LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council plans this week to discuss outdoor dining design guidelines and amendments to the 2022-23 fiscal year budget.
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. Masks are highly encouraged where 6-foot distancing cannot be maintained.
If you cannot attend in person, and would like to speak on an agenda item, you can access the Zoom meeting remotely at this link or join by phone by calling toll-free 669-900-9128 or 346-248-7799.
The webinar ID is 973 6820 1787, access code is 477973; the audio pin will be shown after joining the webinar. Those phoning in without using the web link will be in “listen mode” only and will not be able to participate or comment.
Comments can be submitted by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To give the city clerk adequate time to print out comments for consideration at the meeting, please submit written comments before 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
On Tuesday, the council will meet new Public Works employees Cody Morland and Lucy Avilez, present a proclamation declaring October 2022 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and offer a plaque in appreciation of former Council Member Mireya Turner’s contributions to the city.
The council will hold public hearings to close out several Community Development Block Grants, adopt a draft resolution authorizing the city manager to sign the necessary amendment documents for the State Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Rounds 2 and 3, and introduce a draft ordinance related to outdoor dining design guidelines with the second reading to be set for Nov. 2.
Under business, the council will consider approving a professional services agreement with WMH for the Lakeport Blvd at Bevins Street Project study report equivalent as well as a mutual aid agreement for emergency assistance among the cities of Lakeport, Clearlake, Ukiah, Fort Bragg, Willits and Point Arena.
Also on Tuesday, Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Nick Walker will present a request for approval of amendments to the fiscal year 2022-23 City budget and Public Works Superintendent Ron Ladd will ask for approval of an on-call professional service agreements with 15 contractors.
On the consent agenda — items usually accepted as a slate on one vote — are ordinances; minutes of the regular council meeting on Sept. 20; the warrant register of Sept. 27; adoption of a resolution authorizing continued remote teleconference meetings of the Lakeport City Council and its legislative bodies pursuant to Government Code section 54953(e); approval of application 2022-024, with staff recommendations, for the 2022 Clear Lake High School Homecoming Parade; approval of application 2022-025, with staff recommendations, for the 2022 Halloween Parade; receipt and filing of the Community Development Department quarterly report for the first quarter of the 2022-23 fiscal year; adoption of a resolution authorizing the city manager to apply for PLHA funding allocations in accordance with the five-year plan; adoption of the resolution accepting construction of the Martin Street Apartments Off-Site Improvement Project by Pacific West Builders and authorize the filing of the notice of completion; approval for the mayor to sign the letter of support for Pacific West Communities, Inc. to apply for an Infill Infrastructure Grant for the Bevins Street Senior Apartments.
The council also will hold a closed session to discuss property negotiations with the Lakeport Fire Protection District regarding 445 N. Main St. and 901 Larrecou Lane and employee negotiations with the Lakeport Police Officers’ Association.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
When the federal government set up boarding schools in the 19th century to assimilate Native American children into American culture, one of the objectives was to get them to turn away from the use of their native languages. In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the U.S., The Conversation turned to Daryl Baldwin, a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma who is a leader in Native American language and cultural revitalization and a member of the National Council on the Humanities, for insight into a tribal community’s efforts working with a university to help bring languages back.
How were Indigenous languages lost?
Many actions throughout history put pressure on tribal communities to abandon the use of their languages. This included the forced assimilation that resulted from the Indian Civilization Act of 1819. This act established Indian boarding schools to teach subjects such as math and science while suppressing the use of Indigenous languages and cultures.
Boarding schools lasted until the mid-20th century, and their effect was devastating for Indigenous communities and their languages. Linguists have estimated that prior to European settlement, there were 300 Indigenous languages spoken in what is now the United States. Communities are struggling to pass these languages on to a younger generation.
These affected communities include the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, of which I am a citizen. The Miami Tribe lost the last speakers of the Myaamia language during the mid-20th century in part due to these assimilation efforts. Additionally, the forced relocation of the Tribe from its homeland in the Ohio-Indiana region to Kansas, and eventually Oklahoma, during the 19th century caused the community to become fragmented due to some families remaining behind or being exempt from relocation.
These factors also increased the stress on the community to simply survive. Many tribal members and elders from this time have recounted how they didn’t pass the language on to their children for fear of discrimination.
Why bring the languages back?
Simply put, our languages help make us whole again. When we empower our cultural selves through speaking our languages, we begin to undo the damage caused by years of cultural and linguistic oppression.
For the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, language and cultural revitalization is a priority. We contribute significant time and financial resources into educational programs that help tribal citizens reconnect to their cultural heritage.
When we engage in revitalization activities, we are weaving strands of knowledge, cultural practices and other ways of being into our lives so we may draw on them as a source of community strength. Today, this encompasses all aspects of our lives, including art, games and food, as well as song and dance. For many of us, our Myaamia language is central to this process.
Since 1972, Miami University has been an important partner in this process of language and cultural revitalization. The Myaamia Center – the tribe’s research arm – directly supports the Myaamia Heritage Program. The program provides Miami Tribe students with tuition waivers and a unique opportunity to engage with their cultural heritage while earning a college degree.
What practical uses do these languages serve?
Language was an important aspect of my home when my four kids were young. Being able to say teepaalilaani – “I love you” – and to sing bedtime songs to my children – kiilhswa neewaki kiilhswa neewita … – “I see the moon, the moon sees me …” - in my native language was important to me.
Speaking my language connects me to our ancestral homelands of what are now parts of Ohio and Indiana. And doing so strengthens my relationship with my immediate family who also speak the language, and allows me to communicate in a way that is unique to my culture. My language may not be practical in holding a mainstream job or getting around in the world, but it is important to my identity as a Myaamia person. I feel grounded when I can speak my language with other members of my family and community.
The Myaamia Center’s Nipwaayoni Acquisition and Assessment Team has evaluated programs since 2012 and found that Myaamia students regularly comment on how important speaking their language is to their identity.
Jenna Corral, a Myaamia student who graduated in 2021, described her experience: “Learning our language has been one of the best ways to make me feel connected to my identity and tribal community. Being able to learn and speak the language that was developed by my ancestors was something I never thought I would do. I am forever grateful for all I have learned about my heritage and culture and the positive impact it has had on my life.”
How do students benefit from learning these languages?
