Madness, more disappointment, desperation, despondency, sabotage, new normal, omnicrisis, devastating, hottest, fastest, largest, historic, highest, lowest, catastrophic...
Hi,
In discussion with a great friend the other day I learned that after Pandora had released her madness of emotional and physical evils to the world from a box left in the care of her husband, she left behind one remnant: hope. This hope has been translated, other than our usual understanding, as deceptive expectation, also a not good. My friend went further to say, though, that the act of hoping is positive. I still don’t think I fully understand that but I surely do agree that hoping is a positive act, giving motivation and direction. Following lots of reflection on COP27 I can so easily understand, though, the concept of ‘deceptive expectation.’ How the lack of real action on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the offer of only pledges continues a long line of deceptive expectations, year after year.
Who, though, doesn’t want to think that tomorrow can bring a better day, another smile, more moments of happiness, togetherness in family and relations, and solidarity with those seeking freedom, liberty and life? But my understanding of hope has been altered.
That there is so much talk of division in the world, people at odds and in conflict with one another over telling the truth, land and possessions, over gold, analysis of data and information, even over science and health itself, is tremendously disconcerting. It’s most likely, though, that any idea of creating unity (as all leaders proclaim after being elected or chosen, despite their plurality) is simply utopian and not possible, unless confronting a common enemy. At first we thought that Covid-19 was a common enemy, but look how that has turned out. And what about the environmental and biodiversity crises? How to reconcile that so many either won’t face up to reality or are being deceived or diverted by those who profit from the crises. As many begin to feel the pain of winter and even more globally the pain of hunger, we see a world clearly divided.
How is, though, that hope can be a negative, when it might be all that we have to hang onto and one’s last possession? To see another sunrise, to feel love and joy, to experience another national park; how can that be not what we strive and hope for?
But what if such hope is all that is being offered? As we see atmospheric GHGs increasing year by year, temperatures and seas rising COP after COP, deforestation and destruction of last remaining habitats in our backyards, what’s the value of the hope that we have and are passing onto to future generations? Passing on hope just won’t cut it. We have to pass on more? What if each year we keep acting the same thinking it’s going to make a difference, throwing out crumbs of hope when evident death and destruction is staring us in the face and we don't act.
The world needs leadership to take the remaining hope out of the box and give it real meaning, not just continually juggle it in the air and see it dissipate, even overwhelmed, by acts of deception, greed and enrichment. I still feel the orangutang’s eyes staring at me as it watches its home burning and a giant ancient tree on flatbed trailer being hauled away to make wood chips.
I feel badly for my melancholic mood while drafting, just having watched an excellent movie, All My Puny Sorrows. But do read on in today’s Planetary Health Weekly (#48 of the waning year) where you’ll find more about the madness Pandora let out of her box and the remaining hope she left behind:
- CLIMATE & BIODIVERSITY CRISES:
- Climate tipping points could lock in unstoppable changes to the planet – how close are they?
- Junk carbon offsets are what make these big companies ‘carbon neutral’,
- ‘Bittersweet’ COP27 delivers historic win on climate justice but fails to tackle the climate crisis head on,
- These UNESCO World Heritage Glaciers are set to disappear by 2050,
- China calls for ambitious, pragmatic biodiversity deal,
- SPECIAL SECTION (PART 1) ON DEGROWTH:
- Degrowth – what’s behind the economic theory and why does it matter right now?
- What is ‘degrowth’ and how can it fight climate change?
- Climate change and scarcity chip away at degrowth taboo,
- CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:
- Post-Covid-19-associated morbidity in children, adolescents and adults: a study of more than 157,000 with Covid-19 in Germany,
- A multinational Delphi consensus to end the Covid-19 public health threat,
- South African Supreme Court of Appeal reverses controversial ivermectin ruling,
- Which Chinese Covid controls are fuelling public anger
- China’s protests over lockdowns spread to campuses and communities abroad,
- China in a push to boost Covid-19 vaccination among elderly, THEN
- Charted: healthcare spending and life expectancy by country,
- Global Oral Health Status Report: towards universal health coverage for oral health by 2030,
- Somalia is lurching from one disaster to the next – we barely have time to catch our breath,
- Dying too young: focus on communicable diseases takes toll in South Africa’s slums,
- U.S. aims to sanction Brazil deforesters, adding bite to climate fight,
- Chasing the sun: Dutch floating solar farm tracks sun’s rays to absorb more energy,
- Good science, bad politics: the mask mandate dilemma,
- The big idea: stopping climate change isn’t enough – we need to reverse it,
- 'Dancing is healing': Courtney-Dawn Anaquod models mental health through Métis jigging
- Quote on the need for radical change and degrowth,
- The defiance of celebrating literature in the midst of war,
- Netherlands is the second-largest exporter of agricultural products,
- Why the climate crisis means some English roses will bloom to more,
- WHO to phase out the name ‘Monkeypox’ for ‘Mpox’,
- New book: “The Green Amendment: The Constitutional Change We Need to Protect Our People & Priceless Natural Resources” by Maya K. van Rossum,
- Teen brains aged faster than normal from pandemic stress, and lastly
- ENDSHOTS of Seaside Nature in Nuevo Vallarta, México.
