EcoCMUfall20B

 Today there is now a “race” to develop renewable energy technologies. Inventor Thomas Edison voiced his opinion about using combustion instead of natural renewable resources for power. He stated in an interview “This scheme of combustion to get power makes me sick to think of— it is so wasteful, you see we should utilize natural sources and thus get all of power. Sunshine is a form energy, and the winds and tides manifestations of energy. Do we use them? Oh no, we burn up wood and coal, as renters burn up the front fence for fuel.” That comment says a lot because having someone know about being able to use natural resources that long ago could have have saved our planet a long time ago and we most likely wouldn’t have to worry about climate change or be talking about this today. We could’ve put a stop to climate change a long time but no one wanted to do anything about it.  https://news.mit.edu/2019/race-develop-renewable-energy-technologies-1218  

 Solar Energy The next type of energy I will talk about is solar energy. Solar energy comes from the star in the middle of our solar system the Sun. It is a source of renewable energy and it’s when the photons and particles of light from the sun shine on solar panels and that moves electrons on their atoms to make energy whether that be light or heat energy. The term photovoltaic means to turn sunlight into energy and that is basically what happens with solar energy. One bad thing about solar panels is the waste, so solar panels actually contain some toxic chemicals like lead and those chemicals leak into the air. It’s also hard to recycle and get rid of bad solar panels, but solar panels can last 10-25 years before they go bad or break and maybe even longer if they are taken care of.

 There are several different ways to use our environments resources to benefit us as a society. As I spoke of before one of the main ways is through coal, but there are several other ways too. We can use things turbines That harvest the air or we can use wave energy to power towns. What is wave energy? Well you’re about to find out. Here are a couple of diagrams to explain some of it. Ocean waves carry a lot of energy and the waves on the coast of the United States by themselves are 2.64 trillion kilowatthours which is about 64% of the United States electricity in 2018. That’s a large amount of power from just our coast alone. There are several different ways to catch the wave energy such as using the waves made by wind at the top or anchoring devices to the ocean floor to keep a constant flow of energy. If you would like more information feel free to read either article on how we can use this to help our environment and society.  https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydropower...

       In the article by Researching Land Use & Land Use Change by Berkeley University was based on how land use is a leading driver of global declines. In the article the researchers are researching abbys trying to predict changes that will come with land use. They aren’t only researching the change, however they are also studying and researching the impacts that land use policies have on the all the land we are trying to preserve. They are trying to find alternate ways to protect the land. They are looking for solutions not only in the United States but in other countries too. I think that this article was very helpful because it does a great job of explaining land use as a whole and also some problems and solutions that come with land use.  https://luclab.berkeley.edu/landuseandconservation/

First I would like to give the definition of extinction. Extinction is the state or process of a family, species or a large group that decline or are declining in numbers. Now that everyone has an idea of what extinction is we can dive into more in depth information. Species that are on the planet now are becoming extinct 100 times faster than what they would if humans did not have an impact. The population of wild animals have almost more than halved since 1970. While the wild animal population has decreased the human population has doubled. This has only happened five times before in our planet's history.

                      I want to talk a little but about what conservation really is. A lot of people know what extinction is but are unsure of what conservation is. Basically conservation is ways that are used to preserve or keep a specific species of plants or animals to hopefully be able to stop it from going extinct. Understanding conservation gives humans the ability to stand up and do something to hopefully ensure that people in future generations will also be able to see these beautiful living things the same way that people in past generations did.  Link:  https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Understanding-Conservation

    According to the United Nations climate change report, greenhouse gases and emissions caused by land use make up 22% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. This is an astonishing number to me because by clearing out the land you wouldn't think that we are putting more bad chemicals into the air. All that we think of it is cleaning out some trees that are in the way of something we, as humans, want to be there instead. Although a lot of things we use land for is good, we have to find alternate ways to clear things out because these gases are so poor for the environment and atmosphere.      In the UN climate change report, published by The Conversation, Mark Howden states that " Improving how we manage the land could reduce climate change at the same time as it improves agricultural sustainability, supports biodiversity, and increases food security." Moral of the story is, we need to do a better job protecting our national forests. Whether we like ...

