But we begin surprising news on the cannabis front, first from United Press International:
NHTSA: Marijuana use may not significantly increase traffic accidents
Crashes may be more related to demographics
A new study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates marijuana use doesn’t increase traffic accident risk as much as previously thought.
The study looked at 9,000 drivers over the course of 20 months. It found drivers who regularly use marijuana are 25 percent more likely to be involved in a traffic accident. However, when the researchers factored in age, gender and level of alcohol consumption among marijuana users, they found those factors were more significant than the use of marijuana.
“Analyses incorporating adjustments for age, gender, ethnicity, and alcohol concentration level did not show a significant increase in levels of crash risk associated with the presence of drugs,” the study reads. “This finding indicates that these other variables (age, gender ethnicity and alcohol use) were highly correlated with drug use and account for much of the increased risk associated with the use of illegal drugs and with THC.”
And from Al Jazeera America, surprising support:
US drug czar supports DC pot legalization drive
District voted in November to legalize marijuana, but Congress has so far halted the effort
Michael Botticelli, the U.S. drug czar, said on Friday that he agrees Congress should not interfere with Washington D.C. voters’ decision to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults.
“As a resident of the District, I might not agree about legalization, but I do agree with our own ability to spend our own money the way that we want to do that,” Botticelli, the acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said during a meeting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Though he personally opposes to marijuana use, Botticelli’s statements are another signal of the increasing shift in drug policy politics. Historically, drug czars are uncompromising defenders of the war on drugs and vehemently opposed to legalization. The Obama administration, Botticelli noted on Friday, also supports the District’s ability to govern itself.
The Guardian covers a candidate’s woe:
Rand Paul on defensive in Iowa after comments about vaccination dangers
The trained ophthalmologist expresses frustration with’ inaccuracies’ fueled by media and says ‘physicians don’t think of things so much in partisan terms’
As an eye doctor, Kentucky senator Rand Paul has a rare set of credentials at the intersection of science and politics. But the glare of the 2016 presidential race is searing and under it, Paul has had a rough week.
On Friday night in Iowa, Paul faced likely voters in the state’s lead-off nominating caucuses for the first time since answering questions about a measles outbreak centered in California. The trained ophthalmologist said on Monday he had heard about “many tragic cases” of children who got vaccines and ended up with “profound mental disorders”.
That assertion has no basis in medical research, and Paul clearly was still upset on Friday about how his comments had been received.
From the Los Angeles Times, a silence ensues:
Vaccinations become off-limits in many online forums
As the national debate on childhood vaccines grows more intense, Internet forums such as Mommy2Mommy — gathering places for parents to discuss child-raising — are pushing back by restricting or banning the topic, sometimes banishing offenders.
“For the moment we ask you to refrain from posting about vaccines or measles,” read an updated rule for the Moms of Inglewood and Surrounding Communities page. “It’s a very heated topic that rarely gets debated but instead gets personal and even hurtful.”
The current measles outbreak has put vaccines back in the spotlight. Although the medical and public health communities are unified in their endorsement of vaccines, a minority continues to challenge that thinking.
The New York Times covers a vaccination crackdown:
California: Colleges to Require Measles Vaccinations
University of California students will have to be vaccinated against measles and other diseases under rules that take effect in 2017.
Officials who announced the changes on Friday said the plan had been in the works but took on new urgency after a measles outbreak at Disneyland in December that has spread to a half-dozen states and Mexico. The university now requires students to be inoculated against only hepatitis B.
The new rules will require vaccination for measles, tuberculosis, chickenpox, whooping cough and meningitis. California public health officials said Friday that the number of measles cases in the state had risen to 103, four more than two days earlier.
More denialism, this time to the North, via TheLocal.dk:
Sceptical Danish parents increase measles risk
With every fifth Danish parent choosing not to vaccinate their children, Denmark will fall short of WHO goals and ‘undoubtedly’ suffer an epidemic, health officials warn.
Due to sceptical parents, Denmark will not live up to the World Health Organization’s target of eliminating measles this year, Politiken wrote on Saturday.
Just over eight out of every ten Danish children receive the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine that is recommended by Danish health officials, according to figures from the Danish State Serum Institute (SSI).
