Hospitals nationwide are bracing for a possible shortage of essential intravenous fluids after #Hurricane #Helene inundated a vital manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
The plant is #Baxter #International's North Cove manufacturing facility in Marion -- which is about 35 miles northeast of Asheville.
Helene unleashed unprecedented amounts of rain throughout the western part of the state,
killing dozens and ravaging numerous communities, homes, and other structures, including the plant.
The North Cove plant produces 60 percent of the country's supply of IV solutions, typically producing 1.5 million bags per day, according to the American Hospital Association.
The dozens of sterile solutions Baxter makes at the facility are used for everything from intravenous rehydration and drug delivery to peritoneal dialysis used to treat kidney failure.
#medical #supply #chain
https://arstechnica.com/health/2024/10/helene-ravaged-the-nc-plant-that-makes-60-of-the-countrys-iv-fluid-supply/

#Solar #energy is the
️ most widely available energy resource on Earth,
and its economic attractiveness is improving fast in a cycle of #increasing #investments.

Here we use data-driven conditional technology and economic forecasting modelling to establish which zero carbon power sources could become dominant worldwide.

We find that, due to technological trajectories set in motion by past policy,
a global #irreversible solar #tipping #point may have passed where solar energy gradually comes to #dominate global #electricity #markets,
without any further climate policies.

Uncertainties arise, however, over #grid #stability in a renewables-dominated power system,
the availability of #sufficient #finance in underdeveloped economies,
the capacity of #supply #chains and #political #resistance from regions that lose employment.

Policies resolving these barriers may be more effective than price instruments to accelerate the transition to clean energy

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41971-7

July #home sales break a four-month losing streak as #supply rises nearly 20% over last year

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/22/july-home-sales-break-4-month-losing-streak-as-supply-rises-nearly-20percent.html?__source=androidappshare

The central bank’s campaign against the #runaway #prices that pose perhaps the greatest threat to President Biden’s reelection has effectively been a two-front war
— and Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell commands only half the battlefield.


️Supply chains recovering from disruptions caused by covid and the war in Ukraine
have done more to lower inflation than higher interest rates have.

Now the relative impact of #supply #side gains and #interest #rates will shape the Fed’s decision on
when, and by how much, to lower borrowing costs.

If the Fed waits too long to act, the economy could tumble into recession under pressure from borrowing costs.

On Thursday, first-time claims for unemployment benefits hit 242,000,
the highest level in 10 months,
a sign the labor market may be tightening.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.)
wrote to Powell last week
urging him to cut rates.

Higher borrowing costs are making inflation worse by discouraging new home construction amid a housing shortage, the lawmakers said.

“You have kept interest rates too high for too long: it is time to cut rates,” they wrote.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/06/15/federal-reserve-interest-rates-inflation/

new #bincapz release: https://github.com/chainguard-dev/bincapz/releases/tag/v0.9.0 - notably, it is the first release first battle-hardened by production.

The bincapz project started just 9 weeks ago, exploring whether something like this could be useful for #supply-chain security. #xzutils answered that question, resulting in a mad rush to use it to safeguard build artifacts.

Much work is still to be done - hope you enjoy it!

'Global heating likely to hit world #food #supply before 1.5C, says UN expert

#Water scarcity threatening agriculture faster than expected, warns #Cop15 #desertification president'

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/12/global-heating-likely-to-hit-world-food-supply-faster-than-expected-says-united-nations-desertification-expert?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
#Climate #ClimateChange

After a 12 year project trying to breed the ultimate bean for the UK climate, it's hoped that finally we'll be able to grow haricot's in the UK to fuel our baked bean obsession.

#GoodNews #Botany #Project #Beans #Haricot #BakedBeans #UK #Climate #Food #Supply

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-65908618