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ITRC PNW Transformational Resilience Network

Making the Connections Between Climate Change and Sexual and Relationship Violence

“Human relations were laid bare and the strengths and weaknesses in relationships came sharply into focus. Thus, socially isolated women became more isolated, domestic violence increased, and the core of relationships with family, friends and spouses were exposed” – written in response to a major flood in Australia (Dobson, 1994, p. 11). Racism. Sexism. Classism. Immigration status. Violence against LGBTQ communities. These are just a few of the various forms of oppression that the...

Sonoma County schools keep eye on student behavior after wildfires [Pressdemocrat.com]

As Sonoma County students settle back into the classroom routines after winter break, school officials will be watching closely for dips in academic performance and attendance, outbursts and other behavioral reactions as they continue to wrestle with the aftermath of October’s wildfires. Ed Navarro, principal of Rincon Valley Middle School and Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter School, said students showed kindness, camaraderie and support for displaced classmates immediately after the fires.

Post Traumatic Growth after Natural Disasters - Communication and Connections Help [sciencedaily.com]

A recent study from researchers at the University of Missouri found more communication among family, friends and neighbors who experienced the devastating and deadly 2011 Joplin Tornado was related to more post-traumatic growth. The 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, was one of the most destructive in U.S. history -- killing 161 people, injuring 1,150 and destroying approximately one-third of the city's homes. Individuals who experience such disasters can exhibit a range of mental health...

Catastrophic Times: Leadership, When Everyone Is Down (ssir.org)

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, a nonprofit leader shares lessons on preparedness, collaboration, and resilience. Disasters of this scale do not discriminate; they affect the vulnerable and the privileged, the constituents and the leaders. During a disaster, everyone must shore up their available resources—ideally in close collaboration with the rest of the community. Effective collaboration requires leaders—even from unexpected places. Now that the water has receded (though the relief...

The Promise of Post-Traumatic Growth Part II

Read "The Promise of Post-Traumatic Growth Part I" here . What do you imagine post-traumatic growth looks like? Feeling stronger in the face of a new challenge, knowing we’ve already overcome the worst that life can throw at us? Being more grateful for the little things? More connected to our friends and family? Finding new perspective and priorities? Or maybe having a deeper sense of the mystery and sanctity of life? The answer is all of the above. In the first part of our article “ The...

Climate Change Turned 99.8% of These Sea Turtle Babies into Girls (livescience.com)

A study published yesterday (Jan. 8) in the journal Current Biology about green sea turtles that nest along island beaches near Australia's Great Barrier Reef found that turtles born in areas most heated by climate change are 99.8 percent female. Turtles born farther south, along a cooler beach, are only about 65 percent female. Due to climate change, Raine Island — the site of the key breeding ground in this study — has warmed significantly since the 1990s, the researchers wrote, likely...

Books Inspiring Us: Being the Change [yesmagazine.org]

It can be hard to find hope in climate change mitigation. But that’s exactly what NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus does in Being the Change. While he’s not your typical government scientist—he commutes by bicycle, meditates, grows and exchanges food—he does approach his life and global warming with the solution-driven focus of one. To Kalmus, individual actions matter: His family cut their climate impact to one-tenth the national average. He finds hope in the data—cutting out some things,...

Hundreds of 'Boiled' Bats Fall from Sky in Australian Heat Wave (livescience.com)

As temperatures rose to 111.5 degrees Fahrenheit (44.2 degrees Celsius) in Campbelltown in the Australian state of New South Wales, a colony of flying fox bats that lives near the town's train station felt the effects. Volunteers struggled to rescue the heat-stricken bats, according to the Campbelltown-Macarthur Advertiser , but at least 204 individual animals, mostly babies, died. "They basically boil," Kate Ryan, the colony manager for the Campbelltown bats, told the newspaper. "It affects...

The Ocean Is Suffocating, and It's Our Fault (livescience.com)

Ocean "dead zones" — regions of the sea where oxygen is severely or entirely depleted and most forms of life can't survive — are becoming more numerous, and scientists warn that they will continue to increase unless we curb the factors driving global climate change, which is fueling this alarming shift in ocean chemistry. This sobering view of the "suffocating" ocean was described in a new study, published online today (Jan. 4) in the journal Science . The study is the first to present such...

Disability and Disaster Response in the Age of Climate Change [psmag.com]

Throughout the morning of Sunday, August 27th, Angela Wrigglesworth kept her concerns off social media because she didn't want to worry her parents. But as the waters slowly rose into her Brays Bayou home in Houston, she discovered that emergency services were overwhelmed, dealing with more urgent crises than even the flooding in her neighborhood. Finally, a little after noon, she posted on Facebook: "There is water in our home and we need to get out at some point soon. ... If you know of...

L.A.'s increasingly hot and dry autumns result in 'these near-apocalyptic fires' (latimes.com)

Autumn has seen excruciatingly little rain, intensely low humidity, record heat and powerful winds that sparked what is so far the second largest wildfire in modern California history. "There is some evidence that the autumn on average in Southern California is going to be drier as the climate warms," UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said. The record warmth in California "is clearly a symptom of climate change," Swain said. "The likelihood of seeing record warmth and record heat waves is...

Microsoft Wants to Pit AI Against Climate Change (insurancejournal.com)

Microsoft announced earlier this month that the tech giant is broadening its AI for Earth program and committing $50 million over the next five years “to put artificial intelligence technology in the hands of individuals and organizations around the world who are working to protect our planet.” “At Microsoft, we believe artificial intelligence is a game changer,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer wrote in a recent blog announcing the funding . “Our approach as a...

Jakarta Is Sinking So Fast, It Could End Up Underwater [nytimes.com]

JAKARTA — Rasdiono remembers when the sea was a good distance from his doorstep, down a hill. Back then he opened the cramped, gaily painted bayside shack he named the Blessed Bodega, where he and his family sell catfish heads, spiced eggs and fried chicken. It was strange, Rasdiono said. Year by year, the water crept closer. The hill gradually disappeared. Now the sea loomed high over the shop, just steps away, held back only by a leaky wall. With climate change, the Java Sea is rising and...

In California’s wildfires, a looming threat to climate goals (calmatters.org)

Beyond the devastation and personal tragedy of the fires that have ravaged California in recent months, another disaster looms: an alarming uptick in unhealthy air and the sudden release of the carbon dioxide that drives climate change. “The kinds of fires we’re seeing now generate millions of tons of GHG emissions. This is significant,” said Dave Clegern, a spokesman for the state Air Resources Board, a regulatory body. The role of wildfire as a major source of pollution was identified a...

Gov. Jerry Brown says world must fight climate change in visit to Ventura County’s Thomas fire (sbsun.com)

Gov. Jerry Brown warned that the state’s fire seasons will continue to get longer and more volatile, and called for a global fight against climate change after visiting devastated parts of Ventura County on Saturday morning. “This is the new normal,” Brown said, in a news conference after his tour. “We’re facing a new reality where fires threaten peoples’ lives, their properties, their neighborhoods and cost billions and billions of dollars. We have to have the resources to combat the fires,...

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