EPA Proposes Plan for Next Phase of Cleanup at Crown Cleaners Superfund Site in Herrings, New York; Agency Encouraging Public Comment

This is an example of what contaminated soil can look like. This is what was lying beneath the demolished building.

Article: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/79D00CB0659DB20385257964006C6929

The EPA has proposed a plan to demolish a building whose soil threatens to contaminate the groundwater below it and could affect the families that live around the building. The soil and sediment are contaminated by "volatile organic compounds", chemicals that were produced by the large building's laundry. The EPA will demolish the building and excavate the soil that is contaminated. The soil will be shipped off the be treated and the groundwater that may be affected will also be treated. Additionally, the surrounding wetlands will be surveyed and anywhere that may possibly have any form of contaminant will be taken care of.

I know I'm glad to hear that the EPA is taking such a huge step as to work so hard to treat this water. I know if I lived in this contaminated place, I would be very excited! I think it's also nice to hear that the EPA is taking a step in the right direction since I feel like we always hear about the EPA making a mistake or doing something stupid that goes against what they stand for.

Questions:

1.) Do you think that the EPA was right to knock down this building? Why or why not?

2.) How would you react if you were one of the people living around this contaminated groundwater/soil?

3.) Would you have handled this situation differently?

Insanely High Air Pollution in Beijing

This picture shows a man flying a kite in Beijing on a very smoggy day.
http://www.treehugger.com/fossil-fuels/air-quality-beijing-so-bad-its-literally-charts.html
Air pollution in Beijing, the capital of China, has reached record levels of horrible- going back and forth between 'very unhealthy' and 'hazardous'. It has also reached a new level on the index called "beyond index". Planes could not take off because of the low visibility, and the levels of pollution climbed up to 522 micrograms of particulate pollutants per cubic meter of air. That could give a person who doesn't have asthsma an asthsma related death. Millions of Chinese people who live and work in Beijing have to walk through all that nasty stuff every day. Chinese citizens are starting to protest against the air quality to get the government to fix the problem.

This is so disgusting. I can't even believe people choose to live there, and I wonder what the death rate from lung infections is. I also wonder how the Olympics were there as most athletes need to breathe while they compete? I would hate to breathe that stuff in. I always feel sick after spending the day in Center City in Philly and it isn't even that bad there compared to Beijing. The government should do something to protect its citizens. I won't be planning a trip to China anytime soon.
Questions
1- Why do you think the Chinese government is not fixing this problem?
2- What caused the smog in the area to get so bad in the first place?
3- If you were a citizen of Beijing, what would you do to stand up against the dirty air?
4- If you were a Chinese government official, what would you do to fix the problem?
5- Do you think this problem will be fixed in the near future? Why or why not?

Offshore Wind Turbines

The first offshore wind turbine in the atlantic ocean was deployed off the shores of Portugal last week by a company called PrinciplePower. Their design will allow wind turbines to be placed in places that were never practical or posible to place them before.

This is a very interesting idea in my mind. Just to think about all the open ocean that we could designate as an area for these wind turbines. I can picture several square mile sections of ocean set aside for rows and rows of these floating wind turbines. It is an idea that could obviously have a huge impact on our impending energy crisis and I find it very interesting as it is something that I have never thought about before.

Link to article:http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/first-floating-offshore-wind-turbine-deployed-atlantic-ocean.html

Questions:

1: Do you think that floating wind turbines are a practical idea? Why?

2: What are some other innovative possible energy solutions?

3:How could implementing these turbines help our energy problem?

David Lewis's Blog

Link to article: http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2011/11/coping-with-climate-change/

Summary: This article disscusses issues surrounding current climate change and things that we can do to slow down this proccess in its entirety. The first thing that this article talks about is how natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, droughts, and volcanic eruptions are being found more and more all over the world everyday, and every year these events are responsible for many deaths and serious injuries and they devastate comunities and damage economies. Scientists believe that Global Climate Change has the power to affect the frequency of these events occuring and is therefore causing this worldwide catastrophy increase.

The more important thing that this article talks about; however, is what we can do to prevent this global climate change. Most of the ideas that this article suggests involve us turning to alternative energy resources. Most of our current enenergy comes from burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are not only non renewable but also lead to global warming and the increase of the planets sea level. If we keep using fossil fuels at the current rate at which we are today we are going to run out of these resources. These resources will come back at some point, but that would take millions of years. Instead this article stresses the importance of using renewable resources that will not run the sun and the wind and hydroelectricity. If we really wanted to do something good for our planet we should switch to using renewable resources.

