https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63 en-us 2016-11-09 20:29:05 UTC 2017-05-15 12:21:43 UTC hello@padlet.com 17talvacchiaj https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136569300 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/09/trump-victory-reverses-u-s-energy-and-environmental-priorities/

With a Trump victory last night, one of the biggest changes to current policy that we will see is Trump's stance on the environment. He is a skeptic of climate science and has taken many stances against the science of global warming. Trump is expected to tear down much of the progress that Obama has made in making companies in the U.S more environmentally conscious, the biggest will be cancelling the Pairs Climate Accord and the Clean Power plan. He is going to authorize dangerous drilling and energy plans that will be very detrimental to our environment. Fracking is the act of using pressurized water and other chemicals to get oil out of the ground which in turn contaminates the ground water supply of any towns near it. I think Trump is taking a huge step in the wrong direction with his plan because the science is as clear cut as ever that we as a global society need to change our ways to help preserve our world for the generations to come. Trump as loaded his environmental team with industry lobbyists who are going to put their interests before the environments.]]> 2016-11-09 20:41:24 UTC https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136569300 17talvacchiaj https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136572150 http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/50120

Hydroelectric power has been seen as a good alternative to the current energy that we use but up until now, scientists haven't known about these potential health risks that come with it. In this article it highlights a recent discovery made by a study at Harvard university. This study was to measure the increase of the neurotoxin methylmercury at sites where projected hydroelectric plants are going to be built. The increase in this toxin come from the act of clearing the layer of top soil form the ground in order to prevent major flooding in the areas surrounding the plant and its reservoirs. This toxin effects the food webs surrounding these plants. Humans are effected after they consume animals who are subjected to this toxin and is especially dangerous to unborn babies and infants. The toxin effects the central nervous system and it has been connected to forms of cerebral palsy. It also can cause blindness, deafness and lung impairment in older people but the effects are directly proportional to how much of the toxin that the person consumes. With the amount of hydroelectric plants that are already built is causes great concern for the amount of animals and people that are already effected by the toxin. Scientists are currently working on ways to track and control the amount of methylmercury around the plants which will hopefully reverse the damage that has already been caused by this chemical. It's a shame that such a positive form of energy is having this effect on our environment but it is good that scientists were able to discovery it before it's damages became more widespread. ]]> 2016-11-09 20:53:00 UTC https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136572150 17talvacchiaj https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136578321 http://www.enn.com/energy/article/50118

This article highlights advancement from the traditional silicon power cells that have been used. The material is called perovskite and is cheaper, more efficient and more flexible than its silicon counterpart. The real advancement came from the discovery of a new technique to sandwich two types of Perovskite cells into one bigger cell. With this new technique it gives the cell the ability to capture 20% of the suns energy. This gives many scientists hope because it is the beginning of their optimization of this technology and they are hopefully that they can get it to capture even more of the suns energy. This is important because it will start more people in the utilization of the solar energy. Many people are hesitant to switch their homes power to solar energy because it is met with a huge start up cost and a question of how efficient it really is. With the cost being lowered it'll hopefully ease people out of the fear of switching and and get them off of their current gas and electric ways. This will hopefully get big electric companies to put more time and research in coming up with new and improved forms of alternative energy and will eventually get everyone to switch to the new and green form of energy.  ]]> 2016-11-09 21:20:13 UTC https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136578321 17talvacchiaj https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136581794 http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/50115

In 2015 we experienced a record hot year and at the rate that we are going we should expect this to be the new norm throughout the world. At the rate that our carbon emissions stand we should expect these record hot summer months to become average by about 2025. Australia is already feeling the effects of these changes and is expected to feel all of them first. Immediate climate action is needed to slow and eventually reverse this rapid climate change but we don't have any time to waste. Unfortunately, too many people still doubt the legitimacy of these studied and are setting a course for the too late portion of this study. These rising temperatures will have an effect on every part of our global environment and need to be taken more seriously. Many people are doubting these studies because it is going to cost money to cut back and decrease our carbon emissions and these companies and people can't see the larger picture and look past their personal interests. Currently our global carbon emissions are rising despite steps taken by Obama and other world leaders at the Paris Energy Accord. It is going to take a large and widespread effort to curb this increase and to return our global temperature down to its normal level.]]> 2016-11-09 21:38:01 UTC https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136581794 17talvacchiaj https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136601773 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161109133734.htm

This article highlights a major discovery made by the university of Miami. Researchers at the marine science school discovered that the Agulhas, commonly referred to as the gulf stream of the Indian Ocean, has widen instead of strengthening over the years. This is thought to be caused by the rise in global temperatures over the last few decades. This is one of the strongest currents  in the world  and is a key component in bringing warm water from south Africa to the polls. It is also important for the regional climate of Africa and also the climate of the entire globe. It is bad that it is widening because it is speeding up the rate of climate change in areas west of up by up to three times. The climate is already heating up at an alarming rate and with this current changing air circulation that increases it by three times it will be devastating for the environment that it effects. This all comes back to the fact that we need to start taking care of our environment or these damages that we are causing will become permanent or too devastating to fix.  ]]> 2016-11-10 00:19:16 UTC https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136601773 17talvacchiaj https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136606764 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161108115714.htm

I found this article interesting because it shows that, despite the constant fire it receives, GMO's are actually helpful. Genetically modified foods are essential in keeping the cost of food low and make it so more farm land isn't needed to replace forests and pastures. It is estimated that food cost would rise up to 2.7% and would hit poor regions the hardest. Gmo's are a source of contention globally because some people claim there are potential health risks involved when consuming gmo's. This isn't proven however and only good things have come from the increased use of gmo's. It was stated in the article that we could reduce our greenhouse emissions substantially by converting all our crops into gmo crops. This is because we would see the same yield in crops in a much smaller are of growing because the gmo crops are engineered to grow as efficiently as possible. I am very pro gmo and this article really showed me that i'm right in not fearing gmo's because they have to much good that they can potentially bring to our planet if people could just embrace such a tremendous feat of bio-engineering.  ]]> 2016-11-10 01:13:50 UTC https://padlet.com/17talvacchiaj/y94hfzq07u63/wish/136606764