Join Professor Gunnar Schade of Texas A&M University to learn about the issue of air pollution. Air pollution is a major factor for public health throughout the world. An increasing human population, increasingly clustered in urban areas, is exposed to a variety of air pollutants. Among the common pollutants, fine particulate matter and ozone exposure dominate health effects, which have become much better understood in the last two decades. While air quality has improved in much of the western world, population growth and the continued usage of fossil fuels to power economic growth has worsened air quality almost everywhere else. As the overwhelming amount of air pollution is caused by fossil fuels, namely their mining, combustion and widespread consumer use, a rapid transition to renewable energy use alongside the “electrification of everything” is expected to near eliminate air pollution as an environmental problem in the 21st century. Whether this can be achieved is therefore closely linked to climate change mitigation via phasing out fossil fuel use in energy production and agriculture. Time for interactive discussion will be provided after his talk.  Register for this talk on www.eventbrite.com at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-big-four-major-global-environmental-issues-their-causes-effects-s-tickets-378315811777. All registrants will receive a recording of the talk afterward.  Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com for more information.

Join Professor Sylvia Dee of Rice University to consider climate change, its causes, impacts, and solutions.  There is now a long-established global scientific consensus that climate change will damage human and natural systems at high expense. Climate change-induced disruptions to human-environment interactions occur via impacts such as sea level rise, storm surge, tropical cyclones, and degradation of ecosystems and resources.  Earth is already responding more quickly than predicted to rapidly shifting, pervasive radiative forcing. Our species’ future will depend on our ability to adapt to and mitigate this response.  Houston provides a geopolitically relevant model city for the impacts of climate change in low-lying coastal zones in the subtropics, where, globally, the highest development rates are occurring. The increasing frequency of flooding due to tropical storms and extreme rainfall have already cost hundreds of billions of dollars, and pose an existential threat to the nation’s energy security.  Houston is ground zero for the study of the impacts of climate change on coastal cities and energy infrastructure. In cities housing critical hubs for the petrochemical industry, the economic effects of climate change will resonate widely.  In this talk, Dr. Dee will summarize the science of climate change and the social challenges that accompany it, as well as the urgent need for solutions that can be adopted now to mitigate the social and economic consequences of environmental degradation. Time for interactive discussion will be provided after her talk. Register for this talk on www.eventbrite.com at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-big-four-major-global-environmental-issues-their-causes-effects-s-tickets-378315811777. All registrants will receive a recording of the talk afterward.  Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com for more information.

Gardening and growing fruit, vegetables, and herbs organically is easy when recreating systems of nature to incorporate plants for wildlife and for people. Gardening in the gulf coast climate allows us to grow year around. Carol Burton, Director of Garden Education at Urban Harvest will explore the seasons from Summer gardening strategies to Fall transitions for a bumper cool season crop and the top five fruit trees to get started. Time for interactive discussion with the speaker will be provided.  Please register for this talk on www.eventbrite.com. Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com with any questions.

Join Professor Kerri Crawford of the University of Houston for a talk on the issue of biodiversity loss.  Our planet is home to millions of species that rely on each other and provide important ecosystem services. Humans, too, rely on nature — but we take a disproportionate amount of the resources and modify the environment in ways that negatively affect other species. Our effects on the environment are directly causing what many have termed “the 6th mass extinction.” In this presentation, Dr. Crawford will provide information on what biodiversity is, how quickly we are losing biodiversity, why biodiversity is important for us, and what is being done to protect biodiversity.  Time for interactive discussion will be provided after her talk.  Register for this talk on www.eventbrite.com. All registrants will receive a recording of the talk afterward.  Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com for more information.

It is well known that global warming and associated climate changes are linked to the increase of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. Humans generate anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane in many different ways. A carbon footprint is the total amount of carbon dioxide and methane that are generated as a result of an individual’s actions per year. The average carbon footprint of the U.S. is 16 tons, which is much higher than global average (about 4 tons). To avoid catastrophic climate change, nations across the globe agreed to reduce the global average carbon footprint to 2 tons by 2050. The major contributors to carbon footprint include transportation, consumption of food, other products and household energy use. Join Professor Hyun-Min Hwang of Texas Southern University to learn how we can make significant reductions in our carbon footprints.   Time for interactive discussion with the speaker will be provided.  Please register for this talk on www.eventbrite.com at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-reduce-your-carbon-footprint-tickets-400699070707. Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com with any questions.

Do you love the Second Ward? Do you have some time next week to come and talk to us about why? 

Join Kam Franklin and Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC) for a week of music, fashion, connection, healing, and environmental education.

Second Ward Healing Hours are part of the Houston Inspira public health storytelling campaign.

The week-long event will feature local DJ’s, a food and arts market, and an open recording studio for community members to tell their stories. In 2023, Kam will release several new songs and a visual EP about Second Ward and environmental public health, incorporating stories and testimonials captured during the event.

Sequin Sanctuary will be selling vintage pieces from Kam’s own closet to further promote sustainable fashion, and all money made from the closet during the week will be donated to support CEC.

Do you love the Second Ward? Do you have some time next week to come and talk to us about why? 

Join Kam Franklin and Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC) for a week of music, fashion, connection, healing, and environmental education.

Second Ward Healing Hours are part of the Houston Inspira public health storytelling campaign.

The week-long event will feature local DJ’s, a food and arts market, and an open recording studio for community members to tell their stories. In 2023, Kam will release several new songs and a visual EP about Second Ward and environmental public health, incorporating stories and testimonials captured during the event.

Sequin Sanctuary will be selling vintage pieces from Kam’s own closet to further promote sustainable fashion, and all money made from the closet during the week will be donated to support CEC.

Do you love the Second Ward? Do you have some time next week to come and talk to us about why? 

Join Kam Franklin and Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC) for a week of music, fashion, connection, healing, and environmental education.

Second Ward Healing Hours are part of the Houston Inspira public health storytelling campaign.

The week-long event will feature local DJ’s, a food and arts market, and an open recording studio for community members to tell their stories. In 2023, Kam will release several new songs and a visual EP about Second Ward and environmental public health, incorporating stories and testimonials captured during the event.

Sequin Sanctuary will be selling vintage pieces from Kam’s own closet to further promote sustainable fashion, and all money made from the closet during the week will be donated to support CEC.

Do you love the Second Ward? Do you have some time next week to come and talk to us about why? 

Join Kam Franklin and Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC) for a week of music, fashion, connection, healing, and environmental education.

Second Ward Healing Hours are part of the Houston Inspira public health storytelling campaign.

The week-long event will feature local DJ’s, a food and arts market, and an open recording studio for community members to tell their stories. In 2023, Kam will release several new songs and a visual EP about Second Ward and environmental public health, incorporating stories and testimonials captured during the event.

Sequin Sanctuary will be selling vintage pieces from Kam’s own closet to further promote sustainable fashion, and all money made from the closet during the week will be donated to support CEC.

Do you love the Second Ward? Do you have some time next week to come and talk to us about why? 

Join Kam Franklin and Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC) for a week of music, fashion, connection, healing, and environmental education.

Second Ward Healing Hours are part of the Houston Inspira public health storytelling campaign.

The week-long event will feature local DJ’s, a food and arts market, and an open recording studio for community members to tell their stories. In 2023, Kam will release several new songs and a visual EP about Second Ward and environmental public health, incorporating stories and testimonials captured during the event.

Sequin Sanctuary will be selling vintage pieces from Kam’s own closet to further promote sustainable fashion, and all money made from the closet during the week will be donated to support CEC.