The 37 most astounding facts about sex you'll ever read

 

1. Cleopatra is credited with the invention of the vibrator. She is said to have taken insects and placed them inside a hollow sphere. The insects would become agitated and begin buzzing around, causing the sphere to vibrate. 2. The human clitoris extends 9cm under the skin. 3. French bulldogs cannot reproduce naturally because they are too top heavy. Every French bulldog puppy is born of artificial insemination. 4. Amazon River Dolphins are the only species of animal recorded to have engaged in nasal sex. 5. Avocado is the Aztec word for testicle. In Aztec culture, avocados were considered sexually powerful and were restricted for virgins. 6. The average erection contains enough blood to keep three gerbils alive. 7. Four Popes have died during sex. 8. The average human sperm cell or spermocyte contains about 37.5Mb of genetic data. So when orgasm occurs, roughly 1.5Gb of data is ‘ejaculated’ in about 3 seconds, a data transfer rate 6 orders of magnitude, or a few million times, faster than an average internet connection. 9. Opossums have a double-headed penis. 10. Kangaroos have three vaginas. 11. About 100 million couples around the world have sex every day. That means around 65,000 couples are having sex right now. 12. Human males ejaculate at 27mph. 13. Female hyenas have clitorises that extend seven inches out of their bodies and serve as pseudopenises as well as the birth canal. 14. Thailand is world leader in women cutting of their husbands’ penises. 15. Thailand also performs the largest number of sexual reassignment surgeries in the world, mostly on foreigners. However, the country with the second most sex change operations, and the highest number to do so on its own citizens, is Iran. 16. The blue whale can ejaculate about 200 gallons of semen. 17. Pigs orgasm for 30 minutes. 18. A woman’s breasts increase in size by up to 25% when she is sexually aroused. 19. If your parents had waited five seconds later, or began five seconds earlier you wouldn’t be here. 20. Alligator’s have erections for 100% of their lifetime. 21. The clitoris is anatomically and developmentally synonymous with the male penis, it just lacks a urethra. 22. It’s illegal in Florida to have sex in any position other than Missionary. Though that’s still lawful, it’s illegal to kiss a woman’s breasts while engaging in heterosexual sex in the Missionary position. 23. The antechinus, a type of Australian rodent, has sex for about twenty-four hours, after which most males die of exhaustion. . 24. Make-up is meant to simulate what a woman’s face looks like mid-orgasm. Reddish or dark pink lipstick mimics the way lips will engorge with blood. Blush mimics flushed skin. Eyeliner and darker eyeshadow will make the eyes appear half closed, hence the term “bedroom eyes”. 25. It’s also believed that red underwear is considered sexy because it’s an evolutionary callback to when our rumps used to get all hot and red when the ladies of the species wanted a man. 26. Tapirs have an elbow in their penises. 27. In Victorian times, a slang term for a prostitute was “blowsy”. At the same time, “blow” was slang for ejaculation. So, by the 1930s, the act of fellatio came to be known as a blow job. In Ancient Greece, the common slang for a blow job was “playing the flute” 28. The barnacle, by percent of total body mass, has the largest penis of the entire animal kingdom, often more than 50% of their soft tissue. 29. From an evolutionary standpoint, women are louder in bed to attract other males. Men are taught by evolution to become more aroused when they think a woman has had sex recently. 30. When banana slugs have sex, sometimes they get stuck, and the male and female each take turns nibbling at the penis until they get unstuck. 31. The right whale, though not the largest whale, possesses the largest testes of any animal in the world. They weigh around half a ton. 32. According to a survey conducted by Intel, 46% of American women would give up having sex for two weeks rather than logging off the Internet for the same amount of time, 33. When a grasshopper ejaculates, it looses 1/3 of its body mass. 34. Penguins only orgasm once a year. 35. Praying Mantis sex. The male has second brain in his bottom to continue having sex while the female eats him. 36. The record for having sex with the most men in 24 hours goes to American Lisa Sparks who bedded an incredible 919. That’s roughly 38 men per hour. 37. A full-grown female blue whale has a clitoris three feet in length. Image credit: Jean Koulev