Opinion/Reflection: Those of you who read the article or this summary may find yourselves extremely bored becaused you've seen this message a countless number of times before. The truth is, this article is one out millions of reports that repeatevly state the same message: "Switch to renewable energy." Its been said a billion times and the thing that angers me the most is that people just aren't paying any attention to it. I personnally think that global warming is the scariest phenomenon in existance and I am shocked that despite this threat people don't want to do anything. I find this whole fact of interpretation to be very confusing. Even though it seems like everyone is going and alot of places are switching to using some renewable resources, in the quickly approaching future our current efforts are not going to be enough and we are going to need to do alot more. The thing that I'm scared of is that we will be too lazy to put in this effort.

Questions:

1: Do you think that in our worlds current state, that we are doing enough to avoid problems in the future? Why?

2: Do you think that people are scared of global warming, or truely just too inconsiderate? Why?

3: Do you think that people are educated enough concerning this process? Why?

NASA Satellites Reveal Decline in U.S. Coal Pollution

http://www.treehugger.com/fossil-fuels/nasa-satellite-photos-show-decline-key-coal-pollution.html

Brian Merchant
December 2, 2011

This article is about how the U.S. has cut down on the pollutants coal produces, without just flat out getting rid of it as a fuel source. These satellites have shown that the amount of sulfur dioxide has registered a very steep decline in these past years.All they had to do to make this sulfur dioxide less abundant, was add desulfurization devices. These effectively scrub the air and take out the sulfur dioxide. This "cleaner" air is much better for our earth, and reduces the chance of acid rain. They managed to achieve all of this without laying anybody off, and actually ended up hiring people to install these new desulfurization devices.

I think that this addition is extremely beneficial to us. Coal is the biggest polluter out of the fossil fuels and now we've found ways to clean it up. This will stop acid rain, and create jobs. Overall, this is just a great solution to this problem. I hope that we can keep this up and keep inventing new things that will help us stop pollutants from getting into the air. I also hope that they can find ways to do this for other fossil fuels that heavily pollute the environment.

Questions

#1: What other ways do you know of that helps us stop pollution like this? Are they being used effectively?

#2: Do you think we should continue using these fossil fuels as energy? Why or why not?

#3: Is the energy coal gives us worth the harmful effects on the environment? Why or why not?

Fracking Wastewater Disposal Plan Could Send Contaminants Over Niagara Falls

Article by Matthew McDermott.
http://www.treehugger.com/fossil-fuels/fracking-wastewater-disposal-contaminants-over-niagara-falls.html?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29
This article is about how oil drilling in Canada could, in the future, send contaminants over Niagara Falls and from there into the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. The water from the treatment plant would be released upstream from the falls, and critics say that there will not be a way to know if the plant could filter out the radiation or other chemicals found in the wastewater. The Niagara river is already on a list of at- risk waterways, and the new contaminants caused by fracking, or drilling, could cause serious troubles. A way that this could be prevented may be possible through the legal system, as Niagara Falls lays across the USA/ Canada border, and the contaminated water could disobey international pollution laws. Many people are against fracking, because it is very bad for the environment, and also dangerous. Scientists believe that the plant will not be able to control the quality of the wastewater.

I was surprised that the people in charge of the drilling are actually being so inconsiderate as to send polluted water directly over the border into another country. Fracking in general seems like a very bad idea becuase of all of the risks involved, and releasing wastewater into a major water system makes it even worse. My family was hoping to vacation to Niagara Falls sometime in the near future, but I would be uneasy about going if there was radioactive polution in the area. The amount of water affected by the Niagara River is immense, and I hope the people in charge will reconsider before going through with this dangerous idea.

Questions:
1. Why do you think people want to continue drilling if it is so dangerous?
2. Do you think Canada should be allowed to release toxins over the border that Niagara Falls crosses?
3. Why isn't this type of story covered more in the news?
4. What effect will this have on us?

Bottled Water. Clean convenience, or pure phony?

This article is obviously very closely related to what we have been talking about in class over the past few days. It discusses the evils of bottled water. This is something that because of science class has become a very important issue to me because although we have many problems facing the Earth right now, this is one that we can all get behind all very easily. It makes sense. By not buying bottled water you are both saving money and the environment.

