Environmental Questions Research Articles

Leveraging Existing Cohorts to Study Health Effects of Air Pollution on Cardiometabolic Disorders: India Global Environmental and Occupational Health Hub.

Air pollution is a growing public health concern in developing countries and poses a huge epidemiological burden. Despite the growing awareness of ill effects of air pollution, the evidence linking air pollution and health effects is sparse. This requires environmental exposure scientist and public health researchers to work more cohesively to generate evidence on health impacts of air pollution in developing countries for policy advocacy. In the Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOHealth) Program, we aim to build exposure assessment model to estimate ambient air pollution exposure at a very fine resolution which can be linked with health outcomes leveraging well-phenotyped cohorts which have information on geolocation of households of study participants. We aim to address how air pollution interacts with meteorological and weather parameters and other aspects of the urban environment, occupational classification, and socioeconomic status, to affect cardiometabolic risk factors and disease outcomes. This will help us generate evidence for cardiovascular health impacts of ambient air pollution in India needed for necessary policy advocacy. The other exploratory aims are to explore mediatory role of the epigenetic mechanisms (DNA methylation) and vitamin D exposure in determining the association between air pollution exposure and cardiovascular health outcomes. Other components of the GEOHealth program include building capacity and strengthening the skills of public health researchers in India through variety of training programs and international collaborations. This will help generate research capacity to address environmental and occupational health research questions in India. The expertise that we bring together in GEOHealth hub are public health, clinical epidemiology, environmental exposure science, statistical modeling, and policy advocacy.

Potential of temperature- and salinity-driven shifts in diatom compatible solute concentrations to impact biogeochemical cycling within sea ice

Sea-ice algae are an important source of primary production in polar regions, yet we have limited understanding of their responses to the seasonal cycling of temperature and salinity. Using a targeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach, we found that axenic cultures of the Antarctic sea-ice diatom, Nitzschia lecointei, displayed large differences in their metabolomes when grown in a matrix of conditions that included temperatures of –1 and 4°C, and salinities of 32 and 41, despite relatively small changes in growth rate. Temperature exerted a greater effect than salinity on cellular metabolite pool sizes, though the N- or S-containing compatible solutes, 2, 3-dihydroxypropane-1-sulfonate (DHPS), glycine betaine (GBT), dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), and proline responded strongly to both temperature and salinity, suggesting complexity in their control. We saw the largest (> 4-fold) response to salinity for proline. DHPS, a rarely studied but potential compatible solute, had the highest intracellular concentrations among all compatible solutes of ~85 mM. When comparing the culture findings to natural Arctic sea-ice diatom communities, we found extensive overlap in metabolite profiles, highlighting the relevance of culture-based studies to probe environmental questions. Large changes in sea-ice diatom metabolomes and compatible solutes over a seasonal cycle could be significant components of biogeochemical cycling within sea ice.

