World
ALASKA: Polar bear attack victims young mother and 1-year-old son
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Authorities said a polar bear chased several residents, isolated Alaska Native whaling village, killing a mother and her 1-year-old son in an extremely rare attack before being shot and killed by another community member.
The fatal mauling happened on Tuesday in Wales, which is a small town on the coast of the Bering Strait about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Russia. It is on the westernmost tip of North America and has lived with polar bears for a long time.
According to Alaska State Troopers, Summer Myomick of Saint Michael and her son, Clyde Ongtowasruk, were killed in the attack.
The predominantly Inupiaq community of about 150 people organizes patrols when bears are expected in town, from July to early November, before sea ice forms and bears head out on the frozen landscape to hunt seals.
This is almost unheard of because polar bears are normally far out on the ice in the dead of winter and not close to villages, according to Geoff York, senior conservation director at Polar Bear International, a conservation organization. The most recent fatal polar bear encounter in Alaska occurred in 1990.
The Attack Took Place Near A School In Wales.
“I would have been walking around the community of Wales probably without any (bear) deterrents because it’s historically the safe time of year,” said York, who has studied polar bears for decades. “You don’t expect to see bears because they’d be hunting seals on the sea ice.”
After the polar bear attack on Tuesday, troopers and wildlife officials couldn’t get to Wales because the gravel airstrip there didn’t have runway lights. Attempts were made again on Wednesday.
Dawn Hendrickson, the school principal in Wales, described the mood on Wednesday as “traumatic.” A day after the fatal attack, classes were canceled. “The students have returned home,” Hendrickson said. Students were given access to counselors.
She stated that no memorials for the two victims had been announced. “Not yet,” she explained. “We’re still in the early stages.”
It’s unclear whether this attack was caused by climate change, but it’s consistent with what’s expected as the Arctic continues to warm four times faster than the rest of the world, altering the ecosystem in ways that are still unknown, according to York. However, according to Andrew Derocher, a polar bear expert and professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta, this bear is part of a healthy population.
Climate Change In Alaska May Be To Blame
In 2019, Alaska scientists from the US Geological Survey discovered that changes in sea ice habitat had coincided with evidence that polar bears were using land more and that the chances of encountering a polar bear had increased.
Wales is located approximately 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Nome. The community can be reached by plane and boat, including barges transporting household goods. Winter trails allow snowmobiles to travel to other communities and subsistence hunting grounds. ATVs are used for hunting and fishing trips outside of the winter season.
Polar bears are at the top of the food chain and see humans as a food source, according to York.
In a report he helped write called “Understanding Polar Bear Attacks,” he found that most polar bear attacks that ended in death happened when:
- Either sub-adult bears.
- Usually, males are always hungry.
- Older bears who are injured or ill and having difficulty getting enough calories.
Unlike brown or black bears, polar bears do not hibernate in the winter. Only pregnant females enter snow dens, and only for reproduction.
Attacks Can Happen Year Round
The other polar bears are out and about, usually on the sea ice, where their prey is available all year.
The Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council, which was made to be “the collective voice of Alaska Natives in polar bear co-management,” says that polar bears coming close to or entering villages are always a safety risk for places that are in polar bear territory.
The group talks about a few polar bear patrol programs in Alaska, like one in Wales that needs money and one in Diomede, where a patrol works mostly in the winter to protect kids walking to and from school.
York, who has worked in the Arctic for about 30 years, 21 of which have been in Alaska, said the Welsh community has long been involved in establishing a polar bear patrol program and taking measures to keep polar bears out of the community.
“This appears to be one of those terrible cases where, despite doing everything correctly, we had a bear that was an outlier at a time of year when you would never expect that to happen,” he said.
Polar Bear Too Far South For This Time of Year
Derocher, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta, says that the area where the attack happened is far south of where polar bears usually live, but it is not unusual for them to be there.
Derocher said the bear is from a polar bear population in the Chukchi Sea that is doing well despite climate change. He said that the attack could have been caused by a bear drawn to attractants like food or garbage rather than by climate change factors.
According to Derocher, polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea, east of the Chukchi Sea population, are in worse condition.
Polar Bears Homes Shrinking
In this case, while ice exists in the Chukchi and northern Bering seas, the quality of that ice is unknown. More importantly, York stated that they have yet to learn what is happening beneath the ice or the availability of seals and other prey for polar bears.
York says that the changes happen even in the winter, when people thought they were safe from polar bears on the shore.
