Tag: disasters and safety

Major storm to bring feet of snow, heavy rain and possible tornadoes | CNN

CNN
—

An atmospheric river event, bringing ample amounts of moisture to the West this weekend, will gradually move across the country and bring hazardous weather to millions.

The blockbuster storm will begin in the West with heavy snow, gusty winds, and coastal flooding, then move eastward, threatening potential blizzard conditions in the Midwest and tornadoes in the South.

Winter weather alerts are in place for more than 10 million people across nearly a dozen states from California to Minnesota Sunday.

Snow could top out at 1 to 2 feet in the Rockies, and 3 to 5 feet in the Sierras by the end of the weekend. Heavy rain will also be notable in the West, particularly in California, where flooding concerns exist through Sunday.

An atmospheric river is a plume of moisture which streams in off the Pacific Ocean. Similar to a fire hose, it shoots moisture into one area for an extended period of time, resulting in very heavy rain or snow.

Most coastal communities will pick up 1 to 3 inches of rain through the weekend, and some areas of northern and central California could receive 3 to 5 inches of rain in total. Coastal erosion and flooded roadways will be the main concerns.

“Additional heavy rains may result in isolated runoff issues, especially across recent burn scars,” the Weather Prediction Center said.

Wind advisories and high wind warnings are also in places across several western states as gusts of 45 to 55 mph are possible.

This same storm system is forecast to track into the Rockies by Monday morning, bringing with it heavy mountain snow, before heading into the eastern half of the country.

“As the system moves into the Plains early next week, a springlike storm system develops,” Chad Myers, CNN Meteorologist said. “Significant severe weather will occur in the warm air across the South and a major snow and ice event will happen in the western Great Lakes and northern Plains.”

For the northern Plains and Midwest, the threat for blizzard conditions is increasing, as significant snow, strong winds, ice and freezing rain will all be possible early next week from Colorado through Wisconsin.

CNN Weather

“A winter storm is expected to impact the Northern Plains Monday night through Thursday,” the National Weather Service office in Bismarck, North Dakota said. “Difficult travel conditions are expected Monday night through Wednesday night from heavy snow, reduced visibility, and drifting snow.”

Heavy snow and strong winds will be the main concerns, but freezing rain and ice are also possible.

If winds are at least 35 mph and visibility is less than one quarter of a mile for at least three hours, it could result in a full-blown blizzard across the region.

Widespread snow accumulations across the northern Plains and Midwest will be 4 to 8 inches, and some locations could pick up in excess of one foot through Friday of next week.

“While some uncertainty persists, confidence is increasing that strong winds and significant snows will produce hazardous impacts across much of the Central/Northern Plains and into the Upper Midwest,” the prediction center said.

Slick roadways and near-whiteout conditions will make travel very difficult if not impossible at times for some of these areas. Power outages will also be possible due to very strong winds.

The threat for severe storms is also increasing across the southern Plains and Gulf Coast region including tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds.

“While tornadoes in December are relatively uncommon when compared to the springtime, they are often more likely across portions of the Southeast and Lower Mississippi Valley, where there is often a secondary peak in the fall and winter,” Matthew Elliott, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center, told CNN.

CNN Weather

The severe storm potential begins Monday night across Oklahoma and northern Texas, gradually spreading into Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi on Tuesday.

Severe storms will likely continue Tuesday overnight across the Gulf Coast region. Nocturnal tornadoes are more dangerous because many people are asleep and unaware they need to be seeking a safe location.

While the greater tornado threat exists during the day, there is still the possibility for a few rotating storms through the evening hours.

By Wednesday, the greatest threat exists for an area from New Orleans to Panama City, Florida.

“The details regarding the areas most at risk from tornadoes will become clearer as the event approaches and smaller-scale trends become more evident,” Elliott said.

Because the forecast can change it is important to pay attention to developments in the coming days.

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December 11, 2022
A trash heap 62 meters high shows the scale of India’s climate challenge | CNN

New Delhi
CNN
—

At the Bhalswa landfill in northwest Delhi, a steady flow of jeeps zigzag up the trash heap to dump more garbage on a pile now over 62 meters (203 feet) high.

Fires caused by heat and methane gas sporadically break out – the Delhi Fire Service Department has responded to 14 fires so far this year – and some deep beneath the pile can smolder for weeks or months, while men, women and children work nearby, sifting through the rubbish to find items to sell.

Some of the 200,000 residents who live in Bhalswa say the area is uninhabitable, but they can’t afford to move and have no choice but to breathe the toxic air and bathe in its contaminated water.

Bhalswa is not Delhi’s largest landfill. It’s about three meters lower than the biggest, Ghazipur, and both contribute to the country’s total output of methane gas.

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, but a more potent contributor to the climate crisis because methane traps more heat. India creates more methane from landfill sites than any other country, according to GHGSat, which monitors methane via satellites.

And India comes second only to China for total methane emissions, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Global Methane Tracker.

As part of his “Clean India” initiative, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said efforts are being made to remove these mountains of garbage and convert them into green zones. That goal, if achieved, could relieve some of the suffering of those residents living in the shadows of these dump sites – and help the world lower its greenhouse gas emissions.

India wants to lower its methane output, but it hasn’t joined the 130 countries who have signed up to the Global Methane Pledge, a pact to collectively cut global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Scientists estimate the reduction could cut global temperature rise by 0.2% – and help the world reach its target of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

India says it won’t join because most of its methane emissions come from farming – some 74% from farm animals and paddy fields versus less than 15% from landfill.

In a statement last year, Minister of State for Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change Ashwini Choubey said pledging to reduce India’s total methane output could threaten the livelihood of farmers and affect India’s trade and economic prospects.

But it’s also facing challenges in reducing methane from its steaming mounds of trash.

When Narayan Choudhary, 72, moved to Bhalswa in 1982, he said it was a “beautiful place,” but that all changed 12 years later when the first rubbish began arriving at the local landfill.

In the years since, the Bhalswa dump has grown nearly as tall as the historic Taj Mahal, becoming a landmark in its own right and an eyesore that towers over surrounding homes, affecting the health of people who live there.

Choudhary suffers from chronic asthma. He said he nearly died when a large fire broke out at Bhalswa in April that burned for days. “I was in terrible shape. My face and nose were swollen. I was on my death bed,” he said.

“Two years ago we protested … a lot of residents from this area protested (to get rid of the waste),” Choudhary said. “But the municipality didn’t cooperate with us. They assured us that things will get better in two years but here we are, with no relief.”

The dump site exhausted its capacity in 2002, according to a 2020 report on India’s landfills from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), a nonprofit research agency in New Delhi, but without government standardization in recycling systems and greater industry efforts to reduce plastic consumption and production, tonnes of garbage continue to arrive at the site daily.

Bhalswa isn’t the only dump causing distress to residents nearby – it is one of three landfills in Delhi, overflowing with decaying waste and emitting toxic gases into the air.

Across the country, there are more than 3,100 landfills. Ghazipur is the biggest in Delhi, standing at 65 meters (213 feet), and like Bhalswa, it surpassed its waste capacity in 2002 and currently produces huge amounts of methane.

According to GHGSat, on a single day in March, more than two metric tons of methane gas leaked from the site every hour.

“If sustained for a year, the methane leak from this landfill would have the same climate impact as annual emissions from 350,000 US cars,” said GHGSat CEO Stephane Germain.

Methane emissions aren’t the only hazard that stem from landfills like Bhalswa and Ghazipur. Over decades, dangerous toxins have seeped into the ground, polluting the water supply for thousands of residents living nearby.

In May, CNN commissioned two accredited labs to test the ground water around the Bhalswa landfill. And according to the results, ground water within at least a 500-meter (1,600-foot) radius around the waste site is contaminated.

In the first lab report, levels of ammonia and sulphate were significantly higher than acceptable limits mandated by the Indian government.