Italian Ecocinema Beyond the Human by Elana Past

Reviewed by: Italian Ecocinema Beyond the Human by Elana Past Matteo Gilebbi Past, Elena. Italian Ecocinema Beyond the Human. Indiana University Press, 2019, pp. 226. Elena Past's book is a fascinating and insightful examination of five Italian films through the lens of material ecocriticism, a framework that allows her—as she points out in the introduction—to read these films by engaging "both matter and meaning" and by focusing on "pressing environmental questions" (2). Past suggests that we consider ecocinema not simply as a genre that engages with ecological themes through stylistic or narrative choice, but as "an interpretive approach" that focuses on the film industry's ecological footprint, the use of nonhuman actors, and the relationship with the material places represented on screen and, most importantly, held and traversed by film casts and crews (3). Past is aware that this approach to Italian ecocinema carries binding ethical implications: by connecting films to a more-than-human world, she positions her work in a non-anthropocentric, anti-speciesist, and bio-centric perspective which questions human exceptionalism, the dominance over nonhuman animals, and the right to control and transform the environment. Therefore, her inquiry into ecocinema asks "new questions" about the physical and ecological impact of films and their condition of being enmeshed in the world (11); these questions rise, in fact, from considering films as "cyborg forms," that is, "places where naturecultures are formed, composed of light particles and technologies and interactions between human and nonhuman bodies" (12). Each of the five book chapters is a case study focusing on a single film, with a research approach unique not only to Italian film studies but also to other studies on ecocinema: Past constructs the analysis of each film by intertwining a canonical reading with interviews of film crew members and with environmental humanities theories, in particular the work of Serenella Iovino, Rosi Braidotti, Matthew Calarco, Donna Haraway, Roberto Marchesini, Timothy Morton, and Cary Wolfe. This allows for a compelling analysis that connects the lived experience of the people involved in the actual, physical making of the film, with the current speculative research in ecocriticism, posthumanism, and environmental philosophy. [End Page 359] The first chapter focuses on Michelangelo Antonioni's Red Desert (1964) and interrogates how the film was "thoroughly entangled in the petrochemical landscape in which it was filmed, and was a byproduct of those very industries" (28). Past reads Antonioni's work as a metaphorical and material catalyst between the film story, the actors, the industry, the workers, the geographical area of Ravenna, and modern Italian society, all interconnected by their dependence on petrol and its chemical and cultural byproducts. Past interprets the film as an artifact that testifies to the "radical connectedness of all matter, while admitting the ontological and environmental crises that can result from such entanglement" (30). Therefore, in Past's study, Red Desert becomes the perfect example of "petrocinema," i.e., cinema that represents the petrochemical industry and some of its many stories while also stimulating a reflection on how this industry creates and supports cinema itself: "both in form and subject, Red Desert traces the shape of this dynamic landscape" where hydrocarbons "drive nearly every aspect of contemporary life" (35, 36). One of the most interesting conclusions drawn by Past is that, by focusing on the geological origin of fuel, Red Desert allows a non-anthropocentric gaze on dilated geological time, juxtaposed to the dominant anthropocentric view of the compressed time of modern Italy and its accelerating economic growth. In other words, Red Desert triggers an epistemological and ontological shift from the fast time of neocapitalism to the slow time of environmental consciousness, while contemplating the realization that the film, like the industry it represents, emits toxins and endangered the biosphere, since cinema itself is a byproduct of petrol that therefore enables the negative environmental effects of the petrochemical industry. In the second chapter, Past continues her analysis of the environmental footprint of both the economy and cinema by collecting the stories of crew members of Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah (2008). They recount how making this film meant "getting dirty" with the wasteful film production process, with Campania's waste management crisis, and...

Sustainable China and the Global Traveling Classroom

Since its inception in 2009, the Sustainable China Program at Lawrence University in Wisconsin has given students and faculty the chance to engage with important environmental, economic, political and cultural questions by combining interdisciplinary academic work in the classroom with an extended field experience in China. The program is built on the PERC best practices for short-term international study abroad, which includes: Preparing students directly for the experience, Engaging with partners on the ground, Reflecting on personal development, and Continuing that development by using the program as a springboard for further opportunities. Lawrence University has adopted this model, which we’ve named the “traveling classroom,” to similar programs in Sierra Leone, Jamaica, Nepal and other countries. This article briefly outlines the history and objectives of the Sustainable China traveling classroom program, including how it represents an avenue for global engagement and a launching pad for further international education.

Exploring participatory action research as a driver for sustainable tourism

AbstractThe constantly growing tourism sector does not only bring economic well‐being to host communities but also raises environmental and social questions. Communities increasingly experience negative impacts that strain their social, cultural, and ecological living environments. We investigate the potential of a more relational, action‐oriented research approach for tourism: Participatory Action Research (PAR). Results show that PAR has the potential to actively involve tourism‐affected communities in the decision‐making processes that impact their living environments and facilitate them in co‐creating community‐specific initiatives for sustainable change. Yet, the current role of conventional research approaches hinders PAR in developing its full potential.

Economic assumptions of the Ecological State: looking for sustainability

Although many efforts were taken until now, the fact is that environmental questions are still challenging governments and civil society, what is evidenced by the continuous tendency of pollution´s growth, depletion of resources and loss of biodiversity. Considering that considering that anthropocentric conduct, reflected particularly by capitalism, as economic system, and industrialism, as production method, would have led to this disastrous and generalized level of environmental degradation, Klaus Bosselmann has purposed the Ecological State, a theoric model of State (re)organization, ethically based on ecocentrism. The present work intends to introduce the economic assumptions of the Ecological State, to understand in which way it can contribute to improve the notion of strong sustainability. The study points out that economic modern standards, seen as dogmas, are a difficult obstacle to changes and brings some of Tim Jackson´s purposes to reach prosperity without growth to a democratic transition to an Ecological State. The methodological approach is qualitative, pure and the main source of research is bibliographical.

Queering environmental regulation?

