Black Carbon Particles and Microplastic Fibers Pollute Glaciers

By Helen Gloege ’23

Staff Writer

Across remote regions of the world, microplastic fibers and polymer fragments have been found in ocean sediments, beaches around the Antarctic islands, in Arctic ice and in the tissues of living things. Microplastics have been found on Mount Everest, considered one of the most remote and pristine places in the world. Along with the discovery of microplastics, black carbon levels have been spiking, covering glaciers and snow-capped mountains in the Himalayas with fine black particles.

Microplastics generally refer to pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters that derive from plastic products and plastic waste. Microplastics found in the snow of Mount Everest in 2019 have set an altitude record for identification at 8,440 meters, nearly the height of the summit, which stands at 8,848 meters.

In One Earth, an environmental research journal, researchers reported that they had identified 12 fibrous plastic particles in each liter of snow from the highest measurement taken at the balcony area of Everest. Particles were also found in stream water at higher altitudes and at the Everest Base Camp where 79 plastic particles were identified per liter of snow. The samples were taken by a National Geographic research team as an investigation into the impact of climate change on the world’s highest peak. The collected samples were then studied by Imogen Napper, a National Geographic expedition scientist based at University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom, which was the first time microplastics from a mountain had ever been studied. Napper was surprised to find microplastics in every single snow sample analyzed.

It is theorized that the microplastics made it to Mount Everest through a climber’s gear or were blown by the wind. These microplastics were found to be mainly made of polyester followed by acrylic, nylon and polypropylene. These materials are commonly found in outdoor gear made from synthetic fibers that tend to shed trace amounts of fibers while they are worn.

Visitors to Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal and the slopes of Mount Everest have steadily increased over the decades, increasing the potential for forms of plastic waste. In 1979, the region hosted around 3,600 trekkers and climbers. In 2016, that number rose to 45,000, and by 2019, the amount of climbers had increased to the point that queues formed to take turns to reach the summit. 

There has also been a significant increase in the plastic products manufactured since climbers began taking to the slopes. About 70 years ago, companies manufactured plastic products at a rate of 5 million tons a year, and it is estimated that in 2020, the world has already purchased 330 million tons, most of which in the form of single-use plastic. It is also estimated that between 93,000 and 236,000 tons of plastic are floating on ocean surfaces. With this massive amount of plastic waste, it almost seems inevitable for microplastics to make their way to even the most remote spaces of the world. 

The presence of microplastics on Mount Everest doesn’t pose an immediate environmental threat. The biggest concern facing Mount Everest and other Himalayan glaciers is an accelerating rate of ice loss. Surface ice at base camp in Nepal is 150 feet lower today than it was 35 years ago. Losing these glaciers will significantly impact local communities. Millions downstream depend on the glaciers for freshwater, and they play a role in agriculture and the vital mountain tourism industry. 

As part of a Mount Everest expedition in 2019 by National Geographic in collaboration with other researchers, surveys were taken at the base camp and surrounding area of the Khumbu Glacier. The team used LIDAR, a type of laser scanning and photogrammetry to create a 3D model of the area. Based on digital reconstructions of the surface of the Khumbu Glacier and 78 other glaciers nearby Everest dating back to 1962, the collected data showed that the glaciers have been consistently melting since 1962 and are dwindling at rates over 50 percent faster than six decades ago. Scientists have also found ice melting at altitudes over 20,000 feet, levels where it was assumed ice should remain frozen solid throughout the year. This has been explained as the glaciers thinning due to decreased snowfall caused by rising temperatures. In addition to the Himalayas, glaciers are found to be melting in the Andes, the Rocky Mountains, the Canadian Rockies and the Alps, among others.

