Earth day and climate change, the Lyrid meteor shower: 5 things you need to know Monday - USA TODAY

Editors USA TODAY

Published 4:12 AM EDT Apr 22, 2019

It's Earth Day, and here's the reality

Climate change is real and increasingly a part of our daily lives. New research and studies out in just the past six months highlight the latest facts about the human-caused shift to our global weather systems and its effects on our planet. There's no longer any question that rising temperatures and increasingly chaotic weather are the work of humanity. There's a 99.9999% chance that humans are the cause of global warming, a February study reported. That means we've reached the "gold standard" for certainty, a statistical measure typically used in particle physics.

• 10 amazing places where travelers can see a changing climate

Armed civilians detained migrants at the border

A New Mexico man whose group of armed volunteer border patrollers detained undocumented immigrants is slated to appear in court Monday following his arrest. The FBI arrested Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, Saturday on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammo. He is expected to appear Monday in the U.S. District Court in Las Cruces. Hopkins previously identified himself as the national commander of the United Constitutional Patriots, a group that drew the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas after it began detaining migrants they encounter who crossed into U.S. territory.

Got an old car seat? Get a coupon.

Target's popular car seat trade-in event returns Monday. From April 22 through May 4, Target stores will accept and recycle car seats, including infant seats, convertible seats, car seat bases, harness or booster car seats. In exchange for the old car seat, customers get a coupon for 20% off select baby gear. Since Target introduced its first car seat trade-in program in April 2016, half a million car seats and more than 7.4 million pounds of materials have been recycled. Nowhere near a Target but want to help the planet? A website dedicated to recycling car seats has state-by-state options.

He weaponized an iguana

A man in Ohio tried to weaponize a live iguana when he spun the lizard above his head and flung it at a restaurant manager, breaking the reptile's leg, police say. Arnold Teeter, 49, was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and cruelty to animals in connection with the Tuesday incident at a Painesville, Ohio, restaurant, the city's police department said. "Upon handcuffing, officers located an approximately 2 foot iguana from under his sweatshirt," the department said. It wasn't immediately clear if Teeter had an attorney and his next court date was set for Monday.

Look up for they Lyrid meteor shower

The Lyrid meteor shower is coming to a sky near you, though a bright moon may interfere with your sky watching. Experts say the peak will come early Monday morning or Monday night into Tuesday morning. The meteor shower sometimes bombards the sky with up to nearly 100 meteors per hour, which are known as outbursts. The Lyrids appear each year from about April 16 to 25, according to Earthsky.org. NASA said they have been observed for more than 2,700 years, making them one of the oldest known showers.

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