https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61 Environmental Science en-us 2018-02-02 17:57:35 UTC 2026-01-19 20:23:34 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Diskette.png 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/230150014 Environmental news, especially climate change, has been an extremely controversial topic. The knowledge that the global warning exists has created a lot of contention between many scientists and climate denialists. Polar bears, a typical symbol of reference for global warming, has now become a symbol of climate denialists that shows seasonal changes in ice. Mainstream scientists are in agreement that polar bear numbers will decline drastically as Arctic sea ice disappears, since the bears use the ice as a platform to hunt seals. Climate models suggest that September sea ice in the Arctic could decline to an area of one million square kilometers or less. Scientists have estimated that in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the average September sea ice extent was eight million square kilometers. Studies have found disturbing changes in the bears’ physical condition, body size, reproduction and survival rates, some of which have been linked to sea ice loss and more ice-free days. However, nearly all of these claims have been disputed or denied. Overall, the debate of global warming is now being overwhelmed by alternative facts and "fake news" without scientific investigation, and many polar bears are suffering. As an important predator of its ecosystem's food web and the loss of ice due to human intervention of climate imbalances on a global scale, the polar bears themselves are neglected in the efforts of groups trying to disprove the other. Andrew Derocher, a biology professor at the University of Alberta, notes his own stance in the wake of contention between the two sides as he tries his best to steer the conversation about the declines of health for polar bears and for acknowledging that, “It’s just a habitat loss issue. There’s nothing more complicated than that.” The necessary awareness that polar bears need ice, but are without ice due to global warming may come too late for many, even with so much opposition from other groups, and may become another unfortunate statistic of how global warming has affected the earth.]]> 2018-02-09 18:30:11 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/230150014 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251053028 Love Canal was an important step in American policy that involved the federal government to fully understand the importance and necessity of how to manage waste, especially hazardous waste. Love Canal was a bitter battle of public opinion, scientific research, and the problems of accountability. Unfortunately, there may be another Love Canal in Russia. A giant landfill engulfs the then quaint, picturesque town of Volokolamsk, and in the words of resident, Aleksei G. Stelmakh, "poisons a city of forty thousand people everyday." However, Stelmakh notes that the landfill is not the only problem, but one of many, especially when many do not seem to care. The lack of public concern may become a serious problem, without clear opposition. However, this problem may not just be on inaction, as Andrei A. Zhdanov was recently incarcerated for organizing an illegal rally. Russia is overwhelmed with waste, and although leaders such as Vladimir Putin have taken initiatives to limit waste management, landfill managers are more and more pressured to take more garbage, even if the garbage continues to create more bigoas that leaks into the atmosphere. The health concerns and issues are also prevalent in Russia as many physicians and doctors note the biogas and its effects as many children have skin rashes and allergies of unknown backgrounds. With all the current issues of waste management and the handling of garbage, Volokolamsk seems to be gaining an advantage as the town tries to continue voicing its concerns and opinions as many have noted that Russia's management of waste is systemic and can lead to terrible long-term consequences. As a society, we must work to find a sustainable way to handle our waste products in a concentrated group, and public awareness may take a lot time, however many are optimistic that one day, trash can be easily solved without harming our neighbors.]]> 2018-04-12 09:26:41 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251053028 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251061053  Many times, when discussing the issues of waste, people are suggested to create their own compost pile. With correct instructions, one may be able to create their compost pile without the concerns of smell or aesthetic value. However, compost piles without research may lead to even worse consequences. Plastic has become a huge part of our lives and is everywhere, perhaps even in your compost pile. Researchers believe that even when recycling organic waste, microplastics may still be contaminating the compost. As microplastics may be in the tools we use, water supplies, and the air we breathe, it would make sense that our waste with riddled with microplastics as well.  Ecologist Chelsea Rochman of the University of Toronto notes that compost probably doesn’t contribute as much plastic to the environment as other sources, such as sewage treatment plant sludge, which contains polyester debris from clothes washers, and runoff from streets, which can be loaded with particles of synthetic rubber used in tires. Plastics are everywhere and one must consider them as a global pollutant as the overflow of plastic can raise concerns and questions that include possible effects on different organisms, from plants to earthworms to birds to people, although the effects will likely differ depending on the kind of plastic, which varies depending on its starting polymer and the additives used to impart certain qualities such as flexibility, sturdiness or durability under ultraviolet light. Overall, public awareness must be used to control the problems with waste management as plastics have become a part of nature itself, creating all sorts of imbalances on our earth. More research is required, and perhaps one can understand the issues that plastic as a pollutant have and will cause.]]