Global Climate Change: Thawing of the Arctic Tundra

The above is a great short video about the effects of the warming planet on Arctic tundra.  Tundra by definition is ground that is permanently in a frozen state.  During the short and few summer months, tundra only thaws on the surface.  Deeper down however, the ground remains frozen year round.  This only allows for small shallow rooted plants to grow and prevents larger plants such as trees from ever taking root into the frozen ground.  The constantly frozen ground also does not allow plant materials to decay once they die.  Dead plant materials simply die and other plants grow on top of them.  This causes a thick accumulation of dead, un-decayed plant materials to pile-up, forming peat.  The great expansiveness of peat in Arctic tundra is a gigantic holding place for a huge amount of carbon dioxide.  The carbon dioxide simply remains locked up in the peat because of the cold and frozen conditions.  Recent warming of tundra peat however has caused some thawing and therefore allowing decay to take place in this peat.  As the decay takes place, carbon dioxide that was held in the peat is released into the atmosphere contributing to increased global temperatures.  Anyway, check out the above video for a short look on a scientific experiment and some of the potential effects of a warming climate.

Huricane, Superstorm, Frankenstorm Sandy... What Made This Storm So Bad

Watch Inside the Megastorm on PBS. See more from NOVA.

The science and story behind the development of Superstorm Sandy is fascinating.  The above video does a great job of explaining the development of this storm and how so many different weather elements came together to make this storm so bad.  The combination of a hurricane, absence of the Bermuda High, higher than usual ocean temperatures, a Nor'eastern storm, high pressure of the coast of Greenland, an adjusted jet stream, and the storm making landfall at the full moon high tide all came together to make this frankenstorm.  A hurricane or nor'eastern storm are bad enough, but the combination of these two along with everything else made this storm devastating.  Though Sandy was quite a dramatic weather event, the above video gives a great education on weather in general.  The big question now is, will superstorms like Sandy become more common in the future?  In the next 100 years temperatures are expected to warm by about four degrees which would likely increase the number and intensity of storms throughout the world.  Are storms like these a preview of what is to come in the future?

Thanksgiving and the Food Pyramid (or Choose My Plate)

The average Thanksgiving meal is about 3000 calories, or about one and a half days worth of calories.  The average American eats about 4000 calories or more on Thanksgiving day, about twice as much as what is recommended daily.  Of course, everyone is talking about all the extra calories eaten during Thanksgiving but I want to talk about how the average Thanksgiving meal lines up with the latest food pyramid.  The latest food pyramid is actually a plate called Choose My Plate and can be found here.  To do this we must first identify what actually is found in an average Thanksgiving meal.

An Average Thanksgiving meal
Turkey: 8oz.
Stuffing: 1 cup
Green bean casserole: 1/2 cup
Mashed potatoes and gravy: 1 cup
Cranberry sauce: 1 slice
Sweet potatoes: 1/2 cup
Pumpkin pie: 1 slice
Total calories: about 3000

The above meal contains about 1 and 1/3 times the recommended daily intake of protein, at most 1/5 the daily recommended intake of fruits and veggies, about two times the amount of recommended carbohydrates, and the absence of healthy oils and dairy products.  So pretty much, the typical Thanksgiving meal is extremely carb and protein heavy.  The bad thing about carbs is that they are less filling than protein and oils or fats, which means you can end up eating a lot more of them.  So it is possible that the reason there are so many carbs in a typical Thanksgiving is because they are less filling, so people just end up eating more.

We won't even go into how to calculate how many hours of exercise it would take to burn these extra calories off, which is about 6 hours.  But hey, this is only one meal a year so its not something to really beat yourself up over, especially if you are eating healthy on a regular basis.