In Other News: US births in 2022 didn’t return to pre-pandemic levels; Earth is ‘really quite sick now’ and in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study says

Published 12:00 am Friday, June 2, 2023

US births in 2022 didn’t return to pre-pandemic levels

U.S. births were flat last year, as the nation continues to see fewer babies born than it did before the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released provisional birth data for last year. A little under 3.7 million babies were born in the U.S. last year, about 3,000 fewer than the year before. Births to moms 35 and older continued to rise, with the highest rates in that age group since the 1960s. But those gains were offset by record-low birth rates to moms in their teens and early 20s.

Earth is ‘really quite sick now’ and in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study saysA new study says Earth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into “the danger zone,” not just for an overheating planet that’s losing its natural areas, but for well-being of people living on it. The study, published Wednesday, looks not just at guardrails for the planetary ecosystem but for the first time it includes measures of “justice,” which is mostly about preventing harm for groups of people. The study looks at climate, air pollution, phosphorus contamination, nitrogen pollution, groundwater supplies, fresh surface water, the unbuilt natural environment and the overall natural and human-built environment.

Amazon to pay $31 million in privacy violation penalties for Alexa voice assistant and Ring cameraAmazon has agreed to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations it violated a child privacy law and deceived parents by keeping for years kids’ voice and location data recorded by its Alexa voice assistant. Separately, the company has agreed to pay $5.8 million in customer refunds for alleged privacy violations involving its doorbell camera Ring. Amazon says it disagrees with the FTC’s claims on both matters and denies violating the law. But it says the settlements “put these matters behind us” and its devices and services aim to protect consumer privacy.