International Organization

INTRODUCTION

International Organization, membership group that operates across national borders for specific purposes. Scholars of international relations consider international organizations to have growing importance in world politics. Examples of international organizations include the United Nations (UN), the World Bank (see International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Greenpeace.

Most international organizations operate as part of one or more international regimes. An international regime is a set of rules, standards, and procedures that govern national behavior in a particular area. Examples of international regimes include arms control, foreign trade, and Antarctic exploration. International organizations are often central to the functioning of an international regime, giving structure and procedures to the “rules of the game” by which nations must play. For example, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the European Union (EU) are key organizations that define the international trade regime.

TYPES OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
International organizations fall into two main categories: intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations. Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have national governments as members. Hundreds of IGOs operate in all parts of the world. Member nations have created each of these organizations to serve a purpose that those nations find useful. Membership can range from as few as two member nations to virtually all nations. The UN and its various agencies are IGOs. So are most of the world’s economic coordinating institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) seeks to coordinate the production and pricing policies of its 12 member states. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seeks to regulate the flow of nuclear technology to developing nations. The WTO helps negotiate and monitor agreements among 128 nations to lower trade barriers. Military alliances, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), and political groupings, such as the Arab League, and the Organization of African Unity are also IGOs. In general, regional IGOs have experienced more success than global ones, and those with specific purposes have worked better than those with broad aims.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are private organizations whose memberships and activities are international in scope. NGOs do not possess the legal status of national governments. However, the UN and other international forums recognize many NGOs as important political institutions. Examples of NGOs include the Roman Catholic Church, Greenpeace, the International Olympic Committee, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Although multinational corporations (MNCs) share many characteristics of NGOs, they are not international organizations because they do not coordinate the actions of members for mutual gain.

(WTO)

World Trade Organization (WTO), international body that promotes and enforces the provisions of trade laws and regulations. The World Trade Organization has the authority to administer and police new and existing free trade agreements, to oversee world trade practices, and to settle trade disputes among member states. The WTO was established in 1994 when the members of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a treaty and international trade organization, signed a new trade pact. The WTO was created to replace GATT.

The WTO began operation on January 1, 1995. GATT and the WTO coexisted until December 1995, when the members of GATT met for the last time. Although the WTO replaced GATT, the trade agreements established by GATT in 1994 are part of the WTO agreement. However, the WTO has a significantly broader scope than GATT. GATT regulated trade in merchandise goods. The WTO expanded the GATT agreement to include trade in services, such as international telephone service, and protections for intellectual property—that is, creative works that can be protected legally, such as sound recordings and computer programs. The WTO is also a formally structured organization whose rules are legally binding on its member states. The organization provides a framework for international trade law. Members can refer trade disputes to the WTO where a dispute panel composed of WTO officials serves as arbitrator. Members can appeal this panel’s rulings to a WTO appellate body whose decisions are final. Disputes must be resolved within the time limits set by WTO rules.

All of the 128 nations that were contracting parties to the new GATT pact at the end of 1994 became members of the WTO upon ratifying the GATT pact. By 2002 the WTO had 144 members, and about 30 other countries had applied for membership, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.

The WTO is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is controlled by a general council made up of member states’ ambassadors who also serve on various subsidiary and specialist committees. The ministerial conference, which meets every two years and appoints the WTO’s director-general, oversees the General Council.

Since its creation, the WTO has attracted criticism from those concerned about free trade and economic globalization. Opponents of the WTO argue that the organization is too powerful because it can declare the laws and regulations of sovereign nations in violation of trade rules, in effect pressuring nations to change these laws. Critics also charge that WTO trade rules do not sufficiently protect workers’ rights, the environment, or human health. Some groups charge that the WTO lacks democratic accountability because its hearings on trade disputes are closed to the public and press. WTO officials have dismissed arguments that the organization is undemocratic, noting that its member nations, most of which are democracies, wrote the WTO rules and selected its leadership. WTO supporters argue that it plays a critical role in helping to expand world trade and raise living standards around the world.

Criticism of the WTO reached an apex in late 1999, when more than 30,000 protesters disrupted a WTO summit in Seattle, Washington. The protesters called for reforms that would make the organization more responsive to consumers, workers, and environmentalists. The summit failed in its goal to set an agenda for a new round of global trade talks, largely because of disagreements between industrialized and developing nations. However, in 2001 at a summit in Doha, Qatar, WTO members overcame their differences and agreed to an agenda for a new round of talks. Among other goals, the talks were to focus on reducing trade barriers and lowering tariffs.

