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Climate change is a pollution problem, and countries know how to deal with pollution threats – think DDT and acid rain

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Climate change could seem insurmountable. But if you happen to take a closer have a look at its causes, you realize that history is stuffed with similar health and environmental threats that humanity has overcome.

The predominant explanation for climate change is carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels – is just one other pollutant. And countries know how to reduce harmful pollutants. They did so with the pesticide DDT, lead paint, and power plant emissions that caused acid rain, amongst many others.

In each case, growing public outcry eventually led to policy changes, despite industry resistance. Under pressure from laws and regulations, industry ramped up production of safer alternatives.

I’m earth and environmental scientistand my latest book “Reclaiming our planet,” explores the teachings of history in overcoming seemingly insurmountable threats. Here are some examples:

DDT ban despite industry opposition

DDT was the primary truly effective pesticide and considered miraculous. Killing mosquitoes and lice, eliminated malaria and other diseases in lots of countries, and in agriculture it saved tons of crops.

After World War II, DDT was utilized in farms, buildings and gardens throughout the United States. However, it also had its drawbacks. accumulated in mother’s milk to levels that would deliver a toxic dose to infants. Women were It was discouraged breastfed their children within the Sixties due to the risks.

The American bald eagle population was decimated by DDT. After the chemical was banned, the eagles began to get better.
United States Fish and Wildlife Service

In addition, DDT bioaccumulated within the food chain to toxic levels in peak species reminiscent of raptors. This weakened eggshells to the purpose that brood moms crushed their eggs. White-tailed eagles were reduced to 417 breeding pairs throughout North America by 1967 and were placed on the endangered species list.

Biologist Rachel Carson documented the damage DDT caused to her body 1962 book “Silent Spring”“and thus launched the general public environmental movement. Despite disinformation campaigns and attacks from the chemical industry, enormous social pressure on politicians led to congressional hearings, state and federal restrictions and finally the USA ban on the overall use of DDT in 1972.

A woman speaks at a table in front of several microphones during a congressional hearing.
Rachel Carson, whose book “Silent Spring” pioneered pesticide research, testifies before a Senate committee in Washington, D.C., June 4, 1963.
AP Photo/Charles Gorry

White-tailed Eagles recovered up to 320,000 within the United States by 2017, in regards to the same because the population before European settlement. The chemical industry, faced with the ban on DDT, quickly developed much safer pesticides.

Gathering evidence on the risks of lead

Application of lead increased dramatically within the twentieth centuryespecially in paints, plumbing and gasoline. It was so common that nearly everyone was exposed to metal that, according to research, could also be harmful the kid’s kidneys, liver, cardiovascular system and brain development.

Clair “Pat” Patterson, a geochemist on the California Institute of Technology, has shown that Americans were continually exposed to lead at near toxic levels. Human skeletons from the Sixties were found to have up to 1200 times lead of ancient skeletons. Today health standards say that it is no protected level of lead within the blood.

Older home with peeling paint on exterior walls behind porch. Construction equipment is on a new step that is being built on porch.
Lead-based paint was banned for home use within the U.S. in 1978, but lead paint present in older homes can still chip, posing a health risk to children.
Environmental Protection Agency

Despite threats each personal and skilled, and an industry disinformation campaign, Patterson and his supporters evidence has been collected from years warn the general public and ultimately pressure politicians to ban the usage of lead in lots of applications, including petrol AND residential paints.

After the regulations were introduced, the industry accelerated production of substitutesAs a result, the extent of lead within the blood of kids reduced by 97% over the following few a long time. Although lead exposure is now less common, some persons are still exposed to dangerous levels present in homes, pipes and soil, often in low-income neighborhoods.

Stopping Acid Rain: An International Concern

Acid rain is primarily brought on by the discharge of sulfur dioxide into the air in the course of the burning of coal, high-sulfur oil, and the smelting and refining of metals. interacts with rain or fogThe acid rain that falls can destroy forests, kill lake ecosystems, dissolve monuments and corrode infrastructure.

The damage brought on by acid rain in Europe and North America within the twentieth century showed the world that air pollution, which is not limited to national borders, can grow to be a world crisis requiring international solutions.

The problem of acid rain began greater than a hundred years ago, but sulfur dioxide levels grew rapidly after World War IIIn 1952, a thermal inversion occurred in London, which resulted within the concentration of sulfur dioxide and other air pollutants being so high that killed 1000’s of individualsAs damage to forests and lakes worsened across Europe, countries signed international agreements In the Eighties, actions were taken to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.

A forest with many trees without the needs of pines.
Trees died as a results of acid rain within the Czech Republic in 1998. Forests in lots of parts of Europe and North America have suffered damage from acid rain.
Photo by Seitz/ullstein via Getty Images

In the US, emissions from Midwestern power plants killed fish and trees within the pristine Adirondacks. The destruction, health problems and quite a few disasters outraged public opinion, to which politicians responded.

