We
evaluated whether provision and promotion of improved sanitation
hardware (toilets and child feces management tools) reduced rotavirus
and human fecal contamination of drinking water, child hands, and
soil among rural Bangladeshi compounds enrolled in a cluster-randomized
trial. We also measured host-associated genetic markers of ruminant
and avian feces. We found evidence of widespread ruminant and avian
fecal contamination in the compound environment; non-human fecal marker
occurrence scaled with animal ownership. Strategies for controlling
non-human fecal waste should be considered when designing interventions
to reduce exposure to fecal contamination in low-income settings.
Detection of a human-associated fecal marker and rotavirus was rare
and unchanged by provision and promotion of improved sanitation to
intervention compounds. The sanitation intervention reduced ruminant
fecal contamination in drinking water and general (non-host specific)
fecal contamination in soil but overall had limited effects on reducing
fecal contamination in the household environment.
Animal agriculture is a major producer of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to 14.5% of global emissions, which is approximately the same size as the transportation sector. Global meat consumption is projected to grow, which will increase animal agriculture’s negative impact on the environment. Public awareness of the link between animal food consumption and climate change is low; this may be one of many obstacles to more effective interventions to reduce meat consumption in Western diets, which has been proposed by many research institutions. This study analyzes how much attention the UK and US elite media paid to animal agriculture’s role in climate change, and the roles and responsibilities of various parties in addressing the problem, from 2006 to 2018. The results of the quantitative media content analysis show that during that period, volume of coverage remained low, and that when the issue was covered, consumer responsibility was mentioned more than that of governments or largescale livestock farms. In similar fashion, a range of options around personal dietary change was far more prominent in the media discussion of solutions than government policies, reforming agricultural practices or holding major animal food companies accountable for their emissions.
Pacific Islands often exemplify climate change vulnerability, yet little scholarship has probed how these representations translate to the media. This study examines newspaper articles about Pacific Islands and climate change in American, British, and Australian newspapers from 1999 to 2018, analyzing volume, content, and dominant narratives. These quantitative results are complemented by semi-structured interviews with journalists as well as Pacific stakeholders who engage with the media. Reporting on Pacific Islands and climate change focuses heavily on who and what are at risk from climate impacts; reporting on solutions is less frequent and dominated by discussions of migration. This overemphasis on vulnerability potentially downplays the importance of the resiliency and action of Pacific Island communities and positions the Pacific as a site for climate catastrophe, rather than climate justice. However, recent reporting may be moving away from overarching narratives of vulnerability, motivating continued research into these depictions and how they promote or discourage climate action.
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