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Why your perception of climate change threats might depend on where you live - new research

    Our planet has just seen its hottest month on record, with many places on fire or flooded. [...] However, not everyone notices or feels this threat to the same extent. [...] In our study, we wanted to find out how British people who live in cities experience the threat of climate change, compared with people who live rurally. Based on a representative sample of 1,071 survey respondents from across the UK, we found that people in rural areas showed higher degrees of place attachment than people living in cities, as we expected. However, we were surprised to see that the perceived threat of climate change in the most rural locations was lower. […] there are three compelling explanations.

1. Awareness

    People in rural areas may not be as aware of climate change as people in cities. [...] However, looking more closely, the effect is mostly down to education rather than whether people live in rural areas or not. [...]

2. Experience

    People in rural areas may not experience climate change in the same way as people in cities. This is because rural areas have higher levels of green space than urban areas. For example, you will feel the heat less when you are surrounded by trees.

3. Resilience

    [...] Rural people may be aware of climate change and they may experience it like everyone else, but they may have better ways of coping with it than city dwellers because of their closer relationship with nature. This may have taught them to be more flexible in how they deal with change. [...]

    Climate change is certainly worrying for most of us and sometimes linked with heightened anxiety. [...] What matters is what we do in our everyday lives, how much we recognise that things are changing and whether we are willing to take action.

Disponível e adaptado de: https://theconversation.com/why-yourperception-of-climate-change-threats-might-depend-on-where-youlive-new-research-212888 Acesso em: 13 set. 2023.

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Educated Americans live longer, as others die younger

catching up faliing behind

united states, average life expectance at age 25

(Anne Case and Angus Deaton. “Life expectancy in adulthood is falting for those without a BA degree, but as educational gaps have widened, racial gaps have narrowed”. PNAS« 2021. Adaptado.)

    A 25-year-old American with a university degree can expect to live almost a decade longer than a contemporary who dropped out of high school. Although researchers have long known that the rich live longer than the poor, this education gap is less well documented — and is especially marked in rich countries. And whereas the average American’s expected span has been flat in recent years — and, strikingly, even fell between 2015 and 2017 — that of the one-third with a bachelor’s degree has continued to lengthen.

    This disparity in life expectancy is growing, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using data from nearly 50m death certificates filed between 1990 and 2018, Anne Case and Angus Deaton of Princeton University analysed differences in life expectancy by sex, race, ethnicity and education. They found that the lifespans of those with and without a bachelor’s degree started to diverge in the 1990s and 2000s. This gap grew even wider in the 2010s as the life expectancy of degree-holders continued to rise while that of other Americans got shorter.

    What is the link between schooling and longevity? Some argue that better-educated people develop healthier lifestyles: each additional year of study reduces the chances of being a smoker and of being overweight. The better-educated earn more, which in turn is associated with greater health. Ms Case and Mr Deaton argue that changes in labour markets, including the rise of automation and increased demand for highly-educated workers, coupled with the rising costs of employer-provided health care, have depressed the supply of well-paid jobs for those without a degree. This may be contributing to higher rates of alcohol and drug use, suicide and other “deaths of despair”.

(www.economist.com,17.03.2021. Adaptado.)

    The Great Pyramid of Cholula, Tlachihualtepetl, or “handmade mountain” in Nahuatl (the Aztec language of Central Mexico), is located in the ancient city of Cholula, which was originally constructed as a holy city. Cholula means “place of refuge” in Nahuatl. Before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, Cholula was one of the largest cities and principal religious centers in Mexico, with a multiethnic population of between 60,000 and 100,000. Standing 180 feet, the pyramid was almost twice the volume of the Great Pyramid of Giza, in Egypt. Successive civilizations added to what had already been built, a process which resulted in the giant pyramid-disguised-as-a-hill of today. This temple was constructed to honor Quetzalcóatl, the feathered Mesoamerican serpent god.

    In 1519, Hernan Cortés arrived in Cholula with his army of conquistadors. Events leading up to the conquest are contested: at least 12 different authors wrote or painted diverse accounts of what occurred in Cholula. The result of these events, though, was undisputed: Spanish conquistadors attacked and killed thousands of Cholulans, in what became known as “the Cholula massacre”.

    In 1574, long after Mexico was overpowered by the Spanish, a church was built on the top of Tlachihualtepetl. The church was named Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, or Our Lady of the Remedies, in English.

    Cholula is now considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Both the church and ancient ruins beneath it are open to tourists year-round. The site attracts 220,000 visitors annually.

Internet: sacredland.org (adapted).