Another concern for glacial melting is the increased prominence of black carbon, more commonly known as soot. The process of burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, other organic compounds and black carbon particles.  Most of the black carbon in the U.S. comes from diesel engines, biomass burning, wildfires, residential heating and industrial processes. Diesel vehicles and open biomass burning contribute significant emissions. In other countries, black carbon emissions tend to come from brick kilns, ovens, cookstoves and diesel vehicles. The pollutant is potentially dangerous to human health because of its small size. Black carbon is linked with decreased visibility over a distance, harming ecosystems and causing a reduction in agricultural productivity. It also negatively impacts people’s overall health. 

Black carbon remains in the atmosphere for days to weeks before descending as rain or snow. When it falls as precipitation, the black carbon darkens the surface of the snow and ice. This reduces the albedo, the reflecting power of a surface, and warms the snow, therefore hastening to melt. Black carbon has fine particles that absorb light and about a million times more energy than carbon dioxide.

It is estimated that black carbon is the second-largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. Black carbon interacts with other components of particulate matter, so it is hard to know exactly how much black carbon directly contributes to global warming.

A report that came out this year from a study done in 2016 by scientists at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology measured variations in black carbon in Chirbasa, near the Gangotri Glacier in the Indian Himalayas. The study found that the monthly mean concentration of black carbon was at a maximum in May and a minimum in August. The concentrations varied between 0.01 ug/cubic meter in the winter to 4.62 ug/cubic meter during the summer, showing an increase of 400 times during the summer. The zone of measurement was far from sources of pollution, so the measurements are critical for establishing a baseline for pollution loads and estimating the contribution of various sources to pollution. The study was conducted in India which is the second largest emitter of black carbon in the world. 

Another study led by the University of Alaska Southeast’s Assistant Professor of Geology and Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center collaborator Sonia Nagorski, along with others, studied the Juneau Icefield, the fifth-largest icefield in North America. It is estimated that two-thirds of the area will be lost by the end of the century, and by 2200, the icefield will be gone entirely. Natural mineral dust is exposed by the retreating glaciers and collects on the surface. The glacier snow begins to melt faster as light-absorbing particles collect throughout the summer melt season. This creates a cycle in which the particles on the snow’s surface speed up melting, causing the particles to become more concentrated and the snow to become less effective at reflecting light. The study found 40 times more light-absorbing particles in July compared to May at some sites. In the case of the Juneau Icefield, it is likely that the wind blows black carbon from forest fires to the glaciers.

There is a lack of research and information about black carbon and microplastics that prohibits a full understanding of the environmental impacts of the pollutant. Until a time of greater comprehension, other negative impacts on areas like agriculture and health will continue to be discovered.

Chaokoh Coconut Milk Faces Allegations of Unethical Use of Monkey Labor

Photo courtesy of Pexels.

By Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23

Staff Writer

In recent months, multiple grocery chains, including Costco and Wegmans, have stopped selling Thailand-based Chaokoh brand coconut milk following a PETA investigation that found the use of monkey labor in several farms that supply the company. The use of monkey labor is not limited to one company but may be a widespread issue across Thailand’s coconut industry. Issues of transparency and accuracy of information lie at the heart of the controversy, as reports of the treatment of monkeys and the companies that rely on their labor vary widely.

As the world’s second-largest coconut exporter — Thailand exported around 70,000 tons of coconuts in 2018 — animal abuse allegations have significant implications for the future of the coconut industry. According to NPR, training pig-tailed macaques to pick coconuts is a practice that has existed in Thailand for around 400 years. The fruit is the main part of the macaques’ diet, and they are able to climb tall coconut trees with ease and drop coconuts to the ground where a farmer can collect them. For humans, coconut harvesting can be dangerous, as farmers must poke a pole with a sharp blade on the end up into the air to cut coconuts down. Multiple coconuts fall from the tree at one time and can hurt or even kill the farmer standing below.

