Short Takes – 4-5-24

Forecasters warn of ‘extremely active’ hurricane season. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “In the forecast, the group said it also “anticipate a well above-average probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States coastline and in the Caribbean.””

‘Alarming’ Ocean Temperatures Suggest This Hurricane Season Will Be a Daunting One. NYTimes.com article (free). Pull quote: “Sea surface temperatures also affect the hurricane season. Over the past century, those temperatures have increased gradually. But last year, with an intensity that unnerved climate scientists, the warming ratcheted up more rapidly. And in the main area where hurricanes form, 2024 is already the warmest in a decade.”

Boulders flung from NASA's DART mission could crash into Mars, study predicts. LiveScience.com article. Pull quote: “But the mission had an unexpected consequence: When the craft collided with Dimorphos, it sent a swarm of 37 boulders measuring up to 22 feet (6.7 meters)  flying into the cosmos.”

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Ethylene Oxide Emissions Standards for Sterilization Facilities Residual Risk and Technology Review. Federal Register EPA final rule. Summary: “This action finalizes the residual risk and technology review (RTR) conducted for the Commercial Sterilization Facilities source category regulated under national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) under the Clean Air Act. The EPA is finalizing decisions concerning the RTR, including definitions for affected sources, emission standards for previously unregulated sources, amendments pursuant to the risk review to address ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions from certain sterilization chamber vents (SCVs), aeration room vents (ARVs), chamber exhaust vents (CEVs), and room air emissions, and amendments pursuant to the technology review for certain SCVs and ARVs.”