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February 19, 2012 at 5:11 pm By Roz Potter
From Scientific American: Link
A father’s story about the hospitalization of his 6 year old son for treatment of pneumonia, an illness made worse by these parents’ gamble that since it was unaffordable, health insurance wouldn’t be needed. Also, importantly, how the decision to do without health insurance adversely affected their judgement and decision-making, when their son became ill. This story is being played out all across America.
Excerpts:
I’m at Carteret General Hospital on North Carolina’s scenic Crystal Coast, where I live. My beautiful, precious 6 year old son was admitted this past Tuesday for Pneumonia. It started 6 days before on a Wednesday. He asked his kindergarten teacher if he could lay down. Odd behavior for such an outgoing kid, one of the class favorites who even at 6 already seems quite the ladies man… When I picked up him from school he was clearly exhausted and went to bed early without his dinner.
On Thursday we kept him home as he was obviously feverish and had flu like symptoms. He was getting worse, but then he tricked me on Sunday. He was looking a little better and was more responsive…
By Tuesday we weren’t left with any choice. My son had just gotten out of a bath and though he wasn’t cold, his hand and his feet were blue. I’d never seen it like that before. My wife laid it down and we were going to the Urgent Care. We all got dressed and heading over there early. He was miserable, crying in pain cause he couldn’t get enough oxygen. We were scared that we might have waited too long.
My poor decision-making capabilities in this regard was influenced by my lack of experience with any major disease (I have an immune system of steel, fortified by coffee and whisky), and our lack of insurance. My family includes four of the 49.1 million uninsured people in the United States. I’ve comforted myself that we couldn’t afford private insurance, which we can’t, but at least we were all relatively healthy and never seemed to have problems.
***
When I started my family 6 years ago, I was on a path to a career in research and teaching. We had amazing health insurance through my institution and my wife and children-to-be were generously covered, no-questions-asked by the state of Pennsylvania during, and a year after, the pregnancies. We never saw a bill. After I got “real jobs” upon completing my Masters degree, I entered a grey zone of contract teaching and research employment at universities. With a decent, regular salary we were ineligible for state aid, yet didn’t make enough to afford extra costs. Furthermore, the quality of the insurance kept lowering until I wasn’t even sure what I was paying for – even as the premium costs were rising.
The mindset of being uninsured is not , well… reassuring. It causes you to take risks that your peers do not need to take. It creates a perpetual fear that anything you do will eat up your life savings or kill you. Indeed, it has for us on one occasion. Nearly a decade ago when my wife was in constant pain for over a day, and after she could not take it anymore, I rushed her to emergency room. They had no clue, it was a worthless visit. They just looked at us dumbfounded and tried to get her to take antibacterials and be on her way. They even did unnecessary x-rays.
To read more, see Link
Posted in Child Health, Healthcare | No Comments »
February 19, 2012 at 4:26 pm By Roz Potter
From The Guardian: Link
Excerpts:
More than 600 people have died during a record-breaking cold snap in eastern Europe, authorities say, as officials in the Czech Republic blamed two massive car crashes on blinding snow.
Since the end of January, the region has been pummelled by the deep freeze, which has brought the heaviest blizzards in recent memory. Tens of thousands have been trapped in often-freezing homes and villages by walls of snow and unpassable roads, and officials have struggled to reach the vulnerable with emergency food airlifts.
Authorities in Russia and Ukraine alone reported on Wednesday that more than 300 people had died in the bitter cold.
About 100 damaged cars blocked a major highway in the Czech Republic connecting the capital, Prague, with the eastern part of the country and Slovakia. Seven people were injured in two separate accidents, authorities said, warning it could be hours before the mangled vehicles were cleared.
***
In Romania, about 23,000 people remain isolated in 225 eastern communities where more than a week of heavy snow has blocked roads and wreaked havoc on the rail network. Residents were worried that their houses could collapse under the heavy snow as authorities struggled to bring them food, water, medicine and wood.
Romanian farmers – faced with up to five metres of snow in some areas this week – are concerned about their sheep, goats, horses and cows. One farmer said he had dug his pigs out of the snow and brought them into his home.
Posted in Climate Change | No Comments »
February 12, 2012 at 11:14 pm By Roz Potter
From UK’s the Guardian, Link
Excerpts:
Concern is growing that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan is no longer stable after temperature readings suggested one of its damaged reactors was reheating.
The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said the temperature inside No 2 reactor – one of three that suffered meltdown after last year’s earthquake and tsunami – may have reached 82C on Sunday.
***
Given that Tepco assumes a margin of error of 20C, the actual temperature could have risen to 102C.
***
Confirmation that the temperature has risen above 80C could force the government to reverse its declaration two months ago that the crippled plant was in a safe state known as cold shutdown.
Cold shutdown is achieved when the temperature inside the reactors remains below 100C and there is a significant reduction in radiation leaks.
Plant workers are unable to take accurate readings of the temperature inside the damaged reactor because radiation levels are still too high for them to enter and examine the state of the melted fuel, which is thought to be resting at the bottom of the reactor’s pressure vessel.
