A Big Australian Crayfish, Pretty and Endangered

The large Murray crayfish, usually about a foot in length, has been observed to have had a 91 percent drop in its numbers in parts of a stream called the Goobarragandra habitats over about six years. This crayfish is a pretty beautiful creature, wielding bright white claws and a shell with blues, greens and hints of red, depending on the light. This crayfish lives in Australian rivers like the Murray and in small mountain streams, and this is where researchers from Australian National University in Canberra investigated how it fared in different habitats in the streams. The crayfish is extremely vulnerable to changes in habitat, and it was found that there was a 91 percent drop in its numbers in parts of a stream called the Goobarragandra habitats over about six years, observed by Mae M. Noble and Christopher J. Fulton. The stream itself had taken a beating, with  scouring of its bed during floods and loss of trees and shrubs on the banks from land clearing. Also, it accumulated sediment, and many of the small spaces between boulders where the crayfish live had been filled in. However, these crayfish did much better in a similar stream in a national park where land clearing had not occurred and habitat loss was less. These crustaceans, though, are not extremely well suited to live very long, considering it takes eight or 10 years for them to reach reproductive age, yet they still manage to live up to around thirty years of age.

Although these crayfish may not be extremely popular, they are still very important crustaceans, and another extinct species is not a joke. These Murray Crayfish are also endangered because of overfishing, which is another great issue in the world today. There is much controversy over the hunting of animals that are vulnerable to endangeredness and extinction, and this issue with the Murray Crayfish fits right into that. It was said in the article, though, by Dr. Fulton, that the good news was that “there were still places in the damaged stream where the crayfish survived in good numbers and where the banks could be replanted and the kind of rocky habitat the crustaceans like could be rebuilt.” The scientists reported their findings in the online version of Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. Ultimately, an extinct species is an extinct species, and really shouldn’t benefit the world with its ceasing to exist, so the endangeredness of these Murray Crayfish is a pretty important issue.

I felt this article had many strengths. I thought that the writer, James Gorman, did a great job giving background information about these crayfish and the important characteristics it had that made it unique. Although the article had some strengths, there were also many weaknesses that could be addressed. For example, this article, although very interesting, was very short. I thought it was a very interesting topic so I chose this article, but I found myself having to do a lot of background research on these Murray Crayfish because of the simple lack of more information by the author. Gorman gave good general information about the Murray Crayfish, but I felt this article lacked more detailed information about the crayfish. This article could be improved by Gorman if he decided to include more detailed information about the crayfish, like maybe a more detailed description of their habitats and their lifestyles.

Gorman, James. "A Big Australian Crayfish, Pretty and Endangered." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Apr. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/science/a-big-australian-crayfish-pretty-and-endangered.html?action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront>.

Sierra Nevada Snow Won’t End California’s Thirst

It has been very clear over the past few decades that water is scarce on the west coast.  This year, however was what many hoped to be the end of a long drought because it is an El nino year.  However, recently Dr. Roger C. Bales and other members of the Sierra Critical Zone Observatory have noticed that not nearly enough snow has fallen for that to be true.  Although they have seen a dramatic increase in precipitation levels, much more of it was rain and not snow as they had hoped.  This causes a much quicker release of water which is not as beneficial as the slow release from melting snow because the ground is not able to use all of the water efficiently in such large amounts.  Much of the specific facts for total snow pack and rainfall have not been compiled yet but it is obvious, there has been a dramatic change from the old norm.  They have found that this change is so dramatic that water is flowing off the mountains two weeks earlier than it used to.  This is also due to trees.  Trees use a lot of water not only to grow and photosynthesize but also just by catching snow and rain on their leaves and absorbing the heat from the sun causing a large portion of the snow and rain to evaporate rather than run into the water supply.  Furthermore, the warmer conditions are causing faster tree growth and a shorter period of “shut down” for the trees because it is warm enough for them to operate for longer.  This only adds to the amount of snow that the trees are using up and takes more from the water supply.  This is not only affecting people but also many trees are being affected in late summer due to lack of water.  Furthermore, the author notes that we are part of the reason the trees are taking so much of the water.  By keeping a constant policy of quick suppression of small forest fires which are beneficial in nature and would clear many trees, we are preventing a lot of snow pack by keeping a high tree density.  If we allowed these natural fires to occur, the snow-pack would dramatically be increased.  

