An expanding list of information resources on the Ebola outbreak declared May 8, 2018 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  A link to Information, FAQs and Research on this outbreak will be provided (in red - here), and at the bottom of this post  . . . 

CLICK HERE - WHO - DRC Ebola Surveillance Dashboard

CLICK HERE - Twitter - Technical Secretariat of the Multisectoral National Committee for the Response to Ebola Virus Disease (CMRE)

CLICK HERE - Twitter - Mike Ryan - Executive Director of WHO Health Emergencies Programme

CLICK HERE - Twitter - Ministère de la Santé de la République Démocratique du Congo (Situation Reports)

CLICK HERE - WHO - Regional Office for Africa - Situation Reports - Ebola Virus Disease

Seen from a drone Praia Nova Village, one of the most affected neighbourhoods in Beira, razed by the passing cyclone, in the coastal city of Beira, Mozambique, Sunday March 17, 2019. Families are returning to the vulnerable shanty town following cyclone high winds and rain. More than 1,000 people are feared dead in Mozambique four days after a cyclone slammed into the southern African country. (Josh Estey/CARE via AP)

CLICK HERE - reliefweb - Tropical Cyclone Idai - March 2019

apnews.com - by Andrew Meldrum - March 18, 2019

More than 1,000 people were feared dead in Mozambique four days after a cyclone slammed into the country, submerging entire villages and leaving bodies floating in the floodwaters, the nation’s president said . . .

. . . Cyclone Idai could prove to be the deadliest storm in generations to hit the impoverished southeast African country of 30 million people.

A three-year UN-backed study from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform On Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services has grim implications for the future of humanity.

CLICK HERE - IPBES - IPBES Global Assessment Preview

huffpost.com - by John Vidal - March 15, 2019

Nature is in freefall and the planet’s support systems are so stretched that we face widespread species extinctions and mass human migration unless urgent action is taken. That’s the warning hundreds of scientists are preparing to give, and it’s stark . . .

. . . The study from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform On Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), expected to run to over 8,000 pages, is being compiled by more than 500 experts in 50 countries. It is the greatest attempt yet to assess the state of life on Earth and will show how tens of thousands of species are at high risk of extinction, how countries are using nature at a rate that far exceeds its ability to renew itself, and how nature’s ability to contribute food and fresh water to a growing human population is being compromised in every region on earth.

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thelancet.com - March 16, 2019

The content of a reform for WHO came as somewhat of a surprise to many in the global health community. After Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his inaugural speech, said “I do not believe in perpetual reform and I think WHO staff are reformed out”, WHO's Director-General unveiled the result of a 20-month-long consultation for reform. Aimed to be “the most wide-ranging reforms in the organisation's history”, according to the accompanying press release, this reform is a substantial top-heavy redesign of the internal structure of the WHO Secretariat.

New Zealand shooting: Manifesto by white Australian man who claimed responsibility for attacks lays out alleged motive - CBS News

cbsnews.com - March 15, 2019

At least 49 people are dead in two separate attacks on mosques in New Zealand – the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history. The mosques were packed with people beginning their Friday prayers when a man stormed in and began firing . . .

. . . A 74-page racist manifesto was posted online the same day by a man who said he was behind the attacks . . . it lays out the alleged motive, citing anti-immigrant sentiment and revenge for past terror attacks in Europe, reports CBS News correspondent Nikki Battiste.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - Christchurch shooting: 49 dead in terrorist attack at two mosques – live updates

A logo is pictured on the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

CLICK HERE - WHO - Global influenza strategy 2019-2030

reuters.com - by Kate Kelland - March 11, 2019

The world will inevitably face another pandemic of flu and needs to prepare for the potential devastation that could cause, and not underestimate the risks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Outlining a global plan to fight the viral disease and get ahead of a potential global outbreak, the WHO said the next influenza pandemic “is a matter of when, not if”.

“The threat of pandemic influenza is ever-present,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, said in a statement. “We must be vigilant and prepared – the cost of a major influenza outbreak will far outweigh the price of prevention.”

Gay, Destine & Rogers, Tom & Shirley, Rebekah, 2018. "Small island developing states and their suitability for electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid services," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 69-78.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2018.09.006

sciencedirect.com - 19 September 2018

Abstract

Small Island Developing States (SIDS), while at the forefront of international climate action, face a number of development challenges linked to their historic, geographic and socio-economic characteristics. Small populations and limited energy demand cap the penetration of renewable energy technologies. Electric vehicles (EVs) offer solutions for electricity storage, grid services, reduced fuel imports, and reduced pollution with associated health benefits. This paper provides a comprehensive review of literature on island applications of electric vehicles, making the case for SIDS as an area of opportunity for further exploration, and presenting the southern Caribbean island of Barbados as a case study.

CLICK HERE - Small island developing states and their suitability for electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid services

CLICK HERE - ncei.noaa.gov - Assessing the U.S. Climate in February 2019 - Wettest winter on record for the contiguous United States

weather.com - by Brian Donegan - February 6, 2019

Winter 2018-19 was the wettest on record in the United States after numerous heavy rain and snow events soaked the nation, according to a just-released government report.

