washington – when dr. lisa patel was working on a project for the environmental protection agency in 2005, she visited a children’s hospital for asthma in mumbai, india. after seeing the main parts of the center, she was surprised when the coordinators took her to a nearby gymnasium that had been converted to a children’s asthma ward. it was filled with even more children who were receiving care.

seeing an entire gymnasium full of child asthmatics struggling to breathe was moving for dr. patel, the executive director of the medical society 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 on climate and health. but the global climate crisis became much more personal when the california wildfires reached her own children almost a decade later.

“that’s when it became very concrete to me that no child should be breathing in this absolutely foul pollution that’s ruining their health,” she said.

according to a report by the harvard t.h. chan school of public health, children face disproportionate ill effects as a result of climate change, largely because they are actively developing both mentally and physically.

children are affected by both “indoor air” and their surrounding climate, executive director of the children’s environmental health network nsedu obot witherspoon said at a moms clean air force (mcaf) event about children’s health in the face of the climate crisis on feb. 8.

according to witherspoon, “indoor air” is impacted by a number of products including cleaners, toys, pesticides and other human-made items children encounter. “climate” encompasses air quality, water quality, pollution, natural disasters and any additional environmental factors. 

while everyone is impacted by these types of exposure, children are more likely to be negatively impacted.

“their airways are smaller. they have developing immune systems,” dr. patel said. “so things like nox or pm2.5 irritate the lung lining and put children at higher risk for respiratory illnesses.”

nox, also known as nitrogen oxides, are “a group of highly reactive gasses, including nitrogen dioxide, nitrous acid, and nitric acid,” according to the arizona department of environmental quality (adeq). similarly, the adeq classifies pm2.5 as “the smallest, most harmful particulate pollution.” pm2.5 is a combination of nitrogen oxides and other harmful substances.

in the u.s., 49% of parents say climate change has affected their decision about having more children, according to a recent study conducted by morning consult on behalf of the technology company, hp. 

moreover, the study concluded that 91% of parents globally are worried about the climate crisis and have changed their purchasing habits as a result.

“i studied climate change in college and at the time, it felt like a calling, and it felt like something that i wanted to do,” dr. patel said. “but i think when i had my kids, it no longer felt like a choice. it felt like something that i had to do.”

even so, parents have little control over what substances their children come into contact with. with more than 12 million children under the age of five in the united states in some form of nonparental care, witherspoon said the industry lacks sufficient regulations, focusing on these “critical windows of exposure.”

prevention through policy

existing health and safety policy surrounding child care is largely centered around the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases and violence, though there are also climate-related regulations to highlight.

the national resource center for health and safety in child care and early education is the most prevalent organization setting health and safety standards for child care facilities. their resources give providers national and state standards to follow.

one national standard largely influenced by the clean air act stated that providers must check the air quality index before determining if it is safe for children to play outside. there are also established protocols surrounding natural disasters to keep facilities prepared to protect children in the event of an emergency.  

states can establish their own rules for child care providers too. for example, a 2018 california law required licensed child care centers to test their water for lead by 2023. 

after results found shocking levels of the poisonous substance in the water supplies, rep. katie porter (d-calif.) said california children’s lead exposure was alarming.

“one in four california child care centers has dangerously high levels of lead in their drinking water,” porter said. “children are our future, and we owe it to every american to protect all kids’ safety and well-being.”

in remarks made in pittsburgh on feb. 20, vice president kamala harris promised to eliminate all lead pipes in the united states, recognizing the impact that lead has on children’s health.

the biden-harris lead pipe and paint action plan “includes over 15 new actions from more than 10 federal agencies that ensure the federal government is marshalling every resource to make rapid progress towards replacing all lead pipes in the next decade.”

“when children drink toxic water through lead pipes, it has an impact on their learning ability, on their health,” harris said. “and for too long, this has been the case, that communities have been crying out for support to get rid of these lead pipes.”

there are also environmental justice concerns around the quality of drinking water, which porter alluded to in her remarks.

“many of the worst facilities for lead levels are in low-income areas or communities of color,” she said.

according to witherspoon, the child care industry is a space where environmental injustice is heightened because the profession is largely dominated by women, including women of color and women of childbearing age. she said there is a dual benefit of reducing the environmental hazards and limiting the negative health effects for both children and their care providers. 

exposure to plastic

another concern for children’s environmental health is exposure to plastics. judith enck is the founder and president of beyond plastics and a former epa regional administrator. her work focuses on the dangers of plastic pollution. at the mcaf event in early february, she cited how plastic emissions are replacing those originally produced by the coal industry.

“plastics is plan b for the fossil fuels industry,” she said. “all of us have microplastics in our bodies.”

microplastics are a particular danger because they are being found in a variety of organs, from livers to placentas. according to a study by a peer reviewed journal titled birth defects research, exposure to microplastics as a newborn “is linked to the development of multiple illnesses in adulthood.”

yet exposure can also occur before a child is born, “which may have the potential to cause harmful effects later in life,” according to a recent study by environment international.

while action has been taken against the rise of plastics, enck said she is still working toward more change.

in december, the epa decided that vinyl chloride, which has been a known carcinogen for about 50 years, will be among five chemicals that will begin the risk evaluation prioritization process under the toxic substances control act, enck said. “but that’s the beginning of a ten-year journey to ban vinyl chloride,” she added.

the mental health toll of the climate crisis

research shows that children’s mental wellness is also affected by the climate crisis.