> 2018-04-12 09:59:03 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251061053 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251065056 Oceans are a source of life on Earth. Its inhabitants are alien to us and many people enjoy their dream vacation beside an ocean paradise. However, this is not always the case. Due to global warming, it seems that the waves have also been affected. Wave temperatures are rising than previous years. Marine heat waves are also affected: getting longer and hotter. However, these marine heat waves have also held other negative consequences. The life beneath the seas is beginning to suffer, as coral and certain fish are unable to adapt to rising temperatures. Marine heat waves are lethal to many species are due to human activities and inability to balance chemical output, have destroyed many marine ecosystems. Some of the effects of marine heat waves, include sustained loss of kelp forests, reduced surface chlorophyll levels, which affect phytoplankton populations, mass mortality of marine invertebrates and reshaping of the community structure of ocean species. This trend has clear negative effects, brought by the influence of climate change. The drastic effects of climate change have been further exacerbated by El Niño-Southern Oscillation, a constant pattern of a range of temperature of water in the Pacific Ocean. When these patterns are in their warm phase, ocean heat waves tend to be more persistent. Most of the effects of these heat waves are invisible to humans, but can still have important implications for ocean food supply and its sustainability. Extreme warming events in the ocean will be especially likely to occur around longer-term warming trends that can last years or longer, and can further increase the power of destructive hurricanes and other tropical storms. Overall, one must take these messages as the beginning of a global imbalance of an earth heating up. Human activities were confirmed to play a significant role in raising oceanic temperatures, and with the devastation of previous tropical storms, one should be able to easily recognize the potential danger inaction would cause.]]> 2018-04-12 10:14:39 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251065056 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251070982 Bees play an important role in the world around us. As pollinators, many of plants today would have a difficult time reproducing and spreading their pollen without the help of bees. However, bees have been in recent news as bee populations were drastically declining. Unfortunately, human activities, such as human-made insecticides and pesticides, have most likely negatively affected these bees. However, there may be a solution. A recent study by the University of Exeter had created an investigation of bee interactions, and found impacts of neonicotinoids with bees. Enzymes in honeybees and bumblebees that determine how sensitive they are to different neonicotinoid pesticides were found, and were noted as a major discovery. With certain information and major research, one could begin to find and produce pesticides and insecticides that may be specialized to not harm bees. According to Doctor Ralf Nauen, insect toxicologist and lead investigator of the study at Bayer, he noted that importance of the implications of the investigation by commenting, "Knowing the mechanisms contributing to inherent tolerance helps us and regulators to better understand why certain insecticides have a high margin of safety to bees." One could produce non-toxic insecticides and pesticides that were not harmful to declining bee populations. As a society that has used genetic modification and chemicals to control certain populations, we can create a specialized tool to not harm other bees, whilst honing in on other species that negatively affect products we may use. Overall, the use of genetic engineering to human advantages and concern to declining populations affected by human activities are shown, and can cause many potential benefits, although research should always be used to support these endeavors, that control behaviors of certain species.]]> 2018-04-12 10:40:18 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251070982 19kima https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251080445 The Mississippi River is arguably one of the most famous rivers in America, and it is also a well-engineered and modified river. The Mississippi River has been highly manipulated to cater to its nearby large population, however, this has led to unprecedented consequences. In a recent study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the last five hundred years were mapped in comparison to the previous year. The results were shocking as many argued that the radical changes to the landscape of the Mississippi River caused many floods. The waterway itself has been shaped in many ways, big and small, to suit human needs. Understanding the floods that are expected to crest in Louisiana soon means understanding dams, levees, and control structures as much as rain, climate, and geography. The way human intervention has indirectly caused many floods and may have created even more damage than would have been expected without so much human activity.  Unfortunately, the cost of restoring more natural flood patterns to the river and allowing sediments to flow onto the floodplain during floods that would help rebuild the drowning Mississippi delta is projected to cost tens of billions of dollars. Human activity has permanently altered the landscape of the Mississippi River, and although the damage may eventually be corrected, it will certainly take a long time to settle the irregularity of weather patterns. Overall, this study shows the problems of extreme landscaping of a major river, and how climate change has responded to these patterns. With constant human activity. Sediment data showed that the natural rhythm of flooding caused by ocean changes was greatly amplified by major federally-funded river engineering projects. The societal benefits of river engineering should be weighed against the risks that more large floods pose to agriculture, infrastructure, and communities, the scientists said. In addition, big floods sweep more pollutants and fertilizers into the Gulf of Mexico, causing oxygen-depleted "dead zones." There must be action to stop the addition of problems in extreme changing of nature's design, and it seems that as we cannot adapt, we must return the landscape as it once was.]]> 2018-04-12 11:23:31 UTC https://padlet.com/19kima/oejjj86qxx61/wish/251080445