Environmental Research Letters
Microplastic debris floating at the ocean surface can harm marine life. Understanding the severity of this harm requires knowledge of plastic abundance and distributions. Dozens of expeditions measuring microplastics have been carried out since the 1970s, but they ha...ve primarily focused on the North Atlantic and North Pacific accumulation zones, with much sparser coverage elsewhere. Here, we use the largest dataset of microplastic measurements assembled to date to assess the confidence we can have in global estimates of microplastic abundance and mass. We use a rigorous statistical framework to standardize a global dataset of plastic marine debris measured using surface-trawling plankton nets and coupled this with three different ocean circulation models to spatially interpolate the observations. Our estimates show that the accumulated number of microplastic particles in 2014 ranges from 15 to 51 trillion particles, weighing between 93 and 236 thousand metric tons, which is only approximately 1% of global plastic waste estimated to enter the ocean in the year 2010. These estimates are larger than previous global estimates, but vary widely because the scarcity of data in most of the world ocean, differences in model formulations, and fundamental knowledge gaps in the sources, transformations and fates of microplastics in the ocean.
more
Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, a country known as the 'breadbasket of Europe', is raising fears of a
global food crisis, further exacerbating existing food security challenges worldwide. Much depends on the
response of the international community, including the EU, to a number of rapidly... evolving scenarios.
more
The school and a community teaching modules are aimed at preventing vector-borne diseases through community participation. Meanwhile, the interactive toolkit is meant to be help raise awareness on health, sanitation and vector control. These materials will help volunteers and practitioners foster di...alogue with communities and ensure that prevention is seen as the primary way of combatting vector-borne diseases
more
The Indonesian government has reformed its laws, policies, and institutions to better manage disaster risk since the significant 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The Government of Indonesia now has contingency plans for every disaster-prone city which identifies its vulnerabilities, outlines the relief re...sponse, and builds overall preparedness. In 2007, the government introduced a disaster management bill that incorporated disaster management prevention into disaster management response. In 2008, Indonesia created the National Disaster Management Agency (Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana, BNPB). The new shift led to the strengthening of the country’s disaster management agency, and the addition of district branches and representatives. Despite the progress made, more work is needed at the local level as well as integration of disaster risk reduction in government departments.11 Under Indonesia’s 2007 Disaster Management law, provincial and district administrations are mandated to head disaster management during a crisis.
more
Recently, Sri Lanka has been impacted by multiple natural disasters. Sri Lanka experienced a landslide in October 2014, and flooding in December 2014.8 Sri Lanka withstood the worst drought conditions witnessed in four decades in 2016; the extreme drought conditions extended into 2017 and produced s...ubstantial economic and social effects. The drought was responsible for an increase in national poverty levels, due to reduced cultivation income, especially for rural farmers. ... In May 2017, Sri Lanka experienced continuous rains causing flash floods and extreme devastation. However, despite natural disasters and challenges posed by a complex political environment, Sri Lanka’s financial performance remained largely satisfactory in the first half of 2017.
more
The English terminology, and its translations into Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish, are available on the UNISDR website at: www.unisdr.org/publications and on PreventionWeb at: www.preventionweb.net
This document outlines PAHO’s regional priorities for the year 2023 to sustain and scale up health emergency and humanitarian assistance in the Americas, with a focus on five priority countries currently facing a prolonged humanitarian crisis and recovering from recent acute emergencies: Colombia,... El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). These goals align with and build on the World Health Organization’s Global Health Emergency Appeal for 2023, its principles, priorities, and strategies.
more
The need for a roadmap for risk assessment stemmed from the lack of standardised and systematic effort to national risk assessment effort to date. The road map details the process, activities necessary for each step and the availability and accessibility of technical and financial resources, and coo...rdination mechanisms for the implementation f a national risk assessment.
more
Aligned to the Lancet Migration Global Statement to include migrants and refugees incountries’response to COVID-19, this update focuses on Mexico’s challenges and opportunities to build an inclusive response that is based on a contextualized adaptation of there commendations published by th...e Lancet Migration. A critical component for this analysis is the recognition of migration as a social determinant of health, which acts as a major risk factor for populations subjected to violence, trauma and forced exile while in the face of a global pandemic.
more
Interconnected Disaster Risks is a new science-based report for the general public from United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security. It was first published in 2021, and is set to become an annual report.
This paper is motivated by the global spread of the coronavirus referred to as COVID-19 and its efect on Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has alluded to the COVID-19 not only afecting the global health but also trade and tourism, commodity prices, and fnanci...al conditions that calls for an additional policy response to support demand and ensure an adequate supply of credit
more
Fostering resilient development through integrated action plan
The Myanmar Action Plan on Disaster Risk Reduction, 2017 is a comprehensive and unified action plan for disaster risk reduction with prioritized interventions across Myanmar till 2020. With a long term vision and considering deep-root...ed underlying drivers of disaster risk, it has set an overall target for 2030. it aims to provide a base for mobilizing and leveraging, primarily, national and external resources and will provide a basis for result printed outcomes.
The action plan identifies 32 priority actions under four pillars: risk information and awareness; risk governance; risk mitigation; and preparedness and response, rehabilitation and reconstruction. For each priority action, objectives, activities, outputs, duration, lead agencies, and supporting partners have been identified.
more
Cambodia drafted and adopted the National Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction 2014-2018 in 2014. This plan finalized the required policies and legal processes to strengthen DRM in Cambodia. It also focused on capacity building at national and sub-national levels and provided dedicated resources ...for strengthening the NCDM and the Sub-National Committees for Disaster Management. Cambodia’s legislature then passed the Law on Disaster Management in June 2015. This legal framework for disaster management assigns legally binding roles and responsibilities, establishes institutions, and assists with the allocation of resources and coordination. NCDM is Cambodia’s lead government agency for emergency preparedness and relief. The NCDM provides the overall leadership of the Plan of Action for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) coordination in Cambodia. Cambodia has adopted the Cambodia Red Cross (CRC) as the primary partner for relief operations.
more