The national climate report from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) said the country's average winter precipitation total was 9.01 inches, 2.22 inches above the 20th-century average (1901-2000), which bested the previous record-wet winter of 1997-98 by 0.02 inches. In this analysis, winter is defined as the three-month period from December through February.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Ocean heatwaves destroy kelp forests, which provide food and shelter for many other species. Photograph: Thomas Schmitt/Getty Images

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Marine heatwaves threaten global biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services

Extreme temperatures destroy kelp, seagrass and corals – with alarming impacts for humanity

theguardian.com - by Damian Carrington - March 4, 2019

The number of heatwaves affecting the planet’s oceans has increased sharply, scientists have revealed, killing swathes of sea-life like “wildfires that take out huge areas of forest”.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov in Moscow last year. General Gerasimov said Saturday that Russia should bring a blend of political, economic and military power to bear against its adversaries.  Credit: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik

nytimes.com - by Andrew E. Kramer - March 2, 2019

The chief of Russia’s armed forces endorsed on Saturday the kind of tactics used by his country to intervene abroad, repeating a philosophy of so-called hybrid war that has earned him notoriety in the West, especially among American officials who have accused Russia of election meddling in 2016 . . .

. . . General Gerasimov said Russia’s armed forces must maintain both “classical” and “asymmetrical” potential, using jargon for the mix of combat, intelligence and propaganda tools that the Kremlin has deployed in conflicts such as Syria and Ukraine.

And he cited the Syrian civil war an example of successful Russian intervention abroad. The combination of a small expeditionary force with “information” operations had provided lessons that could be expanded to “defend and advance national interests beyond the borders of Russia,” he said.

Typhoon Wutip at its peak.  GIF: CIMMS

earther.gizmodo.com - by Brian Kahn - February 26, 2019

. . . Typhoon Wutip formed and brushed Guam late last week. That alone made it an oddity in terms of timing and location. But rather than weakening as forecast, the storm blew up into a Category 5 monster over the weekend. That makes Wutip the first Category 5 storm of any kind—typhoon, cyclone, or hurricane—ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere in February.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

A fire is seen burning on Saddleworth Moor near the town of Diggle, Britain, February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Super

uk.reuters.com - by Jon Super - February 27, 2019

Firefighters battled a series of wildfires in Britain on Wednesday, including a large moorland blaze outside the northern English city of Manchester, as the country experienced its warmest winter weather on record . . .

. . . The fire comes after Britain recorded its warmest winter day with a temperature of 21.2 Celsius in Kew Gardens in London.

Fire officials have not yet commented on what may have caused the blaze.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Trolls used the vaccination debate to try to sow discord during the US election, researchers say. Photograph: Buenaventuramariano/Getty Images/iStockphoto

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH REPORT - American Public Health Association - Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate

newsweek.com - by Christina Maza - February 14, 2019

Russian propaganda may be responsible for the persistence of measles as conspiracy theories about vaccinations spread across the Internet, according to researchers.

The same Russian trolls who attempted to provoke racial tensions and influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election were also responsible for spreading propaganda against vaccinations. Their efforts may have helped cause the measles outbreak that infected tens of thousands and killed dozens in Europe last year, researchers told Radio Free Europe.

A runner tries to navigate a flooded section of sidewalk underneath the Longfellow Bridge in Cambridge, Mass.  Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe

statnews.com - by Kate Sheridan - February 15, 2019

. . . the potential risks of climate change — and the attendant increase in natural disasters — stand to outstrip any … incremental gains, as the companies described in recent risk assessment reports to the British nonprofit CDP.

Hurricanes and superstorms, power outages and flooding all threaten manufacturing facilities and research sites, particularly when animals are involved. Droughts, too, threaten critical water supplies. Forest fires, even if remote from a given plant or research facility, bring smoke and air pollution that can similarly disrupt the day-to-day work for drug makers and their supply chain . . .

. . . STAT surveyed the risk assessment plans for more than a dozen major pharmaceutical companies and spoke with officials at labs that survived extreme weather events and others who are planning to avoid their repercussions. All emphasized that the risks are already real — and underscored how hard the industry is working to prepare to meet the challenge.

nytimes.com - by Brad Plumer and Blacki Migliozzi - February 13, 2019

The United States is reducing its greenhouse gas emissions far too slowly to help avert the worst effects of global warming. But what would happen if the country adopted seven of the most ambitious climate policies already in place around the world?

1)  adopt an economy-wide carbon tax similar to British Columbia’s

2)  require utilities to produce all their electricity from zero-carbon sources

3)  encourage aggressive electric-vehicle incentives similar to Norway’s

4)  set efficiency targets for industries

5)  set energy efficiency standards for new homes and commercial buildings

6)  curb methane emissions from oil and gas operations

7)  adopt legislation to end the use of hydrofluorocarbons similar to the European Union’s

CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE AND METHODOLOGY