Category Archives: environment

EU won’t sacrifice food safety for US trade deal: Germany – The Local

Washington and Brussels want the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) completed this year before US President Barack Obama leaves office, but it has faced mounting opposition on both sides of the Atlantic. Schmidt told the German news weekly Der Spiegel that it was time for the United States to “at last make a move” if it wants the agreement. “So far at least they have hardly made any serious concessions,” the minister was quoted as saying in an early excerpt of the interview in Saturday’s edition of Der Spiegel magazine. US policymakers are wrong if it thought “they can lure us Germans with concessions in the automotive sector”, he said. “We won’t sacrifice our high food safety standards in a barter trade for approval of European car blinkers,” he said, in reference to industry standards on car parts. “One has nothing to do with the other,” he said. “There won’t be any such horse-trading.”

Source: EU won’t sacrifice food safety for US trade deal: Germany – The Local

Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Updated: Watts Brothers Farms Organic Mixed Vegetables, Organic Super Sweet Corn, And Organic Peas And Trader Joe’s Organic Super Sweet Corn Recalled Because Of Possible Health Risk – AKA: Industrial Agriculture is/will kill us and the earth.

Updated: Watts Brothers Farms Organic Mixed Vegetables, Organic Super Sweet Corn, And Organic Peas And Trader Joe’s Organic Super Sweet Corn Recalled Because Of Possible Health Risk

Source: Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Updated: Watts Brothers Farms Organic Mixed Vegetables, Organic Super Sweet Corn, And Organic Peas And Trader Joe’s Organic Super Sweet Corn Recalled Because Of Possible Health Risk

Koala extinction imminent in parts of south-east Queensland, report warns – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

What else is disappearing or growing – things like this do not occur in isolation.  It also found more than 50 per cent had disappeared in the Pine Rivers region north of Brisbane during the same period. “There are already a number of areas in which koalas [on the Koala Coast] … are at such low densities that they are effectively extinct,” the report said. “It appears the loss of koalas from many sites there is imminent.”

Source: Koala extinction imminent in parts of south-east Queensland, report warns – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Canada wildfire evacuees head south as new images reveal devastation | World news | The Guardian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbLRbgsJCZc

 

In Fort McMurray, the heart of Alberta’s oil sands region, firefighters were still working to save the city’s homes and businesses “The beast is still up,” the local fire chief, Darby Allen, said on Thursday. “It’s surrounding the city and we’re here doing our very best for you.”Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, described the week’s harrowing events as the largest fire evacuation in Alberta’s history. The images emerging from Fort McMurray looked “like a war-torn corner of the world instead of our own backyard”, he said.“Homes have been destroyed. Neighbourhoods have gone up in flames,” he added. “The footage we’ve seen of cars racing down highways while fire races on all sides is nothing short of terrifying.”

Source: Canada wildfire evacuees head south as new images reveal devastation | World news | The Guardian

Protest Movement Threatens TTIP Transatlantic Trade Deal – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Greenpeace published classified documents from the closed-door negotiations. Even if the papers only convey the current state of negotiations and do not document the end results, they still confirm the worst suspicions of critics of TTIP.The 248 pages show that bargaining is taking place behind the scenes, even in areas which the EU and the German government have constantly maintained were sacrosanct. These include standards on the environment and consumer protection; the precautionary principle, a stricter EU policy that sets high hurdles for potentially dangerous products; the legislative self-determination of the countries involved, etc. Even the pledge made on the European side that there would be no arbitration courts has turned out to be wishful thinking. So far, the Americans have insisted on the old style of arbitration court.The result is that Merkel’s grandly staged meeting with US President Barack Obama in Hanover eight days earlier had been nothing more than a show — one aimed at hiding the fact that the two sides are anything but united in their positions.The leaks have resulted in a failed attempt to bypass 800 million European citizens as they negotiate the world’s largest bilateral free trade agreement. From the very beginning, the government underestimated the level of resistance these incursions on virtually all aspects of life would unleash among the people.What began as a diffuse discomfort over opaque backroom dealings grew into a true public initiative, especially in Germany. It was fueled by an international alliance of non-government organizations that has acted in a more professional and networked way than anything that has come before.TTIP Protests a Part of Everyday LifeThree years after the beginning of negotiations, events protesting free trade agreements have become part of everyday life in Germany. In cities and towns, thousands of events are being held to express opposition to deals like TTIP, CETA, as the recently negotiated agreement with Canada is called, and TISA, an international deal covering trade in services.Here’s a sample of what this looks like in just a few places. In the city of Mainz, 150 orchestra musicians play the protest song “We’re not Merchandise,” a reworked version of Ludwig von Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.” In Darmstadt south of Frankfurt, 230 people in a packed hall grill candidates in the local election on the issue of free trade. Meanwhile, in Cologne, where there are traditional “dance into May” celebrations marking the arrival of May 1, a “Dance against TTIP” was even held.In Bergisch Gladbach, a town located near Cologne, the city council approved a resolution opposing TTIP and CETA. A total of 310 cities, municipalities, counties, districts and regions have registered themselves with the Munich Environmental Institute as TTIP-free zones.