This topic is relevant because this water problem has become very important in California.  Now, many regulations have been put on water use forcing big users like golf courses and hotels either out of business or to find new landscaping methods.  Furthermore, many people are not able to water their lawns or even have drinking water at the prices they used to.  California recently built a desalination plant that would add to the water supply but at a very high cost compared to collecting runoff.  The fact that even in an El Nino year, we are not able to use all of the water because it was not in the right form does not bode well for the future and signifies that something drastic needs to be done now.  

Overall this article was very well written and thoughtful with only a few minor flaws.  I felt like this article was a little ahead of its time, the author should have waited until the rest of the facts were compiled to write this article because it would have dramatically added to the credibility of the story.  On the other hand, the author did a very good job at describing the whole situation and quoting scientists and some other facts to really make it clear what the problem is and how important and pressing this issue is.  To improve this article, I would suggest the author add a little more info about past snowpack and how it has changed over the years and compare that to what we have seen this year to give the reader some context.  

Fountain, Henry. "Sierra Nevada Snow Won’t End California’s Thirst." The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/science/california-snow-drought-sierra-nevada-water.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0>.

Climate Models Underestimate Global Warming by Exaggerating Cloud Brightening

I recently read an article called “Climate models underestimate global warming by exaggerating cloud brightening.” The article spoke of how our current climate models were likely inaccurate, for they didn’t account for the changing color of our clouds. To elaborate on this, our current models for climate change show clouds to be brighter than they actually will be. As stated by the article, “As the atmosphere warms, clouds become increasingly composed of liquid rather than ice, making them brighter. Because liquid clouds reflect more sunlight back to space than ice clouds, this "cloud phase feedback" acts as a brake on global warming in climate models.” When researchers went back and corrected the incorrect brightness of the models’ clouds, they found that “the climate sensitivity increased from 4 degrees C in the default model to 5-5.3 degrees C in versions that were modified to bring liquid and ice amounts into closer agreement with observations.” This common mistake in our current models on climate change has proven to have quite a drastic effect on the predicted change in global temperature of an entire degree Celsius. Overall, this group of researches found that the incorrect information on the “stabilizing cloud feedback” led, consequently, to the acquisition of incorrect information on the change in temperature in the world, and we are in even more trouble than we previously thought.

This article is extremely relevant to our society today. Global warming is an issue we try to prevent every day. In my opinion, nothing is scarier than the idea of Earth itself becoming uninhabitable. As we near this doomsday, we begin to consider how we might stop it from happening. This article shows us that this point of destruction is coming at us at a faster rate than we previously thought. Not only is this very relevant to our lives, but it also gives us somewhat of a call to action. Our planet is decaying, and we need to do something to stop that. Some efforts have been made to stop this process, like reducing, reusing, and recycling, but that is not enough. We need to use more alternative sources of energy, like solar and wind power. Above all, no matter what we do, we need to do it now, because we don’t have much time to wait.

This article had its ups and downs. One reason I liked it was that it provided a stunning new piece of information about the increasing temperature of our planet. Also, it informed me more about the topic of “stabilizing cloud feedback.” This was something I had never heard of before, and I am now able to have a better grasp of how cloud color relates to temperature, and thus the state of matter of H2O. Though there were many positive sides to this article, there were also some things I didn’t like. For instance, at times, I found the article extremely confusing, and much of it sounded like environmental jargon: “Using a state-of-the-art climate model, the researchers modified parameters to bring the relative amounts of liquid and ice in clouds into agreement with clouds observed in nature. Correcting the bias led to a weaker cloud phase feedback and greater warming in response to carbon dioxide.” Statements like these confused me greatly, and made me less willing to go on with my reading. If i could give one suggestion to the author of this article, it would be to eliminate this type of speak and give a layman’s version of these confusing details. On the whole, however, I loved the article and found it very informative.

Citation:

"Climate Models Underestimate Global Warming by Exaggerating Cloud Brightening." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.

