where – Page 2

The Arctic Freeze Is Unseasonably Late Where’s The Sea Ice? Why It Matters

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT, VIDEO REELS

The Arctic Freeze Is Unseasonably Late Where’s The Sea Ice? Why It Matters

With the setting of the sun and the onset of polar darkness, the Arctic Ocean would normally be crusted with sea ice along the Siberian coast by now. But this year, the water is still open. I’ve watched the region’s transformations since the 1980s as an Arctic climate scientist and, since 2008, as director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. I can tell you, this is not normal. There’s so much more heat in the ocean now than there used to be that the pattern of autumn ice growth has been completely disrupted. To understand what’s happening to the sea ice this year and why it’s a problem, let’s look back at the summer and into the Arctic Ocean itself. Siberia’s 100-degree summer The summer melt season in the Arctic started early. A Siberian heat wave in June pushed air temperatures o...

COVID-19: Where You Sit In A Classroom Matters, How Ventilation Can Help

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, VIDEO REELS

COVID-19: Where You Sit In A Classroom Matters, How Ventilation Can Help

It doesn’t take long for airborne coronavirus particles to make their way through a room. At first, only people sitting near an infected speaker are at high risk, but as the meeting or class goes on, the tiny aerosols can spread. That doesn’t mean everyone faces the same level of risk, however. As an engineer, I have been conducting experiments tracking how aerosols move, including those in the size range that can carry viruses. What I’ve found is important to understand as more people return to universities, offices and restaurants and more meetings move indoors as temperatures fall. It points to the highest-risk areas in rooms and why proper ventilation is crucial. As we saw this past week with President Donald Trump and others in Washington, the coronavirus can spread quickly in clo...

Evolution On The Smallest Of Scales Smooths Out The Patchwork Patterns Of Where Plants And Animals Live

2Oct

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT

Evolution On The Smallest Of Scales Smooths Out The Patchwork Patterns Of Where Plants And Animals Live

The Douglas fir is a tall iconic pine tree in Western North America forming a forest that winds unbroken from the Western spine of British Columbia all the way to the Mexican cordillera. The environmental conditions of Canada and Mexico are obviously very different, but even on much smaller scales – say, the top of a mountain compared with a valley below it – the rainfall, temperature, soil nutrients and dozens of other factors can vary quite a bit. The Douglas fir grows well in so many of these places that it turns a dramatically varied landscape into one smooth, continuous forest complete with all the species it supports. I am an ecologist and used to think that the Douglas fir was simply a hardy tree, rarely hemmed in by environmental conditions or other species. But recent research do...

Hit ’em where it hurts – how economic threats are a potent tool for changing people’s minds about the Confederate flag

17Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS

Hit ’em where it hurts – how economic threats are a potent tool for changing people’s minds about the Confederate flag

Activists nationwide have resumed demanding the removal of statues and symbols that are considered racially offensive – such as of slave owners, Confederate leaders and the Confederate flag. The requests – and related boycotts and threats of other economic protests – have been part of the national controversy about racism in American life and have sparked questions about how to recognize traumatic elements of U.S. history. Typically, the debate about the role of Confederate imagery in public life is seen as a political, social or racial issue. But in recent research, we discovered that economic concerns could be effective in shifting Southerners’ attitudes about Confederate symbols. Public officials and individual citizens alike are more likely to oppose the presence of Confederate symb...

8Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Where are the African American leaders?

As protests rock the country in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, there is a notable absence in the national public discourse: African American community leaders. My scholarship in the discipline of black politics can explain why there aren’t any national African American leaders at this moment, filling roles like Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer and others once did. In past eras, leaders of the African American community were instrumental in creating huge social and legal changes, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Sweeping changes were possible because black leaders were willing to call out problems before they became crises, and risk their lives and livelihoods to eleva...

Reasons to celebrate: Where have all these ‘national days’ suddenly come from?

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Reasons to celebrate: Where have all these ‘national days’ suddenly come from?

While many designations are quirky, others are beneficial — such as June 23 being National Hydration Day — or historic — Day of the Seafarer, June 25. June 20 was Ugliest Dog Day; the 22nd, National Kissing Day. June is considered the national month for candy, soul food, country cooking and dairy. Every day of every month, in fact, is a reason to focus on and “celebrate” something. While many designations are quirky, others are beneficial — such as June 23 being National Hydration Day — or historic — Day of the Seafarer, June 25. Just who decides these daily themes is a historic hodgepodge. From 1870 to 1983, U.S. Congress voted on 11 official “national” days, or federal days, some of which are recognized wholly by non-federal businesses while others less so: New Year’s Day, Martin Luthe...

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Birding Is Booming. So Where Are the Black Birders?

Raising the profile of Black birders could help foster a healthy connection between Black communities and the natural world. Tiffany Adams grew up in the Chelsea-Elliott Houses, a sprawling, low-income housing project on the west side of Manhattan. There, cookie-cutter brick buildings are separated by modest courtyards with benches and tables. Trees and grassy yards enclosed by black, wrought-iron fences dot the fringes of the project. The scant open spaces could seem confining, except to young girls with dreams of growing up to become zoologists or to tired, hungry birds navigating the Atlantic Flyway. During her youth, Adams escaped to the natural world by watching National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. Five years ago—on a lark, so to speak—she attended a bird wa...

4Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Black-Owned Banks Keep Community Money Where It Belongs

A national network of financial cooperatives is helping marginalized groups keep their money out of an extractive banking system. Me’Lea Connelly is from the Bay Area of California, but she has deep roots in Minnesota. Her mother’s family was one of the first to migrate to the state after slavery ended. When she was 15, her parents divorced, and she moved with her mother to Minneapolis. “I’ve always just felt more at home here,” Connelly said. “All my ancestors are just calling me home.” But that home, in Minneapolis’ Northside, has a severe shortage of shopping centers, grocery stores, and banks. In 2017, Minnesota was named the second-most unequal state for Black people in a study of Black and White inequality by 24/7 Wall St., a financial news and opinion website. Despite the ...

27Nov

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

The Unique Arts Festival Where Performers Play for Their Health Care

O+ was created to address the lack of affordable medical care for a chronically underinsured population: artists and musicians. When Christopher Stott-Rigsbee was attacked by assailants in November 2010, he got a concussion, bruised ribs, gravel embedded in his gums, cuts all over his face, and he lost three teeth. But the real pain came later. The lead singer and songwriter for the Plattsburgh, New York-based band Adrian Aardvark, Stott-Rigsbee started having panic attacks and anxiety; after four years, he finally began seeing a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with PTSD and depression. “It has taken years for me to start the recovery process, and I will be working to recover my self-worth, masculinity, and my faith in humanity and society for a long time,” Stott-Rigsbee sa...

Protesters ousted from sacred site where Elvis filmed movie

3Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LIFESTYLE

Protesters ousted from sacred site where Elvis filmed movie

State sheriffs on Thursday removed protesters from the ruins of a Hawaii hotel where they have been squatting since last year in an attempt to block redevelopment of land where Hawaiian chiefs once lived and where Elvis Presley’s character got married in the movie “Blue Hawaii.” The Hawaii Department of Public Safety said in a statement Thursday that state sheriffs arrested 23-year-old Mahealani Hanie-Grace for trespassing at Coco Palms on Kauai. The protest began when two men arrived claiming they owned the property because they descend from King Kaumualii, the last ruler of Kauai. They’ve been joined by dozens of others. Police have cited protesters for trespassing. A judge last month issued an order to evict them. The public safety department said 25 deputy sheriffs participated in ...