scholarly journals Disproportionate Impacts of Wildfires among Elderly and Low-Income Communities in California from 2000–2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 3921
Author(s):  
Shahir Masri ◽  
Erica Scaduto ◽  
Yufang Jin ◽  
Jun Wu
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Socioeconomic Indicators ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Area Burned

Wildfires can be detrimental to urban and rural communities, causing impacts in the form of psychological stress, direct physical injury, and smoke-related morbidity and mortality. This study examined the area burned by wildfires over the entire state of California from the years 2000 to 2020 in order to quantify and identify whether burned area and fire frequency differed across Census tracts according to socioeconomic indicators over time. Wildfire data were obtained from the California Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP) and National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), while demographic data were obtained from the American Community Survey. Results showed a doubling in the number of Census tracts that experienced major wildfires and a near doubling in the number of people residing in wildfire-impacted Census tracts, mostly due to an over 23,000 acre/year increase in the area burned by wildfires over the last two decades. Census tracts with a higher fire frequency and burned area had lower proportions of minority groups on average. However, when considering Native American populations, a greater proportion resided in highly impacted Census tracts. Such Census tracts also had higher proportions of older residents. In general, high-impact Census tracts tended to have higher proportions of low-income residents and lower proportions of high-income residents, as well as lower median household incomes and home values. These findings are important to policymakers and state agencies as it relates to environmental justice and the allocation of resources before, during, and after wildfires in the state of California.

Race and Gender in Culturally Situated Design Tools

2011 ◽  
pp. 1054-1061
Author(s):  
Ron Eglash
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Student ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Design Tools ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
And Gender

In theer study of equity issues in information technology (IT), researchers concerned with workforce diversity often utilize the metaphor of a “career pipeline.” In this metaphor a population full of gender and race diversity enters the pipeline in kindergarten, but its delivery at the pipeline outflow in the form of software engineers and other IT workers is disproportionately white and male. While we might question the metaphor—its lack of attention to economic class or social construction, its illusion of rigid boundaries, etc.—the phenomenon it describes is well established by a broad number of statistical measures. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Surveys shows that between 1996 and 2002 the percentage of women in the overall IT workforce fell from 41% to 34.9%; during the same period the percentage of African Americans fell from 9.1% to 8.2%. Not only are women and certain minority groups under-represented, but the gap is in some cases getting worse. Returning to the pipeline, we might ask what barriers are encountered by women and minorities that act as impediments to this flow. Some of these barriers can be attributed to economic status; in particular the impact that poor educational resources have on low-income minority student academic success (Payne & Biddle, 1999). But other barriers appear to be more about cultural identity, including both race and gender identity. This essay describes Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDTs), a suite of Web-based interactive applets that allow students and teachers to explore mathematics through the simulation of cultural artifacts, including Native American beadwork, African American cornrows, ancient Mayan temples, urban Graffiti, and Latin percussion rhythms (see http://www.rpi.edu/~eglash/csdt.html). Our preliminary evaluation indicates that some of the identity barriers preventing women and minorities from participating in IT careers can be mitigated by the use CSDTs in classroom and out of class learning environments.

scholarly journals Articulating strategies to address heat resilience using spatial optimization and temporal analysis of utility assistance data of the Salvation Army Metro Phoenix

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qunshan Zhao ◽  
Chelsea Dickson ◽  
Jowan Thornton ◽  
Patricia Solís ◽  
Elizabeth Wentz
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Spatial Optimization ◽  
Salvation Army ◽  
Community Research ◽  
The Phoenix

Long-term community resilience, which privileges a long-view look at chronic, slow-moving issues affecting communities, has begun to draw more attention from researchers and policymakers. In the Valley of the Sun, resilience to heat is both a necessity and a way of life. Solutions are ubiquitous but nevertheless still in demand over the long, hot summers in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. Residents heavily rely on air conditioning (AC) for relief from heat stress, illness, and to prevent indoor heat-related deaths. However, paying for the electricity to keep homes cool can be expensive and the electric bills can be cost prohibitive for many low-income individuals and families. Local government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and charitable organizations have programs that provide financial assistance for qualified applicants offering limited relief from electricity costs. To better understand the utility assistance landscape in the Phoenix metropolitan area as a contributor to heat resilience among vulnerable communities, we collaborated with the Salvation Army, one of the more than 80 organizations that provides emergency economic aid for low-income families to pay high-cost electricity bills, to articulate insights about systemic efficiencies and efficacies, from a data-informed perspective. We utilized descriptive statistics, spatial optimization methods, temporal analysis and participatory interpretation of visualizations of data with the Salvation Army, to build a shared understanding of knowledge gaps and verified hunches. Our collaborative research confirms that minority groups (African American and Native American) disproportionately require assistance. Meanwhile, 30% of the travel time and distance to intake interviews could be saved by switching from zip code-based assignment systems to address-based assignment systems. Budgeting across empirically identified temporal patterns of need could offer resilience benefits to the most vulnerable. As a result of this community research partnership, data from the Salvation Army reveals the character and dimension of critical challenges within the utility assistance system as a whole, informs future operations for the organization, and shapes broader conversations across the community of service providers about heat resilience in both spatial and temporal terms.

