Australia's main crop irigation source has been in a drought stage for almost 5 years and this year they decided to take a stand against the unwelcome dryness. The Murray Darling Water Basin provides water to many of Australia's inland crops, meaning crops that are not grown near the coast and are sold within the country. Without this basin not only would this country's economy drop but so would its food source hence leading to a much larger issue known as population depletion. When natives started to realizes that they drought was getting to be little too extreme they created the AWAS. AWAS keeps track of the water's assests, liabilities, and its flow. This means that they are just watching to see where the water is going, what it is being used for, and how fast/slow the flow of the water is. This will help them to determine what will need to be done in order to keep the Murray Darling Water Basin up and running, which will also keep their economy up and running.
Opinion:
When I first read this I was kind of shocked that they let a drought go on for so long in such an important body of water. But as I read on I became very impressed that they are doing so much now to keep in alive. I think that it is very smart to create a group that watches the behavior of the water so that they will be able to figure what is going on more accurately than if that just took a shot at it.
Questions:
1) What precentage of Earth's water do you think we use for our own good (showers, pools, etc.)?
2) How many bodies of water do you think are used for agricultural reasons in America?
3) Do you think that this orginization was a wise decision for this country to make or not? Why?
www.TheEnvironmentSite.org/getting-a-grip-on-water-use/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tes_org+%28TheEnvironmentSite.org%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Monday, September 26, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Bicycle Care Stations in Copenhagen
Article by: Michael Graham Richard
Picture: This picture is of one of the bicycle stations in Copenhagen. It is 100% authentic, because if you look closely, you can tell that the sign is not in English!
Summary: In Copenhagen, they are trying to help our environment by encouraging people to ride a bicycle instead of a car. Cars, as we know, release gas into the atmosphere which hurts our environment. What the people of Copenhagen are trying to demonstrate, is that bicycles not only help our environment, but it also helps get people healthier. The stations are connected to some gas stations. These stations help cyclists repair your bike, clean your bike, and check the tire pressure. The sign on the station says:
"Dear Cyclist,
You can care for your bicycle here. You can pump and wash your bicycle and, inside the shop, you're welcome to borrow a free bicycle care kit with oil, tire levers, allen keys, etc.
Enjoy.
Statoil"
Opinion: I think that this is a great idea! It is a great way to motivate people to ride their bicycles. Instead of sitting in a car in traffic, you could be helping the environment and getting active! I found it shocking when it said "even a giant oil company like Norway's Statoil is trying to be cyclist-friendly." That means a lot! Most people think of oil companies to be the WORST think for our environment, but the ones in Copenhagen are trying to help the environment. I think they should spread this to the rest of the world.
Questions:
- If we had bicycle stations in the Hatboro-Horsham area, would you ride your bike more?
- How often do you ride your bicycle?
- Can you think of any additional advantages for riding bicycles more often?
- What percentage of people in the USA do you think own bicycles?
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Glowing "Ghost" Mushrooms Reappear in Brazil After 170 Years
Glowing "Ghost" Mushrooms Reappear in Brazil After 170 Years!By Kimberley Mok
Picture: This is a picture of the glowing mushrooms found in Brazil after being gone for 170 years.
Summary: This mushroom was originally found in 1840. Its scientific name is Neonthopanus gardneri. It is one of the 71 recognized species of bioluminescent mushrooms. They are sometimes called "ghost mushrooms" because of their eerie appearance. They are also poisonous to humans. The glow of the mushroom is bright enough for a person to read a newspaper in a dark room! Researchers believe that the mushrooms make light by a chemical mix of a luciferin compound and a lucifrase. Lucifrase is an enzyme that aids the interaction among luciferin, oxygen and water to produce light. Researchers found that these mushrooms glow 24 hours a day, as long as water are available.
Opinion: When I first read this title I was immediately fascinated by this! I mean who doesn't want to know about glowing mushrooms? I was also very surprised to find that they completely disappeared and then came back 170 years later! These mushrooms were found again in 2005 but I am wondering why we are just hearing about this now.
Questions:
1- Where else are these glowing mushrooms found?
2- Why did they disappear for such a long period of time?
