So, having taken a class that covered the Spanish Flu of 1918 (Dr. Perrins’ History of Medicine, Acadia…great course…take it!), the Swine Flu is terrifying. This is what I’ve been waiting for ever since that course. A new flu that is going to be more deadly than anything we’ve seen for decades, maybe worse. Now, I’m not saying that is what is going to happen, just that this virus seems to have high potential to become very serious, based on what the WHO is saying.

Now, fingers point to Mexico as the starting point of this outbreak, although it hasn’t been confirmed where/how the virus was created. Possibly due to conditions and practices at huge factory farms (not confirmed by research yet!). Hmm….why do we have those huge factory farms again? Oh right! Huge demand for meat products!

Now, in an effort to not be preachy (I am in no position to preach, as I have been know to ingest meat products every blue moon), I in no way expect you to become a vegetarian. That is a personal decision that requires a lot of research and thought. But what are small ways we can all change to maybe take the pressure off intensive livestock practices that are not in the best interest of the future of our society?

1) You can eat one less meal with meat a week. That’s not too bad! Have a veggie lasagna. It’s so filling you won’t even notice. Burritos can be made with just re fried beans, skip the beef. Don’t say it’s too hard…my parents (former meat and potato people) are doing a great job of it, and I didn’t even have to harass them! Here’s a recipe for black-bean burgers even my super meaty boyfriend likes.

2) When you do buy meat, buy organic (when you can, I know it can cost more). That way, you can increase the demand for organic, causing more farmers to become organic, causing less use of antibiotics that can create super-bugs.

3) If you live in the country, try the farmers markets or even go direct to your neighbours. It night not be certified organic, but many small scale farmers don’t need to use heavy loads of antibiotics.

4) Know a hunter? Ask for some wild game! Rabbit stew is yummy. If you happen to be in Australia, try the roo (sometimes farmed, but much less intensive than cows). Grab a fishing rod and catch supper. It’s more fun than standing in line at the supermarket too.

Now, again, I’m not saying swine flu started on a factory farm. However, the conditions on factory farms are primed for outbreaks of nasty diseases than could jump to humans. So just to try do whatever you can to help a little bit. If we all help a little bit, it will help a lot (wow that’s cheesy, nice ending Carolyn).

Blurry fire-damaged areas on the Huma highway

The other weekend we drove from Melbourne to Canberra. Along the way we went through the areas affected by the recent bushfires that have been burning for weeks. It was really amazing to see.

The area we saw seemed massive, and we only saw the damage on the sides of the highway. It went on for kilometres. As you can see from the blurry picture taken from the car window. the trees still have leaves but the ground is black and nothing is growing below the tree canopy. You could see houses that had survived, with blackened groud all around, right beside spaces that had one been a house but now there was nothing left.

I have never seen anything like it. You could tell just how hot and fast the fire burned. I couldn’t imagine being one of the people who stayed to protect their home or the people trying to escape seeing the fire front chasing after their vehicle.

Australia is not taking climate change well. Twelve years into this drought, bushfires and water shortages happen all the time. There’s flooding in the north. I didn’t really realize how bad it was when I was living in Canada. Why hasn’t Australia become the poster nation for climate change? Why aren’t Australia’s, who should be some of the most aware of the danagers of climate change, taking more steps to slow it down? They’re great about saving water, but they should be banging down the door of the rest of the world shouting “Hello! A little help here?” They should have solar panels on every roof! They should have pulled out all the stops years ago. I did see an ad on TV the other day saying a vegetarian diet will help reduce GHGs. Now that would never be allowed to air in Canada…would it Stephen Harper?

And by “you” I mean humans. Me included.

I’m sure many of you saw that amazing movie with the star-studded cast; John Voight, J-Lo, Ice Cube and Owen Wilson. That’s right, I’m talking about Anaconda. Why am I bringing up this mid 90s gem you ask?

Because of this. Or this if you don’t get a Nature subscription.

Eep! The world’s largest snake….13m long. 13! This snake lived when the average temperature of the tropics was around 33C, about 3 or 4 degrees hotter than today. This hot temperature allowed the snake’s body size to reach these giant proportions. In a cooler climate it just doesn’t work as well when you’re a giant ectotherm. Phew.

Phew? Phew nothing! Remember global warming? We’re setting the stage for more giant snakes! And, as the title suggests, giant insects and spiders. Oh humans. What have we done???

Joking aside, this discovery shows that the climate of the tropics was once warmer than previously thought. This means the tropics may survive global warming. However, I’m still skeptical, as these changes in the past are over loooong periods of time. Climate change is happening so fast that snakes may go extinct before they get massive. And all the other animals and plants might go a long with them.

We may not even have to worry about the heat, humans are chopping down the tropics at a rate that is just not sustainable. Boo.

So the message? Nature is awesome because you find things like giant snakes. This is the stuff of sci-fi movies in real life! So make that little extra effort to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions today by carpooling it to the movies tonight. Buy a second hand table or recycled TP to save a few tropical trees. Maybe you can help slow warming a little bit and we can live to see giant snakes again (well, maybe a few generations down the road…by then we’ll have learned to teach them to be vegetarians I’m sure. “Nice snake, no biting”).

Happy 2009, the International Year of Astronomy!

A new form of pollution has been brought to my attention in the newest issue of the journal Nature, which highlights the International Year of Astronomy. Light pollution. At first this seemed like some wacko idea brought up by astronomers to drawn attention to their discipline. But after reading an article by Malcom Smith, I’ve started to think a bit more of this idea.

Smith’s article discusses the excessive amount of light emitted by cities at night via empty sky scrapers, street lights, etc. Did you know 1/5 of the earth’s population can’t see the Milky Way because of light pollution? Two thirds of us in North America are denied this sight. Light pollution can also interfere with bird migration patterns. Migrating is not easy, we really shouldn’t make it harder on those poor birds. There was also a potential connection mentioned in the article between light/dark cycles and our bodies ability to ward off cancer (this requires more research, but it sure gets you thinking!).

So another totally unexpected (by me anyway) reason to turn off the lights.

So if you happen to be the CEO of a business that’s in a sky scraper, or a city planner, or a mayor, or something of that sort, think about putting some policies in place to prevent excess light pollution. It probably will only save you money in the end. And if you’re not, turn off your own lights. Maybe go to bed a little earlier. If you’re watching TV, do you really need both of those lights on? Or have a romantic dinner over candles. Aw. If you work in one of those aformentioned sky scrapers, talk to the boss man about not leaving lights on at night. Lots of ways for you to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy.

He did it…

WHITE HOUSE REMOVES PROTECTIONS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES

…and it will come into affect 9 days before Obama takes office. This makes it very, very hard for Obama, who wants to reverse the rule, to do just that.

That’s ok, science doesn’t mean anything anyway. Why should you take into account decades of sound research? Science is just voodoo mumbo jumbo, right Bush? If you don’t understand it, fear it. *sigh*

If you happen to be a United States citizen, please, PLEASE write to your congressman/woman to tell them how you feel about this. They can stop it. The West Virginia representative wants to envoke the Congressional Review Act, which will allow congress 60 days to review this rule and they can over turn it and prevent it from turning our planet into a wasteland. WRITE IN! Do you think if I pretened to be one of their constituents they’d figure out that I’m not…