A World on Fire- Hailey Brehm

A World on Fire
By: Hailey Brehm

Our world has undergone many changes over the course of its existence. Humans have impacted the Earth in many negative ways such as: burning fossil fuels, overpopulation, pollution, and deforestation. All of these negative impacts are connected together by the high demand of human beings. Deforestation is the clearing of forests by human, natural, or accidental means. Since many countries have become developed, there has been an increase in deforestation due to industrialization. Our world relies heavily on timber in order to make buildings, paper, and other materials. The problem is there is no alternative; there is no other source after all of the trees are gone. That is the concern.

Deforestation has increased due to the growth of the human population; an increased population means a further production of greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide. Greenhouse gases act as a blanket and trap heat near Earth’s surface; for the past two centuries the concentration of these greenhouse gases have increased causing an increase in global temperature. One of the human activities that increase the amount of Carbon Dioxide (a greenhouse gas) is deforestation. As we cut down trees, we release the stored carbon in the trees and end up contributing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Forests are very important for the carbon and water cycle. Trees are constantly taking in Carbon Dioxide through photosynthesis and releasing it back to the atmosphere. It is important that we do not constantly create an imbalance of carbon with an influx into the atmosphere by anthropogenic means. Forests also contribute greatly to the water cycle by transpiration, an act of plants releasing water in photosynthesis. When we cut down these trees, the climate and soil becomes much drier. About 31% of our earth's surface is covered in forests, but that is quickly diminishing.

Habitat loss is also pertinent when talking of deforestation. When you take away chunks of trees, you take away shelter for certain animals. Humans use this land for infrastructure, cattle ranching, agriculture, and logging. This creates a decrease in the amount of diversity in an ecosystem. Not only does this affect the animals, it affects all life in the forest. Forests are a major source of oxygen and we are creating poor life quality for all those who inhabit the forests by cutting down this major source. Cutting down forests can also lead to soil erosion. This happens when the amount of water that trees retain is decreased. As we continue to deplete the soil and surroundings of the forest of nutrients, we make it more difficult to overcome the issue of deforestation.

A recent tragedy struck the Amazon Rainforest; it has been on fire for the past three weeks. The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world. It also absorbs a lot of greenhouse gases that could be detrimental if released. These fires are also costing indigenous people many resources and homes as the fire continues to spread. The smoke the fires emit is also just as dangerous; the air is can cause respiratory problems and other issues. Sometimes farmers use a slash and burn technique, in which they purposely start a fire, in order to help the soil replenish nutrients. This can also be disastrous and cause much more damage than intended. So how do we fix all of this? Most people would say that we obviously should just plant more trees. While that is a simple solution, it may not be effective if we continue to cut down more trees than we plant. Humans have a need for trees, but what will happen when they are gone? What will happen to us? Will there ever be an alternative?

Sources:

https://www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation

https://www.thelondonorchardproject.org/deforestation-causes-impact-humans/

https://www.cfr.org/interactives/amazon-deforestation/#/en/section3

https://www.britannica.com/science/deforestation/Effects

Pathological Dangers Hidden in Our Ice Caps

By Sophia Aijo

Thanks to modern sanitation techniques and other preventative measures, most developed countries don’t have to worry about diseases such as smallpox, botulism, and bubonic plague. However, in recent decades people have greatly impacted the environment; we’ve ultimately prodded global warming through an increased production of greenhouse gases. As a result, permafrost, thick, long lasting ice that covers frozen portions of land in the arctic, is melting. We’ve all heard about the melting of the ice caps, but did you know that the consequences of it go beyond a rise in ocean levels? With the current thawing of permafrost in the arctic, we may soon have to open ourselves up to the possibility of new outbreaks of deadly diseases long forgotten by most modern communities.

    To start, it’s important for us to understand what it is that we, as humans, are actually doing to increase the rate at which our world’s glaciers are melting. The answer lies in the prodigious human demand for fuel. Every time we burn fossil fuels to turn them into a more usable form, we’re releasing massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. For instance, when 1 million btu (a traditional unit of heat) of diesel fuel is burned, a whopping 161.3 lbs of Carbon Dioxide is released into the atmosphere. That’s a whole extra 161.3 lbs of Carbon Dioxide that the natural carbon cycle must account for just for 1 million btu of diesel fuel. To put that into perspective, a traditional 1,400 square foot home needs about 23,000 btu PER HOUR for cooling. If you do the math, that’s about 4 pounds of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere just to support one 1,400 square foot home’s cooling needs for one hour. So, what does this have to do with the melting of the glaciers? Well, as more greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, are introduced into the atmosphere, more heat is also captured within it. Such heat is precisely what is melting the arctic today through a warming of global temperatures. The scariest part of such large scale carbon emissions, however, lies within the melting ice caps themselves.

    What scientists have begun to realize more clearly, in studying and observing the melting of arctic permafrost, is that it has been around for a long time. We’re not talking decades here, but centuries. Some permafrost in places such as Siberia has been frozen for upwards of thousands of years. That means it’s outlived wars, countries, migrations, and, most importantly, epidemics. Some of the oldest permafrost in Russia has likely lived through the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 and multiple smallpox epidemics among other deadly historic outbreaks. This may seem like no big deal, but, as we all know, ice serves as a perfect means of preservation. This means that strains of a multitude of viral diseases could remain dormant, but living, preserved by the cold temperatures, within ice caps, glaciers, and permafrost. This would be all fine and dandy given that they’re trapped within the ice were it not for the melting of such natural cages. As a result of such, scientists are currently working towards gaining a greater understanding of what diseases specifically may be lurking within the frozen ground of the north and whether we should be concerned or not. After all, there’s no proof that the melting of some ice will lead to a global pandemic, right? 

    Technically, no major global outbreaks have occurred yet due to illnesses lying within our ice caps. However, small scale outbreaks show proof of such potential. For example, in one town in the region of Yamal in Siberia in 2016, around 2,000 reindeer died and a little shy of 100 people were hospitalized due to an outbreak of Anthrax thought to have started from an infected reindeer corpse uncovered by melted permafrost. Even more shocking is the fact that the Anthrax that lead to the outbreak dated over 70 years old. However, this isn’t the only documented case of dormant diseases arising from melted ice and causing illness. That being said, there are those who persist to argue that we are in no imminent danger of a global outbreak due to the melting of permafrost. What do you guys think? Are we in danger? And even if we are, is there anything we could do to try to protect ourselves, and the environment, from further melting of glaciers?

Sources

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/what-size-air-conditioner-do-i-need-191400

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=73&t=11

https://unfccc.int/cop3/fccc/climate/fact22.htm

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170504-there-are-diseases-hidden-in-ice-and-they-are-waking-up

https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/melting-russian-permafrost-could-unleash-14353841

   

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.