In The Midst Of An Environmental Crisis

The planet is changing at a rapid level. Many changes are taking places that are not always good for everyone on land or even those in water. You may not be able to see all these changes by simply looking outside your window, numerous things are happening on a global scale that has a big impact on virtually everyone on the planet. Climate change, for instance, is no longer just a threat but a reality we are all facing every single day. The ocean is rising and so is the planet heating up. They may all seem irrelevant to the ordinary man but they play a big role to how the world works as a whole. And when you hear someone saying we are now in the midst of an environmental crisis, it can’t be any truer.

Everything we do, big or small, has an impact on the world. If we want to protect the planet and make sure we don’t suffer that often in the hands of Mother Nature, let us also reduce our carbon footprint and we should practice more environment-friendly ways in everything we do. Even the little things we do count a lot in saving the world and somehow making it a better place for each and every one of us. Nobody will help us except ourselves. In the end, it is us who will also suffer if we don’t step up and do something about all the environmental issues we are facing because after all, we only have one planet to live in. Let’s stop making it unlivable by cleaning up our acts and considering how the environment will be affected in all of our actions.

The proposal to have environmental education as a subject in schools has been finalised.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today said he was ready to discuss the proposal with the Education Minister.

He said top officials from his ministry and the Education Ministry have been discussing the proposal for months and those in the discussions were receptive to the idea of having such a subject.

"Once I get the report from the deputy secretary-general, who headed the ministry in the talks with the Education Ministry, discussions between the Education Minister and I can start.

(Via: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/11/298392/proposal-have-environmental-education-subject-schools-finalised)

And since the youth is the future of any nation, it is only logical to start educating the youth about the importance of the environment and what measures can be done to safeguard it from further harm. Human activities are the number one reason why the planet is what it is today. Our abuse and misuse of natural resources have led to widespread natural disasters that took human lives aside from destroying properties and ravaging communities. Looking at the state of the environment right now, it is inevitable for stronger and more destructive natural calamities to come and wreak havoc on human lives at the rate things are going now. Only through education can we do something big that can have a lasting impression to everyone as to why the environment needs protection.

Tens of millions of people will be forced from their homes by climate change in the next decade, creating the biggest refugee crisis the world has ever seen, according to a new report.

Senior US military and security experts have told the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) study that the number of climate refugees will dwarf those that have fled the Syrian conflict, bringing huge challenges to Europe.

“If Europe thinks they have a problem with migration today … wait 20 years,” said retired US military corps brigadier general Stephen Cheney. “See what happens when climate change drives people out of Africa – the Sahel [sub-Saharan area] especially – and we’re talking now not just one or two million, but 10 or 20 [million]. They are not going to south Africa, they are going across the Mediterranean.”

(Via: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/02/climate-change-will-create-worlds-biggest-refugee-crisis)

You can probably see it in the news right now. Every now and then there is this awful disaster that destroys towns and cities and leaves people displaced for weeks, even months on end. Recovery is often a slow and painful process and it can break you in ways that you’ve never imagined before. If you don’t want to suffer and turn your life upside down especially if you live in a high-risk area, do your part in saving the planet today, not tomorrow. Try to influence and educate others as to why we need to pitch in and do our part in environmental conservation efforts rather than just rely on the government and big organizations to initiate and work on conserving the planet and its vast resources before the time comes when we are too late for saving.

In The Midst Of An Environmental Crisis Find more on: https://www.keatingeconomics.com/

source https://www.keatingeconomics.com/in-the-midst-of-an-environmental-crisis/

Problems With Chinese Medicine

For centuries, Chinese medicine has reigned supreme when it comes to promoting and supporting man’s good health. It has almost never failed everyone who tried it and until today, many people still put their faith in age-old Chinese recipes that has cured diseases in the past in the absence of modern medicine. The problem is that many claims it is not as effective as it once was as there has been one casualty after the other – all of which took a Chinese medicine of sort to relieve them of a medical condition they have. The likely reason why this happened is that as recipes are passed down from generation to generation, some may tweak it a bit that results in a change in efficacy or may even trigger some adverse reactions in this case.

Other factors we need to consider is that what’s in Chinese medicines with herbs aren’t as well documented as any medicine you can buy from the pharmacy. You can’t really tell how its ingredients react to one another. And then there is the possibility that an individual is also taking other supplements or drugs that can react to the Chinese herb. Sometimes, side effects are minor and can be tolerated, other times it can cost you your life. It’s probably what happened to these poor people who unknowingly got treated with Chinese medicine and they happen to be allergic to some components of the medicine.

Early on a snowy, winter morning in January 2012, Wu Xiaoliang, a 37-year-old farmer, stopped by his local doctor to remedy a headache. At a small clinic near his village he received two injections made from traditional Chinese herbs. Hours later, villagers saw him struggling to prop himself up on his moped as he drove home. By noon, he was dead.

What killed Wu was later described in an autopsy report as a "drug allergy." But doctors couldn’t pinpoint what he was allergic to because the shots he was given contained dozens, if not hundreds, of different compounds extracted from two herbs.