(NAFTA)

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), pact that calls for the gradual removal of tariffs and other trade barriers on most goods produced and sold in North America. NAFTA became effective in Canada, Mexico, and the United States on January 1, 1994. NAFTA forms the world’s second largest free-trade zone, bringing together 365 million consumers in Canada, Mexico, and the United States in an open market. The largest free-trade zone is the European Economic Area (which includes the members of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association), which also became effective in 1994.

NAFTA was built upon a 1989 trade agreement between the United States and Canada that eliminated or reduced many tariffs between the two countries. NAFTA called for immediately eliminating duties on half of all U.S. goods shipped to Mexico and gradually phasing out other tariffs over a period of about 14 years. Restrictions were to be removed from many categories, including motor vehicles and automotive parts, computers, textiles, and agriculture. The treaty also protected intellectual property rights (patents, copyrights, and trademarks) and outlined the removal of restrictions on investment among the three countries. Provisions regarding worker and environmental protection were added later as a result of supplemental agreements signed in 1993.

In December 1992 NAFTA was signed by the leaders of the three countries—Brian Mulroney of Canada, Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico, and George H. W. Bush of the United States. After a lengthy debate, the legislatures in all three countries approved NAFTA in 1993. In the United States, the debate over NAFTA divided members of both the Democratic and Republican parties and ignited fierce opposition from environmental and labor groups. Many feared that jobs would be lost because the agreement would facilitate the movement of U.S. production plants to Mexico, where plants could take advantage of cheaper labor and lax enforcement of environmental and workers’ rights laws. Environmental groups were concerned that pollution and food safety controls would be more difficult to enforce and could be challenged and eliminated on the grounds that they were trade barriers. In response to these concerns, two supplemental agreements were added to the formal treaty; one addressed labor issues and the other environmental issues. Subsequently, the Congress of the United States narrowly approved NAFTA in November 1993.

The most innovative yet controversial aspects of NAFTA are its environmental provisions, which are included in the agreement itself as well as in a separate Supplementary Agreement on the Environment. These provisions make NAFTA the most environmentally conscious trade agreement ever negotiated. The Supplementary Agreement established a Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC), composed of senior environmental officials from each North American country. All three countries are prohibited from relaxing their environmental regulations in order to attract additional investment, and both citizens and governments are permitted to file complaints with the commission if they believe that a country is not enforcing its own environmental laws.

NAFTA’s environmental impact has been mixed. On the one hand the CEC created an action plan to phase out four dangerous pollutants in North America and established systems to improve the monitoring of various measures of environmental quality. It has also investigated a number of complaints, but the results have been inconclusive. There has been measurable improvement in the enforcement of environmental laws in Mexico, but that country’s economic problems have made it difficult for many smaller firms to improve their environmental performance. As a result both air and water pollution remain serious problems in Mexico. NAFTA’s most conspicuous failure has been the lack of significant improvement in environmental conditions along the Mexican-American border, in large measure due to the unwillingness or inability of the American and Mexican governments to devote adequate financial resources to address this critical challenge. On balance, American environmentalists have been disappointed by the impact of NAFTA’s “green” provisions.

Formal negotiations to expand NAFTA to include Chile began in 1995, but the administration of President Bill Clinton was unable to conclude them. Shortly after assuming office in January 2001, President George W. Bush announced his support for the creation of a “Free Trade Area of the Americas” that would include virtually all countries in the Western Hemisphere. Many trade experts believe that such an agreement is likely to prove difficult to negotiate.

Red Cross

INTRODUCTION
Red Cross, international humanitarian agency dedicated, in time of war, to alleviating the sufferings of wounded soldiers, civilians, and prisoners of war. In time of peace, it renders medical aid and other help to people afflicted by major disasters such as floods, earthquakes, epidemics, and famines and performs other public service functions.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement consists of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a group of up to 25 Swiss citizens, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the more than 160 national Red Cross societies; and the Geneva-based International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (known until 1993 as the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) which coordinates peacetime activities of the national societies. The International Conference of the Red Cross, usually held every four years in different countries, brings together representatives of the Red Cross organizations and those governments that have ratified the Geneva conventions. In 1986 the Movement's name was changed to include the Red Crescent, the organization's name in most Muslim nations.

