Repairing the damage: cleaning up hazardous coal ash can create jobs and improve the environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Richardson ◽  
◽  
Eric Dixon ◽  
Ted Boettner ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Water Pollution ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Coal Ash ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Work Place ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Negative Impacts

Although coal has powered the nation for generations and today offers well-paying jobs—often the best opportunities in more rural areas—coal negatively affects human health and the environment at every point in its life cycle: when it is mined, processed, transported, burned, and discarded (Freese, Clemmer, and Nogee 2008). Local communities— often low-income communities and/or communities of color—have for decades borne the brunt of these negative impacts, including air pollution, water pollution, and work- place injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.

Repairing the damage: cleaning up hazardous coal ash can create jobs and improve the environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Richardson ◽  
◽  
Eric Dixon ◽  
Ted Boettner ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Water Pollution ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Coal Ash ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Work Place ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Negative Impacts

Although coal has powered the nation for generations and today offers well-paying jobs—often the best opportunities in more rural areas—coal negatively affects human health and the environment at every point in its life cycle: when it is mined, processed, transported, burned, and discarded (Freese, Clemmer, and Nogee 2008). Local communities— often low-income communities and/or communities of color—have for decades borne the brunt of these negative impacts, including air pollution, water pollution, and work- place injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.

scholarly journals Is Bicycle Sharing an Environmental Practice? Evidence from a Life Cycle Assessment Based on Behavioral Surveys

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanying Zheng ◽  
Fu Gu ◽  
Wujie Zhang ◽  
Jianfeng Guo
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Environmental Practice ◽  
Management And Development ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Environmental Savings

As an icon of sharing economy and product service systems, bicycle sharing is gaining an increasing global popularity, yet there is little knowledge about the environmental performance of this emerging traveling mode. To seek the answer to the question, the paper employs a survey-based method and a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. We first conduct a questionnaire-based survey to identify the changes in traveling modes after the introduction of shared bicycles. The survey results show that the use of shared bicycles is more popular among young and low-income populations, and shared bicycles are predominantly used to replace walking and bus-taking. Based on the survey results, we model the environmental impacts of the changed traveling behaviors and the life cycle of shared bicycle with the aid of Gabi software. The LCA results shows that bicycle sharing is currently an environmentally friendly practice, as it brings environmental savings in all the indicators except metal consumption. Further, the results of sensitivity analysis show that aging, rising rental fees, and increasing volume of shared bicycles would impart negative impacts on the environmental performance of bicycle sharing. The findings of this work facilitate the management and development of bicycle sharing.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Emergence and Social and Health Determinants in Colorado: A Rapid Spatial Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 3856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan J. Ramírez ◽  
Jieun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Determinants ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Health Determinants ◽  
Front Range ◽  
Mountain Communities ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Northern Colorado

The aim of this rapid analysis was to investigate the spatial patterns of COVID-19 emergence across counties in Colorado. In the U.S. West, Colorado has the second highest number of cases and deaths, second only to California. Colorado is also reporting, like other states, that communities of color and low-income persons are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Using GIS and correlation analysis, this study explored COVID-19 incidence and deaths from March 14 to April 8, 2020, with social determinants and chronic conditions. Preliminary results demonstrate that COVID-19 incidence intensified in mountain communities west of Denver and along the Urban Front Range, and evolved into new centers of risk in eastern Colorado. Overall, the greatest increase in COVID-19 incidence was in northern Colorado, i.e., Weld County, which reported the highest rates in the Urban Front Range. Social and health determinants associated with higher COVID-19-related deaths were population density and asthma, indicative of urban areas, and poverty and unemployment, suggestive of rural areas. Furthermore, a spatial overlap of high rates of chronic diseases with high rates of COVID-19 may suggest a broader syndemic health burden, where comorbidities intersect with inequality of social determinants of health.

Biosecurity of Poultry Worker Related to Avian Influenza in Bangladesh

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 267
Author(s):  
Swapan Kumar Roy ◽  
Quazi Zahangir Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Avian Influenza ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Work Place ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Change Behavior ◽  
Poultry Workers ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Research on biosecurity of poultry workers of Live Bird Market (LBM) in urban and rural areas related to highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) was undertaken during March-June, 2014 at Keshabpur upazila (22°48´-22°57´N latitude and 89°06´-89°22´E longitude), Jessore, Bangladesh. A non-randomized (purposive) sampling method was applied and a descriptive type of cross sectional study was performed among 72 workers, dividing them into two groups as 36 urban and 36 rural poultry workers of LBM through split-halves variation technique. They were interviewed confidentially in their work place using a structured pretested questionnaire. Among respondents 53%, 75%, 45%, 81%, and 56% of urban and 50%, 42%, 50%, 89%, and 36% of rural residence had attended up to primary school, knowledge about AI through media like TV and radio, used proper personal protective equipment as mask and gloves, washed their hands and equipment after finishing work and cleaned stalls/cages daily and mostly they used water as a cleaning material, respectively. In urban (14%) and rural (36%) workers used the same vehicle to transport poultry and humans. A combined effort is required to enhance knowledge and change behavior among those most at risk in low-income countries and precautions necessary to avoid spreading the virus among poultry and humans.