Myaamia tribal youth who participate in language and cultural revitalization programs are more engaged in tribal activities, internal assessment research shows. Participation has continually risen over the past 20 years, in part due to increased tribal enrollment encouraged by language and cultural revitalization. Engagement is increasing because people want to be involved and participate in what is happening. We have gained approximately 1,000 citizens in the last five years, boosting our enrollment to 6,780 today. This is a significant development because we view youth engagement as important to future growth of the tribal nation.
Myaamia students have been enrolled at Miami University since 1991. Students who attended before the creation of the Myaamia Heritage Course, which allows students to explore their Myaamia heritage, had a graduation rate of 56%. Since the addition of the course in 2003, our six-year graduation rate has increased to 92% – more than double the national six-year graduation rate of 41% for Native Americans – and 106 Myaamia students have earned degrees from Miami University.
We believe growth of tribal programs developed by the tribe’s Cultural Resources Office, the creation of the Myaamia Center and further development of the heritage program are at the core of what has driven this dramatic increase in our graduation rate.
How will these languages be preserved going forward?
Just as the boarding school era was designed to remove language and culture, our tribal efforts can put back what was taken.
But these efforts require financial resources. Some people feel that the federal government holds a degree of financial responsibility in the revitalization of these languages. This is because significant federal funding was used historically to eradicate these languages. The federal government spent US$2.81 billion – adjusted for inflation – to support the nation’s Indian boarding schools, but only a fraction of that amount for Indigenous language revitalization today.
Partnerships between tribes and universities can be powerful in building a response to inequalities that have emerged through our recent history. Yes, language is an important part of what we do, but in the end it’s about knowledge, who holds that knowledge and how it’s expressed through our unique language and culture. Our partnership with Miami University is one such model.
Social Security is set to boost the benefits it provides retirees by 8.7%, the biggest cost-of-living adjustment since 1981. It comes as sky-high inflation continues to eat into incomes and savings.
The automatic adjustment will surely come as a relief to tens of millions of retirees and those who receive supplemental security income who may be struggling to afford basic necessities as inflation has accelerated throughout 2022. But an annual adjustment wasn’t always the case – and other government benefits and programs deal with inflation differently.
John Diamond, who directs the Center for Public Finance at Rice’s Baker Institute, explains the history of the Social Security cost-of-living, or COLA, increase, what other benefits are adjusted for inflation and why the government makes these changes.
More troubling, so-called core inflation – which excludes volatile food and energy prices – gained even more in September, ticking up by 0.6%. Core inflation is a measure that’s closely watched by the Federal Reserve, as it helps show how pervasive and persistent inflation has become in the economy.
2. How are Social Security benefits adjusted for inflation?
Automatic adjustments to Social Security benefits began in 1975 after President Richard Nixon signed the 1972 Social Security amendments into law.
Before 1975, Congress had to act each year to increase benefits to offset the effects of inflation. But this was an inefficient system, as politics would often be injected into a simple economic decision. Under this system, an increase in benefits could be too small or too large, or could fail to happen at all if one party blocked the change entirely.
Not to mention that with the baby boomers – those born from 1946 to 1964 – entering the labor force it was already clear that Social Security would face long-term funding issues in the future, and so putting the program on autopilot reduced the political risk faced by politicians.
Since then, benefits have climbed automatically by the average increase in consumer prices during the third quarter of a given year from the same period 12 months earlier. This is based on a version of the consumer price index meant to estimate price changes for working people and has been rising slightly faster than the overall pace of inflation.
While helpful, these inflation adjustments are backward-looking and imperfect. For example, 2022 Social Security benefits increased by 5.9% from the previous year, even though inflation throughout this year has been significantly higher – which means the higher benefits weren’t covering the higher cost of living. Thus, the 2023 increase in benefits primarily offsets what was lost over the previous year.
3. Are the benefits taxable?
A growing portion of Social Security benefits are taxed in the same way as ordinary income, except at different threshold with various caps and percentages. Only 8% of benefits were subject to taxation in 1984, but that’s climbed to almost 50% in recent years. That percentage will likely continue to increase as the taxable thresholds are not adjusted for inflation.
For example, if an individual filer’s income, including benefits, is below US$25,000, none of that is taxed. But up to 50% of a person’s benefits may be taxed at incomes of $25,000 to $34,000. After that, up to 85% of their benefits may be taxed.
Such a big increase in Social Security benefits likely means some people who paid no tax will now have to pay some, while others will see larger increases in their tax liability.
4. Why does the government adjust benefits for inflation?
Rapid gains of inflation, like the kind the U.S. and many other countries are currently experiencing, can have significant impacts on the finances of households and businesses.
For example, it might mean seniors cutting back on heating or food. Government policies generally try to account for this to reduce the negative impacts that rising prices can have on those with limited or fixed resources.
In addition, reducing the impacts of price changes creates a more efficient and fair allocation of resources and reduces the arbitrary outcomes that would otherwise occur.
5. What other government programs typically get a COLA?
Other government programs and benefits also increase to account for inflation.
In addition, the federal poverty level is adjusted for changes in the consumer price index annually by the Department of Health and Human Services, an adjustment that affects a number of government-provided benefits, such as housing benefits, health insurance and others, including SNAP benefits.
6. Does the tax system also adjust for inflation?
While some aspects of the tax code adjust for inflation, others do not.
For example, income tax bracket thresholds, the size of the standard deduction, alternative minimum tax parameters and estate tax provisions all increase annually for inflation. That means come tax filing season next year, U.S. tax filers will likely see big changes in all these items.
But examples of provisions that are not adjusted for inflation include the maximum value of the child tax credit and the $10,000 cap on the deduction of state and local taxes. In addition, the threshold that determines who is liable for the net investment income tax – the additional 3.8% tax on investment and passive income for taxpayers above a certain income level – doesn’t adjust, which means each year more individuals are subject to it.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Female domestic shorthair
This 2-year-old female domestic shorthair cat has a Siamese coat with reddish points and blue eyes.
She is in cat room kennel No. 73, ID No. LCAC-A-4090.
‘Mama’
“Mama” is a 2-year-old domestic shorthair cat with an all-black coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 7, ID No. LCAC-A-3884.
Female domestic shorthair
This 2-year-old female domestic shorthair cat has a gray tabby coat.
“She is an adult cat with some playful kitten tendencies when toys are brought out. She has a sweet little meow and likes to have playful chats with you,” shelter staff said.
She is in cat room kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-3661.
Male domestic shorthair
This 3-year-old male domestic shorthair cat has an orange tabby coat.
“This guy can be shy at first, but once he knows that you are all about the pets, he will roll right over and start his purr machine. He has a unique curly tail which he flicks around when curious,” shelter staff said.
He is in cat room kennel No. 13, ID No. LCAC-A-4021.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This 2-month-old male domestic shorthair kitten has a white coat and blue eyes.
He is in cat room kennel No. 36A, ID No. LCAC-A-4081.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This 2-month-old male domestic shorthair kitten has a light orange coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 36B, ID No. LCAC-A-4082.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This 2-month-old male domestic shorthair kitten has an orange coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 36C, ID No. LCAC-A-4083.
Male domestic longhair cat
This 1-year-old male domestic longhair cat has a black and white coat.
“This guy had a hard start, but has a lot of love to give once he warms up to you,” shelter staff said.
Staff said he also loves brushing and shows his appreciation with purring and head bumps.
He is in kennel No. 107, ID No. LCAC-A-4023.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This 2-month-old female domestic shorthair kitten has a white coat with orange markings.
She is in kennel No. 129a, ID No. LCAC-A-4084.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This 2-month-old female domestic shorthair kitten has a gray coat with white markings.
She is in kennel No. 129b, ID No. LCAC-A-4085.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This 2-month-old female domestic shorthair kitten has a tortoiseshell coat.
She is in kennel No. 129c, ID No. LCAC-A-4086.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has many more new puppies and dogs it’s working to find homes for this week.
Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of American blue heeler, border collie, Chihuahua, collie, dachshund, German shepherd, husky, Labrador retriever, pit bull and Rottweiler.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
Male pit bull terrier puppy
This 2-month-old male pit bull terrier puppy has a short black coat.
He is in kennel No. 6a, ID No. LCAC-A-4098.
Male pit bull terrier puppy
This 2-month-old male pit bull terrier puppy has a short gray coat.
He is in kennel No. 6b, ID No. LCAC-A-4099.
Male pit bull terrier puppy
This 2-month-old male pit bull terrier puppy has a short brown coat.
He is in kennel No. 6c, ID No. LCAC-A-4100.
Female pit bull terrier puppy
This 2-month-old female pit bull terrier puppy has a short black coat.
She is in kennel No. 7a, ID No. LCAC-A-4101.
Female pit bull terrier puppy
This 2-month-old female pit bull terrier puppy has a short gray coat.
She is in kennel No. 7b, ID No. LCAC-A-4102.
Female pit bull terrier puppy
This 2-month-old female pit bull terrier puppy has a short brown coat.
She is in kennel No. 7c, ID No. LCAC-A-4103.
Male American blue heeler
This 1-year-old male American blue heeler has a short coat.
He is in kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-4128.
Female Chihuahua-dachshund mix
This 2-year-old female Chihuahua-dachshund mix has a short brown and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 11, ID No. LCAC-A-4126.
‘Bailey’
“Bailey” is a 5-year-old female pit bull terrier with a brown and white coat.
She is in kennel No. 13, ID No. LCAC-A-4125.
Male Labrador Retriever
When he’s not dressed as a unicorn, this 2-year-old male Labrador retriever has a short black coat.
He is in kennel No. 14, ID No. LCAC-A-4112.
Female collie mix
This 1-year-old female collie mix has a tricolor coat.
She is in kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-4111.
Male pit bull terrier
This 1-year-old male pit bull terrier has a short white coat with brown markings.
He is in kennel No. 16, ID No. LCAC-A-4110.
Female pit bull terrier
This 5-year-old female pit bull terrier has a short brown coat.
She is in kennel No. 17, ID No. LCAC-A-4109.
Male border collie
This 2-year-old male border collie has a black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 18, ID No. LCAC-A-3995.
Male husky
This 3-year-old male husky has a short tricolor coat.
He is in kennel No. 22, ID No. LCAC-A-4014.
Male pit mix puppy
This 2-month-old male pit bull terrier mix puppy has a short gray and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 23a, ID No. LCAC-A-4116.
Male pit mix puppy
This 2-month-old male pit bull terrier mix puppy has a short gray and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 23b, ID No. LCAC-A-4117.
Male pit mix puppy
This 2-month-old male pit bull terrier mix puppy has a short gray and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 23c, ID No. LCAC-A-4118.
Male pit bull puppy
This 2-month-old male pit bull puppy has a short white and gray coat.
He is in kennel No. 24a, ID No. LCAC-A-4120.
Female pit bull puppy
This 2-month-old female pit bull puppy has a short white and red coat.
She is in kennel No. 24b, ID No. LCAC-A-4121.
Female pit mix puppy
This 2-month-old female pit bull terrier mix puppy has a short white coat.
He is in kennel No. 24c, ID No. LCAC-A-4122.
Male pit bull
This 2-year-old male pit bull has a short black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 29, ID No. LCAC-A-4097.
‘Ziggy’
“Ziggy” is a 10-year-old female dachshund with a high brown coat.
She is in kennel No. 30, ID No. LCAC-A-4059.
‘Ruby’
“Ruby” is a 6-month-old female hound mix with a brindle coat.
She is in kennel No. 31, ID No. LCAC-A-3753.
German shepherd-husky
This 1-year-old male German shepherd-husky mix has a short tan coat.
He is in kennel No. 32, ID No. LCAC-A-4079.
‘Bella’
“Bella” is a 6-year-old female shepherd mix with a tricolor coat.
She is in kennel No. 33, ID No. LCAC-A-4078.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control has more than two dozen dogs waiting for their new families.
The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
The following dogs are available for adoption. New additions are at the top.
‘Bruce’
“Bruce” is a 2-year-old American pit bull mix with a short gray coat with white markings.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50684304.
‘Herman’
“Herman” is a 7-year-old male American pit bull terrier mix with a brown coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 51236411.
‘Poppa’
“Poppa” is a 3-year-old male American pit bull terrier mix with a short red and white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50773597.
‘Rascal’
“Rascal” is a male shepherd mix with a black and brown coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50806384.
‘Andy’
“Andy” is a male American pit bull mix with a short gray and white coat.
