Ebola intensifies the struggle to cope with Lassa fever - BBC

The peak season for Lassa fever in West Africa is about to begin. The viral haemorrhagic fever has been largely forgotten in the Ebola crisis, and health workers are warning that they may not have the resources to deal with the disease if cases increase. BBC’s Camila Ruz reports. 

Earth Tribune did a similar story on October 22 after Nigeria was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO)

At first sight the symptoms of Lassa are identical to Ebola. There can be bleeding, vomiting and fever. But whereas Ebola is a new outbreak, Lassa is a constant presence. Every year it infects from 300,000 to 500,000 people, killing up to 20,000. 

All of the countries worst hit by Ebola are home to Lassa fever. On Friday, Dr Geraldine O'Hara from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told the BBC that one of her colleagues had died of Lassa despite all efforts to save her. 

 

 

Dr Khan, head of the Lassa fever programme at Kenema Government Hospital Sierra Leone died of Ebola in September.

"Warming is "unequivocal" and the human influence on climate is clear"- IPCC's Synthesis Report

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says the unrestricted use of fossil fuels should be phased out by 2100 if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change, BBC reports.

UN-backed expert panel said in a stark report that most of the world's electricity can - and must - be produced from low-carbon sources by 2050. If not, the world faces "severe, pervasive and irreversible" damage. The UN said inaction would cost "much more" than taking the necessary action.

Experts Say Paris Can Help Cut Non-C02 Gases_UNFCCC

At a “Technical Expert Meeting” during the October UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn (20 – 25 October) governments, international agencies and companies agreed that there are many ways to effectively curb so-called “non-C02 gases”, even if overall emissions from these gases are expected to grow in the near future, the United Nations Climate Change News Room, an organ of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reports.

The “non-C02 gases” are methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have a higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide, and result from activities such as agriculture, industry, waste and household appliances.

Image: FAO presentation: TEMs: Non CO₂ gases

2014 could be the warmest year on record

September 2014 was the warmest September on record for the planet according to the September 2014 global climate summary released by National Climatic Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a United States agency.  

“If the surface temperature remains elevated at the same level for the remainder of the year, 2014 will set a new record for the warmest annual average temperature since records began in 1880,” NOAA Climate.gov, an organ of NOAA, writes in its news article of the report.

 

Photo credit: NOAA climate.gov

EU leaders agree greenhouse gas emissions cut

EU leaders today reached a landmark deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, BBC reports.

The binding decision came after heated discussions at a summit in Brussels, as some members had argued that their varied interests should be protected.

Correspondents say the final deal is a compromise between countries that rely heavily on coal, and those willing to instil greater emissions cuts.

Environmental groups welcomed the deal, but said it did not go far enough.

Smoke billows from the chimneys of a coal-fired Polish power plant. Poland gained concessions to modernise its power plants. Photograph: Kacper Pempel/Reuters

European leaders begin summit on climate today; Ebola is also on the agenda

By Omotunde Ayinde
 Lagos Nigeria

The European leaders begin a 2-day summit today in Brussels Belgium where they are expected to agree on a climate target. This target will seek to cut greenhouse gases emission by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030.  

The summit will also discuss the proposal for using renewable energy for 27 percent of their power needs and improving energy efficiency by 30 percent by 2030.

The European Council summit whose main objective is to reach an agreement on the new climate and energy policy framework for 2030 also has Ebola on the official agenda.

Nigeria is Free of Ebola but Not of Lassa

On October 20 the day the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Nigeria Ebola-free, another public health issue in the news was the growing cases of Lassa fever in Oyo state, South-west Nigeria.

This is not however restricted to Oyo State. The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, had earlier stated at a press briefing in Abuja on October 10 that about 29 million Nigerians are at the risk of Lassa fever, while 26 states are exposed to the disease.

 The coordinator of the Response Team for Outbreak of Diseases and Emergency of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Olusegun Fasina, told journalists  in Ibadan that the number of patients diagnosed with Lassa fever has increased  in the last two months.

Cheap African solar energy could power UK homes in 2018

Investors are seeking funding from the UK government for an ambitious plan to import solar energy generated in North Africa. BBC News’s Matt McGrath reports.

Under the scheme, up to 2.5 million UK homes could be powered by Tunisian sunshine by 2018.

The company involved says they have already spent 10 million euros developing the site.

A number of overseas energy producers are competing to bring green energy to the UK from 2017.

The TuNur project aims to bring two gigawatts of solar power to the UK from Tunisia if the company wins a contract for difference (CFD) from the British government. 

 

An impression of what a large-scale concentrated solar power facility might look like in the Tunisian desert

Climate Talks start today in Germany

The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) has started today the sixth part of its second session in Bonn, Germany. The meeting will be ended on 25 October 2014. This is the last round of negotiations on a new climate agreement ahead of this year’s UN climate conference in Lima, Peru, which will be held in December for two weeks 

Fossil fuel industry sustained by ‘toxic triangle’ that puts 400 million at risk

Political inertia, financial short-termism and vested fossil fuel interests threaten to push up global temperatures, says Oxfam

• Clar Ni Chonghaile
• theguardian.com, Friday 17 October 2014 00.01 BST 

Political inertia, financial short-termism and vested fossil fuel interests have formed a “toxic triangle” that threatens to push up global temperatures, putting 400 million people at risk of hunger and drought by 2060, Oxfam said on Friday, a week before a European Union summit to finalise a new climate and energy policy framework.

In its Food, Fossil Fuels and Filthy Finance report, Oxfam warned that EU leaders must resist pressure from the fossil fuel industry, which spends at least €44 million (£35m) a year on lobbying the European bloc. The report also urged leaders to commit to cuts of at least 55% in carbon dioxide emissions, energy savings of at least 40%, and an increase in the use of sustainable renewable energy to at least 45% of the energy mix.