100resilientcities.rockefellerfoundation.org - by Judith Rodin - December 2, 2013

Today, we are excited to name the first group of cities selected through the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge – cities who have demonstrated a dedicated commitment to building their own capacities to prepare for, withstand, and bounce back rapidly from shocks and stresses.

Since we announced the challenge on our 100th birthday, May 14, 2013, the response has been enormous, with more than 1,000 registrations and nearly 400 formal applications from cities around the world. Each city was asked to present a clear and compelling description of how they are approaching and planning for resilience to decrease vulnerabilities, and after careful review of the applications, a panel of esteemed judges, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Olosegun Obasanjo, recommended the first set of 33 cities for the 100 Resilient Cities Network.

SYNOPSIS: Many children in Fukushima were never evacuated after the nuclear meltdown on March 11, 2011. Now the number of Fukushima children found to have thyroid cysts and nodules is increasing. What will this mean for their future?

シノプシス: 福島の子供達の多くは、メルトダウン後も避難させてもらえなかった。嚢胞としこりを持

­つ福島の子供達の数が増加してきている。このことが彼らの未来に対して意味するものは­？

http://www.a2documentary.com

globalquakemodel.org

GEM’s collaborative efforts will build a heightened public understanding and awareness of seismic risk, leading to increased earthquake resilience worldwide, as the GEM community:

> shares data, models, and knowledge through the OpenQuake platform

> applies GEM tools and software to inform decision-making for risk mitigation and management

> expands the science and understanding of earthquakes

GEM - News

GEM - December 2013 Newsletter

Several hundred supporters of Egypt's deposed president massed outside the cabinet building Wednesday in Cairo, but were not allowed to approach. Khalil Hamra/Associated Press

news.ca.msn.com - by The Associated Press - November 25, 2013

Egypt's interim president on Sunday banned public gatherings of more than 10 people without prior government approval, imposing hefty fines and prison terms for violators in a bid to stifle the near-constant protests roiling the country.

The new law is more restrictive than regulations used under the rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, overthrown in Egypt's 2011 uprising that marked the start of unrest in the country. Rights groups and activists immediately denounced it, saying it aims to stifle opposition, allow repressive police practices and keep security officials largely unaccountable for possible abuses.

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But between residents who don't understand the dangers and political infighting, that may be difficult.

Pel Tecson, mayor since May of Tanauan town, Leyte island, the Philippines, looks out from his battered town hall balcony over Tanauan, smashed by a Typhoon Haiyan. The city council passed a resolution Monday making a non-build zone from the shoreline to 50 meters inland. The need for relocation of vulnerable communities is the big lesson to be learned from the experience, Tecson said.  (Photo: Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY)

usatoday.com - by Calum MacLeod - November 23, 2013

. . . Despite small signs that this area is recovering, life remains far from normal for countless Filipinos who have struggled through days of horror and hunger. More than 5,000 people died in the typhoon, and hundreds more are missing. The survivors are wondering when they'll have their lives back. . .

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100resilientcities.rockefellerfoundation.org - by PopTech & RF Bellagio Fellows - October 10, 2013

The following is a draft “Code of Conduct” that seeks to provide guidance on best practices for resilience building projects that leverage Big Data and Advanced Computing. These seven core principles serve to guide data projects to ensure they are socially just, encourage local wealth- & skill-creation, require informed consent, and be maintainable over long timeframes.

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voltaicsystems.com

Voltaic Systems makes products that produce and store their own power to run your electronics anywhere. We are based in New York City and ship directly to customers and our partners worldwide from warehouses in New Jersey and the Netherlands.

http://www.voltaicsystems.com/

About - Voltaic Systems

who.int

Global Alert and Response (GAR)

3 June 2013 - In Israel, wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was isolated from sewage samples collected on 9 April 2013 in Rahat, southern Israel. The virus has been detected in sewage only; no case of paralytic polio has been reported. Genetic sequencing and epidemiological investigations are ongoing to determine its origin. Preliminary analyses indicate the strain is not related to the virus currently affecting the Horn of Africa. The virus isolate was detected through routine environmental surveillance in Israel that involves regular testing of sewage water. Israel has been free of indigenous WPV transmission since 1988. In the past, wild poliovirus has been detected in environmental samples collected in this region between 1991 and 2002 without occurrence of cases of paralytic polio in the area.

nejm.org - Jennifer Leaning, M.D., and Debarati Guha-Sapir, Ph.D.
N Engl J Med 2013; 369:1836-1842 - November 7, 2013 - DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1109877

Natural disasters and armed conflict have marked human existence throughout history and have always caused peaks in mortality and morbidity. But in recent times, the scale and scope of these events have increased markedly. Since 1990, natural disasters have affected about 217 million people every year, and about 300 million people now live amidst violent insecurity around the world. The immediate and longer-term effects of these disruptions on large populations constitute humanitarian crises. In recent decades, public health interventions in the humanitarian response have made gains in the equity and quality of emergency assistance.

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http://www.slideshare.net/YALE-ESF8--VMOC

In light of Typhoon Haiyan, the Yale-Tulane ESF #8 Planning and Response Program has produced special reports for current efforts. To access these reports, click here.

The Yale-Tulane ESF #8 Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-center, graduate-level program designed to produce ESF #8 planners and responders with standardized skill sets that are consistent with evolving public policy, technologies, and best practices. The group that produced this summary and analysis of the current situation are graduate students from Yale and Tulane Universities. It was compiled entirely from open source materials.

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ECHO Daily Maps - http://ercportal.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Maps/Daily-maps-catalogue#

Credit: Shutterstock

thinkgrogress.org - by Emily Atkin - November 7, 2013

Producers of oil, gas and coal received more than $500 billion in government subsidies around the world in 2011, with the richest nations collectively spending more than $70 billion every year to support fossil fuels.

Those are the findings of a recent report by the Overseas Development Institute, a think tank based in the United Kingdom.

“If their aim is to avoid dangerous climate change, governments are shooting themselves in both feet,” the report, headed by ODI research fellow Shelagh Whitley, said. “They are subsidizing the very activities that are pushing the world towards dangerous climate change, and creating barriers to investment in low-carbon development and subsidy incentives that encourage investment in carbon-intensive energy.”

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           (CLICK IMAGE BELOW FOR INTERACTIVE ROSTER OF THE COMPANIES BEHIND CLIMATE CHANGE)

Chevron, Exxon and BP among companies most responsible for climate change since dawn of industrial age, figures show

theguardian.com - by Suzanne Goldenberg - November 20, 2013

The climate crisis of the 21st century has been caused largely by just 90 companies, which between them produced nearly two-thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions generated since the dawning of the industrial age, new research suggests.

The companies range from investor-owned firms – household names such as Chevron, Exxon and BP – to state-owned and government-run firms.

"While climate sceptics are attacking the IPCC report for being alarmist... environmentalists are complaining that the panel was too intimidated by the deniers, and understated the dangers," writes Elver [EPA]

Climate change deniers have been waging a PR war on scientists who promote a path towards a post carbon economy.

aljazeera.com - by Hilal Elver - October 10, 2013

After six years of work, a week-long final review session in Stockholm, invloving more than 200 scientists from 39 countries, the UN's influential scientific body IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), which is investigating climate change, released a 36-page summary of their latest work.

Gradually, the IPCC will make public four volumes of additional reports and suggestions to policy makers. Somewhat surprisingly, the report was not treated as "breaking news" by the mainstream media. There are several reasons for this.

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CLICK HERE - IPCC - Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis