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The amount of plastic in the ocean is set to triple in a decade unless litter is curbed, a major report has warned.

Plastics is just one issue facing the world's seas, along with rising sea levels, warming oceans, and pollution, it says.

But the Foresight Future of the Sea Report for the UK government said there are also opportunities to cash in on the "ocean economy".

They say this is predicted to double to $3 trillion (£2 trillion) by 2030.

The report says much more knowledge is needed about the ocean. The authors say the world needs a Mission to "Planet Ocean" to mirror the excitement of voyaging to the moon and Mars.

The Foresight reports are written by experts to brief ministers on medium and long-term issues of significance. This one has been signed off by ministers from four different departments as the authors emphasise the need for a joined-up oceans policy.

One of the authors, Prof Edward Hill from the UK National Oceanography Centre told BBC News: "The ocean is critical to our economic future. Nine billion people will be looking to the ocean for more food. Yet we know so little of what's down there.

"We invest a lot of money and enthusiasm for missions to space - but there's nothing living out there. The sea bed is teeming with life. We really need a mission to planet ocean - it's the last frontier."

Another of the authors, the chief scientist for the UK government's environment department Ian Boyd, agreed: "The ocean is out of sight, out of mind," he said.

He told BBC News: "There's a continuous process of exploring for new things to exploit in the oceans, and that's happening faster than we scientists can keep up with. My suspicion is legislation is also struggling to keep up - and obviously there are risks in that."

He said offshore wind farms, oil industries and mining firms were spreading into unexplored areas. "Scientists need to get in there faster than the commercial people or at least at the same time - to put proper regulation in place to govern those industries."

The report highlights many concerns, including the current worry about ocean plastic litter, which it forecasts will treble between 2015 and 2025.

But it stresses that the ocean is being assailed from many different types of pollution - including run-off pesticides and fertilisers from farms, industrial toxins like PCBs, and pharmaceuticals.

The authors say if governments can identify ways of protecting biodiversity in the seas, there are riches to be harvested - including nodules of metals and possibly even cures for cancer.

They predict that the biggest industrial growth in the seas will come from offshore wind, followed by marine aquaculture and fish processing. The report also projects an increase in industrial capture of wild fish.

This latter suggestion alarmed Rachel Jones, a marine expert from London Zoo, ZSL. She told BBC News: "Given that 90% of global fisheries are either at or in excess of sustainable catch levels, I can't really see how they are going to expand capture fisheries."

Follow Roger on Twitter.

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The amount of plastic in the ocean is set to triple in a decade unless litter is curbed, a major report has warned. Plastics is just one issue facing the world's seas, along with rising sea levels, warming oceans, and pollution, it says.

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Climate change leading to mass movement of people.

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Climate change leading to mass movement of people.

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Climate change will result in a massive movement of people inside countries and across borders, creating "hotspots" where tens of millions pour into already crowded slums, according to the World Bank.

More than 140m people in just three regions of the developing world are likely to migrate within their native countries between now and 2050, the first report on the subject has found.

The World Bank examined three regions, which between them account for 55% of the developing world's population. In sub-Saharan Africa, 86m are expected to be internally displaced over the period; in south Asia, about 40m; and in Latin America, 17m.

Such flows of people could cause enormous disruption, threatening governance and economic and social development, but the World Bank cautioned that it was still possible to stave off the worst effects.

"Climate change-driven migration will be a reality, but it does not need to be a crisis, provided we take action now and act boldly," said John Roome, senior director for climate change at the World Bank group.

He laid out three key actions governments should take: first, to accelerate their reductions of greenhouse gases; second, for national governments to incorporate climate change migration into their national development planning; and third, to invest in further data and analysis for use in planning development.

Within countries, the effects of climate change will create multiple "hotspots": made up of the areas people move away from in large numbers, and the areas they move to.

"Local planners need to make sure the resources are made available, and to make sure it takes place in a comprehensive and coordinated manner," said Roome.

Globally, many tens of millions more are expected to be similarly affected, creating huge problems for national and local governments. Nearly 3% of the population was judged likely to move owing to climate change in the areas studied - a proportion which might be repeated elsewhere.

Migration between countries has previously taken the spotlight, with its potential for cross-border conflicts, but internal migration may cause as much disruption, putting pressure on infrastructure, jobs, food and water resources.

The 140m figure extrapolates from current trends, but could be reduced if changes are made. If economic development is made more inclusive - for instance through better education and infrastructure - internal migration across the three regions could drop to between 65m and 105m, according to the report, and if strong action is taken on greenhouse gas emissions, as few as 30m to 70m may migrate.

Climate change is likely to most affect the poorest and most vulnerable, making agriculture difficult or even impossible across large swathes of the globe, threatening water resources, and increasing floods, droughts and heatwaves in some areas. Sea level rises and violent storm surges are also likely to hit low-lying coastal areas, such as in Bangladesh.

Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive of the World Bank, said in her introduction to the report, published on Monday: "There is growing recognition among researchers that more people will move within national borders to escape the effects of slow-onset climate change, such as droughts, crop failure, and rising seas.

"The number of climate migrants could be reduced by tens of millions as a result of global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and with far-sighted development planning. There is an opportunity now to plan and act for emerging climate change threats."
Topics

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Climate change soon to cause mass movement, World Bank warns

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Climate change will result in a massive movement of people inside countries and across borders, creating "hotspots" where tens of millions pour into already crowded slums, according to the World Bank. More than 140m people in just three regions of the developing world are likely to migrate within their native countries between now and 2050, the first report on the subject has found.

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A minor earthquake has affected parts of Wales and England.

Shaking has been reported across south Wales, the south west of England and the Midlands.

Early data from the United States Geological Survey measured the quake to be a 4.2 magnitude tremor.

The British Geological Survey said it was in the process of analysing data.

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A minor earthquake has affected parts of Wales and England. Shaking has been reported across south Wales, the south west of England and the Midlands. Early data from the United States Geological Survey measured the quake to be a 4.2 magnitude tremor. The British Geological Survey said it was in the process of analysing data.

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11 cities most likely to run out of water...

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11 cities most likely to run out of water...

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The 11 cities most likely to run out of drinking water - like Cape Town

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Cape Town’s taps are due to be turned off because of severe drought. It is not alone in having water woes.

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Aftershocks continue to rattle Taiwan after a strong earthquake killed at least seven people and injured more than 250 others on Tuesday night.

A 5.7-magnitude tremor was felt late on Wednesday, in the same area where the 6.4-magnitude quake struck on the country's east coast.

Some 67 people are still unaccounted for after a number of buildings across the city of Hualien were badly damaged.

Hualien, a popular tourist hub, is home to about 100,000 people.

Images from the city showed tilted structures, scattered debris and extensive damage to roads.

Dozens of the missing are thought to be in a residential building that is leaning dramatically to one side.

Engineers have attempted to secure it using concrete blocks and steel, but efforts have been complicated by ongoing tremors and rainfall.

Rescues at the apartment block were at one stage temporarily suspended for safety reasons, but emergency responders and soldiers continued to work into the night on Wednesday.

An 80-year-old resident of the building told the AFP news agency that he was asleep in his flat on the top floor when Tuesday's earthquake struck.

"My bed turned completely vertical. I was sleeping and suddenly I was standing," Chen Chih-wei said.

At least two people died in the city's Marshal Hotel when the building's bottom floors collapsed. Authorities said on Wednesday they believed no one else was left inside.

Residents of Hualien have been told to stay away from their damaged homes, and hundreds have taken shelter in community buildings because of the aftershocks.

President Tsai Ing-wen was at the scene of the quake on Wednesday morning, where she visited hospitals and relief centres.

In a statement, Ms Tsai said that the government would help Hualien to the best of its abilities, adding that she hoped "people's lives would return to normal as soon as possible".

Pope Francis also expressed solidarity with the victims in a statement released by the Vatican.

'I wanted to hide under a bed'
by Cheng Chunglan, BBC Chinese, Hualien
Earthquakes are not uncommon for residents in Hualien but the 6.4-magnitude quake, one of the strongest in recent years, came as a shock.

According to witnesses, residents were running out of buildings crying and screaming when the earthquake shook the city.

"It is the first time in my life [where I felt like] I wanted to hide under a bed," said 32-year-old Ms Chieh. "Later, my entire family and all my neighbours ran out onto the street."

She added that she felt very scared and found it "unbelievable" that the hotel building near her home was so seriously damaged.

People reported feeling Tuesday's quake in the island's capital, Taipei, more than 160km (100 miles) away.

The earthquake happened exactly two years after a previous quake in the Taiwanese city of Tainan that killed at least 116 people.

Taiwan has been rocked by more than 100 earthquakes so far this month, according to the government. The island sits near a junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by earthquakes.

Taiwan has for all practical purposes been independent since 1950, but China regards it as a rebel region that must be reunited with the mainland.
Are you in the area? Did you witness what happened? If it's safe to do so, you can share your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk .
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

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Aftershocks rock Taiwan after deadly quake

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Aftershocks continue to rattle Taiwan after a strong earthquake killed at least seven people and injured more than 250 others on Tuesday night. A 5.7-magnitude tremor was felt late on Wednesday, in the same area where the 6.4-magnitude quake struck on the country's east coast.

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Why are they so important?
Corals are invertebrate animals. Individual coral animals, called polyps, live in groups of hundreds to millions of genetically identical polyps called colonies.

Reefs are created by hard corals which secrete a skeleton that can turn into giant structures like Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the largest living structure on the planet.

In 2001, the UN estimated that the total surface area of coral reefs measured 284,300 square kilometres (sq km), which is just shy of the size of Italy.

Click the link below to learn more about them

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More than 11 billion pieces of plastic larger than five centimetres wide are littering coral reefs across the Asia-Pacific region, according to a recent study.

That is enough plastic to make it from Earth to the moon and nearly halfway back.

Researchers who published the study last week in Science Magazine believe that the amount of plastic in coral reefs will grow by 40 percent in the next seven years.

Meanwhile, the researchers found that the chance of corals becoming infected with a disease increased from four percent to 89 percent when they were draped in plastic.

Plastic pollution is just one factor that is putting the world's coral reefs at risk.

Coral reefs may have been around for as long as 500 million years, but scientists are warning that they might be gone or decimated by the end of the century.

Al Jazeera examines why coral reefs matter and if they can be saved.

What are coral reefs?

Corals are invertebrate animals. Individual coral animals, called polyps, live in groups of hundreds to millions of genetically identical polyps called colonies.

Reefs are created by hard corals which secrete a skeleton that can turn into giant structures like Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the largest living structure on the planet.

In 2001, the UN estimated that the total surface area of coral reefs measured 284,300 square kilometres (sq km), which is just shy of the size of Italy.

More than half of the earth's coral reefs is distributed over only five countries: Indonesia, Australia, the Philippines, France (including its overseas territories) and Papua New Guinea. Their reefs are the size of small countries themselves. Indonesia's 51,020 sq km worth of reefs, for example, is nearly as big as Costa Rica.

Why do coral reefs matter?

The list of benefits of coral reefs is extensive, ranging from providing habitats for a large chunk of the world's underwater creatures to protecting humans from waves.

Coral reefs take up only 0.1 percent of the seabed but support 25 percent of marine life.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates that coral reefs provide an annual $30bn worth of goods and services. The conservation organisation estimates that about one billion people have some dependence on coral reefs for food and income from fishing. A well-managed square kilometre of coral reef can yield 15 tonnes of seafood per year - or 750 times the world's per capita fish consumption of about 20 kilogrammes.

Coral reefs generate additional value by supporting tourism. A report by Australia's Climate Council found that the loss of the Great Barrier Reef would cost adjacent regions one million visitors a year, put 10,000 jobs at risk and take $1bn in tourism spending from the economy.

Coral reefs also protect coastlines from powerful waves and flooding and prevent coastal erosion. A 2014 study published in Nature magazine found that coral reefs reduce wave energy by an average of 97 percent. Up to 200 million people may be receiving protection from reefs, the researchers found.

In some regions of the world, people's dependence on coral reefs is especially high. Many Pacific Islanders, for instance, depend on reefs for food as well as protection from storms.

"Coral reefs mean survival for my community," said Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, the Paramount Chief of Fiji's Macuatu province, which flanks the Great Sea Reef. When changes happen to the reef, "everybody suffers", he told Al Jazeera.

"[The fishers] have to go further out. It takes them longer to be out there. The returns are declining," he said.

"If the reefs are lost, where would the fish go? If there's no reef, then maybe it's the end - doomsday."

Why are coral reefs dying?

Tropical reefs have lost more than half their reef-building corals in the past 30 years, a 2015 WWF report found.

"We see globally a very, very, steep decline in the corals," Erik Solheim, the head of the UN Environment Programme, told Al Jazeera. "It's for sure already one of the biggest casualties of climate change."

"Of course, what's really unfair here is that those suffering the most direct consequences, economically and otherwise, are those who contributed nothing to the climate change."

Since the beginning of the 20th century, sea surface temperatures have increased, and they continue to rise. Not able to cope with the unusually warm temperatures, corals reefs have experienced mass bleaching events at increasingly short intervals.

Coral bleaching is a stress response. When water temperatures get too warm, corals will expel the coloured, microscopic algae living in their tissue, which provide them with nutrition. When corals are without the algae for too long, they die of starvation.

Bleaching is believed to have killed as much as half the coral in the Great Barrier Reef in recent years.
Drag the slider across the image below to see the difference between a healthy and a bleached coral reef. Photos: The Ocean Agency/XL Catlin Seaview Survey/Richard Vevers Left: a healthy coral reef in American Samoa in December 2014. Right: the same location three months later.
Another recent study in Science magazine found that the frequency of severe bleaching events has increased fivefold since the 1980s: from once every 25 to 30 years, to once every six years today. This means that coral does not have enough time to recover before it is struck again.

UNESCO warned that by 2040 nearly all of the 29 world heritage reefs would be hit by severe bleaching twice per decade. By 2100, all UNESCO reefs may be dead.

Aside from climate change and plastic pollution, other man-made factors are putting additional pressure on coral reefs. Ocean acidification due to the water's absorption of CO2 slows the growth of reefs, as well as d estructive fishing practices - including dynamite fishing and overfishing - destroy reefs or hamper their ability to recover.

Activities happening on land can also adversely affect coral reefs. Erosion caused by construction, mining, logging and farming puts sediment into the oceans which can choke corals to death.

Is it too late to save the world's coral reefs?

Scientists have issued bleak prognoses in recent years. A 2017 UNESCO report claimed that only by meeting the Paris Agreement's most ambitious target - limiting the global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels - would there be a chance to save the world's reefs.

In 2017, one study published in Nature Climate Change put the likelihood of keeping global warming contained to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels at 1 percent.

It's not all doom and gloom. A study prepared through the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network found that live coral coverage in the Pacific islands area has remained relatively stable over the past 20 years. Their isolated geography means they are further removed from direct human stresses, such as overfishing, giving them a better chance of natural recovery.

And scientists are working on innovations that might mitigate the decline of reefs, like 3D-printing artificial reefs for marine life to settle on, or coral farming, which creates nurseries for fragments of corals to grow into maturity before being re-installed in their natural habitat.

Still, analysts agree that urgent and drastic action is required in order to save the world's reefs.

"The more you know, the more depressing it becomes," said Kesaia Tabunakawai, WWF representative in the Pacific.

"Especially when you see how slow action is [happening]," she told Al Jazeera.

Local programmes that promote better reef management can slow down the reefs' decline, but without urgent action on global warming, Tabunakawai said, "it's not going to help".

"We cannot control what's happening [in other countries]. We're going down fighting rather than just sitting and waiting," she said.

The UN's Solheim said the world is at a "make or break point" when it comes to saving the reefs.

"[Letting reefs die] would be a shame, morally, for humans," Solheim added.

"We would be the one generation destroying some of the most beautiful, most important ecosystems we have."

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Why are coral reefs important, and why are they dying?

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More than 11 billion pieces of plastic larger than five centimetres wide are littering coral reefs across the Asia-Pacific region, according to a recent study. That is enough plastic to make it from Earth to the moon and nearly halfway back.

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By Victoria Seabrook, Sky News Journalist

Thousands of tons of plastic scrap collected for recycling from British households have been transported and dumped on sites across the world, a Sky News investigation has revealed.

Experts have warned there is "no other solution" for dealing with waste which is now stockpiled in countries as far away as Poland and Hong Kong than to consign it to landfill.

Sky News documentary, Dirty Business, exposes a system that makes it more lucrative to export our plastic recycling than process it ourselves.

It raises concerns the system could be inflating our recycling rates and failing to channel investment into recycling here in the UK.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the UK has "been exporting too much waste".

"What we need to do is to make sure that we reduce the amount that we produce and also process more of it at home," he said.

The statistics on plastics usage are staggering.

Every year British households throw 22 million tons of waste into the bin. EU targets demand that we recycle half of that by 2020 - but rates are stagnating at just 44%.

Cheaper land and labour abroad means a lot of our plastic is exported to be reprocessed.

But the reality is that once it leaves our shores, no one really checks whether it is recycled.

The documentary lays this truth bare, uncovering shipments of plastic wrapped in Chelmsford Council recycling bags sitting on a yard in Hong Kong, destined for landfill.

Tony Wong, the Chinese plastics trader who had imported the plastic to Hong Kong, expected to receive only clear bottles.

But the load was so contaminated with other materials, it was too expensive to sort and recycle.

Steve Wong, who often works with Tony Wong and is also president of the China Scrap Plastics Association, said there was "no other solution" to deal with the waste than consign it to landfill.

But Sky News has found the shipment has been registered as recycled by the exporter and therefore counted towards Britain's recycling targets.

Yet more plastics that had been exported from the UK are falling apart and polluting the environment in Poland.

It is cases like these that suggest the UK could well be "over reporting recycling rates", according to Dominic Hogg, chairman of environmental consultancy Eunomia.

China had been importing millions of tons of plastic rubbish every year to make the toys, mats, and parts that it sells back to the rest of the world.

Britain has become heavily dependent on that appetite, sending two thirds of its plastic scrap exports to China.

But all sorts of other rubbish was mixed in with it. So in July last year the Chinese government announced it would ban imports of the world's plastics from January 2018 - under a programme called national sword.

That means the UK will have to find somewhere else to take its unwanted plastics.

"Operation national sword had a big impact in that it's almost halved the amount of plastic going to China," says Phil Conran, chair of the advisory committee on packaging for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

"That's the problem we've got with China who are saying we don't want this low quality stuff anymore. So China have closed their doors and we've going to have to find somewhere else."

At one plastic-strewn site near Bangkok,Thailand, Sky News found worrying evidence that China closing its doors will merely mean the same thing happening in other countries.

It discovered waste from everyday household goods, including Tesco and Asda milk packaging and a Whitworths raisins bag, that had apparently been there for over a year.

More concerning still was the sight of workers stood knee deep in biohazard bags, processing them with their bare hands.

Chelmsford Council promised to investigate how recycling from its area had ended up stuck in a yard in Hong Kong.

The council later confirmed its recycling had been handled by companies accredited by Defra. It said it was confident that materials collected for recycling were "of high quality and free from contamination" and that its approach had "the least environmental impact" of all recycling practices.

But it will be up to Defra to handle the fallout from China's ban. In November 2017, MPs questioned the department's chief, Environment Secretary Michael Gove, on his plans to deal with the impact.

Mr Gove replied: "I do not know what impact it will have. It is a very good question and something to which - I will be completely honest - I have not given sufficient thought."

He later told the Sky News documentary that he was doing everything he could to "turn what is a challenge into an opportunity".

He added that the Sky News footage of recycling dumped in Hong Kong and Poland "reinforces the case for the reforms" of the recycling system that he planned to implement.

But his department had long known about the flaws in the system.

In 2015 it commissioned several briefing notes, which repeated concerns that the system lacked transparency, provided "little" benefit to local authorities and did not "encourage investment in the UK reprocessing industry".

These documents were never made public, but the programme obtained copies via a freedom of information request.

Recyclers, exporters and councils emphasised the importance of the public putting the right recycling in the right bins. But they called on the Government to do more to create a system the public can trust.

Industry hoped that plans would be laid out in the Government's 25-year environment plan, which was finally published in January 2017.

The plan promised to reform the relevant waste regulations but provided no detail on how it would do so. It also pledged more information in its resources and waste strategy, which is due out during 2018.

Rob Opsomer, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said the China ban could be an opportunity for Britain.

"It forces the UK to rethink how they deal with their plastics post-use," he said.

"It can also go the bad way. We continue exporting plastics abroad, where the infrastructure is even worse than in China, and we perhaps believe it gets recycled.

"But actually what happens there is it gets burned or it gets treated in a way that is negative for the local environment."

In the meantime, the industry is warning that we have to start taking more responsibility for our own waste, as the amount of plastics we produce soars.

Lee Clayton, managing director of Monoworld Recycling, said: "I don't think we're planning quick enough. It needs investment, it needs government support.

"We have to look at processing domestically. It's our waste, our problem, we should be recycling it."

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Thousands of tons of UK plastic dumped across world

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By Victoria Seabrook, Sky News Journalist Thousands of tons of plastic scrap collected for recycling from British households have been transported and dumped on sites across the world, a Sky News investigation has revealed. Experts have warned there is "no other solution" for dealing with waste which is now stockpiled in countries as far away as Poland and Hong Kong than to consign it to landfill.

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Links to natural hazards units in Year 9 and 10, along with weather in Year 8!

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At least two people are dead amid mudslides in Southern California, where heavy rains triggered flooding and massive run-off, US media report.

"Waist-deep" mudslides in areas scorched by wildfires last month shut down more than 30 miles (48km) of the main coastal highway, officials say.

Emergency crews are working to rescue multiple people trapped in vehicles and homes, a Santa Barbara official said.

At least eight people were injured and thousands have fled ahead of the rain.

Heavy rain run-off caused waist-deep mudflow in the Montecito, where some homes were knocked from their foundations, Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesman Mike Eliason told the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kelly Huber told the newspaper two people were found dead on Tuesday in Montecito and may have been killed as result of the storm.

Wildfires in December, including the Thomas Fire, swept through the area burning vegetation that helps prevent flooding and landslides.

Thousands of California residents were asked to evacuate on Monday for the second time in two months.

Homeowners in the area shared photos of mud in their homes.

Several roads are closed due to mudslides and debris, including the major thoroughfare Highway 101.

After a wildfire, burned vegetation and charred soil create a water repellent layer which blocks water absorption and leads to an increased risk of mudslides and floods.

"Recent burn areas will be especially vulnerable where dangerous mud and debris flows are possible," said the National Weather Service in a statement.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shared a warning for California homeowners explaining that homes that had never flooded before were now at risk.

About 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders on Monday.

This comes after a record-setting year of $306 billion (£226 billion) of weather and climate-related disaster costs in the United States, the third warmest year on record, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The storm over California is expected to produce 4 inches to 7 inches (10 to 18 cm) in the foothills and 9 inches (23 cm) in select areas. Snow is forecast for higher elevations, according to the National Weather Service.

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At least two people are dead amid mudslides in Southern California, where heavy rains triggered flooding and massive run-off, US media report. "Waist-deep" mudslides in areas scorched by wildfires last month shut down more than 30 miles (48km) of the main coastal highway, officials say.

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Links to the environment

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There are fears of a growing environmental disaster in the East China Sea as a tanker continues to leak oil two days after colliding with a cargo ship.

The Sanchi tanker was still ablaze on Monday morning, reports said.

The crew, 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, remain missing.

The US Navy has sent a military aircraft to help China with the rescue efforts which have been hampered by the blaze and oil slick.

The extent of the spill and environmental hazard are still unclear.

The tanker had been carrying an ultra-light form of oil known as condensate which in the case of a spill can be more dangerous for the environment than regular crude.

"Condensate is more likely to evaporate and mix in with the water," John Driscoll of JTD Energy Services told the BBC.

"It also can be colour- and odourless - so it is a lot harder to detect, contain and clean up."

Women on mission to 'clean up oceans'

Exposure to oil sends birds off course

Though Panama-registered, the Sanchi belongs to an Iranian company.

The Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tonnes of Iranian oil when the vessel collided with a Chinese cargo ship on Saturday night, 165 nautical miles east of Shanghai.

The 21-strong crew of the Chinese ship were rescued.

China has sent several ships to carry out search-and-rescue operations while South Korea has also sent a coast guard ship and a helicopter.

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China oil spill sparks environment fears

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There are fears of a growing environmental disaster in the East China Sea as a tanker continues to leak oil two days after colliding with a cargo ship. The Sanchi tanker was still ablaze on Monday morning, reports said. The crew, 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis, remain missing.

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A warming, rapidly changing Arctic is the "new normal" and shows no signs of returning to the reliably frozen region of the past.

This is according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Arctic Report Card.

Director of the administration's Arctic Researcher Program, Dr Jeremy Mathis, said the region did a great service to the planet - acting as a refrigerator.

"We've now left that refrigerator door open," he added.

Dr Mathis was speaking at the annual American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans, where Noaa presented its annual summation of Arctic science.

Starving polar bear: The 'face of climate change'?

This is the 12th report the administration has produced. And although it pointed to "a few anomalies" in a recent pattern of warming in the Arctic region, Dr Mathis said: "We can confirm, it will not stay in its reliably frozen state."

"The thing I took that had the most resonance for me was we're able to use some really long-term records to put the Arctic change into context - going back more than 1,500 years.

"What's really alarming for me is that we're seeing the Arctic is changing faster than at any rate in recorded history."

The speed of change, Dr Mathis added, was making it very hard for people to adapt.

"Villages are being washed away, particularly in the North American Arctic - creating some of the first climate refugees," he said.

"And pace of sea level rise is increasing because the Arctic is warming faster than we anticipated even a decade ago."

The 2017 Arctic headlines

Warmer air: Average annual air temperature over land was the second highest after 2016, with a temperature 1.6C above average.

Declining sea ice: The maximum winter sea-ice area, measured each March, was the lowest ever observed. Sea ice is also getting thinner each year.

Warmer ocean: Sea surface temperatures in August 2017 were 4C above the average in the Barents and Chukchi seas. Surface waters of the Chukchi Sea have warmed by more than half a degree C per decade since 1982.

Plankton blooms: Springtime melting and retreating sea ice allows sunlight to reach the upper layers of the ocean, meaning more of these microscopic marine plants can photosynthesise.

Greener tundra: Overall vegetation, including plants getting bigger and leafier and shrubs and trees taking over. Grassland or tundra, increased across the Arctic in 2015 and 2016, as measured by satellite.

Ups and downs for snow: For the 11th year in the past 12, snow cover in the North American Arctic was below average, with communities experiencing earlier snow melt. The Eurasian part of the Arctic saw above average snow cover extent in 2017 - the first time that has happened since 2005.

Less melt on Greenland Ice Sheet: Melting began early on the Greenland Ice Sheet in 2017, but slowed during a cooler summer, resulting in below-average melting when compared with the previous nine years. Overall, the Greenland Ice Sheet, a major contributor to sea-level rise, continued to lose mass this past year, as it has since 2002 when measurements began.

Source: 2017 NOAA Arctic Report Card
Scientists say it is clear that human-induced climate change is contributing to making the Arctic a warmer and more dynamic place.

"When we look at the darkening of the Arctic," said Dr Mathis, "reflective, icy surfaces are melting to reveal darker surfaces that absorb more of the Sun's energy.

"So it probably only took a little bit of human-induced change to start the Arctic down this cascading pathway; a little bit of ice melting led to a little bit of warming, which led to more ice melting, which led to more warming.