Do keep reading. Best, david
David Zakus, Editor and Publisher
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VULTURE (LIKE THOSE THAT CIRCLED COP27) |
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IN COMPLETE SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE SEEKING PEACE AND VICTORY AND IN DISBELIEF IN WHAT RUSSIA CONTINUES TO DO |
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AND WITH THE BRAVE PROTESTERS IN IRAN (AND QATAR) |
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CLIMATE & BIODIVERSITY CRISES UPDATES |
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Credit: Evolutions.tv
Continued greenhouse gas emissions risk triggering climate tipping points. These are self-sustaining shifts in the climate system that would lock-in devastating changes, like sea-level rise, even if all emissions ended.
The first major assessment in 2008 identified nine parts of the climate system that are sensitive to tipping, including ice sheets, ocean currents and major forests. Since then, huge advances in climate modelling and a flood of new observations and records of ancient climate change have given scientists a far better picture of these tipping elements. Extra ones have also been proposed, like permafrost around the Arctic (permanently frozen ground that could unleash more carbon if thawed).
Estimates of the warming levels at which these elements could tip have fallen since 2008. The collapse of the west Antarctic ice sheet was once thought to be a risk when warming reached 3°C-5°C above Earth’s pre-industrial average temperature. Now it’s thought to be possible at current warming levels.
In our new assessment of the past 15 years of research, myself and colleagues found that we can’t rule out five tipping points being triggered right now when global warming stands at roughly 1.2°C. Four of these five become more likely as global warming exceeds 1.5°C.
There are signs that some tipping points are already approaching. Degradation and drought have caused parts of the Amazon to become less resilient to disturbances like fire and emit more carbon than they absorb.
The front edge of some retreating west Antarctic glaciers are only kilometres away from the unstoppable retreat. Early warning signals in climate monitoring data (such as bigger and longer swings in how much glaciers melt each year) suggest that parts of the Greenland ice sheet and Atlantic circulation are also destabilising.
These signals can’t tell us exactly how close we are to tipping points, only that destabilisation is underway and a tipping point may be approaching. The most we can be sure of is that every fraction of further warming will destabilise these tipping elements more and make the initiation of self-sustaining changes more likely.
This strengthens the case for ambitious emissions cuts in line with the Paris agreement’s aim of halting warming at 1.5°C. This would reduce the chances of triggering multiple climate tipping points – even if we can’t rule out some being reached soon.
Read more at: The Conversation
SEE ALSO:
At Bloomberg: Japan Is The World’s Largest Provider Of Public Finance For Fossil Fuels, Spending 10.6 Billion USD A Year
Dozens of the biggest global companies — from banks to industrial heavyweights — have made bold climate claims justified by cheap renewable-energy offsets that don’t counteract global warming
At National Observer: ‘Bittersweet’ COP27 delivers historic win on climate justice but fails to tackle the climate crisis head on
A bittersweet agreement reached at the United Nations’ climate change conference, represents a massive leap forward for climate justice, and a colossal failure to tackle the cause of the climate emergency head on.
The Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan agreement kickstarts a loss and damage fund for countries struggling with the impacts of climate change, after nearly three decades of poor countries calling on wealthy countries to help pay for the damage they’ve caused by fuelling their economies with fossil fuels. But at the same time this unprecedented step towards global wealth redistribution on climate grounds was taken, petro-states ensured the implementation plan does not address fossil fuels directly.
At Afar: These UNESCO World Heritage Glaciers Are Set to Disappear by 2050
A diplomatic effort to phase out oil and gas around the world launched at last year’s United Nations climate conference added several new members to its bloc in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
On Wednesday, the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA), led by Denmark, added Fiji, Tuvalu, Kenya, Chile and Washington state, which advocates say shows momentum is building from last year. The alliance targets the supply of oil and gas, rather than the demand for it, as a strategy to accelerate the phaseout of fossil fuels. It does this by banning new exploration and setting targets for the end of production from existing sites.
At Reuters: China calls for ambitious, pragmatic biodiversity deal
China will lead talks to secure an "ambitious and pragmatic" new global pact to preserve biodiversity at a U.N. meeting that begins next week, but implementing the deal remains the biggest challenge, Chinese officials said on Monday.
Representatives of nearly 200 countries will gather in Montreal on Dec. 5 to secure a "post-2020 framework" to protect habitats and ecosystems and ensure the sustainable and equitable use of biological resources.
Zhou Guomei, head of the international department of the environment ministry, told reporters that negotiations so far had not been "plain sailing" but focused on an ambitious deal that was "also pragmatic, balanced, feasible and achievable".
Originally set to be held in China's southwestern city of Kunming, the meeting, known as COP15, was relocated this year because of tough zero-COVID curbs. China will continue to serve as president.
In last year's first phase of talks, more than 100 nations signed the "Kunming Declaration" for urgent action to include biodiversity protection in all sectors of the global economy. But they were unable to reach consensus on issues such as funding conservation in poorer countries.
