The water is the most precious resource that we have on our planet, and without it the life on our planet would be impossible, since all animals need water to live. As humans we recognise this statement, but we don't "practice" it because day by day the waters get polluted because of some human acts, and that causes the dead of lot of species that live in the waters and if we consume pollute waters we're in risk too. We must recognise our problem with polluting the waters and we must stop it now before it's too late.
Source: http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/waterpollution.htm
quarta-feira, 3 de dezembro de 2008
terça-feira, 2 de dezembro de 2008
Global Warming
Global warming is the increase of the average measured temperature of the Earth's surface and oceans, and it is caused by the polution made by us.
Global surface temperature increased a lot during the 100 years ending in 2005.
Global surface temperature increased a lot during the 100 years ending in 2005.
"The geographic distribution of surface warming during the 21st century calculated by the HadCM3 climate model if a business as usual scenario is assumed for economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions. In this figure, the globally averaged warming corresponds to 3.0 °C (5.4 °F)."
The increase of the global temperature is expected to the rising from the sea levels, an increase in the intensity of the weather events, glacier retreat, mass species extinctions...
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming#Climate_models
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Global_Warming_Predictions_Map.jpg
segunda-feira, 1 de dezembro de 2008
Pesticides
A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest.A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological agent (such as a virus or bacteria), antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest(insects , plant pathogens , weeds,molluscs,birds,fish ,mammals and microbes.Although there are benefits there are some disavantages such as potential toxicity to humans and other animals.
Pesticide use raises a number of environmental concerns. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including non-target species, air, water, bottom sediments, and food. pesticide drift occurs when pesticides suspended in the air as particles are carried by wind to other areas. Pesticides are one of the causes of water pollution, and some pesticides are persistent organic pollutants and contribute to soil contamination.
Consumers
There are concerns that pesticides used to control pests on food crops are dangerous to people who consume those foods.Many food crops, inclu ding fruits and vegetables, still contain pesticide residues after being washed or peeled. Chemicals that are no longer used but which are resistant to breakdown for long periods may remain in soil and water and thus in food this is a grave situation the people's health.
Sources:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Hazardous-pesticide.jpg
http://help4autism.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/pesticides.jpg
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/mba0244l.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution
Environmental effects
Pesticide use raises a number of environmental concerns. Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including non-target species, air, water, bottom sediments, and food. pesticide drift occurs when pesticides suspended in the air as particles are carried by wind to other areas. Pesticides are one of the causes of water pollution, and some pesticides are persistent organic pollutants and contribute to soil contamination.
Consumers
There are concerns that pesticides used to control pests on food crops are dangerous to people who consume those foods.Many food crops, inclu ding fruits and vegetables, still contain pesticide residues after being washed or peeled. Chemicals that are no longer used but which are resistant to breakdown for long periods may remain in soil and water and thus in food this is a grave situation the people's health.
Sources:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Hazardous-pesticide.jpg
http://help4autism.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/pesticides.jpg
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/mba0244l.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution
Noise Pollution
Noise pollution is displeasing human or machine-created sound that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life. A common form of noise pollution is from transportation, principally motor vehicles.
The source of most of the noise comes from transportation systems like motor vehicle noise, but also including aircraft noise and rail noise.Poor urban planning may give rise to noise pollution, since side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential area.
A list of other noise sources:car alarms, office equipment, factory machinery, construction work, grounds keeping equipment, barking dogs, appliances, power tools, lighting hum, audio entertainment systems, loudspeakers and noisy people.
Human health efects
Noise pollution can damage health physiological and psychological, and can cause annoyance and aggression,hypertension , high stress levels, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, and other harmful effects.
Some of those can cause other consequences like stress and hypertension can lead to depression and panic attacks.
High noise levels can contribute to cardiovascular effects and exposure to moderately high levels during a single eight hour period causes a statistical rise in blood pressure.
Environmental Effects
Noise effect on animals causes stress, increasing risk of mortality by changing the balance in predator/prey detection and avoidance, and by interfering with their use of sounds in communication especially in relation to reproduction and in navigation.
This noise pollution can leade some species to extintion one example is the beached whales , brought on by the loud sound of military sonar.
Scientists and researchers have conducted experiments that show whales song length is longer when submarine-detectors are on and when one species begins speaking louder, it will disturb other species voice, causing the whole ecosystem to eventually speak louder.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pollution
http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/greenberg/archives/qqxsgSonarWhales.jpg
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/graphics/2007/04/12/ftnoise112.jpg
http://www.kf6nvr.net/blog/archives/images/computing_stress.jpg
The source of most of the noise comes from transportation systems like motor vehicle noise, but also including aircraft noise and rail noise.Poor urban planning may give rise to noise pollution, since side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential area.
A list of other noise sources:car alarms, office equipment, factory machinery, construction work, grounds keeping equipment, barking dogs, appliances, power tools, lighting hum, audio entertainment systems, loudspeakers and noisy people.
Human health efects
Noise pollution can damage health physiological and psychological, and can cause annoyance and aggression,hypertension , high stress levels, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, and other harmful effects.
Some of those can cause other consequences like stress and hypertension can lead to depression and panic attacks.
High noise levels can contribute to cardiovascular effects and exposure to moderately high levels during a single eight hour period causes a statistical rise in blood pressure.
Environmental Effects
Noise effect on animals causes stress, increasing risk of mortality by changing the balance in predator/prey detection and avoidance, and by interfering with their use of sounds in communication especially in relation to reproduction and in navigation.