 The Restoration of the Yellowstone Wolves Yellowstone became the first national park in 1872, a time where mankind had yet to understand the complexity of an ecosystem. In the 1926, the wolf packs of Yellowstone were killed off due to the excessive hunting. Western expansion brought settlers and their life stock in direct contact with the wolf’s territory. The increase in agriculture decreased the wolf’s available prey thereupon the wolves started to prey on livestock. Feeling threatened many settlers decided to hunt down the wolves. Surprisingly, it wasn’t just the settlers that helped kill off the wolves, the park managers also were involved. This is hard to understand because  the “Yellowstone National Park Act of 1872 stated that the Secretary of the Interior ‘shall provide against the wanton destruction of the fish and game found within said Park.’” With this thought in mind many saw the wolf’s killing of prey as “wanton destruction”. What people didn’t know back then wa...

Continuing to further my search about environmental resources, I have found a news article that pertains to an accelerated drought of the Estero Balasa Beach in the Dominican Republic. In the article it states; “It is worrying that in the face of the continuous drought of this important resource, no intervention has been carried out despite the continuous demands to intervene with feasible solutions to prevent the disappearance of this important environmental resource. Being that the Estero Balasa Mongrove area is not being positively intervened in order to keep the environment and the species living in that environment alive, they are experiencing a significant drought that negatively impacts the ecosystem as well as all the many people who depend on this ecosystem as their main source of food. It also states in the article,“ Many species of fish also feed there, including shad and snappers, and most importantly, because they have thick vegetation and are rich in organic matter, the m...

The topic that I have chosen to talk about today is Girrafes. (This is my favorite animal!) Even though the Giraffe is an animal that isn't on the extinct list there are still many things that are bringing down the giraffe population. In an article on giraffe conservation they stated, " in many parts of Africa, poaching and killing of giraffes continue in large numbers due to illegal hunting practices which include sports hunt, selling their coats, and even consuming their meat." This quote from the article helps describe different ways that these animals are in danger. After reading many articles about conservation over the past couple weeks I have found that one of the main reasons poaching is occurring is because these hunters are wanting to use these animals for money. I believe that conservations are a huge help for stopping poachers from killing these animals. A quote that stood out to me when reading the article stated, " The giraffe is a protected species thr...

                      In today's era we don't think much about what we are drinking or even cooking with when it comes to water. If we need a drink we just go to the sink and get a glass of water, but what if I was to tell you that it is not like that every where. Even here in the U.S. we have problems with getting clean drinking water for everyone. In some places people are able to light their drinking water on fire because of the natural gases being released from fracking and drilling. This makes the water undrinkable and a problem, because it can cause health problems and can poison the people drinking it. Would you want to drink flammable water or would you get bottled water instead? I personally would get bottled. https://www.propublica.org/article/scientific-study-links-flammable-drinking-water-to-fracking Here is a video of it happening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LBjSXWQRV8

 Technological advances throughout the past two decades alone have impacted every and anything we do today in our society. One after the other something newer and shinier is brought to the public eye and everyone loves it because it is bigger, better, and most importantly easier! This technology helps the average person for example college students, with math, watching videos to learn something new, or to keep data on for important assignments. The problem on the other hand with all of this great technology is what are the factories that produce these millions upon millions of products doing to the environment that not only we have to survive in, but our future generations as well as. Well you would think that with all of the technological upgrades we have had that we could surely find a cleaner and safer way to keep these factories running? Well the use of solar panels and wind turbines would not only be cleaner, but more efficient as they can hold and collect power in the batteri...

    Wind Energy by Lelya Powell      As the world changes so does technology and the way that we reuse and conserve energy. There are many types of energies, but the first one I will discuss is wind energy. Wind energy or wind power processes electricity by the use of wind, wind energy is a good idea because wind just comes naturally in the environment. Wind energy comes when wind passes through turbines. At the moment there are two types of turbines Horizontal Axis and Vertical Axis turbines, the horizontal is the type of turbine that is most used, it has two or three propellers that move kind of like and airplanes and they usually stand right in the direction of the wind. Many turbines on a strip or acres of land are called wind farms. Another thing about wind energy is that it is a renewable resource. Wind energy can sometimes effect the environment around it like cutting down trees to build more farms, and turbines killing flying wildlife. Also even tho...

