Author: John Collins Rudolf
Publication Date: 2/22/11
Link: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/genetic-code-of-brown-tides-cracked/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Summary: In this article, scientists analyzed a certain type of algal bloom and the genome, or biological source code, to find the parts that make up this organism. Algal blooms can have deadly effects on marine ecosystems by reducing the amount of light and oxygen available. The specific bloom that scientists did a study on was the Aureococcus anophagefferens, a nontoxic bloom that thrives in polluted areas. Although the certain type of algal bloom is not toxic to humans, it poisons marine life and blocks sunlight from underwater vegetation and organisms. These blooms create something known as brown tides which are caused because of human activity and the pollutants that we put in the water. All in all, we must all be aware of what we put in our water or else it could result in algal blooms growing all along the east coast, wiping out marine ecosystems and fish populations for good.
Opinion/Reflection: I think that it is a bad thing that we have algal blooms at all. Algal blooms do not grow naturally , but are a result of nutrient pollution. We are the reason that these algal blooms are forming and wiping out fish populations and vegetation. Although we do not realize it, we are actually hurting ourselves. If we put in all these nutrients into the waterways and there is no fish, our economy will fall even lower and there will be no more marine animals to eat, trade, or sell. The way that these blooms connect with my own life is that my family and I usually go to the beach twice a year. If one day I walk onto the beach and I see a sign that says sorry beach closed-algal blooms, I would not be able to swim. These algal blooms do not have one positive effect on animals or humans and we need to quickly raise awareness and and eradicate algal blooms.
Questions:
1. What are some ways we can prevent nutrient pollution?
2. How do algal blooms create dead zones?
3. What would happen if all our seas were covered with mats of algal blooms?
4. How can we raise awareness of the dangers o0f algal blooms and their devastating effects?
Graphic: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110221163128.htm This is the link to a picture of a bay in New York where there is a brown tide and you can clearly see the discoloring of the water and can only imagine the effects of what is underneath that brown water.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Louisiana's Wetlands: A Lesson In Nature Appreciation
Title: Louisiana's Wetlands: A Lesson In Nature Appreciation
Author: John Tibbetts
Publication Date: Janurary 2006
Summary: Many of you have heard about Hurricane Katrina taking a huge hit in New Orleans in 2005. But did you know that this disaster could accually have been some what prevented if the wetlands along the coast of Louisiana had be maintianed and preserved. Now they would not have stopped the hurricane all together, however, the amount of damage that was brought could have been less if the wetlands where there to slow down the storm. There are many causes as to why the wetlands were eliminated along the coast of louisiana. One is the developement of levees, an embankment designed to prevent the flood of a river, these were build along the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River has many of its tributaries run all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico bringing its sedements with it. This allowed huge quantities of silt to settle and nurish the wetlands down south. When the levees were built it stopped this process. The amount of damage that was brought on New Orleans could have been prevented if people had payed attention to the decrease in wetlands along the coast of Louisiana.
Graphic:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cement.org/water/images/slurry_levee.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cement.org/water/dams_sc_faqs_slurry.asp&usg=__lnbYzOpNG19UO1aP8xzSVsSYoF8=&h=382&w=500&sz=46&hl=en&start=0&sig2=hZsk3x4HdkYPNk4jL0j36g&zoom=1&tbnid=PzMthmCAvwXMMM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=157&ei=UxOATe3BMOmV0QHJpaXzCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlevee%2Bdiagram%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1362%26bih%3D528%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=288&vpy=84&dur=546&hovh=196&hovw=257&tx=134&ty=127&oei=UxOATe3BMOmV0QHJpaXzCA&page=1&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0
Opinion: I did not know that the Mississippi had such a big impact on the wetlands that were on the coast of Louisiana. People think that levees help prevent floods in the places they are built but they can cause flooding and other problems in places that depend on those rivers allow the water to travel to those places. If these levees had not been put up then the wetlands along the Louisiana coast could still be there. Wetlands are important because they help prevent flooding, they need to be preserved. In my backyard there are wetland that run throught my neighborhood. During heavy rains, rain water runs to the wetlands which taken in and carry water to a creek nearby. I never realized that this could prevent flooding in my neighborhood.
