Weekly News Roundup - February 10th-16th

Climate Change

What tackling climate change means, illustrated

According to a new survey of public opinion in 26 counties, climate change is seen as the greatest threat to international security

Ice is melting, meaning polar bears natural habitat is disappearing, which is leading them to go searching for food in populated places such as Russia's Novaya Zemlya

Wondering how climate change will affect where you live? On average, city's climates will move 528 miles to the south if carbon emissions continue at current rates, and 319 miles if the world cuts back
A similar article with interactive infographics can be found here

Education

A critical new report from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General finds the department's student loan unit failed to adequately supervise the companies it pays to manage the nation's trillion-dollar portfolio of federal student loans

The House Education Committee is discussing the "chronic underfunding" of public schools as Democrats push a $100 billion school infrastructure plan

Is the boom in career and technical education one more fad, or does it reflect something more substantial?

Denver teachers were on strike this week. The strike should come to an end soon now that they snagged nearly 12% pay increases and yearly COL increases

Elderly

Every 65 seconds in the United States a new brain develops Alzheimer’s. Two-thirds of them belong to women, and no one knows why that is

The FDA has taken action against 17 companies illegally selling products that claim to treat Alzheimer's disease
A more in-depth article covering the same story can be found here

Another early-onset Alzheimer's gene mutation found, and traced back to Africa

Human Rights

Remember the baker who denied a cake to a gay couple due to his religious beliefs, resulting in a court battle of religious freedom versus anti-discrimination laws? Similar cases are popping up again in states like Arizona and Colorado

For almost 40 years, Cameroon took in hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from countries such as Chad and Nigeria. Now, Cameroon is facing its own internal crisis and is forcibly returning refugees and asylum-seekers 

Bangladesh proposes safe zone in Myanmar for Rohingya refugees

Mental Illness

No single dietary approach has been proven to be significantly better than others in terms of boosting mood and reducing symptoms of depression

Psychological interventions can stave off about 50 percent of new episodes in people at high risk of depression

A national health panel has recommended a way to prevent depression during and after pregnancy

Having a genetic predisposition to bipolar disorder is most likely not enough to trigger its development