Mesmo com pena de morte, uso de drogas na Indonésia deve crescer 45% em 2015

 

Tudo está bem colocado neste artigo. A atração pelas drogas é bem mais forte do que qualquer pena anunciada pelo governo Indonésio.  Isso significa que não há executados, há mártires porque suas penas poderiam ser outras. Eles viciaram muitos usuários? Morreram por isso? Então o número de usuários deveria baixar, e não subir. Projeção da agência nacional diz que deve haver 5,8 milhões de usuários no país até o fim do ano; atualmente há 4 milhões As penas de morte, método adotado pelo governo da Indonésia para conter o tráfico de drogas e diminuir o uso de entorpecentes no país, não devem surtir o efeito esperado pelo presidente Joko Widodo em 2015 – que se elegeu com a promessa de que acabaria com o tráfico mediante pena fatal a traficantes. Ontem: ONU pede suspensão de execuções de condenados à morte na Indonésia AP Ambulância que transporta o corpo de Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira chega à ilha de Nusakambangan, na Indonésia (arquivo) Dia 18: Cinzas de brasileiro fuzilado na Indonésia serão levadas para o Rio de Janeiro Segundo dados da Agência Nacional de Entorpecentes (BNN, na sigla em inglês) divulgados pelo The Jakarta Post em novembro de 2014, os atuais 4 milhões de usuários devem se transformar em 5,8 milhões, ou 3% da população indonésia, até o fim deste ano. "Não há evidências confiáveis que atestem a eficácia da pena de morte em prevenir crimes. O próprio fato de as pessoas, mesmo sabendo desse tipo de pena, continuarem a cometer crimes, é prova disso", explica Rafael Franzini, representante no Brasil do Escritório das Nações Unidas sobre Drogas e Crime (Unodc). Para a BNN, um dos principais problemas da Indonésia para um número tão expressivo de usuários é, além do envolvimento de autoridades no envio e receptação do material, sua alta taxa de pobreza. De acordo com o Boletim de Estudos Econômicos da Indonésia, o abismo que separa ricos e pobres é maior do que em qualquer outra nação em desenvolvimento no mundo. Enquanto ricos ficam cada vez mais ricos, cerca de 40% dos 250 milhões de habitantes do país ainda vivem com menos de US$ 2 – menos de R$ 5 por dia. Chanceler: "Fuzilamento provoca sombra na relação entre Brasil e Indonésia" Dados do relatório "World Drug Report 2014", do Unodc, afirmam que na Ásia a maconha é consumida por 1,9% da população com idade entre 15 e 64 anos. Depois dela estão os estimulantes do tipo anfetaminas (ATS) – excluindo o ecstasy – com 0,7%, e o ecstasy, 0,4% . Na Indonésia, assim como acontece no Japão e Camboja, a maioria dos usuários usa a metanfetamina (MA), droga estimulante cujos efeitos se manifestam no sistema nervoso central e periférico.  No mundo, há entre 16 e 39 milhões de usuários regulares de drogas. Entretanto, somente um em cada seis tem acesso a tratamento para se livrar do vício, de acordo com a ONU. Controvérsia No último sábado (17), a execução do brasileiro Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, 53, e de outros cinco presos por tráfico de drogas provocou críticas mundiais ao governo de Widodo. Após o fuzilamento, a presidente Dilma Rousseff disse estar "consternada" e "indignada" e convocou para consultas o embaixador do Brasil em Jacarta. O ministro das Relações Exteriores, Mauro Vieira, disse que a execução causou "sombra" na relação entre Brasil-Indonésia. Cenário: Execuções têm apoio público na Indonésia     "O fato de Dilma ter chamado seu embaixador é simbólico, mas significa reprovação. A Indonésia quer que respeitem sua soberania. Mas acredito que o Brasil deve adotar medidas importantes na ONU, por exemplo, para fomentar o fim da pena de morte", afirma Paulo César Correa Borges, professor de direito penal da Unesp. Além do brasileiro, foram executados o indonésio Rani Andriani alias Melisa Aprilia, os nigerianos Daniel Enemuo e Namaona Denis, o holandês Ang Kim Soei e o vietnamita Tran Thi Bich Hanh. A Anistia Internacional disse que as primeiras execuções sob a liderança do novo presidente, que tomou posse em novembro, foram "um passo para trás" para os direitos humanos. "É importante ressaltar que as sentenças devem respeitar a dignidade humana. A pena de morte pode levar a erros irreparáveis", diz Gilberto Duarte, analista de Programa de Estado de Direito do Unodc. Duarte ressaltou também que as maiores taxas de execução no mundo são sentenciadas a populações específicas, como pessoas com doenças mentais. Traficantes brasileiros Outros 962 estão presos no exterior por crimes envolvendo drogas, informou o Ministério das Relações Exteriores. O número, atualizado em 31 de dezembro de 2013, representa 30% dos 3.209 brasileiros em prisões fora do país. Os países com mais números de brasileiros são Turquia, 45; África do Sul, 36; Austrália, seis; e China, quatro, todos por crimes como tráfico ou porte de drogas. Há também presos em Cingapura, Tailândia, Cabo Verde, Moçambique, Líbano, Jordânia, Catar, Nicarágua, República Dominicana e Nova Zelândia. Nesses países, o número de presos nascidos no Brasil varia de um a três. Na América do Sul, dos 128 brasileiros presos por envolvimento com drogas, 48 estão no Paraguai, 34 na Bolívia, 23 na Argentina, 23 no Peru, 17 na Venezuela, 14 na Colômbia e 12 no Uruguai. Um terço dos 864 brasileiros em prisões de outras nações do continente foram detidos por esse tipo de crime.

Dive discovers missing aircraft hangar of sunken WW II-era Japanese submarine

 

The dramatic discovery of a lost World War II-era Imperial Japanese Navy mega-submarine by a University of Hawaii and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) team in December 2013 inspired a new search by NHK, the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation, to find key missing pieces of the battleship. The recent survey, the first to return to I-400 submarine since its discovery, successfully located, mapped and captured on video for the first time not only the submarine's hangar and conning tower (navigation platform), and the submarine's bell. More at: http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2015/04/28/dive-discovers-missing-aircraft-hangar-of-sunken-wwii-era-japanese-submarine/ Credit: University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL). The dramatic discovery of a lost World War II-era Imperial Japanese Navy mega-submarine by a University of Hawai'i and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) team in December 2013 inspired a new search by NHK, the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation, to find key missing pieces of the battleship. The recent survey, the first to return to I-400 submarine since its discovery, successfully located, mapped, and captured on video for the first time not only the submarine's hangar and conning tower (navigation platform), but an unexpected and significant new discovery -- the submarine's bell. Torn from the submarine by the explosive forces that broke apart and sank I-400, the bell lies close to the conning tower on the seafloor. The massive aircraft hangar, large enough to launch three float-plane bombers, was the defining feature of the I-400. After the end of the war, the I-400 was deliberately sunk at sea outside of Pearl Harbor to keep its technological innovations safe from the Soviet Union. "We didn't have detailed enough bottom mapping data to help locate the hangar, conning tower, and other signature features missing from the wreck of the I-400," said Terry Kerby, operations director and chief submarine pilot of the Hawai'i Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL). "With only one dive day to try to find anything, we knew there was a strong chance we might spend the dive looking at the barren sandy bottom." Kerby continued: "We made a lucky guess where to start when we approached the main hull of the I-400 from the northwest. Our guess started to pay off when the giant hangar door came into view, followed by the conning tower and hangar. Many items were amazingly intact for something that had ripped out of the hull of a sinking 400-foot-long submarine." Video of initial sighting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmjmPHNYXO8 Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by University of Hawaii at Manoa. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Butter vs. margarine: Which is better for my heart?