“there’s actually some emerging data that early exposure to air pollution places children at higher risk for anxiety and depression,” dr. patel said.

dr. lise van susteren, a medical doctor and general and forensic psychiatrist, indicated the youth population is paying a mental toll for the climate crisis.

“the extreme weather events they face not only bring – acutely – fear, anger, sorrow, etc. but over time, what happens is they become dispirited, even demoralized and feel potentially a feeling of abandonment and betrayal by their government,” dr. van susteren said.

while the public might differ over which initiatives to support, two-thirds of americans agree that the government should be doing more to solve the climate crisis, according to a 2020 study conducted by the pew research center. this support extends across partisan lines.

dr. van susteren said there should be more psychiatrists who specialize in climate mental health. this support could help improve the morale of a younger generation that feels a widening gap between themselves and their government.

at the mcaf event, she said it is important to consider a child’s particular age, behavior and the context in which they live before talking to them about climate change. supporting a child’s mental well-being is not a “one size fits all approach.” 

while some kids need more transparency, others need protection, dr. van susteren said. it is up to those supporting the children to assess what they need based on existing factors.

dr. van susteren said adults should also be aware of their own mental well-being. she wants people who are struggling mentally with the climate crisis to “recognize that it’s really our collective effort – individually counted, it’s just like votes on election day – but this is what ends up changing the course of our history.”

dr. patel said she feels a particular responsibility to protect her own children.

“i brought them into this world. and so it’s incumbent on me to make sure that this is a world worthy of them,” she said.

in the middle of a solar panel array in north carolina, the grass rustles with movement. a raccoon wanders between the panels. a fox wriggles through the permeable fencing and darts around the site. a cluster of turkeys stare accusingly into the wildlife camera. eventually, a curious bobcat prowls outside the fence, slinking inside and outside of the site boundary. 

the animal sightings were made possible by a carefully-placed camera trap used for conservation research. the project is part of efforts from the nature conservancy to investigate how solar development influences animal movement and work with solar developers to preserve the small corridors — or wildlife passageways — that allow for that movement. 

the sight of wildlife lingering at a solar facility between crystalline panels is an unusual one. but in north carolina, a state that ranks fourth in the nation for solar energy production and ninth for biodiversity, scientists and developers are realizing that the choice between renewables and biodiversity doesn’t have to be a trade-off.  

solar energy in the energy transition and climate crisis

amid national efforts to decarbonize the u.s. energy sector and achieve current emissions reductions goals, the u.s. is increasing its buildout of renewable energy. in the last decade, the solar industry saw an average annual growth rate of 24%, according to the solar energy industries association. 

as more and more renewables projects gain traction in states like north carolina, biologists have raised concerns over potential impacts on wildlife populations, especially amid overdevelopment and fragmentation. scientists have begun to research those impacts, but many studies have focused narrowly on bird deaths, habitat conversion,  pollinator habitat, or soil ecosystems, with fewer insights on migration and movement specifically. with climate change exacerbating the need and scale of future migrations, this research gap is a pressing one. 

while people often think of climate change as the biggest threat to biodiversity, the answer is actually habitat loss. liz kalies, the lead renewable energy scientist at the nature conservancy, spreads this message in her conservation work. “we can’t justify poor siting of renewable energy in the name of biodiversity,” said kalies. 

“but similarly, if we ignore climate change, that will also have severe consequences for biodiversity. so, we just really need to keep the two in our mind simultaneously, and not sacrifice one for the other,” she said.

strategies for building wildlife-friendly solar

fortunately, solar developers haves several options to avoid making those sacrifices: selecting sites responsibly (including repurposed mine land), building in wildlife passageways (small corridors to allow animals to pass through)—which could mean splitting a site down the middle—and letting nature reclaim parts of the facility by growing wildflowers, planting native species, or building pollinator habitats. a simple change, such as mowing the lawn in september or october instead of august, after breeding season, can make a difference, according to a research team in new york. 

one of the most promising strategies so far is permeable fencing: swapping out traditional chain-link fencing for larger-holed fencing, which is meshy enough to allow small-to-medium sized mammals to slip through. animal monitoring reports show the early promise of this fencing, as camera traps capture foxes, birds, and coyotes navigating around the fencing. in one study, wildlife-permeable fencing increased the probability that ungulates (hoofed mammals) successfully crossed through the fence by 33% — and they were able to do so in 54% less time.

camera trapping and bobcat tracking: the research behind wildlife-friendly solar

kalies and her team have launched several projects to study solar-wildlife interactions, including the camera trap project, direct site visits with developers, and even a bobcat-specific project. kalies and her team are currently working on the latter, which involves locating, sedating, radio collaring, and tracking bobcats to generate visual maps of their meanderings. bobcats are secretive, elusive animals who prefer uninterrupted vegetation, making them good candidates to study the challenges that animals may face in in solar landscapes. 

surprisingly, bobcats are interacting with the solar facilities. from the videos kalies played, it appears some of them are even drawn to the facilities for unknown reasons. in their preliminary data, one bobcat appeared to cut through a solar facility that didn’t even have a permeable fence. the team hopes to increase their sample size of bobcats in order to predict impacts of solar buildout on their populations through simulation alone.

do developers really want foxes and bobcats roaming through their facilities?

sometimes, the answer is yes, according to developers. medium-sized predators may help quell rodent populations, and rodents have been known to gnaw through the panels’ wiring, breaking the solar array.  

wildlife passageways offer other benefits to developers. at face value, building wildlife-friendly infrastructure is great for a company’s brand image and public relations — especially when local opposition to renewable projects is so prevalent, and sometimes stems from animal conservation concerns. additionally, installing wildlife-friendly fencing is economical, according to kalies. it costs roughly the same as a chain-link fence and holds up just as well structurally, based on her reports from developers. 