"And now we're seeing an acceleration - a runaway effect that may eventually be a catastrophic runaway effect starting to take hold in the Arctic."

Oceanographer and retired US Navy Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, who was appointed by the Trump Administration as acting administrator of Noaa, was asked during the Arctic report presentation about the response of the White House to the findings.

Many scientists viewed President Trump's recent decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement as clear evidence of his scepticism about human-induced climate change.

He said that the White House was "addressing and acknowledging it and factoring it in to their agenda".

Dr Mathis added that information coming from this report was "beyond reproach".

"They're facts. Facts weighted in thousands and thousands of scientific measurements that have been validated and peer reviewed by a community of experts working in the area for decades.

"Policy-makers can use those facts as they see fit."
Follow Victoria on Twitter

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A warming, rapidly changing Arctic is the "new normal" and shows no signs of returning to the reliably frozen region of the past. This is according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Arctic Report Card. Director of the administration's Arctic Researcher Program, Dr Jeremy Mathis, said the region did a great service to the planet - acting as a refrigerator.

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From Miami to Jakarta, coastal communities around the world are battling the effects of sea level rise.

But in some places, the problem is exacerbated by another phenomenon: the land is falling.

The Indonesian capital, for example, is sinking up to 17cm (6.7 inches) per year. "That's an issue, because they're right at sea level," says Michelle Sneed, a land subsidence specialist at the US Geological Survey (USGS). "They have this added pressure of increased flooding and sea level rise. They built seawalls. But the city is subsiding so quickly that, at high tides, water just pours over."

Partly because of examples like Jakarta, subsidence often gets misinterpreted by climate change sceptics, who argue this phenomenon alone explains increased flooding in coastal areas. The reality is more challenging. Both sea level rise and subsidence are happening at once. But while sea level rise is a global issue caused by the warming of the oceans and melting of the world's ice caps, land subsidence is a local problem, affecting some communities but not others.

In coastal areas unlucky enough to be hit by both phenomena, the risk of flooding can be severe. And although inland communities are unlikely to suffer much from sea level rise, many, including Mexico City and California's San Joaquin Valley, are grappling with the challenges posed by sinking land instead.

You might also like:
* Miami's fight against rising seas
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* The frozen danger hidden under US soil

But there is good news. While most scientists agree that rising sea levels only can be mitigated by lowering carbon emissions, which will require global consensus, communities can take control of their own land subsidence.

"If water is high because of sea level rise, then you have to address the entire world," says University of Utrecht geologist and subsidence researcher Gilles Erkens. "In some ways, that makes it easier to address land subsidence, because you only have to look at a local area."

If water is high because of sea level rise, then you have to address the entire world. In some ways, that makes it easier to address land subsidence - Gilles Erkens

Some cities, including Shanghai and Tokyo, have already solved the problem. Other communities, like the Hampton Roads area of eastern Virginia, are now coming up with their own creative solutions.

If you're surprised to hear that subsidence is a localised (or solvable) problem, you may be thinking of one kind of vertical land motion: global isostatic adjustment (GIA). A hangover from the last Ice Age that occurred around 12,000 years ago, GIA is the rebound of Northern Hemisphere land after it was freed of the weight of billions of tonnes of ice. While the areas once under the now-melted ice are rising, those on the edges are falling in response.

Imagine poking a balloon with your finger. You'd create an indent, as well as a bulge around your fingertip. When you release your finger - much like melting the ice - the indent bounces back while the bulge goes down. In North America, the spot with the indent is Canada and Alaska, while the bulge is the mid-Atlantic.

Stretch that millisecond-long experiment over millennia and you have something similar to what is happening to the Earth right now. But as you might expect, GIA is a relatively slow process and should not be confused with the more dramatic subsidence affecting some communities.

"If a localised area is seeing its land sinking significantly, it's not because of global isostatic adjustment," says NOAA's Philippe Hensel. "At a maximum, global isostatic adjustment is going to be pretty minor."

The most significant increase in height due to GIA, in places like Alaska and Canada, is nearly 10mm per year, says Hensel. But those areas that are moving downwards because of GIA are falling by a maximum of 1mm or 2mm annually.
Water slide
For most communities around the world, therefore, the reason for significant subsidence is something entirely man-made: groundwater extraction.

"Everything you extract from the underground results in subsidence," says geologist Simone Fiaschi, who studies subsidence at the University of Padova. "You remove something from the layers the terrain is made of, so the ground starts to collapse."

That means other types of extraction, such as removing methane gas or oil, can also produce the same effect. But groundwater, one of the most important sources of fresh water supplies in the world, is usually the culprit. In India, the world's largest user of groundwater, 85% of drinking water comes from the ground; in Europe, 75% of the population gets drinking water from groundwater.

In many parts of the world, the ground is being emptied of water faster than it has time to recharge - which can cause the soil to compact

And then there are all of the other uses. In the US, for example, irrigation for agriculture accounted for the withdrawal of 225 million cubic metres (49.5 billion gallons) of groundwater per day in 2010 - 60% of the total removed from the ground. That's enough water to fill up an empty Lake Tahoe, California's largest lake by volume, in less than two years.

Groundwater is supposed to replenish itself naturally from rain and snowfall seeping through the rock. In many parts of the world, though, the ground is being emptied of water faster than it has time to recharge. This can lead to depletion of the water table and dwindling water supplies - but also can cause the soil to compact so that the layers on top drop, sometimes significantly.

Mexico City, for example, depends upon a local aquifer for about half of its potable water. Thanks to a combination of the city's vast population of 21 million people and inefficient water use - 42% is lost to leakages - the aquifer is being overdrawn. At this rate, it will be empty within 50 years, says Arnoldo Matus Kramer, the city's chief resilience officer. In the meantime, parts of the city are sinking by 30cm (12 inches) per year.

As a result, the city is trapped in a vicious cycle where subsidence damages the water pipe infrastructure and makes it more difficult to maintain, which leads to more leaks and more water being withdrawn. And as well as making the city more vulnerable to water shortages, subsidence also may have made some buildings more vulnerable to Mexico City's recent earthquake, says Kramer.

Exactly how much of the world is affected by subsidence is hard to say. "We're still trying to get the data for places around the world," says Erkens. "For many places, we don't know exactly what's happening, which also hampers our options for dealing with the challenges."

Stopping groundwater pumping can halt subsidence - and even help the land rebound

Still, from the data available, scientists agree that they've seen something promising. Stopping groundwater pumping can halt subsidence - and even help the land rebound.

Cities have proven it before. After decades of groundwater extraction in Tokyo, the land began to sink more and more, peaking in 1968 at 24cm (9 inches) per year. At around the same time groundwater pumping in the city also reached a high of 1.5 million cubic meters (329 million gallons) per day. In response, Tokyo's government passed laws limiting pumping. By the early 2000s, the city's subsidence slowed to 1cm (0.4 inches) a year.

But halting pumping requires changing the main source of a city's water. And for some areas, that may not be possible. The San Joaquin Valley, which spreads across some 25,900 square km (10,000 square miles) in the centre of California, relies on groundwater for its main industry - agriculture. Exacerbated by the recent drought, parts of the region have begun to sink by up to 60cm (2ft) per year.

"That's among the very fastest in the world," says the USGS's Sneed, who is based in California. Worsening the problem has been a recent change toward more water-intensive practices as agriculture has shifted from rotation crops like tomatoes and peppers to permanent crops like orchards and vineyards.

Although subsidence here isn't causing flooding, it's still undermining the area's infrastructure. One example is its massive canal system, which it uses to move water around the area. Parts of the valley are subsiding at different rates, causing the gravity-reliant canal system to fail. As a result, California legislators signed a law in 2014 to ensure that groundwater use doesn't cause unreasonable land subsidence.

How that will be done, though, has yet to be determined. Relying on alternative water sources seems unlikely, according to Sneed, as California doesn't have much capacity for further reservoirs.

"I think they're starting to realise what a monumental task it will be," Sneed says. "Locals are going to have make some very hard choices that they haven't had to make before on how they use their land."
Pumped up
One way cities like Shanghai have tackled the problem is by not only limiting pumping, but by recharging their aquifers. An even more creative solution, though, is being developed in Virginia.

At about 2.8mm per year, the single biggest contributor to flooding in Hampton Roads is groundwater pumping

There, the southern part of the Chesapeake Bay region, known as Hampton Roads, is threatened by three different forces. This is an area at the edge of the now-melted ice - so while GIA here is around 1mm per year, that rate of drop is still among the fastest in the world. The second problem is sea level rise, contributing around another 2mm per year.

But at about 2.8mm per year, the single biggest contributor is groundwater pumping from the massive Potomac aquifer.

In an area this flat, those millimetres add up. The area suffers frequent flooding, as well as saltwater intrusion into both the aquifer and into delicate wetlands that are in danger of being inundated.

Ted Henifin is the general manager of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. A few years ago, his team started to wonder if there was a better use for the wastewater that they were processing and dumping into the mouth of the Chesapeake. "It's not like the water we put back into the waterways is used by anyone else, or even needed," he says.

So what if they could use the water for something of value? That train of thought led to an innovative new project called Swift. Instead of dumping the water, the project will treat the wastewater - which totals some 682,000 cubic metres (150 million gallons) each day - to standards that will meet that of drinking water. It will also be given the exact same profile, including the salinity, as the groundwater. Once it's been processed, the water will be pumped back into the aquifer.

The project is still starting out, with the goal of getting permits in 2019 and injecting 45,500-91,000 cubic metres (10-20 million gallons) a day by 2023. But the models have already found that adding the water can increase pressures as far as Maryland and North Carolina.

"With the total aquifer compaction that would have been seen without our project, if we continue with the permitted withdrawals that we've got to the end of a 50-year period, there's a total compaction, in the worst areas, of about 2ft (61cm)," says Henifin. "If the same model is run with our water going in, we eliminate that entirely."

If the project works, the plan is to scale up to full capacity, 545,000 cubic metres (120 million gallons) a day, by 2030 - and then replicate the programme in wastewater treatment plants across other counties.

This idea may be the only one we've come up with that may buy some time for our region - Ted Henifin

David Nelms, a USGS scientist who has been involved in the project, cautions that it may not be a panacea. As elsewhere, the ground here is layered with both clay and sand. Extraction over the last century has compacted both layers. When water is injected, though, it will 'pump up' only the sand. The clay remains compacted. "You will never get that back," says Nelms. "That's permanent. But [the project's] sites are scattered and the geology is different in each one of them, so you should expect different responses in different places."

Land subsidence may be a complicated problem. But with projects like Swift aimed at tackling it, there may be reason for optimism - not only to fix subsidence, but to mitigate its twin challenge of sea level rise. "In terms of can we do something about sea level in our lifetime, this idea may be the only one we've come up with that may buy some time for our region," Henifin says.
Join 800,000+ Future fans by liking us on or follow us on Twitter. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called "If You Only Read 6 Things This Week". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

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The ambitious plan to stop the ground from sinking

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From Miami to Jakarta, coastal communities around the world are battling the effects of sea level rise. But in some places, the problem is exacerbated by another phenomenon: the land is falling. The Indonesian capital, for example, is sinking up to 17cm (6.7 inches) per year.

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Bali volcano: Inside the Mount Agung exclusion zone

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Bali volcano: Inside the Mount Agung exclusion zone

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Some residents flee to shelters, others risk staying, as Mount Agung spews out ash.

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With your knowledge of volcanic eruptions... would you have decided the same?

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About 100,000 people near Bali's Mount Agung have been ordered to evacuate as officials fear a major eruption.

Indonesian authorities have raised the state of alert to its highest level, and expanded the exclusion zone around the rumbling volcano.

The island's airport has now closed, leaving thousands stranded in the tourist hotspot.

Authorities say dark gas and ash have been billowing up to 3,400m (11,150ft) above the mountain's summit.

Officials have warned residents to stay away from rock and debris flows known as lahars, which have been spotted flowing down from the mountain.

Mount Agung's volcanic tremors first began in September.

How close is it to a major eruption?

The National Board for Disaster Management raised the alert to level four from 06:00 local time (22:00 GMT Sunday) because of "the possibility and imminent risk of disaster".

The volcano was seen emitting "continuous ash puffs" occasionally accompanied by "explosive eruptions" and "weak booms" that could be heard 12km (7 miles) away from the summit.

"The rays of fire are increasingly observed at night. This indicates the potential for a larger eruption is imminent," it said in a statement (in Indonesian) on its Facebook page.

Geologist Mark Tingay of the University of Adelaide told the BBC that Mount Agung now appears to be entering the next phase with a magmatic eruption, where the glow of lava is visible from the crater.

But he added that as eruptions are difficult to predict, it was "very hard to tell" how the situation would develop. "These eruptions can be quite large and extensive and violent, but this could also be a relatively minor eruption over time."

He added that Indonesian authorities had made preparations for an eruption for months, and said they appeared "extremely well prepared", with the situation "well under control".

Should tourists be worried?

The main tourist stretch of Kuta and Seminyak is about 70km (43 miles) from the volcano, far beyond the exclusion zone.

But the ash prompted officials to shut down Bali's Ngurah Rai airport from Monday to Tuesday morning.

Airport authorities said 445 flights had been cancelled, affecting 59,000 travellers, while Indonesia's national hotel association said that stranded tourists staying at member hotels could stay one night for free.

The Australian government and the UK's Foreign Office have advised travellers to be prepared for cancelled flights, closely monitor local media, and to heed local authorities' warnings.

China (statement in Chinese) advised its citizens to be "cautious" if travelling to Bali.

The airport on neighbouring island Lombok reopened on Monday morning after it was shut briefly.

How are locals coping?

Authorities have widened the exclusion zone to a 10km (6 mile) radius from the volcano, and have ordered people in the area to evacuate.

On Monday, officials said about 100,000 residents needed to leave, but so far only 40,000 have done so.

A spokesman for Indonesia's disaster agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said that some people within the exclusion zone did not leave because the area was not touched the last time it erupted - more than 50 years ago.

The volcano first began belching thick gas last week.

Officials have been distributing masks for local residents, as ash rains down in the vicinity.

Anna Baranova, who works with non-governmental organisation Kopernik that is helping evacuees, said her group was trying to bring in better masks and possibly goggles.

"There's some effort to distribute information and also solar powered TV units which will broadcast information about the evacuation to the camps, should the electricity go out if there's an eruption," she told the BBC.

Lahars, also known as "cold lava", are slurries of rock fragments mixed with water, and have been spotted in fields and rivers near the volcano.

Mr Nugroho warned that lahars may increase due to heavy rain and as Mount Agung continues to emit pyroclastic material.

He has urged islanders to stay away from lahars, as well as avoid activities near rivers.

Authorities first issued warnings of an imminent eruption and raised the alert to the highest level two months ago, after detecting heightened volcanic activity.

Following mass evacuations, some islanders returned to their homes in October when the alert level was lowered with a decrease in activity.

According to official estimates, the holiday island lost at least $110m (£83m) in tourism and productivity during that major evacuation.

Is this common for Indonesia?

The last time Mount Agung erupted, in 1963, more than 1,000 people died.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. It is home to more than 130 active volcanoes.

Scientists monitoring around the clock
By Jonathan Amos, BBC science correspondent
No-one can really say at this stage how things will turn out. The volcano might dampen down or the activity could evolve into a very big eruption.

Scientists have a network of seismometers around Agung that allow them to follow its rumblings, which give them clues as to what is going on inside. This will be complemented by gas detectors. Again, this gives the researchers insights into the physical processes in play.

On top of that the scientists have access to satellite observations. Already these have detected an increase in sulphur dioxide emissions. Radar spacecraft in particular are taking a close look at Agung. They can sense any subtle changes in the shape of the volcano that might indicate a very large volume of magma is moving closer to the surface.

It is complex work but the experts in this field are relatively convinced that a slow uplift on the northern flank has been going on for some time. It may come to nothing, but high-resolution radar data is now being studied to see if more pronounced changes are occurring.
Are you in the area? Have your travel plans been affected? What are conditions like currently? If it is safe to do so, email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
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Bali volcano alert raised to highest level

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About 100,000 people near Bali's Mount Agung have been ordered to evacuate as officials fear a major eruption. Indonesian authorities have raised the state of alert to its highest level, and expanded the exclusion zone around the rumbling volcano. The island's airport has now closed, leaving thousands stranded in the tourist hotspot.

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Year 9s... this links to our current topic on volcanoes and how it affects us

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Year 9s... this links to our current topic on volcanoes and how it affects us

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Airlines have been issued a "red warning" about the danger of volcanic ash in the skies close to Bali after Mount Agung emitted a thick plume of smoke more than 1,500m (4,921ft) high.

It is the second major emission from the Indonesian island's volcano this week, and flights have been disrupted.

The red warning means an eruption is forecast to be imminent, with significant emission of ash into the atmosphere likely.

Volcanic ash can damage plane engines.

Bali is a major tourist hub. Its main airport is for now operating normally, but some airlines have cancelled flights since volcanic activity was first noticed in September.

Bali volcano: What is it like waiting for an eruption?

Indonesia: Volcano nation

"Tourism in Bali is still safe, except in the danger (zone) around Mount Agung," Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency said in a statement.

It told people within a 7.5km (4.7-mile) exclusion zone to "immediately evacuate" in an "orderly and calm manner".

About 25,000 people are thought to still be in temporary shelters after more than 140,000 people fled earlier this year after increased volcanic activity prompted fears a major eruption was imminent.

Most of the islanders outside of the immediate exclusion zone were ordered to return home at the end of September, and the mountain has been intermittently rumbling since.

According to official estimates, the holiday island lost at least $110m (£83m) in tourism and productivity during the major evacuation.

The volcano itself is about 70km from the main tourist areas of Kuta and Seminyak.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

It is home to more than 130 active volcanoes. The last time Mount Agung erupted, in 1963, more than 1,000 people died.

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Airlines warned over Bali volcano activity

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Airlines have been issued a "red warning" about the danger of volcanic ash in the skies close to Bali after Mount Agung emitted a thick plume of smoke more than 1,500m (4,921ft) high. It is the second major emission from the Indonesian island's volcano this week, and flights have been disrupted.

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Would the cooler weather make you consider using an E-Bike

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Would the cooler weather make you consider using an E-Bike

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"E-bikes are fantastic. I use them all the time. You can take the kids up mountains. You can arrive in your good clothes at a meeting. It's so easy." Who said this?

Surprisingly, it was none other than Fabian Cancellara, perhaps the greatest ever road time-trial rider. He made similar remarks during a Q&A at the recent Rouleur Classic, an event for road bike and race purists, causing good-humoured outrage. But if even the great Cancellara can ride an e-bike, so will I.

Commuting is changing in UK cities, partly because there is little choice. Congestion, dangerous levels of pollution, and the sheer cost and inconvenience are forcing people to look for alternatives. Car journeys and school runs - and, at peak times, even some modes of public transport - seem outmoded when they involve waiting for two or three buses or tubes before you can actually squeeze on.

But how can that be addressed? Could thousands in the UK really be persuaded to convert to other forms of urban mobility where they could also save time and money? As a commuter and urban socialiser who has been dodging buses, tubes and cars in favour of the bicycle for years, I decided to test out something I used to consider cheating - the e-bike.

What were my objectives? To put myself in the shoes, and indeed the seat, of a non-cyclist, and to be able to move quickly and comfortably without breaking sweat. I opted for BMW's latest Active Hybrid, that comes with Selle Royal's new eZone saddle, that claims to be the first saddle specially designed for e-bikes.

BMW has been designing e-bikes for decades, but the fact that a leading carmaker is increasingly investing in this type of transport points to change that is already evident in the EU. The e-bike market is much more mature across Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, where revenue now outstrips traditional cycles, and is also rapidly growing in Germany. The Active Hybrid is an upper-range model with an integrated battery in the thick frame. It's chunky like most e-bikes, and at 22.5kg, weighs more than three times as much as my usual road bike.

But what about the power? As a pedelec this only kicks while you're pedalling, otherwise it would be classed as an electric moped. On the flat I find it peculiar at first, and instinctively try to go faster than the 25kmh (15.5mph) legal limiter. But the bike is all about gliding along, and I try the three throttle positions, including the top 250W setting. Zooming up a steep, cobbled hill in Munich's Olympic Park, I'm amazed at the momentum. Riding really is effortless and as I continue around the city, I begin to see the appeal. The bike is completely silent and the battery can last up to 100km (62 miles).

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Gliding up a steep cobbled path in Munich's Olympic Park on BMW's Active Hybrid. Photograph: Selle Royal/BMW

The saddle, which is designed to provide additional stability for the increased acceleration power compared to regular bikes, is not cheap at €89.90 (£79.50), but is comfortable and made with non-slip material and gel filling to reduce pressure. I could imagine it being used on other urban models or even mountain bikes.

I can't see myself converting to an electric model at this stage, but if I was new to biking, lived much further from work, or was older, I'd be very tempted. Even on a cold winter commute it would be far preferable to interminable crowds and queues. At €3,400 (£3,000) the Active Hybrid is expensive, but would quickly start to make savings when considering the average Londoner spends £4,644 a year on commuting. The rise of e-bikes feels inevitable - perhaps this winter is the time to join the trend.

* What are your experiences and thoughts about e-biking? Let us know in the comments below

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E-bikes: time to saddle up with low-cost energy and no sweat?

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"E-bikes are fantastic. I use them all the time. You can take the kids up mountains. You can arrive in your good clothes at a meeting. It's so easy." Who said this? Surprisingly, it was none other than Fabian Cancellara, perhaps the greatest ever road time-trial rider.

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Coliforn bacteria in Krishna and godavari river waters

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Coliforn bacteria in Krishna and godavari river waters

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https://m.timesofindia.com/city/hyderabad/coliform-bacteria-in-krishna-and-godavari-river-waters/articleshow/61710896.cms

A bacteria known as cloriform infected the river waters in Krishna and godavari, the infected waters have sewage waters and other human caused wastes.

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https://mobile.the-scientist.com/article/41663/an-ocean-of-plastichttps://mobile.the-scientist.com/article/41663/an-ocean-of-plastic

Plastic has been found In animals such as whales, birds, and turtles. There are other animals that would were found dead due to the water pollution. A new study of the plastic problem in the ocean, estimating modem than 5 trillion pieces weighing nearly 250,000 tons.

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Floods: How to stay safe when disaster strikes

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Floods have been a deadly staple of 2017. But can you protect yourself against the natural disaster?

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Greece: Deadly floods hit Mandra, Nea Peramos and Megara

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Greece: Deadly floods hit Mandra, Nea Peramos and Megara

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Flash floods caused by heavy overnight rain have killed at least 15 people and caused destruction in central Greece.

The industrial towns of Mandra, Nea Peramos and Megara, west of the capital Athens, were the most affected.

Many of the dead were elderly people whose bodies were found inside their homes, reports say. Fast-flowing torrents of red mud flooded roads.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared a period of national mourning in the wake of the tragedy.

"Everything is lost. The disaster is biblical," Mandra Mayor Yianna Krikouki told state broadcaster ERT.

At least 37 people have been taken to hospital, the broadcaster said, and some are still missing.

Grim weather warning for Europe's future

Bad weather has hit parts of Greece for about a week, but particularly heavy rain overnight caused the sudden flooding, for which locals said they were unprepared.

The force of the water moved vehicles, damaged walls and roofing, and left many homeless as their homes flooded to a life-threatening level.

By Wednesday afternoon, Greece's fire service said it had received over 600 calls for help and dispatched almost 200 firefighters in 55 vehicles to the towns, which have a combined population in the tens of thousands.

"The water came down the mountain, millions of tonnes," Stavros Fotiou, the deputy mayor of Nea Peramos, told ERT.

"Our roads are completely destroyed... 1,000 homes have been flooded, that's a third of the town," he added.

The region's deputy governor, Yiannis Vassileiou, told the broadcaster that emergency services had been prepared for poor weather, but then "the Niagara Falls came down and could not be stopped".

Prime Minister Tsipras said that declaring a period of national mourning was "the least we can do".

He also vowed to provide aid to the victims and ensure they were housed safely.

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Flash floods caused by heavy overnight rain have killed at least 15 people and caused destruction in central Greece. The industrial towns of Mandra, Nea Peramos and Megara, west of the capital Athens, were the most affected. Many of the dead were elderly people whose bodies were found inside their homes, reports say.

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A 7.3-magnitude earthquake has shaken the northern border region between Iran and Iraq, killing at least 396 people and injuring thousands more.

More than 7,000 people are also said to have been injured in the quake, the world's deadliest this year.

Most of those who died were in Iran's western Kermanshah province, where a search for survivors has started.

Nine more people died in Iraq, where residents fled from their homes into the streets in the capital, Baghdad.

"I was sitting with my kids having dinner and suddenly the building was just dancing in the air," a Baghdad resident, Majida Ameer, told Reuters news agency.

"I thought at first that it was a huge bomb. But then I heard everyone around me screaming: 'Earthquake!'"

In the latest updates from Iran:

State news agency Irna quoted an emergency official as saying 6,603 people were injured in Iran alone

Most of the victims were in the town of Sarpol-e Zahab, about 15km (10 miles) from the border, emergency services chief Pir Hossein Koolivand said

The town's main hospital was severely damaged, leaving it struggling to treat hundreds of wounded, state TV reported

A woman and her baby were pulled alive from rubble in the town, Iranian media said

One aid agency said 70,000 people needed shelter after the quake.

Many homes in the predominantly Kurdish mountainous area are made of mud bricks and are vulnerable in quakes as large as Sunday's.

In Sarpol-e Zahab, a city of about 85,000 people, the sides of a number of tall buildings collapsed, forcing many people to spend the night outdoors in freezing conditions.

Rescue teams were being hampered by landslides, emergency workers said.

The quake hit at 21:18 local time (18:18 GMT) about 30km south-west of Halabja, near the north-eastern border with Iran, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

About 1.8 million people live within 100km of the epicentre, the UN estimates.

On the Iraqi side, the most extensive damage was in the town of Darbandikhan in the Kurdistan Region.

"The situation there is very critical," Kurdish Health Minister Rekawt Hama Rasheed told Reuters news agency.

Yaseen Abbas of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society told the BBC that 425 people had been wounded in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, where Turkey has already delivered aid.

The BBC's Rami Ruhayem, in the regional capital Irbil, said shaking there had lasted for more than a minute.

"For a few seconds at first it was barely detectable, I wasn't sure whether it was a minor tremor or just my imagination," he said. "But soon enough it was unmistakable as the building started swaying from side to side."

The earthquake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 23.2 km, and tremors were felt in Turkey, Israel and Kuwait.

In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude quake destroyed the historic city of Bam in south-east Iran, killing 26,000 people.

Sunday's quake is the deadliest to hit Iran since 2012. But it is only the sixth earthquake of magnitude-7.0 or more in 2017 - there were 16 last year and 19 the year before.

Analysis by Jonathan Amos, BBC Science Correspondent

Iran is one of those regions of the world that is all too familiar with quakes, and has experienced some very big tremors in the past.

In general terms, the big driver here is the clash between the Arabia and Eurasia tectonic plates. The former is pushing north by a couple of centimetres a year.

In the south-east of the country, the Arabia plate is actually pushing under the Eurasia plate, but in the north-west these great slabs rub directly against each other. The Zagros mountains are a result of all this compression.

Early reports indicate the quake occurred on a thrust fault. This means the crust on one side of the break in the rocks is moved vertically up and over the other side - which fits exactly with this general picture.

