Category Archives: environment

Photos: 400,000 Protesters March To Prevent Annihilation By Global Warming: Gothamist

Socialists, grandmothers, Baptists, babies, domestic workers, veterans, anarchists, and Leonardo Di Caprio all rallied to save the human species from itself during the People’s Climate March on Sunday, in what one of the organizers called “the largest political gathering about anything in America in at least a decade.”

The “final” head count from the march’s officials stood at 400,000, though there is no magic number that triggers the world leaders meeting to discuss climate change at the UN on Tuesday to actually do something about it.

via Photos: 400,000 Protesters March To Prevent Annihilation By Global Warming: Gothamist.

Wild crane attacks photo-taking tourists in Jilin nature reserve: Shanghaiist

Two tourists were abruptly struck by a red-crowned crane as they attempted to take pictures of it at the National Nature Reserve in Tongyu County of Jilin Province on Wednesday afternoon, China News reported, reminding visitors to the park and across the nation that this is one red-crowned crane you don’t wanna f##k with.

via Wild crane attacks photo-taking tourists in Jilin nature reserve: Shanghaiist.

Figueres: ″If we want to prevent conflicts, we have to address climate change now″ | Environment | DW.DE | 18.09.2014

The whole week in New York will see much press attention to the summit. Not only because we will have hundreds of thousands of people on the street, not only because we will have hundreds of political leaders there, hundreds of corporations, but because they are all coming to New York for one very powerful reason. That is, climate change is now the biggest challenge that humanity has faced, certainly in this century. And there is growing awareness of this. There is already a lot of conflict around the world, around water scarcity, around migration, around food and security, and that is exacerbated by climate change. So if we want to prevent conflicts that will scale out of control, then we have to address climate change in a timely fashion.

via Figueres: ″If we want to prevent conflicts, we have to address climate change now″ | Environment | DW.DE | 18.09.2014.

Ebola: ‘In decades of humanitarian work, I’ve never seen such suffering’ | Comment is free | The Guardian

Each day this week patients have recovered – in the early stages there were no survivors whatsoever. Yesterday seven people went home, including a young man who had painted the inside of one of our tents red when he arrived because he was bleeding so profusely. Our team had thought he had no hope of survival. It is lovely to see the patients going home with their certificate of discharge, though most have lost family members or friends, and can face stigma upon their return.

via Ebola: ‘In decades of humanitarian work, I’ve never seen such suffering’ | Comment is free | The Guardian.

The Mathematics of Ebola Trigger Stark Warnings: Act Now or Regret It | WIRED

We need someone to take over the position of “command and control.” The United Nations is the only international organization that can direct the immense amount of medical, public health and humanitarian aid that must come from many different countries and nongovernmental groups to smother this epidemic. Thus far it has played at best a collaborating role, and with everyone in charge, no one is in charge.

A Security Council resolution could give the United Nations total responsibility for controlling the outbreak, while respecting West African nations’ sovereignty as much as possible. The United Nations could, for instance, secure aircraft and landing rights…

The United Nations should provide whatever number of beds are needed; the World Health Organization has recommended 1,500, but we may need thousands more. It should also coordinate the recruitment and training around the world of medical and nursing staff, in particular by bringing in local residents who have survived Ebola, and are no longer at risk of infection. Many countries are pledging medical resources, but donations will not result in an effective treatment system if no single group is responsible for coordinating them.

I’ve spent enough time around public health people, in the US and in the field, to understand that they prefer to express themselves conservatively. So when they indulge in apocalyptic language, it is unusual, and notable.

via The Mathematics of Ebola Trigger Stark Warnings: Act Now or Regret It | WIRED.

French minister ‘first from Europe’ to visit Africa’s Ebola-hit region – France 24

“I’m the first European minister to set foot” in the region since the start of the epidemic, Girardin told FRANCE 24’s sister station RFI in an interview ahead of the trip. “France can be proud,” she exclaimed.

Girardin’s visit follows a call from the World Health Organization (WHO), urging the international community to respond more quickly to stop the epidemic from spiraling out of control.

“I’m going to Guinea first to say that France is with them. And that’s not an insignificant message,” she told a news conference in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, on Friday.

“It’s also an important message to say that there are behaviours to adopt, that there are health systems that are resilient and that can take on this Ebola virus,” Girardin said.

“This is the case here in Senegal, it is the case in Ivory Coast and, unfortunately, not the case in Guinea, where health systems have proved less resilient to this virus, this epidemic,” she said, adding that Guinea desperately needs an overhaul of its health infrastructure, but noted “for that we need resources”.

via Africa – French minister ‘first from Europe’ to visit Africa’s Ebola-hit region – France 24.

SkyTruth: Disappearing Mississippi Delta, 1972 – 2014

Like many folks, we were astonished by the recent ProPublica / The Lens mapping work showing the tremendous loss of marshland in the Mississippi Delta and adjacent parts of the Gulf coast.  There is an unholy alliance of factors responsible:  the rise in sea level due to melting onshore glaciers and icepack, and thermal expansion of the ocean, two consequences of global warming; the natural, inexorable subsidence of the Delta as that huge pile of sediment compresses and sinks under it’s own awesome weight, actually depressing the Earth’s crust; the diversion of Mississippi River sediments away from the marshes and out into the Gulf, thanks to an impressive system of dams, levees, and pumps designed to control flooding and aid navigation; and the accelerated erosion of marshlands thanks to the criss-crossing network of ditches and canals dug willy-nilly by the oil and gas industry over many decades — the death by 1,000 cuts.

via SkyTruth: Disappearing Mississippi Delta, 1972 – 2014.

PAHO warns of heightened chikungunya, dengue threats | CIDRAP

Since the start of the year countries in the PAHO region have reported almost 850,000 dengue infections, including 470 deaths, PAHO said in a press release. As of Sep 5, the area has reported more than 650,000 chikungunya cases, 37 of them fatal.

Both diseases are spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, present in most countries in the Americas.

The group said dengue prevention strategies can be applied to chikungunya, and it recommends beefing up efforts in six ways: patient care, social communication, surveillance, lab capacity, mosquito control, and environmental control.

via PAHO warns of heightened chikungunya, dengue threats | CIDRAP.

 “LaDonna Harris: Indian 101” to Air on PBS November 1

Harris is best known for her work in U.S. civil rights when she set the tone with a landmark legislation initiative that returned land to the Taos Pueblo Tribe and Native tribes of Alaska. She also served a pivotal role in helping the Menominee Tribe regain their federal recognition.

Her trailblazing efforts began when President Lyndon B. Johnson selected her to educate both the executive and legislative branches of U.S. government on the unique relationship that American Indian tribes hold within our nation. This education course was affectionately called “Indian 101″ and was taught to members of Congress and other federal agencies for over 35 years.

via Executive Producer Johnny Depp’s  “LaDonna Harris: Indian 101” to Air on PBS November 1.