Earth Day Research Articles

VALENTInE: A Concept for a New Frontiers–Class Long-duration In Situ Balloon-based Aerobot Mission to Venus

Described here is a concept for a variable-altitude aerobot mission to Venus developed as part of the 2020 NASA Planetary Science Summer School in collaboration with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Venus Air and Land Expedition: a Novel Trailblazer for in situ Exploration (VALENTInE) is a long-duration New Frontiers–class mission to Venus in alignment with the goals recommended by the 2013 Planetary Science Decadal Survey. VALENTInE would have five science objectives: (1) determine the driving force of atmospheric superrotation, (2) determine the source of D/H and noble gas inventory, (3) determine the properties that govern how light is reflected within the lower cloud later, (4) determine whether the tesserae are felsic, and (5) determine whether there is evidence of a recent dynamo preserved in the rock record. The proposed mission concept has a total duration of 15 Earth days and would float at an altitude of 55 km, along with five dips to a lower altitude of 45 km to study Venus’s lower atmosphere. The instrument payload allows for measurements of the atmosphere, surface, and interior of Venus and includes six instruments: an atmospheric weather suite, a mass spectrometer, a multispectral imager, a near-infrared spectrometer, light detection and ranging, and a magnetometer. Principle challenges included a limitation caused by battery lifetime and low technology readiness levels for aerobots that can survive the harsh conditions of Venus’s atmosphere. This preliminary mission was designed to fit within an assumed New Frontiers 5 (based on inflated New Frontiers 4) cost cap.

Impact of Colonialism on Environment: A Socio-Ecological Study of Twilight in Delhi

Massive devastation of indigenous social ecology was envisaged during the colonial expansion in almost all parts of the world since the 16th century. This colonial craze resulted in the exploitation of the natural resources of the colonial territories, which leads to environmental degradation. The alarming consequences of economic expansion including depletion of the ozone layer, air pollution, loss of forests and biodiversity, extinction of animal and plant species, loss of marine life, water and soil pollution have occurred at an alarming rate. Substantial destruction has greatly affected the global environment in the shape of global warming, urbanization, and massive industrialization among other grave issues. Modern intelligentsia and academia give rise to environmental consciousness through multiple campaigns including the celebration of “Earth Day”, the emergence of environmental activist organizations like “Friends of the Earth”, “Earth First”, “Sea Shepherd” and the formation of “Association for the Study of Literature and Environment ASLE” in America, the vis-à-vis start of Environmental studies and Ecocriticism at universities all over the world. Soon it prospered into further interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary fields of studies, in addition to the environmental campaigns activated across the world.

Earth Day 2022 – how to reduce the carbon footprint from our anesthetic practice

Earth Day 2022 – how to reduce the carbon footprint from our anesthetic practice

Commentary on Earth Day and the Relationship to Historical Developments in Air Pollution Control and Scientific Next Steps

Commentary on Earth Day and the Relationship to Historical Developments in Air Pollution Control and Scientific Next Steps

Have You a Hobby?

Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times. In the first half of the 20th century, AJN readers were regularly reminded about the importance of hobbies. As Frances Pedersen remarked in this April 1931 article, "We owe it to ourselves and to our work to regularly seek refreshment of mind and body." In those early decades, the journal devoted a surprising amount of time to this particular nonclinical topic. A variety of authors enthusiastically shared ideas for hobbies, such as collecting hospital postcards, or, as in Pedersen's article, gardening. Some argued that people with hobbies were more well rounded and therefore made better nurses. And some saw hobbies as essential relaxation. For our April issue, with Earth Day and spring in mind, and for those of us who spend our fast-paced workdays dealing with COVID-19 and other serious issues, we thought gardening was a particularly good hobby to cover.-Betsy Todd, MPH, RN.