Hyperlink:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160407221445.htm

SpaceX Rocket Sticks Landing on the 5th Try

After 4 failed attempts, SpaceX was finally able to land their Falcon 9 booster stage on a boat. SpaceX is an American space company owned by Tesla and Paypal’s Elon Musk that is often contracted by NASA to bring materials to space. This particular mission was hauling 7000 pounds of experiments and supplies to the ISS. The 4 previous times, the rockets had tipped over and exploded upon impact. However, this time the rocket stayed upright. Elon Musk has long believed that reusable rockets were crucial for efficient, commercial space flight, and this is one huge step in the right direction.

This article is very much relevant to us. Since the space shuttle was retired in 2011, the United States has been reliant on Russia Soyuz rockets to get astronauts to space. Although SpaceX has not performed any manned missions yet, they are giving hope for the US space program and national pride. Additionally, by stepping into the realm of commercial spaceflight, SpaceX is moving towards a vast, untapped market. The possibilities offered by commercial spaceflight are endless, from tourism to asteroid mining to possibly even setting up interplanetary colonies. Regardless, this is one giant leap for mankind.

I thought that this article was well written and gave a nice summary of what occurred. I would’ve liked for it to be lengthier, possibly including quotes from experts or new of what their competitor, Blue Origin, is doing in that department. All in all, it was a good, informative read.

Chang, Kenneth. "SpaceX Rocket Sticks Landing on the 5th Try." The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 Apr. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/science/on-fifth-try-mission-accomplished-for-spacex-booster-rocket.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0>.

Don’t Let Them Tell You You’re Not at the Center of the Universe

Overbye, Dennis. "Don’t Let Them Tell You You’re Not at the Center of the Universe." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Apr. 2016. Web. 02 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/science/dont-let-them-tell-you-youre-not-at-the-center-of-the-universe.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0>

Okay, let’s see if I can explain this: “the universe didn’t start at a place, it started at a time.” And that time? Around 13.8 billion years ago, according to the best cosmological data. However, many people believe the universe started someplace, as if the expansion was like a hand grenade going off and the rest of the universe was made from the shards. This concept is false in the sense that, by definition, the universe already fills all space. Yes, it’s true that everything we see today was once the size of a grapefruit, but technically, that grapefruit was already part of an infinite ensemble with no edge, except one made up of time. Instead, this expansion is over time, which we know is open-ended; we are looking into the past when we are looking out, and the farther back we look, the farther back the past. There is no direction for the future, but the present is the center. In other words: you are the center of the universe. Albert Einstein already discovered this in 1905 when he said that our eyes are time machines, and because nothing travels faster than the speed of light, any information we are receiving are from the past. Everything we feel, see, or hear are from the past. Looking at the moon, one is simply seeing an image of light was reflected from the moon traveling at the speed of light a second ago. And the farther away the object, the longer it takes to arrive. Because all our eyes are slightly different, everyone's universe is different as well. 

Though this article seems only relevant to astronomers and researchers of such, the main message and idea is for everyone: that they are unique. It may not exactly fit much into society, but it is another misconception that has been debunked. Even when we know that what we see is from the past, we have trouble understanding that the universe is not measured by space, but by time. Because we can’t physically touch time or occupy it, unlike space for the most past, it is more difficult to wrap our minds around this concept.

Personally, my mind was boggled. I thought this article was really interesting. At first, I thought it was going to be difficult to understand and boring with difficult terminology, but the author did a nice job of explaining the important information and in making the reader feel special in their own way.

“Diabetes Cases Have Quadrupled in Just Over 3 Decades”

