Environmental Issues in India Changes edit
I added a citation needed tag to something that looked plagiarized. I couldn't find anything it was plagiarizing, but I also didn't find a source to back up what it was saying.
I fixed the citation for "http://ifs.nic.in/rt/book/page2.pdf." It was dead, so I added an archived link.
A large part of the greenhouse gas emissions was plagiarized from another wikipedia page without citations, so I deleted it all and added in a link to the page instead.
I added information on the buildup of heavy metals in the soil of Ghaziabad and the risk of ingestion as well as a couple of scientific articles (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23116622 and http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2015.1105723) to back it up.
Sinkhole Changes edit
I found "Sinkholes are frequently linked with karst landscapes. In such regions, there may be hundreds or even thousands of sinkholes in a small area so that the surface as seen from the air looks pock-marked, and there are no surface streams because all drainage occurs subsurface. Examples of karst landscapes dotted with numerous enormous sinkholes are the Khammouan Mountains (Laos) and Mamo Plateau (Papua New Guinea)" which appeared to be plagiarized from http://www.cnc3.co.tt/about/what-sinkhole,but I can't be certain because I can't find a date. I replaced it with "Sinkholes tend to occur in karst landscapes. Karst landscapes can have up to thousands of sinkholes within a small area, giving the landscape a pock-marked appearance. These sinkholes drain all the water, so there are only subterranean rivers in these areas. Examples of karst landscapes with a plethora of massive sinkholes include Khammouan Mountains (Laos) and Mamo Plateau (Papua New Guinea)."
I linked sandstone and subterranean rivers to their respective Wikipedia pages.
Added information about drainage and sinkholes from this paper http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/103/1/1.short and New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/travel/escapes/05adventure.html?_r=0.
Pertussis Changes edit
The sentence "For most adults and adolescents, who often do not seek medical care until several weeks into their illness, serology may be used to determine whether antibody against pertussis toxin or another component of B. pertussis is present at high levels in the blood of the person" had no citation and seemed to plagiarize this article http://www.eurodiagnostica.com/index.php?headId=4&pageId=4&langId=1&diseaseId=8#nr2-tab (specifically the line "For most adults and adolescents, who often do not seek medical care until several weeks into their illness, serology may be used to determine whether antibody against pertussis toxin or another component of B. pertussis is present at high levels in the blood of the patient"), so I cited it and changed up the wording to "Serology may be used for adults and adolescents who have already been infected for several weeks to determine whether antibody against pertussis toxin or another virulence factor of B. pertussis is present at high levels in the blood of the person."
Replaced an accurate and misleading or simply inaccurate death statistic and citation in the Epidemiology section. I attempted to search for the previous numbers in the citation, but was unable to find them. The previous statistic said in 2013 there had been only 61,000 deaths, and did not seem to be supported by the citation. I changed it to an estimated 195,000 deaths yearly, and cited the CDC. Whether this information was accurate and misleading or simply inaccurate Information can be found here: http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/countries.html
Wikilinked "zoonotic disease" in cause to the Zoonosis page.
January 2016 Argentinean Locust Swarm edit
Argentina is currently facing the largest locust swarm within the past 60 years. According to Diego Quiroga, Argentina's agriculture agency’s chief of vegetative protection, said that it is impossible to eradicate the swarm, so they are focusing on minimizing the damage caused by it by sending out fumigators equipped with backpack sprayers to exterminate small pockets of young locusts that are still unable to fly. This method of extermination, however, is unable to wipe out pocket of locusts hidden in Argentina's large, dry forests. The swarm covers an area the size of Delaware in Northern Argentina. The locusts are expected to grow ten inches and mature into flying swarms by February fifth.[1]
The locusts first appeared in small areas in June of 2015. The mild Winter aided their population growth, allowing it to reach its current size. This swarm is reported to be the largest within 60 years despite last year's swarm being reported four miles in length and two miles in height. A swarm of this size is worrisome to Argentinians because locusts, a relative of grasshoppers, attack farmers' crops and can cause famine and starvation.[2] This behavior is more pronounced when the locust population density is higher due to a trait called locust phase polyphenism[3], so it stands to reason that a larger swarm will be more aggressive than a smaller one.
Currently, there are over one hundred outbreaks of locusts that have affected over an area of 700,000 hectacres (roughly 2700 square miles). The infestation is so bad that SENASA, the government agricultural inspection agency, has set up a hotline for people to call if they see any locusts.[4]
== References ==I contributed everything written above. It can be summarized as: I created this page and filled it with information about the locust swarms in Argentina during the month of January of the year 2016. I added information and citations for statements from the government of Argentina about the status of the swarms and how they plan on controlling them. I also linked the government program mentioned in the news articles (SENASA) to its Wikipedia page. I added an anecdote from farmers on the size of the swarm last year and how it should compare to this year's swarm. This was all reported by journalistic websites that I cited. I explained a little bit about locust swarm behavior and linked an appropriate scientific article. This could all be structured and organized better, but I don't even know where to begin with that.
- ^ Gilbert, Jonathan (2016-01-25). "Argentina Scrambles to Fight Biggest Plague of Locusts in 60 Years". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- ^ Reilly, Katie. "Massive Locust Plague Threatens Argentina's Farmers". TIME.com. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- ^ Gotham, Steven; Song, Hojun (2013-11-01). "Non-swarming grasshoppers exhibit density-dependent phenotypic plasticity reminiscent of swarming locusts". Journal of Insect Physiology. 59 (11): 1151–1159. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2013.08.017.
- ^ "Argentina Infested With Swarms of Locusts". ABC News. 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-02-02.