Seabed Mining Can Decide the Fate of the Deep Ocean

           

An artist’s rendering of a deep-sea vehicle designed by Dutch company IHC to harvest polymetallic nodules from the seabed.  Royal IHC

greenbiz.com - by Todd Woody - September 28, 2017

At the International Seabed Authority’s ocean-side headquarters, delegates from dozens of countries strolled through breezeways adorned with the works of Jamaican artists as the United Nations-chartered organization’s annual meeting began its second week. No one, however, was entering a conference room where the seabed authority’s Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) was in session and men in dark suits stood watch. A sign advised that the meeting was "closed."

Behind heavy wood doors, the 30 members of the commission convened in secret to discuss, among other things, confidential contracts issued to corporations and state-backed companies to explore and potentially mine vast, barely explored deep-sea habitats that scientists believe play a key role in the global ecosystem.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Two Dead, Two Wounded in Liberty City Shooting

           

Teachers remember high school student day after deadly shooting

miamiherald.com - by MONIQUE O. MADAN, GLENN GARVIN, DAVID J. NEAL AND JOEY FLECHAS - April 8, 2018

A fusillade of bullets fired by somebody who witnesses said “came through like they thought they were Rambo” felled four young men in the crime-blasted Liberty Square area of Liberty City Sunday afternoon, killing two and sending two others to the hospital.

The shootings ended the lives of Rickey Dixon, 18, and Kimson Green, 17, according to Miami police.

The four were gunned down as they sat on the lawn outside a row of one-floor apartments at Northwest 63 Street and 13th Place.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Miami Waterkeeper - FPL Turkey Point

           

miamiwaterkeeper.org

In the first week of March 2016, the Division of Environmental Resource Management (DERM) of Miami-Dade County released a report showing that water from the cooling canals at FPL’s nuclear power plant, located at Turkey Point, is contaminating Biscayne Bay. The canals are also contaminating the Biscayne Aquifer, which is an underground water storage area that is the sole source of drinking water for millions of South Florida residents. Hypersaline (super salty) water laden with tritium (a radioactive isotope), phosphorous, and ammonia is passing through our porous limestone geology and into our water both above and below ground.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED INFORMATION WITHIN THE LINK BELOW . . .

http://southflorida.resiliencesystem.org/fpl-nuclear-plant-canals-leaking-biscayne-bay-study-confirms

 

 

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

FPL Nuclear Plant Canals Leaking Into Biscayne Bay, Study Confirms

           

Recent sampling of water in Biscayne Bay found higher than normal levels of tritium, a rare hydrogen isotope produced by nuclear reactors and used to track water leaking from Turkey Point’s cooling canals. Tim Chapman Miami Herald Staff

CLICK HERE OR SEE ATTACHMENT BELOW - Report on Recent Biscayne Bay Water Quality Observations associated with Florida Power and Light Turkey Point Cooling Canal System Operations - Directive 152884 - (24 page .PDF document)

CLICK HERE OR SEE ATTACHMENT BELOW - Turkey Point’s Cooling Canal System Overview - (69 page .PDF document)

miamiherald.com - by JENNY STALETOVICH - March 7, 2016 - updated May 17, 2016

A radioactive isotope linked to water from power plant cooling canals has been found in high levels in Biscayne Bay, confirming suspicions that Turkey Point’s aging canals are leaking into the nearby national park.

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORT - HURRICANE IRMA (AL112017) - 30 August–12 September 2017

CLICK HERE - NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORT - HURRICANE IRMA (AL112017)  30 August–12 September 2017 - John P. Cangialosi, Andrew S. Latto, and Robbie Berg National Hurricane Center - 9 March 2018 - (111 page .PDF report)

nhc.noaa.gov

Irma was a long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that reached category 5 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The catastrophic hurricane made seven landfalls, four of which occurred as a category 5 hurricane across the northern Caribbean Islands. Irma made landfall as a category 4 hurricane in the Florida Keys and struck southwestern Florida at category 3 intensity. Irma caused widespread devastation across the affected areas and was one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic basin.

ALSO SEE ADDITIONAL REPORTS HERE - National Hurricane Center - 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season

 

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Are We Ready for the Deadly Heat Waves of the Future?

           

HEAT ISLANDS  Heat claims more lives than floods, hurricanes and other weather-related disasters. How will cities cope as temperatures rise?  ULTRAFORMA/ISTOCKPHOTO

When days and nights get too hot, city dwellers are the first to run into trouble

sciencenews.org - by AIMEE CUNNINGHAM - April 3, 2018

Since 1986, the first year the National Weather Service reported data on heat-related deaths, more people in the United States have died from heat (3,979) than from any other weather-related disaster — more than floods (2,599), tornadoes (2,116) or hurricanes (1,391). Heat’s victim counts would be even higher, but unless the deceased are found with a fatal body temperature or in a hot room, the fact that heat might have been the cause is often left off of the death certificate, says Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

As greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, heat’s toll is expected to rise. Temperatures will probably keep smashing records as carbon dioxide, methane and other gases continue warming the planet. Heat waves (unusually hot weather lasting two or more days) will probably be longer, hotter and more frequent in the future.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Scalable Water Management Solutions for Developed & Developing Cities

           

Cape Town, South Africa

meetingoftheminds.org - by Manohar Patole - April 3, 2018

The growth of urban settlements is subject to a range of factors influenced by demographic, economic, political, environmental, cultural, and social factors. Weather variability, or climate change, has recently risen up this list. These two factors: climate change and urban population growth, are dramatically affecting urban water management. On one hand, growing populations increase urban water demand and on the other, climate change has increased water variability (volume, distribution, timing and quality) . . . 

