rbudnick's blog

The trigger that tells the hummingbird how to build a nest is some genetically linked mechanism that has been filtered and passed down through the generations. This mechanism (behavior) has likely been perfected throughout these generations so that the hummingbird automatically knows- or senses- when the nest is correctly made. The four things that Darwin noticed are as follows: “every organism produces more seeds or offspring than will actually survive to adulthood”, “there is variation among these seeds or offspring”, “traits are passed down from one generation to the next”, and “in each generation the survivors succeed- that is, they survive- because they possess some advantage over the ones that don’t succeed, and because they survive, they will pass that advantage on to the next generation. Over time, therefore, the incidence of that trait will increase in the population.” While these traits are perfected and fixed, diversity still must be maintained When two unrelated parents combine genes through their gametes, an unlimited number of genetic combinations happens. Through this process, every offspring produced will have a different combination of these genes till the entire community is individually diverse. Fitness for whatever environment or situation and organism is in cannot be obtained if the best (most fit) genes do not get passed on to the next generation.

Unfortunately, without government intervention and funding the widespread implementation of seaweed aquaculture cannot provide its benefits towards climate change mitigation. Despite all its benefits, seaweed aquaculture is not a ‘silver bullet’ for carbon sequestering. Overall, macroalgae do not have a large impact on the increasing carbon problem the world is facing. The issue is as mentioned, that governments have yet to realize this resource is at their fingertips. Governments have implemented all sorts of tactics to try and mitigate climate change, most of which are expensive, require land use, and are not particularly powerful weapons against carbon. Therefore, seaweed aquaculture is ripe with untapped potential. Taking some of the strain of world-wide agriculture off the land benefits CO2 reduction, and provide an extra food source for humanity. Macroalgae has also been investigated as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels, and an alternative to livestock feed. Using macroalgae for these purposes would greatly reduce CO2 production from fuel burning and livestock. Seaweed farming, if supported is a fully sustainable and carbon neutral industry with the ability to be established in a variety of environments across the world.

Carbon sequestering is the process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere and oceans and allocating it to long-term storages called reservoirs. Photosynthesis of ocean aquatic plants drives the oceanic biological CO2 pump, where CO2 from the atmosphere enters the ocean from the atmosphere. Greater than one-third of human-produced CO2 ends up in the ocean where it is introduced to the aquatic photosynthetic cycle. Locations with large collections of seaweed and algae act as carbon sinks, particularly in coastal regions where it is ideal for seaweed aquaculture. These coastal vegetation hot-spots represent less than 2% of the ocean surface, yet contribute close to half of the carbon burial in the coastal and global ocean however, more than 25% of the CO2 sink capacity of these ecosystems has been lost and the overall spread of these habitats is decreasing due to climate change and development.  These places are naturally proficient at carbon sequestering, so increase in seaweed farming on coastal regions would only increase the sequestering potential. Seaweeds are the most productive macrophytes, especially in relatively shallow, high light, coastal environments such as aquaculture farms. Their astounding ability to take in CO2 and convert it through photosynthesis results in forms of carbon which are far easier to sequester and break down, unlike the harmful buildup of carbonic acid. 

Kappaphycus and Eucheuma red seaweeds are closely related genetically are currently the most widely and largely produced by volume compared to other varieties (Hurtado.) The development of seaweed aquaculture is a viable source for carbon offsetting in the oceans. Other forms of aquaculture (fin-fish and crustaceans) produce a large proportion of the emissions in aquaculture, around 300 thousand tonnes of CO2 per year. Seaweed aquaculture produces around 1.1 thousand tonnes per year per every square kilometer. Based on this data, we can calculate it would take a comparatively small area to make the industry carbon-neutral when compared to the other forms of aquaculture. Agriculture produces around 12% of the global emissions annual and has for the past thirty years, totaling around 5.1 billion tonnes of CO2. 

 Aquaculture is a growing industry but has yet to take hold in most of the countries across the world. Seaweed aquaculture is primarily used for food, medicine, and cosmetics. Increasing seaweed production for food markets appears to be the best course in order to increase seaweed cultivation and subsequently it’s beneficial carbon-sequestering effects. Seaweed aquaculture is not an end-all solution to climate change and carbon buildup. There would need to be significant increases in aquaculture alongside reductions and reforms of the biggest CO2 production industries and locations for seaweed aquaculture to have a significant benefit. Currently, this method of carbon sequestering has gone relatively undeveloped and should be implemented world-wide where growth conditions are right as an ecologically- beneficial method of reducing carbon and CO2 buildup in the environment.  