HISTORY
Initiative for founding the Red Cross came from the 19th-century Swiss philanthropist Jean Henri Dunant. Appalled by the almost complete lack of care for wounded soldiers, he appealed to the leaders of nations to found societies devoted to the aid of the wounded in wartime. Five Swiss citizens formed a committee, which later became the ICRC, and issued a call for an international conference, which was held in Geneva in October 1863 and was attended by delegates from 16 nations. Another conference was held in Geneva the following year, and official delegates of 12 nations signed the first Geneva Convention, laying down rules for the treatment of the wounded and for the protection of medical personnel and hospitals. It was also at this meeting that the famous symbol of the movement, the white flag bearing a red cross, was adopted. (This symbol was later modified in non-Christian countries.) The principles enunciated in the first Geneva Convention were subsequently revised and amended at conferences held in 1906, 1929, and 1949. In 1977 additional protocols were added to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 to protect all non-combatants in all types of conflicts, international as well as domestic.

Over the decades the ICRC and the Federation have sent representatives and aid to many countries around the world to help detainees, prisoners of war, and refugees of war, political upheaval, or civil strife. The federation also assists victims of natural and man-made disasters.

Dunant was a corecipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. The ICRC has been awarded three Nobel Peace Prizes, in 1917, 1944, and 1963; it shared the 1963 prize with the League of Red Cross Societies.

Greenpeace, international environmental organization dedicated to preserving the earth's natural resources and its diverse plant and animal life. The organization campaigns against nuclear weapons testing, environmental pollution, and destructive practices in fishing, logging, and other industries.

Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1971 by members of the Don't Make a Wave Committee, a small group opposed to nuclear weapons testing by the United States military in Alaska. The group renamed itself Greenpeace to reflect the broader goal of creating a green and peaceful world.

Greenpeace won fame for its daring exploits calculated to attract media attention to environmental issues. Greenpeace members in rubber rafts have disrupted whaling expeditions by positioning themselves between the whales and hunters' harpoons. They used similar tactics in Newfoundland and Labrador to protest the clubbing of baby harp seals, whose soft white fur is highly valued by clothing manufacturers. The organization is well known for scaling corporate skyscrapers and factory smokestacks to hang protest banners.

Greenpeace's aggressive style has often led to conflicts with corporations, local authorities, and even national governments. In 1985 the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior, on a voyage to protest French nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, sank in a New Zealand port, and the crew photographer, Fernando Pereira, drowned. Investigations revealed that the ship had been deliberately sabotaged with explosives planted by undercover agents of the French military. The resulting scandal rocked the highest levels of the French government, leading to the resignation of Defense Minister Charles Hernu and the dismissal of Admiral Pierre Lacoste, director of the French Secret Service.

During the 1990s Greenpeace has been troubled by internal disagreements over political strategy. Some members want to persist with a militant approach, emphasizing civil disobedience and physical confrontation. Other members, including the organization's leaders, are convinced that Greenpeace must work cooperatively with the companies and industries that have been its targets in the past.
Greenpeace has about 3 million dues-paying members and more than 40 offices in 30 countries. Its international headquarters are in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

(EU)

INTRODUCTION
European Union (EU), organization of European countries dedicated to increasing economic integration and strengthening cooperation among its members. The European Union headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium.

The European Union was formally established on November 1, 1993. It is the most recent in a series of European cooperative organizations that originated with the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) of 1951, which became the European Community (EC) in 1967. The members of the EC were Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Spain. In 1991 the governments of the 12 member states signed the Treaty on European Union (commonly called the Maastricht Treaty), which was then ratified by the national legislatures of all the member countries. The Maastricht Treaty transformed the EC into the EU. In 1995 Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, bringing the total membership to 15 nations.

The EU has a number of objectives. Its principal goal is to promote and expand cooperation among member states in economics and trade, social issues, foreign policy, security and defense, and judicial matters. Another major goal has been to implement Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), which established a single currency for EU members. With the exception of EMU, which went into effect in 1999, progress toward these goals has been erratic. Various factors have limited the EU’s ability to achieve its goals, including disagreements among member states, external political and economic problems, and pressure for membership from the new democracies of Eastern Europe.

