Hydraulic fracking in California

This shows a brief summary of the hydraulic fracturing process.

Article name: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/20/167712186/next-in-line-for-a-fracking-boom-california-looks-at-the-rules, author Lauren Sommer,

Title: Next In Line For A Fracking Boom, California Looks At The Rules

Summary: This article talks about hydraulic fracking, which is when we receive many resources that are useful by drilling into the ground. Hydraulic fracking is very controversial and many people believe it should be stopped. It has caused a oil boom is PA, TX. The oil companies in Texas have been spending 1 billion dollars a month on drilling. The arguments people have to why it is bad, is because it can cause health problems to the people that live in the area. California could be the next big area for fracking and companies would have to test before and after fracking. Drillers are not required to tell the state that they are fracking in and area, but with the new laws placed in California they would have to tell where and when they are fracking. 

Opinion/ Reflection: I believe hydraulic fracking should continue, if companies take care of the areas they are fracking in. We need to get our resources some how and we will eventually run out of oil etc., so we should receive as much of that resource as possible. It is a very controversial topic and people have different opinions based on moral and religious views, but I think we should keep fracking. This topic will be a big environmental issue and it reminds me of the controversial topic of offshore drilling, which is  still being discussed, and people still argue whether or not we should continue off shore drilling. I believe as long as we get what we need, we should continue with getting our oil etc., but we need to monitor the companies to make sure that they are being as environmentally friendly as possible.  

Questions: Should we stop hydraulic fracking? Why or why not? 

Is hydraulic fracking an important issue to you? Why or why not? 

Do you believe Pennsylvanians should be worried about health problems in there area from hydraulic fracking? Why or why not?

Picture: This show what kind of label you would see on your food if it was labeled to let you know it has a GMO in it or it does not.
The Labeling of GMO's on Food Products
By: Liz Milbourne
Sources:http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/GMO-label-shutterstock-300x228.jpg
http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/04/gmos-gmos-label-label/

A GMO is a genetically modified organism. They are in about 60-80% of the packaged food you buy. Most people want a label on their food informing them if their is a GMO in there food. If their is a label on their food letting them know it contains a GMO the price of their food will get higher. In other countries like Australia, Japan, and China there was a law passed that makes them label all of their GMO food. Other than that law passed in those countries, there has been a push to get get GM food labeled. Most people think that they deserve to know what is in there food. There are a few projects and associations pushing to have our food labeled on not labeled. Overall the issue is that people defied to go on eating what they are eating with no information on what’s in it or they know what’s is in and decide if they will eat it or not.

Opinion: I think we should know what is in our food. Personally I don't they are benifiting us in a healthy way. Also I do not think the labeling of GMO's should increase price. They already labeling the ingredints and a GMO is practically one. I think labeling them will keep us aware of how many of these chemicals we are putting into our body. 

Questions:

1. Do think GMO's should be labeled on a food? 

2. Do you think if they are labeled do you think the purchase of the products will go down.

3. If they decided that GMO's will not be labled and that was the final decision, do you think there would be any effects of that? 

GM Crops

Source:http://www.naturalnews.com/038139_organic_farmers_GMOs_crop_contamination.html

This picture shows corn getting new genes placed into it

The United States Department of Agriculture have made it so farmers have to buy the genetically modified crops themselves.The USDA wants the farmers to have part of the financial burden if all of the crops are ruined by accidental GM drift. GM drift is when organic plants that are near GMO's are infected by the GM plant. "Of particular concern in the report is the recommendation that organic and non-GE conventional farmers pay to self-insure themselves against unwanted GE contamination," said a recent statement issued by the National Organic Coalition. "This proposal allows USDA and the agricultural biotechnology industry to abdicate responsibility for preventing GE contamination while making the victims of GE pollution pay for damages resulting from transgenic contamination.". Farmers have had to deal with GM drift for a long time and usually the corporation that paid them would pay for the crops, but now the USDA wants the farmers to pay for it.

Questions -

1. What is GM drift?

2. Do you think farmers should pay for the ruined crops?

3. Do you think the USDA should be the ones to decide this?

Factory-Farming

Factory-Farm Workers Face First-Ever Felony Cruelty Charges

By: RaeLeann Smith

URL: http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/02/factory-farm-workers-face-first-ever-felony-cruelty-charges/

 

 

 Summary: After an undercover investigator from the PETA visited a factory-farm that holds chickens and turkeys, three of the workers there were convicted and charged of animal cruelty. The investigator witnessed the workers brutally punching and stomping on the birds for practically no reason. They also saw the workers beating down the birds with pipes and boards, and in some cases twisting the birds necks. All of these cruel actions on the poor helpless birds hasn't just been witnessed this once. These incidents have been seen countless times from many other undercover PETA investigators visiting these factory-farms. Even if the birds are not being abused by the workers there, they still suffer greatly. The turkeys and chickens spend five to six months tightly compact living among each other in almost complete darkness. To prevent any pecking or clawing among the birds, a process is used where their toes and a portion of their beak are cut off. Living in their own waste, the birds breath in ammonia fumes which can lead to the burning of their eyes and lungs. Antibiotics are put in the food fed to the birds to prevent these ammonia's from taking affect but lead to even greater problems. These drugs cause them to increase in size over a short period of time, and the birds eventually cannot support their own weight. Broken leg bones are the product of this weight increase and birds have been seen using their wings to crawl to food and water. After this cruel life in these factory-farms, they are finally then sent to the slaughterhouse.

Opinion/Reflection: Personally, hearing about the harsh living conditions for chickens and turkeys in these factory-farms is very nauseating just to think about. The fact that we actually put innocent animals through that much pain and suffering leading up to the death of them is terrible in my opinion and I wouldn't see why anyone else wouldn't agree. Even the idea of the birds being tortured by workers for no practical reason in such a brutal manor is just unbearable for me. I hope to see changes made in the way things are done on these factory-farms as it is simply just sick how they are treated. After thinking about how many chickens or turkeys I have eaten before without knowing about how they got to my dinner plate is really upsetting.

Questions:

Do you think something should be done to change the ways of raising these animals on the factory-farms?

How do you feel about the ways of the factory-farms and their methods of raising the animals?

Should laws be made about how the workers at the factory-farms treat the animals?

 

 

 

 

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle! http://epa.gov/recycle/recycle.html, November 14, 2012

http://epa.gov/recycle/images/pie_chart_2010.jpg
 

Picture: This picture shows what happens to the things that we throw away. More than half of the things we throw away are landfilled and only about one-third of them are recycled. 11.7% of the stuff that we throw away ends up being combusted for energy.

Summary: Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products. Recycling can benefit your community and the environment. Recycling helps reduce the amount of waste we send to landfills and incinerators, helps conserves natural resources such as wood, water, and minerals and it saves energy. Recycling helps prevent pollution and reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change. Recycling can also help keep the environment for future generations. Some common household items that are recycled are newspapers, plastic/aluminum cans and water bottles. The best way to reduce waste is not to create it at all. Making a new product requires a lot of material and energy, raw material must be taken from the earth and the product must be made and then transported. Some things that can be reused are cloth, books, and shopping bags and some things that can be reduced is water use, fertilizer use and etc. The reduce, reuse, recycle method is the most effective way to save natural resources, protect the environment and save money.                                    




Opinion/Reflection: I always recycle plastic bottles, cereal boxes and magazines but I never thought what I am doing is this important to the environment and the world. My family recycles a lot and we constantly reuse cloth, jars and baby toys. We try to shut off water when were not using it and turn off the light if it is not needed. I feel really good that I was doing it without knowing because now I will continue to do this and perhaps recycle, reuse, and reduce more. I think people that don't reduce, reuse and recycle should start doing it because they are helping the environment and they are also helping themselves. 


 Questions:
1. From the reduce, reuse, recycle method, which one do you think is the most important?
2. Do you think there should be strict laws about recycling?
3. Do you believe that the reduce, reuse, recycle method is important?    

World extinction

The Great Panda is an endangered species and is at great risk of extinction.