Zhou said there were still differences on a number of issues, and success would depend on an implementation mechanism for resources and financial support to be mobilised.
A previous biodiversity pact signed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, set 20 targets to try to slow biodiversity loss by 2020. None of those targets was met in full.
At the Breach: ICYMI from April, 20221: Oil Lobby, Trudeau Government Formed Secretive Committee During Pandemic
The federal government formed a secretive working group with the country’s most powerful oil lobby during the coronavirus pandemic, discussing reducing regulations, strengthening “investor confidence,” and creating post-pandemic opportunities for the industry, documents obtained through Access to Information reveal.
The working group was initiated at the behest of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), which represents 150 oil and gas companies and has frequently lobbied the government to delay climate action.
SPECIAL SECTION (PART 1) ON DEGROWTH:
At World Economic Forum: Degrowth – what's behind the economic theory and why does it matter right now?
Degrowth is a radical economic theory born in the 1970s. It broadly means shrinking rather than growing economies, to use less of the world’s dwindling resources. Detractors of degrowth say economic growth has given the world everything from cancer treatments to indoor plumbing. Supporters argue that degrowth doesn’t mean “living in caves with candles” – but just living a bit more simply.
How do we save our planet? Some economists believe the only way is to radically scale back our global consumption of resources. This is a key premise of degrowth – a political and economic theory that is gaining traction as fears grow over climate change. But is it workable?
At Popular Science: What is ‘Degrowth’ and How Can It Fight Climate Change?
There’s no other way to put it—as climate change envelops more and more of our daily lives, we are going to have to change the way we live. That will mean prepping for weirder weather, shifting our diet, and using cleaner energy. But, a growing economic idea is also brewing: Could a slower-growing or stagnant economy be the key to combating climate change?
“With more economic growth, climate mitigation is more difficult to achieve, because with it comes increasing energy and material use, which in turn needs decarbonization,” says Lorenz T. Keyßer, an environmental systems and policy graduate student at ETH Zurich and author of a recent study in Nature on how the economy and climate are intertwined. “So this is like running up a downwards accelerating escalator.”
It’s no secret that most of the world’s biggest polluters tend to be those with the fastest-growing economies. And some experts argue that green growth—the idea that we can keep fostering a growing economy but, at the same time, lower emissions and use our resources more sustainably—could be the answer. A key part of green growth is what’s called “decoupling”—tearing apart that bond between more growth and more emissions. That’s a lot harder than it sounds. Studies upon studies have shown that decoupling our economies from emissions is a lot harder and happens a lot less than it seems.
At Reuters: Climate change, scarcity chip away at degrowth taboo
Degrowth - the idea that a finite planet cannot sustain ever-increasing consumption - is about the closest you can get to a heresy in economics, where growth is widely held as the best route to prosperity.
But, as climate change accelerates and supply chain disruptions offer rich-world consumers an unaccustomed taste of scarcity, the theory is becoming less taboo and some have started to ponder what a degrowth world might look like.
After the U.N. climate science agency this year called for cuts in consumer demand - a core degrowth premise - the think tank that runs the Davos forum published a degrowth primer in June and the issue has even begun to crop up in investment notes.
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WORLD AIDS DAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022 |
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SARS-CoV-2 & COVID-19 UPDATES |
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The pandemic continues all over the world and is now complicated by epidemic flu and RSV (most common in children). Children's hospitals in Canada are overflowing with cases, presenting another dire outcome and hit to the medical system. Information about Covid-19's prevalence and outcomes is increasingly hard to find, and many erroneously feel it's over. It is not. Covid is still a life threatening disease associated with many complications; it's infecting and killing many. Many health authorities call for widespread public health measures, but it remains confusing and little adhered to. Collective action, data reporting and leadership have all but disappeared.
Over the last week, cases are up about 10% to 450,000/day (though this is sorely under-reported); deaths are about the same at 1300/day; and vaccinations down about two-thirds to only about 600,000/day. Way too many not still not fully immunized, including (surprisingly in China), which includes getting boosters, especially among children and those 60+.
Vaccination, despite ongoing concerns about waning immunity and slander against it, along with other proven public health measures, remain the best ways to keep yourself and others safe from serious consequences. Get all the shots/boosters you can, and practise other public health measures (like masking) especially indoors with crowds.
See below for a few global stats and current hotspots.
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"It is the plague in seemingly all sincerity." Bob Woodward |
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Credit: CDC/MMWR
In a recent study published in the journal JAMA Network Open, researchers in the United States estimated the sociodemographic factors associated with and prevalence of post-acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptom sequelae (PASC) or long COVID (LCOVID). They also assessed the association of vaccination status and dominant strain at the time of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection with the risk of LCOVID development.
LCOVID or COVID-19 symptom persistence beyond two months of acute COVID-19 has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a commonly occurring sequela of COVID-19. However, multiple LCOVID aspects have not been understood completely, with studies indicating that LCOVID may be an amalgamated presentation of several syndromes. Notably, data on the profiles of individuals who would completely recover from acute COVID-19 and those who would experience LCOVID are lacking.
