Introduction
Pollution of the Earth in recent years has become a problem that worries environmental activists and the states. Pollution of the oceans, depletion of the ozone layer, and air quality in large cities adversely affect the health of people and animals. Although the states are concerned about the impending environmental catastrophe, the situation is not changing much for the better. Practical methods are needed to combat various types of pollution to protect the Earth and its entire population.
Ocean Pollution
Oil
The most severe consequences for the ocean and its inhabitants occur because of environmental disasters. All severe cases of ocean pollution are associated with oil spills. The widespread washing of the holds of tankers resulted in between 8 and 20 million barrels of oil being deliberately dumped into the ocean every year (Bashir et al., 2020). Such violations often went unpunished in the past, but today satellites make it possible to collect the necessary evidence. The pollution problem of bottom sediments with oil and oil products requires special attention. The ocean remains the site of major and minor environmental disasters associated with the transport of hazardous goods.
Sewage
In addition to oil, sewage is one of the most hazardous wastes. In small quantities, they enrich the water and promote the growth of plants and fish; in large quantities, they destroy ecosystems. Satellite imagery clearly shows the effluent discharged by the exhaust manifolds. In the places of emissions, the ocean is a lifeless underwater desert littered with organic debris. Efforts to liquefy sewage are aimed at reducing their hazard.
Plastic
Accumulations of plastic waste form special garbage patches in the oceans under the influence of currents. Currently, five accumulations of garbage patches are known – two in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and one in the Indian Ocean (Van der Mheen et al., 2019). These garbage cycles mainly consist of plastic waste generated by discharges from the densely populated coastal zones of the continents. Plastic waste is also dangerous because marine animals often cannot see the transparent particles floating on the surface, and toxic waste enters their stomach, often causing death.
Consequences
The most devastating consequences are associated with the discharge and spill of oil. As a result of such incidents, marine flora and fauna die, and water remains unusable for thousands of kilometers. The discharge of sewage destroys the natural wealth of the ocean; living next to such water can be extremely dangerous for humans. Plastic is detrimental to marine life; its spread threatens species extinction.
Earth’s Atmosphere
Composition, Structure, and Function
The Earth is surrounded by a deep gaseous sheet extending several thousand kilometers above its surface; this envelope is the atmosphere. The atmosphere consists of many gases, solid and liquid particles – aerosols (Ramachandran, 2018). Some of the gases can be considered as constant components of the atmosphere that remain in a fixed proportion to the total volume of the gas. The number of other components varies from place to place. In addition to these gases, large amounts of water vapor and dust particles are also present in the atmosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere contains oxygen, which most living organisms use for respiration, and carbon dioxide, which plants and cyanobacteria consume during photosynthesis. The atmosphere is also the planet’s protective layer, protecting its inhabitants from solar ultraviolet radiation and meteorites.
Ozone Layer
The ozone layer is a significant part of the earth’s atmosphere that protects people from the strong effects of the sun. The ozone layer is a part of the stratosphere at 20 to 40 km; the highest ozone content is formed due to exposure to solar UV radiation on molecular oxygen (Langematz, 2019). With the most incredible intensity, precisely due to the processes of decomposition of oxygen, the absorption of the near part of the ultraviolet of the solar spectrum occurs (Langematz, 2019). In addition, the dissociation of ozone under the influence of ultraviolet radiation leads to the absorption of its hardest part.
Tropospheric and Stratospheric Ozone
Ozone located in the stratosphere is beneficial to humans because it blocks UV radiation, which is harmful to human skin. If ozone enters the troposphere, it is harmful to humans because it acts as a greenhouse gas. Tropospheric gas appears as a result of human pollution of the atmosphere. Ozone belongs to the substances of the highest first-class of danger – it is a powerful oxidizing agent which is highly toxic to humans.
Air Pollution
Causes of Increased Pollution in Big Cities
Any substances pollute the air: gaseous, solid, and liquid if they are contained in it in quantities exceeding their average content. Air pollution in large cities happens mainly due to the high rate of industrialization and the large spread of public and private transport. Air pollution is one of the most dangerous types of pollution due to its mobility and ability to pollute almost all environmental components.
Attempts to Improve Air Quality
The city that cares about improving air quality is New York. Trying to improve air quality, the Governor of New York announced almost $1.5 billion in funding to create renewable energy facilities, including solar and wind farms (UN Environment Program, 2021). The projects launched by 2022 will reduce carbon emissions by 1.6 million metric tons, the equivalent of taking 340,000 vehicles off the road (UN Environment Program, 2021). One option to combat air pollution could be to reduce the use of cars. For example, by 2026, London will spend a record billion dollars on improving the cycling infrastructure (London Assembly, 2021). Air quality initiatives should improve the lives of people in crowded metropolitan areas.
