As we have explored and discussed in class, human behavior has negatively impacted our planet. Is it too late for the Earth to forgive us for the ways we have treated it? In one paragraph:
- share textual evidence from an online article of your careful choice that proves how human behavior has negatively impacted our planet,
- discuss how the damages caused by the human behavior you share can be reversed, or why you think it's too late, and
- at the end, paste the url of the website from which you gathered evidence.
OverPopulation
ReplyDeleteThere are many people who consider overpopulation as a problem that is negatively affecting earth as we speak. Most blame the less fortunate people for the cause of overpopulation even though there is enough room on earth that if we had all seven billion people stand side by side, we would only cover the area of Los Angeles, California. The less fortunate people are not the reason behind overpopulation. It is really the number of babies born everyday. By the next century, there will be about eleven billion people living on Earth! Every new person that comes into this world needs human rights- which include food, water, shelter, etc. The seven billion people already overuse these resources enough as it is, not to mention the amount of resources we waste. Even though we should have enough food for everyone, one in seven people are starving everyday. The world keeps growing and expanding, and eventually our basic needs and resources will start to decrease. We can help solve this problem if we don’t waste as much food and resources other people with less resources can use. We can also be more aware of the results of having too many children in a household, like having enough money, food, and clothing. Will we have enough resources to meet the demands of the growing population?
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-many-people-are-on-earth
Great job Jess! I thought that your post was full of good information! I agree with you that overpopulation is a problem that we can fix because the amount of births there are every year is something that we can control (for the most part at least). I agree with you that being aware of how many children are in a household and trying to conserve natural resources can help prevent overpopulation. I would also like to add that creating ways to fit as many people as you can into an area without them becoming uncomfortable can help with the overpopulation problem. Overall good job!
DeleteI agree that overpopulation does negatively affect our world. Overpopulation negatively affects our world because so many people waste resources which can be fixed by not wasting resources. People can not waste resources in many ways. Recycling could help a lot especially if countries start having recycling be a law. A ton of plastic would be reused instead of being wasted. Another way we could not waste resources is donate things when we don’t want them. Donating clothes would help because the fabric is not being wasted by being thrown away. So, not wasting resources will help solve how overpopulation is negatively affecting the world.
DeleteOverpopulation. The elephant in the room. People don't really realize this as a problem as our human population rises. Every year, about 55.3 million people die but 131.4 million people are born. That's a population growth of about 75 million people a year. It is estimated that by 2050, there will be 9.7 billion people and 11 billion by 2100. With all the new people on Earth, more resources will be used, such as food, fossil fuels, fresh water, land and forests. These thing's don't replenish fast enough to meet the ever growing population. If forests are chopped down (for land or wood), then the species living in them will die out too. More food will be needed leading to more species being eaten away (cough cough overfishing). This is a major problem, soon the world will be out of resources and then what will we do? This can be reversed though, perhaps the world could be like China with the 1 child per couple rule. If we could have less births to match the number of deaths each year, then the population will stay the same. Maybe we could not give birth at all for a year. This problem can be fixed but whether we will do it is the question. Can it be done?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160311-how-many-people-can-our-planet-really-support
http://www.everythingconnects.org/overpopulation-effects.html
I disagree that this problem could be easily solved. The one child rule you proposed seems inhumane and a lot of people want more than one child. Because of this, your proposed rule would be broken often, thus rendering it useless. I think a better solution would have people pay a set fee per child(to the government). This would discourage people from having a lot of children, and for the people who really want multiple children the money could be put towards farmland.
DeleteI somewhat agree with your claim that overpopulation is a problem that can be solved. Having a one child limit per couple comes with upsides and flaws. It will be broken by many people, but couples that do decide to have more than one child will be at risk for time in jail and will not have the other child or children legally registered. Parents won’t want a life of hiding for their kids. There aren’t many humane solutions to decreasing overpopulation, which is why many resort to having limits on births as a main solution. The only other way to decrease the population growth rate is to kill off some of the population, an idea that would be shot down almost immediately. The only real shot of solving the ever-expanding problem of overpopulation is to create birth limit laws and enforce them.
DeletePollution is a serious problem both physically and economically. Currently in China, the polluted air kills on average as many as 400,000 people every year and reaching 1.2 million deaths in 2010. Experts say that by 2050, pollution will become "the leading cause of mortality in the world." China has also been affected economically as well. Current environmental degradation costs reach as high as 230 billion dollars! Pollution has been a problem since the Ancient Romans and really became a problem in the early 1920's. During that time, tetraethyl lead was added to gasoline. Engine compression was reduced, but the exhaust from the car was spewing out lead into the atmosphere. This led to lead poisoning for decades with people having double the recommended amount of lead in their blood. This led to long-term health problems in citizens in America. People in developing countries still used leaded gasoline! Pollution is a major problem that doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon in our daily lives.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/air-pollution
http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/10/the-well-meaning-scientist-who-destroyed-the-planet.html
I think that the pollution crisis can be reversed and solved. This is because the development in technology has made it so the industrial factories are more clean. This is also true for power sources and transportation, for scientist have begun to create fission and fusion reactors that are clean. Some solutions could be making laws that prohibit a country's carbon emissions after passing a limit. We could also transfer into a more “clean” energy source like solar or nuclear.