Results from the second lab report showed levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) – the amount of inorganic salts and organic matter dissolved in the water – detected in one of the samples was almost 19 times the acceptable limit, making it unsafe for human drinking.

The Bureau of Indian Standards sets the acceptable limit of TDS at 500 milligrams/liter, a figure roughly seen as “good” by the World Health Organization (WHO). Anything over 900 mg/l is considered “poor” by the WHO, and over 1,200 mg/l is “unacceptable.”

According to Richa Singh from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), the TDS of water taken near the Bhalswa site was between 3,000 and 4,000 mg/l. “This water is not only unfit for drinking but also unfit for skin contact,” she said. “So it can’t be used for purposes like bathing or cleaning of the utensils or cleaning of the clothes.”

Dr. Nitesh Rohatgi, the senior director of medical oncology at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, urged the government to study the health of the local population and compare it to other areas of the city, “so that in 15 to 20 years’ time, we are not looking back and regretting that we had a higher cancer incidence, higher health hazards, higher health issues and we didn’t look back and correct them in time.”

Most people in Bhalswa rely on bottled water for drinking, but they use local water for other purposes – many say they have no choice.

“The water we get is contaminated, but we have to helplessly store it and use it for washing utensils, bathing and at times drinking too,” said resident Sonia Bibi, whose legs are covered in a thick, red rash.

Jwala Prashad, 87, who lives in a small hut in an alleyway near the landfill, said the pile of putrid trash had made his life “a living hell.”

“The water we use is pale red in color. My skin burns after bathing,” he said, as he tried to soothe red gashes on his face and neck.

“But I can’t afford to ever leave this place,” he added.

More than 2,300 tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste arrive at Delhi’s largest dump in Ghazipur every day, according to a report released in July by a joint committee formed to find a way to reduce the number of fires at the site.

That’s the bulk of the waste from the surrounding area – only 300 tonnes is processed and disposed of by other means, the report said. And less than 7% of legacy waste had been bio-mined, which involves excavating, treating and potentially reusing old rubbish.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi deploys drones every three months to monitor the size of the trash heap and is experimenting with ways to extract methane from the trash mountain, the report said.

But too much rubbish is arriving every day to keep up. The committee said bio-mining had been “slow and tardy” and it was “highly unlikely” the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (which has now merged with North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations) would achieve its target of “flattening the garbage mountain” by 2024.

“No effective plans to reduce the height of the garbage mountain have been made,” the report said. Furthermore, “it should have proposed a long time ago that future dumping of garbage in them would pollute the groundwater systems,” the report added.

CNN sent a series of questions along with the data from the water testing questionnaire to India’s Environment and Health Ministries. There has been no response from the ministries.

In a 2019 report, the Indian government recommended ways to improve the country’s solid waste management, including formalizing the recycling sector and installing more compost plants in the country.

While some improvements have been made, such as better door-to-door garbage collection and processing of waste, Delhi’s landfills continue to accumulate waste.

In October, the National Green Tribunal fined the state government more than $100 million for failing to dispose of more than 30 million metric tonnes of waste across its three landfill sites.

“The problem is Delhi doesn’t have a concrete solid waste action plan in place,” said Singh from the CSE. “So we are talking here about dump site remediation and the treatment of legacy waste, but imagine the fresh waste which is generated on a regular basis. All of that is getting dumped everyday into these landfills.”

“(So) let’s say you are treating 1,000 tons of legacy (waste) and then you are dumping 2,000 tons of fresh waste every day it will become a vicious cycle. It will be a never ending process,” Singh said.

“Management of legacy waste, of course, is mandated by the government and is very, very important. But you just can’t start the process without having an alternative facility of fresh waste. So that’s the biggest challenge.”

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December 10, 2022
Concerns of ‘more landslides’ in Southern California after portion of cliff collapses onto beach | CNN

CNN
—

No injuries were reported after part of a cliff collapsed onto a beach Friday in coastal Palos Verdes Estates in Los Angeles County, the Southern California city said in a statement.

The landslide, at 10 a.m. local time, forced the closure of the beach and comes as an atmospheric river event – or a plume of moisture streaming in from the Pacific Ocean – is expected to bring heavy rain up and down the West Coast over the weekend.

The potent storm system could mean more danger in the area in the coming days, geologist Pat Abbott told CNN affiliate KCBS-TV.

“Sea levels are rising, gravity is pulling, and now when you talk about heavy rains coming in this week, might that be a danger? Oh definitely. That’s going to add to the problem,” Abbott said.

Abbott told the station a big landslide is typically followed by “a lot more landslides.” His advice to locals: “Back off.”

KCBS-TV footage showed part of the hillside crumbling onto the beach, unleashing a massive dust cloud as rocks and debris pushed a pickup truck across the sand. The pickup was unoccupied. At least one home was evacuated, the station reported.

City officials and geologists were reviewing “soil, rock, and groundwater conditions to evaluate the safety of the area and nearby structures,” according to the statement.

Most coastal communities will pick up 1 to 3 inches of rain through the weekend, and some areas of northern and central California could receive 3 to 5 inches of rain in total. Coastal erosion and flooded roadways are a major concern.

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December 10, 2022
One dead, dozen missing after explosion at apartment block on Channel island of Jersey | CNN

CNN
—

One person died Saturday and several are missing after an explosion and fire at an apartment building on the British self-governing island of Jersey.

Chief officer of the States of Jersey Police, Robin Smith, told a press conference that two people were being treated in hospital after the incident in the island’s capital of St Helier, adding “around a dozen” residents were still missing.

Local police were alerted to the incident just before 4 a.m. local time, Smith said, adding emergency services then responded to the scene and extinguished the fire.

The three-story building has “completely collapsed,” Smith confirmed, describing the situation as a “devastating scene.”

He said a number of flats had been evacuated, adding that between 20 and 30 people had been taken to a nearby town hall for shelter.

A search and rescue operation for those unaccounted for has commenced, Smith added.

Jersey is an island territory off the northwest coast of France, which is a possession of the British Crown, but not part of the United Kingdom itself.

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December 10, 2022
White House Security Breaches Fast Facts | CNN Politics

CNN
—

Here’s a selected list of White House intrusions and security breaches.

The White House grounds include 18 acres of land. That and the adjacent 52-acre Ellipse to the south belong to President’s Park, a national park.

The Secret Service is in charge of White House security.

According to the White House Historical Society, US President Thomas Jefferson was the first to put a fence around the White House. Over the years, the fence has been updated and fortified, with the wrought-iron fences of the 19th century having been replaced in the 1930s by a steel fence with tall bronze spears atop it. Most of the fence is currently about six feet six inches tall, and is undergoing an eight-phase replacement with an approximately 13 foot tall fence which began in July 2019.

Security became especially tighter during World War II. After a truck-bomb attack on the US Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983, low concrete walls were put up around the White House. Bollards – sturdy, vertical posts that can stop vehicles – were added a few years later.

“Security incidents occur frequently,” according to a 2015 House of Representatives report. Data from the Secret Service included in the report show that there were 104 security breaches or attempted breaches between April 2005 and April 15, 2015.

April 13, 1912 – On his second attempt to enter the White House to see President William Howard Taft, Michael Winter makes it several feet inside the front door before being noticed.

September 26, 1963 – Doyle Allen Hicks rams his pickup truck through the gates and drives up to within 25 feet of the North Portico main entrance. When stopped, he tells guards that he must see the president, because communists are taking over his state, North Carolina.

February 17, 1974 – Robert K. Preston, an Army private, steals a helicopter from Fort Meade, Maryland. He hovers over the Washington Monument and White House grounds before leading two state police helicopters on an aerial chase around Maryland and Washington, DC. After more than an hour, Preston heads back to the White House, according to a state police officer. Officers shoot at the helicopter, forcing Preston to land. He reportedly was upset about flunking out of flight school.

