Saving Energy to Save the Planet

Lynden Clark

Saving Energy to Save the Planet

     The Earth is our home and we have disrespected it by depleting its resources and destroying natural life. Human intervention is the source of most problems the earth faces. Fossil Fuels, one of the ways we have decided to use to power our inventions have actually affected “12.6 million Americans...to toxic air pollution from active oil and gas wells”. This proves how we are not only hurting the earth, but we are hurting ourselves through these processes. Renewable resources are a great way to change our destructive direction, however; resources like solar and wind are not accessible because of how expensive and new the technology is. Even though renewable sources of are hard to incorporate, their are still many ways to support the cause that are much easier and less pricey.

    Saving our planet starts in our own homes. Simple things such as turning off the lights and the fan when you leave a room help save energy. Switching out your light bulbs from incandescent to LED's will limit the electricity used to light your space. If you leave your clothes out to dry during the summer you can omit the heat created by a dryer. Taking showers in cooler water and spending less time with the water on will limit your resources. Limiting electricity and water use will allow our earth to recover from the pollution of fossil fuels and rising temperatures. All of these acts are minimal, save you money, and save the Earth. 

 

     In addition to limiting your waste, it is important to watch where you place your waste. For instance, no littering at your house or in public places to keep area clean and sustain a healthy habitat for organisms in that environment. You should also follow the the 3 R rule: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I have already covered ways that you can reduce energy in your home but I would like to detail how to reuse and recycle properly. For example, you have extra plastic bags in your house that continue to congregate; these bags can be reduced by replacing them with fabric ones.You may also reuse these bags by storing items in them and carrying them from place to place. After this is said and done, if these bags are appropriate to be recycled, you may place them in the nearest recycling bin so that they can be remade into other useful materials. Recycling infinitely benefiting both the community and the earth by "conserving fresh water", "reducing CO2 emissions", and using less fossil fuels.

  

     In conclusion, it is important to continue expanding how we save energy and resources. Though uncomfortable at first, it is important to support our planet and to not break it down. Our earth is in a rough sport with CO2 and temperatures on the rise. Their are many things we can do from our own homes that will reduce harm done to the environment and benefit ourselves as well. By supporting others to save energy from their own homes and pushing others to follow the 3R's we can come back from the harm that we have done to our planet and have a home for our families for generations to come.

Questions:

1. After reading this article, are you pushed to save energy and be more green friendly in your household?

2. If you see someone who is ill-educated about our planet and how we affect it, would you educate them to be more responsible with resources?

Sources:

https://www.recycleacrossamerica.org/recycling-facts

https://www.energysage.com/energy-efficiency/101/ways-to-save-energy/

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fossil-fuels-dirty-facts

 

Asthma and Air Pollution

Asthma and Air Pollution

By: Advait Chutke - 3

    Pollution. More specifically, Air Pollution. You may have heard of Air Pollution on the news nowadays, and mainly its effects on the planet. Air Pollution can be described as, “A by-product of urbanization and industrialization.” (Hannah Ritchie) and can contain a plethora of pollutant compounds like: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds. These pollutants are created from the consumption and use of fossil fuels, creation and destruction of man-made objects, and from an ecosystem in itself. The effects and consequences of these you may have heard of, like global warming. But you may have not known that an effect of Air Pollution goes directly to humans, by helping cause Asthma. 

    Asthma, a respiratory condition in which a person’s respiratory airways leading to or in the lungs swell, narrow, and produce mucus to cause a difficulty in breathing. Asthma’s effects vary person to person, and the causes  of it vary as well. Air Pollution helps cause Asthma by “suppressing genes that regulate the immune system’s ability to differentiate an allergen from a dangerous foreign substance, such as a virus or bacteria” (epa.gov). The immune system in the body reacts to the allergen or pollutant by sending an inflammatory response and closing the respiratory tract. The pollutants literally mess with the genes within DNA and RNA to cause the body to react differently than it should, causing Asthma. The pollutants also irritate Asthma afterwards causing deadly Asthma Attacks and cause breathing problems in day to day life.

