tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/university-of-gothenburg-1351/articlesThe University of Gothenburg2024-03-13T16:20:57Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2244552024-03-13T16:20:57Z2024-03-13T16:20:57ZWomen favour climate actions that benefit future generations more than men – new study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579173/original/file-20240301-30-6h6n1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Connecting with the climate risks that could be faced by future generations could influence support for better policies now. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/diverse-hands-join-together-on-wooden-642952270">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The decisions we make now inevitably shape the prospects for generations to come. So tackling a long-term problem like climate change raises an intergenerational moral dilemma: should we invest in solutions that might not personally benefit ourselves but will help future generations reach net zero – or should money be spent to ensure everyone right now has the best possible quality of life? </p>
<p>Some of these choices people make may depend on gender. Women are more likely than men to be more concerned for the wellbeing of future generations and more likely to bear the costs of costly climate mitigation policies. New <a href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae105">research</a> into this intergenerational altruism examines the attitudes and behaviours of 1,600 Swedish citizens, and has found a significant difference between women and men. </p>
<p>Women tend to make more climate-friendly choices than men, according to <a href="https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/0022-4537.00177">previous research</a>. A <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08941920.2011.651191">study based on Gallup polls</a> involving more than 6,000 US citizens found that women are more worried than men about health-related environmental problems. However, previous research had little to say about whether women deal with environmental intergenerational dilemmas differently than men. </p>
<p>Curious about whether women are more likely to favour costly environmental actions that benefit future generations, our team, including the researchers Gustav Agneman and Sofia Henriks, asked participants to state how many children they have or would like to have. Then they were told how many descendants they could have in 250 years and asked to distribute imaginary resources across generations.</p>
<p>Participants were encouraged to reflect on the fact that if we use up all resources today, there will be none left for future generations. Finally, they were asked whether they’d support climate policies that would increase the costs of aviation, food, fuel and clothes. </p>
<p>A control group of participants were simply asked about their attitudes toward these costly climate policies without being told their estimated number of descendants or how they might distribute resources. Support for climate policies was compared across these two groups. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579175/original/file-20240301-18-2bps6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="adult and child walk away from camera along path in forest, green grass and tree trunks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579175/original/file-20240301-18-2bps6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579175/original/file-20240301-18-2bps6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579175/original/file-20240301-18-2bps6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579175/original/file-20240301-18-2bps6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579175/original/file-20240301-18-2bps6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579175/original/file-20240301-18-2bps6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579175/original/file-20240301-18-2bps6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Researchers surveyed responses of 1,600 Swedish adults and found that reflecting on future generations changed their support for climate mitigation policies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/family-hiking-forest-sayan-mountains-siberia-1424583575">avtk/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Results show clear gender differences. Women were more supportive of costly climate mitigation policies when they had been informed about their projected number of descendants and had distributed resources across generations. Men were not more likely to support costly climate mitigation policy when asked to contemplate future generations.</p>
<p>Women expressed more worries about the impact of climate change, indicating that when women reflect on their future generations, they become more concerned about climate change and its impact on the planet, and more willing to invest in climate solutions now. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sjop.12995">large body</a> of <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1987-97607-000">social psychology research</a> on gender stereotypes shows that women are seen, and see themselves, as more caring and nurturing than men. The gender differences found in our study could be explained by nurturing traits being activated more significantly in women than men when reflecting on the climate risks that their descendants might face. </p>
<h2>Future implications</h2>
<p>Some citizens seem willing to bear the costs of climate mitigation policies to benefit future generations. Our study suggests that making people aware of the consequences of their behaviour and helping them to psychologically connect to future generations may lead them to be more willing to make environmentally friendly choices. This suggests that political campaigns that stress environmental consequences are not futile. </p>
<p>Women are not necessarily the only people likely to respond to such calls for intergenerational altruism in the future. Gender stereotypes are changing in society. <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00037/full">Previous research</a> has <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167200262001">indicated</a> that changes in the workforce <a href="https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/sipr.12060">influence</a> how men and women are perceived and socialised. If boys are encouraged from an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3200/GNTP.168.2.177-200">early age to be more caring of others</a>, traits traditionally associated with femininity could become more widespread among men. </p>
<p>Perhaps then more men might favour environmental actions that benefit future generations. Until then, women’s voices in the climate mitigation debate should clearly be listened to.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hanna Bäck receives funding from The Swedish Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma A. Renström (prev. Bäck) receives funding from The Swedish Research Council. </span></em></p>Attitudes towards climate policies partly depend on a consideration of future, as yet unborn, descendants. Women tended to show more ability to think about how future generations could benefit.Hanna Bäck, Professor of Political Science, Lund UniversityEmma A. Renström (prev. Bäck), Professor, Department of Psychology, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2248772024-03-06T09:54:08Z2024-03-06T09:54:08ZUS Christian right has taken aim at LGBTIQ+ rights, sex education and abortion in Africa – new book<p><em>A new <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-46653-3">book</a> – The US Christian Right and Pro-Family Politics in 21st Century Africa – reveals the role played by some right wing US Christian groups in trying to spread their social and moral influence in African countries. Sociologist Haley McEwen, who <a href="https://www.gu.se/en/about/find-staff/haleymcewen">specialises</a> in the subject, answers five questions about her book.</em></p>
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<h2>What do you want readers to take away?</h2>
<p>I hope that readers can better understand the reasons why lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) rights, abortion and sexuality education have become so highly politicised in African countries (and other parts of the world) in recent years. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanas-new-anti-homosexuality-bill-violates-everyones-rights-not-just-lgbtiq-people-expert-224888">Ghana's new anti-homosexuality bill violates everyone's rights, not just LGBTIQ+ people - expert</a>
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<p>Campaigns or backlash against gender equality, sexuality education, and LGBTIQ+ inclusion in schools and communities often have the appearance of being led by local or “grassroots” interests. But deeper scrutiny often reveals that transatlantic pro-family networks, activists and organisations catalyse, coordinate and finance these activities. </p>
<p>The book is focused on the attempts of “pro-family” groups to erode sexuality and gender equality. But it also serves as a case study of their ultra-conservative agenda. And how it’s working to dislodge and undermine the efforts of historically marginalised people to achieve social justice, equal recognition and rights.</p>
<h2>What is the pro-family movement?</h2>
<p>The pro-family movement is a transnational <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/world-congress-families">network</a> of conservative activists and organisations. They <a href="https://profam.org">claim</a> they are “pro-family”. But they’re clearly <a href="https://profam.org/article-16/world-family-declaration/">only interested</a> in protecting and defending one kind of family: the heterosexual, monogamous, married nuclear family structure.</p>
<p>Key to this is opposing the recognition of gender and sexuality diversity. Pro-family groups campaign against issues such as access to <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2022-09-25/unholy-alliance-the-far-right-religious-network-attacking-reproductive-and-lgbtq-rights/">contraception and abortion</a>, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/religious-leaders-in-malawi-protest-same-sex-marriage/7179790.html">same-sex marriage</a> and the availability of <a href="https://theconversation.com/americas-right-is-lobbying-against-south-africas-sex-education-syllabus-126356">sexuality education</a> in schools. They claim these issues threaten the nuclear (or, in their terms, “natural” or “traditional”) family.</p>
<h2>What is its agenda in Africa?</h2>
<p>The pro-family movement has its origins in the US Christian right’s “family values” <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/globalizing-family-values">movement</a>. This emerged in opposition to the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Since the early 2000s, Christian right activists have been working to grow their advocacy networks in African countries. </p>
<p>There are many reasons for their interest in Africa. But a key objective is gaining the buy-in of African political leaders to support pro-family advocacy at the United Nations (UN).</p>
<p>They’ve worked to do this through the <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/us-christian-right-group-hosts-anti-lgbt-training-african-politicians/">mentorship</a> of African religious and political leaders. The World Congress of Families has held <a href="https://www.okayafrica.com/world-congress-of-families-holds-anti-lgbt-conference-in-ghana/">regional conferences</a> in a number of countries. These have included South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. They also directly <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/trump-us-christian-spending-global-revealed/">fund African organisations</a> that are pursuing local pro-family agendas. </p>
<p>One of the lead authors of the recently passed <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanas-new-anti-homosexuality-bill-violates-everyones-rights-not-just-lgbtiq-people-expert-224888">Human Sexuality and Family Values bill</a> in Ghana has spoken publicly about his <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hon-sam-nartey-george-2a001a253_i-am-currently-in-utah-usa-attending-an-activity-6985364940916215808-epvP">attendance</a> at US pro-family conferences. He’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B40xpKyu9GU">joined</a> the movement’s advocacy against LGBTIQ+ rights at the UN. </p>
<p>Leading proponents of the recent Ugandan <a href="https://theconversation.com/ugandas-anti-homosexuality-law-is-a-patriarchal-backlash-against-progress-206681">anti-homosexuality act</a> also have <a href="https://democracyinafrica.org/the-american-religious-right-and-the-anti-lgbtq-movement-in-uganda-family-watch-international-sharon-slater-and-the-entebbe-conference/">links</a>. In 2023, <a href="http://citizengo.org/en-row">three</a> <a href="https://kcpf.or.ke">conservative</a> <a href="https://eaclj.com">organisations</a> in Kenya <a href="https://www.aciafrica.org/news/8072/proposed-family-protection-bill-in-kenya-step-in-the-right-direction-catholic-activists">rallied support</a> for the creation of the Family Protection Bill. It seeks to criminalise homosexuality and prohibit comprehensive sexuality education. </p>
<p>So, the African pro-family movement has become increasingly home grown. Yet, my <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-46653-3">research</a> suggests the success of African campaigns appears to remain largely dependent on foreign investment.</p>
<h2>What does your book argue?</h2>
<p>The book unpacks how the three key issues targeted by the US Christian right are related. These are seen as threats to a social order based on the patriarchal family structure. (Men are breadwinners and decision makers, women are their dependants and subordinates, children have no agency in relation to their parents.)</p>
<p>Through their anti-choice and anti-LGBTIQ+ rights policies, pro-family groups are attempting to create a society in which the dominance of white, and now African, Christian men is accepted as “normal” or “traditional”. This lays the groundwork for the normalisation of a broader social order. One premised on the oppression of historically marginalised groups. </p>
<p>In the book, I refer to the work of intersectional and decolonial <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3810699">feminist</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3175493">scholars</a> who have shown how the nuclear family has served as a blueprint for creating societies that serve the interests of colonial power relations and racial capitalism. </p>
<h2>How successful have US Christian right organisations been in Africa?</h2>
<p>They have made strong connections and have had a great deal of influence in promoting anti-LGBTIQ+, anti-abortion, and anti-comprehensive sexuality education policy agendas in Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria. They’ve been less successful in South Africa. South Africa has a strong feminist and queer civil society voice and also constitutional commitments to ending all forms of discrimination.</p>
<p>On a continent-wide level, US Christian right groups like <a href="https://familywatch.org">Family Watch International</a> have been working to foster a pro-family movement. Shortly after the Ugandan parliament passed the 2023 anti-homosexuality bill, Family Watch International and its Africa office, sponsored the first African Inter-Parliamentary <a href="https://democracyinafrica.org/the-american-religious-right-and-the-anti-lgbtq-movement-in-uganda-family-watch-international-sharon-slater-and-the-entebbe-conference/">Forum</a> on Family Values and Sovereignty. It brought together African parliamentarians from 23 countries.</p>
<p>These groups are now working together at the United Nations through coalitions such as the <a href="https://unfamilyrightscaucus.org">UN Family Rights Caucus</a> to block inclusive policy language and frameworks at the international level.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/americas-right-is-lobbying-against-south-africas-sex-education-syllabus-126356">America's right is lobbying against South Africa's sex education syllabus</a>
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<p>Despite its varied policy gains, the pro-family movement has been influential in presenting itself as “decolonial”. It <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenya-could-follow-uganda-east-african-nations-wage-war-lgbt-rights-2023-06-22/">claims</a> that homosexuality and gender diversity are foreign imports that threaten African societies. </p>
<p>This claim rewrites <a href="https://www.arcados.ch/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MURRAY-ROSCOE-BOY-WIVES-FEMALE-HUSBANDS-98.pdf">actual</a> <a href="https://blogs.law.columbia.edu/uprising1313/files/2018/01/africatoday.58.1.55.pdf">colonial</a> histories. European regimes <a href="https://www.ahrlj.up.ac.za/ibrahim-am-2015">imposed</a> gender laws and hierarchies as a means of controlling African populations. </p>
<p>Colonialism was based not only on creating a racial hierarchy. It introduced gender itself as a colonial concept and mode of organising relations of production and property relations. European <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-long-moral-shadows-cast-by-south-africas-colonial-history-127123">“civilizing” missions</a> included measures such as anti-sodomy laws and missionary schooling. These were heavily dependent on the destruction of indigenous social systems. </p>
<p>As such, pro-family campaigning in Africa today can be viewed as a retooling of colonial control mechanisms. These not only serve western interests, but also elite, autocratic African ones.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224877/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Haley McEwen has received funding from the South African National Research Foundation</span></em></p>Ultra-conservative pro-family groups finance campaigns to influence the policies of governments and schools.Haley McEwen, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242342024-02-29T22:55:50Z2024-02-29T22:55:50ZBeyond the cafeteria: The economic case for investing in school meals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578771/original/file-20240228-18-mnuihk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=66%2C8%2C5492%2C3692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An investment in a national school food program today is an investment in a stronger Canada tomorrow.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The return on investing in universal school meals is clear. According to our new report, universal free school meals (breakfast and lunch for students regardless of income) have <a href="https://amberleyruetz.ca/assets/uploads/ruetz-consulting_the-economic-rationale-for-investing-in-school-meal-programs-for-canada.pdf">2.5 to seven times the return</a> in human health and economic benefits in comparable high-income countries. </p>
<p>The quality of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2017-0125">student diets in Canada across all socio-economic backgrounds is poor</a>, with only a small fraction meeting <a href="https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/">Canada’s Food Guide recommendations</a>. </p>
<p>Studies have shown that school-provided meals offer higher nutritional quality compared to home-packed lunches in many countries, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980012000699">Canada</a>, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1941406411399124">United States</a>, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114510001601">United Kingdom</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2018.29">Denmark</a>. </p>
<p>A national school food program would join <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/campaigns/child-care.html">Canada’s universal child care program</a> and the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/canada-child-benefit-overview.html">Canada child benefit</a> as a crucial social support, bringing immediate relief to families while also delivering several short to long-term economic and social benefits. </p>
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<img alt="An illustrated graphic titled 'the missing piece in existing social policies: national school food program'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578738/original/file-20240228-16-1t0o6e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Universal free school meals have 2.5 to seven times the return in human health and economic benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Immediate relief to household budgets</h2>
<p>Healthy food has become unaffordable for many Canadian families. In 2023, Canadians <a href="https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Canada%27s%20Food%20Price%20Report%202023_Digital.pdf">spent less on food</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/inflation-is-down-overall-so-why-are-my-grocery-bills-still-going-up-210122">despite rampant cost increases</a>, and this is only predicted to get worse.</p>
<p>The 2024 Canada’s Food Price Report anticipates <a href="https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/EN_CANADA%27S%20FOOD%20PRICE%20REPORT%202024.pdf">an annual increase of $701 in food costs</a> per four-person household, which means Canadian families can expect to spend $16,297 on groceries this year.</p>
<p>Universal school meals could <a href="https://amberleyruetz.ca/assets/uploads/ruetz-consulting_the-economic-rationale-for-investing-in-school-meal-programs-for-canada.pdf">save families between $129 and $189 per child per month on grocery bills</a>, according to our report. </p>
<p>Universal school meals would put more money back into the pockets of Canadians, helping them keep up with the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/the-grind-submissions-1.7043269">increased cost of living</a> and allowing them to afford healthy meals when their children are not in school.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578646/original/file-20240228-22-s5xddp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universal school meals could save families between $129 and $189 per child per month on grocery bills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Sweden, one study found that participation in a universal free school lunch program led to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdab028">permanent household income increase of 2.6 per cent</a>. </p>
<p>Importantly, this permanent increase was not attributed to reduced household food expenditures, meaning school meals can help increase affordability in the short-term and increase household incomes in the mid-term. </p>
<h2>Supporting women in the workforce</h2>
<p>Preparing healthy school lunches is tough when parents work long hours. Universal free school meals support parents — particularly <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209763245/globally-women-are-cooking-twice-as-many-meals-as-men">women, who often spend more time making meals</a> — <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13030911">by saving money and time, reducing financial stress, and guaranteeing kids eat well at school</a>. </p>
<p>This allows women to focus better at work, reduces interruptions and helps them achieve a healthier work-life balance, leading to increased productivity and career advancement opportunities.</p>