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America’s social-media addiction is getting worse

Logging on: United States, social-media usage, by site

(Sources: Pew Ressarch Centre; e Marketar)

    A survey in January and February 2019 from the Pew Research Centre, a think tank, found that 69% of American adults use Facebook; of these users, more than half visit the site “several times a day”. YouTube is even more popular, with 73% of adults saying they watch videos on the platform. For those aged 18 to 24, the figure is 90%. Instagram, a photo-sharing app, is used by 37% of adults. When Pew first conducted the survey in 2012, only a slim majority of Americans used Facebook. Fewer than one in ten had an Instagram account.

    Americans are also spending more time than ever on social-media sites like Facebook. There is evidence that limiting such services might yield health benefits. A paper published last year by Melissa Hunt, Rachel Marx, Courtney Lipson and Jordyn Young, all of the University of Pennsylvania, found that limiting social-media usage to 10 minutes a day led to reductions in loneliness, depression, anxiety and fear. Another paper from 2014 identified a link between heavy social-media usage and depression, largely due to a “social comparison” phenomenon, whereby users compare themselves to others and come away with lower evaluations of themselves.

(www.economist.com, 08.08.2019. Adaptado.)

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America’s social-media addiction is getting worse

Logging on: United States, social-media usage, by site

(Sources: Pew Ressarch Centre; e Marketar)

    A survey in January and February 2019 from the Pew Research Centre, a think tank, found that 69% of American adults use Facebook; of these users, more than half visit the site “several times a day”. YouTube is even more popular, with 73% of adults saying they watch videos on the platform. For those aged 18 to 24, the figure is 90%. Instagram, a photo-sharing app, is used by 37% of adults. When Pew first conducted the survey in 2012, only a slim majority of Americans used Facebook. Fewer than one in ten had an Instagram account.

    Americans are also spending more time than ever on social-media sites like Facebook. There is evidence that limiting such services might yield health benefits. A paper published last year by Melissa Hunt, Rachel Marx, Courtney Lipson and Jordyn Young, all of the University of Pennsylvania, found that limiting social-media usage to 10 minutes a day led to reductions in loneliness, depression, anxiety and fear. Another paper from 2014 identified a link between heavy social-media usage and depression, largely due to a “social comparison” phenomenon, whereby users compare themselves to others and come away with lower evaluations of themselves.

(www.economist.com, 08.08.2019. Adaptado.)

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Internet celebrities in Asia: from behind the screens

    As darkness falls over Taipei City, an image of a woman illuminates the night sky. She’s one of Taiwan’s most famous live streamers, a niche group of celebrities who earn their fame through front-facing video cameras. Her face beams from a 100-foot-tall billboard overlooking Taipei. Across Asia, countless other live streamers joke, eat, and sleep while being watched by thousands on smart phones and computer screens. The most successful among them can make fortunes enough to buy their own islands.

    After a long day’s work, Junji Chen treasures time spent gazing into the eyes of his personal favorite, Yutong. Having moved away from his village to work in Taipei, the 42-year-old has little social life. Most of his relationships are with Facebook friends, many of whom he has never met in person — and with live streamers.

    Yutong cannot see Chen or hear his voice but, to him, their connection feels raw, real, maybe even reciprocated. In the comment’s section, he can flatter her with compliments or send her money in the form of virtual stickers. One sticker can cost thousands of dollars, a steep price for a factory worker. But for lonely viewers like Junji, who spends a third of his salary on virtual stickers, the companionship is worth it.

    A streamer’s job can cause physical and mental harm. Peak hours are late at night, meaning irregular sleep schedules and fatigue. Some become isolated from friends and family or grow depressed. In Korea, live streamers who eat large quantities of food in front of the camera — known as Mukbang — are prone to obesity. Because a live streamer’s success depends on their digital popularity, they may continue unhealthy behaviors to please their fans. Once intimacy is lost, so is their source of income — even though, financially, few can live off the industry alone.

    Live streaming fans can manifest “parasocial relationships,” one-sided friendships that appear reciprocated, with their favorite live streamers. For a person who lacks social skills, parasocial relationships can create the illusion of companionship when, in reality, the other person offers them little or nothing in return.

    Fans believe that they are truly cared for, says Jerome Gence, who photographed live streamers and their fans throughout Asia, but “in the end, [the live streamer] just takes the money and the fan ends up even more lonely than before.” Still, he adds, some fans still say the videos help cultivate friendship, or even love. “Some fans say to us, ‘I follow the live streamer because they are the only one who knows my name.’”

(Claire Wolters. www.nationalgeographic.com. 31.07.2019. Adaptado.)