Since 1980 the number of people suffering from diabetes has increased from 108 million to 422 million, about 8.5% of the global population. This increase in diabetes is due to a number of reasons, which were investigated by the World Health Organization, or WHO. According to their studies, 1.5 million people worldwide died because of diabetes, while 2.7 million died of high blood-glucose. Evidently diabetes is a major health issue that needs attention, but tackling the disease costs roughly $827 billion annually in patient care and medicine. Diabetes is classified in two types, type 1 in which insulin is not produced, and type 2 in which insulin is not used efficiently. The increase in cases of diabetes has mainly been in type 2 diabetes. As for the cause of this increase in type 2 diabetes, the WHO stated that the rise mirrors “the global increase in the number of people who are overweight or obese.” The increase of obesity can be found in the insufficient amount of exercise completed by both adults and adolescents. About a quarter of the population of 18 and older was found to have insufficient activity levels in 2010. Furthermore, 84% of adolescent females and 78% of adolescent males do not exercise enough. As for where the increase in diabetes has manifested, the WHO’s reports state, “Prevalence is growing rapidly in low-income and middle-income countries.” Specifically, this includes the Western Pacific, African, Southeast Asian, and Eastern Mediterranean regions. FInally, the WHO included some suggestions that could be done to attempt to decrease the prevalence of diabetes. Some examples include taxes on sugary beverages to discourage the consumption of it, or the promotion of non motorized transport in urban areas. Fortunately, things are already taking a turn for the better. According to the WHO, “Nearly three-quarters (72%) of countries have a national diabetes policy that is implemented with dedicated funding, and countries are also taking action at the policy level to address unhealthy diets and physical inactivity.” Hopefully these policies and reforms will lead to a decrease in the number of diabetes cases in the future.

The extreme increase in diabetes cases certainly affects today’s society. 422 million people are suffering from diabetes, and while diabetes can’t exactly be prevented, an individual’s chance of getting diabetes can be lowered through lifestyle choices like exercise and a healthy diet. Drawing attention through an article such as this one can hopefully aid in raising awareness about the increase in diabetes and persuade people to make better lifestyle choices or governments to implement new policies. Furthermore, not all countries are able to easily access insulin, so perhaps raising awareness could also help those countries in their struggle to get enough insulin for the increasing number of those suffering from diabetes.

Overall, I found the article very informative, and even enjoyable to read. The topic of diabetes is pretty interesting, especially since we just recently discussed it in class. The author did a nice job of making the topic clear and easy to understand through giving just enough detail and using vocabulary that is understandable to people who aren’t scientists. The author also included many quotes from scientists and experts, specifically from the World Health Organization, so I knew that the information was from a reliable source and all the claims that were made by the author could be backed up. The only thing that could have been done better in the article would have been to supply more details on what kinds of policies different governments are enforcing to try and control the number of diabetes cases. While the author did mention the introduction of new policies, the author didn’t give any examples which could add to the reader’s understanding and make the article more detailed and interesting. In the end, I did definitely learn a lot from this article and found it pretty interesting.

Cullinane, Susannah. "Diabetes Cases Have Quadrupled in Just Over 3 Decades." CNN. Cable News Network, 7 Apr. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016. <http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/06/health/diabetes-quadruples-who-report/index.html>.

Cutting Food and Carbon Waste-lines for Healthy Climate

Kinver, Mark. "Cutting Food and Carbon Waste-lines for Healthy Climate."BBC News. N.p., 7 Apr. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35988093>.

New studies have shown that reducing food waste and changing caloric sources can help cut carbon emissions and help feed the growing global population. As more and more people eating a meat based diet as countries grow richer, this trend proves to be unsustainable because meat production requires more energy. Scientists, including Professor Kropp from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, also found that 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions could be caused by food waste by 2050. If we continue with our current ways, we will face major obstacles in feeding the population and cutting carbon emissions in less than half a century. Although many may not be aware of the negative impact of food waste, there has to be a change in the way people consume food in order to create a sustainable future.

The information in this article is very relevant to society because we can individually make an effort to help reduce food waste and change our food consumption to cut carbon emissions and work towards a safer future. For example, people can eat less meat in their diet because they would be consuming more energy efficient sources of food. They can also try to reduce food waste in their daily lives. There are some environmental problems that seem to be out of reach for many everyday citizens, but people can definitely help towards solving the issue of food waste that is presented in this article by changing their daily habits.

This article was very concise and presented the information in a way that a larger audience can understand. They used language that was easily understood without extensive scientific knowledge. However, the author could have expanded on the types of researchers that conducted this study and included a few more scientific details. Although I was able to gain a general understanding of the topic, it would have been beneficial for the author to write about the different programs that they used to conduct the studies and make predictions. Sharing such information with the audience would have made the article seem more credible and detailed.