Climate news can’t be ignored – every week brings reports detailing its devastating impact. For some of the world’s most vulnerable areas, it could even mean life or death.
Climate change impacts everyone’s health in a negative manner, increasing risk through extreme weather events such as heat waves and drought. Furthermore, vector-borne diseases like malaria only flourish in certain environments.
TikTok Takes a Stand Against Climate Misinformation
TikTok has taken steps to combat climate misinformation by removing videos that deny climate change and redirecting users to authoritative information from independent fact-checkers. This marks a positive step in combatting denial-based content that’s rapidly spreading on its platform.
Twitter and Pinterest, two other prominent social media platforms, have already taken similar steps to combat climate-related misinformation through public policies created in conjunction with experts.
The Economic Value of Kelp Forests
Kelp forests around the globe play an essential role in society as they provide multiple ecosystem services – including nutrient cycling, carbon removal and fisheries production.
Kelp forests play an essential role in coastal ecosystems by helping slow ocean currents and reduce wave action onshore, thus decreasing erosion and increasing property values – thus making kelp forests an integral component of coastal ecology.
Valuing ecosystem services can be an extremely complex endeavor. To enable effective conservation and management of this critical habitat, it is crucial that a global assessment of their ecological and economic value be completed.
Microplastics in the Tennessee River
Microplastics are small pieces of plastic debris found floating in water that pose an imminent risk to marine and freshwater wildlife. Unfortunately, their presence remains relatively unstudied despite many causes, such as recycling failure and littering practices that contribute to their presence.
Scientists are conducting studies to assess how these particles impact fish populations in the Tennessee River, home to hundreds of species who rely on its waters for sustenance and survival.
Professor Martin Knoll from Sewanee University collaborated with Andreas Fath from Furtwangen University, Germany to gain more understanding on this matter by swimming 652 miles of the Tennessee River over 34 days.
Can New York City Adapt to Rapidly Rising Sea Levels?
New York City is renowned as an urban center, boasting many of the world’s most iconic structures. However, coastal boroughs along Hudson River and Atlantic Ocean could soon be under water due to sea level rise.
NYC is the nation’s most densely populated city, yet also boasts some of the most vulnerable infrastructure in terms of power plants and grid infrastructure – an estimated 60% are situated in high risk zones requiring swift action to relocate, protect or raise them to ensure safety.
UNICEF Report Shows Children to Be the Biggest Victims of Water Crisis
UNICEF reports indicate that over 450 million children worldwide reside in areas of extreme water vulnerability – meaning they do not have access to clean drinking water on a daily basis.
Water scarcity around the world can be caused by low rainfall, groundwater mining, polluted bodies and climate change, among other sources.
Metals in Drinking Water
After the Flint drinking water crisis, lead has come into the national consciousness as one of the many metal contaminants which may find their way into tap water supplies. Unfortunately, naturally occurring contaminants pose a hidden threat which may harm health when bioaccumulated over time.
Some of the more prevalent metals found in water include arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead mercury and selenium – each potentially toxic for humans and animals if consumed in large quantities.
Egypt’s Water Crisis
Egypt is facing increasing water shortages as its population surges forward. This problem is compounded by its main water source – the Nile – reaching only barely into Mediterranean Sea territory.
Climate change compounds this crisis by increasing flooding and soil salinization, harming crops and diminishing their yields of food.
Egypt’s agriculture sector, which supports one quarter of its population and uses 86% of freshwater withdrawals, relies heavily on irrigation water supplies for production capacity and farmer livelihoods. If shortages worsen further, production capacities will diminish further and farmers’ livelihoods could be put at risk.
