Retreating Glaciers Threaten Water Supplies

This picture shows the path of a glacier over the past 150 years.

Glaciers are retreating very fast. They are currently decreasing at about 1% per year, and that percentage is still increasing.. Baraer, and collaborators Prof. "When a glacier starts to retreat, at some point you reach a plateau and from this point onwards, you have a decrease in the discharge of meltwater from the glacier," explained Baraer. "For almost all the watersheds we have studied, we have good evidence that we have passed peak water." This means that the people who rely on this water source could have some serious problems due to the lack of water.

Website: http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/environment/envi_pollution_intro%20-%20thermal.html

Picture: This picture shows the process of thermal pollution and one of things that causes it and what  are the effects of it.











Thermal Pollution

Thermal Pollution is the rise and fall in tempature of a natural body of water caused by human influence. It happens when warmer water has less oxygen. In the United States industrial waste water is the biggest factor in thermal pollution. Power plants for example are big impacts on thermal pollution. When the water used at the power plant leaves it goes back to the bodies of water. It affects ecosystems and decreases the oxygen. Also when the tempature is higher the less dissolved oxygen. This messes with fishes, amphibins, and coepods. If it messes with animals it messes with their ecosystem.  Which means its biodiversty can be affected an decrease. Thermal Pollution can be controlled by cooling ponds, cooling towers which take waste heat to the atmosphere, and congeneration a process where heat is recycled. It's very easy to stop or controlled so we need to start now.

Opinion:
I think that Thermal Pollution is something that be taken care of easily. It is hard to stop completly because of the other things we do to create it. I do think their could be a way to stop thermal pollution altogther(because its hurting are animals) and keep producing what we need. Even though we dont here that much about thermal pollution it is still hurting us. If we take care of it know we wont have to worry about it later on. 

Questions:
Do you think we should focus on Thermal Pollution? Do you think we should try to stop it?
Do you think that if we stop Thermal Pollution there will be a big change?
How are some off the ways we can stop it? 

Groundwater Pollution for Kids

By: Bethany Wieman

Article and Picture Link:

http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/groundwater-pollution-kids-2265.html

Picture:

In this picture, runoff water from a rainstorm filters its way down into the soil to become apart of the groundwater supply.

Summary:

Groundwater is moisture inside the Earth that is caused when water is soaked into the ground and then saturated in the soil. The soil then holds this water supply beneath the surface, and then can be pumped out to be used as fresh, clean water for drinking, washing, bathing, and for crops. Lately, this groundwater that is used by us is becoming polluted everyday which makes it unable to use. This is a very big problem. This means that perfectly good water that can be used as a resource is now wasted because of pollution. The water can become polluted in many different ways. The water may get polluted if it ever comes in contact with contaminated substances on its way through the soil. These substances consist of fuel residues and solvents or other chemicals. If we don't make an effort to stop groundwater pollution, then some day we will eventually run out of good groundwater for use as a natural resource. 

Opinion/Reflection:

I believe that it would be in our best interest to try and stop groundwater pollution as much as possible. While already running out of fresh drinking water all around the world, we then really need to make sure we keep our groundwater as clean as possible and in good supply. Some efforts to try and conserve our fresh groundwater can be made. Cleaning up the already polluted groundwater is already being done by pumping out the water and filtering it, and then sending it back down into the soil. Hopefully this is helping to decrease the amount of contaminated groundwater currently sitting under the surface right now. To prevent from ever polluting the water underground, make sure that oils, paints, and any chemicals are disposed of correctly. I feel that groundwater pollution is a big problem, but that it can be easily prevented and eventually solved.

Questions:

What is groundwater and how does it become polluted?

Why is it important that we make an effort to prevent groundwater pollution?

What are some things that are being done to decrease the amount of polluted groundwater in our soil and how can contaminating the water supply be prevented in the first place?

Safe Drinking Water Availability and Importance http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=25

 http://bznotes.wordpress.com/2006/07/25/water-elixir-of-life-is-in-short-supply/

Picture:

This map shows what percentage of population by country that doesn’t have access to clean and safe drinking water.

