Parasites

It is an amoeboid organism. The ameboid trophozoite form reproduces by binary fission and also gives rise to the encysted (when nutrients are limited) and flagellated forms (for swimming), which do not reproduce. It can be found all over the world. In the United States, it is mostly found in southern states usually in warm bodies of water. Several drugs have been found to be effective against the organism in the lab; however, most individuals die from infections even when treated such drugs.

Schistosoma mansoni

It is a trematode. It is also known as a fluke worm or flatworm. Eggs of the parasite that is infecting a human are released into fecal water, the miracidium hatches out of the egg. The form then searches for a suitable fresh water snail and penetrates it. After this, the parasite develops by a mother-sporocyst and daughter-sporocyst generation into the cercaria. This allows multiplication. From a single miracidium results a few thousand cercaria. Each of these can infect a human. They then migrate through the body in the blood. They try to find a partner of the opposite sex to reproduce. It occurs in Africa, South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Southern China, and Southeast Asia. Anthelmintic drugs are used for treatment.

Trichinella spiralis

It is a nematode parasite. This is also known as a roundworm. The adult worm lives in the intestines of animals such as swine, bears, walrus, and rodents. Male and females mate. The male dies and the female develops offspring. The embryonic stage is in the uterus of the female. The larvae then make their way striated muscle. Those larvae will coil and enclose themselves in a cyst. These cysts can live up to 10 years in this form. It is more common in Europe, Asia, and Southeast Asia than in the United States. It is now considered endemic in Japan and China.Thiabendazole and Mebendazole can be given. However, these do not work on cysts. Corticoids can be used to reduce symptoms.

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karen silkwood

Karen Silkwood was a nuclear technician that was contaminated by radioactivity while working at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron River nuclear facility in Crescent, Oklahoma. While working at the facility, Karen began to document in a notebook a variety of safety violations that were occurring at the plant. Karen believed that the technicians were being contaminated by plutonium on a regular basis. After a local union meeting, Karen got in her car to drive to Oklahoma City to deliver the evidence that she had been documenting over a seven week period at the facility. However, after ten minutes on the road, Karen was in a fatal car crash. Though police concluded that she fell asleep at the wheel, a private detective stated that he believed that Karen was forced off the road. The manila folder with the evidence that Karen was delivering to Oklahoma was never found at the scene. After Karen peculiar death, there continues to this day in the on-going debate over the safety of nuclear technology and the regulation of the nuclear industry. (Yourdictionary, 2010)

This story is slightly similar to the more recent story and move called Erin Brokovich. Both stories focus on how the environment and human health are effected companies. However, Erin Brokovich was a paralegal that was working for a law firm. She was assigned an assignment where she proved that Pacific Gas and Electric Company contaminated drinking water with hexavalent chromium. 300 cancer cases were linked to this contamination. The case settled for 333 million dollars and brought environmental contamination to the headlines. This caused many regulation changes. (Bio, 2010)

Since the United States stopped investing in nuclear power, another source of energy production was focused on. This source of energy was fossil fuels. This includes oil, coal, and natural gases. These sources of energy are nonrenewable. They are usually converted into electricity before their energy is consumed. Currently, they provide about 90% of the world’s commercial energy. Oil is the principle source of energy. It supplies about 38% of the world’s energy needs. Coal follows with approximately 30%, and then natural gas with 20%. It has been scientifically proven that the combustion of fossil fuel is the single greatest cause of atmospheric pollution due to the fuels’ incomplete combustion. This includes CO2, what many scientists believe is the main cause of global warming (Yassi et al., 2001).

Nuclear power generates electrical power by nuclear reactors that use uranium and thorium. This power source consumes small amounts of fuel and is generally very cheap. It is also very pliable. It is also considered relatively safe with the few exceptions of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and a handful of others. This type of energy produces far less atmospheric pollution (Yassi et al., 2001).

During the 1970’s, France, which was a country that was heavily dependent on imported oils for their electrical production, decided to break their dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Since France does not naturally have fossil fuel reserves, the country went towards a nuclear power infrastructure. In 2004, 78.8% of France’s electrical production was from nuclear power, the highest percentage in the world. They are also the world’s largest exporter of electricity (Enerpub, 2007). If one were to examine France’s production of carbon since its transition in the 1970’s, one would see that there has been a 40% reduction in carbon production, while the United States’ has increased dramatically (Dickey).

References

Bio, (2010). Karen silkwood biography. Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/articles/Karen-Silkwood-9542402

Dickey, M. Fear of nuclear power and global warming. Rebirth of Reason. Retrieved from
http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/dickeymf/Fear_of_Nuclear_Power_and_Global_Warming.
html

EnerPub. (2007). France: energy profile. Spero News. Retrieved from
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idarticle=9839&t=France:+Energy+profile

Yassi, A., Kjellstrom, T., Kok, T., Guidotti, T. (2001). Basic environmental health. New York: Oxford University Press

Yourdictionary.com. (2010). Karen silkwood biography. Retrieved from http://www.yourdictionary.com/biography/karen-silkwood

We’ve all seen at least a similar picture regarding global warming over the past few years:

Though global temperatures have risen over the past few years, can this be attributed only to an increase in Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emissions? I disagree. In a chart spanning the last decade, one can see global temperature fluctuations. The years of 1998-2008 show that CO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere have steadily increased, but Hadley and MSU temperatures show that global warming has dropped over the past decade. This shows that there is no correlation, negative nor positive, between the two factors.