The article begins by discussing how not too long ago the idea of purchasing and consuming "bottled water", would have seemed outrageous. However now it is something that we see every day no matter where we go. It has sadly become a part of life. It then continues by saying how we have all basically been brainwashed by an overwhelming amount marketing and advertising to think that their bottled water is so much better than our tap water that we should pay several thousand times the cost for it. Imagine whats next. Pure canned air? I'm sure someone would pay for it.

The article then points out that most bottled water is just bottled or distilled tap water anyway. That is probably the one fact that everyone should know. If the general public knew that, I don't think nearly as many people would pay money for bottled water.

Link to article: http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/16/1/Bottled-water-is-evil.html

Questions:

1: What is your opinion on bottled water and why?

2: What do you think the average person can do to help solve this growing problem?

3: Who do you think is to blame for this problem and why do you feel this way?

On Its 39th Anniversary, The Clean Water Act Needs Defenders

Picture: To the left, you can see the Cuyahoga River, the infamous river that caught fire for the thirteenth time in June of 1969.

Summary: In June of 1969, the Cuyahoga River caught fire for the thirteenth time in its known existence. The reason? Extensive pollution and chemicals caused the river to go up in flames. Three years after this horrific event, the Clean Water Act was created. Three years after the act was created, though, America's waterway infrastructure began to crumble and fall apart. The article states that,"EPA estimates that in order for America's water systems to be able to operate without sewage overflows or contamination, we'd need to invest $188 billion dollars." But with those $188 million, we'd be earning $250 billion back and creating jobs for around 2 million people. The only thing holding us back are the big companies that thrive on polluting our water.

Article: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/10/on-its-39th-anniversary-clean-water-act-needs-defenders.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29

Opinion/Reflection: I was surprised with how much money we could be making and the amount of jobs available, but the large companies are keeping us from moving forward. Shouldn't they be finding ways to help the economy rather than keeping it where it is now? Wouldn't helping the waterways give them a better image, therefore helping business? I just don't understand why they can't just support the Clean Water Act.

Questions:

1. How do you think we could help support the Clean Water Act?

2. Do you think that the large companies are the only ones who are against the Clean Water Act?

3. Are there any ways to communicate with the large companies and tell them that what they are doing is wrong?

Ozone Hole over the Antarctic: Why does it Matter?

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/10693130-ozone-hole-over-the-antarctic-why-does-it-matter

Picture: NASA's Upper Atmosphere research satellite

This article talks about the ozone hole above Antarctica. Ozone is a gas in the stratosphere which filters out harmful UV rays from the sun. These UV rays are known to cause skin cancer, and stop plants from growing. So it is obvious that we need this layer of ozone. The problem is that we're depleting the ozone layer very quickly. Every spring this "Ozone Hole" opens up above Antarctica and allows in some UV rays. This hole is getting bigger and bigger, and we need to stop it.

My opinion on this discovery is that we need to be more aware of what we put in the atmosphere. Our everyday consumer products that are sprayed into the air, or have anything to do with the atmosphere, are most likely making this Ozone hole bigger and harder for us to control. I think that we need to know what we're using before we use it (ex. Spray sunscreen, hairspray), and how it affects the ozone layer and the atmosphere in general. without this layer, we will all die, and I like living, so lets just be more careful.

1.What are some ways you can do to help preserve the Ozone layer?

2.Do you think your actions as an individual can affect the ozone layer? Explain.

3. What can mankind as a whole do to protect the ozone layer?

We Can Feed 10 billion of us, study finds - but it wont be easy

Picture: Rice, one of the highest produced foods in the world.

By Darci Palmquist 13 Oct. 2011

Published Originally by Cool Green Science

Link to Article: http://www.grist.org/population/2011-10-13-we-can-feed-10-billion-of-us-study-finds-but-it-wont-be-easy

Summary: This article is based based on a recent prediction by scientists that the worlds population will reach 10 billion in aproximatly the year 2100. Specifically this article talks about the threat of a great increase in hunger that will become visible as our population increases. It then talks about a study recently conducted by researchers all over the world that revealed that it would be possible to feed 10 billion people. However the scientists who participated in this study discovered that in order to accomplish this task we as humans would have to change many things about the way we obtain our food. The list is as follows:

Stop farming in places like tropical rainforests, which have high ecological value and low food output;

Improve crop yields in regions of Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe where farmland isn't meeting its potential;

Change farming practices to better manage water, nutrients, and chemicals;
Shift diets away from meat;

Stop wasting food (up to one-third of all food grown is wasted either in production, transport, or after purchase).

