https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud en-us 2018-01-22 15:45:31 UTC 2018-01-22 17:23:03 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Xmastree.png 18levinsonk https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223389315 Dr. Berger, a wildlife biologist, concluded in a study that climate change is endangering the musk oxen living in the Arctic. Female oxen do not have enough food resources to sustain their pregnancies and the calves that are born are likely to die prematurely or are undersized throughout their youth. Dr. Berger and his team connected the declining mortality of oxen to the declining level of rainfall. Oxen graze by pushing snow to the side with their noses but with the fain freezing over, they cannot reach the lichen/moss on the ground. In the long term, oxen who are born already undernourished will remain so through maturity. This means they will will be susceptible to death and disease and will also take longer to mature sexually. As a result, the musk oxen population is at risk of declining. ]]> 2018-01-22 15:48:31 UTC https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223389315 18levinsonk https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223397959 Duke University discovered radioactivity in stream sediments despite the fact Pennsylvania imposed the ban of disposing radium-laden fracking water in to surface water. In 2011, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection implemented the ban after citizens became worried about the environmental and health issues fracking water threatened. Furthermore, Avner Vengosh, a professor at Duke University, states that the radium and water used in oil and gas wells also threaten the water quality. It was found that at dumping sites, radiation levels were 650 times higher than those of upstream sediments years after the initial action taken to reduce it. ]]> 2018-01-22 16:02:23 UTC https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223397959 18levinsonk https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223409833 An Iranian oil tanker, Sanchi, collided with a Chinese cargo ship about a week before finally sinking. The tanker burst into flames and killed 32 members of its crew. The ship had 136,000 tons of crude oil and environmentalists and officials expect drastic effects on the aquatic life as a test done by the Chinese government showed that a dangerous amount of petroleum is present. At least two oil slicks have been discovered, one reaching a length of 15 kilometers and another reaching 58 square kilometers. The two ships crashed into each other in a popular fishing area, the Zhoushan shipping ground, which will hurt not just the fish but the economy as well. ]]> 2018-01-22 16:21:18 UTC https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223409833 18levinsonk https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223427620 In South Africa, Cape Town's limited water supply has become an extreme issue. After undergoing three droughts within the past year, the Western Cape is struggling to find and conserve water. Officials have implored residents to conserve water because their water supply could be lost by April. To help the cause, officials are giving residents water rations of 50 liters. Until then, the city has ninety-five days before the city must turn off its taps. Authorities are searching for new means of getting water through methods such as wastewater recycling, desalinization, and drilling. Conservation efforts include taking 2-minute showers and washing dishes, hands, and flushing only once per day. This may prove difficult because only 4 million residents obeyed the previous ration limit of 87 liters. ]]> 2018-01-22 16:50:05 UTC https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223427620 18levinsonk https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223433056 The threat of flooding will increase within the next two decades as a result of global warming. Higher temperatures mean more rainfall and therefore more fluvial flooding, the overflowing of rivers. This combined with rising sea levels put the human and wildlife population at risk. A study from Science Advances states that countries will need to construct more dikes and levees and improve their infrastructure to battle the effects of flooding. Humans also have to adjust their impact on the environment. Even though climate inertia would continue to warm the earth, a reduction in greenhouses could mitigate the severity of the floods. ]]> 2018-01-22 17:00:04 UTC https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223433056 18levinsonk https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223439122 Studies have shown that this past year the temperatures have reached an all time high despite the fact is is a year in which El Nino is not present. NASA rated 2017 as the second hottest year, right under 2015 when El Nino was actually in action. This goes to show that humanity's impact on climate change is altering global trends. Petteri Taalas, a secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, says the temperature trends continue to go upwards and it will have a huge effect on sea levels and weather patterns around the world. Tim Osborn, a professor at the University of East Anglia, found that Arctic regions have been warming more than sub-polar oceans. The article emphasized the importance that society acts upon their impact on the environment to prevent issues such as this from worsening. ]]> 2018-01-22 17:12:24 UTC https://padlet.com/18levinsonk/cbabqr4m0cud/wish/223439122