Blue Cross

INTRODUCTION
Blue Cross And Blue Shield, network of companies that provide health insurance to people in the United States and Puerto Rico. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, based in Chicago, Illinois, governs the various health insurance organizations that carry its name. Member health insurance companies are operated locally, but they must abide by standards established by the national association. Historically, Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurers have been nonprofit organizations that receive tax-exempt status.

More than 71 million people are members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance plans. Most Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations negotiate contracts with local hospitals and physicians to offer services to individuals who have paid premiums (fees) individually or through their employers.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance plans offer a broad spectrum of coverage options, including fee-for-service plans (also known as indemnity plans) and managed care plans. Fee-for-service plans allow members to visit any doctor or hospital for medical services. Managed care plans require members to visit designated physicians and include health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and point-of-service plans (POSs) (see Health Insurance: Types of Plans in the United States). Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations also administer services for Medicare, a government program that provides coverage for elderly people and for people with certain disabilities

MERGER OF BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD
Originally, Blue Cross covered the cost of hospital care and Blue Shield paid for physician care, but both groups eventually covered all health-care costs. The two groups established similar policies in the health-care industry, and subsequently some Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations began to merge in the late 1970s. In 1982 the National Association of Blue Shield Plans merged with the Blue Cross Association. The new group changed its name to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

A major shift in the health-care industry began in the mid-1980s, when many people switched from fee-for-service plans to managed care services. Managed care plans, which were first introduced in the 1970s, covered more health-care services than fee-for-service plans. Many employers started using managed care plans because they emphasized preventive care and were generally less expensive. To retain employer-sponsored groups, Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations began offering more types of managed care plans.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Throughout the 1990s Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations faced financial difficulties due to the spread of for-profit health-care organizations. Blue Cross and Blue Shield chapters remained nonprofit groups that enrolled subscribers regardless of their individual risk of illness. Its competitors, which used experience rating, were able to recruit more members by charging lower premiums to people with a low risk of illness. Enrollment in Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans dropped drastically in the early 1990s, and many chapters closed.

In 1994 the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association abolished its requirement that its member groups remain nonprofit organizations. In 1996 Blue Cross of California merged with a for-profit managed care company, WellPoint Health Networks, becoming the first chapter to relinquish its tax-exempt status. During the late 1990s a number of Blue Cross and Blue Shield chapters followed suit and merged with for-profit insurance providers or created new for-profit subsidiaries.

Blood !

INTRODUCTION
Blood, vital fluid found in humans and other animals that provides important nourishment to all body organs and tissues and carries away waste materials. Sometimes referred to as “the river of life,” blood is pumped from the heart through a network of blood vessels collectively known as the circulatory system.

An adult human has about 5 to 6 liters (1 to 2 gal) of blood, which is roughly 7 to 8 percent of total body weight. Infants and children have comparably lower volumes of blood, roughly proportionate to their smaller size. The volume of blood in an individual fluctuates. During dehydration, for example while running a marathon, blood volume decreases. Blood volume increases in circumstances such as pregnancy, when the mother’s blood needs to carry extra oxygen and nutrients to the baby.

ROLE OF BLOOD
Blood carries oxygen from the lungs to all the other tissues in the body and, in turn, carries waste products, predominantly carbon dioxide, back to the lungs where they are released into the air. When oxygen transport fails, a person dies within a few minutes. Food that has been processed by the digestive system into smaller components such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates is also delivered to the tissues by the blood. These nutrients provide the materials and energy needed by individual cells for metabolism, or the performance of cellular function. Waste products produced during metabolism, such as urea and uric acid, are carried by the blood to the kidneys, where they are transferred from the blood into urine and eliminated from the body. In addition to oxygen and nutrients, blood also transports special chemicals, called hormones, that regulate certain body functions. The movement of these chemicals enables one organ to control the function of another even though the two organs may be located far apart. In this way, the blood acts not just as a means of transportation but also as a communications system.

The blood is more than a pipeline for nutrients and information; it is also responsible for the activities of the immune system, helping fend off infection and fight disease. In addition, blood carries the means for stopping itself from leaking out of the body after an injury. The blood does this by carrying special cells and proteins, known as the coagulation system, that start to form clots within a matter of seconds after injury.

