Environment-Climate Change Hashtags on Twitter

Friends,

I've assembled predominant environment-climate change hashtags and handles on Twitter for you.  I always am looking for these in one place.  This is a respectable list that will allow you to go to Twitter and keep up with environmental action initiatives and concerns.  Feel free to recommend others—in other languages. Note: Post these in the comment box at the bottom of this post below.

You'll have some unique handles for your own cities, states, and locales. Thanks to my doctoral student, Kevin Wickersham, for these.

I think it is a good idea to post on Ethnic Studies websites, as well, since we have to merge these movements.  They actually are getting merged, but we need to be more intentional. Plus, we need to grow the environmental movement, as a whole.

I'm so happy to have these all in one place now.  Thanks so much, Kevin!

-Angela Valenzuela

Environment-Climate Change Hashtags on Twitter

@algore @EnvironmentTex @SierraClub @TexasSierraClub @TXWaterFuture #OneWaterTexas #SustainabilityTexas

#ZeroGeoengineering #AluminumBariumStrontium #CloudSeeding #Frankenskiesthemovie #Zero5G #climateemergency #StopGlobalOmnicide #GotChemicalTrails  #ClimateEmergency  #ExtinctionRebellion  #climateaction #environment #nature #climatechange #ClimateDenial #sustainability #ecofriendly #savetheplanet #green #zerowaste #earth #gogreen #sustainable #recycle #eco #globalwarming #water #pollution #plasticfree #wildlife #climate #savetheearth #reuse @OCEthnicStudies @EthnicStudiesCA @EthnicStudiesAZ #Indigenous #TxEd #SomosMAS #CriticalThinking #TxLege 

“Will the lesson be learned? Will our appreciation of beauty be seen as a gift, the enjoyment of which should not be confined to an annual holiday? Will it become a part of our everyday lives? It is almost past belief that we ever chose to reject it.” ~C.R.Milne #ClimateEmergency

There’s An Environmental Disaster Unfolding In The Gulf of Mexico

Oh dear!  I'm still trying to shovel myself out of the avalanche of emails I received while out of pocket in China.  Check out this horrific story that came out as Hurricane Barry did its damage to the Louisiana coast and beyond.

This story shows how us humans are killing the ocean and how dolphins, full of painful lesions from fresh water exposure, are dying in great numbers, as a consequence.  This year alone, nearly 300 dolphins have died.  Plus, due to the BP spill that occurred on April 20, 2010 that you can read about here, their reproductive capacities have still not recovered.  Here's the dire scientific prediction:

"Scientists predict the annual dead zone — a giant blob of polluted, deoxygenated water linked to algae blooms — will grow to the size of Massachusetts and suffocate even more marine life later in the Gulf this summer."

This report tells me that we really do need to listen to the fishermen and shrimpers whose lives are not only directly impacted by climate change,  but whose knowledge and experience stand to fully illuminate, and optimally responsive to, the senseless politics related to Louisiana’s rapidly sinking coastline.

-Angela Valenzuela

@algore #TxEd #climatechange #ClimateAction #ClimateDenial 
#InconvenientTruth @EnvironmentTex @SierraClub @TexasSierraClub  @TXWaterFuture #OneWaterTexas  #SustainabilityTexas #SomosMAS