Superrotation of Titan’s Stratosphere Driven by the Radiative Heating of the Haze Layer

Abstract Titan’s stratosphere has been observed in a superrotation state, where the atmosphere rotates many times faster than the surface does. Another characteristic of Titan’s atmosphere is the presence of a thick haze layer. In this paper, we performed numerical experiments using a general circulation model to explore the effects of the haze layer on the stratospheric superrotation. We employed a semigray radiation model of Titan’s atmosphere following McKay et al., which takes account of sunlight absorption by the haze particles. The phase change of methane or seasonal changes were not taken into account. Our model with radiation parameters tuned for Titan yielded a global eastward wind around the equator with larger velocities at higher altitudes, except at around 70 km, after 105 Earth days. Although the atmosphere is not in an equilibrium state, the zonal wind profiles are approximately consistent with the observed one. By changing the parameters of the radiation model, we found that the intensity and the location of the maximum zonal wind velocity highly depended on the optical thickness and the altitude of the haze layer, respectively. Analysis of our experiments suggests that the quasi-stationary stratospheric superrotation is maintained by the balance between the meridional circulation decoupled from the surface and the eddies that transport angular momentum equatorward. This is different from, but similar to, the so-called Gierasch mechanism, in which momentum is supplied from the surface. This structure may explain the no-wind region at about 80 km in altitude.

Sustainable development and the need to reform the carbon tax

The COVID‐19 pandemic has raised awareness of the urgency of reforming our economy to achieve a global recovery. This endeavour will require the implementation of various strategies aiming for a system reset, at the core of which is the sustainable recovery model. In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 22 April as International Mother Earth Day. It was a brave act of acknowledgement that the Earth and its ecosystems are our typical home. At the same time, it is a tangible expression of the global conviction that humankind must be in Harmony with Nature to achieve a just balance among the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations. While the global community is actively searching for new ways to achieve sustainable development, resolved to perform an economic system reset, determined to a green recovery, why don't we try to reform the taxing system? A right taxation system could help recover quickly and achieve a green recovery of the global economy. While everyone has to pay tax, the truth is that some more prominent companies go to extreme measures to minimise their contribution where they are based and where they sell. The new thinking that this article puts forward is that instead of taxing the companies for what they produce and sell, we should tally the amount of CO2 a company emits while making the goods and recycling them to tax them accordingly.

THE PROGRAM OF IMPLEMENTING BLENDED CHARACTER EDUCATION PROGRAM AT NORTH BALI BILINGUAL SCHOOL (NBBS) SINGARAJA

This study was intended to investigate the implementation of blended character education program at North Bali Bilingual School (NBBS Singaraja), the teachers’ perception toward its implementation. The character education program in this study were focused on the five-character values of priority in the character education reinforcement program stated in the curriculum 2013. This study employed embedded mixed method design. The subjects of the study were a headmaster and two English teachers of NBBS. The data were collected through document study, interviews, and questionnaires. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to analyze the data. As the result, the study revealed that the character education at NBBS Singaraja was implemented effectively through various programs/activities such as: (a) praying activity and celebrating holy days were practiced to instill the character of religious. (b) house reading, project-based activity, and online-based learning were practiced to build the character of integrity (c) The character of self-directedness was implemented through weekly package tasks. (d) Other programs were also implemented to instill the character of nationalists such as flag ceremony and poster making, while (e) Earth day, children’s book week, and performing arts day were the activities of implementing the character of collaboration. Teachers’ perception towards character education implementation was positive. The English teachers had no disturbing challenges during the implementation of character education program. They found some challenges but they could handle it with patience, consistent supervision, guidance and repetition. They also believed that the programs were worth to be implemented since the they were useful for building and fostering students’ character and behavior, student’s English literacy and their academic development.