***
Tepco said it did not know the cause of the apparent temperature rise, but speculated that it might be due to problems with the supply of coolant or a faulty thermometer.
“We believe the state of cold shutdown is being maintained,” said Junichi Matsumoto, a company spokesman. “Rather than the actual temperature rising, we believe there is high possibility that the thermometer concerned is displaying erroneous data.”
Tepco was forced to inject additional cooling water into the same reactor last week after the temperature started rising at the beginning of the month.
Posted in Nuclear power disaster | No Comments »
February 12, 2012 at 7:06 pm By Roz Potter
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Link
America’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission, approved two new reactors for Georgia, the first in the U.S. since1978, the year before the partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.
Of the five NRC commissioners, the chairman, Gregory Jaczko, cast the the lone dissenting vote. He had asked for but not received a binding commitment from Southern Company, the plant’s owner, to incorporate changes that would avert a Fukushima-like disaster.
The four commissioners who approved the new reactors are the subject of a congressional report which details their efforts ” to undermine the efforts of the Fukushima Task Force with request for endless additional study in an effort to delay the release and implementation of the task force’s final recommendations”.
“Documents also show open hostility on the part of the four Commissioners toward efforts of NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko to fully and quickly implement the recommendations of the Task Force, despite efforts on the part of the Chairman to keep the other four NRC Commissioners fully informed regarding the Japanese emergency.” An account of the report by Senator Edward Markley of Massachusetts, can be found here.
The Vogtle project will be built with a new reactor design, the AP1000 from Westinghouse, approved in December. An NRC report said the AP1000 design has “many of the design features and attributes necessary to address” new safety recommendations since the disaster. However, as NRC Chairman Jaczko point out, although the new design improves upon the old, there is no evidence that sufficient improvements to safeguard the public have been made.
The Vogtle expansion is considered the vanguard of a possible revival of nuclear power construction in the United States, though projections of as many as 30 new reactors have been scaled back. It is also a test of whether the industry can smoothly build and bring online new reactors without major cost and technical problems.
Posted in Nuclear Threats | No Comments »
February 2, 2012 at 1:22 pm By Roz Potter
From the Washington Post, Link
LOS ANGELES — Federal regulators said Thursday that unusual wear has been found on hundreds of virtually new tubes that carry radioactive water at Southern California’s San Onofre Unit 2 nuclear plant.
The disclosure came two days after a tube leak at the plant’s other unit prompted operators to shut down the reactor as a precaution. A tiny amount of radiation could have escaped, but officials say workers and the public were not endangered.
The problems at Unit 2 were discovered during inspections of a steam generator, after the plant was taken off-line for maintenance and refueling. That equipment was replaced recently in both units of the twin-reactor plant, which is located about 45 miles north of San Diego.
In two tubes, more than a third of the wall had been worn away, requiring them to be plugged and taken out of service. At least 20 percent of the tube wall was worn away in 69 other tubes, and in more than 800, the thinning was at least 10 percent.
“The amount of wear that we are seeing on these tubes is unusual for a new steam generator,” Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks said.
“If you have that kind of thinning anywhere along the length of the tube, you have a problem because it degrades the integrity of the tube, which can contribute to leaks,” he added. (emphasis added)
***
According to company officials, the new steam generators were manufactured by Japan-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The company did not respond to an email sent Wednesday.
Retired NRC engineer and researcher Joram Hopenfeld said the company will have to determine why the tubing is degrading so quickly “before they do anything else.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that over so short a period of time,” Hopenfeld said.
“The safety implications could be very, very severe,” Hopenfeld added. “Usually the concern is in older steam generators, when they have cracks all over the place.” (emphasis added)
To read more, Link
Posted in Nuclear Industrial Incident | No Comments »
February 2, 2012 at 12:42 pm By Roz Potter
From an Associated Press article found in many newspapers including the Herald Tribune, Link
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. admitted Wednesday that its safety officials never checked for gas leaks in a much broader swath of California than the company previously disclosed following the deadly San Bruno pipeline explosion.
PG&E originally told the California Public Utilities Commission that the utility misplaced 16 maps of its pipelines last year, so as a result never did leak surveys in any of those locations, in violation of state regulations. The commission said last week it would fine PG&E $16.8 million in response.
But on Wednesday, the company admitted it actually hadn’t checked for pipeline leaks in a much larger geographic region detailed in 46 additional maps stretching from Fresno to Yolo counties, and including parts of the San Francisco Bay area.
PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson said the company had since surveyed the lines and found five leaks on 9.61 miles of gas distribution lines “associated” with the maps. A leak in the city of Napa was considered to be of the most severe kind, requiring immediate repair, Swanson said. (emphasis added)
Two other leaks were located in unincorporated Napa County, another was found in unincorporated area if Solano County and a fifth was in Elk Grove. (emphasis added)
Commission spokeswoman Terrie Prosper didn’t immediately say what actions the commission planned to take, or whether the fine would increase with the revelation of a wider problem.
