
Essay: Start Over (Again)
The Most Important Question
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Introduction
This week, sometimes you just need to start over. More young people are getting cancer for some god forsaken reason and solar power just keeps growing. New youtube and instagram misinformation rules, getting paid to bike to work and more.
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This week:
Got fired? Start over.
Plus: More young people are getting cancer, the rise of solar power, new YouTube misinformation rules, getting paid to bike to work, and more
Here's What You Can Do:
- ⚡️ If apocalyptic skies and hazardous air quality reports are making your climate anxiety a little more intense this week (I feel you), look into the Climate Psychiatry Alliance’s database to find a climate-aware psychiatrist near you.
- ⚡️ Help spread fire adaptation practices and give communities the tools they need to reduce their wildfire risk and increase their resilience by donating to Fire Adapted Communities.
- ⚡️ Campaign to speed up the transition away from coal in your community by joining a local team to retire coal plants.
- ⚡️ While you’re staying indoors to avoid the unhealthy air outside, purchase an air purifier to keep your indoor air quality up to par (got Scrooge McDuck cash? Donate a few to local schools).
- ⚡️ Learn more about the impacts of air pollution, and read these recommendations for proper building ventilation.
News Roundup
Health & Medicine
- A new pill for lung cancer was found to cut the risk of death in half during clinical trials, yay!
- Unfortunately, cancer is on the rise for people under 50 worldwide, and we don’t really know why, god I really fucking hate cancer
- The chatbot “working” for an eating disorder helpline, instead of real humans capable of human empathy, was found to be encouraging unhealthy eating habits. Cool cool cool
- This week was one of the worst wildfire pollution events in U.S. history
Climate
- Biofuels might not actually be the best climate solution
- Reforesting the Amazon could drastically help slow global warming, but there are a lot of roadblocks
- Would you bike to work if the feds paid you to?
- The clean energy transition is reliant on mines — but young people don’t want to work in them
- Solar is growing fast enough to meet global decarbonization goals — here’s a graph as a treat. You deserve it.
Food & Water
- Lack of water is limiting construction in Arizona, which I don’t know, feels like a big deal
- As global food costs soar, a food delivery company is launching a fund for food-insecure Americans
- Droughts in France are leading to water shortages, and the current solution isn’t sustainable
- A pretty pretty vital Ukrainian dam was destroyed this week, leading to major flooding
Beep Boop
- Could online age verification rules designed to protect children come at the price of everyone’s privacy?
- The A.I. boom could be hindered by the cost of operating systems to run them
- YouTube has changed its misinformation policy to allow 2020 election denial videos to remain on the site GREAT WORK EVERYBODY
COVID
- Anti-vaxxers and medical misinformation spreaders are getting their social media platforms back
- Wildfire smoke can increase the risk of contracting Covid. Let’s do neither?
Get more:
- Get more news, analysis, and Action Steps at https://www.importantnotimportant.com/
- Got feedback? Email us at questions@importantnotimportant.com
- Follow us on Twitter at @importantnotimp
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
- Take a nap you deserve it
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