“i love the idea of wildlife friendly fencing,”  said scott starr, co-founder of highline renewables. 

“you’re going to be a partner with the community for 30 plus years. so, you want to do things like screen it with evergreens or use wildlife friendly fencing […] and even if it’s a small upcharge, you are looking for things to make the project work that don’t just show up in the pro forma but are also a benefit to the community.” 

as a developer who specializes in small-scale distributed generation,  starr notes that it’s common to screen for endangered species early on as part of choosing a site. “we are very careful as developers towards critical species, critical habitat, wetlands, things like that. that is part of the process.” 

but, when it comes to sharing land with wildlife, the territory is more unfamiliar. starr elaborates on the policy gaps in how governments incentivize wildlife-friendly buildout. 

“the only things that i’ve really seen are ‘we’ll give you adders to put it on this rooftop!’ and ‘we’ll give you adders if  you put it on a brownfield or co-locate with some kind of agricultural operations!’ said starr. “there never is really anything about wildlife corridors—we just don’t know.” 

while developers can’t claim that solar sites are equivalent to wildlife refuges, they do share some compelling similarities: they’re quiet, isolated, fenced off, and relatively low-disturbance on the landscape. whether or not a site is wildlife-friendly often comes down to what’s adjacent to the facility, says kalies, meaning rural sites typically have better luck than urban, overdeveloped, already-degraded plots of land. 

challenges and limitations of building wildlife passageways

some of the biggest research-specific challenges for kalies’s team include accessing sites in the first place, finding partners willing to collaborate, and hours of challenging fieldwork. another difficulty lies in data interpretation. even with data from camera traps, for example, seeing an animal onsite doesn’t mean it’s necessarily benefitting. the animal could be migrating, breeding or nesting, foraging, lost, or simply hanging out. 

starr adds that, from a developer’s perspective, even if you support wildlife-friendly fencing,  you may get a ‘no’ from the county, from financiers, or from any long-term owners of the project who might consider wildlife a risk to their multi-million dollar asset. (some developers are even concerned about bird droppings reducing the efficiency of their solar panels.)

overall, the solar industry’s ability to become “wildlife-friendly” may depend on the level of discussion happening in government. “we need clear guidance and policymaking that incentivizes these kinds of considerations,” said starr.

the future of wildlife-friendly solar 

despite these challenges, pursuing wildlife-friendly solar in north carolina may be a promising step toward preserving biodiversity. the state ranks the 13th highest in the nation for risk of species loss. while wildlife movement patterns are being studied in the western u.s. (such as pronghorn migration), more research is needed on patterns in eastern states.

the first step to preserving biodiverse populations is ensuring that animals can continue to move freely across landscapes. through siting adjustments, permeable fencing, planting wildflower pollinator habitat, and actively collaborating with scientists, the solar industry has a chance to protect wildlife. energy developers and biologists alike can take part in this initiative, giving a new meaning to “energy conservation.” 

it’s hard to imagine a modern neighborhood without cars. or a city without parking lots. instead of rolling through a starbucks drive-thru on a 45-minute commute to work, imagine walking 50 feet to the neighborhood café while wearing pajamas. in a community without roads or garages, neighbors connect through shared walking spaces and european-style plazas. 

in tempe, arizona, a team of developers envisioned exactly this as they built culdesac. the six-acre residential community is filled with coworking spaces, local shops, backyard parks and plazas, small businesses, and transit alternatives such as electric bikes and ride shares. promoted as the “five-minute city,” the neighborhood houses over 100 residents in a 760-apartment complex with no residential parking. culdesac offers one-to three-bedroom apartments costing $1400 to $3200 per month. the neighborhood formally opened in may 2023.

culdesac may be the first of many car-free neighborhoods. its construction is timely, its developers say, as the united states grapples with road congestion and carbon emissions from the transportation sector. the transportation sector alone is a major source of greenhouse gas emission in the us and accounts for more than half of nitrogen oxides in our air, according to epa data. amid high costs of living driven up by parking lot construction, the question of whether to own a car at all has become a prominent dilemma for new city-dwellers. in three weeks, nearly 2,000 people signed up for culdesac’s interest list.

culdesac: a new housing model

the culdesac team is building what members call “missing middle housing.” missing middle housing entails neither single-family homes nor tall apartment buildings – it’s somewhere in between. this semi-dense, walkable urban living is “missing” since there’s not a lot of it on the market. “we’re building the kind of housing most americans are looking for,” said ryan johnson, co-founder and ceo of culdesac.

but is the united states ready for missing middle housing? 

the culdesac team would like to see more of it. however, the answer depends on each city’s level of readiness to ensure a comfortable transition. key factors include whether a neighborhood is close to a light rail or other public transit, as well as ensuring a robust selection of backup transit options such as discounted lyft rides, free e-bikes, and diverse micro-retailers to choose from. 

