FJM Science

Recently, as the haze covers the sky and palm trees in zones like Chiang Mai (Thailand), the elephants -brilliant and majestic - have been seen in danger under the black cloak of pollution. Chiang Mai, a cultural epicenter where elephants, temples, and mountain tribes coexist; has become the event of forest fires that threaten stability in the region, the produced smoke floods the streets of the city, and a path will be made through the forest. The north of Thailand suffocates with toxic air, dangerous levels of pollutants have deteriorated the quality of the air and affected the health of thousands of people, only hospital reports inform about 30,000 people in the last three months of respiratory diseases; at the same time, the situation has degraded the forest and endangered the lives of animals. Forest fires are mainly due to the result of open burning on the border of Myanmar's forests and locally around farms in northern Thailand; the burning by the native and illegal populati...

Influenced by global warming and environmental pollution, the earth's ice polar caps; both the Arctic and the Antarctic show disproportionate melts, a fact that could be exaggerated in the next decades. Deep roles of polar ice in environmental stability have been discovered , influencing ocean circulation and climate. Its action and natural cycle are altered with global warming, a phenomenon that has increased in the 20th century. Image 1:   An arctic fox rest in the polar snow. At the ice poles, the temperature changes throughout the year. In summer, the north pole is at about -32 ° F, while the south pole is at -18 ° F; in winter, the north pole drops to -40 ° F and the south pole to -76 ° F.  Made up mostly of water, the polar ice melts at temperatures above -32 ° F, causing a thaw as the water becomes liquid; as a consequence, there is a loss of thickness on its shelf, which can cause it to collapse. Polar bears (Image 2), unique to the Arctic regions, are severely affecte...

Once the earth's air cleaner, the Amazon rainforest has become an emitter of polluting gases and has lost much of its ability to remedy global warming. Forests absorb CO2 and other pollutants from the atmosphere, also, help to stabilize the planet's climate, the Amazon is the largest jungle area in the world; recently, it has been found that some fractions of it emit more pollutants than they remove. Over the years, concerns have been expressed globally regarding rising drought temperatures and worsening air quality; distributed in many countries, the Amazon rainforest has been the backbone for the world's air and cooling, but now, portions of it are being sold online, even on social media. Greenhouse emissions, black carbon, particulate matter, and other types of pollution caused by human activities for agriculture, forestry, extractive industries, and infrastructure have a great influence on rainfall and air, in terms of natural patterns and composition. Global warming an...

Fashion -clothing, makeup, and others- is one of the most desirable industries worldwide, clothing is a human need and sometimes an unbridled luxury.  Because it manages a large financial market, has caused it to become the second-largest industrial polluter after aviation, representing up to 10% of global pollution; consequently, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes have been sought. Fast fashion, which is based on cheap manufacturing, frequent consumption, and the short-live use of these polluting agents to generate more income for the industries; functioning as a linear economy model, in which clothing is produced, sold, and thrown away, generates massive amounts of pollution every day.  The impacts of the fashion industry include more than 92 million tons of waste produced per year and 1.5 trillion liters of water consumed, every step in the clothing production process carries the potential for environmental impact. For example, conventionally grown cotton, one...

The air quality, in general, involves various health risks for people and pets; but according to scientific studies, the indoor air inside buildings can be worse than the outside air. Being indoors -sometimes known as the solution to outdoor pollution- can bring greater health complications than being outside in the city. This type of pollution depends on several factors such as the chemical products used in the home, the type of kitchen and cooking, outside air inlet, the odors inside the house, routine activities, among others. Indoor air refers to the air in and around buildings and structures since the surroundings near the building usually reflect the internal conditions. The idea of shutting the people up inside buildings to avoid exposure to outside pollution has been widely discussed, but the levels of people exposed to diseases caused by indoor air pollution are several million around the world; so in your case, locking yourself inside your home may not be the best option....

In this article, I want to give you some value-tips about how to protect you from air pollution, since it is the pollution that most interacts with the people. The most toxic emissions of air pollutants are found in the cities, so it is ideal to avoid high traffic areas. Being surrounded by trees in forests or nature is a fun and healthy way to have a good time, however, avoid inhaling the scent of flowers for a long time, avoid plants that have strange odors, and areas with high levels of biological material such as pollen.  If you live in highly industrialized cities that have large pollutant sources like those discussed in previous articles, it is recommendable that you check the levels of outdoor air pollution every day on the internet or in the news, to know when the air is not healthy in your community. If you are outside and find a large cloud of dust or smoke in front of you, avoid going through there; if you don't have a choice, try to breathe as little as possible.  ...

In my previous article, I discussed the proven relationship between microorganisms and air pollution, making you realize that it is surprising how microorganisms adapt to survive and take advantage of chemicals in their environment; it is astonishing that although they are surrounded by very toxic and genotoxic chemical compounds, these microorganisms manage to change their life processes making these deadly and toxic chemicals part of their diet and metabolism.  Due to these properties, humans have developed a series of strategies to take advantage of these qualities of microorganisms. Microbes with the ability to clean our environment have been found in nature, from toluene and simple molecules in a laboratory to giant colonies cleaning up oil spills at sea; however, everything indicates that the future of this technology is in the hands of genetic engineering to achieve safe, cheaper and most effective cleaning methods. Image 1: Oil spills in the environment generate remedi...

Microorganisms are found all around the world, from volcanoes to oceans and snow-capped mountains, their presence is widely distributed in the air, land, and water; in a similar way to environmental pollution, because of this, the interaction between microorganisms and pollutants is remarkable throughout history.  Previously, I have introduced the word "bioaerosols" which is the biological component of the air that includes pollen, fungi, bacteria, and viruses; bioaerosol consists mainly of microorganisms that are found naturally in water bodies, plant surfaces, rocks, and buildings. To understand this I want to discuss a little about the concept of "microbiome", the microbiome are natural colonies of microorganisms that are associated with a living organism or geographic location; rivers, fish, dogs, and cats have one, even the human body has a microbiome in the lungs, stomach, skin, blood, and much more. The natural microbiome is not a complication for the health ...