PG&E simultaneously announced the company intends to appeal the fine.
“We believe the fine is excessive because we did the right thing _ by promptly self-reporting what we’d found to assure we placed public safety first,” Nick Stavropoulos, executive vice president of gas operations, said in a statement Wednesday. “We congratulated the employees who identified the missing information and took immediate corrective action.”
The Sept. 9, 2010, blast on PG&E’s transmission line in San Bruno killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes.
PG&E could face additional, larger penalties in a separate probe by the commission into whether the company should be fined for the San Bruno blast.
Consumer advocates and a state lawmaker urged Commission President Michael Peevey on Wednesday to recuse himself from the probe to remove the appearance of impropriety.
Assemblyman Jerry Hill said Gov. Jerry Brown should remove Peevey from the investigation because federal safety investigators found myriad safety lapses occurred since he has led the commission since 2003.
“Under the president’s stewardship over the past decade, the commission failed to ensure that PG&E’s gas distribution system was safe,” said Hill, a Democrat who represents San Bruno. “That’s why I find it offensive that someone so responsible for the culture implicated in the San Bruno disaster has taken it upon himself to lead the direction of this penalty proceeding.”
The commission said any settlement with PG&E will require a vote of the five-member panel.
___
Follow Garance Burke at http://www.twitter.com/garanceburke
Posted in Infrastructure Failure, Public Safety | No Comments »
January 28, 2012 at 8:57 pm By Roz Potter
Saturday, February 25, 2012, from 9:30 am – 4:30 pm, Napa, CA – Location TBA
This 6-hour one-of-a-kind event will help get your household ready for a variety of emergencies. See event poster here.
Demonstrations: Learn how to disinfect water, handle utility emergencies, use safety and self-defense devices, see how earthquake protection materials work, and select worthwhile supplies and equipment for lighting, first-aid, communications, sanitation, and 3-day “Go” bags
Tasting, of three types of emergency food bars and water with a 5-year shelf-life
Family Disaster Planning documents, including communication and reunification, urgent medical information, utility emergencies, asset protection, and emergency notification documents
Disaster Readiness Lecture and Discussion, including earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, and hazardous materials
$60 fee ($65 at the door) includes 3.5 hrs of instruction, disaster plan documents, supply lists for “Go” bags for home, work, car and school, and 7 live demonstrations (2.5 hours). $15 discount for prior Defying Disaster Workshop participants, seniors over 65, full-time students & multiple participants from the same address. Partial scholarships available ($20 total cost). Register in advance to avoid disappointments at the door.
See Link for details including registration.
Posted in Disaster preparedness, Earthquake Preparedness, General Preparedness and Response | No Comments »
January 22, 2012 at 11:07 am By Roz Potter
Link
Excerpts:
Add methane emissions to the growing list of environmental risks posed by fracking.
Opposition to the hydraulic fracturing of deep shales to release natural gas rose sharply last year over worries that the large volumes of chemical-laden water used in the operations could contaminate drinking water.
Then, in early January, earthquakes in Ohio were blamed on the disposal of that water in deep underground structures. Yesterday, two Cornell University professors said at a press conference that fracking releases large amounts of natural gas, which consists mostly of methane, directly into the atmosphere—much more than previously thought.
Robert Howarth, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist, and Anthony Ingraffea, a civil and environmental engineer, reported that fracked wells leak 40 to 60 percent more methane than conventional natural gas wells. When water with its chemical load is forced down a well to break the shale, it flows back up and is stored in large ponds or tanks. But volumes of methane also flow back up the well at the same time and are released into the atmosphere before they can be captured for use. This giant belch of “fugitive methane” can be seen in infrared videos taken at well sites.
Molecule for molecule, methane traps 20 to 25 times more heat in the atmosphere than does carbon dioxide. The effect dissipates faster, however: airborne methane remains in the atmosphere for about 12 years before being scrubbed out by ongoing chemical reactions, whereas CO2 lasts 30 to 95 years. Nevertheless, recent data from the two Cornell scientists and others indicate that within the next 20 years, methane will contribute 44 percent of the greenhouse gas load produced by the U.S. Of that portion, 17 percent will come from all natural gas operations.
Currently, pipeline leaks are the main culprit, but fracking is a quickly growing contributor. Ingraffea pointed out that although 25,000 high-volume shale-gas wells are already operating in the U.S., hundreds of thousands are scheduled to go into operation within 20 years, and millions will be operating worldwide, significantly expanding emissions and keeping atmospheric methane levels high despite the 12-year dissipation time.
To read more: Link
Posted in Climate Change, Fracking | No Comments »
January 21, 2012 at 10:11 am By Roz Potter
This piece was originally posted on February 24, 2011. Since then, there have been approximately 9,000 aftershocks in the Christchurch, New Zealand area.
Christchurch’s downtown has been all but leveled with additional extensive damage to outlying areas, and many injuries. You may wish to visit this website to see for yourself, http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/all.