Motivated by thinking at the intersection of queer theory and environmental regulation, the co-authors of this piece pay attention to a stubborn persistence we negotiate when dealing with environmental studies and politics – namely, how environmental regulation functions through discrete timelines with linear notions of progress and through bounded and static conceptions of space. Given the linear and bounded logics of environmental regulation, our collective commentary endeavours to ‘queer’ the logics of environmental regulation and questions of the environment and nature more broadly. Our intent is to capture emerging discussions on ‘queering environmental regulations’. Incomplete and ever evolving, we offer thoughts and questions from our distinct entry points to grapple with the limits and possibilities of taking up queer theory and linear logics that permeate regulatory procedures on the land.

CHALLENGES TO LABOUR LAW

The article deals with three main challenges to labour law referring especially to the German experience. The world-wide market induced enterprises to relocate their production and to reduce labour costs at home. In Germany, a quite indirect way of exercising pressure on the workers was developed; counter-measures were rare and did not really change the situation. TTIP and CETA will worsen the situation because national sovereignty in social and environmental questions will fade away. The second challenge comes from inequality existing among workers as well as in society as a whole. There is a scission between very wealthy people on one side and people becoming poorer and poorer on the other side. Labour law has not yet developed the instruments to realize more equality among workers but some ideas are discussed. The third challenge is the digitalisation of many activities; they are no more bound to certain places or certain times of the day. The “freedom” to work at any moment and at any place entails very long working hours, work at night and work on Sundays. Legal rules on working time lose more and more there importance. A solution can be the right of workers´ representatives to discuss the tasks given to individual workers, but other means are examined in the article, too. The internet makes crowdworking possible – a new form of work which is currently not covered by labour law.

Crossing Floors: Developing an Interdisciplinary CURE between an Environmental Toxicology Course and an Analytical Chemistry Course

We designed a collaborative course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) between an Analytical Chemistry course and an Environmental Toxicology course to engage students in a research project that cannot rely on one discipline alone. This study reports on 47 students’ self-reported experiences with the course outcomes and their opinions of the CURE project. Students in both courses increased their levels of experience in skills related to the CURE project, including their ability to design a project where the outcome was unknown. Further, most students felt a sense of project ownership, but their ownership was attributed only to the positive aspects of the CURE. At the end of the CURE, the students in both classes demonstrated the ability to connect ideas and techniques learned in the course to a broader environmental research question. We also suggest several tips for developing collaborative CUREs in undergraduate courses.

Causal inference and ensemble learning as new important tools for investigations of health effects of chemical mixtures.

OPS 05: Statistical methods to analyze mixtures, Room 114, Floor 1, August 27, 2019, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Background: Studies in environmental epidemiology consider each chemical separately when assessing the adverse health effects of environmental exposures. This single pollutant approach suffers from several pitfalls including: 1) risk of false positives; 2) confounding from correlated exposures; and 3) lack of insights on the cumulative or synergistic effects of exposures. Proposed method: We propose a flexible method that leverages an ensemble learning technique – SuperLearner - that offers greater flexibility in approximating the data generating mechanism, to estimate a robust model for the outcome, in combination with the G-computation - a maximum likelihood based substitution estimator – to infer valid estimates of individual and joint effects of mixtures. We extend the method to reconstruct dose-response relationships with no assumptions on the functional form, and to detect potential interactive effects. We end by proposing to augment the method to doubly robust estimation. Simulation study and application: We ran multiple simulations based on real scenarios and compared the method with available approaches handling complex mixtures (e.g. elastic net, weighted quantile regressions, gradient boosting, random forests, and environmental wide association studies). We subsequently applied the method to investigate the potential effects of a mixture of pollutants on child cognitive outcomes in a Faroese cohort. Main results: The proposed method had the lowest false discovery rate in terms of main effects and interactive effects and was able to adapt to the true underlying structure of the data. In the application part, the method confirmed previously reported associations between mercury and lower cognitive function. Additionally, some perfluorinated compounds showed detrimental effects on cognitive function. Conclusions: By combining concepts from data sciences and causal inference, the proposed approach opens new perspectives for estimating causal effects of environmental chemicals in high-dimensional settings, and will allow to correctly address environmental health causal questions that have policy-relevant consequences.

A DEMARCAÇÃO DE TERRAS INDÍGENAS NO BRASIL E AS LIÇÕES DO MOVIMENTO CONSTITUCIONALISTA LATINO-AMERICANO INSURGENTE

O estudo ora apresentado demonstra uma análise acerca da demarcação de terras indígenas e sua correlação com o constitucionalismo latino-americano. Pretende-se com o presente trabalho apresentar os conceitos envolvidos, o histórico legislativo, bem como estabelecer uma necessária relação entre a problemática questão ambiental indígena e a tutela ambiental defendida por esse novo constitucionalismo. O método utilizado é o analítico-hermenêutico, no qual, através de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental será feita o exame científico do problema apresentado. Pode-se concluir, a partir do exposto, que o constitucionalismo latino-americano vem ao amparo e serve de justificativa para que as terras indígenas sejam adequadamente demarcadas no Brasil.

