Sixth typhoon in a month devastates the Philippines

Super Typhoon Man-yi, the sixth in a month, swept through the Philippines over the weekend, leaving at least eight dead, thousands homeless andvast areas flooded.

Deutsche Welle with information from AFP, AP and Reuters.

In short:

Super Typhoon Man-yi caused severe flooding, landslides and storm surges, killing eight people, including a family of seven buried in a landslide.
Over 500,000 residents fled and damage includes submerged homes, toppled trees, destroyed infrastructure and rice-farming regions inundated.
Authorities released water from Magat Dam to prevent collapse, worsening floods in northern provinces like Isabela.

Key quote:

"If Magat Dam continues to release water on all of its seven gates, Ilagan City might get erased from the map due to flooding."

— Jun Montereal, disaster preparedness committee chairman to AFP.

Why this matters:

Climate change is linked to intensifying storms, leading to more destruction, displacement and loss of life. The Philippines faces compounded crises with increasing typhoon frequency, devastating communities and vital agricultural regions.

www.dw.com

A residential garbage can overflows with plastic bottles and other waste.

Credit: the blowup/Unsplash

New pricing system helps small town slash its garbage output

When Plympton, Massachusetts started charging by the bag for trash, it nearly halved the town’s garbage — and saved thousands of dollars in the process.

Tik Root reports for Grist.

In short:

Plympton cut its annual trash output from 640 to 335 tons after shifting from a flat-fee dump sticker to a “pay-as-you-throw” model charging per bag.
The new pricing system incentivized recycling and composting, saving the town about $65,000 a year and reducing landfill-related emissions.
Nearly half of Massachusetts municipalities now use PAYT, and experts say volume-based pricing drives waste reduction without unfairly burdening small or low-income households.

Key quote:

“We found that demand for waste disposal was really responsive to price. If you raise the price of trash, people are going to find ways to not put as much out at the curb.”

— John Halstead, retired professor of environmental economics at the University of New Hampshire and an author of a study on New Hampshire's pay-as-you-throw model

Why this matters:

Less landfill use means fewer toxics in the air and water, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and more recycled materials in circulation. Plympton’s story shows that smart policy doesn’t have to be punitive or complicated — it just has to make people see the cost of their choices, and let common sense do the rest.

How a government feud threatens decades of scientific progress

The Trump administration’s move to cut off $2.6 billion in federal research funding to Harvard has upended a vital engine of American science, with ripple effects that reach far beyond a single university.

Emily Badger, Aatish Bhatia, and Ethan Singer report for The New York Times.

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