Blood is vital to maintaining a stable body temperature; in humans, body temperature normally fluctuates within a degree of 37.0° C (98.6° F). Heat production and heat loss in various parts of the body are balanced out by heat transfer via the bloodstream. This is accomplished by varying the diameter of blood vessels in the skin. When a person becomes overheated, the vessels dilate and an increased volume of blood flows through the skin. Heat dissipates through the skin, effectively lowering the body temperature. The increased flow of blood in the skin makes the skin appear pink or flushed. When a person is cold, the skin may become pale as the vessels narrow, diverting blood from the skin and reducing heat loss.

COMPOSITION OF BLOOD
About 55 percent of the blood is composed of a liquid known as plasma. The rest of the blood is made of three major types of cells: red blood cells (also known as erythrocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), and platelets (thrombocytes).

A. Plasma
Plasma consists predominantly of water and salts. The kidneys carefully maintain the salt concentration in plasma because small changes in its concentration will cause cells in the body to function improperly. In extreme conditions this can result in seizures, coma, or even death. The pH of plasma, the common measurement of the plasma’s acidity, is also carefully controlled by the kidneys within the neutral range of 6.8 to 7.7. Plasma also contains other small molecules, including vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and waste products. The concentrations of all of these molecules must be carefully regulated.

Plasma is usually yellow in color due to proteins dissolved in it. However, after a person eats a fatty meal, that person’s plasma temporarily develops a milky color as the blood carries the ingested fats from the intestines to other organs of the body.

Plasma carries a large number of important proteins, including albumin, gamma globulin, and clotting factors. Albumin is the main protein in blood. It helps regulate the water content of tissues and blood. Gamma globulin is composed of tens of thousands of unique antibody molecules. Antibodies neutralize or help destroy infectious organisms. Each antibody is designed to target one specific invading organism. For example, chicken pox antibody will target chicken pox virus, but will leave an influenza virus unharmed. Clotting factors, such as fibrinogen, are involved in forming blood clots that seal leaks after an injury. Plasma that has had the clotting factors removed is called serum. Both serum and plasma are easy to store and have many medical uses.

B. Red Blood Cells
Red blood cells make up almost 45 percent of the blood volume. Their primary function is to carry oxygen from the lungs to every cell in the body. Red blood cells are composed predominantly of a protein and iron compound, called hemoglobin, that captures oxygen molecules as the blood moves through the lungs, giving blood its red color. As blood passes through body tissues, hemoglobin then releases the oxygen to cells throughout the body. Red blood cells are so packed with hemoglobin that they lack many components, including a nucleus, found in other cells.

The membrane, or outer layer, of the red blood cell is flexible, like a soap bubble, and is able to bend in many directions without breaking. This is important because the red blood cells must be able to pass through the tiniest blood vessels, the capillaries, to deliver oxygen wherever it is needed. The capillaries are so narrow that the red blood cells, normally shaped like a disk with a concave top and bottom, must bend and twist to maneuver single file through them.

Blood Type
There are several types of red blood cells and each person has red blood cells of just one type. Blood type is determined by the occurrence or absence of substances, known as recognition markers or antigens, on the surface of the red blood cell. Type A blood has just marker A on its red blood cells while type B has only marker B. If neither A nor B markers are present, the blood is type O. If both the A and B markers are present, the blood is type AB. Another marker, the Rh antigen (also known as the Rh factor), is present or absent regardless of the presence of A and B markers. If the Rh marker is present, the blood is said to be Rh positive, and if it is absent, the blood is Rh negative. The most common blood type is A positive—that is, blood that has an A marker and also an Rh marker. More than 20 additional red blood cell types have been discovered.

Blood typing is important for many medical reasons. If a person loses a lot of blood, that person may need a blood transfusion to replace some of the lost red blood cells. Since everyone makes antibodies against substances that are foreign, or not of their own body, transfused blood must be matched so as not to contain these substances. For example, a person who is blood type A positive will not make antibodies against the A or Rh markers, but will make antibodies against the B marker, which is not on that person’s own red blood cells. If blood containing the B marker (from types B positive, B negative, AB positive, or AB negative) is transfused into this person, then the transfused red blood cells will be rapidly destroyed by the patient’s anti-B antibodies. In this case, the transfusion will do the patient no good and may even result in serious harm. For a successful blood transfusion into an A positive blood type individual, blood that is type O negative, O positive, A negative, or A positive is needed because these blood types will not be attacked by the patient’s anti-B antibodies.

