New #ebola species discovered by scientists from @OneHealthUCD and @ColumbiaMSPH as part of a US-funded effort (@PREDICTproject) to find unknown viruses that have the potential to cause outbreaks in people.https://t.co/cNSrMnaaln

— One Health Institute (@OneHealthUCD) July 27, 2018

CLICK HERE - STUDY - The Lancet - Persistence of Ebola virus after the end of widespread transmission in Liberia: an outbreak report

apnews.com - by Maria Cheng - July 23, 2018

A Liberian woman who probably caught Ebola in 2014 may have infected three relatives a year after she first fell sick, doctors reported in a study published Monday.

There have been previous instances of men spreading Ebola to women via sexual transmission — the virus can survive in semen for more than a year — but the new case is the first time scientists have suggested that Ebola was spread from a woman after such a prolonged period.

The rare possibility of Ebola spreading long after infection highlights the importance of monitoring survivors, especially with the imminent end of the most recent flare-up of the disease in Congo.

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PHOTO: Workers and volunteers are working hard to clear mud and debris from roads and towns. (AP: Takaki Yajima/Kyodo News)

The death toll from Japan's worst flooding disaster in 36 years has risen to 200, as authorities continue to search for dozens still missing.

abc.net.au - July 12, 2018

Heavy rains hit much of western Japan from Thursday last week, with 583 millimetres of rain falling between Friday and Saturday morning alone.

Millions were forced to evacuate due to floods and landslides, with most of the 200 people who have died from the Hiroshima and Okayama prefectures.

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Quebec has had a deadly week-long heat wave - AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A heat wave in the southern part of the Canadian province of Quebec has been linked to 54 deaths, officials say.

bbc.com - July 6, 2018

The sweltering weather began last Friday with temperatures hitting 35C (95F), high humidity and, on the last day, a smog advisory.

The death toll climbed every day this week, with most of the victims between the ages of 50 to 85.

This summer's heat wave was among worst the province has seen in decades, officials say.

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ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Canada heatwave: more than 30 deaths reported as extreme weather continues

CLICK HERE - Swiss Re - News Release - Swiss Re establishes thermal coal policy to support transition to a low-carbon economy (4 page .PDF file)

insurancejournal.com - July 3, 2018

Swiss Re announced it no longer is providing re/insurance to businesses with more than 30 percent exposure to thermal coal across all lines of business.

The thermal coal policy applies to both existing and new thermal coal mines and power plants, and is implemented across all lines of business and Swiss Re’s global scope of operations.

This move marks the implementation of Swiss Re’s thermal coal policy announced in June 2017, which aims to manage carbon-related sustainability risks and support the transition to a low-carbon economy, the company said in a statement.

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ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Swiss Re limits thermal coal coverage

Debris and plastic litter found by Tangaroa Blue, an Australian Marine debris initiative, on Christmas Island, Australia in this undated handout. Tangaroa Blue/Handout via REUTERS

reuters.com - Alison Bevege - June 30, 2018

Australia’s biggest supermarket chains are scrambling to combat “bag rage” as frustrated shoppers vent their anger over the removal of single-use plastic bags . . .

. . . The union conducted a survey earlier this week and of 132 (employee) members who responded, 57 said they suffered abuse due to the plastic bag ban . . .

. . . The U.N. wants to eliminate single-use plastic by 2022 and says more than 60 countries have so far taken steps to ban or reduce plastic consumption.

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submitted by Carrie La Jeunesse

Corporate sustainability teams could play an important role in building resilience to environmental risks.

bloomberg.com - June 4, 2018

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2018, three of the top five threats in terms of likelihood are environmental: extreme weather, natural disasters and the failure of climate change mitigation . . . 

. . . The reason for the seismic potential of these environmental risks isn't just the risks themselves, but also their knock-on effects. In a global economy, every corporate executive has to consider the potential for cascading risks to threaten the systems that underpin our economy and society.

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Solar still in water. QIAOQIANG GAN, SUNY BUFFALO

buffalonews.com - by T.J. Pignataro  - October 15, 2017

Distilling water using the sun’s rays . . . a University at Buffalo startup has found a quick way to do it . . . and it could transform how potable water gets to people in developing countries or in areas stricken by natural disasters like earthquakes or hurricanes.

The university’s Sunny Clean Water startup said its method is nearly three times as fast as the industry standard . . . 

