Category: Health
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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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As heat waves intensify, tens of thousands of US classrooms will be too hot for students to learn in
Paul Chinowsky, University of Colorado Boulder Rising temperatures due to climate change are causing more than just uncomfortably hot days across the United States. These high temperatures are placing serious stress on critical infrastructure such as water supplies, airports, roads and bridges. One category of critical infrastructure being severely affected is the nation’s K-12 schools.…
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Hot and getting hotter – 5 essential reads on high temps and human bodies
Leah Samuel, The Conversation Launching the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and the heat.gov site on July 26, 2022, the Biden administration cited heat waves and the warming climate as serious health threats. As the new initiative promises a “science informed response” to hotter conditions, five stories from The Conversation’s archive explain what…
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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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Earth’s Ecological Boundaries have been Violated. Here are 5 Steps toward Healing.
Article by Liz Kimbrough, originally published on Mongabay According to experts, we have passed the planetary boundary for land systems change — the human-caused loss of forest — and risk destabilizing Earth’s operating systems. Scientists calculate we must retain 85% of tropical and boreal forests, and 50% of temperate forests, to stay within Earth’s “safe…
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‘Children Are Not Little Adults’ and Need Special Protection During Heatwaves
By Emmarie Huetteman, published originally at Kaiser Health News After more than a week of record-breaking temperatures across much of the country, public health experts are cautioning that children are more susceptible to heat illnessthan adults are — even more so when they’re on the athletic field, living without air conditioning, or waiting in a parked…
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Chile to Ban Harmful Single-Use Products over 3 Years
Article by Rachel Teng Ruiqi, originally posted on Mongabay In May 2021, Chile announced a legislative ban on single-use products in the food and beverage industry to take effect over the next three years. Similar bans in other countries and cities also address the crux of the plastic pollution problem — the disposable culture — but…
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Women and Labor: Key Struggles in the MENA Region
Embodying the intersection of gender and class, women trade union leaders are essential to the goals of ending gender violence and promoting women empowerment By Valentine M. Moghadam for ROAR Mag ow do women and gender equality measures advance in a context of conflict, climate change, high unemployment, low labor force participation, limited democratization and…
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The plastic crisis has deep corporate roots: to protect our planet, they need to be exposed
Alice Mah, University of Warwick This spring, I taught a new undergraduate course in environmental sociology. Most of my students took the course because they were curious to see what their desire to live more sustainably had to do with sociology. By the third week – after a deep dive into the troubling connections between…
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What is emotional labour – and how do we get it wrong?
Michael James Walsh, University of Canberra and Stephanie Alice Baker, City, University of London The term “emotional labour” is applied to an array of home-based activities — from keeping mental to-do lists, to remembering to call your in-laws on their birthdays. Some advocate the need to teach boys emotional labour, or identify it as the…
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