Today is Global Ethics Day

The Carnegie Council’s Global Ethics Day takes place on the third Wednesday of every October. The seventh annual Global Ethics Day (#GlobalEthicsDay2020) will take place on October 21, 2020. Inspired by Earth Day, Global Ethics Day provides an opportunity for organizations around the world to hold events on or around this day, exploring the meaning of ethics in international affairs — and to share your #GlobalEthicsDay2020 activities widely on social media. https://globalethicsday.wishpondpages.com/emergencymanagementvideo2020/

JOIN OUR VIDEO COMPETITION TO COMMEMORATE GLOBAL ETHICS DAY.The Global Ethics Day Sub-committee of the Ethics Special Interest Group of the FEMA Higher Education Program is hosting a Video Scholarship Competition to highlight the ethics of access and equity in Emergency Management. Voters from across the globe will vote for the most impactful video, and finalists’ videos will be a part of the Carnegie Group’s Global Ethics Day Celebration for 2020. These videos will help inform ongoing emergency management education and Scholarship.

The mission of the Global Ethics Day Sub-Committee is to engage student reflection about the importance of ethics in Emergency Management and to give them a voice of influence in the emergency management ethics discourse.

Submit your video to get a chance to win a $1,000 scholarship!

FIND OUT MORE. Some additional information about the scholarship. Dr. Andrea Adams on the Global Ethics Day Competition https://sitchradio.com/our-shows/em-student/

From the NYTimes: After the Pandemic, a Revolution in Education and Work Awaits. Providing more Americans with portable health care, portable pensions and opportunities for lifelong learning is what politics needs to be about post-Nov. 3.

Drought in western U.S. is biggest in years and predicted to worsen during winter months. The drought is exacerbating wildfires and taxing water resources. Some excerpts:

The largest and most intense drought in years is engulfing the West and threatens to grow larger and more severe in the coming months.

The drought has already been a major contributor to record wildfire activity in California and Colorado. Its continuation could also deplete rivers, stifle crops and eventually drain water supplies in some Western states.

Nationwide, drought has expanded to its greatest areal coverage since 2013; 72.5 million people are in areas affected by drought. More than one-third of the West is in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought, the two most severe categories, according to the federal government’s U.S. Drought Monitor.

From GovTech: Schools/Colleges Navigate the Challenges of Covid-19.

I can only guess at the politics involved, but as of 7:30 pm on the PBS Newshour, Judy Woodruff announced that CA will receive federal funding for the fires.

Update: From the Wash Post on Oct. 17: Trump administration rejects, then approves, emergency aid for California fires, including biggest blaze in state history

From the Wash Post: Trump admin rejects emergency aid for California fires, including biggest blaze in state history.

“Fueled by extreme heat and tinder-dry conditions, wildfires exploded across California in September, blazing through almost 1.9 million acres, destroying nearly 1,000 homes and killing at least three people. One wildfire, the Creek Fire, became the largest single blaze in California history and grew so fierce it spun up fire tornadoes with 125 mph winds.

But the Trump administration this week refused to grant an emergency declaration that would open up hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for areas devastated in those fires, California state officials confirmed to The Washington Post early on Friday.

It’s unclear why the request was denied, when similar declarations were granted earlier this year for other wildfires. President Trump has previously threatened to withhold emergency fire aid to California over disputed claims that the state isn’t doing enough to prevent wildfires.”

National Emergency Powers. CRS has just issued this 25 page document on National Emergency Powers

From the Atlantic Council: How to Build A Resilient America

From the UNDRR, this 30 page report: The human cost of disasters: an overview of the last 20 years (2000-2019)

UNDRR report published to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on October 13, 2020, confirms how extreme weather events have come to dominate the disaster landscape in the 21^st century. The statistics in this report are from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) which records disasters which have killed ten or more people; affected 100 or more people; resulted in a declared state of emergency; or a call for international assistance.

In the period 2000 to 2019, there were 7,348 major recorded disaster events claiming 1.23 million lives, affecting 4.2 billion people (many on more than one occasion) resulting in approximately US$2.97 trillion in global economic losses. 

This is a sharp increase over the previous twenty years. Between 1980 and 1999, 4,212 disasters were linked to natural hazards worldwide claiming approximately 1.19 million lives and affecting 3.25 billion people resulting in approximately US$1.63 trillion in economic losses.

From Politico: California thought it could delay climate disaster. Now millions of acres are burning. Some excerpts follow:

California tried harder than any state to fight climate change. Two governors imposed a groundbreaking emissions cap-and-trade system while state regulators forced American automakers to build more efficient cars.

None of those policies kept California from becoming the poster child for what climate change really looks like.

Ravaged by deadly fires, drought, dry lightning and heat waves that make the ground sizzle and lamps dim, the nation’s most populous state now seems incapable of protecting itself from a global catastrophe. The urgency has forced California to consider diverting more time and resources away from reducing its carbon footprint to thwarting the immediate impacts of climate change.