Duplication the Mistakes
Unfortunately, the mistakes made in ecology are realized too late. Cities in advanced countries are trying to implement initiatives to improve the state of the air, but they are too long and not radical. Since it will be possible to evaluate the effect of the implemented initiatives only after a few years, it is necessary to introduce new control measures now. The world community is aware of the problem of pollution but does not take decisive action.
Greenhouse Effect
Greenhouse Gases
Greenhouse gases can hold heat in the earth’s atmosphere, warming the planet. Greenhouse gases are divided into natural and fluorinated, which are synthetic. The leading gases responsible for the greenhouse are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and water vapor (Kweku et al., 2018). Greenhouse gases have different chemical properties; they can be removed from the atmosphere over time. Carbon dioxide, for example, is taken up by plants, soil, and the ocean. Fluorinated gases are only destroyed by sunlight in the upper atmosphere.
Causes of the Greenhouse Effect
The greenhouse effect is caused by combustible minerals in the industry – coal, oil, natural gas, which release a vast amount of carbon dioxide and other harmful compounds. Transport also plays a significant role; cars emit exhaust gases that increase the greenhouse effect. Deforestation, the destruction of which increases carbon dioxide, also affects the greenhouse effect. An increase in population affects the increase in demand for food, clothing, and housing. Industrial production is growing, increasingly polluting the air with greenhouse gases.
Approaches and Effectiveness
The strategy to combat the increase in the greenhouse effect should reduce the use of fossil energy sources: coal, oil, and gas. It is also necessary to develop alternative energy and renewable energy sources widely. Developing new environmentally friendly and low-carbon technologies, particularly refrigerants and blowing agents with low global warming potential, can be effective. The restoration of forests – natural carbon dioxide absorbers from the atmosphere are necessary. However, even the full-scale implementation of all these measures to prevent the increase in the greenhouse effect is unlikely to fully compensate for the damage caused to nature as a result of anthropogenic impact; therefore, in any case, people can only minimize the consequences. The listed approaches should be applied globally; however, unfortunately, at the moment, they are applicable only in developed countries. To combat climate change, assisting developing countries is essential, striving to join forces.
Conclusion
Environmental issues include pollution of the world’s oceans, air pollution, and the greenhouse effect. These phenomena negatively affect the lives of people on the planet, destroying the habitat of animals. Existing control measures are not effective enough to radically change the situation. Solving environmental problems and curbing the rate of pollution is the task of the entire world community; only together will it be possible to achieve a positive effect.
References
Bashir, I., Lone, F.A., Bhat, R.A., Mir, S.A., Dar, Z.A., Dar, S.A. (2020). Concerns and threats of contamination on aquatic ecosystems. In: Hakeem, K., Bhat, R., Qadri, H. (eds) Bioremediation and Biotechnology. Springer, Cham.
London Assembly (2021). Record-breaking growth in London’s cycle network continues. London City Hall.
Kweku, D. W., Bismark, O., Maxwell, A., Desmond, K. A., Danso, K. B., Oti-Mensah, E. A., Quachie, A.T., & Adormaa, B. B. (2018). Greenhouse effect: Greenhouse gases and their impact on global warming. Journal of Scientific research and reports, 17(6), 1-9.
Langematz, U. (2019). Stratospheric ozone: Down and up through the anthropocene. ChemTexts, 5(2), 1-12.
Ramachandran, S. (2018). Aerosols and climate change: Present understanding, challenges, and future outlook. In Land-Atmospheric Research Applications in South and Southeast Asia, pp. 341-378. Springer, Cham.
UN Environment Program. (2021). These five cities are taking aim at air pollution. UNEP.
Van der Mheen, M., Pattiaratchi, C., & van Sebille, E. (2019). Role of Indian Ocean dynamics on accumulation of buoyant debris. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124(4), 2571-2590.
Union Website: American Federation Of Musicians
Introduction
The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) labor union comprises proficient instrumental music artists in Canada and the United States. The union was created in 1896 as the reformed National League of Musicians and its headquarters are based in New York City. President Raymond Hair Junior is the current leader of AFM (The Film Music Institute). The organization is the largest music union globally representing professional musicians. The member’s main activities include negotiating fair agreements, protecting ownership of music, securing such benefits as pension and health care, as well as lobbying legislators.
Occupations Represented
In the United States, the union is registered as the American Federation of Musicians while in Canada, the union is titled the Canadian Federation of Musicians (CFM). AFM is associated with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the U.S.’s largest federal union (AFM). The company is also part of the Canadian Labor Congress, which is the Canadian federation of unions.