<p>In fact, the same Swedish study that was previously mentioned found that access to a universal free school lunch program increased mothers’ labour market participation by five per cent.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustrated graphic that lists the benefits of universal food programs on housholds and families" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578634/original/file-20240228-22-bph0sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School food programs support families and especially women, who often spend more time making meals than men do.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In China, the introduction of school lunches led to a <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11956/185233">nine to 14 per cent increase in mothers’ working hours per week</a>, with the greatest increases among low-income mothers and mothers in rural communities.</p>
<p>Overall, this means that in addition to increasing household income, universal free school meals can increase women’s workforce participation, thereby supporting gender equality, individual economic prosperity and national economic growth. </p>
<h2>Increasing earnings, reducing inequality</h2>
<p>In the long-term, universal free school lunches can also improve children’s health, academic performance and subsequent economic outcomes throughout life. </p>
<p>The previously mentioned Swedish study found that students exposed to a school lunch program throughout the entirety of primary school had <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdab028">three per cent higher lifetime earnings</a> compared to students that did not participate due to improved nutritional health and education outcomes. </p>
<p>Among children from households in the lowest income bracket, access to free school lunches led to a six per cent increase in lifetime earnings. The program had the greatest positive impact on students from low-income households, showcasing the role school meals can play in reducing socioeconomic inequalities in adulthood.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustrated graphic of a bar graph demonstrating that students’ lifetime earnings when they have access to a universal school food program" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578630/original/file-20240228-16-amimj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Sweden, access to universal free lunch increased students’ lifetime earnings, creating more equitable societies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Growing Canada’s agri-food economy</h2>
<p>Universal school meals can also support the Canadian agri-food sector. A national program has the potential to stimulate the <a href="https://sciencepolicy.ca/posts/national-school-food-program-a-short-term-opportunity-for-jobs-creation-and-economic-growth-2/">creation of as many as 207,700 jobs</a>. </p>
<p>Investments in school meal programs in <a href="https://www.choicesmagazine.org/UserFiles/file/cmsarticle_565.pdf">the U.S.</a> have led to the creation of jobs in food service, agriculture and nutrition and program administration, fuelling economic growth while curbing unemployment. </p>
<p>Furthermore, by adopting a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2012.0023">farm-to-school approach similar to that in the U.S.</a>, Canada could support local farmers and suppliers. According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, every dollar allocated to such programs generates an additional <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.338161">$1.30 to $2.60 in local economic activity</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, in British Columbia, every dollar allocated to procuring provincially grown food for public institutions yields a <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/growbc-feedbc-buybc/feed-bc-and-the-bc-food-hub-network#">twofold return to the economy</a>, showcasing the significant economic benefits of supporting local agriculture.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustrated graphic of a school with a farmer on one side and a vegetable stand on the other, with arrows leading from the school to both" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578625/original/file-20240228-18-s0zoch.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School food programs can support local farmers and food businesses and contribute to Canada’s agrifood sector.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Alexandra Sawatzky/Arrell Food Institute)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>School food programs are recognized internationally as <a href="https://executiveboard.wfp.org/document_download/WFP-0000038526">one of the most successful drivers of health and education among schoolchildren and increased productivity</a> when they become working adults, as reported by the World Food Programme. </p>
<p>Our new research summarizes the <a href="https://amberleyruetz.ca/assets/uploads/ruetz-consulting_the-economic-rationale-for-investing-in-school-meal-programs-for-canada.pdf">strong economic rationale for investing in school meal programs</a> in Canada. Universal school meals can not only provide immediate relief to families, but also build a legacy of improved public health and economic prosperity for generations to come. </p>
<p>An investment in a national school food program today is an investment in a stronger Canada tomorrow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224234/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amberley T. Ruetz receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Arrell Family Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Flora Zhang receives funding from the Arrell Family Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabrielle Edwards receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Arrell Family Foundation. </span></em></p>From reducing families’ grocery bills to boosting the economy, school meals offer far-reaching benefits, fostering both immediate well-being and long-term economic prosperity.Amberley T. Ruetz, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, University of SaskatchewanFlora Zhang, Master of Public Health Student, University of TorontoGabrielle Edwards, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Food and Nutrition and Sport Science, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2217902024-01-30T10:13:47Z2024-01-30T10:13:47ZDes produits chimiques dangereux trouvés dans des plastiques recyclés rendent leur utilisation dangereuse : des experts expliquent les risques<p>La pollution plastique est un fléau mondial. On trouve aujourd'hui des plastiques dans tous les <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04158">environnements</a> de la planète, des mers les plus profondes à l'atmosphère en passant par le corps humain. </p>
<p>Les preuves scientifiques <a href="https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.4056">décrivant les dommages</a> causés à l'environnement et aux êtres humains sont de plus en plus nombreuses. C'est pourquoi les Nations unies <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/39812/OEWG_PP_1_INF_1_UNEA%20resolution.pdf">se sont engagées</a> à <a href="https://enb.iisd.org/negotiations/international-legally-binding-instrument-plastics-pollution-including-marine#:%7E:text=The%20United%20Nations%20Environment%20Assembly,pollution%2C%20including%20in%20the%20marine">négocier</a> un instrument juridiquement contraignant pour mettre fin à la pollution plastique. </p>
<p>Les stratégies pour atteindre cet objectif comprennent des dispositions tout au long du cycle de vie des plastiques : production, utilisation, gestion des déchets et recyclage. </p>
<p>Lors de l'élaboration des règles de gestion du plastique, il est important de comprendre la complexité des matériaux plastiques et les flux de déchets sont complexes. Tous les plastiques ne sont pas identiques. Et les plastiques recyclés ne sont pas nécessairement de “qualité supérieure”, c'est-à-dire moins nocifs, que les plastiques vierges. S'ils contenaient des produits chimiques nocifs au départ, le recyclage ne les rend pas moins nocifs. De plus, ils sont parfois contaminés par d'autres substances.</p>
<p>Nous avons mené une <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340923008090?via%3Dihub">étude</a> pour identifier et mesurer la concentration de contaminants dans les granulés recyclés provenant de 28 installations de recyclage à petite échelle dans le Sud. Les déchets plastiques sont souvent exportés des pays à revenu élevé vers les pays moins développés, avec peu ou pas d'exigences en matière de déclaration de leur composition.</p>
<p>Notre enquête a porté sur des installations situées au Cameroun, à Maurice, au Nigeria, en Tanzanie et au Togo en Afrique, ainsi que sur d'autres en Asie, en Europe et en Amérique du Sud. </p>
<p>Nous avons trouvé 191 pesticides, 107 produits pharmaceutiques et 81 composés industriels, parmi beaucoup d'autres, dans les granulés de plastique recyclés. Nombre de ces produits chimiques pourraient être dangereux et rendre les plastiques inappropriés pour une réutilisation.</p>
<p>Cette découverte peut servir de base à la réglementation sur les plastiques recyclés. La composition chimique du plastique devrait être vérifiée avant qu'il ne soit recyclé. </p>
<h2>Produits chimiques utilisés dans la production de plastiques</h2>
<p>Plus de <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/report/chemicals-plastics-technical-report">13 000 produits chimiques</a> sont actuellement utilisés dans la production de matériaux et de produits en plastique. Il peut s'agir de milliers d'additifs plastiques, mais aussi de substances ajoutées involontairement. Certains produits chimiques indésirables se forment pendant la production ou la durée de vie des plastiques. Des milliers de ces produits chimiques ont des propriétés dangereuses. Les risques pour la santé de certains autres sont inconnus. </p>
<p>Tout au long de la chaîne de valeur des plastiques, pendant la production, l'utilisation, les déchets et le recyclage, d'autres substances chimiques peuvent également contaminer le matériau. Il peut en résulter des matériaux recyclés dont la composition chimique est inconnue. </p>
<p>Des études antérieures ont signalé la présence d’<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.10.014">additifs plastiques</a> dans les matériaux recyclés. Parmi eux se trouvaient des produits chimiques <a href="https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/chemicals-waste/what-we-do/emerging-issues/endocrine-disrupting-chemicals">reconnus</a> <a href="https://www.epa.gov/endocrine-disruption/overview-endocrine-disruption">pour leurs effets négatifs sur la santé</a>. Il s'agit par exemple des <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0055387">phtalates</a> (plastifiants), des bisphénols comme le <a href="https://www.france-assos-sante.org/2014/04/25/le-bisphenol-a-et-ses-effets-sur-la-sante/">BPA</a> et des <a href="https://polyestershoppen.fr/epoxy/uv-stabilisator-voor-epoxy-350.html">stabilisateurs UV</a> utilisés pour protéger les plastiques contre les dommages causés par le soleil et le jaunissement.</p>
<p>Dans le cadre de nos travaux, nous avons établi la présence dans le plastique recyclé de produits chimiques susceptibles de nuire à l'homme ou à d'autres organismes. Il s'agit notamment de pesticides, de produits pharmaceutiques et de parfums. D'autres sont des produits chimiques résultant de la combustion de matériaux naturels, des produits chimiques organiques fabriqués par l'homme et utilisés dans des applications industrielles telles que la peinture, et des filtres ultraviolets.</p>
<p>Nous avons quantifié un total de 491 substances chimiques différentes. Certaines avaient des utilisations spécifiques et d'autres se formaient à partir de la décomposition de produits.</p>
<p>Certaines politiques nationales et régionales <a href="https://www.basel.int/Implementation/Plasticwaste/Globalgovernance/tabid/8335/Default.aspx">réglementent</a> la concentration autorisée de produits chimiques dangereux dans des produits plastiques spécifiques. Mais seulement 1 % des substances chimiques contenues dans les plastiques font l'objet d'une réglementation internationale dans le cadre des accords multilatéraux sur l'environnement existants. Les politiques n'abordent pas de manière adéquate la question de la transparence des rapports sur les produits chimiques contenus dans les plastiques tout au long de leur chaîne de valeur. Il n'existe pas non plus de lois régissant la surveillance des produits chimiques dans les matériaux recyclés. Il s'agit d'une <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk9846">grave lacune</a> en matière de surveillance. Des mesures plus fortes et mieux coordonnées au niveau mondial sont nécessaires. </p>
<p>Nos résultats soulignent l'importance de réglementer le recyclage mécanique, car de nombreuses substances mesurées étaient des contaminants et non des additifs plastiques. Bon nombre des substances chimiques que nous avons identifiées peuvent avoir contaminé les matériaux au cours de leur utilisation. Par exemple, une cruche utilisée pour stocker des pesticides absorbera une partie des pesticides et contaminera le flux de déchets de recyclage. Il est également reconnu que les plastiques ont la capacité d'absorber les <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X11005960">polluants organiques</a>. </p>
<p>Pour évaluer la qualité des plastiques recyclés, il est essentiel de connaître les substances chimiques présentes et leurs concentrations. Ces informations peuvent orienter les réglementations relatives à l'utilisation des plastiques recyclés. Elles seront également précieuses pour les producteurs de plastiques, les personnes chargées de la gestion des déchets (y compris les recycleurs), les consommateurs et la communauté scientifique.</p>
<h2>Une voie vers une réutilisation plus sûre des plastiques</h2>
<p>Pour recycler davantage de matériaux en toute sécurité, plusieurs changements sont nécessaires. Il s'agit notamment de :</p>
<ul>
<li><p>une plus grande transparence concernant l'utilisation des produits chimiques et leurs risques </p></li>
<li><p>une simplification chimique du marché des plastiques, de sorte que les produits chimiques autorisés à être utilisés soient moins nombreux et moins toxiques</p></li>
<li><p>l'amélioration de l'infrastructure de gestion des déchets avec des flux de déchets séparés </p></li>
<li><p>l'amélioration des méthodes de recyclage, y compris le contrôle des produits chimiques dangereux.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>La simplification chimique des additifs plastiques favorisera la durabilité, la sécurité et le respect de la réglementation. Elle aidera les fabricants à minimiser l'impact sur l'environnement et les effets néfastes sur la santé des formulations chimiques complexes. Des structures chimiques plus simples améliorent également le potentiel de recyclage des plastiques et rendent le recyclage plus efficace et plus rentable.</p>
<p>La <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.1c04903">simplification chimique</a> peut également réduire les risques potentiels pour la santé liés à l'élimination des matières plastiques. </p>
<p>D'un point de vue réglementaire, la simplification chimique favorise l'élaboration de lignes directrices plus claires et plus faciles à appliquer en matière de sécurité.</p>
<p>Il s'agit d'une étape cruciale vers la production et l'utilisation durables des plastiques, à l'heure où les pays s'efforcent de mettre en place un instrument juridique pour mettre fin à la pollution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221790/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bethanie Carney Almroth est financée par le Conseil suédois de la recherche pour le développement durable FORMAS (numéro de subvention 2021-00913) et la Fondation Carl Tryggers (numéro de subvention 21:1234).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric Carmona Martinez a reçu un financement de la Fondation Carl Trygger.</span></em></p>Les plastiques recyclés ne sont pas sûrs si les produits chimiques utilisés pour les créer sont nocifs.Bethanie Carney Almroth, Associate Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of GothenburgEric Carmona Martinez, Scientist, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2204982024-01-16T14:14:16Z2024-01-16T14:14:16ZDangerous chemicals found in recycled plastics, making them unsafe for use – experts explain the hazards<p>Plastic pollution is a menace worldwide. Plastics are now <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg5433">found</a> in every <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04158">environment</a> on the planet, from the deepest seas to the atmosphere and human bodies. </p>
<p>Scientific evidence <a href="https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.4056">describing harm</a> to the environment and humans is growing. Hence, the United Nations has <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/39812/OEWG_PP_1_INF_1_UNEA%20resolution.pdf">resolved</a> to <a href="https://enb.iisd.org/negotiations/international-legally-binding-instrument-plastics-pollution-including-marine#:%7E:text=The%20United%20Nations%20Environment%20Assembly,pollution%2C%20including%20in%20the%20marine">negotiate</a> a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. </p>
<p>Strategies to achieve this goal include provisions throughout the plastics lifespan: production, use, waste management and remediation. </p>
<p>In designing rules for managing plastic, it’s important to understand that plastic materials and waste streams are complex. Not all plastics are the same. And recycled plastics are not necessarily “better” – less harmful – than virgin plastics. If they contained harmful chemicals to begin with, recycling doesn’t make them less harmful. And sometimes they are contaminated by other substances.</p>
<p>We conducted a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340923008090?via%3Dihub">study</a> identifying and measuring the concentration of contaminants in recycled pellets from 28 small-scale recycling facilities in the global south. Plastic waste is often exported from high income countries to less developed countries, with few to no requirements for reporting their makeup.</p>
<p>Our investigation covered facilities in Cameroon, Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania and Togo in Africa as well others in Asia, Europe and South America. </p>
<p>We found 191 pesticides, 107 pharmaceuticals and 81 industrial compounds among many others in the recycled plastic pellets. Many of these chemicals could be hazardous and make the plastics unsuitable for reuse.</p>
<p>This finding can inform regulations for recycled plastics. The chemical composition of the plastic should be checked before it is recycled. </p>
<h2>Chemicals used in production of plastics</h2>
<p>More than <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/report/chemicals-plastics-technical-report">13,000 chemicals</a> are currently used in the production of plastic materials and products. They can include thousands of plastics additives – but also substances that are added unintentionally. Some unwanted chemicals form during the production or life of plastics. Thousands of these chemicals have dangerous properties. The health risks of some others are unknown. </p>
<p>Throughout the plastics value chain, during production, use, waste and recycling, other chemicals can contaminate the material too. The result may be recycled materials whose chemical composition is unknown. </p>
<p>Previous studies have reported the presence of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.10.014">plastics additives</a> in recycled materials. Among them were chemicals that are <a href="https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/chemicals-waste/what-we-do/emerging-issues/endocrine-disrupting-chemicals">known</a> to have <a href="https://www.epa.gov/endocrine-disruption/overview-endocrine-disruption">negative effects on health</a>. Examples include <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0055387">phthalates</a> (plastic softeners), bisphenols like <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303720706002292">BPA</a>, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721044478?via%3Dihub">UV-stabilisers</a> used to protect plastics from sun damage and yellowing.</p>
<p>In our work, we established the presence of chemicals in recycled plastic that can cause harm to humans or other organisms. They include pesticides, pharmaceuticals and fragrances. Others are chemicals that result from burning natural materials, man-made organic chemicals used for industrial applications like paint, and ultraviolet filters.</p>
<p>We quantified a total of 491 different chemical substances. Some had specific uses and others formed from the breakdown of products.</p>
<p>Some national and regional policies <a href="https://www.basel.int/Implementation/Plasticwaste/Globalgovernance/tabid/8335/Default.aspx">regulate</a> the allowable concentration of hazardous chemicals in specific plastic products. But only 1% of plastics chemicals are subject to international regulation in existing multilateral environmental agreements. Policies don’t adequately address the issue of transparent reporting of chemicals in plastics across their value chain. Also, there are no laws to govern monitoring of chemicals in recycled materials. This is a <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk9846">serious gap</a> in oversight. Stronger and more globally coordinated measures are necessary. </p>
<p>Our findings emphasise the importance of regulating mechanical recycling, as many of the substances measured were contaminants and not plastic additives. Many of the chemicals we identified may have contaminated the materials during use. For example, a jug used for storing pesticides will absorb some of the pesticides and will contaminate the recycling waste stream. Plastics in the environment are also known to absorb <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X11005960">organic pollutants</a>. </p>
<p>To assess the quality of recycled plastics, it’s crucial to know which chemicals are present and in what concentrations. This information can guide regulations about how recycled plastics may be used. It will also be valuable for plastics producers, waste management workers (including recyclers), consumers, and the scientific community.</p>
<h2>A path towards safer reuse of plastics</h2>
<p>To recycle more materials safely, several changes are necessary. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>increased transparency regarding the use of chemicals and their risks </p></li>
<li><p>chemical simplification of the plastics market, so that fewer and less toxic chemicals are permitted for use</p></li>
<li><p>improved waste management infrastructure with separated waste streams </p></li>
<li><p>improved recycling methods, including monitoring of hazardous chemicals.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Chemical simplification of plastic additives will promote sustainability, safety and regulatory compliance. It will help manufacturers to minimise the environmental impact and adverse health effects of complex chemical formulations. Simpler chemical structures also improve the recycling potential of plastics and make recycling more efficient and cost-effective.</p>
<p><a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.1c04903">Chemical simplification</a> can also reduce potential health risks in the disposal of plastic materials. </p>
<p>From a regulatory perspective, chemical simplification supports clearer and more enforceable safety guidelines.</p>
<p>It’s is a crucial step towards the sustainable production and use of plastics, as countries work towards a legal instrument to end pollution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bethanie Carney Almroth receives funding from the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development
FORMAS (grant number 2021-00913) and The Carl Tryggers Foundation (grant number 21:1234).
