Biodiversity

1. What are ways in which preserving biodiversity locally might have a global effect?

1a. If everyone around the world does their little part to preserve biodiversity in ecosystems, then the entire world will be largely changed. With all of this help, the biodiveristy will prosper for a much longer time.

2. How do habitat destruction and loss of species effect more than just one area?

2a. Tropical cone snail contain the largest clinically important pharmacopoeia of any other thing in nature. These snails have helped in the advancement of medicine and thie habitat is being rapidly destroyed.

3. How does preserving biodiversity enhance the life of people?

3a. The reason that the human species have come to where they are because of the evolutionary process. Destroying biodiversity will mess up the evolution of the human race and our species won't advance.

Gases and Climate Change.

KA-BOOM!

1. Combustion. Hypo: If a rubbing alcohol is ignited by flame, then the alcohol will explode, because the alcohol will combust when ignited by flame. BOTTLE ROCKET!!!! The alcohol ignited and shot in the opposite direction of the cap hole where the lighter with flame was placed. KA-BOOM!

2. CO2 Gas. If CO2 is introduced do the flame, then the flame will go out. The CO2 and the flames were extinguished. Fire needs oxygen to survive, and too much CO2 can extinguish a flame.

3. Hydrogen Gas. If the Hydrogen gas is exposed to open flame, the gas will combust and explode. IT GO KA-BOOM!!! The flame was introduced to the hydrogen gas and the gas exploded and then burned for probably ten seconds.

4. Air Pressure. If the can with gas is placed into the Ice water, then the gas will cool and nothing will happen. Nothing happened. Boo hoo.
If the vapor goes in facedown then it shall go boom. The can imploded. It folded into itself like a black hole thing in star trek.

Greenhouse Stuff. The slideshow presented facts about climate change the effects that human activity had on the environment and the rising temperature of the Earth's atmosphere.

CO2 Emission Article. The article spoke on the topic of Carbon Dioxide emissions and that there are many different ways of releasing it to the atmosphere. Cutting down trees and burning fossil fuels are two of many ways to release carbon dioxide. The CO2 Gas traps some of the heat that should be released back into space and keeps it in Earth's atmosphere. The Earth will become steadily hotter and hotter because of these emissions.

Renewable Sources: Wind. 20% of the electricity of the world is powered by wind. Although it is a great energy source, the wind is not reliable because there is not always wind, and most buildings have to have some sort of other electricity source so that power will always be present in that building. Geothermal. The Earth's core is 4000 degrees Celsius. Some electricity companies have found out how to harness this heat and use it to produce energy.

Lingering Effects

BBC wrote an article concerning the fact that there're were lingering effect of the radioactivity in the Chernobyl area. Fish in norway and Cumbria showed surprisingly high amounts of caseim 37. Even 14 years after the explosion, cesium is completely immoblished, but can be re-released to the ecosystem. Forest berries, fungi and fish frm parts for another half-century. Certain restrictions food may be needed for 10 to 15 more years, 100 times longer than originally planned. The environmen isn't cleaning itself.

1. What DNA Is being affected?
2. Is any of the DNA that is being altered fatal?
3. What can be done to fix the malformities?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/743879.stm
Link to article.

Chernobyl Questions

1. Who was responsible for the tragedy of Chernobyl?

2. Why was Chernobyl also referred to as "Stalingrad?"

3. How did Chernobyl accelerate the collapse of the Soviet Union?

4. Who was the head of shift when the reactor exploded?

5. How much radioactive debris was expelled in the explosion?

question for the panel

1. In the event that one of the drainage trenches breaches and the chemicals start to rise uo again what will happen to the surrounding area of residents?

2. Once the chemicals decompose, will they be removed or will they just be left in the canal?

3. Are the guards present at the site 24 hours a day, or is there a lapse in security, and what kind of background checks are done on the guards?

4. Is the synthetic liner that covers the 40-acre area impermeable?

5. How tall is the fence surrounding the Love Canal, and is it electrified?

1. The precipitation began to become torrential and the ground absorbed so much water and snow that the chemicals were pushed to the surface.

2. Many of the chemicals caused cancer, metal retardation, epilepsy, autism, extra rows of teeth and missing body parts.

3. The soil of the ground at Love Canal isn't fertile anymore. The water surrounding the Love Canal has to be constantly filtered and treated. Since the canal is now covered in plastic, plants cannot grow and life cannot be supported there.

Susan Shaw's Lecture on the Oil Spill

The lecture given by Susan Shaw brought up many new facts that I wouldn't have known about. She spoke about the fact that priorities are being mixed up, the clean-up efforts are becoming counter-productive and that the environment will be the one who has to pay the price.

Shaw mentioned that the government and BP were making an enormous effort to protect the marshes, and close to nothing to protect the ocean. They wanted to protect mankind from the effect of the oil in the Gulf, are leaving the animals to die in the water. She explained that even with the effort to protect mankind from the oil, that numerous accounts of men on the cleanup ships passing out because of the volatile fumes coming up from the oil slick on the surface.

Another point that Susan Shaw brought up was that the clean-up efforts were becoming counter-productive. Corexit 9500, the chemical they are using to breakdown the oil, is even more toxic than oil, and we are approaching the 2 Million gallon mark with it. Even if we clean up the oil, it is leaving behind the Corexit, which will still kill the wildlife.