DeleteI agree that pollution is draining our health at a steady basis. This problem could possibly be solved, however would be very difficult. There are many actions we can take to further PREVENT pollution, such as a reduction in the burning of fossil fuels. Nonetheless, we have limited options for REVERSING our previous actions. Inventions will have to be made in order to activate the cleaning process of our atmosphere.
DeleteGlobal Warming, describes a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans. Global Warming is a natural occurring event but over the last 100 years humans have contributed to the rising the temperature of the Earth between 0.4 degrees Celsius and 0.8 degrees Celsius. The reason we are the contributor to the warming of the now melting world we live on is because fossil fuels are being burned, land is being cleared, more agriculture is occurring etc. When those actions are happening there is an increase of carbon dioxide being released, along with greenhouse gases, into our environment. Research done by the Inter government Panel on climate predicts that by the year 2100 the average global temperatures could increase between 1.4 degrees Celsius and 5.8 degrees Celsius. With these higher temperatures occurring, the polar ice caps are melting causing the sea levels to rise. Also, the increase of temperature means the increase of occurrence and severity of storms and other severe weather events. I think that we can't go back and change what has already happened but as we advance. we can slow down the temperature from rising. We can do this by not releasing as much carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases. As human beings we need to find alternate ways to things we do and put a stop to other things, such as land clearing which is happening more and more often. The mistake that we made was big but mistakes are made to be learned from.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.livescience.com/topics/global-warming
Ellen, I agree that we can slowly solve global warming. There are many causes that cause global warming such as the burning of many resources and too much carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere. When we reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air the earth can gradually start to cool. One way to do this is by recycling. When we recycle, we decrease the amount of energy being used which reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Slowly this will lower the carbon dioxide levels in the air making the earth cooler.
DeleteEllen, I agree that we can’t change what has already happened and that we can however change the way we do things to stop Global Warming from getting worse. We can’t change the fact that the temperature has already risen. Though we can change how much it continues rising. I think simple things like walking places instead of using your car and watching your carbon footprint will help when many people do them as a solution.
DeleteWater pollution has been a major problem in our society since it was discovered. Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies and is usually caused sewage or chemical waste being dumped into our waters. Considering that water pollution is no naturally occurring issue it is safe to say that humans have been the leading cause of the problem. Each year the world generates up to 5-10 billion tons of industrial waste which is dumped into rivers, streams, ocean and lakes. In America alone, more then 40% of rivers and 46% of lakes are polluted to this day with more than 80% cases by domestic sewage. Water pollution can lead to the contamination of are very own drinking water which can give many people illnesses. Without clean waters we cant survive. One example of how humans pose a threat towards out water is by using weed killers and pesticides which are drained into the ground and mixed into aquifers. Another example would be careless oil spills by big oil companies. The bottom line here is that our actions have affected the bodies of water that surround us. Scientist have yet to discover a way to rid of this pollution meaning whatever damage that has been done cannot be reversed. However, if we are able to make people aware of this issue we can stop adding to the damage. We will also need to make new laws and regulation tackling the issue of dumping trash and chemicals into the water. Together this issue can be resolved if we avoid dumping waste into the ocean. Water pollution is a major problem and soon most of the whole world will be affected. We must take this knowledge that we have now and apply it before it is to late.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.explainthatstuff.com/waterpollution.html
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/various-water-pollution-facts.php
Dan, great paragraph. I agree that this problem can be solved because where there is a will there is a way and humans need the water to live so we will find a solution. To combat this problem we could put filters on every faucet to make the water clean. We could have clean up teams. We could also have tests that could conduct what water is clean and then we could find the source of that and make sure that it is in an area that can't be contaminated.
DeleteDan, I agree with you that we can prevent water pollution in the future. One way we can do this is by using fewer chemicals everyday. If chemicals are not being used there will be less of a chance of them ending up in places they shouldn’t be in. We can also help by reducing the amount of clean water we use so it is available for other people to use. Great job!
DeleteToday, humans have caused the world destruction. There are so many ways we do this, but deforestation is an enormous one. More and more trees are being cut down and used by companies for products and paper everyday. We may not realize it now bu almost 1.7 billion people in the world depend on wood for their lives. Now, almost half the world's forests are gone due to human actions. There are also ways such as mining, building roads, and agribusiness that cause trees to be cut down. We can absolutely reverse deforestation and grow back if not all, but companies aren't opening their eyes to do so. They could use "Zero deforestation" or use recycled wood for products they sell to fix this problem. The damage isn't fully done, but we're getting closer and closer by the day to total deforestation. Let's take action and help deforestation come to an end- once and for all.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greenpeace.org/usa/forests/solutions-to-deforestation/
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/forests/issues/
Deforestation is an enormous way that humans have impacted the world negatively, so I agree with you on that completely. I agree that deforestation can be solved, but only by persistence and world wide help. Without persistence, you can easily give up on your goal to stop deforestation. Without help world wide, you won't have enough power to get anything completely done. Another solution to add to your list is to take a stand against illegal logging. Illegal logging is one of the biggest factors for deforestation. Taking a stand to end illegal logging, can help end deforestation as well. I think that you make it clear that we need to end deforestation. Great job!
