Predicting hydrological response to climate change in the White Volta Catchment, West Africa

This study uses an ensemble of Regional Climate Model (REMO), to simulate and project the climate at local scale in order to investigate the hydrological impact of possible future climate change in White Volta Catchment (West Africa). The results, obtained from the REMO climate model, were compared to the observational datasets for precipitation and temperature for the period 1995-2008. The projected meteorological variables for the period 2030-2043 were used as input to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model which was calibrated (R2 = 0.88 and NSE= 0.84) and validated (R2 = 0.82 and NSE= 0.79) with historical data to investigate the possible impact of climate change in the catchment. The results obtained from the investigation revealed that catchment is sensitive to climate change. With a small increase of 8% and 1.7% of the mean annual precipitation and temperature respectively, annual surface runoff, annual baseflow and evapotranspiration recorded increment of 26%, 24% and 6% respectively

Human Health Risk Assessment of Artisanal Miners Exposed to Toxic Chemicals in Water and Sediments in the PresteaHuni Valley District of Ghana

A human health risk assessment of artisanal miners exposed to toxic metals in water bodies and sediments in the PresteaHuni Valley District of Ghana was carried out in this study, in line with US EPA risk assessment guidelines. A total of 70 water and 30 sediment samples were collected from surface water bodies in areas impacted by the operations of artisanal small-scale gold mines in the study area and analyzed for physico-chemical parameters such as pH, TDS, conductivity, turbidity as well as metals and metalloids such as As, Cd, Hg and Pb at CSIR—Water Research Institute using standard methods for the examination of wastewater as outlined by American Water Works Association (AWWA). The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Hg and Pb in water samples ranged from 15 μg/L to 325 μg/L (As), 0.17 μg/L to 340 μg/L (Cd), 0.17 μg/L to 122 μg/L (Pb) and 132 μg/L to 866 μg/L (Hg), respectively. These measured concentrations of arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were used as input parameters to calculate the cancer and non-cancer health risks from exposure to these metals in surface water bodies and sediments based on an occupational exposure scenario using central tendency exposure (CTE) and reasonable maximum exposure (RME) parameters. The results of the non-cancer human health risk assessment for small-scale miners working around river Anikoko expressed in terms of hazard quotients based on CTE parameters are as follows: 0.04 (Cd), 1.45 (Pb), 4.60 (Hg) and 1.98 (As); while cancer health risk faced by ASGM miners in Dumase exposed to As in River Mansi via oral ingestion of water is 3.1 × 10−3. The hazard quotient results obtained from this study in most cases were above the HQ guidance value of 1.0, furthermore the cancer health risk results were found to be higher than the USEPA guidance value of 1 × 10−4 to 1 × 10−6. These findings call for case-control epidemiological studies to establish the relationship between exposure to the aforementioned toxic chemicals and diseases associated with them as identified in other studies conducted in different countries as basis for developing policy interventions to address the issue of ASGM mine workers safety in Ghana

Rethinking “(Under) Performance” for Black English Speakers: Beyond Achievement to Opportunity

We draw on the concept of the opportunity gap explanatory framework in this study to problematize the notion of “(under)performance” of Black American (i.e., African American) and Black immigrant youth. Examining reading literacy achievement results of Black American and Black immigrant youth using a corpus of data from the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), we demonstrate the ways in which these youth self-identified as language speakers on the PISA reading literacy assessment measure, the influence of this self-identification on interpretations of their reading literacy, and the influence of other demographic factors on this achievement across subgroups. We suggest that the disaggregation of data for Black subpopulations can allow for a better understanding of the ways in which demographic, social, and cultural factors impact achievement within specific Black subgroups. We also highlight the need for reframing examinations of Black students’ literacies in ways that are humanizing. Implications for research, practice, and policy are provided

Exploring Factors That Facilitate Acculturation Strategies and Academic Success of West African Immigrant Youth in Urban Schools

Immigrant students in U.S. educational system experience challenges learning to adapt and integrate into new educational environments. Little is known, however, about factors that facilitate acculturation strategies of immigrant youth from West Africa and how they affect their academic success and challenges faced. Considering the current political discourse over the influence of immigration in U.S. schools, 20 immigrant youth from Ghana and Nigeria were recruited and interviewed in the metropolitan area of New York City. Analyses of semi-structured interviews revealed that teacher, parent, and peer support; social and electronic media; and extracurricular activities emerged as the factors that helped acculturation strategies and academic success. Challenging factors were dealing with sociocultural differences; discrimination, stress, and social integration; and language differences. The article discusses the implications of these findings for teachers to understand acculturation strategies to help West African immigrant youth to adapt, acculturate, and integrate into new school environments

Cross-Cultural Educational Experiences and Academic Achievement of Ghanaian Immigrant Youth in Urban Public Schools

The past two decades have witnessed a rapid increase of immigrant population in U.S. schools. Little is known, however, about factors that promote cross-cultural experiences, academic achievement, and/or challenges of Black African immigrant youth, which is particularly significant today in the midst of the current social and political discourse over the influence of immigration in U.S. schools. Sixty Ghanaian-born immigrant students were recruited and interviewed. Analyses, which draw from in-depth interviews and observations, revealed that resilience to succeed, teacher and parent support, positive school environment, past histories including educational experiences, and challenging factors of racism, classism, xenophobia, acculturative stress, changes in curriculum, language, and cultural discrimination emerged as the major factors that largely influenced academic achievement of these learners. This article discusses the implications of these findings for educators who are tasked to render better educational settings for Black African immigrant students to succeed in U.S. schools

The Case for Translanguaging in Black Immigrant Literacies

Black immigrant youth in the United States tend to be considered a new model minority because of the perception that they perform academically better than their African American peers. Yet, Black immigrant youth face challenges with literacy performance that often go unnoticed by teachers, which amplifies the invisibility of their literacies. I assert that nuances presented in the literacies of Black immigrant youth as they become Black, become immigrants, and become speakers of racialized Englishes, necessitate the use of a theoretical lens that allows researchers to foreground race and mediate the linguistic and cultural expectations of these youth. To demonstrate, I propose the lens of translanguaging premised on an integrated model of multilingualism. This perspective provides a basis for foregrounding racialized language to facilitate an ideological understanding surrounding how Black immigrant youth leverage Englishes in their individual linguistic repertoires (i.e., I-languages) to enact literacies. At the same time, it provides an opportunity to understand how these youth engage the often-imposed structural rules of shared grammars within and across these Englishes (i.e., E-languages) in ways that influence these literacies. By presenting Black Caribbean immigrant youth’s literacies as a unique example to foreground racialized language via translanguaging for examining the Englishes of bidialectal youth, I encourage researchers to empower youth to navigate theoretical tensions that remain central to translanguaging research. More broadly, I invite researchers to think beyond dichotomies while clarifying what it means for youth of color from varied backgrounds to leverage their literacies and thrive