Problem

Image: BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform burns in April 2010, fouling the Gulf Coast: Is it responsible for a massive die-off of dolphins? (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

latimes.com - February 16th 2015 - Michael Hiltzik

In the years since its Deepwater Horizon oil spill befouled huge stretches of the Gulf of Mexico, oil giant BP has honed its skill at cherry-picking scientific studies to duck responsibility for the spill's environmental impacts.

Its latest effort concerns a study of a massive die-off of bottlenose dolphins in the gulf from 2010 through June 2013, occurring mostly after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout caused the worst oil spill in history. The peer-reviewed study, led by Stephanie Venn-Watson of the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego, was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and published last week in the open-access journal PLoS One.

AFP                                                                                                    Feb. 19, 2015

Geneva - Ebola-hit Sierre Leone and Guinea saw an increase in the last week in unsafe burials that risk spreading the disease, the World Health Organization reported.

A specialized team bury the body of an Ebola victim in Mananeh, Sierra Leone on October 6, 2014 (AFP Photo/Florian Plaucheur)

In Guinea, there were 39 unsafe burials and in Sierre Leone, there were 45 reported in the week to February 15, WHO said in a report late Wednesday.

WHO also warned that more than 40 new confirmed Ebola cases in the two countries had been identified only after the infected people had died in their communities, and not in treatment facilities.

Read complete story.
http://news.yahoo.com/unsafe-burials-increase-ebola-hit-countries-112025290.html;_ylt=AwrBJR8Y8.VU8EYAzAfQtDMD
-0-

AFP                                                                                                                    Feb. 17, 2015

London--  A team of leading international scientists on Tuesday called for new Ebola vaccines to be made available in months rather than years and warned against complacency after a reduction in infection rates.

(Scroll down for link to complete report.)

"Despite falling infection rates in west Africa, the risk that the current Ebola outbreak may not be brought completely under control remains," said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, Britain's biggest medical charity.

"The accelerated development of candidate vaccines... is essential," said Farrar, who co-chairs a group of 26 international experts on vaccine development.

Read complete story.

http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-warn-against-complacency-ebola-vaccines-004937305.html;_ylt=AwrBEiHDVuNUhDcAfsPQtDMD

Recommendations for Accelerating the Development of Ebola Vaccines: Report & Analysis

Image: A graphic of planes encircling a globe.

enasia.com - January 27 2015 - Robert Litterman

In his State of the Union speech last week, President Obama spoke movingly about addressing climate change. But frankly, the United States government has not yet moved the needle. In fact, the world today is fiddling while future humans are being made subject to worst-case scenarios we have not even thought about.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)