He is dog No. 48995415.
‘Aoki’
“Aoki” is a male Siberian husky mix with a white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50905477.
‘Babs’
“Babs” is a female Labrador retriever mix with a short black coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49505856.
‘Baby’
“Baby” is a female American pit bull mix with a white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 50933640.
‘Bear’
“Bear” is a male Labrador retriever-American pit bull mix with a short charcoal and fawn coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 48443153.
‘Big Phil’
“Big Phil” is a 13-year-old male American pit bull terrier mix with a blue coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49951647.
‘Buster’
“Buster” is a male pit bull mix with a short tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50762164.
‘Eros’
“Eros” is a male Rottweiler mix with a short black and tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50754504.
‘Foxie’
“Foxie” is a female German shepherd with a red, black and white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49702845.
‘Goliath’
“Goliah” is a male Rottweiler mix with a short black and tan coat.
He is dog No. 50754509.
‘Hakuna’
“Hakuna” is a male shepherd mix with a tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50176912.
‘Hondo’
“Hondo” is a male Alaskan husky mix with a buff coat.
He has been neutered.
He’s dog No. 50227693.
‘Keilani’
“Keilani” is a 3-year-old female German shepherd mix with a black and tan coat.
She has been spayed and she is house trained.
She is dog No. 50427566.
‘Little Boy’
“Little Boy” is a male American pit bull terrier mix with a short tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50075256.
‘Luciano’
“Luciano” is a male Siberian husky mix with a short black and white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50596272.
‘Mamba’
“Mamba” is a male Siberian husky mix with a gray and cream-colored coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49520569.
‘Matata’
“Matata” is male shepherd mix with a tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50176912.
‘Maya’
“Maya” is a female German shepherd with a black and tan coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 50428151.
‘Mikey’
“Mikey” is a male German shepherd mix with a short brown and tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 51012855.
‘Sadie’
“Sadie” is a female German shepherd mix with a black and tan coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49802563.
‘Snowball’
“Snowball is a 1 and a half year old male American Staffordshire terrier mix with a short white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49159168.
‘Terry’
“Terry” is a handsome male shepherd mix with a short brindle coat.
He gets along with other dogs, including small ones, and enjoys toys. He also likes water, playing fetch and keep away.
Staff said he is now getting some training to help him build confidence.
He is dog No. 48443693.
‘Willie’
“Willie” is a male German shepherd mix with a black and tan coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 50596003.
‘Zeda’
“Zeda” is a female Labrador retriever mix.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 51108916.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The extreme weather that has battered much of the U.S. in 2022 doesn’t just affect humans. Heat waves, wildfires, droughts and storms also threaten many wild species – including some that already face other stresses.
I’ve been researching bee health for over 10 years, with a focus on honey bees. In 2021, I began hearing for the first time from beekeepers about how extreme drought and rainfall were affecting bee colony health.
In both cases, managed colonies – hives that humans keep for honey production or commercial pollination – were starving. Beekeepers had to feed their bees more supplements of sugar water and pollen than they usually would to keep their colonies alive. Some beekeepers who had been in business for decades shared that they lost 50% to 70% of their colonies over the winter of 2021-2022.
These weather conditions likely also affected wild and native bees. And unlike managed colonies, these important species did not receive supplements to buffer them through harsh conditions.
Each year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency host federal pollinator experts to share the latest scientific findings on bee and pollinator health, and assess the status of these important insects, birds, bats and other species. One clear takeaway from this year’s meeting was that climate change has become a new and formidable stressor for bees, potentially amplifying previously known issues in ways that scientists can’t yet predict but need to prepare for.
The scourge of Varroa mites
Pollinators contribute an estimated US$235 billion to $577 billion yearly to global agriculture, based on the value of the crops they pollinate. Understanding and mitigating the impacts of climate change on pollinators is key for supporting healthy ecosystems and sustainable agriculture.
Bee health first attracted widespread attention in 2006 with the emergence of Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon where the majority of adult worker bees in a colony disappeared, leaving their honey and pollen stores and some nurse bees behind to care for the queen and remaining immature bees. In the past five years, reported cases have declined substantially. Now, researchers are focusing on what beekeepers call the “four Ps”: parasites, pathogens, pesticides and poor nutrition, as well as habitat loss for wild and native bees.
One of the most severe threats to honey bees over the past several decades has been Varroa destructor, a crablike parasitic mite that feeds on honey bees’ fat body tissue. The fat body is a nutrient-dense organ that functions much like the liver in mammals. It helps bees maintain a strong immune system, metabolize pesticides and survive through the winter.
These are vital functions, so controlling mite infestations is essential for bee health. Varroa can also transmit deadly pathogens to honey bees, such as deformed wing virus.
Controlling mite populations is challenging. It requires using an insecticide in an insect colony, or as beekeepers say, “trying to kill a bug on a bug.” It’s hard to find a formula strong enough to kill mites without harming the bees.
Monitoring Varroa takes significant skill and labor, and mites can build up resistance to treatments over time. Researchers and beekeepers are working hard to breed Varroa-resistant bees, but mites continue to plague the industry.
However, it can be hard to document and understand sublethal toxicity. Many factors affect how bees react to agrochemicals, including whether they are exposed as larvae or as adult bees, the mixture of chemicals bees are exposed to, the weather at the time of application and how healthy a bee colony is pre-exposure.
Like many other species, bees are losing the habitat and food sources that they depend on. This is happening for many reasons.
For example, uncultivated lands are being converted to farmland or developed worldwide. Large-scale agriculture focuses on mass production of a few commodity crops, which reduces the amount of nesting habitat and forage available for bees.
As diverse and healthy bee forage disappears, beekeepers feed their bees more supplements, such as sugar water and pollen substitutes, which are not as nutritious as the nectar and pollen bees get from flowers.
Climate change is a force multiplier
Researchers don’t know exactly how climate change will affect bee health. But they suspect it will add to existing stresses.
For example, if pest pressures mount for farmers, bees will be exposed to more pesticides. Extreme rainfall can disrupt bees’ foraging patterns. Wildfires and floods may destroy bee habitat and food sources. Drought may also reduce available forage and discourage land managers from planting new areas for bees as water becomes less readily available.