These strategies; scientists believe will increase the worldwide food output 100- 180%

Opinion/ Reflection: I think that it is just crazy how fast our population is growing. One day its six billion and the next day its like, well 8. I think that the list of strategies listed here would be very helpful if we actually used them. I find it pretty upseting that we don't and if we really wanted to do something good for ourselves we would actually follow the researchers advice. If we dont it could lead to our collapse and the collapse of the biosphere.

Questions:

1 Remembering what we learned in class what is your opinion on exponential population growth?, Explain

2 Do you agree that these strategies could truely increase the food output 100-180%?, Explain

3 Come up with another strategy that could be used and explain it.

EIA Predicts A Grim Future for Carbon Emissions

Picture: Show the past and predicted future world carbon dioxide emmissions from 1990 to 2035 in billions of metric tons.

Summary: The EIA ( Energy Information Administration) recent prediction that the worlds carbon emmission to rise 40% by the year 2035.
If this prediction is correct the EIA says that the world should expect dramatic climate change and widespread dustbowlification due to carbons impact on our atmosphere. The climate change; scientists say, will cause the polar ice caps to melt and cause a multi foot ocean level increase. This will also cause incresed acidic levels in saltwater which would lead to a massive loss of fish. The seafood loss would greatly threaten the extinction of many land bound organisms as well. Scientists say that the global warming will also lead to much more powerful hurricanes and eventually another ice age. The EIA also stated that the expected increased carbon out will come mainly from the burning of coal, and mainly from areas such as China and India.

Opinion/Reflection: Global Warming has been made so obvious to us throught this and a countless number of other activist reports. Despite this it still seems to me that everyone either doesn't believe that what they are being told will actually happen or feel to insignificant to do anything about it. I personally feel very strongly about this issue and think that it should be a top priority to stop. I've seen a countless number on telivision documentaries depicting disasters due to this in the future. I'm still such a young person and have so much more life to look forward to on this planet and I DON'T want Global Warming to make things worse as time passes by.

Questions:

1: Make some suggestions on how we could reduce carbon emmission and explain them.

2: Do you think that our government and other governments around the world are doing enough to prevent global warming? Explain.

3: Do you really belive that Global Warming could lead to a second ice age? Explain.

What happens to our trash?

What happens to our trash?

A researcher named Carlo Ratti conducted an experiment to see what happened to our trash after we threw it away. He attached trackers to 3000 pieces of trash and followed them with a computer wherever they went. Amazingly some pieces of trash were recorded traveling over 4000 miles. Ratti says that he wonders how we can make the system more efficient in general.
Making our public trash and recycling systems more efficient is very important to me. There is no reason that a single piece of trash has to be transported 4000 miles. I see that as a waste of energy that could better be spent elsewhere. Imagine that we didn't have a public trash system at all. Whenever you wanted to throw something out, you would have to drive it to a landfill yourself. Now would you want to have to drive it 4000 miles before you could get rid of a single piece of trash. Now, we do have a public trash system, so maybe you don't have to drive a bunch of junk 4000 miles, but in reality, someone is. That seems to me like a lot of wasted time and energy.

Questions:
1: How could we make the system more efficient?
2: Do you think it is important to improve our trash and recycling systems? why? or why not?
3: What effect (positive or negative) do you think making our public trash and recycling systems would have on the environment? Explain.

Converting rainforest to cropland in Africa reduces rainfal

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0919-west_africa_rainfall.html

This article is about how when people in Africa cut down their rain forests, it makes less rain fall in the area. When the trees are cut down, it makes the air hotter. This makes it so less rain clouds can form and half as much rain is dropped. The African rain forests survive off of barely any water to begin with and when you decrease that, many of the rain forests will start to disappear.

I feel that deforestation is a terrible thing to begin with, but when deforestation makes it so less trees can live to begin with, it just wont work. We are killing ourselves by clearing all of this land, and after we reach a certain point, we won't be able to undo this because not enough rain will fall for trees to survive anyway.

A good idea is to make the cuts in a fishtail pattern. This does less damage to the environment and won't make it rain any less. the ideal solution would to just stop this all together, but that wont happen. So if this is second best, we better start soon.

Questions:

1) Do you think there is a way to stop deforestation? If yes, what?

2) Why do you think people still do this even though they know its killing the environment?