The seismic activity is so strong that Christchurch residents are experiencing motion sickness on a daily basis, even though they are on land.
Here’s the original post:
The “Ring of Fire” earthquake zone is the source of 80% of the world’s earthquakes.
According to the USGS, the Ring of Fire “extends from Chile, northward along the South American coast through Central America, Mexico, the West Coast of the United States, and the southern part of Alaska, through the Aleutian Islands to Japan, the Philippine Islands, New Guinea, the island groups of the Southwest Pacific, and to New Zealand”.
This earthquake belt was responsible for 70,000 deaths in Peru in May 1970, and 65 deaths and a billion dollars’ damage in California in February 1971 (the San Fernando quake).
Located on the Ring of Fire, Christchurch, New Zealand has some of the world’s most stringent building codes. Why then, did Tuesday’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake cause the collapse of many buildings, when September’s 7.1 magnitude quake in the same vicinity did little damage?
The devastation from the latest quake was an unfortunate combination of proximity, timing, and stress from September’s stronger but more distant rupture.
Tuesday’s earthquake, centered just 3 miles from Christchurch, a city of 390,000 people, was also just 3 miles deep. Shallower, closer quakes are more destructive. While September’s quake struck early on a weekend morning, catching most people at home in bed, Tuesday’s quake struck in the middle of a workday, finding people at multistory pre-World War II as well as more modern buildings, many of them unreinforced masonry, already weakened by September’s temblor.
The New Zealand Herald newspaper gives us a real-time glimpse into actual conditions following the quake. This report is from 4:22 PM today:
- All hospitals are operational and have been emptied to make room for victims
- 80% of the city is still without water. Emergency water supplies are available at locations, primarily schools throughout the city and neighboring towns. People are advised to bring their own containers. The water needs to be boiled before drinking.
If it rains, residents are urged to save all water for drinking. It is not to be used to flush toilets, take showers or baths.
- The sewage system has been damaged. People are advised not to flush their toilets and to use a bucket or dig a hole outside for human waste.
- Gasoline supplies are low and needed for emergency vehicles. People are advised not to buy gas except for critical uses. Roads are damaged.
- People are encouraged to walk to keep vehicles off the road. The public is to bring bedding, medications and personal effects with them to shelters.
- Power has been restored to 60% of the city. It may be several weeks before it is restored completely.
- All schools and day care centers are closed. People are only to report to work if they work in an industry supplying food.
- Telephone and cellphone calls are to be limited. Text messages are preferred as they place less load on networks. In yesterday’s paper, people were asked to change their cellphone messages to let callers know their location and to give alternate details if possible.
- Many supermarkets and ATMs are closed due to damage.
- The Port has sustained serious damage
- Aftershocks are continuing. More damage is expected. Residents are urged to drop, cover and hold on at the first sign of an aftershock.
Update: 2 26 11
The death toll stands at 145, with hundreds more missing. There are many traumatic injuries from collapsed concrete buildings.
Posted in Earthquake Preparedness | No Comments »
January 18, 2012 at 3:19 am By Roz Potter
From PBS: Link
A look at nuclear power, energy, Fukushima, the Indian Wells nuclear plant near New York City, a near-disaster at the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant in Nebraska last year, and other threats. Link
Posted in Nuclear Threats, Nuclear power disaster | No Comments »
January 12, 2012 at 11:42 pm By Roz Potter
From Maryn McKenna’s blog, Superbug, at Wired.com, Link
Tuberculosis is one of the world’s most lethal communicable diseases, accounting for 9.4 million cases and 1.7 million deaths in 2009, according to the World Health Organization. That death toll may soon be much higher.
Due to incomplete and incorrect treatment regimens, the bacteria has developed resistance to all drugs known to effectively treat it, according to a group of doctors in Mumbai, India.
The World Health Organization takes issue with the notion that the bacteria is totally drug-resistant, or TDR, since experimental drugs have not yet been tried.
Excerpts:
News of some of the cases was published Dec. 21 in an ahead-of-print letter to the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases…
On Saturday, the Times of India disclosed that there are actually 12 known cases just in one hospital, the P. D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre; in the article, Hinduja’s Dr. Amita Athawale admits, “The cases we clinically isolate are just the tip of the iceberg.” And as a followup, the Hindustan Times reported yesterday that most hospitals in the city — by extension, most Indian cities — don’t have the facilities to identify the TDR strain, making it more likely that unrecognized cases can go on to infect others.
***
Because of the mismatch between treatment and symptoms, people often don’t take their full course of drugs — and from that (and some other factors I’ll talk about in a minute) we get multi-drug resistant and extensively drug-resistant, MDR and XDR, TB. MDR is resistant to the first-choice drugs, requiring that patients instead be treated with a larger cocktail of “second-line” agents, which are less effective, have more side effects, and take much longer to effect a cure, sometimes 2 years or more. XDR is resistant to the three first-line drugs and several of the nine or so drugs usually recognized as being second choice.
