Global

Humanitarian UAV (“Drone”) Experts Meet at MIT

Fri, 2015-10-09 18:32 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Andrew Schroeder

directrelief.org - by Andrew Schroeder - October 14, 2015

Early Fall mornings in Cambridge, MA have the feeling practically of American myth. The sun rises over the mist that hangs like a blanket on the Charles River, lighting the water with a pale glow that filters through multi-colored leaves and glints off the steel and glass fronts of the buildings which line the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I’m hurrying down Massachusetts Ave towards Technology Square, wind in my face and coffee in hand, to arrive for the start of the second annual Humanitarian UAV (drone) Experts Meeting happening at MIT Lincoln Labs’ Beaver Works. The meeting is hosted by UAViators (Humanitarian UAV Network), a brainchild of my friend and colleague Patrick Meier.

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Scientists Found a Flu Vaccine Flaw—Now They Have to Fix It

Fri, 2015-10-09 11:49 — Maeryn Obley

Image of person withdrawing medication from a vial with a needle.

Image: Image of person withdrawing medication from a vial with a needle.

wired.com - October 9th 2015 - Sarah Zhang

Among flu viruses, H3N2 is the one you should fear the most. It lands the most patients in hospitals. It kills the most people.

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Ebola Nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'In Serious Condition'

Fri, 2015-10-09 10:37 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Pauline Cafferkey previously spent a month in the specialist isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London

bbc.com - October 9, 2015

A Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone last year is in a "serious condition" after being readmitted to an isolation unit in London.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde confirmed that the virus is still present in Pauline Cafferkey's body after being left over from the original infection.

She is not thought to be contagious.

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Cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions Won't Slow Global Economic Growth — Report

Thu, 2015-10-08 10:37 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Increased use of low-carbon energy sources instead of fossil energy sources is making it easier for countries to decouple economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/Reuters

New report from green think tank Heinrich Boll shows OECD countries grew their economies 16% in last decade – and cut greenhouse gas emissions 6.4%

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH REPORT - Turning point: Decoupling Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Economic Growth

theguardian.com - by Bruce Watson - September 26, 2015

As the world works out how to avoid catastrophic climate change, one of the biggest questions remaining is whether we can continue to grow economically without also increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

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Ebola countries record first week with no new cases

Thu, 2015-10-08 10:05 — mike kraft

BBC Oct. 8, 2015
(Scroll down for WHO Report.)

The three West African countries at the heart of the Ebola epidemic recorded their first week with no new cases since the outbreak began in March 2014.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 11,000 people

The outbreak has so far killed more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

New cases have fallen sharply in 2015, but the WHO has warned that the disease could break out again.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34471234?utm_source=Copy+of+October+7%2C+2015+EN&utm_campaign=10%2F8%2F2015+fr&utm_medium=email

WHO SITUATION REPORT 7 Oct. 2015

http://apps.who.int/ebola/current-situation/ebola-situation-report-7-october-2015

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Why We Must Act Now to Prevent Global Pandemics

Wed, 2015-10-07 22:07 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by George Hurlburt

agenda.weforum.org - by Sania Nishtar - October 7, 2015

The recent, devastating Ebola crisis reminded the world of a hard truth: Pandemics are not just a threat to human health, they are a threat to societies and economies. That there will be another pandemic is not a question of “if,” but a question of “when.” A catastrophe on the scale of the 1918 flu epidemic could conceivably wipe out all development gains of the last century. We recognize this, but, still we are unprepared.

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Why Some Scientists are Worried About a Surprisingly Cold ‘Blob’ in the North Atlantic Ocean

Mon, 2015-10-05 18:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

January–August 2015 Blended Land and Sea Surface Temperature Percentiles. (NOAA)

CLICK HERE - PAPER - Exceptional twentieth-century slowdown in Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation

washingtonpost.com - by Chris Mooney - September 24, 2015

. . . we learned from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the first eight months of 2015 were the hottest such stretch yet recorded for the globe’s surface land and oceans, based on temperature records going back to 1880. . . .

In the North Atlantic Ocean south of Greenland and Iceland, the ocean surface has seen very cold temperatures for the past eight months. . . .

. . . And while there may not yet be any scientific consensus on the matter, at least some scientists suspect that the cooling seen in these maps is no fluke but, rather, part of a process that has been long feared by climate researchers — the slowing of Atlantic Ocean circulation.

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India announces plan to slow rate of greenhouse gas growth

Sun, 2015-10-04 20:59 — Maeryn Obley

Smoke rises from a chimney of a garbage processing plant on the outskirts of Chandigarh December 3, 2011. Reuters/Ajay Verma/Files

Image: Smoke rises from a chimney of a garbage processing plant on the outskirts of Chandigarh December 3, 2011. Reuters/Ajay Verma/Files

in.reuters.com - October 2nd, 2015 - Tommy Wilkes

India has promised to shave a third off the rate at which it emits greenhouse gases over the next 15 years, in a long-awaited contribution towards reaching a deal to slow global warming at a U.N. climate summit in December.

The world's third-largest emitter and last major economy to submit plans ahead of the Paris summit did not, however, commit to any absolute cuts in carbon emissions.

Of the top two polluters, China has promised its emissions will peak by around 2030, and the United States is already cutting, but India says its economy is too small and its people too poor to agree to absolute cuts in greenhouse gases now.

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Guinea - Four New Cases of Ebola This Weekend in Forecariah

Tue, 2015-09-29 17:55 — Kathy Gilbeaux

guineenews.org - September 28, 2015

(Translation to English via Google Translate)

Four new cases of Ebola this weekend in Forecariah: she wants Guinea to end the epidemic?

Two people reported positive for Ebola test this Saturday and two on Sunday yesterday: the sad accounting revealed in the villages and Kintinia Taramassi (Forecariah) by the local coordinating the fight against Ebola. These cases were reported while the prefecture had over two weeks without a new case.

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The Global Goals

Tue, 2015-09-29 00:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

http://www.globalgoals.org/

World Leaders have committed to 17 Global Goals to achieve 3 extraordinary things in the next 15 years. End extreme poverty. Fight inequality & injustice. Fix climate change. The Global Goals for sustainable development could get these things done. In all countries. For all people. If the Goals are going to work, everyone needs to know about them. TELL EVERYONE.

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