APES Current Events

Japan has announced it will continue its commercial whaling industry in July. Japan said it will withdraw from the IWC, the International Whaling Commission. The IWC was formed in 1986 after some stocks of species were getting dangerously low. Japan says it will leave because eating whale has been part of its culture for centuries. I feel like countries should be able to exclude themselves from certain restrictions due to past traditions, if they don't go overboard. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46682976

https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060108537 Basically, the article speaks of not only an endangered species of frog, but about how the habitat itself is being destroyed and what they can do to manage it. The supreme court also debated over the belief of the word habitat, which varies between who you ask.

A new approach to treat recurring, hard-to-treat cancers has been attempted. This approach entails collecting cancer cells from patients and growing them into 3-D mini tumors in order to screen potential drugs as treatments for ultra-rare cancers. Soragni, a UCLA cancer biologist, pitched the idea of using past combinations of therapies in order to figure out the treatments for the rare cancers that don’t have a standard care yet. For patients responding well to regular chemotherapy, this approach could be used as a backup plan, but for patients running out of options, this approach could point to new treatments. It also makes finding treatments safer for patients because the cancer drugs are tested on cancer cells outside the body first. I find this very exciting because we are still making such huge strides in the medical field and specifically cancer. This gives people hope that cancer will diminish in the future and won’t be a threat to humanity anymore.     Tumor 'organo

https://www.livescience.com/64244-scary-map-shows-where-animal-poop-is-turning-into-deadly-ammonia-pollution.html Yes... you read the title right! Animal poop/fertillizer is now being turned into deadly ammonia. Here's a quote summing up the potential threat. "... released ammonia can combine with other compounds to pollute the air, water and soil. Exposure to these polluted resources can lead to lung disease and death in humans as well as crop failure and mass animal death." Any guess what the ammonia hot spots are linked to? HUMAN ACTIVITY. Of course. I wish there was more we could do but (most of) the world is not going to change it's ways until it begins to affect them personally. Then, it'll be too late.

https://www.livescience.com/64300-climate-change-endangers-human-health.html We all know climate change has a mass number of effects on our environment, but here's an article explaining an increase in health issues and violent acts like domestic violence, rape, assault and murder. It's said that  " Extreme heat is linked with sleep loss, kidney stones, low birth weight, violence and suicide."  During our last debate I was with the group society so I actually did some research on health issues, both mental and physical. They didn't have as many effects as they are stating now. It's scary to know how rapid climate change is continuing to impact literally everything...

https://www.enn.com/articles/56258-mountain-birds-declining-in-europe Population data of the European mountain birds have shown that the species has declined by 10% in the 2000s. Species like these birds are very susceptible to climate change and global warming keeps reducing their livable habitat. The mountain birds could relocate further up the mountains but the higher up they are, their habitat shrinks. A study was shown releasing a population trend of 44 bird species in the mountains in the 2000s and a decline was present in 14 of them while 8 of them however saw an increase. 

https://www.livescience.com/64091-earth-is-eating-its-oceans.html Out of all the problems we have right now, we now have another one. According to research.  " At earthquake-prone subduction zones, where tectonic plates dive beneath one another, massive amounts of sea water are dragged into the planet's interior..."   So isn't that lovely? To be fairly honest, this is such a huge problem, I don't even know how we could possibly fix this. Think of the impact this could have on places that depend on sea water, or people that live close to bodies of sea water. Even marine life can be negatively impacted.

In the town Enterprise Louisiana the water condition is bad. Bad pipes leave this towns water brown with high levels of bacteria but they don't have the money to fix them. One resident drives 40 miles just to do laundry with clean water and another buys 10 cases of water a week. Having to buy 10 cases of water would suck. Water is important so not being able to drink any water in your town would also suck. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/28/health/enterprise-louisiana-water/index.html

          High levels of carbon dioxide have made parts of the North Atlantic and Southern oceans so acidic, so the chalky ocean floor is dissolving. A graduate at McGill University conducted a stimulation of the seawater floor in a lab, the stimulation showed that the material on the ocean floor now is being replaced by brown sediments. Ocean acidification is very harmful to sea creatures and can lead to extinction of certain marine species. I believe it is important to keep our oceans clean and safe because marine species are very important to our society. https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/climate-change-may-be-dissolving-ocean-floor-here-s-why-ncna935261

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/05/climate/biodiversity-species-disappearing.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=sectionfront If the planet warms by 3.2 degrees Celsius, or about 5.8 degrees Fahrenheit, then 49 percent of insects, 44 percent of plants and 26 percent of vertebrates will lose more than half of their geographic habitat. The species will have to move as the climate warms up and many will die off from this.  This is interesting that global warming is affecting everything in the world from humans, to businesses to bugs. 

