Climate Nexus, top stories

Migrants Killed By Heat In Tractor Trailer Illustrate Systemic Failures: The horrific deaths of 53 people seeking a better life in the back of an abandoned tractor-trailer in sweltering heat is just the latest illustration of broken immigration and climate policy. “As horrific as this is, it is not the only time… It will not be the only time," Doris Meissner, head of the U.S. immigration system during the Clinton administration, told the Washington Post. Authorities do not even know the nationalities of all the deceased, some of whom were from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. "There are no names," a spokesperson for the San Antonio archbishop told the Post. Temperatures have broke records all over the world this spring and summer, with Texas experiencing multiple heatwaves. Temperatures in the San Antonio area reached 101°F on Monday when the victims were discovered and summer is only beginning. Advocates say deterrent policies — like Trump's "remain in Mexico" policy (on which the Supreme Court will issue a ruling today) and a policy, known as Title 42, implemented early in the pandemic to close borders but kept in place long after nearly all other measures public health experts say would actually help — have both forced desperate migrants to undertake more dangerous methods of entering the U.S. “It’s just that they try to come over here for a better life or live better, escaping gang violence and poverty,” San Antonio resident Efrain Trevino told the Texas Tribune. “And then they find death here in the United States.” (Increased death toll & general coverage: Texas Public Radio, Washington Post $, AP, New York Times $, Texas Tribune, Austin-American Statesman, Politico, TIME, CBS, Wall Street Journal $; Broader crisis: Texas Monthly, Prism Reports, USA Today, Vox, Houston Chronicle, Texas Tribune; Remain in Mexico: Border Report; Title 42: New York Times $; Global heat: Grist; Climate Signals background: Extreme heat and heatwaves; Commentary in A&O below)



Climate Change Means More Mice, Farther North: The extra mice in your house this winter may not entirely be the result of you not cleaning your kitchen thoroughly, the AP reports. As climate change makes winters warmer, white-footed mouse populations are rising as more are able to survive the winter. All this combines to increase mouse populations and allow them to spread further north. (AP)



Scientists Evaluating Link Between Climate Change, Derechos: Scientists are beginning to observe connections between climate change and the recent increase in derechos — large, fast-moving, violent thunderstorm complexed with exceptionally strong winds — but more research and data are needed, the Washington Post reports. Climate change is increasing the occurrence of the conditions necessary for derechos to occur. However, increased weather monitoring is also increasing the number of observed wind gusts above 75 mph, complicating the establishment of a direct connection between climate change and derechos. “If the odds of hot conditions are extending into the time of year that the atmospheric circulation is conducive to the storms, then global warming can increase the odds of those ingredients coming together [for a derecho],” Stanford climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh told the Post. The nine biggest derechos (as defined by strongest wind gusts) have all occurred in the last 10 years, with an exceptional correlation to high temperatures. Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, amplified the intensity, duration and frequency of extreme heat and heat waves. (Washington Post $)