Effects of gloabl warming on the human environment and society

DATE: 22/07/08 TUES

In this last post, I would be sharing with you about the impacts of global warming on the environment and society we, humans live in. I find that it is interesting as this would greatly affect us and our future. Besides our homes would be in danger due to flooding as the sea water rises,more problems such as food security, human health, weather problems and all this will require a lot of time, money and manpower. Therefore, I would like to encourage everyone to do the following to help stop gloabl warming and save our future before it is too late:

1. Turn off lights when they are not in use. Although the light bulb itself does not emit gases, the power plants that are powering it do.
2. Whenever possible, use a fan instead of air conditioning
3. Keep a car tuned up. When it is running properly, it emits fewer harmful gases
4. Walk or ride a bike when it is possible
5. Recycle. Un-recycled garbage ends up in a landfill, which produces methane. In addition, recycled goods require less energy to produce than products made from scratch.
6. Plant trees and other plant life whenever possible. Plants take carbon dioxide out of the air and release oxygen
7. Eat less or no beef, as beef production is a large source of greenhouse gases (methane,) as well as a large cause of deforestation.
8. Don't burn garbage. This releases carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons into the atmosphere
9. Whenever possible eat food cold. Heating things up wastes more energy than almost everything else.
10. Reduce the emission of greenhouse gases is to develop non-fossil fuel energy sources by using less energy in our daily lives.

Therefore, everyone has a part to play in global warming. Below is a short video to sum up everything we learn in the past few days:

For more references, go to the following websites:

Impacts of global warming on Polar region
http://www.gapyear.com/conservation/global_warming_in_the_polar_regions.html
http://www.environment.no/Tema/Polaromradene/Arktis/Klima/

Causes of global warming

http://www.resistglobalwarming.com/global_warming_causes.shtml
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GlobalWarming2.php

How will global warming affect the climate, wildlife and society

http://www.livescience.com/environment/060324_glacier_melt.html
http://www.unep.org/themes/climatechange/PDF/ipcc_wgii_guide-E.pdf
http://www.socyberty.com/Issues/Global-Warming-How-Will-It-Affect-You.119233
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

Impacts of global warming on wild life

DATE: 22/07/2008 TUE

As we have discussed about the more servere effect of global warming on the Polar region, I have decided to research on the impacts of global warming on wildlife, basically the natural environment like rainforests, seas, mountains and many more in this world except for the Polar Region as I have already covered that. Also, I wanted to see what is the differences between the ecosystems before and after global warming.Below is an interesting video of how global warming will affect the animals in different ecosystems, like the coral and fishes in the seas and birds and bettles and in forests:



There are even more effects on the world's ecosystems and for the last post, I would be sharing with you the impacts of global warming on our ecosystems.

Global Warming affects the climate

Date: 21/7/08 MON

I have decided to research on how gloabl warming affects the climate, as it would affect the any ecosystems.Below is a video that i have found that is quite interesting and also teach us about the climate change due to global warming:



Besides the above mentioned effects of climate change due to global warming, there are even more like a change in rainfall patterns and this would greatly affect the ecosystems and the way the animals live. Hence, in the next post, I would be researching on the impacts on wildlife, such as the sea habitats, rainforests habitats, mountains habitats and many more.

Causes of Global Warming

Date:19/7/08 SAT

I have decided to research on how global warming happen as it is a major part in my question. At first, I thought that global warming is a serious case as the whole world is doing their part to prevent or slow down the rate of global warming.However, a lot of people still refuse to help out in this and continue polluting our environmet, such as using more and more electricity and produce more and more carbon dioxide and poisonous gaeses to the atmosphere.

Below is a graph of the temperature change on Earth in the past few years

This graph shows that the temperature is increasing very rapidly due to global warming. As the temperature get higher and higher, more ice from the Polar region would melt and there would be more water in the Earth. Hence, more floods will occur at any parts of the world and in a few more years time, there would be no land for animals like us to live on as it is covered with water. The graph on the right shows the amount of ice still remained in the Polar region.

Therefore, I would encourage everyone not to waste electricity and save it as it would greatly help the environment and the world. When we waste electricity, more fossils fuels had to be burned and more carbon dioxide is produced and will harm the environment. The graph on the left show the rapid increase of total carbon dioxide emissions for three regions.Together, we can have a better future by saving the world where we live!!!