“zero residential parking” has a daunting ring to many policymakers. the culdesac team had to work closely with local government officials in tempe to achieve that goal while also planning to prevent congestion and navigating zoning regulations. the careful planning process was a time-consuming but not insurmountable challenge for tempe, and local officials were cooperative. (according to johnson, tempe’s mayor now dines at culdesac’s cocina chiwas restaurant nearly every week.)

a shift away from cars?

a growing number of americans are receptive to a car-free lifestyle. over 53% of americans want to live in walkable neighborhoods – but only 8% do. walkability is an important factor in community living – a 2020 survey from the national association of realtors found that people with a place to walk in their community continue to be the most satisfied with their quality of life. many americans instead satiate their walkability cravings by vacationing to the cobblestone streets and greenery of european villages, only to return a week later to a starkly individualistic lifestyle centered around highway commuting. 

the very luxuries americans seek out on vacations can be built into our working lives; for example, green space. when developers don’t have to plan (or pay) for parking lots, roads, and driveways, budgets for gardens, walkways, and patches of green space can rise in priority.

tempe’s car-free community offers three times the average amount of green space seen in typical developments, according to culdesac. this model of living is speaking to some people loudly in the wake of the pandemic, when work-life expectations have shifted dramatically toward remote work.

in addition to the cultural elements of walkability and green space, price is a factor that heavily influences tenants’ decision to go car-free.  not only are cars and gasoline expensive but, providing parking drives up costs for developers. even a surface parking space costs $20,000 to $30,000, said david king, an associate professor of urban planning at arizona state university. these lots accumulate financial, social, and aesthetic costs. “essentially, we require cities to build ample parking in these places where people want to go, and it diminishes the built environment – it makes it dry,” king explains. “if you have to cross the parking lot, that lot separates you from everything you want to do.”

the future of car-free neighborhoods

culdesac is evaluating new site locations across the country. the claim that tempe, arizona is home to the first car-free community of its kind in the united states is a stimulating one — but is more complicated when we consider urban design historically, said king.

 “certainly, it’s very unique now,” said king, noting culdesac is “harking back closer to the way we used to build things 100 years ago. i think we need more of this.” 

geographically, the culdesac model of living is much more popular outside of the united states. founders of culdesac were inspired by walkable neighborhoods in europe, africa, and latin america. some intentional car-free projects have had positive impacts on air quality—including a 40% reduction in no2 levels on car-free days—and getting people moving, which is good for health. a rising number of cities are trying their hand at the car-free model. in freiburg, germany, for example, a ban on cars in the center city increased bike use and decreased traffic and air pollution, while other projects, like google’s sidewalk labs in toronto, have fallen short with an overload of sustainability requirements.

johnson and his team consider culdesac a “reference project” for cities built for people in the 2020s. “to be honest, we’re not sure if future cities will ever be completely car-free,” said johnson. “we’re not necessarily ‘anti-car’ but rather, we’re against our cities’ dependency on private cars.” 

whether or not the 21st century will be defined as a post-car era, culdesac could be one of the first communities to break the cultural mold of car dependency. if successful, the united states may see an upsurge in neighborhoods seeking mobility, community, and the symbolic quietude of a car-free cul-de-sac.

what if the future of air quality justice rested in the threads of a spider web?

in this original hand-drawn comic, climate cartoonist joy reeves explores a recent initiative in north carolina to use spider webs to monitor air pollution. spearheaded by the north carolina environmental justice network and a team of volunteer “funnel web finders,” the “spidey sens-r” project aims to measure heavy metal pollution on funnel weaver spider webs in greenville and goldsboro communities. the team hopes to use the metals collected on the webs to identify air pollution hotspots near polluting industries—especially in areas that lack government air quality monitors — in order to prioritize future testing in those areas and uphold environmental justice principles through community science. 

waves crash against the concrete sea wall hugging the shoreline along chicago’s calumet park. sections of the gray boundary between land and lake are crumbling against the constant pressure of the elements.

with over 25 miles of glistening blue water, chicago’s lakeshore, composed of lake michigan beaches, faces a significant threat. erosion is the shrinking of a shoreline that is slowly worn away by waves, wind, currents and other natural factors, and it is affecting the city’s shoreline at an exacerbated rate due to climate change. 

chicago beaches are narrowing at a rate of nearly 100 ft. per year along parts of the coastline, meaning less space for recreation and the loss of habitats for shorebirds and other beach animals.

“in a warming climate, there’s more intense precipitation events, which also tend to facilitate higher rates of erosion,” max berkelhammer, a climate and atmospheric scientist and professor at university of illinois at chicago, said. “the primary cause is coastal management. like building right along coastlines and not maintaining basically wetlands or or natural shore ecosystems that absorb the action of the lake. so i think it’s primarily a human or urban development issue.”

berkehammer said the primary action in question is the rising lake levels exposing more of the sand to water, wind and the increase in runoff — when it rains faster than the sand or soil can absorb the water and it runs off a surface, increasing the rate of erosion.

erosion causes damage to infrastructure (roads, buildings and parking lots) and natural habitats. it can also threaten public health by increasing the risk of algal blooms, quick growing areas of algae that can produce harmful toxins. 

edgewater environmental coalition (eec) — a nonprofit organization focused on action, advocacy and education for environmental stewardship — has a shoreline protection program aimed at restoring the natural ecosystems of the lakeshore using nature-based solutions. the organization has used successful strategies of green infrastructure like building dunes, planting native plants and removing invasive ones to mitigate erosion. eec, in conjunction with the loyola university student environmentalist alliance, has planted 300 native grasses and 1,500 marram grass stolons that act as anchors that strengthen dunes across the shore.

natural solutions can often be more cost effective, visually in tune with the natural landscape and equally as durable as traditional gray infrastructure like the concrete ground and walls that make up most of the chicago shoreline, according to eec advisory board member john laswick. he said the main goal of the organization is to reestablish dunes, which are nature’s original protection system.

