https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz Advanced Placement Environmental Science en-us 2017-09-28 23:52:05 UTC 2017-11-08 04:04:39 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Bigthunderstorm.png 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204238410 A recent report from a congressional watchdog urges the federal government to adopt a strategy to manage climate change risks, as their cost to the government may rise as much as thirty - five billion dollars per year by mid - century. This is serves as a connection between climate change and politics as politicians are getting concerned with the continuous economic losses from recent hurricanes as well as the constant exposure of carbon emissions. As many worry about President Donald Trump's actions, who has been considered to be a doubter of climate change, there have been many policies he has enacted where there has a direct delay of progress for many environmentalists. There is also an implication that White House executive offices, including the Office of Science and Technology Policy, have not yet used available economic reports to “craft appropriate federal responses.” This is another direct way that affects the governmental decisions as there is a heavy implication that the federal government has not used reputable sources for its actions, or lack there of to combat the negative affects of climate change. As a nation, we must really step forward to unify against the inaccuracies of the national government as inaction today may lead to permanent repercussions. ]]> 2017-11-07 08:37:53 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204238410 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204247621 Researchers claim that a new type of ultra-thin solar panel made from living organisms could lead to next-generation electrical devices that can be made on a home printer. By using cyanobacteria, a micro - organism which uses photosynthesis to harvest energy from sunlight as an ink, they can be printed onto paper alongside electrically conductive carbon nanotubes using an off-the-shelf inkjet printer. There are many potential applications of these bio - solar panels, such as paper - based diabetes monitors and air quality sensors that resemble wallpaper. This may create a smaller but direct affect from a positive wave of technology for the everyday user, along with solar panels and other ways to save energy. This technology is a paper-based, disposable environmental sensor disguised as wallpaper, which could monitor air quality in the home. It could be removed and left to biodegrade in the garden without any impact on the environment. With practically no carbon footprint left behind, this technology could have a range of applications such as acting as a sensor in the environment. Although this will most certainly not solve the macroscopic issue of global warming, this advent of more convenient ways to measure household energy expenditures may well signify a new wave of household ways to become more environmentally friendly and healthy for humans in general.]]> 2017-11-07 09:18:04 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204247621 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204253924 New York could see a surge in significant floods every five years between 2030 and 2045 as an impact of climate change, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. As global sea levels rise and as a warming atmosphere drives tropical storms, this combination could leave the city facing more frequent and more dangerous flood events. During the pre - industrial era, such flooding occurred only about every 500 years, the researchers found. By the modern period, such flooding occurred about every 25 years, and it could occur every five years in the future. Additionally, scientists argue that the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels and warmer oceans, recently made Hurricanes Irma and Harvey more powerful than they otherwise would have been. The sheer devastation from past storms seems to have been affected by the rising oceanic temperatures, from global warming. These studies simply prove the return of severe ramifications of creating an imbalance for the earth, and with this new information, society must change to further embrace the environmentalist perspective to protect our home.]]> 2017-11-07 09:36:49 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204253924 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204258641 Researchers at Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health presented a recent study on a significant correlation between higher air quality index concentrations and higher mortality rates.This study was actually the first to present rather solid evidence of the ramifications of air pollution in major Chinese cities, as well as the consequences from lower air quality and climate change in comparison with urban population mortality. When comparing higher air quality index valued cities with mortality rates, scientists found that the two measures were significantly connected. The fact that cities with lower air quality index values had lower mortality rates in the study was confirmed as well, remaining significant even after researchers adjusted the data measures for covariates. A relatively significant percent of the variation in all - cause mortality could be explained by the difference in air quality index across China. Air pollution is not just significantly linked to permanent health problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and or asthma, but also to a significantly higher rate of death itself. As a society, there should be more attention towards this issue. The people most suffering from this issue are significantly at a disadvantage as overall health has deteriorated. When polluting the environment, one should remember that the person will also suffer the ramifications of excessive pollution.]]> 2017-11-07 09:51:08 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204258641 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204262390 Exxon Mobil will pay two and one - half million dollars in fines for flaring gases at many plants along the environmentally delicate Gulf Coast, as agency officials claimed the settlement as evidence of President Donald Trump administration’s commitment to enforcing the nation’s environmental laws. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice notes that after a recent settlement, Exxon will also have to spend about three - hundred million dollars to install gas recovery and other new monitoring and pollution control technologies at the Louisiana and Texas petrochemical plants. There has also been another settlement that involves air pollution violations with P.D.C. Energy, a Colorado oil and gas company whose storage tanks were leaking smog-forming compounds a clear indicator and violation of not adhering to federal environmental protection laws. Allegations that Exxon and P.D.C. Energy violated the federal Clean Air Act by releasing harmful pollutants were also resolved on Tuesday, however nearly all of Exxon's coastal plants were investigated. For instance, Exxon’s Baytown operation came under scrutiny during Hurricane Harvey this year for releasing toxic pollutants during the storm, which battered refineries and other chemical facilities along Houston’s coastline. These incidents were not forgotten, especially as a sinking tank roof at Exxon’s Baytown facility resulted in the release of hazardous gases including volatile organic compounds and benzene above permitted levels. Although there is a blatant motivation of political influence, the settlement provides a positive light of repercussions towards corporations that exploit and abuse many of Earth's resources for temporary economic gain.]]> 2017-11-07 10:01:57 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204262390 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204264999 It seems the the "progress" of global warming, there are some plants reappearing. However, a problem with this is the fact that these plants are reappearing in the melting points of Earth's polar regions. In the eastern Canadian Arctic, several plants and mosses have now emerging into the sunlight, in the spaces where ice used to be. As the planet warms and ice retreats, plants are now revealed on Canada’s Baffin Island, that used to be long buried beneath the ice. In some locations, the emerging plants had last seen the sun at least 45,000 years ago — and possibly as much as 115,000 years ago, data gathered from carbon dating. However in a few regions, some plants had radiocarbon left in them to measure on account for its large age, a point that a plant was so old, no one can know how it exactly is. Because the radiocarbon clock stops at about 50,000 years, it’s not possible to determine exactly when those spots last were ice-free. But an ice core collected in nearby Greenland suggests that the planet experienced continuous cold from 40,000 to about 115,000 years ago, when the last warm inter - glacial period ended. Mosses with the “dead” radiocarbon were found at high elevations, on pedestals of rock with persistent ice caps that are now slowly melting away.  This provides quantitative evidence that the magnitude of summer warmth is already sufficient to melt all ice in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Due to the data of appearing mosses in the Arctic, there is no longer a possibility of not having global warming, but rather a quickly approaching time limit of how long this earth can continue to sustain itself from the imbalance of carbon and greenhouse gases human have created.]]> 2017-11-07 10:09:49 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/ob79pkna11gz/wish/204264999