Earth day was this past week, so I thought it would be fitting to write about the celebration of the relatively new holiday by taking a look into the world’s oldest known tree. The tree is in Inyo National Forest and is a bristlecone pine. The name is Methuselah and it is approximately 4847 years old. You will not easily be able to find a picture of the tree as it is so well protected by the National Forest. The protection of a tree may seem excessive by some, but it is done for good reason, since many people are more interested in carving their initials into it than preserving it for the appreciation of the world. Another reason the protection is necessary is that another tree (which was even older) named Prometheus, which had the crown of the oldest tree previously, was cut down during research by a graduate student in 1964. Coincidentally, he was doing research on “the effects of climate change on receding glaciers by measuring their influence on the size of the rings of ancient pine trees” as we have studied recently in class. As ridiculous as it sounds, he felled the tree to retrieve a tool that he had gotten stuck in the trunk of the tree. It was about 4900 years old when it was cut down. Thankfully, he got his tool back though. Now these trees are much more heavily guarded by the forest service and details of the locations are heavily restricted. If someone does get the opportunity to see them in person, they are magnificent because of how wide they are and even more so, knowing that they only grow 1/100th of an inch on a good year.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/science/earth-day-worlds-oldest-tree-bristlecone-pine.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

In the article referenced below, the New York Times writer investigates one of the animals on the endangered species list according to NOAA fisheries: the sperm whale. The population of the sperm whale has declined 70 percent in the last 150 years. Although the article’s intention is not to highlight this fact, I think it is worth noting due to our recent time spent studying the red list and other life forms that are in peril because of depopulation. In this case with the sperm whales, the cause is due to the amount that have been killed by humans for food and oil. In this article, however, the objective is to investigate the intellect and social capabilities of sperm whales. The process that is under investigation by the free diving scientists is the practice of coda clicks by which the whales communicate. Objectively, at first exposure, the sounds seem primitive and unintelligent in nature, but upon further investigation by the team, there have been much more intricate and elaborate parts found within each basic sounding click. The interesting part of each click is found “when the clicks are viewed on a spectrogram, a visual representation of an audio signal, each reveals a remarkably complex pattern. Inside these clicks are a series of shorter clicks, each lasting a few thousandths of a second”. The most fascinating part, in my opinion, is the potential that these clicks have in terms of communication. While socializing, the sperm whales very possibly could be communicating in a much more complex and intellectual way that previously thought. Even more interesting is the possibility that arises if we are able to decode these clicks and use them to converse with the whales.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/16/opinion/sunday/conversation-with-whales.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/whales/sperm-whale.html

In class we have discussed many different effects and cycles of pollution of the world and atmosphere by gases such as carbon dioxide. The atmosphere is the initial receiver, but it passes the negative effects onto the life forms of earths surface and waters. Similarly, light pollution has recently changed the way things work dramatically in the ecosystem. Like CO2, it is only very recent in the relative history of the earth that humans have been producing artificial light and the production was increased exponentially, in the same way that CO2 byproducts were and still are. The effects of light pollution are certainly less extreme, but they do disrupt the natural cycle of life in many respects. The article mentions the timing of coral spawning in the The Great Barrier Reef being out of sync since the process is dependent on the full moon. Artificial light in some places is easily confused with that of the moon, and therefore the spawning is mistimed and less effective. With reproduction on the decline, the coral that contributes so much to the life of the ecosystem could dramatically affect every other life form above it in the food chain. Another major effect of light pollution is found in the diminishing population of sea turtles. When sea turtles hatch on land, they know to travel to the farthest glow on the horizon (i.e. the moon), but again, the confusion with a nearby developed area in addition to the added light for predators to see by, results in many more baby sea turtles are not making it to the safety of the ocean. There are multiple other consequences of light pollution in our ecosystem including that which affects humans’ circadian rhythm by decreasing the production of melatonin.  Although these side effects are not as impending as those from CO2 pollution, they should receive attention especially since they are already affecting humans directly.

One of the most common misconceptions about climate change is that it does not exist because there are still substantial snow storms, cold fronts, blizzards, and extreme winters in general. The problem with this type of rationalization to disprove global warming is that it is terribly short sighted. The advocates of these types of ideas are guilty of confusing weather with climate. As we learned in class, weather is the short term and more variable description, while climate is an overall trend that encompasses a much more comprehensive amount of time. Therefore climate change will be much more gradual than weather change. Many times our climate threats have been compared to the threat associated with smoking as there are variations that both carry inherently. Some smokers live short, unhealthy lives and some live inexplicably longer than they should given their lifestyle. “We’re kind of like the smoker who hasn’t smoked too many cigarettes a day for too many years yet,” Dr. Sobel says in the article. I think the biggest emphasis in this quote should be on the final word: yet. That’s the most critical word because it implies (correctly) that if we continue on the same path, that, like the smoker, we will certainly die from the effects at some point. The odds increase directly as time goes on without cleaning up our emissions. The main takeaway from this article is that just because there are cold days (even if they are colder than normal) there are much more implicit threats when one analyzes the climate changes over a longer period of time as opposed to day by day comparison; long term thinking and consideration of future generations is the only approach that will solve the entire problem.

