Exploring Life: Web Clips

So, is it true that we are running our planet like a Ponzi scheme? And if this is true, does it mean that we must inevitably face collapse, as all Ponzi schemes must eventually end in catastrophe?

via Matthew Stein: We’re Running Our World Like a Ponzi Scheme!.

The Elements of Style does not deserve the enormous esteem in which it is held by American college graduates. Its advice ranges from limp platitudes to inconsistent nonsense. Its enormous influence has not improved American students' grasp of English grammar; it has significantly degraded it.

via 50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice – ChronicleReview.com.

Food fraud is committed when food is deliberately placed on the market, for financial gain, with the intention of deceiving the consumer. Although there are many kinds of food fraud the two main types are:

* the sale of food that is unfit and potentially harmful, such as:

o recycling of animal by-products back into the food chain

o packing and selling of beef and poultry with an unknown origin

o knowingly selling goods that are past their use by date

* the deliberate misdescription of food, while not necessarily unsafe, deceives the consumer as to the nature of the product, such as:

o products substituted with a cheaper alternative, for example, farmed salmon sold as wild, and Basmati rice adulterated with cheaper varities

o making false statements about the source of ingredients, i.e. their geographic, plant or animal origin

via Food Standards Agency – Food Fraud Advisory Unit launched.

The World Factbook is no longer available in a print edition. The CIA has made a decision to focus Factbook resources exclusively on the World Wide Web online edition, which is updated with new material every two weeks. Please look for the newly redesigned Factbook web site coming in spring 2009.

via CIA – The World Factbook.

A new study says we tend to put too much blame on environmental disasters that don't actually affect us.

“It's the consumer products” that bring chemicals into our bodies, says Kathleen Cooper, a researcher for the Canadian Environmental Law Association.

via Toxic contamination starts at home: Study.

The federal government is ordering tests of Canada's drinking water over concerns it may contain contaminants thought to raise the risk of cancer and other health problems.

Health Canada is now seeking a contractor to determine if the contaminants — known as disinfection byproducts — flow from the country's taps.

Water-treatment plants have long used disinfectants such as chlorine and ozone to eliminate bacteria from drinking water.

via Health Canada to test taps for cancer contaminants.

The word “biodiversity” is a contracted version of “biological diversity”. The Convention on Biological Diversity defines biodiversity as:

“the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems.”

via Biodiversity – Encyclopedia of Earth.

“These multi-dimensional challenges do not have purely economic solutions, nor purely social or environmental ones. They require integrated solutions that combine economic, social and environmental elements,” Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang told a UN meeting on sustainable development that began today in New York.

He noted that food prices remain high, following on from last year’s crisis, and the global financial and economic slowdown has exacerbated the situation.

“Forecasts suggest that this year could produce the worst economic record since the end of the Second World War,” Mr. Sha said, noting that growth rates are falling everywhere, unemployment is rising, poverty is deepening, and hunger and malnutrition are on the increase.

In addition, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the set of globally agreed anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline – is in “jeopardy.”

via Food, climate and financial crises threaten sustainable development goals – UN official.

Last week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed that the world’s poor and disadvantaged are bearing the brunt of the suffering resulting from the current global financial crisis and ensuing economic turmoil.

via Global economic downturn imperils human rights – UN.

Industrial ecology is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry into the relations between industrial systems and their natural environment. Industrial systems may be conceived on a micro- and meso level as firms or industries, or on a macro level as industrial societies. The industrial metabolism, that is, the flows of energy and materials through socio-economic structures, is seen as the major driver of environmental burdens and threats to sustainability. Technology in its function of transforming energy and materials into goods and services, and inevitably also into wastes and emissions, is seen as a key to more sustainable solutions.

via Industrial ecology – Encyclopedia of Earth.

Those passionate about food and food research are inspired because food, unlike any other

commodity on the planet, is intimate: we eat it and therefore how we eat it has implications for

a host of policy related issues around local job creation, health, hunger, ecosystem protection,

carbon footprint, labour practices, cultural awareness and diversity. As Kevin Morgan so eloquently states, “food is a prism through which we can explore the scope and complexity of many of our most pressing economic, social and ecological issues”. Once we understand this, we can begin to make significant policy change.

via A New Menu for Ontario’s Food Economy | Martin Prosperity Institute.

The global dust budget refers to an accounting of the emission, atmospheric loading, and deposition of the mineral dust aerosol on a global scale. The topic covers the location and strength of sources, transport paths, atmospheric distribution, and deposition of mineral dust aerosol.

via Global dust budget – Encyclopedia of Earth.

Ontario is in the midst of a global economic transformation. While this transformation to a knowledge- or idea-driven creative economy has been underway for more than three decades, the current financial and economic maelstrom has accentuated its importance.

via Ontario in the Creative Age | Martin Prosperity Institute.