 

Which spread is better for my heart — butter or margarine? Answers from Jennifer K. Nelson, R.D., L.D. Margarine usually tops butter when it comes to heart health. Margarine is made from vegetable oils, so it contains no cholesterol. Margarine is also higher in "good" fats — polyunsaturated and monounsaturated — than butter is. These types of fats help reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad," cholesterol when substituted for saturated fat. Butter, on the other hand, is made from animal fat, so it contains cholesterol and high levels of saturated fat. But not all margarines are created equal. Some margarines contain trans fat. In general, the more solid the margarine, the more trans fat it contains. So stick margarines usually have more trans fat than tub margarines do. Trans fat, like saturated fat, increases blood cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease. In addition, trans fat lowers high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good," cholesterol levels. So skip the stick and opt for soft or liquid margarine instead. Look for a spread with the lowest calories that tastes good to you, doesn't have trans fats and has the least amount of saturated fat. When comparing spreads, be sure to read the Nutrition Facts panel and check the grams of saturated fat and trans fat. Also, look for products with a low percent Daily Value for cholesterol. If you have high cholesterol, check with your doctor about using spreads that are fortified with plant stanols and sterols, such as Benecol and Promise Activ, which may help reduce cholesterol levels. See more Expert Answers

Cardiac catheterization

 

Definition By Mayo Clinic Staff Cardiac catheterization  is a procedure used to diagnose and treat cardiovascular conditions. During cardiac catheterization, a long thin tube called a catheter is inserted in an artery or vein in your groin, neck or arm and threaded through your blood vessels to your heart. Using this catheter, doctors can then do diagnostic tests as part of a cardiac catheterization. Some heart disease treatments, such as coronary angioplasty, also are done using cardiac catheterization. Usually, you'll be awake during cardiac catheterization, but given medications to help you relax. Recovery time for a cardiac catheterization is quick, and there's a low risk of complications.

More gluten-free whole grains

 

By Jennifer K. Nelson, R.D., L.D. April 17, 2015 In a previous blog, we gave examples of whole grains that can take the place of gluten-containing grains — wheat, rye, barley and oats that aren't certified gluten-free — for people who have celiac disease and others who should avoid gluten. Why is this important? According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, most Americans don't get enough fiber. Whole grains are one of the major sources of fiber. And a diet that has ample fiber is associated with better health and lower risk for obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and diet-related cancers. So here are 5 more gluten-free whole grains that can add fiber and variety to your diet: Cornmeal: Coarsely ground, cornmeal retains the husk (fiber) and the germ (where many nutrients are found). Polenta is essentially the same — coarsely ground corn. Depending on how thick or thin you like to cook cornmeal or polenta, you can use 1 part of the grain to 1 part liquid (thick) to 5 parts liquid (thinner). You can use water or milk. For breakfast, try topping it with fruit and nuts, and drizzle with honey or maple syrup. For a dinner side dish, try the thicker version and add herbs, such as thyme or oregano, while cooking, and top with grated parmesan. More common recipes for ground corn include cornmeal muffins, cornbread and cornmeal pancakes. Corn tortillas are also whole grain. Approximately one-half cup dry cornmeal contains about 4 grams of fiber. Rice: Most rice that includes the term "brown" is considered whole grain. Whole-grain options include Wehani rice, Himalayan red rice, purple Thai rice and Chinese black rice. Although not technically rice, wild rice (a seed) is also whole grain. Rice is versatile. Cook as a side dish and flavor it with dried fruit or bits of chopped vegetables. Add to soups and casseroles, or try rice-based salads. And don't forget rice pudding. One-half cup dry rice contains about 3 grams of fiber. Oats: Although oats are naturally gluten-free, they can easily become contaminated with wheat because of how they're grown and harvested. Therefore, look for oats that are certified gluten-free. Oats can be made into breakfast cereal, used as the grain in pilaf, baked into cookies, muffins and scones, and added to ground meats (think turkey burger) and even smoothies. One-half cup dry oats (regular or quick cook) contains about 4 grams of fiber. Flax: Not technically a grain, flax is actually a seed. Because the seed form is difficult to digest, the ground form (flaxseed meal) is popular. A little goes a long way. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed to your breakfast cereal or yogurt. Add to a serving of soup or mashed potatoes. Use as an egg substitute in baked goods (1 tablespoon meal plus 3 tablespoons water can take the place of 1 egg). Seeds can be milled to a light granular powder in a clean coffee grinder. Two tablespoons of flaxseed meal have about 4 grams of fiber. Sorghum: A drought-resistant, ancient African grain, sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop in the world. Because of its neutral flavor, flour made from sorghum can stand in for wheat flour in baked goods, such as breads and muffins. The grain is about the size of barley or wheat berries (wheat kernel except hull). It can be used in pilaf, salads and soups. It can be also popped like popcorn. One-quarter cup of the grain has about 3 grams fiber; one-half cup of the whole-grain flour has 4 grams. Whether or not you are going gluten-free, these whole grains are good for you. Have you tried any of these? Share how you've prepared these grains.

