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WVPE is your gateway to green and sustainable resources in Michiana. Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This is accomplished by finding a balance between businesses, the environment, and our society (people, planet, and profit).State, National and International resources on sustainability include:The Environmental Protection AgencyThe Natural StepSustainability Dictionary45 Sustainability Resources You Need to Know Explore ways to support sustainability in the Michiana area through the Green Links Directory.Sept. 17, 2019 from 2-3:30pm"Global Warming: A Hot Topic"Sept. 17, 19, 24, and 26All sessions are from 2-3:30pmGreencroft Goshen Community Center in the Jennings Auditorium1820 Greencroft Blvd.Goshen, IN 46526The event will look at possible solutions and suffering as well as consequences beyond warmer weather. The event will examine what other civilizations have or haven’t done when faced with environmental problems. Plus there will be an exploration of the biggest unknown in the climate system: What will the humans do? Paul Meyer Reimer teaches physics, math and climate change at Goshen College. The events are presented by the Lifelong Learning Institute. The Institute can be reached at: (574) 536-8244lifelonglearning@live.comhttp://life-learn.org/

Why Heat Waves Are More Challenging For Pregnant Women

By Courtney Collins

Published July 20, 2018 at 4:26 PM EDT

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Record heat is hitting the middle of the country, and Texas is ground zero. The temperature in Dallas today is expected to be upwards of 105 degrees. That's tough for anybody to endure, but it's especially brutal for pregnant women. Courtney Collins of member station KERA knows all about that. She's six months pregnant. And as she reports, that misery can be explained by science.

COURTNEY COLLINS, BYLINE: Walking across a Dallas parking lot at 3 in the afternoon in July isn't a journey for the faint of heart. The heat radiates off the pavement. And with few trees to shelter you, you can feel your scalp start to burn in seconds. Now imagine the trek with an almost 4-year-old named Bobby and a 2 1/2-year-old named Kate.

REBECCA MABERRY: It's like you're walking on the sun. And kids don't move very fast, and so I hate rushing them. But I'm just like - and then the car is even worse when you get in the car.

COLLINS: Rebecca Maberry has a preschooler, a toddler and is also 25 weeks pregnant with baby number three. She and I are both due this fall, and we happen to agree on what it feels like to be expecting a child when the high temp is hovering near 110 degrees.

MABERRY: It's just kind of inescapable unless I have a fan in my face, or I'm in water.

COLLINS: And we aren't the only pregnant women clutching iced tea like it's the elixir of life. Dr. Robyn Horsager-Boehrer with UT Southwestern says a heatwave is more challenging with a baby on the way. It's science.

ROBYN HORSAGER-BOEHRER: Pregnancy tends to be a state of vasodilatation. Your blood vessels are bigger. They're swollen. Your blood volume's increased. That in itself causes women to be a little bit warmer than normal.

COLLINS: And she says many of her patients found that out the hard way.

HORSAGER-BOEHRER: People never, ever think about what the weather's going to be like when they're pregnant. And that's what you hear, though. If I had known, I might have timed this differently.

COLLINS: And the weekend could be even hotter. For NPR News, I'm Courtney Collins in Dallas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.