Impacts of global warming on the Polar Region

Date: 15/7/08 TUES

I have decided to research on the impacts and effects of global warming on the Polar Region as the Polar Region is the most greatly affected by global warming.

Below is a video I found in youtube to know more about the effect of global warming in the Polar Region:



I think that everyone should play a role in saving the earth and stop global warming, or at least slow it down, or else we would all be dead. And that is why i have to continue researching on global warming and its impacts on the earth.

Second QUESTION - does global warming affect differently in different ecosystem?

Date: 14/7/08 MON

I decided to research on my second question - does global warming affect differently in different ecosystem? I am interested in this question as this will greatly affect our lives in this world. Below is a newspaper article taken from the internet which i found it intersting and decided to work on this topic:

How Global Warming Affects the Ecosystems
Ajith Guptha
December 02, 2007

Since global warming has such a profound impact on the earth's surface and oceans, it is not surprising that it affects the ecosystems of earth. Species depend on a fairly consistent habitat in which to live. Global warming changes habitats and endangers these species.

One of the habitats already being affected by global warming is the Polar Regions. Vast amounts of ice are melting at both poles. This makes it hard for the species in these regions to survive. For instance, polar bears' habitat is altered. Where once they could swim a short distance from ice floe to ice floe, that is no longer the case.

Now, the ice floes are so far apart that many polar bears drown trying to make the swim. According to the US Geological Survey, their numbers will decrease by half in the next forty or so years. The melting polar ice cap will be too much for most polar bears to survive. Global warming will eventually lead to their extinction if left unchecked.

Global warming is pushing a reported 2000 species toward the poles. The climate becomes warmer in the habitats the plants and animals are used to. They naturally gravitate towards a cooler climate that will match the earlier climate of the region they left. They were moving at a rate of 3.8 miles per decade.

Another ice habitat being ruined by global warming is the penguins' home in Antarctica. They have been declining in number rapidly for the last 25 years. In fact, in that amount of time, 33% of the penguins are gone. The global warming melting the ice has made their habitat inhospitable to them.

Global warming may soon make alpine meadows a thing of the past. Already, in Washington's Olympic Mountains, sub-alpine forests have come in and taken over where alpine meadows once lay. In the last 60 years, species in alpine areas have moved up the mountains at a rate of 20 feet per decade. This leaves little doubt that global warming is having an impact on alpine areas.

The health of sea creatures in their habitats is also being threatened by global warming. In California, sea life is moving northward. This is a behavior designed to keep the creatures at a temperature that is most like the one they are adapted to. They naturally do this as a means of survival. When all the water is too warm, they will have nowhere to go.

Other sea creatures are being put in danger of extinction because of global warming. This happens because the extra carbon dioxide in the air mixes with the ocean water. It changes the acidity of the water.

The sea plants and animals are then in an environment for which they are not suited. If this global warming goes on, many will not be able to survive. For example, 97% of the earth's coral reefs could disappear if there is a 3.6 degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature.

The destruction of ecosystems by global warming has begun. Since all the species are needed to support each other, the whole world will suffer when species are lost. Only a concerted effort on the parts of all human beings will help the situation.

Therefore, I am keen to discover more about the ecosystem before and after the global warming, and also the causes, effects and consequences that global warming had created to different ecosystems such as the Polar Regions, rainforests, mountains, the sea and of course, our ecosystems.

FINALLY...The differences between digestive system of omnivore, herbviore and carnivore.

Date: 9/7/08 WED

FINALLY...The day has finally come sia...I finally can answer to this question- What is the differences between the digestive system of omnivore,herbivore and carnivore? And for this, I have used dogs as an example of a pure carnivore and sheep as an example of a pure herbivore. Below is a table you can use it for further references...

http://anandnair.sulekha.com/blog/post/2006/11/man-woman-relationship-the-gene-s-view/comments.htm

lolz...dunno how to insert the table from the 4th post. It is very interesting to see the differences la... but anyway i have answered the question and off i go for the research for the second question... maybe i should rest a bit ba..nowadays too hiong le...

