Daniel Salzler No. 1219 EnviroInsight.org Six Items September 15, 2023
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1. Leaves Are Falling From The Trees: Think Twice Before Tossing Your Leaves. Falling leaves are a sure fire way of seeing that A) your trees need water, and or B) its fall.
Certainly they can be messy, easily tracked into the car or the house in small pieces. Before you rake, bag, mow or blow your leaves, consider composing them. There is practically nothing easier to do.
When shredded and spread across the landscape, dead leaves infuse the soil with more than a dozen vital nutrients, making them much more effective than synthetic fertilizers. They also insulate the soil, retain moisture, suppress weeds and prevent soil compaction.
Avoid spreading whole leaves in a thick layer, which will have a negative effect on your soil, blocking out sunlight and trapping water underneath. Small animals like mice or voles might also be attracted to the dense environment.
Instead shred leaves into small dime size pieces before spreading them on your soil. You can do so, by simply running the leaves over with your lawnmower. You can also use the reverse vacuum function on your leaf blower shredding them in the process.
Flowerbeds and vegetable gardens will thrive with a 2 inch layer of threaded leaves. Trees and shrubs require a deeper layer around 4 inches. If you don’t have a garden or trees to mulch, you can leave your shredded mixture directly on your lawn, the leaves will fall to the base of the grass for best results.
2 . Dust Storms Bring Lots Of “Stuff” Into The House. Some of the material that makes up house dust are: ash (from cigarettes and/or fire places),
fibers (wool, cotton, paper and silk), fingernail filings, food crumbs, glass particles, glue, graphite, animal and human hair, insect fragments, paint chips, plant parts, pollen, polymer foam particles, salt and sugar crystals, human skin scales, animal and human dander, soil, fungal spores, tobacco, bacteria, viruses, and mineral particles from the outside dust itself.
3. Comment Period for Arizona Water Protection Fund Fiscal Year 2024 Grant Applications Now Open
PHOENIX – The Arizona Water Protection Fund* has received grant applications for its fiscal year 2024 funding cycle.
Grant applications are now available for public review at the Arizona Water Protection Fund website at https://www.azwpf.gov/grant-information/fy-2024-grant-cycle or at the Arizona Department of Water Resources physical address described below.
Written comments regarding grant applications may be submitted during the 45-day public comment period, which begins September 12, 2023 and ends October 27, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. Written public comments must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., October 27, 2023. Written comments can be mailed, sent via email, or sent by fax. If mailed, written comments must be postmarked no later than October 27, 2023. Please include application numbers and project titles. For additional information, please contact Reuben Teran, Executive Director at (602) 771-8528.
4. Reminder: CAP Learning Opportunity.
Want to learn more about the large canal that brings water to more than 80 percent of Arizonans.
Do you know how it works? Where the water comes from? How the Colorado River shortage impacts Arizona and what the future holds.
Learn more about the CAP virtually. REGISTER NOW and receive a link to sign-in on the day of the event.. To register for this 2 hour event, go online to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cap-university-tickets-696212298727
5. ‘May I’ vs ‘Can I’ — How to Phrase Formal Questions. Do you know when to use “May I” versus”Can I”? The easiest way to remember is that “may” is asking for permission, and “can” indicates ability. Source: Word Genius
6. Arizona COVID-19 Cases Double Since June, As Virus Rebounds In State. The Arizona Department of Health Services said on Aug. 30 that there had been 3,457 new cases reported in the preceding week, compared to 1,415 in the week before July 2.
While those numbers are not near the 157,541 new cases reported in one week of early January 2022, at the height of the pandemic, experts say there are almost certainly more – and that those numbers are likely to continue rising.
“I’m glad Arizona is counting and has a count that they’re comfortable with,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association. “But I can assure you that’s an undercount, there’s probably more people out there who have been infected.”
Dr. Josh Michaud, the associate director of global health policy at KFF, said that it’s “not really a smart move” to try to predict how long an outbreak might last, given the unpredictability of COVID-19 so far. But he and others say the current summer surge will be followed by a winter spike in cases, a pattern that has been seen in recent years.
Will Humble, the executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, said that it is “nearly impossible” to gather accurate testing data as was done during the height of the pandemic because of the prevalence of self-tests – meaning fewer documented cases.
Benjamin said that, for Arizona, “your hospitalizations … are consistent with what we are seeing nationally. In other words, you’re not having a really high level of people in the hospital, but it’s still too high.”
The good news is that the latest variant of the virus does not appear to be as lethal as previous versions.
“Over the course of time, this virus has become less and less lethal,” Humble said. “If you look at those original strains from 2020 those were pretty lethal strains, even up through Delta (variant), it was fairly lethal.
“Then we got Omicron, which is what dominates these days, which is far less lethal than any other version of the virus, and far more transmissible,” he said.
Experts also said that people seem to be taking the threat seriously, and getting vaccinated when it is appropriate.
“For people with medical conditions
that put them at higher risk, yeah there are things you need to do beyond getting the booster shot, but for the general population I think it’s a matter of getting the booster,” said Humble, who plans to get his booster next month. “It just depends on you, and how much risk you are comfortable with and what your immune system is like.”
Michaud of KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, said the people getting infected now are those who are not up to date on their vaccinations, as well as the elderly and anyone with autoimmune conditions.
“If they are not up to date on their vaccines in particular they’re at some risk for these severe complications and many of the hospitalizations that we are seeing now fall into those categories,” Michaud said.
Many individuals appear to be waiting for the release of the next booster, which the CDC says should be available by mid-September. It will be updated to provide protection against additional strains of the COVID-19 virus, including the Omicron variant XBB.1.5.
Copyright: EnviroInsight 2023
