Potential Crisis in Environmental Health Research
A potential crisis looms with the loss of environmental health research due to the federal government canceling and scaling back funding.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University, America's First Research University, worry about the health and economic consequences for society.
"Baltimore is sinking, and the sea is rising,"
said Benjamin Zaitchik, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences, on a late-summer day in his office. He discussed the state of environmental health research in an era of extreme weather, citing examples such as excessive rainwater pouring into aging infrastructure and underground water-flow channels in Baltimore.
- Excessive rainwater pours into aging infrastructure
- Underground water-flow channels are unknown and complicated
- Soil doesn't stay frozen as long in January
- Increased rainfall leads to floods
Author's summary: Funding cuts threaten environmental health research.