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A crane lifts a large piece of rubble from the debris of the World Trade Center. (Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images) Photo courtesy: theepochtimes.com
Nearly 3,000 people died in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. But the twin towers’ collapse and their smoldering ruins also exposed thousands of rescuers, firefighters, and cleanup crews to toxic ash and smoke.
Ten years later, medical researchers say many of these people are suffering higher-than-normal rates of serious disease and psychological problems.
When the World Trade Center towers collapsed into the neighborhood below on September 11, 2001, roiling clouds of smoke and dust filled the air with toxic chemicals. New York City’s police and firefighters ran into those toxic clouds to save whomever they could.
Now, studies show that large numbers of these rescuers and cleanup workers are likely to suffer illnesses related to their 9/11 experience for the rest of their lives.
Dr. Michael Crane, who heads the World Trade Center Health Program at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, says some 20,000 Sept. 11 responders have been treated in the program. Dr. Crane contributed to a study published in the medical journal Lancet on the 9/11 health problems.
“Asthma, from the irritation of the bronchial tubes; rhinitis, the inflammation of the nose; laryngitis; sinusitis, the fever and face pain and the nasal stuffiness that it brings—all of these are now chronic,” Crane said.
Ken George was a recovery worker who spent 700 hours in the dust and debris with fellow responders.
“Every morning I wake up, I’ve got to take 33 pills within the course of the day,” George said. “At 47-years-old, I have lungs of an 80-year-old man that would have been a smoker. People say you have to forget about 9/11, and I say, ‘How could I forget about 9/11 when every morning I got to take this medication and walk around with an oxygen tank?’”
Doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital also noticed that a lot of the responders suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and extreme anxiety.
“Our population has a similar rate of these symptoms to people who’ve been in recent wars,” Crane added.
Another study links exposure to the toxins with cancer.
“Our findings show that there is an increased cancer [risk] in the World Trade Center- exposed New York City firefighters,” said Dr. David Prezant of Einstein College of Medicine. “We found an increase of 19 percent in the cancer likelihood.”
The cancer study has lasted only seven years, a short time when cancers can take up to 20 years to develop. Dr. Prezant wants more of those exposed to the toxins from the twin towers to be screened for cancer.
Throwing out gum isn't much better for the environment than swallowing it is for your stomach. That's because conventional gum doesn't biodegrade. Ever. And Americans chew around 100 million pounds of the stuff every year.
But now there's a new kind of gum on the market, so you can freshen your breath without sullying the planet - Rev7, the degradable gum that dissolves into a fine powder in a matter of months. (Caution when hitting the link to Rev7 - it opens with loud music and flashing stuff. Bit of a shock.)
This isn't the first time we've seen eco-friendly gum; a co-operative in the Mexican rainforest brought an organic, biodegradable version to Britain in 2009.
A big part of the problem is that many chewers don't bother to dispose of their gum properly; but, throw it on sidewalks or stick it to the undersides of furniture instead. Cleaning gum off of sidewalks is a major headache because it's so sticky; and, unfortunately, the passage of time does nothing to ease the problem. In fact, it became such a problem in Singapore that its importation has been banned.
But Rev7 is designed not only to degrade, but to be easily cleaned. Normal gum is hydrophobic (does not mix with water), and things that dissolve immediately are hydrophilic (mix well with water). But Rev7 is amphiphilic, a combination of both. So you can chew it, but it allows enough water to penetrate it that it will slowly break down, and can be removed from a sidewalk with normal cleaning techniques (a hose and a broom).
The new gum comes in peppermint, spearmint, and cinnamon.
Now, call me paranoid; but, I have to wonder how much of this fine, white powder is inadvertently swallowed by the chewer before disposing of the gum and moving on to the next piece. My next suspicion is concerning the properties that eventually turn this gum into this fine,white powder. Exactly what are they and what effect do these properties or this powder have on our bodies?
Venus rotates clockwise which is the opposite direction from the other nine planets in the solar system.
Jupiter is the fastest rotating planet. It can make one complete revolution in less than 10 hours.
Giraffes, camels and cats all share an interesting trait. When giraffes, camels or cats walk, they move both their left feet and then both their right feet. They are unique in the animal kingdom; and, their method of walking ensures speed, agility and silence.
Many desert plants have extremely long roots that can find their way into deep underground water reserves. The Mesquite, for example, can extend its roots as deep as 70' to find the water it needs to survive.
When you're asleep you usually reach the REM or dream state about 90 minutes after nodding off. People with depression reach this stage in about half the time and experience REM more intensely.