White Blood Cells
White blood cells only make up about 1 percent of blood, but their small number belies their immense importance. They play a vital role in the body’s immune system—the primary defense mechanism against invading bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. They often accomplish this goal through direct attack, which usually involves identifying the invading organism as foreign, attaching to it, and then destroying it. This process is referred to as phagocytosis.

White blood cells also produce antibodies, which are released into the circulating blood to target and attach to foreign organisms. After attachment, the antibody may neutralize the organism, or it may elicit help from other immune system cells to destroy the foreign substance. There are several varieties of white blood cells, including neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes, all of which interact with one another and with plasma proteins and other cell types to form the complex and highly effective immune system.

BLOOD DISEASES

Many diseases are caused by abnormalities in the blood. These diseases are categorized by which component of the blood is affected.

Red Blood Cell Diseases
White Blood Cell Diseases
Coagulation Diseases

BLOOD BANKS

The Red Cross and a number of other organizations run programs, known as blood banks, to collect, store, and distribute blood and blood products for transfusions. When blood is donated, its blood type is determined so that only appropriately matched blood is given to patients needing a transfusion. Before using the blood, the blood bank also tests it for the presence of disease-causing organisms, such as hepatitis viruses and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This blood screening dramatically reduces, but does not fully eliminate, the risk to the recipient of acquiring a disease through a blood transfusion. Blood donation, which is extremely safe, generally involves giving about 400 to 500 ml (about 1 pt) of blood, which is only about 7 percent of a person’s total blood.

BLOOD IN NONHUMANS
One-celled organisms have no need for blood. They are able to absorb nutrients, expel wastes, and exchange gases with their environment directly. Simple multicelled marine animals, such as sponges, jellyfishes, and anemones, also do not have blood. They use the seawater that bathes their cells to perform the functions of blood. However, all more complex multicellular animals have some form of a circulatory system using blood. In some invertebrates, there are no cells analogous to red blood cells. Instead, hemoglobin, or the related copper compound heocyanin, circulates dissolved in the plasma.

The blood of complex multicellular animals tends to be similar to human blood, but there are also some significant differences, typically at the cellular level. For example, fish, amphibians, and reptiles possess red blood cells that have a nucleus, unlike the red blood cells of mammals. The immune system of invertebrates is more primitive than that of vertebrates, lacking the functionality associated with the white blood cell and antibody system found in mammals. Some arctic fish species produce proteins in their blood that act as a type of antifreeze, enabling them to survive in environments where the blood of other animals would freeze. Nonetheless, the essential transportation, communication, and protection functions that make blood essential to the continuation of life occur throughout much of the animal kingdom.

Pelé

Pelé (1940- ), Afro-Brazilian soccer player, considered by many to be the greatest in the history of the game, and one of the most recognized black people in the world.

Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Tres Corações, Brazil, the son of a semiprofessional soccer player, Pelé spent his younger years in the city of Bauru. There he occasionally attended school and performed odd jobs until, while still an adolescent, he began to play for the local youth soccer team. It was at this time that he acquired the nickname "Pelé," by which he is now known throughout the world.

At 15, Pelé was transferred to Santos, a team in the much larger port city with the same name. Pelé would play for Santos for most of his career, and he would forever become associated with its white Number 10 shirt—along with the yellow shirt of the Brazilian national team.

In the 18 years that Pelé played at Santos, the club team won numerous state and national championships in Brazil and two world club championships, in 1962 and 1963. During what has been called Pelé's reign (in Brazil he is referred to as "King Pelé"), Santos frequently toured throughout the world and enormous crowds gathered wherever they played.

In Asia, Africa, and Europe, fans paid homage to this black Brazilian. Concerned that such devotion might result in offers for Pelé to play for teams in richer countries, in 1962 the Brazilian Congress declared the 22-year-old to be a "non-exportable national treasure." And in a story often quoted, a visit to Nigeria by Pelé's Santos in 1969 caused the warring factions in a civil war to agree to a temporary truce lasting the duration of the Brazilians’ stay.

