Winter solstice today. It's the shortest daylight period, and the longest night.
After today, daylight will start increasing! But the big question is: what will the rest of winter be like?
Category: Uncategorized
The Most Popular Holiday in the US
Big Problem With Recycled Plastics
Some bad news about using recycled plastics in consumer goods . Scientists found that recycled plastics contain hundreds of toxic chemicals - everything from pesticides to pharmaceutical medicines. In other words, the chemicals the plastics were originally exposed to or made up of are still sticking around.
European researchers analyzed samples of plastic pellets (High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pellets) that were collected from plastics recycling facilities from countries in Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa. They found 491 chemical compounds in the plastic pellets, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, and plastic additives. Also "forever chemicals" such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
The study results were especially worrisome because polyethylene is such a commonly used plastic, one that is considered OK. It's even in clear wrap used to wrap food, as well as milk and juice containers. But...keep in mind that all plastics leach chemicals even when they are "virgin" (used for the first time). Recycling plastics just adds more chemicals to them.
Very important points from the research: 1) About 13,000 chemicals are currently known to be used in the production of plastics materials and products [2].
2) Several of these chemicals have hazardous properties while thousands of the chemicals lack data, even basic toxicological data. (In other words - no one knows if these chemicals are toxic.)
3) Non-intentionally added substances may further contaminate plastics during production, when it's used, and even during the recycling process. This results in recycled plastic materials that contain unknown numbers of chemical substances in unknown concentrations.
In other words: User beware. No one is looking out for you and making sure the stuff is safe. Efforts need to be made (laws passed) that hazardous chemicals are not used in making plastics. [Researchers stressing this.]
From Science Daily: Scientists found hundreds of toxic chemicals in recycled plastics
When scientists examined pellets from recycled plastic collected in 13 countries they found hundreds of toxic chemicals, including pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Because of this, the scientists judge recycled plastics unfit for most purposes and a hinder in the attempts to create a circular economy. ...continue reading "Big Problem With Recycled Plastics"
Fall Equinox
Today is the equinox. Fall is here, yet outside it's warm and all the flowers are blooming.
Labor Day
Hope your Labor Day was restful!
Record-breaking heat coming up this week in much of the United States.
Microplastics Are Even In Ocean Waves and Air
We can not get away from microplastics - the teeny, tiny plastic particles that are a result of plastics breaking up over time. They are everywhere, including the air over polar regions and in the air spewed out in the sea spray from waves.
Researchers sampled and analyzed air off the Norwegian coast up to the Arctic region. They found that all air samples contained microplastics. The plastic particles they found included polyester particles (from textiles), polystyrene, polypropylene, polyurethane, and tire wear particles (from driving and braking). Sources of the plastic particles came from both land (e.g., textiles, tire particles) and sea (e.g., boat paint).
Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5 mm (0.20 in) in length. Rain, water (e.g., seas, rivers), wind and air transport the plastic particles throughout the world. This microplastic pollution is of concern to all of us because we are breathing them in, and they are in the products we use (e.g., toothpaste), foods we eat, and the beverages we drink, including bottled water.
The big questions: What are the microplastic particles doing to us and wildlife? Are they getting into our organs? Are they causing chronic inflammation or other problems? Hint: Yes and yes, according to research. Even our lungs and blood.
From Science Daily: Oceans release microplastics into the atmosphere
Tiny plastic particles can be found in the sea air even far from coasts, according to a study recently published in the journal Nature Communications. The microplastics come from partly unexpected sources. ...continue reading "Microplastics Are Even In Ocean Waves and Air"
Scientists Report That July Was the Hottest Month On Record
We knew it was hot in July. Record breaking hot. Europe's climate monitoring organization (Copernicus Climate Change Service) announced this week that July was the Earth's hottest month on record. By a wide margin.
The global average temperature for July was 62.51 degrees F (16.95 degrees C). The record for hottest month prior to this was July 2019. According to experts, July was the hottest month in about 120,000 years!
The global sea surface temperatures for July also broke historic records. The sea ice in the Antarctic broke the July record for below average sea ice. Do you see a pattern? Uh - oh. The world is really warming up...
According to a Climate Central report, more than 6.5 billion people (or more than 81% of people on Earth) experienced hotter temperatures in July than they would have without human-caused climate change.