Climate change could also increase the spread of Varroa and other pathogens. Warmer fall and winter temperatures extend the period when bees forage. Varroa travel on foraging bees, so longer foraging provides a larger time window for mites and the viruses they carry to spread among colonies. Higher mite populations on bee colonies heading into winter will likely cripple colony health and increase winter losses.
Studies have already shown that climate change is disrupting seasonal connections between bees and flowers. As spring arrives earlier in the year, flowers bloom earlier or in different regions, but bees may not be present to feed on them. Even if flowers bloom at their usual times and locations, they may produce less-nutritious pollen and nectar under extreme weather conditions.
Research that analyzes the nutritional profiles of bee forage plants and how they change under different climate scenarios will help land managers plant climate-resilient plants for different regions.
Creating safe bee spaces
There are many ways to support bees and pollinators. Planting pollinator gardens with regional plants that bloom throughout the year can provide much-needed forage.
Ground-nesting native bees need patches of exposed and undisturbed soil, free of mulch or other ground covers. Gardeners can clear some ground in a sunny, well-drained area to create dedicated spaces for bees to dig nests.
Another important step is using integrated pest management, a land management approach that minimizes the use of chemical pesticides. And anyone who wants to help monitor native bees can join community science projects and use phone apps to submit data.
Most importantly, educating people and communities about bees and their importance to our food system can help create a more pollinator-friendly world.
In 1962 environmental scientist Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring,” a bestselling book that asserted that overuse of pesticides was harming the environment and threatening human health. Carson did not call for banning DDT, the most widely used pesticide at that time, but she argued for using it and similar products much more selectively and paying attention to their effects on nontargeted species.
This approach put Carson at odds with the fledgling organic movement, which totally rejected synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Early organic advocates claimed Carson as a supporter nonetheless, but Carson kept them at arm’s length. “The organic farming movement was suspect in Carson’s eyes because most of its early leaders were not scientists,” Paarlberg observes.
This divergence has echoes today in debates about whether organic production or steady improvements in conventional farming have more potential to feed a growing world population.
2. Concerned cropdusters
Well before “Silent Spring” was published, a crop-dusting industry developed on the Great Plains in the years after World War II to apply newly commercialized pesticides. “Chemical companies made broad promises about these ‘miracle’ products, with little discussion of risks. But pilots and scientists took a much more cautious approach,” recounts University of Nebraska-Kearney historian David Vail.
As Vail’s research shows, many crop-dusting pilots and university agricultural scientists were well aware of how little they knew about how these new tools actually worked. They attended conferences, debated practices for applying pesticides and organized flight schools that taught agricultural science along with spraying techniques. When “Silent Spring” was published, many of these practitioners pushed back, arguing that they had developed strategies for managing pesticide risks.
Today aerial spraying is still practiced on the Great Plains, but it’s also clear that insects and weeds rapidly evolve resistance to every new generation of pesticides, trapping farmers on what Vail calls “a chemical-pest treadmill.” Carson anticipated this effect in “Silent Spring,” and called for more research into alternative pest control methods – an approach that has become mainstream today.
3. The osprey’s crash and recovery
In “Silent Spring,” Carson described in detail how chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides persisted in the environment long after they were sprayed, rising through the food chain and building up in the bodies of predators. Populations of fish-eating raptors, such as bald eagles and ospreys, were ravaged by these chemicals, which thinned the shells of the birds’ eggs so that they broke in the nest before they could hatch.
“Up to 1950, ospreys were one of the most widespread and abundant hawks in North America,” writes Cornell University research associate Alan Poole. “By the mid-1960s, the number of ospreys breeding along the Atlantic coast between New York City and Boston had fallen by 90%.”
Bans on DDT and other highly persistent pesticides opened the door to recovery. But by the 1970s, many former osprey nesting sites had been developed. To compensate, concerned naturalists built nesting poles along shorelines. Ospreys also learned to colonize light posts, cell towers and other human-made structures.
Today, “Along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, nearly 20,000 ospreys now arrive to nest each spring – the largest concentration of breeding pairs in the world. Two-thirds of them nest on buoys and channel markers maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, who have become de facto osprey guardians,” writes Poole. “To have robust numbers of this species back again is a reward for all who value wild animals, and a reminder of how nature can rebound if we address the key threats.”
4. New concerns
Pesticide application techniques have become much more targeted in the 60 years since “Silent Spring” was published. One prominent example: crop seeds coated with neonicotinoids, the world’s most widely used class of insecticides. Coating the seeds makes it possible to introduce pesticides into the environment at the point where they are needed, without spraying a drop.
But a growing body of research indicates that even though coated seeds are highly targeted, much of their pesticide load washes off into nearby streams and lakes. “Studies show that neonicotinoids are poisoning and killing aquatic invertebrates that are vital food sources for fish, birds and other wildlife,” writes Penn State entomologist John Tooker.
In multiple studies, Tooker and colleagues have found that using coated seeds reduces populations of beneficial insects that prey on crop-destroying pests like slugs.
“As I see it, neonicotinoids can provide good value in controlling critical pest species, particularly in vegetable and fruit production, and managing invasive species like the spotted lanternfly. However, I believe the time has come to rein in their use as seed coatings in field crops like corn and soybeans, where they are providing little benefit and where the scale of their use is causing the most critical environmental problems,” Tooker writes.
Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archive.
Last month new booster vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer became available. They are called “bivalent,” because they protect against currently circulating Omicron variants as well as earlier strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
Boosters reduce the likelihood of becoming infected with Omicron, and they also reduce the likelihood of hospitalization and death should one become infected despite vaccination.
To learn more about the new booster vaccines and the prospects for gaining the upper hand against COVID-19, we spoke to Joel Ernst, MD, a UCSF professor of medicine whose research aims to understand how pathogens evade the immune system.
Which COVID-19 virus variants are the new vaccines designed to fight?
Each vaccine has a fifty-fifty mix of the virus’s spike protein from the original Wuhan strain of the virus that was used for the earlier vaccines and a spike protein segment from the Omicron BA4 and BA5 variants responsible for the most recent surge, and for most new U.S. cases today.
How soon after vaccination does the booster offer its strongest protection, and how long will protection last?
The booster ramps up to a high level of protection in about a week – faster than a first-vaccine dose – and surely within two weeks. We’re not sure how long the new booster will be protective, but it will likely act like earlier boosters, providing optimal protection for two-to-four months, good protection for four-to-six months, and less protection, but still some, after six months.
