Star Tribune
We are living through the most humid summer on record
To cool itself down, the human body reacts to heat by sweating. The evaporation of sweat into the surrounding air is what cools the body. But evaporation occurs more slowly when the air is humid, making it harder to cool off and increasing the risk of heat-related illness or death. The heat index measures how hot the air feels when factoring in the humidity.
In one of the most extreme episodes of heat, portions of the Persian Gulf saw the heat index exceed 140 degrees in both mid-July and this week as dew points soared to around 90 degrees. In the United States, any dew point over 70 degrees is usually considered uncomfortable. The extreme humidity levels were tied to bathtub-like sea-surface temperatures as high as 95 degrees in the Persian Gulf.
A Post analysis found that heat and humidity levels in northern India in May, part of a broader heat wave that spanned much of South and Southeast Asia, surpassed a threshold that researchers have identified as posing a risk to human survival if such heat in prolonged.
“In places like India and areas near the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, the increase in moisture and higher temperatures drives [conditions] to near the point where heat illness is almost certain without air conditioning,” Brettschneider said.
Record heat and humidity also have scorched large portions of the United States. Historically hot conditions arrived in Florida in May. That’s when Key West, Fla., one of the nation’s southernmost points, tied its highest heat index on record at 115 degrees. Northern locales have seen humid heat, too, as the heat index in Preston, Minn., surged to 120 earlier this week as the dew point climbed to 86 degrees, just two degrees short of the state record. On Tuesday, the heat index in Chicago spiked to 115.
Globally, July was the world’s warmest July on record and the 14th consecutive month of record global heat, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was a month in which the planet saw its four hottest days ever observed and followed the warmest January-to-July period in 175 years of recordkeeping. “There is a 77% chance that 2024 will rank as the warmest year on record,” NOAA said.
Nonprofits — from small food shelves and theaters to massive health care organizations — make up about 14% of Minnesota’s workforce, according to state data. They employ about 370,000 workers, down from a record 391,000 employees in 2019.
Many of those organizations fill gaps in government services, whether it’s mental health help or food assistance, and are part of building the civic fabric of the state, Aanestad said.
“There’s something bigger at stake,” she said. “It impacts all of us.”
Propel Nonprofits in Minneapolis, which helps nonprofits with finances and loans, has seen an uptick in requests for working capital loans to help sustain operating expenses, CEO Henry Jiménez said. It’s essential state government, foundations and donors step up their support of nonprofits, he added.
“Everybody says Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes — and also 10,000 or so nonprofits,” Jiménez added. “This is what makes Minnesota a beautiful place to live. We should continue to invest in the nonprofit sector.”
In St. Paul, Neighborhood House is serving a record number of people this year at its free food markets and other programs. Food costs and other expenses continue to rise while the number of donations and volunteers lag, CEO Janet Gracia said. The organization will stave off layoffs or program cuts by dipping into its reserves.
LAFAYETTE, Wis. — About 25 children and adults were injured Wednesday when a wagon carrying them overturned at a western Wisconsin apple orchard.
The children, parents and chaperones were on a field trip to the orchard in Lafayette when one of two wagons being pulled by a tractor turned sideways and rolled over, Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes told reporters. Hakes said the tractor was traveling at a low speed when the wagon rolled over while going downhill.
Three people suffered critical injuries, while injuries to five others were considered serious. Authorities didn’t say how many of the injured were children.
The elementary school-age children attend a school in Eau Claire. Lafayette is northeast of Eau Claire.
After about five minutes and several warnings that students participating in the protest would be suspended,, the protesters exited Northrop and Cunningham continued her speech. They later gathered outside on the mall afterwards to shout, “Cunningham, you will see, Palestine will be free.”
Cunningham recounted the story of Norman Borlaug, the U alumnus and agronomist whose research in wheat saved millions from starvation, and said she would prioritize keeping a college education affordable for students.
Cunningham actually took over presidential duties on July 1, replacing Interim President Jeff Ettinger. She oversees a budget of more than $4 billion to run the university’s five campuses, which enrolled more than 68,000 students and employed 27,000 people during the last academic year.
She was chosen for the job last winter over two other candidates: Laura Bloomberg, president of Cleveland State University and former dean of the U’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and James Holloway, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico. She is the U’s second woman president, following Joan Gabel who held the office from 2019 to 2023.
Cunningham will be paid more than $1 million per year — about $975,000 in base pay and an additional $120,000 in retirement contributions. The compensation puts her in the top quarter of Big Ten university presidents.
More Minnesota nonprofits are facing financial distress
CIA officer who drugged, photographed and sexually assaulted dozens of women gets 30 years in prison as victims stare him down
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More Minnesota nonprofits are facing financial distress
CIA officer who drugged, photographed and sexually assaulted dozens of women gets 30 years in prison as victims stare him down