A Few Degrees is All it Takes

Lets face it, we have to come to terms with the fact that global warming is a serious issue to our environment and to us in turn. Our wasteful acts have contributed to the problems that this planet now faces that could leave us in the dust. The newest factor may not have been on peoples radar before, but it certainly will be if the condition of the earth continues to worsen. The newest factor in the warming of the earths climate is its permafrost  or the melting of it to be precise.

Although there are many ways we have been trying to "go green" as it were, the thawing of the permafrost is not something that requires a great deal of change to our climate as it is right now. Scientists note that just a rise in temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius can thaw permafrost completely in areas where it is completely frozen now. This may seem like such a small degree, which it would seem to us as humans themselves would not feel the effect of such a change in temperature until it begins to react within the environment itself. However, this tiny margin is all that is keeping this planet how it is today.

Many may ask what exactly is so bad about the layers of permafrost melting. First of all, permafrost holds massive amounts of carbon under its surface from the many thousands of years of buildup. The sudden thaw of all the permafrost would release these mountainous reserves of carbon, much of which would covert to carbon dioxide and methane. These harmful gasses, also known as greenhouse gases, would then become trapped in the earths atmosphere and greatly increase the effect of global warming.

Another popular question towards his study is how exactly do these scientists prove that this series of events could take place. The answer is that scientists can use ice and soil samples to calculate the age of existing permafrost. They were then able to use these dates as references to the different speleothems, or ancient cave formations such as stalactites and stalagmites, which form when the permafrost melts in previous eras. scientists are then able to date these formations, and what temperature the earth was at when they formed. they were finally able to deduce that the temperature needed to melt the permafrost had to be at least 1.5 degrees Celsius more than it is today.

 Hopefully after reading this article, people will begin to take notice of just how drastically our environment can change with just the slightest tweak or nudge from our species. If every person were to pitch in and help to conserve the current temperature this planet holds, it can prevent major catastrophes from occurring and drastically altering this planet for the worse. It just shows that all it really takes to change the world is a few degrees in the wrong direction.

Link:http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/348585/description/Moderate_climate_warming_could_melt_permafrost

Paying With Your Health

Many teenagers and children are coping with the risks of eating too much at fast food restaurants. There are obvious risks such as early onset diabetes and heart disease. But in an article by Saundra Young, "Asthma, eczema, and hay fever may be linked to fast food", other more surprising health effects are recognized.

A study performed by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), gave questionnaires to over 300,000 teenagers 13-14 years in over 50 countries and to almost 200,000 children aged 6-7 in over 30 countries.


The questionnaire asked out the diet and whether or not the three illnesses were seen in the surveyor. The results showed that those who consumed fast food three times or more in a week increased risk for these illnesses by 30%, the results were constant for both gender and age groups.


Now being said,  this study is being taken with a grain of salt because it does not directly link hay fever, eczema, and asthma to fast food consumption. The study merely shows those who eat this way are more likely to have these comditions. With that theory, it is probable that soon enough there will be conclusive scientific evidence to show the other health effects of malnutrition.


This particularly relates to our biology unit on nutrition and cardiology. We discussed how when we eat such unhealthy foods with lots of butter, oils, and fats; we can consent to plaque build up in our arteries, which leads to a clogged artery and can cause a heart attack. That is already a scary side effect of eating fast food. Adding these illnesses only makes it worse. 


Personally I am not someone who frequents fast food and this just gives me another reason to not eat it. With the recent horsemeat scandal  in Europe and the pink slime uproar last year, I find my self amazed that people continue to go to these restaurants. The only fathomable reason I could think anyone who has seen said newsreports would chose this over a healthy meal, is simply because they lack the funds to do so.


In our country, we have access to lots of knowledge. Whether our food is safe, how healthy that food is, and where it comes from. We can have all this knowledge but without money we really cannot do anything. We could know everything about every single molecule of our meal but we have to be able to afford that or the knowledge is worthless. And that is unfair, that we live in a world where you have to be rich to be healthy. With advances in science maybe that sad reality can change.


