GLOBAL WARMING OR GLOBAL FATTENING?

A new hypothesis asserts that climate change has resulted in fat people. The sort of climate change it is talking about is that encountered when a person moves from a cold climate location to a warm climate.* According to this notion, people living in cold areas have genes that produce higher metabolic rates, thereby maintaining warm body temperatures and resulting in less obesity. However, humans migrating to warmer climates develop lower metabolic rates to remain cool and, accordingly, hold on to excess fat. If this hypothesis is proven true, it would seem that alleged global warming is causing the current growth in fat people. (Those who migrate for the winter to Florida or Arizona take note.)

But wait--is there global warming? According to a published report, "since the turn of the century, global average temperatures have remained flat despite an unabated rise in greenhouse gas emissions."** Some apparently not willing to acknowledge that global warming may not exist now have developed a hypothesis that excess global heat is being swallowed by oceans and stored as warm water deep under the surface. If deep ocean waters are becoming warmer, then will fish and other sea life become fatter under the climate change hypothesis discussed above? Of course, if fish become fatter, then people eating such fish may become even fatter, allowing for a further hypothesis that global warming does indeed cause obesity.

Speaking of fat, remember England's King Richard III, the Royal whose remains were excavated in 2012 from under a paved parking lot? Before getting his crown, he is said to have a lean diet of bread, barley, ale and water. However, once crowned, it is claimed he ate luxury meals, such as game birds and freshwater fish, downed with wine. His diet analysis was based on two teeth, a rib and an upper leg bone. It is not clear whether richer foods may have made him obese or contributed to his demise in battle. When he was found, he was just skin and bones.***

All of this gives food for thought. If global warming does exist, and if it causes obesity , maybe the solution is to drink more water to cool body temperatures, wash food through one's system and to fill stomach cavities to dampen appetite. And, of course eating less and more wisely might help, too.

(Was the unusually large frog in the photo above affected by global warming?)

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* "Ancient Genes, Modern Meals", Science News,
September 20, 2014, p. 18
** "Two Oceans Implicated In Warming Lull",
Science News, September 20, 2014, p.10
*** "Richard III Ate Like A King",
Science News, September 20, 2014, p.17

THE OTHER CLIMATE CHANGES

We hear much discussion about climate change these days--the purported changes in earth weather patterns. Many assert that such climate change is caused by human activity. Governmental agencies increasingly seek to regulate such activities under the assumption climate change can be controlled. Others assert that such regulation is misplaced because either climate change does not exist or, if it does exist, climate change results from the earth's natural cycles over time.

Regardless, another type of climate change appears to be causing discussion: increasing concern over intrusion by administrative agencies and their regulatory power into details of private lives of the public.

For example, Senator John Thune (R. South Dakota) recently expressed concern about a proposed rule that would enable EPA to garnish wages to pay for fines levied by EPA for violation of its compliance orders.* He said, in part, "The EPA has been busy trying to expand its authority over the lives of Americans by arbitrarily imposing a multitude of new and expensive regulations that are leading to higher costs for middle-class families."

Along similar lines is a recent editorial from the Bismarck Tribune.** It asserts that EPA has compiled detailed maps of not only permanent waterways but also of intermittent streams and wetlands as a means to expand its regulatory power over a wide range of canals, ditches, reservoirs and wetlands. It stated, in part, "Burdening private landowners and the farming and ranching community by extending the EPA's jurisdiction to include seasonal waterways would come at a price. If the EPA is allowed to make a new ruling defining temporary waterways as being within its control, private landowners' rights will be diminished. The EPA's approach is problematic in many ways. The lack of transparency from yet another government agency further erodes public trust. The intent of the maps strongly suggests an underlying motive to expand reach and control--another troubling example of government overreach."

A recent editorial commentary in Barrons discussed concern over the regulatory fallout from the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare").*** It pointed out that today regulations promulgated by administrative agencies and subsequent court decisions are more overreaching than the actual legislation enacted by COngress. It said, "We really can't know what a bill will mean until long after passage, when the courts tell us what the regulations mean." The commentary added:"Although the doctrine of enumerated powers was paramount for more than a century and a half, few Americans now living can imagine the restraints on federal power that held sway as late as the 1920s. Nowadays, the ninth and 10th amendments are "dead letters" in a country that does not even remember what a dead letter office was....What we now know is that we have lost our constitutional government of laws enacted by our elected representatives. Now we are governed by rules and judges."

When governmental agencies dictate what students can eat for lunch and what kinds of toilets and light bulbs people can have in their homes, one can understand a growing climate change of concern over what may seem to be unfettered regulatory expansion over private activity. From a constitutional standpoint, perhaps we have moved from a government of enumerated powers to one of enumerated prohibitions--if the constitution does not say government cannot do something, then it has the power to do it. That is climate change in and of itself.

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* Rapid City Journal, July 21, 2014, p.B4

** Reprinted Rapid City Journal
September 5, 2014, p.B3

*** July 28, 2014, p.39

DROOLING FOR FOOD

We have had exceptional amounts of rain in the Midwest this summer. So, when I ran across an article on drooling by animals, I drooled with curiosity.*

It seems that moose and reindeer slobber when they graze on grasses. They have good reason to drool. Scientist have found that grasses enjoyed by such animals host certain fungi that produce strong alkaline toxins. These toxins can make animals so sick that they avoid munching on the grasses.

Big animals, however, fight back against such grass defenses by drooling on their anticipated meal. Moose saliva dropped onto grass has been found to reduce toxin levels on the grass by up to 70% over time and to slow the spread of fungi. Of course, spit is not like shaking salt for seasoning prior to digging in. Time is required for saliva to do its thing.

Scientists have studied animal drool by having zoos collect spit when animals were anesthetized for medical reasons. That sounds like a fun job, although the procedure is not entirely clear.

Interestingly, drool reduced toxins only on grasses in good growing environments. Drooling on water stressed grasses did not counteract toxins. So, water has an important role for good moose meals.

One wonders what came first: did animals evolve to produce drool in order to combat fungi in grasses desired for food, or was drool developed for some other purpose and by chance animals found that it made grass eating more appetizing? No doubt, further research would be needed.

Santa Claus is said to have eight reindeer. I do not recall any story about them drooling as he makes his rounds. I do recall, however, my mother admonishing me as a child to keep my mouth shut while eating because drool has no place at the table. Now, my wife says the same thing. Frankly, drooling never made a meal taste better for me, although I often have drooled like a moose for some chocolate mousse. Now that is food for thought.

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*"Moose Drool Subdues Grass Defenses,"
Science Newa, August 23, 2014, p. 9