Geological agencies now produce immediate bulletins on the likely expected casualties. This modelling work is based on factors such as the size of the quake, population density and what is known about local construction methods. It's inexact work, but the first bulletins suggested this event could produce many hundreds of deaths and perhaps thousands of injured individuals.

Are you in the area? Have you been affected by the earthquake? If it's safe to share your experiences then please email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

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Iran-Iraq earthquake: Hundreds killed as border region hit

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A 7.3-magnitude earthquake has shaken the northern border region between Iran and Iraq, killing at least 396 people and injuring thousands more. More than 7,000 people are also said to have been injured in the quake, the world's deadliest this year. Most of those who died were in Iran's western Kermanshah province, where a search for survivors has started.

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Are big companies doing enough to target climate change?

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Are big companies doing enough to target climate change?

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Nearly nine out of 10 of the world's biggest companies have plans in place to reduce carbon emissions, new research has found, but only a fifth of them are doing so for 2030 and beyond.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) also found that only 14% of its sample of 1,073 large companies around the world had "science-based targets" - that is, goals to reduce carbon emissions which are in line with the global agreement to hold warming to no more than 2C, enshrined in the 2015 Paris agreement.

"Targets [from companies] have previously been short in scope and pretty unambitious," Marcus Norton, chief partnerships officer at CDP, told the Guardian. "That is improving."

Companies are not bound by the Paris agreement, which requires country governments to take action to hold warming to no more than 2C, with an aspirational goal of keeping warming to even lower levels, of 1.5C. However, many large companies have taken their own steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including investing in renewable energy, cutting down on waste and streamlining their operations.

Paul Simpson, chief executive of CDP, added: "This is great news for those companies seizing the opportunity of the low-carbon economy, but the rest need to pick up the pace or risk losing out. The majority of the large corporations we analysed do not yet appear to have the right science-based targets in place to successfully transition their business in line with the Paris agreement, though many have ambitions to take this step in the next two years."

These efforts will continue despite the withdrawal of the US, the world's biggest emitter, from the Paris agreement under President Trump. Governments will meet in Bonn this November under the auspices of the UN, a meeting known as COP23, to discuss the next steps to achieving the aims of the Paris agreement, and the attitude of the US government's representatives will be keenly watched. Ahead of COP23, many companies and governments below the national level were keen to stress their commitment to fulfilling the aims of the Paris pact.

For instance, mayors of the cities of London, Paris, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Mexico City and Cape Town, along with a few others, announced they would stop buying petrol or diesel-driven buses from 2025 onwards, and that they would ensure that a large area of their city was "zero-emission" by 2030.

These actions are calculated to reduce air pollution, a serious problem in many major cities, as well as cutting down on global greenhouse gases.

Ahead of the Bonn conference, developing countries have also been a key focus. A group called the New Climate Economy has surveyed Africa and found that nations across the continent could benefit from environmentally sustainable economic growth, potentially "leapfrogging" developed countries by bypassing much of the fossil fuel economy in favour of clean technology, including renewable energy.

The report found that the best way to encourage such sustainable economic activity in Africa would be for governments to devise and implement new policies that would make investments in green growth more attractive, for instance by reducing existing subsidies for fossil fuels and removing import tariffs on sustainable technology.

Governments should also encourage entrepreneurship, the report found, by adapting policies to the conditions in their countries and of their economies, taking into account the available natural resources and the need to keep emissions low while lifting people out of poverty.

"Africa has the natural resources and the determination to instigate a green industrial revolution," said Carlos Lopes, a member of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, professor at the Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice, University of Cape Town. "Now we need the right policies to unleash economic transformation, green growth and entrepreneurship across the continent. A more prosperous and sustainable future is within Africa's reach, we just need to seize it."

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Big companies' climate change targets are 'unambitious', say analysts

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Nearly nine out of 10 of the world's biggest companies have plans in place to reduce carbon emissions, new research has found, but only a fifth of them are doing so for 2030 and beyond.

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They may not be destroying the Amazon- but are having negative affects elsewhere!

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They may not be destroying the Amazon- but are having negative affects elsewhere!

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The loss of rainforest in the Amazon has been a familiar cause for activism for more than 30 years, but the partial success of efforts to protect it is moving the spotlight to a new landscape: Brazil's cerrado.

Environmentalists fear that measures to reduce the exploitation of the Amazon rainforest for commodities such as soy and beef have pushed some of those activities into formerly less exploited regions such as the cerrado, a vast tropical savannah covering more than 2m sq km.

The Prince of Wales highlighted the issue on Wednesday morning when he called for Brazil's cerrado, and other areas at risk around the world, to receive greater protection. "An increasing concern is the extent to which success in reducing agricultural expansion into forests comes at the expense of the destruction of other wonderful ecosystems such as the cerrado, the chaco and the world's remaining savannahs," he told an international audience of government officials and business people. "All of [these landscapes] are also vital for the services they provide and the biodiversity that they sustain."

At the conference hosted by the Prince at Lancaster House in London, attended by forested countries including Brazil, Gabon and Indonesia, a group of 23 companies signed up to a new resolution to halt the destruction of the cerrado and ensure that any future commercial exploitation of the area is sustainable and well-managed. The companies included major retailers and food groups, such as Walmart, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, Carrefour, McDonald's, Nando's, Nestle and L'Oreal.

The cerrado is less well-known than the Amazon rainforests, with their richness of plant and animal life, but it is also of vast international importance in terms of biodiversity and potentially as a store of carbon.

It is home to at least 200 species of mammal, 10 unique species of bird, and more than 10,000 plant species, making it one of the most biologically rich areas of savannah on the planet. Jaguars, tapirs, capybaras, giant anteaters and species of wolves and foxes populate the cerrado, which is also important for its role in the water ecosystems of the surrounding areas.

"In some ways, we have been the victims of our own success in trying to protect the Amazon rainforest," Mike Barry, director of sustainable business at Marks & Spencer, told the Guardian. "Some of the farming, for soy especially, has moved to the cerrado."

Legal protections for the cerrado are weak, as Brazil's forest code allows the vast majority of the land to be exploited. The government is mired in controversy and heavily dependent on the agricultural lobby, making progress tricky. However, the government has, nominally at least, pledged to protect the cerrado and to cooperate with organisations wishing to do so.

The companies signing the Cerrado manifesto said they were "committed to halting forest loss associated with agricultural commodity production, and to working with industry, producers, governments and civil society to protect globally important natural landscapes within a framework of good governance and land planning policy."

They said current laws in Brazil were not enough to halt the cerrado's destruction on their own and called for a system that ensures that any future agricultural development takes place on land which has already been degraded, rather than converting virgin soil to farming.

Prince Charles noted, ahead of the next annual meeting of the UN on climate change, COP23 in Bonn next month, that new research has shown degraded forests becoming sources of the release of carbon into the atmosphere, rather than sponges soaking up the greenhouse gas.

He warned that despite some successes, the problem of deforestation around the world was still dire. "Notwithstanding all the progress made, it remains indisputably and demoralisingly the case that we are not winning," he said, noting that at least 10m hectares of forest continue to be lost each year, with "new fronts of deforestation opening all the time".

Rory Stewart, minister at the Department for International Development, pledged the UK government's assistance. He said there had been a tendency in the past for the government to "turn up, do some capacity-building and move on", but that in future aid spending would depend on a deeper understanding of local needs and how to meet them. He also promised that the government would build environmental concerns into its public procurement practices, and the incentives it offers in trade deals.

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Prince Charles: Companies chased away from Amazonian rainforests now destroying plains

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The loss of rainforest in the Amazon has been a familiar cause for activism for more than 30 years, but the partial success of efforts to protect it is moving the spotlight to a new landscape: Brazil's cerrado.

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Drones are being used to protect elephants and rhinos from poachers.

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Drones are being used to protect elephants and rhinos from poachers.

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In parts of southern Africa drones are being used to protect elephants and rhinos from poachers

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Links to the enviornment, the future and #globalgoals

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Planting forests and other activities that harness the power of nature could play a major role in limiting global warming under the 2015 Paris agreement, an international study showed on Monday.

Natural climate solutions, also including protection of carbon-storing peatlands and better management of soils and grasslands, could account for 37% of all actions needed by 2030 under the 195-nation Paris plan, it said.

Combined, the suggested "regreening of the planet" would be equivalent to halting all burning of oil worldwide, it said.

"Better stewardship of the land could have a bigger role in fighting climate change than previously thought," the international team of scientists said of findings published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The estimates for nature's potential, led by planting forests, were up to 30% higher than those envisaged by a UN panel of climate scientists in a 2014 report, it said.

Trees soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide as they grow and release it when they burn or rot. That makes forests, from the Amazon to Siberia, vast natural stores of greenhouse gases.

Overall, better management of nature could avert 11.3bn tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year by 2030, the study said, equivalent to China's current carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use.

The Paris climate agreement, weakened by US president Donald Trump's decision in June to pull out, seeks to limit a rise in global temperature to "well below" 2C above pre-industrial times.

Current government pledges to cut emissions are too weak to achieve the 2C goal, meant to avert more droughts, more powerful storms, downpours and heat waves.

"Fortunately, this research shows we have a huge opportunity to reshape our food and land use systems," Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, said in a statement of Monday's findings.

Climate change could jeopardise production of crops such as corn, wheat, rice and soy even as a rising global population will raise demand, he said.

The study said that some of the measures would cost $10 a tonne or less to avert a tonne of carbon dioxide, with others up to $100 a tonne to qualify as "cost-effective" by 2030.

"If we are serious about climate change, then we are going to have to get serious about investing in nature," said Mark Tercek, chief executive officer of The Nature Conservancy, which led the study.

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Regreening the planet could cut as much carbon as halting oil use - report

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Planting forests and other activities that harness the power of nature could play a major role in limiting global warming under the 2015 Paris agreement, an international study showed on Monday. Natural climate solutions, also including protection of carbon-storing peatlands and better management of soils and grasslands, could account for 37% of all actions needed by 2030 under the 195-nation Paris plan, it said.

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Mother nature: Whoops, i accidently dropped my bag of hurricanes

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Two men and a woman have been killed as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia hit the British Isles.

As hurricane-force gusts battered the Republic of Ireland, one woman and a man died in separate incidents when trees fell on their cars.

A second man died in a chainsaw accident while attempting to remove a tree felled by the storm.

Thousands of homes and businesses lost power in Northern Ireland and Wales, along with 360,000 in the Republic.

The power company Northern Ireland Electricity said 15,000 households in the province should prepare to spend Monday night without power.

Police in Scotland say the storm has hit Dumfries and Galloway and it is forecast to continue over the region into the evening.

And in Cumbria, police in Barrow closed roads around Barrow AFC's stadium after wind damaged its roof.

Cumbria Police said it was dealing with "numerous incidents" related to the high winds, which reached up to 70mph in the area.

The force had received reports of roofs and debris on the roads and overhead cables which had come down and it was urging people to only make essential travel.

In Wales, roads and railway lines have been closed and a gust of 90mph was recorded in Aberdaron, Gwynedd.

The Welsh Ambulance service said a woman has been injured after being hit by a falling branch in Wrexham.

'Stay indoors'

In Ireland, the woman, in her 50s, died near Aglish, County Waterford, and a female passenger, in her 70s, was injured.

Her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, the Gardai, Ireland's police force, said.

One of the men died near Dundalk, Co Louth, after his car was struck by a tree at about 14:45 BST, the Gardai said.

The other man, in his 30s, was killed in Cahir, Co Tipperary.

All road users were urged to stay indoors and not travel unless their journey was absolutely necessary.

Flights were also disrupted as several UK planes were forced to land or divert after reports of a "smoke smell" linked to weather conditions.

Great Storm of 1987: The day 18 people were killed

Red sun phenomenon 'caused by Hurricane Ophelia'

'Smoke smell' forces flights to land

BBC Weather said the strongest winds recorded so far were at Roches Point, near Cork in the Republic of Ireland, where they reached 97mph.

Ireland's meteorological service said its highest gust was 109mph at Fastnet Rock.

The Met Office's amber warning for Northern Ireland, western Wales and western parts of Scotland is still in force for wind.

Forecasters are predicting that the far south-west of Scotland will see winds of 80mph on Monday evening, followed by 60mph gusts over Glasgow and the central belt in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The main danger facing Scottish commuters in the morning would be debris on roads, they said.

Other parts of the UK have seen unseasonably warm temperatures.

And skies have turned red and yellow as Ophelia drags dust from the Sahara through the atmosphere.

It could be several days before power is restored to some homes in the Republic of Ireland, ESB Networks has warned.

The roof of Cork's football stadium has also been blown off by the winds.

Are you affected by Ophelia? E-mail your stories and pictures to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: +447555 173285

Ophelia has arrived from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean and coincides with the 30th anniversary of the UK's Great Storm of 1987.

BBC Ireland correspondent Chris Page said it would be the most severe storm to hit Ireland in half a century.

Amber warning for Scotland

Storm closes schools and cuts power in Wales

The Irish Republic's Met Eireann said the storm was forecast to continue travelling north over western parts of Ireland, with "violent and destructive gusts" of 75mph to 93mph expected countrywide.

It also warned of possible flooding due to heavy rain and storm surges.

"There is a danger to life and property," it said.

It has issued a red alert for the country.

In England, three flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected - have been issued in the South West, and there are several flood alerts - meaning flooding is possible - across other parts of the country.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has put a series of flood alerts and warnings in place for south-west Scotland.

In other developments:

Hundreds of flights in and out of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were cancelled on Monday, including from Manchester and Edinburgh airports. On the Isle of Man, the mail plane was grounded

As the storm headed into England, flights were diverted from Leeds to Manchester. Five flights due to take off from Leeds were cancelled

All schools and further education colleges in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are closed. The respective education authorities said they will remain closed on Tuesday

All schools in Anglesey and Pembrokeshire have closed early along with some in Gwynedd. Bangor University and Aberystwyth University have closed for Monday afternoon

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Image Copyright @nidirect @nidirectReport

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Three killed as storm sweeps into Ireland

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Two men and a woman have been killed as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia hit the British Isles. As hurricane-force gusts battered the Republic of Ireland, one woman and a man died in separate incidents when trees fell on their cars. A second man died in a chainsaw accident while attempting to remove a tree felled by the storm.

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An interesting look at the problems of the world's longest river

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The world's longest river is sick -
and getting sicker

Booming populations have dirtied and drained it, while climate change threatens to cut its flow.

And some fear that competition over its dwindling waters could trigger a regional conflict.

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The world's longest river is sick -and getting sicker Booming populations have dirtied and drained it, while climate change threatens to cut its flow. And some fear that competition over its dwindling waters could trigger a regional conflict.

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More than 150 people are missing in wildfires that have ravaged northern California's wine region, police say.

At least 15 people are confirmed dead and more than 1,500 homes have been destroyed by the fires which broke out on Sunday.

Nine of the deaths have been in Sonoma County.

One of the worst affected towns there is Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco, where entire districts have been razed to the ground.

The Sonoma County sheriff's office said 155 people were still unaccounted for, although that could be due to the chaotic pace of the evacuations.

In neighbouring Napa County, victims included 100-year-old Charles Rippey and his 98-year-old wife, Sarah, police said.

Wildfire's 'dark' skies at Disneyland

Life as an elite wildfire fighter

The prisoners fighting wildfire

The fires are among the deadliest in California's history and have sent smoke as far south as San Francisco, about 60 miles (100km) away.

California fire chief Ken Pimlott told the BBC on Tuesday that more than 17 fires had burned about 115,000 acres (26,000ha) in the past 24 hours.

He said his officers were trying to track down those unaccounted for but he feared the death toll could rise.

"We're very hopeful that they're just staying with family or friends or left town to get away and we just haven't been able to make that contact," he said.

"But these fires move so quickly - there are just hundreds and thousands of acres out there that we haven't had a chance to pour through and adjudicate."

There was some good news when winds that had been fanning the flames eased, helping firefighters to bring some of the blazes under control.

In Santa Rosa, a Hilton hotel and a mobile home park were destroyed. Tens of thousands of Sonoma County residents have fled, authorities said.

At least four wineries had suffered "total or very significant losses", Napa Valley Vintners said, with nine others reporting some damage to buildings or vineyards.

More than 91,000 homes and businesses are without power.

California Governor Jerry Brown declared states of emergency in Sonoma, Napa and five other counties.

US President Donald Trump has also approved a disaster declaration, allowing federal emergency aid to be disbursed.

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Scores missing in deadly California fires

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More than 150 people are missing in wildfires that have ravaged northern California's wine region, police say. At least 15 people are confirmed dead and more than 1,500 homes have been destroyed by the fires which broke out on Sunday. Nine of the deaths have been in Sonoma County.

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It is of real concern to read that nearly 95% of London's population live in areas exceeding WHO limits for particulate matter (Report, 5 October). Inner London's location, its dense road network and high buildings mean that it suffers from poorer air quality than many parts of the country. We are assisting the mayor of London by developing a low emission neighbourhood, leading a London-wide clampdown on idling engines, and banning diesel from our own fleet. We have created a City Air App, which gives low pollution travel routes to over 20,000 Londoners and use our planning powers to ensure new buildings are energy efficient and low emission.

This is having a positive effect and we welcome the mayor's decision that from 1 January 2018 all newly registered taxis are zero-emissions capable. But more needs to be done. We want to see existing diesel private hire vehicles removed from fleets as soon as possible to protect the public from exposure to toxic diesel emissions - with current licences phased out by 2020.
Jeremy Simons
Chairman of the environment committee, City of London Corporation

* It's deplorable that we continue to expose our children to lethal levels of air pollution. Such pollution is harmful to everyone, but for children the risk to their health is even higher. Their exposure is much greater and they absorb and retain pollutants in the body for longer. The mayor's plans to tackle pollution by introducing the T-charge in central London from 23 October 2017 and a low emission zone in 2019 are welcome, but 9,500 Londoners a year are dying prematurely due to air pollution now. We need more widespread action and we need it sooner.

The focus has to be on reducing car use. Motorised traffic is the biggest source of air pollution and a huge 23% of peak-time traffic is made up from those on the school run. One of the easiest and most effective ways to improve air quality is to enable more families to walk to school. Air pollution is a growing problem for all of our major towns and cities, with the Guardian and Greenpeace's joint investigation in April finding that over 2,000 schools are within 150 metres of a road emitting illegal levels of NO ₂. The solution is the same across the UK: we need to create safe walking routes and encourage more children to walk to school. October is International Walk to School Month; it's time to join the rest of the world in taking steps to fight air pollution.
Tompion Platt
Head of policy, Living Streets

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The need to tackle London's toxic air | Letters

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Letters: Jeremy Simons of the City of London Corporation wants to see existing diesel private hire vehicles removed from fleets as soon as possible, and Tompion Platt of Living Streets wants more children to be able to walk to school

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Imagine your apartment covered in plants!

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Imagine your apartment covered in plants!

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Why Milan is covering its skyscrapers in plants

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The city that until recently Italians would dismiss as 'grey' is becoming ever more verdant thanks to the creative minds of designers and architects.

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Parts of California's wine region are being ravaged by fast-spreading fires, destroying hundreds of homes and forcing mass evacuations.

About 20,000 people have fled from Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties after three fires broke out across the area renown for its vineyards.

At least one person has reportedly died as the fires spread rapidly.

The governor of California declared an emergency as fire-fighters battled to control the wild blazes.

"These fires have destroyed structures and continue to threaten thousands of homes, necessitating the evacuation of thousands of residents," the proclamation said.

The head of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Kim Pimlott said that about 1,500 buildings had already been destroyed.

It is not yet known how the fires started on Sunday night.

Napa County's Fire Chief warned that conditions were hindering fire-fighting efforts, as further resources were brought in from across the state.

Local media reported that one person died in Mendocino County when thousands of acres burned in one valley. Further injuries have been reported and others are said to be missing.

Dozens of vineyard workers were reportedly airlifted to safety overnight.

The fires are particularly fast-spreading because of the combination of high winds, low humidity and hot, dry weather.

The National Weather Service has issued a warning for the San Francisco area that "any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly".

Officials say at least 44,000 acres have already been destroyed.

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Parts of California's wine region are being ravaged by fast-spreading fires, destroying hundreds of homes and forcing mass evacuations. About 20,000 people have fled from Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties after three fires broke out across the area renown for its vineyards. At least one person has reportedly died as the fires spread rapidly.

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Hurricane Nate makes landfall in Louisiana

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Hurricane Nate makes landfall in Louisiana

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Hurricane Nate has made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says.

The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 85mph (137km/h), is moving north, and a second landfall is expected on the Mississippi coast later.

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Florida have issued hurricane warnings and evacuation orders.

Nate killed at least 25 people in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras.

The tropical storm has since strengthened and is now a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Although not as strong as last month's Maria and Irma, Nate is expected to bring strong winds and storm surges.

US President Donald Trump earlier issued an emergency declaration for Louisiana, allowing the state to seek federal help with preparation and possible relief efforts.

In Alabama, Republican Governor Kay Ivey has urged residents in areas facing heavy winds and storm surges to take precautions.

Five ports along the Gulf Coast have also been closed to shipping as a precaution.

Most oil and gas platforms in the US Gulf of Mexico have evacuated their staff and stopped production ahead of the storm.

Harvey v Katrina: Lessons learned?

How to stay safe in a hurricane

Do 'Pray for...' messages make disaster relief harder?

The hurricane warning issued to parts of the Gulf Coast includes the threat of life-threatening storm surge flooding. Evacuation orders have been put in place for some low-lying areas.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency ahead of the hurricane.

He said more than 1,000 National Guard troops had been mobilised with a number sent to New Orleans to monitor the drainage pumps there. "Anyone in low-lying areas... we are urging them to prepare now," he said.

A mandatory curfew from 18:00 (23:00 GMT) is in place in New Orleans, where residents from areas outside the city's levee system have been evacuated.

"Nate is at our doorstep, or will be soon," the city's Mayor Mitch Landrieu said, adding that the winds could cause significant power outages.

"We have been through this many, many times, there is no need to panic," he added.

A tropical storm warning is currently in effect for New Orleans.

Nate went past Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula - home to the popular beach resorts of Cancun and Playa del Carmen - on Friday night as it headed north, the NHC said.

Nate caused heavy rains, landslides and floods which blocked roads, destroyed bridges and damaged houses as it tore through central America.

At least 13 people died in Nicaragua, eight in Costa Rica, three in Honduras and one in El Salvador.

The tail of the storm is still causing problems in the region, where thousands have been forced to sleep in shelters and some 400,000 people in Costa Rica were reported to be without running water.
Are you in the affected area? Email us with your experiences at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk .
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

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Text an SMS or MMS to 61124

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Hurricane Nate has made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says. The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 85mph (137km/h), is moving north, and a second landfall is expected on the Mississippi coast later.

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Held annually on 5 October since 1994, World Teachers' Day commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which celebrated its 50 th anniversary during last year's edition. The 1966 Recommendation constitutes the main reference framework for addressing teachers' rights and responsibilities on a global scale.

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Health officials from around the world are meeting in France to commit to preventing 90% of cholera deaths by 2030.

The disease, which is spread through contaminated water, kills about 100,000 people every year.

It is the first time governments, the World Health Organization, aid agencies and donors have made such a pledge.

It comes as Yemen continues to fight one of the worst cholera outbreaks on record.

Cholera has been spreading in the war-torn country due to deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions and disruptions to the water supply.

More than 770,000 people have been infected with the disease, which is easily treatable with the right medical equipment, and 2,000 have died. Many of the victims are children.

These huge outbreaks tend to grab the headlines, but there are also frequent outbreaks in so-called cholera "hotspots".

Disease of the poor

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera e.

It can spread quickly and widely in cramped, dirty conditions.

The infection is cheap to treat with rehydration salts, and easy to avoid altogether if people have access to clean water and decent toilet facilities.

But about two billion people globally lack access to clean water and are potentially at risk of cholera, according to the World Health Organization.

The UN health agency says weak health systems, and outbreaks not being detected early enough also contribute to the rapid spread of outbreaks.

Dr Dominique Legros, who heads up the WHO's cholera programme, told the BBC: "We can't keep seeing these huge outbreaks every year.

"We have the tools at hand to prevent them, so let's use them.

"If you provide water and sanitation, it's enough to stop the transmission of cholera.

"We've seen that today in countries like Senegal, where we have been able to stop transmission."

Cholera is a disease of the poor, and building basic infrastructure for communities costs money.

However, there is no expectation of any major pledges of cash at Tuesday's meeting.

'Badge of shame'

The charity Wateraid estimates it would cost $40 (£30) per person to provide water, sanitation and hygiene.

Its chief executive, Tim Wainwright, says that is "surprisingly affordable".

"Looking around the world, the map of cholera outbreaks is essentially the same as a map of poverty and marginalisation.

"The fact that this preventable disease still sickens 2.9 million people every year and kills 95,000 people is a global badge of shame."

The oral cholera vaccine is another important part of the fight against this enduring disease.

It only offers protection for up to 3 years. But in situations where outbreaks are highly likely, it can save thousands of lives.

Some 900,000 doses of the vaccine are currently being sent to refugee camps in Bangladesh where almost half a million Rohingya Muslim refugees are gathering in squalid conditions after fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"The vaccine alone doesn't solve the problem, the water and sanitation is a more long-term solution," said Dr Seth Berkley, chief executive of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations.

"In the interim, we need to work to ensure we are doing both."

Northern Europe and the US managed to eliminate cholera 150 years ago.

Tuesday's pledge aims to, finally, achieve that goal for some of the world's poorest people.

Estimated global annual cholera cases:

India: 675,188 cases, 20,266 deaths

Ethiopia: 275.221 cases, 10,458 deaths

Nigeria: 220,397 cases, 8,375 deaths

Haiti: 210,589 cases, 2,584 deaths

Source: Johns Hopkins University

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Health officials from around the world are meeting in France to commit to preventing 90% of cholera deaths by 2030. The disease, which is spread through contaminated water, kills about 100,000 people every year. It is the first time governments, the World Health Organization, aid agencies and donors have made such a pledge.

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Vanuatu is no stranger to the rumblings, shakings, floodwaters and wrecking winds of natural disaster. The south Pacific island nation was rated the most at-risk country in the world in a 2016 United Nations study. Its 83 islands are stuck right in the middle of hurricane alley, and they dot the border of the "ring of fire" - a belt around the Pacific prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Despite their precarious situation being a day-to-day reality, the nation has been galvanised by prime minister Charlot Salwai's order to evacuate the entire island of Ambae because of the threat that the volcano at its centre will blow.

"People's lives must be our first priority," said Salwai, the prime minister. "Everybody has to go."

What followed has been Vanuatu's own version of the Dunkirk evacuation. Folk began organising even before Salwai gave the order. The Ni-Vanuatu - the people of this archipelago - are defined by two things: land and family. From the moment a state of emergency was announced, members of the Ambae community in Port Vila, the capital, began to mobilise.

They knew better than to wait for the cash-strapped, resource-starved government, and instead jury-rigged a disaster response centre at a church. Local companies began donating goods immediately. Before long they had stockpiles of water, food, bedding and other essentials ready to send.

Then they chartered a ship.

The MV Makila was one of the first of Vanuatu's rag-tag fleet of inter-island barges and coasters to reach Ambae with supplies. It unloaded those goods, then took more than 100 passengers to safety on the nearby island of Espiritu Santo. Then it went back and did it again.