With the Brazilian national team, Pelé played in four World Cups, figuring in Brazil's unprecedented three victories between 1958 and 1970. In 1970 Brazil's military dictatorship claimed the team's victory as its own in an attempt to associate itself with the triumphant soccer team. General Médici hosted the team's players and his military government used an image of Pelé celebrating a goal as part of its propaganda, fueling years of debate concerning Pelé's possible complicity with the authoritarian regime. The song "Pra frente Brasil" (Forward, Brazil), composed for the 1970 team, was also appropriated by the government for its propaganda.

Pelé retired from Santos in 1974, and it is rumored that even the president of Brazil attempted, unsuccessfully, to convince him to continue playing. In 1975, however, a multimillion-dollar offer lured him back into the game to play for the New York Cosmos as a North American league attempted to spread soccer to the United States. His second and final retirement came in October of 1977.

Pelé is considered by many to have been the most complete player in the history of soccer and has been repeatedly chosen as the most outstanding athlete of the century. He scored his 1000th goal in 1969 playing for Santos in Rio de Janeiro's famous Maracana Stadium—a goal he dedicated to the "children of Brazil." Pelé would ultimately score a total of 1279 goals in 1362 games, only 50 fewer than fellow Brazilian Arthur Friedenreich, whose reported 1329 goals were scored in an earlier time when games generally had higher scores.

Pelé's importance in Brazil is of such magnitude that some have claimed that he would be elected president if he ever chose to be a candidate, and this in a country which, although black and mestizo (of indigenous and European descent) in its majority, has had only light-skinned presidents. In 1993, in a move widely praised, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso appointed Pelé to the position of Minister of Sports. Yet Pelé's fame reaches far beyond the confines of Brazil and sports. He was the first black man to be on the cover of Life Magazine, for instance, and even more than two decades after the end of his professional soccer career, he is certainly among the people of African descent most recognized in the world.

Earthquake

INTRODUCTION
Earthquake, shaking of the Earth’s surface caused by rapid movement of the Earth’s rocky outer layer. Earthquakes occur when energy stored within the Earth, usually in the form of strain in rocks, suddenly releases. This energy is transmitted to the surface of the Earth by earthquake waves. The study of earthquakes and the waves they create is called seismology (from the Greek seismos, “to shake”). Scientists who study earthquakes are called seismologists.

The destruction an earthquake causes depends on its magnitude and duration, or the amount of shaking that occurs. A structure’s design and the materials used in its construction also affect the amount of damage the structure incurs. Earthquakes vary from small, imperceptible shaking to large shocks felt over thousands of kilometers. Earthquakes can deform the ground, make buildings and other structures collapse, and create tsunamis (large sea waves). Lives may be lost in the resulting destruction.

Earthquakes, or seismic tremors, occur at a rate of several hundred per day around the world. A worldwide network of seismographs (machines that record movements of the Earth) detects about 1 million small earthquakes per year. Very large earthquakes, such as the 1964 Alaskan earthquake, which caused millions of dollars in damage, occur worldwide once every few years. Moderate earthquakes, such as the 1989 tremor in Loma Prieta, California, and the 1995 tremor in Kōbe, Japan, occur about 20 times a year. Moderate earthquakes also cause millions of dollars in damage and can harm many people.

In the last 500 years, several million people have been killed by earthquakes around the world, including over 240,000 in the 1976 T’ang-Shan, China, earthquake. Worldwide, earthquakes have also caused severe property and structural damage. Adequate precautions, such as education, emergency planning, and constructing stronger, more flexible, safely designed structures, can limit the loss of life and decrease the damage caused by earthquakes.

CAUSES
Most earthquakes are caused by the sudden slip along geologic faults. The faults slip because of movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates. This concept is called the elastic rebound theory. The rocky tectonic plates move very slowly, floating on top of a weaker rocky layer. As the plates collide with each other or slide past each other, pressure builds up within the rocky crust. Earthquakes occur when pressure within the crust increases slowly over hundreds of years and finally exceeds the strength of the rocks. Earthquakes also occur when human activities, such as the filling of reservoirs, increase stress in the Earth’s crust.

Tectonic Earthquakes
Tectonic earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy stored within the rocks along a fault. The released energy is produced by the strain on the rocks due to movement within the Earth, called tectonic deformation. The effect is like the sudden breaking and snapping back of a stretched elastic band.