Should people who received a monovalent booster recently wait awhile before receiving the bivalent vaccine designed to also fight these Omicron variants?
It’s appropriate to wait at least two months from the time of the previous booster, but many people may choose to wait four months, as a previous booster is likely to offer sufficient protection to greatly reduce risk of severe infection for four months.
VACCINES AND LONG COVID
Do we know anything about the added protection provided by the bivalent booster in terms of risks for infection, transmission, serious disease or long COVID?
It’s too early to know about any of those types of protection. What’s known so far is that the new bivalent boosters increase the immune system’s antibody responses to the BA4 and BA5 Omicron variants far beyond responses seen with the earlier monovalent vaccine. Even though we don’t have data on infection and serious disease, we have reason to believe from the antibody responses that the new vaccine will provide greater protection against these newer variants.
If I was infected with an Omicron variant already, should I still get this new booster?
Yes, some people have become reinfected. However, it’s recommended to wait two months since the last symptomatic infection before getting a booster. Some protective COVID-virus-targeting T cells and antibody-producing B cells remain after infection ends, but they need time to readjust and reset their metabolism before they can respond optimally to a booster vaccine.
NEW OMICRON VARIANTS
Another highly transmissible mutant Omicron strain of COVIID-19, called BA2.75.2, is rapidly becoming dominant in India, and has shown up in several other countries around the globe. Do you think this strain poses a threat for another pandemic surge in the United States or elsewhere? Is it known how likely that strain is to cause serious disease, and should we expect the bivalent vaccine to offer any protection?
The answers to all those questions are still outstanding. I am concerned about it. But there have been other variants that have emerged and spread widely in one country or another and then never made it very far. There’s reason to believe that the new vaccine will be more effective than the old vaccine against that new strain. It’s been hard to accurately predict which variants will spread, but from a public health perspective, it’s important to conduct surveillance and to genetically sequence the virus to detect the arrival of new variants and to track changes in variant prevalence.
No human data for the new Omicron vaccines were presented for review prior to approval. Do you have any concerns that potential risks of vaccination might be underestimated? I don’t think there is any reason to think that these new vaccines will pose any risks beyond what we have already seen with the original vaccines. The total dose of RNA in the new vaccines is the same as in the earlier vaccines. Serious side effects are extremely rare, and benefits exceed risks.
What about the risk of myocarditis?
There have been quite a few studies with the earlier vaccines, which indicate that there is one case of myocarditis per 100,000 to 200,000 people vaccinated. The risk is small, but not zero. The risk is consistently higher in males under age 40. Except in exceedingly rare cases, vaccine-associated myocarditis cases have been transient – people recover. Studies indicate that incidence of myocarditis among people infected with SARS-CoV-2 is much higher than incidence due to vaccination.
Booster and Flu Shots Together
If I get my Omicron booster right away, should I get a flu shot at the same time, or is there a better time to get the flu shot to avoid interactions and to obtain maximum protection during flu season?
It’s fine to save a trip and get both at the same time. If you anticipate being uncomfortable with symptoms that arise as your immune system responds to either of the vaccinations, you might want to get them at different times. Maybe it’s on the early side, but September or October is not too soon for a flu shot. We never know for sure when the flu season is going to hit.
Will COVID ever go away?
My answer is that I am optimistic that the pandemic is going to recede into the background, even if it is unlikely to go away. I think the virus will mutate to a point where it doesn’t make people as sick as it did early on, and our immunity will continue to increase.
The lake is always green and there is so much algae, it’s everywhere. We are visiting another lake this weekend, will there be algae there too? How do we find out?
— Asking about algae
Dear Asking,
Thank you for asking this question, it’s timely and very important! There is also a lot of confusion around “algae” and what is commonly mistaken for algae. What you are probably concerned about is actually cyanobacteria. However, what you are noticing about your lake happens every summer, and not just in Clear Lake, but in other places around the state, around the Country, and around the world.
Now it’s important to recognize that algae is not cyanobacteria, and cyanobacteria is not algae. They may look similar to us standing on the beach or a boat, but they actually originate in different biological kingdoms. Cyanobacteria are as different to green algae as a mushroom is to a horse — they are not similar at all! They just happen to inhabit the same space — water.
Cyanobacteria belong in the Bacteria/Monera kingdom and green algae, or phytoplankton, belong in the protozoa kingdom.
For more information on the biological kingdoms and why algae and cyanobacteria are separated into different kingdoms, I recommend the Wikipedia page on Kingdoms. This page really does a good job discussing what is classified in each kingdom and some of the history of classification.
Before we go on, let’s review a few things.
Clear Lake is full of life, so it’s important for us to understand all that lives in the lake for us to understand what we are concerned about and what potential solutions are, and what their impacts might be on all things in the lake.
One: aquatic plants (or macrophytes) grow in the water, some are rooted in the lake sediments at the bottom and some are not rooted, and are free-floating.
Two: Green algae are microscopic plants (sometimes called phytoplankton) that are the primary fish food in the lake. Clear Lake is very green - that is from the green algae and that is why we have a world class fishery and people come from all over to catch record-sized fish living in the lake. The phytoplankton, or green algae is why Clear Lake is called “A Living Lake” as the productive green algae can sustain abundant life. In contrast, Lake Tahoe does not produce that much green algae because it is cold and dark, and does not have a work class fishery or as much life as Clear Lake.
Three: Cyanobacteria, which are sometimes called blue-green algae, are not really algae, but bacteria that live in the water alongside green algae. Cyanobacteria is also the culprit behind the “Harmful Algal Blooms, or HABs” colloquial. Cyanobacteria is NOT a preferred food source for fish. Sometimes when cyanobacteria populations grow in great numbers (called blooms) they can produce toxins that can cause public health hazards (hence their reference as Harmful Algal Blooms or HABs).
So when someone states that they want to get rid of all the algae, that is usually not what they mean. The green algae is really, really important for our lake’s food web. It's the base of the food web and if it was all removed, we would see the collapse of the entire food web. From fish, otters, to birds, to all the living things that depend on green algae feeding fish. We would also see the elimination of our world class fishery.
Macrophytes, algae, and cyanobacteria all conduct photosynthesis, meaning they turn sunlight energy and carbon in the air into both oxygen and food energy or starch to grow. For macrophytes, algae, and cyanobacteria, the three main nutrients they rely on for growth are carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus.
