This summer may witness arctic meltdown. Scientists have predicted that, the ice caps at North Pole may melt away completely owning to the phenomenon of Global Warming. It has been noted in last year’s studies that, ice at North Pole has started liquefying significantly. And this year, it may just get worse with the remaining layers of ice getting heated up with rising global temperatures. Continued meltdown of thicker caps formed during the ice ages has exposed the thinner layers to warming climate. The remaining cold cover is made up of seasonal ice which is liable to a quick meltdown during summer months. As per, Andy Mahoney, researcher, University of Colorado’s National Snow and Ice Data Center, “This year there is a lot of young ice. There’s always some, but this year there’s a lot”.

Data from satellite observations reveal that in comparison to last year, the melt down rate has increased, which means, the probability of full-scale ice cap melting has also increased. This certainly is alarming news. Perhaps people should understand that small rise in temperature can have catastrophic effects.
The melting ice has roused an interest in international community more for political reasons than ecological and environmental concerns. Despite the unpleasant consequences of global warming and climate change, as expressed by environmentalists and scientists, what actually interests politicians is the vast area that will be exposed once the polar ice is gone! Canada, U.S, Russia and other nations bordering the Arctic are keen on acquisition of this newly shaped Artic region. The latter can prove to be suitable for shipping purposes. Every one wants a piece of pie!

The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of Sea defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources. As per the convention, Arctic countries can prove their claim to the vastly uncharted polar ice packs of North Pole, ten years after ratification of the treaty. It is interesting to note that, United States has not ratified the treaty yet. It has objected to the provisions of the treaty on several grounds. The U.S. believes, the treaty is unfavorable to America’s economy and security. However, the decision upon the control of Artic will be taken by another UN panel by2020.

The irony of the whole situation is, instead of pondering over the grave consequences attributed by the complete meltdown of North Pole, the community of Arctic countries is busy reaping its respective interests. This blind pursuit of economic benefits at the cost of ecological balance with further burden our Mother Earth.

Via CTV

National Geographic magazine’s latest issue (July, 2008) deals with the gory Virunga Gorilla Killings. I’m yet to read it. But what prompted me to write a post on this issue is the fact that I was greatly affected by a small video (7min. duration) titled Who Murdered the Virunga Gorillas? The video is available on National Geographic’s website.

The Venue
Virunga National Park is situated in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda. This 7,800 square kilometers of protected area, is declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Virunga Park is a chain of active volcanoes and house of some very interesting and rare animal species like hippopotamuses and mountain gorillas. The latter belong to the globally ‘endangered species’ list. So far, the park has been famous for it’s successful conservation work regarding these Great Apes. But on July 22nd, 2007, an entire family of gorillas was executed mercilessly!

The Crime
Now, Virunga is infamous for its gorilla killings! Within a short span of two months, seven massive gorillas were gunned down, abandoning their kids. The disturbing photographs (by Brent Stirton) of these dead apes, swept across the world media, have created an outrage among conservationists and nature lovers. Attempts made by photographer Brent Stirton and writer Mark Jenkins to discover the motive behind these killings, have unraveled a disturbing mix of power, corruption, extreme poverty, human desperation, greed and associated violence.

The Issue
The face of the crime is undoubtedly ugly but the issue behind it is not a new one. The forces that lead to such sad killings of animals in the wild are threads of a complex fabric,
spun every single minute of human existence in developing societies. Like others Virunga too, is not resistant to ‘these’ forces. The question arises what are these forces then? Can they be challenged by human efforts?

The issue is not just Man vs. Nature but also Man vs. Man. Nearby Virunga National Park, is the huge camp of war-displaced people whose lives have been torn and tattered by the Congo Civil War. These people depend on the forest cover protected by the boundaries of the national park. The huge, hungry and poverty stricken population of these displaced people is a part of the Charcoal Mafia. It’s illegal to harvest charcoal inside the park premises but the locals (with the help of some corrupt officials) do just that. This is an outcome of human desperation and greed. The committed park rangers deal with such locals. Rangers also deal with a dangerous resident militia. The latter has occupied the gorilla specific areas of the vast national park. Their very presence is a threat to the gorilla’s existence. The militia wants justice and power from the government but their victims are not just humans only. The mountain gorillas, now being used to the irritating presence of humans, cannot distinguish whether those people with guns are there to protect or to terminate them!!!

The Reality
After watching the video, I could not help but remember that something similar and of grave nature has actually happened in India as well. The wiping out of tiger population at Sariska National Park in recent past and ongoing killings at Ranthambore, bear a semblance to what happened a year ago in Virunga. The issue is afterall, Can man and beast co-exist?

