Category: Health

Impact on Human Health Stressed

From Science Daily / October 4, 2016

Rising sea surface temperatures are causing marine-related tropical diseases and harmful algal blooms to spread towards the poles, a shift that is impacting human health, according to a chapter from a new report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) authored by professors from The University of Texas at Austin and Plymouth University.

The report, Explaining Ocean Warming: causes, scale, effects and consequences, was compiled for IUCN by 80 scientists in 12 countries and draws on several decades of scientific research from across the spectrum of marine science.

The chapter on “Impacts and effects of ocean warming on human health” highlights the spread of Vibrio vulnifucus, an often lethal disease-causing bacteria.

8 Restoration Options for Mission Bay Evaluated by More than 100 Community Members

Based on News Release from ReWild

On September 27th, ReWild Mission Bay – a project of San Diego Audubon and its partners – unveiled eight possible options to enhance and restore up to 170 acres of wetlands in the North East corner of Mission Bay.

Based on community suggestions from two public workshops earlier this year, the draft plans were presented to more than 135 community members to collect input. To view the potential alternatives, please click here.

The agenda for the Wednesday night’s OB Planning Board appears full, with reports and discussions on a number of popular issues – the Torrey Pines and the project at Ebers and Greene – as well as proposed project at 4768 Del Mar, plus it looks like at effort by the Board to reach out to the community during what’s being touted as “Archtoberfest”.

The Planning Board meets at the OB Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Avenue, at 6pm sharp, Wednesday, October 5th.

Torrey Pines and Canopies

Of great interest will be the Board’s review of questions submitted to the City by the Friends of Peninsula Trees, as well as an update to City policies regarding trees and its reforesting efforts.

By Michael Steinberg / Black Rain Press

Nuclear Shutdown News chronicles the decline and fall of the nuclear power industry in the US and abroad, and highlights the efforts of those who are working to create a nuclear free world. Here is our September 2016 edition:

Activists protest Diablo Canyon shutdown chicanery.

On September 19 the San Diego Union-Tribune ran this story: “Protests filed over the details of proposed Diablo Canyon Shutdown.”

“It’s been less that three months since (San Francisco-based) Pacific Gas & Electric, along with an assortment of groups, including environmental groups, announced its interest in shutting down the last remaining nuclear plant in California–Diablo Canyon.”

It’s shutdown date is set for 2025. The Union-Tribune story appeared just after the deadline for filing protests to PG&E’s shutdown proposal had passed.

Update on the OB Torrey Pine Trees

By Kris Schlech

Efforts to protect the remaining Torrey pine trees in Ocean Beach have moved forward. Eight trees, six of which are located along Saratoga Avenue, have been identified and submitted to the City’s Community Forest Advisory Board (CFAB) for nomination into the City’s Heritage Tree Program. Once these trees are evaluated and deemed eligible, they will be afforded additional protection in several ways.

Each tree will be assessed and evaluated in terms of overall health, and a monetary value will be determined. The monetary value is important as it is used to assess penalties, at a 3:1 ratio, for any damages or unnecessary death of the tree. For example, a large Torrey pine in Mission Beach was recently nominated and was estimated to have a value in the 5-figure range, so potential penalties for damage are significant.

By Christina Beck / Christian Science Monitor / Sept. 21, 2016

In a near victory for California sea otters, biologists are cautiously optimistic about the future of the state’s southern sea otter population after the annual otter census counted more than 3,000 individuals this year.

Although otter population growth has delighted scientists, however, there are also worrying signs that the population range is contracting, a factor that can restrict long term recovery.

“The population index has exceeded 3,090 for the first time, and that’s encouraging,” said US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) southern sea otter recovery coordinator Lilian Carswell, “but sustained population growth will require range expansion.”

While 3,090 may seem like an odd number, it is a significant one for biologists, …

By Michael Steinberg

This past summer, while perusing library shelves 3000 miles from OB, I came upon actress Mary Louise Parker’s 2015 reminiscence, Dear Mr. You, wherein she recounts relationships with some of the men in her life.

As I glanced down the table of contents, one name jumped out and set off a set off a tsunami of flashbacks.

The year was 1984, the place Ocean Beach People’s Food Co-op, aka OB Peoples or just Peoples.

by David Helvarg /Ocean Views / August 30, 2016

In response to a letter sent by 115 Ocean Leaders to the leading presidential candidates Secretary Clinton has released a two-page response on what she will do to protect our coast and ocean if elected. With just over two months until the vote, this marks the first time in the campaign where a major candidate has addressed the daunting issues confronting America’s public seas.

“As President of the Untied States, I will work to redouble national efforts to boost the “blue economy,” creating jobs and opportunity in industries that restore and protect the health and vitality of our oceans,” she writes.

By Karen Kaplan / LA Times / Sept. 13, 2016

The more that vaping takes hold in England, the better the odds that smokers there will succeed in their attempts to stop using regular cigarettes.

These parallel trends, reported Wednesday in the BMJ medical journal, don’t prove that electronic cigarettes help smokers kick the habit. But that possibility is looking more and more likely, experts said.

Smoking prevalence in the United Kingdom fell significantly from 2014 to 2015, and that’s a sign that something over there is working, …

The bacteria on your skin is safer than these two chemicals the FDA just banned from your soap.

By Jill Richardson / OtherWords

Some people love to hate government regulations. Many believe they’re just bureaucratic barriers that waste our time. But the Food and Drug Administration just passed a new regulation that’ll actually protect us, and may save you a few bucks and an unnecessary purchase at the store.

If you’re one of the millions of Americans who buys antibacterial soaps, you’ve been, at a minimum, duped. But more importantly, you’ve been exposed to harmful chemicals. Antibacterial soaps sound good.

Proposition 64 Enjoys Wide Support Among Most Voter Categories

A new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found that a good majority of California voters support marijuana legalization and back Proposition 64.

58% of voters in the state support Prop 64, which would allow Californians ages 21 or older to possess, transport and use up to an ounce of cannabis for recreational purposes, and would allow individuals to grow as many as six plants. The measure would also impose a 15% tax on retail sales of the drug.

And according to the poll, the favorable attitude toward grass cuts across most lines of age, race, income and gender.

By Melody Gutierrez / SFGate / September 12, 2016

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Monday that will give farmworkers in California overtime after an eight-hour day, a move advocates say will right a decades-old injustice.

The bill, AB1066 by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, will give the people who work in California’s farm fields the same overtime rights that other workers were granted under federal law during the Great Depression. Gonzalez called it a “historic day” that was long overdue. “These workers are doing backbreaking work so that we can eat,” Gonzalez said. “The fact is, they are not treated fairly under the law and that’s wrong. This is a 78-year-old wrong, and there is nothing better than fixing that.”

The agriculture industry, business groups and Republican lawmakers said the bill will hurt farmers …