From this... that! Basic research to bridge sensors

 

Mehdi Kalantari Khandani at the University of Maryland has created a sensor system that constantly monitors different types of stresses on bridge structures and, when it detects anything unusual, alerts those who need to know. But Khandani's initial research had nothing to do with bridges or sensors. This is the story of how Khandani's basic research on ultra-low-power sensor networks ultimately led to low-maintenance bridge sensors that can help keep an eye on the structural integrity of our bridges. Credit: NSF

Oil or fat? Saturated fatty acids might directly damage your heart

 

Olive oil is universally considered a much healthier alternative to meat fat. Plant-derived oils (such as olive oil, canola oil, and vegetable oil) largely consist of unsaturated fatty acids, whereas animal fat is richer in the saturated ones. After a typical meal, carbohydrates are the primary source of energy production by the heart. Under fasting conditions, however, free fatty acids become the major energy producer. Saturated fat in a diet is known to be detrimental to heart health, but its impact on the cardiac muscle has been studied only recently. Interestingly, while saturated fatty acids are toxic to cells, unsaturated fatty acids are not only harmless but also provide protection against the damage done by saturated fatty acids. Studies conducted on many cell lines have indicated that saturated fatty acids can cause cell death involving the "endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress)," a cellular process known to be involved in the development of many diseases. A new paper, "Saturated fatty acids induce endoplasmic reticulum stress in primary cardiomyocytes," just published in open access in "Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Diseases" by De Gruyter Open shows that there are striking differences in the accumulation of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in cardiac muscle cells, and that saturated fatty acids induce the death of these cells through the ER stress. In stalking contrast, unsaturated fatty acids protect the same cells from such damage. A research group from the Montreal Heart Institute in Canada, led by Dr. Nicolas Bousette, evaluated the impact of palmitate and oleate on cellular fatty acid absorption, triglyceride synthesis, intracellular lipid distribution, ER stress, and cell death in primary cardiomyocytes. This is the first time that such phenomena were observed in cells directly derived from the heart, validating a critical role for saturated fatty acids in the development of heart diseases. Given a primary role for lipid metabolism in the development of type II diabetes, the current finding might suggest a probable role for saturated fatty acids in the development of heart conditions among diabetic patients. The current results and future research in this direction might improve our understanding on the possible connection between intracardiomyocyte lipid accumulation and the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by De Gruyter. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: Nicolas Bousette et al. Saturated fatty acids induce endoplasmic reticulum stress in primary cardiomyocytes, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Diseases. Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Diseases, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2015 DOI: 10.1515/ersc-2015-0004

Nerve cells, blood vessels in eye 'talk' to prevent disease

 