Overall, the study findings showed that LCOVID was prevalent in the US and associated with older age and the female sex and that the completion of prime COVID-19 vaccinations before SARS-CoV-2 infection could reduce LCOVID risks. Read more at: PLOS Medicine
SEE ALSO:
At Discovery Magazine: What is Long COVID and What are the Symptoms?
Though COVID-19 may have retreated to the periphery of some lives for now, for tens of millions across the world it remains a stubborn, life-changing illness. Rather than the usual days or weeks that it typically takes to beat the coronavirus, those suffering with “long COVID” endure the sickness for several weeks, months or even years.
“The first couple of days I had what I assume is the normal COVID experience for the majority of people, and I started getting better,” says Victoria Radonicich, a 27-year-old nurse in Ontario who contracted the disease in January 2022. “But then on day 10 my lungs suddenly collapsed and I was left gasping for air. That's when my long-COVID journey started.”
When she returned to her job as a frontline nurse in a pediatric unit in April, Radonicich suffered a major setback that erased most of her recovery. It left her unable to walk, sleep or make her own meals. Now, months later, she’s once again made small steps toward progress. But her life remains a shadow of what it was before.
At Nature: A Multinational Delphi Consensus to End the COVID-19 Public Health Threat
Despite notable scientific and medical advances, broader political, socioeconomic and behavioural factors continue to undercut the response to the COVID-19 pandemic1,2. Here we convened, as part of this Delphi study, a diverse, multidisciplinary panel of 386 academic, health, non-governmental organization, government and other experts in COVID-19 response from 112 countries and territories to recommend specific actions to end this persistent global threat to public health.
The panel developed a set of 41 consensus statements and 57 recommendations to governments, health systems, industry and other key stakeholders across six domains: communication; health systems; vaccination; prevention; treatment and care; and inequities. In the wake of nearly three years of fragmented global and national responses, it is instructive to note that three of the highest-ranked recommendations call for the adoption of whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches, while maintaining proven prevention measures using a vaccines-plus approach that employs a range of public health and financial support measures to complement vaccination.
Other recommendations with at least 99% combined agreement advise governments and other stakeholders to improve communication, rebuild public trust and engage communities3 in the management of pandemic responses. The findings of the study, which have been further endorsed by 184 organizations globally, include points of unanimous agreement, as well as six recommendations with >5% disagreement, that provide health and social policy actions to address inadequacies in the pandemic response and help to bring this public health threat to an end.
At Daily Maverick: South African Supreme Court of Appeal Reverses Controversial Ivermectin Ruling Against Sahpra
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has set aside a controversial supervisory order, granted in April 2021, compelling the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) to report back to court every three months on access to ivermectin for use in the treatment of Covid patients.
The court has ruled that there was no evidence to justify the order made by Pretoria high court Judge Cassim Sardiwalla, that affected parties had not asked for the order, and that they had not been heard before he made it. The judge had also failed to provide his reasons for making it, the court said.
At South China Morning Post (Hong Kong): Which Chinese Covid Controls are Fuelling Public Anger?
China’s stringent Covid controls have triggered growing public anger, as highlighted by the protests seen in major cities and universities over the weekend.
With cases surging, driven by highly infectious strains of Omicron, and lockdowns and other stringent controls taking an increasing toll on people’s livelihoods and well-being, here are some of the elements of the zero-Covid policy that are the main focus of discontent – and some of the measures taken to address these complaints.
- People being barricaded inside their homes
- Being denied access to hospitals
- Killing pets
- Makeshift hospitals
- Contact tracing and health codes
- Required regular PCR tests
At Daily Maverick: China’s Protests Over Lockdowns Spread to Campuses and Communities Abroad
Protests against China's strict zero-Covid policy and restrictions on freedoms have spread to at least a dozen cities around the world in a show of solidarity with rare displays of defiance in China last weekend.
Small-scale vigils and protests have been held in cities in Europe, Asia and North America, including London, Paris, Tokyo and Sydney, according to a Reuters tally, organised by expatriate dissidents and students. Dozens of people attended most of the protests with a few drawing more than 100, the tally showed. The gatherings are a rare instance of Chinese at home and abroad uniting in anger.
The protests on the mainland were triggered by a deadly fire in China’s Xinjiang region last week that killed 10 people who became trapped in their apartments, in a disaster blamed in part on lockdown measures. City officials denied that.
Since President Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago, authorities have clamped down hard on dissent, tightening controls on civil society, the media and the internet.
But the strict policy aimed at stamping out Covid-19 with lockdowns and quarantine has become a lightning rod for frustrations. The policy has kept China’s death much lower than many other countries but it has come at a cost of long spells of confinement at home for many millions and damage to the world’s second-biggest economy. Nevertheless, Chinese officials say it must be maintained to save lives, especially among the elderly given their low vaccination rates.
