Earth Policy Institute - Book Byte - February 7, 2013

In Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity, Lester Brown explains that "The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity." 

With the demand for grain increasing and the supply of grain decreasing, food prices are rising and hunger is spreading.  "On the demand side of the food equation, population growth, rising affluence, and the conversion of food into fuel for cars are combining to raise consumption by record amounts. On the supply side, extreme soil erosion, growing water shortages, and the earth’s rising temperature are making it more difficult to expand production."

"Food shortages undermined earlier civilizations. The Sumerians and Mayans are just two of the many early civilizations that declined apparently because they moved onto an agricultural path that was environmentally unsustainable ... We, too, are on such a path."

"The bottom line is that it is becoming much more difficult for the world’s farmers to keep up with the world’s rapidly growing demand for grain ... We are entering a time of chronic food scarcity, one that is leading to intense competition for control of land and water resources—in short, a new geopolitics of food."

sciencemag.org - Darryn W. Waugh¹,Francois Primeau²,Tim DeVries³,Mark Holzer⁴ - February 1, 2013

Abstract

Surface westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere have intensified over the past few decades, primarily in response to the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole, and there is intense debate on the impact of this on the ocean's circulation and uptake and redistribution of atmospheric gases. We used measurements of chlorofluorocarbon-12 (CFC-12) made in the southern oceans in the early 1990s and mid- to late 2000s to examine changes in ocean ventilation. Our analysis of the CFC-12 data reveals a decrease in the age of subtropical subantarctic mode waters and an increase in the age of circumpolar deep waters, suggesting that the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole has caused large-scale coherent changes in the ventilation of the southern oceans.

sciencemag.org - Sukyoung Lee¹,Steven B. Feldstein¹ - February 1, 2013

Abstract

Modeling studies suggest that Antarctic ozone depletion and, to a lesser degree, greenhouse gas (GHG) increase have caused the observed poleward shift in the westerly jet during the austral summer. Similar studies have not been performed previously with observational data because of difficulties in separating the two contributions. By applying a cluster analysis to daily ERA-Interim data, we found two 7- to 11-day wind clusters, one resembling the models' responses to GHG forcing and the other resembling ozone depletion. The trends in the clusters' frequency of occurrence indicate that the ozone contributed about 50% more than GHG toward the jet shift, supporting the modeling results. Moreover, tropical convection apparently plays an important role for the GHG-driven trend.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6119/563.abstract

ABC News - Live Coverage Blog - February 5, 2013

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake off Solomon Islands has generated a tsunami and destroyed three villages.

(GO TO THE LIVE BLOG)

Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
http://ptwc.weather.gov/

From GDACS . . . Estimated wave height and arrival times of Tsunami
http://tinyurl.com/a72nss9 . . .

USGS - 8.0 Earthquake
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000f1s0#summary

West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/

National Data Buoy Center - Facebook Announcement
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=401774316576562&id=128538033843673

climatecentral.org - by Andrew Freedman - February 1, 2013

(LINKS TO STUDY - LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM)

The "Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012," which struck the Arctic at the height of the sea ice melt season in early August, was not responsible for causing sea ice extent to plunge to a record low just a few weeks later. That is one of the conclusions of a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. It is the first study to quantify the impacts that the storm had on the fragile Arctic sea ice cover, which has been rapidly shrinking and thinning in response to rapid Arctic warming.

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Official Report of 01 Ogawa Cholera in Havana

Ministry of Public Health, Cuba - sld.cu - January 16, 2013

The outbreak of cholera (01 Ogawa Vibrio cholerae) in Havana is now being reported as under control.  Cuba has a strong public health system, which has traced the cholera outbreak to a single asymptomatic food vender.  In addition to rigorous epidemiological measures, the Ministry of Health has also stepped up health communication regarding hand-washing, and the use of sanitary measures regarding clean water and the cooking of food.

http://www.sld.cu/sitios/colera/verpost.php?blog=http://articulos.sld.cu/colera/&post_id=1587&c=521&tipo=2&idblog=178&p=1&n=dfp

earth-policy.org - January 30th, 2013 - J. Matthew Roney

The fish near the bottom of the aquatic food chain are often overlooked, but they are vital to healthy oceans and estuaries. Collectively known as forage fish, these species—including sardines, anchovies, herrings, and shrimp-like crustaceans called krill—feed on plankton and become food themselves for larger fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Historically, people have eaten many of these fish, too, of course. But as demand for animal protein has soared over the last half-century, more and more forage fish have been caught to feed livestock and farmed fish instead of being eaten by people directly.

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Image: Art created for this article by Dave Cutler for the Chronicle.

Submitted by Luis Kun

chronicle.com - January 14th, 2013 - Robert Huesca

Taking an administrative leave in Benin for the past six months provided an eye-opening contrast to my first study-abroad experience, in Mexico City back in 1980. Of particular note was the insidious impact of new communication technologies on living and learning in another culture.

As a former director of the office of international programs at Trinity University, in San Antonio, I am particularly attuned to the issues that concern professionals in study abroad—ranging from cultural immersion to health and safety.

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Image: Jean-Claude Juncker said, “the euro foreign-exchange rate is dangerously high.” (Jock Fistick/Bloomberg)

bloomberg.com - January 16th, 2013 - Stephanie Bodoni

The euro’s 8 percent gain against the U.S. dollar in the past six months is posing a fresh threat to the European economy just as it shows signs of escaping the debt crisis, said Jean-Claude Juncker, who leads the group of euro-area finance ministers.

Echoing policy makers from Switzerland to Japan in bemoaning strong exchange rates, Juncker late yesterday called the euro’s value “dangerously high” after the 17-nation currency this week traded above $1.34 against the dollar for the first time since February last year.

The euro has rallied amid growing signs in financial markets that the three-year debt turmoil is fading and after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi last week signaled no immediate plan to ease monetary policy further.

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Image: Grain production in 2012

earth-policy.org - January 17th, 2013 - Janet Larsen

The world produced 2,241 million tons of grain in 2012, down 75 million tons or 3 percent from the 2011 record harvest. The drop was largely because of droughts that devastated several major crops—namely corn in the United States (the world’s largest crop) and wheat in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Australia. Each of these countries also is an important exporter.

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Submitted by Luis Kun

mountsinai.org - January 17th, 2013

Scientists have discovered that that the flu virus can essentially tell time, thereby giving scientists the ability to reset the virus' clock and combat it in more effective ways. According to researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the flu knows how much time it has to multiply, infect other cells, and spread to another human being. If it leaves a cell too soon, the virus is too weak. If it leaves too late, the immune system has time to kill the virus.

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A woman reads a passport application form as she waits in line outside an immigration office in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013. A Cuban doctor says the Caribbean nation is eliminating longstanding restrictions on health care professionals' overseas travel as part of a broader migration reform. The doctor says hospital directors met Saturday with Health Minister Roberto Morales and were told of the new policy, effective Monday. For many years Cuban physicians have been limited in their ability to travel or had to undergo cumbersome bureaucratic procedures. But now they are supposed to be treated "like any other citizen" when it comes to traveling abroad. Franklin Reyes / AP

The new policy, which went into effect Monday, eliminates the need for an exit visa and allows many Cubans once barred from returning to the island to visit.

miamiherald.com - by Mimi Whitefield - January 14, 2013

A look into the future: Summer vacations by Cuban families in Miami, Cuban doctors and athletes who left their posts or teams while on official trips abroad returning to Cuba for visits and everyday Cubans permitted to leave the island for up to two years at a time.