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Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

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Global Network of Artists Addresses Climate Change

Hand with fingers painted green holding green plant leaves

Alena Koval/Pexels.com

The World Weather Network is an international coalition of 28 arts organizations that believe artists and writers should be a larger part of the dialogue surrounding climate change. A creative team at each weather station will conduct local programming on the ground and post “weather reports” on the network website over the course of the year. Project organizer Michael Morris of Artangel (UK) says, “We want to see what happens when artists and writers start to use their imagination and lateral kind of abilities to think through something which is difficult to think about.” The project will continue through June 2023.

The Fogo Island, Newfoundland, weather station that sits in the Labrador current, an “iceberg alley” along which melting ice travels, is focused on three different ecosystems. Other stations are located in Peru and London, where visitors can interact with a sound installation called A Thousand Words for Weather at the Senate House Library. One thousand words in 10 languages describing various weather terms were recorded and the weather outside the building as reported by live updates alters the mix, velocity and volume, so that on any day the experience will be completely different.

Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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