Resources:
Human Digestion

http://www.innerbody.com/image/digeov.html
Digestion in different animals

http://library.thinkquest.org/15873/zoo/digestive/animals.shtml http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/anidigestion.htm http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Anatomy_and_Physiology_of_Animals/The_Gut_and_Digestion#Herbivores

Digestion in herbivores

http://images.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/biog105/pages/demos/105/unit6/media/cellulosedigestion.1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/biog105/pages/demos/105/unit6/dietaryadaptations.9.html&h=180&w=250&sz=13&hl=en&start=9&sig2=ucuqgo8T4c1F3YQA3WvLtg&um=1&tbnid=HcAcIuTG0SM1BM:&tbnh=80&tbnw=111&ei=9btoSOPHC4zK6gOXkInADQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dherbivore%2Bdigestive%2Bsystem%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep9a.htm http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/farming/106896

Digestion in carnivore

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/anatomy/dog_digest.aspx http://www.answers.com/topic/digestive-system?cat=health

Comparsions

http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/carn_herb_comparison.html

Digestive system of a carnivore (2)

Date: 8/7/08 TUE

Let us continue and discover the digestive system of a carnivore. And I will be starting from the small intestine as we ended it off from the stomach in the last post.

The small intestine is vitally important as without it, no digestion could take place and the animal could not survive. The dissolved food, called 'chyme' at this stage enters the small intestine. It is in the small intestine that food is digested and enters the bloodstream. The pancreas and the liver supply and deliver the enzymes needed to break down the fats and proteins into their component fatty acids and amino acids and only in that form, they pass through the gut wall into the bloodstream. These enzymes are vitally important to the carnivore. Those from the pancreas immediately start to break down the chyme into its basic components and continue to do this throughout the chyme's passage along the small intestine.

The chyme is a watery mixture but fat will not mix with water so it requires some special handling. Bile is manufactured in the liver and stored in the gall bladder until such time as it is needed. When fat is detected in the small intestine, this triggers the release of the stored bile, which enters the intestine through the bile duct. Bile acts just like a detergent in that it emulsifies the fat to make it soluble in water. This action makes fat susceptible to digestion by the digestive enzymes. The liver makes bile continuously, the excess being diverted to the gall bladder to be saved and concentrated until it is needed (for the next meal). When a hormone in the upper gut signals that fat is again present in the gut, the stored bile is forcibly ejected to perform its function.

Digestion of food in a carnivore is performed by enzymes produced by glands in the animal's own body and all the absorption of nutrients in that food is through the wall of the small intestine.The digestion of protein and fat, with little or no carbohydrate, in the carnivore's gut is remarkably efficient.

The small intestine doesn't join the large intestine in a straight line, but at a right angle. At this point is a small appendage, two or three inches in length, called the caecum. While this has no functional use in a carnivore, it should be noted because it is one of the major differences between a carnivore and a herbivore. By the time the chyme has passed through the animal's small intestine, the process of digestion and absorption of the nutrients in the food is complete. The large intestine has just one function to perform, is to extract the water and compact the rest of the waste material from what is left of the chyme into a small compact mass, where it is stored in the rectum until it is finally expelled through the anus.

Finally, I have finished the whole digestive system of a omnivore, carnivore and a herbviore. AND in the next post, I will dicuss the differences between each and one of them. This is going to be interesting...

Digestive system of a carnivore

Date: 07/07/08 MON

I will be doing reserach on the digestive system of carnivores, so as to compare it with the digestive system of herbiore and omnivore. Carnivores include cheetah, lion, leopard, jaguar, dog and many more get more nutrients from their food, so they do not need to spend as much time eating as herbivores do. They have sleek bodies, strong, sharp claws and keen senses of smell, hearing and sight. They are also often cunning, alert and have an aggressive nature.Their digestive system is shorter than that of herbivores for the same reason.

The first thing to note about the digestive system of all carnivores is that they are extremely similar and they all function in exactly the same way. Although they will be of different lengths, because carnivorous animals come in different sizes, the overall length of carnivores' digestive tracts are rather short: about six times the length of the animal's body.

Carnivores have incisors, canines and molar teeth in both jaws, and the molars are ridged. Carnivores need long canine teeth (the teeth at the corners of the mouth) so they can grip and kill prey quickly.Their incisors strip flesh from bones. The jaw moves up and down. This fact, together with the ridging of the molars indicates that they are used for tearing or crushing. The salivary glands serve merely to lubricate, and do not have an important digestive function. Food is rarely chewed into small portions, but 'wolfed' down whole.

