Image: A screenshot of the Frog Watch map.

greenbiz.com - July 8th, 2014 - Yale Environment 360

By making the recording and sharing of environmental data easier than ever, web-based technology has fostered the rapid growth of so-called citizen scientists — volunteers who collaborate with scientists to collect and interpret data. Numerous Internet-based projects now make use of citizen scientists to monitor environmental health and to track sensitive plant and wildlife populations. From counting butterflies, frogs, and bats across the globe, to piloting personal drones capable of high-definition infrared imaging, citizen scientists are playing a crucial role in collecting data that will help researchers understand the environment. Here is a sampling of some of these projects.

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greenbiz.com - July 15th, 2014 - Todd Reubold

By 2050, seven out of every 10 people on Earth will be an urban dweller. What the cities of the future look like depends largely on decisions we make today.

Will we design a future where driverless cars zip around under skyscraping vertical gardens in hyperconnected, energy-efficient “smart cities”? Or will we be trapped in endless traffic jams while pollution overwhelms remaining green spaces and infrastructure crumbles?

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Submitted by Albert Gomez

crn.com - July 11th, 2014 - Robert Westervelt

The Identity Theft Resource Center, which tracks public reports of data breaches, said it has logged nearly 400 incidents exposing credit card data and sensitive information in 2014. While retailers gain the most attention as a result of attacks against their payment systems, healthcare data, university information was also exposed in attacks. Security experts say the incidents expose password management lapses, poor data base management and oversight and the failure to identify and correct common Web application vulnerabilities.

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The Centers for Disease Control plans to take measures to better protect lab workers and the rest of us from dangerous biological samples

scientificamerican.com - by Dina Fine Maron - July 17, 2014

Twenty-one dead lab chickens piled up this spring at a government facility before its researchers could pinpoint why. The team had requested and received what was meant to be a relatively harmless strain of avian flu. Instead, the virus killed all the test birds during experiments.

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Image: Eleni Kalorkoti

nytimes.com - by David J. Hayes - July 17, 2014

STANFORD, Calif. — AFTER years of hype, renewable energy has gone mainstream in much of the United States and, increasingly, around the world. . .

. . . But many communities that need small-scale renewable energy remain out in the cold — literally and figuratively.

In Alaska, for instance, the vast majority of the more than 200 small, isolated communities populated primarily by native Alaskans rely on dirty, expensive diesel fuel to generate their electricity and heat.

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Eric Thayer/Reuters

Some run dry—and others pay $30 for plumbers to illegally turn the taps back on.

theatlantic.com - by Rose Hackman - July 17, 2014

When the water trucks arrived near Arlyssa Heard’s home on the west side of Detroit at the end of June, the 42-year-old single mother of two said it felt like the entire neighborhood was being taken over. . .

. . . It may not have been a police crackdown, but what she witnessed was definitely a crackdown of a sort. Since last year, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has been turning off water at the homes of customers behind on their bills.

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http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/085007.shtml?inundation

The National Hurricane Center’s new maps, released as the storm approached the U.S., predicted the location and severity of the surge

scientificamerican.com - by Kevin Schultz - July 14, 2014

Hurricane Arthur smashed into the North Carolina coast last week. Just before it hit, residents checked a new storm surge map, found on the National Hurricane Center (NHC) Web Site. It showed them whether they would be above the water driven onto land by the storm or need to evacuate to higher ground. Store owners used it to figure out how high they needed to move their goods off the ground to prevent water damage. Some emergency management crews even utilized it to predict where the hardest hit places could be.

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(ALSO SEE RELATED INFORMATION HERE)

A jogger runs by a sprinkler that is partially watering a sidewalk in Golden Gate Park on July 15, 2014 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

cbsnews.com - AP - July 16, 2014

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Reservoirs are running dry, the Capitol's lawn has turned brown, and farmers have left hundreds of thousands of acres unplanted.

Even so, many Californians aren't taking the drought seriously. State water regulators are trying to change that by imposing fines up to $500 a day for wasting water.

The State Water Resources Control Board acted Tuesday amid warnings that conditions could get worse if it doesn't rain this winter.

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fda.gov - Press Announcement - July 16, 2014
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm405434.htm

nzherald.co.nz - AFP - July 17, 2014

An investigation into the discovery of six vials of forgotten smallpox at a US government lab has turned up many more boxes containing infectious biological agents, US regulators said yesterday.

