Category: Ecology
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Extreme heat + air pollution can be deadly, with the health risk together worse than either alone
Erika Garcia, University of Southern California; Md Mostafijur Rahman, University of Southern California, and Rob Scot McConnell, University of Southern California On the morning news, you see the weather forecast is for high heat, and there is an “excessive heat watch” for later in the week. You were hoping the weather would cool down, but…
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Trafficking and Abuse in the Fishing Industry
“It was 3:30am when I jumped. There were two possible outcomes – we would escape, or we would be killed. But it made no difference. We were working to serve them, and we would not continue. So I jumped into the sea.” By Daisy Brickhill* Published by FairPlanet, see original article for photos and accompanying…
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Could This Ancient Farming Technique Be a Climate Solution?
By GUIA BAGGI, originally published by YES! Magazine, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Surrounded by the waters of the Strait of Sicily in the far south of Italy, the island of Pantelleria is made up of 32 square miles of black volcanic rocks with no source of freshwater other than the 16 or so inches of rain…
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A tale of two climate policies: India’s UN commitments aim low, but its national policies are ambitious – here’s why that matters
By Tarun Gopalakrishnan, Tufts University At the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow in 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised the world when he announced that his country would zero out its greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2070. It was a landmark decision, acknowledging that long-term decarbonization is in India’s interest. However, climate…
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‘Liberate the tractors’: the right to repair movement that’s regaining control of our devices
Michael Stead, Lancaster University and Paul Coulton, Lancaster University The software that runs John Deere tractors was successfully “jailbroken” at this year’s DEF CON hacker convention, enabling farmers to repair or retune their equipment without engaging with the company that sold them their vehicles. The hacker involved, who calls himself Sick Codes, was responding directly…
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World Food Systems are in Crisis, and Big Agribusiness is at its Heart
By Lorena Cotza & Ouafa Haddioui, originally posted on OpenDemocracy, CC BY-NC 4.0 Article also available in Portuguese Public finance has a key role to play in agriculture. Instead of propping up corporate interests, it should learn from local producers In 2017, the people of Zagora, Morocco, took to the streets in what became known…
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How to destroy a ‘forever chemical’
scientists are discovering ways to eliminate PFAS, but this growing global health problem isn’t going away soon A. Daniel Jones, Michigan State University and Hui Li, Michigan State University PFAS chemicals seemed like a good idea at first. As Teflon, they made pots easier to clean starting in the 1940s. They made jackets waterproof and carpets…
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Analysis: China’s CO2 Emissions See Longest Sustained Drop in a Decade
By LAURI MYLLYVIRTA, originally published on carbonbrief.org, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by an estimated 1.4% in the first three months of 2022, making it the third quarter in a row of falling emissions. The new analysis for Carbon Brief, based on official figures and commercial data, shows that the three…
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Knowing our history means being able to continue the struggles
Originally published on komun-academy.com (now defunct), CC BY-NC-SA The Initiative “History and Resistance” introduces itself Who are the democratic forces in the history of the German-speaking world? What traces have they leave us? How did people live and organise before the emergence of the national state, which happened here comparatively late? These and many more…
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Indigenous People still Face Slavery in Brazil
Story by Lais Modelli, English translation by Maya Johnson Originally published on Mongabay Since Brazil began recording cases of workers found working in slavery-like conditions in 2004, 1,640 Indigenous people have been rescued from these situations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 100 Indigenous people have been found working in these conditions. Sugarcane harvesting, which a…
