Wednesday Words
The use of words is a powerful tool that, when used correctly, can provoke thought and lead to understanding.
"We stand now where two roads diverge. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth."
Global Warming: Polar Bear Threat?
The largest terrestrial carnivore on the planet is in danger of disappearing. Polar bears are facing trouble in the near future as the ice sheets they rely heavily on for survival are disappearing each year. Perfectly at home in the harsh conditions of the Arctic, they use the ice sheets as floating islands where they hunt for food, search for mates, and rest between swims. As the ice sheets melt, valuable limited hunting grounds are reduced and swimming distances between them are increased. Their habitat is disappearing beneath their feet and scientists believe that global warming is behind this growing threat.
So are polar bears really in trouble? More than a fourth of the world’s polar bear population is in sharp decline and alarming evidence of the impact of global warming on polar bears continues to grow. Scientists have gathered evidence of polar bear drownings, cannibalism, starvation, reduced cub survival and denning dislocation.
Polar bears are one of the world’s strongest swimmers but four were found drowned in the Bering Strait and scientists believe that as many as twenty-seven may have perished.
Two female polar bears were found starved to death, malnurished and without any fat stores on their body.
Newborn cubs were crushed to death when their snowy dens collapsed from unseasonable rains.
The majority of pregnant polar bears in Alaska are now digging snow dens on land rather than on sea ice.
So what can we do to help? It’s simple, get involved and raise awareness. The threat of global warming to polar bears has led to them being added to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace have put heavy pressure on the Bush Administration to shield the polar bear under protection from the Endangered Species Act. There are plenty of ways for people to make their voice heard and keep pressure on the politicians to do the right thing for these amazing creatures. Take action now!
- Defenders of Wildlife
- Greenpeace’s Project Thin Ice
- Natural Resources Defense Council’s BioGems
- Save Our Environment
I’m Going Completely Organic
I’ve tried for years to make the switch to eating only organic foods. At first, it wasn’t easy because there were few places to get organic food around here and there was no guarantee that’s what you were getting. In recent years though, organic food has managed to work it’s way into the larger grocery stores and with the certification process they have now you can be relatively sure it’s pure. I’ve spent the last couple of years weaning myself off the standard foods and onto organic foods. My goal now is to be completely organic by the end of the new year.
So why am I going completely organic? That’s easy, it’s better for you and the environment. I’ve always prided myself on eating healthy and taking care of myself. Plus, we all know how I feel about the environment, I’m a treehugger need I say more. The Organic Trade Association was nice enough to put together a list of ten good reasons to go organic.
Organic products meet stringent standards
Organic certification is the public’s assurance that products have been grown and handled according to strict procedures without persistent toxic chemical inputs.Organic food tastes great!
It’s common sense – well-balanced soils produce strong, healthy plants that become nourishing food for people and animals.Organic production reduces health risks
Many EPA-approved pesticides were registered long before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Organic agriculture is one way to prevent any more of these chemicals from getting into the air, earth and water that sustain us.Organic farms respect our water resources
The elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, done in combination with soil building, protects and conserves water resources.Organic farmers build healthy soil
Soil is the foundation of the food chain. The primary focus of organic farming is to use practices that build healthy soils.Organic farmers work in harmony with nature
Organic agricultural respects the balance demanded of a healthy ecosystem: wildlife is encouraged by including forage crops in rotation and by retaining fence rows, wetlands, and other natural areas.Organic producers are leaders in innovative research
Organic farmers have led the way, largely at their own expense, with innovative on-farm research aimed at reducing pesticide use and minimizing agriculture’s impact on the environment.Organic producers strive to preserve diversity
The loss of a large variety of species (biodiversity) is one of the most pressing environmental concerns. The good news is that many organic farmers and gardeners have been collecting and preserving seeds, and growing unusual varieties for decades.Organic farming helps keep rural communities healthy
USDA reported that in 1997, half of U.S. farm production came from only 2% of farms. Organic agriculture can be a lifeline for small farms because it offers an alternative market where sellers can command fair prices for crops.Organic abundance – Foods and non-foods alike!
Now every food category has an organic alternative. And non-food agricultural products are being grown organically – even cotton, which most experts felt could not be grown this way.
Those are definitely enough good reasons to go organic. People have asked me why I don’t just go vegetarian. I really can’t see myself going that far because of the lifestyle changes it requires, but I am planning on switching completely to free-range meat. That will be a little tougher since it hasn’t become as popular as organic foods. The biggest adjustment I have to make is in my food budget. Organic and free-range foods are more expensive, but it’s worth it for my health and peace of mind.
Global Warming: Fact or Fiction?
“Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world’s scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.” This is a quote from Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Fact or fiction? I haven’t seen the movie or read the book yet, but I for one believe that the writing is on the wall and has been for some time.
For as long as I’ve been in education, I have taught the very concepts and ideas that the movie is founded on. Global warming is something that disturbs me. The majority of scientists agree that we are to blame for global warming. We know what causes it yet we look the other way. We know how to stop it yet we choose not to. It’s just not convenient for us to do anything because it would mean disrupting our way of life. Eventually it will get to the point that we won’t have a choice in the matter and Mother Nature will make the decision for us.