History
The AFM was created and registered by the American Federation of Labor in 1896. The registration facilitated music production by record companies in the early 1900s. However, the eruption of World War I significantly affected general unemployment globally affecting musicians. These artists created silent films, which displaced the conventional entertainment songs alongside a worsening economy that contributed to the loss of jobs (AFM). Toward the end of the 1920s, various factors led to the closure of several recording companies. However, the end of the War also culminated in technological advancement that led to the diversification of music production and recording, which encouraged the continuation of the AFM. By 1927, the AFM was also encouraged to create and share new music with the public (AFM). Film firms also signed contracts with the AFM encouraging musicians to continue performing in orchestras, making films, and radio as the then existing media. The technological advancement also presented unique challenges for musicians, including competition from jukeboxes and phonorecords.
Regardless, the AFM continued advocating for the rights of musicians through strikes such as 1942 to 1944 go slow to push recording organizations to accept a royalty system that would benefit musicians (AFM). The strike entailed shutting down the United States music recording market for the stated time until victory. The unity advocated for the establishment of royalty with the recording industry to employ live music artists at live performances. The union created the Music Performance Trust Fund to sponsor free live concerts in U.S. and Canada. Afterward, various labor actions continued to improve the working conditions and standards of these artists leading to the growth of the music industry. Throughout the years, AFM played a significant role in creating order in chaos and harmonizing and uniting music professionals into a progressive body.
In the 21st century, the roles of AFM have not changed. The organization is active in preventing illegal downloading and copyrighting of music. The volume of music creates a possibility of sounds, melody, and composition details overlapping (AFM). The development and proliferation of technology have also facilitated the easy creation and sharing of music online. Thus, the union works toward protecting the copyrights of musicians from the voluminous music compositions in the industry.
Current Positions on Political and Business Issues
Membership classification was started in 2006 stipulating that a majority of the union’s members were regular people eligible to influence decisions through voting. Additionally, the team also consists of inactive members who share equal rights except for voting and holding office. As f 2019, the regular members were 60,345, which is about 83 percent of the full composition. Life members accounted for 15 percent, 11, 297 people, while inactive or youth members only made up 1% of the team, 880 people (AFM). Concerning leadership, Ray Hair is the global president after re-election by the delegates of AFM. Bruce Fife is the vice president; the secretary is Alan Willaert and the treasurer is Jay Blumenthal. AFM’s executive board comprises John Acosta from California, Tina Morrison from Spokane, Ed Malaga from Washington DC, Terryl Jares from Chicago, and Pomeroy Dave from Nashville (AFM). The team works in unity to advocate for the rights of music artists globally.
Organizing Activities and Advocacy
The activities of AFM are subject to individual country and company laws. The organization has created regulations for each group subset regulating musical activities and decision making such as voting. All organizational activities are closely affiliated with the protection of musicians’ rights, including advocacy for copyright protection to prevent plagiarism. The organization receives advocacy rights from the American Federation of Labor as its functions mainly involve protecting the rights of music artists in America and other parts of the globe (AFM). Besides, the union also has a leadership team as elaborated comprising the president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and the executive board who perform advocacy functions involving team activities. Overall, the organization plays a significant role in advocating and protecting the rights of music artists contributing to industry growth over the years.
Works Cited
The Film Music Institute. Ray Hair Elected President of AFM at Vegas Convention. Web.
American Federation of Music (AFM). Web.
Skin: Anatomy, Physiology, Functions
The skin may be regarded as one of the most important organ of the human body due to its multiple indispensable functions. It protects a person from all challenges that may come from the environment and assists in the regulation of inner processes as well. This paper is dedicated to the examination of the skin, its gross and microscopic anatomy, functions, and the most common diseases.
Gross Anatomy
The skin is the largest vital organ in the human body. It covers the body’s entire external surface, forming a highly efficient initial protective barrier against mechanical injuries, pathogens, heat, UV light, chemicals, and other threats from the environment (Yousef et al., 2020). In general, the skin covers an area of 1.5 to 2 square meters and weighs between 3.5 and 10 kilograms depending on a person’s body mass and height (“How does skin work?” 2019). It is closely integrated “to the underlying fascial endoskeleton through retinacular ligaments, blood vessels, nerves. and lymphatics” (Wong et al., 2016, p. 92). Besides protection, the skin has other essential functions, including the regulation of body temperature and water release and gathering sensory information concerning environmental conditions. Moreover, it plays an ultimate role in the protection from diseases by the immune system and stores vitamin D, water, and fat.
The texture, thickness, and color of the skin differ over the body regions. In general, there are two major types of the skin on the basis of the thickness of the epidermal and dermal layers – thin hairy and thick hairless skin (Yousef et al., 2020). The first type is prevalent on the human body, while the second one is found in the hands’ palms and the feet’ soles as these parts endure excessive friction and are used heavily.
The skin consists of three layers that have completely different anatomy and functions – the epidermis, the dermis, and the hypodermis (Yousef et al., 2020). The epidermis, or the outer layer, is the primary protection of the whole body that contains melanocytes responsible for the production of melanin. The dermis contains sweat and oil glands, nerve endings, and hair follicles. The hypodermis, or the subcutis, is a subcutaneous tissue’s fatty layer.