scholarly journals Assessing the predictability of fire occurrence and area burned across phytoclimatic regions in Spain

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bedia ◽  
S. Herrera ◽  
J. M. Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Fire Protection ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Test Model ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Area Burned ◽  
Annual Variability

Abstract. Most fire protection agencies throughout the world have developed forest fire risk forecast systems, usually building upon existing fire danger indices and meteorological forecast data. In this context, the daily predictability of wildfires is of utmost importance in order to allow the fire protection agencies to issue timely fire hazard alerts. In this study, we address the predictability of daily fire occurrence using the components of the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) System and related variables calculated from the latest ECMWF (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts) reanalysis, ERA-Interim. We develop daily fire occurrence models in peninsular Spain for the period 1990–2008 and, considering different minimum burned area thresholds for fire definition, assess their ability to reproduce the inter-annual fire frequency variability. We based the analysis on a phytoclimatic classification aiming the stratification of the territory into homogeneous units in terms of climatic and fuel type characteristics, allowing to test model performance under different climate/fuel conditions. We then extend the analysis in order to assess the predictability of monthly burned areas. The sensitivity of the models to the level of spatial aggregation of the data is also evaluated. Additionally, we investigate the gain in model performance with the inclusion of socioeconomic and land use/land cover (LULC) covariates in model formulation. Fire occurrence models have attained good performance in most of the phytoclimatic zones considered, being able to faithfully reproduce the inter-annual variability of fire frequency. Total area burned has exhibited some dependence on the meteorological drivers, although model performance was poor in most cases. We identified temperature and some FWI system components as the most important explanatory variables, highlighting the adequacy of the FWI system for fire occurrence prediction in the study area. The results were improved when using aggregated data across regions compared to when data were sampled at the grid-box level. The inclusion of socioeconomic and LULC covariates contributed marginally to the improvement of the models, and in most cases attained no relevant contribution to total explained variance – excepting northern Spain, where anthropogenic factors are known to be the major driver of fires. Models of monthly fire counts performed better in the case of fires larger than 0.1 ha, and for the rest of the thresholds (1, 10 and 100 ha) the daily occurrence models improved the predicted inter-annual variability, indicating the added value of daily models. Fire frequency predictions may provide a preferable basis for past fire history reconstruction, long-term monitoring and the assessment of future climate impacts on fire regimes across regions, posing several advantages over burned area as a response variable. Our results leave the door open to the development a more complex modelling framework based on daily data from numerical climate model outputs based on the FWI system.

scholarly journals Loneliness and Social Isolation in Older Adults: The Effects of a Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Amber Heape
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Aging Population ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cognitive Stimulation ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Geriatric Population

Purpose: This clinical focus article examines the effect of social isolation and loneliness forced by the pandemic on the geriatric population. Since March 11, 2020, when a global pandemic was declared, a new concept of social distancing has swept the United States and the world. While these efforts have been challenging for the entire population, there has been a disproportionate effect on minority groups, low-income communities, and one especially vulnerable group that has emerged: older adults. Method: A review of existing scientific research on social isolation and loneliness in the aging population was conducted. Current demographic data on the aging population were gathered to determine clinical applicability of research evidence. Principles of bioethics were considered within a risk/benefit assessment related to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Social determinants of health were examined within the context of the pandemic. Results: Research supports the link between social isolation, loneliness, and negative outcomes in older adults. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the prevalence of these negative effects, including anxiety/depression, neuroinflammation, substance abuse, physical or nutritional deficits, and a decline in overall health. Conclusion: Strategies to mitigate the negative effects of social isolation may include technological intervention, attendance at virtual events, socially distanced outdoor activities, family connection, and cognitive stimulation or leisure tasks.

