Category Archives: planetkillers

Eurosurveillance – Europe at risk for Dengue, Zika, and CHIKV? You bet and at your nearest airport!

The outbreak of seven autochthonous dengue cases reported by Succo et al. in this issue of Eurosurveillance [6] was triggered by one infected traveller returning from French Polynesia in the summer of 2015, and occurred in an area where another vector, Ae. albopictus, the Asian Tiger mosquito, was established in 2005. This is not the first event of local transmission of DENV reported in Europe in recent years. Since 2010, at least 23 dengue cases were detected. In September 2010, two autochthonous cases of dengue fever were identified in Nice, southern France. The index case had friends from the West French Indies staying with him, while the second case was an individual living nearby [7]. In the summer of the same year, another transmission event occurred in Croatia [8,9]. The index case was a German man returning in mid-August from a two-week holiday spent at the Peljesac peninsula and the isle of Korĉula, ca 100 km north-west of Dubrovnik. A second autochthonous case, and other 15 individuals with serological evidence of recent infection, were identified in October 2010. How the virus was introduced in Croatia remains unclear. In 2013 and 2014, five autochthonous case of dengue were identified in southern France, one in Bouches-du-Rhône (2013) [10], and four in Aubage and Toulon-Hìres (2014) [11]. Ae. albopictus was the vector in all the transmission events listed here. Dengue is not the only Aedes-borne viral disease threatening the health of European citizens. Nearly 10 years ago, in the summer of 2007, more than 250 cases of chikungunya occurred in the north-east of Italy [12]. The primary case was a viraemic individual arriving from the Indian State of Kerala. The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) implicated in the sustained outbreak carried the A226V mutation, which increases virus fitness and is usually detected in areas where the Tiger mosquito is the predominant vector [13]. In September 2010, autochthonous transmission of the CHIKV was also identified in south-east France, where chikungunya was diagnosed in two children living in the same area as another child who developed a febrile illness after returning from Rajasthan, India [14].

Source: Eurosurveillance – View Article

Is Trump bump triggering dump USA move in America? Not much beyond the jokes – Times of India

A Canadian radio DJ launched a website earlier this year inviting Americans to move to an island off Nova Scotia if Donald Trump wins the race to the White House. A Canadian advertising firm set up a webpage called Trump Clause that includes legal advice for people or businesses choosing to migrate north. Net searches for ”moving to Canada” have soared since the start of the ”Trump bump,” and at one point, the Immigration Canada website was said to have crashed from the traffic. Meanwhile, sharp-eyed online entrepreneurs are hawking everything from ”Canadian Clothing Brands to Familiarize Yourself With Before You Move to Canada” to Canadian spouses to facilitate immigration (the website is appropriately called MapleMatch). The online music streamer Spotify has come up with a ”Moving to Canada” playlist (featuring Canadian singers), while in the U.S, one realtor recently advertised: ”Leaving the country if TRUMP is elected PRESIDENT? Give me a call and LET’S GET YOUR HOME SOLD!!”

Source: Is Trump bump triggering dump USA move in America? Not much beyond the jokes – Times of India

Genetically Engineered Crops Are Safe, Analysis Finds – The New York Times – if you ask the wrong questions

“Ask the wrong questions and you get answers that are correct and disastrous! Ask how massive monocultures of grains could trigger new strains of bacteria, viruses, insects that could wipe out whole crops meant to feed millions of people. When the natural system “senses” an imbalance in the ecosystem and a new means arises to rebalance the ecosystem.”

The report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is not expected to end the highly polarized debate over the technology.