Microscopic Anatomy
The first level of the skin, the epidermis, has several layers that include the stratum basale, stratum spinosum, stratum granulosum, stratum lucidum, and stratum corneum (Yousef et al., 2020). Stratum basale, or stratum germinativum, is the skin’s deepest level separated by basal lamina, the basement membrane, from the dermis. At this level, cells are cuboidal to columnar mitotically active stem cells that produce keratinocytes (Yousef et al., 2020).
Stratum spinosum has 8-10 cell layers and contains irregular polyhedral and dendritic cells. Stratum granulosum with 3-5 cell layers contains keratohyalin and lamellar granules with keratin precursors and glycolipids in diamond-shaped cells. Stratum lucidum made from eleidin is presented in a hairless skin of soles and palms. Finally, the uppermost layer, stratum corneum, consisted of 20-30 cell layers and made up of anucleate squamous cells and keratin, participates in the body’s first immune defense.
The main cells that form the epidermis are melanocytes, keratinocytes, Merkel’s cells, and Langerhans’ cells (Yousef et al., 2020). Melanocytes produce melanin responsible for the skin’s pigment during tyrosine’s conversion to DOPA, and the secretion of melanin stimulated by UVB light protects against UV radiation (“How does skin work?” 2019). Keratinocytes are the epidermis’s predominant cell type that produces keratin and forms the epidermal water barrier through the secretion of lipids.
Merkel’s cells are the most populous in the palms, soles, fingertips, genital, and oral mucosa – they are functioning as mechanoreceptors and sensitive for light touch as their membranes are connected with the skin’s free nerve endings. In turn, Langerhans’ cells play a highly essential role in the body’s defense and antigen presentation. At the same time, the dermis consists of a thinner papillary layer and a thicker reticular layer merged together. The dermis houses hair, the sweat glands, muscles, hair follicles, blood vessels, and sensory neurons. The hypodermis, the deepest skin layer, contains adipose lobules and some skin appendages, including blood vessels, sensory neurons, and hair follicles as well.
Physiology/Functions
The human skin has multiple immeasurably essential functions, and every layer is responsible for particular ones.
Epidermis
It serves as a primary barrier to microorganisms, water, chemical and mechanical trauma, and damaging UV light. To be precise, it is melanin in the epidermis that defends the organism against ultraviolet radiation. In addition, Langerhans’ cells are involved in the immune system and protects the body against multiple infections. In addition, this layer’s turgor, color, and general appearance may indicate the body’s general health and the existence of particular diseases (“How does skin work?” 2019).
Dermis
The skin is responsible for the sensation of heat, cold, touch, and pain due to the nerve endings in the dermis. Moreover, this layer preserves homeostasis through the regulation of water loss and temperature with the help of sweat glands, hair follicles, and blood vessels. As a matter of fact, the skin is highly responsive to the changes in temperature and helps to regulate the body’s processes according to these changes. In addition, oil from the dermis’s sebaceous glands keep the skin moisturized and serves as a barrier to unknown external substances.
Hypodermis
As a fat layer, hypodermis protects the organism from extreme temperatures regulating its temperature as well, serves as the skin’s energy storage area, and provides protective padding.
Skin Diseases
In general, there are multiple types of skin diseases, and although the majority of them are non-fatal, they put a burden on almost 2 billion people worldwide (Liu et al., 2020). The most common ones include acne, rosacea, psoriasis, vitiligo, hives, ichthyosis, and eczema. In addition, the alteration of the skin may be a part of more serious general illnesses, such as measles or chickenpox, or the result of mechanical exposure, for instance, in the case of a blister. Temporary skin disorders include keratosis pilaris, the formation of small rough bumps, and contact dermatitis, the irritation of the skin due to contact with particular materials. In turn, psoriasis, rosacea, and vitiligo are among permanent, incurable skin diseases, the causes of which are still unknown.
References
How does skin work? (2019). Web.
Liu, Y., Jain, A., Eng, C., Way, D. H., Lee, K., Bui, P., Kanada, K., de Oliveira Marinho, G., Gallegos, J., Gabriele, S., Gupta, V., Singh, N., Natarajan, V., Hofmann-Wellenhof, R., Corrado, G. S., Peng, L. H., Webster, D. R., Ai, D., Huang, S. J.,…Coz, D. (2020). A deep learning system for differential diagnosis of skin diseases. Nature Medicine, 26, 900-908. Web.
Wong, R., Geyer, S., Weninger, W., Guimberteau, J. –C., & Wong, J. K. (2016). The dynamic anatomy and patterning of skin. Experimental Dermatology, 25(2), 92-98. Web.
Yousef, H., Alhajj, M., & Sharma, S. (2020). Anatomy, skin (integument), epidermis. NCBI. Web.