William C. Velasquez Institute There’s An Environmental Disaster Unfolding In The Gulf of Mexico A slow-moving flood of polluted Mississippi River water is causing serious damage to Gulf species, and a major storm threatens to make it worse. Rocky Kistner Guest Writer 07/11/2019 05:45 am ET Updated 1 day ago As fishermen deep in the Louisiana bayou, Kindra Arnesen and her family have faced their share of life-altering challenges in recent years. First came Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 monster storm that devastated her small fishing community in Plaquemines Parish before roaring up the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people and destroying $125 billion in property. Five years later, BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded 40 miles offshore, spewing nearly 200 million gallons of crude. The fisheries have not fully recovered more than nine years later, nor has her family. But this year may be worse. A historic slow-moving flood of polluted Mississippi River water loaded with chemicals, pesticides and human waste from 31 states and two Canadian provinces is draining straight into the marshes and bayous of the Gulf of Mexico — the nurseries of Arnesen’s fishing grounds — upsetting the delicate balance of salinity and destroying the fragile ecosystem in the process. As the Gulf waters warm this summer, algae feed on the freshwater brew, smothering oxygen-starved marine life.  And as of Wednesday, an advancing storm looks likely to turn into a tropical storm or hurricane by the weekend, with the potential to bring torrential downpours and more freshwater flooding. COURTESY OF THE INSTITUTE FOR MARINE MAMMAL STUDIES Dolphins have been dying in huge numbers across the Gulf Coast region — nearly 300 this year already. Fishermen and state government officials agree this long, hot summer may go down in history as one of the most destructive years for Gulf fisheries. The torrent of river water pushing into Gulf estuaries is decimating crab, oyster and shrimp populations. The brown shrimp catch this spring in Louisiana and Mississippi is already down by an estimated 80%, and oysters are completely wiped out in some of the most productive fishing grounds in the country, according to state and industry officials. The polluted freshwater has also triggered algae blooms, which have led to beach closures across Mississippi.  “The Army Corps of Engineers says we had the most rainfall in 124 years,” said Joe Spraggins, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. “Shrimpers and crabbers are struggling. Oystermen are almost nonexistent. … It’s not going to get better soon.” “I’ve had grown men call me on the phone and cry,” said Arnesen, who serves on the board of the Louisiana Shrimp Association and works on state coastal management issues. “This feels like the height of the BP oil spill.” Mississippi and Louisiana have already started the process of requesting federal disaster assistance for damaged fisheries. But it will likely be a long while before any money reaches the fishermen whose nets are coming up empty. To officially apply for disaster relief, Louisiana state officials say they need more data, which will take months to compile. “We are seeing impacts across the coast in all sectors of the fishing communities,” said Patrick Banks, assistant secretary for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “We will continue to collect data to support a disaster declaration.”  It’s not just fisheries that are suffering. Dolphins have been dying in huge numbers across the region — nearly 300 this year already, which is three times the number in a normal year, according to federal and state officials. Fishermen report finding dead dolphins floating in water near shore or beached in the marshes, covered in painful skin lesions that scientists have linked to freshwater exposure. One fisherman reported finding a mother dolphin pushing her dead baby along in the water.  “Their skin looks like a Brillo pad,” said Louisiana charter boat captain George Ricks, who heads the Save Louisiana Coalition, a coastal management advocacy organization. Ricks and many other fishermen blame the unprecedented deluge of freshwater pouring into the Gulf. The Bonnet Carre, a huge spillway that protects New Orleans, has already opened an unprecedented two times this year to divert surging Mississippi River water and is currently pouring more than 100,000 cubic feet per second into Lake Pontchartrain. Being able to close the spillway again depends on rainfall upriver. The Army Corps of Engineers operates the spillway and says it has no choice but to keep it open to protect property upstream. The Corps argues that some of this flooding can be beneficial to the ecosystem. “The introduction of fresh water during leakage events simulates the natural cycle of overbank flooding and provides numerous ecosystem benefits to the aquatic and terrestrial resources in the spillway,” theagency notes on its website.  But some marine biologists say the flood of freshwater can be catastrophic for species such as bottlenose dolphins, which are very territorial and are reluctant to leave their spawning grounds even when salinity levels become toxic. Endangered species like Kemp’s ridley turtles are also threatened by river water exposure, since they depend on rich Gulf marshlands to grow and develop.  “We are experiencing a Cat 5 aquatic hurricane,” said Dr. Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi. Dolphins are particularly vulnerable to incursions of river water, he said. “Every time they open the Bonnet Carre spillway, we see a spike in deaths.” Solangi’s team recently found a stranded dolphin on a Gulfport beach, breathing slowly and covered in freshwater lesions. It died a short time later.  “Dolphins are like the black box found on airplanes,” Solangi said. “They tell you what’s happening in the environment. When dolphins are doing well, the environment is doing well.” COURTESY OF CAPT. GEORGE RICKS Fishermen report finding some dead dolphins covered in painful skin lesions that scientists have linked to freshwater exposure. By all accounts, the Gulf marine environment is not well. Scientists predict the annual dead zone — a giant blob of polluted, deoxygenated water linked to algae blooms — will grow to the size of Massachusetts and suffocate even more marine life later in the Gulf this summer. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared the bottlenose dolphin deaths an “Unusual Mortality Event” in February, and its investigation is ongoing. Officials say higher-than-normal dolphin strandings spiked in May, when there were 88 discovered along the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coasts. That’s nearly eight times the average monthly number of dolphin mortalities during the BP spill from 2010 to 2014. Total dolphin strandings have not reached the levels seen at the height of the BP spill, and there were fewer in June. Dr. Teri Rowles, NOAA’s marine mammal health and stranding program coordinator, said that researchers know freshwater exposure could be contributing to the health concerns, but that it’s too early in their investigation to pinpoint an exact cause. “We do see dolphins with freshwater lesions, but not all the animals have skin lesions,” said Rowles.  Some dolphin populations have yet to recover from the BP oil spill, Rowles said, mainly due to reproductive problems. NOAA reports dolphins in heavily oiled areas are still suffering from chronic health problems and higher rates of failed pregnancies and mortalities. But many fishermen who have worked in these areas for generations suspect something else is threatening their future: politics. As part of a plan to save Louisiana’s rapidly sinking coastline, state agencies want to pump in more sediment-heavy river water to help rebuild the disappearing land. Fishermen question the efficacy of freshwater diversions and worry about the dangers to fisheries and marine life posed by these projects. They question why NOAA would grant waivers to Louisiana last year to bypass the Marine Mammal Protection Act and allow the freshwater diversion construction to proceed. Meanwhile, fishermen know a changing climate is not working in their favor. Scientists say the Mississippi River is expected to continue to flood in future years as the atmosphere heats up and produces stronger storms and more rainfall. Barry, the storm heading for the coast right now, is the latest to threaten the Gulf ecosystem, but certainly not the last. All of this worries Acy Cooper, a fourth-generation fisherman and president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association who is leading a delegation of fishermen to Washington this month to plead their case for disaster assistance. He blames the Army Corps for not adequately managing the river and controlling and dredging the river passes that empty into the Gulf, making the effects of freshwater worse.  But his biggest worry is for his family and future generations. He comes from a long line of fishing families who have prospered and persevered in one of the most bountiful fisheries in the world, and he doesn’t want to be the last. “My sons can’t make enough to feed their families,” he said. “What’s going to happen to them?”  Arnesen worries about this as well. “If we keep operating like this, we’re going to kill the estuaries and the oceans, yet they still dismiss us,” she said. “Our fish feed America. That should matter to everyone.”

