News roundup for Fri, Aug 05, 2022

In short:

• The US declared monkeypox a public health emergency.
• The source of the river Thames is almost dry.
• Coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef is at its highest in 36 years.

August is FEMA’s Back to School – Children & Youth Preparedness

Here’s FEMA’s Ready Kids page. It has different resources for kids, teens, families, and educators. It has games that teach preparedness for kids, as well as a decent Disaster Preparedness Activity Book which can be ordered for free or downloaded. Resources for families include tips to help children cope with a disaster.

Here’s a bunch of resources across TP re: prepping and kids:

• Gamifying preparedness for children, How we can teach children and youth prepping skills, and Fun ways to teach kids outdoor/survival skills.
• What to say to kids instead of “be careful!”
• Relevant to the above, when we researched the How to survive kidnapping guide, we found that teaching kids to “don’t go with anyone unless you have permission from mommy/daddy” is way better than teaching them to don’t go with anyone they don’t know. The guide also has info about parental kidnapping. One last tip from the guide: You don’t have to wait 24 hours to report a child missing!
• Adapting BOBs for family use and Personal first aid kits for families. And the relevant I’m a professional prepper, and here’s a look inside my go-bag, which includes how the author’s family of five pack their bags differently.
• How to communicate with out of town family during a grid down situation?
• There have already been 13 child death from hot cars this year in the US alone. Learn the dangers of leaving people and pets in hot cars.
• Thinking about home-schooling this fall? The time to prepare is now. The time to prepare for homeschooling is obviously not just before school starts, but if you are thinking about homeschooling in the future, this could be a good starting point.
• Prepping with special needs kids.
• Staying entertained during a power outage.
• Masking little kids.

Some other relevant stuff from around the web:

• 5 of the biggest threats today’s K-12 students and educators face don’t involve guns
• America faces a catastrophic teacher shortage
• Kids are back in classrooms and laptops are still spying on them
• Back-to-school, back to outbreaks. In some places, providers say childhood immunization rates are too low to prevent outbreaks of diseases like measles.
• Millions of school-age children in the US are still unvaccinated against Covid as many prepare for a return to school.
• Long Covid can affect children of all ages, including infants, study shows
• Opinion: What petrifies me about sending my kids to school this year
• The 16 vaccines routinely given to American children — and how long immunity lasts for each, including tips on localizing immunization records and the very handy table below:

The US declared monkeypox a public emergency

The US declared monkeypox a public health emergency (PHE). Federal health officials can now expedite preventative measures to treat monkeypox without going through a full federal review and improving access to vaccines, among other things.

There is first compelling evidence that the virus is found in semen. And one study so far confirmed asymptomatic modes of transmission. But prolonged and close contact is still considered the main transmission mode. Read more about monkeypox modes of transmission (including fomites and aerosols) here.

A fifth child tested positive for monkeypox in the US: Here’s what parents should know.

Economy, food security, supply chain

Inflation is spiking around the world – not just in the United States:

Gen Z’s food insecurity is much higher than for other age groups. A third of Gen Z adults were food insecure in the first half of 2022:

The first Ukraine grain ship passed inspection in Istanbul and is now headed to Lebanon:

Extreme heat could cause Spain’s olive harvest to be “the worst in years.“ Spain supplies half of the world’s olive oil.

Australia is experiencing an investment boom due to an insatiable demand for lithium. About half of the world’s lithium comes from Australia.

US legislators are exploring ways to support beginning farmers. Leaders are looking for ways to encourage younger generations to take over as more American farmers retire.

Climate change, environment, extreme weather

NOAA updated its hurricane forecast and still predicts an ‘above normal’ season. NOAA forecasters have slightly decreased the likelihood of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season from 65% to 60%:

The river Thames source is dry, with only a weak flow discernible more than 5 miles downstream. That’s the first time it’s happened. Water companies are under scrutiny because they are not implementing water bans. According to those involved in drought discussions, companies prefer to wait until the last minute to impose bans rather than irritate their customers. To make things worst, a desalination plant built 12 years ago won’t be up and running until next year. The plant was supposed to supply up to 1 million people during emergencies, but the company downgraded the estimate by a third. The heatwave is expected to last through next week, with no rain in sight and temps in the mid-30s (86F).

Parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef show the highest coral cover in 36 years! Just as Australia passed a greenhouse gas bill aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 43% from 2005 levels by 2030.

Appalachia’s risk of deadly floods keeps rising for three reasons: a warming climate, unique topography, and the legacy of coal mining.

Here’s what eight cities across the world are doing to cope with extreme heat. And here’s a nice report about America’s only dedicated heat team (in America’s hottest city, Phoenix, AZ).

And here are life hacks from India on how to stay cool without the AC:

The rest

China fired test missiles toward Taiwan. In response to Nancy Pelosi’s visit, China conducted “precision missile strikes” in waters off Taiwan’s coasts as part of military exercises. Five missiles fired by China landed off Hateruma, an island south of Japan’s main islands, in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Japan’s Defence Minister said the missile landings seriously threaten Japan’s national security and citizens’ safety:

FEMA warns that emergency alert systems could be hacked to transmit fake messages if the software is not updated. It’s not clear how many emergency alert systems are vulnerable. FEMA asked the FCC for an estimate, but they didn’t respond right away.

Watch a drone saving a boy from drowning: