Climate Change - We May Not Know The Impact Yet

Recently published research has raised the possibility of temperatures rising by 4 to 5 degrees C even if current emission reductions targets are met. This can happen if a critical threshold is crossed and several tipping points lead to abrupt change  - Photo by Marcin Kempa on Unsplash

On last Monday 13th August 2018, a study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argues , on excessively hot days, there are more likely to be fatal car accidents and food safety problems, and police officers and government food inspectors tends to do less of their duties.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Scientists who analyzed data from across the United States, suggest that if the climate continues to change, by 2050-- and in another 50 or so years beyond that -- our world may be less safe than it is today.
Nick Obradovich, co-author of the study and a research scientist of MIT's Media Lab said,

The crux of the idea- which is that weather affects how we perform our duties and how we go about our daily lives and the risks that we experience -- is indeed simplistic.

Projections Vs Pace and Impact of Climate Change

While earlier projections of the pace and impact of climate change were also considered to be worrying, many senior scientists are now warning and the data suggests that climate change may in fact turn out to be faster and its impacts bigger than the commonly accepted projections made earlier. At present the average global temperature is around 1 degree C higher than pre-industrial levels, enough for alarm bells to start ringing loud and clear, and raising at the rate of 0.17 degree C per decade. The debate has been so far mainly centered around whether humanity will be able to restrict global temperatures to levels which at the most 2 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels.

However recently published research has raised the possibility of temperatures rising by 4 to 5 degrees C even if current emission reductions targets are met. This can happen if a critical threshold is crossed and several tipping points lead to abrupt change. Such processes include the loss of arctic summer ice, reduction of Antarctic sea ice and polar ice sheets, permanent frost thaw, loss of methane hydrates from ocean floor and weaker land and ocean carbon sinks. Johan Rockstrom co-author of another report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said

These tipping elements can act like a row of dominoes from tumbling over. Places on earth will become uninhabitable if 'hothouse earth' becomes the reality.

Rockstrom further said,

We are the ones in control now. But once we get past two degrees, we see that the Earth tips from being friend to a foe. We totally hand over our fate to an earth system that starts rolling out of equilibrium.

Critical Point of Climate Change

In other words beyond a point of global warning the friendly systems

Photo by Matt Howard on Unsplash

which protect us can themselves change and turn hostile so that then global warming and related changes will spiral out of control, perhaps reaching around 4 to 5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This will not only lead to intolerably hot conditions in many parts of world but also a sea level rise beyond anything foreseen so far, submerging vast areas in water.

These scientists have said that to avoid such frightening possibilities we have to reduce emissions of course but in addition we also have to create new carbon stores, particularly by increasing forest cover. At a broader level we have to move from exploration towards stewardship of earth.
 

Photo taken above Californian clouds. Sunset on the horizon and wildfires 30,000 feet below. #climatechange pic.twitter.com/ACSLqJQKaa

— Christine GG (@Christine_GG) August 11, 2018

The findings concerns a future several decades ahead, but it was invariably taken into consideration in the context of extreme weather events seen just before the findings of the report. This year extreme heat wave conditions including vast wildfires have been seen in many countries spread over a very wide area. Eighteen wildfires swept across California. Fires in coastal area near Athens killed 91 people. about 125 people died in a heatwave in Japan as temperature rose above 40 degree C in Tokyo for the first time. There are so many conditions we are observing daily basis which are happening all over the world.

Awareness of Climate Change

Despite the fact  that public perception of climate change as a serious threat has grown - 61 per cent of people saw this as a big threat in a poll held in 36 countries in 2017 - actual action to check climate change has remained weak.
Three years after the Paris Climate Accord greenhouse gas emissions were up again. Investments in the oil and gas were also on the rise. For the first time in four years demand to coal rise in 2017. At the same time subsidies for renewable were dwindling in many places and investments had stalled. On the whole the prospects for moving away from fossil fuel-led energy growth remained bleak.

Dubious Claims

Even some of the success stories were turning out to dubious.

How much will your government's inaction cost you? #climatechange https://t.co/kEHIlezNmU

— Sasja Beslik (@SasjaBeslik) August 14, 2018

The one million plus electric cars were held out as progress towards clean energy from an electric grid that gets two third of its power from coal and the net result is likely to be more carbon dioxide emission compared to fuel efficient petrol cars.

#climatechange
Examples of statistical errors in climate science https://t.co/3QXI3YqxCI pic.twitter.com/IPcyma8b04

— Sewer Rat🇹🇭 (@chaamjamal) August 11, 2018

Political Concerns

What is more, the possibilities of getting the promised financial help from rich countries to facilitate rapid progress towards climate change mitigation and adaptation in poorer countries are getting much weaker and under the watch of Donald Trump the support may simply not be there to any significant extent at least from the richest donor.

If your agenda requires you to be going against 97% of the world’s scientists, then that’s a clear sign that your agenda does not serve the best interests of humanity. #ClimateChange pic.twitter.com/sWyDR1SA3m

— Jesse Skinner (@JesseTSkinner) August 13, 2018

Final Thought

At the end of the various studies, the point is not scare people but to understand  what the effects of extreme temperatures may be. It is therefore very important to make a very clear appraisal of the threat and determine how equal humanity is to the challenge based on current preparations and projections for the near future.

Photo by MItodru Ghosh on Unsplash

Such an appraisal should involve the best available expertise on this subject from the sides of governance as well as public action. This group should place a comprehensive and updated report on the issue before humanity and also a plan of action which includes not just scientific solutions but also what needs to be done in the critical areas of governance and public action.
      
                                 

14-Minute Short Film The Job Explains The Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Horror

Kalki Koechlin plays in The Job

English poet and playwright William Shakespeare's works are still playing significant inspiration to many in the field of creative arts. The latest is the short film The Job directed by Siddhartha Sinha and produced by Kushal Srivastava.

Idea of The Job

The Director Sinha proclaims in a recent interview that one particular character that stayed with him was that of Lady Macbeth. Inspired by that character Siddhartha wrote the short film title The Job. He says

Many films and series have been made inspired by Shakespeare's play plots. However, I have taken one character and transformed it. Lady Macbeth completely intrigued me and I took her out of the plot and wrote a different story around her characteristics.

Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn's seminal work explored a single day in the life of prisoner in the gulag, Ivan Denisovich. The span of single waking day explores and familiarizes the readers with Ivan's plight and his psychological makeup.
Director Siddhartha Sinha possibly attempts the very same as he muses on Lady Macbeth and attempts to bring forth her world view, imagined or otherwise in the span of a single day.

The Character 

The lady in this day and age is a French expat, working as a translator in a swanky office in Mumbai. Stress is consuming her as she races against deadlines while a literal race in the lanes of life has become an experience which is likely responsible for her PTSD or OCD and/or schizophrenic behavior.

The milk of human kindness

which she obviously needs is ironically exactly what she lacks.
The Job intrigues as well as excites in its non-linear cinematic journey.

It can definitely be counted as a bold attempt to show case how intensely deliberating a psychological illness can be, and  how, other people can be completely obvious to the internal turmoil that a person experiences.

The director has left the movie open ended and raises questions about Understanding and Living with Schizophrenia and how a good self-help programme can be the best answer obsessive compulsive disorder.

Silence

Silence permeates through a major part of the run time of this feature ,

Kalki in the office

interrupted only by background noise in the form of everything around the central character including perceived speech. The visuals and editing are Aronofsky-esque in its resemblance to the hip hop montage from Requiem for a Dream while the final scene is the reminder of the fate of Natalie Portman's character Nina from Black Swan.  

The young woman is visibly nervous as she sits at her desk in a typically colorless and drab corporate office. Reeling under pressing deadlines, a swelling credit card bill and traumatic memories of a road accident, she struggles to cope with her anxieties by conjuring up sounds and images, till her mind is unable to untangle  real occurrences from imagined horrors, which is in-line with Schizophrenia, PTSD, and OCD type of mental disorders.

The Rituals

As the lady washes her hands we are awash with the specter of

Kalki, the Fremch Expat's OCD rituals

impending doom and continuing symbolic degeneration of the mind - the effect is indeed haunting. The ghastly environment plays out as a wasteland emblematic of the deteriorating mental health of the character and her life.

Final Thought 

The character pattern is analogous to the disillusions faced by a psychiatric patient. Sinha does not romanticize but rather shows the exact pains of surviving a single day plagued by mental illness. The monotony of a simple day contrasts with the complexities of mental health issues while being placed in the foreground of an adaptation of one literature's most famous character. Sinha's job looks Shakespearean but one he accomplishes with fineness.
        
 Watch the Short Film The Job here

               
      

Open Up : Seize The Opportunity

The moment we shift our perspective and begin to see our problems as challenges, is the moment we start to train our brain to spot opportunities   -  Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash

It is unanimously said that opportunity is all around us. However mostly we remain unaware of the signals that blink and we fail to grab the things. But when we take a note on some thing that may be interesting, we invariably haunt for the problems associated with the things.

There is no doubt that we cannot open up and miss out on incredible opportunities every single day. We work hard to achieve our goals and objectives, only to sabotage our own success because we are unable to take advantage of the chances that are coming to us. Our human nature prevents us to grab the opportunities.

Our Thought Process - Perspective of Opportunity

What actually means by opportunity ?

The Oxford Dictionary defines Opportunity as

A time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

Of course on the surface, this sounds good and wonderful. But it may not be so easy to find. Many opportunities we come across are actually appears as problems or seems hard to achieve. Our untrained eyes and mind are unable to witness the present moment and sum up all opportunities as insurmountable problems that make our life difficult, stressful and hard. And it is the point, where we make mistake, we see the problems as problems rather than challenges that test and strengthen our ability, our resolve.
The moment we shift our perspective and begin to see our problems as challenges, is the moment we start to train our brain to spot opportunities. Problems may seem to us difficult, but a challenge is something we can work with to better our circumstances.

Swami Vivekananda avers,

The human race is in process of development , all have not needed the same altitude. Therefore, some are nobler and purer in their earthly lives than others. Everyone has an opportunity within the limits of the sphere of his present development of making himself better. We cannot unmake ourselves, we cannot destroy or impair the vital force within us. But we have the freedom to give it different directions.

 
This  'opportunity' to grow, to give a better directive to our life-energy is present in our every life-situation. Every experience is an education. The value of anything in life lies not in to enjoyment or possession but in the meaning and direction that it gives to life. Discovering this meaning hidden in our experiences of the world- both internal and external- is the total challenge in life.
  

Finding Meaning

In his seminal book Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Emil Frankl, a neurologist and psychologist, speaks about

the potential meaning inherent and dormant in all the single situations

that we have to face throughout life. While accepting that there is a long-range meaning of life as a whole. Frankl uses the analogy of a movie to explain the importance of single situations.

Viktor E Frankl  (26 March 1905 - 2 September 1997)

A movie has thousands of individual pictures, each of which

makes sense and carries a meaning.

While it is true that the meaning of the whole movie is seen only in its last sequence, it remains that

we cannot understand the whole film without having first understand each of its components, each of the individual pictures.

Similarly, the final meaning of our life or what shape we give to our life - which perhaps reveals itself on the verge of death - depends

on whether or not the potential meaning of each single situation has been actualized 

to the best of our knowledge and capacity.
       
 But most people, like restless, bored school kids, are inattentive or just blind to these growth-opportunities offered by life. Consequently, their learning and growth is intermittent or they simply get detained to repeatedly experience the same kind of life situations.

Greed, sensual indulgence, fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, lethargy and the like prevent us from seeing the opportunities of life.

Again, of all the life experiences, the most educative are those which are commonly called difficulties or sufferings.

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda would often point out that blows of hardships give us better experience of life than enjoyment, because these blows have the power to awaken our inner resources.     

Turning Challenges as Opportunities

Viktor E Frankl was also an Austrian Jew who had survived the German Concentration Camps. So he discusses, how seeking meaning in his unspeakably inhuman experiences at the Camps, became life-saving and also a source of spiritual growth. While most of the prisoners believed that real opportunities of life were over for them. Frankl knew that in those very terrifying experiences lay a challenge and an opportunity.

One could make a victory of those experiences, turning life into an inner triumph or one could ignore the challenge and simply vegetate, as did a majority of prisoners.

A wonderful example of turning a devastating life-experience into a learning opportunity is seen in 

Thomas Alva Edison (11 February 1847 - 18 October 1931)

the life of Thomas Alva Edison, the profile inventor. When Edison was 67 years old, on 10th December 1914 late in the evening there was a massive chemical explosion in his laboratory. While the firefighters struggled to control the blazing fire which was destroying his precious inventions, prototypes and notes, Edison called out his son

Where's your Mom! Go get her! Tell her to get her friends! They'll never see a fire like this again

Early next morning, when the fire was still smouldering, Edison called his employees together and announced

We're rebuilding.

Moreover, in the midst of the catastrophe, Edison had noticed that the firefighters were hampered by loss of power and light. So within two days he came out with a design for a potable battery light source! And the thing was ready and displayed in six months!