DeleteI agree with you completely, Amanda. We need to try and stop deforestation. I believe that this problem is fixable if we start taking action to stop deforestation now. The government could help with this by passing laws and making rules. These rules and laws could ban things like the clearing of forests. This would really cut down on how much deforestation is going on. Great Paragraph, Amanda!
DeleteMarine litter is one way that humans have negatively impacted the planet. As trash piles up in the ocean, so do the consequences. Because humans litter in our oceans, dolphins can swallow plastic bags and suffocate. Fish swallow plastic pellets and die. 30,000 seals die every year from getting tangled in fishing nets. Sea turtles think plastic bags are jellyfish, so they eat them and choke to death. As you can see, there are many ways that trash (especially plastic) can harm marine life. These issues are all simply because of how we dispose of plastic. Beachgoers, merchants, and fishermen are all culprits of marine litter. However, I think that marine litter can be reversed. Creating degradable plastic could help keep plastic out of oceans in the future. Educating people about marine debris can help them understand the problem and help to do something about it. Beach cleanups will help cleanup the trash on the shore. Ultimately, the way to save the oceans is simple. Don’t litter.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/resources/factsheets/litter_mess.htm
I think this a huge problem. Littering the oceans will affect the fish but it will affect us more in the long run. If the oceans are littered then biodiversity will be lost and that can cause an unbalance in the ecosystem. I think this problem can be solved. As you said we can use more biodegradable plastics and it's not too late. Raising awareness about littering could help a lot. If we don't stop this problem then there won't be an ocean for future generations and there might be a world without fish. Great Job!!!
DeleteI agree that your problem is indeed relevant and a fast solution is necessary to restore the biodiversity and population growth rate within our oceans. A problem can not never be solved and I completely agree with your ideology based on the conservation and restoration techniques of many biologists today. Scientist have discovered numerous ways to clean out our oceans and all of them seem to work. One solution I propose is a fairly new piece of technology being developed called the Ocean Cleaning Array. It consists of a system of floating, anchored booms and processing platforms that slowly collect trash over time. These machines can be scattered across our oceans and will definetly help in the process of cleaning them up. Great Problem!
DeleteIt’s not carbon dioxide, it’s black carbon. This is a black material that is emitted into the atmosphere as a result of burning engines and using fossil fuels. Black carbon is particulate matter, which is a substance that is hazardous to the atmosphere. Breathing this black carbon can result in serious health problems. Some of which are breathing, heart, cancer, and birth defects. This black carbon is washing over the arctic, and causing light to be absorbed instead of reflected. This means that the ice and snow in the arctic will be melting at a higher rate. Although it is too late to get rid of all the black carbon in the atmosphere, we can still reduce it! The less fossil fuels we burn, the less black carbon that enters the atmosphere! Some examples of reducing fossil fuel consumption are: taking buses, installing solar panels into your home, turning off lights when you’re not using them, and limiting your household heating. You might have heard these options before, but never realized how important they actually are!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.epa.gov/air-research/black-carbon-research
Although I agree that we can still reduce the amount of black carbon in the atmosphere, it's way easier said than done. Solar panels and other renewable energy sources, like wind power and hydroelectricity, need money in order to be installed; not everyone has that money and, let's face it, these days a lot of people would most likely rather save their money. However, I'll be optimistic this time and say that this problem can be solved if we all really contribute to the cause and help out. First, the problem should be made known worldwide, with a variety of supporting evidence. Then, people could try and find more efficient ways of transportation, like electric cars, bikes, even walking and running when possible. People or governments could also install renewable energy sources; governments are better because than a whole community is using renewable energy sources. Interesting topic and great job overall!
DeleteHuman behavior has negatively impacted our planet in many ways. One way humans are destroying the planet is marine pollution. Our throw-away society kills marine mammals, birds, and fish. As the trash piles up the consequences are piling up too. Plastic is killing animals. Now we have a big environmental problem: cleaning up the seas. Some ways we can prevent the worsening of the problem are creating degradable plastics, cleaning up beaches, and most importantly stopping littering.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/resources/factsheets/litter_mess.htm
I totally agree with you because I think that marine pollution is a big problem we have, and by cleaning up the beaches or throwing garbage away could help lower the pollution down a bit. Some other solutions you could do is possibly create a law to prevent littering in wildlife areas, like beaches, if nothing changes or the pollution gets worse. You could also have more recycling and garbage bins by the beach so people don’t litter as much. Awesome job!
DeleteElizabeth, I totally agree that marine pollution is destroying the planet. I also agree that marine pollution can be stopped if we can end littering. At the same time, it will be hard to change they way people act towards the environment, but all you need is persistence and support to end this problem. Another possible solution that could help is to enforce recycling to stop the pollution in the oceans. The solutions you proposed are a great way to end marine pollution. Great job!
