EcoCMUfall21B

  Any hope left? By:Laurel Devenney https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/effects-of-climate-change   Global warming is destroying the land we live on and is continuing to put more and more of our animals closer to extinction because we as humans are refusing to look at the facts and make a change. According to Worldwildlife, because of the rise in temperature there is also a rise in sea levels. So what's the problem? This affects many sea creatures as certain water temperatures that would stay a certain degree now rising cause changes in habitat and therefore for food sources because the sea animals are going elsewhere for better temperatures. Because of this animals are dying of starvation as well as predators. Now without habitats to hide them in a secure and safe home, they are out in the open to where any hungry creature that swims by can see them defenseless and alone. This can change and it starts with us and how we are living now. From transportation to littering to ma...

 Agriculture  Agriculture is strongly important because how it is the main source for our food supply.  Without it everything would be going down fast because without our food what could we really do. No mattering what you eating or ingredients you are using agriculture is involved no matter what so therefore without agriculture the world would be in shambles and everything would just be a massacre. 

 Water is the essential thing for survival for any kind of life here on earth and even in outer space. That’s why NASA’s motto in the hunt for extraterrestrial life has been “follow the water”. NASA discovered that there was water on Mars on September 27th, 2012. Scientists have found dark streaks on the planet and this raises the odds that Mars could potentially be another “Earth”. Water is such a crucial molecule for life.Water can dissolve nearly anything, but it is also one of the only few materials that can exist as a solid, liquid and gas in a narrow range of temperatures. All of the three states of water available on Earth creates a large variety of habitats and microclimates. For example, frozen ice can be found in glaciers that go through the mountains, whereas water vapor helps warm the atmosphere. Water has helped maintain the “building blocks on life” on Earth for years and can even help scientists discover more habitual planets for the years to come. 

This week I want to talk about Deuterium-tritium fusion. According to Derek A. Sutherland, a member of the fusion energy research and development community, one of the biggest challenges is the temperature that's required to produce fusion from plasma.  Sutherland also goes on to state, " One of the most popular fusion reactions considered for first generation fusion systems is called deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion."  What is Deuterium and tritium? That sounds like something from a science fiction movie. Trust me it's not. According to the department of energy, deuterium and tritium are isotopes of hydrogen.                                         Image courtesy of DOE and General  Atomics According to Sutherland, one of the reasons for pursuing DT fusion is because it requires lower plasma temperatures to make fusion power.  DT fusion is lookin...

Agricultural Pollution, a threat to the planet's water:   What is the risk?  Risk is the sector that generates the most wastewater on the planet. Agricultural land receives approximately 115 million tons of fertilizers per year.  20% ends up accumulating in the soil and in the bio mass.  Another 35% end up in the oceans and rivers.  What is bio mass?  It is the amount of products obtained by photosynthesis, capable of being transformed into useful fuel for man and expressed in units of surface and volume  Every year the planet is sprayed with 4.6 million tons of chemical pesticides, generating excess nitrogen and phosphates in the earth and causing about 24% of the world's irrigated surface to be affected by salinization and nutrient overload.  Agricultural pollution is being a serious threat to the water of the planet.  It is in our hands to use them carefully and become aware that we are ending the world.  One of the effects that in my...

 Bird have been notorious for their extreme resilience, and abilities to adapt. Birds have long since been a strong sign of ecosystem health. A bird can inhabit more than one ecosystem at a time and still thrive. They migrate over oceans, into climates much unlike their own ecosystem, and yet they do this annually without too many issues. Until recently we couldn’t fathom a serious decline in bird species and population due to there extreme adaptability. So then why are one in eight birds endangered of going extinct?         The largest contributor to our bird declinations is pesticides which began being developed in World War II, and which is still destroying bird populations today. This pesticide is called DDT and PCBs. Study’s show that birds not only are being affected directly from these chemicals, but also are also being exposed through their prey. If an insect is unaffected by the pesticide and the bird eats it, it can become just as vulnerable as a ...