Coastline near Alonissos, Greece. Photo courtesy: Anca Pandrea / Creative Commons
As mega-resorts continue to sprout along much of the Aegean and Mediterranean coastlines, one North Aegean island in Greece is thriving on lower-key, eco-friendly tourism -- thanks to the discovery there nearly 30 years ago of one of the world's most endangered marine mammals.
German marine biologist/filmmaker Thomas Schultze Westrum's footage of Mediterranean monk seals breeding in Alonissos, Greece, caused a stir when it was first shown in 1984. Many of the marine biologists watching the film at a conference in Rhodes had never seen a monk seal before, even on film, according to a short video about the area produced by the eco-tourism travel service provider Greenloons. International organizations that had thought the animal was already extinct began to lobby for its protection, an effort that brought the local community together as well.
"It was the Mediterranean monk seal, which is very closely tied to the Greek heritage, that has helped to bring a community together, create an eco-tourism movement, and assist sustainable economic development in the region," said Greenloons founder Irene Lane.
The National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades, the first designated marine park in Greece and the largest in Europe, was set up in 1992 to protect the habitat of the seals, which number just 600 individuals due to hunting, overfishing, and habitat destruction. A conservation group created in 1990, The Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal, or MOm, has rescued, rehabilitated, and released about 20 injured or orphan seal pups thus far and also conducts educational programs about the significance of the seals to the Mediterranean ecosystem.
Restrictions on human activities in the park and a desire to protect the seals has also made Alonnisos a haven for travelers looking for low-impact ways to explore the area's beauty: conservation- and education-based sailing trips, hiking tours, photography, and snorkeling around red coral reefs and a sunken ancient city in crystal-clear waters.
I thought it was only in cartoons that a place would have a shark-infested lake in a random place like a golf course; but, apparently it is a reality in Australia - the land down under. After a flood several years ago, a handful of bull sharks found themselves stranded in a lake on a golf course. Bull sharks are able to survive in fresh water and rather than this lake posing an issue for survival, the six sharks have thrived -- and even started breeding.
Bull sharks are able to survive in brackish and fresh water, and have been known to swim far up rivers and hang out for months and even years at a time. However, living in lakes is something quite rare.
SkyNews reports that the sharks became stranded when water receded after a flood, but that they seem perfectly happy in their new home. In fact, it seems that they could become ambassadors for sharks, getting some to realize how amazing these animals are despite having gained the unfortunate nickname of "man-eater."
"You can't believe how close you are...just six feet away," club general manager Scott Wagstaff told SkyNews. "There's no drama, it's become a positive thing for the golf course. They are amazing. I've become a shark lover since working here."
That's a wonderful thing to hear considering the pressure being put on sharks by humans. Somewhere around 80 million or more sharks are caught every year, mostly for their fins. Populations of sharks have dropped by over 90% in many places, and many species are on the brink of extinction. If a lake full of sharks can convince people that they're worth saving, then that is one lucky flood that brought the sharks into the lake in the first place.
"Golfers often pause during games for a few minutes to see if they can spot the sharks before they head off to the next tee. The sharks, which are between 8 and 10ft long, have proved quite a hit at corporate events and their fins have even been spotted during wedding ceremonies held on the course," reports SkyNews. Here is a video segment on the sharks:
I'm just wondering what they eat in this little golf-course enclosed lake. I'll bet it's not golf balls!
My least favourite company has made yet another slight blunder. Personally, I refuse to buy from them. I'd rather go without than go to WalMart.
Walmart stores in southwest China's Chongqing have been forced to close following allegations that they have been labeling non-organic pork as organic and selling it at a higher price. There's speculation that the incident is a result of increased interest in organic pork in China after the tainted pork scandal earlier this year that caused hundreds of people to fall ill.
If only it were that simple. According to Xinhua, the false labeling has been going on for two years and has involved 63,547 kilograms (more than half a million dollars' worth) of pork.
BBC says there were also reports of a similar incident in 2009—when people became sick after eating pork believed to be tainted with the same illegal additive, clenbuterol.
Authorities warned Walmart last month that they planned to fine the company for deceptive labeling, but that resulted in no action. Walmart has not denied the accusations, which some say threaten Walmart's success in China, a key market for the company's growth.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Chongqing officials ordered 10 Walmart stores to close, as well as two Walmart-owned Trust Mart stores.
Although food scandals involving mislabeling are not new, The Financial Times reports a Shanghai analyst saying this is the first time a non-organic product has been labeled as organic.
Demand for pork has been exploding in China — consumption has doubled over the last 10 years. And China is not alone, as demand for animal products increases in more and more countries that are adopting factory farm-style practices.
The latest incident with Walmart is indicative of practices in which the company is willing to engage in order to boost profit.
