ITRC PNW Transformational Resilience Network

Water vapor rises from the coal-fired power plant run by the energy company LEAG in Boxberg, Germany. (Singer/Epa-Efe/Rex/Shutterstock) Climate change significantly imperils public health globally, according to a new report that chronicles the many hazards and symptoms already being seen. The authors describe its manifestations as “unequivocal and potentially irreversible.” Heat waves are striking more people, disease-carrying mosquitoes are spreading and weather disasters are becoming more...

This coming Wednesday, The Lancet Countdown will release its first annual report tracking climate change and health indicators across five key domains (including Mental Health) on November 1 ( live in Berkeley , or via Livestream ). (Report attached below.) All of the speakers could and should be invited to the upcoming California Preparing Individuals for Climate Change Conference. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend. Climate Change: The Defining Health Challenge and Opportunity of the...

Forests are one of the most important ways our planet regulates its climate. It's simple: Trees remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it. Older forests tend to store more carbon than younger ones, and a single big tree can add the same amount of carbon to the forest within a year as is contained in an entire midsized tree. Understanding the world's forest systems is an essential factor in building a picture of our planet's health. Forest ecologists can do this by walking through the...

Hurricane Irma knocked millions of dollars worth of oranges and grapefruits to the ground. Its high winds mowed down thousands of acres of sugarcane, toppled nursery plants, and decimated the avocado crop. The damage will cost the state's agricultural industry billions, but for the migrant workers who pick these crops and work in the fields, the storm means real hardship that will test lives already on the edge. "If you listen to the news coverage about Irma, you'll hear about damage to the...

Urban planners, governments and developers are increasingly interested in making cities “liveable”. But what features contribute to liveability? Which areas in cities are the least and most liveable? The various liveability rankings – where Australia tends to do quite well – don’t provide much useful guidance. In a recently released report, Creating Liveable Cities in Australia , our team defined and produced the first baseline measure of liveability in Australia’s capital cities. We broke...

When the clouds darken and rain starts pouring down, many Houston-area elementary school students get nervous and start to sob — a sign of the long-lasting effects of watching the water levels rise during and after Hurricane Harvey. For Donna Wotkyns, a licensed social worker in Houston, that reaction shows exactly why ramping up resources for long-term mental health services for Texas students is necessary. “I’m a big believer in … support groups, getting together multiple children or youth...

On Sunday night, flames swept into Santa Rosa and other cities across the region with little warning . At least 24 people have been confirmed dead , with hundreds displaced and nearly 300 still reported missing . Meanwhile, hundreds of residents from hotel owners to teachers and students to local government officials to relief workers are marshalling help those to affected. Here's what they've been up to in the days since the devastation began. 1. Farms are taking in displaced animals, and...

The speed and ferocity of the wildfires raging through Northern California's wine country have caught many residents off guard and left state officials scrambling to contain the flames. But for fire researchers, these devastating blazes are part of a much larger pattern unfolding across the Western United States. So far this year, fires in the U.S. have consumed more than 8.5 million acres - an area bigger than the state of Maryland. The cause is hot, dry conditions nationwide. Heat records...

It can be hard for us outsiders to battle "disaster fatigue." Still, 21 days after the disaster, which was well predicted 10 days before that (a month ago, in total) -- and we can not figure it out? People are still waiting in line hours: "What I got was 3 bottles of water and 4 cans of Pringles." Most with no sanitation, no power, no running water, no cell communication, one thousand, five-hundred roads out -- "What are you going to do today, t.o.d.a.y.?" is never answered.

This was produced by KPJR Films, and edited by Jen Bradwell.

What are ACEs? ACEs are adverse childhood experiences that harm children's developing brains so profoundly that the effects show up decades later; they cause much of chronic disease, most mental illness, and are at the root of most violence. ...

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