At SCMP: China in Push to Boost Covid-19 Vaccination Among Elderly
Authorities aim to get more people aged 60 and over vaccinated in plan unveiled after protests broke out across the country. State media meanwhile sends message that rules should be refined in line with cabinet’s ‘20 measures’ – but zero-Covid is here to stay
China has unveiled a plan to boost vaccination rates among the elderly and tackle what is seen as a key barrier to reopening borders and reviving an economy hit by nearly three years of strict Covid-19 controls. It aims to boost the vaccination rate for people aged 60 and above – particularly those over 80 – and reduce severe outcomes including death, amid a wave of new cases that shows no sign of slowing.
In mainland China, only 68.7 per cent of people over 60 have had three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, official figures show. For those aged 80 and over, only 40.4 per cent have had three shots.
The Chinese government plan aims to speed up vaccinations for older people with six combinations of Chinese-made vaccines, including those from pharmaceutical firms Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino Biologics. It has also reduced the waiting period from six to three months for a booster dose. Authorities have stopped short of a vaccine mandate, but social insurance data will be used to identify people aged over 60 to be included in the programme, and a publicity campaign will be rolled out on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. The plan also calls for vaccinations to be administered at places where older people can access them, such as aged care homes.
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Credit: Visual Capitalist Over the last century, life expectancy at birth has more than doubled across the globe, largely thanks to innovations and discoveries in various medical fields around sanitation, vaccines, and preventative healthcare.
Yet, while the average life expectancy for humans has increased significantly on a global scale, there’s still a noticeable gap in average life expectancies between different countries.
What’s the explanation for this divide? According to World Bank data compiled by Truman Du, it may be partially related to the amount of money a country spends on its healthcare.
The latest available data from the World Bank includes both the healthcare spending per capita of 178 different countries and their average life expectancy.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the analysis found that countries that spent more on healthcare tended to have higher average life expectancies up until reaching the 80-year mark. Read more at Visual Capitalist
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Credit: World Health Organization
The WHO Global oral health status report reviews the most recent data on major oral diseases, risk factors, health system challenges and opportunities for reform. The Report’s clear conclusion is that the status of global oral health is alarming and requires urgent action. The Report will serve as a reference for policy-makers and an orientation for a wide range of stakeholders across different sectors to guide advocacy towards better prioritization of oral health in global, regional and national contexts. In addition, the Report provides, as a separate online resource, the first-ever country oral health profiles for all 194 WHO Member States, giving unique insights into key areas and markers of oral health that are relevant for decision-makers.
Read more at: World Health Organization
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A malnourished child is weighed at a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Dollow, Somalia. Credit: Jerome Delay/AP
The situation in Somalia is bordering on catastrophic. I work as a doctor in Baidoa, a large city in the south of the country, and witness the dire effects of the unfolding crisis every single day.
The current drought is one of the worst of its kind in 40 years – and comes after the famine of 2011 and the widespread malnutrition that it caused. There have been outbreaks of cholera, Covid-19 and measles that we’ve had to face, too, coupled with high maternal and child mortality rates. We haven't had time to breathe from one disaster to the next.
Somalia is facing a fifth possible season of failed rains. This, alongside the conflict raging within the country, is one of the main reasons why people are leaving their homes and arriving in Baidoa – they are looking for health and humanitarian assistance.
The city hosts the highest number of displaced people in the country, second only to Mogadishu. In this year alone we have received more than 200,000 new arrivals, with some taking long journeys to get here.
They do so without proper transportation and face security issues along the way. Many suffer unimaginable loss before they reach Baidoa.
We see mothers who tell us they have lost babies while on the road – yet they continue their journey, bringing with them other children for treatment. I have witnessed so much pain and grief through my work. Read more at The Telegraph
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Ikwezi health centre in Strand, Cape Town, where Mothers2Mothers works with parents and children. Credit: Karin Schermbrucker/Mothers2Mothers
Weaving her way through the narrow alleyways running between the shacks of Barcelona squatter camp, Nomachine Jali is on her way to see her first patient of the day: Atwell Mbadamana, 69, is lying on a plastic mattress on the floor in the corner of a dark room.
A blanket covers him. He has been here, bedridden, since August after he had a stroke. “I don’t feel good seeing him like this,” says Jali, a community health worker. “We consider our patients as our own family. He should be in a care home but there’s no space.”
Mbadamana speaks in a whisper: “I can’t move my arm. I can’t eat healthy food. I want a proper shelter. I want healthcare and to be taken care of.”
He is typical of a growing number of Jali’s patients in the camp, about 10 miles (15km) from the centre of Cape Town. Her focus is shifting from HIV and tuberculosis to spotting the symptoms of, and managing, hypertension, strokes and diabetes – conditions collectively known as non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Most deaths in South Africa are now from NCDs, according to the country’s latest mortality report, published in 2018. Tuberculosis is still the leading cause of death, but diabetes is second. Between 2016 and 2018, the proportion of deaths from NCDs increased. Read more at: The Guardian
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Ln aerial view shows a deforested plot of the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil July 8, 2022. Credit: REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/File Photo
The United States is looking to crack down on environmental criminals behind surging deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, using penalties such as Magnitsky sanctions to tackle climate change more aggressively, U.S. sources and officials told Reuters.
