Penguins Get New Homes!

A few weeks ago i wrote a blog about penguins going extinct.  Today, looking through treehugger's blogs i found one entitled Endangered Galapagos Penguins Get New Homes, by David Franza. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/endangered_gala.php?campaign=th_rss
I am happy to have learned that there are other people out there other then me worried about these penguins, and these people are actually doing something about it.   A group of conservationists have set out to keep this endangered species from dying off. To do this, they have built 120 new homes for the penguins.  Usually, the penguins build their nests in shaded areas between rocks or lava tubes. But, their habitat is decreasing and the crevices available for nesting have become limited. Also, predators like cats, dogs, rats, and pigs try to disturb the nests.  The penguins need more nesting sites and greater protection from predators for their population to stabilize.  The goal of these conservationists is to increase the population of Galápagos penguins by making sure that when conditions are good and not food-challenged, that all of them will be able to breed.  The team built 120 new crevices, made from collected lava rocks, in areas isolated from invasive species.  They said that the nests were completed just in time because the Warm La Nina currents are expected to make the next months particularly productive for penguin breeding.
Reading this blog made me extremely happy.  I hope that they kee up with this and also start doing things like this for other species that are going extinct.
This relates to what we are learning in class because these penguins will have to adapt to the new location of these habitats that the conservationists have built for them.

breast cancer caused by air pollution?!

I found an article entitled "Breast Cancer Possibly Linked to Air Pollution" by Michael Graham Richard on TreeHugger's blog. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/breast-cancer-possibly-linked-to-air-pollution-study.php?campaign=th_rss There was a study done in 1996-97 in Canada where scientists tracked nitrogen dioxide in the air, and the addresses of where women with breast cancer were living. Across Montreal levels of NO2 were between 5 parts per billion and 30 parts per billion.  The scientists discovered that the risk of breast cancer increased 25% with every 5 ppb.  This means that that women living in the more polluted areas were almost twice as likely to develope breast cancer then the women living in the less polluted areas!  They are not saying that NO2 causes breast cancer but they are looking at it as a possible contributing cause and more research will need to be done before any conclusions are made.
In class, we have talked about pollution and how it effects people and the environment, and this article is a great example of that.  I would have never expected pollution to have this kind of effect on people!  I know that Pennsylvania has a high pollution rate, although i'm not sure about the nitrogen dioxide levels in the air, but this still worries me. I hope that there are ways to cut back on the NO2 pollution so we can help save women's lives, if this really is contributing to breast cancer of course.