Questões de Concurso

Adapted from:https://linguapress.com/advanced/aeroponics.htm

Extreme weather events are deeply intertwined with global patterns of inequality. The poorest and most vulnerable people bear the brunt of climate change impacts yet contribute the least to the crisis. As the impacts of climate change mount, millions of vulnerable people face disproportionate challenges in terms of loss of jobs; physical harm; disease; mental health effects; food insecurity; access to water; migration and forced displacement; loss of shelter, assets, and community ties, and other related risks.

Some people are more vulnerable to climate change than others. For example, workers in sectors such as agriculture, fishing, and tourism rely on natural resources that are particularly sensitive to increasingly unpredictable weather and seasonal patterns. Female-headed households, children,  persons with disabilities,  Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities, landless tenants, migrant workers, displaced persons, older people, and other socially marginalized groups often have fewer financial and other resources to cope with and recover from shocks which might threaten their wellbeing and the wellbeing of their families. The root causes of their vulnerability lie in a combination of their geographical locations; their financial, socio-economic, cultural, and social status; and their access to resources, services, and decision-making power.

The poor are often not just among the most vulnerable to climate change, but also disproportionately impacted by measures to address it. These impacts can include increased costs of living, loss of livelihoods, and limited access to resources and support systems, which exacerbate existing inequalities and poverty trends. In the absence of well-designed and citizen-centered policies, efforts to tackle climate change can have unintended consequences for the livelihoods of certain groups, including placing a higher financial burden on poor households […].

While much progress has been made on the science and the types of policies needed to support a transition to low carbon, climateresilient development, a challenge facing many countries is engaging citizens who are concerned that they will be unfairly impacted by climate policies. Citizen-centered programs play a vital role in ensuring that resources are used efficiently. Engaging people in shaping climate action is equally critical for achieving lasting impact. This means ensuring transparency, access to information, and active citizen engagement on climate risks and green growth. Such involvement can help build public support to reduce climate impacts, overcome behavioral and political barriers to decarbonization, as well as foster both new ideas and a sense of ownership over solutions.

Moreover, communities bring unique perspectives, skills, and a wealth of knowledge to the challenge of strengthening resilience and addressing climate change. They should be engaged as partners in resilience-building rather than being regarded merely as beneficiaries. Research and experience show that community leaders can successfully set priorities, influence ownership, as well as design and implement investment programs that are responsive to their community’s own needs. A 2022 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognizes the value of diverse forms of knowledge — such as scientific, Indigenous, and local knowledge — in building climate resilience. Innovations in the architecture of climate finance can connect communities and marginalized groups to the policy, technical, and financial assistance that they need for locally relevant and effective development outcomes.

From: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/social-dimensions-of-climate-change

The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth.

Seattle Public Schools filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court. The 91-page complaint says the social media companies have created a public nuisance by targeting their products to children.

It blames them for worsening mental health and behavioral disorders including anxiety, depression, disordered eating and cyberbullying; making it more difficult to educate students; and forcing schools to take steps such as hiring additional mental health professionals, developing lesson plans about the effects of social media, and providing additional training to teachers.

"Defendants have successfully exploited the vulnerable brains of youth, hooking tens of millions of students across the country into positive feedback loops of excessive use and abuse of Defendants' social media platforms, " the complaint said. "Worse, the content Defendants curate and direct to youth is too often harmful and exploitive ...."

Meta, Google, Snap and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday.

While federal law — Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — helps protect online companies from liability arising from what third-party users post on their platforms, the lawsuit argues that provision does not protect the tech giants' behavior in this case.

"Plaintiff is not alleging Defendants are liable for what third-parties have said on Defendants' platforms but, rather, for Defendants' own conduct, " the lawsuit said. "Defendants affirmatively recommend and promote harmful content to youth, such as pro-anorexia and eating disorder content."

The lawsuit says that from 2009 to 2019, there was on average a 30% increase in the number of Seattle Public Schools students who reported feeling "so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row" that they stopped doing some typical activities.

The school district is asking the court to order the companies to stop creating the public nuisance, to award damages, and to pay for prevention education and treatment for excessive and problematic use of social media.

While hundreds of families are pursuing lawsuits against the companies over harms they allege their children have suffered from social media, it's not clear if any other school districts have filed a complaint like Seattle's.

Internal studies revealed by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021 showed that the company knew that Instagram negatively affected teenagers by harming their body image and making eating disorders and thoughts of suicide worse. She alleged that the platform prioritized profits over safety and hid its own research from investors and the public.

Available at: ttps://www.npr.org/2023/01/08/1147735477/seattlesschools-are-suing-tech-giants-for-harming-young-peoplesmental-health

(Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/stonehenge-1 – text specially adapted for this test).