One such explanation for this occurrence could be defended from the history of the Earth’s temperature change. An example that one could use to denounce the correlation between CO₂ and rising temperatures would be “The Little Ice Age”. The Little Ice Age was a period of time in the Earth’s history that consisted of unstable climatic conditions. This included increased rain and floods, crop failures and very cold winters. This period lasted from the 14th Century to the 19th Century. Before this change in climate, there was a period that is now referred to as “The Medieval Warm Period”. It lasted from the 9^th century to the 14^th century. For approximately 500 years the winters were mild and weather was considered stable.

These two examples can be given to show that the Earth’s climate frequently fluctuates over the centuries.

I also believe that there could be other factors that are causing global warming. I think it is too simplistic to give one singular reason if global warming is actually occurring. Once such additional explanation that could be added to the equation could be changes that are currently happening with the Sun. The following graph helps defend this stance:

To quote the website http://icecap.us/images/uploads/Solar_Changes_and_the_Climate.pdf: “Solar Changes and the Climate shows clear, graphic evidence that increase of solar magnetic flux decreases the ability of cosmic rays to penetrate the earth's atmosphere. This decreases low cloud formation which increases warming. Over the last 100 years, solar magnetic flux increased 230%, but it has plateaued at present. Also, solar cycle no. 24 is retarded and hasn't yet appeared. This last happened 400 years ago, before the Little Ice Age of the 1600's.”

More information can be obtained from the following cited that I used as sources:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.greenworldtrust.org.uk/Images/TPlanetSk/CO2-temp-recent.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.greenworldtrust.org.uk/Science/Social/Reconsider.htm&usg=__JWLsrVQGZX55XB390Xx3IipsWmA=&h=300&w=392&sz=21&hl=en&start=6&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=OzjuLkwBaxvzDM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcorrelation%2Bbetween%2Bcarbon%2Bdioxide%2Band%2Btemperature%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1

http://icecap.us/images/uploads/Solar_Changes_and_the_Climate.pdf

http://www.john-daly.com/hockey/hockey.htm

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32201.asp

Rachel Carson is indirectly responsible for the unnecessary death of millions of Africans as a result of publishing her 1962 best-selling book Silent Spring. Though Carson has been praised for raising concerns regarding the use and misuse of herbicides and insecticides, her extreme opposition has created a fear about using such chemicals. Her book has resulted in many policy changes that have restricted the use and limited the access of life-saving chemicals in Africa. One chemical in particular is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). Many countries ceased the use the chemical for malaria control once her book cataloged the environmental impacts of DDT use. As a result, many Africans succumbed to malaria.

For more information, please visit the following site:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-12_14_05_JS.html

The Silent Spring Summary, Chapter by Chapter

Chapter 1

Rachel describes a town in the United States where all livings things lived in harmony. However, something started happening in the town that began killing the living things. People noticed a fine, white dust that came from the people themselves (pollution).

Chapter 2

People have caused the change of having vegetation and animals influence the environment through contaminating the environment with chemicals. She talked a lot about using dangerous pesticides to kill a small number of pests. She also talked about how people who have control over these chemicals don’t know much about them.

Chapter 3

She basically stated that every person on earth is contaminated with dangerous chemicals to one degree or another. She talked about specific chemicals including chlorinated hydrocarbons, organic phosphates, and herbicides. She listed the chemicals under each group’s history and damage that they cause.

Chapter 4

The main topic of this chapter is bodies of water and how they are contaminated. She talked a lot about how pesticides contaminate water. She also gives the example of Clear Lake and how that taught many important lessons about pollution and water.

Chapter 5

Rachel talks about how soil is created from life (bacteria, fungi, mites, insects) and nonlife (granite, volcanic activity), and she talks about how it is important for plants and many animals to survive. She talks about the many organisms that live in the soil and how insecticides upset the delicate balance of organisms in the soil.

Chapter 6

This chapter focuses on how without plants humans would not be able to live. She talks about how individuals are trying to destroy sagebrush but states they probably wouldn’t do so if they knew the history of the plant. Herbicides and many other chemicals destroy plants that are not meant to be killed, and she lists the alternatives to using these chemicals.

Chapter 7

Insecticides are killing all forms of life on a massive scale. The use of Aldrin was discussed and how it was used because it was cheap and to kill the Japanese beetle. She gave other examples to support needless havoc.

Chapter 8

This chapter focuses on birds and how they are disappearing around the United States. A lot of the deaths are due to insecticides that are used to kill insects that the birds eat. She gives examples of documentation to support this claim.

