Fiddling With The Earth’s

Thermostat

WORLD TEMPERATURE CONCERNS

Scientists, including Obama’s science advisor, get tied in knots over geoengineering.

Oil and gas are so deliciously tempting that humans are having no success in slowing down global warming the way scientists agree we should, by going easy at the fossil fuel buffet.

So like surgeons who use liposuction to deal with obesity, scientists are considering ways to deal with the consequences of our unhealthy carbon diet. They are thinking about blowing soot into the stratosphere, hanging sunshades in space and sprinkling the oceans with fertilizer to create blooms of carbon-sucking phytoplankton.

These approaches are aimed at cooling the earth by either allowing less sunlight in or letting more heat bounce back to space by removing heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. The big idea–fighting or reversing atmospheric changes with large-scale tinkering of the earth–is called geoengineering, and it’s tying scientists in knots.

President Obama’s science advisor, John Holdren, got twisted up himself last week. In his first interview since he was appointed, he mentioned to the Associated Press that he and the administration had discussed geoengineering approaches. Holdren later had to write an e-mail clarifying his position in response to fears that he and the administration were considering planning something specific. They aren’t.

“I said that the approaches that have been surfaced so far seem problematic in terms of both efficacy and side effects, but we have to look at the possibilities and understand them because if we get desperate enough it will be considered,” Holdren wrote.

This highlights why geoengineering is such an extraordinarily touchy scientific subject and why there is such deep ambivalence in the scientific community about it. Almost no one thinks that humans should be trying to change the atmosphere on a global scale. But then again, aren’t we already doing that by removing carbon from the ground in the form of fossil fuels and depositing it in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide on a massive scale? And what if we don’t solve the problem in time?

TOO HOT??

What complicates things is that the scientists who are most concerned with the pace of global warming and the destruction that might ensue are the ones who are forcing themselves to think about radical solutions. It terrifies them because they know better than anyone that the climate is massively complex and that unintended consequences lurk everywhere.

Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen, best known for his work on ozone depletion, has advanced the idea of injecting sulfur particles into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from earth. James Lovelock, a hero to early environmentalists who proposed the Gaia hypothesis, has advocated placing long, vertical wave-driven pipes in the ocean that would pump nutrient-rich water to the surface to fertilize algae that would consume carbon dioxide.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 16th April 2009

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When mixing your foods can be

dangerous

weight watcher

For people whose eyes are bigger than their stomachs, a big meal with lots of different tastes usually satisfies. But some foods do not go with others. When the mix is wrong, people will not be able to assimilate the nutrients in the food. Sometimes there are risks of more serious side effects.

Crabs and persimmons are a well-known example. When the two are eaten together, they cause diarrhea.

Li Hongyan, a senior nutritionist from Shanghai Tongmai Food Co Ltd, suggests that when mixing different foods, people have to look out for those that might result in bad reactions.

She offers some tips.

Category 1: Soybean and milk products

Bean curd and spinach

When bean curd and spinach are eaten at the same time, they affect absorption of calcium and may lead to blockages in the abdomen. Spinach contains oxalic acid, which can react with the calcium in bean curd in the intestines and form insoluble precipitates of calcium oxalate. The foods taken together affect the absorption of calcium.

Bean curd and green onion

The combination of bean curd and green onions may affect the absorption of calcium. Bean curd contains plenty of nutrition like protein and calcium. But green onions contain a great deal of oxalic acid. When calcium meets oxalic acid, the calcium oxalate they form destroys calcium. If one eats bean curd mixed with green onions over a long time, it can lead to a lack of calcium causing spasms, osteomalacia and fractures.

Milk and chocolate

sexy chocolate

Believe it or not, milk and chocolate do not match. While milk is rich in protein and calcium, chocolate contains oxalic acid. Eaten together, the calcium from milk and the oxalic acid of chocolate can combine and form insoluble calcium oxalate, which is not only indigestible but also can cause diarrhea.

Milk and pomelo

The protein in milk can react with the fruit acids in pomelos and make one’s stomach feel bloated. The acid can also over-stimulate the stomach and cause diarrhea.

Lactic acid drink and ham

Many people like having a sandwich with yogurt. However, ham and bacon in sandwiches, when taken with yogurt, could cause cancer. To extend the preservation of meat products, producers add nitrate to prevent decay and botulinus. But when nitrate meets organic acid, it can turn into nitrosamine, a carcinogen.

Soy milk and egg

Soy milk contains nutrition including vegetable proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. If drunk by itself, it is very nourishing. However, if taken together with eggs, it can reduce the activity of protease, which helps the body assimilate protein. Eggs are, of course, very rich in protein.

Category 2: Meat

Mutton and vinegar

mix and match

Mutton is a “hot” food, while vinegar is “warm” and like alcohol. When the two are cooked together, they can over-activate yang energy and the circulation. According to Compendium of Materia Medica, a book on Chinese herbal medicine, eating mutton and vinegar at the same time harms the heart.

Mutton and watermelon

Watermelon is a “cold” food. When taken together with mutton, the “heat,” the nourishing effect of the mutton will be dramatically decreased. For those who suffer from asthenia of the spleen, it can harm their energy and upset the spleen and stomach.

Beef and chestnut

chestnuts

Beef and chestnuts are good for the stomach. However, chestnuts contains vitamin C, which can react with microelements in the beef and lessen the chestnuts’ nutrition. The combination is not good for digestion and can cause dyspepsia.

Category 3: Seafood

Crab and tea

Some people might get used to drinking tea after eating crabs, thinking that it is good for the digestion. On the contrary it can cause indigestion. Gastric juices are diluted after drinking tea while eating crabs, and this not only disturbs assimilation but also reduces the ability of the gastric juices to sterilize. On the other hand, tea has as much tannic acid as persimmons.

Shrimp and vitamin C

If someone eats shrimps and also takes a lot of vitamin C on the same day, he or she is taking a serious risk. Shrimps contain a compound which reacts with vitamin C becoming the poison arsenic.

Catergory 4: Vegetable

White radish and carrot

The ferment in carrot can destroy the vitamin C in the white radish. To get the best nutrition, it is better to eat them separately.

Persimmon and sweet potato

Having persimmon and sweet potato at the same time can cause blockages in the stomach. The sugar in the sweet potato gets fermented in the stomach, which increases stomach acid. Together they could even cause a gastric hemorrhage or gastric ulcers.

so confused

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 30th March 2009

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African freshwater fish species risk extinction

african map

ASHINGTON (UPI) — An international conservation group says many freshwater fish, crabs, dragonflies, mollusks and aquatic plants are at risk of extinction in southern Africa.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature said a study conducted with the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity shows 7 percent of species are known to be regionally threatened or extinct and that figure is expected to rapidly increase unless conservation is considered in development planning.

The U.S. organization’s study shows that while 77 percent of species aren’t threatened with extinction, there isn’t enough information for the remaining 16 percent to determine their threat status.

FISH SKETCHES

The ICUN said its assessment of 1,279 freshwater species in southern Africa show the more developed a country is, the more species are threatened with extinction. Of the 94 species threatened in southern Africa, 78 of these are found in South Africa, the most developed country in the region.

“We are in a unique position in Africa to avoid an extinction disaster,” said IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefevre. “Most developers have not taken freshwater species into consideration because they simply don’t have the information they need. We hope this detailed study will change that.”

An executive summary of the report is available here.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 24th March 2009

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