Questions:
1) Do you think that levees are a good thing or bad?
2) Do you think we can restore the wetlands in Louisiana?
3) Do you think the decrease in wetlands in Louisiana could have been avoided?
Author: John Tibbetts
Publication Date: Janurary 2006
Summary: Many of you have heard about Hurricane Katrina taking a huge hit in New Orleans in 2005. But did you know that this disaster could accually have been some what prevented if the wetlands along the coast of Louisiana had be maintianed and preserved. Now they would not have stopped the hurricane all together, however, the amount of damage that was brought could have been less if the wetlands where there to slow down the storm. There are many causes as to why the wetlands were eliminated along the coast of louisiana. One is the developement of levees, an embankment designed to prevent the flood of a river, these were build along the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River has many of its tributaries run all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico bringing its sedements with it. This allowed huge quantities of silt to settle and nurish the wetlands down south. When the levees were built it stopped this process. The amount of damage that was brought on New Orleans could have been prevented if people had payed attention to the decrease in wetlands along the coast of Louisiana.
Graphic:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cement.org/water/images/slurry_levee.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cement.org/water/dams_sc_faqs_slurry.asp&usg=__lnbYzOpNG19UO1aP8xzSVsSYoF8=&h=382&w=500&sz=46&hl=en&start=0&sig2=hZsk3x4HdkYPNk4jL0j36g&zoom=1&tbnid=PzMthmCAvwXMMM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=157&ei=UxOATe3BMOmV0QHJpaXzCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlevee%2Bdiagram%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1362%26bih%3D528%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=288&vpy=84&dur=546&hovh=196&hovw=257&tx=134&ty=127&oei=UxOATe3BMOmV0QHJpaXzCA&page=1&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0
Opinion: I did not know that the Mississippi had such a big impact on the wetlands that were on the coast of Louisiana. People think that levees help prevent floods in the places they are built but they can cause flooding and other problems in places that depend on those rivers allow the water to travel to those places. If these levees had not been put up then the wetlands along the Louisiana coast could still be there. Wetlands are important because they help prevent flooding, they need to be preserved. In my backyard there are wetland that run throught my neighborhood. During heavy rains, rain water runs to the wetlands which taken in and carry water to a creek nearby. I never realized that this could prevent flooding in my neighborhood.
Questions:
1) Do you think that levees are a good thing or bad?
2) Do you think we can restore the wetlands in Louisiana?
3) Do you think the decrease in wetlands in Louisiana could have been avoided?
Friday, March 11, 2011
EPA Encourages Americans to Save Water During Fix a Leak Week
Title: EPA Encourages Americans to Save Water During Fix a Leak Week
Author: Richard Yost
Publication: United States Environmental Protection Agency
Date: 3-11-11
Link: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/AD97428925DDE4AA85257850006379B8
Summary: The EPA is promoting their third annual Fix a Leak Week, March 14 through 20. Across the country, household leaks waste over 1 trillion gallons of water per year. That is enough to support Chicago, Miami and Los Angles combined. Water leaks are easy and efficient to fix and you can save a lot of money and water in the end. If a family of four's water usage exceeded 12,000 gallons per month this winter, it is suggested they might have a water leak. Some ways to fix a leak and participate in the event, is to check for leaks by dropping some food coloring droplets in your toilet tank and flushing it to see if it appears in the bowl. Also, you can go to every pipe and make sure it’s on tight enough. Since this program started it saved more than 46 billion gallons of water and $343 million in water and sewer bills.
Opinion: I think this is great. It is really spreading awareness to homeowners that leaks can happen and are wasting water. I also think this will help a lot of people with water shortages. If the water is not wasted, then we will be able to use it later. I hope that this year will be very successful in helping our country save money and water.