 

Summary:

As the worlds population is increasing immensly so is the demand for clean and safe drinking water. More than one out of six people lack access to safe drinking water, namely 1.1 billion people, and more than two out of six lack adequate sanitation, about 2.6 billion people. 3,900 children die every day from water borne diseases and 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases. Over 260 river basins are shared by two or more countries mostly without adequate legal or institutional arrangements. Also as the population increases so does the use of water and this not only reduces water available for industrial and agricultural development but has a big effect on aquatic ecosystems and their dependent species. One of the main objectives by the World Water Council is to increase the awareness of the water issue and provide safe water for those who don’t have it. Water is more important than we think and it is important that it’s clean and safe when we drink it because we can get sick and even die.

Opinion/Reflection:

Most of this information shocked me because I wasn't expecting 1.1 billion people lacking safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people needing adequate sanitation. I was also very surprised to see that 3,900 children die everyday from water borne diseases. I knew we had a problem with safe water and water pollution, but I didn't think it was this serious. People need to start doing something about this quick because it's only going to get worse. I like the fact that the World Water Council is trying to increase the awareness of the water problem and provide safe drinking water for those who don't have it. People really need to start thinking what water pollution is doing and stop it quick.    

Questions:
1. Do you think the water pollution problem can be fixed, and how?
2. Do you think that what the World Water Council is doing helpful?
3. What would you do if you lacked safe drinking water? 

 

Global Food Shortage and American Consumption

This is wheat, one of the worlds most abundantly grown crops suffering from food drought.

Global Food Shortage Becomes Urgent As Planet Warms

Written By: Robert Roy Britt 

Date: 5/6/11 

 

 

URL For Website and Picture: http://www.livescience.com/14447-global-food-shortage-urgent-climate-global-warming.html

 

 Due to the most recent changes in climate, global strikes of food shortage are starting to show up. This is just only one of the factors though. It is also said to be caused by our never ending growing population and our scarce water supply in certain areas around the world. This is causing more and more people to be left without food and going hungry. The biggest problem though is that it has been recorded that Americans tend to throw away 40 percent of there food and individually each person throws away 50 percent. With the efforts of trying to produce more food, Americans are not helping by just dumping away perfectly good food that can be eaten by someone who really needs it around the world.
My opinion on this situation is that we need to address to our nation to stop throwing away perfectly healthy and edible food, while other countries are starving with not one bit of food to spare. I for one will now think twice before throwing away any of my uneaten food, just thinking of the others who could easily be having it instead of being put in a landfill.

Global Warming and Burning of Fossil Fuels

The air pollution makes the sun the clear sky hard to see. 

         Global Warming is a very serious issue in the world. The burning of fossil fuels is to blame for this because they release their deadly carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Scientists say they are 99 percent sure the burning of fossil fuels is a major contributor to global warming. They predict global warming temperatures we arise from 2.5 to 10.4 degrees in the next hundred years. The prediction also show more droughts, floods, and rising sea levels. Many states and people are taking precautions to reduce the amount of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 12 states are starting processes to reduce the amount of fossil fuels being used and the amount of pollution we let enter the atmosphere.Congress will also talk about these problems about global warming upcoming soon. In 2001 reports claimed that the sea level would rise from 3.5 inches to 34 inches! Global warming needs to be held back and to do this we must cut back and our burning ans usage of fossil fuels. Below is the link to the full article.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-01-30-ipcc-report_x.htm 

                                       

Half of Great Barrier Reef Lost in Past 3 Decades

 http://www.livescience.com/23612-great-barrier-reef-steep-decline.html

http://www.padi.com/scuba/scuba-diving-trips/scuba-diving-resort-vacations/australia-great-barrier-reef/

Picture - This picture shows the Great Barrier Reef.

Summary - The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef ecosystem. It has a very large biodiversity, but research shows it is currently going through a decline. It appears that half of the coral reef has completely disappeared. Katherine Fabricius, a coral reef ecologist that has been diving since 1988, said "I hear the changes anecdotally, but this is the first long-term look at the overall status of the reef. There are still a lot of fish, and you can see the giant clams, but not the same color and diversity as in the past". Fabricius and her colleagues surveyed 214 different coral reef's near the Great Barrier Reef, and have gathered information from 2, 258 surveys and have figured out the rate of decline between the years of 1985 until 2012. They found that the biggest contributing factors are the smashing from tropical cyclones, crown-of-thorns starfish that eat coral, and also from coral bleaching from high-temperatures. Some scientists say that reducing carbon dioxide emissions is a key factor to saving the reef. Les Kaufman said "There is absolutely no excuse for failure to do this, and if we do fail our generation will forever be remembered for unimaginable, unforgivable stupidity and sloth".