DeleteA way humans negatively affect our planet is through poaching. Poaching is the selling of animal parts like teeth, skin, bones, and claws on the black market. This is negatively affecting our planet because people are poaching so much that it is causing animals to go extinct. The North American Grey Wolf is at the brink of extinction because of poaching.That causes the population of Elk to increase because the wolves aren’t controlling the population. Which in turn will cause the population of the population of the Aspen tree to decrease because there are so many elk eating them. I believe that we can reverse what we have done because of poaching in some ways, but with animals like the Black Rhino that have gone extinct they will never be able get them back. If we stop poaching now we might be able to stop the extinction of the species that are left, but no matter what we do we will never be able to undo what we have done.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/the-devastating-effects-of-wildlife-poaching/`
DeleteI think that poaching is a horrendous and abhorret problem and needs to be stopped. I agree with the fact that the problem can be solved and reversed, for no matter the damage done ecosystems will change and the more complex ecosystems will have more complex food webs thus making the ecosystems more stable. Once an ecosystem reaches a climax community then the organism with thrive and stabilize the ecosystem. Some solutions of this problem could be enforcing the laws that are already created or create more stricter laws that will threaten poachers to stop. The endangered species can be brought to another habitat with less predation of the species and is restricted to humans.
I agree that poaching is a problem that can be solved. I agree that extinct animals due to poaching destroys numerous food chains in our world, as you said. We need to improve security so that animal parts cannot be traded between countries. People also need to be educated on the unethical actions of poaching, and realize why it is wrong.
DeleteMarine pollution is one of the many ways that humans have negatively impacted our planet. There are several factors that drive up the marine pollution rate. Only 12 percent of ocean pollution comes from the activity in the ocean. One of the ways humans cause marine pollution is oil spills. In 2002, the Prestige, an oil tanker sank on the Spanish coast, which caused one hundred beaches in France and Spain to become polluted. It also destroyed the local fish industry. Another way that humans have caused marine pollution is by mining. Mining releases four times more mercury into the ocean than natural processes. This causes the health of marine life to become damaged. A way that we could reverse this problem is to simply stop mining. Another way that we can reduce marine pollution is by not releasing toxic chemicals into the ocean, like oil and mercury, and stop dumping garbage into the ocean. But on the other hand it is too late. We have already done so much damage to the ocean already but it is never to late to try and change that.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/fit-for-the-future/pollution/
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/fit-for-the-future/pollution/
I agree with you on the fact that the problem cannot be solved, but there are things we can do. However, stopping the mining industry won't work. What do the mining companies care about? Some damage to the ocean or profit? Plus, many jobs and families depend on these mines. The relocation of where we dump our garbage is a better idea, as it is simple and easy to adjust to. Putting the garbage dumps on land might not sound better, but garbage dumps will become a more pressing issue as well as stop the inflow of trash into the ocean. Most people don't really care about the ocean or the mass amounts of garbage we produce, but they will when they have landfills next to their windows.
DeleteKianna, I agree that it is too late to solve what has already happened and that it isn’t too late to try. We can’t change the amount of marine pollution. I do think your solutions of stopping mining and not releasing toxic chemicals would help stop marine pollution. I think that not only should we stop dumping our garbage into the ocean, we should also pick up the garbage that’s there as well.
DeleteDid you know that right now you could be impacting the planet in a negative way? A large majority of Americans admit they have littered once or twice before; but who cares right? People are starving in Africa and we are worried about littering? Yes, yes we are. Not only is littering illegal; it creates household, industrial and constructive waste. Littering can also cause severe accidents. A car swerving to avoid a piece of junk in the road could easily hit another car within seconds. Littering also degrades natural areas. Sometimes, litter ends up killing plants and animals nearby. According to ConserveEnergyFuture.com, we spend millions upon millions each year paying to clean up litter. Litter ends up on roads, in oceans and in natural areas. Walk the 10 extra feet to throw away your Big Mac container. You might change the world, if it’s not too late.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.conserve-energy-future.com/various-littering-facts.php
Riley, I completely agree with your claim that littering causes damage to us and our environment. To combat this problem whether it is too late or not we could encourage people to throw trash away, organize clean up services to pick up trash, and then they could recycle those materials into new materials that will serve as better use. This way we can stop hurting our environment and getting into accidents. Again Riley great paragraph.
DeleteRiley, you make your point. I agree, something so simple could have such a destructive impact. I like the detail about walking the extra ten feet! This shows how easy it is to help our environment. Throwing away trash is something easily solved, but endless buildup of other people's trash is harder to fix. People do pick trash on the side of the road and other popular "not trash can trash places" for community service. Seriously, no one wants to pick up your trash; So throwing away trash yourself is the best solution. Great Job!
DeleteAir Pollution has massively impacted our planet in a negative way. Air pollution is caused by humans and can also occur naturally. There are many causes that can happen outside and inside. For example wind erosion causes soil to move to other places and results in plants having a little amount of soil to hold them up. This eventually causes the plants to slowly die. Smoke from our cars can send dangerous gases into the air. These pollutants go up into the atmosphere and make changes in the environment. Erupting volcanoes, and methane gases are some other factors that can cause air pollution outside. We as humans impact the planet negatively by causing air pollution. Fossil burning is one of the biggest reason air pollution exists. Burning fossils can cause smog (a deadly mixture of fog and smoke) and acid rain. Acid rain eventually damages trees, crops, plants, and lakes. We burn wood for stoves and for fireplaces which causes smoke pollution. It's not too late to reverse the damage that was caused. We could do this by using public transportation or carpooling. This decreases the amount of cars that are used which results in less chemicals in the air. Also switch off fans and lights when they are not in use. A lot of fossil fuel is burned to produce electricity and doing this can reduce the amount that is burned. Try replacing fluorescent light bulbs with LED ones to save energy and always remember to recycle. Making these small changes in your life can change the amount of Air pollution in the world and may even be reversed some day.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kidcyber.com.au/air-polution
Shreya, I totally agree that pollution can be solved because the solutions that you provide like carpooling and recycling are great ways to prevent pollution from getting worse. Another solution you could use to lower sound/noise pollution is by not screaming a lot even at school or talking loud all the time. Great job!
