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The Gulf of Mexico is turning bright green not due to chemicals dumped into the area but from abnormal blooming of algae which thrives due to nitrogen rich waters. Why, well due to increasing ethanol demands which comes from corn. Apparently, the rising demand for ethanol from corn has spurred farmers to begin shifting to corn and in the process utilizing more and more fertilizers which run off into the rivers and streams. The excessive nitrogen then causes algae to bloom and multiply rapidly which could affect the ecology of the Gulf area impacting fish and other wildlife in the process. Too much algae eats up a lot of the oxygen in the water and also blocks out the sun allowing less to penetrate down to plants and animals that need it to survive. The dead zone is growing and is expected to reach never seen size as the NASA article on the topic shows.
The effect has been noticed for sometime and the abnormal growth of algae which usually happens once a year or every two years making it a common occurrence. If the said event continues, it is forecast to affect fish stocks in the area due to less food that is available. As early as the race goes in attaining a sustainable alternative fuel economy goes, problems are already popping out of the most unlikely places. Marine life and all other dependent species would disappear during the said blooms and even stay away permanently due to lack of food due to competition.
Scientists have predicted some of these effects yet this one came a bit too quick and at a large scale that they have to find a solution to the problem. Fertilizer runoff is quite normal for water loaded with fertilizers and other chemicals such as pesticides eventually finds its way to a running body of water. The only problem, too much too fast and the runoff which should have normally been cleaned in the rivers and streams cannot digest the nutrients enough sending it down stream to the seas of the gulf.
Categories: Environmental, News, Organizations, Science & Tech | Tags: Alternative Fuel, Bio-Fuels, Corn, Fertilizer run-off, Mississippi Dead-Zone
Various industries and environmental groups have been pushing for the investment of government’s and other organizations such as oil firms who other people blame as the primary culprits in the war on nature to find better ways of generating power for our daily needs. In the Philippines, the Japanese and US government’s have long been engaged in the development of geothermal energy which is an alternative energy source that is non-polluting and sustainable. Wind farms are beginning to pop out on places which get optimal wind conditions all year round having several giant towers with blades that spin massive generators to create electricity./ The commitment to providing such investments in alternative energy technology does not come cheap and companies live Chevron-Texaco have been trying to provide these facilities to help the environment.
Out at sea, on hilltops that lay barren, wind farms are being put up with each one costing millions if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some people love it some don’t, arguing that why should they pay for facilities they wanted no part of in the first place. These people should learn to accept the fact that they are obligated to accept and help promote environmental measures that affects their very dragonball z survival for tomorrow. Only a small percentage of power is generated by alternative power sources but as people begin to accept the fact that we all have to do our own little parts, the more they become amiable to such ideas. Even small-scale power production through building mounted wind farms that use small dinner-plate sized impellers tied together to create the necessary force to generate electricity have been tried and are currently in use in India. Public schools have their laboratories powered by such green tech and they are beginning to get notice from the experts for it truly is clean and green.
Categories: Campaigns, Environmental, Ideas, Organizations, Products, Programs, Science & Tech | Tags: green technology, wind power
This might be one of the most important endeavour people should engage in for the seas that surround our continents are there to stay along with the many species of marine mammals, fishes and plants that are unique to each and every marine environment. Many species of animals are in the endangered species list and people have to take notice and action even within the household which has far reaching effects on our plant’s ecology. The recent uproar on Japan’s Whale hunting and dolphin slaughter activities has attracted much attention to the amount of abuse and indignity our fellow living beings suffer on this planet. Australia has voiced disgust on the actions of the government for condoning such activities which should be stopped and prevented from happening. The country has ordered whale hunting, well for humpbacks that is, to halt due to increasing international pressure and through requests by the International Whaling Commission. The Japanese people are just following their traditions which include these activities as part of who they are and their culture. They argue that this is the way they have lived for hundreds of years and that they should be allowed to continue on doing to continue that tradition. Japanese fishermen have been reported to act with disgust to the action of Westerners for they argue that they are interfering with tradition and their way of life. In one incident, a Western Wildlife Activist who was taking video for his expose had his camera smashed as he exchanged heated words with Japanese Fishermen. GreenPeace has long been battling these whalers and have had some success but sometimes placing their lives at risk. Some are arrested and some have their boats smashed when the captain of whaling ships order them rammed.
