Hurricane Fiona causes destruction in Puerto Rico

Photo courtesy of Flickr.
Hurricane Fiona caused flooding and property damage across Puerto Rico on Sunday, Sept. 18.

By Shira Sadeh ’25

Science & Environment Editor

Content warning: This article mentions mass death.

On Sunday, Sept. 18, Hurricane Fiona reached Puerto Rico from the southwest, causing environmental and infrastructure disasters, an Associated Press article reported. The island scrambled to evacuate and secure shelter for residents as high-speed winds ripped out the power grid, tore up roads and caused widespread flooding. According to AP News, forecasters are predicting record levels of rainfall up to 30 inches this Sunday and Monday, Sept. 25 and 26.  

Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Pierluisi has called the effects of Hurricane Fiona “catastrophic,” according to an NPR article. “In many areas, flooding is worse than what we saw during Hurricane Maria,” Pierluisi said. Health Secretary Carlos Mellado explained to AP News that health centers are currently relying on generators, which have already failed at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where many patients had to be evacuated.

According to a Washington Post article, Fiona comes just two days before the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria. Maria left Puerto Rico powerless and mourning the deaths of over three thousand people, The Washington Post reported. Although the federal government had set aside billions for recovery after Hurricane Maria, The Washington Post explained that much of that money has yet to reach Puerto Rico. 

According to NPR, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration on Sunday and authorized the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist in the disaster relief efforts. The Washington Post also stated that Pierliusi is coordinating recovery efforts with leaders in New York, New Jersey and California. Additionally, the National Guard has activated 600 soldiers throughout the island and has rescued approximately 1,000 people.

California Air Resources Board issues emission-free vehicle mandate

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
California’s new car policy, approved by the California Air Resources Board, requires all new vehicles to run on hydrogen or electric starting in 2035.

By Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23

Science & Environment Editor

Traffic in California is no joke. The California New Car Dealers Association reported that the state had 1.6 million new light vehicle —car and light truck — registrations just in 2020, a low number in comparison to pre-pandemic years. 

In a fossil fuel-driven world, more cars mean more gasoline. California accounted for 10 percent of the country’s total motor gasoline consumption in 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. However, a CNN article reported that California’s fuel consumption might drop to new lows over the coming decade, thanks to a new policy that could change transportation in the state and trigger harsher auto emissions laws across the country. 

The policy, approved by the California Air Resources Board in late August, consists of a gradual ban on the sale of gasoline vehicles culminating in a total ban in 2035, a New York Times article stated. The report from CNN clarified that the ban only applies to new vehicles, meaning that used cars and trucks can continue to be sold after the policy takes effect. 

According to a Los Angeles Times article, the policy will cut auto emissions in half by 2040. The article also reports that the policy will have positive health benefits, such as an estimated 1,400 fewer deaths from heart disease and 700 avoided asthma-related emergency room visits. 

The effects of California’s new policy will extend far beyond the state's borders by paving the way for other states to enact similar legislation, a recent article in The Boston Globe said. California’s influence on environmental regulations goes back to the Clean Air Act, a federal law passed in 1970 that created national air quality standards and aims to address a wide range of air pollution sources, according to the EPA. Stipulations in the Clean Air Act prevent states from individually adopting air pollution regulations that are stricter than the national standard. As a populous state with ongoing air quality challenges, California is the exception to this rule and is allowed, by the Clean Air Act, to create tougher regulations. As soon as California’s policies are federally approved, any U.S. state is permitted to adopt them as its own. 

Several states are already moving swiftly toward similar gas-powered vehicle bans. According to PBS, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington are among those states likely to assume California’s policy. For Massachusetts, California’s ban represents a continuation of ongoing efforts to reduce auto emissions rather than a drastic new policy, says The Boston Globe. The article cites Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s endorsement of a strikingly similar ban back in 2020, which can now become an official part of Massachusetts state law thanks to California’s path-clearing legislation.

An important step towards reducing air pollution in the state, an article in Science Magazine points out that California’s transition away from gasoline-powered cars will also pressure electric vehicle manufacturers to address the technology’s challenges. The article states that a common issue with EVs is their slow charging time, with even high-quality chargers taking over 10 hours to charge EV batteries fully. Improvements to either the EV chargers or the EV batteries themselves can and must happen to address this issue, the article said. Scientists have taken up the challenge, but it may be some time before quick-charging EVs are widely available. Science Magazine predicts that the rise in demand for EV batteries resulting from this ban will cause the market to “splinter,” meaning that consumers will someday have a choice between several battery types, each presenting unique characteristics such as high charging capacity or low cost. 

The Los Angeles Times reveals that there is an additional flaw in the policy due to its reputation as a “zero-emission vehicle mandate.” The regulation’s nickname refers to the lack of emissions from vehicles’ engines as they drive but overlooks the emissions that occur during the production of EV batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. The article explains that depending on where a household’s electricity comes from, whether from renewable sources or burning coal, charging EV batteries may still create considerable emissions.

Other concerns surrounding the EV mandate question California's ability to provide large volumes of electricity, as illustrated by an opinion piece written for The Washington Post. Author Megan McArdle calls California’s electric grids “already fragile and prone to blackouts” and questions how they could support an additional rise in demand for a fully electrified auto industry. McArdle offers some solutions to the challenge, including charging cars using household solar panels or encouraging drivers to charge their vehicles overnight when electricity demand is lower. She concludes that without considerable improvements, California’s “overstretched grid” will struggle to support EVs during peak energy use.

