Keeping it Current - News Roundup 9/16/11

Cheers to the weekend! Relax and check out some stories you might have missed from the community!

Regina's Picks of the Week

Rising sea levels could take economic toll on California beaches added by PoliticalAmazon

A study done by San Francisco State examined five California beaches and says the increasing rate of global warming could cut into tourism and revenue. In the last century, sea levels have risen about eight inches, pushing homes and structures away from the shoreline.

As climate change warms and expands the ocean, increased storm damage and erosion will narrow the state's beaches and diminish their appeal to both tourists and wildlife, economists at San Francisco State predict.

"You need a certain amount of space for people to recreate, and, as beaches erode, you lose beach size and you lose tourism," said study author Phillip King, associate professor of economics at San Francisco State.

Study: Spongebob may impair pre-school thinking added by smurph25

Uh oh parents, it looks like you should consider changing the channel. A new study suggests that the SpongBob SquarePants character your kids admire is actually not educational and may impair pre-school thinking. University of Virginia researchers found the program to kill their attention spans.

Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician, spoke with Today, and offered this scientific analysis:

"They put their kids in front of television, particularly fast-paced programming, to quiet them down, but when the TV goes off, the kids are more amped up than they were before."

If the idea of a sponge living in a pineapple under the sea didn't trip you out enough, nothing will.

Tempest In A Lunch Box: Arsenic Traces In Apple Juice added by Misti

Well there goes my morning apple juice routine! Dr. Mehmet Oz, television's favorite medical personality, reports of high levels of arsenic in popular apple juice brands. The Food and Drug Administration and medical experts attacked Dr. Oz's findings and deemed him inaccurate and irresponsible.

But the problem is that Oz's testing only looked at the total arsenic in the apple juice products. The assays didn't distinguish between organic arsenic, which is found in nature and passes through the body quickly, and inorganic arsenic, which can be toxic in large doses and over long periods of time.

Oz said on GMA that he stands by the test results, and denied he was scaring parents. "I would not take apple juice out of my kids containers right now," Oz, the father of four, said. But it's "misleading to claim that all of the organic arsenic is safe," he said, and he hopes his report will "start a conversation."

That's all for this week! If you saw some stories you'd like to share, please do so in the comments. Of course, if you have a story that you think should be included in our weekly updates, feel free to PM either Robyn or me and let us know.