So next time you walk into your national burger chain or taqueria or even a global chicken wing joint, realise the price you are paying. Not the 99 cent deal. But what you pay in the long run. The doctors visits? The hospital bills? All those medications and vaccinations? Look at that meal deal.  Is that burger now worth the price of your health later?

Read the article: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/14/asthma-eczema-and-hay-fever-may-be-linked-to-fast-food/

Find the pictures
Hamburger: http://www.sodahead.com/fun/hamburger-or-hotdog/question-3492379/?page=6&link=ibaf&q=hamburger&imgurl=http://hollywooddealz.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Hamburger.jpg
Sneezing: http://miron-constructionnews.com/blog_entries/fighting-cold-flu-season-naturally/sneezing-3-3/

The Impostor On Your Plate

A recent article in The New York Times written by Kirk Johnson describes a problem that most Americans aren't aware of. Survey Finds That Fish Are Often Not What Label Says sums up the theme of the article with it's title. 

I have seen the recent new stories about horse meat being used in Europe. Many people, Europeans and Americans alike, are appalled by this outbreak and have taken immediate action. Although Americans are not eating horse meat, we have a similar problem that few are aware of. A survey that took place across the country found that about a third of fish being sold in metropolitan areas are mislabeled. 

Oceana, a non-profit organization, took 120 samples of fish labeled "Red Snapper" nationwide. When Oceana tested the fish samples, 28 different species were found, including 17 that are not even in the Snapper family.

The samples were taken from restaurants, super markets, and sushi bars in twelve different cities in the U.S.. Which vendor had the most mislabeled fish? Sushi bars topped the list in every city, with restaurants coming in second. Grocery stores were by far the most honest about what they were selling. Sushi bars are most likely to take advantage because the customer's meal is chopped up, rolled in rice and covered in seaweed. Unless you happen to be an expert on fish, you won't be able to tell that there is any difference between what you ordered and what you've been served.

Seattle and Boston had the lowest rates of false identification, but about one fifth of the samples still proved to be mislabeled. In New York, 94% of tuna samples turned out not to be tuna. But deciding whether or not the vendor is at fault is where the lines start to blur.

The Federal Food And Drug Administration has allowed for some fish to be sold under different names. Would you like to eat a Patagonian toothfish? I didn't think so. This is the reason why the Patagonian toothfish is also known and sold as Chilean sea bass.

Fish being mislabeled might not seem like a big deal, at least not to you. But some mislabeled fish can be dangerous to those who eat them. Pregnant women should avoid eating fish with mercury, but some "Red Snapper" was actually a fish containing high levels of the poison.

I never liked fish to begin with, but because of the results of this study I will never order seafood again.

Next time you go out to eat, take a hard look at what is on your plate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/us/survey-finds-that-fish-are-often-not-what-label-says.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

A Global Disaster

 

Going out to eat with you family is one of the best ways to engage in a conversation with you kids. Eating seafood, burgers, salads are always a main course at any restaurant you go to. But what if you couldn’t enjoy seafood with your kids. Trying to explain the taste of a lobster or crab cakes to your kids is not the way to go. By 2048, when we are 50 years old “A total collapse of all world fisheries should hit around 2048”. This quote is by, David Biello, he is saying that if we continue to overfish reefs, seas, and migrating routes seafood could be gone forever. You might think that 2048 is far away but in reality you will only be 50 years old, if you decide to retire around this age you will not be able to enjoy and seafood on the menu.

 

Recent studies have shown that 38% of commercially caught fish have diapered and 7% have gone extinct. This is not just New England but other countries as well including Europe and France. Europe’s is one of the leading causes in overfishing, fishing 2-3 times higher then the U.S does. Also there is a 23 percent in species diversity and a fourfold increase in available catch.
 