“what we do is go out every last sunday of the month in the summertime and pull out invasive plants, pick up trash, plant new grasses to extend the dune plantings because if you don’t have the sand anchored with grasses and trees, then it’s just gonna blow away or wash away,” laswick said.

while the organization focuses on dunes and native plants, they also promote other natural resources to combat erosion.

natural solutions to erosion

1. beach nourishment and restoration: replenishing eroded beaches with sediment like sand to protect against wave energy.
2. dune restoration and protection: stabilizing dunes with plants and shrubs to help them last longer and protect the land against erosion.
3. natural shorelines: adding vegetation, oyster reefs and aquatic vegetation to trap sediment and diminish wave energy effects.
4. green infrastructure: adding green infrastructure in urban areas to manage stormwater runoff, like permeable pavement to retain and filter stormwater.
5. coastal vegetation management: adding and preserving native grasses, shrubs, and trees to anchor sediment.
6. integrated coastal zone management: using an integrated approach to coastal management by understanding the interaction of land, water and human activities. 

friends of the parks (fotp), which provided the seed grant that enables eec’s stewardship services along the shore, is a nonprofit organization focused on protecting chicago’s lakefront and ensuring an equitable, ecological park system. they have enacted policy changes — such as partnering with the state and chicago park district to implement the illinois clean harbors program — and educate local residents on park stewardship. 

gin kilgore, interim executive director of fotp, is a former resident of hyde park, a south side neighborhood a few miles from the lakeshore. she says she grew up observing the power of lake michigan to batter the shoreline during big storms, which she notes are more frequent and intense in recent years due to climate change. during long runs along the lakefront she has seen the limitations of “gray infrastructure” to protect against erosion, such as crumbling sidewalks in front of the calumet beach fieldhouse.

fotp is closely monitoring the u.s. army corps of engineers’ general reevaluation report (grr), a study that will evaluate the risk of flooding, erosion and storm damage along lake michigan’s coast in areas of chicago. the study, cost-shared with the city of chicago and the chicago park district, is set to be completed in 2025, at which time solutions will be shared to combat these issues.

according to kilgore, the corps’ mandate is to use the lowest-cost solutions, prioritizing the highest property values. 

“do we only measure cost in terms of how much it costs to put down the concrete? okay, maybe that’s cheap. but, what’s the cost of compromising habitats, or what’s the cost of human access to the lake?” kilgore said. 

fotp also sees the study as an opportunity to complete chicago’s lakefront parks and paths system which currently falls short two miles at both the north and south ends, due in part to private properties that hug the shoreline, kilgore said. creating a buffer between the buildings and water’s edge provides flood protection and allows for public use.

eec also wants to ensure that the report’s proposed solutions are nature-based, and are raising awareness of their work to influence the army corps’ approach.

“a huge part of what is physically chicago and culturally chicago is this lakefront and these parks and the lakeshore drive, and these decisions [about the shore] are going to have an effect for decades,” laswick said. “we got to get started on the right path.”

this is a story about the intersection of science and indigenous communities. focusing on the potomac river watershed, this film highlights inequalities in environmental management. the patawomeck tribe of virginia, the original people of the potomac river, discuss environmental injustices facing their community. filmmaker and ph. d. student, veronica malabanan lucchese, uses social network analysis, or the scientific study of relationships, to identify the most and least influential managers. tying together research and personal histories, “managing the potomac: featuring the patawomeck tribe of virginia” shows the need for more inclusive management.

it’s a story about how excluded communities, research, and government can work together for a more sustainable future. this film was supported by the integrated application network at the university of maryland center for environmental science, the coast card project, the environmental justice journalism initiative, the noaa-lmrcsc fellowship, the belmont forum, and the national science foundation. 

as forest makes up over half of the land area in connecticut, it seems safe to assume that state residents can easily access green space relatively close to their homes. while this may be true for most towns in the state, there’s a handful of urban areas where it’s difficult for residents to connect with nature in this way. 

valerie dixon, a senior who has lived in hartford her entire life, says she has witnessed an obvious change in the use of green space within the city. growing up, dixon said she spent a lot of her time outdoors, specifically in colt park, a 106-acre park located in the southeast part of hartford. the park, dixon explained, was always busy with people and full of trees. what she sees in colt park now, however, is drastically different than what it once was. 

“as a child, growing up in colt park, people used to be there on a continual basis, you’d always see someone under a tree having a picnic. you don’t see that anymore,” dixon said.

the issue dixon has seen lately is that over the past few years, more severe weather events have knocked large amounts of trees down, but the city has not planted more in their wake.