Carbon and nitrogen are very abundant in the atmosphere and water, carbon in the form of CO2 and nitrogen in the form of N2 (gas) and any animal or plant waste or breakdown product in the water.
Phosphorus is least common, therefore phosphorus is the main driver of growth, because it’s normally least available, so it’s what limits growth of macrophytes, algae, and cyanobacteria. It’s not surprising that in Clear Lake, there is abundant light, warm temperature, and plentiful food nutrients. When the lake has excess phosphorus, we get excess growth of plants, algae, and cyanobacteria.
For Clear Lake, there is a comprehensive cyanobacteria monitoring program managed by Big Valley EPA and other tribal partners. They have a website with most recent monitoring data posted. They sample about 20 sites every two weeks in the summer and every month in the winter. Results are also posted on the Facebook page called “Clear Lake Water Quality”. Red pins mean DANGER levels have been found and it’s recommended to not go into the water in that area. Orange pins mean WARNING, and yellow mean CAUTION. Green pins mean no cyanobacteria toxins have been detected in the sampled water from that area.
Cyanobacteria is not just a Clear Lake problem
As conditions around the country and the world change, cyanobacteria blooms are becoming more prevalent. Monitoring and reporting is also more widespread across the state and country. For example, here in California HABS data can be reported and shared on the My Water Quality HABS portal as part of the California Water Quality Monitoring Council.
On the California HABs portal is a link to a HAB Incident Reports Map, which provides data on voluntarily reported blooms in California. The data may include reports under investigation and/or confirmed incidents of HABs, but it’s a good visual to see what conditions are in water bodies in different parts of the state.
This site also provides a satellite freshwater HABmap <https://fhab.sfei.org/> tool developed by San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI). This map displays estimated amounts of cyanobacteria in large water bodies calculated from satellite imagery. The map includes approximately 250 water bodies in California large enough to be detected by the satellite. It is designed as a screening level analysis tool to indicate past 10-day aggregate conditions.
By exploring these tools, it becomes evident, and quite obvious, that cyanobacteria issues extend beyond Clear Lake, and are now becoming more frequent in other water bodies throughout the state.
The use of these tools in making informed decisions when recreating on or in freshwater is invaluable. Before planning a water excursion, you can see what current bloom conditions are in a lake of interest, and can use that knowledge to stay safe while enjoying the lake.
Cyanobacteria and HABS beyond California
Just this summer around the country, for example, there have been numerous reports of lakes or beaches closing due to harmful blooms. Here are a few examples from states like Colorado, New York, Michigan and Nebraska. This summer, lake monitoring revealed harmful cyanobacteria bloom conditions across the Country, further demonstrating that cyanobacteria is a serious issue that extends beyond Clear Lake and requires both state and national focus and attention.
Ulster waterways had to issue warnings to the public after cyanobacteria bloom occurred.
In Michigan, throughout July and August, numerous lakes were reported and confirmed to have cyanobacteria blooms.
And as recently in September, in Nebraska, five lakes were under a health alert after testing confirmed cyanobacteria abundance above health triggers.
Therefore, it's important to be aware of conditions when visiting any freshwater water body, whether it’s located close to you or miles from home. Much like when you visit the ocean, you look for signs warning of rip currents, tides, or dangerous marine wildlife. When visiting freshwaters, keep aware of any posted signage.
Cyanobacteria blooms don’t always impact entire lakes or streams, and there can be areas that are less concerning, however you might have to spend a little time doing some research to find the monitoring data online from a local or state source. Every year more and more states are conducting monitoring and providing public health information so everyone can stay safe while enjoying their favorite lake, near or far.
— Sincerely Lady of the Lake
The CDC is a great resource for learning more about potential health impacts of cyanobacteria, what to look for, and how to protect you, your kids, and pets, when recreating in freshwaters.
Angela De Palma-Dow is a limnologist (limnology = study of fresh inland waters) who lives and works in Lake County. Born in Northern California, she has a Master of Science from Michigan State University. She is a Certified Lake Manager from the North American Lake Management Society, or NALMS, and she is the current president/chair of the California chapter of the Society for Freshwater Science. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
On Oct. 16, at 7:04 a.m. EDT, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, the first mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, will skim the Earth’s atmosphere, passing a mere 220 miles above the surface.
By sling-shotting past Earth on the first anniversary of its launch, Lucy will gain some of the orbital energy it needs to travel to this never-before-visited population of asteroids.
The Trojan asteroids are trapped in orbits around the Sun at the same distance as Jupiter, either far ahead of or behind the giant planet. Lucy is currently one year into a 12 year voyage. This gravity assist will place Lucy on a new trajectory for a two-year orbit, at which time it will return to Earth for a second gravity assist.
This second assist will give Lucy the energy it needs to cross the main asteroid belt, where it will observe asteroid Donaldjohanson, and then travel into the leading Trojan asteroid swarm.
There, Lucy will fly past six Trojan asteroids: Eurybates and its satellite Queta, Polymele and its yet unnamed satellite, Leucus, and Orus.
Lucy will then return to Earth for a third gravity assist in 2030 to re-target the spacecraft for a rendezvous with the Patroclus-Menoetius binary asteroid pair in the trailing Trojan asteroid swarm.
For this first gravity assist, Lucy will appear to approach Earth from the direction of the Sun. While this means that observers on Earth will not be able to see Lucy in the days before the event, Lucy will be able to take images of the nearly full Earth and Moon. Mission scientists will use these images to calibrate the instruments.
Lucy’s trajectory will bring the spacecraft very close to Earth, lower even than the International Space Station, which means that Lucy will pass through a region full of earth-orbiting satellites and debris. To ensure the safety of the spacecraft, NASA developed procedures to anticipate any potential hazard and, if needed, to execute a small maneuver to avoid a collision.
“The Lucy team has prepared two different maneuvers,” says Coralie Adam, Lucy deputy navigation team chief from KinetX Aerospace in Simi Valley, California. “If the team detects that Lucy is at risk of colliding with a satellite or piece of debris, then — 12 hours before the closest approach to Earth — the spacecraft will execute one of these, altering the time of closest approach by either two or four seconds. This is a small correction, but it is enough to avoid a potentially catastrophic collision.”