DeleteShreya, I agree that we can solve the problem of air pollution. We can reduce our behavior and actions that contribute to air pollution, such as burning fossil fuels. Electricity is generated by power plants that burn fossil fuels, so by limiting the amount of electricity we use, we can reduce air pollution. Chemicals are released into the air through exhaust created by factories. By utilizing only factories that release little exhaust, we may be able to reduce air pollution before it is too late.
DeleteCan you imagine the world without trees? Or, the world without toilet paper! Not very pleasant, right? Well, that might be a future problem if trees continue disappearing at a yearly rate of 18 million acres. Already half of all tropical rainforests are gone, due to the indefinite need for more vast land for urbanization and cattle ranching, more timber for commercial items, and more ingredients (example, like palm trees, they are needed for their oil). If trees continue to disappear, almost 3/4 of the world's plants and animals could lose their habitat, causing a number of species to become extinct which leads to negative consequences for medicinal research. Also, without trees anchoring the soil down, soil is free to blow and wash away into lakes, streams, and other water sources you drink from, causing a decrease in local water quality, as well as contributing to an increase in numbers of people with poor health. There's always going to be people who believe that all the world's problems, including deforestation, can be solved if we all work together. I'm not one of those people; it's too late because no matter how many new trees we plant and how much we try to manage the amount of paper or ingredients we use, there's always going to be people in the world cutting down more trees, using more paper, and wasting more ingredients. Also, with the population of the entire world being 7.4 billion and counting, we're going to need even more of those resources. But, people could prove me and every other pessimistic person in the world wrong. Will you?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
Irene, I disagree with you. I think that the problem can be solved. We just need to plant a lot of trees and stop cutting so many down. Some solutions to help solve the problem are creating more laws to protect tree’s. For example I think that permits are needed everywhere not just in some places and the people who don’t have a permit and cut down a tree should face some type of conscience. Also we need to start using less paper which is possible because we have technology. So I really do think that this problem can be solved.
DeleteI think that we can still save the trees. Technology is advancing quickly, and I think that soon we won't have to rely on trees. A solution I thought of is that we all could start using computers instead of papers. A lot of people don't have access to a computer which is a down side to the solution I thought of, but if someone could figure out how to make computers cheap and quickly then the down side of my solution would cease to exist. As technology advances we will not need trees for power or homes. We can rely on solar power or battery power, and we could make buildings out of material other than wood. Overall I think that trees can be saved, but I don't think it will be saved because there are millions of people who want to make money and who don't care about nature. If we all cared then there wouldn't be a shortage on trees and there would be no other nature problems.
DeleteHuman behavior has negatively affected our planet because there is an abundance of plastic in the ocean. Humans have caused this by not recycling, which means there is a chance of that plastic ending up in the ocean. The plastic in our ocean is decomposed into very tiny unnoticeable pieces. The very tiny unnoticeable pieces of plastic floating around in our ocean get swallowed by fish. The toxic plastic is not good for any marine life to have. Plastic toxins can cause cancer in humans, which means plastic in the ocean can cause worse damage to marine life. 44 percent of fish have plastic in them. The damage of plastic in the ocean can not be reversed. The tiny particles are too small to get out of the ocean. This problem can not get reversed, however humans can prevent more plastic getting into the ocean by recycling. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-plastic-decomposes-oceans-seas.html
ReplyDeleteI agree that plastics is a gargantuan problem in our society today. I think this problem can be solved if companies create more biodegradable plastics. This plastic can break down more quickly and not hurt the environment too much. Its not too late to do this because more companies have moved into using biodegradable plastics. The abundance of plastic is a grave threat to animals and eventually humans. It can affect many animals antagonistically and it also may cause an unbalance in the ecosystem. If this problem isn't solved then us humans will suffer the most. Great Job!!!
DeleteGood job, Caroline! I agree with you that we can't necessarily solve this problem completely, but we can prevent there from being more damage done. It's impossible to take out all the plastic in the oceans, so it is kind of too late to perfectly mend the problem. Recycling will most likely take many years to have a noticeable effect on the planet, and so will other issues like taking out the plastic already in oceans.
DeleteThe ecosystem is one of the most important elements of the environment. It is made up of many different organisms that interact with each other to create a biological community. We all know that the largest threat to the ecosystem is habitat loss. Wildlife trafficking is the second largest threat to the ecosystem. Wildlife trafficking is the illegal trade of a deceased or live animal, mostly for food, medicine, trinkets, skins, furs feathers, or to be kept as pets. From 1970 to 2000, the population of animal species went down by 40%. And it is continuing to drop every day. One hundred elephants are killed each day for their ivory to be made into trinkets. Three rhinos are killed each day for their horns as medicine that doesn't even work. Tigers have been trafficked to be made into accessories, rugs, and pets. We have trafficked so many tigers that there are more tigers in the American backyards than in the wild. MIND BLOWING! Imagine what this might do to the environment? If we keep this up, there might not even be an environment. We need to start acting fast. The best that we could do is to stop the demand for wildlife products. If there is no such a market, the animal won’t be trafficked. Animals are not trinkets, accessories, or rugs. They are an important part of our earth.
