A tragicomic day in the life of a walrus.
2 October 2014Exponential Crisis
Ebola makes you a risk to yourself: “Throughout my time in Sierra Leone I was plunged into a state of hyper-awareness about my own body and that of every person around me.”
Dr James Appel’s blog about his volunteer work in Liberia is sobering reading (via Mefi).
Estimating the fatality of the current outbreak: more like 80-85% than the reported 50-55%. Just as deadly as previous outbreaks, then. Surviving isn’t like tossing heads rather than tails, it’s rolling a six on the first try.
Fresh graves point to undercount of Ebola toll.
The Not Zone
I wish I’d never read The Hot Zone, and could remain sanguine about what’s happening in West Africa. As if there hasn’t been enough bad news lately, with MH17, Gaza, Ferguson, Robin Williams’s death, and another volcano rumbling in Iceland. But even against that competition, accounts like these aren’t easy reading:
Mob destroys Ebola centre in Liberia two days after it opens.
Laurie Garrett’s grim analysis.
For a Limited Time Only
Climate change refugees are evacuating their island homes.
Rising CO2 is causing the nutritional content of crops to fall.
The chance that climate change is not manmade is 0.01 percent.
The spectacular fall in the cost of solar power.
Mitigation is a bargain, but for a limited time only.
Events in 2013