The plan represents a major shift in Washington's strategy to combat global warming, adding the bite of direct sanctions to its toolkit of tax incentives, diplomatic nudges and complex, slow-moving multilateral accords.
Deforestation in Brazil hit a 15-year high under outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, who rolled back environmental protections and pushed for more mining and commercial farming in the Amazon, a crucial buffer against climate change.
President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will take office on Jan. 1 and has already pledged to end deforestation at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt last week. In conversations with U.S. officials, Lula and his allies have stressed his focus on tackling climate change.
Yet there are still question marks about how he views the plan, which is in its early stages. Lula believes Washington helped Brazilian prosecutors jail him on graft charges and has often chafed at the long arm of U.S. law enforcement.
Magnitsky sanctions aim to punish those accused of corruption or enabling human rights abuses. They would freeze any U.S. assets and bar all Americans and U.S. companies from dealing with sanctioned individuals or entities. Read more at Reuters
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olaris Float - Protevs Island. Credit: Solaris Float
An innovative floating solar farm in the Netherlands is soaking up the rays. Proteus, developed by the Portuguese company Solaris Float, is a circular island of solar panels that bobs on top of water, generating renewable energy. The prototype power source can be installed on lakes, reservoirs and in coastal areas, potentially solving many issues plaguing solar technology. Floating solar farms have been on the scene since 2008. But Proteus does something none of its competitors can do.
Its solar panels can meticulously track the sun as it passes through the sky, maximising energy yield. Earlier this year, the slick, silver installation was selected as a finalist for the European Inventor Award.
Named after a Greek sea god who predicts the future, Proteus is a 38-metre-wide circular solar farm, fitted with 180 double-sided panels.
On sunny days, the island can produce around 73 kilowatts of power. But, thanks to its two-axis solar panels and unique sun-chasing technology, it can generate 40 per cent more energy than non-moving panels on land. Other benefits of the design are that water cooling improves power generation, plus it avoids taking up precious land, ideal for small densely populated places like the Netherlands and Japan.
Read more at EuroNews
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Credit: Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Conventional economic logic hinges on a core assumption: Bigger economies are better, and finding ways to maintain or boost growth is paramount to improving society.
Given the devastating impacts of the
triple-headed monster – respiratory syncytial virus, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 –
on children and
pediatric hospitals, is it justifiable to have mandatory masking in
public spaces again? Almost certainly, yes.
Is it going to happen? Almost certainly, no.
Welcome
to the frustrating incongruity of (post-?) pandemic life. A mask mandate makes
sense scientifically. But it’s pretty well a non-starter for political and
social reasons.
Public health, even more so than politics, is
the art of the possible. We’re at the point in the pandemic where pragmatism
will have to do. Urge people to embrace mitigation measures, and remind them of
the benefits of acting, and the cost of inaction. There was virtually no flu
when the vast majority of people were wearing masks and avoiding large
gatherings. Our laissez-faire attitude means hospitals are full of
sick kids, and one of them could be your child or grandchild.
The core philosophy of public health is harm
reduction. Meet people where they’re at, whether it’s substance use or
mask-wearing. Give them the tools and the knowledge to protect themselves and
others, and hope they use them at least sometimes. And don’t let perfect be the
enemy of good.
Read more at: The Globe and Mail
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The Big Idea: Stopping Climate Change Isn’t Enough – We Need to Reverse It |
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Credit: Elia Barbieri/The Guardian
With the world on course to exceed 1.5C warming, taking carbon out of the atmosphere, as well as lowering emissions, will become increasingly important
The past year has seen an unending drumbeat of climate-driven disasters. And yet, the climate story of this past decade has been one of slow but steady progress. Global CO2 emissions have flattened, and countries representing 88% of global emissions have adopted or announced plans to get to net zero in the latter half of the 21st century.
Another reason to be hopeful is that clean energy became cheaper much faster than expected. The cost of both solar energy and batteries fell tenfold in the last 10 years and the cost of wind energy by two-thirds. Solar is the cheapest form of new electricity to build in much of the world today, and electric vehicles now represent 13% of new vehicle sales globally.
But this doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels. Far from it. We are still nowhere near where we need to be to meet our climate goals. In the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which I contributed to, we found that if we want to limit warming to 1.5C we can only emit 420bn more tons of CO2 – equal to around 10 years of current emissions. This means that even with the progress we’ve made, the increase in global temperatures is very likely to exceed 1.5C by the early 2030s. Read more at: The Guardian
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SPOTLIGHT ON INDIGENOUS WELLNESS |
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'Dancing is healing': Courtney-Dawn Anaquod Models Mental Health Through Métis Jigging |
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Courtney-Dawn Anaquod is a jigging champion, fashion model and youth mentor focused on mental health, seen here in Saskatoon, Oct. 27, 2022. Credit: MATT SMITH /Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Anaquod’s passion for Métis jigging has her incorporating it into everything she does, wherever she can. “Dancing has been the centre of who I am. And my dancing follows me wherever I go. If I do motivational speaking, then I usually end in a performance.”
