By: Joxery Mezen Camacho

Phobias are one of the most common mental disorders in the world. According to ‘Medical News Today’, phobias are specifically known as a type of anxiety disorder. Most of us know the common phobias such as arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and acrophobia (fear of heights), but there are some phobias that are rare and many do not know. 

Turophobia: 

The first rare phobia is Turophobia: the fear of cheese.

People with this phobia tend to steer clear of having to see, taste, or smell cheese. They also avoid the cheese aisles at grocery stores, or stores that only sell cheese. Those with Turophobia begin to get sweaty or have panic attacks when they’re near cheese. 

Catoptrophobia (or Eisoptrophobia):

This phobia is the fear of mirrors.

People with this phobia try to steer away from mirrors and other objects that have reflecting surfaces. It is believed that people who have this phobia are superstitious or religious and that it’s sometimes connected to witchcraft. This can also be tied into the idea that mirrors can work as portals for ghosts, spirits, and many other fear rising things. 

Chorophobia: 

This next phobia is the fear of dancing.

Those with this phobia attempt to keep away from places that involve dancing like clubs, parties, and studios. Many also can’t watch or be near others who are dancing. It’s believed that this fear stems from lack of confidence and social anxiety. 

Decidiophobia: 

This is the fear of making decisions, and is one of the rarer phobias listed.

People with this phobia steer towards superstitions or rituals in order to decide for them. They can do this through astrology, the flipping of a coin, or going to the universe and asking for signs. Many with this phobia don’t trust themselves enough which causes them to not be able to make a decision. 

Ancraophobia: 

This phobia is extremely rare and is the fear of wind.

Those with this phobia tend to avoid being near windows, hair and hand dryers, windmills, doors, and air vents. This fear relates to many other ideas that surround the idea of air such as swallowing wind and/or being blown away by strong waves of wind. It’s believed that this phobia is caused by a connection between wind and disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes. 

For more information, please visit:

• ‘Medical News Today’

By Olivia Kendle

Air pollution is caused by pollutants that have been released into the air, harming the environment. Most pollutants are from energy sources like factories or power plants. This article will explain how different types of air pollution is affecting not only our environment, but also ourselves.

First up, are wastes disposal plants. Most trash is burned, which releases pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide. These types of pollutants can cause difficulty breathing, asphyxia (choking), headaches, etc. Sometimes it can result in death. Burning waste also takes a lot more energy and money. Incinerator workers often are exposed to these risks when working in waste plants.

Second, are greenhouse gases. Heat is being trapped in our atmosphere. Greenhouse gases play a huge role in air pollution because the toxins from it are heating and killing the environment. Although more carbon dioxide is being released, methane (the second greenhouse gas) is far more harmful and destructive to the environment. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, hydrofluorocarbons cause way more harm to the environment than carbon dioxide.

Our last pollutant, for now, is actually very surprising: mold and pollen. The air pollution and climate change have made allergens and mold hazardous. The wind, trees, grass, etc., carry the allergens and mold around. Carbon dioxide is affecting plants with pollen, like the common goldenrod, and they are growing bigger and spreading, exposing more people who are allergic to pollen. This means more people will suffer from fever, itchy eyes, runny nose, etc. Mold can also have a dangerous effect. Some molds, for example, if consumed, can result in asthma attacks. If inhaled, they can also be just as dangerous.

Some ways to reduce these pollutants are to stop burning waste, recycle, and use different ways of transportation that involve less to no gas release (like biking, or walking, or riding a public transit). Also, you could try using partial solar power, or trying to save power by turning off the lights in one room before re-entering another (if you don’t already). You can also work or volunteer to help against air pollution companies.

For more information, please visit:

• https://www.nrdc.org/stories/air-pollution-everything-you-need-know

By Nora Doyle and Liv Miller

Global warming, by definition, is the unusual rapid increase in the earth’s average surface temperature over the past century. There are many different views and opinions regarding climate change and how much of an impact it has, or will cause, on the earth. Whether we choose to believe it or not, global warming is a huge issue affecting our earth and it’s only getting worse, and needs to be resolved.

To break it down, there are certain gasses in the atmosphere called greenhouse gasses. According to Biologicaldiversity.com, those gasses allow shortwave radiation from the sun to pass through the atmosphere and warm the Earth’s surface. The energy that then radiates from the surface is called “long wave radiation”. That radiation is trapped in by the greenhouse gasses and then warms the land, oceans, and air. This whole process is called “the greenhouse effect”. The greenhouse effect is not bad in itself, it actually is what keeps our earth warm, and we wouldn’t be able to survive without it. It’s when coal, oil, and natural gasses are burned at such a high rate that start to create a problem because they are sending enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere that can’t be absorbed quickly enough. This is what is causing global warming.

Scientists have said that global warming most likely started around the late 1800s, but recently, they have been led to believe that it could have started even before that, around the early 1800s.

As far as to when it was discovered, there were many people who had findings of global warming, but their ideas weren’t fully processed so it never was made public. There were many events that led up to how global warming was made an issue. There was never a breakthrough to some long awaited mystery as to why the earth was getting warmer, as much as multiple scientists, mathematicians, etc. were piecing together findings over the years. But according to Theguardian.com, there was a Swedish chemist by the name Svante Arrhenius who “became the first to quantify carbon dioxide’s role in keeping the planet warm. He later concluded that burning of coal could cause a “noticeable increase” in carbon levels over centuries.” So, if you are searching for a founder there’s your guy.

According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, the August 2020 average global land and ocean surface temperature was +0.94 degrees celsius (1.69 degrees F) above the 20th century average of 12.7 degrees C (54.9 degrees F). This year’s temperature increase is the second highest temperature since global records began in 1880. Only August 2016 was warmer with an average temperature of +0.98 degrees C (1.76 degrees F). Since 1880, the global temperature has increased by 0.8 degrees C or 1.4 degrees F.

Why should we be concerned about a 1 degree increase in global temperature? Well, according to ‘The World Counts,’ “global temperature primarily depends on the amount of energy it receives from the sun and how much of it is radiated back into space.” The numbers should barely, if even at all, change, unless there is another factor “affecting the change in temperature. The amount of energy that the planet radiates back into space is dependent upon the chemical composition of our atmosphere – like greenhouse gases.”

So if this is such a disaster, what are we doing about it now? Short answer; clearly not enough. Although, according to ‘National Geographic,’ countries around the world did acknowledge that they needed to do something about climate change back in 2015 with the Paris Agreement. This agreement was to make pledges to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

Scientists are also currently “working on ways to sustainably produce hydrogen, most of which is currently derived from natural gas, to feed zero-emission fuel cells for transportation and electricity. Other efforts are aimed at building better batteries to store renewable energy.”

People are switching to solar powered energy as well. There are many organizations that are trying their best to raise awareness and collect donations to stop climate change. If more people believed in it and participated, we could maybe start to see some real change.

Another topic of discussion is about what happens if we do something about climate change and why we should. We should take action against climate change because it affects our oceans, our weather, our food sources, and our health. Sheets of ice like in Greenland and
Antarctica are melting. The new water from melted glaciers causes sea levels to rise and spill out of the oceans causing floods. Warmer temperatures cause extreme weather. This extreme
weather includes droughts that make it harder to grow crops. Water supplies are limited for plants and animals. If we don’t do anything about it, all of these things will get much worse,
putting all lives on earth at danger.