Excerpts from World Meteorological Organization: July 2023 is set to be the hottest month on record
According to ERA5 data from the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the first three weeks of July have been the warmest three-week period on record and the month is on track to be the hottest July and the hottest month on record. These temperatures have been related to heatwaves in large parts of North America, Asia and Europe, which along with wildfires in countries including Canada and Greece, have had major impacts on people’s health, the environment and economies. ...continue reading "Scientists Report That July Was the Hottest Month On Record"
Hammerhead Flatworms Are Creepy and Spreading Up the East Coast
Another creepy creature is making its way up the eastern seaboard. Invasive hammerhead worms that are about 22 inches long and contain a neurotoxin (poison) are spreading up the southeastern coast (e.g., Florida, Georgia) north to Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, NJ and elsewhere. Yikes!
The flatworms (Bipalium) originally came from Asia. They contain tetrodoxin (TTX), which causes paralysis of the muscle tissue. It's the same toxin found in puffer fish! But what makes the worms ultra-creepy is that if one gets broken up into mutiple pieces, each piece can regenerate to become a fully functioning worm!
Biologists say they are not a danger to humans unless handled (can cause skin irritation) or eaten (many of them). They can be killed by pouring some salt on them, and then dispose by placing into a plastic bag. Don't handle with bare hands - use a stick or wear gloves.
Excerpts from Washington Post: Toxin-secreting hammerhead worms are invading the D.C. area. How to stop them.
...continue reading "Hammerhead Flatworms Are Creepy and Spreading Up the East Coast"
We’re On Track For Each Summer to Be Hotter Than Ever
This past Monday (July 3) the average temperature on Earth was the hottest day ever recorded. But then...Tuesday broke Monday's records for hottest day for Earth. It hit 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit (17.18 degrees Celsius)
Welcome to the new normal. In fact, this summer could be the coolest summer of the rest of your life! Get ready for more and longer heat waves. For summer to start earlier, last longer, and be hotter.
Why is this occurring? Climate change. All the scientific predictions are coming true. And yet the US government, politicians, big business, and all of us are refusing to take real action. We need a huge reduction of fossil fuel emissions and new technologies to pull carbon dioxide out of the air to stop extreme climate changes from occurring.
Several good articles about what is going on: 1) From The Guardian: Tuesday was world’s hottest day on record – breaking Monday’s record
World temperature records have been broken for a second day in a row, data suggests, as experts issued a warning that this year’s warmest days are still to come – and with them the warmest days ever recorded.
2) From the Washington Post: This July 4 was hot. Earth’s hottest day on record, in fact.
... some scientists believe July 4 may have been one of the hottest days on Earth in about 125,000 years, due to a dangerous combination of climate change causing global temperatures to soar, the return of the El Niño pattern and the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. ...continue reading "We’re On Track For Each Summer to Be Hotter Than Ever"
Genetic Risk Factors For Dupuytren’s Contracture Are Inherited From Neanderthals
It turns out that many people of northern European descent have inherited some Neanderthal genes. A study found that these are contributing to a higher risk for Dupuytren's contracture (also called Dupuytren's disease). One study estimated that about 30% of Norwegian males over the age of 60 have Dupuytren's disease, but studies find that it is rare in African populations.
The researchers of the study looking at Dupuytren's disease noted that the average Neanderthal ancestry among Europeans is about 2%. [Note: Neanderthals are also referred to as Neandertals.]
Dupuytren's disease is a gradual thickening and tightening of tissue under the skin in the hand, which eventually can cause one or more fingers to stay bent toward the palm. It usually occurs in men over the age of 60.
Neanderthals and Denisovans (referred to as “archaic humans”) are now extinct. They lived in Western (Neanderthals) and Eastern Eurasia (Denisovans) until approximately ∼42,000 years ago. There was interbreeding (sex) with modern humans (Homo sapiens), which is how some of their genes have been passed down through the years.
From Science Daily: The Viking disease can be due to gene variants inherited from Neanderthals
Many men in northern Europe over the age of 60 suffer from the so-called Viking disease, which means that the fingers lock in a bent position. Now researchers at Karolinska Institutet, together with colleagues, have used data from over 7,000 affected individuals to look for genetic risk factors for the disease. The findings, which have been published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, show that three of the strongest risk factors are inherited from Neanderthals. ...continue reading "Genetic Risk Factors For Dupuytren’s Contracture Are Inherited From Neanderthals"