The aforementioned Los Angeles Times article explored how the higher cost of EVs will play into California’s policy.  In a discussion with the Times, the chair of the California Air Resources Board revealed that there are ways to address this cost disparity and make buying EVs accessible for low-income residents. Solutions include improving warranties for EVs so that they may become reliable used cars for a lower cost, as well as creating state programs that offer financial aid for EV purchases. Additional measures to ensure equitability in the policy include requiring apartment complexes to provide on-site EV chargers.

Pakistan’s floods demonstrate the damages of climate change

Photo by Rameen Farrukh ’23.
Floods in Pakistan have displaced many and caused severe damage to the country’s infrastructure.

By Anoushka Kuswaha ’24

News Section Editor

Content warning: This article discusses mass death.

Unprecedented rainfall from the summer monsoon season has caused heavy flooding in one-third of Pakistan, according to an article by Nature Magazine. The Worldbank’s Climate Change Knowledge Portal describes a monsoon as a summer rainy season typically lasting from June to September in Pakistan. Nature Magazine reports that the flooding has displaced millions, leaving them in urgent need of food, shelter and medical attention.

According to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund Pakistan has received unprecedented levels of monsoon rains and floods. The rainfall has caused swelling of the Indus River, creating immensely long lakes, CNN reported.

Pakistan is also home to the most glaciers in the world outside of the polar regions. Due to warming climates and higher rainfall, Pakistan’s glaciers are increasingly prone to higher levels of melting, contributing further to flooding, as stated by CNN. 

The deadly floods have engulfed houses, roads and infrastructure, massively impacting sources of livelihood. Due to the flood’s’ effect on land and infrastructure, the Pakistani government expects a decrease in its gross domestic product growth for the fiscal year of 2022-2023 to three percent instead of the initially-projected five percent, according to Reuters. According to Rameen Farrukh ’24, a Mount Holyoke student from Pakistan, the floods have wiped away the entirety of some families’ material possessions. 

PBS reported that upwards of 33 million people have been affected by the flooding. Additionally, a statement by UNICEF calling for donations and aid states that more than 1,100 people have lost their lives due to monsoon rains. The PBS report explained that the Pakistani government has made international appeals for aid through the U.N. to repair the many damages the flooding has caused to the country’s population, infrastructure and economy. According to Reuters, these appeals to the U.N. call for $160 million in aid. According to Al Jazeera, several countries have shown interest in providing aid and relief to Pakistan. Pakistani officials stated that “more than 50 special flights carrying aid have arrived so far in the country and more are scheduled in the coming days.” 

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Pakistan early morning on Friday, Sept. 9, to show support for the Pakistani public in the face of what the U.N. describes as a dire humanitarian crisis, UN News reported. The secretary-general stated that he was “struck by the unquantifiable depths of human suffering” he saw during his visit. 

Guterres reaffirmed his claim that the cause of the crisis is closely linked to climate change, according to an article from UN News. Reuters reported that Pakistan’s government, based in the capital city of Islamabad, echoed these sentiments, blaming climate change for the devastating level of flooding. 

The pledges to support Pakistan by various international governments have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated, Farrukh expressed in an interview with Mount Holyoke News. Farrukh is from the city of Multan in the Punjab province of Pakistan. However, Farrukh expressed doubts regarding the Pakistani government’s ability to fully utilize the aid provided, even if it should remain consistent.

Farrukh maintains a steadfast faith in the work of private Pakistani organizations to collect donations. Farrukh’s father has been deployed by the Pakistani government to coordinate the distribution of medical and food supplies in the city of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab Province. He is also working to establish medical camps and food banks in the district. 

Due to the urgency of the crisis, evacuations are still taking place in “high alert areas in the district,” Farrukh said. Damage to infrastructure, like electricity and utility poles, has meant a lack of contact between Farrukh and her immediate family in Pakistan. Whatever contact has occurred has allowed Farrukh and her family members to gain awareness of the supplies in highest demand, such as “clothes, dry food supplies, baby food, sanitary supplies and tents,” Farrukh explained. 

In a statement by UN News, Secretary-General Guterres described the floods in Pakistan as “climate carnage” and encouraged “massive and urgent financial support for Pakistan.” The Secretary-General added that aid in this time of need was not a matter of “solidarity or generosity” but rather “a question of justice.” Guterres encouraged governments worldwide to consider hastening their actions toward preventing climate change. “Let’s stop sleepwalking toward the destruction of our planet by climate change,” Guterres concluded as he launched the funding appeal. 

In response to how Pakistani students on campus can best be supported at this time, Farrukh stated, “I think being mindful [that] these crises affect different people … in different ways. Some students — if not directly impacted by the flood — are indirectly affected by having their farms and crops flooded … [which] definitely affects the annual income of their family. … For some people, their parents are medical professionals or government officials who are actively working for the flood victims. Kindness is the answer.”,

A situation report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published on Aug. 26, 2022, states that the flooding affected 2 million acres of crops and 793,900 heads of livestock in Pakistan. CNN stated that further secondary damages are consistently emerging, such as difficulties with providing medical care in the wake of damage to over 800 health care institutions being damaged, with around 180 institutions closed due to permanent damage. The lack of medical institutions has created a burgeoning health crisis in the country, with severe outbreaks of “diarrheal diseases, skin infections, respiratory tract infections, malaria and dengue in the aftermath of the floods, as well as a litany of waterborne diseases,” as stated by World Health Organization Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an article by CNN. 

The floods come at a time of political and economic turmoil, a sentiment echoed by young Pakistanis like Farrukh, who believe that while the government “knows the high alert areas that are usually flooded during the monsoon season in Pakistan [they have] not been able to take any solid initiative in preventing populations [from residing] in the dangerous areas. Dams need to be built, but many projects have been hindered due to political unrest and change in governments over the past decade [or] so.”