The Truth about Hurricane Maria and the Need For Climate Activism

Today, May 3, 2019, is an appropriate day for me to post these terrible news on Hurricane María's death toll numbers.  This is truly sad and horrific given that U.S. support in its aftermath has been woefully insufficient.  

Plus, today is a day for climate activism for youth in various countries throughout the world.  Check out Youth Climate Strike for information and updates.  

While you're at it, also do listen to this powerful show—my March 2, 2019 post—with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! The news is about Senator Dianne Feinstein's condescending response that went viral after getting asked by a group of children whether she would support a Green New Deal.

Our planet is in trouble and our children are leading since our adults in power are mostly not.  I salute their courage and sense of urgency and hope that you do, as well.

-Angela Valenzuela

Hurricane Maria's lasting impact on Puerto Rico's children revealed in report

More than half the youth had a friend or family member leave the island, a study on the storm’s impact on mental health found

 A mother holds her nine-month-old baby at their makeshift home, under reconstruction after being mostly destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in San Isidro, Puerto Rico, on 23 December 2017. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

More than half of young people in Puerto Rico saw a friend or family member leave the island after Hurricane Maria, according to a study published on Friday which reveals the dramatic extent to which young Puerto Ricans were exposed to damaged homes, shortages of food and water and threats to their lives.

In contrast to most comparable disasters, the physical and mental effects of the category four storm which hit the island in September 2017 were “nearly ubiquitous regardless of geographical location or socioeconomic status”, according to a study about its impact on young Puerto Ricans published on Friday in the journal Jama Network Open.

“The magnitude was so large that all children were exposed,” said Joy Lynn Suárez, a psychology professor at Carlos Albizu University in San Juan and a report co-author.

The death toll from Maria is estimated at between 2,975 and 4,645. The storm cut nearly all communication across the island and destroyed the power grid.

Those who survived still feared for their lives. According to the new study, 30% of children reported that they perceived their lives or the lives of people they loved to be at risk – a strong predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Researchers tied to Puerto Rico government agencies and universities also found:

• 47.5% of children’s family’s homes were damaged, while 83.9% of childrensaw damaged homes
• 24% of youth helped rescue people
• 25.5% of youth were forced to evacuate
• 32% of youth experienced shortages of food and water
• 16.7% of youth still did not have electricity five to nine months after the storm

The study is one of the largest attempts in US history to survey young people after a major natural disaster. It is also the largest sample ever of Hispanic youth impacted by disaster, a group underrepresented in existing research.Nearly 100,000 of 226,800 Puerto Rican students eligible for the study were surveyed from 1 February to 29 June 2018, in the island’s seven education districts. Overall, about 6,900 students, 7.2%, reported “clinically significant” symptoms of PTSD.

Advertisement

Suárez said the report showed the need for evidence-based mental health services“This study shows significant evidence of the need for additional funding to hire and train mental health professionals who can provide evidence-based therapies for children in need,” she wrote in an email.

“It also means that we really need to pay attention to preparedness for future disasters and making sure all this potential disaster related exposure – that agencies have a plan of how to be prepared and be able to provide support if this ever happens again.”

Before the hurricane, Puerto Rico’s population was declining due to recession. The hurricane inspired another exodus. About 4% of the population – 130,000 people – left the island after Hurricane Maria, according to the US census.

