Earth Equity News

Heat Continues to Grip Much of Nation. By Chuck Bartels, AP, August 5, 2010. "Temperatures topped 100 degrees in much of the nation again Wednesday, elevating the risk of health problems and wildfires. 'Even the healthiest person can't function for long in heat over 100 degrees without regular rest in the shade to cool down, good hydration and good nutrition.' Ed Barham, Arkansas Health Department spokesman. Excessive heat warnings stretched from Georgia to Texas and Illinois to Nebraska. In Arkansas, officials reported that concrete had buckled, and firefighters were busy with more than a dozen wildfires. They warned residents to take care to prevent more fires from starting… Temperatures reached 105 degrees in Oklahoma City, 102 in Dallas and Little Rock, 103 in Memphis, Tenn., and 101 in Shreveport, La. The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture said soybean-eating bollworms have flourished because pesticide evaporates in the heat instead of getting under the bean plants' canopy where the worms do their damage. Other pests, including armyworms and salt marsh caterpillars, also are causing plants to defoliate."