Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Pakistan Heat Wave Killing Hundreds, & More

Heat wave kills 692 in three days, most of them in port city of Karachi, as emergency declared in hospitals.

Up To 700 Dead As Pakistan Reels Under Blistering Heat

Nearly 700 people have died in a severe three-day heat wave in Pakistan, officials have said, with medics battling to treat patients as a state of emergency was declared in hospitals.

The majority of people died in government-run hospitals in the port city of Karachi, Pakistan's economic hub of around 20 million people, as temperatures reached 45 degrees Celsius at the weekend.

"The number of people who have died in the heatwave has now reached 692," Saeed Mangnejo, a senior health official in Sindh province, said on Tuesday.

Mangnejo said that the death toll may rise further.

Karachi's largest hospital, Post Graduate Medical College Hospital, has treated more than 3,000 patients, Dr Semi Jamila told the AFP news agency.

Hospitals have been swamped with people suffering from heatstroke and dehydration, while repeated power outages have left many without air conditioning or running water.

Meanwhile, seven people have died from the heat in Punjab province over the past 24 hours, officials said.

The Point of No Return

The worst predicted impacts of climate change global warming are starting to happen much faster than expected. London reached 98F during the hottest July day ever recorded; James Hansen suggests mean sea levels could rise 10 times faster than previously predicted, with devastating social disruption that might make the planet ungovernable.

Europe shouldn’t worry about migrants. It should worry about creeping fascism

People outside the fence round the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais. Photo: Francois Lo Presti/AFP/Getty Images

The ultimate victory of fringe groups is not to enter the administration, but to change its direction, and Ukip has done this with aplomb, playing into a broader, well-orchestrated European meltdown over migration. Every paper has led with headlines about the supposed “immigrant crisis”. The prime minister describes migrants to Europe as a “swarm”, and the foreign secretary goes further, warning the people of Britain that the thousands of desperate people drowning in the Mediterranean are “marauding” foreigners who must be prevented from coming here because they will threaten our “standard of living” and our “way of life”.

Who Is Leading the Charge in Energy Storage?

Danielle Fong, the founder of Lightsail, is extremely upbeat about Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES), a concept which has been around since 1870s but has failed to generate traction earlier due to limitations associated with the extraction of stored energy from underground caverns.

According to Fong, Lightsail Energy’s technique of using ‘above the ground’ storage tanks is not only efficient but also commercially viable. This technique has been tested successfully in the laboratory and is now about to be tested in the field in North America. Moreover, with $58 million dollar funding from global players such as Total, Khosla Ventures, Peter Thiel, Founder Funds and Bill Gates, Lightsail’ s investor portfolio is indeed impressive.

Low Oil Prices Spells Economic

Trouble For Texas

“Everybody is waiting for doomsday,” said Vi Malone, the Karnes County treasurer. “Everything was good, and everybody was getting these big checks, and everybody waited for their land to be leased, and then it all came to a screeching halt around the beginning of the year.”

Yemen Humanitarian Crisis

'Catastrophic,' Says Red Cross

Civilians in Yemen are living in appalling conditions compounded by heavy fighting and a Saudi Arabian blockade, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday. 
After a three day tour of the war-torn nation, Peter Maurer urged the international community
 to "wake up.” 
“The humanitarian situation is nothing short of catastrophic. Every family in Yemen has been affected by this conflict. The people are facing immense hardship. 
And it is getting worse by the day,” he said.

After a three day tour of the war-torn nation, Peter Maurer urged the international community to “wake up.”

“The humanitarian situation is nothing short of catastrophic. Every family in Yemen has been affected by this conflict. The people are facing immense hardship. And it is getting worse by the day,” he said.

The ICRC head warned that “intense” fighting has devastated civilian infrastructure including hospitals. He also cited “import restrictions” as a major hurdle to providing humanitarian relief. Since Saudi Arabia launched its military offensive in March, Yemen has been largely cut off from the outside world by a Saudi blockade.

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