Source: Genetically Engineered Crops Are Safe, Analysis Finds – The New York Times

Cape Grim carbon dioxide reading exceeds 400ppm landmark for first time – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Cape Grim, on the remote north-western tip of Tasmania, is the only station analysing baseline carbon levels in the southern hemisphere. Scientists warned last week that the world’s cleanest air was nearing the 400ppm milestone. Lead scientist Paul Krummel, from the CSIRO, said the landmark CO2 figure was concerning. “It’s probably one of the last places on Earth to actually reach this milestone, and it just highlights the ever-increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere,” he said. The key impacts of carbon monoxide is warming the atmosphere and acidifying the oceans. “Globally, this is going to contribute to rising temperatures, which we are already seeing in the atmosphere,” Mr Krummel said. “It’s another milestone that we’ve reached where it’s indicating that the health of the planet is probably in trouble.” Mr Krummel said initial analysis last year predicted Cape Grim would not record such high measurements until June or July. “It’s certainly come earlier than I expected … most likely due to El Nino effects on the CO2,” he said. The El Nino weather pattern causes hotter and drier conditions, preventing the growth of plants that would suck up carbon dioxide. The Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station is operated by the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology. It measures the presence of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide and ozone-depleting gases like aerosols. The station samples some of the cleanest air on the planet, derived from the Southern Ocean and unaffected by any nearby urban pollution. When measurements began in 1976, carbon dioxide levels were slightly more than 300 parts per million.

Source: Cape Grim carbon dioxide reading exceeds 400ppm landmark for first time – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Right-wing coup and who cares? Michel Temer, Brazil’s Interim President, May Herald Shift to the Right – The New York Times

The new Brazilian president’s first pick for science minister was a creationist. He chose a soybean tycoon who has deforested large tracts of the Amazon rain forest to be his agriculture minister. And he is the first leader in decades to have no women in his cabinet at all. The new government of President Michel Temer — the 75-year-old lawyer who took the helm of Brazil on Thursday after his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, was suspended by the Senate to face an impeachment trial — could cause a significant shift to the political right in Latin America’s largest country. “Temer’s government is starting out well,” Silas Malafaia, a television evangelist and author of best-selling books like “How to Defeat Satan’s Strategies,” wrote on Twitter. “He’ll be able to sweep away the ideology of pathological leftists,” Mr. Malafaia added of a conservative lawmaker whom Mr. Temer chose as education minister.

Source: Michel Temer, Brazil’s Interim President, May Herald Shift to the Right – The New York Times

Brazil′s interim President Michel Temer vows to restore economic growth | News | DW.COM | 12.05.2016 Soft coup leader and pimp for corrupt mega-oligopolists will fail – next a military coup?

Temer under investigation for corruption Unlike many of the senators and Temer himself, Rousseff is not under investigation for corruption, even though much of the graft at state owned oil giant Petrobras happened while the Workers’ Party was in power. Temer vowed to fight corruption and maintain the wide reaching investigation into graft, though critics worry he will use his power to undermine investigations into the country’s political and business elite. Temer sought to smooth concerns he would unravel social programs implemented by the Workers’ Party that brought an estimated 35 million people out of poverty over the past decade.

Source: Brazil′s interim President Michel Temer vows to restore economic growth | News | DW.COM | 12.05.2016

Oops – deny this? Rise in sea level causes five islands in Solomons to disappear: study | News | DW.COM | 07.05.2016

“At least 11 islands across the northern Solomon Islands have either totally disappeared over recent decades or are currently experiencing severe erosion,” said the study, published in “Environmental Research Letters.” The researchers behind the study looked at satellite and aerial images of 33 islands made from 1947 to 2014, and drew additionally on accounts by local residents. The five islands that had vanished were all vegetated reef islands of significant size that were unpopulated, but subject to occasional use by fishermen, the study said. The study also said that between 2011 and 2014, 10 houses had been swept into the sea on one of the six other reef islands that have undergone severe erosion damage from the rising waters, which result from global warming. In addition, receding shorelines at two sites had forced communities that had existed since at least 1935 to relocate, the researchers said.

Source: Rise in sea level causes five islands in Solomons to disappear: study | News | DW.COM | 07.05.2016

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