Hello ! Englisholic members !
This week we will talk about two topics as follows.
- Climate change & it's impacts to our lives
- Spreading of Ebola virus & world's response to it.
Enjoy your discussion with your table members.
With luv
Scarlett
Greenhouse gas levels reaches 800,000-year high
Picture Source : http://www.koreaherald.com
<Questions>
Q1. What do you know about Greenhouse gases? Can you tell where those green house gases
are coming from?
(There are 6 representative greenhouse gases such as CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6.)
Q2. Nowadays, we have exprienced abnormal climate change effects. For example, shorter spring
or autumn periods, milder summer temperature compare to the past and etc. How do you feel
about this ? What could be the advantages and disadvantages for those phenomena?
Q3. Do you think what could come next? According to some researches, changes of weather could
cause more serious troubles according to environmental transitions toward different phases.
For example, due to the melting iceberg, harmful viruses or other kinds of organisms can be
released. How do you think about it? Do we have to prepare countermeasures for this occassion?
Africa urges quicker Ebola response
Picture Source : http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20141015001191
Evola Cycle
Picture Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease
Doctors Volunteering To Help Ebola Crisis, But It May Be Too Late, Experts Say
After months of seeing almost no qualified doctors volunteer to help treat infected Ebola victims in West Africa, physicians are now signing up in droves, but it may be too late, experts say.
The outbreak, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives, was deemed an "unprecedented epidemic" back in March, but critical health care workers didn’t heed the call, which was a major reason why the virus couldn’t be contained. While physicians are now stepping up in a bolstering way, experts say there will be a considerable delay before these volunteers can make a noticeable difference.
"As a result [of the delay] thousands of people will die," Dr. Joanne Liu, president of Doctors Without Borders, told The New York Times. "I can’t say the exact figure because we don’t know how many unreported cases there are. But thousands for sure."
The virus could eventually infect as many as 20,000 people, according to the World Health Organization.
But enough physicians have come forward that Doctors Without Borders, the nonprofit that has been leading the charge in combating the outbreak, recently announced that it no longer needs any more volunteers. The news came on the heels of a troubling statement Liu made earlier this month when she said that the organization was "overwhelmed" and "at a loss" as to how it was supposed to shoulder so much of the responsibility in addressing the crisis.
The group now has 239 international volunteers and operates six facilities in three countries, according to The Times.
Still, it will take a considerable amount of time before these doctors can hit the ground running.
Volunteers first have to get permission to take six weeks off, secure visas and undergo specialized training.
In Liberia alone, which was the hardest-hit country, 40,000 community workers need to be trained, Reuters reported.
Besides the dearth in capable health care workers, the affected areas are also in dire need of more beds and medical supplies.
And while major donors have ramped up their efforts in recent weeks, advocates on the ground are desperate for more help.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently pledged $50 million, its largest donation to a humanitarian cause, to buy medical equipment and increase emergency operations. The World Bank donated $200 million and the United States is deploying 3,000 military personnel to build treatment centers and train local medics.
Another major holdup, though, is the fact that even hefty donations don’t stretch very far in this grave climate.
"You've probably heard the stories that are coming out of major donors that we'll build a hospital and we'll spend a million dollars but it will only be 25 beds," Christopher Dye, U.N. strategy chief, told Reuters. "Well, great, thanks guys for the help but we need more than 25 beds here. So let's take the 25 but how are we going to talk about not tens of beds but hundreds of beds which is what we're going to need."
Article source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/30/ebola-doctors-volunteers_n_5907620.html
Changes to Ebola Protection Worn by U.S. Hospital Workers
New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection call for head-to-toe protection for health workers treating Ebola patients.(Photo: Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY, SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Picture source : http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/20/cdc-new-protocol/17638161/
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new Ebola protection guidelines on Oct. 20, more than a week after two nurses in Dallas became infected with the virus while treating Thomas Eric Duncan. The recommendations are based on protocols used by Doctors Without Borders, which tends to Ebola patients in Africa. They also closely reflect procedures that were already in place at many hospitals in the United States, including those in the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System and the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha — one of four facilities in the country equipped to isolate patients with dangerous infectious diseases. UPDATED Oct. 22, 2014
Levels of Protective Gear
These protocols, some specified by the C.D.C., were in place at some hospitals when Mr. Duncan was being treated in Dallas.
Removing Protective Gear
Removing the suit is difficult, and many health officials have identified the process as a likely cause of infection. The four steps shown below are based on the C.D.C. guidelines that existed when Mr. Duncan was being treated in Dallas. The C.D.C.’s Oct. 20 update of its Ebola guidelines included a more detailed 20-plus-step process for taking off the suit.
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