Claims regarding the scale of monkey labor vary, making the issue difficult to navigate. On one account, conservationist Edwin Wiek stated in a Public Radio International article that the use of monkey labor has declined and now makes up the smallest fraction of coconut industry production. The article also states that monkey labor is an outdated method and, as such, is mostly used on small, independent farms rather than in large operations. Yet in another account, Arjen Schroevers, who runs a school that trains monkeys to pick coconuts using nonviolent methods, told NPR that “it would be difficult to find a coconut product made in Thailand that wasn’t picked by a monkey.” There is no exact data on the prevalence of the use of monkey labor on coconut farms. 

The additional debate over the treatment of coconut-picking monkeys makes monkey labor a murky issue. A PETA investigation into eight coconut farms found monkeys “fitted with rigid metal collars and kept chained or tethered for extended periods” and that the social animals are kept in isolation. The fangs that macaques have for self-defense are also allegedly removed in some cases to protect the monkey’s owner. In a contrasting claim, Leslie Sponsel, an anthropology professor at the University of Hawaii who studies monkey-human relationships in Thailand, told NPR that he had never observed any mistreatment of monkeys, and instead likened them to the family pets of farmers. The training of animals to perform jobs, such as service animals and drug-sniffing dogs, is practiced throughout the globe, and in many cases, without controversy. PETA’s findings suggest that monkey abuse does occur in Thailand’s coconut industry, but it remains unclear whether the mistreatment of monkeys lies under the responsibility of a handful of farmers or if monkey labor itself is indicative of maltreatment.

In other coconut-producing countries, such as Brazil and India, other methods of harvest are used, including platform systems, ladders and the planting of dwarf coconut trees. These strategies make the human harvesting of coconuts more efficient than the use of monkeys. PETA has developed a list of brands that do not source from coconut farms that use monkey labor for those looking to buy coconut products ethically.

Waste Colonialism Produces Global Environmental Concerns

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

By Siona Ahuja ’24 

Staff Writer 

In August 2006, a company hired by the commodity trading giant, Trafigura, offloaded large amounts of toxic waste into Abidjan, the economic center of the Ivory Coast, located on the south coast of West Africa. The vessel, the contents of which were rejected by many countries before being dumped on the Ivory Coast, was carrying 500 tons of fuel, caustic soda and hydrogen sulfide. As a result, 17 people died and thousands of locals in Abidjan contracted severe health problems with reported symptoms of burning skin and difficulty breathing. To this day, people report various skin and eye problems that they believe are related to the 2006 dumping incident. 

This incident is not an isolated one. Developed nations have been dumping their waste into the landfills of developing countries for decades, and have continued to do so even after economically developed countries tightened legislation surrounding waste disposal methods in the 1980s. This exploitative practice has been termed “waste colonialism.”

The primary reason why developed nations export their waste lies in the development process itself. Countries in the Global North produce hazardous substances through industrialization. Environmental justice scholars opine that reckless consumption patterns and the “rapid obsolescence of products” has led to overconsumption and large amounts of waste in the Global North while the landfills of the Global South end up paying the price, according to an article in the journal International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics. 

The import countries, many of them in Africa or the Asia-Pacific region, lack the infrastructure required for proper waste management and recycling. Such mechanisms are scant and concentrated only in urban areas, which means that large rural parts of these countries dispose of imported garbage into landfills or incinerators. Organic pollutants poison areas surrounding landfills, producing fatal hazards for local wildlife and ecosystems. The toxic waste also permeates the soil, which can contaminate groundwater and crops that humans ingest, resulting in detrimental effects like cancers, diabetes, bone disease, kidney damage and liver damage. Incinerating waste releases harmful chemicals such as lead and mercury into the air. Not only does inhaling these fumes cause severe respiratory problems, but these elements are potentially carcinogenic. More than 2 billion tonnes of non-hazardous waste is generated globally, and this number is projected to increase by 19 percent in the Global North and 40 percent in the Global South by 2050. 