  When talking about the environment something that I believe farmers do a swell job at is crop rotation. In the article stated below you can read about the ends and out of this process, as I am going to tell you why we are farmers do this. We don’t do this just for the fun of it but more so to help our environment and the soil that we call home.   https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organic/organic-farming-practices/crop-rotations/#:~:text=Crop%20rotation%20helps%20return%20nutrients,increase%20biodiversity%20on%20the%20farm .   Row crop farmers are doing this because if they were to continue planting corn every year in that field the same nutrients would be getting pulled out of the soil. As the article above states (not in exact words), turning the soil provides nutrients within synthetic inputs. While it also is helping reduce the amount of pest and diseases that cycle throughout the soil. All in all, these row crop farmers are helping our great soil that we cal...

 Mason Mitchell  A lot of the times we hear about a certain species being endangered but to me it mostly feels like I had no idea that they were endangered until hearing about it. It almost feels like there isn’t a decline. One minute a species is fine and the next minute they’re at risk of extinction. Well obviously something has to happen to cause a species to get form being fine to endangered to in some cases extinct. A species can become endangered for primarily two reasons. Loss of habitat and loss of genetic variation. A loss of habitat can happen naturally for example the dinosaurs dry hot climate changed very rapidly because of an a storied colliding with earth cause debris to be spread out into the atmosphere. This caused not as much heat or light to come through and because the dinosaurs couldn’t adapt to the cooler climate they became extinct.  However, a lot of times habitat loss doesn’t happen naturally and is caused by human development. Development of housi...

In the past few posts, I have talked about the different species of animals and flora that are feeling the effects of extinction. In this post, I want to address the different ways that we have and can continue to help protect the life of these things.  According to the National Wildlife Foundation, “ The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted by Congress in 1973. Under the ESA, the federal government has the responsibility to protect endangered species (species that are likely to become extinct throughout all or a large portion of their range), threatened species (species that are likely to become endangered in the near future), and critical habitat (areas vital to the survival of endangered or threatened species).” This act has a list of species of plants and animals that are protected both nationally and worldwide. The reason that this act is important is that it saves many of our native fish, plants, and other wildlife from going extinct. To really emphasize the gravity of ex...

  Natural Resource Extraction Post-COVID Since COVID hit, resource extraction has not slowed down, in fact it has become more common. Excess resource extraction will negatively affect the land and territories for not just the people, but animals and creatures that habitat that area. Resource extraction always plays a factor in the climate crisis and affects global warming. The positive to this is that we can still fix this problem and it’s not too late. The negative is that it has already done irreversible damage to the environment and has heavily effected, or even ruined, lots of people’s and animal’s lives.  https://www.uu.nl/en/news/natural-resource-extraction-after-covid-social-justice-challenges https://www.energylivenews.com/2019/03/13/global-resource-extraction-has-more-than-tripled-since-1970/

Over the past decade, California has always been at risk of drought. The state is one of the most diverse and important states in the nation with its agriculture and tourist sites. The cost of living in California is among the highest in the nation. Climate change has played a huge part in farming and rain. California's dry period grows longer every year and its wet season decreases. Global warming causes the agricultural industry which not only feeds the residents but also the entire U.S. This production decline can lead to food shortages and higher demand. The lack of rain can also increase the risk of forest fire because the high temperatures are making forests drier. With these wildfires, plants and animals species may lose their homes and endanger the species.  According to oag.ca.gov, approximately 85% of California's population lives and works in coastal counties. You may be wondering why I mention this. Well, The sea level on the coasts has risen nearly 8 inches and wi...

 Diversified Crop Rotation - Connor Sullivan           For my Third blog I found this article on the website Hindawi, this was an article by  Kabita Kumari Shah. This article talks about crop rotation and the many benefits it has to the ecosystem and everything in and around it.  Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons.      Diversified crop rotation improves the efficiency of farming systems all over the world. It has the potentiality to improve soil condition and boost system productivity. Improved soil attributes such as increased soil water uptake and storage, and a greatly improve yield tolerance to drought and other hard growing conditions in a variety of crop rotations. B ecause of the distinct structure, function, and relationship of the plants it contributes to the long-term development of soil by decreasing insect, w...

Soil Pollution Sewage leaks, irresponsible waste disposal, use of chemicals in agriculture, or even cracked paint chips from buildings can cause soil pollution. Our agriculture grows our food, but some farming practices contaminate our soil. Cadmium is a highly toxic metal that is in some mineral phosphorus fertilizers. Even “organic fertilizers” has heavy metals and organic pollutants in it. With these toxic chemicals in our soil, it can affect our food and water as well. Overall, land and its soil is where pollutants end up over time. https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2020/articles/land-and-soil-pollution Megan Aubuchon

 How our trash impacts the environment - Austin Downs and Richard Acevedo This article tells us about how plastic waste impacts our lives and the lives of animal species. First, they show us with some shocking numbers that we use way too much plastic and more importantly, we recycle way too little ( only 9 percent!). Plastic contains methane gas. If we burn used plastic instead of recycling it, it causes a huge increase in carbon dioxide, which is bad for the environment and increases global warmth. Plastic is also very bad for certain animal species. For example, see animals eat the plastic that we throw in the ocean and because they can’t digest all of the plastic, they will most certainly die… As of last, thanks to the increase in emissions, we will develop a lot of diseases such as asthma, cancer, birth defects , and much more. I am really concerned about how we fail in recycling plastic. For example, when I went to Walmart, they only used plastic bags and they didn’t even fill...

Water aid  https://www.wateraid.org/us/why-wateraid?gclid=Cj0KCQjw18WKBhCUARIsAFiW7Jxj9X4SMc2TwnlgUJEkFuZ0efQFLeml9OBLXJ4F8K5ohCQgduulKjUaAmzpEALw_wcB         We all need clean water along with toilets and decent hygiene to stay healthy. They should be a part of everyone's daily lives, everywhere - but they aren't. We have the ability to modify that. We're working in some of the world's most difficult places with the help of incredible people like you. With these three necessities, we've already reached millions of people, allowing entire communities to stay healthy, unlock their potential, break free from poverty, and change their lives for the better. While installing faucets and toilets is an important part of our job, we also do a lot more. Water is only the beginning, from campaigning to engineering. We all know that 750 million people without access to safe drinking water is not normal. It should not be normal for 2 billion people to be without a functioni...

Clean Energy in Houston by Ava Lairmore   Houston's mayor has been putting in a lot of effort to turn to clean energy, because he understands that climate change is accelerating.  " A Climate Action Plan launched last year stands at the center of Houston’s transition. The city has reduced municipal greenhouse gas emissions by 37% since 2005, and aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement."  Renewable resources are being used in a lot of facilities in Houston, even though they face a lot of problems in doing so. There is a constant divide between them and the oil and gas industries. There are also issues of people just wanting to go the traditional route, and not accept that climate change is a large issue nowadays. Houston will have the largest solar farm in the country, which will be 240 acres: " Once completed, Turner said the facility will generate enough energy to power 5,000 homes and offset an estimated 120 million pounds ...

 The Utilization of Solar Power by Ava Lairmore The world is at a divide right now between people who want more power lines, and people who want “a more decentralized energy system.” The country needs cleaner energy, which is an issue that “has split the renewable energy industry and the environmental movement.” This winter, Texans froze and faced a very dangerous situation because the state electricity failed. President Joe Biden wants to utilize solar farms, which requires power lines because they’d have to be far from the city, all across the country. Biden wants to move towards a more central system that includes everyone nationally, because our electricity is regionally based right now.  Ultimately, the solution will depend on Congress and the country as a whole. A lot of scientists and environmentalists are pushing for more use of solar energy and batteries, mainly because of climate change, and I think this solution is most optimal for our survival. “A 2019 report by th...

 Mason Mitchell             To begin talking about deforestation first it helps to understand exactly what deforestation is. Deforestation is the purposeful clearing of forested land. The next thing to look at is why is this problem occurring? Deforestation occurs for multiple reasons. Through history forests have been razed to make room for agriculture and animal gazing as well as to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction. The main problem with deforestation is it’s causing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere this speeds up the process of global warming causing climate change to become worse.  So what can we do to solve this issue.  Well there is hope in fact deforestation is starting to decrease in North America because of conservation efforts form multiple non profit organizations. There are multiple move to across our country and our world that deal with planting trees and protecting forests. We can do our part and...

