Situation Report

Project to Raise Homes, Move Families in Southwest Coastal Louisiana Moves Forward

           

Carlos Ortega, a worker with Clesi Foundations, moves support wood at a house being raised in Harvey in August 2011. (Photo by Susan Poag, The Times-Picayune archive)

nola.com - by Sara Sneath - March 11, 2019

A study to determine which homes in Southwest Coastal Louisiana will qualify for voluntary relocation or elevation recently received funding after much back-and-forth between parish officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

While financing for the study only accounts for a small chunk of the overall project, it represents the first time a non-structural project within the state’s coastal master plan has been given funding, said Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana Board Chairman Chip Kline. Flood proofing businesses, home elevations and voluntary home acquisitions are all considered non-structural measures. The most recent version of the 50-year plan estimates 26,569 homes and businesses across Louisiana will be eligible for help, at a cost of more than $6 billion.

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‘Unacceptable’: Lawmakers Question Decision Not To Monitor Harvey Pollution With NASA Jet

           

After Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas coast in August 2017, the storm stalled over Houston and dumped as much as 60 inches of rain on some parts of the region.  Katie Hayes Luke for NPR

Lawmakers called the decision “deeply troubling.”

houstonpublicmedia.org - by Davis Land - March 7, 2019

Lawmakers on the U.S. House science committee have questions for federal and Texas officials about a decision not to fly a NASA jet that would have provided more comprehensive data on air pollution after Hurricane Harvey.

Committee members Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) have requested documents relating to the decision from the Environmental Protection Agency, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and NASA.

The request comes after an L.A. Times article revealed NASA officials offered up a high-tech air-sampling jet to help with pollution monitoring after Hurricane Harvey. The EPA and TCEQ reportedly pushed back on the offer, saying data from the state-of-the-art airplane would not be helpful. Their response informed NASA officials’ decision not to fly.

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Winter 2018-19 Was Wettest on Record in U.S., NOAA Says

           

CLICK HERE - ncei.noaa.gov - Assessing the U.S. Climate in February 2019 - Wettest winter on record for the contiguous United States

weather.com - by Brian Donegan - February 6, 2019

Winter 2018-19 was the wettest on record in the United States after numerous heavy rain and snow events soaked the nation, according to a just-released government report.

The national climate report from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) said the country's average winter precipitation total was 9.01 inches, 2.22 inches above the 20th-century average (1901-2000), which bested the previous record-wet winter of 1997-98 by 0.02 inches. In this analysis, winter is defined as the three-month period from December through February.

(CLICK HERE - READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

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Life Expectancy In Houston Can Vary Up To 20 Years Depending On Where You Live

In Texas, life expectancy varies even more – up to 30 years between some ZIP codes.

           

Courtesy of UT Southwestern Medical Center

CLICK HERE - INTERACTIVE MAP - Life Expectancy in Texas

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Life Expectancy at Birth in Communities Across Texas: 2005-2014 (26 page .PDF report)

houstonpublicmedia.org - by Katie Watkins - March 4, 2019

Life expectancy in Harris County can vary by about 20 years between ZIP codes,  according to new research by UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas . . .

. . . In Texas, the numbers vary even more – up to 30 years between some ZIP codes. While the statewide life expectancy is 78.5 years, the longest life expectancy is in the 78634 ZIP code in Hutto, Texas (97 years). The 76104 ZIP code in Forth Worth has the shortest (66.7 years).

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Heatwaves Sweeping Oceans ‘Like Wildfires’, Scientists Reveal

           

Ocean heatwaves destroy kelp forests, which provide food and shelter for many other species. Photograph: Thomas Schmitt/Getty Images

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Marine heatwaves threaten global biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services

Extreme temperatures destroy kelp, seagrass and corals – with alarming impacts for humanity

theguardian.com - by Damian Carrington - March 4, 2019

The number of heatwaves affecting the planet’s oceans has increased sharply, scientists have revealed, killing swathes of sea-life like “wildfires that take out huge areas of forest”.