To combat this exploitation, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, known as the Basel Convention, was set up by the United Nations in 1989. The Basel Convention seeks to establish secure standards for the transnational movement of hazardous waste. In 1995, the signatories adopted an amendment called the Basel Ban which prohibits the transfer of hazardous waste materials from developed to developing countries. The United States, one of the worst global offenders of waste production, has not yet ratified the Basel Convention so it is not legally binding.  

Even for member-states who have ratified it, there are significant legal loopholes that pose challenges to its goals. There is ambiguity in defining non-hazardous and hazardous waste along with what constitutes waste and non-waste. This creates a plethora of opportunities for member-states to escape the stringent controls of the Basel Convention. 

Until two years ago, China imported almost half of the world’s plastic waste. This ended in January 2018 when the country ceased all imports of scrap plastics and other wastes  according to its “National Sword” policy, overflowing the warehouses in the U.S., Canada and Australia and leading to an estimated displacement of 111 million metric tons of plastic by 2030. Instead of improving systems and managing their wastes internally, developed nations redirected their exports to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, to name a few. 

Managing imported waste also adds to the pile of domestic concerns developing nations face which include overpopulation, inconsistent economic growth and present pollution problems. This creates a vicious cycle of developed nations treating developing nations as their dumping grounds and then chiding them for mismanaging their garbage. This colonial mindset was exemplified when the American-based environmental nongovernmental organization Ocean Conservancy released a report in 2015 regarding solutions to marine plastic pollution. One of the core suggestions was for Southeast Asian countries to collaborate with foreign-funded companies to build incinerators and burn their plastic waste. This recommendation was vehemently opposed by the Philippines branch of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, which stated the effects of incinerating waste on the environment and health, especially in countries like China that are combating severe pollution. 

No amount of policy changes and international assistance is likely to make a difference if the Global North refuses to make a radical reduction in the production and usage of materials. “Disposable plastics are simply not possible without colonizer access to land. The end of colonialism will result in the end of plastic disposability,” wrote Dr. Max Liboiron, an assistant professor of geography at Memorial University, in an op-ed for Teen Vogue. 

Mount Holyoke Student Interns at Pfizer

By Lily Cao ‘21

Staff Writer

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. has recently been in the spotlight for being the frontrunner in developing a COVID-19 vaccine. During the summer of 2020, Sorcha McCrohan ’21 –– who has long been interested in working in pharmaceuticals, nonprofit organizations and public health initiatives to prevent meningitis –– interned at Pfizer’s New York headquarters as the U.S. Trumenba marketing lead. Trumenba is the meningococcal group B vaccine developed by Pfizer. 

After McCrohan’s mother passed away from meningococcal disease when she was 11 years old, McCrohan became determined to raise awareness of infectious diseases through optimal protection via active vaccinations. She became an advocate for the National Meningitis Association at the age of 15 and has since been invited to speak at various pharmaceutical companies and health care symposiums. 

According to McCrohan, Pfizer’s Summer Student Worker Program had to transition to a virtual environment due to the pandemic. Because of this, she converted her outside garden into a temporary office space. 

Her final research project at Pfizer, which focused on how to increase Trumenba’s branded and unbranded consumer materials’ participatory nature, was presented to Pfizer’s U.S. Pediatric and Vaccines team. 

“Working at Pfizer gave me the latitude required to continue to pursue my goal of serving others by helping individuals safeguard their most precious resource: their health. I am grateful for my Pfizer colleagues who mentored me to navigate the global health market and become a part of a pharmaceutical company with a resolute commitment to improving their patients’ lives,” McCrohan said.

Despite COVID-19 Campus Disruptions, Students Conduct Research Remotely

Pictured above: Remote Research examples. Photo courtesy of Jaya Nagarajan-Swenson '22

By Casey Roepke ‘21

News Editor

When the March 2020 decision to close Mount Holyoke’s campus and move classes online went public, STEM student researchers faced a unique set of challenges. Labs were difficult to adapt to an online format, faculty could no longer teach using hands-on pedagogy and the fall module system made for intense schedules with little time between classes to absorb material. In the midst of a difficult time, however, some STEM majors have been able to maintain their outside-the-classroom learning experiences by conducting remote research with Mount Holyoke professors and science labs.

