Author: TheConversation

By Jyoti Mishra, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego Psychological trauma from extreme weather and climate events, such as wildfires, can have long-term impacts on survivors’ brains and cognitive functioning, especially how they process distractions, my team’s new research shows. Climate change is increasingly affecting people around the world, including through extreme heat, storm damage and life-threatening events like wildfires. In previous research, colleagues and I showed that in the aftermath of the 2018 fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, California, chronic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression were highly prevalent in...

By Linda Pagani, Professor, School of Psychoeducation and researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal; Amélie Gilker Beauchamp, Étudiante à la maîtrise en psychoéducation, Université de Montréal; Beatrice Necsa, Masters student, Psychoeducation, Université de Montréal; Benoit Gauthier, Candidat au doctorat en sciences humaines appliquées, Université de Montréal; Kianoush Harandian, PhD Candidate, School of Psychoeducation, Université de Montréal; and Laurie-Anne Kosak, Masters student, Psychoeducation, Université de Montréal It took a half century for the first American Surgeon General Report to establish the link between tobacco and lung cancer. In response, companies infiltrated media and genetically modified tobacco leaves to make...

By Osman Ozbulut, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia The February 6, 2023, earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria damaged over 100,000 buildings, caused more than 10,000 collapses and killed more than 50,000 people. These earthquakes also put to the test advanced building technologies that can minimize damage and keep buildings functioning after a quake. Several hospitals built with one such technology, called a seismic isolation system, survived the earthquakes with almost no harm, according to local news reports, even while surrounding buildings sustained heavy damage. Adana City Hospital was built to record both ground shaking and the...

By Willow Kreutzer, PhD Candidate in Political Science, University of Iowa; and Stephen Bagwell, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Missouri-St. Louis When natural disasters strike, women and girls tend to experience disproportionate challenges and heightened risks. They are much more likely than men to experience sexual violence and health problems. Women and girls also face greater professional and educational setbacks. So it should come as no surprise that challenges continue to mount for women in Turkey and Syria following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6, 2023, that killed more than 50,000 people and displaced 3 million...

By Roy Whitaker, Associate Professor of Black Religions and American Religious Diversity, San Diego State University The life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been the subject of ongoing debate ever since his assassination on April 4, 1968. Today, those invoking King’s memory range from Black Lives Matters organizers and President Joe Biden to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Educators trying to teach Black history call on his principles, even as their opponents claim that lessons about systemic racism go against King’s desire not to judge people “by the color of their skin.” In an...

By Lloyd Daniel Barba, Assistant Professor of Religion, Amherst College On March 31, 1966, labor rights pioneer Cesar Chavez was not celebrating his birthday in any usual manner. Rather, he was 14 days into a 25-day pilgrimage in California from Delano to Sacramento. Leading a group of striking farm laborers and supporters, Chavez’s plan was to build momentum and support for the workers’ cause in a march that would conclude on the steps of the California State Capitol on Easter Sunday morning. The date here is crucial. A foundational, but mostly forgotten, feature of the nearly 300-mile pilgrimage during...