Lucy will be passing the Earth at such a low altitude that the team had to include the effect of atmospheric drag when designing this flyby. Lucy’s large solar arrays increase this effect.
“In the original plan, Lucy was actually going to pass about 30 miles closer to the Earth,” says Rich Burns, Lucy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “However, when it became clear that we might have to execute this flyby with one of the solar arrays unlatched, we chose to use a bit of our fuel reserves so that the spacecraft passes the Earth at a slightly higher altitude, reducing the disturbance from the atmospheric drag on the spacecraft’s solar arrays.”
At around 6:55 a.m. EDT, Lucy will first be visible to observers on the ground in Western Australia (6:55 p.m. for those observers). Lucy will quickly pass overhead, clearly visible to the naked eye for a few minutes before disappearing at 7:02 a.m. EDT as the spacecraft passes into the Earth’s shadow.
Lucy will continue over the Pacific Ocean in darkness and emerge from the Earth’s shadow at 7:26 a.m. EDT. If the clouds cooperate, sky watchers in the western United States should be able to get a view of Lucy with the aid of binoculars.
“The last time we saw the spacecraft, it was being enclosed in the payload fairing in Florida,” said Hal Levison, Lucy principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Boulder, Colorado office. “It is exciting that we will be able to stand here in Colorado and see the spacecraft again. And this time Lucy will be in the sky.”
Lucy will then rapidly recede from the Earth’s vicinity, passing by the Moon and taking a few more calibration images before continuing out into interplanetary space.
“I’m especially excited by the final few images that Lucy will take of the Moon,” said John Spencer, acting deputy project scientist at SwRI. “Counting craters to understand the collisional history of the Trojan asteroids is key to the science that Lucy will carry out, and this will be the first opportunity to calibrate Lucy’s ability to detect craters by comparing it to previous observations of the Moon by other space missions.”
The public is invited to join the #WaveToLucy social media campaign by posting images of themselves waving towards the spacecraft and tagging the @NASASolarSystem account. Additionally, if you are in an area where Lucy will be visible, take a photograph of Lucy and post it to social media with the #SpotTheSpacecraft hashtag. Instructions for observing Lucy from your location are available here.
Hal Levison of Southwest Research Institute, or SwRI, in the Boulder Colorado office is the principal investigator. SwRI, headquartered in San Antonio, also leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing.
NASA Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering and the safety and mission assurance for Lucy. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado built the spacecraft, principally designed the orbital trajectory and is providing flight operations.
Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the Lucy spacecraft. Lucy is the thirteenth mission in NASA’s Discovery Program, which is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
NASA recently crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in an attempt to push the rocky traveler off its trajectory. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test – or DART – was meant to test one potential strategy for preventing an asteroid from colliding with Earth. The collision occurred on Sept. 27, 2022, and on Oct. 11, 2022, NASA announced that the mission had successfully changed the orbit of the asteroid Dimorphos. David Barnhart is a professor of astronautics at the University of Southern California and director of the Space Engineering Research Center there. He watched NASA’s live stream of the successful mission and explains what happened.
1. What do the images from DART show?
The first images, taken by a camera aboard DART, show the double asteroid system of Didymos – about 2,500 feet (780 meters) in diameter – being orbited by the smaller asteroid Dimorphos, which is about 525 feet (160 meters) long.
As the targeting algorithm on DART locked onto Dimorphos, the craft adjusted its flight and began heading toward the smaller of the two asteroids. The image taken at 11 seconds before impact and 42 miles (68 kilometers) from Dimorphos shows the asteroid centered in the camera’s field of view. This meant the targeting algorithm was fairly accurate and the craft would collide right at the center of Dimorphos.
The second-to-last image, taken two seconds before impact, shows the rocky surface of Dimorphos, including small shadows. These shadows are interesting because they suggest that the camera aboard the DART spacecraft was seeing Dimorphos directly on but the Sun was at an angle relative to the camera. They imply the DART spacecraft was centered on its trajectory to impact Dimorphos at the moment, but it’s also possible the asteroid was slowly rotating relative to the camera.
The final photo, taken one second before impact, only shows the top slice of an image, but this is incredibly exciting. The fact that NASA received only part of the image suggests that the shutter took the picture but DART, traveling at around 14,000 mph (22,500 kph), was unable to transmit the complete image before impact.
2. What was supposed to happen?
The point of the DART mission was to test whether it is possible to deflect an asteroid with a kinetic impact – by crashing something into it. NASA used the analogy of a golf cart hitting the side of an Egyptian pyramid to convey the relative difference in size between tiny DART and Dimorphos, the smaller of the two asteroids. Prior to the test, Dimorphos orbited Didymos in just under 12 hours. NASA expects the impact to shorten Dimorphos’ orbit by about 1%. Though small, if done far enough away from Earth, a nudge like this could potentially deflect a future asteroid headed toward Earth just enough to prevent an impact.
3. Did it work?
The last bits of data that came from the DART spacecraft right before impact showed that it was on course. The fact that the images stopped transmitting after the target point was reached was the first sign of success.
Fifteen days before the impact, DART released a small satellite with a camera that was designed to document the entire impact. The small satellite has been sending photos of the impact back to Earth during early October 2022. A number of Earth-based telescopes as well as some satellites in orbit, including Hubble and James Webb, were watching Didymos at the time of the impact as well.
Using data from these telescopes taken at the time of impact as well as over the following weeks, the DART team at NASA has been able to calculate just how much the impact deflected the orbit of Dimorphos. Before DART, it took 11 hours and 55 minutes for the smaller moonlet to orbit the larger asteroid Didymos. The energy from the impact shortened Dimorphos’s orbit by 32 minutes – showing the impact to be more than 25 times more effective than NASA’s conservative goal of 72 seconds.
4. What does the test mean for planetary defense?
I believe this test was a great proof-of-concept for many technologies that the U.S. government has invested in over the years. And importantly, it proves that it is possible to send a craft to intercept with a minuscule target millions of miles away from Earth and change its orbit. DART has been a great success.
Over the course of the next months and years, researchers will learn just how efficient the impact was – and most importantly, whether this type of kinetic impact can actually move a celestial object ever so slightly at a great enough distance to prevent a future asteroid from threatening Earth.
This is an updated version of a story first published on Sept. 27, 2022.