Chapter 9

She begins with talking about how the Canadian government sprayed DDT to kill the budworm and how that caused many salmon to die. Northwest Miramichi salmon survived only because the massive spraying was done only once. She states no one knows the long-term effects of insecticide poisoning of estuaries, salt marshes, bays and other coastal waters and gives other example of how rivers and being polluted.

Chapter 10

She talks about two massive aerial campaigns that are largely responsible for changing the attitude of most people to now feel comfortable handling poisons. These campaigns include the gypsy moth in the northeastern states and the campaign against the fire ant in the southern states.

Chapter 11

Most pollution is not from massive spraying of chemicals but from spraying of small doses by individuals. Rachel talks about how the US government encourages the use of insecticides at home and does not inform about the dangers of these chemicals. She also talks about how gardening has become highly toxic.

Chapter 12

A drastic change has occurred in public health, from worrying about infectious diseases to worrying about the hazards of chemical poisoning. The problem is not large exposure but continuous small exposures. She gives the example of Dieldrin being used on lawns and how people aren’t aware of its effects on humans.

Chapter 13

It is stated that one must look at the cells of the body in order to determine the effects of chemicals on humans and animals. She gives an overview of how mitochondria work in living animals. She also talks about things that can go wrong like uncoupling and enzymes being destroyed.

Chapter 14

A discussion on how cancer has always been a problem with living things and a brief history of how people began to realize that cancer was caused by many types of pollution and exposure to chemicals. She talks about the dramatic increase in cases of cancer over the years.

Chapter 15

When people interfere with nature’s process of control, they upset the balance of nature. When people try to exterminate a specific animal, other pests may rise in population. She also stated that the balance of nature is always changing and most people don’t realize this.

Chapter 16

Over the years, insects have shown Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory to be true through becoming resistant to certain chemicals. Public health should be alarmed because certain diseases and insects are interlinked.

Chapter 17

Two answers to the problems of insect control are given. That chemical poisonings are expensive, ineffective, and dangerous and that biological controls have been proven to be cheap, effective and safe for everything. She talks about biological controls such as sterilization of insects are effective.

1) Please find a diagram on the internet that shows that global mercury cycle. Pick the one that you like and that provides the information that you feel is necessary to educate the reader about mercury occurrence and movement in the environment.

2) Do a bit of research on one more mercury researcher...In this case, please learn about Dr. Johan (Hans) F. Gottgens. Hans is one of my best friends and he is an exceptional scientist, researcher, person! Identify where Hans works, name the research center at his university of which he is affiliated (he actually founded the research center...but for some reason he doesn't get credit for it in the university website), name two papers that he published on mercury contamination and one papers that he published on some topic other than mercury contamination.

Dr. Johan F. Gottgens works at the University of Toledo.

He works for the Lake Erie Center.

Two papers about Mercury:

Leady, B.S. and J.F. Gottgens. 2001. Mercury accumulation in sediment cores and along food chains in two regions of the Brazilian Pantanal. Wetlands Ecology and Management9(4): 349-361

Rood, B.E., J.J. Delfino and J.F. Gottgens. 2000. Bathymetry, paleolimnology and mercury accumulation in a sinkhole lake in the Florida Everglades, USA. Verh. Int. Ver. Limnol.27: 2312-2316.

Paper about something other than Mercury:

Nelson, K.M.*, J. F. Gottgens and E. J. Tramer. Environmental correlates of tree species distribution in a Great Lakes tributary floodplain forest. Wetlands (in revision)

3) Find a picture of William (Bill) Fitzgerald, Marc Lucotte, and Hans Gottgens and post them on your blog and identify the universities, including department, address and e-mail address next to each of their pictures.

William Fitzgerald, University of Connecticut, Department of Marine Sciences, 1080 Shennecossett Road Groton, CT 06340, and william.fitzgerald@uconn.edu

Marc Lucotte, Université du Québec à Montréal, Department of Earth Sciences and Atmospher CP 8888 succursale Centre Ville, Montreal, Quebec, CA, and lucotte.marc_michel@uqam.ca

Hans Gottgens, University of Toldeo, Department of Environmental Science, 2801 Bancroft Toledo, Ohio 43606-3390, johan.gottgens@utoledo.edu

4) Find and post on your blog the fish mercury concentration ranges that are used to determine consumption advisories and distinguish the recommended actions for these concentration ranges (i.e. mercury concentration > ###, ACTION = nobody should ever eat the fish... OR mercury concentration between ### and ###, small children and pregnant women should only eat one fish meal per month). If you can find this as a diagram, you are well to post the entire diagram. Alternatively, you can type it out manually.

The US EPA states that all fish containing less than 0.3 ppm mercury are safe to consume. Up to 1 meal a week of fish containing between 0.3 and 1.0 ppm of mercury is safe to consume. Fish containing over 1.0 ppm of mercury should not be eaten. This is consistent with the current mercury FDA action level. Pregnant women should only eat 1 meal a week of fish that are caught from local sources by friends and family.