"The investigation found 12 boxes containing a total of 327 carefully packaged vials labeled with names of various biological agents such as dengue, influenza, Q fever and rickettsia," the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a statement.

The boxes were discovered in the same cold storage area of an FDA lab on the campus of the National Institutes of Health where the half dozen smallpox vials were found on July 1.

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whitehouse.gov

usatoday.com - by Wendy Koch - July 16, 2014

As part of his plan to help U.S. communities prepare for climate change, President Obama is unveiling initiatives Wednesday that include 3-dimensional mapping to better identify flood risks, landslide hazards and coastal erosion. . .

. . . The U.S. Geological Survey is launching a $13 million 3-D Elevation Program to develop advanced mapping that it says could, among other things, make it quicker to update flood maps and easier to find ideal sites for wind turbines and solar panels. It's relying on lidar (light detection and ranging) technology that uses light from lasers to give the elevation of any spot — from the tree tops to the ground.

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A vote projected on a large video screen above the city council shows unanimous approval to send a citizen-led petition to a public ballot scheduled for November, Wednesday, in Denton, Texas. TONY GUTIERREZ — AP

abcnews.go.com - AP - by Emily Schmall - July 16, 2014

The council governing a North Texas city that sits atop a large natural gas reserve rejected a bid early Wednesday that would have made it the first city in the state to ban further permitting of hydraulic fracturing in the community.

Denton City Council members voted down the petition 5-2 after eight hours of public testimony, sending the proposal to a public ballot in November.

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(ALSO SEE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IN RELATED ARTICLES WITHIN THE LINKS BELOW)

http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/07/15/5973163/denton-fracking-ban-hearing-draws.html?rh=1

submitted by Albert Gomez

miami.cbslocal.com - by Joan Murray - July 16, 2014

WEST PALM BEACH (CBSMiami/AP) — . . . State officials say the number of Florida travelers who contracted the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus since the beginning of the year has risen to 81.

Officials say all the patients documented in Florida contracted the virus while traveling in the Caribbean. . .

. . . Experts said it’s only a matter of time before someone develops Chikungunya in South Florida which is why they are alerting the public to let them know it exists.

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(CLICK HERE - CDC - CHIKUNGUNYA IN THE UNITED STATES)

(CLICK HERE - FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - CHIKUNGUNYA)

(ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE)

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Emergency managers need to train, encourage and empower public partners to become their own heroes. 
Flickr/Joe Loong

emergencymgmt.com - by Charisma Williams - July 15, 2014

“Be your own hero.” The words hit me like a bolt of lightning (I’ll explain why later). . .

. . . Too often the public has to be “humbled” by a tragic or devastating event before many people start to see the validity in the safety and preparedness measures that those of us in the emergency management/preparedness community work so hard to promote both in our professional and personal lives. However, once they do, it is our job to use these events to help foster the safety culture we strive for daily.

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fema.gov

The 2014 - 2018 FEMA Strategic Plan reflects objectives the Agency will accomplish to provide the best possible support to the American people before, during, and after disasters. It sets forth the strategies FEMA will employ to accomplish the objectives and also establishes measurable outcomes to achieve. This Strategic Plan was developed through the involvement of hundreds of FEMA employees and many external stakeholders who contributed to generating our objectives, strategies, and outcomes, and who are now working to execute this Plan. 

The Strategic Plan provides a strategic lense to focus FEMA's efforts and guide the allocation of resources over the next four years. The FEMA Strategic Plan supports the Department of Homeland Security's 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review Mission 5 (Strengthen national preparedness and resilience) and is built on five strategic priorities and two strategic imperatives outlined in the Fiscal Year 2015-2019 Administrator's Intent:

submitted by Albert Gomez

National Research Council. Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Fifth Biennial Review, 2014. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2014.

The Everglades ecosystem is vast, stretching more than 200 miles from Orlando to Florida Bay, and Everglades National Park is but a part located at the southern end. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the historical Everglades has been reduced to half of its original size, and what remains is not the pristine ecosystem many image it to be, but one that has been highly engineered and otherwise heavily influenced, and is intensely managed by humans. Rather than slowly flowing southward in a broad river of grass, water moves through a maze of canals, levees, pump stations, and hydraulic control structures, and a substantial fraction is diverted from the natural system to meet water supply and flood control needs. The water that remains is polluted by phosphorus and other contaminants originating from agriculture and other human activities. Many components of the natural system are highly degraded and continue to degrade.