“Communities may no longer exist,” he speculated.
SOURCE – (AP)
World
The Goal Of Donald Trump’s Transition Team Is To Withdraw The US From WHO “On Day One.”
(VOR News) – The transition team led by Donald Trump is reportedly planning to remove the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the first day of the next government, according to experts.
This would have a “catastrophic” impact on people’s health all throughout the world, these experts warn.
On January 20, the day the president-elect becomes office, these individuals want to announce their desire to depart the global health agency, Donald Trump’s team members informed analysts.
If the World Health Organization were to depart, it would lose its most significant source of funding, which would hinder its ability to respond to public health emergencies such as the Coronavirus pandemic.
Donald Trump’s leadership and funding for global health are noteworthy.
The United States of America is most likely to leave a significant void. According to Georgetown Law professor of global health Lawrence Gostin, “I see no one that is going to fill the breach.” He went on to say that the withdrawal “on day one” will have “catastrophic” effects on people’s health all around the world.
Trump’s nomination of several allies, including vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, for important health positions in the incoming government has led to a disagreement over US relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). Nevertheless, Gostin expressed doubt that Donald Trump would prioritize a prompt withdrawal as much as some of his colleagues.
The United States of America was the largest single donor to the World Health Organization (WHO), accounting for almost 16 percent of its funding in fiscal years 2022–2023.
In 2020, President Donald Trump began the process of disbanding the World Health Organization (WHO) after accusing it of being under Chinese control.
However, the process has never been completed, and his vice presidential replacement, Joe Biden, resumed relations with the agency on the first day of his administration in 2021.
Experts have seen that after initiating the process immediately, some Donald Trump administration officials are keen to proceed much more quickly this time.
Ashish Jha, a former White House Covid response coordinator for Biden and the director of Brown University’s school of public health, stated that the transition team wanted Donald Trump to withdraw on the first day because to the “symbolism” of reversing Biden’s own inauguration-day decision.
He remarked, “Many individuals within the administration’s inner circle lack trust in the WHO and wish to symbolically demonstrate their disassociation from it on the first day.”
“If you do not actively participate in these Donald Trump institutions.
You will not be able to respond quickly when the next outbreak happens,” he stated. Gostin predicted “very lean years for the WHO,” which would mean the organization would have to substantially cut back on its scientific workforce and struggle to respond to health emergencies.
If the United States withdrew, he said, European countries would likely not increase their contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO), and China might try to strengthen its influence. He claimed that since leaving would give China more authority, it would not be a smart move.
Questions concerning the possible withdrawal were not immediately answered by the Donald Trump transition team. “Is this the same WHO we left in place for the initial administration?” a person familiar with the arrangements told the Financial Times. Right now, we don’t appear to care all that much about what they have to say.
There was no response from the World Health Organization. The group’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called it a “unique organization” earlier this month and said it aimed to collaborate with U.S. officials.
He continued, “From our end, we are prepared to collaborate with one another.” “I believe that the leaders of the United States of America are aware of the fact that the United States cannot be safe unless the rest of the world is safe.
SOURCE: FT
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World
Do Microplastics in the Atmosphere Endanger Your Fertility?
(VOR News) – It is quite possible that the presence of small microplastic particles in the air may be a contributing factor to a wide variety of health problems, including malignancies of the lungs and colon.
This is something that needs additional research to be determined. There is one more item to take into consideration, and that is the potential that this is the exact circumstance.
A recent study found that tires and debris that are decomposing shed minute fragments of plastic that go airborne, so creating a form of air pollution that is not particularly widely known. This type of pollution is caused by the degradation of plastic. An example of this type of pollution is that which is discharged into the atmosphere.
The industry refers to microplastic as “air pollution.”
According to the findings of a researcher named Tracey Woodruff, who is a professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, “These microplastics are basically particulate matter from air pollution,” and it is common knowledge that this particular type of air pollution is particularly hazardous.
The researchers who supplied background notes stated that the size of microplastics is less than 5 millimetres, which is smaller than a grain of rice.
This information was provided, according to researchers. These details were supplied by the researchers who conducted the study. These particulars were provided by researchers who were responsible for carrying out the study.
The amount of plastic that is created on a yearly basis by enterprises all over the world is roughly 460 million tonnes, as indicated by the data that were provided by academics all over the world. The forecasts indicate that by the year 2050, this quantity is anticipated to have increased to 1.1 billion tonnes.