The THOR + HELIOS general circulation model: multiwavelength radiative transfer with accurate scattering by clouds/hazes

ABSTRACT General circulation models (GCMs) provide context for interpreting multiwavelength, multiphase data of the atmospheres of tidally locked exoplanets. In the current study, the non-hydrostatic THOR GCM is coupled with the HELIOS radiative transfer solver for the first time, supported by an equilibrium chemistry solver (FastChem), opacity calculator (HELIOS-K), and Mie scattering code (LX-MIE). To accurately treat the scattering of radiation by medium-sized to large aerosols/condensates, improved two-stream radiative transfer is implemented within a GCM for the first time. Multiple scattering is implemented using a Thomas algorithm formulation of the two-stream flux solutions, which decreases the computational time by about 2 orders of magnitude compared to the iterative method used in past versions of HELIOS. As a case study, we present four GCMs of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b, where we compare the temperature, velocity, entropy, and streamfunction, as well as the synthetic spectra and phase curves, of runs using regular versus improved two-stream radiative transfer and isothermal versus non-isothermal layers. While the global climate is qualitatively robust, the synthetic spectra and phase curves are sensitive to these details. A THOR + HELIOS WASP-43b GCM (horizontal resolution of about 4 deg on the sphere and with 40 radial points) with multiwavelength radiative transfer (30 k-table bins) running for 3000 Earth days (864 000 time-steps) takes about 19–26 d to complete depending on the type of GPU.

Evaluation of the CBC-ORC energy system in lunar base: Working fluid combination selection, day and night operation performance

The lunar energy system must be able to provide continuous power supply on the day and night. However, the moon night is as long as 14 days, and the solar power generation system can’t work without solar radiation. The solution is that part of the heat in the daytime is used for storage, the other part is used for daytime power generation, and the heat stored in the daytime is used for power generation at night. Based on this, this paper proposes a closed Brayton cycle and organic Rankine cycle combined power generation system, and explores the operation performance of the composite power generation system in the whole lunar day process. The results show that the combination of He-Xe and toluene has the best performance among many working medium combinations. The thermal efficiency of the system can reach 33.82 %, and the heat exchange area of the radiator is 970.99 m2. Combined with supercritical CO2, the thermal efficiency is increased by 5.2 % and the heat exchange area is reduced by 8.5 %. In addition, in the case of night, the Brayton cycle system stops working at 7.75 earth days, which can maximize the power generation capacity of the coupling system, with a power generation capacity of 94.8 MJ.

Science Goals and Mission Concept for a Landed Investigation of Mercury

Abstract Mercury holds valuable clues to the distribution of elements at the birth of the solar system and how planets form and evolve in close proximity to their host stars. This Mercury Lander mission concept returns in situ measurements that address fundamental science questions raised by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission’s pioneering exploration of Mercury. Such measurements are needed to understand Mercury's unique mineralogy and geochemistry, characterize the proportionally massive core's structure, measure the planet's active and ancient magnetic fields at the surface, investigate the processes that alter the surface and produce the exosphere, and provide ground truth for remote data sets. The mission concept achieves one full Mercury year (∼88 Earth days) of surface operations with an 11-instrument, high-heritage payload delivered to a landing site within Mercury's widely distributed low-reflectance material, and it addresses science goals encompassing geochemistry, geophysics, the Mercury space environment, and geology. The spacecraft launches in 2035, and the four-stage flight system uses a solar electric propulsion cruise stage to reach Mercury in 2045. Landing is at dusk to meet thermal requirements, permitting ∼30 hr of sunlight for initial observations. The radioisotope-powered lander continues operations through the Mercury night. Direct-to-Earth communication is possible for the initial 3 weeks of landed operations, drops out for 6 weeks, and resumes for the final month. Thermal conditions exceed lander operating temperatures shortly after sunrise, ending operations. Approximately 11 GB of data are returned to Earth. The cost estimate demonstrates that a Mercury Lander mission is feasible and compelling as a New Frontiers–class mission.

#fridaysforfuture – What does Instagram tell us about a social movement?