That figure puts Denmark significantly below fellow Scandinavian countries Sweden and Norway and means that the nation will not be able to meet the WHO’s objective of eliminating measles as a childhood disease in Europe.
From the Guardian, a vaccination success story in a surprising place:
Measles vaccination rates in parts of Africa surpass those in North America
Good Governance Africa survey shows that 16 African countries have near 100% vaccination rates, part of a broader success story in combatting the disease
While parts of North America are experiencing the worst measles outbreak in 15 years, a new report shows that Africa has increased immunisation rates significantly, making the continent a world leader in protecting children against the disease.
The widespread availability of safe and affordable vaccines in even the most volatile and poor regions of African countries has seen immunisation rates surpass those of in the US, according to the 2015 Africa Survey, an annual report by Good Governance Africa (GGA).
The US has a 91% vaccination rate, while in Canada, which is currently experiencing an outbreak in Toronto, it is 84%, according to a UN estimate. A 95% rate is required for so-called “herd immunity”.
The GGA survey indicates that some African countries are now achieving near 100% vaccination rates, up by 39% since 2000.
Medical Daily covers a trend spreading:
Is The Anti-Vaccination Trend Now Moving To Dogs? Pet Owners Refuse To Immunize Their Puppies
As anti-vaccination fears continue to spread amongst some unenlightened humans, the trend appears to be transferring over to pet owners and their dogs, too. According to New York Magazine, some pet owners refuse to vaccinate their puppies, paving the way for a greater risk of doggie disease outbreaks like canine distemper and parvovirus, both of which are severe illnesses that can be fatal.
When puppies are first taken to the vet, they’re given a string of shots — but veterinarians are noting there’s been an uptick in people refusing to get their dogs vaccinated.
“I would say, from a subjective personal point of view, that often issues in veterinary medicine spill over from human medicine,” Brennan McKenzie, a veterinarian blogger and former president of the Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine Association, told NY Mag, “and over the last 10 or 15 years there has been an increase in mostly unfounded concerns about vaccine safety for people — and that, I think, has raised people’s awareness and level of concern about vaccinations for their pets.”
From MercoPress, sea sickness brings a voyage to a premature end:
Grandeur of the Seas struck by Norovirus cuts shorts Caribbean cruise
A ten-night sailing of Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship was cut short by one day after nearly 10% of passengers were struck by norovirus. An unrelated medical emergency expedited the need for the ship to dock early as bad weather made an at-sea transfer impossible.
According to Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez, over the course of the sailing, 193 passengers (9.91%) and nine crewmembers (1.15%) experienced gastrointestinal illness, confirmed on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website as norovirus.
Those affected by the illness, Martinez said, responded well to over-the-counter medication administered onboard the ship.
After passengers were offloaded, the line began an extensive sanitizing of the ship and within the cruise terminal. This was the second such cleansing in two weeks. The line conducted a similar sanitization the day the shortened sailing departed as a number of passengers on the previous sailing also were hit by a gastrointestinal bug. On that sailing, 123 passengers (6.3%) and seven crewmembers (0.9%) got sick.
A Latin American outbreak spreads, via Outbreak News Today:
Chikungunya update: Colombia reports another 15,000 cases
The number of autochthonous chikungunya cases in the Americas increased by 17,433 during the past week, according to data from the Pan American Health Organization Friday.
A total of 15,435 cases of the mosquito borne virus, or nearly 90 percent were reported from Colombia. This brings the total locally acquired cases in the South American country to 142,196 since first reported in July 2014 in the Valle del Cauca.
Other countries to report additional chikungunya cases include Puerto Rico, St. Barts and St. Martin, where it all began in Dec. 2013.
After the jump, the lethal plague of pollution, the biology of unhealthy corporate seasoning of children’s food, a tiny crustacean threatens the Amazon River, transport workers fooled by wildlife smugglers, a Russian sub hunt lethal to cetaceans?, a major anti-fracking rally in Oakland, British frackers ignore Welsh drilling ban, the New School divests from fossil fuels, World Bank lending threats to the world’s forest people, and a lone Fukushimapocalyspe Now! item. . .
From Co.Exist, a plague of another sort:
Pollution Kills Far More People Than Malaria Or Ebola In The Developing World
Electronic waste dumps and old factories are especially dangerous in places that don’t have the resources to keep them cleaned up
Diseases like ebola, HIV, and malaria rightly get a lot of a headlines, because they can kill millions of people very quickly. But there’s another problem that affects even more people, and it’s not mentioned as much: pollution.