Carnivores' stomach serves two purposes in their digestive system. Firstly it is a reservoir. Although relatively small, this is all that is needed, as the food of a carnivore, wholly of meat and fat, is nutrient dense, allowing one small meal to suffice for many hours. The second function of the stomach is to subject the food to concentrated solution of hydrochloric acid, which dissolves and liquefies it. Only food that is dissolved can be digested.The ones that cannot be digested - raw vegetable matter, cellulose and bone - pass right through the animal unchanged, those that are too big to pass into the small intestine are vomited. The dog's stomach, if filled with its normal food of meat and fat will empty in about three hours. So far very little digestion has taken place.

I will continue the research on the digestive system of carnivore on the next post and be sure to check out for it.

Overview of herbivores

Date: 5/7/08 SAT

I have decided to investigate the similarites of the 2 types of herbivores, ruminant and non-ruminant as to make a comparsion between omnivores and carnivores.

Besides the fact that they are animals that eat plants, they too have some similarities. Many herbivores do not have upper incisors (the teeth on the top jaw in the very front that cut food), cutting the plants with their lips instead. The lower jaw has incisors, but the upper jaw lacks them. A developed, bony plate in the front of the upper jaw functions with the lower incisors in securing stems and hay. However, all herbivores need their molars (the big flat teeth at the back of the mouth) since they must chew and re-chew the tough plant materials that they eat. A herbivore's molars are big and ridged for better grinding. Herbivore skulls have spaces for big muscles to be attached to move their jaws for so much chewing.

Furthermore, herbivores need to have a particular bacteria inside their bodies to help break down the tough plants they eat so that they release nutrients. To give the micro- organisms access to the cellulose molecules, the plant cell walls need to be broken down. This process is called fermentation.

Also, herbivores have to eat large quantities of food to obtain all they require as plants are not a good source of nutrients and hence, herbivores like cows, horses and rabbits typically spend much of their day feeding.

Ok, everyone! I have finished the topics on herbivores and next week, i will be discovering the digestive system of carnivores....

Others types of herbivores

Date: 3/7/08 THU

I will be focusing on non-ruminant herbivores, something that is very different from the ruminants,as discussed on the last post.

Some herbivores are non-ruminants, which include pigs, zebra, hippopotamus and rhinoceros. They each have a single stomach compartment (unlike the 4 chambered stomach of ruminants). The non-ruminants can be further subdivided into those who have similar digestive tracts to humans (i.e. the pig) or more specialized digestive tracts. I would not talk about digestive tracts that are similar to humans as we had already dicussed it on the third post. Non- ruminant that have more specialized digestive tracts (i.e. poultry, birds), have a few differences between the ones which have similar digestive tracts to humans .

The first important change is in the mouth. They have a beak but do not use teeth. They mix the food with saliva but virtually no mastication (breaking of food particles into smaller pieces) occurs in the mouth.

Secondly, they swallow their food and pass down the esophagus a short distance to a large pouch.This pouch called a crop is a kind of storage area in the bird's digestive tract. It is here that saliva begins to work at breaking down the food. The food is next moved downward to the proventiculus. It is still like the crop a portion of the esophagus, but it is also sometimes referred to as the glandular stomach. This name comes from its role in introducing hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes to the food.

Next, the fermentation takes place further down their digestive system. The gizzard is a large sack lined with very powerful muscles,which contracts against the food and slowly with the help of some grit breaks the food in very tiny particles. These fine particles easily pass out of the gizzard into the small intestines where most of the nutrients from the feed are digested and absorbed by the bird. This means that by the time the tough walls of the plant cells are broken down, the food has already gone past the part of the gut that absorbs most nutrients.

Hence, we have covered digestive system of non-ruminant. Next post would be the characteristics all herbivores should have in order to compare more accurately. Off for more CRAZY RESEARCH...

Herbivore Digestive System

Date:30/6/08 MON

I decided to research on the digestive system of herbivore, so as to answer my question that is stated in the first post. There are a lot of herbivores in this world, so i will focus on some species which everyone knows.