Understanding social movement structures is important for political decision-makers to enable them to recognise the various motivating factors behind these movements. The Fridays for Future movement characterises a political group that has a majority of young people, frequently using social media to organise actions. By conducting a social network analysis on hashtags, this study contributes to the understanding of the global Fridays for Future movement. Particularly, we focus on the use and connection of hashtags on Instagram. We collected 59,112 posts tagged with #fridaysforfuture and analysed 91,172 hashtags used therein. Subsequently, the 140 most used hashtags were divided into 11 clusters, which provide not only information about the organisation of the social movement via social media, but also insights into lifestyle-related aspects. The clusters include the topics: climate; nutrition, lifestyle and health; memes; cycling; art; sustainable consumption and the Earth Day. The article shows that the motives of the Fridays for Future movement are broad. We can demonstrate that Fridays for Future is connected to other social movements and gain insights into the everyday life of the Fridays for Future stakeholders.

Impact of Service-Learning on Students Employability Skills: A Balanced Approach to Empower Meaningful Learning Experience

The present study first defined service-learning and highlighted the research outcome from the organized service-learning project at the university. Meanwhile, the distinction between service-learning and volunteerism was also explored by applying the existing theoretical knowledge to practicalities, including how the two terminologies are different in identifying meaningful learning experiences of students involving more hands-on approaches. On a similar note, the concept of knowledge without practicality had been justified in past research whereby the transferable core skills were transmitted through the experiential learning of students for the purpose of developing employability skills. The objective of the current research was to investigate the impact of service learning in reciprocal processes on students and communities, particularly in regard to how these experiences can benefit the two parties based on the perspectives of the students. In regard to this matter, the current research carried out a case study on 15 postgraduate students who experienced service-learning project at Putra Future Classroom at the Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia. More specifically, a specific project call “Earth Day” was organized in commemorating the annual earth day celebration around the world. The project involved children aged between four and six years old who experienced numerous activities related to earth day awareness campaign. As such, this paper analyzed the postgraduate students’ feedbacks to investigate their experiences in organizing service-learning project. Apart from that, the researchers deemed that it was important to assess the learning experiences from the theoretical knowledge obtained from the traditional classroom for the course Program Evaluation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVE5006 and EDU5443). At the end of the service-learning project, the students were asked to answer an open-ended qualitative questionnaire disseminated on JotForm which an online questionnaire platform for the purpose of data collection is. All answers were recorded and later analyzed thematically using a two-layer constant comparative analysis method which was then triangulated with class assignments, observations, and students’ reflections by way of journal entries. Finally, the current research examined the meaning and value of pragmatic education based on the concept of education as democracy for all as stated by John Dewey in order to redefine the curriculum for the 21st century with the aim of making it more vibrant and promulgating “on-the job” training prior the employment of graduates.

The Prerogative of Human, Traditional, Green, and Dreamlike: An Interview with Violeta Dabija