The Solution
There is no easy and straightforward solution that can change the scenario of Virunga and other national parks in a day or two. In this huge world, humans and other species are competing for space and nutrition. And each species is valuable. The process of establishing equilibrium between men and animals is unfortunately a slow one but the good part is, it is possible. I think we need a handful of Dr. Jane Goodall(s) in every continent!

Via NationalGeographic

The clouds of extinction are looming large over the wildcats of Afghanistan. The war torn country was once a heaven for the snow leopard species. Unfortunately, today this is not so. These animals due to their elusiveness have some how, managed to survive the country’s turmoil over thirty years.

Today, these big cats face a survival threat from foreigners – those involved in rebuilding Afghanistan. The country banned poaching and hunting of snow leopards in 2002. But, the system being ineffective, a lot of snow leopard skins and furs can be found for sale in the tourist bazaars. Foreigners including tourists and those at international military base camps can be found purchasing these skins and furs at the local markets. Shopkeepers at the Chicken Street (Kabul’s main tourist bazaar) sell pelts and fur coats made from many of Afghanistan’s animal species. Prices may be anywhere between $300-$ 1500. Ask the shopkeepers and they reveal that, it is not difficult for them to illegally trade these skins across international borders as they have provisions to hide these skins and send them across, inside blankets.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has enlisted many animals in Afghanistan including snow leopards, as ‘endangered’. It levies a heavy fine on those found guilty of transporting a fur across an international border. The fine in the U.S. amounts to $100,000 and one year term in jail.

Despite these   strict measures, the illegal trade of fur and pelt sale is flourishing in the valleys of Afghanistan. To meet the demand poachers are always on the look out for a big cat and thus, this demand-supply chain is pushing the snow leopards further towards extinction.

No body knows the exact number of snow leopards in the wild but it is estimated, 3500-7000 of these animals may be living around world (as per the International Snow Leopard Trust). Scenario is even worse for the Afghani snow leopards, only 100-200 of which survive in their natural habitat today. Only imposing a ban on their hunting is not enough. Those at the receiving end acting as customers of fur trade must be cracked down before it’s too late.

Via Reuters

The question mark over the safety of food items packaged in nanomaterials seems to get bigger by the day. The multidisciplinary science of Nanotechnology is actively contributing to fields such as agriculture and food industry. Use of Engineered nanoscale materials (ENMs) in food packaging is already an accepted procedure in the industry today. For example, these days’ bottles are made with nanocomposites. The latter helps in reducing the carbon dioxide leakage out of the bottles, thereby increasing the shelf life of product packaged in such bottles.

However these new materials have sparked a debate on the safety of food items being stored using such packaging. In an attempt to answer all such concerns a report was released by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) June 25th, 2005 in Washington, DC.The report is authored by former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy official Michael R. Taylor.

As food industry believes that every new emerging technology in this field must be scrutinized well before its wide-scale acceptance, food companies and consumers nurture similar interests. No body wants a potential hazard as was found later on by scientific studies in the case of plastic coated juice containers and other food packaging material. It was revealed that those juice cans and fruit-tins and other such items of daily consumption that are being lined by a special type of thin plastic are harmful to human health. The internal plastic layer in contact with the juice (food) was leaching dangerous chemicals into the stored food. Later on, such food packaging materials were withdrawn from the markets.

Then PEN-GMA report was the effort of several experts from government, industry and public interest communities. These people studied the fate of a number of hypothetical nanotechnology food packaging applications when the mandates of current regulatory system were applied on them. Nanomaterials that are suspected to change the characteristic of food items will be banned from future use. This kind of study will prove beneficial to the future of nanotechnology being in food industry. With this report and armed by new technologies and public safety concerns, we do hope the food packaging industry gets a boost to serve the larger interests of people.

Via ENN

I happened to read this piece of news a couple of minutes ago that, with all the advances in science there’s an “Orgasm Jab” being introduced for women. What exactly is this stuff?? It’s not a new brand of one of those toys, but a procedure that requires ladies to go do the doctor to get their pleasure spot augmented.

This G-shot, is a non surgical procedure that, promises to intensify a lady’s sexual experience by injecting a bit of collagen into her G-spot area. Sounds phantasmic?

The treatment results in increasing the size of the pleasure point and raises it by a quarter of an inch in height. Thus, making it easier for the male partner to find her G-spot.

Ok, the news does seem to be interesting. But before you envision once such procedure for yourself, consider the price please. Just 800 pounds! May be a small amount for the hot-and-happening of Hollywood and other Richie-riches but if we talk about their Indian counterparts, the amount holds to be 67,454.8 INR. Plus the taxes! Perhaps, some Indian ladies may also be in a position to afford it. What still remains unanswered is, in a world were anything related to sex sells like hot cupcakes, what else needs to be ‘fixed’ next, in order to achieve the perfect lovemaking session?? And I’am talking about ‘fixes’ for both the sexes here. I don’t condemn the treatment for those chronic people suffering from identity crisis due to such issues and patients particularly. But in this rapidly evolving materialistic world, this procedure will acquire more ‘commercial’ dimensions than being ‘physiologically helpful procedures’. The malady is, if one has the money to afford it, then one may not need trust-n-understanding, and mutual love for one’s partner so much as one may need the urge for such nip-tucks and what nots to decide the quality of one’s most intimate moments!

