Problem

Resilience Alliance

There are many definitions of resilience from simple deterministic views of resilience anchored in Newtonian mechanics to far more dynamic views of resilience from a systems perspective, including insights from quantum mechanics and the sciences of complexity.  One baseline perspective of resilience sees it in terms of the viability of socio-ecological systems as the foundation for sustainability.  For those that are ready to look beyond resilience as the ability to return to the "normal state" before a disaster, take a look at:

http://www.resalliance.org/

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Mesh Cities

 

What does it take to become a smart city?  Why are mesh cities important to sustainability?

 

For more information:

<http://www.meshcities.com/>

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Solar Storms And 13 Other Unusual Risks That Should Have You Freaking Out This Year

submitted by Jonathan King

by Sam Ro - businessinsider.com - January 25, 2012

      

Photo/NASA

Risk management is a part of our everyday lives.  Everyone knows to look both ways before crossing the street. Most also know to diversify their investment portfolios to limit the impact of a stock market crash.

But, what about the less obvious risks?

(READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Slow Response to East Africa Famine 'Cost 'Lives'

BBC News - January 18, 2012

       

The US government says 29,000 children under five years old died between May and July 2011

Thousands of needless deaths occurred from famine in East Africa last year because the international community failed to heed early warnings, say two leading British aid organisations.

Oxfam and Save the Children say it took more than six months for aid agencies to act on warnings of imminent famine.

Between 50,000 and 100,000 people have died in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Counting the Cost of Calamities

submitted by Toan Phan

       

economist.com - January 14, 2012 - ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS AND WASHINGTON, DC

Death rates from natural disasters are falling; and fears that they have become more common are misplaced. But their economic cost is rising relentlessly

THE world’s industrial supply chains were only just recovering from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami in March when a natural disaster severed them again in October. An unusually heavy monsoon season swelled rivers and overwhelmed reservoirs in northern Thailand. The floodwaters eventually reached Bangkok, causing a political crisis as residents fought over whose neighbourhoods would flood.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Scottish Anthrax Outbreak 'Worst in UK in 50 Years'

The anthrax outbreak claimed 14 lives in Scotland

BBC News - January 5, 2012

An outbreak of anthrax among drug users in Scotland between 2009 and 2010 was the largest in the UK for 50 years, according to an official report.

Health Protection Scotland (HPS) said there were 119 cases of anthrax and a total of 14 deaths during the outbreak.

Its report also recorded it as "the first documented outbreak associated with heroin use anywhere in the world".

HPS warned that as long as there was an illegal drug trade there was a risk of a similar outbreak.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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BANGLADESH: Trying to Stay Polio-Free

submitted by Stuart Leiderman

      

A six month old child receives his Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) on the 17th NID against polio  Photo: Contributor/IRIN

BANGKOK, 11 January 2012 (IRIN) - Mobile health teams in Bangladesh are conducting “child-to-child” searches to reach the remaining half million children not vaccinated during a nationwide polio immunization campaign launched on 7 January.

The campaign’s goal was to vaccinate 22 million children under five. Only 560,791 children short of reaching it, mobile teams have been conducting house visits, concluding on 11 January, to vaccinate the remainder, Arun Bhadra Thapa, World Health Organization’s country representative, told IRIN.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

A six month old child receives his Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) on the 17th NID against polio
©

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With Work Scarce in Athens, Greeks Go Back to the Land

by Rachel Donadio - The New York Times - January 8, 2012

       

Vassilis Ballas and his wife, Roula Boura, extracted the gum from a mastic tree on their 400-tree farm in Chios, Greece.  Eirini Vourloumis for The New York Times

CHIOS, Greece — Nikos Gavalas and Alexandra Tricha, both 31 and trained as agriculturalists, were frustrated working on poorly paying, short-term contracts in Athens, where jobs are scarce and the cost of living is high. So last year, they decided to start a new project: growing edible snails for export.

As Greece’s blighted economy plunges further into the abyss, the couple are joining with an exodus of Greeks who are fleeing to the countryside and looking to the nation’s rich rural past as a guide to the future.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Video - Dr. Upmanu Lall - Water Shortages

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Will the Next War Be Fought Over Water?

by Megan Erickson - bigthink.com - December 23, 2011

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