The Stream, October 30: Sandy’s Storm Surges

Notable News from Hurricane Sandy
The New York Times has created an interactive dashboard for Tracking the Storm to provide comprehensive coverage of the effects of and responses to the storm. There is also a state-by-state guide to follow for more coverage.

The nation’s oldest working nuclear power plant, Exelon Corp’s Oyster Creek Facility in New Jersey, has been put on alert due to storm surge water rise, according to Businessweek. As Forbes points out, Oyster Creek was already scheduled to shut down before the storm hit, stating that “there is no special issue or peculiar risk here.”

Before landfall in the United States when Sandy became a Storm, Hurricane Sandy hit a number of Caribbean islands including Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica. The Guardian reported yesterday that at least 69 people have died in six countries, as homes, crops, and infrastructure became engulfed by water. As Reuters reports, the storm caused significant crop damage in Haiti and has raised the risks of cholera and public health issues there.

Report: Atlas of Climate Change and Health
The United Nations World Health Organization and the World Meteorological Organization released the Atlas of Climate and Health on Monday. The Atlas reviews areas of infections, emergencies, and emerging environmental challenges.

Plastic in the U.S. Great Lakes
A new report from the State University of New York is the first of its kind to examine plastic pollution concentration in the Great Lakes, reported the Great Lakes Echo. The study, conducted with the Los Angeles-based 5 Gyres Institute, examined samples from lakes Erie, Huron, and Superior. Samples revealed that plastic particles in the lakes were smaller than expected and some reflected plastic concentrations higher than anywhere else in the world.

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