ReplyDeletehttp://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/problems/illegal_trade/
This is a very important topic, and I love that you chose it, because in the long run; hunting these animals into extinction is going to hurt us badly. Though, sadly, I do not believe this problem can be solved. People are still going to hunt down animals. They don't care if they are endangered or if there isn't a market to sell them on, but maybe if one day there was enough law enforcement to control wildlife trafficking then this problem could be solved. Great job!
DeleteI agree that we need to act quickly to solve this problem, but I don't think your solution will work. There will always be demand. Increased security against the poaching of endangered species would probably help the most. The northern white rhino is a great example of the effects that security can have against poachers. There are solutions against wildlife trafficking that are simple, but cost a lot of money. We have solutions, we just don't fund them.
DeleteWhat if there was no luscious forests? What if the world's landscape was barren? These two things could happen in the near future. Currently forests occupy 30% of the world's land mass, and 6% to 12% of those forests of are being cut down yearly. Some reasons deforestation occurs are to create space for houses, urbanization, and cattle ranching, to gather wood (to create paper, furniture and homes), and to create ingredients for items that people really want (oil from palm trees). Also fuel is a huge reason deforestation occurs. Trees that are unwarrantedly removed; over half of them are used as fuel. Deforestation will have major consequences for animals living in forests, and the atmosphere. I believe if humans plant trees and don't cut anymore down; we can rehabilitate the tree population. Also one way we can help rehabilitate the tree population is to reduce on our paper use and burn less wood as fuel.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
Grace, this is full of amazing descriptive words it really helps the readers see the problem! I agree that deforestation is a problem that could lead to even bigger problems. Saving paper is a good idea but you could take that one step further. As technology advances there is less use for paper; therefore more software and technology could help with this issue. Planting trees is a great way to help the environment and anyone can plant trees. This paragraph is full of good information. Keep up the good work!
DeleteI agree that deforestation is a big problem and also that it can be fixed. If we work on reducing the current deforestation occurring and try to combat it by planting more and more trees where they are needed, we just might be able to save our planet after all. One way we can reduce our current deforestation rate is by having schools go more digital and reduce their paper consumption.
DeleteOne way that human behavior has negatively impacted the planet is through our damage to coral reefs. Aside from threats such as the growing population of humans, elevated seawater temperatures, and pollution, there is a new threat to corals that poses a whole new threat. The worst part? It’s almost 100% the fault of humans. A pathogen found in human waste, called Serratia marcescens, is posing itself as a huge threat to Elkhorn Coral in Florida. The disease, called White Pox, causes slow growth and then white patches of tissue loss, and may eventually result in death. It’s the first ever example of humans passing a disease on to animals, now known as “reverse zoonosis.” Humans in the Florida Keys have been using septic tanks, which are not as good for larger population densities such as the Florida Keys, and the waste was, in fact, passing itself on to the reefs in Florida. This may seem like a fixable problem, which it is, but this isn’t the first time humans have harmed coral reefs. Coral reefs are very, very important for the ecosystem, and without them not only will humans be significantly harmed, but the food chain will collapse. White Pox is something that we can (somewhat) easily fix through advanced wastewater treatment and through switching from septic tanks to city sewage systems, and it’s definitely not too late to stop harming and start helping reefs. Humans can stop polluting and start trying to clean up reefs, but that’s just a start, and if that start doesn’t happen soon, reefs may be beyond the point of fixing.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/coralwhitepox.jsp
Great use of detail in this paragraph. Our precious coral reefs are threatened because of the wrongdoing of humans and we are running out of time. But if we act quickly we may be able to at least partially solve the problem. One solution is to help reduce pollution by using cars less, fossil-fuel emissions from cars lead to ocean warming which is bleaching corals.
DeleteI do believe that the problem of coral reef damage can be solved. Because this issue is almost entirely the fault of humans, it is likely that humans can reverse the damaging effects it has caused to marine life. We can simply treat our wastewater and switch from our current sewage systems that negatively impact ocean life to more efficient systems that have a better environmental effect. By taking small steps at a time, we can prevent coral reef damage in the future.
DeleteGlobal warming is an upcoming issue that we've generated, and it's negatively affecting our planet. "Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend is the human expansion of the 'greenhouse effect' warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space"(Holly Shaftel). People are releasing greenhouse gasses like nitrogen oxides from burning fossil fuel and soil denitrification. "And intensive production of livestock such as cows and pigs which produce methane have also contributed to the enhanced greenhouse effect." There are many adverse consequences. Ice is melting worldwide, and that means the temperature is rising. Many animals who can't survive in the warmer weather are now in decline like the Adelie penguin. They had 32,000 breeding pairs now they have only 11,000 breeding pairs. Some organisms though are now able to persist longer like the spruce bark beetles. Since they are able to live longer, they've destroyed 4 acres of trees. A lot has happened because of global warming, but it doesn't mean we can't stop it. We could reduce Fossil fuel use, plant more trees, diminish waste, and could try preserving water. If we do these tasks, we could end global warming.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
"Climate Change Causes: A Blanket around the Earth." NASA. NASA, 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.