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'Poisoning Our Water': Coal Ash Contaminating Groundwater Nationwide, Groups Say

           

Waste ash from hundreds of coal-fired power plants has contaminated groundwater in 39 states with toxic substances such as arsenic, lithium and mercury, according to a report by two environmental groups. SOURCE: CNN

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Coal’s Poisonous Legacy - Groundwater Contaminated by Coal Ash Across the U.S. (80 page .PDF report)

cnn.com - by Gregory Wallace - March 4, 2019

Waste ash from hundreds of coal-fired power plants has contaminated groundwater in 39 states with toxic substances like arsenic, lithium and mercury, according to a report by two environmental groups that was based on data the plants reported to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The report, released Monday by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice, highlights more than a dozen instances in which those substances have reached drinking water supplies. The full extent of the effect on drinking water supplies is not known because private sources of drinking water are not tested, the report said.

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Russian General Pitches ‘Information’ Operations as a Form of War

           

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov in Moscow last year. General Gerasimov said Saturday that Russia should bring a blend of political, economic and military power to bear against its adversaries.  Credit: Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik

nytimes.com - by Andrew E. Kramer - March 2, 2019

The chief of Russia’s armed forces endorsed on Saturday the kind of tactics used by his country to intervene abroad, repeating a philosophy of so-called hybrid war that has earned him notoriety in the West, especially among American officials who have accused Russia of election meddling in 2016 . . .

. . . General Gerasimov said Russia’s armed forces must maintain both “classical” and “asymmetrical” potential, using jargon for the mix of combat, intelligence and propaganda tools that the Kremlin has deployed in conflicts such as Syria and Ukraine.

And he cited the Syrian civil war an example of successful Russian intervention abroad. The combination of a small expeditionary force with “information” operations had provided lessons that could be expanded to “defend and advance national interests beyond the borders of Russia,” he said.

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Mental Health was Hurricane Harvey’s Greatest Toll, First of its Kind Registry Finds

           

Harris County Public Health Martha Marquez, from left, Mac McClendon and Dr. Umair A. Shah, talk with Hurricane Harvey victim Juan Cazares in the Aldine community Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Houston. The assessments of became part of a recently released report.  Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Hurricane Harvey Registry - Initial Report - February 2019 (20 page .PDF report)

houstonchronicle.com - by Todd Ackerman - February 21, 2019

Hurricane Harvey’s greatest lingering toll was on Houstonians’ mental health, according to initial findings from a first-of-its-kind registry that surveyed people about the 2017 storm’s impact on their lives.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents to the registry, modeled on the one created in the aftermath of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, reported intrusive or unintended thoughts about the hurricane and its resulting flooding. That was a higher rate than physical symptoms reported by respondents.

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Russian Trolls Promoted Anti-Vaccination Propaganda that May Have Caused Measles Outbreak, Researcher Claims

           

Trolls used the vaccination debate to try to sow discord during the US election, researchers say. Photograph: Buenaventuramariano/Getty Images/iStockphoto

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH REPORT - American Public Health Association - Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate

newsweek.com - by Christina Maza - February 14, 2019

Russian propaganda may be responsible for the persistence of measles as conspiracy theories about vaccinations spread across the Internet, according to researchers.

The same Russian trolls who attempted to provoke racial tensions and influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election were also responsible for spreading propaganda against vaccinations. Their efforts may have helped cause the measles outbreak that infected tens of thousands and killed dozens in Europe last year, researchers told Radio Free Europe.

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Hurricanes, Droughts, and Wildfires: How Biopharma is Girding for Climate Change

           

A runner tries to navigate a flooded section of sidewalk underneath the Longfellow Bridge in Cambridge, Mass.  Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe

statnews.com - by Kate Sheridan - February 15, 2019

. . . the potential risks of climate change — and the attendant increase in natural disasters — stand to outstrip any … incremental gains, as the companies described in recent risk assessment reports to the British nonprofit CDP.

Hurricanes and superstorms, power outages and flooding all threaten manufacturing facilities and research sites, particularly when animals are involved. Droughts, too, threaten critical water supplies. Forest fires, even if remote from a given plant or research facility, bring smoke and air pollution that can similarly disrupt the day-to-day work for drug makers and their supply chain . . .

. . . STAT surveyed the risk assessment plans for more than a dozen major pharmaceutical companies and spoke with officials at labs that survived extreme weather events and others who are planning to avoid their repercussions. All emphasized that the risks are already real — and underscored how hard the industry is working to prepare to meet the challenge.

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