There was no hesitation, no reflection. The ships had to run. So the community members dug deep and shifted for themselves.

On the Indonesian island of Bali, where a volcano is also rumbling threateningly, authorities are dealing with too many people having evacuated: about half of the 140,000 people who have fled to shelters are being told to return home. The situation on Ambae could not be more different: it's 11,000 residents are having to be plucked off a handful at a time.

Ambae's Manaro volcano sits on a small island, in the middle of a lake, on top of Mt Lombenben - whose profile dominates the island. Until last week a calmly smoking patch of earth emitted a gentle column of steam and ash, sometimes shrouding the island. It was this vision of an almost magically disappearing Avalon of the Pacific that led the second world war-era writer James Michener to pen the legend of Bali Hai in his Tales of the South Pacific.

But Manaro's gentle demeanour masked a looming threat. Its gently sloping shape is caused by the earth's crust bending under unfathomable pressures below the surface. Last week began with a massive show of force as firstly one, then two new vents appeared. The hollow boom of repeated explosions reverberated across the island, and the glow of a newly formed lava lake was visible from Pentecost island, 30km away.

Over the weekend, the grassroots evacuation effort of Ambae cranked up. Nadia Kanegai has been personal assistant to a prime minister, and a former political candidate herself. A past master at getting things done by Vanuatu's often shambolic public bureaucracy, she didn't flinch at the difficulties presented by moving hundreds of her home island's most vulnerable inhabitants to safety.

She just hired a plane and told the pilot to keep flying until everyone was out.

Kanegai won't discuss how much this airlift is costing her personally, but whistle-stop charter flights to the outer islands typically cost the equivalent of £1,000 for a return hop. Her plane made 18 flights on the first day alone.

Moli, 14, has Down syndrome. Safe on the tarmac in Santo island, she spots the camera on her and mugs good-naturedly, flashing a peace sign. But asked how she's coping, she repeats again and again: "I just want to cry."

The grassroots airlift has two small 10-seater planes running all day. Nothing bigger can land on the remote island. But it's not nearly enough. Nancy Garae brought her mother-in-law to Longana airport from Lolovenue in the north-east of the island.

"She is nearly 100," said Garae of the elderly woman. "When we came, we found out the plane was already full. We're still waiting. Probably tomorrow." They have nowhere to stay in Longana, so they have no choice but to return to the village, then come back the next day.

The exodus from Ambae is ramping up. Ten ships are now involved in the effort, and Australia has announced that the HMAS Choules, a supply ship, is steaming across the Coral Sea to assist.

But for those who cannot travel by ship, or who cannot wait, the people of Ambae must look to themselves.

"These people made me who I am," says Kanegai. "I'm only paying them back."
Dan McGarry is media director at the Vanuatu Daily Post

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Planes, ships, barges: the DIY evacuation of Vanuatu's volcanic island

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Vanuatu is no stranger to the rumblings, shakings, floodwaters and wrecking winds of natural disaster. The south Pacific island nation was rated the most at-risk country in the world in a 2016 United Nations study.

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Bali volcano: What is it like waiting for an eruption?

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Bali volcano: What is it like waiting for an eruption?

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The lifespan of a volcano can be measured in millennia, and so waiting a few days for it to erupt may not sound too stressful.

But for the tens of thousands of Balinese people forced from their homes, the "imminent" danger that they have been living with for more than a week feels very real.

Ketut Seri says she has already last track of time since arriving at one of the emergency shelters.

Sat surrounded by thin plastic bags stuffed with her children's clothes, she says she can't help but worry about what she's left behind.

"I wish I had brought my cooking utensils," she tells me, a sign that she expects to be here for the long haul.

"I'm tired, I'm sad because I cannot work," she explains, "I cannot find any solution."

Her children chase a football around the concrete hall they have been living in alongside another 100 evacuees.

But Ketut's husband is absent after venturing back to their empty village to check on the animals. He is not the only one taking that risk.

The fate of the cattle and chickens many had to leave behind in the hills weighs heavily on people's minds, and so some are crossing back and forth into the danger area every day to check on their well-being.

According to the volcanologists monitoring Mount Agung, this situation could continue for weeks, maybe even months.

An eruption may not even happen, they simply don't know.

At the government observation base, senior seismologist Devy Kamil remains patient - despite the long queue of journalists who have been knocking on his door all week, hoping for some news.

"There are some examples where you have swarms of activity for as long as six years," he explains, "and it is not always ended by an eruption."

When lava last flowed from Mount Agung in 1963, the measuring instruments they use today were not in place, and so it is impossible to know the signature behaviour of that shows an eruption is coming.

What's happening at Mount Agung?

Bali volcano evacuees 'broken-hearted'

The evacuees who couldn't leave their pets

But while some here scrutinise every little piece of scientific data, others are waiting for spiritual signs.

At the Goa Lawah Hindu temple, daily prayers continue at the site of a cave that many Balinese believe is connected to the volcano's energy.

When I ask Iputi Juliad, one of the temple officials, what people are praying for, he says most just want good luck.

He sees the wait for news from Mount Agung as part of a much longer process. "There is a circle of life, a circle of sacrifice" he explains.

When I ask if the seismic activity is seen as a sign that the gods are angry, he is very careful in his reply.

"It is not a punishment, not a punishment," Mr Juliad repeats, anxious to move on from a sensitive subject.

Instead his focus is on the need to accept fate.

"Maybe an eruption, maybe not, nobody knows."

The uncertainty is having an impact on everyone on Bali, even if they haven't been evacuated.

The village of Rendang sits just outside the exclusion zone, and normally the market place would be bustling with the traders selling fruit, flowers and rice.

But according to stallholder Ketut Astiningsih, most people have stopped coming and her income has taken a massive hit.

"No one is shopping. Before I could get 400,000 Rupiah ($30 USD) a day, now I can only earn 50,000 Rupiah ($3.7USD)" she explains.

So far the economic consequences for Bali's tourism industry have not been so grave.

At the hotels, the busloads of holidaymakers keep on coming, reassured it seems by the government's message that they will be kept well out of harm's way.

Of course every tourist has heard or read about the volcano, and many have been contacted by worried relatives back home.

But for most the only concern is whether an eruption would mean they could be marooned here.

As he sipped a beer on the beach at Sanur, Mathew Hunter from Cairns in Australia seemed pretty relaxed by that prospect.

"I could definitely do with a few more weeks here," he chuckles, before adding that he is far more concerned about the fate of the tens of thousands of evacuees in emergency shelters.

Like most people on Bali, he says he would like to see this waiting game with Mount Agung come to a swift but peaceful conclusion.

"I just hope it has a few little belly rumbles and then life goes on."

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The lifespan of a volcano can be measured in millennia, and so waiting a few days for it to erupt may not sound too stressful. But for the tens of thousands of Balinese people forced from their homes, the "imminent" danger that they have been living with for more than a week feels very real.

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Hurricane Katrina was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that was the costliest natural disaster and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States.It was the eleventh named storm and the fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

The storm originated over the Bahamas on August 23 from the interaction between a tropical wave and the remnants of Tropical Depression Ten. Early the following day, the new depression intensified into Tropical Storm Katrina. The cyclone headed generally westward toward Florida and strengthened into a hurricane only two hours before making landfall at Hallandale Beach and Aventura on August 25. After very briefly weakening to a tropical storm, Katrina emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on August 26 and began to rapidly deepen.

Overall, at least 1,245 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, making it the deadliest United States hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Total property damage was estimated at $108 billion (2005 USD)

Information: Wikipedia

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Hurricane Katrina was an extremely destructive and deadly Category 5 hurricane that caused catastrophic damage along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge and levee failure.

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The Haiti Earthquake was an extensive and a dreadful earthquake that occurred in 16:43, Tuesday January 2010. This earthquake was one of the world’s greatest earthquake that reached a magnitude of 7.0, covering up 25km of the west Port-au-Prince. This terrible act of destruction has caused 1.3 million people becoming homeless, hospital collapses, over 220,000 deaths and over 300,000 casualties.

The Dominican Republic gave them emergency water and medical supplies including heavy machinery in order to search through the demolished rubble and buildings to find and rescue. Medical groups also helped Haiti by beginning to aid the injured. Non-permanent field hospitals were set up to help by the Red Cross organisation.Overall, this natural disaster was a catastrophic earthquake that ended many lives and was one we cannot unsee.

Source: wikipedia and bitesize

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The entire population of Ambae is being moved from the path of the "increasingly active" Manaro volcano, also known as Lombenben, according to the Pacific nation's government.

On the Indonesian island of Bali, more than 144,000 people have been taken to shelters as authorities warn that Mount Agung, in the island's north, could erupt at any time.

Both volcanoes sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of intense seismic activity that stretches 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) from New Zealand to South America.

That they're showing signs of erupting at the same time is pure coincidence, said Benjamin Andrews, of the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.

Vanuatu volcano

Vanuatu's Ambae island hasn't been evacuated on this scale since an alert in 2005, Minister of Land and Natural Resources Ralph Regenvanu told CNN.

Most of the island's 11,000 residents are being taken away by boat, but some are also being airlifted to evacuation centers on Vanuatu's Pentecost and Maewo islands.

On Wednesday, a New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) aerial survey found "huge columns of smoke, ash and volcanic rocks billowing from the crater of an erupting volcano" on the island, according to a press release from the agency.

The alert level is at 4, the second highest on the scale. "Ambae volcano is in an ongoing moderate eruption state," a statement from Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department said. People in local villages could experience the danger of flying rocks, volcanic gases and acid rain, the statement added.

"The principal concerns here are that the volcano can eject volcanic rocks to distances of many kilometers from the crater, and that the volcano could erupt ash and/or emit sulfur dioxide," said Andrews, from the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.

Australia had responded to a request for assistance, pledging up to 20.5 million Vatu ($190,000) in "much-needed supplies like food, water, shelter and hygiene kits for affected communities on Ambae," a Vanuatu government statement said Thursday.

Australia was also funding surveillance flights over the volcanoes on Ambae and nearby Ambrym island, it added.

134,000 evacuated in Bali

In Bali, residents are still being moved outside an exclusion zone that stretches 12 kilometers from the center of Mount Agung.

More than 144,000 are living in evacuation centers, sleeping on floors and waiting for something to happen.

"It's been six days since we are here, we want to go home," said Wayan, 65, who like many Indonesians only goes by one name. He evacuated with this elderly mother, wife, children and young grandchild to the Swecapura sports arena.

Wayan also fled his home back when Mount Agung last erupted in 1963. Back then, there was no evacuation plan, people just "ran to save themselves," he said. More than 1,700 people were killed and many villages destroyed.

This time, 447 temporary shelters have been set up outside the exclusion zone around the volcano, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

Ngurah Rai International Airport remains open but is on alert in case of ash disruption, and there are plans to bus people to other airports, if needed.

Seismic activity continues in the volcano and the alert level for an eruption has been raised to 4, the highest warning level on the Indonesian scale.

Journalist Mochamad Andri in Bali, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

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Euan McKirdy, Sandi Sidhu and Chieu Luu, CNN

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Entire island evacuated as volcanoes rumble in Bali and Vanuatu

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The entire population of Ambae is being moved from the path of the "increasingly active" Manaro volcano, also known as Lombenben, according to the Pacific nation's government. On the Indonesian island of Bali, more than 144,000 people have been taken to shelters as authorities warn that Mount Agung, in the island's north, could erupt at any time.

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Eruption in Vanuatu has cause the evacuation of an entire Island!

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An erupting volcano in Vanuatu has sparked an unprecedented evacuation of an entire island.

All 11,000 residents of Ambae have been told to leave and will be moved to other islands in the Pacific state.

The Manaro Voui volcano, which has been rumbling for days, began spewing ash in a "moderate eruption" over the weekend.

Officials had moved 6,000 residents to shelters elsewhere on Ambae earlier this week, but have now ordered a full-scale evacuation.

All islanders are expected to have been moved off Ambae by next Friday, in what emergency officials said would be a first for the country.

Authorities had raised their alert to the second highest level on Saturday, meaning Manaro Voui was in a "moderate eruption state". They warned of "flying rocks and volcanic gas", acid rain, and ash falls.

The volcano has been seen emitting clouds of smoke with signs of hot lava emerging to the surface in its crater in recent days.

Shadrack Welegtabit, director of the national disaster management agency, told AFP news agency: "We have already moved people out of the high ground to safe areas in the west and the east [of the island]."

He said the likelihood was that the volcano would trigger the highest level warning with a full eruption, "[so] we have to get people off the island".

Most people will likely be relocated to the neighbouring island of Pentecost, reported Radio New Zealand.

Manaro Voui last erupted in 2005, prompting 5,000 people to flee their homes.

The volcano - like Bali's Agung, which is showing signs of imminent eruption - sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The geologically active area experiences earthquakes regularly, and has hundreds of active volcanoes.

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An erupting volcano in Vanuatu has sparked an unprecedented evacuation of an entire island. All 11,000 residents of Ambae have been told to leave and will be moved to other islands in the Pacific state. The Manaro Voui volcano, which has been rumbling for days, began spewing ash in a "moderate eruption" over the weekend.

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Women in Saudi Arabia will now be allowed a driving licence!

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Women in Saudi Arabia will now be allowed a driving licence!

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It is the last country in the world to lift the ban on women drivers.

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Saudi Arabia's King Salman has issued a decree allowing women to drive for the first time, to the joy of activists.

The Gulf kingdom is the only country in the world that bans women from driving.

Until now, only men were allowed licences and women who drove in public risked being arrested and fined.

Praise for the move has been pouring in from inside Saudi Arabia, as well as around the world. US President Donald Trump said it was a "positive step" towards promoting women's rights.

Campaigner Sahar Nassif told the BBC from Jeddah that she was "very, very excited - jumping up and down and laughing".

"I'm going to buy my dream car, a convertible Mustang, and it's going to be black and yellow!"

What happens now?

A ministerial body will be set up to give advice within 30 days

The royal order will be implemented by 24 June 2018

The country's US ambassador, Prince Khaled bin Salman, confirmed that women would not have to get male permission to take driving lessons, and would be able to drive anywhere they liked.

He said it was "an historic and big day" and "the right decision at the right time".

What has the road to reform been like?

Rights groups in the kingdom have campaigned for years to allow women to drive, and some women have been imprisoned for defying the rule.

Saudi woman live-tweets her arrest for driving

Is Saudi Arabia on the cusp of change?

Because of the law, many families have had to employ private drivers to help transport female relatives.

Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who was detained for 73 days in 2014 for flouting the ban, tweeted "thank God" following the announcement.

What was the reaction?

The move was welcomed by the US state department, which called it "a great step in the right direction".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres echoed that sentiment.

Manal al-Sharif, an organiser of the Women2Drive campaign who has also been imprisoned for driving, said on Twitter that Saudi Arabia would "never be the same again".

The hashtags "I am my own guardian" and "Saudi Women Can Drive" quickly gained traction on social media.

Image Copyright @manal_alsharif @manal_alsharif Report

Image Copyright @manal_alsharif @manal_alsharifReport

Not everyone reacted positively, however, with conservative voices accusing the government of "bending the verses of Sharia".

"As far as I remember, Sharia scholars have said it was haram (forbidden) for women to drive. How come it has suddenly become halal (permissible)?" one critic tweeted.

Others emphasised that despite the latest development, Saudi Arabia remains a long way off gender equality.

Amnesty International's Philip Luther said it was "just one step", adding: "We also need to see a whole range of discriminatory laws and practices swept away in Saudi Arabia."

Analysis: A massive change for Saudi society
By Frank Gardner, BBC News
This decree is huge for Saudi Arabia. For decades now, Saudi women, many of whom are extremely well-educated and ambitious, have been waiting for their chance to participate fully in their country's economy.

For all this time families have had to stretch their budgets to the limit, as they have had to hire in imported chauffeurs from south and south-east Asia, house them, feed them and insure them.

An estimated 800,000 foreign chauffeurs currently ferry Saudi women around. The reason it has taken so long is the long-standing opposition from religious conservatives, who have expressed views varying from "they are too stupid to drive" to "it will lead to intolerable mingling of the sexes".

Yet this decree is in line with a programme called Vision 2030, promoted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, to modernise Saudi society and bring it more into line with the rest of the world.

Lifestyle limits remain for Saudi women

Saudi law enforces a strict form of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism and is known for its gender segregation rules.

Saudi girls' council launched - by men

Saudi women's rights video goes viral

Women have to adhere to strict dress codes, must not associate with unrelated men, and if they want to travel, work or access healthcare they must be accompanied by - or receive written permission from - a male guardian.

The kingdom recently faced a backlash from conservatives on social media after allowing women to participate in Saturday's National Day celebrations for the first time.

The festivities included fireworks, light shows and a concert in King Fahd International Stadium in the capital, Riyadh.

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Saudi Arabia's King Salman has issued a decree allowing women to drive for the first time, to the joy of activists. The Gulf kingdom is the only country in the world that bans women from driving. Until now, only men were allowed licences and women who drove in public risked being arrested and fined.

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Climate change can goad volcanoes into life

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Climate change can goad volcanoes into life

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Geologists have analyzed volcanic data from the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean Sea, when the Strait of Gibraltar was blocked and the Mediterranean temporarily isolated from the Atlantic. After testing various scenarios, the geologists concluded that the increase in magmatic activity could only be explained by the almost total drying out of the Mediterranean.

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from research organizations

We already know that climate change has a hold on Earth's surface processes, such as erosion and fluctuations in sea levels... but do surface processes in turn have an influence on volcanic activity? This was the question raised by geologists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE, Switzerland) working in partnership with the University of Orléans, University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris and the ICTJA-CSIC Institute in Barcelona. The researchers analysed volcanic data from the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean Sea, when the Strait of Gibraltar was blocked and the Mediterranean temporarily isolated from the Atlantic. After observing a sharp rise in volcanic activity during this period, and testing various scenarios, the geologists concluded that the increase in magmatic activity could only be explained by the almost total drying out of the Mediterranean. These results, which you can read all about in the journal Nature Geoscience, reveal the influence of surface processes -- largely controlled by climate -- on volcanic activity.

It is known that the Strait of Gibraltar was shut on a temporary basis during the Messinian Era (more precisely, from 5.96 to 5.33 million years ago) and that the Mediterranean Sea was isolated from the Atlantic. In fact, as far back as the 1970s scientists found layers of salt several hundred metres thick on the seabed. The only explanation for their formation is that there was no or very limited connection between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The scientists also discovered huge underwater canyons dating back to the same period, hollowed out by rivers running over land that is now submerged, suggesting that the sea level was much lower at the time. This also points to the massive drying up of the Mediterranean with enormous geographical and climatic disruption across the entire basin. This hypothesis, however, continues to be a source of debate.

Nevertheless, a team of UNIGE-led geologists has provided new evidence of the Mediterranean's drying up and the forcing of surface processes on magmatic activity.
Deep magmatic activity varies according to Earth's surface pressure
"We understand that what happens at Earth's surface, such as a sudden sea level lowering, causes the pressure to change at depth and has an effect on magma production," says Pietro Sternai, researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences in UNIGE's Science Faculty. Given that the salinity crisis was capable of generating these changes in pressure, the geologists -- working on the hypothesis that the Mediterranean dried out -- studied the changes in volcanic activity during this period.

When a volcano erupts, the magma cools on Earth's surface and the minerals crystallise. Based on these silent witnesses of volcanic activity, the scientists were able to establish that there were 13 eruptions around the Mediterranean between 5.9 and 5.3 million years ago. This is over twice the average activity, which is around 4.5 eruptions over a longer time length encompassing the salinity crisis. Why is the figure so high? "The single logical explanation," suggests Sternai, "is the hypothesis that the sea dried out, since this is the only event powerful enough to alter Earth's pressure and magmatic production over the entire Mediterranean."
Numerical simulation of the Mediterranean drawdown
The geologists used numerical models to test the hypothesis that the Mediterranean dried up: they reproduced the history of the charging and discharging of the weight of water and sediment in the Mediterranean as it was drying out. Then they calculated the changes in pressure at depth and the impact on magma production.

Two scenarios were examined: the first factored in the salinity crisis with drastic lowering of the sea level, whereas the second excluded the drawdown. "The simulations showed that the only way to account for the proven increase in volcanic activity was that the level (and thus the weight) of the Mediterranean Sea dropped by about two kilometres," explains Sternai, before adding: "I leave it to you to imagine what the landscape looked like."
Climate and volcanism
In addition to providing further evidence of the drying out of the Mediterranean, the research also demonstrates the impact of climate change on the deep Earth. Climate change influences magmatic production, in particular via the effects on erosion and hydrology, which modify the pressure exerted at Earth's surface on the deep layers. Although we have been aware of the impact of volcanism on the climate for quite some time, the results presented in the study have disclosed that the opposite is also possible. "This pioneering work opens up new perspectives for interdisciplinary studies about the coupling between the solid Earth and the fluid Earth, and -- for example -- involving volcanologists, geomorphologists and climatologists," concludes Sternai.

Journal Reference:

Pietro Sternai, Luca Caricchi, Daniel Garcia-Castellanos, Laurent Jolivet, Tom E. Sheldrake, Sébastien Castelltort. Magmatic pulse driven by sea-level changes associated with the Messinian salinity crisis. Nature Geoscience, 2017; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo3032

Cite This Page:

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environmental awareness; volcanoes; climate; global warming; geology; environmental issues; earth science; natural disasters

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Climate change can goad volcanoes into life: Geologists studying volcanic activity have uncovered new evidence about the drying up of the Mediterranean Sea 5.96 million years ago

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Geologists have analyzed volcanic data from the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean Sea, when the Strait of Gibraltar was blocked and the Mediterranean temporarily isolated from the Atlantic. After testing various scenarios, the geologists concluded that the increase in magmatic activity could only be explained by the almost total drying out of the Mediterranean.

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Why is Africa building a Great Green Wall?

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Why is Africa building a Great Green Wall?

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Why is Africa building a Great Green Wall?

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Eleven countries are planting a wall of trees from east to west across Africa in order to push back the desert - and in Senegal it's already working.

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Mexico earthquake: Race to save survivors under collapsed school

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Mexico earthquake: Race to save survivors under collapsed school

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-Rescuers are racing against the clock to reach survivors trapped under the rubble of a school in Mexico City which collapsed during Tuesday's earthquake.

Rescue teams initially reported that a 12-year-old child may be sheltering under a table, but now they say they believe it is an adult.

Officials say 11 children were rescued, but 19 children and six adults died.

It was one of the dozens of buildings toppled by the quake. At least 230 people are known to have died.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has declared three days of mourning for the victims

As rescue operations continued for the second day, attention was focused on the Enrique Rébsamen primary school, in Mexico City's southern Coapa district, where the body of a female teacher was found overnight.

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Anaesthesia comes to Toronto in the mid-19th century.

In October 1846, Dr. William T. G. Morton and Dr. John Collins Warren conducted a successful public demonstration of the surgical use of ether at Massachusetts General Hospital. "The discovery of a mode of preventing pain in surgical operations has been an object of strong desire among surgeons from an early period," explained Warren, in an article in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, reprinted in the (Toronto) Globe the following January. Warren went on to "[congratulate] my professional brethren on the acquisition of a mode of mitigating human suffering, which may become a valuable agent in the hands of careful and well-instructed practitioners."

The importance of a viable anaesthetic was immediately understood by Western medicine; within months, surgeons and dentists around the world were using ether. In his 1975 history of Toronto General Hospital, Waring Gerald Cosbie writes that "prior to the development of anaesthesia in 1846, the surgeon had to remain oblivious to the appalling suffering of his patient while he hastened to complete his operation. Now, with the conquest of pain, it became possible for him to undertake procedures of a scope hitherto denied him." Not only did the new anaesthesia increase the comfort of many patients, it enabled surgeons to perform operations of greater number and growing complexity.

It is unclear just how quickly anaesthesia first reached in Toronto, although there are reports of ether being used in other parts of Canada as early as January 1847. In an 1858 letter to the Globe, Dr. William Rawlins Beaumont wrote that "it is about ten years since we first used...anaesthetic agents in the Toronto General Hospital, and we have continued their use in all, or almost all, important surgical operations." However, research by David J. Steward in the 1970s shows that most of the first recorded uses of anaesthesia in Upper Canada did not take place in hospitals, but in the private surgeries of country doctors who had read about ether in newspapers and early Canadian medical journals. Stewart writes that "the use of ether for tooth extraction and surgical operations was probably widespread throughout rural Upper Canada within six months of Morton's original demonstration."

Only one year after Morton and Collins' demonstration of ether, Scottish obstetrician Dr. James Young Simpson began popularizing the use of another viable surgical anaesthetic: chloroform. In her 2003 book Chloroform: The Quest for Oblivion, Linda Stratmann writes that whereas ether was comparatively "slow to take effect, creating an initial state of violent excitement undesirable in delicate operations," chloroform worked more quickly, without exciting the patient. Chloroform was also less flammable than ether, considered easier to manufacture, and could induce adequate anaesthesia in far lesser quantities. In February 1848, in an article announcing the first medical use of chloroform in Montreal, the Globe included instructions on how chloroform could be prepared, noting that "we understand that the chloroform is [already being] manufactured by Lyman, Kneeshaw, & Co., of this city [Toronto]."

Early advocates of ether found it necessary to design various inhalation devices in attempts to regulate the quantity used and to keep the ether from irritating the face or throat of their patients. While some similar devices were also designed for chloroform anaesthesia, most early anaesthetists found that chloroform could be effectively administered simply by applying a few drops of it to a damp cloth, which was then held close to the patient's face until they succumbed to its effects. Linda Stratmann writes that "within a year of its introduction, chloroform was a worldwide phenomenon, and the anaesthetic of choice everywhere, save the North-eastern United States," where doctors maintained a preference for ether.

There was just one problem with chloroform anaesthesia: In rare instances, for reasons which doctors could not explain, a patient under chloroform would die. The first known case of a chloroform death occurred in England in January 1848, when an otherwise healthy 15-year-old girl died during an operation to remove a toenail. Over the next 15 years, more than 100 chloroform deaths occurred around the world; this was a relatively small number when compared with the thousands of patients who, while undergoing surgical operations or tooth extractions, received chloroform with no apparent ill effects, but the deaths were nevertheless troubling and became the subject of much medical debate. In her book Blessed Days of Anaesthesia: How Anaesthetics Changed the World, Stephanie J. Snow writes that "medical and public concern about chloroform fatalities was strong...Deaths under anaesthetics were subject to coroners' inquests and the doctor who gave the anaesthetic had to take the stand and defend his actions."
(Above: The death of Hannah Greener, the first known instance of chloroform narcosis. Wikimedia Commons.)
The first known chloroform death in Canada occurred in Toronto, on February 1, 1858. Local lumber merchant John McChesney visited the dental surgery of brothers Tobias and Mortimer French, at Bay and Melinda, in order to have six teeth extracted. At the subsequent coroner's inquest, the French brothers said that McChesney had specifically asked about the safety of the chloroform anaesthetic ahead of time; Dr. Mortimer French informed McChesney that he had been performing dental extractions in Toronto with the aid of chloroform for quite some time and was in the habit of calling on local doctors for the administration of the anaesthesia. In this instance, French summoned Dr. James Richardson, whom French claimed to be the doctor who "had administered it in my office more than any other."