***
As of last spring, according to the WHO, there were about 440,000 cases of MDR-TB per year, accounting for 150,000 deaths, and 25,000 cases of XDR. At the time, the WHO predicted there would be 2 million MDR or XDR cases in the word by 2012.
That was before TDR-TB.
The first cases, as it turns out, were not these Indian ones, but an equally under-reported cluster of 15 patients in Iran in 2009. They were embedded in a larger outbreak of 146 cases of MDR-TB, and what most worried the physicians who saw them was that the drug resistance was occurring in immigrants and cross-border migrants as well as Iranians: Half of the patients were Iranian, and the rest Afghan, Azerbaijani and Iraqi. The Iranian team raised the possibility at the time that rates of TDR were higher than they knew, especially in border areas where there would be little diagnostic capacity or even basic medical care.
The Indian cases disclosed before Christmas demonstrate what happens when TB patients don’t get good medical care. The letter to CID describes the course of four of the 12 patients; all four saw two to four doctors during their illness, and at least three got multiple, partial courses of the wrong antibiotics. The authors say this is not unusual:
Posted in Drug Resistant Microorganisms, Infectious and Communicable Disease | No Comments »
January 12, 2012 at 8:40 pm By Roz Potter
From Prevention Web: Link
An insurance industry view of 2011 record-breaking natural disasters. Source(s):Munich Reinsurance Company (Munich Re)
Excerpts:
…90% of the recorded natural catastrophes were weather-related – however, nearly two-thirds of economic losses and about half the insured losses stemmed from geophysical events, principally from the large earthquakes.
Normally, it is the weather-related natural catastrophes that are the dominant loss drivers. On average over the last three decades, geophysical events accounted for just under 10% of insured losses. The distribution of regional losses in 2011 was also unusual. Around 70% of economic losses in 2011 occurred in Asia.
The earth shakes: 11 March, the Tohoku earthquake
The most destructive loss event of the year was the earthquake of 11 March in Tohoku, Japan, when a seaquake with a magnitude of 9.0 occurred 130 km east of the port of Sendai and 370 km north of Tokyo. It was the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan.
The damage from the tremors themselves was relatively moderate thanks to strict building codes. However, the quake triggered a terrible tsunami. The wave devastated the northeast coast of the main island Honshu. In some bays, the wave reached a height of up to 40 metres. Entire towns, roads and railway lines were washed away, hundreds of thousands of houses were destroyed.
Some 16,000 people were killed in spite of high protective dykes and an excellent early-warning system. Without these protective installations, the death toll would have been much higher. The tsunami-exposed northeast of Japan is believed to have last been hit by a seismic sea wave of this size in the year 869.
The tsunami led to severe damage at several blocks of the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant. Some areas within a radius of several kilometres of the plant will remain uninhabitable for a period of many years. Even without considering the consequences of the nuclear accident, the economic losses caused by the quake and the tsunami came to US$ 210bn – the costliest natural catastrophe of all time. The share of insured losses may amount to as much as US$ 40bn.
The fault line that triggered the quake was actually fairly short with a length of 450 km. However, the seabed at the fracture face shifted by 30 to 40 metres. Experts believe that an earthquake of this strength occurs there once every 500 to 1,500 years. The main shock was followed by thousands of aftershocks, the strongest of which, some 40 minutes after the main shock, had a magnitude of 7.9.
The earth shakes II: The Christchurch earthquake
Before the tsunami catastrophe in Japan, there had been an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 22 February. The notable aspect of this event was that an earthquake of 7.1 magnitude had hit Christchurch just six months earlier.
Unfortunately, the seismic waves were amplified due to reflection off an extinct volcano, so that far greater destruction was caused than would have normally been expected with an earthquake of this magnitude. The epicentre was located at a shallow depth and only a few kilometres from the city centre.
The losses were enormous. Numerous old buildings collapsed, and many new buildings were damaged despite the very high building standards. Some residential areas will not be rebuilt. Economic losses came to around US$ 16bn, of which approximately US$ 13bn was insured.
One day before Christmas, the earth shook again in Christchurch. Over a dozen people were injured following three strong earthquakes. However, in terms of their severity, the quakes were not as bad as the devastating event in February. Consequently, losses for the insurance industry from these aftershocks are expected to be significantly lower.
Prof. Peter Höppe, Head of Munich Re’s Geo Risks Research unit: “Even if it seems hard to believe given recent events, the probability of earthquakes has not increased. However, these severe earthquakes are timely reminders that the decisions on where to build towns need careful and serious consideration of these risks, especially where certain buildings are concerned, above all nuclear power plants. Also, building codes in regions exposed to earthquakes need to be made even stricter, so that buildings do not just remain standing to an extent sufficient to save lives but can be used again afterwards.”
Weather-related catastrophes: Floods in Thailand
The floods in Thailand stand out among the many weather-related catastrophes of 2011. They were triggered by extreme rainfall, which started in spring and peaked in the autumn. Due to its low elevation above sea level, the plain of central Thailand – where the capital Bangkok is situated – is prone to flooding throughout the rainy season from May to October. According to the authorities, this year’s floods were the worst for around 50 years. It is presumed that the La Niña natural climate phenomenon was a contributory factor, since the rainy season is often stronger during this phase.