By 2050 the world’s population will have grown by another 3.5 billion, the same number as lived on the entire planet in 1950. Can a depleted planet support population growth? We look at both sides of the debate.

via Are We Too Many? Part 1: The Population Crisis | Population Growth | Allianz Knowledge.

Erle C. Ellis, Department of Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, United States

“If you want to value nature, you have to value it in the way we shaped it, not just the wild nature.” (Photo: Erle C. Ellis)

Erle C. Ellis, Department of Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, United States

“If you want to value nature, you have to value it in the way we shaped it, not just the wild nature.” (Photo: Erle C. Ellis)

Would the Earth be better off without us?

In my opinion, that is a meaningless question. Earth does not have opinions, people do. And this negativity about humans is a huge barrier to managing the biosphere in a way that provides the most benefits to humans and other species.

Humans have reshaped ecosystems, not destroyed them. Are you living in an uninhabitable area? Instead of valuing only the wild nature “out there,” we need to value the domesticated nature right around us. This is now what most of nature is, and our focus needs to adjust to this and make the best of it.

via The Earth We Created | Urbanization | Allianz Knowledge.

Anthropogenic biome maps – Encyclopedia of Earth.

Different weather has benefits for health, and climatotherapy is the idea of recommending different weather conditions for different illnesses. Patients with tuberculosis or blood diseases were often sent to mountain resorts with their lower levels of water vapour and higher ozone levels. Seaside resorts were considered to be good for the health with the sea air being rich in sodium and iodine vital for the healthy functioning of the body. The seaside climate is also recommended for those suffering from such chronic illnesses as bronchitis and rheumatism. In some cases we create an artifical environment by using ionisers, air conditioning or humidifiers. This can be bad for the health too and bad air conditioning systems have been blamed for Sick Building Syndrome in which increased concentrations of germs, bacteria and other pollutants like cigarette smoke cause a wide variety of health complaints.

via BBC – Weather Centre – WeatherWise – Living with the Weather – Effects.

Biometeorology is an interdisciplinary science studying the interactions between atmospheric processes and living organisms – plants, animals and humans. The most important question that biometeorology answers is:

How does weather and climate impact the well-being of all living creatures?

This would include reproduction, population fluctuations, and general health of the organism community.

Some example topics in biometeorology include:

* the relationship between agricultural yields and weather

* how extreme weather affects cattle feeding habits

* the impact of weather on human health

* how pollution affects certain tree species

* calculating the level of tolerance of organisms to environmental extremes

via ISB – International Society of Biometeorology – ISB.

The field of science that studies the effect of weather on our health is called human biometeorology.

via The Effects of Weather on Health and How to Prepare.

CCOHS provides Canadians with unbiased, relevant information and advice that supports responsible decision-making and promotes safe and healthy working environments. CCOHS makes a vast scope of occupational health and safety information readily available, in clear language that is appropriate for all users, from the general public to the health and safety professional. Internationally, the Centre is renowned as an innovative, authoritative occupational health and safety resource. CCOHS partners and collaborates with agencies and organizations from Canada and around the world to improve the quality and quantity of resources and programs, as well as expand the breadth of usage of OSH information to many different segments of society.

Web Information Service.

Vermont Safety Information Resources

Vermont SIRI Web Site.

Worldwide, more than 99.7% of human food (calories) comes from the land. Serious environmental impacts, such as soil erosion, water runoff, and pesticide pollution, result from fossil fuel-intensive agriculture. A critical need exists to assess fossil energy limits, the sustainability of agriculture, and the food needs of a rapidly growing world population.

via Agriculture – Encyclopedia of Earth.

CIRGE, the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education was founded at the University of Washington in 2001 in order to improve graduate education by analyzing student retrospective assessment of graduate programs, by evaluating innovation in graduate education, and by assessing trends in doctoral education worldwide. The first center devoted to researching graduate education, CIRGE has become a trusted source for information which helps universities respond effectively to the most challenging issues in graduate education today: accountability, internationalization, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the increase of dual career PhDs in the workforce.

via Welcome to CIRGE » Home.

The following pages provide a variety of suggestions and resources for maximizing your academic experience. View an on-line video, read about helpful strategies, or download a handout.

via Learning Strategies: Maximizing Your Academic Experience.

I am totally blown away by the quality of Dartmouth’s Academic Skills Center. Typically these sort of teaching and learning centers seem to be staffed by people who have not experienced tons of academic success themselves and have reams and reams of well-meaning but essentially-contentless material. The Dartmouth site, in contrast, has links to genuinely useful pages which include handouts on time management, reading effectively, and yes, even alcohol and sleep. They even have videos on these topics which are cheesy and incredibly slow-paced for those of us whose idea of a good time is watching tankspot videos on YouTube but hey, they’re trying, right?

via Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog » Links on pedagogy and after.