First known survey of cannabis production practices in California

Legalization of cannabis production has daylighted a unique and highly valuable crop in California agriculture. State and regulatory agencies must now address the ecological, social and agricultural effects of cannabis production, but little is known about how growers produce this crop. Using an online survey, we gathered information from growers in July 2018 on their production practices. According to responses from about 100 growers, most cannabis was produced outdoors or in greenhouses, relied primarily on groundwater and used biologically based inputs for pest management. Many farms employed seasonal workers paid at fixed piece rates. Regulatory compliance varied according to farm size. Beginning to document growing practices will help scientists formulate key environmental, social and agronomic questions and develop relevant research and extension programs to promote best management practices and minimize negative environmental impacts of production.

Síntesis de cinamato de metilo, a través de un procedimiento de bajo impacto ambiental, y evaluación de su actividad antifúngica como potencial preservante de maderas

La prevención y el control de hongos que atacan madera utilizando agentes sintetizados en el marco de la Química Verde es una estrategia prometedora en el desarrollo de preservantes que conduzcan a la sostenibilidad ambiental. La madera constituye un material susceptible a la degradación fúngica, presentando deterioro frecuente y agresivo cuando es puesta en servicio. Si bien a lo largo de los años se han desarrollado compuestos para su protección con diversos métodos de impregnación, muchos de los utilizados presentan fuertes cuestionamientos ambientales. El objetivo de este trabajo fue obtener cinamato de metilo (CiM) a través de un procedimiento de bajo impacto ambiental, y evaluar su actividad in vitrofrente a Gloeophyllum sepiarium(Wulf.: Fr.) P. Karst, un hongo causante de pudrición parda. Se realizó la síntesis de (CiM) a partir de ácido cinámico y metanol, mediante catálisis con ácidos de estructura Preyssler, con un rendimiento del 49% y una selectividad del 100 %. Este compuesto ejerció un efecto antifúngico, retrasando el crecimiento miceliar y su velocidad, a partir de una concentración de 2.000 ppm, aunque ello fue dependiente de la temperatura de incubación. Futuros estudios son necesarios para confirmar su potencial antifúngico cuando es aplicado en madera.

Negative Health Effects of the International Space Station

The dazzling weapon was tested against volunteers firing assault weapons, sniper rifles, and machine guns at targets protected by Filin from two kilometers away. All of the participants experienced difficulties aiming, and 45% had complaints of dizziness, nausea, and disorientation. Twenty percent of volunteers experienced what Russian media has characterized as hallucinations. Participants described seeing floating balls of light. But there are concerns about cloud seeding’s long-term impacts. For example, it’s unclear how making it rain in one village affects a neighboring villages, cities, etc. It’s also up for debate who “owns” the water -- such as which state or company -- that comes out of the clouds. There are also environmental questions, such as ones related to the long-term impacts of silver iodide. Although some critics may have concerns about companies impacting the weather with the International Space Station (ISS) that they are “playing God.” One of the main cause of a Climatic Changes in our recent World are artificial interventions into Global and different Local Weather from the International Space Station regulated by Russia.

Applying Policy Process Theories to Environmental Governance Research: Themes and New Directions

Policy scholars have effectively leveraged policy process models, theories, and frameworks to respond to a variety of important environmental questions. For example, how do environmental issues arrive on the agendas of policymakers? What factors contribute to environmental policy change? What are the designs and effects of institutions (e.g., policies or cultural norms) on environmental governance? In this review, we survey the field of policy process scholarship, focusing on environmental governance, with three objectives. The first objective is to catalog the policy process models, theories, and frameworks most often featured in studies of environmental governance. The second is to capture the methodological choices commonly employed in the application of these models, theories, and frameworks in environmental domains. The third is to identify how these approaches deal with issues central to environmental governance research, including time, space, and policy scale. We aim to identify trends and strategies for integrating key considerations of scale into empirical policy process scholarship.