The floods claimed the lives of some 800 people. Not only were hundreds of thousands of houses and vast expanses of farmland flooded, but also seven major industrial areas with production facilities belonging mainly to Japanese groups. A large number of electronic key component manufacturers were affected, leading to production delays and disruptions at client businesses. Approximately 25% of the world’s supply of components for computer hard drives was directly impacted by the floods. With economic losses amounting to tens of billions of dollars, the floods were by far the costliest natural catastrophe in Thailand’s history.
North America: Many storms but few hurricanes in North America
The tornado season was especially violent in the Midwest and southern states of the USA. Several series of storms with numerous tornadoes caused economic losses totaling some US$ 46bn, of which US$ 25bn was insured. Insured losses were thus twice as high as in the previous record year of 2010. The series of severe weather events can largely be explained by the La Niña climate phenomenon.
As part of this natural climate oscillation, weather fronts with cool air from the northwest more frequently move over the central states of the USA and meet humid warm air in the south. Under such conditions, extreme weather events are more probable than in normal years.
Losses from North-Atlantic hurricanes were moderate. However, as in 2010, this was purely by chance. At 18, the number of recorded tropical cyclones in this season was some way above the long-term average (11) and above the average for the current warm phase with increased hurricane activity since the mid-1990s (15). The number of hurricane-strength storms (6) was in line with the long-term average. However, the number of tropical cyclones that made landfall, especially on the US coast, was very low. Only three named storms, one of them Hurricane Irene, made landfall in the USA. Irene caused economic losses in the Caribbean and USA totalling US$ 15bn, US$ 7bn of which was insured.
Another striking feature of this year was that, for the first time ever, US weather agency NOAA categorised a low-pressure system over the Mediterranean as a tropical storm. The low-pressure system Rolf formed on 3 November. It was caused by a ridge of cold air forming over the still warm sea (20°C). With peak wind speeds of 120 km/h, the storm “01M” made landfall on the French Mediterranean coast before dispersing. The storm produced extreme rainfall along the Cote d’Azur.
Posted in natural disasters | No Comments »
January 11, 2012 at 10:57 pm By Roz Potter
From the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Link
Excerpt:
It is five minutes to midnight. Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed. For that reason, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the clock hand one minute closer to midnight, back to its time in 2007.
About the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was established in 1945 by scientists, engineers, and other experts who had created the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. They knew about the horrible effects of these new weapons and devoted themselves to warning the public about the consequences of using them. Those early scientists also worried about military secrecy, fearing that leaders might draw their countries into increasingly dangerous nuclear confrontations without the full consent of their citizens.
The Doomsday Clock
In 1947, the Bulletin first displayed the Clock on its magazine cover to convey, through a simple design, the perils posed by nuclear weapons. The Clock evokes both the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero). In 1949, the Clock hand first moved to signal our assessment of world events and trends. The decision to move the minute hand is made by the Bulletin’s Board of Directors in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates. The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world’s vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies in the life sciences.
Today’s challenges
When we moved the hand of the Clock from 7 to 5 minutes to midnight in January 2007, the Bulletin’s Board of Directors warned about two major sources of potential catastrophe: the perils of 27,000 nuclear weapons in the world, 2,000 of them ready to launch in minutes, and the destruction of human habitats from climate change.
The Bulletin publishes information from leading scientists and security experts who explore the potential for terrible damage to societies from human-made technologies.
We focus as well on ways to prevent catastrophe from the malign or accidental use of nuclear, carbon-based, and biology-based technologies. After all, these technologies are ones that we create; it is in our power to channel them solely for benign purposes.
Posted in Climate Change, Nuclear Threats, Nuclear Weapons | No Comments »
December 27, 2011 at 9:09 pm By Roz Potter
Drastic cuts to federal, state and municipal budgets mean fewer law enforcement personnel at the very time that reductions to social programs and safety nets will hit individuals and families already stressed by unemployment, lack of health insurance, home foreclosure, and higher costs for basic necessities. A perfect set-up for crime.
Through lecture, discussion and exercises, this beginning level workshop will introduce you to crime prevention concepts and practices that can help you prevent or evade assaults, robbery, identity theft and burglary. Learn information and methods that can help you:
- evaluate and alter personal and environmental factors that can place you at higher risk
- recognize criminal thinking, strategies and methods
- evade predator ploys
- use situational awareness
- recognize and act on your intuition
Taught by law enforcement and security guest lecturer, along with Roz Potter, RN, MA, CIC. $75 ($15 discount for prior workshop participants and seniors) Scholarships available.
Posted in Identity Theft, Personal safety, Personal security, Public Safety | No Comments »
December 27, 2011 at 8:42 pm By Roz Potter
Saturday, February 26, 2012, from 9:30 am – 4:30 pm, Napa, CA – Location TBA
A jump-start for preparedness. This 6-hour one-of-a-kind event will help get your household ready for a variety of emergencies. See event poster here.