    I personally have had Asthma and still have it to this day. It affects me less today, but used to be a big struggle in the past. I used to have to take an inhaler almost everyday because numerous pollutants would agitate my lungs and force them to close up. Whenever I go to a very polluted area (some big cities or factory districts) I tend to start coughing and start to have difficulty breathing. Many people in the world suffer from Asthma as well, only to have the pollutants harm or agitate them as well. I believe that we should tone down what we burn and try to figure out ways to clean up the air for everyone to breathe better and live better.

    There are ways to help decrease the pollutants in the air. We can use less fossil fuels to decrease some of the harmful pollutants. We can ask and help fun filter towers like the one in China (depicted above). And also by simply using your car less. These steps, small and big, can help decrease the amount of pollutants in the atmosphere. Pollutants which cause harm to the environment and the people within.

Questions…

What do you think about pollution’s additional affect to the Human Body?

What are you going to do to help decrease the amount of pollutants?

What do you think it feels like to live with Asthma and what do you thing you would have to do different in your daily life to cope with it?

Sources:

   https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/asthma/symptoms-causes/syc-20369653

https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/links-between-air-pollution-and-childhood-asthma

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5756438/pdf/13148_2017_Article_433.pdf

https://ourworldindata.org/air-pollution

Trash in our Oceans

Trash in our Oceans

Alex Chu

Trash in our Oceans

First and foremost, an endless flow of trash into the ocean will affect the health of humans and wildlife alike as well as compromise the livelihoods that depend on a healthy ocean. Trash and debris such as fishing gear, straws, and plastic bags pose a deadly threat to marine life. Fishing gear can trap helpless sea turtles and cut through flesh of whales, while plastic bags are easily mistaken as food and consumed by animals. Straws can be hazardous in that they cab get stuck in a nostril, blowhole, an eyesore even a throat.Each year an estimated 8 million metric tons, or 17 billion pounds, of plastic flows into the ocean.

"There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea."

Plastics and waste in our oceans

Eric Choe

Plastics and waste in our oceans

     Plastic. We use plastic in virtually every part of daily life. Our grocery bags, pencils, bottles; the list goes on and on! While plastic is extremely useful in our generation, we humans have not disposed of it properly, so has ended up in GIGANTIC masses in our oceans. These giant masses (some bigger than the size of TEXAS) have and currently are affecting the ecosystems in the ocean. For instance, in north america, there is a place called "Midway Atoll". It is a secluded island inhabited by over 1.5 million Laysian albatrosses, and it is estimated that ALL of them have plastics inside their digestive system. Even more devastating, is that when you walk along the shore, you can see thousands of bird carcasses decomposing, with plastic showing in their decomposed skeletons. Yuck!

     Furthermore, it is estimated that over 100,000 turtles are killed every single year due to the plastic epidemic in the ocean. This personally bothers me, as I used to own a turtle named Larry a few years back, and to think of him choking on plastic and dying absolutely sickens me. 60 to 95% of the waste in oceans is plastic. 60 to 95%!!! out of the 6 trillion pieces of  garbage in the ocean today, that is up to 5.7 trillion pieces of plastic garbage that is just floating on top of our beautiful oceans. Oceans that, by the way, contains 97% of our water supply, and produces 70% of ALL of the air we breathe. There are heavy consequences for this pollution. These plastics and other toxic chemicals can affect the seafood and water we drink, and if we are unlucky enough to eat these contaminated articles, there is potential for kidney damage, Alzheimer's, heart damage, nervous system damage, and a host of other symptoms.

The NCEAS has done significant amounts of research on the amount of plastic that gets entered into the oceans and coastlines, and the results are staggering-

      "Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans. It’s equivalent to five grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world. In 2025, the annual input is estimated to be about twice greater, or 10 bags full of plastic per foot of coastline. So the cumulative input for 2025 would be nearly 20 times the 8 million metric tons estimate – 100 bags of plastic per foot of coastline in the world!"

