Think Green Tech (2 of 2) September 5, 2009
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Coltan is mined in areas that contain many of Africa’s national parks, and these areas have to be cleared, resulting in large-scale deforestation. Resident gorillas of these areas then lose their natural habitat and food sources. This also expose the gorillas as prime target for poachers who sell “bush meat” to miners.
Majority of crops rely on honeybees for pollination. Without bees, crops will not reproduce.
We should listen to what Albert Einsten once said; “If the bees disappeared, man would have only four years of life left.”
Well, you can do something so help lessen Mother Earth’s burden. As a student and teenager, you have an important role to play in the world’s battle against global warming.
The first thing to do, of course, is for you to get conscious about green living. Here are some tips:
● Limit the amount of time that you spend on a cell phone.
● If you can, it is best to use a land line.
● Don’t just throw our old cell phone into the trash can, if it still works, find someone who needs a cell phone but can’t afford to buy one, and donate to him or her your old cell phone.
● Turn off your cell phone when you’re not using it. this will save the earth 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.
● Be informed and stay informed about global warming (some good sites worth a visit every day: www.stopglobalwarming.org and www.climatecrisis.net).
It would also help a lot if, before your buy a gadget, you check if the manufacturer of your cell phone—or any gadget, for that mater—is a green tech company. for this, you can use Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics (see picture on previous page). Let’s not patronize products from companies that don’t have a “green sense.” – Bato Balani
Think Green Tech (1 of 2) September 4, 2009
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How often do you break and change a cell phone? If you say every year, then you’re not helping the environment—you’re actually not being eco-friendly and you’re a big contributor to global warming.
Yes, your broken cell phone, if it cannot be fixed anymore, is destined to the landfill where it will create an environmental nightmare—cell phones contain toxic chemicals that are harmful to the environment and to all living creatures on earth (for more information on this, you can read Greenpeace’s report, “Toxic Tec: Not in Our Backyard” at www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/not-in-our-backyard.
Here are the harmful effects of chemicals from wireless technology:
● Lead: damages both the central and peripheral nervous systems; high blood pressure, damage to the kidneys and liver; adversely affects child development
● Beryllium: carcinogenic, especially for the lungs, upon long-term exposure. Extreme exposure can lead to a potentially fatal condition known as acute beryllium disease.
● Arsenic: causes severe damage to the digestive tract
● Mercury: attacks the central nervous and endocrine systems; harmful to mouth, teeth and gums; poses risk in the neurological development of unborn fetuses
● Antimony: toxic to humans in ways similar to arsenic; fatal in large doses
● Cadmium: potentially carcinogenic repeated exposure can damage the lungs, kidney, and liver.
you might have not noticed this yet, but the populations of honeybee around the world is shrinking, and we have cell to British studies. This phenomenon is called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), where worker bees desert the hive, leaving only the queen and eggs.
That’s bad news. Less bees means shortage in food supply. Why?
Did you know that cell phones can kill gorillas? Here’s the story: cell phones have tantalum electrolytic capacitors, which store the minute amount of electricity needed for cell pone circuit board operation. These capacitors have a coating component called coltan (short for Columbite-Tantalite), a metallic ore containing niobium and tantalum, which is found mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Cities in Hot Seat (2 of 2) August 31, 2009
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Hot and Cool Places
The UP scientists found out that the hottest place in Metro Manila as seen by the satellite images is the Makati Central Business District. Other hot places are the Ortigas commercial area, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Metro Rail Transit North, Port Area, and Chinese Cemetery.
Areas that are relatively cool are Wack-Wack Golf Course, Camp Aguinaldo, Manila Seedling Bank, Sta. Ana Racetrack, Villamor Golf Course, and the University of the Philippines campus. This is expected because these areas have wide open spaces and vegetation.
Global Warming Connection
In temperate countries, cities may benefit from the effect of heat islands during winter. A warmer temperature means people don’t have to use heaters anymore. It also means the ice and snow on roads will just melt away.
But in summer, the same city will experience the negative effects of heat islands; increased demand for air conditioning, air pollution, green gas emissions, and heat-related illness and mortality, as well as reduced thermal comfort. Although heat island can be an advantage in winter, its harmful impact during summer is greater than its wintertime benefits.