Demonstrations: Learn how to disinfect water, handle utility emergencies, use safety and self-defense devices, see how earthquake protection materials work, and select worthwhile supplies and equipment for lighting, first-aid, communications, sanitation, and 3-day “Go” bags
Tastings of Emergency Food Bars and water with a 5-year shelf-life
Disassembly of several ready-made “Go”bags and first-aid kit, so you can see the quality and contents for yourself.
Create a family disaster plan, including family communication and reunification, urgent medical information, utility emergencies, and emergency notification documents
Disaster Readiness Lecture and Discussion including earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, and hazardous materials
$60 fee includes 3.5 hrs of instruction, disaster plan documents, supply lists for “Go” bags for home, work, car and school, and 7 live demonstrations (2.5 hours). $15 discount for prior Defying Disaster Workshop participants, seniors over 65, full-time students & multiple participants from the same address.
Posted in Disaster preparedness, Earthquake Preparedness | No Comments »
December 20, 2011 at 12:51 pm By Roz Potter
From the Independent: Link
Excerpts:
A deadly strain of bird flu with the potential to infect and kill millions of people has been created in a laboratory by European scientists – who now want to publish full details of how they did it.
***
For the first time the researchers have been able to mutate the H5N1 strain of avian influenza so that it can be transmitted easily through the air in coughs and sneezes. Until now, it was thought that H5N1 bird flu could only be transmitted between humans via very close physical contact.
***
What makes H5N1 so dangerous, though, is that it has killed about 60 per cent of those it has infected, making it one of the most lethal known forms of influenza in modern history – a deadliness moderated only by its inability (so far) to spread easily through airborne water droplets.
***
The details of the study are so sensitive that they are being scrutinised by the US Government’s own National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, which is understood to have advised American officials that key parts of the scientific paper should be redacted to prevent terrorists from using the information to reverse-engineer their own lethal strain of flu virus.
***
Some scientists have privately questioned whether such research should have been done in a university department that does not have the sophisticated anti-terrorist security of a military facility. They also point out that experimental viruses kept in seemingly secure laboratories have escaped in the past to cause human epidemics – such as a 1977 flu outbreak.
“There are people who say that the work should never have been done, or if it was done it should have been done in a setting where the information could be better controlled,” said the source close to the biosecurity board.
***
The study was carried out by a Dutch team of scientists led by Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, where the mutated virus is stored under lock and key, but without armed guards, in a basement building.
Dr Fouchier, who declined to answer questions until a decision is made on publication, said in a statement released on the university’s website that it only took a small number of mutations to change the avian flu virus into a form that could spread more easily between humans.
Posted in Infectious and Communicable Disease, Pandemic Flu | No Comments »
December 8, 2011 at 3:35 pm By Roz Potter
From the Natural Resources Defense Council: Link
Click on the link for the interactive map. Excerpts from the text:
Extreme weather events and climate change
2011 has been a year of unparalleled extremes: 14 disastrous weather events in the US so far this year have resulted in over a billion dollars in property damage – an all-time record breaking number – and their estimated $53 billion price tag doesn’t include health costs.
As shown recently, in a first-of-its-kind study published in the journal Health Affairs1, when health-related costs of extreme events are calculated, the total tally increases substantially and will likely continue to climb due to climate change. 7 of the 2011 extreme events – a record-high number – are the type expected to worsen due to climate change.
Climate scientists are saying that these events may be part of a troubling trend influenced by climate change2. This trend has also been identified by the international reinsurance company MunichRe [PDF]; they concluded that from 1980 through 2011, the frequency of extreme events in the U.S. is rising.3
A newly-released analysis by international climate scientists (IPCC)4 concluded that climate change will amplify extreme heat, heavy precipitation, and the highest wind speeds of tropical storms.
We need to be prepared. Emergency planning must incorporate risks from climate change. For example, maps describing flooding zones need to account for increased risks caused by extreme rainfall and sea level rise resulting from climate change. While these plans are made at the local level, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must also prioritize addressing and preparing for climate change by providing guidance and resources to state and local governments.
Protect your family from extreme weather:
- Stay informed – subscribe to local emergency alerts and watch for updates. Make sure to have a battery powered radio or other device in the event you lose power.
- Stay connected – check on relatives, friends and neighbors.
- Plan ahead – have an evacuation plan and emergency supplies on hand. See the Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), or the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) lists for what you need.
Check out our maps to find out how vulnerable your community may be to the effects of climate change.
Posted in Severe Weather Preparedness | No Comments »
November 30, 2011 at 12:46 pm By Roz Potter
The one-day event that will give a big jump-start to your preparedness activities is happening this Saturday, December 3rd, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the John Muir Inn in Napa.