Graphic: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.friendlyplumber.com/images/repairing_leaky_pipes/pipe_leak.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.friendlyplumber.com/plumbing101/how_tos/how_to_repair_leaky_pipes.html&usg=__UHYuGME8hCvV3ls0mUGjILkMzaM=&h=201&w=191&sz=9&hl=en&start=0&sig2=5LsgpVBQ4trHcKtNsIbK7w&zoom=1&tbnid=g6EwVyqjO-ujvM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=105&ei=NJN6TfGUA8yw0QGv1dHrAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dleaky%2Bpipes%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1010%26bih%3D535%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=696&vpy=250&dur=5211&hovh=160&hovw=152&tx=54&ty=89&oei=NJN6TfGUA8yw0QGv1dHrAw&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0
This picture shows a way on how to fix a leaky pipe. Just glue a rubber strip to the puncture and tighten a clamp around the side of the pipe. Of course I'm no plumber, but it seems to me what is happening.
Questions:
1) Will you help out your self with bills and help out the earth with water by checking your pipes this Monday?
2) What’s another thing we can do to contribute to the event?
3) Is this an effective way of dealing with water leaks?
4) What is your opinion on the idea of having a week to do this? Or should you always be checking your pipes?
5) Name other ways water could be wasted every day other than leaks.
Author: Richard Yost
Publication: United States Environmental Protection Agency
Date: 3-11-11
Link: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/AD97428925DDE4AA85257850006379B8
Summary: The EPA is promoting their third annual Fix a Leak Week, March 14 through 20. Across the country, household leaks waste over 1 trillion gallons of water per year. That is enough to support Chicago, Miami and Los Angles combined. Water leaks are easy and efficient to fix and you can save a lot of money and water in the end. If a family of four's water usage exceeded 12,000 gallons per month this winter, it is suggested they might have a water leak. Some ways to fix a leak and participate in the event, is to check for leaks by dropping some food coloring droplets in your toilet tank and flushing it to see if it appears in the bowl. Also, you can go to every pipe and make sure it’s on tight enough. Since this program started it saved more than 46 billion gallons of water and $343 million in water and sewer bills.
Opinion: I think this is great. It is really spreading awareness to homeowners that leaks can happen and are wasting water. I also think this will help a lot of people with water shortages. If the water is not wasted, then we will be able to use it later. I hope that this year will be very successful in helping our country save money and water.
Graphic: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.friendlyplumber.com/images/repairing_leaky_pipes/pipe_leak.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.friendlyplumber.com/plumbing101/how_tos/how_to_repair_leaky_pipes.html&usg=__UHYuGME8hCvV3ls0mUGjILkMzaM=&h=201&w=191&sz=9&hl=en&start=0&sig2=5LsgpVBQ4trHcKtNsIbK7w&zoom=1&tbnid=g6EwVyqjO-ujvM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=105&ei=NJN6TfGUA8yw0QGv1dHrAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dleaky%2Bpipes%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1010%26bih%3D535%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=696&vpy=250&dur=5211&hovh=160&hovw=152&tx=54&ty=89&oei=NJN6TfGUA8yw0QGv1dHrAw&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0
This picture shows a way on how to fix a leaky pipe. Just glue a rubber strip to the puncture and tighten a clamp around the side of the pipe. Of course I'm no plumber, but it seems to me what is happening.
Questions:
1) Will you help out your self with bills and help out the earth with water by checking your pipes this Monday?
2) What’s another thing we can do to contribute to the event?
3) Is this an effective way of dealing with water leaks?
4) What is your opinion on the idea of having a week to do this? Or should you always be checking your pipes?