In all, pollution kills 8.9 million people a year, according to a new report, and as many as 200 million people suffer pollution-related health problems, including brain damage from exposure to lead, mercury, and pesticides.
From Ghana to Kyrgyzstan, there are still thousands of appallingly polluted places, from electronic waste dumps to toxic old factories where chemicals continue to seep into the ground. One 2013 study of 373 sites in India, Indonesia and the Philippines estimated that 8.5 million people were at risk of serious disease—the equivalent burden of malaria and outdoor pollution combined.
The biology of unhealthy corporate seasoning, via CBC News:
Why toddler foods have so much sugar and salt
‘The child’s biology really makes them vulnerable’ to food industry
Children’s biology makes them much more vulnerable to sugar and salt in food. And a new study has confirmed that processed toddler foods often have high levels of added sugar and sodium.
Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that in foods targeted at children aged one to three, three-quarters of dinners have high sodium content, a third of the dinners contain added sugar, and a majority of toddler snacks contain added sugar.
An earlier study in Canada reached similar findings.
So we decided to look into why such high levels occur. The answer is more interesting than some people may expect.
A tiny crustacean threatens the Amazon River, via VICE News:
A Tiny Mussel Is About to Destroy the Amazon River’s Biodiversity
A highly invasive, exceptionally adaptable threat, typically measuring a single inch in length, is heading to the Amazon River Basin — if, indeed, it hasn’t already arrived.
Native to China, the golden mussel made its remarkable journey to Argentina in the early 1990s, surviving in the ballast water that ships carry to help remain steady. The bivalve quickly populated the rocks of the La Plata River in Argentina, ballooning from five organisms per square meter in 1991 to 30,000 a year later, nearly tripling to 82,000 in 1993, and reaching an incredible 150,000 by 2002.
Soon, Limnoperna fortunei was detected in Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil, and has now crept within 1,200 miles of the Amazon River Basin, home to the world’s largest number of freshwater fish species.
According to the University of Buenos Aires’ Demetrio Boltovskoy, who has studied the golden mussel for 20 years, it’s only a matter of time before it’s spotted in the basin.
Transport workers fooled by wildlife smugglers, via BBC World Service:
Frontline teams ‘unaware’ of wildlife smuggler tactics
Front-line transport workers largely lack awareness on how criminal networks disguise illegal wildlife products, it emerged at a summit in Bangkok.
Customs officials and wildlife trade experts say that educating freight forwarders and handlers of air, ship and land cargoes could help the fight against trafficking.
Their recent meeting with transport operators was the first of its kind.
“There was a genuine shock (among participants from the transport industry in the meeting) as to the magnitude of wildlife trade and the methods of disguise used by traffickers to transport these commodities,” said Martin Palmer, an expert in global trade compliance requirements and international transport.
From the London Telegraph, A Russian sub hunt lethal to cetaceans?:
Hunt for Russian sub may have caused spate of whale and dolphin deaths
Experts from Whale and Dolphin Conservation ask the Ministry of Defence to detail what military movements have been undertaken
The secretive hunt for a suspected Russian submarine of the Scottish coast may have led to a spate of whale and dolphin deaths, conservationists have alleged.
Dozens of whales and dolphins have been washed up dead on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland in the past two months, and their deaths may be linked to military sonar used in the search, a protection group has said.
Warships, patrol planes and submarines are all believed to have joined the search, which continued into January.
Fifteen Cuvier’s beaked whales, which dive deeply and are known to be affected by sonar, are among the mammals washed up over the same period. Common dolphins, a minke whale, a sperm whale, pilot whales, a fin whale, and harbour porpoises have also washed up.
From the Oakland Tribune, a major anti-fracking rally in Oakland:
Thousands march and rally in Oakland to call for ban on fracking
Thousands of people from up and down California marched in Oakland on Saturday for the largest protest to date against the state’s use of hydraulic fracturing to harvest oil and natural gas.
Environmentalists said they chose to have the March for Real Climate Leadership in Oakland Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown’s home city to highlight their plea for him to take a stance against fracking.
