Growth and decay are able to illustrate interesting phenomenon’s and are able to show the real issue with good and bad things as they change overtime. Although it is usually more negative in some cases for exponential decay, the article that I investigated was regarding exponential growth revolving around a terrible medical condition, Ebola. The article was able to first site the medical issues and causes that have come from this awful disease, however more shockingly was the graph that they provided showing the increase in diagnosis of Ebola since its initial outbreak and recording. Even within the article one doctor is quoted saying, “This is a disease outbreak that is advancing in an exponential fashion,”- Dr. David Nabarro. This is related to our class due to the fashion in which the data was collected and plotted but it is also such a terrible medical condition that is exponentially destroying the population- tying to our overall definition of sustainability. I found this article and topic to be extremely interesting, scary, and relatable to our course.
Another great aspect to this article is that they break down is where their initial data came from and why it may contribute to the overall Ebola outbreaks. This directly ties indo course regarding the sustainability of human population.
Predicting How The Ebola Epidemic Will Grow
Researchers at Columbia University developed a model to forecast how the current Ebola epidemic might continue through mid-October, based on the infection rates as of Sept. 7. The “no change” forecast assumes that current efforts at stopping the virus will continue at the same rate of effectiveness. The “improved” forecast assumes that interventions will become more effective.
· Infections
· Forecast: No change
· Forecast: Improved
07/1307/2007/2708/0308/1008/1708/2408/3109/0709/1409/2109/2810/0510/1210/1905,00010,00015,00020,0004,36615,6027,750
Source: Columbia Prediction of Infectious Diseases, World Health Organization
Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR
Ebola is prevalent and always has been in Africa but a lot of people were newly associated with the disease when it entered the United States in 2015. I was certainly unfamiliar with the disease, and extremely worried about the potential spreading of Ebola around the US. I’m assuming the population you’re referring to is Africa which is tragic (the one being destroyed by the disease) and I hope there is not another scare of it in the near future here in the US.
What I found especially interesting about this blog post is that it exemplifies how some of these words we have been using in class for making calculations are also used in everyday jargon. The doctor uses the word “exponential” when describing the Ebola outbreak to people without making it too technical. This shows how math is used a lot in everyday life even if it is not obvious.
I haven’t thought much about Ebola in a few years. When it came into the US a few years ago, I remember being incredibly terrified and confused about the disease. However, now that it is 2018 and this article is from 2014, we know that Ebola is not growing at an exponential pace.