|
Global Warming & Mosquitoes Menace Manhattan US scientists warned this week that rapidly melting glaciers could raise sea levels dramatically ‘in single years’ prompting ‘catastrophic effects and devastation’ to low lying cities like New York and Miami. Top US scientist Professor Correll from the Heinz Centre in Washington told Alternet reporter Paul Brown that he’s personally witnessed one glacier moving 5 km in 90 minutes and said global warming estimates of 60cm rises in sea level are already ‘conservative.’ In more alarming US news, a 35 year old Scottish painter and decorator was reportedly lying in a coma in an Edinburgh hospital this week after contracting the Eastern Equine Encephalitis or Triple E virus while holidaying in New England this summer. Michael Nicholson reportedly contracted the disease after being bitten by a mosquito when fishing in New Hampshire, prompting his sister to urge US authorities to warn tourists visiting the States. “There is no cure and there is no vaccine, so all you can do is try and prevent yourself being bitten,” Sharan McKenzie told the BBC, "You don't think there is going to be a risk if you get bitten by a mosquito in somewhere like the US, or Spain,” she pointed out. Ireland’s Tropical Medical Bureau meanwhile warned of a global outbreak of dengue fever this week, citing 160,000 cases in Indonesia as well as massive rises in Malaysia, Thailand, the Caribbean and even Rio de Janeiro (where an epidemic struck in 2002). The bureau warned that no vaccines exist against the disease, with avoiding being bitten by mosquitoes the only surefire way of protection. “Dengue mosquitoes bite by day whereas malarial mosquitoes bite by night,” the Bureau added, “The condition is characterised by the sudden onset of fever, headache, muscle and joint pain.”
Article by Jonty Skrufff
Subscribe to Skrufff music newsletter at www.skrufff.com
|