Isabel McIntyre ’22, an astronomy and biology double major, and Lindsey Hands ’22, a physics major, have had the opportunity to work on a project together for Visiting Astronomy Lecturer Jason Young despite living in different states. McIntyre began researching low surface brightness galaxies in the fall of 2019, and Hands joined her on the project, researching hot dust and star formation rates in LSBs in the spring of 2020 for a brief on-campus stint before being sent home in March. 

“Luckily, going remote at the end of the spring and over the summer didn’t disrupt our research process too much, because it’s not as if we are working with our subjects in the lab,” Hands said. “They are actually about 100 megaparsecs [approximately 2 sextillion miles] away.”

McIntyre felt that her switch into remote research was fairly smooth. “The transition to remote research worked out remarkably well for me,” she said. “On campus, we conduct our research on Linux computers. Remotely, I am able to connect to these computers through the MacBook terminal. … Our goals remained the same, but remote work added a few extra steps to our process.”

Because of the nature of astronomy research — scientists do not exactly have the capacity to observe galaxies in a lab — the bulk of Hands and McIntyre’s research has been on a computer. But using technology at home has created problems of its own.

“The manual labor that I do is fiddling with images taken by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and processing them with Python code,” Hands said. “A lot of the summer was spent troubleshooting how to get the data from the school computers onto my personal computer and then how to properly process it, which involves a lot of sending files back and forth from school to home. It’s easy to make a mess of files when you are constantly copying them and moving them around, [which is] a problem exacerbated by working remotely.”

Another obstacle to successful and productive remote astrophysics research is collaborating with teammates. “Something that is definitely frustrating about being remote is not being able to show images to the other team members as conveniently,” Hands said. “The screenshare capability on Zoom is a huge help, but it’s still not quite as simple as literally having the person in the room with you, especially when we are looking at very subtle variations in images.”

Hands also found that time zones proved challenging to navigate on her team. “Rarely is my team member in California chugging out region files at 8 a.m. their time [PST], while I am in prime grind-time at 11 a.m. [EST],” Hands said. “It’s a little silly, but research requires focus and discussion, which is hard to actually get when only one participant is working and the other is taking a break from work or working on something else or about to go to bed.” 

Researchers from other departments also felt the challenges of switching to remote research. 

Katherine Dailey ’22 conducted biochemistry research in the first fall module and found that transitioning into remote research actually caused her to change the focus of her project. 

“Prior to remote work, I was working on looking at the interaction between a specific protein in bacteria and RNA,” Dailey said. “When we went remote, my work shifted to looking at how our lab could use image analysis to quantify the blue [or] white levels of this bacteria. Within the experiments that our lab runs, the blue [or] white level can tell us about the level of interaction between RNA and protein or protein and protein in the experiments of our lab.”

Students in the Berry Lab — where Dailey researches under the mentorship of Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Katie Berry — normally rely on hands-on experiments, like growing bacteria, to reach scientific conclusions. “Transitioning from on campus to remote meant that our entire lab had to shift our goals, because we were no longer able to be growing bacteria in the lab,” Dailey said. “Our goals became less focused on discovering particular interactions and more focused on thinking about how our lab might run better in the future and how we could use technology to help us.”

Oliver Stockert ’21, another biochemistry researcher in the Berry Lab, is no longer able to continue his research project: studying a specific protein, ProQ, and its interactions with RNA binding partners in the physical lab. “The type of research I usually do is simply incompatible with remote learning,” Stockert said. “The transition to remote research was definitely challenging. Since all the projects I was working on involved me going into the lab and running experiments, I had to put everything on hold and look in a different direction.”