February 22, 1974 – Samuel Joseph Byck tries to hijack a Delta passenger jet at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, with the plan to crash it into the White House. He forces his way on to the plane, killing an airport policeman and the copilot. Byck is killed by police before takeoff.

December 25, 1974 – Marshall Fields crashes his automobile through the Northwest Gate and drives it close to the North Portico. He threatens to blow himself up with explosives he has strapped to his body, which later turn out to be flares. After four hours of negotiation, Fields surrenders to officials.

November 26, 1975 – Gerald Gainous Jr. makes his way over the fence, hides for two hours on the grounds undetected and is able to get within five feet of Susan Ford, President Gerald Ford’s daughter. Gainous jumps the fence three more times within the next year.

July 25, 1976 – Chester Plummer Jr. climbs over the White House fence carrying a metal pipe and starts running toward the White House. A guard chases him, yelling at him to stop. When he doesn’t, the guard shoots and kills him. Plummer’s motive is not discovered.

October 1978 – A barefoot man wearing a karate uniform and carrying a Bible with a knife hidden inside, scales the White House fence. He slashes two officers before White House guards are able to subdue him. The suspect, Anthony Henry, reportedly wanted to convince President Jimmy Carter to remove the phrase “In God We Trust” from US currency.

January 20, 1985 – Robert Latta, a meter-reader from Denver, follows the Marine Band into the White House before President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration ceremony. Latta wanders around the mansion for about 15 minutes before being arrested in the dining room.

September 12, 1994 – A man flying a stolen Cessna plane enters the prohibited airspace around the White House and crashes on the lawn just south of the Executive Mansion. The pilot, identified as Frank Eugene Corder, dies in the crash.

October 29, 1994 – Francisco Martin Duran, armed with a semiautomatic rifle, fires at least 29 rounds at the White House from the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue. Duran is later convicted of attempting to kill President Bill Clinton.

May 23, 1995 – Leland W. Modjeski is shot by the Secret Service after climbing over a security fence and running toward the White House with a handgun that was later determined to be unloaded.

February 7, 2001 – Robert Pickett, an accountant who was fired from the IRS in the 1980s, fires shots outside the White House. Secret Service agents shoot him in the leg after a standoff lasting more than 10 minutes at the White House fence. President George W. Bush was not endangered, White House officials say later.

January 18, 2005 – Lowell Timmers, of Cedar Springs, Michigan, threatens to blow up his van in front on the White House, two days before Bush’s second inauguration, saying he has an explosive substance in the vehicle. The FBI, Secret Service and other authorities evacuate nearby buildings and shut down several blocks. Four hours pass before Timmers, who had demanded that his son-in-law be released from jail, surrenders.

April 9, 2006 – Brian Lee Patterson from New Mexico jumps the White House fence and makes it well inside the grounds before being stopped. It is the fourth time he has jumped the fence.

November 24, 2009 – A publicity-seeking Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, sneak into a White House dinner. The uninvited guests finesse their way through a security checkpoint staffed by uniformed Secret Service officers, according to congressional testimony by the agency’s director Mark Sullivan. Sullivan apologizes for the breach, saying agents violated protocol by allowing the Salahis to enter without verifying that they were on the guest list.

November 11, 2011 – A gunman fires an assault rifle at the White House, hitting the residential wing of the building at least seven times. Secret Service supervisors fail to recognize the danger, dismissing the gunfire as a gang-related shootout rather than an attack on the White House, according to the Washington Post. Four days later, a housekeeper and a White House usher spot bullet holes in the residence. Five days after the shooting, the gunman, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is arrested at a Pennsylvania hotel. In 2014, Ortega-Hernandez is sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.

October 3, 2013 – An unarmed woman is shot and killed by a Secret Service agent and a Capitol police officer after she drives toward a security checkpoint near the White House, hits a barricade and speeds away. The woman is a 34-year-old mother battling postpartum depression, according to her sister. Her one-year-old daughter, seated in the back of the car during the chase, is unharmed.

September 11, 2014 – A man wearing Pokemon gear and carrying a plush doll of the character Pikachu makes it over the White House fence and onto the north lawn, where he is apprehended. He is later identified as Jeffrey Grossman.

September 19, 2014 – After jumping the White House fence, 42-year-old Omar Gonzalez, of Copperas Cove, Texas, gets through the North Portico doors with a three-and-a-half-inch folding knife in his pants pocket, according to the Secret Service. In early accounts of the incident, the Secret Service claims the intruder didn’t get past the portico doors. Days later, the Washington Post reveals the man had actually made his way past the front entrance, through the main hall and into the East Room, where he was apprehended.

October 22, 2014 – Dominic Adesanya, 23, of Bel Air, Maryland, jumps the White House fence and barely makes it onto the lawn before he is subdued as he fights off two police dogs, according to the Secret Service. Adesanya, who suffers from mental health problems, had been arrested in a previous White House breach, his father later says.

January 26, 2015 – The Secret Service locks down the White House shortly after 3 a.m. after an officer spots a drone flying above the White House grounds before crashing on the southeast side of the complex. An employee of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a government entity with mapping and national security duties, later calls the Secret Service and admits that he was operating the drone for fun.

April 19, 2015 – Jerome R. Hunt, of Hayward, California, climbs the fence on the south side of the White House complex while carrying a suspicious package, later deemed harmless, and is cornered by security dogs.

November 26, 2015 – The Secret Service stops a man draped in an American flag after he jumps a White House fence during a Thanksgiving celebration at the executive mansion.

April 1, 2016 – A man tosses a backpack over the north fence and then jumps over, himself, and is immediately arrested. His name is not released to the public.

March 10, 2017 – A man carrying a backpack with mace and a letter for President Donald Trump makes it onto the grounds and roams for more than 15 minutes before he is discovered and arrested by a Secret Service officer near the south entrance. The suspect, identified in court records as Jonathan T. Tran, 26, of California, tells the agency’s officers that he was there to see the president.

March 21, 2017 – Marci Anderson Wahl of Everett, Washington, jumps a fence on the south side but gets stuck. Officers find her hanging by her shoelaces, which were “caught on top of the fence,” according to a police report. Wahl is arrested two more times within the next week, near the Treasury Building and in Lafayette Park.

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December 10, 2022
China Eastern takes delivery of the world’s first made-in-China C919 jet | CNN Business

The world’s first C919, a Chinese-made narrowbody jet, was delivered to launch customer China Eastern Airlines

(CEA) in Shanghai on Friday and took off for a 15-minute flight to mark the historic moment.

The plane, a rival to the Airbus

(EADSY) A320neo and Boeing

(BA) 737 MAX single-aisle jet families, is expected to make its maiden commercial flight next spring, according to state-owned Xinhua News Agency.

It was certified for safe operations in September and mass production in November.

The plane, delivered to China Eastern, has 164 seats and was painted with “the world’s first C919” on its side in Chinese and English. Its maiden route will be between Shanghai and the capital Beijing, industry sources have said.

China Eastern said Friday it plans to receive the remaining four of its first batch of C919 orders over the next two years, according to Shanghai’s The Paper, a state-owned newspaper. That compares with earlier plans to get all four next year.

The airline did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

China’s narrowbody jet ambitions intensified over the last few years amid conflicts with the United States from trade to technology that made China increasingly concerned about being overly dependent on Airbus and Boeing.

Commercial Aviation Corp of China (COMAC) is expected to produce around 25 C919s per year by 2030, far lower than the current monthly rates of narrowbody production at its rivals, according to Jefferies analysts.

COMAC did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The C919 currently relies heavily on Western components, including engines and flight control systems, from companies such as GE

(GE), Safran

(SAFRF), and Honeywell International

(HON).