“we all know that trees help you breathe, they’re good for the air quality. they’re also beautiful,” dixon said. 

dixon thinks that not only does the city need to address the loss of trees, but community members should be more educated on how to connect with nature and the benefits of it, as it’s been known to positively impact mental health. the american psychological association published a report in 2020 with findings that proved access to nature significantly helps an individual’s cognitive function and development. moreover, the report asserted that interaction with nature helps to increase overall happiness and positivity and gives people “a sense of meaning and purpose in life.”

but researchers have also found evidence that people of color lag far behind white populations when it comes to getting their dose of nature. the claim that “people from racialised groups (e.g., african/caribbean, south asian) are twice as likely than as white individuals to live in areas of [green space] deprivation,” says a report published by the national library of medicine in 2022.

according to data published by ct data collaborative, people of color account for 85% of the population of harford, but just 37% of the urban area is green space, a significantly low number when compared to other towns in the state. there’s only seven out of the 169 towns in connecticut that have less than 40% green space, with four of these seven having a majority population of people of color. in connecticut, minority groups are commonly found in areas with less access to green space, and dixon explained that many community members aren’t aware of how they can connect with green space or the resources available to help them do so. 

while watching the loss of trees in her community unfold, dixon began to garden as a way to spend time with nature and now stewards a community garden at her church in hartford. she said more people were involved in the garden in the beginning, but many left because they were frustrated and didn’t know how to properly care for it. 

“i didn’t know what to do and it was pretty hard. as time went on i started learning myself. it’s been about ten years now, so i’m a pro,” dixon said. 

dixon credits her learning to herb virgo, founder and executive director of keney park sustainability, a hartford group that promotes greater community access to and educates students on the importance of connecting with nature. the group also gives families the tools to make their own greenspaces, such as small garden beds or pots, soil, fertilizer and seeds. 

virgo says the biggest issues he’s encountered while working on the keney park program is not necessarily the amount of green space in hartford, but the state that the green space is in. a lot of the parks and open areas are not well maintained or monitored, so residents don’t want to or feel safe going to these areas. 

keney park sustainability was created in 2016 when virgo built his first raised bed for gardening, grew fruits and vegetables, and decided to give the produce to the public. from there the organization turned into a program with many different activities, all with a focus on urban agriculture education and forestry education.  

 “our main objective is to reconnect people to the healing power of nature, that’s the common denominator through all of our programming,” virgo said. “the reason why that’s important is because it is what connects us all, as opposed to the things that commonly separate us,” whether that be something like politics, or more literally, like a highway separating certain neighborhoods from accessing a park in town. 

virgo said that city officials in hartford are aware of and want to fix the issues regarding green space in the community, but they don’t have the financial wherewithal to do so. keney park and other programs have instead begun working with the state department of energy and environmental protection for help with their green space. 

danica doroski, the state urban forester, and sarah huang, the director of the office of equity and environmental justice at deep, have been working extensively with keney park sustainability and the city of hartford to get funding for green space and educational programs for the community. 

“the real focus has been in keney park. we have a lot of really good partners there,” doroski said. the program has applied and received grants and recommendations from doroski’s group in deep about what they should do to keep the green space well maintained. 

huang explained that her office has an advisory council made up of residents from environmental justice communities, or communities most negatively impacted by environmental factors, such as air pollution or contaminated water. this advisory council helps the state understand what communities are going through and what residents want. 

“the heart of environmental justice is making sure you’re talking to community residents to confirm what their needs are in the area and how to utilize greenspace to ensure those are at the center of developments,” huang said. 

what deep and huang’s office have recently seen within ej communities is that decisions get made for the community, not by them. to overcome this issue, huang said that deep is adopting an ej screening tool, an online platform where ej community members are able to report the problems they’ve been facing. 

“it’s a mapping tool meant to provide residents with a tool to identify the main impacts in their community. whether it’s pollution, social vulnerability, these are all the things that happen in my community that make it an ej community,” huang said.

the hope is that this tool is able to highlight issues, give voice to community members, and pinpoint the problems they’re dealing with to fix them. huang says the tool is just the beginning of her office’s work to change the idea of environmental justice from just a checkbox to mark, to instead a movement that works to center the power around individuals within these communities. 

in washington d.c., protests are part of our everyday life. we see them when we walk down the street (the white house is only four blocks away from where i go to school at george washington university) and we partake in them to defend our rights as american citizens. our first amendment right to assemble is what gives us hope in our country’s ability to change and grow. in my time at university, the national mall has been peppered in pink as women filled the streets to fight for the right to have an abortion. many of them were my peers and friends.

the freedom to protest is often explored by americans for the first time in college. all across the country, you can find students protesting on their campus on a plethora of issues. gun violence, racism, anti-semetism, to name just a few. our values develop, faraway from our hometown bubbles; we are educated on the issues, from multiple points of view; and we have an air of idealism, feeling that we can shape the world we want to inherit.

i, however, had never attended a protest before. i fought for my beliefs through business, founding a company to create the change in the fashion industry that i wanted to see in the world. i used to think protests were ineffective because i didn’t think that powerful people would listen to what protestors had to say. i was wrong and i learned this while attending cop28 in dubai and joining my first protest.

during our final days of the conference, members of the gw delegation and i were walking across the cop28 campus when we heard drums, chants, and song. people from around the world came together to fight for their shared future. we were drawn in and soon found ourselves in the middle of a protest. at first, i was overwhelmed, surrounded by a cacophony of angry, disappointed, and anxious protestors. i am not one for large crowds.