But it's also a sign of how China's increasing demand for pork is enabled in part by an unsustainable industry that tries to make people believe that an endless supply of pork and other animal products is something the world can, and should, have.
There are hundreds of liquid lakes that lie miles beneath Antarctica. Unfrozen; but, still-cold-as-hell, lakes. The largest, Lake Vostok, boasts three times the volume of the Great Lake Ontario, itself one of the biggest freshwater bodies in the world. Now, scientists are planning the first-ever research expedition to learn more about the underground water stores. They're hauling 80 tons of equipment down to Antarctica to attempt to drill two miles below the surface to Lake Ellsworth -- where they believe they'll find clues about the impact of climate change and, potentially, new forms of life.
According to io9, these frigid subterranean lakes are kept from freezing over by geothermal activity and constant pressure from ice sheets that lower their melting point. As such, they make for fascinating, hitherto unexplored environments.
The Guardian reports that the "team will prepare for a challenging drilling operation starting next November to collect water and sediment samples from the lake's floor, which will help scientists assess the stability of the west Antarctic ice sheet and future sea level rises."
Mike Bentley, a glacial geologist at Durham University, told the newspaper that "If we can find out if or when the ice sheet retreated or collapsed, it could tell us what kind of conditions would lead to a west Antarctic retreat in the future." In other words, they stand to learn more about what might trigger a catastrophic collapse of the west Antarctic ice sheet today.
The sexier element of the expedition, however, is certainly the prospect of discovering new organisms that live in extreme conditions. Dr. David Pearce, the science coordinator at the British Antarctic Survey, explains (via io9):
"Finding life in a lake that could have been isolated from the rest of the biosphere for up to half a million years will tell us so much about the potential origin of and constraints for life on Earth, and may provide clues to the evolution of life on other extraterrestrial environments. If we find nothing this will be even more significant because it will define limits at which life can no longer exist on the planet."
Clues about global climate change, and discovering the limits by which life can no longer survive on the planet -- sounds like the goals of the expedition were made for each other.
My daughters have one, I have one, my mother had one, her mother had one and so on. The benefits of a well-seasoned cast-iron frying pan are passed through the generations.
Cast-iron skillets may seem like an old-fashioned choice in the kitchen. But this dependable piece of cookware is a must in the modern kitchen. Cast-iron skillets conduct heat beautifully, go from stove top to oven with no problem and last for decades. Here are some great health reasons to cook with cast iron.
1. You can cook with less oil when you use a cast-iron pan. That lovely sheen on cast-iron cookware is the sign of a well-seasoned pan, which renders it virtually nonstick. The health bonus, of course, is that you won’t need to use gads of oil to brown crispy potatoes or sear chicken when cooking in cast-iron. To season your cast-iron skillet, cover the bottom of the pan with a thick layer of kosher salt and a half inch of cooking oil, then heat until the oil starts to smoke. Carefully pour the salt and oil into a bowl, then use a ball of paper towels to rub the inside of the pan until it is smooth. To clean cast iron, never use soap. Simply scrub your skillet with a stiff brush and hot water and dry it completely.
2. Cast iron is a chemical-free alternative to nonstick pans. Another benefit to using cast-iron pans in place of nonstick pans is that you avoid the harmful chemicals that are found in nonstick pans. The repellent coating that keeps food from sticking to nonstick pots and pans contains PFCs (perfluorocarbons), a chemical that’s linked to liver damage, cancer, developmental problems and, according to one 2011 study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, early menopause. PFCs get released—and inhaled—from nonstick pans in the form of fumes when pans are heated on high heat. Likewise, we can ingest them when the surface of the pan gets scratched. Both regular and ceramic-coated cast-iron pans are great alternatives to nonstick pans for this reason. The fumes released from a burning non-stick pan are lethal enough to kill any birds in the home.
3. Cooking with cast iron fortifies your food with iron. While cast iron doesn’t leach chemicals, it can leach some iron into your food...and that’s a good thing. Iron deficiency is fairly common worldwide, especially among women. In fact, 10% of American women are iron-deficient. Cooking food, especially something acidic like tomato sauce in a cast-iron skillet can increase iron content, by as much as 20 times.
If you don't already own one, run out, buy one and spend some time getting acquainted.
Dead coral, Elbow Reef, Key Largo, Florida. Photo courtesy: HalBrindley.com
Now, here's a shocker! Human waste is damaging fragile coral beds. Anyone who has been a parent knows exactly how corrosive human waste can be. Diaper rash is the result of the infant's skin being held against a corrosive substance by the diaper. BTW, fresh air is the best remedy for this. Clean affected areas gently and thoroughly. Pat the infant dry, apply some corn starch and allow 1/2 - 1 hour of undiapered time. But, I digress. On with the story.
