Solutions

MEDICALNEWS TODAY                                                            Jan. 6, 2015

Infectious diseases are one of the many health issues that worry the organizers of mass gatherings, such as the Hajj and the World Cup. Geographers' tools of the trade can help event organizers to better plan, monitor and respond timely to such eventualities. The ways in which geographers gather, analyze, and visualize information provide health officials with clearer pictures of the transport routes and environmental factors that may further the spread of viruses to and from the attendees' home countries.

In Chapter 3 of the new book Health, Science and Place: A New Model, geographer and biologist Dr. Amy Blatt explains how geographic information is used for disease surveillance at mass gatherings.
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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/287577.php?tw

Read excerpt from the book,chapter 3.

by Dr. Amy Blatt
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-12003-4_3

Image: The New York City skyline.

energymanager.com - September 23rd, 2014 - Linda Hardesty

New York City is committing to an 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050, with 2005 as a baseline. Central to that commitment, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a sweeping plan to retrofit public and private buildings – One City, Built to Last: Transforming New York City’s Buildings for a Low-Carbon Future.

Every single city-owned building with any significant energy use – about 3,000 buildings – will be retrofitted within the next ten years, by 2025, with interim goals along the way.

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August 6, 2014 7:31 PM - cbslocal.com - CBS Radio Inc.

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to use clean water funds on the new Tappan Zee Bridge was approved Wednesday by a key state board despite objections from environmental groups that said the money should support drinking water and sewer treatment projects. 

The $256 million loan from the clean water fund would help pay for the $3.9 billion span being built north of New York City. Cuomo’s administration argues the novel use of the funds would help minimize the cost of tolls on the new bridge and pay for work associated with the construction that would protect the Hudson River Valley.

 http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/08/06/gov-cuomos-plan-to-use-clean-water-funds-for-tappan-zee-bridge-okd/

submitted by John Patten

rockinst.org - by James W. Fossett - July 2013

“We can surge troops and equipment, but you can’t surge trust.” - General Carter Ham

The American intergovernmental system needs to stop improvising the way it manages long-term recovery from major disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. From financing to decisions about the proper response to long-term climate change, the American system for disaster recovery is ad hoc, uncoordinated, and reinvented from scratch after every major disaster. As a result, recoveries have been lengthy and conflictual, imposed considerable welfare costs on families and businesses, and have resulted in only marginal improvement in the vulnerability of areas afflicted by these disasters.

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