Watching the World
Record Hole Found in Antarctic Ozone Layer
In September 1998, the hole that forms each year in the ozone layer over Antarctica reached an all-time record size, reports The UNESCO Courier. Satellite pictures showed that the hole had grown to some two and a half times the area of Europe. The ozone layer in the stratosphere protects the world’s living creatures and ecosystems from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Increased radiation puts people at greater risk of sunburn, skin cancer, and cataracts, notes the report. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are used as refrigerants and aerosol propellants, are said to be a major cause of damage to the ozone layer. In 1987, at a conference in Montreal, 165 countries pledged to phase out their use. Despite this, The UNESCO Courier observes that “it will take at least 60 years for CFCs to disappear completely from the stratosphere.”
Global High Temperature Year
Last year, 1998, was the warmest year since 1860, reports Science News. It was estimated that the earth’s mean surface temperature reached 1.04°F. [0.58°C.] above the average temperature between 1961 and 1990. “For climatologists, who worry about global changes in hundredths of a degree, last year’s warmth stands out like a Himalayan peak,” says the magazine. The report also notes that seven of the warmest years on record have occurred since 1990, and all of the top ten since 1983. According to Jonathan Overpeck, of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the past two decades may have been the hottest in the last 1,200 years. The World Meteorological Organization reports that only northern parts of Europe and Asia escaped the increase. The southern United States experienced extreme summer heat, and in central Russia a hot spell in June killed more than 100 people and led to large fires.
Cork, Economics, and Wildlife
Eighty percent of the world’s cork comes from the bark of cork-oak trees in southern Spain and Portugal. There farmers strip off the bark of their majestic trees every nine years. The cork oak is the only tree that regrows its bark in this way. Recently, this centuries-old occupation has been threatened by increased use of plastic bottle stoppers, reports the Guardian Weekly of Manchester, England. If the natural-cork industry dries up, the trees may be cut down to plant more lucrative crops. Conservationists fear that many birds would thus lose the forests they rely on for survival. “Forty-two species depend on the oaks,” states the newspaper, “including the endangered Spanish imperial eagle which nests in them and has a total population of 130 pairs.”
New ‘Cold War’
“Storekeepers are trying to keep their ice-cream freezers full as Slovenians pounce upon all the different types and flavors of ice cream available,” reports Delo newspaper of Ljubljana. According to the newspaper, the Slovenian taste for ice cream is getting stronger—ice-cream producers there recently recorded a 22-percent increase in annual sales. At this rate of growth, the national annual ice-cream consumption of 4.5 quarts [4.3 L] per person will eventually surpass the Western European average of 5.8 quarts [5.5 L]. In the European ice-cream race, however, the Swedes are still comfortably ahead. According to the market intelligence group Euromonitor, Swedes consume on average almost 17 quarts [16 L] of ice cream per person each year. Worldwide, Americans hold the lead, eating more than 21 quarts [20 L] each year per capita.
Funerals That Increase Poverty
“The cost of living is getting high,” reports the Times of Zambia, “but . . . the cost of dying is getting even higher.” In many parts of Africa, including Zambia, funerals are often delayed to allow time for friends and relatives from distant places to come and join in mourning rituals lasting a week or longer. Often, all who are present expect to be fed and housed. The bereaved family is also expected to provide needy ones with money for transport back to their homes. Such funerals push many bereaved families deeper into poverty. “Modern funerals,” states the report, are “becoming more expensive because of a large number of mourners who do not help in any way.” The newspaper suggests that funerals be held soon after a person’s death in order to lessen the burden on the bereaved.
How Green Tea May Fight Cancer Cells
Studies indicate that people who drink green tea tend to develop fewer cancers and that even animals given the tea receive similar benefits. Recently, researchers at Purdue University in Indiana, U.S.A., discovered what may be part of the reason for that, reports Science News. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), a substance present in green tea, shuts down a certain enzyme that cancer cells need in order to divide. EGCg does not seem to have the same effect on division in normal cells. Black tea, the choice of about 80 percent of the world’s tea drinkers, contains a smaller concentration of EGCg. That fact, say the researchers, may explain why black tea is only one tenth to one hundredth as effective as green tea in inhibiting the enzyme reaction in test-tube grown cancer cells.
Dog Bites and Children
Small children are the most frequent victims of dog bites in the United States, reports the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter. Still, the report comments, most dog bites are preventable. To reduce the risk, the Wellness Letter recommends that parents begin by selecting a puppy with a good disposition. Next, they should have it neutered and then kindly but firmly train it to obey and to be friendly with people, especially children. The Wellness Letter states: “Never assume that even the gentlest dog will welcome a new baby or will be deferential to a toddler. Provide supervision.” Children should be taught not to approach a dog on their own. Let the dog’s owner introduce it. Speak to the dog, and offer it a closed fist to be sniffed. If the dog growls or bristles, remain quiet and do not turn and run. The Wellness Letter notes: “Dogs, like wolves, will instinctively chase and attack a fleeing target.”
Eau de Metro?
Transportation officials in France have introduced a new perfume to improve the less-than-pleasant aroma of the Paris underground railway system. The scent, named Madeleine after one of the Metro stations, is being added to cleaning products used by the system, reports Reuters news service. Metro director Jacques Rapoport explained that the endeavor has required five years of research and development. “We had to find a smell that was sweet rather than violent, that lingered for two weeks and that suggested a feeling of cleanliness and well-being,” he said. Metro officials commented that Madeleine is intended to impart the scent of the “countryside, woods, flowers and fruit.”
Balance Exercises to Avoid Falls
“One-third of people over 65 fall at least once a year, many of them incurring injuries like broken hips that may never properly mend,” reports The New York Times. As we age, our body’s ability to sense its own position diminishes, which makes it more difficult to keep our balance. A recent study at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine indicates that regular balancing exercises, such as standing on one leg or walking along a low wooden beam, can improve balance in older people. However, Gina Allchin, of the Sullivan & Cromwell corporate fitness center, advises starting slowly, limiting balance-exercise sessions to ten minutes, two or three times a week. She notes: “This type of training is deceptively challenging and can leave you feeling exhausted and sore if you overdo it.”
Education and Infant Mortality
“Just $7 billion more each year are required for the next decade to achieve universal primary [school enrollment] worldwide by the year 2010,” says The State of the World’s Children 1999—Education, a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund. “This sum is less than what Europeans spend on ice-cream or Americans spend on cosmetics every year.” According to The Times of India, only 66 percent of adult males and 38 percent of females in India are literate. Where more females are enrolled in primary school, infant mortality decreases. The effect of such basic education can be seen in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where literacy is almost 90 percent and “the infant mortality rate is the lowest in the whole of the developing world.”