The Prerogative of Human, Traditional, Green, and Dreamlike: An Interview with Violeta Dabija Vladimir Kravchenko (bio) and Violeta Dabija Violeta Dabija is one of the most prolific illustrators for children aged three to eight, in the United States and worldwide. She was born in Moldova, a small country situated in the extreme east of Europe, in 1979. She completed her art studies at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts in the Republic of Moldova and illustrated her first children’s books for the Prut International publishing house and for UNICEF Moldova. In 2007, Dabija started collaborating with publishers from the United States and since 2011 with writers and publishing houses all around the world. She has illustrated about forty books, which have been published and translated in English, French, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Romanian, Spanish, and Turkish. Dabija is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and is best known for illustrating the nonfiction picturebooks of the Can Be… series by Laura Purdie Salas, which won prestigious awards and distinctions. Among them is the John Burroughs Riverby Award, 2012; Minnesota Book Award Finalist, 2013 and 2015; CCBC Choices, 2015; Scholastic Book Club Selection, 2013; IRA Teachers’ Choices, 2013; and NYC Reads 365 Recommended Reading List, 2017. The book A Leaf Can Be… is the most appreciated of the three, claiming Dabija’s unique talent in depicting green issues: “The illustrations should be on every Earth Day poster” (Smorris/KidLitReviews). “Grown-up readers may be a bit in awe too,” commented the New York Times (Paul). It was even said that if the artist were American, not foreign, she could have been awarded the Caldecott Medal for these illustrations (“A Leaf Can Be…”). Since 2018, Dabija has been living and working in California, in the United States, with her husband and son. Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 95] How would your personal style match the environmental agenda of the post-COVID world? As I have been illustrating socially relevant issues for many years, the eventual “earth-friendly challenge” is likely up to me. In addition, illustrating children’s books for UNICEF helped me obtain skills of depicting stories of universal importance. Winter subjects are my favorite ones, and the magic of nature is a recurrent theme in many illustrations. In this context, the most representative are scenes from the nonfiction books A Leaf Can Be…, Water Can Be…, and A Rock Can Be…, which consider natural life in all its diversity. As a plant lover and as a mother, who wants her child to grow up in harmony with nature, I appreciate every effort to bring eco-knowledge in the forefront of people’s minds. That is why issues on antipollution, green and renewable energy, reduction and redistribution of waste, to name just a few, are likely to be represented in my pictures for little children. Click for larger view View full resolution Tell us more about your most acclaimed picture book, A Leaf Can Be… by Laura Purdie Salas. It is a nonfiction book with beautiful rhyming text on different appearances of leaves and on the functions they have in nature throughout a year. For example, a leaf can be rain stopper, wind rider, water ladle, Earth greener, shade spiller, pile maker, nest former, etc. The book is an excellent tool to bring up and assimilate green attitudes from a very early age. In agreement with the text, I provided images of trees and pure ambiance, I introduced shades of greens in the renderings, and I experimented a lot with watercolor texture, which is my favorite working method. This enhanced the feeling of magic “immersion” in the natural world. Among the most popular, in the nearest future, will also be technology-based issues. What is your professional opinion on representing artificial intelligence in children’s books? I am not the kind of artist interested in technology or machinery, but rather in human beings. The ideas of anthropomorphizing the technology have been active for more than 100 years in children’s books, among other sources. But even if artificial intelligence is part of daily life and is becoming more...

Ambiente e Salute News n.13 - gennaio-febbraio 2022

Environment and health The earth does not wait. This is the world earth day theme which has just been celebrated (April 22) by mobilizing millions of people all over the world. This column also wants to remember this event by underlining how far is still the way to go in order to guarantee a healthy environment for all. To save the Earth and to save oneself it is necessary to put into practice a theme dear to paediatricians: "taking care". Humanity must begin to take care of the Earth by acting on a daily basis, but at the same time thinking of implementing actions that involve the entire community, actions that stimulate political decision-makers to legislate with a “taking care" perspective that underlies both individual and collective responsibility. From the numerous articles reviewed and summarized in this issue, it is highlighted that there are still many risks to children's health, starting from the prenatal period, and how important it is to implement individual strategies to reduce the risks. Starting from this issue we will highlight in a specific box the practical indications that every doctor and every person who deals with the health of children and of the world can put into practice and disseminate. As in the previous issues, the main articles published in the monitored journals are summarized. All articles and editorials deemed worthy of attention are listed divided by topic, with a concise comment. This issue is based on the systematic monitoring of January and February 2022 publications.

Respect, Resourcefulness, and Empathy

Using picture books to prompt philosophical conversations with children is an effective means to raise awareness of environmental issues and invite children to think creatively about their responsibility for their community and environment. In our Philosophy for Children (P4C) program at Kern County Public libraries in Bakersfield, we address environmental ethics issues as part of our regular curriculum as well as for Earth Day conversations. Children discuss how they may reuse and recycle objects that they ordinarily discard, how small acts of care may have big consequences for their community, and how they share reciprocal relationships to other living creatures, even insects. Most importantly, during such conversations children reflect and deliberate on how they can act on their insights to expand their moral imagination and empower them as citizens of their community and the world.