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric Carmona Martinez received funding from Carl Trygger Foundation. </span></em></p>Recycled plastics are not safe if the chemicals used in creating them in the first place are harmful.Bethanie Carney Almroth, Associate Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of GothenburgEric Carmona Martinez, Scientist, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2152672023-10-10T02:51:19Z2023-10-10T02:51:19ZPerubahan iklim menambah sengsara warga miskin kota di luar Jawa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552714/original/file-20230911-22-ceblp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C10%2C3551%2C2655&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Warga Samarinda, East Kalimantan, saat banjir di tengah-tengah permukiman.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Bramanyuro/Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cuaca ekstrem akibat <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/">perubahan iklim</a> telah menyebabkan begitu banyak kejadian dan bencana di seluruh dunia.</p>
<p>Pertengahan 2023 silam, banjir bandang membuat jalan-jalan terendam dan membuat jutaan orang mengungsi di <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/2023/7/11/23791452/vermont-flooding-climate-change">Amerika Serikat (AS), Korea Selatan, Pakistan, dan Turki</a>. Asia juga mengalami <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66197937&ust=1692313800000000&usg=AOvVaw3GIEwLSF7ljmYqWrBntVC_&hl=en&source=gmail">lebih dari seratus kematian</a> akibat periode monsun tahun ini. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/10/india-floods-new-delhi-rain-record-deaths">Di India utara,</a> banjir mematikan akibat hujan ekstrem menelan 22 korban jiwa.</p>
<p>Di Indonesia, banjir parah pada April 2023 yang melanda <a href="https://floodlist.com/asia/indonesia-floods-central-kalimantan-april-2023">Kalimantan Tengah</a> mengakibatkan 16 ribu korban. Rumah-rumah dan bangunan publik turut terdampak. Sementara, saat kemarau tiba, <a href="https://regional.kompas.com/read/2023/06/21/171659578/12-kelurahan-di-kota-bima-dilanda-kekeringan-21103-jiwa-terdampak-krisis">kekeringan</a> makin menyulitkan warga kota Bima, Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB), dalam mengakses air bersih.</p>
<p><a href="https://arc.ui.ac.id/riset/resilient-indonesian-slums-envisioned-rise-building-an-inclusive-governance-with-people-and-water-to-make-socialecological-interactions-for-resilient-to-aquatic-disasters/">Dalam riset terbaru</a>, kami mencoba menggali bagaimana cuaca ekstrem berdampak pada kawasan urban, khususnya masyarakat miskin yang sangat dirugikan akibat kejadian tersebut. </p>
<h2>Warga miskin dan masalah terkait air</h2>
<p>Kami <a href="https://arc.ui.ac.id/riset/resilient-indonesian-slums-envisioned-rise-building-an-inclusive-governance-with-people-and-water-to-make-socialecological-interactions-for-resilient-to-aquatic-disasters/">mempelajari</a> tiga kota rawan banjir di Indonesia: Pontianak, Kalimantan Barat; Bima, NTB; dan Manado, Sulawesi Utara. </p>
<p>Penelitian kami berbasiskan studi lapangan, observasi, wawancara, dan analisis dokumen. Kami mewawancarai 57 informan sepanjang proses pengumpulan data. Mereka terdiri dari aktor pemerintah, pemimpin komunitas, aktivis organisasi masyarakat sipil, dan pelaku usaha.</p>
<p>Penelitian kami bertujuan untuk mempelajari bagaimana pembangunan perkotaan berdampak pada masalah seputar air, terutama yang terkait perubahan iklim.</p>
<p>Riset kami menemukan bahwa masalah terkait iklim seperti banjir, kekeringan, dan serangan panas dapat berdampak pada seluruh kota, miskin maupun kaya. Namun, warga miskin menjadi golongan yang paling terdampak karena beberapa alasan.</p>
<p>Saat penduduk berpenghasilan menengah ke atas tinggal di kawasan perumahan yang nyaman dan terencanakan, kaum miskin kota <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/floods-neighborhood-mapping-poverty-and-flood-risk-indonesian-cities">terpaksa tinggal di kawasan yang paling rawan banjir</a>.</p>
<p>Selain itu, mereka juga tinggal di permukiman yang padat dan kumuh, dengan akses air bersih yang terbatas. Di lokasi yang kami datangi, warga permukiman ini tidak mendapatkan pasokan air dari Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum (PDAM) setempat, meskipun jaringannya berdekatan dengan rumah mereka.</p>
<p>Walhasil, masyarakat miskin menggunakan cara-cara tersendiri untuk <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.08.023">bertahan hidup</a>, seperti menggunakan sumur gali, memompa air tanah, membangun kolam penampungan ataupun tandon air untuk menampung air hujan.</p>
<p>Cara senada juga dilakukan masyarakat miskin saat menghadapi banjir. Mereka langsung memindahkan barang-barang berharga ke tempat yang tinggi, memantau kenaikan muka air di selokan, parit, dan sungai. Mereka juga membuat saluran komunikasi dengan platform digital untuk berbagi info cepat untuk merumuskan langkah antisipasi jika risiko banjir meningkat.</p>
<p>Sayangnya, langkah-langkah di atas cenderung reaktif dan belum menyentuh akar persoalan sebenarnya.</p>
<h2>Akibat pembangunan tak merata</h2>
<p>Kami menemukan bahwa masalah terkait air di Indonesia, seperti <a href="https://water.org/our-impact/where-we-work/indonesia/">banjir dan kelangkaan air</a>, berhubungan erat dengan <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/36181">pembangunan yang tak merata</a> di berbagai kawasan perkotaan. Semua kota yang kami pelajari menunjukkan pola serupa.</p>
<p>Di beberapa kawasan kota, <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/indonesia/publication/augment-connect-target-realizing-indonesias-urban-potential">pertumbuhan ekonomi meningkat pesat</a>. Gedung-gedung pencakar langit menjulang. Kawasan bisnis menggeliat. Perumahan mewah dengan pusat perbelanjaan di dekatnya pun bertumbuh.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Kawasan kumuh di Bandung" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kawasan kumuh di Bandung, Jawa Barat, yang timbul karena perencanaan kota yang tak memadai dan pembangunan tak merata.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Ikhlasul Amal/Flickr)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pesatnya pembangunan memicu lonjakan harga tanah, biaya sewa rumah, dan ongkos kebutuhan dasar seperti air bersih dan listrik. Akibatnya, area-area mewah ini menjadi tidak terjangkau oleh masyarakat miskin.</p>
<p>Sementara itu, di pedesaan dan kawasan yang kurang berkembang, orang-orang mengubah hutan menjadi lahan pertanian untuk memenuhi permintaan penduduk kota. Perubahan ini kemudian mengganggu siklus alami air.</p>
<p>Akhirnya, ketika cuaca ekstrem melanda, kawasan kota ketiban bencana. Hujan deras meningkatkan risiko banjir, sedangkan kemarau membuat warga kota sulit mendapatkan air bersih.</p>
<h2>Apa yang bisa kita lakukan</h2>
<p>Temuan kami menunjukkan bahwa aktivitas berburu keuntungan oleh para pengembang, ditambah dengan kebijakan yang lemah, telah memperparah bencana terkait air dan dampaknya paling dirasakan oleh kaum miskin kota. Di tengah situasi tersebut, kaum miskin kota kelimpungan untuk menyesuaikan diri, apalagi meningkatkan kehidupan mereka.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Perencanaan berbasis warga untuk memastikan pembangunan yang adil di Kampung Akuarium, Jakarta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Rujak Center for Urban Studies)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Riset kami merekomendasikan sejumlah langkah untuk membenahi kondisi warga miskin kota dalam menghadapi bencana terkait air, bukan cuma bertahan terhadapnya.</p>
<p>Sebagai langkah pertama, kita harus memastikan agar praktik pengelolaan air dapat meningkatkan ketangguhan masyarakat.</p>
<p>Penting juga bagi kita untuk mempertimbangkan dan menangani ketimpangan di seluruh kawasan. Misalnya, kita dapat mengembangkan lingkungan terpadu yang dapat menghubungkan kembali kehidupan warga kota dengan sungai.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hadapi-perubahan-iklim-indonesia-perlu-perkuat-diplomasi-air-213666">Hadapi perubahan iklim, Indonesia perlu perkuat diplomasi air</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Lalu, langkah kedua adalah kita harus mempertimbangkan risiko perubahan iklim saat merumuskan kebijakan tentang pelayanan dan kelembagaan terkait air. Kita harus mencari cara mendanai aksi-aksi pencegahan dan penanggulangan bencana supaya lebih berkelanjutan dan responsif.</p>
<p>Terakhir, penting bagi kita untuk berhati-hati saat merencanakan pembangunan infrastruktur. Kita harus memasukkan opsi-opsi yang valid, tapi bisa terus diperbarui dan diperbaiki. Opsi semacam ini membutuhkan keterlibatan warga dalam pengambilan keputusan dan meningkatkan kesadaran mereka soal isu ini.</p>
<p>Untuk jangka panjang, rekomendasi ini dapat mengintegrasikan aksi kita dalam seluruh siklus air untuk melindungi akses air, lingkungan, dan kesehatan masyarakat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215267/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Muhammad Rifqi terafiliasi dengan Asia Research Centre Universitas Indonesia</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cindy Rianti Priadi terafiliasi dengan Program Studi Teknik Lingkungan, Departemen Teknik Sipil, Universitas Indonesia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Inaya Rakhmani terafiliasi dengan Asia Research Centre, Universitas Indonesia. Data dalam artikel ini diperoleh dari penelitian kolaboratif RISE (Resilient Indonesian Slums Envisioned) yang didanai oleh NWO-WOTRO/RISTEK-BRIN.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Muhammad Irvan terafiliasi dengan Asia Research Centre Universitas Indonesia.</span></em></p>Ketimpangan pembangunan perkotaan memperparah masalah terkait air di banyak kota di luar Pulau Jawa.Muhammad Rifqi Damm, PhD Student, University of GothenburgCindy Rianti Priadi, Assistant Professor in Environmental Engineering, Universitas IndonesiaInaya Rakhmani, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas IndonesiaMuhammad Irvan, Deputi Operasional ARC UI, Universitas IndonesiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2102812023-10-10T02:50:05Z2023-10-10T02:50:05ZIndonesian urban poor suffer the most in extreme weather caused by climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547394/original/file-20230911-22-ceblp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C10%2C3551%2C2655&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Condition of suburban residents in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, in the face of flooding.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Bramanyuro/Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Extreme weather as a result of <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/">climate change</a> has caused disasters and catastrophes around the globe.</p>
<p>In mid-2023, flash floods inundated roads and displaced millions in <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/2023/7/11/23791452/vermont-flooding-climate-change">the US, South Korea, Pakistan and Turkey</a>. Asia has seen <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66197937&ust=1692313800000000&usg=AOvVaw3GIEwLSF7ljmYqWrBntVC_&hl=en&source=gmail">more than 100 deaths</a> during this year’s extreme monsoon season. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/10/india-floods-new-delhi-rain-record-deaths">In Northern India,</a> fatal floods following heavy rains resulted in the deaths of 22 people. </p>
<p>In Indonesia, severe floods in April 2023 struck <a href="https://floodlist.com/asia/indonesia-floods-central-kalimantan-april-2023">Central Kalimantan Province,</a> impacting 16,234 people. Numerous homes and public buildings were also affected.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://arc.ui.ac.id/riset/resilient-indonesian-slums-envisioned-rise-building-an-inclusive-governance-with-people-and-water-to-make-socialecological-interactions-for-resilient-to-aquatic-disasters/">our research</a>, we looked at how extreme weather had impacted urban areas. </p>
<h2>Urban poor and water-related problems</h2>
<p>We <a href="https://arc.ui.ac.id/riset/resilient-indonesian-slums-envisioned-rise-building-an-inclusive-governance-with-people-and-water-to-make-socialecological-interactions-for-resilient-to-aquatic-disasters/">studied</a> three flood-prone cities in Indonesia: Pontianak (West Kalimantan Province), Bima (West Nusa Tenggara Province) and Manado (West Sulawesi Province). </p>
<p>We used fieldwork visits, observations, interviews and document analysis. We interviewed 57 informants during the data collection process, including government actors, community leaders, civil society organisation activists, and business people.</p>
<p>Our research aimed to understand how urban development contributed to urban water problems within the wider context of extreme weather change.</p>
<p>It found climate-related problems such as flooding, drought, and heat stress may affect the whole city, regardless of rich or poor neighbourhoods. However, urban poor populations suffer more severely due to some reasons. </p>
<p>While the rich has resources to live in well-planned residential areas, urban poor have to live in <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/floods-neighborhood-mapping-poverty-and-flood-risk-indonesian-cities">parts most vulnerable</a> to floods.</p>
<p>In addition to that, they also live in crowded and impoverished neighbourhoods with limited access to clean water. </p>
<p>Marginalised from formal water services, the urban poor are accustomed to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.08.023">relying on their own creativity for survival</a>. They drill boreholes, make wells, build wet ponds or install rainwater catchment. </p>
<p>The same goes when dealing with flooding. They swiftly store valuables in high places, monitor the rise of water level in the nearby drains, creeks or rivers. They also establish communication channels through digital platforms to be informed as soon as possible when flood risks emerge to organise mitigating measures. </p>
<p>However, those are merely reactive measures that have nothing to do with addressing the underlying problems. </p>
<h2>Results from unequal development</h2>
<p>We found water-related problems in Indonesia, such as <a href="https://water.org/our-impact/where-we-work/indonesia/">flooding and water shortage</a> are closely tied <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/36181">to unequal development</a> across different parts of the city. All the cities we studied showed common patterns.</p>
<p>In certain parts of the city, <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/indonesia/publication/augment-connect-target-realizing-indonesias-urban-potential">the economy has experienced significant growth</a> giving rise to upscale neighbourhoods with tall buildings, thriving business districts and real estates with large shopping centres nearby. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Urban slum in Bandung" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547399/original/file-20230911-23-rgy6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The urban slum area in Bandung, West Java, primarily results from inadequate city planning and unequal development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Ikhlasul Amal/Flickr)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, this rapid development has led to surges in land prices, housing rents and the cost of essentials like water and electricity. As a result, these areas have become inaccessible to the urban poor.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in rural and less developed areas, people have converted forests into agricultural lands to meet the increasing demands of city inhabitants, causing disruption of the natural water cycle. </p>
<p>As a result, when extreme weather strikes, the urban area struggles to cope. Heavy rainfall increases the risk of flooding, while during droughts they struggle to find clean water.</p>
<h2>What can we do?</h2>
<p>Our findings show that profit-seeking activities by developers combined with poor policies have exacerbated water disasters which affected urban poor the most. These communities find it hard to adjust and improve their lives in the midst of urgent water-related issues.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547408/original/file-20230911-28-p2o2yl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Community planning to ensure just city development in Kampung Akuarium, Jakarta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Rujak Center for Urban Studies)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, our study recommended measures that can improve the conditions of urban poor in facing water-related disasters, and not just the reactive ones.</p>
<p>The first step is making sure water management practices support the resilience of communities.</p>
<p>It’s important to consider and tackle inequalities across various areas. For instance, we can integrate the built environment to reconnect people with rivers within urban life. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-loss-and-damage-fund-how-can-indonesia-use-it-to-boost-climate-adaptation-efforts-201004">The Loss and Damage Fund: How can Indonesia use it to boost climate adaptation efforts</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The second step is to consider the risks of climate change when making decisions about water-related institutions and services. We need to find ways to fund preventive measures and disaster response in a sustainable and responsive manner.</p>
<p>Lastly, it’s crucial to plan our infrastructure carefully. We should include strong and repairable options in our plans. To do this, we need to involve the community in decision-making processes and raise awareness about these issues.</p>
<p>In the long run, these recommendations will integrate actions into the whole water cycle to protect services, the environment and public health.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210281/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Muhammad Rifqi Damm is affiliated with the Asia Research Centre University of Indonesia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cindy Rianti Priadi is affiliated with the Environmental Engineering Study, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Indonesia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Inaya Rakhmani is affiliated with the Asia Research Centre, University of Indonesia. The data in this article was obtained from the RISE (Resilient Indonesian Slums Envisioned) collaborative research funded by NWO-WOTRO/RISTEK-BRIN.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Muhammad Irvan is affiliated with the Asia Research Centre University of Indonesia.</span></em></p>Urban development exacerbates urban water issues in the broader context of extreme weather changes.Muhammad Rifqi Damm, PhD Student, University of GothenburgCindy Rianti Priadi, Assistant Professor in Environmental Engineering, Universitas IndonesiaInaya Rakhmani, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas IndonesiaMuhammad Irvan, Deputi Operasional ARC UI, Universitas IndonesiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1952192023-01-26T13:32:06Z2023-01-26T13:32:06ZIt’ll take 150 years to map Africa’s biodiversity at the current rate. We can’t protect what we don’t know<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504614/original/file-20230116-12-2bq5kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Niassa Special Reserve in Northern Mozambique's is just one of the continent's under-mapped biodiversity areas. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The African continent is bursting with biodiversity. In <a href="https://www.cbd.int/gbo/gbo4/outlook-africa-en.pdf">a 2016 report</a>, the United Nations Environment Programme wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Africa’s biomes extend from mangroves to deserts, from Mediterranean to tropical forests, from temperate to sub-tropical and montane grasslands and savannas, and even to ice-capped mountains.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>About a quarter of the world’s species of plants and animals are found on the continent. </p>
<p>But biodiversity isn’t just beautiful. We need it to survive. Different species and biomes provide ecosystem services to humans: food, clothing, potable water and the very air we breathe. The disappearance of a seemingly unimportant animal, like a certain species of bee, may result in the extinction of certain plant species. That, in turn, affects humans and other species.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/cop15-biodiversity-summit-in-montreal-canada-failed-to-meet-its-2020-conservation-targets-will-2030-be-any-better-195347">Experts have estimated</a> that each country, globally, must protect the biodiversity of 30% of its territory by 2030 to at least mitigate the effects of ongoing environmental damage.</p>
<p>But we found in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article/70/3/623/6030962">a recent study</a> that huge swathes of Africa remain unstudied and their species undocumented. Why? Because scientists keep returning to areas whose biodiversity has already been mapped, rather than visiting new, unexplored areas. </p>
<p>We show that at the current rate of discovery it may take more than 150 years to visit every 100km x 100km area in Africa even once. And, our analysis suggests, one visit won’t be enough. It may take up to 27 field expeditions to document just 50% of an area’s existing species.</p>
<p>If scientists don’t start venturing outside well-mapped areas, thousands of new species will remain undocumented. Adequate data is crucial to identifying and delineating species boundaries, understanding spatial biodiversity patterns and effectively promoting species conservation. We cannot protect what we don’t know. </p>
<h2>Assessing the data</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505539/original/file-20230120-14-j71362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505539/original/file-20230120-14-j71362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505539/original/file-20230120-14-j71362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505539/original/file-20230120-14-j71362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505539/original/file-20230120-14-j71362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505539/original/file-20230120-14-j71362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505539/original/file-20230120-14-j71362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All of the uncoloured areas on these maps of Africa show parts of the continent where the study didn’t find any scientific expeditions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our estimates are based only on birds, mammals and amphibians — three well-studied groups. The knowledge bias and spatial patterns we report are likely to be considerably worse for other already under-described groups such as <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1110319108">plants</a>, <a href="https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/PHYTO.1997.87.9.888">fungi</a> and <a href="http://ecologylabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Estimate-of-insect-species.pdf">insects</a>. </p>
