I am currently in the process of transitioning my M.A. level course on Science, Technology, and Development with 11 students to virtual instruction. One of my interests in engaging with COVID-19 is to examine how it (should) informs development ideologies and practices. How should students of development studies retool -- conceptually, methodologically, practically -- in wake of the pandemic?
The Resilience Action Plan Team got a grant from the Kresge Foundation's Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity Initiative and they have the support of the city of Newark to enable their work and possibly shape their way of thinking about disaster and health.
The article talks about improving pollution in industrial neighbourhood but they forget to realize that there is water contamination in Newark and also the fact that what can be done to improve pollution rather than just stating to improve pollution but they forget about the pollution thats already been emitted, what can be done regarding that.
In this article, it is comparing how polluted Newark is compared to the country mentioning facts such as Newark residents face the nation's second greatest risk due to diesel emissions, the city being the nation's largest trash incinerator in the Northeast, and 25% of the school children in Newark face asthma which is double compared to the nation's average rate.
According to the article, Hurricane Sandy has caused severe damage in Newark and with the public health and safety in mind, the organization wants to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in Newark and help reduce climate change and make Newark more resilient.
Since Newark is a major port for all transportation methods, it indirectly produces a lot of air pollution because of most of these vehicles in result people living in areas close to the ports suffer more from air pollution in terms of health.
In this case, the hazard is distributed differently in the sense of geography because areas near the Eastern shore have had much greater damage rather than ones far away from the Eastern shore.
The organization called Resilience Action Plan (RAP) team is a newly formed organization so they did not get a chance to do something yet from looking in the article.
In this article, the researchers from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came up with a portable air sensor that can measure the levels of the particulate matter and nitrogen oxide in order to get data from the areas that are directly being affected by air pollution.
According to the article, officials were trying to evacuate the areas that they predict to have the most damage, move people to higher ground, tell people to stay indoors, and close all public transportation systems.