It’s officially been a year since shutdowns began in the US for COVID. The world is still trying to get a grip of this virus all while still trying to progress forward with all other aspects of life. So as always, there is news about everything from COVID to an asteroid coming by for a visit.
- An asteroid is set to pass by Earth in early spring.
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An asteroid the size of the Golden Gate Bridge is set to pass by Earth later this month. The asteroid is said to be around 1,300 to 1,230 feet wide with an orbit period of 810 days. It is estimated to pass by Earth on March 21, 11:02 ET, and is labeled as ‘potentially hazardous’ by NASA. However, this label is given to any asteroid that is within 4.65 million miles of Earth and is bigger than 500 ft in diameter. This asteroid is estimated to come within 1.25 million miles of Earth, which is three times closer than the last notable asteroid, yet still plenty far away. Scientists know the path of this asteroid very well, as they have been studying it for the past two decades. See the full article here.
- George Floyd settlement.
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It has been almost a year since the death of George Floyd by the hands of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer. This past Friday it was decided that the city of Minneapolis will pay the Floyd family $27 million to settle a lawsuit over Floyd’s death. This settlement includes a $500,000 donation to the community as well. Regarding Chauvin and his sentence, the trial is ongoing. The article writes that it is unclear whether or not this settlement will influence his trial in any way.
- Healthcare workers respond to lifting mask mandates.
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After Texas and Mississippi released that they will be lifting their mask mandates, ABC asked numerous healthcare workers what they thought about this. In short, the healthcare workers are worried that they will become overrun like last year, especially in Texas, where there were many COVID case outbreaks throughout 2020. They also said that lifting the mask mandates is demoralizing, as many see lifting the mask mandate as adding an obstacle to ending the pandemic. Healthcare workers will also be exposed to much more risk now that patients won’t be required to wear masks when seeking medical help. Workers say that Texas should wait until there is herd immunity to reopen, especially given that only 12% of Texans are currently vaccinated. As of today, Texas, Mississippi, Montana, Iowa and North Dakota have lifted their mask mandates. Read the full article here.
- By 2100, summer could take up six months of the year.
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A new study recently came out outlining a future where climate change could cause summer (in the northern hemisphere) to last six months by 2100 with winter only lasting two months. How did they reach this conclusion? A team of scientists used historical daily temperature data from 1952 to 2011 to study how the onset of seasons differed from year to year. On average, the length of summer increased by 17 days, while the duration of winter shrank by three days. The scientists also used climate models to predict how the climate is likely to change in the future. As the climate changes, what does this mean? Nearly every aspect of life will be (and is) affected by climate change. A few examples given by the article are that bird migration patterns will change, crop patterns will change and disease-carrying mosquitoes will be able to drift further north to warmer climates.
It is beneficial to read up on news that concerns our own community as well as news that concerns the whole planet.