<p>We wanted to use data to produce visuals of the continent’s unstudied or under-studied areas. Usually when scientists go to the field, they collect specimens which end up in museums and then show up on the museums’ databases. These databases have been aggregated into one by the <a href="https://www.gbif.org/">Global Biodiversity Information Facility</a>, so all the data sets can be accessed at once.</p>
<p>This was the source of our data and meant we were counting scientific expeditions, a better representation of species mapping than, for instance, researchers’ anecdotes or a random sample of journal articles.</p>
<p>To estimate the number of expeditions in each 100km x 100km grid cell in Africa, a standard method for conducting analyses of this sort, we counted the number of years which had at least one collection involving either amphibians, mammals or birds. So, a value of five, for instance, shows that there were collections made by scientists in five different years. </p>
<p>Then we applied statistical tools that use the current rate to model the future trend <em>if</em> the behaviour (the rate of expeditions) stays the same. </p>
<p>Our results emphasise that current practice is insufficient to adequately classify and map African biodiversity. This can result in misleading and self-reinforcing conservation priorities: areas are considered to be of high conservation value largely because they are better surveyed rather than because they are actually more diverse. </p>
<h2>Pushing for change</h2>
<p>There are ways to improve this situation. </p>
<p>Agencies, companies and philanthropists that fund research should actively promote projects that aim to sample areas where baseline biodiversity data is lacking.</p>
<p>Researchers should, meanwhile, increase the taxonomic and methodological scope of their collection efforts. Given the logistical and legislative challenges of carrying out fieldwork across most of Africa, we urge scientists to collaborate with specialists in different institutions and with varied taxonomic expertise to responsibly sample the maximum possible number of taxa – in full or as tissue samples, especially for endangered or large species.</p>
<p>There’s also a need for scientists to engage with each other beyond borders. Biological sampling in Africa has, to <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/110154">a large extent</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.05926">been carried out</a> by European and North American institutions. Researchers from institutions in those regions need to collaborate with local universities, rather than just using locals as field assistants.</p>
<p>At a government level, the process for sampling permits should be made transparent and available online for every country in the continent, to encourage and streamline biodiversity research.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195219/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Huge swathes of Africa remain unstudied and their species undocumented.Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq, Post-doc, University of CopenhagenSøren Faurby, Senior Lecturer in Zoology, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1971402023-01-05T06:17:58Z2023-01-05T06:17:58ZPoliticians are getting older – shutting young people out of decision-making around the world<p>US president Joe Biden is clearly frustrated about the focus on his age. In mid-December last year he reportedly vented to allies, saying: “You think I don’t know how fucking old I am?” But, as attention turns to the 2024 election, the prospect of Biden – now 80 years old – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/us/politics/biden-running-president-2024.html">running for another term</a> which would last until he is 86, means that this is an issue that is unlikely to go away. </p>
<p>And rightly so – Biden is the oldest US president in history. Taking into account other prominent US politicians such as Donald Trump (who is 76) and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (who is 72), the age of American political leaders has become a hotly debated topic. </p>
<p>But it’s not just a factor in party leadership. In the legislative term 2020-2022, the average member of the US House of Representatives was about 20 years older than the average citizen. In addition, the age of members in the House <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026137942200110X">have risen for the past four decades</a> (see Figure 1).</p>
<p><strong>Figure 1. Age of members in the US House of Representatives</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502942/original/file-20230103-90208-3asv4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing the changes in the mean and median ages of US representatives" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502942/original/file-20230103-90208-3asv4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502942/original/file-20230103-90208-3asv4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502942/original/file-20230103-90208-3asv4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502942/original/file-20230103-90208-3asv4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502942/original/file-20230103-90208-3asv4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502942/original/file-20230103-90208-3asv4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502942/original/file-20230103-90208-3asv4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How US politicians are getting older.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Gothenburg/University of Ottawa</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Voters seem to think that this is a problem. A September CBS News poll illustrates that <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elected-officials-maximum-age-limits-opinion-poll-2022-09-08/">Americans voice concern over the lack of youth in politics</a>. Almost 47% state that having more young people in office would make politics better. Moreover, a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-turns-80-americans-ask-whats-too-old-2022-11-11/">Reuters/Ipsos poll taken in November 2022</a> finds that almost nine out of ten Americans support a cutoff of 75 years old for serving as president.</p>
<p>In our new book <a href="https://www.press.umich.edu/11459940">Youth without Representation</a>, we address young adults’ under-representation in parliaments and cabinets. We show that young adults – those aged 35 years or below – tend to be scarce among decision-makers. Globally, people 18 to 35 years face an under-representation in legislatures by a factor of three, relative to their share in the population (their share of the electorate is three times bigger than among legislators), and at a factor of ten in cabinets. </p>
<p>The stylised figure 2 below illustrates this discrepancy. We found these patterns in many democracies including Japan and India as well as in non-democracies such as Egypt.</p>
<p><strong>Figure 2. The underrepresentation of youth in parliaments across the globe.</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502944/original/file-20230103-70262-n2p7zj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing age distribution of politicians compared with the population of their countries globally." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502944/original/file-20230103-70262-n2p7zj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/502944/original/file-20230103-70262-n2p7zj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=274&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502944/original/file-20230103-70262-n2p7zj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=274&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502944/original/file-20230103-70262-n2p7zj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=274&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502944/original/file-20230103-70262-n2p7zj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502944/original/file-20230103-70262-n2p7zj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/502944/original/file-20230103-70262-n2p7zj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Imbalance of ages between politicians and the general public worldwide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Gothenburg/University of Ottawa</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We interviewed former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark. Her views summarise several aspects of this challenge:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think the old age of legislators is a problem. We have the world’s largest generation ever of youth. So if decisions are being made by an age cohort that is decades above that and is not attuned to their perspective I think it’s a serious democratic deficit. I used to be of the view that people needed to come in to parliaments with some degree of maturity and background. I actually no longer think that. I think a parliament is a place where young people with fresh perspectives should be. And I think our political system should accommodate that.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Youth issues not on the agenda</h2>
<p>The age discrepancy between leaders and citizens raises essential questions. What explains the under-representation of youth in politics – and how can this situation be changed? </p>
<p>The under-representation of young adults in decision-making can mean that issues important to them fall off the agenda – climate change being the most obvious. And their relative absence can contribute to a vicious cycle of alienation, also including low voter turnout and political interest among youth.</p>
<p>One of the things <a href="https://www.fulcrum.org/epubs/08612r295?locale=en#">we found</a> was that young candidates are less likely to succeed in the electoral process, compared to older candidates. This is partly because they are often nominated in races where they have little chances of winning or are designated to low placements on party lists. But while these disadvantages apply to many parties, there is also variation. Across the more than 270 parties in the 52 countries we analysed, we found that newly created parties have generally younger MPs. But as these parties mature, representatives tend to get older as well. Parties with younger leaders tend to have a younger group in the legislature. </p>
<p>A big barrier for young candidates is their lack of experience. But, with selection processes that favour incumbency, there is, all too often, little space for parliamentary turnover. Moreover, many assemblies around the world have a culture of seniority in which youth struggle to be noticed.</p>
<p>Across the 100 countries we studied, we found effects from rules of minimum age requirements for office. Many countries across the globe <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_candidacy">only allow</a> those above 21, 25 or even 30 years to run (for example the US Senate requires candidates to be at least 30). Not only do these rules hinder youth legally, but also signals who politics is for. We also discovered that countries with proportional representation in their electoral systems, including those in Scandinavia, elect a higher share of young adults.</p>
<p>When looking at cabinets, we find similar patterns. For instance, younger leaders tend to make cabinets younger. We also detect a contagion effect, that is, a young parliament triggers a young cabinet – and this happens regardless of whether cabinet members must be elected MPs or not.</p>
<h2>Encouraging youth</h2>
<p>What can we do to change the situation? Term limits could be a way to break the incumbency advantage and give youth a chance to claim nomination. Setting the age barrier to run for office at 18 would allow youth to run and send a message that they are welcome in politics. At the organisational level, political parties must work to break the culture of seniority – quotas could be an efficient option, if seriously implemented.</p>
<p>Young people will live the longest with the laws we are adopting now. They should be given the chance to be involved in the decision-making process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197140/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aksel Sundström receives funding from the Swedish Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Stockemer receives funding from Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>It’s not just a problem of leadership – ageing politicians tend to dominate around the world.Aksel Sundström, Associate professor, University of GothenburgDaniel Stockemer, Konrad Adenauer Research Chair in Empirical Democracy Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1948232022-11-18T12:06:38Z2022-11-18T12:06:38ZLGBTIQ learners at risk in South Africa as conservative Christian groups fight plans for safer schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495893/original/file-20221117-27-ru4i0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Viacheslav Chernobrovin/Getty Images</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Advocacy groups in South Africa are intensifying their efforts to prevent the country’s education department from creating safer environments for children of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. Some of the advocacy groups have ties to conservative US Christian groups.</p>
<p>Representing conservative organisations, <a href="https://forsa.org.za/">Freedom of Religion South Africa</a>, the <a href="https://familypolicyinstitute.com/">Family Policy Institute</a>, the <a href="https://www.acdp.org.za/">African Christian Democratic Party</a> and <a href="https://www.vfplus.org.za/">Freedom Front Plus</a> are creating controversy about draft <a href="https://www.mambaonline.com/2022/11/14/new-lgbtiq-school-guidelines-whats-actually-being-proposed/">guidelines</a> on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. The guidelines have been made public through consultations with communities that began earlier this year. </p>
<p>The groups are zeroing in on two elements of the guidelines to stoke panic. These are the provision of unisex toilets, which would not replace existing single-sex toilets, and the elimination of gender pronouns. </p>
<p>Claiming the guidelines are “godless” and “anti-family”, the groups <a href="https://mailchi.mp/3b568bf686ae/shocking-da-diversity-assault-on-schools?e=f0756729d0">argue</a> that the rights of Christian learners and their families would be violated. The groups claim their opposition is grounded in religious belief, not hatred for LGBTIQ+ people.</p>
<p>But their objections contradict South Africa’s constitutional mandate to create a society free of discrimination. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/news/dbe-sets-the-record-straight-on-plans-to-introduce-unisex-toilets-in-schools-a537caf2-dc95-4685-b1a1-918d330bb14c">media statement</a>, the education department has expressed its disappointment that the narrow focus on unisex toilets is being used to create controversy. This distracts from the bigger debate about eliminating gender discrimination in all spheres of society. </p>
<h2>Homophobia and transphobia on the rise</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681366.2021.1912159">Researchers</a> and <a href="https://mg.co.za/opinion/2022-09-08-teen-suicides-are-a-clarion-call-to-protect-queer-children/">journalists</a> have documented increases in incidents of homophobic and transphobic bullying in the country’s schools in recent years. Some children facing discrimination have tragically taken their own lives. </p>
<p>Disinformation campaigns claim that gender diverse learners pose a threat to cisgender (straight-identifying) female learners. But <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10130950.2019.1706983">research</a> shows that it’s queer and transgender individuals who experience extreme levels of anxiety and fear within bathrooms and other school spaces.</p>
<h2>The lobby against queer-friendly education</h2>
<p>Last year, the African Christian Democratic Party staged a <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/weekend-argus/news/education-departments-unisex-bathrooms-non-gender-specific-pronouns-open-for-comment-next-year-e34e3206-b7ec-4965-8d6e-c9b9fe5e249b">picket</a> against the guidelines. Placards read “Down with the gender identity and sexual orientation guidelines”, “Down with unisex bathrooms” and “God created male and female”.</p>
<p>Freedom of Religion South Africa is now attempting to block the implementation of the guidelines through legal means. The organisation <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnJI8_-t13I&t=773s">claims</a> they are unconstitutional and violate “parental rights” and “traditional values”. Claims like this normalise the discrimination that many learners face in schools. </p>
<p>Freedom of Religion South Africa director Michael Swain claims the department is importing “foreign” agendas. His group aims to put religious freedom above the right to equality and dignity. US Christian anti-LGBTIQ+ advocacy groups, such as <a href="https://adflegal.org/">Alliance Defending Freedom</a>, have tried to do the same.</p>
<p>The Family Policy Institute in South Africa has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/americas-right-is-lobbying-against-south-africas-sex-education-syllabus-126356">working</a> with US “<a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/anti-lgbtq">hate group</a>” <a href="https://familywatch.org">Family Watch International</a> in a campaign against <a href="https://www.education.gov.za/Home/ComprehensiveSexualityEducation.aspx">Comprehensive Sexuality Education</a> in schools. They <a href="https://mailchi.mp/3b568bf686ae/shocking-da-diversity-assault-on-schools?e=f0756729d0">plan</a> to “reveal harmful content” in the programme and call it “dangerous sexual indoctrination”. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/americas-right-is-lobbying-against-south-africas-sex-education-syllabus-126356">America's right is lobbying against South Africa's sex education syllabus</a>
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<p>Family Policy Institute founder Errol Naidoo has admitted to having been <a href="https://joymag.co.za/article/errol-naidoo-defending-faith-family-and-freedom/">mentored</a> by the US Christian right <a href="https://www.frc.org/">Family Research Council</a>. The council <a href="https://www.frc.org/homosexuality">argues</a> that homosexuality is “harmful to society at large” and should not be protected by policy. Naidoo has also been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoiGO1c9Ano">associated</a> with the <a href="https://www.profam.org/">World Congress of Families</a>, a US-led Christian right organisation.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0376835X.2017.1318700">research</a> shows that US Christian right organisations have <a href="https://theconversation.com/americas-right-is-lobbying-against-south-africas-sex-education-syllabus-126356">grown</a> their networks in African countries. They’ve <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/trump-us-christian-spending-global-revealed/">invested millions</a> of dollars in anti-LGBTIQ+ campaigns in Africa and elsewhere. They also provide “mentorship” to set up organisations and campaigns such as <a href="https://stopcse.org/">Stop CSE</a>.</p>
<h2>A global trend</h2>
<p>Campaigning against the department’s guidelines for safer learning spaces reflects a broader trend. Far right actors are using child protection rhetoric to manufacture <a href="https://globalphilanthropyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Manufacturing-Moral-Panic-Report.pdf">moral panic</a>. Making it “about children” enables anti-gender groups to air their prejudice in public. This <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gender/2019/10/21/whose-freedom-and-from-what-the-child-as-cipher-for-a-transnational-politics-of-traditional-values/">tactic</a> has also been observed in Europe and Latin America.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0092055X211022472?journalCode=tsoa">research</a> has found that far-right attitudes to LGBTIQ+ people are becoming part of the “normal view” in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681811.2018.1563535">basic</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0092055X211022472">higher education</a>. We <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13613324.2019.1679752?casa_token=mXgNSoGWMIUAAAAA:TAvAmR5yzbKmnyk7ict3L7mvJAfyc_LfAvrMMsb1GK_jGr9eaRI4gRh7XHKoUXjbdu56KEkefruX">argue</a> that homophobic and transphobic bullying in these spaces extends South Africa’s <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">apartheid-era</a> discrimination, which was grounded in Christian ideology. </p>
<p>These narratives claim that LGBTIQ+ learners are “deviant”, “unruly sinners” in need of conversion and civilising. This creates a <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.10520/EJC-173e9f127a">climate of fear</a> and hostility in classrooms and communities more broadly. <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/saje/article/view/79397">Research with teachers</a> shows that a lack of guidance from the department on the creation of inclusive curricula and school environments puts the safety and security of gender diverse and queer learners at risk. It also undermines the promise of equality in South Africa’s constitution.</p>
<p>As the <a href="https://gin-ssogie.org/">Global Interfaith Network</a> has demonstrated, Christianity is not an inherently homophobic or transphobic religion. Those who use religious justifications to promote anti-LGBTIQ+ intolerance do not represent all Christian communities. The weaponisation of sexuality and gender-based differences in schools has consequences for all learners whose life opportunities are threatened by the experiences of discrimination, exclusion and bullying.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194823/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Haley McEwen has received funding for nationally rated researchers from the South African National Research Foundation. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dennis A. Francis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A small but vocal lobby – some aided by US conservatives – have drawn battle lines around unisex bathrooms and gender pronouns.Haley McEwen, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of GothenburgDennis A. Francis, Professor of Sociology, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1891332022-08-24T06:43:20Z2022-08-24T06:43:20Z58% penyakit menular manusia dapat diperburuk oleh perubahan iklim – kami menjelajahi 77.000 riset untuk petakan jalurnya<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480734/original/file-20220824-22-jt1h0i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Banjir dari badai seperti Irma di Florida dapat membanjiri sistem saluran pembuangan dan menyebarkan patogen dengan cara lain. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brian Blanco/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Perubahan iklim dapat memperburuk <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">58% penyakit menular</a> yang berhubungan dengan manusia di seluruh dunia. Penelitian baru kami menunjukkan jenis penyakit itu mulai dari virus umum yang ditularkan melalui air hingga penyakit mematikan seperti wabah. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">Tim ilmuwan lingkungan dan kesehatan</a> kami meninjau makalah ilmiah selama beberapa dekade tentang semua <a href="https://www.alodokter.com/patogen-penyebab-dari-berbagai-infeksi-dan-penyakit">patogen</a> penyakit yang diketahui. Hal ini <a href="https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/">untuk membuat peta risiko manusia </a> oleh penyakit yang diperparah oleh bahaya iklim.</p>
