Disasters
Ebola Cases Now Above 15,000 WHO Says
The outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa reached 15,351 cases in what is the worst oubreak of the disease in history, new figures from the World Health Organisation show on Friday. There have also been 5,459 reported deaths linked to the virus, including nearly 3,000 in Liberia alone, according to the latest figures from the WHO. Liberia, along with Guinea and Sierra Leone, have been hardest hit by the outbreak, accounting for almost all the cases and fatalities.
Why The Sun’s 30-year Hibernation From This Winter May Lead To Global Food Riots
Even as among the severest winters sets in with its icy clutch on the northern hemisphere, the climatologist John L. Casey points out that the “weather pattern is here to stay for decades to come,” according to Newsmax.com.
San Diego forced to recycle SEWAGE into drinking water due to devastating drought
Acknowledging California’s parched new reality, the city of San Diego has embraced a once-toxic idea: turning sewer water into drinking water. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to advance a $2.
Doctors: Potential Ebola Cases Still ‘Covered Up By CDC’
Ebola continues to spread wildly in Sierra Leone as experts project that virtually all major cities in the United States will face imported cases of Ebola amid the failed response of the CDC. The nightly news says the story on the disease is ‘closed,’ but medical doctors around the country happen to disagree — and overwhelmingly so. In fact, medical professionals are now speaking out privately and publicly about the ‘cover up’ of potential Ebola cases that they say may end up with their careers on the line.
NYC Woman on Ebola Watchlist Dies Bleeding From Mouth, Authorities Say ‘Heart Attack’
A woman who returned from Guinea 18 days ago and was on an Ebola monitoring list dropped dead in a Brooklyn hair salon yesterday after eyewitnesses said she began bleeding from the mouth and nose, but authorities later asserted the cause of death was an “apparent heart attack.” “FDNY activated the Special Operations and Hazmat units after the the woman, who had traveled to Guinea three weeks ago according to a source on the scene, died at Amy Professional African Hair Braiding in the Brownsville area of Brooklyn,” reports the Daily Mail. Despite eyewitnesses reporting that there was blood coming from the woman’s “face, nose and mouth,” health authorities claimed “she had not displayed any Ebola symptoms” and had in fact died of a heart attack.
Three years into drought, Californians adapt to a drier way of life
Three years into a historic drought in California, with 2013 being the driest year on record for the state, stories like the ones above are proliferating. They point to the fact that Californians are finally turning their concern about the drought into changed behavior. “I think people are just taking it more seriously,” says John Moore, an insurance salesman from Sherman Oaks.
Doctor’s death marks second U.S. Ebola fatality
A doctor who spent time treating Ebola patients in West Africa died from the virus Monday. The death of Dr. Martin Salia, who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone, marks the second time Ebola has claimed a victim in the United States.
Kiss Your Guacamole Good-Bye: Drought-Stricken California Farmers Stop Growing Avocados
When Chipotle warned investors back in March that it might suspend serving guacamole at its restaurants if avocado prices rose because of the California drought, climate change hit home for chip-and-dip lovers, who took to Twitter in distress. Things have not gotten better since then. It takes 74 gallons of water to produce one pound of avocados—and drought-stricken California produces 95 percent of the avocados grown in the United States.
The number of Ebola cases rise sharply in Sierra Leone
The number of new cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone has jumped dramatically, putting paid to any hopes that the infection rate is slowing. Official figures released by the minister of health and sanitation show there were 111 new cases registered on Sunday, the highest daily rate since the ministry started publishing figures in August. There were 45 new cases the day before, including 24 in the capital, Freetown.
CDC stockpiling Ebola gear even as national press goes dark on Ebola news
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is ramping up its acquisition of protective gear for U.S. hospitals that may have to handle Ebola patients, following a “sudden increase” in demand on its current national stockpile.
NASA Warns California Drought Could Threaten U.S. Food Supply: ‘There will be some definite changes’
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has sounded a stark warning over California’s sustained drought, publishing its latest findings where satellite surveys show a rapidly depleting groundwater supply. And with California as the United States’ most valuable agricultural state, and thus key to America’s food supply (and much of the world’s as well) that could mean drastic consequences for food commodity prices and potential shortages. The Nature Climate Change journal carried the report, which Think Progress summarized:
Asteroid will pass so close to Earth in 2029 it will trigger asteroid avalanche
The more pessimistic among our readership might already be digging bunkers in their backyards in anticipation of April 13th, 2029. On that day (a Friday nonetheless), an asteroid called 99942 Apophis will come perilously close to Earth. The most recent data suggests that it will miss us by a mere 35,000 kilometers, a hairs breadth in astronomical terms.
Ebola in Sierra Leone is ‘spreading nine times faster than two months ago’, campaigners warn
Cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone are still rising quickly, campaigners have warned. In rural parts of the country, the virus is spreading nine times faster than two months ago, a report from the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI) found. AGI – an organisation set up by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair – said rates are also increasing in the capital Freetown, with six times more new cases recorded per day than two months ago.
Ebola outbreak caused by new strain never seen before; was it weaponized?
Noted infectious disease experts have said that the current strain of Ebola virus plaguing Africa and slowly spreading in the United States is potentially much more lethal than previous strains identified by virologists. As reported by Washington’s Blog, Dr. Michael Osterholm, the head of the Center for Infection Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, a prominent public health researcher who is nationally recognized, gave a talk in recent days explaining what another top Ebola virologist has found.