scholarly journals Frequency of Fires in the Miombo Woodland of the Gilé National Park. Province of Zambezia

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Luís A. Pungulanhe ◽  
Natasha S. Ribeiro ◽  
Tomázia M. C. Veterano
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
National Level ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Miombo Woodland ◽  
Area Burned ◽  
Return Interval ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Moderate Resolution Image Spectroradiometer

Fires occur in a widespread manner in various types of vegetation cover at national level, and are often associated with human hunting, grazing and above all the practice of itinerant agriculture. With the purpose to propose the map of frequency of fire, remote sensing data was collected from 2014 to 2018, using the Moderate Resolution Image Spectroradiometer (MODIS) of the burned area (MCD64A1), which allowed the construction of the map of frequency and intensity of fires, associated with data collected in 59 plots on field. It was observed that the Gilé National Park (PNAG) records an average fire frequency of 0.38 times/year and the return interval of 5.38 years, and an average fire return interval of 2.62 years. During the study period, the PNAG burned 92.8% of the area, which means that on average for each year it burned about 18.56% of its area, there are no significant differences in relation to the area burned per year (p> 0.942037) but there are significant differences in relation to the area burned per month (p <1.24e-07).

scholarly journals Modelling fire frequency and area burned across phytoclimatic regions in Spain using reanalysis data and the Canadian Fire Weather Index System

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 4891-4924 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bedia ◽  
S. Herrera ◽  
J. M. Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Fire Weather ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
Weather Index ◽  
Fire Weather Index ◽  
Area Burned

Abstract. We develop fire occurrence and burned area models in peninsular Spain, an area of high variability in climate and fuel types, for the period 1990–2008. We based the analysis on a phytoclimatic classification aiming to the stratification of the territory into homogeneous units in terms of climatic and fuel type characteristics, allowing to test model performance under different climatic and fuel conditions. We used generalized linear models (GLM) and multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) as modelling algorithms and temperature, relative humidity, precipitation and wind speed, taken from the ERA-Interim reanalysis, as well as the components of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System as predictors. We also computed the standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index (SPEI) as an additional predictor for the models of burned area. We found two contrasting fire regimes in terms of area burned and number of fires: one characterized by a bimodal annual pattern, characterizing the Nemoral and Oro-boreal phytoclimatic types, and another one exhibiting an unimodal annual cycle, with the fire season concentrated in the summer months in the Mediterranean and Arid regions. The fire occurrence models attained good skill in most of the phytoclimatic zones considered, yielding in some zones notably high correlation coefficients between the observed and modelled inter–annual fire frequencies. Total area burned also exhibited a high dependence on the meteorological drivers, although their ability to reproduce the observed annual burned area time series was poor in most cases. We identified temperature and some FWI system components as the most important explanatory variables, and also SPEI in some of the burned area models, highlighting the adequacy of the FWI system for fire modelling applications and leaving the door opened to the development a more complex modelling framework based on these predictors. Furthermore, we demonstrate the potential usefulness of ERA-Interim reanalysis data for the reconstruction of historical fire-climate relationships at the scale of analysis. Fire frequency predictions may provide a preferable basis for past fire history reconstruction, long-term monitoring and the assessment of future climate impacts on fire regimes across regions, posing several advantages over burned area as response variable.

TURNING FARMERS INTO SOCIAL FARMER ENTREPRENEURS FOR DISADVANTAGED PEOPLE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remus Runcan
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Physical Work ◽  
Healthy Environment ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural Development Programme ◽  
Rural And Urban

According to Romania’s National Rural Development Programme, the socio-economic situation of the rural environment has a large number of weaknesses – among which low access to financial resources for small entrepreneurs and new business initiatives in rural areas and poorly developed entrepreneurial culture, characterized by a lack of basic managerial knowledge – but also a large number of opportunities – among which access of the rural population to lifelong learning and entrepreneurial skills development programmes and entrepreneurs’ access to financial instruments. The population in rural areas depends mainly on agricultural activities which give them subsistence living conditions. The gap between rural and urban areas is due to low income levels and employment rates, hence the need to obtain additional income for the population employed in subsistence and semi-subsistence farming, especially in the context of the depopulation trend. At the same time, the need to stimulate entrepreneurship in rural areas is high and is at a resonance with the need to increase the potential of rural communities from the perspective of landscape, culture, traditional activities and local resources. A solution could be to turn vegetal and / or animal farms into social farms – farms on which people with disabilities (but also adolescents and young people with anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide, and alexithymia issues) might find a “foster” family, bed and meals in a natural, healthy environment, and share the farm’s activities with the farmer and the farmer’s family: “committing to a regular day / days and times for a mutually agreed period involves complying with any required health and safety practices (including use of protective clothing and equipment), engaging socially with the farm family members and other people working on and around the farm, and taking on tasks which would include working on the land, taking care of animals, or helping out with maintenance and other physical work”