While UHI and global warming are two distinct phenomena, UHI may contribute to global warming as a result of the increased demand for air conditioning increases power plant emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Thus, strategies to reduce UHI can also help reduce global warming.
Fighting UHI
Metro Manila is a heat sink and has become a very uncomfortable place. Increasing the amount of vegetation in Metro Manila will help reduce the heat island effect. One way to do this is to make roof gardens and grow plants in backyards. The best long-term solution so far is to decongest Metro Manila by moving major institutions and key facilities always from the nation’s capital
Sources:
► Heat Island Effect, Basic Information. www.epa.gov/hiri/about/index.html
►Lagmay, Alfredo Mahar Francisco A. UP study confirms Metro Manila getting hotter. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view_article.php?article_id=63824
Cities in Hot Seat (1 of 2) August 26, 2009
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“It’s so hot here in the Philippines!”
How many times have we heard this line from foreigners or balikbayans? But now, we don’t hear this only from foreigners or balikbayans but from Filipinos who have been born and are living in this country.
And it’s not only in the Philippines that the weather is getting hotter every day. The culprit? Global warming.
Everywhere in the Philippines, environmental changes happen. A study conducted by the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology of the University of the Philippines (UP) shows that the temperature in Metro Manila has become hotter than ever before. And this is not all about global warming—there’s another story that contributes to this finding and that’s the urban heat island effect.
Heat in the City
Using satellite thermal images supported by air temperature records of the Philippine Atmospheric Service Administration (PAGASA), scientists from UP found out that air temperature in Metro Manila increased, compared to the adjacent rural places of Cavite and Bulacan. This increased in temperature in thickly populated places relative to the surrounding rural areas is called the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Average temperatures in places with UHI may reach up to 5.6 degree Celsius warmer than the surrounding countryside.
It was found out that Metro Manila’s average nighttime temperature in May 2007 was 2.68 degrees Celsius higher than that of Cavite and Bulacan.
Heat islands form as cities replace the natural cover of land with cemented pavements, streets, buildings, and other structures. This led to an increase I urban temperatures in a number of ways:
● When trees and vegetation are displace the natural cooling effect of shading and evaporation of water from soil and leaves is diminished.
● All buildings and narrow streets can heat the air trapped between them and reduce airflow.
● Heat emitted by vehicles, factories, and air conditioners may add warmth to their surroundings, further intensifying the heat island effect.
Aside from these factors, the intensity of UHI effect also depends on the area’s weather and climate, proximity to bodies of water, and topography.
Yes, Aerosol Is Cool, But . . . (2 of 2) August 25, 2009
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While the cooling aerosols remain suspended in the atmosphere for six days up to a few years, the heart-trapping greenhouse gases stay for centuries., and even when they produce a desirable cooling effect, man-made aerosols, especially sulfur dioxide may also pose an environmental hazard—they may induce acid-rain formation and cause lung irritation, cancer, and heard disease. Sulfur haze also obscures horizons, a common problem observed in highly urbanized areas.
The Real Problem
Dr. Michael Mischchenko of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies said that seriously considering the cooling effect of aerosols only prevents a clear recognition of the global warming problem. Natural aerosols may seem a remedy by partially locking off solar radiation, but they do not address the more pressing problem of accelerated greenhouse effect. At worse, they also have been linked to ozone layer destruction as sulfates and hydrogen chlorides may increase the amount of chlorine retained in the atmosphere.
Chlorine interacts with nitrogen and contributes to ozone layer depletion. There is also a danger of misinterpreting facts—just because aerosols produce a cooling effect does not mean that we should increase the amount of it that we deposit in the atmosphere to somehow delay global warming. That should certainly not be the case.
Dr. Mishchenko said that we should focus more on ways to control the amount of anthropogenic aerosols—when this is done, this implies a reduced use of fossil fuels, lowered carbon emissions, and hit-on-target approach to curbing global warming.
