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Paige Vega

@paigeblank.bsky.social

Climate Editor @vox.com | mentor @uprootproject.bsky.social + @sejorg.bsky.social | Previously editing at High Country News | Based in western Colorado

13,184 Followers  |  1,373 Following  |  270 Posts  |  Joined: 26.07.2023  |  2.1981

Latest posts by paigeblank.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Inside the audacious mission to bring a rare toad back from the brink The amphibian “IVF clinic” fighting to save the first amphibian ever afforded federal protections.

The Houston toad, once common across southeast Texas, is now so endangered that its best shot at survival involves assisted reproduction and some very determined humans.

It’s weird, hopeful, kind of beautiful — and it just might be working.

@vox.com: www.vox.com/the-highligh... @longreads.com

03.10.2025 16:02 — 👍 6    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
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The surging price tag of wildfires, in one chart Wildfires are getting worse — and a lot more expensive for the rest of us.

Wildfires aren’t just getting bigger. They’re getting massively more expensive.

A new study shows the most destructive fires are happening more often, fueled by climate change, urban sprawl, and decades of fire suppression.

@umairfan.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4635...

02.10.2025 18:53 — 👍 17    🔁 13    💬 2    📌 0

@umairfan.bsky.social

02.10.2025 18:51 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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The surging price tag of wildfires, in one chart

Wildfires are getting worse — and a lot more expensive for the rest of us.

Umair Irfan for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4635...

02.10.2025 18:50 — 👍 24    🔁 11    💬 2    📌 0
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Listen to Jane Goodall’s final — and urgent — message Her final interviews are essential listening for everyone.

We lost a great today 😢

@benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4634...

01.10.2025 21:59 — 👍 21    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 2
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Your expensive power bill is part of an alarming trend Here’s why you shouldn’t panic. Yet.

That price shock from your latest power bill wasn't a one-off — electricity prices are way, way up, and aren't coming down any time soon. Are we headed toward an energy crisis?

Umair Irfan spoke with energy experts to find out: www.vox.com/climate/4632... @vox.com

01.10.2025 15:09 — 👍 21    🔁 11    💬 3    📌 1
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Inside Texas’s grand laboratory of dangerous mosquitoes While the rest of the country turned a blind eye to ancient disease threats, these scientists leaned in.

Here's a gift link: www.vox.com/climate/4608...

18.09.2025 14:00 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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RFK Jr.’s biggest disruption yet to vaccine policy is coming Kennedy’s support is fracturing. The childhood vaccine schedule could break it.

RFK Jr's sycophantic Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will decide today and tomorrow whether to delay shots like the hepatitis-B vaccines for children.

@dylanlscott.bsky.social explains how this could be a breaking point: www.vox.com/health/46185... @vox.com

18.09.2025 13:59 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Meet the Oropouche virus. It may be visiting your city soon. Beware of the biting midge.

www.vox.com/climate/4181...

17.09.2025 13:37 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Inside Texas’s grand laboratory of dangerous mosquitoes While the rest of the country turned a blind eye to ancient disease threats, these scientists leaned in.

www.vox.com/climate/4608...

17.09.2025 13:37 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0
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Your guide to identifying the 7 most dangerous mosquitoes in the US There are more than 200 mosquito species in the country — but just a few to worry about.

www.vox.com/climate/4603...

17.09.2025 13:37 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0
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Mosquitoes at the US southern border reveal a frightening reality about climate change This small Texas city is leading the country’s response.

www.vox.com/climate/4603...

17.09.2025 13:37 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

His reporting also highlights how fragile US public health capacity has become, just as the risks are accelerating. To help readers understand these threats, he’s also built a practical guide: how to identify the seven mosquito species that matter most for disease in the US.

17.09.2025 13:37 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Our climate correspondent Umair Irfan has been tracing this shift from multiple angles. His field reporting from Texas, where researchers are running one of the country’s most advanced mosquito surveillance systems, shows how close we are to outbreaks slipping past our defenses.

17.09.2025 13:37 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Already, West Nile is entrenched across much of the country. Dengue, chikungunya, and even malaria are beginning to take root again.

17.09.2025 13:37 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Most of us think of mosquitoes as little more than a summer nuisance. But climate change, urban sprawl, and global travel are reshaping their reach—and the range of the diseases they carry.

