"What's Your Number?" Reflection

"What's Your Number?" Reflection

                Today in class Iearned more about population. One of the things that I have learned about it was that if the Crude Death Rate (CDR) decreases but the Crude Birth Rate (CBR) increases, it has a negative impact. It has a negative impact because it would increase the population of a country rapidly and the carrying capacity will not be sufficient. Also I learned that replacement-level fertility is when the amount of offsprings a couple has, is to replace one of them when they die. 

                 In my own honest opinion I do truly believe that we are TOO overpopulated overall. But I do not believe that we should have an "only one child" policy or similarly to that like what China did because it is the own people's rights whether or not they should have as many as sixteen (kind of over exaggerating now even though it is accurately true) children or to have one or none. I also do not agree, if ever, someone created an idea where we should basically just kill elders. I do not agree with this because if YOU were an elder, you would not want to die just because the world is overpopulated. You would want to see your grandchildren and bond with them. So in total I am more on the side where birth rates should decrease. If we do not decrease our population then resources like food would perish slowly. 

My number: 

When I was born I was the 5,968,509,397th person alive on earth.

81,453,757,294th person to have lived since history began.

What a Compelling Blood Pressure Finding Means for Patients

ScrAPES#8: What a Compelling Blood Pressure Finding Means for Patients

by Gina Kolata

September 11, 2015

In What a Compelling Blood Pressure Finding Means for Patients, scientists and doctors researched about large blood pressure and developed that participants with systolic blood pressure below 120 had a lower death rate and a minor amount of heart attacks and strokes in the contrary of those with a blood pressure of 140. Participants attained drugs that were mainly classified in 4 categories; diuretics which shorten blood volume, calcium which expands blood vessels through blockers, angiotensin receptor blockers that sections hormones that create blood vessels constrict and beta blockers that passively slow the heart. This study from scientists and doctors ended abruptly more than year from the standard schedule due to compelling data.

This article interests me so much because in my own experience my pediatric doctor announced that I have a blood pressure of 120/90. So unassumingly I speculated that it was a normal blood pressure. But when I searched on the internet about the blood pressure chart it states that blood pressure that is 120-139/80-89 is considered prehypertension. Finding this information astonished me because my mother has high blood pressure and I have heard of family members who had prehypertension, and honestly I am not surprised. I do not know if it effects me or if it is a blood pressure chart for adults. If it were true I wonder why my doctor has not told me that I have hypertension. Is it because I am too sickly? 

Blood pressure effects the environment because people with high blood pressure most likely has it due to smoking, overweight or obesity, too much alcohol and salt, and stress. Almost everyone in the world has either been stressed plenty of times, smokes, or loves salty food. Approximately thirty-six percent of adults are considered to be obese in the United States and that more than 2 billion people worldwide are considered overweight or obese. These all cause high blood pressure; which is now the world's leading cause of premature death. Blood pressure can lead to diabetes and diabetes can cause death. My mother always tell me to cut down on sugary foods or beverages because it is a cause of diabetes. In my personal opinion I expect that the world will not stop the causes of high blood pressure or diabetes. 

Resources: 

• What a Compelling Blood Pressure Finding Means for Patients 
• Hypertension/High Blood Pressure Health Center
• Pictures

Counting the World’s Trees

ScrAPES#7: Counting The World's Trees

September 4, 2015

In Counting the World’s Trees, BBC World Service News discussed about the side effects of road noises towards birds. Traffic noises are devastating to birds and from January to December of 2015 there had been a greatly amount of increase in temperature. There are three trillion trees in the world and they provide oxygen, carbon, stabilize, and provide habitats for wild life. Dr. Thomas Crowder of Vale School of Forestry om Environmental Studies explained that an average every year there is a gross lost of fifteen billion trees and a net loss of ten billion each year due to human impact. Dr. Heidi Ware of Boise State University and her team created a phantom road that has fifteen pairs of speakers that are strapped on trees blasting road noises in the forest. These speakers are turned on and off every four days; when the road noise are on birds show a low bmi or low body condition. Low body condition means less fat and less fuel. Also birds spent more time with their heads up looking for predators. On the contrary, when it is off birds has a good body condition. Eighty-three percent of the United States is covered within one kilometer of a road noise. Dr. Ware stated that to change this negative impact on birds roads should be designed with a different material (most likely rubber), decreasing the speed of cars, and decreasing the number of cars that drive on the road.

This podcast is significant to me because birds are one of the native species on Earth and the fact that human's most common work of art is negatively impacting them is horrid. Looking at birds I think they are the most precious animals on this Earth because they are innocent and wild. When I was younger I was not very fond of animals but recently owning six pets I realized the wonders of animals; they take a role in the ecosystem and the food chain no matter if they are an insect to as big as a polar bear. Trees are also one of the native plants on Earth. Scientifically they are one of the important factors of living things. 

Road noises relate to the environment because with it around birds will have weak body condition that results to less fuel which means they cannot migrate. Birds also pollinate plants, disperse seeds, and recycle nutrients. Other than that cutting down trees in a forest to invent roads decreases our oxygen level because trees are most common for their role of giving out oxygen to people and animals. They help us breathe. Without birds and trees the ecosystem would not be balanced. 

Resources:

• Counting the World’s Trees
• Why Do Birds Matter?