Driving is a substantial contributor to the amount of plastic that is floating around in the atmosphere, according to the conclusions of the experts who conducted the study about the phenomenon. When tires are worn down to the point where they scrape against the surface of the road, they allow microplastics to be released into the environment.
As a result of the tires wearing down, this occurs. This impact is brought about as a consequence of the inevitable amount of wear and tear that tires are subjected to.
A study that was published on December 18 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology was the result of researchers conducting an examination of data collected from over 3,000 previous investigations.
The paper was published as a consequence of this procedure. The review was constructed with the help of this analysis that was carried out.
Microplastic used this analysis to put together the review.
A number of diseases, such as cancer, lung problems, and infertility, may be influenced by the presence of microplastics in the air, according to the data, which led to the conclusion that this may be the case.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of the studies that were incorporated into the study were carried out on animals, the researchers claimed that it is very certainly plausible that the findings can also be applied to people. The fact that the majority of investigations were conducted on animals does not change the reality that this is the case.
“We urge regulatory agencies and policy leaders to consider the growing evidence of health harms from microplastics, including colon and lung cancer,” stated Nicholas Chartres, the principal investigator and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney.
The organisation reported this comment. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) issued a press release on behalf of the organisation that contained this statement. The news release was disseminated to the public. We are convinced that state officials will act quickly to make sure that no leaks of this kind occur, which is of the highest importance.
SOURCE: USN
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World
Russian Oil Ships In The Kerch Strait Are Undergoing Rescue Operations.
(VOR News) – Following Sunday’s powerful storm, a Russian oil tanker carrying hundreds of tonnes of oil products ultimately broke apart, causing an oil spill into the Kerch Strait below. Additionally, Russian officials reported that the damage was causing problems for another vessel.
Sunday, Russian authorities announced an emergency rescue operation.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, which claimed the Emergency Situations Ministry as its source, the Volgoneft-212 tanker, carrying fuel oil and carrying thirteen crew members, ran aground and suffered damage to its bow. A shipment of fuel oil was being transported by the tanker.
Authorities have told the public that the damage was brought on by the extreme weather conditions that are currently occurring.
A second tanker, the Volgoneft-239, was damaged during the storm and is currently stranded in the same area with 14 crew members on board, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The tanker was discovered abandoned and alone in the same spot.
Additional tankers also suffered damage. The 132-meter-long cruiser, which was constructed in 1973, hangs the Russian flag around its neck.
The footage posted by state media showed the 136-meter Volgoneft-212 tanker, which was cut in two with its bow underwater, and waves crashing over its deck. At least one person lost his life as a result of this tragedy. This led to the opening of two distinct criminal investigations by the Russian authorities to look into potential violations of certain safety regulations.
Having flown the Russian flag since 1969, the yacht was finished.
Rosmorrechflot, the Russian government agency in charge of water transportation, reported a petroleum product spill.
It is believed that the cargo capacity of each tanker is around 4,200 tonnes of oil products.
The magnitude of the leak and the cause of the substantial damage one of the tankers received were not specified in the official remarks. This is in accordance with the official remarks.
Several news sites cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin directed the formation of a working committee to handle the rescue effort and lessen the effects of the oil disaster.
Peskov recommended that the government appoint the working committee’s members. This comment was made public right after Putin met with the ministries responsible for ecology and disaster management.
The Russian government has said that it will be sending more than fifty individuals and pieces of equipment to the area in response to the current crisis. Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats are examples of these people and tools.
The news that experts are presently investigating the damage at the event site was announced by Svetlana Radionova, who is in charge of Rosprirodnadzor, Russia’s natural resources regulating entity.
Kommersant reports that Volgoneft-212 used 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil.
The footage, which showed a partially submerged ship and murky water on rough seas, was posted to Telegram without the owner’s consent.
The warships were located in the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from the Russian mainland, when the distress signals were sent out.
The Kerch Strait is a crucial international marine passage that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, allowing for easier traffic between the two bodies of water. It also acts as a border between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which is under Russian occupation. The Kerch Strait is located in the centre of the two nations.
The peninsula has remained a major source of contention between the two national governments ever since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in 2014. Russia was the one who seized the peninsula. Ukraine brought legal action against Russia before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016.
Specifically, the lawsuit claimed that Russia intended to illegally take over a location. The argument was supported by evidence pertaining to Russia’s conduct in the region. In 2021, the Russian Federation closed the strait for several consecutive months
SOURCE: VN
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