17.09.2025 13:37 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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The great mosquito resurgence Climate change is rewriting America’s map of disease — through bug bites.

At @vox.com's climate desk, we’ve spent the past few months digging into a threat that’s easy to swat away in the moment — but increasingly harder to escape: the rise of mosquito and other vector-borne diseases in the United States.

You can find all of our stories here: www.vox.com/climate/4616...

17.09.2025 13:37 — 👍 40    🔁 16    💬 3    📌 0

In case you missed it: Great feature from our team @vox.com. West Nile, malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases are on the rise in the US. Umair's reporting will help you stay vigilant.

15.09.2025 17:42 — 👍 6    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Parents — and anyone trying to make sense of vaccines right now — are facing mixed messages from the government and leading doctors.

Our new guide offers answers, and we’ve made it free to read as a public service.

@dylanlscott.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/health/46052...

09.09.2025 14:16 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Don't miss it! And stayed tuned for our third installment of the project — publishing next week.

08.09.2025 14:15 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Our guide includes helpful cards, like this one, as a quick reference: www.vox.com/climate/4603...

08.09.2025 14:15 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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Your guide to identifying the 7 most dangerous mosquitoes in the US There are more than 200 mosquito species in the country — but just a few to worry about.

The project also includes a field guide to the seven mosquito species most dangerous to humans — a practical resource you can return to again and again. This is for anyone who’s ever wondered what kind of mosquito just landed on their arm whether it could be harmful. www.vox.com/climate/4603...

08.09.2025 14:15 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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He landed in Brownsville, Texas, a city right on the border, that’s become a frontline in this fight. Brownsville isn’t just vulnerable—it’s also leading the resistance, building one of the country’s most sophisticated surveillance efforts to get ahead of these threats
www.vox.com/climate/4603...

08.09.2025 14:15 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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The US is on the verge of a mosquito-borne disease crisis This small Texas city is leading the resistance.

Today @vox.com is rolling out something special from climate correspondent Umair Irfan. Recently, we went to southern Texas to dig into an unsettling story: how climate change—and the ways we’ve built our cities—is giving mosquito-borne diseases new footholds in the US. www.vox.com/climate/4603...

08.09.2025 14:15 — 👍 44    🔁 33    💬 1    📌 2
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🚨 Major scoop from @vox.com's @dylanlscott.bsky.social 🚨

RFK Jr. has had a really bad couple of weeks.

But now, it gets worse.

Today, we're breaking the story that Kennedy’s HHS and the White House have buried a major federal study on American alcohol consumption. www.vox.com/health/46008... 🧵👇

04.09.2025 13:06 — 👍 379    🔁 155    💬 15    📌 7
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Exclusive: RFK Jr. and the White House buried a major study on alcohol and cancer. Here’s what it shows. Kennedy wants to “Make America Healthy Again” — but doesn’t want you to see a report that could do just that.

Exclusive: RFK Jr. and the White House buried a major study on alcohol and cancer. Here’s what it shows.
www.vox.com/health/46008...

04.09.2025 10:44 — 👍 933    🔁 456    💬 38    📌 53

Extraordinary reporting from my colleague @dylanlscott.bsky.social

04.09.2025 12:04 — 👍 92    🔁 31    💬 2    📌 1
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Exclusive: RFK Jr. and the White House buried a major study on alcohol and cancer. Here’s what it shows. Kennedy wants to “Make America Healthy Again” — but doesn’t want you to see a report that could do just that.

Exclusive: RFK Jr. and the White House buried a major study on alcohol and cancer. Here’s what it shows.

www.vox.com/health/46008...

04.09.2025 13:08 — 👍 261    🔁 130    💬 16    📌 16
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Exclusive: RFK Jr. and the White House buried a major study on alcohol and cancer. Here’s what it shows. Kennedy wants to “Make America Healthy Again” — but doesn’t want you to see a report that could do just that.

Americans are about to get national health guidance on alcohol that ignores some of the best science we have. And @vox.com is the first to tell you why. Don’t miss this one.

www.vox.com/health/46008...

04.09.2025 13:06 — 👍 24    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 0

Instead, the study was shelved, according to reporting by @dylanlscott.bsky.social, apparently after pressure from industry and politics.

04.09.2025 13:06 — 👍 17    🔁 3    💬 1    📌 1

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