EDM Friday Briefing: EgyptAir Flight 804, Hudson River Rail Tunnels, Refugees, India Heat Wave, Urban Air Pollution

Emergency and disaster management briefing for May 20, 2016: Egyptian forces announce that they located the wreckage from EgyptAir Flight 804, aging rail tunnels under the Hudson River are in desperate need of replacement, global survey respondents overwhelmingly accept refugees, India sets a new national heat record, and the WHO cites worsening air pollution in urban areas across the globe.

1. The Egyptian military confirmed early this morning that they had [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/20/middleeast/egyptair-flight-804-main/” title=”located the wreckage from EgyptAir Flight 804.“] Officials announced yesterday that [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/world/middleeast/egyptair-flight-804.html” title=”the flight crashed at sea“] but had been unable to locate wreckage until a few hours ago. The plane, [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/20/middleeast/egyptair-flight-804-main/” title=”carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members,“] crashed into the Mediterranean en route to Cario, Egypt. Egyptian officials [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/world/middleeast/egyptair-flight-804.html” title=”have suggested that terrorism is a likely cause“] for the disappearance — more so than mechanical failure — but have been unable to confirm that theory as of yet.
2. Aging rail tunnels under the Hudson River are badly deteriorated, and suffered significant damage in 2012 during Superstorm Sandy. The tunnels are in [link url=”https://amuedge.com/aging-rail-tunnels-under-the-hudson-river-need-attention/” title=”desperate need of replacement“] before something catastrophic occurs, but efforts to move forward on the building of two new tunnels have been [link url=”https://amuedge.com/aging-rail-tunnels-under-the-hudson-river-need-attention/” title=”stalled for decades.“] A [link url=”https://amuedge.com/aging-rail-tunnels-under-the-hudson-river-need-attention/” title=”recent report by Common Good“] highlighted the red tape that has stalled any efforts to move any of the proposed projects forward.

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/infrastructure-how-bad-is-it-really/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/trains-and-train-crossings-safety-first/”]

3. A global survey recently revealed that [link url=”https://amuedge.com/poll-80-percent-would-accept-refugees-in-their-country/” title=”80 percent of people would accept refugees in their country,“] and many even indicated a readiness to take refugees into their own homes. The survey questioned 27,000 people in 27 nations. According to The Refugees Index, which was commissioned by Amnesty International, [link url=”https://amuedge.com/poll-80-percent-would-accept-refugees-in-their-country/” title=”China, Germany and the UK were the most welcoming nations,”] while [link url=”https://amuedge.com/poll-80-percent-would-accept-refugees-in-their-country/” title=”Russia, Indonesia and Thailand were least receptive“] and had the most negative attitudes towards refugees in general.

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4. The desert state of Rajasthan, India [link url=”http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/20/india-records-its-hottest-day-ever-as-temperature-hits-51c-thats-1238f” title=”set a new national heat record yesterday of 123.80°F, “] breaking a previous record of 123.08°F set in 1956. A lasting nationwide heat wave has already believed to have [link url=”http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/20/india-records-its-hottest-day-ever-as-temperature-hits-51c-thats-1238f” title=”killed several hundred people“] here in 2016 after [link url=”http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/20/india-records-its-hottest-day-ever-as-temperature-hits-51c-thats-1238f” title=”more than a thousand people“] died during a massive heat wave in the country in 2015.

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5. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), [link url=”http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/air-pollution-rising/en/” title=”populations in low-income cities are the most impacted by air pollution.“] Up to 98 percent of cities in low- and middle income countries (100,000 inhabitants or more) [link url=”http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/air-pollution-rising/en/” title=”do not meet WHO air quality guidelines.“] Global urban air pollution levels increased by 8 percent from 2008 to 2013, the WHO reported.

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/more-than-half-of-americans-breathe-unhealthy-polluted-air/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/study-examines-the-staggering-cost-of-air-pollution/”]

6. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region III officials are currently working with state, local, and federal partners to [link url=”https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2016/05/17/hurricane-season-approaches” title=”increase preparedness and coordinate response and recovery capabilities“] as hurricane season approaches. Earlier this week, the National Weather Service (NWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched [link url=”https://amuedge.com/nws-launches-hurricane-preparedness-week/” title=”Hurricane Preparedness Week“] to encourage public hurricane preparedness all the way down to the specific details of individual evacuation plans.

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/a-look-back-at-the-hurricane-sandys-impact-on-new-yorks-power-grid/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/world-meteorological-organization-retires-storm-names/”]

7. [link url=”http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Police-Chief-Greg-Suhr-resigns-after-killing-of-7758122.php” title=”San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr resigned yesterday“] after Mayor Ed Lee called for his resignation following a serious shooting event. Suhr’s resignation came after [link url=”http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Police-Chief-Greg-Suhr-resigns-after-killing-of-7758122.php” title=”the fatal shooting on an unarmed black woman“] renewed questions about whether the Police Department had lost the confidence of minority communities in the city.

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8. An emergency committee convened by WHO determined that the current yellow fever outbreak is [link url=”http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/yellow-fever-threat-serious-not-emergency-who-says” title=”‘a serious public health event,’“] but did not feel it necessary to declare it a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The committee believes that, because the spread of the disease has been slowed on an international level and vaccine supplies are recovering, there is [link url=”http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/yellow-fever-threat-serious-not-emergency-who-says” title=”no current need to declare a public health emergency.“] Yellow fever is caused by a virus spread by Aedes aegypti, which is the same mosquito that spreads both Zika virus and Dengue fever.

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/new-dengue-vaccine-shows-promise/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/zika-and-the-threat-of-denial/”]

9. The WHO announced yesterday that there have been [link url=”http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/health-inequalities-persist/en/” title=”big gains in life expectancy“] on a global basis since 2000, but that [link url=”http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/health-inequalities-persist/en/” title=”major inequalities between countries persist.”] According to the WHO, life expectancy increased by 5 years between 2000 and 2015, which is the fastest rise in expectancy in about six decades. [link url=”http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/health-inequalities-persist/en/” title=”Life expectancy actually fell in the 1990s“] in large part because of the AIDS epidemic. The largest rise in this latest report occurred in the African Region, as [link url=”http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/health-inequalities-persist/en/” title=”life expectancy increased by 9.4 years to 60 years,“] driven, in part, by expanded access to antiretroviral for treatment of HIV.