<p>Angka-angka itu menggelegar. Dari 375 penyakit manusia, kami menemukan bahwa 218 di antaranya, atau lebih dari setengahnya, dapat dipengaruhi oleh perubahan iklim.</p>
<p>Banjir, misalnya, bisa <a href="https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-020-04961-4">menyebarkan hepatitis</a>. Meningkatnya suhu dapat memperpanjang umur <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-51962100132-7/fulltext">nyamuk pembawa malaria</a>. Kekeringan dapat membawa <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8778283/">tikus yang terinfeksi hantavirus</a> ke dalam komunitas saat mereka mencari makanan.</p>
<p>Dengan perubahan iklim yang mempengaruhi lebih dari 1.000 jalur penularan dan <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0315-6">bahaya iklim yang semakin global</a>, kami menyimpulkan bahwa mengharapkan masyarakat untuk berhasil beradaptasi dengan semua itu bukanlah pilihan yang realistis. Dunia perlu mengurangi emisi gas rumah kaca yang mendorong perubahan iklim untuk mengurangi risiko ini.</p>
<h2>Memetakan bahaya kesehatan iklim</h2>
<p>Untuk dapat mencegah krisis kesehatan global, umat manusia membutuhkan pemahaman yang komprehensif tentang jalur dan besarnya dampak perubahan iklim terhadap penyakit patogen.</p>
<p>Kami berfokus pada <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">10 bahaya terkait iklim</a> yang terkait dengan peningkatan emisi gas rumah kaca: pemanasan atmosfer, gelombang panas, kekeringan, kebakaran hutan, curah hujan lebat, banjir, badai, kenaikan permukaan laut, pemanasan laut dan perubahan tutupan lahan. Kemudian, kami mencari studi yang membahas pengamatan spesifik dan terukur dari kejadian penyakit manusia yang terkait dengan bahaya tersebut.</p>
<p>Secara total, kami meninjau lebih dari 77.000 makalah ilmiah. Dari mereka, 830 makalah memuat bahaya iklim yang mempengaruhi penyakit tertentu di tempat dan atau waktu yang jelas dan memungkinkan kami untuk membuat database tentang bahaya iklim, jalur transmisi, patogen, dan penyakit. <a href="https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/">Sebuah peta interaktif dari setiap jalur antara bahaya dan patogen</a> tersedia online.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Spaghetti chart showing pathways connecting climate disaster types, like flooding and heat, and specific types of pathogens, like bacteria and viruses." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Versi sederhana dari bagan penyakit patogen menunjukkan bagaimana bencana iklim yang berbeda berinteraksi dengan jalur penularan dan patogen. Versi lengkapnya tersedia di https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/">Camilo Mora</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jumlah terbesar penyakit yang diperparah oleh perubahan iklim melibatkan penularan melalui vektor, seperti yang disebarkan oleh nyamuk, kelelawar atau hewan pengerat. Dilihat dari jenis bahaya iklim, sebagian besar terkait dengan pemanasan atmosfer (160 penyakit), curah hujan deras (122) dan banjir (121).</p>
<h2>Bagaimana iklim mempengaruhi risiko patogen</h2>
<p>Kami menemukan <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">empat cara utama</a> bahaya iklim berinteraksi dengan patogen dan manusia:</p>
<p><strong>1) Bahaya terkait iklim membawa patogen lebih dekat ke manusia.</strong></p>
<p>Dalam beberapa kasus, bahaya terkait iklim menggeser kisaran hewan dan organisme yang dapat bertindak sebagai vektor penyakit patogen berbahaya.</p>
<p>Misalnya, pemanasan atau perubahan pola pengendapan dapat mengubah distribusi nyamuk, yang merupakan vektor berbagai penyakit patogen manusia. Dalam beberapa dekade terakhir, perubahan geografis <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)70091-5">wabah penyakit yang dibawa nyamuk seperti malaria dan demam berdarah</a> telah dikaitkan dengan bahaya iklim ini.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman strokes her child's head next to other sleeping under a bed net" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anak-anak tidur di bawah kelambu di Etiopia untuk melindungi dari nyamuk penyebar malaria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/amina-dawd-strokes-one-of-her-resting-childrens-hair-as-two-news-photo/585855434?adppopup=true">Louise Gubb/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2) Bahaya terkait iklim membuat orang lebih dekat dengan patogen.</strong></p>
<p>Bencana iklim juga dapat mengubah pola perilaku manusia yang meningkatkan peluang mereka terpapar patogen. Misalnya, selama gelombang panas, orang sering menghabiskan lebih banyak waktu di air, yang dapat menyebabkan peningkatan wabah penyakit yang ditularkan melalui air.</p>
<p>Khususnya, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2207.151996">infeksi terkait Vibrio meningkat</a> secara substansial di Swedia dan Finlandia setelah gelombang panas di Skandinavia utara pada tahun 2014.</p>
<p><strong>3) Bahaya terkait iklim meningkatkan patogen.</strong></p>
<p>Dalam beberapa kasus, bahaya terkait iklim telah menyebabkan kondisi lingkungan yang dapat meningkatkan peluang patogen untuk berinteraksi dengan vektor atau meningkatkan kemampuan patogen untuk menyebabkan penyakit parah pada manusia.</p>
<p>Misalnya, genangan air yang disebabkan oleh hujan lebat dan banjir dapat <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.13901">menyediakan tempat berkembang biak</a> bagi nyamuk, yang menyebabkan peningkatan penularan penyakit seperti <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2008.08.030">demam kuning, demam berdarah, malaria, demam West Nile</a> dan <a href="https://vet.kku.ac.th/journal/jy2007no.2_2013no.%201/%2010cetak%20ulang%20no.2.2011/9Myaing.pdf">leishmaniasis</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person wearing trash bags around each leg to keep them dry crosses a flooded city street in New Jersey. An overturned trash can floats in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Banyak penyakit yang ditularkan melalui air dapat disebarkan oleh bahaya iklim seperti banjir dan hujan lebat yang ekstrem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-uses-garbage-bags-to-keep-his-pants-and-feet-dry-as-he-news-photo/1337826833">Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Penelitian telah menunjukkan bahwa kenaikan suhu juga dapat membantu virus <a href="https://www.jci.org/articles/view/13503">menjadi lebih tahan terhadap panas</a>, mengakibatkan peningkatan keparahan penyakit karena patogen menjadi lebih mampu beradaptasi dengan demam di tubuh manusia.</p>
<p>Misalnya, penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kenaikan suhu global menyebabkan peningkatan toleransi panas dari patogen jamur. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31337723/">Kemunculan <em>Candida auris</em></a> yang kebal pengobatan pada manusia secara tiba-tiba, telah dikaitkan dengan peningkatan suhu global. Demikian pula, jamur di lingkungan perkotaan telah terbukti <a href="https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-015-0127-3">lebih tahan panas</a> dibandingkan di daerah pedesaan, yang cenderung lebih dingin .</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teori tentang munculnya Candida auris. Klik gambar untuk memperbesar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.01397-19">Arturo Casadevall, Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis, Vincent Robert via Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>4) Bahaya terkait iklim melemahkan kemampuan tubuh untuk mengatasi patogen.</strong></p>
<p>Bahaya terkait iklim dapat mempengaruhi kemampuan tubuh manusia untuk mengatasi patogen dalam dua cara utama. Mereka dapat memaksa orang ke dalam kondisi berbahaya, seperti ketika kerusakan akibat bencana menyebabkan orang-orang yang tinggal dalam kondisi padat yang mungkin kekurangan sanitasi yang baik atau meningkatkan paparan patogen.</p>
<p>Bahaya juga dapat mengurangi kapasitas tubuh untuk melawan patogen, melalui malnutrisi, misalnya. Hidup melalui bahaya iklim juga dapat menyebabkan <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1118355109">peningkatan produksi kortisol</a> dari stres, yang menyebabkan penurunan respons kekebalan tubuh manusia.</p>
<h2>Apa yang harus dilakukan tentang hal itu</h2>
<p>Perubahan iklim menghadirkan ancaman yang signifikan bagi kehidupan manusia, kesehatan dan kesejahteraan sosial ekonomi. Peta kami menunjukkan seberapa luas ancaman itu. Dalam pandangan kami, untuk mengurangi risiko, umat manusia harus mengerem emisi gas rumah kaca yang disebabkan oleh manusia yang memicu pemanasan global.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189133/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Para penulis tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi di luar afiliasi akademis yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Jumlah terbesar penyakit yang diperparah oleh perubahan iklim melibatkan penularan melalui vektor, seperti yang disebarkan oleh nyamuk, kelelawar atau hewan pengerat.Tristan McKenzie, Postdoctoral Researcher in Marine Science, University of GothenburgCamilo Mora, Associate Professor of Biology, University of HawaiiHannah von Hammerstein, Ph.D. Candidate in Geography and Environmental Science, University of HawaiiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1880152022-08-09T15:23:10Z2022-08-09T15:23:10ZHow not to respond to drought: lessons from Angola<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476935/original/file-20220801-24-txgy0r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Breakdown in local canal that led to micro-drought situation in Humpata (Huíla).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruy Blanes</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Three years after a severe drought in southwestern Angola, people in the area continue to suffer. Hunger remains pervasive and they are still losing livestock.</p>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://secaangola.hypotheses.org/files/2022/04/Drought-in-Angola-Report-2022-compressed.pdf">report</a> we looked at fallout from the extreme drought in the region in 2019. There was almost no rain for 10 years. This led to a humanitarian and environmental disaster. According to <a href="https://www.unicef.org/media/74536/file/Angola-Sitrep-June-2019.pdf">data published by Unicef</a> in June 2019, around 2.3 million people experienced food insecurity as a result of the drought, and hundreds of thousands became malnourished. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://secaangola.hypotheses.org/files/2022/04/Drought-in-Angola-Report-2022-compressed.pdf">research</a> included interviews with local herding and pastoralist communities, local politicians, activists and members of NGO. </p>
<p>Our report attempted to unpack why the situation remains so dire. Rainfall continues to be irregular and scarce, making most local rural communities unable to survive the cacimbo (dry season) without relying on donations of food and water. Crops have failed and livestock lack pasture. Many people are migrating to Namibia or urban areas. This is despite the fact that the crisis triggered national and international responses.</p>
<p>The report set out factors that made the impact of the drought worse. These included the way in which the government provided assistance, as well as infrastructure failures. While existing transport and energy networks were breaking down due to a lack of maintenance and repair, the government’s response focused on new, long term construction projects. These privileged large-scale farming projects over the traditional farming and herding.</p>
<p>We found that no solutions had been found to the impact of the drought and the suffering of communities. The reasons for this include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>dispersed and disconnected development and aid responses </p></li>
<li><p>lack of infrastructure repair </p></li>
<li><p>land exploitation through agroindustrial and mining projects </p></li>
<li><p>no serious consideration of the local rural communities’ lifestyles. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>We conclude that drought aid will not be enough unless these issues are addressed.</p>
<h2>The interventions</h2>
<p>In 2019, southwestern Angola became one of the hotspots of international <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKVyRdMwFNA">climate debates</a>, due to an extreme drought situation. Millions of people were affected, as well as millions of livestock. </p>
<p>The drought cycle had begun a decade earlier, with a succession of years with irregular rainfall patterns, as reported by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction <a href="https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/droughts-angola-2012-2016-post-disaster-needs-assessment">back in 2016</a>. Local rural communities were already accustomed to living in arid and semi-arid conditions. But in 2019, the cycle peaked, and traditional survival strategies were no longer effective.</p>
<p>International organisations, such as <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/angola/unicef-angola-humanitarian-situation-report-july-2019">Unicef</a>, described the situation as “the worst drought in 40 years”. This triggered an unprecedented response from Angolan civic society, government and opposition parties.</p>
<p>First there were immediate campaigns to distribute food and water. The government under President João Lourenço also sponsored several programmes focused on water distribution and infrastructure. New dams and pipelines were built. It also refocused <a href="https://fresan-angola.org/">a financial programme</a> designed to strengthen food security in rural areas towards immediate aid to local communities.</p>
<p>In addition, several NGOs focused on immediate, small-scale solutions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476936/original/file-20220801-77595-ydkfbm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Water storing hills" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476936/original/file-20220801-77595-ydkfbm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476936/original/file-20220801-77595-ydkfbm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476936/original/file-20220801-77595-ydkfbm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476936/original/file-20220801-77595-ydkfbm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476936/original/file-20220801-77595-ydkfbm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476936/original/file-20220801-77595-ydkfbm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476936/original/file-20220801-77595-ydkfbm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Small-scale water retention solution ‘cisterna-calçadão’ in Gambos (Huíla)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruy Blanes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Three years after the crisis, what has been the effect of the relief efforts? </p>
<h2>What’s left</h2>
<p>During our research in the provinces of Huíla, Cunene and Namibe we saw several different projects and interventions. These ranged from large infrastructural projects, in particular the <a href="https://www.africa-press.net/angola/all-news/cunene-river-water-transfer-system-starts-operating-in-april">Cunene River water transfer system</a>, to local water access and retention systems such as the <a href="https://www.adra-angola.org/artigos/projecto-parmes-preve-construir-100-cisternas-calcadao"><em>cisterna calçadão</em></a> or livelihood diversification programmes. </p>
<p>But we also found that the level of humanitarian vulnerability and insecurity had not changed significantly. These were the main problems we identified:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Firstly, an unexpected factor added to the crisis: the COVID-19 outbreak. While the rate of infection among local communities was low according to government figures, restrictions had an impact. For instance, the closure of the Angola-Namibia border throughout 2020 and 2021 interrupted trade.</p></li>
<li><p>The immediate assistance programmes (food, seed and water distribution campaigns) were irregular and unsystematic. Several communities living in the more remote areas were left out. Water distribution projects began with large cistern tanks that were too big and heavy to reach off-track areas. Later on, a <a href="https://www.jornaldeangola.ao/ao/noticias/150-motos-cisternas-apoiam-vitimas-da-seca/">“moto-cistern” system</a> with motorcycles carrying water tanks was introduced. But poor road conditions hampered this.</p></li>
<li><p>The role and capacity of local authorities (communal or municipal) was hindered by excessive centralism. All the major initiatives, such as the poverty reduction programmes and infrastructural development schemes, were designed and promoted from the presidential cabinet without sustained engagement with local authorities. All also involved painstaking bureaucratic processes. </p></li>
<li><p>A number of problems have emerged with the long-term projects. One example is the water transfer system around the Cunene River. Firstly, it faces an uncertain conclusion. Secondly, it could create further inequalities <a href="https://epito-reporter.com/?p=4674">in the distribution of and access to water</a>. In our visit to the commune of Oncocua in the province of Cunene, local communities were wondering why the projected pipelines didn’t include their areas. In addition, the projects privilege big businesses involved in new construction projects instead of rehabilitating existing infrastructure. Examples include the Neves and Matala dams which hark back to the colonial period (pre-1975). Local communities historically organised their livelihoods around them. But the lack of maintenance has created <a href="https://www.blogalstudies.com/post/drought-terroirs-in-southern-angola">“micro-droughts” in water-rich areas</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Aid and relief projects organised by NGOs provided immediate solutions. These ranged from the construction of water holes and pumps to the repair of water retention systems. But the response depended on external funding and lacked an overarching plan.</p></li>
<li><p>Large-scale agro-industrial and mining projects in the region have intensified the pressure on the soil and water resources, and interrupted or hampered the patterns of traditional pastoralists. As Amnesty International reported in <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr12/1020/2019/en/">2019</a> and <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/07/angola-millions-facing-hunger-as-thousands-flee-their-homes-as-drought-ravages-the-south-of-angola-2/">2021</a>, these projects in Huila province led to traditional communal pasture lands being appropriated. This increased conflict.</p></li>
<li><p>The government’s initiatives took place without the support or knowledge of local communities. This was particularly true when it came to the design of practical solutions such as the installation and maintenance of water holes and the development of farm plots.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In August of 2022, Angola will be holding presidential elections. As part of his campaign ahead of polls, President Lourenço has said that efforts to manage the effects of the drought would be his <a href="http://www.embaixadadeangola.pt/pr-prioriza-combate-seca-sul-de-angola/">priority in the next cabinet</a>. The announcement may seem like a positive gesture. But the fact that it is formulated three years after the crisis shows that the response to drought in southwestern Angola has, so far, been inefficient.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188015/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruy Llera Blanes receives funding from FORMAS (Sweden). </span></em></p>Despite international and national responses to the drought, the situation is dire. The government’s response is a lesson in how not to deal with drought.Ruy Llera Blanes, Associate Professor in Social Anthropology, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1884732022-08-09T09:57:43Z2022-08-09T09:57:43ZEl 58 % de las enfermedades infecciosas humanas puede empeorar con el cambio climático<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478260/original/file-20220809-15-v0qmqh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C3583%2C2392&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Las inundaciones provocadas por huracanes como Irma en Florida pueden saturar los sistemas de alcantarillado y propagar patógenos.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/with-their-homes-surrounded-by-water-that-they-fear-may-be-news-photo/846597496">Brian Blanco / Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>El cambio climático puede agravar un <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">58 % de las enfermedades infecciosas</a> con las que el ser humano entra en contacto en todo el mundo, desde los virus comunes transmitidos por el agua hasta enfermedades mortales como la peste, según muestra nuestra nueva investigación. </p>
<p>Un <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">equipo de científicos especialistas en medio ambiente y salud</a> hemos revisado décadas de documentos científicos sobre todos los patógenos conocidos <a href="https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/">para crear un mapa de los riesgos humanos</a> agravados por los peligros relacionados con el clima. </p>
<p>Las cifras son sorprendentes. De 375 enfermedades humanas, descubrimos que 218 de ellas, más de la mitad, pueden verse afectadas por el cambio climático. </p>
<p>Las inundaciones, por ejemplo, <a href="https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-020-04961-4">pueden propagar la hepatitis</a>. El aumento de las temperaturas puede ampliar la vida de los <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-51962100132-7/fulltext">mosquitos portadores de la malaria</a>. Las sequías pueden atraer <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8778283/">roedores infectados con hantavirus</a> a las comunidades en su búsqueda de alimentos.</p>
<p>Dado que el cambio climático influye en más de 1 000 vías de transmisión como estas y <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0315-6">los riesgos climáticos aumentan a nivel mundial</a>, hemos llegado a la conclusión de que esperar que las sociedades se adapten con éxito a todas ellas no es una opción realista. El mundo tendrá que reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero que impulsan el cambio climático para reducir estos riesgos.</p>
<h2>Cartografía de los riesgos climáticos para la salud</h2>
<p>Para poder prevenir las crisis sanitarias mundiales, la humanidad necesita conocer a fondo las vías y la magnitud con que el cambio climático podría afectar a las enfermedades causadas por patógenos.</p>
<p>Nos hemos centrado en <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">10 peligros relacionados con el clima</a> vinculados al aumento de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero: calentamiento atmosférico, olas de calor, sequías, incendios forestales, fuertes precipitaciones, inundaciones, tormentas, aumento del nivel del mar, calentamiento de los océanos y cambio de la cubierta terrestre. A continuación, buscamos estudios en los que se discutieran observaciones específicas y cuantificables sobre la aparición de enfermedades humanas relacionadas con esos peligros.</p>
