Transport of invasive species

The high costs of invasive species

“Species introduced to new regions through human activities are termed alien species. Invasive alien species represent a subset of alien species – animals, plants, and other organisms – known to have established and spread with negative impacts on biodiversity, local ecosystems and species. Some of the most problematic invasive alien species arrive through multiple introduction pathways and repeated introduction. Invasive alien species are recognized as…

See more
Extreme heat, Phoenix Arizona USA- July 2023

Extreme heat: impacts and consequences

Extreme heat is becoming the “new normal” for many areas of the world. The summer of 2023, for example, has seen some of the hottest days in modern history. Extreme heat is now a regular headline: How Extreme Heat Affects Workers and the Economy (New York Times) The heat index reached 152 degrees in the Middle East — nearly at the limit for human survival…

See more

Wildfire smoke and dirty air are also climate change problems: Solutions for a world on fire

Drew Shindell, Duke University from (The Conservation) As the eastern U.S. and Canada reeled from days of thick wildfire smoke in early June 2023, millions of people faced the reality of climate change for the first time. Shocking images of New York under apocalyptic orange skies left many people glued to air quality indices and wondering whether it was safe to go outside. What they…

See more
California (USA) wildfire smoke over city

How wildfire smoke can harm human health, even when the fire is hundreds of miles away – a toxicologist explains

Christopher T. Migliaccio, University of Montana (from The Conservation) Smoke from more than 100 wildfires burning across Canada has been turning skies hazy in North American cities far from the flames. We asked Chris Migliaccio, a toxicologist at the University of Montana who studies the impact of wildfire smoke on human health, about the health risks people can face when smoke blows in from distant…

See more

Moderate drinking has no health benefits

Does drinking alcohol have any positive health outcomes? In particular, some past studies have implied that moderate drinking could have some benefit. A journal article that reviewed past research says “no.” Moderate drinking has no health benefits. “This systematic review and meta-analysis of 107 cohort studies involving more than 4.8 million participants found no significant reductions in risk of all-cause mortality for drinkers who drank…

See more

Pharmaceuticals: corporations, markets, and manipulation?

Three books that examine the global pharmaceutical industry, the quest for profit, inequality and inequity, our own perceptions, the value of life itself, and more. *Petryna A. Lakoff A. & Kleinman A. (2006). Global pharmaceuticals: ethics, markets, practices. Duke University Press. [PDF] [Cited by] *Dumit J. (2012). Drugs for life: how pharmaceutical companies define our health. Duke University Press. [PDF] [Cited by] *Ecks S. (2022)….

See more
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.