Obama Makes Urgent Appeal in Alaska for Climate Change Action

ScrAPES#6: Obama Makes Urgent Appeal in Alaska for Climate Change Action

by Julie Hirschfeld Davis & Steven Lee Myers

August 31, 2015

                President Barack Obama of the United States of America, visited Alaska to discuss about the current situation of global warming. Global warming is a continuously increase in temperature of the earth's atmosphere. Obama deliberated that climate change is not a problem of the future anymore it is a problem right now. Also, he admitted that the United States took a role in creating a climatic change issue and that they will acquire guidance to clarify the concern. Likewise stating that climate change will overflow countries and demolish cities, unless reducing emissions was to occur. Mr. Obama pledged to cut down emissions from twenty-sex percent to twenty-eight percent by the year 2025. In the contrary protesters protested demanding no to reducing emissions as a result of the state's high dependent issue on oil revenue. But Obama defends that there should not be any complication between a sound environment and strong economic growth. He also said quoting, "Those who want to ignore the science, they are increasingly alone. They're on their own shrinking island".

Winter Storm Juno 2015 in Boston

Juno

          This is concerning to me because President Obama is precise that climate change (or global warming) is arising currently. In my experience, during summer time it is magnificently burning hot compared to the temperature of summertime five to ten years ago; also nowadays the temperature around August in the United States, specifically Boston is decreasingly brisk around the temperature of sixty to sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, during winter we are experiencing moderate to very severe blizzards. On January 23, 2015 Winter Storm Juno was a compelling blizzard that effected Central and North Eastern United States and Canada with the highest gust of ninety-five miles per hour. It resulted to power outage which meant no heat or food available at the most. Also in western coast United States wild fires are happening due to extreme heat which goes up to ninety-five Fahrenheit nearly each day. I agree that United States should take action on climate change and also other countries as well because they are effected too. We live in one planet and we need this planet to survive.

Wild fires in California

           Climate change relates to the environment because with severe climate change like rapid increase in heat, severe blizzards, wild fires, erosion, our life would develop differently, if we even have a life anymore. Living things can not survive if we do not do something right away about climate change because sooner or later the land that we live in will soon perish away. People, animals, and plants will die. We will become extinct. Acting fast and ahead of time means we have an opportunity to innovate the future, for it to be a better living environment. People need to realize that natural disasters and climate changes can be murderous. I never understood why women tanned so much in the beach; I get it it, it makes you tanner and that is what you like. But when increase temperature of heat develops there will be a more likely chance that women or people in general will get skin cancer. Too much heat can also make you dehydrated. But it is not too late, we can better ourselves and our environment because our environment, our planet, our life is a very important thing to us, it is how we survive. 

Resources:

• Obama Makes Urgent Appeal in Alaska for Climate Change Action
• Pictures
• January 2015 North American Blizzard

Land Of Mutant Daisies

ScrAPES#5: Land of Mutant Daisies

by Martha Azzi

July 23, 2015

2011 Tsunami "3.11 Tsunami" hit Fukushami nuclear plant resulting to meltdowns
of 3 out of 6 nuclear plants.

Fasciation- caused primarily and rarely because of the
hormonal imbalance causing increase of weight and volume.

Back in March 11, 2011, a magnitude (level nine) earthquake hit Japan resulting to a brutal tsunami. Proceeding after the earthquake, radioactive water was recognized, exposing from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. According to the Japanese government the overall destruction of both the earthquake and tsunami are assuming to be three hundred billion dollars, which in currency of Yen is twenty-five trillion. Four years after the tragic incident residents detected mutated plants in the nearby city of Nasushiobara. There are plants, vegetables, and fruits that are mutated due to the earthquake and tsunami that occurred four years ago. Studies say that mutated flowers like daisies occur as a result of fasciation. Fasciation or cresting, develop due to rare condition of peculiar growth in vascular plants. Researchers have no doubt that mutation came into being by the earthquake that shook and the tsunami that flooded North Eastern Japan. 

This is ideally interesting to me because it astonished me that Japan was hit with magnitude of 9 earthquake with a tsunami. That is very menacing because it results to thousands to probably millions of death and what is more traumatizing is the fact that the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was also hit and destroyed. Nuclear Power Plants are extremely threatening especially when exposed to the environment and living things. Mutated plants, vegetables, and fruits? What has the world come to? If so, that this news is sincere then shortly food will be exterminated due to the nuclear and radiation effecting the grounds of north eastern Japan. People and animals cannot nourish food that contain radiation within the system because it can be a massacre. If people and animals did take in mutated vegetables and plants, will they become mutated as well? In my ideal opinion I think it is very horrific that mutation is occurring in Japan and that debris are washed up on North American beaches.

Green roots sprouting out of the tomato.

Mutation, radiation, and nuclear relate to the environment because these three things can effect the living people, animals, and plants in the environment. For example, the nuclear power plant already effected the environment because daises are mutated and are growing inwardly towards each other because of fasciation, vegetables are sprouting in different directions, and some are magnified in larger size or amount. Japanese people should no doubt stay away from radiated locations because their body can have a severe negative reaction to it. It might kill people and we do not want that. 

Resources:

**NOTE Video 1 is originally from Youtubers who discussed about the mutated plants, vegetables, and fruits after the devastating earthquake and tsunami four years ago in Japan. Plenty of foul language and crude humor may occur**

• Nuclear Mutant Plants and Veggies are Growing in Japan
• Land of Mutant Daisies
• Revenge of the Mutant Vegetables?
• Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011: Facts & Information