Elkhorn coral is endangered. And it's being threatened by us, as in humans, and what we flush down the toilet.
A recent study published in the journal PLoS One says that human sewage is largely responsible for a disease which is killing off elkhorn coral in Florida. It's called white pox disease, and at least one scientist argues that the problem goes far beyond the Sunshine State, and is likely contributing to coral decline worldwide.
Apparently, coral reef specialists have long suspected this was the case. The study examined elkhorn coral in Caribbean Sea off of Florida. Researchers isolated a people poop pathogen --- Serratia marcescens --- that causes white pox on the elkhorn, AKA Acropora palmata. This species of coral has declined by almost 90 percent in the last 10 years in http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifFlorida. White pox leaves white, circular lesions on the surface of infected colonies, and can take out a colony in a matter of days, according to NOAA.
An abstract for the PLoS One study says:
Stephanie Wear, director of coral reef conservation for the Nature Conservancy's Global Marine Team, says the issue of human waste ending up in oceans is "pervasive throughout small island nations globally."
She's lived in the Caribbean, and says it's not all paradise. There is ongoing contamination from failing septic systems and overflows, much like we have here in the Great Lakes and other parts of the U.S. And just as human sewage can close a beach, it can do damage to coral. Even though this finding may not be a surprise, it's helped isolate at least one cause of coral decline.
What's the solution? Better treatment and socioeconomic conditions. Too many folks still use the oceans as their toilet (and the rivers and lakes, depending on where you live).
Still, humans, who are contributing to this species decline, also can contribute to healthy oceans, Wear says. See the Cool Green Science blog for more.
Last year, the Amazon rainforest experienced the worst drought on record, reducing normally flowing rivers to sun-baked stretches of dried mud and pushing the fragile ecosystem to the brink. And even more troubling than the crippling drought itself was the notion that human caused global warming was a contributing factor, and that without reductions in CO2 emissions, such extended dry seasons would become common in the future. But now, according to a recent study, the outlook for the world's largest rainforest may be even more dire still. As a result of 2010's Amazon drought, experts say, some 1.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere -- more than is produced by India's entire population in a years.
Using a carbon cycle simulation model, NASA researcher Christopher Potter applied data gathered from last year's Amazon drought, namely measures of the forest's 'greenness' levels which serve as an indicator of the plants' photosynthetic efficiency, to assess what impact the lack of rainfall had on carbon dioxide emissions, and the findings were troubling. While drought is largely considered a 'natural' disaster, researchers suspect that the effects of global climate change may have contributed to its severity -- which resulted in a greater release of CO2 than did deforestation in the Amazon over the same period.
The study, which was printed in the journal Environmental Research Letters cites fragmentation of forest cover from Amazon deforestation as one cause of reduced precipitation in the region as well -- which experts warn could lead to a vicious cycle whereby forests are unable to fully regenerate, exacerbating the initial causes of drought.
A report from Mongabay.com paints a worrisome future for the 'lungs of the planet':
Using simulation models that account for the impact of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations on temperature and precipitation in the region, scientists at the Hadley Center for Climate Prediction and Research in the UK have forecast significant "die-back" of the Amazon rain forest by mid-century and a virtual collapse of the ecosystem by 2100.
Meanwhile Dan Nepstad, a scientist at the Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia (IPAM), has estimated that as much as 55% of Amazon forests could be "cleared, logged, damaged by drought, or burned" in the next 20 years should deforestation, forest fires, and climate trends continue apace. The damage will release 15-26 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere, adding to a feedback cycle that will worsen both warming and forest degradation in the region.
For a region so vast and so seemingly immovable as the Amazon rainforest, it is difficult to imagine that human activity could have such an impact on its overall health. But while the potential for human activity in the negative is understood with more clarity each passing year, the time is nye to test the positive.
Read more on this and other environmental news at mongabay.com
I'm fortunate to have several passions in my life. I am absolutely an eco-nut. I am always trying to find new ways to reduce, reuse, recycle. We, as a species, have done more harm to this planet in the short time we have been here, than any other catastrophe or happening ever has. It's up to us to fix it.
I care about the environment whether it is as small as a single cell or as large as the universe.
I adore creativity and think we can all do more with much less. This earth has enough resources for us all to live comfortably if we all learn to share. Wasn't that a lesson we were supposed to learn in kindergarten?
I also love the bizarre, unusual, the weird and the strange. Be prepared for the odd "different" blog.
A crane lifts a large piece of rubble from the debris of the World Trade Center. (Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images) Photo courtesy: theepochtimes.com
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