Rachel Carson is touted as being the “Mother of Environmentalism” for her work and lifetime at the forefront of environmental research (Lear, 1996). She received her bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania College for Women and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. Throughout her life, Carson wrote many books and pamphlets about nature as well as working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She wrote many books but none made her as infamous as her book titled Silent Spring published in 1962. This book is about the affects of modern agriculture, politics, and how it would potentially affect the natural world. The book spoke directly to the chemical DDT and how it would kill many species of wildlife; specifically birds, leading to a spring where no birds sing, hence “silent spring”. Her book suggested that DDT would climb through the trophic levels of the food chain and eventually to humans where she speculated that DDT would cause cancer in humans (Swartz, 2007). Carson’s book was so powerful that it led to the eventual ban of DDT from the United States and other countries. It is also suggested that Carson and her book led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (Farrah, 1992). Did Carson’s work really save the lives of birds? Was her research flawed? Is she responsible for the deaths of millions of Africans?
DDT and Malaria
The world health organization states that in 2008, over 1 million people died worldwide from malaria with most of those being African children (WHO, 2010). Malaria is caused by a parasite that is typically carried in infected mosquitoes. This disease can be deadly to humans, particularly vulnerable populations, but it is also preventable (WHO, 2010). DDT was the leading chemical used in the prevention of malaria in many African countries as well as the United States and many other countries (Swartz, 2007). After Rachel Carson’s book and hard fought mitigation, DDT was banned from use. After DDT was banned, deaths from malaria began to skyrocket (Swartz, 2007). Rachel Carson’s book led to the eventual ban of DDT even though her data was shaky at best especially since DDT was deemed, by the EPA no less, to not be carcinogen in humans. Now Malaria is killing a child in Africa every 45 seconds (WHO, 2010) and no one is making any changes in the use of DDT. It is about time that we look past Carson’s work and do what we can to prevent the countless deaths of millions of Africans that Rachel Carson made possible.
The video bellow shows the amount that the ban of DDT has affected the lives of people around the world suffering from Malaria:
References:
Lear, L. (1996-2011).The life and legacy of rachel carson. Retrieved from www.rachelcarson.org
This blog is for the awareness of mercury and and potential health issues associated with consumption of fish why mercury in their bodies. below is the link to my brochure for you to view.
Also, here is great song about Mercury that is fun yet slightly informative:
Parasites Around the Globe
The order does not denote importance
Africa
·African Sleeping Sickness
·Malaria
·Calabar Swellings
·Schistosomiasis
Europe
·Tapeworm
·Liver Fluke
Asia
·Malaria
·Dengue Fever
·Japanese Encephaitis
·Typhoid Fever
·Round worm
·Chinese Liver Fluke
North America
·Giardia
·Trichinella Spiralis “round worms”
·Tape worms
South America
·Malaria
·Yellow Fever
·Dengue Fever
·Chagas Disease
Australia
·Yellow Fever
·Tapeworms “beef tapeworm”
Infectious Disease Around the Globe
The order does not denote importance
Africa
·HIV/AIDS
·Trachoma
·Leprosy
Europe
·AIDS
·Tuberculosis
·Influenza
Asia
·Trachoma
·Avian Flu
·Tuberculosis
North America
·Chlamydia
·Gonorrhea
·Salmonellosis
·Syphilis
·AIDS
·Influenza
South America
·Malaria
·Tuberculosis
·Chagas disease
Australia
·Influenza
·Avian Flu
Infectious Disease of Choice
My target disease that I will provide information on will be the Swine Flu. It gained attention among the media recently as a potentially deadly disease, though it never quite became as prolific as seasonal flu.
As the map shows, the Swine flu did affect every continent but its numbers when compared to seasonal flu were not nearly as wide spread nor deadly.
Life Cycle of Swine Flu
Once the virus enters the host human body (often through contact with an infected person), it enters cells and begins to replicate its DNA making more virus cells who can then enter more host cells to create more viruses. This continues for about 7 days before symptoms will begin to arise. these symptoms are very similar to seasonal flu including; body aches, fever, sore throat, headache, chills, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. Because it is so similar, it usually requires a differential diagnosis from a physician. Fatalities are more likely in young children and elderly; most healthy people can get better with treatment and rest within about one week.
Parasite of Choice
The parasite I will be covering is Schistosomiasis. This disease typically infects people of less developed countries.
Life Cycle of Schistosomiasis
Becoming infected with this worm typically occurs through contact or ingestion of contaminated water. When it comes in contact with skin it Burroughs in and takes about three days to reach blood vessels where it then migrates through the body. This takes about 7 days until it reaches the Liver. Once here, the worm matures; this takes about 45 days. One type of the worm migrates to the bladder and the other to the large and small intestine. These worms can live in the human body anywhere from 5 to 20 years and will constantly lay eggs!! It is the eggs not the adults that can cause the damage. Symptoms of Schistosomiasis are; fever, chills, lymph node enlargement, liver and spleen enlargement, abdominal pain and diarrhea, and possible frequent urination. This can lead to Kidney failure, bladder obstruction, or colon inflammation.
the link bellow leads to a great video about the life cycle and spread of Schistosomiasis. Shistosmiasis
There are always two sides to a story and Global Warming is no different. Al Gore has been the banner for the belief in global warming and his speeches and research have made him very popular. The greenhouse gasses and the melting of polar ice caps have been at the forefront of his argument for the belief that global warming will continue to heat the Earth until it can no longer sustain human life.
