Lifeguard shortage may force half of public pools in U.S. to close or limit hours
CBSN
As children make a splash in Los Angeles, Chicago opens its pools, and thousands flock to Florida's beaches, it's clear that Americans just want to be in the water as summer gets underway.
However, a shortage of lifeguards is threatening all kinds of summer fun.
This isn't the first year there has been more demand than supply for lifeguards, but across the country, states and municipalities are facing their worst shortages on record. In New York City, even a 9% pay increase and sign-on bonus hasn't convinced people to take the job, leaving the city with just a third of the lifeguards it needs.
Two more black-footed ferrets have been cloned from the genes used for the first clone of an endangered species in the U.S., bringing to three the number of slinky predators genetically identical to one of the last such animals found in the wild, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday.
There were 56 wild, endangered Puerto Rican parrots living around El Yunque National Forest before Hurricane Maria in 2017. After the storm, there was only one survivor. Wood thrushes, found across the eastern U.S.; 60% of them are gone. Baltimore orioles, also an eastern bird; two-fifths have been lost. Western meadowlarks, prevalent in the central and western U.S.; three-fourths have disappeared.