Climate Change

The lowest precipitation and highest temperatures ever mark the Southwest's drought

According to a September 24, 2021, article in Live Science, a new report from NOAA’s Drought Task Force says the period from January 2020 through August 2021 saw the lowest total precipitation and the third-highest daily average temperatures ever recorded in the Southwest (which encompasses Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah), resulting in an "unyielding, unprecedented and costly" crisis. According to the Live Science story, “while the drought punctuates a two-decades-long period of declining precipitation in the Southwest that is "presumably natural," human-induced climate change exacerbated the current drought significantly by driving up average temperatures to scorching highs, the report found. Together, the low precipitation and searing temperatures reduced the area's mountain snowpack and increased water evaporation in Southwestern soil, leading to the severe and persistent drought.”

---

China to stop building coal plants abroad

A September 21, 2021, article in Science reports that China will stop building coal plants in other countries. This is important because “China has been up to this date the single biggest financier of new coal power plants across the world.” Even though China is the last government to finance coal projects, financing continues from the private sector, and “87% of global investment in overseas coal plants has come from financial institutions in Japan and the West," according to Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.”

---

Ford to invest $11.4 billion in electric vehicle battery plants

A Facebook friend recently posted a piece debunking the value of the Chevy Volt, an electric car, and saying that we will never say goodbye to good old gasoline-powered cars. The next day, I sent her this September 21, 2021, story from NBC News reporting that Ford will invest $11.4 billion in “new production sites in Tennessee and Kentucky where it plans to build electric pickup trucks and cars — and the batteries to power them — on a massive scale.”

The Political Divide

Is the U.S. allowing one million immigrants in on the southern border?

In a discussion with a good friend, he asked why are we forcing people to get vaccinations when we have let in more than one million immigrants through the southern border with Mexico without any measures to address Covid? He saw this as a weakening of border rules by the current administration. I sent him the most recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) monthly Operational Update.

Yes, more than one million immigrants have tried to enter the U.S. without documentation, but most have been processed for expulsion. The majority are being returned under Title 42, which is a clause in the 1944 Public Health Services Law that "allows the government to prevent the introduction of individuals during certain public health emergencies." Covid is the public health emergency. This is the same protocol used by the previous administration. These undocumented immigrants are provided with personal protective equipment and must wear masks at all times while being detained. Those who are ill with Covid are isolated. Others are processed for expulsion using Title 8 rules, which “refer to the physical control or temporary detainment of a person who is not lawfully in the U.S., which may or may not result in an arrest.”

According to the CBP, “The large number of expulsions during the pandemic has contributed to a larger-than-usual number of migrants making multiple border crossing attempts, which means that total encounters somewhat overstate the number of unique individuals arriving at the border … In July, CBP began a Repeat Offender initiative, under which single adults who have previously been apprehended and deported under Title 8 are referred for prosecution ... Individuals who are not able to be expelled under Title 42 are placed in expedited removal proceedings.” 

Here are the statistics for August: there were 208,887 “encounters” by CBP (i.e., people apprehended or detained). 93,414 (44%) were processed for expulsion under Title 42 and 115,473 were processed for expulsion under Title 8.

---

Understanding the history of the debt ceiling

In the September 21, 2021, issue of her Letters from an American newsletter, Heather Cox Richardson does a fascinating job of describing the history of the debt ceiling. She is an American historian and professor of history at Boston College. The story takes the discussion out of the context of the present political argument and into the perspective of how it came to be and has been addressed in the past.  

The Future of Work / The Economy

How the pandemic changed marketing

As usual, Fortune’s CEO Daily on September 24, 2021, had an insightful piece, this time about how marketing has changed during the pandemic. “Everything changed during the pandemic, and marketing is no exception. In the early days, brands shifted from pushing products to emphasizing purpose in their messaging. As the pandemic wore on, other tricks and trends developed.”  Some interesting takeaways from the Fortune team’s research:

• Advertising soared — with a 19.3% increase in second quarter revenue this year from a year earlier—the biggest jump ever.
• Digital advertising is driving the boom, growing from 48% of media spend in 2019 to 52% in 2020 to a projected 66% by 2024.
• A game about viruses went viral. It’s best played while drinking Corona.
• VTubers—or virtual YouTubers—became a thing globally. These are an ever-growing group of live entertainers streaming video games, daily activities, interactions with fans, etc., behind the cloak of digital avatars.
• Some tech companies turned to low-tech buses and billboards to get attention, as marketing on Facebook and Google lost favor (and got more expensive).
• Covid fatigue is now setting into advertising. Advertisers are turning away from overt references to the virus—no longer depicting people in masks, for instance—but still making subtle nods to pandemic reality—like avoiding shots of packed stadiums or nightclubs.

---

Supply chains are backed up because of labor shortages and congestion

It’s no surprise to many of us who have tried to order products and found that the supply chain for parts to make the products or the delivery of products themselves is backed up. The Wall Street Journal reported in a September 26, 2021, article that “thousands of containers are stuck at the Port of Los Angeles,” and that “the American supply chain has so far failed to adapt to the crush of imports as businesses rush to restock pandemic-depleted inventories.” There is no room at the ports to offload more ships because of the backlog in port storage, resulting in 60 or more ships parked outside of Los Angeles harbor waiting their turn. Numerous reasons are to blame, including the need to work 24/7 shifts, which requires truckers and warehouses to extend their hours, terminal congestion slowing operations, and a shortage of labor. According to the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, ““It has been nearly impossible to get everyone on the same page towards 24/7 operations.”

---

Workers return to work only to spend their days Zooming

A September 27, 2021, article in the Washington Post reports that many workers are going back to the office, only to face “a bizarre new reality: They’re still spending most of their time isolated and glued to their computers for Zoom meetings, email and Slack. With more companies implementing permanent hybrid working options — in which some employees work from home and others in the office — the virtual nature of work may far outlive the pandemic.”

The Nett Light-Side

Woman has taken hooks out of the mouths of 300 sharks

Sometimes the unimaginable becomes the obvious solution. When shark lover Cristina Zenato saw a shark with a hook in its mouth while she was diving, she removed it, and then found others. Then there was one with a hook that was too deep, and she put her hand deep in its mouth to remove it. She reports that after she removes the hooks, they rub against her and allow her to pet them. Other sharks started showing up with hooks in their mouths, and now she has removed hooks from the mouths of 300 sharks. Watch the video!

---

See 20 images from winners of the 2021 Undersea Photographer of the Year contest

The beauty of the ocean is always an attraction to me. These 20 photos showcased in a September 18, 2021, story from Forbes are from the annual Undersea Photographer of the Year contest. The images do a great job of reminding us of the wonders of the sea.

---

Find out how spies can disappear in plain sight

We know that spies receive special training to do their work. This old 2018 article from Wired shares how the CIA trains spies how to hide in plain sight. Maybe, you can, too!

Nettleton Strategies — Helping People to Think

Carl Nettleton is an award-winning writer, acclaimed speaker, facilitator, and a subject-matter expert regarding water, climate, sustainability, the ocean, and binational U.S. Mexico border affairs. Founded in 2007, Nettleton Strategies is a trusted source of analysis and advice on issues at the forefront of public policy, business and the environment.