Source

Besides the Jeetay Raho aashirwaad (’May you long live’ blessing) given by our elders, Vitamin D is one thing that can help you in living longer! According to a study conducted at Graz University (Austria), it has been found that the “sunshine vitamin” produced inside body upon a certain exposure in sun, cuts down the mortality rates.

Doctors until now have been in favour of moderate daily Sun exposure besides the dietary intake of Vit. D. The vitamin is synthesized in our bodies after exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. It plays a vital role in the maintenance of organ systems.

It regulates the calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood. It also affects our immune system. Its deficiency causes rickets in small children and osteoporosis in adults. However, this is the first time a study has been conducted that established a connection between this vitamin and longevity of human life. The researchers studied data collected from more than 3,200 people (average age 62 years) scheduled for a heart examination in the period between1997-2000. During this period, the team found that the quarter of volunteers with the lowest levels of vitamin D in their blood were more likely to die. This news will surely help people in becoming more responsible towards their health and life. So, along with eating cod liver oil capsules, salmon and cooked eggs, soak up some sun daily and live long!

{By the way, don’t forget to use sunscreen if you plan to stay for more than moderate intervals in sun.}

Source HindustanTimes

While the Chinese Dragon may be all set to unleash it’s vibrancy coming August (at the start of Beijing 2008 Olympic games), concerns are being raised about the successful inauguration of this year’s Olympics, in the wake of China’s increasingly worsening air pollution. The huge country is a leader in sulphur emission and stands next to USA in terms of emission of green house gases. Air pollution in China, is one of worst kinds found on the whole planet. The number of people dying in the country, due to health problems aggravated by this kind of pollution is alarming. Although, Beijing is not the most polluted city in China but its polluted enough to send jitters, among the participating athletes. A large number of them are severely concerned about the impact of breathing highly sulphurous air on their lungs!

To safeguard their health and thus, their performances in the event, Canadian athletics team and Australian track and field team have decided to skip the opening ceremony on August 8th, 2008. Imagine a scenario where, teams from other participating nations also decide to join Canada and Australia. And what if any of these sportspersons (specially those participating in outdoor games) fall severely ill by breathing
Beijing’s dirty air? That going to be a lot of embarrassment for the Chinese organizing committee and the nation as such. So, keeping the Beijing smog and the latest development on the sporting event in mind, the Chinese government has announced plans to ban 1 million vehicles from the streets of Beijing beginning July 20th. Also, there will be an 18 per cent rise in fuel prizes to discourage car owners from driving near The Bird’s Nest (The Olympic Stadium). Here’s the catch! While the ban is being announced for the residents, it will affect the government officials equally because the traffic around The Bird Nest includes 70% state run vehicles!

These latest announcements seem to me like, those save-my-skin tactics adopted by a student being caught cheating in her university exams!!! With due respects to the decisions taken by Chinese govt., I would like to ask, is it possible to change the depressing situation (of air pollution) in a matter of mere 18 days??? So what, if these things are applied and there’s no smog on the morning of Aug.8th and the inauguration ceremony goes well. Who will take the responsibility of the lungs of so many people – the participants, foreign delegations, reporters, media persons etc.? My heart really goes out to the Chinese people who have been breathing in such a polluted state from generations.

How can the Chinese govt. prevent any impending acid rain by calling a ban on cars for a couple of days? And for sanity’s sake, I m not going to comment upon how much ‘distress’ the 18% fuel price-rise will inflict upon the Chinese people. Ofcourse, come what may they would have to digest all this, because it’s a question of national honour for them. While I wish good luck to the China for a successful 2008 Olympic Games and to those associated with it in any manner, I hope the country takes some urgent, sensible and sustainable measures to curb their air pollution, once the games are over.

Via HelensTravelCorner

You have to go out in sun and you are worried about getting tanned. But the solution is at hand and before you step out, you apply a generous dose of the latest quick absorbing, lovely smelling sunscreen. And you think you are protected. Perhaps yes, from the sun but not from some chemicals present right inside your skin, courtesy- your sunscreen! While most of us fall for the flashy advertisements about plethora of sunblock creams/ anti-tan lotions, hardly a few would take the pain to read the content and component information provided on the products casing. As it turns out to be, like in every other sphere of our lives, we must be smart and vigilant so we should be while buying our favorite sunblock cream. In this post, I would like to remove the screen over sunscreens. These products can be categorized into two kinds: Physical sunscreens and Chemical sunscreens. The former type protects us by scattering or reflecting the UV radiation when we are out in sun. Our skin does not absorb these physical sunscreens. The second variety however, penetrates the layers of our skin (epidermis, dermis and hypodermis).