“Fracking is hurting our communities. It is sucking our drought-ridden state of precious water resources, contaminating our groundwater in a region where 25 percent of the nation’s food is grown, and contributing to the impending climate crisis,” UC Berkeley student Eva Malis told a crowd at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, in front of Oakland City Hall.
From the Ecologist, British frackers ignore Welsh drilling ban:
Fracking company defies Wales’s shale gas moratorium
IGas has responded to a motion passed at the Welsh Assembly this week stating the Welsh Government’s opposition to shale gas extraction, declaring “they have no power to stop fracking!”
The motion calling for a fracking moratorium was tabled by Plaid Cymru, and passed with the support of Welsh Labour Assembly Members by a large margin: 37 for and 16 against.
Despite the cross party backing, the Welsh Government has yet to take action. Labour’s economy minister Edwina Hart, who backed the Plaid motion calling for a moratorium, has turned down calls for planning advice on fracking to be updated.
Via the New York Times, the New School divests from fossil fuels:
The New School Divests Fossil Fuel Stock and Refocuses on Climate Change
Many universities have decided to drop fossil fuel stocks from their investment portfolios, but the New School in New York City has decided to go a step further.
The eclectic, historically progressive school said not only would it divest itself of all fossil fuel investments in coming years, but it is also reshaping the entire curriculum to focus more on climate change and sustainability.
The school, which has a strong emphasis on the field of design, sees opportunities in meeting the challenge of climate change and economic growth, said Joel Towers, executive dean of Parsons the New School of Design.
Via AllAfrica, World Bank lending threats to the world’s forest people:
World Bank, in Rushing the First Global Forest Carbon Market, Threatens Forest Peoples’ Rights – Stronger Protections Needed
Lack of safeguards for indigenous land rights opened the door for accelerated deforestation and palm oil plantations across Indonesia; as Ebola recedes, Liberia faces the same threats
A new report finds that Indigenous Peoples and local communities control less than one sixth of tropical forests – despite living in or near the forests and safeguarding them – in eight of the 11 countries accepted by the World Bank for initiating the proposed carbon market.
The report, produced by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), identifies only two countries participating in the market that have laws defining who has rights to forest carbon, and not one with a law defining how to trade it.
“For centuries, governments have been handing out Indigenous Peoples’ forests to supply the next commodity boom – whether rubber, oil palm, cattle or soy,” said Andy White, coordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative. “The carbon market is the next global commodity from tropical forests and, once again, there is a major risk that Indigenous Peoples are not recognized as the owners of the forest.
The World Bank sets the investment standards that many national governments and private companies follow. They are now proposing to weaken their own safeguards and are encouraging governments to sell carbon rights without first ensuring human rights. This puts at risk both the forests and the credibility of the carbon market. There are good examples, such as Mexico, that should be followed.”
The World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) is helping developing countries sell their right to deforest, or avoid deforestation.
And a lone Fukushimapocalyspe Now! item, via NHK WORLD:
Shipment ban lifted on all flounder in Ibaraki
Japanese officials have lifted a ban on the shipment of flounder caught off northern Ibaraki Prefecture for the first time in 3 years. They say the fish has cleared radioactive tests.
The central government ordered the ban for the entire prefecture in April 2012. This was after radioactive cesium exceeding its limit was detected in the catches.
It has since lifted the restriction on many fishing areas. But the ban continued for the fish caught in waters north of Hitachi City, which borders Fukushima Prefecture.
But we begin surprising news on the cannabis front, first from United Press International:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2015/02/07/NHTSA-Marijuana-use-may-not-significantly-increase-traffic-accidents/7161423336367/?spt=sec&or=tn
NHTSA: Marijuana use may not significantly increase traffic accidents
Crashes may be more related to demographics
A new study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates marijuana use doesn’t increase traffic accident risk as much as previously thought.
The study looked at 9,000 drivers over the course of 20 months. It found drivers who regularly use marijuana are 25 percent more likely to be involved in a traffic accident. However, when the researchers factored in age, gender and level of alcohol consumption among marijuana users, they found those factors were more significant than the use of marijuana.
“Analyses incorporating adjustments for age, gender, ethnicity, and alcohol concentration level did not show a significant increase in levels of crash risk associated with the presence of drugs,” the study reads. “This finding indicates that these other variables (age, gender ethnicity and alcohol use) were highly correlated with drug use and account for much of the increased risk associated with the use of illegal drugs and with THC.”