3) If you had to live there, and farming was your only job, would you be wary of the environment when trying to earn a living?

Dust bowls, water shortages, and toxins drive people from their homes

Article Found Here

Picture: To the left, we see the affects a dust bowl can have on what was a once fully functioning farm.

Summary: Although many other environmental events are more commonly related to the fleeing of refugees, one thing many people forget about are the ever-expanding deserts, falling water tables, toxic waste and radiation are also forcing people from their native lands.

The Sahara Desert is just one example of desert's expanding in every directions. The Sahara is forcing many to flee towards the Mediterranean Sea. Even worse, the desert is also forcing farmers in Nigeria into one of the last farmable areas, which just so happens to be very small. A surprising statistic says that,"A 2006 U.N. conference on desertification in Tunisia projected that by 2020, up to 60 million people could migrate from sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa and Europe."

Africa is not the only area affected by this startling trend, though. People from all over the world, including Mexico, Brazil and Iran, are also being forced to fled. One of the most affected areas, though, is China. This country is expected to suffer from a dust bowl of the same magnitude that occurred in the United States, although instead of 2 million Americans being affected, 10 million Chinese citizens will be forced from their homes.

On top of this massive problem, there seems to also be a case of water depletion all around the world. Some villages in India have even been abandoned due to a lack of water! And on top of that, toxic and nuclear waste is everywhere, posing serious health risks to those who live around it.

These problems are making refugees migrate to North American and Europe, adding to the immigration problem. With all of these problems, the article finally finishes with asking a simple question. Why are we focusing on keeping immigrants out rather than fixing the problem that is driving them across the border?

Opinion/Reflection: I find this entire article very worrying! First of all, I feel really bad for those who are forced from their homes due to no fault of their own. They aren't the ones not taking proper care of their nuclear and toxic waste, and I wish I knew a way to at least help these people in some way. I'm also surprised that these kinds of events are not reported as much as they deserve to be. I know that I probably wouldn't have heard about this situation if it wasn't for this article.

Questions: 1.) Why do you think these dust bowls aren't reported as much in the news?

2.) How would you react if you were forced from your home one day due to toxic waste?

3.) How do you think we could help those that are affected by the water shortage?

Endangered Short-Tailed Albatross Killed as Bycatch on Fishing Boat

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/09/endangered-short-tailed-albatross-killed-as-bycatch-by-fishing-boat.php?campaign=th_rss

Picture: This is a picture of a short-tailed albatross, a species of bird living off the Northwest coast, which has been hunted to near extinct levels due to the feather trade, and they are still extremely endangered.

Summary: A recent report revealed that a short tailed albatross was accidentally killed as bycatch by a longline fishing boat off the coast of Oregon in April. Longline fishing boats are notorious for being a danger to seabirds such as the albatross, and even though the feather trade is the cause of the near-extinction, the boats are definitely slowing the recovery of the species. The recent killing has led to meetings between National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, associated with the Endangered Species Act. 

Many seabirds are killed every year due to fishing accidents, such as swallowing the hooks or being pulled underwater and drowning. A posssible preventative measure could be taken to scare the birds away, but it is not always used as it is not required.

The reason that the killing of one albtross is a big deal because only a fraction of bird killings are noticed by fishermen and even fewer are reported, so this could only be the tip of the iceberg. The birds currently only reside on four islands, after being thought extinct for some time until ten breeding pairs were found on one of the islands. Hopefully measures will be taken to stop fishing accidents and the birds will be able to recover from endangerment in peace.

Opinion/reflection: It upset me very much to hear that these birds were having problems with being accidentally killed by fishing boats, especially after being hunted to near extinction. I think it is horrible that fishermen aren't taking better care to prevent bird killings and to notice and report the ones that do happen. The fishermen and the organizations that belong to the Endangered Species Act should definitely pay more attention to things like this, or the birds could go extinct again. If the birds were to go extinct, it could mess up many ecosystems, because they mainly eat squid, and if the birds were gone, the squid would multiply in numbers, possibly overeating the fish in the area and so on. If one ecosystem is affected, many others could be also, and effects could even be felt by us because the whole biosphere is connected in some way.

Questions

1. Why don't fishermen use "bird scare" lines to prevent bird killings?

2. How could we be affected by the endangerment of the short-tailed albatross?

3. Why aren't more people concerned with  protecting endangered species?

4. What are some things we can do to help?