest place on earth just got a little bit less happy.
As of December 22, guests at four Walt Disney World resort hotels–the Polyneisan Village Resort, the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, the Contemporary Resort, and the Bay Lake Tower–won’t be allowed to put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on their doors anymore. Instead, guests will receive a “Room Occupied” sign. Hotel employees will knock and announce themselves before entering a room with a “Room Occupied” sign, but they are required to enter every room at least once every 24 hours. Though only the four resort hotels are affected at the moment, Disney plans to apply the new policy to all Disney World and Disneyland properties soon.
But do employees have the right to invade guests’ privacy this way? Actually, they do: because the rooms are the property of the hotels, hotel employees can enter rooms for reasons such as maintenance, cleaning, or to ensure safety and security of guests and staff.
Why the sudden change? Disney denies that the new policy has anything to do with the mass shooting that took place on October 1 in Las Vegas, when Stephen Paddock killed and injured many attendees of an outdoor country music concert from his room of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Paddock had kept his “Do Not Disturb” sign up for all three days of his stay.) But that event has definitely led to security changes at other hotel chains. At Hilton hotels, for example, guests still have the option of a “Do Not Disturb” sign, but employees track this and alert management when the sign has been up for more than 24 hours. At Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas, rooms are investigated if a “Do Not Disturb” sign is up for more than 12 hours.