The Animal Question Meets Environmental Policy—Perspectives from Finland

Abstract The welfare and rights of nonhuman animals have become highly politicized issues, and political arguments concerning these topics are bound to collide with opposing views and face problems of legitimacy. This article seeks insights especially by drawing comparisons with environmental policy. This is implemented by showing how the animal question has been connected with different environmentally relevant policy questions in Finland. Analysis is backed up by earlier research literature about the differences between animal and environmental questions. This analysis shows that, in real-life situations, these two policy goals can be molded into various combinations, and the theoretical and sometimes highly polarized debates about the differences between the animal question and environmentalism do not always lead to conflict.

Residential location choice in a developing country: What matter? A choice experiment application in Burkina Faso

This paper assesses the benefits derived from environmental amenities, and more specifically from an urban park, from data on residential location choices. Household decisions regarding their residential location have important implications for urban planning. This paper uses a choice experiment pivot design (CE) to empirically analyze the trade-off between location attributes such as distance to an urban park and distance to workplace in the context of a developing country in which environmental questions are generally considered of lower priority. The limitation of transportation and communication networks suggests that the “tyranny of distance” is even more significant in this particular context than in larger cities located in more developed countries. Results show that inhabitants are willing to pay more in order to live close to an urban park than to their workplace. Furthermore, I find that preferences are heterogeneous and that the attribute corresponding to the presence of relatives in the area is associated with the highest willingness to pay.

Seafood-Borne Parasitic Diseases: A “One-Health” Approach Is Needed

Global consumption of seafood is steadily increasing, as is the variety of seafood, including dishes with raw or undercooked fish, leading to an increased risk of seafood-borne parasitic diseases. To address today’s challenges to understand the biology and ecology of these parasites in an ever-changing environment and to tackle their pathogenicity, multidisciplinary research is needed. In addition, the gap between research and stakeholders must be bridged to decrease the risk these parasites pose to public health. A “One-Health” approach to research is necessary to ensure that consumers, aquatic animals, and environmental health questions are assessed in an integrated and holistic manner, resulting in a more comprehensive understanding of the issues associated with seafood-borne parasitic diseases and potential solutions. However, when it comes to seafood-borne parasitic diseases, there is limited guidance available for a “One-Health” approach since these diseases can be less known. In this article, the focus is on parasitic diseases caused by seafood, which have been less studied even in some developed countries where seafood is popular. A brief overview of some of the seafood-borne parasitic diseases is provided followed by the significance of the awareness among various stakeholders in a country. In this article, it is argued that researchers and stakeholders are closely connected and a knowledge gap in one can result in a gap in knowledge and awareness in the other, causing an inability to accurately estimate the issues caused by these parasites. It is suggested that raising awareness, supporting research and training of all stakeholders are crucial for the prevention of seafood-borne parasitic diseases and the protection of the health of seafood consumers.

Sobre o princípio regulativo e os elementos constitutivos da ideia de sustentabilidade

Esta pesquisa visa retomar algumas retóricas que versam sobre o termo sustentabilidade com a intenção de se encontrar perspectivas de consciência histórica, uma vez que a Ecologia tem se projetado como uma visão contemporânea de mundo. Assim, este trabalho é uma análise semântica do termo sustentabilidade, procurando investigar de que modo a ideia de um espaço-tempo regulado como um ideal da Razão histórica aparece implicado no termo. Sendo assim, parte-se da hipótese que há um operador psicológico presente na estruturação discursiva do termo sustentabilidade, no qual observamos o papel de um princípio regulador e alguns elementos constituintes. A pesquisa conclui que os conteúdos reguladores e constitutivos da ideia de sustentabilidade derivam do próprio percurso civilizatório como um imperativo da Razão histórica frente à questão ambiental que se impõe no contemporâneo.

Some Considerations for Investors Exploring ESG Strategies

Investors who are concerned about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors face numerous questions. In the author’s opinion, investors need to determine which ESG issues are important for them, and how these issues should be reflected in a portfolio. For some strategies, ESG factors are integral to the investment process, whereas for other strategies, ESG factors are best captured via simple and transparent rules (screens and/or tilts). Investors also face several practical implementation choices. Should each company be evaluated on the basis of its current ESG profile, or is the trend more relevant? Should a company be analyzed on a stand-alone basis or relative to its industry peers? And for the strategy, what is the appropriate level of active risk (tracking error) relative to the policy benchmark? In addition, investors need to determine how to monitor any ESG strategy over time, which will help ensure the strategy is performing as expected. In the author’s opinion, perhaps the biggest challenge facing investors is articulating an investment thesis for an ESG strategy. Which ESG factors are already reflected in security prices, and which ESG factors have the potential to drive outperformance? Finally, the article identifies some differences between equity and fixed income strategies as they relate to ESG.