Latest news with #Piñon
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Tree deaths in New Mexico doubled from 2023 to 2024, report says
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) — Twice as many trees died in New Mexico's forests from 2023 to 2024, according to the Forest Health Conditions report released on Monday. The New Mexico Forestry Division says the driving factors are insects and warmer conditions. Story continues below Trending: ABQ family defies all odds after their fetus received a rare diagnosis Breaking: Pope Francis dies at 88 Crime: Repeat International District murder suspect facing new charges The report is based on aerial surveys mapping insect and disease activities across 14 million acres of state, private, Tribal, and federal forests as well as woodlands. The forestry division provided this breakdown: '70,000 acres of dead conifer trees – up from the 33,000 acres in 2023. 406,000 acres damaged by insects, disease, and harsh conditions — an increase of 42,000 acres or 12% since 2023. 39% rise in trees losing needles, leaves, and turning brown or red statewide.' Native insects were found to be the primary cause of tree damage, including caterpillars of Douglas-fir tussock moths which defoliated 18,000 acres in mixed conifer forests. A small sap-sucking insect known as a Piñon needle scale defoliated 16,000 acres. Some others include bark beetles, Piñon ips, Western Spruce budworm, and Ponderosa needleminer. The amount of forest and woodland acres impacted by drought and heat last year decreased by 65% statewide, although the state's mean temperature rose to 53.6 to make 2024 the second warmest year on record. You can look at the full report online. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
12-03-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Texas measles outbreak could grow as more parents opt out of vaccinating kids, doctors say
Many Texas doctors said they fear the current measles outbreak may be just the beginning, given how state data shows an increasing number of parents are opting out of vaccinating their children. As of Tuesday night, there were 223 confirmed measles cases in Texas, with the majority in the South Plains and Panhandle regions, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Children under 18 make up about 78% of these cases — and one unvaccinated child has died. In Texas, there are seven vaccines the state requires children get in order to attend K-12 schools, including the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. However, parents are allowed to file a conscientious exemption to these immunizations without needing to give a religious or medical explanation. The percentage of kindergarteners whose parents filed conscientious exemptions has been on the rise since 2014, according to state data — with 3.63% of parents filing an exemption for the 2023-2024 school year, compared to 1.29% a decade prior. In 102 Texas counties, the vaccine exemption rate more than tripled in that time period. Researchers stress that keeping that percentage below 5% is crucial for herd immunity for measles, which makes it hard for the virus to spread. While the statewide number has not exceeded that 5% threshold, there are hundreds of smaller pockets with higher concentrations of unvaccinated children across the state. Health officials say each of these is a potential outbreak waiting to happen. Last year, 90 Texas counties, including Denton and Collin, were considered at high risk of a measles outbreak because the vaccine exemption rate exceeded 5%. In Gaines County, the epicenter of this latest outbreak, nearly 18% of kindergarten parents filed a vaccine exemption. In an extensive investigation last year, the CBS Texas I-Team found parents who choose to file vaccine exemptions often live in the same communities, attend the same churches, and send their children to the same schools. The I-Team identified more than 240 DFW-area schools (160 public, 80 private) where campus vaccine exemption rates were greater than 5%. Liz Piñon, a Crowley mother of 12-year-old triplets with compromised immune systems, worries about the growing number of unvaccinated children in Texas schools. Establishing herd immunity is especially important for her triplets and other vulnerable children. Born at 25 weeks, the Piñon children spent much of their early life in the hospital, and even now, their immune systems are fragile. This means certain vaccines, like the measles shot, may not fully protect them. "If my kids get sick, it's not like your average child," Piñon told the I-Team last year. "It will be more detrimental to them, and it might shorten their life span." Vaccine hesitancy now mainstream Dr. Alicia Phillips, a pediatrician at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, said the current measles outbreak is something doctors saw coming, considering the upward trend of vaccine hesitancy. "We hoped that we could continue to message and to educate and to turn that tide, but we have seen this coming," Phillips said. Turning the tide, Phillips said, is a challenge because there are multiple factors that could lead a parent to choose not to vaccinate their child. For years, groups like Texans for Vaccine Choice have advocated for the rights of parents to choose whether their children get their state-required immunization shots. Their efforts became more mainstream when they took on COVID-19 vaccine policies. Doctors say this has led to more parents rethinking long-standing vaccines. "I think what we have to focus on is that we both have the same goal," Phillips said. "We both want our children to be safe and to be healthy. And they're trying to balance what they may hear on the Internet, on social media with what we're telling them, which is very complex science."