Luca Jordache https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-changing-climate-may-have-killed-marsupial-lion-180970866/ This is an interesting post because it shows that animals who aren't directly being affected by something will still face some sort of consequences. In this case the lions were in Australia and hunting prey that was going extinct due to climate change, leading to the death of all the Marsupial lions because they ran out of food. I thought this was really cool because it shows that there is always more to something than you think just like the tip of an iceberg.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181205152206.htm A team examined the risk of a miscarriage during a 3 or 7 day window following a spike in the concentration of 3 common air pollutants: small particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone. The team found a slight increased risk in miscarriage for women exposed to elevated levels of nitrogen dioxide. Reading all these articles about air pollution is crazy. Everyday scientists are finding something in air pollution that can harm humans. I wonder if instead of putting all this time and effort into researching all the things air pollution can do to you, they will do something about it.

Genetic modifications to a pigs heart allowed scientists to develop a new transplant technique. The pig hearts were transferred into two baboons where they survived for 6 months in good health. This work brings scientists one step closer to the goal of successfully transporting life-supporting pig organs into humans. I find this very interesting because I didn't think this huge procedure would work and i didn't know one type of animal could survive with another type of animals organs.  It is also cool that this could help humans as well. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/baboons-survive-6-months-after-getting-pig-heart-transplant?tgt=nr

Beavers over the last several year they have started to move into Alaska. Researchers believe that Earth's rising temperature is the cause for there return. Over the last 16 years there are 56 new beaver compounds in the Lower Noatak River. The beavers coming into the area have helped the local wildlife by creating new ponds and warming waters. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/beavers-are-engineering-new-alaskan-tundra

Scientist have concluded that mining one dollar worth of bitcoin requires 3x the amount of energy needed to mine for one dollar worth of gold. Other cryptos were examined, but yet they still required more power. This is a big thing because it raises the question, if bitcoin becomes a big currency, are we willing to pay for the electricity to run it?

https://www.popsci.com/earthquake-alaska-tsunami Anchorage, Alaska experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on November 30 around 8:30 a.m. Shortly after the colossal earthquake a tsunami warning was triggered. Multiple aftershocks occurred  magnitudes ranging between 4 and 5.8.  Wow! They are so lucky that a tsunami didn't happen it would have been catastrophic! Guess some people that morning didn't need an alarm clock. 

Earthquakes are usually deadly and devastating, but Alaska's was not. The earthquake was really strong but it had minor damage. Before there was a lot of damage that came along with earthquakes and people had to try and recover and repair buildings but now they made better building codes and it helped lower the damage. I think that it is great that they found a way to save homes, buildings, and people. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/depth-alaska-earthquake-likely-prevented-more-damage-saved-lives-n942471

Chronic wasting disease has affected deer, elk and moose populations throughout ours and surrounding areas of the globe. Scientists have identified an organic soil compound, humic acid, that may prevent its spread. Humic acid in soil degrades the protein that causes chronic wasting disease, making it less infectious. This discovery can allow scientists to use the acid to get rid of the chronic wasting disease altogether. This is good news, because it may result in a healthier environment.  https://www.sciencenews.org/article/acid-found-soil-may-make-disease-killing-deer-less-infectious

Article The government's newest climate change report states that global warming could damage the economy, health, and the environment. This report has caused many politicians to argue that climate scientists have been corrupted by money. The truth is that climate scientists are paid very little for their reports. In fact, they make less than most other scientists. Politicians also argue that environmental scientists are paid to speak out against oil companies, when in actuality companies such as Exxon hire scientists to do environmental reports for them. I feel that this argument is merely a way for people of power to avoid having to take action. If they can attack scientists and make it seem as if they are untrustworthy, politicians won't have to do anything to help the environment. At this point, it is a fact that climate change is occurring due to human activity, and our government officials must start treating this as a serious problem before the effects are irreversible

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/11/venezuela-humboldt-glacier-melting-disappearing-climate-change/ Geographer Carsten Braun found through multiple studies and visits to Humboldt Glacier that it had shrunk significantly to the point in which it doesn't have long until it is gone entirely. It was once considered to be one of five major tropical glaciers in Venezuela. Lack of funding, political attention, and scientific research has created this glacier into yet another example of the effects of global warming and climate change. This article is upsetting and demonstrates just how much needs to change in regards to prioritizing the environment. The Earth is continuously experiencing damages to some of its most beautiful aspects and if nothing changes, we can expect to feel the negative affects. It is hard having a President that doesn't believe in helping/prioritizing the environment and climate change. 

A team of researchers in the Kalahari Desert, in South Africa, were studying how the snakes there use birds and nests in the area. While they were searching for snakes, however, they found a large cape cobra eating another smaller cape cobra. The large snake's name was Hannibal. Cannibalism among cobra's has been seen before, but it was believed to be rare. However, after dissecting some cobras, Maritz and his team found that many cobras had eaten other cobras. After some investigation using research papers, newsletters, museum bulletins, and Facebook, Maritz found cobra cannibalism to be a common practice. Further study could help to determine why cobras eat each other, and whether it has something to do with mating or territory disputes. Link to Article