Article 1: The Maui Fires and the Devastating Socioeconomic Effects
On August 8th, 2023, the historic city of Lahaina experienced one of the deadliest natural disasters to ever hit Maui. Reports state that at approximately 6:30 AM, a resident called 911 to report a utility pole that had snapped in half and fallen on grass, igniting a small brush fire. The fire department had declared that the said fire was contained; however, many point out the various environmental factors that made this incident turn from ordinary to catastrophic.
Investigations are underway to determine what the exact cause of the wildfire was, whether it was simply a freak accident or the result of the state’s main power company, Hawaiian Electric, and their decisions. Factors such as the high temperatures coupled with the severe drought present in almost 16% of Maui County made it so that a wildfire breaking out seemed inevitable. In addition, many areas of Hawaii were already flagged as high-risk areas for wildfires because of the high wind conditions due to Hurricane Dora. The death toll count currently stands at 97 people and there are still approximately 31 missing persons cases that are being investigated.
Maui County is currently in a lawsuit with Hawaiian Electric for allegedly failing to power down its equipment and enact the proper safety measures for the approaching storm. This lawsuit also alleges that Hawaiian Electric failed to maintain the system and power grid which also factored into systemic issues that caused three fires. The company has continued to come under fire from various sources that also point to Hawaiian Electric’s possible negligence in regards to procedures such as an emergency plan for wildfires.
The Maui Emergency Management Agency’s former chief executive, Herman Andaya, has also faced criticism for not sounding Maui’s warning sirens. They opted, instead, to use Wireless Emergency Alerts and the Emergency Alert System which delivers messages to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations. Andaya argued that the sirens are typically used to alert the public of tsunamis and approaching storms and was concerned that the public would flee towards the mountainside where the fire was even stronger. The issue lies in the fact that power was knocked out in the area so there was no way for residents to receive this notification. Andaya has now resigned due to the backlash he has faced.
As officials continue their investigations, residents must now confront the reality that many have lost loved ones and may no longer have homes anymore. Efforts focused on helping residents recover from this travesty include some hotels opting to offer rooms to locals until they have resituated. However, the dependence on tourism for the local economy leaves Maui residents in a tricky position. Our hopes and prayers are with the residents as they rally from the loss of their loved ones, community and home.
Article 2: Climate Change Effects Right Now
Standing at a current number of 23, 2023 has currently broken the record for natural disasters within a year . From floods and tornadoes, to heatwaves and wildfires: the planet is a ticking time bomb as the consequences of climate change are baring their teeth at humanity. Over this summer, a number of states in America have experienced record-high temperatures while other countries have had devastating natural disasters. As the Earth experiences record temperatures every year, we are approaching a two degree Celsius increase of the global average temperature. Not only is this cause of concern for rising overall temperatures but also for changes that will make the environment less and less habitable for human life. Here are some disasters that have occurred so far in 2023.
On Feb. 6, southern Turkey and northern Syria was hit with a 7.8 magnitude earthquake; a second earthquake, measuring at 7.5 magnitude, hit 10 hours later only 59 miles southwest of the area.
On May 14, Cyclone Mocha hit an area between Myanmar and Bangladesh with forces equal to a category four hurricane.
In mid-July, heavy rainfall caused massive floods to occur in the Northeast region of the United States; in some places, some 9 inches of rain had fallen in a matter of days.
July 2023 is recorded as the hottest July in global history, with a significant increase in heat deaths and heat related illness hospitalizations.
Rates of damage from climate change are higher than before, so governments and large corporations must step up and change their methods of production. A large contribution to climate change is from these entities and though they claim to change their ways, it is clear that a stronger control on such procedures must be made. These natural disasters and weather trends go to show the urgency of the matter, and the urgency in which we should be moving to solve them. At a climate change talk hosted in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, Hoesung Lee stated, “We are walking when we should be sprinting.” To mitigate climate change before irreversible damage, experts recommend cutting our overall man-made greenhouse gas emissions by half entirely and to reduce our additions of carbon dioxide to zero.
