Welcome to the week.
If you haven’t yet, check out our recent episode with Dr. Amber Wutich. It’s all about how humans have historically responded to water scarcity, and what we can learn from it. The conversation is much more optimistic than you might expect!
Now to the news.
This week:
✈Aviation emissions
😷The spread of measles
🍎Mandatory lead testing
🤖 Chatbot safety
And more
Have a great week,
— Willow
This is science for people who give a shit.
Every week, we help 28,000+ humans understand and unfuck the rapidly changing world around us. It feels great, and we’d love for you to join us.
🙋♀️ Vote!
In last week’s poll, 56% of you said you put your food waste in the compost.
How often do you eat a plant-based diet (no meat/animal products in your meal)?
New Shit Giver Roni wants to help “cut down on food waste in our communities.“
Cutting food waste is one of the biggest things we can do to cut emissions (while feeding more people). Check out the Action Steps below for some ways to get started!
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⚡️ Climate change:
🌎 Aviation accounts for a relatively small share of global emissions right now but is going to be difficult to decarbonize and will take up an increasing share of global emissions as global demand rises
🌍 Climate mitigation is extremely important, but as more and more of the world deals with the increasing impacts of climate change, adaptation is just as essential
We need steel to make most things, including renewable energy, but making steel is a very dirty process. Green hydrogen is probably the key to cleaning it up, so how do we get there?
🌏 The ocean is continuing the break heat records this year, beyond what scientists have expected, and so they’re digging deeper into factors beyond climate change that could explain why
🦠 Health & Bio:
Cancer patients in the US can now get earlier access to CAR-T therapy, but it’s extremely expensive. It might not have to be.
🌎 Outbreaks of cholera and dengue are resulting in calls for more, and better, vaccines globally, especially as climate change intensifies the spread of these diseases
To address the very clear racial disparities in maternal health, some states are mandating implicit bias training for health care providers.
🌎 Measles was eliminated in the US in 2000, and recent surges are causing some to blame immigration (classic). Get a better understanding of where measles is coming from (and why global vaccinations are important)
💦 Food & Water:
In a win for public health, the EPA says that water providers must reduce PFAS (forever chemicals) to near-zero levels
We need better protections for farm animals (obviously), but even animals on “humane” farms could benefit from them
🌎 The evidence continues to mount that a global shift to a “flexitarian” or plant-based diet is one of the most effective ways to mitigate climate change, not just lowering emissions, but also the potential of achieving 1.5°C with less reliance on CO2 removal
Following the lead-contaminated cinnamon applesauce scandal, the FDA is calling for a mandatory lead test in food (yep, that’s actually not yet a requirement)
👩💻 Beep Boop:
TikTok is discussing a potential feature of virtual (AI-generated) influencers with advertisers
AI developers are running out of training data, and so they are turning to synthetic data, or data made by AI. What does that really mean?
🌏 China is relaxing its regulations on the tech sector following an economic turndown
Researchers are developing a better way to prevent chatbots from outputting hateful or harmful content
🌎 = Global news
Read this article for a reminder that many things can be true at once👇
Last week’s most popular Action Step was using fennel to invest in companies that align with your values.
Donate to ReFed to advance data-driven solutions to fight food waste.
Volunteer with Food Forward to rescue fresh surplus produce and distribute it to people in need (LA-based, but you can use their resources to get a program started in your community).
🌎 Get educated about restaurants in your area that are selling food at a discounted price that would otherwise get thrown out using Too Good To Go.
Be heard about policy that takes action on food waste, and use the US Food Waste Policy Finder to research current policies at the federal and state level. Share the best practices and recommendations with your representatives.
Invest in farms practicing regenerative agriculture using Farm VC.
🌎 = Global Action Step
What are microplastics?
And where do they come from and why are they in everything, and what can you do about them?
Answers to these questions and more can be found in our microplastics explainer 👇
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