When she started learning traditional jigging as a young girl with her musician father, she found a deeper connection to her roots.
“My kokum was a championship jigger — it runs in my family,” she says.
“I grew up culturally connected in that way … (and) no matter the challenges, the obstacles that my family went through due to the impact of residential schools and then having that intergenerational trauma, music kept us together, dancing kept us together. It healed us.”
Her father, Donny, says the young parents look up to Anaquod and appear to learn a lot from her approach. “They support each other when they collaborate with each other and talk with each other (about) their personal issues.” Anaquod says she wants to impress on the people she works with that there is always hope.
Read more at Saskatoon Star Phoenix
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Credit: HBC - Radiomatic
Degrowthers know their critiques are controversial, though in some ways, that’s the intent. They think a starker, more revolutionary approach is necessary given the UN estimate that global warming is due to rise to between 2.1 and 2.9 degrees Celsius, based on the world’s current climate pledges.
“The less time [that] is left now, the more radical change is needed,” said Kohei Saito, a professor at the University of Tokyo.
Could a growing cohort agree? In 2020, his book on degrowth from a Marxist perspective became a surprise hit in Japan, where concerns about the consequences of stagnant growth has inflected the country’s politics for decades. “Capital in the Anthropocene” has sold nearly 500,000 copies.
Read more at CNN
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FYI#1 SPOTLIGHT ON MEDIA |
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The Defiance of Celebrating Literature in the Midst of War |
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Books are seen among the debris in Borodyanka, Ukraine, on April 6. Credit: HENNADII MINCHENKO/ UKRINFORM/FUTURE PUBLISHING VIA GETTY IMAGES
One of the most profound images to come from the siege of Sarajevo was the stark image of the cellist Vedran Smailovic playing Tomaso Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor every day at noon, sitting elegantly and defiantly in black tie in the midst of the wreckage of Bosnia’s National and University Library.
The library had been bombed by Bosnian Serbs on Aug. 25, 1992, destroying 90 percent of its 1.5 million volumes of precious books, including rare Ottoman editions. A 32-year-old librarian was killed that night as she desperately tried to save books. The scene of book pages burning and ashes rising in the air was an indelible image of the cruelty of war and a symbol of cultural destruction.
The beautiful, Moorish-inspired City Hall building, called Vijecnica, which housed the library, was more than a place to find books—it was a potent symbol of multicultural ethnicity. That, above all, is what the Serbs tried to destroy: the cultural ethos of what made up Bosnia.
A similar phenomenon is happening now in Ukraine. Russia seeks to destroy Ukrainian identity, and that includes monuments, libraries, theaters, art, and literature.
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Credit: Kadir van Lohuizen/NOOR
The rallying cry in the Netherlands started two decades ago, as concern mounted about its ability to feed its 17 million people: Produce twice as much food using half as many resources.
The country, which is a bit bigger than Maryland, not only accomplished this feat but also has become the world’s second largest exporter of agricultural products by value behind the United States. Perhaps even more significant in the face of a warming planet: It is among the largest exporters of agricultural and food technology. The Dutch have pioneered cell-cultured meat, vertical farming, seed technology and robotics in milking and harvesting — spearheading innovations that focus on decreased water usage as well as reduced carbon and methane emissions.
The Netherlands produces 4 million cows, 13 million pigs and 104 million chickens annually and is Europe’s biggest meat exporter. But it also provides vegetables to much of Western Europe. The country has nearly 24,000 acres — almost twice the size of Manhattan — of crops growing in greenhouses. These greenhouses, with less fertilizer and water, can grow in a single acre what would take 10 acres of traditional dirt farming to achieve. Dutch farms use only a half-gallon of water to grow about a pound of tomatoes, while the global average is more than 28 gallons.
More than half of the land in the Netherlands is used for agriculture.
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FYI #3 |
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Why the Climate Crisis Means Some English Roses Will Bloom No More |
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Shropshire Lad has won Royal Horticultural Society awards but has recently been removed from sale at David Austin Roses. Credit: Sergey Rodovnichenko/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Think of the quintessential English garden and a rose will invariably spring to mind. Their sweet scent and plush petals have long been prized by gardeners, but now some of the most beloved varieties are being retired by growers due to climate breakdown and pests.
Though their use in gardens is thought to have originated in China and Iraq, for hundreds of years, they have been a prize bloom across England. And the undisputed king of rose-growing in the past six decades has been David Austin, who died in 2018 but whose roses fill gardens all over the country with their colour and intoxicating smell. His company, which is still going, has said it is to retire some of its most well-loved species because they are no longer practicable to grow.
The ballet slipper pink blooms and fruity tea fragrance of a Shropshire Lad, a beautiful climbing rose, has won awards from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) since it went on sale in 1996. With its almost thornless stems and perfectly symmetrical petals, it soon became the climbing rose of choice from David Austin’s collection for those who wanted flowers with a pearly pink colour. But in recent weeks, it has been removed from sale.