Sulfur dioxide listed as certainly one of six criteria for air pollution in groundbreaking study U.S. Clean Air Act of 1970which required the federal government to set limits on its release. Power plants scrubbers installed to capture pollution and over the following 40 years, the concentration of sulfur dioxide within the U.S. reduced by about 95%.

Parallels with climate change

There are many similarities between these examples and climate change today.

Mountains scientific evidence show how carbon dioxide emissions are created by burning fossil fuels in vehicles, factories and power plants They are warming the planetThe fossil fuel industry has begun to exploit its political power AND disinformation campaigns a long time ago to block regulations the aim of which was to decelerate climate change.

People all around the world are struggling with increasing heat and weather disasters brought on by global warming. calling for motion to stop climate change and spend money on cleaner energy.

First Earth Dayin 1970, it attracted 20 million people. Recent years have seen a change in attitudes towards climate change and attracted hundreds of thousands people all around the world.

The street was packed with people, many holding signs calling on the Biden administration to take action on climate change.
Public campaigns and mass demonstrations to combat climate change, reminiscent of the one in New York in 2023, help to put social pressure on politicians.
Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

The challenge was to get politicians to act, but that is is slowly changing in lots of countries.

The United States has begun investing in scaling up several tools to mitigate climate changeincluding electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels. Federal and state policies reminiscent of requirements for renewable energy production and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are also key to pushing industries to switch to less harmful alternatives.

Climate change is a global problem that may require worldwide motion. International agreements are also helping more countries take steps forward. One change that countries have been discussing for years could help bolster those efforts: ending billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded fossil fuel subsidies and allocating these funds to healthier solutions could help decelerate climate change.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Runner dedicates New York City Marathon to preventing gun violence

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Like the 50,000 other individuals who lined the starting line of the New York City Marathon on November 3, Trevon Bosley of Chicago was prepared to push his body to the limit over the 26.2-mile distance. Unlike them though Bosley dedicated his run to deceased relations and preventing the gun violence that took their lives.

Bosley’s cousin, Vincent Avant, was shot to death on a street near his family’s home in 2005, according to NBC News.

Then in 2021, Bosley’s brother, 18-year-old Terrell, was fatally shot outside the Lights of Zion Church in Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood.

“It really shook up everything in the family,” Bosley told NBC News. The family stopped celebrating holidays and even listening to music. “We only started to find relief through preventive measures.”

Bosley was a mentor for the Chicago organization Bold Resistance Against Violence Everywhere (BRAVE), which organizes talent shows, basketball tournaments and other programs. This work led him to meet with victims of the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, where he shared stories about his group members’ experiences with gun violence in Chicago.

The Parkland school shooting ultimately led to the creation of March For Our Lives, a gun violence advocacy group founded by youth survivors of the shooting, of which Bosley is now co-chair.

Bosley told NBC News that to help him cope with the aftermath of his brother’s death, he took up running.

“I needed something to calm me down and take my mind off it,” he said. “I’ve heard people say that they find running relaxing and that it helps them.” Bosley said that running frequently “really started to clear my head and it just had a positive effect on me.”

Bosley participated within the New York City Marathon as a part of a bunch of runners representing Team Inspire, a bunch of 26 runners with various levels of marathon experience facilitated by the marathon organizing group, New York Road Runners.

While his thoughts were on his brother in the course of the race, his pre-race thoughts were also on Chicago, which has develop into embedded within the national imagination as a spot where gun violence is rampant.

Although gun violence has declined in recent times, Bosley said gun violence in Chicago is due to “many problems,” including an absence of funding for education for the town’s youth, an absence of workforce programs and an influx of weapons from friendly nations weapons.

“Indiana is only a 15-minute drive,” Bosley told NBC News. “So we have all these other issues that we’re trying to reduce in our community, and now we’re dealing with a flood of guns. This has caused the gun violence we see in Chicago.”

According to a 2022 research paper published in , Chicago is one among the cities where social violence interventionists are used.

In 2022, the town spent $50 million on these programs along side the $5 billion national commitment for community violence intervention programs under President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Health and Wellness

Tyler Lepley and Miracle Watts are engaged!

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One of the web’s hottest couples, Miracle Watts and Tyler Lepley, 37, are about to begin planning their wedding. Watts shared her engagement photo on Instagram, and the post has since gained nearly half one million likes.

The actress and social media personality captioned the photo with an engagement ring. The photo shows a white heart-shaped garland of flowers with the words “Will you marry me” in the center. Lepley smiled as he knelt on one knee, holding his future wife’s ring finger. The stars wore all black of their engagement photo and looked dazzling and joyful.

This engagement may come as a surprise to some fans, considering Miracle recently gained popularity after asking a matter about how long it should take a person to marry a girl during Q&A on her YouTube canal.

“I have a question. Do you think it is disrespectful for a man not to marry a woman after being with her for a certain number of years if they both agree to it? marriage is something they need?” she asked in a YouTube video.

