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.

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.

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

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

There are some gases such as carbone dioxide occur naturaly and are emitted to atmosphere through natural proceses and human activities, but some other gases are created and emitted only through human activities.
The most dangerous of them are:

Carbon Dioxide(CO2): Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal), solid waste, trees and wood products, and also as a result of other chemical reactions. Carbon dioxide is also removed from the atmosphere when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle.

Methane(CH4): Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil. Methane emissions also result from agricultural practices and by the decay of organic waste in solid waste landfills.

Nitrous Oxide(N2O): Nitrous oxide is emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of fossil fuels and solid waste.

Fluorinated Gases: Hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride are synthetic, powerful greenhouse gases that are emitted from a variety of industrial processes. Fluorinated gases are sometimes used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances (CFCs, HCFCs, and halons). These gases are typically emitted in smaller quantities, but because they are potent greenhouse gases, they are sometimes referred to as High Global Warming Potential gases.


During the next centurys the Greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere will increase unless humans stop the greenhouse gas emissions.The increasing of gas concentration on the atmosphere are very likely to increase Earth's average temperature,influence precipitation and the raise of the sea levels.The magnitude of these changes, however, is uncertain.










Sources: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html
http://www2.fcsh.unl.pt/cadeiras/plataforma/foralinha/cyber/data/0/1159/earth_full_hires%20copy.jpg

Illegal Fishing

Illegal fishing is a major global problem. It damages marine environments, undermines legal fisheries, threatens livelihoods and erodes food security around the world.
The most obvious economic impact of illegal fishing on developing countries is the direct loss of the value of the catches that could be taken by local fishermen.
Fishing generally has the capacity to damage fragile marine ecosystems and vulnerable species such as coral reefs, turtles and seabirds. In fact, all eight sea turtle species are now endangered, and illegal fishing and hunting are two major reasons for their destruction, Every year at least $4 billion of fish is caught illegally, this is likely to reduce productivity and biodiversity and create imbalances in the ecosystem.
Some of the worst environmental problems are caused by destructive fishing practices. Two particularly destructive methods are cyanide fishing, where cyanide solution is used to stun fish making them easier to catch and the use of explosives, for example dynamite, to kill fish so they float to the surface and can be easily ‘scooped up’ by nets.
This in turn may lead to reduced food security in communities heavily dependent on fish as a source of animal protein.



Sources: http:/ /www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/illegal-fishing.asp, http:/ /www.msc.org/healthy-oceans/the-oceans-today/environmental-impact,

Ice Melting

Arctic Ocean sea ice is one of the most visible indicators for global warming.
There has been a lot of icebergs breaking off Antarctica's ice shelves and the effects this will have on sea levels around the world.
Arctic Ocean sea ice is rapidly melting, and most of the reduction in the ice is in its thickness, and since sea ice is floating ice, its melting won't have much effect on sea levels.
Although, the melting of the Arctic sea ice will have drastic effects on the Earth's surface in the Arctic region, there will be less solar energy reflected back into space and it will instead be absorbed by the ocean water, which becomes with an higer temperature and ends melting the ice.
The sea ice and sheet ice both consist of fresh water, as a result of ice melting the Artic Ocean will have an huge increasement in the ammount of fresh water, this could possibly lead to a shutdown of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation and drastic cooling of temperatures everywhere.



A bearded seal drifts on an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean near Norway's Svalbard archipelago. The seals are one of many species that depend on Arctic ICE to survive and the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting three times faster than the most advanced climate models predict, raising concerns for humans and wildlife in that region.

Nowadays the sea ice is melting much faster than in any oher time, if this current trends continue, we could be facing an ice-free Arctic summer within the next 50 years.


Sources: http:/ /www.daviesand.com/Choices/Precautionary_Planning/Arctic_Ice/ , http:/ /news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070501-arctic-ice.html

Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions

Many people whatches tv and some time there are some shows about Loss of Biodiversity and Extintiocns most of those people say "Who cares", but for example one of those people need some medicine and he/she don't understand that most of our medicine come from plants, many of which are now endangered.Then they think "Oh no I have to save the environment" when they realize that is already too late and maybe the specie is already extinct.

The extinction rate increased almost 1000 times from some decades ago. At this rate one-third to two-thirds of all species of plants, animals, and other organisms would be extinct during the second half of the next century.

This is a warning by the Director General James Leape of WWF posted in October 24,2006:

"...the demand people place upon the natural world — has increased to the point where the Earth is unable to keep up in the struggle to regenerate."..."We are in serious ecological overshoot, consuming resources faster than the Earth can replace them"..."It is time to make some vital choices".




We need to change this situation NOW!!!









Sources:http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions#LongTermCosts
http://www.environment.go.ke/pictures/biodiversity_440.jpg

Air pollution and my health

Air pollution can affect our health in two ways short-term and long term.Young children and the elder people are the ones who suffer more from the effects of air pollution. People with health problems such as asthma, heart and lung disease may also suffer more when the air is polluted.

short-term effects include irritation in the eyes, nose and throat, and upper respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia.Other symptoms can include headaches, nausea, and allergic reactions. Short-term air pollution can aggravate the medical conditions of individuals with asthma,emphysema etc...

Long-term health effects can include chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease, and even damage to the brain, nerves, liver, or kidneys.
Some researches made some years ago showed up that half a million people die prematurely every year in the U.S. as a result of smoking cigarettes.

Wacth this video and see for your own eyes what is happening in the world :
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=UcWpkWBX04E







Source: http://www.lbl.gov/Education/ELSI/pollution-main.html