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Can We Turn Down the Temperature on Urban Heat Islands?

Jim Morrison

September 12, 2019 |

Yale Environment 360 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Researchers are using citizen science volunteers to more accurately identify hot spots in cities, where some temperatures are significantly higher than their surrounding areas. The data has also shown that there is a correlation between lower-income neighborhoods and higher temperatures. Climate change is expected to increase the number of extreme weather events, including heat waves, so mapping these urban heat islands can help cities develop new urban planning strategies.

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The Fashion Executives Who Saved a Patagonian Paradise

Jason Mark

September 04, 2019 |

Sierra Club |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Chile, Patagonia National Park

After amassing a large amount of property in Chile, the Tompkins Conservation would donate millions of acres to the government to maintain as national parks for wildlife conservation and sustainable land use. This was the largest act of “wildlands philanthropy” in history. When the Tompkins started buying land, locals were at first distrustful, but now they’re concerned the government won’t be able to maintain the properties. Thanks to the Tompkins Conservation, wildlife, like the South Andean deer, are being reintroduced and forests have recovered.

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How teen Greta Thunberg shifted world's gaze to climate change

Linda Givetash

August 17, 2019 |

NBC News |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Sweden

All over the world, more than 2 million children and teens are participating in classroom walkouts in an effort to bring attention to the severity of climate change. Called, Fridays for the Future, leaders of the movement are gaining traction, and have developed a declaration that emphasizes their demand that world leaders do something to stop the rising global temperature. This movement was sparked by Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, who, at 16-years old, has started this movement, spoken to global leaders, and continues to do what’s needed to demand action in the face of climate change.

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'Plastic recycling is a myth': what really happens to your rubbish?

Oliver Franklin-Wallis

August 17, 2019 |

The Guardian |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: England

After decades of recycling plastic, the world is now coming to terms with the waste industry it has created, and seeking more sustainable models. One promising model is material recovery facilities, like England’s Green Recycling, that has invested in an AI sorting machine to help humans more efficiently and accurately find materials that can be recycled. While a costly model of sustainability, new strategy proposals are emerging that can help the world make this change possible.

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When public lands become tribal lands again

Anna V. Smith

August 16, 2019 |

High Country News |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians Reservation, United States, Umpqua National Forest, Oregon

After decades of failed legislation, over 17,000 acres of public land was finally restored to the Umpqua Tribe with the passage of the Western Oregon Tribal Fairness Act. The land was a constant source of tension between the tribe, the government, and environmental conservation groups, “under the pretext that Native peoples didn’t know how to manage them.” But in December 2018, with the passage of the Act and the return of 3% of the land that was originally seized, a sense of justice was felt.

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The Viking Guide to Oil Wealth Management

Mitch Anderson

August 10, 2019 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Norway

Norway has been able to have a productive relationship with oil companies, while, at the same time, retain control over resource development and grow its resource revenue. Through the country’s culture of local control and indigenous governance, its resource revenue is over $1 trillion and helps pay for some of the country’s social programs; a model that could be potentially work in other places around the world.

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These high school runners train in 'nasty air,' so they're working to clean it up

Priscilla Totiyapungprasert

July 29, 2019 |

AZ Central (The Arizona Republic) |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Phoenix, Arizona

Grassroots organization can generate change in carbon emissions practices at the community level. In Phoenix, the Chispa nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social justice, is working to get schools to apply to Arizona’s Lower-Emissions Bus program, funded by money paid to the state in the aftermath of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal. By mobilizing volunteers to canvass neighborhoods and attend school board meetings, the group has succeeded in getting at least one school district to purchase an electric bus and implement a pilot program.

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When Green Infrastructure Is an Anti-Poverty Strategy

Barbara Brown Wilson

July 08, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

In many low-income neighborhoods, new green infrastructure elements and green spaces signal the beginnings of gentrification. A coalition in one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon is drawing on grassroots leadership, leadership development and job training programs, and culturally-specific green infrastructure construction to fight displacement and ensure that the current residents can benefit from the sustainability and livability improvements they make to their neighborhood.

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What Can We Do About Our Water?

Jennifer Reed

July 01, 2019 |

Gulfshore Life |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Sanibel, Florida

On Sanibel Island, Florida, residents know all too well the intensive steps necessary to clean up polluted water. Like many other bodies of water in Florida and across the country, the city has suffered from "nutrition pollution" that has threatened their environment, but comprehensive measures enacted over the past decades - including land use plans that severely restrict development and efforts to educate homeowners on pond management - are helping the area turn around and providing a playbook for other cities.

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What are nature-based solutions?

Amelia Axelsen

June 21, 2019 |

Apolitical |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Nature-based solutions to climate change involve strategic use of greenery to staunch the negative impacts of climate change broadly, but these solutions also have been proven to increase jobs and contribute to the overall economy. For instance, in Portland, the Green Streets project used trees rather than concrete to absorb excess runoff, helping the city in multiple ways in the process.

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