Health

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Yesterday, somewhere on this planet—likely India—the 7 billionth person was born. (At least so says the United Nations; the U.S. Census Bureau estimates we won’t actually hit the milestone for a few months.) Regardless of when exactly we do, it’s still pretty hard to fathom a global population of that magnitude. And if we may take some liberties, Mother Nature probably agrees.

So what exactly does that mammoth number mean for our planet and the environment?

When we were putting together our special food issue earlier this year, I was struck by the wide range of topics that we covered: factory farms, technology, pollution, nutrition, agricultural traditions, labor conditions, poverty, and so much more. That interconnectedness is being celebrated across the nation today, the first annual Food Day. Modeled on Earth Day, it’s a grassroots drive to improve our food system, sponsored by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. There’s plenty that needs fixing.

   
Thinking about Rust Belt cities like Detroit and Cleveland, fresh, clean air may not be the first association that comes to mind. But the urban atmosphere contains more than just human pollutants; it’s also home to teeming communities of airborne microbes. A new study reveals an icky addition to residents’ daily microbial doses in the Great Lakes cities: bacteria from dog feces, and lots of it.

As temperatures climb, refreshing salt water beckons. But when you take the plunge into the ocean's cooling surroundings, don't forget about the translucent creatures--which are critical to the marine ecosystem--swimming nearby. To find out just how poisonous they might be, read the Green Guru's response to a reader's question.

The planet will reach 7 billion people by the end of this October.

That’s the most recent calculation from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Yesterday, as with every July 11th since 1987—when the number of world inhabitants reached 5 billion—we celebrated World Population Day, “an occasion to mark the significance of population trends and related issues,” according to UNFPA.

It’s a huge milestone, but what does it mean for the environment?

Credit: Flickr ILRI
 
They burrow under the skin, forming a painful, pulsing lump as they consume the host’s living flesh from within. They lay their eggs in unsuspecting nests to ensure their large, greedy young thrive while other nestlings starve. They paralyze their prey so their offspring can enjoy a helpless, still-living snack. They lodge themselves in their victims' brains, driving the unfortunate creature to suicidal madness. They are parasites, and they deserve love, too!

Clay ripe for eating from Zanzibar. Credit Sera Young. 

In the deep south of the U.S., the smell of a fresh dirt road on a humid summer day is enough to trigger some locals’ mouth to watering. Shugana Williams, an archivist and librarian at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, recalls sitting around the fireplace as a little girl in Laurel, Mississippi, while the old folks baked freshly dug earth in aluminum containers. “They’d just sit there and eat it,” she says, “a red dirt, as they called it.”

Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Cjp24

It’s national Don’t Fry Day—which at first I thought was some kind of healthy food campaign, but is actually the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention’s way to encourage sun safety awareness by reminding everyone to protect their skin while enjoying the outdoors.
  
Here are tips to avoid burning this Memorial Day Weekend, as well as Environmental Working Group's suggestions for the best sunscreens, and those to avoid.

 
From Eco Amazons: 20 Women Who Are Transforming the World by Dorka Keehn, published by powerHouse Books.

Eco Amazons, released this month by powerHouse Books, profiles 20 American women who are leaders of the environmental movement.

Image: Susie Wyshak, Flickr Creative Commons

Ever get a hankering for honey? We’ve got you covered in the knowledge department. Take a look at some of Audubon's coverage of the liquid gold during the past year (give or take). You’ll find the writer and issue following each field note.