3- What types of conditions does there need to be for this type of mushroom to grow?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Dead in the Gulf
Dead in the Gulf
A “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico May Reach Historical Proportions this Year
August 26, 2011 Lindsey Blomberg
By: Simal Ali. 9/13/2011
Summary: In this picture The low-oxygen or “dead zone” portions of the Gulf of Mexico stretch across thousands of miles. Dead zones are oxygen-depleted, lifeless expanses of water. The dead zone in the Gulf, which is 60 miles off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, is one of the largest in the world and has more than doubled since the 1980s. In 2002, an shocking 8,400 square miles of the Gulf lacked quality oxygen for most of the marine life to survive. The lowest oxygen levels appear in red.Scientists predict that a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico could expand to between 8,500 and 9,421 square miles this year, and is roughly the size of New Jersey and Delaware combined. The Gulf’s dead zone is mostly caused by farming waste , according to the article some of the toxins in the dead zone include sewage,animal waste and car exhaust.And just to throw in an interesting fact the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the 164,000 tons of nitrogen that reached the Gulf this May was 35% higher than average!Aside from just the facts the massive dead zone poses as a serious threat for the future of Gulf fisheries and marine life populations already suffering from the ongoing effects of the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
The dead zone now has smaller than average testes and lower sperm counts. Reproduction rates that should average a 40-80% hatching rate were instead only producing a 10% hatching rate.Though the Gulf dead zone continues to expand, future restoration and recovery is possible. Examples of these types of recoveries has been seen in the Black Sea ,which contained the largest dead zone in the world during the 1980s. So maybe together we can make a change!
Opinion: To be honest at first I thought of this article, that this is just another problem that the living things on this planet have created for ourselves that we can not control or fix. Although as I read the entire article I decided maybe we can make a change! However before getting to that part I do have to say that I think that this is something that effects a lot of different things.for example it is effecting the marine life population because they are not producing as many testes and sperm as they were previously to the oil spill and the " dead zone". However on a more positive note the article also said that the record flooding along the Mississippi this spring has caused twice the amount of average runoff to drain into the Gulf, as this year’s high corn prices encouraged additional planting that resulted in excess amounts of fertilizer. So as you can see this event has created negative and positive effects on the earth. So while we might feel that this problem in our environment really does not effect us, it probably will eventually.
Questions:
-What types of things can we avoid using on a daily basis to maybe help recover from this problem?
- How long might it take to recover from this problem?
- Dead zone effect local areas to for example streams, lakes, and beaches?
A “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico May Reach Historical Proportions this Year
August 26, 2011 Lindsey Blomberg
By: Simal Ali. 9/13/2011
Summary: In this picture The low-oxygen or “dead zone” portions of the Gulf of Mexico stretch across thousands of miles. Dead zones are oxygen-depleted, lifeless expanses of water. The dead zone in the Gulf, which is 60 miles off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, is one of the largest in the world and has more than doubled since the 1980s. In 2002, an shocking 8,400 square miles of the Gulf lacked quality oxygen for most of the marine life to survive. The lowest oxygen levels appear in red.Scientists predict that a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico could expand to between 8,500 and 9,421 square miles this year, and is roughly the size of New Jersey and Delaware combined. The Gulf’s dead zone is mostly caused by farming waste , according to the article some of the toxins in the dead zone include sewage,animal waste and car exhaust.And just to throw in an interesting fact the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the 164,000 tons of nitrogen that reached the Gulf this May was 35% higher than average!Aside from just the facts the massive dead zone poses as a serious threat for the future of Gulf fisheries and marine life populations already suffering from the ongoing effects of the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
The dead zone now has smaller than average testes and lower sperm counts. Reproduction rates that should average a 40-80% hatching rate were instead only producing a 10% hatching rate.Though the Gulf dead zone continues to expand, future restoration and recovery is possible. Examples of these types of recoveries has been seen in the Black Sea ,which contained the largest dead zone in the world during the 1980s. So maybe together we can make a change!
Opinion: To be honest at first I thought of this article, that this is just another problem that the living things on this planet have created for ourselves that we can not control or fix. Although as I read the entire article I decided maybe we can make a change! However before getting to that part I do have to say that I think that this is something that effects a lot of different things.for example it is effecting the marine life population because they are not producing as many testes and sperm as they were previously to the oil spill and the " dead zone". However on a more positive note the article also said that the record flooding along the Mississippi this spring has caused twice the amount of average runoff to drain into the Gulf, as this year’s high corn prices encouraged additional planting that resulted in excess amounts of fertilizer. So as you can see this event has created negative and positive effects on the earth. So while we might feel that this problem in our environment really does not effect us, it probably will eventually.
Questions:
-What types of things can we avoid using on a daily basis to maybe help recover from this problem?
- How long might it take to recover from this problem?
- Dead zone effect local areas to for example streams, lakes, and beaches?
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