However, there are many who believe that global warming has been a whistle blowing fraud created and supported by the media and they have data to support this thought.
Medieval Global Temperature Optimum
There was a time period during the middle ages that the Earth went through a warm period. In fact, the Earth was actually warmer then than it is today. There is plenty of data to show that the earth was roughly one degree warmer on average than today's averages.
Little Ice Age
Shortly after the warming period, the earth had a period of unusually colder times, roughly one degree colder on average. This eventually led to the Irish Potato Famine that killed many thousand people while others died from the Black Plague.
Other Issues
Some also argue that increasing greenhouse gases have lead to more heat being trapped in the Earths atmospheres. However, since research has bettered our knowledge of how to reduce our impact has lead to a slow reduction in these gases and thus a reduction in the ability to retain heat in the atmosphere. In particular, Ozone has been slowly reducing in abundance over the past few years.
also, The argument is made over the melting of ice caps. Some believe that if you cannot see it, it isn't happening at the level that other say it is.
Conclusion
this blog is not condoning one belief or another but there is data to support the statements above. The Earth was warmer than it is currently for a period in the medieval times and it was also colder for a time shortly after the warm period that led to the death of millions. Also, There is data to support the slow reduction in the abundance of greenhouse gases, including ozone. Neither side should necessarily be the correct one; either way we should continue to research way to reduce our impact on our world. Global warming may or may no be a real threat but it should be our duty to leave a better world for those after us so that they can live as we do.
For this assignment, I choose tornadoes. I am a graduate of the University of Alabama and in April, Tuscaloosa was hit by an F4 tornado that devastated the town. this string of storms left a wake of destruction across several southern states. I have and still have many connection and friends in many areas affected by those storms. It has affected me personally and therefore choose to do a fact sheet on tornadoes.
No two places in the world are exactly alike. Because of this, resources and populations are also different around the globe. Things like geography of a landscape and availability of water can greatly affect an area making it a good or poor place for humans to live or work. This post will cover some of the important aspects and how the may be distributed around the world.
WATER
Water covers 70.9% of the earths surface(1). Of course we know that Salt water covers much of the Earth making up our Oceans; roughly 97% of the worlds water is in the ocean; the remainder can be found in fresh water lakes, rivers, ponds, underground, and in living organisms. Also, roughly 70% of the worlds water is used for agriculture.
Unfortunately, ocean water is not good to drink and can make people very sick; salt water is very expensive to clean to the acceptable drinking levels. In the past, access to drinking water was very bad and has improved greatly around the world. This can be reflected in the fact that most developed countries have access to safe drinking water while many poor or underdeveloped countries do not.
One report(2) has shown there are still many people world wide that do not have access to safe drinking water. Places like Chad only report 42% of the population as having access to safe drinking water in 2004. Some additional noted countries are; 54% of total population in Haiti, 41% of total population in Cambodia, and 47% of Fiji. The United States of America reports 100% of population access. the entire breakdown of this data can be seen by clicking on the hyper-link below. Safe Drinking Water Data
The above map shows countries and the level of outbreaks of water-borne illnesses. this is important because contaminated water can greatly affect a community or even an entire country through illness or even death. Water can become contaminated by many things from microorganisms, radiation, to biologic or fecal matter. the later is one of the most common and most prolific; the above map shows this type of contaminant. Often this is most common in less developed countries and those areas that do not have readily available clean water, but even the United States has issues with contaminated water as can be seen in the map.
Water is vitally important to life and all humans need water to survive. Unclean water can further decrease the health of people who are already living in poorer or less developed places. There are already many without clean water as has been shown and it is believed that there will be water deficiencies that continue in the near future if new ways to give everyone access to clean water.
SOIL
Soil is what makes up the "turf" of the world we live on. It is made up of layers of minerals of different sizes, shapes, chemical makeups, and physical characteristics(3). different levels of minerals, moisture, and nutrients can vary soil compositions and can be seen in the picture below. The variations of minerals lead to soils that are good for agriculture and others that are good for raising livestock. Still there are others that are not so good for either because the soil composition cannot support plants or livestock.
Historically, farming and agriculture grew up and sprout along rivers and other bodies of water, hence civilizations grew up along those same regions. This was because the land around bodies of water could be made more fertile due to the easy access of water without needing to carry water long distances. With the development of better technology and irrigation systems, humans could move further away from natural bodies of water and continue to cultivate the land. still there are soils that where less viable for agriculture and the map bellow shows a good breakdown of what the soil of the earth is used for today.
