Climate lessons from the Little Ice Age

+ how public policy shapes fathers US Edition - Today's top story: Small climate changes can have devastating local consequences – it happened in the Little Ice Age [View in browser]( US Edition | 27 July 2021 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair This week and next, hundreds of scientists from around the world are hashing out the final details of a major global climate report. It’s a big deal. Every seven years or so scientists sum up the latest research about how and why the climate is changing. In the context of this summer’s deadly floods, heat waves and other extreme climate-related events, the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment will no doubt be sobering if not outright frightening. A few hundred years ago, humans struggled through weather extremes of a different sort that also coincided with a temperature change. It was called the Little Ice Age. Environmental historian Dagomar Degroot writes that it showed [how small disruptions to the climate system can have devastating local consequences]( – something the world can learn from today. Also today: - [The Federal Reserve hasn’t rejected a bank merger application since 2006]( - [Swimming gives your brain a boost]( - [‘The Taliban has not changed,’ say Afghan women]( Stacy Morford Environment and Climate Editor The Little Ice Age brought some bitter extremes. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565 [Small climate changes can have devastating local consequences – it happened in the Little Ice Age]( Dagomar Degroot, Georgetown University Globally, the temperature changed by half a degree Celsius, but it dramatically altered the likelihood of extreme local weather. Economy + Business - [Biden wants to crack down on bank mergers – here’s why that could help consumers and the economy]( Jeremy Kress, University of Michigan A handful of banks now dominate the US financial sector. This consolidation has resulted in higher costs for consumers and small businesses and put the economy at greater risk of a financial crisis. - [Keeping nonprofit CEOs out of the room when boards decide what to pay them yields good results]( Ilona Babenko, Arizona State University Since New York mandated new executive compensation rules in 2013, the state’s nonprofit CEOs have been getting paid less than expected while working more. Science + Technology - [Swimming gives your brain a boost – but scientists don’t know yet why it’s better than other aerobic activities]( Seena Mathew, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Mounting research shows that going for a swim can preserve memories, reduce mood disorders and increase mental acuity in all age groups. Politics + Society - [Taliban ‘has not changed,’ say women facing subjugation in areas of Afghanistan under its extremist rule]( Homa Hoodfar, Concordia University; Mona Tajali, Agnes Scott College Burqas and male chaperones for women were features of the Taliban’s extremist rule of Afghanistan in the 1990s. Those policies are now back in some parts of the country run by these Islamic militants. Health - [Domestic violence 911 calls increased during lockdown, but official police reports and arrests declined]( Jillian B. Carr, Purdue University A change in how witnesses, victims and authorities respond to domestic violence reports paired with limited social services placed victims in a vulnerable position during the pandemic. - [What is the HIPAA Privacy Rule? A health law scholar explains]( Margaret Riley, University of Virginia While the HIPAA Privacy Rule prevents health care providers from sharing your health information without your permission, it doesn’t prevent other people from asking you about it. Environment + Energy - [Snow can disappear straight into the atmosphere in hot, dry weather]( Steven R. Fassnacht, Colorado State University As rivers run dry in the Rocky Mountains and the West, its easy to wonder where all the snow you see on mountain peaks goes. Some of it ends up in the air, but researchers aren’t sure how much. Education - [Why Canadian dads are more involved in raising their kids than American fathers]( Kevin Shafer, Brigham Young University A fatherhood researcher argues that US work policies, income inequality, gender attitudes and health care all make it harder for dads to be highly engaged at home. - [New school planned by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine seeks to teach blend of skills to prepare students for real-world jobs]( Edmund Adjapong, Seton Hall University; Nolan Jones, Mills College; Shaun M. Dougherty, Vanderbilt University A new school proposed by music moguls Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine seeks to provide students with practical skills they can ply in entertainment and other fields. Is this a new model for education? From our International Editions - [Monkeypox in Nigeria: why the disease needs intense management]( Oyewale Tomori, Nigerian Academy of Science Recent developments have shown that Nigeria requires improved surveillance to keep other diseases like Monkeypox at bay while battling COVID-19. - [Should bilingualism change in Canada? The debate over Gov. Gen. Mary Simon]( Nicole Rosen, University of Manitoba Which languages get to “count” as bilingual in Canada? And who gets to be the “right” kind of bilingual? - [Could the European Union kick out Hungary?]( George Kyris, University of Birmingham Viktor Orban has once again flouted EU values with a new law on sharing material that ‘promotes homosexuality’. --------------------------------------------------------------- Today’s graphic [Two lines comparing the number of domestic violence police reports filed in Chicago in 2019 and 2020.]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation](. Not interested anymore? 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