Category Archives: environment

TheLancet.com – antibiotic resistance – our bad

Within just a few years, we might be faced with dire setbacks, medically, socially, and economically, unless real and unprecedented global coordinated actions are immediately taken. This Commission describes the global situation of antibiotic resistance, its major causes and consequences, and identify key areas in which action is urgently needed.

via TheLancet.com.

Wind Map

An invisible, ancient source of energy surrounds us—energy that powered the first explorations of the world, and that may be a key to the future. This map shows you the delicate tracery of wind flowing over the US.

Wind map prints are available from Point.B Studio.

Read more about wind and about wind power.

The wind map is a personal art project, not associated with any company. We\’ve done our best to make this as accurate as possible, but can\’t make any guarantees about the correctness of the data or our software. Please do not use the map or its data to fly a plane, sail a boat, or fight wildfires 🙂

If the map is missing or seems slow, we recommend the latest Chrome browser.

Surface wind data comes from the National Digital Forecast Database. These are near-term forecasts, revised once per hour. So what you\’re seeing is a living portrait. (See the NDFD site for precise details; our timestamp shows time of download.) And for those of you chasing top wind speed, note that maximum speed may occur over lakes or just offshore.

via Wind Map.

Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Crunch Pak Issues Voluntary Recall of Limited Quantities of Crunch Pak Brand Apple Slices Because of Possible Health Risk

Nothing safe or sacred any longer – why would you want to buy sliced apples – how hard is it to slice yourself?

Crunch Pak® of Cashmere, Washington is voluntarily recalling 5,471 cases of Crunch Pak® Apple Slices due to a possible health risk from Listeria monocytogenes.

via Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Crunch Pak Issues Voluntary Recall of Limited Quantities of Crunch Pak Brand Apple Slices Because of Possible Health Risk.

Part of solution and problem still – Danish Pig Farmers Reduce Antibiotics to Prevent Drug Resistance – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Farming/breeding so many pigs under one roof is still the problem – since it creates perfect environment for spread of diseases. Lowering amount of drugs is good but this way of raising animals still damages us all, in the long run.

Denmark first slammed on the brakes and began strictly regulating the use of antibiotics 20 years ago. If farmers\’ usage increases despite these regulations, they face sanctions. In Germany, on the other hand, until recently there was no data on the amount of antibiotics used in agriculture. And analysis broken down by species or by individual farm, as is available in Denmark, doesn\’t exist in Germany.

via Danish Pig Farmers Reduce Antibiotics to Prevent Drug Resistance – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Portugal rolls out red carpet to foreign pensioners – FRANCE 24

Nice idea but the dawning of a bidding “war” for retirees across Europe and the globe? Wonder what Rio, Thailand, Cambodia, or Ghana will have to offer?

Portugal has a plan to get its battered economy back on the straight and narrow: encouraging pensioners from across Europe to move in. Those who have worked in the private sector prior to taking retirement can buy a home in Portugal and take advantage of a rule exempting them from income tax for ten years. It\’s certainly an attractive option – the only catch is that new arrivals must spend at least six months a year in the sun-drenched country.

via Portugal rolls out red carpet to foreign pensioners – FRANCE 24.

Veggies on fire, villagers loot 3 bazaars in Malda – The Times of India

The trigger in Dharampur was the same as Sovanagar – potato being sold at Rs 20. Newly harvested potato was selling for a whopping Rs 60 a kilo and onion at Rs 80. Even the humble kochu (yam) was priced at Rs 45 per kg and raw banana at Rs 5 a piece. To top it all, there was little of everything. People flew into a rage and started looting the market. Some sellers began to hide their goods but the frenzied mob snatched everything. Even bundles of spinach were torn from hand to hand. It was a free for all.

Police from Manikchak reached around 9.30am but there wasn\’t anything left. Traders alleged that vegetables worth Rs 2-3 lakh were looted. In Balupur and Achintola , the loss was Rs 1 lakh each. Worryingly, clashes broke out at Achintola, and police had to lathicharge the looters.

via Veggies on fire, villagers loot 3 bazaars in Malda – The Times of India.

Large Crabs Escape From Box on German Train – SPIEGEL ONLINE

The animals had absconded from a container that toppled over. It was being transported by two Chinese passengers. The crabs, whose bodies can grow as large 10 centimeters — not including the legs — are a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.

via Large Crabs Escape From Box on German Train – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Printed as a funny item but this is how disease and invasive species of all sorts are traveling around the globe – humans think nothing they do have any big consequences???

Polio virus strain in Syria confirmed as being from Pakistan: WHO | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Extremists in Northwest Pakistan have been killing those trying to vaccinate children in that area for the last two years. The same in Nigeria – to some fundamentalists – absolutely everything is political – including science – witness tea-baggers in US and UK denying climate change.

 

Islamist fighters from countries including Pakistan are among groups battling to oust President Bashar al-Assad, leading to speculation that they brought the virus into the country.

via Polio virus strain in Syria confirmed as being from Pakistan: WHO | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

Avian Flu Diary: WHO Declares Grade 3 Emergency In The Philippines

The Government estimates that some 4.5 million people have been affected in the Central Philippines. WHO is mobilizing supplies to assist the government in providing a coordinated, effective and rapid response:

An initial shipment of four emergency kits with medicines and supplies to cover basic health needs of 120 000 persons during one month and supplies to perform 400 surgical interventions are being deployed. Four diarrhoeal disease kits with medicines and supplies to treat 3000 cases of acute diarrhoea are also being sent.

WHO is also supporting the Department of Health (DoH) in strengthening its early warning alert and response network (EWARN) to rapidly detect disease outbreaks and other public health threats related to food and environmental hazards.

The Government is receiving international assistance such as field hospitals and medical teams, and WHO is working closely with the Government to ensure those supplies and teams go where they are needed most.

Medical storage spaces have also been damaged, and  WHO is working to re-establish logistics bases for new supplies that are arriving.

via Avian Flu Diary: WHO Declares Grade 3 Emergency In The Philippines.

BERNAMA – Bird Flu Claims 13 Lives In Cambodia This Year

A ten-year-old boy died of bird flu on Saturday, bringing death toll in the country to 13 this year.

\”We regret to announce the boy passed away in Kantha Bopha Hospital this morning,\” said Sonny Inbaraj Krishnan, communication and media relations officer at the World Health Organisation (WHO) office in Cambodia.

Xinhua news agency learns the boy confirmed positive for human H5N1 avian influenza on Thursday after he was admitted to the hospital in Phnom Penh.

A joint statement from the Cambodian Health Ministry and WHO office said the boy had come into contact with chickens in his village in southern Kampot province a month before becoming ill.

Some 30 chickens had reportedly died in the village at that time.

Cambodia has reported 45 human cases of the virus with 32 deaths to date.

According to WHO, H5N1 influenza usually spreads among poultry but can spread from poultry to human.

via BERNAMA – Bird Flu Claims 13 Lives In Cambodia This Year.