Final Blog!

Wow! I cannot believe the semester is coming to a close.  It seems like just last week I didn’t even have google chrome as an option for web browsing.  We have learned so much this semester and have certainly come a long way in terms of education regarding environmental health.  The blogging, in my opinion was GREAT.  I loved it.  I found it very interactive with my group and I was able to learn about others and their experiences.  What I wish would have happened was a switch in groups maybe once a month just so I could learn from others in my class.  For example, Esther had so many learnable experiences from living in Nigeria.  If others were to read her blog posts, I think they would have benefitted immensely (glad she was in our group!) and learned that these issues are worldwide.  In addition, a switch every month would allow for us to get to know our classmates better since we only met twice in-person this semester.  All in all, I love the blogs.  They are easy to understand and navigate once you are used to them and this is something that I will always be able to look back on for future references.  Thanks for a great semester, group!

News Today

With all the protesting going on in China, the last thing the media publishes is about the comeback of coal.  More coal plantations were closed last year than were built, that is, except in China.  Most goal plantations in China were shut down due to pressures of being the world’s largest greenhouses gases emitters.  To stimulate the economy, coal and coal plantations are beginning to resurge.  The argument made is that China does not think about long term consequences restarting coal plantations will cause to the environment.  China has made a commitment to reduce their carbon footprint by 2030… 11 years away seems close enough to be worried if you ask me. 

Blog 26- Radiation

I am glad this is a topic for this week.  Radiation from cell phones, iPads, laptops, pretty much any electronic item is highly underrated.  As nurses I do not think we realize how much radiation we are surrounded by each day.  For example, nurses are forced to carry phones at work.  At my work, we use “old school” phones to contact each other, but in the coming months we are upgrading to using iPhones instead.  These phones carry and omit a lot of radiation.  Most of us sleep with our cell phones next to our head and spend hours talking on the phone with our phones in one ear.  This is direct contact and radiation to our brains.  We can preach to our patients about the dangers of radiation, but in reality, we expose them and ourselves to radiation almost every moment of every day.  This topic needs more attention.  More research needs to be done regarding the dangers associated with constant radiation (CANCER).