Category: Uncategorized
New Study Estimates the Global Extent of River Ice Loss as Earth Warms
January 6, 2020More than half of Earth’s rivers freeze over every year. These frozen rivers support important transportation networks for communities and industries located at high latitudes. Ice cover also regulates the amount of greenhouse gasses released from rivers into Earth’s atmosphere. A new study from researchers in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Geological Sciences found that annual river ice cover will decline by about six days for every one degree Celsius increase in global temperatures. This decline will have economic and environmental consequences. The study, “The past and future of global river ice,” was published Jan. 1 … Read more
Bookmark This: ‘Build! The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World’
January 6, 2020Bookmark This is a feature that highlights new books by College of Arts & Sciences faculty and alumni, published on the first Friday of every month during the academic year. Featured book: Build! The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World (Oxford University Press, November 2019) by Mark Katz. Q: Can you give us a brief synopsis of your book? A: Build is a study of hip-hop diplomacy — it explores the history of the U.S. State Department’s use of hip-hop as a means to build bridges with other countries around the world. At heart, the book is about the power of art … Read more
Twin Presence of Obesity and Undernutrition Reflects Shifts in Global Food Systems
January 6, 2020Being undernourished or overweight are no longer separate public health issues. A new approach is needed to help low- and middle-income countries reduce obesity and undernutrition at the same time as the issues become increasingly connected, according to the first paper in a 4-paper report published in The Lancet. “We are facing a new nutrition reality where major food system changes have led the poorest countries to have high levels of overweight and obesity along with undernutrition,” says Barry M. Popkin, lead author of the first paper and W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of nutrition at the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global … Read more
Sustainability Is Key for Long-Term Success of Nigerian Family Planning Initiatives
January 6, 2020Family planning programs in Nigeria have been successful in influencing the population to accept and adopt the practice of family planning and increase usage of modern methods of contraception. However, an adequate plan is necessary to address the sustainability of these effects after the program ends. This is according to research in two new studies from Ilene Speizer, professor of maternal and child health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. The studies collected data from women and health care facilities in two Nigerian cities, Ilorin and Kaduna, which were part of the Phase I roll-out of the Nigerian Urban Reproductive … Read more
University Adds Korean Studies Major
January 6, 2020Thirteen years after 23 students enrolled in the first Korean language class at Carolina, the University has added a major in Korean studies to its curriculum. Korean studies majors will take Korean language courses as well as courses in Korean culture, literature, history and politics. Students who complete the requirements for the new major will receive a bachelor’s degree in Asian studies with a Korean studies concentration. The goal of the major is to enrich the students’ global understanding by showing different sides of this divided country. “We want to train scholars who have a global vision that is detailed, nuanced and based in a variety of different … Read more
Study Finds Regulating TV Ads Targeted to Children Could Reduce Their Exposure to Junk Food
January 6, 2020Regulating television advertising targeted toward children could be an effective way to reduce their exposure to unhealthy food products, according to a new study co-authored by Lindsey Smith Taillie, assistant professor of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. The study, published in Public Health Nutrition, evaluates the effects of regulations implemented in Chile that aim to reduce childhood obesity by restricting child-targeted marketing of products high in sugars, calories, saturated fats and sodium. Taillie teamed up with Francesca R. Dillman Carpentier, W. Horace Carter Distinguished Professor at UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and worked with university researchers in Chile … Read more
Carolina Nursing Partners with USFQ to Provide Professional Development in the Galápagos Islands
January 6, 2020When Betty Martinez was in the Galápagos islands, she was amazed by how the sea lions, pelicans, crabs, lizards and blue-footed boobies coexisted with humans as restaurants and shops carried on with daily business. One a morning walk, she and Alasia Ledford spotted two sea lions sprawled on patio chairs with a table and a cup between them. “It was as if the sea lions had met up for morning coffee and a chat before starting a day of sunbathing,” says Ledford. Adds Martinez, “Nature has its place, and the people have their places, but both watch and admire each … Read more
Water Institute Uses Data to Strengthen WaSH Systems in Pacific Island Countries
January 6, 2020Pacific Island countries lag behind the rest of the world in terms of access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services. Often, their governments’ ability to effectively manage WaSH is constrained by the countries’ small size, geographical isolation, environmental fragility, predominantly rural — but rapidly urbanizing — populations, and limited human and financial resource bases. Many of these countries face significant challenges from a changing climate, including related extreme weather events like tropical storms, droughts, heavy rainfalls and flooding, as well as rising sea levels. Due to their locations in the Ring of Fire, Pacific Island countries are also prone … Read more
Resiliency Urbanism: Studies of Climate Adaptation in Four Indian Cities
January 2, 2020India is in a massive urban transition happening at the same time as dramatic climate change. With an urban population expected to double by 2050, India’s cities are engines of economic growth, but also at great risk due to climate change events. “While disaster mitigation is all important, cities will have to adapt, and the point of our research is to emphasize that the time to adjust and adapt is now,” explained Meenu Tewari, associate professor of city and regional planning at UNC-Chapel Hill. With help from the Center for Urban and Regional Studies-supported grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, Tewari … Read more
The Meaning of Emotions May Differ Across the World, New Research Shows
January 2, 2020In the largest study of its kind, Carolina researchers examined languages around the world and how humans conceptualize emotions. Psychology researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in collaboration with scientists from the Max Planck Institute, studied languages around the world and found that the way humans conceptualize emotions like anger, fear, joy and sadness may differ across speakers of different languages.