So what exactly is global warming? Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere. This is called the green house effect and makes our planet habitable. However, burning fossil fuels and clearing forests dramatically increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. Because carbon dioxide has the highest heat-trapping ability of the greenhouse gases, global temperatures are rising.
So how will this effect us? Remember last year’s record number of named storms? A rise in global temperature means a rise in ocean surface temperatures. This is important because that is where extreme weather such as hurricanes and tropical storms draw their energy from, the warmth of the ocean water. The higher the ocean surface temperatures, the stronger and more frequent the storms. In the past, hurricanes would follow warm water currents like the Gulf Stream. That is how the Outer Banks of North Carolina where the Gulf Stream hugs the coast became know as hurricane alley. The current would lead the hurricanes to land as they grew in strength feeding on the energy from the warm water. But in recent years, with the water temperatures rising storms are free to follow alternate paths and still be able to gain strength. Surface water temperatures are higher than they’ve ever been in the Gulf of Mexico and so are the number of storms finding their way into those waters. It’s simple, warmer water equals more and stronger storms. This is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak.
So what do we do about it? That’s where the problem lies. Until the people in charge recognize that there is a problem, it will be a difficult struggle to do something. There are many organizations out there that are growing in numbers to spread the word and effect change. Organizations like Natural Resources Defense Council, stopglobalwarming.org, and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth campaign are raising awareness and putting pressure on politicians to wake up and get a clue before it’s too late. With each passing election the problem seems to grow and nothing gets done. Individuals need to make their voice heard.
For now, there are some simple things that people can do to make a difference. Cut back on the use of fossil fuels by walking or riding a bike as often as possible, plant trees instead of cutting them down, and recycle, reduce, and reuse. There are many more things that can be done and each of the organizations I listed has great advice on how to do your part. Talking about it may raise awareness, but it won’t matter if people don’t get involved and do their part. Let’s save this planet before it’s too late.
Studying Dolphins for a Day
In college, I majored in marine biology and psychology so I could study marine mammal behavior. My dream was to work with dolphins, but the field was filled with people like me so I found myself working with harbor seals instead. Today was one of those rare opportunities to actually do something I’ve always wanted to do. I spent the entire day studying the behavior of bottlenose dolphins in the wild and then assisted with the necropsy of a dead bottlenose dolphin that washed ashore overnight. It was an incredible experience.
The first part of the morning was spent on a boat cruising up and down the coastline searching for pods of bottlenose dolphins to observe. The weather was beautiful and it didn’t take long to find them. There was plenty of activity to observe near a shallow flat just south of Cape Henry Lighthouse. It’s difficult to accurately count how many were in the area because our vision was limited to the surface. If I had to give an estimate it would be in the area of about 30 animals and probably 6 of those were calves. I had the chance to observe a variety of different behaviors in the four hours I was on the water.
Something I found interesting was that I never saw an animal by itself, they were always in groups of two or more and their interactions appeared to be mainly milling and social behaviors. There weren’t any noticeable feeding behaviors and they stayed in the same area swimming around appearing to only be interacting with each other and occasionally the boat. I watched as several animals kept rolling on the surface and swimming back and forth over each other. They seemed curious and would swim beside the boat rolling over on one side as if to get a better look at what I was doing. Something else that I noticed was that the mothers always had their flipper underneath their calf’s belly as they surfaced and the calf always seemed to be on the mother’s left side no matter what direction they were heading. The last thing I observed was on the way back to the marina. Everyone knows how much they enjoy riding the wake of a boat. It was an awesome sight to count as many as nine at a time riding the wake of the boat. They would take turns as some rode at the bow and others rode the wake to either side. It was the perfect final observation to record.
The afternoon was set aside to perform a necropsy on a dead bottlenose dolphin that had washed ashore in the middle of the night. It wasn’t part of the original plans but an opportunity I couldn’t pass on. The carcass had already begun to decompose so the necropsy was mainly to determine the possible cause of death and collect any samples possible for research purposes. It was exciting because I actually got to assist the lead scientist with the entire procedure.
The specimen was a juvenile male that measured 6 feet in length. The only external evidence of the cause of death were net marks around his rostrum which are a pretty good sign that he had been caught in a fishing net and probably drowned. Otherwise, he appeared to have been a healthy animal. The internal examination didn’t show anything out of the ordinary but did provide evidence that he was healthy and feeding right up to his death. Examining his stomach contents backed up the theory that he was caught in a fishing net and drowned. His first stomach was filled with whole and partially digested fish. The presence of whole fish suggests that he had been feeding at the time of his death. The contents of the stomachs were collected for a scientist that’s studying feeding habits of the local population. Several teeth and tissue samples were also collected to help determine the age of the animal and presence of chemicals and pollutants. It was an unnecessary death but not a wasted one.
It was a long day, nine hours to be exact, but in the end it was too short. I have been out of the field an in the classroom for six years and this experience reminded me of how much I miss being out there. I do enjoy teaching, but it was great to be a real scientist again even if it was just for a day.