then, i listened. and suddenly emotions overcame me. people were on the streets protesting because they had tried everything else without avail. people were protesting because they wanted to be heard, they were furious. people were protesting to share their experiences with others, forming a community. i was deeply moved. i danced to the beat of the drum, sang with the

indigenous groups, and raised my fist to the sky to fight for our future. i hugged people in the crowd. i felt part of something and i felt powerful.

and we were powerful. the day after that protest, the cop28 draft text had changed completely, and for the better. the new language was our first footstep away from fossil fuels. i was, and am still in awe. even still, this protest was not the same as what you would experience here in the states. remember, we were in the u.a.e. the protests had to be scheduled, the boundaries were fenced in, spontaneity was stolen. i recognized then what an immense privilege we have as americans to take to the streets when we have something to say.

within the context of the un climate change conference, which was taking place in an authoritarian country, we could have some power, but only some. however, exerting pressure is important. the un is working to include more voices in the negotiations, including those who traditionally are not at the table. the uae is also evolving. without external pressure, the people who benefit from the status quo would have little reason to open up closed processes.

one month later writing this article, i still think about how that protest changed me. i felt empowered in my own voice. i felt the voices of the voiceless empowered around me. we changed history. it was incredibly exciting. i also feel immense gratitude for the freedoms we have here in the united states, a place where we can bring our full uninhibited self to a protest. protest has power and i am lucky to live in a place where every citizen gets to be powerful.

one time when i was a child, i waited for weeks, hoping to see my father arrive and lead us to the annual christmas gathering. after some time, he still had not come and we were getting sick of waiting.

but all of a sudden, my friends glimpsed him from afar and one of them ran inside to notify me of my father’s long awaited arrival. i rushed outside watching him come closer and closer. he was not walking or driving, but riding on a strange device. 

my old man was riding on a bicycle wearing a beautiful smile. i’m sure he expected me to return the smile but i became disappointed the more he drew closer, so i turned my back. i went inside the house with my head hanging down.

i had suffered disappointment because i saw my father on a bicycle when virtually all the other fathers on my street had by that time switched to cars.

for a long time, bicycles had been a popular form of transportation for people of all classes in nigeria. then in the early 1990s, the mentality shared by most people in my community changed to prefer cars over bicycles, relegating them to be considered only suitable for the poor and lower class. 

the use of bicycles in nigeria has been drastically reduced over the years in the name of development, notably since the beginning of the 4th republic. this period of economic and political reform in nigeria started in 1999 and initiated many market reforms. 

these days, almost everyone prefers motorcycles for both close and long distance trips. car ownership has even turned into competition, with many seeing cars as a status symbol.

according to o.j. matthew, a research fellow in the institute of ecology and environmental studies, obafemi awolowo university nigeria, “carbon dioxide and other notable greenhouse gases, such as methane, tropospheric ozone, and halogen gases, are known to produce a warming effect that triggers climate change.” individuals have some control over greenhouse gas emissions as, “one of the leading sources of carbon emissions to the atmosphere is transportation. therefore, choosing to always ride a bicycle over a few car trips, as your transportation habits, could significantly help to protect the environment from climate change impacts,” matthew said.

unfortunately, according to ceic data global database, vehicle registrations rose nationally in nigeria from 3,750 in 2015 to 11,605 in 2020. 

my efforts to save the bikes

in my neighborhood, it is not uncommon to see a family of five with five different cars parked in their compound. 

the tendency of people in my country to prefer cars over bicycles seems to be a result of a lack of education. 

in order to address this, i shared a vision back in 2016 to increase education and familiarity with the role of bicycles on the environment.

this was aimed at people in my locality and i took every opportunity possible to start teaching people how to ride bicycles. at the time, i was the president of environmental control and management students’ association (ecomsa) in my school which led me to meet an organization of young people called ‘life fitness cycling club’ (lfcc). we struck a deal by subtly reintroducing cycling to the people and massively campaigning for bicycle riding in the society using social media and in-person meetings.

i led ecomsa to push the concept of bicycle riding harder during the commemoration of world environment day 2016 held in obafemi awolowo university ile-ife nigeria in collaboration with life fitness cycling club which recorded approximately 100 participants while thousands watched our activities online.

our group planted trees and rode bicycles around the schools and community to raise awareness for the environment. 

shortly after, we noticed an increase in the number of cyclists on campus as lecturers were coming to the school on bicycles.

prior to the event, i had secured another collaboration with nigerian conservation foundation (ncf) in lagos and nigerian television authority (nta), in which the nta used their media platform to project our activities to nigerians all over the country. 

the broadcast actually worked as our activities during world environment day 2016 went viral and appeared on more than 37 blogs. 

electrifying nigeria with thinkbikes

these days, biking technology is rapidly changing with electric bikes growing in popularity around the world. 

tolulope olukokun, the founder of thinkbikes, an electric bike store in ibadan, oyo state nigeria, is a proponent of biking as a way to mitigate carbon emissions in nigeria.