In the news recently, an enormous scandal regarding the lead toxicity levels in the drinking water of the city of Flint, Michigan. There were major reactions and criticisms coming from all over the United States. What was unknown to me, and I assume many other Americans, is that this is an issue that has plagued the country for years, although went largely unnoticed. It is also one that has been underplayed in many locations until the situation in Flint was brought to light. Aqua Pro-Tech Laboratories chief executive said in the article: “no one was testing. Now all of a sudden, they’re all going crazy.”. The fact that these issues were swept under the rug until a nationally covered news story revealed the case is morally upside down. The primary motivator to not do the testing and furthermore, not perform necessary corrections is the monetary cost involved. The prices to replace the lead pipes that are corroding are high (several million dollars for an average school district), but what is the value of prevention of stunting cognitive growth? The effects of the lead poisoning are the reason there are EPA regulations on how much lead, the drinking water can contain. In many schools mentioned in the article, there are cases of the lead concentrations reading 60 times the federal threshold. This is quite obviously alarming, but what is even more alarming is the potential amount of time that the lead level was present and left untreated in schools, where the primary purpose is to further a child’s cognitive development. Thankfully, now there are pushes being made to improve the situation, but there is still much progress to be made.

One of the major concerns with respect to climate change that we have discussed in class is the positive feedback system that the carbon cycle creates. For example respective to plants: as the temperature increases globally, plants will need to reduce the amount that they open their stomata so as to limit their carbon intake because it is more abundant. The effect this has is a  reduced amount of water released through the stomata, which in turn reduces the amount of water given off and therefore cools the atmosphere less. Recently, however, it was discovered that plants would be able to adapt to the increasing carbon dioxide levels better that thought previously.

According to the New York Times article, “plant respiration contributes six times as much carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as fossil fuel emissions”. While this statistic makes up a significant amount of the CO2 in the atmosphere, plants also use much of it as fuel for photosynthesis.  Another negative feedback element that was touched on in class and addressed in the Columbia article is the process of down-regulation. This outcome is the result of the plants adapting in the abundance of CO2 to operate more efficiently. The result is a larger leaf area on average which results in an increased albedo of the earth, thereby cooling it slightly. Based on these findings and more, the new found consensus is that the carbon cycle may, in fact, be a negative feedback system with regards to global warming as opposed to the positive feedback system as previously accepted.

How Plants Could Impact Global Warming

Although the rest of the world, in general, is growing in population at a rate concerning to some, Japan has recorded its first decline in population. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the country’s population is down by 947,000 people. This makes up 0.7% of the populous and it is trending toward further decline as 25% of the population is above 65 years old. This is drastically higher than the 8% of the world who are above 65 in the global statistics according to worldbank.org. For this reason, the population decline seems to be decreasing further in the future and is predicted to do so by many experts for the reason of the population distribution imbalance as well as other reasons. One of these other reasons is the pressure on Japanese women to progress farther in their career before limiting their professional time by raising children. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are more predominant influences of men becoming less masculine in pop culture. The effect this brings is the decreased desire to become fathers. Similarly, the increased societal acceptability of homosexuality could be argued to be leading to the population decline. Given all of these influencing factors, it is apparent how the domestic population is on the decline. One of the policy solutions that has not yet been employed is the option of loosening the immigration policy in order to help both the Japanese population as well as the rest of the world, from which many people wish to emigrate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/world/asia/japan-confirms-a-decline-in-population.html?ref=world

http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/2.1

http://www.academia.edu/2368322/Explanations_for_Japanese_Population_Decline

Nuclear armament has long since been a friction point for international relations for good reason; a nuclear war would undoubtedly ruin much of the planet and change our trajectory dramatically as a human race. In a recent development, North Korea has disregarded all demands from the United States and continued to test nuclear arms in addition to its recent “satellite” test, demonstrating its improved capability of a farther reaching means to attack the west from the point of view of the US. These actions all come without any reigning in by North Korea’s stronger ally, China. While China sits idle, South Korea, who remains free of nuclear arms, grows increasingly nervous as a population. This is a rational concern  as it resides in a tumultuous region with little self-reliance in terms of military capabilities. It relies on the US to protect it from the unpredictable north, but a majority in the south would prefer having some sort of nuclear program to even the playing field strictly for the sake of defense, but do not want to risk a hit to its heavy export reliant economy if embargoes are placed. On the opposite side, some South Koreans argue the trend to deescalate nuclear arms dependence should start in their country. I would argue the opposite, because in order to make substantial changes to the world as a whole, starting with the leaders decreases the desire for smaller powers like South Korea to acquire self reliance militarily. In order for the US to abandon its nuclear program, however, the demand would have to be decreased (i.e. North Korea would have to comply with the demands to dissolve its nuclear program) which does not look promising.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/world/asia/south-korea-nuclear-program-north.html