Here’s the talent line-up:
Live Demonstrations:
Water need, storage and purification (4 methods)
Handling electrical, water, and natural gas emergencies
Earthquake protection devices for your home
A multitude of devices for emergency lighting, communications, energy and self-defense
Disassembly of Go bags and First Aid Kits, to see what’s really inside and if you could really live on it if you had to
Disaster Planning and Response - you’ll get many of the documents you need so that your household disaster plan at the ready – you just need to fill in the blanks
Supply lists for Home, Work, School and Car “Go” bags
Instruction and Discussion – 2.5 hours of stories, historic photographs, and lessons from past disasters that past workshop participants have called “profoundly moving and instructive”.
The emphasis is on instruction, but we’ll have some supplies and a deluxe “Go” bag for 2, available
Registration is available at the door. Call 255-7146 for any questions or to register in advance. $60 fee, with a $10 discount for Seniors, full-time students, prior Defying Disaster workshop participants and individuals from the same address.
Posted in Disaster preparedness, Earthquake Preparedness | No Comments »
November 19, 2011 at 1:42 pm By Roz Potter
From a study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Link
Excerpts:
Only 2 percent of all seafood imported into the U.S. is tested for contamination, while the European Union, Japan and Canada inspect as much as 50 percent, 18 percent, and 15 percent of certain imported seafood products. When testing in the U.S. does occur, residues of drugs used in aquaculture, or “fish farms,” are sometimes found; above certain concentrations, these drugs are harmful to humans.
***
David Love, PhD, lead author of the study, and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, acquired data on seafood inspection programs from governmental websites and from direct queries to governmental bodies.
***
Love and colleagues’ results showed that the FDA tests for 13 types of drug residues, in contrast to inspection agencies in Europe and Japan that test for 34 and 27 drugs, respectively. This discrepancy suggests that seafood producers can use many drugs for which the U.S. does not screen.
***
Imports to the U.S., E.U., Canada and Japan with the highest frequency of drug violations were shrimp or prawns, eel, crabs, catfish or pangasius, tilapia and salmon. Vietnam, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, India, and Malaysia were identified as the exporters to the U.S., E.U., Canada and Japan with the most drug violations.
***
“Imported seafood may carry risks in terms of food safety because the FDA does not have the resources to proactively and regularly inspect foreign facilities, and it relies on product testing as a last resort,” said Love. To minimize the risks of seafood imports and to raise U.S. testing standards to match those of other countries, the authors recommend that the FDA budget be expanded to allow for more exhaustive testing and hiring of more inspectors.
To read more, Link
Posted in Food Safety | No Comments »
November 19, 2011 at 12:01 am By Roz Potter
Dear Readers,
In just a bit over two weeks, in the space of 6 hours, you have an opportunity to jump-start disaster preparedness. The event is the Earthquake / Disaster Readiness Expo. The Expo is being held Saturday, December 3rd 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.at the at the John Muir Inn, in Napa. .
If you’re prepared for disaster, you can react more quickly, safely and decisively to a number of situations that can arise in a heartbeat.
1. You hear the hiss and smell of natural gas, should you turn off the gas or run? Do you know where and how to turn off the gas?
2. Lamps have fallen over in an earthquake, is it safe to touch them? Should you unplug them or turn off the main breaker?
3. You must evacuate, should you leave your pets behind? What should you take with you, if there is time?
4. You smell natural gas, is it safe to flip a light switch?
5. Water is running down the street from broken water pipes. Should you turn off your water? Does this mean that sewer pipes are also broken? Do you know how to protect your home from massive sewer backups that happen after disasters?
6. Electricity has been out for 4 days. Is it safe to eat food from the freezer? Burglars are taking advantage of the situation. How can you protect your home? Are candles safe to use for extended periods?
7. Phone, cell and internet services are out. How can you communicate with family members, friends or neighbors?
8. Some roads are damaged and impassible. Do family members know where to go if they can’t get home?
9. You’re running low on water. What is the safest method of water purification? What water sources are safe to use, safest to purify?
LEARN essential skills and information from live demonstration and presentations, such as how to:
- purify water
- handle utility emergencies
- shelter in place
- use safety. self-defense, and earthquake protection devices
- fight a fire
- select worthwhile lighting, communication, sanitation, first-aid, food and water supplies
SEE what’s inside those off-the-shelf 3-day “Go” bags and First-Aid kits, and if they’ll really take care of your needs
TASTE 3 brands of emergency food bars and, 5 year shelf life water
BUILD 3-day “Go” bags for yourself, family members or for gifts – we’ll have the carriers and supplies
PUT TOGETHER your own disaster plan with the comprehensive documents we provide
PARTICIPATE in a 2.5 hour lecture that’s full of stories, historic photographs and lessons from past disasters
$60 fee includes lecture, demonstrations, Defying Disaster’s preparedness documents including communication, reunification, utility emergency, medical information and pet plans, 3-day “Go” bag supply lists for home, car, school and work, and a Defying Disaster tote bag.
$10 discount for prior Defying Disaster workshop participants, full-time students, seniors over 65, and individuals from the same address. Scholarships are available ($20 full cost).
For details and to save a place, call 707-255-7146. I hope to see you there.
Posted in Disaster preparedness, Personal safety, Personal security, Training | No Comments »
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