And from Al Jazeera America, surprising support:
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/7/drug-czar-says-dc-has-right-to-legalize-pot.html
US drug czar supports DC pot legalization drive
District voted in November to legalize marijuana, but Congress has so far halted the effort
Michael Botticelli, the U.S. drug czar, said on Friday that he agrees Congress should not interfere with Washington D.C. voters’ decision to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults.
“As a resident of the District, I might not agree about legalization, but I do agree with our own ability to spend our own money the way that we want to do that,” Botticelli, the acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said during a meeting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Though he personally opposes to marijuana use, Botticelli’s statements are another signal of the increasing shift in drug policy politics. Historically, drug czars are uncompromising defenders of the war on drugs and vehemently opposed to legalization. The Obama administration, Botticelli noted on Friday, also supports the District’s ability to govern itself.
The Guardian covers a candidate’s woe:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/07/rand-paul-defensive-iowa-comments-vaccination-dangers
Rand Paul on defensive in Iowa after comments about vaccination dangers
The trained ophthalmologist expresses frustration with’ inaccuracies’ fueled by media and says ‘physicians don’t think of things so much in partisan terms’
As an eye doctor, Kentucky senator Rand Paul has a rare set of credentials at the intersection of science and politics. But the glare of the 2016 presidential race is searing and under it, Paul has had a rough week.
On Friday night in Iowa, Paul faced likely voters in the state’s lead-off nominating caucuses for the first time since answering questions about a measles outbreak centered in California. The trained ophthalmologist said on Monday he had heard about “many tragic cases” of children who got vaccines and ended up with “profound mental disorders”.
That assertion has no basis in medical research, and Paul clearly was still upset on Friday about how his comments had been received.
From the Los Angeles Times, a silence ensues:
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-vaccine-forums-20150207-story.html
Vaccinations become off-limits in many online forums
As the national debate on childhood vaccines grows more intense, Internet forums such as Mommy2Mommy — gathering places for parents to discuss child-raising — are pushing back by restricting or banning the topic, sometimes banishing offenders.
“For the moment we ask you to refrain from posting about vaccines or measles,” read an updated rule for the Moms of Inglewood and Surrounding Communities page. “It’s a very heated topic that rarely gets debated but instead gets personal and even hurtful.”
The current measles outbreak has put vaccines back in the spotlight. Although the medical and public health communities are unified in their endorsement of vaccines, a minority continues to challenge that thinking.
The New York Times covers a vaccination crackdown:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/us/california-colleges-to-require-measles-vaccinations.html?ref=health
California: Colleges to Require Measles Vaccinations
University of California students will have to be vaccinated against measles and other diseases under rules that take effect in 2017.
Officials who announced the changes on Friday said the plan had been in the works but took on new urgency after a measles outbreak at Disneyland in December that has spread to a half-dozen states and Mexico. The university now requires students to be inoculated against only hepatitis B.
The new rules will require vaccination for measles, tuberculosis, chickenpox, whooping cough and meningitis. California public health officials said Friday that the number of measles cases in the state had risen to 103, four more than two days earlier.
More denialism, this time to the North, via TheLocal.dk:
http://www.thelocal.dk/20150207/denmark-measles-sceptical-parents-outbreak
Sceptical Danish parents increase measles risk
With every fifth Danish parent choosing not to vaccinate their children, Denmark will fall short of WHO goals and ‘undoubtedly’ suffer an epidemic, health officials warn.
Due to sceptical parents, Denmark will not live up to the World Health Organization’s target of eliminating measles this year, Politiken wrote on Saturday.
Just over eight out of every ten Danish children receive the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine that is recommended by Danish health officials, according to figures from the Danish State Serum Institute (SSI).
That figure puts Denmark significantly below fellow Scandinavian countries Sweden and Norway and means that the nation will not be able to meet the WHO’s objective of eliminating measles as a childhood disease in Europe.