That amount is pure insanity. At this rate, we wont even be able to walk on beaches, or enjoy swimming in the oceans! Surfing and boating wouldn't be possible, and the water would turn into a wasteland of plastic. This amount of plastic also affects our beautiful coral reefs! Since trillions of tons of plastic enter the ocean, some of it is bound to attach to corals. When plastics even TOUCH coral, the chance for the coral to get diseased increases from 4 percent, to 89%! Plastic invites harmful bacteria and pathogens to attack the corals, which in turn kill the coral. It is estimated that 11 billion tons of plastic could be entangled on coral reefs around the world.

   Now, what can we humans do to help this problem? First and foremost, eliminate the problem at its source. Dispose of plastic bags and other products properly, by recycling them. If you see garbage and or litter, pick it up. Get together with your friends and have a day where you go outside, and pick up all the litter and plastics you see! It might not seem like much, however these little actions add up. more than 60% of the plastic in the ocean comes from land; blown by wind into the ocean, intentional dumping, or rain carrying it into oceans. How will you help? Even using a reusable straw, or grocery bag is one more thing we don't have to worry about ending up in our oceans, and will help us towards a more beautiful and less polluted earth.

(QUESTIONS)

What do you think about the amount of deaths of these turtles?

What are you going to do to help?

Were you surprised about the sheer amount if plastic in the ocean?

Sources:

http://plastic-pollution.org/

https://www.planetaid.org/blog/how-ocean-pollution-affects-humans

https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/plastics.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/25/580227045/plastic-pollution-is-killing-coral-reefs-4-year-study-finds

                                             https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/

Welcome to our class blog!

Hi! This is Ms. Westbrook

Welcome to our APES class blog!

This blog serves several purposes for our class:

1. Literacy and science, believe it or not, have very important links.  As people of science, it is important to learn to speak and write the language of science in order for us to convey the essence and specifics of what we need to learn.  It is important to practice and learn how to talk about science in academic, yet engaging language.  This blog gives us a chance to practice and learn from each other.

2. APES is a class of immediacy.  There are relevant topics that surface in the media and in everyday life consistently.  Whether the topic is oil drilling, pipelines, climate change, plastic straws or testing on animals, environmental science is in the news!  We need to learn to read and discern the messages we are receiving and to find out what everyone's talking about.  This blog gives us a chance to discuss and challenge what we read and see.  It also allows us all to be able to help others understand what they are read and hearing if we are the experts in the discussions!  This is a class of current affairs!

3. This is about what interests YOU! What topic would you like to dig deeper on?  What would you like to research and know more about? Here is your chance to write about your passions.

4.   We only have 18 weeks to cover the material.  APES is a very broad class.  There is NO WAY I can cover everything.  So you get to help!  And this is important.  On last year's AP test, one of the FRQ's was about ocean acidification.  I barely grazed the subject in class but someone from each class wrote a blog about it.  And guess what? Everyone went into the test armed with knowledge about the subject. Yay!  I get to let you cover what I can't as just one person!

So here are the guidelines for writing your blog:

• Pick a topic that (hopefully) is relevant and timely.  Try to look at what we are studying and make your blog fit with the topics.  This isn't alway possible if your passions are for climate change and we are talking about biomes.  Go for your passions!!
• Make it personal.  Relate it to something in your life. Tell us why you are passionate about it! Use humor.  Make us cry! Make us angry enough to fight!
• Use photos. Make your blog look nice.
• Use proper grammar and check for spelling... please!
• It needs to be AT LEAST 4 healthy paragraphs.
• Ask questions at the end of the blog to stimulate discussion in the comments.
• Cite your sources.  There needs to be at least 3 good, reputable sources at the end of the blog.  Links to websites are fine. Plagiarism is a HUGE NO NO.
• Your name must be at the top of the blog. I will not give you credit until your name is at the top of the blog.