Source: Protest Movement Threatens TTIP Transatlantic Trade Deal – SPIEGEL ONLINE

The Icarus Syndrome Strikes Again! Avian Flu Diary: Cell Host & Microbe: Wolbachia Blocks Zika Virus In Brazilian Aedes Aegypti Mosquitoes

  1. Infecting many mosquitoes with Wolbachia will result in Wolbachia resistant mosquitoes.
  2. Pretending that mosquitoes are an enemy or pest that can/should be destroyed ignores why mosquito populations explode (human interventions) and what the role of the mosquito is in nature.
  3. Someone will profit greatly and will not pay for any unintended consequences.

“The idea has been to release Aedes mosquitoes with Wolbachia in the field over a period of a few months, so they mate with Aedes mosquitoes without Wolbachia living in the place and, over time, replace the mosquito population,” says senior author Luciano Moreira of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. He is also actively involved in the Eliminate Dengue Program, a non-profit that is testing the approach in 40 locations around the world.

Source: Avian Flu Diary: Cell Host & Microbe: Wolbachia Blocks Zika Virus In Brazilian Aedes Aegypti Mosquitoes

Zika virus in the United States | Zika virus | CDC

As of April 27, 2016 (5 am EST) Zika virus disease and Zika virus congenital infection are nationally notifiable conditions. This update from the CDC Arboviral Disease Branch includes provisional data reported to ArboNET for January 1, 2015 – April 27, 2016. US States Travel-associated Zika virus disease cases reported: 426 Locally acquired vector-borne cases reported: 0 Total: 426 Pregnant: 36 Sexually transmitted: 8 Guillain-Barré syndrome: 1 US Territories Travel-associated cases reported: 3 Locally acquired cases reported: 596 Total: 599 Pregnant: 56 Guillain-Barré syndrome: 5

Source: Zika virus in the United States | Zika virus | CDC

Norovirus studies pinpoint global burden, build case for vaccine | CIDRAP

“Is norovirus an issue of child survival, a food safety problem, a healthcare associated infection?” he wrote. “Well, it’s all of these, which may have hampered our community of researchers and public health workers from coalescing around a central problem.” Other new findings from studies in the collections revealed: Genetic diversity in the virus, but similar global patterns, with novel GII.4 strains replacing each other every 2 to 4 years through gene swapping New insights on immunity, including the possibility of raising neutralizing antibodies without using cell-culture systems Regional epidemiologic patterns, such as those in the United States, where rates are higher in children under age 5 and in military personnel and their families Prevalence and data gaps in Africa, such as rates in Kenya that are double that of developed nations and lack of information about norovirus in Africa’s older adolescents and adults Vaccine development focusing on young children would offer the greatest global impact, though so far early trials have targeted adults in high-income settings

Source: Norovirus studies pinpoint global burden, build case for vaccine | CIDRAP

Palestinians create seed bank to save their farming heritage in the Holy Land’s hills | World news | The Guardian

In the rocky hills of the Palestinian West Bank, farmers learned long ago how to adapt to extremes of climate that make spring the shortest season. In a part of the world where agriculture was first practised, they found crops that could survive even if watered only by the occasional rain storm. But a form of farming that informed both Palestinian culture and identity – seeping into the language, songs and sayings – has increasingly come under threat from a combination of factors, including manmade climate change, the incursion onto Palestinian land by Israeli settlement, and agricultural companies’ marketing of hybrid varieties to farmers. Now, however, an initiative is being launched to save Palestine’s agricultural plant heritage, with the first seed bank dedicated to preserving traditional varieties used by farmers for generations – before they vanish for ever. The Palestine Heirloom Seed Library – to be formally launched in June – is part of an effort both to educate Palestinians about traditional forms of agriculture in the Holy Land, which are in danger of being forgotten, and about the culture associated with them. The seed library will preserve “heirloom” varieties particularly adapted to the West Bank. Supported by the Qattan Foundation, the project is the brainchild of Vivien Sansour, who studied and worked abroad before returning to the West Bank city of Beit Jala.

Source: Palestinians create seed bank to save their farming heritage in the Holy Land’s hills | World news | The Guardian

Mosquito Repellent Guidelines | Mosquito Research and Management

In 2011, I produced a document designed to provide guidelines on the use of mosquito repellents. I put these guidelines together because I’d noticed that the mosquito repellent recommendations provided by local health authorities didn’t reflect the wide range of products available or questions I was asked by the community. You can download this document for free here:

Source: Mosquito Repellent Guidelines | Mosquito Research and Management