China is trying to raise the proportion of domestic parts in the C919 and an alternative engine called the CJ-1000A is under development.

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December 8, 2022
As Mauna Loa’s lava inches toward a key Hawaii highway, some residents recall bygone devastation | CNN

Mauna Loa, Hawaii
CNN
—

From a deep fracture in Mauna Loa’s dark terrain, the volcano’s magnificent eruption sends geyser-like fountains of lava spraying into the sky.

The fissure – cracked open on the northeastern slope of the world’s largest active volcano – feeds a searing flow of molten rock that cuts through the contours of Hawaii’s Big Island. Plumes of volcanic gas, including sulfur dioxide, rise into the air, and delicate strands of volcanic glass, called Pele’s hair, float downwind.

In the week since Mauna Loa erupted, the stream of lava has coursed northeast, away from the volcano’s summit. Once a quick-moving stream, the flow has slowed significantly as it reaches more softly sloping inclines.

Though no communities are at risk, the lava flow is inching closer to the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, a major artery that remains open, connecting two sides of this island, according to the US Geological Survey. The lava is flowing at an average rate of 25 feet per hour, the agency said Monday.

“Though the advance rate has slowed over the past several days, the lava flow remains active with a continuous supply from the fissure 3 vent,” the release said.

Advance rates of the lava may be “highly variable” in the coming days and weeks with individual lobes advancing quickly and then stalling, the release said.

“If the eruption continues, it might cover the highway. But at this stage, it’s still about 2.3 miles away from the highway. But it is advancing every day,” said Natalia Deligne, a volcanologist with the USGS at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. “We don’t know how long this eruption is going to last, and that will dictate whether or not the highway becomes more threatened.”

If it closes, residents’ commutes could grow by hours as they seek alternate routes, creating “a tremendous inconvenience,” Hawaii Gov. David Ige told CNN on Saturday.

Hawaii’s Defense Department activated 20 members of the state’s National Guard Monday as a result of the lava flow from Mauna Loa, a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency statement said. The National Guard members will “assist Hawai’i County with traffic control and other roles in the Mauna Loa eruption,” according to the statement.

Mauna Loa’s eruption has attracted waves of awestruck visitors, some making the pilgrimage in the middle of the night to avoid the crowds, bundled in jackets and hats to protect against the chilly night air.

Also erupting now is nearby Kilauea, whose monthslong eruption in 2018 was one of the most destructive in recent Hawaii history, the USGS says.

Kilauea began erupting again in 2021 and hasn’t stopped. And though it poses no risk now to surrounding communities, Mauna Loa’s rare simultaneous eruption has rekindled memories of the pain and destruction Kilauea wrought four years ago, when it wiped out hundreds of homes and dozens of miles of road.

Just 21 miles east of Mauna Loa, Kilauea’s ongoing eruption is now confined to a lake of lava rippling at its summit. But the history of this volcano is painful for Hawaii’s Big Island.

Its 2018 eruption spewed lava into the large Leilani Estates neighborhood, swallowing more than 700 homes and surrounding others with thick layers of volcanic rock, creating unreachable patches of green foliage in a sea of blackened destruction.

Dorothy Thrall can still walk to the spot where her community once stood, now blanketed with hardened lava. From the deck of her friend’s home, she can see the edge where the lava stopped and blackened into volcanic rock, still steaming years afterward.

Mauna Loa’s eruption has reopened some of the wounds she and her friends still have from 2018.

“I thought I was doing pretty good,” Thrall said. “My neighbor called me Day 2 (of Mauna Loa’s eruption), and she was in tears. She says, ‘I have PTSD, and I didn’t even know it.’ And I started crying, too, and I said, ‘I guess I do, too.’”

Thrall has no desire to see Mauna Loa’s eruption, saying she has seen enough lava in her time. Still, though, she still appreciates the majestic beauty and importance of volcanic events.

“Lava is beautiful. It’s Pele’s creation,” she said, referencing the ancient Hawaiian volcano deity. “That’s how the island was formed. That’s how the island was built.”

For many Native Hawaiians, the eruption of volcanoes, including Kilauea and Mauna Loa, holds incredible spiritual significance. Some have honored this week’s occasion by leaving offerings and participating in traditional chants near Mauna Loa.

As onlookers and tourists flock, officials urge caution and advise people not to venture into closed areas that could pose risk of lethal volcanic fumes, sudden collapses and hidden earth cracks, the National Park Service said.

A spot for safe viewing is a one-way route is accessible through the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said, noting vehicles parked on the roadway could get ticketed or towed.

The eruption has also created a risk of low air quality in some places due to volcanic ash and vog, or air pollution caused by volcanic gases. Sensitive groups, including children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions, are advised to reduce outdoor activities that cause heavy breathing and reduce exposure by staying indoors and closing windows and doors, according to the Hawaii Department of Health.

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December 5, 2022
Axl Rose will stop tossing mic after a fan was reportedly injured | CNN

CNN
—

Axl Rose is ending a 30-year Guns N’ Roses tradition.

The band’s frontman recently posted a note saying on social media that he would no longer be tossing his microphone into the crowd during their concerts after it came to his attention that a fan may have been hurt at their recent show in Adelaide, Australia.

“If true, obviously we don’t want anyone getting hurt or to somehow in any way hurt anyone at any of [our] shows anyway,” Rose wrote in a note he tweeted. “Having tossed the mic at the end of [our] show for over 30 years we always felt it was a known part of the very end of [our] performance that fans wanted and were aware of to have an opportunity to catch the mic.”

He thanked the band’s supporters for understanding.

“Unfortunately there [are] those that for their own reasons chose to frame their reporting regarding this subject in a more negative n’ irresponsible out of nowhere light which couldn’t [be] farther from reality,” Rose said. “We hope the public and of course [our] fans get that sometimes happens.”

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December 5, 2022
Indonesia raises alert after Mount Semeru volcano erupts | CNN

CNN
—

Indonesia raised its warning to the highest level on Sunday after Mount Semeru, a volcano in its East Java province, erupted, prompting evacuations of nearby residents.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the plume from the volcano reached 15 kilometers (roughly 50,000 feet) into the air.

The agency said in a statement Sunday it is monitoring for the possibility of a tsunami, but that no significant tide level changes had been observed at observation points in Japan and overseas.

Indonesia’s disaster management agency (BNPB) advised people not to carry out activities within a 5-kilometer (roughly 3 mile) radius from the top of Mount Semeru and said nearly 100 residents have evacuated.

There have been no reports of injuries or deaths so far.

Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, PVMBG, said in a statement the alert level of volcanic activity had been raised to the highest Level IV from Level III.

Mount Semeru, which lies around 500 miles (800 kilometers ) southeast of the capital Jakarta, began erupting at 2:46 am local time Sunday (2:46pmET Saturday), according to BNPB. Videos shared by BNPB showed nearby villages blanketed in grey ash.

The evacuation of people, which includes children and seniors, living near the volcano in East Java province is underway with 93 residents so far evacuated to shelters, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, BNPB said in a statement seen by Reuters news agency.

With the raised alert level, authorities warned residents not to conduct any activities within 8 km (5 miles) of Semeru’s eruption centre, adding hot ash clouds had reached as far as 11.8 miles (19 km) from the center of the eruption.

PVMBG chief Hendra Gunawan said the agency saw the potential for a bigger supply of magma this year compared to previous eruptions in 2021 and 2020.

“Therefore Semeru’s hot clouds could reach further (this year) and at that distance there are many residences,” he said.

Java is the largest population center in Indonesia’s massive island archipelago and home to the capital city of Jakarta. Standing at more than 12,000 feet high, Mount Semeru is the tallest mountain on Java.

The eruption on the eastern part of Java follows a series of earthquakes on the west of the island, including one last month that killed more than 300 people.