Chemical sunscreens work by absorbing UV radiation falling on our skin and then dissipate these radiations in form of either heat or light usually of longer wavelength that does not affect the skin. But unlike physical variety, these chemical sunscreens are known to cause skin allergies and sometimes even act as carcinogens (cancer causing substances). While the physical sunblocks have harmless zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in them. The constituents of chemical sunblocks usually comprise Oxybenzone, Avobenzone and Parosol 789. All of these are known to cause contact dermatitis to susceptible individuals and have some other side effects. Thus, it is very important that you must first check what your sunscreen is made up of and then make a decision to purchase it or not. Consumers must also realize that certain medications (like Ibuprofen, Doxycycline, Ortho-tricycle) render photosensitivity. Thus, such individuals should be extra conscious about the kind of anti-tan lotions/creams they should use. Afterall, skin is a vital organ of human body.

Via

River Yamuna is the water body that touches the feet of Taj Mahal (Agra) and flows into Delhi. The river is a lifeline for people belonging to both Uttar Pradesh and the Indian capital. What was once known for its idyllic beauty set against the monument of love, is now reduced to a highly polluted stream. The river can be seen suffocating and choking under the line-up of plastic bags, industrial waste, human waste, animal excreta, dead bodies and everything dark and ugly one can imagine! Saddening as it is, several attempts are being made to clean it up. In Delhi, besides being the play card of politicians at the time of elections (when the whole drive to clean up the river’s body by the respectable chief minister takes place) it’s the city favorite dumping ground as well. Whatever is being done and will be done to purify this water body in Delhi is like a slow-paced novel. However, a ray of hope has emerged from the neighboring state (U.P.) to look into the matter of increasingly polluted Yamuna.

This surprising and first of a kind restorative action calls for the formation of a 5 member River Police Squad to keep an eye on polluters of the Yamuna (as announced by Agra district authorities on Sunday). A Supreme Court directive (10yrs old) is behind the materialization of this move. The directive orders the district administration to form such a squad. It is the work of the five members of the squad, to drive away cattle owners, who daily bring their buffaloes to the river for washing and thus polluting it. The apex court has also joined in and suggested that the washermen be shifted from the river bed and suitably re-located. The squad will be the watchdog observing and recording the activities of those who discharge untreated sewage and industrial wastes into this holy river.

Although as per the directives of Yamuna Action Plan, diverted sewage must be first treated by the Sewage Treatment Plants. In reality, industrial effluents , waste products from tanneries , Petha–makers etc. are directly thrown into Yamuna. Hopefully, the situation improves now as State Pollution Control board officials hope, now it would be easier to catch polluters by filing police complaints and taking legal actions against them.

And all of us in India are really waiting for this squad to kick in its operations at the earliest.

Via Timesof India

An apple a day, keeps the doctor away. We all have grown up hearing that one   from our mothers especially at the breakfast table. It’s still difficult for moms to persuade their kids to eat apples on any given day when there are plenty of unhealthy but tempting fruit flavored substitutes available in the supermarket. Here’s a piece of news that might create an interest in mothers. Scientists, in particular fruit geneticists in N.Y. have developed a new variety of apples that taste like berries! The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES) in Geneva is the laboratory-locale where fantastically newly flavored apple varieties are being developed under the apple-breeding program. This program is more than a century year old and focuses on developing new kinds of apple trees that produce distinctly flavored fruit. Any apple on the tree usually contains a few numbers of seeds in it that bear qualities different from the parent tree.

These seeds when selectively planted grow into lush trees producing a fruit, which tastes different from the one on parent tree. In nature, newer varieties are produced by chance. However, in the apple breeding program, superior varieties are created and worked upon keeping in mind the tastes and moods of consumers. And this involves a lot of science esply. Plant genetics. Employing the tools of genetic engineering, a diverse variety of apples can be produced commercially. For this studies are conducted on gene families so that one can get a berry-tasting apple in one variety or an apple loaded with vit. C. There are genes that can be incorporated in to the gene pool of a yummy, crispy apple to make the apple fragrant like a rose! While the trial fruit (grown in the orchard–labs of the institute) seems promising, launching the product at a commercial scale could be tricky. Also, it can’t be said right now that the enlightened and health conscious consumers of today, will openly embrace such altered fruits. For the time being, the news is a promising one. And if these berry flavored apples are able to win the hearts and taste buds of kids then rest assured, moms would become worrywarts for their kids health!

Via