Moisture and the Persistence of Annular Modes

AbstractAnnular modes are the leading mode of variability in extratropical atmospheres, and a key source of predictability at midlatitudes. Previous studies of annular modes have primarily used dry atmospheric models, so that moisture’s role in annular mode dynamics is still unclear. In this study, a moist two-layer quasigeostrophic channel model is used to study the effects of moisture on annular mode persistence. Using a channel model allows moisture’s direct effects to be studied, rather than changes in persistence due to geometric effects associated with shifts in jet latitude on the sphere. Simulations are performed in which the strength of latent heat release is varied to investigate how annular mode persistence responds as precipitation becomes a leading term in the thermodynamic budget. At short lags (<20 model days, ≈4 Earth days), moisture increases annular mode persistence, reflecting weaker eddy activity that is less effective at disrupting zonal-mean wind anomalies. Comparisons to dry simulations with weaker mean flows demonstrate that moisture is particularly effective at damping high-frequency eddies, further enhancing short-lag persistence. At long lags (>20 model days), moisture weakly increases persistence, though it decreases the amplitudes of low-frequency annular mode anomalies. In the most realistic simulation, the greater short-lag persistence increases the e-folding time of the zonal index by 21 model days (≈4 Earth days). Moisture also causes a transition to propagating variability, though this does not seem to affect the leading mode’s persistence.

Impact of Colonialism on Environment: A Socio-Ecological Study of Twilight in Delhi

Massive devastation of indigenous social ecology was envisaged during the colonial expansion in almost all parts of the world since the 16th century. This colonial craze resulted in the exploitation of the natural resources of the colonial territories, which leads to environmental degradation. The alarming consequences of economic expansion including depletion of the ozone layer, air pollution, loss of forests and biodiversity, extinction of animal and plant species, loss of marine life, water and soil pollution have occurred at an alarming rate. Substantial destruction has greatly affected the global environment in the shape of global warming, urbanization, and massive industrialization among other grave issues. Modern intelligentsia and academia give rise to environmental consciousness through multiple campaigns including the celebration of “Earth Day”, the emergence of environmental activist organizations like “Friends of the Earth”, “Earth First”, “Sea Shepherd” and the formation of “Association for the Study of Literature and Environment ASLE” in America, the vis-à-vis start of Environmental studies and Ecocriticism at universities all over the world. Soon it prospered into further interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary fields of studies, in addition to the environmental campaigns activated across the world.

Planetary‐Scale Waves Seen in Thermal Infrared Images of Venusian Cloud Top

AbstractPlanetary‐scale waves are thought to play a crucial role in the maintenance of the atmospheric circulation of Venus. They have been mainly studied using ultraviolet images. In this study, cloud top temperature oscillations associated with planetary‐scale waves were extracted from thermal images taken over 142 Earth days by the Longwave Infrared Camera onboard JAXA's Akatsuki spacecraft. A spectral analysis showed that multiple planetary‐scale waves overlap. The latitudinal structures of four distinct waves with periods of 3.6, 5.0, 5.4, and 6.1 days were studied. The 3.6‐day wave is considered to be a Kelvin wave and the other waves are considered to be hemispherically symmetric Rossby waves. Although the Rossby waves have similar periods, their latitudinal structures are different. The Rossby waves are considered to originate from different sources based on a comparison with analytical solutions.

Water resource prospects for the next 50 years on the water planet: personal perspectives on a shared history from Earth Day, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and One Health to the futures of alternative energy, bioconvergence and quantum computing

ABSTRACT The history and the future of water resource management as well as the endeavours that it influences are inextricably woven into the fabric of the past, current and future states of all life on our watery planet. From the first Earth Day in 1970 and the founding of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) in 1971 to the development of modern biotechnology applications and alternative energy sources across subsequent decades, this paper reflects on these and other historical underpinnings of how we manage the use of our essential water resources now and might hope to in the future.