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Tag: communities

Feb112018 by adminNo Comments
Oil spills expose indigenous communities to toxic metals

Oil spills expose indigenous communities to toxic metals

Science
Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Scientists have identified elevated levels of harmful metals in indigenous people living near oil spills.The findings -- published this week in the journal Environmental Health -- are only the latest to highlight the significant environmental hazards faced by already vulnerable communities.The study was carried out by a team of researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal, in Spain, and the Peruvian National Center for Occupational Health and Environmental Health Protection. Scientists measured levels of mercury, cadmium, lead and arsenic in people living in San Pedro and Cuninico, two indigenous Kukama communities.The two communities were impacted by a pair of large oil spills resulting from ruptures in the North Peruvian pipeline."In spite of the f...
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Nov32017 by adminNo Comments
Scientists map coastal communities most vulnerable to natural disasters

Scientists map coastal communities most vulnerable to natural disasters

Science
Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Scientists have identified coastal communities where poverty, poor infrastructure and exposure to the elements combine to create a unique level of vulnerability to natural disasters.These varying levels of risk are showcased on a new map of the Caribbean and South America published this week in the journal PLOS ONE."We found that more than 500,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean are living in areas where coastal hazards and poverty converge," lead researcher Juliano Calil said in a news release. "These are communities where scarce critical resources are consistently placed in hazards-prone areas, further exacerbating the impacts of coastal hazards."The 2017 hurricane season decimated many vulnerable communities in the Caribbean. To better protect populations from ...
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Jul62017 by adminNo Comments
New map reveals personality traits of communities across the United States

New map reveals personality traits of communities across the United States

Science
July 5 (UPI) -- Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have created a new interactive map revealing the well-being and personality traits of communities across the United States.The map is the culmination of five years of compiling and analyzing Twitter data. Researchers mined more than 37 billion publicly shared, geo-tagged tweets for evidence of personality traits like openness and extraversion.Researchers reinforced the Twitter analysis with government-reported socioeconomic and health data like rates of unemployment and heart-disease mortality. Scientists organized the information for further analysis and comparisons using county boundaries.The newly published map is the grand finale of the World Well-Being Project."The World Well-Being Project was established on the idea that we...
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