A new study from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) shows that nerve cells and blood vessels in the eye constantly "talk" to each other to maintain healthy blood flow and prevent disease. "It turns out these neurons produce a chemical critical for the survival of blood vessels and the survival and function of photoreceptors--the most important cells for maintaining sight," said TSRI Professor Martin Friedlander, senior author of the new study. The study, published online ahead of print in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, has implications for treating diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration--the leading causes of vision loss in adults. Since the eye is often a good model for understanding the workings of the brain, the findings also provide clues to major neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. Understanding the Eye For such a small organ, the eye is extremely complex. Light enters through the pupil and passes through four layers in the retina before reaching the light-sensitive photoreceptors. "The retina has a very sophisticated architecture," said Friedlander. "If you have a little extra fluid, some swelling or a few dead cells, light isn't going to come through correctly and vision can be impaired." The second, intermediate layer of the retinal blood vessels seems to activate during periods of low oxygen and acts as a "reserve" of blood vessels in the retina. When blood flow and oxygen levels are low, a transcription factor called hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) triggers the production of a chemical called VEGF. The VEGF then prompts new blood vessel growth, bringing more oxygen to the area. Unfortunately, these new blood vessels can leak blood and other fluids and obscure vision. This is the case with age-related macular degeneration--a "wet" version of which causes vision loss in the center of the eye--and diabetic retinopathy--in which some people with diabetes develop blurry or patchy vision. A New Role for Neurons In the new study, the team focused on neurons called amacrine cells and horizontal cells, which have a known role in "preprocessing"--or adjusting--electrical signals transmitted to the brain from the photoreceptors after they have been stimulated by light photons. These cells first caught the researchers' attention because they appear to wrap themselves around the blood vessels (all together called the vasculature) of the intermediate layer. "We wondered if these neurons were actually altering the way the vasculature forms and behaves," said TSRI Research Associate Peter Westenskow, co-first author of the new paper with TSRI Research Associate Yoshihiko Usui. To try to find out, in one experiment the researchers "knocked out" the production of VEGF in the amacrine and horizontal cells in mice before they were born. They found that these mice never developed normal blood vessels in the intermediate layer, leading to degeneration of the photoreceptors and severe vision impairment. This was surprising since previous research had given no clues that these cells were an important source of VEGF. Eye Spies To track down more clues about the unexpected finding, the scientists set up further experiments to test whether amacrine and horizontal cells really did provide essential VEGF. Because HIF signals cells to produce VEGF, the researchers wondered whether deleting HIF in amacrine and horizontal cells would also stop the pipeline of VEGF and normal intermediate layer blood vessel development. Indeed, the researchers found that deleting the gene for one form of HIF, called Hif-1α, also led to a lack of blood vessels in this area and subsequent vision problems. This provided further evidence that VEGF from the amacrine and horizontal cells really does make a difference in blood vessel growth. For an even better understanding of VEGF production in those cells, the researchers investigated the role of a protein called VHL (von Hippel-Lindau), which normally keeps HIF levels low. After knocking out the gene to produce VHL in amacrine and horizontal cells, the researchers observed high HIF levels, overproduction of VEGF and dangerous blood vessel overgrowth typical of many eye diseases. Finally, they used a technique called genetic ablation to kill the amacrine cells and horizontal cells altogether and found this resulted in a lack of normal vessel growth in the intermediate layer. Together, the experiments confirmed that neurons and blood vessels in the intermediate layer communicate to keep blood vessels growing normally--striking a balance between providing enough blood and avoiding blood vessel overgrowth. "This is fascinating," said Westenskow. "The signals from these cells are fine-tuning this layer of the vasculature." A Window into the Brain Since the retina is a direct extension of the brain and the only place in the body where scientists can easily visualize neurons, blood vessels and other neurological players working together, the study not only has implications for treating vision loss, but also brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and even amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). "For example, patients with Alzheimer's get protein deposits in the brain, and we can see similar deposits in the backs of the eyes of patients who have macular degeneration," said Friedlander. "If we can better understand what leads to accumulations of these abnormal proteins in the eye, that will hopefully also give us insight into how the brain works."