Some herbivores have digestive systems to help them get the most out of the plants they eat. Animals like sheep, moose, deer and cows have a special stomach called a rumen where microorganisms break down cellulose. Animals with a rumen are called ruminants. Ruminants swallow their food and then regurgitate it and chew on it again to break down the cellulose in the plant.

Later on this food, now called cud, is brought back up into the animal's mouth to be chewed more. This is called chewing the cud. Once the cellulose is broken down, the cud is then swallowed and goes into the third and fourth parts of the stomach, called the omasum and abomasum, where digestion continues.

Some of the herbivores are non-ruminants, which are the oppsite of ruminants and do not have the special stomach, rumen. Hence, I am going to reserch about another kind of herbivores and remember to check it out on the next post. Off for more research...

Explore the different parts of human digestive system

Date:28/6/08 SAT

I decided to find out more about the parts of the digestive system and their uses so as to compare with the digestive system with carnivore and herbivore.

Firstly, let start with the mouth, as digestion begins in it. The function of the mouth and its associated structures is to help us chew our food into smaller pieces and, mix the food with saliva,which will soften the food with the help of the tongue, and then swallow it into the gullet.

The gullet will then carries food and water to the stomach for more digestion. Powerful waves of muscle contractions passing through the walls of the gullet helps the food to be forced downward to the stomach.

In the stomach, food is further broken apart, and thoroughly mixed with a gastric acid and digestive enzymes that break down proteins. Besides digesting the food , it has several more functions: 1) as a storage bin, holding a meal in the upper portion and releasing it a little at a time into the lower portion for processing; 2) as a food mixer, the strong muscles contract and mash the food into a sticky, slushy mass; 3) as a sterilizing system, where the cells in the stomach produce an acid which kills germs in "bad" food.

Next, the food will enter the small intestine. The the duodenum in the small intestine breaks down the food mixture even more so our body can absorb all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Then, most of the nutrients are absorbed into the blood in the jejunum.
The ileum absorbs the remaining nutrients before moving into the large intestine. All the nutrients will come in contact with large numbers of intestinal cells and it will bring in fresh, oxygenated blood and sends out nutrient-enriched blood to the body for energy to do work. Substances which have not been absorbed in the small intestine enter the large intestine in the form of liquid and fiber.

The first half of the large intestine absorbs fluids and recycles them into the blood stream.After that, the second half will then compact the wastes into feces, secretes mucus which binds the substances, and lubricates it to protect the colon and ease its passage.The feces is stored in the rectum for a certain period and then the stored feces is egested due to the contraction and relaxation through the anus.

Therefore, I can conclude that digestion is separated into four separate processes:

1. Ingestion: placing food into the mouth
2. Mechanical digestion & chemical digestion: mastication to tear and crush food, and churning of the stomach. Addition of chemicals to break down complex molecules into simple structures
3. Absorption: Movement of nutrients from the digestive system to the circulatory system.
4. Egestion: Removal of undigested materials from the digestive tract through defecation.

The next reserach i am going to do would be the digestive system in a herbivore. Off i go for more mad research...

Process of digestion in human

Date: 26/6/08 THU

I decided to research on my first question first, what is the difference between the digestive system of a herbivore, canivore and an omnivore? Hence, i started off my reserach by finding information about the digestive system of an omivore, and the easiest example would be us, humans as we eat both plants and animals. It would be easy as we already learnt about digestive system in Pri 3. The process is mouth-> gullet-> stomach-> small intestine-> large intestine-> anus and this process is very important as most of the nutrients are absorbed into the blood for energy to do work. Below is a short clip from youtube to see how does this process work.

Off for more reserach about the digestive system of human...

My First Post in BIO Journal

Date: 25/6/08 Wed

Hi, everybody out there! This is my BIO Journal that has to be done in the blog and is way better than the old writing style. I simply love it as we can get to post more pictures and even videos! OK, now today i hav thought of 1 question for 2 BIO topics, one would be regarding digestive system, wat is the difference between the digestion system in a herbivore,carnivore and a omivore? Next is regarding Ecology and Nutrient Cycles in the Ecosystem, does global warming affect differently in different ecosystem? So, I plan to focus on the first question first and off I go for research about the digestive system...