According to the depositions of the French brothers and Richardson, McChesney then asked whether Richardson would take all the responsibility for the chloroform's use; Richardson explained to the coroner's jury that he had flatly refused to do so, and made reference to the reports from England of occasional, unexplained chloroform deaths. McChesney, it was claimed, nevertheless chose to receive the chloroform, saying that "he supposed he would have to take it some time, and he might as well take it then as at any other time."

In accordance with his usual method, Richardson administered the chloroform by applying it to a wet sponge and holding it to McChesney's face until the patient appeared to be feeling its effects. The extractions apparently proceeded without much incident, although McChesney was said to have remained conscious during the work; at one point, when he appeared to wince, Richardson had applied additional chloroform. Once all six teeth had been removed, McChesney was able to respond to a command to spit into a bowl, at which point Mortimer French observed "a change pass over his countenance such as to startle me." McChesney's body grew limp. Richardson had the window opened, and summoned several medical colleagues to help attempt to revive the patient. Efforts to resuscitate John McChesney with a " galvanic battery " failed, however, and he was pronounced dead a few moments later.

(Above: A device for administering nitrous oxide. Frank Coleman, The Nasal Administration of Nitrous Oxide [Claudius Ash, 1908: London].)

Additional evidence was given by McChesney's brother, and by the other doctors who had participated in the resuscitation attempts, but no useful insights emerged. According to the Leader, the jury reached the verdict "that [the] deceased came to his death in Dr. French's operating room while under the influence of chloroform, which he had voluntarily inhaled for the purpose of getting some teeth extracted, and that more than ordinary care was used in the administration of the chloroform."

The Globe was particularly concerned with the circumstances of McChesney's death. On the same day as its coverage of the inquest, they ran an editorial, which concluded that "however numerous the cases in which [chloroform] has been used without harm, it is not the perfectly safe agent which it is usually considered." Over the subsequent weeks, the Globe also printed a series of letters written by several Toronto physicians and at least one person who had served on the jury at the inquest, debating the merits of chloroform and whether it had been administered properly to John McChesney. (One of the letters also questioned the wisdom of attempting to remove six teeth at one sitting.)

One of the Globe letters came from Dr. James Bovell, in which he described, in detail, an autopsy which he had conducted on John McChesney's body in the days after the inquest. Bovell found that McChesney's heart appeared very weak on one side, and suggested that this could have contributed to McChesney's death. "Even under the most advantageous circumstances and under the most skilful hands, untoward results have followed the use of much less potent agents than chloroform," Bovell wrote, indicating that he saw no reason at the time to restrict its use as an anaesthetic in future. "Common observation teaches us that some persons are especially susceptible of the intoxicating and poisonous effects of spirituous drinks or of opium, so it is with chloroform...there must always be some risk attendant on its administration."

In January 1863, the second Toronto death under chloroform took place, this time at Toronto General Hospital. A patient named Richard Humphreys, otherwise described as "hale," underwent an operation to have a tumour removed. The surgeon was veteran physician Dr. Edward Hodder and, acting as anaesthetist, was his colleague Dr. James Bovell, who had conducted the autopsy on John McChesney five years before. At the inquest, Bovell described seeing Humphreys spasm unexpectedly during the operation, and observed bulging in the veins around Humphreys's neck. The jugular vein was opened in an attempt to relieve pressure on the brain, and unsuccessful attempts were made to revive the patient, first using cold water, and then, once again, the galvanic battery.

The details of the inquest were again reported in the local newspapers with considerable interest. Edward Fawcett, a fellow patient at the hospital, described speaking to Humphreys before the operation. According to Fawcett, Humphreys "desired to be placed under the influence of chloroform, previous to being operated on. He remarked, at the same time, that he should go to the operating theatre, and was prepared to die, as all should be who get operated on under the influence of chloroform." The Leader described the coroner's jury as "composed of six men from amongst the intelligent patients in the hospital, and six from the neighbourhood." As in the 1858 case, the jury concluded only that the patient had died under the influence chloroform, and laid no blame on the doctors, deeming it to have been properly administered.

Describing Humphreys's death in a 1964 article, Dr. Charles G. Roland noted how little was still known about anaesthesia in the 1860s. At that time, fewer than 2,000 operations had been performed under anaesthesia at Toronto General Hospital, and the role of an anaesthesia specialist did not yet exist. "Generally," Roland writes, "the surgeon would relegate the task of anaesthesia to whoever was available and willing. Training or interest were not prerequisites."

Speculation as to what caused deaths under chloroform continued for several decades. Many of the deaths appeared to be heart attacks or respiratory problems. Some in the medical profession believed that the key to eliminating chloroform deaths lay in finding better means of administering the chloroform, so they tried to design safer inhalers, with little apparent effect. Others noted that many of those who died under chloroform were reported to have expressed fear prior to their operations, and suggested that the deaths were caused not by the effects of chloroform itself, but were actually heart attacks and strokes brought on by terror. In a 1903 letter to the British Medical Journal, R. D. Rudolf, a Toronto doctor, lent his support to this theory, writing: "In Canada, where every death which occurs during the administration of chloroform gets into the daily papers, the public greatly dread the administration of the drug. This very dread is, I believe, the chief danger with which we have got to contend."

Historian Linda Stratmann observes that, despite the unexplained deaths, chloroform remained immensely popular. "It was already obvious that in major surgery it saved lives, and while it was perhaps not as safe as had originally been thought...it seemed that all that was required to make it safe was a little care in administration, and a prior examination of the patient for potential heart or lung disease."

In the late 1860s, a third anaesthetic became widely available. Although the euphoric effects of nitrous oxide, or "laughing gas," had been known for quite some time, the gas had initially enjoyed more popularity as a form of public entertainment. Showmen would tour the continent, and audiences would pay money to inhale the gas, or to watch others do so. In his diary for August 7, 1841, John Howard, the prominent Toronto civil engineer and long-time resident of High Park, wrote that he "went to see the laughing gas." According to a notice in the Toronto Patriot, what Howard appears to have attended was an evening at City Hall (then located at St. Lawrence Market) where "Messrs. Fitch & Seppell" provided an evening of "Philosophical Entertainment," consisting of a magic lantern show, an astronomy lecture, an exhibition of botanical paintings, and "an opportunity of experiencing or witnessing that most wonderful, mysterious, and intensely interesting of all natural phenomena, the effect of the exhilarating gas upon the animal system." Eight years later, Torontonians had the opportunity to spend an amusing evening at the Temperance Hall, where Mrs. Clarke performed on the piano, after which Mr. Clarke demonstrated the effects of laughing gas, "exhibiting the interesting and amusing effects produced by it on the different organization of individuals."

(Above: The Toronto Patriot, August 6, 1841.)

Although experiments with using nitrous oxide as an anaesthetic had taken place in the 1840s, it did not come into popular use for another 20 years. Its effects were not as strong or as enduring as those of either ether or chloroform, making it ill-suited for complicated surgeries, but it proved useful in minor operations, and soon became particularly popular amongst dentists. A classified ad in the April 25, 1866, Globe announced that a Toronto dentist, Mr. George L. Elliot, "has made arrangements with Dr. S. P. May to administer Nitrous Oxide Gas every day at five o'clock p.m., Sundays excepted." When The Canada Journal of Dental Science, the country's first dental journal, produced its first issue in June 1868, its first ever article was a brief piece by Dr. Barnabas Day of Kingston, who wrote that nitrous oxide "has been used in all the principal cities of the United States and in the Dominion of Canada, with great success, for the last five years...I am of the opinion that the day is not far distant when nitrous oxide, or protoxide of nitrogen, will be placed in our materia medica as a remedial agent for cure of diseases, as well as an anaesthetic."

Not all were immediately convinced that nitrous oxide had a future, however. In the second issue of The Canada Journal of Dental Science, Toronto dentist J. W. Elliott compared the three principle available anaesthetics of the day, and claimed that "Nitrous Oxide Gas does not possess the power of chloroform and ether, and is equally dangerous to life, often causing the patient to say or do that which, in their natural senses, would make them blush. It would never stand the test that chloroform has done, and after a while will only be heard of as an exhibition for schoolboys."

As more was learned over the subsequent decades about the effect that chloroform could have on the human heart and respiratory system, it gradually fell out of favour with surgeons. By the 1920s, ether was the preferred general anaesthetic in most hospitals, and would remain so until the development of new drugs and new techniques. "Thirty-five years ago, when I first became interested in anaesthesia, the whole equipment in this department of the average small hospital consisted of a bottle of ether, a bottle of chloroform, and a gauze-covered wire mask," wrote Dr. Harold R. Griffith in a 1953 Globe and Mail article. "Formerly, anaesthesia was a mostly uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous blessing. Quite rightly, patients often dreaded the anaesthetic more than the operation. Now, one can come to the operating room with assurance that the anaesthetist will perform his merciful duty painlessly, skilfully, and that his service will include watchful care of the patient throughout all the perils of surgery."

Additional material from: W. G. Cosbie, The Toronto General Hospital, 1819-1965: A Chronicle (Macmillan, 1975: Toronto); B. W. Day, "Nitrous Oxide, or Protoxide of Nitrogen, as an Anaesthetic" in The Canada Journal of Dental Science (Vol. 1, No. 1 - June, 1868); J. W. Elliott, "Anaesthetics" in The Canada Journal of Dental Science (Vol. 1, No. 2 - July, 1868); The Globe (and Mail) (December 23, 1846; February 12, February 16, 1848; June 30, July 3, 1849; February 2, February 4, February 8, February 11, February 17, February 18, February 20, 1858; January 18, 1860; January 14, January 15, January 16, April 25, 1866; March 15, July 9, 1867; February 9, 1869; July 20, 1882; March 17, 1923; March 12, 1930; December 18, 1953); The Journal of John George Howard, 1833-49, Shirley G. Morriss, ed. (Ontario Heritage Foundation, Ministry of Citizenship and Culture); Toronto Leader (February 2, 1858; January 15, 1863); Akitomo Matsuki and Elemer K. Zsigmond, "The First Fatal Case of Chloroform in Canada," in Canadian Anaesthetists' Society Journal (Vol. 20, No. 3 - May 1973); The Medical Chronicle (Vol. 5, No. 9 - February 1858); Toronto Patriot (August 4, 1841); Charles G. Roland, "The First Death from Chloroform at the Toronto General Hospital," in Canadian Anaesthetists' Society Journal (Vol. 11, No. 4 - July 1964); R. D. Rudolf, "Fright and Chloroform Deaths," in The British Medical Journal (Vol. 1, No. 2214 - June 6, 1903); Stephanie J. Snow, Blessed Days of Anaesthesia: How Anaesthetics Changed the World (Oxford, 2008: New York); David J. Steward, "The Early History of Anaesthesia in Upper Canada: The Introduction of Ether to Upper Canada, 1847," in Canadian Anaesthetists' Society Journal (Vol. 24, No. 2 - March 1977); Linda Stratmann, Chloroform: The Quest for Oblivion (Sutton, 2003: Stroud, Gloucestershire).
Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today.

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Anaesthesia comes to Toronto in the mid-19th century. In October 1846, Dr. William T. G. Morton and Dr. John Collins Warren conducted a successful public demonstration of the surgical use of ether at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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The strength of the recent hurricanes explained

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The strength of the recent hurricanes explained

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Looks like we could be the culprits behind the raging hurricanes

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The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has been extremely active, and deadly. Between Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, plus Jose, thousands of structures have been destroyed and many people have been killed, injured, or displaced. Hurricane Harvey's deadly cocktail of wind and moisture hit America's fourth-largest city with a ferocity that Texas has never seen.

And while scientists maintain that no single weather event can be attributed to climate change, two centuries of human fossil-fuel burning has altered temperatures just enough to almost certainly make this particular storm worse.

"In general, the way to think about it is: climate change has changed the environment that everything is happening in," says Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. "When you add in the climate's natural variability and then the right conditions come along, you can get a storm which is stronger than you might otherwise have expected."

In the case of Harvey, which dumped rivers of rain in and around Houston and threatened millions of people with catastrophic flooding ( see photos), at least three troubling factors converged. The storm intensified rapidly, it stalled out over one area, and it is dumped record rains for days and days.

Here's how scientists explained what brought those ingredients together.

What's Behind the Intensity?

Hurricanes tend to weaken as they approach land because they are losing access to the hot, wet ocean air that gives the storms their energy. Harvey's wind speeds, on the other hand, intensified by about 45 miles per hour in the last 24 hours before landfall, according to National Hurricane Center data.

While that's not unheard of, the potential for wind speeds to rise rapidly increases under warmer conditions, says Kerry Emanuel, an atmospheric sciences professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who published groundbreaking research earlier this year on the potential for changes in hurricane wind speeds.

"Hurricanes are powered by the evaporation of sea water," Emanuel says. "Water evaporates faster from a hot surface than a cold surface."

Emanuel analyzed the evolution of 6,000 simulated storms, comparing how they evolved under historical conditions of the 20th century, with how they could evolve at the end of the 21st century if greenhouse gas emissions keep rising. The result: A storm that increases its intensity by 60 knots in the 24 hours before landfall may have been likely to occur once a century in the 1900s. By late in this century, they could come every five to 10 years.

Scientists have known for decades that the peak intensity of severe storms will likely increase as temperatures rise. But it also is shortening the time it takes to reach those speeds. And late summer temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico now average more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they did 30 years ago, says Andreas Prein, with the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

"If you want your car to accelerate fast, you put your pedal to the metal," Emanuel says. "If you keep it there, it will go up to the top speed it can go. If you switch from a Volkswagen to a Ferrari, you'll have much faster acceleration and a higher top speed."

Other researchers, such as Michael Wehner, a senior staff scientist at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, agrees. While he points out that many Category 4 and 5 storms experience a late surge of windspeed before landfall, he said he considered it "more likely than not" that climate change contributed to Harvey's last-minute intensification, and "I consider this a conservative attribution statement."

The most damaging aspect of Harvey was the incredible amounts of rain it dropped. Some regions saw 40 inches or more of rain in less than a week, making it a potential record for the country. That wetness came from the sea surface and the atmosphere.

"Think about an ocean as an infinite supply of moisture," Prein says. "Harvey is sucking it toward land and dumping it on Texas."

As the globe warms, rainfall is increasing all across mid-latitude regions. Just as with a hurricane's intensity, the heat built up in the sea surface from climate change allows the storm to take up more water vapor. And since the atmosphere, too, is warmer, its capacity to hold more moisture also increases.

Every scientist contacted by National Geographic was in agreement that the volume of rain from Harvey was almost certainly driven up by temperature increases from human carbon-dioxide emissions.

Wehner says the "lower bound" of the increase in rain as a result of climate's impact on temperature is at least 10 to 15 percent.

"The big story is the precipitation-it's a no-brainer," he says. "Pretty much everything we've done so far has suggested that in this situation, precipitation will be increased. Lots of simulations are being done. In every single one of them, it rains more."

Trenberth says that climate change alone can increase rainfall 5 to 10 percent. But if a storm comes at a time when the ocean is also experiencing unusual but natural high temperatures, that could double the increase in rainfall. In fact, it's possible that this combination of climate change and natural variability may drive precipitation up far more than that.

"Some experiments suggest that these things can feed back on themselves and increase rainfall even more," he says.

In fact, the dry air over land normally helps kill these storms. Harvey, on the other hand, actually pulled in moisture that it dumped on land that was once again evaporating into the atmosphere. The storm was, in a sense, helping feed itself.

Of course, the volume of rain wouldn't matter quite so much if the storm just continued moving. But in the case of Harvey, Texans aren't so lucky. The storm pulled to a stop and parked itself over that region.

"The critical thing with Harvey is that it's stationary-it's not moving a lot," Prein says. "It's just dumping all this moisture over the same spot."

So far, climate scientists say, it doesn't appear that climate change was a significant factor in that stall. It was just bad luck.

The winds pushing Harvey around were weak. In addition, two high-pressure systems sitting over the Southwest and North were trying to drive Harvey in opposite directions, essentially keeping the storm from moving northward.

Stalled weather systems are often associated with extreme events, Prein says, which can lead to human disasters. It was a factor in the deadly Chicago heat wave in 1995, in which a high-pressure system sat in the same location for days. And it played a role in the Colorado Front Range floods of 2013 and California's recent drought.

It's possible, and even expected by some scientists, that climate change ultimately could drive steering currents to be even weaker. That could potentially compound the effect, allowing storms to stick around even longer. But so far there just isn't any evidence of that.

Put another way, Wehner says, "if there is a climate signal, it's one that's so weak we haven't been able to detect it." What he meant was: The circulation patterns that steer storms like Harvey have been weak in recent years, but that change has come on very quickly. That leads scientists to doubt it is connected to climate change.

In a Facebook post, climate scientist Michael Mann of Penn State University expanded on that possibility. He agreed that the weak prevailing winds that failed to steer the storm back out to sea allowed it to "spin around and wobble back and forth like a top with no direction." He said that currently a climate connection would be "tenuous," but models predict similar behavior with climate change.
To support victims of Harvey, consider giving to This story was first published on August 28 and was updated on September 20. United Way of Greater Houston.

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How Climate Change Likely Heightened Harvey's Fury

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The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has been extremely active, and deadly. Between Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, plus Jose, thousands of structures have been destroyed and many people have been killed, injured, or displaced. Hurricane Harvey's deadly cocktail of wind and moisture hit America's fourth-largest city with a ferocity that Texas has never seen.

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The world is facing a global sand crysis.

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The world is facing a global sand crysis.

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Surisingly, it seems that out of all the resources we could be having a shortage of, sand is one of them.

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When people picture sand spread across idyllic beaches and endless deserts, they understandably think of it as an infinite resource. But as we discuss in a just-published perspective in the journal Science, over-exploitation of global supplies of sand is damaging the environment, endangering communities, causing shortages and promoting violent conflict.

Skyrocketing demand, combined with unfettered mining to meet it, is creating the perfect recipe for shortages. Plentiful evidence strongly suggests that sand is becoming increasingly scarce in many regions. For example, in Vietnam domestic demand for sand exceeds the country's total reserves. If this mismatch continues, the country may run out of construction sand by 2020, according to recent statements from the country's Ministry of Construction.

This problem is rarely mentioned in scientific discussions and has not been systemically studied. Media attention drew us to this issue. While scientists are making a great effort to quantify how infrastructure systems such as roads and buildings affect the habitats that surround them, the impacts of extracting construction minerals such as sand and gravel to build those structures have been overlooked. Two years ago we created a working group designed to provide an integrated perspective on global sand use.

In our view, it is essential to understand what happens at the places where sand is mined, where it is used and many impacted points in between in order to craft workable policies. We are analyzing those questions through a systems integration approach that allows us to better understand socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances and time. Based on what we have already learned, we believe it is time to develop international conventions to regulate sand mining, use and trade.

Rudolph A. Furtado

Skyrocketing demand

Sand and gravel are now the most-extracted materials in the world, exceeding fossil fuels and biomass (measured by weight). Sand is a key ingredient for concrete, roads, glass and electronics. Massive amounts of sand are mined for land reclamation projects, shale gas extraction and beach renourishment programs. Recent floods in Houston, India, Nepal and Bangladesh will add to growing global demand for sand.

In 2010, nations mined about 11 billion tonnes of sand just for construction. Extraction rates were highest in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Europe and North America. In the United States alone, production and use of construction sand and gravel was valued at US$8.9 billion in 2016, and production has increased by 24 percent in the past five years.

Moreover, we have found that these numbers grossly underestimate global sand extraction and use. According to government agencies, uneven record-keeping in many countries may hide real extraction rates. Official statistics widely underreport sand use and typically do not include nonconstruction purposes such as hydraulic fracturing and beach nourishment.

Steve Austin, CC BY-SA

Sand traditionally has been a local product. However, regional shortages and sand mining bans in some countries are turning it into a globalized commodity. Its international trade value has skyrocketed, increasing almost sixfold in the last 25 years.

Profits from sand mining frequently spur profiteering. In response to rampant violence stemming from competition for sand, the government of Hong Kong established a state monopoly over sand mining and trade in the early 1900s that lasted until 1981.

Today organized crime groups in India, Italy and elsewhere conduct illegal trade in soil and sand. Singapore's high-volume sand imports have drawn it into disputes with Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia.

Sand mining harms humans and the environment

The negative consequences of overexploiting sand are felt in poorer regions where sand is mined. Extensive sand extraction physically alters rivers and coastal ecosystems, increases suspended sediments and causes erosion.

Research shows that sand mining operations are affecting numerous animal species, including fish, dolphins, crustaceans and crocodiles. For example, the gharial ( Gavialis gangeticus) - a critically endangered crocodile found in Asian river systems - is increasingly threatened by sand mining, which destroys or erodes sand banks where the animals bask.

Sand mining also has serious impacts on people's livelihoods. Beaches and wetlands buffer coastal communities against surging seas. Increased erosion resulting from extensive mining makes these communities more vulnerable to floods and storm surges.

A recent report by the Water Integrity Network found that sand mining exacerbated the impacts of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka. In the Mekong Delta, sand mining is reducing sediment supplies as drastically as dam construction, threatening the sustainability of the delta. It also is probably enhancing saltwater intrusion during the dry season, which threatens local communities' water and food security.

Potential health impacts from sand mining are poorly characterized but deserve further study. Extraction activities create new standing pools of water that can become breeding sites for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The pools may also play an important role in the spread of emerging diseases such as Buruli ulcer in West Africa, a bacterial skin infection.

Preventing a tragedy of the sand commons

Media coverage of this issue is growing, thanks to work by organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme, but the scale of the problem is not widely appreciated. Despite huge demand, sand sustainability is rarely addressed in scientific research and policy forums.

The complexity of this problem is doubtlessly a factor. Sand is a common-pool resource - open to all, easy to get and hard to regulate. As a result, we know little about the true global costs of sand mining and consumption.

Demand will increase further as urban areas continue to expand and sea levels rise. Major international agreements such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Convention on Biological Diversity promote responsible allocation of natural resources, but there are no international conventions to regulate sand extraction, use and trade.

As long as national regulations are lightly enforced, harmful effects will continue to occur. We believe that the international community needs to develop a global strategy for sand governance, along with global and regional sand budgets. It is time to treat sand like a resource, on a par with clean air, biodiversity and other natural endowments that nations seek to manage for the future.

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The world is facing a global sand crisis

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When people picture sand spread across idyllic beaches and endless deserts, they understandably think of it as an infinite resource. But as we discuss in a just-published perspective in the journal Science, over-exploitation of global supplies of sand is damaging the environment, endangering communities, causing shortages and promoting violent conflict.

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Around 30 children died when the earthquake collapsed their school. As the hours passed, rescuers found mostly lifeless bodies, but also some survivors.

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MEXICO CITY - Gustavo López recognized the boy's clothes first.

His tiny frame, pulled from the wreckage, lay over the jagged pieces of what remained of the school. It was his 7-year-old son.

He sat in shock for hours, quietly trying to maintain strength for his 9-year-old daughter, who had escaped the school unharmed. He wondered how to tell her that her younger brother, also named Gustavo, was dead - one of at least 30 children who perished at the Enrique Rebsámen school after it collapsed in the earthquake that devastated Mexico on Tuesday, killing more than 200 people.

Mr. López waited there for his cousin, Mauricio, who loved the boy and often took him on bike rides and to the movies. By the time Mauricio arrived a few hours later, hundreds of medical personnel, rescuers, volunteers and families were racing around, trying to unearth students still buried in the rubble.

"He was my son, too," Mauricio screamed when he heard the news, collapsing onto the upturned earth as Mr. López tried to console him. "I can't bear this; I can't!"

Such screams of anguish rose above the clamor at the school overnight, markers of loss in the chaotic crowd. Parents climbed trees and playground equipment to get a better vantage of the rescue effort, clinging to the hope that their children would emerge unscathed.

Many did, having rushed out before tumbling walls could trap them. Passers-by had also raced to the school immediately after the quake to pluck students from the cavities and openings of the buckled structure.

But as the day and night wore on, mostly lifeless bodies were pulled from the wreckage, their names recorded by an army of volunteers keeping lists of the dead. By Wednesday night, five people were known to be still missing, including one student who officials said was alive but trapped as rescuers tried frantically to reach her. Hope was dwindling that any more children would be found alive.

"To see a parent carry their own dead baby is something I will never forget," said Elena Villaseñor, a volunteer whose own home was badly damaged. She held a sheaf of papers with the names of children on them, written large enough for parents to see them from a distance.

Her own daughter was safe, she said, having been at a different school that did not collapse. But she could not sit idle while others suffered, and so she raced to this school to help however she could.

The death toll across the country - in Morelos, Mexico State, Puebla and Mexico City - climbed to 217 people less than 24 hours after the earthquake struck. The number is expected to rise even higher, as the rescue efforts slowly transition into recovery efforts, and more of the missing are marked as dead.

Watching that number climb, hour by hour across the city and the broader earthquake zone, is a nation already in mourning. Two weeks earlier, the largest earthquake in a century hit Mexico, killing at least 90 people in the south of the country and offering a grim foreshadowing of the hardship still to come from this one.

Perhaps nowhere was the suffering more concentrated than at the collapsed school. The smell of gas, sweat and earth filled the air overnight as people yelled their messages into megaphones. At first, the lights from police cars and emergency vehicles lit the rescue. Later, a generator was brought to the scene to power floodlights.

Of the 400 students who attend the school, it was unclear exactly how many were there when the earthquake struck on Tuesday afternoon and made it out of the building. The injured, more than 60 of them, were sent to area hospitals, while traumatized parents whisked others to safety.

At least three parents at the site of Enrique Rebsámen, a Mexico City private school, had been communicating with their children trapped inside. They managed to reach them through the messaging service WhatsApp, begging their children to give them details, like how far from the main door they were when the building collapsed, to help the search efforts.

One of the many volunteers, seated at a makeshift desk on Tuesday night, helped keep a list of the injured and the dead; it included at least five adults. Residents donned red vests and formed human chains to remove the chunks of concrete from the school's broken edifice. Giant piles of water, medicine, blankets and even baby formula hugged the periphery, brought by neighbors who carted it in by the armful.

The solidarity in the aftermath of the quake has been repeated at collapsed buildings across Mexico, a quiet but resolute determination to help. Strangers spending hours clearing debris, medics and construction workers plunging into the bowels of broken buildings, students and even children bringing water and food.

At the school, the blitz of activity continued all night and into morning. Someone yelled for medicine: "We need clonazepam, insulin, anesthetics, antihistamines and oxygen tanks." Workers wore helmets and face masks. Bulldozers and excavation machines went in and out of the disaster site.

Everyone found something to do, passing water, coffee or medicine to those who needed it. Volunteers called for baby bottles to feed the children still trapped in the wreckage.

Every so often, amid the piercing noise of raised voices, grumbling machinery and the whine of ambulances, a volunteer's arm would rise and others would follow. An odd silence would settle over the gathered.

A name would be called.

"Sara Ledesma! Where are her parents?" a paramedic screamed. No one appeared, and the masses voiced her name in somber chorus.

Her parents were nowhere to be found.

In the frantic confusion of the rescue operation, the crosscurrents of hundreds of well-meaning personnel sometimes led to frightening miscommunication.

After toiling for hours sifting through the rubble, Florentino Rodríguez García was given a sudden ray of hope: His 9-year-old grandson, José Eduardo Huerta Rodríguez, was supposedly fine.

A medic told him that the boy had been taken to a hospital for injuries. But after hours of hunting, Mr. Rodríguez could find no trace of the boy.

He headed back to the school and was approached by a nurse this time. She took him by the hand. She told him the medic had been mistaken. José, she said, was still trapped inside.