Seaweed aquaculture has increased in popularity and in economic value over the past decade, but still has potential to expand into a worldwide industry. Seaweed aquaculture involves the cultivation of a variety of species, and the popularity and fitness of these species have fluctuated over time as the climate changes. Aquaculture has been greatly developed in Asian and South-east Asian countries where seafood (including macroalgae) contributes to a decent proportion of the local diet. Seaweed farming has since spread south and has developed in the warm rich waters around Australia and the Pacific Islands. A recent evaluation suggests that more than thirty countries have aquaculture, particularly that of seaweed, contributing to their economy. Currently, EU member states, India, and South Africa are leading the world in implementing climate change mitigation procedures while Canada, the US, and Russia are lagging. The most extensive decarbonization efforts were implemented in EU member states, and China (Zheng, Streimikiene, Balezentis, Mardani, Cavallaro, Liao.) Even the countries leading in these aspects could benefit from greater implementation and development of seaweed aquaculture.

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to the planet today. One of the results of climate change is altered levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, land, and oceans. Buildup of CO2 in certain environments and different amounts can have drastic effects on the ecosystem. Continued use of fossil fuels has contributed greatly to this increase in CO2. In recent years, scientists have done research into the use of seaweed (macroalgae) as a method of carbon mitigation. Wild seaweed has great potential to sequester carbon, and an increase in agriculture of seaweed (particularly in aquaculture farms close to heavily populated land) would provide a barrier of carbon mitigation between human carbon waste and the ocean. Macroalgae can inhabit a range of aquatic habitats spanning the globe, and some species are adapted for the acidic, high-carbon environments that carbon pollution has produced. Aquaculture is a growing industry but has yet to take hold in most of the countries across the world. Seaweed aquaculture is primarily used for food, medicine, and cosmetics. Increasing seaweed production for food markets appears to be the best course in order to increase seaweed cultivation and subsequently it’s beneficial carbon-sequestering effects. Seaweed aquaculture is not an end-all solution to climate change and carbon buildup. There would need to be significant increases in aquaculture alongside reductions and reforms of the biggest CO2 production industries and locations for seaweed aquaculture to have a significant benefit. Currently, this method of carbon sequestering has gone relatively undeveloped and should be implemented world-wide where growth conditions are right as an ecologically- beneficial method of reducing carbon and CO2 buildup in the environment.  

Medical anthropology encourages people to look at medicine from many different perspectives. Instead of relying solely on symptoms and treatment of those symptoms, medicine should consider the human side of illness, and take into the people or persons affected by it. Modern medicine is becoming increasingly personal, both technologically (treatments and evaluations based on the individual’s genes) and emotionally with a strive towards better practitioner-patient relationships. It is important to realize every person experience illness differently and as such treatment (regardless of its form) should cater to the individual and consider their emotions, environment, and personal characteristics. This unfortunately does not always happen in the modern world and individuals can feel lost the complex medical world. It is important to take into account the affects of family, society, religion, and culture on an individual's medical history and future. 

Medical Athropology has a midterm assignment which involves writing a paper revolving around a sickness episode. This can involve me, or someone else. A sickness episode here means an experience with sickness an individual has, in this case trying to highlight not just the physical symptoms alone, but the process of disgnosis, treatment, and the concepts of sickness vs. disease. The differences between sickness, disease, and illness have been a main topic of the course so far. It focuses greatly on humanity and medicine, and how ethnomedicine should be a main part of the modern medical system across the world. 

I have decided to write about the struggles my mother, grandmother, and I have dealt with during our lives with endometriosis. It is often seen reoccuring every generation in families, suggesting is has a strong genetic predisposition. This disease has been increasingly more common in the last decade, not because of increased prevalance, but due to better diagnosis methods and the strive to have better practitioner-patient relationships. Endometriosis is a disorder where the tissue lining the inside uterus (the endometrium) grows in different locations in the body where it should not be growing. The disease can be divided into four stages, stage one being minor prevalence with few or no lesions, up to stage four in which the tissue has spread all over the body (not limited to the abdominal cavity) and has resulted in a multitude of lesions, wounds, and scars in these locations. Endometriosis was first identified by modern science in the mid 1800's, but was first described around 4,000 years ago. 

DOI: 10.1080/09593330.2004.9619381

C. Durand, V. Ruban & A. Amblès (2004) Mobility of Trace Metals in Retention Pond Sediments, Environmental Technology, 25:8, 881-888