Despite the increased law enforcement in Africa for poaching, the illegal act is still happening and more and more rhino's are being poached as the time goes on. The think population is declinkg rapidly and many rangers risk their lives for the rhinos on a daily basis. Poaching has been activity that has been happening for many years and usually kills an animal for part of it's body. It is extremely important to stop this activity so that the rhino population can grow and they won't go extinct. Officials in Africa are working on ways to eliminate this illegal act.
All the "ugly" fruit that has been deemed not good enough for supermarkets have been put to waist for many many years. This is not smart for humans to do because the amount of food wasteage is remarkable especially when one thinks about the amount of people who go without food on a daily basis. This will all change, however. The 20 to 40 percent of food that was wasted will be saved by Whole Foods, who will take in the oddly shaped produce. Hopefully the other supernarkets will follow in their footsteps and less produce will be wasted on a daily basis.
With the drought in California still causing lots of worry among residents, people are eager to find long-term solutions. One of these solutions is the use of recycled water. A statewide survey even found that 76% of residents believed we should be using recycled water as a solution. According to the findings, 89 percent of residents are more willing to use recycled water after reading an educational statement explaining the treatment processes that recycled waste water undergoes to become safe and drinkable again. Further, 88 percent agree that seeing a demonstration of the water purification process would make them more comfortable using and drinking recycled water. This just goes to show that educating our people is the best way to make progress. Beavers are Britain's native aquatic engineers and their return to sites in Scotland and England is doing wonders for the local environment, write Nigel Willby & Alan Law: restoring wetlands, recreating natural river dynamics and ecology, filtering farm pollutants from water, and improving habitat for trout and other fish.
In Knapdale, damming by beavers transformed a small pond into a wetland of a type and complexity probably unseen in Britain for centuries. On the Bamff estate on Tayside, we found that grazing by beavers trebled the number of wetland plants in 9 years. Beavers have recently made a tentative return to Britain. . A new study by researchers from Brown and Tufts universities suggests that researchers have been overlooking how two key human responses to climate, how much land people choose to farm, and the number of crops they plant, will impact food production in the future. The researchers used variations in temperature and precipitation across the state over an eight-year period to estimate the sensitivity of the region’s agricultural production to climate change. Those historical comparisons can help in making predictions about the sensitivity of agriculture to future climate change. The study found that, if the patterns from 2002 to 2008 hold in the future, an increase in average temperature in Mato Grosso of just 1 degree Celsius will lead to a nine to 13 percent reduction in overall production of soy and corn. Most studies of this kind look only at the extent to which climate shocks affect crop yield—the amount of product harvested from a given unit of agricultural land. But by only looking at that single variable, researchers can miss critical dynamics that can affect overall output.
Oregon is ready to kick its filthy coal habit, and now it has passed a law to hold itself to this pledge. The Clean Energy and Coal Transition Act blocks the state’s largest power companies from purchasing coal-based electricity by 2030. By taking this important step, the state will effectively double its reliance on renewable energy in the upcoming decades. Moreover, Oregon’s energy should be approximately 80% carbon-free by the year 2040.
The coal-free plan got an initial push when eco-conscious citizens started preparing a coal-centric ballot measure. The utility companies were afraid that the kind of change the proposition would require would be unfeasible and crippling to their businesses, so state representatives stepped in to see if they could pass a law through the legislature ahead of a ballot measure that would be mutually satisfactory to all parties. Recent flooding in the NorthWestern United states has caused some big problems for the Oregon and Washington states. The record breaking rains were a shock to most of the people living in this area as the situation became dangerous. Mudslides, flooding, and sewer spillage are just a few of the problems that are arising from the situation. Environmental agencies are warning people not to come in contact with the flooding water because of the dangerous materials that it could contain.
This storm is important to us because it is almost a precursor of what we will be experiencing with the El Niño that will be happening later this season. Central California could be susceptible to the same problems as Oregon and Washington. The article I chose to read this week talks about the environmental damage using toilet paper puts on our earth. The United States is the only country in the world that uses toilet paper to the extent that we do which means millions of trees are cut down per year to satisfy the toilet paper needs in just the US alone. Not only does toilet paper use up our tree resources, it also uses up water resources. Each roll takes up to 37 gallons of water to make, which is a ridiculous amount of water for one roll of paper. If Americans do not want to switch their ways to a bidet, the there is always recycled paper that can be used which just will not be as soft, but the future generations will be thankful of this change.
The article I read this week is about the amount of birds in people’s front and back yards and what people can plant to get more birds to come to the yards. People at the University of illinois conducted a survey to see where the different bird species were and what was in the yards to attract them. The surveys showed that there were more bird species in yards with trees such as coniferous and evergreens, yards with some sort of berry or fruit bushes, and yards that did not let their cats or dogs outside. If enough to people in a neighborhood agree, people can even certify their area and become a certified NWF Community Wildlife Habitat.
Hawaii has been taking huge steps in the use of renewable energy. It is estimated that 37 percent of their energy this year will come from solar, hydro, or biomass energy, and by 2045 their goal is to reach 100 percent renewable energy useage. By using this renewable energy, Hawaii will replace 1.7 million gallons of oil which is monumental. These actions are a huge step in the history of humans and renewable energy as more states will follow in Hawaii’s footsteps and try and reach 100 percent renewable energy. As our world faces more harsh facts about climate change, the incoming steps taken to use renewable energy are a huge positive. Using renewable energy will be much more sustainable for our Earth and as more states and countries begin implementing these values, the world will begin to heal. |
AuthorHigh school student in pursuit of a career in Environmental Science Archives
March 2016
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