Deepwater Horizon Oil spill has affected mental and physical health of children

On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig triggered what would become the largest marine oil spill in history. Before the well was finally capped 87 days later on July 15, an estimated 4 million barrels of oil had gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, harming ecosystems, contaminating shorelines, and strangling the fishing and tourism industries.

A study recently published in Environmental Hazards has found that the disaster was also harmful to the mental and physical health of children in the area. Led by Jaishree Beedasy from the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, the study found that Gulf Coast children who were exposed to the oil spill — either directly, through physical contact with oil, or indirectly through economic losses — had a significantly higher likelihood of experiencing physical and mental health problems compared to kids who were not exposed…

 

China raises flood alert levels along Huai River

China on Sunday raised the flood alert level in the Huai River region in the country’s east to Level II from Level III, the second highest on its four-tier scale, after days of torrential downpours and amid expectations of further heavy rainfall.

Ten reservoirs on the Huai River have seen water levels exceeding warning levels by as much as 6.85 metres, according to the Huaihe River Commission of China’s Ministry of Water Resources.

The 1,000km (620 mile) Huai River flows through major agriculture and manufacturing hubs in Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. Torrential rains have battered China for two weeks from Chongqing in the southwest to Shanghai on the east coast.

Several regions alongside the Yangtze River, including Wuhan city in Hubei province and in Jiangxi province, where China’s largest freshwater lake is located, declared the highest flood alerts…