European Union helps fight forest fires in Greece (European Commission)

European Commission, Press release, Brussels, 26 August 2014:

Greece is receiving support through the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism to fight the forest fires raging in the central part of the country. France has responded to Greece's request for assistance in a matter of hours – its two fire-fighting planes are already operating in the affected areas.

"Forest fires are a risk we face every summer and this year is no exception; we will continue to support the efforts of Greece to prevent the fire from spreading towards populated areas.

The Commission is grateful to France for its prompt gesture of solidarity; I hope that other Member States will also be able to offer assistance," said Kristalina Georgieva, the European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.

The European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) is in contact with the civil protection authorities of the countries participating in the Mechanism.

The ERCC is actively monitoring the forest fire risks across Europe. It uses national monitoring services and tools such as EFFIS (the European Forest Fire Information System) and satellite imagery to provide an overview of the situation in Europe. Every summer, its experts hold a weekly videoconference with national authorities from countries at greatest risk of forest fires.

Background

The fire that broke out on 24 August in a forest region near Kalabaka, central Greece, has burnt around 400 hectares of land and is still active. Greece has also activated the satellite imagery service of the European Commission. Тhe Copernicus mapping system provides all actors involved in the management of natural and man-made disasters and humanitarian crises with timely and accurate satellite images of the affected areas. It can be activated only by authorised users, e.g. national civil protection authorities, through the ERCC.

The European Civil Protection Mechanism facilitates cooperation in disaster response among 31 European states (EU-28 plus Norway, Iceland, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). The participating countries pool the resources that can be made available to disaster-stricken countries all over the world. When activated, the Mechanism coordinates the provision of assistance inside and outside the European Union. The European Commission manages the Mechanism through the ERCC.

The European Civil Protection Mechanism was activated 17 times over the last three summers to respond to forest fires inside and outside Europe. In 2012, for example, Greece has requested assistance at combatting forest fires for three times.

Furthermore, in June 2014 a major EU civil protection exercise, EU PROMETHEUS 2014, took place in Greece, testing cooperation and response capacities of Member States through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Among other things, the participating teams from a number of EU Member States were tested at combatting a huge wildfire near populated areas.

For more information.....................http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-949_en.htm?locale=en

26/7/14

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Related:

• Fighting forest fires in Europe – how it works (European Commission)

Fighting forest fires in Europe – how it works (European Commission)

European Commission, MEMO, Brussels, 4 August 2014:

Every year there are devastating forest fires in Europe, destroying thousands of hectares of forests. The South European countries are at higher risk, but no European country is immune. When the fire gets too big for a country to extinguish it on its own, the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism can be activated to coordinate the response from participating states.

Joint and coordinated response

When national capacities to respond to forest fires are surpassed, other EU countries often show solidarity by sending assistance in the form of water bombing aircraft, helicopters, fire-fighting equipment and personnel.

The Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) is the emergency response hub of the European Commission. The centre co-ordinates assistance on the European level in the case of disasters and in this way ensures that help is efficient and effective.

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism can also be used to facilitate and co-finance the transport of assistance to the affected area. 

Prepared for the forest fire season

The ERCC is actively monitoring the forest fire risk and incidence across Europe. It uses national monitoring services and tools such EFFIS (the European Forest Fire Information System) which provides an overview of data that Member States collect through their national forest fire programmes.

Before the forest fires season, the ERCC organises meetings with all the participating states in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for an exchange of information on the state of preparedness for the upcoming forest fires season.

Over the summer period, the ERCC organises weekly video conferences with the countries that are at high risk of forest fires and whose national capacities could get overwhelmed. Spain, Croatia, Portugal, Greece, Italy and France are the most fire prone countries in Europe.

In addition, experts from Member States who are seconded to the ERCC every summer contribute to its work and maintain regular contacts with national civil protection authorities. 

Tackling forest fires

The European Civil Protection Mechanism was activated 16 times over the last three summers to respond to forest fires inside and outside Europe.

• During the 2012 forest fire season nine requests for assistance were received, and in 2013 four. During the past two summers, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Albania, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece and, Portugal activated the Mechanism requesting aerial means. The satellite mapping service has also been activated in response to forest fires related emergencies.

About the EU Civil Protection Mechanism

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism facilitates the cooperation in disaster response among 31 European states (28 EU Member States, FYROM, Iceland and Norway). The participating countries pool the resources that can be made available to disaster-stricken countries all over the world. 

Since its launch in 2001, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has monitored over 300 disasters and has received more than 180 requests for assistance. It intervened in some of the most devastating disasters the world has faced, like Hurricane Katrina in the USA (2005), the earthquake in Haiti (2010), the triple-disaster in Japan (2011), and typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines (2013). 

