Agricultural pollution

Agricultural pollution refers to biotic and abiotic byproducts of farming practices that result in contamination or degradation of the environment and surrounding ecosystems, and/or cause injury to humans and their economic interests. The main causes of Agricultural pollution are Pesticides and Fertilizers, Contaminated water, Soil erosion, Livestock, and Pests and Weeds. Pesticides, ammonia, heavy metals, fertilizers, and oils from farms and farm machinery destroy and kill animals, aquatic life, and health problems when they enter drinking water.

Pesticides and Fertilizers have to deal with local pests and invasive species causing them to be contaminated with chemicals that are not found in nature. Once they are sprayed, it does not disappear completely.

Contaminated water is used for irrigation and most of the water we use comes from groundwater reservoirs. While plenty of it is clean, other sources are polluted with organic compounds and heavy metals due to the disposal of industrial agricultural waste.

Soil erosion is also a major factor of agricultural pollution because of its topmost layer which holds all the chemicals erodes into rivers, lakes, and streams.

Livestock is grown in poor cramped conditions where it's fed very unusual diets and sent to slaughterhouses on a regular basis. Slaughterhouses create emissions into the air which accounts for a large contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

        Pests and weeds are exotically grown crops which decrease natural species. With the arrival of new crops, native species have to deal with new diseases, pests, and weeds. Invasive species then destroy local vegetation, altering the ecosystem permanently. 

Galapagos' Giant Tortoise

Christian Bermeo


Galapagos' giant tortoise has been extinct for over 100 years. A giant tortoise was found on the island of Fernandina, Ecuador. The tortoise was rushed quickly to a breeding center in Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador. The female tortoise was found by a group of biologists. She was around 112 years old.

A giant tortoise average size is five-feet long with a nine-inch neck. The average weight of these tortoises can be around 550 pounds, depending on its gender. The tortoise spends 16 hours resting and the remaining hours eating or drinking. They rest for a long period because they can last one year without food or water. Mating season usually tends to be from January to May. The female tortoise would move to a nesting area to lay her eggs. A female can lay 2 through 16 tennis size eggs. The one female they recently found had stored sperm for many years. The reason why she did not give birth is that she was lost the islands and there was no male guardian for their family.

Charles Darwin believed tortoises' neck is proof of evolution. Some tortoise has longer necks than others, and the reason why is because food resources can be mostly found from hanging tree branches. Most grass on the island is damaged because the island has active volcanos.

Santa Cruz breeding center produced 1,000 giant tortoises in three months. Species are considered endangered when they have 2,500 or fewer individuals. The tortoises are working their way out of being endangered, and I believe they will achieve their goal in a year.

Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park is an American national park in the Navajo and Apache counties along the northeastern area of Arizona. The name comes from the parks feature of one of the world’s largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood, and the chargeable area of the park covers about 230 square miles. The Petrified Forest is known for its fossils, especially its fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic Epoch, which was about 225 million years ago. The remains containing the fossil logs are part of the widespread and colorful Chinle Formation, from which the Desert gets its name. 

Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified wood is a fossil, and it forms when plant material is buried by remains and protected from decay due to oxygen and organisms. Some specimens of petrified wood are such accurate preservations that people do not realize they are fossils until they pick them up and are shocked by their weight. These specimens with near-perfect preservation are unusual, and rare. However, specimens that exhibit clearly recognizable bark and woody structures are very common. In August 1916, the National Park Service was created by the Organic Act, it was approved by Congress and later signed by President Woodrow Wilson. This federal bureau within the Department of the Interior was now responsible for protecting the 40 national parks and monuments then in existence and those yet to be established. The purpose of the service was to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. Animal life at Petrified Forest includes amphibians, birds, insects, spiders, mammals, and reptiles. Birds, lizards and rabbits are seen most frequently, though seasons and weather play a large role in determining what animals are active. Many animals in the park are nocturnal, which is an adaptation not only to avoid high summer daytime temperatures, but also to avoid certain predators.

The Painted Desert

Furthermore, the top attraction of the forest is called the Painted Desert. It is a U.S. desert in the badlands which is apart Four Corners area running from near the east end of Grand Canyon National Park into Petrified Forest National Park. It is most easily accessed in the north portion of Petrified Forest National Park. The Painted Desert is known for its brilliant and varied colors, that not only include the more common red rock, but also shades of lavender.

-Jonathan Oniyama

9/11

On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers were attacked by two airplanes and collapsed. The death poll was about 3,000 people dead. When the towers collapsed, the were effects pretty harsh. The effects were that the dust clouds affected people's health like it affected the sizes of newborn babies and people were diagnosed with cancer later in their years. Studies show that pregnant women who were at the beginning of their pregnancy and who were around the collapse of 9/11, had a higher probability of premature delivery. Another concern was asbestos. Asbestos was used in the construction materials to make them stronger and heat resistant. But it also causes cancer and respiratory diseases. Reports show that an estimated 410,000 to 525,000 people were exposed to the toxic dust. 