Cultural Group Perceptions of Racial Climates in Residence Halls

NASPA Journal ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa D. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Residence Halls ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Racial Climate ◽  
Cultural Group ◽  
Group Perceptions ◽  
Cultural Minority ◽  
Predominantly White University ◽  
International College

This study suggests that residence hall students at a predominantly White university perceive the racial climate of residence halls differently depending on their cultural group. White, African American, Latino, Native American, biracial, and international college students were included in this study. In each instance where there were significant differences in students' responses regarding racial climate, the statistical significance was between White and one or more of the cultural minority groups. There were no significant differences found in the responses of any of the ethnic minority groups.

scholarly journals “My coupons are like gold”: experiences and perceived outcomes of low-income adults participating in the British Columbia Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Stéphanie Caron-Roy ◽  
Sayeeda Amber Sayed ◽  
Katrina Milaney ◽  
Bonnie Lashewicz ◽  
Sharlette Dunn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Farmers Markets ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Program Outcomes ◽  
Farmers Market

ABSTRACT Objective: The British Columbia Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program (FMNCP) provides low-income households with coupons valued at $21/week for 16 weeks to purchase healthy foods in farmers’ markets. Our objective was to explore FMNCP participants’ experiences of accessing nutritious foods, and perceived program outcomes. Design: This study used qualitative description methodology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with FMNCP participants during the 2019 farmers’ market season. Directed content analysis was used to analyse the data whereby the five domains of Freedman et al’s framework of nutritious food access provided the basis for an initial coding scheme. Data that did not fit within the framework’s domains were coded inductively. Setting: One urban and two rural communities in British Columbia, Canada. Participants: 28 adults who were participating in the FMNCP. Results: Three themes emerged: Autonomy and Dignity; Social Connections and Community Building; and Environmental and Programmatic Constraints. Firstly, the program promoted a sense of autonomy and dignity through financial support, increased access to high-quality produce, food-related education and skill development, and mitigating stigma and shame. Secondly, shopping in farmers’ markets increased social connections and fostered a sense of community. Finally, participants experienced limited food variety in rural farmers’ markets, lack of transportation, and challenges with redeeming coupons. Conclusions: Participation in the FMNCP facilitated access to nutritious foods and enhanced participants’ diet quality, well-being and health. Strategies such as increasing the amount and duration of subsidies, and expanding programs may help improve participants’ experiences and outcomes of farmers’ market food subsidy programs.

scholarly journals Demographic Effects of Severe Fire in Montane Shrubland on Tasmania’s Central Plateau

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Judy A. Foulkes ◽  
Lynda D. Prior ◽  
Steven W. J. Leonard ◽  
David M. J. S. Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Woody Species ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Seedling Regeneration ◽  
Central Plateau ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Severe Fire ◽  
Representative Area

Australian montane sclerophyll shrubland vegetation is widely considered to be resilient to infrequent severe fire, but this may not be the case in Tasmania. Here, we report on the vegetative and seedling regeneration response of a Tasmanian non-coniferous woody montane shrubland following a severe fire, which burned much of the Great Pine Tier in the Central Plateau Conservation Area during the 2018–2019 fire season when a historically anomalously large area was burned in central Tasmania. Our field survey of a representative area burned by severe crown fire revealed that more than 99% of the shrubland plants were top-killed, with only 5% of the burnt plants resprouting one year following the fire. Such a low resprouting rate means the resilience of the shrubland depends on seedling regeneration from aerial and soil seedbanks or colonization from plants outside the burned area. Woody species’ seedling densities were variable but generally low (25 m−2). The low number of resprouters, and reliance on seedlings for recovery, suggest the shrubland may not be as resilient to fire as mainland Australian montane shrubland, particularly given a warming climate and likely increase in fire frequency.

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