Article 3: Chaos at EZoo
The electronic music festival named Electric Zoo (EZoo) created three days of chaos in early September. Taking place during Labor Day weekend, the three day extravaganza presented festival goers with a wide variety of acts encompassing the spectrum of electronic music’s various subgenres, bringing in top international DJs from around the world to its four stages.
However, EZoo 2023 made headlines for the complications that took place each day of the festival. Day one of the event, Sept. 1, was canceled by organizers who presented a public statement stating “global supply chain distributions” as the reason they were unable to complete construction of the main stage in time for performances. Event organizers offered full refunds for Friday tickets and transit fares; meanwhile, those who held multi-day transport tickets were given “credit” for one of the days and a refund stated to be approximately “equivalent to the amount of one day.”
Day two, Sept. 2, started two hours later than originally scheduled, with the events starting at 3 p.m. instead of the stated 1 p.m. Other than the late start there were no other major issues with Saturday’s festivities.
However on Day three, Sept. 3, the floodgates of frustration broke. Festivalgoers’ disappointment was reported to have reached an apex when the festival announced that “the event was at full capacity and no other people would be let into the Randall’s Island venue”. Event organizers took to X, formerly known as Twitter, with the following statement: “It is with deep regret that we need to inform you that due to the challenges caused by Friday’s cancellation, we have reached our venue’s capacity earlier than anticipated for today, Sunday. For the safety and well-being of everyone on site, we will not be admitting any additional attendees today.” Followed by an amendment statement which proclaimed, “THIS ONLY APPLIES IF YOU ARE NOT ON RANDALL’S ISLAND CURRENTLY.” This news infuriated many valid ticket holders of the event as seen in videos of people rushing the gates and jumping over security fences to get to the festival site.
The chaos caused by EZoo has incited backlash from avid fans of the event and the general public, with many criticizing the event organizers’ preparation and execution. Many place blame on Avant Gardner — owner of the event venue The Brooklyn Mirage — since their acquisition of Made Events leads them to be responsible in handling the execution of EZoo. NYC Mayor Eric Adams commented on the incident, stating that “the city will take action against the organizers of the Electric Zoo Music Festival,” citing that the NYPD present at the scene at the time of Sunday’s incident “handled the influx appropriately.” CBS News received the following statement from a festival representative on Tuesday Sept. 5: “The vast majority of Electric Zoo attendees had a great experience, but our job is to make sure everyone’s experience is phenomenal. We’ll be working closely with our partners to review the planning and execution of the event from start to finish”.
In the meantime, city officials praised the use of drone technology, citing it was critical in “making split second decisions on crowd management.” On EZoo’s end, organizers stated that they would issue refunds to attendees who received the oversold tickets, but some have claimed to have only received a partial refund in regard to Friday’s cancellation so far.
Article 4: The Writers Strike Has Ended
Writers Guild of America (WGA) screenwriters returned to work Wednesday, Sept. 27 after a 148-day strike against unfair contracts. The proliferation of streaming services in the past decade have led to changes to writers rooms and a stagnation in compensation — TV writers who worked on projects for streaming services were less involved and worked shorter hours, which made it difficult to earn a living wage. Steady sources of income have also waned — streaming services often did not pay residuals to writers for reruns of cable network shows on their platforms.
Negotiations between WGA leadership and entertainment companies reached a tentative deal on Sept. 25, which addressed many of the issues that union members had. The highlights of this three-year contract are: better residual payments, staffing requirements for writers rooms and limitations on AI usage in screenwriting. In an email to WGA members, the negotiating committee stated that the deal is “exceptional” to its members due to the provisions gained.
The return to writers rooms means progress on TV shows and movies will resume, but this time with greater protections and wages for the writers. Most notably, late-night TV will return in the first week of October, marking the end of a hiatus that lasted the entire duration of the strike.
Although screenwriters have gone back to work, voting on the new contract has yet to begin. WGA members will vote on Oct. 2-9. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the actors’ union, remains on strike with similar demands as the WGA.
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