Dimensions of Learning

A single situation can produce different consequences and learning opportunities and thus obviously vary among the stake holders. The charm of life is that a life-situation can be source of different

Sri Ramkrishna

meanings, as necessary for growth of the involved individuals. Two of Sri Ramkrishna's direct disciples Niranjan and Jogin had such an experience. On two different occasions, while traveling on a boat to Dakshineswar they had to listen to fellow boat passengers criticizing their guru Sri Ramkrishna. Though deeply hurt, Jogin who was mild-manner to a fault, kept quiet thinking that he could do nothing about it. But Niranjan, who was by nature of a harsh temperament, strongly protested against the calumny and even rocked the boat threatening to sink it in retaliation. When he came to know of those incidents, Sri Ramkrishna pointed out to both how they had failed to discover the correct meaning of the boat experience necessary for the spiritual development. He then taught Jogin to cultivate manliness and chided Niranjan to learn self-control.

Discovering the Meaning and Stepping into It

As each situations in life represents a singular challenge, Frankl argues

Photo by Steve Halama on Unsplash

that instead of asking

What is the meaning of my life ?

We should recognize the fact that it is life which is questioning us

What is the meaning of your life ?

And the meaning of our life is created by discovering the meaning, the growth opportunity, hidden in every single situation of our life. To be able to do this we should take some measured steps.     

1 Maintain a Detached Awareness

Most of our daily activities are done on auto-pilot mode, i.e. by force of habit. Maintaining a detached awareness throughout the day prevents us from getting sucked into instinctive reactions that create problems out of opportunities.
              

2 Practise Moral Values

Morality gives a higher turn to our mental energies and helps to sublimate base samskaras (an act of making perfect, preparation). We should have a clear idea of our moral values and remind ourselves everyday to practice them.

3 Engage in Contribution Work

Hard, efficient and unselfish work is the powerful tool that can detach us from the clutches of attachments.

4 Raise Correct Questions

Once an opportunity is sensed or identified we have to ask ourselves,

What is happening here now ?

What is the evolutionary-response for this ?

5 Serve Fellow Beings 

Serving the people around us with a worshipful attitude awakens in us the power of love which unlocks all opportunities for spiritual evolution.

Final Thought

As Swami Vivekananda declares

the object of life is to learn the laws of spiritual progress

These laws are hidden in our everyday experiences of life. May the Lord, the universal God bless us with the insight to recognize them, seize them and steadily act upon them.
        

Why We Need to Know Thyroid Disorder : Signs, Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

The thyroid gland is commonly called simply as thyroid. It is an endocrine gland

Thyroid Dysfunction is very common. About 5 to 6 % are said to be affected by this disorder. However a large portions of affected people are don't even aware that they have thyroid disorders. Some symptoms of thyroid disorders are also misunderstood by patients and they try to treat the symptoms in other means without going through Thyroid Function Tests. Although it is common but if left untreated it can cause severe damage to our heart and definitely to women looking ahead to motherhood.

Overview of Thyroid Gland

The thyroid gland is commonly called simply as thyroid. It is an endocrine gland. Small two inches butterfly shaped gland located at the back of throat and in front of windpipe called Trachea, just below the voice box (larynx) . It is quite powerful like pump house. It secretes hormones which runs freely in bloodstreams. It regulates the major functions of  the body like metabolism which is the main function of getting energy from food intake, making proteins, maintaining body temperature, heart rate and controlling the body's sensitivity with respect to other hormones. It extracts iodine from blood and incorporates into thyroid hormones.

Thyroid Hormones

Thyroid Gland produces two major hormones namely

• T3 - triodothyronine. It contains 3 atoms of iodine per molecule, so it is named as T3

• T4 - thyroxin or tetraiodothyronine. It contains 4 atoms of iodine per molecule

And two other are called peptide hormone and calcitonin 

Pituitary Gland produces Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) which controls and monitors the amount of T3 and T4 produced and released by thyroid gland.

Common Thyroid Disorders

The following are the specific kind of disorders commonly found in patients

Hyperthyroidism -

Overactive gland results excessive production of thyroid hormone. It affects 1 to 2 percent of women. It is less common in men. Free T4 is more than its range value. It shows symptoms like

• Fast Heart Rate

• Anxiety and Depression

• Weight loss

• Irritability

• Cognitive Slowing

• Excessive Sweating

• Disruptive Sleep Pattern

• Irregular Menstrual Cycle

• Brittle Hairs and Nails

Hypothyroidism -

Under production of the thyroid glands just opposite of Hyperthyroidism which results lack of T3 and T4 levels in blood. It can develop from and within the thyroid gland , pituitary gland or hypothalamus. It has specific symptoms such as

• Excessive Weight Gain

• Fatigue

• Dry Skin

• Harsh Voice

• Irregular Menstrual Cycle

• Feeling Cold

• Joint and Muscle Ache

• Constipation

• Depression

• Fluid Retention

Hashimoto's Disease

It is also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. It is the most common cause of hypothyroidism. It can attack at any age however it's most common in middle-aged women. Hashitomo's disease occurs when body's immune system mistakenly destroy the thyroid gland and its ability to produce hormone.

