All posts tagged: Science & Health

Iraq rainstorm flooding kills hikers, officials say

Iraq rainstorm flooding kills hikers, officials say

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Sulaimaniyah, Iraq —  Floods caused by torrential rainstorms have killed four hikers in the Sulaimaniyah region of northern Iraq, local officials told AFP. “Four members of a hiking team drowned because of heavy rains and flooding in Awaspi village” in the Qaradah district, local official Rouf Kamal said. Civil defense spokesperson Aram Ali confirmed the toll and said eight other hikers survived the incident south of Sulaimaniyah on Friday, the autonomous Kurdistan region’s second city. He said a weather warning was issued Thursday, with hikers particularly urged to avoid mountainous areas. Heavier than usual rainfall has caused flooding in several parts of Iraq, especially the north, and some roads in Kurdistan region capital Arbil were blocked. Iraq has suffered four consecutive years of drought, with irregular rainfall badly affecting water resources, forcing many farmers to abandon their land. But Ammer al-Jabiri, spokesperson for the weather service in Iraq, where the rainy season is generally from December to March, said precipitation in 2024 was “better than last year.” Source link

Tropical cyclone threatens to worsen humanitarian crisis in flooded East Africa

Tropical cyclone threatens to worsen humanitarian crisis in flooded East Africa

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GENEVA —  The World Meteorological Organization warns that Tropical Cyclone Hidaya, which is projected to make landfall in Tanzania and Kenya this weekend, threatens to worsen the humanitarian crisis triggered by torrential rains in these and other heavily flooded countries in East Africa. “Hidaya is the first documented system to have reached tropical cyclone status in this part of the world. We are not talking about Sudan. We are talking about lower and East Africa,” WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva on Friday. “It is historically significant. It is also going to have a very big impact, and specifically on Tanzania, where the ground is already absolutely soddened. Tanzania, which has suffered flooding, is about to get hit with more heavy rains falling … from this system. “And the moisture in this tropical cyclone will also impact Kenya, where there is also very, very bad flooding,” she said, noting that “climate change was supercharging extreme weather.” El Nino, which sparked heavy rains and severe flooding sweeping East Africa, is waning. Despite this, the …

US maternal mortality rates return to prepandemic level

US maternal mortality rates return to prepandemic level

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New government statistics indicate that the U.S. maternal mortality rate is coming down, following a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday. About 680 women died last year in pregnancy-related deaths, according to provisional CDC data. That’s a drop from 2022, when 817 maternal deaths were reported. In 2021, during the pandemic, the number spiked to 1,205 deaths. Before the pandemic, in 2020, 861 maternal deaths were reported. The CDC and the World Health Organization classify maternal mortality as a death during pregnancy or childbirth and up to 42 days after the pregnancy if it could be related to the pregnancy. The provisional 2023 U.S. maternal mortality numbers, after further investigation, will likely change. In 2022, for example, the final figure was 11% higher than the provisional number. However, Donna Hoyert, a CDC maternal mortality researcher, told The Associated Press that the 2023 maternal death numbers are still expected to be lower than the 2022 figures. While the overall maternal mortality numbers in the U.S. …

Chinese scientist who published COVID-19 virus sequence allowed back in his lab after sit-in protest 

Chinese scientist who published COVID-19 virus sequence allowed back in his lab after sit-in protest 

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BEIJING —  The first scientist to publish a sequence of the COVID-19 virus in China said he was allowed back into his lab after he spent days locked outside, sitting in protest. Zhang Yongzhen wrote in an online post on Wednesday, just past midnight, that the medical center that hosts his lab had “tentatively agreed” to allow him and his team to return and continue their research for the time being. “Now, team members can enter and leave the laboratory freely,” Zhang wrote in a post on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. He added that he is negotiating a plan to relocate the lab in a way that doesn’t disrupt his team’s work with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, which hosts Zhang’s lab. Zhang and his team were suddenly told they had to leave their lab for renovations on Thursday, setting off the dispute, he said in an earlier post that was later deleted. On Sunday, Zhang began a sit-in protest outside his lab after he found he was locked out, a sign …

Energy storage is key to global renewable goals

Energy storage is key to global renewable goals

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Paris, France —  G7 environment ministers committed on Tuesday to ramp up the production and deployment of battery storage technology, an essential component for increasing renewable energy and combating climate change. Here is how and why batteries play a vital role in the energy transition: Growing demand Batteries have been central to the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) but are also critical to wind and solar power because of the intermittent nature of these energy sources. Surplus electricity must be stored in batteries to stabilize distribution regardless of peaks in demand, or breaks in supply at night or during low winds. Battery deployment in the energy sector last year increased more than 130 percent from 2022, according to a report released last week by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The main markets are China, the European Union and the United States. Following closely are Britain, South Korea, Japan and developing nations in Africa, where solar and storage technology is seen as the gateway to energy access. Six-fold goal To triple global renewable energy capacity by …