scholarly journals Location Matters: Geographic Disparities and Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (12) ◽  
pp. 1951-1954
Author(s):  
Tina Q Tan ◽  
Ravina Kullar ◽  
Talia H Swartz ◽  
Trini A Mathew ◽  
Damani A Piggott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
The United States ◽  
Geographic Disparities ◽  
Geographic Disparity ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Structural Inequities ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States has revealed major disparities in the access to testing and messaging about the pandemic based on the geographic location of individuals, particularly in communities of color, rural areas, and areas of low income. This geographic disparity, in addition to deeply rooted structural inequities, have posed additional challenges to adequately diagnose and provide care for individuals of all ages living in these settings. We describe the impact that COVID-19 has had on geographically disparate populations in the United States and share our recommendations on what might be done to ameliorate the current situation.

scholarly journals Biosecurity of Poultry Worker Related to Avian Influenza in Bangladesh

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 267
Author(s):  
Swapan Kumar Roy ◽  
Quazi Zahangir Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Avian Influenza ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Work Place ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Change Behavior ◽  
Poultry Workers ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Research on biosecurity of poultry workers of Live Bird Market (LBM) in urban and rural areas related to highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) was undertaken during March-June, 2014 at Keshabpur upazila (22°48´-22°57´N latitude and 89°06´-89°22´E longitude), Jessore, Bangladesh. A non-randomized (purposive) sampling method was applied and a descriptive type of cross sectional study was performed among 72 workers, dividing them into two groups as 36 urban and 36 rural poultry workers of LBM through split-halves variation technique. They were interviewed confidentially in their work place using a structured pretested questionnaire. Among respondents 53%, 75%, 45%, 81%, and 56% of urban and 50%, 42%, 50%, 89%, and 36% of rural residence had attended up to primary school, knowledge about AI through media like TV and radio, used proper personal protective equipment as mask and gloves, washed their hands and equipment after finishing work and cleaned stalls/cages daily and mostly they used water as a cleaning material, respectively. In urban (14%) and rural (36%) workers used the same vehicle to transport poultry and humans. A combined effort is required to enhance knowledge and change behavior among those most at risk in low-income countries and precautions necessary to avoid spreading the virus among poultry and humans.

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”

Households Discrimination in School Enrolment in Pakistan: Does gender matter?

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Ali Muhammad ◽  
Zahoor Ul Haq ◽  
Imad Khan
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Gender Disparity ◽  
School Enrollment ◽  
Female Education ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Socio Economic Factors

This study uses Pakistan Social and Living Measurement Survey 2016 to study gender discrimination in school enrollment across the four provinces of Pakistan using bi-variate analysis. Results show that there is highly significant difference between male and female education in rural areas (x^2=4940.50 and p<0.05). Analysis indicate that gender disparity in enrollment is significantly higher in low income households (x^2=115.468 and P<0.05). The study also showed that as compared to male, fewer female are enrolled in both public and private sectors. Hence, socio-economic factors play important role in making decision about children enrollment in different types of school. The study recommends that government to take appropriate steps to reduce gender discrimination in school enrollment by offering subsidy on female education in the country.

Empathy not quarantined: Association between people’s empathy to others and the COVID-19 pandemic situations based on a national survey study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhibin Jiang ◽  
Fan Yang ◽  
Bu Zhong ◽  
Xuebing Qin
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Media ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Affective Response ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Income Levels ◽  
The Social

BACKGROUND The Covid-19 pandemic had turned the world upside down, but not much is known about how people’s empathy might be affected by the pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study examined 1) how empathy towards others might be influenced by the social support people obtained by using social media; and 2) how the individual demographics (e.g., age, income) may affect empathy. METHODS A national survey (N = 943) was conducted in China in February 2020, in which the participants read three real scenarios about low-income urban workers (Scenario I), small business owners in cities (Scenario II), and farmers in rural areas (Scenario III) who underwent hardship due to COVID-19. After exposure to others’ difficulties in the scenarios, the participants’ empathy and anxiety levels were measured. We also measured the social support they had by using social media. RESULTS Results show that social support not only positively impacted empathy, β = .30, P < .001 for Scenario I, β = .30, P < .001 for Scenario II, and β = .29, P < .001 for Scenario III, but also interacted with anxiety in influencing the degree to which participants could maintain empathy towards others, β = .08, P = .010 for Scenario I, and β = .07, P = .033 for scenario II. Age negatively predicted empathy for Scenario I, β = -.08, P = .018 and Scenario III, β = -.08, P = .009, but not for Scenario II, β = -.03, P = .40. Income levels – low, medium, high – positively predicted empathy for Scenario III, F (2, 940) = 8.10, P < .001, but not for Scenario I, F (2, 940) = 2.14, P = .12, or Scenario II, F (2, 940) = 2.93, P = .06. Participants living in big cities expressed greater empathy towards others for Scenario III, F (2, 940) = 4.03, P =.018, but not for Scenario I, F (2, 940) = .81, P = .45, or Scenario II, F (2, 940) = 1.46, P =.23. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to the literature by discovering the critical role empathy plays in people’s affective response to others during the pandemic. Anxiety did not decrease empathy. However, those gaining more social support on social media showed more empathy for others. Those who resided in cities with higher income levels were more empathetic during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study reveals that the social support people obtained helped maintain empathy to others, making them resilient in challenging times.

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