Our picksGeoengineering as last-ditch option; the true origins of ISIS; China’s infiltration of U.S. railroads, and more

Families are still being separated at the border, months after “zero tolerance” was reversed (Ginger Thompson, Defense One)
Immigration lawyers say border agents are again removing children from their parents. The explanation? They’re protecting kids from criminal dads and moms. Immigration advocates say it’s zero tolerance by another name.

Missile alert report urges FEMA to make vendors change software (Kevin Dayton, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
The report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector General urges FEMA to require that software used by local authorities to access and operate the emergency alert system include features such as the ability to preview or cancel alerts.

Climate change is more extensive and worse than once thought (Seth Borenstein, AP)
Climate scientists missed a lot about a quarter century ago when they predicted how bad global warming would be.
They missed how bad wildfires, droughts, downpours and hurricanes would get. They missed how much ice sheets in West Antarctica and Greenland would melt and contribute to sea level rise. They missed much of the myriad public health problems and global security issues.
Global warming is faster, more extensive and just plain worse than they once thought it would be, scientists say now.

Geoengineering is a last-ditch option to stall global warming — and it’s getting a first test (Dylan Matthews, Vox)
Harvard researchers want to see what adding calcium carbonate could do to the stratosphere.

The true origins of ISIS (Hassan Hassan, The Atlantic)
A secret biography suggests that Abu Ali al-Anbari defined the group’s radical approach more than any other person.

National flood insurance program set to expire Friday (Mary Whitfill, The Patriot Ledger)
The flood insurance program was separated from the larger government spending bill earlier this year as part of a deal to keep it alive through hurricane season while leaders in Washington fought over other, more partisan parts of the appropriations bill.

Report: Funding, support needed to fix “public safety crisis” caused by volunteer firefighter, EMS shortage (Michaelle Bond, Philly.com)
About 300,000 people volunteered as firefighters in Pennsylvania in the 1970s, and that number has dwindled to fewer than 38,000, said the commission of Pennsylvania lawmakers, municipal officials and emergency service professionals that produced the report.

Stop China’s infiltration of U.S. railroads (John Adams, Defense One)
America shouldn’t be buying Chinese railcars, ceding control of its rail industry, or injecting spyware-laden rolling stock into its transportation network.