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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF DAILY KANSAS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008
ENVIRONMENT
Human-made noise inhibits marine life's communication
BY ARIEL DAVID ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A whale leaps out of the water in what is called "breaching." On the sidelines of a UN wildlife conference in Rome on Wednesday, United Nations officials and environmental groups say human-made noise in the oceans is increasing, further threatening endangered animals such as whales and dolphins that use sound to communicate and orient themselves.
ROME — The songs that whales and dolphins use to communicate, orient themselves and find mates are being drowned out by human-made noises in the world's oceans, U.N. officials and environmental groups said Wednesday.
That sound pollution — everything from increasing commercial shipping and seismic surveys to a new generation of military sonar — is not only confounding the mammals, it also is further threatening the survival of these endangered animals.
Studies show that these cetaceans, which once communicated over thousands of miles (kilometers) to forage and mate, are losing touch with each other, the experts said on the sidelines of a U.N. wildlife conference in Rome.
"Call it a cocktail-party effect," said Mark Simmonds, director of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, a Britain-based NGO. "You have to speak louder and louder until no one can hear each other anymore."
An indirect source of noise pollution may also be coming from climate change, which is altering the chemistry of the oceans and making sound travel farther through sea water, the experts said.
Representatives of more than 100 governments are gathered in Rome for a meeting of the U.N.-backed Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
The agenda of the conference, which ends Friday, includes ways to increase protection for endangered species, including measures to mitigate underwater noise.
Environmental groups also are increasingly finding cases of
beached whales and dolphins that can be linked to sound pollution, Simmonds said.
Marine mammals are turning up on the world's beaches with tissue damage similar to that found in divers suffering from decompression sickness. The condition, known as the bends, causes gas bubbles to form in the bloodstream upon surfacing too quickly.
Scientists say the use of military sonar or seismic testing may have scared the animals into diving and surfacing beyond their physical limits, Simmonds said.
Several species of cetaceans are already listed as endangered or critically endangered from other causes, including hunting, chemical pollution, collisions with boats and entanglements with fishing equipment. Though it is not yet known precisely how many anti-
mals are affected, sound pollution is increasingly being recognized as a serious factor, the experts said.
As an example, Simmonds offered two incidents this year which, though still under study, could be linked to noise pollution; the beaching of more than 100 melon-headed whales in Madagascar and that of two dozen common dolphins on the southern British coast.
The sound of a seismic test, used to locate hydrocarbons beneath the seabed, can spread 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers) under water, said Veronica Frank, an official with the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
A study by her group found that the blue whale, which used to communicate across entire oceans, has lost 90 percent of its range over the last 40 years.
CLIMATE
Photo illustration by Jon Goering/KANSAN
Winter weather can contribute to changes in mood, especially if students aren't getting enough sleep. Steve Ilardi, associate professor of psychology, said some factors that contributed to seasonal depression, such as lack of sun exposure and sleep deprivation, were avoidable.
Winter weather affects moods
Steve llardi, associate professor of psychology,says getting enough sleep, staying active and taking vitamins help students avoid seasonal depression
BY JOE PREINER jpreiner@kansan.com
Sarah Brengarth doesn't want to get out of bed. She looks outside the window in her room and sees it's cloudy again. The 40-degree temperature completes the dreary morning.
Brengarth, Columbia, Mo. junior, just wants to stay inside and sleep. She is one of many people affected by the changing weather.
Steve Ilardi, associate professor of psychology, said about one in every three Americans felt the effects of the winter blues. If the feelings persist, he said, these people could fall prey to seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression brought on by the changing weather.
The impending winter's most influential factors are the decrease in sunlight and the drop in temperature, Iardi said. These changes affect the functioning of the brain and throw off the body's internal clock, called the circadian rhythm. Iardi said our brain notices the differences in light intensity and resets our body clock according to a 24-hour cycle.
"It's not a Timex." lardi said. "It needs to be reset every day."
Iardi said if the body's clock wasn't reset, there tended to be negative consequences. The personal costs of the changing season include drops in energy levels, negative moods and trouble
sleeping. Ilardi said the quality of sleep also declined, becoming less restorative. He said the lack of sleep could bring on the full effects of depression.
Bret Jones, Topeka senior, said he tended to snuggle up with his Xbox when it was too cold to go outside. Usually an active person, Jones said his level of physical activity dropped drastically during the winter months.
The decline in physical activity is common from December through February, Ilardi said. He said the colder temperatures kept people from spending time outside, the consequences of which were two-fold. Ilardi said physical activity was a potent anti-depressant. A lack of activity makes people more prone to depression. Along with reduced activity, Ilardi said staying inside robbed people of an important part of their health; sunlight.
the skin make vitamin D, a nutrient vital to brain function. He said by the end of winter, 80 percent of Americans suffered from a vitamin D deficiency. The Mayo Clinic Web site said vitamin D was crucial to maintaining healthy bones as well as helping prevent certain cancers and high blood pressure.
The sun helps the body in many important ways. Ilardi said exposure to sunlight stimulated brain circuits that produce serotonin and dopamine, essential brain chemicals. Dopamine, a chemical used mainly in the pleasure centers of the brain, helps keep people more alert and energetic. Ilardi said people reported "a sensation of raw pleasure" when outside on a sunny day. The other chemical, serotonin, plays a soothing role, reducing stress reactions in the brain.
Ilardi said sunlight also helped
Ihardi said the various factors that could contribute to depression during the winter were relatively easy to avoid. He said students could spend 30 minutes outdoors on reasonably bright days or take vitamin supplements to battle deficiency. He said students should aim to sleep about eight or nine hours to be fully rested. Ihardi said these strategies could help students avoid feeling down.
"Look at what happens to children," Ilardi said. "They get enough sleep and they get restless, not sleepy. The vast majority of students should take that difference as a sign."
Jones said he generally managed to get enough sleep during the semester, averaging about seven hours each night. Ilardi said avoiding sleep deprivation was paramount, and that more than 80 percent of depression cases list a lack of sleep as a contributing factor. He said figuring out if a person was getting enough sleep was simple. He said yawning or getting drowsy when bored was an indication of sleep debt.
Edited by Becka Cremer
INTERNATIONAL U.S.supports Mexican fight against drug cartels
MEXICO CITY — The U.S. government finally released the first part of a $400 million aid package Wednesday to support Mexico's police and soldiers in their fight against drug cartels.
The money comes at a critical
time: Mexico's death toll from drug violence has soared above 4,000 so far this year, and drug-related murders and kidnappings are spilling over the U.S. border as well.
U. S. Ambassador Tony Garza formally released $197 million at a signing ceremony in Mexico City. The rest will be disbursed throughout the year.
Garza said the Merida Initiative aid will enable the U.S. and Mexico to work more closely, sharing information on the cartels in real time.
But many questions remain about the direction of this drug war, and both Mexico and Colombia, where 90 percent of U.S.-bound cocaine is produced, worry they'll be handcuffed by concerns about human rights and corruption once Barack
Obama is president.
The aid to Mexico — which includes no cash — includes helicopters and surveillance aircraft, airport inspection equipment and case-tracking software to help police share real-time intelligence. It also supports Mexican efforts to weed out corrupt police, improve the judicial system and protect witnesses.
"If the United States strips us of those resources, what will be done? Where will they come from?" Andres Pastrana asked in an Associated Press interview. The former Colombian president worked with U.S. President Bill Clinton to launch Plan Colombia, which has spent more than $6 billion in U.S. aid since 2000 to fight drug trafficking and leftist rebels.
Associated Press
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