This noise pollution can leade some species to extintion one example is the beached whales , brought on by the loud sound of military sonar.
Scientists and researchers have conducted experiments that show whales song length is longer when submarine-detectors are on and when one species begins speaking louder, it will disturb other species voice, causing the whole ecosystem to eventually speak louder.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pollution
http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/greenberg/archives/qqxsgSonarWhales.jpg
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/graphics/2007/04/12/ftnoise112.jpg
http://www.kf6nvr.net/blog/archives/images/computing_stress.jpg
domingo, 30 de novembro de 2008
Acid Rains
Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, it is a result of air pollution. It also has harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infastructure. Acid rain is mostly caused by human emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds which react in the atmosphere to produce acids.
Forests all over the world are dying, fish are dying. It is in aquatic habitats that the effects of acid rain are most obvious for exemple in Scandinavia there are dead lakes, which are crystal clear and contain no living creatures or plant life.
Acid rain runs off the land and ends up in streams, lakes and marshes, the rain also falls directly on these areas. As the acidity of a lake increases, the water becomes clearer and the numbers of fish and other water animals decline. The acidity of the water also does not just affect species directly, it causes toxic substances too, like aluminium to be released into the water from the soil, harming fish and other aquatic animals.
It can also be the major cause of various health issues in human beings due to the increased respiratory and skin problems such as skin cancer.
To prevent acid rains we should stop polluting the atmosphere and warn everybody about the enviromental problems that air pollution can cause, even to our health.
Sources: http:/ /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain, http:/ /www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/acid-rain/1, http:/ /living.oneindia.in/expressions/factual-expressions/2008/acid-rain-090908.html.
Forests all over the world are dying, fish are dying. It is in aquatic habitats that the effects of acid rain are most obvious for exemple in Scandinavia there are dead lakes, which are crystal clear and contain no living creatures or plant life.
Acid rain runs off the land and ends up in streams, lakes and marshes, the rain also falls directly on these areas. As the acidity of a lake increases, the water becomes clearer and the numbers of fish and other water animals decline. The acidity of the water also does not just affect species directly, it causes toxic substances too, like aluminium to be released into the water from the soil, harming fish and other aquatic animals.
It can also be the major cause of various health issues in human beings due to the increased respiratory and skin problems such as skin cancer.
To prevent acid rains we should stop polluting the atmosphere and warn everybody about the enviromental problems that air pollution can cause, even to our health.
Sources: http:/ /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain, http:/ /www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/acid-rain/1, http:/ /living.oneindia.in/expressions/factual-expressions/2008/acid-rain-090908.html.
Photopollution
Photopollution is excess or obtrusive light created mainly by humans. Among other effects, and like any other form of pollution, it disrupts ecosystems, can cause adverse health effects, obscures the stars for city dwellers, wastes energy, adversely affects wildlife and interferes with astronomical observatories.
The human light spills into the natural world, some aspect of life like migration, reproduction and feeding are affected.
Light pollution is largely the result of bad lighting design, which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky, where it's not wanted.
The human light spills into the natural world, some aspect of life like migration, reproduction and feeding are affected.
Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species it acts as a magnet. The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being "captured" by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms, circling and circling in the thousands until they drop.
Other nocturnal mammals, including desert rodents, fruit bats, opossums, and badgers—forage more cautiously under the permanent full moon of light pollution because they've become easier targets for predators.
In a very real sense, light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way, the edge of our galaxy, arching overhead.
Sources:http:/ /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pollution, http:/ /ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/light-pollution/klinkenborg-text
Habitat destruction
The primary threat to the world’s biodiversity is habitat destruction.
Currently in our world, the humanity is destroying many habitats, people use them in their own purpose, for example, there are a lot of factories instead of the habitats that are destroyed, which are composed by some animal species, plants and so on. In other words, the habitat destruction is a contribute for the reducement of the biodivercity.
In the simplest terms, when a habitat is destroyed, the plants, animals, and other organisms that occupied the habitat have a reduced carrying capacity so that populations decline and extinction becomes more likely. Habitat loss alters or eliminates the conditions needed for plants and animals to survive, even landscapes are destructed.
Desertification, deforestation, and coral reef degradation are specific types of habitat destruction. Forests are converted to agriculture and livestock production, coastal development, estuaries, bogs and swamps converted to landfills, dumps and residential areas. These biologically diverse forests support a wide variety of animal, bird and plant life that can't be found elsewhere.
Remember: habitat destruction is one of the major causes that contributes to the extinction of many animal species!
Sources: http:/ /www.birdlife.org/action/science/sowb/pressure/30.html
Currently in our world, the humanity is destroying many habitats, people use them in their own purpose, for example, there are a lot of factories instead of the habitats that are destroyed, which are composed by some animal species, plants and so on. In other words, the habitat destruction is a contribute for the reducement of the biodivercity.
In the simplest terms, when a habitat is destroyed, the plants, animals, and other organisms that occupied the habitat have a reduced carrying capacity so that populations decline and extinction becomes more likely. Habitat loss alters or eliminates the conditions needed for plants and animals to survive, even landscapes are destructed.
Desertification, deforestation, and coral reef degradation are specific types of habitat destruction. Forests are converted to agriculture and livestock production, coastal development, estuaries, bogs and swamps converted to landfills, dumps and residential areas. These biologically diverse forests support a wide variety of animal, bird and plant life that can't be found elsewhere.
Remember: habitat destruction is one of the major causes that contributes to the extinction of many animal species!
Sources: http:/ /www.birdlife.org/action/science/sowb/pressure/30.html
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