 Water pollution is one of the most serious ecological threats we as humans face today. Water pollution is when toxic substances enter water bodies such as lakes, rivers, and oceans. This makes the quality of the water decrease. Not only does this hurt our aquatic life, it also can seep through and reach the groundwater, which might end up in our households. Water pollution can be caused by many things. One of the most harmful being city sewage and industrial waste sewage. Organic are decomposed naturally in the sewage by the harmful bacteria and other organisms, the dissolved oxygen content of the water is diminished. This is very harmful to aquatic and marine life because every single one of these organisms need oxygen to survive.                

 David Nalls  Why agriculture so important with trade and raw materials  Agriculture is so important because it is the main supply for most of the raw materials.. raw materials like cotton, sugar, wood, or palm oil. Materials like this are important in trades and major industries that people don’t know about. And raw materials are so important in production that the economic health of a country strongly depends on how many raw materials it possesses. also it’s important because of how raw materials are need international soo trades international are extremely important. Soo the materials that they don’t have and need they have international trades for them. It also helps the nation bring in more money just because of how important it is in the state and how much we can supply the other countries. 

 ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS FOUND IN THE COUNTRY WHERE I WAS BORN (Argentina): INTRODUCTION:                                                                                               Among the different regions of Argentina, the Pampean Region shows the greatest signs of human intervention.  This region comprises an important geographic economic area that occupies approximately 60 million hectares and extends into sectors of five provinces: Santa Fé, Entre Ríos, Córdoba, La Pampa and Buenos Aires.  In addition, it centralizes between 80% and 90% of the country's cereal and oilseed production and more than 50% of the total population. Some regions, such as the Argentine Pampean Region, have a marked aptitude to provide agricultural services w...

                                                                    Gone Too Soon? By:Laurel Devenney https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/global_warming_and_endangered_species/index.html   Global warming is continuing to destroy the land we live on and is continuing to put more and more of our animals closer to extinction. As the earth becomes  warmer when it's supposed to be getting cooler and having many droughts and plants being destroyed it causes our wildlife to suffer tremendously. Looking further into my topic on how global warming affects our animals the results are devastating as these animals are closer to extinction than I had originally thought. According to the Central for Biological Diversity over a third of our animal population here on earth are shown to be extinct by the year 2050, t...

China’s Coal Plant Plan China, specifically Beijing, has been the “undisputed king of coal” in the world. However, the country just announced that they will stop building coal-burning power plants overseas. Do Jinping, China’s top leader said China, “will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.” In 2020, China was produced more than three times the amount of  coal power capacity than the rest of the countries in the world combined. China has coal plants in more than 12 countries, mainly Asia, that will be affected by this decision. Despite what other countries think, environmentalists and people that are deeply concerned about global warming will be happy to see China taking a big leap in the right direction.  Source:  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/world/asia/china-coal.html

  I n my last post, I discussed the element of extinction and the impact the extinction of amphibians would have on our planet as a whole. Today I want to talk about how our planet is also at risk of losing something equally as important. Our flora and fauna. this will severely impact our ecosystem.   According to the Conscious Club, " They found 571 species had definitely been wiped out since 1750" but the researchers say that the extinction rate is 500 times greater today due to the climate our world is in. Our world's "seed-bearing" plants are going extinct at a rate of 3 species a year since 1900. this is obviously a detrimental situation. with out plants we as humans are in for a lot of trouble. We won't be able to mass-produce these animals like we are at the rate we do today, thus leaving a lot of people without food. This video shows a brief clip into the way we are trying to preserve our planet today. 

 http://www.environmentreports.com/how-does-agriculture-change/#section2 After reading this article I found out that at times I have a different view then others. Agriculture is something that I have been raised around and on. I have never been against agriculture as a whole but I can agree with people that there are things that farmers do that simply just aren't right.  "Agriculture is responsible for about half of global methane emissions. Methane  is 26 times stronger as a GHG than CO 2 . Ruminant livestock, including cows and sheep, digest their food through enteric fermentation, which produces methane. The result: Globally, about a third of agriculture’s methane emissions come from livestock. Burning biomass to prepare fields is another methane-maker, as is applying manure to fields."- from article stated above This paragraph is straight out of the article that I read and I just want to post out some facts about it. If you didn't know the background knowledge you...