We Need to Save the Bees!

            The world’s bee population is disappearing at such an alarming rate, that the world’s food supply potentially could collapse entirely.

We all eat some sort of fruits and vegetables, but what we are eating might not be as good for us, or the environment, as we believe.

I never really gave much thought to the fruits and vegetables I ate until I saw the documentary “The Vanishing Bees”. And then, a few months later I took a Nutrition class that took the subject to yet another level.

Pesticides are literally destroying the world, but there are some things we can do to avoid this dark fate.

I’m going to tell you about the cause of these problems, it’s effects, and what we can do differently to avoid the problem.

             First, I’m going to tell you about what is causing all of this to happen. Broad-spectrum pesticides damage all living cells, not just the pests that they are being used to control. Systemic pesticides are put on the seeds of plants, or used to treat the soil before planting. This causes the pesticide to become part of the plant for its entire life. You cannot wash it off. France, Italy, Germany and Slovenia have already banned the use of these. Topical pesticides build up in soil over time and are susceptible to runoff which poisons surrounding soils and waterways.

Now that I’ve told you a little about the cause of the problem, I’m going to tell you a little about the effects. Bees all around the world are disappearing by the millions due to colony collapse disorder, otherwise known as “mad bee disease” according to the documentary “Vanishing of the Bees”. When this happens, only the queen and some young bees are left in the hive. All of the other bees simply disappear. This phenomenon was later found to be caused by pesticides. If this continues the costs of foods would increase exponentially until there just isn’t anything left to sell.

In addition, pesticide and fertilizer runoff makes its way into our waterways. Time Magazine says that “[they work their way into the]  Mississippi River and down into the Gulf of Mexico, where they will help kill fish for miles and miles around”. These pesticides aren’t just bad for the environment. They are really bad for us too. Time Magazine goes on to say “Food is increasingly bad for us, even dangerous”. Frances Sizer and Ellie Whitney say “High doses cause birth defects, sterility, tumors, organ damage, and central nervous system [impairment]. Children and the elderly have lower tolerances.” in their text book “Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies”

Now that you know the problem, and the effects, I’m going to tell you about a couple solutions. What can we do differently? It’s actually pretty easy. Eat Organic. Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies says that organic foods are fertilized with composted animal manure or vegetable matter instead of synthetic fertilizers. Crop rotation, predatory insects, natural bacterial peptide toxin is used for pest management.

The British Columbian Ministry of Agriculture offers another solution called Integrated Pest Control (IPC). In this method, you only use chemicals when there is no other option and sufficient damages are unavoidable without it. They should only be used if the costs of the pesticides are more than offset by the amount of damages you avoid. Instead they say you should use cultural methods like crop rotation, use resistant plant strains, practice good sanitation, and use mechanical controls to fight pests.

The fact is that pesticides are very destructive, and there are safer ways of growing our food. I have told you about the pesticides causing these problems, the effects they have on us and the environment, and that we can choose to eat organic or use Integrated Pest Control to minimize the problem. I hope you will take this information into consideration when you are buying groceries or working in your garden. Thank you for your time.

References:

Environmental Fate of Pesticides. British Columbia’s Ministry of Agriculture. Retrieved April 18^th, 2012, from http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/pesticides/c_2.htm

Langworthy, G., Henein, M. (Producers) Langworthy, G. (Director). (2009). Vanishing of the Bees [Motion Picture]. UK: True Mind Studios.

Sizer, F.S., & Whitney, E.N. (2011). Nutrition: Concepts & Controversies. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.

Walsh, B. (Aug. 21, 2009). Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food. Time Magazine. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1917726,00.html

Coral Reefs in Peril

     Coral reefs are in peril around the world. Hard-coral beaching, and coral decline has long term damaging effects on the marine ecosystems. We need to take action now to prevent a complete collapse. I am going to share with you why the reefs are important to all of all, what is endangering the reefs, and what we can do to prevent this disaster, as well as conserve and restore our reefs.

     Reefs are very important for marine life to prosper, which provides food for the whole planet. A study was done on the lagging effects of reef destruction and unfortunately it showed that several years later the juvenile fish populations declined dramatically (Graham, N. et al, 2007, p. 6-7).