Categories: Environmental, News, Organizations, Wildlife | Tags: animal-cruelty, animal-protection, animal-welfare, Australia, Wildlife
Environmentalists, conservationists and scientists have been working hand in hand in the race to preserve plants and animals in the wild. Even with ample funding and resources, some of these animals and plants defy explanation in the sense that artificial propagation or aided-reproduction proves to have little headway. Nature is still a wondrous and secretive world that not all the factors have been explained. Scientists and explorers have been forced to go to extremes to gain better understanding of how and why animals in captivity fail to reproduce regularly.
They have found that the environment (plant, animal and other variables) plays part in the health of a whole species sometimes interacting in a mysterious way that it produces the right atmosphere for certain species to reproduce. Plants have proven to be a bit easier to manage for they can be manipulated genetically, allowing the creation of several new plants from minimal samples. This means that there is no need to gather from the wild, samples that have to be experimented on in the lab further threatening their presence in the wild. Some plant species have simply died off naturally which tends to make scientists and botanists believe that the process is natural. Some are wiped out due to man’s greed such as the case in the Amazon and the jungles of Sumatra, where huge tracts of virgin forests are set fire to for charcoal, cultivation and land. Charcoal making is a short term solution for economic needs for it takes a couple of hundred years for forests to generate good trees. Agriculture is also short-term for the soil is poor and cultivation would only be possible with the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides in order to boost yields, further polluting areas far from the cleared areas. Development projects also fail due to threats from another type of natural biochemical warfare that causes sickness leaving many a developed areas abandoned due to malaria, dengue and other animal/insect borne diseases that when transferred to humans become deadly.
Some animal species that have gone extinct in the past years have gone out without a fight, being eradicated well before enough knowledge has been gathered to study them and the role they play in the ecosystem such as the Australian Thylacine when the last known specimen died in 1933. The late Steve Irvin better known as the ‘Crocodile Hunter’, who is considered to be one of the most known and outspoken Australian conservationists has lived a life dedicated to the preservation of wildlife even when he was accidentaly stung by a ray as he was filming. His daughter, Bindi Irwin, inspired by his father and mother’s work in helping animals, continues to promote conservation along with her mother and the other members of the Australia Zoo continue Steve’s fight for the preservation of Australia’s natural beauty and unique animal species. The Kiwi of New Zealand would have also shared the same fate if people hadn’t pushed for a huge effort in understanding them better. Captive breeding programs are now providing re-stocking of the flightless Kiwi bird, the last of the ancient bird order the moas to areas of New Zealand that have not yet been overrun by feral species.
Categories: Animals, Environmental, Organizations, Wildlife | Tags: Animal-charity, animal-cruelty, animal-protection, Bindi-Irwin, Steve-Irwin, Wildlife
Unbeknownst to all, the International Committee of the Red Cross has been in existence as early as the laying down of the foundations of Humanitarian Law well before the First World War. From then till now, the organization has provided millions upon millions of people, assistance in terms of food, medical supplies and services from its current base in Geneva (where the convention of Humanitarian law was drafted and signed by most nations).
Anywhere there is conflict such as the current Darfur Humanitarian crisis, the Iraqi refugee crisis that has resulted from the American Invasion of the said country and many more similar incidents, the Red Cross is in the forefront for all these relief efforts. With local offices in its many member nations and along with its several arms such as the Red Crescent which handles crisis management in Muslim countries (which is necessary due to the many cultural differences in these nations) they have always provided the swiftest if not some of the first relief resources in cases of natural disasters. They conduct training of their personnel and country representatives through experts from Switzerland making them some of the most reliable and skilled response teams capable of responding to most disasters and crisis. Funds come from private and public sources mainly through contributions which can be aimed for specific crisis relief or the Red Cross organization as a whole. Switzerland has always been a neutral country ever since the First World War so it is the ideal place to have the headquarters for one of the world’s largest charitable organization.
Categories: Disaster Relief, Organizations | Tags: Disaster Relief, disaster-relief-efforts, Helping-the-needy, ICRC, International-Red-Cross, Red-Crescent, red-cross
The Gulf of Mexico is turning bright green not due to chemicals dumped into the area but from abnormal blooming of algae which thrives due to nitrogen rich waters. Why, well due to increasing ethanol demands which comes from corn. Apparently, the rising demand for ethanol from corn has spurred farmers to begin shifting to corn and in the process utilizing more and more fertilizers which run off into the rivers and streams. The excessive nitrogen then causes algae to bloom and multiply rapidly which could affect the ecology of the Gulf area impacting fish and other wildlife in the process. Too much algae eats up a lot of the oxygen in the water and also blocks out the sun allowing less to penetrate down to plants and animals that need it to survive. The dead zone is growing and is expected to reach never seen size as the NASA article on the topic shows.