“crafting sustainable solutions has been a passion, and the electric bicycle emerged from a deep commitment to address environmental challenges,” olukokun said.

the primary motivation was to provide affordable and eco-friendly transportation in africa. recognizing the impact of traditional transportation on the environment, the vision was to introduce an electric bicycle that aligns with the continent’s needs for efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable mobility. 

the reception has been promising. olukokun says that people appreciate the accessibility and environmental benefits. according to the business man, we have witnessed a growing enthusiasm for electric bicycles, especially among urban commuters and environmentally conscious individuals.

his electric bicycles contribute significantly to reducing carbon emissions, according to olukokun. by replacing traditional fuel-dependent modes of transport, they’ve estimated a substantial decrease in the business’s carbon footprint.

this aligns with global efforts to combat climate change by promoting cleaner transportation alternatives. challenges, while inevitable, have mainly revolved around infrastructure and awareness. electric bicycles are relatively new in many regions, and establishing the necessary charging stations has been a hurdle. additionally, fostering awareness about the benefits of electric bicycles requires concerted efforts.

in the coming years, thinkbikes plans to expand its footprint across africa. with an increasing focus on sustainability, olukokun aims to establish partnerships, enhance infrastructure, and promote policies supporting electric mobility. “we see thinkbikes as a catalyst for change, influencing not only transportation habits but contributing to a broader shift toward a greener and more sustainable future,” olukokun said.

my regrets, my hopes

ironically, i’m now the one who wishes to see my father ride on a bicycle so that i could encourage him with a warming smile, and he is now the one who prefers a car for mobility.

now that i am educated on the climate impacts of cars, i regret the reaction i had as a child. i hope my story serves as a clue to what is going on across different communities in terms of the perception toward bicycles as a means of transportation. 

education and sensitization are important aspects of promoting green modes of transportation and should be promoted in nigeria especially in rural and urban communities.

this year’s theme was “agrifood systems transformation accelerates climate action.” through this theme, the fao acknowledged that the systems that produce, store, transport, and distribute our food affect climate change and that meaningful climate action requires that we change the systems. the wff participants were each part of one of three sections: science & innovation, investment, and youth. delegates from each section participated in panels and discussions to develop policies and strategies to achieve climate-friendly food systems transformation. 

room for improvement

despite the theme’s focus on systems transformation, the sessions in the youth track centered around actions such as entrepreneurial ventures, home gardens, and backyard composting and lacked substantive conversations on how to reform regulatory schemes or incentivize corporate entities to change their practices. changing any system inherently entails action at the individual and systems level, requiring a change in the context in which individuals act. 

despite many countries having government representatives present to attend the other two tracks of the wff, these representatives were either absent or silent in all of the policy sessions that i attended. as we (students and policymakers) were all delegates to the forum, i expected to have the opportunity to engage with the actual policymakers from our respective countries to exchange ideas and learn about each others’ priorities. 

the main policy sessions for the youth delegates were the six regional assemblies’ discussions of their policy priorities, selected by their respective youth policy board members. each regional assembly represented a different area of the world: near east and north africa, north america, latin america and the caribbean, asia and the pacific, europe, and africa. youth delegates from each region were invited to attend their specific regional assembly, where they would engage in round-table discussions about their regional priorities with their fellow delegates and youth policy board members. 

north america’s policy priority was, “ensure inclusive, healthy and sustainable feeding programs at schools, nurseries, and colleges that are procured from local producers and provide food education.” while there are many opportunities to transform the food system in north america through the procurement and distribution of school food, our youth leaders emphasized that our policy solutions should focus on changing individual students’ dietary choices. this assumes that: (1) students’ individual dietary choices will mitigate climate change and (2) that students have options from which to choose. 

regulations, policies, and legislation – not individual students – determine whether schools have climate-friendly food or whether the agrifood businesses that produce the food must mitigate their harm to the climate. these systems are, in part, influenced by the choices that consumers and constituents make, but these systems also largely control individuals’ choices by greatly limiting their options. 

the student leaders did not purport to represent the fao or its priorities. but, the wff did give them the responsibility to select regional policy priorities and lead the brainstorming sessions. moreover, the absence of fao leaders or any other government officials or policymakers in these policy sessions reinforced the idea that youth delegates were kept from an important part of changemaking and relegated only to individual actions.

the fao’s food options were a perfect example of the fact that individuals only have as much choice and autonomy as the systems in which they operate choose to give them. as a vegan, i use my individual choices as one method of food systems and climate change activism. however, the wff failed to provide vegan options for delegates. some days, even the vegetarian options were scarce or non-existent. 

several of the wff sessions highlighted the negative impact that the production of meat and animal products have on the environment and yet, if a wff delegate wanted to take what they learned in the sessions and use it to empower their individual choices in the fao cafeteria, they would be left feeling powerless and confused.

the youth role in breaking systemic barriers

none of this is to say that youth can’t change systems. or that only a select few people have the power to change the systems. students have immense power to organize and engage in collective action movements that can radically transform and upend our exploitative and climate-harming agrifood systems. but this kind of transformative change can only happen when we are honest with ourselves about the power structures at play and about the effective absence of choice that we have in our current system.

the wff gave youth from around the globe the opportunity to come together and get energized about the climate and reforming our agrifood systems. we learned about the work that our peers across the world engage in and how we can adapt our own activism to involve more of our global community. 

though institutions can sometimes hinder systemic transformation, the way that these events facilitate the development of personal relationships is a critical aspect of systems disruption. connecting face-to-face with other young people over our shared passions for just and sustainable food systems humanizes these systems and fosters creative reimagination of how we feed our world.