For centuries, Chinese have bought plant and animal parts from traditional clinics, and boiled them into bitter soups to treat colds, strokes and even cancer. But the Chinese medicine sector has modernized along with the rest of the country, with local manufacturers turning age-old recipes into fast-acting injectable drugs.

(Via: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-02/patient-deaths-show-darker-side-of-modernized-chinese-medicine)

Another major difference to how Chinese medicine is delivered in the past is that before, ancient Chinese had to drink soups or teas with these medicinal herbs. But today, Chinese drug makers have leveled up their game and they likewise upgraded these traditional medicines by giving them a modern feel – in injection form. Let’s not forget the fact how fast the effect of intravenous drugs are since they are directly injected into the bloodstream. For an ancient medicine with insufficient (if none at all) clinical trials to prove its safety and efficacy, the results can be disastrous.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) is warning the public not to buy or consume two products promoted in Malaysia as traditional Chinese medicine, after two elderly women fell ill after taking them.

The two products - Wan Ling Ren Sem Chin Kuo Pill and Chong Cao Dan - contain undeclared Western medicinal ingredients, including a potent steroid called dexamethasone, HSA said in a press release on Thursday (Nov 2).

A woman in her 70s who had taken Wan Ling Ren Sem Chin Kuo Pill daily for four to five years for rheumatism and pain was hospitalised in the intensive care unit after experiencing severe breathing difficulty.

(Via: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/2-elderly-women-fall-ill-after-taking-products-marketed-as-9368678?view=DEFAULT)

While we have nothing against traditional medicine, just keep in mind that it has its risks too. Its ingredients are often undeclared. Most people who take Chinese medicine do not consult with a real doctor to get them assessed properly and determine if the products they are taking is not doing them more harm than good. Most of the danger comes from the continued modernization of this ancient practice. What those people who dabble with alternative medicine do not realize is that you don’t just develop a drug and formulate it into a preparation that is highly untested such as Chinese medicine shots because the dangers are fatal and can kill a person like what we are already witnessing now.

Problems With Chinese Medicine was initially published to https://www.keatingeconomics.com/

source https://www.keatingeconomics.com/problems-with-chinese-medicine/

How Climate Change Is Shaping The World Today

You don’t have to look far to see the changes in the world right now. Just step out of your home and you can see how polluted and hot the world has become. Weather systems have intensified as well as natural calamities that hit us with such force each year. There are actually certain parts of the planet that are more prone to experience these disasters than other places. Typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc., they have all posed a threat to our lives because we can’t really tell when some of them will happen but we can't avoid it either.

Climate change is especially evident in the ocean. Just head out to sea or just even on beaches and you can see for yourself how global warming has changed people’s lives. Not only certain animal and plant species become extinct as the days go by, island nations are at risk of disappearing off the face of the planet because the sea level is rising as more heat is trapped inside the atmosphere. Consequently, it melts down polar glaciers that make the sea level rise and is now a major global concern because it has become a reality that puts people’s lives at risk.

Climate change means the sea level is rising, storms are intensifying and seasons are becoming unpredictable. Coral is increasingly torn away from the islands and returned to the lagoon floor. These days, repairing them does little more than delay the inevitable.
Solomon Islands has a population of 560,000 people and a growing number of them are being forced to leave their homes - not just in Lau Lagoon, but also low-lying coastal areas on Malaita, and across the entire atoll, one of the world's largest. 

It has been more than a decade since the island of Tauba in Lau Lagoon was first submerged completely during a high tide.

(Via: http://www.dw.com/en/climate-change-drives-solomon-islands-people-of-the-sea-ashore/a-40777201)

While most people only think about beaches and paradise islands as dream getaway destinations for a well-deserved vacation, people actually live in many of these places 365 days a year. And as such, they have to brace for everything Mother Nature has in store for them all year round that many tourists rarely get to see because these things mostly happen during off-peak seasons. These locals have survived island life for generations but the complexities and unpredictability of the environment right now are forcing many of them to relocate because living became more of a drag and the risks are greater too.

Temperature records are being broken frequently in Australia, with hot records 12 times more likely to be set than cold ones since 2000, Drs Lewis and King reported in a 2015 paper.

A heatwave last month smashed many records across eastern Australia with more than half the NSW stations with more than 20 years of data registering their hottest September day, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Under a high carbon emissions scenario, 50-degree days could arrive "as early as the 2040s", Dr Lewis said, adding that even with a concerted reduction in pollution, those temperatures could be reached by about 2060.

Dr King said hospitals, electricity systems and infrastructure would all struggle during such heat spikes.

(Via: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/really-awful-50degree-days-possible-for-sydney-melbourne-as-warming-worsens-20171002-gyt512.html)

This problem is no laughing matter as it can spell life or death for many people living in high-risk areas. Imagine living on an island all your life and it suddenly is at risk of submerging in the ocean as the sea level continues to rise. Now, where do you go? Everyone should work hand in hand and change our ways because we only have one planet to live. If we don’t act now and save whatever is left saving, we might have the same ending as previous generations that have long since disappeared because they weren’t a match to the wrath of Mother Nature when it went amock and we only know about them in history books.

How Climate Change Is Shaping The World Today is republished from Keating Economics Blog

source https://www.keatingeconomics.com/how-climate-change-is-shaping-the-world-today/