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Western wildfires: A growing threat across the country
17Feb By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Featured, Kent State University, Loyola Marymount University, Science

Western wildfires: A growing threat across the country

By Alex Kim, Grace Springer Smoke rising in this California forest as the blaze continues. Photo via Flickr As I’m writing this article in February, there is a wildfire burning in Laguna Beach, California, that forced evacuations — an occurrence that used to be rare at this time of year, but not anymore. Parts of Southern California are experiencing a heatwave that’s fueling winter wildfires that can potentially send smoke thousands of miles outside of California.  Jana Houser, Ph.D., is a professor of meteorology at Ohio University. She told Climate360, “We [Ohioans] can periodically notice the effects of wildfires out west when the fires become so numerous and large that their smoke enters the jet stream of the upper atmosphere.”  In July 2021, Public Health Dayton ...
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Five questions about pandemics and climate change, answered
16Feb By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Kent State University, Science

Five questions about pandemics and climate change, answered

By Grace Springer Photo via MaxPixel What is a pandemic?  According to the Columbia School of Public Health, a pandemic is, “a virus [that] covers a wide area, affecting several countries and populations.” An outbreak is declared a pandemic when it is spread exponentially.   What types of diseases are affected by climate change?   There are two types of diseases that are affected by climate change—vector-borne diseases and zoonotic diseases.  What are vector-borne diseases?  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vector-borne diseases are diseases spread to humans by insects that feed on blood such as mosquitos and fleas. Due to global warming, these insects are increasingly able to survive in more areas of the world...
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Proposed efforts to stop future pandemics also fight climate change
16Feb By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Kent State University, Science

Proposed efforts to stop future pandemics also fight climate change

By Grace Springer Microbiologist tests specimen for COVID-19. Photo Via Flickr A new study published in Science Advances argues that steps must be taken now to avoid future pandemics as people continue to interact with wildlife that carry many different pathogens. Researchers defined three primary prevention methods to prevent the spillover of diseases from animals to humans, some of which benefit the planet as well. These methods include better pathogen surveillance, wildlife and hunting management and forest protection.  Zoonotic diseases are pathogens that originate in animals before being spread to humans. Detection and containment of these pathogens before their spillover into humans would save lives and money.  Dr. Marcia Castro, Andelot Professor of Demography ...
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Thanksgiving’s 400 million pound footprint on climate change
24Nov By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Economy, Loyola Marymount University, Science, Video

Thanksgiving’s 400 million pound footprint on climate change

By Genesis Jefferson, Brandon Lang https://youtu.be/6TApGoc2KEQ After generous amounts of turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie where do all those leftovers end up? And where do all those ingredients come from in the first place? Dr. Ermias Kebreab, associate Dean and professor of Animal Science at the University of California Davis, explains how food production affects climate change and what you can do this Thanksgiving to help limit your climate footprint. This Thanksgiving, Climate360News encourages you to reflect on the history of colonialism in the United States. Visit native-land.ca to learn more and join the conversation today.
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What is reef-safe sunscreen, and why is it important?
11Aug By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Kent State University, Science

What is reef-safe sunscreen, and why is it important?

By Connor Fallon, Grace Springer Graphic by Connor Fallon Sunscreen is a product made to protect humans from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, however, some ingredients found in sunscreen put our marine life in danger.   Reef-harming chemicals found in sunscreen are introduced into the environment when people wear sunscreen while swimming. Research says that 4,000 to 6,000 tons of sunscreen enters reef areas annually. These chemicals can also enter the ocean from overspray of aerosol sunscreens or through shower drains while rinsing off.   Chemicals commonly found in sunscreens can cause permanent DNA damage to coral and the more than one million other organisms that call reefs home around the world. Coral reefs are also a vital contribution to...
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Politically charged science issues like climate change and COVID-19 motivate STEM students to get involved in the political process
28Jul By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Louisiana State University, Policy, Science

Politically charged science issues like climate change and COVID-19 motivate STEM students to get involved in the political process

STEM students voted at the lowest records in the 2012 and 2016 national elections compared to other majors, according to the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com By Nicole Nguyen With COVID-19 surging again in the U.S. and the impacts of climate change intensifying, the relevancy of science in politics and public policy is perhaps as important as it’s ever been.   The urgency around these issues has led to scientists and other professional interest groups to get involved in the political process. For example, Scientific American, an American science magazine, broke 175 years of tradition in 2020 by endorsing a presidential candidate.   Citing then-President Donald Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandem...
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Experts say preparing the next generation to combat climate change involves rethinking how American public schools teach science
27Jul By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Louisiana State University, Science

Experts say preparing the next generation to combat climate change involves rethinking how American public schools teach science

Photo by ThisIsEngineering on Pexels.com By Josh Archote Climate change is what science educator Laura Tucker would call a “wicked problem.”  Its impacts aren’t immediately obvious to many and require proactive, coordinated responses from governments across the world. It’s the kind of global issue that connects science to every other subject: politics, economics, sustainability, social justice and many more.   This offers science teachers an opportunity to rethink how they teach the subject, and science more generally, to prepare the next generation to deal with global warming, Tucker said.   “The great thing about climate change is that it’s not a simple thing. Because of all these interconnected systems, it doesn’t have an easy answer,” she said. “It crosses...
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LSU activists developing hydroponic farming system to battle food insecurity in Baton Rouge
21Jul By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Community, Louisiana State University, Science, Technology

LSU activists developing hydroponic farming system to battle food insecurity in Baton Rouge

By Domenic Purdy BATON ROUGE, LA — Louisiana State University activists are developing a hydroponic farming system to combat food insecurity in Baton Rouge.  The project is in its early stages and is titled the Amical Cabral Project—named after an African agricultural engineer from Guinea-Bissau. In coordination with LSU’s Ag Center, biological engineering senior Soheil Saneei, founder of the Baton Rouge political organization Cooperation Rouge, is exploring sustainable solutions for feeding the community. Climate change will make feeding the world’s growing population more difficult by drying out once arable land and increasing extreme weather that damages crops. Hydroponics has been considered an adaptation to this problem since it doesn’t require soil.  Hydroponic ...
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Three alarming facts you need to know about the Pacific Northwest heatwave
13Jul By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments
Loyola Marymount University, Science

Three alarming facts you need to know about the Pacific Northwest heatwave

2021 has been defined by catastrophic events related to climate change. The heatwave in the Pacific Northwest has broken several heat records and been defined by triple-digit temperatures. Graphic by Cristobal Spielmann. By Cristobal Spielmann 2021 has proven to be a year of noteworthy climate change-related events, none more evident than the recent heatwave sweeping over the northwest U.S. and parts of Canada. Here are some of the reasons why this heatwave should worry you.  These heat records are indicative of an important measurement of climate change.  One misunderstanding of climate change is that, because of increasing average temperatures, cold temperatures and record colds won’t happen or that the existence of colder days somehow ...
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