Tuesday, February 20, 2024
The far-reaching psychological cost of wildfire smoke Courtesy of OSU News
that year, devastating wildfires burned nearly 1.6 million hectares, or roughly 4 million acres of land, producing smoke and air pollutants that impacted the entire region. The World Bank estimates the economic damage from these fires at over $5 billion. According to a new study, wildfire The team aimed to investigate the smoke in Southeast Asia significantly direct causal impacts of air pollution affects people’s moods, especially when from these wildfires on people’s sentithe fires occur in neighboring countries. ment, while also accounting for the conDr. Rui Du, an assistant profesfounding impacts such as access to pubsor of economics at the Spears School lic transportation and the ability to work of Business, teamed with colleagues or shop. They also aimed to understand from the Massachusetts Institute of the potential geopolitical ramifications Technology (MIT) to study the impact of the emotional toll experienced by of windblown smoke plumes on public residents of neighboring countries due sentiment as expressed on social media. to transboundary wildfire smoke. The study specifically looked at “While the influence of climate the impact of severe wildfires that ravchange and environmental factors on aged Southeast Asia in 2019. During people’s sentiment and behaviors is not
a new area of study, we aimed to shed new light on the cross-border impact of wildfires on real-time sentiment swings due to a devastating natural disaster exacerbated by climate change. We achieved this by investigating people’s implicit mood expressions embedded in their social media posts, particularly on X (formerly known as Twitter),” Du said. The team gathered social media posts from seven different countries in the region,Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and used a machine-trained, multi-lingual algorithm to study the shift in public sentiment throughout the year. While the sampled posts didn’t explicitly mention wildfires or air pollution, the team found a notable sentiment drop in these posts as each region
grappled with severe air pollution from the wildfires. Du and the team found that the impact of the “Southeast Asian haze” on people’s sentiment was akin to the shift in mood often experienced from Sunday to Monday, which typically reflects the anxiousness and sadness people feel at the end of the weekend as the workweek looms. “The ‘Sunday-to-Monday’ sentiment swing is not something everyone experiences,” Du said. “So, to provide some context, the negative sentiment impact of COVID is something everyone can relate to. We found that the negative sentiment impact of acute daily exposure to the 2019 Southeast Asia Wildfire Haze was nearly 20% of that caused by COVID.” See Smoke on 8
Kluver inducted into National Academy of International Education Courtesy of OSU News
of all sizes and represent countries worldwide. “We are thrilled to grow the academy with
Oklahoma State University’s Dr. Randy Kluver, associate provost and dean of OSU Global, has been inducted into the prestigious National Academy for International Education in 2024. Kluver was nominated for the honor in the summer of 2023 for his innovative work in developing international education programming, his research on the role of international education in public diplomacy, and his standing among his peers in the field. The National Academy for International Education, initiated in 2021, is the first learned society dedicated to international education, serving as an honorary society and think tank made up of distinguished leaders actively engaged in shaping international education and generating knowledge to advance the field. Academy members represent the breadth of the international education landscape. Inductees are educators from higher education institutions and organizations
such an accomplished group of leaders who are sure to add their deep knowledge, exper tise and intellectual curiosity” said Robin Helms, chair of the academy’s executive committee. “The academy thrives on collaboration and knowledge sharing, and these new members will each bring impor tant and diverse perspectives to the great work being done among our members.” Kluver joined OSU in 2017 as the university’s senior international officer after decades of work ing in international education at Texas A&M University, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Oklahoma City University. His academic work focuses on the impact of media and new media technologies on geopolitics, Asian political communication, and public diplomacy. His passion is helping students to better understand the complexities of geopolitics and cultural issues around the world, and facilitating research collaborations that address critical global issues. See Kluver on 7
Tribune News Service Rosilyn Temple, founder of the Kansas City chapter of Mothers in Charge, shares a hug with a community member during a vigil to remember the victims of the Union Station Kansas City Chiefs rally shooting at KC Mothers in Charge headquarters on Monday in Kansas City, Missouri.
Vigil prompted by deadly Chiefs rally shooting highlights Kansas City’s ongoing gun violence Mike Hendricks The Kansas City Star
abouts, so it wasn’t all that small of a gathering, but far smaller than it should have been for as big of a problem with gun violence as Kansas City has, Rosilyn Temple said. “This parking lot should KANSAS CITY, Mo. be packed,” said Temple, — They stood in a circle in the parking lot of an East Side founder of the Kansas City community center on a chilly chapter of Mothers in Charge, a national violence prevention Monday afternoon, five days group. “This is a community after Kansas City’s Super problem.” Bowl parade and rally ended Last week’s fatal shootwith the death of Lisa Lopezing prompted the vigil’s Galvan and nearly two dozen timing, but if Kansas Citians wounded. A circle of 60, or there- were to hold one for every ho-
micide, we’d have them every other day. There were 182 homicides last year, Temple said, and 176 the year before. “This is not normal that we are allowed to be OK in our community for this to happen,” Temple said. “But it’s been normal that we’ve been having homicides, day in and day out for years and years. We have a problem.” How to solve that problem? Several speakers took turns at the microphone to offer suggestions behind Mohart Multi-Purpose Center. See Vigil on 6