Life Expectancy

People are living longer.  Is this good or bad for society, or something in between?  Explain your opinion.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act

The migratory bird treaty act was passed in 1918. It decreed that all migratory birds and their parts eggs, nest, feathers are fully protected. Today the migratory bird treaty act is protecting more than 900 species of birds. Before the migratory bird treaty act was passed four conventions between the United States and four international counters Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia was made. In the late 1800's the hunting and shipment of birds for the commercial market and the plume trade which were decorative feathers reduced the population of many bird species. This method of hunting down bird and never allowing the population to regenerate led to the extinction to many species of birds; like the passenger pigeon where at one point three to five billion passenger pigeons once lived in the United States. On May 1900 The Lacy act was passed it was the first federal wildlife protection act and it prohibited game being taken illegally across state lines. But because of lack of officers to enforce the law it failed to stop the interstate shipment. What the Lacy act was able to do was open the door four new laws to be introduced. On March 4, 1913 The Weeks McLean Law was passed it was designed to stop commercial hunting of birds. Later the law was replace by The Migratory Treaty Act.                                        

Chernobyl

Chernobyl is a accident that happened on April 26, 1986 in which a powerful catastrophic explosion destroyed the 4th power block of the nuclear power plant at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Industry in Chernobyl, Ukraine. This accident became the most terrible nuclear accident in the world. The explosion released a lot of radioactive particles and gases in the air which spreaded over  western Europe. The result of the explosion caused 31 people to die and many others poisoned because of the amount of radiation being exposed. A lot of people were evacuated in nearby towns like Chernobyl.

Natural Selection

You've heard it said this way:  "Only the strong survive."  Do you agree that this is still true in our modern society?  Do you think it applies to both humans and to other creatures?

John Muir

My power presentation was on John Muir who was an Engineer, naturalist, writer, botanist, and geologist. John Muir founded the Sierra Club which is now the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization. This organization works to protect the environment, and focuses on specific things to help the environment like environmental justice, clean air, clean water, global population, toxic waste, and responsible trade.  John Muir had a special desire for the wilderness and worked hard to protect natural wonders and wilderness areas. Some natural wonders and wilderness areas that John Muir worked towards protecting was the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National park, and Mount Rainier. Even though John Muir died he still is an inspiration to those striving to protect the natural environment.

 

 



SuperFund

Superfund is an abandoned site where waste that is detrimental to our ecosystem is located. C.E.R.C.L.A stands for The Comprehensive Environment Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 which was enacted to abandoned hazardous waste in the United States. A Superfund site is determined by Preliminary Assessment in which is typically gathering non-sampling information which is just analyzing a portion of the data by definition. Then they have a site inspection which is sampling the soils, groundwater, and surface water. Afterwards it’s put on the National Priorities List in which they make the final decision. They determine whether it should be turned over to Superfund. Sites can be discovered by state agencies, health departments or even local citizens. Then comes the cleanup process in which they put a plan into place and then proceed to doing the place and then comes a stage called the construction completion stage which they recognize the physical cleanup of the site. In addition, comes the post construction completion, and that just ensures that superfund provides long-term protection of human health and the environment. Afterwards comes national priorities list delete which removes it from the list and after this happens, it means all the goals have been achieved. Some examples in NJ of Superfunds sites are in Bridgewater, NJ and one in Newark, NJ. The one in Bridgewater had 900 tons of toxic waste including metals, benzene and other chemicals in which are detrimental to our ecosystem. The one in Newark, NJ was The Bayonne Barrel and Drum Site and it cost the Federal Government $1.2 million to cleanup that site. That site was actually contaminated with metals, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, and many other hazard materials.

The Donora Smog of 1948

The Donora Smog was a thick, yellow smog that covered the town of Donora, Pennsylvania, from October 26 to October 31, 1948. This deadly smog resulted in the hospitalization of about 7,000 people (about half the population) and a total of 20 deaths at the end of the five day period. The town of Donora, prior to this smog, was home to unregulated steel mills and zinc works. The emissions created by these factories on a daily basis included toxic chemicals like nitrogen dioxide.

Donora was usually smoggy in the mornings, something the citizens had gotten used to and thought little about. This was until the morning of October 26, 1948, when the usual smog failed to disperse as a result of a natural condition known as 'Thermal Inversion' (this is when a layer of warm air settles over a layer of cool air near ground level, preventing it from escaping). This condition held down the smog produced by the town below it. The citizens of Donora continued about their daily activities and noticed there was a problem only when a great amount of visibility was lost. One man recalled that event, saying "You couldn't see the hand in front of your face" (Bill Schempp, Donora Firefighter). The town was finally freed by downpour, which helped disperse the smog.

This event brought into the minds of state legislators the need for some course of action against air pollution. This later led to the 'Clean Air Act' (of 1970), which helped regulate air pollution nationwide. This act was later expanded to include both mobile and industrial polluters. The zinc works in Donora were also finally closed in the year 1956 in response to this disaster.

The Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act or the ESA is a law that was passed by congress in 1973 during the office of President Richard Nixon.

The ESA came about when ornithologist named George Bird Grinnell wrote some articles about different near-extinctions

A major reason for animals becoming extinct or endangered are Humans, also people Hunting animals for trade or research, and Land Development.

The ESA applies to land and water life. It is suppose to protect endangered Species, threatened Species, and critical habitats.

A species can be protected under the act only if it meets certain criteria.
There are as of now 1331 species protected my the ESA.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

My presentation was based on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It was discovered by racing boat captain known as Charles Moore, who was sailing from Hawaii to California.When crossing the subtropical gyre he noticed millions of pieces of plastics surrounding his ship. These plaastics have great danger on aquatic species. The plastics block  sunlight from reaching on  plankton and algae which produces food for fishes,and other living organisms in the sea or ocean.These plastics have  become a disaster to most marine species. They are often found dead with bottle caps, plastics and other stuff in their stomach. I also spoke about the Gyre. The ocean currents collect floating garbage for thousabds of miles and drop it into the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The trash is eventually packed into convergence zone that links two eastern and western garbage patches, which form the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

       

                                                 THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH
My presentation was based on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It was discovered by racing boat captain known as Charles Moore, who was sailing from Hawaii to California.When crossing the subtropical gyre he noticed millions of pieces of plastics surrounding his ship. These plaastics have great danger on aquatic species. The plastics block  sunlight from reaching on  plankton and algae which produces food for fishes,and other living organisms in the sea or ocean.These plastics have  become a disaster to most marine species. They are often found dead with bottle caps, plastics and other stuff in their stomach. I also spoke about the Gyre. The ocean currents collect floating garbage for thousabds of miles and drop it into the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The trash is eventually packed into convergence zone that links two eastern and western garbage patches, which form the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.