Could Climate Change Reform Cost Us?

Recently, there has been a lot of effort to get Congress to pass a climate change reform bill. However, due to the already-large amount of things on Congress's agenda, it seems unlikely that it will come to fruition this calendar year. But that doesn't stop people from contemplating the effects that it could have on our society if it is somehow miraculously passed soon. Experts are predicting that the GDP would fall, unemployment would rise, and energy may have a higher cost as it will be taxed more. However, in the long term, this reform would save everybody a lot of money because high efficiency buildings and appliances would be used. Because of that, the effect of greenhouse gases could be reduced and the U.S. would be in charge of that. Sometime in the near future, I can see something like this becoming effective, but in this economy, it does not make sense as people in America don't really need to be paying too much money on something else.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/05/what-would-climate-change-reform-i-cost-i-us/57019/

Glacier National Park Melting

The Glacier National Park in Montana just celebrated its 100th anniversary last Tuesday. However, its birthdays are numbered as the glaciers are melting extremely rapidly. Scientists predict that there may be nothing left in ten years. When the park was established in 1911, it had around 150 glaciers. Now, though, it only has 25. Average temperatures in the park have risen 1.8 times faster than the average global temperature, so the change is visible to the naked eye. Receding glaciers leave behind huge moraines, and the increase in temperature is causing more wildfires and lower stream flows, which endangers many fish populations. The animals in the park do not seem to be suffering yet, but spring is arriving three weeks earlier than usual which could disrupt the animals' survival patterns as food grows at different times or becomes scarce. If the glaciers do disappear, it will make international headlines; it's hard for anyone to imagine Montana without its snow capped mountains or glaciers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20100511/ap_tr_ge/us_travel_trip_glacier_at100

The New Smart-Grid

On the Scientific American website, there was an article about the new smart grid, so I thought I would check it out. In this article it talked about how there has been a replacement for the traditional power grid. The traditional grid is known for brownouts and blackouts, but the new grid is leaving its designers with high hopes to reduce the number of problems greatly. The new grid will allow for a "two-way flow of both electricity and data". There is however, one large problem with the new grids. They pose a huge security risk because traditional grids have the problem of cyber-security, but the new grid adds a whole new level of complexity to ensuring the people using the grid safety. The problem with is that a computer hacker who is able to tamper with the smart meters would be able to not only effect a handful of homes, but have the potential to shut down power to 15,000 homes within 24 hours.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=securing-the-smart-grid

Neandertals Bred With Humans

A recent study shows that neandertal's and humans likely interbred. It came as a surpise to researchers, as they had long been looking for evidence of this and had never found it. It is estimated that 1 to 4 percent of the DNA of people from Europe and Asia is neandertal DNA. This has long been studied, as it gives a better picture of how we evolved. Neandertal's lived in that area until they were killed off about 30,000 years ago. The scientists expected to find no related DNA, this result was suprising. Some did predict the result, however. One odd fact is that people living in islands like New Guinea were found to have as much neandertal DNA as people from Europe or Asia, when neandertal's never lived there. At least one leading scientist now believes that we cannot classify neandertal's as different from us. He believes that we are essentially the same race. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/58936/title/Neandertal_genome_yields_evidence_of_interbreeding_with_humans

Louisiana Oil Spill Reaches Wildlife Refuge

This article is about two parts of the oil spill. One is the oil spill reaching a Wildlife Refuge and the other is about efforts to contain the oil spill and clean up the oil.

The uninhabited Chandeleur Islands, off the coast of Louisiana, are part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge, which is the second oldest Wildlife Refuge in America. Pelicans and other birds that are covered in oil have been found on these islands, and a federal Maritime agency said there was "oiling all over"the islands. There is also an oily substance that is washing up on New Harbor Island, which serves as a roosting place for thousands of frigate birds. Everyone is worried about the impact that this oil spill will have on the fishing economy since the area is a vital spawning ground for fish, shrimp and crabs. One fisherman is quoted saying, "It's all over the place... that's our whole fishing ground. That's our livelihood". The effects of this oil spill on the environment are, and will be, awful - especially if the oil continues to affect Wildlife Refuges like the Chandeleur Islands.

Ever since the explosion, 18 days ago, oil has been leaking non-stop into the Gulf of Mexico. People have been criticizing BP on its slow response time, and BP has argued back that they have sent out 100 boats to skim the oil off the water (including 20 of the worlds largest skimming vessels), thousands of feet of boom are trying to contain the oil and planes are flying over deploying dispersants. Apparently the smallest of the three leaks has been sealed and crews are burning off some of the oil in the parts where there is a heavy concentration. BP is attempting to contain the leaking oil by putting a giant iron funnel over the leak. It'll try to capture about 85% of the leaking oil and funnel it up to a barge. This has been used in shallower waters but they're hoping it'll work for this leak too. A few problems may occur while using this funnel - the device may damage the well and make the leak worse, ice may clog the drill pipe, and explosions may occur at the surface while trying to separate the mix of oil, gas and water.

Hopefully the funnel will work because the oil spill is bad enough without the continuous leaking of even more oil into the gulf. This article is pretty optimistic that the funnel will work but didn't say much about how helpful the methods of cleaning up the oil will be and how bad the threat against the Wildlife Refuges is. I hope they'll be able to clear up as much oil as possible and that the ecosystems won't be too badly damaged, but I guess we can't tell how bad it will be until the oil is cleared up.

Link to article from the BBC

New study shows that future temperatures could be lethal

For the first time scientists have calculated the highest wet bulb temperature that humans can tolerate. We calculated wet bulb temperatures in a unit a couple months ago (it is equal to what is felt when wet skin is exposed to moving air and it includes the temperature and atmospheric huidity). Researchers discovered that if a human or animal is exposed to wet bulb temperatures above 95 degrees for at least six hours they will experience potentially lethal levels of heat stress. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that if the world continues warming at the same rate it is now, by 2100 average global temperatures will have risen by seven degrees Farenheit. The study has found that a warming of twelve degrees Farenheit would cause parts of the world to surpass the wet-bulb temperature limit, and that a warming of 21-degrees would place fifty percent of the globe in an unlivable environment. Researchers say that if nothing is done to slow global warming we may very well reach these temperatures, pretty scary!

The map of the world shows the wet-bulb temperatures that would occur around the world with a global-mean temperature increase of 21 degrees farenheit. The white coloring portrays areas that humans would experienced potentially lethal heat stress.

Mammoths are cool!

I chose this story because I feel like recently the news has been overcome by volcanoes, floods, oil spills, and earthquakes. No one really ever hears about really cool mammoths with anti-freeze blood anymore.

Apparently wooly mammoths used more than their thick fur to stay warm in the ice age and it's cold arctic winters. Recently scientists have discovered that mammoths had a genetic adaptation in their blood allowing their haemoglobin to release oxygen into their bodies at extremely low temperatures. In this way their blood was similar to anti-freeze! This adaptation probably helped them keep their oxygen moving which kept helped them concentrate their heat internally and stop heat loss. They discovered this by extracting a DNA sample from the remains of a 43,000 year old wooly mammoth. The converted the DNA into RNA and then put it in e. coli bacteria which helped produce the mammoth protein of the 43,000 year old specimen. If they didn't have this adaptation they would have to eat a lot more, much more often so that they could get their energy from food. This would have posed a large problem in the winter when there wasn't a large food supply. This adaptation for mammoths was dealt to deal with the cold just as their elephant relatives adapted to the African heat by having large ears and no thick coat of fur.

-Katie Powell

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8657464.stm