This article is by Julia Whitty, it is called Animal Extinction the Greatest Threat to Mankind, and was published on April 30th, 2007. Here is the link to the article: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/animal-extinction--the-greatest-threat-to-mankind-397939.html

This article talks about the high rate of extinction and people's blissful ignorance to the extinction problems that are occurring to our planet. Currently we are in a mass extinction period the 6th in the earth's history. Our last extinction period occurred 50 million years ago when dinosaurs went extinct and the ice age occurred. We have been building up for this period in time for 50,000 years. More and more animals have been going extinct since our human ancestors first lived on Africa killing animals with spears and harpoons. Today currently 73% of plants, 51% reptiles, and 52% insects are at risk of extinction. A poll showed that most people had no idea in mass extinction being a bigger threat to human society than global warming. Everyday 73 species become extinct and the mass extinction rate is 100 times what it used to be. 190 different nations signed a treaty to try to save species on the red list which contains endangered, critically endangered, and threatened animals. The loss of one species affects the ecosystem and its surrounding communities. A lot of keystone species at also at risk of extinction such as the army ants which are known to support at least 100 known species. One scary thing is that amphibian species are starting to decline, a species that has played a major role in ecosystems for 300 million years.  By calculations in the next half century half of all species will be lost. The Wildlands Project group is said to implement acts of conservation, that will take 100 years to fully complete. 16,000 species of plants, birds, and mammals are at threat of extinction or endangerment. On the last red list 16, 118 species are said to be at risk of extinction and 8, 390 of those are plants and 7, 725 are animals. 

Opinion/Reflection: I believe that we should do more to conserve animals and plant types. These different species provide us with things we need and are very important for our living. I would like to see these animals around when my children grow up and I want them to be able to get a look at a tiger or a rhino and enjoy the interesting different species in the world. I have seen some of my favorite animals, the great panda and tiger, go on the endangered species list and are now at risk of extinction. These animals are very interesting to me and many others and it would be a shame to see them go extinct. I also believe we should save these animals because they benefit us by giving food like eggs and milk, and giving resources that we now find essential for living. We must save these animals! 

Questions: 1. How many species of plants are expected to go extinct by 2100? 

2. How would some of these animals extinctions affect the world climate? 

3. What genus of species is most at risk of extinction?

 4. What are some more groups that are trying to save the endangered wild life. Why? 

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".

THE IMPORTANCE OF WHITE SHARKS http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120929140238.htm

      


 

                                                                                                    
http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01316/Great%20White%20Shark.html
                Picture: This is a picture of a white shark. These sharks help to keep balance in the oceans ecosystem by their individuality and variation of their diets.

               Summary: White sharks, the largest predatory sharks in the ocean, are     thought of as apex predators that feed primarily on seals and sea lions. But a new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, shows surprising variability in the dietary preferences of individual sharks. University of Wyoming student Sora Kim said, "We did find that white shark diets changed with age, as expected, but we were surprised that the patterns and extent of change differed among individuals." Paul Koch, professor of Earth and planetary science at UCSC said that not all sharks eat the same mix of prey. He also said, "We confirmed that the diets of many individuals observed at seal and sea lion rookeries shift from fish to marine mammals as the sharks mature. We discovered that different individual sharks may specialize on different types of prey. These two types of flexibility in feeding behavior are difficult to document using traditional methods, but may be very important for understanding how the population is supported by the eastern Pacific ecosystem and how it may respond to changes in that ecosystem." It is important to the ecosystem that these sharks don't go extinct because of human actions. These sharks keep a balance in the oceans ecosystem and they are self relient.   

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/human_pop/human_pop.htmlPicture:

This is a picture of a graph showing the population of each continent.

Summary:

This article starts out with stating our population growth. Its only taken 40 years since 1950 to get the population to about 5 million. Now the prediction is for the population to reach 8 to 12 billion before the end of the 21st century. The current growth rate is at about 1.3% and thats about 90 million people a year, thats the highest its ever been. The population depends on the fertility rate. The more children the high the population. Some countries have higher birth rates than others. Also the mortality rate(death rate) depends on the population. The demographic transition is the shift from high birth and death rates to low birth as well as death rates. In the end different things help increase and decrease and balance out the population.