Sources:
► Atmospheric aerosols; what are they and why are they so important? http://oea.larc.nasa.gov/PAIS/Aerosols.html
►Bird, Deborah, Joel Block, Lindsay Patterson, Jorge Salazar. Fewer aerosols may step up global warming. http://earthsky.org/radioshows/51211/fewer-aerosols-may-increase-global-warming
► www.margarita-station.com/pinatubo_photos/pinatubo1.jpg
► http://newmediastudio.org/DataDiscovery/Aero_Ed_Center/Charact/A.what_are_aerosols.html
► Rosenberg, Matt. Mt. Pinatubo eruption. 5 August 2007. http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/pinatubo.htm
►Sjaak, Slanina, Aerosols. 18 December 2007. www.eoearth.org/article/Aerosols
► Sulfate aerosols and global warming. www.washington.edu/research/pathbreakers/1969e.html
Yes, Aerosol Is Cool, But . . . (1 of 2) August 20, 2009
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Must be that when we encounter the word aerosol, we only think those stuff that usually come in spray bottles and are sealed under high pressure. We.., that is just partly correct. In general, aerosols are miniscule articles that may be solid or gas suspended in the atmosphere.
There are two types of aerosol: natural and anthropogenic. Natural aerosols, like sulfates and hydrogen chloride, originate from volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grassland fires, living vegetation, and sea spray. They are generally considered to have no harmful effect on living organisms.
Anthropogenic aerosols, on the other hand, are man-made and formed usually from the burning of fossil fuels and the slash-and-burn agricultural activities. Sulfur dioxide and soot are anthropogenic.
‘Cool’ Thing about Aerosols
With the current fear on the catastrophic consequences tht unabated global warming may bring, natural aerosols seem a breath of fresh air. Studies prove that aerosols reduce the heat trapped on the earth’s surface by scattering and/or reflecting solar radiation back into space.
Climatologists are even saying that accumulated aerosols contribute a lot to the cooling effect experienced on the earth, and that our temperature would have been 75 percent higher than the present on without the aerosols. Aerosols may also act as cloud condensation nuclei that lead to cloud formation that, in turn, results to rains, preventing widespread drought.
But It Isn’t the Solution
Aerosols may keep the earth cool, but it definitely cannot prevent accelerated global warming. As long as human activities continue to be largely dependent on the burning of fossil fuels, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will continue to increase.
Global Warning Sends Forests Ablaze (2 of 2) August 13, 2009
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Study co-author Anthony Westerling of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego in the US said, “At higher elevations, what really drives the fire season is the temperature. When you have a warm spring and easily summer, you get earlier snowmelt. With the snowmelt coming out a month earlier, areas then get direr earlier overall, and there is a longer season in which a fire can be started—there’s more opportunity for ignition.”
Changing Function of Forests
Scientists believe that the increased frequency of forest fires will eventually reduce the density of trees and change entire forest landscapes.
The forests in western United States traditionally function as storage sinks or absorbers by taking in as much as 20 percent to 40 percent of the country’s total carbon output. But with the occurrence of more and more wildfires, these same forests are being transformed into potential sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide as they burn up.
Thomas Swenam, director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona in the US said that while lot of people think that the full effects of global warming are 50 to 100 year away, the fact is that the alarming consequences of global warming are already being observed today.
“It’s happening now in forest ecosystems through fire.” Said Swetnam.
Sources:
►Charles Q. Choi. Increasing Forest Fires Pump Mercury into the Air,
►www.livescience.com/environment/060821_fires_mercury.html
►Sara Goudarzi, Global Warming Fuels U.S Forest Fires. www.livescience.com/environment/060706_global warming_fire.html
►Microsoft ® Encarta ® Premium Suite 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation
Global Warning Sends Forests Ablaze (1 of 2) August 12, 2009
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On top of its already know consequences, such as rising sea levels and muddled weather patterns, global warming is expected to cause a significant increase in forest wildfires. This effect has already been observed in the highly forested region of western United States.
A study in the United States reveals that the dramatic rise in wildfire activity and intensity was due to the “rising seasonal temperatures” and the earlier arrival of spring. Wildfire season and intensity rose ”suddenly and dramatically” in the late 1980s in the US. Both the rising temperatures and the early arrival of spring are well-documented occurrences, with the latter causing a significant change in the migratory patterns of animals.
