You are here

Home

Problem

Freak Heatwave Pushes Temperatures at North Pole Above Freezing

Thu, 2015-12-31 11:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A polar bear walks across the ice in the Arctic near the North Pole

submitted by Albert Gomez

phys.org - by Clément Sabourin - December 31, 2015

Temperatures at the North Pole rose above freezing point Wednesday, 20 degrees Celsius above the mid-winter norm and the latest abnormality in a season of extreme weather events.

Canadian weather authorities blamed the temperature spike on the freak depression which has already brought record Christmas temperatures to North America and lashed Britain with winds and floods.

The deep low pressure area is currently looming over Iceland and churning up hurricane force 75-knot winds and 30-foot waves in the north Atlantic while dragging warm air northwards.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES IN THE LINKS BELOW)

CLICK HERE - CNN - It was warm at the North Pole

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Climate
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

El Niño Strengthens Amid Warning Millions Could Face Hunger and Disease

Wed, 2015-12-30 20:18 — Kathy Gilbeaux

             

Sea surface temperatures in October -- orange-red colors are above normal.

cnn.com - by Brandon Miller and Nick Thompson - December 30, 2015

If you're wondering why your white Christmas didn't arrive as scheduled this year, meteorologists have a two-word answer: El Niño.

This year's El Niño weather event -- characterized by warming waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean -- is already one of the three strongest ever recorded. NASA says El Niño conditions are still strengthening, and it could even rival the intensity of the record 1997 event that wreaked worldwide weather havoc.

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Climate
Disease
Extreme Weather
Food
Health
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Preparing for the Next Ebola - The Year In Review

Wed, 2015-12-30 08:43 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by George Hurlburt

             

Caught off guard in 2014, health care regrouped and reorganized in 2015.  (Photo: Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

takepart.com - by Hannah Hoag - December 14, 2015

As horrific images of bodies piling up in West Africa and stories of children orphaned by Ebola filled American media over the summer and early fall of 2014, many feared someone with the virus would arrive undetected in the U.S. and spur a major outbreak. But experts considered the risk of that happening to be very low, says Kamran Khan, an infectious disease physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and the founder of BlueDot, a social enterprise that uses big data to mitigate the impacts of global infectious disease. . . .

. . . Yet in October 2014, Thomas Eric Duncan was admitted to a Dallas hospital with Ebola shortly after arriving in the U.S. from Liberia.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Contagion
Disease
Health
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions
Problem

Over 1 Million Children Out Of School Due To Boko Haram Attacks: UN

Fri, 2015-12-25 20:38 — Kathy Gilbeaux

            

Members of the Bring Back Our Girls group campaigning for the release of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram Islamists march to meet with the Nigerian president in Abuja, on July 8, 2015. Members of the BringBackOurGirls campaign group marched on July 8 to meet President Mohammadu Buhari to pressure him to end the deadly Boko Haram insurgency and free 219 schoolgirls held by the group since April 2014.  PHILIP OJISUA VIA GETTY IMAGES

UNICEF has been able to reach 67,000 students by setting up temporary learning spaces and renovating and expanding schools.

huffingtonpost.com - by Eleanor Goldberg - December 22, 2015

As Boko Haram continues to wage targeted attacks against civilians in northeastern Nigeria and its neighboring countries, more than 1 million children have been forced out of school -- a consequence that leaves them more susceptible to violence, poverty and child marriage. 

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
Africa
Nigeria
General Topic Tags: 
Education
Resilience
Security
Terrorism
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions
Problem
Situation Report

UNOCHA: Security Council Briefing on Syria

Tue, 2015-12-22 07:19 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                        

docs.unocha.org - New York, 21 December 2015

Madam President,

Distinguished members of the Security Council,

On behalf of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Stephen O’Brien, I thank you for this opportunity to brief you on the latest developments in Syria.

Since the adoption of resolution 2139 in February 2014 and resolution 2165 in July 2014, this Council has been briefed month after month on the suffering of the Syrian people. We have repeatedly described in detail the countless and blatant violations of the basic tenets of international humanitarian and human rights law. For nearly five years, we have watched as Syria sank deeper and deeper into violence and brutality. And yet, no words can do justice to the despair and devastation that millions of Syrians experience every day.

(READ COMPLETE BRIEFING)

CLICK HERE - Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Kyung-Wha Kang: Security Council briefing on Syria (3 page .PDF file)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United Nations
General Topic Tags: 
Population
Security
Terrorism
War
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Chikungunya, A Mosquito-Borne Virus, Might Be Scarier Than We Thought

Mon, 2015-12-21 21:29 — Maeryn Obley

Don't bite me: The female of a mosquito called Aedes aegypti can transmit yellow fever, dengue fever and chikungunya. David Scharf/Science Source

Image: Don't bite me: The female of a mosquito called Aedes aegypti can transmit yellow fever, dengue fever and chikungunya. David Scharf/Science Source

npr.org - 1 December 2015 - Rae Ellen Bichell

A mosquito-borne virus that has made its way to the U.S. may be causing more serious symptoms than first thought.

Chikungunya starts with fevers and aches, like malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. What distinguishes the virus is that it also brings debilitating joint pain. The pain usually dwindles over the course of a few weeks, though it can leave some people with chronic arthritis.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
Africa
General Topic Tags: 
Disease
Health
Research
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

How hot could the Earth get?

Mon, 2015-12-21 21:25 — Maeryn Obley

bbc.com - 30 November 2015 - Vivien Cumming

It has been getting a little warm lately. In November 2015, Brits experienced the hottest November days ever recorded in the UK. That was shortly followed by news from the World Meteorological Organization that 2015 is likely to be the hottest year since records began.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Climate
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

US Ebola Survivors Can Experience Hair Loss, Joint Pain, And Other Health Problems Without Proper Monitoring

Mon, 2015-12-21 18:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Volunteer Andrew Matzen receives a trial Ebola vaccine at the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine in Oxford, southern England January 16, 2015. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

submitted by George Hurlburt

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Post-Ebola Signs and Symptoms in U.S. Survivors

medicaldaily.com - by Jaleesa Baulkman - December 20, 2015

The road to recovery is long and bumpy for many survivors of the Ebola virus in the United States, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Contagion
Disease
Health
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Drowning Megacities

Sat, 2015-12-19 09:11 — Kathy Gilbeaux

             

interactive.aljazeera.com - 2015

The world is getting warmer, the rain is growing heavier and the oceans are rising. At the same time, the world’s rural inhabitants are migrating to its cities on a massive scale.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the part of the world most affected by the dual pressure of climate change and the rapid, uncontrolled transformation of its cities into megacities.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

Country / Region Tags: 
Africa
General Topic Tags: 
Climate
Resilience
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions
Problem
Situation Report

Some communities are destroyed by tragedy and disaster. Others spring back. Here’s what makes the difference.

Sat, 2015-12-12 11:39 — Kathy Gilbeaux

             

Cindy Quinonez, center, whose cousin Aurora Godoy was killed in last week’s shooting rampage, attends a makeshift memorial Tuesday in San Bernardino, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

washingtonpost.com - by Daniel Aldrich - December 9, 2015

How do people survive and move on from tragedies like last week’s terrorist attacks at home and abroad? When does a tragedy — whether human-made or natural disaster or a combination of the two — destroy a community, and when do they recover and thrive? . . .

. . . The answer is in an often misunderstood concept called “resilience.”

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Resilience
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions
Problem

Pages

Subscribe to Problem
howdy folks