The deadly late-November quake that hit West Java’s Cianjur was a shallow temblor of 5.6 magnitude. A much deeper quake on Saturday in Gurat of 6.1 magnitude sent people running from buildings but did not cause major damage.

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December 4, 2022
6.1-magnitude earthquake strikes Indonesian island of Java | CNN

CNN
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An earthquake of 6.1 magnitude hit Indonesia’s West Java province on Saturday, the country’s geophysics agency BMKG said.

According to the BMKG, the epicenter of the earthquake was on land and there is no potential for a tsunami.

One person was injured while four houses and a school were damaged in the town of Garut, according to the country’s National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB).

There have been no reports of aftershocks. However, the head of the BNPB, Major-General Suharyanto, has asked residents to remain calm, alert and careful, adding that a response team will be sent to assess needs.

“In response to the earthquake that happened earlier, once again, remain calm, alert but there is no need to stop your daily activities,” Suharyanto said.

“According to the BMKG, this earthquake was quite deep. Based on the experience of previous earthquakes, with a depth of more than 60 kilometers, moreover this is above 100 kilometers, it is expected that the impact… won’t be too damaging,” Suharyanto added.

It comes after a deadly magnitude-5.6 earthquake shook West Java on November 21, with a final death toll of 334. The search and rescue operation following November’s earthquake has ended, the BNPB said Saturday.

Final details on the total number of injured and people displaced are yet to be released.

Suharyanto said 56,320 houses were damaged in that quake, more than a third of them badly. Other damaged buildings included 31 schools, 124 places of worship and three health facilities.

Indonesia sits on the “Ring of Fire,” a band around the Pacific Ocean that sets off frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. One of the most seismically active zones on the planet, it stretches from Japan and Indonesia on one side of the Pacific to California and South America on the other.

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December 3, 2022

Best standing desks of 2022 | CNN Underscored

Whether you’re a professional, a student or somewhere in between, the “new normal” has meant trading in a proper desk for a work-from-home space. It could be your kitchen tablet, a small hallway turned into an office or even tossing together something in the bedroom. But what about a standing desk or convertor desk? The trend that has taken the professional industry by storm is now readily available — with literally countless options — and could be the perfect solution for working from home.

That’s why we’ve been testing a handful of standing desks for months on end — from assembly to entire days spent on each — to find the best one for you.

Best standing desk

Best standing desk overall

The Branch Adjustable Standing Desk is a near-perfect desk that can handle multiple monitors, dual laptops and a plethora of knickknacks. It’s also incredibly sturdy, with one of the best builds we’ve encountered.

Branch’s standing desk might only come in two sizes and a handful of colors, but it doesn’t corner the product into oblivion. Instead, it keeps a high level of craftsmanship in a standing desk that ultimately rises above the best with seamless motion, a sturdy build and a design that doesn’t distract.

It starts with the desktop — in this case, a 48-inch wide by 30-inch depth particle board laminate. You can also opt for white or a dark walnut finish. Either route, though, you’re stuck with a set of legs in white. What’s especially lovely about the Branch option is that the depth is wider than the average desk. This makes it easy for multiple monitors, a laptop (maybe a tablet as well), a notebook with plenty of room to spare.

Furthermore, the desk’s front edge has a comfortable rounded bevel, making it pleasant to rest your arms on or lean into it without the feeling of a sharp corner jutting into your abdomen. During our testing, spills of water, coffee and never stained the finish, nor did the tabletop scratch. The side edges did peel a bit and showed some scuffs — but from pretty unnatural, heavy bangs.

The Branch also features a metal plate in the center rear of the desk that can either tilt backward or forward to reveal a brush system, through which you can snugly run cables to keep them tidy — and it even kept loose Lightning and USB-C cables from falling through.

While it’s not curved with an ergonomic cutout in the front like our previous overall pick — the ApexDesk Elite Series — we feel the Branch Standing Desk is a better overall package. Setup as a whole took about 20 minutes, and found a drill sped things up a bit. Branch does include all the necessary tools in the box and can be done with ease. The desk comes in two boxes — one with the legs and one that’s the desktop, and the directions were clear and thorough.

Heights range from 25 to 52 inches, and you can make adjustments by the centimeter at most heights. Whether adjusting up or down, the transition was one of the smoothest we tested no matter how heavy the items we had atop the desk. The Branch comes standard with a control switch that’s on the left-hand side that features an LED dot display showing the exact height, an up and a down switch and four presets. Those presets are easy to set and one touch to operate.

The Branch was also one of the sturdiest desks we tested, never rocking side to side or back and forth.

Best customizable standing desk

The Uplift V2-Commercial Standing Desk offers the widest breadth of customization out of any standing desk we’ve encountered, from size to finish to keypads — in addition to being a high-quality desk.

Read our review

Best budget standing desk

The SHW Electric Height-Adjustable Computer Desk is a surprisingly functional, sturdy desk at an incredibly affordable price, comparatively. It was a breeze to assemble, comes with a cable management tray and features a digital keypad with memory presets.

Read our review

	Best standing desk overall	Most customizable standing desk	Best budget standing desk
What we loved about it	The Branch Adjustable Standing Desk is a near-perfect desk — the sturdiest we tested (no matter the height) and one of the most comfortable to belly-up to thanks to its a slightly diagonally cut finish in the front. Setup took just 20 minutes.	We value choice. And with such an investment, we appreciated Uplift’s customizability — from size to finish to keypads — that ensures you’re getting the exact desk you want.	We were surprised by just how sturdy this affordable desk was once assembled, with minimal wobble from front to back and side to side at all heights. The this desk moves smoothly up and down without a hitch. Setup took just 25 minutes.
What we didn’t like about it	While you can choose from several finishes for the desktop, you’re stuck with white legs. Also, the side edges did peel a bit and showed some scuffs — but from pretty unnatural, heavy bangs.	The Uplift was one of the toughest desks to assemble, thanks to and assembly took nearly an hour due to all the parts required. Expect an hour-plus of assembly time.	We should note that the desktop is actually two planks of wood rather than one solid piece as the product photos may lead you to believe. Certainly looks and feels a bit cheaper than the other models highlighted.
Key specs	48-inch wide by 30-inch depth; adjustable from 25 inches to 52 inches high	42-inch wide by 30-inch depth up to 80-inch wide by 30-inch depth; adjustable from 22.6-inches to 48.7-inches high	47.25-inch wide by 24-inch depth; adjustable from Adjustable from 28-inches to 46-inches high
Price	$699	$599+	$209.87

The testing process for these desks lasted nearly two months. We unboxed and assembled each desk, paying special attention to the amount of time each unboxing and building process took. We noted how long it took to put each one together, how clear the product’s instructions were and if any special tools were needed. Once each electric standing desk was fully built, we used it at both sitting and standing heights; desk converters, of course, were used only in standing positions. We used each product for at least three full workdays and carefully noted how each desk performed in terms of ease of adjustments and ergonomics. Overall, we evaluated them on what we considered the most important factors: function, build and length of warranty. After tallying up scores for each product, we also took value into consideration, factoring the starting price of each desk with regard to the features it delivered on, to determine our final winners.

We broke the testing into the following categories and subcategories:

Function

Comfort: We made note of whether the desk provided proper ergonomics at all heights, and, where applicable, in both sitting and standing positions.
Number of different height adjustments: We noted the range of heights the desk was capable of reaching.
Ease of adjustments: We considered how easy it was to adjust the height of the desk, noting how smoothly it was able to move up and down as well as how easy and intuitive the keypad, if there was one, was to operate.
Sturdiness from front to back: We noted how much the desk wobbled, if it all, from front to back.
Sturdiness from side to side: We noted how much the desk wobbled, if it all, from side to side.
Organization: We noted if the desk came standard with any slots/grommets to organize wires, cable management trays, extra outlets. etc.