<p>En total, revisamos más de 77 000 artículos científicos. De ellos, 830 tenían un riesgo climático que afectaba a una enfermedad específica en un lugar y/o periodo de tiempo concreto, lo que nos permitió crear una base de datos de peligros climáticos, vías de transmisión, patógenos y enfermedades. Un <a href="https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/">mapa interactivo de todas las vías entre el peligro y el patógeno</a> está disponible en línea.</p>
<p>El mayor número de enfermedades agravadas por el cambio climático se debe a la transmisión por vectores, como los mosquitos, los murciélagos y los roedores. En cuanto al tipo de peligro climático, la mayoría se asoció al calentamiento atmosférico (160 enfermedades), a las fuertes precipitaciones (122) y a las inundaciones (121).</p>
<h2>Cómo influye el clima en el riesgo de patógenos</h2>
<p>Encontramos <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">cuatro formas clave</a> en que los peligros climáticos interactúan con los patógenos y los seres humanos:</p>
<p><strong>1) Acercamiento de los patógenos a las personas.</strong> </p>
<p>En algunos casos, los peligros relacionados con el clima están cambiando las áreas de distribución de los animales y organismos que pueden actuar como vectores de enfermedades patógenas peligrosas. </p>
<p>Por ejemplo, el calentamiento y los cambios en los patrones de precipitación pueden alterar la distribución de los mosquitos, que son vectores de numerosas enfermedades patógenas humanas. En las últimas décadas, los cambios geográficos en <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)70091-5">los brotes de enfermedades transmitidas por mosquitos, como la malaria y el dengue</a>, se han relacionado con estos riesgos climáticos.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Una mujer acaricia la cabeza de su hijo junto a otro que duerme bajo un mosquitero" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Los niños duermen bajo mosquiteros en Etiopía para protegerse de los mosquitos que propagan la malaria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/amina-dawd-strokes-one-of-her-resting-childrens-hair-as-two-news-photo/585855434?adppopup=true">Louise Gubb / Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2) Acercamiento de las personas a los agentes patógenos.</strong> </p>
<p>Las catástrofes climáticas también pueden alterar los patrones de comportamiento de los seres humanos de manera que aumenten sus posibilidades de estar expuestos a los patógenos. Por ejemplo, durante las olas de calor, la gente suele pasar más tiempo en el agua, lo que puede provocar un aumento de los brotes de enfermedades transmitidas por el agua. </p>
<p>En particular, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2207.151996">las infecciones asociadas a vibrios</a> aumentaron sustancialmente en Suecia y Finlandia tras una ola de calor en el norte de Escandinavia en 2014.</p>
<p><strong>3) Potenciación de los patógenos.</strong></p>
<p>En algunos casos, los peligros relacionados con el clima han dado lugar a condiciones ambientales que pueden aumentar las oportunidades para que los patógenos interactúen con los vectores o incrementar la capacidad de los patógenos para causar enfermedades graves en los seres humanos. </p>
<p>Por ejemplo, el agua estancada que dejan las fuertes precipitaciones y las inundaciones puede <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.13901">proporcionar caldos de cultivo</a> para los mosquitos, lo que conduce a un aumento de la transmisión de enfermedades como <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2008.08.030">la fiebre amarilla, el dengue, la malaria, la fiebre del Nilo Occidental</a> y <a href="https://vet.kku.ac.th/journal/jy2007no.2_2013no.%201/10reprint%20no.2.2011/9Myaing.pdf">la leishmaniasis</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Una persona con bolsas de basura alrededor de cada pierna para mantenerlas secas cruza una calle inundada de la ciudad en Nueva Jersey. Un cubo de basura volcado flota en el fondo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Muchas enfermedades transmitidas por el agua pueden propagarse por riesgos climáticos como las inundaciones y los aguaceros extremos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-uses-garbage-bags-to-keep-his-pants-and-feet-dry-as-he-news-photo/1337826833">Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Los estudios han demostrado que el aumento de las temperaturas también puede contribuir a que los virus <a href="https://www.jci.org/articles/view/135003">se vuelvan más resistentes al calor</a>, lo que se traduce en un aumento de la gravedad de la enfermedad, ya que los patógenos se adaptan mejor a la fiebre del cuerpo humano. </p>
<p>Por ejemplo, algunas investigaciones sugieren que el aumento de las temperaturas globales está conduciendo a una mayor tolerancia al calor de los patógenos fúngicos. La repentina <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31337723/">aparición en múltiples continentes de infecciones humanas resistentes al tratamiento de <em>Candida auris</em></a>, un hongo que antes no era patógeno para el ser humano, se ha asociado al aumento de las temperaturas globales. Asimismo, se ha demostrado que los hongos de los entornos urbanos son <a href="https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-015-0127-3">más tolerantes al calor</a> que los de las zonas rurales, que suelen ser más frías. </p>
<p><strong>4) Debilitamiento de la capacidad del cuerpo para hacer frente a los patógenos.</strong></p>
<p>Los peligros relacionados con el clima pueden afectar a la capacidad del cuerpo humano para hacer frente a los patógenos de dos maneras fundamentales. Pueden obligar a las personas a vivir en condiciones peligrosas, como cuando los daños causados por las catástrofes llevan a las personas a vivir en condiciones de hacinamiento que pueden carecer de un buen saneamiento o aumentar su exposición a los agentes infecciosos. </p>
<p>Los peligros también pueden reducir la capacidad del cuerpo para luchar contra los patógenos, por ejemplo a través de la desnutrición, por ejemplo. Vivir en condiciones de peligro climático también puede inducir <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1118355109">un aumento de la producción de cortisol</a> debido al estrés, lo que lleva a una reducción de la respuesta inmunitaria del cuerpo humano.</p>
<h2>Qué hacer al respecto</h2>
<p>El cambio climático representa una importante amenaza para la vida, la salud y el bienestar socioeconómico de los seres humanos. Nuestro mapa muestra la magnitud de esa amenaza. En nuestra opinión, para reducir el riesgo, la humanidad tendrá que poner freno a las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero causadas por el hombre que alimentan el calentamiento global.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188473/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Las personas firmantes no son asalariadas, ni consultoras, ni poseen acciones, ni reciben financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y han declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado anteriormente.</span></em></p>Una reciente investigación confirma que las inundaciones, el calor extremo y otros peligros climáticos aumentan el contacto entre humanos y agentes patógenos y afectan a la capacidad del organismo para combatir enfermedades.Tristan McKenzie, Postdoctoral Researcher in Marine Science, University of GothenburgCamilo Mora, Associate Professor of Biology, University of HawaiiHannah von Hammerstein, Ph.D. Candidate in Geography and Environmental Science, University of HawaiiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1882562022-08-08T15:00:02Z2022-08-08T15:00:02Z58% of human infectious diseases can be worsened by climate change – we scoured 77,000 studies to map the pathways<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477960/original/file-20220807-64544-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C59%2C3600%2C2333&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Flooding from hurricanes like Irma in Florida can overwhelm sewer systems and spread pathogens in other ways.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/with-their-homes-surrounded-by-water-that-they-fear-may-be-news-photo/846597496">Brian Blanco/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Climate change can exacerbate a full <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">58% of the infectious diseases</a> that humans come in contact with worldwide, from common waterborne viruses to deadly diseases like plague, our new research shows. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">team of environment and health scientists</a> reviewed decades of scientific papers on all known pathogenic disease pathogens <a href="https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/">to create a map of the human risks</a> aggravated by climate-related hazards. </p>
<p>The numbers were jarring. Of 375 human diseases, we found that 218 of them, well over half, can be affected by climate change. </p>
<p>Flooding, for example, can <a href="https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-020-04961-4">spread hepatitis</a>. Rising temperatures can expand the life of <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-51962100132-7/fulltext">mosquitoes carrying malaria</a>. Droughts can bring <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8778283/">rodents infected with hantavirus</a> into communities as they search for food.</p>
<p>With climate change influencing more than 1,000 transmission pathways like those and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0315-6">climate hazards increasingly globally</a>, we concluded that expecting societies to successfully adapt to all of them isn’t a realistic option. The world will need to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change to reduce these risks.</p>
<h2>Mapping climate health hazards</h2>
<p>To be able to prevent global health crises, humanity needs a comprehensive understanding of the pathways and the magnitude with which climate change might affect pathogenic diseases.</p>
<p>We focused on <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">10 climate-related hazards</a> linked to rising greenhouse gas emissions: atmospheric warming, heat waves, drought, wildfires, heavy precipitation, flooding, storms, sea-level rise, ocean warming and land cover change. Then we looked for studies discussing specific and quantifiable observations of human disease occurrences linked to those hazards.</p>
<p>In total, we reviewed over 77,000 scientific papers. Of those, 830 papers had a climatic hazard affecting a specific disease in an explicit place and/or time, allowing us to create a database of climatic hazards, transmission pathways, pathogens and diseases. An <a href="https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/">interactive map of every pathway between hazard and pathogen</a> is available online.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Spaghetti chart showing pathways connecting climate disaster types, like flooding and heat, and specific types of pathogens, like bacteria and viruses." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=322&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477806/original/file-20220805-23-dtnvkm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A simplified version of the pathogenic disease chart shows how different climate disasters interact with transmission pathways and pathogens. The full version is available at https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/">Camilo Mora</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The largest number of diseases aggravated by climate change involved vector-borne transmission, such as those spread by mosquitoes, bats or rodents. Looking at the type of climate hazard, the majority were associated with atmospheric warming (160 diseases), heavy precipitation (122) and flooding (121).</p>
<h2>How climate influences pathogen risk</h2>
<p>We found <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01426-1">four key ways</a> climatic hazards interact with pathogens and humans:</p>
<p><strong>1) Climate-related hazards bring pathogens closer to people.</strong> </p>
<p>In some cases, climate-related hazards are shifting the ranges of animals and organisms that can act as vectors for dangerous pathogenic diseases. </p>
<p>For example, warming or changes in precipitation patterns can alter the distribution of mosquitoes, which are vectors of numerous human pathogenic diseases. In recent decades, geographic changes in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)70091-5">outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue</a> have been linked to these climatic hazards.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman strokes her child's head next to other sleeping under a bed net" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477955/original/file-20220807-57717-qiap30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children sleep under nets in Ethiopia to protect against malaria-spreading mosquitoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/amina-dawd-strokes-one-of-her-resting-childrens-hair-as-two-news-photo/585855434?adppopup=true">Louise Gubb/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2) Climate-related hazards bring people closer to pathogens.</strong> </p>
<p>Climate disasters can also alter human behavior patterns in ways that increase their chances of being exposed to pathogens. For example, during heat waves, people often spend more time in water, which can lead to an increase in waterborne disease outbreaks. </p>
<p>Notably, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2207.151996">Vibrio-associated infections increased</a> substantially in Sweden and Finland following a heat wave in northern Scandinavia in 2014.</p>
<p><strong>3) Climate-related hazards enhance pathogens.</strong></p>
<p>In some cases, climate-related hazards have led to either environmental conditions that can increase opportunities for pathogens to interact with vectors or increase the ability of pathogens to cause severe illness in humans. </p>
<p>For example, standing water left by heavy precipitation and flooding can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.13901">provide breeding grounds</a> for mosquitoes, leading to increased transmission of diseases such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2008.08.030">yellow fever, dengue, malaria, West Nile fever</a> and <a href="https://vet.kku.ac.th/journal/jy2007no.2_2013no.%201/10reprint%20no.2.2011/9Myaing.pdf">leishmaniasis</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person wearing trash bags around each leg to keep them dry crosses a flooded city street in New Jersey. An overturned trash can floats in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477956/original/file-20220807-64533-exnbet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many waterborne diseases can be spread by climate hazards like flooding and extreme downpours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-uses-garbage-bags-to-keep-his-pants-and-feet-dry-as-he-news-photo/1337826833">Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Studies have shown that rising temperatures may also help viruses <a href="https://www.jci.org/articles/view/135003">become more resistant to heat</a>, resulting in increased disease severity as pathogens become better able to adapt to fever in the human body. </p>
<p>For instance, studies have suggested that rising global temperatures are leading to increased heat tolerance of fungal pathogens. The sudden <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31337723/">appearance on multiple continents of treatment-resistant human infections of <em>Candida auris</em></a>, a fungus that was previously nonpathogenic to humans, has been associated with increasing global temperatures. Similarly, fungi in urban environments have been shown to be <a href="https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-015-0127-3">more heat tolerant</a> than those in rural areas, which tend to be cooler. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477875/original/file-20220805-1342-otw5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Theories on the emergence of Candida auris. Click the image to zoom in.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.01397-19">Arturo Casadevall, Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis, Vincent Robert via Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>4) Climate-related hazards weaken the body’s ability to cope with pathogens.</strong></p>
<p>Climate-related hazards can affect the human body’s ability to cope with pathogens in two key ways. They can force people into hazardous conditions, such as when disaster damage leads to people living in crowded conditions that might lack good sanitation or increase their exposure to pathogens. </p>
<p>Hazards can also reduce the body’s capacity to fight off pathogens, through malnutrition, for example. Living through climatic hazards may also induce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1118355109">increased cortisol production</a> from stress, leading to a reduction in the human body’s immune response.</p>
<h2>What to do about it</h2>
<p>Climate change presents a significant threat to human lives, health and socioeconomic well-being. Our map shows just how extensive that threat can be. In our view, to dial back the risk, humanity will have to put the brakes on the human-caused greenhouse gas emissions fueling global warming.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188256/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s not just mosquitos. Flooding, extreme heat and other climate-related hazards are bringing people into contact with pathogens more often, and affecting people’s ability to fight off disease.Tristan McKenzie, Postdoctoral Researcher in Marine Science, University of GothenburgCamilo Mora, Associate Professor of Biology, University of HawaiiHannah von Hammerstein, Ph.D. Candidate in Geography and Environmental Science, University of HawaiiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1737202022-01-20T13:46:04Z2022-01-20T13:46:04ZThe better you are at math, the more money seems to influence your satisfaction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441590/original/file-20220119-23-mo0nsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C139%2C4787%2C3063&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Being better at math increases income but also ties satisfaction more closely to money.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/man-throwing-dollar-bills-in-the-air-arms-raised-in-royalty-free-image/200381413-001?adppopup=true"> Jonathan Kitchen/Digital Vision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Your grade school math teacher probably told you that being good at math would be very important to your grownup self. But maybe the younger you didn’t believe that at the time. A lot of research, though, has shown that <a href="https://theconversation.com/people-who-are-bad-with-numbers-often-find-it-harder-to-make-ends-meet-even-if-they-are-not-poor-172272">your teacher was right</a>. </p>
<p>We are two researchers who study decision-making and how it relates to wealth and happiness. In a study published in November 2021, we found that, in general, people who are better at math <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259331">make more money and are more satisfied with their lives</a> than people who aren’t as mathematically talented. But being good at math seems to be a double-edged sword. Although math-proficient people are very satisfied when they have high incomes, they are more dissatisfied, compared to those who aren’t as good at math, when they don’t make a lot of money. </p>
<p>Many researchers have suggested that more money only increases <a href="https://qz.com/1503207/a-nobel-prize-winning-psychologist-defines-happiness-versus-satisfaction/">life satisfaction and happiness</a> up to a certain point. Our research modifies this idea by showing that satisfaction derived from income relates strongly to how good a person is at math. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person holding a pencil above a sheet of paper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nearly 6,000 people responded to a survey that asked about math skills, income and life satisfaction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/student-taking-math-quiz-cropped-royalty-free-image/97612935?adppopup=true">PhotoAlto/Odilon Dimier via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>A math and happiness test</h2>
<p>We investigated the relationship between math ability, income and life satisfaction, using surveys sent to 5,748 diverse Americans as part of the <a href="https://uasdata.usc.edu/index.php">Understanding America Study</a>.</p>
<p>The study included two questions and one test relevant to our research. One question asked participants about their household yearly income. Another one asked respondents to rate how satisfied they are with their lives on a scale of zero to 10.</p>
<p>Finally, people answered eight math questions that varied in difficulty to get a sense of their math skills. For example, one of the moderately difficult questions was: “Jerry received both the 15th highest and the 15th lowest mark in the class. How many students are in the class?” The correct answer is 29 students.</p>
<p>We then combined the results to see how they all related to one another. </p>
<p>Math skills and income also are tied to <a href="https://theconversation.com/money-buys-even-more-happiness-than-it-used-to-141766">level of education,</a> so, in our analyses, we controlled for education, verbal intelligence, personality traits and other demographics.</p>
<h2>Connecting math skills to income and satisfaction</h2>
<p>On average, the better a person was at math, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259331">more money they made</a>. For every one additional right answer on the eight-question math test, people reported an average of $4,062 more in annual income. </p>
<p>Imagine you have two people with the same level of education, one of whom answered none of the math questions correctly and the other answered all of them correctly. Our research predicts that the person who answered all of the questions correctly will earn about $30,000 more each year.</p>
<p>The survey also showed that people who are better at math were, on average, also more satisfied with their lives than those with lower math ability. This finding agrees with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/0002828041464551">a lot of other research</a> and suggests that income influences life satisfaction.</p>
<p>But prior research has shown that the relationship between income and satisfaction is not as straightforward as “more money equals greater happiness.” It turns out that how satisfied a person is with their income often depends on how they feel it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610362671">compares to other people’s incomes</a>.</p>
