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   Let’s start by discussing smoking. It continues to be the leading cause of preventable disease and death in many countries. The highest percent of smoking tends to be seen among people with a high school diploma (or not even that!), and the lowest is among those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Trends in efforts to quit smoking habits also vary by educational level. Adults with only a high school diploma historically have had the lowest rates of quitting smoking compared to adults overall. But these data document the relationship when it is too late: Adults don’t drop out of school, children do.

   The field of public health recognizes education is a social determinant of health and an indicator of well-being. National efforts in North America are currently focused on promoting literacy, and increasing high school completion and college enrollment. It is critical to ensure that children have positive learning experiences while they are still young so that they can achieve educational success. This is one of the best ways to ensure that they can live healthier lives as adults.

   A human baby’s brain is not fully developed at birth. Rapid brain developments and the acquisition of foundation skills occur in the first few years of life and then steady into childhood and adolescence. Abuse, neglect, poverty and related stressful exposures can put children at risk for problems with healthy cognitive, social and emotional development, which can interfere with learning.

   To effectively address the problem, learning environments must include staff who have knowledge about trauma and symptoms of trauma. Most importantly, the school ecosystems, which include the schools’ staff, must be prepared and able to provide children, and each other, safe, supportive and trusting environments. Thus, creating effective solutions will require a multigenerational approach – that is, one that focuses on the children affected as well as on the adults dealing with them. In order to promote well-being across the lifespan, we must collectively invest in meeting the needs of future generations.

(Shanta R. Dube. 07.02.2018, https://theconversation.com. Adaptado) 

Fog harversting could provide water for arid cities

By Victoria Gill

Rain Is Coming to Burning Los Angeles and Will Bring Its Own Risks

    Rain is forecast to begin as soon as Saturday afternoon and to continue as late as Monday evening, says meteorologist Kristan Lund of the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office. The area desperately needs the precipitation, but experts are warily monitoring the situation because rain poses its own risks in recently burned areas— most notably the potential occurrence of mudslides and similar hazards. “Rain is good because we’ve been so dry,” Lund says. “However, if we get heavier rain rates or we get the thunderstorms, it’s actually a lot more dangerous because you can get debris flows.”

    Fires do a couple of different things to the landscape that can increase the risk of burned material, soil and detritus hurtling out of control. When fires burn hot or long enough, they leave an invisible layer of waxy material just under the surface of the ground. This develops from decomposing leaves and other organic material, which contain naturally hydrophobic or water-repellent compounds. Fire can vaporize this litter, and the resulting gas seeps into the upper soil—where it quickly cools and condenses, forming the slippery layer.

    When rain falls on ground that has been affected by this phenomenon, it can’t sink beyond the hydrophobic layer— so the water flows away, often hauling debris with it. “All of the trees, branches, everything that’s been burned—unfortunately, if it rains, that stuff just floats,” Lund says. “It’s really concerning.” Even a fire that isn’t severe enough to create a hydrophobic layer can still cause debris flows, says Danielle Touma, a climate scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. Under normal conditions, trees and other plants usually trap some rain above the surface, slowing the water’s downward journey. But on freshly burned land there’s much less greenery to interfere; all the rain immediately hits the ground. [...]

    Fortunately, the rain should also help firefighters tame the blazes that remain active. The largest, the Palisades Fire, is currently 77 percent contained. The second largest, the Eaton Fire, is 95 percent contained. The Hughes Fire is third largest and only 56 percent contained. A fire can be fully contained but still burning. The containment percentage refers to the amount of the perimeter that has barriers that firefighters expect will prevent further spread.

Scientific American. January 27th, 2025. Adaptado.