Build

Build quality: We looked at the quality of the desk’s materials, assessing whether it felt cheap or flimsy, as well as whether the desktop was prone to scratches and/or smudges.
Ease of assembly: We considered the time it took to unbox and fully assemble the desk, how clear the instructions were, if any special tools were necessary as well as if the included tools were efficient in the building process.
Appearance: We assessed the aesthetics of the desk — how it looked in a room/home office, if it was available in different colors and if so, how many.
Size: We noted how much equipment could fit on the desk, how much room it took up and whether it was available in more than one size and if so, how many.

Warranty

We looked into the warranty for each product and noted the length of coverage and what parts were covered.

ApexDesk Elite Series 60” (starting at $599.99)

The ApexDesk Elite Series 60” — our previous pick for best standing desk overall — is a sturdy, gorgeous standing desk available in two desktop sizes, both big enough to accommodate multiple monitors and devices. With a curved front, it’s more comfortable to use in both sitting and standing positions compared with the other standing desks we tried, allowing us to sit closer to the desk. It also comes standard with covered grommets to manage your wires. When we re-tested against the Branch, we found the latter had a sturdier and overall more premium build — and, therefore, more worth your money.

Fully Jarvis EcoTop Standing Desk (starting at $519 for 30×24”; fully.com)

Let it be known that we adored this desk, for myriad reasons. A newer model produced by Fully’s Jarvis line, the EcoTop is the brand’s most eco-friendly design to date, crafted from locally sourced fiber in Oregon that’s a minimum 92% pre-consumer, recycled or recovered, meeting the Eco-Certified Composites (ECC) Sustainability Standard. Beyond this new desktop, it’s identical in build and function to the customer-favorite (and also earth-friendly) Jarvis Fully Bamboo Standing Desk — and it’s easy to see why it’s so beloved. It scored top marks for its range of sitting and standing heights (25.5” to 51.1”, the second largest range of all desks we tested, displayed in increments of 0.1”) as well as its ease of adjustments, with the industry-standard four memory presets being intuitive to program. This desk felt high-quality — according to Fully, it can support upwards of 350 pounds — though a bit more wobbly from side to side at higher heights than our best overall pick. Similar to the Uplift’s warranty, Jarvis desks are covered by an impressive all-inclusive 10-year warranty on all frame components, including motors and electronics, and a five-year warranty on desktop surfaces, excluding normal wear and tear, and damage caused by improper assembly, disassembly or repair.

Ultimately, this desk lost points when it came to assembly. It was one of the most complicated builds of our pool, taking the most time and clocking in at a bit over an hour; particularly we found that the giant allen key, with prongs of equal lengths, made things clumsy to assemble. While the EcoTop features two uncovered grommets at the back corners for your cables, if you’d like to attach cord organizer, you’ll need a power drill to do so, as there are no pre-drilled holes. (We did appreciate that it came packaged with a surge protector, however.) The EcoTop is available in six sizes, and in black and white finishes.

This is a solid desk — and was indeed a solid contender for winner — particularly if you value sustainable, earth-friendly materials.

Vari Electric Standing Desk (starting at $650 for 60”; amazon.com; starting at $695 for 60” models; officedepot.com)

Another one of our favorites, the Vari is a classic electric standing desk, and there’s a reason — well, many reasons — why you may have seen it in myriad office spaces throughout the country as the standing desk du jour. For one, it’s impossibly sturdy, racking up top marks in that category during our testing. And despite its heavyweight build, it was by far the easiest of the non-budget-priced electric standing desks to assemble, taking approximately 20 minutes to do so. The Vari moves up and down smoothly, from a minimum height of 25” to a maximum of 50.2” (the highest maximum height of all desks we tested), and its LED keypad displays increments of 0.1. Programming the four memory presets is easy as pie; we didn’t even need to consult an instruction manual for that. And while there wasn’t much difference among all our standing desks in terms of motor noise, we’d contend that the Vari was noticeably quieter than the others in our pool. It has a five-year warranty for all components.

The Vari Electric Standing Desk is available in two sizes, 60×30”, 48×30” (starting at $550 at Amazon and Office Depot for the latter) as well as five finishes. Really the only place where it lost major points was in the category of organization. It features no grommets to contain wires, but rather a slightly indented back should you want to place it flush against the wall, so you’ll still have space for all your cables to comfortably hang; an additional wire tray is sold separately. (We did appreciate the complimentary bag hook that was included with our shipment.) The Vari came in just one point behind our overall winner, the ApexDesk Elite, so suffice it to say that we would recommend this desk in a heartbeat, so long as you can make do with that caveat.

Readydesk 2 Adjustable Standing Desk ($154.99; amazon.com)

While we were fans of this converter’s artsy, minimalist design, constructed from sustainable birchwood (it just screams “Brooklyn architect,” does it not?), admittedly we can understand how not everyone might be — and how it may not necessarily vibe with your decor scheme. Aesthetics aside, we appreciated how easily this converter assembles: Literally, it took just five minutes to unbox and slot the shelves into the base, no tools necessary. Because of this, it’s a good option for students living in dorms, or anyone else who may be moving around a lot and have minimal desktop space to work with. Disassembling is just as simple if you need to quickly get it out of the way and store it in a corner without taking up much space at all. Despite its lightweight build (it weighs in at less than 15 pounds), we found the Readydesk 2 to be impressively sturdy, both from front to back and side to side. It’s also designed with two keyhole-esque slots on each ledge to manage wires. The product has a one-year warranty free of defects in craftsmanship and material and a generous 100-day free return policy in the US.

It fell short in a few categories, however: It’s available in just one size and color, and doesn’t provide as much room for equipment as other converters in our testing pool did. Its unfinished edges had us worried we might snag the fabric of our sleeve on it (a valid concern among reviewers as well, as we later learned). Because of the lack of grips at the base, depending on the surface beneath it, it could be prone to sliding, although we had no issues in this regard. And, given its unique design, it’s not the most ideal product if two or more people of different heights are sharing use of it, as you have remove the piece of wood and manually move it to a different slot if you’d like to change up the adjustments, which is easy enough, but obviously not as simple as raising or lowering a lever.

Flexispot Standing Desk 48×30” ($249.99; amazon.com)

The Flexispot Standing Desk is another budget-priced standing desk model, similar to the SHW. It’s available in black, white and mahogany finishes, and while it does look quite sleek, and the desktop is indeed one solid piece rather than two narrow pieces assembled side by side, for the same price as our best budget winner, it comes with some noticeable downfalls. For one, the basic model includes a keypad with only an up and down button; the desk has a standing range from 28–47.6”, but in order to know what height you’re standing at (if that’s important to you), you’ll have to tack on another $90 for the “standard” model, which is 55” long and includes a digital LED keypad with memory presets. There’s also a smaller, 42×24” model, for $244.99.

We also noticed significant wobble once fully assembled, mostly from side to side but also from back to front. And on the topic of assembly: this desk arrives in two boxes, both pretty lightweight, but the instructions were confusing at times. A particularly baffling example: One step was to loosen bolts and stretch a rod, but the instructions didn’t specify to what length to stretch it. So we guessed, and when it came time to add the desktop, we had to loosen the bolts once again and then measure it to the correct length. Another step also required backtracking and unscrewing screws from a previous step. This desk comes with a five-year warranty for the frame, motor and other mechanisms, and a two-year warranty for the controller and switch, electronics.

Seville Classics 27.8” Tilting Sit-Stand Height Adjustable Mobile Laptop Computer Desk Cart with Mouse Side Ergonomic Table ($44.99; homedepot.com)

If you’re looking for a simple sit-stand option with enough room for your laptop and a mouse, and a laptop and a mouse alone, this Seville Classics desk is one worth considering. At just a hair under $50, unsurprisingly, you’re not getting a super-sturdy, smart standing desk option — but you are getting a product that gets the job done (the job being: providing the option to stand while at your computer), and on wheels to boot. Assembly was easy enough, as the desk is lightweight, and though the flimsy hexagon key wrench proved a bit difficult to use, we were able to build it in approximately 25 minutes. It comes with a one-year limited warranty.