Tim Smith, the operations director at David Austin Roses, said: “We cannot stand still and observe as we see diseases and pests evolve as conditions and climates change, threatening the health and success of some of our most popular varieties.
“This means re-trialling all our releases and, in some instances, retiring very popular varieties [like the] Shropshire Lad. Whilst these plants may still perform in some conditions, in the long term, the changing conditions mean that we recommend alternative varieties that are better suited to the changing environment.
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FYI #4 |
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WHO to Phase Out the Name ‘Monkeypox’ for ‘Mpox’ |
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Monkeypox, or mpox, particles shown on the right side of a slide. Credit: NIAID
The World Health Organization said this week it will phase out the name of the disease monkeypox over the next year, replacing it with the term mpox. The decision follows widespread calls for changing the name since the current international outbreak of the disease was first detected last May.
The name of the disease and even the virus itself has been deemed by many to exacerbate the stigma attached to the infection — a sentiment the WHO referenced in the statement it issued announcing the change.
“When the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO,” the statement said. “In several meetings, public and private, a number of individuals and countries raised concerns and asked WHO to propose a way forward to change the name.”
The WHO has the authority to name and on occasion rename diseases under the International Classification of Diseases, which is in effect the global bible of diseases. In the ICD, each disease is assigned a code that countries around the world use for health billing purposes and to collect and research health data.
Typically the process of renaming a disease takes a number of years. The WHO acknowledged that this time, the work was done on an accelerated schedule, though it did involve consultation with experts and countries. The general public was also invited to propose replacement names.
The WHO statement said the transition to the new name will be done over the course of a year to minimize confusion and give the agency time to update its various monkeypox-related publications. The term monkeypox will remain in the ICD, to lower the risk of a disconnect between studies that used the old terminology and those that use mpox.
The WHO will likely satisfy some critics of the term monkeypox, but it will not drive the word from the scientific literature. That’s because the name of the virus itself does not appear to be changing.
Authority to change the name of a virus is the purview of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which to date has expressed unwillingness to drop the term monkeypox, citing a fear that the continuity of the scientific literature could be compromised by giving the virus a new name.
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FYI #5: FIRST DECEMBER READING - NEW BOOK |
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"The Green Amendment - The People's Fight For A Clean, Safe, and Health Environment" by Maya K. van Rossum |
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Credit: Book Cover
For decades, activists have relied on federal and state legislation to fight for a cleaner environment. And for decades, they’ve been fighting a losing battle. The sad truth is, our laws are designed to accommodate pollution and legalize environmental degradation rather than prevent them. It’s no wonder people feel powerless when it comes to preserving the quality of their water, air, climate, public parks, and special natural spaces.
But there is a solution, argues veteran environmentalist Maya K. van Rossum: bypass the laws and turn to the ultimate authority — our state and federal constitutions.
Now, with The Green Amendment, the People's Fight to Secure a Clean, Safe & Healthy Environment, van Rossum lays out an inspiring new agenda for environmental advocacy, one that will finally empower people, level the playing field, and provide real hope for communities everywhere. Readers will discover:
- how legislative environmentalism has failed communities across America,
- the transformational difference environmental constitutionalism can make for environmental protection,
- the power of environmental constitutionalism for environmental justice, the climate crisis, protecting future generations, and protecting human health,
- the economic imperative of environmental constitutionalism, and
- how to take action in their own communities.
The Green Amendment, featuring a foreword by Mark Ruffalo, is filled with heartbreaking stories of people who have been negatively impacted by our disregard for the environment. Pollution and ecological disasters have damaged their homes. Toxins have sickened their families. Property and health effects shut down businesses and robbed people of the ability to work, ruining their livelihoods.
In response, Maya offers not only hope, but a clear path forward. The first edition of The Green Amendment, Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment, was selected as the 2018 Living Now Evergreen Awards GOLD Winner in the Nature Conservation category. The Living Now Evergreen Book Medals were founded to “commemorate world- changing books”. The book also received an honorable mention from the 2017 Forward Indies Book of the Year awards in the category ecology and environment.
In the new edition, Maya turns her attention to the often-neglected issues of environmental racism, the climate crisis, the human health devastation caused by environmental degradation, and the importance of protecting future generations from pollution and environmental harm.
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FYI#6: SPOTLIGHT ON EDUCATION |
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Teen Brains Aged Faster Than Normal From Pandemic Stress, Study Says |
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Credit: Shutterstock
The stress of pandemic lockdowns prematurely aged the brains of teenagers by at least three years and in ways similar to changes observed in children who have faced chronic stress and adversity, a study has found.
The study, published today in Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, was the first to compare scans of the physical structures of teenagers’ brains from before and after the pandemic started, and to document significant differences, said Ian Gotlib, lead author on the paper and a psychology professor at Stanford University.
Researchers knew teens had higher “levels of depression, anxiety and fearfulness” than “before the pandemic. But we knew nothing about the effects on their brains,” said Gotlib, who is director of the Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect, and Psychopathology Laboratory. “We thought there might be effects similar to what you would find with early adversity; we just didn’t realize how strong they’d be.”
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Photo Credits: David Zakus |
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