Over the summer, Stockert was able to shift his research goals and work remotely on a computational research project. Now, he is spending time writing his senior thesis. Still, he misses the in-person aspect of scientific research. “I miss being in the lab so much,” he said. “Even though research looks completely different right now, I’m so glad that I have been able to continue my work and take it in a new direction. More than anything, I am so grateful that my professor has been so supportive and has put so much effort into making remote research possible for our lab.”

Although Stockert’s own lab work could not be carried out remotely, some students continued with projects requiring hands-on lab research. According to Stockert, the Berry Lab has maintained a full-time lab technician, who has the ability to run experiments in the lab to help research progress during the COVID-19 interruption. 

Sophie Maxfield ’21 also had to change research focuses when transitioning to remote learning. 

Maxfield is conducting research for a biology thesis in Professor of Biological Sciences Craig Woodard’s lab. While most of Woodard’s research students examine hormones in fruit flies, Maxfield is studying a group of Ambystoma laterale-jeffersonianum salamanders, which consist of unisexuals — females without actual species and only one set of chromosomes — and bisexuals, males and females that have two sets of chromosomes. 

“When sexual reproduction occurs between these two populations, their hybrid offspring can have between one and five sets of chromosomes, and these can all go on to be completely normal, healthy salamanders,” Maxfield explained. “The specific phenomenon that I’m studying has to do with the death of these hybrid embryos. Weirdly, a lot of these embryos die before the first cleavage [split] event. After the first cleavage event, however, all embryos have a much higher chance of survival and all survive at an equal rate regardless of how many sets of chromosomes they have.” 

Similar to some other students, the campus closure forced Maxfield to adapt. “I had to shift the focus of my research entirely,” Maxfield said. Instead of conducting hands-on research in a lab, Maxfield is writing a literature review. “I’m … essentially compiling all of the past research that’s been done on the genetics of these salamanders in order to create a basis for researchers in the future to use when they study this,” Maxfield explained.

Despite the change, Maxfield is enjoying the process of writing a biology thesis, even remotely. “I would have preferred doing lab work, both because I enjoy that more and because I was hoping that my research would give me more experience working in the lab, but ultimately I’m getting a lot of practice reading scientific literature and engaging with a much wider breadth of research than I would have been if I was working in the lab,” Maxfield said. “In my thesis, I’ll be discussing how embryo development of Ambystoma complex salamanders might be affected by their genetic abnormalities, how their complicated genomes organize themselves, how they regulate gene products and how any environmental factors of the vernal pools and surrounding environment … might also influence their development.”

For Dailey, remote research required her to develop new skills like adaptability and resilience. “Being physically on my own, working on a new project on my own, taught me so much and forced me to learn to troubleshoot on my own more than I think a lab environment ever could have,” she said.

Dailey joins a growing number of STEM undergraduates with limited access to research in ideal conditions. “My work hasn’t been super focused on biochemistry all the time, which is disappointing because that is what I want to be working on,” Dailey said. “Instead, I am working more on developing Excel spreadsheets and using software — important components of scientific research, especially in this age, but not the same as growing bacteria.” 

Dailey’s concerns extend beyond the world of undergraduate biochemistry. “I also worry a lot about the skills that I am missing out on learning,” she added. “If I continue research in this or a related field, I worry that I will be lacking in skills that most undergrads with research experience develop.”

Though frustrating, Dailey still found remote research rewarding. 

“I am really so very grateful for the opportunity to be able to do remote research. I feel so lucky to be able to get any sort of research experience in this time and to continue to learn more about a field that I really enjoy,” Dailey said.

McIntyre was also grateful for the ability to continue research during the pandemic. “While I miss our lab on campus, I am glad that I have been able to continue research, as it is something I find fulfilling and am very interested in,” she said. 

“Remote research has genuinely been going much better than I’d anticipated,” Maxfield said. “In general, I'm extremely passionate about genetics and about research in general, so I’m still happy that I have the opportunity to do remote research even if it is different than I’d anticipated.”

