Currently in the Twin Cities — August 22, 2023: Pushing 100°F

The weather, currently.

Brace for a couple of very hot days ahead, dangerously so. An excessive heat warning blankets southern Minnesota through Wednesday night. Highs Tuesday and Wednesday will be in the mid, possibly even upper 90s.

There’s an outside shot the Twin Cities could even reach 100, which would be the first August 100 degree reading since 1988. The heat index WILL be in the triple digits as dew points rise well into the 70s. We also have very little rain in the forecast, likely setting us back after making some progress on the drought.

— Sven Sundgaard

What you need to know, currently.

Ecuador has voted 59%-41% to protect its Yasuní UNESCO world biosphere reserve in the Amazon from oil drilling.

According to the ‘yes’ campaign, this is the first time in world history that a country has voted to prohibit oil drilling in order to protect its own biodiversity.

“The Amazon is worth more intact than in pieces, as are its people,” said Antonia Juhasz, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, which supported the ‘yes’ campaign.

According to the Guardian, “the move will keep about 726m barrels of oil underground in the Yasuní National Park, which is also home to the Tagaeri and Taromenane people, two of the world’s last “uncontacted” Indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation.”

The victory comes in the middle of what’s expected to be the hottest year in history and serves as further momentum for protecting the Amazon after deforestation in Brazil has slowed markedly this year under the leadership of the country’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

—Eric Holthaus

What you can do, currently.

The fires in Maui have struck at the heart of Hawaiian heritage, and if you’d like to support survivors, here are good places to start:

The fires burned through the capital town of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the ancestral and present home to native Hawaiians on their original unceded lands. One of the buildings destroyed was the Na ‘Aikane o Maui cultural center, a gathering place for the Hawaiian community to organize and celebrate.

If you’d like to help the community rebuild and restore the cultural center, a fund has been established that is accepting donations — specify “donation for Na ‘Aikane” on this Venmo link.