NASA has sent out probes to destroy some of the objects that are moving towards our atmosphere to prevent anything hitting Earth. NASA says that there are no asteroids currently on the course to hit Earth anytime soon and are on alert identifying asteroids. Millions of years ago, a giant asteroid hit the Earth, causing the extinction of Dinosaurs. Today, more asteroids are being found that could hit the Earth and such and alarming speed that it might wipe out everything on Earth. Scientist are doing the best that they can to send probes to these asteroids to destroy them, before they come into the Earth’s atmosphere. The problem is that there is so much stuff that is in our solar system that it is hard for them to find the asteroids that are a potential threat to Earth. Scientist say that an asteroid will hit our Earth eventually and will wipe out everything on Earth, but they do not know when that will happen. If an asteroid did hit Earth, it would send out large clouds of dust that will go up onto the atmosphere and block out the sun. the Earth will become colder and will force us into an ice age.
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China has now been classified as the largest emitter of certain toxic flourinated chemicals in the world according to a new study. Researchers from Sweden, Norway and China measured the levels of 12 substances at Chinese rivers.Specifically, they focused on the fluorinated substances, PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid). These substances have been proven to be harmful to animals and humans. Researchers explain China's high emission of toxic substances by revealing how "Chemical manufacturers in the US and Europe have phased out local production, and instead moved its manufacturing to China, since regulations are less strict there," Although China has been classified as a large emitter of certain toxic chemicals, this is a global scenario. Events in China eventually will effect us and the entire globe. The problem, in fact, is not limited to China as it effects the global pollution levels and the environment of the entire world. A possible solution to the problem is the establishment of increased regulations on the businesses by the government, specifically. Overall, the new classification of China is not a large shock, as most people are aware of the large-scale pollution in the country. However, the problem is not unique to China as many other countries contribute to the high pollution levels. The endangered Forbes’s blackbird, scientifically named the Anumara forbesi, stimulated the effort to restore the Brazilian Rain Forest. Anita Studer began the program to save the Pedra Talhada Forest as she wanted to study the endangered bird. A large cause of the endangerment of the bird was its habitat destruction. To prevent further decline in the blackbird population, she helped preserve the forest. Studer recruited donors and established the Geneva-based Nordesta Reforestation and Education Association. Her program helps tree-growing operations, the spread of environmental awareness,and education projects.The endangered bird study directly correlates with our current topic of study in class. Overall, the initiative taken by Anita Studer is significant to the environment because deforestation and the endangerment of certain species are both large areas of concern for all of us. Deforestation is habitat destruction which is a large cause of the endangerment of many other species as well. I believe that the forest restoration will be extremely beneficial in restoring the populations of the endangered birds. It is important to prevent further endangerment of species in order to maintain a balanced food web.
California's voluntary conservation act of water is taking a downturn and Los Angeles is trying to fight back and implement their own restrictions on water use. Water savings in urban areas has been dropping since July and Malibu is one of the cities that is not willing to put their best efforts into conserving water, with their residents using about 254 gallons of water a day. The L.A. mayor has decided to implement ways to reduce water usage from 131 gallons a day to 104 gallons a day, this tactic will be enforced by January 2017. Santa Monica and L.A. county will force residents to pay a fine or take a water conservation course if they exceed their recommended water usage. While Los Angeles is trying to develop their own ideas to limit water usage, it is going to take more than this urban area to defeat the crisis. While L.A. and Santa Monica county have implemented water conservation programs to make residents become more aware of their excessive use of water, all residents in California must recognize that they need to do their part and not rely on the hopes that precipitation will increase and the drought will come to an end within a few years. The drought exists and consequences will continue to increase if we are not conscious of how much water we use on daily basis.
Costa Rica has been running off of 100% sustainable energy for the past 76 days, and 300 days of the pr. This is third to their previous achievement of 150 days, where last year they went for 300 days. There are several reasons that Costa Rica is able to do this. First off, they are a relatively small nation, with only 4.87 million residents. Secondly, they have massive river networks running through the country, allowing them to have abundant hydroelectric power.Another caveat of this is that they are a fairly poor nation, with only 10,200 US dollars per person GDP. This means that there is a much lower power requirement for the people in the nation. This is an amazing achievement for any nation, as it shows the progress that has been made in sustainable sources of energy. Now, the only thing that is left to do is to massively upscale these technologies and make them more cost effective to implement. This will help offset the effects of Global Warming by providing essentially limitless clean energy.
Previously, there had only been one species of giraffe. Scientists have recently found that there are actually four different species of giraffes. The unexpected findings highlight the urgent need for further study of the four genetically isolated species and for greater conservation efforts for the world's tallest mammal, the researchers say. It is interesting that the giraffe has more than one species. Since, they all look pretty much the same. The four species are the Southern Giraffe, the Masai Giraffe, the Reticulated Giraffe, and the Northern Giraffe. I think it is super cool that there are more than one species and wonder if that is the same for other animals that are, as of now, deemed only as one species animals.
California is in one of its worst droughts, and we are no where near the end. It is predicted that if we had known how severe the drought was going to be, we could have better prepared for it, lessening its impact. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research found that so far the drought has cost California around 30 billion dollars. In a recent study conducted by the National Science Foundation, monitoring snow melts and soil moisture aid in predicting droughts months in advance. Anjuli Bamzai supports this when stating, "Advance knowledge of a drought even a month or two ahead of time can greatly minimize the effects on society". Flash droughts have proven to be devastating to the regions they hits, and through extensive monitoring and can be prevented. For example, California's drought is partially a cause of a high pressure system off of the west coast. Using this information, one can see that California would not be getting any storms, meaning no rain. In conclusion, as we advance our methods of predicting natural disasters, we will be in turn saving money and lives.
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Kendall Trevethan#Hillaryforprison2016 Archives
December 2016
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