In 45 years of combating forest fires, Wayne Patterson, the public information officer for the Grizzly Creek Fire burning near Glenwood Springs, has earned a keen sense of what smoke does to his body. One immediate effect is a sore throat and some sniffles. Over the years, Patterson said he has learned to tell when the smoke causes his symptoms, rather than a cold or the flu. But he also suspects…
Continue reading “What Happens When Wildfire Smoke Meets Coronavirus? Here’s What Scientists Know”
Through the southern reaches of Texas, communities are scattered across a flat landscape of dry brush lands, ranches and agricultural fields. This large rural region near the U.S.-Mexico border is known for its persistent poverty. Over 25% of the families here live in poverty, and many lack access to basic services like water, sewer and primary health care. This is also home to the Eagle Ford shale, where domestic oil and gas production…
INTRODUCTION With enough intensity to make it difficult for all to sleep well at night, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread globally, and the health and social consequences of the virus—ranging from hospitalizations/death to joblessness—have differentially affected communities.1,2 Racial/ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged populations are more vulnerable to COVID-19 due to being disproportionately burdened by immune-compromising chronic conditions that are manifestations of a race-conscious society.3 Emanating from racial residential and labor market…
In this Coping with COVID-19 livestream on “Sleep and Health”, Dr. Marishka Brown, program director for sleep disorders medicine research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Dr. Chandra Jackson, investigator for environment and sleep research at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, share practical tips for getting adequate, restful sleep during the pandemic.
JPB Fellow Tony Reames grew up in rural South Carolina in a “quintessential environmental-justice community,” as he puts it. After the textile industry collapsed in the 1990s, the region was saddled with both the state’s largest landfill and its largest maximum-security prison. It wasn’t until college that Reames, now an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, realized what had been going on in his own hometown — specifically, the…
Continue reading “This prof is shedding light on energy injustice — and how to fix it”
Highlights • Everyday discrimination was associated with a 10% higher short sleep prevalence. • Major discrimination was associated with a 12% higher short sleep prevalence. • Both forms were associated with a 10% higher prevalence of insomnia symptoms. • Half (Black), 13% (Latina), and 1% (White) reported both forms of discrimination. • Racial/ethnic discrimination is a likely contributor to sleep health disparities. Read more about JPB Fellow Chandra Jackson’s research.…
The past few months have forced us to take a deeper look at our own personal health, as well as the health of our society. With tensions running high from the COVID-19 pandemic, the healing power of nature and green space is an outlet that can provide release and mental clarity. AGNR assistant professor of Landscape Architecture, Naomi Sachs, takes this concept seriously and strives to show the many societal…
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Expectant mothers who lived near flaring sites had higher odds of giving birth prematurely than those who did not, researchers found. The adverse outcomes fell entirely on Hispanic women. Across the United States, gas flares light the night skies over oil and gas fields — visible symbols of the country’s energy boom. They also emit greenhouse gases, making them symbols of climate change that many environmental groups would like to…
Continue reading “Study Links Gas Flares to Preterm Births, With Hispanic Women at High Risk”
As the United States and countries around the world move through a summer of social distancing and civil unrest in the wake of a global pandemic and the death of George Floyd and other Black women and men that have fallen at the hands of police violence, activists have been calling for the “defunding of the police.” According to a New York Times opinion editorial written by organizer Mariame Kaba,…
Background: Prior studies suggest exposure to oil and gas development (OGD) adversely affects birth outcomes, but no studies have examined flaring—the open combustion of natural gas—from OGD. Objectives: We investigated whether residential proximity to flaring from OGD was associated with shorter gestation and reduced fetal growth in the Eagle Ford Shale of south Texas. Results: Exposure to a high number of nightly flare events was associated with a 50% higher…