In the survey, 57.8% of respondents said a family member or friend had left Puerto Rico after the hurricane.

Months-long school closures left children isolated. At home, many were sheltered indoors, to protect them from downed trees, precarious structures and snapped electric cables. Electricity outages splintered communication and access to television and cellphones.

Erica Vera, a social worker in a New York state school district, said Puerto Rican children who left for the mainland after Maria showed signs of emotional distress.

“A lot of kids have a fear that this will happen again and a lot of them have nightmares about it,” Vera said.

She said children were still moving to New York from Puerto Rico because of Maria. A majority of such students she has evaluated did not move with their parents, but to live with family members already based on the mainland.

“What really hurt me was the concern of these young kids who are seven to eight years old, them being so scared for their uncles and grandmothers,” Vera said. “I think it’s a feeling that the family is not safe over there.

“The feeling of loss and concern of these young kids for the safety and resources that the family members they left behind haunts them.”

What a powerful, research-backed statement from a study that incorporated all the prior pertinent questions that science has grappled with for some time.  This research is further believable, if very sad and tragic.  If one looks at anti-colonial/postcolonial scholarship by scholars like Quijano, Mignolo, or Lugones, it's not "weird" at all—as geography researcher and professor Mark Maslin expresses below—that "The depopulation of the Americas may have inadvertently allowed the Europeans to dominate the world." 

Albeit expressed differently from a critical geography and intersectional lens, this view of colonization is foundational to these scholars' thinking.  For starters, I encourage you to read Quijano's, Coloniality of Power and Eurocentrism in Latin America to discover that this isn't so "weird" after all.  It's simply insufficiently examined because of the profound Eurocentrism of our curriculum and teaching at all levels that is so diffuse, it's invisible, unseen.  It's the air that we breathe.

That's why I and others advocate not only for Ethnic Studies, but against continuing ongoing colonization and mindsets that lack curiosity or open-mindedness about such matters.
  
A good thing happening today as a possible counter-weight—although we truly cannot turn back the clock of time and set Earth on a dramatically different course—is indigenous revival, together with an awakening ecological consciousness among so many.  I know that my students are generally deeply concerned about the environment, particularly in light of so much recent devastation.

At play aren't simply these decisions, but a way of knowing that continues to be hostile to the Earth which in the long term spells death, destruction, and decay.  Hence, we educate.  We transform ourselves even as we transform our classrooms, teachers, and society, as a whole.

Angela Valenzuela
#decolonize #CriticalThinking

European colonizers killed so many Native Americans that it changed the global climate, researchers say

By Lauren Kent, CNN

Updated 1:37 AM ET, Sat February 2, 2019

(CNN) When Europeans arrived in the Americas, they caused so much death and disease that it changed the global climate, a new study finds.

European settlers killed 56 million indigenous people over about 100 years in South, Central and North America, causing large swaths of farmland to be abandoned and reforested, researchers at University College London, or UCL, estimate. The increase in trees and vegetation across an area the size of France resulted in a massive decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, according to the study.

Carbon levels changed enough to cool the Earth by 1610, researchers found. Columbus arrived in 1492,

"CO2 and climate had been relatively stable until this point," said UCL Geography Professor Mark Maslin, one of the study's co-authors. "So, this is the first major change we see in the Earth's greenhouse gases."

Before this study, some scientists had argued the temperature change in the 1600s, called the Little Ice Age, was caused only by natural forces.

But by combining archaeological evidence, historical data and analysis of carbon found in Antarctic ice, the UCL researchers showed how the reforestation -- directly caused by the Europeans' arrival -- was a key component of the global chill, they said.

"For once, we've been able to balance all the boxes and realize that the only way the Little Ice Age was so intense is ... because of the genocide of millions of people," Maslin told CNN.

The methodology

Researchers analyzed Antarctic ice, which traps atmospheric gas and can reveal how much carbon dioxide was in the atmosphere centuries ago.

"The ice cores showed that there was a larger dip in CO2 (than usual) in 1610, which was caused by the land and not the oceans," said Alexander Koch, lead author of the study.

A small shift in temperatures -- about a 10th of a degree in the 17th century -- led to colder winters, frosty summers and failing harvests, Koch said.

The implications

The implications of the study go beyond climate science and also contribute to research in geography and history, Maslin said, noting that deaths of indigenous Americans directly contributed to the success of the European economy.

Natural resources and food shipped from the New World helped Europe's population to expand. It also allowed people to stop farming for sustenance and begin working in other industries for spare money.

"The really weird thing is, the depopulation of the Americas may have inadvertently allowed the Europeans to dominate the world," Maslin said. "It also allowed for the Industrial Revolution and for Europeans to continue that domination."