"Global Warming Effects." Global Warming Effects. Holly, 13 Feb. 2017. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.
"Top Ways to Stop Global Warming." Home Guides | SF Gate. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.
Arham this is really good. This actually helped me realize how much we affect and destroy our environment even without realizing it. I do agree that this can be stopped, but not reversed. We've impacted our environment too much. You provide a lot of solutions to this problem, so it was hard to think of another. But I feel like we can do a lot more to stop this problem. What we could try to do is stop destroying forests because that could definitely help stop this problem.
Delete~Hayden
Arham, I agree that global warming can be solved. We need to start paying more attention to the environment around us and the drastic effects we have on it. We can use renewable energies in our houses, and as you said we can cut down on fossil fuels and plant more trees.
DeleteWaste is a natural part of human existence, but it has dire effects on the environment. If it isn’t regulated now, things can get a lot worse. Waste often ends up at landfills, but as the waste deteriorates it releases a lot of dangerous gas emissions. 7124 landfills of the nation release about 15 million tons of methane per year. Landfills have also contributed to 23% of the total emissions in the year 2006. This isn't the only problem caused by our waste. Landfills cause high energy consumption. Vehicles like garbage trucks have to drive to far off places where these landfills are. These vehicles use large amounts of petrol, which is bad for the air quality because it releases a lot of greenhouse gases. Also, the quality of the water we drink is compromised since it can be contaminated by waste! Leachate (garbage juice) can go into the groundwater and contaminate it. Lastly, as we produce more waste, more areas are used to make landfills. These new landfills can be places where organisms live. Fortunately, there are ways to stop the Earth’s condition from getting worse. Though there can't be a perfect amend, there will be no further damage. These solutions are composting, recycling, and appropriate land use. Composting consists of letting all naturally degradable items degrade and using them as fertilizer. Recycling consists of reusing materials that might end up in landfills. This would reduce the need for large landfill space that would hold solid waste. If there are lesser landfills, there are less gas emissions that are released into the air. Appropriate land use is important because, it makes sure that the land that is used for landfills will adequately fulfill its purposes and not be unusable in a few years due to environmental conditions. If we do not take appropriate land use into consideration, we are taking away land that organisms can live on and use. When landfills are sited, it is important to avoid unstable places, floodplains, and wetlands. If landfills are still sited in those places, it is also important that we take a few extra measures and use techniques that ensure that these landfills can operate in more than a few years. The final goal is to eventually have no landfills at all. Unfortunately, this will take a lot of time, planning, and cooperation from everyone.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cmap.illinois.gov/about/2040/supporting-materials/process-archive/strategy-papers/waste-disposal/impacts
Awesome job, Vibha! You had a lot of great details in your post! I agree with you that the problem of waste can be solved because we have already created many sustainable ways to help both get rid of and prevent waste like using renewable resources instead of fossil fuels. I agree with your solutions composting and recycling because recycling helps people to reuse products that would normally become waste and composting helps people use waste to create nutrient rich soil. I think another good way to prevent waste build up is to use eco-friendly products that are recyclable. Overall, nice job!
DeleteGreat job Vibha! You had many facts to support your issue and I agree with you that the problem can be prevented from getting worse but not necessarily be solved. There are many different solutions that can get rid of waste that you mentioned, like recycling and composting. I think it is kind of too late to repair the damage because it would take many, many years to get rid of all the waste already on the planet. Even with the solutions we have now like recycling, and using less plastic or other harmful materials, it would take many years to see actual improvement.
DeleteYou just saw the UPS truck come by with your new “Pink” branded clothing. You can’t wait to show your L.A teacher because you know it gets him triggered. You don’t even think twice before throwing away that annoying plastic bag and wrap that your stylish clothing came in, but have you ever wondered how that plastic bag will affect the environment. For starters, plastic bags last more than 100 generations so the plastic bag that you threw away will still exist when you die. Animals sadly eat some of these bags and die from choking, more than 100,000 die a year (too bad they can’t read the warning labels on them cautioning against it.) Plastic bags also release toxic chemicals when degrading. I think the problem of “white pollution”(plastic pollution) can be combated. Yes even if not a single plastic bag is used from today on, the environment will still suffer, but it will spring back and eventually recover. Many see paper as the solution, they are a solution, but they can contribute to deforestation and require more resources to make. Perhaps the better option is bio plastics, bio plastics are still plastics, but they are made differently. These plastics are made with plant based and/or biodegradable materials. This means that once a bag is used, it will disintegrate quickly, minimizing the effect on nature. I think the toughest problems including white pollution can be solved if we try and put the necessary effort into it.
ReplyDelete~Korbin freedman (SlayerProof32)
http://www.nova.org.au/earth-environment/future-plastics
https://greenerideal.com/lifestyle/0613-how-do-plastic-bags-affect-our-environment/
This is a really interesting topic considering that almost everything we use daily is made of plastic and we are wasting a lot of it. I agree that we can solve this problem because we have already have solutions. They just aren't getting enough funding, support, or enforcement. We could charge people for using plastic bags at store, or, like you mentioned, we could switch to another plastic material that is biodegradable. Again; really good job!