This might sound good however in Ms. Lynn class she taught us in the food web it causes a reaction between all species by changing one food source. This can be indirect or direct. She taught us that every organism is connected one way or another so by killing off one species it affects multiple species. By the number of swordfish being only 8% then what it was ten years ago, this gives plankton an explosion in population. So now the number of plankton goes up the number of oysters increases to we catch more oysters and this is why overfishing hurts the entire world.

 

In my opinion I think we can return the numbers of commercially caught fish to normal if we decrease the amount of fish fisheries can catch. But we would need the world to engage in doing this because this is a world problem. When I first read this article I did not know that Europe was one of the leading causes in overfishing, but we are close behind them over fishing many reefs and natural habitats to these fish.
 
If you want you children and your children’s children to taste seafood we have too help save the aquatic ecosystems. I don’t want to never taste seafood again so we must join together and stop this world crisis.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=overfishing-could-take-se

 
 

 

Microbes Found in the Sky

In the article "Microbes Survive, and Maybe Thrive, High in the Atmosphere" by Lizzie Wake in Science Now (http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/01/microbes-survive-and-maybe-thriv.html) talks about the microbes that can live in the middle to upper troposphere.

In January 2013, a group of scientists from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta took air samples from NASA airplanes that were studying hurricanes. These scientists collected thousands of samples from 10 kilometer above sea level around the United States.

The scientists counted 5,200 bacterial cells per cubic meter of air and found that 60% of the bacteria were alive. Some of the bacteria in the atmosphere feed on oxalic acid, which is one of the most abundant chemicals in the sky. Out of all these bacterial cells, there were 314 different families. However, the scientists were not able to determine the species of the bacteria and if any of them were pathogens.

These microbes are brought to the sky by storms like hurricanes or tornadoes. A microbiologist named Dale Griffin explained that "storms serve as an atmospheric escalator plucking dirt, dust, seawater, and, now, microbes off the earth's surface and carrying them high into the sky." This quote explains why there are so many microbes in the sky and how they are getting there.

There is a possibility that there might be an ecosystem in the atmosphere. Microbes in the sky can also affect the weather, they happen to be the perfect size and texture to form clouds.This may result in precipitation such as rain.

In my opinion, I do not believe that microbes affect the weather as much as scientists think they do. In theory, after one storm, the microbes that are in the sky would form clouds and those clouds may create another storm. If this continues, everyday would be stormy.  In reality, you can't see how the microbes are affecting the weather. Not every microbe ends up becoming a cloud. So microbes would affect the weather less than scientists think.

This article makes me think about the cytology unit. The metabolic activity for eukaryotes and prokaryotes are either aerobic or anaerobic respiration. The amount of oxygen available decreases as the altitude increases. Thus aerobic respiration becomes less effective, and anaerobic bacteria would also function in the presence of low oxygen. The bacteria that survive in these environments either aerobically respire or use oxalic acid for energy.

Image: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/assets/2013/01/28/sn-atmosphere.jpg

The Continuous Drop of Polar Bear Populations

     The Polar bear has become known as the mascot of climate change across the world. However this mascot isn't cheering for global warming; they're calling out for help to put a stop to it. People question whether Global warming will ever be stopped or if it will just go on forever. Which also brings up questioning of whether it's worth trying to save these endangered species.

     I read an article, "Polar Bear Populations Drop: Researchers Debate Methods of Preservation" by Catherine Griffin on February 20th, 2013, that explained ideas to try and help Polar Bears survive in the wild. Polar Bears have been struggling for survival in the wild for quite some time. But now they've been dealing with more trouble than ever. There are only 25,000 Polar bears left in the wild, which leaves researchers stuck thinking about how exactly they can save this species from extinction.

     This week, The Lincoln Park Zoo is holding "Polar Bear Awareness week" to try to raise awareness on how people can take part in saving this beloved animal. Andrew Derocher, a biologist and Polar Bear expert recently published a paper with many actions to save the Polar Bear. One of his ideas is to use helicopters to airdrop food near Polar bears to keep them from suffering from their lack of food. However this would cost, $32,000 dollars a day. Another idea, Andrew Derocher proposed included moving the Polar Bears further up north where there is less chance of ice melting and more availability of food. 

