by Diara J. Townes This week has seen an uptick in the news about mis and disinformation, particularly following former President Barack Obama’s Medium post on Wednesday ahead of his speech at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center this afternoon. Disinformation and Democracy Reading List Tomorrow, I’m heading to Stanford to deliver a speech about changes in the way we create and consume information, and…barackobama.medium.com

It’s a conclusive fact: climate change is the crisis of our lifetime. Everyone’s on board with that, right? Unfortunately, from America’s social networking platforms to the White House, that is not the case. …

Understanding the Rockaways, the recovery experience and what’s next with TheRockawayProject.org. On the night of October 29, 2012, Sonia Moise watched her car float out of her driveway into the surging waters of Jamaica Bay as Hurricane Sandy blew across the Rockaways. “Then I heard this gush of water. I…

With climate change strengthening storms, what emergency preparedness strategy does New York City have to get the vulnerable peninsula ready? by Diara J. Townes and Lakshmi Sivadas When Hurricane Sandy hit the Rockaways on October 29, 2012, hundreds of thousands of peninsula residents were left in shock. “I was here…

A gallery of photos, clips and comments from on-lookers during Monday’s dramatic funeral procession climate protest in downtown Manhattan. “Extinction!” “Rebellion!” “Extinction!” “Rebellion!” With a defiant declaration read by teenagers in front of City Hall, the New York off-shoot of the London-based protest group Extinction Rebellion shouted its clarion call to arms at 9am.

New York City Students skip school to make a global statement on the climate crisis. By Diara J. Townes Waves of people flooded city streets across the planet today, churning out an ocean of coordinated climate activism from Sydney to Berlin to San Francisco. “I heard them first,” said Eryka…

Helping the Youth Climate Coalition maintain momentum after the global strike on September 20th. By Diara J. Townes and Lakshmi Sivadas Since November 2018, Lakshmi and I covered climate and environmental actions by various activist organizations, such as WEACT, New York Communities for Change, 350.org, and the youth climate strikes…

September 6, 2019 The existential crisis of our lifetime took center stage Wednesday night, in a seven-hour back-to-back marathon. Hosted by CNN and their evening anchors, ten democratic presidential candidates aimed to be the breakout leader in climate policy, environmental protection, and, ideally, the free world. Many of the questions…

Climate change is blamed for sea level rise, worsening droughts, and record-breaking heat waves. And now Lyme disease has been added to the list. First found in a small Connecticut town called Lyme in the summer of 1971, the rash, fatigue and flu-like symptoms popped up in children playing in…