From the Guardian, a vaccination success story in a surprising place:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/07/measles-vaccination-rates-africa-surpass-north-america
Measles vaccination rates in parts of Africa surpass those in North America
Good Governance Africa survey shows that 16 African countries have near 100% vaccination rates, part of a broader success story in combatting the disease
While parts of North America are experiencing the worst measles outbreak in 15 years, a new report shows that Africa has increased immunisation rates significantly, making the continent a world leader in protecting children against the disease.
The widespread availability of safe and affordable vaccines in even the most volatile and poor regions of African countries has seen immunisation rates surpass those of in the US, according to the 2015 Africa Survey, an annual report by Good Governance Africa (GGA).
The US has a 91% vaccination rate, while in Canada, which is currently experiencing an outbreak in Toronto, it is 84%, according to a UN estimate. A 95% rate is required for so-called “herd immunity”.
The GGA survey indicates that some African countries are now achieving near 100% vaccination rates, up by 39% since 2000.
Medical Daily covers a trend spreading:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/anti-vaccination-trend-now-moving-dogs-pet-owners-refuse-immunize-their-puppies-321336
Is The Anti-Vaccination Trend Now Moving To Dogs? Pet Owners Refuse To Immunize Their Puppies
As anti-vaccination fears continue to spread amongst some unenlightened humans, the trend appears to be transferring over to pet owners and their dogs, too. According to New York Magazine, some pet owners refuse to vaccinate their puppies, paving the way for a greater risk of doggie disease outbreaks like canine distemper and parvovirus, both of which are severe illnesses that can be fatal.
When puppies are first taken to the vet, they’re given a string of shots — but veterinarians are noting there’s been an uptick in people refusing to get their dogs vaccinated.
“I would say, from a subjective personal point of view, that often issues in veterinary medicine spill over from human medicine,” Brennan McKenzie, a veterinarian blogger and former president of the Evidence-Based Veterinary Medicine Association, told NY Mag, “and over the last 10 or 15 years there has been an increase in mostly unfounded concerns about vaccine safety for people — and that, I think, has raised people’s awareness and level of concern about vaccinations for their pets.”
From MercoPress, sea sickness brings a voyage to a premature end:
http://en.mercopress.com/2015/02/07/grandeur-of-the-seas-struck-by-norovirus-cuts-shorts-caribbean-cruise
Grandeur of the Seas struck by Norovirus cuts shorts Caribbean cruise
A ten-night sailing of Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship was cut short by one day after nearly 10% of passengers were struck by norovirus. An unrelated medical emergency expedited the need for the ship to dock early as bad weather made an at-sea transfer impossible.
According to Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez, over the course of the sailing, 193 passengers (9.91%) and nine crewmembers (1.15%) experienced gastrointestinal illness, confirmed on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website as norovirus.
Those affected by the illness, Martinez said, responded well to over-the-counter medication administered onboard the ship.
After passengers were offloaded, the line began an extensive sanitizing of the ship and within the cruise terminal. This was the second such cleansing in two weeks. The line conducted a similar sanitization the day the shortened sailing departed as a number of passengers on the previous sailing also were hit by a gastrointestinal bug. On that sailing, 123 passengers (6.3%) and seven crewmembers (0.9%) got sick.
A Latin American outbreka spreads, via Outbreak News Today:
http://outbreaknewstoday.com/chikungunya-update-colombia-reports-another-15000-cases-12896/
Chikungunya update: Colombia reports another 15,000 cases
The number of autochthonous chikungunya cases in the Americas increased by 17,433 during the past week, according to data from the Pan American Health Organization Friday.
A total of 15,435 cases of the mosquito borne virus, or nearly 90 percent were reported from Colombia. This brings the total locally acquired cases in the South American country to 142,196 since first reported in July 2014 in the Valle del Cauca.
Other countries to report additional chikungunya cases include Puerto Rico, St. Barts and St. Martin, where it all began in Dec. 2013.
After the jump, the lethal plague of pollution, the biology of unhealthy corporate seasoning of children’s food, a tiny crustacean threatens the Amazon River, transport workers fooled by wildlife smugglers, a Russian sub hunt lethal to cetaceans?, a major anti-fracking rally in Oakland, British frackers ignore Welsh drilling ban, the New School divests from fossil fuels, World Bank lending threats to the world’s forest people, and a lone Fukushimapocalyspe Now! item. . .