     Most researchers reactions to these suggestions is that they were costly, and simply just too unrealistic. As much as researchers want to help save this mammal, they need an idea that can immediately save these species where they are currently. The populations have been falling, and survival rates have lowered. As global warming goes on, ice caps will continue to shrink making it harder and harder for Polar bears to find a viable place for food.

     Ever since I was a little kid I would hear about projects going on trying to save Polar bears from extinction. When reading this article it sounded like researchers don't know whether to give up on an animal loved all over the world that they have been trying to save for several years now or to keep spending money to try and find a possible solution for this endangered species. 

     A quote from the article, "Whether realistic or not, though, all these methods highlight the fact that Polar Bears may soon no longer be present in the wild." opened up my eyes. Everyone is scared that the next generation won't get the opportunity to get to know these special animals like we got to. 

     When learning about global warming in Honors Biology class, I learned that there are so many things that people can do to save this species. The Greenhouse effect is trapped gas leads to global temperature rise, which can have disastrous effects on earth's environment. By this definition we can all relate to experiencing this upsetting fall in the population of Polar Bears. What researchers have a problem in doing the most is raising awareness to help people notice that there actions are the reasons why these disastrous effects continue to occur. Human activity such as, destroying forests and burning fossil fuels has lead to this significant change in climate. 

     In Conclusion, We all would hate to see these Polar Bears become extinct. If we want to see these beloved mammals stick around we have to start right now to try and raise awareness to not only save Polar Bears, but all endangered species suffering from Global Warming. This article has made me want to change my life to lend a helping hand and I hope it has made you want to reach out your hand as well. 

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/5075/20130220/polar-bear-populations-drop-researchers-debate-methods.htm

     

Exciting Developments In the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer!

 Pancreatic cancer is one of the many types of cancer that has continued to defy almost all treatments. Patients usually live around six months after they are diagnosed. It is the fourth most common causes of cancer related deaths in America with 38,000 patients expected to die from it in 2013. There have been very few advances in treating it up until recently. In January this year, an article called “Drug Is Shown to Help Pancreatic Cancer Cases” was published in the New York Times by Andrew Pollack (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/business/pancreatic-cancer-drug-found-to-extend-life.html).

A drug called Abraxane combined with another drug (gemcitabine) has been shown to prolong the lives of pancreatic cancer patients by two months. After one year, 13% more patients that were getting Abraxane were alive that those only getting gemcitabine.

Abraxane is an exciting development in the world of cancer science. However, it is less effective than Folfirinox. It also costs more money ($6,000-$8,000 per month). An upside to Abraxane is that is simple and relatively easy to use when Folfirinox is harsh and requires the patient to wear an infusion pump.

The real question with this drug or any cancer treatment drug is: What are the real benefits of increasing your life by a few months when the drug costs thousands of dollars each month?

This article reminded that despite everything we know about cells, the body and biology, there is still so much left to learn. In our biology class we have learned about cell parts and how all of our systems work. But, we know very little of what there is to know about organisms. We can only see so much with microscopes. So much of what scientists do begins with an educated guess then trial and error. This gets the job done but it can take a long time. When it comes to cancer, time is something that we have very little of.

If I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I'm unsure if I would choose to be treated with drugs like Abraxane or Folfirinox. Spending so much money on something that will only increase my life by a few months seems impractical. I would rather save that money to help my family and friends with their lives than prolong my death. It sounds rather bleak and harsh but, doing this seems like a much more practical and helpful use of my money.

Despite the impracticality of these treatments, I think that any progress in the field of cancer is good news. Even being able to increase someone's life by a few months shows that we are one step closer to finding a cure. If a cure for any kind of cancer is found so many lives can be saved. It will give any patients and their friends and family so much hope.