NPR Reflections

Reflection 1: "Ocean water along U.S. coasts will rise about one foot by 2050, scientists warn”

The story I found from “All things Considered” is about climate change, by Rebecca Hersher. It's about a scientific report on Sea Level Rise and how in the next 30 years the oceans will rise 1 foot. This was interesting because I grew up in a coastal town that has places that are threatened by the effects of climate change and this is important. I also found it interesting that the rate the oceans are rising is not equal between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

The reporter must have asked “Is this only a problem for low lying coastal towns? Are communities safe high on bluffs or away from the coast like in the midwest?”, “ “Can't people just build places on stilts to raise structures above the water?” 

The reporter, Rebecca Hersher, also read the report and deciphered it into an easy-to-understand news report. She likely was sent the report by NOAA and the scientists who are likely part of a public education campaign to encourage better stewardship of the planet.  She states the report's call to action at the end of her report, “the report makes clear that humans have a choice: reduce greenhouse gas emissions and control sea-level rise, or keep burning fossil fuels and face oceans that are two, three or even 10 feet higher than today.”

Reflection 2: “Art and music therapy seem to help with brain disorders. Scientists want to know why”

This story from Morning Edition by reporter Jon Hamilton on art and music therapy and brain disorders. I found this interesting because listening to music or playing music is known to stimulate the brain in unique ways. I think creativity is a great way to work through mental health struggles or a good therapy for disorders or stress.

Hamilton started the interview with a brief introduction to the story and a soundbite from his interviewee asking about their background. I would imagine this soundbite was prompted with, “Tell me a little bit about your experiences and how you got into this creative therapy for your mental health.” Hamilton has another soundbite from one of the creative therapists and probably asked, “How do you use music as an approach to help people with their mental health.” Another follow-up to this question could have been, “How does the brain respond to creative stimuli or music in general?”

I think Hamilton’s main lead was Michael Schneider, a veteran who suffered from a stroke during training, and Schneider suffered from complications following that involving, PTSD and anxiety. He probably developed his story by reaching out to the therapists Schneider interacted with and after that, asked the therapists which experts or researchers he could talk to who supported this therapy or studies. 

Reflection 3: “The first step to preparing for surging climate migration? Defining it”

“The first step to preparing for surging climate migration? Defining it” Shapiro explores the impact of displaced peoples by climate change. This story caught my attention because I understand that increasingly intense natural disasters have displaced and affected many, even in my hometown after a historic wildfire. Thousands of people in my town were forced to evacuate and hundreds lost their homes. Working in evacuation centers at this time, I found that my community could have been much more prepared and saw that this was just a small slice of how many people are forced to leave their homes due to a climate disaster. 

Shapiro’s first interviewee is a writer for the RAND Corporation. I think he would've asked, “How can we define who is migrant affected by climate change?” He also asks, “If climate migration exists on a spectrum, what’s the benefit to coming up with a clear definition that is inevitably going to dissatisfy somebody that thinks that the definition should lie on one end or the other end of the spectrum?” I think this is a good follow-up question, it addresses an issue brought up in the previous soundbite and confirms details and thoughts said earlier in the interview. 

I think the main issue prompting this story was how policy facilitates movement involved with climate-related migration. Climate migration is not the same as conflict migration. Climate migration may be an element of conflict migration and because of how climate migrants are so widespread and climate disasters occur over a wide range of situations, it is hard to define who is who.