First, the Trump administration cut SNAP benefits. Now it wants to stop measuring food insecurity
An old business adage suggests that “what gets measured gets managed.” By that logic, we will no longer “manage” food insecurity in the United States after the Trump administration announced on September 20 plans to cancel the Household Food Security in the United States report, a long-running annual report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
City living isn’t good for a tree’s microbiome, study shows. Here’s what that means
Trees are home to all sorts of critters: birds, squirrels, frogs and more than a trillion teeny tiny microbes living in roots, bark and leaves. These fungi, bacteria and microorganisms play an important role in tree health; Beneficial microbes can help a tree take up nutrients or defend itself against disease.
But a new study in Nature Cities published Friday found that oak trees in Boston have a greater number of “bad” microbes, like pathogens and plant decomposers, than beneficial ones because of city stressors like heat and pollution. This disruption of the tree microbiome could spell trouble for the health of both trees and humans, according to the study’s authors.
OMG, why is it raining every Saturday in Boston?
There have been 12 Saturdays in a row with rain, according to Danielle Noyes, WBUR contributor and meteorologist with 1 Degree Outside, a weather forecasting company.
And yes, more is coming, forecasters say.
Mass. winters are getting warmer. Climate scientist calls it a ‘Delightmare’
Massachusetts gets 11 more above-freezing days in the winter due to climate change, according to a new report. And while many New Englanders may welcome this change, it does come with downsides. The finding comes from the nonprofit research group Climate Central, which looked at winter warming trends across the Northern Hemisphere over the last decade, and analyzed how much of the warming was attributable to climate change.
A new report shows how public land could be a solution to Greater Boston’s housing problems
The cost to rent or buy a home in Greater Boston are some of the highest in the country. In April, the median price for a single family home was $950,000, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. A recent report by Boston Indicators, the research arm of The Boston Foundation, highlights one possible solution: building housing on empty public land. The report found that developing on just 5% of public land in Greater Boston could create 85,000 new homes.
Could public land help alleviate Boston’s housing crisis? A new report suggests so
The Boston Foundation released its annual Greater Boston Housing Report Card this morning. The data, compiled by the foundation’s think tank Boston Indicators, gives insight into a number of housing market factors — from rent and home sale prices to rates of housing instability. The 2024 report also looks at an untapped resource researchers say may help alleviate the state’s housing crisis: Public land.
Sewage discharges increase risk of hospital visits for residents near Merrimack River, study finds
People living in communities along the Merrimack River are at increased risk of developing acute gastrointestinal illnesses in the days following large combined sewer overflows, according to a study from researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health.
Bar for lesbian and non-binary communities set to open in Boston later this summer
We hear from Thais Rocha, co-founder of Boston’s LGBTQ Nightlife Events, about the new lesbian and non-binary focused bar set to open this summer in Boston. Once opened, it will be one of fewer than 30 bars in the country that caters to the lesbian community. Plus, Japonica Brown-Saracino, a professor and chair of sociology at Boston University, joins us to talk about why there’s so few bars and how local LGBTQ groups are filling the void.
BU study finds local land boards dominated by homeowners in Massachusetts
Local boards that oversee land use and housing construction in Massachusetts are dominated by white male homeowners, potentially skewing their decisions, according to a Boston University study of nearly two dozen cities released Wednesday.