20 images that show the human impact on the planet

 

Posted by Michael Thomas April 6, 2015 The human impact on this planet has been huge in a relatively short period of time. These pictures are not about data, but about better picturing this impact through visual examples. While viewing these, keep in mind that our current extinction rate is 1000x the background level and that wild animal populations have shrunk an average of 52% in 40 years. 1. A surfer riding through debris Photograph: Zak Noyle Plastic has permeated our oceans, with over 270 million metric tons of in the ocean there is potentially more plastic than fish in the oceans right now. This becomes even more believable when we consider that up to 85% of fisheries are being overexploited. 2. Deforestation in British Columbia, Canada Photograph: Garth Lentz Deforestation is a major problem, and we now have only half as many forests as we did in 1950. We are simultaneously putting out vastly more carbon into the atmosphere while depleting the planet’s capacity to absorb it. 3. Animal agriculture Photograph: Peter Beltra Animal agriculture, as a whole, requires tremendous amounts of resources and is a leader in environmental degradation, responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (more than all transportation combined). Clearing land for animal agriculture, and the food it requires, accounts for 91% of amazon deforestation. 4.  Kowloon City in Hong Kong Hong Kong is still one of the most densely populated cities on Earth with 6,650 people per square kilometer. When Kowloon City still stood, it housed 33,000 people in a single city block. 5. Mexico City, urban sprawl Photograph: Pablo Lopez Luz Mexico City is also one of the most populated cities in the world, and its expansion has wiped out natural ecosystems for many kilometers. Together, this has led to very bad air quality, a continuing concern for Mexican health authorities. 6.  Port au Prince, Haiti 7. Crop “desert” in China, no room for nature Huge swaths of China, and indeed many developed and developing countries, is covered in fields containing only one kind of plant. Where fields and forests once stood, now stands neat rows of single species, far more sensitive to environmental fluctuations than a diverse ecosystem. 8. Deforestation in Brazil Brazilian rainforest being clear-cut for cattle raising, photograph: Daniel Beltra 9. Plastic moves up the food chain In both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems: plastic moves up. The tiny and not so tiny pieces are eaten by animals which are themselves then eaten: it moves up the food chain. With all the microplastics in our oceans and water: do we really think this isn’t reaching us? 10. Cheap fossil energy won’t last forever, and it certainly wasn’t free Depleting oil fields are yet another symptom of ecological overshoot, as seen at the Kern River Oil Field, California. 11. The Yangtze River turning red Whether due to microorganisms or industrial pollution: this is certainly a bad sign for the ecosystem. There is reason to believe that when enough small ecosystems collapse, the global biosphere will become destabilized and mass extinction will intensify. 12. Alberta Tar Sands, where there was once a boreal forest Photo by Garth Lenz The tar sands are one of the most dirty sources of oil, and the extraction of this oil has polluted both the water and the land locally in Alberta. The fact that this project was OK’d by any environmental regulator is shocking, but this becomes less shocking when you realize that Alberta literally sold their regulator posts to the oil industry. 13. The Deepwater Horizon crisis Approximately 5 million barrels of oil (almost a million cubic meters) spilled into the ocean. In response to this disaster, BP sprayed Corexit (which is so poisonous that the US government demanded they stop) onto the oil to get it to disappear from sight. Millions of barrels of oil still lay on the bottom of the Gulf, rendering hundreds to thousands of square miles devoid of life. Meanwhile, BP got off with a slap on the wrist and a connected high-ranking Halliburton manager who destroyed evidence was fined only $1,000. 14.  What was once a forest in Oregon is now a wasteland Industrial forestry degrading public lands, Willamette National Forest in Oregon, Photograph: Daniel Dancer See previous points about deforestation, also keep in mind that the prices demanded for exploitation of Federal/public lands is pennies on the dollar for the ecological costs and profit the companies make. They demand so little that the Navajo were able to sue them for exploiting their lands and not returning even close to market price. 15. Oil filters in Seattle, 2003 Photography: Chris Jordan 16. Junkyard full of metal scraps Photography: Chris Jordan 17. Mountain of phone chargers Photography: Chris Jordan 18. Sea of cellphones Photography: Chris Jordan Our lust and desire for smartphones, and next-generation technologies of all kinds, are fueling conflict and loss of life the Congo. 19. Clearcutting in Finland 20. Fish die-off at Redondo Beach, California With our population already at 7 billion people and overconsumption rising at a terrifying rate, this is something serious that many people have a hard time picturing. The truth is shocking, and when I look at these photos I can only imagine all the heart-wrenching images of environmental destruction that go unseen by most humans, the scenes which lay unvisited in the mountains or in the hearts of what were once forests.