How sharks and shark - human interactions are reported in major Australian newspapers

Few phrases evoke more negative emotion, or generate more media coverage, than ‘shark attack’ despite the few deaths that have been attributed to shark bite. Typically, tabloids are considered to provide more sensational coverage than broadsheets. We investigated how sharks and shark–human interactions were portrayed in four major Australian newspapers during a period of a record number of shark attacks in Australian waters. There was strong focus on human risk from sharks, and over-reportage of negative aspects. Thirty incidents were recorded: two fatal, 20 injury, and eight ‘near-miss’. Of 309 ‘shark’ articles surveyed, 24% mentioned fatalities (65% occurred prior to the study, some decades earlier). Injury was reported in 40% of articles, and “near-miss” in 33% (89% related to an incident in South Africa involving an Australian surfing celebrity). The tabloid, Telegraph, published substantially more shark-related articles and photographs than other newspapers. There was otherwise no consistent pattern of difference between genre or newspapers

Seasonal Minimum and Maximum Solar Ultraviolet Exposure Measurements of Classroom Teachers Residing in Tropical North Queensland, Australia

The risk of keratinocyte skin cancer, malignant melanoma and ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced eye disease is disproportionately higher in Australia and New Zealand compared to equivalent northern hemisphere latitudes. While many teachers are aware of the importance of reinforcing sun-safety messages to students, many may not be aware of the considerable personal exposure risk while performing outdoor duties in locations experiencing high to extreme ambient-UVR year-round. Personal erythemally-effective exposure of classroom teachers in tropical Townsville (19.3o S) was measured to establish seasonal extremes in exposure behavior. Mean daily personal exposure was higher in winter (91.2 J m 2, 0.91 Standard Erythema Dose (SED)) than summer (63.3 J m-2, 0.63 SED). The range of exposures represent personal exposures that approximate current national guidelines for Australian workers at the study latitude of approximately 1.2 SED (30 J m-2 effective to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection). Similar proportions of teachers spent more than 1 hour outdoors per day in winter (28.6%) and summer (23.6%) as part of their teaching duties with seasonal differences having little effect on the time of exposure. Personal exposures for teachers peaked during both seasons near school meal-break times at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm respectively

Mapping evapotranspiration variability over a complex oasis-desert ecosystem based on automated calibration of Landsat 7 ETM+ data in SEBAL

Fragmented ecosystems of the desiccated Aral Sea seek answers to the profound local hydrologically- and water-related problems. Particularly, in the Small Aral Sea Basin (SASB), these problems are associated with low precipitation, increased temperature, land use and evapotranspiration (ET) changes. Here, the utility of high-resolution satellite dataset is employed to model the growing season dynamic of near-surface fluxes controlled by the advective effects of desert and oasis ecosystems in the SASB. This study adapted and applied the sensible heat flux calibration mechanism of Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) to 16 clear-sky Landsat 7 ETM+ dataset, following a guided automatic pixels search from surface temperature T-s and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NDVI (). Results were comprehensively validated with flux components and actual ET (ETa) outputs of Eddy Covariance (EC) and Meteorological Station (KZL) observations located in the desert and oasis, respectively. Compared with the original SEBAL, a noteworthy enhancement of flux estimations was achieved as follows: - desert ecosystem ETa R-2 = 0.94; oasis ecosystem ETa R-2 = 0.98 (P < 0.05). The improvement uncovered the exact land use contributions to ETa variability, with average estimates ranging from 1.24 mm to 6.98 mm . Additionally, instantaneous ET to NDVI (ETins-NDVI) ratio indicated that desert and oasis consumptive water use vary significantly with time of the season. This study indicates the possibility of continuous daily ET monitoring with considerable implications for improving water resources decision support over complex data-scarce drylands

No I don’t like where you come from, it’s just a satellite of London: High Wycombe, the Sex Pistols and the punk transformation

The journey from proto-punk to punk occurred at high speed in many of London’s satellite towns. Among these, the town of High Wycombe in the home counties offers a narrative that can trace an involvement in the earliest stages of that journey as a result of performances by leading British punk group the Sex Pistols. This article explores three Sex Pistols-related events that are used to map three clear phases of the proto-punk to punk transformation. The first wave notes the blurred lines in the fluid symbiotic relationships between proto-punk in London and its satellite towns. Drawing on Crossley, I note that London’s networked punk ‘music world’ was reliant on both cultural commuters and activities in the provinces. I propose a further, fluid notion of transivity that shows the relationship between local and ‘commuter’ punks is needed. The second wave shows the damaging aspect to High Wycombe’s punk identity as, due to its close proximity to London, many if its key actors would move to the capital as soon as they were able to. They escaped from the ‘boredom’ of High Wycombe – the commuter town – to go to the ‘excitement’ of cosmopolitan London to live their dreams. The third wave reveals a moment of class and regional cohesion, through which a High Wycombe Punk identity emerges during the summer of 1977. This occurs among the first and second wave participants who remained and the newer school-aged punks. Finally, the article introduces the local punk terrain beyond the timeline under investigation. Here, regional and class difference became played out through violent interactions between Wycombe punks and skins, and punk scenes from other towns. Here we see the assertion of ‘Wycombe Punk’ as a type

Spartan Daily, January 28, 1987

Volume 88, Issue 2https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/7528/thumbnail.jp

Review of California Wildfire Evacuations from 2017 to 2019

Between 2017 and 2019, California experienced a series of devastating wildfires that together led over one million people to be ordered to evacuate. Due to the speed of many of these wildfires, residents across California found themselves in challenging evacuation situations, often at night and with little time to escape. These evacuations placed considerable stress on public resources and infrastructure for both transportation and sheltering. In the face of these clear challenges, transportation and emergency management agencies across California have widely varying levels of preparedness for major disasters, and nearly all agencies do not have the public resources to adequately and swiftly evacuate all populations in danger. To holistically address these challenges and bolster current disaster and evacuation planning, preparedness, and response in California, we summarize the evacuations of eleven major wildfires in California between 2017 and 2019 and offer a cross-comparison to highlight key similarities and differences. We present results of new empirical data we collected via an online survey of individuals impacted by: 1) the 2017 October Northern California Wildfires (n=79), 2) the 2017 December Southern California Wildfires (n=226), and 3) the 2018 Carr Wildfire (n=284). These data reveal the decision-making of individuals in these wildfires including choices related to evacuating or staying, departure timing, route, sheltering, destination, transportation mode, and reentry timing. We also present results related to communication and messaging, non-evacuee behavior, and opinion of government response. Using the summarized case studies and empirical evidence, we present a series of recommendations for agencies to prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildfires

The Cowl - v.83 - n.1 - Aug 30, 2018

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol 83 - No. 1 - August 30, 2018. 24 pages