<p>Other research has also shown that people who are better at math tend to make <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190861094.001.0001">more numerical comparisons</a> in general than those who are worse at math. This led our team to suspect that math-proficient people would compare incomes more, too. Our results seem to show just that. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph correlating math skills to life satisfaction and income." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=645&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=645&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=645&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">This chart shows that people who scored highest on the math test (red line) appear to be happiest when they make a lot of money (top right of graph), but also the least satisfied when they make less money (bottom left of graph). Different color lines correspond to the number of math questions answered correctly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ellen Peters, Pär Bjälkebring</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Simply put, the better a person was at math, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259331">more they cared about how much money they make</a>. People who are better at math had the highest life satisfaction when they had high incomes. But deriving satisfaction from income goes both ways. These people also had the lowest life satisfaction when they had lower incomes. Among people who aren’t as good at math, income didn’t relate to satisfaction nearly as much. Thus, the same income was valued differently depending on a person’s math skills.</p>
<h2>Money does buy happiness for some</h2>
<p>An often-quoted fact – backed up by research – says that once a person makes around $95,000 a year, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0277-0">earning more money doesn’t dramatically increase satisfaction</a>. This concept is called <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-017-0277-0?mod=article_inline">income satiation</a>. Our research challenges that blanket statement.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Interestingly, the people who are best at math did not seem to show income satiation. They were more and more satisfied with more income, and there didn’t appear to be an upper limit. This did not hold true for people who weren’t as talented at math. The least math-proficient group gained more satisfaction from income only until about $50,000. After that, earning more money made little difference.</p>
<p>For some, money does seem to buy happiness. While more work needs to be done to really understand why, we think it may be because math-oriented people compare numbers – including incomes – to make sense of the world. And maybe that’s not always a great thing. In comparison, those who are worse at math appear to derive life satisfaction from sources other than income. So if you are feeling dissatisfied with your income, maybe seeing beyond the numbers will be a winning strategy for you.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pär Bjälkebring receives funding from Swedish Research Council (VR; DNR-2016-00507). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ellen Peters receives funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation and USAFacts.</span></em></p>Compared to people who aren’t as good at math, people who are better at math are more happy when they have high incomes and less happy when they have lower incomes.Pär Bjälkebring, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of GothenburgEllen Peters, Director, Center for Science Communication Research, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1718452021-12-08T19:21:19Z2021-12-08T19:21:19ZWhy climate change must stay on the news agenda beyond global summits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436225/original/file-20211207-138695-jxwmoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=232%2C504%2C8394%2C5160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Furlong/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During last month’s COP26 summit, climate change was a ubiquitous story. News hooks abounded, from unpacking the flurry of non-binding pledges to reporting on the failure of rich nations to honour demands of countries at the frontline, criticising the summit as the “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/05/cop26-sharply-criticized-as-the-most-exclusionary-climate-summit-ever.html">most exclusionary COP ever</a>”.</p>
<p>Even in today’s crowded information landscape, mainstream news media continue to play an important role in shaping <a href="https://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2020/how-people-access-news-about-climate-change">how we understand</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0267323115612213">act on</a> climate change. </p>
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<img alt="This chart shows coverage of climate change (across newspapers, radio and TV) across 59 countries in seven regions around the world." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436212/original/file-20211207-25-e8bdes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436212/original/file-20211207-25-e8bdes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436212/original/file-20211207-25-e8bdes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436212/original/file-20211207-25-e8bdes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436212/original/file-20211207-25-e8bdes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436212/original/file-20211207-25-e8bdes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436212/original/file-20211207-25-e8bdes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">This chart shows coverage of climate change (across newspapers, radio and TV) across 59 countries in seven regions around the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Media and Climate Change Observatory</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Based on research interviews with climate reporters, I argue the main stories are about climate breakdown and climate justice, and entire newsrooms, not just science and environment specialists, need to step up to demonstrate that understanding. </p>
<p>This needs to be reflected in the quantity and quality of climate coverage, well beyond the brief window of COP summits.</p>
<h2>Climate change is every story</h2>
<p>My <a href="https://climatejournalismnz.wordpress.com/">research</a>, which focused on interviews with journalists who consistently cover climate change, highlights how climate reporting directly challenges journalism’s traditional tendency to divide the world into rounds.</p>
<p>As Kennedy Warne, founder and former editor of New Zealand Geographic, puts it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The exclusive deployment of science journalists to the climate beat has had the unfortunate problem or effect of scientising the whole thing, when it’s really a human life, human hopes, human dreams, human inter-generational responsibility type of issue.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While specialist expertise does matter, the lion’s share of climate coverage can no longer be left to a handful of science and environment reporters.</p>
<p>When it comes to ensuring climate stories get regular coverage across newsrooms of large media outlets, Stuff is taking a laudable lead. In early 2020, it established a climate desk with a climate editor and reporter. The climate desk journalists, Eloise Gibson and Olivia Wannan, set about embedding climate reporting within the organisation’s outputs.</p>
<p>Newsroom is an example of a smaller organisation in which climate coverage is also a priority and mainstay, with diverse and regular reporting within its <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/climate-emergency">climate emergency</a> section.</p>
<h2>Specialist reporters matter</h2>
<p>Specialist climate reporters can build up a base of knowledge in a complex domain. But the journalists I interviewed were clear that media outlets don’t have to have a climate desk to produce more and better climate coverage. </p>
<p>On the science side, explaining the ecosystems and human implications from melting glaciers or freshwater policy is crucial.</p>
<p>In politics, reporters need to continue holding governments accountable to their promises, as many did recently in highlighting the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/300442463/climate-change-target-nowhere-near-as-ambitious-as-it-sounds">dubious accounting</a> in Aotearoa’s latest emissions reduction pledge.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop26-new-zealands-new-climate-pledge-is-a-step-up-but-not-a-fair-share-170932">COP26: New Zealand's new climate pledge is a step up, but not a 'fair share'</a>
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<p>Reporters are responsible for connecting the consequences of rising emissions for people’s lives.</p>
<p>Stuff’s Charlie Mitchell describes a 2017 <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/91778352/climate-change-could-spell-extreme-poverty-in-coastal-nz-towns">story</a> about the impacts of coastal erosion on mostly low-income residents of the West Coast coal-mining town of Granity.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It sticks out for me because climate change can be quite abstract and hard to communicate in some ways. But in that story, it was very real, it was very tangible.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Alex Braae, a former reporter at The Spinoff, picks out a different kind of local story about a meeting on carbon farming in the economically run-down King Country town of Taumarunui. It detailed the concerns of local farmers about planting productive farmland with carbon-absorbing pines at the cost of local jobs and community cohesion.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It took into account the fact that we might know exactly what the scientific solutions to climate change are, but we don’t necessarily know how to turn scientific changes into social and political policy that won’t leave people behind.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Covering climate responsibly</h2>
<p>The journalists I interviewed highlighted that in order to cover climate responsibly, they aim to:</p>
<p>● Provide accurate and contextualised stories</p>
<p>● strive for fair and diversified representation</p>
<p>● strive for regular and fresh coverage</p>
<p>● maintain emotional awareness</p>
<p>● make coverage interesting and relevant</p>
<p>● remain responsive to audience needs and feedback.</p>
<p>Accuracy is a tenet of responsible journalism. Another principle is balance, but journalists were clear that mainstream editors have understood the <a href="https://grist.org/climate/the-curse-of-both-sidesism-how-climate-denial-skewed-media-coverage-for-30-years/">dangers</a> of false balance for about a decade now. While climate denial is no longer platformed in a misguided effort to balance a story, this should apply to opinion columns as well. </p>
<p>Stories need to be based on evidence, which can come from Western science or other long-established knowledge systems like <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/110587713/climate-change-scientists-look-to-maori-and-other-indigenous-people-for-answers">mātauranga Māori</a>.</p>
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<img alt="A elder bathes a young child in a lagoon in Tuvalu." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436227/original/file-20211207-17-1a28egl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436227/original/file-20211207-17-1a28egl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436227/original/file-20211207-17-1a28egl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436227/original/file-20211207-17-1a28egl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436227/original/file-20211207-17-1a28egl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436227/original/file-20211207-17-1a28egl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436227/original/file-20211207-17-1a28egl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The low-lying South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, home for about 11,000 people, has been classified as extremely vulnerable to climate change by the UN Development Programme.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mario Tama/Getty Images</span></span>
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<p>The journalists I interviewed said it was important to them to make a conscious effort to seek out and fairly convey a wide range of perspectives.</p>
<p>Those already marginalised or in vulnerable situations face <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/EM2016/DisproportionateImpacts.pdf">disproportionate impacts</a> and multiplied inequities. </p>
<p>Jamie Tahana, previously at RNZ Pacific and now RNZ Te Ao Māori, emphasises that being able to tie frontline perspectives into political and scientific climate discussion brings them to life, reminding us that decisions made at political summits like COPs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/15/cop26-pacific-delegates-condemn-monumental-failure-that-leaves-islands-in-peril">amount to decisions</a> about Pacific Islanders’ lives and livelihoods.</p>
<h2>Connecting with audiences</h2>
<p>When Rebekah White, editor at New Zealand Geographic, imagines climate reporting in a decade, she isn’t optimistic about lessening the class divide between mainstream media’s primary audiences and those most affected.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I suspect that it’s going to be much the same as today. A bunch of journalists trying to make something that predominantly affects under-privileged people relevant to the middle-class people who are the main consumers of their media.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Still, climate connects with our daily lives and our choices all the time, whether we acknowledge it or not. Stories about air pollution, house insurance, banking, living in poverty, e-scooters or the best vegan restaurants all have climate angles.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-do-people-around-the-world-care-about-climate-change-we-surveyed-80-000-people-in-40-countries-to-find-out-140801">How much do people around the world care about climate change? We surveyed 80,000 people in 40 countries to find out</a>
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<p>A 2019 <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/113711124/we-asked-about-climate-change-coverage-and-got-15000-responses">Stuff survey</a> garnered 15,248 responses and showed audiences were keen for more accessible and relatable climate coverage.</p>
<p>They asked for more coverage of the impacts of their lifestyle and political choices, reporting that holds politicians and industry to account and more emphasis on the farming sector, especially about how it is adapting.</p>
<p>They were also keen on more forecasting of future climate impacts, as well as hopeful and solutions-based stories.</p>
<p>COVID-19 need not be a deterrent to climate coverage. Globally, around <a href="https://www.undp.org/publications/peoples-climate-vote">two in three people</a> think climate change is an emergency, even during the pandemic.</p>
<p><a href="https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.ub.gu.se/doi/full/10.1080/17524032.2021.1969978">Canadian analysis</a> shows while COVID-19 can compete with climate stories within a finite pool of audience attention, it also opens up opportunities to link the two. And a <a href="https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2020/09/23/climate-change-news-coverage-has-declined-the-audience-for-it-has-not/">US study</a> shows that while the amount of climate coverage dropped off during the early months of the pandemic, page views on climate stories didn’t.</p>
<p>Off the back of the momentum generated by COP26, it’s incumbent on all of Aotearoa’s newsrooms to ensure climate remains on the news agenda.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171845/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Áine Kelly-Costello does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Specialist reporters are important, but climate coverage can no longer be left to them. Here’s what New Zealand journalists say about why climate should be part of every newsroom and every beat.Áine Kelly-Costello, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1705602021-10-27T13:20:25Z2021-10-27T13:20:25ZOne sentence in a book leads researchers to a species not seen in over 100 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428188/original/file-20211025-15-1uq3sir.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One of four montane skinks collected by the researchers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wilson Monia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been more than 100 years since a live montane skink, <em>Proscelotes aenea</em>, was last spotted. Since then, it hasn’t been clear whether the lizard was extinct or just very good at hiding.</p>
<p>But, thanks to a combination of field work and detective skills, we can now announce that <em>Proscelotes aenea</em> is alive and scuttling around the sandy soils of Lumbo, Mozambique. This is an exciting result for our research project, <a href="http://www.extinctorshy.org">Extinct or Shy</a>. The project highlights what happens when there isn’t a great deal of data available about species in poorly sampled areas: species might be assumed to be extinct when they’re not, so their presence may not be taken into account when countries make conservation decisions.</p>
<p>Our journey to find the elusive montane skink has also highlighted why scientists’ field notes are so important. We used field notes made more than a century ago, as well as a tantalising clue in a naturalist’s autobiography, to narrow down where the skink might be found. </p>
<p>It’s a good reminder to modern researchers to make their fields notes as detailed as possible for future readers. After all, a species that is common at one point in time may not always be so in the future. Any “clues” that might guide researchers years, decades – or even centuries – from now are crucial.</p>
<h2>Hunting for written clues</h2>
<p>The last time the montane skink was recorded by scientists in Lumbo was in 1918. Naturalist Arthur Loveridge collected six specimens during a two-month stay in the area. In his field notes (contained in <a href="https://library.museum.wa.gov.au/fullRecord.jsp?recno=66462">a hard-to-find book</a>), Loveridge wrote that the skinks were found while “the land was cleared of stumps to make tent space for a British camp”. He gave a vague description of that land: at the “British Campsite” – a military base set up during the East African campaign of the First World War – in Lumbo, 3km away from Mozambique Island. There were no coordinates or other reference points to locate the camp site.</p>
<p>Using only these descriptive notes, Wilson Monia, Abdulrabe Jamal and Ali Puruleia, the students responsible for our project’s field work, conducted local interviews that took them to a more inland military base. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/search-for-elusive-skinks-is-filling-gaps-in-mozambiques-biodiversity-data-165635">Search for elusive skinks is filling gaps in Mozambique’s biodiversity data</a>
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<p>It seemed unlikely that this was the seaside site Loveridge wrote about, given its distance from the water. Further online searches didn’t turn up any reference to this campsite; no botanical records were available in <a href="https://www.gbif.org/">online databases</a> that referred to the site in further detail.</p>
<p>The clues we needed turned up unexpectedly in a short passage in Loveridge’s autobiography, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6394887-many-happy-days-i-ve-squandered">Many Happy Days I’ve Squandered</a>, where he briefly describes his stay in Mozambique. The skinks were not mentioned, but he did describe his daily routine. It was a single sentence that led the trio of researchers to the montane skink:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The camp itself was on a kind of peninsula; on the farther side of Lumbo Bay there were acres of mud flats covered by mangrove trees.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>After a quick look on Google maps, the team immediately found this site and set up new traps. Within two weeks we had found the montane skink; the students have so far recorded four individuals.</p>
<p>In 1918, Lumbo was most likely predominantly covered inland by savanna and by mangrove on the coast. Today it is home to around 20,000 people – double what it was 50 years ago, so far more densely populated than it was during Loveridge’s time. Travelling through the area, you’ll see tar roads and cement houses; there are farms and wetlands, but very little native vegetation remains. </p>
<h2>More work to come</h2>
<p>The project is now collecting important ecological information to map and assess the species. The montane skink is <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/44978942/44978950">listed as “data deficient”</a> by the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/categories-and-criteria">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a>. Once more data has been provided, the species may be assessed as range-restricted or threatened; both these categories require countries to put certain protections in place to support the at-risk species.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-used-60-year-old-notebooks-to-find-out-why-male-hippos-have-bigger-tusks-than-females-168686">We used 60-year-old notebooks to find out why male hippos have bigger tusks than females</a>
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<p>Finding the montane skink doesn’t mean that Extinct or Shy’s work is done. The team is also trying to find another species, Boulenger’s legless skink (<em>Scolecoseps boulengeri</em>). There’s even less information about this species than there is about the montane skink; so far our searches have been unsuccessful.</p>
<h2>Detail is key</h2>
<p>One of the biggest lessons to take from this work is that rich detail in field notes is crucial. The level of detail researchers use in their field notes today varies wildly; some provide minimal detail while others document weather, soil type, associated species, micro-habitat and much more. And, although field notes can be stored in online back-ups, a significant number undoubtedly still sit on shelves, in attics and in moving boxes as researchers progress through their field seasons and careers. This comes with a risk that the data can easily be lost forever.</p>
<p>When it comes to reptiles like skinks, many modern surveys are conducted using both trapping and active search methods. Explicitly describing how many of each species are recorded, as well as where and how they were obtained, can provide valuable details for studies that aim to reproduce earlier results. </p>
<p>This is increasingly important in areas that are rapidly changing due to urbanisation, expanding agriculture and that are experiencing adverse effects of climate change.</p>
<p>It was a description of a campsite that led us to find the montane skink again after 100 years without a scientific record in the area. We hope that in the future field biologists, with support and encouragement from editors and journals, will include such relevant information alongside species checklists in their scientific publications.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170560/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq receives funding from Rufford's Foundation.
Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq is also affiliated with Lúrio University, Mozambique</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison Perrigo receives funding from Kungl. Vetenskaps- och Vitterhets-Samhället (KVVS). </span></em></p>Detailed field notes can help researchers track down rare species.Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq, Post-doc, University of GothenburgAllison Perrigo, Director of the Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1656352021-08-15T09:02:56Z2021-08-15T09:02:56ZSearch for elusive skinks is filling gaps in Mozambique’s biodiversity data<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415430/original/file-20210810-19-p5l32o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A specimen of _Proscelotes aenea_ collected by Loveridge in 1918 in Lumbo, Mozambique, now kept at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every morning the phone buzzes, many times in short succession, as the students send photo after photo of the snakes, frogs and lizards that have been caught in various traps the previous day. We scroll through the images. Again - no <em>Scolecoseps boulengeri</em>. No <em>Proscelotes aenea</em>.</p>
<p>These two burrowing skinks – a type of lizard – were discovered in Lumbo, Northern Mozambique, in the 1920s. During this period, naturalists often used the readily available infrastructure at military bases during the East African Campaign of World War I as base camps for sampling. But then, the war ended and the naturalists stopped collecting at these sites. After that, the two skink species, assumed to be endemic to Mozambique, were not recorded again. Why?</p>
<p>We’re not entirely sure. It is possible, though, that the skink species are still there – they just haven’t been spotted because no one has been looking. This is a sadly common problem. Despite being an exceptional area for biodiversity – with a variety of habitats ranging from tropical savannahs up to highland mountains and down to coastal mangroves – northern Mozambique is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaa090">severely undersampled</a>, even by African standards. There simply isn’t much data about on the area’s species. </p>
<p>This is partly due to the fact that some places are more accessible than others for various reasons. Parts of the country have been historically inaccessible due to civil war, and other areas are now unreachable <a href="https://theconversation.com/mozambiques-own-version-of-boko-haram-is-tightening-its-deadly-grip-98087">due to an ongoing insurgency</a>. Beyond accessibility issues, most field surveys are conducted by international teams, which tend to be more limited by time and require more resources to carry out the work. </p>
<p>Still, these skinks are thought to occur in the sandy soils of easily accessible beaches, in areas that are much more populated now than 100 years ago. Sites such as this make an excellent venue to stage a hunt for long-lost species. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.rufford.org/projects/harith-farooq/extinct-or-just-shy/">Our project, “Extinct or Shy”</a>, puts the problem of data deficient species in poorly sampled localities in the spotlight. The project asks whether species that haven’t been seen in many decades are actually extinct, or just “shy”. Ambitious students from a <a href="http://www.unilurio.ac.mz/unilurio/en/">university</a> close to the small town <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1920.tb07639.x">where the two burrowing skinks were discovered</a> are leading the hunt for answers.</p>
<h2>Africa’s widespread sampling deficiency</h2>
<p>As we’ve pointed out in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article/70/3/623/6030962">earlier research</a>, species distribution data – or a lack thereof – can have a major bearing on how a country’s <a href="http://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/">Key Biodiversity Areas</a> and protected areas are designated. Even though studies have shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12372">data deficient species usually end up in threatened categories</a>, they are still not considered when proposing Key Biodiversity Areas, due to the uncertainty of their status.</p>
<p>However, once found or “rediscovered”, well-documented instances of rare species can trigger Key Biodiversity Area status, spearhead conservation efforts and potentially safeguard against extinctions. </p>
<p>The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists 3,381 African species as “<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">data deficient</a>”; 283 of these may occur in Mozambique. These are the species that we know, or suspect, occur in certain localities, but that lack sufficient data to be assessed according to the rigorous <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/categories-and-criteria">IUCN Assessment Criteria</a>. The missing information may consist of precise localities, the species’ ecology, or population trends, for example.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A light pink lizard-like creature without feet is pictured with a tag around its neck displaying scientific details. There is a ruler above it to denote its size." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415433/original/file-20210810-17-u6n00d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415433/original/file-20210810-17-u6n00d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415433/original/file-20210810-17-u6n00d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415433/original/file-20210810-17-u6n00d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415433/original/file-20210810-17-u6n00d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415433/original/file-20210810-17-u6n00d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415433/original/file-20210810-17-u6n00d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A specimen of <em>Scolecoseps boulengeri</em> in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University/icensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0</span></span>
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<p>That’s why our “Extinct or shy?” team is hard at work to locate the elusive skinks. Four students from Lúrio University – Abdulrabe Jamal, Ali Puruleia, Iassine Amade, and Wilson Monia – work alongside collaborators Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo and Yasalde Massigue. They are checking the traps daily for an entire year, taking tissue samples and saving vouchers (preserved specimens) for <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-still-collect-butterflies-41485">natural history collections</a>. The project will continue through April 2022. </p>
<p>In the process they are not only gathering the data necessary to reassess the conservation status of the skinks; they are also amassing an extensive understanding of the other reptiles and amphibians that occur in the region.</p>
<p>There are two main scenarios for each species in this project. If the species is found, its habitat could be protected via implementation of Key Biodiversity Area status or conservation initiatives. If we don’t find the species, it may already be extinct, or may exist in such small numbers that it may soon go extinct without proper intervention.</p>
<p>If these skinks show up again, this time it will be Mozambican researchers who find them and co-write the paper to describe the finding. This is significant because they will be describing the biodiversity of their own country and strengthening locally held taxonomic expertise. It is also extremely practical.</p>
<h2>Local universities can lead the way</h2>
<p>Mozambique has 11 accredited universities, spread out across the country. Several of them have multiple, distributed campuses offering natural sciences-related curricula. These institutions could lead initiatives to provide baseline information on poorly known species. That is why we’ve partnered with our Lúrio University colleagues on this project.</p>
<p>Many data deficient species are not easy to find, and will therefore require lengthy field experiments to collect information. This could be arranged between supervisors and students at local universities by equipping them to carry out field studies in adjacent areas, with support from international experts as necessary. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415614/original/file-20210811-17-ptxh43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415614/original/file-20210811-17-ptxh43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415614/original/file-20210811-17-ptxh43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415614/original/file-20210811-17-ptxh43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415614/original/file-20210811-17-ptxh43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415614/original/file-20210811-17-ptxh43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415614/original/file-20210811-17-ptxh43.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">From left to right, Wilson Monia, Abdulrabe Jamal, and Ali Puruleia. At the bottom is collaborator and local coordinator Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied</span></span>
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<p>Issues remain with this system. Mozambique lacks even simple field guides for major groups, including mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. Field guides for Eastern and Southern Africa routinely exclude northern portions of the poorly documented country, where taxonomic expertise is rarely held by Mozambican nationals.</p>
<h2>Inclusive research</h2>
<p>For this reason, technology plays a key role in “Extinct or Shy”. Although one of us, Harith, is originally from Mozambique, he now depends on regular connection, usually via WhatsApp, with the students in the field. From Sweden, where we’re both based at the Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, we can identify the specimens in real time and also provide general project guidance. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tracking-science-a-way-to-include-more-people-in-producing-knowledge-159587">Tracking science: a way to include more people in producing knowledge</a>
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<p>After the sampling is complete, the whole team will meet to analyse the data and write up our findings together. We hope that eventually the students will use both their field work skills and experience in the scientific process to lead their own research and document Mozambique’s wonderful biodiversity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165635/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq receives funding from The Rufford Foundation (29825-1). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison Perrigo receives funding for this project from Kungl. Vetenskaps- och Vitterhets-Samhället (KVVS). </span></em></p>Species distribution data – or a lack thereof – can have a major bearing on how a country’s Key Biodiversity Areas and protected areas are designated.Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq, Post-doc, University of GothenburgAllison Perrigo, Director of the Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1613012021-05-20T15:07:07Z2021-05-20T15:07:07ZKenya launches Lamu port. But its value remains an open question<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401887/original/file-20210520-17-14pdu4b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The first container ship to dock in the new Lamu Port</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Official image from LAPSSET</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Kenya’s newest mega infrastructure project, the Lamu port, has received its first ship. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Jan Bachmann and Benard Musembi – who <a href="https://www.gu.se/en/research/controversial-corridor-exploring-changing-human-environment-and-security-dynamics-along-the-lapsset-development-corridor-in-kenya">study</a> the environmental, socio-economic and security dynamics along the <a href="http://www.lapsset.go.ke">Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor</a> – to provide insights into the history of the port, the opportunities it presents and the concerns around it.</em></p>
<h2>When and why was the Lamu port project initiated?</h2>
<p>The Lamu port is part of an ambitious transport corridor between Lamu – a small archipelago north of Mombasa in Kenya – South Sudan and Ethiopia. </p>
<p>Kenya already has one deep-water port in Mombasa. Plans for a second one to diffuse economic dependency on Mombasa <a href="https://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=K00001873&DB=k">go back to</a> the mid-1970s. However, it only materialised in March 2012. The occasion was marked when the then East African heads of states – Kenya’s Mwai Kibaki, Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi and South Sudan’s Salva Kiir – laid the port’s foundation stone. </p>
<p>In its early ambition, the Lamu port figured as connecting the landlocked East African economies to global trade routes. More specifically, it was envisioned as an alternative outlet for South Sudan’s oil, which is currently pumped via the Greater Nile Oil Pipeline to Port Sudan.</p>
<p>With South Sudan mired in continuous war and Ethiopia upping its stakes in the ports of Djibouti and, most recently, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-an-ethiopia-backed-port-is-changing-power-dynamics-in-the-horn-of-africa-93308">Berbera</a>, the international ambitions of the transport corridor shrivelled somewhat. </p>
<p>Yet, as a cornerstone of the Kenyan government’s Vision 2030 development plan, it is now branded as a <a href="http://www.lapsset.go.ke">“game changer”</a> project. </p>
<p>Its new aim is to integrate marginalised northern Kenya into the Kenyan economy and the nation. Plans for the corridor include a pipeline, a railway line, a road network connecting Lamu, Garissa, Isiolo, Moyale and Turkana, a dam along Tana river, airports and resort cities. There are also plans <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7w3900K6lYnQWRnZi1sTV9DeDg/view">to establish</a> numerous industrial areas along the corridor. </p>
<p>We show in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anti.12720">our research</a> that most of the plans are real on paper and government websites only. Nevertheless, the implications for communities across northern Kenya are very concrete. Beside the <a href="https://www.lapsset.go.ke/projects/highways/">completion of</a> the 500km Isiolo-Moyale road, the official opening of Lamu port marks the project’s most salient achievement so far.</p>
<p>Constructed by the China Communication Construction Company, the <a href="https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/lamu-port-kenya-s-transshipment-hub-risks-becoming-a-white-elephant">first three</a> of the planned 32 berths come at a cost of US$367 million.</p>
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<h2>What opportunities does the port present?</h2>
<p>Mobilising projections about future trade, the Kenyan government has <a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/chinese-company-close-to-sh250-billion-lamu-port-special-economic-zone-deal-2259896">persistently argued</a> that the Lamu port will become a viable and necessary complement to the hub of Mombasa. Local authorities specifically invest their hopes in plans for a special economic zone, though to date these have rather been illusive. This promises significant investments in the port and the creation of hundreds of jobs.</p>
<p>Since the port will primarily serve as a transshipment hub, it’s expected to attract key shipping lines by competing with the ports of Djibouti on the horn of Africa and Durban in South Africa. In addition it would serve key markets in southern Ethiopia and South Sudan. </p>
<p>So far, around 19 shipping lines have inspected the port. The Kenya Ports Authority <a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/first-ship-lamu-port-on-thursday-ahead-of-launch-3402858">anticipates</a> many will use it and take the generous promotional offers currently in place.</p>
<p>On the positive side, road works connecting Lamu to Nairobi via Garissa are well <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business-news/article/2001409675/state-to-spend-sh25b-on-key-roads-in-lamu">under way</a>. And the new road between Lamu and Garsen has already reduced transport costs as trucks and travellers no longer need to go via Mombasa. </p>
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<p>Once the project’s highway towards Garissa and Isiolo is completed, the former northern “frontier” region may benefit from the connection to the port.</p>
<p>But there are big question marks when it comes to the overall economic value of a second Kenyan deep-water port. This concern is driven by the deficient infrastructural integration of Lamu and Northern Kenya. </p>
<p>Logistics experts also <a href="https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/lamu-port-kenya-s-transshipment-hub-risks-becoming-a-white-elephant">warn</a> that Lamu port has formidable potential to become a white elephant project because of the immense uncertainties about its core use.</p>
<h2>What have been the big issues around construction?</h2>
<p>Planning and construction of the port have yielded a wide range of concerns and contestations, <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/counties/coast/2019-04-18-squatters-protest-against-land-grabs-in-lamu/">particularly on</a> land rights, the environment, local livelihoods and security.</p>
<p>Different rights groups have documented numerous complaints by residents about compulsory land acquisition. One <a href="https://naturaljustice.org/the-curse-of-compulsory-land-acquisition-in-lamu-kenya/">study</a> found that the government had taken more land than it paid compensation for.</p>
<p>Another major concern touches on the environmental impact of the port’s construction, some of which came to light in a 2018 <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/caselaw/cases/view/156405">High Court ruling</a>. </p>
<p>And local protests against the project have been <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/12/17/they-just-want-silence-us/abuses-against-environmental-activists-kenyas-coast#">met with</a> harassment by Kenyan security forces.</p>
<p>The economic livelihoods of hundreds of local fishermen will be disrupted by the port because its extensive restricted area restrains access to viable fishing grounds. And in contravention of a court ruling that awarded fishers about KSH1.7 billion (US$ 18.4 million) compensation for their economic losses, the government has delayed the payments <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S46BNVjsLsI">over disagreements</a> about the list of beneficiaries and the mode of compensation.</p>
<p>Concerns about employment opportunities to residents are also growing. So far, around 100 youths from Lamu have secured employment at the Lamu port. </p>
<p>Lastly, there are security concerns. In the last 15 years or so, Lamu has become a highly volatile region. Attacks by the al-Shabaab militant group have brought violence to the area and turned it into a highly securitised region. Security operations have significantly reduced insecurity incidences. But periodic al-Shabaab <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/job-losses-as-firms-halt-operations-over-terror-attacks-at-kenyan-coast-1434682">attacks</a> have affected construction activities.</p>
<h2>How should these concerns be handled?</h2>
<p>The concerns from the community are weighty and require serious attention since they affect many aspects of their daily lives. </p>
<p>Our ongoing research shows that many of the concerns could have been averted if due process had been followed from the project’s inception. This includes timely and adequate compensation to everyone affected by the project. It also includes proper and robust environmental and social impact assessments as well as considering qualified residents for employment opportunities. Finally, there’s the issue of addressing the perennial problems of land rights in Lamu.</p>
<p>It’s vital that Lamu residents are treated as direct stakeholders and partners to the project. Their voices, concerns and aspirations should be taken seriously.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161301/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Bachmann receives funding from VR-Swedish Research Council and FORMAS-Swedish Research Council on sustainable development</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benard Musembi Kilaka receives funding from VR- Swedish Research Council. </span></em></p>The Lamu port is part of an ambitious transport corridor with the aim of integrating marginalised northern Kenya into the Kenyan economy and the nation.Jan Bachmann, Senior Lecturer , University of GothenburgBenard Musembi Kilaka, Doctoral Student, University of GothenburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1406512020-07-14T12:47:45Z2020-07-14T12:47:45ZHow coronavirus made us nostalgic for a past that held the promise of a future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347092/original/file-20200713-30-19v1tqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C6%2C4341%2C2589&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-family-having-fun-on-beach-418315762">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we have found ourselves in the middle of a nostalgia frenzy. It seemed to permeate everything: nostalgia playlists on music streaming platforms <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/04/16/coronavirus-spotify-reports-spike-streaming-retro-hits/5147780002/">outperformed</a> new music, and old albums by Madonna, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey topped the iTunes charts. On TV, we’ve been treated to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/apr/02/bbc-summer-sport-nostalgia-coronavirus-lockdown">memorable football matches</a>, Wimbledon finals and favourite dramas as broadcasters played their part in providing comfort television. </p>
<p>Most notably perhaps, has been the huge surge in nostalgic hobbies such as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/loisaltermark/2020/03/27/knitting-has-become-the-cool-activity-during-the-coronavirus-crisis/">knitting</a>, crochet and DIY fashion, an ongoing obsession with baking bread and lots of community singing on Zoom. These “nostalgic consumption” practices tapped into a collective sense of uncertainty and anxiety. By indulging in nostalgia, the past seemed a safe harbour – and far more reassuring than the present or future.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347100/original/file-20200713-18-1wq9r2g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347100/original/file-20200713-18-1wq9r2g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347100/original/file-20200713-18-1wq9r2g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347100/original/file-20200713-18-1wq9r2g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347100/original/file-20200713-18-1wq9r2g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347100/original/file-20200713-18-1wq9r2g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347100/original/file-20200713-18-1wq9r2g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">There was an upsurge in crafting during lockdown.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>The problem and the solution</h2>
<p>Consumption has become a dominant human practice. As the key driving force of every market economy, it is often regarded as both the problem and solution for crises. In this pandemic, certain kinds of consumption were restricted as a means to keep people safe, as we saw with lockdown.</p>
<p>All but essential shops were ordered to close, as were bars, restaurants, gyms, sporting events, not to mention schools and many workplaces. And of course leisure travel was mostly forbidden. As things ease, governments are keen to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53337170">encourage people to start spending</a> again to help stimulate the economy.</p>
<p>Similarly, in the face of climate crisis, more sustainable consumption is crucial if countries are to reduce carbon emissions. As consumption becomes the main vehicle for navigating a crisis, both consumers and brands can turn to the past not just to escape, but also as a way of managing the present and creating the future.</p>
<p>Nostalgic consumption is far more than simply being about the past. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016781161930028X">Our research</a> highlights that nostalgia can be progressive and forward looking, that it doesn’t have to be about being stuck in the past, but can instead be about leveraging the past to create a better present and future. As researchers, we want to update the popular understanding of nostalgia by adding these dimensions of present and future. </p>
<p>Now, as countries begin to open up, there is ongoing debate about whether we will resume our old ways of consuming – with all the consequences this might have for the economy. Will we see a boom in native tourism for example, while other established sectors such as conferences and large-scale live entertainment collapse? Should we even be striving to get “back to normal” given we are in the middle of a climate change crisis that demands more responsible and sustainable consumption? </p>
<p>It’s difficult to predict what consumption will look like in the future. Reflecting on the way we have been consuming over the last few months might be useful. While coronavirus imposed restrictions on consumption, it also led to self-reflection and the realisation that contrary to common market economy doctrine, consumption is not the key to happiness.</p>
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<h2>Back to the future?</h2>
<p>Nostalgia often becomes <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/44/6/1325/4159195?redirectedFrom=fulltext">more prevalent and appealing in times of crisis</a>. Originally meaning “a longing for home”, it’s come to mean a longing for a past that was good but has now been left behind.</p>
<p>Our recent nostalgic yearnings are more complex than they might appear because it’s not merely the past that people are longing for. With coronavirus new forms of nostalgia have emerged, namely a longing for a past that held the prospect of a future – a yearning for old spaces and the freedom to roam and travel wherever we wished.</p>
<p>A more peculiar form of nostalgia is the longing for how things were just before coronavirus turned our lives upside down. This challenges a basic assumption of nostalgia research: that nostalgia is a longing for a past that can no longer be recovered.</p>
<p>Throughout lockdown many were nostalgic not for how things were in the 1990s, or when they were little, but for how things were just a few months ago. People yearned for the pub, hugs, a day at the office and other mundane things, despite the fact there was always the prospect of doing so once the pandemic had passed. </p>
<p>But coronavirus has made simple things like holiday plans, going clubbing or shopping seem more challenging. What we are really witnessing is a nostalgia for a past that held the promise of a future.</p>
<p>Despite the comfort of reconnecting with the past, nostalgia can disguise a variety of challenges. There is a risk of reproducing the negative parts of the past, such as outdated gender roles. This was exemplified in lockdown with women devoting a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/may/12/womens-research-plummets-during-lockdown-but-articles-from-men-increase">larger share of their time</a> to homeschooling, thereby sacrificing their own career ambitions. Some sociologists are already pointing out that this could <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/03/feminism-womens-rights-coronavirus-covid19/608302/">set women back at least three decades</a> in terms of equality.</p>
<p>The same could apply to environmental progress. Now more people will be <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-recovery-public-transport-is-key-to-avoid-repeating-old-and-unsustainable-mistakes-138415">reverting to cars</a> to avoid using public transport, and many have <a href="https://theconversation.com/using-lots-of-plastic-packaging-during-the-coronavirus-crisis-youre-not-alone-135553">increased their use</a> of single-use plastic for takeaways instead of eating out.</p>
<p>But this crisis could also serve as time for reflection. Does our current economic and social system allow for a sustainable future? While this pandemic has had – and continues to have – devastating consequences for the more vulnerable parts of society, others have found themselves enjoying the peace and slower pace of lockdown, focusing on what is really important in their lives.</p>
<p>This could mean finding pleasure in more simple, healthy and sustainable consumption – reading, gardening, crafting, hiking and getting out into nature. The challenge ahead will be to strive for the best of both worlds – to learn from the past so we can build a better future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140651/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘Nostalgic consumption’ has been on the rise throughout lockdown bringing us the comfort and certainty of better times. But can we use it to build a more sustainable future?Katja H. Brunk, Professor of Marketing, European University ViadrinaBenjamin Julien Hartmann, Associate Professor in Marketing, University of GothenburgChristian Dam, PhD Candidate in Marketing, University of GothenburgDannie Kjeldgaard, Professor of Consumption, Culture and Commerce, University of Southern DenmarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.