Frustration sets in after coal mine health study suspended by Trump administration – “What this becomes in the hands of politicians is an excuse for inaction”

By Michael Virtanen 11 November 2017 GLEN DANIEL, W.Va. (Associated Press) – Chuck Nelson spent his life in this corner of Appalachia, working for years in the coal mines — a good job in the economically depressed area. But he says the industry that helped him earn a living cost him his health, and his […]

Puerto Rico blackout after power line fixed by Whitefish fails – Major outage plunges more than 80 percent of island back into darkness, extending longest power outage in U.S. history

By Umair Irfan  10 November 2017 (Vox) – Millions of Puerto Ricans are again without power after a high-voltage transmission line that had been repaired by Whitefish Energy, a Montana contractor now facing an FBI investigation, failed Thursday.The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority reported that power generation across the island plummeted from 40 percent to […]

Graph of the Day: U.S. obesity prevalence by county, 2013

By Michael J. Paul 7 November 2017 (GIS Use in Public Health) – Today’s map of the day shows the prevalence of obesity in the United States by county. According to the Centers for Disease Control, a person with a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30 is considered obese. From the […]

Industrial waste pollutes America’s drinking water – “I want to see our future generations have the time to grow up and not have to deal with young kids dying and sicknesses and illnesses”

By Jasmine Spearing-Bowen and Karl Schneider 17 August 2017 PHOENIX (News21) – In Ringwood, New Jersey, Ford Motor Co. dumped more than 35,000 tons of toxic paint sludge onto lands occupied for centuries by the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lenape tribe, poisoning groundwater with arsenic, lead and other harmful chemicals. Today, more than 43 […]

Everything you need to know about the massive Paradise Papers leak

5 November 2017 (Vice News) – A vast new trove of 13.4 million leaked documents dubbed the Paradise Papers have been published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) exposing the offshore banking activities of more than 120 politicians around the world. Included in the leak are documents connecting U.S. Commerce Secretary and billionaire […]

Chef José Andrés and the Trump administration are fighting over Puerto Rico – “I didn’t put the word ‘emergency’ in FEMA. They need to ask themselves what’s the definition of ‘emergency’. The definition of that to me is feeding people now.”

By Adrian Carrasquillo 6 November 2017 (BuzzFeed) – Celebrity chef José Andrés has helped cook and deliver 2.2 million meals in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria flattened the island, at one point cranking out 150,000 meals a day. But while his effort has been loudly praised across the country, the Trump administration, which awarded him […]

We can brighten clouds to reflect heat and reduce global warming. But should we? “If the catastrophes we are trying to avoid are in the next 30 or 40 years, this may be the only thing that will reduce heat”

By Stuart Leavenworth 8 November 2017 WASHINGTON (McClatchy) – Ever-higher temperatures are melting the ice sheets faster than projected. Sea level is rising. International efforts to reduce greenhouse gases are taking longer than expected. It’s a nightmare scenario that could soon demand an emergency response. What to do? One idea gaining traction is to seed […]

Republican-controlled Congress ordered destruction of U.S. satellite research into global warming – “This is like throwing away the medical records of a sick patient”

By Robin McKie 5 November 2017 (The Observer) – The Republican majority in the US Congress has been accused of deliberately obstructing research on global warming after it emerged that a critically important technique for investigating sea-ice cover at the poles faces being blocked. The row has erupted after a key polar satellite broke down […]

Trump “not invited” to Paris climate summit

7 November 2017 (AFP) – U.S. President Donald Trump is not among the 100 heads of state and government invited to next month’s climate summit in Paris, a French presidential aide said on Tuesday. “For now, President Donald Trump is not invited,” he said, while noting that representatives of the U.S. government would attend. In […]

The magnitude of America’s opioid epidemic, in six charts – “The situation is dire and getting worse”

By Andrew Kolodny 6 November 2017 (Quartz) – Drug overdose deaths, once rare, are now the leading cause of accidental death in the US, surpassing peak annual deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents, guns, and HIV infection.As a former public health official, clinician, and researcher, I’ve been engaged in efforts to control the opioid addiction […]

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