As of Dec. 3, the College has tentatively released a decision to faculty researchers which would allow residential students to conduct research in person. Many students are cautiously optimistic about their ability to return to campus research.

“I would prefer to be working in my little windowless lab with more powerful computers, more monitors and more in-person communication and teamwork,” Hands said. “Modern-day approximations of lab work — and I mean literally being in a lab together — are just approximations.”

From One Pandemic To Another: Commemorating World HIV/Aids Day

By Anoushka Singh Kuswaha ‘24

Health & Science Staff Writer 

Since 1988, Dec. 1 has marked World AIDS Day — the first instituted global health day. The event is an opportunity for the global community to unite in the fight against HIV/AIDS, show support for people living with HIV/AIDS and honor those who have succumbed to complications arising from one or the other. As governments around the world create plans to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States reflected on its response to the ongoing HIV epidemic. The day was defined by the theme, “Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Resilience and Impact.” 

Despite being identified a mere 36 years ago in 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV-induced immunodeficiency, commonly known as AIDS.  In 2019, upwards of 690,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses. A recent Global Fund survey found that in sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS-related deaths have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began due to lockdowns and a diversion of resources to combat SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus. But even with these rising statistics, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is perhaps felt less strongly in our society today due to scientific advances allowing for treatment and a better understanding of the disease. 

HIV originated in 1920 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It spread to Haiti and the Caribbean before moving to New York City around 1970. It arrived on the West Coast of the United States throughout the 1970s. Health officials in the U.S. became aware of the disease in 1981 when otherwise healthy gay men in Los Angeles and New York began getting sick and dying due to illnesses that were typically associated with people with severely weakened immune systems. 

Initially, researchers and scientists referred to the syndrome that would later be called AIDS as “gay-related immune deficiency.” This was because the disease appeared to disproportionately affect members of the LGBTQ+ community, especially gay men. Later it was discovered that the disease also affected intravenous drug users, who would regularly become infected by sharing contaminated hypodermic needles, and women with male sexual partners. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created and used the term AIDS in a report describing the disease in 1982. 

This was not enough to quell the use of the term “gay plague” by popular media. The usage of the term led to stigmatization and discrimination against the people who had it. This attitude persists to this day, making it difficult for those affected with HIV or AIDS to become educated about and seek treatment for the disease or the virus itself. Days such as World AIDS day seek to reverse this stigma. 

HIV and AIDS are often conflated; however, they are not the same. HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system and can lead to the development of AIDS, or Stage 3 HIV. AIDS is a condition that develops as a result of the severe damage to the immune system caused by HIV. Stage 3 HIV can lead to greater susceptibility to opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. However, HIV does not always progress to AIDS. Treatments such as antiretroviral therapy (ART) can make the virus more manageable and reduce the risk of infecting others, but there is no cure.

There are several ways for Mount Holyoke students to educate themselves on the disease and ways they can get involved in the global fight. Students can support on-campus organizations that create awareness and aim to increase education surrounding the disease, such as Planned Parenthood Generation Action. Health Services is also available as a resource for education and potential volunteering opportunities through the Peer Health Educator program. For further information, people can visit websites like https://www.worldaidsday.org/ or https://www.aidsmemorial.org/ for more information.  

Weekly Climate News

December 3, 2020

• Outdoor heating systems have made an emergence into the outdoor dining scene as a result of the pandemic. Read this article on how they impact the environment. 

• A compromise was reached between European and Saudi Arabian leaders on climate change at the G20 summit.

• Bates Smart, an architecture firm in Melbourne, Australia, made plans to turn 1,200 acres of empty parking garage roofs into rooftop gardens.  

• A joint U.S. and European satellite that will monitor the world’s oceans and the rise of global sea levels launched Nov. 21. 

• Global warming makes Northeastern forests more susceptible to the large-scale wildfires that frequently light up the western United States. 

• Natural disasters are increasing around the world, leaving marginalized and less advantaged communities in extremely dangerous living conditions.   