The desk adjusts from a minimum of 27.9” to a maximum of 40.7”, so if you’re above, say, 5’9”, we can’t imagine you’d find this the most ergonomic product to use. We should also note that the desktop’s tilt is not adjustable, i.e, you cannot position it parallel with the floor, and the manual twist-lock knob can be a bit annoying to use to make adjustments to heights. Bottom line: If you’re on a tight budget and looking for something that’ll allow you to take standing breaks from time to time, this is a perfectly adequate solution. It’s a desk that’s perhaps best suited to students, children, and those with minimal space.

Vivo Height Adjustable 32-Inch Standing Desk Converter (starting at $109.95, originally $119.95; amazon.com)

This Vivo converter was quite similar in both build and function to the Flexispot converter. Assembly required only attaching the keyboard tray to the base, which was simple enough, and adjustment is controlled via lever. It’s a standard desk riser, and we found its sturdiness to rival Flexispot’s as well, but ultimately we didn’t select it as a winner for a few reasons: We took value into consideration, and the Vivo is available only in one size, at a starting price of $119.99, versus Flexispot’s $99.99 for its 31-inch option. (For $159.99, you can snag the Vivo in light wood or white finishes, or dark wood for $179.99.) The width of both the keyboard and desktop are a bit smaller than the Flexispot converter we tested, at 10” and 15.75”, respectively, though it does rise to a maximum height of 19.5,” one inch higher than our winning converter does. It comes with two cable clips to stick to the underside of the product, and it has a three-year warranty. If you’re seeking a finish that isn’t solid black, could make use of another inch of height as a tradeoff for some desktop space, and you’re willing to shell out a bit more cash, we think the Vivo is a fine option.

Ergo Desktop Kangaroo Pro Junior ($399; amazon.com)

This desktop converter is unique in its design, and we appreciated the dual ergonomics at play here: Basically, the desktop work surface and your attached monitor adjust separately, allowing you to customize the setup more so than typically possible with a traditional desk riser. The desktop surface, which measures 24×18” — enough to fit a laptop, or a keyboard and mouse — is adjustable to 14.5” above your desk. You’ll have to mount your monitor, and though it took us a bit to figure out the twist-knob situation in order to adjust our monitor, we no sooner got the hang of it. However, we found the removable stabilization leg to, initially, be quite confusing, and ultimately, a crucial design flaw; while the adjustable rod is meant to provide extra stability to your desktop at all heights, we found it difficult to stay put, and ultimately not a reliable source of stability after all. The Kangaroo Pro Junior does, however, take up minimal space, and if you’re working with a single monitor and a keyboard, we could see why you might be interested in this product.

High Rise Height Adjustable Electric Full Standing Desk DC840B (starting at $499.99, originally $609.99; victortech.com)

The highlight of the Victor Technology’s High Rise standing — available in 4-foot top or 3-foot top versions — features a deep work space paired with various height levels. All of this allowed us to comfortably fit a laptop, phone, papers, water bottle and iPad with space to spare. Made from materials including wood and metal, the build is sturdy no matter the height at which it’s set. Taking less than 20 minutes to assemble, the desk came with tools to put it together and straightforward directions.

There’s a memory function which lets you save four preferable heights — just tap the button and it adjusts to that exact height, ranging between 28.7 to 48 inches. Better yet, for anyone who works around other people, the desk is quiet when moving between heights.

The High Rise does lack additional perks, like desktop customization, options for additional accessories or a curved design like the ApexDesk. The price is very similar to our top-ranked standing desks, but for the same price, many of those desks offer unique features that create an individualized experience for customers, including white board and laminate desktops.

Read more from CNN Underscored’s hands-on testing:

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November 29, 2022

A ‘particularly dangerous situation’ tornado watch has been issued for 3 southern states | CNN

Editor’s Note: Affected by the storms? Use CNN’s lite site for low bandwidth.

CNN
—

Numerous tornadoes – including a few intense ones – are possible Tuesday afternoon and evening for parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi as severe storms rake the area, a situation that moved forecasters to issue a special tornado watch alerting residents to an unusual level of risk.

Track the storms as they develop >>

A “particularly dangerous situation” tornado watch, reserved for the most significant severe-storm threats and used in only 3% of watches, was issued for some areas in those states by the Storm Prediction Center.

The watch, covering nearly 2.5 million people in far southeastern Arkansas, northern and central Louisiana and central Mississippi, was set to be in effect from shortly after noon to 7 p.m. CT.

This comes as severe storms could hit a much wider area of the United States from Tuesday into early Wednesday, from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest, with tornadoes, damaging winds and hail, forecasters said.

But prediction center forecasters focused especially on Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, saying “parameters appear favorable for strong and long-tracked tornadoes,” meaning ones that stay on the ground for an extended period, Tuesday afternoon and early evening in the watch area.

“Numerous tornadoes (are) expected with a few intense tornadoes likely,” along with scattered large hail and scattered damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph, forecasters said in the special tornado watch.

Overall, more than 41 million people from southeastern Texas eastward to Georgia and northward to central Indiana and Illinois are under at least a marginal threat of severe weather Tuesday, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

Separate from the special tornado watch, the prediction center laid out an area where it believed the largest potential for severe weather, including tornadoes, existed – covering 1.6 million people in east-central Louisiana; a sliver of southeastern Arkansas; much of Mississippi, including Jackson; and northwestern Alabama. The threat for that area – a Level 4 of 5, or moderate – is relatively rare for this time of year, and tornadoes, though they can happen year-round, are more frequent in the spring and summer.

“Severe thunderstorms in the fall and winter can be extremely impactful and may sometimes catch people off guard as thunderstorms tend to occur less frequently during the cooler months,” Bill Bunting, chief of forecast operations at the Storm Prediction Center, told CNN Weather.

A Level 3 of 5, or enhanced, risk zone encircles that area, covering 2.8 million people across parts of Mississippi and Louisiana as well as a small part of eastern Texas, southeastern Arkansas, southwestern Tennessee and western Alabama.

What is a long-track tornado?
Long-track tornadoes are tornadoes that are on the ground for an extended period of time. The majority of tornadoes are on the ground for just minutes, but with some severe events, there could be tornadoes on the ground for hours. This kind of tornado is known for causing widespread damage.

Some tornadoes could happen overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, making them even more threatening because it’s harder during those hours to alert people to take shelter.

“Another challenge with nighttime tornadoes, especially in the fall and winter, is that storms typically move very quickly, at times 50 or 60 mph,” Bunting said.

“This means that you must make decisions quickly and take shelter based on information contained in the severe thunderstorm or tornado warning, and not wait until the storm arrives,” Bunting added.

The same storm system also brought heavy snowfall to 13 states across the West and Upper Midwest, where millions of people were under winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings Tuesday morning.

Generally about 2 to 4 inches of rain could fall in the south-central United States, and the total could be greater in far southern parts of Mississippi and Alabama, where the storms could stall, the Weather Prediction Center said.

That could cause flooding in those areas, where the soil is damp from recent rains, the prediction center said. Flood watches are in place Tuesday in parts of southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi and Alabama.

In anticipation of the storms, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency urged residents to document property that could get damaged.

“We encourage Mississippians to take photos of their home BEFORE the storms. These photos can be used for insurance purposes and/or possible assistance if your home is damaged in the storm,” the agency said on its Twitter account.

This is the first time since the Storm Prediction Center started using its five-tier risk system in 2014 that a Level 4 risk of severe storms has been announced twice in November, CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward said.