From Co.Exist, a plague of another sort:
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3041492/pollution-kills-far-more-people-than-malaria-or-ebola-in-the-developing-world
Pollution Kills Far More People Than Malaria Or Ebola In The Developing World
Electronic waste dumps and old factories are especially dangerous in places that don’t have the resources to keep them cleaned up
Diseases like ebola, HIV, and malaria rightly get a lot of a headlines, because they can kill millions of people very quickly. But there’s another problem that affects even more people, and it’s not mentioned as much: pollution.
In all, pollution kills 8.9 million people a year, according to a new report, and as many as 200 million people suffer pollution-related health problems, including brain damage from exposure to lead, mercury, and pesticides.
From Ghana to Kyrgyzstan, there are still thousands of appallingly polluted places, from electronic waste dumps to toxic old factories where chemicals continue to seep into the ground. One 2013 study of 373 sites in India, Indonesia and the Philippines estimated that 8.5 million people were at risk of serious disease—the equivalent burden of malaria and outdoor pollution combined.
The biology of unhealthy corporate seasoning, via CBC News:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/why-toddler-foods-have-so-much-sugar-and-salt-1.2945353
Why toddler foods have so much sugar and salt
‘The child’s biology really makes them vulnerable’ to food industry
Children’s biology makes them much more vulnerable to sugar and salt in food. And a new study has confirmed that processed toddler foods often have high levels of added sugar and sodium.
Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that in foods targeted at children aged one to three, three-quarters of dinners have high sodium content, a third of the dinners contain added sugar, and a majority of toddler snacks contain added sugar.
An earlier study in Canada reached similar findings.
So we decided to look into why such high levels occur. The answer is more interesting than some people may expect.
A tiny crustacean threatens the Amazon River, via VICE News:
https://news.vice.com/article/a-tiny-mussel-is-about-to-destroy-the-amazon-rivers-biodiversity
A Tiny Mussel Is About to Destroy the Amazon River’s Biodiversity
A highly invasive, exceptionally adaptable threat, typically measuring a single inch in length, is heading to the Amazon River Basin — if, indeed, it hasn’t already arrived.
Native to China, the golden mussel made its remarkable journey to Argentina in the early 1990s, surviving in the ballast water that ships carry to help remain steady. The bivalve quickly populated the rocks of the La Plata River in Argentina, ballooning from five organisms per square meter in 1991 to 30,000 a year later, nearly tripling to 82,000 in 1993, and reaching an incredible 150,000 by 2002.
Soon, Limnoperna fortunei was detected in Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil, and has now crept within 1,200 miles of the Amazon River Basin, home to the world’s largest number of freshwater fish species.
According to the University of Buenos Aires’ Demetrio Boltovskoy, who has studied the golden mussel for 20 years, it’s only a matter of time before it’s spotted in the basin.
Transport workers fooled by wildlife smugglers, via BBC World Service:
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31162726
Frontline teams ‘unaware’ of wildlife smuggler tactics
Front-line transport workers largely lack awareness on how criminal networks disguise illegal wildlife products, it emerged at a summit in Bangkok.
Customs officials and wildlife trade experts say that educating freight forwarders and handlers of air, ship and land cargoes could help the fight against trafficking.
Their recent meeting with transport operators was the first of its kind.
“There was a genuine shock (among participants from the transport industry in the meeting) as to the magnitude of wildlife trade and the methods of disguise used by traffickers to transport these commodities,” said Martin Palmer, an expert in global trade compliance requirements and international transport.
From the London Telegraph, A Russian sub hunt lethal to cetaceans?:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11395236/Hunt-for-Russian-sub-may-have-caused-spate-of-whale-and-dolphin-deaths.html
Hunt for Russian sub may have caused spate of whale and dolphin deaths
Experts from Whale and Dolphin Conservation ask the Ministry of Defence to detail what military movements have been undertaken
The secretive hunt for a suspected Russian submarine of the Scottish coast may have led to a spate of whale and dolphin deaths, conservationists have alleged.
Dozens of whales and dolphins have been washed up dead on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland in the past two months, and their deaths may be linked to military sonar used in the search, a protection group has said.
Warships, patrol planes and submarines are all believed to have joined the search, which continued into January.
Fifteen Cuvier’s beaked whales, which dive deeply and are known to be affected by sonar, are among the mammals washed up over the same period. Common dolphins, a minke whale, a sperm whale, pilot whales, a fin whale, and harbour porpoises have also washed up.
