https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3 Made with charm en-us 2017-12-11 13:55:45 UTC 2018-05-15 00:20:45 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Clouds.png 19darmoj https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/216503595 This article is about how the permafrost in Alaska is thawing. To most scientists the most troubling problem striking Alaska and the arctic area is the fate of the frozen ground, or permafrost. Permafrost contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere, and when it thaws microbes convert this to carbon dioxide or methane. This could contribute to global warming, and scientists have estimated that it could contribute 1.7 degrees to warming. Permafrost in Alaska is the most vulnerable because it it vast,and largely treeless. This vast area could lose much of its permafrost by mid century. Scientists have concluded that Alaska'a permafrost is thawing from below because one of the countless small lakes had shoreline that was once permafrost fall off into the water. The goal of many research groups out in this region of Alaska is to understand how thawing permafrost affects the landscape, and what greenhouse gases are released. Although, even in the much colder parts of Alaska scientists have seen changes in the temperature, which will affect the permafrost. These studies and research show that permafrost is not as stable as people thought, even though it could millenniums to the completely thaw. ]]> 2017-12-15 15:00:53 UTC https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/216503595 19darmoj https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/216512931 Food waste can be turned into green energy according to this article. There is about 133 billion pounds of wasted food in a year, which wastes money and a precious resource. It also creates an environmental problem because it winds up in landfills and releases methane. Researchers have think they found a simple way to fix this environmental problem. By making use of a pair of simple chemical processes: hydrothermal liquefaction and anaerobic digestion. These two processes could turn food waste into environmentally friendly biofuel. Hydrothermal liquefaction is is when food waste is heated under high pressure to create an oil than can be refined into fuel. The watery food waste left over from the hydrothermal liquefaction is then onto the next step: anaerobic digestion. Microbes break down the waste into biogas that is made up of methane and carbon dioxide. According to the researchers, the converted gas is used to produce electricity and heat. Other methods exist, but this combination is the most efficient way to process food waste. The cost of their presented method is not yet known, but the researchers have said that government incentives for renewable energy credits would make a difference. Although this may seem like a perfect solution some specialists express doubt. One specialist said that they would prefer traditional composting in place of hydrothermal liquefaction and anaerobic digestion because she states that energy production is not as ecologically important as nutrient recycling. ]]> 2017-12-15 15:23:20 UTC https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/216512931 19darmoj https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/217013663 According to a recent UNICEF report, about 17 million infants are breathing toxic air. This could potentially affect their brain development. More than two-thirds of these affected infants live in South Asia. They are exposed to pollution six times higher than the recommended limits. This pollution could have potential lifelong consequences. According to the report, particles in pollution can damage brain tissue and impair cognitive function. Air pollution already is one of the most dangerous threats to infants. Pneumonia kills about 920,000 children under the age of 5, and this risk is even greater for infants under age 1. Since the brain is still developing, infants have the greatest risk to air pollution because it could affect their development. This situation is worsened because with polluted air, it causes children to breathe in more of the toxic air. Action to prevent air pollution is being taken right now, and is more urgent than ever before. Smart urban planning could better manage pollution levels ]]> 2017-12-18 16:39:43 UTC https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/217013663 19darmoj https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/218330101 This article explores one of the economic ways people are implementing to protect the environment. As the world's population grows, so does the demand for land. The cost of protecting land, or species is becoming increasingly more expensive. A travel/housing company called Airbnd provides services and solutions for conservation. You can create a pop-up nature reserve on idle land. These programs pay people to protect nature on their own land. This new feature allows them to devote it to private development or turn in into a nature reserve, or something in between. Just like there is a demand for housing during events like the Super Bowl, it goes the same way for nature. There is an increased demand for protection of nature reserves when migratory birds are flying through. This sharing economy can be seen in other places, especially in the nonprofit Nature Conservancy. This nonprofit has been temporarily expanding wetlands for migratory birds in California's Sacramento Valley. They realized they could rent rather than buy. Also, doing it this way allows them to quickly adjust to changes in climate change. Although, these short-term renting conservation solutions may seem good, long-term solution are also needed. ]]> 2018-01-02 15:06:16 UTC https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/218330101 19darmoj https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/218484066 One of the newest sustainable trends is living a waste-free life to better the environment. This trend has seemed to be popular among "hippies", but now is spreading to more people, and inspiring more to follow in on this trend. In one of the most popular and hippest neighborhoods in Brooklyn, a store called Package Free will open on May 1st. The goal of this new store is to provide people who live in Brooklyn access to products that can help them to be closer and possibly live trash-free and plastic-free. They provide cloth produce bags, silicone menstrual cups, and bamboo toothbrushes. This store is just the start of the zero-waste movement. The average American generates 4.4 pounds of trash everyday, and about half of that ends up in landfills. People who advocate zero-waste want to lower this number significantly by reducing, reusing, and recycling. Some pioneers of the zero-waste movement have been living without waste since 2008. The idea of zero waste started back with President George H.W Bush when Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act. From there, the movement started to gain ground through social media, and the rest of the internet. Back in 2001, cities aimed to be waste free in 2020: Oakland, and San Francisco. New York City hoped to lower their landfill amounts by 2030. ]]> 2018-01-03 13:48:34 UTC https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/218484066 19darmoj https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/218517608 With the recent wildfires taking over California, the effects are massive on the people living in those regions. The ocean can also be affected by these wildfires. Take the Santa Barbara Channel, an 80 mile stretch of Pacific Ocean just off of Southern California, for example. This channel is one of the most diverse and vibrant ocean ecosystems in the world. A team of scientists will board a research vessel to set off on a week long expedition to study the organisms there. Their plans were changed when the wildfire took over the Santa Barbara area, which clouded the usually clear view to the channel islands. This made them add an element to their research to look at the effects that ash could have on the marine ecosystem. It's important to research the effects because wildfires will become more common if droughts continue. One of the scientists already has a prediction that the plankton will be affected because they rely on the sunlight, and it will be blocked out by the smoke and ash. This could possibly affect the rest of the ecosystem because the plankton are the base of the food web. The researchers are excited to begin their expedition, but with whatever results they get it will be beneficial to know how the ash is actually affecting the ecosystem. ]]> 2018-01-03 15:06:23 UTC https://padlet.com/19darmoj/q4l8solaapi3/wish/218517608