by Fred Migneault

                                                               Superpredator

Scientists have compared the hunting habits of wild mammals, birds and fishes with those of people. Their new study shows that humans are strange predators. Unlike other animals, we target adult prey in large numbers. That is a practice that can push populations of those prey into decline, the researchers warn.

People mainly target at least among wild mammals and fishes prey that are old enough to reproduce. Those are the animals that have babies and keep their populations going, explains Chris Darimont. He is a conservation scientist at the University of Victoria in Canada. Many baby animals don't live long enough to become adults. Killing too many of the few that do can shrink groups of wild animals over time.

To avoid that, Darimont and his colleagues want people to switch to the hunting patterns of other mammals or fishes. That would mean targeting young prey, not adults. Also, we would have to take smaller percentages of animal populations than we currently do.

A shift toward younger individuals would be more sustainable, says Thomas Reimchen. Also at the University of Victoria, he worked on the study, too. Being sustainable means that resources are used in a way that allows them to continue to be available long into the future. Reimchen acknowledges, though, that changing human habits would not be easy.
He has been itching to analyze people as a predator since 1976. At that time, he was studying populations of small fish. Called three-spine sticklebacks, these fish were living in a Canadian lake where 22 kinds of predators feasted on them, including trouts and loons. But the stickleback population didn’t change much in number from year to year. All those predators were eating less than 5 percent of the stickleback mass in the lake. Mostly, they ate the youngsters.
 In the ocean nearby, he saw commercial fishing. These fishermen were catching 40 to 80 percent of all of the nearby adults among the species they were targeting. Reimchen recalled thinking that it seemed such targeting of adults would not allow fish populations to remain stable.
Humans are primates without fangs, claws, horns, much running speed or a great sense of smell. But people have guns, nets, vehicles, refrigeration and other technologies. The technologies are used on hunts, Darimont explains. And that has given people predatory superpowers.

http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2015/08/superpredator-humans-are-hunting-other-animals-out-existence


 

1-     Do you think it’s a good idea to make people switch to the hunting patters of other mammals or fish?

2-     they said that technologies are used on hunts in the article. Give example.

Air pollutions enter body through skin.

For some toxic air pullutants, more can get into the body through the skin than breathing. Also the skin can push toxins out of the body. Example when we playing sport we always get sweat. Sweat is also come from our skin. It is same phenomenon. Our skin has many small holes that can breath. We take air from mouth and skin. That means that we also take air pollutions. Air pollution goes into your body when you inhale. When you breathe the pollution goes to your blood and it also goes into your lungs tiniest airways. The skin is like a sponge because it sucks all the pollution and chemicals. 

1. Air pollutions enter body through skin this means that it is necessary to clean the air in order to avoid air pollutions enter body. How do we keep clean air? For example don’t cut too much tree. Find your idea to keep clean air and explain your idea.

2. Explain why is skin like a sponge?