Many people have increased their use of disinfectants and sanitizers due to the COVID-19 crisis. It is important to use these products correctly to ensure they are effective and to protect ones health. See the info graphic below from the National Pesticide Information Center about how to safely use disinfectants.

 

[Originally posted on Community Pest News. Republished with permission.]

Reposted from UC Davis News

As climate change transforms California's landscape in the years to come, coastal habitats appear to be more resilient than many other places in the state. (Getty Images)

Current levels of greenhouse gas emissions are putting nearly half of California's natural vegetation at risk from climate stress, with transformative implications for the state's landscape and the people and animals that depend on it, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis. However, cutting emissions so that global temperatures increase by no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.2 degrees Fahrenheit) could reduce those impacts by half, with about a quarter of the state's natural vegetation affected.

The study, published in the journal Ecosphere, asks: What are the implications for the state's vegetation under a business-as-usual emissions strategy, where temperatures increase up to 4.5 degrees Celsius by 2100, compared to meeting targets outlined in the Paris climate agreement that limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius?

“At current rates of emissions, about 45-56 percent of all the natural vegetation in the state is at risk, or from 61,190 to 75,866 square miles,” said lead author James Thorne, a research scientist with the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at UC Davis. “If we reduce the rate to Paris accord targets, those numbers are lowered to between 21 and 28 percent of the lands at climatic risk.”

The report notes that this is a conservative estimate because it only examines direct climate exposure. It does not include increased wildfire or insect attacks on forests, which are also intensifying and likely to increase with further warming. These secondary effects are likely to have large impacts, as well, the authors say. For example, during the recent drought, more than 127 million trees died primarily due to beetle outbreaks, and wildfires have consumed extensive amounts of natural vegetation.

68 percent of LA, San Diego regions impacted

The study features maps of the state and shows the climate risk to 30 different vegetation types under different climate scenarios. It projects that at current rates of greenhouse gas emissions, vegetation in southwestern California, the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada mountains becomes more than 50 percent impacted by 2100, including 68 percent of the lands surrounding Los Angeles and San Diego.

“This is the map of where we live,” Thorne said. “The natural landscapes that make up California provide the water, clean air and other natural benefits for all the people who live here. They provide the sanctuary for California's high biodiversity that is globally ranked. This map portrays the level of climate risk to all of those things. In some cases, the transformation may be quite dramatic and visible, as is the case with wildfire and beetle outbreaks. In other cases, it might not be dramatically visible but will have impacts, nevertheless.”

Resilient areas also identified

The study and its maps are being used by state agencies and land managers to make decisions under changing conditions. Commissioned by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the data is helping the agency understand not only which parts of the state are vulnerable to climate change, but also which areas are more resilient, such as some coastal areas and parts of northwestern California, so they can ensure they remain resilient.

“In California, we have good information on the vulnerability of fish and wildlife to climate change,” said Whitney Albright, a project manager with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “But we were missing this crucial piece of climate risks to underlying habitat. This study helped fill the information gap. We've already started to use its data in our conservation planning efforts.”

The study also provides a risk assessment for policymakers to consider the benefits to California of reaching Paris climate agreement emission targets that limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, and the risks to the state of remaining on the current business-as-usual level of emissions and temperature warming.

Co-authoring institutions included the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

The study was funded by the U.S. National Park Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

[From the December 2016 issue of the UC IPM Green Bulletin]

School is already back in session for many children in districts throughout California, and several others will be starting back to school in the next couple of weeks. While students and teachers were enjoying summer break, an amendment to the Healthy Schools Act (HSA) went into effect on July 1^st. It requires teachers, custodians, administrators, other staff or volunteers, and licensed pest management professionals applying any pesticide (this includes disinfectants and antimicrobials) at a school site to take an annual training course covering school integrated pest management (IPM). The training course must be approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR).

An online course, Providing Integrated Pest Management Services in Schools and Child Care Settings, developed by the UC Statewide IPM Program and the Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health (CERCH), has recently been approved by DPR to satisfy the annual training requirement of the HSA. Although this course was designed for licensed pest management professionals, anyone applying any type of pesticide in schools or child care centers will benefit from the course.

IPM is a strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests through a combination of techniques such as monitoring for pest presence, cleaning up food sources, sealing up cracks, and excluding pests with screens. Effective pesticides that pose the least possible hazard and that minimize harm to people, property, and the environment are used only after careful monitoring indicates they are needed.

The HSA encourages the use of IPM in schools and child care centers and gives parents and the public the ability to know when and where certain pesticides are used in these facilities. It was originally signed into California law in September 2000 and is located in four different California codes: education, food and agricultural, business and professions, and health and safety. The law has been amended several times. The most recent revision to the HSA was signed into law in September 2014 by Governor Brown.

Prior to July 1^st, schools were already required to do the following:

• Designate an IPM coordinator at the school or district level to make sure the requirements of the HSA are met
• Create an IPM plan
• Provide annual written notification to all parents and staff of pesticide products intended for use at the school site during the year and allow the opportunity for them to be notified before certain applications
• Post warning signs where certain pesticides are applied
• Keep records of pesticide applications
• Send pesticide use reports to DPR annually

Some pesticide products are exempt from the IPM plan, notification, posting, recordkeeping, and reporting* requirements of the HSA at school sites. These are reduced-risk pesticide products, and their use is encouraged at schools if pesticides are deemed necessary. These include:

• Self-contained baits or traps
• Gels or pastes used indoors in cracks and crevices
• Antimicrobials, including sanitizers and disinfectants
• Pesticides exempt from registration, such as food grade oils

However, these products are NOT exempt from the Healthy Schools Act annual training requirement that went into effect July 1st. Anyone who uses these products—a licensed professional, school staff or child care staff—is still required to take the HSA annual training course.

To satisfy this annual training requirement, take the free UC IPM online course by visiting the UC IPM online training webpage. For more on school and child care IPM and other courses that satisfy the Healthy Schools Act training requirement, visit the DPR website.

*Licensed pest management professionals hired to apply pesticides at schools or licensed child care centers must continue to submit their regular pesticide reports of ALL registered pesticides to DPR annually and to the county monthly.