"Please don't tell me that," Mr. Rodríguez screamed, collapsing into hysterics. "They told me he was out! This can't be true!"

"We just celebrated his birthday this past Sunday," he told the woman, who listened quietly. "He is such a smart little boy!"

He melted back into the crowd of anguished parents congregated outside of the school - and waited.

And then, an hour later, an arm was raised, followed by others. Silence.

"José Eduardo Huerta Rodríguez," the crowd began to chant.

The boy had been pulled out. He was still alive, a rescue worker said.

But several hours later, a family member emailed to say that in the chaos, the rescuer had been mistaken. José Eduardo, the relative said, had died before his body was recovered.

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At Mexican School Hit by Quake, Heartbreak and Dwindling Hope

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MEXICO CITY - Gustavo López recognized the boy's clothes first. His tiny frame, pulled from the wreckage, lay over the jagged pieces of what remained of the school. It was his 7-year-old son. He sat in shock for hours, quietly trying to maintain strength for his 9-year-old daughter, who had escaped the school unharmed.

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The map we are familiar with is called the Mercator map, butit is far from perfect. This video explains why.

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This image is a collection of all the countries in the world sorted by size, and allows you to see the scale of each country.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/geography/comments/71a4ke/a_poster_of_countries_listed_by_area_size/

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Message from the Secretary-General of the UN 

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Message from the Secretary-General of the UN 

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International Day of Peace

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International Day of Peace - Video message from the Secretary-General

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Video message by H.E. Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, on the International Day of Peace

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Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

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Bali is an active volcano that is at risk of its first eruption in 54 years. Locals are being evacuated but most tourists are so far unfazed.

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Bali is an active volcano that is at risk of its first eruption in 54 years. Locals are being evacuated but most tourists are so far unfazed.

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Mount Agung on Bali is an active volcano that may be about to erupt for the first time in 54 years.

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How far we've gone in both Surgery and Medicine

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How far we've gone in both Surgery and Medicine

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We've gone so far in terms of technology, practices, and beliefs, that we are able to now shift our focus to matters requiring more of our attention such as cancer, genetic diseases, and vaccines for diseases that continue to infect and kill humans. That's not to say that surgical technology will not improve anymore, it definitely will. As time passes on, so will our technological advances.

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The first decade of the 21st Century brought a number of discoveries, mistakes, and medical advances that have influenced medicine from the patient's bedside to the medicine cabinet.

In some cases these advances changed deep-seated beliefs in medicine; in others, they opened up possibilities beyond what doctors thought was possible years ago.

ABC News, in collaboration with MedPage Today reached out to more than 800 specialists as well as a distinguished panel of medical historians to put together a top 10 list of medical advances one decade into this century.
1. Human Genome Discoveries Reach the Bedside
In 2000, scientists in with the International Human Genome Project released a rough draft of the human genome to the public. For the first time the world could read the complete set of human genetic information and begin to discover what our roughly 23,000 genes do.

Mapping the human genome had become a race of time and money in the 1990s, with two competitors at the forefront: the government-funded Human Genome Project, which completed its task in 15 years with more than $3 billion in taxpayer money, and a private company, Celera Genomics, which was financed with $100 million and took less than a decade.

Both groups announced a rough draft at joint press conference on June 26, 2000.

In 2003 a "final" draft was released by researchers, and in 2007 more updates to the genome were published by Craig Venter, PhD, chief scientist behind Celera Genomics.

"It's the precursor for lots of medical advances," said Venter, now chairman and president of the nonprofit J. Craig Venter Institute.

"That was absolutely the hope for it, that it will begin to change things," said Venter, who was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Obama last month for his work on the human genome.

At the moment Venter sees more medical potential than medical achievements in genomic research. But when those advances do come, Venter predicts it will help preventative medicine and cut our rapidly accelerating medical costs from increasingly expensive treatments.

"I think the biggest area of the future will be preventive medicine," said Venter. "By understanding the genetic causes and links to disease we can spend more and more attention on preventing disease."

For example, Venter said doctors have developed a genetic test for a gene associated with prostate cancer, "and there's a drug available that greatly lowers the risk for prostate cancer in the future."
2. Doctors and Patients Harness Information Technology
Patients may not even think of it as they sign in with a pad and pen, then sit in the waiting room while the nurse pulls their file. But doctors say the Internet and information technology has actually changed the way they practice medicine for the better. Even doctors need to look things up from time to time.

"Early in practice, if I had a clinical question to research, I had to go to the library, pull out multiple years of the Index Medicus, look up the topic, write down the references, go to the stacks and pull the volumes of journals, find the article, read the article, go to the copy machine and make a copy& if I were lucky, I would have my answer in about four hours," said John Messmer, MD, associate professor at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey.

"Now I can be on rounds and in five minutes have more information on the topic than I need& on my iPod Touch, I can look up a medication, check the formulary to see if it's covered, check for interactions with a patient's other meds and double-check details of the pharmacology of the med plus quickly review the problem I am treating, and I don't even have to go online," said Messmer.

Information technology has also, to some degree, made life safer for the patient. Once admitted to a hospital, they get a bar code which matches their blood samples and their IVs.

"The ways in which computer systems are improving hospital care& are pervasive and radical," explained Margaret Humphreys, MD, PhD, editor of the Journal of the History of Medicine.

But many physicians have been reluctant to go digital because there is a significant upfront investment, which is why several of the healthcare reform measures now before Congress include provisions to underwrite some of this cost.

And with or without reform, the Obama administration has an ambitious program aimed at converting paper records to electronic health records. It has earmarked $20 billion to pay for the switch-over and named medical IT wonk David Blumenthal, MD, to serve as National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
3. Anti-Smoking laws and Campaigns Reduce Public Smoking
There is no national smoking ban in the U.S., but 27 states and the District of Columbia have enacted smoking bans, including seven states that ban smoking in bars and casinos in recent years.

In a report issued last October, the Institute of Medicine said those public smoking bans have cut exposure to secondhand smoke, which, in turn, has contributed to a reduction in heart attacks and death from heart disease.

Lynn Goldman, MD, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who chaired the committee that wrote the Institute's report, said the debate was over -- " Smoking bans work."

Experts in the history of medicine agreed.

"Anti-smoking campaigns (at least in the U.S.), including banning of smoking in workplaces and public places, [have] enormous impact across socioeconomic classes on many diseases," said Humphreys, who added that smoking increases the risk for strokes and many cancers.

In terms of the greatest good for the greatest number, there can be no doubt that the decline in smoking (through various means) has had the greatest impact," said Humphreys. "Virginia and North Carolina are just getting around to banning cigarettes in all restaurants now, so the public bans do track over the last 10 years."

While public smoking bans protect people from secondhand smoke, doctors say they also motivate people to quit.

"It's probably the most important 'doable' public health measure for decreasing morbidity and mortality," said Richard Kahn, MD, of Tenants Harbor, Maine. "There is good data that as it becomes more difficult for people to smoke, more will quit."
4. Heart Disease Deaths Drop by 40 Percent
Those looking for dramatic improvements in public health need look no further than the world of heart disease.

A mere 25 years ago, when a patient came to a hospital with a heart attack, the best that could be done was to put the patient in a darkened room, give him or her morphine for pain and lidocaine, which doctors believed would prevent dangerous irregular heartbeats, and hope for the best.

Heart attacks, called infarcts, were "big" and the damage to the heart muscle was often catastrophic, leading eventually to heart failure and death.

By contrast, today treating a heart attack is all about speed: speed the patient to the hospital so that a clot that blocks the life-saving flow of blood can be "busted" with drugs like the genetically engineered tissue plasminogen activator or tPA.

Or, if the problem is a vessel narrowed by buildup of plaque, a tiny flexible tube called a stent can be guided from an artery in the groin or the forearm up into the heart, where it is used to prop open the vessel to allow blood to flow normally.

Still other patients are sent to surgery, where surgeons have learned sophisticated techniques to sew new vessels into the heart to bypass diseased arteries.

Moreover, drugs that didn't exist 25 years ago -- chiefly statins like simvastatin, Lipitor, mevacor, and Crestor -- are now routinely used to slow the progression of atherosclerosis, the medical term that describes the build-up of the hard, waxy substance called plaque that narrows arteries.

Cardiologists say these efforts really began to bear fruit after 2000.

"In 1998/2000 the American Heart Association set a decade-long goal to reduce coronary heart disease and stroke and risk by 25% by 2010. We actually realized this goal by 2008 and have seen continued improvements in the reduction of deaths due to coronary heart disease and stroke," said Clyde Yancy, MD, of Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. "As of today, we have seen a near 40 percent reduction in death due to coronary artery disease since 1998/2000.

Yancy said research shows about half of the gains in heart disease came from new treatment interventions, the other half (up to 60 percent) are due to prevention.

"Importantly, what this means is that the community 'gets it.' Better control of blood pressure, preemptive lowering of blood cholesterol levels, better diets, and reduced smoking are resulting in fewer (cardiac) events," he said.
5. Stem Cell Research: Laboratory Breakthroughs and Some Clinical Advances
Probably no area of research has so fired the public imagination and so ignited the fires of public controversy as that of stem cell research. In reality, this area has generated more political action than reproducible clinical advances -- the much-publicized ban on Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research was rescinded this year.

But the clinical advances with embryonic or adult stem cells -- even when they have come from pilot studies -- have been tantalizing.

For example, European researchers genetically manipulated bone marrow cells taken from two 7-year-old boys and then transplanted the altered cells back into the boys and apparently arrested the progress of a fatal brain disease called adrenoleukodystropy or ALD, which was the disease that affected the child in the movie "Lorenzo's Oil."

Cases like those fuel the promise of stem cell research, be it embryonic or adult stem cells. As the population ages, the opportunity for 'replacement parts' becomes more and more inviting, and I'm counting on stem cell research to give me, at least, new cartilage for my knees," joked Humphreys. "This seems likely to be the future of regenerative medicine."

Stem cell researcher George Daley, MD, PhD, of Children's Hospital in Boston, called progress in both adult and embryonic stem cell research this decade "breathtaking."

"Now we can make embryonic-like stem cells directly from skin cells, which makes it possible to model a multitude of human diseases in the petri dish. New drugs based on stem cells are being developed, and the first human clinical trial based on products of human embryonic stem cells is expected in 2010," said Daley. "The science of the past decade has been spectacular, and we're hopeful that in the next decade, we'll start to realize the promise of new stem cell therapies."
6.Targeted Therapies for Cancer Expand With New Drugs
Two blockbuster-targeted therapies burst on the cancer scene in late 1990s, and arguably changed forever the concept of cancer treatment, converting what was often a fatal disease into a chronic illness. The first, Herceptin, is a drug that targets a type of breast cancer that is characterized by a specific cancer gene -- an oncogene -- called HER-2.

Women whose cancers express HER-2, which is estimated to be about 25 percent of women with breast cancer, will respond to Herceptin even when other powerful chemotherapy drugs have failed.

Kimberly Blackwell, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, said doctors received a standing ovation when they presented the results of Herceptin drug trials.

"The introduction/approval of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and lapatinib (TyKerb) in breast cancer will prevent many women's breast cancers from recurring and have significantly improved survival for many women faced with breast cancer. More important, these drugs represent highly effective agents that target the cancer, not the patient," said Blackwell.

"Probably one of the only standing ovations I will witness in my career was when [it was] presented by Edward Romond at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology."

The other drug, a cancer pill called Gleevec, targets genetic mutation called bcr-abl (b.c.r. able) that causes cancer cells to grow and multiply in patients with a variety of cancers, including chronic myeloid leukemia or with a stomach cancer called GIST.

These two breakthrough agents opened the door to a number of cancer drugs that target specific molecules that control not only cell growth, but also the blood supply that feeds tumors.
7. Combination Drug Therapy Extends HIV Survival
Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART, as this combination therapy approach is called, HIV/AIDS has evolved into a serious, but chronic disease with survival stretching into decades.

Moreover, this "cocktail" approach to treatment where drugs are combined in different ways or different sequences has become a model for treating other diseases ranging from lung cancer to heart disease.

"In 1996 a 20-year-old person in the U.S. with AIDS expected to live about three to five years and now expects to live to be 69 years. That is amazing," said John Bartlett, MD, past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "Think of it -- in 1996 everyone in our HIV clinic was prepared to die. Now they all live. And most of them look great. They just need to take the meds."

"Next challenge is the cure," said Bartlett.

In more than a decade since the emergence of HAART, researchers have constantly refined the regimens to improve results, with evidence now emerging that some combinations may be more effecting patients with more extensive disease.

Thomas Coates, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles, pointed out that the HIV death rates are still dropping due to continual HIV research.

"The drop in death rates from HIV in the developed world (is) due to improved medications," Coates said. "There was the 10 percent drop in deaths due to HIV in the US between 2006 and 2007."

In Africa, where the HIV/AIDS crisis hits hardest today, Coates said doctors are slowly making progress-and in some cases real gains, which is the case with the use of antiretroviral drugs to block mother-to-infant HIV transmission.

"It has made a big difference in the developed world where vertical transmission rates have plummeted from over 1,000 at the peak to fewer than 100 per year (in the US)," said Coates. "Advances are being made in the developing world, with Botswana leading the way not with a 3% vertical transmission rate. It was the first and still is the most effective prevention strategy we have."
8. Minimally Invasive and Robotic Techniques Revolutionize Surgery
Ten years ago a patient would typically be left with a 10-inch scar when a doctor removed a kidney, but in late 2007 the surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic began removing kidneys through a single incision in the patient's navel.

And earlier this year, a Cleveland Clinic surgeon removed a diseased kidney from a woman using a technique called natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery or NOTES. In the case of the woman the kidney was removed through her vagina-an approach originally developed for hysterectomy.

Tiny metal hands carefully manipulating sutures deep inside the heart seems like a scenario pulled from "Star Trek," but the reality is that robotic surgery is occurring daily in a growing number of centers across the country.

The greatest benefit of tiny openings into the body rather than large incisions made by traditional surgery, may -- believers say -- be shorter and less painful recovery time.

Medical historian Sandra Moss, MD, believes this, especially after watching a sibling undergo a minimally-invasive surgery.

"My younger sister and I had the same operation 20 years apart. I was hors de combat (out of commission) for one month and loopy from pain meds for two weeks -- she was back at work in a few days on no pain medications," said Moss.

Doctors have also used robotic surgery to improve the accuracy of procedures, especially in cancer cases.

"Robotic surgery increased the ability of cancer surgeons to get clean margins as well due to the magnification of the structures," said Douglas Bacon, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Richard Caselli, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., pointed out that robotic surgery "offers the potential for surgeons to operate on patients remotely."

But critics, and there are many, say the cost of the robotic hardware may outweigh the benefit. Moreover, critics say that the robot revolution is racing ahead of the evidence.
9. Study Finds Heart, Cancer Risk with Hormone Replacement Therapy
Until July 2002 most doctors treating middle-age women believed that giving their patients hormones -- either estrogen alone or estrogen combined with progestin -- would protect their hearts from the ravages of age that seemed to attack women after menopause.

Hormone replace therapy, or HRT, was also thought to be good for the bones, the brain, the skin, the figure, and the libido, and was considered the best treatment to control the annoying and sometimes disabling symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes, depression, and sleep disturbances.

And then the world changed, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, which was sponsoring a placebo-controlled trial of hormone replacement therapy in more than 161,000 healthy women, announced that it was shutting down the study because HRT increased the risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, and breast cancer.

It was the "oops" heard round the world.

Larry Norton, MD, of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, believes the two biggest advances in breast cancer this decade was the targeted-breast cancer treatment with Herceptin and "the finding that postmenopausal hormone replacement is associated with a huge increase in the risk of breast cancer."

But the news from the Women's Health Initiative, as the study was known, wasn't all bad. HRT did reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and fractures and was proven to be an effective treatment for hot flashes and some other menopause symptoms.
10. Scientists Peer Into Mind With Functional MRI
Mind-reading has moved from carnival attraction to the halls of medicine with what is known as a functional MRI.

The medical mind-readers are not trying to identify a card randomly selected from a deck -- they are using sophisticated imaging techniques to map the way the mind works.

The process, often called fMRI, traces the working of neurons -- brain cells -- by tracking changes in the oxygen levels and blood flow to the brain. The more brain activity in one area, the more oxygen will be used and the more blood will flow to that area. The patient lies awake inside an MRI scanner. He or she is asked to perform a simple task, like identifying a color or solving a math problem.

As the patient answers the question, the fMRI tracks the areas of the brain that are activated by tracing the speed at which the cells metabolize the sugar, or glucose.

First developed in the early 1990s, fMRI began to shape research at the beginning of the decade.

"It has certainly taken off in the past 10 years as a means for studying the living human brain in action," said Caselli. "It has given us innumerable insights into cognition, social interactions, reward systems, decision-making, and so on."

Using this technique, researchers are learning valuable information about disease such as depression, brain cancer, autism, memory disorders, and even conditions such as the skin disorder psoriasis.
This article was developed in collaboration with ABC News.

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Lauren Cox, ABC Medical News Unit, Peggy Peck,

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The Top 10 Medical Advances of the Decade

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The first decade of the 21st Century brought a number of discoveries, mistakes, and medical advances that have influenced medicine from the patient's bedside to the medicine cabinet. In some cases these advances changed deep-seated beliefs in medicine; in others, they opened up possibilities beyond what doctors thought was possible years ago.

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In this article, it tells us about the difference between having to study bodies then, and now

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Secondly, they learnt through experience and experimentation. For example, surgeons in the Ancient World performed operations during childbirth that are little different to the Caesarian sections that are often carried out today.

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Fingers sawn off, cheeks sliced wide open, and eyeballs pierced with scalpels - these are just some of the medical operations featured in a new book about 19th century surgery.

Annotations designed to guide the steady hands of surgeons in the 1800s have been published by a medical historian in a new book called Crucial Interventions.

The illustrations, which are from the archives of health foundation the Wellcome Trust, demonstrate how much pain patients were expected to endure without anaesthetic when a tumour or other bodily issue was discovered.

Eye operations were performed with a range of delicate and sharp tools, according to Richard Barnett, medical historian and the book's author.

Other operations showed entire swathes of skin been cut and peeled back, to reveal the bone structure beneath.

In a jaw operation, a patient would not necessarily have had anaesthetic and would have been sewn up again afterwards - risking infection if the incisions were not properly cleaned.

But advances were made throughout the 19th century, from being dubbed "a humiliating spectacle of the futility of science" by anatomist John Hunter in 1750, to anaesthesia being discovered in the mid 1800s.

Before then, many tumours were simply cut out while the patient tolerated the pain.

Cancer of the tongue was also removed in this way, with the muscle split apart and then sewn back together again.

Fingers were similarly simply amputated if broken beyond repair and the skin sewn back over.

An arm might be amputated by cutting through the flesh with a large scapular, and taking the ball out of its joint.

Richard Barnett, author of the book, teaches the history of science, medicine and evolutionary theory at Cambridge University and University College London and works on public engagement with science at the Wellcome Trust.

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These are the 19th century's most gruesome operations

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Fingers sawn off, cheeks sliced wide open, and eyeballs pierced with scalpels - these are just some of the medical operations featured in a new book about 19th century surgery. Annotations designed to guide the steady hands of surgeons in the 1800s have been published by a medical historian in a new book called Crucial Interventions.

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Take a dive back into the 19th century and take a peek at the revolting surgical operations, dating over 100 years ago! The monochromatic pictures in the article will give you a glimpse on how surgeries back then worked before any medical standards were put into place. Prepare yourselves for some chilling images that will take you on a trip back in time! My personal favourite was learning about the one-of-a-kind surgical operation which separated Siamese twins in 1902!

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The series of photos include Siamese twins being separated by doctors in 1902

Another picture shows a doctor use anaesthesia in 1922 after it was made legal

Medical attire in the images would be deemed controversial by doctors today

Chilling black and white photographs from the 19th and 20th century have emerged today that show a range of pioneering operations being carried out - long before medical standards became commonplace.

The fascinating series of vintage pictures are a stark reminder of how little surgeons cared about hygiene more than 100 years ago, often not wearing gloves and leaving their patients at risk of deadly infections.

Dressed only in scrubs, many of those in the images can be seen performing a range of procedures without wearing masks or equipment now deemed vital in modern day surgery.

A handful of patients can be seen resting on normal, wooden tables - not the rotating, reclining beds used in hospitals across the world today. While anaesthetic is used in only a few procedures, suggesting many of the patients pictured were forced to face the pain of surgical incisions without any respite.

One of the pictures depicts Siamese twins being separated by doctors in 1902, dubbed to be the world-first operation of its kind. Such dramatic procedures to detach two bodies are much more common in 2017.

Another shows a doctor giving a patient a local anaesthetic for the first time in 1922, when Novocaine was made available for use in the US. The drug is now used widely in the present day, from fillings to mole removal.

An embalming surgeon is also pictured in his full glory. Designed specifically during times of war, this job involved injecting a special fluid into the body of dead soldiers to preserve parts of them in order to ship them home.

The female Siamese twins were born in Orissa, India, in 1888 and were attached at the chest by a band of cartilage. The moment Radica and Doodica were born, they were run out of town by the villagers, who saw them as a sign of 'divine wrath'.

In 1893, they were sold by their parents to Captain Colman, a showman from London, who wanted to display them in Europe. Following the contraction of tuberculosis by Doodica, they were rushed to Paris to be separated by French surgeon, Eugene-Louis Doyen.

Dr Doyen was considered controversial at the time due to his fascination of filming surgical operations for use as a teaching guide. An eight-minute video of the operation was screened at meetings in Paris and Berlin.

However, while the operation was deemed a success, and Radica survived the operation, her twin sister Doodica died a week afterwards.

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Chilling photographs show surgery in the 19th century

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The series of photos include Siamese twins being separated by doctors in 1902 Another picture shows a doctor use anaesthesia in 1922 after it was made legal Medical attire in the images would be deemed controversial by doctors today Chilling black and white photographs from the 19th and 20th century have emerged today that show a range of pioneering operations being carried out - long before medical standards became commonplace.

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Surgery in the 19th-century through pictures

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Surgery in the 19th-century through pictures

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From dissecting abdomens to pulling teeth; amputating limbs to performing caesarean sections, readers can now explore the gruesome history of 19 th-century surgery in a new book published by Thames & Hudson...

Submitted by: Jessica Hope

The 19 th century witnessed a complete transformation in surgical techniques, and saw the introduction of the use of anesthesia. Using rare images from European surgical textbooks from the time, Crucial Interventions: An Illustrated Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Surgery reveals some of the vivid images of surgical practices from this period.

Here, we bring you a selection of our favourite images...
Crucial Interventions: An Illustrated Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Surgery, published by Thames & Hudson in association with Wellcome Collection, is out now. To find out more, click here.

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From dissecting abdomens to pulling teeth; amputating limbs to performing caesarean sections, readers can now explore the gruesome history of 19 th-century surgery in a new book published by Thames & Hudson... Submitted by: Jessica Hope The 19 th century witnessed a complete transformation in surgical techniques, and saw the introduction of the use of anesthesia.

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A great article for IGCSE students on the gruesome nature of surgery in the nineteenth century - read BEFORE you eat!

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New book, called Crucial Interventions, shows gory images taken from surgical textbooks from 17th-19th century

The horrific images, taken from the Wellcome Collection's library, are narrated by medical historian Richard Barnett

They show barbaric-looking tools and brutal techniques including peeling back the jaw and cutting into the brain

Imagine having an operation without anaesthetic.

Before 1846, when the first procedure using pain-numbing drugs was carried out, this was was the norm.

Hamfisted and brutal, surgeons cut patients open, cracked bones and tied up arteries while they were completely conscious.

Not for the squeamish, a new book contains detailed images from rare surgical textbooks discovered from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The gruesome images show eyeballs pierced, brains being sliced and feet being hacked off - and all without anaesthetic.

The book, called Crucial Interventions, was drawn from The Wellcome Collection's library, and narrated by medical historian Richard Barnett.

The nineteenth century saw major advances in the practice of surgery, with techniques refined, illustrated in colour, and disseminated on the printed page for the first time.

Before this, the anatomist John Hunter described surgery as 'a humiliating spectacle of the futility of science'.

Most patients died from post-operative shock, infection, or loss of blood, with the death rate after operations as high as 80 per cent in some London hospitals.

Shown below are images, unnerving and graphic, yet beautifully preserved, giving a fascinating insight into the macabre world of archaic medicine...

Crucial Interventions or, An Illustrated Treatise on the Principle and Practice of Nineteenth-Century Surgery by Richard Barnett is published by Thames & Hudson, in association with the Wellcome Collection, £19.95.

It is available from the Daily Mail bookshop.

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Gruesome images show the barbaric nature of 19th century surgery

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New book, called Crucial Interventions, shows gory images taken from surgical textbooks from 17th-19th century The horrific images, taken from the Wellcome Collection's library, are narrated by medical historian Richard Barnett They show barbaric-looking tools and brutal techniques including peeling back the jaw and cutting into the brain Imagine having an operation without anaesthetic.

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Year 11 historians and IB - this is a great read looking at the modern day take on black civil rights campaign and the notion of black power.

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Year 11 historians and IB - this is a great read looking at the modern day take on black civil rights campaign and the notion of black power.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/09/british-black-panthers-drama-photography-exhibition

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A group of girls pose with schoolbags stencilled with the words "Black Power". A young Indian man, Farrukh Dhondy, a teacher and member of the British Black Panthers, stands defiantly outside his recently firebombed home, holding the newspaper that details the bombing. Activists pose with clenched fists and a copy of Angela Davis's If They Come in the Morning. The power of these images, taken by photographer Neil Kenlock, still resonates more than 40 years later, as does the story they tell: a tale of oppression, resistance and a community's fight for survival and for change.

It is a story that has been largely ignored down the years. Now the black power movement, and in particular the British Black Panthers, find themselves back in the spotlight. There is a photography exhibition at Tate Britain, Stan Firm Inna Inglan: Black Diaspora in London, 1960-1970s; a proposed film about the Mangrove Nine trial in which the late Darcus Howe and fellow Black Panther Althea Jones-Lecointe successfully defended themselves against charges of incitement to riot; a celebration of Howe's life at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton; and the arrival of Guerrilla, a new drama series written by 12 Years A Slave screenwriter John Ridley, which airs on Sky Atlantic.

"My initial reaction was that my story just didn't feel like a British story," Ridley says. San Francisco's Bay Area was where he had planned to set his tale of a young couple in the 1970s who find themselves increasingly radicalised and ultimately moved to violence. "But after speaking with Darcus [Howe], Farrukh [Dhondy] and Neil [Kenlock], I began to see that there were elements that were very, very similar. The struggles, the small indignities, the sense of a collective working together. As an American we tend to look at the UK as being so progressive and elevated with Windrush, and that is true to an extent, but beneath that there were troubles, issues, disregard and disenfranchisement."

He credits Howe with helping him understand the similarities and, crucially, differences between the two movements. "For someone like Darcus to say, 'OK, you're an American, you're coming from a different perspective but I trust you', it meant the world to us," he says. "He, Neil, Farrukh and Leila Hassan shared their memories and put us in the emotions and headspace of that time."