        What is land use? Land use is the removing of the natural environment to build or add something for human use. This could include houses, parking lots, businesses, or even farms. Land use is bad for the environment in many different ways. Eric lambin states “ At a global scale, land is becoming a scarce resource, asserting the need for more efficient land use allocation and innovation in agriculture”.  When more land is used up then that causes the other businesses or establishments to compete for the remaining land space. Once all the land is taken up there could be no room for natural wildlife or nature and our world can take a drastic turn. Source: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1100480108

  What is Renewable Energy?     Most people might not realize the amount fossil fuels we use up on a daily basis. Whether you are driving to work or using natural gases to heat your stove, you are using fossil fuels. What most people don't realize are the hazards that come along with using these sources of energy; these fuels are not easily replenished and require vast amounts of deforestation to get to some of these fuels. By switching to renewable energy we can cut down on the amount of fossil fuels used. Hydropower, wind, and solar are some of the greatest renewable energy resources because these are easy everyday occurrences that happen all the time. If we all take steps to decreasing the amount of fossil fuels we us by replacing them with renewable resources we can decrease our carbon dioxide emissions. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/renewable-sources/

 As part of our resources I have researched fossil fuels and how we use them and their effects on our environment. What are the fossil fuels? Fossil fuels are organic materials or combustible geological deposits. Fossil fuels are  hydrocarbon, coal, fuel oil, all of which are formed from the dead remains of plants and animals.  The United States alone uses fossil fuels for 81% of its energy. Some of the uses for fossil fuels are electricity, transportation. Even though we need these fuels for transportation and electricity the fuels do have disadvantages like pollution, they can run out, they can even cause harm to the people who have to retrieve them for society.  In replacement for these fuels solar energy has even been suggested as a healthier suggestion.  Below in the second link there is more statistics on fossil fuels and the other two links have mor information of fossil fuels. https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/fossil_fuel.htm http://needtoknow.nas.edu/e...

     Extinction is when a particular plans and or animal species is no longer found anywhere is the world. Extinction does not usually abruptly occur. The course of extinction is usually gradual. This being said there will be a steady decrease in the population of that plant and or animal. Since extinction is in stages the conservation has the stages divided into 7 different categories. These categories are least concern, near threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, extinct in the wild and extinct. What can we do to help stop the extinction of plants and animals? We could be an advocate and spread awareness, never purchase any product that are from an endangered species, reduce the carbon footprints and much more.  https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-does-extinction-mean.html

                                   Millions of species are projected to go extinct within the next few decades this tragedy causes so many issues through the world that goes almost completely unnoticed by so many. There are many organizations and ways for people to learn and help out with conservation/ conserving these species.                 Conservation is so important because of the risks that come with the constant extinction of different species. Extinction can cause a drastic change in things like rituals as well as things like crop pollution.                  Focusing on saving species is a must at this point. The drastic consequences are are effecting people, animals, and plants in thousands of tragic ways. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis...

Land Use  By: Cayley Hollon    In this article, I read about how the land that state and national parks own now is protected and the employees at these parks are making sure that the area and habitats are clean and health. There are also multiple “activities” or land uses that the parks encounter. Some of these include but are not limited to wild fires,  changes in plant and animal species distributions, and the introduction and spread of nonnative plants and animals. The article also talked different ways some parks have changed over the years due to natural disasters or disasters that could fall back on people and their decisions.  https://www.nps.gov/im/gryn/land-use.htm

               Land use is when humans change the land in the environment and alter it so they can use it for their own reasons. It is simply the management of the natural environment for any type of human use. Some things that humans use natural lands for can be farming fields, pastures and even habitats. I'm not saying that when humans alter the land it is terrible for the environment, but it definitely isn't too healthy for it. Although it isn't too healthy, humans use the land from the environment for numerous things besides  agriculture. Some more uses that we utilize natural land for is recreation, transport, residential and commercial. These are all things that help the human race develop and grow substantially.  Source: https://science.jrank.org/pages/3801/Land-Use-Uses-land.html

