Global

What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management

Tue, 2012-07-31 14:29 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

web.worldbank.org

As the world hurtles toward its urban future, the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW), one of the most important by-products of an urban lifestyle, is growing even faster than the rate of urbanization. Ten years ago there were 2.9 billion urban residents who generated about 0.64 kg of MSW per person per day (0.68 billion tonnes per year).

This report estimates that today these amounts have increased to about 3 billion residents generating 1.2 kg per person per day (1.3 billion tonnes per year). By 2025 this will likely increase to 4.3 billion urban residents generating about 1.42 kg/capita/day of municipal solid waste (2.2 billion tonnes per year).

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Health Team Fights Ebola Outbreak That Has Killed 14 in Uganda

Sun, 2012-07-29 21:04 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The New York Times - by Josh Kron - July 28, 2012

KAMPALA, Uganda — An outbreak of the rare and deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in midwestern Uganda, many in the past week, the Ugandan government said Saturday.

A team of health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the Ugandan government has been sent to the area, roughly three hours from Uganda’s capital, Kampala, to begin emergency response measures, according to a government statement.

The strain of the virus, which in recent years has killed at a rate often above 70 percent of those infected, has been identified as Ebola Sudan, one of the virus’s more common strains.

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The 'Chemputer' That Could Print Out Any Drug

Fri, 2012-07-27 17:48 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Chemistry professor Lee Cronin with the 'chemputer' he has adapted from a 3D printer. Photograph: Murdo Macleod

When Lee Cronin learned about the concept of 3D printers, he had a brilliant idea: why not turn such a device into a universal chemistry set that could make its own drugs?

guardian.co.uk - by Tim Adams - July 21, 2012

Professor Lee Cronin is a likably impatient presence, a one-man catalyst. "I just want to get stuff done fast," he says. And: "I am a control freak in rehab." Cronin, 39, is the leader of a world-class team of 45 researchers at Glasgow University, primarily making complex molecules. But that is not the extent of his ambition.

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Lee Cronin - The Cronin Group - University of Glasgow, U.K.
http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/

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NASA - Satellites See Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melt

Thu, 2012-07-26 21:05 — Kathy Gilbeaux

nasa.gov - July 2012

Extent of surface melt over Greenland’s ice sheet on July 8 (left) and July 12 (right). Measurements from three satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet had undergone thawing at or near the surface. In just a few days, the melting had dramatically accelerated and an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface had thawed by July 12. In the image, the areas classified as “probable melt” (light pink) correspond to those sites where at least one satellite detected surface melting. The areas classified as “melt” (dark pink) correspond to sites where two or three satellites detected surface melting. The satellites are measuring different physical properties at different scales and are passing over Greenland at different times. As a whole, they provide a picture of an extreme melt event about which scientists are very confident. Credit: Nicolo E. DiGirolamo, SSAI/NASA GSFC, and Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory
› Hi-res of left image
› Hi-res of right image

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How Climate Change is Increasing Cholera Outbreaks in Northern Europe

Tue, 2012-07-24 22:52 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Rising temperatures: The Baltic Sea represents the 'fastest warming marine eco-system examined so far anywhere on earth'

(SEE LINK TO STUDY BELOW)

Vibrio bacteria, which is normally found growing in warm and tropical waters, now thrives in the Baltic Sea

Bacteria strains will multiply as seas warm, predict researchers

The bacteria causes illnesses from cholera to gastroenteritis

dailymail.co.uk - by Claire Bates - July 23, 2012

Climate change could be driving an increase in illnesses such as cholera and gastroenteritis in northern Europe, scientists have warned.

A rise in temperatures in the Baltic Sea has triggered the growth of the water-borne bacteria Vibrio.

An international team examined sea surface temperature records and satellite data in the Baltic, as well as statistics on Vibrio cases in the region.

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4 Videos: Failed States Index 2012 Launch

Sun, 2012-07-22 16:42 — Kathy Gilbeaux

fundforpeace.org

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Pakistan's Escalating Vaccine Tensions

Sat, 2012-07-21 17:18 — Maeryn Obley

cfr.org - Laurie Garrett - July 18th, 2012

Last year the CIA deployed a Pakistani physician to execute a phony hepatitis vaccine campaign in Abbottabad, hoping to extract blood samples from the children living inside a compound, thought to house Osama bin Laden and his family. Because of the vaccine deception, multiple imams and Taliban leaders have declared that vaccines are CIA plots. The ruse may also be responsible for what appears to have been an assassination attempt against a World Health Organization immunization convoy that injured two people on July 17.

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Calculating the global health consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster

Sat, 2012-07-21 17:13 — Maeryn Obley

submitted by Luis Kun

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - July 18th, 2012

Radiation from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster may eventually cause approximately 130 deaths and 180 cases of cancer, mostly in Japan, Stanford researchers have calculated. The estimates have large uncertainty ranges, but contrast with previous claims that the radioactive release would likely cause no severe health effects. The numbers are in addition to the roughly 600 deaths caused by the evacuation of the area surrounding the nuclear plant directly after the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and meltdown.

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U.S. ship fires on fishing boat in Persian Gulf, killing 1

Fri, 2012-07-20 10:36 — Maeryn Obley

Image: The Rappahannock, which refuels warships, had just passed through the Strait of Hormuz when a fishing boat started to approach it. The supply ship fired on the craft, killing one and injuring three. (Cale Hatch / U.S. Navy / March 21, 2012)

latimes.com - David S. Cloud - July 16th, 2012

Fearful of a terrorist attack, a U.S. Navy fuel resupply ship that had just passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf opened fire at a 50-foot fishing boat moving toward it, killing one person and wounding three, U.S. officials said.

A security team aboard the Rappahannock, which refuels warships, fired a .50-caliber machine gun Monday after the smaller boat "disregarded warnings and rapidly approached" about 10 miles off Jebel Ali port in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, according to the Navy's 5th Fleet, which is based in neighboring Bahrain.

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How Doctors Without Borders is mapping the world’s epidemics

Thu, 2012-07-19 19:55 — Maeryn Obley

Image: Cholera cases in MSF facilities

dailydot.com - David Holmes - March 9th, 2012

Five years ago, Ivan Gayton would spend months at a time in the African bush with no connection to the outside world except for a satellite phone or a high-frequency radio.

But today, the head of Doctors Without Borders in Nigeria spends 75 percent of his time on a computer or a cell phone, even when working in rural Africa. And while the sense of adventure may be diminished, Gayton says the new technologies have had an “astonishing” effect on his organization’s effectiveness.

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