Public Health

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CCOF releases roadmap to an organic California policy report

Farmers in Rockingham County, Virginia check the results of no-till farming in their fields on September 9, 2008, as part of their participation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative (CBWI).

by California Certified Organic Farmers Highlights: California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) recently released a Roadmap to an Organic California policy report.  The report highlights the personal and environmental health benefits of adopting 100% organic farming practices: Benefits of organic farming include: Sequestration – organic farming removes 14 times more CO2 from the atmosphere compared to … Read more

Categories Carbon Sequestration Public Health
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‘Tip of the iceberg’: Is our destruction of nature responsible for Covid-19?

by John Vidal, The Guardian Highlights: As humans continue to encroach on wildland for development, the exposure to more zoonotic diseases increases, which could cause more pandemics:  As more people log, mine, and develop roads and towns in tropic forests and other important wildlife habitats, humans increase their chances of contracting diseases and unknown viruses … Read more

Categories Public Health
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Traffic and pollution plummet as U.S. cities shut down for Coronavirus

by Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich, The New York Times Highlights: Major cities across the United States are experiencing decreases in traffic and, subsequently, decreases in air pollution due to self-isolation mandates in various areas. Nitrogen dioxide emissions have dropped dramatically and traffic jams have virtually stopped in Los Angeles. Traffic was reportedly moving 71 percent faster than … Read more

Categories Public Health Transportation
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How changes brought on by coronavirus could help tackle climate change

by Glen Peters, The Conversation Highlights: Carbon emissions are dropping due to reduced energy consumption, but previous financial crises and events have led to lower emissions only temporarily. At best, a financial crisis delays emissions growth a few years.  So far forecasts still indicate the global economy will grow in 2020. For example, the Organization … Read more

Categories Business Network Public Health
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Breathing polluted air shortens people’s lives by an average of 3 years, a new study finds

by Neela Banerjee, Inside Climate News Highlights Air pollution, mainly from burning fossil fuels, reduces life expectancy worldwide by an average of 2.9 years and has led to 8.8 million premature deaths according to a new study in Cardiovascular Research. In North America, lives were shortened by 1.4 years on average due to air pollution. … Read more

Categories Fossil Fuels Public Health
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Locust swarms ravaging East Africa are the size of cities

By David Herbling and Samuel Gebre, Bloomberg Highlights: Swarms of desert locusts are devastating farms throughout East Africa. The outbreak is due to an increased amount of cyclones and sudden rainfall after a long dry spell, resulting in the perfect breeding conditions for locusts Further increases in climate change effects will cause more cyclones and … Read more

Categories Public Health
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The toxic legacy of old oil wells: California’s multibillion-dollar problem

by Mark Olalde and Ryan Menezes, LA Times Highlights: 35,000 wells have been sitting idle for years because of suspended production, which can contaminate the water supplies and cause fumes to leak Fossil fuel companies are required by law to set aside bonds for the clean up and remediation of oil well sites but the … Read more

Categories Climate Justice Fossil Fuels Public Health
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The Arctic’s thawing ground is releasing a shocking amount of dangerous gases

Slump D is a massive retrogressive thaw slump on Herschel island, by Boris Radosavljevic found at https://flickr.com/photos/139918543@N06/24531601650

by Craig Welch, National Geographic Highlights: Abrupt thaw, the accelerated melting of permafrost, is releasing GHGs in the arctic: New studies on abrupt thaw suggest that permafrost will play a more significant role in GHG emissions than previously believed . However, it’s affects are small compared to the burning of fossil fuels throughout the world … Read more

Categories Public Health
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Indonesia’s Jokowi warns of economic calamity from forest fires

by Klima- og miljødepartementet found on https://www.flickr.com/photos/miljoverndepartementet/6283118360

by Arys Aditya and Yoga Rusmana, Bloomberg Highlights: Wildfires in Indonesia prompted school closures and disruptions to ocean and air travel last year, which may have cost Indonesia $5.2 billion in economic losses An estimated 709 million tons of carbon dioxide was released due to last years fire season Indonesian President Jokowi ordered a permanent … Read more

Categories Public Health