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Climate records indicate that there has been a trend of decreasing annual snowfall totals throughout the United States during the peak winter season. However, New Jersey has seen a significant increase in snowfall over the past 126 years of recorded observations. The authors hypothesize that although annual snowfall has remained the same on average, the frequencies of major and minor snowfall events have noticeably increased. They found that there was no significant evidence for an increase in the frequency of minor events (1.1-inch to 4.0-inch events), but there was evidence for an increase in the frequency of major events (4.1+ inch events). The results imply that a warming climate might be opening up opportunities for more snowfall.

Economic disruptions and housing instabilities have for long propelled a homelessness epidemic among adults and youth in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this phenomenon with a 2.2% increase in the number of homeless individuals and more than 70% of Americans fearing this outcome for themselves. This study aimed to analyze the perception of homelessness in two groups: Those who have previously experienced and overcome homelessness and those who are at-risk for experiencing the same. The study analyzed publicly available Reddit posts by people in both groups and found that at-risk individuals tended to associate primarily fearful emotions with the event, and those who had overcome homelessness tended to view the event in a negative context. These results may encourage the establishment of resources to support the currently homeless and help them transition into society, and services to help them cope with negative emotions, as negative attitudes have been shown to decrease life expectancy.

Consumption of non-alcoholic beverages, like non-alcoholic beer, is growing in popularity in the United States. These beverages raise important societal questions, such as whether minors should be allowed to purchase or consume non-alcoholic beer. An and An investigate this issue by surveying adults to see if they support minors purchasing and consuming non-alcoholic beer.

Commercial Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) produce large quantities of waste material from the animals being housed in them. These feedlots found across the United States contain livestock that produce waste that results in hazardous runoff. This study examines how CAFOs affect water sources by testing for Escherichia Coli (E. coli) content in bodies of water near CAFOs.

This study examined how social determinants of health (SDH) relate to vision loss by analyzing publicly available data from 18 northern and southern U.S. states and using Bayesian correlation analysis.

In this study, the authors survey middle and high school students in different states in the U.S. to evaluate stress levels, learning experiences, and activity levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors explored the effects of the Mount Laurel Doctrine on housing affordability, unemployment rate, and civilian labor force in Burlington County, New Jersey compared to nearby counties.

Researching gun violence and mass shootings in the U.S. is difficult due to the lack of consistent data collection. Some studies have linked mass shootings to personal financial stress, but little formal research exists on the impact of broader economic conditions. This study hypothesized an inverse relationship between mass shootings and economic performance, using the S&P 500 and unemployment rate as indicators.

Here the authors investigated the use of an affordable gas sensor to detect volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions as an early indicator of tree disease, finding statistically significant differences in VOCs between diseased and non-diseased ash, beech, and maple trees. They suggest this sensor has potential for widespread early disease detection, but call for further research with larger sample sizes and diverse locations.

Hemani et al. tackled the problem of rampant hospital waste by implementing staff training to help inform hospital workers about proper waste disposal. The authors observed a significant increase in proper waste disposal after the training, showing that simple strategies, such as in-person classroom training and posters, can have a profound effect on limiting improper waste handling.