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-503_en.htm?locale=en

4/8/14

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White House: US ready to help China in quake relief

The White House on Sunday offered condolences over loss of lives in China's southwestern province of Yunnan, where a strong earthquake befell earlier in the day, saying the United States was ready to help.

"The United States offers sincere condolences to all those who lost loved ones in the Aug. 3 earthquake in southwestern China," National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those that lost their lives, those injured or displaced, and all the people of China on this difficult day," she added.

She said US disaster response officials were in contact with their Chinese counterparts and the US "stands ready to assist."

A massive relief effort is underway in Yunnan, as the death toll has risen to at least 367, with 1,881 others injured in the 6. 5-magnitude earthquake.
 Sources:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
4/8/14
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Related:

• White House says U.S. ready to help China in quake relief

• M6.1 deadly quake rattles southwest China 

  •  China has sent 2,500 soldiers to the southwest province of Yunnan after an earthquake killed hundreds of people....

US West Coast on high alert against tsunami-washed Japanese invasive species

While winter storms have plunged temperatures across various parts of the United States, the West Coast is bracing itself for an altogether different – yet still very unwelcome – set of seasonal hazards: invading marine life from Japan.
Almost three years after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan’s east coast and set off the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, dislodged debris from the site is still washing up onto American shores. Yet while scientists have downplayed the possibility that the wreckage is contaminated with radiation, they are keeping their eyes peeled for hostile sea creatures hitching rides from across the Pacific. 


The answer is ‘yes,’ there is a real threat,” John Chapman of the Oregon State University’s Marine Bioinvasion Lab told RT in an interview, noting that well over 150 marine species have arrived on the coast over the last year. “These [creatures] have the potential to invade local habitats.”
Currently, government agencies across California, Oregon, and Washington are drafting comprehensive surveys of their coasts in an attempt to determine exactly what species have reached their shores and which, if any, have been able to successfully establish themselves in local habitats.
“We’re still in the discovery phase,” Chapman said. “We’re still getting lots of debris” and even more is expected to arrive during the winter season, which is typically when the majority of the rubble washes ashore. Scientists previously believed that native Japanese marine life could not survive the voyage across the Pacific Ocean, but the results have proven quite the opposite.
“We’ve been wrong on all our predictions so far,” Chapman said.
Over the last two years, entire docks have made their way to the shores of Oregon and Washington, housing dozens of non-native marine life. Meanwhile, other instances have seen fishing vessels surface with entirely different communities of life onboard. Already, scientists and researchers have pinpointed a number of potentially hazardous arrivals.
According to marine biologist Steve Rumrill, of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), two species discovered in the state were on the Global Invasive Species Database’s list of the world’s 100 worst invaders: Wakame, a seaweed native to Japan that began reproducing as soon as it arrived in America, and the Northern Pacific seastar, which he described as a voracious predator that could decimate local shellfish populations.............................http://rt.com/usa/japan-invasive-species-west-coast-587/
3/2/14
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Related:

• Fukushima debris island the size of Texas floating to the US.

• Los Angeles prepares to fight Fukushima debris

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• Έως 44 δισ. ευρώ η απορρύπανση της Φουκουσίμα

• Fukushima: Verstrahltes Wasser bedroht den Pazifik 

• Inside Fukushima: TEPCO releases pics from inside nuclear plant after tsunami (PHOTOS)

• H ιστορία στο Τόκιο:Συνομιλίες υπουργών και εμπειρογνωμόνων στη Φουκουσίμα για την πυρηνική ασφάλεια (Nuclear Safety)

Fukushima debris island the size of Texas floating to the US.

A massive island of debris is slowly making its way to the United States after forming in the wake of the tsunami that rocked Japan back in 2011. The tsunami killed almost 16,000 people in Japan, caused numerous problems at the nuclear plant in Fukushima, and dislodged more than 1.5 million floating objects into the Pacific Ocean. Now, a collection of debris the size of Texas is roughly 1,700 miles off the coast of California. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the debris scattered by the tsunami has been spread around an area of the ocean that’s three times the size of the continental United States. It also said to expect trash to continue arriving on American shores for the next few years. Already, objects such as boats, rooftops, soccer balls, and docks have hit various parts of the West Coast. Even more will arrive with the Texas-sized island, but, more than the trash, scientists are interested in the organisms that could be living on them........http://rt.com/usa/fukushima-debris-island-texas-266/5/11/13--

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Related:

• Los Angeles prepares to fight Fukushima debris

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• Έως 44 δισ. ευρώ η απορρύπανση της Φουκουσίμα

• Fukushima: Verstrahltes Wasser bedroht den Pazifik 

• Inside Fukushima: TEPCO releases pics from inside nuclear plant after tsunami (PHOTOS)

• H ιστορία στο Τόκιο:Συνομιλίες υπουργών και εμπειρογνωμόνων στη Φουκουσίμα για την πυρηνική ασφάλεια (Nuclear Safety)