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Thu, 2012-01-26 10:10 — mdmcdonald
This working group is focused on discussions about risks.

The mission of this working group is to focus on discussions about risks.

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Hank Rappaport JAB455s Kathy Gilbeaux mdmcdonald WDS1200-Columbus
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Japan Nuclear Body Says Radioactive Water at Fukushima an Emergency

Tue, 2013-08-06 09:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

         

(SEE IMPORTANT LINKS BELOW)

reuters.com - by Antoni Slodkowski and Mari Saito - TOKYO | Aug 5, 2013

(Reuters) - Highly radioactive water seeping into the ocean from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is creating an "emergency" that the operator is struggling to contain, an official from the country's nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

This contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier, is rising toward the surface and is exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge, Shinji Kinjo, head of a Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) task force, told Reuters.

Countermeasures planned by Tokyo Electric Power Co are only a temporary solution, he said.

Tepco's "sense of crisis is weak," Kinjo said. "This is why you can't just leave it up to Tepco alone" to grapple with the ongoing disaster.

"Right now, we have an emergency," he said.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
Japan
General Topic Tags: 
Radiation
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

H7N9 Bird Flu in China Likely Spread Between People, Researchers Find

Tue, 2013-08-06 09:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

 

submitted by Luis Kun

bmj.com - nbcnews.com - reuters - by Kate Kelland
August 6, 2013

CLICK HERE - BMJ - Research - Probable person to person transmission of novel avian influenza A (H7N9) virus in Eastern China, 2013: epidemiological investigation

LONDON - The first scientific analysis of probable human-to-human transmission of a deadly new strain of bird flu that emerged in China this year gives the strongest evidence yet that the H7N9 virus can pass between people, scientists said on Wednesday.

Research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) analyzing a family cluster of cases of H7N9 infection in eastern China found it was very likely the virus "transmitted directly from the index patient (a 60-year-old man) to his daughter."

Experts commenting on the research said while it did not necessarily mean H7N9 is any closer to becoming the next flu pandemic, "it does provide a timely reminder of the need to remain extremely vigilant."

(NBC - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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

Rising Sea Levels Could Submerge Substantial Parts of 1,700 U.S. Cities

Sat, 2013-08-03 19:56 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

This may soon be what a day in the park looks like. Reuters/Jitendra Prakash

theatlanticcities.com - by Roberto A. Ferdman - July 30, 2013

Sea levels, as we know, are incredibly sensitive to rises in global temperatures. A study released earlier this month revealed that the increase of a mere degree celsius could lead global sea levels to rise by as much as two meters. But according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the implications are especially grim for the US. At the current rate of carbon emissions, over 1,700 cities, including New York, Boston and Miami, will be “locked in” by greenhouse gas emissions by this century’s end.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Cities
Climate
Sea Level
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Arctic Methane Time Bomb Could Have Huge Economic Costs

Mon, 2013-07-29 11:15 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Increasing temperatures in the Arctic region are reducing sea ice cover and increasing the possibility of methane leaching from the sea bed

bbc.co.uk - by Matt McGrath - July 24, 2013

Scientists say that the release of large amounts of methane from thawing permafrost in the Arctic could have huge economic impacts for the world.

The researchers estimate that the climate effects of the release of this gas could cost $60 trillion (£39 trillion), roughly the size of the global economy in 2012.

The impacts are most likely to be felt in developing countries they say.

The research has been published in the journal Nature.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

RESEARCH - NATURE - Climate science: Vast costs of Arctic change

Climate science: Vast costs of Arctic change (3 page .PDF file)

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

Climate Change is Happening Too Quickly for Species to Adapt

Tue, 2013-07-23 19:34 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Species that live on mountains, such as the snow leopard, are particularly at risk. Photograph: Tom Brakefield/Getty Images

guardian.co.uk - by Robin McKie - July 13, 2013

Among the many strange mantras repeated by climate change deniers is the claim that even in an overheated, climate-altered planet, animals and plants will still survive by adapting to global warming. . .

. . . However, their rate of change turns out to be painfully slow, according to a study by Professor John Wiens of the University of Arizona. . . The results, published online in the journal Ecology Letters, show that most land animals will not be able to evolve quickly enough to adapt to the dramatically warmer climate expected by 2100.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Adaptation
Climate
Collapse
Ecosystems
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

No One Knows How to Stop These Tar-Sands Oil Spills

Tue, 2013-07-23 17:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Oil polluting the ground at Cold Lake in Alberta.  Photograph obtained by the Toronto Star

grist.org - by John Upton - July 22, 2013

Thousands of barrels of tar-sands oil have been burbling up into forest areas for at least six weeks in Cold Lake, Alberta, and it seems that nobody knows how to staunch the flow.

An underground oil blowout at a big tar-sands operation run by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has caused spills at four different sites over the past few months. . .

Media and others have been blocked from visiting the sites, but the Toronto Star obtained documents and photographs about the ongoing disaster from a government scientist involved in the cleanup, who spoke to the reporter on condition of anonymity.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Environment
Pollution
Water
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

Air Pollution Killing Over Two Million Annually, Study Says

Tue, 2013-07-16 16:29 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

New Delhi: Air pollution accounts for over 500,000 deaths in India annually, a new study says.

CLICK HERE FOR STUDY - Environmentsl Research Letters - Global premature mortality due to anthropogenic outdoor air pollution and the contribution of past climate change

cnn.com - by Matthew Knight - July 16, 2013

Article Highlights:

  • Air pollution responsible for more than two million premature deaths worldwide annually
  • Study assesses impact of fine particulates and ozone using atmospheric climate models
  • East Asia worst affected region with over a million deaths per year
  • Study also found that climate change hasn't had huge impact on effects of air pollution

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Health
Pollution
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem
Situation Report

Saudi Arabia Warns Pilgrims Over Coronavirus

Sat, 2013-07-13 22:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                         

Millions of Muslims travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia every year

bbc.co.uk - July 13, 2013

Health officials in Saudi Arabia have asked pilgrims visiting its holy sites to wear masks in crowded places to stop the spread of the MERS coronavirus.

A list of requirements issued by the health ministry also tells elderly people or those with chronic diseases to postpone their pilgrimage.

Thirty-eight people have died from the virus in Saudi Arabia.

Millions of Muslims from around the world are expected to take part in the Hajj this October.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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

Lac-Megantic Train Blast: PM Harper Visits 'War Zone'

Fri, 2013-07-12 00:53 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

One witness said the fireball that followed the derailment was "like an atomic bomb"

bbc.co.uk - July 7, 2013

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the part of Lac-Megantic affected by Saturday's crude oil explosion looks like a "war zone".

At least five people died when runaway wagons packed with crude oil derailed and blew up early on Saturday.

Some 30 buildings had been completely incinerated by fires which engulfed the historic centre, said Mr Harper.

Police are trying to find 40 missing people: a nearby bar was said to have been crowded at the time of the blast.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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

Floods Highlight Need to Make Europe’s Cities More Resilient

Thu, 2013-07-04 19:11 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A view of Dresden on the morning of 5 June, before the Elbe had crested. Flickr/tigion

sei-international.org - by Marion Davis - June 7, 2013

The floods now devastating Central Europe, and severe floods in Norway last month, are part of a pattern of increasingly frequent disasters that require new approaches to risk management. 

As of June 6, the floods in Austria, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic had killed at least 16 people, and damages were so severe that some said they could exceed the more than €21.1 billion cost of the historic 2002 floods in the region.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
Europe
Germany
General Topic Tags: 
Flood
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

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