Donora Smog 1948

Donora Smog 1948


        On October 27th 1948 the town of Donora woke up in a thick yellow fog. Considered as one of the worst air pollution in the US history, in 5 days half of the population was effected by the gases in the fog and 5 people died. But how did this happen?
        Donora was known as one of the biggest cities with Steel Zinc Works and American Steel and Wire plant industries. These companies produced emissions of poisonous gases and fine matter that with a temperature inversion produced this terrible smog. After the rainstorm, that brought away the fog, the United States Public Health Service launch an investigation. In the end the industries were not completely blamed because of their economic power, but they also put the blame on the temperature inversion and other sources of pollution. The outcomes from this disaster were both negative and positive. The negative’s were: 5 people died in the 5 days, half of the population was sick and in the following years the number of deaths for cardiovascular diseases and cancer increased significantly. The positive’s were: after the disaster the government started to take air pollution more seriously and they started to create new laws like the Clean air act in 1963.
       In conclusion the Donora smog was a terrible disaster that killed thousands of people and effected the life of the Donora’s citizens in the fllowing years. Fortunately, from this disaster the government started to take air pollution more seriously and new laws were made to put the situation under control.

Love Canal Disaster

Love Canal Disaster

The Love Canal disaster was supposed to be a dream community. The vision belonged to a man named William T. Love. In 1834 he started to dig a canal between upper and lower Niagara River to provide cheap hydroelectric power to the area. Only after a mile in the project it was shut down due to lack of funding. By the 1920's the canal was used as a chemical dumpsite. Specifically it was used by Hooker Chemical Corporation. Around twenty-two-thousand tons of chemicals were dumped into the canal (1943-1953). Soon after in 1953 the Hooker Chemical Company sealed the landfill with a clay cap to contain chemical waste. Afterwards they sold the land for one dollar to the Niagara Board of Education. Then the city built an elementary school on that land. When the school was built; it started a community with homes and residents on the landfill site. Unfortunately this caused major problems to the community. Cracks were appearing on the streets and people were getting harmed by the chemicals leaking out. Lois Gibbs formed the Love Canal Homeowner Association in order to raise awareness to the government. President Carter took notice and addressed a federal state of emergency; provided all residents a relocation permanently. legislative acts like the clean air and water acts were established to prevent this tragedy. 

John Muir is a well known environmental activist who fought for the conservation of the U.S. Forests. He did a lot of his activism through writing. He was a well known author. He is known as “The Father of National Parks” because of how influential his writing about nature was. His actions led to the opening of multiple national parks. 

John Muir was born on April 21, 1838 in Dunbar, a Scottish city.At age 11, he and his parents emigrated to Wisconsin. Even though he had no formal schooling, he got accepted to University of Wisconsin. He studied Botany and and geology but was never got his degree.  

In his twenties, Muir began to work odd jobs. While working at a factory he had a life changing eye accident where a sharp tool went straight through his eye. This caused him to look at the world differently. He decided to quit his job and explore the wilderness. Muir walked 1000 miles from Indiana to Florida to explore his love for nature. From Florida, Muir took a ship to California where he found Yosemite Park. He fell in love with it and studied its geological and botanical structures. He wrote poetry about it and it got extremely popular. His first Printed Essay ended up in the New York Tribune. He wrote essays that pushed for Yosemite to become a national park which it did in 1890. Other National Parks he helped bring about are the, Grand Canyon, Kings Canyon, Petrified Forest, and Mt. Rainier National Parks. 

Also, in 1892 John Muir started the Sierra Club, an environmentalist organization with over 3.8 million members worldwide today. He had a famous three day camping trip with the President, Theodore Roosevelt and helped change some of his environmental policies. Muir also traveled to the Amazon at 73 years old to study its fauna. 

Muir died on December 24th, 1914 and left behind two children. He also left behind an extensive environmentalist legacy. He wrote over 300 articles and 12 books about his love for nature and how it needs to be preserved for future generations.

Mount Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state is an icon and backbone of the Pacific North West. The park’s size of 369 sq. miles supports an array of wildlife, plant life and even supports humans through the glaciers. Before it was officially a National Park in 1899 the area was used for more than 9,000 years by Native Americans who used the land for natural resources. The park’s continued importance has shown throughout time, the park was even used as a training ground for the U.S. Army mountain divisions during WW2. More modern times have shown how crucial the park is for the Puget Sound region, consisting of 4.2 million people. Nine rivers that flow from the mountain’s glaciers provide clean water to this large mass of people. This abundance of water also supports the park’s enormous population of flora and fauna. With an estimated 964 plant species and 280 animal species, it would be catastrophic if something were to happen to the water. Along with this, the land is also used for recreation by climbers and for research by a plethora of scientists. Scientists utilize the park’s diverse features including the volcano, glaciers, plant life, and wildlife for research this research can help provide insight on environmental problems that the world faces. This picturesque park should not only be recognized for its beauty but also for how critical it is for the Pacific Northwest and for all living things in the area.