内容摘要：“In case there were any doubts, MTA, State and City reaffirmed in a court filing that congestion pricing is here to stay and that the arguments Secretary Duffy made trying to stop it have zero merit,” John J. McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of policy and external relations, said Sunday.

“In case there were any doubts, MTA, State and City reaffirmed in a court filing that congestion pricing is here to stay and that the arguments Secretary Duffy made trying to stop it have zero merit,” John J. McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of policy and external relations, said Sunday.

A polar bear statue with painted beluga whales sits outside a gift shop, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)A polar bear statue with painted beluga whales sits outside a gift shop, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

There’s something healing about belugas. Just ask Erin Greene.Greene was attacked by a polar bear in 2013. She doesn’t like to go into details about the attack, but Mayor Mike Spence said she was thrashed by a bear which had her in its jaws. A neighbor hit the bear with a shovel, and a third person used a truck to scare off the bear, which was later found and killed. Years later, Greene said contact with the sociable whales helped pull her out of post-traumatic stress disorder. Now she goes out in the water with them, on a paddleboard, and sings to and with the whales. She also rents paddleboards to tourists, so they can do the same.Greene, who isn’t native to Churchill but came to work in the tourism industry, tried yoga, which eventually led to paddleboarding in Hawaii. It made her feel a little better, so she thought she’d bring it back to Churchill where there isn’t just water, but belugas. And that helped her heal, “moving through the various stages of dealing with trauma,” she said.

A pod of Beluga whales swim through the Churchill River, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, near Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)A pod of Beluga whales swim through the Churchill River, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, near Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A beluga whale blows air out as it swims through the Churchill River, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, near Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A beluga whale blows air out as it swims through the Churchill River, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, near Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s

for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas atBarb Boustead remembers learning about corn sweat when she moved to Nebraska about 20 years ago to work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and found herself plunked down in an ocean of corn. The term for the late-summer spike in humidity from corn plants cooling themselves was “something that locals very much know about,” Boustead, a meteorologist and climatologist, recalled.

But this hallmark of Midwestern summer might be growing stickier thanks to climate change and the steady march of industrial agriculture. Climate change is driving warmer temperatures and warmer nights and allowing the atmosphere to hold more moisture. It’s also changed growing conditions, allowing farmers to plant corn further north and increasing the total amount of corn in the United States.Farmers are also planting more acres of corn, in part to meet demand for ethanol,