5) Name other ways water could be wasted every day other than leaks.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Water Regionally Abundant in Great Lakes Basin, but not Always When and Where it’s Needed
Title: Water Regionally Abundant in Great Lakes Basin, but not Always When and Where it’s Needed
Author: None listed
Publication:U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Date: 2/7/2011
Link:http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2694
Summary:
According to the U.S. Department of Interior the basin of the Great Lakes has the potential of running low on water. The reason that the basin might run low on water is because if we keep pumping ground water from this area into Chicago, the water levels in this location would decrease by hundreds of feet. Scientists are saying that there will be plenty of usable water, but it may not be distributed evenly to the Chicago area. Scientists found this out because they were doing a five year study on how water use can effect the climate. By conducting this study many scientists were able to predict the future levels of water flowing through this area. They have predicted that as the years come there will be less water. Studies like this are going to be done in the Chicago river and Delaware river in years to come.
Opinion:
I think that the possible shortage of water in the basin of the Great Lakes is a HUGE problem. I am worried for the people who live in this area because if this happened where I live, I would hate to have to not always have easy access to water. I use water in my every day life so I cannot imagine how these people would struggle with this. I think that if we let water recharge in the recharge zone and go into the aquifers more quickly we would not even have this problem in the first place. I think that studies like the one done by these scientists should be done in areas across the world so we can help solve the problem of water shortages. I picked this article because it is very interesting that we could run low on water in our country! I hope that we can find a way to help the basin accumulate more water.
Graphic:
http://www.freakyweather.com/files/images/California%20Drought.jpg
Even though this would take a long time to happen here this picture shows what water shortages could look like.
Questions:
1)How do you think that we could prevent water shortages such as this one?
2)Would you be worried if you lived in the Chicago area?
3)Do you think that tests like this one should be done more often?
4)How could a water shortage like this possible one affect wildlife?
Monday, March 7, 2011
68 Percent of New England and Mid-Atlantic Beaches Eroding
Title: 68 Percent of New England and Mid-Atlantic Beaches Eroding
Author: None Listed
Publication: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Date: 2.23.2011
Link: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2707&from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsgsNewsroom+%28USGS+Newsroom%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Summary
In the past 150 years, it has been found that 68% of beaches on New England and Mid-Atlantic region are eroding. This is a result of beach restoration activities such as adding sand to beaches. Beaches change because of things like amount of available sand, storms, sea-level rise and human activities. Erosion is determined on these very factors. There is erosion in both regions, (Mid-Atlantic and New England), and they are a big hazard throughout both. "It is very difficult to predict what may happen in the future without a solid understanding of what has happened in the past," says Dr. Cheryl Hapke. Researchers are now using aerial maps to study future erosion along the coasts at more than 21,000 locations.
Graphic: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://whyfiles.org/091beach/images/erosiondia1.gif&imgrefurl=http://whyfiles.org/091beach/3.html&usg=__A4E-eaQ_04jc5Awb_86uKiyOMMQ=&h=170&w=299&sz=17&hl=en&start=0&sig2=JF7Ps-L8X-Z2Nu2nHqF4UA&zoom=1&tbnid=m7TWM2uOzkHpSM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=189&ei=O251TcK_JuS10QGan6jFAQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbeach%2Berosion%2Bdiagram%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D593%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=143&vpy=125&dur=2666&hovh=136&hovw=239&tx=190&ty=46&oei=O251TcK_JuS10QGan6jFAQ&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
I thought this was a really good diagram of how erosion happens.
Opinion
Well this is NOT good! As for me, I go down to the beach every summer, and I know some people who actually live there. If the beach keeps eroding at this pace, we may not have any left. I really think that researches and scientists should do something about this. It may not be for a long time, but beaches along the Mid-Atlantic (which is where the Jersey Shore is) could possibly erode to non-existence. I hope this gets better. :-)
Questions:
1. Do you really think researches are actually doing something about this, or do you think they are just saying it?
2. Are you worried at all that the beaches might be gone?
3. Do you think the beaches will keep eroding at the same pace, or will it get better as the years go by?
By: Becca :-)
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