epidemic – Page 24 – Desdemona Despair

U.S. adult obesity rate by state, 2019. Graphic: Trust for America’s Health

September 19, 2020

U.S. adult obesity rate tops 40 percent, highest ever recorded – Obesity is single highest risk factor in COVID-19 mortality – “That’s extremely alarming in terms of its medical implications”

18 September 2020 (NBC News) – A new report reveals the adult obesity rate in the United States now stands at more than 42 percent, the highest it’s ever been. Twelve states have an obesity rate of more than 35 percent. “That’s extremely alarming in terms of its medical implications,” says John Auerbach, president […]

An aerial view shows buildings and roads submerged by floodwaters near the Nile River in South Khartoum, Sudan, 8 September 2020. Photo: Reuters

September 12, 2020

Africa’s record flooding stretches resources already struggling with COVID-19 and conflict – “Sudan is experiencing the worst flooding in 100 years”

By John Sparks 12 September 2020 (Sky News) – Record rainfall across parts of Africa is stretching the resources of government officials and aid workers already struggling with COVID-19 outbreaks, regional conflicts, and other health-related emergencies. In Sudan, a three-month state of emergency has been declared after weeks of heavy rain caused the White and […]

This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken Wednesday, 26 August 2020, at 2:40 p.m. EDT., and provided by NOAA, shows Hurricane Laura over the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Laura strengthened Wednesday into “an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane," The National Hurricane Center said. Laura is expected to strike Wednesday night into Thursday morning along the Louisiana-Texas border. Photo: NOAA / AP

August 26, 2020

Category 4 Hurricane Laura up to 145 mph, threatens “unsurvivable” 20-foot storm surge – “Some areas, when they wake up Thursday morning, they’re not going to believe what happened”

By Joe Mario Pedersen and Richard Tribou 26 August 2020 (Orlando Sentinel) – Hurricane Laura kept growing into a massive Category 4 storm with 145 mph winds as it’s set to slam into the Gulf Coast on Wednesday night with “catastrophic storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding,” according to the National Hurricane Center. The […]

August 2, 2020

Honest Government Ad: A message from the White House

30 July 2020 (The Juice Media) – Hello, I’m from the U.S. government, with an update on our pandemic response. In the space of a few months, our “Don’t worry, bro, it’s just the flu” policy has gotten a shit-ton of you killed. Some say this tragedy was inevitable, but actually, if we’d simply responded […]

Number of global undernourished, 2010-2020 and projected to 2030 under three Covid scenarios. Graphic: UNFAO

August 2, 2020

UN report sends “sobering message” of deeply entrenched hunger globally – Number of undernourished people in the world continued to increase in 2019

13 July 2020 (UN News) – In much of the world, “hunger remains deeply entrenched and is rising”, the UN chief said on Monday, launching this year’s major UN food security update, highlighting that over the past five years, tens of millions of people have joined the ranks of the chronically undernourished. As countries “continue […]

U.S. gross domestic product, 1950-2020. Gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — shrank at an annual rate of 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020 as restaurants and retailers closed their doors in a desperate effort to slow the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 150,000 people in the U.S. The economic shock in April, May, and June was more than three times as sharp as the previous record — 10 percent in 1958 — and nearly four times the worst quarter during the Great Recession. Data: Bureau of Economic Analysis. Graphic: Alyson Hurt / NPR

July 30, 2020

3 months of hell: U.S. economy drops 32.9 percent in worst GDP report ever – “We’re not going to get to the pre-pandemic levels of economic activity until sometime in 2022”

By Scott Horsley 30 July 2020 (NPR) – The coronavirus pandemic triggered the sharpest economic contraction in modern American history, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — shrank at an annual rate of 32.9% in the second quarter as restaurants and retailers closed their doors in a […]

Map showing the most commonly used opioid, 2018 or latest available data. Data: UNODC, responses to the annual report questionnaire. Graphic: UNODC

June 26, 2020

UN World Drug Report 2020: Global drug use increased 30 percent from 2009 – COVID-19 has far reaching impact on global drug markets

VIENNA, 25 June 2020 (UNODC) – Around 269 million people used drugs worldwide in 2018, which is 30 per cent more than in 2009, while over 35 million people suffer from drug use disorders, according to the latest World Drug Report, released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The Report […]

World gross product, level and annual changes, 2010–2020 and projected through 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed large parts of the global economy, sharply restricting economic activities, increasing uncertainties and unleashing a recession unseen since the Great Depression. Global gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to shrink by 3.2 per cent in 2020, with only a gradual recovery of lost output projected for 2021. Cumulatively, the world economy is expected to lose nearly $8.5 trillion in output in 2020 and 2021, nearly wiping out the cumulative output gains of the previous four years. Data: UN DESA, based on scenarios produced with the World Economic Forecasting Model (WEFM). Graphic: UN DESA

June 22, 2020

UN World Economic Situation report: Global economy to contract by 3.2 percent in 2020 – 34 million people to fall below the extreme poverty line

13 May 2020 (UNDESA) – Against the backdrop of a devastating pandemic, the global economy is projected to contract sharply by 3.2 per cent this year, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) mid-2020 report, released today. The global economy is expected to lose nearly $8.5 trillion in output over the […]

World consumption of primary energy in exajoules, 1994-2019. Primary energy consumption rose by 1.3 percent in 2019, less than half its rate in 2018 (2.8 percent). Growth was driven by renewables (3.2 EJ) and natural gas (2.8 EJ), which together contributed three quarters of the increase. All fuels grew at a slower rate than their 10-year averages, apart from nuclear, with coal consumption falling for the fourth time in six years (-0.9 EJ). By region, consumption fell in North America, Europe and CIS, and growth was below average in South and Central America. In the other regions, growth was roughly in line with historical averages. China was the biggest individual driver of primary energy growth, accounting for more than three quarters of net global growth. Oil continues to hold the largest share of the energy mix (33.1 percent). Coal is the second largest fuel but lost share in 2019 to account for 27.0 percent, its lowest level since 2003. The share of both natural gas and renewables rose to record highs of 24.2 percent and 5.0 percent respectively. Renewables has now overtaken nuclear, which makes up only 4.3 percent of the energy mix. The share of hydroelectricity has been stable at around 6 percent for several years. Graphic: BP

June 18, 2020

BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020: Carbon emissions increase for another year, coal still the single largest source of power generation

By Bernard Looney 17 June 2020 (BP) – The COVID-19 pandemic may well turn out to be the most tragic and disruptive event that many of us will ever live through. As I write this – in the middle of June – over 400 thousand people globally have lost their lives to the infection. Millions […]

A performance protest on 15 June 2020 in Brasilia honors Brazilians who died after contracting the novel coronavirus. Photo: Adriano Machado / Reuters

June 16, 2020

Brazil ignored the warnings about COVID-19 – “A human catastrophe of unimaginable proportions”

By Terrence McCoy 16 June 2020 RIO DE JANEIRO (The Washington Post) – Weeks ago, when this seaside metropolis had recorded fewer than 10,000 cases of the novel coronavirus and there still appeared to be time, some of Brazil’s most respected scientists made their last-ditch appeal. The country had reached a pivotal juncture. Cases were […]