From the Oakland Tribune, a major anti-fracking rally in Oakland:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_27482290/thousands-march-and-rally-oakland-call-ban-fracking
Thousands march and rally in Oakland to call for ban on fracking
Thousands of people from up and down California marched in Oakland on Saturday for the largest protest to date against the state’s use of hydraulic fracturing to harvest oil and natural gas.
Environmentalists said they chose to have the March for Real Climate Leadership in Oakland Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown’s home city to highlight their plea for him to take a stance against fracking.
“Fracking is hurting our communities. It is sucking our drought-ridden state of precious water resources, contaminating our groundwater in a region where 25 percent of the nation’s food is grown, and contributing to the impending climate crisis,” UC Berkeley student Eva Malis told a crowd at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, in front of Oakland City Hall.
From the Ecologist, British frackers ignore Welsh drilling ban:
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/2745595/fracking_company_defies_waless_shale_gas_moratorium.html
Fracking company defies Wales’s shale gas moratorium
IGas has responded to a motion passed at the Welsh Assembly this week stating the Welsh Government’s opposition to shale gas extraction, declaring “they have no power to stop fracking!”
The motion calling for a fracking moratorium was tabled by Plaid Cymru, and passed with the support of Welsh Labour Assembly Members by a large margin: 37 for and 16 against.
Despite the cross party backing, the Welsh Government has yet to take action. Labour’s economy minister Edwina Hart, who backed the Plaid motion calling for a moratorium, has turned down calls for planning advice on fracking to be updated.
Via the New York Times, the New School divests from fossil fuels:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/science/the-new-school-takes-a-big-step-beyond-divesting-fossil-fuel-stock.html?ref=science
The New School Divests Fossil Fuel Stock and Refocuses on Climate Change
Many universities have decided to drop fossil fuel stocks from their investment portfolios, but the New School in New York City has decided to go a step further.
The eclectic, historically progressive school said not only would it divest itself of all fossil fuel investments in coming years, but it is also reshaping the entire curriculum to focus more on climate change and sustainability.
The school, which has a strong emphasis on the field of design, sees opportunities in meeting the challenge of climate change and economic growth, said Joel Towers, executive dean of Parsons the New School of Design.
Via AllAfrica, World Bank lending threats to the world’s forest people:
http://allafrica.com/stories/201502061274.html
World Bank, in Rushing the First Global Forest Carbon Market, Threatens Forest Peoples’ Rights – Stronger Protections Needed
Lack of safeguards for indigenous land rights opened the door for accelerated deforestation and palm oil plantations across Indonesia; as Ebola recedes, Liberia faces the same threats
A new report finds that Indigenous Peoples and local communities control less than one sixth of tropical forests – despite living in or near the forests and safeguarding them – in eight of the 11 countries accepted by the World Bank for initiating the proposed carbon market.
The report, produced by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), identifies only two countries participating in the market that have laws defining who has rights to forest carbon, and not one with a law defining how to trade it.
“For centuries, governments have been handing out Indigenous Peoples’ forests to supply the next commodity boom – whether rubber, oil palm, cattle or soy,” said Andy White, coordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative. “The carbon market is the next global commodity from tropical forests and, once again, there is a major risk that Indigenous Peoples are not recognized as the owners of the forest.
The World Bank sets the investment standards that many national governments and private companies follow. They are now proposing to weaken their own safeguards and are encouraging governments to sell carbon rights without first ensuring human rights. This puts at risk both the forests and the credibility of the carbon market. There are good examples, such as Mexico, that should be followed.”
The World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) is helping developing countries sell their right to deforest, or avoid deforestation.
And a lone Fukushimapocalyspe Now! item, via NHK WORLD:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
Shipment ban lifted on all flounder in Ibaraki
Japanese officials have lifted a ban on the shipment of flounder caught off northern Ibaraki Prefecture for the first time in 3 years. They say the fish has cleared radioactive tests.
The central government ordered the ban for the entire prefecture in April 2012. This was after radioactive cesium exceeding its limit was detected in the catches.
It has since lifted the restriction on many fishing areas. But the ban continued for the fish caught in waters north of Hitachi City, which borders Fukushima Prefecture.