The other Level 4 came on the fourth day of this month, when 62 tornado reports were made across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, according to the prediction center. Many homes and businesses were damaged.

CNN
—

Whether you are flying home after the long Thanksgiving weekend or planning a trip to a faraway destination, we’ve got some tips and tricks from the air travel experts to help lower your stress levels.

Now, here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

• Protests erupted across China on Saturday, including at universities and in Shanghai where hundreds chanted “Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party!” in an unprecedented show of defiance against the country’s stringent and increasingly costly zero-Covid policy.

• A new robust storm system moving into the Pacific Northwest today is expected to spawn severe storms in the South this week. The Storm Prediction Center has issued an early forecast warning, calling for “a significant severe-weather event” across parts of the lower Mississippi River Valley Tuesday.

• One person was killed and 10 more are missing after heavy rain caused a landslide on the Italian holiday island of Ischia on Saturday. As of today, eight people had been rescued and 209 more evacuated from the area where the landslide occurred.

• Two German soccer fans at the World Cup in Qatar told CNN that they were asked by security officials to remove the rainbow-colored items that they were wearing as they made their way to watch the World Cup match between France and Denmark on Saturday.

• Actress and singer Irene Cara, an Oscar and Grammy winner best known for the theme songs of “Fame” and “Flashdance” in the early ’80s, has died, her publicist said. She was 63.

Monday

Even though Thanksgiving and Black Friday are history, there are still plenty of leftover deals to be had as the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear. Exhibit A: Cyber Monday. Retail analysts say that’s the best day to buy a computer. And remember, even after you’ve purchased a product, you might still be able to get a deeper discount if you track prices online. Many major stores have extended their holiday price match policies this year.

Tuesday

It’s Giving Tuesday, a day of heightened generosity when many people give to their favorite charities. Learn more about the origins of this global movement and how you can participate.

Thursday

President Joe Biden will host his first state visit at the White House for French President Emmanuel Macron, marking the return of a tradition not seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic. The state visit, which will include a state dinner, “will underscore the deep and enduring relationship between the United States and France – our oldest ally,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when the visit was announced in September.

It’s also World Aids Day – a day for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness.

Friday

We round out the week with the monthly jobs report for November. The white-hot US labor market began showing signs of cooling off in October as the pace of hiring slowed and unemployment crept higher. We’ll see if the Federal Reserve’s series of interest rate hikes meant to lower the temperature of the economy has had any further impact on employers’ desire to hire more workers.

How school board meetings got so heated

In this week’s One Thing podcast, CNN correspondent Audie Cornish stops by to break down the reporting she did on school boards for the first episode of her new podcast, The Assignment. She spoke with two parent activists turned elected school board officials about what motivated them to run for office and the changes they hope to make while in power. Listen here.

Saudi Arabia players celebrate their World Cup victory over Argentina on Tuesday, November 22. The 2-1 result is <a href=

A turkey named Chip roams on the South Lawn of the White House after being

Ivelisse Reyes prays across from a Walmart where <a href=

Richarlison scores a spectacular goal during Brazil's 2-0 World Cup win over Serbia on Thursday, November 24. Richarlison scored both of Brazil's goals. <a href=

The sun rises over Bristol, England, as rowers cross the basin past the old docks on Sunday, November 20.

US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden attend the White House wedding of their granddaughter Naomi and Peter Neal on Saturday, November 19. It is only the <a href=

Students look at houses that collapsed during a <a href=

Singer Coco Jones attends the American Music Awards on Sunday, November 20. <a href=

Vance Joy fans watch the singer perform at the Sydney Opera House on Friday, November 18.

A trained dog of India's Border Security Force rehearses stunts in Amritsar, India, on Tuesday, November 22.

Elizabeth Holmes arrives at a federal court in San Jose, California, with her parents and her partner, Billy Evans, on Friday, November 18. Holmes was <a href=

A car sits in a snowdrift in Buffalo, New York, on Friday, November 18. <a href=

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, attends <a href=

Comedian Jay Leno poses with members of the Grossman Burn Center after <a href=

People link hands Sunday, November 20, at a memorial near Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado. That was the LGBTQ nightclub where a <a href=

Brittany Cipriotti wears dog-themed jewelry during the National Dog Show in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, November 19.

Khalid Al Nuaimi trains an Arabian racehorse in Al-Ruwais, Qatar, on Sunday, November 20.

Iranian players line up for the national anthem before their World Cup match against England on Monday, November 21. In what seemed to be a show of solidarity with those protesting back home, <a href=

A boy watches a World Cup match on a big screen in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Tuesday, November 22.

Easton Gunsell, 11, cries after rushing into his brother Braden Locker's arms for a hug in Flushing, Michigan, on Tuesday, November 22. Locker, a 20-year-old airman stationed in Saudi Arabia, was home on leave and surprised his brother at school.

People visit the aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Tuesday, November 22.

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo does his trademark goal celebration Thursday, November 24, after converting a penalty against Ghana to become the <a href=

Japanese fans gather in Doha, Qatar, before a World Cup match against Germany on Wednesday, November 23.

US President Joe Biden blows out the candle on his coconut birthday cake in this photo <a href=

Palestinian children look out from the gap of a tent in Beit Lahia, Gaza, on Monday, November 21.

In this aerial photo, taken on Sunday, November 20, snowy paths are seen in a reedy area of Treplin, Germany.

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Sunday, November 20.

Young swimmers with the Nashville Aquatic Club log some practice time in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, November 22.

Before their World Cup opener on Wednesday, November 23, Germany's starting 11 posed for their team photo with their right hands in front of their mouths. The team's social media feed confirmed that <a href=

Jeremy, right, comforts his partner, Anthony, at a hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Tuesday, November 22. Anthony was injured in the nightclub shooting over the weekend.

Epidemic control workers wear protective clothing as they drive on a nearly empty street in Beijing on Wednesday, November 23. <a href=

A Ukrainian soldier peers out of a captured Russian tank in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Tuesday, November 22.

A Pikachu balloon floats in New York City during the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, November 24. <a href=

Check out more moving, fascinating and thought-provoking images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos.

TV and streaming

It’s premiere night on CNN. First up, the CNN Original Series “Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen.” Kick off the holiday season with this panoramic celebration of the beloved genre of holiday films and television specials, tonight at 8 p.m. ET.

And at 10 p.m. ET, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and even sex dolls have become the answer for many people’s loneliness. The season premiere of “This is Life with Lisa Ling” explores how technology is changing our relationships.

One of the most beloved modern Christmas classics is turning 20 next year, and to mark the occasion, cast members from the landmark 2003 romantic comedy “Love Actually” are reuniting for a TV special this week. Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy and Thomas Brodie-Sangster are taking part in the special, along with the film’s writer-director Richard Curtis. “The Laughter & Secrets of ‘Love Actually’: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special” airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

In theaters

Is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie? Well, “Violent Night” appears to be a snowy reboot of the “Die Hard” storyline, but instead of John McClane battling the bad guys, a beer-drinking Santa Claus played by David Harbour presumedly saves the day. “Violent Night” opens Friday. (Parents take note: this R-rated action/comedy is NOT for kids … I’ve watched the trailer.)

World Cup

CNN is providing special coverage of all the biggest stories, surprises and upsets from the World Cup 2022 in Qatar – now through December 18.

And if soccer is not your thing, head on over to Bleacher Report. Sure, they’re all over the World Cup too, but they also cover the other sports you care about. Check ‘em out!

Don’t be a turkey! Take CNN’s Thanksgiving Quiz and test your holiday knowledge. So far, only 10% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

‘Sleigh Ride’

It’s that time of year when local radio stations flip their formats and begin playing holiday music non-stop. If you walk into a store or browse your car’s radio, you are going to hear this classic song more than once – I promise you. (Click here to view)

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Tag: disasters and safety

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