While America Focuses on Tax Bill, Congress Quietly Tries to Open Arctic Refuge to Oil Drilling

EcoWatch

The U.S. Senate has passed a Republican tax-reform package that contains a provision to authorize oil drilling on the coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, placing the biological heart of one of our last pristine, untouched places in severe peril. Story here.

Barrenground caribou, Nunavut. 

Ansgar Walk photo.

RELATED: Proposed oil development threatens yet another caribou herd.

In 10 years, the world may not be able to feed itself

The World EconomicForum

Combines in a wheat field in Manitoba, Canada. PinP photo.

By 2027 the world could be facing a 214 trillion calorie deficit, says Sara Menker, founder of an agricultural data technology company. In other words, in just a decade, we won’t have enough food to feed the planet. More here.

Fracking linked to low birth weight in Pennsylvania babies

ScienceNews

Study of birth records finds association between infant health and mom’s proximity to production sites. Story here.

Photo by Pexels.

Expert reaction to research on Hurricane Harvey and links to climate change

Science Media Centre

A new study, published in Environmental Research Letters, reported that human-caused climate change made the record rainfall that fell over Houston during Hurricane Harvey roughly three times more likely and 15% more intense. Story here.

Hurricane Harvey. 

 Photo by urban.houstonian

How a Wayward Arctic Current Could Cool the Climate in Europe

YaleEnvironment360

The Beaufort Gyre, a key Arctic Ocean current, is acting strangely. Scientists say it may be on the verge of discharging a huge amount of ice and cold freshwater that could kick off a period of lower temperatures in northern Europe. Story here.

In Hogs WeTrust - a Radio Interview

Alon at CKUW Radio (95.9 fm) at the University of Winnipeg, interviews journalist/blogger/activist Larry Powell (L.)  about the recent decision by the Government of Manitoba to expand the hog industry in the province. Are the rewards worth the risk? You be the judge. Runs 38'30". Interview proper starts at the 1'45" mark. This is a podcast (no picture). COMMENTS WELCOME. Thanks to CKUW for the opportunity to get the word out about these important issues. L.P.

World Bank and World Health Organization: Half the world lacks access to essential health services, 100 million still pushed into extreme poverty because of health expenses

TOKYO, December 13, 2017—At least half of the world’s population cannot obtain essential health services, according to a new report from the World Bank and the World Health Organization. 

Photo by Oxfam

And each year, large numbers of households are being pushed into poverty because they must pay for health care out of their own pockets.

Currently, 800 million people spend at least 10 percent of their household budgets on health expenses for themselves, a sick child or other family member. For almost 100 million people these expenses are high enough to push them into extreme poverty, forcing them to survive on just $1.90 or less a day. The findings, released today in Tracking Universal Health Coverage: 2017 Global Monitoring Report, have been simultaneously published in Lancet Global Health.

“It is completely unacceptable that half the world still lacks coverage for the most essential health services,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “And it is unnecessary. A solution exists: universal health coverage (UHC) allows everyone to obtain the health services they need, when and where they need them, without facing financial hardship.” 

“The report makes clear that if we are serious – not just about better health outcomes, but also about ending poverty – we must urgently scale up our efforts on universal health coverage,” said World Bank Group President Dr. Jim Yong Kim. “Investments in health, and more generally investments in people, are critical to build human capital and enable sustainable and inclusive economic growth. But the system is broken: we need a fundamental shift in the way we mobilize resources for health and human capital, especially at the country level. We are working on many fronts to help countries spend more and more effectively on people, and increase their progress towards universal health coverage.”   

There is some good news: