Month: February 2019

Source: MIL-OSI Submissions

Source: University of Canterbury (UC)

A University of Canterbury-led study of the crabeater seal population in Antarctica aims to understand potential environmental and social impacts on one of the southern-most mammals in the world, and democratise science.

University of Canterbury (UC) Gateway Antarctica researcher and lecturer Dr Michelle LaRue is using high-resolution satellite imagery and volunteers from around the world to analyse crabeater seal populations across the Weddell Sea – one of Earth’s last wildernesses.

This research could support the establishment of a large no-take marine protected area (MPA) in the Weddell Sea, that would protect critical foraging and breeding grounds and help this vital ecosystem build resilience to the effects of climate change.

“The exciting aspect for me is that people can be directly involved with my research,” says Dr LaRue. “Anyone in the world with an internet connection can do research alongside me by reviewing the satellite images and simply telling me what they see.”

With funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Protecting Antarctica’s Southern Ocean Campaign, Dr LaRue hopes the results will help shine a light on how crabeater seal populations may fare in the face of environmental changes. These results will help relevant policymakers, industry experts, and non-governmental organisations use scientific findings to protect the biodiversity of this unique habitat.

While this specific initiative is focused on crabeater seals, Dr LaRue also studies populations of other Southern Ocean predators, including Weddell seals, Adélie and emperor penguins, on a continental scale using high-resolution satellite imagery provided by DigitalGlobe, Inc.

“These species are facing substantial conservation challenges in our changing physical and social environments. Analysing population dynamics can help us understand how these animals are dealing with these environmental changes, and how the overall populations are being effected,” explains Dr LaRue.

This is not the first time Dr LaRue has called upon citizen scientists. In fact, the UC scientist has previously worked withTomnod, a digital platform that recruits online volunteers to identify important objects and explore interesting places around the world using satellite imagery.

From tracking damage caused by Hurricane Maria in Dominica and Puerto Rico, to scouring land consumed by wildfires, Dr LaRue is using people’s fascination with science and nature to solve global problems.

“What I love about this research is there are several impacts: democratising science, engaging people with the scientific method, and empowering people to make a difference in the world.”

By involving the public, Dr LaRue wants to make science more accessible and approachable to those outside of academia.

In 2016, approximately 330,000 online volunteers assisted her with counting Weddell seals in Antarctica. Dr LaRue is expecting similar engagement with this project.

The benefits of this study will reach far beyond the public. In October, delegations from 24 countries and the European Union will meet for the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), to discuss conservation of the Southern Ocean. Dr LaRue’s research will be taken into consideration as delegations decide whether to designate the Weddell Sea as a MPA, which would protect critical habitat for crabeater seals, and other species who thrive in the region.

A Weddell Sea MPA designation would contribute to a commitment CCAMLR made to create a full network of large-scale MPAs through the Southern Ocean, and serve as a major contribution towards the international conservation goal of safeguarding at least 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030.

You can help find crabeater seals

Dr LaRue is recruiting online volunteers to spot crabeater seals around Antarctica. In true democratic fashion, anyone interested is welcome to contribute. The only requirements are that you have a computer, internet access, and review the brief instructional guide provided on the website.

If you are interested in joining her team of citizen scientists, visit www.tomnod.com  for more information.

MIL OSI

Source: MIL-OSI Submissions

Source: Auckland Regional Public Health Service 

Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) has been notified of a case of measles and is asking people who may have come in contact with that person to watch out for symptoms.
The person attended Clendon Medical Centre on three occasions on the 19th, 20th and 21st of February, and was assessed at Middlemore emergency department on the 21st around 5.00pm.
ARPHS will be contacting all patients who were at the medical centre or Middlemore Hospital who may have been exposed.
Medical Officer of Health Dr Jay Harrower says possible exposure is limited to these two locations at this stage. While the case caught the illness overseas, they were not infectious on the flight into New Zealand and have not been in any other public places.
“We will be contacting people who have been in the proximity of the case, but asking anyone who has been in these two locations on these days to be aware of the symptoms. They should phone their doctor or call Healthline on 0800 611-116 for advice.
“If you feel unwell, please don’t just turn up. It is important to call first, because measles is highly infectious and you could infect others in the waiting room,” Dr Harrower says.
“This case is not linked to the measles cases in Otago and Canterbury this month. Auckland has a large number of travellers and low coverage of measles mumps and rubella vaccination (MMR) in some communities, so it is inevitable we’ll see some measles cases this year.
“There are measles outbreaks all over the world at present. Close to home, an outbreak in the Philippines has a death toll of 70. There are also outbreaks across Europe and North America,” Dr Harrower says.
The Ministry is advising anyone travelling overseas to be up to date with their MMR vaccinations. In particular, the Ministry recommends that infants aged 6-15 months travelling to countries where there is a current measles outbreak be given MMR vaccine before they travel.
The best way to prevent measles is to be immunised on time, with two free MMR vaccinations for all children at 15 months and four years. Two doses of MMR vaccine is at least 97 percent effective in preventing measles.
“You can be immunised at any time if you have missed your two vaccinations, and it’s particularly important for adolescents, many of whom aren’t fully protected,” he says.
People born after 1969 who have had only one MMR dose are entitled to the second MMR dose free of charge. Practice nurse fees may apply.
“Measles is a serious illness. One in 10 people with measles need hospital treatment and the most serious cases can result in deafness or swelling of the brain.
“Measles is one of the most infectious airborne diseases and a person is contagious before the rash appears. It is very easily transmitted from one person to another, possibly by being in a room where an infected person has been,” Dr Harrower says.
Measles usually begins with a high fever, runny nose, cough and sore red eyes, followed by a rash starting behind the ears and spreading to the body a few days later. One in three people with measles will develop complications, such as ear infections, pneumonia, diarrhoea or rarely inflammation of the brain.
It usually takes 10 to 14 days for someone who has caught measles to start showing symptoms.
Dr Harrower says anyone who develops symptoms should keep away from their workplace and public places such as schools, child care, shopping centres or public transport and seek medical advice.
For more information or advice on measles, please call Healthline on 0800 611 116 or see the Auckland Regional Public Health Service website.

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Source: MIL-OSI Submissions

Source: Lasso Media

The interests of Kiwi consumers are not being looked after by today’s UTS decision from the Electricity Authority, says Electric Kiwi.

“This is another case of the EA looking for ways to do nothing,” says CEO Luke Blincoe.www.electrickiwi.co.nz

“The EA has a statutory objective to promote competition for the benefit of consumers – and that’s why independent power companies like Electric Kiwi we will continue to hold both the regulator and industry to account.

“Consumer interests are not well-served with this decision. We have already seen prices moving up since the event late last year with recent price increases from both Genesis and Mercury.”

Blincoe says the EA findings seem to be at odds with their own news release. “They reference the need to alter the rules which surely undermines their own findings.

“They’ve also referred certain trading behaviours to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, which is a very serious step and suggests a disparity in standards between the EA here and ASIC. Any ASIC investigation should be a major cause for concern for a listed company.”

About Electric Kiwi:

Electric Kiwi is an independent digital electricity company. Now the fastest-growing power company in NZ,Electric Kiwi puts the power in the hands of the consumer by making it easy to switch with no break fees or contracts. Electric Kiwi created the Hour of Power, which gives its customers an hour of free off-peak power every day. It takes only two minutes to sign up online. Electric Kiwi took on its first customers in December 2014 and has been audited and certified by the Electricity Authority (EA) as a reconciliation participant. Last year, it won theDeloitte Fast 50 award for the Fastest Growing Retail or Consumer Products Business, the Consumer NZ Energy Retailer of the Year title at the Deloitte Energy Excellence Awards and picked up a People’s Choice Award from Consumer NZ. Previously, Canstar Blue awarded Electric Kiwi the “2017 Most Satisfied Customers Award – Electricity Providers”.

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Source: MIL-OSI Submissions

Source: Impact PR

Soaring summer temperatures of up 38.4 degrees in parts of the country have contributed to record sparkling water consumption according to new figures.

Last month was the third hottest January since records began in 1906 with two of our main centres (Hamilton and Wellington) reaching their highest ever temperatures – the first time two main centres broke their all-time maximum temperature records in the same day.

The latest NIWA stats also showed another nine townships from Kaitaia to Tekapo broke temperature records within a four day period.

New figures from SodaStream, which have supplied sparkling water machines to more than 400,000 Kiwi households, show a consumption increase of 27% over the previous January.

Nutritionist Claire Turnbull says when the weather gets warmer, we need to be drinking more to prevent ourselves from dehydration and its negative effects.

“Thirst is our bodies inbuilt mechanism to encourage us to seek out water in response to dehydration and listening to this signal is really important to ensure we keep ourselves well and are able to function properly.

“Water accounts for 50-80% of our body mass and is required for digestion, absorption, transportation, dissolving nutrients, elimination of waste products and temperature regulation,” says Turnbull.

“The amount people need can vary hugely and will be influenced by things such as your activity level and how much time you spend inside versus outside, but around 2.5 litres a day would be the minimum,” she says.

SodaStream NZ spokesperson Shannon Zaloum says their 2018 data suggests Kiwis consumed around 24.5m litres of sparkling water which they made themselves – and during January alone, around 472,000 litres more than the same time last year.

She says at around two litres per annum, New Zealand has a comparatively low per capita consumption of sparkling water by international standards but says that the brand has a substantially higher market share here than any other country they distribute in.

“Our analysis suggests local consumption of our sparkling water products has more than doubled over since 2014 with 30% of all Kiwi families now making beverages this way.

“Global consumption of sparkling water is expected to continue to grow over the next five years but we expect New Zealand to continue to outpace this as more consumers see the environmental and health benefits of making sparkling water at home,” says Zaloum.

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Source: MIL-OSI Submissions

 Veteran activist John Minto will walk the last North Island kilometre of his ‘Walk for Palestine’ tomorrow at Wellington’s island bay.  John is walking Te Araroa to build awareness and support for the Palestinian struggle.  He has walked over 1700 kilometres (from Cape Reinga to Wellington) since December 14th.

‘The New Zealanders and overseas visitors I have spoken with along the way are overwhelmingly supportive of the Palestinian struggle, this contrasts with our government which has a policy heavily skewed in support of Israel, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters was soft on apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s and is soft on Israeli apartheid in 2019, he has failed to condemn new Israeli laws discriminating against Palestinians and the murder of unarmed Palestinian protesters by Israeli snipers during last years Great March of Return, he has not responded to requests for me to meet him in Wellington’.  

John is wearing his third Palestinian T shirt the other two fell apart along the way.

John and supporters will be leaving Houghton Bay at 12 noon Friday 1st March to walk the last kilometre to Island Bay.  John will be starting the South Island section of Te Araroa on Monday 4 March.

John is encouraging people to donate to the Palestinian struggle donations can be made at Christchurch Progressive Network Account: 38-9017-0034814-00.  Please reference Palestine.

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Source: MIL-OSI Submissions

Source; Genesis

Genesis has partnered with Chirpyplus – Australasia’s newest online community for over 55’s – to provide its New Zealand members with access to energy.

Genesis spokesperson Simon Forgie says, “we’re delighted to be able to provide Chirpy members with great deals on electricity, bottled and natural gas, as well as access to tools and information to help them understand and manage their energy use.”

Chirpyplus was created by mother and son duo Carol and Shaun Mahoney to help address the number one fear over 55-year old’s have – loneliness.

Chirpyplus Co-Founder Carol Mahoney says, “the issue of loneliness is very real for our community, we’re helping solve it by connecting them online, facilitating catch-ups in real life or at events, all while providing some fantastic deals on a tailored platform.”

Genesis joins Chirpyplus as a foundation partner of the site which has is growing rapidly and set to celebrate 10,000 members in the next few weeks.

To find out more about Chirpyplus, or to join, visit www.chirpyplus.co.nz.

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Source: MIL-OSI Submissions

Source: Impact PR

Uncertainty caused by a widespread reform of the vocational education industry will see employers turn to foreign labour rather than training apprentices according to an industry expert.

Neil Pritchard general manager of the Collision Repair Association (CRA), which represents hundreds of panel beaters from around NZ, says the proposed sector overhaul will hit rapidly evolving, tech industries the hardest.

He says the current pace of technological change in automotive repair as a result of more new construction materials, autonomous driving technology and advancement of electric vehicles is faster than at any time in the past century.

“Keeping up with the pace of change is critical to ensuring quality repair work and the maintenance of safe vehicles on our roads,” he says.

Pritchard says trade organisations such as the CRA rely on specialist Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) such as the Motor Industry Training Organisation (MITO) which ensure their training needs are up-to-date with international standards.

“Under the current model our industry is effectively represented by expert member volunteers on various review committees which review new vehicle trends. This ensures we drive appropriate changes to the qualification and training.

“Training organisations like MITO have field staff which have spent years developing expertise and intellectual property to meet the training needs for the industries they represent,

“Under the Government’s proposal ITOs such as MITO would be removed, leaving a gaping knowledge and relationship hole that we have little faith can be readily filled,” he says.

Pritchard says the impact of removing this layer from the training process would be widespread and immediately disruptive to businesses.

“Historically, polytechs have played only a small part in meeting our training needs. ITOs were set up by industry specifically to perform this function and it is something they do very well.

“It is unrealistic to expect polytechs to fulfil a role that has never been part of their mandate.

“As an industry under immense pressure from a skills shortage, we need work-ready young people and we simply cannot afford to put the training standards at risk.

“The result will be employers bypassing the hiring of local apprenticeships and looking to fulfil their skills shortages with more experienced foreign labour which are already trained to the standard required,” he says.

Pritchard says a qualification under the proposed education regime may be seen by employers as less desirable – impacting on the future employment opportunities for trainees.

“As polytech loses touch with industry it will undermine the credibility of the qualification – which will make future graduates less desirable as employees.

“Ultimately this will reduce the future pipeline for those entering training at that level,

“What we would like to see is the preservation of the ITOs which are already working effectively towards reducing the skills shortage. This will ensure we can continue to maintain quality standards and decrease the need to use foreign skilled labour,” he says.

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Source: MIL-OSI Submissions

Source: Fonterra

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