African farmers look to the past and the future to address climate change 

African farmers look to the past and the future to address climate change 

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HARARE —  From ancient fertilizer methods in Zimbabwe to new greenhouse technology in Somalia, farmers across the heavily agriculture-reliant African continent are looking to the past and future to respond to climate change. Africa, with the world’s youngest population, faces the worst effects of a warming planet while contributing the least to the problem. Farmers are scrambling to make sure the booming population is fed. With more than 60% of the world’s uncultivated land, Africa should be able to feed itself, some experts say. And yet three in four people across the continent cannot afford a healthy diet, according to a report last year by the African Union and United Nations agencies. Reasons include conflict and lack of investment. In Zimbabwe, where the El Nino phenomenon has worsened a drought, small-scale farmer James Tshuma has lost hope of harvesting anything from his fields. It’s a familiar story in much of the country, where the government has declared a $2 billion state of emergency and millions of people face hunger. But a patch of green vegetables …

Georgia to host development summit; climate change, aging on agenda

Georgia to host development summit; climate change, aging on agenda

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SYDNEY —  The Asian Development Bank holds its annual meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, next week, with discussions on climate change and the world’s aging population high on the agenda. The four-day summit, starting Thursday, marks the first time that the ADB’s 68 members have gathered for a meeting in Georgia, which joined the multilateral development bank in 2007. “Georgia sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia,” said Shalini Mittal, a principal economist for Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “This meeting signifies ADB’s agenda of bridges to the future where technology and expertise from the West can be used to enhance structural reforms in Asia,” Mittal told VOA. Alongside numerous panel discussions and a keynote speech from ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa, finance ministers from Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries Japan, China and South Korea will also meet on the sidelines. “Given the geopolitical uncertainty with the Ukraine-Russia war and tensions in Asia with China’s problematic relations with its neighbors, I think the meeting is taking place at a crucial time,” said Jason …

Public urged to join fight for Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Public urged to join fight for Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

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sydney —  Analysis of more than 25,000 images from divers, tourism operators and recreational boats on Australia’s annual Great Reef Census is getting under way. Now in its fourth year, one of the world’s fastest-growing conservation projects is helping to gauge the health and degradation of the world’s largest coral system, which is suffering from another mass bleaching event. The Great Reef Census collects a trove of images of what is arguably Australia’s greatest natural treasure. Each picture can contain vital information about the health of the Great Barrier Reef. Together, the images create a vital evaluation of the state of the ecosystem. The barrier reef stretches for 2,300 kilometers down Australia’s northeastern coast. It is under increasing threat from global warming, pollution and overfishing, as well as coral-eating crown of thorns starfish. The surveillance project is urging so-called citizen scientists around the world to help in the analysis of the images. The survey also uses artificial intelligence to scan much of the data. The public is being asked to analyze the images to see …

US commercial milk supply safe despite discovery of bird flu virus fragments

US commercial milk supply safe despite discovery of bird flu virus fragments

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said this week that about one in five U.S. commercial milk samples from a nationwide survey contained traces of bird flu virus, but it maintained that the product remains safe to consume. The public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu pathogen is minimal, the World Health Organization said Friday, adding that countries should remain vigilant and work to reduce exposure. The FDA said late Thursday that additional testing was required to determine whether a live virus was still intact in the milk samples but added that there was currently no evidence that the milk posed a danger. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the FDA said that pasteurization used in production makes the milk safe for consumption, as it heats the milk to a specific temperature to kill harmful bacteria and viruses. Further, milk from sick cows gets diverted or destroyed in the pasteurization process. The FDA said in its latest update that “to date, the retail milk studies have shown no results that would change our …

Russia blocks UN resolution on peaceful use of outer space

Russia blocks UN resolution on peaceful use of outer space

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new york —  Russia blocked a U.N. Security Council resolution Wednesday reaffirming the need to prevent a nuclear arms race in outer space. The measure was proposed jointly by the United States, a nuclear power, and Japan, the only nation ever to be attacked with nuclear bombs. “We have only begun to understand the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space,” said U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “How it could destroy thousands of satellites operated by countries and companies around the world — and wipe out the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial and national security services we all depend on.” The failed text recalled the responsibility of states to comply with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which is the basic framework on international space law. It says outer space is to be shared among nations and shall be free of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction. The treaty also says the moon and other celestial bodies “shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes,” and astronauts shall be “regarded as the envoys of …