. . . The process uses a floating solar still and a specially-engineered carbon-based cloth to capture, desalinate and purify as much as a liter of water every three hours in a prototype developed by UB associate professor of electrical engineering Qiaoqiang Gan, Singer and other university electrical engineering students.

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ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW . . .

A 2-year-old Honduran child cries as her mother is searched by US Border Patrol agents on Tuesday, June 12.

cnn.com - by Madison Park and Kyle Almond - Photographs by John Moore/Getty Images

The 2-year-old girl looks up at the adults around her with tears in her frightened eyes, her curls clinging to the side of her face and her mouth opened in a terrified cry.

The girl, who was with her mother and others, had rafted across the Rio Grande and were stopped in Texas by US Border Patrol agents last week . . .

 . . . John Moore, a Getty photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner, took the picture after the toddler's mother set her down.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED IMAGES HERE - Photos from a decade at the border

Sea level rise contributions from ice melt in different areas, including Greenland (a), West Antarctica (b), East Antarctica (c) and median of global glaciers (d). Values are ratios of regional sea level change to global mean sea level change. Adapted from Kopp et al. 2015.

axios.com - by Andrew Freedman - June 14, 2018

News of Antarctica's accelerating ice melt garnered worldwide headlines yesterday, as scientists revealed that 3 trillion tons of ice has been lost to the sea since 1992 — mostly from the thawing West Antarctic Ice Sheet and Antarctic Peninsula.

Why it matters: The location of the ice melt is important for determining the future of coastal communities, according to climate scientists. And, due to West Antarctica melting, it turns out that the U.S. coastline will be hit extra hard . . .

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Scientists warns time is running out to save the Antarctic and its unique ecosystem, with potentially dire consequences for the world. Photograph: Daniel Beltrá/Greenpeace

CLICK HERE - IMBIE - ANALYSIS - Mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet from 1992 to 2017

washingtonpost.com - by Chris Mooney - June 13, 2018

Antarctica’s ice sheet is melting at a rapidly increasing rate, now pouring more than 200 billion tons of ice into the ocean annually and raising sea levels a half-millimeter every year, a team of 80 scientists reported Wednesday.

An MSF cholera treatment center set up in Abs town, pictured in July 2017.  Gonzalo Martinez/MSF

doctorswithoutborders.org - by João Martins - June 11, 2018

A newly constructed cholera treatment center run by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Abs, Yemen, was hit by an airstrike Monday at approximately 5:40 am.

No staff or patients were killed or injured. The facility had not yet received any cholera patients and was empty . . .

. . . Markings on the roof of the compound clearly identified the CTC as a healthcare facility. The airstrike has now rendered the CTC non-functional. In keeping with security protocol, MSF has temporarily frozen its activities in Abs until the safety of its staff and patients is guaranteed.

submitted by Albert Gomez

Two women walk in front of a billboard, which says "Ebola must go. Stopping Ebola is Everybody's Business" in Monrovia, Liberia - 15 January 2015 - Photo: UNMIL/Emmanuel Tobey

futurehealthsystems.org - by Sehwah Sonkarlay - June 12, 2018

 . . . The ‘Understanding and Strengthening Community Resilience in Liberia’ meeting, which took place from 28th February – 1st March, was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Health, research organisations, and community members. Its aim was to understand the experience of Liberia in identifying and building resilience at the community level in the context of the recent Ebola epidemic, combined with its post-war and unique sociopolitical history.

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Credit: Tove Hoffman

CLICK HERE - STUDY - CDC - EID - Alkhurma Hemorrhagic Fever Virus RNA in Hyalomma rufipes Ticks Infesting Migratory Birds, Europe and Asia Minor

uu.se - Press Release - June 1, 2018

In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University and other institutions have identified genetic material from the recently identified Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus in the tick species Hyalomma rufipes. The discovery was made after thousands of ticks were collected from migratory birds captured in the Mediterranean basin. The results indicate that birds could contribute to spreading the virus to new geographical areas.

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Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

 - Forecasters see wind output staying low for at least two weeks

 - Wind generating 4.3% of U.K. electricity on Wednesday

bloomberg.com - by Rachel Morison - June 6, 2018

Britain’s gone nine days with almost no wind generation, and forecasts show the calm conditions persisting for another two weeks.

The wind drought has pushed up day-ahead power prices to the highest level for the time of year for at least a decade. Apart from a surge expected around June 14, wind levels are forecast to stay low for the next fortnight, according to The Weather Company.

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