DeleteI think the plastic pollution problem can be solved relatively easy because if we stop our current littering completely and clean up some of the old littering, then eventually the problem could reverse itself. I really like the bioplastic option, because it could be implemented easily. Then the problem would slowly but steadily resolve itself.
DeleteWhen the word pollution is thrown out, the first thing that comes to mind is air pollution, with big factories and many automobiles producing emissions that secrete into the atmosphere. Yet another type of pollution, water, could have even more devastating effects than air pollution. Water pollution is when substances have built up to a point that is becomes unsafe or poses an issue to the organisms that depend on it. Water pollution is often caused by sewage, chemical waste and radioactive waste. Sewage especially, is extremely harmful, as dumping it into a water supply kills over seven hundred sixty thousand children annually, as it contains many chemicals and bacteria that are unsafe for human consumption. Chemical fertilizers used by farmers also end up in rivers and seas. Dumping these harmful substances into water can not only affect a drinking supply, but can kill off a population of a species in the waters. Humans have also had some trouble with oil spills, the most recent one in memory being in the Gulf of Mexico in May of 2016. Either way, water pollution is artificial and harmful. Yet the most troubling part is that there hasn’t been an official way to reverse these effects. As of now, the water pollution humans have created will last forever, which leads me to conclude it’s too late to resolve issues concerning water. To improve this, however, educating normal people of the effects of water pollution and enforcing laws to prevent further contamination could help stop this ongoing problem once and for all. Take the safe drinking water act of 1974, which makes it tougher for people to pollute water. Although the past of water pollution is a grim one, we can prevent water pollution in the future, or ban it altogether.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.explainthatstuff.com/waterpollution.html
Nic, I agree with you that water polluted areas can not be fixed and also that we can prevent water pollution in the future. Ways to prevent it from happening again are farmers need to stop using chemical fertilizers and use organic fertilizers instead and stop dumping harmful substances into water because it can affect our drinking supply and sealife.
DeleteEach time you breathe, you probably never think about how the oxygen you need to survive could disappear in the future. Trees, a valuable asset to our existence because of their production of oxygen through photosynthesis, are being destroyed unnecessarily by the greedy people's companies who selfishly take the trees to sell them. This is called deforestation, which could become a huge problem if we don't take the initiative to stop killing trees. In the past, we had need of them because of housing, and wooden products, but now it has got to the point when greed is the only reason. On top of this, when we chop down trees it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is helping speed up climate change in arctic and antarctic regions. Ice is melting because of the destruction of trees, which will raise the sea level leading to flooding along the shores of some countries. So, to reverse this deforestation is to simply reduce the chopping down of trees, with laws and protesting, and promote gardening and planting trees for the future Earth.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation
I agree that the loss of trees is a crucial issue. I also agree that it can be solved with the proper techniques of reducing deforestation and planting more trees. One way to help stop this is for schools to use more digital devices such as computers in place of paper, this would reduce the cutting down of trees by a lot.
DeleteAir pollution has been a major problem for our developing world. Air pollution is the contamination of air, which is usually caused by the processes done in our daily lives. There has been many deaths because of this problem. These are the reasons how we cause a major problem in our world. Almost all of the world population drive cars in their daily lives, but because of this habit, our world can be in danger of being uninhabitable. This is because cars we use today releases a lot of Carbon monoxide(CO), which can reduce the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity which can reduce the availability of oxygen to key organs; Nitrogen oxides(NOX), which causes some problems conditions; and Hydrocarbons(HC), which causes ground-level ozone formation leading to risk of damage to the human respiratory system. We can get rid of Air pollution by using less amount of vehicles and by planting more trees, which can take in CO2(Carbon-dioxide) and give out O2(Oxygen).
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/fcb/cars-and-air-pollution.asp
Nice job! I agree with your claims that air pollution is a huge dilemma in the world. Solving this problem starts with use, we need to avoid excessive idling of our cars and advocate for emission reductions from power plants. It is possible to reverse the effects, Norway is planning to phase out petrol and deisel cars by 2025.
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ReplyDeleteDeforestation is clearing forests at a massive rate. Although forests still do cover 30% of the
world's land, amounts of forests about the size of england about 50,337 square miles of land. The biggest driver of deforestation are agricultural farmers. Farmers cut down trees by a process known as slashing and burning. Another large offender are logging operations that yes do make our paper and pencil supplies, but also cut down countless trees each year. 80% of land animals live in forests and so if we cut forests down we are taking away their habitats. Also Trees and other plants absorb some greenhouse gasses making there be less pollution. One way we could stop this is if for every tree cut burnt or taken down in any way we plant a new tree of its kind.
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Europe/United-Kingdom.html
http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
Zachary this is good, and I do think that this could be solved. The main problem in solving this is trying to stop the growth in agricultural farming and the destruction of forests. Your solution to this problem doesn't do enough. If we wipe out a tropical rainforest, and then replant it; it could take years for the habitat to develop. By that time the biodiversity in that forest would have already been greatly affected. This solution would work if you were to cut down a few trees though. What we could do is implement laws against lumber industries and try to limit agricultural growth. This would be a good solution taking place now; being that we haven't gotten rid of all the forests yet.
Delete~Hayden