The result is an intense piece that captures the febrile atmosphere of Britain in the 1970s, when an establishment clinging desperately to the last remnants of a dying empire butted heads with the newly arrived citizens of those former colonies, who themselves discovered that the much-imagined motherland offered a far colder embrace than the one they dreamed of. "It feels like a time capsule," says Robin Bunce, a historian at Homerton College, Cambridge, and co-author of Howe's biography, . "It's a picture of the period rather than a definitive truth but what it does do very well is show how much the British movement was informed by the colonial experience. It's by no means intended as a picture of the whole movement."

Paul Reid, the director of the Black Cultural Archives, agrees. "It's first and foremost a drama," he says. "In Britain, people didn't actually pick up guns to fight as they do in Guerrilla. Instead what happened was a grassroots organisation. Our story is one of constant community activism and social responsibility. It's a quieter story, perhaps, but one that still needs to be told."

Ridley admits that the decision to have his central couple turn to violence was deliberately provocative. "In America you can have your Walter Whites and your Tony Sopranos who act outside the law and when white people are doing that it's romanticised and exciting, but put a gun in a black man's hand and it's like 'Excuse me negro what are you doing?' It becomes politicised."

That said, he stresses that the violence within the show is not presented as the only option, or even the right one. " Guerrilla is about how you get to that point where an individual feels so minimised, put upon and disregarded that they feel they can no longer be part of the fabric of society and then what happens after you get past that point," he says. "But there are consequences to these actions. It's not a romantic vision of what it means to take up arms."

Historical accuracy or otherwise is not the only issue surrounding the show. At a tense Q&A session after the premiere last week, repeated questions were asked about why there were so few black women in the opening episode, given the central role played by women such as Althea Jones-LeCointe, Barbara Beese and Olive Morris in the movement. Ridley remains bullish about his decision to cast Freida Pinto, an Indian actress, in the lead and to have a mixed-race couple at the centre of his story.

"I absolutely expect that there is going to be further pushback and I honestly hope there is," he says. "Because part of what we are saying is that a white person walking down the street at this time would look at them and say 'Oh, those blacks'. To the outside world they're both black but the reality is that they are a mixed-race couple. Their love and commitment is a big part of the show because they have to fight for that. They're down for each other. There are people who will have a problem with that, and I hope that they do because that problem is also part of the story we're telling."

And what does work is the sense that we are watching an untold or secret history. Like David Peace's cult crime novels, including the Red Riding quartet, Ridley's television series picks at the threads of British memory and forces us to consider how we once were and how we still might be. "All nations tell stories about themselves that place them in a good light," says Bunce. "So in the UK the story is about how we gave independence to the Caribbean, not how they took it back. We talk about the 1965 Race Relations Act but not how people took to the street and fought."

Bunce's co-author, the journalist and lawyer Paul Field, agrees. "I think there's a real denial on the part of many people about racism in this country," he says. "There is a history of miscarriages of justice against black and Irish people that is linked to the history of colonialism. Guerrilla taps into some of the major issues of this time and it also shows how very British and genteel that racism could be. I really hope that after watching this people then explore the real history."

It is a message that rings particularly true in today's climate where teenage asylum seekers are set on by mobs and anti-immigrant graffiti defaces walls. "Where I think Guerrilla works is the way it looks at the brutality and discriminatory attitude of some white folks," says Reid. "You have to remember that the police and establishment really considered the British Black Panthers a threat. These were people who took on the legal system at the Mangrove Nine trial, invoked Magna Carta and won. They weren't throwing stones - they were reading and writing books. They were considered a serious intellectual threat."

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Another still from Guerrilla, with Rory Kinnear, left, and Daniel Mays as police targeting British Black Power. Photograph: © Sky UK Limited

Why then has it taken so long for their story to be told? Dhondy, who moved into journalism, writing and television after the British Black Panthers collapsed amid infighting, power struggles and "kangaroo courts", admits that the idea often crossed his mind. "I was a commissioning editor at Channel 4 from 1984 to 1997 and of course I thought of putting that history on TV," he says. "But to be honest if I'd said 'Let's do a series about the black power movement', I think Michael Grade would have just thought 'Oh, he just wants to write about himself' and wouldn't have agreed."

He hopes instead that Guerrilla will make people reconsider the period and the movement. "It's a fictionalised history but I hope it will bring the attention of the nation to the fact that this movement transformed the country," he says. "The multi-ethnic drift from ex-colonies was substantial, inevitable and also irresistible. No little atavistic fears, despite Brexit, are going to change that. The black power movement, and Darcus, helped make Britain what it is today."

Elena Crippa, the co-curator of Stan Firm Inna Inglan at the Tate, agrees: "British culture has always been the result of exciting cross-pollination," she says. "There's often this terrible fallacy that British culture is in some way contaminated by the arrival of people from elsewhere. In reality, the old branches and the new flourish together."

Away from the controversy, Ridley's main desire is for Guerrilla to kickstart a conversation about the kind of stories we prioritise on TV and in film. "I think it's a solid piece of storytelling and I hope it will mark the beginning of a cycle of these kinds of stories of people of colour and their experiences, whether documentaries or fictional narratives," he says. "This isn't just black history - it's British history and it needs to be told."
All episodes of Guerrilla are available from 13 April on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV. Stan Firm Inna Inglan is on at Tate Britain until 19 November.

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The story of the British Black Panthers through race, politics, love and power

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The experience of black people in the UK in the 1970s is examined in Guerrilla, a new drama series written by 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley. Now that story finds echoes in a powerful exhibition of photographs of the time

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Year 9s, this is worth a read! We are beginning to study earthquakes this term!

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A strong earthquake has struck central Mexico, killing more than 200 people and toppling dozens of buildings in the capital, Mexico City.

At least 30 people, mostly children, died after a school collapsed in the capital, local media report.

The 7.1 magnitude quake also caused major damage in neighbouring states.

It struck shortly after many people had taken part in an earthquake drill, exactly 32 years after a quake killed thousands in Mexico City.

The country is prone to earthquakes and earlier this month an 8.1 magnitude tremor in the south left at least 90 people dead.

Though it struck a similar region, Tuesday's earthquake does not appear to be connected with the quake on 7 September, which was at least 30 times more energetic, the BBC's Jonathan Amos writes.

Where was worst hit?

The epicentre of the latest quake was near Atencingo in Puebla state, about 120km (75 miles) from Mexico City, with a depth of 51km, the US Geological Survey says.

The prolonged tremor hit at 13:14 local time (18:14 GMT) on Tuesday and sent thousands of residents into the streets.

Why did only some buildings collapse?

The race to help after the quake

An earlier death toll of nearly 250 was lowered to 217 by the country's national co-ordinator for civil protection:

Morelos state: 71 dead

Puebla state: 43 dead

Mexico City: 86 dead

Mexico state: 12 dead

Guerrero: 4 dead

Oaxaca: 1

As many as 37 people - 32 children and five adults - died when the Enrique Rébsamen elementary school collapsed in Mexico City's southern Coapa district, Efe news agency reports, quoting local media.

According to Mexican news site Reforma, 30 bodies have been found at the school and 22 people are missing.

Elsewhere, 15 people were killed when a church near Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano collapsed during Mass, Puebla's governor is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying. The volcano itself had a small eruption as a result of the tremor.

Alfredo del Mazo Maza, governor of the State of Mexico, said schools would be closed on Wednesday. He also ordered all public transport to operate services for free so that people could travel home.

What about survivors?

Emergency workers, aided by military personnel and volunteers, have been working through the night in the search for people trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

At the Enrique Rébsamen school, three people were rescued at about midnight, Reuters reports, adding that one child trapped under the debris was saved after oxygen was supplied through a tube.

At least 209 schools were affected by the quake, 15 of which have suffered severe damage, Mexico's Secretariat of Public Education says.

Buildings at 44 locations collapsed or were badly damaged, Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera told TV network Televisa. These are said to include a six-storey block of flats, a supermarket and a factory.

About two million people in the capital were left without electricity and phone lines were down. Officials warned residents not to smoke on the streets as gas mains could have been ruptured.

Some 70% of the electricity supply which went down has now been restored, Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission said.

Live updates

In pictures: Huge earthquake

Are Mexico's two earthquakes connected?

In a televised address, the president said an emergency had been declared for the affected areas and the military had been drafted in to help with the response.

He also urged residents whose properties were structurally sound to remain in their homes where possible to allow emergency services and those helping with rescue efforts to clear the streets.

Across Mexico City, teams of rescue workers and volunteers clawed through the rubble with picks, shovels and their bare hands.

"My wife is there. I haven't been able to communicate with her," Juan Jesus Garcia, 33, told Reuters, choking back tears next to a collapsed building.

"She is not answering and now they are telling us we have to turn off our mobile phones because there is a gas leak."
Have you been affected by the earthquake? If it is safe to do so you can email your story to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

Jennifer Swaddle, a teacher at the British International School in Mexico City, told the BBC that part of her classroom had collapsed.

"As we were leaving, the outside of my classroom wall fell, so there was a big pile of rubble. Luckily, fantastically, nobody was hurt, but it was incredibly frightening," she said.

History of deadly earthquakes

Can earthquakes be predicted?

What happened in 1985?

An earthquake drill was being held in Mexico City on Tuesday to mark the 32nd anniversary of a magnitude 8 quake that killed up to 10,000 people and left 30,000 others injured.

The severe tremor caused serious damage to Mexico City and its surrounding areas, with more than 400 buildings collapsed and thousands more damaged.

Correspondents say that residents may have mistaken earthquake alarms for part of the day of drills in the wake of the 1985 quake.

Mexico City is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with more than 20 million people living in the metropolitan area.

Why is Mexico so prone to earthquakes?

Mexico is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, sitting on top of three of the Earth's largest tectonic plates - the North American, Cocos and Pacific plates.

The latest tremor occurred near the boundary between the North American and Cocos plates, where the latter slides beneath the former.

According to the US Geological Survey, the country has seen 19 earthquakes of at least 6.5 magnitude within 155 miles of the epicentre of Tuesday's quake over the past century.

How has the world reacted?

Foreign leaders sent messages of support to Mexico as the scale of the disaster became clear:

US President Donald Trump, who has courted controversy with his plans for a border wall with Mexico, tweeted: "God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you"

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also tweeted his support following the "devastating news"

Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis, in New York for the UN General Assembly, expressed his "solidarity" with the Mexican people

Pope Francis said his thoughts and prayers were with the families of those who had lost loved ones in the "devastating" quake. "In this moment of pain I want to express my closeness and my prayer to all of the beloved Mexican population," the pontiff said at the Vatican

The Mexican government earlier issued the following guidance on what to do if a quake strikes in the country:

stay calm

find the evacuation route and meeting point

stay away from windows and objects that may fall

in case of emergency call 911

do not use lifts

The UK Foreign Office has said that those travelling to Mexico should follow the advice of the local authorities.

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Huge quake kills more than 200 in Mexico

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A strong earthquake has struck central Mexico, killing more than 200 people and toppling dozens of buildings in the capital, Mexico City. At least 30 people, mostly children, died after a school collapsed in the capital, local media report. The 7.1 magnitude quake also caused major damage in neighbouring states.

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Hurricane Maria cause further damage to the area already affected by Hurricane Irma.

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Dominica has suffered "widespread damage" from Hurricane Maria, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says, as the storm hammers neighbouring Guadeloupe.

"We have lost all that money can buy," Mr Skerrit said in a Facebook post.

The hurricane suddenly strengthened to a "potentially catastrophic" category five storm, before making landfall on the Caribbean island.

Earlier Mr Skerrit posted live updates as his roof was torn off, saying he was "at the complete mercy" of the storm.

"My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains," he wrote after being rescued.

Latest updates on Hurricane Maria

PM's Facebook posts detail storm drama

Meanwhile officials on the French island of Guadeloupe are warning locals to stay sheltered, even if the hurricane appears to be easing in parts.

Houses and roads have been submerged and half of the rain expected in the region has yet to fall, the Prefect of Guadeloupe, Eric Maire, has warned.

"The phenomenon is still ongoing, it is necessary to remain in a safe place even if lulls appear," Mr Maire said.

Hurricane Maria is moving roughly along the same track as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region earlier this month.

It has maximum sustained winds of 260km/h (160mph), and was downgraded to a category four after hitting Dominica, before picking up full strength again.

Life-threatening mudslides, flash floods and storm surges have been predicted by the US National Hurricane Center, which monitors the region.

How was Dominica affected?

Dominica, a former British colony with a population of 72,000, is less than 50km long and 25km wide, and the eye of the storm passed directly over it.

It made landfall at 21:00 local time (01:00 GMT Tuesday), and Dominica's PM has called the damage "devastating" and "mind boggling".

"My focus now is in rescuing the trapped and securing medical assistance for the injured," he said, and called on the international community for help. "We will need help, my friend, we will need help of all kinds."

Curtis Matthew, a journalist based in the capital, Roseau, told the BBC that conditions went "very bad, rapidly".

"We still don't know what the impact is going to be when this is all over. But what I can say it does not look good for Dominica as we speak," he said.

All ports and airports are closed and residents near the coast have been ordered to go to authorised shelters.

How did it gather strength so fast?

Maria jumped from a category three to a brutal category five within just a few hours, which was an unexpected shock for people in Dominica.

A factor in its rapid development is that local sea surface temperatures are currently anomalously high by a margin of around one to two degrees, says BBC weather forecaster Steve Cleaton.

The elevated sea surface temperature will have contributed to the rapid development of this system, in concert with other very favourable atmospheric conditions within the locale such as low wind shear, our meteorologist adds.

Where next?

Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory just to the north of Guadeloupe, is likely to be affected next.

It has been issued with hurricane warnings, along with St Kitts and Nevis, the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Antigua, as well as Barbuda, St Martin and Anguilla, all of which are still reeling after Irma.
UK territories prepare for worst
There is a similar warning for Dutch islands Saba and St Eustatius.

In the British Virgin Islands, British authorities - who have been working on Irma relief projects - are among those who have expressed fears that debris left behind by the first storm could be whipped up by the second, posing an extra threat.

Where has it passed?

As the hurricane struck in the middle of the night it has been difficult to assess the extent of the damage so far.

The French territory of Martinique has been hit by power cuts but is thought to have escaped serious damage.

"Reconnaissance operations are still under way but already we can see that there is no significant damage," said Jacques Witkowski, France's head of civil protection and crisis response, according to Reuters.

AFP news agency said there were reports of flooding, mudslides and power outages in parts of St Lucia.

Both places had their hurricane warnings downgraded to tropical storm watch.

However, in this part of the world, the danger does not always pass when the hurricane moves on. Heavy rains mean mudslides can still be a risk.

Will Irma relief work be affected?

Some islands in Maria's path escaped the worst of Hurricane Irma and have been used as bases to distribute relief to places that were not so fortunate.

Now there are concerns that that this work could be jeopardised if they are badly hit too.

Guadeloupe has been a bridgehead for aid going to Irma-hit French territories, while Puerto Rico - which is expected to be hit later on Tuesday by Maria - has also been offering crucial assistance to its neighbours.

Hurricane Irma's damage mapped

Overseas forces mobilise

Britain, France, the US and the Netherlands all have overseas territories in the Caribbean.

The British government said more than 1,300 troops were staying put in the region and an additional military team had been deployed. A 42-strong military resilience team has also been deployed to the British Virgin Islands.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told AFP that 110 more soldiers would be sent to the region to reinforce about 3,000 people already there.

The Dutch navy tweeted that troops were heading to Saba and St Eustatius to bolster security, after St Martin - an island shared between France and the Netherlands - was hit by looting after the earlier hurricane.

On Monday, President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, where the US military has been evacuating personnel.
Are you in an area affected by Hurricane Maria? If it's safe to do so, you can share your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk .
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Hurricane Maria 'devastates' Dominica: PM

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Dominica has suffered "widespread damage" from Hurricane Maria, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says, as the storm hammers neighbouring Guadeloupe. "We have lost all that money can buy," Mr Skerrit said in a Facebook post. The hurricane suddenly strengthened to a "potentially catastrophic" category five storm, before making landfall on the Caribbean island.

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Hurricane Maria to become major storm near Caribbean islands

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Hurricane Maria to become major storm near Caribbean islands

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Hurricane Maria has strengthened to a major category three hurricane, US forecasters say, as it heads towards the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.

It is due to hit on Monday night local time.

Maria is moving roughly along the same path as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region this month.

The authorities fear Maria could whip up and throw the debris left behind by Hurricane Irma.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Maynard, a Royal Marine deployed to the British Virgin Islands, told the Press Association the hurricane could pick the debris up, "spin it around, and throw it like ammunition".

"It could cause potentially more casualties and fatalities than Irma did," he added.

The UK's International Development Secretary, Priti Patel, said: "British troops, police and aid experts are working relentlessly to get help to the victims of Hurricane Irma. Those same individuals will now be tasked with also preparing for the impact of Maria."

Hurricane warnings have been issued for Guadeloupe, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Martinique, St Lucia and the US and British Virgin Islands.

A hurricane watch is in effect for Puerto Rico, St Martin, St Barts, Saba, St Eustatius and Anguilla.

Some of these islands are still recovering after being hit by Irma - a category five hurricane which left at least 37 people dead and caused billions of dollars' worth of damage.

In its latest update on Monday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Maria had maximum sustained winds of 200km/h (125mph).

They warned that heavy rainfall caused by the hurricane "could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides".

The eye of the storm is 100 miles east of Martinique, and Maria is moving west-northwest at about 13mph.

"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the NHC said.

In the French territory of Guadeloupe, schools, businesses and government buildings have all been closed and severe flooding is predicted in low-lying parts of the islands.

Preparations have also begun in Puerto Rico, where Maria is expected to bring strong winds on Tuesday.

The Leeward Islands - where Maria will first strike - includes Antigua and Barbuda. The latter island was evacuated after being devastated by Irma.

The NHC says that Maria could produce a "dangerous storm surge accompanied by large and destructive waves" that would raise water levels by as much as 2.7 metres (9ft).

It also forecasts a maximum potential rainfall of 51cm (20in) in some areas of the central and southern Leeward Islands - including Puerto Rico and the US and British Virgin Islands - through to Wednesday night.
The destruction of Barbuda Drone footage of Saint-Martin after Irma
Earlier this month, Irma left more than two-thirds of homes on the Dutch side of the island of St Martin (known as Sint Maarten) uninhabitable, with no electricity, gas or drinking water.

The French government has said its side of St Martin - known as Saint-Martin - sustained about €1.2bn ($1.44bn; £1.1bn) in damage, with nine deaths across Saint-Martin and nearby St Barts.

On the British Virgin Islands, entire neighbourhoods were flattened.

After a visit to the area, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson described the damage as something "you see in images from the First World War".
In pictures: Irma devastates British Virgin Islands
Virgin boss Richard Branson, who has a home in the Virgin Islands, has been tweeting ahead of the Maria's predicted arrival, warning people to stay safe.

Image Copyright @richardbranson @richardbranson Report

Image Copyright @richardbranson @richardbransonReport

The Puerto Rican government has issued a statement saying it expects the hurricane to make landfall there as a category three on Tuesday.

The US territory escaped the worst of the damage from Irma - although it experienced widespread power cuts - and it has been an important hub for getting relief to islands that were more badly affected.

"Puerto Rico is our lifeline," Judson Burdon, a resident of Anguilla, told Reuters news agency. "We had two volunteer flights cancel because of the weather that is coming."

Irma also hit the US, where several dozen deaths were linked to the hurricane. Nearly 6.9 million homes were left without power in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama.

A second hurricane, Jose, is also active in the Atlantic, with maximum sustained winds of 90mph.

The centre of the storm was about 265 miles east-south-east of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, the NHC said in its advisory at 18:00 GMT on Monday.

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Hurricane Maria has strengthened to a major category three hurricane, US forecasters say, as it heads towards the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. It is due to hit on Monday night local time. Maria is moving roughly along the same path as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region this month.

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Hurricane Maria keeps intensifying hours before landfall

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Hurricane Maria keeps intensifying hours before landfall

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Hurricane Maria's brute force doubled in strength as it barreled toward Caribbean islands already devastated by Hurricane Irma.

On Monday afternoon, Maria was hurling winds of 125 mph (200 kilometers per hour) as it closed in on the Caribbean and took aim at Puerto Rico.

That's nearly twice the hurricane's strength from just 24 hours earlier -- and Maria is expected to keep growing before slamming into the Leeward Islands this evening.

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The powerful storm, which made landfall Monday night, has since been downgraded to a Category 4 with sustained winds of 155 mph. After it passes over Dominica it is on course to score a direct hit on the US territory of Puerto Rico -- the first hurricane of its strength to do so in 85 years.

"We're just waiting for daybreak to do an assessment of the damage," Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told CNN's Rosemary Church.

"Our first order of business will be search and rescue to ensure we can account for every single citizen and residents who were on the island during this really devastating hurricane."

A statement from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that its record-topping winds reached 160 miles per hour when it hit the island nation. In an update the Center said that reports "indicate significant damage to structures has occurred in Dominica."

Maria made landfall on Dominica late Monday, coming ashore at 9:15 p.m. ET. It was so powerful that it tore the roof off the Prime Minister's residence.

"Personally I was affected," Skerrit said. "The roof of the residence caved in because of the strength of the wind. But I was taken to safe ground by ... police officers, thank God.

"This hurricane stayed in the country for a very, very long time and (was) just unrelenting. I don't think there were very many roofs which would survive the hurricane."

In a Facebook post he added: "So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace.

"My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains."

The storm will continue moving toward Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as a strong Category 4 or a Category 5 and is not expected to diminish in strength.

Relentless march

After Dominica, Puerto Rico is in Maria's sights. It is moving toward the island as an "extremely dangerous major hurricane, and a hurricane warning has been issued for that island," the hurricane center said.

Puerto Rico's governor, Ricardo Rosselló, has declared a state of emergency ahead of that landfall, which will likely happen Wednesday.

A hurricane warning from the NHC remains in effect for Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat, the US and British Virgin Islands as well as Puerto Rico, Culebra, and Vieques.

US President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration for the US territory for federal assistance to augment the territory's storm-response initiatives.

The ferocity of Maria bears striking similarities to Hurricane Andrew, the Category 5 hurricane which hit the Bahamas and Florida in 1992, says CNN meterologist Pedram Javaheri. Both storms are compact, and Maria's wind speed comes close to that of Hurricane Andrew -- 165 mph -- when it hit southern Florida.

Bracing for impact

Hours before Maria's expected landfall on Dominica -- and just over week after the island was brushed by Irma -- Skerrit urged residents to take any belongings that could become dangerous projectiles indoors.

"The next few hours should be placed on cleaning up around the house and on your properties rather than stockpiling weeks of foods and other supplies," Skerrit said in a televised speech.

"This is not a system that will linger very long. Therefore, the goal must not be on stockpiling supplies but on mitigating damage caused by flying objects."

Puerto Rico on alert

Puerto Rico sheltered many of the evacuees who fled Hurricane Irma's wrath in other Caribbean islands. Now those evacuees and native Puerto Ricans are bracing for another powerful hurricane.

Rosselló ordered evacuations ahead of deteriorating conditions, telling CNN that extensive preparations had been made to mitigate Maria's potential impact.

"We're as ready as we can be," he told CNN's Don Lemon.

"This sort of event is a very dangerous event, high winds, a slow storm and a lot of rainfall. And this coming just about two weeks after Irma skirted off the northeast of Puerto Rico.

"We've made preparations... we've focused on really the only thing that matters right now, which is making sure people are safe. We have 500 shelters, (we're) moving people to those shelters and hopefully weathering the storm so we can rebuild Puerto Rico.

Calling its potential impact "catastrophic," Rosselló said that the island was expected to experience tropical storm force winds for about two and a half days and sustained high level hurricane winds for "the better part of a day."

"We expect to feel storm winds, tropical storm winds, since Tuesday up until late on Thursday. That's about two-and-a-half days of tropical storm winds, and on Wednesday we will feel the brunt -- all of the island will feel the brunt of sustained category four or five winds, Rosselló said.

"This is an event that will be damaging to the infrastructure, that will be catastrophic, and our main focus -- our only focus right now -- should be to make sure we save lives."

If Maria strikes the island as forecast, it will be "more dangerous than Hugo and Georges," he said.

Hurricane Hugo killed five people in Puerto Rico in 1989, and Hurricane Georges caused more than $1.7 billion in damage to the island in 1998.

In Salinas, a city on the island's southern coast where the storm is expected to hit hard, CNN saw dozens of people queuing for water and essentials ahead of the hurricane's anticipated impact.

Restauranteur Juan Miguel Gonzalez told CNN he was "worried" about the storm's impact. "Not about material stuff, rather the people," he said.

His staff were working to prepare the waterfront property for Maria's arrival and the 39-year-old said that he would return tomorrow to make sure that it was secure.

The Puerto Rico Convention Center in the capital San Juan to the north, which is still housing Hurricane Irma evacuees from other Caribbean islands, is preparing to accept thousands of residents as the brunt of the storm is felt.

Hurricane and tropical storm warnings

The storm will affect parts of the Leeward Islands and the British and US Virgin Islands for next couple of days, the center said.

Other Leeward Islands are now under hurricane warnings, including Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat. the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands are under warnings.

Trump issued an emergency declaration for the US Virgin Islands.

There are tropical storm warnings in effect for Martinique, Antigua and Barbuda, Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Martin, Anguilla and St. Lucia.

The government of the Dominican Republic has issued a hurricane watch from Isla Saona to Puerto Plata, and a tropical storm watch west of Puerto Plata to the northern Dominican Republic-Haiti border.

The British Foreign Office said more than 1,300 troops are in the region, on affected islands or nearby locations, ready to help after Maria goes by. One military team has been deployed to the British Virgin Islands.

A British military reconnaissance team is on standby to go to Montserrat and assess needs, the office said. The HMS Ocean is set to arrive in the area at week's end with 60 tons of government supplies.

Another hurricane, Jose, is also churning in the Atlantic and has spawned tropical storm warnings for part of the US East Coast.

While forecasters don't anticipate Jose making landfall in the US, it's still expected to cause "dangerous surf and rip currents" along the East Coast in the next few days, the hurricane center said.

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dominica pm: hurricane maria 'devastates' island - cnn

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Euan McKirdy, Joe Sterling and Holly Yan, CNN

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Dominica PM: Hurricane Maria 'devastates' island

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The powerful storm, which made landfall Monday night, has since been downgraded to a Category 4 with sustained winds of 155 mph. After it passes over Dominica it is on course to score a direct hit on the US territory of Puerto Rico -- the first hurricane of its strength to do so in 85 years.

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Irma and Harvey together will be as expensive as Hurricane Katrina

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Irma and Harvey together will be as expensive as Hurricane Katrina

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Moody's Analytics said Monday that it projects the U.S. economic cost of Hurricane Irma, which hit Florida on Sunday as a Category 4 storm, will be $64 billion to $92 billion. That's on top of $108 billion in estimated damages from Harvey, which made landfall in Texas at the end of August.

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Hurricanes Irma and Harvey combined are expected to cause as much damage as Hurricane Katrina, according to a new estimate.

Moody's Analytics said Monday that it projects the U.S. economic cost of Hurricane Irma, which hit Florida on Sunday as a Category 4 storm, will be $64 billion to $92 billion. That's on top of $108 billion in estimated damages from Harvey, which made landfall in Texas at the end of August.

In all, Irma and Harvey will probablycause between $150 billion and $200 billion indamage, said Mark Zandi, the firm's chief economist.

Hurricane Katrina, which battered the Gulf Coast in 2005, caused $160 billion in damage in today's dollars, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Related: The costliest natural disasters in U.S. history

Irma was downgraded Monday to a tropical storm as it moved north through Georgia and the Carolinas.

