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Tag: The Atlantic

  • Coronavirus: Amazon’s First Warehouse Case Raises Supply Questions

    Coronavirus: Amazon’s First Warehouse Case Raises Supply Questions

    Amazon has reported its first coronavirus case in one of their warehouses, raising questions about the possible impact on supply lines.

    The Atlantic is reporting that an Amazon warehouse worker in Queens, New York has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting the company to email all the other workers to inform them.

    “We’re writing to let you know that a positive case of the coronavirus (COVID-19) was found at our facility today,” the email read.

    In the short-term, Amazon has closed the facility and is taking extra time to deep-clean it, while all employees were sent home with full pay. In the long-term, the revelation leaves a lot of questions about the supply chain at a time when companies’ capabilities are already being pushed to the limit. Amazon recently announced it would suspend shipments of all non-essential items in an effort to keep up with demand.

    Studies have shown that the coronavirus can live for up to 24 hours on cardboard, and as long as 72 hours on plastic or steel. If more warehouse workers test positive for the virus, it could raise concerns about transmission through the very supplies people are relying on to stay safely at home. As Amazon and other fulfillment centers have to close facilities to disinfect following confirmed cases, it could have a profound impact on the entire supply chain, causing delays that no one can afford.

  • Lionfish Moving into the Atlantic Coast, Caribbean

    A deep-sea expedition last month found that Atlantic Ocean lionfish are moving into the Atlantic coast in large numbers. Even more disturbing for researchers was the fact that the lionfish found during the expedition were large, meaning they can more easily reproduce and travel to varying depths.

    The expedition was the first to use a deep-sea diving submersible to examine lionfish populations in the Atlantic. Reseachers dove to depths of over 300 feet off the coast of Fr. Lauderdale, Florida to find lionfish near a cargo ship that was intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef.

    “We expected some populations of lionfish at that depth, but their numbers and size were a surprise,” said Stephanie Green, a researcher at Oregon State University who participated in the research. “This was kind of an ‘Ah hah!’ moment. It was immediately clear that this is a new frontier in the lionfish crisis, and that something is going to have to be done about it. Seeing it up-close really brought home the nature of the problem.”

    The expedition’s findings have raised new alarms for collaborative efforts to control the lionfish population on the Atlantic coast due to the fish’s destructive predatory behavior. Lionfish, which are native to the Pacific Ocean, were accidentally introduced into the Atlantic in the 1990s. The fish have no natural controls on their populations in the Atlantic, and previous studies have shown lionfish can reduce native fish populations by as much as 80%.

    “A lionfish will eat almost any fish smaller than it is,” said Green. “Regarding the large fish we observed in the submersible dives, a real concern is that they could migrate to shallower depths as well and eat many of the fish there. And the control measures we’re using at shallower depths – catch them and let people eat them – are not as practical at great depth.”

    (Image courtesy Oregon State University)