     Now, let’s look at what’s causing these problems. The most commonly acknowledged factor, and probably the biggest threat to the world’s reefs, is global climate change. Kenneth R. N. Anthony et al. (2009) said in his peer reviewed journal article entitled Energetics approach to predicting mortality risk from environmental stress: a case study of coral bleaching that “Over the past decade, most coral reefs around the world have been affected by mass bleaching events.”  He goes on to say, “Even under the most conservative climate change scenarios, predictions for the coming decades suggest that coral reefs could eventually undergo bleaching annually” (p. 1).

     Solar radiation is another big culprit promoting this coral degradation. Coral exposed to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) “[may] be subject to photooxidative stress due to excessive UVR exposure, resulting in coral bleaching” (Liñán-Cabello, M. A, 2010, p. 1-2). This is the same radiation that gives us sunburns and promotes skin cancer.

     Another factor that is not as widely known to cause coral degradation is sunscreen. According to Sunscreens Cause Coral Bleaching by Promoting Viral Infections, 10% of the world’s reefs are threatened by hard-coral bleaching as a direct result of sunscreens containing benzophenones, parabens, cinnamates, and camphor derivatives. This study shows that 4,000 – 6,000 tons of sunscreen are released into reef area waters each year (Danovaro, R. et al, 2008, p. 4-5).

     Finally, we need to look as what we can do to protect, conserve, and restore our reefs. Because climate change is the biggest factor in coral degradation, doing whatever we can to slow global warming would definitely help. Choosing to recycle, plant a tree, drive fuel efficient vehicles, or ride a bike instead of driving, are all great places to start. Google “reduce my carbon footprint” for more great ideas.

     Along those same lines, protecting our ozone layer helps protect our reefs, and ourselves from ultraviolet radiation. The easiest thing you can do to protect the ozone is to avoid buying anything that is made with or utilizes chlorofluorocarbon (CFC). CFCs are commonly found in aerosols, air conditioners, refrigerators and fire extinguishers.

     We can do other things to protect us from the sun besides the use of sunscreen, like using sun umbrellas at the beach, and wearing hats and clothes that protect you from the sun. When you do need to wear sunscreen, choose one that doesn’t contain benzophenones, parabens, cinnamates, and camphor derivatives (Danovaro, R. et al, 2008, p. 4-5).

     A lot of reef damage has already been done however, and we need to take action to aid in its restoration as well. No-take marine protected areas (MPAs) can help promote reef recovery and provide special resilience after a coral destructing event (Graham, N. et al, 2007, p. 2).

     Some other methods of reef restoration include “securing fragments in place stemming from injured colonies, rearing fragmented coral pieces in mid-water nurseries for outplanting on reefs, as ‘rescuing’ colonies from the threatened inshore habitats by outplanting them to offshore sites” (Baums, 2008, p. 3).

     Now that I’ve shared with you why the reefs are important, what is endangering them, and what we can do to prevent this disaster, I think we can agree that we need to take action now to prevent the destruction of our coral reefs and the complete collapse of our marine ecosystems.

References

Anthonyl, K. R. N., Hoogenboom, M. O., Maynard, J. A., Grottoli, A. G., Middlebrook, R. (2009). Energetics approach to predicting mortality risk from environmental stress: a case study of coral bleaching. Functional Ecology, 23, 539–550. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01531.x

Baums, I. B. (2008). A restoration genetics guide for coral reef conservation. Molecular Ecology, 17, 2796–2811. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2008.03787.x

Danovaro, R., Bongiorni, L., Corinaldesi, C., Giovannelli, D., Damiani, E.,  Astolfi, P., Greci, L., Pusceddu, A. (2008). Sunscreens cause coral bleaching by promoting viral infections. Environmental Health Perspectives, 116(4), 441-447. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Graham, N. A. J., Wilson, S. K., Jennings, S., Polunin, N. V. C., Robinson, J., Bijoux, J. P., Daw, T. M. (2007). Lag effects in the impacts of mass coral bleaching on coral reef fish, fisheries, and ecosystems. Conservation Biology, 21(5) , 1291–1300. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00754.x

Liñán-Cabello, M. A., Flores-Ramírez, L. A., Cobo-Díaz, J. F., Zenteno-Savin, T., Olguín-Monroy, N. O.,  Olivos-Ortiz, A., Tintos-Gómez, A. (2010). Response to short term ultraviolet stress in the reef-building coral Pocillopora capitata (Anthozoa: Scleractinia).  Revista de Biología Tropical, 58(1), 103-118. Retreived from Academic Search Premier database.