Dan Cayan, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Climate Research Division and Study co-author said, “The increase in large wildfires appears to be another part of chain reactions to climate warning. The recent ramp-up is likely, in part, caused by natural fluctuations, but evidence is mounting that anthropogenic effects have been contributing to warmer winters and springs in recent decades,”
Feeling the Heat
The study indicated that the average number of wildfires increased fourfold in the mid-1980s, as compared with records for the 1970s and early 1980s. in terms of intensity, the wildfires that occurred in the mid-1980s conflagrated a total area that is six and a half times greater than the total area recorded for the previous years. Wildfire season also appeared to have extended by 78 days from 1987 to 2003 compared to 1970 through 1986. That means more wildfires are to be expected for another two and half months every year.
The researchers also disc covered that 56 percent of the wildfires and 72 percent of the total burnt area occurred during years when spring came earlier than usual.
Chemicals That Make You Fat (2) August 6, 2009
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In the US, one of the national’ health objectives is to reduce the prevalence of obesity to less than 15 percent by 2010. The current data, however, don’t look promising for health officials. Clearly, something needs to be done before the situation takes turn for the worse.
The WHO suggests some strategies to be adapted by national governments, including: (1) creating public policies that promote the accessibility of low-fat, high-fiber foods, as well as providing opportunities for physical activity; and (2) ensuring effective support for obese citizens through clinical programs that respond to the existing burden of obesity and conditions associated with it.
As for vom Saal, he suggests that further research still needs to be done to isolate the specific environmental causes that contribute to childhood obesity. You inherit genes, but how those genes develop during your very early life also plays an important role in your propensity for obesity and disease. People who have abnormal metabolic systems have to live extremely different lifestyles in order to not be obese because their systems are malfunctioning,” he said.
Some Conditions Associated with Obesity
● Metabolic syndrome (Syndrome X)
● Type II Diabetes
● High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, atheroscierosis
● Congestive heart failure, enlarged heart, arrhythmias, varicose veins, pulmonary embolism
● Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), menstrual disorders, infertility
● Breast, uterine, and colorectal cancer
● Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
● Osteoarthritis
● Asthma
● Depression, body dysmorphic disorder
Sources:
► Obesity. http://en.wikipeida.org/wiki/Obesity#Effects_on_health
► Programmed For Obesity. Early Exposure To Common Chemicals Can Permanently Alter Metabolic System. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070218140845.htm
► Fetal Exposure to Common Chemicals Can Activate Obesity. www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2007/2007-02-16-02.asp
► Obesity and overweight. www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/
Chemicals That Make You Fat (1) August 5, 2009
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Check this out: your six-year-old brother is a picky eater, but he is overweight. Weird? You bet.
This happens in real life, and there are the so-called endocrine-disrupting chemicals to blame for that. According to Frederick vom Saal, a biological sciences professor from the University of Missouri (UM) in the United States, the effect of the endocrine-disrupting chemicals starts in the womb, when the baby’s still in its fetal stage, and make the baby likely to become obese. Of the 55,000 man-made chemicals in the world, about 1,000 may be classified as endocrine-disrupting. These chemicals can be found in plastic bottles, containers, pesticides, and electronic equipment.
Vom Saal discovered that endocrine-disrupting chemicals can change the functioning of a fetus’s genes, altering a baby’s metabolic system and predisposing him or her to obesity.
This individual could eat the same thing and exercise with a normal metabolic system, but he or she would become obese, while the other person remained thin, said vom Saal.
Using lab mice, vom Saal conducted studies to determine the effects of bisphenol-A and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The results showed that the chemicals caused mice to be born at very low birth weights. However, after just seven days, the mice’s body weights doubled and in follow-up studies, remained obese throughout their lives. This “overcompensating” effect can also be seen in low-birth-weight children, usually resulting in lifelong obesity.
A Glimmer of Hope
According the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 22 million children below the age of five are considered overweight worldwide. In the United States, the numbers have tripled since 1980, hitting mostly adolescents in the 12 to 17 age bracket. The epidemic is also on the rise in developing countries. For example, the prevalence of obesity in has increased from 12.2 percent to 15 percent in just two years. Clearly, the extent of the problem has alarmed world health sectors. – Bato Balani
