Earthweek: a diary of the planet
Pollution fatalities Pollution is responsible for illnesses that kill one in every six people around the world each year, according to a new landmark report. The Lancet, the world’s leading peer-reviewed journal on health, commissioned a study that found toxic air, water, soil and workplace environments kill at least 9 million people annually. Study authors warn that the crisis “threatens the continuing survival of human societies.” Philip Landrigan, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said the scale of deaths from pollution surprised the researchers, as did the rate at which the fatalities were rising.
Earthquakes
New Zealand’s Canterbury region was jolted by a magnitude 5.4 temblor that triggered landslides near the coastal city of Kaikoura.
Earth movements were also felt in islands of Indonesia’s Flores Sea, northwestern Sumatra, coastal Southern California and western North Carolina.
Yellow fever
The discovery of one dead monkey infected with yellow fever on the north side of Brazil’s largest city has prompted São Paulo health authorities to launch a massive vaccination campaign. The virus responsible for the disease has been blamed for at least 261 Brazilian deaths since December, almost entirely in the southeast of the country. The mosquitoborne disease originated in Africa and was discovered to be back in Brazil after hundreds of dead monkeys were found infected in the country’s Atlantic rainforest late last year. Yellow fever is one of the world’s most deadly
tropical diseases, causing symptoms such as muscle aches and fever, progressing to liver damage and kidney failure.
Carbon pause
The world’s carbon dioxide emissions remain stalled for a third consecutive year, with both the United States and Russia decreasing their output by 2 percent in 2016. Japan cut its CO2 emissions by 1 percent, while those produced by Europe and China held steady. India’s emissions increased by 5 percent. Despite the overall pause in the growth of the world’s most pervasive greenhouse gas pollution, emissions of methane and nitrous oxide continued to increase. Methane can trap 30 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2, while nitrous oxide traps 300 times more.
Magpie menace
Residents of Melbourne, Australia, have been warned of increased attacks by swooping magpie birds that have resulted in an alarming number of eye injuries. “In the last week, we saw five in the one day, including a penetrating eye injury that needed to go to theatre (surgery),” said Dr. Carmel Crock of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. A special online map has been prepared to show where the highest numbers of attacks have occurred. Officials say that since the birds may be less likely to swoop if they think people are watching them, people are advised to draw a pair of “eyes” on the backs of their hats and helmets.
Tropical cyclones
Typhoon Lan left seven people dead in Japan after passing directly over Tokyo on election day. Heavy rains from the Category-1 storm caused rivers to burst their banks and fishing boats to be washed ashore.
Typhoon Saola formed south of Guam and was predicted to remain over the open Pacific waters to the east of Japan.
Solomon eruption Tinakula volcano, on a remote South Pacific island, roared to life in Temotu province of the eastern Solomon Islands.
Officials said heavy ash was reported falling in villages on nearby islands for the first time in memory. Villagers say subsequent heavy rain washed the fallen ash into wells and water tanks, threatening their drinking water supplies.