INDUSTRY
Industry creates goods or services that can be sold to generate a profit either for an individual or a country. around the world we trade goods and services and every place in the world has something different to offer. As might be expected many traditional industries such as agriculture and other services are located in countries with lower gross domestic product (GDP) and in places that have traditionally been underdeveloped. Countries that are highly developed and have large GDP often have high tech industry developing things like computers or automobiles. some traditionally based industries are countries like Chile, argentina, or many African nations. Some high tech industry nation are countries like the United States, Australia, or Germany. The map below can give you a better understanding of some of the industry differences across the world and the labor force differences.
POPULATIONS
Bellow are the 10 largest world populations by country(4) in 2010
1. China - 1,330,141,295
2. India - 1,173,108,018
3. United States - 310,232,863
4. Indonesia - 242,968,342
5. Brazil - 201,103,330
6. Pakistan - 177,276,594
7. Bangladesh - 158,065,841
8. Nigeria - 152,217,341
9. Russia - 139,390,205
10. Japan - 126,804,433
Below are the 10 most populated cities within the United States(5)
1. New York City - 8,175,133
2. Los Angeles - 3,792,621
3. Chicago - 2,695,598
4. Houston - 2,099,451
5. Philadelphia - 1,526,006
6. Pheonix - 1,445,632
7. San Antonio - 1,327,407
8. San Diego - 1,307,402
9. Dallas - 1,197,816
10. San Jose - 945,942
Isolated Tribes around the world(6)
As this video shows, there may still be places in the world where isolated tribes have not or prefer not to com in contact with the modern world. This video was from a tribe in Brazil but there are thought to be many around the world. Tribes such as the Sentinelese tribe in India or the Carabayo tribe in Columbia. Some of these tribes do not wish to have contact with the outside world and some will even violently defend their privacy. Bellow is a map of where many isolated tribes or believed un-contacted tribes around the world may be located. These tribes have every right to their land and there culture and should not be distrubed if they do not wish to be(6).
Ethnic Diversity
Ethic diversity gives the world its unique spread of peoples around this great world. It is hard to say where the most and the least ethnic diversity may be in the world because there are so many small ethnicities and it is not always easy to define ethnic groups. however, one paper did do some research to try and shed some light on ethic fractionalizations around the world(7). Possibly the most ethnicities may be located within the Sub-Saharan Africa region with many many small dialects and tribes to make up a very diverse region(7). The least ethnic region may be Western nations with many groups using the same languages and religions, however the argument has been made that these are still diverse nation due to many ethnicities moving to countries such as the United States and becoming a melting pot. Again, it is hard to gauge ethnicity around the world.
INTERESTING FACTS
highest life expectancy by country based on United Nation data(8)
1. Japan - 82.6
2. China - 82.2
3. Iceland - 81.8
4. Switzerland - 81.7
5. Australia - 81.2
6. Spain - 80.9
7. Sweden - 80.9
8. Israel - 80.7
9. Macau - 80.7
10. France - 80.7
World City furthest from a body of water
the city of Urumqi is roughly 3,270 km from a body of water(9)
Dirtiest Bodies of Water in the World
these are not ranked because it is hard to determine the dirtiest(10) Lake Victoria Africa
-sewage is released into this lake and can give several diseases to anyone who comes in contact with the water Citarum River Indonesia
-industrial waste and garbage; perhaps one of the most polluted bodies of water in the world Great Lakes US/Canada
-auto industry, oil industry, and other industrial waste Yellow River China
-chemical spills Matanza-Riachuela River Buenos Aires
-"worlds largest open pit toilet" Lake Onondaga US
-Several chemical pollutants including Phosphorus, nitrate, ammonia, and more Sarno River Italy
-agricultural and sewage runoff Lake Karachay Russia
-radioactive waste
Population of the World
RESOURCES
1. Cia - the world fact book. (last updated 2011, May 17). Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html#Geo 2. Gleick, P. (2009).The worlds water. Chicago: Island Press. 3. Birkeland, Peter W. Soils and Geomorphology, 3rd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 4. The world population. (last updated 2011, March 26). Retrieved from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats8.htm 5. The world population. (2011, March 26). Retrieved from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats8.htm retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-01.pdf
6. Survival international. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.survivalinternational.org/ 7. Fearon, James. (2003). Ethnic Structure and Cultural Diversity around the World: A Cross-National Data Set on Ethnic Groups. American Political Science Association. Boston. p1-39. 8. United Nations, Economics & Social Affairs. (2007).World population prospects(ESA/P/WP.202). New York, NY: 9. China information: urumqi city. (2008). Retrieved from http://arch1design.com/China1Urumqi_City.html 10. Underwood, K. (2009, June 10).Worlds dirtiest rivers and lakes. Retrieved from http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/06/worlds-dirtiest-rivers-and-lakes.php?page=1
I circled these particular countries because I have worked with many athletes from these areas of the world and sometimes there are discrepancies that we have to deal with in regards to their files and what they have or do not have. I want to find out more about what they may have come in contact with or what their healthcare may have been like and how this information can help me in my work as an athletic trainer. In addition to how moving here to america may affect them and their health.