Volcanic Earthquakes
Volcanic earthquakes occur near active volcanoes but have the same fault slip mechanism as tectonic earthquakes. Volcanic earthquakes are caused by the upward movement of magma under the volcano, which strains the rock locally and leads to an earthquake. As the fluid magma rises to the surface of the volcano, it moves and fractures rock masses and causes continuous tremors that can last up to several hours or days. Volcanic earthquakes occur in areas that are associated with volcanic eruptions, such as in the Cascade Mountain Range of the Pacific Northwest, Japan, Iceland, and at isolated hot spots such as Hawaii.

EFFECTS
Ground Shaking and Landslides
Fire
Tsunami Waves and Flooding
Disease

Volcano

INTRODUCTION
Volcano, mountain or hill formed by the accumulation of materials erupted through one or more openings (called volcanic vents) in the earth's surface. The term volcano can also refer to the vents themselves. Most volcanoes have steep sides, but some can be gently sloping mountains or even flat tablelands, plateaus, or plains. The volcanoes above sea level are the best known, but the vast majority of the world's volcanoes lie beneath the sea, formed along the global oceanic ridge systems that crisscross the deep ocean floor. According to the Smithsonian Institution, 1511 above-sea volcanoes have been active during the past 10,000 years, 539 of them erupting one or more times during written history. On average, 50 to 60 above-sea volcanoes worldwide are active in any given year; about half of these are continuations of eruptions from previous years, and the rest are new.

Volcanic eruptions in populated regions are a significant threat to people, property, and agriculture. The danger is mostly from fast-moving, hot flows of explosively erupted materials, falling ash, and highly destructive lava flows and volcanic debris flows (see Volcano Hazards below). In addition, explosive eruptions, even from volcanoes in unpopulated regions, can eject ash high into the atmosphere, creating drifting volcanic ash clouds that pose a serious hazard to airplanes.

VOLCANO FORMATION
All volcanoes are formed by the accumulation of magma (molten rock that forms below the earth's surface). Magma can erupt through one or more volcanic vents, which can be a single opening, a cluster of openings, or a long crack, called a fissure vent. It forms deep within the earth, generally within the upper part of the mantle (one of the layers of the earth’s crust), or less commonly, within the base of the earth's crust. High temperatures and pressures are needed to form magma. The solid mantle or crustal rock must be melted under conditions typically reached at depths of 80 to 100 km (50 to 60 mi) below the earth’s surface.

VOLCANIC MATERIALS
Three different types of materials may erupt from an active volcano. These materials are lava, tephra (rock fragments), and gases. The type and amount of the material that erupts from an active volcano depends on the composition of the magma inside the volcano.

TYPES OF VOLCANOES
Volcanoes come in different shapes and sizes, depending on the makeup of the magma, the style of the eruption, and how often they erupt. The major types of volcanoes, roughly in order of increasing size, are cinder cones, composite volcanoes (also called stratovolcanoes), shield volcanoes, calderas, and plateaus. Calderas and plateaus are shaped differently than traditional volcanoes—neither has a mountain-like shape.

Astronomy

INTRODUCTION
Astronomy, study of the universe and the celestial bodies, gas, and dust within it. Astronomy includes observations and theories about the solar system, the stars, the galaxies, and the general structure of space. Astronomy also includes cosmology, the study of the universe and its past and future. People who study astronomy are called astronomers, and they use a wide variety of methods to perform their research. These methods usually involve ideas of physics, so most astronomers are also astrophysicists, and the terms astronomer and astrophysicist are basically identical. Some areas of astronomy also use techniques of chemistry, geology, and biology.

Astronomy is the oldest science, dating back thousands of years to when primitive people noticed objects in the sky overhead and watched the way the objects moved. In ancient Egypt, the first appearance of certain stars each year marked the onset of the seasonal flood, an important event for agriculture. In 17th-century England, astronomy provided methods of keeping track of time that were especially useful for accurate navigation. Astronomy has a long tradition of practical results, such as our current understanding of the stars, day and night, the seasons, and the phases of the Moon. Much of today's research in astronomy does not address immediate practical problems. Instead, it involves basic research to satisfy our curiosity about the universe and the objects in it. One day such knowledge may well be of practical use to humans.