Answering her own query, Watts replied, “Yes. I do. Yes, and we’re getting near that time… Better get your act together.

Lepley told a social media commenter on the time that the engagement was “closer than you think” and lower than six months later he popped the query. The actor has actually pulled himself together and is doing all the things in his power to make the matter official.

The engaged couple met on the set of P-Valley in 2021 and since then they’ve been like two cents in a pod. Over the years, we have seen them share glimpses of their love, whether it was Tyler washing Miracle’s braids, vacationing in Bermuda, or popping up at a club.

They now even have a tangible piece of their love; the couple gave birth to their first child together, a boy named Xi Leì Lepley, in October 2022.

The actor also has two children, Leo and Jade, together with his ex April King.

Congratulations to the couple and we will not wait to see their story unfold live!

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

Indigenous people are 4 times more likely to die from diabetes. We need to better understand how exercise can help

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It is estimated that just about 1.9 million Australians suffer from diabetes, and the variety of these people is increasing. In the years 2013–2023, the whole variety of people with diabetes in the whole country increased by 32%.

As within the case of a series health conditionsdiabetes disproportionately affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Indigenous Australians are three times more likely diagnosed with diabetes than non-Indigenous Australians. Are 4.4 times more likely die from this.

Among other things, physical activity plays a very important role in stopping and treating type 2 diabetes. However, our latest study, published within the journal Medical Journal of Australiashows that we do not know enough concerning the role of physical activity in stopping and managing type 2 diabetes in First Nations people.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a condition wherein it occurs an excessive amount of glucose (sugar) within the blood. There are several types of diabetes, but probably the most common is type 2 diabetes. In people with type 2 diabetesthe body becomes resistant to the motion of insulin – a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.

Risk aspects for type 2 diabetes include a family history of diabetes, being obese and hypertension.

The high rate of diabetes in indigenous communities is essentially influenced by… social determinants of health. For example, we all know food insecurity disproportionately affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly in rural and distant communities. This can make it difficult to stick to a healthy food regimen, which in turn affects your overall health.

People in distant indigenous communities in addition they often have poorer access to education and employment opportunities, adequate housing and high-quality health care. All these aspects can contribute to worsening health.

First Nations communities do especially high stakes younger onset type 2 diabetes (often defined as diagnosis before the age of 40).

If diabetes shouldn’t be treated effectively, it can lead to numerous complicationsincluding long-term damage to the guts, kidneys, eyes and feet. Diabetes can affect all elements of an individual’s life, including their life sanity.

People with diabetes need to monitor their blood sugar levels.
Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock

Lifestyle interventions (food regimen and physical activity) are generally really helpful as a part of the treatment plan. for type 2 diabetes.

We wanted to understand how physical activity interventions could help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with diabetes.

Our research

There is powerful evidence that it plays more than simply a task in stopping diabetes exercise is helpful for people already diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Physical activity is related to lower levels glycated hemoglobin within the blood (an indicator of glucose control), reduced levels of lipids within the blood equivalent to cholesterol, and weight reduction. The evidence suggests a mix aerobic and resistance exercises could also be better than either mode alone.

We reviewed research examining the impact of physical activity interventions and programs on the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes amongst First Nations Australians.

We only found nine studies that investigated physical activity interventions to prevent or manage type 2 diabetes in Indigenous adults.

There is evidence linking physical activity with improved outcomes for Indigenous Australians with type 2 diabetes. However, the worth of the outcomes was affected by weaknesses within the study design and the shortage of Indigenous involvement within the design and conduct of the studies.

A man running along the road.
Exercise is very important in stopping and treating type 2 diabetes.
sutadimages/Shutterstock

The high-quality evidence gap

There are many elements of stopping and managing diabetes that tend to be more difficult for people in First Nations communities, especially those living in rural or distant areas.

Additionally, latest technologies that can help manage diabetes, equivalent to continuous glucose monitorsare often very expensive.

It is incredibly vital what Indigenous Australians with diabetes have access to appropriate support for diabeticseducation and services.

In particular, health, cultural, and socioeconomic differences may impact participation in physical activity. What constitutes realistic exercise opportunities may differ for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to other Australians.

Previous data has shown that Indigenous Australians are less likely to socialize recommendations for physical activity than non-Indigenous Australians.

Factors that will influence physical activity levels amongst First Nations people include access to protected, accessible, family-friendly, and inexpensive places to exercise. These could also be limited in regional and distant communities.



Overall, we found a scarcity of reliable data on whether and what kinds of exercise may profit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with type 2 diabetes.

Given that physical activity is the cornerstone of treatment for type 2 diabetes, we need more rigorous research on this area. These studies should be well designed and culturally appropriate. They must engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in any respect levels of the research process.

Targeted research will help us discover the perfect ways to increase physical activity and understand its advantages for Indigenous people with type 2 diabetes.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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