 . . . How will cities adapt? Reframe. Develop new responses.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Microgrids as Resilient Energy Infrastructure

           

Microgrid at Princeton University

utilitydive.com - March 20, 2018

The National Academy of Sciences defines “resilience” as the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events.  Since the September 2017 DOE NOPR to FERC, the energy industry has been working overtime to better define resilience.  FERC unanimously set aside the “90 days on-site fuel storage” provision espoused by DOE and opened a new docket (AD18-7) to more fully examine the current state of grid resiliency, asking the nation’s seven RTO’s and ISO’s to provide their definition of resiliency relative to the bulk power system by March 9.  Those ISO/RTO comments reflected regional variances as expected while sharing a common thread of the paradigm shift underway from central station power plants to more distributed generation . . . 

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Wind and Solar Power Could Meet Four-Fifths of US Electricity Demand, Study Finds

           

Solar panels cover the roof of UCI's Student Center Parking Structure. A new study co-authored by Steven Davis, associate professor of Earth system science, shows that the U.S. can meet 80 percent of its electricity demand with renewable solar and wind resources.  Credit: Steve Zylius / UCI

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Geophysical constraints on the reliability of solar and wind power in the United States

Investment in greater storage, transmission capabilities needed

sciencedaily.com - University of California - Irvine - February 27, 2018

Summary: The United States could reliably meet about 80 percent of its electricity demand with solar and wind power generation, according to scientists.

The United States could reliably meet about 80 percent of its electricity demand with solar and wind power generation, according to scientists at the University of California, Irvine; the California Institute of Technology; and the Carnegie Institution for Science.

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Zika Cases 2015/2016 United States, Territories, Canada

Map of imported and locally acquired Zika virus in United States, territories, and Canada.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1FlIB7hHnVgGD9TlbSx5HwAj-PEQ&hl=en

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Zika - News

Zika - Information, FAQs and Research

General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

An expanding list of information resources on Zika virus . . .

CDC - Zika Virus - Case Counts in the US
https://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/united-states.html

CDC - Zika Virus - Timeline of "What's New"
http://www.cdc.gov/zika/whats-new.html

CDC Newsroom Releases
http://www.cdc.gov/media/archives.htm

Crowded Shelters and the Vicious Flu Brew Perfect Storm for the Homeless

           

Members of the D.C. homeless community have constructed an encampment in front of the Central Union Mission. These crowded spaces can become breeding grounds for diseases such as the flu. (Carmen Heredia Rodriguez/KHN/Carmen Heredia Rodriguez/KHN)

washingtonpost.com - by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez - March 3, 2018

 . . . For the healthy, the flu represents a serious health concern. But for the homeless — who deal with higher rates of chronic illness, fewer resources and crowded conditions in shelters — catching the flu can be a matter of life or death.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

Country / Region Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Other Viruses Cause Zika-Like Damage to Fetuses, Study Finds

           

Zika's blood-sucking predator

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Zika virus–related neurotropic flaviviruses infect human placental explants and cause fetal demise in mice

cnn.com - by Susan Scutti - February 18, 2018

In 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the Zika virus caused birth defects in babies born to women who had been infected while pregnant. This was the first mosquito-borne disease known to cause birth defects . . . 

 . . . Now, a study suggests that two viruses that are related to Zika can cause similar birth defects.

West Nile and Powassan viruses caused fetal death in infected pregnant mice, the researchers say.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - NEJM - Zika Virus and Birth Defects — Reviewing the Evidence for Causality

 

 

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Seas to Rise About a Meter Even if Climate Goals Are Met - Study

           

FILE PHOTO: Uninhabitable apartments, in danger of collapsing into the Pacific Ocean, line Esplanade Ave. in Pacifica, California January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Noah Berger/File Photo

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Committed sea-level rise under the Paris Agreement and the legacy of delayed mitigation action

reuters.com - Alister Doyle - February 20, 2018

Sea levels will rise between 0.7 and 1.2 meters (27-47 inches) in the next two centuries even if governments end the fossil fuel era as promised under the Paris climate agreement, scientists said on Tuesday.

Early action to cut greenhouse gas emissions would limit the long-term rise, driven by a thaw of ice from Greenland to Antarctica that will re-draw global coastlines, a German-led team wrote in the journal Nature Communications . . .

 . . . By 2300, the report projected that sea levels would gain by 0.7-1.2 meters, even if almost 200 nations fully meet goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement, which include cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero in the second half of this century . . . 

Country / Region Tags: 
General Topic Tags: 
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 

Pages

Subscribe to South Florida RSS
howdy folks