• The United Nations will make building a global net-zero emissions coalition a priority for 2021. 

• Canada is set to put a goal for net-zero emissions by 2050 into law. 

• New Zealand declared a climate change emergency. 

Op-Ed: How the COVID-19 Crisis Reveals Barriers To Solving Climate Change

Image courtesy of Pexels.

By Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23

Staff Writer

Humans have long entertained a complex relationship with cooperation. In the U.S. specifically, praise for individualism and a mixed trust of institutions mark our relationships with one another and how we view ourselves within a greater society. While we can go through the daily motions without considering the complicated nature of cooperation in America, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the issue at our feet, laying open our society in a way that begs us to take a closer look.

Mask-wearing and social distancing have served as an obvious trial of Americans’ ability to act together with a particularly high-stakes incentive for collective action. Because masks protect others more than those wearing them, those who use them are choosing to benefit others at their own expense with the hope that everyone will do the same. A Pew Research Center poll conducted in August found that around 85 percent of adults say they regularly wear masks in stores and other businesses. While this number is admirable, an outspoken minority has been seen protesting mask mandates across the country. Many reasons exist as to why these so-called “anti-maskers” refuse to wear face coverings in public, one of which is a concern that mask mandates infringe on the rights and freedoms guaranteed to individuals by the Constitution. Individual freedom has long been considered a core part of American society going back to John Locke’s declaration of fundamental rights held by all individuals and the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791. American individualism has grown and changed since the birth of our country, and today it is often used as a reason to evade cooperation in favor of personal benefit.

State and local governments are also failing to cooperate effectively in response to COVID-19. According to an article from The Guardian, states with Democratic governors have enacted school shutdowns, business closures and other COVID-19-related restrictions faster than states with Republican governors. The trend of instituting state health policy actions along party lines rather than based on the needs of the community and the recommendations of scientists show that other motives are at play. Along with varying responses among states, mixed signals given by government officials from local leaders to the president have caused confusion about the correct response to the virus and made a cohesive campaign impossible.

Variation in the response to the virus is not completely irrational. Concerns over the economic and human costs of closing businesses are legitimate, but the virus pays no mind to state lines. Now is not the time for states to prioritize their own economic interests, as this does little to abate the virus and ultimately leaves everyone worse off. If there was a consistent and coordinated response from states when the virus first entered the U.S., we might not be in the condition we find ourselves in today: with cases matching the levels last seen in April and the economy struggling.

If every person chooses to wear a mask and every state institutes travel restrictions and closes public spaces, COVID-19 cases will decline and we will eventually return to our normal lives with fewer deaths. But this happy ending can still be achieved without total participation. A few people or counties could “cheat” and refuse to follow safety measures along with the rest of the country while benefiting from the sacrifices of those around them. Everyone has an incentive to cheat, whether it be social or economic, but as we see more and more individuals and states make choices that help themselves at the expense of others, we stray further from a virus-free future. 

The struggles we face with cooperation will not end with the pandemic. It is now more important than ever for us to look deeply at societal cooperation in the U.S. If we choose to learn from our mistakes now, we may be able to act together to protect the environment for the future. Climate change is one of the most collaborative issues humankind has ever faced. Every country, organization and person needs to do their part to avoid the catastrophic fates predicted by scientists.

We have seen in many ways how the refusal to cooperate has stopped potential strides in the fight against climate change. Struggles to pass climate legislation in Congress, corporations cheating on pollution restrictions and a growing league of climate deniers prevent necessary changes from being made to protect the environment in favor of political and economic gain for powerful people and organizations. Not only do these forces allow climate change to gain strength, they sow seeds of distrust in American society. 

As the challenges we face grow bigger and more complex, perhaps it is time to go back to the basics. We must consider our role within society, and the American government must consider its role as a world power. We must ask ourselves what drives our decisions and what we can do to build a better future — not only for ourselves, but for our greater community and those who will take our place in the future.