It is rational to assume there is a gap in the life expectancy between those who are rich and those who are poor, but currently in the United States, the gap in life expectancy is simply disparaging. Although people with more money have easier access to healthcare and medical treatment, those in other developed countries have nowhere near the difference in lifespan between social classes that the U.S. does as a country. The question of what sets us apart is a provocative question. One could argue that the financial system of social security plays a part by being a positive feedback loop; those without much money can’t afford to see the payouts that those who live longer (i.e. the wealthier) can receive. Another thought is the problem of smoking and prescription drug habits that are much more commonplace in lower income communities. It could also be suggested that the stress levels are also a positive feedback loop that perpetuates the poverty of those with the lowest income as they have to work many more hours and go through much more financial and physical stress to make ends meet. It’s easy to see how these things can factor into the proportionally shorter lifespan of the poorer classes of America. The pressing problem is that the gap is widening despite major advances in technology and medicine and only those with money are able to reap the benefits of these societal advancements.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/13/health/disparity-in-life-spans-of-the-rich-and-the-poor-is-growing.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Similar in pervasiveness to the Zika virus that has posed a new threat to us and is steadily increasing in prevalence, avian influenza is becoming a more notable danger. Much of the transmission can be assumed to be caused by the huge amount of chicken consumption of the world. Since it is in such a huge global demand, there are major issues with how easily one chicken can travel across the world carrying with it all of the bacteria and viruses it has acquired to spread with other birds or for humans to contract. This is a growing concern given that the global demand for chickens has quadrupled since 1970 according to the article. It has already been demonstrated in mega proportions that the bird flu has the capability to kill several hundred thousand people and these pandemics occurred before the demand skyrocketed. Another variable in the equation I found interesting was how easily poultry viruses can spread and mutate in the presence of humans because in much of china, people prefer to buy their chickens live in filthy marketplaces before taking them home to their families. The final and most interesting part of the situation that might explain some of the newly adapted spreading is due to the increased time spent between bird species around the Bering Strait because of the climate change. The increased overlap in migration periods means there is a much greater possibility for viruses to get spread among different birds before returning back home.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/opinion/sunday/what-you-get-when-you-mix-chickens-china-and-climate-change.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region&_r=0

The newly threatening  Zika virus is one that is a force to be reckoned with for humans. It has been positively linked to an increased risk of birth defects. This virus is primarily transmitted to humans in a similar way malaria is: through the mosquito. The mosquito can draw blood from a person with Zika and then pass it to another person the next time it bites someone. The effects of this virus were nonthreatening and until recently, Zika was almost a non-issue until it was linked to birth defects. To prevent the spread, humans have done things like making sure there is no standing water around civilizations because that’s where the mosquitoes mate. This might help some, but the threatening species, Aedes aegypti, is perfectly content breeding in the small amounts of water that pools in trash lying around a city. The prevention of standing water is largely unfeasible. Another option is to use the effective DDT pesticide, but it was responsible for overarching ecological effects on things other than mosquitoes. The most effective, but controversial solution was developed recently and uses a sort of biological warfare tactic to spread a sterility trait to the species. The ethical question is now posed: is it worth the unforeseeable and irreversible consequences of wiping out a species to prevent the possible birth defects?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/business/new-weapon-to-fight-zika-the-mosquito.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/20/10795562/zika-virus-cdc-mosquitoes-birth-defects

Reading the NYT article written by James Gorman on January 18th, I was perplexed to find the murres in the Northeast Pacific are having such a hard time surviving without hardly any explanation. These seagull looking birds tend to eat animal plankton and small fish close to the surface of the ocean, but it would seem they are starving. To me this indicates either a lack of food available or the presence of a disease, but according to the article, the studies conducted showed no evidence of the latter. This leads me to believe the fish (mostly pollock) are either low in population or have relocated to some where with a climate more suitable for them since the ocean temperatures are warming. The warming could be a cause of El Nino, global warming trends, or a combination. Regardless, I think the trend for the population decrease in the murres is cause for concern because of the predatory animals above them in the food chain that depend on them. With this threat in the food chain, the concern is compounded if the murres predators start to die off without adequate prey. All of these threats are substantial, but what’s most concerning is that the trend for this type of mass death is increasing across the board in other species of animals with little explanation leaving scientists powerless in terms of creating solutions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/science/what-does-it-mean-when-animals-suffer-a-vast-die-off.html?ref=earth

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/01/150123-seabirds-mass-die-off-auklet-california-animals-environment/

Hi I’m Frank Zimmerman. I’m a senior here at UP and am feeling mixed emotions about leaving. Glad to be registered for a cool course such as this one since it is one that I expect will be much more relevant and dynamic than most of the ones I’ve taken thus far. I’m excited to get into climate change and figure out where I stand in response to current issues. Right now, I feel like I’m not informed enough to create an intelligent opinion with what I know. This is also a class very different than those I’ve take and that also attracts me because I like getting into new territory academically and realizing yet another time just how little I really know. I enjoy these types of experiences first because they are humbling and second because I have always been attracted to nature and the world outside of buildings and other man made things. Learning about the climate will take me into a new realm of possibilities of areas to learn from that I’m interested in. I also really enjoy the application of the news to this class in that integrating current issues in the news will keep the students involved and aware of what is going on in the world around us. I tend to get scope vision while in school because it’s difficult to balance other things on top of the personal responsibilities that come with being a student.