climate change – Climate360 News

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 ...

9Nov

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Community, Loyola Marymount University, Opinion

Climate change reporting lies with us

By Ashley Buschhorn Climate change is ravaging our planet, killing crops, driving animals to extinction and, yes, killing people, yet the mainstream media's coverage of the issue is woefully lacking. “The state of coverage does not meet the state of emergency,” CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir told Climate360 News. A new report shows that 85% of the world population has experienced a weather event that has been worsened by climate change. The report also showed that global warming has affected 80% of the world’s land area. When you consider these events one by one you discover the human-impact of them. Whether it is Texans freezing to death in the 2021 winter storm or refugee camps in South Sudan being swept away by flash floods, there is a toll on human life br...

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...

Land loss is happening right under our noses: Here’s how an artist preserves scents from disappearing coastal communities

9Aug

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Community, Louisiana State University

Land loss is happening right under our noses: Here’s how an artist preserves scents from disappearing coastal communities

French artist Manon Bellet collects water from a swamp while working on her olfactory project, “Golden Waste,” during her residency at A Studio in the Woods. Photo by Sabree Hill By Ava Borskey BATON ROUGE, LA — Most of Manon Bellet’s artistic work deals with time, ephemerality and disappearance. “Our confrontation of human beings seeing something that we can never catch, metaphorically our lives, but obviously the world around us and the world we live in,” Bellet said. “My work always picked up the fragility of the human being and the place we’re in.” But it wasn’t until the French visual artist moved to New Orleans in 2016 that her work began addressing environmental issues, like climate change. “Living in Louisiana…basically faced me directly on the vis...

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...

Louisiana photographer takes unconventional approach to capturing climate change on the Gulf Coast

24Jul

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Community, Louisiana State University

Louisiana photographer takes unconventional approach to capturing climate change on the Gulf Coast

Pictured left: Louisiana Highway 1 Bridge over Bayou Lafourche sinks each year as a result of coastal erosion and ground subsidence. High water frequently closes the highway to travel. Pictured right: The southernmost area of Louisiana, Plaquemines Parish, is located at the end of the Mississippi River. It's often the first line of defense for severe hurricanes that hit the state. Photos by Virginia Hanusik By Sydney McGovern BATON ROUGE, LA – If you keep up with climate change, you’ve probably seen images of disaster – homes ravaged by forest fires or cities slain by hurricanes. Aerial shots of flooded streets, destroyed buildings and dying ecosystems have long dominated the visual story of climate change. But that’s not what you’ll find in Virginia Hanusik’s photography. Instead...

Anxiety around climate change adding to mental health issues among America’s youth

19Jul

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Community, Louisiana State University

Anxiety around climate change adding to mental health issues among America’s youth

Gen Zers and millennials are more anxious about climate change than their Baby Boomer counterparts. Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com By Domenic Purdy The American public is becoming increasingly anxious about climate change, especially younger generations. Sixty eight percent of Americans feel climate change is affecting their mental health, according to a 2020 American Psychiatric Association poll. That number rose by 21 percentage points compared to 2019. America’s youth are especially concerned: Sixty-seven percent of Generation Z (18-23 years) and 63% of millennials (24-39 years) are somewhat or very concerned about the impact of climate change on their mental health. Just 42% of Baby Boomers (56-74 years) and 58% of Gen Xers (40-55 years) feel the same, the poll...

Generational gaps: Young people more worried about climate change than their parents

16Jul

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Community, Louisiana State University

Generational gaps: Young people more worried about climate change than their parents

Recent polls find that younger people are more likely to be concerned about climate change and participate in environmental activism than older generations. Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com By Domenic Purdy Younger generations are more engaged in climate activism and more worried about global warming than their parents. A Pew Research poll from May found that 67% of Generation Z and 71% of millennials agree that tackling climate change should be a top priority of government, businesses and individuals. This is compared to 63% of Generation X and 57% of Baby Boomers. “A consistent finding is that young people have been more concerned than older people about taking care of the environment,” former Syracuse University sociology professor Richard Braungart said. Taking perso...

President Joe Biden’s climate change actions–and inactions–explained

14Jul

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Louisiana State University, Policy

President Joe Biden’s climate change actions–and inactions–explained

President Joe Biden signed an executive order to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement on his first day in office, undoing former President Donald Trump's actions in 2020. Photo by Gage Skidmore By Sydney McGovern One of President Joe Biden’s primary campaign platforms centered on combating the effects of climate change. He pledged to “tackle the climate emergency, plan for a clean energy future and secure environmental justice.” But after six months in office, some environmental activists say that the administration has fallen short on its goals and evaded its promises. Here’s a five-point break down of Biden’s climate change campaign action plan and how the president has lived up to his commitments so far. “I. Ensure the U.S...

‘It taps another sense’: Artists’ role in the fight against climate change

12Jul

By Climate 360 NewsNo Comments

Community, Louisiana State University

‘It taps another sense’: Artists’ role in the fight against climate change

This piece, titled Poux de sable à la Grande Île (Sand Lice on Grand Isle), was painted by Jonathan Mayers during his time in residency for A Studio in the Woods. By Ava Borskey BATON ROUGE, LA — Tucked away on the western bank of the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana, you’ll find an artistic and academic residency retreat known as A Studio in the Woods. Ama Rogan, the current managing director of A Studio in the Woods, has been with the program since its founding in 2001. “Our mission is really to support artists and scholars—and the general public that has access—to foster creative responses to the challenges of our time. Of course, a huge one is the climate crisis that we find ourselves in,” Rogan said. A program of Tulane University’s Bywater Institute, A Stud...