Major flooding continues throughout Florida. The Miami and Tampa areas are facing up to 4 feet of storm surge. Jacksonville is facing 3 to 5 feet of storm surge plus more than a foot of rain.

AIR Worldwide, a catastrophe analysis firm, said Monday that it predicts insured losses from Hurricane Irma will range from $20 billion to $40 billion.

In the short term, the two hurricanes are likely to hurt the economies of Florida and Texas. Joblessness has already inched up in Texas. How hard they are hit will depend in part on when oil production and refining get back to normal in Texas, and when tourism resumes in Florida, Zandi said.

Related: Texas oil refineries still badly hurting from Harvey

In Texas, energy refineries are still operating at diminished capacity. About 13% of the nation's ability to turn oil into gasoline remains offline, according to S&P Global Platts, an energy research firm.

But Zandi said he expects that the economic boost from rebuilding will get everything back on track by the end of the year. Other economists agree.

"The longer-term economic impact of the storms should be nil," Zandi said.

CNNMoney (New York) First published September 11, 2017: 6:03 PM ET

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Irma and Harvey together will be as expensive as Hurricane Katrina

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Moody's Analytics said Monday that it projects the U.S. economic cost of Hurricane Irma, which hit Florida on Sunday as a Category 4 storm, will be $64 billion to $92 billion. That's on top of $108 billion in estimated damages from Harvey, which made landfall in Texas at the end of August.

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Hurricane Irma: Florida assesses damage as storm weakens

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Hurricane Irma: Florida assesses damage as storm weakens

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As Hurricane Irma leaves millions without power in Florida, disaster risk experts have started counting the possible cost from the deadly storm.

Irma, which hit Florida as a category four hurricane on Sunday, has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Analysts have cut their estimates of the total cost, but still, expect it to run to tens of billions of dollars.

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As Hurricane Irma leaves millions without power in Florida, disaster risk experts have started counting the possible cost from the deadly storm.

Irma, which hit Florida as a category four hurricane on Sunday, has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Analysts have cut their estimates of the total cost, but still expect it to run to tens of billions of dollars.

The storm is likely to have the biggest long-term economic impact in the Caribbean, experts said.

"In the Caribbean it's devastating because ... you're affecting the entire economy," said Chuck Watson, director of research and development for US hazard assessment firm Enki Holdings.

US damages

The combination of losses from Hurricane Irma and storm Harvey, which struck Texas and the Gulf of Mexico in August, could make 2017 "the most costly hurricane season yet," Bronek Masojada, the chief executive of the UK insurance firm Hiscox told the BBC.

Moody's Analytics expects combined damage of $150bn- $200bn from the two storms in the US, with an additional $20bn-$30bn lost in economic disruption.

Analysts had earlier warned the US faced as much as $300bn in economic impact from Irma alone, depending on the strength and path of the storm in Florida.

The storm has caused severe flooding and left more than 6 million homes without power in Florida. It has killed at least 39 people and devastated some Caribbean islands.

However, it weakened after making landfall in Florida and spared major cities along the eastern coast, such as Miami, a direct hit.

For parts of the state such as the Florida Keys, the recovery will take time, said Florida Governor Rick Scott.

But in other areas, he said: "I didn't see the damage I thought we would see."

Barrie Cornes, an insurance analyst at Panmure Gordon, said the economic impact of Irma may be half the $300bn he previously gave as the uppermost cost.

Enki predicts the economic impact could be about $50bn - well below the roughly $200bn the firm predicted early in the storm.

"A wobble 20 miles to the left and it would have virtually doubled the damages," Mr Watson said.

Shares on Wall Street rose more than 1% on Monday, partly on hopes Irma would cause less damage than previously feared.

The combination of the hurricanes could shave 0.5% off GDP in the third quarter, ratings agency Moody's estimates.

But the rebuilding effort is likely to lead to higher spending, boosting GDP growth in later months, which will blunt the longer impact.

"From an economics sense, a lot of times we get a little too excited about these storms," Mr Watson said. "The human tragedy, that's a whole different picture."

Caribbean damages

Even the worst storms have historically had little major effect on economic growth in the US.

But some small Caribbean islands are looking at damage from Hurricane Irma that is many times higher than their annual GDP.

Enki forecasts that Irma's economic impact in the Caribbean could be about $30bn, with about 40% of that figure coming from lost output.

Total damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure could run to more than $12bn, with places such as Sint Maarten, the US Virgin Islands and Cuba among the hardest hit, according to the Germany-based Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology.

That makes Irma the costliest hurricane in history for the Caribbean, a record that reflects the storm's strength - and the increase in property and infrastructure in the region, said James Daniell, a senior disaster risk analyst for the centre.

Major hotels and resorts are more likely to have insurance, but the share of damage covered is likely to vary significantly by island, he said.

Insured losses in the Caribbean are estimated at $5bn-$15bn, according to catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide.

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As Hurricane Irma leaves millions without power in Florida, disaster risk experts have started counting the possible cost from the deadly storm. Irma, which hit Florida as a category four hurricane on Sunday, has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.

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How responsible is climate change for Hurricane Harvey?

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How responsible is climate change for Hurricane Harvey?

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We can concede that the sea level is rising at an increasing rate:

-  Sea level is rising at about 0.14 inches yearly. This may be caused by thermal expansion and warming of the ocean due to various human disturbances such as oil drilling, deforestation, and coal/oil burning. As the water heats up, it expands. These disturbances have increased heat trapping gasses, causing the planet to warm up.

The rise of sea level means that storm surges start to push farther inland, causing it to be fatal and dangerous. Sea level rise also contributes to frequent nuisance flooding.

-  Sea surface temperatures have risen around 0.5C more, making the sea surface temperature in the region increase from 30.5C to 31C.

A hurricane requires very warm water and moist air to fuel it.

-  For every 0.5C of warming, there is around a 3% increase in moisture in the air. As the sea surface temperature in the region rose 0.5C more, there was 3-5% more moisture in the air, which may have intensified the hurricane. This also may have increased the potential for much more severe rainfall and flooding.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/28/climate-change-hurricane-harvey-more-deadly
http://www.insurancejournal.com/%E2%80%A6/sou%E2%80%A6/2017/05/31/452704.htm
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-level
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/impacts/infographic-sea-level-rise-global-warming.html#.WbmEK8ig_tQ

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Storm Aileen bringing strong winds to the UK and Ireland

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Storm Aileen bringing strong winds to the UK and Ireland

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Storm Aileen's extreme weather continues to develop due to intense low pressure getting lower as it approaches the UK. According to MET Office, Storm Aileen is set to reach gusts (strong rushes of wind) "up to 75 mph". There will also be heavy rain throughout the cities affected.

Trips have been delayed and markets have closed because of Aileen. The combination of strong gusts and rainfall (around 30-40mm) make it difficult for the people to drive and cause disruption. Flooding may occur; which can possibly affect homes, markets and businesses. Yellow warnings for rain have been issued in Scotland, Northern England, and Northern Ireland, and an amber severe weather warning for intense winds have been issued in parts of the West Midlands.

MET Office says that the gales approaching the UK and the critical weather conditions affecting the Caribbean and the USA have no connection; however, some argue that climate change is a recurring factor as to why these intense weather conditions are happening frequently.

Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/12/uk-weather-storm-aileen-set-batter-britain-75mph-winds/
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/what-you-should-stay-safe-13607342
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings
http://www.loughboroughecho.net/news/local-news/storm-aileen-forces-loughborough-farmers-13608676

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First hurricane-force gusts hit Keys as Irma nears Fla. landfall

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First hurricane-force gusts hit Keys as Irma nears Fla. landfall

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A hurricane-force wind gust was recorded in the Florida Keys late Saturday night -- the first sign of deadly Hurricane Irma's impending landfall on the U.S. mainland.

The weather service said the Smith Shoal Light station recorded a 74 mph wind gust on Saturday night, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, the center of Irma was headed toward the Keys with sustained winds of 120 mph.

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Eye of Hurricane Irma hits Florida islands

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Eye of Hurricane Irma hits Florida islands

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Has the US responded appropriately to the threat of hurricanes?

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Parts of the city of Miami are under water as Hurricane Irma heads for mainland Florida, triggering storm surges across the south of the state.

Irma was downgraded to a category three storm at 1900 GMT, but made landfall on Marco Island off Florida's west coast with winds of up to 120mph (192km/h).

About 2ft (60cm) of water has been seen in Miami's financial district, where one major street resembled a river. Earlier Irma struck the Florida Keys.

More than 1m homes are without power.

Some 6.3 million people in Florida were told to evacuate, with warnings of a "life-threatening" storm surge.

Irma has already devastated parts of the Caribbean with at least 27 deaths.

President Donald Trump described the hurricane as a "big monster". He praised the federal agencies involved with the storm and said he would go to Florida "very soon".

What is happening in Florida?

Extreme winds and storm surges continued in the Lower Florida Keys area, which includes Key West.

All residents had been ordered to leave.

One official had warned staying on the islands would be "almost like suicide".

Media reports say a man was killed on Saturday in the Keys when his truck crashed into a tree as the storm gathered pace.

As the eye of the storm is moving north to mainland Florida, more than 1.4 million homes in the state are reported to be without power and more than 100,000 people have taken refuge in shelters.

The National Hurricane Center tweeted that people in the area of Naples and Marco Island, in south-west Florida, should move away from the water as storm surges of up to 15ft (4.6m) were possible.

Cities such as Tampa and St Petersburg seem set to bear the brunt. The Tampa Bay area, with a population of about three million, has not been hit by a major hurricane since 1921.

"We are about to get punched in the face by this storm," Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said.

In Miami, Police Major Richard Rand told the BBC there was flooding, including 2-3ft inland, and many power lines were down.

One of the flooded areas was Miami's financial district, Brickell, where Southeast 12th Street resembled a river.

Two cranes have collapsed in high winds in the city.

Irma is the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade, and has already caused widespread destruction on several Caribbean islands:

Cuba: Officials have talked of "significant damage", without giving further details, but no casualties have been reported. Electricity is out across the capital, Havana

St Martin and St Barthelemy: Six out of 10 homes on St Martin, an island shared between France and the Netherlands, are now uninhabitable, French officials say. They said nine people had died and seven were missing in the French territories, while four are known to have died in Dutch Sint Maarten

Turks and Caicos Islands: Widespread damage, although extent unclear

Barbuda: The small island is said to be "barely habitable", with 95% of the buildings damaged. Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne estimates reconstruction will cost $100m (£80m). One death has been confirmed

Anguilla: Extensive damage with one person confirmed dead

Puerto Rico: More than 6,000 residents of the US territory are in shelters and many more without power. At least three people have died

British Virgin Islands: Widespread damage reported, and five dead

US Virgin Islands: Damage to infrastructure was said to be widespread, with four deaths confirmed

Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Both battered by the storm, but neither had as much damage as initially feared

Another storm, Jose, further out in the Atlantic behind Irma, is a category four hurricane, with winds of up to 130mph.

It initially followed a similar path to Irma and had threatened several islands already hit by its predecessor, but it has now tracked harmlessly to the north.

Barbuda, whose residents had already left the island as Jose approached, was spared, as were St Martin and St Barthelemy.

Hurricane Katia, in the Gulf of Mexico, a category one storm with winds of up to 75mph, made landfall on the Mexican Gulf coast in the state of Veracruz late on Friday before weakening to a tropical depression.

Are you in the region? Are you a holidaymaker unable to get a flight home or a resident who has been preparing for Hurricane Irma? If it is safe for you to do so, share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

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Hurricane Irma: Massive storm bears down on Florida

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Parts of Miami are under water as the storm makes landfall on an island off Florida's west coast.

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Have you ever wanted to know what it looks like inside the eye of a hurricane?? Watch this!

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What's it like to fly into the eye of Hurricane Irma? - BBC News

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The Hurricane Hunters who fly into the eye of hurricanes.

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This Map Shows How an Overheated Ocean Strengthened  Hurricane Irma

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This Map Shows How an Overheated Ocean Strengthened  Hurricane Irma

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Warm oceans can intensify hurricanes, which scientists believe thrive when sea surface temperatures are above 82 degrees Fahrenheit. As Hurricane Irma approaches the United States, warmer waters will provide more energy to fuel the storm

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This Map Shows How an Overheated Ocean Made Irma a Monster

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Warming has fueled one of the most powerful Atlantic storms to threaten the Unites States in recorded history.

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Hurricane Irma causes devastation across the Caribbean

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Hurricane Irma causes devastation across the Caribbean

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Hurricane Irma has caused widespread destruction across the Caribbean, reducing buildings to rubble and leaving at least nine people dead.

The small island of Barbuda is said to be "barely habitable". Officials warn that St Martin is almost destroyed, and the death toll is likely to rise.

Irma is a category five hurricane, the highest possible level.

It is currently north of the Dominican Republic, heading towards Turks and Caicos.

The low-lying Turks and Caicos islands, a British overseas territory, are said to be at risk of a storm surge, with the possibility of destructive waves up to 6m (20ft) higher than usual.
Live updates on Irma In pictures: Irma ravages Caribbean
Virginia Clerveaux, director of the Turks and Caicos Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies, told the BBC that even inland areas could be inundated.

"We are now trying to remind them [the people of the islands] that this is a category 5, and in the history of the Turks and Caicos islands this is the largest storm we have ever been impacted or threatened by.

"So there is a need to ensure that we have maximum preparations in place... We have been saying to persons to ensure that they are prepared, ensure they can shelter safely, they have sufficient food and drinking water for two to three days."

Meanwhile, the head of the US emergency agency has said that Hurricane Irma will have a "truly devastating" impact when it hits southern coastal areas of the United States.

"The majority of people along the coast have never experienced a major hurricane like this," Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) chief Brock Long told CNN.

The most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade, Irma has sustained wind speeds of 285km/h (180mph).

What are the worst-hit areas?

Hurricane Irma first struck the dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. At least one death, of a child, was reported on Barbuda, where Prime Minister Gaston Browne said about 95% of the buildings had suffered some damage.
Irma myths debunked Fears grow for Britons hit by hurricane The areas most at risk
"It's absolute devastation," he said after flying over the island, home to some 1,600 people. "The island is literally under water. In fact, I'm of the view that, as it stands now, Barbuda is barely habitable."

He told the BBC that 50% of the Barbuda population were now homeless and that it would cost $100m (£80m) to rebuild the island.

However, Antigua, with a population of 80,000, escaped major damage, with no loss of life, he said earlier.

St Martin, an island that comprises the French territory of Saint-Martin and the Dutch section Sint-Maarten, suffered terrible damage.

French officials have confirmed at least four deaths in Saint-Martin, down from an earlier reported death toll of eight.

"It's an enormous catastrophe - 95% of the island is destroyed," top local official Daniel Gibbs said of Saint-Martin.

Sint-Maarten's airport, the third largest in the Caribbean, has been seriously damaged.

The Dutch defence ministry said: "The picture is of many uprooted trees, houses without roofs and pleasure boats on land."

The Dutch navy has sent two ships from nearby Aruba and Curacao to assist locals but they have had trouble docking, according to media in the Netherlands.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: "The island is not reachable at this point because of the huge damage to the airport and the harbour."

Hurricane Irma: All you need to know

How fierce was Irma compared to other storms?

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said efforts were under way to get supplies to Saint-Martin and Saint Barthélemy.

"There is massive destruction. We'll concentrate our first efforts so that in the next hours people can get access to food and drinking water," he told reporters.

At least three people had died in Puerto Rico, the governor's office said.

The US territory's capital, San Juan, saw waves of up to 30ft. More than 6,000 residents are in shelters, and many more are without power.

Where else has been hit?

British overseas territories Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands were also caught in the extreme weather.

At least one death has been reported on Anguilla, a local official confirmed.

One Anguilla resident told the BBC the island looked as if it had been struck by a nuclear bomb, with roofs torn off many of the main buildings, including the hospital.

Some residents complained that the UK response was inadequate.

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the UK had already positioned a landing ship, RFA Mounts Bay, in the disaster zone and its personnel were helping local authorities restore water and sanitation, supply shelter to those made homeless, and offer medical assistance if required.

Sir Michael said he had now ordered the deployment of a task group to the region and a second vessel, the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, was being sent.

"Government is working together to support those affected by some of the strongest storms ever seen," he said in a statement. "We know people need help, we have prepared for this and we are putting those plans into action."

En route to the US

US President Donald Trump said he and his aides were monitoring Irma's progress. "But it looks like it could be something that will be not good," he told reporters at the White House. "Believe me, not good."

Projections suggest it could hit the state of Florida on Sunday.

Hurricane Irma: A visual guide

How do you calculate the cost of a hurricane?

Officials started evacuations of tourists and residents of Florida Keys, a resort archipelago.

Flights to and from several airports in Florida were being suspended, while Orlando's international airport said that commercial flights would stop from 17:00 local time on Saturday.

A state of emergency had been declared for Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, mobilising federal disaster relief efforts.

Islands still at risk from Irma
Dominican Republic

Population: 10.2 million

Key facts: major tourist destination, shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti

Hurricane prediction: Irma expected to pass close by

Haiti

Population: 10.2 million

Key facts: on the same island as the Dominican Republic; devastated by an earthquake in 2010

Hurricane prediction: not directly in the hurricane's path, but remains on alert

Turks and Caicos

Population: 31,500

Key facts: enjoys one of the more dynamic economies in the region thanks to upmarket tourism, offshore finance and fishing

Hurricane prediction: the low-lying region is at risk of a storm surge with destructive waves up to 6m (20ft) higher than usual possible

Cuba

Population: 11 million

Key facts: one of the world's last planned economies; a producer of sugar, tobacco and coffee, with a big tourism industry

Hurricane prediction: Tropical storm conditions expected to begin on Thursday night (local time)

Bahamas

Population: 350,000

Key facts: an archipelago of more than 700 islands and islets, which attracts millions of tourists per year

Hurricane prediction: warnings for north-west, south-east and centre; some areas have risk of storm surge of up to 6m (20ft)

Are there more hurricanes to come?

Another storm, Jose, further out in the Atlantic behind Irma, swelled to category one hurricane strength and could be near major hurricane strength on Friday, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

Forecasters say Jose is expected to pass close to the Leeward islands, a collective name for islands from Dominica to Puerto Rico. Its exact path is as yet unclear but winds are not expected to be as strong. However, it may hit areas already devastated by Irma.

Storm Katia, in the Gulf of Mexico, was also upgraded to hurricane status, and a warning was in effect for the coast of the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Seeing multiple storms developing in the same area of the Atlantic in close succession is not uncommon at this time of year. Rarer though is the strength of the hurricanes.

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in the US as a category four less than two weeks ago. Irma is expected to be at least category four when it arrives in the US.

There have never been two category four storms making landfall on the US mainland within the same season, since records began.
Are you in the region? Are you a holidaymaker unable to get a flight home or a resident who has been preparing for Hurricane Irma? If it is safe for you to do so, share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk .
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Hurricane Irma has caused widespread destruction across the Caribbean, reducing buildings to rubble and leaving at least nine people dead. The small island of Barbuda is said to be "barely habitable". Officials warn that St Martin is almost destroyed, and the death toll is likely to rise.

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The US city of Houston has declared a night-time curfew as it battles the impact of Hurricane Harvey.

The storm has dumped record rainfall, leaving large parts of the city underwater, homes destroyed and at least 15 people reported dead.

Houston mayor Sylvester Turner said the curfew was needed to head off looting in America's fourth biggest city.

President Donald Trump visited Texas on Tuesday to survey the damage brought by Harvey, calling the storm "epic".

What is it like to be in Houston?

Unprecedented rainfall in pictures

Four key effects of Houston floods

Why was Houston not evacuated?

The curfew will run from 00:00-05:00 local time (05:00-10:00 GMT) for an indefinite period. Relief volunteers, first responders, and those going to and from work are exempt.

Mr Turner said the curfew would help prevent "property crimes" against evacuated homes, and was in force "only to prevent potential criminal acts".

City officials have reported instances of looting, armed robberies and of people impersonating police officers.

Thousands of people have fled their homes in search of emergency shelter amid severe flooding.

President Trump earlier arrived in Corpus Christi, where Hurricane Harvey first made landfall on Friday, with First Lady Melania Trump.

After landing in Texas, Mr Trump said he wanted the relief effort to stand as an example of how to respond to a storm. "We want to do it better than ever before," he said.

"This storm, it's epic what happened. But you know what, it happened in Texas and Texas can handle anything."

He will not be visiting Houston. The White House said he did not want his visit to disrupt the emergency response.

The rainfall in Texas set a new record for the continental US, the National Weather Service said on Tuesday. A rain gauge in Cedar Bayou recorded 51.88 inches (132 cm) of rain since Friday.

In other developments:

A Houston police officer died after he became trapped in flood waters whilst trying to get to work, the city police chief said

Officials in Harris County said 3,000 homes had been flooded by water spilling from the Addicks and Barker dams, according to Reuters

Some bridges and roads are said to be buckling under the stress

A levee at Columbia Lakes in Brazoria County, south of Houston, was breached, with authorities tweeting: "Get out now!"

A 1.5 mile (2.4km) radius around a chemical plant at Crosby was evacuated due to the possibility of a fire or explosion.

Mr Trump has already declared a federal state of emergency in both Texas and nearby Louisiana, where Harvey is expected to make landfall again on Wednesday morning.

The move releases emergency government funding and other assistance.

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The massive economic cost of the flood

Hurricane Harvey: The climate link

Harvey was the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years when it made landfall on Friday near Corpus Christi, 220 miles (354km) south-west of Houston.

It was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, but is expected to continue dumping huge amounts of rain in the coming days over already flood-hit areas.

Residents of the Louisiana city of New Orleans, which marked the 12th anniversary of devastating Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday, are bracing for heavy rain and flash floods over the next two days.
Are you affected by Tropical Storm Harvey? Let us know about your experiences. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.
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Houston floods: Night curfew bid to stop robbery and looting - BBC News

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The US city of Houston has declared a night-time curfew as it battles the impact of Hurricane Harvey. The storm has dumped record rainfall, leaving large parts of the city underwater, homes destroyed and at least 15 people reported dead. Houston mayor Sylvester Turner said the curfew was needed to head off looting in America's fourth biggest city.

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Storm Harvey: Houston battles 'unprecedented' floods

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Storm Harvey: Houston battles 'unprecedented' floods

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The US city of Houston is in the grip of the biggest storm in the history of the state of Texas, officials say.

A record 30in of rain (75cm) has fallen on the city in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, turning roads into rivers.

The area is expected to have received a year's rainfall within a week. Five people are reported dead. Helicopters have plucked victims from rooftops.

With rescue services overstretched as the rain continues, many people are having to fend for themselves.

Harvey made landfall as a category-four hurricane late on Friday. It was later downgraded to a tropical storm.

Up to 2,000 people have been rescued in and around Houston, the fourth-largest city in the US, where about 6.6m people live in the metropolitan area.

In Washington, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) said it was committed to assisting in the rescue effort.

Images of 'landmark' flooding

Storm victims urged to call not tweet

In Rockport: Too poor to flee the hurricane

Fema administrator Brock Long said providing shelter to 30,000 people in need was "going to be a very heavy lift". He added that the agency was also working to restore power and critical infrastructure.

Thousands of homes are without electricity. Many schools are closed - as are the two main airports, with runways completely flooded.

An inundated care home in Dickinson, about 30 miles (50 km) south east of the city, has now been evacuated by helicopter after an image of several elderly women sitting in a lounge in waist-deep water went viral on social media.
Are you affected by Tropical Storm Harvey? Let us know about your experiences. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.
A city in crisis - James Cook, BBC News, Houston

Entire suburbs are under water, shops and businesses are shut and, with the motorways around the city cut off and both airports closed, travel is all but impossible.

A marooned hospital has been evacuated while, above the city, engineers are starting an emergency release of water from two bulging dams.

They are warning families who live beside one of the dams to prepare for flooding within hours.

Some residents have been critical of the preparations for this storm, which intensified rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico last week.

In at least one neighbourhood facing severe flooding, people are angry that they were told to stay put only to realise, as night fell, that the waters were rising fast and they could not get out.

The authorities are being stretched to breaking point. It is difficult to see how they could accommodate President Donald Trump, who plans to visit Texas on Tuesday.

If he does decide to travel here, he will find a powerful oil city on its knees.

Is flooding showing signs of easing?

No. As the storm continues to batter south-eastern Texas, swelling rivers are causing a surge that is heading for Houston.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told residents: "Don't get on the road. Don't assume this storm is over."

Tens of thousands of people have been were ordered to leave parts of Fort Bend County, about 35 miles (55 km) south-west of Houston, where a river is set to crest this week.

Houston authorities, however, have not issued a mass evacuation order.

Why not?

Mayor Turner on Sunday defended the decision by citing the "crazy" logistics of planning an evacuation of 2.3 million people.

He cited the chaos Houston experienced when residents were evacuated ahead of Hurricane Rita in September 2005. People were stuck for more than 20 hours on gridlocked road, resulting in dozens of deaths.

Rita, which had been predicted to hit Houston, passed well east of the city.

Observers also recalled the disastrous evacuation ahead of Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans in August that year. Thousands of people spent days in squalid conditions and limited water at that city's stadium.

What are the economic consequences from Harvey?

The Texas Gulf Coast is a key centre of the US oil and gas industry, and some of the largest refineries in the country have halted operations.

This has raised concerns about fuel shortages and higher prices at the pump.

The wider economic damage from Harvey is being assessed.
Are you affected by Tropical Storm Harvey? Let us know about your experiences. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.
Insurance experts quoted by Reuters news agency say it could equal the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Katrina - reportedly the most expensive natural disaster in US history.

Katrina caused about $15bn (£11.6bn) of flood damage in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi.

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The US city of Houston is in the grip of the biggest storm in the history of the state of Texas, officials say. A record 30in of rain (75cm) has fallen on the city in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, turning roads into rivers.

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Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Florida Keys, and leaves at least 3 dead and over 1 million people without power in the state

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Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Florida Keys, and leaves at least 3 dead and over 1 million people without power in the state

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Hurrican Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys this morning as powerful winds and rain pummeled the state, leaving at least three people dead and over 1 million households and businesses without power.

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Hurricane Irma is set to make landfall in the Florida Keys on Sunday morning as powerful winds and rain pummel the area, leaving at least three people dead in the state.

As of 8 a.m. the storm's eye was 20 miles east southeast of Key West, Florida, and 110 miles south of Naples.

As Florida braces for the worst of the powerful Category 4 storm's impact, at least three deaths were reported in the state.

A man in Monroe County, which encompasses Key West, was killed after he lost control of a truck that carried a generator as winds whipped at tropical-storm strength, local officials said.

Wilfredo Lee/AP

Two other people died in a car crash in the rain in Hardee County, Florida, which is about 60 miles inland from Sarasota, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The death toll from the hurricane in the Caribbean meanwhile has risen to 22, bringing the total number in Irma's path who have died to at least 25.

Carlos Barria/Reuters

ABC News' Daniel Manzo contributed to this report.

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Hurricane Irma close to landfall in Florida Keys, at least 3 dead in the state

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Hurricane Irma is set to make landfall in the Florida Keys on Sunday morning as powerful winds and rain pummel the area, leaving at least three people dead in the state. As of 8 a.m. the storm's eye was 20 miles east southeast of Key West, Florida, and 110 miles south of Naples.