Doing my research I learned that we depend on our environment and the resources that they provide heavily. If people as a whole were to preserve land, water, and other natural environmental resources  and not allow them to become corrupt and become harmful to us, we would experience a different way a everyday life. For example, with preserving and maintaining a healthy environment, we would experience benefits such as; “Improved air quality, improved water quality, climate change, biodiversity and habitat protection, and people would act more greener.” The meaning of people acting greener refers to people seeing the preservation of and having access to parks and natural land and being reminded to act more environmentally responsible. “Land preservation can change behavior.” https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/about/2040/supporting-materials/process-archive/strategy-papers/parks-and-open-lands/environmental-benefits Dejah Flowers  September 15,2020

  Technology has changed in big ways throughout the years. Everyday technology gets better and better and helps everyday life today in big ways from holding software, being able to do math, watch videos, keeping data, etc.. Americans alone spend at least 8 billion hours every month on digital screens. But with the increase in technology the influence to reduce emissions becomes overwhelming. A YouTube video that generated over 5 billion views in a month burned the same amount of energy as 40,000 U.S. homes in a year. The data centers that they are building use a lot of energy to keep them cool, these data centers need a lot of energy to power the computers also. Instead of burning fossil fuels to keep the computers on and running and cool they should use solar power because it is more efficient than fossil fuels and can hold power in the batteries it collects from the sun.   https://www.governing.com/next/The-Battle-Over-Technology-and-Energy-Consumption.html  

Conservation is the protection of all Earth’s resources including air, minerals, plants, soil, water, and wildlife. It is taking care of these necessary resources that give conservation meaning. Conservation also involves maintaining the biodiversity of life. If the biodiversity of an ecosystem is poor then more species will become extinct. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, a poor biodiversity increases the rate of extinction in an ecosystem. Another term that is used often with conservation is preservation. Although both terms have similar goals they differ in how their goals are met. While conservation focuses on the sustainable use of nature by humans, preservation focuses on protecting nature from humans.  Conservation is not an easy thing to implement into every household, but by making small personal changes to our lifestyle we could all contribute to the health of our planet. Resource: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/conservation/

 Conservation is not only used to save abandoned buildings but it is also used to save and protect animals in many different environments. The article that I have found talks about a conservation park Located in Africa. This specific part has been badly effect in many different ways. These animals have been effected by hunters. In the article is states "100,000 Elephants Killed by Poachers in Just Three Years, Landmark Analysis Finds". After reading the statistic I was shocked to think that Poachers would be willing to go kill innocent animals just to get more money. I understand that their trunks may be cool but these Elephants are innocent and don't deserve to be killed just because someone wants to have a cool item in their life. This conservation park is doing many things to help the animals survive and they are looking to add more animals to their park in the future! Resource:  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/01/pendjari-national-park-conservation-west-a...

  As a Conservation/Extinction group we define Conservation as the prevention of wasteful use of a resource. for example one thing that conservation would do is turn an old shopping building into something useful. That could be anywhere from more stores placed in the building or even a homeless shelter. In a recent article it states that "Conservation is the care and protection of these resources so that they can persist for future generations". This quote helps back up our example by describing why we should help preserve things rather than tear them down. Extinction plays into the factor of conservation by showing us that the less we tear down a habitat to make room for buildings the less animals will go extinction. Preserving buildings is a way to help reduce extinction.  Resources: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/conservation/

        As the energy/technology group, we are focusing on how energy is being consumed and how technology is effecting the environment. Under this topic we will discuss the uses of fossil fuels and how that plays a role in the condition of the environment. We will also discuss the changes in technology and how things have either improved or worsened for the world, along with many other topics regarding the matter. We will truthful details and facts to back up our points that we make to help show you what we need to improve in the world.     

        Environmental Resources are materials or services that are valuable to our environment. These are things that are found useful in our day to day lives. For example, “Food from plants and animals, wood for cooking, heating, and, building, metals, coal, and oil are all environmental resources." https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/news/2020/09/08/groundwater-council-gives-state-legislature-key-recommendations/5719299002/ Dejah Flowers

09 September, 2020 In our group we want to focus on talking about park and forest land use. We want to explain our views and opinions on why land use is good and bad. We will also talk about residential land use and industrial land use. We will spend time finding excellent details about this topic and post our opinions through our blogs.