For some cases the symptoms are subtle and the disease can remain stable for years without further damage. These symptoms are not very specific other than hypo and hyper thyroidism. Symptoms are

• Depression

• Constipation

• Fatigue

• Mild Weight Gain

• Dry Skin

• Dry Thinning Hair

• Pale, Puffy face

• Heavy and Irregular Menstruation

• Enlarged Thyroid

• Intolerance to Cold 

     

Goiter

It is seen as a bulge in the neck. 

A Goiter is simply described as enlargement of thyroid gland, regardless of cause. It is benign in nature. Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of goiter. However other causes may be associated with hypothyroidism , hyperthyroidism or normal thyroid function.

It can affect at any age and women are more vulnerable to goiter. Other risk factors include family medical history, medicinal side-effect, pregnancy and radiation exposure.

Initially goiter does not show any major symptoms but when it grows enough then it may cause the  following symptoms :

• Swelling and tightness in the neck

• Difficulties in Breathing

• Coughing and Wheezing

• Hoarseness of Voice    

Thyroid nodules

Nodules are lumps in and on thyroid gland. The causes are not clearly known but it is understood iodine deficiency and Hashitomo's disease are one of the possibilities.. The nodules can be solid or fluid filled. 

Most of the nodules are benign but sometimes it can be malignant. Mostly these do not show any symptoms but varies with the sizes.

Some nodules produce thyroid hormone, causing abnormality like Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism symptoms.

     

Grave's disease

It is an autoimmune disorder which causes problem to thyroid gland. This can hamper normal function of thyroid gland and produces extra hormone which eventually affect total metabolism of the body.

This disease is hereditary and may develop at any age. Women are more affected than men. Stress. pregnancy and smoking are known factors to the disease.

The symptoms are common to hyperthyroidism.

Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancers are far more common among women than men. There are different types of thyroid cancer depending upon the nature of developed cells. Most cases of thyroid cancer have high survival rates. However early detection is the key like all cases of cancer.

Thyroid Hormone Tests

It is mainly blood tests that include

• Total Thyroxine (T4)

• Free Thyroxine FTI or FT4)

• Triiodothyronine (T3)

• TSH 

Conditions if Thyroid Disorder is left untreated

When any condition of the thyroid is ignored, the effect is seen on the other organs. The hormone is flowing free in the blood and travels to all part of the body and hence can impact various organs. Therefore normal life can get affected severely.

It is also commonly seen that a large number of affected people do not go for thyroid treatment. Based on the symptoms they prefer alternative treatment , naturopathy, some yoga etc. But it is also required expertise and proper monitoring system to eliminate the disorders.

Untreated Thyroid Disorder could lead to the above symptoms noted under various disorders and the following are in addition to those

For Hyperthyroidism

• Hypertension

• Sudden cardiac arrest

• Arthythmia (abnormal heartbeat)

• Cardiac Dilatation

• Pregnancy Problems such as miscarriage, preterm birth, preeclampsia ( high blood pressure during pregnancy), fetal thyroid dysfunction and poor fetal growth.

For Hypothyroidism

• Developing Goiter

• Atherosclerosis leading to conditions like stroke

• Increase in cholesterol level

• Problems of infertility

• Weakness

• Malaise

      

If diagnosed with thyroid dysfunction

If diagnosed with Hyper/Hypothyroidism person need to consult an endocrinologist who shall be putting the patient on medicines to bring the thyroid levels back to normal. There is no alternative to this so far.

In addition to above some modification of lifestyle will help to faster recovery like

• Regular check up and consultation with the doctor

• Drink adequate water to flush out the toxin

• Exercise regularly (guided)

• Increase Fiber intake

• Take green tea 
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol

 

Final Thought

Having Thyroid dysfunction is very common and treatable condition. But if left untreated can cause severe ailment  and hamper day-to-day activities. Consult with doctor and get tested once in every year to check any thyroid dysfunction . Changed and controlled lifestyle can eliminate symptoms and help faster recovery.